The Young Sharpshooter at Antietam Page 5

  CHAPTER IV

  THE V IN THE FENCE

  The prophecy of Dennis that a small body of men were approaching up thewinding road was in part fulfilled.

  The men advanced until both the crouching soldiers were able to seedistinctly that they were clad in the uniform of gray. This factconfirmed their suspicions that somehow the small body of men had comebetween them and the camp at Harper's Ferry. Just what this meant or howmuch it implied, neither was able to conjecture.

  The afternoon sun was low in the western sky. As Noel glanced behind himhe became aware of this fact, and with it also came a hope that if theadvancing party might be kept off until the sun had set, the darknesswould provide a shelter under which he and his companion might be ableto retrace their way to camp.

  "They're stoppin', lad!" whispered Dennis excitedly.

  "So they are," replied Noel "If they will only stay there we may beable to get away from here after all."

  "But they have seen us," protested Dennis.

  "I know it," answered Noel. "But they may not be able to see us now."

  "There's one thing," said Dennis; "they don't know how many there arehere. If they have seen only two, it may be they think we're part of abig company. We'll do all we can to lave them believe that. We don'twant any closer acquaintance with any of thim Johnnies."

  It was manifest that the party had halted in the road, and whether ornot there was any prospect of an advance was something which the boyscould not determine.

  Behind him Noel saw that the field sloped towards some woods that werenot more than one hundred yards away.

  Once within the shelter of the trees, safety for a time at least mightbe secured, but in passing across the open field, even on the slightlysloping ground, they would be exposed to the fire of the men in theroad.

  Suddenly Dennis exclaimed, "Look yonder, me boy! Is that a spade, or dome eyes deceive me?"

  Glancing quickly at the corner in the fence Noel saw a spade restingupon the ground, where it plainly had been abandoned by some one who hadbeen repairing the fence.

  "Be careful, Dennis. You'll be seen if you try to get that."

  "Niver fear, me lad. That spade is worth its weight in gold, and I'm theboy that is goin' to try for it."

  Instantly acting upon his own suggestion Dennis crawled slowly throughthe grass and stubble and carefully attempted to gain the implement.

  Noel meanwhile anxiously watched his friend, fearful every moment thatthe report of guns in the distance would be heard. His fears, however,were relieved when in a few minutes Dennis returned with the spade.

  "There, now!" he exclaimed. "We'll be ready for the Johnnies in a jiffy.Just watch me!"

  It was marvelous to see what he was able to accomplish with his spadeand still without exposing himself to the possible fire of the enemy,who were not moving from the position where they had halted somedistance up the road.

  As soon as a slight excavation had been made, both Noel and Dennisleaped into it. A few fence rails were also secured and piled upon thefence in front of them.

  "You see now," said Dennis, "we're ready for almost any kind of anattack."

  Noel smiled, though he made no reply. The full seriousness of the perilin which he and his companion now found themselves was plain. They wereconfronted by a band which had seen them scurrying across the road, andthough the gray-clad soldiers had halted some distance down the road theyoung soldier was aware that they knew of the presence of the two boysin blue. Why they had not advanced he did not understand.

  He was afraid to make the attempt to gain the woods in his rear, as hebelieved his enemies were still watchful and that any effort to escapewould meet with a quick fire.

  Meanwhile Dennis had succeeded in digging a ditch along the two sides ofthe V-shaped rail fence.

  "There," he exclaimed, with a sigh of relief. "That will keep out theJohnnies, I'm thinkin'."

  "Not very long," said Noel quickly.

  "But they don't know how many there are of us," declared Dennis. "Ifthey try to attack us there will be a couple of thim what shurely willnade the sarvices of the surgeon."

  "We may need the services of the undertaker."

  "Not yet, sor!" said Dennis with a laugh.

  It was apparently impossible for the young Irish soldier to realize theseriousness of the position in which he and his comrade now foundthemselves.

  "We'll wait a while, anyway," said Noel, "before we do anything. If theydon't attack us, we'll not make any trouble for them."

  "I'm not so shure o' that," said Dennis.

  "We won't yet, anyway," said Noel quietly, fearful that his impulsivefriend, if the attack should be delayed, would become impatient and withdifficulty would be held back from firing at the men who were so near.

  Glancing again at the band of Confederates, Noel was still more puzzledby their inactivity. Apparently they had broken ranks and were sittingor lying about on the ground near the road, though guards had beenstationed in front and rear.

  The moments dragged slowly on, and the confidence of Noel that an attackwas not to be made upon them gradually became stronger.

  The afternoon sun now was not more than a half-hour above the horizon.If they should be left free for another hour, he was hopeful that theymight make their way to the near-by woods and by a wide detour be ableto return to the camp at Harper's Ferry.

  "Shure!" said Dennis, after a few more minutes had elapsed, "we can'tlave the Johnnies like this."

  "You had better let sleeping dogs alone," warned Noel.

  "Shure, an' I will that," said Dennis. "I'm not goin' to harm any one ofthim. They seem to me to be aslape and I want to give thim somethin' towake 'em up."

  "What are you doing?" demanded Noel, as his companion drew an emptycartridge from his box and filled it with powder from his flask.

  "I'm riggin' up somethin' to wake up thim boys," replied Dennis soberly.

  Noel said no more and continued to watch his companion, who, after theshell had been filled with powder, adjusted the percussion cap in such amanner that it was placed upon the powder and within the covering.

  "There's one of thim," exclaimed Dennis, looking with pride at hisworkmanship. "Now I'll make another one."

  A second "shot" like the first was soon made, and then, handing one toNoel, Dennis proceeded very carefully to place his own in the muzzle ofhis gun.

  "What are you going to do?" demanded Noel. "That isn't much more than ablank cartridge you have got there."

  "Niver you mind that," said Dennis confidently. "We'll start thesefellows on the run."

  "It depends upon which way they run," again said Noel. "We don't wantthem coming in our direction."

  "I'm not so shure about that," said Dennis, whose respect for the enemyhad fallen because of the long silence which had prevailed after theirarrival, "I'm not so shure of that," he repeated. "'Most anything isbetter than nothing. Now, then, Noel," he explained, "you see that bigoak tree just beyond the place where the Johnnies are lyin'?"

  "Yes," replied Noel, as he glanced at the huge tree in the distance.

  "Do you think you could hit it?"

  "A blind man could do that," said Noel.

  "Well, then, I'll fire and then you fire."

  "At the tree?" demanded Noel in surprise.

  "That's it. That's it, exactly."

  "What good will that do? It will only expose us and our shots won't doany damage."

  "We'll see about that in a minute or two," laughed Dennis. "When thesestrange bullets of ours strike the tree they are goin' to make thatpercussion cap explode and then the powder will go off and there will bea big noise right behind the Johnnies. They'll think somebody's firin'at thim from the other side."

  "That's no joke, Dennis," said Noel positively. "If we do what you say,they will think they are being attacked on the other side, and if theyretreat they will come straight toward this place where we are now."

  "Shure, but they won't retreat," said Dennis. "It's positiv
e I am thatthey will be puttin' straight for the place where they think these gunsare bein' fired."

  "Then that will give us a chance to get away."

  "Which may be right, my boy."

  "Yes, I am right," said Noel hesitatingly. "Although I confess I don'tlike your scheme very much."

  "We'll not fire together," said Dennis. "I'll fire first, then you firedirectly after me. Be sure you don't miss that tree."

  Dennis raised his gun to his shoulder, took careful aim and fired. Aftera brief interval Noel followed his example, though his better judgmentstill protested against the action as perilous.

  True to the aim of the young soldiers the strange shots struck the treejust as Dennis had believed they would. An explosion followed each shotthat was so loud that even the report of the guns from the V along theline of the rail fence sounded feeble.

  In a moment the little Confederate band was thrown into confusion, asthe men hastily arose and glanced in consternation first up the road andthen in the opposite direction. They had heard the report of the guns ofthe two young soldiers, but, as Dennis had prophesied, the louderreports had come after the caps had been exploded when the great oaktree had been struck by the strange missiles.

  Eagerly Noel peered between the rails to discover in which direction thelittle band would start.

  The consternation and confusion apparently lasted only a moment. In abrief time the men formed and at the word of their leader startedhastily up the road in the direction of the hiding-place of Noel andDennis.