by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XVII
A MAGNANIMOUS ENEMY
It had not occurred to Christy Passford before Captain Rombold mentionedit that his daring exploit had in any especial manner assisted in thefinal and glorious result of the action. He was confident that, if hehad not unmasked the plan of the Confederate commander, Captain Breakerwould have discovered it, and perhaps had already done so when, withoutany order, he had impetuously leaped over the rail, followed by aportion of the second division, urged forward by lieutenant Walbrook,to capture the gun before it could be discharged.
He realized, as the thought flashed through his brain like a bolt oflightning, that the Confederate commander's scheme must be counteractedon the instant, or Captain Breaker might give the command to board, forwhich the impatient seamen on his deck were waiting. He had accomplishedhis purpose in a few seconds; and the enemy's force, huddled together onthe starboard side, were suddenly piled up in a heap on the planks,weltering in their gore, and a large proportion of them killed.
Captain Rombold was standing abreast of the stump of his mizzen mastobserving the whole affair, and he had a better opportunity to observeit than any other person on the deck of either ship. He had ordered uphis men to receive the boarders on the quarter-deck when the gun wasdischarged, and before he believed it could be done. Christy had only toreverse the direction of the carriage, hastily sight the piece, and pullthe lanyard. The missiles with which the thirty-pounder was loaded cutdown the advancing column, rushing to obey their commander's order, andthen carried death and destruction into the crowd of seamen in theirrear.
"Good Heavens, Mr. Passford!" exclaimed the Confederate commander,rising with difficulty from his seat. "You are badly wounded!"
"Not badly, Captain Rombold," replied the young officer, gathering uphis remaining strength, and resting his right arm upon the planks.
"But my dear fellow, you are bleeding to death, and the blood is runningin a stream from the ends of the fingers on your left hand!" continuedthe Confederate commander, apparently as full of sympathy and kindnessas though the sufferer had been one of his own officers. "Gill!" hecalled to his steward, who was assisting in the removal of the injuredseamen. "My compliments to Dr. Davidson, and ask him to come on deckinstantly."
Christy had hardly noticed the ball which passed through the fleshy partof his arm above the elbow at the time it struck him. While he kept thewounded member raised the blood was absorbed by his clothing. It hadbeen painful from the first; but the degree of fortitude with which awounded person in battle endures suffering amounting to agony is almostincredible. So many had been killed, and so many had lost legs and armson both sides, that it seemed weak and pusillanimous to complain, oreven mention what he regarded as only a slight wound.
"This is the executive officer of the Bellevite, Dr. Davidson," saidCaptain Rombold when the surgeon appeared, not three minutes after hehad been sent for. "But he is a gentleman in every sense of the word,and the bravest of the brave. It was he who defeated my scheme; but Iadmire and respect him. Attend to him at once, doctor."
"If he saved the day for the Yankees, it is a pity that his woundhad not killed him," added the surgeon, with a pleasant smile on hishandsome face. "But that is taking the patriotic rather than the humaneview of his case."
"It would have been better for us, and especially for me, if he had beenkilled; but I am sincerely glad that he was not," added the commander.
"Thank you, Captain Rombold," said Christy. "You are the mostmagnanimous of enemies, and it is a pleasure to fight such men as youare."
"Good-morning, Mr. Passford," continued Dr. Davidson, as he took theright hand of the patient. "I like to serve a brave man, on whicheverside he fights, when the action is finished."
"You are very kind, doctor," added Christy faintly.
With the assistance of Gill, the surgeon removed the coat of thelieutenant, and tore off the shirt from the wounded arm.
"Not a bad wound at all, Mr. Passford," said Dr. Davidson, after he hadexamined it. "But it has been too long neglected, and it would not havegiven you half the trouble if you had taken it to your surgeon as soonas the action was decided. You have lost some blood, and that makes youfaint. You will have to lie in your berth a few days, which might havebeen spared to you if you had had it attended to sooner."
The doctor sent for needed articles; and as soon as Gill brought themhe dressed the wound, after giving the patient a restorative which madehim feel much better. While the surgeon was still at work on his arm,Captain Breaker rushed in desperate haste to the scene of operations,for some one had informed him that the surgeon of the Tallahatchie wasdressing a wound on his executive officer.
"Merciful Heaven, Mr. Passford!" exclaimed the loyal commander. "Are youwounded?"
"Nothing but a scratch in the arm, Captain. Don't bother about me,"replied Christy, whose spirits had been built up by the medicine Dr.Davidson had given him; but he did not know that it was half brandy, theodor of which was disguised by the mixture of some other ingredient.
"I did not know that you were wounded, my dear boy," said his commandertenderly; so tenderly that the patient could hardly restrain the tearswhich were struggling for an outflow.
"Mr. Watts," called Captain Breaker to the chief steward of theBellevite, who happened to be the first person he saw on the deck of hisown ship.
"On deck, Captain," replied the steward, touching his cap to thecommander.
"My compliments to Dr. Linscott, and ask him to come to the deck of theprize without any delay," added the captain.
Such a message implied an emergency; and the surgeon of the Bellevite,who was a man well along in years, hastened with all the speed he couldcommand to the place indicated. The captain, who had heard the name ofthe Confederate medical officer, introduced his own surgeon, with anapology for summoning him.
"My executive officer, the patient in your hands, is the son of my bestfriend on earth, for whom I sailed for years before the war, and I hopeyou will pardon my great anxiety for your patient, Dr. Davidson,"said he.
"The most natural thing in the world, Captain Breaker, and no apology orexplanation is necessary," politely added the Confederate surgeon, as heand Dr. Linscott shook hands. "My patient is not severely wounded; but Ishould be happy to have you examine his injury. It was too longneglected, and he is rather weak from the loss of blood."
"Mr. Passford was too proud a young man to mention his wound or to callupon the surgeon of his ship; but I was determined that he should nolonger be neglected," interposed Captain Rombold.
Christy was aware that the two commanders had never met before, and heintroduced them while Dr. Linscott was examining his arm. They were bothbrave and noble men, and each received the other in the politest andmost gentlemanly manner. It was evident to all who witnessed theinterview that they met with mutual respect, though half an hour beforethey had been engaged in a desperate fight the one against the other.But enemies can be magnanimous to each other without any sacrifice oftheir principles on either side.
"I thank you most heartily, Captain Rombold, for your kindness to myprincipal officer; and if the opportunity is ever presented to me,I shall reciprocate to the extent of my ability," continued CaptainBreaker. "You have been more than magnanimous; you have been aself-sacrificing Christian, for you have required your surgeon tobind up the wound of an enemy before he assuaged your own. This isChristianity in war; and I shall strive to emulate your noble example."
"You are extremely considerate, Captain; and we are friends tillthe demands of duty require us to become technical enemies on thequarter-deck each of his own ship," said Captain Rombold, as he graspedthe hand of the loyal commander.
"I heartily approve of the treatment of my friend Dr. Davidson, andfully indorse his opinion that the wound of Mr. Passford is not adangerous or very severe one," interposed Dr. Linscott. "I agree withhim that the patient had better spend a couple of days or more in hisberth."
The Confederate surgeon had finished the
dressing of Christy's wound,and he was in a hurry to return to his duty in the cockpit. He shookhands with Dr. Linscott, and both of them hastened to their posts. Thepatient had been seated on a bench, and Captain Rombold had returned tohis former position. He had tied his handkerchief around his thigh, andboth of them appeared to be very comfortable.
"Well, Mr. Passford, if you are ready to return to the Bellevite, I willassist you to the ward room," said Captain Breaker.
"Excuse me, Captain, if I detain you a few minutes, for I desire tosettle a point in dispute between Mr. Passford and myself, though it isdoubtless his extreme modesty which creates this difference between us,"interposed the Confederate commander.
He proceeded to state his view of the exploit of Christy, by which hehad rendered inutile the scheme to slaughter the loyal boarders.
"I was absolutely delighted, Captain Breaker, when I realized that youintended to board the Tallahatchie." he continued. "I was confident thatI should defeat your boarders, and board and carry your deck in my turn.I have not yet changed my view of the situation. You can judge of myconsternation when I saw Mr. Passford leap into the mizzen rigging withthe agility of a cat, and especially when the order to board my ship waswithheld."
"Mr. Passford acted without orders, for I should hardly have sent himinto the rigging while we were alongside, for it was almost sure death,for your men, armed with muskets and revolvers, were all looking for thefiring of the thirty-pounder," added Captain Breaker.
"He was as nimble as a cat, and it seemed to me that he was twice asquick. But all he needed to unearth my scheme was a single glance atthe gun and its crew on the quarter-deck. In the twinkling of an eye hedropped to the deck, called his boarders, and leaped over the rail intoour midst. It was the most daring and quickly executed manoeuvre I everobserved," continued the Confederate commander with enthusiasm.
"I quite agree with you, Captain Rombold," replied Captain Breaker,as he looked with an affectionate expression upon the pale face of thepatient.
"Now, Mr. Passford chooses to regard his brilliant exploit as a matterof little consequence, for he declares that you had discovered, or wouldhave discovered, my plan to annihilate your boarders."
"Mr. Passford is entirely in the wrong so far as I am concerned,"protested Captain Breaker with a good deal of earnestness. "To make thematter clear, I will explain my own actions. When the Bellevite rangedalongside the Tallahatchie, everything was in readiness for boarding.I was about to give the order to do this when I discovered that the crewof your ship were drawn up on the starboard side, instead of the port,and it suggested to me that something was wrong, and I withheld thecommand. In order to obtain more information, I went further aft, whereI hoped to get a view of a portion of the deck of your ship. I hadraised a hawser port with the assistance of a quartermaster; but I couldsee only the wreck of your spare wheel. At this moment Mr. Passford wasin the mizzen rigging. He did all; I did nothing."
"I hope your report of the action will do him full justice, for hedeserves promotion," added Captain Rombold.
"My admiration of the conduct of Mr. Passford is equal to yours."
They separated after some further conversation, and her commander andChristy returned to the Bellevite.