by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER VI
MR. PERCY PIERSON INTRODUCES HIMSELF
Christy procured the desired information on shore; and being but a boy,he obtained no credit for the head he carried on his shoulders, so thatno attention was given to him when he made his investigation. At theproper time Captain Passford appeared; but, as the guns and other warmaterial were intended for the other side in the conflict, he wasobliged to resort to a little strategy to obtain them.
But they were obtained, and the Bellevite was as fully armed andprepared for an emergency as though she had been in the employ of theGovernment, as it was intended that she should be when her presentmission was accomplished. During her stay at St. George, such changesas were necessary to adapt the vessel to her enterprise--such as thefitting up of a magazine--were completed, and the steamer sailed.
After a quick passage, the Bellevite arrived at New Providence, Nassau,where she put in to obtain some needed supplies, as it was directly onher course. Already there was not a little activity at the principalforeign ports nearest to the Southern States, created by the hurriedoperations of speculators anxious to profit by the war that was to come;and later these harbors were the refuge of the blockade-runners.
The arrival of the Bellevite at New Providence created not a littleexcitement among the Confederate sympathizers who had hastened there totake advantage of the maritime situation, and to procure vessels for theuse of the South in the struggle. The steamer was painted black, and, asshe had been built after plans suggested by her owner, she was peculiarin her construction to some extent, and her appearance baffled thecuriosity of the active Confederate patriots and speculators alike; forboth classes were represented there, though not yet in large numbers.
Captain Passford had instructed the commander to conceal all the factsin regard to her, and no flag or any thing else which could betray hernationality or character was allowed to be seen. The business ofobtaining the needed stores required many of the officers and men to goon shore, but all of them were instructed to answer no questions. No onewas allowed to come on board.
"Good-morning, my friend," said a young man to Christy, as he landed onthe day after the arrival.
"Good-morning," replied the owner's son, civilly enough, as he lookedover the person addressing him, who appeared to be a young man not morethan eighteen years old.
"What steamer is that?" continued the stranger, pointing to thesteam-yacht.
Christy looked at his interlocutor, who was a pleasant-looking youngman, though there was something which did not appear to be quite naturalin his expression; and he suspected that he had been placed at thelanding to interrogate him or some other person from the steamer, inregard to her character and nationality. Possibly he derived this ideafrom the fact that he had himself been employed on a similar duty at St.George.
"Do you mean that schooner?" asked Christy carelessly, as he pointed ata vessel much nearer the shore than the Bellevite.
"No, not at all," replied the stranger. "I mean that steamer, off to thenorth-east," replied the young man, pointing out into the bay.
"North-east?" added the owner's son. "That is this way;" and he turnedabout, and directed his finger towards the interior of the island. "Thatwould put the craft you mean on the shore, wouldn't it?"
"Not a bit of it! I don't mean that way. Don't you know the points ofthe compass?"
"I learned them when I was young, but I forget them now."
"Pray how old are you, my friend?" asked the stranger, who thought hiscompanion was stupid enough to answer any question he might put to him.
"I was forty-two yesterday; and in a year from yesterday, I shall beforty-three, if I don't die of old age before that time," repliedChristy, looking the other full in the face, and with as serious anexpression as he could command.
"Forty-two! You are chaffing me. Didn't you come from that steamer overthere?" demanded the young man, pointing at the Bellevite again.
"No, sir. I came from China, from a place they call Shensibangerwhang.Were you ever there?"
"I never was there, and I question if you were ever there."
"Do you mean to question my veracity?" demanded Christy, knitting hisbrow.
"Oh, no, not at all!"
"Very well; and when you go to Shensibangerwhang, I shall be glad to seeyou; and then I will endeavor to answer all the questions you desire toask."
"I thought you came from that steamer over there."
"Thought made a world, but it wasn't your thought that did it."
"Of course you know the name of that steamer."
"Oh, now I think of her name! That is the Chicherwitherwing, and shebelongs to the Chinese navy. She is sent out on a voyage of discovery tofind the north pole, which she expects to reach here in the West Indies.When she finds it, I will let you know by mail, if you will give me youraddress," rattled Christy with abundant self-possession.
"No, no, now! You are chaffing me."
"Do you know, brother mortal of mine, that I suspect you are a Yankee;for they say they live on baked beans, and earn the money to buy thepork for them by asking questions."
"I am not a Yankee; I am a long way from that."
"Then perhaps you sympathize with the meridonial section of the nationon the other side of the Gulf Stream."
"Which section?" asked the stranger, looking a little puzzled.
"The meridonial section."
"Which is that? I don't know which meridian you mean."
"I mean no meridian. Perhaps the word is a little irregular; I studiedFrench when I was in the Bangerwhangerlang College in China, and I amsometimes apt to get that language mixed up with some other. Let me see,we were speaking just now, were we not?"
"I was."
"Sometimes I can't speak any English, and I had forgotten about it.If you prefer to carry on this conversation in Hebrew or Hindostanee,I shall not object," added Christy gravely.
"I think I can do better with English."
"Have your own way about it; but 'meridonial' in French means'southern,' if you will excuse me for making the suggestion."
"Then I am meridonial," replied the stranger, and he seemed to make theadmission under the influence of a sudden impulse.
"Your hand on that!" promptly added Christy, extending his own.
"All right!" exclaimed the other. "My name is Percy Pierson. What isyours?"
"Percy Pierson!" exclaimed Christy, starting back with astonishment, asthough his companion had fired a pistol in his face.
"What is the matter now?" demanded Percy Pierson, surprised at thedemonstration of the other.
"What did you say your name was? Did I understand you aright?"
"I said my name was Percy Pierson. Is there any thing surprising aboutthat?" asked Percy, puzzled at the demeanor of Christy.
"See here, my jolly high-flyer, who told you my name?" demanded the sonof the owner of the Bellevite, with a certain amount of indignation inhis manner.
"You did not, to be sure, though I asked you what it was."
"What sort of a game are you trying to play off on me? I am an innocentyoung fellow of sixteen, and I don't like to have others playing trickson me. Who told you my name, if you please?"
"No one told me your name; and I don't know yet what it is, though Ihave asked it of you."
"Oh, get away with you! You are playing off something on me which Idon't understand, and I think I had better bid you good-morning," addedChristy, as he started to move off.
"Then you won't tell me your name. Stay a minute."
"You know my name as well as I do, and you are up to some trick withme," protested Christy, halting.
"'Pon my honor as a Southern gentleman, I don't know your name."
"If you are a Southern gentleman, I must believe you, for I did not comefrom as far north as I might have come. My name is Percy Pierson," addedChristy seriously; for he felt that this was actually war, and that thestrategy that does not always or often speak the truth was justifiable.
"Percy Pierson!" exclaimed the real owner of the name. "Didn't I justtell you that was my name?"
"Undoubtedly you did, and that is the reason why I thought you weremaking game of me."
"But how can that be when my name is Percy Pierson?"
"Give it up; but I suggest that in London, where I came from, there areacres of King Streets, almost as many Queens; and, though you may not beaware of the fact, there are seven thousand two hundred and twenty-sevennative and foreign born citizens of the name of John Smith. Possibly youand I are the only two Percy Piersons in the country, or in the world."
"Now you say you are from London, and a little while ago you said youwere from farther north than I am. Which is it?"
"Isn't London farther north than any Southern State?"
"Enough of this," continued Percy impatiently.
"Quite enough of it," assented Christy.
"Will you tell me what steamer that is, where she is bound, and what sheis here for?"
"My dear Mr. Pierson, it would take me forty-eight hours to tell youall that," replied the representative of the Bellevite, taking out hiswatch. "If you will meet me here to-morrow night at sundown, I will makea beginning of the yarn, and I think I can finish it in two days. Butreally you must excuse me now; for I have to dine with the Chineseadmiral at noon, and I must go at once."
"I can put the owner of that craft in the way of making a fortune forhimself, if he is willing to part with her," added Percy, as hiscompanion began to move off.
"That is just what the owner of that steamer wants to do: he desires topart with her, and he is determined to get rid of her. I have the meansof knowing that he will let her go just as soon as he can possibly getrid of her."
"Then he is the man my father wants to see; that is, if the vessel iswhat she appears to be, for no one is allowed to go on board of her."
"I am sorry to tear myself away from you, but positively I must go now;for the Chinese admiral will get very impatient if I am not on time, andI have some important business with him before dinner," said Christy, ashe increased his pace and got away from Mr. Percy Pierson, though he wasafraid he would follow him.
But he did not; instead of doing so, he began to talk with a boatman whohad some kind of a craft at the landing. Christy was not in so much of ahurry as he had appeared to be, and he waited in the vicinity till hesaw his Southern friend embark in a boat which headed for the Bellevite.He concluded that his communicative friend meant to go on board of her,thinking the vessel was for sale.