CAPTAIN WALMSLEY.
"Mr. Pillgrim, I am not to be intimidated by any such stuff," said
Somers, when he had ordered the bells to be struck, which would produce
the explosion.
"Perhaps Captain Walmsley will not think it best to fire the ammunition
at the moment agreed upon; some discretion on this point was left with
him; but I assure you, on my word and honor, that the train is laid
which will blow up the Ben Nevis," said Pillgrim, earnestly.
"If you had not mentioned the name of Captain Walmsley, I might have
believed you. As it is, I do not. Your word and honor do not weigh much
with me."
"Don't insult me."
"I simply speak the truth. There! do you hear four bells?"
"I do; and if you are not blown up in half a minute, you may thank
Captain Walmsley for his moderation."
"He is not villain enough to destroy the lives of forty men, his own
people as well as mine, to gratify your malice and revenge. I give you
_my_ word and honor that he will do nothing of the kind."
Pillgrim looked hard at him, and seemed to be slightly disconcerted by
the obstinacy of Somers.
"If he will not, I will!" said he, fiercely.
"I purpose to put you in irons, when you have said all you have to say."
"In irons, Somers!" exclaimed the traitor, springing to his feet, his
face flushed with indignation.
"Since you are open enough to announce your intentions, it is plainly my
duty to defeat them. Acknowledge that your plot to blow up the vessel is
a mere scare, and I may spare you this indignity."
"You will find that it is a reality."
"Why don't it blow up, then?"
"It will, as soon as Captain Walmsley is ready. The Ben Nevis shall not
again go into a Yankee port as a prize. Mark my words."
"Captain Somers," called Mr. Hudson.
"What is wanted?"
"The men in the hold report a smell of fire there."
"I will be with you soon," replied Somers, convinced by this message
that there was some foundation for the threats of the traitor. "Go into
the hold, Mr. Hudson, and find the fire, if there is any."
He was cool, and did not permit the wretch before him to see a muscle of
his face move.
"There is fire there, Somers," said Pillgrim. "I know just where it is.
In a few minutes it will reach the ammunition boxes."
"Corporal," said Somers, opening the door again.
"Here, sir."
"Put the prisoner in irons, hands and feet," continued Somers.
"Do you mean that, Mr. Somers?" asked Pillgrim, quivering with emotion.
"I do mean it, and I shall stand by till it is done."
"Will you leave me in the midst of the fire, ironed hand and foot?"
"I will. You kindled the fire; and if you perish by it, blame yourself."
Pillgrim attempted to resist the execution of the order, but the marines
were resolute, and he was fully ironed in spite of his struggles.
"Now lock him in," said Somers.
"One word, Mr. Somers."
"Not another word;" and the young commander hastened from the
state-room, and made his way to the scene of peril in the hold.
He did not believe that even Pillgrim was stupid enough to blow up the
Ben Nevis for mere revenge; and Captain Walmsley certainly would do
nothing of the kind, for he could have no strong feeling on the
subject, at least not enough to sacrifice the lives of himself and his
crew.
There was a smell of fire in the hold--the hold filled with powder,
shells, and other combustibles. This fact tended to confirm the
statement of the wretch; yet Somers was incredulous. When he reached the
scene of danger he found the officers and the men timid about proceeding
far into the hold, for if there was fire, there must soon be an
explosion.
"Follow me, my men!" said he, as he walked aft on the cargo.
"Ay, ay, sir!" cheerfully responded the men,--for the American seaman
will go anywhere an officer will lead him.
In the after part of the hold there was a dense smoke and a strong smell
of fire.
"Keep back! You are all dead men!" shouted Captain Walmsley, as Somers
advanced and discovered the speaker seated on a box.
"What are you doing here?" demanded Somers.
"I am going to blow up the steamer," replied the captain, who held in
his hand a tin pan filled with burning oakum, chips, and other
combustible material.
"Well, why don't you do it, then?" said Somers.
"For God's sake, Mr. Somers, don't stay here," pleaded Mr. Hudson.
"You needn't, if you are afraid," replied he, coolly.
"Mr. Somers, in one instant I can blow the Ben Nevis all to pieces,"
said Captain Walmsley, with a proper exhibition of tragic adjuncts.
"Why don't you do it, then?"
"I am willing to give you one chance to save your lives."
"You are very considerate. Mr. Pillgrim was going to blow her up for my
special benefit."
"If you think I am not in earnest, you are greatly mistaken," continued
the captain, as he stirred up the burning substances in the pan.
"I see you are in earnest, and I am waiting for you to blow her up."
"I will give you ten minutes to save your lives; for I have sworn this
vessel shall never go into port as a prize. You and your people can take
to the boats and save yourselves."
"Will you blow her up when we are gone?"
"I will."
"I have had quite enough of this, Captain Walmsley," said Somers,
advancing to the fire king, revolver in hand. "Now go on deck, or I will
blow your brains out, if you have any."
The captain looked at the revolver, and he might as well have
acknowledged his defeat, for his face proclaimed it.
"If I should drop this into the cargo, it would blow up the ship."
"No, it wouldn't. There are nothing but solid shot and shell under you,"
replied Somers; and perhaps his coolness and self-possession were in a
great measure due to his knowledge of this fact, for he had carefully
inspected the cargo immediately after the capture of the vessel.
Captain Walmsley, with the blazing censer in his hand, made his way over
the boxes, bales, and barrels which lay above the heavy articles, to the
hatchway. The pan and its contents were thrown overboard, and the men
informed that there was no danger. The captain was ordered into the
cabin, where he was put in double irons, as his fellow-conspirator had
been. He protested, at first, against this indignity. Then he begged,
declaring that Mr. Pillgrim was the author of the plot by which it was
intended to recapture the steamer. It was fully believed that Somers and
his crew would abandon the vessel as soon as it was announced that there
was fire in the hold, knowing that her cargo would readily explode.
Captain Walmsley declared that Pillgrim was a fool; if he had kept still
till the fire was discovered, instead of declaiming over it beforehand,
the plan would have succeeded. Somers doubted it; and when the
humiliated captain was ironed, he was sent into his state-room, and a
sentinel placed at his door. This business was hardly completed before
the marine in charge of Pillgrim informed Somers that his prisoner
wished to speak with him. The request was peremptorily refused.
"There, Mr. Hudson, I think we have fixed those fellows so that we shall
know where to find them when we want them," said Somers, when the
conspirators had been disposed of.
"Yes, sir; and if any other man had been in charge of this vessel, he
would have lost her, Captain Somers. I should have voted for abandoning
her as soon as I was satisfied that she was on fire."
"Perhaps I should, if I had not known the powder and shells were in the
fore hold. But I did not believe the villains had pluck enough to blow
themselves up for the sake of blowing me up. If there had been any real
danger, they would have been the first to run away."
"Well, sir, I think you have managed them exceedingly well."
Somers was perfectly willing he should think so, and perhaps he thought
so himself. At any rate, he was heartily rejoiced to get out of the
scrape so easily, and fully resolved that the conspirators should have
no further opportunity to exercise their talents at plotting on board
the Ben Nevis.
There was a mystery still unsolved to the young officer, and with Mr.
Hudson he repaired to the state-room in which Pillgrim had passed the
night,--or ought to have passed it,--and commenced a further
examination. There was nothing supernatural, or even very remarkable, in
the absence of the prisoner, when the carpet was pulled up, and a square
aperture, now closed by a pine board, was discovered in the corner of
the room. In the ceiling there was a similar aperture, which had been
filled up to correspond with the deck above. It was evident that a
ventilator, which had been used to convey fresh air to the after hold,
had been removed at some recent period.
As Captain Walmsley had indicated this state-room for the use of
Pillgrim, it was probable that he had chosen it on account of this means
of egress. Some time in the night he must have visited the prisoner,
entering through this aperture, and conducted him to the hold below.
In the fine weather and smooth sea the Ben Nevis nearly made good the
claim of the conspirators in regard to her speed, for all day she logged
fifteen knots, and at three bells in the first dog watch Cape Henry was
sighted, and at ten o'clock in the evening she anchored off Fortress
Monroe.
By the first conveyance Mr. Hudson was sent to Washington with the
despatches of Captain Cascabel, and one from Somers. On the second day
the messenger returned, with orders from the department. The young
officer took the bundle of documents into the cabin, and proceeded to
examine those directed to himself. He was ordered to hand his prisoners
over to the commandant of the fort, to deliver his vessel into the
keeping of the senior naval officer on the station, and to rejoin his
ship forthwith, taking passage in a supply steamer to sail on the
following day. He was highly commended for the skill and energy with
which he had discharged his duty on board the Ben Nevis, full
particulars of which had been communicated by Mr. Hudson.
Another document contained his commission as master, the next rank above
that of ensign, which had been solicited by Captain Cascabel. This paper
was full of interest to the recipient of it, and he was obliged to open
the long letters he had written to his mother and to Kate Portington, in
order to add, in a postscript, this important intelligence. He was proud
and happy, and more than ever satisfied that republics are not
ungrateful, notwithstanding the tradition to the contrary.
At the proper time he proceeded to execute his orders in regard to the
vessel and the prisoners. Pillgrim and his fellow-conspirator were
brought on deck. The former looked easy and defiant, as usual, and
assured his captor that he should be at liberty in a few days.
"Perhaps not," said Somers.
"You shall yet be cheated of your victim, but I shall not be cheated of
mine," said he, with a malignant smile.
"I bear you no malice, Mr. Pillgrim."
"I do bear you malice; and the heaviest revenge that ever fell on man
shall fall on you before the end of this year."
"Your threats are idle. I have heard too many of them. Pass into the
boat, if you please."
Pillgrim and Walmsley went over the side, and the boat pulled away. The
chivalrous military officer removed the irons from their legs and arms
as soon as he received them.
The Ben Nevis was to be sent to New York to be condemned, and Somers
handed her over to the naval officer, according to his orders.