"I am afraid your brother will look out too sharply for you. He has you now, and he will hold on this time."
Christy had little sympathy for his companion. He was an able-bodied young man of eighteen, with influence enough behind him to give him a good show in the ranks if he did his duty. But he was the youngest child of his father and mother; and he had evidently been spoiled by indulgence, so that he was not fit for the stern duties of the present emergency.
The steamer seemed to be very short handed, and doubtless part of the work on board was done by the soldiers, for the tug seemed to be in the employ of the fort. There was no crew, so far as Christy could judge, except the captain and engineer; and both of these seemed to be invalids, for the latter was so lame he could hardly go. The soldiers hauled in the fasts, and seemed to be at home with this sort of work.
The Leopard backed out from the wharf, came about, and headed down the inlet, or whatever it was. She had hardly left the pier before Major Pierson appeared on the quarter-deck, which had been a.s.signed for the use of the prisoners. His gaze was first fixed on Percy; for the other prisoner was looking astern, in order to obtain some idea of where he was, if he could, for he thought such information might be of some use to him in the future.
"Well, Percy, how goes it now?" asked the major.
Christy heard the voice, which was the first he knew of the presence of a third person, and he turned about. The major started back as though he had seen his father with his hands tied behind him by his order.
"Good Heaven! Mr. Pa.s.sford!" exclaimed the major; and Christy was satisfied that his astonishment was sincere.
"That is certainly my name: I haven"t forgotten it, if I am a prisoner with my hands tied behind me," replied Christy, as good-naturedly as though he had had no grievance.
"This is all a mistake!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Major Pierson, evidently greatly disturbed by the discovery he had just made, as he rushed upon the prisoner, turned him around, and proceeded to untie the line which bound him.
"I thought it must be a mistake," added Christy.
"You must have been with this brother of mine. I told Spottswood to arrest Percy, for be has disgraced himself and his family; and I told him to capture whoever might be with him, for I did not care to leave behind an informant of what had been done, for it would only have made my mother feel badly. That is really the whole of it. I am very sorry indeed that you were subjected to this annoyance, Mr. Pa.s.sford; and I a.s.sure you I will do all in my power to atone for my offence."
"I am satisfied, Major Pierson; and the only thing that disturbs me is the fact that my father and sister will worry about my absence," replied Christy.
"You are no longer a prisoner, Mr. Pa.s.sford, and you are at liberty to go where you please."
"But my limits are rather circ.u.mscribed on board this tug."
"But I will soon put you on board your father"s steamer."
"Thank you, sir; that is all I can desire."
"Can"t you do as much as that for me, Lindy?" asked Percy, when he saw that his brother was about to leave him.
"If you say that you will return to your place in your regiment, I will release you at once," replied the brother.
"I won"t do that," answered Percy without any hesitation. "But I want to go into the navy. I am better fitted for a sailor than I am for a soldier."
"The first thing is to wipe out the disgrace you have cast upon yourself and your family," added the major warmly. "I induced your officers to look upon it as a freak of a boy, and by returning to your duty you can soon wipe out the stigma."
"I shall not become a common soldier if I can help it. My father and mother will stand by me, if the rest of you do not," said Percy.
"That"s enough; and you will go back to the army, whether or not you are willing," added the major, as he turned on his heel.
Christy followed him to the forecastle of the tug, where a rather heavy gun was mounted, which took up most of the s.p.a.ce.
"Take a seat, Mr. Pa.s.sford," said the major, giving him a stool, while he took another himself. "It looks as though your father changed his plans rather suddenly last evening."
"I was not aware of it," replied Christy.
"The Bellevite was taken from the wharf where you landed some time in the evening, and came out into the bay, where she seems to be waiting for something, I don"t know what. As I understand the matter, your father has sold the steamer to the Confederacy."
"Where did you learn that, Major Pierson?" asked Christy, who had not heard any such story.
"You certainly came from Na.s.sau?"
"We did."
"And you met my father there?"
"I did not meet him, but my father did."
"I understood that my father bought this steamer, or that he bargained for her in some manner, for the use of the Confederacy."
"I was not present at the interview between your father and mine, and I do not know just what pa.s.sed between them."
"And I understood that he sent Percy to act as a sort of agent for the delivery of the vessel; though it still puzzles me to comprehend how my father should do such a thing, especially when he knew that the boy would be arrested as a deserter if he showed his face anywhere near Mobile."
Christy felt that his tongue might be a dangerous member, and he was not disposed to talk about the matter at all. All the information which the major had derived from Captain Pa.s.sford and others had been accepted from inference; for the owner of the Bellevite certainly had not said that the steamer was for the use of the Confederacy, and he would have blown her up rather than admit any thing of the sort.
"It looked to me as though every thing was all right about the steamer, or I would not have let her pa.s.s the fort; and the commander at Fort Morgan was as well satisfied as I was, after I had explained the situation to him."
Major Pierson looked at Christy as though he expected him to talk on the subject before them; but the latter would not say any thing, for he saw that he was in an extremely delicate position. He made some sort of answers, but they amounted to nothing.
"I cannot understand why Captain Pa.s.sford has moved the Bellevite from the wharf," continued the major.
"I am as much in the dark as you are, sir. I spent the afternoon with my sister, and my uncle Homer and my father were in the library together all this time," replied Christy. "I have no idea what they were talking about. Just at dark, I saw Percy pa.s.s the window; and I went out for a little walk. I was arrested by your men soon after. Not a word had been said in my hearing about moving the steamer. That is all I know about the matter, and I am as much surprised as you can be at the change which has been made."
"I have no doubt that every thing connected with the steamer is all right. I know that your father is a Northern man, but I am confident that he will be on the right side in this conflict," added the major.
"He will certainly be on the right side," said Christy; but he had gone far enough to know that there were two right sides to the question, and one seemed to him to be as honest, earnest, and resolute as the other.
"We shall soon know something more about it," added the major, evidently disappointed at not being able to obtain any information from the owner"s son.
The tug went out into the bay, and then changed her course to the eastward. One of the soldiers went to the galley, and breakfast was served to the major and his guest in the captain"s room; and Percy was released long enough to take the meal with them. But he was sullen, and even morose, in view of the fate that awaited him.
"Boat just come round that point," said the captain from the pilot-house, when the party had returned to the forecastle.
Captain Pecklar seemed to be hardly able to speak; he was so exhausted by his night watch, and by constant fits of coughing, that he could hardly make himself heard.
"What boat is it, Pecklar?" asked the major, straining his eyes to discover it. "I don"t see it."
"Take my gla.s.s, and you can see it," added the captain, more faintly than before. "I don"t think I can stand it any longer, Major Pierson."
"But we can"t get along without you, Pecklar. We haven"t another hand that knows how to steer," replied the major, as he hastened up to the pilot-house, followed by Christy.
Captain Pecklar had fainted and fallen from the wheel.