by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER IX
THE FRENCHMAN IN BERMUDA
"Bon voyage, Mr. Rubumper," said Captain Chanter, as the Frenchman wasabout to descend the accommodation ladder. "I know French enough to saythat."
"Thank you, Captain."
"I hope you will make a success of the enterprise, Mr. Passford," thecommander added to the other member of the expedition.
"I shall do the best I can to make it so," answered Christy, as hefollowed his companion down the accommodation ladder.
The detective shoved the boat off, and both of the voyagers took theoars to get the craft clear of the ship, which was accomplished in a fewminutes. Then the Frenchman stepped the mast, which had been carefullyadjusted on board of the ship, while Christy rigged out the shiftingbowsprit. In half an hour they had placed the spars and bent on thesail, for everything had been prepared for expeditious work. The sailsfilled, and the skipper took his place at the long tiller.
"We are all right now, Christophe," said the detective.
"I should say that we were, Monsieur Rubempre," replied the actingservant. "We have ten miles to make: with this breeze, how long will ittake for this boat to do it?"
"If she sails as well as mine did, she will make it in two hours."
The craft was about twenty feet long, and was sharp at both ends. Shehad a cuddy forward, which was large enough to accommodate both of hercrew in a reclining posture. It had been furnished with a couple ofberthsacks, and with several blankets. The provisions and water had beenplaced in it, as well as a couple of lanterns, ready for use if occasionshould require.
It was a summer sea in this latitude, with a very steady breeze from thewestward. The overcoats they wore were hardly necessary, and they hadput them on mainly to conceal their changed garments from the crew ofthe ship, who could only conjecture what the expedition meant.
"You are a younger man than I am, Christophe, and you have slept only acouple of hours to-night," said M. Rubempre, as soon as the Eleutherawas well under way; and the remark was called forth by a long gape onthe part of the younger person. "You can turn in and sleep a couple ofhours more just as well as not, for there is nothing whatever for you todo. We may have to make a long day of it to-morrow."
"I am accustomed to doing without my sleep at times," repliedChristophe, which was his first name, according to the Frenchorthography, and was pronounced in two syllables.
"Of course you have, when your duty required you to be on deck; butthere is not the least need of doing so now."
The lieutenant complied with the advice of the skipper, and in fiveminutes more he was sound asleep. The Bahama boat, with a Bahama name,rose and fell on the long rolling seas, which were very gentle in theirmotion, and made very good progress through the water. The light couldbe plainly seen in its lofty position, and the detective steered for itover an hour, and then kept it a little on the starboard hand; for theopening in the outer reef through which he intended to pass was twomiles to the westward of the high tower. He had correctly estimated thespeed of the boat, for the faint light of the dawn of day began toappear in the east when he was able clearly to discern the outline ofthe hills on the most southern of the islands.
Although it was still quite dark, the Frenchman continued on his coursevery confidently. The reefs extended out two miles from the main shore;but the navigator was so familiar with the locality that they did nottrouble him. Bearing about north-west from the light was Wreck Hill, onehundred and fifty feet high, which assisted him in keeping his course.As he approached the mainland he made out the fort, and steeringdirectly for it, passed safely through Hogfish Cut.
When he was within half a mile of this fort, he headed the boat to thenorth-west. It was still eighteen miles to Hamilton, the capital of theislands; but he had a fair wind, and the boat made about five miles anhour. Christy still slept, and the skipper did not wake him. It wasdaylight when he was abreast of Wreck Hill, and there was no furtherdifficulty in the navigation. It was half-past eight when he ran up toa pier where he had kept his boat in former days. There were plenty ofjust such crafts as the Eleuthera, and no attention was paid to her asshe passed along the Front-street docks. The pier at which he made hislanding was in a retired locality. He lowered the sails, and had madeeverything snug on board before he called his companion.
"Half-past eight, Christophe," said he at the door of the cuddy.
"Half-past eight!" exclaimed Christy, springing out of his berth on thefloor. "Where are we now, M. Rubempre?"
"We are in Hamilton harbor; and if you will come out of the cuddy, youwill find yourself in the midst of flowers and green trees," replied theskipper with a smile.
"I must have slept six hours," said Christy, rubbing his eyes as hecrawled out of the cuddy.
The scenery around him was certainly very beautiful, and he gazed uponit in silence for a few minutes. It seemed to him just as though he hadwaked in fairyland. He had cruised in the vicinity of the islands, buthe had never been very near the shore before. Though he had been inAlabama, and seen the shores of the Gulf States, he had never beheld anyregion that seemed so lovely to him. He had been on shore at Nassau, butonly on the wharves, and had hardly seen the beauties of the island.
"Why didn't you call me before, M. Rubempre?" asked he, when he hadtaken in the view from the pier.
"Because I thought your sleep would do you more good than the view ofthe shore, which you will have plenty of opportunities to see before weleave," replied the detective. "But we must begin our work, for we haveno time to lose. I arranged with Captain Chantor to pick us up to-morrownight at about the point where we embarked in the boat. In the mean timehe will sail around the islands, though the Chateaugay will not comenear enough to be seen from the shore."
"What will you do with the boat while we are absent?"
"Leave it where it is."
While they were talking, an old negro came down the pier, and verypolitely saluted the strangers. He appeared to come from a small house ashort distance from the shore, and passed along to a boat which lay nearthe Eleuthera.
"Is that your boat?" asked the detective, calling him back.
"Yes, sir; I am a fisherman, though I've got the rheumatism, and don'tgo out much; but I have to go to-day, for we have nothing to eat in thehouse," replied the negro, whose language was very good.
"What is your name?"
"Joseph, sir."
"Do you speak French?"
"Oh, no, sir!" exclaimed Joseph. "I don't speak anything but plainEnglish; but I used to work sometimes for a French gentleman that kept aboat at this pier, six or seven years ago."
"What was his came?" asked the detective, who had had a suspicion fromthe first that he knew the man, though he had changed a great deal as hegrew older.
"Mounseer Gillflower," replied Joseph; "and he was very kind to me."
"I am a Frenchman, Joseph; and, if you don't want to go fishing, I willemploy you to take care of my boat, and carry my valise to a hotel,"continued the detective, as he handed an English sovereign to him, forhe had taken care to provide himself with a store of them in New York.
"Thank you, sir; but I can't change this piece," protested Joseph verysadly.
"I don't want you to change it; keep the whole of it."
"God bless you forever and ever, Mounseer!" exclaimed the fisherman."I haven't had a sovereign before since Mounseer Gillflower was here.I am a very poor man, and I can't get any work on shore."
Probably, like the rest of his class, he was not inclined to work whilehe had any money. He promised to take good care of the Eleuthera, and heasked no troublesome questions. The detective gave his name, and orderedChristophe, calling him by his name, to bring the valises on shore. Thenthe Frenchman locked the door of the cuddy, for they left theirovercoats there, as they had no use for them.
"To what hotel shall I carry the valises?" asked Joseph.
"To the Atlantic; that will be the most convenient for us. Do you knowanything about these vessels in the ha
rbor, Joseph?"
"Not much, Mounseer Roobump; but they say the two steamers near theisland are going to run the blockade into the States; but I don't know.They say a Confederate man-of-war came into St. George's harboryesterday; but I haven't seen her, and I don't know whether it's true ornot."
"What is her name?" asked the detective, who from the beginning hadbroken up his English, and imparted a strong French accent to it.
"I did not hear any one mention her name, Mounseer. That vessel thisside of the island is the mail steamer from New York; she got inyesterday," continued Joseph.
"That is important; if the Dornoch is the Confederate man-of-war thatarrived at St. George's yesterday, this steamer brought letters fromDavis to her captain," said the Frenchman to Christy, in French.
"But Davis could not have learned that the Ionian had been capturedbefore the mail steamer left New York," added Christy, in the samelanguage.
"No matter for that, Christophe. I did not resign my place at Davis'swarehouse till the morning we sailed; and I have his letter to thecaptain of the Dornoch with my other papers on board of the Chateaugay,and I know that was the only letter written to him. As he has noinformation in regard to the Ionian, he will not wait for her."
"I remember; you showed me the letter."
Joseph listened with a show of wonder on his face to this conversationwhich he could not understand. The detective directed him to carry thetwo valises to the hotel named; but Christy interposed in French, andinsisted that it would look better for him to carry his own valise, andthe point was yielded. The Atlantic Hotel was on Front Street, theharbor being on one side of it. A couple of rooms were assigned to them,one of them quite small, which was taken by Christy, in order to keep upappearances.
M. Rubempre registered his name, putting "and servant" after it, Paris,and spoke even worse English than he had used to Joseph. Breakfast hadbeen ordered, but Christy, being only a servant, had to take his meal ata side table. The detective was not dressed like a gentleman, and thelandlord seemed to have some doubts about his ability to pay his bills,though he had baggage. He was not treated with anything like deference,and he saw the difficulty. After breakfast he took a handful of Englishgold from his pocket, and asked the landlord to change one of the coinsfor smaller money. Mine host bowed low to him after this exhibition.
"I want to see the American consul," said M. Rubempre, in his ownlanguage.
"I will go with you, but I think I will not see him, for he may take itinto his head that I am not a Frenchman," added Christy.
"You can come with me, and stay outside."
When they reached the consulate, which was on the same street as thehotel, they found about a dozen sailors in front of the building. Theywere a very rough and hard-looking set of men. They appeared to beconsiderably excited about something, and to be bent on violence in somedirection; but the strangers could make nothing of the talk they heard,though "the bloody spy" was an expression frequently used.