A LIVELY CHASE TO THE SOUTH-WEST
Captain Breaker had been in the main rigging with his night-glass,
watching the movements of the chase; but he recognized the voice of
Christy when he shouted to French to pick up the quarter-boat of the
schooner, as he could no longer make out the Tallahatchie in the fog.
"Good-morning, Mr. Passford," said he, as he met Christy when he
descended from the rail. "I am glad to see you again."
"Good-morning, Captain Breaker," replied the lieutenant, as he took the
offered hand of the commander. "I hope all is well on board, sir."
"Entirely well, and your messenger came on board in good time, so that
we were in position to get the first sight of the Trafalgar when she
showed herself off Sand Island Lighthouse," replied the captain, as he
led the way to his cabin. "Mr. Ballard, keep a sharp lookout for the
chase," he added to the acting executive officer.
"Will you allow me to put on my uniform, Captain?" asked Christy.
"I don't feel quite at home on board the ship in the rigout I have worn
all night."
"Certainly; for I do not wish you to show yourself to the ship's company
while you look so little like a naval officer," replied the captain, as
he went to take another look at the darkness ahead.
The lieutenant hastened to his stateroom, and in a very short time he
had washed off the smut from his face and hands, and dressed himself in
his uniform, so that he looked like quite another person, Graines had
gone to his room in the steerage for the same purpose, for neither of
them desired to show himself as he had appeared before Captain
Sullendine.
Christy hurried to the deck as soon as he had made the change, and met
the commander on the quarter-deck. Lookouts were stationed aloft and on
the top-gallant forecastle, and all hands were in a state of healthy
excitement in view of the stirring event which was likely to transpire
before the lapse of many hours; and doubtless some of the men were moved
by the prospect of prize-money, not only from the proceeds of the sale
of the steamer they were chasing, but from the full freight of cotton on
board of the schooner, the deck load of which had been noted by some of
the crew.
The schooner which had come so close aboard of the Bellevite was a
mystery to all, from the captain down to the humblest seaman; but the
American ensign over the Confederate flag had been observed by a few,
and this settled her status. Not more than half of the seamen were aware
that an expedition had left the ship at ten o'clock the evening before,
and they had had no opportunity to notice the absence of the executive
officer during the night; and even yet all hands had not been called,
for the regular watch was enough to get the ship under way.
The commander conducted the executive officer to his own cabin, again
reminding Mr. Ballard to keep a sharp lookout for the chase. Christy
felt like himself again in his neat uniform, and his vigorous and well
knit, as well as graceful form, did more to show off the dress than the
dress did to adorn his person.
"I am very glad to see you again, Christy," said Captain Breaker,
seating himself and pointing to an arm-chair for the lieutenant, while
he came down from the stately dignity of the commander of a man-of-war
to the familiarity with which he treated his chief officer when they
were alone. "I had no doubt that you would give a good account of
yourself, as you always do. You were going on the enemy's territory, and
you were in peril all the time. Now you come off in a schooner, which
appears to be loaded with cotton, and how or where you picked her up is
a mystery to me;" and the commander indulged in a laugh at the oddity of
the young officer's reappearance. "Your messenger reported that the
Trafalgar would sail at three o'clock in the morning, and I judge that
she left at about that hour."
"Within ten minutes of it, and probably made an arrangement with the
commandant of the fort to that effect," added Christy. "But they do not
call her the Trafalgar now; though Weeks was not aware of the fact when
I sent him on board. She is now the Tallahatchie, though I noticed that
some in the vicinity of the fort still called her by her old name."
"Never mind the name; she will answer our purpose as well under one
appellation as another. When I asked your messenger about you and the
other six men of your party, he was unable to give me any information
in regard to your movements; and he could not tell me how you had
ascertained the hour at which the steamer was to sail," continued the
captain.
"Graines and myself separated from the party as soon as we landed on the
point; and we had obtained our information before we joined them again
on the shore of Mobile Bay, sir. At the same time we had learned all
about the West Wind"--
"The what?" interposed the commander.
"I mean the schooner West Wind, the one from which we came on board of
the Bellevite, which was to be towed out by the Tallahatchie, and which
was towed out by her till we on board of her cast off the towline."
"Perhaps you had better narrate the events of your expedition
_seriatim_, for all you say in this disconnected manner only thickens
the mystery," said the commander: and he knew that his officer had an
excellent command of the English language, and could make a verbal
report in a very attractive and telling style, though perhaps his
fatherly interest in the young man had something to do with the matter.
Christy began his narrative with the departure from the ship, passing
lightly over the minor details till he came to the meeting with the
deserters from the West Wind, bivouacking in the hollow. He described
the drinking bout which followed, in which he and Graines had pretended
to join, stating the information he had obtained from them. He rehearsed
a portion of Captain Sullendine's speech, adding that most of his
auditors were the seamen from the Bellevite, though he had sent four
of them back to the ship before he reached the shore.
He detailed his interview with the master of the West Wind, explaining
how he had shipped the new crew with him. The scenes in the cabin were
described in full; in fact, every incident of any importance which had
transpired during the night was related. The commander was deeply
interested, and listened without comment to the narrative up to the
moment when the narrator had come on board of the Bellevite. He was not
sparing in his praise of the engineer, and separated what he had said
and done as far as he could from his own words and actions.
The commander then questioned him in regard to the armament of the
Tallahatchie, and he repeated the meagre information he had obtained
from Bokes. Some conversation concerning Armstrong guns followed; but
both of them were well posted in regard to this long-range piece.
Christy read the satisfaction with which the captain heard his
statements on his face.
A knock at the door of the cabin disturbed the conference, and the
lieutenant was directed to open the door. The shaking and straining of
the ship had for some time indicated that Paul Vapoor was fully alive to
the importance of getting the Bellevite's best speed out of her on the
present occasion; and he did not intrust the duty to his subordinates.
Christy opened the cabin door, and Midshipman Walters asked for the
commander, and was admitted.
"Mr. Ballard directs me to inform you, sir, that we are gaining on the
chase," said the young officer. "The fog has lifted again, and we can
make her out very clearly. The Holyoke has abandoned the chase, and
appears to be headed for the schooner that came to on the starboard
of the ship."
"Tell Mr. Ballard to keep the ship as she is, headed for the
Tallahatchie," replied Captain Breaker.
"The Tallahatchie, sir?" queried the midshipman.
"Formerly the Trafalgar," added the commander.
The young officer touched his cap and retired.
"This Captain Sullendine is still secured in his stateroom on board of
the West Wind, is he?" asked the captain, rising from his arm-chair.
"He was when I left the schooner, sir," replied Christy. "French, the
captain of the forecastle, is in charge of the vessel, with orders to
anchor her a couple of miles to the eastward of the lighthouse. I have
already commended French to your attention, Captain, as a faithful and
reliable man, and I think he deserves promotion."
"Your recommendation will go a great way to procure it for him," added
the commander with a significant smile.
"He is a thorough seaman, has been the mate of a large coaster, and
would have become master of her if his patriotic duty had not led him
to ship in the navy."
"He is a resolute and brave fellow in action, as I have had occasion to
observe, and I shall remember him. When you are writing to your father
it would be well for you to mention him; and the thing will be done at
your request if not at mine."
"It certainly would not be done without your indorsement, for my father
will not indulge in any favoritism aside from real merit," protested the
lieutenant, with some warmth.
"You are quite right, Christy. We must go on deck now," added Captain
Breaker, as he moved towards the door. "You have been up all night, my
boy; it will be some hours before we come within reach of the chase, and
you can turn in and get a little sleep before anything stirring takes
place on board."
The excitement which had animated the young officer during the night
had subsided with the rendering of his report, and the responsibility
of a command no longer rested upon him, and for the first time since he
embarked in the whaleboat, he began to feel tired and sleepy. He went on
deck with the commander, and took a survey, first of the chase, then of
the Holyoke, and finally of the West Wind.
Captain Breaker thought the Tallahatchie was about five miles distant.
Seen through the glass, for the fog had all blown away, and the daylight
had begun to obscure the stars, the steamer seemed to be doing her best.
The Holyoke was headed to the eastward, evidently intending to chase the
West Wind, for she could not yet make out her flags, indicating that she
was already a prize. She need not have troubled herself to pursue the
schooner if she had known the facts in regard to her, for she was
entitled to a share of the prize as a member of the blockading fleet at
the time of her capture. But she could prevent her from being retaken by
any boat expedition sent from the shore, as her lonely position where
the Bellevite had been for several days might tempt some enterprising
Confederate officer to do.
Although the last heaving of the log showed twenty knots, it was a quiet
time of the deck of the Bellevite, and all the excitement on board was
confined to the engine and fire rooms. With sundry gapes Christy had
taken in the situation, and then he concluded to avail himself of the
commander's permission to retire to his stateroom, where he was soon in
a sound slumber.
Just before, Captain Breaker had retired to his cabin, where he had a
chart of the Gulf of Mexico spread out on his table. Assuming the point
where the Tallahatchie had changed her course to the south-west, he drew
a line in that direction, and realized that the chase could not go clear
of the Passes of the Mississippi River; and she was likely to sight some
Federal steamer in that locality.
As the daylight increased the weather improved so far as the fog was
concerned and it promised to be a clear day, for the stars had not
been obscured at any time during the night. The only alternative the
commander could see for the chase, as he studied the chart, was to go
to the southward before he could sight the Pass à l'Outre. He was so
confident that this must be his course, that he decided to take
advantage of the situation, and he went on deck at once, where he
ordered the officer of the deck to make the course south south-west.