by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER XXVII
A CANNON-BALL THROUGH THE LEOPARD
The gun on the forecastle of the Leopard was placed as far aft aspossible, so that Christy could not see it without putting his head outat the front windows of the pilot-house, and for this reason he had notseen what Captain Pecklar was about. But the piece must have been loadedbefore, for he could not have charged it without being seen.
The captain had remarked that he could bring the labors of those inthe long-boat to an end, for Major Pierson was urging his men to theirutmost with their oars in order to reach the tug. The smoke preventedChristy from seeing to what extent he had succeeded, though the factthat he had fired the gun at the boat was all he needed to satisfy himof the fidelity of the acting engineer to the cause he had justespoused.
Christy had not deemed it advisable to change the course of the Leopard;for the long-boat was approaching her at right angles, and he thoughtshe would get out of its way, for those in charge of it made nocalculation of the distance the tug would run while the boat wasapproaching her.
The smoke blew aside in a moment, and Christy discovered that thelong-boat had not been struck by the shot; or, if it had, it hadreceived no material damage. The major was still urging his men toincrease their efforts, and he seemed to be not at all disconcerted bythe shot which had been fired at him. But Christy saw that he was losingthe game, as he probably would not have done if he had been a sailor,for his calculations would have been better made.
When the pilot of the Leopard realized that the major was too muchoccupied in increasing the speed of the long-boat to continue the firingat the tug, he had resumed his place at the window; but he kept his eyeon the enemy. He looked out at the window; but he could not see CaptainPecklar, though he heard him shovelling coal a minute later. The enginestill appeared to be doing its best, and the tug was in a fair way topass clear of the long-boat.
"Look out, up there, Christy!" shouted the engineer, a little later.
The pilot turned his attention to the boat again, and saw that the majorand the lieutenant were loading their muskets again, and the two mennot at the oars were doing the same. The commandant evidently began tofeel that he was to miss his prey if he depended upon the oars of thesoldiers, and he was about to turn his attention again to the businessof disabling the pilot of the tug. Christy dropped down on the flooragain, and steered by the compass, which was still where he had placedit before.
He could hear a rumbling sound on the forward deck, and he was curiousto know what the captain was doing; but it was not prudent to lookout at the window. After a great deal of hard kicking and prying, hesucceeded in removing a narrow board from the front of the pilot-housenear the floor; and through this aperture he could see that the actingengineer had just finished reloading the gun, and was changing itsposition so as to bring it to bear on the long-boat.
The enemy were now a little forward of the beam of the tug, and not morethan fifty yards from her; but Christy was satisfied that the Leopardwould go clear of the long-boat if his craft was not disabled. The majorand his companions could not help seeing that Captain Pecklar haddeserted their cause, and that, with the gun on the deck, he was adangerous enemy.
The report of a musket in the direction of the boat caused Christy tolook very anxiously to the forward deck; but to his great satisfactionhe saw that the captain had not been hit. But he immediately retiredunder the pilot-house, so that he could not see him. He was brave enoughto stand up and be shot at, but he was also prudent enough not to exposehimself unnecessarily.
Three other shots followed the first, one of the balls passing throughthe boards of the pilot-house, above the helmsman's head; and he saw asplinter fly from a stanchion forward. Captain Pecklar waited for thefourth shot,--and he had evidently noticed how many men had muskets intheir hands,--then he sprang out from his hiding-place, sighted the gun,and pulled the lock-string.
Through the aperture he had made, Christy looked with intense interestto ascertain the effect of this shot. As soon as the smoke blew away,he saw that the shot had passed obliquely into the boat, striking thestern-board just behind Major Pierson, and splitting off the plank nearthe water-line.
There was a commotion in the ranks of the enemy, and it was plain enoughthat the water was flowing into the craft. The soldiers stopped rowing,and the lieutenant and one of the extra men were sent into the bow. Thischange settled the bow of the boat down into the water, and lifted thestern. The major appeared to be equal to the emergency; he gave hisorders in a loud voice, and the rowing was renewed with the delay of notmore than a couple of minutes. But that was enough to defeat his presentpurpose, though he still urged his men to exert themselves to theutmost.
The long-boat went astern of the tug, and Christy came out from hisplace on the floor to the windows. Captain Pecklar was loading the gun,as he had done before, by swinging it around so that the muzzle wasunder the pilot-house.
"I think you will have no further use for that gun," said Christy, whenhe saw what the captain was doing.
"Perhaps not; but it is best to have it ready for the next time we wantit. The major kept it loaded all the time, and I shall follow hisexample," replied the captain.
"Have you been hit, Percy?" asked Christy, looking out at the side underwhich the late pilot had bestowed himself for safe-keeping.
"I have not been hit; they could not see me where I am. Have you beenhit, Christy?" replied Percy.
"Not at all; I took good care not to be seen while they were firing. Butyour brother has dropped astern of the Leopard in his boat, and there isno danger here now: so you can come in and take the helm, if you like."
Percy was glad to have something to do, for he was very nervous; andhe came into the pilot-house. He was not half as airy as he had beenbefore, and the sound of the muskets and the twelve-pounder on theforward deck had undoubtedly made an impression upon him. But he was asglad to take the wheel as Christy was to have him, for he desired tostudy the situation after all the changes which had been made in theposition of the several vessels.
"You have had an awful time of it, Christy," said Percy, as he took thewheel. "I wonder that you have not been killed."
"Not a very awful time of it, and I took good care not to be killed,"replied Christy. "A fellow isn't good for much after he has been killed,and it is always best to look out and not get killed; though I supposeone cannot always help it."
"Did you fire the field-piece on the deck below?"
"No, I did not; that was done by Captain Pecklar."
"My brother will have him hanged when he gets hold of him," added Percy,shaking his head.
"Very likely he will if he gets hold of him, but we don't intend to lethim get hold of him."
Christy left the pilot-house, and went out on the hurricane deck, wherehe could better see all that was to be seen, and be alone with his ownthoughts. His first care was to ascertain the position of his mostactive enemy, the long-boat. He could see it a short distance astern ofthe tug. It had changed its course, and was following the Leopard, whichwas now gaining rapidly upon it.
Directly ahead of the tug was the Bellevite, not more than a quarterof a mile distant; but while she was going off to the north-west, theDauphine had kept more to the southward and was now nearer than thesteamer of Captain Passford.
The remark which Captain Pecklar had made when he came partly upon thehurricane deck, that the Bellevite had changed her course because MajorPierson had been fool enough to fire at the tug, came up in Christy'smind again. He had thought of it at the time it was uttered, and severaltimes since; but he had not had the time to weigh its meaning.
The owner's son knew very well that every incident connected with thetug, and with the other vessels in sight, had been carefully observedand weighed by his father and Captain Breaker. They had seen the boatleave the Leopard. It looked like a stupid movement to do such a thing,when the approach to the Bellevite could be made so much more rapidlyand safely in the tug.
There
must be a motive for such a singular step. Of course the passageof the boat had been closely observed, and the starting up of the screwof the Leopard had been duly noted. As the tug came near the long-boat,the latter had fired upon it. This must have been seen; and the questionnaturally would come up as to why those in the boat fired upon their ownpeople in the Leopard.
It was not likely that they could answer the question in a satisfactorymanner on board of the Bellevite; but the firing indicated that anenemy was in possession of the tug. This was enough, in the opinionof Christy, as it had been in that of Captain Pecklar, to produce thechange in her course.
The firing from both craft since the first demonstration must havedeepened the impression. Those on board of the Leopard must be on theside of the Union, or the party in the boat would not repeatedly fireupon them. Christy was satisfied that his father would know what all theindications meant before he abandoned the investigation.
But the Bellevite did not seem to be making her best speed by agreat deal. With his glass he could see that there was a hand in thefore-chains heaving the lead; and probably Captain Breaker feared thatthe bottom "might be too near the top of the water" for the draught ofhis vessel, and he was proceeding with caution.
Christy descended the ladder to the main-deck. He found Captain Pecklarin the fire-room, shovelling coal into the furnace. He seemed to beagain nearly exhausted by the efforts he had made during the morning;and Christy took the shovel from him, and did the work himself.
"You must not kill yourself, Captain Pecklar. This is too hard work foryou," said Christy.
"If I can only get out of this scrape, it will not make much differencewhat becomes of me," replied the invalid faintly.
"I will do this work myself. Don't you touch that shovel again."
"But things are looking very badly indeed for us, Christy," said thecaptain, bracing himself up as if for a renewed effort. "The Belle isalmost up with the boat, and she will take Major Pierson and his partyon board; and she is nearer to us than the Bellevite."
"Is that so? I have not looked astern for some time," replied Christy,rather startled by the information.
"The Bellevite is not sailing as fast as she has some of the time, andboth the Belle and the Dauphine are nearer to us than she is," addedCaptain Pecklar. "I have been trying to get up more steam."
"If my father only knew that I was on board this tug, I should feel morehope," said Christy.
"Perhaps he suspects you are. He probably sent ashore to obtaininformation in regard to you. But we don't know."
Just then a cannon-ball made the splinters fly all around them.
"I have hit Her" (Page 315)]