A Lieutenant at Eighteen Page 7

  CHAPTER IV

  A REFRACTORY GUERILLA CHIEF

  The situation did not look hopeful to the ruffians who had takenpossession of the mansion. They saw at least forty carbines pointed atthem, and the staircase looked like a barred gate to them. Their heavyfootsteps could be heard in the lower story as they walked about fromone window to another, searching for some avenue of escape. Life Knoxwas passing around the house, assisted by Corporal Tilford, inreadiness to meet the first attempt to resist the fate that was instore for them.

  The lieutenant stood at the front door, and occasionally steppedout-doors to assure himself that the house was well covered by histroopers. He was disposed to wait for some movement on the part of theenemy, or to allow them to get accustomed to the situation. He hadfought guerillas before; and it was not wise, in his judgment, to forcethem suddenly into desperation, for they became reckless when pressedtoo hard.

  "You have got them into a tight place," said Win Milton, who waswatching the young officer with the most intense interest.

  "The circumstances have just fitted the situation for me," repliedDeck, who kept his eyes wandering in every direction in search of anydemonstration on the part of the ruffians. "Do you know any of the menyou have seen about the place, Win?"

  "I recognize one of them, and I have seen some of the others," repliedthe guide. "A fellow who is called Captain Coonly seems to be incommand of the gang. He has been the most active Secessionist in AdairCounty, and the most desperate one. He has an intense hatred of theUnion men of the vicinity, and has advocated hanging every one of them.He is a fire-eater of the most pronounced stamp; but the rascal is acoward, I believe, though he has the reputation of being a brave man;yet he is nothing but a bully. You would think, to hear him talk, thathe was going to burn up the Cumberland River."

  "Is he the long-haired fellow I saw at the head of the stairs, dressedbetter than the rest of the gang?" asked Deck.

  "That is the man. He is well educated, and is a lawyer in Columbia; butthe influential and conservative men, who are nearly all Unionists,will have nothing to do with him, and have always looked upon him as ascallawag. He raised a company of Home Guards, but he could enlist onlythe ruffians of the vicinity," replied Milton, as he drew the pictureof the leader of the guerillas; and Deck thought the lawyer was notunlike some of the Secessionists of Butler and Edmonson Counties.

  "As you say, we have the ruffians in a tight place, and I want to givethem a chance to think over the situation, and take it in," added Deck."If they want to fight, we can accommodate them at any moment they areready to open the ball. I suppose they are all armed."

  "With old shot-guns, horse-pistols, and antique rifles," replied Wincontemptuously.

  "But even such weapons will kill; and I don't want to lose my menunless it is absolutely necessary, for they can be put to a better usethan in grinding up such blackguards as we have here."

  "Don't you think they comprehend the situation by this time?" askedMilton, who seemed to be impatient to see the end of the affair.

  "I might as well wait here as at Millersville; for Captain Gordon hasgone over to Breedings to settle up a case of this kind, and he may notarrive for several hours yet. I will go into the house and talk withMr. Halliburn," said Deck, as he suited the action to the word.

  "I doubt if he can give you any information you have not alreadyobtained," answered Milton, following the lieutenant into the mansion.

  The planter and his wife were found on the sofas where they had beenconfined; and they seemed to be still paralyzed with terror, for not afew Union men had been hung or shot in the State within the precedingyear. Mr. Halliburn was a man of sixty or more. He had been a clergymanduring a considerable portion of his life, and he was not at allbelligerent in his nature.

  "Mr. Halliburn, this is Lieutenant Lyon, of the Riverlawn Cavalry,serving the United States Government," said Win, presenting the youngofficer.

  "I am very glad to see you, Lieutenant Lyon; I may say that I amrejoiced to see you at this time, for I am beset by the children ofSatan, who would hang me to the highest walnut in my park," said thevenerable gentleman, with a sweetly religious smile on his thin lips,while his eyes lighted up with an expression in keeping with the smile,which excited the reverence of the youthful soldier.

  "I am very glad to see you, Mr. Halliburn, for I hope I shall soon beable to relieve you of your troublesome visitors," replied Deck, takingthe hand the planter extended to him.

  "I am not a man of war or blood, and I have submitted with whatresignation I could command to the outrages of these myrmidons of sin,"continued the ex-clergyman. "They learned in some manner that I hadmoney in the house, which belongs mostly to my ward, Miss Morgan."

  "I have met her, and sent two of my men to conduct her to the house ofyour brother," added Deck.

  "God bless you for your kindness to the child!" exclaimed Mr.Halliburn, grasping the officer's hand again. "When I saw these foes ofGod and man coming towards the mansion, I understood their mission; andI sent Grace to my brother's with all the money in the house. I hopedto save it for her use, for nearly all of it belongs to her. But whereis my poor wife?"

  "She is all right, in the sitting-room," replied Win. "I will bring herin," and he hastened to the other front room for her.

  Mr. Halliburn told the lieutenant that the marauders had threatened tohang him if he did not tell where his money was concealed. He had toldthem the truth, that there was no money in the house; but they refusedto believe him, and had been searching the house for the last hour.They had opened every drawer and closet, explored the cellar, examinedthe chimneys at each end of the house, and then gone up-stairs tocontinue the hunt.

  Mrs. Halliburn came into the room, leaning on the arm of Win Milton,who presented her to the lieutenant. She looked like the twin-sister,rather than the wife, of the planter, and the same pious expression wassettled upon her face. But Deck had learned all he cared to know atpresent, and he thought by this time that the guerillas had come to arealizing sense of their situation. He thought it was time for him toattend to them. As he passed out of the parlor, a soldier saluted him.

  "One on 'em wants to speak to the commanding officer," said he,pointing to the head of the stairs, where the marauders were huddledtogether. "This is the lieutenant in command," added the cavalryman,calling to the man who wished to see him.

  "What! that boy?" demanded the ruffian.

  "Boy or man, I am in command of this detachment of United Statescavalry," replied Deck, elevating his head as high as he could get it;and he was quite as tall as half of his platoon. "If you have anythingto say to me, say it with a civil tongue in your head."

  "That is Captain Coonly," said Win in a low tone.

  "I have come to the conclusion that I had better make terms with you,"replied the leader of the ruffians.

  "I make no terms with thieves and robbers," answered Deck, with dignityenough for a major-general. "I find you engaged in plundering a citizenof the United States, threatening him, and ransacking his mansion.Soldiers do not engage in such work."

  "I am in the service of the Southern Confederacy," replied CaptainCoonly, evidently somewhat crestfallen.

  "Have you a commission about you?"

  "Not yet; but I shall have one."

  "I look upon you and your gang as guerillas, and I shall treat you assuch. Will you surrender to an officer of the United States?"

  "No, I won't surrender! I am willing to make terms with you, and willdo the fair thing," blustered the captain without a commission.

  "I do not make terms with such as you are. We have talked enough onthat subject, and you need not say another word about terms; there isno such word in my book."

  "My men are all armed in good shape, and they are fighting characters.All I ask is fair play."

  "You shall have it; and according to the civil law of Kentucky, thatmeans the inside of a prison-cell for such fellows as you are!"answered the lieutenant coolly and calmly, with no display of
anger;for he was trying with all his might to follow the excellent advice hisfather had given him for his guidance as an officer.

  "No civil law about it!" exclaimed Captain Coonly, his wrath stirred upby the mention of a prison. "I am a soldier, and so are my men. Idemand terms such as one military officer should give to another."

  "I do not recognize you as a soldier in the service of the Confederacy,which would entitle you to military consideration," Lieutenant Lyondeclared with as much solemnity as though he had been presiding over acourt-martial.

  Win Milton could hardly control his risible muscles; for he wasinclined to laugh outright as he heard a young fellow of eighteen talkas though he understood military law as well as he did cavalry tactics.But Deck had studied the needed subjects for his conduct as an officerwhile others slept, and he had improved every opportunity to conversewith Captain Gordon upon the laws and customs of the service.

  "I thought you said we should have fair play?" growled Captain Coonly.

  "I did; and I explained what fair play was in a case like this. But wehave talked enough about terms; and now we will proceed to business, orto fight out this thing, if you so elect," said Deck very calmly butvery decidedly.

  "But I only ask"--

  "You need not ask anything!" interposed the lieutenant. "We have talkedenough; now will you oblige me by coming down the stairs?"

  "What if I decline to come down the stairs?" demanded Captain Coonly.

  "Then I shall interpret your reply to mean that you prefer to fight outthis matter."

  "But you have us"--

  "I have you, and I propose to keep you. No more talk! Come down-stairs,Captain Coonly, or I will order my men to fire!"

  The leader of the marauders hesitated, and then took a single step inthe descent; he halted there.

  "I only want to say"--

  "Say nothing more! Come down, or you are a dead man in another second!"added Deck, still calm and resolute.

  "COME DOWN, OR YOU ARE A DEAD MAN." _Page 64._]

  "Go down, Cap!" said several of his followers as they retired from thedangerous locality at the head of the stairs.

  The captain did not hesitate any longer, but descended the steps veryslowly, as though he was marching at his own funeral.

  "Win, bring all the cords and straps you can find. We shall want a lotof them," said Deck in a low tone to the guide. "Bugler, go with himand help him bring them."

  "This is not fair play," said the captain as he landed in the hall.

  "No more talk!"

  "What are you going to do with me?" demanded Coonly.

  "You are my prisoner, and I intend to secure you properly. Give me yoursword and pistols."

  "I'll see you in"--

  "Life!" called Deck, as he saw the stalwart sergeant near the frontdoor.

  "Here, Leftenant!" replied Life as he strode into the hall and made themilitary salute to his officer.

  "Disarm this man!" said Deck, pointing to the ruffian leader.

  The tall sergeant seized Coonly by the collar of his coat with his lefthand, held him out as though he had been a small boy, unbuckled hissword-belt, and took two revolvers from his pockets with his right. Thecaptain was a middling-sized man, and he struggled in the gripe of thepowerful Kentuckian; but he might as well have attempted to resistHercules himself.

  "Now bind his arms behind him," continued Deck.

  "I protest, Lieutenant, against this brutal treatment!" stormed theprisoner in a loud voice.

  "All right; protest as much as you please, but don't make too muchnoise about it, or I shall be obliged to have you gagged."

  This hint quieted him; and with the aid of the bugler he was secured asthe officer had ordered.