xt7m3775tr8j https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt7m3775tr8j/data/mets.xml Optic, Oliver, 1822-1897. 1895  books b92-168-30116841 English Lee and Shepard, : Boston : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. In the saddle  / by Oliver Optic [pseud.] text In the saddle  / by Oliver Optic [pseud.] 1895 2002 true xt7m3775tr8j section xt7m3775tr8j 















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        IN THE SADDLE
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"Be you uns soldiers, mnass'r  "
                                     Page 68.

 

T 0



Nt d



By Qimi R   TIC



IN THE



SADDLE

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The Blue and Gray Army Series



  IN THE SADDLE










                         BY

                OLIVER OPTIC
AUTHOR OF " TIE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" " YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD " FIRST
AND SECOND SERIES   TIlE BOAT-CLUB STORIES    THE GREAT WESTERN
  SERIES  TTHE WOODVILLE STORIES      TIHE ONWARD AND UPWARD
    SERIES    THE LAKE SHORE SERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES
      THE RIVERDALE STORIES "THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES"
        THE SLUR AND GRAY NAVY SERIES      A MISSING AIL-
        LION"' A MILLIONAIRE AT SIXTEEN "A YOUNG
          KNIGHT-ERRANT     STRANGE SIGHTS ABROAD
             iAMERICANS BOYS AFLOAT"9 "THE
                 YOUNG NAVIGATORS" ETC.










                     BOSTON
   LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
               10 MILK STREET
                        I895

 


























COPYRIGHT, 1895, BY LEE AND SHEPARD



         .AU Rights Reserved



         IN THE SADDLE

 



























                 TO MY FRIEND


          WILLIAM i. BEATTY

MY COMPANION IN 1MANY VERY AGREEABLE ASSOCIATIONS

                 TIlS V'OL.1'3ME

            IS CORDIALLY DEDICATED

 This page in the original text is blank.

 










PREFACE



  "1 IN THE SADDLE" is the second of the " Blue
and Gray -On Land."       In the first volume a
New Hampshire family was transplanted to the
southern part of one of the Border States just
before the breaking out of the Great Rebellion,
now happily an event of the somewhat distant
past.  An attempt is made in that book to de-
scribe the condition of the region in the progress
of the story; and the material for it was diligently
looked up in the records of those stormy times,
in those of official character in the archives of the
State in which the events transpired, as well as in
"' The Record of the Rebellion," Congressional
Reports, and the multitude of histories, narra-
tives, biographies, and miscellaneous works on
the shelves of public and private libraries. The
writer believes his material statements are cor-
rect, and that the pictures he has given of the dis-

 




PREFACE



orderly condition of the State of Kentucky, espe-
cially in the southern portion, are not overdrawn.
  The story of the Lyon family introduces two
branches of it, both from the same Northern local-
ity, though, unhappily, not of the same way of
thinking on the great question of loyalty to the
national government and Secession with the South.
Plantation life and manners are presented to some
extent, as one of the brothers comes into posses-
sion of a large estate and half a hundred slaves
by the will of a Kentucky member of the Lyon
family.  The first volume of the series is devoted
to the " bringing out " of the loyal element in the
county where the plantation is located, in oppo-
sition to the more demonstrative secession or
neutral sentiment. A Union meeting in a school-
house, disturbed by the "ruffians," as they had
come to be called, in which the loyal citizens vig-
orously defend themselves, and expel the intru-
ders, brings the affairs of the neighborhood to a
crisis. The planter is attacked by a mob, and
with the assistance of a few of his friends, and by
arming a portion of his negroes, successfully en-
counters the disturbers of the peace. Following
these stirring events, two companies of cavalry

 



PREFACE



are enlisted by an authorized officer, carefully
drilled, and put in readiness to take the field.
  In the present volume this battalion enters upon
active service. The same characters are presented
in the uniform of cavalrymen, mounted on the
fine equine stock of the plantation. Noah Lyon,
the head of the family, obtains an actual military
title, instead of the merely complimentary one
given to him by his friends and neighbors. His
two sons, Deck and Artie, appear in the front
rank in the operations in which the squadron is
engaged, though both of them enter the service
as privates. The young men are of the loftiest
moral character, actuated by the purest and most
devoted patriotism. They are of good physique,
in vioorous health, and do not seem to know the
meaning of the word fear.    If their individual
exploits seem to any to be extravagant, they have
been more than paralleled on the battlefield in
hundreds of instances. Both of them are exceed-
ingly fond of their steeds; and Deck, in the
months devoted to drill, makes no insignificant
figure as a horse-trainer.  His steed, one of the
blood stock of his deceased uncle, is so intelligent
and so apt a scholar, that he enables his rider to



7

 




PR1EFACE



achieve some rather wonderful feats in action.
He is modest, and, whven praised for his deeds,
attributes them  to " Ceph."  This young soldier
wins and obtains a promotion which will supply
the title for the next volume.
  In contrast with the progressive fortunes of the
loy-al brother and his two sons, the disloyal one,
who had become, through the influence of his
money rather than his ability, the leader of the
" ruffians," is again introduced, with his two boys,
who follow  in the footsteps of their father till
they become disgusted with their lot.
  The operations of the loyal battalion of cavalry
are confined to the protection of the bridges on
the railroads, and to repressing " partisan " on-
slaughts and outrages upon towns and villages
largely inhabited by citizens who are faithful to
the national government.   But the officers and
privates are faithful where loyalty meant vastly
more than in the North ; and their zeal and ear-
nestness in the discharge of their duty left a
stirring record behind them wherever they went.

                         WILLIAM T. ADAMS.



DORCHESTER, Dec. 12, 1894.


 















               CONTENTS



                 CHAPTER I.
COLLECTING A BILL B1- FORCE OF ARMs.

                 CHAPTER II.
REVELATIONS OF A You.NG GUARDSMAN

                 CHAPTER I11.
SOMETHING ABOUT TIlE LYON FA-MILIES

                CHAPTER IV.
THIE DAY'S MARCH OF TIIE SQUADRON

                 CHAPTER V.
TII LEADER OF TIIE SCOUTIN-G-PARTY

                CHAPTER VI.
A VEIY OBSTINATE PRISONER. CAPTURED

                ChlAPTER VII.
PREPARING FOR ACTIVE OPERATION-S

                CHAPTER VIII.
T11E ACTION BY THE RAILROAD BRIDGE

                CHAPTER IX.
AN ENCOUNTER WITH THE ENEMY' S Sl COUTS
                      9



     PAGE
. . .  15



. . . 27



  . 39



 . . 52



   64



. . . 76



. . . 88



. . . 100



. . . 112

 







10                CONTENTS

                 CHAPTER X.               PAGE1
THE BATTLE BEGUN AT THE CROSS-ROADS . . . . 124

                 CHAPTER XI.
A DESPERATE CHARGE ON BOTH SIDES . . . . . 137

                CHAPTER XII.
TIIE YOUNG HERO OF THE BATTLE. . . . . . . 149

                CHAPTER XIII.
TIIE PERPLEXING MOVEMENTS OF THE ENEmY  . . 161

                CHAPTER XIV.
A LONG WAIT FOR TIRE ENEMY. . . . . . . . 173

                CHAPTER XV.
THE AMERICAN FLAG ON THE BRIDGE  . . . . . 185

                CHAPTER XVI.
TIIE EXPLOSION ON THE BRIDGE. . . . . . . . 197

               CHAPTER XVII.
Tim CONFUSION OF THE DAY EXPLAINED  . . . . 209

               CHAPTER XVIII.
INTRODUCING MR. BROWN KIPPS. . . . . . . . 221

               CHAPTER XIX.
THE CONSPIRACY ON THE BRIDGE . . . . . . . 234

                CHAPTER XX.
THlE OPErATIONS OF THE BRIDGE-BURNERS  . . . 246

                CHAPTER XXI.
A NEw DISPOSITION OF TILE FOCES .258

 





                  CONTENTS                11

               CHAPTER XXII.            PAGE

A DESPERATE DEED CONTEMNIPLATED . . . . . . 270

               CHAPTER XXIII.

TILE SKIRMISH ON TILE HIMI, ROAD . . . . . . . 282

               CHAPTER XXIV.

CAPTAIN DLNGFIELD'S STRATEGY.. . . . . . 294

               CHAPTER XXV.
SUNDRY FLANK MOVEMENTS ARRANGED . . . . . 306

               CHAPTER XXVI.
TILE ENEMY'S BATTLE WITH TIE MUD  . . . . . 318

              CHAPTER XXVII.

AT TILE CAMIP-FiLE NEAR THE ROAD . . . . . . 330

              CHAPTER XXVIII.

A MYSTERIOUS DISAPPEARANCE.. . . . . . . 342

               CHAPTER XXIX.
THE RIVERLAWN CAVALRY CIIANGES BASE. . . . 354

               CHAPTER XXX.
THE MAG.NATE OF GREELTOP'S VISIT . . . . . . 386

              CHAPTER XXXI.
LIFE KNOX ON THE MOUNTAIN ROAD . . . . . . 378

              CHAPTER XXXII.

THE SKIRMISH IN TIlE GREAT CIRCLE . . . . . . 390

              CHAPTER XXXIII.
CAPTAIN STIN-GEIR TllE, FIRE-EATER  . . . . . . 402

 





1 '              CONTENTS

             CHAPTER XXXIV.           PAGE
THE RE-ENFORCEMENT FOR PLAIN HILL . . . . . 414

              CHAPTER XXXV.
SURROUNDED A-ND TOTALLY DEFEATED . . . . . 426

             CHAPTER XXXVI.
CAPTAIN VIiEGOLD OF THE GuERILLAS . . . . . 439


 



















ILLUSTRATIONS.



"BE You Ux!s SOLDIERS, MASS'R"        Frontispiecc.

ILLUSTRATED TITLE.
                                           I'At;E
'HELP ! HELP I SHOUTED THE VICTIM". . . .   18

"ONE OF THE TEXAN-S TUMBLED FROM his, HORSE    123

"SLING CARIBINES ! CHARGE TIhEM ! "   . . . . . 2074

"HALT WHERE YOU ARE, Kim's !"  . . . . . . 282

"WHAT ARE You U.NS IDOING IIEIRE . . . . .    317

"THE RUFFIAN SEEMED TO BE AS POWVERLESS AS
    AN INFANr IN iiis GRASP " . . . . . . . 383

 This page in the original text is blank.


 










         IN THE SADDLE



                 CHAPTER I

    COLLECTING A BILL BY FORCE OF ARMS

  "HELP ! Help!
  This call for assistance came from a small
house, poorly constructed by those who had little
skill in the art of carpentry. It stood near the
Spring Road, in a field of about ten acres of landl,
un(ler cultivation, though the rank weeds among
the useful plants indicated that it had been sorely
neglected.
  Those familiar with the locality would have
recognized it as the abode of one of those small
farmers found all over the country, who were
struggling to improve their worldly condition on
a very insufficient capital. The house, was hardly
finished, and the want of skill was apparent in
its erection from sill to ridgepole.
                       15

 




IN THE SADDLE



  Swinburne Pickford was the proprietor of the
dwelling and land. He worked for farmers, plan-
ters, and mechanics, for any one who would give
him employment, in addition to his labor in the
cultivation of his land; and with the sum lie had
been able to save from his wages, he had bought
the land, and started the small farm on his own
account. He had a wife and two small children;
and, as his time permitted, he had built the house
with his own hands alone.
  The section of the State of Kentucky in which
this little place wvas located had been sorely dis-
turbed by the conflicts and outrages of the two
parties at the beginning of the War of the Re-
bellion, one struggling to drag the State out of
the Union, and the other-to prevent its secession.
As in the other States of the South, the advo-
cates of disunion were more violent and demon-
strative than the loyal people, and after the
bombardment of Fort Sumter appeared to be in
the ascendant for this reason.
  The entire South had been in a state of ex-
citement from the inception of the presidential
campaign which resulted in the election of Abra-
ham Lincoln, and the industries of this region

 



COLLECTING A BILL BY FORCE OF ARMS 17



suffered in consequence; and it looked as though
Pickford's house would never be entirely finished.
With the exception of the chimney, placed out-
side of the building, after the fashion of the
South, he had done all the work himself. Titus
Lyon, the mason of the village of Barcreek, had
done this portion of the labor, and the bill for
its erection was still unpaid.
  Inside of the house two young men, the older
about eighteen and the younger sixteen, both
armed with muskets, had dragged the proprietor
of the house to the floor. One of them had his
foot on the chest of the fallen farmer, and the
other was pointing his gun at him. Pickford had
evidently endeavored to protect himself from the
assault of his two assailants, who had got the bet-
ter of him, and had only given up the battle when
pinned to the floor by the foot of one of them.
  ",Will you pay the bill I have brought to
vou " demanded Sandy Lyon, who was the prin-
cipal aggressor in the assault. "1 Dr. Falkirk paid
yon over fifty dollars to-day, and you have got
the money to pay the bill, which has been staiid-
ing two years."
  Swill Pickford made no reply to this statement;

 



IN THEf SADDLE



but just at that moment lie heard the clippetty-
clip of a galloping horse in the road in front of
t! e house. With the foot of one of his assaulters
on his chest, and the other with an old gun in
his hand at his side, Pickford realized that notlb-
ing could be done but submit. Shooting in that
locality and at that time was no uncommon occur-
rence; for there seemed to be no law in the land,
and men generally settled their own grievances,
or submitted to them.
  "1 Help! Help! " shouted the victim of the pres-
ent outrage, with all the strength of his lungs,
wVhich gave him voice enough to make him heard
a quarter of a mile distant.
  "Shut up your head! " savagely yelled Sandy
Lyon, as he pressed his foot down with all his
might by throwing all his weight upon the breast
of the prostrate farmer.
  The sound of the horse's feet in the road
seemed to give the victim a new hope, and he
tried to shout again.  Bat Sandy flew at his
throat like a wolf, and choked him into silence.
  "Find a couple of ropes or cords, Orly, and
we will tie his hands behind him! " called Sandy
to his brother.


 











































' i Help ! Heldp  sl houted the viztim.s



J'teye 18.



 :, A

 This page in the original text is blank.

 



COLLECTING A BILL BY FORCE OF ARMS 19



  The younger brother hastened to obey the order.
Findinig nothing of the description required, lie
rushed into the rear room of the house. The
pressure of the assailant's hands upon his throat,
an(l the hope of assistance from outside, stinmu-
lated the victim to further resistance, for the glun
in the llal1(1S of Orly no longer threatened him.
With a desperate strupggle lhe threw Sandy over
backwards, an(l sprang to his feet.  His perse-
cutor picked himself up, and was about to throw
himself upon him   again.  Pickford,. who was
nearly exhausted by the struggle and the chok-
ing, rushed to the open door; and as he was
about to pass out lhe encountered a young man
in the uniform of a cavalryman, with a sabre dan-
gling at his side, and a carbine slung on his back.
  At the moment w'hen the cry for help came
from the house, the young man, mounted on a
spirite(l horse, was riding alonig the Spring Road.
Ile was a stout fellow, not more than eighteen
years old. with a pleasant face, thouglh a physiog-
nomrist would lhave observed upon it a look of
determination, in(licating that lhe could not be
trifled with on a serious occasion. Neither the
house nor the man who occupied it would have

 




IN THEl SADDLE



tempted the soldier to enter it for any other
reason than the call that had just come from it.
  The cavalrviman reined in his steed, andl halted
him with his head to a post in front of the dwell-
mig. Dismounting in haste, he threws the reins
over the hitching-hook and hurried to the front
door, just in time to encounter Pickford as he was
rushing out. The victim of the outrage was gaspl-
ing for breath, and presented a really pitiable as-
pect to the young soldier, to whom he was not
a stranger, though they had met as enemies and
not as friends.
  "What's the trouble" asked Deck Lyon, the
cavalryman, as he encountered the owner of the
miniature plantation.
  "1 I have been set upon. and nearly killed by
your cousins, Sandy and Orly Lyon, and one of
them  has nearly choked me to death," gasped
Pickford.
  iBy my cousins' " exclaimed Deck Lyon, as-
tonished at the reply of the victim.
  "Yes; both on 'em," groaned Swvin, as lie was
generally called.
  "I supposed you had gone to the county town
with the Hoime Guards," added Deck.

 



COLLECTING A BILL BY FORCE OF ARMs 21



  "No; I never 'listed, 'cause I have a family to
take care on."
  "Come in, and let me see what the trouble is,"
continued Deck, as he pushed Swvin in ahead of
him.
  Sandy had been in the act of throwing himself
upon his victim again, when he discovered his
cousin in the person of the cavalryman. The
sight of him caused the angry young man. to fall
back ; and Deck entere(l the room just as Orly
appealed at the rear door vith a piece of bedcord
in his hand.
  "Good-morning, Sandy," said Deck, as pleas-
antly as though nothing had called for his inter-
ference. " There seems to be some trouble here."
   Trouble enough," replied Sandy in a sulky
tone.
  "Spwin Pickford calls for help as though you
intended to murder him," continued Deck, as lie
looked from one to the other of the belligerents,
and took in Orlv with the cord at the same time.
",You are all on the same side of the national
fight, and you ought to be friends."
  "We are not on the same side, for Pickford is
a traitor," answered Sandy.

 




IN THE SADDLE



  "' I'm no traitor ! " protested Savin. " But I
should like to ask what you and Orly are, if I'm
one. I was willing to join the Home Guards for
home service; but when they started to go inter
the Confederate army, I took off my name, for I
didn't j'in for no secl work. But Sandy and
Orly went off with the company, and then de-
serted and come home. What's the sense of them
callin' me a traitor wvhen I'm not one, and they
be."
  "If they deserted, they did a sensible thing,"
said Deck with a smile, as he glanced at his two
cousins. " But I am not here to settle any such
quarrel as this; for I don't care how much you
ruffians fight among yourselves."
  "The trouble here has nothing to do with poli-
tics or the Home Guards," replied Sanedy.
  "Nothing at all, Deck," added Orly.
  "What is it all about, then" inquired Deck.
"I came in because a cry was heard from the
house which made me think a murder was going
on here."
  ",That's jest what was goin' on here!" ex-
claimed Pickford.
  " Nothing of the sort," protested Sandy. "Not



22

 



COLLECTING A BILL BY FORCE OF ARmS 23



a word has been said here about the army or the
Home Guardsr."
  "' But your father has marched his company
farther south, to join General Buckner's army."
  'i That had nothing to do with our business
here.  Swin Pickford owes father twenty-seven
dollars for building the chimney of this house,
and lhe has owed it for about two vears, and it is
time the bill was paid."
  I That's all so, Deck Lyon ; I don't deny none
on't," added Pickford, who had recovered his
breath alnd his temper by this time. " But I
hiai't had the mioney to pay the bill. 'in an
holnest mall, and I allus pay my debts when I
ken. Times hlave been hard with me for the last
two years. Folks has been all over inter politics,
andl I couldl't hardly git money enough to pay
for the bread and butter of my wife and children;
for there wasn't next to no work at all."
   That's a poor excuse in your case, Swin,"
.added Sandy.
   I went to Cap'n Titus more'n a year ago, and
talked to him about that debt," continued Pickford,
without heeding the remark of Sandy. " He got
healps of money out of his brother's property, and

 




IN THE SADDLE



I didn't s'pose lhe needed the money. I offered
him five dollar-s, and told him I'd try to pay him
five every month. But he didn't wvant me to do it
that way, and told me I could pay it all to once,
when I had the money. Then he wanted me to
help him git up the company, and I did; I hoofed
it all over the county for him, sometimes when I
might have worked."
  "But lie has got money now! " Sandy broke in.
,Dr. Falkirk paid him fifty dollars this morning
at the grocery; for I saw him do it, and heard him
say how much it wvas."
  11 I don't deny that, nuther," said the unfortu-
nate debtor. "' But I haven't got three dollars
left of that money now.  I paid Grunge the
grocer nineteen dollars on't; for he knows I'm
aln honest man, and trusted me, Then I paid a
man that's poorer'n I am for some work he done
on nmy place, seven dollars and a half, and I had
to pay my taxes or lose my farm."
  - I saw Dr. Falkirk pay him that money, and
Orly and I tramped all the way over here; for
we have no horses at home now. He's got the
money, and won't pay the bill.  Mother wants
the money very much," added Sandy.



24

 



COLLECTING A BILL BY FORCE OF ARmS 25



  "She hasn't got a dollar in the house," Orly
put in, perhiaps telling more than his brother
wished to have revealed.
  "Then vou came over here to collect the bill at
the muzzle of your gun," suggested Deck, who
had seen the younger brother pick up his weapon,
which had fallen on the floor.
  " We meant to make him pay," said Sandy.
  I believe he has the money, and I meant to
search the house till I found it."
  " You would have s'arclhed till the last gun
fires, and you wouldn't found it then," protested
the victim, as he took an old wallet from his
pocket, which was found to contain about three
dollars in silver.  That's all I've got in this
world, and none in the next.''
  so I don't believe lhe has got any more money,
Sandy," said Deck to his cousin, as he stepped up
to him, and spoke to him in a low tone.
  "I'm willin' to give him two dollars outen the
little I got, though he abused me wus'n any Inan
eve. did in this world, and sha'n't in the next,"
interposed Pickford.
  "I will take what I can get," replied Sandy, as
he took the bill from his pocket.

 




26              IN THE SADDLE

  The debtor paid him two dollars in silver; and
if his mother, as Orly affirmed, had not a single
dollar in the house, this small sum  would lie
gladly receive(l by her. Deck led the way out of
the house, and his two cousins followed, just as
Mrs. Pickford. and her two small children came
into the room. The sight of them was enough to
assure the visitors of the poverty of the husband
and father.


 



REVELATIONS OF A YOUNG GUARDS'MAN 27



                CHAPTER IT

    IEVELATIONS OF A YOUNG GUARDSM1AN

  DEXTER LYONN was Very much perplexed by
the situation of his uncles family in. Barereek;
for he owned his place, which had cost five
thousand dollars, unencumbered; and about two
years before lhe had received from the estate of
his deceased brother twenty thousand dollars in
cash and stocks.
  "Of course the story that your mother had
not a dollar in the hotuse is a fiction, such as
people who collect money, or don't want to pity it
out, often tell," said the young cavalrymiian, as lie
wvent to the post where lie had secured his horse.
   Fiction   Wliat do you mean by that
asked Sandy Lyon, the expression on whose face
was very sad and discontented.
  " You didn't mean that what you said was
true  "
  "What did I say that was not true" inquired

 




IN THE SADDLE



Sandy, looking at his cousin as thouah he was
iil doubt whether or not to conceal the correct
answer to the question.
  " Everybody in Barcreek knows that your father
has gone to Bowling Green, and you said that
your mother had not a dollar in the house," re-
p)lied I)eck, studying the expression on the face
of his cousin.  "You didn't mean that, did
yo-l  "
  Sandy looked at his cousin, and each seemed
to be considering the meaning of the other's
looks. They were own cousins, and their homes
were not more than a mile apart; but they had
not met for three months. Politics, as the peo-
ple of this locality generally called the two great
questions of the day, Unionism and Secession,
had created a great gulf between the two fami-
lies. Judging from the threadbare and semi-
miserable condition of the two sons of Captain
Titus, times had gone hardly with the family.
  1i I did not say that mother had not a dollar
in the house," said Sandy, after a long silence.
  " Orly said so, and you did not contradict
him; so it is all the samne thinok" added Deck.
  "I did say so; and I said it because it was



28

 



REVELATIONS OF A YOUNG GUARDS.MAN 29



just as true as Breckinridge's long letter,.' said
Orly earnestly.
  "That is not saying much for the truth of it,"
answered Deck, with a smile on his handsome
face; for he had the reputation of being a good-
looking fellow, especially since he had donned
his uniform.
  "Well, it is true as that the sun shines in the
sky," added Orly; and there was an expression
of disgust on his face.
  "But your father has plenty of money," sug-
gested the young soldier.
  "No, he hasn't," protested Orly.
  "You are talking too fast, Orly," interposed
Sandy reproachfully.
  " We may as well let the cat out of the bag
first as last, for she will scratch her way out
very soon," replied Orly. "Alother will be glad
enough to see that two dollars when Sandy offers
it to her."
  Just at that moment the blast of a bugle, or
several of them, was heard in the direction of
the Cross Roads, the way Deck was going when
he was arrested by the cry for help from Pick-
for('i. house,

 




IN THE SADDLE



  " What's that"' asked Sandy, as though he
was glad to have the subject of the conversation
changed, however it may have been with his more
impulsive brother.
  ,,It must be my company, or the squadron to
which it belongs," replied Deck rather indiffer-
ently.
  "How   many companies have you, Deck"
asked Orly.
  "Only two yet, hardly enough for a battalion."
  "'Where are they going now
  Probably they are out for drill; and I must
fall in as soon as the companies coiime up," said
Deck, as he mounted his horse and straighitened
himself up in the saddle, as thougoh lhe wislhed to
presenit a proper appearafice before his cousins.
  But tlhe battalion or squadron was still at a
considerable distance from him, and the younug
cavalryman could riot help looking at the pinched
faces of his cousins; for though they lhad osten-
sibly embraced the cause of Secession, lie was
full of sympathy for them.   They looked as
though they had been poorly fed, if niot half-
starved; and when the time had come for them
to have new suits of clothes, they had not ob-



30

 



REVELATIONS OF A YOUNG GUARDSMAN 31



tained them. But if Captain Titus's family was
without moniey, it could be only a temporary
matter, for he could hardly have exhausted his
twenty thousand dollars in stocks and cash,
though it was well known that he had contrib-
uted five thousand dollars for the purchase of
arms and ammunition to be used by his com-
pany of Home Guards, which had now moved
south to join the Confederate army.
  "As I said before, your father had plenty of
money," continued Deck, though he was not dis-
posed to be over-inquisitive.
  "He had at one time," Sandy admitted; and it
was plain from his manner that he was not willing
to tell all he knew about his father's financial
affairs.
  " I don't understand how your mother should
be so short of money, Sandy; but it is none of
my business, and I won't ask any more questions,"
added the cavalryman, as he whirled his restive
horse about. "I thought you and Orly went with
the company to Bowling Green, Sandy."
  "We did; but we came back again," replied
the elder brother. But there appeared to be
something to conceal in regard to their return.

 




IN THE SADDLE



  "There wasn't any fun in soldiering without
any pay, and without even half enough to eat,
with nothing to wear," added the plain-spoken
younger brother.
  "You needn't tell all you know, Orly," inter-
posed Sandy, with a frown at his brother.
  "You. needn't snap at me, Sandy ; for I told you
before I had had enough of this thing, and I shall
never join the company again," returned Orly ear-
nestly. " I)o you sutppose I can enlist in one of
your companies, Deck "
  "Shut up, Orlv:" exclaimed Sandy very sternly.
"You don't know w-llat you are talking about."
  "I'll bet I ktnow what I'm talking about, and
my stomach knows too," retorted Orly.
  ",Don't male a fool of yourself! You don't
mean to turn traitor to your father and the cause,
Orly" pleaded Sandy; but he appeared to be
trying to keep up appearances.
  " Hang the cause! " exclaimed Orly, as though
he meant all he said. "' My father got me into
the scrape, and he will get enough of it before he
is many months older."
  " Use your reason and common-sense," coun-
selled the elder brother.



32

 



REVELATIONS OF A YOUNG GUARDSMAN 33



  " That's what we just haven't been using the
last two years, and now I'm going to use my
reason and commoni -sense on my own hook.  If
you like soldiering without pay or rations, Sandy,
you can join the company again as soon as you
like; but when you catch me there, you will find
a Kentuckian without any eye-teeth," replied Orly,
who was only two years younger than his brother,
and was considered the brighter boy of the two;
and his tones and his manner were vigorous
enough to indicate that he meant all he said.
  "You are acting like a fool to talk like that
before your cousin, who is an abolition soldier."
  "Before my cousin! His father and himself
have been sensible from the first; and I only
wonder that Deck don't quote Scripture to us,
and gently remind us that ' the way of transgres-
sors is hard; ' for he can't help seeing the truth of
the proverb in both of us."
  " I didn't know that things had become particu-
larly hard with you," said Deck.
  " Orly is as wild as a goat, Deck. Don't mind
what lie says," interposed Sandy.
  "' Or what Sandy says," interjected the younger
of the two.

 




IN THE SADDLE



  " Our company has not been mustered in yet,
and of course we could not draw pay or rations,"
added Sandy, who felt called upon to defend his
father and the " cause " from the implied censure
of his brother. "Father spent all the ready money
he had to pay for rations and tents, and some
other things the Confederate government wvill fur-
nish, and will pay him back for all he has ex-
pended. That is the reason why my mother is so
short of money just now."
  "That's all very good as far as it goes; but I
don't believe the Confederate government has got
any more money than the Bank of England; and
it will be a long day before father gets his money
back. We were nearly starved when we left the
company."
  " But we did not desert, as some folks say we
did," added Sandy, who was in favor of putting
the best foot forward.  Father sent us home
when we spoke of leaving, and he gave us a sort
of furlough, in so many words. If he could hear
you talk, Orly, he would be ashamed of you."
  " As I have been of him more than once," said
the younger in a low tone, as though he did not
feel fully justified in speaking in that manner of



34

 



REVELATIONS OF A YOUNG GUARDSMAN 35



his father, who had a gross failing, which had
recently been gaining upon him.
  Sandy heard the remark; and he was disgusted,
though he could not deny the justness of it. He
had been ashamed of his father, but his inborn
pride did not permit him to say so outside of the
family.  If he had been as plain-spoken as his
brother, he might have informed Deck, who was
the only listener to the conversation, that the fur-
lough had grown out of a quarrel between Captain
Titus and his older son.
  The captain had always been what is known as
a moderate drinker, but the habit had grown upon
him after he went to Kentucky.  Some of the
Home Guard had been shot at while engaged in
fora