It occurred to me that he deserted his vessel on account of the quarrel rather than for any other reason."
"We need not bother our heads with that question, for it does not concern us; and we will leave the captain and his mate to fight it out when they meet to-morrow, for it is plain enough that the West Wind cannot go to sea with no mate and only two hands before the mast,"
returned Christy, who was hastening forward to discharge what he considered his first duty thus far developed by the events of the night.
"What time is it now, Charley? I have a watch, but no matches."
The engineer"s cigar had gone out when he lighted it before, and he had put it in a pocket of his sack coat. Putting it in his mouth, he struck a match, and consulted his watch.
"Quarter of one, Christy; and we have plenty of time," he replied as he lighted his cigar; for he thought it would help him to maintain his indifference in whatever event might be next in order.
"But we have no time to spare," added the lieutenant, as he increased the rapidity of his pace. "Our five pairs of men must have readied the vicinity of the fort before this time, for we have had a long conference with those spreeists."
"About an hour and a half; and the information we have obtained will fully pay for the time used."
"No doubt of it; and we must hurry up in order to make a good use of it," said Christy. "The fog is lifting just now, as it has been doing all the evening, and we can see the fort. There are very few people about; for it cannot be an uncommon event to see a blockade-runner get under way."
It was not probable that any of the persons in sight were soldiers, for they had abundant opportunity to see all there was to be seen within the solid walls that sheltered them. The rapid pace at which the lieutenant led his companion soon brought them to the group of people near the sh.o.r.e of the channel leading to Pilot Town. The five pairs of seamen were well scattered about, as they had been instructed to be, and they did not appear to have attracted the attention of the others in the vicinity.
Pair No. Three were the first of the party the officers encountered, and no others appeared to be near them. One of them was smoking his pipe, and both of them were taking it very easily. Not far from them was a knot of men who seemed to be disturbed by some kind of an excitement.
As the couple encountered manifested no interest in the affair, Christy concluded that they must know something about it, unless they were extremely scrupulous in adhering to the orders given them.
"What is the row there, French?" asked Christy in a low and guarded tone, though there was no stranger very near him.
"The man in the middle is the captain of that schooner you see off the sh.o.r.e, sir. His mate and three of his crew have deserted the vessel, and he can"t go to sea without them," replied French.
"They say the steamer ahead is to tow the schooner out; but the captain cannot go because he has only two men left," added Lines, the other man of the pair.
"Do you know where to find Nos. One and Two?" continued the leader of the expedition.
"I do not, sir; for we keep clear of each other, as we were ordered,"
answered French, as he looked about him for the men designated.
"You two will separate, and find One and Two. Send them to me, and I will wait here for them," added Christy; and the men departed on the errand. "While I am waiting for them, Mr. Graines, you may go down to that group, and pick up what information you can."
The engineer sauntered down the declivity, smoking his cigar, and making himself as much at home on the enemy"s territory as though he had been the commander of the Confederate fort. Christy was not kept long in waiting, and the first pair that reported to him were Weeks and Bingham.
No. One. The former was the oiler who had been selected on account of his ingenuity and good judgment by Graines.
"Are you a sailor as well as a machinist, Weeks?" asked Christy.
"I am not much of a sailor, sir, though I have handled a schooner.
I have been a boatman more or less of the time all my life," replied the oiler modestly.
By this time No. Two, Lane and McGrady, reported, but French and Lines kept their distance, in conformity with the spirit of their orders.
"Nos. One and Two will return to the whaleboat, and Weeks will be in command of the party," continued Christy. "The rest of you will obey him as your officer. Is this understood?"
"Ay, ay, sir," responded the three men.
"Weeks, you will carry the boat to the water, and return to the ship with all possible haste. Inform Captain Breaker that the Trafalgar will sail at three o"clock in the morning. I will report to him later."
The four men started off as though they meant to obey this order to the letter.
CHAPTER VI
CAPTAIN SULLENDINE OF THE WEST WIND
Weeks and his companions divided up as they had been ordered to do in coming to the fort, and departed in different directions. The lieutenant pointed out to them the locality of the bivouac where he had pa.s.sed so much of the evening, so that they might avoid it. It was about one o"clock in the morning when they left, and Christy calculated that they would reach the ship in an hour and a half, which would give the commander ample time to get up steam from the banked fires, and move down four or five miles to the southward of his present position.
The chief of the expedition had sent no message to the captain of the Bellevite in regard to his own movements, but simply that he would report to him later. He had already grasped an idea, though he had had no time to work it up in detail. It looked practicable to him, and he had jumped to a conclusion as soon as he was in possession of the facts covering the situation in the vicinity of Fort Morgan.
With only a plan not yet matured in his mind, perhaps he had been more rash than usual in sending away the whaleboat before he had provided for his own retreat from the enemy"s territory; but he had considered this difficulty, and had come to the conclusion that the Trafalgar must be captured if possible, even if he and his a.s.sociates were sent to a Confederate prison.
But he did not antic.i.p.ate any such result. He had three pairs of the seamen left; and the party still consisted of eight men, all well armed.
If the plan he had considered should fail, he had force enough to carry a light boat from Pilot Town, or any other point on the inner sh.o.r.e, in which they could make their escape to the Bellevite or some other blockader. He did not feel, therefore, that he had "burned his bridges,"
and left open no means of retreat in case of disaster.
Christy and Graines were left alone in the darkness and the fog, a bank of which was just then sweeping over the point; but they could hear the violent talk of Captain Sullendine in the distance, as he declaimed against the perfidy of his mate and the three seamen just at the point where he needed them most. Evidently he could not reconcile himself to the idea of being left behind by the Trafalgar, which seemed to be inevitable under present circ.u.mstances.
"The skipper of the West Wind seems to be in an ocean of trouble, and he is apparently resolved not to submit to the misfortune which has overtaken him," said Christy, as he led the way towards the knot of men who were the auditors of the rebellious captain.
"He may jaw as much as he pleases, if it makes him feel any better, but I don"t see how he can help himself," replied Graines. "The schooner looked like a rather large one when I got a sight of her just before I came back to you, which I did as soon as I saw the four men leave you."
"I sent Weeks as a messenger to Captain Breaker, to inform him that the Trafalgar would sail at three in the morning," added Christy.
"I concluded that was the mission upon which you sent him," replied the engineer; and, whatever doubts the lieutenant"s action might have raised in his mind, he asked no questions.
Every man on board of the Bellevite was well acquainted with the record and reputation of the executive officer; and he concluded at once that Christy had already arranged his method of operations. It was not "in good form" to ask his superior any questions in regard to his intentions.
"Did you go down to the sh.o.r.e, Charley?" asked Christy, as they walked in that direction.
"I did not, but I went far enough to hear what the captain of the West Wind was talking about. I had no orders, and as soon as I saw the four men leave you, I thought I had better rejoin you," answered Graines.
"Quite right," said the lieutenant as he halted; for they were as near the group on the sh.o.r.e as it was prudent to go, for the fog was lifting.
"What did the captain say?"
"He offered ten dollars apiece for the recovery of the men who had deserted, if they were brought back within two hours," replied Graines.
"He did an immense amount of heavy swearing; and it was plain that he was mad all the way through, from the crown of his head to the sole of his foot."
"Was any one inclined to accept his offer, and go in search of the runaways?"
"I can"t say, but I saw no one leave on that or any other mission. I was there but a few minutes, and the fog dropped down on the party so that I could not see them at all."
"We must join that a.s.semblage, and we may be able to help Captain Sullendine out of his dilemma," said Christy.
"Help him out of it!" exclaimed Graines.