A CANNON-BALL THROUGH THE LEOPARD
The gun on the forecastle of the Leopard was placed as far aft as
possible, so that Christy could not see it without putting his head out
at the front windows of the pilot-house, and for this reason he had not
seen what Captain Pecklar was about. But the piece must have been loaded
before, for he could not have charged it without being seen.
The captain had remarked that he could bring the labors of those in
the long-boat to an end, for Major Pierson was urging his men to their
utmost with their oars in order to reach the tug. The smoke prevented
Christy from seeing to what extent he had succeeded, though the fact
that he had fired the gun at the boat was all he needed to satisfy him
of the fidelity of the acting engineer to the cause he had just
espoused.
Christy had not deemed it advisable to change the course of the Leopard;
for the long-boat was approaching her at right angles, and he thought
she would get out of its way, for those in charge of it made no
calculation of the distance the tug would run while the boat was
approaching her.
The smoke blew aside in a moment, and Christy discovered that the
long-boat had not been struck by the shot; or, if it had, it had
received no material damage. The major was still urging his men to
increase their efforts, and he seemed to be not at all disconcerted by
the shot which had been fired at him. But Christy saw that he was losing
the game, as he probably would not have done if he had been a sailor,
for his calculations would have been better made.
When the pilot of the Leopard realized that the major was too much
occupied in increasing the speed of the long-boat to continue the firing
at the tug, he had resumed his place at the window; but he kept his eye
on the enemy. He looked out at the window; but he could not see Captain
Pecklar, though he heard him shovelling coal a minute later. The engine
still appeared to be doing its best, and the tug was in a fair way to
pass clear of the long-boat.
"Look out, up there, Christy!" shouted the engineer, a little later.
The pilot turned his attention to the boat again, and saw that the major
and the lieutenant were loading their muskets again, and the two men
not at the oars were doing the same. The commandant evidently began to
feel that he was to miss his prey if he depended upon the oars of the
soldiers, and he was about to turn his attention again to the business
of disabling the pilot of the tug. Christy dropped down on the floor
again, and steered by the compass, which was still where he had placed
it before.
He could hear a rumbling sound on the forward deck, and he was curious
to know what the captain was doing; but it was not prudent to look
out at the window. After a great deal of hard kicking and prying, he
succeeded in removing a narrow board from the front of the pilot-house
near the floor; and through this aperture he could see that the acting
engineer had just finished reloading the gun, and was changing its
position so as to bring it to bear on the long-boat.
The enemy were now a little forward of the beam of the tug, and not more
than fifty yards from her; but Christy was satisfied that the Leopard
would go clear of the long-boat if his craft was not disabled. The major
and his companions could not help seeing that Captain Pecklar had
deserted their cause, and that, with the gun on the deck, he was a
dangerous enemy.
The report of a musket in the direction of the boat caused Christy to
look very anxiously to the forward deck; but to his great satisfaction
he saw that the captain had not been hit. But he immediately retired
under the pilot-house, so that he could not see him. He was brave enough
to stand up and be shot at, but he was also prudent enough not to expose
himself unnecessarily.
Three other shots followed the first, one of the balls passing through
the boards of the pilot-house, above the helmsman's head; and he saw a
splinter fly from a stanchion forward. Captain Pecklar waited for the
fourth shot,--and he had evidently noticed how many men had muskets in
their hands,--then he sprang out from his hiding-place, sighted the gun,
and pulled the lock-string.
Through the aperture he had made, Christy looked with intense interest
to ascertain the effect of this shot. As soon as the smoke blew away,
he saw that the shot had passed obliquely into the boat, striking the
stern-board just behind Major Pierson, and splitting off the plank near
the water-line.
There was a commotion in the ranks of the enemy, and it was plain enough
that the water was flowing into the craft. The soldiers stopped rowing,
and the lieutenant and one of the extra men were sent into the bow. This
change settled the bow of the boat down into the water, and lifted the
stern. The major appeared to be equal to the emergency; he gave his
orders in a loud voice, and the rowing was renewed with the delay of not
more than a couple of minutes. But that was enough to defeat his present
purpose, though he still urged his men to exert themselves to the
utmost.
The long-boat went astern of the tug, and Christy came out from his
place on the floor to the windows. Captain Pecklar was loading the gun,
as he had done before, by swinging it around so that the muzzle was
under the pilot-house.
"I think you will have no further use for that gun," said Christy, when
he saw what the captain was doing.
"Perhaps not; but it is best to have it ready for the next time we want
it. The major kept it loaded all the time, and I shall follow his
example," replied the captain.
"Have you been hit, Percy?" asked Christy, looking out at the side under
which the late pilot had bestowed himself for safe-keeping.
"I have not been hit; they could not see me where I am. Have you been
hit, Christy?" replied Percy.
"Not at all; I took good care not to be seen while they were firing. But
your brother has dropped astern of the Leopard in his boat, and there is
no danger here now: so you can come in and take the helm, if you like."
Percy was glad to have something to do, for he was very nervous; and
he came into the pilot-house. He was not half as airy as he had been
before, and the sound of the muskets and the twelve-pounder on the
forward deck had undoubtedly made an impression upon him. But he was as
glad to take the wheel as Christy was to have him, for he desired to
study the situation after all the changes which had been made in the
position of the several vessels.
"You have had an awful time of it, Christy," said Percy, as he took the
wheel. "I wonder that you have not been killed."
"Not a very awful time of it, and I took good care not to be killed,"
replied Christy. "A fellow isn't good for much after he has been killed,
and it is always best to look out and not get killed; though I suppose
one cannot always help it."
"Did you fire the field-piece on the deck below?"
"No, I did not; that was done by Captain Pecklar."
"My brother will have him hanged when he gets hold of him," added Percy,
shaking his head.
"Very likely he will if he gets hold of him, but we don't intend to let
him get hold of him."
Christy left the pilot-house, and went out on the hurricane deck, where
he could better see all that was to be seen, and be alone with his own
thoughts. His first care was to ascertain the position of his most
active enemy, the long-boat. He could see it a short distance astern of
the tug. It had changed its course, and was following the Leopard, which
was now gaining rapidly upon it.
Directly ahead of the tug was the Bellevite, not more than a quarter
of a mile distant; but while she was going off to the north-west, the
Dauphine had kept more to the southward and was now nearer than the
steamer of Captain Passford.
The remark which Captain Pecklar had made when he came partly upon the
hurricane deck, that the Bellevite had changed her course because Major
Pierson had been fool enough to fire at the tug, came up in Christy's
mind again. He had thought of it at the time it was uttered, and several
times since; but he had not had the time to weigh its meaning.
The owner's son knew very well that every incident connected with the
tug, and with the other vessels in sight, had been carefully observed
and weighed by his father and Captain Breaker. They had seen the boat
leave the Leopard. It looked like a stupid movement to do such a thing,
when the approach to the Bellevite could be made so much more rapidly
and safely in the tug.
There must be a motive for such a singular step. Of course the passage
of the boat had been closely observed, and the starting up of the screw
of the Leopard had been duly noted. As the tug came near the long-boat,
the latter had fired upon it. This must have been seen; and the question
naturally would come up as to why those in the boat fired upon their own
people in the Leopard.
It was not likely that they could answer the question in a satisfactory
manner on board of the Bellevite; but the firing indicated that an
enemy was in possession of the tug. This was enough, in the opinion
of Christy, as it had been in that of Captain Pecklar, to produce the
change in her course.
The firing from both craft since the first demonstration must have
deepened the impression. Those on board of the Leopard must be on the
side of the Union, or the party in the boat would not repeatedly fire
upon them. Christy was satisfied that his father would know what all the
indications meant before he abandoned the investigation.
But the Bellevite did not seem to be making her best speed by a
great deal. With his glass he could see that there was a hand in the
fore-chains heaving the lead; and probably Captain Breaker feared that
the bottom "might be too near the top of the water" for the draught of
his vessel, and he was proceeding with caution.
Christy descended the ladder to the main-deck. He found Captain Pecklar
in the fire-room, shovelling coal into the furnace. He seemed to be
again nearly exhausted by the efforts he had made during the morning;
and Christy took the shovel from him, and did the work himself.
"You must not kill yourself, Captain Pecklar. This is too hard work for
you," said Christy.
"If I can only get out of this scrape, it will not make much difference
what becomes of me," replied the invalid faintly.
"I will do this work myself. Don't you touch that shovel again."
"But things are looking very badly indeed for us, Christy," said the
captain, bracing himself up as if for a renewed effort. "The Belle is
almost up with the boat, and she will take Major Pierson and his party
on board; and she is nearer to us than the Bellevite."
"Is that so? I have not looked astern for some time," replied Christy,
rather startled by the information.
"The Bellevite is not sailing as fast as she has some of the time, and
both the Belle and the Dauphine are nearer to us than she is," added
Captain Pecklar. "I have been trying to get up more steam."
"If my father only knew that I was on board this tug, I should feel more
hope," said Christy.
"Perhaps he suspects you are. He probably sent ashore to obtain
information in regard to you. But we don't know."
Just then a cannon-ball made the splinters fly all around them.
[Illustration: "I have hit Her" (Page 315)]