He was probably one of Red Pete's victims. The others could not be far away, among them Lafe's problematical kinsman4 with the presentation watch.
But finding a possible uncle was just now of less importance than finding a safe way out of the thicket6. The smoke grew visibly thicker, and Lafe could detect, off to the left, the distinct crackling noise of flames. He dropped on one knee again, and patted the officer's shoulder with decision.
The young man moved his head restlessly, then opened his eyes and stared dully at Lafe.
"Which way is the creek7?" the drummer-boy shouted.
The lieutenant, as if dazed, looked half wonderingly into the boy's face. Then he blinked, shook himself, and made a move to sit upright. He sank back with his mouth drawn8 awry9 by the severity of his pain, and forced the semblance10 of a laugh upon these pale lips.
"I thought at first I was home, and you were my brother," he said.
"How bad are you hurt? Can you walk?" Lafe demanded. "We've got to get out of this. The woods are on fire, and the wind is blowing it dead this way. Where are you hit?"
"Minie ball here—between the shoulder and the lung, I hope," replied the other, indicating his left side. "It's stiffened11 and I can't lift myself. Help me on my feet, and I guess I can walk away."
Lafe put an arm under him and gave him his hand. The lieutenant, with a groan12, set his teeth and scrambled13 up on his feet. He looked about him for an instant, and then hastily seated himself on the stump.
"I'm dizzy for the minute," he murmured. "I must have lost so much blood. It's afternoon, isn't it?"
"Past five. You'd better brace14 up now, and try to come on. Which way is it?"
The officer looked vaguely15 around. "I hardly know," he confessed. "I can just remember dragging myself off into the swamp. I thought I should find some water, and I guess my strength gave out about here. Somebody came along and pulled off my boots and stockings, and went through my pockets, but I was too near dead to resist, and I kept my eyes shut."
"Well, you want to keep 'em open now. This must be the way out, according to the wind. That's it; get your arm over my shoulder, and we'll make a break."
They walked thus for a dozen steps or so, the officer leaning a little on Lafe's right shoulder. Then the wounded man stopped.
"I'd rather you went ahead," he called into the boy's ear. "The branches knock against my game side, this way. I'll keep behind you;" and so they went on again, Lafe pushing the saplings and boughs16 aside for the other.
The smoke had become almost blinding now, as it sifted17 through the motionless air of the thicket. The noises had risen now into a pandemonium18 of uproar—on the left the furious bellowing19 of the tempest and the flames, to the right a series of outbursts that shook the earth like mine explosions. It sometimes seemed to Lafe as if he distinguished20 the cheers and vague cries of men, off on the other side—and then back would come the chaotic21 din5.
Awed22 and deafened23, the two pushed doggedly24 on, Lafe stealing glances over his shoulder, to see if the officer was following. He came, holding to the branches with his right hand for support, and striving to pick soft places for his bare feet among the stones and prickly ground vines.
It had suddenly grown very hot. The heat began to sting Lafe's forehead and eyes. They were advancing into the temperature of a veritable furnace. The crackling noises to the left had swollen25 all at once to an angry tumult26 close at hand.
Looking up with smarting eyes through the pungent27 smoke, the boy beheld28 scattered29 flashes of flame dotting the murky30 shadows of the forest beyond, and even as he looked these tongues of fire ran forward under the wind with darting31 swiftness. An imperative32 outcry behind Lafe called a halt. He turned as his companion reeled, clutched wildly at an ash sapling, and fell against it, his head hanging helplessly forward on his breast.
"It's no use," he gasped33, as the boy strode back. "I'm choking, and I'm played out. I can't go another step."
He falteringly34 lifted one of his torn and bleeding feet, and put it down again. His arm slipped from around the sapling, and he would have fallen if Lafe had not caught him.
"Why don't you be a man!" the boy screamed shrilly35 through the tumult.
A sort of angry desperation seized upon Lafe. He would drag this Ohio tenderfoot out of the fire in spite of himself. With rough energy he fitted his shoulder under the officer's armpit, and drew his right arm forward in the determined36 clutch of both his hands.
"Come on now, the best way you can. Never mind your feet or your shoulder either!" he yelled, and then, stiffening37 his back under the burden, he staggered forward.
He could never afterward38 recall anything definitely of how he did it, or how long it took. But through the shrivelling heat, through the murderous swoop39 of fire and smoke, somehow he came. All at once there was the play of cooler air upon his face. Instead of the choking smoke and darkness he was wrapped about by a clean wind. It had grown suddenly daylight again.
Bent40 almost double under his burden, he strove in vain to fill his lungs with this fresh air. It was dimly in his mind to straighten himself, and breathe in all he could hold. But the load on his back seemed to be pressing him further down, and whirling him round as well.
Then he was lying face downward, on dry, soft earth with the sharp edges of stiff marsh41 grass in his hair. Something heavy lay across him. He rolled himself free from the encumbrance42, and stretched himself out luxuriously43 on his back. The wind soughed pleasantly through the reeds about his head.
He went to sleep, dreaming placidly44 as he dropped off that ordered swarms45 of men were passing through the tall grass close beside him, firing volleys and cheering as they fired.
Four red points of light, at regular distances apart, and shining faintly against a broad canopy46 of blackness, was what Lafe, still lying on his back, beheld when he woke. He looked at them lazily for what seemed a long time, and did not care in the least what they signified. Then, quite without any effort, he knew that they were lanterns hung on a rope.
There were sinuous47 lines of motion in the darkness above the lanterns, and these revealed themselves to him as the sides of canvas-strips stirring in the wind. This, too, did not seem important, and he indolently closed his eyes again.
A sharp cry, ringing abruptly48 out close at hand, awoke him more thoroughly49. He even lifted his head a little, and saw many more lights—lanterns, kerosene50 lamps, and tallow-dips stuck in bottles. They stretched out irregularly in all directions, illumining little patches of space, which seemed all the smaller by comparison with the vast blocks of deep shadows surrounding them.
The radiance of many of these lights centred upon a broad table, about which several men were standing51 in their shirtsleeves, and with aprons52 like butchers. There seemed to be another man lying on this table, and one of his legs was bared to the thigh53. Some of these shadowy figures moved, and another cry arose. Lafe shut his eyes, and turned away from the spectacle.
There was now a rustle54 of straw under him, and he noted55 that his head was resting on a canvas pillow filled with straw. A strong smell, as of arnica, attracted his attention. Now he understood that he was in a hospital tent.
He wondered where he himself had been hurt. Except for a general, dull aching of the muscles, he was conscious of no special pain. He tried opening and closing his fingers, and moving his toes.
Each member seemed in working order. He passed his hands along his sides, and still found nothing amiss. But his head certainly did ache.
Vague recollection of the events of the day began to stir in his memory, but not at all in their right order. It seemed as if it was Foldeen Schell whom he had carried out of the burning woods, and nearer still in point of time seemed to be Red Pete's stifling56 grip upon his neck. Then, somehow, his thoughts drifted to the watch and its inscription57.
He drowsily58 tried to think what this Lyman Hornbeck must be like—a gray-bearded old man and a church-member, and yet only a lieutenant. So his vagrant59 fancy drifted about on the border-land of sleep.
Suddenly there were voices close about him. Half opening his eyes, Lafe blinked at three or four torches which some soldiers were holding up at the foot of his bed. A half-dozen officers were there as well, and the foremost one was General Boyce.
The light hurt Lafe's eyes, and he closed them. The general's cheery voice remained in his ears, though, and conveyed so true a notion of the man that Lafe seemed to continue to behold60 him, the red torchlight heightening the glow of health on his round cheeks and shining in his brave, kindly61 eyes.
"Oh, you'll be up and about in a day or two," the general was saying, in a hearty62, encouraging way. "Won't he, surgeon-major?"
"Well, inside a week," answered another voice. "The wound in itself wasn't much. It's the loss of blood that's worst."
"Lieutenant," the general went on, "if I don't call you captain when you get back from your furlough, it won't be my fault. You've been mentioned in the despatches. Your company's tussle63 with the breastwork under the hill was as plucky64 a thing as has been done to-day. Well, good luck to you!"
There was a rattle65 of spurs and swords, as if the group were moving, and then Lafe was conscious that the young Ohio officer spoke66, as if from the very next bed.
"O general," he called out, "I'll save my own thanks for some other time! But I want you to take notice of this boy here. He's one who ought to be mentioned in despatches. I'd have been roasted alive if it hadn't been for him. He came into the woods and found me, and routed me up, and made me walk, and when I gave out he actually carried me right through the blaze. Talk about charging the breast-work! What he did was worth fifty of it."
Lafe felt through his closed eyelids67 that the torches were being held so as to cover him with their light. Oddly enough, he seemed without desire to look.
"I won't forget," said the general. "How badly off is he?"
"He was brought in with the lieutenant here," returned the surgeon-major. "I didn't see him myself. You were here, nurse?"
A woman's voice took up the thread: "Poor little fellow, he doesn't seem to have been shot, but his head was laid open to the bone somehow. Doctor Alvord thought it must have been a horse's hoof68."
"We were both on the ground in the way when the big charge down the run was made," explained the lieutenant. "He must have got trampled69 on. I think he's a drummer in the brigade band. I noticed him when we went into line this morning."
"I wonder if it can be our Juno Mills boy," broke in the general. Lafe felt that the great man was bending over close to him. "Some Dutchman in the band was telling a tremendous yarn70 about a youngster who went down alone into the breast-work after it was deserted71, and had a fight, single-handed, with a baggage-thief, and played the deuce generally. Does anybody know whether he's the same one?"
Lafe could never understand afterward what ailed72 him to behave so, but at this he kept his breathing down to its gentlest possible form. The general and his attendants moved off down the aisles73, halting with the torches at other bedsides to give cheer. Their going gave Lafe leisure for the thought which interested him most.
The news that his head had been laid open to the bone had fascinated him. He put up a hand now and felt of his skull74. It was covered all over with interlaced strips of stiff plaster encased in a soft linen75 bandage drawn tight.
"Are you feeling all right?"
It was the voice of the lieutenant. Lafe, proud of his plasters, opened his eyes and made out the young officer, propped up with a couple of straw pillows on the bed next his.
"My head aches a little, that's all," said Lafe. "Say, we had a squeak76 for it, didn't we?"
"I shan't forget it—nor you," responded the other.
"Cleveland's in Ohio, ain't it?" the boy asked, all at once pursuing a subject which had kept dodging77 in and out of his mind. "Perhaps you know an old man in one of the Ohio regiments—he must be getting along toward sixty—he's a lieutenant, and his name's Lyman Hornbeck. I was looking for him this afternoon when—when I lighted on you."
The young officer, quite heedless of his bandages, sat bolt upright and stared at Lafe as if too much amazed for words.
"I don't know what you're driving at," he said at last. "My name is Lyman Hornbeck, and I'm a Cleveland man and a lieutenant—but I'm a long way off from sixty. You can't mean my father? He's been dead two years. His name was Lyman. Why, hold on! General Boyce said something about Juno Mills—my father came from near there—you don't mean to say you're a Hornbeck?"
An irresistible78 impulse moved Lafe to crawl out of his bed and totter79 across to the other's pallet. He sat down on the edge of it, and leaned his head back on the officer's two pillows.
"Say, I'm Steve Hornbeck's son," he said, "and your father was my Uncle Lyme. Do you know, I kind of felt like takin' a shine to you when you spoke to me early this morning."
"I'm Steve Hornbeck's Son!"
"I'm Steve Hornbeck's Son!"
The officer had put his arm affectionately round the boy's neck. "Why, don't you remember," he cried, with pleased interest, "how I said I had a brother like you at home?"
And so the two lay close together in a delighted gossip until the surgeon came, and laughingly but peremptorily80 drove them apart. They told him something of the strange story, and an attendant went out and found Foldeen, and brought him in, and he added many striking variations to the legend which now, by midnight, had become the talk of the brigade.
General Boyce came back to the hospital tent purposely to see the boy from his own Dearborn County whom men were talking about. He nodded his head approvingly as he stood by the bedside and listened to Foldeen's excited narrative81 of the lad's fight with Red Pete.
"I remember hearing of that fellow before," he said. "We'll hang him in the morning, if we have to go without breakfast to do it."
Foldeen shook his head. "He is no good for hanging, dot Red Pete," he explained. "When the fire is gone out by dot breastwork where he vas, maybe you find some chargoals from him—und maybe two, dree buttons—dot's all."
The beautiful city by the lake wore its most velvety82, green robes of June when Lieutenant Hornbeck, who had been home invalided83 for some weeks, was able at last to accept the reception which the good people of St. Mark's Church wished to hold in his honor.
It seemed as if all Cleveland sought for admission to this festival of welcome to the brave young officer. Yet when he came in, leaning on his wife's arm, and with the flush of honest pride mantling84 upon the pallor of his face, it turned out that the real hero of the evening was the wiry, brown-faced boy he brought with him.
Lafe's story had been told in many other places. They knew it by heart here in his new home, where henceforth he was to live with his cousin. He blushed many times that evening at the things admiring people said to his face about him, and he still says if folks will insist on discussing it, that the only interesting thing of the whole day was his taking a shine to his cousin before he knew who he was.
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1
propped
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| 支撑，支持，维持( prop的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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stump
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| n.残株，烟蒂，讲演台；v.砍断，蹒跚而走 | |
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lieutenant
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| n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员 | |
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kinsman
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| n.男亲属 | |
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din
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| n.喧闹声，嘈杂声 | |
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thicket
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| n.灌木丛，树林 | |
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creek
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| n.小溪，小河，小湾 | |
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drawn
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| v.拖，拉，拔出；adj.憔悴的，紧张的 | |
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awry
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| adj.扭曲的，错的 | |
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semblance
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| n.外貌，外表 | |
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stiffened
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| 加强的 | |
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groan
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| vi./n.呻吟，抱怨；(发出)呻吟般的声音 | |
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scrambled
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| v.快速爬行( scramble的过去式和过去分词 )；攀登；争夺；（军事飞机）紧急起飞 | |
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14
brace
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| n. 支柱,曲柄,大括号; v. 绷紧,顶住,(为困难或坏事)做准备 | |
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vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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sifted
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| v.筛( sift的过去式和过去分词 )；筛滤；细查；详审 | |
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pandemonium
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| n.喧嚣，大混乱 | |
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bellowing
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| v.发出吼叫声，咆哮（尤指因痛苦）( bellow的现在分词 )；（愤怒地）说出（某事），大叫 | |
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distinguished
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| adj.卓越的，杰出的，著名的 | |
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chaotic
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| adj.混沌的，一片混乱的，一团糟的 | |
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awed
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| adj.充满敬畏的，表示敬畏的v.使敬畏，使惊惧( awe的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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deafened
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| 使聋( deafen的过去式和过去分词 )； 使隔音 | |
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doggedly
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| adv.顽强地，固执地 | |
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swollen
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| adj.肿大的，水涨的；v.使变大，肿胀 | |
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tumult
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| n.喧哗；激动，混乱；吵闹 | |
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pungent
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| adj.（气味、味道）刺激性的，辛辣的；尖锐的 | |
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28
beheld
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| v.看，注视( behold的过去式和过去分词 )；瞧；看呀；（叙述中用于引出某人意外的出现）哎哟 | |
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29
scattered
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| adj.分散的，稀疏的；散步的；疏疏落落的 | |
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murky
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| adj.黑暗的，朦胧的；adv.阴暗地，混浊地；n.阴暗；昏暗 | |
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31
darting
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的现在分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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32
imperative
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| n.命令，需要；规则；祈使语气；adj.强制的；紧急的 | |
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gasped
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| v.喘气( gasp的过去式和过去分词 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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falteringly
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| 口吃地，支吾地 | |
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shrilly
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| 尖声的； 光亮的，耀眼的 | |
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determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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stiffening
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| n. (使衣服等)变硬的材料, 硬化 动词stiffen的现在分词形式 | |
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38
afterward
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| adv.后来；以后 | |
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swoop
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| n.俯冲，攫取；v.抓取，突然袭击 | |
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bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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marsh
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| n.沼泽，湿地 | |
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encumbrance
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| n.妨碍物，累赘 | |
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43
luxuriously
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| adv.奢侈地，豪华地 | |
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44
placidly
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| adv.平稳地，平静地 | |
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45
swarms
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| 蜂群，一大群( swarm的名词复数 ) | |
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46
canopy
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| n.天篷，遮篷 | |
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47
sinuous
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| adj.蜿蜒的，迂回的 | |
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48
abruptly
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| adv.突然地，出其不意地 | |
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49
thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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50
kerosene
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| n.(kerosine)煤油，火油 | |
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51
standing
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| n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的 | |
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52
aprons
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| 围裙( apron的名词复数 )； 停机坪，台口（舞台幕前的部份） | |
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53
thigh
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| n.大腿；股骨 | |
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54
rustle
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| v.沙沙作响；偷盗(牛、马等)；n.沙沙声声 | |
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55
noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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56
stifling
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| a.令人窒息的 | |
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57
inscription
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| n.（尤指石块上的）刻印文字，铭文，碑文 | |
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58
drowsily
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| adv.睡地，懒洋洋地，昏昏欲睡地 | |
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59
vagrant
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| n.流浪者，游民；adj.流浪的，漂泊不定的 | |
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60
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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61
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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62
hearty
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| adj.热情友好的；衷心的；尽情的，纵情的 | |
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63
tussle
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| n.&v.扭打，搏斗，争辩 | |
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plucky
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| adj.勇敢的 | |
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65
rattle
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| v.飞奔，碰响；激怒；n.碰撞声；拨浪鼓 | |
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66
spoke
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| n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说 | |
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67
eyelids
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| n.眼睑( eyelid的名词复数 )；眼睛也不眨一下；不露声色；面不改色 | |
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68
hoof
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| n.(马，牛等的)蹄 | |
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69
trampled
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| 踩( trample的过去式和过去分词 )； 践踏； 无视； 侵犯 | |
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70
yarn
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| n.纱，纱线，纺线；奇闻漫谈，旅行轶事 | |
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71
deserted
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| adj.荒芜的，荒废的，无人的，被遗弃的 | |
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72
ailed
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| v.生病( ail的过去式和过去分词 )；感到不舒服；处境困难；境况不佳 | |
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73
aisles
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| n. (席位间的)通道, 侧廊 | |
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74
skull
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| n.头骨；颅骨 | |
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75
linen
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| n.亚麻布，亚麻线，亚麻制品；adj.亚麻布制的，亚麻的 | |
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76
squeak
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| n.吱吱声，逃脱；v.（发出）吱吱叫，侥幸通过；（俚）告密 | |
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77
dodging
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| n.避开，闪过，音调改变v.闪躲( dodge的现在分词 )；回避 | |
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78
irresistible
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| adj.非常诱人的，无法拒绝的，无法抗拒的 | |
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79
totter
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| v.蹒跚， 摇摇欲坠；n.蹒跚的步子 | |
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80
peremptorily
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| adv.紧急地，不容分说地，专横地 | |
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81
narrative
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| n.叙述，故事；adj.叙事的，故事体的 | |
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82
velvety
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| adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的 | |
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83
invalided
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| 使伤残（invalid的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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84
mantling
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| 覆巾 | |
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