THE BEGINNING OF A CHASE
Major Pierson still remained on board of the Bellevite, for no officer
had been sent on board for him, as expected; and he was under the
efficient care of Sampson. He was subjected to no restraint, and he took
his breakfast with the engineer. But he was not a welcome visitor on
board, and Captain Passford would have been very glad to get rid of him.
The owner sought him the next time he came on board, when he was not so
busy as he had been before. But he said nothing to him about his mission
at the North, and treated him as a guest rather than a prisoner. For
reasons of his own, though not difficult to conjecture, he was very
anxious to make a good appearance before the father of Miss Florry,
and he was a gentleman in his manners.
"Major Pierson, I am sorry to do anything that may be unpleasant to
you, but I have not the means of holding you as a prisoner," said the
captain, after they had been talking of indifferent subjects for a time.
"I realize that I am a prisoner of war, subject to such restraint as my
captors impose upon me," replied the major.
"If you will allow yourself to be paroled, it will settle your status
for the present," added Captain Passford.
"As a guest at your house?" asked the major, his face suddenly
brightening up. "I shall be very happy to give my parole."
"Not at my house, if you please, Major Pierson; it would not be
convenient at the present time," replied the owner, astonished at the
suggestion,
"Then you will excuse me if I decline to accept a parole," replied the
prisoner, biting his lip as though he was not pleased with the reply.
"As a guest in your house, I should not wish you to have any solicitude
in regard to me."
"Very well, major; I cannot object to your decision," added the captain,
as he touched his hat and left the prisoner to the attentions of
Sampson.
He was kept on board of the Bellevite, now re-enforced by the return of
about twenty of her former crew, so that regular watches were kept, and
there was no chance for the prisoner to escape, and none for Captain
Carboneer to capture the steamer. Dr. Linscott soon relieved Corny of
his pain, but it was many weeks before he was fit to leave the house,
and then he was paroled. Captain Passford could never ascertain what had
become of the crew intended for the Bellevite, though it was supposed,
as they separated, that they found their way to some port where they
could ship for their chosen service.
On the Monday following the attempt to capture her, the Bellevite
was taken to the Navy Yard, and she was prepared for service. It was
understood that her former officers and crew would be appointed to her,
for they were accustomed to the vessel, and could do better with her
than any other. Paul Vapoor and Christy Passford had already received
their commissions and orders. Captain Breaker had been restored to his
former rank, and was to be the commander of the Bellevite.
It was two months before the ship was ready to go into commission.
Important alterations had been made below, and the armament had been
taken from her deck, substituting for it a Parrot midship piece, of
eight-inch bore, and carrying a one hundred and fifty pound shot, two
sixty-pounders, and two thirty-pounders. This was a heavy armament, but
the ship was strong enough to bear it.
Joel Dashington and Ethan Blowitt were appointed as masters, and were
to be the first and second lieutenants, while Christy Passford was the
third. Leon Bolter was made a first assistant engineer, and Fred Faggs
the second. Sampson obtained his place as a first-class fireman, with
the expectation of soon becoming an assistant engineer, for he was well
qualified for the position.
Captain Passford, though he had offered his services in any capacity in
which he might be needed, had been induced to withdraw his application
for the reason that he could be of more service to the cause at home
than he could in the field or at sea. He was a man of influence, and he
was needed in civil life. He was even able to do more as an adviser and
counsellor than in any public office, though he filled several of the
latter in the earlier part of the war. He furnished no inconsiderable
part of the money needed at particular times, and he was only less
valuable on account of his money than he was for his patriotism and
good judgment.
"Now, Christy, remember that you are an officer of the United States,
and make yourself worthy of the place you occupy," said his father to
Christy, on the evening of his last day at home. "Study your duty, and
then perform it faithfully. Perhaps I can tell you something of more
value than good advice is generally considered to be."
"I shall try to follow your good advice, father; and I mean to do my
duty; and it will not be for the want of trying if I fail," replied
Christy.
"You have sailed with Captain Breaker a great deal when you were in
a different relation to him. Now I must warn you that he has his duty
to do, and I hope you will not expect to be favored, or ask him for
privileges not granted to other officers," continued the late owner
of the Bellevite.
"I am sure I expect him to be impartial with his officers."
"I meant to have seen Breaker this afternoon before I came home; but I
had not time to go to the ship. For some of my own affairs I have had
three agents in England. I wrote them some time ago to obtain all the
information they could in regard to vessels, especially steamers, that
cleared for any ports of the British Possessions near the United
States," continued Captain Passford, taking a letter from his pocket.
"Two weeks ago an iron steamer sailed from a port in Ireland for the
Bermudas. This letter will tell you all about it, and you will hand it
to Captain Breaker, and give him my explanation."
The midshipman put the letter into his pocket without reading it. In his
chamber he looked it over, and found that it meant business, and he was
delighted with the idea of having something to do before he reached the
port for which the ship was bound, for the inactivity of the blockade
was not wholly to his mind. He slept as soundly as usual, for already he
had come to regard war as the business in which he was engaged, and he
had but little sickly sentiment over it.
It was a tearful parting with his mother and sister before he took the
train with his father, and it was a sad one with his father when he went
off to the Bellevite in the boat. But neither of them shed any tears,
for both felt that they were called upon to discharge their duty to
their country.
Captain Breaker had always trained his officers and seamen to perform
their duty in conformity with the discipline of the navy so far as it
was practicable to do so, and consequently his ship's company were very
nearly at home from the beginning of the voyage. He had received his
sealed orders, and at noon the Bellevite went down the bay on her
mission to the South, though no one on board knew where the ship was
bound. The crew had been re-enforced by as many men as she had usually
carried, and the first day was a very busy one in putting everything in
order. Christy had handed the letter his father had given him to the
captain, and after dinner he spoke of it.
"Did you read this letter, Mr. Passford?" asked the captain.
"I did, sir; my father told me to read it," replied Christy.
"It appears that a very fast steamer loaded with a valuable cargo sailed
from Belfast eleven days ago, clearing for the Bermudas. We shall all be
very happy to pay our respects to her; but I can say nothing till I have
opened my orders to-morrow," said Captain Breaker.
"If she sailed eleven days ago from Belfast, she ought to be well
up with the Bermudas, if she is as fast as represented, sir," added
Christy, hoping the orders would permit the Bellevite to look out for
the Killbright, as she was called.
The next day, as the observations indicated the latitude in which the
sealed orders were to be opened, the seal of the official envelope was
broken. Captain Breaker read the letter, and a smile came over his
bronzed face. The orders were evidently to his satisfaction; and
Christy, who was on duty near him, remembered what his father had said
to him, and asked no question, as he would have been likely to do under
other circumstances. But the commander was kind enough to call his
officers to him, and inform them of the duty assigned to the ship.
The government had received information which indicated the approach
to our shores of a considerable fleet of blockade runners, and the
Bellevite, on account of her reputed fast sailing, was to cruise for
a given time off the coast in search of these blockade runners.
"I have no doubt these blockade runners will go into the Bermudas,
especially the Killbright. If we go into St. George, we shall not be
allowed to sail till twenty-four hours after this fast vessel leaves,"
said Captain Breaker. "On the other hand, if we are seen off the port,
she will not come out."
"I don't see, then, that we can do anything about it, Captain Breaker,"
added Mr. Dashington.
"Captain Passford's correspondent thinks the Killbright is intended for
the Confederate Navy, and that she is commanded by a naval officer sent
out for the purpose," continued the captain.
But no satisfactory measures could be devised for overcoming the
difficulties on both hands, and the steamer sped on her way. In two
days more she was in sight of the Bermudas. It was almost dark when the
lookout sighted a steamer coming out from the islands. By the order of
the captain, the engine was stopped, and the steamer rested silently on
a calm sea.
"I don't think she has seen us yet," said Captain Breaker. "If she had,
she would have come about and run back into the harbor."
"She keeps on her course," added Mr. Dashington.
"If she has the reputation of being a very fast vessel, very likely she
believes that she can run away from us," suggested Mr. Blowitt.
"As I don't believe the vessel floats that can outsail the Bellevite,
I shall give her time to get well away from the port before the screw
turns again," said the captain.
"Mr. Passford," called he a little later.
"On duty, sir," replied Christy, touching his cap to the commander.
"You will have the midship gun charged with a solid shot, and have it
ready for use at once."
As the steamer in the distance still kept on her course, the screw of
the Bellevite was started. The chief engineer was called upon deck, and
the situation explained to him.
"We shall want all the speed we can get out of her, Mr. Vapoor," said
the captain.
"We shall have no trouble in making twenty-two knots, sir, with the sea
as it is now," replied the engineer.
"That steamer means to go into the Cape Fear River," said Mr. Blowitt,
when the chase had laid her course. "If she was going in at Savannah,
or round into the Gulf, she would go more to the south."
"I think you are right; but she has room enough to run away from us if
she can," added the captain.
It was a busy time in the fireroom, but there was nothing to do on deck
but watch the steamer. She had actually lighted the green light on the
starboard, and evidently did not expect to be overhauled, even if her
commander had noticed the presence of the Bellevite.