The Free State of Jones and the Echo of the Black Horn by Thomas Jefferson Knight

Author:Thomas Jefferson Knight
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Racehorse Publishing
Published: 2016-06-20T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 9

Bold Ventures

As soon as the officers of the company were sworn in, and each had pledged himself to fight and die before surrendering to any man, a boldness took hold of the timid. And with a man already noted for his ingenuity and leadership, the group felt that they were strong enough to defy capture.

There was little fear of the cavalry, because heretofore, the search for the fugitive had been detailed to a few gentlemen who had preferred not to spill the blood of a fellow citizen, and these gentlemen had resorted to methods of capture which had been foiled time and time again, until this thing of eluding the pursuers had become a big joke.

In the bunch were men who were glib of tongue, men who were given to mischievousness and fun.

At first the men in hiding were approached by relatives who insisted that they come out and return to the Confederate army, or at least, to protect the good name of their kinsmen, join the Union forces in an honorable manner.

Three of the first to contact Newt by volunteering to do this service were cousins of the deserter. One of this group was Alpheus Knight. The other two were Dan Thomas Knight and John Knight.

In the organization were big liars who reveled in telling ungodly falsehoods. Of these were men who strived to excel one another in telling big tales of hilarious episodes. In this bunch was one Dicky Knight who was a cousin to the Captain. He was the prize storyteller, and the tales he told kept the men in high spirits.

Reasoning availed relatives nothing, so threats of bodily harm to members of the families of the deserters were relayed to them.

Dicky received word that an aged relative of his was being held hostage awaiting his surrender, and unless he did surrender, the price of his refusal would be the aged one’s life.

Dicky pondered this thoughtfully, and apparently made ready to give up and march out into the hands of the waiting cavalry. But suddenly he stopped, and remarked, “Well, at the best, the old man’s life won’t be but a few days longer, if he dies a natural death, an’ mine will be a long life, so jest git ’em word to go ahead an’ kill ’im if they like, fer he’ll soon die wi’ ole age, any how.”

A man that came near to topping Dicky’s tales was Joe Gunter.

Joe’s wife was the sister of Alpheus Knight. Joe was the life of the party, and his bright sayings and antics kept the others in an uproar of mirth, despite adverse circumstances, which were bound to overtake a vagabond army.

Dicky’s real name was William Martin. He was of a good family, and soon after joining up with the Knight Company, he saw that he was headed for disgrace, plus disaster, and as he could not go back to the Southern army, he had no choice except to join the Union at New Orleans.

But Joe stayed on with the company until he was eventually captured.

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