Within The Enemy's Lines by Oliver Optic (beach books txt) 📖

the navy yard at any minute, I thought I would have everything as nearly ready as it could be."

"You have done very well, Sampson," added Corny, approvingly. "We are to get under way early in the morning, and if father gets home he will start the steamer as soon as he comes. He went to the city this evening, and probably he will bring the order with him," continued Corny, making use of the information he had obtained in the house.

"Where is this long gun, my man?" asked Captain Carboneer, taking a measure from his pocket.

"Forward, sir," replied Sampson, as he led the way.

The captain kept some distance behind the ship-keeper, and took Corny by the arm to detain him.

"Tell him to get up steam at once," whispered 54 the leader of the party, as he hastened forward to the long midship gun, where he proceeded to take his measurements as though he were in real earnest, though it was so dark that he could not possibly see the marks on his tape, even if he tried to do so.

"You say that everything is ready to start the fires, Sampson?" said Corny, as soon as he had a chance to speak to the ship-keeper.

"Everything is ready, Christy, and I have only to touch the match to the shavings to make a beginning," replied Sampson. "Is there any news about my appointment in the engine-room, Christy?"

"Not yet, Sampson; but the papers will soon come, and I am almost willing to guarantee your appointment."

"Mr. Vapoor has already spoken a good word for me."

"All right, Sampson; then you are sure of the position. I am very sure that we shall get the order before morning to move the steamer over to the navy yard, and I think you had better start the fires at once, Sampson," continued Corny, making himself as much at home on board of the 55 steamer as though he had really been the person he was supposed to be.

"All right, Christy; and if the order don't come as soon as you expect it, we can bank the fires, and no harm will be done," replied the oiler, for such was his position on board, though he was evidently expecting something better.

By this time Captain Carboneer had finished taking the measure of the gun-carriage, though he had not been able to see anything. But he had been through all the forms, and that answered his purpose just as well. He declared that he had no further business on board, and the trio went to the accommodation ladder. Sampson had called his sleeping companion, and already the black smoke began to pour out of the smokestack.

"That was all very handsomely done," said Major Pierson, as they stepped on board of the Florence.

"Everything worked very well; but it was all owing to the fact that the ship-keeper thought that Corny was some other person," replied the captain.

"I know that he took him for Christy Passford, and I have had some experience with Christy," 56 replied the major, recalling his attempts to prevent the Bellevite from escaping from Mobile Bay. "He is a smart fellow, as the Yankees would say, and it is fortunate that he is not here at the present time."

"He can't be very far off," suggested Corny. "He was expected back to supper, and I wanted to see him, for he is my cousin. He must be about here somewhere."

"Never mind whether he is or not; we have finished our business here, and the harvest is ripe for the sickle. We will leave this boat just where we found it, for I have a rowboat a little farther down the river," continued Captain Carboneer.

"I suppose I ought to return to my uncle's house," suggested Corny. "If they miss me they will be looking about here to ascertain what has become of me."

"I think you had better not try to relieve their anxiety to-night. If they are worried about you, they will get over it in the morning when they find the steamer is missing," said Captain Carboneer, with something like a chuckle in his tones when he pictured the surprise of the "Yankees" in making the discovery that the Bellevite had 57 taken to herself wings, and sped on her way to the South.

"I don't think they will worry about me," added Corny, laughing. "I was afraid they might think I was here to capture the city of New York, or something of that sort."

"I think you had better not undeceive them to-night," replied the captain, as he ran the yacht upon the beach near where he had found her.

"Everything looks exceedingly well for our enterprise."

"If you get that steamer into Mobile Bay"—

"I don't intend to get her into the bay; that would be folly, and I shall run no risks among the blockaders, for a single shot might give her back to her present owners."

"No matter; if you only get her, and she is under the flag of the Confederacy, it will put me back where I was when she went into the bay by a Yankee trick," added Major Pierson.

"After the war, if you wish to see the young lady, you will have more time to attend to the affair, and I shall wish you every success then," said the captain lightly.

"How long do you think the war will last, 58 Captain Carboneer?" asked the major, in this connection.

"Possibly it may last a year, though if we can break up that blockade, it will not last six months longer."

The trio landed on the beach, and the naval officer made sure that the Florence was securely fixed in the gravel. The party walked down stream, embarked in the boat of which the captain had spoken. It was pulled by two men, and after they had gone about a mile, the captain began to blow a boatswain's whistle which he took from his pocket.

But they had hardly jumped down on the beach before Christy Passford opened the cabin door of the yacht, and crept out with the utmost care.

59 CHAPTER V CAPTAIN CARBONEER AND HIS PARTY

As Captain Carboneer blew his whistle, a mile below the moorings of the Bellevite, an occasional response came from the shore. Everything was remarkably quiet on the river, though at long intervals a steamer passed on its way up or down the stream. The signals made by the naval officer were not loud, and the replies, made without the aid of any instrument, were quite feeble. One might have taken them for some frolic on the part of the boys.

"I don't quite understand this business," said Major Pierson, after he had listened a while to the signals. "I suppose from the answers you get, that your men are all along the river, and the woods seem to be full of them."

"I have no doubt they are all here," replied Captain Carboneer. "I have been in this vicinity all day, and I have made good use of my time. I 60 believe the Bellevite belongs to the Confederacy, and it shall be no fault of mine if the goods are not delivered in good order and condition."

"My father was confident that he should obtain her at Nassau, though he was mistaken," added the major.

"But when she went within our lines, we were all satisfied that she was ours. I have not yet been able to understand why she was permitted to escape."

"If you mean by that to cast any blame upon those who did their best to prevent her escape, Captain Carboneer, you wrong them grossly," said Major Pierson. "She came on a friendly visit to the plantation of Colonel Passford; but this gentleman, though the owner of the steamer was his own brother, promptly gave information of her presence in the creek, and did all he could to have her captured. No man could have sacrificed more to his patriotism than he did."

"I do not reflect on him or on any one; I only wonder how the Bellevite contrived to escape when several steamers were sent out to capture her," added the captain.

"The son of the owner of the Bellevite was a 61 prisoner of mine, for when I had my brother arrested for desertion, this young man was with him. The only mistake I made was in not putting him in irons. The captain of my tug proved to be a traitor to the Confederacy, and this fellow, with Christy Passford, did the most of the mischief in preventing the capture of the steamer."

"I was told that he was a smart boy," added the naval officer.

"He is all of that; and I think it was very fortunate that he did not happen to be at home when we visited the Bellevite just now," said Major Pierson, who evidently had a proper respect for the abilities of the millionnaire's son.

"I do not see that his presence in his father's mansion, if he had been there, could have made any difference," added the captain, as he sounded his whistle again, and heard a faint response from the shore. "As long as he was not actually on board of the steamer, he was harmless."

"Perhaps he was, though I have the feeling that it would have been otherwise. There was a whistle from the shore."

"I heard it, and I understand it. Haslett has done his whole duty, I judge," replied Captain Carboneer.

62 "Who is Haslett?" asked the major curiously. "I never heard of him before."

"He is to be the first lieutenant of the Bellevite."

"You seem to have a full supply of officers and men, Captain Carboneer," added Major Pierson, apparently a little disconcerted. "I do not see that I am of the least use here, for you seem to have done everything without consulting me."

"In naval matters I have; but I give you full credit for the planning of the enterprise," replied the captain, in his softest tones.

"When I was removed from my command because I allowed the steamer to pass the forts, I felt that a great injustice had been done to me. I did all I could to effect the capture of the vessel, but the attempt was a failure," argued the major. "The shot hole through the bow of the Belle utterly wrecked her, and the force on board of her could do nothing, and Christy Passford had brought my own tug to bear against me. Why, the Bellevite actually saved the force on board of the Belle from drowning. A violent gale came up, and that did a great deal to nullify all our efforts. But I think I did my whole duty."

63 "I have no doubt of it, Major Pierson; and for that reason you were sent on this mission; and I am confident that the success of the enterprise will restore you to your former command, or give you another quite as good," said Captain Carboneer, as consolation to the military arm of the expedition.

"But I cannot see that I have been of any use to this enterprise, and I might as well have staid at home."

"You are too modest by half, major. You planned the expedition, and suggested that Corny should take part in it, as he would have the entrée to the residence of Captain Passford. But, being a mere boy, he could not be sent alone, and your services were likely to be of the most important character. It is no fault of yours that we found everything made ready for us, as it were. It might have been quite different, and the burden of the action might have rested upon you. It is all right as it is."

"I am satisfied," added the major, "though I think it was no more than right that you should have consulted me in regard to your methods, of which I am still profoundly ignorant. In getting 64 up the scheme, I based everything on the fact that Corny could go into his uncle's house and obtain all the information we needed."

"The scheme was well concocted; and I shall have the pleasure of reporting to the government that the military arm of the expedition conducted the enterprise to a perfect success, the naval force only doing the duty pointed out by the military."

"You are very kind, Captain Carboneer," said Major Pierson, who could not well help being entirely satisfied, and even greatly pleased, with this happy showing of the final result.

"By daylight in the morning we shall be outside of Sandy Hook, I expect. We have no time to waste, and you can see for yourself how the affair of the young lady would have complicated our operations."

"How do you intend to convey these men, who seem to be scattered all along the shores