zeke, though gliding over the slippery ground with all the speed at his command, had kept a watch on the further corner of the house. he straightened himself now against the angle of the projecting, weather-beaten chimney, and drew a long breath.
“he didn’t see us,” he whispered reassuringly to linsky, who had also drawn up as flatly as possible against the side of the house.
“glory be to god!” the recruit ejaculated.
after a brief breathing spell, zeke ventured out a few feet, and looked the house over. there was a single window on his side, opening upon the ground floor. beckoning to linsky to follow, lie stole over to the window, and standing his gun against the clapboards, cautiously tested the sash. it moved, and zeke with infinite pains lifted it to the top, and stuck his knife in to hold it up. then, with a bound, he raised himself on his arms, and crawled in over the sill.
it was at this moment, as linsky for the first time stood alone, that a clamorous outburst of artillery-fire made the earth quiver under his feet. the crash of noises reverberated with so many echoes from hill to hill that he had no notion whence they had proceeded, or from what distance. the whole broad vailey before him, with its sodden meadows and wet, mist-wrapped forests showed no sign of life or motion. but from the crest of the ridge which they had quitted before daybreak there rose now, and whitened the gray of the overhanging clouds, a faint film of smoke—while suddenly the air above him was filled with a strange confusion of unfamiliar sounds, like nothing so much as the hoarse screams of a flock of giant wild-fowl; and then this affrighting babel ceased as swiftly as it had arisen, and he heard the thud and swish of splintered tree-tops and trunks falling in the woodland at the back of the house. the irishman reasoned it out that they were firing from the hill he had left, over at the hill upon which he now stood, and was not comforted by the discovery.
while he stared at the ascending smoke and listened to the din of the cannonade, he felt himself sharply poked on the shoulder, and started nervously, turning swiftly, gun in hand. it was zeke, who stood at the window, and had playfully attracted his attention with one of the long sides of bacon which the army knew as “sow-bellies.” he had secured two of these, which he now handed out to linsky; then came a ham and a bag of meal; and lastly, a twelve-quart pan of sorghum molasses. when the irishman had lifted down the last of these spoils, zeke vaulted lightly out.
“guess we’ll have a whack at the ham,” he said cheerfully. “it’s good raw.”
the two gnawed greedily at the smoked slices cut from the thick of the ham, as became men who had been on short rations. zeke listened to the firing, and was visibly interested in noting all that was to be seen and guessed of its effects and purpose, meanwhile, but the ham was an effectual bar to conversation.
suddenly the men paused, their mouths full, their senses alert. the sound of voices rose distinctly, and close by, from the other side of the house. zeke took up his gun, cocked it, and crept noiselessly forward to the corner. after a moment’s attentive listening here, and one swift, cautious peep, he tiptoed back again.
“take half the things,” he whispered, pointing to the provisions, “and we’ll get back again to the fence. there’s too many of ’em for us to try and hold the house. they’d burn us alive in there!”
the pan of sorghum fell to linsky’s care, and zeke, with both guns and all the rest in some mysterious manner bestowed about him, made his way, crouching and with long strides, toward the hedge. he got through the hole undiscovered, dragging his burden after him. then he took the pan over the hedge, while linsky should in turn crawl through. but the burlier irishman caught in the thorns, slipped, and clutched zeke’s arm, with the result that the whole contents of the pan were emptied upon linsky’s head.
then zeke did an unwise thing. he cast a single glance at the spectacle his comrade presented—with the thick, dark molasses covering his cap like an oilskin, soaking into his hair, and streaming down his bewildered face in streaks like an indian’s war-paint—and then burst forth in a resounding peal of laughter.
on the instant two men in gray, with battered slouch hats and guns, appeared at the corner of the house, looking eagerly up and down the hedge for some sign of a hostile presence. zeke had dropped to his knees in time to prevent discovery. it seemed to be with a part of the same swift movement that he lifted his gun, sighted it as it ran through the thorns, and fired. while the smoke still curled among the branches and spiked twigs, he had snatched up linsky’s gun and fire a second shot. the two men in gray lay sprawling and clutching at the wet grass, one on top of the other.
0039
“quick, irish! we must make a break!” zeke hissed at linsky. “grab what you can and run!”
linsky, his eyes and mouth full of molasses, and understanding nothing at all of what had happened, found himself a moment later careering blindly and in hot haste down the open slope, the ham and the bag of meal under one arm, his gun in the other hand. a dozen minie-bullets sang through the damp air about him as he tore along after zeke, and he heard vague volleys of cheering arise from the meadow to his right; but neither stopped his course.
it was barely three minutes—though to linsky, at least, it seemed an interminable while—before the two came to a halt by a clump of trees on the edge of the ravine. in the shelter of these broad hemlock trunks they stood still, panting for breath. then zeke looked at linsky again, and roared with laughter till he choked and went into a fit of coughing.
the irishman had thrown down his provisions and gun, and seated himself on the roots of his tree. he ruefully combed the sticky fluid from his hair and stubble beard with his fingers now, and strove to clean his face on his sleeve. between the native temptation to join in the other’s merriment and the strain of the last few minutes’ deadly peril, he could only blink at zeke, and gasp for breath.
“tight squeak—eh, irish?” said zeke at last, between dying-away chuckles.
“and tell me, now,” linsky began, still panting heavily, his besmeared face red with the heat of the chase, “fwat the divil were we doin’ up there, anny-way? no linsky or lynch—’tis the same name—was ever called coward yet—but goin’ out and defoyin’ whole armies single-handed is no fit worrk for solicitors’ clarks. spacheless and sinseless though i was with the dhrink, sure, if they told me i was to putt down the rebellion be meself, i’d a’ had the wit to decloine.”
“that was a vidette post we were on,” explained zeke.
“there’s a shorter name for it—god save us both from goin’ there. but fwat was the intintion? ’tis that that bothers me entoirely.”
“look there!” was zeke’s response. he waved his hand comprehensively over the field they had just quitted, and the irishman rose to his feet and stepped aside from his tree to see.
the little red farm-house was half hidden in a vail of smoke. dim shadows of men could be seen flitting about its sides, and from these shadows shot forth tongues of momentary flame. the upper end of the meadow was covered thick with smoke, and through this were visible dark masses of men and the same spark-like flashing of fiery streaks. along the line of the hedge, closer to the house, still another wall of smoke arose, and linsky could discern a fringe of blue-coated men lying flat under the cover of the thorn-bushes, whom he guessed to be sharp-shooters.
“that’s what we went up there for—to start that thing a-goin’,” said zeke, not without pride. “see the guide—that little flag there by the bushes? that’s our regiment. they was comin’ up as we skedaddled out. didn’t yeh hear ’em cheer? they was cheerin’ for us, irish—that is, some for us and a good deal for the sow-bellies and ham.”
no answer came, and zeke stood for a moment longer, taking in with his practiced gaze the details of the fight that was raging before him. half-spent bullets were singing all about him, but he seemed to give them no more thought than in his old adirondack home he had wasted on mosquitoes. the din and deafening rattle of this musketry war had kindled a sparkle in his gray eyes.
“there they go, irish! gad! we’ve got ’em on the run! we kin scoot across now and jine our men.”
still no answer. zeke turned, and, to his amazement, saw no linsky at his side. puzzled, he looked vaguely about among the trees for an instant. then his wandering glance fell, and the gleam of battle died out of his eyes as he saw the irishman lying prone at his very feet, his face flat in the wet moss and rotting leaves, an arm and leg bent under the prostrate body. so wrapt had zeke’s senses been in the noisy struggle outside, he had not heard his comrade’s fall.
the veteran knelt, and gently turned linsky over on his back. a wandering ball had struck him in the throat. the lips were already colorless, and from their corners a thin line of bright blood had oozed to mingle grotesquely with the molasses on the unshaven jaw. to zeke’s skilled glance it was apparent that the man was mortally wounded—perhaps already dead, for no trace of pulse or heartbeat could be found. he softly closed the irishman’s eyes, and put the sorghum-stained cap over his face.
zeke rose and looked forth again upon the scene of battle. his regiment had crossed the fence and gained possession of the farm-house, from which they were firing into the woods beyond. further to the left, through the mist of smoke which hung upon the meadow, he could see that large masses of troops in blue were being pushed forward. he thought he would go and join his company. he would tell the fellows how well linsky had behaved. perhaps, after the fight was all over, he would lick hugh o’mahony for having spoken so churlishly to him.
he turned at this and looked down again upon the insensible linsky.
“well, irish, you had sand in your gizzard, anyway,” he said, aloud. “i’ll whale the head off ’m o’mahony, jest on your account.”
then, musing upon some new ideas which these words seem to have suggested, he knelt once more, and, unbuttoning linsky’s jacket, felt through his pockets.
he drew forth a leather wallet and a long linen-lined envelope containing many papers. the wallet had in it a comfortable looking roll of green, backs, but zeke’s attention was bestowed rather upon the papers.
“so these would give o’mahony an estate, eh?” he pondered, half aloud, turning them over. “it ’ud be a tolerable good bet that he never lays eyes on ’em. we’ll fix that right now, for fear of accidents.”
he began to kick about in the leaves, as he rose a second time, thinking hard upon the problem of what to do with the papers. he had no matches. he might cut down a cartridge, and get a fire by percussion—but that would take time. so, for that matter, would digging a hole to bury the papers.
all at once his abstracted face lost its lines of labor, and brightened radiantly. he thrust wallet and envelope into his own pocket, and smilingly stepped forward once more to see what the field of battle was like. the farm-house had become the headquarters of a general and his staff, and the noise of fighting had passed away to the furthest confines of the woods.
“this darned old campaign won’t last up’ard of another week,” he said, in satisfied reverie. “i reckon i’ve done my share in it, and somethin’ to lap over on the next. nobody ’ll be a cent the wuss off if i turn up missin’ now.”
gathering up the provisions and his gun, zeke turned abruptly, and made his way down the steep side-hill into the forest, each long stride bearing him further from company f’s headquarters.
