"My business was such that I could not leave," replied Christy.
It was very dark, and the captain did not recognize him.
CHAPTER x.x.x
THE PRIZE-MASTER OF THE JUDITH
The weather had been clear all day, with quite a fresh breeze, and the same conditions prevailed after dark. Colonel Pa.s.sford seemed to have a great deal to say to Captain Lonley, now that the time for sailing had come, and he occupied the attention of the latter so that neither of them could observe the new mate, if he were disposed to do so. As soon as Christy perceived the _role_ which circ.u.mstances had laid out for him, he put his hand into a slush-tub he found in the waist, and anointed his face with the filthy stuff. There was just color enough in the compound of grease and dirt to change his complexion, if it had been light enough to observe his physiognomy. Flint did the same thing.
"You will have to take your chances when you come to the entrance of the bay," said Colonel Pa.s.sford, nervously. "This cargo is worth a fortune, and we are in sore need of the supplies which its value will purchase for us."
"I think I understand the matter perfectly, colonel," replied Lonley, who did not seem to take kindly to any advice from a landsman.
"Do not take any unnecessary risks, Captain Lonley, for more than the value of the cotton is at stake," continued the planter.
"I have a plan of my own which I am confident will take me through the blockade all right," added the captain.
"You must remember that my brother"s steamer is on the blockade, and that she makes over twenty knots an hour."
"I shall pretend to be a prize of the Bellevite long enough to distract the attention of the fleet," added Lonley, impatiently.
"I don"t understand these things, and I shall leave you to manage the affair as you think best; but I beg you will use all proper caution,"
continued Colonel Pa.s.sford. "Here are the ship"s papers. You will give the one on the top to the officer from the fort, and he will cause you no delay."
Lonley took the papers, and thrust them into his pocket without any reply. Christy had taken charge of the hoisting of the mainsail without waiting for any special orders, and Flint was doing his best to a.s.sist him. The negroes, though not expert seamen, knew the ropes of a schooner, and they did very well with Flint in their midst.
"We are going to have a fresh breeze, Fetters," said Captain Lonley, as the new mate came near him.
"It looks like it now," added Christy, changing his voice as much as he could, and as he had done before when he spoke to the captain.
"If things are not favorable when you get to the forte, I think you had better anchor inside of the point," suggested the planter, who could not be blamed for being deeply interested in the fate of his cotton, and the fortune which was locked up in it.
"Of course, I shall have to do that if necessary; but I don"t like to do that, for every blockader will watch her all the time if I do," replied Captain Lonley, still maintaining his respectful demeanor, though it seemed to be hard work.
By this time the mainsail was set, and was banging in the lively breeze.
The negro sailors seemed to have become weary with wasting the day in the sailing of the schooner, and they worked with a good deal of enthusiasm.
"Now set the foresail, Fetters. I don"t think we can carry the topsails," said the captain. "Isn"t that a white man with the hands?"
asked he, as the men went to the foremast.
"That"s a man I brought along with me," replied Christy. "He is an able seaman, and he is very anxious to get to some port outside where he can obtain a berth as mate."
"All right; I thought the work was going on exceedingly well, and his presence explains it," added the captain.
"He owns the boat in which we came over here, and I think we had better hoist it on deck," said the mate.
"All right; do so, Fetters. I suppose you have nothing on your hands?"
"Nothing very particular," replied Christy.
"I am instructed to buy a fast steamer if I can find one, even if I have to go to England to obtain her. What do you say to taking the berth of first officer in her, Fetters, for I know that you are a sailor, and that you have pluck enough to fire a gun?"
"Such a position would suit me first rate," replied Christy, with proper enthusiasm.
Still Lonley did not recognize his voice, and he took especial pains that he should not. But this state of things could not long continue. If the Unionist went into the cabin where there was a light, he could not help betraying himself. It was necessary to provide against this or any similar emergency very soon. He had already arranged his plan, and it was his purpose to carry it into execution as soon as the vessel was fully clear of the creek.
The boat was hoisted on the deck; the fore and main sail were set, and everything was in readiness for a departure. Colonel Pa.s.sford, after repeating some of his admonition to the captain, shook hands with him, and stepped down upon the wharf. Lonley gave the order to stand by the jib, and cast off the fasts. The two princ.i.p.al sails filled on the starboard tack, the jib went up in the twinkling of an eye under the direction of Flint, and the schooner began to gather headway. The captain was at the helm, for he would trust no other there, and Christy went forward.
"Set the fore topmast staysail," said the mate; but he was willing the crew should execute the order in their own way, for he called the master"s mate to him. "The biggest job is yet to be done," he added, in a low tone.
"What is that?" asked Flint.
"To get possession of the vessel," replied Christy, impressively.
"That will be an easy matter, with nothing but n.i.g.g.e.rs on board," added Flint.
They talked together for a few minutes, and the plan was arranged. Flint saw that the fore topmast staysail was properly set and trimmed. The two Unionists on board did not even know the name of the schooner, but she gathered headway as she approached the mouth of the creek, and went along at a very satisfactory rate. The mate of the vessel and his fellow fugitive then went aft to be ready for the decisive action in which they were to engage. But they had hardly reached the quarter-deck before the schooner was hailed by a boat.
"Schooner, ahoy! On board the Judith!" shouted a man.
"In the boat!" replied the captain. "Who"s there?"
"Fetters!" responded the boatman.
"Fetters!" exclaimed Captain Lonley, apparently bewildered by the reply.
"It seems to me that Fetterses are plenty to-night."
But this was all he was permitted to say, for the stroke of a handspike, in the hands of Flint, fell upon his head at this instant, and he dropped upon the quarter-deck like a log. At the same moment, Christy sprang to the wheel, and the schooner was not allowed to broach to. She dashed on her course, increasing her speed every moment, without heeding the boat that had hailed her. In the darkness, the genuine Fetters, as doubtless he was in the boat, could not have seen in what manner Captain Lonley had been disposed of, and all the crew were forward, so that they were no wiser.
"Judith, ahoy!" repeated the genuine and only true Fetters, at the top of his lungs, as the schooner hurried off on her course. "I am Fetters, the mate!"
"All right!" replied Christy. "I will see you in the morning. Come on board at six o"clock."
Mr. Fetters said no more, and probably he concluded that the Judith had gone to get firewood for the galley, to fill her water-casks, or for some similar purpose. The fict.i.tious Mr. Fetters kept his place at the wheel. The binnacle had been lighted by the cook, and he knew the exact course for the entrance to the bay. He felt that he was in possession of the Judith and her valuable cargo; and he had become so hardened in his patriotic duty that he felt no compunction of conscience because the vessel and cotton had been wrested from his uncle.
As Colonel Pa.s.sford had not scrupled to attempt to capture the magnificent steamer of his own brother, it would be a poor rule that would not work both ways. Besides, the proceeds of the sale of the cargo were to be expended in the purchase of supplies, and a steamer to carry them, for the use of the Confederacy. His uncle, from his elevated standpoint of duty, would have an opportunity to consider the application of his stringent views on the other side of the question.
"I hope he is not dead," said Christy, as Flint bent over the prostrate form of the captain.
"I don"t know; but I am going to take him below, and lock him up in his stateroom, where the crew will not see him," replied Flint.
"That is right; and I would help you if I could leave the wheel long enough," replied Christy.
"I can handle him alone; but see that none of the sailors come aft while I am about it," added the master"s mate, as he dragged the form to the companion-way.