"I have a plan of my own, and I reckon I shall make it go," proceeded the captain of the steamer. "The Teaser don"t draw much water, and I know how to help her over the shoal places."
"When do you expect to get through the sound?" asked Christy.
"I don"t know when; but I shall get through."
"But you will find a blockader at the east end of the island; and then you will be as badly off as you are now," argued Christy.
"I don"t believe there is any blockader there. Who are all those men in the boat with you, Gilder?"
"They belong to the water guard," replied Christy, at a venture, and he thought that would describe them as well as any terms at his command.
"They expected you to go out by the main channel to-night."
"No lie in that," chuckled Flint.
"I wish they would come on board of the Teaser and help me out, for my men won"t work."
"How many men have you?" asked the lieutenant.
"Just fifteen; the rest of my crew were to come on board at midnight, half an hour before high tide. But the men I have with me won"t work, and I shall not be ready for them, I am afraid."
"What is the reason they won"t work?"
"They say they shipped to fight the Yankees, and they are not going to do such work as lighting up the steamer."
"Perhaps we can bring them to their senses," said Christy, as he ordered Beeks to give way again.
A few strokes of the oars enabled the officers in the stern sheets to obtain a full view of the Teaser, and she looked like a trim little steamer of about two hundred tons. She was rather long, and she had a very sharp bow. The reports gave her the reputation of being a very fast sailer.
"Let every man have his arms in order," said Christy impressively, in a low tone. "Give way with a will, and when you unship your oars have your weapons ready, though I hardly think you will have to use them at present."
As the boat dashed towards the little steamer, the sounds of an altercation came over the water. The angry voice of the captain, if the late speaker was the captain, and several others were heard in a dispute; and as the boat came alongside the report of a pistol indicated that the belligerents were in earnest.
Christy sprang upon the deck of the Teaser, with his revolver in his hand. Half a dozen men stood in a group by the side of the engine-room, confronting the man who had done the talking with the boat, as Christy knew by the sound of his voice.
"We are not held by any papers we signed!" protested one of the men forward. "We are willing to do our duty, Captain Folkner, but we did not ship to burrow through the sand, and run the risk of being captured by the Yankees. We shipped to run the blockade, and that risk is in the papers."
"I shall take my vessel out as I think best, Lonley; and my men are not to dictate to me what I am to do," replied Captain Folkner angrily.
"I am willing to leave it to Captain Gilder. You know as well as I do that the rest of the ship"s company would not come on board till the Teaser was outside of Santa Rosa Island. We appeal to you, Captain Gilder," said Lonley.
"Why do you object to going out through Santa Rosa Sound?" asked Christy, willing to do the fair thing, since the mutineers had appealed to him.
"The Teaser draws ten feet of water with her coal in, and she cannot get through the sound in a week, if ever."
"Are you willing to go to sea by running the blockade, Lonley?"
"Perfectly willing; and so are the whole ship"s company."
"But I won"t take the risk of running the blockade. They put a fast steamer on there to-day, and it is useless," replied Captain Folkner.
The situation was certainly interesting to Christy and his companions.
CHAPTER XX
COMING TO THE POINT
Captain Folkner of the Teaser was evidently somewhat timid, and he had heard of the arrival of the Bellevite. Just now the large ships-of-war which had been there were absent on their duty, though they were expected to return at any time. There was liable to be some unpleasantness at any time between Fort Pickens and Fort Barrancas; but everything was quiet just now.
Flint had come on board of the Teaser with Christy, but none of the boat"s crew had attended them. The situation was very novel to the lieutenant, and he did not feel competent to arbitrate between the contending parties. Besides, he was not willing to believe that he could be entirely impartial, for he had a personal and patriotic interest in the issue of the quarrel.
The seamen, under the leadership of Lonley, who appeared to be an officer, were the more powerful party, and the more to be dreaded. He was disposed to decide against them, if he could get them out of the way by doing so. They were willing to leave the matter to him, and he began at last to see his way through it.
"The captain of a ship is the authority to be respected, Lonley," said he, when he had made up his mind what to do.
"We might as well bury ourselves in the sands as try to go through there," replied the leader of the mutiny, who seemed to be a very intelligent man, and Christy concluded from his language and manner that he was not a common sailor.
"That may be; but the captain is supreme on the deck of his own ship,"
argued Christy.
"We are not on the high seas, and the Teaser has not yet gone into commission. It was only this afternoon in Pensacola that Captain Folkner told his ship"s company that he was going to burrow through the sand in Santa Rosa Sound. We all said we would not go with him; but a dozen of us came down with him when he told us that he had a way to float the steamer through, and he was sure it would work. We did not understand that we were to become mud-diggers. When we got here, we were satisfied that his plan amounted to nothing, and would not work."
"I am satisfied that it will work," interposed Captain Folkner.
"The agreement in the articles was to run the blockade. If we got through the sound, it would take a week of constant drudgery, which we did not ship to do."
"Are you ready to do duty on board of the Teaser when she is in deep water, Lonley?" asked Christy.
"Every one of us; and every one of the party on sh.o.r.e!" protested the leader.
"Will that satisfy you, Captain Folkner?" continued Christy, appealing to him.
"It would if I had the steamer in deep water," replied the captain. "But how am I to get her into deep water if my crew will not work?"
"Run the blockade, according to the articles!" exclaimed Lonley.
"When are the rest of the ship"s company to join you?" asked Christy of the leader of the mutineers.
"They are coming down in boats at midnight or later; and we shall join them then and wait till the ship is ready to take us on board. They will come across from Pensacola to Navy Cove, and then walk till they come to the Teaser."
"All right," said the lieutenant. "I will land you at Navy Cove, and you can wait there till the rest of the crew come."
"I am perfectly satisfied with that arrangement," replied Lonley.
"But I am not," interposed the captain, angrily. "What can I do without any crew to help get the steamer through the sound?"