"I think I will not see your mother to-night," added Christy, as he turned, and began to retrace his steps towards the mansion of his uncle.
Four Men Sprang in Front of Him (Page 183)
They had halted in the road near the gate, and on both sides of it was a thick undergrowth of small trees and bushes; and in the shade of this foliage it had become quite dark. Christy had not taken three steps before four men sprang out of the thicket in front of him, all of them armed with muskets, and wearing a uniform of gray. Two placed themselves in front of Christy; while the other two rushed after Percy, who took to his heels as soon as he saw them.
The gate was an impediment to the latter; and before he could get over or through it, the two soldiers had laid violent hands on him. He could offer no effectual resistance, and it was evident that he was frightened out of his wits; for he looked and acted like the ghost of despair itself. The two men immediately tied his hands behind him; and, though they did not use any undue harshness, they did their work thoroughly.
Christy was even more astonished than his companion at this sharp discipline. He did not regard himself as a fit subject for such treatment, and he could not understand why he had been subjected to it. He was not liable to do military duty, and Major Pierson could hardly think of pressing him into the service of the Confederacy. His two captors were as prompt in their action as the two who had taken Percy, and his hands were also tied behind him.
"Good-evening, gentlemen," said Christy, as soon as the soldiers had bound him, and then stood in front to take a look at him. "Don't it strike you that you are indulging in rather sharp practice?"
"We haven't any thing to do with the practice: all we have to do is to obey orders," replied one of the men.
"But I think you have mistaken your orders," suggested the prisoner.
"I think not: if we have, we will set things to rights at once," replied the man, who appeared to be the sergeant in command of the party. "But our business is not so much with you as with the other young fellow."