by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER VIII
IMPORTANT INFORMATION, IF TRUE
"Good evening, Mr. Lillyworth," said Captain Passford, when he reachedthe bridge.
"Good evening, Captain Passford," replied the second lieutenant, as hetouched his cap to his superior, galling as the act was, according tohis own statement.
"It looks as though we should have some wind," added the captain.
"Yes, sir; and we shall have a nasty time of it across the Gulf Stream."
"If there is any decided change in the weather during your watch, youwill oblige me by having me called," added the captain; "I think I amtired enough to turn in, for I have been very busy all the evening,copying letters and papers. I think I need a clerk almost as much asthe captain of a frigate."
"I think you ought to have one, sir," added Mr. Lillyworth, manifestinga deep interest in this matter.
"As the matter now stands I have to use a good deal of my time incopying documents. By the way, if we fall in with any United Statesman-of-war, I wish to communicate with her."
"Of course I shall report to you, sir, if one comes in sight during mywatch," replied the second lieutenant, with a greater manifestation ofzeal than he had before displayed in his relations with his commander,evidently profiting by the suggestion made to him by Pink Mulgrum.
"But I hope we shall not fall in with one before day after tomorrow, forI have not copied all the letters I desire to use if such an occasionoffers," said Captain Passford, who was really playing out a baited hookfor the benefit of the second lieutenant, in regard to whose intentionshe had no doubt since the revelations of the steward.
"By the way, Captain Passford, what you say in regard to the amount ofwriting imposed upon you reminds me that there is a man on board whomight afford you some relief from this drudgery. Possibly you may havenoticed this man, though he is doing duty as a mere scullion."
"Do you mean the man I have seen cleaning brass work about the cabin?"asked Christy, glad to have the other take hold of the baited hook.
"That is the one; he is deaf and dumb, but he has received a goodeducation, and writes a good hand, and is rapid about it," added thesecond lieutenant, with some eagerness in his manner, though he triedto conceal it.
"But my writing is of a confidential nature," replied the captain.
"I have known this man, whose name is Pink Mulgrum, for some time. He isdeaf and dumb, and you must have noticed him."
"Oh, yes; I have seen him, and he had an interview with Mr. Flint in mypresence. I observed that he wrote a good hand, and wrote very rapidly."
"I am very confident that you can trust him with your papers, CaptainPassford. He could not go into the service as a soldier or a sailoron account of his infirmity; but he desired to do something for hiscountry. He was determined to go to the war, as he called it, in anycapacity, even if it was as a scullion. He wrote me a letter to thiseffect, and Mr. Nawood consented to take him as a man of all work.If he ever gets into an action, you will find that he is a fightingcharacter."
"That is the kind of men we want, and at the present time, when we arehardly in a fighting latitude, perhaps I can use him as a copyist, if hewill agree to make no use whatever of any information he may obtain inthat capacity. I will speak to Mr. Nawood about the matter."
"Thank you, Captain Passford. Mulgrum is a very worthy man, patriotic inevery fibre of his frame, and in every drop of his blood. I should beglad to obtain some permanent occupation for him in the service of hiscountry, for nothing else will suit him in the present exciting times.Perhaps when you have tested his qualifications, this will make anopening for him."
"I will consider the subject tomorrow," said Christy, as he descendedfrom the bridge.
The commander was satisfied that the portion of the conversation whichhad taken place between the aspirant for the position of captain's clerkand the second lieutenant and which had been finished before the stewardhad reached his perch on the foremast, related to this matter. Mulgrumhad heard the conversation between the first lieutenant and himself,which was intended to blind the listener, and he had reported it to hisconfederate. It was only another confirmation, if any were needed, inregard to the character of the conspirators.
Christy had no doubt in regard to the disloyalty of these two men; butnothing in respect to their ultimate intentions had yet been revealed.They had brought six seamen on board with them, and they appeared tohave influence enough in some quarter to have had these men draftedinto the Bronx. Eight men, even if two of them were officers, was aninsignificant force, though he was willing to believe that they intendedto obtain possession of the vessel in some manner. The captain returnedto his cabin, and resumed his work in the state room.
Though Christy had spent several hours at his desk, he had reallyproduced but a single letter, and had not yet finished it. When he heardeight bells strike, he left his state room, and seated himself at thetable in the middle of his cabin. The door was open into the companionway. Mr. Flint presently appeared, and went on deck to relieve thesecond lieutenant, who came below a few minutes later, though thecaptain did not allow himself to be seen by him. Then he closed thecabin door, and turned in, for he began to realize that he needed somerest. He went to sleep at once, and he did not wake till four bellsstruck in the morning. The Bronx was pitching heavily, though she stillmaintained her reputation as an easy-going ship in spite of the headsea. He dressed himself, and seated himself at his desk at once,devoting himself to the letter upon which he had been engaged theevening before. The second lieutenant was on duty at this time, and thefirst was doubtless asleep in his berth, but he had been below six hoursduring the night, and, calling Dave with his bell, he sent him for Mr.Flint, who presented himself a few minutes later.
"Good morning, Captain Passford; you have turned out early, sir," saidthe first lieutenant.
"Not very early, and I am sorry to wake you so soon. I did not turn intill after you had gone on deck to take the midwatch. I have been verybusy since we parted, and I need your advice and assistance," repliedthe commander. "I have got at something."
"Indeed! I am glad to hear it," added Mr. Flint.
Without the loss of any time, the captain called Dave, who was at workin the ward room, and told him to see that no one came near the door ofhis cabin. The steward understood him perfectly, and Christy resumed hisplace at the table with the executive officer, and proceeded to detailto him as briefly as he could all the information he had obtainedthrough Dave, and the manner of obtaining it. It required some timeto do this, and the first lieutenant was intensely interested in thenarrative.
"I am not greatly surprised so far as Lillyworth is concerned, for therehas been something about him that I could not fathom since both of uscame on board," said Mr. Flint.
"Of course these men are on board for a purpose, though I acknowledgethat I cannot fathom this purpose, unless it be treason in a generalsense; but I am inclined to believe that they have some specificobject," added the captain. "Of course you will be willing to believethat both of these men are sailing under false colors."
"Undoubtedly. It has occurred to me that the second lieutenant inventedthe name that represents him on the ship's books. Lillyworth is a littlestrained; if he had called himself Smith or Brown, it would have beenless suspicious."
"In the conversation to which Dave listened on the bridge, both of themblundered, and let out their real names, though each of them reprovedthe other for doing so. The second lieutenant's real name is Pawcett,and that of the deaf mute is Hungerford."
"The last is decidedly a southern name, and the other may be for aughtI know. Hungerford, Hungerford," said Mr. Flint, repeating the nameseveral times. "It means something to me, but I can't make it out yet."
The first lieutenant cudgelled his brains for a minute or two as thoughhe was trying to connect the name with some event in the past. Thecaptain waited for him to sound his memory; but it was done in vain;Flint could not place him. He was confident, however, that theconnection
would be made in his mind at some other moment.
"The interesting question to us just now is to determine why these men,eight in number, are on board of the Bronx at all, and why they are onboard at the present time," said the captain. "I happen to know thatLillyworth was offered a better position than the one he now fillstemporarily; but my father says he insisted on going in the Bronx."
"Certainly he is not here on a fool's errand. He has business on boardof this particular steamer," replied Flint, speaking out of his musingmind. "Ah! now I have it!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Hungerford was theexecutive officer of the Killbright, or the Yazoo, as they called herafterwards. I had a very slight inkling that I had seen the face of thedeaf mute before; but he has shaved off his beard, and stained his face,so that it is no wonder I did not identify him; but the name satisfiesme that he was the first officer of the Yazoo."
"That means then that he is a regular officer of the Confederatenavy," suggested the captain; "and probably Lillyworth is also. Theonly other name Dave was able to obtain was that of Spoors, one of thequartermasters; and very likely he is also another."
"We have almost a double crew on board, Captain Passford, and what caneight men do to capture this vessel?" asked Flint.
"I don't know what they intend to do, and I must give it up. Now I wantto read a letter to you that I have written; and you can tell me whatyou think of it." The commander then read as follows from the sheet inhis hand, upon which appeared no end of changes and corrections:
"TO THE COMMANDER OF ANY UNITED STATES SHIP OF WAR, _Sir_:-- The undersigned, master in the United States Navy, in temporary command of the United States Steamer Bronx, bound to the Gulf of Mexico, respectfully informs you that he has information, just received, of the approach to the coast of the southern states of two steamers, the Scotian and the Arran, believed to be fitted out as cruisers for the Confederate Navy. They will be due in these waters about March 17. They are of about five hundred tons each. A letter from the confidential agent of my father, Captain Horatio Passford, an agent in whom he has perfect confidence, both on account of his loyalty to his country undivided, and because of his skill as a shipmaster, contains this statement, which is submitted to you for your guidance: 'I have put twelve loyal American seamen, with an officer, on board of each of the steamers mentioned above; and they comprise about one-half of the crew of each vessel; and they will take possession of each of the two steamers when supported by any United States man-of-war. WARNOCK.'
Respectfully yours, CHRISTOPHER PASSFORD, _Master Commanding_."
"I beg your pardon, Captain Passford, but what under the canopy is thatletter for?" asked Flint, not a little excited.
"It is for Pink Mulgrum to copy," replied the captain. "That is all theuse I intend to make of it."
Flint leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily, and the commandercould not help joining him.