Mrs. Passford was astounded at the news brought in by her son, and Miss Florry was terrified when informed that Major Pierson was not far from the mansion. But Paul Vapoor assured the latter that there was no danger, and Christy convinced his mother, who had a great deal of confidence in him, that he was fully equal to the occasion.
"But I do not see that you can beat off the assailants if they happen to get alongside of the Bellevite," suggested Mrs. Passford. "There are only four of you at the most."
"I hope for re-enforcements," replied Christy, as he rang a bell for a servant. "Beeks and Thayer, two of the quartermasters, live in the village; Mr. Watts, the chief steward, and three others of the old ship's company, live near here, and I think we can raise half a dozen more, making ten in all."
"I know where to find half a dozen coal-passers," added Paul.
"Then we shall do very well if we succeed in finding all these," added Christy, as the man-servant came to the door.
"Call up all the stablemen, and have two horses saddled as quick as possible," continued Christy to the man.
"What's that for, Christy?" asked Paul, who had succeeded in quieting the fears of Miss Florry.
He was not altogether inexperienced in this duty, for the young lady had been alarmed more than once on board of the steam yacht, and he was always more successful than any other person at these times.
"I can't stop to talk it all over, Paul; but if you will trust me, I will tell you as we go along what I think of doing," replied Christy.
"All right, midshipman; I belong to the engine department, and we always obey orders even if the ship goes down," added Paul, laughing.
"I am willing enough to tell you, but I have not the time to spin a long yarn, and perhaps answer objections, just now. We will mount thehorses as soon as they come to the door, and drum up the force we have mentioned."
Christy continued by giving Paul the names of those he was to visit and summon to the deck of the Bellevite, and then they were to meet at a given place. They mounted the two fleet horses which Christy had selected for the occasion, and dashed off to the town, a short distance from the river. The middy found the two quartermasters, who boarded in the same house. They were to go on board of the steamer at once; but Beeks was to bring a canoe from the boat-house to the point on the shore nearest to the Bellevite before he went on board. Both of these men were cautioned not to say anything about any person they might see, and the same instruction was given to all the others whose services were required.
Mr. Watts had not retired when Christy called at his house, and he was duly startled by the information the young officer gave him. He was as ready to take part in the enterprise as even the middy himself, and he was conducted to the place where Paul was to meet the leader. He had more calls to make than Christy, and they had to wait some time for him; but when he did come, hereported that he had found and sent on board all the firemen and coal-passers he had named, and a few more, besides the old sailors who had sailed for years in the yachts of the owner of the Bellevite.
The services of about a dozen had been procured, but half of these were to do duty in connection with the engine, and the party so hastily gathered were not strong enough to beat off the force of the enemy if they attempted to board the vessel.
"Now, Paul, I want you to understand the whole affair before we go any farther; and I wish you would go on board and take the command there," said the midshipman, as soon as the engineer had reported the result of his mission.
"But are you not going to be on board, Christy? I don't pretend to be a sailor or a gunner," said Paul.
"I shall go on board as soon as I can," replied Christy. "You will find a boat on the shore, near the steamer, and you will go on board in that; but have the boat sent back for me."
"All right, Christy; I will obey orders," added Paul, as he dismounted from his horse.
"Mr. Watts will take your horse, and ride withme down the shore. We can see the river all the way, for we shall not stick to the road when it leads us away from it. As soon as we discover the steamer that is to bring up the enemy, I will run my horse back to this point, and go on board."
"That is all easy enough," added Paul.
"Easy enough; but I can form no idea as to when the steamer will come. We may have to wait till morning for it, and perhaps the plan of the enemy will fail, and they will not come at all."
"If they don't come to-night, they never will; and there will be time enough for the home guard to scour the woods, and arrest all suspicious persons."
"I said what I did so that you need not be impatient if you have to wait a long time. You will have a watch kept from the moment you get on board, and no stranger is to be allowed to put a foot on the deck. Captain Carboneer may send some one of his party to see that everything is working right on board for his side of the affair."
"I will do that."
"See that the steam is well up, so that we can move off in good time if we find it necessary to get under way," continued Christy.
"I thought that was a settled point, and the ship was to be taken down the river in any case," said Paul.
"I supposed so myself in the beginning; but if it is not necessary to run away, I don't care to do so. Let Boxie see that the cable is buoyed and ready to run out at a moment's notice."
"All right, midshipman," replied Paul, as he hastened to the boat.
"Why does he call you midshipman?—that is a new name," said the chief steward.
"He brought me the news this evening that I had been appointed in the navy with that rank," replied Christy. "Now we will ride down the river. Do you happen to know what time it is, Mr. Watts?"
"I don't know, but I think it is about half-past eleven. I am not much of an equestrian," replied the steward, as he mounted the horse, "for I have been to sea all my life; but I think I can stay on if the beast don't run away with me."
"He is perfectly gentle, and he will not run away with you. We have no occasion to ride fast, and we may not have to go more than two or three miles."
They rode along the river for a few minutes, and then Christy reined in his steed and dismounted. He went to the water side, at a point where there was a bend, and carefully examined the surroundings, both above and below. He could not see the Bellevite in the darkness, for he had directed the engineer to allow no light to be shown on board of her. He had brought a little mathematics into his calculations, and he had pointed the big gun of the steamer so as to cover the craft with the walking-beam when she came in sight around this turn of the stream. By this plan she was sure to come into the range of the piece, no matter on which side of the channel she was moving.
"Now, Mr. Watts, I have a further duty for you to perform," said Christy, as he explained his plan to the steward. "We shall go down the river till we meet this steamer which conveys the enemy. As you are a sailor as well as a caterer, you have a nautical eye, and when you have seen this steamer you will know her again."
"Trust me for that. If it is the old tub I think it is, I know her already," answered the steward.
"What steamer do you think it is?"
"The old Vampire; and if you give her much of a rap, she will go to the bottom without the least difficulty."
"I don't care where she goes to, provided she don't put her passengers on board of the Bellevite. But I am taking you down the river with me in order that you may see her and know her."
"I shall know her as soon as I see her."
"As I said before, I shall run my horse back and get aboard of the Bellevite as soon as I am satisfied that the enemy are moving up the river," continued Christy.
"I am afraid I shall not be able to keep up with you if you run your horse," suggested the steward.
"I don't want you to keep up with me. You can come along as leisurely as you please, though you must not let the enemy get ahead of you."
"If the enemy are in the old Vampire, I could keep ahead of her on foot."
"You had better keep ahead of her on your horse about a quarter of a mile, or more; but your main duty will be here. I have brought with me half a dozen Roman candles, and I am going to fix them in the ground on this spot. Here is abunch of matches," said Christy, handing it to him.
The steward watched the midshipman while he planted the fireworks in the sand, and particularly marked the spot where they were located, for his companion told him he was to fire them, and he must be ready to do so without any delay.
"A boy could do that and like the fun of it," said Mr. Watts, laughing at the simple duty he was to perform.
"But it is the time that you are to do it, and the boy might be skylarking, or become impatient. This signal of the fireworks is to assure us at the right moment that the Vampire, if it should be she, is in the place where I expect her to be."
"I understand it perfectly."
"After I leave you, another steamer may come along, and get to this point ahead of the Vampire; and I should be very sorry to blow her out of the water, or sink her under it. You are to let us know by this signal that it is the Vampire, and no other, that is coming round the bend. You had better leave your horse a short distance from the river, for that gun will make every pane of glass within a mile of it shake when it is discharged."
"You may be sure that I will not be on his back at that time."
"Still further: I have planted six candles in the sand. You will light only one of them when the steamer begins to round the bend. That will be enough to inform us of the fact on board of the Bellevite."
"What are the others for?" asked the steward, taking a memorandum-book from his pocket as though he intended to write his instructions.
"It is not necessary to write it. We shall not be able to see what effect the shot produces after we fire. If the Vampire, always supposing she is the one, is not hurt, light a second candle—only one of them. If she should be disabled, you will light two candles."
Christy repeated what he had said, and was careful not to give the steward too much to remember. As soon as the matter was fully understood, the middy mounted his horse, and they proceeded on their mission down the river. After they had ridden about three miles, Mr. Watts insisted that the steamer was coming, and that it was the Vampire.
"I don't see anything," added Christy.
"Neither do I; but I know that the Vampire is coming up the river. If you listen, you will hear a hoarse puffing; and nothing but that old ark could make such a wheezy noise," replied the steward.
The middy heard it and was satisfied.
The Vampire, as the steward had no doubt it was, could not be less than a mile distant from the spot where the two horsemen had halted in the road. Christy was very familiar with this portion of the river, and after he had listened a few moments, he was satisfied from the direction of the sound he heard, that a mile was very nearly the exact distance. The approaching steamer had to come around a small bend, the arc of which made just a mile.
"I don't wish to blow up a dozen or twenty loyal citizens, and I must make sure in some way that Captain Carboneer's party is on board of that steamer," said Christy, as he led his horse into a field, and tied him to a tree, the steward following his example.
"That would be a very bad thing to do," added Mr. Watts, as they walked back to the river."But I don't see why it is necessary to blow up even any rebels on the present occasion. If that naval officer has forty men, as you think he has, a shot from that long gun would make terrible havoc among them if you succeeded in hitting her. You might kill half of them."
"If we do they, and not we, will be responsible for it," added Christy, somewhat appalled by the suggestion of his companion.
"If you have steam up on board of the Bellevite, why not get under way and run down the river," continued Mr. Watts.
"Perhaps I am a coward, but I am afraid to do that," replied the midshipman, thoughtfully.
"We all know that you are no coward, Christy, and if you don't send a shot into the Vampire, it will not be because you are afraid."
"Although I know the river as well as any pilot in this vicinity, I should not dare to run the Bellevite at full speed around such a bend as the one off this spot," Christy explained. "We have not above half a dozen trained sailors who know how to handle a cutlass on board, and all the others will be needed in working the steamer. The coal-passers would be good for nothing in repelling boarders."
"You think Captain Carboneer would board the steamer, do you?"
"I have no doubt he would. He is a naval officer, and he knows what he is about. There are several ways that he might get a hold on the Bellevite, and, if he got alongside of her, I am afraid it would be all up with us, and we should have a fair chance to see the inside of a Confederate prison. I am afraid to run the risk you suggest, Mr. Watts."
"You know best, and I don't mean to interfere; I only thought I would suggest the idea," added the steward, as they reached the bank of the river again.
After he had secured his horse, Christy had lighted a match and looked at his watch. It was a quarter of one, and still the puffing of the Vampire came from the same direction. It was plain enough to him that the old tub was not a racer. But she showed herself beyond the bend in about a quarter of an hour, indicating that her rate of speed, or rather of slowness, was not more than four statute miles an hour. But this was simply confirmation of what the steward had said on the subject. Yet she was coming, though it was toodark on the river to see her in detail. Though he strained his eyes to the utmost, Christy could not discover any men on her forward deck.
"I think you had better move back where you cannot be seen," said the midshipman, in a low tone, to his companion.
"Do you wish me to leave you alone, Christy?" asked the steward, surprised at the request.
"That is just what I wish, for I don't care to have any one on board of the Vampire see more than one person at this point," replied Christy, still gazing through the gloom at the approaching steamer.
"Excuse me, Christy; but what are you going to do? I prefer to be within supporting distance of you."
"I don't think I shall need any support. I am going to hail the Vampire, and ask if Captain Carboneer is on board," replied the midshipman, quietly.
"You are going to hail her!" exclaimed Mr. Watts. "Are you mad, Christy? I should say that you were."
"You shall be your own judge on that point."
"But the moment you use the name of CaptainCarboneer, they will take the alarm, and the next thing will be a bullet through your head."
"I will take the risk of that," answered Christy. "But you need not go far from the river on this dark night. There is a clump of bushes this side of the road, and you may get behind it."
The steward was not at all satisfied with the situation, but he complied with the request of the midshipman, and concealed himself behind the bushes. Christy took a position on the very verge of the water. The progress of the Vampire was made at the expense of a hideous noise, and she was a craft not at all adapted to the purpose of the conspirators. The middy watched her with the most intense interest as she approached the point where he was stationed. There was no light to be seen on board, and there appeared to be no men on her lower deck; but she had a cabin and other rooms, in which a force as large as that of the captain could be concealed.
"Steamer, ahoy!" shouted Christy, as soon as the Vampire was abreast of the spot he occupied.
No answer came to this hail, and the midshipman repeated it, louder than before.
"On shore!" replied a voice from the forward deck.
"Come up to the shore, and take me on board, will you?" continued Christy, disguising his voice to some extent the better to answer his purpose.
"Who is it?" demanded the person on board who acted as speaker; and Christy could see his form very distinctly, as he stood at an open gangway, and was the only person in sight on the lower deck.
"Brigster," replied Christy, chewing up the word he coined so that the man could not possibly make it out.
"Are you alone, Brewster?" demanded the speaker from the steamer.
This was a hard question, and with less information than he had obtained while in his cabin on board of the Florence, he would not have dared to reply to it. But he knew something of the plan of the conspirators, and he felt competent to answer.
"Three more back in the road," replied Christy, promptly; and he said three so as to give the idea that the force on board might be increased by this number. "Is Captain Carboneer on board of that steamer?" asked the midshipman, coming to his main point.
illustration of quoted scene"Steamer, Ahoy!" shouted Christy.—Page 107.
"He is, and we are all here but four," replied the speaker on the deck; and Christy was satisfied that the captain was the person by this time, for his language and his voice indicated that he was an educated man.
"We had no boat, and we could not get across the river to the creek," added Christy, to increase the confidence of the leader of the expedition. "But we saw a boat half at mile up the river, and we will come off there, if you say so."
"All right; come on board as soon as you can," added Captain Carboneer, as he walked away from the gangway.
Mindful of the peril of the situation, Christy walked leisurely back from the river, and soon joined Mr. Watts, who had been near enough to hear the conversation between the captain and the midshipman.
"That was done very handsomely, Christy," said the steward.
"There was no great difficulty in handling such a matter when one knew all about the plot as I did. The fault on the other side was that they did not examine the cabin of the Florence before they discussed their plans in the standing-room," repliedChristy, as he unfastened his horse, and sprang upon his back. "I have no time to spare now."
"There is nothing more to be done here, I believe," added Mr. Watts.
"Not a thing. You can ride back to the place where the Roman candles are planted, and you need not hurry about it, for the Vampire don't make more than four miles an hour. Now be particular to carry out my instructions to the letter, Mr. Watts; and you can see that a great deal depends upon which signal you may have occasion to give," added the midshipman.
"I understand what I am to do perfectly, and I will do my duty faithfully, you may be sure," replied the steward, as he mounted his horse.
Christy did not wait for him, but put his steed into a dead run on the moment. The road was only a cart-path, and it was so soft that the horse's hoofs made no noise to betray his movements to the enemy. He urged the willing beast to his utmost speed, for he was as much at home in the saddle as he was in the rigging of a ship. Before the Vampire had made another eighth of a mile, he had reached the place wherethe boat had been left for his use. What to do with his horse was a question, for the report of the big gun would set him crazy. But he knew that the men must be at the house, and he turned the animal loose, satisfied that he would go to the stable without any guidance.
Springing into the boat, he pulled to the Bellevite. At the accommodation steps, he was challenged by Sampson, who demanded like one in authority who and what he was, for the experience of the evening had greatly sharpened his wits.
"Who is it?" he demanded, in a tone which implied his intention to have a satisfactory answer. "Advance and give the word."
"Give the word!" exclaimed Christy. "I have no word to give."
"Then you can't come on board," replied Sampson dogmatically.
"I am Christy Passford, and I have not heard about any word," protested the midshipman.
"You can't pour molasses down my back again," replied Sampson, with a self-satisfied air.
"Don't be a fool, Sampson," added Christy, as he climbed upon the steps, the lower part of which had been hoisted up.
"I have been a fool once, and I don't mean to be again," replied the sentinel. "On deck, there! Bring a lantern out of the engine-room!"
"Don't bring a lantern in sight!" protested Christy impatiently.
"What's the row there, Sampson?" called Paul Vapoor, mounting the rail, and looking through the darkness at the steps, down which the vigilant sentinel had descended more than half way to the water.
"This fellow says he is Christy Passford; and I don't know whether it is Christy or not," replied Sampson.
"Is that you, Christy?" asked Paul.
"Of course it is," replied the middy. "We are wasting time."
"He hasn't the word," added the sentinel.
"Pass him, Sampson; he is all right," said the engineer; and Christy rushed up the steps, and leaped down upon the deck of the steamer.
"I gave out a word for all who had to leave the ship for any purpose during the evening," Paul explained.
"Never mind that now," interposed the midshipman in command. "Have you plenty of steam on?"
"Enough to give her fifteen knots," replied the engineer. "The cable is buoyed, and the long gun loaded. I believe everything is in perfect order to carry out your instructions, though we did not point the gun when we loaded it, for I thought you would prefer to do that yourself," the engineer reported.
"All right, Paul," added Christy. "The steamer, whose name is the Vampire, is on her way up the river, and I should say she would reach the bend in about half an hour. Mr. Watts is down there, and I have arranged certain signals with him."
The midshipman made a careful examination for himself of the ship.
Christy Passford, as soon as he found that all the other preparations for the decisive event had been made, turned his attention to the aiming of the long gun. He had practised with it somewhat before; and in the ambitious spirit of a boy, he had often amused himself by sighting over the top of the piece.
There was no sort of duty on board of a vessel, even a war steamer, in which he had not done his best to make himself a proficient. He had done duty as an engineer, and even as a fireman. He had taken his trick at the wheel as a quartermaster, and there was nothing he had not done, unless it was to command a vessel, and he had done that on a small scale. Doubtless he had no inconsiderable portion of a boy's vanity, and he believed that he could do anything that anybody else could do; or if he was satisfied that hecould not, he studied and practised till he did believe it.
Be it vanity or pride, Christy certainly believed in himself to a very liberal extent, though his character was fortunately leavened with a large lump of modesty. What he believed, he believed for himself, and acted upon it for himself; so that he was not inclined to boast of his accomplishments, and permitted others to find out what he was rather than made it known in words himself. But his father had found it necessary to restrain him to some extent, and he had not pushed him forward as rapidly as he might have done till the dread notes of war were heard on the land and the sea; and then he thought it would be wrong to hold him back.
When Christy sighted along the great gun, he believed he could hit the Vampire almost to a certainty; but he was not self-sufficient, and did not often believe that he knew a thing better than any other person, and he was not above taking the advice and instruction of others. It was dark, but Christy had fixed upon an object at the bend below, of which he intended to make use in firing the gun. It was a tree which painted its outlineon the horizon, and the decisive moment was to come when the Vampire was in range with this tree. He adjusted the gun just as he wanted it, and he was satisfied it would do just what he required of it.
He was not inclined to act on his own judgment and skill alone, and he called Boxie, the old sheet-anchorman, who had been the captain of a gun years before the midshipman was born, and pointed out the tree to him, asking him to sight along the gun. He explained his plan to the old salt, and then asked his opinion.
"You have aimed it too high, Mr. Passford," said the veteran, after he had squinted a long time along the piece.
"How is it otherwise?" asked Christy.
"It is all right, sir; but the shot will pass over the steamer. Drop the muzzle a trifle, and the shot will hull her, if you pull the lockstring at the right time."
"I shall see that the string is pulled at the right time; thank you, Boxie," added Christy, without depressing the gun as the old man suggested, for he had a theory of his own which he intended to carry out.
"But the ship may change her position a trifle," added Boxie.
"Of course, I mean to sight the gun again at the very moment we fire," replied Christy, looking at his watch, though he was obliged to go into the engine-room to see what time it was.
It was after two, and the Vampire had had time enough to make the bend. Christy wondered if Captain Carboneer was not looking for the four men he had promised to put on board of the old steamer; but some promises are better broken than kept, and the midshipman thought this was one of them, though he did not consider the present occasion as any excuse for lies, or the failure to keep his word, in the indefinite future.
The acting commander of the Bellevite—for such the middy was, and no one disputed his authority—began to be very nervous at the non-appearance of the enemy. He was afraid that some mishap had befallen the Vampire; either that she had gone to the bottom or got aground, though he had heard Captain Carboneer say that he was a pilot for this part of the river.
Christy had mounted the gun carriage ready to take his final aim, and he had been there at leasthalf an hour. He was watching the point where the Roman candles had been planted, and he had perfect confidence in the judgment and fidelity of Mr. Watts. Boxie was stationed at the lock-string, and held it in his hand, ready to speed the great shot on its errand of destruction; but he hoped the midshipman would depress the muzzle of the gun before he was called upon to pull the string. The other sailors who had served on board of the Bellevite, and had been drilled in handling the guns, were all in their stations, ready to load the piece again as quickly as possible after it had been discharged.
The silence had become intense and painful to all, for apart from the messenger of death and devastation which was about to be hurled at the Vampire, the Bellevite was in danger of being captured, and had a resolute enemy in front of her. The safety of the pet steamer depended upon the skill and judgment of a mere boy, though everybody on board had entire confidence in him. But the supreme moment came soon enough.
illustration of quoted scene"Christy sprang to the Gun."—Page 119.
A hardly perceptible light at the point he was so closely watching, first attracted the attention of Christy,—perhaps the lighting of the steward'smatch. An instant later, the fireworks blazed up, and lighted up the smooth surface of the sleeping river. No doubt the conspirators, who had chosen darkness because their deeds were evil, were astounded to see so much light suddenly thrown upon their enterprise.
Christy sprang to the gun, took a hasty sight, which satisfied him that the position of the gun had not changed a particle. As the dark outline of the Vampire passed in range of the selected tree, the midshipman sprang down from the gun-carriage.
"Fire!" shouted he, in a determined though not very loud tone.
It was a tremendous explosion, and the echoes rolled out from the hills as though they were armed with heavy guns, and were taking part in the conflict. Probably the rattling windows and the shaking frames of the houses roused all the sleepers within a mile of the ship.
The Bellevite was enveloped in the smoke from the discharge, and though Christy mounted the carriage again to obtain a better view, he could see nothing, for there was not wind enough to sweep it away at once. But the young commanderwatched, with almost as much interest and anxiety as before, the signal station he had established. But there was no occasion for desperate haste, for the gun was ready for use a second time if the first shot had failed to do its work. On the other hand, if the Vampire was disabled, she would stay where she was, or drift down the river with the turn of the tide, and it was just about "full sea" at this time.
The smoke was very aggravating to the midshipman, but he could not help himself. The light air swept it away in time, and, with his strained eyes, Christy discovered that two Roman candles were burning at the signal station.
"Did you hit her, Christy?" asked Paul Vapoor, leaping on the gun-carriage.
"I did," replied the midshipman, trying to control a certain feeling of exultation that took possession of his mind, for he did not consider that some of the party below might have been killed by the shot.
"I suppose you don't know anything about the effect of the shot yet?" added Paul.
"I only know that the Vampire is disabled."
"How do you know that, for I can't see anything?"
"Do you see those two blue lights burning at the side of the river?" asked Christy, as he pointed to the place.
"I see them, and they light up the river like a flash of lightning."
"They mean that the steamer is disabled; and for that reason she can't come any nearer than she is now."
"But those villains will make their way to the shore, and there are boats enough about here to enable them to get alongside, and lay us aboard. This is not the end of the affair," said the engineer, very seriously.
"Decidedly not; but I hope to have further information in the course of a few minutes," replied Christy.
"Bellevite, ahoy!" shouted some one on shore.
"That is Mr. Watts; send Sampson on shore after him, and we shall soon know the condition of affairs on board of the Vampire," added the midshipman. "I told the steward to ride up as fast as he could after he had satisfied himself that the steamer was disabled."
Sampson was gone but a few minutes, during which time Christy and Paul consulted in regardto the next step to be taken, and the question was promptly decided. The boat in which Sampson had gone to the shore returned not only with the steward, but also with Mrs. Passford and Miss Florry.
"What does this mean, mother?" asked Christy, astonished to see his mother and sister come on board.
"It means that we were alarmed, and could not stay in the house any longer," said Florry, taking it upon herself to answer.
"Your father has not come home yet, Christy, and I don't think he will come to-night, for he said he might not be able to return in the last train," added Mrs. Passford. "We came down to the shore with two of the men, and saw Mr. Watts when he arrived on the horse."
"And I shall take the responsibility of having advised the ladies to go on board of the Bellevite," interposed the steward.
"But you have not reported upon the condition of the enemy after the shot hit the Vampire, Mr. Watts," said Christy, impatiently.
"The shot struck her walking-beam, smashed it all to pieces, and cleaned it off completely. Ofcourse, that disabled her. Very likely some of the party on board of the Vampire are hurt, for the pieces did not all drop into the water."
"Now, in regard to the ladies?" suggested the midshipman.
"It is for you to decide, Mr. Passford, whether or not the enemy are likely to renew the attempt to capture the steamer. But it seemed to me, whether they do anything more or not, it is not quite safe for the ladies to be alone in the house with the servants, for these fellows will be prowling about here in either case."
"I would not stay in the house for all the world!" protested Miss Florry; and probably she thought that one of the prowlers would be Major Pierson.
"You are quite right, Mr. Watts; I was not as thoughtful as you were," replied Christy, who took in the situation with this suggestion. "What were they doing on board of the Vampire, Mr. Watts?"
"I did not wait to observe their movements, but the boat began to drift down the river."
"Beg pardon, Mr. Passford, but the ship is swinging around, and you will not be able to usethat gun as it points now," said Boxie, touching his hat to the young commander.
"Stand by your engine, Paul; we will get under way at once. Boxie, cast off the cable, and let it run out. You buoyed it, did you not?" said Christy, with a sudden renewal of energy, as he hastened to the pilot-house, where Beeks and Thayer had been sent before.
"I buoyed the cable, sir," replied the sheet-anchorman.
"Then cast it off. Sampson, open the cabin for the ladies," added Christy, as he disappeared in the pilot-house.
But the ladies preferred to go into the engine-room.
The signal lights at the bend of the river had burned out, and nothing could be seen in that direction. The turn of the tide had carried the wreck of the Vampire, if she was a wreck, down the stream, and beyond what the steward had reported, nothing was known in regard to her. Mr. Watts possessed himself of the single fact that her walking-beam had been carried away by the shot, and he had not waited to ascertain anything more. She was disabled, and he had been instructed to hasten up the river as soon as he had assured himself of this fact, and made the signal.
As the extent of the calamity to the enemy was unknown, the young commander began to have some painful doubts in regard to the immediate future. He had given the order to slip the cable, and he could hear the rattle of the chain as it passed out through the hawse-hole. It was evidentenough to him that he had to run the gantlet of the party on board of the Vampire in descending the river. As the shot had hit the walking-beam of the steamer, it was not probable that she was seriously injured in her hull, if at all.
Some of the enemy had doubtless been hurt by the fall of the pieces of machinery, but Christy could not believe that the conspirators were disabled, as the vessel was. The enemy might make an attempt to board the Bellevite as she passed down the river, for the accident must have rendered the party more desperate than before. In the face of a failure to capture the Bellevite at her anchorage, which had seemed so easy a matter to the leaders of the expedition, they would be ready to take any chances of success that came in their way.
"Cable all out, sir," reported Boxie.
Not without some heavy doubts, Christy rang the bell to go ahead. He had no one in the pilot-house with whom he could consult except the two quartermasters, for Paul was in charge of the engine, and he could no more leave it than the midshipman could leave the wheel. The propellerbegan to turn, and the ship gathered headway. To add to the responsibility of the young commander, his mother and sister had just come on board, and were now seated on the sofa in the engine-room.
The Bellevite was moving down the river, and the only thing Christy could do was to brace himself up to meet whatever might happen on the trip. He did this at once, and a moment later he rang to go ahead at full speed. He was approaching the bend of the river, and in a minute or two more he would be able to see the Vampire. But Captain Carboneer could no more see through the headland at the bend than he could, and he hoped that the leader of the enemy had not yet discovered that the Bellevite was under way.
The steamer increased her speed on the instant in response to the signal, and she rushed forward at a velocity that would be fatal to the Vampire if she happened to be in her path. But Christy was not disposed to make an issue with the enemy when they met; he intended to defend the Bellevite, if she was attacked, to the extent of his ability and small force.
"There she is!" exclaimed Beeks, as the Bellevitebegan to change her course to go around the bend.
Christy saw the Vampire as soon as the quartermaster, and he was glad to find that she had drifted to the left bank of the river as far as the depth of water would permit. As her engine was disabled, she had no means of propulsion with which she could help herself. It was not improbable that she was aground. She was not armed with a single heavy gun, or with any gun, and she was entirely harmless.
Christy breathed more freely when he realized the situation of the Vampire. Probably she was provided with one or more boats, and it was possible that Captain Carboneer might attempt to board the Bellevite as soon as he discovered her. The deck of the steam-yacht was not very far above the water, and if a boat full of desperate men could get alongside of the ship, it would not be a very difficult matter for them to mount the side.
"Port a little," said Christy to the quartermasters at the wheel. "Keep her well over to the west shore. Steady."
A moment later the steamer had her course for passing the Vampire, and Christy left the pilot-houseto obtain a better view of the situation and movements of the enemy. It was not so dark as to prevent him from seeing all that was going on upon her deck, for the Bellevite had to pass within pistol-shot of her to avoid getting aground on the edge of the channel.
Sampson and the rest of the old ship's company gathered near him, where they could see over the rail. The oiler, as Paul Vapoor had instructed him to do, had armed all these men with a cutlass and a revolver, and very likely some or all of them would have been glad to make use of them.
"They are loading into a boat on the port side of the Vampire, sir, and it looks as though they intended to do something without delay," said Sampson; and, as the steamer had come about since she was disabled, this was the side nearest to the shore.
"I see that they are hurrying some movement with all their might," replied the midshipman, watching with the most intense interest the operations of the enemy. "Sampson, get out half a dozen sixty-pound, solid shot, and put them on the plankshear, twenty feet apart. Take all hands with you, and hurry up."
The oiler asked no questions, though he might have been excused for wondering what the young commander intended to do with shot without powder. In a few minutes the shot were in place, as Christy had directed. The midshipman was watching with all his eyes the movement of the enemy, and, as the Bellevite approached the position of the wreck, the boat darted out from the other side of her. It began to be exciting for the middy, loaded with the responsibility of the safety of the steamer, though he seemed to be as cool as Boxie himself, who had seen some sea fights in his day.
Christy leaped on the rail of the ship, where he could obtain a full view of the situation. The boat was approaching with all the speed the oarsmen could command, and they seemed to be experienced hands. There could be no doubt of the intentions of the enemy, and the midshipman drew his heavy naval revolver from his pocket.
"Stand by to repel boarders!" he called to the seamen. "Pass up one of those shot, Sampson. Have a hand mount the rail, each with a shot, at the points where you have placed them."
"The ladies wish to know what is going on, Christy," said Paul, coming from the engine-room.
"I have no time to talk now," replied Christy impatiently, as he saw the approaching boat within ten feet of the side of the steamer. "Tell them to stay where they are, and not come on deck!"
The boat was not a large one, and it did not contain more than a dozen men; but the fine form of Captain Carboneer could be seen, as he stood up in the stern sheets. Those who were not pulling the oars began to discharge revolvers at the men now mounted on the rail; but the motion of the boat and the ship seemed to defeat their aim, and no one was hit so far as was known.
"When the boat comes alongside, let the man who is in the right place for it drop his shot into it. Be careful of it, and don't waste the iron," shouted Christy, when the decisive moment came.
"All ready, sir," responded the men along the rail.
"You are the man, Boxie! You are in the right place for the first shot," added the midshipman.
Boxie was next to him, and it would be Christy's turn next if the old man failed to do good work with his shot. The boat came alongside,and a bowman fastened his boathook at the side of the ship, and held it in place. At the same moment Boxie let drive his sixty-pound shot; but he ought to have waited an instant longer, for the missile dropped harmlessly into the river.
The bowman had not obtained a good hold, and he lost it, so that the boat began to drift astern. Captain Carboneer shouted his orders, and the man got a new hold, and this time it was at the painter of the boat in which Sampson had brought off Mr. Watts and the ladies. It had been forgotten in the excitement of the moment, but the rope afforded a good hold to several men who had grasped it.
At this thrilling moment, a man wearing a frock-coat discharged a revolver at Christy, who was standing on the rail above him, and then, seizing the painter in the hands of the men, he climbed briskly to the accommodation steps, which had been hoisted up, but not taken on board.
Christy was in the most dangerous position on board, for he seemed to be the target for all who could use their revolvers. But the young commander was not asleep, though he had given no order for the last minute or two. The boat wasdirectly under him, and he had put his pistol in his hip-pocket, in order to take up the solid shot at his feet. It was heavy, but he lifted it over his head without any difficulty, and launched it into the boat with all the force he could give to it.
"On deck, there! Let go that painter!" shouted Christy, as he pitched his missile from his hands.
He was in a position so favorable for the operation that he could not well miss his aim, and the shot crashed through the bottom of the boat, carrying down one of the enemy with it. It did not make a round hole in the bottom of the boat, it was afterwards ascertained, as it might if it had been fired from one of the broadside guns, but it tore off the planking, and made a hole as big as the head of a flour-barrel.
"Lay hold of that man on the accommodation ladder!" shouted Christy, without waiting to observe the effect of his shot, for the man who had succeeded in mounting the side was armed with a dangerous weapon, which he was likely to use as soon as he found the opportunity.
The men forward of the point where the boat had come alongside had been ordered aft, and acouple of them dragged the venturesome officer, as his frock-coat indicated that he was, to the deck. Christy was almost sure this man was Haslett, who had certainly set a bold example to his companions in the boat. He was quickly secured, and by no gentle hands. His hands were tied behind him, and he was made fast to the rail, where he was likely to be harmless during the rest of the trip.
It was no easy matter for a boat to make fast to a steamer going ten knots an hour at least, and if the painter of the boat had not been carelessly left where it could be of service to the assailants, the affair would have ended with Boxie's unsuccessful cast of the shot. But as soon as the painter was let go, an order which Sampson hastened to execute, the enemy's hold upon the ship was lost, though they were using boathooks and other implements to make sure of their grasp. The boat was left behind by the ship, though not till the hole had been stove in her bottom.
"Beg pardon, Mr. Passford, for missing my heave with the shot," said Boxie, on the deck; and the veteran's heart seemed to be almost broken by his failure.
"You are very excusable, Boxie; one can't expect to hit every time, and you did very well," replied Christy, who had suddenly passed from painful doubt and uncertainty to exultation and exaltation at the victory achieved. "We are all right now."
"But the enemy are not," added Sampson, who had mounted the rail after he had secured the prisoner. "They are all afloat."
"They will get ashore in some way, or back to the Vampire," replied Christy, and he descended to the deck, and hastened to the engine-room.