"Well, what of it?" inquired Marcy. "What did he hire me for, when he knows that it is in my power to run his schooner hard and fast aground if a ship of war gets after us?"
"But he doesn"t quite believe all he has heard, and he"s willing to give you a chance to prove that you are true blue," said Tierney, with an awkward attempt to undo the mischief he had done by talking too rapidly.
"I am true blue," replied Marcy, "although I confess that my actions just about this time do not show it," he added, to himself. "As long as I remain aboard that schooner I shall do my duty the best I know how."
"And will you take her out of harm"s way if a ship of war heaves in sight?"
"I will if I can."
"Then it isn"t of any use for me to say more, I suppose?"
"Not the slightest; that is, if you mean to propose that I shall join you in seizing the vessel for the purpose of giving her up to one of Uncle Sam"s ships."
"I never said so," exclaimed Tierney. "I never said one single, solitary word that could lead you to think I meant any such thing."
"I haven"t hinted that you did; but all the same that is the proposition you came here to make me. I can see through a ladder as well as you can."
"Well, I don"t see that it"s any good to beat about the bush," said the ship-keeper frankly. "That"s just what I came here for. We could get a reward for turning the schooner over, and you could run her up as far as Fortress Monroe, couldn"t you?"
"I might do it on a pinch, but I won"t."
"We"ll have men enough to take her without the least trouble," urged Tierney.
"I hope you"ll not try it, but if you do, you will find me close by Captain Beardsley"s side."
"Will you fight?"
"I"ll fight till I drop before I will go near the Yankees with the crew of that privateer. They would take one look at us, and then go to work and hang the whole lot."
"Why, didn"t you tell the old man that they wouldn"t?" exclaimed Tierney; and if Marcy could have had a view of his face, he would have seen that the ship-keeper was both astonished and frightened. "You must have changed your mind."
He certainly had, but did not feel called upon to explain why he had done so. His idea was that the faces of the schooner"s crew, if Tierney and his companion ship-keeper were to be taken as specimens, would be quite enough to condemn them, and that the United States authorities would be justified in putting it out of their power to do mischief.
"I"ll not have any hand in the mutiny, but will do my best to quell it if it breaks out," Marcy declared, with emphasis. "You"ve had your walk for nothing."
"So that"s the end of that hope," said Tierney, looking down at the ground and trying to act as though he was very much disheartened. "You won"t repeat what has pa.s.sed between us, of course?"
"Of course I will. I"ll go to Mr. Beardsley with it the first thing in the morning."
"What"s that you say?" Tierney almost shouted. "Take back those words or I"ll-"
He made a step forward and raised his hands as if he were about to spring at Marcy. His actions were certainly threatening, and the boy believing that he might commit an a.s.sault just to keep up appearances, thought it best to summon a friend upon whose loyalty he could always rely. A single shrill whistle arose upon the air, an answering bark came from the direction of the house, and Bose came bounding up to see what was the matter. Tierney recoiled.
"He"ll not say a spiteful word to you if you let me alone," Marcy a.s.sured him. "You see now why I did not care to go down the road. You have nothing to fear from me, but I shall tell Captain Beardsley all about this interview as soon as I can find him. And that is just what I am expected to do," he added, to himself, as the ship-keeper turned around and hurried away. "That fellow isn"t half as good a Union man as Bose is. Beardsley sent him here to test me, and I saw it almost from the beginning. If I don"t report the matter, Beardsley will have his suspicions confirmed, and then he will set something else on foot against me. Oh, I"m a sharp one," laughed Marcy, taking off his cap and patting his own head, "but I"d give a good deal to know when and how I am going to get rid of that man. Whatever I do I must look out for mother"s comfort and peace of mind, and so I will not lisp a word of this to her."
That night Marcy"s sleep was disturbed by all sorts of bad dreams, during which he was constantly detecting Captain Beardsley in some plot to injure him, and when morning came he was not much refreshed. In accordance with his usual custom he had his horse brought to the door immediately after breakfast, kissed his mother good-by, and set out for Nashville to bring the mail; but he stopped on the way to have a talk with the owner of the privateer. Under almost any other circ.u.mstances Marcy would have thought he was playing a contemptible part; but being as certain as he wanted to be that Beardsley was trying to get a hold upon him for some purpose of his own, the boy thought himself justified in adopting heroic measures for self-defense. The ship-keeper was not the Union man he pretended to be, and Marcy would tell Beardsley nothing new when he revealed the plot at which Tierney had hinted the night before. This was what Marcy believed, and the manner in which he was greeted by the privateer captain confirmed him in his belief.
"Have you been over to the schooner this morning?" inquired the boy, when he had hitched his horse and taken possession of the chair that was brought out for him. "If you will not think me too inquisitive, I should like to know where you picked up the two men you left in charge of her."
"I found them in Newbern, and they were recommended to me, by a party in whom I have all confidence, as men who could be trusted," replied the captain. "What makes you ask the question? Don"t you like the looks of "em?"
"No, I don"t, and neither do I like their actions," said the boy truthfully. "Tierney came to see me last night, and tried to induce me to take a walk down the road toward the place where I think his companion was concealed."
"What did he do that for?" exclaimed the captain, who was so anxious to be surprised that he could not wait until his visitor reached the surprising part of his story.
"He probably wanted a witness to the manner in which I received the plot he intended to propose to me if I had given the chance," answered Marcy, narrowly watching the effect of his words. "But he didn"t propose it; I will say that much in favor of Tierney. He simply hinted at it, and I told him I wouldn"t have a thing to do with it."
"Why, the-the-brat!" cried the captain.
"You wouldn"t have thought it of him, would you?"
"Indeed I wouldn"t. I thought he was trustworthy."
"But you see he isn"t. I told him I would tell you all about it and I have," continued Marcy, who had told nothing at all; but he had led Captain Beardsley on to acknowledge, almost as explicitly as words could have done it, that he knew all about Tierney"s plan for seizing the schooner. "I think you had better discharge him. I don"t want to sail with a man who is all the while watching for a chance to get me into difficulty. And then see how he is going square back on the principles he professes!"
"I should say he was. I"ll discharge him as soon as I can get where the schooner is, and tell him the next time he-But what did he do? What did he propose to you?"
"He didn"t propose anything, because I didn"t give him time. He only hinted at it, and I thought it an outrageous piece of villainy."
"So it was; so it was. But what did he hint at?"
"Why, seizing the schooner and turning her over to the Yankees. I told you all about it."
"So you did, and I say that hanging is too good for that traitor. What would you do with him if you was me?"
"Send him up to the United States or put him in jail," replied Marcy. He knew very well that the captain would do neither one nor the other, but Marcy wanted to get rid of that man. If he would go deliberately to work to get him into trouble, as he had done the night before by his employer"s advice and consent, he might try it again when Marcy was not so well prepared for him.
"It scares me to think of it," said the owner of the privateer, who did not look as though he were very badly alarmed. "Such a thing as taking the schooner could be done easy enough, and where would you be if it was attempted?"
"I should be on the side of the authorities. There"s where you will always find me. I wouldn"t fall into the power of the Yankees for ten times the value of all the prizes that will be captured on this coast during the war. I should never expect to see home again. I told Tierney I would fight first."
"I guess you will do to tie to, Marcy," said the captain; and the visitor told himself that those were the only truthful words he had uttered during the interview. "If all my crew is as loyal as you are, and if all the men in the army stick up for the Stars and Bars as you do, we"ll gain our independence in less"n six months."
Marcy was not aware he had "stuck up" for the Stars and Bars, but it would not be safe to set the captain right, as he would have been glad to do, and besides this was the time to learn something.
"I don"t know where Tierney got his information, but he has heard from several sources that I am for the Union," said he.
"That"s what folks say," replied Beardsley.
"What have I said or done since I came home to lead them to think so?"
"Not a word; not a thing. It"s what you haven"t said and done that makes "em suspicion you. You don"t whoop and holler and yell and slosh around with your revolver, like the most of the young chaps do."
"I am not given to such antics, and these are no times for monkey-shines. We need sober, thoughtful men who will do their best to steer us safely through the difficulties by which we are surrounded, rather than whooping and yelling young ones who seemed determined to wreck us."
"That"s good, sound argument," a.s.sented Captain Beardsley, as the visitor pushed back his chair and went down the steps to unhitch his horse.
"But there"s one thing I want to tell you," continued Marcy. "I haven"t signed any papers and consequently I am still a free man; and if you want me in that schooner worse than you want Tierney, well and good. If you don"t, you can keep him and I will stay ash.o.r.e."
Marcy had pinned a very slight hope of release right here. He was satisfied that the owner of the privateer must think a good deal of the man Tierney or he would not have placed so much confidence in him; and he hoped the captain would decide to keep him and let his pilot go. For a time it looked as though the hope might be realized, for the captain hesitated and stammered in such a way that there was no doubt left in Marcy"s mind that he was loth to give Tierney up; but seeing the boy"s eyes fastened upon him with a most searching glance Beardsley aroused himself to say: