General Nelson's Scout 33
"Don't worry, Fred; it will come out all right," answered Calhoun,
cheerily.
On the morning of the second day the boys met with an adventure for
which they were not looking. Even as early in the war as this, those
roving bands of guerrillas which afterward proved such a curse to the
border States began to appear. It was somewhat of a surprise to the boys
when four men suddenly rode out of the woods by the side of the road,
and roughly demanded that they give an account of themselves.
"By whose authority do you stop us?" indignantly demanded Fred.
"By my authority," answered the leader, with a fearful oath.
"And your authority I refuse to acknowledge," was the hot answer.
"See here, young man, you had better keep a civil tongue in your head,"
and as the leader said this he significantly tapped the butt of his
revolver.
Calhoun here interposed. "What is it you wish?" he asked.
"I wish to know who you are, and where you are going, and that ----
quick."
"That is easily answered," replied Calhoun. "As you see by my uniform, I
am a Confederate officer. I am on parole, and am on my way to my home in
Danville, there to wait until I am regularly exchanged."
"A fine story," said the leader. "And I suppose your companion is also
in the Confederate service."
"Not at all," replied Fred, quietly. "I am in the service of the United
States."
"You are, are you?" sneered the man. "I think both of you are
Lincolnites. We will have to search you, and I think in the end shoot
you both."
"Here is my parole," said Calhoun, his face growing red with anger.
The man took it, glanced it over, and then coolly tore it in two, and
flung it down.
"Any one can carry such a paper as that. Now, climb down in a hurry. We
want them horses, and we want you. Boys, it will be fun to try our
marksmanship on these youngsters, won't it?" and he turned to his
companions with a brutal laugh.
But the guerrillas made a great mistake; they thought they were only
dealing with two boys, and were consequently careless and off their
guard.
With a sharp, quick look at Calhoun which meant volumes, Fred quickly
drew his revolver. There was a flash, a report, and the leader of the
guerrillas dropped from his horse. With a startled oath, the others drew
their revolvers, but before they could raise them there were two reports
so close together as almost to sound as one, and two more of the gang
rolled from their horses. The remaining one threw up his hands and began
to beg for mercy.
[Illustration: Fred drew his Revolver, and the Guerrilla dropped from
his horse.]
"You miscreant you," exclaimed Calhoun, covering him with his revolver.
"I ought to send a ball through your cowardly carcass, to be even with
my cousin here; for he got two of you, while I only got one."
"Oh, mercy! mercy!" begged the trembling wretch. "I have a wife and
children."
"You have; then so much the worse for the wife and children."
"I am not fit to die," he blubbered.
"That is plain to be seen," answered Calhoun. "Now off that horse!"
The fellow obeyed with alacrity.
"Now hand me your weapons--butts first, remember."
The pistols were handed over.
"Now pick up that parole your leader tore and threw down, and hand it to
me."
This was done.
Calhoun sat eyeing him a moment, and then continued: "I ought to shoot
you without mercy, but I believe in giving a dog a chance for his life,
and so I will give you a chance. You mount your horse, and when I say
'Go,' you go. After I say 'Go' I shall count five, and then shoot. If I
miss you, which I don't think I shall, I shall continue shooting as long
as you are in range; so the faster you go, the better for you. Now,
mount."
The man looked appealingly at Calhoun, but seeing no mercy, mounted his
horse as quick as his trembling limbs would let him. His face was white
with fear, and his teeth fairly rattled they chattered so.
Calhoun reined his horse around so he was by the fellow's side. Then he
shouted "Go!"
The man gave a yell of terror, bent low over his horse's neck and was
off like a shot. Calhoun with a chuckle fired over him, and the fellow
seemed to fairly flatten out. Four times did Calhoun fire, and at each
report the flying horseman appeared to go the faster.
As for Fred, he was convulsed with merriment, notwithstanding the
grewsome surroundings.
"Leave these carrion where they are," said Calhoun in response to a
question from Fred as to what disposition they should make of the dead.
"That live companion of theirs will be back when we are gone."
They rode along in silence for a while, and then Calhoun suddenly said:
"Fred, how I wish I could always fight by your side. It's a pity we have
to fight on different sides."
"Just what I was thinking of, Cal," answered Fred; "but we have the
satisfaction of knowing we have fought one battle together."
"And won it, too," shouted Calhoun.
They reached Danville in due time and without further adventure. To say
that Judge Pennington was surprised to see them riding up together would
be to express it mildly; he was astounded. Then he had his arms around
his boy, and was sobbing, "My son! my son!"
"And Fred, too," said the judge, at last turning from welcoming his son.
"I am truly glad to see you, my boy. But how in the world did you two
happen to come together?"
And so the whole story had to be told, and the judge listened and
wondered and mourned over the defeat of the Confederates at Mill
Springs.
"My boy," said the judge, with tears glistening in his eyes, "at least I
am glad to know that you did your duty."
"Aye! he did that, uncle," exclaimed Fred. "If all the Confederates had
been like Calhoun, we might not have won the victory."
"Unless all the Federals had been like you," responded Calhoun
gallantly.
The judge would have both boys tell him the full particulars of their
adventures, and listened to their recital with all the pleasure of a
schoolboy. But when they were through, he shook his head sadly, and
said: "Boys, you can't keep that pace up. You will both be killed. But I
am proud of you, proud of you both, if Fred is fighting for that
horrible Lincoln."
It was a happy day Fred spent at his uncle's. It seemed like old times.
If bitterness was felt towards him it was not shown.
When it was noised about that both Calhoun and Fred had returned, they
were besieged with callers. The story of the battle of Mill Springs had
to be told again and again. Colonel Fry was one of the influential
citizens of the city, and especially were they eager to hear the
particulars of his killing General Zollicoffer.
Fred concluded to ride his horse to Louisville, instead of riding to
Nicholasville or Lebanon and taking the cars from one of those places.
"I must have Prince wherever I go after this," he said.
"Hello! my boy, is that you?" asked General Nelson, as Fred rode up to
his headquarters after a very prosaic journey of three days.
"It is no one else, General," laughed Fred, as he dismounted. "Here I
am, here is my good horse, Prince, and here is a letter to you from
General Thomas."
Nelson took the letter, read it, and looking up smiling, said: "I see
you still keep up your habit of doing something unusual. Thomas speaks
in the highest terms of your work. Then you were at Mill Springs?"
"Yes, General."
"Glorious victory! glorious victory! the first real victory we have
gained. Did you bring full dispatches with you?"
"Yes, General; I have voluminous dispatches for General Buell. I was so
eager to see you I stopped before delivering them."
"Ah, my boy, I believe you do think something of bluff old Nelson after
all, even if he has a devil of a temper," and the general kindly patted
the boy on the head.
Fred's eyes filled with tears. "You know, General," he said, brokenly,
"that you took me in, when my father cast me out."
"For the good of the country, my boy, for the good of the country," said
the general brusquely. "But, come, Fred, I will ride over to General
Buell's headquarters with you. I would like to see General Thomas' full report of the battle."
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