Lucius did not know which had fallen: he could just see that one was down—that was all—and his fears told him that it must be Grizzly. A dull, apathetic9 feeling stole over him. He did not try to move. He knew that in a few minutes more he must be a prisoner, and he did not care. A mournful voice seemed to chant in his ears, slow and solemn as a dirge10, ‘The Grizzly is dead! the Grizzly is dead!’ And all concern for himself vanished in the presence of this overwhelming sorrow.
Then, as he stood, the sound of the well-known voice thrilled him like an electric shock, jarring his whole frame with the one pregnant monosyllable, ‘Run!’ And, without stopping to question or to reason, he turned his face and fled. Fled at first madly, unthinkingly, right in the teeth of the advancing enemy. He had no knowledge of Ephraim’s whereabouts—whether he was ahead of him or behind him. He was alive—that was just enough then—and on went Lucius like the wind.
When two people are running at top speed in the same line, but from opposite extremes, it stands to reason that, sooner or later, they will meet. And this is exactly what happened now. They met, Lucius and the leading man of the racing11 sentinels—met with a crash, like two charging footballers—with the result that both went down in a heap upon the ground.
Lucius was the first to recover himself, and the shock seemed to clear his brain, so that he realised sharply what he was doing in thus throwing himself into the arms of his foes12. He was a slow thinker as a rule—or, rather, he seldom troubled himself to think at all; but now his plans were formed upon the instant, such a stimulus13 is necessity.
Tearing himself free from the man upon the ground, he leaped to his feet, and running a few paces, still towards the advancing crowd, wheeled round suddenly, and with a loud shout of ‘This way! Over here!’ rushed back by the way he had come, only at a much slower pace.
Fortunate it was for him that it was so dark. Guided by his voice, the soldiers hurried after him, surrounded him, noted14 him running in their midst in the same direction as themselves, and—passed him by.
Still Lucius held on, slowing down at every stride, till the last man of the supports, puffing15 and blowing, shot ahead of him, and then he turned in his tracks once more, and sped like a deer towards the Confederate lines.
He took a diagonal path, making by instinct for the corner of the wood, which more than once that day had been their means of salvation16, and reaching it after a tearing run of nearly a mile, plunged17 just inside its border and flung himself face downwards18 to recover his wind.
All at once, as he lay, a sharp pang19 shot through him. The Grizzly! Where was he? Was he, too, running for his life in the open? Had he reached the wood? Or, bitter thought, had he been captured after all? The bare possibility stung Lucius into action, and he leaped again to his feet, glaring wildly round him in the dark.
What would they do with him if he were taken? 202Would they shoot him then and there? Or would they take him back to the camp, and after a mere20 formality of a trial, hang him like a dog? Lucius strained his ears until they pained him, listening for the fatal shot. But he heard nothing. ‘Oh, Grizzly,’ he thought bitterly, ‘if you are taken, if you are shot, and I have run away and left you to your fate!’
He was hardly fair to himself in his sharp self-upbraiding. To run had been the Grizzly’s own command, and he had obeyed implicitly21. He began to take a little comfort. Perhaps they had only missed one another in the dark. Perhaps the Grizzly was even now in safety, waiting opportunity to make a dash for the Confederate lines. He would go on. Then again the cruel thought, ‘What if he be a captive while I am free?’ ‘Go on and save yourself, at all events,’ whispered self-preservation. ‘It is what he himself would have you do.’
‘And just because it is what he would have me do,’ answered the spirit of manliness22 in the boy’s breast, ‘I will not do it. I will go back and find him, if I have to march right into the Federal camp.’
He was almost beside himself with pain and grief, but the one idea took possession of him, and in his brain the words repeated themselves over and over again: ‘Go back and find him! Go back and find him!’
‘Oh, if I had but a gun!’ he sighed, ‘I would make somebody pay for this.’
His hands struck against his cartridge23 belt. ‘Pah!’ he said in disgust, opening the pouch24. ‘What is the use of you without a gun?’ Then a gasp25 of astonishment26 escaped him. His fingers, idly groping in the 203pouch, had encountered a piece of folded paper—two pieces.
For a moment he could not understand it, and then the meaning flashed across him, and everything became clear. In the dark of the cave he had picked up and assumed Ephraim’s belt instead of his own. The papers were General Shields’s despatch27 to General Frémont, and the written order to Colonel Spriggs regarding the escaped prisoners.
Luce’s first feeling was one of joy that, even if the Grizzly were taken, at all events nothing compromising would be found upon him. His second, a wild impulse to fling away the despatch, and rid himself of its dangerous companionship. But something restrained him in the very act, and the thought crossed him: ‘The fate of an army may depend upon that paper, and that army your own. You must carry it to General Jackson.’
Poor Lucius! He was on the horns of a dreadful dilemma28. If he were caught with that paper upon him, it would be short shrift, he knew, and few questions asked. Yet if he did not deliver it, the consequences to the Confederates might be fearfully disastrous30. And yet again, if he did attempt to carry it through, he must turn his back upon his friend, presuming him to be a prisoner, and after the thoughts of self-preservation in which he had indulged, how could he do that without laying himself open to the charge of grasping an excuse to ensure his own safety by an attempt to reach the Confederate lines?
He wrung31 his hands together in the extremity32 of his despair. Which was the right thing to do? Who would help him in this desperate strait?
He leaned against a tree, his head throbbing33 and his whole mind bewildered in the presence of the most serious problem he had ever had to face. Then once again came to him one of those mysterious, silent promptings, so frequent in the last anguished34 quarter of an hour. And this time it was as if Ephraim spoke35: ‘Do yer duty, Luce, and never mind me.’
‘I will,’ he cried aloud, dashing the tears from his eyes. ‘I will. But I’ll come back and find you afterwards, Grizzly, if I die for it!’
He braced36 himself up to consider the best means to carry out his dual37 resolve. He knew very well that, no matter how many men might have been detached to the aid of the sentry38 at the ditch, the Federal outposts would still remain in their place, with beyond them the last line of sentinels on the side of Jackson’s army. To reach his goal he must first pass this obstacle, and he realised that in the ferment39 raised by the present crisis, the time for further stratagem40 had passed, and that his only hope lay in making a rush for it.
A sense of uneasiness was everywhere, and the outposts were especially alert. Not only had the rumour41 spread of the presence in camp and subsequent escape therefrom of a supposed rebel spy, but there was a pretty well defined feeling that the morrow would not pass without an attack on the part of Jackson, though exactly how or where the blow would be delivered, no man could say. Therefore the outposts kept even stricter watch than usual, ready at the first sign of the advance of the enemy to give the alarm and fall back upon the camp, where, on that night, the Federal soldiers lay on their arms.
The uneasy feeling was justified42 by what was happening in the Confederate camp. The night had descended43 upon another Federal repulse44. The veteran Ewell had hurled45 back Frémont at Cross Keys, and driven him from the field after a long and desperate conflict. Then, when the darkness put a stop to the operations, Jackson recalled the troops of Ewell, and leaving a strong rearguard in front of Frémont, returned to Port Republic. Here he hastily constructed a foot-bridge, by means of wagons46 placed end to end, over the south fork of the Shenandoah, and gave orders that at dawn his infantry47 were to cross and try conclusions with Shields at Lewiston. He then retired48 to snatch a few hours of well-earned repose49. Shields, meanwhile, had managed to get a second despatch conveyed to Frémont, laying before him a plan of operations which differed little from those set forth50 in the lost despatch; for as Ephraim had shrewdly surmised51, there was but scant52 time to alter the disposition53 of an entire army; and, moreover, Shields, sanguine54 to the last, could not bring himself to believe that, from a camp so strongly guarded, the spy had really been able to make good his escape. He was convinced that if accident did not deliver the bold rebel into his hands during the night, his capture would certainly be accomplished55 in the morning. That there were two people concerned in this escapade he had never fully29 realised, and that the despatch had passed from one hand to another, he never even dreamed.
Fully alive to the dangers of the situation, Lucius moved cautiously along, feeling the edge of the wood lest he should lose himself in its gloomy depths, and every moment drawing nearer to the Federal outposts. A white glow on the hill-tops warned him that the moon was rising, and he prayed earnestly that the clouds which were driving across the sky would form up and shut behind them the silver light which would make the difficulties of his perilous56 advance so much greater.
Suddenly he pulled up short. Not far away he heard a sound, a suppressed cough. There it was again, its owner evidently doing his best to stifle57 it. Lucius surmised clearly enough from whom the sound proceeded. It was one of the communicating sentries58 between the outposts and their reserves. He felt rather than heard that the man was walking in his direction, and with the painful thought troubling him, ‘What if I were to cough or sneeze?’ drew close behind a tree to wait till he had passed by. Standing59 there, he heard another sound—the measured tramp of feet, as if a body of men were stealthily approaching him. The sentry heard it too, for he halted a few paces from Lucius and prepared to act.
‘Halt!’ he challenged in a guarded voice, at the same time bringing his rifle to the charge. ‘Who comes there?’
‘Patrol!’ was the reply, also given in an undertone.
‘Stand, patrol! Advance one and give the countersign60!’
Some one stepped forward to the point of the sentry’s bayonet, and answered in a tone so low as to be almost a whisper: ‘Winchester!’
‘So,’ thought Lucius, who caught the word, ‘the countersign has been changed. That is how Grizzly 207came to be stopped at the ditch. Well, it won’t do me any good, for I dare not try it on now.’
‘Pass, patrol! All’s well!’ said the sentry, still keeping his rifle at the charge.
The patrol moved on, the officer in charge turning back to inquire: ‘Any sign of the spy?’
‘No, sir,’ replied the sentry, and Luce’s heart thrilled with joy at the word.
Presently the sentry resumed his beat, and Lucius slipped past and continued his heedful advance. The most difficult part of his work lay before him, for the outposts were in strength, and their advanced sentries had also to be negotiated. Still he thought that, once past the outposts, he would be able to show the sentinels a clean pair of heels. But there was one thing on which he had not reckoned, and presently he came upon a sight which took his breath away. A line of light lay right across his path—the bivouac fires of the pickets.
They extended as far as he could see on either hand, and the boy’s heart sank within him as he wondered how he should pass across that line of radiant light without being discovered. However, on closer investigation61, he saw to his intense relief that, though the fires were not very far apart, yet between each was a dark space, and through one of these he trusted to be able to slip. Moreover, he noted that, while most of the men were lying down, some few were standing up or walking about, and so was led to hope that his upright figure, if observed at all, would not attract attention.
There was no help for it—it had to be done; so drawing a long breath he set his teeth hard, and making 208carefully for the dark path between two of the fires, advanced with firm and deliberate step.
Some one spoke to him as he came on. He did not hear the question, but he was conscious of returning an answer of some sort, though a moment afterwards he could not have told what he had said.
He reached the coveted62 path between the two fires, and again a soldier who was reclining by one of them hailed him.
Lucius spared a thought to bless the restless Dick, and strode on.
‘Dick,’ said the man again, ‘did yew hear that?—Why, Dick! Look at him! By’——
For Lucius had passed beyond the line, and casting all idea of further concealment64 to the winds, leaped forward like a startled hare.
In a moment all was bustle65 and confusion. The pickets sprang to arms, orders were shouted in rapid succession, and twenty men darted66 upon the track of the fugitive67, while the advance sentries, hearing the commotion68, stopped on their beat, eagerly waiting the explanation of the unusual disturbance69, which, so far as they were concerned, seemed to come from the wrong quarter.
The very energy of the pursuit saved Lucius; for sentries, pursuers, and pursued were all mixed up in one inextricable tangle70 in the darkness, and the noise the soldiers made in following him of itself prevented them from getting any clear idea of his whereabouts.
On he dashed. Shots were fired here and there at 209random; but if any one was hit it was not Lucius, and in less than five minutes he plumped into the middle of a Confederate picket5, under arms, and ready for an affair of outposts, if that were what the noise presaged71.
‘I surrender! I surrender!’ panted Lucius. ‘Take me prisoner! Quick!’
‘I reckon ef thet’s what ye’ve come fer, ye’ve got yer way,’ said a Confederate soldier gruffly, at the same time seizing him by the arm. ‘Air thar enny more er you uns on the road?’
‘Take ye to the Ginrul! Thet’s good! Ho! ho!’ The men around broke into loud laughter; but an officer, coming up at that moment, sternly ordered silence, and raising a lantern to look at Lucius, demanded who he was, and what he meant by running into them like that.
‘I want to see the General,’ repeated Lucius, who just then could think of nothing else to say.
‘State your business to me,’ said the officer. ‘I will be the judge as to whether it is of sufficient importance to justify73 the granting of your request. Are you a deserter from the enemy? Do you bring news of his movements?’
‘No—yes,’ replied Lucius hurriedly. ‘I mean I am not a deserter, but I bring important news,’
‘If you are not a deserter, what do you mean by wearing that uniform? Explain yourself,’
‘Captain,’ answered Lucius earnestly, ‘believe me, I am telling the truth. I found this uniform, and put it on to disguise myself. I have a despatch from General 210Shields to General Frémont, and I will give it to the General, if you will take me to him.’
‘Give it to me,’ urged the captain, holding out his hand. Lucius hesitated. If he gave up the despatch and then asked leave to return, the captain would become suspicious of a trick, and perhaps detain him there till the rounds passed by, and so valuable time would be lost. He felt that his only resource lay in an appeal to some one in authority who would grant him the required permission, and the memory of Jackson’s face at Staunton on that last Sunday suggested that the appeal should be made to him, and him alone. ‘He will understand me,’ thought Lucius; ‘these other fellows will not.’ Aloud he said: ‘Captain, I’ve gone through a good deal—in fact, I’ve risked my life—to bring that despatch here, and I beseech74 you to let me give it to the General with my own hands. More depends upon it than you think.’
The captain considered. The earnest pleading moved him. ‘Who are you?’ he asked at length.
‘I belong to Staunton,’ answered Lucius. ‘My fa——I have a relative in this army.’
‘Who may that be?’ inquired the captain, for it was no uncommon75 thing for different members of a family to be fighting on opposite sides of the line.
‘I’d rather not say,’ answered Lucius. ‘Oh, captain, let me go. I am sure that the General will tell you you have done right if you do.’
‘Corporal,’ said the captain, after another moment’s reflection, ‘take this fellow to headquarters. Report the affair to the adjutant, and hear what he has to say.’
Lucius thanked him gratefully, and presently started for the village between two men, the corporal leading the way.
‘Hi!’ shouted the captain after him. ‘Was there any sign of movement on the part of the enemy when you left?’
‘No,’ answered Lucius; ‘all was quiet. It was me they were after.’
To all the numerous questions of the corporal, as they marched along, he maintained a rigid76 silence, and at last they reached the house where General Jackson had taken up his quarters for the night.
Leaving Lucius in charge of the two soldiers, the corporal slipped past the sentry and rapped up the adjutant-general, who occupied a room in the same house, and who at once rose and came down-stairs on hearing what was the matter.
To him Lucius repeated his story, winding77 up with a supplication78 that he might be allowed to give his message to the General himself.
‘Corporal, remain on guard here.—You, fellow, follow me,’ said the adjutant.
The corporal saluted79, and Lucius, his heart thumping80 with excitement, followed his guide upstairs.
The adjutant paused at a door and knocked softly. As there was no reply, he turned the handle, and entered the room with Lucius at his heels.
A candle was burning on a table by the window, and by its light Lucius discerned the figure of an officer, fully dressed, even to his sword and jack-boots, lying face downwards across the bed. He stirred uneasily at the noise, turned over, and then sat up, yawning and rubbing his eyes. It was General Jackson.
‘Pendleton!’ he exclaimed, starting from the bed and standing erect81 upon the floor. ‘You! What is the matter?’
‘All is quiet, General; and I would not have ventured to disturb you; but this fellow here avers82 that he brings important news of the enemy, which he will communicate to no one but you. So far as I can judge, he is telling the truth, so I brought him up.’
‘What is your news?’ asked Jackson quietly of Lucius.
Lucius glanced at the adjutant. It was possible that if he heard the story he might throw his influence into the scale against a return to the Federal camp. It would be easier, he thought, to manage General Jackson alone. So he answered: ‘I would rather speak to you alone, General.’
‘Leave us, Pendleton,’ said the General.
‘But, sir,’ protested the adjutant, ‘I—he’——He made a step forward and ran his hands all over Lucius to see if by any chance he carried hidden weapons. Finding none, he saluted and withdrew.
Jackson smiled at his subordinate’s excess of caution, and turning to Lucius, addressed him again with: ‘Now then, my man, what is your news? Out with it.’
Lucius drew a breath of relief. The General did not recognise him, which was scarcely wonderful, for they had met but once, and then Lucius had presented a very different appearance.
He made no verbal answer, but drawing the soiled and crumpled83 despatch from his pouch, handed it silently to the General. Equally in silence Jackson received the package, and withdrawing to the table, sat down to examine it. No sooner had he read the superscription than he glanced sharply round at Lucius, but restraining himself, broke open the envelope and began to peruse84 the contents. He smiled as he read on, for the plans of Shields were so exactly what he had hoped and even prognosticated they would be. He did not look up again, though, until he had finished his scrutiny85 of the document. Then he rose, and holding the paper in one hand, laid the fore-finger of the other upon it, and fixing his keen blue eyes upon Lucius as if he would read his very heart, asked sharply: ‘How did you come by this?’
Lucius was prepared for the question. While the General had been busied with the despatch, he had been debating with himself how to explain his position. He was sharp enough to know that if once his identity with Lucius Markham were revealed, all hope of being able to rejoin Ephraim would be at an end. His one chance lay in allowing the general to suppose him an ordinary citizen of the valley. He concluded, therefore, that while suppressing his name, his best and wisest course would be to furnish a plain and simple statement of facts. So he answered at once:
‘I will tell you, General. Early this morning my companion and myself—both of us live in the valley—were taken prisoners by a number of Federal stragglers. We were roughly handled, but escaped, and concealed86 ourselves in the wood between this and Lewiston. There we found two dead Federal soldiers, and disguised ourselves in their uniforms. Presently we were seen and forced to march to the attack upon the bridge this morning. When the Yankees ran away, we were obliged to run with them, and once more took refuge in a hut in the wood. While there we overheard a 216conversation of General Shields with a Federal scout87, and determined88 to try and intercept89 the despatches he carried. We were successful, and tried to get up the river in the spy’s own boat, but as we had no oars90, the current carried us down, and we only got ashore91 after a great deal of trouble. We were getting along all right, when we were challenged. There was a fight in which my companion got the best of the sentry, and then we broke and ran, and lost each other. I had the despatch in my pouch, and came on with it at once. I was nearly caught at the last post.’
Jackson listened in silence to Luce’s explanation, and when he had finished, remarked drily: ‘That sounds a very plausible92 story; but how am I to know that it is a true one?’
Lucius flushed through the dirt which encrusted his cheeks. He was about to reply in his usual haughty93 and imperious style, but remembering his assumed character in time, choked back the words and said instead: ‘You have only my word for it, General, of course; but the despatch itself is a proof of what I have told you.’
‘Not at all,’ was the unexpected retort; ‘for even that may not be genuine. The whole thing, including your assumption of the Federal uniform, may be merely a device to impose upon my credulity and lead me into a trap.’
At this Lucius was so completely taken aback that for a moment or two he had nothing to say. Then, as Jackson regarded him with his shrewd, dry smile, he burst out passionately95: ‘General, we have risked our lives all along the line to bring you that despatch. One of us is, for all I know, a prisoner, or perhaps dead. We could have got away easily enough by simply stopping in our hiding-place if we had not tried to do you this service. If you don’t believe me, I can’t help it; but I declare upon my honour as a Southerner that I have told you the truth.’
‘Who are you?’ he demanded by way of reply.
‘I live in the valley,’ answered Lucius vaguely97. ‘So does my chum.—Oh, sir, sir,’ he broke off wildly, ‘do believe me and let me go! They may be killing98 him even now.’
Jackson started in astonishment, and took a step forward. ‘You don’t ask me to believe,’ he said, ‘that you contemplate99 returning to the Federal lines to look for him?’
‘I do, I do!’ cried Lucius. ‘Why should I not? Twice or thrice already to-day he would have given his life to save mine. How can I desert him now? It would be too base.’
The utter simplicity100 of the thing carried its own conviction with it. No professional trickster would delude101 himself into the belief that, coming from the Federal lines, he would be at once allowed to return there on the strength of his own story. The genuine emotion of the young man, as he supposed him to be, went straight to Jackson’s warm heart.
‘Do not distress102 yourself, my young friend,’ he said kindly103; ‘I believe you. But as regards your comrade, what do you imagine you can effect by going back?’
‘This,’ answered Lucius, as the recollection of the hut in the forest came to him like an inspiration: ‘if he has not been taken, and has not been able to break through their line, I know where he will go to look for me. I will go there. I can find out that way whether he is dead or a prisoner, or alive and free.’
‘No,’ answered Jackson; ‘for he might reach our lines just while you were looking for him. You could do no good, and for your own sake, if for no other reason, I cannot allow you to return. I do not suspect your honesty,’ as Lucius made a passionate94 gesture; ‘but it would serve no useful purpose. To-morrow, if God blesses our arms as He has hitherto done, we shall sweep Shields from the field, and your comrade, if he has not managed to escape, may be recovered in the struggle. At the worst he will be sent north with other prisoners, and exchanged in due course.’
‘Oh, but you are forgetting that he is a civilian,’ urged Lucius, ‘and that if they find out that he took the despatch, they will kill him for it.’ His voice trembled so that he could hardly enunciate104 the words.
‘They would serve you the same way if they got hold of you,’ answered Jackson.
‘But they shall not get hold of me, General,’ said Lucius. ‘I know their word, I wear their uniform, and I know the way. Once I get to the wood I shall be all right. Besides,’ he added cunningly, ‘as soon as I have found out what has become of him, I will return and give you fresh information about the troops—all I can collect.’
‘My scouts105 are out already,’ answered Jackson, ‘and there is little likelihood that you would be able to accomplish more than they will with their trained powers of observation.’
‘Have they brought you a despatch like that?’ asked Lucius, with a certain pride in his voice.
‘A fair hit,’ returned Jackson, smiling. ‘No; but I may tell you that the information I have received through them tallies106 exactly with the contents of the despatch, which is perhaps fortunate for you. So you see that you have but confirmed the knowledge I already possess. In saying that, I do not wish to underrate the value of the service you have performed. If you were a soldier, I should know how to reward you. As it is’——
‘General,’ broke in Lucius, ‘I never thought of reward. Something told me it was my duty, and I tried to do it. But if I have really been of service, give me leave to go back. That is all I ask.—Oh, General, if you knew what friends we are! If you knew what he has done for me! And I stand here talking while perhaps he——Oh, General, let me go! let me go!’ He sprang forwards with clasped hands, his chest heaving, his breath coming and going in quick, short gasps107, while great tears, which only pride kept from falling, rose in his eyes.
‘You are a devoted108 friend, young man,’ said Jackson, moved by his passionate appeal. ‘If I thought you could do any good——You know the country?’ he broke off.
‘Oh yes, yes,’ cried Lucius. ‘That part of it, at least. Haven’t I been running around there all day?’
‘When you broke away from the sentry who stopped you, and took to flight, I suppose you would both be likely to take the same direction?’ queried109 General Jackson.
‘I imagine so,’ answered Lucius. ‘Why?’
‘Because if your friend succeeded in making our lines, he would most likely enter them at or near the point that you did. Come,’ he added kindly; ‘to relieve your anxiety, we will go together and make inquiries110.’
Outside, the adjutant-general was anxiously awaiting him, and Jackson stopped a moment to whisper a few instructions.
‘Tell them to meet me here in three-quarters of an hour,’ he concluded.—‘Now, young man, come with me.’
They walked on for some distance in silence; but at last Lucius said shyly: ‘I beg your pardon, General, but we could hear the firing as we lay in the woods. Would you mind telling me whether you whipped Frémont to-day, or yesterday, for I don’t know what the time is?’
‘Hurrah!’ cried Lucius. ‘We were certain you would be. It will be the same to-day, or to-morrow, or whenever it is. Oh, General, when we stood among the Yanks this morning and watched you on the hill when our fellows carried the bridge, we felt we wouldn’t mind being killed, so long as our side won. It was glorious!’
‘You ought to have been soldiers, you two,’ said Jackson, laughing at his enthusiasm; ‘but I suppose you prefer your ploughs and harrows. Farmers, aren’t you?’
‘Oh, well, some one must look after the crops, I 221suppose,’ answered Lucius evasively, glad of this loophole to escape the inconvenient114 question of identity.
‘Quite so,’ admitted the General with a sigh; ‘but I fear that before long you will have to beat your ploughshares into swords, for we shall need all the stout115 hearts and strong arms we can muster116 in the trouble that is coming upon us.’
‘You shan’t have to wait long for me,’ exclaimed Lucius fervently117. ‘Once I get home again, nothing shall keep me from joining, and so I’ll tell them.’
‘Halt! Who comes there?’
It was a sentry on the inner line of pickets who challenged them, and as in answer to the General’s question he reported all well, they passed beyond him and hurried towards the outposts.
Here, too, all was quiet. There had been no further scare, and presently they reached the picket in charge of the captain who had forwarded Lucius to headquarters. He saluted the General, and glancing in some surprise at Lucius, whom he recognised, observed that he hoped he had been right in what he had done.
‘Perfectly,’ returned Jackson. ‘No one else has come in since this young man, I suppose?’
‘Only one of our scouts, sir,’ replied the captain. ‘He is on his way to you now. He reported a scrimmage somewhere between this and Lewiston. He couldn’t tell what it was about; but there was a great fuss, and some one, he presumed a prisoner, was being taken to the Federal camp. He was unable to ascertain118 whether it was one of his brother scouts or not.’
At this doleful communication, Lucius felt his heart leap, and like lightning a plan flashed through his brain. He sprang to Jackson’s side, and caught his hand in both his own.
‘General,’ he cried in piercing tones, ‘that must have been my friend. I am sure of it. I will go, if I die for it. Do you remember you spoke to me in Staunton that Sunday? I am Lucius Markham. If I never come back, tell my father it was I who brought in the despatch.’ And before the astonished General could move a finger to stop him, he had darted away and sprung beyond the outpost.
‘Stop him! Fire on him!’ shouted the captain, who was very far from comprehending the meaning of the scene.
‘Order arms!’ commanded the General loudly, as some of the soldiers levelled their guns at the rapidly disappearing Lucius. ‘Let him go. You will never catch him now. No pursuit, captain. Good-night.’ He turned away and walked quickly back to his quarters. ‘Lucius Markham!’ he muttered to himself as he hurried along. ‘Well, somehow I thought I knew his face. The plucky119 little rascal120! I remember he was burning to be allowed to join. What with his dirt and his bandages, he looked so much older that it is no wonder I did not recognise him. Who is this friend of his, and what have they been up to between them? Well, well, I can do nothing but pray that no evil may befall him, for his father’s sake. He is in the hand of God. I can do nothing—nothing.’
A solitary121 shot from the direction of the Federal outposts. General Jackson stopped and listened anxiously. Then as all was still, he shook his head sadly, and turning once more upon his heel, went slowly on.
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frightful
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| adj.可怕的；讨厌的 | |
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apprehension
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| n.理解，领悟；逮捕，拘捕；忧虑 | |
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recoiling
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| v.畏缩( recoil的现在分词 )；退缩；报应；返回 | |
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backwards
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| adv.往回地，向原处，倒，相反，前后倒置地 | |
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picket
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| n.纠察队；警戒哨；v.设置纠察线；布置警卫 | |
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6
pickets
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| 罢工纠察员( picket的名词复数 ) | |
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grizzly
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| adj.略为灰色的，呈灰色的；n.灰色大熊 | |
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8
sergeant
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| n.警官，中士 | |
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9
apathetic
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| adj.冷漠的，无动于衷的 | |
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10
dirge
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| n.哀乐，挽歌，庄重悲哀的乐曲 | |
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racing
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| n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的 | |
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foes
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| 敌人，仇敌( foe的名词复数 ) | |
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13
stimulus
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| n.刺激，刺激物，促进因素，引起兴奋的事物 | |
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noted
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| adj.著名的，知名的 | |
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15
puffing
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| v.使喷出( puff的现在分词 )；喷着汽（或烟）移动；吹嘘；吹捧 | |
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16
salvation
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| n.（尤指基督）救世，超度，拯救，解困 | |
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17
plunged
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| v.颠簸( plunge的过去式和过去分词 )；暴跌；骤降；突降 | |
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18
downwards
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| adj./adv.向下的（地），下行的（地） | |
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19
pang
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| n.剧痛，悲痛，苦闷 | |
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20
mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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21
implicitly
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| adv. 含蓄地, 暗中地, 毫不保留地 | |
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22
manliness
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| 刚毅 | |
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23
cartridge
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| n.弹壳，弹药筒；(装磁带等的)盒子 | |
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24
pouch
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| n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件 | |
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25
gasp
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| n.喘息，气喘；v.喘息；气吁吁他说 | |
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26
astonishment
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| n.惊奇，惊异 | |
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27
despatch
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| n./v.(dispatch)派遣；发送；n.急件；新闻报道 | |
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28
dilemma
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| n.困境，进退两难的局面 | |
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29
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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30
disastrous
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| adj.灾难性的，造成灾害的；极坏的，很糟的 | |
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31
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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32
extremity
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| n.末端，尽头；尽力；终极；极度 | |
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33
throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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34
anguished
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| adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式) | |
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35
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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36
braced
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| adj.拉牢的v.支住( brace的过去式和过去分词 )；撑牢；使自己站稳；振作起来 | |
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37
dual
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| adj.双的；二重的，二元的 | |
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38
sentry
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| n.哨兵，警卫 | |
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39
ferment
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| vt.使发酵；n./vt.（使）激动，（使）动乱 | |
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40
stratagem
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| n.诡计，计谋 | |
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41
rumour
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| n.谣言，谣传，传闻 | |
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42
justified
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| a.正当的，有理的 | |
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43
descended
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| a.为...后裔的，出身于...的 | |
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44
repulse
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| n.击退，拒绝；vt.逐退，击退，拒绝 | |
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45
hurled
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| v.猛投，用力掷( hurl的过去式和过去分词 )；大声叫骂 | |
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46
wagons
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| n.四轮的运货马车( wagon的名词复数 )；铁路货车；小手推车 | |
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47
infantry
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| n.[总称]步兵(部队) | |
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48
retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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49
repose
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| v.(使)休息；n.安息 | |
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50
forth
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| adv.向前；向外，往外 | |
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51
surmised
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| v.臆测，推断( surmise的过去式和过去分词 )；揣测；猜想 | |
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52
scant
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| adj.不充分的，不足的；v.减缩，限制，忽略 | |
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53
disposition
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| n.性情，性格；意向，倾向；排列，部署 | |
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54
sanguine
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| adj.充满希望的，乐观的，血红色的 | |
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55
accomplished
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| adj.有才艺的；有造诣的；达到了的 | |
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56
perilous
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| adj.危险的，冒险的 | |
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57
stifle
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| vt.使窒息；闷死；扼杀；抑止，阻止 | |
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58
sentries
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| 哨兵，步兵( sentry的名词复数 ) | |
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59
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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60
countersign
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| v.副署，会签 | |
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61
investigation
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| n.调查，调查研究 | |
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62
coveted
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| adj.令人垂涎的；垂涎的，梦寐以求的v.贪求，觊觎(covet的过去分词)；垂涎；贪图 | |
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63
yew
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| n.紫杉属树木 | |
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64
concealment
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| n.隐藏, 掩盖，隐瞒 | |
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65
bustle
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| v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹 | |
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66
darted
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| v.投掷，投射( dart的过去式和过去分词 )；向前冲，飞奔 | |
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67
fugitive
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| adj.逃亡的，易逝的；n.逃犯，逃亡者 | |
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68
commotion
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| n.骚动，动乱 | |
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69
disturbance
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| n.动乱，骚动；打扰，干扰；(身心)失调 | |
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70
tangle
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| n.纠缠；缠结；混乱；v.(使)缠绕；变乱 | |
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71
presaged
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| v.预示，预兆( presage的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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72
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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73
justify
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| vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护 | |
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74
beseech
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| v.祈求，恳求 | |
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75
uncommon
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| adj.罕见的，非凡的，不平常的 | |
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76
rigid
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| adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的 | |
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77
winding
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| n.绕，缠，绕组，线圈 | |
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78
supplication
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| n.恳求，祈愿，哀求 | |
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79
saluted
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| v.欢迎，致敬( salute的过去式和过去分词 )；赞扬，赞颂 | |
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80
thumping
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| adj.重大的，巨大的；重击的；尺码大的；极好的adv.极端地；非常地v.重击(thump的现在分词)；狠打；怦怦地跳；全力支持 | |
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81
erect
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| n./v.树立，建立，使竖立；adj.直立的，垂直的 | |
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82
avers
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| v.断言( aver的第三人称单数 )；证实；证明…属实；作为事实提出 | |
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83
crumpled
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| adj. 弯扭的, 变皱的 动词crumple的过去式和过去分词形式 | |
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84
peruse
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| v.细读，精读 | |
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85
scrutiny
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| n.详细检查，仔细观察 | |
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86
concealed
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| a.隐藏的，隐蔽的 | |
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87
scout
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| n.童子军，侦察员；v.侦察，搜索 | |
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88
determined
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| adj.坚定的；有决心的 | |
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89
intercept
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| vt.拦截，截住，截击 | |
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90
oars
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| n.桨，橹( oar的名词复数 )；划手v.划（行）( oar的第三人称单数 ) | |
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91
ashore
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| adv.在(向)岸上，上岸 | |
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92
plausible
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| adj.似真实的，似乎有理的，似乎可信的 | |
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93
haughty
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| adj.傲慢的，高傲的 | |
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94
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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95
passionately
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| ad.热烈地，激烈地 | |
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96
curiously
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| adv.有求知欲地；好问地；奇特地 | |
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97
vaguely
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| adv.含糊地，暖昧地 | |
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98
killing
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| n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财 | |
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99
contemplate
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| vt.盘算，计议；周密考虑；注视，凝视 | |
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100
simplicity
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| n.简单，简易；朴素；直率，单纯 | |
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101
delude
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| vt.欺骗；哄骗 | |
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102
distress
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| n.苦恼，痛苦，不舒适；不幸；vt.使悲痛 | |
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103
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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104
enunciate
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| v.发音；（清楚地）表达 | |
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105
scouts
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| 侦察员[机，舰]( scout的名词复数 )； 童子军； 搜索； 童子军成员 | |
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106
tallies
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| n.账( tally的名词复数 )；符合；（计数的）签；标签v.计算，清点( tally的第三人称单数 )；加标签（或标记）于；（使）符合；（使）吻合 | |
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107
gasps
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| v.喘气( gasp的第三人称单数 )；喘息；倒抽气；很想要 | |
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108
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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109
queried
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| v.质疑，对…表示疑问( query的过去式和过去分词 )；询问 | |
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110
inquiries
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| n.调查( inquiry的名词复数 )；疑问；探究；打听 | |
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111
beckoning
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| adj.引诱人的，令人心动的v.（用头或手的动作）示意，召唤( beckon的现在分词 ) | |
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112
blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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113
devoutly
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| adv.虔诚地，虔敬地，衷心地 | |
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114
inconvenient
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| adj.不方便的，令人感到麻烦的 | |
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116
muster
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| v.集合，收集，鼓起，激起；n.集合，检阅，集合人员，点名册 | |
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117
fervently
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| adv.热烈地，热情地，强烈地 | |
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118
ascertain
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| vt.发现，确定，查明，弄清 | |
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119
plucky
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| adj.勇敢的 | |
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120
rascal
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| n.流氓；不诚实的人 | |
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121
solitary
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| adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士 | |
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