CHAPTER XXXVI
MAJOR VINEGOLD OF THE GUERILLAS
The second in command of the guerillas was a more sensible man than Major Vinegold, who appeared to be a fire-eater, like Captain Stinger; and when resistance was utterly hopeless, he announced his surrender in a voice loud enough to be heard a long distance, and neither side struck a blow afterwards. Deck Lyon appeared to have delivered the last sabre-stroke; for as soon as his lieutenant saw his chief topple from his horse, he uttered the words that ended the conflict.
"You gave the finishing touch to the fight, Deck!" exclaimed Captain Truman in a loud voice, so that all the company could hear him.
"Three cheers for Deck Lyon!" shouted an enthusiastic trooper; and they were given.
Of course Deck blushed; for he was a reasonably modest young man. He had not made up his mind to do "a big thing," but simply to do his duty; and he was doing it like any other member of the company when his opportunity was presented to him. Major Vinegold was the bone and sinew of the fight on his own side; and when the young cavalryman saw him disengaged for the moment, he urged his horse forward to cross swords with the commander.
Ceph's training seemed to be a part of his being; and when he was pressed up to him, he rose on his hind-legs for a spring. An indifferent rider could not have kept his seat in the saddle; but Deck had trained himself and his steed to the manoeuvre, and each supplemented the action of the other. The rider leaned forward, grasping the forward horn of his saddle with the rein hand, while he kept his sabre in readiness for use in the right. In the present instance, while the animal was in this flying attitude, Deck struck at the head of his adversary; and the shock carried him from his saddle to the ground.
"Ceph deserves three cheers quite as much as or more than I do," said the young rider, while the company were waiting for further orders.
"He would not appreciate the compliment," replied the captain.
"Halloo, Artie!" exclaimed Deck, as his brother dashed into the presence of the captain.
"Bully for you, Deck! We heard the company cheering you; what mighty deed have you done now?" demanded the messenger, for such he was, from the major, as he saluted Captain Truman. "It is Major Lyon's order that you proceed to disarm the prisoners, as they are doing on the other side."
"Order understood," replied the captain. "You can tell the major that Deck gave the finishing touch to the fight, Artie;" and he described the fall of Major Vinegold, and the immediate surrender that followed.
Artie hastened back to headquarters; and the captain formed the guerillas near him in line, and took from them all their arms. The major had ordered a large fire to be started at the side of the road, and the scene was already well lighted. The prisoners had been formed in line in the same manner on the south end of the battle-field, and their arms taken from them. On the road, and beside it, seven men lay silent and motionless; and perhaps there were others on the wooded knoll.
The squadron had not had a man killed, though about a dozen had been wounded; and Dr. Farnwright and his assistants were attending to them. Among the prisoners the men were binding up the wounds of each other. The form of the fire-eater commander lay where he had fallen; and Deck saw him move as he was about to report to the major. He felt more interest in this man than in the others; and he dismounted from his horse.
Ceph was as fond of his master as a kitten of the child that pets it; and there was no need to secure him, for he would have stood there all night. Deck was even more devoted to him than he was to pretty Miss Kate Belthorpe, which is saying a great deal. He had fed him on dainties, and made him his constant associate in the months when he was drilling. Ceph was very intelligent, and seemed to understand his master's humor as though he had been human.
The rider went to the fallen guerilla. He was not dead. He had been stunned, and was just coming to his senses. By the light of the fire Deck could see that his head was covered with blood. Looking closer, he found that his left ear had been smitten entirely from the side of his head. The sabre appeared to have struck him sideways, giving the blow that stunned him, and then glancing off so as to take the ear with it. If the blade had struck him fairly, it would have split his head open; as it was, his brains were saved at the expense of his ear.
"How do you feel, Major Vinegold?" asked Deck in sympathetic tones,--for a wounded or dying enemy was no longer a foe to him,--as he took the handkerchief of the sufferer from his pocket and bound it over his head, so as to cover the wound.
"I'm better, I think," replied the major, as Deck assisted him to sit up. "Have we licked that Home Guard?"
"There is no Home Guard here. You have been fighting with a squadron of United States cavalry, and your successor in command has surrendered."
"Strivers is a coward!"
"We were nearly three to your one; and your lieutenant was no coward, but a brave fellow, and a sensible man."
"Who's we?"
"I am a loyal soldier, and the one that gave you your wound," replied Deck.
"You!" exclaimed the major. "Then what are you doing with me now?"
"I am trying to assist you, if I can. I have bound up your wound, and our surgeon will soon be able to attend to your case."
"Give me a drink of brandy out of your flask," added the wounded man faintly.
"I have no brandy; but here is some fresh water; for I filled my canteen at Plain Hill," answered Deck, as he presented it to his patient.
He drank freely; and perhaps it did as much good as the same quantity of brandy would have done.
"I feel better now," said the major, as Deck assisted him to his feet. "Where is my horse?"
"But you are a prisoner now. If you will give me your sword and pistols, it will save you from any further annoyance," replied Deck.
"A prisoner!" he exclaimed bitterly. "Strivers surrendered."
"To three times his own force; and he could not do otherwise," added the Union soldier very gently. "He would have murdered his own men if he had fought any longer."
"I cannot help myself," continued the major, as he unbuckled his sword and gave it to his conqueror. "I did not do it. Strivers did it; and I am much obliged to you, young man, for striking me down before it was done."
Dr. Farnwright dressed his wound; Deck found his horse, then assisted him to mount, and placed him in the rank with the other prisoners. The dead were ranged in a field, with two more found on the wooded knoll.
"Well, Dexter, you have been playing the hero again, have you?" said the major, when he rode that way.
"Ceph and I have been doing our duty, and Major Vinegold is the sufferer, father. I couldn't help doing what I did," replied Deck.
"And he ended the fight!" exclaimed Captain Truman with enthusiasm. "If he had his proper reward he would be made a captain on the spot."
"A captain at eighteen!" exclaimed the major, who was somewhat conservative in his ideas. "There is no authority here to make him a captain, even if it were desirable, as I think it is not. Don't spoil the boy, Captain Truman."
While they were waiting for the arrangements for the march to be completed, Deck told his father about his interview with the fallen leader of the guerillas; and it ended in introducing the major to him.
"I am sorry you are wounded, my friend," said the commander.
"Why do you call me your friend?" asked the prisoner, apparently astonished. "You are not just our idea of the Yankees."
"On the battle-field we are enemies, and we do our best to kill each other; but here we are friends, and we do what we can to save each other. I am glad my son assisted you."
"He is the one-eared man's friend for life, except on the battle-field, though he struck off that ear."
It was quite evident that he was not such a fire-eater as Captain Stinger. But the column was ready to move. It was but a short distance to the village; and when they arrived there, they found the fire in the square burning even more vigorously, and all the houses lighted. They were received with tremendous cheers, in which the ladies joined, while they flourished their handkerchiefs in the absence of so many of the male population.
The news of the battle and victory had been brought to the village by Colonel Coffee; and the two magnates had provided a bountiful collation for the soldiers, though it was in the small hours of the night. The troopers were petted by the ladies, and Deck was a hero of the first magnitude. The work of the day and night was finished, and the people and the soldiers slept after their fatigues, while a portion of the Home Guards guarded the approaches to the place.
The prisoners were marched under a strong guard to a railroad town, and sent to Louisville. All was quiet at Greeltop and Plain Hill, and no further attempt was made to molest these places. The discipline administered to the guerillas was severe enough to put an end to their operations in that part of the State. The squadron remained three weeks in camp at Greeltop, occasionally sending out detachments where they were needed.
Later in the year it was ordered to Munfordville, where a sharp little battle was fought, in which the Riverlawn Cavalry had an opportunity to meet again the old enemies, the Texan Rangers. It was while at this place that a huge envelope came by special messenger, with other orders, directed to "Mr. Dexter Lyon, Care of Major Noah Lyon." His father gave it to him, and Deck opened it, wondering with all his might what it could contain. It was a lieutenant's commission, and the recipient would not have been more astonished if the sky had fallen upon him.
The two captains in the squadron had been the principal movers in obtaining the commission. They had a paper recommending it signed by every member of the first company; but the business had been done while the command was waiting at Greeltop, fearful that Major Lyon would veto or discountenance the measure for family reasons, or because he thought his son was too young to be "A Lieutenant at Eighteen." With the commission came a furlough for two weeks, to enable him to prepare for his new duties.
Deck was astonished and confounded to find himself an officer; for he had never sought such a position, and honestly and sincerely believed that he had done only his duty, like every other private in the ranks. He was overwhelmed with congratulations by the members of both companies, and especially by the two captains.
"It hasn't come any sooner than I expected it, Deck," said Life Knox, as he grasped the hand of the young cavalryman.
"I don't think I have deserved it," protested the recipient of the commission.
"Ask Miss Kate Belthorpe," chuckled the Kentuckian, _par excellence_.
"She is not a military character, and don't understand the matter," replied Deck with a very heavy blush.
"She stuck to't that you ought to been made cap'n o' the fust company. I didn't think so then, but I think you ought to be made a lieutenant as you have been."
"I don't see why I was selected for this place; for I am appointed second lieutenant of the first company, in place of poor Gilder."
"Everybody else can see it if you can't. Who brought Major Vinegold to the ground? Who served Lieutenant Makepeace in the same way? And"--
"Ceph!" exclaimed Deck. "Don't say anything more about it, and we will call it square;" but the tall and wiry cavalry sergeant was as fond of Deck as though he had been his own son.
The young lieutenant procured his uniform at Munfordville; and when he put it on, the whole of both companies cheered him, and the ladies declared that he was the handsomest officer in the squadron, which was, perhaps, saying much, for Captain Gordon was a remarkably good-looking man.
Deck was going home for a part of his furlough; for his father wished him to do so. He talked with his son full two hours before his departure, giving him instructions about the plantation, and especially about the family of Captain Titus Lyon, then a prisoner somewhere.
Of course his mother and sisters were extremely glad to see him, and were prouder of his uniform than he was himself. Levi Bedford actually hugged him; and the fifty-one negroes treated him as though he had been an angel from the realms of bliss. Orly Lyon still desired to join the Riverlawn Cavalry; and even Sandy had been so far cured of his Secession tendencies as to be of the same mind.
Mrs. Noah had provided for the family of her husband's brother. She consented, in the absence of her husband, that her boys should enlist on the right side. The major had sent money for her to return to her father in New Hampshire, if she still desired to go there. When Lieutenant Lyon returned to Munfordville, Sandy and Orly went with him, wearing the uniform of the squadron.
During his absence the command had been ordered to Somerset; and about a month later had their first experience in a considerable battle at Mill Spring. But our story for the present is told; and another volume will relate the experience of Deck as an officer. His service was not confined to his duty in command of a platoon, but an abundant opportunity was given him to gratify to some extent his inborn desire for stirring adventure in the service of his country, as will be found in "A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN."
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Transcriber's Note. The punctuation and spelling are as printed in the original publication. The oe ligature has been expanded. The character Vinegold is referred to as both 'Captain' and 'Major' in the original version of this book.