by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXX
A VERY IMPORTANT SERVICE
The Reindeer went ahead at full speed, while the Bellevite stood up thebay, picking up the crew of Mr. Blowitt's boat on the way, evidentlywith the intention of taking part in the action which the Bronx hadinitiated. The loud reports at intervals indicated that the Bronx wasusing her big midship gun, while the feebler sounds proved that themetal of the battery was much lighter. The prize was not a fast steamer,and she was over an hour in making the dozen miles to Egmont Island, onwhich was the tower of a lighthouse forty feet high, but no use was madeof it at that time.
The Bellevite proceeded very slowly, sounding all the time; but at theend of half an hour the Reindeer was at least ten miles from her, whichwas practically out of sight and hearing. About this time Christyobserved that Captain Stopfoot left the pilot-house, where he hadremained from the first; but he paid no attention to him. He had threemen on the quarter-deck of the steamer, one in the pilot-house with him,and five more in other parts of the vessel.
Christy knew the channel to the south of the lighthouse, and pilotedthe steamer to a point about half a mile to the westward of the island.He was looking through one of the forward windows of the pilot-house,selecting a proper place to come to anchor, in accordance with theorders of Captain Breaker. While he was so engaged he heard some sort ofa disturbance in the after part of the steamer.
"On deck there!" he called sharply; and the five men who had beenstationed in this part of the steamer stood up before him, jumping upfrom the beds they had made for themselves on the cotton bales, orrushing out from behind them. "Hopkins and White, go aft and ascertainthe cause of that disturbance," he added.
The two men promptly obeyed the order, and the naval officer directedthe other three to stand by to anchor the steamer. In a few minutes theanchor was ready to let go. Perhaps a quarter of an hour had elapsed,when Christy began to wonder what had become of the two men he had sentaft to report on the disturbance.
"Linman," he called to one of the three men on the forecastle, "go aftand see what has become of Hopkins and White."
Linman proceeded to obey the order, but had not been gone twentyseconds, before the noise of another disturbance came to Christy's ears,and this time it sounded very much like a scuffle. Up to this moment,and even since Captain Stopfoot had left the pilot-house, Christy hadnot suspected that anything on board was wrong. The sounds that camefrom the after part of the vessel excited his suspicions, though theydid not assure him that the ship's company of the steamer were engagedin anything like a revolt.
"Follow me, Bench and Kingman!" he shouted to the two men that remainedon the forecastle. "Strike two bells, Landers," he added to thewheelman.
Christy had drawn the cutlass he carried in his belt, and was ready,with the assistance of the two men he had called, to put down anyinsubordination that might have been manifested by the ship's company ofthe prize. He would have been willing to admit, if he had given thematter any attention at that moment, that it was the natural right ofthe captured captain and his men to regain possession of their personsand property by force and violence; but he was determined to make itdangerous for them to do so.
"On the forecastle, sir!" exclaimed Landers, the wheelman.
Christy had put his hand upon the door of the pilot-house to open it asthe two men were moving aft; but he looked out the window at theexclamation of the wheelman. The cotton bales seemed to have becomealive all at once, for half a dozen of them rolled over like a spanieljust out of the water, and four men leaped out from under them, or fromapertures which had been formed beneath them.
"His assailant put his arms around him and hugged him like a bear." Page 339.]
Bench and Kingman seemed to be bewildered, and both of them were throwndown by the movement of the bales. The four men who had so suddenlyappeared sprang upon them, and almost in the twinkling of an eye hadtied their hands behind them. Christy drew one of the revolvers from hisbelt; but he did not fire, for he was as likely to hit his own men astheir assailants. The victors in the struggle dragged the two men intothe forecastle, and disappeared themselves.
Christy was almost confounded by the suddenness of the attack; but hedid not give up the battle, for he had at least six men in the afterpart of the steamer. Bidding Landers draw his cutlass and follow him, herushed out at the door he had before opened. He could not see anythingaft but the walls of cotton bales, with a narrow passage between themand the bulwarks. He moved aft with his eyes wide open; but he had notgone ten feet before a man dropped down upon him from the top of thedeck-load with so much force as to carry him down to the planks.
His assailant put his arms around him and hugged him like a bear, sothat he could neither use his cutlass nor his revolvers. At the samemoment another man dropped down on Landers in like manner. It wasimpossible to resist an attack made from overhead, where it was leastexpected, and when they were taken by surprise. Christy was a prisoner,and his hands were bound behind him.
At this moment Captain Stopfoot presented himself before theprize-master, his face covered with smiles, and nervous from the excessof his joy at the recapture of the Reindeer. Christy could not see whathad become of the rest of his men. He knew that three of them had beensecured, but he did not know what had become of the other six, and hehad some hope that they had escaped their assailants, and were incondition to render him needed assistance, for it seemed impossible thatall of them could have been overcome.
In spite of his chagrin and mortification, Christy could not help seeingthat the affair on the part of Captain Stopfoot had been well managed,and that the author of the plot was smart enough to be a Yankee, whetherhe was one or not. It was evident enough now that the mate and the restof the crew had not "taken to the woods," but had been concealed in suchdens as could be easily made among the cotton bales.
"I hope you are not very uncomfortable, Mr. Passford," said CaptainStopfoot, as he presented his smiling face before his late captor.
"Physically, I am not very uncomfortable, in spite of these bonds; butotherwise, I must say that I am. I am willing to acknowledge that it isa bad scrape for me," replied Christy as good-naturedly as possible, forhis pride would not allow him to let the enemy triumph over him.
"That would not be at all unnatural, and I think it is a very bad scrapefor a naval officer of your high reputation to get into," added thecaptain. "But I desire to say, Mr. Passford, that I have no ill-willtowards you, and it will not be convenient for me to send you to aConfederate prison, important as such a service would be to our cause."
"I judge that you are not as anxious as you were to get into the oldnavy," added Christy.
"I confess that I am not, and that I should very much prefer to obtain agood position in the Confederate navy. I hope you will excuse the littlefictions in which I indulged for your amusement. I was born in the veryheart of the State of Alabama, and never saw Long Island in all mylife," continued the captain. "By the way, my mate is not part owner ofthe Reindeer, though he is just as faithful to her interests as thoughhe owned the whole of her; and it was he that pounced down upon you atthe right moment. I assure you he is a very good fellow, and I hope youwill not have any grudge against him."
"Not the least in the world, Captain Stopfoot," replied Christy.
"I hope I shall not be obliged to detain you long, Mr. Passford; and Ishall not unless one of your gunboats chases me. I shall endeavor to putyou and your men on shore at the Gasparilla Pass, where you can hail oneof the gunboats as it comes along in pursuit of the Reindeer, though Ihope they will not sail for this purpose before night."
"The Bellevite is not likely to discover the absence of the prize atpresent, for she will have to remain up the bay over one tide," said themate.
"That is what I was calculating upon," added the captain. "Now, Mr.Passford, I shall be compelled to take my leave of you, for we have tostow the cotton over again before we go to sea. I am exceedingly obligedto you for the very valuable service you h
ave rendered me."
"I was not aware that I had rendered you any service," replied Christy,wondering what he could mean.
"You are not? Then your perception is not as clear as I supposed it was.When it was reported to me that two gunboats were coming into the bay Iconsidered the Reindeer as good as captured, as I have hinted to youbefore. My cargo will bring a fortune in Nassau, and I am half owner ofthe steamer and her cargo, if Mr. Groomer, the mate, is not. I wasalmost in despair, for I could not afford to lose my vessel and hervaluable cargo. I considered myself utterly ruined. But just then I gotan idea, and I came to a prompt decision;" and the captain paused.
"And what was that decision?" asked Christy curiously.
"When I saw your boat coming, for I was on the long key, I determinedthat you should bring the Reindeer out into the Gulf, and save me alltrouble and anxiety in regard to her, and I knew that you could do it agreat deal better than I could. Wherefore I am extremely grateful to youfor this very important service," said Captain Stopfoot, bowing verypolitely. "But I am compelled to leave you now to your own pleasantreflections. Mr. Passford, I shall ask you and your men to takepossession of the cabin, and not show yourselves on deck; and you willpardon me if I lock the door upon you."
The captive officer followed the captain aft to the door of the cabin.On a bale of cotton he saw the cutlasses and revolvers which had beentaken from him and his men, which had apparently been thrown in a heapwhere they happened to hit, and had been forgotten. Seated on the cottonhe found all his men, with their hands tied behind them. CaptainStopfoot opened the cabin door, and directed his prisoners to enter.
"Excuse me for leaving you so abruptly, Mr. Passford," continued thecaptain while he was feeling in his pocket for the key of the door. "Itlooks as though it were going to blow before night, and I must get readyfor it. Besides, the Bellevite may return on the present tide, and I aminformed that she is a very fast sailer, as the Reindeer is not, and Imust make the most of my opportunity; but when my fortune is made out ofmy present cargo, I shall owe it largely to you. Adieu for the present."
Captain Stopfoot left the cabin, locking the door behind him. The handsof the prisoners, ten in number, were tied behind them with ropes, forprobably the steamer was not provided with handcuffs. Christy examinedhis men in regard to the manner in which they had been overcome. Thethree men who had been left near the cabin door had been overthrown bythose who jumped down upon them when they were separated, one at thestern, one on the bales, watching the Bellevite in the distance, and thethird asleep on a cotton bale. The lieutenant had seen the rest of theenterprise.
"This thing is not going to last long, my men," said Christy, whorealized that he should never be able to stand up under the obloquy ofhaving brought out a blockade-runner for the enemy.
He caused the hands to march in front of him till he found one who hadbeen carelessly bound. He backed this one up in the rear of Calwood, thequartermaster, and made him untie the line, which he could do with hisfingers, though his wrists were bound. It was not the work of threeminutes to unbind the rest of them.
Christy broke a pane of glass in the door, and unlocked it with the keythe captain had left in the keyhole.