by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER VII
A POWERFUL ALLY OF THE BELLEVITERS
The seamen of the Bellevite had listened with intense interest to theconversation between the commander of the West Wind and the lieutenant;and there was not a single one of them who did not comprehend thepurpose of the chief of the expedition. They were greatly amused at themanner in which Christy conducted himself, and especially at the mongreldialect he had used. It was a little difficult for them to realize thatthe awkward fellow who was in conversation with the skipper of theschooner was the gentlemanly, well-spoken officer they had beenaccustomed to see on the quarter-deck of the Bellevite.
They separated as they had been instructed to do; but they were carefulnot to go to any great distance from the spot, for they understood thatthey should be wanted in a few minutes. Graines had not spoken a word onthis occasion, though he had done most of the talking at the bivouac.He was ready to do his part; but the skipper had addressed his companionfirst, introducing the subject, and he had no opportunity to get in asingle word.
"I suppose you understand it all, Charley," said Christy as soon as theywere alone.
"I could not very well have helped doing so if I had tried. The onlything that bothered me was when you appeared to be betraying yourselfby alluding to the mate," replied Graines.
"I did not do that by accident; but I desired to get the whole attentionof the captain, and I got it. The rest all followed in due course. Nowtell all the men to go down to the shore, and wait a little distancefrom the two boats till you and I join them. Tell them all to be hungry.Your name is Mr. Balker, the mate of the Rattler, the blockade-runnerfrom which we escaped in a whaleboat. My name is Jerry Sandman, thesecond mate, for the want of a better. Tell them not to forget any ofthese names," continued Christy.
"They heard the whole story, and they were deeply interested in it, forthey could not help seeing what was coming," added the engineer, as hewent to carry out the order he had just received.
The seamen still kept together in pairs, and Graines instructed them bytwos, impressing them with the necessity of remembering the names theyhad heard in the lieutenant's story, which was a "story" in the doublesense of the word. As each couple received their lesson, they saunteredin the direction of the shore.
"What's going to be done, Mr. Graines?" asked French, who was one of thesecond pair the engineer instructed.
"That is none of your business, French. You are to remember the names Ihave given you, and then obey orders," replied Graines rather sharply,for it was a very unusual thing for a seaman, or even an officer, to asksuch a question of his superior; and the discipline of the Bellevite wasas exacting as it was kind and fatherly.
"Excuse me, Mr. Graines; I only wanted to be ready for whatever wascoming," pleaded French.
"Excused; but don't ask such questions. You listened to the conversationbetween your officer and the captain of the schooner; and if you cannotcomprehend the meaning of it, ask Lines, and he will explain it," addedthe engineer, "Where are Londall and Vogel?"
"Right by that pile of rubbish, sir," replied French, as he led the wayto the shore.
The last pair were instructed and sent with the others, and they askedno questions. Graines joined the lieutenant, who had seated himself on alog, and reported that all was going on right.
"As I said before, Charley, you will be the mate of the Rattler, andwill no doubt be engaged for the same position on board of the WestWind. I will ship as second mate, if one of the two men now on board ofthe vessel is not shipped as such, for I wish to be among the men," saidChristy, after looking about him to see that no one was within hearingdistance of them.
"I take it I shall not make a long voyage as mate," replied Graines.
"Probably not, though I cannot tell how long you will have to serve inthat capacity. I purpose to have the Tallahatchie tow the schooner asfar down as practicable; but we shall doubtless have business on ourhands before it is time to cut the towline. Now we will wait upon thecaptain."
They found him walking up and down the shore, apparently somewhatexcited; and doubtless he had not entire confidence in the promises of"Jerry Sandman." The six seamen had not joined Captain Sullendine on theshore, but had placed themselves behind a coal shanty quite near thewater.
"I've brought the mate down, Cap'n Sull'dine," Christy began, as he andthe engineer halted in front of the master of the schooner. "Here he is,an' I reckon there ain't no better sailor in the great Confed'racy. Thisyere is Mr. Balker."
"How are ye, Mr. Balker? You are just the man I want more'n I want mysupper. Now tell me something about yourself."
Graines invented a story suited to the occasion. Then the conversationwas about wages; and the candidate haggled for form's sake, but finallyaccepted the lay the captain offered.
"By the way, Captain Sullendine, do you happen to have a second mate?"asked the engineer when the terms were arranged.
"I had one; but he run away with Bird Riley. He wa'n't good for nothin',and I'm glad he's gone," replied the skipper.
"The man you talked with is Jerry Sandman, and he was the other mate ofthe Rattler. He isn't a showy fellow, but he was a first-class secondmate," continued Graines.
"Then I ship him as second mate;" and they arranged the wages withoutmuch difficulty.
The six seamen were promptly shipped. The whole party then embarked inthe two boats, Captain Sullendine dividing them into two parties for thepurpose. The fog had settled down very densely upon the shore; but theWest Wind was easily found, and they went on board, where one boat washoisted up to the stern davits, and the other on the port quarter.
"Here you be, Mr. Balker," said Captain Sullendine when the partyreached the quarter-deck; and he was so lively in his movements, andso glib in his speech, as to provoke the suspicion that he had imbibedagain at the conclusion of his oration on shore. "Here, you, Sopsy!"he continued in a loud voice.
A lantern was burning on the companion, which enabled the party to seethat the waist of the vessel was compactly packed with bales of cotton.The schooner seemed to be of considerable size, and Christy thought shemust be loaded with a very large cargo of the precious merchandise. Inanswer to the captain's call, Sopsy, who proved to be the negro cook ofthe vessel, presented himself.
"All these people want something to eat, Sopsy. Let the crew eat inthe deck-house for'ad, and bring a lunch into the cabin right off,"continued Captain Sullendine.
"Yis, sar," replied the cook with emphasis. "Git 'em quicker'n a man kinswaller his own head. Libes dar a man wid soul so dead"--
"Never mind the varse, Sopsy," interposed the captain.
"--As never to hisself have said"--
"Hurry up, Sopsy!"
"He don't say dat, Massa Cap'n," added the cook, as he shuffled off overthe bales of cotton.
"Hullo there, Bokes! Where are you, Bokes?" called the captain again.
"On deck, Cap'n," replied a white man, crawling out from a small openingin the bales.
"Wake up, Bokes! You ain't dead yet."
"No, sir; wide awake's a coon in a hencoop," added the man, who appearedto be one of the two left on board by the deserters, the cook being theother.
"Be alive, Bokes! Here, wait a minute!" and the captain ran down thecompanion ladder to the cabin, from which he presently appeared witha bottle in each hand. "Do you see them men on the cotton, Bokes?" heasked, pointing with one of them at the six Belleviters, who stood wherethey had taken their stations after hoisting up the quarter-boat.
"I see sunthin over thar," replied the seaman, who seemed to be hardlyawake yet.
"Them's the new crew I shipped to-night--six on 'em, or seven with thesecond mate," added the captain. "Show 'em over to the deck-house, andlet 'em pick out their bunks."
"Seven on 'em; the cook and me makes nine, and they ain't but eightberths in the deck-house, Cap'n," replied Bokes, who seemed to be afraidof losing his own sleeping quarters.
"You can sleep on the deck, then. These are all good men,
and they musthave good berths," added the captain. "You can sleep as well in thescuppers as anywhere else, Bokes; and you ain't more'n half awake anytime."
"Must have my berth, Cap'n, or I go ashore," persisted the seaman.
"Small loss anyhow," growled the captain.
"How is the cabin, Captain Sullendine?" interposed Graines.
"Two staterooms and four berths," replied the master.
"Then why can't the second mate take one of the berths in the cabin?"suggested the new mate. "He is a first-rate fellow, and I reckon he's abetter sailor than I am, for he's been to sea about all his life."
"'Tain't reg'lar to have the second mate in the cabin. He'll have t'eatwith us if he bunks there," argued the master.
"He'll have to keep his watch on deck when we eat, and I reckon he'llhave to take his grub alone," reasoned the mate.
"I'd ruther live in the deck-house with the crew," said Christy.
"But there ain't no room thar," added Graines, who thought his superiorhad made the remark simply to keep up his character.
"Let him come into the cabin, then," said Captain Sullendine, in orderto settle the question. "Now, Bokes, take this apple-jack, and show theother six to the deck-house. Give 'em one or two drinks all round. It'lldo 'em good."
Bokes obeyed the order, after the master had lighted another lantern forhis use, and he went over the bales of cotton to the seamen.
Captain Sullendine remarked with great complacency that he alwaystreated his men well, gave them enough to eat and drink, and he thoughtthe apple-jack he had sent them would do them good. He liked to beliberal with his crew, for he believed a tot of grog would go furtherwith them than "cussin' 'em;" and the two mates did not gainsay him,though they believed in neither grog nor "cussin'."
Though Christy never drank a drop of intoxicating fluid under anycircumstances, and Graines almost never, both of them believed that"apple-jack" had been a very serviceable ally during the night so far.Rut they considered it useful only in the hands of the enemy, and theywere sorry to see the bottles sent forward for the use of Belleviters;for they were afraid some of them might muddle and tangle their brainswith the fiery liquor.
"Come, mates, let's go down into the cabin now," continued the captain,descending the ladder without waiting for them.
"I will go forward for a few minutes, Charley," whispered Christy in theear of the engineer, who followed the captain below.
When the lieutenant reached the deck-house he found the men there, withBokes in the act of taking a long pull at one of the bottles, whileFrench was holding the other.
"Here's the second mate," said the seaman with the bottle.
"You can keep the bottle you have, Bokes," said Christy. "Now go aftwith it." The sleepy sailor was willing enough to obey such a welcomeorder, and the lieutenant took the other bottle to the side and emptiedit into the water. The men did not object, and the new second matejoined the master in the cabin.