by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XVII
THE LANDING AT NEW PROVIDENCE
The water was so clear that the bottom could be seen at all times, thewhite coral rock greatly assisting the transparency. From DouglasChannel, through which the boat had passed, the chart indicated that itwas twenty miles to the point where the skipper desired to land, and itwas nearly eleven o'clock when the Eleuthera ran into the little bay,extending over a mile into the island, and nearly landlocked. The shorewas covered with tropical vegetation, including cocoa-nut palms, loadedwith fruit, with palmettoes, wild palms, and many plants of whichChristy did not even know the names.
"We could not have anything better than this," said Mr. Gilfleur, as heran the boat into a tangle of mangroves and other plants.
"This bay appears to be about five miles from the town of Nassau, and Ishould say that no person is likely to see the boat if it should stayhere for a month," replied Christy, as he measured the distance acrossthe island with the scale his companion had prepared.
"It will not take us long to walk that distance. There are all sorts ofpeople in Nassau at the present time, as there were in St. George's andHamilton; and we shall pass without exciting any particular attention."
"I think we had better look out for a cleaner place to land than this,for the mud seems to be about knee-deep," suggested Christy, as hetested the consistency of the shore with an oar.
"But there is hard ground within four feet of the water. I have a boardin the bottom of the boat with which we can bridge the mud," replied theskipper. "But I think we had better have our lunch before we walk fivemiles."
"I am in condition to lunch," added Christy.
The sails had been furled, and everything put in order on board of theboat. The basket containing the provisions was brought out of the cuddy,and seated in the stern sheets they did ample justice to the meal. Thedetective had put on his suit of blue, and his companion dressed himselfas he had done in Bermuda, though he was not to act the part of aservant on this occasion.
"It will not do to acknowledge that we are Americans, and it would notbe prudent to claim that we are Englishmen," said Mr. Gilfleur.
"Why not? We speak English; and you can pronounce it as well as I can,"argued Christy.
"Because we may be catechised; though I know London almost as well as Ido Paris, I am afraid you might be caught."
"I have been in London twice, though I don't know enough about it toanswer all the questions that may be put to me," added Christy.
"In that case we had better be Frenchmen, as we were before. We are notlikely to find many people here who speak French, for the visitingportion of the population must be people who are engaged inblockade-running. Probably there are some Southern magnates here,attending to the business of the Confederacy."
"They were here two years ago, when I was in Nassau for a few hours,on the lookout for steamers for their navy. I remember Colonel RichardPierson, who was extremely anxious to purchase the Bellevite, whichanchored outside the light, for there was not water enough to allow herto cross the bar," said Christy, recalling some of the events of hisfirst voyage in the steamer his father had presented to the government.
"Perhaps he is still in Nassau," suggested Mr. Gilfleur, with a shade ofanxiety on his face.
"He would not recognize me now, for I have grown a good deal, and Ihardly saw him. He employed his son, a young fellow of eighteen, to actfor him in obtaining information in regard to the Bellevite. The son'sname was Percy Pierson, and when he tried to pump me in regard to theBellevite, I chaffed him till he lost all patience. Then he proposed toput the owner of our steamer, for she had not then been transferred tothe government, in the way of making a fortune. I told him that theowner was determined to get rid of the ship, though I only meant to saythat he intended to pass her over to the government. At any rate, Percybelieved she was for sale, and he smuggled himself on board of her. Hewas not discovered till we were under way; and we had to take him withus."
"What became of this Percy Pierson?" asked the detective.
"We brought him off with us when we fought our way out of Mobile Bay.Off Carisfort Reef light we put him on board of a schooner belonging toNassau; and that was the last I know about him."
"But I hope he is not in Nassau now," said Mr. Gilfleur.
"I don't believe he is, for his brother was doing his best to get himinto the Confederate army."
"You must keep your eyes wide open for this fellow, Mr. Passford," addedthe skipper earnestly. "If he should recognize you, our enterprise wouldbe ruined."
"I don't believe there is the least danger of that, for I am adifferent-looking fellow from what I was two years ago. But I will lookout sharply for him, and for his father."
"We had better speak nothing but French between ourselves, and break upour English when we are obliged to use it," Mr. Gilfleur concluded, ashe returned the basket of provisions to the cuddy, and locked the door.
The board was put down on the mud, and they walked ashore, dry-shod. Thetemporary bridge was taken up, and concealed in a mass of mangroves. TheEleuthera was so well covered up with trees and bushes that she was notlikely to be discovered, unless some wanderer penetrated the thicketthat surrounded her. A gentle elevation was directly before them, sothat they could not see the town.
"We must not walk ten miles in making five," said the detective, as heproduced a pocket compass. "Our course, as I took it from the chart, isdue north, though it may bring us in at the western end of the town."
"Then we can bear a little to the east, though if we get to the town itwill not make much difference where we strike it," added Christy.
The land showed the remains of plantations which had flourished there inthe palmy days of the island. The ruins of several mansions and manysmall huts were seen. Cocoa-nut palms and orange-trees were abundant.After they had walked about a mile, they came upon what had been a roadin former days, and was evidently used to some extent still. Taking thisroad, they followed it till they were satisfied that it would take themto Nassau.
The appearance of the island soon began to improve. The trees showedthat some care had been bestowed upon them, and an occasional mansionwas noticed. Then the street began to be flanked with small houses,hardly better than huts, which were inhabited by the blacks. All thepeople they met were negroes, and they were as polite as though they hadbeen brought up in Paris, for every one of the men either touched hishat or took it off to the strangers. The women bowed also; and both ofthe travellers returned the salutes in every instance.
As they proceeded, the houses became better, and many of them were usedin part as shops, in which a variety of articles, including beer, wassold. Christy had seen the negroes of the Southern States, and hethought the Nassau colored people presented a much better appearance.At one of these little shops a carriage of the victoria pattern wasstanding. Doubtless the driver had gone in to refresh himself after along course, for the vehicle was headed towards the town.
"I think we had better ride the rest of the way, if this carriage is notengaged," said M. Rubempre, for they had agreed to use the names theyhad adopted in the Bermudas. "What do you say, Christophe?"
"I like the idea; I am beginning to be a little tired, for I have notwalked much lately," replied Christy.
At this moment the driver, a negro wearing a straw hat with a very broadbrim, came out of the shop, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of hiscoat. He bowed with even more deference than the generality of thepeople. The strangers were not elegantly or genteelly dressed, but theywore good clothes, and would have passed for masters of vessels, so faras their costumes were concerned.
"Is this your carriage?" demanded M. Rubempre.
"Yes, sir," replied the man in good English.
"How far you must go to get into Nassau?" inquired the detective,mangling his English enough to suit the occasion.
"Two miles, sir."
"How much you make pay to go to Nassau in ze carriage?"
"Fifty cents."
&
nbsp; "Feefty cents; how much money was zat?"
"Arn't you Americans?"
"_Non!_" replied M. Rubempre with energy. "We have come from ze France;but I was been in London, and I comprehend ze money of Eengland."
"Two shillings then," replied the driver, laughing.
"We go wiz you to ze Nassau," added the Frenchman, seating himself inthe carriage, his companion taking a place at his side.
"Where do you want to go, sir?" asked the negro, as he closed the doorof the victoria.
"We must go to Nassau," replied the detective, mangling hispronunciation even more than his grammar.
"Yes, I know; but where in Nassau do you wish to go? Shall I drive youto a hotel? The Royal Victoria is the best in the place."
"You shall take us to zat hotel."
For the sake of appearances, rather than for any other reason, each ofthe visitors to Nassau had brought with him a small hand-bag, containingsuch articles as might be useful to them. Having these evidences thatthey were travellers, it would be prudent to go to a hotel, though thewant of more luggage had made the landlord in Hamilton suspicious oftheir ability to pay their bills.
Christy found enough to do during the ride to observe the strange sightspresented to his gaze, even in the outskirts of the town. The peoplewere full of interest to him, and he wondered that his father had nevermade a winter trip in the West Indies in former years, instead ofconfining his visits to the more northern islands of the ocean.
The carriage arrived at the Royal Victoria Hotel, located on a ridgewhich has been dignified as a hill, a short distance in the rear of thebusiness portion of the town. M. Rubempre produced his purse, which waswell stuffed with sovereigns, more for the enlightenment of the clerkwho came out when the vehicle stopped, than for the information of thedriver, to whom he paid four florins, which was just double his fare.
"Do you speak French?" asked the guest in that language.
"No, sir; not a word of it," though he understood the question.
"We must have two chambers for one, two, t'ree day."
"All right; we have two that were vacated this morning," replied theclerk, as he led the way to the office, where the Frenchman registeredhis name, and his residence as in Paris.
Christy wrote the name of Christophe Poireau, also from Paris. Then theychatted together in French for a moment, in order to impress the clerkand others who were standing near with the fact that they spoke thepolite language. They were shown to two small chambers, well up in theair, for the hotel seemed to be as full as the clerk had suggested thatit was. The blockade business made the town and the hotel very lively.
The newly arrived guests did not waste any time in their rooms, butentered at once upon the work of their mission. On the piazza theyhalted to size up the other visitors at the hotel. From this high pointof view they could see the harbor, crowded with vessels.