by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXI
ON A DARK AND FOGGY NIGHT
"I reckon I don't quite understand you, Gilder," said Captain Folkner,very nervously. "I thought I was still in command of the Teaser."
"I shall not blame you for thinking so; but you are utterly mistaken allthe same," added Christy.
"Did you come here to take the command out of my hands? Is that thereason why you sent all my men to Town Point?" demanded the captain,getting an idea of the situation.
"If you had been a magician, you could not have come any nearer to thetruth."
"Who are you? I thought you were Gilder."
"I am not Gilder, though I found it convenient to answer to that name.It is reported that the Teaser is a very fast steamer, and I wantedher."
"Do you mean to say that you are a pirate?" asked Captain Folkner,stepping back as if to emphasize his disgust at such a person. "I havetold you that the Teaser is a privateer, and it seems that you want hermore than I do; but I don't believe it."
"Privateers and pirates are about the same in this age of the world.I am neither a pirate nor a privateer. Permit me to introduce myselfmore precisely than I have thought it wise to do before. I am LieutenantPassford, of the United States steamer Bellevite; and I take possessionof the Teaser as a lawful prize. I think we need not discuss the matterany longer, especially as the tide is high enough by this time to runout of the bay. Disarm him."
"Say, what sort of a joke is this?" demanded the captain.
"If you are good-natured enough to regard it as a joke, I have not theleast objection," replied Christy. "But I shall be under the painfulnecessity of confining you in your stateroom for the present, and I hopeyou will make yourself as happy as possible, Captain Folkner."
The lieutenant directed Flint to have the prisoner conveyed to hisstateroom, and to have a man stationed at the door to see that he didnot escape, or do any mischief. The sentinel was to keep his eye on himall the time, and not allow the room to be closed for a moment. The mostreliable man of the party was selected for this duty, for the captain,in a fit of desperation over the loss of his vessel, which was hisfortune, might attempt some reckless act.
Accompanied by six men, Christy visited the engine-room, where nearlyall the hands remaining on board were employed. If there was to beany trouble at all in completing the capture, it would be in thisdepartment. Everything was in working order, and an engineer was onduty, for the engine had been used in dragging the casks under thebottom of the vessel.
Beeks was directed to arrest the men on duty, and the engine was handedover to Sampson, who had been brought for such a position if theexpedition needed him in that capacity. But there was only an assistantengineer and several firemen on duty, and these were disposed of withoutany delay. They were all conducted to the wardroom, where they weredisarmed and a guard placed over them. A couple of sailors were detailedto serve as firemen, and the work of taking possession was completed.
For the first time the lieutenant had an opportunity to examine theprize, as she would be if he succeeded in getting her out of the bay.She was certainly a fine little steamer, and, with the heavy gun mountedon a pivot, she would have been capable of doing a great deal ofmischief among the unprotected merchant ships of the nation.
When he visited the cabin, he found two colored men there, one of whomappeared to be a very intelligent fellow. He was very polite to thelieutenant, and it was evident that he had no personal interest in thesuccess of the Teaser in the business for which she had been fitted out.He was the cabin steward, and he had heard everything that had been saidin regard to the vessel since he came on board of her.
"What is your name, my man?" asked Christy, addressing the steward.
"My name is Davis Talbot; but no one ever calls me anything but Dave,"replied the man, with a cheerful smile, as though he was not at alldisconcerted by the change which had come about in the ownership of theTeaser.
"How long have you been on board of this steamer, Dave?" asked theofficer, much pleased with the intelligent face of the steward.
"About two months, sir."
"Where did this steamer come from?"
"Captain Folkner bought her somewhere in the West Indies, and broughther here before the blockade was fairly established."
"Then she is an English-built steamer?"
"I suppose she is, sir; but I don't know anything about it."
"Then she has been here a long while. What has Captain Folkner beendoing all this time?" asked Christy curiously.
"Inventing, sir," replied Dave, chuckling.
"I see; he has that on the brain."
"The government threatened to take his vessel if he did not fit her outand take her to sea. Then he hurried up, and got a crew ready; but theyhad a quarrel last night, and most of the men would not come on board."
"Yes; I know all about that," added Christy, as he looked at his watchby the light of the shaded lamp in the cabin. "I suppose you insist uponserving the Confederacy, Dave?"
"I don't insist on anything, sir; I go where the ship takes me, and Idon't mean to quarrel with anybody."
"In other words, will it be necessary to put you under guard?" askedChristy.
"I don't think it would do me any good, sir," replied Dave, laughing.
"Which side do you belong on?" demanded the officer, rather impatiently.
"I belong on Dave's side, sir."
"Which is Dave's side?"
"The side of freedom," replied the steward, with some embarrassment."I don't know you, sir; you don't wear the uniform of a Yankee or arebel, and the darkey gets crushed between the upper and the nethermillstone."
"Then to make the matter plainer to you, I am the third lieutenant ofthe United States steamer Bellevite, and I have captured this vessel asan officer of the United States Navy," replied Christy.
"That's all I want to know: the darkey knows where to go, when it issafe to go there," replied Dave.
"Then if it is safe for you to go to the pilot-house, you may come withme," added the lieutenant, as he led the way to the deck.
Beeks, with the men who had not been assigned to other duty, was cuttingaway the ropes that held the casks in place, and had already turnedadrift all the raft of them alongside. All the rubbish the nauticalinventor had collected to carry out his famous scheme of floating thevessel through the sound was cleared from the deck, and cut loose fromthe side.
"I think everything is clear, sir," reported Beeks, as Christy appearedon deck with Dave.
"Stand by to get up the anchor, then," added the lieutenant.
"No anchor down, sir," interposed Dave. "She is made fast to the buoy."
"So much the better. I suppose Captain Folkner did not trouble himselfabout the forts, Dave, did he?" Christy inquired.
"Yes, sir, he did; Captain Folkner never slept a wink when he did nothave Fort Pickens on his stomach for a nightmare," replied Dave, witha chuckle.
"But Fort Pickens is all of four miles from the entrance to the channelof the sound."
"He was in mortal terror of the guns, all the same."
"How was it in regard to Fort Barrancas and Fort McRae?"
"Of course they would not fire on his vessel; if he went out in a fogor dark night, he was to burn a blue light; and I reckon you can do thesame thing, though I don't believe it could be seen to-night from theforts," replied Dave, who appeared to be willing to make a good use ofhis knowledge.
"Then I don't think we shall have much trouble in getting out of thebay," added Christy, as he went to the pilot-house, attended by Dave.
Since the lieutenant had declared as unequivocally as he desired who andwhat he was, the steward did all he could to assist his new master. Hehad served Captain Folkner for two months, for he said the commander hadlived on board all this time, and he had heard everything that passedbetween him and his officers and others with whom he had relations.He was about as well informed as though he had been an officer of thevessel in whom the captain confided all his affa
irs. He did not wait tohave his knowledge dragged out of him, but he volunteered suchinformation as he saw that the occasion required.
He was a mulatto, and had plenty of good blood in his veins, though itwas corrupted with that of the hated race. He appeared to be about fortyyears of age, and his knowledge of the affairs of the locality couldhardly have been better if he had been a white man, with a quickperception, a reasoning intellect, and a retentive memory. It was therule with Union officers, soldiers, and sailors to trust the negroes,making proper allowance for their general ignorance and stupidity, andfor particular circumstances. But some of them, even many of them, werebrighter than might be expected from their situation and antecedents.
The binnacle from the whaleboat had been brought into the pilot-house,and Christy compared it with the compass in the Teaser's apparatus,after Dave had lighted it. There was no disagreement, and as the tidewas still coming in, the head of the steamer was pointed to thewestward, which would be her first course down the bay.
The lieutenant felt that everything depended upon the working of thesteamer, and he was a total stranger to her peculiarities, if she hadany, as most vessels have. Taking Beeks with him, he began at the stemand followed the rail entirely around the steamer, feeling with aboat-hook along the sides. Sundry ropes, fenders, and pieces of lumberwere dislodged, and everything put in order about the main deck. Thenhe visited the engine-room, and learned from Sampson that he had a fullhead of steam. This careful inspection completed, he ordered thequartermaster to cast off the fast at the buoy.
Taking his place in the pilot-house with Beeks, he rang the bell to goahead. The Teaser started on quite a different voyage from what she hadbeen intended for. Christy had studied up his courses and distances, andhad imprinted the chart of the lower part of the bay on his brain. Forthe first part of the run, there was no obstacle, and no difficulty inregard to the course.
The fog and the darkness were so dense that not a thing could be seenin any direction; but he rang for full speed as soon as the Teaser wasunder way. A leadsman had been stationed on each side of the forecastle,though there was no present occasion for their services. Christy thoughteverything was going extremely well, and he was reasonably confidentthat he should succeed in his plan.
"Steamer, ahoy!" shouted a voice, coming out of the dense fog.
"That must be the patrol boat," said Dave, in a low tone.
Christy could not make any reply that would be satisfactory to thepatrol, and he decided not to answer the hail. He had rather expectedto be challenged in this way.