The Yankees gave him that."
"Well, well!" exclaimed the man, who did not know what else to say. "He ought to have a uniform on."
"His crew don"t have any," replied Jack. "And if you want to know what I have done--by the way, are you going to Newbern?"
The soldier said he was.
"Well, when you get there go to Parker & Wall"s and ask them whether or not the supplies the _West Wind_ brought down from Boston are going to be of any use to the Confederacy. I was second mate and pilot of that craft, and might have been on board of her yet if I had been inclined to stay; but if there is going to be a war I want a hand in it. I am going to Newbern to see if there is any chance for me to get into the navy."
Of course, after such a talk as this it was impossible for the brothers to keep to themselves as they would like to have done. The inquisitive rebel apologized to Jack and introduced his friends; and from that time forward there was a crowd of soldiers hanging about his seat all the while. Some of them had seen service and some hadn"t; and the latter were particularly anxious to know how Marcy felt when that shrapnel came over the _Hattie"s_ bow and knocked him and Captain Beardsley down, and whether or not he was frightened and afraid he was going to be killed.
"The whole thing was done so quickly, and I was so excited, that I didn"t have time to ask myself whether I was frightened or not," was Marcy"s invariable reply; and it seemed to satisfy his questioners.
To Jack Gray"s disappointment there was not a soldier in the car who could tell him anything definite regarding the situation at Hatteras Inlet; but some of them interested themselves in the matter, and finally discovered a citizen who knew all about it, but who, upon being questioned, proved to be almost as ignorant as the rest. The few things he _did_ know, however, were very encouraging to Jack. The captured forts had not been destroyed, he said, and that seemed to indicate that the Yankees intended to place garrisons there. The vessels of the attacking fleet had not been sunk or scattered, and neither was there a sailor killed during the whole of the fight. The war vessels were still hanging around the Inlet, ready to go up or down the Sound, according to the orders they might receive from Washington, and the rebel garrison at Fort Ocrac.o.ke, which was located on the seaward face of Beacon Island a few miles below, as well as the troops who occupied the camp on the opposite side of the island, were trembling in their boots, and holding themselves ready to run at a moment"s notice. He didn"t know the first thing about naval matters, he said in conclusion. There might be a gunboat or two building in the river above Newbern, but he didn"t think there was, and the only thing left for Jack was to ship on some blockade-runner. They still had the free use of Ocrac.o.ke and Oregon Inlets.
"I thank you for the information you have given me," said Jack. "I declare it is refreshing to find a man who can tell the truth. The falsehoods I have read and listened to during the last few days are enough to disgust anybody. The possession of Hatteras Inlet is important to the Federal government, and you"ll find it out."
"We have found it out already," answered the citizen. "The Yankee ships are hauling in the prizes as fishermen haul in their catch with a drag net. You see, the blockade-runners that are bound in don"t know that the Inlet has been captured, and neither do they find it out until they run slap into the arms of the cruisers, who are always on the watch for them. They had hardly ceased firing upon the forts before they captured five schooners."
"All in one day?" exclaimed Marcy.
"All in one day," repeated the citizen.
"Good enough," said Marcy, to himself. "I hope the _Hattie_ was one of them." Then aloud he said: "Do you know the names of those schooners?
The reason I ask is because my captain has had plenty of time to load up, run down to Na.s.sau, and get back again. His name is Beardsley, and he commands the _Hattie_."
"Oh, yes. I heard about him, and when he gets back you will see an account of his daring exploit in the papers. That man has pluck, I tell you."
"What did he do, and why will the papers wait until he returns before saying anything about it?" inquired Marcy.
"He had taken his cargo of cotton on board, and was all ready to sail when word was received that the Yankee ships had appeared off Hatteras,"
answered the citizen. "No one supposed that he would think of going out, but he did; and the first thing we heard of him was that he had got safely off."
"He didn"t run out of Hatteras, of course?"
"Certainly not. He stole a march on the Yankees and went down to Ocrac.o.ke."
"Then I can"t see what he did that was so daring," said Marcy, to himself. "The greatest coward in the world, if he can handle a vessel at all, ought to be able to run her out of a wide inlet when there is nothing to oppose him."
"And the reason our papers didn"t speak of it is because we don"t want the Yankees to be on the watch for him when he comes back," continued the citizen. "We can tell by the way they have acted since they captured the forts, that they know what is going on in the city as well as we do.
They must get the papers regularly; and if we ever find out who is to blame for it, I wouldn"t give much for his neck."
"Now that"s what _I_ call pluck," thought Marcy. "Captain Beardsley didn"t show a particle when he ran out to sea under the guns of Fort Ocrac.o.ke, for there was nothing for him to be afraid of, all the blockaders, if there were any, having gone to Hatteras to help the fleet. But when a Union man, in such a nest of rebels as Newbern is, risks his life by sending information to the defenders of the old flag, he"s got nerve. But I am sorry to hear that about Beardsley. He"ll keep on running the blockade until he is captured, and what if I should chance to be aboard the schooner when that happens?"
Having given them all the information he could, the citizen went back to his own seat, and the boys were at last left to themselves. They hadn"t learned much, and they did not learn any more when they reached Newbern.
The fortifications below the city were being rapidly pushed to completion (negroes and poor whites did the work, the officers finding life in town much more to their liking than digging in the trenches), and there had been some talk of building gunboats to a.s.sist in the defence of the place; but so far nothing had been done about it. But, after all, there was no need of gunboats, for the thirty-one pieces of heavy artillery that had been planted on the works below, would send the Yankee fleet to the bottom in short order, should its commanding officer be so foolhardy as to bring it into the Neuse River. There was nothing to keep the boys in the city, for the _West Wind_, which Marcy wanted much to see, had already sailed for Na.s.sau with a cargo of cotton; and after spending two days in making inquiries that did not bring them the information they desired, they took the cars for home. Old Morris, whom they found waiting for them at Boydtown depot, was both surprised and disappointed because they did not ride on the box with him, as they usually did; but as the boys wanted to be alone, they went inside.
"You haven"t done much talking since we started," said Marcy, when Morris cracked his whip and drove away from the depot. "What"s the matter?"
"I have been laying my plans," replied Jack. "But with all my thinking I haven"t been able to decide upon anything further than this: As soon as it comes dark, we"ll begin and load the _Fairy Belle_ with provisions and such other things as we may be likely to stand in need of, and to-morrow morning we"ll slip down and out."
"To-morrow night, you mean," suggested Marcy.
"No, to-morrow morning; just as soon as we have had breakfast. I am impatient to be off; and besides I really cannot afford to waste any more time. We must go at once or run the risk of missing the Federal fleet. It may be ordered somewhere else."
"But every one along the river will see us," protested Marcy.
"Who cares if they do? In fact I should care if they did not see us.
We"ll hoist my Confederate flag at the peak as----"
"Why, Jack. And sail under a lie?"
"Now just listen at you" exclaimed Jack, shaking his finger at his brother. "Captain Semmes didn"t sail under a lie, I suppose, when he ran up the English colors to quiet the fears of the _Herndon"s_ commander, and neither did you when you hoisted the same flag to coax my vessel within reach of your guns."
"Do you imagine that I would have done such a thing if I had been in a position to refuse?" retorted Marcy, with some spirit. "I couldn"t help myself."
"I know it; and can"t you see that hoisting the rebel rag will help both of us? I can, and I only wish Nashville was situated on the river so that Allison and Shelby and the rest of those blatant traitors could see us as we go by. It will save you from a heap of questioning, and may be the means of keeping a roof over mother"s head."
"But what will the Union men in the settlement think and do about it?"
"Not the first thing. There are but few of them, and they dare not say their souls are their own. They know they are watched as well as mother knows that she is watched, and there isn"t one among them who dares lift his hand or say a word. For their own sakes, I hope they will not do anything to you and mother because they think we are rebels, for if they do, their houses will go up in smoke."
"But, Jack," persisted Marcy, "I wouldn"t dare go alongside a Union gunboat with that flag on board my schooner."
"When the time comes, we will pull it down and hoist one of your Union flags in its place," was the answer.
"But suppose we should be seen by some one on sh.o.r.e who happened to have a strong spy-gla.s.s in his hand? Wouldn"t I find myself in a fix when I got back?"
"It is no part of my programme to hug the sh.o.r.es so closely that our flag can be seen and recognized," replied Jack. "You are not going to get yourself into trouble by taking me down to the fleet. If I thought you were, I would not ask you to go; but that money in the cellar may be the means of turning you out of doors."
When the boys reached home, their mother saw at a glance that something had been decided upon, but she asked no questions until they were all seated at the supper table, and then they told her as much of their plans as they were willing Hanson should know, and no more.
"There isn"t the sign of a navy in or about Newbern," said Jack, talking for the benefit of the girl who waited at table as well as for the information of any other eavesdropper who might chance to be hanging around. "But there must be some vessels fitting out at Edenton or somewhere else in these waters, and we intend to find out before we come back. We shall set out to morrow as soon as we have had breakfast, and in order to do that we must provision the _Fairy Belle_ before we go to bed."
Of course the news of their intended movements got noised among the servants, as the boys were sure it would, and when they were ready to set to work, there were any number of volunteers at hand to a.s.sist them, the boy Julius, who took it for granted that he was to be one of the crew, being particularly active and "bossy." He and another small darkey were sent off in a skiff to cast the schooner loose from her moorings and tow her to the sh.o.r.e, and the minute that duty had been performed he jumped out, seized a bundle which he had left on the bank, and was climbing back over the side with the agility of a monkey when Jack called to him:
"Avast, there. What are you about?" cried the sailor.
"Going to stow dis yere dunnage of mine in de fo"castle," replied Julius, without stopping.
"Well, come back. You can"t go this trip."
"Ain"t I going to sea with Ma.r.s.e Marcy?" said Julius, who was almost ready to cry.
"Not this trip, I tell you. You are an Abolitionist, and we can"t trust you. If I should get a chance to go into the navy I shall not want you around, for you would come back and blab it all over the neighborhood.
Somebody must stay home and take care of mother. Come ash.o.r.e and lend a hand with this grub."
"I jes" ain"t going to do no such n.i.g.g.e.r"s work as dat," replied Julius spitefully. "If I can"t run on de schooner, I shan"t help load her. I tell you dat for a fac". I jes" hope she"ll go to de bottom "fore she sees Seven Mile creek agin."