THE SICK OFFICER IN THE STATEROOM
Captain Battleton spoke to Christy as though he had met him before, and
needed no introduction. He was glad to see that the young officer was
better, which indicated that he had been sick. He was confounded by the
situation, for he had not been sick an hour, and he had never seen the
commander of the Vernon in his life. The petty officer had told him that
he appeared to be quite sick when he came on board the night before.
What he had learned within the last few moments was even more perplexing
than the mysterious visitation at Bonnydale. Then the appearance of
Walsh on board, and his denial of his identity, were still in his mind,
and he wondered whether or not all these strange circumstances had any
connection. But he was standing in the presence of the commander of the
steamer, and he had no time to reach a conclusion of any kind,
satisfactory or otherwise.
Christy took the offered hand of Captain Battleton, and looked earnestly
into his face to determine whether he had ever seen him before; but the
face was entirely new to him. He was quite confident that he had never
seen the commander before. There was something rather ludicrous in the
situation, and he felt as though he was taking part in a farce; at any
rate, there was nothing serious or compromising in it, and in spite of
the confusion in his mind, he could not help smiling.
"I thank you, Captain Battleton, for your very kind interest in the
state of my health, but with the exception of the first signs of a cold
in the head, I never was better in my life," said Christy in reply to
the salutation of the commander, still holding his hand.
"Then you have improved wonderfully since last evening," added Captain
Battleton.
"I am glad to be informed of the fact, for I am not conscious of any
such improvement as you describe. In fact, I am not in quite so good
condition in a sanitary point of view as I was last evening, for I took
my cold about midnight, or a little later, last night," added Christy,
his smile becoming a little more pronounced.
It was now the turn of Captain Battleton to be puzzled, if not
mystified, by the statement of his passenger, and he looked inquiringly
into his face as if to ascertain if he was not the victim of a practical
joke. But naval officers on duty are not given to pleasantries; and if
he had any such suspicion, he banished it at once, for there was nothing
in the appearance of the lieutenant to warrant it.
"Pardon me, Mr. Passford, but were you not sick when you came on board
of the Vernon last evening?" asked the commander, with something like a
frown upon his brow as the situation became more bewildering.
"If you will excuse me for making an indirect reply, captain, I did not
come on board of the Vernon last evening," answered Christy, his smile
becoming still more decided; and if he had not been on the quarter-deck
of a vessel in service, he might have suspected that he was himself the
victim of a practical joke.
"You did not come on board of the Vernon last evening!" exclaimed
Captain Battleton, gazing very earnestly into the face of his passenger.
"I did not, captain," replied Christy quietly, though he was amused
rather than disquieted by the earnestness of the commander.
"You did not?"
"Certainly not; and if my simple affirmation is not enough, I could
prove that I slept in my father's house at Bonnydale last night, took
my breakfast there this morning, and was in the city of New York at ten
o'clock this forenoon," answered Christy, in the best of humor.
"This is very strange," said Captain Battleton, fixing his gaze upon
the planks on which he stood, possibly considering whether he or his
passenger was dreaming or out of his head.
"If I were still at Brooklyn doubtless I could find the boatman who put
me on board of the Vernon not more than an hour ago," continued Christy,
willing to convince his auditor that he was entirely in earnest in his
statement.
"I beg your pardon, Mr. Passford, but I did not intend to question the
truth of your reply to my question," said the commander, fearing that he
had overstated his doubts. "I am simply bewildered, confused, confounded
by this interview."
"So am I, captain," added the lieutenant, laughing outright at the
perplexity in which both of them were involved. "I have told you the
simple truth in regard to my movements."
"And you did not come on board of the Vernon last evening?"
"Emphatically I did not."
"You were not sick last evening?"
"I was not; not even as sick as I am at this moment," replied Christy,
using his handkerchief.
"I don't understand it," said Captain Battleton, shaking his head.
"Now, captain, will you permit me ask what you do not understand, for I
assure you I am profoundly ignorant of the situation which perplexes
you. I was ordered to be on board of the Vernon at one o'clock, and I
found her under way at eleven. I happened to find a boatman before I
left the ferry-boat, who put me on board, or I should have missed my
passage. That is simply all I know about the matter."
"When I called upon you in your stateroom this morning, you told me
that"--
"I beg your pardon, Captain Battleton, but I have not been in any
stateroom, sick or well, on board of the Vernon, and I respectfully
suggest that it was quite impossible for you to have called upon me this
morning, or at any other time," Christy interposed, very pleasantly,
though quite as perplexed as the commander.
"Of course I shall not raise an issue as to your veracity, Mr. Passford,
but after the statement you have made to me, I must change the form of
my phraseology," continued the commander, using a smile to cover any
possible doubts or suspicions in his mind. "When I called at the
stateroom of the officer who reported on board last evening as
Lieutenant Christopher Passford, he told me that I was expected to
get under way and proceed to my destination as soon as the officer and
the seamen were on board."
"Did he bring you an order to this effect?" asked Christy more
seriously.
"He did not, and perhaps I have made a mistake, though my superior
officer told me at the yard that it would be safe for me to obey the
verbal order," replied Captain Battleton, looking somewhat troubled.
"I have no intention to meddle with what does not concern me, captain.
It appears that Lieutenant Passford has already reported to you," said
Christy; and this was the astounding fact to him of the situation.
He was absolutely confident that he was himself Lieutenant Christopher
Passford, and as absolutely confident that the other officer could not
be that person, whoever else he might be. The commander appeared to be
considering what Christy had suggested to him in regard to his orders,
and the passenger had a minute or two to think of the situation in which
he found himself placed. But what was the use to think of it? He was at
the end of a blind alley, where there was no light from any direction
except that by which he had entered it. He had no premises from which to
reason, and it was useless to consider the matter.
"Mr. Passford, I find myself placed in a very unpleasant position," said
the commander, after he had deliberated a few minutes. "I have stated
the facts to you; and the deduction I have to draw from them is, that I
have two persons by the name of Lieutenant Passford on board."
"That seems to me to be a correct deduction," added Christy.
"The brilliant officer who bears this name is too well known to hide his
light under a bushel. I have not the honor to be personally acquainted
with him, and therefore I am unable to decide which of the gentlemen who
report to me under that name is the real one."
"Precisely so."
"You will pardon me if I add that I think one or the other of them must
be an impostor," added Captain Battleton with some diffidence.
"That is a perfectly justifiable conclusion; and it rests with you to
decide which is the genuine Lieutenant Passford, and which is the
impostor," replied Christy frankly. "You will be perfectly justified
in calling upon both for all the evidence they are able to present.
I suggest that each of them must carry his commission about him, as
well as his orders from the department; and it seems to me that these
documents will enable you to decide without any delay;" and Christy
involuntarily put his hand upon his breast pocket, where he carried
these valuable papers.
He could feel the envelope that contained them, and he was satisfied of
the triumph which awaited him when the evidence should be required of
the two claimants of the name. At the same time he felt that he was
moving in a cloud of mystery, which had begun to enfold him in the
middle of the preceding night.
"I thank you for the suggestion, Mr. Passford, and I must say that you
seem to be entirely fair," said the commander.
"If I am the impostor, I do not know myself; but I have no desire to
forestall your decision. You saw the sick officer when he came on board
last evening, and you have visited him in his stateroom to-day. Do I
look enough like him to be taken for him?" asked Christy with a smile,
as he placed himself in an attitude to be scrutinized by the commander.
"I am sure that you do, sir; and when I saw you on the quarter-deck for
the first time, I had no doubt you were the officer who came on board
sick last evening," replied Captain Battleton.
"That makes it all the more remarkable, for I was not aware that there
was any officer in the navy who resembled me so closely," added Christy
more bewildered than before, and beginning to scent a plot of some kind
against him or his country.
"I must say that any man who will take upon himself the position and
reputation of the real Lieutenant Passford is a bold man, and even, if
he succeeds in taking his place, he will fail in playing the _rôle_."
"I should thank you, Captain Battleton, for the compliment, if I were
not under suspicion of being some other person. May I ask when it will
be convenient for you to settle the question, for it is not pleasant for
me to feel that I am looked upon as even a possible impostor?"
"I shall not regard you as an impostor, Mr. Passford, for I mean to be
entirely impartial, and I shall not brand you even in thought until the
evidence warrants me in doing so," replied the commander, as he called
the surgeon who was just coming on deck. "How do you find your patient,
Dr. Connelly?"
"I find him--I thought I found him; but he appears to be on deck,"
replied the surgeon, as he fixed his gaze upon Christy, preluded by
a start, dramatic enough to prove that he was astonished to find his
patient was not in his room below. "I left him not five minutes ago, for
I have not yet been able to discover what ails him. He complained of a
severe headache and pains in his bones; but he has not a particle of
fever, or any symptom of anything that I can discover. I am glad to see
you on deck, Mr. Passford. How is your headache?"
"If I have had any headache, I have entirely recovered from it," replied
Christy, laughing heartily. "I came on board only an hour ago, doctor,
and I have had no headache, thank you."
"Looking at you more closely, I see that you are not my patient, and you
will excuse me for giving you a headache. But you resemble my patient
very closely," added the doctor.
"I did not answer your question, Mr. Passford," interposed Captain
Battleton. "In an hour we will settle the question."
Christy seated himself and began to consider the strange situation.