by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER IV
MONSIEUR GILFLEUR EXPLAINS
The two officers and ten men that had been sent off to the Chateaugayafter she got under way, had evidently been considered necessary by theauthorities on shore after the receipt of the intelligence that anothervessel for the Confederates had been sent to Bermuda. A steamer hadarrived that day from Liverpool, and Captain Passford must have receivedhis mail after he landed from the tug. Captain Chantor had waitedseveral hours for the signal to get under way, and there had been timeenough to obtain the reinforcement from the Navy Yard.
The officer in command of the detachment of sailors said that he hadbeen ordered to follow the Chateaugay, and he had been provided with afast boat for this purpose. The steamer proceeded on her course as soonas the transport boat had cast off her fasts, and everything suddenlyquieted down on board of her. The distance between the Ionian and theman-of-war was soon reduced to about a mile. It was beginning to growdark, but the crew had been stationed and billed while the ship lay offthe Navy Yard; but the new hands sent on board were assigned to watchesand quarter-watches, stationed and billed, as though they were a part ofthe regular ship's company. One of the two additional officers wasplaced in each of the watches.
Before it was really dark everything on board was in order, and the shipwas put in perfect trim. Christy could not help seeing that CaptainChantor was a thorough commander, and that his officers were excellentin all respects. He walked about the ship, wishing to make himselffamiliar with her. His father had not written to him in regard to thesecond vessel which the Chateaugay was to look out for in the vicinityof the Bermuda Islands, and he only knew what the captain had told himin regard to the matter.
If the steamer was armed, as probably she was, an action would be likelyto come off, and the young lieutenant could not remain idle while abattle was in prospect. His quick eye enabled him to take in all he sawwithout much study, and only one thing bothered him. In the waist,secured on blocks, was something like the ordinary whaleboat used in thenavy; but it was somewhat larger than those with which he was familiarin the discharge of his duties, and differed in other respects fromthem. The first watch would begin at eight o'clock, and all hands werestill on duty.
"What do you call this boat, Mr. Carlin?" asked Christy, as the thirdlieutenant was passing him.
"I call it a nondescript craft," replied the officer, laughing. "It issomething like a whaleboat, but it isn't one."
"What is it for?" inquired the passenger.
"That is more than I know, sir. It was put on deck while we were stillat the Navy Yard. I never saw a boat just like it before, and I have notthe remotest idea of its intended use. Probably the captain can informyou."
Christy was no wiser than before, but his curiosity was excited. Hestrolled to the quarter-deck, where he found the captain directing hisnight-glass towards the Ionian, which showed her port light on thestarboard hand, indicating that the Chateaugay was running ahead of her.The commander called the second lieutenant, and gave him the order forthe chief engineer to reduce the speed of the ship.
"The Ionian is a slow boat; at least, she is not as fast as theChateaugay, Mr. Passford," said Captain Chantor, when Christy had haltednear him.
"That is apparent," replied Christy. "How many knots can you make inyour ship, Captain Chantor?"
"I am told that she has made fifteen when driven at her best."
"That is more than the average of the steamers in the service by threeknots," added Christy. "I have just been forward, Captain, and I sawthere a boat which is not quite on the regulation pattern."
"It is like a whaleboat, though it differs from one in some respects,"added the commander.
"Is it for ordinary service, Captain Chantor?"
"There you have caught me, for I don't know to what use she is to beapplied," replied the captain, laughing because, as the highestauthority on board of the ship, he was unable to answer the question.
"You don't know?" queried Christy. "Or have I asked an indiscreetquestion?" said the passenger.
"If I knew, and found it necessary to conceal my knowledge from you,I should say so squarely, Mr. Passford," added the commander, a littlepiqued. "I would not resort to a lie."
"I beg your pardon, Captain Chanter; I certainly meant no offence,"pleaded Christy.
"No offence, Mr. Passford; my hand upon it," said the commander, andthey exchanged a friendly grip of the hands. "I really know nothing atall in regard to the intended use of the boat; in my orders, I am simplydirected to place it at the disposal of Mr. Gilfleur at such time andplace as he may require, and to co-operate with him in any enterprise inwhich he may engage. I must refer you to the French gentleman for anyfurther information."
The passenger went below to the ward room. The door of the detective'sroom was closed, and he knocked. He was admitted, and there he found Mr.Gilfleur occupied with a file of papers, which he was busily engaged instudying. In the little apartment were two middle-sized valises, whichmade it look as though the detective expected to pass some time on hispresent voyage to the South.
"I hope I don't disturb you, Mr. Gilfleur," said Christy in French.
"Not at all, Mr. Passford; I am glad to see you, for I am ordered toconsult very freely with you, and to inform you fully in regard to allmy plans," replied the Frenchman.
"Perhaps you can tell me, then, what that boat in the waist is for,"Christy began, in a very pleasant tone, and in his most agreeablemanner, perhaps copying to some extent the Parisian suavity, as he hadobserved it in several visits he had made to the gay capital.
"I can tell you all about it, Mr. Passford, though that is my grandsecret. No other person on board of this ship knows what it is for; butyou are my confidant, though I never had one before in the practice ofmy profession," replied Mr. Gilfleur, fixing his keen gaze upon hisassociate. "A man's secret is the safest when he keeps it to himself.But I will tell you all about it."
"No! no! I don't wish you to do that, Mr. Gilfleur, if you deem it wiseto keep the matter to yourself," interposed Christy. "My curiosity is alittle excited, but I can control it."
"I shall tell you all about it, for this affair is different from theordinary practice of my profession," replied the detective; and heproceeded to give a history of the boat in the waist, and then detailedthe use to which it was to be applied.
"I am quite satisfied, and I should be glad to take part in theexpedition in which you intend to use it," said Christy when theexplanation in regard to the boat was finished.
"You would be willing to take part in my little enterprise!" exclaimedthe Frenchman, his eyes lighting up with pleasure.
"I should; why not?"
"Because it may be very dangerous, and a slight slip may cost us bothour lives," replied the detective very impressively, and with another ofhis keen and penetrating glances.
"I have not been in the habit of keeping under cover in my two years'service in the navy, and I know what danger is," added Christy.
"I know you are a very brave young officer, Mr. Passford, but thisservice is very different from that on the deck of a ship of war inaction. But we will talk of that at a future time," said Mr. Gilfleur,as he rose hastily from his arm-chair at the desk, and rushed out intothe ward room.
Christy had heard footsteps outside of the door, and he followed hiscompanion. They found there Mr. Suppleton, the ship's steward, with thetwo extra officers who had been sent on board.
"Do you speak French, gentlemen?" asked the detective, addressinghimself to the two officers.
"Not a word of it," replied Mr. Gwyndale, one of them.
"Not a syllable of it," added Mr. Tempers, the other.
"Excuse me, gentlemen," said Mr. Gilfleur, as he retreated to his room.
Mr. Suppleton introduced the two new officers to Christy, and he thenfollowed his associate. The Frenchman was afraid the new-comersunderstood his native language, and had been listening to hisexplanation of the use of the strange boat; but he had spoken in
awhisper, and no one could have heard him, even if the listener had beena Frenchman.
"We are all right," said the detective when they had both resumed theirseats, and the Frenchman had begun to overhaul his papers.
Mr. Gilfleur proceeded to explain in what manner he had obtained hisknowledge of the plot to send the gun-making machinery to the South. Oneof Captain Passford's agents had ascertained the name of Hillman Davis,who was in correspondence with those who were fitting out the ships forthe Confederate service.
"But that is all we learned from the letters--that the men who weresending out the ships were in correspondence with this man Davis, who isa very respectable merchant of New York," Mr. Gilfleur proceeded.
"Is that all you had to start with, my friend?" asked Christy.
"That was all; and it was very little. Your American detectives are morecautious than Frenchmen in the same service."
"I don't see how in the world you could work up the case with nothingmore than a mere name to begin with," added Christy, beginning to have ahigher opinion than ever of the skill of the French detective.
"I tell you it was a narrow foundation on which to work up the case. Itmay amuse you, but I will tell you how it was done. In the first place,Captain Passford gave me all the money I needed to work with. I appliedfor a situation at Mr. Davis's warehouse. He imported wines and liquorsfrom France; when his corresponding clerk, who spoke and wrote French,was commissioned as a lieutenant in the army, he was looking for a manto take his place. He employed me. I had charge of the letters, andcarried the mail to him in his private counting-room every time itcame."
"I don't believe that any of our American detectives would have beencompetent to take such a position," suggested Christy, deeply interestedin the narrative.
"That is where I had the advantage of them. I was well educated, and wasgraduated from the University of France, with the parchment in thatvalise, signed by the minister of education. The carrier brought all theletters to my desk. I looked them over, and when I found any fromEngland or Scotland, or even France, I opened and read them."
"How could you do that?" asked Christy curiously.
"I was educated to be a lawyer; but before I entered upon theprofession, I found I had a taste for the detective service. I did someamateur work first, and was very successful. I afterwards reached a highposition in the service of the government. I acquired a great deal ofskill in disguising myself, and in all the arts of the profession.I could open and reseal a letter so that no change could be discoveredin its appearance, and this was what I did in the service of Mr. Davis.He was a mean man, the stingiest I ever met, and he was as dishonest andunscrupulous as a Paris thief. I copied all the letters connected withthe case I had in hand, and this enabled me to get to the bottom of thetraitor's plot. He wrote letters himself, not only to England andScotland, but to people in the South, sending them to Bermuda andNassau. I took copies of all these, and saved one or two originals.My pay was so small that I resigned my situation," and he flourished agreat file of letters as he finished.