"I am glad you are better. How does the engine work?" asked Christy.
"I have been stirring it up, and I just filled up the furnaces. I think she is doing her best, though that is not saying a great deal. But, Christy, have you tried to get a look over beyond the Bellevite?"
"No, I haven"t seen any thing in that direction," replied Christy, a little startled by the question.
"I believe there is another steamer over there; and, if there is, it must be the Dauphine."
"What of her?" asked Christy anxiously.
"She is a steam-yacht of four hundred tons, and the fastest steamer in these waters. They have been fitting her up for the war, though I don"t know whether she is to be a man-of-war or a blockade-runner."
"What makes you think it is she?"
"Because she has been over to the town you may have seen in that direction. She is behind the Bellevite, so that you can hardly see her."
"I am inclined to think the Bellevite can take care of herself," replied Christy.
"Why, the Bellevite cannot do any thing but run away; and Major Pierson says she will never do that till you have been taken on board of her.
I heard him and Lieutenant Dallberg talk it all over near the door of my room."
"Perhaps the Bellevite can do something more than run away," added Christy with a smile.
"What do you mean, my friend?" asked the captain, suspending the operation of his jaws, he was so interested in the answer to his question. "The major said distinctly that she was a gentleman"s pleasure-yacht, and that she was not armed."
"The major has a right to his opinion, and I shall not argue the point against him. My father came into the bay on a peaceful errand, and he had no intention to be aggressive."
"All right, Christy; I can see through plain gla.s.s even when there isn"t a hole in it," said Captain Pecklar, laughing; for he seemed to be entirely satisfied with the situation, in spite of the fact that two hostile steamers appeared to menace the Bellevite, which he hoped would bear him to his home.
"Now, what do you know of the steamer astern of us?" asked Christy.
"That must be the Belle. She is no match for an armed steamer, but she may do a great deal of mischief. She used to run down the bay in the summer."
"I will go up to the pilot-house, and see if I can make out the Dauphine. If she is a sea-going yacht, she is the one we have to fear,"
said Christy, as he left the engine-room.
"See here, Christy; there is another steamer over beyond the Bellevite, and she is pretty near her, too," said Percy, as he entered the pilot-house.
The acting captain brought his gla.s.s to bear over the Bellevite, and he was satisfied that the approaching vessel was the yacht described by Captain Pecklar. But he had hardly got his eye on the Dauphine, before he saw that the Bellevite had started her screw. It looked as though she deemed it advisable to change her position in view of the approach of the steamers on each side of her.
"Where is she going, Christy?" asked Percy.
"I am sure I cannot tell you. You can see all that I can see," replied Christy, who was very anxious about the situation.
"We are not a great way from the long-boat," suggested Percy, who was more afraid of that than he was of all the steamers in sight. "What am I to steer for now? Shall I make her follow the Bellevite?"
"Head her off to the north-east," replied Christy, opening the binnacle.
But he might as well have opened the book of the black art to Percy, for he could not steer by compa.s.s. Christy got the Leopard on her new course, by which she would come somewhere near intercepting the Bellevite; and then he found an object on the sh.o.r.e, many miles distant, for the guidance of the pilot.
But the long-boat was now almost within hailing-distance of the Leopard.
Major Pierson was certainly aware that the tug was under way, and he made the most energetic demonstrations for her to stop her screw.
Suddenly the Bellevite changed her course again, and run directly towards the tug.
This movement was apparently noticed by the major; for his men doubled their efforts at the oars, pulling for the Leopard. The boat was then out of the trough of the sea, and its progress was much better. Then the Bellevite changed her course again; and it was impossible to determine what she intended to do, though possibly she was following a crooked channel.
"Leopard, ahoy!" shouted Major Pierson; and he was near enough now to be distinctly heard.
"In the boat!" returned Christy, though he knew the parley could amount to nothing.
"Stop her!" yelled the major.
"Not yet!" replied the acting captain.
"Stop, or I will fire into you!"
"I"m not going to stand here and be shot down!" exclaimed Percy. "My brother don"t know that I am at the wheel, and I shall be the first one to get hit."
Christy could not blame Percy for not wishing to be shot by the party under his brother"s command; and he had no more relish for being shot himself, quite in sight of his father"s steamer. But to abandon the helm was to abandon the control of the tug, and the major could recover possession of her and of his prisoner within a few minutes.
"Go below, Percy, and put yourself in the fire-room, for you will be safe there," said Christy.
At that moment the crack of a musket was heard, and a bullet crashed through the pine boards of the pilot-house. It was the first evidence of actual war which Christy had seen, and it impressed him strongly.
"It isn"t safe for me to show myself," said Percy, as his companion took the wheel from him.
"You must be your own judge of that," replied Christy, as he dropped down on the floor, with the compa.s.s in his hand.
"What are you going to do down there?" asked Percy.
"I have no wish to be shot any more than you have. I am going to keep out of sight, and steer the steamer by compa.s.s," replied Christy.
"I will steer her if I can keep out of sight," added Percy.
"You can"t steer by compa.s.s; but you can do something if you are willing," suggested the pilot.
"I am willing to do all I can; but I don"t want my brother to shoot me, as much for his sake as my own. What shall I do?" asked Percy.
"Crawl out of the pilot-house on the port-side, where they can"t see you from the boat, and then keep watch of all the other steamers. Report to me just where they all are, and what they are doing."
"All right; I will do that," replied Percy, as he obeyed the order.
The boat continued to fire at the pilot-house of the Leopard, and though a shot came uncomfortably near Christy, he stuck to his post; for to leave it was to give up the battle.
"The Bellevite is headed directly towards us," called Percy, outside of the pilot-house. "The other steamers are just as they were."
"All right; keep your eye on them all the time."
"The Bellevite is headed directly towards us," said Captain Pecklar, coming to the top of the ladder on the port-side.