THE CONFEDERATE STEAMER YAZOO
It was impossible to discover the nature or extent of the injury the
chase had received from the shot from the midship gun; but she had been
disabled, though it might be but slightly. The Bellevite dashed on, as
though impatient to obtain possession of her prey. All the glasses on
board were brought to bear on the injured vessel, which all hands
regarded as already a prize.
The glasses did not reveal any considerable havoc in the side of the
steamer, and the shot hole could easily be plugged when necessary; but
the commander of the craft did not yet give up the ship, for he seemed
to be engaged in hoisting her foresail and jibs, evidently with the
intention of bringing her about so that he could use his guns. The wind
was very light, and his chances of accomplishing his purpose were not
very brilliant.
"Mr. Dashington, you will call all hands, and be ready to board the
prize in three divisions when we run abreast of her," said Captain
Breaker. "Let Mr. Passford command the forward division; Mr. Blowitt,
the waist; and Mr. Calvert, the quarter."
The boarders were mustered at once, as there was no occasion to fire
again at the prize. Each officer arranged his men, and spoke some
stirring words to them. Men in the tops were supplied with muskets,
and all with revolvers and cutlasses. It was not believed that all
this force would be necessary to capture the prize, but there was some
evidence that she had a fighting crew on board, and the captain prepared
for the worst.
As the Bellevite came nearer to the prize, the sound of hammers was
heard, and it appeared that the engineers were engaged in an effort to
repair the mischief which had been done to the engine. It was still
impossible to see how many men she had on board, but Captain Breaker did
not estimate that she had a full ship's company, for vessels intended
for war purposes, escaping as this one doubtless had, did not usually
take their force on board at the beginning of the cruise.
[Illustration: "Christy and Beeks on the Steamer's Deck."--Page 181.]
The three divisions of boarders were all in readiness, and all they
feared was that there would be little for them to do on board the enemy.
Captain Breaker was in the fore rigging where he could observe all that
was done on the decks of both vessels. The Bellevite went ahead with all
speed till the signal was given to slow down. The sea was not heavy, and
the captain laid her alongside of the prize.
"Do you surrender?" demanded the commander in a loud tone, but with his
usual dignity.
"I do not surrender!" replied the captain of the steamer.
"Boarders away!" shouted Captain Breaker.
Christy Passford was the first to leap upon the rail of the other
vessel, and then he dropped in the same instant upon her deck. At that
moment he was conscious that the steamer under him was moving, though
it might be the shaking which the Bellevite gave her when she came
alongside. On the deck of the prize, as he still taught himself to
consider her, he saw not more than thirty men; and with nearly three
times that number on the other side, it did not look as if it could be
a very hotly contested battle.
As Christy jumped down from the rail, Beeks followed him, and he was not
a little surprised to find that they were alone. But there was no enemy
at hand upon whom he could flesh his cutlass, and he sprang upon the
rail again. He found that his impression had been correct, for the
vessel was moving. She had already left a gap a dozen feet wide between
the Bellevite and herself.
It appeared that the machinery had been repaired, and that it was now
capable of doing all that it had done before. The steamer was the
Killbright, for the lieutenant saw the name painted in several places
about her forward deck. She had suddenly shot ahead very unexpectedly
to the captors, as they supposed they were, alongside of her. A puff
of wind had been favoring her before, and she darted away towards the
northwest. As she began to move, the lock-strings of her port battery
were pulled as rapidly as possible.
It would have been impossible to help hitting the Bellevite, with the
three guns fired into her at so short a distance. But the cloud of smoke
that enveloped both vessels prevented the captain from taking in the
situation. The crew of the Killbright were ordered to reload their guns
instantly. Whatever was to happen in the near or distant future, it
was evident that the dangerous steamer had not yet been captured, and
Christy did not think of her as a prize any more just then.
The Killbright crowded on all the steam she could obtain, and she
rapidly increased the distance between herself and the Bellevite. She
fired her three broadside guns continually, but it was clear to Christy
that the men had not been trained to this business, or they might
perhaps have sunk the naval vessel by this time.
The Bellevite fired her two broadside guns, and they made terrible havoc
in the upper works of the Killbright. But the strangest thing of all to
the young lieutenant, caught on board of the anticipated prize, was that
the Bellevite did not go ahead, and give the boarding parties a chance
to get on the deck of the enemy.
"I don't understand it, Beeks," said Christy as he found himself by the
side of the quartermaster. "Why don't the ship give chase?"
"I think she must be disabled, sir," replied the warrant officer.
"What could have disabled her?"
"I suppose she might be hit as well as this vessel," replied Beets, no
better pleased with the situation than his companion in trouble. "They
fired three shots into her while she was alongside."
"She must have been hit in a bad place, or she would have been alongside
of us before this time. But here we are."
The third lieutenant and quartermaster felt very much like prisoners,
though they had no evidence that the Killbright was a ship-of-war,
except that she had hoisted the Confederate flag, and fired upon the
Bellevite. But the rakish-looking steamer continued on her course, while
the Bellevite had not moved since the first broadside. She had already
made a mile, and the shots from her enemy did not seem to disable her.
She continued to run with all her speed, and the lieutenant felt the
deck quiver as though it was in danger of being shaken out of her. But
she was not followed by the Bellevite, and things began to look dark
and somewhat cheerless to Christy. The firing came to an end, for the
distance was becoming too great for it to be effectual on either side.
"If we had not jumped down from the rail when we boarded, we might have
escaped this scrape," said Beeks, who was even more disgusted than his
companion.
"It is no use to growl about it," added Christy, laughing. "Here we are,
and we can't help ourselves at present."
"I suppose they will let us go, won't they?" inquired the quartermaster.
"Let us go where?"
"Let us go back where we came from," replied Beeks, who seemed to be
quite muddled by his misfortune.
"You don't expect them to put you on board of the Bellevite again,
do you?"
"Well, no; not exactly; but this steamer is nothing but a blockade
runner, and such craft don't take prisoners."
"I hardly know what she is yet; she is a blockade runner, but she
appeals to be something more than that. She hoisted the Confederate
flag, and her people stood by their guns like brave men. I count myself
as a prisoner of war," said Christy, to the increased disgust of his
companion.
"What do you suppose they will do with us?" asked Beeks, looking as
though he had not a friend in the world, though he had always been a
very brave and active fellow when there was anything to do.
"I don't know, but I suppose she will run the blockade into the Cape
Fear River, and we may be taken up to Wilmington."
While they were talking about it, they saw a group of officers coming to
the forward deck, where they had remained since they came on board. They
appeared to be examining the steamer to ascertain what damage she had
sustained. Her bulwarks had been torn off, and she had suffered not a
little from shot; but she did not appear to be very seriously damaged.
At the head of the party was one who had a uniform, and dignity enough
to be the commander of the ship.
"Who are those two men forward?" asked this gentleman, as he called the
attention of the others to the two strangers.
No one knew who they were, and the captain continued to advance, looking
very sharply at Christy, or at his uniform. The lieutenant thought he
had seen the gentleman before, for it was quite impossible entirely to
forget one with so much character in his face.
"I am afraid I shall be obliged to call upon you, sir, to explain how
you and your companion happen to be here, for I was not before aware of
your presence."
"I shall cheerfully explain, Captain Carboneer," replied Christy,
recognizing the captain, and bowing politely.
"Ah, you know me? But I have not the pleasure of your acquaintance,
so far as I can remember," added the captain.
"We met under some disadvantages so far as you are concerned, for I had
the satisfaction of seeing you, though you did not see me," replied the
lieutenant, looking very good-natured in spite of his situation as a
prospective prisoner.
"I must beg you to explain still further, Mr.--I have not the pleasure
of knowing your name."
"Passford, sir, Christopher Passford, midshipman in the United States
Navy, and at present third lieutenant of the steamer Bellevite, which
you can hardly make out at this moment, though I remember that you have
seen her before," answered Christy, telling the whole story, as indeed
his uniform had already done, so far as his rank was concerned.
"I am very happy to meet you under present circumstances, Mr. Passford,
though I am not yet informed where I met you before."
"Perhaps you did not exactly meet me, Captain Carboneer; but, at any
rate, we were in the same boat together."
"I suppose we met, if at all, on the Hudson, in connection with the
Bellevite. Your people have not been as fortunate to-day with their
gunnery practice as on that occasion," suggested the captain.
"Now, Captain Carboneer, will you kindly inform me in regard to the
status of this vessel? Is she a naval vessel, or simply a blockade
runner?"
"She is both; and I am sorry for your sake to inform you that you are a
prisoner of war."
"I supposed I was."
"Perhaps you will be willing to inform me what became of Major Pierson
and Corny Passford--the latter a cousin of yours, I believe?"
"Like myself, the major is a prisoner of war. Corny was injured in the
disaster to the Vampire, as you are aware; he is also a prisoner, but on
parole, remaining at my father's house to be healed."
"I have to regret to-day more than ever before that we failed to capture
the Bellevite, for I find that she is even faster than the Yazoo," added
the captain.
"The Yazoo?"
"Formerly the Killbright, but now the Yazoo."
At this moment an officer came up and spoke to Captain Carboneer. As
both of them looked aft, Christy did the same, and, after studying the
speck he saw on the ocean, he was satisfied that it was the Bellevite,
coming down upon the Yazoo with all her speed.