The Military Megapack

by Harry Harrison

  Now this work demanded an experienced seaman, and one who knew exactly the qualities of the Dolphin.

  In fact, two Federal frigates were now cruising in the Charleston waters. Mr. Mathew soon drew James Playfair’s attention to them.

  “They are preparing to ask us what we want on these shores,” said he.

  “Ah, well! we won’t answer them,” replied the Captain, “and they will not get their curiosity satisfied.”

  In the meanwhile the cruisers were coming on full steam towards the Dolphin, who continued her course, taking care to keep out of range of their guns. But in order to gain time James Playfair made for the south-west, wishing to put the enemies’ ships off their guard; the latter must have thought that the Dolphin intended to make for Morris Island Channel. Now there they had batteries and guns, a single shot from which would have been enough to sink the English ship; so the Federals allowed the Dolphin to run towards the south-west, contenting themselves by observing her without following closely.

  Thus for an hour the respective situations of the ships did not change, for James Playfair, wishing to deceive the cruisers as to the course of the Dolphin, had caused the fires to be moderated, so that the speed was decreased. However, from the thick volumes of smoke which escaped from the chimneys, it might have been thought that he was trying to get his maximum pressure, and, consequently his maximum of rapidity.

  “They will be slightly astonished presently,” said James Playfair, “when they see us slip through their fingers!”

  In fact, when the Captain saw that he was near enough to Morris Island, and before a line of guns, the range of which he did not know, he turned his rudder quickly, and the ship resumed her northerly course, leaving the cruisers two miles to windward of her; the latter, seeing this manoeuvre, understood the steamer’s object, and began to pursue her in earnest, but it was too late. The Dolphin doubled her speed under the action of the screws, and distanced them rapidly. Going nearer to the coast, a few shell were sent after her as an acquittal of conscience, but the Federals were outdone, for their projectiles did not reach half-way. At eleven o’clock in the morning, the steamer ranging near Sullivan Island, thanks to her small draft, entered the narrow strait full steam; there she was in safety, for no Federalist cruiser dared follow her in this channel, the depth of which, on an average, was only eleven feet at low tide.

  “How!” cried Crockston, “and is that the only difficulty?”

  “Oh! oh! Master Crockston,” said James Playfair, “the difficulty is not in entering, but in getting out again.”

  “Nonsense!” replied the American, “that does not make me at all uneasy; with a boat like the Dolphin and a Captain like Mr. James Playfair, one can go where one likes, and come out in the same manner.”

  Nevertheless, James Playfair, with telescope in his hand, was attentively examining the route to be followed. He had before him excellent coasting guides, with which he could go ahead without any difficulty or hesitation.

  Once his ship was safely in the narrow channel which runs the length of Sullivan Island, James steered bearing towards the middle of Fort Moultrie as far as the Pickney Castle, situated on the isolated island of Shute’s Folly; on the other side rose Fort Johnson, a little way to the north of Fort Sumter.

  At this moment the steamer was saluted by some shot which did not reach her, from the batteries on Morris Island. She continued her course without any deviation, passed before Moultrieville, situated at the extremity of Sullivan Island, and entered the bay.

  Soon Fort Sumter on the left protected her from the batteries of the Federalists.

  This fort, so celebrated in the civil war, is situated three miles and a half from Charleston, and about a mile from each side of the bay: it is nearly pentagonal in form, built on an artificial island of Massachusetts granite; it took ten years to construct and cost more than 900,000 dollars.

  It was from this fort, on the 13th of April, 1861, that Anderson and the Federal troops were driven, and it was against it that the first shot of the Confederates was fired. It is impossible to estimate the quantity of iron and lead which the Federals showered down upon it. However, it resisted for almost three years, but a few months after the passage of the Dolphin it fell beneath General Gillmore’s three hundred-pounders on Morris Island.

  But at this time it was in all its strength, and the Confederate flag floated proudly above it.

  Once past the fort, the town of Charleston appeared, lying between Ashley and Cooper Rivers.

  James Playfair threaded his way through the buoys which mark the entrance of the channel, leaving behind the Charleston lighthouse, visible above Morris Island. He had hoisted the English flag, and made his way with wonderful rapidity through the narrow channels. When he had passed the quarantine buoy, he advanced freely into the centre of the bay. Miss Halliburtt was standing on the poop, looking at the town where her father was kept prisoner, and her eyes filled with tears.

  At last the steamer’s speed was moderated by the Captain’s orders; the Dolphin ranged along the end of the south and east batteries, and was soon moored at the quay of the North Commercial Wharf.

  CHAPTER VII

  A SOUTHERN GENERAL

  The Dolphin, on arriving at the Charleston quay, had been saluted by the cheers of a large crowd. The inhabitants of this town, strictly blockaded by sea, were not accustomed to visits from European ships. They asked each other, not without astonishment, what this great steamer, proudly bearing the English flag, had come to do in their waters; but when they learned the object of her voyage, and why she had just forced the passage Sullivan, when the report spread that she carried a cargo of smuggled ammunition, the cheers and joyful cries were redoubled.

  James Playfair, without losing a moment, entered into negotiation with General Beauregard, the military commander of the town. The latter eagerly received the young Captain of the Dolphin, who had arrived in time to provide the soldiers with the clothes and ammunition they were so much in want of. It was agreed that the unloading of the ship should take place immediately, and numerous hands came to help the English sailors.

  Before quitting his ship James Playfair had received from Miss Halliburtt the most pressing injunctions with regard to her father, and the Captain had placed himself entirely at the young girl’s service.

  “Miss Jenny,” he had said, “you may rely on me; I will do the utmost in my power to save your father, but I hope this business will not present many difficulties. I shall go and see General Beauregard today, and, without asking him at once for Mr. Halliburtt’s liberty, I shall learn in what situation he is, whether he is on bail or a prisoner.”

  “My poor father!” replied Jenny, sighing; “he little thinks his daughter is so near him. Oh that I could fly into his arms!”

  “A little patience, Miss Jenny; you will soon embrace your father. Rely upon my acting with the most entire devotion, but also with prudence and consideration.”

  This is why James Playfair, after having delivered the cargo of the Dolphin up to the General, and bargained for an immense stock of cotton, faithful to his promise, turned the conversation to the events of the day.

  “So,” said he, “you believe in the triumph of the slave-holders?”

  “I do not for a moment doubt of our final success, and, as regards Charleston, Lee’s army will soon relieve it: besides, what do you expect from the Abolitionists? Admitting that which will never be, that the commercial towns of Virginia, the two Carolinas, Georgia, Alabama, fall under their power, what then? Will they be masters of a country they can never occupy? No, certainly not; and for my part, if they are ever victorious, they shall pay dearly for it.”

  “And you are quite sure of your soldiers?” asked the Captain. “You are not afraid that Charleston will grow weary of a siege which is ruining her?”

  “No, I do not fear treason; besides, the traitors would be punished remorselessly, and I would destroy the town itself by sword or fire if I discovered the least U
nionist movement. Jefferson Davis confided Charleston to me, and you may be sure that Charleston is in safe hands.”

  “Have you any Federal prisoners?” asked James Playfair, coming to the interesting object of the conversation.

  “Yes, Captain,” replied the General, “it was at Charleston that the first shot of separation was fired. The Abolitionists who were here attempted to resist, and, after being defeated, they have been kept as prisoners of war.”

  “And have you many?”

  “About a hundred.”

  “Free in the town?”

  “They were until I discovered a plot formed by them: their chief succeeded in establishing a communication with the besiegers, who were thus informed of the situation of affairs in the town. I was then obliged to lock up these dangerous guests, and several of them will only leave their prison to ascend the slope of the citadel, where ten confederate balls will reward them for their federalism.”

  “What! to be shot!” cried the young man, shuddering involuntarily.

  “Yes, and their chief first of all. He is a very dangerous man to have in a besieged town. I have sent his letters to the President at Richmond, and before a week is passed his sentence will be irrevocably passed.”

  “Who is this man you speak of?” asked James Playfair, with an assumed carelessness.

  “A journalist from Boston, a violent Abolitionist with the confounded spirit of Lincoln.”

  “And his name?”

  “Jonathan Halliburtt.”

  “Poor wretch!” exclaimed James, suppressing his emotion. “Whatever he may have done, one cannot help pitying him. And you think that he will be shot?”

  “I am sure of it,” replied Beauregard. “What can you expect? War is war; one must defend oneself as best one can.”

  “Well, it is nothing to me,” said the Captain. “I shall be far enough away when this execution takes place.”

  “What! you are thinking of going away already.”

  “Yes, General, business must be attended to; as soon as my cargo of cotton is on board I shall be out to sea again. I was fortunate enough to enter the bay, but the difficulty is in getting out again. The Dolphin is a good ship; she can beat any of the Federal vessels for speed, but she does not pretend to distance cannon-balls, and a shell in her hull or engine would seriously affect my enterprise.”

  “As you please, Captain,” replied Beauregard; “I have no advice to give you under such circumstances. You are doing your business, and you are right. I should act in the same manner were I in your place; besides, a stay at Charleston is not very pleasant, and a harbour where shells are falling three days out of four is not a safe shelter for your ship; so you will set sail when you please; but can you tell me what is the number and the force of the Federal vessels cruising before Charleston?”

  James Playfair did his best to answer the General, and took leave of him on the best of terms; then he returned to the Dolphin very thoughtful and very depressed from what he had just heard.

  “What shall I say to Miss Jenny? Ought I to tell her of Mr. Halliburtt’s terrible situation? Or would it be better to keep her in ignorance of the trial which is awaiting her? Poor child!”

  He had not gone fifty steps from the governor’s house when he ran against Crockston. The worthy American had been watching for him since his departure.

  “Well, Captain?”

  James Playfair looked steadily at Crockston, and the latter soon understood he had no favourable news to give him.

  “Have you seen Beauregard?” he asked.

  “Yes,” replied James Playfair.

  “And have you spoken to him about Mr. Halliburtt?”

  “No, it was he who spoke to me about him.”

  “Well, Captain?”

  “Well, I may as well tell you everything, Crockston.”

  “Everything, Captain.”

  “General Beauregard has told me that your master will be shot within a week.”

  At this news anyone else but Crockston would have grown furious or given way to bursts of grief, but the American, who feared nothing, only said, with almost a smile on his lips:

  “Pooh! what does it matter?”

  “How! what does it matter?” cried James Playfair. “I tell you that Mr. Halliburtt will be shot within a week, and you answer, what does it matter?”

  “And I mean it—if in six days he is on board the Dolphin, and if in seven days the Dolphin is on the open sea.”

  “Right!” exclaimed the Captain, pressing Crockston’s hand. “I understand, my good fellow, you have got some pluck; and for myself, in spite of Uncle Vincent, I would throw myself overboard for Miss Jenny.”

  “No one need be thrown overboard,” replied the American, “only the fish would gain by that: the most important business now is to deliver Mr. Halliburtt.”

  “But you must know that it will be difficult to do so.”

  “Pooh!” exclaimed Crockston.

  “It is a question of communicating with a prisoner strictly guarded.”

  “Certainly.”

  “And to bring about an almost miraculous escape.”

  “Nonsense,” exclaimed Crockston; “a prisoner thinks more of escaping than his guardian thinks of keeping him; that’s why, thanks to our help, Mr. Halliburtt will be saved.”

  “You are right, Crockston.”

  “Always right.”

  “But now what will you do? There must be some plan: and there are precautions to be taken.”

  “I will think about it.”

  “But when Miss Jenny learns that her father is condemned to death, and that the order for his execution may come any day—”

  “She will know nothing about it, that is all.”

  “Yes, it will be better for her and for us to tell her nothing.”

  “Where is Mr. Halliburtt imprisoned?” asked Crockston.

  “In the citadel,” replied James Playfair.

  “Just so!…On board now?”

  “On board, Crockston!”

  CHAPTER VIII

  THE ESCAPE

  Miss Jenny, sitting at the poop of the Dolphin, was anxiously waiting the Captain’s return; when the latter went up to her she could not utter a word, but her eyes questioned James Playfair more eagerly than her lips could have done. The latter, with Crockston’s help, informed the young girl of the facts relating to her father’s imprisonment. He said that he had carefully broached the subject of the prisoners of war to Beauregard, but, as the General did not seem disposed at all in their favour, he had thought it better to say no more about it, but think the matter over again.

  “Since Mr. Halliburtt is not free in the town, his escape will be more difficult; but I will finish my task, and I promise you, Miss Jenny, that the Dolphin shall not leave Charleston without having your father on board.”

  “Thank you, Mr. James; I thank you with my whole heart.”

  At these words James Playfair felt a thrill of joy through his whole being.

  He approached the young girl with moist eyes and quivering lips; perhaps he was going to make an avowal of the sentiments he could no longer repress, when Crockston interfered:

  “This is no time for grieving,” said he; “we must go to work, and consider what to do.”

  “Have you any plan, Crockston?” asked the young girl.

  “I always have a plan,” replied the American: “it is my peculiarity.”

  “But a good one?” said James Playfair.

  “Excellent! and all the ministers in Washington could not devise a better; it is almost as good as if Mr. Halliburtt was already on board.”

  Crockston spoke with such perfect assurance, at the same time with such simplicity, that it must have been the most incredulous person who could doubt his words.

  “We are listening, Crockston,” said James Playfair.

  “Good! You, Captain, will go to General Beauregard, and ask a favour of him which he will not refuse you.”

  “And what is that?” />
  “You will tell him that you have on board a tiresome subject, a scamp who has been very troublesome during the voyage, and excited the crew to revolt. You will ask of him permission to shut him up in the citadel; at the same time, on the condition that he shall return to the ship on her departure, in order to be taken back to England, to be delivered over to the justice of his country.”

  “Good!” said James Playfair, half smiling, “I will do all that, and Beauregard will grant my request very willingly.”

  “I am perfectly sure of it,” replied the American.

  “But,” resumed Playfair, “one thing is wanting.”

  “What is that?”

  “The scamp.”

  “He is before you, Captain.”

  “What, the rebellious subject?”

  “Is myself; don’t trouble yourself about that.”

  “Oh! you brave, generous heart,” cried Jenny, pressing the American’s rough hands between her small white palms.

  “Go, Crockston,” said James Playfair; “I understand you, my friend; and I only regret one thing—that is, that I cannot take your place.”

  “Everyone his part,” replied Crockston; “if you put yourself in my place you would be very much embarrassed, which I shall not be; you will have enough to do later on to get out of the harbour under the fire of the Feds and Rebs, which, for my part, I should manage very badly.”

  “Well, Crockston, go on.”

  “Once in the citadel—I know it—I shall see what to do, and rest assured I shall do my best; in the meanwhile, you will be getting your cargo on board.”

  “Oh, business is now a very unimportant detail,” said the Captain.