The Lost Army

by Thomas Wallace Knox

“If you try to escape,” said he, “you will be shot down at once; but if you obey orders and do exactly what is told you without question, you 'll find it to your advantage.”

They promised everything he asked of them, and on reaching camp they went demurely to the quarters assigned them, and made not the least trouble. As soon as he was relieved of his charges Harry went straight to General Vandever and asked to see him privately, a request which the general readily granted.

Under the seal of confidence Harry then told the whole story of how he and Jack had been saved from capture by the warning given by Cordelia, and how two of the prisoners then in camp were the brother and lover of the warm-hearted girl. He wanted them set free as a return for the service she had rendered the two youths, but at the same time he specially desired that neither the prisoners nor any one else should know or suspect the real reason of his request.

“We can easily arrange that,” answered the general. “I 'll see General Curtis and ask him to turn the prisoners over to me, to do with as I think best: I've no doubt he 'll do it, and if he does there won't be any trouble about the other details.”

An hour later the general sent for Harry, who responded with alacrity to the call.

“It's all right,” said the general, as soon as Harry came into his presence. “The five horses that you and Jack captured that night are worth more to us than the prisoners; the men might not like to know they've been traded for horses, but that's the way I look at it. Go and see if you can get the prisoners to take an oath not to serve in the rebel armies again during the war, and you may tell them they 'll be released if they 'll do it.”

Harry went at once to the guard-house, where the prisoners were confined, and it did not take long for them to make the desired promise. He explained that he had urged their case before the general, and had persuaded the latter to grant his request on condition that they went home at once and stayed there, and furthermore, that they signed the required oath and gave no further aid in any way to the war.

This being arranged the prisoners were taken before General Vandever, who gave them a severe lecture, pretended he was opposed to letting them loose, but had only done so at the urgent request of Harry, who believed them to be honest, but misguided, and who felt sure they would live up to their promise. There was much more talk to the same effect, all tending to show that they owed their liberation to Harry and Jack; and finally the papers were signed, the oath was taken, and the prisoners were escorted to the lines and allowed to go on their way toward Forsyth and home.

It was afterward ascertained that the arrival of the pair at the Jones' mansion was the cause of great astonishment to the family, and especially to the senior Jones, who had been in mortal terror ever since that night, for fear that the youths would cause his house to be burned over his head in revenge for his treachery. Cordelia blushed down to the roots of her hair, but her blushes were attributed to her joy at seeing her lover and brother safe at home from the wars. No one had the slightest suspicion that she had aught to do with the escape of the youths and the capture of the horses. As the returned soldiers babbled on about the kindness of Harry, and how he had brought about their liberation, the tears came into her eyes, and it was with great difficulty that she preserved her composure.

As before stated, the army in camp at Batesville, weakened by the withdrawal of a portion of its numbers, which were sent to aid in the siege of Corinth, and, being short of provisions and ammunition, was in no condition to advance upon Little Rock. Its only line of march was back to Rolla, or through the country that lay between it and the Mississippi river. The movement upon Rolla would be a retrograde one, while that toward the Mississippi would be an advance; consequently the latter was selected without hesitation.