by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXI
A QUESTION OF NEUTRALITY
Even before he heard the voice of his savage enemy, Christy Passfordrealized that he had fallen into the hands of the commander of theSnapper. He was placed on the back seat of the carriage, with a pair ofhandcuffs on his wrists, and a handkerchief in his mouth to do duty as agag. Captain Flanger was at his side, with two other men on the frontseat, and one on the box with the driver. Against these four men he waspowerless to make any resistance while he was in irons.
The carriage was drawn by two horses, and was considerably larger thanthe ordinary victoria used in the town. It was quite dark, and thoughthe streets were flanked with many houses, hardly a person appeared tobe stirring at this hour. But a vehicle loaded down with the roughvisitors of the place could not be an unusual sight, for they were thekind of people who were disposed to make the night hideous, as well asthe day.
Christy had struggled with all his might to shake off the ruffians whobeset him, and two more had come out from their concealment when hethought he was making some progress in freeing himself from their grasp.As soon as his wrists were ironed he realized that resistance wasuseless, and that it could only increase his discomfort. It was aterrible calamity to have fallen into the power of a man so brutal andunscrupulous as Captain Flanger, bent upon revenging himself for themutilation of his most prominent facial member. He was certainlydisfigured for life, though the wound made by the ball from the revolverhad healed; but it was an ill-looking member, and he appeared to beconscious of his facial deformity all the time.
The men in the carriage said nothing, and Christy way unable to speak.They seemed to be afraid of attracting the attention of the fewpassers-by in the streets, and of betraying the nature of the outrage inwhich they were engaged. The streets in the more frequented parts of thetown were crowded with men, as the victim had been able to see, and hehoped that they would come across some large collection of people. Inthat case he decided to make a demonstration that would attract theattention of the police, if nothing more.
He had no idea of the location of Fort Montague, to which the man on thebox had been ordered to drive them. The direction was to a beach nearthe fort; and he had no doubt there would be a boat there in readinessto convey him to the Snapper. But the farther the carriage proceeded,the less frequented the streets became. He found no opportunity to makehis intended demonstration. His only hope now was that Mr. Gilfleur, whomust have been in the vicinity of the hotel, had witnessed the outrage,and would interfere, as he had done on Bay Street, and save him from thefate that was in store for him.
In a rather lonely place Christy discovered the outline in the darknessof what looked like a fort. At the same moment he heard the distantstroke of some public clock, striking nine o'clock. This was the timeappointed for the meeting with the detective, and he had been at theplace a quarter of an hour before, which fully explained why thedetective had not been there; and probably he had been in his room. Thisconclusion seemed to cut off all hope that he had witnessed the attackupon him.
The carriage stopped at the beach below the fort. It was thebathing-place for the town, and at this hour it was entirely deserted.The person on the box with the driver was the first to alight, and heran down to the water. He returned in a few minutes to the carriage, theother ruffians retaining their places.
"The boat is not here yet, but it is coming," said this man, reportingto the captain.
"All right; I told the mate to be here at nine o'clock, and it has juststruck that hour," replied Flanger. "Go down to the water, driver."
The vehicle moved down to the water's edge and stopped again. At thesame time the boat grated on the sand, and came to a halt a few feetfrom the dry ground.
"We are all right now," said the person who had been with the driver onthe box; and this time Christy recognized his voice as that of PercyPierson.
He had not mistaken or misjudged him. He had not been able to understandwhy the young man should befriend him, and it was clear enough now,if it had not been before, that his gratitude towards him was a merepretence. Captain Passford, senior desired to get rid of him, and hadput him on board of the schooner for this reason only.
"Captain Passford, we meet again, as I was sure we should when we partedin Nassau to-day," said the commander of the Snapper. "Now, if you willtake the trouble to get out of the carriage, we shall be able to makeyou comfortable before we have done with you."
Christy attempted to speak; but the gag prevented him from articulating,and he could not breathe as freely as usual. The captain drew thehandkerchief from his mouth, for there was no one within a long distanceof the spot to aid the prisoner if he had called for help. The victimhad fully determined to resign himself to his fate, and make the best ofthe situation until an opportunity offered to effect his escape, thoughhe greatly feared that such an opportunity would not be presented.
"Thank you, Captain Flanger; I am much obliged to you for giving me abetter chance to breathe, though I suppose you are not very anxious thatI should continue to breathe," replied Christy, assuming a degree ofgood nature which had no substantial foundation in reality. "On thecontrary, I dare say you intend to stop my breathing altogether as soonas you find it convenient to do so."
"Not so; you can do all the breathing you want to, and I won't interfereas long as you behave yourself," replied Captain Flanger in a morecivilized tone than his victim had heard him use before.
"But to-day noon you swore that you would kill me," added the prisoner,much surprised at the change in the manner of the ruffian since they hadmet on the sidewalk.
"I have altered my mind," replied the captain, leaving Christy in thehands of his companions, and walking down to the boat, where the two menin it seemed to be trying to find deeper water, so as to bring it nearerto the shore.
"Well, how do you find yourself, Christy?" asked Percy, placing himselfin front of him.
"I haven't lost myself so far, and I am as comfortable as could beexpected under the circumstances," answered Christy, whose pride wouldnot permit him to show that he was overcome or cast down by themisfortune which had overtaken him.
"You did not come to the public wharf as you promised to do at half-pastfour o'clock this afternoon," Percy proceeded.
"I did not; David sailed me off to the sea-gardens, and we did not getback to the town in season for me to keep the appointment."
"Then you intended to keep it?"
"I did not say so."
"I had the idea you were a fellow that kept all the promises he made,even if it hurt him to do so."
"Do you think you would have kept your promise to have Captain Flangerland me at Key West, if I had been weak enough to go on board of hissteamer?" demanded Christy.
"You are fighting on one side, and I am fighting on the other, Christy;and I suppose either of us is justified in lying and breaking hispromises in the service of his country."
"You are fighting on your side at a very convenient distance from thebattle-ground, Percy."
"I am fighting here because I can render the best service to my countryin this particular place," replied the young Southerner with spirit."I am sure I could not do anything better for my country than send youback to the Confederate prison from which you escaped."
"Even if you violate the neutrality of the place," suggested Christy."The British government was ready to declare war against the UnitedStates when a couple of Confederate commissioners were taken out of anEnglish steamer by a man-of-war. Do you suppose that when this outrageis known, England will not demand reparation, even to the restoring ofthe victim to his original position on this island? I hope you haveconsidered the consequences of this violation of the neutrality of theplace."
"I don't bother my head about matters of that sort. I have talked aboutit with my father, and I think he understands himself," replied Percyvery flippantly.
"I don't think he does. I have the same rights in Nassau that you andyour father possess. You are carrying on the war
on neutral ground; andno nation would permit that."
"I am no lawyer, Christy. I only know that you have done a great deal ofmischief to our cause in the Gulf, as set forth in the letters of youruncle to my father."
"But I have fought my battles in the enemy's country, or on the opensea; and I have not done it while skulking under a neutral flag,"replied the naval officer, with quite as much spirit as his adversary inthe debate. "You and Captain Flanger, with the co-operation of yourfather, it appears, are engaged in a flagrant outrage against thesovereignty of England."
"My father has nothing to do with it; I will take back what I said abouthim," added Percy, evidently alarmed at the strength of the argumentagainst him.
"You told me that you had talked with your father about the case."
"But I withdraw that statement; he knows nothing about it."
"You make two diametrically opposite statements; and I am justified inaccepting the one that suits me best as the truth. If Captain Flangerdoes not hang me to the yard-arm as soon as he gets me into blue water,I shall make my complaint to the United States government as soon as Ihave an opportunity to do so; and I have no doubt you and your fatherwill have permission to leave Nassau, never to return."
Percy was silent, and appeared to be in deep thought. Captain Flangerhad returned to the spot from the boat, and had listened to the lastpart of the discussion.
"Captain Flanger understands enough of international law to see that Iam right," continued Christy, when Percy made no reply.
"The people here treat us very handsomely, my little larky," saidCaptain Flanger, with a coarse laugh. "I am not to be scared out of mygame by any such bugbears as you talk about. But I am willing to saythis, my little rooster: I have no intention to hang you to theyard-arm, as you hinted that I might."
"At noon to-day you swore that you would kill me."
"I have altered my mind, as I told you before," growled the commander ofthe Snapper, with very ill grace, as though he was ashamed because hehad abandoned his purpose to commit a murder. "I am not what you call atemperance man; and when I get ashore, and in good company, I sometimestake a little more good whiskey than it is prudent; but I don't drinkanything on board of my ship. To cut it short, I was a little too muchin the wind when I said I was going to kill you. I am sober now."
"I think you must be able to see what the consequences of murdering aperson captured on British soil would be, Captain Flanger," suggestedChristy.
"As I have told you twice before, I do not intend to murder you," saidthe captain angrily. "I am going to put you back in the prison fromwhich you escaped; that's all. No more talk; take him to the boat."
The two men at Christy's side marched him down to the boat, and seatedhim in the stern. The rest of the party took places, and shoved off. Inhalf an hour the boat was alongside the Snapper.