I M^i 
 
 \ » 
 
 W %.N 
 
 
THE UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 THE WILMER COLLECTION 
 
 OF CIVIL WAR NOVELS 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 RICHARD H. WILMER, JR. 
 
Digitized by tine Internet Arciiive 
 
 in 2010 witii funding from 
 
 University of Nortii Carolina at Chapel Hill 
 
 http://www.archive.org/details/rodneyoverseerOOcast 
 
CASTLEMON'S WAR SERIES. 
 
 Rodney, the Overseer 
 
 BY 
 
 HARRY CASTLEMON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF "gunboat SERIES," " ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES,' 
 " FOREST AND STREAM SERIES," ETC., ETC. 
 
 Fotir Illustrations by Geo. G. White. 
 
 PHILADELPHIA: 
 
 rORTER & COAXES. 
 
COPTRIGHT, 1892, 
 BT 
 
 PORTER & COATES. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CUAPTEK PAGE 
 
 I. A Disgusted Home Guard, .... 1 
 
 II. Captain Tom Smells Po^atder, ... 28 
 
 III. The Conscript's Friend, .... 54 
 
 IV. Lieutenant Lambert's Campaign, . . 83 
 V. How IT Resulted, 109 
 
 VI. Captain Roach Lays Down the Law, . 136 
 
 VII. A Perplexing Situation, .... 164 
 
 VIII. Hounds on the Trail, . . . . . 189 
 
 IX. Uncle Sam's Lost Boys, 216 
 
 X. Ned Griffin Brings News, . . . 242 
 
 XI. The Escaped Prisoners' Story, . . . 270 
 
 XII. A Hail at the Bars, 297 
 
 XIII. Captain Tom Shows ms Gratitude, . . 328 
 
 XIV. Rodney Keeps his Promise, . . . 353 
 XV. Rodney Passes Inspection, .... 380 
 
 XVI. Captain Randolph Receives Orders, . 406 
 
 XVII. Conclusion, 431 
 
 602907 
 
RODNET, THE OVERSEEE. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 A DISGUSTED HOME GUAED. 
 
 I DON'T say tliat you fellows played the 
 part of cowards by firing into that un- 
 armed boat, but you acted like born idiots, 
 and it would serve you just right if the citi- 
 zens of Baton Rouge should come out here in 
 a body and lynch the last one of you. Why 
 do you not wait for orders from me instead of 
 roaming about the country acting on your own 
 responsibility ? I know what the Confederacy 
 expects this company to do and you don't." 
 " Now jest listen at you, Tom Randolph." 
 " Yes, listen when your commanding officer 
 speaks, and remember that there is a handle 
 to my name and that I expect you to use it as 
 often as you address me." 
 
2 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "Well, Cap'n Randolph, if that suits you 
 any better ; though it's mighty little you ever 
 done to deserve the title. When this company 
 of ourn was first got up didn't you say that 
 we was going to make all the Union men about 
 here hunt their holes ? " 
 
 "Yes, I did ; and I would have done it in 
 a soldier-like manner if you had obeyed my 
 orders, as you promised to do when you were 
 sworn into the service. But when you made 
 up your minds that you knew more than your 
 captain and set out to have your own way, 
 you got yourselves into hot water directly, and 
 I am very glad of it. If you have come to 
 your senses and will promise that from this 
 time on you will obey my orders to the letter, 
 and quit going off on raids unless I send you, 
 I will do the best I can for you ; but the 
 minute you take the bits in your teeth, as you 
 have been doing for the last few months, that 
 minute I will throw you over and the con- 
 script officer can take you and welcome. And 
 mark my words, this is the last warning I 
 shall give you. The last one of you ought to 
 be court-martialled and shot." 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUARD. 3 
 
 It was a motley group of men and boys, 
 perhaps a score of tliem in all, who were 
 gathered at the foot of the wide steps that led 
 up to the front door of Mr. Randolph's plan- 
 tation house, and one could have told at a 
 glance that they were as excited and angry as 
 was the young officer in Confederate uniform 
 on the gallery above, who shook his fists at 
 them over the railing, and addressed them in 
 the imperious language we have just recorded. 
 The most of the group were dressed like sol- 
 diers, and that was what they claimed to be ; 
 but whether they belonged to the Union or 
 Confederate army it would have been hard to 
 tell, for their clothing was an odd mixture of 
 the uniforms of both. It would have been 
 quite as hard to tell whether they belonged to 
 the artillery, infantry, or cavalry, for the dis- 
 tinguishing colors of these three branches of 
 the service were about equally represented. 
 These men and boys called themselves Home 
 Guards ; and they were members of the inde- 
 pendent company that Tom Randolph and his 
 father raised and equipped after Tom failed 
 to get himself elected second lieutenant of 
 
4 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Captain Hubbard's Rangers. You remember 
 something about that, do you not ? 
 
 When the war excitement was at its height 
 in the spring of 1861, and Rodney Gray, Marcy 
 Gray's cousin, left the military academy at 
 Barrington because he could not study while 
 others were going into the Southern army and 
 making ready to fight for the cause in which 
 they honestly believed, he was bound by a 
 compact he had made with some other red-hot 
 rebels in his class to enlist within twenty-four 
 hours after he reached home provided he could 
 get to a recruiting office in that time. The 
 uniform he wore at school was gray, and so 
 was the one adopted by those who were de- 
 termined to break up the government because 
 they could no longer do as they pleased Avith 
 it ; and impulsive Rodney Gray, carried away 
 by the excitement of the hour, declared that 
 he would not wear any other color until the 
 South had gained her independence. He found 
 it easy to keep the first part of his promise, 
 for it so happened that he came home in time 
 to join an independent company of cavalry 
 that was being raised in his immediate neigh- 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GIJAED. 
 
 borliood, and which was intended to be so very 
 select that no applicant could get into the com- 
 pany if a single member of it objected to him. 
 Among the x^rominent citizens of Mooreville 
 who took a deep interest in the organization 
 (they all claimed Mooreville as their home, 
 although some of them lived from three to a 
 dozen miles outside of it), and used both money 
 and influence to help it along, was Mr. Ran- 
 dolph, Tom's father. If any young fellow who 
 stood well in the community hesitated to send 
 in his name because he could not raise money 
 enough to buy a horse and fit himself out as 
 well as the other Rangers were fitted out, Mr. 
 RandoliDh was prompt to come to his aid with 
 the assurance that if he would go ahead and 
 enlist, money need not stand in his way, for the 
 horse, uniform, weapons, and all other neces- 
 sary things would be forthcoming. He scoured 
 the country for miles around for recruits, and 
 did so much in other ways to aid the company 
 that when the Rangers made their first camp, 
 and hoisted above it the flag under which they 
 hoped to ride to victory, they named it Camp 
 Randolph. 
 
6 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 This gentleman was so rabid a Secessionist 
 that he was utterly unreasonable. In fact, some 
 of his warmest friends declared that he was 
 about half crazy. He had no clearer concep- 
 tion of the sufferings and trials that he and 
 those who believed as he did were bringing 
 upon the people of the South than the most 
 ignorant negro on his plantations. The men of 
 the North belonged to an inferior race and did 
 not know how to fight. They were going to be 
 whipped without any trouble at all, and when 
 the Southern troops had covered themselves 
 with glory by taking and holding Washington, 
 while Jefferson Davis dictated terms of peace 
 to the Lincoln hirelings, he wanted all the 
 Mooreville boys there to witness the grand and 
 imposing spectacle, and that was why he urged 
 them to enlist. That was about what Mr. Ran- 
 dolph said, and no doubt he was honest with 
 himself as well as with the recruits he brought 
 into Captain Hubbard's company ; but events 
 proved that he had another object in view and 
 one that he did not think it best to speak of. 
 
 Tom Randolph, who was twenty-four years 
 of age, was as conceited an ignoramus as there 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUARD. 7 
 
 was in that part of Louisiana ; but lie had an 
 idea that he was very bright, and capable of 
 filling any office he could get. At first he de- 
 clared his intention of going to the front as 
 captain of the Rangers. It would be no more 
 than right that he should have the highest 
 place in return for what his father had done 
 for the company ; but when Mr. Randolph told 
 him that that would be aiming a little too high, 
 that Bob Hubbard, who had really done more 
 hard work for the company than anybody else, 
 w6feld certainly be chosen captain, and that it 
 would look better and be better if Tom would 
 accept something a little lower down and work 
 his way up, the young man decided that he 
 would be a candidate for the second lieuten- 
 ant's place. He was sure he would get it and 
 so was his father ; but he didn't. Although 
 the Rangers did not know anything about sol- 
 diering, they did know what sort of men they 
 wanted for officers, and Tom received but 
 twelve votes out of sixty-five — his own and 
 those of the eleven recruits his father had 
 brought into the company. Then there was 
 trouble in the camp, and if Tom and his father 
 
8 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 had possessed the physical power they would 
 have thrashed every Ranger in it. But there 
 was one thing about it : if they could not have 
 a voice in the management of the company they 
 Avould not only cease to support it, but would 
 do their best to break it up ; and Tom acted 
 upon this rule or ruin jjolicy by Avithdrawing 
 from the ranks almost as soon as the result of 
 the ballot was announced, his example being 
 followed by the eleven recruits who had voted 
 for him. 
 
 "Now let's see how they will get on AA^jth 
 their Partisan Rangers," Tom said to his 
 father that night. " There's almost too much 
 social equality in that company anyway to 
 suit me. I have noticed it ever since I have 
 been in it. AVho is their second lieutenant, 
 the man they shoved into my place ? A com- 
 mon book-keeper who never in his life had the 
 price of a pickaninny in his pocket." 
 
 Tom hoped and believed that by withdraw- 
 ing fronj the company he had inflicted a blow 
 npon it from which it would never recover ; 
 but to liig surprise and disgust the Rangers 
 went ahead with their plans as if nothing had 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUARD. 9 
 
 happened. Rodney Gray, the only member of 
 the organization who knew anything about 
 military matters, was made first duty sergeant 
 and drill-master ; and under his skilful man- 
 agement the Rangers changed so rapidly froin 
 awkward greenhorns to soldiers, and became 
 so proficient in the school of the companj^, 
 that the deserters, with the single exception 
 of Tom Randolph himself, began to repent 
 their hasty action, and ask one another what 
 they could do to induce the Rangers to take 
 them back again. They knew they could not 
 look to Mr. Randolph for an outfit, for he took 
 Tom's defeat as a deliberate insult to his 
 family, and instead of promoting enlistments 
 in the company was doing all he could to stop 
 them. The only one they could turn to for 
 help was Rodney Gray's father — a man who 
 had said and done nothing of consequence to 
 show that he was in favor of partisan organiza- 
 tions, and who was looked upon with suspicion 
 by his neighbors because he put no faith in 
 the final success of the secession movement, 
 and did not hesitate to say that the South 
 would be whipped as she deserved to be for 
 
10 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 trying to break up the government. There 
 were thousands of wealthy and influential men 
 in Louisiana who believed as he did ; and yet 
 they did more to help the soldiers than the 
 blatant rebels who were fierce for a fight at 
 the beginning, but went over to the Federals at 
 the first opportunity, and became "spies and 
 informers for the sake of the loaves and fishes 
 that fell into their hands." The sequel proved 
 that the recruits went to the right man, for six 
 of the eleven were fitted out at Mr. Gray's ex- 
 pense. And he did not boast of it either, as 
 Mr. Randolph and Tom had done. 
 
 Captain Hubbard's Rangers, as the company 
 was always called, got on very well until they 
 began looking around for someone to swear 
 them into the service and order them to the 
 front, and then the trouble began. They first 
 applied to the commanding officer at New Or- 
 leans ; but he declined to have anything to do 
 with them unless they would give up their in- 
 dependent organization, and that was some- 
 thing the Rangers were determined they would 
 not do to please anybody. They formed their 
 company in the first place because they were 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUARD. 11 
 
 led to believe that the Richmond government 
 was in full sympathy with such organizations, 
 which would be allowed full liberty of action 
 when sworn into the service of the State ; but 
 such would by no means be the case if they 
 permitted themselves to be sworn into the 
 service of the Confederacy. As one of the 
 Rangers expressed it : "If they were going to 
 give their liberty up to a new government 
 they might as well have stayed under the 
 old." 
 
 Tom Randolph was delighted when he heard 
 of this state of affairs, and the Rangers them- 
 selves were much depressed ; but Rodney Gray 
 was sure he saw a way out of the difficulty 
 when he received a letter from his old school- 
 mate and chum, Dick Graham, who lived in 
 Missouri. In that letter Dick said he be- 
 longed to an organization of partisans who 
 were known as State Guards. Their immediate 
 commander was General Price, but they were 
 required to take oath to obey Governor 
 Jackson and nobody else. In plain English 
 this meant that while the State Guards were 
 willing to look out for the secession movement 
 
12 RODNEY, THE OVEKSEER. 
 
 in Missouri and keep all Yankee invaders off 
 her soil, they did not intend to go into any 
 other State unless they felt like it, or permit 
 the Richmond authorities to control their 
 movements in any way. That was exactly the 
 kind of partisans tliat Captain Hubbard and 
 his men wanted to be ; and when Rodney 
 Gray said tliat if the Governor of their own 
 State would not accept them as a company, 
 they had a perfect right to offer themselves to 
 the Governor of another, and that it might be 
 a good plan to ask General Price if he would 
 take the Rangers just as they were, Captain 
 Hubbard was glad to act upon the suggestion. 
 So, without delay, a telegram was sent to 
 Dick Graham's father in St. Louis, and in due 
 time the answer came back : 
 
 Price will accept. Company officers and independent 
 organization to remain the same. 
 
 To quote from Rodney, this brought the 
 matter squarely home to the Rangers, who 
 were compelled to decide wpon some course of 
 action without loss of time. A business meet- 
 ing of the company (and a stormy one it turned 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUATID. 13 
 
 out to be) was held that very day ; and 
 although Captain Hubbard and Rodney car- 
 ried their point, it was only by a small 
 majority of votes that the Rangers consented 
 to leave their own State and go into the service 
 of another. 
 
 Believing it to be a good plan to strike while 
 the iron was hot, Captain Hubbard and one of 
 his officers at once set out for New Orleans to 
 find a boat that would take the company to 
 Little Rock ; but in the meantime the Gov- 
 ernor of Louisiana got wind of the affair 
 through spies in the telegraph office in Moore- 
 ville, and tried to upset the designs of the 
 Rangers by having them sworn in by General 
 Lacey, who was a Confederate officer. He 
 would have succeeded too had it not been 
 for quick-witted Rodney Gray, who cautioned 
 his comrades not to answer to their names 
 when the roll was called. He did more. 
 When his own name was called he rode to 
 the front and centre and surprised and an- 
 gered the general, a veteran of the Mexican 
 War, who had never learned to recognize any 
 ororanizations outside of those mentioned in 
 
14 IIODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 the Army Regulations, by stating that the 
 company was an independent one whose mem- 
 bers, while willing and eager to be sworn into 
 the service of their State, did not desire to 
 enter the service of the Confederate States. 
 They enlisted as partisans, and partisans 
 they wished to remain. Upon hearing this 
 the veteran was astounded. He declared, by 
 the shade of the great and good Washington, 
 that he did not know what the country was 
 coming to, flung the roll-book on the ground 
 at the feet of Rodney's horse, and rode away 
 in a huff ; and that was the last of Captain 
 Hubbard's Rangers, They broke ranks then 
 and there and never held a company meeting 
 afterward. 
 
 The next morning Rodney Gray, who was 
 determined to be a partisan and nothing else, 
 started for Missouri with no companion but his 
 horse, and eventually succeeded in finding his 
 friend Graham in spite of all the efforts that 
 were made, both by Union men and rebels, to 
 stop him. Of course Tom Randolph was happy 
 over the way things had turned out, and one 
 would think he ought to have been satisfied ; 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUARD. 15 
 
 but he was not. Every one of the Rangers who 
 voted against him when he ran for second lieu- 
 tenant made an enemy of Tom, and he showed 
 it as often as the opportunity was presented. 
 He felt particularly spiteful toward Rodney 
 Gray, whose services as drill-master had been 
 publicly acknowledged by the gift of an elegant 
 sword from the company, and he began perse- 
 cuting him the moment he learned that Rodney 
 had decided to leave the State and go to Mis- 
 souri. With the aid of a friend of his, Drum- 
 mond by name, who had charge of the tele- 
 graph office in Mooreville, he paved the way 
 for Rodney's arrest in St. Louis by sending a 
 description of him and his horse to Mr. Ran- 
 dolph's agent, a Yankee cotton factor, who 
 lived in that city ; but this scheme, which 
 might have brought Rodney's soldiering to an 
 end before it was fairly began, was frustrated 
 by a "student" in Drummond's office whose 
 name was Griffin, and who went all the way to 
 Baton Rouge by night to warn Rodney of the 
 plots that had been laid against him. Acting 
 on his friendly hints Rodney did not go to St. 
 Louis as he had intended, but left the boat at 
 
16 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Cedar Bluff Landing in Missouri ; and from 
 there, after some exciting experiences with a 
 squad of emergency men who happened to 
 come in with a prisoner during the night, he 
 set off across the country to find General Price 
 and Dick Graham. 
 
 He had undertaken something from which 
 the boldest man might have shrunk without 
 any fear of being accused of timidity ; but he 
 came through with flying colors as we have 
 said, did a soldier's duty side by side with his 
 friend Dick for fifteen dreary months, was dis- 
 charged with him at Tupelo after the evacu- 
 ation of Corinth, and brought Dick home with 
 him to his father's house at Mooreville, where 
 they were both resting at the time this story 
 begins. Even after they were discharged, and 
 had begun telling each other that their troubles 
 and trials as soldiers were all over, they met 
 with an adventure that under almost any other 
 circumstances might have proved a serious 
 thing for them. Shortly after they left Camp 
 Pinckney on their way home, they ran into a 
 squad of Union troopers, who covered them with 
 their carbines and told them to come in out of 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUARD, 17 
 
 the rain. They were jDrisoners for the first 
 time, but did not remain so any longer than 
 it took their captors to read their discharges. 
 The boys' hearts overflowed with gratitude 
 when the good-natured corporal who com- 
 manded the squad jerked his thumb over his 
 shoulder and told them to " git," and Kodney 
 hinted that tlie time might come when they 
 could repay his kindness. Strange as it may 
 appear the time did come, and perhaps we 
 shall see if Rodney remembered and kept his 
 promise. 
 
 Rodney Grray was the only one of Captain 
 Hubbard's Rangers who became a partisan. 
 The Governor's attempt to have them sworn 
 into the Confederate service against their will 
 broke them up completely, and so disgusted 
 some of their number that they declared they 
 never wanted to see a man with a star on his 
 collar again ; but they could not remain at 
 home while all their friends were making haste 
 to go to the front for fear that the fun Avould 
 all be over and the Yankees whipped before 
 they could get there, and in the end every one 
 of them became what he repeatedly declared 
 
18 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 he never would be — a Confederate soldier. 
 Then it was that Tom Randolph and his father 
 began to bestir themselves. There was a good 
 deal of pressure brought to bear upon every 
 young man and boy in the South about that 
 time, and those who would not put on a gray 
 jacket or do something else to show their zeal 
 for the cause were coldly treated and some- 
 times snubbed ; but Tom Randolph escaped all 
 this, and even raised himself higher in the esti- 
 mation of some of the Mooreville people by 
 procuring, through his father's influence, a 
 captain's commission in the State militia, with 
 authority to recruit a company of mounted 
 men who were to act as Home Guards. Tom 
 knew the commission was coming and prepared 
 for it by ordering a fine uniform and horse 
 equipments of the latest "and most exj)ensive 
 pattern, not forgetting an officer's sword Avhich 
 on its scabbard bore an inscription to the effect 
 that the weapon was presented by his affec- 
 tionate relatives, and on the blade the old 
 Spanish legend : 
 
 Draw me not without a cause, 
 Nor sheath me with dishonor. 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUAED. 19 
 
 "That is a good motto, my son," said Mr. 
 Randolph, when Tom drew the weapon and 
 proudly showed it as though his father had 
 never seen it before, "and I trust you will 
 bear it constantly in mind." 
 
 "The cause of the South is a righteous cause, 
 for it is the cause of freedom the world over," 
 shouted Captain Randolph, pounding the table 
 with his fist and ignoring the fact that his father 
 held more than four hundred men, women, and 
 children in bondage at that moment. "To 
 cease fighting for that cause at the bidding of 
 the tyrant Lincoln would be dishonor ; and 
 the stain upon our record as a nation would 
 be so deep and black that it never could be 
 wiped out. When once I have drawn this 
 beautiful sword in defence of the riglits of 
 my country, it shall never be sheathed until 
 every Yankee south of Mason and Dixon's 
 line has been driven back where he be- 
 longs." 
 
 The eloquent soldier pounded the table with 
 his fist ; everyone in the room, negro servants 
 and all, applauded ; and one of the latter ven- 
 tured to say, in tones that of course were not 
 
20 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER, 
 
 intended to reach the officer's ears : "Say, you 
 niggahs ! What' 11 you bet dem Yankees don' t 
 run fit to kill derselves when dey see Mass' 
 Tom comin' ?" As to Tom, he smiled com- 
 placently and said to himself: "That was a 
 better speech than Rodney Gray delivered 
 when those Rangers gave him that frog-sticker 
 of his." 
 
 • Knowing Rodney Gray and Dick Graham 
 as well as you ought to know them by this 
 time, what do you think they would have 
 thought if they had been in that room and 
 listened to Tom's words? Before twenty 
 minutes had passed away he appeared upon 
 the streets of Mooreville in the full glory 
 of his captain's suit and with his horse 
 duly caparisoned ; but having no company 
 to command he prudently left his sword at 
 home. 
 
 It was Tom's wish and his father's to bring 
 the strength of the company up to a hundred 
 men ; but Tom found it harder work to raise a 
 small fraction of that number than it was to 
 get his commission from the Governor. Everj-- 
 one who presented himself was accepted, and 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUARD. 21 
 
 tliat too without reference to his social stand- 
 ing or his ability to pass the surgeon ; and 
 when all other expedients to promote enlist- 
 ments had been tried, Mr. Randolph came to 
 the front, as he had done in the case of the 
 Rangers,, with the offer to arm and equip all 
 recruits who could not furnish their own out- 
 fit. This helped matters along amazingly ; 
 and when fifty men liad been enrolled Cap- 
 tain Randolph ordered them to appear in one 
 of his father's fields on a certain afternoon, 
 armed and equipped as the law directed, 
 for "company inspection." No one knew 
 just what the order meant, but the men were 
 all in the field at the appointed time ; and 
 when Tom came to look at them as they sat 
 in their saddles facing him, after making an 
 awkward and ineffectual effort to fall in line, 
 he was disgusted with tliem and with himself 
 too. Until that moment he had no idea that 
 he had been enrolling so unpromising a body 
 of men. Men ! They looked more like lazy 
 vagabonds, as indeed the most of them were. 
 Rodney Gray himself could not have made 
 soldiers of them. The next half hour was an 
 
22 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 ordeal that Captain Tom never wanted to pass 
 through again ; but we will let him describe it 
 in his own way, 
 
 "They were the worst looking fellows I 
 think I ever saw," Tom told his father and 
 mother when he reached home after the "in- 
 spection" was over. "I brought them to- 
 gether because I wanted to see how they 
 looked, and how I would look riding at their 
 head ; and to tell the honest truth, if a stranger 
 had come into that field when they first tried 
 to draw themselves up in line I believe I 
 should have put spurs to my horse and 
 galloped away rather than be seen in their 
 company." 
 
 "Why, what was the matter with them ? " 
 inquired his mother, who took as deep an in- 
 terest in the organization as Tom himself, and 
 was anxious tliat it should win a name for him 
 after the rebuff he had received at the hands 
 of Captain Hubbard's Rangers. " You knew 
 they were not gentlemen when you asked 
 them to give in their names. There are few of 
 that sort left in the country, more's the pity." 
 
 "I know that; but I hoped they might 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUAKD. 23 
 
 have pride enoiigli to make a half- way respect- 
 able appearance at inspection," answered Cap- 
 tain Tom. " In the first place, no two of them 
 were mounted, armed, or dressed alike. In 
 the next, they came just as they had been at 
 work in the field in the forenoon, and I don't 
 believe that half of them had taken the trouble 
 to wash their faces or comb their hair." 
 
 " They looked just as we see them on the 
 streets every day, I suppose," said Mr. Ran- 
 dolph. 
 
 " Just- the same, only worse," rej)lied Tom, 
 who was almost mad enough to cry every time 
 he thought of it. " Here was a man mounted on 
 the heaviest kind of a plough horse and carry- 
 ing a long squirrel rifle on his shoulder, and 
 beside him was one on a little runt of a mule 
 and armed with a heavy double-barrel deer- 
 killer. Not a few of them had chicken or 
 turkey feathers stuck in their slouch hats for 
 plumes, and some had pipes in their mouths ; 
 and when I said that no smoking would be 
 allowed in the ranks, they did not hesitate 
 to tell me that I need not think I could boss 
 them around as Rodney Gray had bossed the 
 
24 KOD]^ET, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Rangers while lie was acting as their drill- 
 master, for that was something- they would 
 not submit to." 
 
 "Why the — the impudence!" exclaimed 
 Mrs. Randolph ; while her husband looked 
 down at the floor and told himself that that 
 was about what might have been expected 
 of such men as he and Tom had been able to 
 bring into the Home Guards. 
 
 "Thafs the kind of soldiers they are," con- 
 tinued Captain Tom. " They knov/ I haven't 
 the power to enforce my commands, and so 
 they intend to do pretty near as they please. 
 The only reason they joined was because they 
 wanted an excuse for keeping out of the army, 
 and get the horses and weapons that were 
 l)romised them." 
 
 "And food," added Mrs. Randolph. 
 
 "Food!" exclaimed her husband. "I 
 didn't promise them any food except in case 
 they were ordered to some other jjart of the 
 State, and then I said I would look out for the 
 families of those who were too poor to make 
 provision for them." 
 
 "Well, a rough looking fellow who said he 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUARD. 25 
 
 was a member of the company came to the 
 kitchen yesterday and asked for some bacon 
 on the strength of that promise, and I gave it 
 to him," said Mrs. Randolph, 
 
 " I'll bet he p)layed a game on you," said 
 Captain Tom. 
 
 " That's a pretty state of affairs ! " exclaimed 
 the father, profoundly astonished. "Don't 
 give another mouthful to him or anybody else 
 on the strength of promises I made to that 
 company. As long as they stay about here 
 they will earn their own food or go hungry." 
 
 " That's tlie kind of soldiers they are," re- 
 peated Tom. "They enlisted because they 
 are afraid to go into the army and too lazy 
 to work, and not because they care a picayune 
 for the Confederacy. And after I had brought 
 them in line as well as I could, and told one 
 man to take his pants out of his boots and be 
 sure that those boots were blacked the next 
 time he came out to inspection, and ordered 
 another to put his hat on straight and quit 
 carrying his gun flat on his shoulder as he 
 would if he were hog hunting in the woods, 
 they made up their minds that they would 
 
26 RODNEY, THE OVERSEEK. 
 
 elect officers. When I told tliem that I hadn't 
 brought them together for any such purpose, 
 and that we would postpone the matter until 
 the company had been brought up to its full 
 strength, they didn't pay the least attention 
 to me." 
 
 "It's a rabble — a mob and nothing else," 
 cried Mrs. Randolph, who looked as angry as 
 her son felt. " It is the one wish of my heart 
 to see you take a proud position among the 
 noble defenders of your country, but you will 
 never have anything more to do with those 
 ruffians with my consent. Whom did they 
 choose for officers ?" 
 
 Tom mentioned the names of two of the 
 meanest men in the country for miles around, 
 and his angry mother continued : 
 
 " A common overseer and an acknowledged 
 chicken and hog thief ! My son, you must not 
 appear again in the company of those men." 
 
 "I don't intend to," replied Tom, jumping 
 to his feet and striding up and down the room. 
 " Although I despise every man in Captain 
 Hubbard's company, and have ever since they 
 defeated me for the second lieutenancy, I must 
 
A DISGUSTED HOME GUAKD. 27 
 
 acknowledge that tliey were a fine looking 
 body of men, and I somehow got it into my 
 head that my Home Guards would look and 
 act just like them ; but they don't, and I am 
 so disappointed that I don't see how I can 
 ever get over it. I'll hold fast to my com- 
 mission and rank, but I'll have nothing more 
 to do with that company of Home Guards." 
 
 Slowly and sadly Captain Tom ascended to 
 his room, where he took off his fine uniform 
 and arrayed himself in the citizen's suit he 
 had vowed never to put on again until he 
 had helped the South gain her independence. 
 Then he put his handsome sword into its cloth 
 case, stood it up in the darkest corner of his 
 closet, and closed the door. He felt like a 
 monarch who had lost his crown. 
 
CHAPTER IL 
 
 CAPTAIN TOM SMELLS POWDER. 
 
 FOR a long time Captain Randolpli re- 
 mained firm in liis resolution to have 
 nothing more to do with the Home Guards. 
 Although he did not formally throw wp his 
 command of the company he kept away from it 
 as much as he could, and never ordered it to ap- 
 pear for drills and inspections ; but by sodoing 
 he did not by any means escape being taken to 
 task for the lawless acts of which his men were 
 guilty. The company well deserved the name 
 that Mrs. Randolph had api3lied to it, and one 
 could not reasonably expect that they would 
 conduct themselves as the high-toned Moore- 
 ville Rangers would have done under the same 
 circumstances. It had never occurred to them 
 to inquire what their duties would be when 
 they were sworn into the service of the State, 
 and it is extremely doubtful if their captain 
 could have enlightened them on that point ; 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SMELLS POWDER. 29 
 
 but in tlieir ignorance they took it for grunted 
 that they had been given liberty to do as they 
 pleased, and acting under the leadership of 
 tlieir Lieutenants, Lambert, the overseer, and 
 Moseley, the chicken and hog thief, they very 
 soon made themselves known to and feared 
 and hated by the citizens for miles around. 
 Tom heard of their exploits now and then, 
 and although he stamped his feet and shook 
 his clenched hands in the air, he did nothing to 
 show his authority. At last things came to 
 such a pass that Captain Tom, to quote from 
 Rodney's friend Griffin, who Avas closely 
 watching the movements of the Home Guards, 
 " had to fish or cut bait." 
 
 Bright and early one morning a couple of 
 angry planters galloped furiously into Mr, 
 Randolph's front yard, threw themselves from 
 their horses, leaving the animals to tramp 
 down the flower beds or stand still as they 
 pleased, entered the house without knocking, 
 and made their way through the hall into the 
 dining room, where the family sat at breakfast. 
 Without giving anybody time to express sur- 
 prise at their abrupt entrance or to inquire 
 
30 RODNEr, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 into the nature of tlieir business, they stalked 
 around the table to the chair in which Tom 
 was sitting and shook their fists in his face 
 pretty close to his nose. 
 
 " Look-a-here, young feller," said the one 
 whose rage would permit him to speak first, 
 " what do you mean by sending them vaga- 
 bonds of yourn, them Home Guards, into 
 gentlemen's houses to turn things up topsy- 
 turvy?" 
 
 The men looked so dangerous that Captain 
 Tom turned white with alarm, but could not 
 utter a word. He understood the charge and 
 knew he was innocent, but he could not say 
 so. 
 
 " When that company of yourn was first got 
 together you took pains to spread it around 
 that you were going to use them to clean out 
 the Union men," the planter almost shouted. 
 "That was all right and I didn't have a word 
 to say against it, for I thought they oughter 
 be driven out ; but why don' t you confine your- 
 selves to searching the houses of Union men, 
 and let good and loyal Confederates like me 
 and my neighbor alone ? We are as strong for 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SMELLS POWDER. 31 
 
 the South and as ready to fight for her as you 
 are ; and I tell you once for all '' 
 
 By this time Tom's father and mother had 
 recovered themselves in some measure, but 
 Tom himself was still so frightened that he 
 could not speak. The former arose and 
 placed chairs for the qisitors, and Mrs. Ran- 
 dolph told the girl to lay plates for them, add- 
 ing that if they would sit down and tell their 
 story while drinking a cup of coffee, she was 
 sure her son could clear himself of the serious 
 accusations they had brought against him. 
 If their houses had been raided by the Home 
 Guards they might rest assured that a Ran- 
 dolph was in no way to blame for it. This 
 calmed the storm and made the visitors look 
 as though they felt a little ashamed of them- 
 selves ; but they sat down and told their 
 story. 
 
 " It seems that that man Lambert, who 
 always was too lazy and trifling to earn an 
 honest living, has give up his situation as over- 
 seer on Miss Randall's place, and took to raid- 
 ing through the country on his own hook," 
 said the planter who had thus far done all the 
 
32 EODNET, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 talking. " We have heard of him a time or 
 two, but so long as he stole from Union men 
 and pestered them it was all right ; but last 
 night he jumped down on me and Boswell, and 
 that is a little more than we can stand." 
 
 "I don't see what made him do that," ex- 
 claimed Tom, who had by this time found his 
 tongue. " He knows you are good Confeder- 
 ates." 
 
 " Of course he knows it, and when we re- 
 minded him of it he didn't try to deny it ; 
 but he allowed we had guns in the house, and 
 that them dangerous things couldn't be per- 
 mitted to stay in the country except in the 
 hands of soldiers. So he came to our houses 
 and searched them ; and as he had about a 
 dozen men in his gang we couldn' t liel^D our- 
 selves." 
 
 "As sure as I live I never gave him orders 
 to search anybody's premises," declared Tom. 
 
 "I don't reckon you ever gave him much 
 orders of any sort," replied the planter, with 
 a look on his face which showed that he knew 
 about how much authority Tom had over the 
 Home Guards. 
 
CAPTAIN" TOM SMELLS POWDER. 33 
 
 "And bear this in mind," added liis com- 
 panion: "when we found that we couldn't 
 say or do anything to stop them, and that 
 they were dead set on liavirig the guns, we 
 oiTexed to bring 'em out rutlier than have them 
 dirty vagabonds rummaging over our things; 
 but that didn't by no means suit Lambert. 
 Him and his men must go in themselves so as 
 to be sure of getting everything in tlie shaj^e 
 of weapons there was. And when they got 
 Into my house where do you suppose was the 
 first place they went to 1 " added Boswell, with 
 suppressed fury. 
 
 "I have not the slightest idea," replied Mrs. 
 Randolph, when the man stopped and looked 
 around as if he expected an answer. 
 
 "To the bed," said Tom, who had heard 
 that it was a good ])lan for raiders to look 
 between mattresses for things they wanted to 
 find. 
 
 "1^0, they didn't. They went straight to 
 my Avife's bureau," said Boswell fiercely. 
 "That was a pretty place to look for guns, 
 wasn't it, now ?" 
 
 Tom was thunderstruck. He knew that the 
 3 
 
34 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Home Guards lind been denounced as robbers 
 because tliey liad ransacked tlie dwellings and 
 snioke-liouses of Union men, and had thought 
 nothing of it, for Union men had no rights, 
 and were not in the least deserving of sym- 
 pathy ; but this was a different matter alto- 
 gether. It would never do to let such a story 
 as that get to the ears of the Governor. 
 
 "Perhaps they looked into the bureau for 
 revolvers," he managed to say at length. 
 
 "No, they didn't. They looked for rings 
 and breastpins and bracelets and the like ; 
 but they didn't find none, for my wife was 
 sharp enough to put the whole business into 
 her pocket as soon as she see that they were 
 set on coming into the house. All the same, 
 they got a rifle that cost me $125 in gold in 
 New Orleans in good times, and a shot gun 
 that is worth almost twice as much. And 
 ril tell you what's a fact, Tom Randolph : 
 I want them guns back. They're mine, and if 
 I don't get 'em I'll raise a fuss." 
 
 "And while you are getting them you might 
 a« well tell Lambert to hand over the two guns 
 he stole from me," said the other visitor, " and 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SMELLS POWDER. 35 
 
 that if he ever pokes his long nose inside my 
 door again I'll send the contents of one of 'em 
 into it. I say nothing about the hams they 
 took from my smoke house, but they mustn't 
 try to take any more. I reckon me and Bos- 
 well were a little too fast in accusing you of 
 sending Limbert to search our houses, but you 
 being the captain, you know, why — really you 
 had oughter make them fellers go a little 
 slower. What do you think of the situation 
 anyhow, Mr. Randolph ? And how long will 
 it be before we shall have Washington ? " 
 
 Mr. Randolph and his wife were glad to 
 have the conversation turned into another 
 channel, and so was Captain Tom, who did not 
 want to hear any more about Lieutenant Lam- 
 bert and his exploits. He was ill at ease as 
 long as the visitors remained ; but they went 
 away as soon as they had drunk their coffee, 
 and seemed as glad to go as the Randolphs 
 were to have them. 
 
 Tom did not eat a hearty breakfast that 
 morning, for the fear that the Governor might 
 get wind of Lambert's latest raid and revoke 
 his commission, added to the difficulties he 
 
36 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 saw ill his way of complying with the demands 
 his late visitors had made upon him, took 
 away his appetite. He must restore those 
 guns to their owners — there were no two ways 
 about that ; but how should he go to work to 
 get them ? His first thought was to present 
 himself before Lambert in full uniform and, by 
 virtue of the authority conferred upon him by 
 his captain's commission, wdiich stated in plain 
 language that he was to be obeyed by all per- 
 sons under him, demand the return of the 
 stolen jDroperty forthwith. That was the way 
 any other cnptain would have gone about it, 
 Tom thought ; but he was afraid that bluster 
 might not prove successful in his case. He had 
 reason to fear (and it was one of the heaviest 
 trials he was called upon to bear) that he did not 
 stand as high in the estimation of some of his 
 men as he did in his mother's ; that he had on 
 one or two occasions been compared to a wagon's 
 fifth wheel in point of usefulness, and it would 
 be just like the insubordinate Lambert to re- 
 fuse point blank to obey his orders. That 
 would be unfortunate, for it would show to the 
 world, and perhaps to the Governor, that Tom 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SMELLS POWDER. 37 
 
 was not tlie real capfaiu of the Home Guards. 
 After looking at the matter from all sides he 
 made up his mind that conciliation would be 
 his best policy, and when he rode away to 
 seek an interview wdth his lientenant he wore 
 citizen's clothes and left his sword behind. He 
 found Lambert at his quarters on the Ran- 
 dall pLmtation, where he continued to live, 
 although he had turned the work over to the 
 field hands and seldom took the trouble to 
 see how it was going on, and he was just get- 
 ting ready to mount the horse that had been 
 brought to liis door. 
 
 " Hallo, lieutenant ! " began Tom, with 
 more familiarity and good-fellowship than he 
 had ever before exhibited in addressing the 
 man. 
 
 "Morning, cap'n," replied the overseer, 
 who might have responded to the salutation 
 in a very different way if Tom had not been 
 respectful enough to put a handle to his name. 
 " Want to see me ? " 
 
 " I came over on purpose to have a friendly 
 talk with you," said Tom. "Look here, old 
 fellow ; you will play smash if you don't stop 
 
38 RODl^EY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 raiding the premises of such men as Boswell 
 and Wallace. What induced you to do it ? " 
 
 "Aint I got a right to look forwe'pons?" 
 demanded Lambert. 
 
 " You have authority from me," answered 
 Tom, with some emphasis on the two last 
 words, "to search the houses of Union men, 
 but you have no right to enter the dwellings 
 of Confederates." 
 
 " Look-a-here, cap'n. I knowed that them 
 two men had guns in hiding." 
 
 "But you didn't expect to find them in 
 bureau drawers, did you ? " 
 
 "Eh ? " exclaimed the overseer. He looked 
 somewhat abashed for a moment and then 
 continued : " When I search a house I search 
 it. I look into every hole and corner in it." 
 
 "That is perfectly right when you search 
 houses belonging to the enemies of your coun- 
 try ; but it is all wrong when you enter the 
 houses of our friends. Such work will turn 
 them against us — make enemies of them. I 
 saw Boswell and Wallace this morning and 
 they are mad as hornets. They want their 
 guns back." 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SMELLS POWDER. 39 
 
 " Well, the next time you see 'em just ask 
 if they'll have 'em now or wait till they get 
 'em. I want them guns myself to keep the 
 Yankees from getting 'em." 
 
 "The Yankees!" said Tom contemptu- 
 ously. "You don't think they will ever get 
 this far South, do you V 
 
 " They mout. Didn't you say yourself that 
 they was liable to come down from Cairo or up 
 from New Orleans, and that we'd onghter have 
 a company of Home Guards here to stop 'em ? " 
 
 "I said there was a bare possibility that 
 they might do so, and that it would be the 
 part of wisdom to prepare for an emergency," 
 answered Caj)tain Tom, who well remembered 
 that he had used stronger language than that 
 while urging Lambert to send in his name. 
 " But I want those guns and must have them 
 at once. You' haven't any commission from 
 the Governor yet, and I " 
 
 When Tom said this he stopi)ed abruptly 
 and gave such a start that his lieutenant looked 
 up at him in surprise. 
 
 "What's the matter, cap'n?" said he. 
 "You what?" 
 
40 EODNEY, THE OVEllSEEK. 
 
 "Yoa haven't received your commission 
 from the Governor yet," repeated Tom slowly 
 and emphatically. " And when I " 
 
 " Have I got to have a paper like yourn ? " 
 exclaimed Lambert, looking astonished and 
 interested. " That's news to me." 
 
 " Yes. And it can come to yon only through 
 my recommendation. I must certify that you 
 were legally elected to the office you hold, and 
 that was the reason I did not want you men to 
 go through the farce of holding an election on 
 horseback on the day I ordered you out forin- 
 specltion," replied Tom ; but the truth was he 
 had never thought of it until that moment. 
 It was a bright idea that suddenly Hitted 
 through his mind, and he wondered why it had 
 been so long in coming to him. 
 
 "Well, by gum!" was all the disgusted 
 Lambert could say in reply. 
 
 "Your papers, if you get them, Avill be 
 something like mine, only different, you know, 
 for a captain outranks a lieutenant bj a large 
 majority," continued Tom, improving to the 
 utmost the advantage he had so unexpectedly 
 gained. " You have no authority to make out 
 
CAPTAIN TOAt SMELLS POWDER. 41 
 
 warrants, but I have ; and our non-coms., if 
 we had any, would have to look to me for 
 them." 
 
 This was all Greek to the overseer, who had 
 taken no pains to post himself on military 
 matters, but he did not ask Tom to explain, 
 for he was anxious to hear more about the 
 commission he ought to have, but had not yet 
 received. 
 
 " Well, go on," said he impatiently, "xind 
 when you what ? " 
 
 "And when I make my first report to t)ie 
 Governor or his adjutant-general, and ask him 
 about your commission and Moseley's, I want 
 to be able to say that you are in every way 
 satisfactory to me as well as to the people 
 hereabouts, and that I am sure you will make 
 brave and obedient officers. But you can see 
 for yourself that I can't say that if you keep 
 on bothering good and loyal Confederates like 
 AVallace and Boswell. I think you had better 
 give me those guns." 
 
 "I aint got but one," replied Lambert, who 
 seemed to have lost the independent and swag- 
 gering air he had assumed at the beginning of 
 
42 KODNEY, THE OVEUSKKK, 
 
 tlie interview, "and I'll go right in and bring 
 it out." 
 
 "Where are the others?" demanded Cap- 
 tain Tom. 
 
 "Well, Moseley's got one, Smith's got 
 another, and where t'other one has went I dis- 
 remember just at this minute." 
 
 "You distributed the spoils among you, it 
 seems." 
 
 "Yes, kinder; so't the Yankees couldn't 
 easy find them." 
 
 "Then you must ride around and gather 
 them up ; and as I have nothing particular 
 to do this morning I will go with you. I'd 
 rather be a king among hogs than a hog 
 among kings any day," said Tom to himself, 
 as his lieutenant turned about and went into 
 his house, "but I confess I little thought I 
 should get so low down as to command a 
 lot of brigands. That idea about the com- 
 missions makes me the biggest toad in the 
 puddle from this time on. I'll hold them 
 up as prospective rewards for good be- 
 havior and prompt obedience of orders ; but 
 Lambert and Moseley shall never have 
 
CAPTAIN" TOM SMELLS POWDER. 43 
 
 commissions on mj recommendation, I bet 
 you." 
 
 The Home Guards had deliberately stolen 
 these four valuable guns, and Tom Randolph 
 knew it as soon as lie found how they had 
 been scattered about. The plea that if -per- 
 mitted to remain in possession of their owners 
 they might be captured by the Yankees, who 
 would use them to kill Confederates, was Lam- 
 bert's excuse for one of the worst outrages 
 that had ever been perpetrated in that part of 
 Louisiana ; but it was by no means the last. 
 Three-fourths of all the Home Guards in the 
 South were like Captain Tom's men, and the 
 worst that can be said of them is that they 
 acted as guards at Andersonville, Libby,.Mil- 
 len, and Salisbury. It was not the Confederate 
 soldiers who served at the front, but the Home 
 Guards, who starved the boys in blue to death 
 in those prison pens, and hunted them with 
 blood-hounds when they escaped. 
 
 The upshot of the whole matter was that 
 Tom got the guns, which in due time were re- 
 stored to their lawful owners, and plumed 
 himself on having firmly established his au- 
 
44 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 tliority over liis men. Well, they did behave 
 a little better during the daytime and in that 
 settlement where they were so Avell known, 
 but they took to riding around of nights, and 
 making "visits of ceremony " to isolated farm- 
 lionses in which they had reason to suppose 
 that they would find something worth stealing. 
 But riding was anything but easy work, and 
 the novelty of frightening women and children 
 and browbeating unarmed men wore off after 
 a while ; and when they had secured bacon 
 and meal enough to last them for a few weeks, 
 the Home Guards subsided and were seldom 
 heard of again until the news of the glorious 
 victory at Bull Run raised the war spirit of 
 the .Southern i:)eople to the old fever heat. 
 Then they came to tlie surface again, and i)er- 
 secuted Union people in and around Moore- 
 ville so fiercely that some of them were i3om- 
 pelled to flee for their lives. Captain Randolph 
 being in command this time. From his friend 
 Drummond, the telegraph operator, he secured 
 a list of all suspected persons in the neighbor- 
 hood, and with this to aid him Tom succeeded 
 in doing effective work for the cause of South- 
 
CAPTATISr TOM SINEP^LLS POWDEIl, 45 
 
 ern independence. But it was too much like 
 labor to be kept up for any length of time ; 
 there was not very much glory in it anyway^ 
 the better class of Secessionists in the commu- 
 nity became strongly opposed to it, and so the 
 Home Gruards dropped out of sight once more, 
 not to appear again until Farragut captured 
 New Orleans and sent some of his vessels up 
 the river to effect a junction with Flng-OfRcer 
 Davis at Vicksburg. When the people of 
 Mooreville heard of it they were very indig- 
 nant, and some of them declared that they 
 would never submit to have their country 
 overrun in that way — they would die first ; 
 and to show how very much in enrnest they 
 were they stopped all work, sliut up their 
 houses, and ran about the streets in the greatest 
 excitement. When the ship of war Iroquois 
 came up with Commander Pahner on board 
 and demanded the surrender of Baton Rouge, 
 the mayor of tliat insignificant little town 
 "indulged in the same mock-heroic nonsense 
 that the mayor and council of New Orleans 
 had been indulging in the week before." He 
 declared that the city would not be surren- 
 
46 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 dered to any power on earth, and that if the 
 Federals took possession of it they would do 
 it without the consent and against the wishes 
 of the peaceable inhabitants. 
 
 " It was all done for effect, and that man 
 will be one of the last in the Confederacy to 
 shoulder a musket," said Rodney Gray when 
 he heard of it ; but being a soldier he ap- 
 plauded the action of Captain Palmer, who, 
 without any fuss or parade, promptly took 
 possession of the barracks, arsenal, and other 
 property of the United States. He hoisted the 
 flag of the Union over the arsenal too, and told 
 the boastful mayor in pretty plain language 
 that he would let it stay there if he did not 
 want to get himself and his town into trouble. 
 
 "All honor to the brave citizens of New 
 Orleans. They have shown me how I ought 
 to act in this emergency," said Captain Ran- 
 dolph on the morning the startling news came 
 that some of the victorious Union fleet had 
 steamed up the river. He posted for his room 
 the moment he heard of it, and when he came 
 down he was dressed in his uniform and wore 
 his glittering sword by his side. 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SMELLS POWDEll. 47 
 
 " Now take those things off and don't make 
 a fool of yourself," said Mr. Eandolph, who 
 had told his wife over and over again that 
 from the bottom of his heart he wished he 
 had never had anything to do with the Home 
 Guards. 
 
 "Don't be rash, my dear," said his mother 
 in tones more befitting the occasion. " What 
 are you going to do ? " 
 
 "I shall assemble my company and place 
 myself in a strong position between here and 
 Baton Rouge, and stand ready to resist tlie 
 enemy's advance upon Mooreville," replied 
 Tom. "The Federal General Butler has 
 more than 100,000 men, and can easily spare 
 some of them long enough to make our 
 capital a heap of ashes ; but the Governor 
 shall hear that I harassed them while they 
 were doing it, as our own Marion and his bold 
 men used to harass the Redcoats." 
 
 Those who were best acquainted with Tom 
 Randolph knew that he Avould not have gone 
 one step toward Baton Rouge if he had not 
 had the best of reasons for believing that there 
 were no troops at hand to take possession of 
 
48 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 the city after the war ships had captured it ; 
 but although Tom hinted as much to the 
 members of his company whom he tried to 
 rally to the defence of their hearth-stones, he 
 could not induce more than a handful of them 
 to turn out. It did not require very much 
 courage to rob Union men wjio had previously 
 been deprived of their weapons, but facing 
 bl ue-jackets who were likely to have loaded mus- 
 kets in their hands was a more serious matter. 
 The excuses the Home Guards made for refus- 
 ing to follow their captain were of the flimsiest 
 kind ; but, all the same, they wouldn't go, and 
 Tom finally rode away with only a baker's 
 dozen of men at his heels. They arrived with- 
 in sight of the spii'es of the city on the same 
 day that Captain Palmer's sailors hoisted the 
 Union flag over the arsenal, and might per- 
 haps have witnessed the ceremony if they had 
 gone a mile or two farther down the road ; 
 but Captain Tom could not uncover Mooreville 
 even for the sake of saving the capital of his 
 State. He did not even venture near enough 
 to the Mississippi to see the Iroquois' top- 
 masts ; but he went closer to the enemy than 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SMELLS POWDEU. 49 
 
 the cowards who remained at home, and that 
 was something to be proud of. 
 
 Captain Tom slept in a phuiter's house that 
 nioht, while his men bunked in the stables and 
 corn cribs and under the ti'ees in the yard, and 
 the next morning made a wide detour to the 
 river above the city with no other object in 
 view than to be able to say, when he went 
 home, that he had been there. If he had 
 known what he was going to see and exjjeri- 
 ence when he reached the river it isn't likely 
 that he would have gone in that direction at 
 all ; for he halted his men behind the levee 
 just in time to see a monster war vessel steam- 
 ing leisurely u]) the swift, muddy current of 
 the Mississipjii. She was the blackest, ugliest 
 looking thing that Tom's eyes had ever rested 
 on, and the queerest sensations came over him 
 as he gazed at her. It was not a cold day, but 
 Tom shivered violently, and tasted something 
 in his mouth that reminded him of salt. 
 
 '* By gum! There's one of them things 
 now. Let's try a whack at her. What do you 
 say, boys? " 
 
 Tom had been on the point of giving the 
 4 
 
50 KODXEY, THE OVERSEER, 
 
 signal for retreat, or trying to give it, but this 
 astounding and reckless i)roposition staggered 
 liim so that he could not open his mouth. 
 The man who made it showed that he w^as in 
 earnest by swinging himself from his horse 
 and advancing on all fours toward the levee, 
 dragging his rilie along the ground at his side. 
 In less time than it takes to tell it he and all 
 his companions were lying prone behind the 
 levee, using it as a breastwork, and Captain 
 Tom sat in his saddle looking on like one in a 
 dream. When they were all in position one 
 of the Home Guards set up a warwhoop, a 
 straggling fire ran along the top of the levee 
 and bullets and buckshot went Avhistling 
 toward the vessel. There were several men on 
 her deck and around the wheel-house, and 
 although Tom did not see any of them fall he 
 did see that they were badly frightened, for 
 lliey ran in all directions, and an instant later 
 there was not one of them to be seen. The 
 Home Guards yelled triumphantl}'^ and turned 
 on their backs behind their brenstwork to re- 
 load their guns. Then Tom managed to find 
 his voice ; but it sounded so strangely that he 
 
CAPTAIlSr TOM SMELLS POWDER. 51 
 
 Imrdly knew wlietlier it belonged to him or 
 not. 
 
 "That's the way to make the Yankees hunt 
 their holes," he said, in trembling tones. 
 " Give it to them again ! Cut their old tub to 
 pieces, my brave " 
 
 Just then a wide, dark opening appeared in 
 the side of the vessel nearest them, a black 
 object came slowly out, a thundering concus- 
 sion rent the air, and a thirty-two pound shell 
 came at them. It shrieked fearfully as it Hew 
 over the levee above their heads, and made 
 sucli a horrid din when it exploded in the 
 thick woods behind them, scattering iron and 
 branches about and cutting down twigs and 
 leaves in a perfect shower, that for a single 
 instant the Home Guards were motionless with 
 astonishment and terror. They had not hurt 
 the gunboat at all, but they had made her cap- 
 tain angry, and the fear tliat he might resent 
 the insult to his flag by firing more shells at 
 them sent the Home Guards to their saddles 
 in hot haste ; and with Captain Tom, who rode 
 the swiftest horse, far in the lead, they struck 
 out for home at a better pace than they had 
 
52 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 ever travelled before. And they never drew 
 rein until they had left the dangerous neigh- 
 borhood miles behind. 
 
 "It was the narrowest escape from an am- 
 buscade I ever had in my life," said Cnptain 
 Tom to the first man he met when he rode into 
 Mooreville that night, "and if it hadn't been 
 for my promptness in getting out of there I 
 shouldn't have had a man left. We'd have 
 been cut to pieces or captured, the last one of 
 us. We didn't see any enemy except the ship 
 we fired at, but a minute or so after she opened 
 on us a battery of flying artillery, that had all 
 the while been concealed in the timber in our 
 rear, cut loose on us with all its guns, and it's 
 a miracle that one of us escaped to tell the 
 story of the battle." 
 
 "But my partner came from Baton Rouge 
 to-day," said the man doubtfully, "and he 
 declares that there are no Yankee troops in the 
 country this side of New Orleans. So where 
 did that battery come from ?"• 
 
 "Don't you believe any such stuff," re- 
 plied Tom indignantly. "I tell you the 
 woods are full of them, and they are liable 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SMELLS POWDER. 53 
 
 to come to Mooreville between now and sun- 
 rise." 
 
 If no one else believed liis story Tom be- 
 lieved it himself, and the consequence was he 
 slept in his chair that night. But for some 
 reason the Yankees did not appear as he had 
 predicted, and they might have postponed 
 their coming indefinitely had it not been for 
 the lawless acts of Captain Tom's own men. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 THE CONSCKIPT'S FRIEND. 
 
 TOM RANDOLPH would have been very 
 angry indeed if anyone had told him that 
 the noise that thirty-two pound shell made 
 when it exploded in the woods, and led him 
 and his men to believe that there was a Union 
 battery concealed there, had frightened all 
 the war spirit out of him, but it is a fact that 
 after his experience with the gunboat he did 
 not show the least desire to take the field again 
 at the head of his corapan3^ Everybody knew 
 that there were no Federal troops in Baton 
 Rouge, but there were war vessels in the Mis- 
 sissippi holding the city under their guns, and 
 their presence had a depressing effect upon a 
 good many red-hot rebels besides Tom Ran- 
 dolph. More than that. General Butler had 
 assumed command at New Orleans ; and the 
 energetic and effective way in which he dealt 
 with treason there opened the eyes of the 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND. 55 
 
 Mooreville people to tlie fact that there might 
 be a day of settlement coming for them also, 
 and that it would be well if they could have 
 a tolerably clean record to show when the in- 
 vading armj^ moved up to take possession of 
 Baton Rouge. 
 
 This was the way Mr. Randolph and some of 
 his neighbors looked at the situation ; and act- 
 ing upon the hints they drojDped in his pres- 
 ence, Tom concealed his uniform and sword 
 in the garret, where he thought no one would 
 be likely to look for them. He was getting 
 tired of war anyway, he said, and wished the 
 past could be blotted out and things be as they 
 were before South Carolina, by her senseless 
 act of secession, brought so much trouble upon 
 him and his friends. He Avas not as disgusted 
 and angry as a good Confederate ought to have 
 been when he heard a man from Baton Rouge 
 affirm that after all the Yankees were not such 
 a bad sort when one became acquainted with 
 them, and that some of the towns- people were 
 not ashamed to confess to a friendly feeling 
 for the crews of the gunboats that were an- 
 chored in front of the city. The blue-jackets 
 
56 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 always acted like gentlemen when they came 
 ashore, and, true to their instincts of traffic, 
 had established a lively little trade with the 
 citizens. They purchased everything the latter 
 liad to sell in the way of garden-trnck, milk, 
 butter, and eggs, and paid for all they got in 
 good money; or,. what was better, in coffee, tea 
 . (store tea too, and not sassafras), wheat flour, 
 and salt. It is true that the salt was not as 
 fine nor as clean as some they had seen, for it 
 had been taken from the brine of the beef and 
 pork barrels with which the store-rooms of the 
 gunboats were abundantly supplied ; but it 
 was acceptable to people who had boiled down 
 the dirt floors of their smoke-houses in order 
 to get the salt that had trickled off the hams 
 and sides of bacon which had been cured there 
 in better times. The gunboat officers also 
 sent their soiled linen ashore to be Avashed, so 
 that not a day i^assed during which there was 
 not more or less communication Avitli the fleet. 
 This was a pleasant state of affairs all 
 around, especially to the victorious blue- 
 jackets, Avho liad grown tired of fighting and 
 wanted all the shore liberty they could get, 
 
THE conscpwIpt's friend. 57 
 
 and it might Lave continued until tlie Con- 
 federate General Breckenridge made his un- 
 successful attempt to regain control of the 
 Mississippi above New Orleans had it not been 
 for two things : the Confederate Conscription 
 Act, and the determination on the part of the 
 Home Guards to evade it. The passage of 
 that act was like a destructive thunder-bolt 
 from a clear sky, and there were those in 
 Mooreville who refused to believe that their 
 chosen rulers would be gnilty of such perfidy ; 
 but the news had hardly been received before 
 the enrolling officer put in his appearance, 
 thus proving the truth of what we have 
 already said — that the Richmond Government 
 developed into a despotism so suddenly that it 
 was plain the machinery for it had been pre- 
 pared long before. 
 
 The enrolling officer, Captain Roach, was a 
 dapper little fellow who did not look as 
 though he had seen much service, and, indeed, 
 he hadn't seen a day of it ; for when he re- 
 ceived his commission and orders from the 
 Governor he was a practising lawyer in a small 
 inland town. Beyond the very slight knowl- 
 
58 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 edge wliicli lie had been able to gain from liis 
 printed instructions, he knew nothing of his 
 duties or of soldiering ; but his common-sense 
 taught him that as Tom Randolj^h's commis- 
 sion was older than his own, military etiquette 
 required that he should call upon Tom without 
 any unnecessary delay — not to report to him, 
 for Tom was not in the Confederate service or 
 in any way connected with the conscription 
 business, but merely to show him projDer 
 respect. He reached Mooreville in the morn- 
 ing, spent the rest of the day in opening an 
 office and spreading abroad the news of his 
 arrival, so that those whose duty it was to 
 be conscripted would have no trouble in find- 
 ing him, and the next morning mounted his 
 horse and set out to find Captain Randolph. 
 The first man he met on the road v^^as Tom's 
 first lieutenant. Captain Roach did not know 
 him, but he saw that Lambert was anxious to 
 ride on without speaking, and perhaps that 
 was the reason he drew rein and accosted him. 
 "Good-morning," said the captain pleas- 
 antly. " You know I have opened an office in 
 Kimberly's store, I suppose ?" 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND. 69 
 
 " Say ! What made you ask me that ques- 
 tion for?" demanded Lambert, who was 
 instantly on his guard. 
 
 "Because I take you to be over eighteen 
 and under thirty-five, and would like to have 
 you drop around and see me," was the reply. 
 
 "Well, I aint a-going to do it; and that 
 settles it. See?" 
 
 " Really I donH see how you can get out of 
 it." 
 
 "Don't, hey? Well, I do. I aint Confed- 
 rit. I'm State Rights." 
 
 "Are you not aware that there are no State 
 Rights people any more ? " asked the captain. 
 " The conscription act that has just been 
 passed withdraws all non-exempt citizens be- 
 tween the ages of eighteen and thirty-five from 
 State control, and places them absolutely at the 
 disposal of the President during the war." 
 
 " But I aint agreeing to no such 'rangement, 
 don't you know?" exclaimed Lambert, Avho 
 did not like to see the enrolling ofiicer so quiet 
 and confident, for it looked as though lie knew 
 what he was talking about. "That was just 
 what Lincoln wanted to do when he called on 
 
60 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 our Gov' nor for soldiers to whop South Car'- 
 liny ; but our Gov' nor he said he wasn't that 
 kind of a feller, and his men shouldn't go 
 out of the State. Why don't he stick to 
 his word and say the same to Jeff Davis ? " 
 
 "My friend, you don't understand the sit- 
 uation at all " began the captain. 
 
 "Better'n you do, by a long sight," inter- 
 rupted Lambert. " I aint agreeing to no such 
 bargain, I tell you. Them as wants to go to 
 Virginy to fight for the 'Federacy can go for 
 all me ; but I don't want to go, and, by gum ! 
 I won't. And furder, I'm a Home Guard." 
 
 " In your case that doesn't matter. The 
 government would be quite willing to stretch 
 a point in favor of home organizations that 
 Lave proved themselves to be worth something, 
 but you Mooreville fellows haven't done the 
 ■first thing for the cause. You have turned 
 some of our friends against ws, but where are 
 the Yankees you have shot, and how many 
 j^risoners have you taken ? " 
 
 " Look here, by gum ! " exclaimed the lieu- 
 tenant. 
 
 "I have heard all about you, and the Gover- 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND, 61 
 
 nor says in tlie letter he sent Avith my com- 
 mission that the best thing I can do is to send 
 you to a camp of instruction," continued the 
 captain. "You are no good liere, for you 
 don't do anything." 
 
 " Dog-gone my xjictur' ! What's the reason 
 we aint been doing something for the cause 
 right along?" shouted Lambert, his red face 
 showing that he was getting angry. " We've 
 been the means of keeping the Union men in 
 these parts from rising np and taking the 
 country for the Yankees, and more'n that — we 
 licked a gunboat in the river. Who told you 
 we aint done nothing ? It must be some 
 enemy of ourn wlio aint got the spirit to jine 
 in with us, and if I can find out who he is I'll 
 make him sorry for it, I bet you. But you 
 can't conscript me, I tell you. I'm an officer 
 appointed by the Gov' nor." 
 
 "Ah! That does make a difference, perhaps." 
 
 "Well, I reckon it does," said Lambert, 
 with a satisfied smile. 
 
 " Do you happen to have yonr commission 
 with you ? Or will you tell me when I can 
 see it?" 
 
62 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 TIlis was what Lambert bimself would liaA'e 
 called a "side-winder," and liis lirst thouglit 
 was to hunt u^) Tom Randolph, and stand over 
 him with liis riding-whip until he had seen 
 him write to the Governor asking for that 
 long delayed commission. Tom had often 
 promised to do it, but he never had, and now 
 Lambert was likely to see trouble on account 
 of his negligence. 
 
 "lam first leftenant of our company; my 
 commission is all right, and that settles that 
 point," said he at length. "If the Yankee 
 General Butler brings his army from New Or- 
 leans to capture Mooi'eville he will run against 
 a snag, for he will find me and my men here 
 to stop him. We jined to guard our homes. 
 That's why they call us Home Guards, and 
 that settles the other point you was speaking 
 of. We aint got no prisoners to show, kase 
 there aint no Yankees come nigh us ; but we 
 are just as much use here as we would be up 
 there in Virginy." 
 
 " We need every man we can get,^^ re- 
 plied Captain Roach. "Those avIio do not 
 come of their own free will must expect 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND. 63 
 
 to be taken by force, unless tliey can show 
 that tlie}^ are of use at home. You Moore- 
 ville Home Guards have had the finest 
 chance in the world to make a name for 
 yourselves. Why didn't you drive those 
 gunboats away from Baton Rouge long 
 ago?" 
 
 "Shucks!" exclaimed Lambert. "Why, 
 man alive, they've got cannons on 'em." 
 
 "What of it I Couldn't you hide behind 
 the levee, where you would be safe, and pick 
 off every sailor who showed his head above 
 decks? Couldn't you keep those small boats 
 from coming ashore and going back loaded 
 down with provisions ? You have been giving 
 aid and comfort to the enemy by permitting 
 such things, and that's contrary to law. But 
 I must ride along, for I am on my way to visit 
 Captain Randolph; I am not sure that you 
 are exempt simply because you are an officer in 
 the State militia, but will tell you the next 
 time we meet." 
 
 " You needn't mind looking it up, for I aint 
 going, I tell you. But TU tell you one thing, 
 and that aint two : if you take me you will 
 
64 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 have to take Tom Randolph likewise. I'll 
 raise a fuss if you don't." 
 
 The two sejjarated, and the enrolling officer 
 kept on his way to the home of Captain Ran- 
 dolph, who had somehow heard that he might 
 look for a distinguished visitor on this par- 
 ticular morning, and was thrown into a state 
 of great excitement by the unwelcome news. 
 The presence of the enrolling officer in town 
 was all the evidence Tom needed to j^rove that 
 there was no immediate danger of an invasion 
 by the Federals, so he brought his uniform 
 from its hiding place in the garret ; and when 
 he had arraj^ed himself in it, and leaned his 
 sword in one corner of the gallery to show that 
 he was prepared to answer when duty called, 
 he was ready for the visit — that is, as ready as 
 he ever would be, for he wouJd not have seen 
 Captain Roach at all if he could have thought 
 of any way to uvoid it. Rumor said that the 
 captain looked as though he might have come 
 out of some lady's bandbox, but all the same 
 Tom supposed him to be a Confederate veteran 
 who had seen service on many a hardly con- 
 tested field, and who would overawe him wdth 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND. 65 
 
 his profound knowledge of military matters. 
 Tom wished now that he had made a little 
 better fight with that gunboat, or that he had 
 slipped into Baton Rouge some dark night 
 with a few picked men and pulled down the 
 flag that the Yankee sailors had hoisted over 
 the arsenal. 
 
 "Oh, what honors I might have gained for 
 myself if I had only thought of these things 
 before," he said to his mother. He always 
 went to her with his troubles now, or when he 
 stood in need of encouragement and advice, 
 his father having told him somewhat sharply 
 that he had washed his hands of the Home 
 Guards and never wanted to hear of them 
 again as long as he lived. "But that is the 
 way it is with me. My wit comes too slow to 
 be of any use." 
 
 "I am very glad that you did not think 
 of them before, you reckless boy," replied 
 Mrs. Randolph. "Your record is better 
 than I wish it was, for I am afraid it 
 will take you into the army. What would 
 you do if this enrolling officer should de- 
 cide to take the company just as it stands, 
 5 
 
66 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 and swear you into the Confederate ser- 
 vice?" 
 
 " Csesar's ghost ! " cried Captain Tom, in 
 great alarm. " If my record as a loyal soldier 
 leads him to do that, I shall be sorry I ever 
 put on this uniform. What could I do ? " 
 
 " Could you not follow the same course 
 that Rodney Gray pursued, when General 
 Lacey came up from New Orleans to swear 
 the Mooreville Rangers into the Confederate 
 Army?" inquired Mrs. Randolph. 
 
 "Mother, if you were a man you would be 
 a general yourself," exclaimed Tom, his fears 
 vanishing on the instant. "If a first duty 
 sergeant can back down a major-general, I 
 reckon a captain in the State militia can do 
 the same for a Confederate captain." 
 
 He spoke boldly enough, but when one of 
 the house servants came in to tell him that 
 there was a strange soldier riding into the 
 yard he felt his courage oozing out at the 
 ends of his fingers, and he Avould hardly have 
 dared to go to the door to meet his visitor 
 if his mother had not assured him that she 
 would go also, and that she would remain 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND. 67 
 
 close at his side to support him during the 
 dreaded interview. 
 
 The enrolling officer did not look like a very 
 stern soldier, she told herself, when she saw 
 him get off his horse nnd shake hands Avitli 
 Tom, who had hastened down the stej)s to meet 
 him ; but then he was backed np by the whole 
 tremendous power of the Confederate Govern- 
 ment, and it was to her interest and Tom's to 
 make a friend of him if she could. Captain 
 Roach was equally anxious to secure Tom's 
 assistance in the disagreeable and perhaps dan- 
 gerous work he had to do, and the consequence 
 was it was no trouble at all for them to get ac- 
 quainted, or to come to an understanding with 
 one another. After they had spent a few 
 minutes in talking over the situation, and the 
 enrolling officer had shown his written instruc- 
 tions, as well as a copy of the law by which 
 he was supposed to be governed, the latter 
 said : 
 
 "What surprises me very much is that 
 there is not the first word said about exemp- 
 tions. Whether it was an oversight or not 
 the fact remains that, according to this law, 
 
68 llODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 every man between tlie specified ages must be 
 conscripted." 
 
 "And that is perfectly right," said Captain 
 Tom, making a hurried mental list of certain 
 persons in the neighborhood whom he would 
 be glad to see go first of all. " Everybody ex- 
 cept our Home Guards." 
 
 "No, sir," said Captain Roach in tones so 
 decided that Tom's under jaw began to drop 
 down. " The law excepts nobody ; but wait a 
 minute. After the regiments and companies 
 that have gone to the front from this State are 
 filled up, the rest of the conscripts will remain 
 at home as a reserve to be drawn upon at in- 
 tervals of not less than three months, so that 
 our organizations in the field can be kept 
 always full. Now, why can't you help me 
 so as to keep your company of Home Guards 
 together as long as possible ? If we work it 
 right perhaps you will not be called upon 
 at all." 
 
 " That's the idea ! " exclaimed Tom, greatly 
 relieved, while his mother smiled her apj)roval 
 of the suggestion, and told Captain Roach on 
 the spot that she expected him to stay to din- 
 
THE coxsckipt's frte^d. 69 
 
 ner, and as long as lie remained in that pai't 
 of the country to make himself as free in Jjer 
 house as he would in his own. When she 
 ceased speaking Tom continued: "I am like 
 Nathan Hale, who, Avhen the British were 
 about to hang him as a spy, said he w^as sorry 
 he had but one life to give to his country ; but 
 for all that I should like to stay here until I 
 have seen some of our neighbors who have had 
 so much to say against the South sent to the 
 front. But how shall I work it to keep my 
 company together ? " 
 
 "By doing as you have suggested," replied 
 the captain. "By first sending away those 
 who ought to be made to light for the South, 
 since they have had so much to say against 
 her and her cause. Perhaps by the time they 
 have been killed off our independence will be 
 acknowledged ; and then we shall not need 
 any more soldiers." 
 
 "That's the idea !" said Tom again. "But 
 how can the Home Guards help you ? " 
 
 " By serving in place of the troops that I 
 am authorized to call on for assistance," an- 
 swered Caj)tain Roach. "There will be a 
 
70 IIODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 camp of instruction establislied somewliere in 
 the vicinity very shortly, and it will be my 
 duty to forward my conscripts to that camp 
 as fast as I can get them .together. Of course 
 they will not go willingly " 
 
 " I understand," interrupted Captain Tom. 
 " You want me to send some of my men with 
 them as guards." 
 
 " Exactly. It will be a feather in your cap 
 as well as in mine if we can attend to the 
 business without calling upon the government 
 for aid. I don't want to do that if I can avoid 
 it, for every man we can raise is needed at 
 the front to resist McClellan's advance upon 
 Richmond. We must be alive, for there's 
 going to be hot woi-k up there." 
 
 "I am with you; and I don't know of 
 anything that would suit the Home Guards 
 better," replied Tom, glad of the oppoitunity 
 to gain a little cheap notoriety without put- ■ 
 ting himself in danger ; and when Capti.in 
 Roach rode away from the house after dinner 
 Tom accompanied him to his office in Kim- 
 berly's store, and assisted in obtaining some 
 poll-books from which he could make out a 
 
THE coN>;cniPT"'s friend. 71 
 
 list of the unliappy men wlio were subject to 
 military duty under the terms of the Conscrip- 
 tion Act. 
 
 Of coarse there were a goodly number of 
 young fellows in the settlement between the 
 ages of eighteen and twenty-one wliose names 
 did not appear on the poll-books, for they 
 w'ere not voters ; but Tom had them in his 
 mind, and with his mother's aid and Lam- 
 bert's he succeeded during the following week 
 in making out a complete list of them. At 
 the head of the list stood the name of Edward 
 Griffin, Drummond's assistant operator, who 
 had warned Rodney Gray that he was to be 
 arrested the moment he left the boat at St. 
 Louis ; but Drummond's name did not appear 
 at all. 
 
 '* Griffin is a particular friend of one of my 
 worst enemies," explained Tom. "Not only 
 is he strong for the Union, but he has had a 
 good deal to say about me and my company 
 behind our backs, and I w^ant you to serve a 
 notice on him the first thing you do. I wish 
 they would make haste and establish that 
 camp of instruction, and when Griffin is sent 
 
72 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER, 
 
 there I want to command the squad that goes 
 with him, I wish, too, that Rodney Gray was 
 here to go with him." 
 
 In the meantime events proved that tlie 
 people of the Soutli were not as willing to 
 submit to the despotic acts of tlieir govern- 
 ment as they ought to have been, especially in 
 Georgia and Arkansas, "where it seemed that 
 a conflict might arise between State and Con- 
 federate authorities." Officers of the militia 
 in the former State were arrested by the en- 
 rolling officers, but the Governor demanded 
 their release and threatened to arrest the Con- 
 federates if they did not let his State officers 
 alone. The Richmond Government yielded 
 the point, but said to the Governor of Georgia, 
 through the Secretary of War: "If you ar- 
 rest any of our enrolling officers in their at- 
 tempts to get men to fill up the Georgia regi- 
 ments now in the face of the enemy, you will 
 cause great mischief, I think we njay as well 
 drive out our common enemy before we make 
 war upoti each other." In Arkansas Governor 
 Rector threatened to secede from the Con- 
 federacy, and called for 4500 men to de- 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND. 73 
 
 fend the State, adding that "the troojis raised 
 under this call are intended exclusively for 
 home protection, and will not, under any cir- 
 cumstances, be transferred to the Confederate 
 service without their consent." In short, the 
 Confederacy was in a very bad way, and their 
 authorities knew it ; for on the 21st of April the 
 congress "adjourned in such haste as to show 
 that the members were anxious to provide for 
 their own personal snfety." That was the 
 time when a rebel newspaper invented the 
 word "skedaddle," and that was the time too 
 when McClellan could have taken Richmond ; 
 but he " wasted three full months, every day 
 of which was of vital moment to the Confed- 
 eracy, in doing nothing," and when at last 
 he was ready to advance, he found himself 
 confronted by an army that was larger than 
 his own. 
 
 The murmurs of dissatisfaction that arose 
 all over the South when that sweeping Con- 
 scription Act was passed were not entirely lost 
 upon the Richmond government, and the next 
 news that came to Mooreville was that another 
 act had been passed providing for exemptions. 
 
74 kodnp:y, the ovkkseeu. 
 
 Rodney Gray's father was one of the first to 
 hear of it, and the next time he went to 
 Mooreville he stopped at the telegia])]! office 
 and called Ned G-riffin to the door. The young- 
 fellow had been very much distressed ever 
 since he received notice from Captain Roach to 
 hold himself in readiness to march to the camp 
 of instriiCtioTi with the iirst squad of conscripts 
 that left town, and Tom Randolph had been 
 mean enough to let him know how his name 
 happened to be first on the list. Griffin was 
 the only support of a widowed mother, and 
 lie knew that things woald go hard with her 
 when the small sum he received for his work 
 in the telegrai)h office ceased to come into her 
 hands every month. More than that, he be- 
 lieved in the Union and the flag that w^aved 
 over it, and did not w^ant to fight against his 
 principles. When he came to the door in an- 
 swer to Mr. Gray's hail he looked as though 
 he had lost the last friend he had in the world. 
 " I came here to cheer you up a bit by tell- 
 ing you that you need not go into the army 
 if you don't want to," was the way in which 
 Rodney's father announced the object of his 
 
THE CONSOUIPT's FRIEND. 75 
 
 visit " Tlie new law provides for the exemp- 
 tion of one agriculturist on each farm, Avhei-e 
 there is no white male adult not liable to mil- 
 itary duty, employing fifteen able-bodied ne- 
 groes, on condition that the party exempted 
 shall give bond to deliver to the government, 
 iu the next twelve months, 100 pounds of 
 bacon or its equivalent in salt pork, and 100 
 13ounds of beef for each able-bodied slave em- 
 l^loyed on said farm." 
 
 Young Griffin gasped for breath, bnt did not 
 say a word in reply. He did not smile either, 
 as Mr. Gray did, for he failed to see how that 
 new law could affect him. 
 
 " Now, I hajDpen to have such a farm up the 
 r^ver road," continued the planter. " There's 
 no one on it but a driver to look out for 
 things, and if yon have a mind to go nj) and 
 take charge of it I shall be glad to have you. 
 And I think I can put you in the way of earn- 
 ing more money than you do now." 
 
 " But, Mr. Gray, I am not an overseer," 
 stam-mered Griffin, who wished from the bot- 
 tom of his heart that he had chosen that 
 humble but useful vocation instead of teleg- 
 
76 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 rapliy. "I don't know the first thing about 
 farming." 
 
 " Well, you can't learn younger, can you ? " 
 
 "No, sir. But I — you see — the fact of the 
 matter is, where are the bacon and beef to 
 come from ? If they were selling at a dollar a 
 ton I couldn't buy a hundred pounds." 
 
 " You have a whole year in which to pay it," 
 replied Mr. Gray. "But I don't believe in 
 going in debt, and perhaps we can scare up 
 cattle and hogs enough on the farm to fill the 
 bill ; and I shall depend on you to raise others 
 to replace them. I think you had better go. 
 You can take your mother along to keep 
 house for you, and I don't see why you can't 
 live as well there on the farm as you do her^e 
 in town. Tell Drummond to come out here a 
 moment." 
 
 "Mr. Gray," said Griffin, 'witli tears of grat- 
 itude in his eyes, "I wish you would ride 
 around to our house and let mother thank you 
 for your kindness. I don't know how." 
 
 "I will save her and you the trouble," said 
 the planter, bending down from his saddle 
 and speaking in tones so low that none of the 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND. 77 
 
 passers-by could hear his words. " Who 
 was it tlmt kept Rodney from falling into 
 the clutches of that Yankee cotton factor 
 in St. Louis? Tell Drummond to come 
 here." 
 
 Drummond came, and Griffin afterward said 
 that he never saw so mad a man as his chief 
 was when the planter exp>lained matters to 
 him in a few brief but emphatic words. The 
 operator had nothing against Griffin person- 
 ally, but Tom Randolph had, and as Tom 
 had been friendly enough to keep his name 
 off the enrolling list, Drummond felt in 
 duty bound to make common cause with 
 him. 
 
 "Mr. Gray, I am afraid it won't work," 
 said he. " Griffin was conscripted before that 
 exemption law was passed." 
 
 "I am prepared to take the risk," was 
 the quiet rejoinder. "In case objections 
 are made we shall insist on having the first 
 conscripts selected from the poll-books in- 
 stead of from a private list ; and if any ob- 
 jections are made to that we will report the 
 matter at headquarters. Your name comes 
 
78 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 pretty close to the top of the list, Mr. Drum- 
 mond." 
 
 The operator was frightened and saw plainly 
 that it would not be a safe i)iece of business to 
 make an enemy of Mr. Gray ; he knew too 
 much. Besides, he was one of the richest 
 planters in the State, and such men always 
 exerted a good deal of influence when they set 
 about it. 
 
 "Of course, sir, I hope it will work," Drum- 
 mond hastened to say, "for I don't want to 
 see anybody forced into the army. I only 
 said I was afraid it Avouldn't." 
 
 "I understand. Eed, you might as well 
 start now as any time. Go and say good-by 
 to j^our mother, and hurry up to my house. I 
 will be there in a couple of hours, and after 
 we have had a snack we'll ride up to the 
 farm." 
 
 From the telegraph office Mr. Gray went to 
 Kiniberly's store, where he created another 
 commotion. Tom Randolph was there, and so 
 were some of the Home Guards, who had of 
 late taken to sx)ending all their waking hours 
 at the enrolling office. Captain Tom would 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND. 79 
 
 have protested loudly if his amazement and 
 chagrin had x:)ermitted him to speak at all, but 
 Captain Roach had no objections to offer when 
 Mr. Gray told him that he would have to find 
 someone to take Griffin's place in the first 
 squad of conscripts that was sent to the camp 
 of instruction, for Griffin himself was exempt 
 under the law, or would be as soon as he had 
 taken his new position. 
 
 "I am surprised at you," exclaimed Tom 
 when. Mr. Gray had mounted his horse and 
 galloped away. "You mustn't let that man 
 Griffin off; you can't. Haven't I told you 
 that he is Union? " 
 
 "I have my own interests to look out for," 
 replied Captain Roach rather sliari)ly, "and 
 consequently I cannot afford to get into trou- 
 ble with such a man as Mr. Gray. He didn't 
 say much, nor did lie bluster at all ; but I 
 knew by the glint in his eye that there was 
 a whole battery of big guns behind the lit- 
 tle he did say, and that he was ready to turn 
 them loose on me if I said an ugly word to 
 him. We haven't been playing square since 
 this thing began, and he knows it ; and if 
 
80 RODNEY, THE OVERSEEK. 
 
 he sliould insist on having a new deal from 
 the poll-books, with your list of names thrown 
 ont, where would your friend Drummond 
 be ? Where would you be, seeing that even 
 Home Guards are not exempt ? " 
 
 "I just don't care; and that's all there is 
 about it," whined Tom, who was mad enough 
 to cry if lie had been alone. '" They ought to 
 be exempt, and I don't see why those Rich- 
 mond fellows left them out." 
 
 "That's neither here nor there. They left 
 them out ; but in working to keej) you with 
 me I have practically exempted you, and that 
 is something I had no business to do. I can't 
 imagine where Mr. Gray got his information, 
 but he understands all this, and if he should 
 report me to the Governor I'd have to join 
 some regiment in the field ; and that's a place 
 I want to keep away from as bad as you 
 do." 
 
 " Well, I must say that things have come to 
 a pretty pass when a man can say who shall 
 go into the army and who shall not, just be- 
 cause he happens to have a little money," de- 
 clared Tom sxHtefully. 
 
THE conscript's FRIEND, 81 
 
 *' That's the way the thing stands, and if 
 you want to stay at home you and your men 
 had better be doing something." 
 
 These chance words, which really did not 
 mean anything, set some oi the Home Guards 
 to thinking. 
 
CHA.PTER ly. 
 
 LIEUTENANT LAMBERT'S CAMPAIGN. 
 
 OF course the principal topic of conversa- 
 tion at the enrolling office during the 
 rest of the day was Mr. Gray's unexpected in- 
 terference in behalf of Ned Griffin, the con- 
 script. It frightened Captain Roach, enraged 
 and disgusted Tom Randolph, and put Lieu- 
 tenant Lambert into a very anxious frame of 
 mind. The latter was obliged to confess that 
 his chances for keejjing out of the army were 
 very slim indeed. 
 
 "That's the way the thing stands, and if 
 you w^ant to stay at home you and your men 
 had better be doing something," he kept say- 
 ing to himself as he galloped along the dusty 
 road on his way home. It was easy enough 
 for Captain Roach to talk, but what was there 
 that the Home Guards could do to distinguish 
 themselves, seeing that the Federal troops were 
 so secure in their position at New Orleans that 
 
 82 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBERT's CAMPAIGN, 83 
 
 the whole Confederate Army couki not drive 
 them out, and tliat the gunboats in the river 
 in front of Baton Rouge could not be whipped 
 by men who were armed only with squirrel 
 rifles and shot guns ? Lambert had been turn- 
 ing the matter over in his mind ever since Mr. 
 Gray left the enrolling office in the morning, 
 and now he did something which he had de- 
 clared he never would do as long as he lived. 
 He went out of his way to ask the advice of 
 a Confederate veteran who had just returned 
 from the Army of the Centre disabled by 
 wounds received in battle. 
 
 There were several of these crippled veter- 
 ans in the neighborhood, and they had been 
 so many thorns in Tom Randolph's side ever 
 since they first began straggling home from 
 the front. To begin with, they turned up their 
 noses at the Home Guards, and made all man- 
 ner of sport of their finely uniformed captain 
 when they saw him riding along the road slyly 
 XDi'icking his horse with his spurs to make the 
 animal prance and go sideways, as an officer's 
 horse ought to do. Th«y laughed, too, when 
 they heard the Home Guards tell of their fight 
 
84 RODXEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 with that gunboat, and some of them went so 
 far as to declare that, disabled as they were 
 and half dead with camp fever besides, they 
 could arm themselves Avith corn-stalks and 
 drive Tom Randolph and his warriors into the 
 Mississippi River. 
 
 In the next place, almost all these veterans 
 had brought home with them a goodly supply 
 of Yankee relics and trophies in the shape of 
 uniform coats, pants, caps, and overcoats that 
 had been picked up on the field, and which, 
 for some reason or other, tliey seemed anxious 
 to get off their hands. So they offered them 
 to the Home Guards in exchange for citizens' 
 clothing of equal or less value, and the latter 
 were always found willing to trade. Captain 
 Tom was disgusted and angry when first one 
 man and then another appeared at the enroll- 
 ing office clad in some portion of a shabby 
 uniform that had once belonged to a Federal 
 trooper or infantry-man, and ordered the wear- 
 ers to clear out and never come there again 
 unless they could come properly dressed ; but 
 the Home Guards paid no sort of attention to 
 him. They were soldiers, they said, and since 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBERT'S CAMPAIGN. 85 
 
 their own government did not think enough of 
 them to provide them with uniforms they felt 
 at liberty to obtain them where they could. 
 Besides, their new clothes, even though they 
 were well worn and had once belonged to 
 Lincoln's hirelings, were warm and comfort- 
 able, and the blue overcoats would keep out 
 next winter's cold as effectually as gray 
 ones. Much against his will Tom finally ap- 
 pealed to the enrolling officer ; but the latter 
 could not help him, for he had no authority 
 over the Home Guards. 
 
 "But you might threaten to conscript them 
 if they don't obey my oi'ders," suggested 
 Tom. 
 
 "I" shouldn't like to do it for a little thing 
 like that," replied Captain Roach. "They've 
 got the uniforms, and I don't see how you 
 are going to keep them from wearing them. 
 What difference does it make, anyway ? You 
 don't have to go on dress parade." 
 
 "No matter for that," replied Tom. "I 
 didn't enter the service to command a lot of 
 Yankees, and I won't do it. Suppose a gen- 
 eral officer should happen along and order 
 
86 EODNEY, THE OVERSEKR. 
 
 tliem out for drill and inspection ! I'd feel so 
 ashamed of myself that I know I should take 
 to my heels." 
 
 "Make your mind easy on that score," was 
 the captain's answer. "If you don't take to 
 your heels until that ha^ipens you will never 
 run. Judging from what I have learned since 
 I have been here, the government cares no 
 more for companies of this kind than it does 
 for so many wild hogs in the woods. If it 
 were not for you and your mother I would 
 conscript the last one of them." 
 
 " But what do you suppose makes the re- 
 turned veterans so anxious to get rid of these 
 Yankee uniforms and things?" continued 
 Tom. " It looks to me as though there might 
 be something back of it." 
 
 "That's the way it looks to me, too," re- 
 plied Cax)tain Roach. "They don't want to 
 liave a Yankee scouting party ride up on them 
 suddenly and say : ' Look here, Johnny ; have 
 you been robbing some wounded or captive 
 Yank ? If not, where did you get those blue 
 clothes?'" 
 
 " But the Yankees are not here," cried Tom. 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBEKT'S CAMPAIGN. 87 
 
 "I know they are not here now, but they're 
 coming ; and if they keep on besting us at 
 every point, as they are doing at this minute, 
 they will be here before long, too. You 
 needn't think that Farragut is going to remain 
 idle down the river, or that Fiag-OfScer Davis 
 is going to keep on doing nothing up the river 
 while we are fortifying Vicksburg. There's 
 going to be fun here one of these days." 
 
 And sure enough there was. It came much 
 sooner than Captain Roach had any reason to 
 think it would, and Lieutenant Lambert of the 
 Home Guards, whom we saw on his way to 
 ask advice of a Confederate veteran, was the 
 man who did the most to help it along. He 
 found the soldier of whom he was in search 
 at his home. He was sitting on the gallery 
 enjoying his after supper smoke ; but when 
 he saw the Home Guard alight at his gate 
 lie staggered to his feet, laid hold of the 
 crutch that leaned against the house behind 
 his chair, and said, in mock alarm : 
 
 "The man you want to see don't live here 
 no more. He done moved outen the country 
 two year ago come next July. Clear yourself. 
 
88 KODNEY, THE OVEIiSKER. 
 
 I'm tliat skeared of gray-back soldiers that I 
 can't sleep none fur a week after seein' one of 
 'em." 
 
 "Aw ! Quit your nonsense," growled Lam- 
 bert, "or, by gum! I'll come there and lick 
 ye even if you aint got but one leg to defend 
 yourself with." He hitched his horse at the 
 fence, shook hands with the veteran, then 
 seated himself on the porch close by his chair 
 and continued: "Me and you have always 
 been the best kind of friends, Abner, and I 
 don't want you to sniff at me just kase you've 
 been shot by the Yankees and I aint." 
 
 " I won't, Sile ; I won't never do tlie like no 
 more. But a Home Guard ! And lickin' a 
 gunboat that's got 'leven inches of iron on her 
 sides and four foot of solid oak back of that, 
 with nothing in the wide world but pop- 
 guns ! " said the veteran, taking his j^ipe from 
 his mouth to indulge in a hearty peal of 
 laughter. '■'' And Tom Randolph fur a cai)'n. 
 That there is a leetle tlie worst I ever heard of. 
 Hey-youp ! Steady on the left centre!" he 
 yelled, dropping his crutch upon the gallery 
 and grasping with both hands the stump of 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBEUT's CAMPAIGN. 89 
 
 his leg, wliicli he had wrenched a little too 
 severely during his paroxysms of merriment. 
 " I almost disremembered that I aint got only 
 part of a leg on this side. I left the rest up to 
 Shiloh. I'm glad to see you again, Sile ; I 
 am so. But I would be a heap gladder if me 
 and you had chawed hard-tack and fit the 
 Yanks together. Then you wouldn't be no 
 such triflin' thing as a Home Guard." 
 
 " But I don't want to fight no Yanks," said 
 Lambert truthfully. 
 
 " Don' t you want to fight no Yanks ? Well, 
 I don't know's I'm blamin' you fur that. 
 They aint by no means the easy fellers to 
 lick that we uns thought they was goin' to. 
 be, and when they set up that yell of theirn to 
 let we uns know they was com in' fur us — I tell 
 you, Sile, my hair always riz when I heard 
 that yell, and I wisht I was to home grab- 
 blin' fur taters." 
 
 " Then what makes you poke fun at me 
 fur?" demanded Lambert. "I am to home 
 now and I want to stay; but Cap'n Roach 
 he allows that if we uns don' t do something 
 pretty sudden we're liable to be conscriiDted." 
 
90 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "Like enougli. Then why don't you uns 
 do something?" 
 
 " That's what I come here to see you about. 
 What is they, I'd like to know, that we can 
 do ? If the Yanks would only come where we 
 be [you will notice that Lambert did not say 
 " Yankees" any more. He copied the veteran 
 and used the shorter word], we uns could 
 show the folks about here that we Home 
 Guards aint by no means the useless truck 
 they take us to be ; but we can't go all the 
 way to New Orleans far the sake of fightin' 
 'em." 
 
 "You uns will see Yanks enough if you 
 stay right where you be," said the veteran, 
 with another laugh. " I aint spilin' fur a 
 sight at any more of 'em, but all the same I 
 look to see them ridin' right along this road 
 while I am settin' on my gallery watchin' of 
 'em. They aint come this clost to Mooreville 
 to go away without seein' it. They're hop- 
 pin' us right along, and we had oughter 
 be whopped." 
 
 "Now, just listen at you !" said Lambert 
 reproachfully. 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBERT' S CAMPAIGN. 91 
 
 "I'm only tellin' you what I know," said 
 the veteran in earnest tones. "Look at the 
 way they're doin' ! When the law was passed 
 that everybody must be conscripted, why 
 didn't they go to work and conscript every- 
 body ? Why didn't they put the old soldiers 
 ahead and shove the Johnny Raws into the 
 ranks ? Steader that they let the old soldiers 
 stay in the ranks, and put over them fur offi- 
 cers a lot of new chaps who couldn't a' told 
 a Yank from a ground-hog if they had seed 
 the two standin' in one place. We uns aint a' 
 goin' to whop nobody with a lot of greenhorns 
 to command us, and although I aint by no 
 means glad to go hobblin' through the world 
 on one leg, I am mighty glad of an excuse to 
 get outen the army. Now, there's that there 
 Rodney Gray." 
 
 "By gum ! I wish he was here to be con- 
 scripted," exclaimed Lambert. 
 
 The veteran took his pipe from his mouth, 
 blew a cloud of smoke into the air, and looked 
 at his companion with an expression on his 
 face which seemed to say that he did not know 
 whether to laugh or get angry. But finally 
 
92 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 he concluded to laugh, and he did so most up- 
 roariously, rolling about on his chair as if he 
 were in danger of falling out of it, but all the 
 while taking good care not to give his wounded 
 leg another wrench. 
 
 "Why, man, he's a soldier, Rodney is," he 
 said as soon as he could speah, " and a mighty 
 good one, too. He's been in more battles 
 than me, and that's useless. He fit all through 
 Missoury with Daddy Price, and then they 
 brung him over to the Army of the Centre, 
 and that's where I seen him. They wanted 
 to make a big officer of him, but Rodney he 
 wouldn't have it so, kase he's plum sick of 
 the war, same as I be, and allows to come 
 home soon's his extry three months is out. 
 You can't tech Rodney Gray." 
 
 "I know that well enough, but I wish we 
 could. You see, Tom Randolx>h " 
 
 "You needn't say no more," laughed the 
 veteran. " Rodney got an office in Cap'n 
 Hubbard's Rangers and Tom didn't, and Tom 
 is mad about it and wants to spite Rodney in 
 some way. But he can't do it, and if he tries 
 it ole man Gray will make him wish he hadn' t." 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBERT' S CAMPAIGN. 93 
 
 "And ole man Gray is another chap I'd 
 like mighty well to see sent to the front," ex- 
 claimed Lambert angrily; " but we can't touch 
 him neither. He showed his hand when he 
 come into the office this morning and told 
 Eoach that he'd have to let that Griffin boy 
 go free, kase he allowed to buy him off with 
 bacon and beef ; and Roach was that skeared 
 that he dassent open his mouth." 
 
 " What was he skeared of? " 
 
 "That ole man Gray would report him fur 
 leavin' the names of Tom Randolph's friends 
 off'n the conscript list, when he had oughter 
 put them on like he found them in the poll- 
 books." 
 
 "Like enough," replied Abner. "And then 
 you and Tom Randolph and all the rest of 
 the Home Guards would have stood as line 
 a chance of goin' to the front as Ned Griffin. 
 It would serve you just right fur trainin' under 
 such a no account cap'n as you have got. 
 Why don't you cut loose from him and do 
 something on your own hook?' That would 
 be me if I was you." 
 
 "'Taint safe," rex^lied Lambert, who had 
 
94 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 not yet forgotten that lie brought himself into 
 trouble the last time he tried to do something 
 on his own hook. "Somehow our folks have 
 got to be mighty tender of the Union men 
 about here and don't like to have them pes- 
 tered." 
 
 " You let your Union neighbors alone and 
 pester them that's got we' pons into their 
 hands," said the veteran indignantly. "You 
 uns aint got no call to fight them that can't 
 fight back ; but there's them gunboats down 
 to the river." 
 
 " Well, what of 'em ?" demanded Lambert, 
 trembling at the bare thought of again ven- 
 turing within gunshot of one of those black 
 monsters. " They've got cannons on 'em, and 
 they shoot balls bigger' n your head. Don't I 
 know ? Aint I been in a fight with one of 
 'em?" 
 
 "Shucks!" sneered Abner. "You stand 
 about as much chance of bein' hit by one of 
 them big balls as you do of bein' struck by 
 lightnin'. I have seed me on the skirmish line 
 lyin' fur hours behind a stump that wasn't no 
 bigger' n a plug hat, while shell and solid shot 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBEUT's CAMPAIGN. 95 
 
 was teariu' up the ground all around me. 
 They don't do damage once a week less'n 
 they're drapped into a line of battle or into a 
 fort that is packed full of men." 
 
 "But how can we lick 'leven inches of iron 
 and four foot of solid oak?" protested Lam- 
 bert. 
 
 "Shucks!" exclaimed the veteran. "I 
 aint talkin' about lickin' on 'em. I'm talkin' 
 about pesterin' of 'em — drivin' their row-boats 
 back when they start to come to the shore, and 
 pickin' off the officers as fast as they come 
 outen their holes in the cabin. You uns could 
 lay behind the levee and do that, and be as 
 safe as you be to home ; kase the shells they 
 would send at you would all fly over your 
 heads, and when they bu'st they would be a 
 mile to your rear." 
 
 The lieutenant of the Home Guards was 
 overjoyed to hear these encouraging words fall 
 from the lips of a man vi'ho had faced the 
 Yankees in battle and knew what he was talk- 
 ing about. He had given his friend Abner to 
 understand that he was one of the few who 
 followed Captain Tom when the latter rode 
 
96 EODNEY, THE OVERSEEE. 
 
 out witli a handful of brave men to see if the 
 Union Army was advancing upon Mooreville 
 from Baton Rouge, but there was not a word 
 of truth in his story. He was one of the ma- 
 jority wiio excused themselves and stayed 
 behind, and all he knew about that desperate 
 fight with the gunboat and the concealed bat- 
 tery that opened on the rear of the Home 
 Guards was what his comrades told him. The 
 veteran did not seem to think that the big 
 guns on the war vessels were so very danger- 
 ous, and Lambert began to pluck uj) courage. 
 
 " 'Pears to me that Cap'n Roach said some- 
 thing like that the first time I talked with 
 him," said the latter. 
 
 " Like enough ; and if he did you can bet 
 that thnt is what he would do if he had as 
 many Home Guards under his command as 
 you have got. I can't fur the life of me see 
 what makes them Baton Rouge folks so very 
 friendly with the Yanks, anyhow. They take 
 'em into their houses and visit with 'em, and 
 feed 'em, dog-gone it all, and I say such 
 doings aint right. If ole Daddy Bragg was 
 here fur about five minutes he'd put a stop to 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBKRT'S CAMPAIGN. 97 
 
 all that friendship business, I bet yon, and 
 like as not he'd have some of you Home 
 Guards shot fur lettin' it go on as long as it 
 has. Anyway, he'd kick Tom Randolph into 
 the ranks and put a soldier in his place. 
 That's the way they do things up in the Army 
 of the Centre." 
 
 The result of this interview^ was that when 
 Lieutenant Lambert took leave of the veteran 
 and rode home to a late supper he was fully 
 satisfied in his own mind that Tom Randolph 
 was totally unfit for the responsible position he 
 held, that the Home Guards, wdio under proper 
 leadership might have made themselves known 
 throughout the length and breadth of the 
 Confederacy, had been kept in check too long 
 already, and that he (Lambert), being second in 
 command of the company, had a perfect right 
 to take matters into his own hands without 
 saying a word to anybody about it. But it 
 was a somewhat delicate task, he told himself. 
 Although Lambert looked upon the friendly 
 relations existing between the crews of the 
 Union war vessels and the Baton Rouge people 
 as a burning disgrace, he did not relish the 
 
 7 
 
98 EODNEY, THE OVEKSEER. 
 
 idea of trying to bring them to an end, for the 
 citizens might not like it, and, worse than that, 
 they might make liim trouble on account of 
 it ; but something must be done or he would 
 be compelled to go into the army, seeing that 
 he had no rich and influential friend like Mr. 
 Gray to purchase his release with bacon and 
 beef. So Lambert's mind was made up, and 
 before he reached home his campaign was fulJy 
 planned. 
 
 "I'll raise a big squad and start for the city 
 to-morrow night," he soliloquized, flourishing 
 his riding-switch in the air to give emphasis to 
 his thoughts. "And if I once gain a footing 
 beliind the levee I'll j^ut a stop to that friend- 
 ship business, I bet you. I'll give the folks 
 to understand that we uns don't like the way 
 tliey're giving aid and comfort to the enemies 
 of their country, and make them Yankee gun- 
 boatmen stay on board their ships where they 
 belong. I'll take i^ains, too, to see that the 
 Gov' nor hears of it, and x)erliaps he'll say that 
 I had ought to be cap'n of the Home Guards 
 in place of Tom Randolph." 
 
 That was an encournoing thouiiht, and the 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBERT' S CAMPAIGN. 99 
 
 longer Lambert dwelt upon it the more excited 
 he became. He did not sleep much that niglit, 
 and after an early breakfast mounted his 
 horse and rode through the country to muster 
 his men ; but as fast as he found them and un- 
 folded to them the details of his campaign he 
 was met by the same excuses and refusals that 
 Tom Randolph had vainly tried to combat. 
 The fighting member of the company, the one 
 who was alvv^ays eager to shoot or hang the de- 
 fenceless Union men he assisted in robbing, 
 was feeling so very poorly on this i^articular 
 morning that he was thiidiing strongly of rid- 
 ing over to a neighbor's to see if he could not 
 borrow a dose or two of quinine ; the second' 
 had promised to go to a log rolling ; the third 
 had a lame horse and didn't rightly know 
 where he could go to get another ; and not 
 more than three or four out of the fifty men 
 whom Lambert summoned to follow him to 
 Baton Rouge had the courage and honesty to 
 tell him that they did not like to do it. 
 
 "I wouldn't mind hiding behind the levee 
 and shooting a few Yankees," said Lieutenant 
 Moseley, "but they'll shoot back, and like as 
 
100 llODNEY, THE OVEKSEER. 
 
 not that'll make the Baton Ronge folks mad 
 at us. Ask somebody else. You can get all 
 the men you want and I don't reckon I'll go." 
 
 Whenever a Home Guard talked to him in 
 this way Lambert always said in reply : 
 
 "Well, then, if you don't want to go and 
 win a name fur yourself you can stay to home 
 till Roach gets ready to conscript you. If you 
 were in Kimberly's store yesterday you must 
 have seen fur a fact that we uns aint safe 
 from going into the army just kase Ave happen 
 to belong to the Home Guards. Cap'n Roach 
 he has said time and again that we was liable 
 to go if we didn't wake up and do something, 
 and that if he had been our commander he 
 wouldn't have let them city people get on such 
 amazing good terms with the Yanks. Le's go 
 down there and make 'em quit it right now, 
 and say nothing to nobody till the thing is 
 done. Remember, I don't ask every man, but 
 only just them that we want to have stay in 
 the company. When we get back I'll give 
 Cap'n Roach a list of them that went with me, 
 and if he wants to conscript the others — them 
 that was afraid to face the enemies of their 
 
LIEUTEN-ANT LAMBERT'.S CAMPAIGN. 101 
 
 country — and send tliera to the camp of in- 
 struction, he can do it and welcome. Now, 
 what do 3^ou say V 
 
 It was by the use of such arguments as these 
 tliat Lieutenant Lambert succeeded in inducing 
 soniQ of his particular friends to believe that 
 it might be policy for them to join his expe- 
 dition, and that night they secretly gathered 
 at a designated place outside the town and 
 started for Baton Rouge. When they arrived 
 within sight of the church spires at daylight 
 they did not attract attention to themselves 
 by entering the city in a body, for Lambert 
 was afraid that some Union man or converted 
 rebel might suspect the object of their visit 
 and interfere with their designs by signalling 
 to the fleet. They separated and went in by 
 different roads and in small parties, and came 
 together again in the neighborhood of the 
 landing at which the boats from the fleet al- 
 ways touched the shore, taking care to leave 
 their horses behind some warehouses out of 
 sight. 
 
 "Now be careful, everybody," commanded 
 Lambert, placing a fresh cap on his rifle and 
 
102 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 waving his hand toward the levee as a signal 
 to his men to advance and conceal themselves 
 behind it. " We can't do 'em no damage from 
 hero — it's too fur; so we must wait till some 
 of their row-boats come off." 
 
 The Home Guards bent themselves almost 
 double and stole across the clear space that 
 intervened between the warehouses and the 
 levee ; and so cautious Avere they in their 
 movements that the quartermasters on watch 
 on the decks of the different gunboats, who 
 were constantly sweeping the banks on both 
 sides of the liver with their long-distance sj^y- 
 glasses, saw no signs of them, and so silent 
 that when they crept to the top of the levee 
 on their hands and knees and looked over it, 
 the negroes gathered at the landing below did 
 not know that there was anyone near them. 
 There w^ere probably a dozen men, women, and 
 children in the group, and they were lying at 
 their ease on the ground or Avalking slowly 
 back and forth ; but all of them turned their 
 gaze toward the gunboats now and then, as 
 if they were waiting for somebody to come 
 ashore. There were several covered baskets 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBERT'' S CAMPAIGN. 103 
 
 and pails near by, and the siglit of them was 
 enough to enrage Lieutenant Lambert, who 
 whispered to the man who lay next him be- 
 hind the levee: 
 
 " Pass the word along the line fur everybody 
 to keep under kiver. We've ketched them 
 niggers red-handed in the very act, fur there's 
 grub in them buckets and things ; now you 
 just watch and see if there aint." Then he 
 raised his voice a little and said to the nearest 
 darkey: ^'What you folks doing there? 
 Who 5^ou looking fur?" 
 
 "Waiting for Mr. Wilcox, sah," was the 
 negro's prompt answer. He looked up and 
 saw two or three heads above the top of the 
 levee, but thought nothing of it. There were 
 a good many whites in Baton Rouge who did 
 not dare show themselves as freely to the 
 Yankee sailors as the i)eople of his own color 
 did. 
 
 *' Who's Mr. Wilcox?" demanded Lam- 
 bert. 
 
 "He's de cater ob de steerage mess, sah; 
 de man what buj^s de breakfus' fur some of de 
 officers on dat fust boat," was the reply ; and 
 
104 nODNEY, THE OYEIISEER. 
 
 altliongli Lambert did not understand tlie 
 words any better tlian the negro did himself, 
 he gathered from them the idea that some- 
 body on the gunboat would come ashore for 
 his breakfast very shortly, and that he and 
 his warriors had reached the levee Just in the 
 nick of time. 
 
 This cheering intelligence was passed along 
 the line in a whisper, and the Honie Guards 
 pulled off their hats and were settling them- 
 selves into comfortable positions behind the 
 levee to await the coming of the caterer's boat, 
 when they were startled by hearing someone 
 close beside them say, in frightened and pro- 
 testing tones : 
 
 " Gentlemen, gentlemen, what are you going 
 to do?" 
 
 Lambert faced quickly around and saw 
 a couple of citizens standing at the base of 
 the levee where they could observe all that 
 was being done by the Home Guards ; but 
 Avliether they had come upon his ambush by 
 accident or design the lieutenant did not 
 know or care to ask. He saw the necessity 
 for prompt action. 
 
LIEUTENANT L A:\rBEKT' S CAMPAIGxV. 105 
 
 " Scroocli down right AA-here you stand, so 
 that the Yanks can't see yon," lie com- 
 manded. 
 
 " But what are you gentlemen going to do 1 " 
 inquired one of the citizens, both of Avliom 
 obeyed Lambert's order and sank upon their 
 heels Avitli alacrity when they saw the black 
 muzzles of three or four double-barrels swing- 
 ing in their direction, 
 
 "Well, if you can't see fur yourselves Avliat 
 Ave uns are going to do I reckon I'll have to 
 tell you," replied the lieutenant of the Home 
 Guards, turning part Avay around so that he 
 could Avatcli both negroes and citizens at the 
 same time, and see that no signals passed 
 from them to the fleet. "We're goin' to 
 break up the visitin' and tradin' that's been 
 going on betAveen this toAvn and the Yanks till 
 we are teetotally sick and tired of it. The 
 folks back in the country, aa'Iio are all good 
 Confederits, don't like it; and me and my 
 men have come in here to say so in a Avay that 
 both you and the Yanks Avill understand." 
 
 "Merciful Heaven!" exclaimed the man, 
 who seemed to be almost overcome with as- 
 
lOG RODNEY, THE OVEKSEER. 
 
 tonislimeiit and alarm. " You are not going 
 to lire into those war vessels ? " 
 
 " What's the reason I aint ? " said Lambert 
 coolly. '' You just wait till one of their row- 
 boats starts to come ashore and I'll show you." 
 
 "But consider for a moment " began 
 
 the citizen, his excitement bringing him to 
 his feet. 
 
 "Down you go again," interrupted Lam- 
 bert, drawing his cocked rifle to his shoulder. 
 " We uns have considered the whole business. 
 We know that we caii't hurt 'leven inches of 
 iron and four foot of solid oak back of that 
 with we'pons like these we've got, but we 
 can make them blue-jackets mighty juber- 
 some about comin' ashore and being so very 
 friendly with you Baton Rouge folks ; and 
 that's what we allow to do." 
 
 " In the name of God and humanity I jiro- 
 test against such an outrage ! " said one of 
 the men, whose pale face and firmly set lips 
 showed that he would not have stopped with 
 a mere protest if he had possessed the power 
 to do anything else. 
 
 " You must not think of it, you madman ! " 
 
LIEUTENANT LAMBERT' S CAMPAIGN". 107 
 
 cried the other. "Don't you know that the 
 boats will return your fire, and that thej^ can 
 knock our town to pieces witli a single broad- 
 side ? There is no telling how many innocent 
 women and children will be killed or maimed 
 through your act of folly." 
 
 "Well, then, why didn't you think of all 
 them things before you made friends with 
 the enemies of your country?" answered 
 Lambert. "But the gunboats won't fire on 
 women and children. Leastways they didn't 
 in N"ew Orleans, and the folks in that burg 
 were about as sassy as they could well be." 
 
 "If you are determined to carry your crazy 
 scheme into execution, I beg that you will give 
 us a little time to remove our families to a 
 place of safety before you begin," said one of 
 the citizens as he and his companion arose to 
 their feet and turned to go away. 
 
 " Not much as anybody knows of, I won't," 
 replied Lambert in savage tones. 
 
 "Just five minutes," pleaded the citizen. 
 "Perhaps we can take our wives and little 
 ones into the cellar before you will find it nec- 
 essary to oj)en fire." 
 
108 RODNEY, THE OVEUSEER. 
 
 "N'ot one minnte — not one second nor a half 
 of one," snarled the lieutenant, once more 
 raising his weapon to his shoulder. "I aint 
 a-goin' to have you shakin' a handkercher at 
 them boats to warn the Yanks that there's 
 something wrong here behind the levee. You 
 just squat down where you are till this thing 
 is over, and then you can go any place jou 
 please." 
 
 "Watch out, Sile," said one of the Home 
 Guards suddenly. " There comes that feller 
 after his grub." 
 
 Lieutenant Lambert flopped over on his face 
 as if he had been shot, and saw a small boat, 
 with four men at the oars and two officers sit- 
 ting in tlie stern-sheets, come into view from 
 behind one of the war vessels and turn toward 
 the landing. 
 
 The time for him to Avin a name for himself 
 had arrived. 
 
CHAPTER y. 
 
 HOW IT RESULTED. 
 
 I WOULDN'T take ten gold dollars fur my 
 chance of being made cap'n of this com- 
 pany of Home Guards, who Avould have been 
 conscripted to the last man if it hadn't been 
 fur me," thought Lieutenant Lambert as he 
 rolled over on his face and watched the cutter 
 rounding the stern of the nearest war vessel. 
 "Look Avild, there!" he Avhispered almost 
 tiercel}^ to his men. " Be sure and hold your 
 fire till they come clost in to the shore so that 
 every shot will tell. I don't Avant to hear 
 another word-outen you two," he went on, ad- 
 dressing himself to the citizens, who implored 
 him to stop where he was and not bring 
 destruction upon their town and death to 
 innocent people in it, as he surely would do 
 if he commanded his Home Guards to fire 
 upon that unarmed boat. " You're too big 
 cowards to fight the enemy yourselves, and so 
 
 109 
 
110 EODNEY, THE OVEKSEER. 
 
 we uns had to come in here and do it fur yon. 
 Hold steady, everybody ! " 
 
 Although Lambert's men were all hunters 
 and good shots, they were not disciplined sol- 
 diers, and that was all that saved the cutter s 
 crew from annihilation. They would have 
 been steady enough if they had been in the 
 woods watching a runway for deer, but Avatcli- 
 ing for Yankees was a different matter alto- 
 gether ; and just as the Home Guards had 
 pushed their guns over the top of the levee, 
 making use of every clod and piece of drift- 
 wood and inequality of the ground that came 
 handy for a screen, and Lieutenant Lambert 
 was cautiously lifting his head to observe the 
 j)rogress the small boat was making toward 
 the landing, a deafening roar rang in his ear, 
 and the man at his side sprang to his feet, 
 stood bewildered for a moment, and then 
 dropped back to his place again. In pushing 
 his double-barrel over the levee with nervous 
 hands the valorous Home Guard had acci- 
 dentally discharged the piece, and the unex- 
 pected report frightened him and threw his 
 comrades into some confusion. For an instant 
 
HOW IT RESULTED. Ill 
 
 or two a few of them looked and acted as 
 though tliey wanted to take to their heels ; 
 but the voice of Lieutenant Lambert, who was 
 the first to recover himself, checked them. 
 
 " Shoot ! Fire ! " he yelled. " Massy knows 
 't won't do no good, and that is something 
 we can thank you fur, Ike Spencer. A man 
 that'll lay flat on the ground and let his giin 
 shoot itself off without orders can't be con- 
 scripted any too quick to suit me, and I'll 
 introjuce you to Cap'n Roach soon's I get 
 home. Fire, I tell you!" 
 
 And the Home Guards fired — not all to- 
 gether like trained soldiers, but one after 
 another, just as it happened ; but the distance 
 was so great and their aim so bad that not 
 a man in the boat was injured. It stopped 
 instantly, however, and came no nearer the 
 landing ; and on being hailed by the officer of 
 the deck, it turned about and went back to 
 the vessel to which it belonged. Then came 
 the very thing which the frightened citizens 
 had predicted and Lieutenant Lambert had 
 scouted. 
 
 No sooner had the small boat disappeared 
 
112 r.ODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 around the stern of the war ship than a heavy 
 cloud of smoke rolled over the dark, mnddy 
 surface of the river, a cannon roared, and the 
 embankment behind which Lieutenant Lam- 
 bert and his men were lying was jarred per- 
 ceptibly, as if some heavy body had been 
 dashed with violent force against it. The 
 instant's profound silence that followed was 
 broken, first by shouts and cries of terror from 
 the negroes on the bank, who scattered in all 
 directions, then by a muffled sound something 
 like the puff of a tired locomotive on an up 
 grade, and Lambert's view of the river Avas 
 shut off by a cloud of dirt and smoke that was 
 thrown high into the air by the explosion of 
 the shell that had buried itself in the ground 
 at the base of the levee. That was enough 
 for the Home Guards, who could not stand 
 so much uoise at such close quarters. They 
 jumped to their feet, and fairl}^ tumbled over 
 one another as thej^ fled for safety behind the 
 warehouses where thej^ had left their horses ; 
 but even here vengeance pursued them, for the 
 next shell that came from the war vessel 
 crashed through the walls of the nearest 
 
HOW IT RESULTED. 113 
 
 house, scattering bricks and mortar about 
 tlieir ears, creating a panic among tlieir un- 
 trained steeds, and finally exploding in the 
 edge of the woods half a mile away. 
 
 " By gum, boys ! Jump on and get outen 
 here!" shouted Lambert, who wished from 
 the bottom of his heart that he could be the 
 first to obey his own order. "Beats the 
 world how straight they can shoot with them 
 big guns of theirn. They'd win more tur- 
 keys at a shooting match than the best man 
 among us." 
 
 For a few brief, perilous moments the terri- 
 fied horses refused to stand still long enough 
 for tlieir equally terrified owners to mount ; 
 but when, after many fruitless efforts, the 
 Home Guards succeeded in placing themselves 
 in their saddles, the stampede that followed 
 was something we cannot describe. They gal- 
 loped frantically along the road that ran be- 
 hind the levee, through the streets of the 
 town, which were by this time filled with pale 
 and excited citizens, who could not imagine 
 what the trouble was about, and did not know 
 which way to run for safety, and so out into 
 
114 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 tile country, where the avenging shells could 
 not reach them. A Confederate veteran who 
 was present and witnessed the bombardment 
 told the writer that the Home Guards " delib- 
 erately rode into the midst of the fleeing in- 
 habitants, selecting groups of terrified women 
 and children, into whom they galloped, tramp- 
 ling many of them under the feet of tlieir 
 horses, trusting that the humane and chival- 
 rous blue- jackets, who had been so lenient with 
 the insulting rabble at New Orleans, would 
 not follow them with their fire." We believe 
 this to be nothing but the truth ; but whether 
 it is or not the fact remains that Lambert and 
 his men kept to the crowded streets as long as 
 they could, and the bursting shells followed 
 them through every turn they made, but un- 
 fortunately without doing them the least 
 damage. Those who ought to have been 
 severely punished got off scot free, while the 
 innocent inhabitants suffered in wounds and 
 loss of property, for their town was set on fire 
 in half a dozen different places. 
 
 The Home Guards spread the utmost con- 
 sternation among the farmers who lived along 
 
HOW IT KESULTED. 115 
 
 tlie line of their hurried flight, and wlio ran 
 out to the road and vainly implored the frantic 
 horsemen to draw rein long enough to tell 
 them what the flring was about, and if the 
 Yankees were coming at last to burn them out 
 of house and home. But it was not until the 
 roar of the big guns ceased entirely, and the 
 Home Guards were satisfied that they had 
 ridden beyond the reach of any stray shell 
 which might be sent 'after them, that those 
 who were leading in the retreat recovered their 
 courage sufficiently to slacken their speed so 
 that their comrades in the rear could come up. 
 Then they were willing to talk to the planters 
 along the road, but it is doubtful if they gave 
 them much reliable information. In response 
 to one frightened citizen's hurried inquiries. 
 Lieutenant Lambert said : 
 
 "We uns have been in just the worst fight 
 we ever was in before in all our born days, 
 and if anybody but me had been in command 
 the most of us would have left our bones there 
 behind the levee. It was awful to see the 
 way them Yanks tired into them women and 
 children." 
 
116 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "But what started the mens in the first 
 place ?" asked the planter, who, rebel that he 
 was, could not believe that the blue- jackets 
 had turned demons all on a sudden. " What 
 have you Mooreville ruffians, who haven't any 
 business in this part of the country anyway, 
 been doing in the city ? " 
 
 "You better ask what them Baton Rouge 
 Yankees been doing?" retorted Lambert 
 hotly. " We're State troops, and wVve got 
 business in every part of the country that we 
 please to go ; and when it i^leases the Baton 
 Rouge i:)eople to start a nest of Yankee sym- 
 pathizers in there, it's our bounden duty to go 
 in and break it up. And that's just what we 
 have done. We've drove the enemy away, 
 and the Mississippi between New Orleans and 
 Memphis belongs to we nns once more. We'd 
 a' whopped 'em worse' n we did if it hadn't 
 been for Ike Spencer, who let his gun shoot 
 itself off before the rest of ns were ready. I 
 reckon he feels kinder sneakin' over it, fur I 
 aint seen him siuce." 
 
 "I should think you would all feel sneak- 
 ing," answered the planter, as he turned on 
 
HOW IT RESULTED. 117 
 
 his heel and moved away. "If you have 
 kicked up a row on the river I hope you will 
 suffer for it. We've had peace and quiet in 
 this part of the country for a few weeks back, 
 and now you have gone and brought war and 
 all its miseries on us again. The last one of 
 you ought to be hanged." 
 
 Lieutenant Lambert and his Home Guards 
 were amazed to find that this angry citizen 
 voiced the sentiments of all the people who 
 lived on the Mooreville road ; and after a few 
 more planters had talked to them in this plain 
 fashion their eyes were opened to the dis- 
 agreeable fact that they had damaged their 
 own cause a great deal more than they had 
 hurt the enemy ; and that if their friends and 
 neighbors felt the same way toward them the 
 fire tliat had been poured into their ranks by 
 the gunboats was nothing to what they would 
 have to stand when they reached home. 
 When they came to think it all over they were 
 the maddest lot of men that had ever been seen 
 in that part of the country. They blamed 
 their lieutenant for being the cause of it, and 
 swore at him so lustily that he fell behind and 
 
118 EODNEY, THE OVEESEER. 
 
 rode alone, putting in his time by wishing a 
 good many heavy penalties to the address of 
 his one-legged friend Abner, who, after the 
 experience he had liad with Yankees, ought 
 to have known better than to advise him 
 to "]3ester" the gunboats. All the Home 
 Guards rode slowly, so as to reach the out- 
 skirts of Mooreville a little after nightfall, and 
 then they separated and slunk away toward 
 their respective homes like school-boys who 
 had been playing truant. But the news had 
 got ahead of them, and an indignation meet- 
 ing was being held in the dining room of the 
 hotel. Some of the Mooreville people, Cap- 
 tain Randolph among the number, had seen 
 and talked with men who lived down the river 
 road and had heard the roar of the big guns, 
 and mounted messengers had been sent to the 
 city to learn what the firing was about. These 
 men, who had fast horses and went across lots, 
 rode all the way at top speed, and to such 
 good purpose that they returned to Mooreville 
 about two hours before the Home Guards came 
 straggling in ; and the story they told to tlie 
 crowd at the hotel raised such a storm of 
 
HOW IT RESULTED, 119 
 
 indignation that for a while things looked 
 serious. 
 
 In the meantime, and to make matters worse, 
 the news spread through the country round 
 about and armed planters came flocking in to 
 lend assistance in driving back the force that 
 was supposed to be advancing upon Moore- 
 ville ; and the climax was reached when 
 wngons began arriving from the direction of 
 the river, drawn by panting mules that had 
 been driven until tliey were almost exhausted, 
 and loaded with the families and household 
 efl'ects of the frightened owners wlio were 
 fleeing before the invading Federals. Of 
 course the very meagre information these 
 people brought added to the excitement and 
 alarm, for there were not two among them 
 who told the same story. They expected to 
 And the town deserted by its inhabitants, and 
 were much surprised to discover that it was 
 not. 
 
 "It's no use for you fellows to think of 
 standing against them," exclaimed one trem- 
 bling driver, who carried in his hand a fraj^ed 
 ox-gad which he had worn out over his mules' 
 
120 RODNEY, THE OVEUSEER. 
 
 backs. " Butler is coming witli liis Avliole 
 army." 
 
 "Did you see them?" inquired Mr. Gray, 
 who had ridden in with Ned Griffin for a com- 
 panion. They were both armed, and althougli 
 they did not believe in shooting at those who 
 carried the Old Flag, they were ready to do 
 what they could to protect their homes. 
 
 "Yes, sir; I saw them," replied the man 
 earnestly. " I hadn't left my house a quarter 
 of a mile behind before I discovered some of 
 their cavalry riding along one of my lanes. I 
 suppose my house is in ashes by this time." 
 
 "Were they burning things as they came ? " 
 asked one of Mr. Gray's neighbors. 
 
 " There was the blackest smoke over toward 
 the river that I ever saw in my life," was the 
 answer. "Baton Rouge is gone up. You'd 
 better leave while you can. You may save 
 your lives, but you can't save your property. 
 Get along there, mule ! Me and mine will 
 take to the brush." 
 
 JEvery story to which Mr. Gray and Ned 
 Griffin listened was more thj:illang than /;he 
 one that x3ame before it. Among others they 
 
HOW IT RESULTED. 121 
 
 found a man who lived in the outskirts of the 
 city, and who, standing in liis back door, had 
 seen a bench which supported twenty-five 
 stands of bees demolislied by a shell from the 
 gunboats. Still another had fled from his 
 house just in time to escape capture by Butler's 
 advance infantry, which was moving np the 
 road in platoon front ; and more than that, 
 the highway was blue with Federals as far as 
 his eye could reach. Of course such tal.es 
 as these frightened some of the Mooreville 
 people, but Mr. Gray assured his young com- 
 panion that he put very little reliance upon 
 them. 
 
 "These folks are not responsible for what 
 they tell us, because they are scared out of 
 their wits," was what he said to 'Ned Griffin 
 more than once. " What would the Federals 
 gain by capturing or destroying two little 
 towns like Baton Rouge and Mooreville? If 
 there was a fort or a body of Confederate 
 troops here I might put some faith in these 
 rumors ; but now I don't. When our couriers 
 return we shall have the straight of the story, 
 and not before. Have you seen anything of 
 
122 EODNEY, THE OVERSEEK. 
 
 our Home Guards, who ought to be mustering 
 for our defence ? " 
 
 No, Ned hadn't seen tliem ; and when lie 
 came to ride about the town and make inqui- 
 ries he could not find anybody else who had 
 seen them. The truth was they were too 
 badly frightened to show themselves, for they 
 were afraid that they might be called upon to 
 do something. Captain Tom's uniform was in 
 its old hiding place in the garret, and Tom 
 himself was stretched out on the lounge in his 
 mother's room, eager for news and dreading 
 to hear it, but too ill to mount his horse and 
 muster his men for the defence of the town. 
 
 At length two of the INIooreville messengers 
 returned, and then the citizens got "the 
 straight of the story." AVhen they learned 
 that General Butler's army had not moved 
 out of New Orleans at all, that not a Federal 
 soldier had stepped upon the sacred soil of 
 Louisiana in the neighborhood of Baton Rouge 
 during the whole of that day, and that the 
 city had been shelled and partially burned 
 because Lieutenant Lambert of Tom Ran- 
 dolph's Home Guards had tried to gain a 
 
HOW IT RESULTED. 123 
 
 little cheap notoriety for himself by firing 
 upon an unarmed boat — when the citizens 
 heard this their fear give way to the wildest 
 rage ; and if they could have got their hands 
 upon Lambert at that moment it is more than 
 XDrobable that they would have handled him 
 roughly. With one accord the crowd surged 
 up the steps that led to the hotel porch and 
 through the wide hall into the dining room, 
 which was quickly filled with men who had 
 about made up their minds that the Home 
 Guards had made them trouble enough, and 
 that it would be a good plan to get rid of 
 them without loss of time. 
 
 "Of all the senseless acts I ever heard of 
 this last one of Lambert's is the beat," shouted 
 an excited individual who had perched him- 
 self upon one of the tables. "Those Baton 
 Rouge people knew what they wanted, and 
 if it suited them to make friends with the 
 Yankees and trade wdth them we planters 
 have no business to find any fault with tliem 
 for it. I would have done the same thing 
 myself." 
 
 "Oh, you traitor!" shouted a voice from 
 
124 KODNEY, THE OVEUSEER. 
 
 tlie farther end of the dining room, " Wonld 
 you hold communication with the enemies of 
 • your flag? " 
 
 "You shut up, Bill Cummings," retorted 
 the speaker. "If I am a traitor you're an- 
 other. You've got a sack of Federal salt and 
 some Federal tea and coffee hidden in one of 
 your corn cribs at this moment, and I can 
 prove it. You got them b}^ trading a beef to 
 one of the gunboats down there at Baton 
 Rouge, and you brought them home in your 
 wagon at dead of night, when you thought all 
 your neighbors were fast asleep." 
 
 This raised a shout of laughter at the ex- 
 pense of Bill Cummings, but no one said a 
 harsh word to him, for probably there were 
 not a dozen men in the room who would not 
 have been glad to get some of that salt and 
 tea and coffee. Mr. Grny himself was stand- 
 ing in a pair of Federal brogans, and the man 
 next him wore a straw hat that looked exactly 
 like those that Uncle Sam issued to his sailors 
 every month. 
 
 " Now, then," continued the man who hnd 
 taken possession of the table, "I am in 
 
HOW IT RESULTED. 125 
 
 favor of taking that ruffian Lambert out of liis 
 bed, if lie has had time to get tliere, and giv- 
 ing him such a whipping that he won't get 
 over it as long as the war lasts." 
 
 "Let's hang him and be done with him," 
 cried another. 
 
 "And while we are dealing with Lambert, 
 don't let's forget Tom Randolph," shouted a 
 third. 
 
 "Tom Randolph is in no way to blame for 
 what happened at Baton Rouge," said Mr. 
 Gray, who was one of the few cool and reason- 
 able men there were in the crowd. "He has 
 no more authority over the Home Guards 
 than I have." 
 
 "Then I say let's lick him because he 
 hasn't some authority over them so that he 
 can make them behave themselves. What did 
 he organize the company for, anyhow ?" 
 
 " That is what I should like to know. Xow 
 mark my words : there will be a Yankee gar- 
 rison in Baton Rouge in less than a week, and 
 then our trading will be up stump, for we 
 can't go there any more." 
 
 "That's so. What .excuse has that man 
 
120 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Lambert for living, Td like to know? Let's 
 bu'st him and the Home Guards u^) right here 
 and now." 
 
 Uttering wild yells of approval, with which 
 were mingled loud calls for ropes and dire 
 threats against the peace of mind and bodily 
 comfort of Captain Tom Randolph, the crowd 
 made a rush for the door, and it was several 
 minutes before Mr. Gray and the cool-headed 
 men who sided with him could make them- 
 selves heard above the tumult. 
 
 "Be reasonable, gentlemen," urged the for- 
 mer. "Don't let your excitement lead you 
 to do something you will be heartily ashamed 
 of and sorry for to-morrow. You cannot 
 touch those men in the way you suggest, 
 especially Tom Randolph, who is a State 
 officer. Whoop and yell about it all you 
 please," he continued, after the angry shouts 
 of dissent which th.ese words called forth had 
 subsided, "but it is a fact that Tom holds a 
 •commission from the Governor, and if you 
 put your hands on him you will go to jail to 
 pay for it. Confederate officers might deal 
 with him, though on that point I am not 
 
now IT RESULTED. 127 
 
 sure ; but private citizens certainly can- 
 not." 
 
 Tliese warning words caused a dissension in 
 the ranlis of the would-be lynchers at once, 
 and the hubbub that arose all over the room, 
 as well as from the outside, where there was a 
 respectable gathering that had not been able 
 to gain admittance to the dining hall, was 
 almost deafening. Mr. Gray looked troubled 
 as he saw his angry neighbors swaying back 
 and forth and shaking their clenched hands in 
 one another's faces, and presently he stooped 
 and whispered a few hasty words to Ned 
 Griffin, who, after a terrific struggle, managed 
 to work his way through the crowd to the 
 nearest window, by which he made his exit 
 fi'om the building. He was charged with an 
 important duty, and he was anxious to dis- 
 charge it without loss of time ; but the men 
 on the outside insisted on detaining him until 
 he told what was going on in the dining room. 
 
 "Honor bright, there isn't anything going 
 on in there that would interest you or any- 
 body else," declared Ned, who knew full well 
 that it would never do to say that there was 
 
128 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 some talk of lynching Lieutenant Lambert and 
 "bn' sting up" Tom Randolph. '''Itiv. Gray- 
 has been quoting some law, that's all. Let me 
 go, please. I want to tell Mrs. Gray that the 
 excitement is all over." 
 
 The men released him and Ned made his way 
 to the hitching rack where he had left his horse, 
 mounted, and galloped off. He made a great 
 show of riding down the road toward Mr. 
 Gray's house, but as soon as he thought he 
 could do so without attracting attention he 
 turned back, and went at top speed toward the 
 plantation on which Lieutenant Lambert found 
 emi)loyment as overseer. Paying no heed to 
 the small army of dogs that came out to dispute 
 his advance he rode close to the door of the 
 overseer's house, there being no porch to bar 
 his way, and tapped lightly upon it with the 
 liandle of his riding-whip. If he had made a 
 good deal of noise it is i)robable that he would 
 not have received any response from the soli- 
 tary occupant of the building, who was thor- 
 oughly frightened at what he had done, but 
 totally ignorant of tlie fact that his life would 
 be in danger if Mr. Gray and his friends failed 
 
now IT RESULTED. 129 
 
 ill their efforts to control the mob at the hotel. 
 The cautious way in which his visitor strove 
 to attract his attention told him that there 
 was something afoot, and he thought it best to 
 answer. 
 
 "Who's there?" he demanded, his voice 
 sounding as if it came from under the bed- 
 clothes. 
 
 "It's I — Ned Griffin," was the reply. 
 " Come to the door so that I can say a word to 
 you without fear of being overheard, and be 
 quick about it. There's not an instant to 
 lose." 
 
 This startling announcement brought Lam- 
 bert out of bed and to the door, which he 
 opened just wide enough to make sure that his 
 visitor was Ned Griffin, and nobody else ; and 
 then he opened it so that he could put his 
 head out and look up and down the lane that 
 ran by the house to the negro quarter. 
 
 "I am alone," ISTed assured him without 
 waiting to be questioned, "and I am here be- 
 cause Mr. Gray sent me. Do you know what 
 you have done by this day's Avork ? You have 
 destroyed a good portion of Baton Rouge and 
 9 
 
130 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 got every white man in tlie settlement down 
 on yon." 
 
 "I never " began Lambert, who was 
 
 profoundly astonished. 
 
 " I am not here to argue the matter," inter- 
 rupted Ned, "but to tell you that there is a 
 mob in the hotel who are talking strongly of 
 laying violent hands on you. They would 
 have been here before this time if it hadn't 
 been for Mr. Gray and a few others who don't 
 believe in such things ; but the gang was about 
 equally divided when Mr. Gray sent me to 
 warn you, and you had better dig out. They 
 are as likely to decide on one thing as another, 
 and you are not safe in this house." 
 
 " Great smoke ! " gasped Lambert when he 
 began to comprehend the situation. '' Where 
 shall I go?" 
 
 "Get into your duds and draw a bee-line 
 for the nearest patch of timber. Mr, Gray 
 may be able to hold the mob and he may 
 not ; so I say again that you had better dig 
 out." 
 
 "I never looked for you to be so good to 
 me, Ned," faltered Lambert, who seemed to be 
 
now IT RESULTED. 131 
 
 SO dazed that lie did not realize the necessity 
 of acting quickly. 
 
 "Don't tliank me; thank Mr. Gray," said 
 Ned hastily. "If it had not been for him 
 I am afraid I should have left you to look 
 out for yourself ; for I know how you and 
 Tom Randolph have been working against me. 
 But you can't injure me now, and so I can 
 afford to be magnanimous. Are you going to 
 clear out or not? " 
 
 Yes, Lambert thought he had better take a 
 friend's advice and seek safety in flight while 
 the way was open to him ; and when Ned heard 
 him say that he wheeled his horse and set off 
 post-haste to carry the same warning and advice 
 to another party whose name had that night 
 been rather unpleasantly mentioned in connec- 
 tion with a sound thrashing. This one was Tom 
 Randolph, who heard his ring at the door but 
 lacked the courage to answer it, for something 
 told him that he would hear disagreeable news 
 if he did. Mr. Randolph answered the bell 
 himself, and the words he listened to almost 
 drove him frantic. Ned did not tell him that 
 the mob had threatened to whip Tom, for, as 
 
132 llODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 lie afterward said, lie couldn't get liis consent 
 to go as far as tliat ; but lie said enough to put 
 Mr. Randolph into a terrible state of mind. 
 He stamped his feet on the gallery, shook his 
 fists over his head, and wished from the bottom 
 of his heart that every member of the Home 
 Guards had been sent to the front and killed 
 off long ago, and then he went in to tell his 
 wife about it, and leave her to break the news 
 to Tom in any way she thought best. To say 
 that the young man was utterly confounded 
 would be putting it very mildly. He was 
 terribly frightened, of course, and angry as 
 well ; but for some reason or other he did not 
 seem to stand so much in fear of personal 
 violence as he did of losing his commission. 
 When his mother had repeated word for word 
 the conversation that took place between Ned 
 Griffin and Mr. Randolph, and Tom had asked 
 a question or two, he jumped to his feet and 
 charged about the room like a caged wild 
 animal. 
 
 "There isn't a man in the world who has 
 half the trouble I do," he said, almost tear- 
 fully. "That idiot Lambert has broken up 
 
now IT RESULTED. 133 
 
 the company as completely as tbougli the 
 Yankees had come in and captured every 
 member of it." 
 
 "And think of the misery he has brought 
 upon the Baton Rouge people," suggested his 
 mother. 
 
 "I don't care a picayune for the Baton 
 Rouge people," said Tom in savage tones, 
 " They ought to have known that they would 
 bring themselves into trouble by being so 
 friendly with the Yankees ; but all the same 
 Lambert showed himself a born fool when he 
 iired on that gunboat. I should be glad to 
 see him and every man who went with him 
 conscripted and put where they would have to 
 behave themselves, if I could only get others 
 to fill their places ; but that is something I 
 can't do. And if I lose my men I shall have 
 to throw up my commission or go into the 
 army. When I meet them at the enrolling 
 office in the moruing I will talk to them in a 
 way they will remember." 
 
 But when morning dawned upon his sight 
 after a restless and sleepless night, the cap- 
 tain of the Home Guards had several other 
 
184 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 tilings to occupy liis mind. First came a com- 
 mittee of twelve stalwart men appointed by 
 the indignant citizens of Baton Ronge, who 
 called at Mr. Randolph's house to inquire 
 what Tom meant by sending a gang of ruffians 
 to their peaceful city to bring destruction 
 upon it, and death and wounds to its quiet 
 inhabitants, in that wanton, useless, and out- 
 rageous manner. TLe scathing denunciation 
 and threats that Captain Tom was obliged to 
 listen to before he and his mother could con- 
 vince the visitors that he was in no way to 
 blame for it, that he did not know the first 
 thing about it until it was all over, and that 
 the Home Guards had acted on their own 
 responsibility and without orders from him, 
 were things he never forgot ; and the only 
 way he could pacify the committee, who 
 seemed determined to have revenge upon 
 somebody before they left town, was by 
 promising to turn his company over to the 
 conscripting officer as soon as he could get 
 to his office. Tom knew when he said it that 
 his Home Guards would refuse to be disposed 
 of in that vvay, but he was so much afraid of 
 
now IT RESULTED. 135 
 
 tlie Baton Rouge men and so anxious to see 
 the last of them, that he would have promised 
 more than that for the sake of inducing them 
 to leave the house. 
 
 Although Tom did not know it until after- 
 ward, the committee took a little responsi- 
 bility from his shoulders by calling at Kim- 
 berly's store before they went kome and tell- 
 ing Captain Roach, in the hearing of some of 
 the Home Guards, that if he did not at once 
 conscript every man who was in any way 
 concerned in Lambert's mad act they would 
 petition the Governor to remove him and put 
 in his place an officer who would attend to his 
 business. And this threat of theirs Avas what 
 brought some of the Home Guards to Captain 
 Tom's house, where we found them at the 
 beginning of the first chapter. 
 
A 
 
 CHAPTER VL 
 
 CAPTAIN EOACII LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 
 
 S soon as the Baton Ronge men with their 
 lowering 'looks and big revolvers were 
 fairly out of sight of the house Captain Tom, 
 feeling much the worse for the exciting ordeal 
 through which he had just passed, went into 
 his mother's room and flung himself down on 
 the lounge Avith the air of a man who had 
 nothing in the world to live for. There Avasn' t 
 another captain in the Confederacy, he told 
 himself, whose ambition to do something great 
 for his country had been balked and defeated 
 at every turn as his had been ever since he 
 took command of the Home Guards, In no 
 single instance that he could think of had his 
 men conducted themselves as he thought they 
 ought, or as he was sure Captain Hubbard's 
 Rangers would have conducted themselves if 
 they had been situated as the Home Guards 
 were, and it was a sad disa],>pointment and 
 
 13G 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 187 
 
 trial to liim. Already lie repented of his rnsli 
 promise to turn liis company over to the 
 enrolling officer, for by such a proceeding he 
 would place himself right where he was before 
 the Governor honored him with his commis- 
 sion — that is to say, without any standing at 
 all in the community. Now he had influence 
 and he was not ignorant of the fact. It was 
 very gratifying to his vanity to have men who 
 were his superiors in every point of view, 
 who had seldom invited liim to their houses 
 or treated him with anything more than 
 ordinary civility— it was very gratifying to 
 have such men go out of their way to speak to 
 him, and to see them listen attentively while 
 he discussed the issues of the hour, and told 
 how the war ought to be conducted on the 
 Confederate side. The most of these men in 
 their hearts despised him, and Captain Tom 
 knew it ; but they were aware that through 
 his intimacy with Captain Roach he was able 
 to hasten or postpone their conscription, just 
 as the humor seized him, and for this reason 
 thought it prudent to treat him Avitli some 
 show of respect. But if he gave his company 
 
138 IlODISrEY, THE OVEIISEEU. 
 
 -over to tlie enrolling officer, or if Captain 
 Roacli were relieved and a new and stricter 
 
 man put in his place 
 
 "0\v! Ozzj/" yelled tlie persecuted and 
 furious captain of tlie Home Guards when 
 these dispiriting reflections passed through his 
 mind ; and with the words he sprang from the 
 lounge to the middle of the room, where he 
 swung his arms and danced about like one 
 demented. "JS'o matter what I decide to do 
 I am in a fix. But I'll never give up my com- 
 pany — never in this world. I am the biggest 
 toad in the puddle now and I am going to stay 
 that way, or else Til go to Baton Rouge and 
 curry favor with the Yankees, as other good 
 Confederates have done to keep out of trou- 
 ble. Jeff Davis can't reach inside their lines 
 and take me by the collar and drag me into 
 ]iis army. And as for Roach, if he gets up on 
 his dignity and says ugly things to me on ac- 
 count of Lambert's foolishness, I'll let him 
 know who he is talking to. I'll report him 
 myself for — for incompetency and general 
 worthlessness. He's about as fit to be an en- 
 rolling officer as Adam's off ox. At any rate 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 139 
 
 lie sluill never sit at my mother's table again, 
 and he can bet on that." 
 
 At this moment Mrs. Randolph, who had 
 done so much to help Captain Tom through his 
 tr3nng interview with the Baton Rouge com- 
 mittee, hastened into the room looking very 
 much excited and distressed. 
 
 "My dear," said she nervously, "I am 
 afraid we are going to have more trouble. 
 There is a score or more of Home Guards in 
 the road coming toward the house, and tliey 
 are talking loudly and shaking- their fists at 
 one another as if tliey are very angry." 
 
 " I don't care if they are," shouted Captain 
 Tom. " I am mad too, as I have good reason 
 to be. Stand by me and see how I will talk 
 to them." 
 
 Money would not have induced Captain 
 Randolph to go out on the gallery alone to 
 meet his mutinous soldiers, and even with his 
 fearless mother at his side to support and 
 encourage him he felt like running back 
 into the house when he saw them coming 
 through tlie gate and heard their loud, angry 
 voices. Whether they intended to do him 
 
140 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER, . 
 
 personal injury Tom never knew for certain, 
 tliougli he afterward heard it liinted that they 
 did ; but he was much gratified and relieved 
 to observe tliat tliey ceased all hostile demon- 
 strations when they saw his mother standing 
 by his side on the gallery ; and that embold- 
 ened him to go on with the programme he had 
 laid out for himself. 
 
 "You are a pretty lot of soldiers — a very 
 pretty lot indeed," Avas the way in which he 
 vent at them. "I am heartily ashamed of 
 you and disgusted with myself to think I ever 
 consented to act as your commanding officer. 
 Do you know that you have done us and our 
 glorious cause more injury than Farragut ever 
 did 1 Men have been shot to death in the 
 Army of the Centre for doing less than you 
 have done, and now I am going to put you 
 where you will be served in the same way the 
 first time you misbehave yourselves. I shall 
 stand your foolishness no longer. The field 
 is the place for you, and there's where you are 
 going as soon as Captain Roach can send you." 
 
 "Cap'n Roach can't send us there, nor you 
 neither," shouted Lambert, who of course was 
 
CAPTAIN llOACII LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 141 
 
 expected to act as spokesman for the Home 
 Guards. "We are swore into the service 
 of the State, we are. and Confedrit officers 
 can't touch us. Didn't Bob Hubbard's 
 Rangers ' ' 
 
 " I can send you to the front to pay you for 
 what you did yesterday, and I will," inter- 
 rupted Captain Tom, "There are no such 
 useless things as States troops any longer, and 
 I am glad of it. Ask Captain Roach and he 
 will tell you that you are liere only because 
 I asked liim to let yon stay, and that if the 
 camp of instruction we are waiting for had 
 been established I could have sent you there 
 any day I pleased. I have been standing be- 
 tween you and him all along, and this is the 
 way you repay me, you ungrateful black- 
 gnards ! I'll teach you to play the part of 
 fools without my orders.'' 
 
 Lieutenant Lambert rubbed his hands nerv- 
 ously together, shaking his head and swearing 
 softly to himself the while, and fairly ached to 
 make a suitable rejoinder ; but the presence 
 of Tom's mother, of whom he had always 
 stood somewhat in awe, restrained him. 
 
142 RODlSrEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "We uns tliongiit you was dead set agin 
 the Yankees, arid that you would be sorter 
 glad to see them sailors made to stay on their 
 boats," one of the Home Guards ventured to 
 say at length. 
 
 "What business had you to think anything 
 of tlie kind?" demanded Captain Tom. "A 
 soldier's whole duty is to obey. He is nothing 
 but a machine and his captain does his think- 
 ing for him. If I had wanted you to go to the 
 city and fire on those gunboats I should have 
 led you there myself. Lambert, you alone 
 are to blame for this miserable state of affairs, 
 and I will tell you for your satisfaction that 
 you have killed your chances for a lieuten- 
 ant's commission deader than a smelt. I'll 
 never recommend you to the Governor." 
 
 "By gum! I won't stand no such talk as 
 that! " yelled Lambert. 
 
 He sprang into the air and knocked his 
 heels together, dashed his hat upon the ground 
 and placed his foot upon the lower step, as if 
 he were about to rush up to the gallery where 
 Tom was standing. The latter' s face grew as 
 white as a sheet, but he could not think of 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 143 
 
 yielding ground to a mutinous subordinate 
 while his mother was looking on. In an in- 
 stant the sword, that hung at his side flashed, 
 from its scabbard. 
 
 " I haven't drawn it without a cause," said 
 he, shaking the weapon over the railing almost 
 in Lambert's face, "and I warn you that I 
 shall not sheathe it with dishonor. That 
 is my motto, and I shall live up to it, no 
 matter what hapx^ens to me. Any more 
 such actions on your X)in't will shut you up 
 in the guard-house on a bread and water 
 diet." 
 
 It is not likely that the sight of Tom's sword 
 or the threat which he could not have carried 
 out had any effect upon Lieutenant Lambert, 
 who was a noted rough and tumble fighter, 
 but a glance at the face of the resolute woman 
 who stood quietly on the porch above cowed 
 him at once. Mrs. Randolph did not say a 
 word, nor did she move an inch when Lambert 
 acted as though he Avas about to charge up 
 the steps, but there was something in her eye 
 that brought the angry man to his senses. He 
 backed away from the steps, picked up his hat, 
 
144 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 and remarked that lie had alwa/s supposed 
 a first lieutenant had a right to harass the 
 enem}^ in any wvtj he could ; but he was re- 
 buked and silenced before he had uttered half 
 a dozen words because he forgot his manners 
 and addressed his commanding officer by his 
 Christian name. 
 
 Cax">tain Tom Avas not slow to improve the 
 advantage he had gained, and the way he 
 scolded, threatened, and even insulted the 
 Home Guards would have made a regular sol- 
 dier open his eyes. He showed them that 
 they did wrong when they followed Lambert 
 to Baton Rouge without orders from their 
 captain, and drew so harrowing a picture of 
 the dangers and privations of the army life 
 to which they had doomed themselves by 
 their acts of disobedience and folly that he 
 frightened the bravest of them ; and when he 
 thought he had impressed them sufficiently 
 he wound up by declaring that nothing short 
 of a solemn promise on their part to do better 
 in future would induce him to break the 
 agreement he had made with the Baton Rouge 
 men. If they would take orders from him and 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 145 
 
 nobody else lie would stand between tliem 
 and all harm. 
 
 " And mark my words, this is the very last 
 warning I shall give you," said Captain Tom 
 in conclusion. " The last one of you ought to 
 be court-martialled and shot." 
 
 To his great surprise and his mother's Lieu- 
 tenant Lambert stepped forward, assumed the 
 position of a soldier as near as he could get 
 it, touched his battered hat respectfully, and 
 said : 
 
 "We'll do it, cap'n, and there's my hand 
 on to it, if Miss Randolph will take it. From 
 this time on you're boss and don't nary one of 
 you forget it." 
 
 Lambert's object was to restore himself to 
 the favor of Tom's mother ; and so he went on 
 to declare, with some emphatic language to 
 make it more binding, that he spoke for the 
 company and would take it upon himself to 
 see that the promise was kept. He was sure 
 he had succeeded in his object when Mrs. Ran- 
 dolph smiled and shook hands with him over 
 the railing, but all the same Lambert meant 
 something very different from what he said. 
 10 
 
146 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Captain Tom made a life-long enemy when lie 
 drew his sword on his second officer, and all 
 the latter wanted was an opportunity to show 
 it. Tom then dismissed his men with the assur- 
 ance that he would do the best he could for 
 them, and went into the house congratulating 
 himself on having won a complete victory. 
 
 " I have had the narrowest escape of my life 
 this morning," were the first words he said to 
 his mother. "The next time I come so near 
 to going into the army I shall go ; and that 
 will be the last you will ever see of Tom Ran- 
 dolph. Didn't I bring Lambert to time when 
 I drew my sword on him ? He's had an idea 
 that he could run things to suit himself, but 
 I think I showed him his mistake. Of course 
 it will not be safe for me to go near Baton 
 Rouge, for I believe the citizens would mob 
 me ; but I can't be sent to a conscript camp so 
 long as I have men to command, and that is 
 what I am figuring on now." 
 
 Half an hour later, and before Captain Tom 
 had finished telling his mother and himself 
 that he was well out of the scrape into which 
 his officious lieutenant had brought him, one 
 
CAPTAIlSr ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 147 
 
 of the Home Guards rode into tlie yard with a 
 note from Captain Roach, in which the latter 
 requested Tom to come to his office at once on 
 business of the last importance. The young 
 man was frightened again ; but the idea of 
 talking over matters with Captain Roach while 
 his mother was not by to support him was 
 not to be entertained for a moment. He 
 passed the note over to her after he had read 
 it, and said almost fiercely to the bearer : 
 
 "Tell Captain Roach that he has forgotten 
 himself — that I am his senior ; and if he is so 
 anxious to see me he must come where I am. 
 At the present time I am not dancing attend- 
 ance upon him or anybody else." 
 
 "One moment, my dear," Mrs. Randolph 
 interposed. "A written invitation demands 
 the courtesy of a written reply. Permit me 
 to answer the captain. I will show you the 
 note before sending it away." 
 
 His mother went into the house and Captain 
 Tom said to the Home Guard, who sat on his 
 horse at the foot of the steps : 
 
 "Have you any idea what Roach wants of 
 me?" 
 
148 ROD.VEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "I reckon it's something or 'notlier about 
 them men from Baton Rouge, who acted like 
 they wanted to bu'st things," rei:)lied the mes- 
 senger. "Looks to me like the cap'n feels 
 sorter shook up over what they said to him, 
 and that he's got himself into some kind of a 
 muss that nobody but you can help him out of. 
 He talks like he's going to send we uns to 
 camp. Can you shet him off on that, do you 
 reckon ?" 
 
 "It depends entirely upon the way you 
 Home Guards conduct yourselves from this 
 time on," answered Captain Tom impressively. 
 " Roach would have conscripted you long ago 
 if I hadn't stood your friend, and he may do 
 it yet if you follow Lambert on any more of 
 his crazy expeditions." 
 
 "I didn't foller," said the man hastily, 
 " and I don't want you to think I did. I was 
 to home all the blessed time. I aint caring to 
 bother the Yankees so long as they let me be. 
 And Lambert, he won't go off that away agin. 
 He was purty bad skeared last night." 
 
 "What at?" inquired Tom. 
 
 "Wliy, don't you know? Some of our 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW, 149 
 
 folks went down to the river yesterday to see 
 what all that shooting was about, and when 
 they come back and told what Lambert had 
 been a-doing, ole man Gray and the rest of 'em 
 was that mad that they talked of hanging 
 Lambert up to a tree and licking you like you 
 was a nigger." 
 
 Captain Tom reeled as if the man had 
 struck him with the handle of the heavy 
 riding -whip he carried in his hand, and 
 grasped • at the veranda railing for sup- 
 port. 
 
 "I am telling you nothing but the gospel 
 truth," continued the messenger, not a little 
 surprised at the effect his words had produced 
 upon his commanding officer, " and I thought 
 you had had time to hear all about it. They 
 was a tol'able mad lot of men down to the 
 hotel last night, and when I seen 'em going 
 on I was mighty glad I hadn't went with 
 Lambert and the rest." 
 
 "Do you mean to say that old man Gray 
 dared to talk of whipping meV exclaimed 
 Tom, who could hardly believe his ears. 
 "Wasn't it Lambert he spoke of?" 
 
150 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "No, it was you ; and lie wasn't the only 
 one who spoke of it, nuther," replied the 
 Home Guard. " They was all mad, I tell yon, 
 and some of them was for hanging Lambert." 
 
 "I wish to goodness they had," said Captain 
 Tom, speaking before he thought. "That is 
 to say, I wish they had done something to 
 him before he brought me into all this trouble. 
 Was that what frightened him ?" 
 
 "You're mighty right, and he took to the 
 bresh as soon as he got wind of it. But he 
 come out this morning and we all have 
 promised to stand by him. If they put a 
 ugly hand on one of the company we uns 
 allow to burn them out." 
 
 "That's the idea!" cried Tom, who never 
 would have thought of such a thing himself. 
 " I see very plainly that we've got to do some- 
 thing to protect ourselves. We are State 
 troops, and if these cowardly citizens drive us 
 to it we will treat them as we would the 
 armed enemies of our country if we could 
 only get at them. We'll begin on old man 
 G-ray and never let up until we've destroyed 
 everything he's got. No man who dares to 
 
CAPTAIN IIOACII LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 151 
 
 threaten me and those who serve under me 
 
 shall hold up his head as high Sh ! Here 
 
 comes my mother. Don't say a word in her 
 hearing, but tell Lambert I'll see him after a 
 while and arrange a jjlan of operations with 
 him." 
 
 Just then Mrs. Randolph came out on the 
 porch with the note she had written, and 
 which she presented for Tom's apxu'oval. It 
 was not written in his name, but in her own. 
 She said she regretted that her son did not 
 feel able to accept the captain's kind invita- 
 tion, owing to the excitement and distress of 
 mind into which he had been thrown by the 
 unfortunate occurrences of the last few hours, 
 but if Captain Roach would honor her by 
 coming up to dinner at the usual hour she 
 hoped he would find Captain Randolph so 
 far recovered that he would be able to talk 
 over with him the very important business 
 to which Captain Roach had referred in his 
 note. 
 
 The result of this piece of strategy was that 
 an open rupture between Captain Tom and 
 the conscript officer was avoided ; and when 
 
152 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 the latter, who had been so frightened and 
 angered by the threats of the Baton Ronge 
 committee that he was several times on the 
 point of doing something desperate, came \vp 
 to dinner "at the usnal hour," he Avas the 
 same pleasant and agreeable fellow he had. 
 always been. But he found Captain Tom 
 lying on the sofa in dressing-gown and slip- 
 pers, and looking the picture of misery. Be- 
 fore he advanced to take the limp palm that 
 Tom languidly extended he stopj)ed in the 
 middle of the room and asked if someone had 
 been laying violent hands upon him. To be 
 candid he thought it would be a good thing 
 for Tom if the citizens would shake him up a 
 little. 
 
 "No, sir," was the very dignified reply. 
 "Physical pain would not do a Randolph up 
 in this way. It is purely mental anguish ; 
 and my honor has been touched. I little 
 jthought that I should ever i)ermit living men 
 to talk as those Baton Rouge ruffians talked 
 to me this morning without promptly calling 
 them to account for it. But my Home Guards 
 were clearly in the w^rong when they fired upon 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW, 153 
 
 that boat without my orders, so what could I 
 say or do ? " 
 
 Captain Roach, who had had plenty of time 
 to cool off and recover his courage since he 
 wrote that note, smiled pleasantly, gave 
 Tom's hand a cordial shake, j)ulled wp a chair, 
 and said that the committee had been quite as 
 savage with himself as they had been with his 
 friend Tom, and that he had thought it the 
 I)art of wisdom to comply with their demands 
 when he saw that they carried revolvers in 
 their coat-pockets, and were in just the right 
 mood to use them. He said that he had con- 
 scripted all the Home Guards except Tom, as 
 he had agreed to do, because he did not see 
 how he could heliD himself. It would be very 
 little trouble for the Baton Rouge people, with 
 the aid of Rodney Gray's father and a score 
 of others whose names the captain could men- 
 tion, to keep watch of the way things were 
 done at the enrolling office, and if he failed to 
 keep his promise they would be sure to find it 
 out ; but he had conscripted the Home Guards 
 conditionally. If they would behave them- 
 selves in future and take orders from their 
 
154 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 captain instead of their first lieutenant he 
 would not send them to camp until the last 
 minute, and not at all if he could help it ; but 
 the first man who kicked out of the traces 
 would be the first to be sent to the front. 
 Lambert and the rest understood this per- 
 fectly, and had agreed to be bound by his 
 decision. 
 
 "That's the idea!" cried Captain Tom, 
 delighted to learn that at last he had his 
 refractory men right where he wanted them. 
 "That's the way to bring mutineers to time. 
 There will be no more trouble of this kind, I 
 assure you, for I talked to some of my troops 
 very plainly this morning, and made Lambert 
 knuckle in a way that would have surprised 
 you if you could have seen it. Of course I 
 shall have to steer clear of Baton Rouge, but 
 I don't care much for that ; although I con- 
 fess it nettles me to feel that I cannot go and 
 come when I please, as I liave always been in 
 the habit of doing." 
 
 Mrs. Randolph remained in the room long 
 enough to assure herself that the relations ex- 
 isting between Captain Roach and her son had 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 155 
 
 not been strained by tlie events of the morn- 
 ing, and then, bestowing an approving smile 
 upon each, she arose and went out ; where- 
 upon Captain Tom got upon his feet and care- 
 fully closed the door behind her. 
 
 "Say ! " he whispered when he came back 
 and resumed his position on the sofa, "did 
 you know that the town was in possession 
 of a mob last night, and that some Yankee 
 sympathizers among them had the impudence 
 to threaten me and my man Lambert ? " 
 
 "I know all about it," replied Captain 
 Roach, an expression of anxiety settling on 
 his face. "But they were not Yankee sym- 
 pathizers, for men of that stamp would not 
 dare open their heads in this community. 
 They were as good Confederates as you or I." 
 
 "Don't you believe any such stuif," ex- 
 claimed Tom. "There isn't a word of truth 
 in it. I know that Rodney Gray is a low- 
 down private in our army (he isn't considered 
 worthy of a commission), but his father's 
 loyalty has always been suspected, and last 
 night he proposed that his gang of blackguards 
 should whip me and hang Lambert. Now I 
 
156 EODJfEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 tell you that a man who talks that way about 
 me " 
 
 "Somebody has told you what Isn't so," 
 interrupted Captain Roach, " Such a propo- 
 sition was made last night, but Mr. Gray 
 would not hear to it. He and a few others 
 talked it down on the spot." 
 
 " Well, it's a good thing for old Gray that 
 he did, and if he knows when he is watching 
 his own interests he will take pains to keep it 
 talked down," said Captain Tom fiercely. "I 
 was ready for him, and if you hadn't told me 
 what you have he would have lost some of his 
 buildings this very night." 
 
 •The enrolling officer had seldom been so 
 surprised and startled. He looked fixedly at 
 Tom to see if he was in earnest, and then cried 
 out in alarm : 
 
 " Do you know what you are saying? Are 
 you crazy ? ' ' 
 
 "I know what I am saying and I am not 
 crazy," was Tom's answer. "I have been 
 threatened with a nigger's punishment, and I 
 never will rest easy until the man who pro- 
 posed the thing suffers for it." 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 157 
 
 "But you don't know who proposed it and 
 neitlier do I." 
 
 "No matter. I'll make it my business to 
 find out." 
 
 " And if you succeed are you going to burn 
 some buildings ? " 
 
 " I am, most decidedly." 
 
 "You have fully made up your mind to 
 that, have youl" 
 
 "I have." 
 
 "Please present my compliments to your 
 mother when she returns, and say to her that 
 I could not stop to dinner," exclaimed Captain 
 Roach, rising to his feet and reaching for his 
 cap. 
 
 " What is the matter with you ? Where are 
 you going in such a hurry?" Tom almost 
 gasped. 
 
 "I am going to my office, and the first hard 
 work I shall do after I get there will be to put 
 it out of your power to ruin yourself and your 
 father and mother, as you seem bent on do- 
 ing," answered the captain; and there Avas a 
 look of quiet determination on his face that 
 Tom had never seen there before. "Of course 
 
158 EODNEY, THE OVEKSEER. 
 
 you do not intend to do this incenditiry work 
 alone (you haven't got pluck enough for 
 that," the captain added to himself), "so I 
 shall make all haste to send your men into the 
 army where they can't help you. They will 
 be the death of you if I don't." 
 
 " And must I let a man talk about whipping 
 me as if I were a nigger and never do or say 
 the first thing about it ? " cried Tom, throwing 
 himself back upon the pillow and covering his 
 face with his hands. " I am not made of that 
 sort of stuff, and I did not think a Confederate 
 officer would advise me to such a cowardly 
 course." 
 
 " What would you call a thing in the shape 
 of a man who woukl sneak up on another's 
 property, in the dead of night when there was 
 no one to oppose him, and touch a match 
 to it?" exclaimed Captain Roach hotly. 
 "Would you call him a coward or not?" 
 
 " I don't care," whined Tom. " I am bound 
 to have revenge on the man wlio dared to say 
 that I ought to be whipped, and I won't give 
 up my plan." 
 
 "You'll have to take the consequences; 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 159 
 
 and if you don't promise right here and now 
 that you will be governed by me in future, I Avill 
 go out of this house and never enter it again ; 
 and you know well enough what that means. 
 I am not going to let you send me to the army 
 in disgrace if I can help it." 
 
 " Sit down a minute," said Tom, seeing that 
 the captain stood ready to carry out his threat 
 to leave the house. "I don't see how the 
 burning of a cotton-gin or two will disgrace 
 you or anybody else." 
 
 " Yes, you do ; for I have explained it to you 
 more than a hundred times. Mr. Gray and 
 some others are almost ready to report me now 
 for my failure to make you and your worthless 
 men take your chances with the other con- 
 scripts, and the minute somebody begins to 
 lose property that minute I shall be ordered 
 away from here and into the army; and 
 wouldn't that put me in disgrace, I'd like 
 to know?" 
 
 "What's the use of my being captain of 
 the Home Guards if I can't call upon my men 
 to protect me?" cried Tom, who would have 
 given something to be alone for about five 
 
160 EODNEY, THE OVEESEER. 
 
 minutes so that he might have found relief in 
 a flood of tears. 
 
 " There isn't a bit of use in it," replied the 
 enrolling officer bluntly, " except that it keeps 
 you out of the army with my help. Your com- 
 mission gives you no authority to call upon 
 the members of a State organization to avenge 
 your supposed j^rivate wrongs." 
 
 ' ' Well — why don' t you sit down ? ' ' repeated 
 Tom. 
 
 " I will when I have your promise, and not 
 before. If you have laid your plans to get me 
 into a muss with the Governor, I must head 
 you off if I can." 
 
 "Then I Avill make no effort to wipe out the 
 disgrace that has been put upon me as long as 
 you remain in town," said Tom very reluct- 
 antly. "But after you leave I'll make some 
 people I know of wish they had spoken of 
 Captain Randolph with more resx)ect. Now 
 sit down and act like yourself." 
 
 "You ought to go straight to Mr. Gray and 
 thank him ; for if he and his friends had 
 not stood by you last night you might have 
 been badly treated," answered Captain Roach, 
 
CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 161 
 
 placing his cap on the table again and resum- 
 ing his seat by Tom's side. "Yon and I do 
 not want to go into the army, and yon must 
 see that, in order to keep out of it, it will be 
 necessary for you to follow a different course 
 from the one you have marked out for your- 
 self. If I am reported for neglect of duty 
 the jig will be up with you." 
 
 "Then I must lie around and do nothing, 
 must I?" 
 
 "Is there anything else you can do with 
 safety? You can ride about the country at 
 the head of your Home Guards occasionally, 
 just to let the Union men see that you are 
 keeping up your organization, and after I 
 receive word that the camp of instruction has 
 been established, you can take the conscripts 
 there as fast as I can get them together ; and 
 that's about all you can do." 
 
 "It's a dog's life compared with what I 
 thought a partisan's life would be," growled 
 Tom, "and perhaps it isn't safe for me to ride 
 about the country. The threats that were 
 made against me last night " 
 
 "Will amount to nothing, I assure you," 
 11 
 
162 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 interrupted Captain Roach. " Tlie hot-heads 
 who made them and who seemed to be so fierce 
 for a fuss are few ia number, and have had 
 time to recover their senses since then. You 
 can't find a man in town who will say that he 
 was willing to go with the rabble last night ; 
 and more than that, the order-loving people in 
 the community would not stand by and see a 
 mob run things to suit themselves. You saw 
 Lambert this morning, didn't you? Well, he 
 goes around as freely as he ever did, and no 
 one says a word to him." 
 
 Captain Tom tliought of the compact that 
 Lambert and the rest of the Home Guards had 
 made to stand by one another in case of 
 trouble with the citizens, but thought it best 
 to say nothing about it to his friend Roach. 
 Of course he had to give the required x^i'omise 
 over and over again before the conscript officer 
 became satisfied of his sinceritj^, and he did it 
 with apparent willingness ; but all the while 
 he was telling himself that the men who had 
 threatened to whip him as if he were a nigger, 
 no matter who they were, would hear from 
 him some day, and in a way they would not 
 
CAPTAIN KOACII LAYS DOWN THE LAW. 103 
 
 like. It took a great load off liis mind to 
 know that lie would not be mobbed as soon as 
 lie showed himself in Mooreville. In fact it 
 cured his "excitement and distress of mind" 
 in a very few minutes ; and when his mother 
 returned at the end of half an hour he had 
 discarded his gown and slippers, and was 
 sitting up dressed in his full uniform. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 
 
 WHEN Captain Roach went to his office 
 that evening, after the best dinner he 
 had ever eaten in that house, Tom Randolph 
 rode down with him ; and before he had gone 
 half a mile was able to tell himself that he 
 had been borrowing trouble and without 
 reason. He saw no coldness whatever in the 
 greetings of those he met along the road, and 
 the few who stopped to speak with him about 
 the occurrences of the previous day declared 
 with one accord that they did not lay any 
 blame at his door ; but the way they de- 
 nounced and threatened Lieutenant Lambert 
 was a pleasant thing for Tom to hear. 
 
 "That man's election wasn't legal any 
 way," was what Tom always said in reply. 
 "But because I have permitted him to act as 
 my second in command he has somehow got it 
 into his head that he is a bigger man than I 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION", 165 
 
 am, and has a right to do as he pleases. If 
 he has at hist found out that I know a trifle 
 more than he does, and that it is a soldier's 
 place to wait for orders from his superior, it 
 will be a good thing for Lambert. If the 
 Baton Rouge people want those gunboats 
 driven away from their town and will send 
 me word, I will go down and do the work for 
 them as it ought to be done." 
 
 Tom knew that he was quite safe in talking 
 in this lofty way, for he had learned during 
 his interview with the committee that the 
 people of Baton Rouge would not look kindly 
 upon or support any effort that was made to 
 drive the boats away. As long as they were 
 let alone the Yankees were not unpleasant 
 fellows to have around. They put good food 
 into the mouths of some of the city people, 
 good hats and shoes on their heads and feet, 
 and good money in their pockets, and were on 
 the whole more desirable neighbors than their 
 own enlisted men would have been, for the 
 latter had nothing to give in exchange for 
 garden produce and milk and butter and eggs. 
 But the energetic manner in which they went 
 
166 KODNEY, THE OVETISEETI. 
 
 to work to scatter Lambert's Home Guards 
 proved that these peaceable gunboat men were 
 ready to fight at a moment's notice. 
 
 Captain Tom's courage and importance came 
 back to him rai)id]y when he found that tlie 
 situation was by no means as serious as he had 
 supposed it to be ; and when he saw that even 
 Lambert was willing to acknowledge his au- 
 thority, he came to the conclusion that that 
 indignation meeting at the hotel, and the visit 
 of the Baton Rouge committee, were the best 
 tilings that could have happened to him and 
 the Home Guards. He found Lambert in his 
 usual loafing place in Kimberly's store. In- 
 deed the man was afraid to go very far away 
 from there, for tliere was no telling what 
 might be said and done against him if he 
 should absent himself. He saluted Captain 
 Tom respectfully, and followed him out of the 
 back door in obedience to a motion of his 
 finger. 
 
 "Look here, lieutenant," said Tom, when 
 they were alone together, "I do not in the 
 least blame you for saying that' you would 
 like to see Rodney Gray's father burned out 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 167 
 
 to pay liim for what lie said against you last 
 night, but " 
 
 "Somebody's been a-lying on me," ex- 
 chiimed Lambert, looking alarmed. " I never 
 said no such stuff." 
 
 "Oh, what is the use of denying it to a 
 friend?" said Tom, with most unbecoming 
 familiarity, "But I don't ask whether you 
 intend to burn him out or not. What I want 
 to say is, that you must on no account think 
 of it so long as Cai^tain Roach stays here. If 
 you do you will get him into trouble with the 
 Governor, and he will pay you for it by send- 
 ing you and all the men to the front." 
 
 " And you too ? " asked Lambert. 
 
 " He can't conscript a commissioned officer, 
 can he?" said Tom, in reply. "No, he can't 
 do that ; and if you will promise that you will 
 never do another thing without my express 
 orders, I will see that he. doesn't conscript 
 you, either." 
 
 "All right, cap'n. I knuckle to you. 
 That's what I said this morning, and I meant 
 it. I'll move when you say the word and not 
 before." 
 
1C8 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "If you had made that sensible resolution 
 long ago you would have saved yourself and 
 me from insult," said Tom, looking at his lieu- 
 tenant as if he would like to give him another 
 piece of his mind. "If you have learned that 
 I am the head of the company I am glad of it ; 
 hut if you want to do anything to old man 
 Gray on your own hook — on your own hook, I 
 said — why, that is a matter with which I have 
 nothing to do. However, jon must wait until 
 Roach leaves Mooreville." 
 
 So saying. Captain Tom saluted and went 
 into the office. When the door closed behind 
 him Lambert shook both his clenched hands 
 at it, and said through his tightly shut 
 teeth : 
 
 "That's a matter you have nothing to do 
 with, is it? Well, I reckon it is ; and you 
 don't get Sile Lambert into a furse with no 
 such oily words as them. I know what you 
 want mighty well, but I just aint a-going to 
 do it. You can pester ole man Gray yourself 
 if you feel like it, and when the job is done 
 I'll tell him where to find the chap who done 
 it. ril learn you to keep my commission 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 1G9 
 
 from me and pull a sword on me besides, the 
 way you done this morning. By gum ! If I 
 wasn't af eared I'd go and make friends with 
 the Yankees the way the Baton Rouge folks 
 do. I'll risk it any way before I will let my- 
 self be conscripted." 
 
 Having weathered this storm without suffer- 
 ing very much damage excej^t so far as his 
 feelings were concerned, and quiet having been 
 restored in the community, Captain Tom 
 settled back into his old lazy way of passing 
 the time, and waited for something exciting to 
 happen. Tlie first news out of the ordinary 
 that came to his ears was that Baton Rouge 
 had been occupied by Federal troops, much to 
 the gratification of the citizens, both Union and 
 Confederate, who experienced so delightful a 
 sense of security when they saw the blue-coats 
 on tlieir streets that they forgot all about the 
 Mooreville Home Guards, and never took the 
 trouble to inquire whether they had been con- 
 scripted or not. But Captain Roach looked 
 grave, and well he migiit. He had issued an 
 order to the effect that those he had con- 
 scripted must report at his office at least once 
 
170 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER, 
 
 in every twenty-four hours to sliow that they 
 were still on hand and ready to receive march- 
 ing orders ; but on the day the news came 
 that the Yankees had garrisoned the city, only 
 ■fifteen out of forty-five presented themselves. 
 Two-thirds of their number had left home 
 and friends behind and sought refuge in the 
 city. 
 
 "This is a pretty state of affairs," ex- 
 claimed Tom, when Captain Roach told him 
 of it. "Those men are not worthy to be 
 called Southerners. Before I would show my- 
 self so cowardly I would gO somewhere and 
 hang myself. What will you do with them 
 when they come back ? " 
 
 "They'll not come back," replied the en- 
 rolling ofiicer. "They will stay where they 
 are safe, and no doubt desertions will be of 
 daily occurrence as long as the Yankees 
 remain in the city." 
 
 " Wouldn't it be a good plan for me to go 
 down there and harass them by driving in 
 their pickets now and then?" inquired Tom. 
 He did not know exactly what was meant by 
 driving in an enemy's pickets, but he had read 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 171 
 
 in the papers that it was often done by the 
 sokliers in both armies. 
 
 "What good would it do?" asked Captain 
 Roach . 
 
 " Why, the enemy wouldn't stay where they 
 were bushwhacked every time they showed 
 themselves, would they ? A few determined 
 men could torment them as the buffalo gnats 
 torment our stock." 
 
 "You must be a lunatic or take me for 
 one," was what Captain Roach said in reply. 
 "Why can't you be content to let the Yan- 
 kees alone so long as they are willing to let us 
 alone 1 If you sliould fire on their pickets 
 they would send their cavalry all through tlie 
 country about here, and there's no telling how 
 much damage they would do." 
 
 "Do you think they have brought cavalry 
 with them?" cried Tom, a most alarming 
 thought suggesting itself to him at the mo- 
 ment. 
 
 " Why, of course. They want to know what 
 is going on outside the city, don't they ? And 
 how are they to find out except through their 
 cavalry? You may see blue-coats in Moore- 
 
172 IlODlSrET, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 ville before sundown. You stny at home and 
 mind your business, for I hope to have u»e for 
 you presently." 
 
 " Do you mean that you hope to send me off 
 with some conscripts ? " 
 
 "That is what I mean. I sliall have to re- 
 port these desertions, and perhaps it will open 
 the eyes of the State enrolling officer to the 
 fact that he ought to have had that cam j) of 
 instruction in full blast long ago." 
 
 "But suppose a squad of Yankee cavalry 
 should intercept me on the road?" said Tom 
 in a trembling voice. 
 
 "Then you would have to fight, that's all. 
 If you whipped them it would be a fine* thing 
 for you and might lead to promotion. If they 
 wiiipped you they would release your pris- 
 oners and take you and your men away with 
 them." 
 
 "And then they would send me up North, 
 and I might not see home again for long 
 years," faltered Tom ; and everyone in the 
 office saw that he was badly frightened at the 
 prospect. 
 
 "Exactly. You took your chances on that 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION". 173 
 
 when you accepted your commission, you 
 know. Now, I wish you to go to work on 
 your men and see that they are in some sort of 
 shape when marching orders come. There will 
 be guards at the camp, and I hope your com- 
 pany will not suffer in comparison with them." 
 Captain Tom saw very clearly that his 
 connection with the Home Guards was not 
 likely to keep him entirely out of reach of 
 the dreaded Yankees ; and when he looked 
 through the open door and his gaze rested 
 upon an acquaintance of his who happened to 
 be passing at that moment, another alarming 
 thought forced itself upon him. It was Ned 
 Griffin, and he was mounted on one of Mr. 
 Gray's blooded horses. He smiled joleasantly 
 at Tom, nodded to the Home Guards clustered 
 about the door, and looked on the whole as 
 though he felt well satisfied with himself and 
 with his lot in life. Not only was he comforta- 
 bly settled as overseer on one of Mr. Gray's fine 
 plantations, but there was no possible chance 
 that he would ever be forced into the army 
 against his will ; and that was more than Cap- 
 tain Randolph could say for himself. 
 
174 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "How I sliould enjoy knocking that beggar 
 out of his saddle," said the latter under his 
 breath. Then lie bent over and whispered some 
 earnest words into the ear of the enrolling offi- 
 cer. "Look here, Roach," said he, "will you 
 do me the favor to keep the date of marching 
 a secret from everybody except myself." 
 
 "I'd be glad to if you wish it;, but I don't 
 see how I can," said the captain in surprise. 
 "I shall have to notify the conscri^Dts them- 
 selves, won't I? And if they choose to pub- 
 lish it, as undoubtedly they will in order to 
 give their friends opportunity to come to the 
 office and bid them good-by, how am I going 
 to hinder it ? What difference does it make 
 to you, anyway ? " 
 
 "It may make all the difference in the 
 world," whispered Tom. "That fellow who 
 just rode by would ask nothing better than to 
 send or take word to the Yankees where they 
 could capture me and a squad of conscripts on 
 a certain day. 
 
 "Whew! " whistled the captain. "If he 
 does that I'll arrest him and ship him off to 
 Richmond." 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 175 
 
 " But would that make a free man of me ? " 
 demanded Tom impatiently. "And how are 
 you going to prove it on him ? " 
 
 "That's so; and when it comes to that I 
 don't suppose Griffin is the only one about 
 here who would be glad to see you and all the 
 Home Guards packed oif to a Northern prison. 
 The only thing you can do is to look out for 
 yourself. Take as big. a squad Avith you as 
 you can muster, and stand ready to fight your 
 way." 
 
 Captain Tom was almost disheartened, but 
 made one more effort to shirk the duty to 
 which, until this particular morning, he had 
 looked forward with the liveliest anticipa- 
 tions of pleasure. 
 
 "Can't you ask the Confederate authorities 
 to send regular troops here to act as guards, 
 and leave me at home to protect the town ?" 
 said he desperately. He knew it was a con- 
 fession of cowardice on his part, but he did 
 not care a snap for that. 
 
 "Protect the town!" said Captain Roach 
 in great disgust. "No, I can't. Yes, on 
 second thought, I can ; but it will end in 
 
176 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 yoii and the Home Guards being sent to tlie 
 front." 
 
 The captain spoke impatiently and jerked 
 a sheet of paper toward him on tlie desk, in- 
 timating by the action that he could not 
 waste any more time with his friend Tom just 
 then, and the latter walked out of the office, 
 mounted his horse, and rode slowly homeward. 
 Something was forever happening to upset his 
 plans, and this last trouble was all the fault of 
 that man Lambert. If he had not fired upon 
 that unarmed boat the Federals Avould never 
 have thought it necessary to send a force to 
 Baton Rouge, and Captain Tom could have 
 escorted his conscri^^ted neighbors to the camp 
 of instruction without fear of coming in con- 
 tact with the blue-coated cavahy. He would 
 have had many opportunities to show his fine 
 sword and uniform to soldiers from other parts 
 of the State, and could have talked as big 
 as he pleased about whipping iron-clad gun- 
 boats in a fair fight. He had hoped to gain 
 admirers among the officers stationed at the 
 camp, and perhaps he could have himself rec- 
 ommended to fill the commanding officer's 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 177 
 
 place wlien tlie latter was ordered to take the 
 field. 
 
 "But tliat's all past and gone now," said 
 Tom as he saw these bright hopes disappear- 
 ing like the river mists before the rising sun. 
 •"If the Yankee cavalry blocks my Avay, as 
 it surely will if Ned Griffin gets a chance to 
 send them word, I just know I shall be cap- 
 tured, for I can't expect raw troojDs like my 
 Home Guards to stand against veterans. I 
 wish Lambert had been hanged before he fired 
 on that boat. Who are these, I wonder ? 
 Strangers * and spies, I'll bet." 
 
 This was another thonght that troubled him, 
 and if there had been a branch road that Tom 
 could have turned into he would, have taken 
 it rather than meet the two civilians he saw 
 riding toward him. But there was no escape 
 and so he kept on his way ; and as he drew 
 nearer to them his eyes began to open wider 
 and an expression of amazement came to his 
 face. He recognized the horses they rode and 
 the clothes they wore, and finally it dawned 
 upon him that the tanned and weather-beaten 
 countenance of one was familiar, though the 
 
 12 
 
178 KODNEY, THE OVERSEEE. 
 
 boy to whom it belonged had grown wonder- 
 fully tall and broad-shouldered since he last 
 saw him — so much so, in fact, that his clothes 
 were too small for him. If there was any 
 doubt in Captain Randolj)h's mind it vanished 
 when a cheery voice called out : 
 
 "Hallo, Tom— ee!" 
 
 Tom knew the voice and the odious name by 
 which he had been addressed. It was the one 
 with which his mother used to summon him 
 into the house in the days gone by — with a 
 shrill rising inflection on the last syllable. 
 His first thought was to take no notice of the 
 greeting or to make an angry rejoinder ; but 
 he remembered in time that he had stood in 
 fear of this same boy when he was several 
 pounds lighter than he was now. He looked 
 quite formidable as he sat on his horse, and 
 no doubt during his fifteen months in the 
 army had come in contact with some rough 
 characters, and gained experience and skill in 
 no end of rough and tumble fights ; so Tom 
 thought it wise to be civil. 
 
 "Rodney," he exclaimed, extending his 
 hand with a groat show of cordiality. " You 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATIOlSr. 179 
 
 don't know liow glad I am to see you back 
 safe and sound. How long have you been at 
 home?" 
 
 "Just three days," answered Rodney Gray, 
 for it was he. "And this is my old school- 
 mate, Dick Graham, who lives in Missouri 
 when he lives anywhere. But at present he is 
 just staying wherever night overtakes him." 
 
 Dick and Tom shook hands, and the latter 
 continued : 
 
 "How do you like soldiering? I suppose 
 you have seen some pretty rough times in the 
 army." 
 
 "Oh, yes ; but nothing compared with what 
 some have seen. Dick and I have brought our 
 usual number of legs and arms back with us, 
 but many of our comrades were not so lucky. 
 Doing anything for your country tliese days ? " 
 
 Tom's common-sense, if he had any, ought 
 to have told him that it would not do" for him 
 to exaggerate his achievements in the presence 
 of Rodney Gray, who knew him of old, and 
 had seen so much more service than he had, 
 but he counted a good deal on Rodney's 
 ignorance and Dick's. They had done all 
 
180 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 tlieir campaigning in the interior, had never 
 seen the Mississippi River during their term 
 of service except when they crossed from 
 Arkansas to Tennessee to join the Army of 
 the Centre, and perhaps had not had a chance 
 to read a newspaper for six months, and so he 
 thought he could say what he x^leased and they 
 would believe it ; but he reckoned without his 
 host. 
 
 "I have been verj^ busy since I took com- 
 mand of the Home Guaids," he said, in answer 
 to Rodney's question. "I don't suppose I 
 have smelled quite as much powder as you 
 have, but I have been in some pretty hard 
 battles all the same." 
 
 "Why, I hadn't heard of it," said Rodney, 
 looking surprised. 
 
 "No, I don't imagine you had opportunity 
 to read the papers very often, but I thought 
 perhaps your father had said something about 
 it in his letters. I have whipped two heavy 
 iron-clad men-of-war " 
 
 " Two which? " exclaimed Dick, while Rod- 
 ney opened his eyes and looked still more 
 surjjrised. 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 181 
 
 Captain Tom repeated tlie words and was 
 going on to tell about the fights with the gun- 
 boats when Rodney interrui3ted him with : 
 
 "Did those vessels belong to the upper or 
 lower fleet? " 
 
 " I don't know," replied Tom. "But they 
 came up from New Orleans." 
 
 "Then they were not iron-clads ; you may 
 rest assured of that." 
 
 " Don't I know an iron-clad when I see it ? " 
 cried Tom angrily. " I have it from good 
 authority that the armor on their sides was 
 eleven inches thick, and that there were four 
 feet of solid oak back of that." 
 
 " Great Moses ! " ejaculated Dick. "There 
 isn't a vessel in the Yankee navy that could 
 carry such a load as that. Farragut has done 
 all his brilliant fighting with old wooden 
 ships, and there are no iron-clads in his fleet 
 unless they have come to him since he ran 
 past Forts Jackson and St. Philip." 
 
 "That's so," assented Rodney. "There 
 isn t an iron-clad on the river except those 
 with which the Yankees demolished our fleet 
 in front of Memphis." 
 
182 RODNEY, THE OVERSEEE. 
 
 "How does it come that you land soldiers 
 know so much about what is going on here on 
 the river? " demanded Captain Tom, who was 
 very much astonished at the extent of Rod- 
 ney's information and Dick's. 
 
 "Oh, we've had chances to read the papers 
 now and then," replied the latter. 
 
 " And while we were about it we read both 
 sides," chimed in Rodney. "Our officers 
 didn't like to have us do it, because the Yan- 
 kee papers tell the truth, while our own do 
 not scruple to lie outrageously when things 
 go against us." 
 
 , Captain Tom did not know what answer to 
 make, for he had never expected to hear Con- 
 federate veterans talk like that. He began 
 to have a suspicion that they were traitors at 
 heart, but he prudently kept his thoughts to 
 himself. 
 
 "How long do you remain at home?" he 
 asked at length. 
 
 " Just as long as I have a home to shelter 
 me," answered Rodney. "And when the 
 Yanks come in here and burn it down, as they 
 probably will sooner or later, I shall take to 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 183 
 
 tlie woods. I am sick and tired of the service 
 and I don't care who linows it. I tell you, I 
 felt sorry for the poor fellows I saw in Camp 
 Pinckney, for I know what is before them and 
 they don't." 
 
 " Were they prisoners ? " inquired Tom. 
 
 "Well, yes; but they didn't go by that- 
 name. They were called conscripts." 
 
 "Why, how far is that camp from here?" 
 said Tom, wondering if it was the place to 
 which Captain Roach would forward his con- 
 scripts when the orders came. 
 
 "About 7000 miles," replied Dick. "At 
 least I thought it was that far before we cov- 
 ered the distance that lies between its stock- 
 ade and Rodney's home." 
 
 "It's about sixty miles, as near as I can 
 judge," said the latter. "Haven't you and 
 what's his name — Roach ? — raised men enough 
 to fill up a squad yet ? Father says you have 
 been working at it for a good while." 
 
 "Captain Roach has mustered some men, 
 but has had no orders to forward them. In 
 fact I don't think he knows that the camp of 
 instruction has been established." 
 
184 ' RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "Who's going to take tliem tliere when 
 they are ready to go ? " 
 
 "I am," said Tom proudly ; and an instant 
 afterward he felt as though he had signed his 
 own death warrant. There was no chance for 
 him to back out now. He couldn't be taken 
 suddenly ill or send Lambert in his place — 
 he would have to go with the conscripts him- 
 self ; for that was what he in his haste said he 
 intended to do, and if he did not keep his 
 promise this old enemy and rival of his would 
 publicly brand him as a coward. 
 
 "You are ? You are going to take the con- 
 scripts to the camp of instruction with your 
 Home Guards?" cried Rodney, his face be- 
 coming radiant when he thought of the ob- 
 stacles in the shape of blue-coated soldiers 
 that Captain Tom might possibly find in his 
 way. " Hey-youp ! That will be nuts for the 
 Yanks, won't it, Dick?" 
 
 "You bet. There's tolerable maiiy Yanks 
 scattered around through the woods, and like 
 as not your friend will have the pleasure of 
 meeting some of them." 
 
 " Do you mean to say that they are scouting 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 185 
 
 between here and the camp?" exclaimed Tom, 
 who was ahnost ready to drop -when he heard 
 his worst fears confirmed in this positive way. 
 
 "We don't mean anything else," answered 
 Rodney. "We ought to know, for we ran 
 into a squad of them on the way home." 
 
 "What did they do to you?" inquired 
 Tom, who did not know whether to believe it 
 or not. 
 
 " Nothing. They just covered us with their 
 carbines and told us to come in out of the rain, 
 and we came." 
 
 " Humph ! Why didn't you fight or run ? " 
 
 "Well, seeing that we had no weapons we 
 couldn't fight; and we know by experience 
 that when a Yank points a gun at you and 
 tells you to move over on his side the line, you 
 had better move." 
 
 " But how did you escape ? " 
 
 " We didn't escape. We showed them our 
 discharges, and when they told us to git, we 
 got. Oh, they were gentleman, high up." 
 
 "Top-notch," assented Dick. 
 
 "I never yet saw a Yankee who was a 
 gentleman," sneered Tom. 
 
186 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "Look liere," exclaimed Dick, who had 
 heard a good deal about Tom Randolph and 
 learned to dislike him before he ever met him ; 
 "have you much of an acquaintance with 
 live Yanks — I mean with those who wear uni- 
 forms ?" 
 
 Tom was obliged to confess that he had not. 
 
 "Well, we've seen and talked with a few 
 and may be sui)posed to know something 
 about them ; and when we say that the squad 
 who captured us, and might have made us 
 trouble but didn't, were gentlemen, Ave mean 
 it. If we ever find one of them in a box and 
 see a chance to help him out, we intend to im- 
 prove it." 
 
 "But as you have no discharge to show, you 
 had better not permit yourself to fall into 
 their hands while you have that uniform on," 
 said Rodney. "By gracious! It makes my 
 old hat rise to think how I should feel if I 
 knew I was going to be ordered off to that 
 camp with a lot of conscripts. You will lose 
 your prisoners sure, and your Home Guards 
 will be brushed aside like so many cobwebs. 
 If you get through with a v/hole skin we shall 
 
A PERPLEXING SITUATION. 187 
 
 call you a good one. We'd better be riding 
 along, Dick." 
 
 "Now you've done it," said the latter, as 
 he and Rodney moved on and left Tom out of 
 hearing. "You have frightened him out of 
 his wits." 
 
 " With your help I think I have given him 
 a good scare," was Rodney's answer. * I'll 
 bet you a month's wages in good and lawful 
 money of the Confederacy that Tom Randolph 
 never takes a squad of conscripts to Camp 
 Pinckney. I know I shouldn't hanker after 
 the job if I were in his place," 
 
 As to Tom himself, he was about as badly 
 frightened as he could be without becoming 
 frantic, and much against his will he was 
 obliged to tell himself that there was but one 
 course of action open to him. If it was true 
 that Federal scouting parties had thrown 
 themselves between Mooreville and Camp 
 Pinckney, he must run the fearful risk of be- 
 ing killed or captured by them, or else he 
 must resign his commission, exchange his fine 
 uniform for a citizen's suit and take the posi- 
 tion of overseer on his father's plantation. 
 
188 llODNEY, THE oVeRSEEE. 
 
 Tom wanted to yell when this alternative pre- 
 sented itself to him. An overseer was on a 
 par with a blacksmith or a car],)enter or a 
 clerk in a store. He had to work for his liv- 
 ing and was in consequence a nobody. And 
 Tom remembered how he had railed at Ned 
 Griffin when he accepted Mr. Gray's offer, de- 
 claring, in the hearing of everyone who would 
 listen to him, that nobody but a poltroon 
 would take that way of keeping out of the 
 service. 
 
 " And now I've got to come to it myself or 
 get shot," whined Tom. " It will be an awful 
 come-down for a man who has held a commis- 
 sion in the service of the State, but unless 
 mother can see some other way out I shall 
 have to do it." 
 
 Captain Tom wound up by wishing that 
 every man v/ho Avas in any way responsible 
 for the war might always feel as miserable as 
 he felt at that moment. 
 
CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 
 
 ""TTTHY, Tom, what has happened to make 
 V V you look so pale and hnggard 'i " anx- 
 iously^ inquired Mrs. Randolph, as the per- 
 plexed and discouraged captain of the Home 
 Guards drew rein before the door and rolled 
 
 • out of his saddle instead of dismounting in his 
 usual soldier-like fashion. "Are you ill, or 
 have you heard some terrible news ? " 
 
 " Both," replied Tom, giving his horse a 
 slap to start him toward the stable, and after- 
 ward throwing himself down upon one of the 
 steps that led up to the porch. " Who do 
 you suppose has come back to town to worry 
 and torment me ? " 
 
 "I hope it isn't Rodney Gray," said his 
 mother, Avho had not forgotten that the Bar- 
 rington boy had been elected to office and 
 presented with a sword by Bob Hubbard's 
 Rangers, while her son was left in the ranks. 
 
 189 
 
190 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Altliongli she never said so out load, she had 
 indulged in the hope that something might 
 happen to keep Rodney away from Moore- 
 ville as long as the war lasted. She knew that 
 he had faced the Yankees in a good many 
 hard battles, and, being a veteran, of course he 
 would crow over Tom, who was nothing but a 
 Home Guard. 
 
 " Well, it is Rodney Gray, and nobody 
 else," said Captain Randolph, in a tone of in- 
 tense disgust. " He looks as though he had 
 been living on the fat of the land, for the citi- 
 zen's clothes he discarded when he went into 
 the army are much too small for him. He has 
 brought with him a comrade who lives in Mis- 
 souri and who, I judge, is waiting for a chance 
 to get over the river ; and he's about the most 
 impudent chap I ever talked to. He knows 
 more about gunboats than I who have been in 
 battle with them." 
 
 "Have you not learned that those who are 
 the most conreited generally know the least? 
 But you are not obliged to associate with 
 them, and besides you can't; for you are an 
 officer and they were nothing but j)rivates." 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 191 
 
 " I know that, and I did not at all like the 
 familiar way in which they talked to me. 
 They gave me bad news. . They Avere captured 
 by Federal cavalry while they were coming 
 home." 
 
 "Tom!" exclaimed Mrs. Randolph, who 
 was much surprised and alarmed to hear it, 
 " do you mean to say that our enemies are 
 scouting through the country ?" 
 
 " That's what I mean ; and if you have any 
 valuables you don't want to lose, you had 
 better be taking care of them." 
 
 "That is what I think. How did Rodney 
 manage to escape ? " 
 
 "He didn't escape. The Yankees rend his 
 discharge and let him go free. And that chum 
 of his, Dick Graham, says they were gentle- 
 men, and if he ever sees one of them in a scrnpe 
 he will help him out if he can. And they are 
 both tired of the war and don't mean to go 
 back to the army. The way they talked was 
 shameful, and I will speak to Roach about it 
 the very next time I go to the office." 
 
 Tom then went on to repeat the conversation 
 that had taken i)lace between himself and the 
 
192 EODNEY, THE OVERSEEE. 
 
 returned veterans, and by the time he got 
 through his mother was as deeply perplexed 
 and as badly frightened as he was. Two 
 things were x>lain to her : Rodney and Dick 
 were traitors at heart, and ought to be arrested 
 and imprisoned before they had time to talk 
 to any of the conscrij^ts as they had talked to 
 Tom, and the other was that her son could not 
 take a squad of men to the camp of instruction 
 and run the risk of being captured by the 
 Federal troopers. 
 
 " Now that I have had time to think of it, 
 T don't care whether they are shut up or not," 
 answered Captain Tom. " If they are per- 
 mitted to run loose in the settlement and to 
 talk to the conscripts as they did to me, they 
 may frighten them into deserting to Baton 
 Rouge ; and in that case, don't you see, there 
 wouldn't be any men for anybody to guard to 
 the camp of instruction. But if a squad is 
 sent there I am bound to go in command of the 
 escort ; I don't see how I can get out of it, for 
 1 told Rodney that I was going." 
 
 " What of that ? Why can't you send Lam- 
 bert, or let Captain Roach go in your place? " 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 193 
 
 " If you can think of any excuse I can offer 
 for not going I shall be deliglited to hear it," 
 replied Tom. " But if I back out after what I 
 have said about Ned Griffin's cowardice and 
 all that, Rodney Gray will never let me hear 
 the last of it. I haven't said much to you 
 about it, but all the returned soldiers laugh 
 every time my name is mentioned in their 
 hearing, and make sport of the Home Guards 
 because they are willing to acknowledge me 
 as their commander ; and I believe that is one 
 thing that makes them so ready to rebel when- 
 ever I issue an order they don't like. Of 
 course Rodney will be the worst of all, for he 
 never liked me." 
 
 " Why, my dear boy, you are in a predica- 
 ment, that's a fact," exclaimed Mrs. Randolph, 
 who had never dreamed that the situation was 
 as bad as this. She knew that Tom would not 
 see a minute's peace if he gave the common 
 people of Mooreville, especially such low 
 fellows as the returned veterans and those 
 who composed the rank and file of the 
 Home Guards, any reason for believing that 
 he was lacking in courage. "What can 
 13 
 
194 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 you do ? Have you decided uiDon any- 
 tliing?" 
 
 "I have not. That is something you will 
 have to do for me. As far as I can see there 
 are but two courses of action open to me : I 
 must either take the conscripts to camp 
 and take my chances on being shot or cap- 
 tured " 
 
 "0 Tom, I'll never consent to that," ex- 
 claimed his mother, almost tearfully. "You 
 had much better follow young Griffin's ex- 
 amp)le. Your father and I can arrange all 
 that by sending Larkin into the army and 
 putting you in his place." 
 
 Larkin was Mr. Randolph's overseer ; and 
 he had not been conscripted by Captain 
 Roach because his employer had claimed 
 exemption for him. Mr. Randolph supposed, 
 and so did his wife, that Tom was ]Drovided for 
 as long as the war continued ; and as it was 
 necessary that they should have an overseer 
 they decided that Larkin would do as well as 
 anybody else, and Tom's father had entered 
 into a verbal contract to purchase his freedom 
 by providing the hundred pounds of bacon 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 195 
 
 and beef demanded by the Confederate Govern- 
 ment. They would not have done such a 
 thing if they had had the least suspicion that 
 Tom's position as captain of the Home Guards 
 was likely to bring him into contact with the 
 Yankees. 
 
 "That is the only alternative," said Tom. 
 " I must face death or confinement in a North- 
 ern dungeon, or I must send my resignation to 
 the Governor at the new capital. But I am 
 afraid Larkin will demand a larger bounty 
 than father will be willing to pay." 
 
 "Your father will not give him a penny 
 with my consent," said Mrs. Randolph very 
 decidedly. " He is a hireling, and his wishes 
 will not be consulted. He will simply be 
 discharged ; that is all there is of it." 
 
 "Bat he is obstinate and hard to deal with, 
 and perhaps he will refuse to go before his 
 year is out," suggested Captain Tom. 
 
 "In times like these civil contracts are not 
 worth the paper they are written on," said 
 his mother, in a tone which seemed to implj'' 
 that she had already determined upon some 
 course of action. "There are some hundred 
 
196 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 hands on this plantation, and if your father 
 should find it impossible or inconvenient to 
 pay, within twelve months, the eighty thou- 
 sand pounds of meat which the Confederate 
 Government will demand as the price of Lar- 
 kin's exemption, then what? I think myself 
 that Larkin will take to the woods before he 
 will go into the army," 
 
 "I don't care where he goes so long as he 
 gets out of my way," declared Captain Tom. 
 " I don't know what our neighbors will think 
 of me when they see me in the field Avith 
 a gang of niggers, but I can't discover any 
 other way out of the difficulty ; can you ? " 
 
 "At present I cannot; but I would much 
 rather know that you were safe in the field and 
 within sound of the dinner-horn, than to fear 
 that you were in danger of being shot or cap- 
 tured. Perhaps we had best let the subject rest 
 where it is until I have had time to ask your 
 father what he thinks about it. I will tell you 
 our decision to-morrow ; and meanwhile don't 
 commit yourself. There goes the bell." 
 
 It was the call to dinner and Captain Tom 
 answered it, although he did not have much 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 197 
 
 appetite for the things he found on the table. 
 His father had of late got out of the way of 
 asking his son if he had heard any news in 
 town, but when the latter remarked that he 
 had met and talked with Rodney Gray that 
 morning, and that Rodney and his companion 
 had been captured by the enemy while on 
 the way home, Mr. Randolph took interest 
 enough in the matter to inquire into the par- 
 ticulars, and to ask Tom if he didn't think he 
 would run some risk in taking conscripts to 
 camp. 
 
 "Risk!" repeated Captain Tom. "You 
 may well say that. Roach thinks I will have 
 to fight my way, and so does Rodney. He 
 said in so many words that I would be sure 
 to lose my prisoners, that the Home Guards 
 would be brushed out of the way like 
 cob-webs, and if I got through with a whole 
 skin he would call me a good one. Risk ! 
 I should think so. It's positively dan- 
 gerous ! " 
 
 " Well, if you don't want to go, there is one 
 way you can get out of it," replied Mr. Ran- 
 dolph, as he folded his napkin and pushed his 
 
198 EODNEY, THE OVEESEER. l 
 
 clmir back from the table. " You can throw 
 up your commission." 
 
 "I have thought of resigning,'' said Tom ; 
 and he had half a mind to broach the subject 
 of Larkin's discharge tlien and there, bnt 
 finally concluded that he would leave it to 
 his mother. 
 
 " As far as I am concerned, I shall be glad 
 to see you a civilian once more, and to know 
 that I shall never x^ut eyes on that sword and 
 uniform again," continued Mr. Randolph. 
 "The Southern people are all fools, and a 
 year ago I was one of the most senseless of 
 them." 
 
 " Does that mean that you have given up 
 the hope of Southern independence?" in- 
 quired Tom, who was not greatly surprised, 
 although he had never heard his father talk 
 in this way before. 
 
 "It means that we have made beggars of 
 ourselves by trying to break uj) the govern- 
 ment when we had no earthly excuse for it. 
 We were never short of anything before, and 
 now I am put to my stumps to find paper to 
 write on and salt for my table. There will be 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 199 
 
 no bacon and hams for us next winter unless I 
 can induce some of my friends to do a little 
 trading in Baton Rouge for me. I dare not go 
 into the city to do it for myself, for you are 
 captain of the Home Guards. I wish in my 
 soul that I had liad a guardian appointed over 
 me about the time I was making such an idiot 
 of myself on account of that company." 
 
 Mr. Randolx)h rubbed some " nigger twist " 
 between his palms, jammed it rather spitefully 
 into an earthen pipe with a cane stem, and 
 went out on the gallery to enjoy his after- 
 dinner smoke. He was a rich planter, and it 
 was not so very long ago that his crop of 
 cotton was worth a fortune to him every year ; 
 but he could not smoke cigars now unless they 
 were given to him. Some of his neighbors 
 who had not taken so deep an interest in the 
 Home Guards, Rodney Gray's father for one, 
 had passes that took them in and out of Baton 
 Rouge as often as they chose to make use of 
 them ; and these men had salt and tea and 
 coffee, stockings and shoes and cigars in 
 abundance, and "plenty of greenback money, 
 too," as one darkey affirmed, who chanced to 
 
200 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 catch a momentary glimpse of tlie inside of 
 Mr. Gray's pocket-book. 
 
 Mr. Randolph made his exit from the room 
 through one of the low windows that opened 
 upon the veranda, sat down long enough to 
 take a dozen or more pulls at his pipe, and 
 then came back to say : 
 
 " Tom, you want to be kinder careful what 
 you tell about Rodney Gray and his folks, for, 
 if we work matters right, I am sure Gray will 
 lend me a helping hand now and then ; and 
 goodness knows I need it bad enough, I 
 suspicion that in some way or other he has 
 got on the blind side of the Yankees in Baton 
 Rouge." 
 
 "Then he ought to be reported to our 
 authorities," said Mrs. Randolph spitefully. 
 
 "That's what I say!" exclaimed Captain 
 Tom. "If he is giving aid and comfort to 
 the enemy he is breaking our laws ; and I 
 say " 
 
 " Hold your horses," interrupted his father. 
 "What is the use of cutting off your nose to 
 spite 5'our face? Instead of giving aid and 
 comfort to the Federals, he is working them 
 
 9 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 201 
 
 SO that they are giving much aid and comfort 
 to him and a few others who are in the ring 
 with him." 
 
 " And is it your desire to become one of that 
 'ring,' as you call it?" demanded his wife, 
 pitching her voice in a little higher key than 
 usual. "Would you collogue with the ene- 
 mies of your country for the sake of making 
 something out of them ? Mr. Randolph — 
 George — I am surprised to hear you hint at 
 such baseness ; and in the presence of a prom- 
 inent State officer, too." 
 
 "Hold your horses," said Mr. Randolph 
 again. "If I can make something to eat 
 and wear by trading with the Yankees, who 
 seem to have enough and to spare, it is to my 
 interest and yours to do it, is it not ? And 
 through it all I can still be a good Confed- 
 erate, can't I? Look here," he continued, 
 walking up to the table and sinking his voice 
 almost to a whisper. ' ' I have 200 bales 
 of cotton concealed in the swamp, and Gray 
 has more than twice as much. And every 
 bale of that cotton is worth sixty cents a 
 pound in New York." 
 
202 P.ODI^EY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Mr. Randolph straightened up and looked 
 at his wife and son as much as to say, " What 
 do you think of that ? " He expected them to 
 be surprised, and certainly he was not disap- 
 pointed. For a minute or two they were so 
 amazed that they could not speak. 
 
 " Six — did I understand you to say sixty 
 cents a pound 1 " Captain Tom managed to ask 
 at last. 
 
 " Where did you hear that ridiculous 
 story?" chimed in Mrs. Randolph. "I have 
 read the papers very closely, and I didn't see 
 anything of it." 
 
 ' ' Do you for a moment imagine that our 
 lying papers " 
 
 " Mr. Randolph — George ! " 
 
 "Hold your horses. I know what I am 
 talking about. It is a fact that our papers 
 conceal everything that goes against us, or 
 make light of it, and of course they wouldn't 
 say that cotton is bringing sixty cents in the 
 North while in the Confederacy it is worth 
 only seven. If our papers should publish such 
 reports as that, don't you see that the Confed- 
 eracy wouldn't get any more cotton? Every 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TKAIL. 203 
 
 planter wlio owns a bale would make haste to 
 run it into the swamp." 
 
 " If I had any cotton I would rather give it 
 to our government for three cents than to our 
 enemies for twenty times as much," declared 
 Cax)tain Tom, who, seeing that he did not pos- 
 sess a xiound of the commodity in question, 
 could afford to be very patriotic. He looked 
 at his mother, expecting to hear her say that 
 she would do the same ; but she gazed down 
 at her plate and said nothing. Sixty cents a 
 pound ! Reckoning each bale at 450 pounds 
 that would make her husband's concealed 
 cotton worth about $54,000, if it could only 
 be placed in the hands of the Yankees 
 without being confiscated. But there was 
 the rub. 
 
 "Tom, you always were about half-witted," 
 exclaimed his father, who was so angry that 
 he spoke without thinking. " I would rather 
 have sixty cents in greenback money than four 
 dollars in Confederate scrij) any day ; and I 
 don't see the use of your talking in that sense- 
 less way." 
 
 " But your cotton is in the swamp, and how 
 
204 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 are you going to get it to New York ? " asked 
 Mrs. Randolph. 
 
 "And how do you know that you and the 
 darkeys who helped you j)ut it there are the 
 only ones who know where it is?" chimed in 
 Tom. " The Lincoln hirelings have been steal- 
 ing cotton all the way from Cairo to Vicks- 
 burg, and what assurance have you that some 
 enemy of ours will not guide a gang of blue- 
 coats from Baton Rouge to the place where it 
 is hidden?" 
 
 "I have no assurance whatever, and that is 
 one thing that robs me of sleep at night," re- 
 plied Mr. Randolph ; and the nervous way in 
 which he puffed at his pipe and strode about 
 the room showed that the thought made him 
 uneasy every time it came into his mind. "Of 
 course I stand a chance of losing it ; but if I 
 can keep it a few months longer I know it Avill 
 be worth a big sum of money to us — and good 
 money, too. One of our neighbors, who shall 
 be nameless, showed me a couple of Northern 
 papers he brought from Baton Rouge last 
 night, and both of them contained a notice of 
 that sale of cotton in New York. There were 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 205 
 
 seventy bales of it, and it was confiscated at 
 Port Royal. Some of the ranking officers in 
 the city also told liitn that there was some 
 talk of opening a trade in cotton at all points 
 occupied by Federal troops, and that influen- 
 tial parties were applying by the huAdred for 
 permits. He could have told me more if he 
 had felt like it, but Tom, your miserable 
 Home Guards, whom I wish I had never heard 
 of, made him shut his mouth. I am afraid I 
 ruined myself utterly by helping you organize 
 that company." 
 
 Too nervous and excited to say more, Mr. 
 Randolph stepped through the window to the 
 porch, and Tom left the table and went slowly^ 
 upstairs. He could not have told what- 
 prompted him to do it, but wlien he reached 
 his room he took off his fine uniform and 
 arrayed himself in a suit of citizen's clothes. 
 He stood his elegant sword up in the corner of 
 his closet, and when it slipped dowii so that 
 he could not close the door, he kicked it out 
 of the way as he would have done with any 
 other worthless piece of furniture. For some 
 reason he seemed to have conceived a sudden 
 
20G RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 and violent dislike to everything that re- 
 minded him of the service in which, one 
 short year ago, his whole soul been wrapped 
 up ; and when he mounted his horse, which 
 a darkey had brought to the door, and the 
 animal began to prance and go sideways, as 
 he had been taught to do. Captain Tom was so 
 angry that he lashed him unmercifully with 
 his whip, and would have kept him in a dead 
 run all the way to the enrolling office, had it 
 not been for an unexpected and somewhat 
 startling interruption. 
 
 Although there were many extensive and 
 well-cultivated plantations around Mooreville, 
 there were some unbroken patches of timber 
 which stretched away into the Pearl River 
 country and beyond. This timberland was 
 mostly low and intersected by innumerable 
 little streams, which, when the Pearl was 
 "booming" at certain seasons of the year, 
 overflowed their banks and turned all the pro- 
 ductive bottom into an immense swamp. It 
 was here that Tom Randolph's hog-stealing 
 lieutenant plied his vocation, though he might 
 have had venison instead of pork, if he had not 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 207 
 
 been too lazy to hunt for it ; for the bottom 
 was a famous pkice for game of all kinds. 
 There were runaway negroes there too, by the 
 score, and their numbers had increased won- 
 derfully since the war broke out. 
 
 It was while Tom was galloping furiously 
 past one of these patches of timber, which was 
 separated from the road by a narrow field of 
 corn, that his attention was attracted by the 
 loud baying of a pack of hounds ; but his 
 mind was so fully occupied with the punish- 
 ment he was inflicting upon his unoffending 
 horse that he did not give much heed to it, 
 until he caught sight of a couple of men riding 
 swiftly through the corn a little in advance of 
 him. When they reached the fence that ran 
 between the field and tlie road one of them 
 threw off the top rails so that they could jump 
 their horses over it, while the other raised his 
 hand as a signal for Tom to stop. Then he 
 saw that the men were strangers to him, that 
 they wore gray uniforms, were armed with 
 carbines and sabres instead of squirrel rifles 
 and shot guns, and wore plumes in their slouch 
 hats instead of rooster feathers. They were 
 
208 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 veterans beyond a doubt ; but where did tliey 
 come from, and what were they doing in that 
 country, which was supposed to be guarded by 
 an efficient company of Home Guards ? Their 
 presence angered Captain Tom, and he wished 
 he had the authority to order them back where 
 they belonged without asking any questions ; 
 but they greeted him very civilly. 
 
 " Grood-afternoon," said the foremost, as he 
 leaped his horse over the ditch and came into 
 the road where Tom was waiting for him ; 
 then he made a military salute which was 
 promjTtly and gracefully returned. " Ah ! I 
 thought you were one of us from the start," 
 continued the veteran. " What regiment ? " 
 
 "I do not belong to any regiment," ad- 
 mitted Tom. " I am commander of a partisan 
 company and hold a commission from the 
 Governor." 
 
 " Seen any service ? " was the soldier's next 
 question. 
 
 "More than I want to see again," replied 
 Tom, wdio had not yet been cured of his pro- 
 pensity to boast as often as the chance was 
 presented. " The enemy's gunboats have 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 209 
 
 kept me pretty busy since they came up from 
 New Orleans," 
 
 "Well, if you've got courage enough to 
 fight gunboats, you've got more than I have," 
 said the veteran honestly. "How high up 
 are you ? " 
 
 " I am a captain." 
 
 "I beg your pardon, sah, I have been a 
 little too fast, I am only a second lieutenant, 
 and my comrade is a first duty sergeant," and 
 then the lieutenant and his sergeant both 
 raised their caps. They had evidently served 
 under some officer who exacted all the honors 
 due him. 
 
 Of course they took the right course to 
 gain Tom's good will and bring them an invi- 
 tation to supper, but they did not do it inten- 
 tionally. Having served at the front ever 
 since they enlisted, and until they were trans- 
 ferred to the invalid corps on account of 
 wounds received in battle they had never seen 
 any Home Guards, and did not know the esti- 
 mation in which that useless organization was 
 held by the people who knew the most about 
 them. They had heard of the exploits of 
 
 14 
 
210 IlODISrEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 John S. Mosby, who commanded a body of 
 men that were farmers during the daytime 
 and robbers and cut-tliroats at night, and wlio 
 had kept certain portions of Virginia in a tur- 
 moil even before he was thouglit to be worthy 
 of a commission in the Confederate army, and 
 they supposed that every company of parti- 
 sans was just like his. Consequently they 
 were ready to treat Tom Randolph with the 
 greatest respect. 
 
 The latter drew himself up very stiffly, as- 
 sumed a soldier's position in the saddle, copy- 
 ing Rodney Gray as nearly as he could, and 
 said with the dignity befitting his rank : 
 
 "I assure you that no apologies are neces- 
 sary, I am always glad to shake a loyal Con- 
 federate by the hand." And he proved it by 
 extending to each of the veterans a palm that 
 was as limp as a piece of wet rope. "Now, 
 may I ask where you belong, and what busi- 
 ness brought you to this part of the country T' 
 
 " Certainly, sah. We used to belong to 
 Jackson's brigade and division, but were in- 
 valided on account of injuries received in ac- 
 tion, and are now serving as guards at a con- 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL, 211 
 
 script camp, dog-gone the luck. We are on 
 the trail of four escaped Yankees who are 
 making tracks for Baton Rouge. Didn't j^ou 
 hear our dogs giving tongue just now ? " 
 
 "I noticed it, but supposed the liounds 
 were running something on their own hook. 
 I noticed, too, that tliey j^elped as though 
 they were baffled." 
 
 "And so they are. We have followed the 
 trail for forty miles through swamp and briers 
 and cane, and now we have lost it completely. 
 We ought to have captured and hung the 
 villains long ago, but everywhere along their 
 line of flight they have been assisted by the 
 negroes. We found abundant proof of it." 
 
 "Well, that bangs rae ! " exclaimed Tom, 
 who, like many others of his class, labored 
 under the delusion that the slaves did not 
 know who their friends were. "Why did you 
 not shoot the negroes ? " 
 
 "For the very good reason, sah, that we 
 could not place the blame upon any particular 
 ones. We found where the Yanks had been 
 fed, and once came so close upon them that 
 we captured some quilts which the darkeys 
 
212 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 had loaned them for beds ; but among the 
 hundred and fifty negroes on that plantation 
 we could not find the one who owned the 
 quilts. Do you know of any Union men or 
 blacks around here who would be 1 lively to 
 give them food and shelter, or aid them in 
 reaching Baton Rouge?" 
 
 If that question had been asked him the 
 day before Captain Randolph could havemen- 
 . tioned the names of a dozen white men who 
 were mean and disloyal enough to give food 
 and shelter to anybody who wore a blue uni- 
 form, but now he could not think of a single 
 one. Among others he would have given the 
 nanjies of some returned soldiers who had 
 spread dissatisfaction in the ranks of his com- 
 pany by deriding Tom's ability as a com- 
 mander and laughing at the story of his 
 battles with the iron-clads, and he would have 
 asked the lieutenant what he thought of 
 fellows like Rodney Gray and Dick Graham 
 who did not hesitate to declare that they 
 were sick of the armj^, and did not intend 
 to go back if they could help it. He would 
 have told, too, of the trading that was con- 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 213 
 
 tiniially going on between the Yankee invaders 
 and so-called Confederates who lived in Baton 
 Rouge and Mooreville ; but somehow he did 
 not speak of any of these things. The knowl- 
 edge that Mooreville might at any moment be 
 occupied by Federal cavalry frightened him ; 
 and the plain words his father spoke at the 
 dinner table opened his eyes to the fact that 
 silenoe was sometimes good policy. So he 
 made answer : 
 
 "There are several people about here who 
 are suspected of being Union, but I can't say 
 whether they are or not. I drove some out 
 of the settlement months ago, and they have 
 never returned." 
 
 "That was perfectly right, sah," said the 
 lieutenant, "but I should think j^ou would be 
 afraid to stay here. What will you do when 
 the Yanks come swarming into town, and some 
 mean sneak tells them that you have been per- 
 secuting Union men? You will have to take 
 to the brush." 
 
 " But do you think the enemy is in sufficient 
 force to ride over us like that? " inquired Tom 
 anxiously. He had often asked himself this 
 
214 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 very question, and tried to find comfort in the 
 hope that the Yankees would never find their 
 way to Moore ville, 
 
 " Oh, it doesn't require much force to take 
 full possession of a little town like this," re- 
 l^lied the veteran. "I could do it with a 
 dozen men. We have seen 200 of their 
 cavalry since Ave have been on this hunt." 
 
 " You have seen them !" ejaculated Tom. 
 
 " Yes. We ran into some of them and had 
 to skirmish our w{jy out. We have seen a 
 squad on every road except this, and how 
 those four escaped pi'isoners we are after 
 missed seeing them bents me." 
 
 " Do you mean to tell me that there are 
 200 Yankees between here and Camp Pinck- 
 ney?" exclaimed Tom, who did not like to 
 hear Rodney's story and Dick's confirmed 
 in this positive way. "I should think you 
 would have turned back when you found your 
 way blocked." 
 
 " Since you are an old soldier, sah, and have 
 snuffed Yankee powder, I know that you are 
 joking. Our way wasn't blocked, and we had 
 no orders to turn back. We were commanded 
 
HOUNDS ON THE TRAIL. 215 
 
 to capture those four men and bring them to 
 Camp Pinckney without the loss of an hour ; 
 and so we kept right on as though there 
 hadn't been a Yank wdthin 1000 miles of us." 
 Captain Randolph gazed admiringly at the 
 veteran, who did not talk or act as though he 
 had done more than any other soldier would 
 have done under the circumstances. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 UNCLE SAM'S lost BOYS. 
 
 ' T" WISH I had some of yonr courage," said 
 -L Tom at length. " I may need it, for I am 
 liable any day to be ordered to Camp Pinck- 
 ney Avith a squad of conscripts." 
 
 "W-h-e-w!" whistled the lieutenant. He 
 looked at the sergeant, the sergeant looked 
 at him, and then they both looked at Captain 
 Tom with an expression on -their faces that 
 the latter could not understand. "AVell, if 
 this is the sort of work you i)artisans have 
 to do, I am glad I am not a partisan," con- 
 tinued the lieutenant. " I'd rather go through 
 Bull Run and take my chances, than attempt 
 to travel the sixty miles between here and 
 camp with a squad of conscripts. You will 
 have to take to the woods, of course, and that 
 will be the time your conscripts will give you 
 the slip. If you start with a liundred and get 
 through with ten you Avill be doing well." 
 
 216 
 
UNCLE SAM's lost BOYS, 217 
 
 "There are people liere who think I'll not 
 get through at all," said Tom. "They say 
 that I and ray men will be captured or 
 killed." 
 
 "0/" course," answered the lieutenant, who 
 had never once thought of that contingency. 
 "It's to be expected that you will take your 
 chances on that. It is what we all have to do 
 when we meet the enemy." 
 
 "Have you found them a tolerably brave 
 lot?" inquired Captain Tom, who Avanted 
 much to meet some veteran who would assure 
 liim that the Yankees were all cowards and 
 did not know how to fight. 
 
 "As brave as they make 'em," said the 
 lieutenant earnestly, "and dead shots into the 
 bargain. We have bitten off a good deal more 
 than we can chew in ten years ; now j^ou re- 
 member what I tell you. Of course, captain, 
 I wouldn't say that in the presence of a 
 civilian ; but one old soldier knows how to 
 take another. Now, don't you think, sah, 
 that you partisans could lend us a hand in 
 capturing these Yankees." 
 
 " Why, certainly ; and I will warn my com- 
 
218 EODNEY, THE OVEKSEER. 
 
 pany out at once," replied Tom readily. 
 " Where will I liiid you at the end of a couple 
 of hours ? I want you and the sergeant to 
 take supper and lodgings at my mother's 
 house to-niglit." 
 
 "Mucli obliged to you, sah, but we couldn't 
 think of it," said the lieutenant. "Colonel 
 Parker — he's the regular who commands the 
 camp — would take us to task for wasting 
 time if he should hear of it, and besides, 
 we don't Avant to run the risk of being 
 gobbled." 
 
 "Gobbled?" repeated Captain Tom; for 
 that was a word that had not yet reached his 
 part of the Confederacy. 
 
 "Captured, you know." 
 
 "Who's going to capture you at our 
 house?" exclaimed Tom, who coukl feel him- 
 self turning white. 
 
 "The Yankee scouts might, if they shoukl 
 liax)pen to ride into town and any enemy of 
 yours coukl tell them where to find us ; and 
 these escaped prisoners might do it." 
 
 Captain Randolph was utterly confounded. 
 His idea of an escaped prisoner was a man 
 
UNCLE SAm's lost BOYS, 219 
 
 rnnning frantically for his life and too badly 
 frightened to look behind him ; but the lien- 
 tenant's words made it plain to him that the 
 four who were foot-loose somewhere in the 
 vicinity of Mooreville were not that sort. He 
 became really alarmed when the soldier went 
 on to explain the situation. 
 
 " You see they were run down and gobbled 
 up three days ago by a large squad of our cav- 
 alry, who started them for camp under guard 
 of four good men, one for each prisoner," said 
 he. "But before they had been away from 
 us half an hour, what do those Yankees do 
 but rise up and kill their guards, take their 
 weapons and ammunition, hitch their horses 
 in the woods so that they could not go on 
 and alarm the camp, and dig out through the 
 swamp for the Mississippi Kiver." 
 
 "And those armed and desperate prisoners 
 are supposed to be somewhere in the settle- 
 ment at this moment?" said Tom Avith a 
 shudder. 
 
 " That is what we think, for the dogs tracked 
 them within a mile of this corn-field." 
 
 " I hope you will hang them the minute you 
 
220 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 get yoiir hands on tliem," said Tom, in a 
 trembling voice. 
 
 "There are fourteen men in my squad and 
 that is what tliey allow to do," replied the 
 lieutenant; "but then they won't, for that 
 would bring them into trouble with Colonel 
 Parker. If a captured man sees a chance to 
 escape he is at liberty to improve it, and to 
 hurt anything or anybody that gets in his 
 way ; and in doing it he runs the risk of get- 
 ting hurt himself." 
 
 "The first we heard of it," said the ser- 
 geant, speaking for the first time, "was when 
 six of our men came into cam^) on foot, and 
 reported that thej^ liad been disarmed and dis- 
 mounted by four Yankees who had j)aroled 
 and turned them loose." 
 
 " That was about as impudent a thing as I 
 ever heard of, and it shows what a daring lot 
 those escaped Yanks are," said the lieutenant ; 
 and instead of getting angry when he thought 
 of it, he surprised Tom by laughing heartilj^, 
 as though he looked upon it as the best kind 
 of a joke. " A private has no right to parole 
 anybody, but all the same those Yanks wrote 
 
UNCLE SAM'S lost BOYS. 221 
 
 out the papers in due form, and told our boys 
 that they could either sign them or stay there 
 in the swamp till a party came out from camp 
 to bury them. And our boys thought they 
 had better sign." 
 
 "I didn't suppose that escaped prisoners 
 ever acted that way," said Captain Tom, after 
 a few minutes of surprised silence. 
 
 "Won't they have something to talk about 
 when they get among their friends?" said 
 the lieutenant, with another laugh. "They 
 are brave soldiers, and I'll bet you they are 
 good fellows ; and when the war is over, I 
 don't care which side whips, I would like to 
 meet them and talk over the events of the 
 last few days. We'd have a good laugh over 
 them." 
 
 "I don't think it is any laughing matter to 
 kill four men as those Yanks killed their 
 guards," replied Tom, who could not under- 
 stand how men fighting under opposing Hags 
 could have the least particle of respect or 
 kindly feeling for one another. 
 
 "Oh, that's war, you know," said the lieu- 
 tenant lightly. "But you will see now why 
 
222 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 the sergeant and I must decline your kind 
 invitation to take suj^i^er and sleep at yonr 
 house. AVe don't want to put ourselves in a 
 position to be surrounded and captured, for 
 we are pretty close to Baton Rouge, and 
 those Yanks nnght decide to take us along in- 
 stead of parolling us. If we camp in the 
 woods with our dogs around us we'll know 
 that we are safe. Now, we shall have to bid 
 you good-by, captain. You will get your 
 company together and do what you can to 
 help us ?" 
 
 " Look out that they don't get the first shot 
 at you, sail," suggested the sergeant. 
 
 "And if you are lucky enough to catch 
 them may I depend on you to send them to 
 camp under guard?" added the lieutenant. 
 "It might be to your interest to make the 
 acquaintance of our colonel." 
 
 Captain Randolph shook hands Avitli the 
 two veterans and promised to do all a loyal 
 soldier could do to head the fugitives off from 
 Baton Rouge and send them back to Camp 
 Pinckney ; but there was not so much heart in 
 his promise as there was in the one he made 
 
UNCLE SAM's lost BOYS. 223 
 
 before he learned tliat the Yankees were 
 armed and daring. In order to keep up ap- 
 pearances, however, he put his horse into a 
 lope as soon as the hand-shaking was over, 
 and made the best of his way to the enrolling 
 office. He found a few Home Guards loafing 
 there, but not half as many as he would have 
 found two days before. These valiant men 
 had heard that they might be ordered off with 
 a squad of conscripts any time, and they did 
 not care to go while the Union cavalry were 
 riding about through the country. So the 
 most of them stayed at home, holding them- 
 selves in readiness to take to their heels if 
 they saw a horseman approacliing, and had 
 any reason to believe that he had been sent 
 by Captain Roach to warn them to report for 
 duty. The captain was at his desk, and for 
 some reason or other seemed to be in the best 
 of spirits. 
 
 " You ought to have dropped in about half 
 an hour ago," said he, as Tom walked into 
 the office after hitching his horse at the 
 rack in front of the door. "I have had 
 a very pleasant visit from one of your old 
 
224 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 friends, who has just returned from Bragg' s 
 army." 
 
 Captain Randolph was so surprised that he 
 forgot all about the daring Yankees avIio were 
 running wild in the woods in close proximity 
 to Mooreville. He left home for the express 
 purpose of warning the enrolling officer against 
 Rodney Gray and his chum Dick Graham, 
 but something in the captain's manner told 
 him that his efforts in that direction AYould 
 not meet with much success ; for the returned 
 soldiers had had the first chance at the cap- 
 tain, and they were both smooth-tongued, win- 
 ning fellows. 
 
 " If you are speaking of Rodney Gray " 
 
 began Tom, in angry tones. 
 
 "So you have seen him, have you!" ex- 
 claimed the enrolling oflBcer, leaning back in 
 his chair and breaking out into a peal of 
 laughter. " Well, he's a good one, isn't he ?" 
 
 "If you are speaking of him," sputtered 
 Tom, "you know as well as I do that he is no 
 friend of mine. I have told you so more times 
 than I can remember," 
 
 "I know you have, and I confess that I 
 
UNCLE SAM's lost BOYS. 225 
 
 treated him and liis chum rather coldly when 
 they came into the office and said they wanted 
 to set themselves square with me by showing 
 that they were honorably discharged Confed- 
 erate soldiers," answered the captain. "But 
 they did not seem to care a snap for me or for 
 my opinion of them." 
 
 "That's just like Rodney's impudence," 
 exclaimed Tom. 
 
 "Well, you see he has a sort of good- 
 natured contempt for me because I am not a 
 veteran. He knows more in five minutes than 
 I do in a month, and he is not ignorant of the 
 fact. He and his chum sat down without 
 waiting to be asked, tallied as though they 
 had known me always, and I laughed till I 
 cried over the stories they told of army life. 
 I hope to hear more of those stories when I go 
 up to Gray's to dinner on Thursday." 
 
 If the enrolling officer had aimed a blow at 
 "him with the ebony ruler that lay on his desk 
 Tom Randolph Avoiild not have been more 
 dumfounded. He leaned heavily upon the 
 back of a chair for a moment or two, and then 
 dropped almost heli^lessly into it. 
 
 15 
 
226 KODNEy, THE overseer. 
 
 "To Gray's — to dinner on Thursday!" he 
 repeated faintly. "You can't — you mustn't 
 go there." 
 
 " What's the reason I mustn't? " demanded 
 Captain Roach, surprised in his turn. " Good 
 dinners are not so plenty these times that I 
 can afford to throw them over my shoulder." 
 
 "It isn't that," replied Tom. "It's the 
 sentiments of the people avIio invited you that 
 I object to. When you go into old man 
 Gray's house you will go plump into a nest 
 of traitors." 
 
 " No, I reckon not. A man wlio volunteers 
 and does a soldier's duty for fifteen long 
 months, and who shows me an honorable dis- 
 charge, can't well be called a traitor." 
 
 "He stayed in the army after he got there 
 because he had to, and did a soldier's duty for 
 the very good reason that lie couldn't help 
 himself," said Captain Tom spitefully. " But 
 see how he talks since lie came back ! He 
 says he will not go into the army again, 
 and declares that the Yanks who captured 
 him while he was on the way liome were 
 gentlemen." 
 
UNCLE SAM's lost BOYS. 227 
 
 " Well, what would you think if you had 
 been in his place ? What was there to hinder 
 those Yanks from taking him and Graham to 
 Baton Rouge and turning them over to the 
 provost marshal ? They were in uniform when 
 they were captured." 
 
 " I see you are on the side of those traitors," 
 said Tom, rising to his feet and pounding 
 lightly upon the captain's desk with his 
 clenched hand, "and I have this much to say 
 to you : If you go to Gray's you Ay 11 no longer 
 be welcome at our house." 
 
 "I shall be sorry for that, of course, but I 
 don't suppose I can help it. Gray and his 
 chum know all about soldiering, and as I may 
 have to go into the army myself some day, I 
 want to learn all I can from them. I think 
 you would be wise to do the same." 
 
 " And while you have been having a good 
 time with my enemies, I have been working 
 for the cause which you made oath to support 
 but seem to have deserted," continued Tom 
 impressively. "I have been making arrange- 
 ments to capture some of the very men whom 
 Rodney Gray and Dick Graliam promised to 
 
228 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 assist if tliey found them in trouble. I want 
 all you fellows," here he turned about and 
 addressed himself to the Home Guards Avho 
 had come into the office to hear what jiassed 
 between their captain and the enrolling officer, 
 " to mount your horses at once and go in pur- 
 suit of four escaped prisoners who are hiding 
 in the woods somewhere on the outskirts of 
 the town. As you go, warn every other mem- 
 ber of the company you see to turn out and 
 join in the cli^jse." 
 
 "Why, captain, what do you mean?" cried 
 the enrolling officer, becoming excited at once. 
 
 Without paying the least attention to him 
 or his question, Captain Tom proceeded to give 
 his men a short and very incomplete account 
 of the interview he had held with the two 
 veterans while he "was on his way to town. 
 We say the account was incomplete because 
 Tom did not tell his men that the fugitives 
 had armed themselves when they escaped 
 from their guards, and had been carrying 
 things with a high hand ever since. He was 
 afraid he could not raise much of a squad to 
 aid in the i^ursuit if he told that ; so all he 
 
UNCLE SAM'S lost BOYS. 229 
 
 said was that tlie four Yankees were striking 
 for Baton Rouge, tliat fourteen Confederate 
 veterans had been following them with hounds 
 for three days past, and that if they (the 
 Home Guards) would turn out in a body and 
 capture the prisoners from under the noses of 
 the Confederates, it might be a feather in their 
 liats. The Home Guards thought so too ; and 
 hardly waiting for Tom to get through with 
 what he had to tell them, they made a rush 
 through the door toward the rack at Avhicli 
 their horses were hitched. 
 
 "I am glad to see you so prompt to obey 
 orders," shouted Captain Tom, following them 
 to the sidewalk and waving his hand to them 
 as they rode off one after the other. "We'll 
 show the authorities that there are some loyal 
 people around here yet. Til be with you as 
 soon as I can ride home and get my uniform 
 and Aveapons, but you needn't wait. Divide 
 yourselves into squads of six or eight, and 
 search every nook and corner of the woods you 
 can get into between this time and dark. And 
 don't forget corncribs and nigger cabins, nor 
 the cellars and lofts of Union men." 
 
230 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "I think it strange that you did not bring 
 those Confederate officers straight to my 
 office," said the conscript captain, when the 
 last Home Guard had ridden away out of 
 sight. 
 
 " Since you have deserted loyal people for 
 the society of those who say that they will not 
 do anything more for the cause they pretend 
 to believe in, I am sorry myself that I did not 
 bring them here," answered Tom. "But I 
 did not once think of it. I am glad they did 
 not accept my invitation to supper, for I 
 should have felt obliged to ask you to join 
 them. Where are you going?" he added, 
 when Captain Roach began bundling his 
 l)apers into his desk and locking the drawers. 
 
 "I am going to help capture those four 
 Yankees," said he. "They are Confederate 
 prisoners, and I am a Confederate officer." 
 
 Tom did not wait to see him off, but mounted 
 his horse and set out for home at top speed, 
 as if he w^ere impatient to arm himself and 
 join his men in the pursuit ; but he went long 
 distances out of his way to summon members 
 of his company whom he knew he would not 
 
UNCLE SAM's lost BOYS. 231 
 
 find at home, so that it was after three o'clock 
 when he galloped through his father's gate 
 and drew rein at the foot of the steps. He 
 had had ample time to think over the situa- 
 tion and make up his mind what he would 
 do. 
 
 "My dear boy," exclaimed Mrs. Randolph, 
 when Tom had hurriedly explained matters to 
 her, "you must not risk your life and liberty 
 by going- in pursuit of those escaped prisoners. 
 I'll never consent to it ; never in this world." 
 
 " Then show me, please, how I can get out of 
 it," answered Captain Tom, gently disengag- 
 ing himself from his mother's clinging hands 
 and starting up the stairs toward his room, 
 "Some of my men are in the woods by this 
 time, and if that lieutenant should happen to 
 run against them, his first question would 
 be : ' Where's your captain ? He ought to 
 be here, conducting the pursuit in jierson.' 
 Really I must show up, mother, for I want 
 those veterans to tell Colonel Parker, when 
 they go back to camp, that I did all I could 
 to aid them in capturing the Yanks." 
 
 "Then you are sure they \\i\\ be captured— 
 
232 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 that they will not be permitted to roam at 
 liberty during the night?" said Mrs. Ran- 
 dolph, who had never before exhibited so 
 much nervousness and anxiety as she did at 
 that moment. "I couldn't sleep if I knew 
 they were at large." 
 
 "No, I am not sure of it, for they have 
 proved themselves to be both daring and 
 cunning. Just think what they have done ! 
 They have killed their guards, captured and 
 paroled half a dozen soldiers, and kept out of 
 reach of the hounds for three days ; and such 
 men are not going to be taken easily, I bet 
 you," replied Tom from the head of the 
 stairs ; and then he went into his room to don 
 his uniform and buckle on his sword and 
 revolver. A few minutes later he came out to 
 ask his mother what she thought of Captain 
 Roach's way of doing business. 
 
 " I wonder if he couldn't be reported and 
 liauled over the coals for associating with those 
 Grays ? " said Tom. 
 
 " If the captain is disloyal — and we have no 
 way of judging of his feelings except by his 
 actions — I certainly think his superior officers 
 
uisrcLE sam's lost boys. 233 
 
 ongbt to know it," said Mrs. Randolph. 
 "But, my dear " 
 
 " I know what you want to say," interrupted 
 Captain Tom. "You mean that if I report 
 him for any of his shortcomings, he will 
 conscript me. Then he had better do it at 
 once, for if he waits a week it will be too 
 late." 
 
 "Tom, are you going to resign your com- 
 mission 1 " 
 
 " I am going to take Larkin's place as over- 
 seer of this i^lantation," replied Tom, very 
 decidedly. "I thought it would be a big- 
 come-down at first, but since I have thought 
 the matter over, I have made up my mind that 
 it will be a change for the better. I can't be 
 forced into the army ; being a civilian I may 
 be able to obtain some salt, coffee, and- things 
 from the Yanks ; and if father ever has a 
 chance to sell that cotton, I shall be at hand to 
 help him run it up out of the swamp." 
 
 Captain Tom fully expected that his mother 
 would strongly object to these plans, and he 
 even thought she might denounce him as a 
 traitor to the South and its flag ; but some- 
 
234 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 what to his surprise she did nothing of the 
 kind. She, too, had liad leisure to think the 
 matter over, and much against her will had 
 been obliged to confess to herself that it didn't 
 I)ay to be too good a rebel while the Federals 
 held undisputed possession of Baton Rouge, 
 and blue-coated cavalry were scouting about 
 through the country. She even wished thnt 
 Tom would hide his uniform, his military 
 saddle and bridle, and his sword where nobody 
 would ever see them again. 
 
 "That is what I have decided to do," con- 
 tinued Captain Tom, as he slipped his six- 
 shooter into its holster and came down the 
 stairs, "and I mean to attend to it as soon as 
 I see those four Yanks captured." 
 
 "Perhaps it would be as well," answered 
 his mother. "Delays are sometimes danger- 
 ous. But I don't see how I can give my 
 consent to let you go on this expedition." 
 
 "Don't worry about me. I am bound to 
 come back all right, and I'll never have to go 
 on another. And when that traitor Roach 
 gets ready to send off his conscrijits, he can 
 tell somebody besides me to take them." 
 
UNCLE SAM's lost BOYS. 235 
 
 " Will you recommend anyone to the Gov- 
 ernor to take your place ? " 
 
 "Not miicli. I don't care whether or not 
 anybody gets it, so long as Lambert is left out 
 in the cold with a fair chance of being sent to 
 Camp Pinckney. Good-bj^, mother, I must be 
 off, or some evil-minded person in the settle- 
 ment will accuse me of shirking my duty." 
 
 The leave-taking was a tearful one on Mrs. 
 Randolph's part, but Captain Tom could not 
 have been more unconcerned if he had been 
 going to Mooreville to buy groceries. He 
 thought he knew a way to keep up his repu- 
 tation as a loyal Southerner and steer clear of 
 the dreaded Yankees at the same time. 
 
 "There's one thing about it," soliloquized 
 Tom, as he galloped out of the gate, waving a 
 last farewell to his mother as he went, "our 
 folks are not as fierce for secession as they 
 used to be, and I am mighty glad to know it. 
 AVe're getting so we live awful hard. Our 
 table is a sight to behold, with nothing on it 
 but corn pone, bacon, sweet potato coffee, and 
 buttermilk from one week's end to another's, 
 and I am getting tired of such grub. And 
 
286 EODNEY, THE OVEIISEER. 
 
 wliere am I going to raise forty-five dollars in 
 Confederate money to pay for a pair of boots 
 when these wear out? There's- plenty of gold 
 in the liouse, and I could use it to good advan- 
 tage if I could only get into Baton Rouge and 
 obtain a permit from the provost marshal to 
 trade there. Til bet you that Rodney Gray 
 and that chum of his will be rigged out spick- 
 and-span from head to foot the next time I see 
 tliem, and they will buy their things inside 
 the Yankee lines, too. Now, I'll tell you 
 what's a fact; I've just as much right to use 
 tlie Yankees as they have." 
 
 When Captain Tom reached this point in his 
 meditations he drew rein in front of a pair 
 of bars giving entrance into a lane that ran 
 tlirough his father's plantation in the direc- 
 tion of the river. The liouse was concealed 
 from his view by an abrupt bend in the road, 
 and a hasty glance on each side showed him 
 that there was no one in sight ; so he bent 
 down from his saddle, opened the bars, and 
 rode into the lane. It is true that the escaped 
 prisoners and the soldiers and hounds that 
 were pursuing them were not on that side of 
 
UNCLE SAM'S lost BOYS. 237 
 
 the road, bat two miles away in the opposite 
 direction, but Captain Tom did not stop to 
 think of that. He knew where he was going, 
 and made all haste to get there as soon as he 
 had pnt up the bars. 
 
 "There are not half a dozen citizens in the 
 neighborhood who will lend a hand in catch- 
 ing those prisoners, and^the last one of the 
 Home Guards will fall out and strike for a 
 place of safety the minute they find out that 
 the Yanks are armed," thought Tom, as he 
 rode swiftly along the lane, turning about in 
 his saddle now and then to make sure that no 
 one was observing his movements. "And 
 that being the case, why should I risk my 
 life in trying to capture them ? Say ! By 
 gracious ! " 
 
 As this exclamation fell from Captain Tom's 
 lips he pulled up his horse with a jerk, and 
 looked first at the road and then at the cluster 
 of trees that shut the house off from his sight. 
 He spent a minute or two in this way and then 
 rode on again. 
 
 " That's a splendid idea, but my wit always 
 comes too late to be of any use to me," said he 
 
238 RODNKY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 angrily ; and he avenged himself on his slow- 
 wit by hitting his spirited horse such a sting- 
 ing cut with his whip that the animal came 
 very near "jflying" the road and going off into 
 the ditch. " Instead of this gray uniform, 
 which will send me to a Northern prison if the 
 Yankees ever catch me with it on, why didn't 
 I keep on my citizen's clothes? Then I 
 needn't have had the least fear of meeting the 
 prisoners. I could have fed and sheltered 
 them to-night and guided them to the city in 
 the morning ; and in return for my services I 
 could have asked the provost marshal to give 
 me a permit to buy some things in the stores. 
 Dog-gone the luck ! " 
 
 Captain Randolph hit his horse another 
 merciless blow with the whip, and this time 
 the animal's sudden spring had a most as- 
 tounding result. He jumped sideways clear 
 over the ditch that ran by the side of the road, 
 and when he landed on the opposite bank 
 lie stopped so quickly that his rider was 
 thrown headlong from his saddle, bringing up 
 among the cotton stalks ten feet farther on. 
 He was not in the least injured or even jarred 
 
UNCLE SAM's lost BOYS. 239 
 
 by his fall, but he was tolerably angry to find 
 himself so easily unhorsed. He raised himself 
 on his elbow, but before he could make an- 
 other move, or give utterance to his pent-up 
 feelings, a voice near at hand said pleasantly : 
 
 " Griad to see you, John, but didn't expect 
 to be introduced in such a promiscuous man- 
 ner, you know. Don't stand on ceremony, 
 but come right in. The latch-string is always 
 out." 
 
 This incident happened almost in the edge 
 of the little grove of evergreens toward which 
 Captain Tom had been directing his course 
 ever since he x)assed through the bars. It was 
 his intention to conceal himself and his horse 
 among the evergreens - and remain there in 
 safety until dark, while the rest of the Home 
 Guards and the citizens, if any there were 
 who had a fancy to join Captain Roach in 
 such perilous business, searched the woods 
 for the escaped prisoners. 
 
 Tom Randolph's first feeling was one of 
 the most intense surprise, without a particle 
 of fear or anxiety in it ; but when he rolled 
 over on his side to brin^- his face toward the 
 
240 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 grove, he was almost paralyzed ^yith terror to 
 see three ragged fellows in nondescrijit uni- 
 forms advancing swiftly upon him, while a 
 fourth covered his head Avith a cocked carbine 
 from the edge of the evergreens. One of the 
 three secured his horse, Avhich had not moved 
 an inch since he rid himself of his inhuman 
 rider, a second swnng the black muzzle of a 
 musket in unpleasant proximity to his face, 
 and the third knelt by his side and took pos- 
 session of his sword and revolver. 
 
 "Was yer looking fur Ave uns, Johnny 
 boy?" chuckled the one who held the mus- 
 ket. "If yer was, hyar Ave is. Mighty glad 
 to see yer, and dat's a fac'. Come along. now, 
 and we uns Avill cut a AA^aterraillj^nn." 
 
 " Who — Avho are you ? " gasped Tom, whose 
 terror was greatly increased by the soldier's 
 grim humor. 
 
 "Well, Johnny, Ave're so ragged and dirty 
 just noAv that Ave don't rightly knoAv Avho Ave 
 are, except that we are some of Uncle Sam's 
 lost boys," replied the one who had captured 
 the SAvord and revolver. " I expect he's down 
 to Baton Rouge noAv Avaiting for us, and so 
 
UNCLE SAM'S lost BOYS. 241 
 
 we'd best be toddling along. Take that horse 
 into the grove out of sight, Ben. Come on, 
 Johnny." 
 
 " Have you heard hounds giving tongue in 
 the woods anywhere about here?" inquired 
 the one who had first spoken. 
 
 Tom was so nearly overcome with fear that 
 he could not answer. He hardly knew when 
 two of Uncle Sam's lost boys took him by the 
 arms and raised him to his feet. All he real- 
 ized was that he had run squarely into the 
 hands of those he had tried so hard to avoid. 
 
 itj 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS. 
 
 AFTER accompanying our Confederate 
 -/TA- hero, RodnejT- Gray, throngli fifteen 
 months of army life, during which he saw 
 more adventures, endured more hardships and 
 learned more wisdom than he had ever dreamed 
 of, we left him, at the close of the second vol- 
 ume of this series, safe in the home of his boy- 
 hood, which he had left for the avowed purpose 
 of "driving the Yankees out of Missouri." 
 He confidently assured his mother and the 
 servants who assembled to see him off that 
 it would not take more than three or four 
 months to do that, and then he would return, 
 like Lentulus of old, " with victorious eagles." 
 Instead of that, he came back as ragged and 
 disgusted a specimen of a Confederate volun- 
 teer as could be found anywhere in the South 
 at the time of which we Avrite, and that is say- 
 ing a good deal. The summer clothing given 
 
 242 
 
NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS. 243 
 
 him and his comrades at Tupelo after the re- 
 treat from Corinth, and which had been fur- 
 nished by one of the numerous "ladies' asso- 
 ciations" of the South, was not calculated to 
 stand soldier treatment. The trousei's Rodney 
 wore were made of a rich shawl, and his blouse 
 had once been part of a costly silk dress. His 
 nights at the camp-fire, and the days he had 
 passed trudging along dusty roads, had played 
 sad havoc with his " pictured uniform." That 
 was what Dick Graham called it, and his regi- 
 ment, which had been pretty well supplied Avith 
 clothing of the same description, presented a 
 very fantastic appearance the first time they 
 went on dress parade. 
 
 You will remember that Rodney brought 
 Dick home with him. Dick wanted to get 
 into Missouri Avhere his parents Avere, and in 
 order to do that it was necessary that he 
 should find some point on the Mississippi that 
 was not guarded by Federal gunboats. They 
 came from Camp Pinckney on foot, and had 
 been doing duty as infantrymen for months, 
 although their regiment was always spoken 
 of as the — th Missouri cavalry. Their horses 
 
244 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 had been "confiscated" by the commissary 
 department during that dreary " mnd march" 
 from the disastrous battlefield of Pea Ridge 
 to Van Buren and Pocahontas. The com- 
 manding general, Van Dorn, did not need cav- 
 alry during that march, but it was necessary 
 that his wagon train should go through ; so as 
 fast as his jaded teams gave out and dropped 
 in the road, he took cavalry horses to replace 
 them, and in process of time the two Barring- 
 ton boys found themselves on foot like hun- 
 dreds of others. 
 
 You will remember, too, that when Rodney 
 reached home he led his friend into the parlor 
 and pushed him into an easy-chair with the 
 words : " Stay here till I find somebody," and 
 that his mother came in a moment later. 
 The way in which the two greeted each other 
 after their long separation was something of 
 which Dick Graham could not remain an un- 
 moved spectator, for it made him think of his 
 own mother away off across the river, whom 
 he might never see again. He staggered 
 rather than walked to the window, and looked 
 out at the oleanders in the yard. 
 
NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS. 245 
 
 " O Rodney, is it f)ossible that you have 
 come back to me at last!" exclaimed Mrs. 
 Gray tearfully ; and Dick knew, without turn- 
 ing his head, that she was holding her stalwart 
 son off at arms' length and giving him a good 
 looking over. 
 
 "Yes, sir," replied the returned soldier, 
 placing his arm about his mother's waist and 
 leading her toward a sofa, " I have come back, 
 and I have come to stay. The last words you 
 said to me right out there on the gallery were 
 that you never wanted to hear that I had 
 failed to do my duty. You haven't heard 
 any such report as that, have you? I have 
 done the best I could, but I have come back 
 whipped ; and I wish every other man who 
 wears a gray jacket were honest enough to 
 say tlie same thing." 
 
 The listening Dick expected to hear his 
 chum soundly rebuked for giving utterance to 
 such sentiments, because he knew that the 
 women were much more zealous for the cause 
 of Southern independence than their male 
 relatives, that they were exerting themselves to 
 the utmost to keep the war spirit at fever heat, 
 
246 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 and that, if it hadn't been for them, the army 
 from which he had just been discharged would 
 have dwindled to a corporal's guard long ago. 
 By an accidental glance into a mirror that 
 hung on a side wall Dick saw that Mrs. Gray 
 was holding her soldier boy tightly clasped 
 in her arms ; but he did not hear her utter 
 one word of reproach. Like many another 
 mother's, her patriotism had been sorely tried, 
 and now that Rodney had returned safe and 
 sound she considered that she had done all 
 for the cause that could be expected of her, 
 and hoped that he would never leave her side 
 again. Let some other mother's son — Mrs. 
 Randolph's, for instance — take Rodney's place 
 at the front. 
 
 "Say!" exclaimed Rodney, starting up 
 all of a sudden. "What's the -matter here? 
 This room doesn't look just as it did the last 
 time I saw it. Where's the carpet ? " 
 
 "It was cut into blankets and sent to Corinth, 
 along with a lot of other things that I thought 
 might be of use to you ragged, shivering sol- 
 diers," rei^lied his mother. 
 
 "I hoped you would never be called upon to 
 
NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS. 247 
 
 make the smallest sacrifice," said Rodney in a 
 tone of disgust. 
 
 "Do you think I made no sacrifice when 
 I sent you to the fiekl ? " said Mrs. Gray re- 
 proachfully. " Rodney." 
 
 " I didn't mean that," said the boy quickly. 
 " But you don't want to rob yourself for the 
 sake of those fellows up there," bobbing his 
 head in the direction in which he supposed 
 Bragg's army to be. "Like as not the poor, 
 foolish woman who cut her shawl up to 
 make these trousers of mine will suffer with 
 cold for the want of it. But I am forgetting 
 something. Come here, old fellow. Mother, 
 you have often heard me speak of Dick 
 Graham, the only brother I've got. Well, here 
 he is. Rags and dust and all, that's Dick. 
 Kiss him for his mother, and tell me where I 
 will find father." 
 
 The lonely, homesick young Missourian was 
 almost overwhelmed by the kindly greeting 
 that Rodney's mother gave him, but his friend 
 was quick to notice it and came to his relief. 
 When his mother said that Mr. Gray had 
 gone to Mooreville on business and might 
 
248 RODNEY, THE OVEESEEE. 
 
 not be back for an liour or two, lie seized 
 Dick by tlie arm and hurried him up to his 
 room. 
 
 " I have known you a good while, but I never 
 saw 3^ou look so glum before," said he, as he 
 closed the door and forced Dick into a seat. 
 
 " You may well say that," replied the latter. 
 " I bore up pretty well until I saw you and 
 your mother together, and that knocked me. 
 It's a fur ways to Little Rock, and there are a 
 good many Yanks on the road." 
 
 "I'll trust you and your discharge to get 
 along with the Yankee cavalry if I can only 
 see you safe over the river," said Rodney. 
 " There is jvhere the fun is going to come in." 
 
 "Don't you think that the commanding 
 naval officer, or the provost marshal at Baton 
 Rouge, might be prevailed upon to give me 
 permission to go over ojDenly and above- 
 board 1" inquired Dick. 
 
 "Not much. You wouldn't do it j^ourself 
 if you were in their places. How would they 
 know but that you were a spy or a bearer of 
 secret despatches, and that your discharge was 
 a humbug ? I tell you, Dick, since I have had 
 
NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS. 249 
 
 time to think of tlie way those Yankee scouts 
 treated us when they tokl us to come in out of 
 the wet, I confess to a very friendly feeling for 
 the Yankees. How many are there who would 
 have run us in, just to be able to say that they 
 had captured a coui^le of graybacks ?" 
 
 "That's so," assented Dick. 
 
 " Now the best thing you can do is to stay 
 with me long enough to rest your hands and 
 face, say a week or such a matter, and then 
 we'll go up to Vicksburg " 
 
 "Suffering Moses!" exclaimed Dick. 
 "There is a portion of two Yankee fleets up 
 there, according to the last report I read, and 
 they are fighting our fellows all the time." 
 
 "Well, say Port Hudson then. There 
 hasn' t been much of any fighting there. We' II 
 buy a light, tight boat and provision it " 
 
 Here Dick straightened up, and turned his 
 pockets inside out one after the other to show 
 that they were empty. 
 
 "I know what you mean by that," ex- 
 claimed Rodney, "but I'll see that you have 
 all the money you want — money, I said, and 
 not such stuff as that," he added, thrusting 
 
250 KODNEY, THE OVEESEER. 
 
 his hand into his pocket and pulling out the 
 roll of Confederate scrip that the i)ayinaster 
 had given him with his discharge. "Mother 
 was wild for Southern independence when 
 this thing, was first started, but thought it 
 wise to prejDare for a rainy day ; so she and 
 father and I put awa}^ a little gold." 
 
 "If it wasn't for the fact that my father 
 arid mother did the same thing, I'd call you a 
 traitor," said Dick. 
 
 "Oh, I know we are in good company," 
 answered Rodney with a laugh. "And we 
 don't think any the less of ourselves for put- 
 ting away that gold, either. Think what a 
 fix Washington's army was in when it was 
 mustered out at Newburgh. Those men were 
 victorious, but even victors mnst eat and have 
 something to wear, and what did they have 
 to live on ? Do yon suppose they would have 
 thought seriously of mutiny if they had had 
 a little store of hard stuff to fall back on ? 
 That's why we hid the gold ; and it doesn't 
 make any difference what sort of laws the 
 government at Richmond passes, we are going 
 to keep what we have. Now, let me show 
 
NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS. 251 
 
 you how miicli my old company thought of 
 me." 
 
 Although Rodney's room had been regularly 
 cared for during the long months it had been 
 without an occupant, he noticed, the moment 
 he went into it, that nothing had been dis- 
 turbed. A newspaper, which he had tossed 
 upon the floor tlie morning he left, was lying 
 in nearly the same spot yet ; and his light 
 fowling-piece was standing in the corner 
 where he had placed it after shooting a hawk 
 that was bothering Aunt Martha's chickens. 
 He opened the door of his closet as he spoke, 
 and almost without looking put his hand upon 
 the elegant cavalry sabre that Bob Hubbard's 
 Rangers had given him. The uniform he had 
 worn while acting as drill-master, and his 
 military saddle and bridle were there, too. 
 
 " I left them at home because I knew they 
 would get me captured if I tried to take them 
 into Missouri," said he. "Now, pull off that 
 picture-book," he added, nodding toward 
 Dick's silk blouse, "and after you have re- 
 moved a little of the Louisiana soil from your 
 features, put on this citizen's suit. I am not 
 
252 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 sure it will fit yon, but it is tlie best I can do 
 until I see how trade is." 
 
 "I suppose gold is as potent in Baton 
 Rouge as it was in Little Rock," said Dick. 
 "But do you think our discharges " will take 
 us inside the Yankee lines? " 
 
 " We'll make them," replied Rodney. 
 " We'll say that we want to report ourselves 
 to the provost marshal and get a pajier of 
 some kind from him that will keep the Federal 
 scouts from bothering us ; and when we see 
 him we'll bounce him for jDermission to trade." 
 
 The boys went to work to make such im- 
 provements in their jDersonal appearance as 
 they could with ];)lenty of soap and water and 
 Rodney's abundant wardrobe, and when a bell 
 rang in a lower hall half an hour later, they 
 answered it looking quite unlike the dusty 
 ragamuffins who had walked unbidden into 
 Mrs. Gray's front parlor. It is true that their 
 coats w^ere a little short in the sleeves and 
 tight across tlie shoulders, but there were no 
 holes in them or in the light shoes they wore 
 on their feet. 
 
 "That's all O. K., mother," said Rodney, 
 
NED GRIFFIN BllINGS NEWS. 253 
 
 catcliing a momentary glimi^se of a well-filled 
 table through the oi)en door. "When you can't 
 think of any other way to put in the time, just 
 ask us if we want something to eat. Now come 
 and sit down with us, and tell us everything 
 that's happened since I have been in the army." 
 Rodney's entrance into the dining room 
 seemed to be the signal that the house ser- 
 vants had been waiting for. The moment he 
 stepped over the threshold they rushed in 
 through every door, some smiling, some laugh- 
 ing outright, and all pushing and crowding 
 one another in the efi'ort to be the first to 
 shake "young moster" by the hand. Fore- 
 most in the struggle was Rosebud, the darkey 
 who had been Rodney's playmate in the days 
 of his babyhood, and who yelled so dolefully 
 when he went away. Although they all in- 
 quired particularly after his health, there was 
 not one among them who asked what he 
 thought of the Yankees as fighters now that 
 he had had some experience with them. They 
 knew as well as he did that he and his com- 
 rades had failed utterly in their efforts to take 
 Missouri out of the Union. 
 
^54 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Mrs. Gray could not describe in one dinner 
 hour everything that had happened in and 
 around Mooreville during the last fifteen 
 months, nor could she do it in a dozen hours ; 
 and even at the end of a week she and her 
 husband had many questions to answer as well 
 as many to ask. But before he Avent to bed 
 that night Rodney knew pretty nearly what 
 Tom Randolph and his Home Guards had 
 been doing, and how he and the enrolling 
 officer stood in the community, and had been 
 made to see at least one thing very clearly : 
 the surest way for him to keep out of the 
 army was to follow Ned Griffin's example and 
 take a position as overseer on one of his 
 father's plantations. 
 
 "I am overjoyed to know that you have 
 decided to remain at home with us," said his 
 father, "but, to be honest, I did not look for 
 it, so I gave Griffin the best opening I had. 
 Our upper j^lantation, as you are aware, is 
 right in the middle of the woods ; but I think 
 Ned will be willing to make the change if 
 I ask him." 
 
 "Not for the world," said Rodney quickly. 
 
NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS. 255 
 
 "I am used to living in the woods, so I will 
 take tlie little 'farm and let Ned and his 
 mother, stay near civilization, where they can 
 see white folks once in a while. Besides, I'd 
 rather like to be within reach of the cotton 
 you've got up there. A Northern paper that 
 came into our hands just before we left Tupelo 
 contained the. information that there's going 
 to be trading allowed along the river, and 
 what the Yanks especially want is cotton." 
 
 "I don't blame them," said Mr. Gray, with 
 a smile. " It is worth sixty cents a jiound in 
 New York." 
 
 This piece of news almost took Rodney's 
 breath away. 
 
 "Four hundred and fifty bales at — let me 
 
 see ; $270 a Great Scott, father ! That 
 
 doesn't look as though you are going to be 
 reduced to beggary," 
 
 " But you must bear in mind that our cotton 
 is not in New York, but concealed in the 
 depths of a swamp," said his mother ; and 
 Rodney afterward had occasion to recall the 
 words wdien he was working night and day, 
 with Sailor Jack's assistance and Marcy's 
 
256 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 to keep this cotton out of the hands of rascals, 
 both Union and Confederate, who were trying 
 their best to talve it from him by force or to 
 cheat him out of it. This news was so very 
 important that it could be talked of only in 
 whispers ; and after the difficulties that lay in 
 the way of getting the cotton into the hands of 
 the traders had been discussed in tones so low 
 that no eavesdropper at the door could have 
 heard a word of it, Mrs. Gray said in her 
 ordinary voice : 
 
 " You boys have often spoken of having 
 Northern papers in your possession. Did your 
 officers permit that ? " 
 
 "Well, no," said Rodney, with a laugh. 
 " It was against orders to look at one of them, 
 and I have seen men triced up by the thumbs 
 for disregarding that order." 
 
 " Then how did they get inside our lines ? " 
 
 "They were taken from dead Yanks, or out 
 of the pockets of prisoners," replied Rodney. 
 " Sometimes they were handed over to an 
 officer, or thrown aside to be picked up by 
 other men who didn't care so much for orders ; 
 and those who got them were mighty careful 
 
NED GRIFFIN BUINGS NEWS. 257 
 
 to know who was around, when they took them 
 out to read them. Why, mother, I am telling 
 you the gospel truth when I say that all the 
 reliable news we army fellows got was what 
 came to us through the columns of Northern 
 papers, or from the mouths of Northern i^ris- 
 oners. But, as I was saying — $120,000 and 
 over. That's what your cotton is worth, 
 father, and I will take the little farm so as to 
 be where I can see it once in a while." 
 
 There were so many questions to be asked 
 and answered that Rodney and Dick scarcely 
 stirred out of the house daring the whole of 
 the next day. On the second day they rode 
 out to call upon Ned Griffin and his mother, 
 both of whom shed tears of joy and gratitude 
 when they took Rodney by the hand. 
 
 "Yes; thanks to your father's kindness, I 
 am here yet," said Ned, wiping his eyes, which 
 grew misty every time he spoke of his bene- 
 factor, " though mercy knows how I am going 
 to pay the debt I shall owe him when the 
 terms of the conscription law are complied 
 with. A hundred pounds of beef and bacon 
 for every darkey on this place, big and little, 
 
 17 
 
258 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 and beef and bacon worth — worth way up 
 yonder," said Ned, pointing to the ceiling. 
 " It will take me a lifetime to pay it." 
 
 "Oh, no, it won't," said Rodney encourag- 
 ingly, "for if goods are high, your services 
 will command wages in proportion ; don't you 
 see?" 
 
 "Do you imagine that I will ever charge 
 your father a cent after what he has done for 
 me ?" cried Ned indignantly. "I am not that 
 kind of a fellow, and you ought to know it." 
 
 "Well, I suppose that is sentiment, but it 
 isn't business," said the i)ractical Rodney. 
 "Now, then, what do you know? Have you 
 the straight of the fights the Home Guards 
 had with those gunboats ?" 
 
 Ned laughed until he was red in the face, 
 and then went on to give the "straight" of 
 one " fight " as he had heard it from indignant 
 citizens of Baton Rouge, who had petitioned 
 General Williams, the Union commander, to 
 send a company of cavalry to Mooreville with 
 orders to exterminate the Home Guards or 
 drive them from the country. The boys heard 
 much the same story from several disabled 
 
NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS. 259 
 
 veterans of Bragg' s army, upon whom they 
 called on their way home, and that Avas the 
 way Rodney came to know so much about 
 what had been transpiring along the river dur- 
 ing his absence. He and Dick also learned 
 from various sources that the enrolling officer 
 would prove to be a jolly and entertaining 
 companion when once they became acquainted 
 with him, but as he was Tom Randolph's 
 friend, they had better not trust him too far 
 at first. 
 
 "Perhaps we'll not trust him at all," said 
 Rodney. "We can tell better after we have 
 had a look at him. As we are not in the Con- 
 federate service we are under no obligations 
 to go near him ; still he might look upon it 
 as a courteous and friendly act if we were 
 to drop into his ofiice to-morrow and tell him 
 'hallo!' " 
 
 With this object in view they rode to Moore- 
 ville on the afternoon of the next day, and 
 that was the time they saw Tom Randolph and 
 frightened him nearly out of his wits, as we 
 have recorded, by assuring him that he need 
 not expect to take a squad of conscripts to 
 
260 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Camp Pinckney without having a brush with 
 the Union cavalry. It was after they left him 
 that they heard the hounds giving tongue in 
 the woods ; but such sounds were common 
 enough in that country, and so they paid no 
 attention to it, although they might have done 
 so had they been able to look far enough into 
 the future to see what was going to happen 
 afterward. 
 
 When they reached the enrolling office Rod- 
 ney found that he knew everyone there except 
 the officer in charge ; and as he shook hands 
 with some and barely nodded to others, he 
 told himself that they were just the sort of 
 men he expected to find in Tom Randolph's 
 company of Home Guards. There were a few 
 industrious, hard-working ones among them, 
 but the majority were long-haired, lazy vaga-- 
 bonds, who had never been known to earn an 
 honest living. 
 
 "They're a pretty set to fight a gunboat," 
 he whispered to Dick while the two were 
 hitching their horses at the rack. "And I'll 
 bet my roll of Confederate scrip against yours 
 that they never take any conscripts to the 
 
NED GRIFFIN" BRINGS NEWS. 261 
 
 camp of instruction. FUgo farther, and say 
 that they will never start with any, for when 
 they are wanted they'll not be found. Now 
 let's go in and see what sort of a chap we have 
 to deal with." 
 
 Dick Graham put him down at once as a 
 conceited prig, who did not know a thing out- 
 side of office routine, and was so disgusted 
 with the airs he tried to throw on that he did 
 not salute when he handed out his discharge ; 
 but Rodney, who did not care any more for 
 the enrolling officer than he did for a crooked 
 stick in the road, pursued a different course, 
 and very soon succeeded in making Captain 
 Roach ashamed of himself. He made him see 
 that there was a big difference between a vet- 
 eran soldier and a Home Guard, and ended by 
 asking him to dinner. 
 
 "Now you've done it," said Dick, as the 
 two mounted their horses and rode homeward. 
 "If your mother had wanted that officer at 
 her table, don't you think she Avould have 
 asked him long ago?" 
 
 "Oh, that's all right," said Rodney. 
 " We're privileged characters, and my folks 
 
2G2 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Avill back up anything we do or say. Besides, 
 during the last three days I've got to be a 
 policy man." 
 
 " What do you mean by that ? " 
 
 "Just this: so long as Captain Roach 
 collognes with Tom Randolph and his mother 
 — she's the one I am afraid of, for she is a 
 schemer from tlie word go, I tell you — so long 
 will he be more or less under their influence ; 
 and "I am well enough acquainted with them 
 to know that they would not hesitate to say 
 or do anything that came into their heads if 
 they thought they could set him against me. 
 So I wanted the first chance at the captain. 
 There's no telling at what moment he may be 
 able to do us a good turn." 
 
 When the boys reached home they were sur- 
 prised to find that there was a good deal of 
 suppressed excitement among the servants, 
 which showed itself now and then in spite of 
 all their efforts to keep it concealed. Rod- 
 ney's black playmate, who came to the steps 
 to take charge of their horses, was full of 
 news, but his master could not get anything 
 out of him, although he threatened, if he did 
 
NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS, 263 
 
 not speak, to take him on board the gun- 
 boats and sell him to the Yankees the first 
 thing in the morning. When they went into 
 the house they met Mrs. Gray, whose face 
 showed that she was not altogether at her 
 ease. 
 
 "What's up?" demanded Rodney. 
 
 "Nothing more than we can expect in 
 times like these, I suppose," she replied, with 
 a smile. " But the blacks are frightened, and 
 of course that has an effect on me. There are 
 four escaped Union prisoners in the vicinity, 
 and some Confederate soldiers are pursuing 
 them with bloodhounds." 
 
 Dick Graham took note of the fact that she 
 did not say " some of our soldiers," as almost 
 every other Southern woman would have 
 done. He thought of the Federal scouts 
 who had captured and released himself and 
 Rodney a few days before, and said men- 
 tally : 
 
 "I hope they'll not catch them. I wish 
 we could find them long enough to hand them 
 a bottle of turpentine. That would throw the 
 dogs off their trail in short order," 
 
264 KODNEY, THE OVEESEER. 
 
 " Well, what are the blacks frightened at ? " 
 continued Rodney. " The Yanks don't make 
 war on people of their color." 
 
 " But they know that there are two ex- 
 Confederate soldiers in this house " began 
 
 Mrs. Gray. 
 
 " Now I understand it ! " exclaimed Rodney. 
 " x^nd that was the reason Rosebud wouldn't 
 tell me what he had on his mind, though I 
 promised to sell him if he didn't. He was 
 afraid that Dick and I would saddle np and 
 go after those prisoners. Well, we're not 
 making war on Yanks so much as we were, so 
 yoti can rest easy, mother. Bat how did j^ou 
 find it out? We didn't hear a word of it in 
 town or along the road." 
 
 " Three of the pursuing party rode into the 
 yard not half an hour ago to tell me of it, and 
 to ask if I thought any of our blacks would be 
 likely to feed and shelter the Federals if they 
 came on the plantation," answered Mrs. Gray. 
 " And I could only say truthfully that I was 
 sure they would. The soldiers do not mean 
 to give the poor fellows any rest, or the least 
 chance to escape to the river." 
 
NED GKIFFIISr BRINGS NEWS. 265 
 
 " Hal-lo ! " ejaculated Rodney. " Is a Yank 
 a poor fellow in your estimation ? " 
 
 "A weary and hungry man is always an 
 object of pity," replied liis mother, "and 
 such have never been turned from this plan- 
 tation without having their wants relieved. 
 And now the soldiers have gone and put those 
 dreadful Home Guards after them." 
 
 "Haw, haw!" laughed Rodney. "Tom 
 Randolph's Home Guards may be dreadful to 
 unarmed Union men Avho have never snuffed 
 powder, but veterans, such as I take these 
 escaped prisoners to be, won't stand in fear of 
 them. Why, mother, if these four men were 
 armed they would whip Tom's whole com- 
 pany." 
 
 "They are thoroughly armed," said Mrs. 
 Gray. " And when they are in need of food 
 they walk right into a plantation house and 
 demand it." 
 
 "That's all right too. You don't expect 
 men to go hungry when there's grub in sight, 
 just because they have the misfortune to be 
 Yanks, do you? Where did they get their 
 weapons?" 
 
206 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Mrs. Gray shuddered as slie told tlie story 
 as we have already heard it ; and when she de- 
 scribed how the fugitives had surprised, cap- 
 tured, and paroled a squad of six men who had 
 been sent in pursuit of them, Rodney's face 
 and Dick's beamed with admiration. 
 
 "I'll bet they are bricks," said the former. 
 
 "Top-notch," chimed in Dick. 
 
 "And do the Home Guards know that the 
 Yanks are armed?" continued Rodney. "If 
 they do, there isn't a man in the company who 
 will join in the pursuit. Tliey'll make a big 
 show of going if Tom orders them out, but the 
 first good chance they get they'll hide in the 
 woods." 
 
 "And I don't know that I blame them," 
 observed Dick. 
 
 " Nor me. There's no fun in walking up on 
 an armed and desperate man when he is con- 
 cealed and can see every move you make, 
 while you cannot see hide nor hair of him. 
 Mother," here he sunk his voice to a whisper, 
 ' ' I hope they won' t catch those fellows ; and 
 if they come around this house I'll help them 
 if lean." 
 
NED GRIFFIN BRINGS NEWS. 267 
 
 *' Here too," whispered Dick ; and Mrs. Gray 
 never uttered a word of rebuke. The boys 
 believed that she would help them herself. 
 
 When Mr. Gray came in the matter was 
 talked over again, and he did not appear to be 
 very anxious that the fugitives should be cap- 
 tured. On the contrary he discussed their 
 cliances of escape with great composure, and 
 said he thought their prospects would be 
 brighter than they were if they only had some- 
 body with them who could show them how to 
 throw off the dogs. These dogs were not in- 
 tended to seize the fugitives, you will under- 
 stand, but merely to overtake and hold them 
 at bay until the soldiers could come up. 
 Large packs of trained "nigger" dogs would 
 sometimes pull down a single man when they 
 found him in the woods, and it is a matter of 
 liistory that some of our poor fellows who 
 escaped from Andersonville were sadly torn 
 by them. 
 
 But the four escaped prisoners in question 
 did not come near Mr. Gray's house that night ; 
 or if they did, Rodney and Dick never knew 
 it. It was on the morning of the next day, 
 
268 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 just as breakfast was nearly over, tliat tlie first 
 exciting tiling happened. Ned Griffin rode 
 into the yard, and on his way to the back 
 porch he i)assed along the carriage-way in 
 front of one of the dining-room windows. Rod- 
 ney had a fair view of his face as he rode by, 
 and Ned looked through the oj^en window and 
 saw Rodney ; and in an instant a signal passed 
 from one to the other — a signal so very slight 
 that no one but a schoolboy would have no- 
 ticed it, but it told Rodney as plainly as words 
 that Ned had news for him that he did not 
 want to divulge in the jiresence of any third 
 party. So Rodney hastily excused himself 
 and went out on the porch. 
 
 " You look just as Rosebud did when I came 
 home last evening," said he, when he saw Ned 
 standing at the foot of the steps holding his 
 horse by the bridle. "But I hope you will 
 be more accommodating than he was, for he 
 would not tell what he had on his mind." 
 
 " Say," replied Ned. He looked all around 
 to make sure that there was no else within 
 hearing and then went on. " You heard about 
 those escaped Yankees, didn't you ? " 
 
NED GRIFFIX BUINGS N KWS. 269 
 
 "I heard all about them. What of it?" 
 
 " They came to our house last night." 
 
 " That's all right. You treated them white, 
 didn't you?" 
 
 "I treated them the best I' knew how. I 
 thought you and your father wouldn't care." 
 
 " Of course not. But we would care if you 
 had treated them any other way. What of 
 it?" 
 
 "They want me to guide them to Baton 
 Rouge," continued Ned ; and then Rodney 
 noticed that the hand with which he held 
 his bridle trembled like a leaf. 
 
 "That's all right too, and I don't see any- 
 thing alarming in it. Why don't you do it ? " 
 
 " I am perfectly willing to do it, but you see 
 they have got Tom Randolph with them and 
 won't give him up. They are bound to take 
 him into the city as a prisoner, for they cap- 
 tured him in uniform." 
 
 This astounding information almost knocked 
 Rodney over. He sat down on the toi3most 
 step, rested his elbows on his knees and his 
 chin on his hands, and looked at Ned without 
 speaking. 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 
 
 I TRIED my level best to induce tlie Yanks 
 to let Tom Randolph go free, and so did 
 mother," continued Ned, slipping the bridle 
 over his horse's head and seating himself 
 on the steps at Rodney's feet, "but they 
 vrouldn't hear to it. The worst of it is, 
 they scared the life out of Tom and made him 
 confess everything." 
 
 " I am sorry to hear that," replied Rodney, 
 who had leisure, while Ned was speaking, to 
 gather a few of his wits about him. " If Tom 
 told how he persecuted unarmed Union men in 
 this settlement he's a goner sure enough, for 
 there isn' t a soldier in the world who will stand 
 such work as that." 
 
 "I don't believe he said a word about it," 
 exclaimed Ned. 
 
 "Then what in the name of sense did he 
 have to confess?" 
 
 270 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 271 
 
 " About fighting those gunboats, you 
 know." 
 
 "He never fought any gunboats," declared 
 Rodney impatiently. " What do you sup- 
 pose i)ossesses him to stick to that lie every 
 chance he gets ? One would think he'd get 
 tired of it after a while." 
 
 "I asked him that very question when the 
 Yanks permitted me to have a little private 
 talk with him," said Ned, "and the reason he 
 gave was this : he had heard that brave men 
 resi)ected brave men, and he hoped his captors 
 would treat him with a little more courtesy if 
 they knew that he was a valiant soldier," 
 
 Rodney Gray was utterly confounded. 
 
 " Valiant sol Great Scott ! There isn't 
 
 a bigger coward in the Confederacy than Tom 
 Randolph ! " he exclaimed. 
 
 " But you see the Yankees don't know that, 
 and Tom has stuffed them so full of his ridicu- 
 lous stories that they imagine they have got 
 hold of a second Mosby or Morgan, and that he 
 is worth keeping." 
 
 "Did you tell them all this?" inquired 
 Rodney. 
 
272 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "Of course I did ; but, although they know 
 that I am a Union man and down on every- 
 thing that looks like secession or rebellion, 
 they Avould not believe me, and you will have 
 to go up and try what you can do ; that is, if 
 you feel like helping one who has always done 
 his best to injure you." 
 
 "I'd like to take Tom Randol])!! right out 
 there in the carriage road and punch his head 
 for him this minute," replied Rodney, "but I 
 am not coward enough to take vengeance on 
 him in any other way. Til go, of course, but 
 I don't imagine they will pay any more atten- 
 tion to me than thej^ did to you," 
 
 "Yes, they will ; for they know you." 
 
 "Know me?" cried Rodney, opening his 
 eyes wide with amazement. "I reckon not. 
 I don't know a living Yank." 
 
 "Well, they know you, and Dick Graham 
 as well," insisted Ned. "They remember 
 perfectly of reading your names on the dis- 
 charges you showed when they captured you 
 between here and Camp Pinckney." 
 - Rodney Gray had got upon his feet, but 
 when he heard these words he sat down again. 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 273 
 
 He stared hard at Ned as if lie were trying to 
 understand something that was too hard for 
 him, and shouted : 
 
 "Rosebud!" 
 
 " What are you going to do ? " asked Ned, 
 when in response to the summons the darkey 
 came tumbling out of the kitchen with a slice 
 of bacon in one hand and a chunk of corn 
 pone in the other. 
 
 "I am going to ask you to come into the 
 house and tell your story to Dick and the 
 folks from beginning to end," answered 
 Rodney. "Give your horse to Rosebud and 
 come on." 
 
 Ned Griffin followed his conductor with 
 some reluctance, for he did not know what a 
 man who had fitted out half a dozen partisan 
 rangers, and who was a large slaveholder 
 besides, might think of an overseer who gave 
 aid and comfort to Union soldiers and aboli- 
 tionists without saying a word to him about 
 it. The quick-witted Rodney must have 
 known what he was thinking about, for after 
 placing Ned in a chair and carefully closing 
 all the doors that gave entrance into the dining 
 
 13 
 
274 llODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 room, he walked up to his father and whis- 
 pered : 
 
 " Those escaped prisoners were up to Ned's 
 last night, and he is afraid you will think 
 hard of him for giving them a bite to eat." 
 
 "And loaning them blankets too, Mr. 
 Gray," chimed in honest Ned, who meant tliat 
 his employer should know the full extent of 
 his offending. " They had blankets enough 
 first and last, but were so hard pressed by the 
 dogs that they had to throw away everything 
 except their guns." 
 
 "Well, I assure you that I don't think 
 hard of you for giving hungry men something 
 to eat and a bed to sleep on," said Mr. Gray. 
 " I should have done the same thing myself 
 if they had applied to me ; but I trust you 
 exercised due care while you w^ere doing it." 
 
 "I know what you mean, sir," answered 
 Ned, "and there isn't a white person living 
 who knows what happened on that plantation 
 last night except my mother and Tom Ran- 
 dolph." 
 
 A shell from one of the gunboats in front 
 of Baton Eouge could scarcely have created 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 275 
 
 greater consternation in that room than Ned 
 Griffin's last words. Mr. Gray thought that 
 Ned's doings might as well be published in 
 Richmond at once, and was about to say as 
 much, when Rodney took a great load from 
 his mind, and astonished him almost beyond 
 measure at the same time, by quietly remark- 
 ing that Tom was a prisoner in the hands of 
 the Yankees, who were bent on taking him to 
 Baton Rouge. Then he requested Ned to tell 
 them just what had happened on his planta- 
 tion the night before, and the latter gave the 
 particulars substantially as follows : 
 
 The first Ned and his mother heard of the 
 escaped prisoners was through one of the 
 house servants, who declared with much ear- 
 nestness that she could not remember just who 
 told her the news, but it was in everybody's 
 mouth, and some of the field hands, she didn't 
 know who, had seen and talked with white 
 men who had seen and talked with the Confed- 
 erate soldiers who were following the trail of 
 the fugitives. She did not try to conceal her 
 joy when she informed Mrs. Griffin that "dem 
 Yanks was boun' to get safe to de ribber. 
 
276 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 kase dey had done pass Mooreville de night 
 befo', and de houn' dogs had done been heared 
 givin' tongue in de woods ten miles from 
 Baton Rouge." Being intensely loyal to the 
 Old Flag and friendly to those who wore the 
 blue, Ned hoped from the bottom of his heart 
 that this report was true ; but understanding 
 the negro nature as well as he did, he could 
 not believe more than half of it. He told his 
 mother that there was a conspiracy among the 
 slaves to shield those four men, and that they 
 might be concealed on the plantation for a 
 month, and no white person would know a 
 thing about it. Consequently he was not pre- 
 pared for what took place about an hour after 
 dark. 
 
 He was in the act of blowing out his lantern 
 after seeing that everything was snug for the 
 night. He had been the rounds of the quarter 
 to make sure that the darkeys were all in their 
 cabins where they belonged, had shaken the 
 padlocks on the corn-cribs and smoke house, 
 assured himself that his yellow-legged 
 chickens were all roosting high, and, being 
 entirely satisfied with his day's work, was 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 277 
 
 preparing for a quiet evening with, liis mother, 
 when there came a knock at the back door. 
 Ned opened it, and saw his negro foreman 
 Standing there. 
 
 "Caesar," he exclaimed, "didn't I leave 
 you at your cabin not more than ten minutes 
 ago ? You ought to be in bed by this time." 
 
 "Oh, yes, sail ; I was dah," replied Caesar 
 with a chuckle, "kase I knowed mighty well 
 dat you'd be around to see if I was dah. But 
 I Step out hyar a minute, please, sah." 
 
 Ned went out, closing the door behind him, 
 and was surprised as well as startled to find 
 himself confronted by two men who carried 
 guns in their hands. The night was so dark 
 that he could not see their faces or clothing, 
 and his first thought was that some of the 
 Home Guards had come to pay him what their 
 commander humorously called a "visit of 
 ceremony." If that was the case Ned knew 
 that the house in which he lived would be 
 ransacked and robbed, and he himself given 
 notice to quit the country at once, or take 
 such a whipping as the old time overseers 
 used to give their negroes. But Caesar's next 
 
278 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 words reassured liim, altliougli they did not 
 lessen his astonishment. 
 
 " You know dem Yankees what's runnin' 
 loose in de woods?" he said in a low tone. 
 " Wal, sah, Moster Ned, dem's nm." 
 
 " We hear that you are Union, and so we 
 have made bold to come here and ask if you 
 can give us a little help," said one of the men ; 
 and Ned noticed that he did not speak like 
 one who begged a favor. There was a ring of 
 defiance in his tones, which under the circum- 
 stances was perfectly surprising. 
 
 "Who told you that I am Union?" said 
 Ned at length. 
 
 "The darkeys. We know the name and 
 politics of every man between here and the 
 jjlace where we were captured. Just now we 
 are looking for supper and lodging." 
 
 " But I care more for a pair of shoes than I 
 do for eating and sleeping, although I am so 
 tired that I could drop down where I stand 
 and sleep for a week," said the second man. 
 "The hounds have driven us hard since we 
 got away, and I have worn out all the foot- 
 gear I could get or steal." 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 279 
 
 " We had some blankets and quilts yester- 
 day," added Ills companion, "but we bad to 
 throw them away this morning in order to 
 make light weight through tlie thick woods. 
 We would have been in rags if it had not been 
 for our good friends, the darkeys." 
 
 "I can supply your Avants, and shall be 
 glad to do so," said Ned promptly. " But 
 you must never mention my name where any 
 of my neighbors can hear it. Come into the 
 house, and Caesar will stand outside to see 
 that no one slips up on you. There ought to 
 be four of you. Where are the other two ? " 
 
 " We left them in the woods at the end of 
 the lane, keeping guard over a prize we gob- 
 bled this afternoon," replied one of the blue- 
 coats ; and when they were conducted into the 
 room in which Mrs. Griffin was sitting they 
 removed their remnants of hats respectfully, 
 and droi)ped with something like a sigh of 
 satisfaction into the chairs that Ned pulled 
 up for them ; but they held fast to their 
 guns. 
 
 It took but a minute's time for Ned to ex- 
 plain the situation to his mother, and scarcely 
 
280 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 longer to provide for tlie immediate wants of 
 the two fugitives ; for when Mrs. Griffin said 
 that they were w^elcome to everything there 
 was in the house, the half a dozen black heads 
 that filled one of the doors were quickly witli- 
 drav^n, and in less time than it takes to tell it 
 a plate filled with cold bread and meat was 
 handed to each of the hungry blue-coats. 
 
 " I'se mighty sorry I aint got some store 
 coffee for you, honey," said one of the women, 
 who by virtue of her age and position took it 
 upon herself to act as mistress of ceremonies. 
 " But I isn't got none." 
 
 "We're sorry for that, aunty; not on our 
 account, but on yours," said one of the sol- 
 diers ; "but it seems to me that you white 
 folks ought to be able to get such things as 
 coffee out here. There was lots of trading 
 going on with country people when we left 
 Baton Rouge." 
 
 " We've had a few things through the kind- 
 ness of my employer," replied Ned, " and we 
 hope to have more when I get a permit to 
 trade myself. Mr. Gray thought it wasn't 
 best to trouble the provost marshal for too 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 281 
 
 many permits, for fear that lie would sliut 
 down on all of them." 
 
 " Well, the marshal will not shut down 
 on you, nor on any other Union man whose 
 name we have on our list," said the soldier 
 confidently. "We are not going to forget 
 our friends, I assure you." And then he 
 almost made Ned jump out of his chair by 
 adding: "You spoke Mr, Gray's name just 
 now; I suppose he is Rodney's father, isn't 
 he?" 
 
 "Yes, he is," cried Ned. "But what do 
 you know about him?" 
 
 "Not much, that's a fact; but we met 
 Rodney once when he wasn't at all glad to 
 see us. If we had been a diflFerent lot we 
 might have jDut him and his comrade to some 
 trouble, just to show what vigilant scouts we 
 were." 
 
 " Do you mean to tell me that you belonged 
 to the squad that captured Rodney and Dick 
 Graham a few days ago ? " 
 
 " We're two of them, and the others are in 
 the woods, if our pursuers haven't found and 
 gobbled them up. But I don't think they 
 
282 RODT^^EY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 have, or we'd have heard the sounds of the 
 fight." 
 
 "Well, you'll not go away without seeing 
 Rodney and Dick, will you ? " 
 
 " That depends," answered the soldier, with 
 a smile. " We are not on a i)leasure trip and 
 can't say beforehand just what we will do. 
 The first thing for us to find out in the morn- 
 ing is whether or not our jiursuers have placed 
 themselves between us and the river. If they 
 have, it might be well for us to remain in hid- 
 ing a few hours, and give them time to get out 
 of our road. But if they are still behind us, 
 we ought to push on without loss of time. I 
 don't suppose those two rebs would go back 
 on us if they knew where we were. They said 
 they wouldn't." 
 
 ''Rodney and Dick!" exclaimed Ned in- 
 dignantly. "While they were in the army 
 they fought you Yanks the best they knew 
 how ; but I know what I am talking about 
 when I say that you haven't better friends in 
 your regiment or comj)any than Rodney Gray 
 and Dick Graham." 
 
 "I believe it," said the soldier earnestly. 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONEES' STORY. 283 
 
 *' We are not afraid to trust any man who 
 met us in open battle ; but tlie Home Guards 
 we are afraid of." 
 
 " You'd better be," exclaimed Ned. " The 
 most of them are sneaks and cowards, and dis- 
 grace the uniform they wear." 
 
 " I believe that, too ; and now let me tell 
 you why we are afraid of them. When we 
 met your two friends Gray and Graham, we 
 belonged to a squad of twenty men who 
 were under orders to scour the country be- 
 tween the river and Camp Pinckney, so that 
 we could give timely notice to General 
 Williams if we discovered any considerable 
 body of Confederates in that direction. The 
 general has information that the enemy is 
 going to try to open the river again, and, of 
 course, he means to be ready for any rebs who 
 come this way. After we told Rodney and 
 his chum to go home and see their mammies, 
 we rejoined our command, which we found 
 about three miles down the road, and reported 
 that we hadn't seen any graybacks and no 
 signs of any ; and the very next day we were 
 surprised and routed by a mixed body of 
 
284 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 veterans and Home Guards wliicli some good 
 rebel had put on our track. We gave them a 
 lively fight, but they were too many for us, 
 and those of us who were not killed or cap- 
 tured were scattered far and wide. 
 
 *' I. hadn't much of an idea of being taken 
 prisoner, I tell you, and I have still less now. 
 rd rather be shot and have done with it. I 
 had talked with some of our boys who had 
 had experience as captives, and the stories 
 they told were enough to make one's hair rise 
 on end. They did not have a word of fault to 
 find with the rebel soldiers, who, so they said, 
 always treated them well, but they gave it to 
 the Home Guards good and strong, and de- 
 clared that in future they would slioot every 
 one that crossed their path. I could easily 
 tell the Home Guards from the soldiers in that 
 fight, both by their dress and the way they 
 behaved under fire ; and when I saw one of 
 our boys killed after he had given up his gun, 
 and saw that there was no possible chance for 
 me to get away, I just avenged the death of 
 my comrade by tumbling that Home Guard 
 out of his saddle with the last cartridge I had, 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 285 
 
 and hunted up an old soldier and surrendered 
 to liiin. My three comrades did the same, 
 and that's the way we happen to be alive to- 
 day. 
 
 " We were kept with the main body about 
 two hours, and during that time were used 
 like white men. The veterans divided their 
 grub with us, patted us on the back, and said 
 we were good fellows for driving them out of 
 Corinth and licking them on the river as we 
 had been doing, and we had nothing in the 
 world to complain of ; but I tell you we shook 
 in our shoes when we learned that nine of us 
 prisoners were to be sent to Camp Pinckney 
 under a strong escort of Home Guards, while 
 the soldiers kept to the road to hunt for more 
 Yankees. And right there is where I blame 
 the officer in command of the Confederate de- 
 tachment," said the blue-coat, now beginning 
 to show such signs of anger and excitement 
 that Ned Griffin would have been alarmed if he 
 hadn't known that his loyalty to the flag was 
 beyond suspicion, "and if he ever falls into 
 the hands of my regiment he will have cause to 
 regret that act of his. He knew what manner 
 
286 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 of men liis Home Guards were — that they were, 
 as you say, sneaks and cowards, that they 
 dared not go to the front, and that their high- 
 est ambition was to shoot a Yankee without 
 running the risk of being shot themselves. 
 But he told us to go, and when the order was 
 given for us to fall in, we had to obey it. 
 Well, sir, you may believe it or not, but I can 
 prove it, we hadn't much more than got out of 
 sight of the soldiers before those Home Guards 
 began laughing and joking about losing us on 
 their way to camp." 
 
 " Did they think you were going to try to 
 escape ? " asked Ned. 
 
 " They meant that they were going to shoot 
 us," said the man fiercely. 
 
 Ned and his mother could hardly believe 
 that their ears were not deceiving them. 
 
 "Thank goodness, our Home Guards are 
 not as bad as that," said the former. 
 
 "Have they ever been put to the test?" 
 demanded the fugitive. "I know that they 
 have fought gunboats and defeated some de- 
 tachments of our cavalry, but did tliej^ ever 
 have a Yankee j)risoner in their hands ?" 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 287 
 
 Ned was greatly astonished to hear that the 
 Mooreville Home Guards had been in action 
 with the Federal cavalry, but he managed to 
 say that he didn' t think they had ever taken 
 a prisoner. Before he could say more the blue- 
 coat continued : 
 
 "I shouldn't like to fall into their power, 
 for I believe they would make short work of 
 me. The men who had been detailed to take 
 us nine prisoners to camp came from the 
 Pearl River bottoms, and looked, acted, and 
 talked more like heathen than any men I ever 
 saw before. Believing that we did not under- 
 stand their jokes about losing us in the woods, 
 they talked freely among themselves until we 
 came to a place where the road forked ; and 
 there they separated into two parties, four of 
 their number taking my three comrades and 
 myself down one road, while the rest of the 
 escort went with the other five prisoners 
 down the other road. 
 
 "Before this happened I had made up my 
 mind that I wasn't going to be killed by those 
 long-haired Yahoos if I could help it, and that 
 act of separation was two points in favor of 
 
288 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 tlie plans I had formed in my mind. It gave 
 me as companions three men who enlisted at 
 the same time I did, who had served in my 
 company and regiment all through the war, 
 and who I knew could be depended on to back 
 me up in anything I undertook, and it gave us 
 four the smallest escort, the main body having 
 gone down the other road with the rest of the 
 prisoners. And I hope and believe that those 
 five fellows got safely into camp, for the men 
 who went with them were not half as villain- 
 ous or blood-thirsty as those who guarded us. 
 To show you what sort of men we had to deal 
 with, one of them remarked, as he drew a big 
 knife from his boot to cut off a chew of to- 
 bacco, that he wouldn't think any more of 
 sticking that knife into a Yank than he would 
 of putting it into a pig. 
 
 " I have been in some tight places since I 
 joined the service, but I don't think I ever 
 suffered as I did during the next fifteen min- 
 utes. It makes me sweat now to think of it," 
 continued the veteran ; and as he spoke he 
 drew his crooked finger across his forehead 
 and threw off the perspiration which Ned saw 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 289 
 
 had. gathered there like big drops of rain. 
 "Being the only officer there was in our 
 party — I was corporal, you know — my fellows 
 naturally looked to me to do something, and I 
 was fully aware of it ; for I knew then as well 
 as I do now that they had one and all deter- 
 mined to escape from those Home Guards or 
 die in the attempt. I communicated with 
 each of them by making the best use of my 
 eyes I knew how, and could have yelled with 
 delight when I saw that I made them under- 
 stand me. Each of us selected a rebel and 
 kept as close to him as he could without ex- 
 citing suspicion. I was impatient to get to 
 work, for I didn't know how soon they would 
 begin work on us, but I was afraid to do any- 
 thing until I thought we were well out of hear- 
 ing of the party that had taken the other road. 
 I was certain that there would be some shoot- 
 ing done during the fight, and did not want to 
 draw their attention ; but when I could stand 
 it no longer I gave a yell, and floored my man 
 as easily as you would pitch a bundle of oats 
 on to a wagon. I had him out of his saddle 
 before he could wink, and grabbed his carbine 
 
 19 
 
290 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 just in time to help Ben here, who wasn't 
 having as good luck as I." 
 
 "Did you kill both of them?" inquired 
 Ned, who was so deeply interested in the 
 narrative that he did not know whether he 
 breathed or not. 
 
 "We laid them out," replied the veteran, 
 " and as we were in something of a hurry, we 
 didn't wait to see how long it took them to 
 come to. It was all over in less than I have 
 taken time to tell it, and there wasn't a shot 
 fired or another yell raised. The fight was 
 carried on so quietly that a person standing 
 fifty feet away would not have heard it. We 
 did not waste any precious moments in con- 
 gratulating one another on our good fortune, 
 but carried the bodies of our guards into the 
 woods out of sight, dragged some brush over 
 one or two little j)Ools of blood there w^ere 
 in the road and over our footprints, thus 
 concealing all traces of the struggle as 
 best we could, and hitched the four horses 
 among the trees w^here they would have 
 plenty of leaves and twigs to browse on 
 until they were released ; and then we 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 291 
 
 struck out for the bottom the best we knew 
 how." 
 
 "Whew! you have had a time of it," 
 said Ned, as the corporal settled back in his 
 chair, clasped his hands over his knee, and 
 looked at his empty plate. "Lucindy, bring 
 some more grub, and pile on all the plates will 
 hold. When did you first become^aware that 
 the dogs were on your trail ? " 
 
 "We found it out the first thing in the 
 morning," was the reply. "Or rather, that 
 was the time we learned that the rebs were 
 going to use hounds to follow us up. We 
 slept in the woods that night without a fire or 
 a bite to eat, and at daylight set out to find a 
 negro cabin ; for we knew that the darkeys 
 would befriend us if they could do so without 
 bringing themselves into trouble. We came 
 to a plantation after a while, and crept close 
 enough to the quarter to discover a negro 
 working about one of the corn -cribs. We 
 attracted his attention without much trouble, 
 but as soon as he made out who we were, he 
 disappeared so suddenly that we were sorry 
 we did not shoot him on sifflit, for we were 
 
292 nODNEY, THE oveiiseer. 
 
 certain that lie meant to betray us. So we 
 made a little detour and took up another posi- 
 tion in the field, from which we could watch 
 the doors of the great house ; for there was 
 where we knew danger would come from, if 
 it came at all. By that move we came near 
 losing a breakfast and missing some informa- 
 tion that was of use to us, for that darkey had 
 no intention of going back on us. He slipped 
 around to his cabin, gathered up everything 
 he had in the way of grub, and spent many 
 valuable minutes in hunting us up. He had a 
 story to tell us, but was so badly frightened 
 tliat it was a long time before he could make 
 us understand that the news of our escape 
 had reached Camp Pinckney, that all the 
 soldiers and Home Guards that could be 
 spared from duty there had been sent in pur- 
 suit of us, and that a big squad of men 
 had passed the house before daylight that 
 morning vowing that they would never take 
 us prisoners if they found us. They would 
 shoot us in our tracks to pay us for what we 
 had done to their comrades back there in the 
 road." 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 293 
 
 "Then they were Home Guards," Ned inter- 
 posed. 
 
 " Certainly ; and that threat proved it. But 
 that was not by any means the worst news the 
 darkey had to tell us," continued the cor- 
 ])oral, placing his gun on the floor by his side, 
 and nodding to Lucindy as she handed him a 
 second plateful of bread and meat. " And the 
 part he hadn't yet told was what frightened 
 him. After much questioning he made us 
 understand that there were six soldiers in the 
 great house waiting for the breakfast that the 
 missus had promised them ; and when they 
 had eaten it, they were going down the road 
 about half a mile after a pack of nigger dogs 
 that were to be put on our trail. And then he 
 assured us that if those dogs ever got after 
 us we would be gone up sure ; for they were 
 smart at following a trail, having had lots of 
 practice in running down the unhappy con- 
 scripts who escaped from Camp Pinckney. 
 That was bad news for us, as I said, and the 
 question at once arose, Should we take to our 
 heels and trust to luck, or would it be a better 
 plan to rush into the house and put it out of 
 
294 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 the power of the rebels to go after those 
 dogs?" 
 
 "But were you not afraid to attack them 
 in the house ? " exckiimed Ned. " There were 
 six of tlieni and only four of you." 
 
 " A small difference in numbers to men who 
 are working for life and liberty," answered 
 the corporal. "We talked the matter over 
 very quickly and decided, without a dissenting 
 voice, that we would put a stop to that hound 
 business before it had gone any further. We 
 would take our chances on surprising the 
 rebels while they were at breakfast, and be 
 governed by circumstances when we found 
 who and what they were. If they were regu- 
 lar soldiers we would simply parole them and 
 let them go ; but if they turned out to be 
 Home Guards " 
 
 The fugitive did not finish the sentence, but 
 shrugged his shoulders and looked at Ned and 
 his mother in a: way that had a volume of 
 meaning in it. 
 
 " It did not take us many seconds to deter- 
 mine upon a plan of operations," he continued, 
 "and then we crept toward the house under 
 
THE ESCAPED PRISONERS' STORY. 295 
 
 cover of the bushes and outbuildings, telling 
 our friendly darkey to stay where he was till 
 the trouble was over, and no one should ever 
 hear from us that we had exchanged a word 
 wnth him. Everything was in our favor. 
 There wasn't a servant outside the house to 
 run in and warn the inmates that we were com- 
 ing, and before those six Johnnies knew that 
 there was a Yank within 100 miles, we were 
 in the breakfast room where they sat at the 
 table, and had them covered." 
 
 " And what did they turn out to be ? " Ned 
 almost gasped. 
 
 " Regular soldiers, I am glad to say, and we 
 were saved a most disagreeable piece of busi- 
 ness. We told them they were in a trap, and 
 could take their choice between going to the 
 bone-yard and signing a parole not to take up 
 arms against the government again until they 
 were regularly exchanged, and they thought 
 they had better sign ; and it didn't take them 
 a great while to say so, either." 
 
 " Had you any right to do that ? " inquired 
 Mrs. Griffin. 
 
 "Not the least in the world, madam," re- 
 
296 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 plied tlie corporal, with a smile. "But as 
 long as tlie rebels didn't know it, what was 
 the odds? We couldn't take them with ns, 
 we couldn't shoot them, seeing that they were 
 not Home Guards, and yet we had to do some- 
 thing. All we really hoped to accomplish was 
 to frighten them off our trail long enough to 
 give us a good start toward the swamp. We 
 knew their officers would tell them that their 
 parole didn't amount to a row of pins, but by 
 the time they found their officers we might be 
 miles away. There was one thing we were 
 sorry for, and that was that they did not have 
 their dogs in the house with them. They 
 wouldn't have followed any more escaped 
 prisoners when we got through with them, I 
 assure you." 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 A HAIL AT THE BAKS. 
 
 ALTHOUaH the corporal talked rapidly, 
 u ~ \. lie did not neglect liis supper, and by 
 the time he reached this point in his story his 
 second supply of bread and meat was all gone. 
 He handed back the empty plate, rested his 
 gun across his knees where it would be handy 
 in case of emergency, and drew from one of 
 the pockets of his ragged blouse something 
 that looked like a small bundle of brown 
 wrapping paper, 
 
 " Yes, they concluded they'd better sign," 
 said he, with a laugh, '* and here are their 
 paroles. At first the lady of the house, Avho 
 was disposed to be impudent and sassy until 
 one of the rebs cautioned her that it might be 
 worse for them if she didn't keep still, de- 
 clared that she had nothing at all in the way 
 of writing materials ; but when one of the 
 Johnnies told her, with some impatience, that 
 
 297 
 
298 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 if she didn't hand them out we'd be likely 
 to go through her shanty, she produced the 
 stump of a pencil and some paper that was so 
 rough I could scarcely write on it ; but I made 
 it do, and, would you believe it, one of my 
 boys had to witness their signatures, for there 
 wasn't one of the six rebels who could write 
 his name. Of course we disarmed and dis- 
 mounted them, and stood among the bushes 
 in the front yard and saw them make tracks 
 in the direction of Camp Pinckney ; but the 
 hounds were put on our trail, all the same, 
 and the next day they pressed us so close that 
 we had to shoot some of the leading ones. 
 And what surx)rised us was that those dogs 
 would not attempt to follow our trail across 
 a piece of wet ground. They would take a 
 circle around it and pick up our trail again on 
 the other side where the ground was dry." 
 
 "They'll do it every time," said N'ed. 
 "And it isn't a part of their training, either. 
 That's the way they hunt deer and foxes, and 
 it is something they pick up themselves with- 
 out any teaching." 
 
 "Well, it's x>i'*^tty bright in the dogs, I 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 299 
 
 must say, and we were sorry to slioot them, 
 but tliere was no help for it. First and last 
 we must have killed half or two-thirds of the 
 pack, but they have been strongly reinforced ; 
 for, judging by the yelping we heard to-day, 
 there are more hounds on our trail now than 
 there were at the start." 
 
 "You were very fortunate in being able to 
 keep out of their way," said Mrs. Griffin, 
 "and I don't see how you managed it." 
 
 "I don't either, madam; but somehow we 
 did it. We can't keep it up much longer, 
 however, for we are nearly exhausted, and I 
 wish from the bottom of my heart that we 
 were in sight of those gunboats at this minute. 
 But we'll get there in due time, and we'll not 
 go empty-handed. We made an important 
 capture this afternoon, and perhaps have saved 
 our scouts and gunboats, as well as the Union 
 people in the settlement, some trouble. It's a 
 fortunate thing for him that we didn't know 
 what he was when we first caught sight of 
 him ; but as he was in full uniform we sup- 
 posed he was a soldier and treated him ac- 
 cordingly." 
 
300 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "And — and what was he?" faltered I^ed, 
 while his mother looked anxious and bent 
 forward in her chair to catch the corporal's 
 answer. Something told them that they were 
 about to hear bad news. 
 
 "A miserable Home Guard and a captain 
 besides," replied the soldier. " Of course 
 after he surrendered we couldn't shoot him 
 down in cold blood, as his kind would have 
 served us if we had chanced to fall into their 
 jwvver, but we'll put him where he'll not fight 
 any more gunboats for one while, I bet you." 
 
 "How and where did you capture him?" 
 was Ned's next question. It wasn't the one 
 that trembled on his tongue, but it was as near 
 as he could get to it. 
 
 "Why, Ave had been wading for two miles 
 in a little bayou that brought us through a 
 cornfield to the river side of the road, and at 
 last we hid in a grove of evergreens from 
 which we could command a view in all direc- 
 tions. We staj^ed there for an hour, listening 
 to the faint baying of the hounds in the 
 timber on the other side of the road, and never 
 once dreaming that anybody would come near 
 
A HAIL AT THE BAUS. 301 
 
 US, when to our surprise we saw a gate ojjen, 
 and a single horseman ride down the lane that 
 led straight to our place of concealment, I 
 tell you we were scared, for we expected to 
 see the dogs and all our pursuers come through 
 the gate after him, but he stopped to pat up 
 the bars and then came on alone ; and when 
 he approached nearer we saw that he could 
 not be one of the men we were looking for, 
 because his horse was fresh and clean, and 
 didn't have the splashed legs and body he 
 would if he had been chasing us through the 
 swamp for three days and more. We saw, 
 too, that he and his horse were at outs about 
 something, for every once in a while he would 
 pound the animal with his whip as if he were 
 very mad at him ; and the last time he tried 
 it, which he did when he was within less than 
 a hundred feet of our hiding-place, the horse 
 jumped and threw him as slick as you please, 
 and I was glad of it. That was the time we 
 rushed out and took him in." 
 
 " Did he tell you his name ? " inquired Ned, 
 and the words seemed to force themselves out 
 ao;ainst his will. 
 
302 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 " Yes, he did ; and we think it strange that 
 General Williams hasn't abolished him and put 
 a stop to his doings long ago. But none of us 
 ever heard the name of Captain Randolph be- 
 fore. You know him, I supi)ose ? " 
 
 " Certainly, I do ; and I know that, so far as 
 fighting is concerned, lie is the most harmless 
 man in the country. Did he tell you that his 
 company had defeated some of your cavalry 
 and been in action with the gunboats 1 " 
 
 ''He certainly did tell us just that," replied 
 the corporal ; and Ned and his mother thought 
 he looked at them rather sharply. 
 
 "Well, there wasn't a word of truth in it," 
 said the young overseer stoutly. He began to 
 have a vague idea that he was injuring himself 
 in the estimation of these two Federals by 
 standing up for Tom Randolph, but he had 
 gone too far to back out. He knew that Tom 
 would not have uttered a word in his defence 
 if their situations had been reversed, but that 
 made no difference to Ned Griffin, who in few 
 words gave the corporal a full history of 
 Tom's military exploits. The occasional raids 
 through the settlement that Captain Randolph 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 303 
 
 had made at the head of his company Ned did 
 not regard as military business, for their sole 
 purpose was to intimidate Union men and in- 
 crease Tom's importance ; so he said nothing 
 about them. 
 
 " If you are as strongly in favor of the Old 
 Flag as I have been led to believe, I don't see 
 what your object is in saying a good word for 
 this Home Guard," said the corporal when 
 Ned ceased speaking. 
 
 "Wouldn't you say a word for an old 
 acquaintance of yours if you saw him in 
 trouble, no matter whether he was your friend 
 or not?" asked Ned in reply. "If you will 
 give me time I can prove that I have told you 
 nothing but the truth, and that Tom has de- 
 ceived you from beginning to end." 
 
 "What do you suppose his object was in 
 doing it?" 
 
 "He always does it every chance he gets. 
 He knows he will never win a reputation by 
 deeds of arms, and so he tries to win it with 
 his mouth. He never did you Yankees the 
 least harm, and he never will." 
 
 "Don't you think we have been here long 
 
304 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 enough, Charley?" Ben asked of his non- 
 commissioned officer ; and he answered the 
 question himself by getting upon his feet as 
 if he were making ready to leave. He was 
 plainly the more suspicious of the two, and 
 showed in various ways that he didn't have 
 much of an opinion of one who had so friendly 
 a feeling for a Home Guard. 
 
 "We've been here too long," replied the 
 corporal. "Our friends down there in the 
 woods will think we are lost or have been 
 gobbled up. May we trespass still further 
 on your good-nature by asking for a bite 
 for our absent comrades?" 
 
 " Lucindy, fill up the biggest basket you 
 can find in the house," said Ned. " And Ben, 
 if you will sit down a minute I will get shoes 
 and stockings for you." 
 
 "And have you anything in the way of 
 bedding?" inquired Mrs. Griffin. "The 
 nights are cool, if the days are sultry." 
 
 No, they didn't have a thing exceiDt their 
 guns and the dilax)idated garments they stood 
 in ; and a blanket or two, if Mrs. Griffin could 
 spare them, would protect them from the mos. 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 305 
 
 quitos if nothing more ; for of coui'se it would 
 be dangerous for them to build a smudge until 
 they knew positively that their pursuers had 
 been left behind. Ben was profuse in his 
 thanks, and suggested that No. 9's would be 
 about the right size for him ; and Ned went 
 among the darkeys to find them, for he wore 
 nothing larger than 6's, and couldn't boast of 
 an extra pair of them. Wlirle he was gone 
 his mother saw the basket filled and the 
 blankets made into a bundle, and also found 
 opportunity to say a word for Tom Randolph. 
 
 "What do you intend to do with him?" 
 she asked. 
 
 "Turn him over to the i:)rovost marshal and 
 have him sent North," was the answer. 
 
 "If you do that you will kill his mother, 
 and punish a man who is as innocent of any 
 military achievements as I am," said Mrs. 
 Griffin. "You must not think that I am a 
 friend of his — how can I be when he tried his 
 best to have my son conscripted ? Why can 
 you not parole him and let him go ? " 
 
 " We didn't parole those six rebels for fun, 
 or because we thought the parole was bind- 
 
306 RODlSrET, THE OVERSEEK. 
 
 ing," said the corporal with a smile, "but 
 simply to delay them until we could get a 
 start. If we turn Randolph loose, it will be 
 out of gratitude to you and your son." 
 
 " Better knock him in the head," growled 
 Ben. 
 
 "Don't mind him," said the corporal, see- 
 ing that Mrs. Griffin was shocked by the 
 words. "Ben is down on all Home Guards 
 because he saw one of them shoot his chum." 
 
 " But Tom Randolph was in no way to 
 blame for that," answered the lady. " And I 
 know that Rodney Gray would insist upon 
 his release if he were here. Promise me that 
 you will let him go ; and when you are ready to 
 start for the river, Ned shall take you there 
 by the shortest and easiest course." 
 
 The corporal oi:)ened his lips to reply that 
 he did not think it best to make any promises 
 until he could consult the rest of his iJarty, 
 but before he could utter a word an incident 
 happened that brought him aitd Ben to their 
 feet in a twinkling, and drove all the color 
 from Mrs. Griffin's face, leaving it as white as 
 a sheet. First there was a terrific and sudden 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 307 
 
 outburst of yelps and growls from the small 
 army of coon dogs that found a home on 
 the plantation, and then answering yelps and 
 .deep-toned bays came from the direction of 
 the front bars, mingled with the shouts of 
 command and the sharp cracking of riding- 
 whips. There was a second's oppressive 
 silence, and a strange voice called out : 
 
 "Hal-lo, the house!" 
 
 "Coming, sir! Get out, you whelps!" 
 shouted Ned Griffin's voice in reply ; and pres- 
 ently the frightened inmates of the house heard 
 him running around the corner toward the bars. 
 The corporal and his comrade, who stood with 
 their guns in readiness, seemingly as much at 
 their ease as they had been while sitting 
 quietly in their chairs eating the bread and 
 meat that had been provided for them, looked 
 inquiringly at Mrs. Griffin. 
 
 "They are strangers and have hounds with 
 them," said the latter, in a terrified whisper. 
 " I fear the worst, but Ned will do what he 
 can." 
 
 "I certainly hope he will keep them out 
 of the house," answered the corporal calmly, 
 
308 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 " for if he don't, some of tliem will never see 
 the sun rise again." 
 
 Ned Griffin, who had had no trouble at all 
 in inducing one of the field hands to hand over 
 a pair of stockings and his best shoes for the 
 benefit of the bare-footed soldier in the house, 
 was almost ready to drop when he heard that 
 racket at the front bars, but he answered the 
 hail without an instant's hesitation, tossing 
 the stockings and shoes into the nearest bush, 
 jml ran to the road, knowing that he w^ould 
 meet a party of Confederate soldiers and a 
 pack of "nigger" dogs when he got there; 
 but did the soldiers know or suspect that the 
 men of whom thej^ were in pursuit had sought 
 aid and comfort in that house? 
 
 "They can't know it or suspect it, unless 
 somebody has betrayed us ; and if that has 
 happened it is all up with Ned Griffin," 
 thought the young overseer ; and Avhen he 
 reached the bars and caught sight of the party 
 on the other side, he did not feign surprise, 
 but said, as any other honest, hospitable 
 boy would have done: "Alight and hitch. 
 I knew, it was you the minute I heard 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 309 
 
 the music of your hounds. Did you catch 
 them?" 
 
 "No," replied one of the men, who wore 
 some sort of insignia on his collar to show 
 that he was an officer. "They gave us the 
 slip about eleven o'clock this morning, and we 
 haven't been able to find their tracks since. 
 But we " 
 
 " Say ! " interrupted Ned suddenly. 
 " Please don't let your big hounds come over 
 the fence and eat up my pups. I need them 
 to catch wild hogs with next winter." 
 
 That was very true, but it was not the reason 
 Ned did not want the hounds to come inside the 
 yard. He was afraid that some of them might 
 go foraging on their own hook; and if they 
 wandered around to the back door in search 
 of something to eat, they could not help strik- 
 ing the trail the two escaped prisoners made 
 when they entered the house. They would be 
 sure to recognize it on the instant and give 
 tongue, and then there would be trouble 
 indeed ; for Ben and the corporal would fight 
 till they dropped before they would be recap- 
 tured. And then what would be done to him 
 
310 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 and liis mother for feeding and trying to con- 
 ceal them ? But the hounds were thrashed 
 and scolded back into the road and the officer 
 continued : 
 
 "We will get the start of them to-morrow. 
 If they are in this neighborhood they will stay 
 here, for we are going to place ourselves be- 
 tween them and the river. But we were well 
 fed and rested at a house three miles back, so 
 we'll not alight, thank you. Are we on the 
 road to Mooreville ? That's what I called yoii 
 out for." 
 
 "Keep straight ahead, and you can't miss 
 it," said Ned. " And if you want to go 
 toward the Mississippi, take the first right- 
 hand road. But look out for the Yanks. I 
 haven't seen any of their critter fellers, but 
 there may be fo:ne between here and Baton 
 Rouge." 
 
 "If we run on to them before we know it, 
 It will be our fault, won't it? Good-night. 
 Forward, trot, gallop ! " 
 
 The young overseer, feeling as if a moun- 
 tain had been removed from his shoulders, 
 stood leaning on the bars until the sound of 
 
A HAIL AT THE BAES. 311 
 
 the horses' feet had died away in the distance, 
 and then he settled himself into a comfortable 
 position, drew a long breath, and waited fifteen 
 minutes longer in order to make sure that the 
 rebels had really gone on toward Mooreville. 
 While he was waiting Csesar came up, expect- 
 ing to receive a good scolding, and perhaps 
 something worse, for neglect of duty. 
 
 " Sho's you live, Marse Ned, I watch and 
 wait wid all my eyes and ears, and dey slip 
 along de road and up to debars 'fore I knowed 
 it," he said earnestly. "You know ole 
 CiBsar aint going to sleep wid two Yankees in 
 de house and rebels all around." 
 
 "That's all right. I was out of doors, and 
 didn't know they were at the bars until they 
 hailed. Now, stay right here and see that 
 they don't steal a march on us. If you hear 
 the slightest sound down the road Mooreville 
 way, slip into the house and let me know it." 
 
 Ned went back to the bushes where he left 
 the stockings and shoes, and when he carried 
 them into the house he found no one there 
 except his mother, who was plying her needle 
 as if nothing had happened. The two fugi- 
 
312 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 tives bad disappeared, and there was not a 
 darkey to be seen. 
 
 " Open that door and you will find them," 
 said Mrs. Griffin, when Ned stopped and 
 looked all around. "They thought they 
 would rather fight it out downstairs than 
 in the garret, for they would have a better 
 chance to run." 
 
 "They can't go any farther to-night, for 
 their pursuers are riding hard to get between 
 them and the river, and may send the hounds 
 into the woods at any time. And I am glad 
 of it," whispered Ned. "I'd like to keep 
 them until I can go for Rodney. Perhaps he 
 can do something for Tom Randolph. Why, 
 mother, did you ever hear of such a lunatic ? 
 If he gets out of this scrape I don't think he'll 
 ever let his tongue bring him into another." 
 
 Ned pushed open the door, and the two 
 escaped prisoners came out. In few words 
 they were made acquainted with the result of 
 the interview that had taken place at the bars, 
 and Ned and his mother did not wonder that 
 it had a depressing effect upon them. After 
 racing through the almost impassable woods 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 313 
 
 and swamps until they were ready to drop 
 with fatigue, it certainly was disheartening 
 to know that the enemy had come so close to 
 them when they imagined themselves safe for 
 the night. They decided that they had better 
 return to their companions at once and talk 
 the situation over with them. 
 
 "All right," said Ned. "I will go with 
 you, for I want to see what Tom Randolph 
 has to say for himself. If you will take my 
 advice, you will stay pretty close about this 
 plantation until you have seen Rodney Gray. 
 He can do more for you than almost anybody 
 else in tliese parts, and if you get into trouble 
 you'll find it so." 
 
 The blankets and the basket of provisions 
 were brought from the room in which they 
 had been hastily concealed, and the fugitives 
 lingered a moment to shake hands with Mrs. 
 Griffin and tell her how grateful they were 
 for the generous treatment they had received 
 at her hands and her son's. 
 
 " There is one way in which you can show 
 it," replied Ned's mother, "and that is by re- 
 leasing your prisoner." 
 
314 KODNEY, THE OVEESEER. 
 
 " But, madam, we liave no right to do it," 
 said Ben, who was inclined to put more faith 
 in Tom's story of his exploits than he did 
 in Ned's. It was natural, under the circum- 
 stances, for him to believe that Ned's regard 
 for the truth was not so strong as his desire to 
 shield an old acquaintance. " We are bound 
 to take him before our colonel and state the 
 case to him ; and if lie has a mind to let him 
 go — why, all right." 
 
 "Haven't you the same riglit to release 
 Tom Randolph that you had to release Rod- 
 ney Gray and his friend?" inquired Mrs. 
 Griffin. "You did not think it necessary to 
 take them before an officer?" 
 
 "Perhai)S I did stretch my authority just 
 a little," said the corporal, coming to Ben's 
 assistance. "But ahnost any non-com., who 
 wanted to be half white, would have done the 
 eame thing. Rodney and Graham had dis- 
 ci) arges in their pockets, while this man Ran- 
 dolph holds a commission as captain of Home 
 Guards at this minute. But we'll tell tlie 
 boys what you have done for us, Mrs. Griffin, 
 and let them decide the matter. I hope it 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 315 
 
 may be our good fortune to meet again under 
 pleasanter circumstances. Good-night." 
 
 Ned led the way from the house and along 
 the lane that ran through the negro quarter to 
 the woods, in which the corporal's two com- 
 rades and their prisoner were impatiently 
 awaiting their return. They moved silently 
 and without exchanging a word above a 
 whisper, but the dark-skinned inmates of the 
 cabins seemed to be on the watch. One door 
 after another was softly opened, and sup- 
 pressed voices, that were rendered husky by 
 emotion, cheered them with such expressions 
 as : 
 
 " Lawd bress Marse Linkum's sojer boys ! 
 Youse boun' to whop de rebels, honey ; I 
 know you is, kase Ise praying for you free 
 times a day, like Dan'l in de lion's den." 
 
 "I certainly hope you'll not get into any 
 trouble through what you have done for us 
 to-night," said hard-hearted Ben, who was 
 moved in spite of himself by these expres- 
 sions of sympathy. 
 
 " So far as I know, our blacks are all loyal," 
 answered Ned, "but it won't do to trust some 
 
316 KODNEY, THE OVERSEEE. 
 
 negroes too far, any more than it will do to 
 trust some white people ; and when we are 
 in the presence of Tom Randolph I wish you 
 would be careful not to " 
 
 He stopped suddenly, but it was too late. 
 He had committed himself. As he afterward 
 told his friend Rodney, he came near ruining 
 everything before he thought what he was 
 doing. 
 
 "There you have it!" exclaimed Ben 
 angrily. "Why do you try to befriend tliat 
 man Randolph, when you dare not trust him 
 for fear that he will set your rebel neighbors 
 against you ? He shall never go free with my 
 consent, and that is a word with a bark on it." 
 
 "Or are you afraid that he will get his 
 Home Guards together and burn you out, to 
 pay you for what you have done for us Yan- 
 kees ? " said the corporal. "I don't believe 
 there's a Home Guard in the world that will 
 do to tie to, and I think the best thing we can 
 do is to hold fast to that felloAv, If he's done us 
 half the damage he says he has, he is a prize." 
 
 Ned's common sense told him that words 
 would not rectify the big mistake he had 
 
A HAIL AT THE BAES. 317 
 
 made, so lie dropped Tom Randolph entirely, 
 and talked of the hounds and the risk his Yan- 
 kee friends would incur if they tried to make 
 their way to the Mississippi through the com- 
 paratively open country that lay before them. 
 There were not woods enough to conceal their 
 movements ; the people along the route were 
 mostly rebels, and they could hardly help 
 meeting someone who would put their pur- 
 suers on their track if he saw half a chance. 
 What they needed more than anything else 
 during the rest of their journey was a guide 
 known to be a good Confederate, but friendly 
 enough to Yanks to help them out of trouble 
 if they got into it. The two fugitives did not 
 think they were likely to fall into such trouble 
 as Ned hinted at, but the next day they were 
 obliged to confess that he knew what he was 
 talking about. 
 
 By this time they had reached the fence that 
 ran across the end of the lane and shut it off 
 from the woods, and there Ben and the cor- 
 poral stopi)ed as if expecting something. It 
 came presently in the shape of the challenge 
 given in low tones : 
 
318 RODISrEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 " Who comes there ? " 
 
 " Friends with the countersign," replied the 
 corporal. 
 
 " Halt, friends. Advance one with the 
 countersign, and have your head blown off if 
 you don't give it right," continued the voice ; 
 and although the words seemed to be spoken 
 in a jest, Ben and Ned remained by the fence 
 while the corporal climbed over it and disap- 
 peared in the bushes. A moment afterward 
 he called to them to come on, and when Ned 
 joined him he knew that he was in the pres- 
 ence of the other two fugitives and Tom Ran- 
 dolph. It was made plain to him at once that 
 Tom had sent the corporal and his comrade to 
 the house with the assurance that they would 
 find Union people there and plenty to eat, for 
 Tom said : 
 
 "Did you find Griffin?" 
 
 "They not only found me, but brought me 
 here to see you," said Ned, answering for 
 himself, and working his way slowly through 
 the dark in the direction from which Tom's 
 voice came. " And I am sorry to find you in 
 this fix." 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 319 
 
 Captain Randolph may have borne np 
 bravely enough while he was alone with his 
 captors, but the sound of a familiar voice and 
 the warm grasp of Ned's hand unnerved him 
 completely. He drew the young overseer to 
 a seat on a log beside him, rested his head 
 against his shoulder, and shook as if he had 
 the ague ; but whether it was with fear, or 
 with the violence of the struggle he was mak- 
 ing to keep up the character he had so fool- 
 ishly assumed, Ned could not tell. There had 
 been a time when Tom Randolph would have 
 been ashamed to rest his head against an 
 overseer's shoulder; but he was pretty well 
 humbled now. It was at this juncture that 
 Ned was allowed a few minutes' talk with 
 Tom, the soldiers being busy with their own 
 affairs — two of them in describing what had 
 happened at the house, and the others in dis- 
 posing of the contents of the provision basket. 
 
 "Tom," said Ned, "you never told these 
 Yankees that you had whipped their cavalry 
 and fought the gunboats." 
 
 "Yes, I did," answered the captive; and 
 the overseer was not much surprised to notice 
 
320 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 that liis voice was choked with sobs. " I took 
 them for brave men, and thought they would 
 extend a brave man's treatment to me if they 
 knew me to be a loyal soldier of the Con- 
 federacy." 
 
 "Well, do you know that yon have got 
 yourself in a scrape that may end in your 
 being sent to a Northern prison?" 
 
 "Oh, don't tell me that," gasped Tom. 
 " That's what they have been threatening me 
 with, and you must make them let me go. 
 You can do it^ for you are known to be Union, 
 and my father will reward you beyond " 
 
 " And you are not a loyal soldier of the 
 Confederacy," continued Ned, who wasn't be- 
 friending Tom in the hope of making any- 
 thing out of it. "You are nothing but a 
 Home Guard ; and these men have reason to 
 hate Home Guards." 
 
 " I know it," groaned Tom. " But am I to 
 blame for anything those Pearl River heathen 
 did to them ? You are my only hope, Ned, 
 and you'll have to get me out of this. You 
 must." 
 
 "There's no must about it. I have said 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 321 
 
 everything I could, and so lias mother. Your 
 only hope is Rodney Gray." 
 
 "Then send for him," said Tom nervously. 
 " Send for him at once, and say that if he will 
 stand by me now, he can command me and my 
 father ever afterward. I wish the men who 
 are responsible for this war were here in my 
 place and sentenced to be shot at sunrise. I 
 have been deceived and badgered ever since 
 I sided with the Confederacy ; I've stuck by 
 her throngh thick and thin, while those who 
 deserted her at the first sign of disaster are 
 hail-fellows well met with the Yanks in Baton 
 Rouge, and live on the best the land affords. 
 They have salt and tea and coffee in their 
 houses, and white flour ; and we have none. 
 You must help me out, Ned." 
 
 Tom Randolph continued to talk in this 
 rambling way until the corporal interrupted 
 him with : 
 
 "Well, boys, we have decided to stay here 
 to-night." 
 
 "And will you let Griffin go for Rodney 
 Gray the first thing in the morning?" ex- 
 claimed Tom. 
 
 21 
 
^99 
 
 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "Griffin isn't a prisoner, and can go and 
 come as he likes," replied the non-commis- 
 sioned officer indifferently. "It's a matter 
 that concerns you more than it does us. If 
 Griffin has a mind to go or send for Rodney 
 Gray, we shall be glad to see him." 
 
 "These are the Yanks who captured Rod- 
 ney and Graham while they were on their way 
 home," whispered Ned. " That's why I say 
 that Rodney can help you if anybody can." 
 Then, without giving Tom a chance to express 
 his surprise, he said aloud : " What's the use, 
 Yanks, of staying here all night in the dark 
 and cold ? If you will come to the quarter, 
 I will give you a tight cabin and a bright fire 
 to cheer you up." 
 
 The offer was a tempting one to men situ- 
 ated as they were, but after a short consulta- 
 tion with-his comrades the corporal thought 
 they had better not accept it ; they would 
 feel safer and sleep more soundly right there 
 in the woods. Then Ned suggested that they 
 should wrap themselves in the blankets and 
 get what rest they could while he stood guard, 
 and to his surj)rise and Tom Randolph's un- 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 328 
 
 bounded delight, the proposition was accepted 
 without an instant's hesitation. To keep up 
 appearances Tom took the blanket that was 
 passed to him and rolled himselJ! up in it ; but 
 he had no intention of going to sleep. He had 
 another idea in his head, and it was just about 
 as foolish as his notion of trying to pass him- 
 self off for a soldier when he was nothing but 
 a Home Guard. 
 
 "Good-night, Johnny; and many thanks 
 for that grub and this warm blanket," said 
 one of the escaped prisoners who had not 
 spoken before. 
 
 " Good-night, Yank, and welcome," replied 
 Ned. " But I am not a Johnny." 
 
 "And neither am I a Yank," said the 
 soldier. " I came from Michigan. But good- 
 night." 
 
 After that silence reigned in that dark, lone- 
 some camp for the space of half an hour. The 
 soldiers were weary and sank into a deep 
 slumber almost as soon as they had adjusted 
 their blankets to suit them ; but Tom Ran- 
 dolph was wide awake. He curbed his impa- 
 tience until the heavy breathing of his captors 
 
324 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 told him that they were in a state of nncon- 
 scioiisness, and then said cautiously : 
 
 " Ned, Ned ! Have you got a gun ? " 
 
 " No. What do I want of a gun ? " was the 
 answer. 
 
 "Where are they?" 
 
 "Wrapped up in the blankets with the 
 soldiers, most likely." 
 
 "Well, say, Ned; look here," whispered 
 Tom coaxingly. 
 
 "It's no use, for I can't do it," replied Ned, 
 who knew what the captive was about to say. 
 "You don't show your usual good sense in 
 asking it of me, either." 
 
 " But you could drop asleep, couldn't you, 
 and let me crawl away ? " 
 
 "I could, but I won't. I'm not going to 
 get myself into a scrape by going back on 
 these Yanks. They'd shoot me." 
 
 "But you might go with me," suggested 
 Tom, who was almost ready to shed tears again. 
 
 "And leave Mr. Gray's property to be de- 
 stroyed? " demanded Ned. " I said I'd keep 
 guard, and I've got to do it." 
 
 " Well, you have been weighed and found 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 325 
 
 wanting," said Tom desperately. "I know 
 just what you are now, bnt I was foolish 
 enough to think you were a friend' of mine." 
 
 "You didn't thinit anything of the sort. 
 You knew better," said Ned ; and after that 
 he relapsed into silence. He had proved that 
 he was ready to assist Tom in any way he 
 could, but he wasn't going to arouse Ben's 
 rage and the corporal's by permitting him to 
 steal away in the darkness. It was the most 
 senseless proposition he had ever heard of, and 
 he was glad that Tom did not tronble him with 
 it again. The latter lay so quiet that his 
 guard thought he was asleep, but he wasn't. 
 He was trying to think up some way to get 
 even with Ned. 
 
 Althongh the overseer was not at all drowsy, 
 the exciting events of the last few hours hav- 
 ing banished slumber, he passed a dreary 
 night on his log, leaning against a tree, and 
 listening for the first far-off baying of the 
 hounds, which would announce that the pur- 
 suit had been renewed. But the hours dragged 
 themselves away without disturbance of auj^ 
 kind, and at daylight the corporal threw off 
 
326 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 liis blanket and sat np. He felt like a new man 
 after his refreshing sleep, and that was what 
 all his comrades said when they were aroused. 
 Then a short consultation was held, and Ned 
 posted off to the house with the emj)ty basket. 
 It was full of eatables when he returned an 
 hour later, to learn that during his absence the 
 fugitives had decided that Tom Randolph's 
 story was more worthy of belief than his own. 
 
 "It doesn't stand to reason that a man 
 would tell such damaging things about him- 
 self just for fun," said the corporal, who 
 spoke for all his companions. "He was as 
 defiant as you please when we captured him, 
 and I believe " 
 
 " But I told you a pack of lies ; I did indeed,", 
 cried Tom, hiding his face in his hands. 
 
 "We don't believe it," answered the sol- 
 dier. " Your weakening is all put on, because 
 you have learned that it isn't such a funny 
 thing to be a prisoner as you thought it w^as. 
 And even if you did lie to us, you are a Home 
 Guard, and that is against you. If you 
 haven't done any mean things it's because you 
 haven't had the chance." 
 
A HAIL AT THE BARS. 327 
 
 To Tom Randolph's rage and disgust Ned 
 did liot try to combat this decision. He sim- 
 ply said : 
 
 "All right; just as you say. Keep a stiff 
 upper lii^, Tom, and I will go and get Rod- 
 ney." 
 
 This was the substance of the story that Ned 
 Griffin told while he was sitting in Mrs. Gray's 
 dining room on the morning of which we have 
 sjjoken. Of course he did not tell it exactly 
 as we have tried to, but he told enough to give 
 his auditors a clear idea of what had happened 
 on his plantation the night before. They 
 heard him through without interruption, and 
 when his narrative was ended they settled 
 back in their chairs and looked at one another. 
 There was one thought uppermost in their 
 minds : those escaped prisoners deserved their 
 freedom after working so hard for it, even if 
 they were Lincoln hirelings ; and Rodney must 
 see them safe to the river. As to Tom Ran- 
 dolph — they did not waste much sympathy on 
 him, but they were sorry for his mother. Tom 
 took just such chances as these when he put 
 on his gray uniform. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GKATITUDE. 
 
 WHEN Ned Griffin brought liis exciting 
 narrative to a close Mrs. Gray beckoned 
 him to a seat at the table and gave him a cup 
 of coffee, while Rodney sent one of the girls 
 to his room after a couple of overcoats, and 
 Rosebud to the stable to see the saddle put on 
 his horse and Dick's. He was elated over the 
 prospect of doing even a little to help the 
 Federal soldiers who had shown themselves so 
 friendly to himself and his chum, and deter- 
 mined that Tom Randolx)li should not go to a 
 Northern prison if he could prevent it. Tom 
 was an old acquaintance and a near neighbor, 
 and that meant a good deal to Rodney Gray. 
 Ned was a little apprehensive that his em- 
 ployer might not be altogether pleased with 
 what he had done, but to his relief Mr. Gray 
 did not have a word of fault to find. 
 
 "Rodney seems to have made up his mind 
 
 338 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 329 
 
 to help those Yankees through," said he, ad- 
 dressing himself to the overseer, "and I need 
 not tell you that I shall be glad to have you 
 do anything you can to aid him and them. 
 As to Tom — it looks now as though he would 
 have to stand punishment for his foolishness." 
 
 "And how about me?" said Rodney. "It 
 looks as though I was planning to get myself 
 into trouble. If I help the Yankees, my Con- 
 federate neighbors will be down on me ; and if 
 I help Tom, they'll all be down on me — rebels 
 and Union." 
 
 " Hovv are the neighbors going to find it 
 out?" inquired Dick. 
 
 "Oh, Tom will tell them," said Rodney 
 carelessly. 
 
 " And are you going to help a man who will 
 turn around and blab it on purpose to bring 
 you into trouble?" exclaimed Dick. "I 
 should think his gratitude " 
 
 "Gratitude is the rarest sentiment in the 
 world, my dear boy, as you Avill learn long be- 
 fore your head is as white as mine. He'll do 
 me a mean turn the first good chance he gets. 
 That's the kind of a chap he is. Have you 
 
330 llODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 got your discliarge in your pocket ? All right. 
 I don't know when you will see us again," 
 said Rodney, when the overcoats made their 
 appearance and the horses were bronght to the 
 door, "but when we return we hope to have 
 some better fitting clothes than these, and a 
 pass from the provost marshal. So, mother, 
 if you have any cnrrency that you can spare 
 I shall be glad to have some." 
 
 These last words were whispered into the 
 ear of his mother, who led him to her room, 
 where she kept a small store of specie for an 
 emergency. Where the rest was Rodney did 
 not know or care to inquire. It was enough 
 for him that he could get a few pieces as often 
 as he found it necessary to ask for them. 
 
 "Now, do be careful," pleaded his mother. 
 "Suppose the hounds strike your trail in 
 spite of all you can do to prevent it, and the 
 soldiers with them find you and Dick in the 
 company of the escaped j^risoners ! Your dis- 
 cliarges would not save you." 
 
 "Don't cross a bridge till you come to it, 
 mother," answered Rodney, who had thought 
 of all this while Ned Grifiin was telling his 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 331 
 
 stoi'3\ "We are not going into any danger. 
 Good-by." 
 
 In a few minutes the boys were riding post- 
 haste toward Ned's plantation. They reined 
 up to the house and turned their horses over 
 to a darkey as any casual visitors would have 
 done, for Ned told them that the rest of their 
 journey must be made on foot and under cover 
 of bushes and fences. 
 
 "There's no telling who may be on the 
 watch," said he, "or whether all our blacks 
 are as loyal as they pretend to be. And, 
 boys, don't say a word in Tom's hearing 
 about showing the Yanks the way to the river. 
 He'll take it for granted, of course, that some- 
 body is going to do it, but we'll -make it hard 
 for him to prove it on any of us." 
 
 Rodney did not waste manj^ minutes in com- 
 paring notes with Mrs. Griffin (he already 
 knew everything she could have told him), but 
 threw his overcoat across his arm and mo- 
 tioned to Ned to go ahead with the basketful 
 of things that had been provided for the fugi- 
 tives' dinner. It took them three-quarters of 
 an hour to reach the edge of the woods, so 
 
332 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER, 
 
 slow and cautious were tliey in tlieir move- 
 ments, and they found two of the sokliers at 
 the fence waiting for them. Rodney and 
 Dick recognized them on the instant, and 
 shook hands with them through the fence as 
 cordially as though they had always been the 
 warmest of friends. 
 
 " Say," whispered, Rodney, as soon as the 
 greeting was over. " Call up the corporal and 
 the other Yank, I have a few words to say to 
 you that I don't want your prisoner to hear." 
 
 "Are you afraid of him, too?" asked one 
 of the soldiers. "Then I can't understand 
 why you are so anxious to have iiira go free, 
 -We can't leave him in camp alone, for if Ave 
 do he'll run off." 
 
 " He hasn't the pluck to try it," said Ned, 
 passing his basket over the fence. " But I'll 
 stay with him. You are not afraid to trust 
 me, I suppose, after allowing me to stand 
 guard over him all night." 
 
 But Ned hadn't told of the astounding 
 proposition Tom made while he was standing 
 guard over him. That was something he kept 
 to himself until he told his story in Mrs, 
 
CAPTAIN- TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 333 
 
 Gray's dining room. He climbed the fence 
 and disappeared in the woods, and presently 
 the corporal and the "other Yank" came up. 
 
 " If anyone had told me that I'd ever shake 
 hands with a rebel in this friendly way, I 
 should have said he didn't know what he was 
 talking about," said the corporal. " Johnny, 
 how are you by this time? You and your 
 chum must have got safe home or else you 
 wouldn't be here. You know our story, of 
 course, so there's no need of telling it over 
 again." 
 
 "No need and no time," replied Rodney, 
 "for you ought to be jogging along now. 
 You've an open and dangerous country be- 
 fore you, and very likely every man in it is 
 on the lookout for you." 
 
 "That's about what Griffin said to us last 
 night," replied the cori)oral. "We asked 
 him to act as our guide, but he thinks you 
 can be of more use to us." 
 
 "I don't know about that ; but I will do 
 my best on one condition." 
 
 Of course the soldiers knew Avhat that con- 
 dition was, but listened patiently while Rod- 
 
334 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 ney went on to tell them that they never made 
 a greater mistake in their lives than they did 
 vi^hen they put faith in Tom Randolph's story 
 and rejected Ned Griffin's. He urged them to 
 release Tom without any more nonsense, and 
 hinted that the sooner they complied with 
 his request, the sooner he would be ready to 
 start with them for Baton Rouge. He also 
 added : 
 
 " If you are bound to take Tom with you I 
 can't go, and you'll have to do the best you 
 can for yourselves. He'd find means to let 
 my rebel neighbors hear of it, and then I'd 
 have to go among the Yanks or back to the 
 army ; for I couldn't live here. What do you 
 say?" 
 
 "What do you say, boys?" inquired the 
 corporal, turning to his companions. "He's 
 a Home Guard, and a mighty mean one, too, 
 judging by " 
 
 " None of that, please," Rodney interposed. 
 "Having submitted the case, you have no 
 business to keep on arguing it. Yes or no, 
 .Yanks?" 
 
 " I wish we had knocked him on the head 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 335 
 
 before we took liim prisoner," said Ben, who 
 could not forget his lost comrade. 
 
 "But you didn't, and you can't very well 
 do it now," replied Rodney. " Are you going 
 to let him go or not ? " 
 
 Ben did not answer ; but his three com- 
 panions gave a favorable, though very re- 
 luctant response to Rodney's question, and 
 the latter drew a long breath of relief. Ben 
 looked and'acted ugly, and if he had been a 
 little better talker Tom Randolph's chances 
 for liberty and life would have been slim in- 
 deed. As Dick Graham afterw^ard explained 
 it, Tom was saved by Ben's want of gab. 
 Rodney's next care was to urge upon the 
 soldiers the necessity of sending Tom about 
 his business with the least possible delay, and 
 of being careful to drop no word in his hear- 
 ing that would give him a hint of their future 
 movements. Tom would make all sorts of 
 promises, but they must not put the least faith 
 in them, for if he saw an opportunity to do 
 it, he would put a squad on their trail in 
 less than an hour. This done, he and Dick 
 climbed the fence and followed the soldiers 
 
336 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 toward the camp. Ned Griffin had had time 
 to prepare Tom for Rodney's coming, and the 
 expression Rodney's face wore when he ap- 
 peared in sight prepared him for the good 
 news. 
 
 " You have prevailed upon them to release 
 me and I know it," he exclaimed, seizing one 
 of Rodney's hands in both his own and shaking 
 it with all his might, " And I'll never forget 
 you for it ; never in this world. It you want 
 anything, all you've got to do is to say the 
 word, and if I've got it you shall have it. 
 And as for you soldiers — I'll cook up some 
 sort of a story when I reach home that will 
 stop all pursuit till you have had time to 
 reach the Union lines. I am very grateful to 
 you, and will prove it by pulling off my gray 
 suit as soon as I get home. If all Yanks are 
 like you, I am not going to fight any more 
 during the war." 
 
 Tom was sure he saw a faint prospect of 
 escape before him, and his joy was so great 
 that it choked his utterance. He continued 
 to rattle on in this way, until the corporal 
 interrupted him with : 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 337 
 
 "That's all riglit, Johnny. So long as you 
 keep the hounds off our trail, it's all the re- 
 turn we ask for setting you at liberty." 
 
 "Then you are going to release me, aint 
 you ? " cried Tom. 
 
 "I don't suppose such a thing was ever 
 done before," said the corporal hesitatingly. 
 "And I don't know what the boys will say to 
 me when they hear of it ; but I " 
 
 "That don't make any difference, Mr. 
 Soldier. You just tell me to go home, and I 
 will keep the hounds off your trail." 
 
 "Well — git!" said the corporal. "You 
 will find your sword and revolver back there 
 in the grove where we hid them yesterday." 
 
 Tom lost no time in grasping the corporal's 
 hand and shaking' it with all his strength — a 
 proceeding to which the boy in blue submitted 
 with very bad grace. He felt more like giving 
 his late captive a kick, and so did his com- 
 rades ; but they let him shake their hands in- 
 stead — all except Ben, who put his hands into 
 his pockets and turned away when Tom ap- 
 proached him. Captain Randolph would have 
 persisted in his efforts to take leave of him 
 
 22 
 
338 KODNEY, THE OVEESEEE. 
 
 also, had he not been warned by a look from 
 Rodney that he had better stop his nonsense 
 and get away while the Federals were in the 
 humor to let him go. Acting upon the hint, 
 he turned away from Ben and disappeared in 
 the direction of the fence. 
 
 " If I am any proi:)het that snrly Yank will 
 see the time when he'll wish he had not turned 
 his back on me in that style," soliloquized 
 Tom, when he found himself safe in the lane. 
 "I'll square accounts with him and with Rod- 
 ney and Dick at the same time. And Ned 
 Griffin, too. I might have given those Yanks 
 the slip last night, if he had been friendly 
 enough to fall asleep as I wanted him to do ; 
 but he wouldn't, and now he will see how I 
 will pay him for it." 
 
 Tom sped along the lane as if he had been 
 furnished witli wings, through the negro quar- 
 ter and up to the door of the plantation house, 
 where Ned's mother was waiting for him. She 
 had moved her low rocking chair to that door, 
 and had been waiting there ever since she saw 
 Rodney Gray and his two companions disap- 
 pear in the woods at the end of the lane ; for 
 
CAPTAIN" TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 339 
 
 she felt the keenest anxiety for Tom, and won- 
 dered what his mother Avould do if Rodney 
 failed in his efforts to have him released. 
 
 "0 Tom, I am so glad to see you," she ex- 
 claimed, as soon as the captain of the Home 
 Guards came within speaking distance. 
 
 " I am a free man once more, Mrs. GrifSn," 
 replied Tom loftily, "and it is a fortunate 
 thing for some people whose names I could 
 mention. If I had been kept a prisoner, my 
 Home Guards would have made sad work in 
 this settlement. I'll thank you to lend me a 
 horse. I want to reach home as soon as I can, 
 in order to relieve my mother's anxiety." 
 
 And this was all he had to say to the woman 
 who had done more than anybody else to keep 
 him out of prison. By her kindness and gen- 
 erosity she had won the gratitude of Tom's 
 captors and made it comparatively easy for 
 Rodney to effect his release ; and although 
 Tom did not know this, he did know that Ned 
 had done his best for him, and one would 
 think he might have had a civil word for N'ed's 
 mother. Instead of that he hinted darkly 
 at some things he knew about "some people 
 
340 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 whose names he could mention," and Mrs. 
 Griffin knew that that was the same thing as a 
 threat. She replied that she did not feel at 
 liberty to lend Ned's saddle-horse without say- 
 ing a word to him about it, but Tom could 
 have a mule if he wanted it ; and with the 
 words she went into the house, leaving Cap- 
 tain Randolph to stand alone at the door until 
 the mule was brought up. 
 
 "This is another insult I shall have to re- 
 member against the Griffins," thought Tom, 
 running his eye over the ill-conditioned ani- 
 mal that was finally led to the door. "Now, 
 how shall I manage to have those escaped pris- 
 oners captured with the least possible delay ? 
 If they could be taken now, Rodney and Dick 
 and Ned would be taken with them ; but I 
 don't know whether I want that to happen or 
 not. If it should get noised abroad that they 
 were captured with my help, or through infor- 
 mation furnished by me, I'd have everybody 
 in the settlement down on me ; and goodness 
 knows I've got enemies enough already." 
 
 This was a matter requiring thought ; and in 
 order that he might have plenty of leisure to 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS IIIS GRATITUDE. 341 
 
 devote to it, Captain Tom allowed his mule to 
 walk every step of the five miles that lay be- 
 tween the plantation and Moore ville. He rode 
 past Mr. Grray's house without stopping, and 
 in due time drew rein in front of Kimberly's 
 store, to find the usual number of lazy Home 
 Guards loitering about there doing nothing. 
 They were surprised to see him, for the news 
 of his sudden and mysterious disappearance 
 had been spread all through the settlement. 
 His father, who had spent half the night rid- 
 ing about in search of him, pretended to believe 
 that Tom had fallen in with the soldiers from 
 Camp Pinckney and joined them in pursuit of 
 the escaped Yankees ; but there wasn't a man 
 in the country who didn't laugh at the idea as 
 soon as he heard of it. More than that, there 
 wasn't a single member of the Home Guards 
 who had made an earnest effort to trace the 
 fugitives. The most of them paid no atten- 
 tion to Tom's order to turn out, and those who 
 did, returned to their homes as soon as they 
 learned that the Yankees were armed. 
 
 "Why, cap'n, where in the wide world did 
 you drop from?" exclaimed Lieutenant Lam- 
 
342 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 bert, as Tom Randolph rolled off Ills mule in 
 front of the store. "Have you been after 
 them Yanks ? Your pap said you had." 
 
 Tom walked into the recruiting office and 
 met Captain Roach, who began to tell him how 
 his unexplained absence had frightened his 
 mother ; but the commander of the Home 
 Guards interrupted him without ceremony. 
 
 "Before I tell you anything about myself," 
 said he, turning to the eager Home Guards 
 who had followed him into the office, " I 
 want to know how many of you men would 
 like to win fame, and jDerhaps promotion, by 
 capturing the four Yankees who are roaming 
 about the country, shooting our comrades 
 down in cold blood." 
 
 "I would, for one," replied Lambert 
 promptly. 
 
 "And me!" "And me!" "And here 
 too ! " chimed in the others ; and they threw 
 so much earnestness into their words, and 
 seemed so impatient to learn how the feat 
 could be accomplished, that a stranger would 
 have thought they really meant to do some- 
 thins. 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 343 
 
 "I am glad to see you so patriotic," said 
 Captain Tom. "And the way for you to 
 prove your words is to — you know where Ned 
 Griffin lives now, don't you ? Well, go down 
 there at once, and you will find the men you 
 want at the foot of his lane." 
 
 " How do you know that ? " demanded Cap- 
 tain Roach. 
 
 "Because I left them there not more than — 
 I mean when I escaped from them last night," 
 answered Tom, who, now that the danger was 
 past, would not have sold his experience 
 for any reasonable sum of money. "You 
 don't believe it, do you? Well, it is a fact 
 that I have been a prisoner in the hands of 
 those very men, and narrowly escaped bein(j 
 shot." 
 
 "But how did you get away from them ? " 
 continued the enrolling officer, 
 
 " I knocked one of them down with the butt 
 of his own musket and took to my heels ; that's 
 the way I did it." 
 
 This was going too far, and Captain Tom was 
 quick to perceive it. Some of his men ex- 
 changed sly winks with each other, and turned 
 
344 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 toward the door as if they had heard quite 
 enough of such stories as that, while Captain 
 Roach, who had put a little faith in Tom's 
 tale at first, sat down in his chair and pulled 
 some papers toward him. 
 
 "Continue to report regularly every day," 
 said he, addressing himself to Lambert ; "I 
 have received no official notice that Camp 
 Pinckney is ready to take conscripts, but all 
 the same I know it is ready, and an order to 
 send out a squad may come any hour." 
 
 "That's a polite way of calling me a liar," 
 said Tom to himself. "I know where I can 
 find those who will take some interest in what 
 I have to say ; and if I don't go there and drop 
 a bomb into this camp that will scatter it far 
 and wide, I'm a Dutchman." 
 
 He was too angry to say anything aloud. 
 He looked hard at Captain Roach for a mo- 
 ment, and then went out to the hitching rack 
 where he had left his mule, the Home Guards 
 dividing right and left, and making no remark 
 as he passed through their ranks. He went 
 home with all the speed he could induce his 
 long-eared beast to put forth, and the recej)- 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 345 
 
 tion he met when he got there almost made 
 amends for the deliberate slight that had been 
 put upon him in the enrolling office ; but the 
 best part of the story he intended to tell was 
 knocked in the head by the first words his 
 mother said to him. He was going to describe 
 a terrific battle he had had with the escaped 
 prisoners somewhere in the woods ; but his 
 mother cried, as she ran down the steps and 
 clasped him in her arms : 
 
 "O Tom! Where have you been? And 
 how came your horse hitched out there in the 
 grove ?" 
 
 Captain Randolph had forgotten all about 
 his horse, and just then he wished that one of 
 the Yankees had put a bullet through the 
 animal's head instead of tying him among the 
 evergreens. Then he could have said that he 
 did not surrender without a fight, and the 
 dead horse would have proved it. 
 
 "Some of the neighbors heard him calling 
 as they were riding along the road, and went 
 in and brought him home ; but they saw no 
 signs of you," continued Mrs. Randolph, 
 looking hard at Tom as if to assure herself 
 
346 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 that lie was all there. "You don't know how 
 frightened we all were. The first thing I 
 thought of was those dreadful Yankees, and I 
 was afraid you might have fallen into their 
 hands." 
 
 "And that's just what happened to me," 
 replied Tom. " I was a prisoner in less than 
 an hour after I left you yesterday ; but I 
 made something of a fight before they took 
 me. I think I know where my revolver is — 
 I threw it into the bushes rather than give it 
 up to the enemy." 
 
 "Oh, you reckless boy, how could you do 
 it?" exclaimed his mother. "Come right in 
 and go to bed." 
 
 " And when you see that revolver you will 
 notice that tliere isn't a single cartridge left in 
 it," added Captain Tom, as he followed his 
 mother up the steps. "I threw away my 
 sword, too, but think I can find it again. I 
 didn't surrender, mind you. I w^as captured 
 at the muzzle of four loaded muskets." 
 
 "You dear boy! And how did you get 
 away from them?" 
 
 "I waited until they went to sleep last 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 347 
 
 niglit. Of course they left one of their num- 
 ber to guard me, but a Yankee is no match 
 for a gentleman when it comes to a fight. I 
 just knocked him down and cleared out." 
 
 "And wasn't you hurt a bit ? Didn't they 
 try to stop you ? " 
 
 " Of course they tried to stop me, and the 
 way the bullets flew was a caution ; but the 
 niglit was dark, the bushes thick, and I escaped 
 without a scratch." 
 
 This was only the introduction to the long 
 story Tom had to tell, and although there was 
 scarcely a word of truth in it from beginning 
 to end, his doting mother believed it all. His 
 father looked slightly incredulous when Tom 
 told how he had laid around in the woods for 
 long hours while the Yankees were searching 
 high and low to find him, for his boots and 
 clothing did not bear out his thrilling narra- 
 tive. They were dusty, of course, but not at 
 all torn and mussed, as they ought to have 
 been If the wearer had had such a time work- 
 ing his way out of the woods. But Mr. Ran- 
 dolph was so overjoyed to see Tom back safe 
 and sound that he said nothino; about it. 
 
348 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "Now, my son, you must quit the Home 
 Guards at once and stay right here on the 
 plantation," said Mrs. Randolph, when she 
 had asked her hero all the questions she could 
 think of. "When you are a private citizen 
 you will not be called upon to assist in captur- 
 ing desperadoes." 
 
 " I've done the very best I could for the 
 South ever since I joined my fortunes with 
 hers," answered Captain Tom ; "I have risked 
 life and liberty in her defence more than once, 
 and am ready to do it again ; but I can't fight 
 the whole Yankee nation alone and unaided." 
 
 " Certainly not," assented his mother. 
 
 " I was the only one of the company who 
 had the pluck to face those desperate men in 
 the woods," continued Tom, " and was cap- 
 tured for my pains. I ordered my men out 
 to help me, but they never came. They left 
 me to meet the danger alone ; and when I 
 dropped into the enrolling office on my way 
 home, they were loafing as usual and brag- 
 ging too. And when I told them right where 
 they would find those Yanks, and tried to get 
 them to go out and capture them, do you sup- 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 349 
 
 pose tliey would go ? They just as good as 
 told me that they did not believe me, and 
 Roach broke in on my story by giving orders 
 directly to Lambert instead of passing them 
 to him through me. I have put up with that 
 man just as long as I am going to ; and, father, 
 if you will pay Larkin oil and let him go, I'll 
 be ready to take his place to-morrow morning. 
 And now I'll write to the Governor the very 
 first thing I do." 
 
 This letter to the Governor, tendering his 
 resignation as captain of State troops, was the 
 "bomb" with which Tom had threatened to 
 " scatter Captain Roach's camp far and wide," 
 but when he sat down to write it, the thought 
 occurred to him that if he said too much the 
 letter might operate like a boomerang, and 
 hurt him more than he hoped to hurt Captain 
 Roach. If he had written it as he had it 
 framed in his mind, it would have been a 
 complete and scathing indictment of the en- 
 rolling officer's way of doing business ; but 
 the letter he showed his mother, when she 
 came to his room in response to his call, read 
 something like this : 
 
350 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER, 
 
 I have the honor to tender herewith my resignation as 
 captain of the State militia which was granted me on 
 the — th day of April last, with authority to raise and 
 command a company of mounted men for home defence. 
 
 I have long been of opinion that partisan organiza- 
 tions are not what we need in this hour of our country's 
 peril, and now I am satisfied of it. Our best men long 
 ago went to the front voluntarily, leaving behind them 
 a rabble who cannot possibly be made into soldiers. Tlie 
 men under my command were selected with the greatest 
 care, but I am obliged to say that they are fit for nothing 
 but guard duty at Camp Pincknej'. If they were ordered 
 there in a body, to take the place of "better men who could 
 be sent to the front, it would be a relief to the com- 
 munity. For myself I have other ideas, which I shall 
 proceed to carry out as soon as I receive notice that my 
 resignation has been accepted. 
 
 "That is nothing but the truth," said Mrs. 
 Randolph, after she had read the letter. 
 "But, Tom, I am afraid it will get you into 
 trouble." 
 
 " I don*1} see how," was the reply. "You 
 don't suppose that the Governor will bring 
 it down here, show it to such fellows as Lam- 
 bert and Moseley and the rest, and ask them 
 what they think of it ; do you? He has other 
 fish to fry." 
 
 " But suppose he should ask you what your 
 other ideas are," said his mother. 
 
CAPTAIN TOM SHOWS HIS GRATITUDE. 351 
 
 "There's no danger of that. If the Gover- 
 nor thinks that my chief reason for resigning 
 is because I want to go to the front, well and 
 good. I am not to blame for what he thinks. 
 I have other ideas, and that's a fact ; and one 
 of them is to see the men who winked and 
 nudged one another to-day when I was trying 
 to put a little courage into them, sent where 
 they will be held with their noses close to the 
 grindstone. Now I'll ride down and mail this, 
 and when the acceptance comes Til tell Roach 
 what I have done." 
 
 "That reminds me that the mail carrier had 
 a race with a squad of Yankee cavalry yester- 
 day," said Mrs. Randolph. 
 
 "Great Scott!" exclaimed Tom. "Have 
 they come as close as that to Mooreville ? 
 They are bound to get here sooner or later, 
 but I hope they'll stay away a week longer, 
 for then I shall be a free man." 
 
 And Captain Tom might have added that he 
 would be glad to see the Federals at the end 
 of a week, provided he received a favorable 
 answer from the Governor in that time. 
 When the Home Guards were ordered away 
 
352 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 to do duty at Camp Pinckney he would con- 
 sider his account with them settled ; and the 
 other old scores — there were four of them 
 now — could be attended to at some future 
 time. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 EODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 
 
 WHEN" Captain Randolph was done with 
 his leave-taking he hastened away as 
 if he feared that the escaped prisoners might 
 change their minds and call him back. He 
 was out of sight in an instant, and when he 
 was out of hearing Rodney Gray said : 
 
 " Now we must git ourselves. I don't know 
 what sort of a story Tom will tell when he 
 gets home, but it is safe to say that he will 
 make himself out a very brave fellow, and 
 urge his men to take up our trail at once." 
 
 "You needn't trouble yourself about the 
 Home Guards," said Ned. 
 
 "I don't; but if those same Home Guards 
 should chance to stumble upon the soldiers 
 from Camp Pinckney, we'd have something 
 to trouble ourselves about, wouldn't we ? So 
 I say we had better move away from here. 
 Pick up that basket, somebody ; and Ned, you 
 
 23 353 
 
354 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 take care of the quilts, for we'll not need 
 them. We shall lie by during the day-time 
 and travel at night. You haven't heard the 
 last of this morning's work, Ned, and neither 
 have I." 
 
 " If that Home Guard gets you into trouble 
 after what you have done for him, find means 
 to let the — til Michigan cavalry know it ; and 
 the Urst time we scout through here we'll pay 
 our respects to him," said Ben hotly. "If 
 it hadn't been for Griffin's mother, Captain 
 Randolph would have gone to a Northern 
 stockade as sure as he is a living man." 
 
 "I'll bear that in mind," replied Ned. 
 "Good-by, boys. So-long, Yanks." 
 
 "May the best of good luck always attend 
 you, Johnny," said the fugitives in concert. 
 
 This parting would have disgusted Captain 
 Randolph if he had been there to witness it, 
 and might have led him to say: "This is 
 another insult that I've got to remember 
 against the Griffin family," for there was a 
 good deal of friendly feeling manifested on 
 both sides. Surly Ben did not turn his back 
 this time, but held fast to Ned with one hand, 
 
RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 355 
 
 while lie pointed to the shoes he wore, with the 
 other, and said : 
 
 "If I get away I shall have you to thank 
 for it. I couldn't have walked a mile with 
 my feet on the ground as they were when you 
 took pity on me last night. If I can ever re- 
 pay you I will." 
 
 ' ' You have repaid me a hundred times over 
 by letting Rodney and Dick go free when 
 you captured them a few days ago. So-long, 
 Yanks." 
 
 "Fall in," said Rodney. "Good-by, Ned. 
 I wish you would make it your business to 
 tell mother that you saw us safely off." 
 
 Ned began to roll up the quilts, the corporal 
 shouldered the basket containing the pro- 
 visions, and Rodney led the way deeper into 
 the woods, the soldiers coming next in line 
 and Dick Graham bringing up the rear ; and 
 as he trudged along in silence he had much to 
 say to himself. Was this Rodney Gray, who 
 was risking so much to guide these ragged, 
 foot-sore men to a place of safety, the same 
 rabid Secessionist who once wanted to ride 
 rough-shod over everybody who stood uj) for 
 
356 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 tlie Union ; wlio had not scrupled to bring his 
 own cousin into serious difficulty on account 
 of his loyalty to the Old Flag ; who apj)lauded 
 so lustily when the Mobile Register said that 
 Northern soldiers were small-change knaves 
 and vagrants who were fit for nothing but to 
 be whipped by niggers ; and who declared he 
 would not pull off his gray suit until the South 
 had gained her independence % We said that 
 fifteen months' experience in the army of the 
 Confederacy, which never kept a single one 
 of the j)i'oniises it made to those who enlisted 
 under its banner, had opened Rodney Gray's 
 eyes ; and although he still believed in State 
 Rights, he did not believe in fighting for a 
 government that had deliberately gone to work 
 to make conscripts of its volunteers. Nor did 
 he longer believe that Northern men didn't 
 know how to fight. The way they thrashed 
 him and his comrades in Missouri proved that 
 they did. 
 
 Dick Graham was like Marcy Gray, Rod- 
 ney's cousin. He loved the Union and the 
 flag that waved over it ; but, unlike Marcy, he 
 thought it his duty to .stand by his State. 
 
RODNEY KEEPS HIS PEOMISE. 357 
 
 When Van Dorn was whipped at Pea Ridge 
 Dick Graham was willing to lay down his 
 arms and give np the nseless struggle ; but 
 the government at Richmond wouldn't let 
 him. It made conscripts of him and all the 
 other State men who had enlisted under Gov- 
 ernor Jackson's proclamation, and ordered 
 them across the Mississippi to join the Army 
 of the Centre under Beauregard. Dick went 
 because he could not help himself, and did 
 his duty faithfully while he remained ; but he 
 had his discharge in his pocket now, and said 
 there would have to be a marked change in 
 his feelings before he would swear away his 
 liberty again. There were many like him. 
 He thought of all the men in his company and 
 regiment with whom he had been on terms of 
 intimacy, and could not name half a dozen 
 who would have said a harsh word to Rodney 
 Gray if they had known what he was doing at 
 that moment. The most of them would have 
 done the same thing and been glad of the 
 chance. 
 
 Although Rodney exercised little or no cau- 
 tion in threading his way through the woods, 
 
358 RODNEY, THE OVERSEEK. 
 
 lie insisted that there should be no talking 
 among his followers. The slight rustling they 
 made in the bushes might not attract atten- 
 tion, because there were so many cattle and 
 hogs running at large in the timber ; but the 
 sound of a voice would betray them to any- 
 one who might happen to be within hearing. 
 Their progress was easy enougli until tliey 
 reached the place where tlie w^oods ended and 
 the broad, cultivated fields began, and then 
 Rodney announced that it was time for the 
 fugitives to halt and get a little sleep if they 
 could, while he and Dick went on ahead to 
 see how things looked. 
 
 " From here on there is little cover except 
 such as we shall find in blind ditches and 
 behind bush-lined fences," said he, " You 
 boys take a bite and a nap, and Dick and I 
 will go to that plantation house you see over 
 there, and inquire about our friends from 
 Camp Pinckney. I am somewhat anxious to 
 know where they are. Don't be in any haste 
 to challenge or shoot when you hear us coming 
 back." 
 
 " I suppose you know the people who live 
 
RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 359 
 
 in that liouse," said Dick, as lie and Rodney 
 started off, after taking leave of the Federals. 
 "What sort of a story are you going to tell 
 them?" 
 
 "I am well acquainted with them," an- 
 swered Rodney, "but whether or not their 
 friendship for our family would lead them to 
 do these Yanks a good turn, 1 can't say. I'll 
 not trust them too far till I find out. We'll 
 tell them the truth so far as our war record is 
 concerned, but we're hog and critter hunting 
 when they ask us what brought us into the 
 woods. And of course we know all about the 
 escaped prisoners." 
 
 Rodney did not lead the way directly 
 toward the house, but worked his way along 
 a fence until he reached a point from which 
 the dwelling could not be seen ; and then he 
 and Dick climbed over into the field and struck 
 out across it without making any further 
 attempt at concealment. It never occurred to 
 them that possibly the little clump of trees 
 that hid the house might also hide something 
 else from their view, but such proved to be the 
 case ; for as Rodney w^alked around the corner 
 
360 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 of the building with all the confidence of a 
 welcome visitor, he was surprised and fright- 
 ened to find himself in the presence of the 
 very men he came to inquire about — the 
 soldiers from Camp Pinckney, who were sit- 
 ting or lying at their ease under the shade of 
 the trees, wliile the master of the house and 
 liis family moved among them with steaming 
 coifee-pots and trays filled with something 
 good to eat. Their hounds were lying close 
 by on the grass, their horses stood at the front 
 fence with their heads down as if asleep, and 
 both looked as though they needed rest. The 
 boys made a mental note of these things and 
 walked straight ahead as if they belonged there, 
 their approach being hailed with an exclama- 
 tion of delight from the owner of the i)lanta- 
 tion, who was the first to catch sight of them. 
 " What do you mean, sir, by such con- 
 duct ? " said Mr. Turnbull, passing his Avell 
 loaded tray to one of the soldiers and hasten- 
 ing to meet Rodney with outstretched hand. 
 *' You've been at home five or six days, and 
 this is the first glimpse we have had of you. 
 Come uj) and have a bite." 
 
KODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 361 
 
 Rodney thanked him and presented his 
 friend Dick, who was welcomed in the same 
 breezy way. Then they shook hands with the 
 other members of the family, and were made 
 acquainted with tlie lieutenant who com- 
 manded the soldiers — the one whom Captain 
 Randolph had met and talked with the day 
 before. There was also a neighbor present wjio 
 had come over to hear what the soldiers had 
 to say about the escaped prisoners, and about 
 Tom Randolph, whose mysterious disappear- 
 ance was the talk of the planters for miles 
 around. Rodney was not pleased to see Mr. 
 Biglin, that was the neighbor's name, for he 
 was a red-hot Secessionist, who denounced Mr. 
 Gray for his moderate views, and declared that 
 every man who retained a spark of love for 
 the old Union ought to be shot on sight. 
 
 "Now I think we are all happy and com- 
 fortable," said Mr. Turnbull, when the boys 
 had been provided with plates and something 
 to put on them. "And that's better proven- 
 der, I take it, than you got in the army ; eh, 
 Rodney ? How do you like army life any- 
 way ? And when are you going back ? " 
 
362 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 The lieutenant looked surprised, as Rodney 
 and Dick knew lie would, and so they handed 
 over their discharges to prove that they had 
 seen service, and had the right to be at home 
 at that particular time. 
 
 "We're not going to be in any hurry," 
 answered Rodney, who thought all his neigh- 
 bors ought to know how he felt on that point. 
 "Since I came home I have met many able- 
 bodied civilians who ivere fierce for a fight 
 when this thing first broke out, and who 
 haven't yet put on a gray jacket. When I 
 see those men in the front rank I'll go back, 
 and not before." 
 
 Mr. Biglin winced and glanced uneasily at 
 the soldiers, for these remarks came pretty 
 near applying to him, as Rodney meant they 
 should. Mr. Turnbull was exempt by reason 
 of his age, and he wasn't a very hot Secession- 
 ist, either. His wife hastened to turn tha 
 conversation into another channel by saying : 
 
 "O Rodney; did you hear anything of 
 those escaped prisoners in your neighbor- 
 hood, and do you think they have killed qr 
 captured Tom Randolph?" 
 
RODTS^EY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 363 
 
 *^ Small loss," began Mr, Turnbull, and then 
 lie was checked by a look from his wife. The 
 latter knew that every word that he uttered 
 against Tom would get to Mr. Randolph's ears 
 by the shortest route, and she was afraid of 
 Home Guards. 
 
 "Randolph was down here last night look- 
 ing for Tom," continued Mr. Turnbull, "but 
 he told a story that was too funny for me to 
 believe. He said Tom had gone out with his 
 Home Guards to search for the prisoners, but 
 I know better than that." 
 
 "And Tom certainly did not go into the 
 woods alone to hunt for them, so what chance 
 had the Yanks to kill or capture him ?" added 
 Rodney. "We know that they were in our 
 neighborhood yesterday, for some of these 
 soldiers told my mother so; but they never 
 came near our house." 
 
 "I noticed you did not come by the road," 
 observed the lieutenant. "Have you been 
 riding through the woods back of this planta- 
 tion ? " 
 
 "Dick and I have been walking through 
 them, but not a horn nor a hoof did we see," 
 
304 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 answered Rodney. " You know, Mr. Turn- 
 bul], that my father will have a big lot of 
 bacon and beef to pay to the government for 
 the exemption of two overseers ; and just now 
 I don't know where he is going to get it." 
 
 "Ned GrifSn is one overseer," said Mr. 
 Turnbull. " Who's the other ? " 
 
 "I am. I never was a good fighter. I 
 think I can do the Confederacy just as much 
 service by worlving on a farm and raising grub 
 for the soldiers, as I can by staying in the 
 army. At any rate I am going to try it until 
 some of my neighbors leave off fighting with 
 their mouths and shoulder a musket." 
 
 "That's fair, I'm sure," said the lieutenant ; 
 while the soldiers Avinked and nodded at one 
 another as if to say: "Our sentiments ex- 
 actl5^" Mr. Biglin saw it and it nettled him, 
 for he had done a great deal of fighting with 
 his mouth, but every dollar he gave to aid the 
 cause of the South was fairly squeezed out 
 of him. 
 
 "And while you are working one of your 
 father's farms, I suppose you will hold your- 
 self in readiness to help any destitute Yankees 
 
KODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 365 
 
 who may ^happen to come your way," said 
 Mr. Biglin. 
 
 If Rodney and Dick had been the inexpe- 
 rienced boys they were when they first entered 
 the army, these startling words would have 
 knocked them out of their chairs. If Mr. 
 Biglin didn't know what they had been doing 
 that morning, his language and actions seemed 
 to indicate that he suspected it. If that was 
 the case, the information must have come from 
 Tom Randolph. He had had plenty of time 
 to reach home and spread the news far and 
 wide. If Mr. Biglin had been content to stop 
 right there he might have left a bad impres- 
 sion upon the minds of some of his auditors ; 
 but seeing that he had made Rodney and his 
 friend uneasy, he went on to say : 
 
 " I heard a fishy story about your being cap- 
 tured by Yankee soldiers who were gentlemen 
 enough to release you." 
 
 "There's nothing fishy about it," replied 
 Rodney, greatly relieved. "I said that Dick 
 and I were captured and set free again between 
 here and Camp Pinckney, and it is nothing but 
 the truth. I said, further, that if I ever saw 
 
366 EODNEY, THE OVEllSEEE. 
 
 those men in trouble I would try my best to 
 help them out ; and I appeal to these soldiers 
 here to say if they wouldn't do the same," 
 
 " I w^ould, if I could do it without bringing 
 myself to the notice of my suj^eriors," said the 
 lieutenant ; while his men nodded at Rodney 
 and one another as they had done before. 
 
 " Well, I wouldn't," declared Mr. Biglin, in 
 savage tones. "And more than that, I would 
 report every soldier or civilian whom I knew 
 to be guilty of such a thing." 
 
 "Ithankyoufor your words," said Rodney 
 to himself. "I know now that you'll not do 
 to tie to, and shall be careful that none of my 
 doings get to your ears." 
 
 Mrs. TurnbuU saw that it was time for her to 
 interfere again. Two of her guests were becom- 
 ing almost red in the face with anger, and her 
 w^oman's wit or something else told her that 
 the conversation was taking a dangerous turn. 
 She had wondered from the first what brought 
 Rodney Gray so far from home on foot, and 
 now she believed that she knew all about it. 
 She moved her chair to the side of Rodney's, 
 and asked the young soldier to tell her a story 
 
RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 367 
 
 of army life ; and as she did so, lier gaze wan- 
 dered tlirough the bushes and trees to the 
 front fence, where she saw one of Mr, Biglin's 
 negroes dodging about, and evidently trying to 
 catch the eye of his master without attracting 
 the attention of anyone else in the yard. The 
 circumstance increased her susi)icions, but she 
 said very calmly : 
 
 "Your boy Bill is out there in the road, 
 Mr. Biglin, and I think he wants to tell you 
 something." 
 
 "Then why don't he come in?" replied the 
 planter. "He has been down in the woods 
 trying to locate a small drove of my hogs, and 
 perhaps he has found them." 
 
 "And perhaps he has found something 
 else," was what Rodney's eyes and Dick's 
 said when they looked at each other ; and 
 they could hardly conceal their agitation when 
 they observed that Mrs. TurnbuU was keeping 
 her gaze fixed on their faces. 
 
 " You, Bill ! " shouted the planter. " Come 
 here." 
 
 The negro came very reluctantly, and when 
 he saw his master turn about in his chair and 
 
368 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 look at him, he stopped and twisted his face 
 into all sorts of shapes and rolled np the 
 whites of his eyes, trying by every means in 
 his power to make his master understand 
 that he desired to say a word to him in 
 private. 
 
 "Well, why don't you speak?" demanded 
 Mr. Biglin. "Did you find anything down 
 there?" 
 
 " Sail ? Oh, ye — yes, sah ; I found sumfin," 
 replied the negro, in a tone so significant that 
 Mr. Biglin would have been dull indeed if he 
 had failed to understand him this time. With 
 the remark that he had better be getting along 
 tow\ard home he arose and follow^ed the boy, 
 who promptly led the way toAvard the front 
 gate. 
 
 " Peculiar man, that," said the lieutenant, 
 rising from his comfortable couch on the grass 
 and stretching his arms. "He didn't even 
 bid us good-by. I reckon we'd best be get- 
 ting along toward camp. Boots and saddles ! " 
 
 ' ' Are you going to give up looking for those 
 Yankees?" inquired Mr. Turnbull, and from 
 the bottom of his heart Rodney thanked him 
 
RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 869 
 
 for asking the question. He wanted to do it 
 liimself, but was afraid to speak. 
 
 "I reckon I might as well," answered the 
 officer, as his men got upon their feet, aroused 
 the slumbering hounds by snapping their 
 fingers at them, and hastened to obey the 
 command. "I did think of taking in those 
 woods on my way to Mooreville, but don't 
 suppose it would be of any use. If the Yanks 
 were there you two would have been likely to 
 see them, wouldn't you?" he added, nodding 
 at Rodney. 
 
 " I am quite sure we would," was the reply ; 
 but after all he was not so sure of it. The 
 timber was thick ; and, unless accompanied by 
 dogs, a whole regiment might have walked 
 through it without seeing any signs of a fugi- 
 tive who took the least pains to conceal 
 liimself, 
 
 "That's what I thought," continued the 
 lieutenant, " and as my men and animals are 
 somewhat worn with travel, I think I will give 
 it up and go home. I would have captured 
 those men yesterday if the Mooreville Home 
 Guards had been worth their salt. I may 
 
 24 
 
370 KODNEY, THE OVEUSEER. 
 
 have something to say to my colonel about 
 it." 
 
 While the lieutenant talked he shook hands 
 with the planter and the two boys, lifted his 
 cap to Mrs. Tiirnbull, and thanked her for the 
 excellent dinner she had given his hungry 
 men, and walked toward the place where he 
 had hitched his horse, accompanied by their 
 host. The latter's wife remained behind ; and 
 when she saw the officer swing himself into his 
 saddle she made some slight apology to Dick, 
 and motioned Rodney to follow her into the 
 house. 
 
 " What's down there in the woods behind 
 our plantation ? " were the first words she said 
 to him when they were alone. 
 
 "Why, Mrs. Turnbiill," began Rodney, 
 "how should I know? I assure you I am at 
 a loss " 
 
 "You know what I mean, Rodney Gray, 
 and you can't deceive me," interrupted the 
 lady with so much earnestness that Rodney 
 saw it was useless to argue with her. "You 
 never in your life before came to this house 
 on foot ; you were frightened when you found 
 
RODNEY KP:EPS HIS PROMISE. 371 
 
 the soldiers here ; you became angry the mo- 
 ment Mr. Biglin spoke of Yankees ; you were 
 frightened again when the boy Bill intimated 
 that he had a word to say to his master in 
 
 private ; and all through Aha ! You do 
 
 know what I mean, don't you ? " 
 
 "Mrs. Turnbull," replied Rodney in a 
 husky voice. "They are the men I promised 
 to help if I could. You'll not betray them ? " 
 
 " I ought to scold you for speaking such 
 words to me, and some day I will," said the 
 lady hastily. " But just now I want to warn 
 you against Mr. Biglin. I am sorry to say 
 that he is not trustworthy." 
 
 When she ceased speaking she stepped to 
 the window and looked out. She stood there 
 a moment and beckoned Rodney to her side. 
 The Confederate soldiers had disappeared up 
 the road in a cloud of dust, and Mr. Biglin 
 was just riding by the house. It was plain 
 that he was in a hurry, for he did not stop to 
 I)ick up his hat, which ilew off just as Rodney 
 caught sight of him, but dug his heels into his 
 mule's sides in the effort to make him go 
 faster. 
 
372 EODISTEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "He's trying to overtake the soldiers!" 
 gasped Rodney. 
 
 " He certainly is," replied Mrs. TurnbuU 
 calmly. "He will succeed, too, and when he 
 brings them back with the hounds " 
 
 "The Yankees will burn him out before he 
 is a week older," said Rodney, through his 
 clenched teeth. 
 
 " They will do nothing of the sort unless 
 you bear witness against him, and I know you 
 will not do that," answered Mrs. Turnbull. 
 "But waste no time in words. You know 
 what to do." 
 
 "I will say something in your favor and Mr. 
 Turnbull' s as soon as I can gain the ear of the 
 provost marshal," said Rodney. " Good-by, 
 and thank you for the interest you take in my 
 Yankee friends." 
 
 Rodney made a sign to Dick as he sprang 
 down the steps and ran around the corner of 
 the house, and told him his story as they sped 
 across the field side by side. There was one 
 thing in their favor, he said. Biglin's mule 
 was one of those critters that gallop up and 
 down in one place instead of going ahead, and 
 
RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE, 373 
 
 if the Confederates were moving with any 
 speed at all, he might not be able to overtake 
 them until they had gone a mile or two toward 
 Mooreville. But he would certainly come up 
 with them sooner or later and bring them 
 back ; and then 
 
 "And then they'll put the hounds on the 
 Yanks' trail and ours,'' exclaimed Dick, 
 finishing his sentence for him. "Rodney, 
 you have got yourself into the worst kind of 
 a scrape by helping those prisoners." 
 
 "And how about yourself ? " 
 
 "I'm going to skip out and go over the 
 river, you know ; but you've got to stay here 
 and face the music. The lieutenant may not 
 be able to set Tom Randolph's cowardly 
 Home Guards on to you— indeed, I don't be- 
 lieve he will try ; but he'll report the matter 
 at Camp Pinckney, and that will be bad for 
 
 you." 
 
 The boys ran across the field at the top of 
 their speed, and scaled the fence without hear- 
 ing any sounds in the direction of the house 
 to indicate that Mr. Biglin had returned with 
 the soldiers. Ten minutes later they were 
 
374 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 challenged in a low, peremptory tone that 
 Dick said meant business. 
 
 " Who comes there?" said the cor^Doral's 
 voice. " Speak quick." 
 
 "It's all right, Yank. I don't wonder you 
 look anxious," replied Rodney, as he and 
 Dick made their way through the bushes 
 and found the fugitives standing erect with 
 their guns in their hands. "Come on, now. 
 There's not a second to lose." 
 
 "Do you know about that nigger?" in- 
 quired Ben. "Well, sir, he found us all 
 asleep and was onto us before we knew it. 
 We could have captured him easy enough ; 
 but we never looked for treachery among the 
 darkeys, and besides we didn't know but you 
 Johnnies had sent him down with a message 
 or something. But the minute we spoke and 
 he ran, we knew there was mischief afoot. 
 Of course we were afraid to shoot him, and so 
 he got safely away. Did you see him ? What 
 did he say?" 
 
 " We didn't hear what he said to his mas- 
 ter," began Dick. "But we " 
 
 "You go to the rear and let me talk," in- 
 
RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 375 
 
 terriipted Rodney, who liad forgotten to tell 
 Ms friend that Mr. Bigliu's name must not 
 be mentioned in the hearing of the escaped 
 prisoners. Tliey would remember him, of 
 course, and square accounts with him the first 
 time their regiment was ordered out on a 
 scout. He managed to tell some sort of a tale 
 without speaking of Mr. Biglin, but it was not 
 entirely satisfactory to the corporal. 
 
 "You're shielding somebody, Johnny; but 
 if he is a friend of yours it's all right," said 
 the latter. 
 
 " What odds does it make to you so long as 
 you get safe to the river? " answered Rodney. 
 "I am shielding somebody, and I do it be- 
 cause Mrs. Turnbull expects me to. That's 
 the name of the woman who lives in that 
 house, and if it hadn't been for her there's no 
 telling what would have happened. Bear that 
 name in mind — Turnbull ; and when you are 
 raiding through here, don't steal so much as a 
 drink of milk from that family." 
 
 The corporal and his men promised, and said 
 the name over several times to fix it in their 
 memory. 
 
376 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 " Our pursuers are all soldiers," continued 
 Rodney, "and under almost any other cir- 
 cumstances I believe they would let us off 
 easy; but the way they're fixed, they've got 
 to do their duty or be reported. They are 
 bound to come back to the house and put out 
 the hounds " 
 
 " And they've done it," said Dick Graham, 
 coming to a sudden standstill and turning one 
 ear toward the house. " There ! Do you hear 
 it?" 
 
 All this while the fugitives had been mak- 
 ing the best progress they could through the 
 woods, but now they stopped and listened 
 intently. Yes, they could hear it plainly 
 enough ; not a single bugle note like that 
 which had attracted Dick Graham's atten- 
 tion, but a whole chorus of eager yelps, 
 proving that all the hounds had taken up 
 the trail. 
 
 "This is going to be the tightest squeak 
 we've had yet," observed Ben. "How many 
 of them are there in the party ? " 
 
 " About six hounds, I should say, and twice 
 as many men," replied Rodney. "Enough 
 
RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. 377 
 
 altogetlier to make running easier tlian fight- 
 ing. Dick, take this bottle, and don't use it 
 until I say the word." 
 
 " What's in it ? " inquired the corporal. . 
 
 "Turpentine; and if the dogs get a good 
 sniff of it, it will spoil their scenting powers 
 for quite a while. The trouble is it evaporates 
 quickly, and Dick mustn't use it until the 
 hounds are close to us." 
 
 Dick fell back to the rear and Rodney set 
 off on a keen run, directing his course toward 
 a little bayou which he knew he would find 
 a mile or so in advance. But fast as tliey 
 went, the hounds came on at a swifter pace, 
 their sonorous yelps grew louder every minute, 
 and jDresently the encouraging shouts of the 
 soldiers mingled with them. 
 
 "Oh, don't I wish I had enlisted in the 
 infantry," puffed Ben, who followed close at 
 Rodney's heels. "Such a tramp as we have 
 had wouldn't be anything to a foot soldier, 
 but it's death on a cavalryman." 
 
 "The houndjs are now following Dick's 
 trail and mine across the field," said Rodney. 
 "They'll come on faster when they pick up 
 
378 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 yours, for they will recognize it on tlie 
 instant." 
 
 And so it proved. The hounds gradually 
 swept around from a point to the rear and left 
 of them to another that was directly behind ; 
 and then their loud baying increased wonder- 
 fully in volume. They had at last found the 
 trail that had been lost to them for so many 
 hours, and were holding a jubilee over it. 
 After that the horsemen were distanced, but 
 the active hounds came on with undiminished 
 speed, and in less than a quarter of an hour 
 could be heard making their way through the 
 bushes close behind. The prisoners began to 
 wonder if it wasn't about time for Dick 
 Graham to use the contents of his bottle, when 
 their guide parted the thicket in front of him, 
 and halted for an instant on the bank of the 
 bayou for which he had been heading. 
 
 "Put half of it right here and the rest 
 on the opposite bank. Forward, the rest of 
 us," said he; and with the words he dashed 
 through the narrow stream and into the bushes 
 on the other side. 
 
 Dick Graham showed no little nerve in car- 
 
EODNEY KEEPS HIS PKOMISE. 379 
 
 rying out liis instructions. When his com- 
 panions disappeared he pulled the bottle of 
 turpentine from his pocket, but knowing the 
 volatile nature of the fluid he seemed to be in 
 no haste to use it, until the leading hound was 
 so close upon him that he could hear his la- 
 bored breathing. Then he dug the heels of his 
 shoes into the soft earth and filled the depres- 
 sions with turpentine. Ten seconds later he 
 stood on the other side of the bayou, filling 
 other footprints with what was left in the bot- 
 tle ; and just as the foremost of his foiirfooted 
 pursuers appeared in sight, he flung himself 
 into the bushes. But he was not prepared for 
 what followed. As fast as the hounds arrived 
 upon the bank they smelt at the turpentine and 
 backed away with a sneeze ; and when they 
 were all in plain view, running about with their 
 heads in the air or going through such con- 
 tortions as dogs will when they unexpectedly 
 encounter something disagreeable, a deafening 
 roar rang through the woods, and every one 
 of the hounds dropped in his tracks dead or 
 wounded. The Union soldiers were not going 
 to be tracked like beasts or criminals any longer. 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 EODNEY PASSES INSPECTIOTT, 
 
 THIS was the first and last adventure that 
 befell Rodney Gray and liis party while 
 they were on their way to Baton Rouge ; the 
 shooting of the hounds "broke the backbone 
 of the pursuit," as Dick Graham expressed it, 
 although it did not put a stop to it altogether. 
 The rebels raised a chorus of angry yells when 
 they reached the bank of the bayou and dis- 
 covered their fourfooted allies weltering in 
 their blood, and fired their guns at random 
 into the woods in the direction the fugitives 
 had gone, but they made no energetic effort to 
 continue the chase after that. And this went 
 far to confirm Rodney in his belief that the 
 lieutenant would not have put the hounds on 
 the trail at all if it hadn't been for Mr. Biglin. 
 By expressing this opinion aloud he could 
 have made Mr, Biglin a beggar before another 
 week passed over his head. 
 
RODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 38l 
 
 Contrary to Ms original plan Rodney kept 
 his party moving until late that afternoon, 
 when he halted the soldiers in the rear of an- 
 other plantation while he and Dick went to 
 the house to get something to eat, and make 
 inquiries concerning their pursuers. This time 
 they were not gone more than half an hour, 
 and when they returned they were accompa- 
 nied by the owner of the iDlantation, who cor- 
 dially invited the soldiers into the house. 
 
 " It's all right, boys," Rodney assured them. 
 "Our friends from Camp Pinckney haven't 
 been this far down the road ; Mr. Banks is 
 Union, and a large squad of your cavalry has 
 just gone back into the country, so that they 
 are between us and the rebels." 
 
 "Why, Rodney," said Mr. Banks, "you're 
 a rebel yourself." 
 
 " I was, and I don't know but I am yet ; but 
 lam not fighting any Yanks just now," was 
 the* smiling reply. "Come along, boys, and 
 after we have eaten everything Mr. Banks has 
 to spare, we'll take to the road and follow it 
 as though we had a right there. We've done 
 hiding now." 
 
382 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 The corporal glanced at the military pass 
 which Mr. Banks produced to prove that lie 
 was "all right" with the Federal authorities 
 in Baton Rouge, and gladly accepted his in- 
 vitation ; and for fear that he might forget it, 
 he drew one of those useless paroles from his 
 pocket and wrote Mr. Banks' name and Mr. 
 TurnbuU's upon it. 
 
 "That's as strong a promise of protection 
 as a non-commissioned officer can give," said 
 lie. " It will hold good with my regiment, 
 any way." 
 
 The four prisoners splashed a good deal of 
 water at the horse trough before they would 
 consent to enter the house and sit down to the 
 table like white folks, but when they got there 
 they did ample justice to the substantial food 
 that was placed before them. The planter 
 apologized for the absence of salt on the table 
 by saying that he hadn't been able to obtain 
 a permit to bring it through the lines. 
 
 "Then smuggle it," suggested the corporal. 
 " Buy a barrel of flour and chuck a bag of 
 salt inside of it." 
 
 " But don't let your best friend see joii do 
 
EODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 383 
 
 it," cliimed in Rodney. "That's the warning 
 my father received. There are lots of traitors 
 in the city who try to curry favor with the 
 Yanks by carrying tales about their old neigh- 
 bors. By the way, don't you want me to get 
 you a barrel of flour ? " 
 
 The expression of astonishment that came 
 upon Mr. Banks' face set the table in a roar. 
 
 "You didn't expect me to speak so freely 
 in the presence of these blue-coated boys, I 
 suppose," continued Rodney. "You needn't 
 be afraid, for they are not on duty now. Be- 
 sides, they are soldiers, and I'd rather trust 
 them than some civilians I know of." 
 
 "How will you bring the flour out?" asked 
 Mr. Banks. 
 
 "I'll bring it out," answered Rodney con- 
 fidently. "In the first place I'll ask for a 
 I)ass for inland travel and a permit to trade, 
 and I am bound to get both. I know where I 
 can borrow a team in the city, and I intend to 
 bring it out loaded. I know that salt and all 
 munitions of war are contraband, and that 
 there is an inspection of all persons and 
 property going in or out of the lines ; but I — 
 
384 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 well, I shall be back this way to-morrow or 
 next day, and if you want a bag of salt for 
 your table you can have it." 
 
 "Well, I snum!" said the planter admir- 
 ingly. "Your war experience has done a 
 heap for you, Rodney." 
 
 "He had the reputation of being the best 
 forager in the regiment," said Dick. "I've 
 known him to stick a pig and clean him and 
 bring him into camp under Daddy Price's 
 nose, when the orders were strict that such 
 tilings shouldn't be done. If there was any- 
 thing to eat in the country our mess always 
 lived well." 
 
 Dinner over, Rodney led his party out of the 
 house and into the woods again ; but it was 
 done merely to mislead any talkative rebel 
 or treacherous darkey who might be on the 
 watch. It wouldn't do to let all the neighbors 
 know that Mr. Banks had sheltered some es- 
 caped prisoners in his house during the night ; 
 but when darkness came they left the woods 
 and found in one of the negro cabins beds that 
 had been placed there on purpose for them, 
 and on which they slept the sleep of the 
 
rodnp:y passes inspection. 385 
 
 weary. Daylight tlie next morning found 
 tliein well on their way toward the city, with 
 a breakfast under their belts and a big lunch 
 in their pockets. 
 
 There was more travel on the road than 
 Rodney expected to see, and the number of 
 teams that were constantly going and coming 
 gave him some idea of the amount of traffic 
 carried on between the "invaders" and the 
 country people. When he and his compan- 
 ions were halted by the first pickets a few 
 miles outside the city, they told as much of 
 their story as they thought necessary, and de- 
 manded to be taken before Colonel Baker, 
 commanding the — th Michigan cavalry. In 
 order to avoid delay and the trouble of answer- 
 ing the thousand and one questions pro- 
 pounded by the inexperienced non-commis- 
 sioned officer who responded to the picket's 
 call, the corporal, who did the talking, said 
 that they were all escaped prisoners ; but when 
 they reached the place where the — th Michi- 
 gan were encamped, and walked down the 
 street toward the colonel's quarters, that 
 story would no longer pass muster, for the 
 25 
 
386 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 corporal was recognized by liis comrades, who 
 crowded about him from all sides. The news 
 of that light near Camp Pinckney had been 
 brought in by a farmer, who affirmed that all 
 the Yankees had been killed by the Home 
 Guards as fast as they surrendered, and as a 
 consequence the Michigan boys had given up 
 all hoi)e of seeing their friends again. Their 
 commanding officer greeted them in the same 
 cordial way, laughed over the paroles which 
 the corporal gave him, took down the names 
 of the Union people as they were read off, 
 looked at Rodney's discharge and Dick's, and 
 told the corporal. to show them the way to the 
 provost marshal's office. 
 
 "But, colonel, these boys, who have stood 
 by us as though they belonged to us, want a 
 pass and a permit to trade," said the corporal. 
 " And if you will allow me to use your name, 
 perhaps the provost will be more willing to 
 grant the favor." 
 
 The permission was readily given, and the 
 colonel's name must have had some weight 
 with the marshal, for he did not detain Rod- 
 ney and Dick at his office on business for more 
 
RODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 387 
 
 than ten minutes ; but he kept them there 
 talking in a friendly way for more than an 
 hour. When he handed them the papers 
 they wanted he took pains to say that there 
 were some things that could not be taken 
 through the lines under any circumstances 
 whatever, and then he asked where they in- 
 tended to make their headquarters when they 
 were in the city, and whether or not they had 
 any cotton to sell. As Rodney did not know 
 what his object might be in asking this ques- 
 tian, he answered it evasively. 
 
 "I wish I owned 1000 bales, and that it was 
 in the Northern market at this minute," said 
 he. "It is worth sixty cents a pound up 
 there." 
 
 " Because if you've got any you may as well 
 understand that it won't do you much good," 
 said the marshal. "That is, unless you're 
 sharp. The Richmond government is going to 
 buy or steal all the cotton in the Confederacy 
 and make it the basis of a foreign loan." 
 
 "And of course you Yanks are going to 
 stop that sort of work by destroying every bale 
 you can iind," said Rodney. "I understand 
 
388 KODNEY, THE OVEKSEER, 
 
 that, but I don't know wliat you mean by 
 being sharp." 
 
 "You don't get the papers very often, do 
 you?" said the captain. "Well, take those 
 when you go. They're old, but perhaps their 
 contents will be news to you. You will find 
 that they say something about a ' partial 
 trade ' that is to be established between 
 Northern men who are to have jiermits to 
 trade inside our lines, and Union Southern 
 people. Does that hit you? Anything to 
 cripple the rebs, you know. And you will see 
 something about the Arkansas ram in there, 
 too. It was a brave act, if it was performed 
 by the enemies of my country." 
 
 "What about her? AVhat did she do?" 
 inquired Rodney, who had heard vague reports 
 that there was such a vessel as the ArJcansas, 
 and that great things were expected of her by 
 her Confederate builders. 
 
 " Why, you know that the navy has been 
 keeping up a regular bombardment of Vicks- 
 burg, don't you ? I tell you the pluck of the 
 Johnnies up there is something wonderful," 
 said the captain, and Rodney and Dick, dis- 
 
RODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 389 
 
 gusted as they were with the policy of the 
 Richmond government, felt a thrill of pride as 
 they listened to his words. " They think the 
 lower river was given up too easily and are 
 going to make a fight for their city ; and when 
 Farragiit passed their batteries on the 28tli of 
 June, and our shells were falling like hail in 
 the streets, parties of ladies were seen on the 
 court house and in other conspicuous places, 
 waving handkerchiefs and little rebel flags to 
 encourage their husbands and brothers and 
 sons, who were fighting the guns below them. 
 Well, when Farragut joined Davis above the 
 city they sent an expedition up the Yazoo to 
 find this ram Arkansas and destroy her ; but 
 before they were fairly started they met the 
 Arkansas coming down." 
 
 " And didn't they capture her? " exclaimed 
 Dick. 
 
 "No, I am sorry to say. She either disabled 
 or dodged the three gunboats composing the 
 expedition, came out of the Yazoo with flying 
 colors, ran through both fleets, and took shelter 
 under the guns of Vicksburg. And she's 
 there now in spite of two desjjerate attempts 
 
390 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 that were made to destroy her. Sorry, aint 
 you?" 
 
 " I can't honestly say that I am," answered 
 Rodney, who had ah-eady made up his mind 
 that the talkative provost marshal was willing 
 to be friendly to any Confederate who had laid 
 down his arms. " A brave act like that ought 
 to be successful." 
 
 " Then our attempts to destroy her ought to 
 have been successful, for they were equally 
 brave," retorted the captain. "She got pretty 
 well hammered while passing through the two 
 fleets, and report says that as soon as she is 
 repaired she is coming down to take Baton 
 Rouge from us. But she is as far down as she 
 will ever get. Farragut is here now with his 
 whole fleet." 
 
 And this is a good place to say a word or 
 two more about the situation at Baton Rouge, 
 so that some events which we have yet to rt cord 
 may be made perfectly plain. On the 22d of 
 the month (July) Flag-ofiicer Davis made 
 another attempt to destroy the Arlcansas, 
 bnt it resulted in failure. Two of his boats, 
 the Essex and Queen of the West, were com- 
 
RODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 391 
 
 manded to go down and sink lier as she lay at 
 her moorings under cover of tlie Confederate 
 batteries, but lier picked crew fought as 
 bravely and skilfully now as they had done a 
 week before. The Essex ran aground and re- 
 mained there for ten minutes under fire so hot 
 that it is a wonder she was not cat all to pieces; 
 but she finally worked off and ran down to join 
 Farragut, while the Queen of the West strug- 
 gled bacli up the river to report the failure to 
 Flag-officer Davis. The situation at this time 
 was discouraging to our side. The gunboats 
 were widely separated ; the canal that w^as 
 to make Vicksburg an inland town proved a 
 failure ; General Williams removed to Baton 
 Rouge the small body of troops with which he 
 had been co-operating with the naval forces ; 
 Commodore Davis went back to the mouth 
 of the Yazoo and anchored there ; and for full 
 five months there was a lull in the operations 
 against Vicksburg. Bat exciting things con- 
 tinued to happen in Rodney Gray's part of 
 the country. 
 
 "To tell you the truth, we of the Army of 
 the Centre always found more reliable in- 
 
392 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 formation in your papers than we did in onr 
 own, and I suppose that these you have kindly 
 given me will tell us all about the doings on 
 the river," said Rodney, continuing the con- 
 versation we have broken off. "But I want 
 to ask you one question before I go. My 
 friend Dick wants to go to Little Rock. How 
 is he going to get there ? " 
 
 "I give it up," replied the captain. 
 
 "Do you think the commanding naval 
 officer would permit him to cross the river if 
 he showed his discharge ! " 
 
 " He might, and then he might not. I can't 
 say. Those navy men are fine fellows, the 
 finest I think I ever saw ; but they're so fiery 
 particular that if I wanted to go to Little 
 Rock, and if it was right that I should go, I 
 wouldn't consult — I believe I should — well, 
 I'd just go. That's all." 
 
 " Well, we will no longer trespass upon 
 your time," said Rodney, getting upon his 
 feet. "We are obliged to you for your kind- 
 ness and courtesy, and if you ever come out 
 our way, drop in and see us." 
 
 " I should be glad if I could accept half the 
 
RODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 393 
 
 invitations that have been given me by people 
 hereabout," replied the captain. "But just 
 now I can't. Any rebs out your way ? " 
 
 "I don't expect you to come without an 
 escort. There are soldiers at Camp Pinckney, 
 and some of them have been seen in Moore- 
 ville." 
 
 "Good-by, if you must go; and remember 
 that there are a few things which that permit 
 does not authorize you to take through the 
 lines." 
 
 Rodney said he would not forget it, and 
 then he and Dick saluted and went into the 
 outer room, which was filled with civilians and 
 soldiers awaiting an audience with the provost 
 marshal. After looking in vain for the cor- 
 poral, they concluded that he had returned to 
 camp, so they took the nearest way to the 
 home of Mr. Martin, the gentleman under 
 whose hospitable roof Rodney and his father 
 were sojourning on the night that Ned Griffin 
 rode in from Mooreville with the information 
 that Drummond and Tom Randolph were lay- 
 ing plans to have Rodney arrested when he 
 reached St. Louis. Mr. Martin was glad to 
 
394 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 see them, and made them feel at home at once. 
 He laughed when they told him of their inter- 
 view with the provost marsha], and, when 
 Rodney declared that he'd like to see anybody 
 treated with so much civility by an officer 
 holding that position in Bragg' s army, cau- 
 tioned them to be careful how they trespassed 
 upon the captain's good nature. The latter 
 was cordial and friendly with everyone who 
 had business with him, but he had a reputa- 
 tion as a tighter, had won all his promotions 
 by his bravery on the field of battle, and had 
 no mercy on civilians or soldiers who were 
 caught disobeying his orders. 
 
 " But smuggling things out of the lines is 
 like foraging in the army," said Mr. Martin 
 in conclusion. "The sin lies in being de- 
 tected." 
 
 " That's all I want to know," said Rodney. 
 "I've never been caught yet. You can tell 
 me where I can borrow or hire n team, I suj)- 
 pose ? " 
 
 Yes, the host could do that, and he might 
 also be able to make a few suggestions that 
 would be of use to them ; but he didn't see 
 
RODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 395 
 
 how Dick would get over the river unless he 
 acted upon the provost marshal's advice and 
 "just went." 
 
 " However," he said, after a moment's re- 
 flection, "I will introduce you to our mail 
 carrier, if he will let me." 
 
 "Do we have a mail carried back and forth 
 under the noses of these gunboats ? " exclaimed 
 Dick. 
 
 "I don't know how or where it goes, but we 
 certainly have communication with the oppo- 
 site shore. The service was very irregular 
 while General Williams was at Yicksburg, 
 but since he came back to Baton Rouge our 
 mail reaches us at shorter intervals ; so I 
 imagine it is carried across at some point up 
 the river and brought down through the coun- 
 try. I don't know, but I meet the mail car- 
 rier once in a while," 
 
 "And can you make it convenient to say a 
 word to him about Dick ? " 
 
 "I can and will ; but I must tell you now 
 that there is one thing that will operate 
 against you. You told the j)i"ovost marshal 
 that you would make your headquarters at 
 
396 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. = 
 
 my house as often as you came to town, 
 and he knows me "to be a Southern sympa- 
 thizer." 
 
 "Whew!" whistled Rodney, while Dick 
 looked frightened. "Mr. Martin, we will 
 never come near your house again." 
 
 " Oh, yes, you will," replied their host. 
 "But you must be careful how you act and 
 who you talk to. The city is full of the 
 meanest sort of converted rebels, who are 
 harder on us than tlie Yankees. If Mrs. 
 Martin goes out shopping or receives a guest 
 oftener than once a week, they run to the 
 marshal with the news, and I have the satis- 
 faction of knowing that my premises are being 
 Avatched for spies." 
 
 "They are a contemptible lot," declared 
 Dick. " And if the provost marshal was the 
 gentleman we took him for, he w^ould not pay 
 the least heed to their reports." 
 
 " All's fair in war," said the host. "These 
 converted rebels are working for trade permits. 
 There's going to be a lot of money made in 
 cotton one of these days, and they want some of 
 it. While in the city you may listen all you 
 
RODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 397 
 
 please, but don't make a confidant of anybody 
 but me. And don't liave too mucli to say to 
 those four escaped x^i"isoners. You may run 
 across them some time wlien they are on 
 duty." 
 
 Mr. Martin talked for half an hour in this 
 strain, dropping hints here and there which 
 proved to be of great service to Rodney, and 
 then he conducted the boys to a clothing store 
 and left them to make their purchases, while 
 he went out to look for a team. Before they 
 went to bed that night their business was all 
 done, and all that remained for them to do in 
 the morning was to load the two-horse wagon 
 their host had jjrovided for them and go home. 
 Mr. Martin obtained from Rodney a list of 
 needed goods, principally groceries, which he 
 purchased and packed himself ; and when the 
 various boxes, barrels, and bags that com- 
 prised his load were afterward unpacked at 
 his father's door, Rodney found in them many 
 little articles which he was sure he had not 
 placed on that list. They made an early 
 start, and Rodney's parting injunction to Mr. 
 Martin was to seek an interview with the mail 
 
398 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 carrier at the earliest possible moment, for 
 Dick was impatient to be on Lis way home. 
 
 " This is my first work as an overseer," said 
 Rodney, when the city was left behind and 
 the two scraggy mules that pulled the wagon 
 had been coaxed and thrashed into a snail's 
 trot, "and I think I have made a very fair 
 beginning, seeing that the business is new to 
 me. My next task will be to see you over the 
 river." 
 
 " I never knew you were an overseer," said 
 Dick. 
 
 "I've called myself one ever since I had 
 that talk with my father on the night we came 
 home," answered Rodney. "And just see 
 what I shall have to do when you are gone ! 
 I battled for fame and didn't get it, and now 
 I am going to work for dollars and see if I will 
 have any better luck. Dick, I am just aching 
 to make the acquaintance of one of those 
 traders — that is, a Yankee trader. Not one 
 of those converted rebels Mr. Martin told us 
 of shall touch a bale of our cotton, if I have to 
 tight to keep him away from it ; but if some 
 good Yankee comes along and offers sixty 
 
RODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 399 
 
 cents a pound for it, you just wait and see 
 how hard I will work to put it in his 
 hands." 
 
 It was plain that Rodney Gray belonged to 
 the class who were denounced by Pollard, the 
 Southern historian, as "unpatriotic planters." 
 In writing of this very matter Mr. Pollard 
 said : "The country had taken a solemn reso- 
 lution to bnrn the cotton in advance of the 
 enemy ; but the conflagration of this staple 
 became a rare event ; instead of being com- 
 mitted to the flames it was spirited away to 
 Yankee markets. The j)l^i^ters of the ex- 
 treme South, who i)rior to the war were loudest 
 for secession, were known to buy every article 
 of their consumption from the invading army. 
 Nor were these operations always disguised. 
 Some commercial houses in the Confederacy 
 counted their gains by millions of dollars 
 through the favor of the government in allow- 
 ing them to export cotton at pleasure." But 
 Rodney Gray was a private individual, and he 
 was well aware that if his father's cotton 
 brought the money it was really worth, it 
 would take some good scheming on his part. 
 
400 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 About an hour after tlie boys left the city 
 tliey came upon the first picket post, which 
 thejT- found to be an unusually strong one, 
 being composed of one sergeant, two corporals, 
 and eight or nine privates. Rodney had just 
 time to remark "We pass inspection here, 
 probably," when one of the soldiers walked 
 to the middle of the road, brouglit his musket 
 to "arms port" and commanded them to halt. 
 An instant afterward their wagon was sur- 
 rounded by the rest of the pickets, who shook 
 the barrels back and forth, dug their fingers 
 into the bags, and bum^jed the boxes about in 
 the most unceremonious style. 
 
 "Got a permit?" demanded the sergeant. 
 "And a pass?" He did not ask who the 
 boj^s were or where they came from, and the 
 sequel proved that he knew without asking. 
 
 " These documents appear to be all right," 
 he continued, after he had read the papers 
 Rodney handed out. "Discharged rebels, 
 eh ? You don' t seem to be such a desperate 
 looking couple. What you got in your 
 wagon?" 
 
 "Munitions of war," replied Rodney. 
 
KODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 401 
 
 "There's a six-pound field-piece in one of 
 those barrels." 
 
 "That's what I thought. Get out, both of 
 you." 
 
 Although the boys were surprised and 
 startled by this unexpected command they 
 were prompt to obey it. 
 
 " Now let me see what you've got in your 
 pockets," said the sergeant. "Every scrap, 
 mind you.'* 
 
 " You're welcome to read all the letters and 
 things of that sort you can find about .us," 
 answered Rodney. "We are not simple 
 enough to lose our permits and passes by 
 carrying despatches the first thing." 
 
 "They're the laddie-bucks who helped 
 the — th Michigan's boys," observed a cor- 
 poral. 
 
 "I know; but business is business," said 
 the sergeant. " And they've been in Martin's 
 company ever since they came to town." 
 
 "That's all right. I don't object to your 
 doing your duty, for I've been a soldier my- 
 self," said Rodney. "But I do object to 
 being taken for a i)lumb dunce. You'll find 
 
 26 
 
402 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 no writing about us except tlie papers we 
 showed you and our discharges." 
 
 But the sergeant obeyed orders, like the 
 good soldier he was, and it was not until he 
 had seen all their pockets turned inside out, 
 and had felt of the seams of their coats and 
 trousers, that he concluded they were all 
 right and could pass on. He did not say a 
 word about the things they had in the 
 wagon. He was after despatches and nothing 
 else. 
 
 "Climb in and go ahead, Johnny," said the 
 sergeant, giving Rodney a friendly slap to 
 help him along. "And when you see that 
 best girl of yours, give her my regards and 
 say that I am coming out to call on her one of 
 these days." 
 
 "Well, be sure and come in a crowd. 
 You'll see fun if you don't." 
 
 " Any graybacks out your way ? " 
 
 " Some ; and the events of the last few hours 
 will probably bring more. So-long, boys, 
 and look out for the rebs in Vicksburg. They 
 are coming down to clean you out." 
 
 He was answered by shouts of laughter and 
 
EODNEY PASSES INSPECTION^. 403 
 
 derision from the Federals, who advised him 
 not to take a hand in the cleaning-out busi- 
 ness, for he would be whipped if he did. He 
 drove on, glad to escape so easily, and in due 
 time turned up at Mr. Turnbull's house, where 
 he and Dick rested the balance of the day and 
 slept that night. When it was dark a barrel 
 of Hour was taken from the wagon and carried 
 into Mrs. Turnbull's dining room ; and when 
 some of the flour had been taken out four bags 
 of salt were brought to light. If those little 
 bags had been filled with money Mr. TurnbuU 
 and his wife could scarcely have expressed 
 more joy. 
 
 . "We've been seasoning our food with the 
 floor of the smoke-house for the last two 
 months," said the former, "and I tell you I 
 am glad to see some clean salt once more. 
 You have made us your everlasting debtors. 
 How much did it cost you ? " 
 
 "I didn't get an itemized bill," replied 
 Rodney. "Take it to pay for our grub and 
 lodging." 
 
 •The next night saw them safe at home, and 
 the night following found them settled on Mr. 
 
404 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Gray's upper plantation, wliich was located a 
 mile or two up the river from the one on which 
 Ned Griffin was living as overseer. Rodney 
 was elated over the result of his first visit 
 to* the city, for the immediate wants of the 
 family had been abundantly supplied by that 
 wagon-load of goods, and he and Dick could 
 now wear clothes that looked as though they 
 fitted somewhere ; but his father and mother 
 were not elated. They looked serious, and 
 Rodney told Dick that he made a mis- 
 take when he described how carefully the 
 Federal soldiers searched them for des- 
 patches. 
 
 "And it is a bad thing for you that they 
 know we make our headquarters at Mr. Mar- 
 tin's," he added. "They've got an eye on 
 him; and what will you bet that they don't 
 know he sees that mail carrier once in a 
 while?" 
 
 "Then what's the reason they don't ar- 
 rest him and the mail carrier too?" said 
 Dick. 
 
 "They'll jump down on the pair of them 
 when they are good and ready, and think they 
 
RODNEY PASSES INSPECTION. 405 
 
 can capture some important documents by 
 doing it," answered Rodney. "You can't 
 cross at Baton Rouge. You'll have to start 
 from some point up the river. But we'll see 
 the mail carrier if we can, and hear what he 
 has to say about it." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 CAPTAIN RANDOLPH RECEIVES ORDERS. 
 
 RODNEY GRAY was an overseer now at 
 all events, and being one of those uneasy 
 fallows who must have something to occupy 
 their minds at all times, and fond of hunting, 
 he would have been as happy and contented as 
 he wanted to be, if there had been no such 
 things as Home Guards in the world. The 
 Yankees at Baton Rouge he did not bother his 
 head about. He had charge of 400 acres of 
 land, 100 of which were under cultivation, and 
 fifteen work hands — just enough to bring him 
 under the exemption clause of the Conscription 
 Act. For the privilege of staying at home and 
 overseeing these hands the Confederate Gov- 
 ernment demanded of him 3000 pounds of salt 
 pork and beef, or their equivalent in bacon, 
 and Rodney exj)ected to furnish the meat him- 
 self. There were many hogs running loose in 
 the woods, and as the negro driver who had 
 
CAPTAIN RANDOLPH RECEIVES ORDEKS. 407 
 
 charge of tlie plantation previous to Rodney's 
 coming had taken no pains to "tame" them 
 by feeding them regularly, they were as wild 
 as deer, and Rodney intended to hunt them 
 as he would have hunted deer — "with rifle 
 and with hounds." 
 
 The "great house" in which Rodney lived 
 was very unlike the same dwelling on the 
 home jDlantation. It was built of unhewn logs 
 and contained two rooms, the wide hall be- 
 tween them being used as the dining room, 
 both summer and winter. The kitchen, which 
 stood a little distance away, was built of logs, 
 and so were the negro cabins, corn-cribs, 
 smoke houses, and the little stable in which 
 his riding horse would find shelter in stormy 
 weather ; but taken as it stood the plantation 
 was a valuable one, for, concealed somewhere 
 in the dark recesses of the woods, that hemmed 
 the cultivated fields in on all sides, were sev- 
 eral hundred bales of cotton that was Avortli 
 sixty cents a pound in Northern markets. 
 
 The driver had been so careless with his 
 work and so lax with the hands that Rodney 
 found plenty of things demanding his atten- 
 
408 EODNEY, THE OVEESEER. 
 
 tion, but lie could not think of settling down 
 to business so long as Dick remained with liim. 
 When they parted it might be forever, and 
 Rodney was reluctant to let him go. Mr. Mar- 
 tin told them that they need not come to the 
 city under a week expecting to hear any news 
 from the mail carrier, but they did not wait as 
 long as that without hearing news from an- 
 other source, and of the most exciting charac- 
 ter too. On the morning of the third day after 
 their arrival at the plantation, Dick looked 
 over Rodney's shoulder as they sat at the 
 breakfast table in the wide hall, and saw half 
 a dozen armed men ride up to the bars. They 
 stood there a minute or two looking up and 
 down the road, and then three of them dis- 
 mounted and came into the yard. At the same 
 instant another similar squad came in sight 
 and also rode up and stopped at the bars. 
 
 "Rebs for a dollar," whispered Dick. 
 
 "And not Home Guards, either," replied 
 Rodney, as the two arose from the table and 
 walked out to meet the visitors. " They are 
 strangers." 
 
 "Well," said the foremost, who might hav§ 
 
CAPTAIN RANDOLPH RECEIVES ORDERS, 409 
 
 been an officer, though there was nothing on 
 his coat to show it, " how does it come that a 
 couple of likely lads like yourselves are here 
 in citizen's clothes while everybody else is in 
 the army ?" 
 
 " Been there and came home to take a little 
 rest," answered Rodney, feeling in his pocket 
 for his discharge. " But everybody else isn't 
 in the army by a long shot, as you would 
 know if you belonged in this country. Read 
 that, and tell me if you are out conscripting." 
 
 "We're out for more serious business than 
 that," replied the soldier, reading the dis- 
 charges one after the other, and handing them 
 back to their owners. "Any Yanks about 
 here?" 
 
 "None nearer than Baton Rouge that we 
 know of." 
 
 " How large an army have they got there ? " 
 
 The boys were obliged to say they couldn't 
 tell ; but they knew that General Williams 
 had come down from Yicksburg with his whole 
 force. 
 
 " We know that, too, and are following him 
 up to lick him." 
 
410 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 We don't know how to give an idea, in 
 words, of the exclamation that broke from 
 Dick Graham's lips when he heard this. It 
 was the famous "rebel yell," long, loud, and 
 piercing ; and when the soldiers at the bars 
 heard it they turned in their saddles and lifted 
 their hats, and needed no other evidence to 
 prove that Dick was or had been one of them- 
 selves. Then Dick demanded if there was 
 going to be a fight right there in his friend's 
 door-yard. 
 
 "It'll happen somewhere about here," re- 
 plied the soldier. "Better find guns, you 
 two, and join in. It's bound to be a victory for 
 our side and you want to share in the honor. 
 We're going to have the ArJcansas to help 
 us, and she is a match for all the vessels the 
 Yanks have in the river. She proved it by 
 what she did up at Yazoo." 
 
 After a little more conversation the boys 
 learned that their visitor belonged to Brecken- 
 ridge's division, which had been detached from 
 the force at Vicksburg as soon aS^ General 
 Williams withdrew and Farragut started down 
 the river, and they were simply scouting in 
 
CAPTAIN RANDOLPH RECEIVES ORDERS. 411 
 
 advance of the main body, whicli was to be 
 reinforced by all the conscripts and regular 
 troops at Camp Pinckney. 
 
 "If you want help, why don't you bring 
 into your ranks all the Home Guards around 
 here?" said Rodney. 
 
 "Are there Home Guards about here? I 
 am glad to know it, for we need all the help 
 we can raise. AVho's their captain and where 
 are his headquarters ? " 
 
 Rodney gave the desired information, add- 
 ing that if his visitor did not think it safe to 
 venture as far as Mooreville with the small 
 force at his command, he and Dick would vol- 
 unteer to take a message to Captain Randolph. 
 " But you will have to put it in writing," said 
 he, "for Tom will not believe us. And you 
 must caution him against letting his men 
 know that there is going to be a fight ; for if 
 they find that out they'll scatter like rats in a 
 pantry." 
 
 "Like Home Guards everywhere," replied 
 the soldier in disgust. "I'll tell you what 
 I'll do," said he, after thinking a moment, 
 "I'll get a line from the colonel commanding 
 
412 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 our advance ordering Captain Randolph to 
 hold his company in readiness to march at a 
 moment's notice, and I'll either bring or send 
 it here to-night if you will deliver it. Of 
 course you'll not say anything to him or any- 
 body else that will get to the enemy's ears." 
 
 "Oh, you needn't think to surprise the 
 Yanks," exclaimed Dick. " They have had 
 notice already that you are coming. But we'll 
 get Tom out if we can." 
 
 The soldier asked a few more questions that 
 the boys could not answer satisfactorily touch- 
 ing the length, shape, and strength of the 
 Federal lines at Baton Rouge, and then joined 
 liis men, who moved down the road toward 
 Mooreville. 
 
 "Did you forget Captain Roach and his 
 conscripts ?" asked Dick, when they were out 
 of sight. 
 
 " I left them out on purpose," said Rodney. 
 "But of course I shall speak to Roach about 
 it when we take that note to Tom Randolph. 
 His conscripts are all my near neighbors, and 
 mostly Union men, who wouldn't be of the 
 least use in a fight; and, Dick," here Rodney 
 
CAPTAIISr RANDOLPH EECEIVES OKBEUS, 413 
 
 sunk his voice to a whisper, " if I can do it 
 without risk to myself, I shall go out of my 
 way to warn them of what's coming," 
 
 "' Oh, you traitor ! " cried Dick. 
 
 " You would do the same if you were in my 
 fix. Of course there are some I would not 
 dare speak to, for they would tell where they 
 got the information ; but those I can trust to 
 keep a still tongue in their heads will be 
 warned, if I can find them." 
 
 The boys went back to their unfinished 
 breakfast and ate heartily, as they had often 
 done while men all around them were forming 
 in line of battle and shells were bursting over 
 their heads. But still Rodney was anxious, 
 for the coming contest might bring great loss 
 to his father. There were many bales of cot- 
 ton concealed within a circle of a few miles 
 of the place where he was sitting ; both sides 
 had proclaimed it contraband of war, and it 
 seemed impossible that a line of battle could 
 go far in any direction without discovering 
 some of it ; and the destruction of part would 
 lead to the destruction of the whole, for some 
 of those who lost, Mr. Randolph for instance, 
 
414 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 would be mean enoiigli to point out the liid- 
 ing-place of the rest. This reflection troubled 
 Rodney, but before he sat down to another 
 meal he had something besides cotton to think 
 about. The scouts of the opposing armies 
 came together down the road, out of sight, 
 but within plain hearing of the two boys, who 
 ran to the bars and listened to the sounds of 
 the conflict. They heard the sharp, quick 
 reports of the carbines, and the cheers and 
 yells of the combatants ; and when the yells 
 became fainter and at last died away alto- 
 gether, and the cheers grew in volume until 
 they became one continuous cheer, they 
 looked at each other with th« same startling 
 question in their eyes. 
 
 "That's the first encounter, and we're 
 whipped," said Dick. "Now if the victo- 
 rious Yanks come back this way — then 
 what?" 
 
 "Our discharges and passes and permits 
 will be of no more use than so much blank 
 paper," answered Rodney. "They'll say that 
 if we haven't given information of some sort 
 to the enemy already, we will do it the first 
 
CAPTAIN RANDOLPH KECEIVES ORDERS. 415 
 
 chance we get, and so we'd better trot right 
 along with them to Baton Rouge." 
 
 "Tliat's what I am afraid of. I don't want 
 to go to Baton Rouge." 
 
 " Neither do I ; and so I am going to do as 
 other and better men liave done under similar 
 circumstances." 
 
 "Afoot or on horseback?" inquired Dick, 
 who knew that his friend had resolved to take 
 to the woods. 
 
 " On horseback, to save our animals from 
 being stolen, and to give color to the story 
 that we have gone to town," replied Rodney. 
 " Come on, for there's no telling how soon the 
 Yanks may come down the road at a gallop." 
 
 While one started for the stable yard, the 
 other ran in to tell his black housekeeper that 
 he was going to ride toward Mooreville, where 
 he would remain until the Federals had left 
 the country. Yes, there had been a sharp 
 skirmish down there in the woods, he said in 
 reply to the woman's anxious inquiries, the 
 Confederates had been driven from the field, 
 and he and Dick thought it best to get out of 
 sight for awhile. 
 
416 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "The Federals may not come back this 
 way," added Rodney, "but if they do, tell 
 the truth and don't try to pass me off for a 
 Union man. They know as well as you do 
 that I have served my time in the Confederate 
 army, and there's nothing to gain by telling a 
 different story. If anyone asks for me, you 
 can say that I have ridden toward Mooreville." 
 
 Well, he and Dick did ride toward Moore- 
 ville, but they did not go there. Not know- 
 ing how far the darkeys could be trusted, 
 they went down the road half a mile or so, 
 and turning into the woods hitched their 
 horses close together so that they would not 
 call to each other, and finally took up a posi- 
 tion from which they could see the house and 
 anybody who approached it. These precau- 
 tions were not taken any too soon, for the 
 Federals did scout back that way, and when 
 they came in sight they were riding at top 
 speed. They knew that a large party of horse- 
 men had passed along the road before them, 
 for they saw the prints of many hoofs in the 
 dust. Some of them kept on without drawing 
 rein, while others went into the house and all 
 
CAPTAIN RANDOLPH RECEIVES ORDERS. 417 
 
 over it ; but as no contraband goods rewarded 
 their search they left it standing when tliey 
 went away. And although the hands all left 
 their work in the field and ran to the dwelling 
 when they saw the blue-coats surrounding it, 
 they did not improve the opportunity to se- 
 cure their freedom, as the boys thought they 
 would. They returned to their work when 
 the soldiers departed, and Rodney and Dick 
 thought it safe to go back to the house. 
 
 Their next visitor was a single Confederate 
 soldier, who arrived just at dusk Avith a note 
 addressed to "Captain Thomas Randolph, 
 C. S. A., Commdg. Mooreville Troops." This 
 man Rodney took into the house and fed as if 
 he had been a long-lost brother, for he was 
 anxious to learn something about the battle 
 that was soon to take place ; but, although 
 the messenger said he was orderly at head- 
 quarters, he could or would give very little 
 information. Breckenridge was rapidly feel- 
 ing his way toward the city, he said ; he would 
 soon be reinforced by the command of General 
 Ruggles, which would be picked up at Camp 
 Pinckney, and with the ArJcansas to help 
 
 27 
 
418 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 and clean the Yankee gunboats out of tlie 
 river, there was no doubt but that a decisive 
 victory awaited him ; and having finished his 
 supper, and said all he had to say, the messen- 
 ger mounted his horse and rode off. Five 
 minutes later Rodney and Dick had mounted 
 theirs and were riding hard to carry that note 
 to Captain Randolph. They stopped at Rod- 
 ney's home just long enough to put the folks 
 on nettles with the very meagre information 
 they had to give, and a quarter of an hour 
 afterward were sitting in Mrs. Randolph's 
 parlor, waiting for Tom to show himself. 
 When he came he was accomi^anied by his 
 mother. 
 
 "Hallo, boys ! " exclaimed Tom, with great 
 apparent cordiality, while Mrs. Randolph 
 shook hands with them one after the other. 
 ''You don't know how I have longed to see 
 you both in order to " 
 
 "That's all right," interposed Rodney, who 
 knew there wasn't a word of truth in what 
 Tom had set out to say. "But if you will 
 excuse me — here is an order that I was re- 
 quested to place in your hands." 
 
CAPTAIN RANDOLPH KECEIVES ORDEKS. 419 
 
 " Who's got any right to order me 
 around?" exclaimed Tom, taking the note 
 and fixing his gaze upon the writing on the 
 outside. " ' Captain Thomas Randolph, 
 C. S. A.,'" he read aloud. "Somebody has 
 made a big mistake, for I don' t belong to the 
 army of the Confederate States, and never 
 did. What's in it?" 
 
 "I don't know," answered Rodney; Avhile 
 Mrs. Randolph suggested that it might be a 
 good plan for him to open it and find out. 
 Tom did so with evident reluctance, and be- 
 fore he had fairly had time to make himself 
 master of its contents, he turned as white 
 as a sheet and fell heavily into the nearest 
 chair. 
 
 " Oh, my dear boy ! What is the matter ? 
 What could have disturbed you so?" cried 
 his mother, who was really alarmed. 
 
 " I'll not obey it ! " shouted Captain Tom, as 
 soon as he could speak. " Who is this Colonel 
 Clark, who takes it upon himself to command 
 me to hold my company ready to move at a 
 moment's notice, and what does he want of 
 the company anyhow?" 
 
420 KODNEY, TUE OVEIiSEER. 
 
 "No doubt he wants fon to help " 
 
 began Rodney. 
 
 "But how does he know that there is such 
 a fellow as I am in the world, and that I com- 
 mand a company of State troops ? " continued 
 Tom, who was almost beside himself with 
 terror. Acting on his own responsibility and 
 serving under the eye of a Confederate officer 
 were two widely different things. His mother 
 took the note from his hand and read it, and 
 she, too, became visibly aJffected. 
 
 "What can be the meaning of it?" she 
 asked of Rodney. 
 
 "It means that there is going to be a 
 battle somewhere in this vicinity, and that 
 Tom must bring his men out to help," was 
 the reply. Rodney had predicted just such 
 a scene as this and was pre^iared to enjoy 
 it. 
 
 " A battle ? " gasped Mrs. Randolph. 
 
 "Somewhere in this vicinity!" echoed 
 Tom. 
 
 " That's what they tell me, and indeed 
 there has been a skirmish already. Brecken- 
 ridse is comins; here to drive the Yankees 
 
CAPTAIN RANDOLPH RECEIVES ORDERS. 421 
 
 out of Baton Ronge, and tlie ArTcansas is 
 coming to assist him," 
 
 Tom and his mother were too amazed to 
 speak. They stared stupidly at the bearer of 
 these evil tidings, and listened in a dazed sort 
 of way while he told what he had heard and 
 seen since morning. There was one thing Tom 
 and his mother could not understand, and that 
 was how Colonel Clark, whoever he might be, 
 knew there was a company of Home Guards 
 at Mooreville and that Tom was commander 
 of "them. But of course Rodney did not en- 
 lighten them on that point. 
 
 " You enlisted for just such work as this," 
 said he. 
 
 "No, I didn't!" shouted Tom. "And 
 what's more, I won't go. I'm as close to the 
 Yankees as I want to be, and besides I don't be- 
 long to the service any longer. I' ve resigned." 
 
 This was news to the boys, who could 
 scarcely refrain from showing how surprised 
 they were to hear it. They were disappointed 
 as well, for if Tom told the truth they would 
 lose the fun of hearing how he took to the 
 bushes to escape duty. 
 
422 r.oDNEY, THE overseer. 
 
 " Of course if your resignation has been 
 accepted by the Governor," said Rodney, 
 " why, then " 
 
 " It hasn't been accepted yet," replied Tom, 
 speaking before he thought. " I only sent it 
 to-day." 
 
 " Then you are still in the service and can be 
 held to duty," said Dick; and Captain Tom 
 and his mother both heard the sigh of satisfac- 
 tion that escaped him as he uttered the words. 
 " I have known men to go into action and be 
 killed after their term of service expired." 
 
 "But I won't do it, I bet you," whined 
 Tom, with tears in his eyes. "Do you think 
 it will be a very hard fight ? " 
 
 "It can't help it; it's bound to be, and 
 you'll see more dead and wounded men lying 
 
 around than you Gracious ! I'm glad 
 
 the}'' can't call on you and me, Dick." 
 
 "Why, won't you have to go?" faltered 
 Mrs. Randolph. 
 
 "No, ma'am. We showed our discharges 
 to-day, and they never said a word about 
 ordering us out. They can't, for we have 
 served our time." 
 
CAPTAIN RANDOLPH RECEIVES ORDERS. 423 
 
 This was tlie heaviest blow yet, and Captain 
 Tom came so near wilting under it that Rod- 
 ney's heart smote him and he determined to 
 take his leave. So he got upon his feet, and 
 Dick followed his example. 
 
 "What will they do to Tom if he fails to 
 obey this order?" asked Mrs. Randolph, who, 
 in all the trying ordeals through which she 
 had passed on her cowardly son's account, 
 had never before been so badly frightened. 
 
 "I couldn't obey it if I wanted to," cried 
 Tom. "My men are scattered for miles 
 through the country, and I couldn't spend 
 the night in hunling them up." 
 
 " They may call it disobedience of orders if 
 you don't do it," replied Rodney, who wanted 
 to laugh. "If I were in your place I would 
 make the effort." 
 
 "And run the risk of being shot? But 
 suppose my men refuse to turn out?" said 
 Tom, a bright idea coming into his mind. 
 
 "Then you will be blameless, and all you 
 have to do will be to report to the colonel and 
 tell him that you are ready for any duty he 
 may assign you." 
 
424 llODNET, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "And can't I stay at home any way I can 
 fix it?" inquired Tom, who made no effort to 
 conceal his terror, 
 
 " I wouldn't. What if some of the colonel's 
 troopers should find you skulking here when 
 you ought to be in the front rank ? Or sup- 
 pose the battle should be fought on your 
 plantation. Wouldn't you " 
 
 "Baton Rouge is not on our plantation." 
 
 " I know, but a battle sometimes ends a 
 good many miles from where it begins, and 
 the one that's coming is as likely to be fought 
 here as anywhere else. And if that should 
 happen, wouldn't you rather have a musket 
 in your hands than go skulking through the 
 bushes trying to keep out of danger? I would 
 a hundred times over. But really we must be 
 going. Good-night." 
 
 Rodney and his companion bowed them- 
 selves to the door and went out, and Captain 
 Tom and his mother sat in their chairs looking 
 at each other and listening to the clatter of 
 the receding hoofs. When it died away 
 altogether Tom jumped to his feet in great 
 excitement. 
 
CAPTAIISr RAT^DOLPII RECEIVES ORDERS. 425 
 
 "We never once tlionglit to ask tliem 
 where tliey got that order, or why it was sent 
 by their hands instead of by the hands of one 
 of that colonel's own men," he fairly sput- 
 tered. "Mother, it's an infamous trick, and 
 there isn't going to be any fight. I'll remem- 
 ber Rodney Gray for this and other things he 
 has done to me — you see if I don't! " 
 
 "I hope you are duly ashamed of yourself 
 for frightening that poor woman so terribly," 
 said Dick, as he and Rodney galloped out of 
 the yard and turned their horses toward the 
 village. 
 
 "Why didn't she stay out of the room?" 
 retorted Rodney. " We sent in word that we 
 desired to see Captain Tom privately, but she 
 didn't take the hint. So Tom thought he 
 couldn't spend the night in riding about the 
 country. Well, we've got to, if we do the 
 work we set out to do." 
 
 The first part of that work was to call upon 
 Captain Roach, who had excited Tom Ran- 
 dolph's ire by accepting Rodney's invitation 
 to dinner, and the next to warn some of the 
 Union men whom he had conscripted. The 
 
42G RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 former was overwhelmed with surprise and 
 didn't know what to do, not being a veteran ; 
 but he wasn't a coward, if he did turn white. 
 He talked the matter over veiy calmly with 
 his visitors, and following their advice said he 
 would droj) the conscript business until the 
 battle had been decided one way or the other. 
 And then he looked helplessly at Rodney as 
 if to ask what he should do next. 
 
 "You ought to do duty or shed that uni- 
 form," said the boy bluntly. "You can't 
 assemble your conscripts now, and if you 
 could, where would you find men to guard 
 them to Camp Pinckney ? You can only show 
 your good- will by reporting at the camp ; and 
 if I were in your place, I think I should start 
 the first thing in the morning. If you delay, 
 you will be liable to be cut off by Federal 
 scouting parties. Have you seen any Yanks 
 about here to-day?" 
 
 Captain Roach re^Dlied that he hadn't seen 
 or heard of any, and Rodney went on to tell 
 about the skirmish that had taken place near 
 his plantation, and how he and Dick had 
 taken to the woods and escaped being caught 
 
CAPTAIN RANDOLPH RECEIVES ORDERS. 427 
 
 in the house. The Federals couldn't prove 
 anything against them, he said, but they could 
 shut them up in Baton Rouge until Brecken- 
 ridge captured it or was driven back where he 
 came from, and that was something he didn't 
 want them to do. Then he and Dick shook 
 hands with the enrolling officer, wished him 
 good luck, and went out into the night to 
 finish their work. It kept them busy until 
 daylight, and then they went to Mr. Gray's to 
 breakfast, happy in the knowledge that they 
 had done as they would be done by, and not 
 one who wished them harm was the wiser 
 for it. - 
 
 Tom Randolph was hardly out of bed the 
 next morning before he was made aware 
 that there was some truth in Rodney Gray's 
 story. A squad of Federal cavalry went by 
 the house on a keen jump, and about an hour 
 behind them a larger squad of Confederates 
 went past at the same rapid gait. Tom wasn't 
 soldier enough to know that these were noth- 
 ing but scouts, and in his ignorance supposed 
 that the battle had been fought Avliile he was 
 asleep, and that the Confederates had driven 
 
428 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 their antagonists ; but it was not long before 
 he discovered that the worst was yet to come. 
 All that day soldiers in gray uniforms were 
 in sight somewhere. Thej^ streamed by the 
 house or came into the yard and gathered 
 about the well, and an officer with high top- 
 boots and a fierce mustache stood on the front 
 gallery and issued orders in a voice that 
 sounded as loud as a fog-horn. They trami)led 
 down the flower beds, cleared the cellar of 
 everything eatable, and helped themselves to 
 what there was in the kitchen, and through 
 it all, the captain of the Home Guards never 
 showed himself. Some of the time he was in 
 the garret, oftener he was imder the bed in his 
 mother's room, and then again his frightened 
 eyes were peeping through the carefully closed 
 blinds. He had never dreamed that there 
 were so many men in an army, and yet he saw 
 but one column of a very small army, for 
 Breckenridge made his assault with less than 
 4000 men. To his immense relief no one asked 
 for him, and perhaps the reason was because 
 Colonel Clark, who'wrote that order, was with 
 the other column, five or six miles away. 
 
CAPTAIN KANDOLPIl RECEIVES OEDERS. 420 
 
 The attack on Baton Rouge was made the 
 next morning at daylight, and although Rod- 
 ney and Dick heard little of it and saw less, 
 they had some hospital work on their hands. 
 The heat was intense, and everywhere along 
 the line of march men fell exhausted out of the 
 ranks, and were taken in and cared for by the 
 planters. Rodney's house and door-yard were 
 filled with soldiers who could not go any 
 farther toward the enemy, although they re- 
 covered their strength and power of action 
 very suddenly when it became known that 
 there was a possibility of the enemy's cavalry 
 coming toward them. The attack, which was 
 so successf nl at first that the Federal camps 
 were captured or burned, failed utterly in the 
 end, and at noon the fight was over and the 
 Confederates were in fall retreat. The Arkan- 
 sas did not come down to help with her big 
 guns, and if she had she might have met a 
 warmer reception than she bargained for, for 
 there were five gunboats in the river, includ- 
 ing the iron-clad Essex, These took an earnest 
 part in the fight while waiting for the Arkan- 
 sas, their fire being directed by an army sig- 
 
430 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 nal officer who stood on the roof of the capitol 
 building. The Confederates were so badly 
 whipped that they left seventy men on the 
 the field for the Union forces to bury. 
 
 The closing scene of the fight was enacted 
 the next morning. The ^ssex. went up the 
 river six miles, found the terrible Arkansas, 
 with her ten heavy guns and 180 jDicked men, 
 hard and fast aground, and pounded her so 
 severely that in fifteen minutes she w^as set on 
 fire and abandoned. She blew up when the 
 fire reached her magazine, but she left others 
 behind which made themselves known and 
 feared before the war was over. 
 
CHAPTER XVII. 
 
 CONCLUSION". 
 
 THIS short visit of the Confederate army 
 was lilve a plague of locusts ; everything 
 in the shape of eatables in and around Moore- 
 ville that they could place their hands on dis- 
 appeared and was never heard of afterward. 
 Some articles of value disappeared likewise, as 
 was to have been expected ; but not very many, 
 for the settlers had learned that it was best to 
 be careful of such things during war times. 
 No one had seen a Home Guard during those 
 two troublous days, nobody could tell where 
 Captain Randolph had kept himself or how he 
 had behaved, and neither was there any news 
 to be had of Captain Roach. 
 
 Our two friends drew a long breatli of re- 
 lief when " the fuss" was over, congratulated 
 themselves on having escaped both duty and 
 suspicion, and waited with what patience they 
 could for the excitement to pass away so that 
 
 431 
 
4b2 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 it would be safe for them to go into tlie city. 
 But that time seemed long in coming. In= 
 quisitive Federal scouts, who asked trouble- 
 some questions and insisted on knowing all 
 about everything, came to the house every 
 day, and on three occasions wounded Con- 
 federate stragglers appealed to their pity and 
 begged assistance. Nor were these appeals 
 made in vain, though the boys took great 
 risks in concealing their Confederate friends 
 during the day and helping them on their 
 road at night. They deceived their neighbors, 
 hoodwinked the darkeys they were afraid to 
 trust, and told gauzy stories to Federal scouts 
 until Dick affirmed that deceiving and lying 
 would become a confirmed habit with them. 
 But fortunately the necessity for these things 
 passed away before that happened. The 
 country was cleared of stragglers after a while, 
 the settlement quieted down, and Rodney and 
 Dick were ready for the next thing on the 
 programme. 
 
 "I don't know when I have had so hard a 
 task set before me," said Rodney, "and I 
 would be glad to put it off forever if I could. 
 
coisrcLusiOT^. 433 
 
 jBiit since the parting must come, it might as 
 well be one time as another. Shall we start 
 for the city to-morrow morning?" 
 
 Dick answered with a decided affirmative, 
 and the start was made. Believing that he 
 ought to be ready to act as soon as the oppor- 
 tunity was presented, he took leave of Rod- 
 ney's father and mother as though he never 
 expected to see them again, and Rodney drew 
 on the family purse for a good many gold 
 pieces. If Dick succeeded in getting across 
 the river he would still have a long Journey 
 before him — longer than the one Rodney made 
 from Cedar Blaff landing to Price's army — 
 and he would need a horse to ride, a coat and 
 blanket to cover him when he camped at night, 
 and money to purchase his supplies ; and his 
 friend's forethought provided for all these 
 necessary things. 
 
 On their way to Baton Rouge they ]3assed 
 over the ground on which the right wing of 
 the Confederate force formed in line of battle 
 previous to the assault. It was just beyond 
 Mr. TarnbuU's house; and that gentleman's 
 wife, after giving a glowing description of the 
 
 28 
 
434 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 gallant way in which the Confederates ad- 
 vanced to the attack, told the boys in a 
 confidential whisper that she had aided two 
 Yankees who were captured and managed to 
 , escape during the fight ; that there was a 
 wounded rebel in one of the upper rooms of 
 her house at that moment ; that he was going 
 to remain there until he was able to travel ; 
 and that one of the escaped prisoners whom 
 Rodney befriended had smuggled medicine 
 through the lines for him at her request, thus 
 proving that there was such a thing as grati- 
 tude in the world. Before the boys left the 
 house, they visited the wounded rebel in his 
 room, and he told them that the fight was the 
 most savagely contested of any he had ever 
 been in, and, for the number of men engaged, 
 the bloodiest. Some of the Indiana and 
 Michigan boys fought with rails which they 
 snatched from the fences, nnd the Yank who 
 smuggled the medicine out for him said he 
 had counted thirteen dead rebs in one heap. 
 "It was bad for our side," moaned the 
 wounded soldier, "and even if the Arlcansas 
 had been there to help us I don't suj^pose we 
 
CONCLUSION. 435 
 
 would have made any better showing. The 
 Yanks had things fixed for us, and now I've 
 got to hobble through the world on one leg." 
 
 Although some stray missiles from the Con- 
 federate side found their way into the streets 
 of the city, the boys did not find there as 
 many signs of the conflict as they expected 
 to see. Mr. Martin's buildings escaped un- 
 scathed, but Mr. Martin himself had been 
 placed in arrest to prevent him from holding 
 any communication with the enemy. 
 
 " As if I ever dreamed of doing such a fool- 
 ish thing ! " said he contemptuously. " Why, 
 I want to live here ; and consequently I do 
 nothing that I consider to be risky. But I 
 have seen the mail carrier, and he is going to 
 pick up some bags this very night." 
 
 "Pick them up!" repeated Rodney. 
 " Where are they ? " 
 
 "Out in the country somewhere, and he is 
 out there too, or will be at eight o'clock ; 
 and if your friend wants to go, now's his 
 chance." 
 
 " Mr. Martin, I hope your kind efforts in my 
 behalf will not bring you into trouble with the 
 
486 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Yanks," said Dick. " I feel very grateful to 
 you." 
 
 But lie didn't look so, and neither did Rod- 
 ney, The time when they must part was close 
 at hand. 
 
 "I don't Avant to hurry you away," con- 
 tinued Mr. Martin, "but as it will take some 
 little time to ride to the place to which I shall 
 direct yon, you had better liave your horses 
 out of the stable at five o'clock, so as to pass 
 the pickets before dark. I will give you a 
 letter that will make you all right with 
 Henderson." 
 
 The rest of the day, to quote from Dick 
 Graham, flew away as if the hours had been 
 greased. Half-past four came before they 
 knew it, and with it the letter their host had 
 promised them, accompanied by some instruc- 
 tions which they must closely follow in order 
 to find and obtain an interview with Hender- 
 son, He was a cross, crabbed old fellow. Mi-. 
 Martin said, but the boys mustn't mind that. 
 They would be cross and suspicious too, if 
 they had been bothered and balked in their 
 business as Henderson had been followed and 
 
CONCLUSION. 437 
 
 harassed in his. They must try and get on 
 the right side of him, for he could take Dick 
 to the other side if anybody could. Mr. Mar- 
 tin excused himself for not accompanying 
 them to the stable where they left their horses 
 by saying that to be seen walking the streets 
 with a suspected man would bring suspicion 
 upon them, and that was one thing they 
 wanted to avoid. 
 
 The boys left the city and the pickets behind 
 in good season, and took pains to make some 
 noise as they galloped past the houses of 
 three "converted rebels" who, so Mr. Martin 
 said, were always watching and scheming for 
 a chance to report somebody. They rode as if 
 they were going home ; but when darkness 
 came they doubled upon their trail, passed 
 these same houses again in silence, and turned 
 into a lane that took them miles up the river 
 to the hiding-place of Henderson, the mail 
 carrier. They found it to be a pretentious 
 plantation house situated in plain view of the 
 river, and not at all such a spot as they would 
 have chosen had they been engaged in Hender- 
 son' s business. It would have been impossible 
 
438 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 to surprise the mail carrier in liis hiding-place, 
 however, as tliey found wlien they approached 
 nearer to it, for they had barely time to shout 
 out the customary " Hallo, the house ! Don't 
 let your dogs bite ! " before their horses were 
 surrounded by a pack of belligerent canines, 
 whose angry yelping completely drowned the 
 voice of the master of the house. 
 
 " Get out ! " he shouted, as soon as he could 
 make himself heard above the tumult. " Who 
 is it, and what's wanted?" 
 
 "Friends from the city," replied Rodney, 
 who had been told just what to say. " I have 
 a communication for Mr. Henderson from our 
 mutual friend Mr. Martin. Will you look at 
 it?" 
 
 The planter came down to the gate, took the 
 letter from Rodney's hand, looking sharply at 
 him and Dick as he did so, and carried it into 
 the house with him. He did not ask them to 
 "alight and hitch," and that proved that 
 there was something or somebody in the 
 house he did not want the boys to see. It 
 was all of ten minutes before he canfle out 
 again, and he brought with him a companion 
 
CONCLUSION. 439 
 
 wlio straightway made himself known by say- 
 ing, in a complaining voice : 
 
 "I told Martin I couldn't do the like, and 
 here he's gone and sent you, just as if I had 
 agreed to do it. Which one of you is the 
 fool?" 
 
 "I am the one who wants to go over 
 the river, if you will be kind enough to 
 let me have a seat in your boat," replied 
 Dick. 
 
 "Who said anything about a boat?" de- 
 manded Mr. Henderson, for the boys were 
 sure it was he. " Do you want to be captured 
 by the gunboats, and sent up for a spy or some- 
 thing ? I don't expect to get back alive, or 
 get across, either. But then ! Martin's a friend 
 of mine and keeps me jiosted in some tilings 
 
 I Get off, both of you. Hitch your 
 
 horses somewhere and wait till I come." 
 
 " Dick, you're as good as off at last," whis- 
 pered Rodney, as the two men turned about 
 and went back to the house. "Think of me 
 riding all the way to Mr. Turnbull's alone in 
 the dark while you are running the risk of 
 being overhauled by the naval picket boats. 
 
440 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Have you got your money and discharge all 
 right ? Write to me if you see the ghost of a 
 chance for a letter to get through, for I shall 
 be anxious to hear from my old Barrington 
 chum." 
 
 The boys had plenty to say to each other 
 and an abundance of time to say it in, for a 
 whole hour passed before the mail carrier 
 again came out. This time he had two men 
 with him — the planter and another passenger, 
 the latter being muffled up to the eyes so that 
 no one could have seen his face if it had been 
 broad daylight. He said not a word, but the 
 mail carrier did, and Rodney was gratified to 
 notice that he was as careful to conceal Dick's 
 identity as he was that of his other passenger. 
 
 "Come on, you Moses," said he, "and re- 
 member that you are deaf, dumb, and blind. 
 You, Jonas, get on your horse and clear your- 
 self." 
 
 It would have done no good to prolong the 
 leave-taking, and Rodney was glad to have it 
 broken off so abruptly. He gave his friend's 
 hand a final squeeze and shake, and when he 
 came into the road again a moment later, 
 
CONCLUSION. 441 
 
 riding one liorse and leading the other, there 
 was no one in sight. 
 
 The way home was a long and lonely one to 
 Rodney Gray, who felt as if the last tie that 
 bound him to his school days had been sun- 
 dered forever. He got through without any 
 trouble, although he met some inquisitive 
 people who wanted to know how he happened 
 to have a riderless horse with him, passed one 
 night at his father's house, and in due time 
 was back in his old quarters on the upper 
 plantation, where he had spent so many pleas- 
 ant hours with the absent Dick. But before 
 he had leisure to look about and tell himself 
 how very lonesome he was, he had visitors, 
 one of whom threw him into a terrible state of 
 mind before he left. They were a squad of 
 the — til Michigan boys, and commanded by 
 the corporal who had once taken him prisoner, 
 and whose name he had never heard. They 
 good-naturedly demanded all the weapons he 
 had, and threatened to go through his house 
 if he didn't trot them right out; but when 
 they went to the well for water the corporal 
 drew off on one side, intimating by a look 
 
442 KODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 that lie liad sometliing to say to Rodney in 
 private. 
 
 " Wliere's your partner?" were tlie first 
 words lie said wlien tliey were alone. 
 
 " Gone over the river," answered Rodney. 
 
 " How long since ? " 
 
 " He went night before last." 
 
 "Well, I'll bet you a hard-tack he didn't 
 make it. Some of your good friends were the 
 means of stopping him. You see," he went 
 on, without giving the astonished Rodney time 
 to speak, "Ben and another boy, who were 
 in my party when you and Griffin did so much 
 for us, scouted down RandoljDh's way a few 
 
 days after the fight, and that Home Guard 
 
 You made a big blunder when you stuck to 
 us till we let him go. Now he's gone back on 
 you." 
 
 "What has he done?" inquired Rodney, 
 who told himself that that was just what he 
 expected from Tom Randolph. 
 
 " Why, Ben distinctly heard him tell one of 
 our officers that a bearer of despatches would 
 go from Moore ville in a few days, intending to 
 cross the river at Baton Rouge, where he had 
 
CONCLUSION. 443 
 
 friends to help liim," said the corporal, "Of 
 course the matter was reported at headquar- 
 ters, and the houses of all the Secession sj^m- 
 pathizers in the city were watched closer than 
 ever." 
 
 "Was Mr. Martin's house watched, do you 
 know?" 
 
 "Why, certainly. He is always watched, 
 and we had him under arrest during the fight." 
 
 "And I was simple enough to tell the prov- 
 ost marshal that that house would be my 
 stopping-place as often as I came to the city," 
 groaned Rodney. 
 
 "You needn't blame yourself for that, for 
 I don' t suppose it made a particle of differ- 
 ence," said the corporal soothingly. "The 
 provost marshal would have found it out 
 sooner or later, because it is a part of his busi- 
 ness to find out where every stranger lives, and 
 what he does while inside the lines. If you 
 went there with your friend Graham " 
 
 "I did," whispered Rodney. "And we 
 went from there up to — up to " 
 
 "Henderson's? Well, he's watched, too; 
 and if one is cauo:ht the other will be." 
 
444 EODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 "If Tom Randolpli has got Dick Graliam 
 into trouble I will see that he is well punished 
 for it," said Rodney angrily, 
 
 "If he hasn't, it isn't because he didn't 
 try. If you say the word, I will go straight to 
 his house and arrest him for a Home Guard." 
 
 "No, no; don't do that. I am not coward 
 enough to take revenge on him in that way. 
 But since he has made his boast that he is 
 willing to die for the South, I will see that he 
 has all the chance he wants." 
 
 " Well, my boys seem to have had their fill 
 of water, so we'll jog along," said the cor- 
 poral. " If the Home Guards bother you let 
 us know, and we'll clean them out to the last 
 man. Good-by." 
 
 Astonished at the extent of the corporal's 
 information, and wondering how it was possi- 
 ble for any Southern sympathizer to live in 
 Baton Rouge when he knew that he was so 
 closely watched, Rodney went into the house 
 as soon as the soldiers rode away, and sat 
 down to write a letter. As a general thing his 
 thoughts came rai)idly and it was no trouble 
 for him to put them on paper ; but this par- 
 
CONCLUSION. 445 
 
 ticular letter seemed to bother him, for he 
 made three copies of it before he got it to suit 
 him. Then he ordered his horse brought to 
 the door, changed his working clothes for a 
 business suit, and galloped off in the direction 
 of Mooreville. He stopped at his home "just 
 long enough to let his mother see that he was 
 all right" and then rode on again, but not 
 toward Mooreville or the river. There was no 
 one at either place whom he w^anted to see 
 that day, but he did want to have a few 
 earnest words with General Ruggles, if he 
 could find him. During the fight the general 
 commanded the Confederate column that came 
 from Camp Pinckney, and there was where 
 Rodney hoped to find him now. Before he 
 had ridden a dozen miles into the country he 
 ran into a small party of rebels, who looked at 
 his discharge, and encouraged him by saying 
 that the ofiicer he desired to see commanded 
 the camp, and was recruiting men as rai)idly 
 as he could for some special service that was 
 to be performed up about Holly Springs. 
 
 " I know by experience that special service 
 "usually means dangerous service," thought 
 
446 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 Rodney, as be rode on liis way. "If Tom 
 Randolph really wants to do something for 
 the South, he will jump at the chance of going 
 to Holly Springs." 
 
 Camp Pinckney looked just as it did when 
 he and Dick Graham ran the guard there on 
 their way home, only there were more men 
 who were being made into soldiers, and the 
 number was being increased every day by the 
 disconsolate and homesick conscripts who 
 were sent there from all the districts in that 
 part of the State. Rodney was shown at once 
 into the presence of the commander, and knew, 
 before he had exchanged a dozen words with 
 him, that he would have no nse for the letter 
 he had taken so much pains to write. 
 
 "I can attend to the business myself with- 
 out any aid from the Governor," said General 
 Rnggles, who looked more like a hard-work- 
 ing farmer than he did like a brave and skil- 
 ful soldier. "The slip-shod manner in Avhich 
 recruiting has been done in this district is 
 enough to make one forget the third command- 
 ment. There hasn't been a single man sent to 
 this camp from your neighborhood." 
 
CONCLUSION". 447 
 
 "I am aware of it, sir. But as these men 
 belong to the State and not to the Confed- 
 eracy, I thought perhaps " 
 
 "There's no need of it, sir," interrupted 
 the general. " I have all the authority I want, 
 and can do the business without saying a word 
 to the Governor. Sent in his resignation, has 
 he? Captain — Thomas — Randolph," he con- 
 tinued, writing the name on a slip of paper. 
 "And it has not yet been accepted? And 
 how many men do you think he has in his 
 company? All right. You go home and say 
 nothing to anybody, and I will put him where 
 he will meet something besides unarmed men 
 and women and children." 
 
 His business having been transacted to his 
 entire satisfaction, Rodney was in no particular 
 haste to go home. He made friends with one 
 of the veterans who composed the^camp guard, 
 ate supper with him, and slept nnder half his 
 blanket that night ; but the morning's sun 
 saw him well on his return journey. He made 
 a wide circuit to avoid passing through Moore- 
 ville, and did not go near his father's house 
 for fear it might be remembered against him at 
 
448 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 some future time. He went home as rapidly 
 as he could go, unsaddled his horse and 
 turned him into the stable-yard, and went into 
 the house ; and there, seated in Rodney's 
 favorite rocking chair, with his feet upon the 
 back of another and a book in his hand, was — 
 Dick Graham. 
 
 " You've got cheek ! Why didn't you come 
 out when you heard me at the bars?" ex- 
 claimed Rodney, as soon as he found his 
 tongue. 
 
 "Because I thought you would prefer to 
 come in and find me," replied Dick ; and then 
 he dropped his book and jumped to his feet, 
 and the two embraced each other scjioolboy 
 fashion. 
 
 "O Dick, you don't know how I have wor- 
 ried about you," said Rodney. "And Tom 
 Randolph was at the bottom of it all. You 
 would have been watched if he hadn't said a 
 word ; but what I mean is that he made mat- 
 ters worse. I have paid him for it, however. 
 Now tell me all about it." 
 
 '• We didn't succeed, and that's all there is 
 to tell," answered Dick. "We made six at- 
 
CONCLUSION. 449 
 
 tempts on two different niglits, and once got 
 so near to the other shore that I was sure we 
 would make it ; but the picket boats from the 
 fleet showed uj), and we had to dig out. They 
 were on hand every time, and you ought to 
 have heard Henderson cuss. He declared that 
 one or the other of his passengers was a Jonah, 
 and he had a notion to chuck us both over- 
 board so as to be sure he got the right one." 
 
 "It was you, Dick. Who was the other 
 passenger? " 
 
 "I don't know any more about him now 
 than I did when I first saw him. When we 
 gave up trying on the first night and went 
 back to the house, he shut himself in his 
 room, and I never saw him till Ave went out on 
 the second night to try it over again, No 
 doubt he was a high-up oflicer with important 
 j)apers in his pockets." 
 
 " Of course the picket boats opened fire on 
 you." 
 
 "Of course they didn't, for we saw or heard 
 them in time to dodge out of their way. One 
 of them passed so close to us that we could 
 see, dark as it was, that she pulled six oars on 
 
 29 
 
450 RODNEY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 a side. If she'd seen us or heard us breathe, 
 she would have had us sure." 
 
 " Go on. What did you do on the night I 
 left you?" 
 
 "Nothing. We walked about a mile to 
 where a little bay made into the bank from 
 the river, and there we found a skiff with j)iles 
 of something in the bow and stern that I took 
 to be the precious mail-bags which Mr. Martin 
 said Henderson was going to pick up. When 
 we got in there was barely room for Hender- 
 son to work the oars, and I didn't wonder that 
 he growled so about taking me over." 
 
 " How did you come home ? " 
 
 "Well, when we came back after making 
 the sixth attempt, and Henderson got mad 
 and told me to clear out and never let him put 
 eyes on me again (I noticed that he didn't say 
 a word to the other fellow, and that's what 
 makes me think that he was an officer whom 
 Henderson had to take whether he wanted to 
 or not), I took him at his word and put for 
 Mr. Turnbull's. That gentleman was kind 
 enough to hitch up a team and take me to 
 your father's, and your father brought me 
 
CONCLUSION. 451 
 
 here, to find you gone. You've been gone 
 three nights, and I want to know what you 
 mean by such work." 
 
 "I've been to Camp Pinckney to make 
 arrangements for Tom Randolph and his 
 Home Guards to go into the army," replied 
 Rodney, adding that he had written to the 
 Governor, laying the blame for the bombard- 
 ment of Baton Rouge upon the shoulders of 
 the Home Guards, and giving such other inci- 
 dents in their history as he thought would 
 attract the attention of the authorities and 
 induce them to do something ; but General 
 Ruggles had promised to attend to the matter 
 himself. 
 
 "Of course Captain Randolph will be very 
 much obliged to you when he hears of it," 
 observed Dick. 
 
 "He has nobody to thank but himself, and 
 since I have heard what those escaped pris- 
 oners had to say about Home Guards, I wish 
 every one of them could be forced into the 
 army. Now you've got to stay with me until 
 the war is ended one way or the other, haven't 
 you?" 
 
452 EODNEY, THE OVEESEER. 
 
 " Not much. I'm going up to Port Hudson 
 to try it again, if you will sliow me the way ; 
 and you ought to have heard Henderson rip 
 and snort because I didn't go there in the first 
 place without troubling him. But you see I 
 didn't know that I could, and you didn't 
 either. If I can take a boat from Port Hudson 
 up Red River to Alexandria, or better yet, up 
 Black River to Monroe, I shall save miles of 
 horseback travel." 
 
 "And run the risk of being captured by 
 gunboats every step of the way," added Rod- 
 ney. " But I suppose I'll have to go." 
 
 And he did the very next morning. This 
 time there was no trouble about it, for when 
 the steamer New Era^ which was regularly 
 emj)loyed in bringing army supplies from the 
 Red River country, moved out from her land- 
 ing at Port Hudson bound for Monroe, she 
 carried Dick Graham with her. The night 
 was as dark as a pocket, but the lonely Rod- 
 ney kept watch on the bank as ' long as a 
 single spark could be seen coming out of her 
 smokestacks, and even lingered about the 
 place for two or three days, almost hoping 
 
CONCLUSIOT^. 453 
 
 that some Union gunboat would send a sliot 
 across her bows and drive her back; but when 
 the soldiers assured him that she must have 
 gone through safely or else she would have re- 
 turned within a few hours of her departure, 
 he realized that the long delayed separation 
 had come at last, and turned his face sorrow- 
 fully homeward. 
 
 He went directly to his father's house to 
 report the success of his undertaking, and 
 learned that Mooreville had been thrown into 
 a state of great excitement during his absence. 
 No one had seen or heard of Captain Roach 
 since Breckenridge made his fruitless attempt 
 to take the city, but his office was occupied 
 by a grizzly veteran, avIio hardly gave himself 
 time to sit down in Captain Roach's chair be- 
 fore declaring that he hadn't come thereto 
 stand nonsense from anybody, and that every- 
 one liable to military duty. Home Guards and 
 all, must make tracks for Camp Pinckney 
 or be dragged there by the neck. It didn't 
 make the least difference to him how they 
 went, but they must go ; they might be sure 
 of that. He brought fifty veterans with him 
 
454 RODl^EY, THE OVERSEER. 
 
 to back him up, and in less than twenty-four 
 hours after taking possession of the ofl5ce, 
 sent off forty-five conscripts, two-thirds of 
 whom were Home Guards. 
 
 " Mrs. Randolph tried the same game witli 
 Major Morgan, that's the new man's name, 
 that she tried with so much success with Cap- 
 tain Roach," said Mr. Gray with a laugh. 
 "But it didn't work. The major sent back 
 word that he had no time to go about visiting 
 a^d eating dinners, and Tom was given his 
 choice between reporting at the camp volun- 
 tarily or being sent there under guard. It's 
 the best thing that was ever done for this 
 community." 
 
 Rodney wanted to shout, but instead of 
 doing that he got on his horse and rode 
 down to call on Major Morgan. He didn't 
 find the office filled with loafers, as it had 
 been in Captain Roach's time, but there 
 were a few bronzed fellows standing about 
 who remembered seeing Rodney at the 
 camp, and bowed to him as he came in. 
 The major remembered him too, and said, 
 as he gave the boy's hand one short, quick 
 
CONCLUSION. . 455 
 
 jerk, that was doubtless intended for a 
 shake : 
 
 " There's material enough here to form the 
 finest kind of a battalion. Why don't you 
 apply for a commission and go out with it ? 
 You've had rest enough by this time." 
 
 "Because I don't wish to command con- 
 scripts," replied Rodney, ignoring the fact that 
 half the soldiers in the Confederate armies 
 were conscripts and nothing else, being held 
 to service against their will. "Besides, lam 
 an overseer now, and I like it better than 
 fighting." 
 
 But Rodney could not keep out of trouble 
 as easily as he kept out of the army, nor did 
 Major Morgan succeed in sending all Tom 
 Randolph's Home Guards to Camp Pinckney, 
 Some of them, Lieutenants Lambert and Mose- 
 ley among the rest, took to the woods, and be- 
 came freebooters to all intents and purposes. 
 Whether these worthies knew or suspected 
 that he had a hand in the breaking up of 
 their organization Rodney never learned ; but 
 he was quickly made aware that they did not 
 intend he should see a moment's peace if they 
 
450 IIODNEY, THE OVERSEER, 
 
 could lielp it. They eitlier found the cotton 
 of which we have spoken, or else somebody 
 put them on the track of it ; and the efforts 
 they made to destroy it, as well as the counter 
 efforts made by Rodney Gray and his two 
 Union cousins to protect it, shall be described 
 in the concluding volume of this series, which 
 will be entitled " Sailor Jack, the Trader." 
 
 THE end. 
 
The 
 
 Famous 
 
 Castlemon 
 
 Books. 
 
 BY 
 
 Harry 
 Castlemon. 
 
 Specimen Cover ol the Gunboat 
 Series. 
 
 No author of the present day has become a greater favorite with boys than 
 "Harry Castlemon; " every book by him is sure to meet with hearty re- 
 ception by young readers generally. H.s naturalness and vivacity lead his 
 readers trom page to page with breathless interest, and when one volume is 
 finished the fascinated reader, like Oliver Twist, asks " for more." 
 
 •»*Any volume sold separ.;tely. 
 
 OUNBOAT SERIES, By Harry Castlemon. 6 
 vols., i2mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed 
 
 in colors. In box ^7 So 
 
 Frank, the T'oung Naturalist i 25 
 
 Frank in the Woods i 25 
 
 Frank on the Prairie i 25 
 
 Frank on a Qunboat i 25 
 
 Frank before Vicksbnrg \ 25 
 
 Frank on the Lo'wer Mississippi ...... i 25 
 
2 Porter & coates's popular juveniles. 
 
 GO AHEAD SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 
 vols., l2mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed 
 in colors. In box ^3 75 
 
 Go Ahead ; or, The Fisher Boy's Motto ...... I 25 
 
 No Moss ; or. The Career of a Rolling Stone .... l 25 
 
 Toxa Ne'wcombe ; or. The Boy of Bad Habits . . i 25 
 
 ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES. By Harry 
 Castlemon. 3 vols., i2mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, 
 extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 
 
 Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho i 25 
 
 Frank among the Rancheros i 25 
 
 Frank in the Mountains i 25 
 
 SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES. By Harry 
 Castlemon. 3 vols., i2mo. I'uUy illustrated. Cloth, 
 extra, printed in colors. In box Ji!53 75 
 
 The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle .... i 25 
 
 The Sportsman's Club Afloat i 25 
 
 The Sportsman's Club among the Trappers . i 25 
 
 FRANK NELSON SERIES. By Harry Castle- 
 mon. 3 vols. i2mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, 
 printed in colors. In box $3 75 
 
 Snovred Up ; or, The Sportsman's Club in the Mts. . i 25 
 
 Frank Nelson in the Forecastle ; or. The Sports- 
 man's Club among the Whalers I 25 
 
 The Boy Traders ; or, The Sportsman's Club among 
 
 the Boers i 25 
 
 BOY TRAPPER SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 
 3 vols., i2mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed 
 in colors. In box $3 7S 
 
 The Buried Treasure ; or, Old Jordan's " Haunt " i 25 
 
 The Boy Trapper ; or. How Dave Filled the Order . i 25 
 
 The Medl Carrier i 25 
 
PORTER & COATES'S POPULAR JUVENILES. $ 
 
 ROUGHING IT SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 
 3 vols., l2mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed 
 in colors. In box ^3 75 
 
 George in Camp ; or, Life on the Plains i 25 
 
 George at the 'Wheel ; cr. Life in a Pilot House . i 25 
 
 George at the Fort ; or, Life Among the Soldiers . i 25 
 
 ROD AND GUN SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 
 3 vols., l2mo. Fully illMstiated. Cloth, extra, printed 
 in colors. In box 1^3 75 
 
 Don Gordon's Shooting Box i 25 
 
 Rod and Gun i 25 
 
 The Young "Wild Fowlers i 25 
 
 FOREST AND STREAM SERIES. By Harry 
 Castlemon. 3 vols., i2mo. P'ully illustrated. Cloth, 
 extra, printed in colors. In box ^3 75 
 
 Joe "Wayring at Home ; or, Story of a Fly Rod . i 25 
 
 Snagged and Sunk ; or, The Adventures of a Can- 
 vas Canoe I 25 
 
 Steel Horse ; or. The Rambles of a Eicycle .... i 25 
 
 WAR SERIES. By Hairy Castlemon, 4 vols., 
 l2mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in 
 colors. In box 5 oo 
 
 True to his Colors i 25 
 
 Rodney, the Partisan i 25 
 
 Marcy, the Blockade Runner i 25 
 
 Marcy, the Refugee i 25 
 
 OUR FELLOWS ; or. Skirmishes with the Swamp 
 Dragoons. By Harry Castlemon. i6mo. Fully illus- 
 trated. Cloth, extra 1 25 
 
Alger's 
 
 Renowned 
 
 Books. 
 
 BY 
 
 Horatio 
 
 LGER, Jr. 
 
 Specimen Cover of the Ragged 
 Dick Series. 
 
 Horatio Alger, Jr., has attained distinction as one of the most popular 
 riters of boolcs for boys, and the following list comprises all of his best 
 
 writers 
 books 
 »*« Any volume sold separately. 
 
 RAGGED DICK SERIES. By Horatio Alger, 
 Jr. 6 vols., i2mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, 
 printed in colors. In box $7 SO 
 
 Ragged Dick ; or. Street Life in New York .... i 25 
 
 Fame and Fortune ; or. The Progress of Richard 
 
 Hunter I 25 
 
 Mark, the Match Boy ; or, Richard Hunter's Ward i 25 
 
 Rough and Ready ; or. Life among the New York 
 
 Newsboys i 25 
 
 Ben, the Luggage Boy ; or, Among the Wharves . i 25 
 
 Rufus and Rose ; or, the Fortunes of Rough and 
 
 Ready l 25 
 
 TATTERED TOM SERIES. (First Series.) 
 By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., i2mo. Fully illus- 
 trated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box ... 5 00 
 
 (4) 
 
RARE BOOK 
 COLLECTION 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF 
 
 NORTH CAROLINA 
 
 AT 
 
 CHAPEL HILL 
 
 Wilmer 
 461