CAPTAIN FLANGER IN IRONS
Christy Passford related to Captain Chantor all that had occurred to the
detective and himself from the time of their departure from the ship to
their parting on the shore; and he did not fail to mention the fact that
Mr. Gilfleur had come to his assistance when he was assaulted by the
ruffian in front of the saloon.
"You have had a narrow escape, Mr. Passford," said the commander, when
he had concluded. "The idea of avenging an injury received in that way
is something I never happened to hear of before, though my experience is
not unlimited. Mr. Birdwing," he continued, after the first lieutenant
had reported to him, "had you any difficulty in effecting the capture of
the Snapper?"
"Only with the captain; for my force was sufficient to have taken her if
she had been fully armed and manned. There was no fighting; but I was
obliged to put the captain in irons, for he was about the ugliest and
most unreasonable man I ever encountered," replied the chief of the boat
expedition. "I was not at all satisfied that the steamer was a fit
subject for capture till your order came to me, brought by Mr. Hackling.
Then Captain Flanger not only protested, with more bad language than I
ever before heard in the same time, but he absolutely refused to yield.
I could not give him the reasons that induced you to send me the order,
and I referred the matter to you."
The Snapper had been anchored within a cable's length of the Chateaugay,
and Mr. Birdwing had brought Captain Flanger on board of the ship, with
Percy Pierson, that the question of prize might be definitely settled by
the commander, for he was not quite satisfied himself. The captain of
the Snapper was still in irons, and he and his companion had been put
under guard in the waist. The man with the mutilated nose had not yet
seen Christy, and possibly he was still wondering what had become of his
chief officer and the two men who had been ordered to put the prisoner
on the ledge.
Christy had informed Captain Chantor, in his narrative, of the manner in
which he had turned the tables on his custodians, and he had not
forgotten that the party were still where he had left them. He reminded
the commander of the latter fact, and a quartermaster was sent in the
third cutter to bring them off, and put them on board of the Snapper;
where a considerable force still remained under the charge of Mr.
Carlin, the third lieutenant.
"Now we will settle this matter with the captain of the Snapper, and I
hope to convince him that his vessel is a lawful prize, so far as she
can be so declared in advance of the decision of the court," said
Captain Chantor. "Come with me, if you please, Mr. Birdwing. For the
present, Mr. Passford, will you oblige me by keeping in the shade till I
send for you?"
"Certainly, Captain Chantor, though I should like to hear what Captain
Flanger has to say in defence of his steamer," replied the passenger.
"But I will take care not to show myself to him till you are ready for
me."
"I do not object to that arrangement. I do not quite understand who this
Percy Pierson is, though you mentioned him in your report of what had
occurred during your absence," added the commander.
"He is the son of Colonel Richard Pierson, a Confederate commissioner,
who represents his government at Nassau, purchasing vessels as
opportunity to do so is found. His son is the person who tried to induce
me to take passage in the Snapper, with the promise that I should be
permitted to land at Key West. It was only a trick to get me on board of
the steamer; and when it failed, for I declined to fall into the trap,
I was captured by a gang of four or five ruffians, Captain Flanger being
one of them, and conveyed to the vessel, where I was locked up in a
stateroom till after she had sailed."
"That is a proper question for the British government to deal with, and
I hope it will be put in the way of adjustment by the proper officials,
though I am inclined to regard it as an act of war, which will justify
me in holding the men engaged in the outrage as prisoners. Do you know
who they are, Mr. Passford?"
"I can designate only three of them,--the captain, Mr. Dawbin, the mate,
who is now on the ledge, and Percy Pierson. I am sure they were all in
the carriage that conveyed me to the beach where I was put into the
boat. The others were sailors, and I could not identify them."
"I will hold the three you name as prisoners," added Captain Chantor,
as he moved forward, followed by the executive officer.
It was getting dark, and Christy made his way to the shadow of the
mainmast, where he obtained a position that enabled him to hear all that
passed without being seen himself. Captain Flanger seemed to be more
subdued than he had been reported to be on board of the Snapper, and the
commander ordered the irons to be taken from his wrists.
"Captain Flanger, I have concluded to make a prize of the Snapper; but I
am willing to hear anything you may wish to offer," Captain Chantor
began.
"I protest; you have no more right to make a prize of my vessel than you
have to capture a British man-of-war, if you were able to do such a
thing," replied the commander of the Snapper.
"Do you claim that the Snapper is a British vessel?"
"Yes, I do!" blustered Captain Flanger recklessly.
"Are you a British subject?"
"No, I am not; but I am not attempting to run the blockade."
"For what port are you bound?"
"Havana."
"Have you a clearance for that port?"
"For Havana, and a market."
"But you have no more idea of going to Havana than you have of going to
China," added the captain of the Chateaugay. "You are bound to Mobile,
and you intend to run the blockade; and that intention proved, you are
liable to capture."
"You seem to know my business better than I know it myself," said
Captain Flanger, with a sneer in his tones.
"Perhaps I know it quite as well as you do, at least so far as the
voyage of the Snapper is concerned," replied the commander of the
Chateaugay, who proceeded to explain international law in relation to
the intention to run the blockade. "I shall be able to prove in the
court which sits upon your case that you left Nassau for the purpose
of running the blockade established at the entrance of Mobile Bay.
I presume that will be enough to satisfy both you and the court. In
Nassau you did not hesitate to announce your intention to run the
blockade, and get into Mobile."
"I should like to see you prove it," growled the captain of the Snapper,
in his sneering tones.
"I don't think you would like to see me do it; but I will take you at
your word, and prove it now. I have an excellent witness, to whom you
made your announcement;" and at this remark Christy stepped out from
behind the mainmast, and placed himself in front of the astounded
ruffian. "Lieutenant Passford, a naval officer in excellent repute,
is all ready to make oath to your assertions."
Captain Flanger and Percy Pierson gazed in silence at the witness, for
they supposed he was on the ledge to which he had been transported by
the boat. Christy repeated what he had said before, and stated in what
manner he had been made a prisoner on board of the Snapper.
"For this outrage in a neutral port I shall hold you and Mr. Pierson as
prisoners, leaving the government to determine what steps shall be taken
in regard to you; but I trust you will be handed over to the authorities
at Nassau, to be properly punished for the outrage."
Of course this decision did not suit Captain Flanger; and Percy Pierson
appeared to be intensely alarmed at the prospect before him. Captain
Chantor, after consulting with his naval passenger, determined to send
the Snapper to Key West, from which she could readily be despatched to
New York if occasion should require. Mr. Carlin was appointed
prize-master, with a sufficient crew; and at daylight the next morning
he sailed for his destination.
The boat which had been sent for the mate and two men belonging to the
Snapper put them on board of the steamer; but the captain and the
passenger were retained on board of the Chateaugay. The man with the
mutilated nose was so disgusted at the loss of his vessel, and with the
decision of his captor, that he could not contain himself; and it became
necessary not only to restore his irons, but also to commit him to the
"brig," which is the ship's prison.
"What is to become of me, Christy?" asked Percy in the evening, overcome
with terror at the prospect before him.
"That is more than I can inform you," replied Christy coldly.
"But we had no intention of doing you any harm; and we treated you well
after you went on board of the Snapper."
"You committed a dastardly outrage upon me; but your punishment will be
left to others."
"But I had no intention to do you any harm," pleaded Percy.
"No more lies! You have told me enough since I met you."
"But I am speaking the truth now," protested the frightened Southerner.
"No, you are not; the truth is not in you! Did you mean me no harm when
you attempted to entice me on board of the Snapper? Did you mean me no
harm when you engaged Flanger and his ruffians to make me a prisoner,
and put me on board of his steamer? It was a flagrant outrage from
beginning to end; for I had the same rights in Nassau that you and your
father had, and both of you abused the hospitality of the place when you
assaulted me."
"You were a prisoner of the Confederacy, and had escaped in a
blockade-runner; and I thought it was no more than right that you should
be returned to your prison," Percy explained.
"I had the right to escape if I could, and was willing to take the risk;
and my capture in Nassau was a cowardly trick. But I did not escape from
a Confederate prison."
"You told me you did."
"I did not; that was a conclusion to which you jumped with very little
help from me."
"I thought I was doing my duty to my country."
"Then you were an idiot. You have done your best to compromise your
country, as you call it, with the British government. If your father is
not sent out of Nassau, I shall lose my guess as a Yankee."
"But my father would not allow Captain Flanger to do you any harm; for
he was bent upon hanging you as soon as he got out of sight of land, and
he sent me with you to see my mother in order to prevent him from
carrying out his threat."
"You would have been a powerful preventive in the face of such a brutal
ruffian as Captain Flanger," said Christy with a sneer. "You have lied
to me before about your father, and I cannot believe anything you say."
"I am speaking the truth now; my father saved your life. I heard him
tell Flanger that he would lose the command of the Snapper if any harm
came to you."
"If he did so, he did it from the fear of the British authorities.
I have nothing more to say about it."
"But as my father saved your life, you ought to stand by me in this
scrape," pleaded Percy.
"Whatever was done by you or your father for me, was done from the fear
of consequences; and you were the originator of the outrage against me,"
added Christy, as he descended to the ward room.
The next morning the Snapper was on her voyage to Key West, and the
Chateaugay headed for the Hole in the Wall, though she gave it a wide
berth, and stood off to the eastward. The next night, being the fourth
since the Eleuthera left the ship, the boat containing Mr. Gilfleur was
picked up about twenty miles east of the lights. The detective came on
board, and was welcomed by the captain, who had been called by his own
order.