"It is only an order for your father to wait till we return," said the captain; and then he rode on. "Do you know your way along the river, Lieutenant?" he asked a little later.
"No, sir; Fronklyn and I came down to this bend in a boat, of which the ferryman has taken possession, as I told him to do, for he had lost his own. But you will soon come to a swollen stream that flows into the river; and you cannot get across that, for the banks are very high and steep," replied Deck.
The captain continued on his way at a slow walk, for the horses mired in the soft soil, keeping his gaze fixed on the opposite shore. At the end of half an hour they came to a little hill, at the foot of which the tributary stream discharged itself into the Cumberland. The staff-officer directed his glass to the other shore, and there was nothing to obstruct his vision.
"As I supposed," said he, turning his horse, and starting on the return to the ferry.
"It is pleasant to have your supposition confirmed," Deck ventured to remark.
"My supposition was that the Confederate army would march to the south at once, and I have seen the column moving in that direction on the road that leads to Oak Forest," said Captain Woodbine, revealing his object for the first time, though he said nothing about his purpose in marching the Riverlawns to the river.
Deck asked no questions, but when they had gone half-way to the ferry the sound of several bugles was heard ahead of them.
"Our squadron appears to have arrived," said he.
"Perhaps it has," replied the captain with a smile.
"That is an artillery call!" exclaimed the lieutenant, as he recognized the sounds; and he was not a little astonished.