by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER II
THE ABSCONDING MAN-SERVANT
Lieutenant Christopher Passford, in his two years' experience inthe navy, had been under the fire of the enemy too many times tobe intimidated by a burglar, and he felt a certain contempt for themidnight marauder, who had entered the mansion and disturbed his restfulslumbers. He returned to his bed, therefore, and slept like a marinetill the call bell woke him in the morning.
As he dressed himself he could not help thinking of the mysteriousvisitation, and he asked himself a great many questions in regard to theobject of the intruder, since it did not appear that he had entered thehouse for the purpose of robbing its occupants. He could not determinewhether or not the fellow had actually come into his room; but hisporte-monnaie, which contained a considerable sum of money, and his goldrepeater, a very valuable watch, were just where he had left them thenight before.
In the breast pocket of his uniform coat he found the envelope whichcontained his commission as a lieutenant, received only two days beforehis orders, and some other papers. As a precaution against inquisitivepersons, if the package should happen to be mislaid in the house, he hadapplied some mucilage in the library, and resealed the envelope. It hadnot been tampered with so far as he could discover, and he returned itto the pocket.
The mysterious visitor at the mansion, whoever or whatever he was, couldnot be regarded as a burglar, or, if he was, he had strangely neglectedhis opportunities, for he had failed to appropriate at least fivehundred dollars worth of watches and money, which he could hardly havehelped seeing. His object was not plunder, and there was nothing toindicate the purpose of his visit. In retiring from the house theintruder had left the front door ajar: and Christy thought it wouldhave been the most natural thing in the world to close it, in order toconceal the way by which he had left the mansion. But he might have donethis to avoid the noise of shutting it, or had neglected it in his hasteto escape.
When he had completed his toilet Christy looked at his watch, and wasrather surprised to find that it was a full hour later than usual whenthe call bell had been rung. He went down-stairs, and found his motherand Florry very busy in the dining-room, setting the table. This was theman's work, and the young officer was astonished to see his mother andsister doing it.
"What has broken now, mother?" asked the lieutenant, glancing from oneto the other of the busy couple.
"I don't know that anything has broken," replied Mrs. Passford, with asmile, after she had said good-morning to her son.
"You and Florry are not in the habit of setting the table, mother; andthe first bell rang an hour later than usual," added Christy.
"We were all disturbed last night, and I did not wake till the cookknocked at my door. She told me she could not find Walsh, and breakfasthad been ready half an hour. That is the reason why everything is latethis morning," Mrs. Passford explained.
"But where is Walsh?" inquired Christy.
"I am sure I do not know. I called in the coachman, and he has been tohis room and looked all over the place without finding him."
"That is very odd," mused the officer, wondering whether this suddendisappearance had anything to do with the principal event of thepreceding night.
"Peach says he has taken his valise with him, which indicates that hehas gone for good."
"Who is Peach?" asked Christy, who had been at home so little that hehardly knew the names of the servants.
"He is the coachman. I am not sorry that Walsh has gone, for he hassaved me the trouble of discharging him. Wilder, who had been with us somany years, took it into his head to enlist in the army, and I was notwilling to persuade him to shirk his duty. Walsh has not been here quitetwo weeks. He said he was born in the West Indies; but he was alwaysprying into matters that did not concern him, and I have several timesfound him standing at the door when we were talking about familymatters. I reproved him for it; but it did no good. Your father intendedto discharge him as soon as he returned from Washington."
Christy went to the library, and busied himself in considering whetheror not the sudden departure of Walsh had any connection with themysterious midnight intruder. The two events had been near together inpoint of time; but he could establish no other relation between them.Then it flashed upon his mind that the man-servant had been the personwho had opened or closed his door, and visited his room; but he was surehe had seen a man near the grand entrance of the estate. He had been allaround the house, and Walsh could not have escaped his observation. Hehad answered the bell, and admitted him after his search. He concludedthat the servant was not the person who had disturbed his slumbers.
The morning mail brought a letter from Captain Passford, informing thefamily that he was detained in Washington, and that he could not be athome to say good-by to his son, who was to leave that day in the storeship Vernon. He wrote a special letter to Christy, containing not onlyhis adieux, but the good advice he would otherwise have given him inperson.
The breakfast was rather a sad gathering on account of this parting, forChristy was to leave in another hour. Bertha Pembroke and her fatherwere quite as sad as the mother and sister, and the young officer didhis best to cheer up the family and the guests. He tried to make themlaugh, but he found it was up-hill work.
"You will be in command of a steamer, Christy, when you reach the Gulf.I hope you will not be rash, and try to do too much," said Mrs.Passford, as they rose from the table.
"I don't think I am ever rash, mother; and if I have been exceedinglyfortunate, it was more because the circumstances favored me than becauseI ran great risks," replied Christy very seriously, for he was sensitiveon the point his mother had brought up. "Father has said a great deal tome on this subject, and I have always done my best to carry out hisprinciples. It is not my fault that I have a friend at court, and havehad opportunities that have not been offered to many others. But thetide may turn against me on my next cruise."
"I hope it will not, my son," added his mother very earnestly.
"No one knows what is going to happen, and I may spend the next year ortwo in a Confederate prison. I don't think my Uncle Homer would cry hiseyes out if such should be my fate, for he has lost several vessels andcargoes of cotton on my account," returned Christy.
"But I am sure he has no ill-will against you."
"I don't think he has."
"By the way, Christy, have you heard anything from him or his familylately?" asked Mrs. Passford.
"Not a word, and I am not likely to hear from them. Corny Passford wasexchanged, and sent back to the South a year ago or more; and I have noidea what has become of him since."
After breakfast Christy packed his valise, where he placed the newuniform in which he intended to present himself on the quarter-deck ofthe Bronx. The carriage was at the door to convey him to the railroadstation. The parting was not less tender than it had been on formersimilar occasions, and Mrs. Passford preferred that it should be in thehouse rather than at the railroad station, in the presence of curiousobservers. Many tears were shed after the carriage drove off, for thepatriotic young man might find a grave in southern soil, or beneathsouthern waters.
The young lieutenant choked down his emotions, and tried to think of thefuture; his case was not different from that of hundreds of thousands ofothers who had gone forth to fight the battles of their country, manythousands of whom slumber in hallowed graves far away from home andfriends. As the train moved on towards the great city, he obtained thecommand of his emotions, and felt a new inspiration of patriotic ardor.
On his arrival in New York he hastened across the ferry to thenavy-yard. As he approached the opposite shore, he discovered a steamergetting under way. He had not seen the vessel on board of which he wasordered to report as a passenger, but when he asked a deck hand what thesteamer was, he was informed that it was the Vernon. The ferry-boat hadjust gone into the slip, and Christy was terribly startled to learn thathe was late. He was still two hours ahead of the time indicated in hisorders, and the Vernon w
as actually getting under way.
The young officer was more excited than he had ever been in the face ofthe enemy, for the present looked like a case in which his honor was atstake. He felt that it would be his ruin if the Vernon sailed withouthim. There had been some mistake in his orders, or in those of thecommander of the store ship, and he was likely to be the sufferer forit. He rushed to the stern end of the ferry-boat in order to obtain abetter view of the steamer; and at this moment he discovered a boat,pulled by one man, headed towards the navy-yard.
"Boat, ahoy!" shouted Christy, with almost frantic earnestness.
"On board the ferry-boat!" replied the man, resting on his oars.
"Five dollars if you will put me on board of that steamer before shegets off!" added the officer.
"I'm the one for your money," returned the oarsman, as he headed hisboat into the slip.
Without much difficulty Christy dropped his valise into the boat, andthen dropped himself in after it. The belated passenger cast an earnestlook at the Vernon, which had just begun to move, though at a snail'space, and he hoped he should be able to get on board of her.
"Naval officer, sir?" interrogated the boatman.
"Yes; but I have no time to spare, and you must not stop to talk,"replied Christy rather sharply.
"Time enough, sir, if you are going on board of the Vernon, and I willgive you one of my oars if I don't put you on her deck," said theboatman very positively. "I hope you are nimble with your feet andhands, sir."
"I will take care of that part of the matter if you will put mealongside the steamer," answered Christy. "No more talk, if you please,for you are wasting your wind."
"I have plenty of it for this job. You said five dollars, I believe,sir," added the man, looking earnestly at his passenger.
"Five dollars is just what I said," replied the lieutenant, as he tooka bill of that denomination from his porte-monnaie, rolled it around theboat-hook, and fixed it so that it should not blow away.
"Thank you, sir," said the rower, as he pulled with more vigor even thanbefore, and did not say another word till the boat was alongside theVernon.
Christy found a rope hanging over the side, to which the boatmanattached his valise, the young officer going up the line hand over handas though he was used to that sort of thing. The oarsman secured hisfive-dollar bill, and Christy hauled up his valise. He felt that he hadsaved himself from the dishonor of failing to obey his orders, and helooked about him for some one who would be able to explain to him howthe steamer happened to be sailing two hours before the time named inhis orders. Three or four sailors were at work in the waist, where thelieutenant came on board; and Christy was not a little astonished toobserve that Walsh, the absconding man-servant, was one of them.