The Big Gun (Dusty Fog's Civil War Book 3) (18 page)

‘
Wind’s still blowing south, what there is of it,’ Red
answered. ‘So it’s pushing us in the right direction.’

‘
Trouble being, the direction we’re going’s
up,
’
Hassle pointed out.

‘
From
what Doug Staunce told me, him having done some of this ballooning,
it’ll only go so high afore it can’t lift the weight any more. Only
I don’t know how high this thing’s set to go. Anyways, Doug allows
that all a man has to do is pull a rope that’s hanging from the bag
and it lets the gas out. Then the damned thing stops going any
higher.’

‘
Could
be it starts going lower—
fast,
’
the corporal warned.

‘
Like
you say,
fast,
’
Red conceded and looked to where the eastern horizon was
growing lighter. ‘I don’t know what you reckon, but I’m for waiting
until we can see what we’re at afore we start to try letting the
gas out.’

‘
I
wouldn’t have it any other way,’ Hassle declared.

Fortunately for the Texans, the wind was not
blowing hard. While the basket shook and swayed, its motion was
insufficient to cause them any serious discomfort. Gradually
daylight came and they could see the land far below them. Not only
land, but a river and houses.

‘
That’s Camden!’ Red breathed and looked upwards. A length
of cord hung from the bottom of the bag and was fastened to one of
the basket’s ropes. Gingerly he reached out and gave the cord a
tug. There was a hissing sound and he stopped pulling. The noise
ended.

‘
Just
like Doug said,’ the youngster told Hassle, who had been watching
with considerable interest. ‘When you pull it, the gas comes out,
when you stop there’s a spring or something closes the
hole.’

‘
What
if you’re going down too fast?’ Hassle wanted to know, as Red once
more drew on the cord and allowed hydrogen to leak from the silken
bag.

‘
You
start throwing the bags of sand over,’ Red replied.

Despite the
youngster
’s
apparently casual attitude, he was watching and listening to the
deflation of the bag and trying to control the rate of descent.
Hassle too was looking upwards and neither of them noticed in which
direction they were being carried. If they had, they would have
observed that they were approaching the Texas Light Cavalry’s camp.
What was more, in preparation for moving across the river if
Company C should fail to prevent the bombardment of Camden, the
regiment had already formed up by Companies. The men sat their
horses with the backs to the rapidly sinking balloon.

‘
What
the hell!’ Hassle yelped, looking down at last and realizing what
was happening.

By that time, it was too late
for Red or Hassle to prevent the balloon from completing its
descent. A man looked around, then yelled and pointed. Others
turned, staring at the object which came cruising towards them.
Next moment, the entire parade was disintegrated. Men spurred their
horses out of the balloon
’s path. Others rode to
get
clear of the ones who had fled.

The basket struck the ground,
bounced and dragged as the
hydrogen continued to leave the bag. However, it
was still carried onwards by its momentum. Luckily, it was only
travelling very slowly when it tipped over and pitched out its
occupants.

Sprawled on the ground, Red and Hassle
stared about them at the devastation they had created.

‘
Well,’ the youngster said. ‘We’ve got the blasted thing
down.’

‘
Why
sure,’ Hassle agreed and nodded to where a red-faced,
furious-looking Colonel Blaze was galloping in their direction.
‘Know something, Mr. Blaze? I wouldn’t give much for your chances
of making captain and I don’t reckon I’ll ever
get
to be a sergeant.’

‘
I
should hope not,’ Red answered with some feeling. ‘We can get
ourselves into enough damned fuss as we are.’

‘
Good
for Dusty!’ Captain Douglas Staunce enthused,
springing from his horse agilely despite the Light Artillery saber
which dangled from the slings at the left of his weapon belt and
counter-balanced the Army Colt in the close-topped official pattern
holster on the right. ‘He was right about the way they would
come.’

‘
Yes,
sir,’ agreed Sergeant Major Smalley, remaining mounted and peering
through the trees towards the bottom of the wide valley.
‘Permission to set up and make ready, sir?’

‘
Go
ahead,’ Staunce confirmed, continuing to look at and feel
admiration over the visible proof of Captain Dusty Fog’s astute
tactical reasoning. ‘Make sure that the men don’t show themselves
and that they know where Captain Fog and his detail are
hiding.’

Once Red Blaze had gathered his
information regarding the balloon and had set off with his two-man
detail the previous afternoon, Dusty and Staunce had held a council
of war. Their work had been simplified by the fact that the small
Texan had recently carried out a long and thorough
reconnaissance in
the area. He also possessed a range-bred Texan’s capacity for
remembering terrain after having once traversed it. So his
recollections of the vicinity had made up for any possible
deficiencies in the large-scale maps which General Hardin had
caused to be produced.

Harriet Cable had been called
upon to repeat all that she had learned about the big gun and the
composition of its escort, particularly about the nature of the
officer in com
mand. Being a shrewd, intelligent girl, her comments had
been constructive and very helpful. She had told how Captain
Stabruck had received orders to run for safety if there should be
any danger of the Parrot being captured or destroyed by the
Confederate States’ Army. In her opinion, he would be only too
willing to carry out that order for he was more vicious than
courageous.

Trying to put himself into
Stabruck
’s
position, after listening to Hardy’s unflattering summation of the
other’s character, Dusty had formed certain conclusions. Red’s
attempt to destroy the balloon, whether successful or not, would
have served as a warning that the Southrons were aware of its
connection with the big gun. So, particularly if Red should be
fortunate enough to achieve his intentions, Stabruck would assume
that the Parrot was in grave peril. In all probability, the Yankee
officer would not delay in starting to make good his escape. Harry
had stated that she believed the small Texan was thinking on the
right lines.

The next question had been
where Stabruck would look for the big gun
’s protection.

While the nearest Union troops
were a detachment on the northern bank of the Ouachita River,
covering the approaches to the town of Camden, Dusty had doubted if
Stabruck would go there. There was only one company each of
Infantry and Cavalry, acting as support for two batteries of
Napoleons
’.
They would hardly make an adequate defense against an attack in
force and would be far too accessible when one was launched. So
Stabruck would go instead to the headquarters of the 6th ‘New
Jersey’ Dragoons, probably the best and most efficient Yankee
regiment in Arkansas.

Having reached that point, the Small Texan
and the Englishman had started to consider ways in which they might
prevent the big gun and its escort from escaping. Although Dusty
had suggested the valley into which Staunce was now looking, they
had regretfully concluded that they could not move out immediately.
Nor could they leave their attempt until the following night. That
meant they would be compelled to carry out their work in
daylight.

Except for one detail, Dusty
and
—more
particularly—Staunce would have been content to operate by the
light of day. It would permit the howitzers to be aimed with
greater ease and so produce better results. There was, however, one
vital point which they could not overlook.

The threat to Eli
Cable
’s
life.

Apart from the engineer being with the
Yankees, it would have been an easy matter for the howitzers to
shell the big gun out of existence while the Texans held back the
escort.

Harry had appreciated the
difficulties created by her father
’s presence amongst the enemy. However,
she had stated her belief that he would prefer to take his chances
rather than continue to be a party to the murderous work being
carried out by Stabruck.

Bearing in mind the danger
faced by Cable, Dusty had suggested a place and the means of making
the attack. The plan was based upon his conclusions of the route
which Stabruck would take if making for the
Dragoons
’
main camp. It would offer Cable a measure of protection, but also
placed Dusty and several members of his Company in grave
danger.

Staunce smiled as he thought of
the response to Dusty
’s call for volunteers. Every member of Company C
had immediately offered his services and, despite having been
warned of the risks involved, the ten men he had selected were
still as ready to play their parts.

Allowing the enlisted men to rest for the
remainder of the day, Dusty and Staunce had continued to develop
their arrangements. During the late afternoon, Kiowa Cotton had
returned. He was a puzzled man, having found the tracks made by the
big gun and its escort without discovering evidence that it was
being drawn with a team of horses. Dusty had enlightened his
sergeant on the reason for this phenomenon, then had ordered him to
grab some sleep. When the Company and battery had moved out after
sundown, Kiowa was once more roaming ahead as its scout.

On reaching the valley, Dusty
and Staunce had decided that it would suit their needs. There was
some work to be carried out, but time had permitted them to make
all their
arrangements before the enemy had put in an
appearance.

Although the bottom of the
valley was level and comparatively unobstructed, its sides rose
fairly gently and bore a scattered coating of trees, bushes and
rocks which became fairly close woodland at the tops. Set up among
the trees, Staunce
’s four howitzers would not be too obvious to anybody
passing below but had a good field of fire. They would be shooting
from a distance of about half a mile and had need to be accurate.
While the main body of Company C was hiding with their horses in
the woods on the opposite rim, Dusty and his detail had concealed
themselves carefully close to the bottom. They were on foot and
covered by foliage or other means to prevent themselves from being
detected, but leaving them free to appear quickly when the time
came.

They were also very close to the area into
which the howitzers would be hurling shells!

Before resuming his scrutiny of
the enemy, Staunce glanced around to ensure himself that his men
were working as swiftly as possible. All was going as he wished.
Not that he had expected to find otherwise from his
battery
’s
well-trained veterans.

Due to the nature of the
terrain they had to traverse, the battery had not been able to move
the howitzers limbered for draught. Instead, each piece was carried
split into its major components. The tube and the shafts to be used
when limbered for draught were on one pack horse, the wheels and
carriage on another. Nor had the ammunition been brought in
a
lightweight ‘prairie cart’. Instead it was carried—a pair
to a horse—in eight-round boxes.

Each crew was rapidly
re-assembling its piece, working without the need for orders or
close supervision. Other members of the battery were off-loading
and opening the ammunition boxes, to expose the waiting fixed
rounds
^xviii
of various kinds ready for
use.

Satisfied that all was well
with his side of the affair, Staunce raised a pair of field
glasses. Although he knew the positions occupied by
Dusty
’s
detail he could not locate any of them as he looked downwards. From
there, he made sure that Sergeant Major Billy Jack was holding the
remainder of the Texans in their places of concealment.

Changing the direction of the
field glasses, Staunce studied the approaching Yankees. From all
apperances, they were not expecting trouble. No advance guard
preceded the party, nor were there any out-riders on the flanks.
That was all to the Southrons
’ advantage.

A captain and two
lieutenants
—one of whose head was swathed in bandages—formed an
arrowhead in front of the column. Behind them—with Eli Cable
standing at the steering wheel on the control platform and his
Negro helpers feeding the furnace—Pulling Sue hauled the heavy
burden with greater ease than any manageable team of horses could
have achieved. Next came the escort. Apart from the first sergeant
and sergeant in the lead, who had Spencer carbines dangling from
leather carbine slings, the enlisted men were carrying their rifles
suspended across their shoulders. The balloon’s two supply wagons
brought up the rear.