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Uncle Sam's Boys in the Ranks, a novel by H. Irving Hancock |
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Chapter 22. Captain Cortland Heads The Pursuit |
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_ CHAPTER XXII. CAPTAIN CORTLAND HEADS THE PURSUIT AWAY over by post number four Hal heard three rifle shots ring out. But he paid no heed. Instead he answered the now terrorized wretch in front of him: "I'll have to kill you, unless you surrender!" "Then I'll get you first," came the defiant answer. From the flashes, it could now be seen that Tip Branders was firing with a revolver in each hand. The bullets came in so swift and close that Private Hal Overton expected, every instant, to be bowled over. But still he fired deliberately, though he now strove to make each shot effective. In a few moments he fired next to the last cartridge in his magazine, just as the furious revolver fusillade came to an end. "O-o-oh!" Then the young sentry felt, rather than saw, something topple over at the base of the tree. Hal leaped up, at the same instant hearing some one run up behind him. That brought the young sentry about like a flash. "I'm Captain Ruggles, Sentry!" came the prompt hail, and Private Overton recognized the voice. Then Hal wheeled the other way, rushing toward the tree, calling back as he ran: "I think I got the scoundrel, sir." In another moment Hal was beside the tree, holding his rifle clubbed and ready, in case Tip Branders was playing 'possum. But the fellow lay on the ground, curiously huddled up, not moving a hand. "I got him with that last shot, sir," announced Private Overton, turning and carefully saluting his officer. "You've had a brisk and brave fight, Sentry," cried Captain Ruggles warmly. "I heard your first shot, and rushed here as fast as I could come." In reality, long as the time had seemed, hardly more than a full minute had passed. Captain Ruggles, with a pair of white-striped trousers drawn on over his pajamas, and slippers on his feet, presented a picture of speed. Hal bent beside his old enemy of the home town to see where Tip had been hit. Captain Ruggles, changing his revolver to his left hand, drew a match and struck it. Tip's first apparent wound was a graze at the top of his right shoulder. A dark, red stain appeared there. Another bullet had grazed his right wrist. The third wound apparent was at the right side of the chest. "It'll need a rain-maker (Army surgeon) to tell whether that bullet touched the scoundrel's right lung," declared Captain Ruggles. At that instant a woman's voice sounded from one of the windows of the house behind them: "Corporal of the guard, you'll find Captain Ruggles and the sentry somewhere back of the garden." Then came the sounds of running feet. Corporal Sanders was coming with the guard. That incident showed the young soldier, more clearly than anything else could have done, how brief the duel between Tip and himself had been. For Hal knew that, when the alarm is sounded, accompanied by the sound of a shot, the corporal and the guard come on the dead run. "Right here, Corporal of the guard!" shouted Captain Ruggles, standing up. "Send one man back immediately for hospital men and a stretcher." "Hospital men and a stretcher, Davidson," called the corporal, and one soldier detached himself from the running squad, wheeling and racing back. Then the corporal of the guard dashed up at the head of his men, giving Captain Ruggles the rifle salute by bringing his left hand smartly against the barrel of his piece. Barely behind the guard came Lieutenant Hayes, of A Company, who was officer of the day. "The sentry has caught one of the burglars, Hayes," called Captain Ruggles, as the lieutenant came up on the run. "Glad of it, sir. It's about time." Then, turning to Hal, Lieutenant Hayes continued: "You're sentry on number three, Private Overton?" "Yes, sir." "Make your report in as few words as you can." This Hal did, telling about the two men whom he saw sneaking away with bundles, and also about the third man who had joined in firing at him. "Which way did the other two retreat, Private Overton?" "I couldn't see, sir," the young soldier answered. "I was in the corn at that moment." The corporal of the guard, in the meantime, had sent another man to relieve Noll Terry on post number four, directing Terry to report to the officer of the day. Still another member of the guard had been placed on post number three. All the other commissioned officers on post, including Colonel North, now appeared, and the investigating party was adjourned to the roadway. Noll reported that he had seen two fugitives at a distance, and had fired three times. Under military discipline matters move rapidly. Soldiers with lanterns were now searching for the trail of those who had escaped. Keen eyes were also seeking either bundle of loot from Captain Ruggles's quarters. It was thought that the thieves, in their haste to get away, might have dropped their plunder. Tip Branders, still unconscious, and badly hurt, according to the surgeon, was taken to the post hospital, and the civil authorities in Clowdry were notified. "That fellow you shot called you by name, didn't he, Overton?" inquired Captain Ruggles. "Yes, sir," Hal admitted. "Ah, you knew the fellow, then?" inquired Colonel North. He spoke blandly, but he had an instant recollection of the anonymous note that had been received at battalion headquarters. "Yes, sir," Hal spoke promptly. "The fellow is Tip Branders. He comes from the same home town that I do. He tried to enlist in the Army, but was rejected because he could not supply good enough references. Then he ran away from home, taking with him some money he stole from his mother, according to local accounts." "Did you know the fellow Branders was in this part of the world?" "Yes, sir." "Then why, Private Overton, did you not report your information promptly to your officers?" "Why, I did not have the least idea, sir, that Branders was still in this neighborhood, and I did not, at any time, connect him in my mind with the robberies." "How often, and where, have you seen Branders in this part of the country?" demanded Colonel North, impressively, while the other officers looked on with keen interest. Hal flushed, for he felt that now he was under some suspicion himself. "I have seen Branders just once, sir," the recruit replied. "Private Terry was with me at the time." "This man here?" inquired Colonel North, turning to glance at Noll, who stood by. "Yes, sir." "When did you both see Branders, then?" "Our first day here, sir. You may recall, Colonel, that you told Terry and me that we need not go on duty that first day, but that we might have the day to ourselves, as a reward for having helped Major Davis in that mail-train affair the night before our arrival at this post." "I remember," nodded Colonel North. "But you have not yet told me the circumstances of your meeting with Branders." Hal hurriedly recounted the details of that meeting, among the rocks past the ledge, out on the road leading westward from the post. "At that time, Colonel," Private Hal Overton continued, "Branders told us he was headed for a ranch to the westward, where he expected to get a job. We had no reason for disbelieving him, at the time, and so it never even occurred to us, until to-night, that he might be one of the burglars who have been looting this post. Besides, sir, though Tip had always been known as a rather worthless fellow, we had never heard of his being the associate of downright criminals." Now the searchers came in to report that they could find neither a trail nor any sight of dropped bundles of loot. "At daylight, Major," suggested Colonel North to Major Silsbee, "you may be able to send out scouts who, with a better light, may succeed in finding a trail." Hal turned to Lieutenant Hayes, saluting. "I wonder, sir, if it won't be best for me to offer a suggestion to Colonel North?" The regimental commander turned at once. "You may speak, Private Overton." "I was about to inquire, sir," replied Hal, saluting, "if it isn't likely that there may be a good hiding place for thieves among the rocks back of the ledge of which I spoke some time ago." "What makes you think the thieves may be there, Overton?" "The thought has just struck me, sir, that Branders was probably lurking about in the vicinity of a cave or other place of concealment, on the day that he threw the stone at us. It struck me, sir, that a squad of men might search that locality with the chance of finding the rest of Branders's associates and also of recovering much of the stuff that has been stolen from quarters on this post." "That's a bright suggestion, worth working upon. Cortland, will you take a detachment of men and hasten out to that locality? Post men all around while it is still dark, and then, with a few men, plunge right through that neighborhood. Overton and Terry will go with you as guides, so that you may strike the exact spot without loss of time." Captain Cortland dispatched a soldier to go at once to Sergeant Hupner's squad room, with orders to turn out the men in that room at once and under arms, with fifty rounds of ammunition per man. This done, Captain Cortland hastened to his own quarters, soon returning with his sword hanging at his belt and his revolver in its holster. "While you are gone, Cortland," said Colonel North, "Silsbee and I will make whatever other investigations we can think of." In an almost incredibly short space of time Sergeant Hupner's squad was ready, and turned into officers' row. "Overton and Terry, you will walk ahead of the detachment, and I will go with you," Captain Cortland announced. "Sergeant Hupner, march your detachment in column of twos, twenty paces to the rear of the guides. Forward!" _ |
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