Free The Big Gun (Dusty Fog's Civil War Book 3) by J.T. Edson Page B

Clements isn’t a Hardin, Fog or Blaze,’ Staunce
said, in tones of relief. ‘That’s something.’
    By that time, they had reached the
wall-tent. Its door flaps were open and the interior was
illuminated by a lamp. As the two captains rode up, a tall,
wide-shouldered first lieutenant in his middle-twenties
emerged.
    ‘ Howdy, Cousin Dusty,’ the lieutenant greeted.
    ‘ I
might have known!’ Staunce groaned.
    ‘ Howdy, Cousin Shad,’ Dusty acknowledged, ignoring his
companion’s comment. ‘Do you know Captain Staunce?’
    ‘ I’ve
heard tell of you, captain,’ Shadrack Clements declared. ‘Coffee’s
hot, happen you feel like stopping a spell and taking a
cup.’
    ‘ That’s one of the reasons we dropped by, Shad,’ Dusty
informed his cousin, swinging from his saddle and looking at the
wedge tents which housed the guard and workers. ‘Kind of quiet
tonight.’
    ‘ That’s the way I like it,’ Clements replied. ‘I hope your
meeting went the same way.’
    ‘ There’s some might’ve called it that,’ Dusty said quietly
and his cousin shot a glance his way. ‘I’ll tell you about it
inside, Shad.’
    Having dismounted, the two
captains left their horses ground hitched and followed Clements
into the officer of the guard ’s quarters. Although the structure had a
triangular top like the two-men pup tents and four-men wedge tents,
its twenty-four inches high perpendicular walls—from which its name
derived, gave it a greater height and size. In spite of the short
time that the camp had been erected, the officer’s wall tent
offered a fair standard of comfort. It had a small stove at the
rear, on which a pot of coffee was bubbling. A collapsible table,
two chairs, a small chest-of-drawers, a bed and a washstand
completed the furnishings.
    ‘ Some
of the good ladies back to Camden asked if they could fix it up a
mite,’ Clements explained, seeing Staunce was studying the
interior. ‘Rest your feet a spell, while I fetch on the
coffee.’
    Taking the chairs, Dusty and the Englishman
waited for their host to produce and fill cups with coffee. When
that was done, Dusty told his cousin what had happened in
Arkadelphia. Clements growled out a curse as he heard of the
shelling, then cast another glance at the tarpaulin-covered package
which Staunce had brought in and placed on the table,
    ‘ How’re you getting on with the civilian workers, Shad?’
Dusty inquired, at the completion of his story.
    ‘ Most
of them’re all right,’ Clements replied. ‘Fact being, apart from
the one called Fletcher, they’re all decent enough fellers for
goober-grabbers.’ xiv
    ‘ You
know them pretty well then?’ Dusty went on.
    ‘ Not
socially, or anything like that, but I figured it’d be best to at
least get to know their names and something about them.’
    ‘ Where’re they at now?’ Staunce wanted to know.
    ‘ Gone
into town, like every night,’ the lieutenant replied, alternating
puzzled looks between his visitors. ‘None of them live in Camden,
but they go to the Tavern. It’s a heap more fun than staying out
here. Comes midnight, most of them’ll be rolling back—and do I mean
rolling, some of them, anyways. Maybe you’d best tell me what’s on
your minds.’
    ‘ I
reckon that would be best,’ Dusty agreed, knowing Clements to be a
shrewd man, and did as requested.
    ‘ You
figure the horned toad who fetched these over the river’s come from
here?’ Clements demanded, after Dusty had finished speaking,
looking at a notice that Staunce had taken from the
package.
    ‘ He
could be,’ Dusty answered. ‘It’s more likely to be from here than
out of Camden, or Vaden.’
    ‘ I’ll
float my stick with you on that,’ Clements conceded. ‘Just one, or
more of them?’
    ‘ One
man could have handled the boat, even to hauling it out, turning it
over and hiding it,’ Dusty replied. ‘Comes morning, happen you’ve
got somebody who can read sign, you could have him go and see what
he thinks;