Ole Devil at San Jacinto (Old Devil Hardin Western Book 4) (5 page)

‘
Yes, sir,’ Ole Devil responded, still
conscious of Dumoulin’s scrutiny. ‘They’ll be ready.’

‘
May I have your permission to depart,
sir?’ the Frenchman requested, after giving what might have been a
nod of approval for the young Texian’s unhesitating acceptance of
his superior’s orders. ‘As my regiment will also be leaving in the
morning, I have many things demanding my attention.’

‘
You may go, Colonel,’ Houston
authorized.

‘
My thanks for being so
understanding
—Jules,’ Colonel Fog said, stepping around the table and
behind the General.

‘
It is regrettable that
the need should have arisen
—Edward,’ Dumoulin answered, accepting and
shaking the small Texian’s hand.
‘Au revoir,
gentlemen.’ His gaze once again swung in
Ole Devil’s direction and he went on, ‘May our next meeting be in
more pleasant circumstances, Captain Hardin.’

‘
Thank you, sir,’ the
young Texian replied, still unable to detect any trace of the
other’s sentiments, but believing they were favorable to
him.
‘I’ll do my best to make sure that it is.’

Throwing a smart salute to Houston, the
Frenchman turned and strode from the Texian’s presence without a
backward glance.

‘
He ain’t such a
bad
hombre,
considering he’s a Frog,’ Smith commented after Dumoulin
had gone beyond earshot. ‘I’d’ve thought he’d start to screech like
a knife-struck hawg when you told him’s he’d got to take his
soldier-boys down to Harrisburg and guard good old Davey Burnet’s
bunch.’

‘
Well he didn’t,’ Houston
answered, eyeing his lanky chief of scouts sardonically. ‘And
now,
if
it’s all right with
you,
I’d like to hear from Captain Hardin not
how,
but
why
all those
remarkable
accidental
injuries happened.’

‘
With all respect, sir,’ Ole Devil
said, showing no more emotion than was being expressed by the three
older men. ‘No excuse.’

‘
It wouldn’t have had any
connection with the way in which those six young
foo
—
gentlemen
from New Orleans have been casting doubts on the courage of
an officer under your command,’ the General suggested. ‘Would
it?’

‘
Again, with respect,
sir,’ Ole Devil began, h
is voice unemotionally polite. ‘I can’t add
anything to—’

‘
Very well, captain,’
Houston interrupted, drumming his fingers on the top of the table
for a moment. There was a frosty glint in his eyes as he started to
speak again. ‘I’m not an over inquisitive man, nor do I have a
suspicious nature.’ He darted a glare at Smith, who gave a muted
snort of disbelief. ‘However, I do try to keep in touch
with
everything
that goes on in my command—’

‘
That’s another way of
saying he’
s nosy,’ the old chief of scouts explained,
sotto
voce,

‘
For
instance,’ the
General continued, as if he had not heard Smith. ‘I’ve been told
that, because Lieutenant Paul Dimmock was fortunate enough to have
escaped from the massacre at Goliad, certain of our esteemed
supporters from New Orleans have raised what might be considered as
doubts regarding his personal courage and integrity. Not
unnaturally, he is said to be taking very grave exception to such
imputations.’

‘
That’s a real fancy way of putting
it,’ Smith drawled. ‘But he sure’s hell can’t be blamed happen he’s
getting riled over what they’re saying.’

‘
Where is Mr. Dimmock now, by the
way?’ Houston inquired, taking no more notice than he had of the
scout’s previous comment.

‘
I sent him out in command of a
foraging detail, sir,’ Ole Devil explained. ‘He won’t be back
before nightfall, if then.’

‘
And while he’s away,’ Houston said
drily, ‘you have a quarrel with the second-in-command of your
Company which has resulted in every one of the men Mr. Dimmock
might have wished to challenge to a duel being, at least
temporarily, rendered incapable of fighting one.’

‘
There’s some’s might say,
knowing how touchy these here young hot-heads both
Texian
’n’ Louisianan can get where their honor’s concerned, that
it’s right lucky they can’t,’ Smith declared, with deceptive
mildness and oozing innocence. ‘Anyways, those fancy-Dans was
tolerable unlucky getting in the way like they did.’

‘
So
you
told Colonel
Dumoulin,’ Houston growled.

‘
Way he talked,’ Smith pointed out,
‘he knowed I was telling the truth.’

‘
That’s because he’s new here from New
Orleans,’ the General answered, but his tone robbed the words of
any sting. ‘Anybody who’s been around Texas for a spell would look
to see if the calendar had been changed if you told them Monday
came a day before Tuesday. However, whether he believed you or not,
he’s content to have the whole affair forgotten and that’s what I’d
like to have happen, too.’

‘
Let’s hope them hot-heads of his’n
see it that way,’ Smith drawled.

‘
I’m relying on him to see that they
do,’ Houston replied.

‘
Anyway, we’re lucky that
Governor Burnet’s asked for extra troops to guard the “temporary
Capital” and
that Urrea is down in the southeast. It gives me an excuse
to send the New Orleans’ Wildcats there without making it look as
if I’m trying to get rid of them.’

‘
It helps with what you’ve
got in mind for young Devil here, comes to that,’ Smith remarked,
looking pointedly at the rigid young Texian. ‘Does he
have
to stand like that,
Sam?’

‘
At ease, Captain Hardin,’
Houston ordered.
‘As Colonel Fog told you, your Company is to leave
in the morning. They’ll go to Washington-On-The-Brazos and, with my
written authority, once again assume responsibility for the safe
keeping of the consignment of caplocks. Your men will bring them to
Groce’s and, having done so, stay there and await the arrival of
the rest of the Army.’

Up to that point, Ole Devil had
been listening to the General with a sense of relief. It had been
apparent that Houston, his uncle and Colonel
Dumoulin had not only understood
but approved of the motives behind the ‘quarrel’ which he had had
with Mannen Blaze at the Grand Hotel. Aware that Lieutenant Dimmock
was being provoked by the
Creoles’
unjustified insinuations, he had taken steps to
avert a confrontation. On learning from ‘Deaf’ Smith and another of
the General’s stoutest supporters—who had shared his apprehensions
over the consequences of trouble between Dimmock and the young
Louisianans—where they were to be found, he had formulated a
scheme. By good luck, it had succeeded with far less difficulty
than he had anticipated.

Furthermore, Ole Devil’s
assumption of how Houston would react had been correct. He had
expected that steps would be taken to separate the two parties
before the
Creoles
were able to participate in ‘affairs of honour’. This had
happened, but he had noticed that the General had said ‘they’
rather than ‘you’ when speaking of the duty to which his Company
had been assigned. He also realized that, although the matter of
the trouble with the New Orleans’
Wildcats had been resolved, his uncle was
still looking perturbed. The emotion, he felt sure, did not stem
from concern or disapproval over the trouble with the
Creoles.

‘
Groce’s,
sir,’ Ole Devil repeated. ‘But that’s north of
here and Harrisburg’s thirty miles or so to the
south-east.’

‘
I
have
been known to look at a map of Texas on occasion, captain,’
Houston answered, understanding what had provoked the comment. As
far as the majority of his Army and the members of the Provisional
Government were aware, the route of the withdrawal was directed
towards the “temporary Capital”. ‘Nevertheless, those are the
orders your Company will carry out.’

‘
But I won’t be with them, sir?’ Ole
Devil guessed.

‘
That depends upon whether
you are willing to volunteer for a very special duty,’ the General
said quietly and the faces of the two older men behind him grew
even more grave. He raised his right hand as the young Texian was
about to speak. ‘However, as it is an exceptionally hazardous
mission and as there is every possibility that whoever attempts it
will be killed, or captured
—which amounts to the same, except it
would be a slower death—I want to tell you what it is before you
give me your answer.’

Long before Houston’s explanation of what
would be expected from him was concluded, Ole Devil realized that
the danger involved in carrying out the mission had not been
over-exaggerated. What was more, he knew that he had not merely
been sent for to explain his behavior at the hotel. That aspect had
been settled satisfactorily before his arrival. The assignment
which he was being offered, fantastic as it might appear on the
surface, was one of the greatest importance. If it was successful,
the effects could be as far reaching as the General hoped.

‘
It’s a big gamble,
Devil,’ Colonel Fog commented, after H
ouston had stopped speaking.
‘I’ll not deny that the odds are greatly against it succeeding.
But, if it does, at the very least we’ll gain a badly needed
respite.’

‘
We’ll gain far more than that,’ Ole
Devil replied, at last understanding his uncle’s concern for his
welfare. ‘And it will work, if all I’ve heard about Santa Anna’s
character is true.’

‘
He’s one mean, ornery, vengeful
son-of-a-bitch, for sure,’ Smith declared. ‘Happen that be what
you’ve heard.’

‘
Something along those lines,’ Ole
Devil conceded, without taking his gaze from Houston. ‘What have
the Government said about your idea, sir?’

‘
It hasn’t been mentioned to them and
by the time they find out, they’ll have other things to occupy
them,’ Houston replied and Smith, no lover of politicians, gave an
appreciative chuckle. Opening the drawer of his table, the General
took out an impressive looking document. It had a printed heading,
a written message and a large red seal. ‘This is the Republic of
Texas’s stationery and seal, which were sent to me just before the
“Runaway Scrape”. I was instructed to use them in future for all
official communications. So that’s what I’m doing.’

‘
Only not the way they was counting
on,’ Smith cackled delightedly, as the young Texian accepted and
started to read the document. ‘But it’s being put to a good
use.’

‘
I shouldn’t think that Santa Anna is
familiar with President Burnet’s signature,’ Houston remarked,
after Ole Devil had completed his examination and handed back the
sheet of paper. ‘And, provided it is delivered in an appropriate
manner, it’s unlikely that he will bother taking the time to find
out whether it’s a forgery.’

‘
That’s for sure,’ Smith
seconded. ‘Happen it’s got to him the right way, Devil-boy, he’s
going to be so pot-boiling mad that he won’t care about
nothing
’cept getting evens with the feller’s he thinks’s sent
it.’

‘
Well,’ said Houston. ‘Will you accept
the assignment, Captain Hardin?’

‘
Yes,
sir,
’
Ole Devil replied, holding his voice just as even. ‘And I’ll do my
best to see it through.’

‘
We know you will,’ Houston declared,
and Smith nodded in agreement.

‘
It’s not a one man assignment,
Devil,’ Colonel Fog pointed out, studying his nephew and thinking
of the terrible risks which would be necessary if the scheme was to
be brought to a successful conclusion.

‘
I’d go along with you, boy,’ Smith
continued. ‘But it can’t be done. You can have your pick of my
fellers, though.’

‘
Gracias,
sir, but that won’t be necessary,’ Ole Devil
answered. He glanced at his uncle, ‘With your permission, sir, I’ll
take Tommy Okasi—’

‘
I
thought you would,’
Colonel Fog admitted, before the captain could finish. ‘You
couldn’t have chosen a better man. Who else?’

‘
Just one more,’ Ole Devil drawled.
‘Paul Dimmock.’

‘
Dimmock?’ Colonel Fog
repeated.

‘
Yes, sir,’ Ole Devil
confirmed. ‘We all know that he’s no coward and the fact that he’s
been on an assignment like
this ought to settle any doubts other
people might have about him.’

‘
You’ll not be able to
tell them what’s happened when you come
back
,’
Houston warned. ‘At least, not until we’re able to show proof that
it’s been successful.’