CHAPTER XX.
A SUSPICIOUS OCCURRENCE.
When Sam had finished his despatch he quietly aroused Bob Sharp andSidney Russell, and entered into conversation with them.
"Sid," he said, "I have a prisoner and a despatch of very greatimportance to send to General Jackson. You must take the despatch andleave as soon as possible, with the prisoner, who is a deserter andwho must be got away from here before daylight. Bob, I want you togive Sid as good directions as you can, as you've been over the routetwice."
"Yes an' I've sort o' blazed it too, and picked out all sorts o'land-marks to steer by, but I don't knows I can make any body elseunderstand 'em. Are you in a big hurry with the despatch?"
"Yes, the biggest kind. It's of the utmost importance, and time isevery thing. A single hour lost may lose Mobile or a battle."
"Then maybe Sid an' me'd both better go,--Sid to do the fast runningan' me to show him the way."
"There's no use of both of you going," replied Sam, "but if you hadhad a couple of days rest I would send you instead of Sid, because youknow the way, and I don't believe anybody can make the distance anyquicker than you have done it."
"I know a feller that kin," replied Bob.
"Who is it?" asked Sam.
"Me."
"You? How do you mean?"
"I mean that I kin go to Mobile most a day quicker 'n I dun it before.I got into a lot o' tangles before that I know how to keep out ofnow."
"Yes, but you can't start back again without at least a day's rest."
"Can't I though? I'm as fresh as an Irish potato without salt, an' ifyou just say the word, I'll be off the minute you git your papersready. The boys have got somethin' cooked I reckon."
Sam complimented Bob upon his vigor and readiness, and accepted hisoffer. Ten minutes sufficed for all necessary preparations, and Bobwas about starting with his prisoner, when Sid Russell spoke.
"I say, Sam, did you say this 'ere feller's a deserter?"
"Yes. What of it?"
"Nothing only there's a camp o' British an' Injuns back there a littleways, an' if Bob don't look out he'll run right into it."
"A camp? Where?" asked Sam.
"Right in rear of us, not three hundred yards away."
"When was it established there?"
"To-night, just after you went away in the boat."
"All right," replied Sam. "Jump into the boat, Bob, and we'll saildown below and you can start from there."
It was easy enough to carry Bob and the deserter down to a point belowthe camp, but Sam was not at all pleased to find the British so nearhim. He feared already that he was suspected, and he was not sure thatthis placing of troops near him was not a preparation for somethingelse. At all events, it was very embarrassing, for the reason that itwould prevent him from withdrawing his party suddenly to the woods ontheir retreat, if anything should happen, and this made Sam uneasy. Hereturned to camp, after parting with Bob and the deserter, and sat foran hour revolving matters in his mind.
At first he was disposed to wake the boys and quietly withdraw bywater to a point lower down, but upon reflection he was convinced thathis removal by night immediately after the troops had been stationednear him, would only tend to excite suspicion. He thought, too, thathe must have been wrong in supposing that the camp had beenestablished in rear of him with any reference to him or his party.
"If they suspected us in the least, they would arrest us withoutwaiting to make sure of their suspicions," he thought; nevertheless,it was awkward to be shut in and cut off from the easy retreat whichhe had planned, as a means of escape, in the event of necessity, andhe determined to seek an excuse for removing within a day or two fromhis present camping place to one which would leave him freer in hismovements. He was so troubled that he could not sleep, and theflickering blaze of the dying camp fire annoyed him. He got up,therefore, from his seat on a log and went to the boat and sat down inthe stern sheets to think.
He had no fear of danger for himself, or rather, he was prepared toencounter, without flinching, any danger into which his duty mightlead him; but I have not succeeded very well in making my readersacquainted with Sam Hardwicke's character, if they do not know that hewas a thoroughly conscientious boy, and from the beginning of thisexpedition until now, he had never once forgotten that his authority,as its commander, involved with it a heavy responsibility.
"These boys," he frequently said to himself, "are subject to mycommand. They must go where I lead them, and have no chance to usetheir own judgments. I decide where they shall go and what they shalldo, and I am responsible for the consequences to them."
Feeling his responsibility thus deeply, he was troubled now lest anymistake of his should lead them into unnecessary danger. He carefullyweighed every circumstance which could possibly affect his decision,and his judgment was that his duty required him to remain yet a day ortwo in the neighborhood of Pensacola, and that it would only tend toawaken suspicion if he should remove his camp to any other point onthe shores of the bay. He must stay where he was, and risk theconsequences. If ill should befall the boys it would be an unavoidableill, incurred in the discharge of duty, and he would have no reason,he thought, to reproach himself.
Just as he reached this conclusion, Thlucco came from somewhere out ofthe darkness, and stepping into the boat took a seat just in front ofSam, facing him.
"Why, Thlucco," exclaimed Sam, "where did you come from?"
"Sh--sh--," said Thlucco. "Injun know. Injun no fool. Injun wantSam."
"What do you want with Sam?"
"Sam git caught! Injun no fool. Injun see."
"What do you mean, Thlucco? Speak out. If there is any danger, I wantto know it."
"Ugh! Injun know Jake Elliott!"
"What about Jake?" asked Sam.
"Um, Jake Elliott _devil_. Jake hate Sam. Jake hate General Jackson.Injun no fool. Injun see."
Sam was interested now, but it was not easy to draw anything likedetailed information out of Thlucco.
"What makes you think that, Thlucco? What have you seen or heard?"
"Um. Injun see. Injun know. Injun no fool. Jake cuss Sam. Jake cussJackson. Injun hear."
"When did you hear him curse me or General Jackson, Thlucco?" askedSam.
"Um. To-day! 'Nother day, too! 'Nother day 'fore that."
"What did he say?"
"Um. Jake _cuss_. Um. Jake gone."
"What!" exclaimed Sam. "Gone! where?"
"Um. Injun don't know. Injun know Jake gone."
"When did he leave camp?"
"Um. When Sam go 'way Jake go too! Injun follow Jake. Jake cuss Injun.Injun come back."
"Is that all you know, Thlucco?"
"Um. That's all. That's 'nough. Jake gone 'way."
Sam jumped out of the boat and waked the boys.
"Where did Jake Elliott go to-night?" he asked.
None of the boys knew.
"Did any one of you see him leave camp?"
"Yes," answered Billy Bowlegs, "but we didn't pay much attention tohim. He's been so glum lately that we've been glad to have him out ofsight."
"Has he ever gone away before?" asked Sam.
"No, only he never stays right in camp. He sleeps over there by themtrees," said Billy Bowlegs, pointing to a clump of trees about fortyor fifty yards away, "an' I guess he's only gone over there. He neverstays with us when you're not here."
Sam strode over to the trees indicated, and searched carefully, butcould find no trace of Jake there. Returning to the camp he asked:--
"Did any of you observe which way he went when he went away?"
"Yes," answered Sid Russell, "he went toward his trees."
"That is toward the town," answered Sam.
"Yes, so it is."
"Have you observed anything peculiar about his conduct lately?"
"No," replied Billy Bowlegs, "only that he's been a gettin' glummeran' glummer. I'll tell you what it is, Captain Sam, I'll bet a bigbutton he's deserted an' gone home. He's
a coward and he's been scaredever since he found out that you wa'n't foolin' about this bein' agenu-_ine_, dangerous piece of work, an' I'll bet he's cut his lucky,an' gone home, an' if ever I get back there I'll pull his nose for asneak, you just see if I don't."
"Very well," said Sam, "go to sleep again, then. If he has gone homeit is a good riddance of very bad rubbish."
Sam was not by any means satisfied that Jake had gone home, however.Indeed he was pretty well convinced that he had done nothing of thesort, and he wished for a chance to think, so that he might determinewhat was best to be done. He believed Jake would not dare to go homeas a deserter, knowing very well what reputation he would have to bearever afterward, in a community in which personal courage was held tobe the first of the virtues, and the lack of it the worst possiblevice. Where had he gone, then, and for what? Sam did not know, but hehad an opinion on the subject which grew stronger and stronger themore he revolved the matter in his mind.
Jake Elliott, he knew, had a personal grudge against him, and no verykindly feeling for the other boys. He was confessedly afraid tocontinue in the service in which he was engaged, and it was not easyfor him to quit it. There was just one safe way out of it; and thatoffered, not safety only, but revenge of precisely the kind that JakeElliott was likely to take. Sam knew very well that, notwithstandinghis magnanimity, Jake still bitterly hated him, and still cherishedthe design of wreaking his vengeance upon him at the firstopportunity.
"What is more probable, then," he asked himself, "than that Jake istrying to betray us into the hands of the enemy to die as spies? He isabundantly capable of the treachery and the meanness, and hisdesertion of the camp to-night strongly confirms the suspicion."
This much being decided, it was necessary for Sam to determine whatshould be done in the circumstances. If there had been no camp in hisrear, he would have withdrawn his command through the woods at once.As it was, he must find some other way. It was clearly his duty toescape with his boys, if he could, and to lose no time in attemptingit. The danger was now too near at hand, and too positive to beignored, and there was really very little more for him to do here. Hemust escape at once.
But could he escape?
That was a question which the event would have to answer, as Sam couldnot do it. Unluckily, it was already beginning to grow light, and hewould not have the shelter of darkness.
He aroused the boys again, before they had had time to get to sleep,and quietly began his preparations.
"Make no noise," he said, "but put what provisions you have, and allyour things into the boat. _Don't forget the guns and the ammunition._Sid! take our little water keg and run and fill it with fresh water."
The boys set about their preparations hurriedly, although they butdimly guessed the meaning of Sam's singular orders.
At that moment Jake Elliott shuffled into the camp.