Brave Old Salt; or, Life on the Quarter Deck: A Story of the Great Rebellion

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER XXVIII.

  THE BEN LEDI.

  The Firefly had been strengthened and otherwise improved for the purposeto which she was to be applied. Her armament had been changed, to adaptit to the standard of the United States navy. She now carried a hundredpounder rifle amidships, a rifled thirty on her forecastle, fourtwenty-four pounders on the broadsides, and two howitzers on the quarterdeck. The cabin, ward-room, and steerage remained as before.

  It was a pleasant November day--in the full reign of the Indiansummer--when she went down the harbor. Somers stood on the quarter deck,as dignified as the commander of a man-of-war should be, but he couldhardly repress the feeling of pride and exultation with which heregarded his position. He was hardly twenty-one, though he was matureenough in appearance and in judgment for twenty-five. He had realizedthe warmest hope he had permitted himself to cherish. He was in commandof a beautiful vessel, with a hundred officers and men under hischarge. He was the supreme authority; every man on board touched his capto him.

  Below was a cabin, appropriated wholly to his use, where he could liveas luxuriously as a lord. He had no watch to keep, no work to perform.As he contemplated his position, he was absolutely amazed. He had hoped,but not expected, to reach this pinnacle of his ambition. But there wasanother side to the question. A fearful responsibility was imposed uponhim. The lives of his hundred men depended upon him. This valuablesteamer, with her armament and stores, was intrusted to him, and he mustaccount for all loss or waste on board of her. More than this, the honorof the flag under which he sailed had been committed to him. If he losthis ship by bad management, it would be his ruin. If he permitted theensign which floated at his peak to be disgraced, it would be infamy tohim.

  In the public service he might have occasion to run into foreign ports,or to visit neutral waters. His want of knowledge, or his want ofjudgment, might entangle his country in perplexing broils with othernations, or even involve her in another war. As he thought of hisdelicate and difficult duties, he felt like shrinking from them, andavoiding the immense responsibility. Being "captain," in this view, wasquite a different thing from what he had anticipated.

  With a smile he recalled his own reflections, when, as an ordinaryseaman, he had observed the captain of his ship walk the deck. Then hehad thought the commander had the easiest and jolliest time of all themen on board, with his fine cabin all to himself, and no watch to keep,and apparently no work to do. From his present stand-point, the captainoccupied the most difficult and trying place in the ship, and he almostwished he had declined the command offered to him.

  Outside the bay, the sealed orders were opened. As he had anticipated,he was ordered to cruise in search of rebel steamers, whose depredationson the coast had severely tried the patience of the nation. He wasdirected to proceed first to the eastward, and then to use his ownjudgment. There were several rebel privateers, or naval vesselsbelonging to the Confederacy. The Tallahassee, the Chickamauga, and theOlustee had been the most mischievous; and it was believed that therewere others at Wilmington, and the _neutral_ ports of New Brunswick,Nova Scotia, and the West Indies.

  Having learned where he was to go, and what he was to do, he went ondeck and gave his orders to Mr. Gamage, the first lieutenant. TheFirefly was headed to the north-east, and all sail set to help heralong. Before Somers went below, she logged fifteen knots, which wassplendid for a ship with her bunkers full of coal.

  In the evening the young commander invited Tom Longstone to visit hiscabin. The veteran was in his happiest frame of mind. All theaspirations of his earlier years seemed to have been rekindled in hissoul; he had abandoned the use of slang, and conducted himself so muchlike a gentleman, outwardly, that no one could have suspected he hadspent thirty odd years of his life before the mast; but as he had alwaysbeen a gentleman at heart, it was comparatively easy for him to assumethe externals of his new profession.

  The old man had donned a new uniform; and though his hair and beard wereiron gray, he looked as "spruce" as a dry goods clerk. No change ofdress, however, could make him any other than an "old salt." He walkedwith a rolling gait, and had all the airs of a veteran seaman. It istrue that in the transposition from the forecastle to the ward-room hehad discarded "pigtail," and confined himself to "fine cut," taken froma silver box; but he still used as much of the "weed" as an oldsheet-anchor man.

  "You sent for me, Captain Somers," said the second lieutenant, as hetouched his fore-top, from the force of habit.

  "Sit down, Mr. Longstone," said the captain. "It is one of the blessingsof my present position that I have a place to sit down and talk with oldfriends. I suppose you know we are bound to the eastward in search ofrebel privateers."

  "So Mr. Gamage told me, sir. I hope we shall catch some of them."

  "So do I; but I'm afraid we are on a wild-goose chase."

  "Perhaps not--at least, I hope not. If there is a rebel ship in thesewaters, we'll have her, if we have to dive after her."

  "The ocean is very broad. None of our ships have had much luck incatching these rebel pirates. I would rather have gone down on theblockade, where there is some show for us."

  "Don't give it up, Captain Somers."

  "I don't give it up; but I do not see any reason why I should be morefortunate than others. A score of our ships have cruised for monthswithout catching a single one of them."

  "They didn't look where they were," laughed Tom.

  "If I knew where they were, I would look there."

  "You will certainly catch one of the pirates, Captain Somers."

  "Why do you say so?"

  "Because you are smart, and you are lucky. I know you will make acapture on this cruise. I feel it in my bones."

  "I hope I shall. Wouldn't it be glorious, if I could send such adespatch as Captain Winslow did, after he had sunk the Alabama?"

  Somers's eyes glistened as he thought of it, but it was only anair-castle; and after he had contemplated it for a moment, his commonsense obliged him to come down from the clouds.

  The cruise of the Firefly would supply matter enough for a whole volume,but we have only space for a mere outline of the voyage. The steamer layoff and on for a week without meeting with anything that looked like arebel privateer, when her commander decided to run into Halifax, wherehe hoped to obtain some information. The city was a nest of "seceshsympathizers," and the captain of the Firefly was not received with muchenthusiasm outside of the American consulate. He had not been in thehabit of hearing his country and her rulers vilified, and as he sat inthe parlor of the hotel, and listened to hostile remarks, evidentlyintended for his ear, nothing but prudence prevented him from indulgingin the luxury of pulling the noses of the speakers. He preserved hisdignity in spite of his inclination.

  "Upon my word, this is a very unexpected pleasure," said a familiarvoice.

  He looked up from the newspaper he was reading. Before him stood Mr.Pillgrim!

  "Quite as unexpected to me as to you, Mr. Pillgrim!" replied Somers,with abundant self-possession.

  "I dare say, Mr. Somers," laughed Pillgrim. "Of course you did notexpect to see me. Will you take a glass of wine with me, Mr. Somers?"

  "No, I thank you; I never indulge--as you are aware."

  "I didn't know but your rapid advancement had changed your tastes."

  "No, sir."

  "You command the Ben Lomond now, Mr. Somers, I learn from the papers."

  "The Firefly is her present name."

  "Bah! What an ugly name for a fine steamer like her. The Tallapoosa ismuch better. Be that as it may, I congratulate you on your promotion andyour appointment; and you know how sincere I am!

  "I do know; and, therefore, cannot even thank you for your good wishes."

  "Don't be savage, Mr. Somers. You can afford to be very good-natured."

  "I am."

  "You don't seem to be very glad to see me."

  "On the contrary, I am. I hope, with your usual candor, that you willtell me what you are going to do next, and gi
ve me an opportunity to cutout your vessel. I am up here for that purpose."

  Pillgrim bit his lip.

  "At present, Mr. Somers, I must be silent; but we shall yet meet andsettle up old accounts. Let us not be ill-natured. If we meet asenemies, we will fight it out."

  "We can never meet in any other way."

  "That isn't friendly. How is Miss Portington?"

  "She was well, last time I saw her;" and Somers blushed, and lookeddisconcerted--as he really was.

  "I am glad to hear it, Mr. Somers," said Pillgrim, significantly.

  Somers changed the topic at once, and finally contrived to ask thetraitor how he happened to be in Halifax, instead of Fortress Monroe.Pillgrim laughed exultingly, and declared there were no irons, bolts, orbars that could keep him a prisoner; and the facts seemed to justify theassertion.

  "Mr. Somers, not more than one half of the people of the North are infavor of this cruel war. I have friends in Washington and other citieswhom no one suspects of favoring the South. I am indebted to them for myliberation. I shall yet carry out my original purpose. I have lost threevessels. I was paid for two by the Confederacy; and I have your bond forhalf the value of the third. I am a commander in the Confederate navy.In one week I shall be at sea. I shall sink, burn, and destroy! Youcan't help yourself."

  "Is your ship here?"

  "Yes--no."

  Pillgrim laughed, turned on his heel, and walked away. Somers wasexcited. He wanted to know more. He went to the American consul. A"blue-nose" sailor of the Firefly was sent on shore, who found Pillgrim,and without much difficulty shipped in the "Sunny South" for a voyage onthe coast. This was all the information that could be obtained. Therewas no such craft as the Sunny South in port. Somers examined all thevessels in the harbor, and found a steamer called the Ben Ledi--anotherScottish mountain. She was Clyde-built, and similar to the Ben Nevis andthe Ben Lomond. The name alone satisfied the inquirer that she belongedto the same family as the two vessels he had already captured.

  Things began to look a little more hopeful, and the young commandercarefully read his books on international law. He attempted to place theFirefly where he could watch the suspected steamer; but the authorities,on various pretences, prevented him from doing so. The next morning theBen Ledi was gone. Somers was exceedingly mortified, for he might aswell look for a needle in a haymow as try to find the vessel on theocean. He put to sea at once. A "blue-nose" official laughed at him ashis gig pulled off to the ship, and everybody on shore was in high gleebecause the Confederate had eluded the Yankee.

  Somers kept cool in spite of his chagrin; and believing the Ben Lediwould run for Wilmington, where she would probably be fitted out as acruiser, he headed the Firefly in that direction, and gave chase.