by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER III
A BIVOUAC NEAR FORT MORGAN
The expedition landed about two miles east of Fort Morgan. The sea wasnot heavy, as it sometimes is on these sand islands, and the debarkationwas effected without any difficulty. At this distance from the defencesof the bay not a person was to be seen. The fog banks still swept overthe waters of the gulf as during the latter part of the afternoon, andif any number of persons had been near the shore, they could hardly havebeen seen.
"We are all right so far, Mr. Graines," said Christy, as the bowmenhauled up the boat on the beach.
"It is as quiet as a tomb in this vicinity," replied the engineer, as heled the way to the shore.
"Now, my men, haul the boat out of the water. I think we need not useany of our small force as boat-keepers, for we can hardly spare them forthis purpose, Mr. Graines," Christy proceeded very promptly.
"It does not look as though the boat, or anything else, would ever bemolested in this lonely locality," replied Graines, as the men lifted itfrom the water.
"Now carry it back about half a cable from the shore," continued theprincipal of the party. "If one or two strollers should happen this way,they would not be able to put it into the water, though four men cancarry it very easily."
The whaleboat was borne to a spot indicated by the lieutenant, and leftas it had been taken from the surf. Everything in it was arranged inorder, so that it could be hastily put into the water if circumstancedemanded a hurried retreat from the scene of operations. Near the spotwas a post set up in the sand, which might have been one of the cornersof a shanty, or have been used years before by fishermen drying theirnets or other gear.
"Do you see that post, my men?" asked Christy, as he pointed to it, nottwenty feet from the spot where the boat had been deposited.
"Ay, ay, sir!" the seamen responded, in low tones, for they had beenwarned not to speak out loud.
"That will be your guide in finding the boat if we should getscattered," added the officer. "Now, do you see the two stars abouthalf way between the horizon and the zenith?"
"Ay, ay, sir!" answered Weeks, the oiler. "The Band of Orion."
"Quite right, Weeks," added Christy. "Fort Morgan lies about west ofus; and a course from there in the direction of the two stars will bringyou to the coast and the boat. Every man must act for himself to someextent, and you are expected to be prudent, and use your own judgment.It will not be safe for us to keep together, for a dozen men seen all atonce would be likely to awaken suspicion."
"If there is not a crowd of men over by the fort, we can hardly expectto avoid coming together," suggested Weeks, who proved to be a veryintelligent man, with excellent judgment.
"I cannot tell whether or not we shall find any gathering of men in thevicinity of the fort," replied Christy. "We shall be obliged to governourselves according to circumstances. If you find any number of peopleover there, you can mingle with them. Some of you are very goodscholars; but if any of you are disposed to indulge in fine talk, don'tdo it. Make your speech correspond with your dress, and let it be roughand rude, for that is the fashion among the laboring class in thisregion."
"I suppose sea-slang will not be out of order," said Weeks.
"Not at all. Simply consider that you are sailors and laborers, anddo not forget it," answered Christy; and he was confident that he hadselected only those who were competent to conduct themselves as theoccasion might require. "Now, Mr. Graines, tell off five men--any five."
The engineer called off five of the seamen, whose names he had learnedfrom the list given him by his superior officer.
"Now these five men will each choose his partner, who is to be hiscompanion while we are on shore, and who is to act with him," continuedChristy. "I do not know yet any better than you do what you are to do;but if you are called upon to do any difficult or dangerous work,remember that you are American seamen, and do your best for yourcountry. If you are required to do any fighting, as I do not expect youwill, our success depends upon your strong arms and your ready wills.You will do your whole duty, whatever it may be, and do it like trueAmerican sailors."
"Ay, ay, sir!" came in a unanimous voice from the knot of men, though insubdued tones.
"Call the first name again, Mr. Graines," added Christy.
"Weeks," replied the engineer.
"Select your man, Weeks."
"Bingham," said the oiler.
The names of the other four men who had been selected were called inturn, and each of them selected his partner, each one of course choosinghis best friend, if he had not already been appropriated.
"Now, my men, Weeks and Bingham, the first couple, to be called simply'One' when wanted, and they will answer to this designation, will startfirst. The next couple, to be called 'Two,' will follow them; and so on,the other pairs coming in order," continued Christy, designating each byname and number. "Two will start in ten or fifteen minutes after One, asnearly as you can guess at the time, for it is too dark to see watchesif you have them."
"Are we to choose our own courses?" asked Weeks.
"No; I was coming to that next. Each couple will stroll due north usnearly as he can make it out, till they come to the waters of MobileBay. If you see any houses or tents, avoid them, and keep clear of anycollection of people before you reach the vicinity of the fort. The bayis the first point you are to reach; then follow the shore to the fort.If you meet any person, talk to him in a friendly way, if necessary, andbe as good Confederates as any in this region, even inside of FortMorgan."
Weeks and Bingham took up the line of march in the direction indicated,and soon disappeared beyond the rising ground in the middle of the neckof land, which was here about three-eighths of a mile wide. A quarter ofan hour later Lane and McGrady followed them. While they were waiting,each of the pairs gave a specimen of the dialect they intended to use.McGrady was an Irishman, educated in the public schools of the North,and his language was as good as that of any ordinary American; but nowhe used a very rich brogue.
Every man followed his own fancy. Lane had lived in the South, and"mought" and "fotch" came readily to his aid. The Crackers of Florida,the backwoodsmen of North Carolina, the swaggering Kentuckian, the wildTexan, were all represented; and Christy could easily have believed hehad a company of comedians under his command, instead of a band of loyalNortherners.
The executive officer and the engineer had decided before this time tokeep together; and, as soon as they had seen the second couple depart,they set out on their wandering march to the fort in a directiondifferent from that of the others of the party. They walked directlytowards the fort, for Christy intended to make his examination of theground to the eastward of the fortification, on his way to some spotwhere he could ascertain what vessels were at anchor between the pointand the Middle Ground. He discharged this duty very faithfully; andbefore he reached his objective point he was confident he could draw amap of the region, with what information he had obtained before, whichwould meet the requirements of Captain Breaker.
"What's that?" demanded Graines, suddenly placing his hand on the arm ofhis companion, and stopping short, as they were approaching the crown ofthe elevation.
A fire was burning on the ground in a depression of the surface, whichdoubtless concealed its light from persons in the vicinity of the fort,if there were any there. Around it could be seen four men, as the twoofficers looked over the crest of the hill, who appeared to be engagedin eating and drinking; and they were doing more of the latter than ofthe former, for the bottle passed very frequently from one to another.
"It looks like a bivouac on the part of those fellows," said Christy ina low tone.
"But who and what are they?" asked Graines.
"They may be deserters from Fort Morgan, though if they were they wouldhardly bivouac so near it," replied Christy, who did not seem to hiscompanion to be at all disturbed by the discovery of the men. "They aremore likely to be sailors from some intending blockade-runner at anchoroff the point, who have c
ome on shore to make a night of it; and theyappear to have made considerable progress in the debauch."
"They are not soldiers, for you can see by the light of the fire thatthey are not dressed in uniform," added the engineer.
"This is the third year of the war, and uniforms for the soldiers arenot particularly abundant in the Confederacy."
"We can't see the waters of the bay till we reach the top of the knollyonder, and we don't know whether there are any vessels at anchor thereor not. But we can easily avoid these fellows by keeping behind theridge till we get where they cannot see us."
"I don't know that we want to avoid them, for I should like very muchto know who and what they are. They must be tipsy to a greater or lessdegree by this time, for they do twice as much drinking as eating,"answered Christy, as he advanced a little way farther up the hill. "Theyhave a basket of food, and I do not believe they are mere tramps. Theyare more likely to be engaged in some occupation which brought them tothis point, and I think we had better fraternize with them. They may beable to give us some valuable information; and it looks as though theywere drunk enough to tell all they know without making any difficultyabout it."
"Do you think it is quite prudent, Mr. Passford, to approach them?"asked the engineer.
"When we come on an excursion of this kind we have to take some risk.If I were alone I should not hesitate to join them, and take my chances,for they must know something about affairs in this vicinity," repliedChristy in a quiet tone, so that his answer might not be interpreted asa boast or a reproach to his companion.
"I am ready to follow you, Mr. Passford, wherever you go, and to dependupon your judgment for guidance," said Graines very promptly. "If itcomes to a fight with those fellows, I beg you to understand that I willdo my full share of it, and obey your orders to the letter."
"Of course I have no doubt whatever in regard to your courage and yourreadiness to do your whole duty, Mr. Graines," added Christy, as he ledthe way to the summit of the elevation. "Now lay aside your grammar andrhetoric, and we must be as good fellows as those bivouackers are makingthemselves. We are simply sailors who have just escaped from a capturedblockade-runner."
"I don't see anything around the fire that looks like muskets," said theengineer, as they descended from the elevation.
"I see nothing at all except the provision-basket and the bottles,"replied Christy.
"But they may be armed for all that."
"We must take our chances. They are so busy eating and drinking thatthey have not seen us yet. Perhaps we had better be a little hilarious,"continued the lieutenant, as he began to sing, "We won't go home tillmorning," in which he was joined by his companion as vigorously as thecircumstances would permit.
Singing as they went, and with a rolling gait, they approached therevellers.