AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE ENEMY'S SCOUTS

The baggage-train of the Guards had seen from a distance that the battle had begun, and they had halted in the road. They still blocked the way for Deck and Artie; but they could no longer remain as spectators to the exciting scene which had just transpired, and had ridden down to the field of action; but the fighting had ceased. The cavalrymen were picking up their wounded; and Dr. Farnwright, the surgeon of the battalion, was attending to their needs.

"Well, boys, this affair seems to be finished; and we made very short work of it," said Captain Truman, as they rode up to the spot where he was observing the labors of the men.

"We have seen the whole of it, and now we are ready to return to our company," replied Deck.

"The road is clear now, and there is nothing to prevent your return."

"The wagons of the enemy have halted in the road, and there seems to be half-a-dozen men or more in charge of them," said Deck.

"I will send a squad to bring them in," replied the captain, as he called a sergeant near him, and directed him to take ten men and perform this duty. "You will go with Sergeant Langford, boys, and I think you will be all right."

"Have you any message for the major, Captain?" asked Deck.

"You have seen the skirmish yourselves, and you can report it as it was. We were fired upon smartly for a time; but the muskets of the enemy were of all sorts and kinds, and most of them good for nothing. We have eight men wounded, two of them badly, and the rest slightly. Sergeant Langford has just reported to me that the enemy lost eight men killed, and fifteen wounded, some of them fatally. The rest of the command are prisoners."

Sergeant Langford appeared with his ten men, and the boys went with him on their return to their company. It was not yet sunrise, and the principal task of the morning had been accomplished; for the action had lasted hardly more than a quarter of an hour. Lieutenant Blenks was compelling the Guards to pick up and care for their own wounded, and to bury their dead. The men were sulky, and the cavalrymen were compelled to drive them to this duty.

"It was sharp work for a few minutes," said Langford to the boys, after he had called them to his side.

"It was; but the thing was very handsomely done," replied Deck. "I think these ruffians have had quite enough of it."

"They are as sulky as a bear that has lost her cubs. They were not willing to pick up their own dead and wounded, and wanted our boys to do it for them; but a few slaps with the flat of the sabres brought them to the point," added the sergeant. "I suppose the work in this quarter is done now."

"I think not. I doubt whether we have finished," replied Deck; but he said nothing about the Texan Rangers, for he did not feel at liberty to use the information he had obtained as a messenger.

The wagons of the enemy had halted where the men in charge of them could see what had happened at the bridge; but when the sergeant's squad approached them, they brought their muskets to their shoulders, as though they intended to defend their property.

"Unsling carbines!" called Langford to his men; and they promptly obeyed the order.

But the baggage guard did not fire; for some one among them seemed to have more sense than the others, and had interposed to prevent a useless sacrifice of life. A dispute followed among them, and the sergeant advanced upon them.

"No more jaw!" interposed Langford. "Start your mules, and go ahead!"

"Where are we going? We ain't no use over there now," said one of the men.

"You are no use anywhere! Start your teams!" added Langford, as he slapped the last speaker with the flat of his sabre. "Shove them along, boys!"

"We ain't goin' over there; we'll turn round and go back where we come from," added the spokesman of the party.

"Are you all idiots?" demanded Langford. "Your wagons are wanted over at the bridge, and that is where you are going."

The troopers soon started the teams with a vigorous use of the flat sides of their sabres. The guardsmen were disposed to resist; but they were vigorously pushed forward, and when a fellow hung back, he was gently pricked with the point of the sharp weapons.

"I believe a good part of these ruffians are idiots, as Langford suggested," said Deck, as he and Artie rode forward. "They don't seem to understand that they are taking part in the war."

"That's so," replied Artie, laughing. "If they find they cannot destroy the bridge, all they have to do is to go back where they came from, and call it square. But Langford has brought them to their senses."

A smart gallop of a few minutes brought the messengers in sight of the mansion-house of the plantation. The first company was not where they had left it in the early morning; but they soon discovered a couple of the men, who seemed to be patrolling the south road.

"Where is the company, Yowell?" asked Deck, when they came within speaking distance.

"Behind the mansion. We were sent down to look for you," replied the soldier. "Major Lyon was afraid something had happened to you."

"We are all right. Have you seen any of the enemy up this way?"

"Not a man of them. If you take this path it will bring you to the house, and you will find the major there."

The boys took the path indicated, and put their horses to their best speed. When they came to the house, they were greeted in the yard by the planter and his family, and the ladies poured forth their gratitude to Deck for the service he had rendered the evening before. But the young cavalryman could not stop to listen long to them.

"Where is Major Lyon?" he asked, looking about him.

"He is on the top of the house," replied Mr. Barkland.

"Come up here, both of you!" shouted the major from his elevated position.

Giving the reins of their bridles to the orderly, who was there with the commander's horse, Mr. Barkland showed them the way to a platform on the roof of the mansion, from which a full view of the surrounding country was obtained; only the railroad bridge was shut out by a hill.

"What makes you so late, boys?" asked the major, as they presented themselves before him.

"The baggage-train of the enemy stopped in the road, with half-a-dozen men in charge of it, so that we could not pass it without a fight," replied Deck.

"Has anything been done at the bridge?" asked the commander anxiously.

"Yes, sir; the battle has been fought and won, and the whole company of Home Guards are prisoners," replied Deck, giving the entire story all in a heap.

"That is good news, though I expected no other result. What was our loss?"

"None killed; eight wounded, two of them seriously, the others slightly. The enemy's loss is eight killed and fifteen wounded, some of them fatally," replied Deck, who had studied over the report of the fight he was to make; and then he proceeded to give the details of the affair.

This was in the beginning of the war, and before any battle of magnitude had been fought, so that the action at the railroad bridge seemed to be a considerable affair. The major listened with deep interest to all the particulars. Doubtless he was pleased with the report of the result; but he frequently raised the field-glass in his hands to his eyes as he listened, and it was evident that he was more concerned in regard to the approach of the enemy from the south.

He put several questions to the boys, which were answered by both of them, and fully informed himself in regard to the situation at the bridge, which was about three miles distant from the mansion.

"You will both return to the bridge; give my order to Captain Truman to leave a sufficient force on the ground to guard the prisoners, to dispose of the dead and wounded, and then to join me at this place with all the men that can be spared," said the major.

The boys saluted him, and hastened to obey the order. In a few minutes they were galloping over the road again. On their way down the stairs they met Captain Gordon on his way to the roof. He had been the recruiting officer sent by the commanding general of the department to organize the first company, and the major had used all his influence to elect him to the office he filled himself. He had declined the position, for he thought it better that the planter of Riverlawn should fill that place. He had an apartment at the major's mansion, and they had been on the most intimate terms from the beginning.

"I have posted Lieutenant Belthorpe behind the hill," said Captain Gordon, as he saluted his superior officer. "I have given him full instructions."

"I have just sent for Captain Truman and as many of the second company as can be spared," replied Major Lyon. "They have beaten Captain Titus's command, and captured the whole of them."

"Can you make out any movement of the enemy to the south of us, Major Lyon?" asked the captain.

"Nothing yet. Everything is in readiness, I suppose, to carry out our plan."

"Everything; and the men are in fine spirits."

"The only thing I fear is that the Rangers will take the other road to the bridge," suggested the major.

"But that would make the distance at least two miles farther," replied Captain Gordon. "Can it be possible that the commander of the Rangers has obtained information of our presence here, and of the result of the affair at the bridge?"

"I think not; and yet it is possible, for not many in command could be so neglectful of all reasonable precautions as Captain Titus was."

"If they come this way, we are all ready for them. I have scouts out to the eastward of our position, who will report to us the passage of any force by the east road, as they call it here," continued the captain. "The Texans are not early risers, or we should have seen them by this time. I will return to my company, and await further orders."

The boys understood the necessity of haste, and in less than fifteen minutes their foaming steeds brought them into the presence of Captain Truman, to whom they delivered their message. He had already reduced everything to a condition of order. The wounded had been removed to a deserted shanty, probably used by the railroad workmen, and the prisoners were surrounded by a guard of twenty men. All was quiet on the ground, and the captain was glad to receive the order brought by the messengers.

Lieutenant Blenks had already been placed in command of the camp, and the captain gave the order for Lieutenant Gadbury to have his men in marching order at once; and twenty men from the second platoon were added to their number. But Deck and Artie did not wait for this body to move, but started at once on their return; for they were anxious to be present in any engagement that might take place. They had little compassion for their horses, fond as they were of them, and dashed down the road at their best speed.

"Hi!" exclaimed Artie, as they reached the cross-road.

"What is it, Artie?" asked Deck, who was looking to the right.

"Don't you see? There are a couple of mounted men wearing the gray!" exclaimed Artie with energy.

"What are they?" asked Deck.

"What are they? It is as plain as a stone wall to a blind man after he has stumbled over it, that they are the Texans who are expected over here."

"Are there only two of them?" asked Deck facetiously. "Your head is level, Artie, and they are a couple of scouts who are feeling the way for a bigger body further back."

Just at that moment a bullet whistled between the two boys; for the scouts could have no difficulty in making out the uniform of the two messengers. Both of them unslung their carbines; and, without considering what consequences might ensue, both of them fired, Artie delivering the first shot. One of the Texans tumbled from his horse, and Deck aimed at the other; but he was less fortunate in his discharge, for the remaining man still clung to his horse. Raising his carbine, he fired.

"I am hit," said Deck, as he held up his left arm.

The man who had delivered his fire wheeled his horse as soon as he had done so, and galloped back by the way he came.