ONE AGAINST THREE ON THE ROAD
Lieutenant Gordon looked about him with something like amazement as he entered the fort. Levi Bedford and the boys had arranged the arms in racks made by the carpenters. The two Napoleons, as the twelve-pounders are sometimes called, were pointed out at the embrasures, and the aspect of the place was decidedly warlike. Buck Lagger had been removed to the hospital, where he found three of his comrades of the Home Guards, two others having been sent to their homes.
"These are my sons, Lieutenant," said Major Lyon, introducing each of them by name. "They are stout boys, very nearly eighteen years old, and are good riders. They will be the first recruits to put their names on your paper after mine when you enter upon the work of your mission."
"They are the kind of recruits I like to add to our forces, for they are not only stout, but intelligent," replied the officer, as he took from his breast pocket the printed form of document for the enlistment of soldiers. "Where did you get the name of this fort, Major Lyon?"
"From my overseer, the first man you met on my premises. He was formerly connected with an artillery company in Tennessee; but he is a Union man to the core," replied the planter, who proceeded to give Levi the excellent character he deserved.
"Then he will be our fourth recruit?" suggested the lieutenant.
"No, sir; he is about fifty years old, and he is to take charge of my plantation in my absence. But I think there are over a hundred men in this vicinity who are ready to put their names down on your paper. The horses are all ready for them, for they were pledged in the Union meeting of which I told you."
"We shall not need the horses at first," added the lieutenant.
"Not need the horses, sir!" exclaimed Deck, who was listening with all his ears to the conversation. "How are we going to get up a company of cavalry without horses?"
"The company will be first drilled like infantry, and the exercises with horses come in later," replied the officer with a smile at the eagerness of the boy; and Artie was just as enthusiastic, though he said very little.
"Both of them will make good soldiers, sir, for they have been under fire in a small way," added the father.
"I should say that you have little need of soldiers for the protection of your place, Major Lyon," added the officer, as he looked at the cannon and the breech-loaders arranged around the interior of the fort. "Are these the arms you captured in the cavern?"
"The same, sir; and they have already enabled us to defend ourselves from the mob that came over here to burn my house."
"These muskets must have cost a round sum of money, for they are of the best quality, and have the latest improvements. Unfortunately they are not adapted to the use of cavalry, and we shall need carbines."
"Well, it is something to keep them out of the hands of the enemy," replied Major Lyon. "I suppose we are ready to make a beginning in the business before us, Lieutenant Gordon. What is the first thing to be done?"
"The first thing is to enlist the men," replied the officer, as he took from his pocket a handbill, printed for use in some other locality. "We must post bills like this one all about this vicinity."
"We can't get them printed short of Bowling Green," said Major Lyon, after he had read the placard. "And the Home Guards will pull them down as fast as we can put them up."
"But some of them will be seen, and the news that a recruiting office has been established here will soon circulate. You are between two fires here, and your foes will talk about it even more than your friends. We must have the handbills at any rate."
"Very well. Artie, this will be a mission for you."
"I am ready and willing to do anything I can," replied the quiet boy; and in half an hour he was mounted on a fleet horse on his way to a printing-office.
"I suppose the village of which you speak would be the best place to establish the recruiting office," suggested Lieutenant Gordon, as soon as Artie had gone to the stable for a horse.
"I am afraid not," replied the planter. "I fear the ruffians who abound in that vicinity would mob you. Why not establish the office here, where we shall be able to protect you?"
"It seems to be too far from any centre of population," said the officer.
"All the better for that; for in the village they would not only mob you, but the ruffians would intimidate those who were willing to enlist. People in this vicinity don't mind going two or three miles when business calls them," continued the planter.
"I shall adopt your suggestion, Major Lyon," returned the recruiting officer, as he proceeded to alter the handbill to suit the locality. "I suppose everybody in this neighborhood will know where to find Riverlawn."
"Everybody in the county," replied the major, as Artie dashed up to the door of the fort, where the officer gave him his instructions, and the planter supplied him with money to pay the bill.
"I think I had better take one of those revolvers in my pocket," suggested Artie. "If I get into any trouble it may be of use to me."
"Do you expect to get into any trouble, my boy?" asked the major, anxiously gazing into the messenger's face.
"I don't expect any trouble, but something may happen."
"Perhaps I had better send half a dozen of the boys with you," suggested his father.
"The boys?" queried the lieutenant, wondering where they were to come from, as he had seen only two of them.
"I mean the negroes who defended the place the other night," added the planter. "They have learned to handle the breech-loaders, and they would fight for my boys as long as there was anything left of them."
"I dare say they would," replied the officer with a significant smile. "But if you send six negroes armed with breech-loaders to Bowling Green, you may be sure there will be a row."
"Just my sentiments," added Levi Bedford. "I don't think Artie will have any trouble if he goes alone."
"Very well, let him go alone; but I am confident half a dozen of the boys would make it hot for any band that attempted to molest him," said the major; and the messenger departed on his mission.
"Have you an American flag, Major Lyon?" asked the lieutenant when he had gone.
"Two of them, for my brother always celebrated the Fourth of July."
"We always hoist one on a recruiting office."
Under the direction of Levi a flagstaff was erected in front of the fort, and before dinner-time the Star Spangled Banner was spread to the breeze. Major Lyon took off his hat and bowed to it as soon as it was shaken out to the breeze; and cheers were heard from the negroes in the field beyond the stables.
"If you had set that flag over your office in the village, it would have been hauled down and trampled under foot inside of an hour," said the planter.
"Are the people of this vicinity so disloyal as that?" asked Lieutenant Gordon, astonished at the remark. "I supposed the Unionists were in the majority here."
"So they are; but they are not half so demonstrative as the other side."
The bell rang at the door of the mansion for dinner; and while the family were attending to this midday duty, Artie was entering the county town. He had taken his dinner with him, and had eaten it as he approached his destination. There were two printing-offices in the place, and he called at the first one he saw.
"What's this? 'Union Cavalry!'" demanded the printer, as he read the head-line in displayed type.
"What will you charge for printing two hundred copies of that bill, and doing it while I wait?" asked Artie.
"'Riverlawn!'" added the man, as he continued to read the placard. "Who are you, boy?"
"My name is Artemas Lyon, and my father lives at Riverlawn," replied Artie.
"Well, Artemas Lyon, I would not print that bill if your father would give me a hundred dollars a letter for doing it!" stormed the printer, as he tossed the copy back to the messenger with as much indignation in his manner as in his speech.
"All right, sir; if you don't want to do the job you needn't!" replied Artie, as he returned the bill to his pocket and moved to the door.
"Stop a minute, boy! So you are recruiting at Riverlawn for the Abolition army?" called the printer, who was perhaps a member of the Home Guards. "I want to know something about that business."
"If you want to enlist in the Union army, you can do so at Riverlawn. I am in a hurry, and I can't stop to answer any questions," replied Artie, as he bolted out at the door.
"What are you doing here, Artie Lyon?" called a voice from the other side of the street as he was unhitching his horse.
It was Colonel Cosgrove, though his house was some distance farther up the street. The lawyer came over to him, and he explained the object of his visit to the county town.
"You ought to have come to me at once, Artie," said the colonel, as the messenger showed him the handbill. "That printer runs a Secession paper, and he would lose all his subscribers if it was known that he printed a placard like this. Come with me, and I will get the work done for you."
Artie followed him to the office of a Union paper, and it looked as though it was in a more prosperous condition than the other. The printer readily undertook the work, and promised to have it done by three o'clock in the afternoon. The messenger was invited to the mansion of Colonel Cosgrove, where he dined with the family.
"I signed the letter to General Buell with your father, asking him to send a recruiting officer to this locality," said the colonel, as he conducted his guest to the library. "I am very glad he has come. I should have been in favor of establishing his office in this place if it were not a current report that the town is to be occupied by the Confederates within a short time."
"Father thought Riverlawn would be a better place than Barcreek village for it," added Artie.
"I think he is right."
The messenger was called upon to tell the news of his vicinity, and he mentioned all that had occurred since the fight, including the attempt to murder Levi Bedford, and the capture of Buck Lagger. At three o'clock Artie went to the printing-office, and found the handbills all ready for him. He paid the bill, and went back to the colonel's house for his horse, which had been as well cared for as his rider. He was advised to hurry out of the town, and he galloped his horse for the first mile till he reached the open country. Half a mile ahead of him was a wood.
The young horseman had reduced his speed to a moderate gait before he reached this grove; but he had not gone far before three men stepped out of the bushes and stood in front of him in the road. They had flint-lock guns in their hands, and it looked as though they were there for a purpose.
"Stop, boy!" shouted the man who stood in the middle of the road, with one on each side of him.
