32. CHAPTER XXXII.
ATTEMPTED ASSASSINATION.
During the whole of the succeeding day the battle raged
without intermission, but it was mostly a battle of artillery.
The Northern army, destitute of pontoon trains, were
unable to pass the creek in sufficient numbers to effect a
lodgment on the opposite side. But the cannon did awful
execution on both sides, and an incessant flight of bombs
wrought a dreadful carnage in all directions.
Towards evening the attention of General Crook was
attracted by a cloud of dust in the South; this body of
men, he learned, upon inquiry, were the escaped prisoners,
and he found it difficult to resist the temptation to recapture
them. He suggested the idea to Randolph.
“I will undertake to drive them across the creek and
within our lines, with 5,000 horse.”
“And Ruffleton's fanatics might come in with them,”
said Randolph. “No, General—let them alone. They
would consume our rations, and we have not a superabundance.
Let them prey upon the enemy.”
“Very well,” said Crook. “But I shall give them a
parting salute when they reach the meadow in their line of
march.” He had a battery of ten guns erected to sweep
the meadow; and when the dark mass reached the designated
point, he played upon them with a vengeance! They
were not all fanatics, and by no means insensible to fear.
Abandoning their guides, they fled in all directions, and
very soon produced a panic, for such is the influence of example,
in the left wing of Ruffleton's army, where they fled
for shelter. And Randolph, perceiving this, seized the
opportunity to throw bridges (he possessed an excellent
pontoon train) over the lower end of the creek, and dashed
out with 5,000 horse. Before the extremity of the left
wing of the adverse army could recover from the confusion
produced by the presence of the panic-stricken fugitives, he
was upon them, dealing right and left. This time they
threw down their arms and fell back upon the rear guard,
where they rallied again. Then, without exposing his men
unnecessarily, and after having administered a salutary
chastisement on the fanatics, Randolph returned to his
friends, who greeted him with hearty cheers.
Sergeant Bim, who of course had been one of this party,
and had performed his share of the execution, as if he had
grown weary of slaying the enemy, resolved to make a
prisoner. So he snatched a man from his horse and placed
him before him on his own; and in that manner conveyed
him into camp.
“Whom have you there, Bim?” demanded President
Randolph, when they repassed the bridge, attracted by the
novelty of the burden.
“It's Popoli, sir,” said Bim. “I found him aiming a
rifle at you, sir. I killed a Colonel near him, and then the
monkey mounted his horse, and tried to get away. It was
an old plough horse with a Quaker-looking face. Popoli
begged me to spare his life and I brought him in as a show.
I've found a blank passport in his pocket signed by General
Ruffleton, which I will fill up with my own name.”
“Did you find any other papers, Bim?”
“No, sir.”
“But I have more, Mr. President.”
Popoli produced several dispatches from Admiral Bang,
which he was bearing to the camp of Ruffleton, when taken
by Bim.
They were important, and Randolph perused them with
interest as he rode towards his head-quarters, unmindful of
the cannon balls ever and anon ploughing up the earth near
the feet of his horse.
“Gentlemen,” said Randolph, when Blount and Crook
joined him in his tent, “here is some interesting information.
A British cruiser, it seems, boarded the Boston vessel
on the coast of Africa, supposing it to be a slaver, when
they found only a cargo of Abolitionists! The officers and
crew were put in irons, and the vessel sent back to
Boston.”
“That is bad news!” said Crook.
“But not the worst,” continued the President. “Your
ship from Annapolis was intercepted by the same cruiser,
and, returning, has landed its contents in New York.”
“Then there will be no peace on this mundane sphere!”
said Crook. “All the devils in — could not foment so
much discord and strife on earth, as those two cargoes of
wicked preachers, fanatics, and fools!”
“You must be merciful, if you would obtain mercy,”
said Randolph. “But I have another project for the delectation
of Ruffleton. I think some impression was made by
this last charge, and that another, on a larger scale, will
make the enemy more respectful, at least more circumspect.”
What this was, the following events will sufficiently
indicate.
Commodore Stout, leading with the Wabash, steamed
along the shore as near the right wing of the enemy as the
depth of water would permit, and poured broadside after
broadside into the flank and rear of them. This demonstration
swept away almost every man in the hostile ranks
within a half mile of the river; and under the rolling clouds
of smoke, Randolph, throwing his bridges over the creek,
sallied out at the head of nearly twenty thousand horse, and
fell like an avalanche on their disordered columns. The
charge was irresistible. And so many terrible examples of
the fatality of these quadrupedal apparitions in their midst,
had begun to produce their natural effect upon all who
looked forward to any other object in this life besides the
abolition of African slavery. The entire right wing of
Ruffleton's army was soon folded against the centre, where,
perforce, its retrograde movement was arrested by the impenetrable
wall of steel. Having penetrated to the very
centre of the enemy's camp, Randolph turned upon them
all the cannon he had taken, some eighty in number, and
fired one round of their own missiles into their ranks!
Then spiking the guns, he led back his cavalry without
serious diminution, just as the dusk of eve fell upon the
scene.
“What sort of a burden is that?” asked Randolph, when
returning to his tent, and observing an enormous object, enveloped
in a coarse canvas, which Bim carried before him
on his horse.
“I don't know exactly, sir,” said Bim; “but I hope it's
General Ruffleton himself. This is part of his tent, I know.
We swept over his head-quarters, and I saw this thing rolling
itself in the canvas, and snatched it up. I think it must
be General Ruffleton, for it's pot-bellied like him, and heavy
as lead.”
“Bring him to my tent,” said Randolph.
It was Lord Slysir.
“My bones are broken!” said his lordship, when Bim
unrolled him from his mummy-like covering. “I am bruised
to a jelly! Mr. President, I demand the punishment of
your ill-mannered dragoon!”
“Your lordship forgets that my dragoon was merely discharging
his duty.”
“Duty! Is cruelty to prisoners—if you regard me such
—a duty?”
“I declare, sir,” said Bim, addressing the President,
“when I first saw the canvas move, I thought it was a pig,
and wrapped him up so he couldn't bite me.”
“Begone! you unmannered hound!—you untutored
boor!” said Slysir.
“If I'm to be mistaken for a pig, sir,” said Bim, stepping
back, “let it be a boar pig. But I'm no manner of a hound,
sir! I repel the imputation. And if your rank would only
permit you to fight a Sergeant of dragoons, I think I could
give you abundant satisfaction.”
“My Lord,” said Randolph, when Bim withdrew, “I
trust you will be immediately restored to health and usefulness.”
“Health and usefulness! and from an enemy!”
“I am perfectly aware of that, my lord. And, really, I
am delighted at your alliance with Ruffleton, for it will
guarantee the security of our merchant marine, belonging
almost exclusively to the free States. But, instead of annexing
New England to the British crown, be careful that
Canada is not annexed to New England.”
“Your Excellency seems to possess a vast amount of
information.”
“Would your Lordship be prepared to listen to a proposition—”
“I am not at liberty—I mean I am a prisoner, Mr. President,
and any negotiations—”
“Would be an infraction of the convention with the military,
if not the civil, head of the Northern confederacy!”
“That is not what I desired to say, Mr. President. But
a stroke of your pen would restore me my liberty, and
then—”
“And then the words of warning I uttered on the night
of the dissolution of Congress, would prove to have been
without meaning. My lord, whatever others may do, I
always mean what I say. You have espoused the cause of
a traitor, and we are enemies. My war with England will
rally, sooner or later, all the patriotism and republicanism
of the Union under my standard. I repeat, that a war with
England is regarded by me as a most fortunate event.
Therefore, there need be no hesitation on your part to begin
hostilities. And, indeed, your cruisers have already taken
the initiative—”
“How? When?” asked Slysir.
“These papers will enlighten your Lordship,” said Randolph,
placing in his hands the intercepted dispatches.
“Ah! these were intercepted,” said his lordship. “But
were these all? Was nothing said about—”
“About what?”
“If your Excellency has in your possession other dispatches—”
“I have no other.”
“Then, of course, there were no others, and I cannot
imagine—”
His Lordship was interrupted by the entrance of a messenger,
who placed a letter in the President's hand. By
the light of a lamp, Randolph recognized the characters of
Major S—.
“Who brought this?” he demanded.
“A deserter, sir,” said the messenger.
While the President was reading, Popoli, who had been
lying concealed among a number of flags taken by the cavalry,
sprang up and aimed a blow with his dagger at the
heart of the President. The President stumbled backwards,
and fell into the chair from which he had risen. And Bim,
who stood near the entrance, seeing Popoli glide out into
the darkness, ran in pursuit of him.
“That was an assassin, with whom I protest I had no
complicity!” said Slysir. “I hope your Excellency is not
seriously wounded.”
The President pressed one hand against his heart, and
without replying to his lordship, waved him away with the
other. The officer having his Lordship in custody hurried
him off towards the river.
The guards in the immediate vicinity of the President's
tent having informed Generals Blount and Crook of the
occurrence, they repaired instantly to Randolph's quarters,
where, to their joyful surprise, they found him quietly perusing
a communication from Major S—, his dissembling
partisan in the camp of the enemy.
“Not dead, by Jupiter!” cried Crook.
“No, thank heaven!” said Blount, pale and fearfully excited.
“Not even scratched,” said Randolph. “It was well
aimed, but Providence interposed my heavy-cased hunting
watch. Now, gentlemen, that little matter blown over,
we enter upon affairs of the greatest magnitude. My correspondent,
on whose information you are aware we may
always rely, says that Ruffleton and Bang have determined
to make a simultaneous attack on us by land and by water.
Our flotilla cannot be reached by the enemy at low tide;
and it seems to me that the time has arrived for us to take
our departure from this shore, provided we succeed in repulsing
the attack by land.”
“I concur fully,” said Blount.
“Good! So long as there is no such word as surrender,”
said Crook. “And,” he continued, with an uplifted hand,
“when that alternative is contemplated, I desire it to be
understood that I am not to be consulted. I will never
surrender. I will escape in the old Roman manner.”
“My brave brother in arms!” said Randolph, taking the
General's hand, “your life is too valuable to be lost in that
way. Such an alternative as a surrender is certainly not to
be contemplated; but if it were, of what avail would be
self-destruction? Think not of it. And remember I have
Lord Slysir, whose equivalent in an exchange would be at
least a General.”
“Your last charge,” said Blount to Randolph, “must
have been seriously felt by the enemy, and was a great relief
to us. There is a very perceptible diminution of projectiles
thrown into our camp. But in accordance with the
information derived from your correspondent, the fire had
not ceased at nightfall.”
“Let us double the guard at those places on the creek
where they will be most likely to attempt a passage; and
at the same time we will redouble the fire from our mortars,”
said the President.
“Yes,” said Blount; “and the amount of metal thus
expended, will be a diminution to that extent of the burden
to be transported in the flotilla.” And at the same time that
these measures were put in execution, every preparation
was made to embark.
