THE REPORT OF THE SCOUT FROM THE SHORE
Captain Pecklar had held out as long as it was possible for him to stand
it, and he had only given up when his senses deserted him. Major Pierson
raised him from his position on the floor of the pilot-house, and, with
Christy's assistance, bore him out into the air.
The wheel had gone over when the sick man could no longer hold it, and
the tug was beginning to whirl about in an erratic manner, when the
major rang the bell to stop the engine. The captain was carried down to
his room, and put into his berth, where one of the soldiers was detailed
to act as his nurse.
"I haven't a man on board that knows the first thing about handling a
steamboat; and I am not a bit wiser myself," said the major, when the
sick man had been disposed of. "Every man that is fit to be made into a
soldier is sent to the army; and we have nothing but the lame, and the
halt, and the blind to handle these boats."
"It does not look like good policy," added Christy.
"Dallberg and his two men are soldiers, and they know no more about a
steamboat than the rest of us," continued Major Pierson. "It looks as
though we should have to stay here till some other boat comes along; and
that may be in three days or a week, for steamers have no occasion to
come up here now."
"Perhaps you may find a pilot among the men in that boat," suggested
Christy, as he looked about the pilot-house, where the conversation took
place.
The captain's glass was lying on a shelf in front of the wheel, and he
took a look through it in order to find the boat. After searching in
every direction, he discovered the boat, which was pulled by two men,
with a third in the stern-sheets. He indicated the position of it to the
major, and gave him the glass.
"That's Dallberg, without any doubt; but he must be five miles off. He
can't reach the steamer for a long time," said the major, when he had
examined the boat. "But we shall be no better off than we are now when
she gets here, for not one of those in it is a sailor."
Christy was not a little interested in the situation; for he thought his
father must have gone on board of the Bellevite, or she would not have
changed her position. It was all a mystery to him as well as to the
commandant of Fort Gaines, and the boat in the distance had been to the
shore for the purpose of investigating it.
He had an idea in his head, and he continued to examine the interior of
the pilot-house till he found a number of paper rolls in a drawer, which
looked very much like local charts of the bay. He examined several of
them, and found one which covered the portion of the waters around him.
He had noted the direction taken by the Bellevite the day before, and he
had no difficulty in placing the inlet where she had moored at the
wharf.
"What have you got there, Mr. Passford?" asked the major, who had been
looking on the floor, thinking what he should do in his present dilemma.
[Illustration: "You a Sailor?" (Page 215)]
"It is a chart of these waters, which appears to have been considerably
improved with a pen and ink," replied Christy, still examining it.
"That is the work of Captain Pecklar. They call him the best pilot for
Mobile Bay there is about here, though he has been here but two years."
"Here is the inlet, or river, where we passed the night; and the captain
has marked the wharf on it."
"What good is the chart without a man that knows how to steer a
steamer?" asked the major, who was becoming very impatient in the
presence of the delay that confronted him; for the illness of Captain
Pecklar deprived him of the ability to do any thing, even to return to
the fort.
"You forget that I am a sailor, Major Pierson," said Christy.
"You a sailor? I thought you were the son of a millionnaire, who could
not possibly know any thing except how to eat and sleep," replied the
soldier, laughing.
"I have steered the Bellevite for a great many hundred miles, and my
father says I am competent to do duty as a quartermaster."
"You astonish me; and, as we are both engaged in the same good cause,
I am heartily delighted to find that you are a sailor."
"Probably I shall astonish you still more before we have got through.
With this chart before me, I have no doubt I can find my way about here
in the Leopard," said Christy.
"Then I give you the command of the steamer in the absence of Captain
Pecklar," continued the major. "This boat and another are in the service
of the forts; and if you don't want to join the army with Percy, perhaps
I can obtain the appointment for you, especially as you are hardly old
enough to go into the ranks. We will see about that."
"We will leave all that open for future action, if you please, Major
Pierson," replied Christy, as he rang the bell for the steamer to go
ahead.
The major watched him with the most intense interest, as though he
feared that the young man would prove to be a failure as a steamboat
captain. But the steamer went ahead at the sound of the bell, and in
a minute or two Christy had her on her course in the direction of the
approaching boat. He examined the chart very carefully, and satisfied
himself that there was water enough for the tug anywhere outside the
headlands which projected into the hay.
The Leopard held her course as steadily as though the sick captain were
still at the wheel; and the major was entirely satisfied with the
qualifications of the new master, after he had watched him for a while.
"Spottswood, how is the captain?" called the major from the pilot-house.
"Just the same: he don't seem to be any better," replied the sergeant.
"He ought to have a doctor; for the poor fellow may die here, away from
any proper attendance," said the major, with more feeling than the new
captain supposed he possessed.
"There is a very skilful surgeon on board of the Bellevite," suggested
Christy. "Dr. Linscott served in the army in Mexico, and had a large
practice in New York."
"Then he shall see Pecklar. Dr. Linscott is just the sort of a surgeon
we want in our army; and I suppose he would not be on board of the
Bellevite if he was not of our way of thinking," added the major.
Christy knew he was nothing but a Union man, and not of the way of
thinking which the soldier suggested: so he said nothing. The Leopard
was a faster tug than the one which had come off from Fort Gaines, and
she came up with the boat which contained Lieutenant Dallberg and his
two men, the latter of whom were nearly exhausted with the long pull
they had taken; for, as they were not sailors, they did not row to the
best advantage.
The new captain rang the bell to stop her, as soon as the boat came
near, and the party came on board. The two men seated themselves on the
rail as though they never intended to do another stroke of work, for
they had been using the oars most of the time since the evening before.
"Come up here, Dallberg," called the major from the pilot-house.
The lieutenant looked as though he had just been through one war;
for he had slept none the night before, and had been on duty without
intermission. He came to the hurricane-deck, and entered the
pilot-house, where he dropped on the sofa abaft the wheel as though he
were not in much better condition than the captain when he fell at his
post.
"You have made a night of it, Dallberg," the major began, seating
himself by the side of the lieutenant.
"I am about used up, major. I believe I walked ten miles on shore; and I
am not as strong as I wish I was," replied Mr. Dallberg. "But I found
out all I wanted to know, and I expected the Leopard would be somewhere
near the creek."
"I beg your pardon, Major Pierson," said Christy, who was standing at
the wheel. "What am I to do now?"
"I will tell you in a moment.--Can you tell me, Dallberg, where the
Bellevite is at the present time?" asked the major, turning to the
lieutenant.
"She seems to be running up and down across the head of the bay. She is
beyond that point now, and you will see her when you go within a mile of
the land," replied the lieutenant.
"Have you been near her?"
"Not within a mile of her, I should say."
"All right, you may head her within a mile of that point, Captain
Passford," added the major; and Christy rang to go ahead.
When the major applied this high-sounding title to the new captain, the
lieutenant opened his eyes a little; but he asked no questions, for he
had learned as he came on board that Captain Pecklar had fainted at his
post.
"Well, what have you been about, Dallberg?" asked the major rather
impatiently, as soon as the boat was under way again.
"Walking, talking, and rowing most of the time. As the poet says,
'Things are not what they seem,'" replied the scout; for such appeared
to be the duty in which he had been engaged.
"What do you mean by that?" asked Major Pierson, opening his eyes very
wide.
"We discovered that the steamer had left the wharf last night, and you
sent me to investigate when you started off in that wagon."
"That's so; and Pecklar reported to me early this morning that the
steamer had left the wharf, and was standing off and on in the bay."
"I went ashore in the evening, leaving Pecklar to watch the steamer.
I don't know any thing about his movements."
"He reported to me this morning about daylight. It is all right as far
as he is concerned. What have you done?"
"I landed at the wharf where the Bellevite had been moored, about eleven
o'clock, I should say, for I could not see my watch. I went up to
Colonel Passford's house, and found it all in commotion."
"What was the matter?"
"Colonel Passford was not there: he had gone off to procure assistance."
"Assistance for what?" demanded the major. "You are sleepy, Dallberg,
and you are mixing your story."
"I am sleepy and exhausted, but I will try to do better. I saw Mrs.
Passford. She told me that her brother-in-law, Captain Horatio Passford,
had come to the house that day, with his son; and you are aware, I
believe, that his daughter, Miss Florence, has been there all winter."
"I know all about that. Go ahead, Dallberg."
"The two brothers had been shut up in the library all the afternoon,
engaged in an earnest discussion; though the colonel's wife did not know
what it was about. Captain Horatio left Colonel Homer in the library
some time in the evening, and the colonel remained there till after ten.
Then it was found that the captain had left the house secretly, with his
daughter and his son; though some of the servants had seen the young man
going up the road with Percy Pierson."
"Exactly so; never mind the young man now. The captain had left the
house, and his daughter went with him?" repeated the major, beginning to
be a good deal excited.
"The house was searched, but they could not be found; and the young
lady's trunk had been removed from her room. Then the colonel went down
to the wharf, and found that the Bellevite had left."
Major Pierson sprang to his feet, hardly able to contain himself.