by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXVII
A VISIT FROM COLONEL HOMER PASSFORD
With his arms securely tied behind him, Christy realized that he couldmake no resistance to his captors. Flint was in the same unfortunatesituation, and both of them had been deprived of their revolvers. Butin spite of his unpleasant surroundings, the young lieutenant felt thatthe balance of advantage was on the side of the Union. If the governmentwas deprived of the services of a midshipman and a master's mate, adangerous privateer had been captured, and about forty prisoners hadbeen taken from the employ of the Confederacy. In the face of thisdecided gain, Christy felt that he had no right to complain.
By this time the light of day had begun to have some effect on thedarkness and fog, though the gloom seemed to be hardly less. Lonleydirected his two prisoners to walk side by side behind the woundedlieutenant, while he and Levick took their places in the rear. Thesecond lieutenant of the Teaser was duly impressed by what the firsthad said about a probable visit to the island in search of the missingmidshipman, and he directed Folkner to march as rapidly as he could. Hetook the control of the party out of the hands of his superior, and verylikely he wished he had done so sooner.
Folkner, as he had before suggested, still had the use of his legs, andhe certainly used them well, for he travelled like a man who was in ahurry; but both Christy and Flint were in excellent condition, thoughthey had been on active duty all night, and they had no difficulty inkeeping up with their leader.
Lonley and Levick were both armed, and they kept their weapons inreadiness for immediate use, for the former recognized the enterprisingcharacter of the young officer in front of him, and knew that he wouldescape if he could. But Christy did not feel called to take anydesperate chances in order to restore himself at once to the service ofhis country, and he and his companion in captivity marched along veryquietly. The two armed men soon dropped several paces to the rear, sothat the lieutenant could listen to the details of the action on thedeck of the Teaser. The prisoners could not hear what was said, and theystarted a conversation on their own account.
"We are in a bad box," said Flint. "I did not expect to come out of thelittle end of the horn in this way."
"You must take a broader view of the situation than that," repliedChristy. "The Teaser is certainly a prize of the Bellevite, with as manyas forty prisoners. That is the result of our night's work, though weare counted out just now in the business of crowing over the success ofour side. That is the way to look at it; and this view makes me quitesatisfied with the night's work."
"I did not see it in that light, and I suppose you are right, Mr.Passford," replied Flint.
"And you will not lose your share of the prize-money for the Yazoo orthe Teaser," added Christy, though, as the son of a millionnaire, hefelt no interest at all in the spoils of war.
"What do you suppose will be done with us, sir?" asked the master'smate.
"I have not the least idea, any more than you have; but I have no doubtwe shall be kept in close confinement, and I don't believe we shall liveas well in our prison, wherever it may be, as we do on board of theBellevite. But I am rather fond of johnny-cake, and I don't expect tostarve on bacon."
"Don't you think it was a mistake to send us ashore in the canoe on thepart of Mr. Blowitt?" asked Flint, rather timidly.
"If it was, it was as much my mistake as it was his. But I don't thinkit was a mistake. I cannot say that we did not succeed in the action onthe deck of the steamer because we were sent ashore," replied Christy.
"I don't see how that can be," replied Flint.
"In the first place, Lonley wanted me to come on shore, and asked thatI should do so. On the strength of what I said to him, he believed thatour boats had been sent to the eastward, and that induced him to makethe advance he did. After he had told us where to find the men, he hadgood reason to believe that the boats would be sent for them. We did notfall into the trap he set for us. I think it is all right as it is; butwhether it is or not, it's no use to grumble about it."
"I did not mean to grumble; and I am willing to believe that everythinghas been for the best," replied Flint, apparently resolved to besatisfied, as his superior officer was, whether he felt so or not.
Folkner led the way in a northwesterly direction, and evidently knewwhere he was going. When they had been marching about half an hour,the party heard the report of fire-arms in the rear of them; but thedischarges were at regular intervals, and did not sound as though theycame from a battle. A little later, they heard loud shouts.
"That is the party who are out in search of us," said Christy.
"That is so, Mr. Passford; the sounds are only signals, and they areintended to notify you that your friends are in search of you," addedLonley, hastening up to the advance of the party. "I should be verysorry to do such a thing, but if you shout, or do anything to informthat party where you are, it will be my duty to shoot you."
"I am not disposed to be rash, Mr. Lonley. If our friends overtake yourparty, it will not be my fault," replied Christy.
"You do not expect me to shoot you in that case, I hope?" added theprivateersman.
"I did not know but that your revolver might go off by accident."
"You may be assured that it will not; I claim to be a gentleman and aChristian, and I intend to be fair even to my enemies."
"I beg your pardon for my thoughtless remark. I have no occasion tocomplain of you. I shall endeavor to be a gentleman and a Christianalso, though I intend to do my best in fighting my country's battles;and I am not disposed to talk politics with you under presentcircumstances."
The march was continued for some time longer, and the signals inthe rear were repeated till increasing light enabled the prisoners tosee that they were approaching Pensacola Bay. Not a little to theirastonishment, the shore seemed to be alive with soldiers, and theylearned that a battle, or something like one, had been fought on theisland. The Confederate forces had been sent to attack Wilson's Zouaves,in camp to the eastward of the fort. Some very severe fighting had beendone in the darkness and fog, with heavy losses on both sides.
The Zouaves had been re-enforced from the fort, and with marines fromthe ships. Though the Confederates claimed the victory, it was clearenough to the two prisoners from the south side of the island that theSouthern troops were retreating from the field. A soldier who foughtwith them wrote to a paper in Georgia: "I scarcely know whether weachieved a victory, or suffered a defeat." He also said that in thefog and darkness: "We shot down our friends in numbers."
A few prisoners had been captured by the enemy, including two officers.But Folkner led the way to a point on the bay not very near the steamerswhich had brought over the expedition from the mainland. The Confederatetroops embarked in the steamers and launches by which they had come; butthe Union troops followed them to the end. Their steamers were aground,and a merciless fire was poured into them by the pursuing companies.
"They are having hot work of it over there," said Lonley, as they cameto a boat on the shore. "But that is not our affair, and it is quiteproper for us to keep out of the way of the flying bullets."
Christy and Flint were directed to take seats in the boat, and thelieutenant and boatswain manned the oars. They were not out of thereach of the bullets of the Federal troops, and the oarsmen pulled withall their might for a time. It was five miles to Pensacola, but theprivateersmen landed their prisoners there. They were committed to asort of guard-house; but in the afternoon they were sent to Mobile withabout twenty others, who had been captured in the battle of the nightbefore.
There was not a great number of prisoners in the city, and it wasintended to remove them to other quarters arranged for theiraccommodation.
Christy and Flint were confined in an unoccupied warehouse, and were fedtolerably well, and they were supplied with some kind of dried grass forbeds. It was not at all like the luxurious stateroom of the lieutenanton board of the Bellevite, or even the quarters of Flint; but they weredetermined to make the best of it.
Flint had become reconciled to hissituation, and Christy was even cheerful.
After he had been in the warehouse a few days, Christy was not a littlesurprised to receive a visit from his uncle, Colonel Passford. He wasnot surprised at the kindness of the planter in making the visit, butthat he should know so soon that he was a prisoner of war, for he hadfully decided not to make any appeal to his uncle; and he could notimagine how he had discovered his situation.
"I am glad to see you, Christy," said Colonel Passford, extending hishand, which Christy took without any hesitation.
"And I suppose you are glad to see me here," added the nephew, with asmile.
"While I am glad to see you deprived of the power to injure the cause Ilove, and to which I have pledged all that I have and all that I am, Iam sorry that you should be in trouble, Christy. I hope I have Christianfeeling enough to keep me from rejoicing at the misfortunes of anyperson, and especially of my brother's son. I can say sincerely thatI am sorry you are in trouble," said the colonel solemnly.
"Oh, I am not in trouble, Uncle Homer!" exclaimed Christy, laughing."I have done my duty to my country, my conscience is clean, and I amnot to be upset by an accident like this. I am really happy in theconsciousness that I have been faithful to the cause of my country."
"I am glad to see you, Christy."--Page 308.]
"I wish you had been; but we will not talk about that, for I suppose youand your father have the same views," replied the planter, looking verysad.
"I don't believe we should agree if we talked about it for a year, andwe had better give the subject the go-by. But how are Aunt Lydia andGerty?"
"Both are very well. I hope your father is in good health, as well asyour mother and sister."
"All very well."
"I have not heard a word from any of you for about five months,"continued Colonel Passford. "In fact, not since you were here in May."
"We got home all right, and the Bellevite is a man-of-war now. Shecaptured one valuable prize off the coast of Carolina, and another atPensacola," replied Christy cheerfully.
"She ought never to have been allowed to leave Mobile Bay," added thecolonel.
"Your people certainly did everything they could to prevent her fromleaving, and I hope you don't blame yourselves for letting her go. Whatabout Corny, sir?" asked Christy.
"Major Pierson was very much to blame for permitting the Bellevite topass the forts when she came in, and he lost his command. But he hasdevoted all his life to redeem his fault by her recapture. He took Cornywith him, and a naval officer; I only know that the attempt to recaptureher failed from the fact that the Bellevite is now on the blockade."
Finding that his uncle knew nothing of the events which had transpiredat Bonnydale, Christy told him all about them, informing him at the endthat Corny was a prisoner of war on parole at his father's house,recovering from his wound.