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The captain guessed he read in his face "well now, if I was to run this here Yankee right slap on a rock and bilge her, the King would make a man of me forever." So, says he to the first leftenant, reeve a rope thro' that are block at the tip eend of the fore yard, and clap a runnin nuse in it. The leftenant did it as quick as wink, and came back, and says he, I guess it's done.
Ours is with the main body," replied Deck; and the Confederate officer returned to his men. "Who are the killed in our platoon, Life?" said Deck, when the sergeant came to the lieutenant for further orders. "I don't like to say so, Leftenant; but your cousin, Orly Lyon, is one of them." "Poor fellow!" exclaimed Deck.
"'Why, sais he, 'look there, Sare. And then they larfed agin, ready to split; and sore enough, no sooner had the Leftenant layed down to drink, than the Prince's hoss kneeled down, and put his head jist over his neck, and began to drink too.
Lucky for us that we got the rest o' the cargo run ashore at Auchmithie. This'll lie snugly here, and we'll pull past the leftenant, who thinks we havena seen him, with oor heeds up and oor tongues in oor cheeks." They both chuckled heartily at the idea of disappointing the preventive officer, and while one held the torch the other dug a hole in the beach deep enough to contain the two kegs.
The escort of the train seemed to be discouraged at the prospect before them; though they still worked hard at the wheels, and their progress seemed to be slower than when first seen. "I reckon we shall have a fight on this medder, Milton, and you must ride back and report to the leftenant," said Life as he descended from the tree.
And so," concluded the lieutenant, "Captain Fall sailed away, and never was heard of more." "Well told; well told, leftenant," cried the captain, whose eyes sparkled at the concluding account of the defensive operations, "and true every word of it." "That's good testimony to my truthfulness, then," said Lindsay, laughing, "for you were there yourself!"
"`If you don't obey orders, growled the leftenant 'tween his teeth, `I'll have ye strung up for mutiny every man Jack of you load! he repeated in a kind of a yell. "We had our or'nary belts and pouches on, so we out wi' the or'nary cartridges some three, some four, an', biting off the ends, poured in the powder somehow, shoved in the balls anyhow, an' rammed the whole consarn down.
I may have been a fire-eater once I may have been a gay young feller as could ; but no matter. Avast musin'! As Lord Bacon says "`The light of other days is faded, An' all their glory's past; My boots no longer look as they did, But, like my coat, are goin' fast. "But I say, leftenant, how long do you mean to keep pullin' about here, without an enemy, or, as far as I can see, an object in view?
"Not the first time I have been so since we left Riverlawn," replied Deck. "You have got a good room here, Life." "Good enough; but I cal'late to camp on the floor, and give this bed to you, Leftenant." "Not at all, Life; the bed is big enough for both of us. I am not afraid to sleep with you, if you are not with me." "'Tain't quite reg'lar; but it's just as you say, Leftenant."
"So we will," said another, "and I'll get news of my mad Irish cousin, Terrence O'Flannagan, who went out to seek his fortin in Ameriky with two shillin's and a broken knife in his pocket, and it's been said he's got into a government situation o' some sort connected with the jails, whether as captain, or leftenant o' police, or turnkey, I'm not rightly sure."
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