by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXVI
THE ACTION ON THE DECK OF THE TEASER
As the Teaser was but a short distance from the shore, Christy had nodoubt that the attempt to board her had been made by this time. Mr.Blowitt had quite as many men on board of the steamer as could have beencontained in the two boats, and he was not much concerned about theresult of the attack, especially as he knew that the second lieutenantwas fully prepared and on the lookout for it. The only thing thatChristy regretted was that he was not on board of the Teaser to takepart in the affair of repelling boarders.
"There seems to be some music in the air," said Lonley, after he hadlistened for a few moments to the sounds that came from the direction ofthe steamer.
"To return to the subject of the morality of telling stories, your mendo not seem to be a mile to the eastward, where their bags were left,"added Christy good-naturedly.
"You had a glance at them in the boats, though the darkness and fog wererather too thick for you to count them," replied Lonley, chuckling overthe deception he had practised upon the lieutenant of the Bellevite.
"Yes, I saw them, and I concluded that they could not be where theirbags were."
"All is fair in war."
"That seems to be the generally received maxim, and he is the smartestman who the most thoroughly deceives the enemy," added Christy, whofound himself tolerably well satisfied with the situation, though he wasa prisoner.
"That is so, and of course I can find no fault with you for deceivingme," returned Lonley, chuckling as though he was even better satisfiedwith the situation than his companion.
"Thank you, Mr. Lonley; you are magnanimous, and with equal sincerityI can say that I have no fault to find with you," replied the Unionofficer. "But I have my doubts whether, after this, either of us will belikely to believe what the other says. But, for my part, I wish to saythat I don't believe in telling anything but necessary and patrioticlies."
"That is my view of the matter exactly; and if there is any man thatdespises a liar, I am that man," said Lonley warmly. "But it seems tome they are making a good deal of a racket off there," he added, as thenoise of pistol shots and the clash of cutlasses came over the smoothwaters of the gulf.
"They seem to be at it quite earnestly," replied Christy.
"By the way, how many men did you leave on board of the Teaser?" askedthe privateersman, whose manner seemed to have suddenly becomeconsiderably changed.
"How many men?" repeated the lieutenant of the Bellevite.
"That is the question I asked," replied the lieutenant of the Teaser.
"I suppose you would not believe me if I should tell you," answeredChristy.
"I judge that you can speak the truth if you try," added Lonley, withmore asperity than the occasion seemed to require.
"I know that I could," said Christy, very decidedly; "and I may add thatI was in the habit of doing so on all occasions before this cruel warbegan."
"Then suppose you try to do so just now, and tell me how many men yourpeople had on board of the Teaser."
"You must excuse me for the present, for I do not like to makestatements to one who will not believe what I say," answered Christy,rather facetiously.
"You are a prisoner now."
"I am painfully aware of the fact, but I doubt if the government servicewill suffer very much in my absence from duty."
"You are too modest by half, Mr.--but I have not even the pleasure ofknowing your name, and conversation is annoying under suchcircumstances."
"I am simply Midshipman Passford, at your service."
"Only a midshipman!" exclaimed Lonley. "Upon my word, you ought to be acommodore. Passford? Possibly you are a cousin of Colonel Passford ofGlenfield."
"Colonel Passford is my uncle. Do you know him?" asked Christy.
"I do know him; and there is not a finer man or a truer patriot in theSouth than Colonel Passford. He is loading a schooner with cotton, andhe offered me the command of it. Then you are his nephew, I have heardof you."
"I hope my uncle is quite well, for I have not heard from him forseveral weeks, or since I left New York."
"I saw him ten days ago, and he was very well then. I am very happyto have made a prisoner of his enterprising nephew, who appears to becapable of doing our cause a great deal of mischief," replied Lonley,looking earnestly in the direction of the Teaser.
"Thank you, Mr. Lonley; I certainly intend to do it all the mischief Ican in a legitimate way. I am speaking the truth now," said Christy.
"But you have not answered my question in regard to the number of men onboard of the Teaser when you left her."
"And you will excuse me for the present if I do not answer it," addedthe Union lieutenant.
"Very well, Mr. Passford; I cannot compel you to answer it, though doingso would do no harm to your cause, for I should judge that the questionof the hour is settled."
"What is the question of the hour, Mr. Lonley?"
"The question is which side is in possession of the Teaser, yours ormine," replied the privateersman, still gazing out into the gloom.
"Is that question settled?" asked Christy, with interest.
"Of course I don't know, but I should think that it was. We hear nomore pistol shots and no more clashing of cutlasses," replied Lonley,uneasily. "But I expected to hear the triumphal shout of our men whenthey had carried the deck of the Teaser."
"I have not heard anything like a triumphal shout," added Christy, veryquietly. "It is barely possible that your men have not carried the deckof the Teaser."
"Of course, it is possible they have not; but I don't believe they havefailed," replied Lonley.
The privateersman listened for a few minutes in silence. He appearedto be entirely confident that the victory must be with his men. Heevidently believed that the captors of the Teaser had sent her two boatsoff to a distance of a mile, and thus weakened whatever force she had onboard of her. He did not seem to have any idea that the party he hadmet in Pensacola Bay had been increased in numbers, or that the officerin command had reported to the ship to which they belonged. Christyrealized what Lonley was thinking about, and he clearly believed thatthe Teaser had been left in charge of not more than a dozen or fifteenmen, reduced by at least six then on boat duty.
"Help! help!" shouted a man in the water at no great distance from theshore.
"What does that mean?" said Lonley, springing to his feet.
"It is a call for help, and, as my hands are tied behind me, I cannotrespond to it, as I would gladly do, be the man who needs it friend orenemy," replied Christy. "There is the canoe in which we came ashore,Lieutenant Lonley, and you can use that."
The privateersman sprang into the boat, shoved it off, and pulled inthe direction from which the appeal came. He disappeared in the fog in amoment; but a little later was seen again approaching the shore. He hadnot taken the sufferer into the boat, but he had clung to it. As he gotupon his feet, Christy saw that there were two of them, for one helpedthe other up the beach.
"What does this mean?" demanded Lonley, very much excited. "Have you runaway from the others?"
"No, sir; but we were beaten in the fight, our boats captured, and allhands taken prisoners except us two," replied the uninjured of the twomen.
Lieutenant Lonley, whatever his views of the morality of lying to theenemy, uttered an exclamation which grated very harshly on the ears ofLieutenant Passford. The result, as stated by the man who had swum tothe shore, was as unwelcome as it was unexpected. He had not deemed adefeat even possible. He learned from the guard-boat that the steamerhad been captured. He had spent the time after he was landed with hiscompanions at Town Point, and organized his force for the recapture ofthe Teaser. The failure of the final attack was as severe upon him asthe loss of his vessel had been upon Captain Folkner.
"Who are you?" demanded Lonley, when he had in some measure recoveredfrom the shock which the failure gave him.
"I am Levick, the boatswain; and this is Lieutenant Folkner, who was
wounded in the shoulder in the first of it," replied the man. "He wasknocked from the rail into the water when we boarded, and he held on toan oar. When the fight was over, and we had lost it, I slipped into thewater, and helped the lieutenant along on his oar, till I was about usedup, and then I called for help."
"Are you much hurt, Mr. Folkner?" asked Lonley of the injured officer.
"I don't know; my shoulder feels numb, and I can't use my arm," repliedFolkner. "But I can use my legs, and I think that is what we had betterbe doing."
"I don't understand it," protested Lonley, very much dissatisfied withthe result of the action, as may well be supposed. "I was sure you wouldcarry her deck at once."
"I was as sure as you were, Lonley; but I believe they had fifty menall ready for us. They let us leap on deck without much opposition, andthen they surrounded us, and took us by surprise, for I did not suppose,after what you said, that they had a dozen men," replied the woundedlieutenant.
"I did not suppose they had even a dozen men left on board," Lonleyexplained, with humiliation in his tones.
"I staid in the boat till I had seen all my men on deck," continued Mr.Folkner. "They surrounded our force, and tumbled them into the hold asthough they had been pigs, slashing them with their cutlasses if theytried to get out. I saw the fat officer in command of the enemy; he wasvery active, and I leaped on deck, determined to cross weapons with him.But he hit me in the shoulder with his cutlass, and I lost my hold onthe rail."
"You ought to have led your men, not followed them," said Lonleybitterly.
"That is easy enough for you to say; but I wanted to be where I couldsee my men," retorted the first lieutenant, of whom the second had avery mean opinion, perhaps because he got his position on account ofbeing the captain's brother.
"Whether I did right or not, I can tell you all one thing; and that is,that we shall be prisoners if we stay here any longer. They have got ourmen under the hatches, and they have ordered out a boat to look for anofficer they sent ashore."
"We can do nothing here, and we may as well put ourselves in saferquarters, for we have two prisoners to lose," said Lonley. "Mr.Passford, I shall have to trouble you to march to the other side ofthe island."
"I am your prisoner, Mr. Lonley, and I must obey your orders, thoughI am sorry to be away from my ship in the hour of victory," repliedChristy submissively.
But he felt that his plan had been fully carried out.