A SAIL ON THE STARBOARD BOW
Before Captain Passford had read two lines of the document in his hands,
a noise as of a scuffle was heard in the passage way to the ward room.
Mr. Baskirk was sent to ascertain the cause of the disturbance, and he
threw the door wide open. Dave was there, blocking the passage way, and
Pink Mulgrum was trying to force his way towards the cabin door. The
steward declared that no one must go to the cabin; it was the order of
the captain himself. Mulgrum found it convenient not to hear on this
occasion. The moment Baskirk appeared, the deaf mute exhibited a paper,
which he passed to the new lieutenant, evidently satisfied that he could
get no nearer to the door. When he had delivered the paper, he hastened
up the ladder to the deck. Dave came into the cabin and explained that
Mulgrum had tried to force him out of the way, and he had resisted. The
intruder did not exhibit any paper till the third lieutenant appeared at
the door.
"That man is very persevering in his efforts to procure information,"
said Christy, as he unfolded the paper. "'The fog is very dense ahead,
and we shall soon be shut in by it,'" he read from the paper. "Mr.
Lillyworth might have found a man that could speak for his messenger,"
he continued, "but of course he wanted to assist his confederate to
obtain more information."
"I don't see what he wants to know now, for Mulgrum has told him the
contents of the sealed envelope before this time, and he knows that the
gates are closed against us," added Flint. "It is plain enough that they
have had their heads together."
"Certainly they have; but Mr. Lillyworth may not be any better satisfied
with his information than you are, Mr. Flint," replied the captain, with
an expressive smile, though he felt that his fellow officer had been
tantalized long enough by the circumstances. "I have read and studied my
orders very attentively. They direct me to proceed with all reasonable
despatch to the Gulf of Mexico, and report to the flag officer of the
Eastern Gulf Squadron, or his representative."
"'But information has been received,'" continued Christy, reading what
he had not read before, "'that two steamers, probably fitted out for
service in the Confederate navy, are approaching the coast of the
Southern States, and it is very important that they should be
intercepted. Both of these vessels are reported to have small crews,
but they are said to be fast. The department regrets that it has not a
suitable steamer available to send in search of these two vessels; but
relying upon your well-known patriotism and the excellent record you
have already made, you are instructed to intercept them, even if you
are delayed a week or more by any hopeful circumstances.' That is the
material portion of my orders," added Christy, as he read the last
sentence. "But I beg you to bear in mind that I did not write the
commendatory expressions in the paper."
"But they are as true as the holy Gospels!" exclaimed Flint, springing
out of his chair in the heat of the excitement which the new reading of
the orders produced in his mind. "But I thought you had read the sealed
orders to us before, Captain Passford."
"I read but a very small part of them before; and as I had to improvise
the greater part of what I read, or rather did not read, but simply
uttered, the language was not all well chosen," replied Christy,
laughing in spite of all his attempts to maintain his dignity. "The fact
is, Mr. Flint, I had too many listeners when I read the paper before."
"There was no one in the cabin but Mr. Baskirk and myself, and Dave had
been stationed at the door; or at least he was there, for he beckoned
you out into the gangway just as you were beginning to read the orders,"
argued Flint. "Possibly I should have understood the first reading
better if I had not seen for myself that you had taken all precautions
against any listener. You went out when Dave called you; but you were
not gone half a minute; and that was not long enough for the steward to
spin any long yarn."
"But it was long enough for Dave to tell me that Pink Mulgrum was under
my berth, with the state room door open," replied Christy.
"Just so; I comprehend the whole matter now," said Flint, joining the
captain in the laugh.
"Now you know what my instructions are, gentlemen," continued the
commander, "and I hope and believe that Mr. Lillyworth and his right
hand man do not know them. I think you have been already posted, Mr.
Baskirk, in regard to the anomalous state of affairs on board of the
Bronx," added the captain.
"Not fully, Captain Passford; but Mr. Flint has told me something about
the situation," replied the third lieutenant.
"It may not be necessary, gentlemen, that I should say it, but not a
word of what passes in my cabin is to be repeated in any other part of
the ship; not even in the ward room when you believe you are entirely
alone," said the captain, very earnestly and impressively. "If the doors
and keyholes do not have ears, there may be ears behind them, as some of
us have learned to our entire satisfaction."
"Not a word from me, Captain Passford," added Baskirk.
"And not one from me," repeated Flint.
"Unquestionably the curiosity of Mr. Lillyworth and his confederate
are and will continue to be excited to the highest pitch," continued
Christy. "I shall have occasion to change the course of the ship, and
head her more to the eastward. Of course the second lieutenant will
observe this, and will understand that I am not following the orders
reported to him by Mulgrum. You are my only confidants on board, and it
will be necessary for you to refer Mr. Lillyworth to me when he asks for
further information."
"Perfectly understood," replied Flint, who was now in most excellent
humor.
"Now, gentlemen, I will leave you in my cabin that Mr. Baskirk may be
more fully instructed in regard to the matters which have passed between
Mr. Flint and myself. I have great expectations in regard to you, Mr.
Baskirk, and I am confident that you will realize them."
Saying this, Christy bowed to his companions, and left the cabin,
retiring to his state room and closing the door. He had on board a full
supply of charts and nautical instruments of his own, in addition to
those belonging to the ship. Spreading out the chart of the South
Atlantic on the desk, he went to work with his dividers and parallel
rule. He made his figures on a piece of paper, and then laid off a
course on the chart with a pencil, to be deepened in red ink at another
time.
Writing "southeast by east" on a slip of paper, he restored his charts
and instruments to their places and left the state room. The two
lieutenants were still in his cabin, but he did not disturb them and
went on deck. Before he reached the bridge, six bells struck, or three
o'clock in the afternoon. He then ascended the ladder to the bridge. The
fog which the second lieutenant had predicted had not yet enveloped the
ship; on the contrary, it looked more like clearing off, and some
patches of blue sky could be seen.
"Mr. Lillyworth, you will make the course southeast by east," said
Christy, looking at the officer of the deck.
"Southeast by east!" exclaimed the second lieutenant; and his remark
needed an exclamation point after it, for though it was customary to
repeat an order to make sure that it was understood, he did so in such
a tone and in such a manner as to manifest very clearly his astonishment
at the nature of the order. The former course had been south by west.
One thing was fully evident from this surprise--that the officer of the
deck gave full faith to the bogus instructions which had been imparted
to him by Mulgrum. He believed that the Bronx was to hasten to the Gulf,
as the former course indicated. It was plain enough to Lillyworth that
the captain was disregarding his instructions; but his lips were sealed
in regard to this disobedience, for he could not indicate in any manner
that he knew the purport of the sealed orders; and doubtless it did not
occur to him that the deaf mute had been blinded, in addition to his
other infirmities. The course was given out to the quartermaster at the
wheel. The steamer promptly fell off, and began to ride quartering over
the smart billows, brought out by the wind from the south-southwest, as
it had blown for the last hour or more.
Christy believed that he had put everything in train for accomplishing
the mission of the Bronx on the new course he had just ordered. There
were no more orders to be read, and he did not see that the conspirators
could do anything more to derange the plans of the loyal officers and
seamen on board. All they had attempted so far was to obtain information
in regard to the movements of the vessel; and Christy had taken care
that they should receive all the information they wanted, though not as
reliable as it might have been. He was satisfied with the situation as
it must remain till some decided event should call for energetic action.
The captain and the two ward-room officers in his confidence were
obliged to conduct themselves with the utmost caution and discretion in
order not to undo anything which had been done in blinding the eyes of
the conspirators. Christy had an abundance of writing to do, and it was
of a kind that would not betray any of his secrets; he called upon
Mulgrum to do this work, in order to keep up appearances. He did not
call any more conferences with his friends in the cabin, for there was
no need of any, and entire silence was the more prudent.
The Bronx proceeded on the course the captain had given out until the
twentieth of the month, when the steamer was a little to the southward
of the Bermudas. She had not been near enough to the islands to be made
out from the shore. On this day, when the Bronx was three days from
Sandy Hook, the fog which Mr. Lillyworth had been predicting settled
down on the steamer, not as dense as it might be, but thick enough to
prevent those on board of her from seeing anything at any great distance
from her. The second lieutenant, in charge of the deck, suggested to the
captain that the whistle should be blown; but Christy answered very
emphatically that no whistles were to be blown; though he ordered the
lookouts to be doubled, and the steamer to proceed at half speed.
In the middle of the second dog watch, in charge of Mr. Baskirk, the
lookout on the topsail yard made himself heard, and the others aloft
repeated the call.
"Sail on the starboard bow, sir!" said the first lookout from the yard,
hailing the bridge.
Captain Passford heard the hail from aloft, for he was planking the deck
with the first lieutenant. Both of them rushed forward at a pace rather
undignified for a commander.
"Silence, aloft!" shouted the captain. "We have made her out. Mr. Flint,
you will take the deck, and call all hands without any unnecessary
noise."
This order was given to Giblock, the boatswain, and in a minute or two
every man on board was in his station. The first lieutenant remained on
the bridge, but the second took his place in the waist, and the third
forward, though this arrangement of the officers was not sanctioned by
ancient usage. Silence was commanded, and the engine, working at half
speed, made hardly any noise. The captain had spoken to Sampson, the
chief engineer, and he had done his best to avoid all noise in his
department.
The captain and the first lieutenant remained on the bridge, anxiously
sighting in the direction in which the sail had been reported to be. As
the captain had instructed the engineer to do, he had caused the fires
to be reduced and a change of fuel used so that the smokestack of the
Bronx was just beginning to send up volumes of black smoke. The bunkers
contained a small portion of soft coal for this purpose.