AT THE END OF THE CHASE
Mr. Gilfleur estimated that the Eleuthera was at least fifteen miles
from the light, and the whistles were not loud enough to be heard at
that distance. Neither of the voyagers had any doubt that the dark mass
ahead was the Chateaugay, and the skipper headed the boat for her. If it
were not the ship that was expecting to pick up the visitors to the
island, she would not be whistling in mid-ocean; and any other vessel
would carry a head and side lights.
In half an hour more, for the Chateaugay appeared to have stopped her
screw, the boat was within speaking distance, and the hail of Christy
was answered. When she came alongside the steamer, the accommodation
ladder was rigged out, several seamen came on board, and the voyagers
hastened to the deck of the ship. Captain Chantor grasped the hand of
the lieutenant, and then of the detective.
"I had some doubts whether or not I should ever see you again," said the
commander. "If they had discovered that one of you was a United States
naval officer, they would have mobbed you."
"As they did the American consul while we were there," added Mr.
Gilfleur.
"You will tell me of that later," replied the captain, as he directed
the officer of the watch to hoist in the boat and secure it as it had
been before. "Now, come down into my cabin, and tell me your news, if
you have seen something, even if you have not done anything," he added.
"We were not expected to capture the islands, or make any demonstration;
and we have been in only one fight," replied Christy, to whom the
commander turned as soon as they were seated at the table.
"Then you have been in a fight?" queried the captain.
"Only with the fists. We defended the United States consul when he was
hard pressed, and we got him safely into his office by the time the
police came upon the scene," continued Christy. "But we have important
information. Mr. Gilfleur will give it to you in full."
"Pardon; but I very much prefer that Mr. Passford should be the
historian of the expedition," interposed the detective.
"But my friend and companion has been the principal actor; and I am sure
I could not have done anything to obtain the information without him,"
protested the lieutenant.
"Then it is all the more proper that you should tell the story, Mr.
Passford, and spare Mr. Gilfleur's modesty," said the captain.
It was agreed that Christy should be the narrator of the results of the
expedition, and he first described the trip to Hamilton in the boat.
Then he told about the assault on the consul, and in what manner they
had defended him.
"I ought to inform you at once that the Dornoch was at St. George's
harbor, and that she was to sail yesterday afternoon at five o'clock,"
said Christy. "But she is bound to the southward, and her first mission
is to intercept an English or French steamer, and put a Confederate
commissioner, wishing to get to England, on board of her. This agent of
the South happens to be my uncle."
"The brother of Captain Passford?"
"Yes, Captain; and he is provided with funds to purchase two
vessels--steamers, to be fitted up as men-of-war."
"Then if he is your father's brother, you think, perhaps, that we ought
not to molest him," suggested the captain.
"Why, his graceless nephew even considered a scheme to entice him on
board of our boat, under pretence of finding a passage to England for
him," interposed Mr. Gilfleur, laughing heartily at the suggestion of
the commander.
"I believe in treating him like a Christian and a gentleman, for he is
both of these; but I do not believe in letting him fill up the
Confederate navy with foreign-built steamers, to ruin the commerce of my
country," replied the young officer with spirit. "My father would no
more believe in it than I do. You should treat him, Captain Chantor,
exactly as though he was nobody's brother or uncle."
The commander clapped his hands as though he was of the same opinion as
his passenger, and Christy proceeded with his narrative, describing
their visit to the Dornoch and the blockade-runners at St. George's and
Hamilton. The captain was very much amused at his interview in French
with Captain Rombold, and his conversations with officers of other
vessels they had boarded. The detective took his papers from the belt,
and read the names of the steamers, and the ports for which they were
bound.
"They were a very obliging lot of blockade-runners," said the captain,
laughing heartily at the freedom with which they had spoken.
"I don't suppose there is an American in the Bermudas at the present
time besides Mr. Alwayn, the consul," added the detective. "The
blockade-runners have the islands all to themselves, or at least the two
towns on them. They have plenty of money, and they spend it without
stint or measure. They make business good, and the inhabitants take
excellent care of them. It is no place for Americans; for everybody's
sympathy is with the South. It seems to me that there is no danger of
talking about their business anywhere in the islands."
"They were speaking all the time to a Frenchman, who had considerable
difficulty in using the English language," said Christy. "All the talk
with Captain Rombold was in French."
The narrative was finished, and discussed at great length. The order had
been given to the officer of the deck to go ahead at full speed, making
the course south-east, after the Eleuthera had been hoisted on board and
secured.
"It looks decidedly like a battle some time to-morrow," said the
commander thoughtfully.
"No doubt of it," added Christy.
"If the Dornoch sailed at five o'clock yesterday afternoon, according to
the arrangement, she must be over a hundred miles from the islands at
this moment," continued Captain Chantor thoughtfully, as he consulted
his watch. "We can only conjecture his course, and that is the important
thing for us to know. His first objective point is to intercept a
steamer bound to England or France. If he runs directly to the southward
he may miss the first one."
"If I were in his place I should run to the eastward, so as not to fall
astern of any possible steamer bound to England," added Christy.
"That was the thought that first came to my mind," replied the
commander, as he brought out a chart and spread it on the table. "For
that reason I gave out the course to the south-east."
A careful examination of the chart and an extended calculation followed.
It was agreed between the two naval officers that the Dornoch would go
to the eastward till she fell into the track of vessels bound to the
north-east from Jamaica, Cuban ports, or Mexico, and then put her head
to the south-west. It was four o'clock in the morning, the cruiser had
been out nine hours, and the captain dotted the chart where he believed
she was at that moment.
"She has made all the easting necessary, and by this time she has laid
her course about south-west," continued the commander. "Captain Rombold
will not hurry his ship, for he has no occasion to do so, and he will
naturally save his coal. If our calculations are correct, we shall see
the Dornoch about noon to-day;" and he pointed to the conjunction of the
two courses as he had drawn them on a diagram. "That is all; and we had
better turn in."
A sharp lookout was maintained during the hours of the morning watch,
for the conjectures and calculations of the captain might prove to be
all wrong. It was possible that the Dornoch had proceeded directly to
the southward, after making less easting than was anticipated. Nothing
was seen of any steamer. But in the middle of the forenoon watch a long
and rather faint streak of black was discovered in the east. The Dornoch
was not exactly a blockade-runner, and doubtless she used soft coal,
though anthracite was beginning to come into use in other than American
steamers, for its smoke was less likely to betray them.
"I think we have figured this matter out correctly, Mr. Passford," said
Captain Chantor, as they gazed at the attenuated streak of black.
"Captain Rombold is a very competent officer, and you and he seem to
have agreed in your calculations," added Christy.
The steamer to the eastward soon came in sight; she and the Chateaugay
were headed for the same point, and by noon they were in plain sight of
each other. In another hour they were within hailing distance.
"That is not the Dornoch," said Christy decidedly.
"No; she is much larger than the Dornoch," added Mr. Gilfleur.
"I am disappointed," replied the captain.
The steamer showed the British flag, and went on her way to the
south-west. The Chateaugay continued on her course without change till
eight bells in the afternoon watch, when a heavier volume of smoke was
descried in the north-east. No change was made in the course, and at the
beginning of the second dog watch the craft from which the smoke issued
could be seen with the naked eye. She was headed to the south-west, and
it was evident that her course would carry her to the westward of the
Chateaugay. The darkness soon settled down upon the ocean, and the port
light of the stranger showed itself over the starboard quarter of the
ship, proving that it crossed the wake of the other.
The action, if the steamer proved to be the Dornoch, must be deferred
till the next morning. It was impossible to determine what she was in
the darkness, and Captain Chantor ordered the course to be changed to
correspond with that of the stranger, which manifested no disposition to
get away from her. All night the two vessels maintained the same
relative position, and both were making about ten knots an hour.
At daylight in the morning the commander and Christy were on the
quarter-deck, anxiously observing the stranger. She was carefully
examined with the glasses.
"That is the Dornoch!" exclaimed Mr. Gilfleur, after a long inspection
with the glass.
"No doubt of it," added Christy.
"You are sure of it?" inquired the commander.
"We have both been on board of her, and I am perfectly sure of it,"
replied Christy, who proceeded to explain the details by which he
identified her; and the captain was entirely satisfied.
The Dornoch was not more than two miles distant from the Chateaugay, for
in the early morning hours the course had been changed a couple of
points, to bring her nearer for examination. It was now a chase, and the
chief engineer was instructed to give the ship her best speed. It was
soon evident that the Dornoch was hurrying her pace, for her
smoke-stacks were vomiting forth immense inky clouds.
"I doubt if Captain Rombold cares to fight with my uncle on board," said
Christy. "He can see that the Chateaugay is of heavier metal than the
Dornoch."
"I should suppose that it would be his first care, as perhaps he regards
it as his first duty, to put his passenger on board of a steamer bound
to England," added the commander. "It appears to be a question of speed
just now."
The Chateaugay was driven to her utmost, and it was soon clear that she
was too much for her antagonist. At two bells in the forenoon watch she
was about a mile abreast of the chase, which had not yet shown her
colors. The flag of the United States floated at the peak, and the
commander ordered a shot to be fired across the forefoot of the Dornoch.
This was an order for her to come to; but, instead of doing so, she
flung out the Confederate flag, and fired a shotted gun, the ball from
which whizzed over the heads of the Chateaugay's officers on the
quarter-deck.