IMPORTANT INFORMATION, IF TRUE
"Good evening, Mr. Lillyworth," said Captain Passford, when he reached
the bridge.
"Good evening, Captain Passford," replied the second lieutenant, as he
touched his cap to his superior, galling as the act was, according to
his own statement.
"It looks as though we should have some wind," added the captain.
"Yes, sir; and we shall have a nasty time of it across the Gulf Stream."
"If there is any decided change in the weather during your watch, you
will oblige me by having me called," added the captain; "I think I am
tired enough to turn in, for I have been very busy all the evening,
copying letters and papers. I think I need a clerk almost as much as
the captain of a frigate."
"I think you ought to have one, sir," added Mr. Lillyworth, manifesting
a deep interest in this matter.
"As the matter now stands I have to use a good deal of my time in
copying documents. By the way, if we fall in with any United States
man-of-war, I wish to communicate with her."
"Of course I shall report to you, sir, if one comes in sight during my
watch," replied the second lieutenant, with a greater manifestation of
zeal than he had before displayed in his relations with his commander,
evidently profiting by the suggestion made to him by Pink Mulgrum.
"But I hope we shall not fall in with one before day after tomorrow, for
I have not copied all the letters I desire to use if such an occasion
offers," said Captain Passford, who was really playing out a baited hook
for the benefit of the second lieutenant, in regard to whose intentions
he had no doubt since the revelations of the steward.
"By the way, Captain Passford, what you say in regard to the amount of
writing imposed upon you reminds me that there is a man on board who
might afford you some relief from this drudgery. Possibly you may have
noticed this man, though he is doing duty as a mere scullion."
"Do you mean the man I have seen cleaning brass work about the cabin?"
asked Christy, glad to have the other take hold of the baited hook.
"That is the one; he is deaf and dumb, but he has received a good
education, and writes a good hand, and is rapid about it," added the
second lieutenant, with some eagerness in his manner, though he tried
to conceal it.
"But my writing is of a confidential nature," replied the captain.
"I have known this man, whose name is Pink Mulgrum, for some time. He is
deaf and dumb, and you must have noticed him."
"Oh, yes; I have seen him, and he had an interview with Mr. Flint in my
presence. I observed that he wrote a good hand, and wrote very rapidly."
"I am very confident that you can trust him with your papers, Captain
Passford. He could not go into the service as a soldier or a sailor
on account of his infirmity; but he desired to do something for his
country. He was determined to go to the war, as he called it, in any
capacity, even if it was as a scullion. He wrote me a letter to this
effect, and Mr. Nawood consented to take him as a man of all work.
If he ever gets into an action, you will find that he is a fighting
character."
"That is the kind of men we want, and at the present time, when we are
hardly in a fighting latitude, perhaps I can use him as a copyist, if he
will agree to make no use whatever of any information he may obtain in
that capacity. I will speak to Mr. Nawood about the matter."
"Thank you, Captain Passford. Mulgrum is a very worthy man, patriotic in
every fibre of his frame, and in every drop of his blood. I should be
glad to obtain some permanent occupation for him in the service of his
country, for nothing else will suit him in the present exciting times.
Perhaps when you have tested his qualifications, this will make an
opening for him."
"I will consider the subject tomorrow," said Christy, as he descended
from the bridge.
The commander was satisfied that the portion of the conversation which
had taken place between the aspirant for the position of captain's clerk
and the second lieutenant and which had been finished before the steward
had reached his perch on the foremast, related to this matter. Mulgrum
had heard the conversation between the first lieutenant and himself,
which was intended to blind the listener, and he had reported it to his
confederate. It was only another confirmation, if any were needed, in
regard to the character of the conspirators.
Christy had no doubt in regard to the disloyalty of these two men; but
nothing in respect to their ultimate intentions had yet been revealed.
They had brought six seamen on board with them, and they appeared to
have influence enough in some quarter to have had these men drafted
into the Bronx. Eight men, even if two of them were officers, was an
insignificant force, though he was willing to believe that they intended
to obtain possession of the vessel in some manner. The captain returned
to his cabin, and resumed his work in the state room.
Though Christy had spent several hours at his desk, he had really
produced but a single letter, and had not yet finished it. When he heard
eight bells strike, he left his state room, and seated himself at the
table in the middle of his cabin. The door was open into the companion
way. Mr. Flint presently appeared, and went on deck to relieve the
second lieutenant, who came below a few minutes later, though the
captain did not allow himself to be seen by him. Then he closed the
cabin door, and turned in, for he began to realize that he needed some
rest. He went to sleep at once, and he did not wake till four bells
struck in the morning. The Bronx was pitching heavily, though she still
maintained her reputation as an easy-going ship in spite of the head
sea. He dressed himself, and seated himself at his desk at once,
devoting himself to the letter upon which he had been engaged the
evening before. The second lieutenant was on duty at this time, and the
first was doubtless asleep in his berth, but he had been below six hours
during the night, and, calling Dave with his bell, he sent him for Mr.
Flint, who presented himself a few minutes later.
"Good morning, Captain Passford; you have turned out early, sir," said
the first lieutenant.
"Not very early, and I am sorry to wake you so soon. I did not turn in
till after you had gone on deck to take the midwatch. I have been very
busy since we parted, and I need your advice and assistance," replied
the commander. "I have got at something."
"Indeed! I am glad to hear it," added Mr. Flint.
Without the loss of any time, the captain called Dave, who was at work
in the ward room, and told him to see that no one came near the door of
his cabin. The steward understood him perfectly, and Christy resumed his
place at the table with the executive officer, and proceeded to detail
to him as briefly as he could all the information he had obtained
through Dave, and the manner of obtaining it. It required some time
to do this, and the first lieutenant was intensely interested in the
narrative.
"I am not greatly surprised so far as Lillyworth is concerned, for there
has been something about him that I could not fathom since both of us
came on board," said Mr. Flint.
"Of course these men are on board for a purpose, though I acknowledge
that I cannot fathom this purpose, unless it be treason in a general
sense; but I am inclined to believe that they have some specific
object," added the captain. "Of course you will be willing to believe
that both of these men are sailing under false colors."
"Undoubtedly. It has occurred to me that the second lieutenant invented
the name that represents him on the ship's books. Lillyworth is a little
strained; if he had called himself Smith or Brown, it would have been
less suspicious."
"In the conversation to which Dave listened on the bridge, both of them
blundered, and let out their real names, though each of them reproved
the other for doing so. The second lieutenant's real name is Pawcett,
and that of the deaf mute is Hungerford."
"The last is decidedly a southern name, and the other may be for aught
I know. Hungerford, Hungerford," said Mr. Flint, repeating the name
several times. "It means something to me, but I can't make it out yet."
The first lieutenant cudgelled his brains for a minute or two as though
he was trying to connect the name with some event in the past. The
captain waited for him to sound his memory; but it was done in vain;
Flint could not place him. He was confident, however, that the
connection would be made in his mind at some other moment.
"The interesting question to us just now is to determine why these men,
eight in number, are on board of the Bronx at all, and why they are on
board at the present time," said the captain. "I happen to know that
Lillyworth was offered a better position than the one he now fills
temporarily; but my father says he insisted on going in the Bronx."
"Certainly he is not here on a fool's errand. He has business on board
of this particular steamer," replied Flint, speaking out of his musing
mind. "Ah! now I have it!" he suddenly exclaimed. "Hungerford was the
executive officer of the Killbright, or the Yazoo, as they called her
afterwards. I had a very slight inkling that I had seen the face of the
deaf mute before; but he has shaved off his beard, and stained his face,
so that it is no wonder I did not identify him; but the name satisfies
me that he was the first officer of the Yazoo."
"That means then that he is a regular officer of the Confederate
navy," suggested the captain; "and probably Lillyworth is also. The
only other name Dave was able to obtain was that of Spoors, one of the
quartermasters; and very likely he is also another."
"We have almost a double crew on board, Captain Passford, and what can
eight men do to capture this vessel?" asked Flint.
"I don't know what they intend to do, and I must give it up. Now I want
to read a letter to you that I have written; and you can tell me what
you think of it." The commander then read as follows from the sheet in
his hand, upon which appeared no end of changes and corrections:
"TO THE COMMANDER OF ANY UNITED STATES SHIP OF WAR, _Sir_:-- The
undersigned, master in the United States Navy, in temporary command
of the United States Steamer Bronx, bound to the Gulf of Mexico,
respectfully informs you that he has information, just received,
of the approach to the coast of the southern states of two steamers,
the Scotian and the Arran, believed to be fitted out as cruisers for
the Confederate Navy. They will be due in these waters about March
17. They are of about five hundred tons each. A letter from the
confidential agent of my father, Captain Horatio Passford, an agent
in whom he has perfect confidence, both on account of his loyalty
to his country undivided, and because of his skill as a shipmaster,
contains this statement, which is submitted to you for your
guidance: 'I have put twelve loyal American seamen, with an officer,
on board of each of the steamers mentioned above; and they comprise
about one-half of the crew of each vessel; and they will take
possession of each of the two steamers when supported by any United
States man-of-war. WARNOCK.'
Respectfully yours,
CHRISTOPHER PASSFORD,
_Master Commanding_."
"I beg your pardon, Captain Passford, but what under the canopy is that
letter for?" asked Flint, not a little excited.
"It is for Pink Mulgrum to copy," replied the captain. "That is all the
use I intend to make of it."
Flint leaned back in his chair and laughed heartily, and the commander
could not help joining him.