Harry Castlemon

“ A soldier's whole duty is to obey. He is nothing but a machine and his captain does his thinking for him. If I had wanted you to go to the city and fire on those gunboats I should have led you there myself. Lambert, you alone are to blame for this miserable state of affairs, and I will tell you for your satisfaction that you have killed your chances for a lieutenant's commission deader than a smelt. ”

“ CAPTAIN ROACH LAYS DOWN THE LAW. As soon as the Baton Rouge men with their lowering looks and big revolvers were fairly out of sight of the house Captain Tom, feeling much the worse for the exciting ordeal through which he had just passed, went into his mother's room and flung himself down on the lounge with the air of a man who had nothing in the world to live for. There wasn't another captain in the Confederacy, he told himself, whose ambition to do something great for his country had been balked and defeated at every turn as his had been ever since he took command of the Home Guards. ”

“ What could I do?"
"Could you not follow the same course that Rodney Gray pursued, when General Lacey came up from New Orleans to swear the Mooreville Rangers into the Confederate Army?" inquired Mrs. Randolph.
"Mother, if you were a man you would be a general yourself," exclaimed Tom, his fears vanishing on the instant. "If a first duty sergeant can back down a major-general, I reckon a captain in the State militia can do the same for a Confederate captain." ”

“ A few determined men could torment them as the buffalo gnats torment our stock."
"You must be a lunatic or take me for one," was what Captain Roach said in reply. "Why can't you be content to let the Yankees alone so long as they are willing to let us alone? If you should fire on their pickets they would send their cavalry all through the country about here, and there's no telling how much damage they would do."
"Do you think they have brought cavalry with them?" cried Tom, a most alarming thought suggesting itself to him at the moment. ”

“ Their hounds were lying close by on the grass, their horses stood at the front fence with their heads down as if asleep, and both looked as though they needed rest. The boys made a mental note of these things and walked straight ahead as if they belonged there, their approach being hailed with an exclamation of delight from the owner of the plantation, who was the first to catch sight of them.
"What do you mean, sir, by such conduct?" said Mr. Turnbull, passing his well loaded tray to one of the soldiers and hastening to meet Rodney with outstretched hand. ”

“ Consequently they were ready to treat Tom Randolph with the greatest respect.
The latter drew himself up very stiffly, assumed a soldier's position in the saddle, copying Rodney Gray as nearly as he could, and said with the dignity befitting his rank:
"I assure you that no apologies are necessary. I am always glad to shake a loyal Confederate by the hand." And he proved it by extending to each of the veterans a palm that was as limp as a piece of wet rope. ”

“ I did indeed," cried Tom, hiding his face in his hands.
"We don't believe it," answered the soldier. "Your weakening is all put on, because you have learned that it isn't such a funny thing to be a prisoner as you thought it was. And even if you did lie to us, you are a Home Guard, and that is against you. If you haven't done any mean things it's because you haven't had the chance."
327
To Tom Randolph's rage and disgust Ned did not try to combat this decision. He simply said:
"All right; just as you say. Keep a stiff upper lip, Tom, and I will go and get Rodney." ”

“ It is what we all have to do when we meet the enemy."
"Have you found them a tolerably brave lot?" inquired Captain Tom, who wanted much to meet some veteran who would assure him that the Yankees were all cowards and did not know how to fight.
"As brave as they make 'em," said the lieutenant earnestly, "and dead shots into the bargain. We have bitten off a good deal more than we can chew in ten years; now you remember what I tell you. Of course, captain, I wouldn't say that in the presence of a civilian; but one old soldier knows how to take another. ”

“ When you go into old man Gray's house you will go plump into a nest of traitors."
"No, I reckon not. A man who volunteers and does a soldier's duty for fifteen long months, and who shows me an honorable discharge, can't well be called a traitor."
"He stayed in the army after he got there because he had to, and did a soldier's duty for the very good reason that he couldn't help himself," said Captain Tom spitefully. "But see how he talks since he came back! He says he will not go into the army again, and declares that the Yanks who captured him while he was on the way home were gentlemen." ”

“ If he had not fired upon that unarmed boat the Federals would never have thought it necessary to send a force to Baton Rouge, and Captain Tom could have escorted his conscripted neighbors to the camp of instruction without fear of coming in contact with the blue-coated cavalry. He would have had many opportunities to show his fine sword and uniform to soldiers from other parts of the State, and could have talked as big as he pleased about whipping iron-clad gunboats in a fair fight. ”

“ There are lots of traitors in the city who try to curry favor with the Yanks by carrying tales about their old neighbors. By the way, don't you want me to get you a barrel of flour?"
The expression of astonishment that came upon Mr. Banks' face set the table in a roar.
"You didn't expect me to speak so freely in the presence of these blue-coated boys, I suppose," continued Rodney. "You needn't be afraid, for they are not on duty now. Besides, they are soldiers, and I'd rather trust them than some civilians I know of." ”

“ Gray's neighbors.
"There was the blackest smoke over toward the river that I ever saw in my life," was the answer. "Baton Rouge is gone up. You'd better leave while you can. You may save your lives, but you can't save your property. Get along there, mule! Me and mine will take to the brush."
Every story to which Mr. Gray and Ned Griffin listened was more thrilling than the one that came before it. ”

“ Two-thirds of their number had left home and friends behind and sought refuge in the city.
"This is a pretty state of affairs," exclaimed Tom, when Captain Roach told him of it. "Those men are not worthy to be called Southerners. Before I would show myself so cowardly I would go somewhere and hang myself. What will you do with them when they come back?"
"They'll not come back," replied the enrolling officer. "They will stay where they are safe, and no doubt desertions will be of daily occurrence as long as the Yankees remain in the city." ”

“ Randolph again. "If I can make something to eat and wear by trading with the Yankees, who seem to have enough and to spare, it is to my interest and yours to do it, is it not? And through it all I can still be a good Confederate, can't I? Look here," he continued, walking up to the table and sinking his voice almost to a whisper. "I have 200 bales of cotton concealed in the swamp, and Gray has more than twice as much. And every bale of that cotton is worth sixty cents a pound in New York." ”

“ The men of the North belonged to an inferior race and did not know how to fight. They were going to be whipped without any trouble at all, and when the Southern troops had covered themselves with glory by taking and holding Washington, while Jefferson Davis dictated terms of peace to the Lincoln hirelings, he wanted all the Mooreville boys there to witness the grand and imposing spectacle, and that was why he urged them to enlist. ”

“ Foremost in the struggle was Rosebud, the darkey who had been Rodney's playmate in the days of his babyhood, and who yelled so dolefully when he went away. Although they all inquired particularly after his health, there was not one among them who asked what he thought of the Yankees as fighters now that he had had some experience with them. They knew as well as he did that he and his comrades had failed utterly in their efforts to take Missouri out of the Union. ”

“ May we trespass still further on your good-nature by asking for a bite for our absent comrades?"
"Lucindy, fill up the biggest basket you can find in the house," said Ned. "And Ben, if you will sit down a minute I will get shoes and stockings for you."
"And have you anything in the way of bedding?" inquired Mrs. Griffin. "The nights are cool, if the days are sultry." ”

“ Captain Tom was not slow to improve the advantage he had gained, and the way he scolded, threatened, and even insulted the Home Guards would have made a regular soldier open his eyes. He showed them that they did wrong when they followed Lambert to Baton Rouge without orders from their captain, and drew so harrowing a picture of the dangers and privations of the army life to which they had doomed themselves by their acts of disobedience and folly that he frightened the bravest of them ”

“ When they reached the enrolling office Rodney found that he knew everyone there except the officer in charge; and as he shook hands with some and barely nodded to others, he told himself that they were just the sort of men he expected to find in Tom Randolph's company of Home Guards. There were a few industrious, hard-working ones among them, but the majority were long-haired, lazy vagabonds, who had never been known to earn an honest living.
"They're a pretty set to fight a gunboat," he whispered to Dick while the two were hitching their horses at the rack. ”

“ He laughed when they told him of their interview with the provost marshal, and, when Rodney declared that he'd like to see anybody treated with so much civility by an officer holding that position in Bragg's army, cautioned them to be careful how they trespassed upon the captain's good nature. The latter was cordial and friendly with everyone who had business with him, but he had a reputation as a fighter, had won all his promotions by his bravery on the field of battle, and had no mercy on civilians or soldiers who were caught disobeying his orders. ”

“ It came much sooner than Captain Roach had any reason to think it would, and Lieutenant Lambert of the Home Guards, whom we saw on his way to ask advice of a Confederate veteran, was the man who did the most to help it along. He found the soldier of whom he was in search at his home. He was sitting on the gallery enjoying his after supper smoke; but when he saw the Home Guard alight at his gate he staggered to his feet, laid hold of the crutch that leaned against the house behind his chair, and said, in mock alarm:
"The man you want to see don't live here no more. ”

“ You are going to take the conscripts to the camp of instruction with your Home Guards?" cried Rodney, his face becoming radiant when he thought of the obstacles in the shape of blue-coated soldiers that Captain Tom might possibly find in his way. "Hey-youp! That will be nuts for the Yanks, won't it, Dick?"
"You bet. There's tolerable many Yanks scattered around through the woods, and like as not your friend will have the pleasure of meeting some of them." ”

“ We're State troops, and we've got business in every part of the country that we please to go; and when it pleases the Baton Rouge people to start a nest of Yankee sympathizers in there, it's our bounden duty to go in and break it up. And that's just what we have done. We've drove the enemy away, and the Mississippi between New Orleans and Memphis belongs to we uns once more. ”

“ The lieutenant looked surprised, as Rodney and Dick knew he would, and so they handed over their discharges to prove that they had seen service, and had the right to be at home at that particular time.
"We're not going to be in any hurry," answered Rodney, who thought all his neighbors ought to know how he felt on that point. "Since I came home I have met many able-bodied civilians who were fierce for a fight when this thing first broke out, and who haven't yet put on a gray jacket. When I see those men in the front rank I'll go back, and not before." ”

“ The only thing you can do is to look out for yourself. Take as big a squad with you as you can muster, and stand ready to fight your way."
Captain Tom was almost disheartened, but made one more effort to shirk the duty to which, until this particular morning, he had looked forward with the liveliest anticipations of pleasure.
"Can't you ask the Confederate authorities to send regular troops here to act as guards, and leave me at home to protect the town?" ”

“ RODNEY KEEPS HIS PROMISE. When Captain Randolph was done with his leave-taking he hastened away as if he feared that the escaped prisoners might change their minds and call him back. He was out of sight in an instant, and when he was out of hearing Rodney Gray said:
"Now we must git ourselves. I don't know what sort of a story Tom will tell when he gets home, but it is safe to say that he will make himself out a very brave fellow, and urge his men to take up our trail at once."
"You needn't trouble yourself about the Home Guards," said Ned. ”

“ He felt like a new man after his refreshing sleep, and that was what all his comrades said when they were aroused. Then a short consultation was held, and Ned posted off to the house with the empty basket. It was full of eatables when he returned an hour later, to learn that during his absence the fugitives had decided that Tom Randolph's story was more worthy of belief than his own.
"It doesn't stand to reason that a man would tell such damaging things about himself just for fun," said the corporal, who spoke for all his companions. ”