A VOLUNTEER CAPTAIN'S CLERK
Mr. Flint was really amused at the plan of the commander of the Bronx,
as indicated in the letter he had just read, and he was not laughing out
of mere compliment to his superior officer, as some subordinates feel
obliged to do even when they feel more like weeping. Perhaps no one knew
Christy Passford so well as his executive officer, not even his own
father, for Flint had been with him in the most difficult and trying
ordeals of his life. He had been the young leader's second in command in
the capture of the Teaser, whose cabin they now occupied, and they had
been prisoners together. He had been amazed at his young companion's
audacity, but he had always justified his action in the end. They had
become excellent friends as well as associates in the navy, and there
was a hearty sympathy between them.
Christy laughed almost in spite of himself, for he had been giving very
serious attention to the situation on board of the Bronx. In the ship's
company were at least two officers on the other side of the great
question of the day, both of them doubtless men of great experience
in their profession, more mature in years than their opponent on this
chess-board of fate, and they had come on board of the steamer to
accomplish some important purpose. The game at which they were engaged
had already become quite exciting, especially as it looked as if the
final result was to be determined by strategy rather than hard fighting,
for Pawcett and Hungerford could hardly expect to capture the Bronx with
only a force of eight men.
"Mulgrum is to copy this letter," said Flint, suppressing his laughter.
"I have written the letter in order to have something for him to copy,
and at the same time to give him and his confederate something to think
about," replied Christy; and he could hardly help chuckling when he
thought of the effect the contents of the letter would produce in the
minds of those for whom the missive was really intended.
"Do you think they will swallow this fiction, Captain Passford?" asked
the first lieutenant.
"Why shouldn't they swallow it, hook, bait, and sinker? They are
Confederate agents beyond the possibility of a doubt; and they are
looking for a ship in which they intend to ravage the commerce of the
United States," replied Christy; and the question had done something to
stimulate his reasoning powers. "They want a vessel, and the Bronx would
suit them very well."
"But they will not attempt to capture her under present circumstances,
I am very confident. They know that we have about twenty seamen extra
on board."
"They know that certainly; but possibly they know some things in this
connection that we do not know," added Christy, as he put his hand on
his forehead, and leaned over the table, as though his mind were
strongly exercised by some serious question he was unable to answer
satisfactorily to himself.
"What can they know that we don't know in regard to this vessel?"
demanded Flint, looking quite as serious as the commander.
"Whether our extra men are loyal or not," answered Christy, dropping his
hand, and looking his companion full in the face.
"Do you think there is any doubt in regard to them?"
"I confess that I have not had a doubt till this moment," said the
captain, wiping the perspiration from his brow, for the terrible
possibility that any considerable portion of the extra men were in the
employ of the two Confederates had almost overcome him.
For a few moments he was silent as he thought of this tremendous idea.
It was appalling to think of going into action with the Scotian or the
Arran, or both of them, and have a part of his own force turn against
him on his own deck. This was possible, but he could hardly believe it
was probable. Dave had reported very faithfully to him all the details
of the conversation between the Confederates, and they had claimed only
six men. If they had any hold on the extra men on board, they would have
been likely to say so, or at least to speak more indefinitely than they
had of their expectations.
"Have you any friends on board, Mr. Flint, among the crew?" asked
Christy suddenly, as though a solution of the difficult question of the
loyalty of the men had suggested itself to him.
"I have at least half a dozen whom I worked hard to have drafted into
the Bronx, for I know that they are good and true men, though they may
not be able to pass the technical examination of the naval officers,"
replied the first lieutenant promptly. "I can trust every one of them as
far as I could trust myself. One of them was the mate of my vessel at
the time I sold her, and he has since been in command of her."
"Who is he?"
"His name is Baskirk; and he is a quartermaster now. I wrote to him, and
promised to do the best I could to advance him. He is not a graduate of
a college, but he is a well-informed man, well read, sober, honest, and
a man of good common-sense."
"The others?"
"McSpindle was a classmate of mine in college, and he is a capital
fellow. Unfortunately, he got into the habit of drinking more than was
good for him, and spoiled his immediate future. He has made two foreign
voyages, and he is a good seaman. He came home second mate of an
Indiaman, promoted on his merit. He is also a quartermaster," said
Flint, who was evidently very deeply interested in the persons he
described.
"Any more?"
"Luffard is a quartermaster, for I selected the best men I had for these
positions. He is a young fellow, and the son of a rich man in Portland.
He is a regular water bird, though he is not over eighteen years old."
"His age is no objection," added Christy with a smile.
"I suppose not; but I have taken Luffard on his bright promise rather
than for anything he has ever done, though I have seen him sail a
forty-footer in a race and win the first prize. The other men I happen
to think of just now have been sailors on board of my coaster. They are
good men, and I can vouch for their loyalty, though not for their
education. They are all petty officers."
"I have a mission for your men, to be undertaken at once, and I shall
be likely to want the first three you named for important positions, if
my orders do not fetter me too closely," said Christy. "As the matter
stands just now, Mr. Flint, it would hardly be expedient for us to
capture a schooner running the blockade for the want of an officer to
act as prize master."
"The three quartermasters I named are competent for this duty, for they
are navigators, and all of them have handled a vessel."
"I am glad to hear it; we are better off than I supposed we were. My
father told me that several vessels had been sent to the South short of
officers, and we are no worse off than some others, though what you say
makes us all right."
"I can find three officers on board who are as competent as I am, though
that is not saying much," added Flint.
"I can ask no better officers, then. But to return to this letter.
I have spent a considerable part of my time at Bonnydale in talking
with my father. He is in the confidence of the naval department."
"He ought to be, for he gave to the navy one of its best steamers, to
say the least."
"I don't want to brag of my father," suggested Christy, laughing;
"I only wanted to show that he is posted. Coming to the point at once,
putting this and that together of what I learned on shore, and of what
I have discovered on board of the Bronx, I am inclined to believe that
Pawcett and Hungerford have their mission on board of this steamer in
connection with the Scotian and the Arran. I will not stop now to
explain why I have this idea, for I shall obtain more evidence as
we proceed. At any rate, I thought I would put the ghost of a
stumbling-block in the path of these conspirators; and this is the
reason why I have put thirteen American seamen on board of each of the
expected steamers. If my conjectures are wrong the stumbling-block will
be nothing but a ghost; if I am right, it will make our men somewhat
cautious as to what they do if we should be so fortunate as to fall in
with the two vessels."
"I understand you perfectly, Captain Passford. You said that you had
something for my men to do at once; but you did not explain what this
duty was," said Flint. "If you require their services at once, I will
instruct them."
"I did not explain, for I have so many irons in the fire that I am
afraid I am getting them mixed, and I forgot to tell you what they were
to do. But I shall leave the details to be settled in your own way.
I want to know who are loyal men and who are not. There are at least
six men, according to the report of Dave, who are followers of Pawcett
and Hungerford. We don't know who they are; but doubtless they have
been selected for their shrewdness. Probably they will be looking for
information among the men. Spoors is one of them, and by watching him
some clew may be obtained to the others."
"I am confident my men can find out all you want to know," added the
first lieutenant.
"It should be done as soon as possible," replied the commander.
"Not a moment shall be lost. I have the deck at eight this morning, and
one of the quartermasters will be at the wheel. I will begin with him."
Mr. Flint left the cabin, for his breakfast was waiting for him in
the ward room. Christy walked through to the steerage, where he found
Mulgrum attending to the wants of the warrant officers as well as he
could. He looked at this man with vastly more interest than before he
had listened to Dave's report. It was easy to see that he was not an
ordinary man such as one would find in menial positions; but it was not
prudent for him to make a study of the man, for his quick eye was taking
in everything that occurred near him.
Eight bells struck, and Mr. Flint hastened on deck to relieve the second
lieutenant. Christy took his morning meal at a later hour, and when he
had finished it, he sent for Pink Mulgrum. Of course the conversation
had to be written, and the captain placed the scullion opposite himself
at the table.
"I learn from Mr. Lillyworth that you are a good writer, and that you
are well educated," Christy wrote on a piece of paper, passing it to the
deaf mute.
Mulgrum read the sentence, and nodded his head with something like
a smile. If Christy was a judge of his expression, he was certainly
pleased, evidently to find that his confederate's plan was working well.
"I have a letter of which I desire several copies. Can I trust you to
make these copies?" Christy wrote.
The man read and nodded his head eagerly.
"Will you promise on your honor as a man that you will not reveal what
you write to any person whatever?" Christy proceeded. Mulgrum read, and
nodded his head earnestly several times.
The commander procured paper and other writing materials for him,
and placed them before him. Then he seated himself again opposite the
copyist, and fixed his gaze upon him; unfolding the letter, of which he
had made a fair copy himself, he placed it under the eyes of the deaf
mute. Mulgrum had retained his smile till this moment. He had arranged
his paper and taken a pen in his hand. Then he began to read; as he
proceeded the smile deserted his face. He was plainly startled.