"Of course; of course."
"Would you feel safe at sea knowing that you had a traitor among the crew-one who was waiting and watching for an opportunity to turn you and your vessel over to the Yankees?" continued Marcy.
"No, I wouldn"t," and the words came out quickly and honestly. "I wouldn"t live on a vessel under them conditions."
"Well, whom are you going to keep-him or me?"
"You, of course. I couldn"t get along without somebody who knows Crooked Inlet better than I do. Going to Nashville after your mail? Well, when you come back ride round to the schooner and you"ll find that Tierney isn"t there."
"What good will it do to ride around to the schooner?" thought the boy, as he gave his horse the rein and galloped out of the yard. "Of course Tierney wouldn"t be there. He would hear me coming through the bushes and have plenty of time to jump ash.o.r.e and hide himself. A blind man ought to see that I did right when I went to Beardsley with my story. He never asked what the plot was until he committed himself, nor did he inquire how many there were in it, nor did he get half as mad over it as he would if Tierney were a sure-enough Union man. It was a put-up job, I tell you, and who knows but there may be others of much the same sort hanging over me at this very minute? I do despise secret enemies."
News travels rapidly when all the people in a place are thinking and talking about the same things, and Marcy saw the fact ill.u.s.trated when he reached Nashville. The mail and express packages were delayed by an accident to the wagon in which they were conveyed to and from the nearest stage station; it took two or three hours to repair it, so that it was mid-day before Marcy was ready to start for home. He always dreaded an enforced delay in town, and tried to time himself so that he would reach the post-office after everybody else had left it. In the days gone by he had been on friendly terms with all the Nashville people who were worth knowing, but it was not so now. He was treated civilly enough, but rather coolly, by those he met on the street and in the office, and he noticed that few of them took the trouble to speak to him. This being the case, he wondered what influence had been at work to bring about the change he noticed before he was fairly inside the town limits. It was "h.e.l.lo, Marcy!" here, and "How are you, old fellow?" there, and when he hitched his horse and went into the post-office, where there was a crowd a.s.sembled, his greeting was as cordial as any that had ever been extended to him. Marcy opened his eyes, but said little, knowing that if he had the patience to wait somebody would explain the matter to him. He got a clue to the situation when young Allison, after telling him that the mail wagon had broken down and might not be along for an hour or two, inquired:
"How"s your ship, Marcy? I suppose you calculate to sweep the sea of everything that carries the Yankee flag, don"t you? I shall look for astonishing reports when you get among the war-ships that are coming to blockade the coast."
Allison was a loud-mouthed young rebel who had made himself particularly obnoxious to quiet, peace-loving Marcy Gray. He did not say anything to Marcy"s face that the latter could resent (he was afraid to do that, notwithstanding the fact that he always carried a loaded revolver in his pocket), but he had said a good many insulting words to others that were intended for Marcy"s benefit. The latter turned upon him like a flash, and said, so that every one in the office heard it:
"We don"t expect to whip the whole Yankee navy, but we shall do the best we can, and that"s more than you seem inclined to do. You have had a good deal to say concerning the cowards who are stopping at home when the South is calling for their services. Why did you not go to the front yourself long ago, you noisy braggart? Put a uniform on before you speak to me again."
"Good for you, Marcy," cried a score of voices. "Actions and not frothy sentiment are what we want now."
"Hit him again and I"ll help," shouted another; and Marcy"s old-time friend, Wat Gifford, elbowed his way through the crowd. He was in full uniform, and was the only citizen of Nashville who had snuffed powder at the bombardment of Fort Sumter. "Talk is cheap, but it takes patriotism to face Yankees."
If Marcy had had a week in which to consider the matter, he could not have done a better thing than he did right there on the spur of the moment. Young Allison slunk away abashed, and the privateer"s pilot regained at one bound all he had ever lost in the estimation of the Nashville people.
CHAPTER XVII.
MARCY GRAY PRIVATEERSMAN.
"Wat, you"re just the fellow I want to see," exclaimed Marcy, taking his friend by the arm and leading him from the post-office. "When did you get home?"
"Came last night to recruit after my arduous campaign, and to spread a little enthusiasm and patriotism among you stay-at-home chaps," answered Wat. "But, say," he added, in a lower tone. "I didn"t expect to find you in the service. You"re Union."
"Who told you that?"
"I"ll be switched if I know. It"s all over the country and in everybody"s mouth. I reckon you"re Union about as I am. I say that secession is all wrong, that we would be better without it, and that the people who are urging it on don"t know what they are about. There"s Allison for one; and I"m heartily glad you gave him such a set-back. He"ll talk himself hoa.r.s.e, but when it comes to shouldering a musket, he"ll not be there. He"ll be a bully chap to stand back and holler "St-boy"; but he won"t take a hand himself."
By this time the two friends had perched themselves upon a low fence where they could be alone and talk without fear of being overheard, and Gifford showed his Yankee descent by pulling out his knife and looking around for a stick to whittle.
"And is that the reason all our old friends have gone back on us, mother and me-because they think we are for the Union?" asked Marcy.
"I believe that is the reason a good many have turned the cold shoulder upon you," replied Gifford. "You asked me a fair question, and I have given you a plain answer; but I am sorry to have to do it."
"It"s all right," Marcy a.s.sured him. "I want to know where I stand-"
"And then you will know how to carry yourself," added his friend. "But every one hasn"t gone back on you; I haven"t."
"You are the solitary exception."
"Well, you have taken the right course to show people that they were mistaken in you," said Gifford. "I don"t see but that you were well enough treated to-day."
"And joining the privateer was what worked the change?"
"I think so. Where do you stand, any way? You need not be afraid to be honest with me."
"I think as you do, only I go a little farther. The Const.i.tution says: "Treason against the United States shall consist in levying war against them." Did you fellows levy war against them when you fired upon Sumter?
If you did, you are traitors the last one of you."
"W-h-e-w!" whistled Gifford. "And you think we ought to be hanged?"
"I certainly hope you won"t be, you especially, but you know as well as I do that the penalty of treason is death."
"And you don"t call yourself a traitor to your State, I suppose?"
"I don"t, because I have made no effort to overthrow the legal government of my State. Between you and me, I joined that privateer because I did not think it would be safe to do anything else."
"There"s where you showed your good sense," said Gifford earnestly. "Judging by what I have heard, you took the only course that was open to you. The people here are not half as crazy as they are in Charleston, Wilmington, and Newbern, but they are none the less dead in earnest, and you will find that after the State goes out, a Union man will not be safe in this country. I think you have completely allayed suspicion here in Nashville, but you want to look out for secret enemies near home. Whatever you do, don"t run Beardsley"s schooner aground."
"What have I got to do with running the schooner?" asked Marcy, who was surprised at the extent of his friend"s information. He began to see that he and his movements had been pretty thoroughly discussed.
"You"re going to pilot her," answered Gifford. "That"s what you"ve got to do with running her, and I say again, don"t run her aground."
"If I do accidentally, Beardsley will shoot me, I suppose."
"No, he won"t. He hasn"t the pluck to shoot a squirrel; but you never could make him believe that it was an accident, and when he got ash.o.r.e he would do all he could to inflame the secessionists against you. He seems to have something against you. I can"t imagine what it is-"
"I can," replied Marcy, coloring to the roots of his hair. "He wants to marry our plantation."
"Whew!" whispered Gifford. "That is a piece of news, I confess, but it"s safe, old boy. He"ll not make it, of course. Then you have a most implacable foe in Lon Beardsley. He is one of your secret enemies, and that overseer of yours-what"s his name, Hanson?-is another. They are sworn friends, I have heard, and if your mother has any money stowed away-Mind, I don"t ask whether she has or not, because it is none of my business. But I understand that before you came home she made several trips about the country that could not have been made for nothing. If she has any money, take all the precautions you can think of to keep it from Hanson"s knowledge. He"s far more dangerous than Beardsley, because he"s right there on the place. I"ll ride up and see you to-morrow or next day, and then I will tell you more."
Just then the conversation was interrupted by the approach of a party of young fellows who wanted to shake hands with the soldier who had faced the Yankees in battle, and tell Marcy Gray that they were glad to hear he had joined the privateer, and that they had been mistaken in him, having supposed that he was for the Union and dead against secession. Having discharged this duty, and promised the young pilot that they would surely ride out and make him a visit before he sailed, they turned to Gifford and demanded a complete history of the battle in Charleston harbor.
"If it was a battle I hope I may never be in a worse one," replied the soldier, who was not as proud of that affair as were some of those who had no hand in it. "The South Carolina boys had everything their own way. There were few outsiders in it, except some who, like myself, were doing business in the city. Five thousand against fifty-one! Shucks!"
"But you heard the bullets whistle, and that"s a thing to be proud of," said one.
"I didn"t hear a single bullet, but I heard a sh.e.l.l or two, and saw the old flag come down. That was something I was sorry for."
Gifford could talk in this strain as much as he pleased because he had "been there"; but If Marcy Gray had ventured upon it, being under suspicion as he was, beyond a doubt he or his mother would have suffered for it. During the time he spent in waiting for the mail, he was never alone for a single minute. All his old friends seemed desirous of "making themselves square" with him, and not one left his side without first telling him that somehow the mistaken idea had got abroad that he was strong for the Union.
"And so I am," said Marcy to himself, as he mounted his horse and set out for home, glad to get away from the people who so misunderstood him. "I utterly despise this double life, but don"t see any release from it just now. I should like to show myself true to my colors, but what can I do among a lot of ruffians who would burn the roof over my mother"s head if I gave them the slightest excuse for it?"
When Marcy rode into his own yard he was surprised to see two strange carriages under the shed (a sight that had been common enough once upon a time, but which he had not seen before since his return from Barrington), and when he entered the room where his mother was sitting, he found that those carriages had brought to the house a party of ladies who had kept aloof from Mrs. Gray ever since she failed to celebrate South Carolina"s secession by displaying a "nullification" badge. These ladies were as friendly and sociable as they had ever been, and a stranger would not for a moment have suspected that they had thought it advisable to drop Marcy"s mother from their list of acquaintances. They fairly "gushed" over the boy when they told him how delighted they were to learn that he had enlisted under the banner of the Confederacy.
"But I haven"t enlisted, and what"s more I don"t intend to," answered Marcy, who was resolved that there should be no misunderstanding on that point. "I"ve got to stay at home and look out for mother."
"But you and your brave comrades can run out once in a while and annoy the enemy"s commerce, and that will be the same as though you were fighting in the army. Now is the time for every true son of the South to show his colors."
"Then it"s high time some of their sons were showing their colors," said Marcy, after supper had been served, and the ladies had gone away and he was alone with his mother. "There were four women in that party who have sons older than I am. I saw them in town to-day; and although they showed themselves to be blatant rebels, and talked loudly about the good times we are going to have whipping the Yankees, they never said a word about going into the army. Why don"t those women preach their doctrines at home instead of coming here to bother us with them?"