CHAPTER XVII.
MARCY GRAY PRIVATEERSMAN.
"Wat, you're just the fellow I want to see," exclaimed Marcy, taking hisfriend by the arm and leading him from the post-office. "When did youget home?"
"Came last night to recruit after my arduous campaign, and to spread alittle enthusiasm and patriotism among you stay-at-home chaps," answeredWat. "But, say," he added, in a lower tone. "I didn't expect to find youin the service. You're Union."
"Who told you that?"
"I'll be switched if I know. It's all over the country and ineverybody's mouth. I reckon you're Union about as I am. I say thatsecession is all wrong, that we would be better without it, and that thepeople who are urging it on don't know what they are about. There'sAllison for one; and I'm heartily glad you gave him such a set-back.He'll talk himself hoarse, but when it comes to shouldering a musket,he'll not be there. He'll be a bully chap to stand back and holler'St-boy'; but he won't take a hand himself."
By this time the two friends had perched themselves upon a low fencewhere they could be alone and talk without fear of being overheard, andGifford showed his Yankee descent by pulling out his knife and lookingaround for a stick to whittle.
"And is that the reason all our old friends have gone back on us, motherand me--because they think we are for the Union?" asked Marcy.
"I believe that is the reason a good many have turned the cold shoulderupon you," replied Gifford. "You asked me a fair question, and I havegiven you a plain answer; but I am sorry to have to do it."
"It's all right," Marcy assured him. "I want to know where I stand--"
"And then you will know how to carry yourself," added his friend. "Butevery one hasn't gone back on you; I haven't."
"You are the solitary exception."
"Well, you have taken the right course to show people that they weremistaken in you," said Gifford. "I don't see but that you were wellenough treated to-day."
"And joining the privateer was what worked the change?"
"I think so. Where do you stand, any way? You need not be afraid to behonest with me."
"I think as you do, only I go a little farther. The Constitution says:'Treason against the United States shall consist in levying war againstthem.' Did you fellows levy war against them when you fired upon Sumter?If you did, you are traitors the last one of you."
"W-h-e-w!" whistled Gifford. "And you think we ought to be hanged?"
"I certainly hope you won't be, you especially, but you know as well asI do that the penalty of treason is death."
"And you don't call yourself a traitor to your State, I suppose?"
"I don't, because I have made no effort to overthrow the legalgovernment of my State. Between you and me, I joined that privateerbecause I did not think it would be safe to do anything else."
"There's where you showed your good sense," said Gifford earnestly."Judging by what I have heard, you took the only course that was open toyou. The people here are not half as crazy as they are in Charleston,Wilmington, and Newbern, but they are none the less dead in earnest, andyou will find that after the State goes out, a Union man will not besafe in this country. I think you have completely allayed suspicion herein Nashville, but you want to look out for secret enemies near home.Whatever you do, don't run Beardsley's schooner aground."
"What have I got to do with running the schooner?" asked Marcy, who wassurprised at the extent of his friend's information. He began to seethat he and his movements had been pretty thoroughly discussed.
"You're going to pilot her," answered Gifford. "That's what you've gotto do with running her, and I say again, don't run her aground."
"If I do accidentally, Beardsley will shoot me, I suppose."
"No, he won't. He hasn't the pluck to shoot a squirrel; but you nevercould make him believe that it was an accident, and when he got ashorehe would do all he could to inflame the secessionists against you. Heseems to have something against you. I can't imagine what it is--"
"I can," replied Marcy, coloring to the roots of his hair. "He wants tomarry our plantation."
"Whew!" whispered Gifford. "That is a piece of news, I confess, but it'ssafe, old boy. He'll not make it, of course. Then you have a mostimplacable foe in Lon Beardsley. He is one of your secret enemies, andthat overseer of yours--what's his name, Hanson?--is another. They aresworn friends, I have heard, and if your mother has any money stowedaway--Mind, I don't ask whether she has or not, because it is none of mybusiness. But I understand that before you came home she made severaltrips about the country that could not have been made for nothing. Ifshe has any money, take all the precautions you can think of to keep itfrom Hanson's knowledge. He's far more dangerous than Beardsley, becausehe's right there on the place. I'll ride up and see you to-morrow ornext day, and then I will tell you more."
Just then the conversation was interrupted by the approach of a party ofyoung fellows who wanted to shake hands with the soldier who had facedthe Yankees in battle, and tell Marcy Gray that they were glad to hearhe had joined the privateer, and that they had been mistaken in him,having supposed that he was for the Union and dead against secession.Having discharged this duty, and promised the young pilot that theywould surely ride out and make him a visit before he sailed, they turnedto Gifford and demanded a complete history of the battle in Charlestonharbor.
"If it was a battle I hope I may never be in a worse one," replied thesoldier, who was not as proud of that affair as were some of those whohad no hand in it. "The South Carolina boys had everything their ownway. There were few outsiders in it, except some who, like myself, weredoing business in the city. Five thousand against fifty-one! Shucks!"
"But you heard the bullets whistle, and that's a thing to be proud of,"said one.
"I didn't hear a single bullet, but I heard a shell or two, and saw theold flag come down. That was something I was sorry for."
Gifford could talk in this strain as much as he pleased because he had"been there"; but If Marcy Gray had ventured upon it, being undersuspicion as he was, beyond a doubt he or his mother would have sufferedfor it. During the time he spent in waiting for the mail, he was neveralone for a single minute. All his old friends seemed desirous of"making themselves square" with him, and not one left his side withoutfirst telling him that somehow the mistaken idea had got abroad that hewas strong for the Union.
"And so I am," said Marcy to himself, as he mounted his horse and setout for home, glad to get away from the people who so misunderstood him."I utterly despise this double life, but don't see any release from itjust now. I should like to show myself true to my colors, but what can Ido among a lot of ruffians who would burn the roof over my mother's headif I gave them the slightest excuse for it?"
When Marcy rode into his own yard he was surprised to see two strangecarriages under the shed (a sight that had been common enough once upona time, but which he had not seen before since his return fromBarrington), and when he entered the room where his mother was sitting,he found that those carriages had brought to the house a party of ladieswho had kept aloof from Mrs. Gray ever since she failed to celebrateSouth Carolina's secession by displaying a "nullification" badge. Theseladies were as friendly and sociable as they had ever been, and astranger would not for a moment have suspected that they had thought itadvisable to drop Marcy's mother from their list of acquaintances. Theyfairly "gushed" over the boy when they told him how delighted they wereto learn that he had enlisted under the banner of the Confederacy.
"But I haven't enlisted, and what's more I don't intend to," answeredMarcy, who was resolved that there should be no misunderstanding on thatpoint. "I've got to stay at home and look out for mother."
"But you and your brave comrades can run out once in a while and annoythe enemy's commerce, and that will be the same as though you werefighting in the army. Now is the time for every true son of the South toshow his colors."
"Then it's high time some of _their_ sons were showing their c
olors,"said Marcy, after supper had been served, and the ladies had gone awayand he was alone with his mother. "There were four women in that partywho have sons older than I am. I saw them in town to-day; and althoughthey showed themselves to be blatant rebels, and talked loudly about thegood times we are going to have whipping the Yankees, they never said aword about going into the army. Why don't those women preach theirdoctrines at home instead of coming here to bother us with them?"
Then he told his mother what had passed between himself and Wat Gifford,and said he hoped Wat would visit him as he promised, for he was anxiousto know what else his friend had to tell him. He had warned him againsttwo secret enemies, and Marcy was sure he would feel safer if he knewwho the others were. But it was a long time before he saw Wat Giffordagain. The latter rode up the very next day, but the boy he wanted tosee was on his way to Newbern in the privateer, to take on board the twohowitzers which Beardsley fondly hoped would be the means of bringinghim so much prize-money that he would not be obliged to do anotherstroke of work the longest day he lived. Even while Marcy was talking tohis mother Captain Beardsley galloped into the yard with a smile on hisface and an official envelope in his hand, which he flourished in theair when he drew his horse up at the foot of the steps. Marcy's heartsank within him, and his mother turned away to conceal her agitation.Beardsley had received his commission, and there was no backing out.
CAPTAIN BEARDSLEY BRINGS THE OFFICIAL LETTER.]
"Tain't nothing to turn white over, Mrs. Gray," exclaimed the captainexultingly. "Seems to me that you ought to feel proud to know that yourboy has got the chance to strike a telling blow at the enemies of hisnative State. That's the way it makes me feel, and, Marcy, we want toget the schooner out as soon as we can, so as to catch the ebb tide totake us down to Newbern."
"That means that you need him this very night, I suppose?" faltered Mrs.Gray.
"Yes-um. That's what it means. The sooner he gets there to lend a hand,the better I'll like it."
"Has that man Tierney been discharged?" asked Marcy.
"He discharged himself," answered. Beardsley. "He must have seen youcome into my yard and suspicioned what was up, for when I got to theschooner, he wasn't there. And his partner couldn't tell me nothingabout him neither."
"I'll be along as soon as I can put a few clothes in a valise," saidMarcy; whereupon Beardsley said good-by to Mrs. Gray and rode out of theyard.
"What was that man, whose name you mentioned, discharged for?" inquiredMrs. Gray, who knew too well that Marcy was going away under command ofa man who would bring harm to him if he could.
"He was discharged because I didn't like his looks," replied the boy."He told me he was for the Union, but I did not believe a word of it.Now, mother, I need everything I took when I went with Julius lastvacation to explore the coast. I wish now that I had stayed at home, forthen Beardsley wouldn't have thought of hiring me. Let us be as livelyas we can, for it will look suspicious if I hang back."
Although the mother's heart was almost ready to break, she exhibited nosign of emotion. Like thousands of other women all over the land shegave up her son, hoping almost against hope that the fates would be kindenough to bring him back to her; but it is not to be supposed that shecalled Heaven's choicest blessings down upon the heads of the secessionleaders who had made the sacrifice necessary. Marcy bustled about, doingno good whatever, but just to keep from thinking, and in ten minutesmore there had been a tender farewell at the gate, a single kiss ofparting, and the pilot of the privateer was well on his way towardCaptain Beardsley's house. That gentleman saw him coming and waited forhim. Perhaps he had hoped that the boy would show the white feather atthe last moment. If so, he did not know Marcy Gray.
"We'll be short-handed going down," said he, as he led the way acrossthe road and into the bushes; "but we shall be all right the minute westrike Newbern. When I got my commission out of the office thisafternoon I telegraphed to my agent telling him we would start to-night,and for him to be sure and have a crew ready for us."
"Why, I thought your crew was already shipped," said Marcy. "Youcertainly gave me to understand as much."
"So they were, but I don't much expect to find 'em when I get there.They'll get tired of waiting and go out on the first ship that sails.But we'll have a crew. Don't worry about that."
"Worse and worse," thought Marcy. "We'll get a crew undoubtedly; butwhat sort of men will they be? Dock-rats and 'longshoremen, most likely,such as a decent captain wouldn't have on board his vessel. If we getinto trouble and I run the schooner aground while trying to bring herout, they will be just the sort to pitch me overboard."
As this thought passed through Marcy's mind he slipped his hand into hispocket. Captain Beardsley saw the motion and inquired:
"Got a pop with you?"
"You wouldn't go on an expedition like this without one, would you?"asked Marcy, in reply. "Have you bargained for any small arms for theschooner?"
"I have, and know right where to get 'em. But I shall keep them lockedup in the cabin and give 'em out to the crew only when I think itnecessary."
"That's a good plan," observed Marcy. "Do you know anything aboutgunnery?"
"No, but one of the men I expect to get does. He has served his time onboard an English man-of-war and knows all about howitzers, and suchthings. We couldn't get along without a gunner, you know. If we didn'thave one, how would we bring the prizes to?"
Marcy wondered why the captain had so much to say on this point. Heasked the question merely out of curiosity, and the man answered it asthough Marcy had objected to having a gunner aboard. He learned moreabout it after a while.
When they reached the bank of the bayou in which the schooner wasmoored, Marcy found that Beardsley had acted promptly, and that thevessel was ready to be towed into the river. He had stopped there on hisway home from the post-office to warn the ship-keeper, and immediatelyon his arrival at his own house, he had sent a dozen or more stoutnegroes to man the yawl with which she was to be hauled out.
"Come here, you mokes, and set us aboard," said Captain Beardsley to thenegroes who were waiting in the yawl. "Now, let go the fasts and standby to take a tow-line out for'ard." Then he said to the ship-keeper, ina low tone, "Is Tierney aboard?" and the man replied by pointing towardthe deck, indicating, no doubt, that the man who had "dischargedhimself" could be found on the berth-deck whenever his services wereneeded.
By the aid of the negroes, who were handy with a boat, the schooner wastowed from the bayou into Seven Mile Creek and thence into the RoanokeRiver a short distance above Plymouth. The jib and foresail were hoistedbefore she got there, and when they began to draw and the schooner tofeel their influence, the darkies were commanded to cast off thetow-line and make the best of their way to the plantation. Marcy went tothe wheel, not because there was any piloting to be done in that openriver, but for the reason that he happened to be nearest to it, andCaptain Beardsley came aft and spoke to him.
"When she gets clear of Plymouth we'll run up the mainsail and thenshe'll go a-humming," said he, rubbing his hands gleefully together."This is the first time I was ever in command of a vessel sailing bygovernment authority, and I feel an inch or two taller'n I ever feltbefore on my own quarter-deck. But this is a gun-deck now, aint it?" headded, stamping his foot upon it to see how solid it was. "If we onlyhad aboard the howitzer that belongs here so that we could salutePlymouth as we skim by--You aint listening to me at all. What youlooking at so steady?"
The captain faced about, and, following the direction of Marcy's gaze,saw the man Tierney slowly climbing the stairs that led to the deck.When he got to the top he turned around and came aft in the mostunconcerned manner possible.
"Well, there," exclaimed the captain, dropping both his hands by hisside and acting as if he were too astonished to say more just then. "Ifhe aint got back I wouldn't say so."
Marcy's first thought was to give the wheel a fling, spill the sails,and demand to be put ashore at once; but he did not do it. As D
ixon oncetold the colonel of the Barrington academy, it was too plain a case.Tierney had been aboard the schooner all the time, and Marcy might havefound it out if he had been sharp enough to look between decks.
"I'm glad he's come back, for he's the gunner I was telling you about,"whispered the captain. "We couldn't get along without him, don't youknow we couldn't? Say," he added, as Tierney came up, "didn't you leaveword with your partner that you had discharged yourself and wasn't nevercoming back any more? Aint you a pretty chap to show your face aboard myvessel, and you talking of giving her up to the--"
"Oh, what's the use of keeping that farce up any longer?" cried Marcy,in disgust. "You can't fool me. I don't know what Tierney's object wasin trying to bamboozle me the way he did--"
"Well, I'll tell you," the man interposed, "and I'll be honest with you,too. I heard you were a Union man, and I did not want to sail with youif you were."
"That's the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth," chimedin the captain, nodding and winking at Marcy.
"Well, are you quite satisfied with the test you applied to me?"inquired the pilot.
"I am. I know that you are as good a Southern man as any body in thecountry."
"And you are willing to acknowledge that you and the captain talked thematter over beforehand, and that when you came to me, to urge me toseize the vessel and turn her over to the Yankees, you did it with hisknowledge and consent?" continued Marcy, controlling himself with aneffort.
"Course he is," exclaimed Beardsley. "I told him he would find you trueas steel, but he--"
"But I wouldn't believe it until I had proved it to my ownsatisfaction," chimed in Tierney.
The man acted as though he had half a mind to extend his hand to Marcyin token of amity, but if he had, he thought better of it, and inobedience to the captain's order called the other ship-keeper aft toassist in hoisting the mainsail.
"He didn't offer to shake hands, and that proves that he isn't asfriendly as he lets on to be," thought Marcy. "He and the captain areplaying into each other's hands. That story was all made up, and if Idon't keep my eyes open, they will spring another plot on me. This is alovely way to live; but I've got to keep suspicion down in someway, andI don't know how else I can do it."
Nothing exciting or interesting occurred during the run to Newbern, forthere were no war-vessels inside the sandy bars which inclose the coastof North Carolina and protect it from the fury of the Atlantic storms.Aided by the strong ebb tide and the favorable breeze that was blowing,the privateer made a quick passage along the low, swampy shores ofAlbemarle, and finally entered Croatan Sound, which runs between theeastern coast and Roanoke Island, and connects Pamlico with AlbemarleSound. The forts, water-batteries, and Commodore Lynch's fleet, whichwere afterward destroyed by Burnside and Goldsborough, were not inexistence now. Forts Hatteras and Clark were being built at HatterasInlet, but the Confederates wasted time in their construction, for onthe 28th day of August Butler and Stringham captured them without theloss of a man, and in defiance of a storm which twice compelled theassaulting fleet to put to sea for safety. How Marcy Gray's heart wouldhave throbbed with exultation if he had known that the flag hisBarrington girl gave him was destined to float in triumph over the verywaters through which he was now sailing, and at the masthead of aFederal vessel of war! That glorious day was only seven months in thefuture, but the young pilot had some tight places to sail through beforeit came around to him.
Marcy Gray had so little heart for the business in which he was perforceengaged, that he hoped something might happen at Newbern to prevent theschooner from sailing on her piratical mission--that the collector ofthe port might find some fault with her papers; that the howitzers andsmall arms might not be forthcoming; that it might be impossible toraise a crew; or that anything, no matter what, would come at the lastmoment to knock Beardsley's scheme in the head. But he was disappointed.The collector could not find any fault with the vessel's commission, forhe himself had received it direct from the Confederate capital andforwarded it to the captain; the agent had scarcely slept since hereceived that dispatch from Nashville, and the result was that when theschooner sailed up to her wharf, she found the howitzers, four cases ofmuskets and sabers, and a crew of eighteen men, including two mates,waiting for her. The patriotic agent unfurled a brand-new Confederatebanner as the schooner threw out a line by which her head could be drawninto the pier, and jumped aboard with it the moment she touched.
"May it be the means of bringing you many an honest dollar," said he, ashe spread the flag upon the deck so that the captain could see it. "Areyour halliards rove? Then why not go into commission at once, whilethere is a crowd on the wharf to holler for you? Come aboard, youfellows," he added, waving his hand to the crew, who were alreadytumbling over the rail, "and stand by to cheer ship when the banner ofthe Confederacy is run up. Did your vessel take a new name with her coatof new paint, captain?"
"Yes, I kinder thought I would call her the _Fish-Hawk._"
"Isn't that a queer name for a privateer?" asked the agent.
"Why is it?" inquired the captain, who was busy folding the flag andgetting it ready to be run up to the masthead. "Don't the fish-hawk gether living from the water, and aint I going to get mine the same way?"
"That's true. Well, then, call her _Osprey._ That sounds a littlebetter, _I_ think, and it means the same thing."
"All right. _Osprey_ she is," answered the captain, as he hauled up theflag which had been made into a little bundle. "You stand by to set 'emgoing."
The crew, as well as the rapidly increasing crowd on the wharf, whowatched the little bundle as it traveled toward the head of the mast,did not wait for the agent to "set them going"! When it reached the top,and a slight jerk from one of the halliards loosened the flag to thebreeze, they yelled vociferously, and patted one another on the back andshook hands as though they considered it a very auspicious occasion.
"Now, give three cheers for Captain Beardsley and his privateer_Osprey_, who have so promptly responded to our President's call. Maythey strike such terror to the hearts of the Yankee nation that theywon't have a ship on the sea in six months from this day."
Of course such talk as this just suited the crowd on the wharf, whoyelled longer and louder than before. Of course, too, Marcy had to jointhem in order to keep up appearances, but he almost despised himself forit, and made the mental prediction that in a good deal less than sixmonths' time the people of Newbern would cease to remember that such aschooner as the _Osprey_ ever existed, although her arrival was loudlyheralded in all the city papers. Her "saucy air" and the "duck-likemanner in which she rode the waters," were especially spoken of, and onereporter, whose penetration was both surprising and remarkable,discovered in Captain Beardsley a man who would "do and dare anythingfor the success of the glorious cause he had been so prompt toespouse."
The rest of that day and all the succeeding one were consumed in gettingthe provisions, ammunition, and arms aboard, mounting the howitzers, andstationing the crew. When the work was ended late at night, Marcytumbled into his bunk between decks, heartily disgusted with the life hewas leading. The schooner was to run out with the last of the ebb tidein the morning, so as to catch the flood tide, which would help her upto Crooked Inlet.
True To His Colors Page 18