CHRISTY BECOMES A VICTIM
Everything was perfectly still on the island, and only a single man
was in sight; but Christy put his hand upon his revolver as he went
on shore. Though he had never been a fighting young man, he had the
impression that he should not tamely submit to the assault of an enemy,
or run away from any single man that stood up in front of him. He had
always been prudent, even while he had been daring, and he hardly needed
the solemn admonition of the second lieutenant to be extremely cautious.
"Is that you, Captain Gilder?" asked the man on the shore, who stood a
little way from the waterside.
"Yes; and I take it for granted that you are Lonley," replied Christy,
advancing towards the other. "You have done all the talking this night,
and I ought to know you."
"All the talking except what you have done, and I ought to know you,"
replied Lonley. "I am Lieutenant Lonley, of the Teaser, and our men are
all ready to go on board."
"And Captain Folkner is all ready to have them go on board," returned
Christy, who had no doubt of the truth of what he said, though he
understood that he was telling a "story" all the same.
"I have no doubt he is. But I don't quite understand how you happen to
be on this side of the island, and so far to the westward at this time
in the morning. We expected to find the Teaser burrowing through the
sound, and we had about made up our minds to take possession of her and
run the blockade, as other Christians do. We did not believe she would
get through the sound in a week, if she ever did."
"I succeeded in persuading Captain Folkner that he had better come out
by the main channel; and that is the way we did come out, and that
explains how we happen to be here at this time in the morning," replied
Christy, very cheerfully.
"You must have very strong powers of persuasion, Captain Gilder," said
Lonley, laughing.
"I have in a case such as this was," added the lieutenant, with a
chuckle, as he thought of the particular kind of persuasion he had
used upon the captain of the privateer.
"I would give a good deal if I had just such powers, for they are
sometimes of very great service to an officer."
"You are quite right, Mr. Lonley. I suppose you are the first lieutenant
of the Teaser."
"No, I am not; kissing goes by favor, and the captain's brother is the
first; and he is no more fit for his position than the captain is for
his duty. I was in hope that the government would take possession of
the steamer, and send her to sea properly officered," added Lonley,
very good-naturedly.
"Good officers are quite necessary in the service," suggested Christy.
"I have no doubt you will fill the bill, and be all that could be
possibly desired."
"Thank you, Captain Gilder. Did you have any trouble in getting out of
the bay?"
"No, none at all. By the way, Mr. Lonley, we have been hearing firing at
the west end of the island to-night. Do you know what it means?"
"The first thing was to clean out that regiment of Zouaves; and I have
no doubt that has been done before now; and our boys may get a hack at
Pickens. A big force was landed in the fog, and the Yankees will not
stay on this island much longer," replied Lonley.
His information was entirely correct, though his prediction was not
equally reliable.
"I was sure there was fighting going on over there," added Christy.
"You seem to be all alone, Mr. Lonley. Where are all your men?"
"I told you before you came ashore that I had sent them all over to the
place where they had left their bags, about a mile to the eastward of
us. I suppose Captain Folkner has sent the boats over there for them
before this time?"
"He was inclined to run over in the steamer," added Christy.
"I hope he did not do that," said the privateersman, with a good deal
more energy than the other thought the occasion warranted. "I warned you
that there was a Yankee gunboat over that way."
"The Teaser has not gone over that way," replied Christy.
"If she has, she will be gobbled up by that gunboat, and all my men with
her."
"I persuaded Captain Folkner not to do it," added the Bellevite's
officer, very quietly.
"He ought to have done just what I asked him to do; and that was to send
his boats over to the place named for the men."
"And I persuaded him to do that also," continued Christy, as
unblushingly as though he had not been strictly in the habit of
telling the truth all his lifetime.
"Good for you, Captain Gilder!" exclaimed Lonley, grasping the hand of
his companion as though he had been his brother. "You beat all the men
I ever knew on power of persuasion; and when I get the command of the
Teaser, as I expect to have before this year ends, I shall want you to
serve as my first lieutenant."
"Thank you, Lieutenant Lonley; you are very kind; and if I ever go into
the privateering service, I shall certainly go in with you," replied
Christy.
"An officer with your power of persuasion will be invaluable to me,"
replied Lonley, still holding the hand of the other. "If I were gifted
in this respect as you are, Captain Gilder, do you know what I would
do?"
"I am sure I have not the least idea, unless it would be to persuade
Jeff Davis to send you a commission as a captain in the regular navy,"
said Christy, laughing at the idea.
"I am afraid I should have too little cheek to attempt to do that, for
the president is a rather obstinate man, and I fear he would not see the
point. Besides, I am a very modest man, though you may not have observed
this shining trait in my character. No; I am too diffident to ask for a
place I have not won by service."
"Then what would you do in the way of persuasion?" asked Christy, though
he wondered why he was prolonging the interview.
"I should use my powers of persuasion upon you, Captain Gilder, in the
first place."
"I don't think it would be of any use, for I am too well posted in that
way of doing it to be influenced," replied Christy, trying to withdraw
his hand from the grasp of the privateersman. "I must go on board of the
Teaser again when you have delivered your message to me, as that was
what you wished to see me for."
"I did say I had a message for you, didn't I? Well, upon my life, I have
quite forgot what it was, but it was from President Jefferson Davis,
and he was particular that I should deliver it to you to-night or this
morning. Isn't it very strange that I should forget a message of so much
importance that it could not be trusted to writing?"
"Passing strange, I should say," answered Christy, who began to
understand that he had fallen into a trap of some sort. "While you are
thinking of it, I will go on board, and persuade Captain Folkner not to
run the Teaser to the eastward if he should take it into his head to do
so. I had no idea there was a Yankee gunboat in that direction, and I
don't believe the captain had. Besides, he don't know where he is in
this fog, and he needs me."
As he spoke, Christy tried to withdraw his hand from the grasp of
Lonley, as he had not succeeded in doing before when he tried. But the
privateersman suddenly fell upon him, and both of them went down. A
tremendous struggle followed, but before it was decided, two men rushed
out of the gloom, and took part in the affair; and they soon settled the
matter in favor of the Confederacy, much to the chagrin of the second
lieutenant of the Bellevite.
[Illustration: "A tremendous struggle followed."--Page 284.]
Flint had remained in the canoe, which had been partly drawn up on
the beach; but the moment he sprang out upon the sand to go to the
assistance of his officer, he was set upon by two men and secured. Both
of them were deprived of their weapons, and their hands tied behind
them. Beyond a doubt the lieutenant and the master's mate were prisoners
before they had any clear idea of the situation.
"Are you there, Mr. Folkner?" called Lonley, as soon as the prisoners
were secured, speaking now in an energetic tone, as he had not before.
"I am here," replied a man who seemed to be in a boat not far from the
spot. "You have kept me a long time waiting for you!"
"I wanted to give the Yankee boats time to get at least a mile from
the Teaser before anything was done. Shove off now, and make things as
lively as you can," said Lonley. "Go to your places in the boats,"
he continued to four men who had assisted in the capture of the two
officers.
By this time Christy had a chance to see that he was a victim of a trick
which was to eventuate in the recapture of the Teaser; and he was sorry
that he was not the only victim, as he looked at Flint. He realized too
that the scheme had been very well planned, though he was really happy
in the belief that it would be a failure in the end. Lonley seemed to
be the leading spirit in the affair, and managed the details. He had
intended that the boats should be sent from the Teaser to a point at
least a mile off.
He had taken it for granted that the steamer would come to pick them
up, or in other words, to capture the forty prisoners. If he was weak
in accepting as the truth Christy's statement that the boats had
been actually sent away, as desired, he could see no reason why the
Yankee officer should try to deceive him. It appeared now that the
privateersmen had two boats, which had been brought across the island
for the purpose. Lonley had naturally wished that only a few men should
be on board, and concluded that it would be an easy matter to capture
the steamer, and then to secure the men in the boats when they returned
from the eastward.
The four men on shore, who had been put in a place where they could
assist Lonley, hastened to the boats, and they shoved off, pulling as
silently as though the oars had been muffled, as probably they had been.
In a moment more they disappeared in the darkness and fog.
"I think I have improved a great deal in the art of persuasion,"
said Lonley, as the boats disappeared. "I suppose I persuaded you
as effectually as you did Captain Folkner."
"You have done very well, Mr. Lonley," replied Christy, in a patronizing
tone, for he was determined that his companion should derive no
satisfaction from seeing him cast down by his misfortune.
"You informed me a little while ago that Captain Folkner was on board
of the Teaser; and I wish to ask if you are uniformly in the habit of
speaking the truth?" continued Lonley.
"Well, that depends upon circumstances. If I have not done so, you
cannot expect me to contradict myself."
"You claimed that you were Captain Gilder."
"Hardly, my excellent friend: when Captain Folkner addressed me by that
name, I did not object to it."
"That was just as much a lie as though you had claimed it in so many
words," protested Lonley.
"I admit it; and I hardly expect a true patriot to tell the truth to
the enemy. If I remember rightly, you told me yourself that your men
had gone to the eastward where they had left their bags. I don't believe
that your conscience reproached you when they showed themselves in the
boats."
At this moment pistol shots were heard on the water.