Christy understood the character of Captain Flanger well enough to be confident he meant mischief to him in getting him into the boat. He concluded that this movement was the result of the conference with the mate. He had a suspicion that his terrible enemy intended to drown him, or get rid of him in some other manner.
"May I ask where I am to be taken in the boat, Mr. Dawbin?" asked the prisoner, suppressing as much as he could the excitement that disturbed him.
"I give you leave to ask, but I cannot answer you," replied the mate.
"If you intend to put me on board of that steamer, it can do no harm to say so, I think," added Christy.
"If you will excuse me, Mr. Passford, I cannot answer any questions. I ask you again to get into the boat," said Mr. Dawbin.
"Well, sir, suppose I decline to do so?"
"Then I shall be compelled to use force, and tumble you into the boat in the best way I can, with the assistance of my men."
"If you intend to murder me, why can't you do the deed here on deck?" demanded the prisoner.
"I don't intend to murder you."
"That is some consolation. That lighthouse on the Great Isaac is the only place to which you can convey me, and that is sixteen miles from this steamer. I can't believe you intend to pull me that distance."
"No fooling there!" shouted the captain. "What are you waiting for, Mr. Dawbin? Why don't you obey my order?"
"The fellow wants to talk," replied the mate.
"If he won't get into the boat, pitch him into it like a dead dog!"
Christy saw that it was useless to resist, though he had a revolver in his pocket which had not been taken from him, for he had not been searched. The mate and two sailors stood in front of him, and he realized that he could accomplish nothing by resistance under present circumstances. He thought he could do better in the boat after it wasbeyond the reach of any reinforcements from the steamer. He went over the side, and took his place in the stern sheets.
The mate followed him, and the two men, one of whom was hardly more than a boy, took their places on the thwarts. The boat was shoved off, and the prisoner had an immediate interest in the course it was about to steer. The mate arranged the tiller lines, and then looked about him.
He directed his gaze towards the north, and seemed to be trying to find some object or point. He satisfied himself in some manner, and then resumed his seat, from which he had risen in order to obtain a better view over the waves. The passenger had watched him closely, and found that his vision had been directed towards the rocks awash and the East Isaac rock. Towards these objects he steered the boat. The Chateaugay was at least three miles to the eastward of these rocks.
Christy watched the course of the boat long enough to satisfy himself that it was headed for the rocks, which were awash at high tide, though they now looked like a minute island. There could be but one object in visiting this locality:and that must be to leave him on that desolate reef. The wind was still fresh from the north-west, and the spray was dashed over the rocks in a manner which suggested that a human being could not remain long on it after the tide was high without being washed off. It was little better than murder to leave him there, and he knew very well that Captain Flanger would shed no tears if assured that his troublesome prisoner was no more.
Christy decided that he would not be left on the reef, or even on the top of the East Isaac, which might be a drier place, though hardly more comfortable. It must have been Mr. Dawbin who had suggested the idea of landing him on the reef, for there was no other place nearer than the Great Isaac light. Captain Flanger had boasted that he sailed a vessel on a peaceful mission, and that the commander of the Chateaugay had no more right to capture him than he had to murder him. But the prisoner knew that the Snapper was to run the blockade, and was bound to Mobile, for the captain had told him so himself.
The commander could now see the folly of his boast. He had not expected to encounter a United States man-of-war in the Bahamas. His prisonerwas a naval officer, and would be a strong witness against him. Upon his testimony, and such other evidence as the cargo and other circumstances might supply, the captain of the steamer in the channel might feel justified in making a prize of the Snapper. It was necessary, therefore, to remove this witness against him. As Christy had imagined, the captain had not thought of his prisoner as a witness, and the mate had suggested it to him.
"I suppose I need not ask you what is to be done with me, for that is sufficiently apparent now," said Christy, more to engage the attention of the mate than for any other reason.
"You can form your own conclusion," replied Mr. Dawbin.
"You intend to leave me on that reef ahead, and doubtless you expect me to be washed off and drowned, or starved to death there," added the prisoner. "I can't see why you take all this trouble when you could more conveniently blow my brains out."
"The captain has promised not to harm you, Mr. Passford, and he will keep his word," replied the mate with very ill grace.
"I consider it worse than murder to leave meon that reef, or any of these rocks, Mr. Dawbin. Since I understand your intention, I might as well put a bullet through my own head, and save myself from all the suffering in store for me," said Christy, assuming the manner of one rendered desperate by his situation. "Have you a revolver in your pocket?"
"I have not a revolver in my pocket; and if I had I should not lend it to you to shoot yourself," replied the mate.
Mr. Dawbin had no revolver in his pocket, and that was all the prisoner had been driving at. He was equally confident that neither of the sailors was armed, for he had looked them over to see if there was any appearance of pistols in their pockets.
"You are making altogether too much fuss over this little matter, Mr. Passford. The captain desires you to remain on one of these rocks till he gets through his business with the commanderofthat steamer in the channel, which is now headed for the Snapper," the mate explained. "When that is finished we will take you off and proceed on our voyage."
"You had better put a bullet through my head."
"I don't think so. It is no great hardship foryou to stay a few hours on that rock. You have had your dinner, and you will not starve to death. I don't think you will have to stay there long, for that steamer draws too much water to come in among these reefs, and she will be hard and fast on one of the shoals before she goes much farther."
"Possibly her captain knows what he is about as well as you do," suggested Christy.
"I don't believe he does. There isn't a fathom of water on some of these shoals."
But the Chateaugay kept on her course, though she proceeded very slowly. When she was off the Gingerbread Cay she stopped her screw, and she was near enough for the observer to see that she was lowering at least two boats into the water. In a few minutes more they were seen pulling towards the Snapper, whose boat was now very near the reef which had been selected as the prisoner's abiding-place. A few minutes later the keel ground on the coral rock.
"Jump ashore, both of you, and take the painter with you, my men," said the mate, when the boat stuck about six feet from the top of the ledge.
The two sailors waded to the highest part of the reef, and began to haul in on the painter; but theycould not get it anything less than three feet from the rock.
"We can't get the boat any nearer, Mr. Passford; but you are a vigorous young man, and you can easily leap to the rock," said Mr. Dawbin.
"Do you think you could leap to the ledge?" asked Christy, looking him sharp in the eye.
"I know I could."
"Let me see you try it, Mr. Dawbin," replied Christy, with his right hand on his revolver.
"Come, come! Mr. Passford. No fooling. I have no time to spare," growled the mate.
"I am not fooling. As you consider it no hardship to pass a few hours on that rock, I am going to trouble you to take my place there."
"No nonsense! I am not to be trifled with!"
"Neither am I," added the prisoner, as he drew out his weapon, and aimed it at the head of the mate. "You can take your choice between the rock and a ball from my revolver, Mr. Dawbin."
"Do you mean to murder me?" demanded the mate.
"I hope you will not compel me to do so harsh a thing as that. But no fooling! I have no time to spare. Jump on the rock, or I will fire beforeyou are ten seconds older!" said Christy resolutely.
"Come back into the boat, men!" shouted the officer.
"The first one that comes any nearer the boat is a dead man!" added the prisoner, "Five seconds gone, Mr. Dawbin."
The mate did not wait for anything more, but made the leap to the rock. He accomplished it so hastily that he fell when he struck the ledge; but the impetus he had given the boat forced it from the rock, and sent it a considerable distance. Christy restored the revolver to his pocket, and, taking one of the oars, he sculled towards the Chateaugay, which was now much nearer than the Snapper. The two boats from the man-of-war took no notice of him, and perhaps did not see him.
Taking out his white handkerchief he attached it to the blade of one of the oars, and waved it with all his might in the direction of the steamer. He set it up in the mast-hole through the forward thwart, and then continued to scull. But his signal was soon seen, and a boat came off from the steamer.
illustration of quoted scene"Jump on the rock or I will fire before you are ten seconds older."(Page 276)
"Boat ahoy!" shouted the officer in charge of the cutter.
"In the boat!" replied Christy, turning around as he suspended his labor with the oar.
"Lieutenant Passford!" exclaimed Mr. Hackling, the second lieutenant of the Chateaugay. "Is it possible that it is you?"
"I haven't any doubt of it, Mr. Hackling, if you have," replied the late prisoner, heartily rejoiced to find himself in good company again.
"But what does this mean? How do you happen to be here?" demanded the astonished lieutenant of the ship.
"I happen to be here because I have just played a sharp game. I was a prisoner on that steamer yonder, on my way to a rebel prison. But I think it is necessary that I should report immediately to Captain Chantor in regard to the character of the Snapper, which is the name of the vessel you have been chasing."
The Snapper's boat was taken in tow, and the crew of the cutter gave way with a will. In due time Christy was received with the most unbounded astonishment by the commander on the deck of the Chateaugay.
"Where is Mr. Gilfleur? I hope that no accident has happened to him," said the captain with deep anxiety on his face.
"None that I am aware of; but if you will excuse me from explanations for the present, I will state that the steamer on the bank is the Snapper, Captain Flanger, bound for Mobile; and the captain told me that he intended to run the blockade."
"Mr. Hackling, take charge of the second cutter, and give Mr. Birdwing my order to make a prize of that steamer, and bring her off to the deep water."
It was quite dark when this order was executed.
Christy Passford related to Captain Chantor all that had occurred to the detective and himself from the time of their departure from the ship to their parting on the shore; and he did not fail to mention the fact that Mr. Gilfleur had come to his assistance when he was assaulted by the ruffian in front of the saloon.
"You have had a narrow escape, Mr. Passford," said the commander, when he had concluded. "The idea of avenging an injury received in that way is something I never happened to hear of before, though my experience is not unlimited. Mr. Birdwing," he continued, after the first lieutenant had reported to him, "had you any difficulty in effecting the capture of the Snapper?"
"Only with the captain; for my force was sufficient to have taken her if she had been fully armed and manned. There was no fighting; but I wasobliged to put the captain in irons, for he was about the ugliest and most unreasonable man I ever encountered," replied the chief of the boat expedition. "I was not at all satisfied that the steamer was a fit subject for capture till your order came to me, brought by Mr. Hackling. Then Captain Flanger not only protested, with more bad language than I ever before heard in the same time, but he absolutely refused to yield. I could not give him the reasons that induced you to send me the order, and I referred the matter to you."
The Snapper had been anchored within a cable's length of the Chateaugay, and Mr. Birdwing had brought Captain Flanger on board of the ship, with Percy Pierson, that the question of prize might be definitely settled by the commander, for he was not quite satisfied himself. The captain of the Snapper was still in irons, and he and his companion had been put under guard in the waist. The man with the mutilated nose had not yet seen Christy, and possibly he was still wondering what had become of his chief officer and the two men who had been ordered to put the prisoner on the ledge.
Christy had informed Captain Chantor, in his narrative, of the manner in which he had turned the tables on his custodians, and he had not forgotten that the party were still where he had left them. He reminded the commander of the latter fact, and a quartermaster was sent in the third cutter to bring them off, and put them on board of the Snapper; where a considerable force still remained under the charge of Mr. Carlin, the third lieutenant.
"Now we will settle this matter with the captain of the Snapper, and I hope to convince him that his vessel is a lawful prize, so far as she can be so declared in advance of the decision of the court," said Captain Chantor. "Come with me, if you please, Mr. Birdwing. For the present, Mr. Passford, will you oblige me by keeping in the shade till I send for you?"
"Certainly, Captain Chantor, though I should like to hear what Captain Flanger has to say in defence of his steamer," replied the passenger. "But I will take care not to show myself to him till you are ready for me."
"I do not object to that arrangement. I do not quite understand who this Percy Pierson is, thoughyou mentioned him in your report of what had occurred during your absence," added the commander.
"He is the son of Colonel Richard Pierson, a Confederate commissioner, who represents his government at Nassau, purchasing vessels as opportunity to do so is found. His son is the person who tried to induce me to take passage in the Snapper, with the promise that I should be permitted to land at Key West. It was only a trick to get me on board of the steamer; and when it failed, for I declined to fall into the trap, I was captured by a gang of four or five ruffians, Captain Flanger being one of them, and conveyed to the vessel, where I was locked up in a stateroom till after she had sailed."
"That is a proper question for the British government to deal with, and I hope it will be put in the way of adjustment by the proper officials, though I am inclined to regard it as an act of war, which will justify me in holding the men engaged in the outrage as prisoners. Do you know who they are, Mr. Passford?"
"I can designate only three of them,—the captain, Mr. Dawbin, the mate, who is now on theledge, and Percy Pierson. I am sure they were all in the carriage that conveyed me to the beach where I was put into the boat. The others were sailors, and I could not identify them."
"I will hold the three you name as prisoners," added Captain Chantor, as he moved forward, followed by the executive officer.
It was getting dark, and Christy made his way to the shadow of the mainmast, where he obtained a position that enabled him to hear all that passed without being seen himself. Captain Flanger seemed to be more subdued than he had been reported to be on board of the Snapper, and the commander ordered the irons to be taken from his wrists.
"Captain Flanger, I have concluded to make a prize of the Snapper; but I am willing to hear anything you may wish to offer," Captain Chantor began.
"I protest; you have no more right to make a prize of my vessel than you have to capture a British man-of-war, if you were able to do such a thing," replied the commander of the Snapper.
"Do you claim that the Snapper is a British vessel?"
"Yes, I do!" blustered Captain Flanger recklessly.
"Are you a British subject?"
"No, I am not; but I am not attempting to run the blockade."
"For what port are you bound?"
"Havana."
"Have you a clearance for that port?"
"For Havana, and a market."
"But you have no more idea of going to Havana than you have of going to China," added the captain of the Chateaugay. "You are bound to Mobile, and you intend to run the blockade; and that intention proved, you are liable to capture."
"You seem to know my business better than I know it myself," said Captain Flanger, with a sneer in his tones.
"Perhaps I know it quite as well as you do, at least so far as the voyage of the Snapper is concerned," replied the commander of the Chateaugay, who proceeded to explain international law in relation to the intention to run the blockade. "I shall be able to prove in the court which sits upon your case that you left Nassau for the purpose of running the blockade established at the entranceof Mobile Bay. I presume that will be enough to satisfy both you and the court. In Nassau you did not hesitate to announce your intention to run the blockade, and get into Mobile."
"I should like to see you prove it," growled the captain of the Snapper, in his sneering tones.
"I don't think you would like to see me do it; but I will take you at your word, and prove it now. I have an excellent witness, to whom you made your announcement;" and at this remark Christy stepped out from behind the mainmast, and placed himself in front of the astounded ruffian. "Lieutenant Passford, a naval officer in excellent repute, is all ready to make oath to your assertions."
Captain Flanger and Percy Pierson gazed in silence at the witness, for they supposed he was on the ledge to which he had been transported by the boat. Christy repeated what he had said before, and stated in what manner he had been made a prisoner on board of the Snapper.
"For this outrage in a neutral port I shall hold you and Mr. Pierson as prisoners, leaving the government to determine what steps shall be taken in regard to you; but I trust you will be handed overto the authorities at Nassau, to be properly punished for the outrage."
Of course this decision did not suit Captain Flanger; and Percy Pierson appeared to be intensely alarmed at the prospect before him. Captain Chantor, after consulting with his naval passenger, determined to send the Snapper to Key West, from which she could readily be despatched to New York if occasion should require. Mr. Carlin was appointed prize-master, with a sufficient crew; and at daylight the next morning he sailed for his destination.
The boat which had been sent for the mate and two men belonging to the Snapper put them on board of the steamer; but the captain and the passenger were retained on board of the Chateaugay. The man with the mutilated nose was so disgusted at the loss of his vessel, and with the decision of his captor, that he could not contain himself; and it became necessary not only to restore his irons, but also to commit him to the "brig," which is the ship's prison.
"What is to become of me, Christy?" asked Percy in the evening, overcome with terror at the prospect before him.
"That is more than I can inform you," replied Christy coldly.
"But we had no intention of doing you any harm; and we treated you well after you went on board of the Snapper."
"You committed a dastardly outrage upon me; but your punishment will be left to others."
"But I had no intention to do you any harm," pleaded Percy.
"No more lies! You have told me enough since I met you."
"But I am speaking the truth now," protested the frightened Southerner.
"No, you are not; the truth is not in you! Did you mean me no harm when you attempted to entice me on board of the Snapper? Did you mean me no harm when you engaged Flanger and his ruffians to make me a prisoner, and put me on board of his steamer? It was a flagrant outrage from beginning to end; for I had the same rights in Nassau that you and your father had, and both of you abused the hospitality of the place when you assaulted me."
"You were a prisoner of the Confederacy, and had escaped in a blockade-runner; and I thoughtit was no more than right that you should be returned to your prison," Percy explained.
"I had the right to escape if I could, and was willing to take the risk; and my capture in Nassau was a cowardly trick. But I did not escape from a Confederate prison."
"You told me you did."
"I did not; that was a conclusion to which you jumped with very little help from me."
"I thought I was doing my duty to my country."
"Then you were an idiot. You have done your best to compromise your country, as you call it, with the British government. If your father is not sent out of Nassau, I shall lose my guess as a Yankee."
"But my father would not allow Captain Flanger to do you any harm; for he was bent upon hanging you as soon as he got out of sight of land, and he sent me with you to see my mother in order to prevent him from carrying out his threat."
"You would have been a powerful preventive in the face of such a brutal ruffian as Captain Flanger," said Christy with a sneer. "You have lied to me before about your father, and I cannot believe anything you say."
"I am speaking the truth now; my father saved your life. I heard him tell Flanger that he would lose the command of the Snapper if any harm came to you."
"If he did so, he did it from the fear of the British authorities. I have nothing more to say about it."
"But as my father saved your life, you ought to stand by me in this scrape," pleaded Percy.
"Whatever was done by you or your father for me, was done from the fear of consequences; and you were the originator of the outrage against me," added Christy, as he descended to the ward room.
The next morning the Snapper was on her voyage to Key West, and the Chateaugay headed for the Hole in the Wall, though she gave it a wide berth, and stood off to the eastward. The next night, being the fourth since the Eleuthera left the ship, the boat containing Mr. Gilfleur was picked up about twenty miles east of the lights. The detective came on board, and was welcomed by the captain, who had been called by his own order.
As soon as Mr. Gilfleur had been welcomed back to the Chateaugay the commander gave the order to the officer of the deck to have the Bahama boat hoisted to the deck, and disposed of as before.
"I beg your pardon, Captain Chantor; but be so kind as to allow the boat to remain alongside, for I must return to Nassau," interposed the detective.
"Return to Nassau!" exclaimed the captain.
"Yes, sir; it is really necessary that I should do so, for you see that I have come back without Mr. Passford," replied the Frenchman. "He was attacked by a cowardly ruffian in front of a saloon in the town, and I lost sight of him after that. I have been terribly distressed about him, for the ruffian threatened to kill him, and I fear he has executed his threat."
"Don't distress yourself for another instant, Mr. Gilfleur, for Mr. Passford is on board of the shipat this moment, and doubtless asleep in his stateroom," said the captain, cutting short the narrative of the detective.
"On board of the ship!" exclaimed the Frenchman, retreating a few paces in his great surprise. "Impossible! Quite impossible! I found our boat just where we had left it at the back side of the island."
"But what I say is entirely true; and Mr. Passford wished me to have him called when you came on board," added the commander, as he sent a quartermaster to summon Christy to the captain's cabin.
"I don't understand how Mr. Passford can be on board of the ship," continued the bewildered Frenchman. "Ah, he might have hired a boat like the Eleuthera to bring him off."
"He might have done so, but he did not," replied Captain Chantor, as he directed the officer of the deck to go ahead, making the course east, as soon as he had secured the detective's boat. "Now, if you will come to my cabin, Mr. Gilfleur, Mr. Passford shall inform you himself that he is on board of the ship; and he has quite an exciting story to tell."
The commander and the Frenchman went below, and seated themselves in the cabin of the former.
"Mr. Passford has already informed me that the Ovidio is at Nassau, but that she has been seized by a British gunboat for violation of the neutrality laws," said the captain.
"That is quite true, and it is not probable that the case will be settled for a month to come," replied Mr. Gilfleur. "But I ascertained by great good luck that her armament was waiting for her at Green Cay, if you know where that is: I do not."
"It is on the Tongue of the Ocean, as it is called, nearly a hundred miles to the southward of Nassau. I supposed it would be managed in some such way as that," added the commander. "But do you think it will be a month before her case will be settled?"
"Of course I know nothing about it myself; but I found a court official who was very desirous of talking French, and he invited me to dine with him at his house. I began to ask him questions about the blockade, and the vessels in the harbor; and finally he gave me his opinion that a decision in the case of the Ovidio could not be reached in less than a month, and it might be two mouths."
At this moment there was a knock at the door of the cabin, and the captain called to the person to come in. Christy, who had taken the time to dress himself fully, opened the door and entered the cabin. The Frenchman leaped from his seat, and embraced the young officer as though he had been his wife or sweetheart, from whom he had been separated for years. Christy, who was not very demonstrative in this direction, submitted to the hugging with the best possible grace, for he knew that the detective was sincere, and had actually grown to love him, perhaps as much for his father's sake as for his own.
"Oh, my dear Mr. Passford, you are to me like one who has come out of his grave, for I have believed for nearly three days that you had been killed by the ruffian that attacked you in the street!" exclaimed Mr. Gilfleur, still pressing both of his late companion's hands in his own. "I was never so rejoiced in all my life, not even when I had unearthed a murderer."
"Perhaps you expected to unearth another murderer," said Christy with a smile.
"That was just what I intended to do. I heard thevillanousruffian swear that he would kill you,and I was almost sure he had done so when you failed to meet me in the rear of the hotel."
At the request of the commander, Christy repeated the story of his adventure in Nassau as briefly as possible, up to the time he had been picked up by the Chateaugay's cutter, and conveyed on board of the ship. The detective was deeply interested, and listened to the narration with the closest attention. At the end of it, he pressed the hand of the young officer again, and warmly congratulated him upon his escape from the enemy.
Mr. Gilfleur then reported more in detail than he had done before, the result of his mission. He gave the names of all the intending blockade-runners in the harbor of Nassau; but the captain declared that he could not capture them on any such evidence as the detective had been able to obtain, for it would not prove the intention.
"The Ovidio may not come out of Nassau for two months to come, and then she will proceed to Green Cay," said Captain Chantor. "I do not think I should be justified in waiting so long for her, especially as she is to run her cargo into Mobile. The blockaders will probably be able to pick her up. I think my mission in the BahamaIslands is finished, and the Chateaugay must proceed to more fruitful fields."
"But you have not made a bad voyage of it so far, Captain Chantor," added Christy. "You sent in the Ionian, sunk the Dornoch, and captured the Cadet and the Snapper, to say nothing of bagging a Confederate commissioner, and the son of another. I should have been glad if you had sent in Colonel Pierson, for he has already done our commerce a great deal of mischief."
"I am entirely satisfied, and doubtless the information obtained here and at the Bermudas will enable our fleet to pick up some more of the steamers you have spotted," added the captain, as he rose from his seat, and dismissed his guests.
The Frenchman was so exhausted by his labors, and the want of sleep, that he retired at once to his room, while Christy went on deck with the commander. The ship had been working to the eastward for over an hour; but the order was given for her to come about, and the course was laid for the light at the Hole in the Wall.
"Now, Mr. Passford, we are bound for the Gulf of Mexico, putting in at Key West for the purpose of attending to the affair of the Snapper," saidCaptain Chantor. "In a few days more no doubt you will be able to report for duty on board of the Bellevite."
"I shall not be sorry to be on duty again, and especially in the Bellevite," replied Christy, as he went to his stateroom to finish his night's sleep.
The next day the Chateaugay overhauled the Snapper; but all was well on board of her, and the ship proceeded on her course. On the third day she went into the harbor of Key West. Christy and the captain went to work at once on the legal questions relating to the prize last taken. The evidence was deemed sufficient to warrant the sending of her to New York, and on her arrival the prize-master was directed to proceed to that port. Captain Flanger and Percy Pierson were transferred to her, and she sailed the next day; but she encountered a tremendous storm on the Atlantic coast, and was totally wrecked on Hetzel Spit, near Cape Canaveral. The prisoners were put into one boat, which upset, and all in it were drowned, while the other boat, in charge of Lieutenant Carlin, succeeded in reaching the shore of Florida.
The Snapper's case was settled, therefore, outsideof the courts. Captain Flanger perished in his wickedness, and Percy Pierson never reached his mother in Mobile. But it was weeks before the news of the disaster reached the Chateaugay and the Bellevite. Christy did not mourn the loss of his great enemy, and he was sorry only that the young man had not lived long enough to become a better man.
The Chateaugay proceeded on her voyage, and reported to the flag-officer of the Eastern Gulf Squadron; by whom she was assigned to a place in the fleet off Appalachicola, while Christy was sent in a tender to the Bellevite, then on duty off the entrance to Mobile Bay.
At this point it became necessary for Christy and Mr. Gilfleur to separate, for the latter was to proceed to New York by a store-ship about to sail. The detective insisted upon hugging him again, and the young officer submitted with better grace than usual to such demonstrations. He had become much attached to his companion in the late enterprises in which they had been engaged, and he respected him very highly for his honesty and earnestness, and admired his skill in his profession. On the voyage from Key West, Christy had writtenletters to all the members of his family, as well as to Bertha Pembroke, which he committed to the care of Mr. Gilfleur when they parted, not to meet again till the end of the war.
When Christy went on board of the Bellevite he was warmly welcomed by Captain Breaker, who happened to be on deck. Mr. Blowitt was the next to grasp his hand, and before he had done with him, Paul Vapoor, the chief engineer, the young lieutenant's particular crony, hugged him as though he were a brother.
Most of the old officers were still in the ship, and Christy found himself entirely at home where-ever he went on board. He was duly presented to Mr. Walbrook, the third lieutenant, the acting second lieutenant having returned to the flag-ship in the tender.
For all the rest of the year the Bellevite remained on duty as a blockader off Fort Morgan. It was an idle life for the most part, and Christy began to regret that he had caused himself to be transferred from the command of the Bronx. The steamer occasionally had an opportunity to chase a blockade-runner, going in or coming out of the bay. She was the fastest vessel on the station,and she never failed to give a good account of herself.
Late in the year the Bellevite and Bronx were ordered to operate at Tampa Bay, where it was believed that several vessels were loading with cotton. On the arrival of the ships off the bay, a boat expedition was organized to ascertain what vessels were in the vicinity. But the entrance was protected by a battery, and it was supposed that there were field-works in several places on the shores. One of these was discovered just inside of Palm Key, and the Bellevite opened upon it with her big midship gun. Two or three such massive balls were enough for the garrison, and they beat a precipitate retreat, abandoning their pieces. There was water enough to permit the steamer to go into the bay nearly to the town at the head of it.
No other batteries were to be seen, and the Bronx proceeded up the bay, followed by the Bellevite. When the latter had proceeded as far as the depth of water rendered it prudent for her to go at that time of tide, the Bronx went ahead some ten miles farther. The boat expedition, consisting of three cutters from the Bellevite and one from the Bronx, moved towards the head of thebay. Christy, in the second cutter of the Bellevite, was at least two miles from any other boat, when a punt containing a negro put out from the shore near him.
"Are you a frien' ob de colored man?" demanded the negro as soon as he came within speaking-distance of the cutter.
"Within reasonable limits, I am the friend of the colored man," replied Christy, amused at the form of the question.
"What you gwine to do up dis bay, massa?" asked the colored man.
"That will depend upon what we find up this bay."
"You don't 'spect you find no steamers up dis bay, does you, massa?"
"Do you know of any steamers up this bay, my man?" asked Christy. "Do you know of any vessels up here loading with cotton?"asked Christy.
"P'raps I do, massa; and den, again, p'raps I don't know anyt'ing about any vessels," replied the negro, very indefinitely.
Christy was provoked at the manner in which the negro replied to his questions. Ordering hisboat's crew to give way with all their might, he directed the cockswain to run for the punt of the negro. The cutter struck it on the broadside, and broke it into two pieces. The boatman was fished up, and hauled on board of the boat.
illustration of quoted scene"The boatman was fished up and hauled on board the boat."(Page 301)
Christy Passford did not intend to cut the negro's punt into two pieces, though perhaps there was some mischief in the purpose of the cockswain. The boatman gave him an evasive answer to his question, which provoked the young officer. The punt was a very old affair, reduced almost to punk by the decay of the boards of which it was built, or the bow of the cutter would not have gone through it so readily. The lieutenant had simply desired to get alongside the negro's shaky craft in order to question him, for he was satisfied from the fellow's manner that he knew more than he pretended to know.
The boatman had come off from the shore of his own accord; he had not been solicited to give any information, and his movements had been entirely voluntary on his own part. Yet Christy was sorry that his punt had been stove, valueless as the crafthad been; for, as a rule, the colored people were friendly to the Union soldiers, and he was not disposed to do them any injury.
As soon as the officer in charge of the boat saw that the bow was likely to strike the punt, he directed the cockswain to stop and back her, which was done, but too late to save the flimsy box from destruction. The two bowmen drew in the negro without any difficulty; and so expeditiously had he been rescued that he was not wet above the hips. He had been caught up just as the bow of the cutter cut into the punt.
"That was well done, bowmen," said Christy, as the boatman was placed upon his feet in the fore sheets.
The negro was rather small in stature, and black enough to save all doubts in regard to his parentage; but there was an expression of cunning in his face not often noticed in persons of his race. The coast of Florida, south of the entrance to Tampa Bay, as in many other portions, is fringed with keys, or cays as they are called in the West Indies, which are small islands, though many of them are ten miles in length. This fringe of keys extended up Tampa Bay for over twenty miles;and it was from behind one of them that the punt had put out when Christy's boat approached. The negro had been obliged to paddle at least half a mile to come within speaking-distance of the cutter.
"You done broke my boat in two pieces!" exclaimed the boatman, gazing at the two parts of the floating wreck. "Don't t'ink you is a frien' ob de colored man widin no limits at all, or you don't smash his boat like dat."
"That was an accident, my friend," replied Christy. "How much was the punt worth?"
"Dat boat wan't no punk, massa, and it was wuf two dollars in good money," replied the colored man, his eyes brightening, and his expression of cunning becoming more intense, when he realized the possibility of being paid for his loss.
"If you give me the information I desire, I will pay for the boat," added Christy, who proposed to do so out of his own pocket, for his father was a millionaire of several degrees, and the son had very nearly made a fortune out of the prizes, from which he had received an officer's share.
"Tank you, massa; I'm a poor man, and I git my livin' gwine fishin' in dat boat you done stove."
"What is your name, my man?"
"Quimp, sar; and dat's de short for Quimple," replied the colored person of this name.
"Where do you live?"
"Ober on de shor dar, in de woods."
"How deep is the water inside of these keys, Quimp?" asked Christy, pointing to the long, narrow islands which lined the south-easterly side of the bay.
"Not much water inside dem keys dar, sar," replied the boatman, looking off in the other direction.
"But there are deep places in there, I am very sure."
"Yes, sar; ten feet in some places," replied Quimp, suddenly becoming more communicative. "When de wind blow from de west or de norf-west, dar's twelve foot inside de long key."
"Do you know of any vessels, any schooners, or steamers, inside the bay, Quimp?" asked Christy, pushing his inquiries a point farther.
"Couldn't told you, massa," replied the boatman, shaking his head.
"Do you mean that you don't know, my man?"
"Dis nigger done got but one head, and it's wufmore to him dan it is to any oder feller, massa; and it don't do for him to tell no stories about vessels and steamers," replied Quimp, shaking his head more vigorously.
"I suppose you have a family, Quimp?"
"No, sar; done got no family. De ole woman done gone to glory more'n ten years ago, and de boys done growed up and gone off. No, sar; dis nigger got no family."
"Then you don't care to stay here, where you have to work hard for little money?" suggested Christy.
"Money! Don't see no money. Nobody but white folks got any money; and dey has next to noffin in dese times."
"I will pay you well for any information that may be of importance to me, and I will take you on board of a man-of-war farther down the bay, if you are afraid of losing your head."
"If dis nigger told some stories he lose his head for sartin," added Quimp, shaking his head, as if to make sure that it safely rested on his shoulders.
"If you tell me the truth, you shall be protected."
"Wot you want to know, massa?" demandedQuimp, as though he was weakening in his resolution.
Christy could not help wondering why the boatman had come out from behind the key, if he was not willing to impart his knowledge to the officer of the boat, for he could not help understanding the object of the gunboats in visiting the bay; and the Bellevite lay not half a mile below the northern end of what Quimp called the long key.
"I want to know if there are any steamers or other vessels in the bay," replied Christy, coming directly to the point. "If there are any, we shall find them; but you can save us the trouble of looking for them."
"How much you gwine to gib me, massa, if I told you?" asked the negro, as he walked between the men on the thwarts to the stern sheets, in order to be nearer to the officer.
"I will give you ten dollars if you will be sure and tell me the truth."
"Dis nigger don't never told no lies, massa," protested Quimp. "If you pay me five dollars for de boat you done stove, and"—
"But you said the boat was worth only two dollars," interposed the officer.
"Dat's de gospel truf, massa; but it costs me five dollars to get a new boat, to say noffin about de time. I mought starve to def afore I can get a boat."
The negro's argument was logical, and Christy admitted its force, and expressed his willingness to pay the price demanded.
"Five dollars for de boat, massa, and ten dollars for tellin' de whole truf," added Quimp.
"All right, my man," added the lieutenant.
"Yes, sar; but I want de money now, sar," said Quimp, extending his hand to receive it; and Christy thought he was very sharp for one in his position.
"I will pay you when you have imparted the information," he replied; and, for some reason he could not explain, he was not satisfied with the conduct of the negro.
He was altogether too shrewd for one who appeared to be so stupid. The expression of cunning in his face told against him, and perhaps it was this more than anything else that prejudiced the officer. He took it for granted that he should have to take the boatman off to the Bellevite with him, and that it would be time enough to pay him on board of the ship.
"Dat won't do, massa!" protested Quimp earnestly. "What you tink? Suppose dar is a steamer in de bay loaded wid cotton, all ready to quit for somewhar. Do you tink, massa, I can go on bord of her wid you? No, sar! Dis nigger lose his head for sartin if dem uns knows I pilot you to dat steamer. You done got two eyes, massa, and you can see it for shore."
"But I can protect you, Quimp," suggested Christy.
"No, sar! All de sojers in de Yankee camp could not save me, sar. De first man dat sees me will knive me in de heart, or cut my froat from one ear to de oder!" protested Quimp more earnestly than before, though he manifested no terror in his words or manner.
"Very well, Quimp; I will pay you the money as soon as we see the steamer or other vessel, and then assist you to make your escape," replied Christy. "I will go a step farther, and pay you for the boat now; but I will not pay you the ten dollars till you show us a vessel."
While the negro was scratching his head to stimulate his ideas, the officer handed him a gold sovereign and a shilling of English money, providedfor his visit to Bermuda and Nassau, which made a little more than five dollars.
"I don't reckon a gemman like you would cheat a poor nigger," said Quimp, while his eyes were still glowing with delight at the sight of the money in his hand.
"Certainly not, my man," replied Christy, laughing at the idea. "Just as soon as I get my eye on the steamer of which you speak, I will pay you the ten dollars in gold and silver."
"I don't know much about dis yere money, massa," said the boatman, still studying the coin.
"The gold piece is an English sovereign, worth about four dollars and eighty-five cents; and the silver coin is a shilling, worth very nearly a quarter of a dollar; so that I have paid you over five dollars."
"Yes, sar, tank you, sar. Cap'n Stopfoot fotched over some ob de money like dat from Nassau, and I done seen it."
"But I can't stop to talk all day, Quimp," continued Christy impatiently. "If you are going to do anything to earn your ten dollars, it is time for you to be about it."
"Yes, sar; I will told you all about it, massa."
"No long yarns, my man!" protested the officer, as Quimp seated himself in the stern sheets as though he intended to tell a long story.
"Yes, massa; told you all about it in a bref. De wind done blow fresh from de norf-west for t'ree days; dat's what Massa Cap'n Stopfoot say," Quimp began.
"No matter what Captain Stopfoot says!" Christy interposed. "Tell me where the steamer is, if there is any steamer in the bay. We will stop the foot and the mouth of Captain Stopfoot when we come to him."
"Well, sar, if you don't want to har dis nigger's yarn, he'll shet up all to onct," replied Quimp, standing on his dignity.
"Go on, then; but make it short," added Christy, finding it would take less time to get what he wanted out of the negro by letting him have his own way. "Wind fresh from the north-west for three days."
"Yes, sar; and dat pile up de water so de tide rise six or eight inches higher," continued Quimp, picking up the clew given him. "High tide in one hour from now, and de Reindeer was gwine out den for shore. Dat's de whole story, massa, and not bery long."
"All right, Quimp. Now where is the Reindeer?"
"Ober de oder side ob long key, massa. Dar's more'n four fadoms ob water under dis boat now, and twelve feet 'tween de two keys," added the boatman, whose tongue was fully unlocked by this time.
The crew of the cutter were directed to give way, and the negro pointed out the channel which led inside the keys.