by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XX
A VERY MELANCHOLY CONFEDERATE
Notwithstanding his military title, Colonel Homer Passford was not asoldier, though he had once been a sort of honorary head of a regimentof militia. His brother, Captain Horatio Passford, Christy's father, wasa millionaire in the tenth degree. More than twenty years before the warhe had assisted Homer to all the money he required to buy a plantationin Alabama, near Mobile, where he had prospered exceedingly, though hispossessions had never been a tenth part of those of his wealthy brother.
Homer had married in the South, and was the father of a son anddaughter, now approaching their maturity, and Corny, the son, was asoldier in the Confederate army. The most affectionate relations hadalways subsisted between the two families; and before the war theBellevite had always visited Glenfield, the plantation of the colonel,at least twice a year.
Florry Passford, the captain's daughter, being somewhat out of health,had passed the winter before the beginning of the war at Glenfield, andwas there when the enemy's guns opened upon Fort Sumter. CaptainPassford had not supposed that his brother in Alabama would take partwith the South in the Rebellion, and with great difficulty and risk hehad gone to Glenfield in the Bellevite, for the purpose of conveying hisdaughter to his home at Bonnydale on the Hudson, not doubting that Homerand his family would be his passengers on the return to the North.
He was entirely mistaken in regard to the political sentiments of thecolonel, and found that he was one of the most devoted and determinedadvocates of the Southern cause. The southern brother did not concealhis opinions, and it was plain enough to the captain that he wasentirely sincere, and believed with all his mind, heart, and soul, thatit was his religious, moral, and social duty to espouse what he calledhis country's cause; and he had done so with all his influence and hisfortune. He had even gone so far in his devotion to his duty as heunderstood it, as to attempt to hand over the Bellevite, though she wasnot in Mobile Bay on a warlike mission, to the new government of theSouth, and had taken part personally in an expedition extended tocapture her.
The steam-yacht had been armed at the Bermudas, and fought her way outof the bay; and on her return to New York her owner presented her to theGovernment of the United States. She had done good service, and Christyhad begun his brilliant career as a naval officer in the capacity of amidshipman on board of her. In spite of the hostile political attitudeof the brothers to each other, the same affectionate relations hadcontinued between the two families, for each of them believed thatsocial and family ties should not interfere with his patriotic duty tohis country.
The commander of the Confederate forces at Hilton Head--one of thehighest-toned and most estimable gentlemen one could find in the Northor the South--informed the author that his own brother was in command ofone of the Federal ships that were bombarding his works. While CommodoreWilkes, of Mason and Slidell memory, was capturing the Southernrepresentatives who had to be given up, his son was in the Confederatenavy, and then or later was casting guns at Charlotte for the use ofthe South: and the writer never met a more reasonable and kindly man.Fortunately our two brothers were not called upon to confront each otheras foes on the battlefield or on the sea, though both of them would havedone their duty in such positions.
The last time Christy had seen his Uncle Homer was when he was capturedon board of the Dornoch with Captain Rombold, as he was endeavoring toobtain a passage to England as a Confederate agent for the purchase ofsuitable vessels to prey upon the mercantile marine of the UnitedStates. He and the commander of the Tallahatchie had been exchangedat about the same time; and they had proceeded to Nassau, where theyembarked for England in a cotton steamer. There they had purchasedand fitted out the Trafalgar; for the agent's drafts, in which the lastof his fortune had been absorbed, could not be made available to hiscaptors. Colonel Passford had an interview with Captain Rombold afterGill had brought his trunk on board; and it was a very sad occasionto the planter, if not to the naval officer. They had not had anopportunity to consider the disaster that had overtaken the Confederatesteamer, which had promised such favorable results for their cause; forthe commander had been entirely occupied till he received his wound, andeven then he had attended to his duties, for, as before suggested, hewas a "last ditch" man. He was not fighting for the South as a merehireling; for he had married a Southern wife, and she had enlisted allhis sympathies in the cause of her people.
"I suppose we have nothing more to hope for, Captain Rombold; and wecan only put our trust in the All-Wise and the All-Powerful, who neverforsakes his children when they are fighting for right and justice,"said Colonel Passford, after he had condoled with the commander on hiswounded condition.
"We shall come out all right in the end, Colonel; don't be so castdown," replied the captain.
"I raised the money by mortgaging my plantation and what otherproperty I had left for all the money I could get upon it to a wealthyEnglishman, the one who came to Mobile with us from Nassau, to obtainthe cargoes for this steamer. I had borrowed all I could before that forthe purchase of the Trafalgar; and if the current does not change in ourfavor soon, I shall be a beggar," added the colonel bitterly.
"The tide will turn, my good friend; and it would have turned before nowif all the planters had been as self-sacrificing as you have," said thecaptain.
"Cotton and gold are about the same thing just now; and with thelarge cargo on board of the West Wind, which I induced my friends tocontribute to the good cause, and that in the hold of the Tallahatchie,I was confident that I could purchase the Kilmarnock, which you say isgood for eighteen knots an hour. Now the West Wind and the Tallahatchieare both prizes of the enemy, and there is no present hope for us,"continued the colonel; and there was no wonder that he had become paleand thin.
"We are in a bad situation, Colonel Passford, I admit, for both of usare prisoners of war, so that we can do nothing, even if we had themeans; but everything will come out right in the end," replied thewounded officer, though he could not explain in what manner this resultwas to be achieved.
"Well, Captain Rombold, how are you feeling?" asked Dr. Linscott,darkening the door when the conversation had reached this gloomy point.
"Very comfortable, Doctor," replied the commander. "My friend is ColonelPassford."
"Bless me!" exclaimed the surgeon, as he extended his hand to thevisitor. "I am very glad to see you, and I hope you are very well. I amhappy to inform you that your nephew, who was wounded in the engagement,is doing very well."
"Yes; I met him on deck," replied the planter very gloomily.
"What is the matter, Colonel Passford? You look quite pale, and you havelost flesh since I met you last. Can I do anything for you?"
"Nothing, Doctor; I am not very well, though nothing in particularails me. With your permission I will retire to my stateroom," said thecolonel, as he rose from his seat.
"By the way, Colonel Passford, the captain wished me to ascertain if youhave been to breakfast," added the surgeon, following him out into thecabin.
"I have not, Doctor; but it was because I wanted none, for I do not feellike eating," replied the pale planter.
"Punch, go to the galley, get a beefsteak, a plate of toast, and a cupof coffee. Set out the captain's table, and call this gentleman when itis ready."
"Yes, sir," replied Punch, who was a very genteel colored person.
The colonel attempted to protest, but the surgeon would not hear him.He remained with the planter, whom he already regarded as a patient, andthough he could not say anything to comfort him, he talked him into apleasanter frame of mind. Punch set the table, and in due time broughtthe breakfast. The doctor sat down opposite to him at the table, andactually compelled him to eat a tolerably hearty meal. He was decidedlyless gloomy when he had finished, and it was plain to his companion thathis empty stomach was responsible for a portion of his depression ofspirits.
The surgeon had remained on board of the prize till the order to getunder way was given, and then Captai
n Breaker sent for him; but thetwo medical gentlemen had disposed of most of the wounds among theConfederate crew. As the English engineer had reported, the machineryand boilers of the Tallahatchie were in good condition, and the twosteamers went on their course towards the entrance to Mobile Bay, whereFrench had been ordered to anchor the West Wind, at full speed, thoughneither was driven; but the log showed that they were making abouteighteen knots.
After the brief talk with his uncle, Christy had waited for him toreturn to the deck, as he supposed he would after what the captain hadsaid to him; but he did not appear. In fact, Colonel Passford was toomuch cast down by the capture of the two vessels, and the loss of hisfortune thereby, that he was not disposed to see any person if he couldavoid it.
"Don't you think you had better turn in, Mr. Passford?" asked thecommander, as he halted in his walk at the side of the lieutenant.
"I have been waiting here to see my uncle; for I thought, after what yousaid to him, that he would come back," added Christy.
"I sent Dr. Linscott down to see him, for he looks so pale and feeblethat I thought he must be sick. The surgeon reported to me half an hourago that he had made him eat his breakfast against his will, and he wasfeeling better and more cheerful. He thinks your Uncle Homer's troubleis entirely mental, and he does not feel like seeing any person,"answered the commander.
"What mental trouble can he have?" asked Christy, as he gazed into theface of the captain, wondering if his father's brother was insane.
"The colonel has shipped a vast amount of cotton intending to use theproceeds of its sale to purchase ships for the Confederacy; and he haslost most of them, for you captured quite a number of them when youwere in command of the Bronx. I have no doubt he was interested in thecargoes of the prize and the West Wind; and the capture of these twovessels involves a fearful loss. I believe that is all that ails him,"the captain explained. "Doubtless he feels as kindly towards his nephewas ever before in his life; but he does not care to see him just now."
Early in the afternoon the Bellevite and her prize came in sight of theWest Wind, anchored in accordance with French's orders, with the Holyokealmost within hail of her; for the captain of the steamer had doubtlessconsidered the possibility of a recapture of the schooner by boats fromthe shore, if she was left unprotected.
In due time the Bellevite let go her anchor at about a cable's lengthfrom the West Wind, and the prize-master of the Tallahatchie had donethe same at an equal distance from the ship. Mr. Graines, who had notmet his late associate on shore since he was wounded, came to his sideas soon as the steamer had anchored; for both Christy and he wereanxious to hear the report of French in regard to the prisoners left inhis care.
The anchor of the Bellevite had hardly caught in the sand before a boatput off from the West Wind containing four persons. Two of the ship'sseamen were at the oars, French was in the stern sheets, and theengineer soon recognized Captain Sullendine as the fourth person.