“No; I am wide awake,” shouted a voice from the inside. “I wanted to see the men that came back with that wagon-train. Well—halloo! Dawson,” exclaimed the rebel, who, when he came out, caught sight of his old comrade in arms. “You’re here, ain’t you?”
The two men shook hands as though they had not seen each other for years. Dawson then explained how the capture was effected, and the rebel’s eyes fairly flashed as he listened to it. When he ceased speaking the rebel asked permission for Dawson to come under his lean-to and share his blankets with him, and as the sentry did not find any fault Leon readily granted it. When he had seen the two tuck themselves away preparatory to a good sleep and had exchanged a few words with their guard, Leon turned about and made the best of his way to the hotel.
CHAPTER VII.
BREAKING THE MULE.
What Mr. Sprague was talking about when Leon and his companions went in to eat their suppers was whether or not it would be a good plan to send a party of cavalrymen, say a dozen or more, down to the little creek that separated the two counties to bring them warning of a Confederate force which was coming to subdue them; for Mr. Sprague was certain that those men would be along before a great while. The rebels were not the men to stand still and allow themselves to be robbed of $500,000.
“Their scouts will be a long ways ahead of the main body, and by the time they get here we can be safe in the swamp,” said Mr. Sprague. “The cavalrymen are all good shots, and by the time they get through with one fire there won’t be so many of them to follow up our men.”
“They will shoot them down, I suppose?” said Mr. Knight.
“Of course they will have to take their chances on that. While all the rest of them are asleep one of them can be standing guard.”
“I think it would be a good plan. We’ll send cavalrymen down there every morning to relieve them. Perhaps you had better detail some guards for to-morrow morning. But do you say you captured that train without firing a shot?”
“It is the truth,” said Mr. Sprague. “One of the soldiers said it was the prettiest surprise he every saw. The men were all prompt, and they obeyed my whistle just like clock-work.”
The next morning when Leon awoke and stretched himself on the bench which served him in lieu of a bed he felt like a new man. He was not accustomed to spending so many hours in the saddle, his long ride of the day before had wearied him, and when he went to slumber he “slept for keeps,” as he expressed it. He got up, and, after washing his hands and face, went out on the porch and saw a party of a dozen men gathered about a tree a short distance away. There was a white mule in the party, and three or four men were fussing around her.