Captain Folkner of the Teaser was evidently somewhat timid, and he had heard of the arrival of the Bellevite. Just now the large ships-of-war which had been there were absent on their duty, though they were expected to return at any time. There was liable to be some unpleasantness at any time between Fort Pickens and Fort Barrancas; but everything was quiet just now.
Flint had come on board of the Teaser with Christy, but none of the boat's crew had attended them. The situation was very novel to the lieutenant, and he did not feel competent to arbitrate between the contending parties. Besides, he was not willing to believe that he could be entirely impartial, for he had a personal and patriotic interest in the issue of the quarrel.
The seamen, under the leadership of Lonley, who appeared to be an officer, were the more powerfulparty, and the more to be dreaded. He was disposed to decide against them, if he could get them out of the way by doing so. They were willing to leave the matter to him, and he began at last to see his way through it.
"The captain of a ship is the authority to be respected, Lonley," said he, when he had made up his mind what to do.
"We might as well bury ourselves in the sands as try to go through there," replied the leader of the mutiny, who seemed to be a very intelligent man, and Christy concluded from his language and manner that he was not a common sailor.
"That may be; but the captain is supreme on the deck of his own ship," argued Christy.
"We are not on the high seas, and the Teaser has not yet gone into commission. It was only this afternoon in Pensacola that Captain Folkner told his ship's company that he was going to burrow through the sand in Santa Rosa Sound. We all said we would not go with him; but a dozen of us came down with him when he told us that he had a way to float the steamer through, and he was sure it would work. We did not understand that we were to become mud-diggers. When we gothere, we were satisfied that his plan amounted to nothing, and would not work."
"I am satisfied that it will work," interposed Captain Folkner.
"The agreement in the articles was to run the blockade. If we got through the sound, it would take a week of constant drudgery, which we did not ship to do."
"Are you ready to do duty on board of the Teaser when she is in deep water, Lonley?" asked Christy.
"Every one of us; and every one of the party on shore!" protested the leader.
"Will that satisfy you, Captain Folkner?" continued Christy, appealing to him.
"It would if I had the steamer in deep water," replied the captain. "But how am I to get her into deep water if my crew will not work?"
"Run the blockade, according to the articles!" exclaimed Lonley.
"When are the rest of the ship's company to join you?" asked Christy of the leader of the mutineers.
"They are coming down in boats at midnight or later; and we shall join them then and wait till the ship is ready to take us on board. They willcome across from Pensacola to Navy Cove, and then walk till they come to the Teaser."
"All right," said the lieutenant. "I will land you at Navy Cove, and you can wait there till the rest of the crew come."
"I am perfectly satisfied with that arrangement," replied Lonley.
"But I am not," interposed the captain, angrily. "What can I do without any crew to help get the steamer through the sound?"
"I have men enough to take care of you and the Teaser, Captain Folkner; and the men in the boat will do everything that is required to be done on board of the Teaser."
"That's another thing," replied the captain, appeased by the implied promise.
"I can hardly blame your men because they are not willing to go through the sound with a steamer drawing ten feet of water when there is not more than six feet of water to float her," said Christy. "Besides, if you do not get to the other end of the sound before morning, you will be seen by some of the blockaders, and they could blow this steamer to pieces, and kill half your people in a few minutes."
"It may be dangerous, but so is running the blockade," added the captain.
"Going out in a dark night and spending a week in sight of the blockaders are two different things. But we need not discuss the matter any more. I will put your men on the point yonder, and then I will return and help you out of your present difficulty. Am I to take off the men in the engine department?" asked Christy, as he went to the side where the boat was.
"No; the engineers and firemen are all right, for they were not called upon to do any work out of the vessel."
Christy and Flint stepped into the boat, and the crew followed them. There were twelve of them, and the lieutenant thought they were all good seamen. He did not like to have them reserved for use in the Confederate Navy; but he could not help himself then, and he soon landed the party on the point. The situation had been explained to the crew of the boat, and they had avoided saying anything to commit themselves.
Though it involved a risk to do it, Christy had dressed in an ordinary suit of clothes for the occasion, and the party wore nothing by which theycould be identified as sailors of the navy. As soon as the boat had landed its passengers, it returned to the Teaser at the best speed the crew could produce.
"I had no idea that you had a plan like this in your head, Mr. Passford," said Flint, as soon as the boat was clear of Town Point.
"I did not know it myself, Flint. It has all grown out of the circumstances as we found them," replied Christy. "But I did intend, if I found the Teaser without a fighting crew on board of her, to capture her if the situation warranted such a step."
"But you came prepared for just this thing," suggested Flint.
"I came prepared for anything. I hoped we might be able to capture the Teaser, but I did not expect it."
"I suppose you expect to do it now."
"Yes, I do; and I ought to be broken if I don't do it. I am sorry to let all those men enter the rebel navy; and that is all that vexes me at the present moment."
"Perhaps they can be picked up to-morrow, or later to-night," suggested Flint. "From what Iheard, I think she was to have a fighting crew of about forty men. Of course they will try to join the steamer to-night or to-morrow; and why not let them do it?" chuckled Flint.
"We will attend to this affair first, but I like the idea."
They reached the Teaser in due time, and all hands went on board of her. Captain Folkner, with a couple of men he had contrived to retain, with two firemen, was at work on his apparatus to float a vessel drawing ten feet in six feet of water or less. Alongside he had a hundred or more of empty barrels which he was sinking under the sides by hauling them down with a line under the bottom of the vessel. He did the work partly with his windlass worked by steam, and he had lifted the bow of the Teaser at least three feet out of water.
Captain Folkner expatiated with enthusiasm on his plan, and explained the details to the lieutenant. Christy saw that he had considerable mechanical genius, but he certainly lacked a balance-wheel. The officer had set him down as a timid man, but this conversation assured him that the captain was a brave man. He was carried away with his idea,though it was plain that he had not examined the question in all its bearings.
"When I have lifted the steamer four feet, she can go through the sound, for I have taken a boat through that drew six feet. With your men to help me, I shall get the casks down by midnight, and then all we have to do is to go ahead," continued the enthusiast.
"Precisely so; and the Teaser is a screw steamer," added Christy.
"Of course she is; you have known her for two months, Gilder."
"When she has been lifted up four feet, she is to go ahead," repeated Christy, in the tone of a musing man.
"That is what I said; she is to go ahead."
"But what is to drive her ahead? Is she expected to go of herself?"
"Go of herself? Of course not. She is to be driven ahead by her engine as she always is," replied Captain Folkner, suspending the work upon which he was engaged, and trying to see the face of the pilot through the darkness. "How do steamers generally go ahead?"
"If they are screw steamers, they are propelledby the pressure of the blades of the screw," answered Christy.
"And that is just the way the Teaser will be propelled through the sound," replied Captain Folkner. "This steamer is to be a privateer, and I own her. She has cost me about all the money I have in the world, and I don't want to lose her before I get to sea. If I can get into blue water with her, I am not at all concerned but that she will run away from anything afloat."
"How many knots can she do in a smooth sea?"
"Eighteen, and perhaps more."
"Then she is not fast enough for that blockader outside. I saw her at Mobile when she was a big steam-yacht, and they said she had done twenty-two knots more than once."
"I don't believe a word of it; and I am willing to take my chances to run away from her in the Teaser, if I can get out."
"If she is good for eighteen knots, it will not take her more than about two hours to run through the sound," added Christy, very much amused at the talk of the captain and owner.
"I don't expect her to go at full speed in that shallow water," said the enthusiast.
"Do you expect her to go at all when she is hoisted four feet out of water?" asked Christy, hardly able to keep from laughing.
Captain Folkner was silent for a moment, during which Christy thought he must have obtained a new idea, for it looked as though he had not thought of the working of the screw after all his flotation schemes had been successful.
"I reckon the propeller will have hold enough on the water to make her go right along, Gilder. I don't reckon you need make any trouble about that," added the man of mechanical ability, rather sheepishly.
Christy had brought his boat's crew on deck, and directed Flint how to post them. He thought he had paid proper respect to the talent of the enthusiast in listening to his theory, and that it was about time to bring the adventure to an issue.
"I shall not make any trouble about the screw, Captain Folkner, for I don't think we shall have any difficulty about it. But I believe we had better not hoist it any higher out of water," added Christy. "I mean that I think we had better go out of the bay by the main channel."
illustration of quoted scene"He placed one of his men on each side of the Captain."—Page 233.
"That means to run the blockade?" said the captain.
"That's the idea."
"Gilder, I want you to understand that I command this steamer," continued Captain Folkner, angrily.
"Right, with a little correction: You did command her, and I command her now," replied Christy, as he placed one of his men on each side of the captain.
"I reckon I don't quite understand you, Gilder," said Captain Folkner, very nervously. "I thought I was still in command of the Teaser."
"I shall not blame you for thinking so; but you are utterly mistaken all the same," added Christy.
"Did you come here to take the command out of my hands? Is that the reason why you sent all my men to Town Point?" demanded the captain, getting an idea of the situation.
"If you had been a magician, you could not have come any nearer to the truth."
"Who are you? I thought you were Gilder."
"I am not Gilder, though I found it convenient to answer to that name. It is reported that the Teaser is a very fast steamer, and I wanted her."
"Do you mean to say that you are a pirate?" asked Captain Folkner, stepping back as if to emphasizehis disgust at such a person. "I have told you that the Teaser is a privateer, and it seems that you want her more than I do; but I don't believe it."
"Privateers and pirates are about the same in this age of the world. I am neither a pirate nor a privateer. Permit me to introduce myself more precisely than I have thought it wise to do before. I am Lieutenant Passford, of the United States steamer Bellevite; and I take possession of the Teaser as a lawful prize. I think we need not discuss the matter any longer, especially as the tide is high enough by this time to run out of the bay. Disarm him."
"Say, what sort of a joke is this?" demanded the captain.
"If you are good-natured enough to regard it as a joke, I have not the least objection," replied Christy. "But I shall be under the painful necessity of confining you in your stateroom for the present, and I hope you will make yourself as happy as possible, Captain Folkner."
The lieutenant directed Flint to have the prisoner conveyed to his stateroom, and to have a man stationed at the door to see that he did not escape,or do any mischief. The sentinel was to keep his eye on him all the time, and not allow the room to be closed for a moment. The most reliable man of the party was selected for this duty, for the captain, in a fit of desperation over the loss of his vessel, which was his fortune, might attempt some reckless act.
Accompanied by six men, Christy visited the engine-room, where nearly all the hands remaining on board were employed. If there was to be any trouble at all in completing the capture, it would be in this department. Everything was in working order, and an engineer was on duty, for the engine had been used in dragging the casks under the bottom of the vessel.
Beeks was directed to arrest the men on duty, and the engine was handed over to Sampson, who had been brought for such a position if the expedition needed him in that capacity. But there was only an assistant engineer and several firemen on duty, and these were disposed of without any delay. They were all conducted to the wardroom, where they were disarmed and a guard placed over them. A couple of sailors were detailed to serve as firemen, and the work of taking possession was completed.
For the first time the lieutenant had an opportunity to examine the prize, as she would be if he succeeded in getting her out of the bay. She was certainly a fine little steamer, and, with the heavy gun mounted on a pivot, she would have been capable of doing a great deal of mischief among the unprotected merchant ships of the nation.
When he visited the cabin, he found two colored men there, one of whom appeared to be a very intelligent fellow. He was very polite to the lieutenant, and it was evident that he had no personal interest in the success of the Teaser in the business for which she had been fitted out. He was the cabin steward, and he had heard everything that had been said in regard to the vessel since he came on board of her.
"What is your name, my man?" asked Christy, addressing the steward.
"My name is Davis Talbot; but no one ever calls me anything but Dave," replied the man, with a cheerful smile, as though he was not at all disconcerted by the change which had come about in the ownership of the Teaser.
"How long have you been on board of thissteamer, Dave?" asked the officer, much pleased with the intelligent face of the steward.
"About two months, sir."
"Where did this steamer come from?"
"Captain Folkner bought her somewhere in the West Indies, and brought her here before the blockade was fairly established."
"Then she is an English-built steamer?"
"I suppose she is, sir; but I don't know anything about it."
"Then she has been here a long while. What has Captain Folkner been doing all this time?" asked Christy curiously.
"Inventing, sir," replied Dave, chuckling.
"I see; he has that on the brain."
"The government threatened to take his vessel if he did not fit her out and take her to sea. Then he hurried up, and got a crew ready; but they had a quarrel last night, and most of the men would not come on board."
"Yes; I know all about that," added Christy, as he looked at his watch by the light of the shaded lamp in the cabin. "I suppose you insist upon serving the Confederacy, Dave?"
"I don't insist on anything, sir; I go wherethe ship takes me, and I don't mean to quarrel with anybody."
"In other words, will it be necessary to put you under guard?" asked Christy.
"I don't think it would do me any good, sir," replied Dave, laughing.
"Which side do you belong on?" demanded the officer, rather impatiently.
"I belong on Dave's side, sir."
"Which is Dave's side?"
"The side of freedom," replied the steward, with some embarrassment. "I don't know you, sir; you don't wear the uniform of a Yankee or a rebel, and the darkey gets crushed between the upper and the nether millstone."
"Then to make the matter plainer to you, I am the third lieutenant of the United States steamer Bellevite, and I have captured this vessel as an officer of the United States Navy," replied Christy.
"That's all I want to know: the darkey knows where to go, when it is safe to go there," replied Dave.
"Then if it is safe for you to go to the pilot-house, you may come with me," added the lieutenant, as he led the way to the deck.
Beeks, with the men who had not been assigned to other duty, was cutting away the ropes that held the casks in place, and had already turned adrift all the raft of them alongside. All the rubbish the nautical inventor had collected to carry out his famous scheme of floating the vessel through the sound was cleared from the deck, and cut loose from the side.
"I think everything is clear, sir," reported Beeks, as Christy appeared on deck with Dave.
"Stand by to get up the anchor, then," added the lieutenant.
"No anchor down, sir," interposed Dave. "She is made fast to the buoy."
"So much the better. I suppose Captain Folkner did not trouble himself about the forts, Dave, did he?" Christy inquired.
"Yes, sir, he did; Captain Folkner never slept a wink when he did not have Fort Pickens on his stomach for a nightmare," replied Dave, with a chuckle.
"But Fort Pickens is all of four miles from the entrance to the channel of the sound."
"He was in mortal terror of the guns, all the same."
"How was it in regard to Fort Barrancas and Fort McRae?"
"Of course they would not fire on his vessel; if he went out in a fog or dark night, he was to burn a blue light; and I reckon you can do the same thing, though I don't believe it could be seen to-night from the forts," replied Dave, who appeared to be willing to make a good use of his knowledge.
"Then I don't think we shall have much trouble in getting out of the bay," added Christy, as he went to the pilot-house, attended by Dave.
Since the lieutenant had declared as unequivocally as he desired who and what he was, the steward did all he could to assist his new master. He had served Captain Folkner for two months, for he said the commander had lived on board all this time, and he had heard everything that passed between him and his officers and others with whom he had relations. He was about as well informed as though he had been an officer of the vessel in whom the captain confided all his affairs. He did not wait to have his knowledge dragged out of him, but he volunteered such information as he saw that the occasion required.
He was a mulatto, and had plenty of good blood in his veins, though it was corrupted with that of the hated race. He appeared to be about forty years of age, and his knowledge of the affairs of the locality could hardly have been better if he had been a white man, with a quick perception, a reasoning intellect, and a retentive memory. It was the rule with Union officers, soldiers, and sailors to trust the negroes, making proper allowance for their general ignorance and stupidity, and for particular circumstances. But some of them, even many of them, were brighter than might be expected from their situation and antecedents.
The binnacle from the whaleboat had been brought into the pilot-house, and Christy compared it with the compass in the Teaser's apparatus, after Dave had lighted it. There was no disagreement, and as the tide was still coming in, the head of the steamer was pointed to the westward, which would be her first course down the bay.
The lieutenant felt that everything depended upon the working of the steamer, and he was a total stranger to her peculiarities, if she had any, as most vessels have. Taking Beeks with him, he began at the stem and followed the rail entirelyaround the steamer, feeling with a boat-hook along the sides. Sundry ropes, fenders, and pieces of lumber were dislodged, and everything put in order about the main deck. Then he visited the engine-room, and learned from Sampson that he had a full head of steam. This careful inspection completed, he ordered the quartermaster to cast off the fast at the buoy.
Taking his place in the pilot-house with Beeks, he rang the bell to go ahead. The Teaser started on quite a different voyage from what she had been intended for. Christy had studied up his courses and distances, and had imprinted the chart of the lower part of the bay on his brain. For the first part of the run, there was no obstacle, and no difficulty in regard to the course.
The fog and the darkness were so dense that not a thing could be seen in any direction; but he rang for full speed as soon as the Teaser was under way. A leadsman had been stationed on each side of the forecastle, though there was no present occasion for their services. Christy thought everything was going extremely well, and he was reasonably confident that he should succeed in his plan.
"Steamer, ahoy!" shouted a voice, coming out of the dense fog.
"That must be the patrol boat," said Dave, in a low tone.
Christy could not make any reply that would be satisfactory to the patrol, and he decided not to answer the hail. He had rather expected to be challenged in this way.
The dip of the oars of the guard-boat could be distinctly heard in the pilot-house, and it was probable that the men in it could see the Teaser. But Christy was not much concerned about the situation, and he was not much disposed to give any attention to the boat.
"Stop her, or we will fire into you!" yelled the officer in charge of the guard-boat.
Even this menace did not induce the lieutenant to ring his bell to stop the engine. The boat was doubtless full of men, and as he could not give straight answers to all the questions that might be put to him, it might provoke a fight to attempt to do so, and he decided not to incur the risk. His prisoners might make trouble if he reduced the guard in charge of them, as he would be obliged to do to beat off the attack of the boat.
"What is this boat here for, Dave?" askedChristy, as he peered through the gloom to obtain a glance at the craft.
"To keep the people at Fort Pickens from sending out any armed force," replied the intelligent contraband.
"Do they think a boat full of men could do that?"
"No, sir; but they could give the forts on the other side warning."
The sounds from the boat had come from the starboard bow of the steamer, and it looked as though the guard-boat had intercepted her by accident, since it was impossible that they could have seen the Teaser in the fog and gloom. As the steamer dashed ahead at full speed, the sound of the oars came from a point on the beam. But the boat seemed to be wasting her time, for nothing had been done since the threat to fire into the steamer.
"If a vessel is going to run out she has to satisfy this boat that she is all right," said Dave.
But he had hardly spoken before a volley of musket-balls passed over the Teaser; and perhaps the officer in the boat intended that they should pass over her. At any rate no harm was done bythem. Then a rocket darted from the boat up into the air, which could be dimly seen from the pilot-house.
"What steamer is that?" shouted a hoarse voice out of the gloom.
"The Teaser!" yelled Christy, with all the voice he could command.
The boat did not fire again; and if it had done so the steamer was out of its reach. But a minute later the boom of a great gun came across the bay. Fort Barrancas had evidently opened fire in response to the rocket, which had no doubt been sent up as a signal to notify the garrison that a vessel was going out or coming in, and that her movements were not regular. The first shot was followed by others, and a shot dropped into the water near the Teaser.
"Let the leadsmen sound, Beeks," said Christy. The order was repeated, and the reports were made known in the pilot-house. Sampson seemed to be testing the capacity of the engine, for he was doing his best in the matter of speed; but the Teaser behaved under the strain to which he subjected her as though she had been very strongly built.
"By the mark eight," chimed the leadsman on the port side.
That was water enough to float a seventy-four, and there was no let-up in the speed. In fact, it would not have been convenient to reduce the speed while the guard-boat could be at no great distance from the flying steamer. This was the report for the next mile at least, and Christy felt that the enemy was at a safe distance from him.
"And a half six!" shouted the port leadsman, with energy, as though he understood the effect his report would produce.
Christy rang to slow her down. The depth of water was the only directory he had in addition to the distance run, which was very indefinite without a knowledge of the speed of the vessel.
"By the mark six!" shouted the port leadsman, who was on the side nearest to the island of Santa Rosa.
This did not induce the pilot to take any further action, and the Teaser continued on her course at less than half speed. Christy looked at his watch by the light of the binnacle lamps. It was half-past eleven, and the Teaser appeared, aswell as he could calculate it, with the necessary allowances, to have made at least sixteen knots on the run from the sound channel.
"And a quarter five!" cried the leadsman of the land side.
Christy spoke to Sampson through the tube, and the result was a further reduction in the speed of the steamer, Beeks, who was at one side of the wheel while the lieutenant was at the other, seemed to be a little nervous as the depth diminished; and if he had spoken his thought, he would have expressed his surprise that his superior officer was running the steamer so near the shore, with the apparent intention of going still nearer.
"Mark under water three!" yelled the leadsman on the port side, while the one on the starboard gave "By the mark four."
"Shoaling fast," said Beeks.
"Yes; but as expected," replied Christy.
"Steamer, ahoy!" shouted a voice on the port side.
"On shore!" replied Christy promptly.
"What steamer is that?" demanded the shore speaker.
"The Teaser, prize to the United States ship Bellevite," answered the lieutenant.
"Boga-hobble-good!" continued the man on shore.
"Rabble-gabble-weed!" responded Christy.
"There's a Chinaman on shore there; but I am glad you speak his language," said Beeks, trying to repress his laughter.
"You are all right as to position!" shouted the islander.
"The guard-boat must be about a mile astern of me," added Christy.
"We will take care of that," replied the shore speaker.
Christy rang to stop the engine, which was done, though the steamer continued to go ahead under the impetus of her former headway. The leadsman on the port side reported two fathoms a little later, and then there was a ring to back her, for there could not be more than two foot of water under the keel. At this moment the peal of a twelve-pounder came from the shore, and a little later the bursting of a shell was heard astern of the Teaser.
Beeks was very much perplexed by the strangespeech which had passed between the lieutenant and the shore, and now by the discharge of the gun on the island; but he was a well-disciplined quartermaster, and he asked no questions.
"I don't think that boat will come any farther this way," said Christy, as a second report from the gun reached his ears.
"Then I suppose the shots we hear are directed at the boat," added Beeks.
"They can hardly be directed at anything out in that fog and darkness; but I don't think the guard will be willing to take the risk of a chance shell bursting near them," added Christy.
"On board the Teaser!" shouted a voice quite near the bow of the steamer.
"In the boat!" replied Christy. "Sound that bell slowly, Beeks, to let him know where we are."
The ripple of oars was presently heard, and a boat came out of the gloom, rowed by two soldiers, with an officer in the stern. It came up to the forward gangway, and the person in the stern climbed on board. The boat did not wait for him, but pulled directly back to the island.
"I am glad to see you, Captain Westover," said Christy, as the officer came into the pilot-house.
"And I am equally glad to see you, lieutenant," replied the captain. "You seem to have been successful in your undertaking?"
"Successful so far, and I think the worst of it is over now."
As soon as Beeks heard the name of Captain Westover, he understood all that had been dark before. Even the Chinese lingo must have been agreed upon. The army and the navy officer had been very busy in talking over something when they came in the boat from the Bellevite, and after they landed on the island. What they had been talking about was plain enough now.
Captain Westover had not much confidence in the expectations of the young naval officer when he expressed a hope that he might capture the Teaser; but he had promised to render all the assistance in his power. He had agreed to be on the shore of the island if the Teaser presented herself, and thus assure the lieutenant of his position on the bay. He had done more than this, for he had brought out a couple of guns and a section of artillerists to beat off the guard-boat if it interfered with the operations of the navy.
Christy had taken a course from the entrance ofthe sound, half way between the island and Town Point, west-southwest. He knew that the distance was about four miles; but he could not know, except by sounding, when he came to the island, and he had bargained with the army officer to be on the lookout for him. Captain Westover had heard the noise of the Teaser, and had hailed her, thus assuring the lieutenant that his calculation had been correct, and that he was in the vicinity of Fort Pickens.
"I had no idea that you would accomplish anything, lieutenant," said Captain Westover.
"I found everything laid out just as I should have wished it to be," replied Christy. "We had plenty of information that the steamer would run out the first favorable night; and nothing could have been more favorable for blockade running than this fog and darkness."
"But nothing has been seen of this steamer from the fort."
"Where was she fitted out, Dave?" asked Christy, turning to the steward.
"Up by Emanuel Point, sir, about a mile above the town," replied Dave.
"Then she has not shown herself in the lower bay."
The conversation was interrupted by the roll of a drum on the shore.
"There you are, lieutenant," said the captain with a smile. "When you are ready to go ahead, don't wait on my account, for I will go on board of the ship."
"But what is the drum for?" asked the lieutenant, who was in the dark in his turn.
"I am not much of a sailor, lieutenant, but I have sent a drummer to follow the shore to the west end of the island, and you will know by the racket he makes where the island is, and how far off it is," replied the army officer.
"I am much obliged to you, Captain Westover; that will be a safe guide for me," said Christy, as he rang to go ahead.
He gave out the course west by north, and he thought he should be able to keep within hail of the island, though, as he could see nothing, it would be difficult to tell when he reached the northwest corner of it. If he continued on this course too long, he was likely to scrape acquaintance with Fort McRae, for there would be nothing in the soundings to indicate the approach to this dangerous neighbor.
Nothing more was heard of the guard-boat, though the section of artillery continued to discharge shells into the fog for a short time. On the other side of the bay Fort Barrancas kept up its fire at long intervals, and Fort Pickens could not reply without the danger of putting a shot into the Teaser after her recent reformation. The steamer kept on her course at half speed; but in ten minutes the sound of the drum fell astern of her, when the drummer could go no farther.
"Heave over the wheel, Beeks," said Christy.
Then he rang the bell to go ahead at full speed.
With the drum still beating on the shore, the Teaser rounded the northwestern point of the island, when the wheel was heaved over. Christy was entirely confident in regard to the navigation, for he had steered the Bellevite through the same channel when on an excursion a year before. But he had daylight and sunshine at that time instead of fog and gloom as on the present occasion.
"Buoy on the starboard, sir!" reported the leadsman on that side.
"Buoy on the port hand!" cried the man on the other side, a minute later.
"We are all right," added the lieutenant. "We are between the middle ground and the island. The buoy on the port is the southwest point of the island."
The Bellevite was not the only man-of-war that lay off Pensacola, for the Brooklyn and other vesselswere there to assist in the defence of Fort Pickens, which the enemy were determined to capture if possible. The government had done everything within its means to "hold the fort," though an army of about ten thousand men had been gathered in the vicinity to reduce it. The dry-dock which had floated near Warrenton, and which the Confederates intended to sink in the channel, had been burned, and a force of Unionists, including the Zouaves, called "The Pet Lambs," had been quartered on the island of Santa Rosa. It had looked for several days as though the enemy were preparing for a movement in retaliation for the destruction of the dry-dock, which was a bad set-back for them.
The getting to sea of the Teaser had no connection with this movement, it appeared afterwards, and if Lieutenant Passford's enterprise had been carried out only an hour or two later, he would have found the situation quite different. He had sent the most of Captain Folkner's force on board ashore, and had it all his own way afterwards. He was sorry to leave these men, and the rest of the ship's company of the Teaser, to assist in fighting the battles of the Confederacy, and he wasfilled with the hope that they might yet be captured.
As soon as the Teaser was well to the southward of the island, Christy gave two short and a long blast on the steam whistle, which was the signal he had agreed to make when he approached the Bellevite, though Captain Breaker had laughed at him when he suggested that he might return in the prize. The same signal was made in reply, and repeated several times to aid him in finding the ship. The water was comparatively smooth, and the prize came alongside the Bellevite, where it was made fast.
The lieutenant's first duty was to report to the captain of the Bellevite, and taking Dave with him, he hastened on board. He found Captain Breaker on deck, for there was a feeling in the fleet and in the fort that some important event was about to transpire in the vicinity.
"I am glad to see you, Mr. Passford," said he; and possibly it occurred to him that he had sent the young man on a difficult mission, practically within the enemy's lines. "You have brought the prize with you, I see; and I was before informed of the fact that you had her by the signal whistles."
"Yes, sir; the Teaser is alongside. She is not a vessel of the Confederate Navy, but was fitted out on private account. She is a privateer," replied Christy.
"So much the better that you have captured her," added the captain. "Did you have a severe fight, Mr. Passford?"
"We had no fight at all, sir. I was instructed to avoid a fight if possible, and I have done so. Not a blow has been struck or a shot fired, sir."
"I will hear your report in detail later, Mr. Passford, when the prize is in a better situation than now. Have you any prisoners?" asked Captain Breaker.
"Only the captain and the engineers, sir. This man with me is Dave, and he was a steward on board of the Teaser. He has given me valuable information, and I have not regarded him as a prisoner," replied the lieutenant.
"I understand," said the commander, with a smile, as he saw the yellow hue of the steward's face. "We will not regard him as a prisoner. But you may send the others on board."
Captain Folkner was in no better humor than before, and a berth in the steerage was assigned tohim. The other prisoners were sent on board, and Captain Breaker had ordered Christy to anchor the prize near the Bellevite.
"I don't feel as though I had quite finished my work," said Christy, as he walked towards the gangway to obey the order.
"What more is there to do?" asked the commander.
"It would take me a little time to tell the story of my trip into the bay, sir, and I think you would not understand what more is to be done until you have heard it," replied Christy.
"Then I will hear you before you anchor the Teaser," said the captain, leading the way to his cabin.
The lieutenant narrated the events of his trip across Santa Rosa Island. Captain Breaker was not a little amused at his scheme to get rid of the portion of the crew of the privateer before he captured her.
"I never suspected that you were the possessor of so much audacity, Christy," said he, when the lieutenant had put him in possession of all the facts.
"I did not know that I had more than my fairshare, sir, and I don't know what I have done that is at all audacious," replied Christy, very meekly.
"It is a very dark and foggy night, but I don't believe that I have another officer who would have cheek enough to pretend to be a pilot in Pensacola Bay, and to be in possession of the guard-boat at the same time."
"Captain Folkner put the idea into my head, and I think I should have been an idiot not to make use of it, considering the nature of my mission on board of the Teaser."
"It is a wonder that no one knew you were not Gilder."
"The men in the guard-boat did not expose me, and admitted by their silence that I was the person I claimed to be," replied Christy, with a twinkle of the eyes.
"Your scheme would have failed ninety-nine times out of a hundred."
"If it had failed, I had force enough to clean out the enemy on board, so that I ran no risk; but I was ordered to avoid a fight, and I did so," argued Christy.
"You were exceedingly fortunate; and the nexttime you try such a trick, it may lead you into a rebel prison."
"It was not my fault that the ship's company of the Teaser were at issue among themselves, and I should have been an imbecile to fail to profit by it."
"I approve all you have done, Mr. Passford."
"Thank you, sir. Though I was of Captain Folkner's opinion that the sound was the best way out of the bay in the first place, I abandoned that view before I started on the expedition. I was sorry that I could not indorse Captain Folkner's opinion, and that I was obliged to take sides with his men," said Christy, chuckling.
"I understand your position perfectly. Now, what do you mean by finishing your work, Mr. Passford?" asked Captain Breaker, curiously. "We have the Teaser, and we ought to be satisfied with your brilliant success."
"I am not quite satisfied, sir."
"You ought to be."
"We put twelve men ashore at Town Point rather than have a fight with them; and I have the feeling that we have a mortgage on those men, to say nothing of thirty more at Pensacola whowere to join the Teaser. I told them they could get on board of their steamer from the island. I shall be sorry to disappoint them, for I suppose the whole forty or more are counting on a handsome allowance of prize money to be made for them by the Teaser. I should be sorry to disappoint them," continued Christy, chuckling all the time.
"Precisely so! I suppose you would be greatly grieved to blast their hopes, and you propose to take them on board of the steamer."
"That is the idea, sir. Taking a more patriotic view of the question, it would be a great pity to allow forty good sailors to waste their energies in the service of the Confederacy."
"Undoubtedly it would," said Captain Breaker, his brow knitting under his earnest thought. "What do you propose to do? Explain your plan fully, Mr. Passford."
"The principal of the malcontents on board of the Teaser was a man by the name of Lonley," Christy explained. "We left them at the point where the rest of the Teaser's crew were to join them. They are all anxious to get to sea in the Teaser, and I have no doubt they will come down to-night."
"I should think they would," the captain assented. "But they will expect to find the steamer in the sound, and not outside of the island. If the Teaser could get through the sound at all, she would not be where you intend to put her."
"I told Lonley to get upon the island, and be on the lookout for the Teaser; and as they have to come from Pensacola in a boat, it will be as easy for them to go to the island as to land at the point. Very likely they will get the Times to bring them off, or some other steamer," Christy argued.
"It is certainly very desirable to capture these men, for it will do so much to weaken the enemy; but I am afraid you are a little too audacious in some of your movements, Mr. Passford," replied Captain Breaker, with a softening smile.
"I beg you will not consider that I am asking for the command of the Teaser, Captain Breaker, if she is sent upon this duty," returned the lieutenant, somewhat set back at the prudence of the commander.
"I think I had better send Mr. Blowitt in command of the Teaser, and you shall go as his first officer," added the captain.
"I have no objection, even in my heart, to this arrangement," replied Christy.
"But I shall have to send the prize to New York, and I will appoint you prize-master," continued the captain, afraid that he was disappointing the ambitious young officer. "You have done exceedingly well, Christy, and I shall not fail to mention you favorably in my report; and you will write out yours as soon as possible."
Christy would not allow himself to think that he was unappreciated because an older officer was appointed to conduct the enterprise he suggested. He was ready to do his whole duty either as principal or subordinate. Mr. Blowitt was summoned from his stateroom, and forty men, including all who had taken part in the capture of the prize, were detailed to man the Teaser. The second lieutenant was one of the jolliest men on board, but he weighed nearly two hundred pounds, and he was not as active on this account in boat service as some others. He was an excellent officer, and had been in command of a steamer, though he had never before been in the navy.
At three o'clock in the morning the fasts of the Teaser were cast off, and she backed away fromthe Bellevite. She was to proceed to a point about six miles to the eastward, which was beyond the camp of the "Pet Lambs." Here she was to look out for the Teaser's crew.
She had not made half this distance when all hands heard rapid and continued firing on Santa Rosa Island.