A Victorious Union

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER XII

  A LIVELY CHASE TO THE SOUTH-WEST

  Captain Breaker had been in the main rigging with his night-glass,watching the movements of the chase; but he recognized the voice ofChristy when he shouted to French to pick up the quarter-boat of theschooner, as he could no longer make out the Tallahatchie in the fog.

  "Good-morning, Mr. Passford," said he, as he met Christy when hedescended from the rail. "I am glad to see you again."

  "Good-morning, Captain Breaker," replied the lieutenant, as he took theoffered hand of the commander. "I hope all is well on board, sir."

  "Entirely well, and your messenger came on board in good time, so thatwe were in position to get the first sight of the Trafalgar when sheshowed herself off Sand Island Lighthouse," replied the captain, as heled the way to his cabin. "Mr. Ballard, keep a sharp lookout for thechase," he added to the acting executive officer.

  "Will you allow me to put on my uniform, Captain?" asked Christy."I don't feel quite at home on board the ship in the rigout I have wornall night."

  "Certainly; for I do not wish you to show yourself to the ship's companywhile you look so little like a naval officer," replied the captain, ashe went to take another look at the darkness ahead.

  The lieutenant hastened to his stateroom, and in a very short time hehad washed off the smut from his face and hands, and dressed himself inhis uniform, so that he looked like quite another person, Graines hadgone to his room in the steerage for the same purpose, for neither ofthem desired to show himself as he had appeared before CaptainSullendine.

  Christy hurried to the deck as soon as he had made the change, and metthe commander on the quarter-deck. Lookouts were stationed aloft and onthe top-gallant forecastle, and all hands were in a state of healthyexcitement in view of the stirring event which was likely to transpirebefore the lapse of many hours; and doubtless some of the men were movedby the prospect of prize-money, not only from the proceeds of the saleof the steamer they were chasing, but from the full freight of cotton onboard of the schooner, the deck load of which had been noted by some ofthe crew.

  The schooner which had come so close aboard of the Bellevite was amystery to all, from the captain down to the humblest seaman; but theAmerican ensign over the Confederate flag had been observed by a few,and this settled her status. Not more than half of the seamen were awarethat an expedition had left the ship at ten o'clock the evening before,and they had had no opportunity to notice the absence of the executiveofficer during the night; and even yet all hands had not been called,for the regular watch was enough to get the ship under way.

  The commander conducted the executive officer to his own cabin, againreminding Mr. Ballard to keep a sharp lookout for the chase. Christyfelt like himself again in his neat uniform, and his vigorous and wellknit, as well as graceful form, did more to show off the dress than thedress did to adorn his person.

  "I am very glad to see you again, Christy," said Captain Breaker,seating himself and pointing to an arm-chair for the lieutenant, whilehe came down from the stately dignity of the commander of a man-of-warto the familiarity with which he treated his chief officer when theywere alone. "I had no doubt that you would give a good account ofyourself, as you always do. You were going on the enemy's territory, andyou were in peril all the time. Now you come off in a schooner, whichappears to be loaded with cotton, and how or where you picked her up isa mystery to me;" and the commander indulged in a laugh at the oddity ofthe young officer's reappearance. "Your messenger reported that theTrafalgar would sail at three o'clock in the morning, and I judge thatshe left at about that hour."

  "Within ten minutes of it, and probably made an arrangement with thecommandant of the fort to that effect," added Christy. "But they do notcall her the Trafalgar now; though Weeks was not aware of the fact whenI sent him on board. She is now the Tallahatchie, though I noticed thatsome in the vicinity of the fort still called her by her old name."

  "Never mind the name; she will answer our purpose as well under oneappellation as another. When I asked your messenger about you and theother six men of your party, he was unable to give me any informationin regard to your movements; and he could not tell me how you hadascertained the hour at which the steamer was to sail," continued thecaptain.

  "Graines and myself separated from the party as soon as we landed on thepoint; and we had obtained our information before we joined them againon the shore of Mobile Bay, sir. At the same time we had learned allabout the West Wind"--

  "The what?" interposed the commander.

  "I mean the schooner West Wind, the one from which we came on board ofthe Bellevite, which was to be towed out by the Tallahatchie, and whichwas towed out by her till we on board of her cast off the towline."

  "Perhaps you had better narrate the events of your expedition_seriatim_, for all you say in this disconnected manner only thickensthe mystery," said the commander: and he knew that his officer had anexcellent command of the English language, and could make a verbalreport in a very attractive and telling style, though perhaps hisfatherly interest in the young man had something to do with the matter.

  Christy began his narrative with the departure from the ship, passinglightly over the minor details till he came to the meeting with thedeserters from the West Wind, bivouacking in the hollow. He describedthe drinking bout which followed, in which he and Graines had pretendedto join, stating the information he had obtained from them. He rehearseda portion of Captain Sullendine's speech, adding that most of hisauditors were the seamen from the Bellevite, though he had sent fourof them back to the ship before he reached the shore.

  He detailed his interview with the master of the West Wind, explaininghow he had shipped the new crew with him. The scenes in the cabin weredescribed in full; in fact, every incident of any importance which hadtranspired during the night was related. The commander was deeplyinterested, and listened without comment to the narrative up to themoment when the narrator had come on board of the Bellevite. He was notsparing in his praise of the engineer, and separated what he had saidand done as far as he could from his own words and actions.

  The commander then questioned him in regard to the armament of theTallahatchie, and he repeated the meagre information he had obtainedfrom Bokes. Some conversation concerning Armstrong guns followed; butboth of them were well posted in regard to this long-range piece.Christy read the satisfaction with which the captain heard hisstatements on his face.

  A knock at the door of the cabin disturbed the conference, and thelieutenant was directed to open the door. The shaking and straining ofthe ship had for some time indicated that Paul Vapoor was fully alive tothe importance of getting the Bellevite's best speed out of her on thepresent occasion; and he did not intrust the duty to his subordinates.Christy opened the cabin door, and Midshipman Walters asked for thecommander, and was admitted.

  "Mr. Ballard directs me to inform you, sir, that we are gaining on thechase," said the young officer. "The fog has lifted again, and we canmake her out very clearly. The Holyoke has abandoned the chase, andappears to be headed for the schooner that came to on the starboardof the ship."

  "Tell Mr. Ballard to keep the ship as she is, headed for theTallahatchie," replied Captain Breaker.

  "The Tallahatchie, sir?" queried the midshipman.

  "Formerly the Trafalgar," added the commander.

  The young officer touched his cap and retired.

  "This Captain Sullendine is still secured in his stateroom on board ofthe West Wind, is he?" asked the captain, rising from his arm-chair.

  "He was when I left the schooner, sir," replied Christy. "French, thecaptain of the forecastle, is in charge of the vessel, with orders toanchor her a couple of miles to the eastward of the lighthouse. I havealready commended French to your attention, Captain, as a faithful andreliable man, and I think he deserves promotion."

  "Your recommendation will go a great way to procure it for him," addedthe commander with a significant smile.

  "He is a thorough
seaman, has been the mate of a large coaster, andwould have become master of her if his patriotic duty had not led himto ship in the navy."

  "He is a resolute and brave fellow in action, as I have had occasion toobserve, and I shall remember him. When you are writing to your fatherit would be well for you to mention him; and the thing will be done atyour request if not at mine."

  "It certainly would not be done without your indorsement, for my fatherwill not indulge in any favoritism aside from real merit," protested thelieutenant, with some warmth.

  "You are quite right, Christy. We must go on deck now," added CaptainBreaker, as he moved towards the door. "You have been up all night, myboy; it will be some hours before we come within reach of the chase, andyou can turn in and get a little sleep before anything stirring takesplace on board."

  The excitement which had animated the young officer during the nighthad subsided with the rendering of his report, and the responsibilityof a command no longer rested upon him, and for the first time since heembarked in the whaleboat, he began to feel tired and sleepy. He went ondeck with the commander, and took a survey, first of the chase, then ofthe Holyoke, and finally of the West Wind.

  Captain Breaker thought the Tallahatchie was about five miles distant.Seen through the glass, for the fog had all blown away, and the daylighthad begun to obscure the stars, the steamer seemed to be doing her best.The Holyoke was headed to the eastward, evidently intending to chase theWest Wind, for she could not yet make out her flags, indicating that shewas already a prize. She need not have troubled herself to pursue theschooner if she had known the facts in regard to her, for she wasentitled to a share of the prize as a member of the blockading fleet atthe time of her capture. But she could prevent her from being retaken byany boat expedition sent from the shore, as her lonely position wherethe Bellevite had been for several days might tempt some enterprisingConfederate officer to do.

  Although the last heaving of the log showed twenty knots, it was a quiettime of the deck of the Bellevite, and all the excitement on board wasconfined to the engine and fire rooms. With sundry gapes Christy hadtaken in the situation, and then he concluded to avail himself of thecommander's permission to retire to his stateroom, where he was soon ina sound slumber.

  Just before, Captain Breaker had retired to his cabin, where he had achart of the Gulf of Mexico spread out on his table. Assuming the pointwhere the Tallahatchie had changed her course to the south-west, he drewa line in that direction, and realized that the chase could not go clearof the Passes of the Mississippi River; and she was likely to sight someFederal steamer in that locality.

  As the daylight increased the weather improved so far as the fog wasconcerned and it promised to be a clear day, for the stars had notbeen obscured at any time during the night. The only alternative thecommander could see for the chase, as he studied the chart, was to goto the southward before he could sight the Pass a l'Outre. He was soconfident that this must be his course, that he decided to takeadvantage of the situation, and he went on deck at once, where heordered the officer of the deck to make the course south south-west.