by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXIX
BRINGING OUT THE PRIZE
It seemed to Christy, after he had completed his examination of theReindeer, that she carried an enormous deck-load for a steamer of hersize, and that the bales were piled altogether too high for a vesselthat was liable to encounter a heavy sea. But the cotton was where itcould be readily thrown overboard if the safety of the steamer wasthreatened by its presence. He found only the six men mentioned byStopfoot, though he had looked in every part of the vessel, even to thefire-room and the quarters of the crew and firemen.
"I find everything as you stated, Captain Stopfoot; but I should saythat you were proposing to go to sea short-handed. I did not even see aperson whom I took for the mate. Is it possible that you could get alongwithout one?" said Christy, when he met the commander at the door of thecabin.
"The truth is, that my men deserted me when they saw the two men-of-warcome into the bay, for they knew I had no adequate means of making adefence. In fact, the Reindeer was as good as captured as soon as yourtwo steamers came into the bay, for you were morally sure to find her,"replied the captain.
"But where are your men? How could they get away?" asked Christy.
"They have not got away a great distance. You could see the gangway tothe shore; and all they had to do was to land, without even the troubleof taking to a boat. They are all on the long key; and without some sortof a craft they will not be able to leave it. If you desire to spendyour time in hunting them down, I have no doubt you could find themall."
"How many of them are there on the island, Captain Stopfoot?"
"The mate, four deck-hands, and two firemen. It would not be a difficulttask for you to capture them all, for I did not look upon them asfighting material; they have crowded about all the men of that sort intothe army."
"I have no desire to find them, and they may stay on the key tilldoomsday, so far as I am concerned," replied Christy. "We don't regardthe men employed on blockade-runners as of much account. But it is timeto get under way, Captain; I have men enough to do all the work, and Ithink I have learned the channel well enough to find the way out intothe deep water of the bay."
"As I said before, Lieutenant Passford, I am willing to assist you, forI am anxious to get back among my own people, and to find a position inthe old navy. I have been master of a vessel for the last ten years, andI know the Southern coast better than most of your officers."
"No doubt you will find a place when you want one, for all competent menare taken," replied Christy, as he went to the quarter to see if theBellevite's cutter was in condition to be towed by the Reindeer.
He had left the boat in charge of Quimp, or rather he had left him in itwithout assigning any particular duty to him. He was no longer in thecutter, and the officer concluded that he had taken to the long key, andwas fraternizing with the renegades who had deserted the Reindeer. Thelong painter of the boat was taken to the stern and made fast in asuitable place, and Christy hastened to the forward part of the vesselwith six of his men, leaving a quartermaster, who was the cockswain ofthe cutter, with two others, in charge of the after part.
On his way he went into the engine-room, which opened from the maindeck, where he had before seen the two engineers, the chief of whom hadreceived him very politely. He suggested to the captain that he had madeno arrangement with these officers, and he was not quite sure that theywould be willing to do duty now that the steamer was a prize.
"There will be no trouble about them, for they are Englishmen, engagedat Nassau, and they will do duty as long as they are paid for it, asthey have no interest in the quarrel between the North and the South,"said Captain Stopfoot; and Christy could not help seeing that he wasmaking everything very comfortable for him.
"We are willing to work for whoever will pay us," added the chiefengineer, "and without asking any hard questions."
"I will see that you are paid," returned Christy. "You will attend tothe bells as usual, will you?"
"Yes, sir; we will do our duty faithfully," answered the chief.
Christy and the captain proceeded to the pilot-house, which appeared tohave been recently added to the vessel to suit the taste of her Americanowners. The naval officer stationed one of his own men at the wheel, andthen took a careful survey of the position of the steamer. He directedhis crew to cast off the fasts.
"Is there a United States flag on board of this craft, CaptainStopfoot?" asked Christy.
"To be sure there is, Lieutenant," said the captain with a laugh; "but Ido not get much chance to get under its folds."
"Of course you have Confederate flags in abundance?"
"Enough of them," replied the commander, as he drew forth from asignal-box the flags required. "What do you intend to do with these?"
"I intend to hoist the United States flag over the Confederate to showthat this steamer is a prize, otherwise the Bellevite might put a shotthrough her as soon as she shows herself outside of the key," repliedChristy.
"A wise precaution," added Captain Stopfoot.
The naval officer rang one bell as one of his men reported to him thatthe fasts had been cast off, and that all was clear. The grating soundof the engine was immediately heard, with the splash of the paddlewheels. Very slowly the Reindeer began to move forward. Christy had verycarefully noted the bearings of the channel by which the steamer mustpass out into the deep water of the bay, and the instructions which thecaptain volunteered to give him were not necessary.
"I suppose I am as really a Northern man in principle as you are, Mr.Passford," said the captain, as the steamer crept very cautiouslythrough the pass between the keys.
"If you are, you have taken a different way to show it," repliedChristy, glancing at the speaker.
"But the circumstances have compelled me to remain in the service of mySouthern employer until the present time, and this promises to be thefirst favorable opportunity to escape from it that has been presented tome," Captain Stopfoot explained.
"You have been to Nassau a number of times, I judge; and it was possiblefor you to abandon your employment any time you pleased," suggested thenaval officer.
"It was not so easy a matter as you seem to think; for there were noNorthern vessels there in which I could take passage to New York, or anyother loyal port.
"Mr. Groomer, the mate of the Reindeer, is part owner of her, though heis not competent to navigate a vessel at sea, and he kept close watch ofme all the time, on shore as well as on board."
"But I understand that Mr. Groomer, the mate, has deserted you, and goneon shore with the others of your ship's company," added Christy, ratherperplexed at the situation indicated by the captain.
"What else could he do?"
"What else could you do? and why did you not abandon the steamer when hedid so? If one of the owners would not stand by the vessel, why did youdo so?"
"I have told you before why I did not: because I wish to get back to myfriends in the North, and find a place in the old navy, which would bemore congenial to me than selling cotton for the benefit of theConfederacy," replied Captain Stopfoot with considerable energy.
The explanation seemed to be a reasonable one, and Christy could notgainsay it, though he was not entirely satisfied with the declarationsof the commander. He admitted that he regarded the Reindeer as good ascaptured when he saw the Bellevite and Bronx come into the bay; and hecould easily have escaped in a boat to one of the gunboats after thewatchful mate "took to the woods," as he had literally done, for the keywas partly covered with small trees.
"And a quarter two!" reported the leadsman who had been stationed on theforecastle.
"The water don't seem to vary here," added Christy.
"No, for the owners had done some dredging in this channel; in fact,there was hardly anything like a channel here when they began the work,"replied Captain Stopfoot. "To which of the steamers do you belong, Mr.Passford?"
"To the Bellevite, the one which lies below the long key. The other hasgone up the bay."
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nbsp; "She has gone on a fruitless errand, for there is not another vesselloading in these waters," said the captain. "I suppose you will reporton board of the Bellevite, Mr. Passford?"
"Of course I shall not leave the Reindeer without an order from thecommander of the ship," replied the lieutenant.
"And a half two!" shouted the leadsman.
"The channel deepens," said Christy.
"You will be in deep water in five minutes."
On this report Christy rang four bells, and the Reindeer went ahead atfull speed.
"By the mark three!" called the man at the lead.
The water was deepening rapidly, and presently the report of three and ahalf fathoms came from the forecastle. It was soon followed by "And ahalf four," upon which the lieutenant directed the wheelman to steerdirectly for the Bellevite. He had hardly given the order before thereport of heavy firing from the upper waters of the bay came to his ear.
"What can that be?" he asked, looking at Captain Stopfoot.
"I don't know; but I suppose that the gunboat which went up the bay isfiring at some battery she has discovered. They have strengthened theworks in that direction which defend the town, since the only one therewas silenced by one of your gunboats," the captain explained.
The guns were heard on board of the Bellevite, and she began to move upthe bay as though she intended to proceed to the assistance of herconsort. Mr. Blowitt in the first cutter had followed the Bronx, and thethird cutter, in charge of Mr. Lobscott, had gone over to Piney Point,to which there was a channel with from three to five fathoms of water,and which seemed to be a favorable place to load a vessel with cotton.
As the Reindeer approached the Bellevite, the latter stopped her screw,and Christy directed the wheelman to run the steamer alongside, andwithin twenty or thirty feet of her. There was no sea in the bay, andthere was no danger in doing so. As the Reindeer approached the positionindicated, two bells were struck to stop her. The flags that had beenhoisted on board, informed Captain Breaker of the capture of thesteamer, so that no report was necessary.
"I have to report the capture of the Reindeer, loaded with cotton, andready to sail for Nassau," said Christy, mounting one of the high pilesof cotton bales, and saluting the commander of the Bellevite, who hadtaken his place on the rail to see the prize.
"Do you know the cause of the firing up the bay, Mr. Passford?" askedCaptain Breaker.
"I do not, Captain; but I learn that the battery below the town has beenstrengthened, and I should judge that the Bronx had engaged it."
"Have you men enough to hold your prize, Mr. Passford?"
"I think I have, Captain."
"You will go down the bay, and anchor outside of Egmont Key."
Christy rang one bell, and then four.