THE NEW COMMANDER OF THE VIXEN
"Have I done anything to offend the flag-officer, or has he no
confidence in me?" asked Christy, who heard in utter surprise that he
was ordered to New York in command of the Vixen.
"Certainly not, Mr. Passford," replied Captain Blowitt, with a
deprecatory smile which was almost enough to satisfy the young officer.
"What could have put such an idea as that into your head?"
"It looked to me just as though I was sent away simply as a prize-master
because my services were not needed down here where there is fighting,
and is likely to be a great deal more of it," added Christy, not yet
quite satisfied. "Perhaps I am banished for the crime of audacity."
"That is a little too bad, Christy," said the commander, shaking his
head. "I promised not to use that word again, and you ought not to twit
me for it, for it was only a pleasantry on my part."
"It was the farthest thing in the world from my mind to twit you for the
word; I was only afraid that they considered me an imprudent officer on
board of the flagship. I beg your pardon, Captain Blowitt, and I will
never again remind you of the conversation we had on the subject of
audacity," answered Christy, rising from his chair and taking the
commander by the hand.
"It is all right, Christy, my dear fellow," replied the captain, coming
down from the dignified manner of the navy. "I think we understand each
other perfectly, and I don't wish to part with the shadow of a shadow
between us. We have sailed together too long to be anything but the best
of friends; and the fate of poor Dashington reminds me that we may never
meet again in this world."
"Whatever you say and whatever you do, Captain Blowitt, we can never
be anything but the best of friends, and, so far as you are concerned,
I never had an instant of doubt or suspicion."
"Now, Christy," interposed Paul Vapoor, "you entirely mistake the motive
which has led to your appointment to the Vixen, for I happen to know
something about it. You are not sent simply as a prize-master to New
York, but you are put in temporary command of the Vixen because an able,
vigilant, courageous officer was required."
"Then I wonder all the more that I was selected," added Christy.
"You wonder!" exclaimed Paul, looking intently into the brown face of
the young officer, apparently to discover if there was not some
affectation in this manifestation of modesty.
There was nothing like affectation in the composition of Christy
Passford, and whatever he had done to distinguish himself, he had done
strictly in the line of his duty, and from the purest of patriotic
motives. It was the most difficult thing in the world to make him
believe that he had done "a big thing," though all others on board
of his ship believed it with all their might. Paul Vapoor knew what
everybody thought of his friend, and he was surprised that he should be
so innocent and ignorant of the great reputation he had won.
"I do wonder," replied Christy, earnestly and honestly. "I believe I
am about the youngest officer in the fleet, and if this service requires
an able officer, it seems very strange to me that I should have been
selected."
"Captain Breaker was consulted in regard to you, though he was not asked
to name a commander, for the flag-officer had thought of you himself,
and no doubt he had just been reading your report of your voyage to the
Gulf in the Bronx," said Paul, laughing. "I don't see how he could do
otherwise than select you, Christy."
"You are chaffing me, Paul, as you do sometimes," said Christy with a
smile.
"Then the expression of my honest opinion, which is also the opinion
of every other officer in the ship, is chaffing you," retorted the
engineer.
"I am satisfied; and I am sorry I said a word," added the subject of all
these remarks.
"It is a very important and responsible situation to which you are
ordered, Mr. Passford," said Captain Blowitt, putting on his dignity
again. "Not a few steamers fitted up in part for service as Confederate
men-of-war, in spite of neutrality treaties, are expected on the coast.
You have diminished the number by two, and I hope you will be able to
make a still further reduction of that fleet. We have three vessels to
send on for condemnation, and your orders will inform you that there
are several others, including another steamer, at Key West; and a
Confederate armed steamer could easily recapture the whole of them. You
will have to protect a fleet of at least seven vessels; and this command
ought to satisfy your ambition. You will also have charge of a despatch
bag, to be forwarded to Washington at once; and this must not fall into
the hands of the enemy. Sink or burn it if you are captured."
"I don't intend to be captured," added Christy with a smile.
"I remember that you were taken by the enemy on one occasion, and
misfortunes may come to the best of officers. You must get ready to sail
at once; but you must write your report of your expedition before you
leave," added Captain Blowitt, as he rose from his chair, and the trio
left the cabin.
Christy gaped several times during the latter part of the interview, for
he had not slept a wink during the preceding night. He went to the ward
room and began to write his report, while the Bronx and the Vixen
proceeded towards the three vessels which had been captured. It was well
that they did so, for as they approached the Havana and her consorts
they discovered quite a fleet of boats coming out from behind the
Seahorse Key, evidently intending to recapture the prizes in the absence
of the gunboat. They retired at once as she approached.
Christy was a rapid writer, and his report was soon finished, for the
subject was still very fresh in his mind, and he never attempted to
do any "fine writing." He had packed his valises, and he took an
affectionate farewell of the captain, Flint, and Sampson, as well as the
ship's company in a more general way, though he said he expected to be
back again in a few weeks. The Vixen's boat was waiting for him, and he
embarked in it with Paul Vapoor. In a few minutes he ascended to the
deck of the steamer, and the side was manned at his appearance. He was
presented to the officers of the ship by the engineer, and all three of
them were older men than Christy, though he was their senior in rank,
for his commission had been dated back to his enlistment in the navy.
Every one of the officers was a stranger to Christy, though there were a
few men who had served in the Bellevite, but not in her original crew.
With the customary proceedings he took command of the Vixen, and he
found from sundry remarks made to him or dropped in his hearing that his
reputation was already established on board. He directed the executive
officer to follow the Bronx. In a short time the screw was stopped in
the vicinity of the prizes. The Bronx reclaimed the men left on board of
the Havana, and Captain Lonley was sent on board of the Vixen.
Christy had been down into his cabin, and taken a hasty glance at the
ward room. In addition to his own apartments like those on board of the
Bronx, though they were larger, he found a state room opening from the
foot of the companion way, and another from the passage way leading to
his principal cabin. These two rooms he appropriated to the use of Mr.
Pembroke and his daughter, though they were very well provided for on
board of the Havana. They were invited on board, and gratefully accepted
the accommodations tendered to them.
Mr. Amblen was to retain the place assigned to him as prize-master, and
two competent men were found to take charge of the schooners. All the
arrangements were completed in a couple of hours, and the prizes of the
Bronx were started at once. The negroes were employed in transferring
the deckload of the Havana to the holds of the schooners, which were not
quite full.
The engineer of the Bellevite was to return to her in the Bronx, and he
shook hands at parting with Christy, giving him a letter to Miss Florry
Passford; and even her brother could not help seeing that he was greatly
interested in her. Three rousing cheers went up from the Bronx as the
screw of the Vixen began to turn, and she started on her voyage.
The new commander, though he was very sleepy, gave his first moments
to an examination of the vessel. The carpenter and his gang were still
engaged in repairing the damage done to her in the engagement with the
Bellevite. She was about the size of the two steamers captured by the
Bronx, and coming out of the small steamer, she seemed quite large.
She carried a midship gun of heavy calibre, and four broadside pieces.
She had a crew of sixty men, besides those employed in the engineer's
department, selected from the fleet, for the mission of the steamer was
regarded as a very important one.
"Your machine looks well, Mr. Caulbolt," said Christy, as he went to the
engine room in making his round with the executive officer.
"I fancy it is as good as can be built on the other side of the water,"
replied the chief engineer.
"Do you know anything in regard to the speed of the Vixen, for that may
be a very important matter with us?" asked the commander.
"I do not know very much yet, sir, but I think she is a fast steamer.
Mr. Vapoor told me that the Bellevite made twenty-two knots in chasing
her, and that no other vessel in the navy could have overhauled her.
He gave me the figures," added Mr. Caulbolt, taking a paper from his
pocket. "I think she is good for eighteen knots when driven hard."
"I dare say that will do," replied Christy, finishing his examination
and retiring to his cabin.
He found Mr. Pembroke and his daughter there. The young lady presented
him to her father, who appeared to be about fifty years of age. He was
very gentlemanly in his manners, and thanked the captain heartily for
the courtesy and kindness with which he had been treated. Later in the
voyage he learned that Mr. Pembroke's wife and son had been killed some
years before in a railroad accident, and that the money recovered from
the corporation was about his only fortune. Miss Bertha, as her father
called her, had been educated to become a teacher, but when his health
failed, she had devoted herself wholly to him. They had gone to Georgia
just before the war, and had lived in the pine woods nearly two years.
"My health is very much improved, and the genial climate just suited my
case; but in the present situation, I had rather die at home than live
in the South," said the invalid in conclusion.
"Father is ever so much better than when we came to Georgia," added
Bertha.
Christy looked at her, and he had never seen a young lady before who
made such a decided impression upon him. Of course the reason for this
was that she was so dutiful and devoted to her sick father, for not
every young and beautiful maiden would have been so entirely unselfish
as she was. The commander could not help looking at her till he made her
blush by the intensity of his gaze, and after all, it is possible that
Christy was as human as other young men of his age. He had never been so
affected before, and he hardly knew what to make of it; but he concluded
that it was not because she was so pretty, but because she was so good,
and so devoted to her father.
In due time the Vixen and her convoy reached Key West. He found only two
schooners and a steamer, all loaded with cotton, awaiting his coming,
for two others had been sent with another steamer. Christy went on board
of them, and as the sea was smooth, he arranged them as he had the
others, though tow lines were ready in case of need, and the fleet
sailed for the North.