THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DECISION
When Captain Battleton took from the envelope the blank papers, no one
seemed to be inquisitive as to the result, for, as the commander had
suggested, they all expected to find the commission and other papers
regularly and properly made out and signed. Several sheets were unfolded
and spread out upon the table, and Christy was hardly more surprised
than the others at the table.
"Your papers do not seem to be altogether regular, Mr. Passford," said
the captain, as he held up one of them so that all could see it.
"I see they are not," answered Christy blankly.
"But they are enclosed in an official envelope," added the captain,
as he held up the cover of the papers. "In this respect they have the
advantage of those presented by the other gentleman. You appear to be as
much surprised as any of the rest of us, Mr. Passford. Can you explain
the fact that you present nothing but blank papers instead of your
commission and orders?"
"At present I cannot; after I have had an opportunity for reflection
I may be able to do so," replied Christy, from whom a more decided
demonstration than he made was expected.
"It is evident from what we have heard, and from the documents submitted
to me that one of these gentlemen is Lieutenant Christopher Passford,"
said Captain Battleton; "but we have no means of identifying the
officer. In what vessels have you served, Mr. Passford?"
"My first service was in the Bellevite, and my last in the Bronx, of
which I was acting commander on her voyage from New York to the Gulf,"
answered Christy, to whom the question was addressed.
"Is there any officer on board with whom you have served?"
"So far as I have seen, there is not."
"Any seaman?"
"I have not noticed any seaman whose face was familiar to me."
"If I am correctly informed, you came home as prize master of the Vixen,
convoying quite a fleet of steamers and schooners," continued Captain
Battleton, looking about the cabin as though the inquiry had become
wearisome to him.
"I did; you were correctly informed," answered Corny, as the wandering
gaze of the commander rested upon him.
"Both of you were in command of the Vixen, I suppose," added the captain
with a smile.
"I was, captain; but I cannot speak for my cousin Corny," replied the
possessor of the commission.
"I can say with entire confidence that I was in command of the Vixen,"
added Christy.
"A considerable number of officers and seamen must have come with you in
the Vixen and the other vessels," said the captain, raising his finger
to indicate that the question was addressed to Christy.
"Yes, sir; the Vixen was fully armed and manned to protect the fleet of
prize vessels she convoyed."
"Do you remember the names of the officers who served with you in the
Vixen?" asked the captain.
"I could not very well forget them in so short a time," replied Corny,
upon whom the gaze of the commander had again rested as he looked about
him.
"Very well; perhaps you had better answer the question;" and the captain
pointed at Corny. "Who was your first lieutenant?"
"Ensign Gordon Fillbrook," replied Corny promptly.
This was a correct answer, and Christy saw that his cousin had fully
armed himself for his daring scheme, whatever it was.
"Your second lieutenant?"
"Ensign Frederick Jones," answered Corny, with some hesitation.
"Now will you inform me, Mr. Passford, who your officers were?" The
commander pointed at Christy. "Your executive officer?"
"My cousin gave his name and rank correctly."
"And the second lieutenant?"
"Ensign Philip Bangs."
"Here you differ. Did you make a report of your voyage home, Lieutenant
Passford?" continued the captain, pointing at Corny.
"I did, sir; for we captured a privateer on the voyage," answered Corny.
"Did you keep a copy of that report?"
"I did, captain; I keep copies of all my reports. I have them in my
valise," answered he of the South in a matter-of-fact manner.
Christy laughed in spite of the importance of the investigation at the
coolness and self-possession of his cousin; but he could not understand
how Corny would be able to produce a copy of his report, which was in
his valise with several such papers.
"I must trouble you to produce it, Lieutenant Passford," added the
commander.
"Perhaps I ought to say in the beginning that it is not in my own
handwriting, for after I had written it, Mr. Jones copied it for me,"
Corny explained, and, perhaps, thought he might be called upon to give a
specimen of his chirography.
"That is immaterial," added Captain Battleton, as Corny left the cabin
to procure the document. "Have you a copy of your report, Lieutenant
Passford?" He pointed to Christy.
"I have, captain; and it is in my own handwriting," replied the officer
addressed.
"Produce it, if you please."
He had placed his valise in the gangway, and he had not far to go to
procure the report, his first draft of the document, which he had
revised and copied at Bonnydale.
"I don't think we are getting ahead at all, Mr. Salisbury," said the
captain, while the cousins were looking for their reports.
"I confess that I am as much in the dark as I was in the beginning,"
replied the executive officer.
"I can make nothing of it," added the surgeon. "It looks to me as though
the commission alone would have to settle this matter."
"I don't see how I can go behind the official documents," replied the
commander as Corny presented himself at the door.
A minute later Christy appeared with his report in his hand, and both
of them were presented to the captain. The handwriting was as different
as possible in the two papers. Corny's was in a large, coarse hand, but
it was a fair copy, while Christy's contained several corrections and
inter-lineations. No one could recognize the writing of either of the
claimants, and the documents proved nothing at all. The captain was
evidently weary of the investigation, and nothing but the commission
seemed to throw any reliable light upon the claim of either one or the
other.
"Any further questions, Mr. Salisbury?" asked the captain, bestowing a
bored look upon the executive officer.
"Nothing more, Captain Battleton."
"Dr. Connelly?"
"Nothing, captain."
"Now, gentlemen, I will thank you to retire to the ward room, and I
will send for you to hear my decision," continued the commander, and
the cousins retired together, and both of them appeared to be as
good-natured as though they were in perfect accord on the question
in dispute.
"What is your opinion, Mr. Salisbury?" asked the captain, when the
claimants had retired, careful not to indicate his own conclusion.
"While I acknowledge that I am somewhat prepossessed in favor of the
Lieutenant Passford who came on board this morning, I do not think
he has established his claim to be the true Lieutenant Christopher
Passford. The other uses some peculiarly Southern phrases, as though he
had been 'raised' in the South, and he is not perfect in the geography
of Bonnydale. I think the commission is the only evidence upon which you
can properly rely," replied the first lieutenant.
"Your views, if you please, Dr. Connelly."
"One of these officers is evidently a Confederate, and the other a loyal
citizen. The commission, as Mr. Salisbury suggests, outweighs all the
rest of the evidence. One or the other of the two men is an impostor,
and without the commission, I should decide that my patient was the
false Lieutenant Passford," answered the surgeon.
"We appear to agree, gentlemen, for you have expressed my own views
as well as I could state them myself," added the captain. "But when I
decide that the holder of the commission, which I am satisfied is a
genuine document, is the loyal officer, and entitled to be received as
the future commander of the Bronx, I must declare that the other is a
Confederate; and not only that, but also that he is acting as a spy;
that he is on board of the Vernon with mischievous intentions. It will
be my duty to regard him as a prisoner of war, at least. What do you
think of it, Mr. Salisbury?"
"I do not see how you can escape that conclusion," replied the first
lieutenant.
"I am a sort of peace officer," added Dr. Connelly, when the captain
glanced at him, "and I will express no opinion as to the status of the
officer, though it appears to be as you describe it."
"This is an informal conference, doctor, and I hope you will express
your views freely," said the captain.
"There is something in the situation which I cannot explain. I will only
say that it is just possible there is a conspiracy at the bottom of the
whole affair; and I should think it would be well to keep a close watch
upon both of these officers. Why, on the voyage of the Bronx to the
Gulf, Ensign Passford, as he was then, discovered two Confederate
officers in his crew, and squarely defeated their efforts to capture
his ship in the action with the Scotian, I believe it was."
"I have heard of it; and in quite a number of instances, Confederates
have been put on board of steamers for the purpose of taking them from
their officers," added the captain. "At the same time, I do not see that
I can decide this question on any other evidence than that of the
commission and other official documents."
Both of the other officers assented to this view, and the captain sent
for the two claimants. Neither of them had spoken a word to the other
during their stay in the ward room. Christy looked upon his cousin as a
Confederate who was serving what he called his country, and he had not
the slightest disposition to quarrel with him, and especially not to
lead him to utter any unnecessary falsehoods. Possibly Corny was
somewhat diffident about playing his assumed character before his cousin
when they were alone, for they had always been the best of friends.
"Gentlemen, I have come to a decision in this matter," said the captain,
when the two claimants had placed themselves before him in a standing
position. "I cannot go behind the commission presented by the officer
who came on board last evening, and I consider it my duty to regard him
as the real Lieutenant Passford, recently promoted to his present rank.
There is nothing more to be said."
"Of course I expected that would be your decision," replied Corny, as
he took the papers which the captain returned to him, including his
commission and report.
"You may retire now, if you please, Mr. Passford," added the commander.
Corny bowed politely to the officers at the table, and left the cabin.
He did not even glance at Christy, and his face did not look like that
of one who had just won a decided victory. Christy remained standing
where he had placed himself; and he began to wonder what disposition
would be made of him under present circumstances.