Away above Fortner and Harry rose yells and the clatter of galloping horses.Before they could imagine what this meant a little cavalcade swept by at a mad gallop, yelling at the tops of their voices, and charging directly at the Rebels below.In front were Aunt Debby, Bolton and Edwards, riding abreast, and behind them three men in homespun.
The Rebels seemed totally unnerved by this startling apparition.
The dismounted ones flung themselves on their horses and all fled away at a gallop, without attempting to make a stand and without taking thought of their wagon.As they scurried along the opposite mountain-side Fortner and Harry fired at them, but without being able to tell whether their shots took effect.
The pursuit was carried but a little distance.The wagon was secured and taken up the mountain.A little after midnight the summit was passed, and Fortner led the way into an opening to the right, which eventually brought up at a little level spot in front of a large cave.The horses where unhitched and unsaddled, a fire built, cedar boughs gathered to make a bed on the rocky floor of the cave, and they threw themselves down upon this to sleep the sleep of utter weariness.
In the meantime Harry had learned taht the new comers were cousins of Fortner's, who, being out on a private scouting expedition, had been encountered by Aunt Debby and the others, near the summit of the mountain, and had started back with them to the assistance of Fortner.The sound of firing had so excited them that the suggestion of a charge by Kent Edwards was eagerly acceded to.
"It must be near three o'clock," said Kent, looking up at the stars, as he came back stealthily from laying the saddle blanket, which was the only covering he and Abe had, upon the sleeping form of Aunt Debby, "and my downy couch still waits for me.My life-long habits of staid respectability have been greatly shaken recently."Abe groaned derisively.
An inspection, the next morning of the wagon's load, showed it to be mainly made up of hams, shoulders and sides, plundered from the smokehouses visited.With these were a number of guns, including several fine rifles, and all the ammunition that could be found along the route.
A breakfast was made of slices of ham broiled on the ends of sticks, and then a consultation was held as to the plans for the day's operations.
The result of this was a decision that Aunt Debby and one of the newcomers should go back and inform the neighborhood of what had taken place, gather a party to remove the dead from the creek and bury them, to keep the water from being poisoned, and recover what property might be found with the first wagon.Kent Edwards, Abe Bolton, and two of the new comers would scout down toward London, to ascertain the truth of the rumor that Zollicoffer had evacuated the place, and retired to Laurel Bridge, nine miles south of it.
Fortner and Harry Glen would take the wagon to Wildcat Gap, report what had been done, and explain to their commander the absence of the enlisted men.
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"Shade of King Solomon," said Kent to Abe, after their party had ridden for two or three hours through the mountains toward London.
"I wonder if there is any other kind of worldly knowledge that I know as little about as I did of scouting when we started out?
My eyes have been opened to my own ignorance.I used to have the conceit that we two could play a fair hand at any game of war they could get up for our entertainment.But these Kentuckians give me points every hundred yards that I never so much as dreamed of.
Theirs is the wisdom of serpents when compared with our dove-like innocence.""I like dove-like innocence," interrupted Abe.
"But did you ever see anybody that could go through the country as these fellows can? It's just marvelous.They know every short cut to every point, and they know just where to go every time to see way ahead without being seen themselves.It would puzzle the sharpest Rebel bushwhacker to get the drop on them.""I don't know as I want to learn their way of doing," said Abe crustily."It looks like sneaking, on a big scale, that's all.
And I'm ashamed of this laying round behind a log or a rock to pop a man over.It ain't my style at all.I believe in open and above-board fighting, give and take, and may the best man win.""So do I, though I suppose all's fair in war.But when we scout we give them the same chance to knock us over that they give us when they scout.I'll admit it looks very much like murder to shoot men down that way, for it does not help either side along a particle.
But these Kentuckians have a great many private injuries to avenge, and they can't do it any other way."All the people of the region were intensely Union, so it was not difficult to get exact information of the movements of the Rebels, and as the scouts drew near London they became assured that not only all of Zollicoffer's infantry, but his small parties of cavalry had retreated beyond the town.Our scouts therefore, putting Edwards and Bolton to the front, that their blue uniforms might tell the character of the party, spurred into a gallop, and dashed into London, to be received with boundless enthusiasm.
"Somebody ought to ride back to Wildcat immediately," said Kent, after they had enjoyed their reception a little while, "and report this to the General."All assented to this position.
