A HAPPY RETURN TO THE BELLEVITE
Although he anticipated a disagreeable scene with the captain of the
West Wind, who, he supposed, had slept off the fumes of the inordinate
quantity of liquor he had drunk, he did not consider that there was any
peril in the situation, for he had plenty of force to handle him easily.
His curiosity was excited, and he walked over to the companion, where
Graines appeared to be gazing into the darkness of the cabin; but he did
not interfere with the proceedings of his fellow-officer.
"We don't need the men you have called from the waist," said the
engineer in a low tone.
Christy sent the two men back to their former station. As he was
returning to his chosen position abaft the companion, he saw a glimmer
of light in the gloom of the cabin. Graines invited him to take a
place at his side, chuckling perceptibly as he made room for him.
The lieutenant stooped down so that he could see into the cabin, and
discovered a man with a lighted match in his hand, fumbling at the door
of the closet where Captain Sullendine kept his whiskey.
"Is that the captain?" whispered Christy, who could not make out the
man, though he was not as tall as the master of the West Wind.
"No; it is Bokes," replied Graines. "He must have got out of the
deck-house through one of the windows. He found the bottle French gave
him was empty, and I have no doubt his nerves are in a very shaky
condition."
Both of the officers had leaned back, so that their whispers did not
disturb the operator in the cabin. His first match had gone out, and
he lighted another. Captain Sullendine had been too much overcome by
his potations to take his usual precautions for the safety of his
spirit-room, and the observers saw that the key was in the door. Bokes
took one of the bottles, and carried it to the table. His match went
out, and he poked about for some time in the cabin.
Presently he was seen again, coming out of the pantry with a lighted
lantern in his hand, which he placed on the table. He had a corkscrew in
the other hand, with which he proceeded, as hurriedly as his trembling
hands would permit, to open the bottle, for the master had drained the
last one. Then he poured out a tumblerful of whiskey, as the observers
judged it was from its color, and drank it off. At this point Graines
descended to the cabin and confronted the fellow.
Christy, after taking a long look to the south-east, followed the
engineer into the cabin, for it was possible that his companion intended
to look into the condition of Captain Sullendine, and he desired to be
present at the interview.
"Good-morning, Bokes," said Graines, as he placed himself in front of
the seaman.
"Mornin', Mr. Balker," replied Bokes; and the heavy drink he had just
taken appeared to have done nothing more than steady his nerves, for he
seemed to have the full use of his faculties.
"How do you feel this morning, my friend?" continued the engineer; and
Christy thought he was making himself very familiar with the boozing
seaman, who was at least fifty years old.
"Fine's a fiddle-string," replied Bokes. "We done got out all right,
I reckon;" and it was plain that he had not taken notice that the
schooner was no longer in tow of the steamer.
"All right," replied Graines, as he placed himself on a stool, and
pushed another towards the sailor, who seated himself. "By the way,
friend Bokes, I suppose you have been on board of the Tallahatchie?"
"More'n a dozen times, here 'n' up in Mobile. My fust cousin's an 'iler
aboard on her," replied Bokes.
"How many guns does she carry?" asked the engineer in a very quiet tone,
though the man did not seem to be at all suspicious that he was in the
act of being used for a purpose.
"I don't jest know how many guns she kerries; but she's got a big
A'mstrong barker 'midships that'll knock any Yankee ship inter the
middle o' next year 'n less time 'n it'll take you to swaller a tot
o' Kaintuck whiskey. It's good for five-mile shots."
"This is her midship gun, you say?"
"Midship gun, sir; 'n I heard 'em say it flung a shot nigh on to a
hundred pounds," added Bokes.
Both Christy and Graines asked the man other questions; but he had not
made good use of his opportunities, and knew very little about the
armament of the Tallahatchie; yet he remembered what he had heard others
say about her principal gun. The lieutenant knew all about the Armstrong
piece, for he had in his stateroom the volume on "Ordinance and
Gunnery," by Simpson, and he had diligently studied it.
"Mr. Passford," said one of the hands at the head of the companion
ladder.
"On deck," replied Christy.
"Steamer on the port bow," added the seaman.
"That must be the Bellevite," said the lieutenant.
"Now you may go on deck, Bokes," added Graines, as he drove the boozer
ahead of him, and followed his superior.
He instructed the men in the waist to keep an eye on Bokes, and sent
him forward. Then he took the precaution to lock the doors at the
companion-way, and joined Christy on the quarterdeck.
"That's the Bellevite without a doubt," said Christy, as he directed the
spy-glass he had taken from the brackets, and was still looking through
it. "But she is farther to the eastward than I expected to find her."
"I suppose her commander knows what he is about," replied Graines.
"Certainly he does; and I do not criticise his action."
All the steamers on the blockade except the Bellevite and the one in
the west had been sent away on other duty, for it was believed that the
former would be enough to overhaul anything that was likely to come out
of Mobile Bay at this stage of the war. Sure of the steamer of which he
was the executive officer, Christy directed his glass towards the one
on the other side of the channel. She had received no notice of the
approach of a powerful blockade-runner, and she had not a full head of
steam when she discovered the Tallahatchie. Besides, she was one of the
slowest vessels in the service.
The black smoke was pouring out of her smokestack as though she was
using something besides anthracite coal in her furnaces, and she was
doing her best to intercept the Confederate. She was still firing her
heaviest gun, though it could be seen that her shots fell far short of
the swift steamer.
"They have seen the Bellevite on board of the Tallahatchie, and she has
changed her course," said Graines, while Christy was still watching the
movements of the blockader in the west. "Probably Captain Rombold knows
all about the Bellevite, and he is not anxious to get too near her."
"She has pointed her head to the south-west, and the Bellevite is
changing her course. I hope we shall not miss her," added Christy.
When the fog bank blew over and revealed her presence on board of the
West Wind, the Bellevite was not more than half a mile to the southward,
but she was at least two miles to the eastward of her.
"Can we get any more sail on this craft, Mr. Graines?" asked the
lieutenant.
"We can set her two gaff-topsails."
"Do so as speedily as possible."
Christy went to the wheel, and Graines, with three men at each sail,
assisting himself, soon had shaken out and set the gaff-topsails. The
effect was immediately apparent in the improved sailing of the schooner.
A Confederate flag was found in the signal chest, and it was set at the
main topmast head, with the American ensign over it, so that it could
be easily seen on board of the Bellevite. The lieutenant was now very
confident that he should intercept his ship.
"Now clear away that quarter-boat, so that we can drop it into the water
without any delay," continued Christy, as he gave up the wheel to Lines
again.
Graines hastened to obey the order, for the Bellevite was rushing
through the water at her best speed, and it was evident enough by this
time that Weeks had faithfully performed the duty assigned to him.
"A small pull on the fore-sheet, Londall," called Christy to one of the
men on the forecastle. "Another on the main sheet," he added to Fallon
in the waist.
The bow of the West Wind was thus pointed closer into the wind; and the
gaff-topsails enabled her to hold her speed after this change. Paul
Vapoor, the chief engineer of the Bellevite, was plainly doing his best
in the engine-room, and if the lieutenant had been a sporting man,
he would have been willing to wager that his ship would overhaul the
Tallahatchie; for on an emergency she had actually steamed twenty-two
knots an hour, and Christy believed she could do it now, being in
first-rate condition, if the occasion required.
"What time is it now, Mr. Graines?" asked Christy.
"Quarter-past four," replied the engineer, when he had lighted a match
and looked at his watch.
"I thought it was later than that, and I have been looking for some
signs of daylight," replied the lieutenant.
"It is just breaking a little in the east."
"I suppose Captain Sullendine is still asleep."
"No doubt of it; he has not had two hours yet in his berth, and he is
good for two hours more at least."
"I think we shall be on board of the Bellevite in ten minutes more,"
continued Christy, as he noted the position of the ship. "Have you
instructed French what to do with Captain Sullendine if he should
attempt to make trouble?"
"I told him to keep him in his stateroom, and I feel pretty sure he
can't get out. If Bokes, who must have an idea of what is going on by
this time, is troublesome, I told French to tie his hands behind him,
and make him fast to the fore-rigging."
"The fog is settling down again on the Tallahatchie; but Captain Breaker
knows where she is, and he will not let up till he has got his paw on
her," said Graines. "The blockader in the west isn't anywhere now. She
could not do a thing with such a steamer as that Confederate."
The West Wind was now directly in the path of the Bellevite, and in
five minutes more she stopped her screw. Possibly her commander was
bewildered at the sight of the schooner, whose flag indicated that she
was already a prize, though he could hardly understand to what vessel;
for nothing was known on board of her in regard to the cotton vessel the
Tallahatchie was to tow to sea.
"Stand by to lower the boat on the quarter!" shouted Christy, perhaps
a little excited at the prospect of soon being on the deck of his own
ship, as he and Graines took their places in the craft.
The four men at the falls lowered the boat into the water in the
twinkling of an eye, and the two officers dropped the oars into the
water as soon as it was afloat. They pulled like men before the mast,
and went astern of the schooner, whose head had been thrown up into
the wind to enable the officers to embark in safety. French was now in
command of the schooner, and he filled away as soon as the boat pulled
off from her side.
The Bellevite had stopped her screw a little distance from the West
Wind, and, as the boat approached her, she backed her propeller. Her
gangway had been lowered, and the two officers leaped upon the landing.
They had hardly done so before the great gong in the engine-room was
heard, and the steamer went ahead again. The boat was allowed to go
adrift; but Christy shouted to French to pick it up. The lieutenant's
heart beat a lively tattoo as he mounted the steps, and ascended to the
deck.