THE BANNER ON THE WALL.
"You seem to be very much surprised at a very simple proposition," said
Jack, at length.
"And you seem to have a deal more cheek than you did the first time I
made your acquaintance," replied Marcy.
Jack laughed heartily.
"Why, what is there to hinder you from taking me down to the fleet?" he
demanded. "Haven't I often heard you boast of the _Fairy Belle's_
sea-going qualities? If she can cross the Atlantic, as you have more
than once declared, she can surely ride out any blow we are likely to
meet off the Cape."
"Oh, she can get there easy enough," answered Marcy. "I was not thinking
about that. But suppose I take you down to the fleet and the Yankees
won't let me come back? Then what?"
"Nonsense!" exclaimed Jack. "They'll let you come back. They are not
obliged to force men into the service against their will. They've got
more than they want."
"But there's another thing," continued Marcy. "There are two forts at
the Inlet; and suppose some of the rebels in those forts should see a
little schooner communicating with one of the blockading fleet. Wouldn't
they take pains to find out where the schooner belonged, and who her
owner was? And then what would they do to me?"
"They would put you in jail, of course," replied Jack, with refreshing
candor. "But I take it for granted that you are sharp enough to go and
come without being seen by anybody. If you magnify the dangers of the
undertaking by holding back or raising objections to the programme I
have laid out, I am afraid you will frighten mother into saying that I
can't go."
"I'll neither hold back nor object," said Marcy resolutely. "When you
are ready to go say the word, and I will do the best I can for you."
"I knew you would. Now let's lie down for a while. I have tramped it all
the way from Boydtown since daylight, and am pretty well tuckered out."
"If you had telegraphed to Nashville, I would have met you with a
carriage," said Marcy.
"Of course. But I thought I would rather have a talk with you and mother
before I let any one know I was in the country. And now that I have got
here and had the talk--what would you do if you were in my place? Keep
out of sight?"
"No, I wouldn't. What good would it do as long as the servants know you
are here? Make it a point to say 'hallo' to all the neighbors, talk
politics with them, and tell them how you ran that schooner into Newbern
through Oregon Inlet. By the way, what was done with the cargo that was
intended for that house in Havana?"
"It wasn't intended for Havana. It was sold in Newbern, as the owners
meant it should be, and when I left, the _West Wind_ was loading up with
cotton for Nassau. Well, suppose I play that I am as good a Confederate
as any of the people hereabouts; what then? When I leave for the
blockading fleet they will want to know where I have gone, won't they?
And what will you say to them? We must think about that and cook up some
sort of a story on purpose for them."
The boys tumbled into bed while they were talking, but it was a long
time before Marcy could go to sleep. He shuddered every time he thought
of what the consequences would be if by any misfortune it became known
in the settlement, that Jack Gray, whom everybody took to be a good
Confederate, and who had been permitted, while at home, to go and come
as he pleased, had seized the first opportunity to go down to Hatteras
and ship on board a Union gunboat.
"This house would be in ashes in less than twenty-four hours after the
news got noised about in the neighborhood," said Marcy, to himself,
wishing that the sound sleep that so promptly came to his weary brother
might come to him, also! "Then I should learn by experience how it seems
to live in a negro cabin. But there's one consolation. They couldn't
burn the cellar walls, so mother's money would be safe."
The clock struck nine before the boys got up that morning, but there was
a hot breakfast waiting for them. A family council was held while they
were seated at the table, during which it was decided that the only
course for Jack to pursue while at home was to do as he always had
done--go about the settlement as though he had a perfect right to be
there (as indeed he had), and act and talk as though such a thing as war
had never been heard of. If political questions were forced upon him, he
could tell of his voyage on the _West Wind_, and show Captain Frazier's
letter; but he must be careful not to say anything about his short
captivity in the hands of the _Sumter's_ men. Accordingly, when Marcy's
filly was brought to the door after breakfast, there was another horse
brought with her for Jack's use. The coachman, who had been so soundly
rated the day before, came also, for the two-fold purpose of making his
peace with Marcy and welcoming the returned sailor.
"Sarvent, Marse Marcy. Sarvent, Marse Jack," said he, dropping his hat
upon the ground and extending a hand to each of the boys. "So glad to
have you back, Marse Jack, and so proud to know that you wasn't took
prisoner by that pirate Semmes. We saw by the papers that he run out on
the high seas las' month, and I was mighty jubus that you might run onto
him. Glad to see you among us again, safe and sound, sar."
"And Morris, I am very glad to see myself here," replied Jack, giving
the black man's hand a hearty shake. "So you take the papers, do you?"
"Well, no sar; I don't take 'em, but the Missus does, and she tells me
what's into 'em, sar."
"I don't know that it makes any difference how you get the news so long
as you get it. But I am rather surprised to see you on the plantation. I
thought that of course you had run away and joined the Yankees before
this time. You had better dig out, for you are an Abolitionist, and they
hang Abolitionists in this country."
"Now, Marse Jack, I don't like for to have you talk to me that a way"
said the coachman in a tone of reproach. "All the other niggers may go
if they want to, but Morris stays right here on the place. He does for a
fac'. Who going to drive the carriage if Morris runs away."
"Well, that's so," replied Jack, gathering up the reins and placing his
foot in the stirrup. "I didn't think of that. Help Marcy into his saddle
and then tell me what I shall bring you when I come from town--a plug of
store tobacco for yourself, and a big red handkerchief for Aunt Mandy?"
"Thank you kindly, Marse Jack," said the coachman, with a pleased laugh.
"You always thinking of we black ones."
"Yes; I have thought of them a good many times during the two years and
better that I have been knocking around the world," said Jack, as he and
his brother rode out of the yard. "Especially did I think of home when
the brig was dismasted by a tornado in the South Atlantic. We came as
near going to the bottom that time as we could without going, and I
promised myself that if I ever again got a foothold on solid ground, I
would keep it; but here I am thinking of going to sea once more, as soon
as I have had a visit with you and mother."
"I can't bear to think of it," said Marcy.
"I'd like to stay at home, but these fanatics who are trying to break up
the government won't let me," answered the sailor. "Now that you have
had a chance to sleep on it, what do you think of the proposition I made
you last night?"
"About taking you down to the blockading fleet at the Cape?" inquired
Marcy. "Well, if you are bound to go, I don't see that there is anything
else you can do. Of course I shall do all I can to help you, and if
there was some trustworthy person to look out for mother, I would go
too; but I should go into the army."
"Of course. Your training at Barrington has fitted you for that, and you
would be out of place on board ship. What color is the hull of the
_Fairy Belle_?"
"It's black," replied Marcy, catching at the idea. "But it wouldn't take
you and me long to make it some other color. That is what Beardsley did
when he turned his privateer into a blockade-runner."
"And that is what we will do with your little schooner--we will disguise
her," said Jack, "and by the time we get through with her, her best
friends won't recognize her. More than that, if we have to run within
spyglass reach of the forts at the Inlet, we'll hoist the rebel flag
with the Stars and Stripes above it, to make the Confederates think that
she has been captured by the Yankees."
"But we haven't any rebel flag," said Marcy.
"What's the reason we haven't? When the _Sumter's_ boarding officer told
our captain that we were a prize to the Confederate steamer, he hauled
our colors down, and ran his own up in their place; and they were there
when we took the vessel out of the hands of the prize-crew. I jerked it
down myself, said nothing to nobody, and brought it home as a trophy.
It's in my valise now. When we return from town I intend to stick it up
in the sitting-room where every one can see it."
"You do?" exclaimed Marcy. "Mother won't let you."
"Oh, I think she will," said Jack, with a laugh. "She will know why it
is put on the wall, and so will you. Every time you two look at it, you
will think of the part I played in turning the tables on Semmes and his
prize-crew; but the visitors who come to the house on purpose to wheedle
mother into saying something for the Union and against the Confederacy,
will think they are barking up the wrong tree, and that the Gray family
are secesh sure enough."
"I hope they will, but I don't believe it," answered Marcy. "When you
join the blockading fleet and the neighbors ask me where you are, what
shall I tell them?"
"That's a question I will answer after I have been here long enough to
get my bearings," said Jack. "Did you remark that you would have to stop
at Beardsley's? Well, here we are."
The rapidity with which news of all sorts traveled from one plantation
to another, before and during the war, was surprising. Among the letters
that Marcy Gray had been commissioned to deliver was one addressed to
Captain Beardsley's grown-up daughter, and the girl was waiting for them
when they rode into the yard and drew rein at the foot of the steps.
"Morning, gentle_men_," was the way in which she greeted the two boys.
"I was dreadful frightened when I heard that the Yankees had run onto
you, and that you had got your arm broke, Mister Marcy. But it seems paw
was into the same boat. Was he much hurted? Hope your venture in quinine
paid you well, Mister Jack. You done yourself proud by running that
schooner into Newbern with all them supplies aboard, but you oughter
stayed with her and helped her through the blockade."
"Oh, the skipper will find plenty of pilots in Newbern," replied Jack,
who was not a little astonished to learn that the news of his return had
already got abroad in the settlement. "If I can't ship on something
better than a blockade-runner, I will stay ashore."
"But they do say there's a power of money in it," said the girl. "Is
that a fact, Marcy? Paw must have got safe out and back from Nassau, or
else you wouldn't be here now. Did he make much, do you reckon?"
"I believe he calculated on clearing about twenty-five thousand
dollars," answered Marcy, who was looking over the package of letters he
had taken from his pocket.
"I say!" exclaimed the girl, fairly dancing with delight. "If paw made
that much he must get me the new dress I want, and that's a word with a
bark onto it. That letter for me? Sarvent, sar. Good-bye."
"I don't see why Beardsley went to the trouble of writing to her," said
Jack, as the two turned about and rode away. "She can't read a word of
it."
"And I am very glad she can't," answered Marcy. "She will take it to old
Mrs. Brown, most likely, and if she does, she might as well stick it up
in the post-office. Mrs. Brown is a regular built gossip, and if there
is anything in the letter about me, as I think there is, I shall be sure
to hear of it. But don't it beat you how things get around? Just see how
much that girl knows; and I haven't been out of the house since I came
home yesterday afternoon. I tell you there are spies all about us. Don't
trust any one you may meet in town. Tell just the story you want
published, and nothing else. And don't forget that before you sleep
to-night I want you to bury seventeen hundred dollars for me. You've got
two good hands."
"Marcy, I am almost afraid to do it," replied Jack. "Suppose some one
should watch us and dig it up as soon as we went away?"
"We'll take Bose with us for a sentry, and slip out of the house after
everybody else has gone to bed. We'll take all the precautions we can
think of and trust to luck. There's Nashville; now be as big a rebel as
you please. I know they'll not believe a word of it, but that won't be
your fault."
As Marcy expected, the first one to rush out of the post-office and
greet them, as they were hitching their horses, was young Allison. He
gave the sailor's hand a hearty shake, and then he turned to Marcy.
"Really, I am surprised to see you here, and in citizen's clothes, too,"
said the latter. "I should have thought that your zeal for the
Confederacy would have taken you into the army long ago. Man alive,
you're missing heaps of fun. Look at my arm. I've suffered for the cause
and you haven't." ["And what's more to the point, you don't mean to,
added Marcy to himself.]
"It's fun to have a broken arm, is it?" exclaimed Allison. "I can't see
it in that light. The reason I haven't enlisted is because I thought
that perhaps you would bring me a favorable word from Captain Beardsley.
Did you speak to him about taking me as one of his crew?"
"I did, before I had been aboard the schooner half an hour."
"And what did he say?"
"His reply was that he couldn't accept you. The crew is full; you know
nothing about a vessel; he wants nothing but sailor-men aboard of him,
and if you want to do something for the South, the best thing you can do
is to go into the army."
"Well, I'd thank him to hold fast to his advice until he is asked to
give it," said Allison spitefully. "I'll not carry a musket; I can tell
him that much. I have seen some fellows who were in the fight at Bull
Run, and they say that the privates in our army are treated worse than
dogs. If I could get a commission the case would be different."
"That's the idea," said Jack. "Why don't you pitch in and get one?
Begin at the top of the ladder and not at the foot. Crawl in at the
cabin windows and don't bother about the hawsehole. I mean--you see,"
added the sailor, seeing by the blank look on his face that Allison did
not understand his nautical language, "aboard ship we take rank in this
way: First the captain, then the mates, then the captain's dog, and
lastly the foremast-hands. And I suppose it must be the same in the
army."
"You don't mean it!" exclaimed Allison, opening his eyes.
"I do mean every word of it. Ask any seafaring man and he will tell you
the same. Whatever you do, don't go before the mast--I mean don't go
into the ranks. Get a commission and be a man among men." ["You'd look
pretty with straps on your shoulders, _you_ would," said Jack mentally.
"I'd like to gaze upon the man who would be foolish enough to put
himself under your orders."]
"Don't go into the office yet," said Allison, when the boys turned about
as if to move away. "There's a crowd in there, and I want you to stay
and talk to me. Tell me how you got wounded, Marcy."
"Let Jack tell you how he piloted that Yankee schooner into the port of
Newbern with a cargo of supplies for the Confederacy," replied Marcy. He
said this with an object in view; and that object was to find out how
much Allison knew about Jack's movements and his own. Consequently,
after his interview with Captain Beardsley's daughter, he was not
greatly surprised to hear Allison say:
"Jack hasn't much to tell, has he? As I heard the story he had no
trouble at all in bringing the schooner through--he didn't even see the
smoke of a blockader. But there's one thing about it," he added, in a
lower tone, "you boys have shut up the mouths of some talkative people
around here who have been trying hard to injure you, especially Marcy."
"Why should anybody want to injure me?" exclaimed Marcy, looking
astonished. "I don't remember that I ever misused any one in the
settlement."
"I never heard of it," continued Allison. "But they say that you are for
the Union, and that the only reason you shipped on Beardsley's schooner
was because you had to."
"Some people around here say that I am for the Union?" repeated Marcy,
as though he had never heard of such a thing before. "And that I shipped
because I had to?"
"That's what they say, sure's you're born; but your broken arm gives the
lie to all such tales as that. And as for Jack--did he know that the
_West Wind_ was a smuggler when he joined her in Boston?"
"Of course he knew it," answered Marcy. "He brought out a venture and
cleared twelve hundred dollars by it."
"Whew!" whistled Allison. "I wish I could make as much money as that;
but somehow such chances never come my way. But what is a venture,
anyway?"
"It is a speculation that sailors sometimes go into on their own hook,"
replied Marcy. "For example. Captain Beardsley wanted me to invest my
wages and prize-money in cotton, sell it in Nassau for more than double
what I gave for it, put the proceeds into medicine and gun-caps, and so
double my money again when we returned to Newbern. If I had taken his
advice, I might have been four or five thousand dollars ahead of the
hounds at this minute."
"You don't mean to say that you _didn't_ act upon his advice?" exclaimed
Allison.
"Yes; that's just what I mean to say. You see, we stood a fine chance of
being captured by the Yankees, and Beardsley was so very much afraid of
it that he wouldn't load his vessel himself, but took out a cargo he
obtained through a commission merchant.--I see Jack is going into the
post-office, and we might as well go, too. If you hear anybody saying
things behind my back that they don't want to say to my face, tell them
to ride up to our house and look at the Confederate flag in our
sitting-room, and then go somewhere and get shot before they take it
upon themselves to talk about one who has risked his life while they
were stopping safe at home."
"I'll do it," said Allison, and Marcy was almost ready to believe that
he meant what he said. "But are you really flying the Confederate
colors? Every one says that your mother----"
"Yes, I know they do," said Marcy, when Allison paused and looked
frightened. "They think she is for the Union, and have set some mean
sneaks at work to get evidence against her; but you ride out to-morrow
or the next day and take a look at that flag. How do you do?" he added,
turning about to shake hands with Colonel Shelby and Mr. Dillon, who
came up at that moment and greeted him with the greatest cordiality.
"We were very sorry to hear of your misfortune," said the latter, "but
you have the satisfaction of knowing that you have suffered in a
righteous cause. Did Captain Beardsley send any word to either of us?"
"No, sir; but he sent a letter to each of you," answered the boy,
thrusting his hand into his pocket. "And there they are. This other one
is for the postmaster, and perhaps I had better go in and give it to
him."
The Colonel and his friend were so very anxious to learn what Captain
Beardsley had to say to them that they did not ask the wounded
blockade-runner any questions, but drew off on one side to read their
letters; and this action on their part went far toward confirming
Marcy's suspicions that these two men were the ones Beardsley had left
ashore "to do his dirty work" while he was at sea. He was as certain as
he could be, without positive proof, that those letters told of the
unsuccessful attempts the captain had made at different times to find
out whether or not there was any money hidden in Mrs. Gray's house. That
money had been a constant source of trouble to the boy, but now he felt
like yelling every time he thought of it. If their "secret enemies" took
the course that sailor Jack was afraid they might take--if they told the
Confederate authorities that Mrs. Gray, after repudiating her debts to
Northern merchants (debts that she never owed), had concealed the money
instead of turning it into the Confederate treasury as the law provided,
then there would be trouble indeed.
When Marcy and Allison went into the post-office they found Jack
surrounded by an interested group of old-time friends, to whom he was
giving a humorous account of Captain Beardsley's unsuccessful effort to
capture the vessel to which he belonged.
"It happened right here on our own coast," said Jack. "She first tried
to fool us by showing the figures that were painted on her sails; but
that wouldn't go down with our old man. Then she hoisted the English
colors, but that made us sheer still farther away from her; for what
would a pilot-boat be doing in these waters with a foreign flag at her
peak? Than she cut loose on us with her bow gun, and we yelled and shot
back with sporting rifles. What do you think of a fellow who will try
his best to bring trouble to his only brother by showing a friendly
flag, and then shoot cannons at him when he finds he can't do it? That's
the way Marcy served me and more than that, he had the face to tell me
of it when I came home last night."
Of course this raised a laugh at Marcy's expense, but he didn't seem to
mind it. He gave the postmaster Captain Beardsley's letter and asked for
the mail in his mother's box.
"And of course when the brig escaped you yelled as loudly as any Yankee
in the crew," observed one of his auditors. "I suppose you had to in
order to keep out of trouble."
"But I don't reckon he'll do it again in a hurry," said another. "When
he brought that Yankee schooner into Newbern he proved to my
satisfaction that he is as good a Confederate as any man in the State.
Why didn't you stay with her. Jack, and make yourself rich by running
the blockade?"
"I had two reasons," answered the sailor. "In the first place I wanted
to come home for awhile; and in the next, there is too much danger these
times in cruising about on an unarmed vessel. The next time I ship it
will be aboard of something that can fight."
"Did you hear any talk of an ironclad that is being built in the river a
few miles above Newbern?" asked a third.
Jack winked first one eye and then the other, looked sharply into the
face of each member of the group around him, and then turned about and
softly rapped the counter with his riding-whip.
"You needn't be afraid to speak freely," said the postmaster, who knew
what the sailor meant by this pantomime. "There isn't a traitor within
the hearing of your voice. We are all true blue."
"One can't be too careful in times like these," replied Jack, turning
around again and facing the crowd. "After I have been among you awhile,
I shall know who my friends are. I did hear some talk of a heavy vessel
that is to be added to the defensive force of the city, and which might
some time go outside and scatter the blockading fleet, but I didn't go
up to take a look at her. I couldn't spare the time. She'll need a crew
when she is completed, and if I leave the settlement between two
days--if I am here to-night and gone to-morrow morning--my friends
needn't worry over me."
"We understand. You'll be on board an armed vessel fighting for your
principles."
"You're right I will. Now, George," he added, turning to the clerk and
slamming his saddle-bags upon the counter, "I want one of those pockets
filled with plug tobacco, and the other stuffed with the gaudiest
bandanas you've got in the store."
The clerk took the saddle-bags, and when they were passed back to their
owner a few minutes later, they were so full that it was a matter of
some difficulty to buckle the flaps. Then the boys said good-bye and
left the store. They started off in a lope, but when they were a mile or
so from the town and alone on the road, they drew their horses down to a
walk, and Jack said:
"Do they take me for one of them or not?"
"They pretend to, but everybody is so sly and treacherous that you can't
place reliance upon anything," answered his brother. "What you said
about leaving home between two days was good. It will help me, for I can
refer to it when you are gone. Now, Jack, you must put up that rebel
flag the minute you get home. I told Allison about it, and if he should
ride out some day and find the flag wasn't there, he would suspect that
we are not just the sort of folks he has been led to believe."
"All right! And our next hard work must be to hide your money and paint
that schooner of yours. We'll go about it openly and above board. We'll
say she is scaling,--if she isn't she ought to be, for it is a long time
since she saw a brush,--and that she needs another coat of paint to
protect her from the weather."
This programme was duly carried out. Of course Mrs. Gray protested,
mildly, when Jack brought down his rebel flag, and, after spreading it
upon the floor so that his mother could have a good view of it,
proceeded to hang it upon the sitting-room wall; but when the boys told
her why they thought it best to place it there, she became silent and
permitted them to do as they pleased. While they were putting the trophy
in position, Jack found opportunity to whisper to his brother:
"Now, if any of our officious neighbors give the Confederate officers a
hint that mother is keeping back money that she ought to turn into the
treasury, and they come here to search the house, they'll take a look at
this flag and go away without touching a thing. Mark what I tell you."
"But suppose the Yankees come here and take a look at it; then what?"
whispered Marcy, in reply.
"Well, that will be a black horse of another color," said Jack. "They'll
come here--don't you lose any sleep worrying about that; but when they
come, you must see to it that this flag is out of sight. I'll say one
thing for the rebels," he said aloud, turning his head on one side and
gazing critically at his prize, "they've got good taste. I've seen the
colors of all civilized nations, and that flag right there on the wall
is the handsomest in the world, save one."
"But think of the principles it represents," exclaimed Mrs. Gray.
"Disunion and slavery."
"Of course," replied Jack. "But when these fanatics have been soundly
thrashed, there will be no such things as disunion and slavery. They
will be buried out of sight. I was speaking of the rebel flag, which,
next to our own, is the prettiest I ever saw. Their naval uniforms are
handsome, too."
Of course it soon became known among the servants that there was a
Confederate banner displayed upon the walls of the "great house," and
those who came into the room turned the whites of their eyes at it and
then looked at Marcy and Jack in utter astonishment. But the boys did
not appear to notice them nor did they volunteer any explanation--not
even when old Morris came in to satisfy himself that the astounding news
he had heard was really true. The sight of the emblem, which he knew was
upheld by men who were fighting for the sole purpose of keeping him and
his race in bondage, struck him dumb, and he left the room as silently
as he had entered it. In less than half an hour the news reached
Hanson's ears, and that worthy, astonished and perplexed, waited
impatiently for night to come so that he could ride into town and tell
Colonel Shelby about it.