A DEAF AND DUMB MYSTERY
As he dismissed Mulgrum, Christy tore off the leaf from the tablet on
which both of them had written before he handed it back to the owner.
For a few moments, he said nothing, and had his attention fixed on the
paper in his hand, which he seemed to be studying for some reason of his
own.
"That man writes a very good hand for one in his position," said he,
looking at the first lieutenant.
"I had noticed that before," replied Flint, as the commander handed
him the paper, which he looked over with interest. "I had some talk with
him on his tablet the day he came on board. He strikes me as a very
intelligent and well-educated man."
"Was he born a deaf mute?" asked Christy.
"I did not think to ask him that question; but I judged from the
language he used and his rapid writing that he was well educated. There
is character in his handwriting too; and that is hardly to be expected
from a deaf mute," replied Flint.
"Being a deaf mute, he can not have been shipped as a seaman, or even as
an ordinary steward," suggested the captain.
"Of course not; he was employed as a sort of scullion to be worked
wherever he could make himself useful. Mr. Nawood engaged him on the
recommendation of Mr. Lillyworth," added Flint, with something like a
frown on his brow, as though he had just sounded a new idea.
"Have you asked Mr. Lillyworth anything about him?"
"I have not; for somehow Mr. Lillyworth and I don't seem to be very
affectionate towards each other, though we get along very well together.
But Mulgrum wrote out for me that he was born in Cherryfield, Maine, and
obtained his education as a deaf mute in Hartford. I learned the deaf
and dumb alphabet when I was a schoolmaster, as a pastime, and I had
some practice with it in the house where I boarded."
"Then you can talk in that way with Mulgrum."
"Not a bit of it; he knows nothing at all about the deaf and dumb
alphabet, and could not spell out a single word I gave him."
"That is very odd," added the captain musing.
"So I thought; but he explained it by saying that at the school they
were changing this method of communication for that of actually speaking
and understanding what was said by observing the vocal organs. He had
not remained long enough to master this method; in fact he had done all
his talking with his tablets."
"It is a little strange that he should not have learned either method of
communication."
"I thought so myself, and said as much to him; but he told me that he
had inherited considerable property at the death of his father, and he
was not inclined to learn new tricks," said Flint. "He is intensely
patriotic, and said that he was willing to give himself and all his
property for the salvation of his country. He had endeavored to obtain
a position as captain's clerk, or something of that sort, in the navy;
but failing of this, he had been willing to go to the war as a scullion.
He says he shall fight, whatever his situation, when he has the
opportunity; and that is all I know about him."
Christy looked on the floor, and seemed to be considering the facts he
had just learned. He had twice discovered Mulgrum at the door of his
cabin, though his presence there had been satisfactorily explained; or
at least a reason had been given. This man had been brought on board by
the influence of Mr. Lillyworth, who had been ordered to the Gulf for
duty, and was on board as a substitute for Mr. Flint, who was acting in
Christy's place, as the latter was in that of Mr. Blowitt, who outranked
them all. Flint had not been favorably impressed with the acting second
lieutenant, and he had not hesitated to speak his mind in regard to him
to the captain. Though Christy had been more reserved in speech, he had
the feeling that Mr. Lillyworth must establish a reputation for
patriotism and fidelity to the government before he could trust him
as he did the first lieutenant, though he was determined to manifest
nothing like suspicion in regard to him.
At this stage of the war, that is to say in the earlier years of it,
the government was obliged to accept such men as it could obtain for
officers, for the number in demand greatly exceeded the supply of
regularly educated naval officers. There were a great many applicants
for positions, and candidates were examined in regard to their
professional qualifications rather than their motives for entering the
service. If a man desired to enter the army or the navy, the simple wish
was regarded as a sufficient guaranty of his patriotism, especially in
connection with his oath of allegiance. With the deaf mute's leaf in his
hand Christy was thinking over this matter of the motives of officers.
He was not satisfied in regard to either Lillyworth or Mulgrum, and
besides the regular quota of officers and seamen permanently attached
to the Bronx, there were eighteen seamen and petty officers berthed
forward, who were really passengers, though they were doing duty.
"Where did you say this man Mulgrum was born, Mr. Flint?" asked the
captain, after he had mused for quite a time.
"In Cherryfield, Maine," replied the first lieutenant; and he could not
help feeling that the commander had not been silent so long for nothing.
"You are a Maine man, Flint: were you ever in this town?"
"I have been; I taught school there for six months; and it was the last
place I filled before I went to sea."
"I am glad to hear it, for it will save me from looking any further for
the man I want just now. If this deaf mute was born and brought up in
Cherryfield, he must know something about the place," added Christy as
he touched a bell on his table, to which Dave instantly responded.
"Do you know Mulgrum, Dave?" asked the captain.
"No, sir; never heard of him before," replied the steward.
"You don't know him! The man who has been cleaning the brass work on the
doors?" exclaimed Christy.
"Oh! Pink, we all call him," said the steward.
"His name is Pinkney Mulgrum," Flint explained.
"Yes, sir; I know him, though we never had any long talks together,"
added Dave with a rich smile on his face.
"Go on deck, and tell Mulgrum to come into my cabin," said Christy.
"If I tell him that, he won't hear me," suggested Dave.
"Show him this paper," interposed the first lieutenant, handing him a
card on which he had written the order.
Dave left the cabin to deliver the message, and the captain immediately
instructed Flint to question the man in regard to the localities and
other matters in Cherryfield, suggesting that he should conduct his
examination so as not to excite any suspicion. Pink Mulgrum appeared
promptly, and was placed at the table where both of the officers could
observe his expression. Then Flint began to write on a sheet of paper,
and passed his first question to the man. It was: "Don't you remember
me?" Mulgrum wrote that he did not. Then the inquisitor asked when he
had left Cherryfield to attend the school at Hartford; and the date he
gave placed him there at the very time when Flint had been the master of
the school for four months. On the question of locality, he could place
the church, the schoolhouse and the hotel; and he seemed to have no
further knowledge of the town. When asked where his father lived, he
described a white house next to the church; but Flint knew that this had
been owned and occupied by the minister for many years.
"This man is a humbug," was the next sentence the first lieutenant
wrote, but he passed it to the captain. Christy wrote under it: "Tell
him that we are perfectly satisfied with his replies, and thank him for
his attendance;" which was done at once, and the captain smiled upon him
as though he had conducted himself with distinguished ability.
"Mulgrum has been in Cherryfield; but he could not have remained there
more than a day or two," said Flint, when the door had closed behind the
deaf mute.
The captain made a gesture to impose silence upon his companion.
"Mulgrum is all right in every respect," said he in a loud tone, so
that if the subject of the examination had stopped at the keyhole of the
door, he would not be made any the wiser for what he heard there.
"He knows Cherryfield as well as he knows the deck of the Bronx, and as
you say, Captain Passford, he is all right in every respect," added the
first lieutenant in the same loud tone. "Mulgrum is a well educated man,
captain, and you will have a great deal of writing to do: I suggest that
you bring him into your cabin, and make him your clerk."
"That is a capital idea, Mr. Flint, and I shall consider it," returned
the commander, making sure that the man at the door should hear him,
if Mulgrum lingered there. "I have a number of letters sent over from
England relating to blockade runners that I wish to have copied for the
use of any naval officers with whom I may fall in; and I have not the
time to do it myself."
"Mulgrum writes a very handsome hand, and no one could do the work any
better than he."
Christy thought enough had been said to satisfy the curiosity of Mulgrum
if he was still active in seeking information, and both of the officers
were silent. The captain had enough to think of to last him a long
while. The result of the inquiry into the auditory and vocal powers of
the scullion, as Flint called him, had convinced him that the deaf mute
was a fraud. He had no doubt that he could both speak and hear as well
as the rest of the ship's company. But the puzzling question was in
relation to the reason why he pretended to be deaf and dumb. If he was
desirous of serving his country in the navy, and especially in the
Bronx, it was not necessary to pretend to be deaf and dumb in order to
obtain a fighting berth on board of her. It looked like a first class
mystery to the young commander, but he was satisfied that the presence
of Mulgrum meant mischief. He could not determine at once what it was
best to do to solve the mystery; but he decided that the most extreme
watchfulness was required of him and his first lieutenant. This was all
he could do, and he touched his bell again.
"Dave," said he when the cabin steward presented himself before him, "go
on deck and ask Mr. Lillyworth to report to me the log and the weather."
"The log and the weather, sir," replied Dave, as he hastened out of the
cabin.
Christy watched him closely as he went out at the door, and he was
satisfied that Mulgrum was not in the passage, if he had stopped there
at all. His present purpose was to disarm all the suspicions of the
subject of the mystery, but he would have been glad to know whether or
not the man had lingered at the door to hear what was said in regard to
him. He was not anxious in regard to the weather, or even the log, and
he sent Dave on his errand in order to make sure that Mulgrum was not
still doing duty as a listener.
"Wind south south west, log last time fifteen knots and a half,"
reported Dave, as he came in after knocking at the door.
"I can not imagine why that man pretended to be deaf and dumb in order
to get a position on board of the Bronx. He is plainly a fraud," said
the captain when Dave had gone back to his work in the state room.
"I don't believe he pretended to be a deaf mute in order to get a place
on board, for that would ordinarily be enough to prevent him from
getting it. I should put it that he had obtained his place in spite of
being deaf and dumb. But the mystery exists just the same."
The captain went on deck, and the first lieutenant to the ward room.