"'We won't go home till morning,'" sang the two counterfeit revellers, as they approached the fire of the bivouackers.
The four carousel's sprang to their feet when the first strain reached their ears. They were not as intoxicated as they might have been, for they were able to stand with considerable firmness on their feet, after the frequency with which the bottle had been passed among them. They did not do what soldiers would naturally have done at such an interruption, grasp their muskets, and it was probable they had no muskets to grasp.
"'We won't go home till morning, till daylight doth appear,'" continued the two officers, without halting in their march towards the revellers.
illustration of quoted scene"The two counterfeit revellers." Page 48.
No weapons of any kind were exhibited; but the tipplers stood as though transfixed with astonishment or alarm where they had risen, but were rather limp in their attitude. They evidently didnot know what to make of the interruption, and they appeared to be waiting for further developments on the part of the intruders.
"It isn't mornin' yit, but we just emptied our bottle," said Christy, with a swaggering and slightly reeling movement, and suiting his speech to the occasion. "How are ye, shipmates?"
"Up to G, jolly tars," replied one of the men, with a broad grin on his face. "We done got two full bottles left, at your sarvice."
"Much obleeged," returned the lieutenant, as he took the bottle the reveller passed to him. "Here's success to us all in a heap, and success to our side in the battle that's go'n' on."
"I'm with you up to the armpits," added Graines, as another of the four handed him a bottle.
One sniff at the neck of the bottle was enough to satisfy Christy, who was a practical temperance man of the very strictest kind, and he had never drank a glass of anything intoxicating in all his life. The bottle contained "apple-jack," or apple-brandy, the vilest fluid that ever passed a tippler's gullet. He felt obliged to keep up his character, taken for the occasion, and he retained the mouth of the bottle at his lips long enough to answer therequirement of the moment; but he did not open them, or permit a drop of the nauseous and fiery liquor to pollute his tongue. It was necessary for him to consider that he was struggling for the salvation of his beloved country to enable him even to go through the form of "taking a drink."
Graines was less scrupulous on the question of temperance, and he took a swallow of the apple-jack; but that was enough for him, for he had never tasted anything outside of the medicine-chest which was half as noxious. If he had been compelled to keep up the drinking, he would have realized that his punishment was more than he could bear. Fortunately the tipplers had no tumblers, so that the guests were not compelled to pour out the fluid and drink it off. All drank directly from the bottles, so that the two officers could easily conceal in the semi-darkness the extent of their indulgence.
"Who be you, strangers?" asked the man who had acted thus far as spokesman of the party.
"My name is Tom Bulger, born and brought up in the island of Great Abaco, and this feller is my friend and shipmate, Sam Riley," repliedChristy, twisting and torturing his speech as much as was necessary. "Now who be you fellers?"
"Born and fetched up in Mobile: my name is Bird Riley; and I reckon t'other feller is a first cousin of mine, for he's got the same name, and he's almost as handsome as I am. Where was you born, Sam?"
"About ten miles up the Alabama, where my father was the overseer on a plantation before the war," replied Graines as promptly as though he had been telling the truth.
"Then you must be one of my cousins, for I done got about two hundred and fifty on 'em in the State of Alabammy. Give us your fin, Sam."
Bird Riley and Sam shook hands in due and proper form, and the relationship appeared to be fully established. The names of the three other revellers were given, but the spokesman was disposed to do all the talking, though he occasionally appealed to his companions to approve of what he said. It was evident that he was the leading spirit of the party, and that he controlled them. He was rather a bright fellow, while the others were somewhat heavy and stupid in their understanding. The bottles were again handed to theguests, both of whom went through the form of drinking without taking a drop of the vile stuff.
"What be you uns doin' here?" asked Bird Riley, after the ceremony with the bottle had been finished.
"We was both tooken in a schooner that was gwine to run the blockade," answered Christy. "We was comin' out'n Pass Christian, and was picked up off Chand'leer[Chandeleur]Island, and fotched over hyer. We didn't feel too much to hum after we lost our wages, and we done took a whaleboat and came ashore here, with only one bottle of whiskey atween us. That's all there is on't. Now, how comes you uns hyer?"
"I'm the mate of the topsail schooner West Wind, and t'others is the crew; all but two we done left on board with the cap'n," replied Bird, apparently with abundant confidence in his newly found friends.
"You left her?" asked Christy.
"That's just what we done do."
"Where is the West Wind now?" inquired Christy, deeply interested in the subject at this point.
"She done come down from Mobile three daysago, and done waited for a chance to run the blockade. Her hole is full o' cotton, and she done got a deck-load too," answered Bird Riley without any hesitation.
"Where does the West Wind keep herself now, Bird?"
"Just inside the p'int, astern of the Trafladagar."
"The Trafladagar?" repeated Christy.
"That's her name, or sunthin like it. I never see it writ out."
"She's a schooner, I reckon," continued Christy, concealing what knowledge he possessed in regard to the vessel.
"She ain't no schooner, you bet; she's jest the finist steamer that ever runned inter Mobile, and they've turned her into a cruiser," Bird Riley explained.
"How big is she?"
"I heerd some un say she was about eight hun'ed tons: an' I'll bet she'll pick up every Yankee craft that she gits a sight on."
"And you say the Trafladagar is at anchor off the p'int?" added Christy, not daring to call the steamer by her true name.
"That's jest where she is; and the West Wind is hitched to her, like a tandem team," replied Bird Riley. "Look yere, Tom Bulger, you don't make love to that bottle as though you meant business. Take another drink, and show you done got some manhood in yer."
The bottle went the rounds again, and the guests apparently took long pulls; but really they did not taste a drop of the infernal liquid.
"That's good pizen, Bird Riley; but it is not jest the stingo that I like best," said Christy, as he wiped his mouth with his sleeve in proper form, for he did not like the smell of the fluid lightning that clung to his lips.
"Whiskey suits me most; but they waste the corn makin' bread on't, and there ain't much on't left to make the staff of life. Howsomever, we don't choke to death on apple-jack, when we can get enough on't," argued Bird Riley.
"Jest now you got a tandem team hitched up out on the Trafladagar and the West Wind," continued Christy cautiously, and with apparent indifference, drawing the mate of the schooner back to the matter in which he was the most deeply interested. "What's this team hitched up thatway for? Is the steamer go'n' to tow the schooner up to Mobile?"
"I reckon you're a little more'n half drunk, Tom Bulger," replied Bird Riley, with a vigorous horse laugh. "Tow the schooner up to Mobile! Didn't I tell yer the Trafladagar's been waiting here three days for a good chance to run out?"
"You said that as true as you was born," added Graines, who thought it necessary to say something, for he had been nearly silent from the beginning.
"Sam Riley ain't quite so drunk as you be, Tom Bulger; an' he knows what's what; and thar he shows the Riley blood in his carcass," chuckled the mate.
"And you said the West Wind was loaded with cotton, in the hole and on deck," added Graines, hoping to hurry the conference along a little more rapidly.
"That's jest what I said. I reckon you ain't much used to apple-jack, fur it fusticates your intelleck, and makes yer forget how old y'are. Come, take another, jest to set your head up right," said Bird, passing the bottle to Christy, who was doing his best to keep up the illusion by talking verythick, and swaying his body about like a drunken man.
Both the guests went through the ceremony of imbibing, which was only a ceremony to them. The fire had exhausted its supply of fuel, and it was fortunate that the darkness prevented the revellers from measuring the quantity left in the bottles as they were returned to the owners, or they might have seen that the strangers were not doing their share in consuming the poison.
"Sam Riley does honor to the blood as runs in his body, for he ain't no more drunk'n I am; an' he knows what we been talkin' about," said the mate, who seemed to be greatly amused at the supposed effect of the liquor upon Christy. "You won't know nothin' about the Trafladagar or the West Wind in half an hour from now, Tom Bulger. I reckon it don't make no difference to you about the tandem team, and to-morrer mornin' you won't know how the team's hitched up."
"I don't think I will," replied Christy boozily, as he rolled over on the sand, and then struggled for some time to resume his upright position, to the great amusement of Bird Riley and his companions. "But Sam Riley's got blood in him, thebest blood in Alabammy, and he kin tell you all about it if yer want ter know. He kin stan' up agin a whole bottle o' apple-jack."
"I say, Cousin Bird, what's this tandem team hitched up fer?" asked Graines, permitting his superior officer to carry out the illusion upon which he had entered, in order more effectually to blind the mate, and induce him to talk with entire freedom.
"I reckon you ain't too drunk to un'erstan' what I say, Sam, as t'other feller is."
"I'm jest drunk enough to un'erstan' yer, Cousin Bird; but I cal'late I won't know much about it by to-morrer mornin'," added Graines.
"Let's take another round, Sam; but I reckon Tom Bulger's got more'n he can kerry now," continued the mate.
Bird took a long draught from the bottle, and then passed it to his guest. Three of the four revellers had already toppled over at full length on the ground; and Christy thought he could hurry matters by doing the same thing, and he tumbled over all in a heap. Graines drank nothing himself, though he contrived to spill a quantity of the fluid on the ground, so that it might notseem too light to his only remaining wakeful companion. The last dram of Bird had been a very heavy one, and the engineer realized that he could not hold out much longer.
"What's that tandem team fer?" asked Graines, in the thickest of tones, while he swayed back and forth as Bird was doing by this time.
"The Trafladagar's gwine to tow the West Wind out; and both on 'em's sure to be tooken," stammered the mate. "We uns don't bleeve in't, and so we runned away, and left Captain Sullendine to paddle his own punt. They get off at three in the morn in'."
Bird Riley took another drink, and then he toppled over.
It was a favorable night for running the blockade, for the fog had settled down more densely upon the region in the vicinity of the ship channel, though it occasionally lifted, and permitted those on board of the Bellevite to see the tall tower of the Sand Island Lighthouse, which had not been illuminated for three years. The mists were generally thicker and remained longer towards daylight than at any other time, and this was the evident reason why three o'clock in the morning had been fixed upon for the departure of the Trafalgar and the West Wind in tow.
The engineer's head was as clear as it had ever been, notwithstanding the tipsy swaying and doubling-up of his body which he simulated, and he realized that his companion and himself had obtained very important revelations from the revellers. The hour at which the steamer was to leave, evidently by arrangement with the officers of the fort, wasvaluable knowledge, and he hoped they would be able to carry or send seasonable warning of the time to the Bellevite, for she was the only ship on the blockade that could be counted upon to overhaul the Trafalgar, if the reports of her great speed had been correctly given.
Both Christy and Graines had listened attentively to the revelations of Bird Riley; but neither of them could understand why the four men, including the mate, had deserted the West Wind only a few hours before she was to depart on her voyage to Nassau, where she was believed to be bound. The reason assigned by the tipsy mate was that she was going out in tow of the steamer, and was sure to be taken by the blockaders. Both of the listeners thought this fact improved her chances of getting clear of any possible pursuers.
Bird Riley had fallen back on the ground; but he still continued to talk, though his speech was very nearly incoherent. Graines was very anxious to know what time it was, for the most important part of the enterprise was to give the Bellevite timely notice of the coming of the Trafalgar. He struck a match and lighted a cigar, offering one to the mate, which he took and lighted. It washalf-past twelve by his watch, as he informed Bird, though he did so more for the information of the lieutenant than of the mate.
"I reckon we are all about full enough to go to sleep, and we might as well turn in," said Graines. "But I suppose you uns mean to sleep on board of the West Wind."
"I don't reckon we'll do nothin' o' that sort," hiccoughed the mate. "We done got a p'int to kerry, and I reckon we're gwine to kerry it."
"All right," gobbled the engineer, who overdid his part, if anything. "What's the p'int, shipmate?"
"Cap'n Sull'dine's sho't handed," replied the mate, his speech turning somersets as he labored to utter the words, for he still had a portion of his senses left.
"I see," added Graines, tumbling over, but regaining his perpendicularity with a trying effort. "Only six men left after you four done runned away."
"Six!" exclaimed Bird, raising himself up with a desperate struggle, like a wounded hawk. "No six in it; only two left. He don't, can't no how, go to sea with only two men. I'll pilot the schooner out by the Belican Channel an' Mis'sip'Sound. Cap'n Sull'dine 'n' I fit over it, an' I left, with most of the crew. Hah, ha, ha! He done got 'nuff on't! Let's take a swigger, and then we gwine to go to sleep, like the rest on 'em."
With no little difficulty Bird Riley got the bottle to his lips, wasting no little of the liquor in the operation. He was entirely "full" then. He handed the bottle to the engineer, and dropped over on his back, overcome by his frequent potions. Graines did not find it necessary to go through the form of putting the bottle to his lips again, and after waiting a few minutes he was satisfied that the mate was in a deep slumber, from which he was not likely to wake for several hours.
But all the information he appeared to be capable of giving had been imparted, and Graines rose to his feet as steady as he ever was in his life, having taken hardly a swallow of the repulsive poison. He walked away from the sleeping group on the ground, halting about twenty feet from them. Christy saw him, for his eyes were open all the time, and he had listened with intense interest to the conversation between the engineer and the mate of the West Wind.
The lieutenant straightened himself up andlooked about him. The fire was entirely extinguished; the four men lay with their feet to the embers, and not one of them showed any signs of life. Carefully raising himself to his feet, so as not to disturb the sleeper nearest to him, he crept away to the spot where his associate awaited him. Christy led the way in the direction of the fort, but both of them were silent till they reached the summit of the knoll which concealed the inner bay from their vision, or would have done so if the fog had not effectually veiled it from their sight.
"I suppose you heard all that was said, Mr. Passford, after you ceased to lead the conversation," said Graines, as he glanced back at the foot of the hollow where the revel had taken place.
"Every word of it; and I could insert a good deal of what might have been read between the lines if the talk had been written out," replied the lieutenant. "As you were the cousin of the mate, he seemed to be more communicative to you than to me, and I thought it best to leave you to conduct the conversation. You did it extremely well, Charley, and there was no occasion for me to interfere. I find that you have no little skill as a detective, as well as a sailor and an engineer, and Ishall make a good report of you to Captain Breaker. I could almost believe that we were boys together again as we were carrying on the farce this evening."
"Thank you, Christy—Mr. Passford," added Graines.
"You need not stand on ship formalities while we are alone, Charley. But we must put together the threads we have gathered this evening, and, if I mistake not, we shall make a net of them, into which the Trafalgar, or whatever her new name may be, will tumble at no very distant time. It appears that she is not to tow out the West Wind, for Captain Sullendine cannot go to sea with only two men before the mast, and no mate."
"Bird Riley played his cards very well to accomplish the purpose he had in view, which was to keep the West Wind from going to sea in tow of the steamer," replied Graines, keeping up with the lieutenant, who had taken a very rapid pace.
"I should say that the schooner would have a much better chance to get through the blockaders in tow of the Trafalgar than in going on her own hook. Bird is a big fellow in his own estimation; but it struck me that Captain Sullendine had anignorant and self-willed fellow for a mate, and probably he took the best one he could find; for I think good seamen, outside of the Confederate navy, must be very scarce in the South."
"The fellow had a notion in his head that he could take the schooner out by Pelican Channel, and he quarrelled with the captain on this point. It occurred to me that he deserted his vessel on account of the quarrel rather than for any other reason."
"We need not bother our heads with that question, for it does not concern us; and we will leave the captain and his mate to fight it out when they meet to-morrow, for it is plain enough that the West Wind cannot go to sea with no mate and only two hands before the mast," returned Christy, who was hastening forward to discharge what he considered his first duty thus far developed by the events of the night. "What time is it now, Charley? I have a watch, but no matches."
The engineer's cigar had gone out when he lighted it before, and he had put it in a pocket of his sack coat. Putting it in his mouth, he struck a match, and consulted his watch.
"Quarter of one, Christy; and we have plentyof time," he replied as he lighted his cigar; for he thought it would help him to maintain his indifference in whatever event might be next in order.
"But we have no time to spare," added the lieutenant, as he increased the rapidity of his pace. "Our five pairs of men must have readied the vicinity of the fort before this time, for we have had a long conference with those spreeists."
"About an hour and a half; and the information we have obtained will fully pay for the time used."
"No doubt of it; and we must hurry up in order to make a good use of it," said Christy. "The fog is lifting just now, as it has been doing all the evening, and we can see the fort. There are very few people about; for it cannot be an uncommon event to see a blockade-runner get under way."
It was not probable that any of the persons in sight were soldiers, for they had abundant opportunity to see all there was to be seen within the solid walls that sheltered them. The rapid pace at which the lieutenant led his companion soon brought them to the group of people near the shore of the channel leading to Pilot Town. The five pairs of seamen were well scattered about, as theyhad been instructed to be, and they did not appear to have attracted the attention of the others in the vicinity.
Pair No. Three were the first of the party the officers encountered, and no others appeared to be near them. One of them was smoking his pipe, and both of them were taking it very easily. Not far from them was a knot of men who seemed to be disturbed by some kind of an excitement. As the couple encountered manifested no interest in the affair, Christy concluded that they must know something about it, unless they were extremely scrupulous in adhering to the orders given them.
"What is the row there, French?" asked Christy in a low and guarded tone, though there was no stranger very near him.
"The man in the middle is the captain of that schooner you see off the shore, sir. His mate and three of his crew have deserted the vessel, and he can't go to sea without them," replied French.
"They say the steamer ahead is to tow the schooner out; but the captain cannot go because he has only two men left," added Lines, the other man of the pair.
"Do you know where to find Nos. One and Two?" continued the leader of the expedition.
"I do not, sir; for we keep clear of each other, as we were ordered," answered French, as he looked about him for the men designated.
"You two will separate, and find One and Two. Send them to me, and I will wait here for them," added Christy; and the men departed on the errand. "While I am waiting for them, Mr. Graines, you may go down to that group, and pick up what information you can."
The engineer sauntered down the declivity, smoking his cigar, and making himself as much at home on the enemy's territory as though he had been the commander of the Confederate fort. Christy was not kept long in waiting, and the first pair that reported to him were Weeks and Bingham. No. One. The former was the oiler who had been selected on account of his ingenuity and good judgment by Graines.
"Are you a sailor as well as a machinist, Weeks?" asked Christy.
"I am not much of a sailor, sir, though I have handled a schooner. I have been a boatman more or less of the time all my life," replied the oiler modestly.
By this time No. Two, Lane and McGrady, reported, but French and Lines kept their distance, in conformity with the spirit of their orders.
"Nos. One and Two will return to the whaleboat, and Weeks will be in command of the party," continued Christy. "The rest of you will obey him as your officer. Is this understood?"
"Ay, ay, sir," responded the three men.
"Weeks, you will carry the boat to the water, and return to the ship with all possible haste. Inform Captain Breaker that the Trafalgar will sail at three o'clock in the morning. I will report to him later."
The four men started off as though they meant to obey this order to the letter.
Weeks and his companions divided up as they had been ordered to do in coming to the fort, and departed in different directions. The lieutenant pointed out to them the locality of the bivouac where he had passed so much of the evening, so that they might avoid it. It was about one o'clock in the morning when they left, and Christy calculated that they would reach the ship in an hour and a half, which would give the commander ample time to get up steam from the banked fires, and move down four or five miles to the southward of his present position.
The chief of the expedition had sent no message to the captain of the Bellevite in regard to his own movements, but simply that he would report to him later. He had already grasped an idea, though he had had no time to work it up in detail. It looked practicable to him, and he had jumped to a conclusion as soon as he was in possessionof the facts covering the situation in the vicinity of Fort Morgan.
With only a plan not yet matured in his mind, perhaps he had been more rash than usual in sending away the whaleboat before he had provided for his own retreat from the enemy's territory; but he had considered this difficulty, and had come to the conclusion that the Trafalgar must be captured if possible, even if he and his associates were sent to a Confederate prison.
But he did not anticipate any such result. He had three pairs of the seamen left; and the party still consisted of eight men, all well armed. If the plan he had considered should fail, he had force enough to carry a light boat from Pilot Town, or any other point on the inner shore, in which they could make their escape to the Bellevite or some other blockader. He did not feel, therefore, that he had "burned his bridges," and left open no means of retreat in case of disaster.
Christy and Graines were left alone in the darkness and the fog, a bank of which was just then sweeping over the point; but they could hear the violent talk of Captain Sullendine in the distance, as he declaimed against the perfidy of his mate andthe three seamen just at the point where he needed them most. Evidently he could not reconcile himself to the idea of being left behind by the Trafalgar, which seemed to be inevitable under present circumstances.
"The skipper of the West Wind seems to be in an ocean of trouble, and he is apparently resolved not to submit to the misfortune which has overtaken him," said Christy, as he led the way towards the knot of men who were the auditors of the rebellious captain.
"He may jaw as much as he pleases, if it makes him feel any better, but I don't see how he can help himself," replied Graines. "The schooner looked like a rather large one when I got a sight of her just before I came back to you, which I did as soon as I saw the four men leave you."
"I sent Weeks as a messenger to Captain Breaker, to inform him that the Trafalgar would sail at three in the morning," added Christy.
"I concluded that was the mission upon which you sent him," replied the engineer; and, whatever doubts the lieutenant's action might have raised in his mind, he asked no questions.
Every man on board of the Bellevite was wellacquainted with the record and reputation of the executive officer; and he concluded at once that Christy had already arranged his method of operations. It was not "in good form" to ask his superior any questions in regard to his intentions.
"Did you go down to the shore, Charley?" asked Christy, as they walked in that direction.
"I did not, but I went far enough to hear what the captain of the West Wind was talking about. I had no orders, and as soon as I saw the four men leave you, I thought I had better rejoin you," answered Graines.
"Quite right," said the lieutenant as he halted; for they were as near the group on the shore as it was prudent to go, for the fog was lifting. "What did the captain say?"
"He offered ten dollars apiece for the recovery of the men who had deserted, if they were brought back within two hours," replied Graines. "He did an immense amount of heavy swearing; and it was plain that he was mad all the way through, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot."
"Was any one inclined to accept his offer, and go in search of the runaways?"
"I can't say, but I saw no one leave on that or any other mission. I was there but a few minutes, and the fog dropped down on the party so that I could not see them at all."
"We must join that assemblage, and we may be able to help Captain Sullendine out of his dilemma," said Christy.
"Help him out of it!" exclaimed Graines.
"Not a word more, Charley. I have an idea or two left, but it is not prudent to say a word about it here," replied the lieutenant cautiously. "You know the cut of my jib in my present rig, and I want you to keep an eye on me, for we must separate now. When you see me take off this old soft hat with my left hand, and scratch my head with my right, moving off a minute later, you will follow me. By that time I shall know what we are to do."
"All right, Christy; I will follow the direction to the letter," added Graines.
"While you go off to the left of that pile of rubbish yonder, I will go to the right of it. If you speak to any of our men, do so with the utmost caution."
"They have been down there some time, andthey have full information in regard to what is going on in this locality," suggested Graines.
"Use your own judgment, Charley, only be careful not to give us away," replied the lieutenant, as he moved towards the pile of rubbish.
A walk of a few minutes brought him to the group on the shore, which consisted of not more than a dozen persons, and half of them belonged to the Bellevite. Christy halted before he reached the assemblage, in order to listen to the eloquence of the captain of the West Wind. He talked very glibly; and it did not take his outside auditor long to perceive that he had been drinking somewhat freely, though he was not what non-temperance men would have called intoxicated.
"I use my men well, and give 'em enough to eat and drink, and what's good enough," the nautical orator declaimed with a double-handed gesture. "Why, my friends, I gave each of the villains that deserted the schooner a bottle of apple-jack. I don't drink it myself, but it is good enough for niggers and sailors; in fact, my men liked it better'n whiskey, because it's stronger. They served me a mighty mean trick, and I'll give ten dollars apiece to have 'em fetched back to me.That's a good chance for some on you to make some money tonight."
His audience listened to him as they would have done to a preacher with whom they had no sympathy, and no one was tempted by the reward to go in search of the deserters. Christy moved up nearer to the speaker. In his disguise, with his face smooched with some of the color he had received as a present from Mr. Gilfleur, the French detective, with whom he had been associated on his cruise some months before, he did not appear at all different from most of those who listened to Captain Sullendine. He had laid aside his gentlemanly gait and bearing, and acted as though he had lately joined the "awkward squad."
"How d'e?" called the orator to him, as he saw him join the group of listeners. "I see you come from the other side of the p'int."
"Well, is that agin the laws o' war?" demanded Christy.
"Not a bit on't," replied the captain pleasantly, as though his potations of whiskey were still in full effect upon him. "If you come from that way, have you seen anything of my four men that deserted the schooner?"
"I wasn't lookin' for 'em; didn't know ye'd lost some men," replied Christy, staring with his mouth half open at the orator. "Was one on 'em the mate?"
"Yes!" exclaimed the captain eagerly.
"Well, I hain't seen nothin' on em," added Christy in a mumbling tone.
"I'll bet you have!" protested the skipper of the West Wind. "How'd you know one on 'em was the mate if you didn't see 'em?"
"I didn't know one on 'em was the mate; I only axed yer so's ter know."
"I reckon you know sunthin about my men," persisted the captain; and by this time the attention of all the party had been directed to him.
"I don't know nothin' about yer men, and I hain't been interduced to 'em. If you want to ship a new crew, I'm ready to jine with yer."
"One man ain't enough," added the skipper.
"Some o' these men'll jine too, I reckon," suggested Christy, who had proceeded in this manner in order to attract the attention of the disconsolate master of the West Wind.
"I don't reckon they can ship, 'cause most on 'em belongs to the Tallahatchie, and they can't leave."
"That's so," shouted several of the group, including some of the crew of the Bellevite.
"What's the Talla-what-you-call-her?" demanded Christy.
"She's the steamer you can see when the fog lifts," answered Captain Sullendine. "The Tallahatchie is her name. Are you a sailor, my lively lad?"
"I reckon I know the bobstay from the mainmast."
"You know sumthin about my mate and men, my jolly tar, and I'll give you five dollars apiece for any news on 'em that will help me to ketch 'em; and I'll ship you into the bargain, for I want more hands," the captain proceeded in a more business-like manner, though at the expense of his oratory.
Just at this moment three short and sharp whistles sounded from off the shore, and about half of the skipper's audience turned upon their heels and walked down to the water, where they embarked in a boat. They were evidently members of the ship's company of the Tallahatchie, on shore on leave, and the whistles were the signal for their return. The remainder of the group, with two orthree exceptions, were the seamen of the blockader.
"Where'd you come from, my hearty?" demanded the captain of the schooner, turning to Christy again.
"I was tooken in a blockader, eight on us. We done stole a whaleboat and comed ashore," replied Christy, enlarging upon the story he had told the bivouackers.
"Eight on you!" exclaimed the master of the schooner. "Where's the rest on ye?"
"They're all about here somewhar, and I reckon I kin find em. They're lookin for sunthin t'eat. They all want to ship, and the mate of the Rattler's one on 'em," continued Christy, guiding himself by the circumstances as they were developed to him.
"What's your name, my man?"
"My name's Jerry Sandman; and I ain't ashamed on't."
"Are your men all sailors, Jerry?"
"Every one on 'em."
"I want eight good men, Jerry, the mate bein' one on 'em."
"Then we kin fix you like a 'possum in a hole."
"I've got two boats on the shore; the deserters stole one on 'em, and I come ashore in t'other arter 'em. I reckon I'll get a steamer in Nassau, and I want all the good men I can find to man her. I'll ship the whole on you. Find your men, Jerry, and fetch 'em down to the boats. I'll give 'em all sumthin t'eat. Now be lively about it," said Captain Sullendine, as he walked away towards the shore.
"I'll find 'em in no time," replied Christy, as he removed his soft hat with his left hand, and scratched his head with the other.
The rest of the party scattered, and Graines joined the lieutenant.
The seamen of the Bellevite had listened with intense interest to the conversation between the commander of the West Wind and the lieutenant; and there was not a single one of them who did not comprehend the purpose of the chief of the expedition. They were greatly amused at the manner in which Christy conducted himself, and especially at the mongrel dialect he had used. It was a little difficult for them to realize that the awkward fellow who was in conversation with the skipper of the schooner was the gentlemanly, well-spoken officer they had been accustomed to see on the quarter-deck of the Bellevite.
They separated as they had been instructed to do; but they were careful not to go to any great distance from the spot, for they understood that they should be wanted in a few minutes. Graines had not spoken a word on this occasion, though he had done most of the talking at the bivouac. Hewas ready to do his part; but the skipper had addressed his companion first, introducing the subject, and he had no opportunity to get in a single word.
"I suppose you understand it all, Charley," said Christy as soon as they were alone.
"I could not very well have helped doing so if I had tried. The only thing that bothered me was when you appeared to be betraying yourself by alluding to the mate," replied Graines.
"I did not do that by accident; but I desired to get the whole attention of the captain, and I got it. The rest all followed in due course. Now tell all the men to go down to the shore, and wait a little distance from the two boats till you and I join them. Tell them all to be hungry. Your name is Mr. Balker, the mate of the Rattler, the blockade-runner from which we escaped in a whaleboat. My name is Jerry Sandman, the second mate, for the want of a better. Tell them not to forget any of these names," continued Christy.
"They heard the whole story, and they were deeply interested in it, for they could not help seeing what was coming," added the engineer, as he went to carry out the order he had just received.
The seamen still kept together in pairs, and Graines instructed them by twos, impressing them with the necessity of remembering the names they had heard in the lieutenant's story, which was a "story" in the double sense of the word. As each couple received their lesson, they sauntered in the direction of the shore.
"What's going to be done, Mr. Graines?" asked French, who was one of the second pair the engineer instructed.
"That is none of your business, French. You are to remember the names I have given you, and then obey orders," replied Graines rather sharply, for it was a very unusual thing for a seaman, or even an officer, to ask such a question of his superior; and the discipline of the Bellevite was as exacting as it was kind and fatherly.
"Excuse me, Mr. Graines; I only wanted to be ready for whatever was coming," pleaded French.
"Excused; but don't ask such questions. You listened to the conversation between your officer and the captain of the schooner; and if you cannot comprehend the meaning of it, ask Lines, and he will explain it," added the engineer, "Where are Londall and Vogel?"
"Right by that pile of rubbish, sir," replied French, as he led the way to the shore.
The last pair were instructed and sent with the others, and they asked no questions. Graines joined the lieutenant, who had seated himself on a log, and reported that all was going on right.
"As I said before, Charley, you will be the mate of the Rattler, and will no doubt be engaged for the same position on board of the West Wind. I will ship as second mate, if one of the two men now on board of the vessel is not shipped as such, for I wish to be among the men," said Christy, after looking about him to see that no one was within hearing distance of them.
"I take it I shall not make a long voyage as mate," replied Graines.
"Probably not, though I cannot tell how long you will have to serve in that capacity. I purpose to have the Tallahatchie tow the schooner as far down as practicable; but we shall doubtless have business on our hands before it is time to cut the towline. Now we will wait upon the captain."
They found him walking up and down the shore, apparently somewhat excited; and doubtless he had not entire confidence in the promises of "JerrySandman." The six seamen had not joined Captain Sullendine on the shore, but had placed themselves behind a coal shanty quite near the water.
"I've brought the mate down, Cap'n Sull'dine," Christy began, as he and the engineer halted in front of the master of the schooner. "Here he is, an' I reckon there ain't no better sailor in the great Confed'racy. This yere is Mr. Balker."
"How are ye, Mr. Balker? You are just the man I want more'n I want my supper. Now tell me something about yourself."
Graines invented a story suited to the occasion. Then the conversation was about wages; and the candidate haggled for form's sake, but finally accepted the lay the captain offered.
"By the way, Captain Sullendine, do you happen to have a second mate?" asked the engineer when the terms were arranged.
"I had one; but he run away with Bird Riley. He wa'n't good for nothin', and I'm glad he's gone," replied the skipper.
"The man you talked with is Jerry Sandman, and he was the other mate of the Rattler. He isn't a showy fellow, but he was a first-class second mate," continued Graines.
"Then I ship him as second mate;" and they arranged the wages without much difficulty.
The six seamen were promptly shipped. The whole party then embarked in the two boats, Captain Sullendine dividing them into two parties for the purpose. The fog had settled down very densely upon the shore; but the West Wind was easily found, and they went on board, where one boat was hoisted up to the stern davits, and the other on the port quarter.
"Here you be, Mr. Balker," said Captain Sullendine when the party reached the quarter-deck; and he was so lively in his movements, and so glib in his speech, as to provoke the suspicion that he had imbibed again at the conclusion of his oration on shore. "Here, you, Sopsy!" he continued in a loud voice.
A lantern was burning on the companion, which enabled the party to see that the waist of the vessel was compactly packed with bales of cotton. The schooner seemed to be of considerable size, and Christy thought she must be loaded with a very large cargo of the precious merchandise. In answer to the captain's call, Sopsy, who proved to be the negro cook of the vessel, presented himself.
"All these people want something to eat, Sopsy. Let the crew eat in the deck-house for'ad, and bring a lunch into the cabin right off," continued Captain Sullendine.
"Yis, sar," replied the cook with emphasis. "Git 'em quicker'n a man kin swaller his own head. Libes dar a man wid soul so dead"—
"Never mind the varse, Sopsy," interposed the captain.