A NIGHT EXPEDITION IN THE BOATS
During the evening Captain Blowitt had consulted his officers, and
arranged his plans for operations, or at least for obtaining information
in regard to the situation inside of North Key, where the landing place
is situated. He had already arranged to give the command of the boat
expedition to Christy, with the second lieutenant in another boat, Mr.
Amblen being with the executive officer in the first.
"Now, Mr. Passford, I do not expect you to capture the whole State of
Florida, and if you should return without accomplishing anything at
all, I shall not be disappointed, but I shall feel that you have done
everything that could be done," said the captain, with a very cheerful
smile, when all had been arranged.
"I shall endeavor to obey my orders, Captain Blowitt, if I can do so in
the exercise of a reasonable prudence," replied Christy, who took in all
that his superior looked, as well as all that he said.
"A reasonable prudence is decidedly good, coming from you, Mr.
Passford," said the captain, laughing outright.
"Why is it decidedly good from me rather than from anybody else?" asked
Christy, somewhat nettled by the remark.
"You objected once on board of the Bellevite when I mildly hinted that
you might sometimes, under some circumstances, with a strong temptation
before you, be just a little audacious," said the captain, still
laughing, as though he were engaged in a mere joke.
"That statement is certainly qualified in almost all directions, if you
will excuse me for saying so, captain," replied Christy, who was fully
determined not to take offence at anything his superior might say, for
he had always regarded him as one of his best friends. "If I remember
rightly the mild suggestion of a criticism which you gently and tenderly
applied to me was after we had brought out the Teaser from Pensacola
Bay."
"That was the time. Captain Breaker sent you to ascertain, if you could,
where the Teaser was, and you reported by bringing her out, which
certainly no one expected you would do, and I believe this part of the
programme carried out on that excursion was not mentioned in your
orders."
"It was not; but if I had a good chance to capture the steamer, was it
my duty to pass over that chance, and run the risk of letting the vessel
get out?"
"On the contrary, it was your duty, if you got a good chance, to capture
the steamer."
"And that is precisely what I did. I did not lose a man, or have one
wounded in the expedition; and I have only to be penitent for being
audacious," laughed Christy; and he was laughing very earnestly, as
though the extra cachinnation was assumed for a purpose. "I suppose
I ought to dress myself in ash cloth and sashes, shut myself up in my
state room always when off duty, and shed penitential tears from the
rising of the sun to the going down of the same, and during the lone
watches of the night, and in fortifying my soul against the monstrous
sin of audacity. I will think of it."
"I hope you have no feeling about this matter, Mr. Passford," said the
captain, rising from his chair and taking Christy by the hand.
"Not a particle, Captain Blowitt. I am absolutely sure that you would
have done precisely what I did, if you had been in my situation,"
protested Christy. "About the last thing my father talked about to me
when we parted in this cabin in New York Harbor was the necessity of
prudence and discretion in the discharge of my duties; and I am sure his
advice saved me from falling into the traps set for me by Hungerford and
Pawcett, and enabled me to capture two of the enemy's crack steamers."
"I will never use the word audacity or the adjective audacious to you
again, Christy. I see that it nettles you, to say the least," added the
captain, pressing his hand with more earnestness.
"I am perfectly willing you should apply both words to me when I
deserve it. Audacity means boldness, impudence, according to Stormonth.
Audacious means very bold, daring, impudent. It may have been bold to
run out the Teaser, and the enemy would even call it impudent, for the
meaning of a word sometimes depends upon which side you belong to. My
father was quite as impudent as I was when he ran the Bellevite out of
Mobile Bay, under the guns of Fort Morgan. He was audacious, wasn't he?"
"We should hardly apply that word to him."
"Why not? Simply because my father was forty-five years old when he told
Captain Breaker to do it. If I were only thirty years old I should not
be audacious. I am a boy, and therefore anything that I do is daring,
audacious, impudent, imprudent."
"I rather think you are right, Mr. Passford, and it is your age more
than the results of your actions that is the basis of our judgment,"
said Captain Blowitt.
"I wish to add seriously, captain, as a friend and not as an officer,
I do not claim that the command of this expedition should be given to
me because I am first lieutenant of the Bronx, or for any other reason,"
added Christy with an earnest expression. "Perhaps it would be better to
give the command to the second lieutenant; and if you do so, I assure
you, upon my honor, that it will not produce a particle of feeling in my
mind. I shall honor, respect, and love you as I have always, Captain
Blowitt."
"My dear fellow, you are entirely misunderstanding me," protested the
commander, as earnestly as his subordinate had spoken. "I give you the
command of this expedition because I honestly and sincerely believe you
are the very best person on board to whom I can commit such a
responsibility."
"That is enough, captain, and a great deal more than you were under
any obligations to say to me; and I shall obey my orders with all the
prudence and discretion I can bring to bear upon them," said Christy,
taking the captain's offered hand. "If I fail it will not be because I
do not try to be prudent."
"There is such a thing as being too prudent, and I hope that nothing
which has been said to you by your father or by me will drive you to the
other extreme."
Though this conversation had at times been very animated, Christy was
glad that it had taken place, for it gave him a better insight into his
own standing than he had before. He did not look upon it as a very great
affair to command a couple of boats, in a night expedition, for he had
recently commanded two steamers, and brought them off victorious. He
had it in mind to ask the captain to send Flint in command of the
expedition, though it would compel him, on account of his rank, to
remain inactive on board of the Bronx; but he could not do this,
after what had been said, without leaving some evidence that he was
disaffected by what the commander had said to him about audacity.
It was found after a calculation of the run very carefully made that the
Bronx would arrive too soon at her destination, and she was slowed down
as the evening came on. In the ward room, of which Christy was now the
occupant of the forward berth on the starboard side, he studied the
chart with Amblen a good part of the waiting hours, and the executive
officer obtained all the information he could from the third lieutenant.
There were three principal keys, or cays, one of which, called the North
Key, was the nearest to the mainland, and was set in the mouth of a bay.
This was the nearest to the peninsula at the end of which the railroad
terminates. About southwest of it is the Seahorse Key, on which there is
a light in peaceful times. To the south of the point is the Snake Key,
and between the last two is the main channel to the port, which twists
about like the track of a snake. There is a town, or rather a village,
near the landing.
Six bells struck on deck, and all the officers, including the captain,
adjourned to the bridge, which was a useful institution on such
occasions as the present. A sharp watch had been kept by Lieutenant
Flint in charge; but though the night was clear, nothing had been made
out in the direction of the shore. All lights on board had been put out,
and the Bronx went along in the smooth sea as quietly as a lady on a
fashionable promenade, and it was not believed that anything could be
seen of her from the shore.
About midnight the lookout man aloft reported that he could see a
twinkling light. It was promptly investigated by Mr. Amblen, who went
aloft for the purpose. He was satisfied that it was a light in some
house in the village, probably in the upper story. It soon disappeared,
and it was thought to be occasioned by the late retiring of some person.
"I should say, Captain Blowitt, that we are not more than five miles
outside of Seahorse Key," said Mr. Amblen, after he had interpreted the
meaning of the light. "It is after midnight, and these people are not in
the habit of sitting up so late."
"If they are shipping much cotton from this port, it is not improbable
that there is a force here to protect the vessels, whatever they are,"
added the commander.
"Of that, of course, I can know nothing; but I shall expect to find a
Confederate battery somewhere on the point, and I know about where to
look for it."
"The place has never been of any great importance, and you can hardly
expect to find a very strong force in it," added the captain.
It has since become a place of more note, both as a resort for invalids
and pleasure-seekers, and as the termination of the railroad from
Fernandina and Jacksonville, and steamers have run regularly from the
port to Havana and New Orleans.
"If you will excuse me, Captain Blowitt, I should say that it was not
advisable to take the Bronx nearer than within about four miles of the
Seahorse Key," suggested Mr. Amblen.
"I was just thinking that we had gone as far as it is prudent to go.
Do you think you could take the Bronx up to the landing?" added the
captain.
"I am very sure that I could, for I have been in many a time on a darker
night than this."
"We will not go in to-night, but perhaps we may have occasion to do so
to-morrow. We shall know better what to do when we get a report of the
state of things in the place," replied the captain, as he gave the word
through the speaking tube to stop the steamer.
Christy had been given full powers to make all preparations for the boat
expedition, and was allowed ten men to each of the quarter boats. He had
selected the ones for his own boat, and had required Flint to pick his
own crew for the other. The oars had been carefully muffled by the
coxswains, for it was desirable that no alarm should be given in the
place. The starboard quarter boat was the first cutter, pulled by six
oars, and this was for Christy and Mr. Amblen, with the regular coxswain
and three hands in the bow. The second cutter was in charge of Mr.
Flint, and followed the other boat, keeping near enough to obtain her
course in the twists of the channel.
It was a long pull to the Seahorse Key, and a moderate stroke was taken
as well not to tire the men as to avoid all possible noise. When the
first cutter was abreast of the Key, the pilot pointed out the dark
outline of the peninsula, which was less than a mile distant. No vessel
could be seen; but the pilot thought they might be concealed by the
railroad buildings on the point. Christy asked where the battery was
which the pilot thought he could locate, and the spot was indicated to
him. Christy wanted a nearer view of it, and the cutter was headed in
that direction.