On The Blockade

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER XVII

  A COUPLE OF ASTONISHED CONSPIRATORS

  The fog had been very variable in its density, and had been lifting andsettling at times during the day of the capture. By the time the twovessels were ready to get under way, it had become more solid thanbefore. The night had come, and the darkness with it, at about the sametime. The lookouts were still in their places; but so far as seeinganything was concerned they might as well have been in the hold. If theArran was still in the vicinity, as no doubt she was, the Bronx mightrun into her. Wherever she was, it was well assured that her officersknew nothing of the capture of the Ocklockonee, for not a great gun hadbeen discharged, and the combat had been so quickly decided that therehad been very little noise of any kind.

  Everything worked without friction on board of the Bronx; and CaptainPassford felt even more elastic than usual. Doubtless the capture he hadjust made afforded him a good deal of inspiration; but the fact that themystery of the deaf mute and the second lieutenant had been solved, andthe unfathomable catastrophe which their presence on board threatenedhad been escaped was a great source of relief.

  The two conspirators were disabled and confined to the sick bay, andthey were not likely to make any trouble at present. If they had had anydefinite plan on which they intended to act, they had certainly losttheir opportunities, for the visit of Hungerford to the engine room ofthe Bronx, no doubt for the purpose of disabling the machinery, and theeffort of Pawcett to warn the officers of the prize, had been simplyacts of desperation, adopted after they had evidently failed in everyother direction.

  Pawcett was not really a loyal officer, and his expression andmanners had attracted the attention of both the captain and the firstlieutenant. The deaf mute had been brought on board in order to obtaininformation, and he had been very diligent in carrying out his part ofthe programme. As Christy thought the matter over, seated at his supperin his cabin, he thought he owed more to the advice of his father attheir parting than to anything else. He had kept his own counsel inspite of the difficulties, and had done more to blind the actors in theconspiracy than to enlighten them. He had hoped before he parted withthe prize for the present to obtain some information in regard to theArran; but he had too much self-respect to ask the officers of theOcklockonee in regard to such matters.

  The seamen who had been spotted as adherents of the late secondlieutenant had done nothing, for there had been nothing that they coulddo under the circumstances. Spoors and two others of them had beendrafted into the other vessel, while the other three remained on boardof the Bronx. They were not regarded as very dangerous enemies, and theywere not in condition to undertake anything in the absence of theirleaders.

  Christy had inquired in regard to the condition of Pawcett andHungerford before he went to his cabin, and Dr. Spokeley informed himthat neither of them would be in condition to do duty on either side fora considerable period. They were in no danger under careful treatment,but both of them were too seriously injured to trouble their heads withany exciting subjects.

  "Good evening, Captain Dinsmore," Christy said, when he went into hiscabin, after he had attended to all the duties that required presentattention. "I hope you are feeling better this evening."

  "Hardly better, Captain Passford, though I am trying to reconcile myselfto my situation," replied the late captain of the Ocklockonee.

  "Supper is all ready, sir," interposed Dave, as he passed by thecaptain, after he had brought in the dishes from the galley.

  "Take a seat at the table, Captain Dinsmore," continued Christy, placinga chair for him, and looking over the table to see what cheer he had tooffer to his guest.

  It looked as though the cook, aware that the commander had a guest, orthinking that he deserved a better supper than usual after the captureof a prize, had done his best in honor of the occasion. The broiledchickens looked especially inviting, and other dishes were quitetempting to a man who was two hours late at the meal.

  "Thank you, captain," replied the guest, as he took the seat assignedto him. "I can't say that I have a very fierce appetite after themisfortune that has befallen me; but I am none the less indebted toyou for your courtesy and kindness."

  "I acknowledge that I am in condition to be very happy this evening,Captain Dinsmore, and I can hardly expect to be an agreeable companionto one with a burden on his mind; but I can assure you of my personalsympathy."

  "You are very kind, captain. I should like to ask if many of theofficers of the old navy are young gentlemen like yourself?" inquiredthe guest, looking at his host very curiously.

  "There are a great many young officers in the navy at the present time,for the exigency has pushed forward the older ones, and there are notenough of them to take all the positions. But we shall all of us growolder," replied Christy good-naturedly, as he helped the officer to apiece of the chicken, which had just come from the galley fire.

  "Perhaps you are older than you appear to be," suggested the guest."I should judge that you were not over twenty, or at least not muchmore."

  "I am eighteen, sir, though, unlike a lady, I try to make myself as oldas I can."

  "Eighteen!" exclaimed Captain Dinsmore.

  But Christy told something of his experience on board of the Bellevitewhich had prepared him for his duties, and his case was ratherexceptional.

  "You have physique enough for a man of twenty-five," added the guest."And you have been more fortunate than I have."

  "And I have been as unfortunate as you are, for I have seen the insideof a Confederate prison, though I concluded not to remain there for anylength of time," added Christy, laughing.

  "You are a fortunate young man, and I do not belong to that class,"said Captain Dinsmore, shaking his head. "I have lost my steamer, andI suppose that will finish my career."

  "Perhaps not;" but Christy was satisfied that he had lost his vessel bya want of care, and he could not waste any compliments upon him, thoughhe had profited by the other's carelessness.

  "I was confident when the Bronx approached the Ocklockonee that she wasanother vessel," continued the guest.

  "What vessel did you take her to be?"

  "You will excuse me if I decline to go into particulars. I can only saythat I was sure your steamer was another, and I had no suspicion that Iwas wrong till that man mounted the rail of the Bronx, and began to tellus to the contrary," replied Captain Dinsmore. "A bolt in the engine wasbroken, and the engineer could not find another on board. We expected toobtain one when the Bronx approached us. I was deceived; and that is thereason why I am here instead of in the cabin of my own ship."

  The guest seemed to feel a little better after he had made thisexplanation, though it contained nothing new to the commander of theBronx. Possibly the excellent supper, of which he had partaken heartilyin spite of his want of appetite, had influenced his mind through thebody. He had certainly become more cheerful, though his burden was nolighter than when he came on board of the Bronx. Christy was alsolight-hearted, not alone because he had been so successful, but becausehe felt that he was no longer compelled to watch the conspirators.

  "I am sorry to be obliged to impose any restrictions upon you, CaptainDinsmore," said Christy, as he rose from the supper table. "Thecircumstances compel me to request you to remain in my cabin."

  "Of course I am subject to your will and pleasure, Captain Passford,"replied the guest.

  "You are a gentleman, sir, and if you will simply give me your word toremain here, there will be no occasion for any unpleasantness. It ispossible that we may go into action at any time; and in that case youcan remain where you please below."

  "I give you my word that I will remain below until I notify you ofmy intention to do otherwise," replied the prisoner, though Christypreferred to regard him as his guest.

  "I am entirely satisfied. I shall be obliged to berth you in the wardroom, and you are at liberty to pass your time as you please in thesetwo apartments. I shall be happy to introduce you to the firstlieutenant," added the
captain, as he led the way to the ward room.

  Mr. Baskirk received the prisoner very politely, a berth was assignedto him, and Christy went on deck. It was as dark as Egypt there, but Mr.Amblen, the new acting second lieutenant, on the bridge, said the windwas hauling to the westward, and he thought there would be a change ofweather before morning. Mr. Baskirk had made all his appointments ofpetty officers rendered necessary by sending a portion of the seamen tothe Ocklockonee. Everything was in good order on deck, and Christy nextwent down to the sick bay, where Hungerford and Pawcett were the onlyoccupants. He found Dr. Spokeley there, and inquired in regard to thecondition of the wounded men. The surgeon described the wounds of hispatients, and pointed them out to the captain.

  "Does Mr. Hungerford talk any now?" asked Christy.

  "Who is Mr. Hungerford?" asked the doctor.

  "He is the deaf mute. He was the first officer of the Confederatesteamer Yazoo when we captured her in the Bellevite last year," repliedthe captain, upon whom the eyes of the wounded man were fixed all thetime.

  "He has not spoken yet in my hearing, though I have thought that hecould hear."

  "His duty on board of the Bronx was to obtain information, and heprocured a good deal of it, though not all of it was as reliable asit might have been."

  "Indeed! Then he was a traitor," added the surgeon.

  "He is a gentleman in spite of the role he has been playing, and I amsorry he has been injured, though Mr. Sampson obeyed my order when hestruck him down in the engine room."

  "Struck me from behind like an assassin," added Hungerford feebly.

  "Did you expect to arrange a duel with him at such a time, Mr.Hungerford?" asked Christy. "You went into the engine room to disablethe machine when you found you could do nothing else. If you hadreturned to the deck when the engineer told you to do so, he would nothave disabled you. You crowded past him, and then he did his duty."

  "I have been in the habit of serving with men who were square and aboveboard," muttered Hungerford.

  "Was that where you learned to listen at my cabin door, and to concealyourself under the berth in my state room?" asked Christy, rathersharply for him. "Is that the reason why Mr. Pawcett wished to haveyou do the copying of my papers?"

  "I can only say that I tried to do my duty to my country and I havefailed," added Hungerford, as he turned over in his berth, and showedhis back to the captain.

  "May I ask, Captain Passford, who told you my name?" asked the latesecond lieutenant, who seemed to be confounded by what he had heard.

  "You called Mr. Hungerford by his real name, and he called you by yours,in the interview you had with him the first night out from New York.I have known you from the first," replied Christy.

  Pawcett was as disgusted as the other had been, and he turned his faceto the ceiling of his berth. Christy was satisfied that these men wouldgive him no more trouble at present.