Part 12 (1/2)

”'Just at that second the old negro stuck his head in at the door.

'We're busy, uncle,' said I. 'I'll give you five dollars for five minutes.'

”But the girl put her hand on my arm to stop me, 'What is it, Uncle Ebenezer?' she asked him anxiously.

”'It's young Ma.r.s.e, Miss Lindy,' the man said, 'Him'n Ma.r.s.e Philip Breck'nridge 'n' Ma.r.s.e Tom's ridin' down de branch right now. Close to hyer--dey'll be hyer in fo'-five minutes.'

”She nodded at him coolly. 'All right. Shut the door, Uncle Ebenezer,'

said she, and he went out and shut it.

”And before I could say Jack Robinson she was dragging me into the next room, and pus.h.i.+ng me out of a door at the back.

”'Go--hurry up--oh, go!' she begged. 'I won't let them take you.'

”Well, I didn't like to leave her suddenly like that, so I said, said I: 'What's the hurry? I want to tell you something.'

”'_No_,' she shot at me. 'You can't. Go--won't you, please go?' Then I picked up a little hand and hold it against my coat. I knew by now just how she would catch her breath when I did it.”

At about this point the General forgot me. Such good comrades we were that my presence did not trouble him, but as for telling the story to me, that was past--he was living it over, to himself alone, with every nerve in action.

”'Look here,' said I, 'I don't believe a thing like this ever happened on the globe before, but this has. It's so--I love you, and I believe you love me, and I'm not going till you tell me so.'

”By that time she was in a fit. 'They'll be here in two minutes; they're Confederate officers. Oh, and you mustn't cross at Kelly's Ford--take the ford above it'--and she thumped me excitedly with the hand I held.

I laughed, and she burst out again: 'They'll take you--oh, please go!'

”'Tell me, then,' said I, and she stopped half a second, and gasped again, and looked up in my eyes and said it. 'I love you,' said she. And she meant it.

”'Give me a kiss,' said I, and I leaned close to her, but she pulled away.

”'Oh, no--oh, please go now,' she begged.

”'All right,' said I, 'but you don't know what you're missing,' and I slid out of the back door at the second the Southerners came in at the front.

”There were bushes back there, and I crawled behind them and looked through into the window, and what do you suppose I saw? I saw the biggest and best-looking man of the three walk up to the girl who'd just told me she loved me, and I saw her put up her face and give him the kiss she wouldn't give me. Well, I went smas.h.i.+ng down to the woods, making such a rumpus that if those officers had been half awake they'd have been after me twice over. I was so maddened at the sight of that kiss that I didn't realize what I was doing or that I was endangering the lives of my men. 'Of course,' said I to myself, 'it's her brother or her cousin,' but I knew it was a hundred to one that it wasn't, and I was in a mighty bad temper.

”I got my men away from the neighborhood quietly, and we rode pretty cautiously all that afternoon, I knew the road leading to Kelly's Ford, and I bore to the north, away from there, for I trusted the girl and believed I'd be safe if I followed her orders. She'd saved my life twice that day, so I had reason to trust her. But all the time as I jogged along I was wondering about that man, and wondering what the d.i.c.kens she was up to, anyway, and why she was travelling in the same direction that I was, and where she was going--and over and over I wondered if I'd over see her again. I felt sure I would, though--I couldn't imagine not seeing her, after what she'd said. I didn't even know her name, except that the old negro had called her 'Miss Lindy.' I said that a lot of times to myself as I rode, with the men's bits jingling at my buck and their horses' hoofs thud-thudding. 'Lindy--Miss Lindy--Linda--my Linda--I said it half aloud. It kept first-rate time to the hoof-beats--'Lindy--Miss Lindy.'

”I wondered, too, why she wouldn't let me cross the Rappahannock by Kelly's Ford, for I had reason to think there'd be a Union post on the east side of the river there, but there was a sense of brains and capability about the girl, as well as charm--in fact, that's likely to be a large part of any real charm--and so I trusted to her.

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”I got behind a turn and fired as a man came on alone.”]

”Well, late in the afternoon we were trotting along, feeling pretty secure. I'd left the Kelly's Ford road at the last turn, and was beginning to think that we ought to be within a few miles of the river, when all of a sudden, coming out of some woods into a small clearing with a farmhouse about the centre of it, we rode on a strong outpost of the enemy, infantry and cavalry both. We were in the open before I saw them, so there was nothing to do but make a dash for it and rush past the cabin before they could reach their arms, and we drew our revolvers and put the spurs in deep and flew past with a fire that settled some of them. But a surprise of this sort doesn't last long, and it was only a few minutes before they were after us--and with fresh mounts. Then it was a horse-race for the river, and I wasn't certain of the roads.

However, I knew a trick or two about this business, and I was sure some of the pursuers would forge ahead; so three times I got behind a turn and fired as a man came on alone. I dismounted several that way. This relieved the strain enough so that I got within sight of the river with all my men. It was a quarter of a mile away when I saw it, and at that point the road split, and which branch led to the ford for the life of me I didn't know. There wasn't time for meditation, however, so I shot down the turn to the left, on the gamble, and sure enough there was the ford--only it wasn't any ford. The Rappahannock was full to the banks and perhaps two hundred yards across. The Confederates were within rifle-shot, so there were exactly two things to do--surrender or swim. I gave my men the choice--to follow me or be captured--and I plunged in, without any of them.”

”What!” I demanded here, puzzled. ”Didn't the men know how to swim?”

”Oh, yes, they knew how,” the General answered, and looked embarra.s.sed.

”Well, then, why didn't they?” It began to dawn on me, ”Were they afraid--was it dangerous--was the river swift?”

”Yes,” he acknowledged. ”The river was swift--it was a foaming torrent.”