Chapter Ten

They arrived in Waco and instead of making a reservation for the General at a hotel, Daniel sought out a private home that took in paying guests. After some enquiries he found a widow living on the outskirts of the town center who offered rooms and meals at a reasonable rate. Daniel installed Lee in this establishment under the name of Mr Roberts and after once more suggesting that no telegraphic communication at all should be made from Waco, Daniel rode off with his three men and Lee’s horse, leaving his packhorse behind for Lee’s use.

Jake rode the general’s horse and Jake’s customary mount was used as a packhorse. They rode along the compass-heading between Waco and Dallas knowing that the Federal troop was likely to do the same. They rode hard and fast as fugitives were likely to do until they reached the point where they must vary from the direct Waco-Dallas line to be able to reach the canyon that Daniel had in mind.

They rode to the canyon taking care to leave an easy trail to follow as would do men who were in a hurry.

Daniel chose his positions carefully. He placed the false camp at the foot of a cliff from the crest of which he would have a commanding field of fire with very little personal exposure and an escape route to the south. Should the Union cavalry troops try to attack they would have a long ride up the canyon to the north only to find the way to the cliff top barred by a rocky incline only scalable on foot.

They positioned themselves at the southern mouth of the canyon where they could watch for the arrival of the enemy while they were still a good distance away.

They had hardly completed their preparations, when Daniel spotted the troop through his telescope and sent Jake up the canyon to set the camp fire in the false camp.

“As soon as you have done that Jake, ride to the north mouth of the canyon and turn left. If you turn right you will come to that rocky incline and you will not be able to get your horse up it.”

“Sure boss, where we gonna meet up when it is all over?”

“As we are returning to Waco, we will meet up at the Widow Watson’s establishment.”

Daniel and Pierre rode to the cliff-top from where they could see Jake piling wood onto the fire he had made and the smoke from the fire rising into the air as a clear-cut signal that someone was camping in this remote spot.

Jake made sure that the fire would keep burning for a good long while by stacking logs around it and then he climbed into his saddle and rode north up the canyon.

Daniel settled into his prone position at the lip of the cliff as soon as he heard Pierre’s whistle telling him that the cavalry had entered the south mouth of the canyon.

It took several minutes before the cavalry troop came into sight. As expected they were dressed in Confederate grey but the Indian tracker had never worn a uniform and he still rode the same pinto pony that Daniel had seen before they had entered Texas.

Daniel sighted his rifle onto the Major at the head of the troop just as the man raised his hand for the troop to halt.

Daniel fired and the Major slumped off his horse. Daniel re-loaded as the troop dismounted and scattered. There were a number of shots coming from the north end of the canyon. This turned the troop’s attention to that direction giving Daniel a shot at the sergeant who exposed himself while shouting orders. The shot bowled the sergeant over as two men scuttled forward to check the prone major.

Daniel shot the Indian tracker as he rushed to help the sergeant who was struggling to sit up.

More shots came from the north of the canyon and Jake rode back into view to be received by a hail of bullets from the nervous Union troopers. Jake was plucked from his saddle by the Yankee fire and lay in an unmoving heap.

In the meanwhile Pierre had taken a few shots of his own and had downed one trooper and winged another.

Daniel re-loaded and signaled to Pierre that they should get out of there.

They withdrew from the lip of the cliff and ran down to their horses. Without Jake there each man had to lead a packhorse.

“I theenk zat Jake ‘as, ‘ow you say? Bought it.”

“I am afraid so Pierre. I saw at least four bullets strike his body and they did not stop even after he went down. Those Yankees must have sent a detachment to circle around to the north of us and they caught Jake coming out of the north mouth of the canyon. You and I are lucky that they did not circle around on the eastern side else we would have had a real fight on our hands.”

They rode south back toward the canyon mouth only to find yet another detachment stationed there. Fortunately, their sudden and apparently unexpected arrival caught the six men under a corporal relaxing in the shade while they smoked tobacco.

Daniel accounted for three of them with his pistol while Pierre shot one with his rifle and ran down the corporal with his horse.

A single shot was fired by the enemy and this struck Pierre in the shoulder as he pulled away from riding down the corporal.

“Pierre are you hit?”

“Oui, mon ami, je suis.”

“How bad is it? Can you ride?”

“I theenk I can ride, at least unteel we are away from zose Yankee cochons.”

They rode hard and Daniel checked frequently for pursuers but found none.

“I think that we have lost them. Do you want to rest?”

“Non! Non! Let us keep going unteel eet ‘urts too much.”

They rode until dark when they made camp. Pierre insisted on keeping the first watch but by midnight he could hold out no longer and woke Daniel.

“Daniel, I apologise but zee pain ees too much. I theenk zat I weel pass out.”

“Lie down, Pierre. I have some whisky in my pack. I’ll check your wound and pour some on it.”

“Eet weel be bettair eef you pour some een my mout’.”

Daniel complied and held a lighted candle near the wound. It looked inflamed and was painful when touched.

“This needs some medical attention, Pierre. I have to get you back to Waco.”

Pierre kept complaining of thirst and the water in their canteens was almost finished.

Daniel decided to move immediately. They needed water and Pierre needed someone competent to remove the bullet from his shoulder.

He saddled the animals in the pitch-dark and heaved tipsy Pierre onto his horse before setting out an hour before sunrise. The weather was cool and wet. Daniel tied the horses in a single long string with Pierre immediately behind him. He traveled at a steady fast walk the only trouble was that what was a smooth and fast walk for the black stallion was a frantic trot for the other horses. Pierre was jolted and jarred every step of the way.

Daniel stopped and changed the order of the horses putting Pierre onto Star and taking Pierre’s horse for himself. Things went much better for Pierre after that. Daniel had tied him onto the horse so that even asleep he could not fall off.

Daniel rode on endlessly, not even stopping to sleep at night. It was hard on the horses but Pierre’s life might depend on it.

Daniel was haggard and tired when he finally reached Waco and made his way to Widow Watson’s establishment.

“Good heavens, Lieutenant Beauregard. You look terrible.” Widow Watson was a very presentable lady and not nearly as old as her sobriquet might indicate.

“Ma’am, I’m sound but my friend Sergeant Chamont is not. He needs a medical man to take a bullet out of his shoulder.”

Mrs Watson hurried forward to look at the man still tied in the saddle.

“You will have to get him down, lieutenant. Take him into Mister Roberts’s room while I fetch the surgeon.”

“Mister Roberts will not appreciate a sick sergeant in his quarters, ma’am.”

“Mister Roberts, left yesterday. It appears that he is not Mister Roberts but General Robert E Lee.”

“Did he tell you that, ma’am?” Daniel asked, annoyed that the secret could have got out.

“No, he did not but the Major in charge of the two troops of cavalry that came to escort him to Virginia did. Apparently he had been sent by President Jefferson Davis for that purpose.”

“Did the general leave any message for us?”

“He said to pass on his thanks to you and that he would see you in Virginia.”

The surgeon quickly removed the ball from Pierre’s shoulder but by that time Pierre was running a high fever and Mrs Watson remained in constant attendance upon him.

Daniel took the horses to the livery stable and saw to it that they were properly fed and watered. By this time he was thinking slowly and he could not imagine anything more desirable than sleeping. He returned to his lodging and threw himself, fully clothed onto the bed and that was the last thing that he remembered until the following afternoon.