The Rock of Chickamauga | Page 5

was plenty of room without putting a
single hoof upon a flower.
It was a great place. That leaped to the eye, but it was not marked upon
Colonel Winchester's map, nor had he heard of it.
"It's a grand house," he said to his aides, "and it's a pity that it should
go to ruin after the slaves are freed, as they certainly will be."
"But it was built upon slave labor," said Warner.
"So it was, and so were many of the most famous buildings in the
world. But here, I'm not going to get into an argument about such
questions with young men under my command. Besides, I'm fighting to
destroy slavery, not to study its history. Sergeant Whitley, you're an
experienced trailer: do you see any signs that troops have passed here?"
"None at all, sir. Down near the gate where the drive is out of repair I
noticed wheel tracks, but they were several days old. The freshest of
them were light, as if made by buggies. I judge, sir, that it was the
family, the last to leave."
"And the wagons containing their valuables had gone on ahead?"
"It would seem so, sir."
Colonel Winchester sighed.
"An invader is always feared and hated," he said.
"But we do come as enemies," said Dick, "and this feeling toward us
can't be helped."
"That's true. No matter what we do we'll never make any friends here in
one of the Gulf states, the very core of Southern feeling. Dick, take a

squad of men and enter the house. Pennington, you and Warner go with
him."
Dick sprang down instantly, chose Sergeant Whitley first and with the
others entered the great portico. The front door was locked but it was
easy enough to force it with a gun butt, and they went in, but not before
Dick had noticed over the door in large letters the name, "Bellevue." So
this was Bellevue, one of the great cotton plantations of Mississippi. He
now vaguely remembered that he had once heard his uncle, Colonel
Kenton, speak of having stopped a week here. But he could not recall
the name of the owner. Strong for the Union as he was Dick was glad
that the family had gone before the Northern cavalry came.
The house was on a splendid scale inside also, but all the rugs and
curtains were gone. As they entered the great parlor Dick saw a large
piece of paper, and he flushed as he read written upon it in tall letters:
TO THE YANKEE RAIDERS: YOU NEED NOT LOOK FOR THE
SILVER. IT HAS BEEN TAKEN TO VICKSBURG.
"Look at that!" he said indignantly to Warner. "See how they taunt us!"
But Warner laughed.
"Maybe some of our men at New Orleans have laid us open to such a
stab," he said. Then he added whimsically:
"We'll go to Vicksburg with Grant, Dick, and get that silver yet."
"The writing's fresh," said Sergeant Whitley, who also looked at the
notification. "The paper hasn't begun to twist and curl yet. It's not been
posted up there many hours."
Colonel Winchester entered at that moment and the notice was handed
to him. He, too, flushed a little when he read it, but the next instant he
laughed. Dick then called his attention to the apparent fact that it had
been put there recently.

"May I speak a word, Colonel," said Warner, who had been thinking so
hard that there was a line the full length of his forehead.
"Yes, George, a dozen if you like. Go ahead. What is it?"
"The sergeant, who has had much experience as a trailer, told us that
the tracks made by the buggy wheels were several days old. The slaves
probably had been sent southward before that time. Now some one who
saw our advance has come back, and, whoever it was, he was
thoroughly familiar with the house. He couldn't have been a servant.
Servants don't leave taunts of that kind. It must have been somebody
who felt our coming deeply, and if it had been an elderly man he would
have waited for action, he wouldn't have used saucy words. So, sir, I
think it must have been a boy. Just like Pennington there, for instance."
"Good, George, go on with your reasonings."
"As surely, sir, as z plus y equals the total of the two, the one who put
up the placard was a son of the owner. He alone would feel deeply
enough to take so great a risk. The conditions absolutely demand that
the owner has such a son and that he has done it."
"Very good, George. I think you're right, and this youth in giving way
to a natural burst of anger, although he did not mean