THE BLOCKADE RUNNER
"I intend to trust you with important despatches, Miss Grey--for I have
great confidence in female ingenuity, as well as female heroism. The
meekest of women are miniature Granvelles; nature made you a race of
schemers. Pardon me if I ask, how you propose to conceal the despatches?
It is no easy matter now to run the blockade of a Southern port, especially
on the Gulf; and you must guard against being picked up by the
Philistines."
"I am fully aware of all the risk attending my trip; but if you will give
me the papers, prepared as I directed in my note from Paris, I will pledge
my life that they shall reach Richmond safely. If I am captured and carried
North, I have friends who will assist me in procuring a passport to the
South, and little delay will occur. If I am searched, I can bid them
defiance. Give me the despatches, and I will show you how I intend to take
them."
Electra opened her trunk, took out a large portfolio, and selected from the
drawings one in crayon representing the heads of Michael Angelo's Fates.
Spreading it out, face downward, on the table, she laid the closely-written
tissue paper of despatches smoothly on the back of the thin pasteboard;
then fitted a square piece of oil-silk on the tissue missive, and having,
with a small brush, coated the silk with paste, covered the whole with a
piece of thick drawing paper, the edges of which were carefully glued to
those of the pasteboard. Taking a hot iron from the grate, she passed it
repeatedly over the paper, till all was smooth and dry; then in the centre
wrote with a pencil: "Michael Angelo's _Fates_, in the Pitti Palace. Copied
May 8th, 1861." From a list of figures in a small note-book she added the
dimensions of the picture, and underneath all, a line from Euripides.
Her eyes sparkled as she bent over her work, and at length, lifting it for
inspection, she exclaimed triumphantly--
"There, sir! I can baffle even the Paris detective, much more the lynx-eyed
emissaries of Lincoln, Seward & Co. Are you satisfied? Examine it with your
own hands."
"Perfectly satisfied, my dear young lady. But suppose they should seize
your trunk? Confiscation is the cry all over the North."
"Finding nothing suspicious or 'contraband' about me, except my Southern
birth and sympathies, they would scarcely take possession of the necessary
tools of my profession. I have no fear, sir; the paper is fated to reach
its destination."
"Are your other despatches sealed up pictorially?"
She laughed heartily.
"Of course not. We women are too shrewd to hazard all upon one die."
"Well--well! You see that we trust important data to your cunning fingers.
You leave London to-morrow for Southampton; will arrive just in time for
the steamer. Good-bye, Miss Grey. When I get back to the Confederacy, I
shall certainly find you out. I want you to paint the portraits of my wife
and children. From the enviable reputation you have already acquired I am
proud to claim you for my countrywoman. God bless you, and lead you safely
home. Good-bye, Mr. Mitchell. Take care of her and let me hear from you on
your arrival."
From the hour when tidings of the fall of Sumter reached Europe, Electra
had resolved to cut short the studies which she had pursued so vigorously
since her removal to Florence, and return to the South. But the tide of
travel set toward, not from European shores, and it was not until after
repeated attempts to find some one homeward-bound, that she learned of Eric
Mitchell's presence in Paris, and his intention of soon returning to W----.
She wrote at once, requesting his permission to place herself under his
care. It was cordially accorded; and, bidding adieu to Italy, she joined
him without delay, despite the pleadings of Mr., Mrs. Young, and Louisa,
who had recently arrived at Florence, and sincerely mourned a separation
under such painful circumstances.
Eric was detained in Paris by a severe attack of the old disease, but
finally reached London--whence, having completed their arrangements, they
set off for Southampton, and took passage in the _Trent_, which was
destined subsequently to play a prominent part in the tangled role of
Diplomacy, and to furnish the most utterly humiliating of many chapters of
the pusillanimity, sycophancy, and degradation of the Federal government.
The voyage proved pleasant and prosperous; and, once at Havana, Eric
anxiously sought an opportunity of testing the vaunted efficiency of the
blockade. Unfortunately, two steamers had started the week previous, one to
New Orleans, the other to Charleston; only sailing vessels were to be
found, and about the movements of these, impenetrable mystery seemed
wrapped. On the afternoon of the third day after their arrival, Eric,
wearied with the morning's fruitless inquiry, was resting on the sofa at
the hotel, while Electra watched the tide of passers-by, when Willis,
Eric's servant, came in quickly, and walked up to the sofa.
"Master, Captain Wright is here. I asked him to come and see you, and he is
waiting downstairs."
"Captain Wright?"
"Yes, sir; the captain you liked so much at Smyrna--the one who gave you
that pipe, sir."
"Oh, I remember! Yes--yes; and he is here? Well, show him up."
"Master, from the way he watches the clouds, I believe he is about to run
out. Maybe he can take us?"
"Willis is invaluable to you, Mr. Mitchell," said Electra, as the negro
left the room.
"He is indeed. He is eyes, ears, crutches, everything to me, and never
forgets anything or anybody. He has travelled over half the world with
me--could desert me, and be free at any moment he felt inclined to do
so--but is as faithful now as the day on which I first left home with him."
"Ah, Captain! this is an unexpected pleasure. I am heartily glad to see
you. Miss Grey--Captain Wright. Take a seat."
The captain looked about thirty, possibly older; wore a grey suit and broad
straw hat, and, when the latter was tossed on the floor, showed a handsome,
frank, beaming face, with large, clear, smiling blue eyes, whose steady
light nothing human could dim. His glossy reddish-brown hair was thrust
back from a forehead white and smooth as a woman's, but the lower portion
of the face was effectually bronzed by exposure to the vicissitudes of
climate and weather; and Electra noticed a peculiar nervous restlessness of
manner, as though he were habitually on the watch.
"I am astonished to see you in Havana, Mitchell. Where did you come from?"
"Just from Paris, where bad health drove me, after I bade you good-bye at
Smyrna. Have you a vessel here, captain?"
"Of course I have! Don't you suppose that I would be in the army if I could
not serve my country better by carrying in arms and ammunition? I have
already made two successful trips with my schooner--ran in, despite the
blockaders. I am negotiating for a steamer, but until I can get one ready I
intend to sail on."
"When did you arrive here last?"
"About ten days ago. They chased me for nearly fifteen miles, but I stole
out of sight before morning."
"When do you expect to leave here?"
The captain darted a swift, searching glance at Electra, rose and closed
the door, saying, with a light laugh--
"Take care, man! You are not exactly deer-hunting or crab-catching in a
free country! Mind that, and talk softly. I am watched here; the Federal
agents all know me, and there are several Federal vessels in port. When do
I expect to leave? Well, to-night, if the weather thickens up, as I think
it will, and there is evident sign of a storm. Most sailors wait for fair
weather; we blockade runners for foul."
"Oh, Captain! do take us with you!" said Electra eagerly.
"What! In a rickety schooner, in the teeth of a gale? Besides, Miss, I am
taking a cargo of powder this trip, and if I am hard pressed I shall blow
up vessel and all, rather than suffer it to fall into Yankee clutches. You
would not relish going up to heaven after the fashion of a rocket, would
you?"
"I am willing, sir, to risk everything you threaten, rather than wait here
indefinitely."
"Can't you take us, Wright--Miss Grey, Willis, and myself? We are very
impatient to get home."
"But I have no accommodation for passengers."
"But I suppose, sir, we could contrive to live a few days without eating at
a regular table. I will take some cheese and crackers and fruit along in a
basket, if that will ease your mind. Do waive your scruples, and consent to
take charge of us."
"I add my prayers to hers. Wright, do take us. We shall not mind privations
or inconvenience."
"Well, then, understand distinctly that, if anything happens, you are not
to blame me. If the young lady gets sea-sick, or freckled, or sunburnt, or
starved to death, or blown up, or drowned, or, worse than all, if the
Yankee thieves by the wayside take her as a prize, it will be no fault of
mine whatever, and I tell you now I shall not lay it on my conscience."
"Wright, to what part are you bound?"
"Ah! that is more than I can tell you. The winds must decide it. I can't
try the Carolinas again this trip; they are watching for me too closely
there. New Orleans is rather a longer run than I care to make, and I shall
keep my eyes on Apalachicola and Mobile."
"What object have you in starting to-night, particularly in the face of a
gale?"
Again the captain's eyes swept round the room, to guard against any doors
that might be ajar.
"As I told you before, I am watched here. The Federals have a distinguished
regard for me, and I have to elude suspicion, as well as run well, when I
do get out. Two hours ago a Federal armed steamer which has been coaling
here, weighed anchor, and has probably left the harbour, to cruise between
this place and Key West. As they passed, one of the crew yelled out to me
that they would wait outside, and catch me certainly this time; that I had
made my last jaunt to Dixie, etc. I have carefully put out the impression
that I need some repairs, which cannot be finished this week; and have told
one or two confidentially that I could not leave until the arrival of a
certain cargo from Nassau which is due to-morrow. That Puritanical craft
which started off at noon does not expect me for several days, and to-night
I shall rub my fingers and sail out right in her wake. Ha! ha! how they
will howl! What gnashing of teeth there will be, when they hear of me in a
Confederate port! And now about your baggage. Have everything ready; I
will show Willis the right wharf, and at dark he must bring the trunks
down; I will be on the watch, and send a boat ashore. About sunset you and
Miss Grey can come aboard, as if for a mere visit. I must go and make what
little preparation I can for your comfort."
Nothing occurred to frustrate the plan; Eric and Electra were cordially
received, and at dusk Willis and the baggage arrived punctually. The
schooner was lying some distance from the wharf, all sails down, and
apparently contemplating no movement. With darkness came a brisk,
stiffening wind, and clouds shutting out even dim starlight. At ten
o'clock, all things being in readiness, the captain went on deck; very soon
after the glimmering lights of the city, then the frowning walls of Moro,
were left behind, and the _Dixie_ took her way silently and swiftly
seaward.
About two o'clock, being unable to sleep, from the rocking of the vessel,
Electra, knowing that Eric was still on deck, crept up the steps in the
darkness, for the lights had been extinguished. The captain was passing,
but paused, saying in a whisper--
"Is that you, Miss Grey? Come this way and I will show you something."
He grasped her hand, led her to the bow, where Eric was sitting on a coil
of rope, and, pointing straightforward, added in the same suppressed tone--
"Look right ahead--you see a light? The Philistines are upon us! Look well,
and you will see a dark, irregular, moving mass; that is the steamer of
which I told you. They have found out at last that there is going to be all
sorts of a gale, and as they can't ride it like my snug, dainty little
egg-shell, they are putting back with all possible speed. Twenty minutes
ago they were bearing down on me; now you see that they will pass to our
left. What a pity they don't know their neighbours!"
"Do you think that they will not see you?"
"Certainly! with sails down, and lights out, there is nothing to be seen on
such a night as this. There! don't you hear her paddles?"
"No. I hear nothing but the roar of the wind and water."
"Ah! that is because your ears are not trained like mine. Great Neptune!
how she labours already! Now! be silent."
On came the steamer, which Electra's untrained eyes, almost blinded by
spray, could barely discern; and her heart beat like a muffled drum as it
drew nearer and nearer. Once she heard a low, chuckling laugh of
satisfaction escape the captain; then, with startling distinctness, the
ringing of a bell was borne from the steamer's deck.
"Four bells--two o'clock. How chagrined they will be to-morrow, when they
find out they passed me without paying their respects!" whispered the
captain.
Gradually the vessel receded, the dark mass grew indistinct, the light
flickered, and was soon lost to view, and the sound of the labouring
machinery was drowned in the roar of the waves.
Before he went back on deck, the captain made a comfortable place for her
on the sofa in the little cabin. The storm increased until it blew a
perfect hurricane, and the schooner rolled and creaked, now and then
shivering in every timber. It was utterly impossible to sleep, and Eric,
who was suffering from a headache, passed a miserable night. In the white
sickly dawn the captain looked in again, and Electra thought that no ray of
sunshine could be more radiant or cheering than his joyous, noble face.
About noon the fury of the gale subsided, the sun looked out through rifts
in the scudding clouds, and toward night fields of quiet blue were once
more visible. By next morning the weather had cleared up, with a brisk
westerly wind; but the sea still rolled heavily; and Eric, unable to bear
the motion, kept below, loth to trust himself on his feet. Electra strove
to while away the tedious time by reading aloud to him; but many a yearning
look was cast toward the deck, and finally she left him with a few books,
and ran up to the open air.
On the afternoon of the third day after leaving Havana the captain said--
"Well, Miss Grey, I shall place you on Confederate soil to-morrow, God
willing."
"Then you are going to Mobile?"
"Yes; I shall try hard to get in there early in the morning. You will know
your fate before many hours."
"Do you regard this trial as particularly hazardous?"
"Of course; the blockading squadrons grow more efficient and expert every
day, and some danger necessarily attends every trial. Mobile ought to be
pretty well guarded by this time."
The wind was favourable, and the schooner ploughed its way swiftly through
the autumn night. The captain did not close his eyes; and just about
daylight Electra and Eric, aroused by a sudden running to and fro, rose,
and simultaneously made their appearance on deck.
"What is the matter, Wright?"
"Matter! why, look ahead, my dear fellow, and see where we are. Yonder is
Sand Island lighthouse, and a little to the right is Fort Morgan. But the
fleet to the left is hardly six miles off, and it will be a tight race if I
get in."
There was but a glimmering light, rimming the East, where two or three
stars burned with indescribable brilliance and beauty, and in the grey haze
and wreaths of mist which curled over the white-capped waves, Electra could
distinguish nothing. The air was chill, and she said, with a slight
shiver--
"I can't see any lighthouse."
"There is, of course, no light there, these war-times; but you see that
tall, white tower, don't you? There, look through my glass. That low dark
object yonder is the outline of the fort; you will see it more distinctly
after a little. Now, look right where my finger points; that is the
flag-staff. Look up overhead--I have hoisted our flag, and pretty soon it
will be a target for those dogs.
"Ha! Mitchell! Hutchinson! they see us! There is some movement among them.
They are getting ready to cut us off this side of the Swash channel! We
shall see."
He had crowded on all sail, and the little vessel dashed through the light
fog as if conscious of her danger, and resolved to sustain herself
gallantly. Day broke fully, sea and sky took the rich orange tint which
only autumn mornings give, and in this glow a Federal frigate and sloop
slipped from their moorings, and bore down threateningly on the graceful
bounding schooner.
"But for the fog, which puzzled me about three o'clock, I should have run
by unseen, and they would never have known it till I was safe in Navy cove.
We will beat them, though, as it is, by about twenty minutes. An hour ago I
was afraid I should have to beach her. Are you getting frightened, Miss
Grey?"
"Oh, no! I would not have missed this for any consideration. How rapidly
the Federal vessels move! They are gaining on us."
Her curling hair, damp with mist, clustered around her forehead; she had
wrapped a scarlet crape shawl about her shoulders, and stood with her red
lips apart and trembling, watched the exciting race.
"Look at the frigate!"
There was a flash at her bow, a curl of white smoke rolled up, then a heavy
roar, and a thirty-two pounder round shot fell about a hundred yards to the
right of the vessel.
A yell of defiance rent the air from the crew of the _Dixie_--hats were
waved--and, snatching off her shawl, Electra shook its bright folds to the
stiffening breeze, while her hot cheeks matched them in depth of colour.
Another and another shot was fired in quick succession, and so accurate had
they become, that the last whizzed through the rigging, cutting one of the
small ropes.
"Humph! they are getting saucy," said the captain looking up coolly, when
the yells of his crew ceased for a moment; and, with a humorous twinkle in
his fine eyes, he added--
"Better go below, Miss Grey; they might clip one of your curls next time.
The Vandals see you, I dare say, and your red flag stings their Yankee
pride a little."
"Do you suppose they can distinguish me?"
"Certainly. Through my glass I can see the gunners at work, and of course
they see you. Should not be surprised if they aimed specially at you. That
is the style of New England chivalry."
Whiz--whiz; both sloop and frigate were firing now in good earnest, and
one shell exploded a few yards from the side of the little vessel, tossing
the foam and water over the group on deck.
The boom of a columbiad from the fort shook the air like thunder, and gave
to the blockaders the unmistakable assurance, "Thus far, and no farther."
The schooner strained on its way; a few shot fell behind, and soon, under
the frowning bastions of the fort, whence the Confederate banner floated so
proudly on the balmy Gulf breeze, spreading its free folds like an aegis,
the gallant little vessel passed up the channel, and came to anchor in
Mobile Bay, amid the shouts of crew and garrison, and welcomed by a salute
of five guns.