An unlucky fight.
As soon as Frank was certain that the rebels had given up the pursuit,
he called two of his men on deck, and directed them to carry the pilot,
who now began to show signs of returning consciousness, into the cabin.
During the fight the lieutenant had remained behind one of the
cotton-bales, where the pilot had thrown him, so completely overcome
with fear that he did not think of renewing his attempts to enforce his
authority. But now that the danger was over, he arose to his feet and
walked out of the pilot-house. As the sailors came up, in obedience to
Frank's order, they passed the lieutenant without giving the customary
salute, and acted as though they considered him beneath their notice.
They lifted the pilot tenderly in their arms, carried him down stairs,
and laid him on his bed.
There was no surgeon on board, and Frank was anxious to reach a gun-boat
as soon as possible, in order to place the pilot, who was the only one
injured, under the care of a medical man. He kept his place at the
wheel, his supper being brought up to him by one of his men, and shortly
after dark came within sight of the lights of a vessel which was lying
at anchor in the stream. He blew the whistle, to let her know that he
was approaching, to which the steamer, which proved to be a gun-boat,
replied by hoisting her signal-lights. Frank having no signals, whistled
again, and rang the bells for the engineer to run slowly. As soon as he
came within hailing distance, a voice called out:
"Steamer ahoy!"
"Ay, ay, sir!" shouted Frank, in reply.
"What steamer is that?"
"Army transport Key-West, bound for the mouth of the river, with
dispatches from the admiral."
"Come alongside, here," shouted the voice.
"Ay, ay, sir," replied Frank, and he commenced turning the boat's head
toward the vessel, while a hurrying of feet and a noise of dropping
handspikes on the gun-deck, told him in plain language that the captain
of the gun-boat was not at all satisfied with the report he had made,
and had called his crew to quarters, to be in readiness to sink the
transport if she should attempt to run by. It was an uncommon thing
during the expedition for boats to run in Red River after night, unless
supplied with the necessary signals, and the young officer was not at
all surprised at the precautions taken by the gun-boat.
Frank by this time had turned the transport around, and was coming up at
the stern of the gun-boat, when the lieutenant came on deck, and
entering the pilot-house, inquired:
"Are you the captain of this ship?"
"I have had no orders to act as such," replied Frank.
"Then why do you answer hails, and land here without my permission? I'll
have you court-martialed."
"I answered the hails because you were not on deck; and I land here
because I have been ordered to do so by the captain of that gun-boat."
"Well, I am not under his orders; he has no authority over me, and I
order you to turn around at once, and start down the river again."
"If I should undertake that," replied Frank, with a laugh, "this vessel
wouldn't last long. Every cannon on this aide of that gun-boat points
straight at us, and if we should turn around, they would blow us out of
water."
"They would, eh?" said the lieutenant, angrily. "I'll have the whole lot
of them up before a court-martial. I'm a second-lieutenant, sir, and
must not be detained, as I am on important business. Turn around at
once."
Frank made no reply, and at that moment the bow of the transport touched
the gun-boat, and one of the sailors sprang out with a line. As soon as
the boat was made fast, he put on his side-arms, and taking his
dispatches, walked out of the pilot-house, leaving the lieutenant almost
beside himself with rage. As soon as he stepped on board the gun-boat,
he was shown into the presence of Captain Wilson, the same who had
commanded the Ticonderoga when Frank was attached to her.
"Oh, is it you, Mr. Nelson?" he exclaimed, seizing the young officer's
hand and shaking it heartily. "Then it's all right. I did not know but
you were a rebel, and were going to run by; so I got my guns all ready
to sink you. Sit down. Are you in command?"
Frank replied that he was not, and then proceeded to repeat the orders
he had received from the admiral, telling the captain of the fight with
the battery, but carefully omitting any thing that related to the
conduct of the lieutenant, he ended by saying that the pilot was
wounded, and requesting that the doctor might be sent on board to attend
to him, which was done at once, the captain offering to send another
pilot to take his place.
The transport lay alongside nearly two hours, during which time the
pilot's wound, which was not dangerous, was dressed. The doctor then
declared that he was able to go on to the mouth of the river, where he
could be placed under the care of an army surgeon. Frank then took his
leave of the captain, and stepped on board the transport, accompanied by
one of the gun-boat pilots, who was well-known to the young officer, and
he was confident that the lieutenant, if he should again take it into
his head to give any unnecessary orders, would hear the truth plainly
told. He was an old acquaintance of the wounded pilot, from whom he had
heard the whole history of the trip from Alexandria; but as he had said
nothing about the matter to Frank, the latter was not aware that he knew
it.
The pilot took his station at the wheel, while Frank seated himself on
the boiler-deck railing. The lieutenant stood close by, and, without
waiting to hear whether or not the engineers were ready to start,
shouted:
"Untie that line."
"Hold on!" shouted the pilot. "Do you want to send us adrift without any
steam? Wait till I tell you we're all ready."
The engineers of the transport, taking advantage of the landing, had
allowed the steam to go down, in order to repair some part of the
machinery that was out of order, and had the line been cast off just
then, the boat would have been at the mercy of the current, and in
danger of sinking, for a short distance below lay an iron-clad ram,
anchored in the river. The lieutenant had given his command in a loud
tone, in order to be heard by the crew of the gun-boat, and the rebuff
he had met from the pilot did not tend to quiet his feelings, which were
considerably agitated by the thought that he was not in reality the
commander of the vessel. He was astonished at the pertinacity with which
his subordinates (as he considered them) countermanded his orders, and
wondered what was the use of being captain of a vessel if he was not to
be obeyed. But perhaps the new pilot did not know who he was. He would
inform him. With this determination, he walked up to the pilot-house,
and inquired:
"Do you know, sir, that I command this boat?"
"Yes," replied the pilot, "I know all about that. But you had better go
and turn in; you are only in the way here. All ready, Mr. Nelson," he
continued, as the engineer's bell rang at this moment.
Frank gave the necessary orders, and in a few moments they were again on
their way down the river, while the lieutenant walked into the cabin and
threw himself on a lounge, heartily wishing there were no gun-boat men
in existence. As soon as they were fairly under way, Frank, seeing that
the lieutenant took no further notice of what was going on, ran below to
set the watch; then, after satisfying himself that every thing was right
about decks, and that their weapons were ready for instant use, he
stretched himself on a blanket in the cabin, and with his precious
dispatches (which he had carried with him wherever he went) for a
pillow, was soon fast asleep.
About midnight he was suddenly awakened by a terrific crash, and sprang
to his feet to find the cabin shrouded in darkness and filled with
smoke. Hastily thrusting his dispatches into his pocket, he commenced
groping for his side-arms, which, on retiring, he had placed by his
side, while a commotion on deck told him that the crew were hurrying to
their stations. When he had found his sword, he ran out of the cabin,
and saw his men drawn up behind the cotton-bales, under charge of the
coxswain, who ran up to his officer and hurriedly asked for orders. The
latter did not long remain ignorant of the nature of the attack, for a
shell plunged into the cabin which he had just left, and, exploding with
a deafening report, filled the air with fragments of furniture, and tore
a large hole in the deck above the boilers. The night was very dark, but
still there was light enough for Frank to see that the boat, no longer
obeying her helm, was drifting broadside toward the battery, the
position of which could be easily determined by the flash of its guns;
and it was evident that unless those guns could be speedily silenced,
the transport would be altogether demolished, or disabled so that she
would fall into the hands of the rebels. Turning to the coxswain, Frank
inquired:
"Is that cutter ready for immediate use?"
"All ready, sir," was the answer.
"Let loose those guns, then. Fire!"
The two howitzers belched forth their contents, but while they were
being reloaded, another broadside from the battery plunged into the
boat, followed by the hissing and shrieking of steam. A shot had struck
the boilers! The thought had scarcely passed through Frank's mind, when
the pilot sprang down the steps, exclaiming:
"Mr. Nelson, the tiller-rope is shot away, sir, and the boat is on
fire!"
In short, much sooner than Frank had expected, the transport was a
complete wreck.
The cotton-bales on the guards had been set on fire by a bursting shell;
the tiller-rope shot away, rendering it impossible to steer the boat;
the boilers penetrated, and the engine-room filled with hot steam, which
now began to rise and envelop the men on the boiler-deck. Soldiers and
sailors at once deserted their quarters and ran about in confusion,
while Frank, with his handkerchief in his mouth, to prevent his inhaling
the steam, stood wondering, where so many things were to be done, which
ought to be done first. He was quickly called to action by the pilot,
who, as he ran down the steps that led to the forecastle, exclaimed:
"Let every man take care of himself!"
When that man, who had been in nearly all the battles fought on the
Mississippi River--who had run the batteries at Vicksburg, and had
twice, in the heat of action, swam from a sinking vessel--when _he_
deserted his post, it was useless for any one to remain. The transport
could be of no further use to them, and to stay on board was to court
either death from the hot, blinding steam, or the shells that all the
while came crashing into the boat, or capture and hard treatment at the
hands of the rebels. So thought Frank, as he followed his men to the
forecastle, intending to enter the cutter, and, if possible, run by the
battery and reach the Mississippi.
The steam rolled over the lower deck in thick clouds, rendering it
impossible for him to go aft. There was now but one way to reach the
cutter, and that was to jump overboard and swim to her. This order was
promptly given, and as promptly obeyed by the men, who sprang into the
water, one after another, followed by Frank, who, however, had lingered
a moment to pull off his side-arms and coat, which would only impede his
progress, and to secure his dispatches, which he tied to his waist with
a strong cord he happened to have in his pocket.
But when he reached the stern of the boat, he found that this means of
escape had been destroyed. A shell from the battery had struck the
cutter, and her wreck, still hold by the rope with which she had been
made fast, floated along with the steamer, which was slowly drifting
toward the bank. Only one of his men was to be seen, and that was the
coxswain, who was holding on to the wreck, awaiting the appearance of
his officer. The others, giving up all hopes of escape, had doubtless
turned toward the shore.
"Now, here's a job, sir," said the coxswain, apparently as unconcerned
as if there had not been a rebel within a hundred miles. "Here _is_
a job. What's to be done now, sir?"
Frank had just asked himself the same question. He could easily reach
the shore, which was but a few yards distant, but there he would
certainly be captured by the rebels, who were running along the bank,
yelling like demons.
There was but one course he could pursue and save himself and
dispatches, and that was to swim down the river and endeavor to pass the
battery. In the darkness he might escape undiscovered.
"Bob, are you a good swimmer?" he asked, turning to the coxswain.
"Yes sir! can swim all day," was the reply.
"Then follow me as silently as possible, and we may yet escape."
As Frank spoke, he swam down the river with swift, noiseless strokes,
anxious to get as far as possible from the boat before the fire, which
now began to make rapid headway, should light up the river and discover
them to the rebels. The latter had ceased firing, and were scattered
along the bank, making prisoners of the transport's crew as fast as they
touched the shore. When Frank had reached the place where the battery
was stationed, he turned upon his back, and allowed himself to float
along with the current, and, aided by the darkness and the smoke of the
burning transport, which blew down the river, he and his companion
passed the dangerous point undiscovered. Here Frank again struck out,
his every movement followed by the coxswain, who was close behind him,
and who floated through the water like a cork.
For nearly an hour they remained in the river, and it was not until the
shouts of the rebels could be no longer heard, that Frank, feeling for
the present safe from pursuit, swam to the shore and sat down to rest,
and to determine upon their future movements.