Fighting for the Right

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LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS

BOSTON

The Blue and the Gray Series

Fighting for the Right

BY

OLIVER OPTIC

AUTHOR OF "THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD" "THE
GREAT WESTERN SERIES" "THE WOODVILLE STORIES" "THE STARRY FLAG
SERIES" "THE BOAT-CLUB SERIES" "THE ONWARD AND UPWARD
SERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES" "THE LAKE SHORE SERIES"
"THE RIVERDALE STORIES" "THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES"
"TAKEN BY THE ENEMY" "WITHIN THE ENEMY'S LINES"
"ON THE BLOCKADE" "STAND BY THE UNION"
"A MISSING MILLION" "A MILLIONAIRE
AT SIXTEEN" ETC., ETC., ETC.

BOSTON

LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS

Copyright, 1892, by Lee and Shepard

All rights reserved.

Fighting for the Right

Type-Setting and Electrotyping by
C. J. Peters & Son, Boston

To

MY GRAND NEPHEW

RICHARD LABAN ADAMS

This Book

IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

PREFACE

"Fighting for the Right" is the fifth and last but one of "The Blue and the Gray Series." The character of the operations in connection with the war of the Rebellion, and the incidents in which the interest of the young reader will be concentrated, are somewhat different from most of those detailed in the preceding volumes of the series, though they all have the same patriotic tendency, and are carried out with the same devotion to the welfare of the nation as those which deal almost solely in deeds of arms.

Although the soldiers and sailors of the army and navy of the Union won all the honors gained in the field of battle or on the decks of the national ships, and deserved all the laurels they gathered by their skill and bravery in the trying days when the republic was in peril, they were not the only actors in the greatest strife of the nineteenth century. Not all the labor of "saving the Union" was done in the trenches, on the march, on the gun deck of a man-of-war, or in other military and naval operations, though without these the efforts of all others would have been in vain. Thousands of men and women who never "smelled gunpowder," who never heard the booming cannon, or the rattling musketry, who never witnessed a battle on sea or land, but who kept their minds and hearts in touch with the holy cause, labored diligently and faithfully to support and sustain the soldiers and sailors at the front.

If all those who fought no battles are not honored like the leaders and commanders in the loyal cause, if they wear no laurels on their brows, if no monuments are erected to transmit their memory to posterity, if their names and deeds are not recorded in the Valhalla of the redeemed nation, they ought not to be disregarded and ignored. It was not on the field of strife alone in the South that the battle was fought and won. The army and the navy needed a moral, as well as a material support, which was cheerfully rendered by the great army of the people who never buckled on a sword, or shouldered a musket. Their work can not be summed up in deeds, for there was little or nothing that was brilliant and dazzling in their career. They need no monuments; but their work was necessary to the final and glorious result of the most terrible war of modern times.

No apology is necessary for placing the hero of the story and his skilful associate in a position at a distance from the actual field of battle. They were working for the salvation of the Union as effectively as they could have done in the din of the strife. They were "Fighting for the Right," as they understood it, though it is not treason to say, thirty years later, that the people of the South were as sincere as those of the North; and they could hardly have fought and suffered to the extent they did if it had been otherwise.

The incidents of the volume are more various than in the preceding stories, which were so largely a repetition of battle scenes; but the hero is still as earnest as ever in the cause he loves. He attains a high position without any ambition to win it; for, like millions of others who gave the best years of their lives to sustain the Union, who suffered the most terrible hardships and privations, so many hundreds of thousands giving their lives to their country, Christy fought and labored for the cause, and not from any personal ambition. It is the young man's high character, his devotion to duty, rather than the incidents and adventures in which he is engaged, that render him worthy of respect, and deserving of the honors that were bestowed upon him. The younger participants in the war of the Rebellion, Christy Passford among the number, are beginning to be grizzled with the snows of fifty winters; but they are still rejoicing in "A Victorious Union."

William T. Adams.

Dorchester, April 18, 1892.

"Christy seized him by the collar with both hands." (Page 75)

[CONTENTS]

FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT

[CHAPTER I]

A CONFERENCE AT BONNYDALE

"Well, Christy, how do you feel this morning?" asked Captain Passford, one bright morning in April, at Bonnydale on the Hudson, the residence of the former owner of the Bellevite, which he had presented to the government.

"Quite well, father; I think I never felt any better in all my life," replied Lieutenant Passford, of the United States Navy, recently commander of the little gunboat Bronx, on board of which he had been severely wounded in an action with a Confederate fort in Louisiana.

"Do you feel any soreness at the wound in your arm?" inquired the devoted parent with some anxiety.

"Not a particle, father."

"Or at the one in your thigh?"

"Not the slightest bit of soreness. In fact, I have been ready to return to my duty at any time within the last month," replied Christy very cheerfully. "It would be a shame for me to loiter around home any longer, when I am as able to plank the deck as I ever was. In truth, I think I am better and stronger than ever before, for I have had a long rest."

"Your vacation has been none too long, for you were considerably run down, the doctor said, in addition to your two wounds," added Captain Passford, senior; for the young man had held a command, and was entitled to the same honorary title as his father.

"These doctors sometimes make you think you are sicker than you really are," said Christy with a laugh.

"But your doctor did not do so, for your mother and I both thought you were rather run out by your labors in the Gulf."

"If I was, I am all right now. Do I look like a sick one? I weigh more than I ever did before in my life."

"Your mother has taken excellent care of you, and you certainly look larger and stronger than when you went to sea in the Bronx."

"But I am very tired of this inactive life. I have been assigned to the Bellevite as second lieutenant, a position I prefer to a command, for the reasons I have several times given you, father."

"I am certainly very glad to have you returned to the Bellevite, though the honors will be easier with you than they were when you were the commander of the Bronx."

"But I shall escape the responsibility of the command, and avoid being pointed at as one who commands by official influence," said Christy, rather warmly; for he felt that he had done his duty with the utmost fidelity, and it was not pleasant to have his hard-earned honors discounted by flings at his father's influence with the government.

"It is impossible to escape the sneers of the discontented, and there are always plenty of such in the navy and the army. But, Christy, you wrong yourself in taking any notice of such flings, for they have never been thrown directly at you, if at all. You are over-sensitive, and you have not correctly interpreted what your superiors have said to you," said Captain Passford seriously.

His father recalled some of the conversations between the young officer and Captain Blowitt and others, reported to him before. He insisted that the remarks of his superiors were highly complimentary to him, and that he had no right to take offence at them.

"I dare say I am entirely wrong, father; but it will do me no harm to serve in a subordinate capacity," added Christy.

"I agree with you here; but I must tell you again, as I have half a dozen times before, that I never asked a position or promotion for you at the Navy Department. You have won your honors and your advancement yourself," continued the father.

"Well, it was all the same, father; you have used your time and your money very freely in the service of the government, as you could not help doing. I know that I did my duty, and the department promoted me because I was your son," said Christy, laughing.

"Not at all, my son; you deserved your promotion every time, and if you had been the son of a wood-chopper in the State of Maine, you would have been promoted just the same," argued Captain Passford.

"Perhaps I should," answered the young officer rather doubtfully.

"After what you did in your last cruise with the Bronx, a larger and finer vessel would have been given to you in recognition of the brilliant service you had rendered," added the father. "I prevented this from being done simply because you wished to take the position of second lieutenant on board of the Bellevite."

"Then I thank you for it, father," replied Christy heartily.

"But the department thinks it has lost an able commander," continued the captain with a smile.

"I am willing to let the department think so, father. All I really ask of the officials now is to send me back to the Gulf, and to the Bellevite. I believe you said that I was to go as a passenger in the Chateaugay."

"I did; and she has been ready for over a week."

"Why don't she go, then?" asked Christy impatiently.

"On her way to the Gulf she is to engage in some special service," replied Captain Passford, as he took some letters from his pocket.

"Letters!" exclaimed the young lieutenant, laughing as he recalled some such missives on two former occasions. "Do you still keep your three agents in the island of Great Britain?"

"I don't keep them, for they are now in the employ of the government, though they still report to me, and we use the system adopted some two years ago."

"What is it this time, father?" asked Christy, his curiosity as well as his patriotism excited by this time at the prospect of capturing a Confederate man-of-war, or even a blockade-runner.

"There are traitors in and about the city of New York," answered Captain Passford, as he returned the letters to his pocket. "We had a rebel in the house here at one time, you remember, and it is not quite prudent just now to explain the contents of the letters."

"All right, father; but I suppose you will read them to me before I sail for the South."

"I will talk to you about it another time," added the captain, as a knock was heard at the door. "Come in!"

It was the man-servant of the house, and he brought in a tray on which there was a card, which Captain Passford took.

"Captain Wilford Chantor," the captain read from the card. "Show him in, Gates. Lieutenant Chantor is appointed to the command of the Chateaugay, Christy, in which you take passage to the Gulf; but she will not go there directly."

"Captain Chantor," said Gates, as he opened the door for the visitor.

"I am happy to see you, Captain Chantor, though I have not had the pleasure of meeting you before," said the captain, as he rose from his chair, and bowed to the gentleman, who was in the uniform of a lieutenant.

"I presume I have the honor to address Captain Horatio Passford," said the visitor, as he took a letter from his pocket, bowing very respectfully at the same time, and delivering the letter.

"I am very glad to meet you, Captain Chantor," continued Captain Passford, taking the hand of the visitor. "Allow me to introduce to you my son, Lieutenant Passford, who will be a passenger on your ship to the Gulf."

"I am very happy to make your acquaintance, Mr. Passford, for I need hardly say that I have heard a great deal about you before, and this is a very unexpected pleasure," replied Captain Chantor.

"Thank you, Captain, and I am equally happy to meet you, as I am to be a passenger on your ship," added Christy, as they shook hands very cordially.

"I had three other passengers on board, but they have been transferred to the store-ship, which sails to-day, and you will be my only passenger."

"At my suggestion," said Captain Passford smiling, doubtless at the puzzled expression of the captain of the Chateaugay at his statement.

"I am to attend to some special service on my voyage to the Gulf, and I am ordered to take my instructions from you," added Captain Chantor.

"Precisely so; but I hold no official position, and your orders will be put in proper form before you sail," replied Christy's father. "Now, if you will be patient for a little while, I will explain the nature of the special service."

"I shall be very glad to understand the subject, and I am confident my patience will hold out to any extent you may require."

The conversation so far had taken place in the library. The owner of Bonnydale rose from his arm-chair, opened the door into the hall, and looked about him very cautiously. Then he closed a window which the unusual warmth of an April day had rendered it necessary to open. He conducted his companions to the part of the room farthest from the door, and seated them on a sofa, while he placed his arm-chair in front of them. Even Christy thought his father was taking extraordinary precautions, and the visitor could make nothing of it.

"As I have had occasion to remark before to-day, there are traitors in and about New York," the captain began.

"If you have any private business with Captain Chantor, father, I am perfectly willing to retire," suggested Christy.

"No; I wish you to understand this special service, for you may be called upon to take a hand in it," replied Captain Passford; and the son seated himself again. "There are traitors in and about New York, I repeat. I think we need not greatly wonder that some of the English people persist in attempting to run the blockade at the South, when some of our own citizens are indirectly concerned in the same occupation."

This seemed to the captain of the Chateaugay an astounding statement, and not less so to Christy, and neither of them could make anything of it; but they were silent, concluding that the special service related to this matter.

"In what I am about to say to you, Captain Chantor, I understand that I am talking to an officer of the utmost discretion," continued Captain Passford, "and not a word of it must be repeated to any person on board of the Chateaugay, and certainly not to any other person whatever."

"I understand you perfectly, sir," replied the officer. "My lips shall be sealed to all."

"I wish to say that the command of the Chateaugay would have been offered to my son, but I objected for the reason that he prefers not to have a command at present," said the captain.

"That makes it very fortunate for me."

"Very true, though the change was not made for your sake. You were selected for this command as much on account of your discretion as for your skill and bravery as an officer."

"I consider myself very highly complimented by the selection."

"Now to the point: I have information that a fast steamer, intended to carry eight guns, called the Ovidio, sailed from the other side of the ocean some time since, and she is to be a vessel in the Confederate navy. Her first port will be Nassau, New Providence."

"Does that prove that any Americans are traitors in and about New York, father?" asked Christy.

"She is to run the blockade with a cargo consisting in part of American goods."

Captain Passford took a file of papers from his pocket.

[CHAPTER II]

A COMPLICATED CASE

Captain Passford looked over his papers for a moment; but it was soon evident from his manner that he had secrets which he would not intrust even to his son, unless it was necessary to do so. He seemed to be armed with documentary evidence upon which to act, but he did not read any of his papers, and soon returned them to his pocket.

"The American goods of which I speak are certain pieces of machinery to be used in the manufacture of arms," continued the captain. "They cannot be obtained in England, and the traitors have decided to send them direct, rather than across the ocean in the first instance. These will form the principal and most important part of the cargo of a steamer now loaded, though she will carry other goods, such as the enemy need most at the present time."

"I did not suppose any Americans were wicked enough to engage in such an enterprise for the sake of making money," said Christy indignantly.

"The steamer of which you speak is already loaded, is she?" asked Captain Chantor.

"She is; and now I wish both of you to go with me, and I will point out the vessel to you, and you must mark her so well that you can identify her when occasion requires."

The trio left the house and took the train together. They went to New York, and in an out-of-the-way locality they went down to a wharf; but there was no steamer or vessel of any kind there, and the pier was falling to pieces from decay. Captain Passford stopped short, and seemed to be confounded when he found the dock was not occupied.

"I am afraid we are too late, and that the steamer has sailed on her mission of destruction," said he, almost overcome by the discovery. "She was here last night, and was watched till this morning. She has already cleared, bound to Wilmington, Delaware, with a cargo of old iron."

"Do you know her name, Captain Passford?" asked the commander of the Chateaugay.

"She was a screw steamer of about six hundred tons, and was called the Ionian, but she is American."

It was useless to remain there any longer, for the steamer certainly was not there. Captain Passford hailed a passing-tug-boat, and they were taken on board. The master of the boat was instructed to steam down the East River, and the party examined every steamer at anchor or under way. The tug had nearly reached the Battery before the leader of the trio saw any vessel that looked like the Ionian. The tug went around this craft, for she resembled the one which had been in the dock, and the name indicated was found on her stern.

"I breathe easier, for I was afraid she had given us the slip," said Captain Passford. "She is evidently all ready to sail."

"The Chateaugay is in commission, and ready to sail at a moment's notice," added her commander.

"But you are not ready to leave at once, Christy," suggested Captain Passford, with some anxiety in his expression.

"Yes, I am, father; I put my valises on board yesterday, and when mother and Florry went down to Mr. Pembroke's I bade them both good-by, for after I have waited so long for my passage, I felt that the call would come in a hurry," replied Christy. "I am all ready to go on board of the Chateaugay at this moment."

"And so am I," added Captain Chantor.

"But I am not ready with your orders in full, though they are duly signed," said Captain Passford. "I will put you on shore at the foot of Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, Captain Chantor, and you will hasten to your ship, get up steam, and move down to this vicinity. I will put my son on board as soon as I can have your papers completed."

The order necessary to carry out this procedure was given to the captain of the tug, and the commander of the Chateaugay was landed at the place indicated. The tug started for the other side of the river.

"It seems to me this is very strange business, father," said Christy, as he and his father seated themselves at the stern of the boat.

"Traitors do not work in the daylight, my son, as you have learned before this time," replied Captain Passford.

"If you know the men who are engaged in supplying the enemy with machinery, why do you not have them arrested and put in Fort Lafayette?" asked Christy, in a very low tone, after he had assured himself that no person was within possible hearing distance. "It looks as though the case might be settled here, without going to sea to do it."

"We have not sufficient evidence to convict them; and to make arrests without the means of conviction would be worse than doing nothing. The Ionian has cleared for Wilmington with a cargo of old iron. Everything looks regular in regard to her, and I have no doubt there is some party who would claim the castings if occasion required. The first thing to be ascertained is whether or not the steamer goes to Wilmington."

"Then we can make short work of her."

"My information in regard to this treason comes from Warnock—you know who he is?"

"Captain Barnes," replied Christy promptly, for the names of all the agents of his father in England and Scotland had been given to him on a former occasion, when the information received from one of the three had resulted in the capture of the Scotian and the Arran.

"Barnes is a very shrewd man. He does not inform me yet in what manner he obtained the information that the Ovidio was to carry this machinery from Nassau into a rebel port; but I shall get it later in a letter. He gave me the name of the party who was to furnish the machinery; and one of his agents obtained this from the direction of a letter to New York. I placed four skilful detectives around this man, who stands well in the community. They have worked the case admirably, and spotted the Ionian. I have aided them in all possible ways; but the evidence is not complete. If this steamer proceeds beyond Wilmington, Captain Chantor will be instructed to capture her and send her back to New York."

"Then this business will soon be settled," added Christy.

"Perhaps not; the government official, with authority to act, is in New York. I shall see him at once. I have no doubt the detectives have already reported that the Ionian has moved down the river," said Captain Passford, as the tug came up to a pier, where father and son landed.

They went to an office in Battery Place, where the captain was informed that a special messenger had been sent to Bonnydale to acquaint him with the fact that the Ionian had moved down the river. Files of documents, containing reports of detectives and other papers, were examined and compared, and then the government official proceeded to finish the filling out of Captain Chantor's orders. The paper was given to Christy, with an order to deliver it to the commander of the Chateaugay. The tug had been detained for them, and they hastened on board of her.

They found the suspected steamer at her moorings still; but it was evident that she was preparing to weigh her anchor. The tug continued on her course towards the Navy Yard, and the Chateaugay was discovered in the berth she had occupied for the last two weeks. Everything looked lively on board of her, as though she were getting ready to heave up her anchor.

"Christy, you will find on board of your steamer a man by the name of Gilfleur," said Captain Passford, as the tug approached the man-of-war.

"That sounds like a French name," interposed Christy.

"It is a French name, and the owner of it is a Frenchman who has been a detective in Paris. He has accomplished more in this matter than all the others put together, and he will go with you, for you will find in the commander's instructions that you have more than one thing to do on your way to the Gulf. I gave him a letter to you."

"I shall be glad to see him."

"Now, my son, we must part, for I have business on shore, and you may have to sail at any moment," said Captain Passford, as he took the two hands of his son. "I have no advice to give you except to be prudent, and on this duty to be especially discreet. That's all—good-by."

They parted, after wringing each other's hands, as they had parted several times before. They might never meet again in this world, but both of them subdued their emotion, for they were obeying the high and solemn call of duty; both of them were fighting for the right, and the civilian as well as the naval officer felt that it was his duty to lay down his life for his suffering country. Christy mounted the gangway, and was received by Captain Chantor on the quarter-deck. He had been on board before, and had taken possession of his stateroom.

The passenger took from his pocket the files of papers given him by the official on shore; and then he noticed for the first time an envelope addressed to him. The commander retired to his cabin to read his instructions, and Christy went to his stateroom in the ward room to open the envelope directed to him. As soon as he broke the seal he realized that his father had done a great deal of writing, and he had no doubt the paper contained full instructions for him, as well as a history of the difficult case in which he was to take a part. A paper signed by the official informed him that he was expected to occupy a sort of advisory position near the commander of the Chateaugay, though of course he was in no manner to control him in regard to the management of the ship.

Christy read his father's letter through. The government was exceedingly anxious to obtain accurate information in regard to the state of affairs at Nassau, that hot-bed for blockade-runners. The Chateaugay was to look out for the Ovidio, whose ultimate destination was Mobile, where she was to convey the gun-making machinery, and such other merchandise as the traitorous merchant of New York wished to send into the Confederacy. The name of this man was given to him, and it was believed that papers signed by him would be found on board of the Ionian.

A knock at the door of his room disturbed his examination of the documents, and he found the commander of the steamer there. After looking about the ward room, and into the adjoining staterooms, he came in without ceremony.

"Here is my hand, Mr. Passford," said he, suiting the action to the word. "I find after reading my instructions that I am expected to consult with you, and as I have the very highest respect and regard for you after the brilliant record you have made"—

"Don't you believe that I won my promotion to my present rank through the influence of my father?" demanded Christy, laughing pleasantly, as he took the offered hand and warmly pressed it.

"If you did, your father did the very best thing in the world for his country, and has given it one of the bravest and best officers in the service," replied Captain Chantor, still wringing the hand of his passenger. "But I don't believe anything of the kind; and no officer who knows you, even if he is thirsting for promotion, believes it. I have heard a great many of higher rank than either of us speak of you, and if you had been present your ears would have tingled; but I never heard a single officer of any rank suggest that you owed your rapid advancement to anything but your professional skill and your unflinching bravery, as well as to your absolute and hearty devotion to your country. I rank you in date, Mr. Passford, but I would give a great deal to have your record written against my name."

"Your praise is exceedingly profuse, Captain Chantor, but I must believe you are honest, however unworthy I may be of your unstinted laudation," said Christy with his eyes fixed on the floor, and blushing like a school-girl.

"I hope and believe there will be no discount on our fellowship. A man came on board this afternoon, and gives me a letter from the proper authority, referring me to you in regard to his mission."

Christy decided to see this person at once.

[CHAPTER III]

THE DEPARTURE OF THE CHATEAUGAY

The commander told Christy that he would probably find the person who had brought the letter to him in the waist, for he knew nothing of his quality, position, or anything else about him, and he did not know where to berth him, though there was room enough in the ward room or the steerage. He was dressed like a gentleman, and brought two very handsome valises on board with him.

"For all that, I did not know but that he might be a French cook, a steward, or something of that sort," added Captain Chantor, laughing.

"He is a man who is said to be a Napoleon in his profession; but I will tell you all about him after we get under way, for I am in a hurry to speak with him," replied Christy.

"He is evidently a Frenchman," continued the captain.

"He is; but I never saw him in my life, and know nothing about him except what I have learned from a long letter my father gave me when I was coming on board."

"I have been told that you speak French like a native of Paris, Mr. Passford," suggested the commander.

"Not so bad as that; I have studied the language a great deal under competent instructors from Paris, but I am not so proficient as you may think, though I can make my way with those who speak it," replied the passenger, as he moved towards the door of the stateroom.

"And I can't speak the first word of it, for I have been a sailor all my life, though I went through the naval academy somewhat hurriedly," continued the commander.

"Fortunately you don't need French on the quarter-deck;" and Christy left the stateroom.

The captain went into his cabin, but came out before the passenger could reach the deck. He informed Christy that he was directed to heave short on the anchor and watch for a signal mentioned, which was to be hoisted near the Battery. He might get under way at any minute.

Christy found the person of whom the captain had spoken in the waist. He was dressed in a black suit, and looked more like a dandy than a detective. He was apparently about forty years of age, rather slenderly built, but with a graceful form. He wore a long black mustache, but no other beard. He was pacing the deck, and seemed to be very uneasy, possibly because he was all alone, for no one took any notice of him, though the captain had received him very politely.

"Monsieur Gilfleur?" said Christy, walking up to him, and bowing as politely as a Parisian.

"I am Mr. Gilfleur; have I the honor to address Lieutenant Passford?" replied the Frenchman.

"I am Lieutenant Passford, though I have no official position on board of this steamer."

"I am aware of it," added Mr. Gilfleur, as he chose to call himself, taking a letter from the breast pocket of his coat, and handing it very gracefully to Christy.

"Pardon me," added the young officer, as he opened the missive.

It was simply a letter of introduction from Captain Passford, intended to assure him of the identity of the French detective. Mr. Gilfleur evidently prided himself on his knowledge of the English language, for he certainly spoke it fluently and correctly, though with a little of the accent of his native tongue.

"I am very happy to meet you, Mr. Gilfleur," said Christy in French, as he extended his hand to the other, who promptly took it, and from that moment seemed to lose all his embarrassment.

"I thank you, Mr. Passford, for this pleasant reception, for it is possible that we may have a great deal of business together, and I hope you have confidence in me."

"Unlimited confidence, sir, since my father heartily indorses you."

"I thank you, sir, and I am sure we shall be good friends, though I am not a gentleman like you, Mr. Passford."

"You are my equal in every respect, for though my father is a very rich man, I am not. But we are all equals in this country."

"I don't know about that," said the Frenchman, with a Parisian shrug of the shoulders. "Your father has treated me very kindly, and I have heard a great deal about his brave and accomplished son," said Mr. Gilfleur, with a very deferential bow.

"Spare me!" pleaded Christy, with a deprecatory smile and a shake of the head.

"You are very modest, Mr. Passford, and I will not offend you. I am not to speak of our mission before the Chateaugay is out of sight of land," said the detective, looking into the eyes of the young man with a gaze which seemed to reach the soul, for he was doubtless measuring the quality and calibre of his associate in the mission, as he called it, in which both were engaged. "I knew your father very well in Paris," he added, withdrawing his piercing gaze.

"Then you are the gentleman who found the stewardess of the Bellevite when she ran away with a bag of French gold at Havre?" said Christy, opening his eyes.

"I have the honor to be that person," replied Mr. Gilfleur, with one of his graceful bows. "It was a difficult case, for the woman was associated with one of the worst thieves of Paris, and it took me a month to run them down."

"Though I was a small boy, I remember it very well, for I was on board of the Bellevite at the time," replied Christy. "I know that he was very enthusiastic in his praise of the wonderful skill of the person who recovered the money and sent the two thieves to prison. I understand now why my father sent to Paris for you when he needed a very skilful person of your profession."

"Thank you, Mr. Passford; you know me now, and we shall be good friends."

"No doubt of it; but here comes the captain, and I have a word to say to him," added Christy, as he touched his naval cap to the commander. "Allow me to introduce to you my friend Mr. Gilfleur, whom my father employed in Havre six years ago."

The captain was as polite as the Frenchman, and gave him a hearty reception. Christy then suggested that his friend should be berthed in the ward room. The ship's steward was called, and directed to give Mr. Gilfleur a room next to the other passenger. As they were likely to have many conferences together in regard to the business on their hands, they were both particular in regard to the location of their rooms; and the chief steward suited them as well as he could.

The detective spoke to him in French, but the steward could not understand a word he said. Christy inquired if any of the ward-room officers spoke the polite language, for his friend might sometimes wish to converse in his own tongue.

"I don't believe they do, for they all got into the ward room through the hawse-hole," replied the steward, laughing at the very idea.

When the passengers went on deck, the commander introduced them both to the officers of the ship. To each in turn, at the request of Christy, he put the question as to whether or not he could speak French; and they all replied promptly in the negative, and laughed at the inquiry.

"Have you no one on board who speaks French, Captain Chantor?" asked Christy.

"I don't know anything about it, but as it seems to be of some importance to you and your friend, I will ascertain at once. Mr. Suppleton, will you overhaul the ship's company, and see if you can find any one that speaks French," continued the commander, addressing the chief steward.

In about half an hour he returned, and reported that he was unable to find a single person who could speak a word of French. Doubtless many of the officers, who were of higher grade than any on board of the Chateaugay, were fluent enough in the language, but they were not to be found in the smaller vessels of the navy; for, whatever their rank before the war, they had all been advanced to the higher positions. Every one of the officers on board of this steamer had been the captain of a vessel, and had been instructed in the profession after the war began. Though substantially educated, they were not to be compared in this respect with the original officers.

"We can talk as much as we please of our mission after we get out of sight of land; and as long as we do it in French, no one will understand us," said Christy to his fellow-passenger.

"As soon as we are permitted by my orders to do so, I shall have much to say to you, Mr. Passford," replied Mr. Gilfleur.

"On deck!" shouted a man in the mizzen-top.

"Aloft!" returned Mr. Birdwing, the first lieutenant.

"Signal over the boarding-station, sir!" reported the quartermaster in the top. "It is a number—'Get under way!'"

The executive officer reported the signal to the commander, though he was on deck, and had heard the words of the quartermaster.

"Get under way at once, Mr. Birdwing," said the captain.

"Boatswain, all hands up anchor!" said the first lieutenant to this officer; and in a moment the call rang through the ship.

Every officer and seaman was promptly in his station, for it was a welcome call. The ship's company were dreaming of prize-money, for officers had made fabulous sums from this source. In one instance a lieutenant received for his share nearly forty thousand dollars; and even an ordinary seaman pocketed seventeen hundred from a single capture. The Chateaugayans were anxious to engage in this harvest, and in a hurry to be on their way to the field of fortune.

In a short time the steamer was standing down East River at moderate speed. The Ionian could not be seen yet, and nothing in regard to her was known to any one on board except the captain and his two passengers. As the ship approached the battery, a tug, which Christy recognized as the one his father had employed, came off and hailed the Chateaugay. The screw was stopped, and Captain Passford was discovered at her bow. He waved his hat to his son, saluted the commander in the same manner, and then passed up an envelope.

The tug sheered off, and the ship continued on her course, with a pilot at the wheel. The missive from the shore was addressed to Captain Chantor. He opened it at once, and then ordered one bell to be rung to stop her. A few moments later a heavy tug came off, and twelve men were put on board, with an order signed by the government official for the commander to receive them on board. There had evidently been some afterthoughts on shore. These men were turned in with the crew, except two who were officers, and they were put in the ward room. The ship then proceeded on her course.

"The Ionian is about two miles ahead of us, Mr. Passford," said the captain, after he had used his glass diligently for some time. And he spoke in a very low tone.

"We have no business with her at present," added Christy.

"None, except to watch her; and, fortunately, we have fine, clear weather, so that will not be a difficult job. By the way, Mr. Passford, the envelope I received was from your father, and he gives me information of another steamer expected in the vicinity of Bermuda about this time; and he thinks we had better look for her when she comes out from those islands," said the captain, evidently delighted with the prospect before him.

"What are these men for that were sent off in the tug?" Christy inquired; for he felt that he had a right to ask the question.

"They are to take the Ionian back to New York, if we have to capture her."

Captain Passford appeared to be afraid the Chateaugay would be shorthanded if she had to send a prize crew home with the Ionian.

[CHAPTER IV]

MONSIEUR GILFLEUR EXPLAINS

The two officers and ten men that had been sent off to the Chateaugay after she got under way, had evidently been considered necessary by the authorities on shore after the receipt of the intelligence that another vessel for the Confederates had been sent to Bermuda. A steamer had arrived that day from Liverpool, and Captain Passford must have received his mail after he landed from the tug. Captain Chantor had waited several hours for the signal to get under way, and there had been time enough to obtain the reinforcement from the Navy Yard.

The officer in command of the detachment of sailors said that he had been ordered to follow the Chateaugay, and he had been provided with a fast boat for this purpose. The steamer proceeded on her course as soon as the transport boat had cast off her fasts, and everything suddenly quieted down on board of her. The distance between the Ionian and the man-of-war was soon reduced to about a mile. It was beginning to grow dark, but the crew had been stationed and billed while the ship lay off the Navy Yard; but the new hands sent on board were assigned to watches and quarter-watches, stationed and billed, as though they were a part of the regular ship's company. One of the two additional officers was placed in each of the watches.

Before it was really dark everything on board was in order, and the ship was put in perfect trim. Christy could not help seeing that Captain Chantor was a thorough commander, and that his officers were excellent in all respects. He walked about the ship, wishing to make himself familiar with her. His father had not written to him in regard to the second vessel which the Chateaugay was to look out for in the vicinity of the Bermuda Islands, and he only knew what the captain had told him in regard to the matter.

If the steamer was armed, as probably she was, an action would be likely to come off, and the young lieutenant could not remain idle while a battle was in prospect. His quick eye enabled him to take in all he saw without much study, and only one thing bothered him. In the waist, secured on blocks, was something like the ordinary whaleboat used in the navy; but it was somewhat larger than those with which he was familiar in the discharge of his duties, and differed in other respects from them. The first watch would begin at eight o'clock, and all hands were still on duty.

"What do you call this boat, Mr. Carlin?" asked Christy, as the third lieutenant was passing him.

"I call it a nondescript craft," replied the officer, laughing. "It is something like a whaleboat, but it isn't one."

"What is it for?" inquired the passenger.

"That is more than I know, sir. It was put on deck while we were still at the Navy Yard. I never saw a boat just like it before, and I have not the remotest idea of its intended use. Probably the captain can inform you."

Christy was no wiser than before, but his curiosity was excited. He strolled to the quarter-deck, where he found the captain directing his night-glass towards the Ionian, which showed her port light on the starboard hand, indicating that the Chateaugay was running ahead of her. The commander called the second lieutenant, and gave him the order for the chief engineer to reduce the speed of the ship.

"The Ionian is a slow boat; at least, she is not as fast as the Chateaugay, Mr. Passford," said Captain Chantor, when Christy had halted near him.

"That is apparent," replied Christy. "How many knots can you make in your ship, Captain Chantor?"

"I am told that she has made fifteen when driven at her best."

"That is more than the average of the steamers in the service by three knots," added Christy. "I have just been forward, Captain, and I saw there a boat which is not quite on the regulation pattern."

"It is like a whaleboat, though it differs from one in some respects," added the commander.

"Is it for ordinary service, Captain Chantor?"

"There you have caught me, for I don't know to what use she is to be applied," replied the captain, laughing because, as the highest authority on board of the ship, he was unable to answer the question.

"You don't know?" queried Christy. "Or have I asked an indiscreet question?" said the passenger.

"If I knew, and found it necessary to conceal my knowledge from you, I should say so squarely, Mr. Passford," added the commander, a little piqued. "I would not resort to a lie."

"I beg your pardon, Captain Chanter; I certainly meant no offence," pleaded Christy.

"No offence, Mr. Passford; my hand upon it," said the commander, and they exchanged a friendly grip of the hands. "I really know nothing at all in regard to the intended use of the boat; in my orders, I am simply directed to place it at the disposal of Mr. Gilfleur at such time and place as he may require, and to co-operate with him in any enterprise in which he may engage. I must refer you to the French gentleman for any further information."

The passenger went below to the ward room. The door of the detective's room was closed, and he knocked. He was admitted, and there he found Mr. Gilfleur occupied with a file of papers, which he was busily engaged in studying. In the little apartment were two middle-sized valises, which made it look as though the detective expected to pass some time on his present voyage to the South.

"I hope I don't disturb you, Mr. Gilfleur," said Christy in French.

"Not at all, Mr. Passford; I am glad to see you, for I am ordered to consult very freely with you, and to inform you fully in regard to all my plans," replied the Frenchman.

"Perhaps you can tell me, then, what that boat in the waist is for," Christy began, in a very pleasant tone, and in his most agreeable manner, perhaps copying to some extent the Parisian suavity, as he had observed it in several visits he had made to the gay capital.

"I can tell you all about it, Mr. Passford, though that is my grand secret. No other person on board of this ship knows what it is for; but you are my confidant, though I never had one before in the practice of my profession," replied Mr. Gilfleur, fixing his keen gaze upon his associate. "A man's secret is the safest when he keeps it to himself. But I will tell you all about it."

"No! no! I don't wish you to do that, Mr. Gilfleur, if you deem it wise to keep the matter to yourself," interposed Christy. "My curiosity is a little excited, but I can control it."

"I shall tell you all about it, for this affair is different from the ordinary practice of my profession," replied the detective; and he proceeded to give a history of the boat in the waist, and then detailed the use to which it was to be applied.

"I am quite satisfied, and I should be glad to take part in the expedition in which you intend to use it," said Christy when the explanation in regard to the boat was finished.

"You would be willing to take part in my little enterprise!" exclaimed the Frenchman, his eyes lighting up with pleasure.

"I should; why not?"

"Because it may be very dangerous, and a slight slip may cost us both our lives," replied the detective very impressively, and with another of his keen and penetrating glances.

"I have not been in the habit of keeping under cover in my two years' service in the navy, and I know what danger is," added Christy.

"I know you are a very brave young officer, Mr. Passford, but this service is very different from that on the deck of a ship of war in action. But we will talk of that at a future time," said Mr. Gilfleur, as he rose hastily from his arm-chair at the desk, and rushed out into the ward room.

Christy had heard footsteps outside of the door, and he followed his companion. They found there Mr. Suppleton, the ship's steward, with the two extra officers who had been sent on board.

"Do you speak French, gentlemen?" asked the detective, addressing himself to the two officers.

"Not a word of it," replied Mr. Gwyndale, one of them.

"Not a syllable of it," added Mr. Tempers, the other.

"Excuse me, gentlemen," said Mr. Gilfleur, as he retreated to his room.

Mr. Suppleton introduced the two new officers to Christy, and he then followed his associate. The Frenchman was afraid the new-comers understood his native language, and had been listening to his explanation of the use of the strange boat; but he had spoken in a whisper, and no one could have heard him, even if the listener had been a Frenchman.

"We are all right," said the detective when they had both resumed their seats, and the Frenchman had begun to overhaul his papers.

Mr. Gilfleur proceeded to explain in what manner he had obtained his knowledge of the plot to send the gun-making machinery to the South. One of Captain Passford's agents had ascertained the name of Hillman Davis, who was in correspondence with those who were fitting out the ships for the Confederate service.

"But that is all we learned from the letters—that the men who were sending out the ships were in correspondence with this man Davis, who is a very respectable merchant of New York," Mr. Gilfleur proceeded.

"Is that all you had to start with, my friend?" asked Christy.

"That was all; and it was very little. Your American detectives are more cautious than Frenchmen in the same service."

"I don't see how in the world you could work up the case with nothing more than a mere name to begin with," added Christy, beginning to have a higher opinion than ever of the skill of the French detective.

"I tell you it was a narrow foundation on which to work up the case. It may amuse you, but I will tell you how it was done. In the first place, Captain Passford gave me all the money I needed to work with. I applied for a situation at Mr. Davis's warehouse. He imported wines and liquors from France; when his corresponding clerk, who spoke and wrote French, was commissioned as a lieutenant in the army, he was looking for a man to take his place. He employed me. I had charge of the letters, and carried the mail to him in his private counting-room every time it came."

"I don't believe that any of our American detectives would have been competent to take such a position," suggested Christy, deeply interested in the narrative.

"That is where I had the advantage of them. I was well educated, and was graduated from the University of France, with the parchment in that valise, signed by the minister of education. The carrier brought all the letters to my desk. I looked them over, and when I found any from England or Scotland, or even France, I opened and read them."

"How could you do that?" asked Christy curiously.

"I was educated to be a lawyer; but before I entered upon the profession, I found I had a taste for the detective service. I did some amateur work first, and was very successful. I afterwards reached a high position in the service of the government. I acquired a great deal of skill in disguising myself, and in all the arts of the profession. I could open and reseal a letter so that no change could be discovered in its appearance, and this was what I did in the service of Mr. Davis. He was a mean man, the stingiest I ever met, and he was as dishonest and unscrupulous as a Paris thief. I copied all the letters connected with the case I had in hand, and this enabled me to get to the bottom of the traitor's plot. He wrote letters himself, not only to England and Scotland, but to people in the South, sending them to Bermuda and Nassau. I took copies of all these, and saved one or two originals. My pay was so small that I resigned my situation," and he flourished a great file of letters as he finished.

[CHAPTER V]

AN ABUNDANCE OF EVIDENCE

Captain Passford had certainly kept his own counsel with punctilious care; for he had never even mentioned the skilful detective in his family, though the members of it had met the gentleman in Paris and in Havre. Mr. Gilfleur was in constant communication with him while he was working up the exposure of the treason of Davis, who might have been a relative of the distinguished gentleman at the head of the Southern Confederacy, though there was no evidence to this effect.

"If the captain of this steamer manages his affair well with the Ionian, I expect to find letters on board of her signed by Davis," continued Mr. Gilfleur. "From the information I obtained, your father put American detectives on the scent of Davis, who dogged him day and night till they found the Ionian, and ascertained in what manner she obtained her cargo; but she had been partly loaded before they reached a conclusion, and it is suspected that she has arms under the pieces of machinery, perhaps cannon and ammunition."

The detective continued to explain his operations at greater length than it is necessary to report them. Christy listened till nearly midnight, and then he went on deck to ascertain the position of the chase before he turned in. He found the captain on the quarter-deck, vigilant and faithful to his duty, and evidently determined that the Ionian should not elude him.

"You are up late, Mr. Passford," said the captain, when he recognized his passenger in the gloom of the night.

"I have been busy, and I came on deck to see where the Ionian was before I turned in," replied Christy.

"I think the rascal has a suspicion that we have some business with him, for at four bells he turned his head in for the shore," added the commander. "If you go forward you will see that we have dowsed every glim on board, even to our mast-head and side lights."

"You are carrying no starboard and port light?"

"None; but we have a strong lookout aloft, and in every other available place. When the chase headed for the shore, we kept on our course for half an hour, and then put out the lights. We came about and went off to the eastward for another half-hour. Coming about, we went to the westward till we made her out, for she has not extinguished her lights. It is dark enough to conceal the ship from her, and no doubt she thinks we are still far to the southward of her. At any rate, she has resumed her former course, which was about south, half west."

Christy was satisfied with this explanation, for the Ionian was doing just what she was expected to do. She was not inclined to be overhauled by a gunboat, and she had attempted to dodge the Chateaugay. Besides, if she were bound to Wilmington, as her clearance stated, she would turn to the south-west two or three points by this time. The young officer seated himself in his room, and figured on the situation. If the steamer were making an honest voyage she would not be more than twenty miles off Absecum light at this time, and ought to be within ten of the coast.

At two bells Christy was still in his chair, and when he heard the bells he decided to go on deck again, for he felt that the time would soon come to settle every doubt in regard to the character of the Ionian. He found the commander still at his post, and he looked out for the chase. It was not more than a mile distant, and hardly to be seen in the gloom of a dark night.

"On deck again, Mr. Passford?" said Captain Chantor.

"Yes, sir; I am too much interested in this affair to sleep; besides, I feel as though I had slept at home enough to last me six months," replied the passenger. "It seems to me that the question of that vessel's destination is to be decided about this time, or at least within an hour or two."

Christy explained the calculation he had been making, in which the captain agreed with him, and declared that he had been over the same course of reasoning. Both of them thought the Ionian would not wait till daylight to change her course, as it would be more perilous to do so then than in the darkness.

"I am confident that she has not seen the Chateaugay since we put out the lights," said the captain. "At the present moment we must be off Absecum; but we cannot see the light. She is far off her course for Wilmington."

"That is plain enough."

"What she will do depends upon whether or not she suspects that a man-of-war is near her. We shall soon know, for she is already in a position to justify her capture."

"Better make sure of her course before that is done," suggested Christy, who felt that he was permitted to say as much as this.

"I don't intend to act till we are south of Cape Henlopen," added the commander promptly. "Before we do anything, I shall formally consult you, Mr. Passford, as I am advised to do."

"I shall be happy to serve as a volunteer, and I will obey your orders without question, and as strictly as any officer on board."

"That is handsome, considering the position in which you have been placed on board, Mr. Passford, and I appreciate the delicacy of your conduct."

Christy remained on deck another hour, and at the end of that time a quartermaster came aft to report that the chase had changed her course farther to the eastward. This proved to be the fact on examination by the officers on the quarter-deck, and as nearly as could be made out she was now headed to the south-east.

"But that will not take her to the Bahama Islands," suggested Christy.

"Certainly not; and she may not be bound to Nassau, as stated in those letters. But it is useless to speculate on her destination, for we shall be in condition in the morning to form an opinion," replied the captain. "I shall keep well astern of her till morning; and if there should be any change in her movements, I will have you called, Mr. Passford."

Christy considered this a sage conclusion, and he turned in on the strength of it. He was not disturbed during the remaining hours of the night. He had taken more exercise than usual that day, and he slept soundly, as he was in the habit of doing. The bell forward indicated eight o'clock when he turned out. Breakfast was all ready, but he hastened on deck to ascertain the position of the chase. The captain was not on the quarter-deck, but the first lieutenant was planking the deck for his morning "constitutional."

"Good-morning, Mr. Birdwing," said Christy.

"Good-morning, Mr. Passford; I hope you are very well this morning," replied the executive officer.

"Quite well, I thank you, sir. But what has become of the chase?" asked the passenger, for the Ionian did not appear to be in sight, and he began to be anxious about her.

"Still ahead of us, sir; but she cannot be seen without a glass. I was called with the morning watch, when the captain turned in. His policy is to keep the Ionian so that we may know just where she is, and also to give her the idea that she is running away from us," replied Mr. Birdwing, as he took a glass from the brackets and handed it to Christy.

The young officer could just make out the steamer with the aid of the glass. The Chateaugay was following her; and a glance at the compass gave her course as south-east, half south. Christy had sailed the Bronx over this course, and he knew where it would bring up.

"It is plain enough, Mr. Birdwing, that the Ionian is not bound to Nassau," said he.

"So Captain Chantor said when I came on deck," replied the first lieutenant.

"And it is equally plain where she is bound," added Christy. "That course means the Bermuda Islands, and doubtless that is her destination."

"So the captain said."

The passenger was satisfied, and went below for his breakfast. He found Mr. Gilfleur at the table; and as the fact that the Chateaugay was chasing the Ionian was well understood in the ward room, Christy did not hesitate to tell him the news. The Frenchman bestowed one of his penetrating glances upon his associate, and said nothing. After the meal was finished they retired to the detective's room. Mr. Gilfleur looked over his papers very industriously for a few minutes.

"This affair is not working exactly as it should," said he, as he selected a letter from his files. "I supposed this steamer would proceed directly to Nassau. Read this letter, Mr. Passford."

"Colonel Richard Pierson!" exclaimed Christy, as he saw to whom the letter was addressed.

"Anything strange about the address?" asked the detective.

"Perhaps nothing strange; but I saw this gentleman in Nassau two years ago," replied Christy, as he recalled the events of his first trip to Mobile in the Bellevite. "I can say of my own knowledge that he is a Confederate agent, and was trying to purchase vessels there. This letter is signed by Hillman Davis."

"The American traitor," added Mr. Gilfleur; and both of them were using the French language.

"He says he shall send the machinery and other merchandise to Nassau to be reshipped to Mobile," continued Christy, reading the letter. "He adds that he has bought the steamer Ionian for this purpose, and he expects to be paid in full for her. I think that is quite enough to condemn the steamer."

"Undoubtedly; but what is the Ionian to do in the Bermudas? That is what perplexes me," said the detective.

"Possibly Captain Chantor can solve the problem, for I am sure I cannot," answered the young officer, as he rose from his seat.

He was as much perplexed as his companion, and he went on deck to wait the appearance of the commander. About nine o'clock he came upon the quarter-deck. The Ionian remained at the same relative distance from the Chateaugay, for the captain had given an order to this effect before he turned in.

"I am glad to see you, Captain Chantor," said Christy. "Can you explain why the Ionian is headed for the Bermudas, for you have later information than any in my possession?"

"I think I can," replied the captain, taking a letter from his pocket. "This is the contents of the last envelope brought off from the shore. The writer of it says he has just addressed a letter to 'our friend in New York,' directing him, if it is not too late, to send the steamer with the machinery and other merchandise to the Bermudas, where the cargo will be transferred to the Dornoch; for the Ovidio had been obliged to sail without her armament, and the cargo was too valuable to be risked without protection."

"That is the reason why the reinforcement was sent off at the last moment," Christy remarked.

"The Dornoch carries six guns and fifty men," added the captain, reading from the letter. "I think we need not wait any longer to take possession of the Ionian, Mr. Passford. What is your opinion?"

"I concur entirely with you," replied Christy.

"Quartermaster, strike four bells," continued the captain to the man who was conning the wheel.

"Four bells," repeated the quartermaster; and the gong could be heard on deck as he did so.

In the course of half an hour, for the steam had been kept rather low for the slow progress the ship was obliged to make in order not to alarm the chase, the Chateaugay began to show what she could do in the matter of speed, and before noon she had overhauled the Ionian.

[CHAPTER VI]

THE BOARDING OF THE IONIAN

The Chateaugay, with her colors flying, ran abreast of the Ionian and by her; but the latter did not show her flag. A blank cartridge was then fired, but the steamer took no notice of it. A shot was then discharged across her fore foot, and this brought her to her senses, so that she hoisted the British flag, and stopped her screw. All the preparations had been made for boarding her, and two boats were in readiness to discharge this duty.

The first cutter, in charge of Mr. Birdwing, was the first to leave the ship. The sea was quite smooth, so that there was no difficulty in getting the boats off. The first lieutenant's boat went from the starboard side, and the second cutter was lowered on the port in charge of the third lieutenant. Christy went in the first boat, and Mr. Gilfleur in the second. The officers and crews of both boats were especially directed to see that nothing was thrown overboard from the Ionian; for if her captain found that he was in a "tight place," he would be likely to heave his papers into the sea.

The first cutter had not made half the distance to the Ionian before she pulled down the British flag and hoisted the American in its place. Her commander evidently believed that he was getting into hot water, and well he might. He must have been selected for this enterprise on account of his fitness for it, and as the steamer had not sailed on an honest voyage, he could not be an honest man, and the officers of the boats despised him. They were determined to discharge their duty faithfully, even if they were obliged to treat him with the utmost rigor.

"She has corrected her first blunder," said Mr. Birdwing, as the American flag went up to her peak. "The skipper of that craft don't exactly know what he is about."

"It must be a surprise to him to be brought to by a United States man-of-war," added Christy.

"But why did the fool hoist the British flag when he has no papers to back it up? That would have done very well among the blockaders," continued the officer of the boat. "I don't know very much about this business, and the captain ordered me to let you and the French gentleman in the other boat have your own way on board of her, and to do all you required. Have you any directions for me?"

"We desire to have the steamer thoroughly searched, and I have little doubt that we shall ask you to take possession of her," replied Christy.

"Then we are to make a capture of it?" asked the first lieutenant, manifesting no little surprise.

"Under certain circumstances, yes."

"Is she a Confederate vessel?"

"No; she is an American vessel."

"All right; but I shall obey my orders to the very letter," added Mr. Birdwing. "How many men shall I put on board of her?"

"Twelve, if you please," replied Christy, who had arranged the plan with the detective.

"Six from each boat," said the executive officer; and then he hailed the second cutter, and directed Mr. Carlin to send this number on board of the Ionian.

"And, if you please, direct him to board the steamer on the starboard side, for I take it you will board on the port," added Christy. "We fear that she will throw certain papers overboard, and we must prevent that if possible."

The order was given to the third lieutenant, and in a few minutes more the first cutter came alongside the steamer. Mr. Birdwing ordered those on board to drop the accommodation ladder over the side; and for so mild a gentleman he did it in a very imperative tone. The order was obeyed, though it appeared to be done very reluctantly. The first lieutenant was the first to mount the ladder, and was closely followed by his passenger.

"Where is the captain?" demanded Mr. Birdwing, as the six men detailed for the purpose were coming over the side.

"I am the captain," replied an ill-favored looking man, stepping forward with very ill grace.

"What steamer is this?"

"The Ionian, of New York, bound to St. George's, Bermuda," replied the captain in a crusty tone.

"The captain's name?" demanded the officer, becoming more imperative as the commander of the Ionian manifested more of his crabbed disposition.

"Captain Sawlock," growled the ill-favored master of the steamer, who was a rather short man, thick-set, with a face badly pitted by the small-pox, but nearly covered with a grizzly and tangled beard.

"You will oblige me by producing your papers, Captain Sawlock," continued Mr. Birdwing.

"For a good reason, my papers are not regular," answered the captain of the Ionian, with an attempt to be more affable, though it did not seem to be in his nature to be anything but a brute in his manners.

"Regular or not, you will oblige me by exhibiting them," the officer insisted.

"It is not my fault that a change was made in my orders after I got under way," pleaded Captain Sawlock.

"Will you produce your clearance and other papers?" demanded the lieutenant very decidedly.

"This is an American vessel, and you have no right to overhaul me in this manner," growled the captain of the steamer.

"You are in command of a steamer, and you cannot be so ignorant as to believe that an officer of a man-of-war has not the right to require you to show your papers," added Mr. Birdwing with a palpable sneer.

"This is an American vessel," repeated Captain Sawlock.

"Then why did you hoist the British flag?"

"That's my business!"

"But it is mine also. Do you decline to show your papers? You are trifling with me," said Mr. Birdwing impatiently.

At this moment there was a scuffle in the waist of the steamer, which attracted the attention of all on the deck. Mr. Gilfleur had suddenly thrown himself on the first officer of the Ionian; and when his second officer and several sailors had gone to his assistance, the third lieutenant of the Chateaugay had rushed in to the support of the Frenchman. The man-of-war's men were all armed with cutlasses and revolvers; but they did not use their weapons, and it looked like a rough-and-tumble fight on the deck.

Mr. Birdwing and Christy rushed over to the starboard side of the steamer; but Mr. Carlin and his men had so effectively sustained the detective that the affray had reached a conclusion before they could interfere. Mr. Gilfleur was crawling out from under two or three men who had thrown themselves upon him when he brought the first officer to the deck by jumping suddenly upon him. The Frenchman had in his hand a tin case about a foot in length, and three inches in diameter, such as are sometimes used to contain charters, or similar valuable papers.

The contest had plainly been for the possession of this case, which the quick eye of the detective had discovered as the mate was carrying it forward; for Mr. Carlin had sent two of his men to the stern at the request of the Frenchman, charged to allow no one to throw anything overboard. The first officer of the Ionian had listened to the conversation between Captain Sawlock and the first lieutenant, and had gone below into the cabin when it began to be a little stormy.

"What does all this mean, Mr. Carlin?" inquired Mr. Birdwing.

"I simply obeyed my orders to support Mr. Gilfleur; and he can explain his action better than I can," replied the third lieutenant.

"I have requested the officers, through Captain Chantor, to see that nothing was thrown overboard, either before or after we boarded the steamer," interposed Christy.

"And the captain's order has been obeyed," added the first lieutenant. "Will you explain the cause of this affray, Mr. Gilfleur?"

"With the greatest pleasure," answered the detective with one of his politest bows. "While you were talking with the captain of the Ionian, I saw the first officer of this steamer go into the cabin. I was told by a sailor that he was the mate. In a minute or two he came on deck again, and I saw that he had something under his coat. He moved forward, and was going to the side when I jumped upon him. After a struggle I took this tin case from him."

The detective stepped forward, and handed the tin case to the executive officer as gracefully as though he had been figuring in a ballroom. Captain Sawlock had followed the officers over from the port side. He appeared to be confounded, and listened in silence to the explanation of Mr. Gilfleur. But he looked decidedly ugly.

"That case is my personal, private property," said he, as soon as it was in the hands of the chief officer of the boarding-party.

"I don't dispute it, Captain Sawlock; but at the same time I intend to examine its contents," replied Mr. Birdwing mildly, but firmly.

"This is an outrage, Mr. Officer!" exclaimed the discomfited master.

"If it is, I am responsible for it," added the executive officer, as he removed the cover from the end of the case.

"I protest against this outrage! I will not submit to it!" howled Captain Sawlock, carried away by his wrath.

"Perhaps you will," said Mr. Birdwing quietly.

"But I will not!"

With a sudden movement he threw himself upon the officer, and attempted to wrest the tin case from his hands. Christy, who was standing behind him, seized him by the collar with both hands, and hurled him to the deck. A moment later two seamen, by order of Mr. Carlin, took him each by his two arms, and held him like a vice.

"I think we will retire to the cabin to examine these papers, for I see that the case is filled with documents, including some sealed letters," continued Mr. Birdwing, as he moved towards the cabin door.

"That cabin is mine! You can't go into it!" howled Captain Sawlock, crazy with anger. "Don't let them go into the cabin, Withers!"

Withers appeared to be the mate, and he stepped forward as though he intended to do something; but a couple of seamen, by order of the first lieutenant, arrested and held him. He had apparently had enough of it in his encounter with the detective, for he submitted without any resistance. If the captain of the steamer was a fool, the mate was not, for he saw the folly of resisting a United States force.

"Mr. Carlin, you will remain on deck with the men; Mr. Passford and Mr. Gilfleur, may I trouble you to come into the cabin with me?" continued Mr. Birdwing, as he led the way.

The executive officer seated himself at the table in the middle of the cabin, and his companions took places on each side of him. The first paper drawn from the case was the clearance of the Ionian for Wilmington, with a cargo of old iron. The manifest had clearly been trumped up for the occasion. The old iron was specified, and a list of other articles of merchandise.

At this point the executive officer sent for Mr. Carlin, and directed him to take off the hatches and examine the cargo, especially what was under the pieces of machinery. There were several letters to unknown persons, and one in particular to the captain himself, in which he was directed to deliver the machinery to a gentleman with the title of "Captain," who was doubtless a Confederate agent, in St. George's, Bermuda. The papers were abundantly sufficient to convict Davis of treason. The last one found in the case directed Captain Sawlock to deliver the cannon and ammunition in the bottom of the vessel to the steamer Dornoch, on her arrival at St. George's, or at some convenient place in the Bahama Islands.

[CHAPTER VII]

A BOLD PROPOSITION

The evidence was sufficient to justify the capture of the Ionian without a particle of doubt, for she was as really a Confederate vessel as though the captain and officers were provided with commissions signed by Mr. Jefferson Davis.

Mr. Birdwing went to the door and directed the third lieutenant to have Captain Sawlock conducted to the cabin; and the two seamen who had held him as a prisoner brought him before the first lieutenant of the Chateaugay. He appeared to have got control of his temper, and offered no further resistance. Mr. Carlin came to the door, and his superior directed him to examine all hands forward, in order to ascertain whether they were Confederates or otherwise. He gave him the shipping-list to assist him.

"Are you an American citizen, Captain Sawlock?" asked Mr. Birdwing, as soon as the third lieutenant had departed on his mission.

"I am," replied he stiffly.

"Where were you horn?"

"In Pensacola."

"Have you ever taken the oath of allegiance to the United States government?"

"No; and I never will!" protested the captain with an oath.

"I must inform you, Captain Sawlock, that I am directed by the commander of the United States steamer Chateaugay to take possession of the Ionian, on finding sufficient evidence on board that she is engaged in an illegal voyage. I have no doubt in regard to the matter, and I take possession of her accordingly."

"It is an outrage!" howled the captain with a heavy oath.

"You can settle that matter with the courts. I have nothing more to say," replied Mr. Birdwing as he rose and left the cabin, followed by Christy and the detective.

"I found ten heavy guns and a large quantity of ammunition at the bottom of the hold," reported Mr. Carlin, as his superior appeared on deck, and handed back the shipping-list of the vessel. "The three engineers appear to be Englishmen, and so declare themselves. I find six Americans among the crew, who are provided with protections, and they all desire to enlist in the navy. The rest of the crew are of all nations."

"Let the six men with protections man the first cutter. You will remain on board of the Ionian, Mr. Carlin, till orders come to you from the captain," said the first lieutenant. "I shall now return to the Chateaugay to report."

Christy decided to return to the ship; but the detective wished to remain, though he said there was nothing more for him to do. The six sailors who wished to enter the navy were ordered into the boat, two of the regular crew remaining in it. The recruits were good-looking men, and they pulled their oars as though they had already served in the navy. They supposed the Ionian was really bound to Wilmington; but they could not explain why they had not enlisted at Brooklyn if they desired to do so. The first lieutenant went on board of the ship, and reported to the captain.

Mr. Gwyndale was at once appointed prize-master, with Mr. Tompers as his executive officer, and sent on board with the ten seamen who had been put on board of the Chateaugay expressly for this duty. Several pairs of handcuffs were sent on board of the Ionian, for the first lieutenant apprehended that they would be needed to keep Captain Sawlock and his mate in proper subjection. The papers which had been contained in the tin case were intrusted to the care of Mr. Gwyndale, with the strictest injunction to keep them safely, and deliver them to the government official before any of the Ionian ship's company were permitted to land.

The cutters returned from the prize with all the hands who had been sent from the ship, including Mr. Gilfleur. The prize-master had a sufficient force with him to handle the steamer, and to control the disaffected, if there were any besides the captain and mate. The engineers and firemen were willing to remain and do duty as long as they were paid. In a couple of hours the Ionian started her screw and headed for New York, where she would arrive the next day.

Captain Chantor directed the quartermaster at the wheel to ring one bell, and the Chateaugay began to move again. The events of the day were discussed; but the first business of the ship had been successfully disposed of, and the future was a more inviting field than the past. The captain requested the presence of the two passengers in his cabin, and read to them in full the latest instructions that had been sent off to him.

"Our next duty is to look for the Dornoch, with her six guns and fifty men, and we are not likely to have so soft a time of it as we had with the Ionian," said Captain Chantor, when he had read the letter.

"The Chateaugay is reasonably fast, though she could not hold her own with the Bellevite, or even the Bronx; and you have a pivot gun amidships, and six broadside guns," added Christy.

"Oh, I shall be happy to meet her!" exclaimed the commander. "I don't object to her six guns and fifty men; the only difficulty I can see is in finding her. I am afraid she has already gone into St. George's harbor, and she may not come out for a month."

"Why should she wait all that time?" asked Christy. "Her commander knew nothing about the Ionian, that she was to take in a valuable cargo for her, and she will not wait for her."

"That is true; but I am afraid we shall miss the Ovidio if we remain too long in these waters."

"It seems to me that the Dornoch has had time enough to reach the Bermudas," said Christy. "Possibly she is in port at this moment."

"That is a harassing reflection!" exclaimed the commander.

"I don't see that there is any help for it," added Christy. "You cannot go into the port of St. George's to see if she is there."

"Why not?" asked Mr. Gilfleur, speaking for the first time. "I spent a winter there when I was sick from over-work and exposure; and I know all about the islands."

"That will not help me, Mr. Gilfleur," said the captain, with a smile at what he considered the simplicity of the Frenchman.

"But why can you not go in and see if the Dornoch is there?" inquired the detective.

"Because if I learned that she was about to leave the port, the authorities would not let me sail till twenty-four hours after she had gone."

"You need not wait till she gets ready to leave," suggested the Frenchman.

"She might be ready to sail at the very time I arrived, and then I should lose her. Oh, no; I prefer to take my chance at a marine league from the shore," added the captain, shaking his head.

"Perhaps I might go into Hamilton harbor and obtain the information you need," suggested Mr. Gilfleur, looking very earnest, as though he was thinking of something.

"You!" exclaimed Captain Chantor, looking at him with amazement. "How could you go in without going in the ship?"

"You know that I have a boat on deck," replied the detective quietly.

"But you are not a sailor, sir."

"No, I am not a sailor; but I am a boatman. After I had worked up the biggest case in all my life in Paris,—one that required me to go to London seven times,—I was sick when the bank-robbers were convicted, and the excitement was over. The doctors ordered me to spend the winter in Martinique, and I went to the Bermudas in an English steamer, where I was to take another for my destination; but I liked the islands so well that I remained there all the winter. My principal amusement was boating; and I learned the whole art to perfection. I used to go through the openings in the reefs, and sail out of sight of land. I had a boat like the one on deck."

"Your experience is interesting, but I do not see how it will profit me," said the captain.

"I can go to the Bermudas, obtain the information you want, and return to the Chateaugay," replied Mr. Gilfleur rather impatiently.

"That would be a risky cruise for you, my friend," suggested Captain Chantor, shaking his head in a deprecatory manner.

"I don't think so. I have been outside the reefs many times when the wind blew a gale, and I felt as safe in my boat as I do on board of this ship," said the detective earnestly.

"How would you manage the matter?" asked the commander, beginning to be interested in the project.

"You shall run to the south of the islands, or rather to the south-west, in the night, with all your lights put out, and let me embark there in my boat. You will give me a compass, and I have a sail in the boat. I shall steer to the north-east, and I shall soon see Gibbs Hill light. By that I can make the point on the coast I wish to reach, which is Hogfish Cut. I have been through it twenty times. Once inside the reefs I shall have no difficulty in reaching Hamilton harbor. Then I will take a carriage to St. George's. If I find the Dornoch in the harbor, I will come out the same way I went in, and you will pick me up."

"That looks more practicable than I supposed it could be," added Captain Chantor.

"While I am absent you will be attending to your duty as commander of the Chateaugay, for you will still be on the lookout for your prize," continued the versatile Frenchman. "You can run up twenty or thirty miles to the northward, on the east side of the islands, where all large vessels have to go in."

"How long will it take you to carry out this enterprise, Mr. Gilfleur?"

"Not more than two days; perhaps less time. Do you consent?"

"I will consider it, and give you an answer to-morrow morning," replied Captain Chantor.

"Won't you take me with you, Mr. Gilfleur?" asked Christy, who was much pleased with the idea of such an excursion.

"I should be very happy to have your company, Mr. Passford," replied the detective very promptly, and with a smile on his face which revealed his own satisfaction.

"Are you in earnest, Lieutenant Passford?" demanded the commander, looking with astonishment at his passenger.

"Of course I am: I see no difficulty in the enterprise," replied Christy. "I have had a good deal of experience in sailboats myself, and I do not believe I should be an encumbrance to Mr. Gilfleur; and I may be of some service to him."

"You would be of very great service to me, for you know all about ships, and I do not," the detective added.

"Just as you please, Mr. Passford. You are not under my orders, for you are not attached to the ship," said the captain.

The commander went on deck, and the two passengers retired to Christy's stateroom, where they discussed the enterprise for a couple of hours. In the mean time the Chateaugay was making her best speed, for Captain Chantor did not wish to lose any of his chances by being too late; and he believed that the Dornoch must be fully due at the Bermudas. Before he turned in that night he had altered the course of the ship half a point more to the southward, for he had decided to accept the offer of Mr. Gilfleur; and he wished to go to the west of the islands instead of the east, as he had given out the course at noon.

For two days more the Chateaugay continued on her voyage. At noon the second day he found his ship was directly west of the southern part of the Bermudas, and but fifty miles from them. He shaped his course so as to be at the south of them that night.

[CHAPTER VIII]

A NOTABLE EXPEDITION

The position of the Chateaugay was accurately laid down on the chart fifty miles to the westward of Spears Hill, which is about the geographical centre of the Bermuda Islands. Captain Chantor had invited his two passengers to his cabin for a conference in relation to the proposed enterprise, after the observations had been worked up at noon, on the fourth day after the departure from New York.

"Now, Mr. Gilfleur, if you will indicate the precise point at which you desire to put off in your boat, I will have the ship there at the time you require," said the captain, who had drawn a rough sketch of the islands, and dotted upon it the points he mentioned in his statement.

"Of course you do not wish the ship to be seen from the islands," suggested the detective.

"Certainly not; for if the Dornoch is in port at St. George's that would be warning her to avoid us in coming out, and she might escape by standing off to the northward," replied the commander. "Besides, there might be fishing-craft or other small vessels off the island that would report the ship if she were seen. It is not advisable to go any nearer to the islands till after dark. We will show no lights as we approach your destination."

"How near Gibbs Hill light can you go with safety in the darkness, Captain?" asked Mr. Gilfleur.

"I should not care to go nearer than ten miles; we could not be seen from the shore at that distance, but we might be seen by some small craft."

"That will do very well; and if you will make a point ten miles south-west of Gibbs Hills light, I shall be exactly suited," added the detective, as he made a small cross on the sketch near the place where he desired to embark in the boat.

The conference was finished, and the two passengers went on deck to inspect the craft which was to convey them to the islands. By order of the commander the carpenter had overhauled the boat and made such repairs as were needed. Every open seam had been calked, and a heavy coat of paint had been put upon it. The sailmaker had attended to the jib and mainsail, and everything was in excellent condition for the trip to the shore.

"Is this the same boat that you used when you were in the Bermudas, Mr. Gilfleur?" asked Christy, as they were examining the work which had been done on the craft, its spars and sails.

"Oh, no; it was six years ago that I spent the winter in the islands. I found this boat under a shed on a wharf in New York. It had been picked up near the Great Abaco in the Bahama Islands by a three-master, on her voyage from the West Indies," replied Mr. Gilfleur. "When I had formed my plan of operations in the vicinity of Nassau, in order to obtain the information the government desired, I bought this boat. When picked up, the boat had her spars, sails, oars, water-breakers, and other articles carefully stowed away on board of her; and it appeared as though she had broken adrift from her moorings, or had been carried away by a rising tide from some beach where those in charge of her had landed. I happened to find the captain of the vessel that brought the boat to New York; and he made me pay roundly for her, so that he got well rewarded for his trouble in picking it up."

The Chateaugay stood due south till six o'clock at little more than half speed, and when she came about her dead reckoning indicated that she was seventy-five miles to the south-west of Gibbs Hill light. The weather was very favorable for the proposed enterprise, with a moderate breeze from the west. Mr. Gilfleur did not wish to leave the ship till after midnight, for all he desired was to get inside the outer reefs before daylight. The speed of the ship was regulated to carry out this idea.

The light so frequently mentioned in the conference is three hundred and sixty-two feet above the sea level, for it is built on the highest point of land in the south of the Bermudas, and could be seen at a distance of thirty miles. At three bells in the first watch the light was reported by the lookout, and the speed was reduced somewhat.

About this time the detective came out of his stateroom, and entered that of Christy. He had smeared his face with a brownish tint, which made him look as though he had been long exposed to the sun of the tropics. He was dressed in a suit of coarse material, though it was not the garb of a sailor. He had used the scissors on his long black mustache, and given it a snarly and unkempt appearance. Christy would not have known him if he had met him on shore.

"You look like another man," said he, laughing.

"A French detective has to learn the art of disguising himself; in fact, he has to be an actor. Perhaps you will not be willing to believe it, but I have played small parts at the Théâtre Français for over a year, more to learn the actor's art of making himself up than because I had any histrionic aspirations. I have worked up a case in the capacity of an old man of eighty years of age," the detective explained. "When I recovered the property of your father, stolen at Havre, I played the part of a dandy, and won the confidence of the stewardess, though I came very near having to fight a duel with the voleur who was her 'pal' in the robbery."

"Of course it will not do for me to wear my lieutenant's uniform," suggested Christy.

"Not unless you wish to have your head broken by the crews of the blockade-runners you will find at St. George's," replied the Frenchman significantly.

"I have some old clothes in my valise," added the lieutenant.

"I don't like the idea of putting you in a humiliating position, Mr. Passford, but I have not told you all my plans."

"I will take any position you assign to me, for I am now to be a volunteer in your service."

"I intend to represent myself as a French gentleman of wealth, who has passed the winter in the Bahama Islands in search of health, and found it in abundance," said Mr. Gilfleur, with a pleasant smile on his face, as though he really enjoyed the business in which he was at present engaged.

"Have you ever been in the Bahamas?" asked Christy.

"All through them, including Nassau. If I had not, I should not have brought that boat with me. I made a trip in an English steamer from the Bermudas, which had occasion to visit nearly all the islands; and I passed about two months of my stay in this region on that cruise," replied the detective.

"But how far is it from the Bermudas to the nearest point in the Bahamas? Will people believe that we came even from the Great Abaco in an open boat?" inquired Christy. "What is the distance?"

"I estimate it at about seven hundred and fifty miles. That is nothing for a boat like mine, though I should not care to undertake it in the hurricane season," replied Mr. Gilfleur. "By the way, we must borrow some charts of this region from the captain, though only to keep up appearances."

"You have not told me in what character I am to be your companion," suggested Christy.

"As my servant, if you do not rebel at the humiliation of such a position, though I promise to treat you very kindly, and with all proper consideration," laughed the Frenchman.

"I have not the slightest objection to the character; and I will endeavor to discharge my duties with humility and deference," responded the lieutenant in the same vein.

"Now let me see what sort of a suit you have for your part," added the detective.

Christy took from his valise a suit he had worn as a subordinate officer when he was engaged in the capture of the Teaser. It was approved by his companion, and he dressed himself in this garb.

"But you have been bleached out by your long stay at Bonnydale, and your complexion needs a little improvement," said Mr. Gilfleur, as he went to his room for his tints.

On his return he gave to the face of the officer the same sun-browned hue he had imparted to his own. While he was so employed, he explained that the tint was a fast color under ordinary circumstances, and in what manner it could be easily removed, though it would wear off in about a week.

"Now, you need only a little touching up," continued the detective, when he had completed the dyeing process. "You will be amazed at the change produced in the expression of a person by a few touches of paint skilfully applied," and he proceeded to make the alteration proposed.

When he had finished his work, Christy looked in the glass, and declared that he should hardly know himself. The preparations were completed, and the French gentleman and his servant were ready to embark. But it was only eleven o'clock, and both of them turned in for a nap of a couple of hours. The captain had retired early in the evening, and the quartermaster conning the wheel was steering for the light, the Chateaugay making not more than six knots an hour.

At one o'clock the commander was called, in accordance with his order to the officer of the watch. He went on deck at once, had the log slate brought to him, and made some calculations, which resulted in an order to ring two bells, which meant "Stop her." Then he went to the ward room himself, and knocked at the doors of his two passengers. Mr. Gilfleur and Christy sprang from their berths, and the two doors were opened at once. No toilet was necessary, for both of them had lain down with their clothes on.

"Pray, who might you be?" demanded the captain, laughing heartily when the detective showed himself in his new visage and dress. "Can you inform me what has become of Mr. Gilfleur?"

"He has stepped out for a couple of days, and Monsieur Rubempré has taken his place," replied the detective.

"And who is this gentleman?" asked Captain Chantor, turning to his other passenger, who was quite as much changed in appearance.

"Contrary to his usual custom, he does not claim to be a gentleman just now. This is Christophe, my servant, employed as such only for a couple of days," answered Monsieur Rubempré.

"All right, Mr. Rubumper! Three bells have just been struck, and the watch are putting your boat into the water," continued the commander. "I have directed the steward to fill your breaker with water, and put a small supply of provisions into the craft. We shall be ready for you in about half an hour."

"We are all ready at this moment," replied Monsieur Rubempré; for both of the passengers had agreed to call each other by their assumed names at once, so as to get accustomed to them, and thus avoid committing themselves in any moment of excitement.

The detective came out of his room with a valise in his hand, which he had packed with extreme care, so that nothing should be found in it, in case of accident, to compromise him. He had superintended the placing of Christy's clothing in one of his valises. He objected to the initials, "C. P.," worked on his linen; but the owner had no other, and the difficulty was compromised by writing the name of "Christophe Poireau" on a number of pieces of paper and cards, and attaching a tag with this name upon it to the handle.

Both of them put on plain overcoats, and went on deck, where the boat, which had the name of Eleuthera painted on the stern, had already been committed to the waves.

[CHAPTER IX]

THE FRENCHMAN IN BERMUDA

"Bon voyage, Mr. Rubumper," said Captain Chanter, as the Frenchman was about to descend the accommodation ladder. "I know French enough to say that."

"Thank you, Captain."

"I hope you will make a success of the enterprise, Mr. Passford," the commander added to the other member of the expedition.

"I shall do the best I can to make it so," answered Christy, as he followed his companion down the accommodation ladder.

The detective shoved the boat off, and both of the voyagers took the oars to get the craft clear of the ship, which was accomplished in a few minutes. Then the Frenchman stepped the mast, which had been carefully adjusted on board of the ship, while Christy rigged out the shifting bowsprit. In half an hour they had placed the spars and bent on the sail, for everything had been prepared for expeditious work. The sails filled, and the skipper took his place at the long tiller.

"We are all right now, Christophe," said the detective.

"I should say that we were, Monsieur Rubempré," replied the acting servant. "We have ten miles to make: with this breeze, how long will it take for this boat to do it?"

"If she sails as well as mine did, she will make it in two hours."

The craft was about twenty feet long, and was sharp at both ends. She had a cuddy forward, which was large enough to accommodate both of her crew in a reclining posture. It had been furnished with a couple of berthsacks, and with several blankets. The provisions and water had been placed in it, as well as a couple of lanterns, ready for use if occasion should require.

It was a summer sea in this latitude, with a very steady breeze from the westward. The overcoats they wore were hardly necessary, and they had put them on mainly to conceal their changed garments from the crew of the ship, who could only conjecture what the expedition meant.

"You are a younger man than I am, Christophe, and you have slept only a couple of hours to-night," said M. Rubempré, as soon as the Eleuthera was well under way; and the remark was called forth by a long gape on the part of the younger person. "You can turn in and sleep a couple of hours more just as well as not, for there is nothing whatever for you to do. We may have to make a long day of it to-morrow."

"I am accustomed to doing without my sleep at times," replied Christophe, which was his first name, according to the French orthography, and was pronounced in two syllables.

"Of course you have, when your duty required you to be on deck; but there is not the least need of doing so now."

The lieutenant complied with the advice of the skipper, and in five minutes more he was sound asleep. The Bahama boat, with a Bahama name, rose and fell on the long rolling seas, which were very gentle in their motion, and made very good progress through the water. The light could be plainly seen in its lofty position, and the detective steered for it over an hour, and then kept it a little on the starboard hand; for the opening in the outer reef through which he intended to pass was two miles to the westward of the high tower. He had correctly estimated the speed of the boat, for the faint light of the dawn of day began to appear in the east when he was able clearly to discern the outline of the hills on the most southern of the islands.

Although it was still quite dark, the Frenchman continued on his course very confidently. The reefs extended out two miles from the main shore; but the navigator was so familiar with the locality that they did not trouble him. Bearing about north-west from the light was Wreck Hill, one hundred and fifty feet high, which assisted him in keeping his course. As he approached the mainland he made out the fort, and steering directly for it, passed safely through Hogfish Cut.

When he was within half a mile of this fort, he headed the boat to the north-west. It was still eighteen miles to Hamilton, the capital of the islands; but he had a fair wind, and the boat made about five miles an hour. Christy still slept, and the skipper did not wake him. It was daylight when he was abreast of Wreck Hill, and there was no further difficulty in the navigation. It was half-past eight when he ran up to a pier where he had kept his boat in former days. There were plenty of just such crafts as the Eleuthera, and no attention was paid to her as she passed along the Front-street docks. The pier at which he made his landing was in a retired locality. He lowered the sails, and had made everything snug on board before he called his companion.

"Half-past eight, Christophe," said he at the door of the cuddy.

"Half-past eight!" exclaimed Christy, springing out of his berth on the floor. "Where are we now, M. Rubempré?"

"We are in Hamilton harbor; and if you will come out of the cuddy, you will find yourself in the midst of flowers and green trees," replied the skipper with a smile.

"I must have slept six hours," said Christy, rubbing his eyes as he crawled out of the cuddy.

The scenery around him was certainly very beautiful, and he gazed upon it in silence for a few minutes. It seemed to him just as though he had waked in fairyland. He had cruised in the vicinity of the islands, but he had never been very near the shore before. Though he had been in Alabama, and seen the shores of the Gulf States, he had never beheld any region that seemed so lovely to him. He had been on shore at Nassau, but only on the wharves, and had hardly seen the beauties of the island.

"Why didn't you call me before, M. Rubempré?" asked he, when he had taken in the view from the pier.

"Because I thought your sleep would do you more good than the view of the shore, which you will have plenty of opportunities to see before we leave," replied the detective. "But we must begin our work, for we have no time to lose. I arranged with Captain Chantor to pick us up to-morrow night at about the point where we embarked in the boat. In the mean time he will sail around the islands, though the Chateaugay will not come near enough to be seen from the shore."

"What will you do with the boat while we are absent?"

"Leave it where it is."

While they were talking, an old negro came down the pier, and very politely saluted the strangers. He appeared to come from a small house a short distance from the shore, and passed along to a boat which lay near the Eleuthera.

"Is that your boat?" asked the detective, calling him back.

"Yes, sir; I am a fisherman, though I've got the rheumatism, and don't go out much; but I have to go to-day, for we have nothing to eat in the house," replied the negro, whose language was very good.

"What is your name?"

"Joseph, sir."

"Do you speak French?"

"Oh, no, sir!" exclaimed Joseph. "I don't speak anything but plain English; but I used to work sometimes for a French gentleman that kept a boat at this pier, six or seven years ago."

"What was his came?" asked the detective, who had had a suspicion from the first that he knew the man, though he had changed a great deal as he grew older.

"Mounseer Gillflower," replied Joseph; "and he was very kind to me."

"I am a Frenchman, Joseph; and, if you don't want to go fishing, I will employ you to take care of my boat, and carry my valise to a hotel," continued the detective, as he handed an English sovereign to him, for he had taken care to provide himself with a store of them in New York.

"Thank you, sir; but I can't change this piece," protested Joseph very sadly.

"I don't want you to change it; keep the whole of it."

"God bless you forever and ever, Mounseer!" exclaimed the fisherman. "I haven't had a sovereign before since Mounseer Gillflower was here. I am a very poor man, and I can't get any work on shore."

Probably, like the rest of his class, he was not inclined to work while he had any money. He promised to take good care of the Eleuthera, and he asked no troublesome questions. The detective gave his name, and ordered Christophe, calling him by his name, to bring the valises on shore. Then the Frenchman locked the door of the cuddy, for they left their overcoats there, as they had no use for them.

"To what hotel shall I carry the valises?" asked Joseph.

"To the Atlantic; that will be the most convenient for us. Do you know anything about these vessels in the harbor, Joseph?"

"Not much, Mounseer Roobump; but they say the two steamers near the island are going to run the blockade into the States; but I don't know. They say a Confederate man-of-war came into St. George's harbor yesterday; but I haven't seen her, and I don't know whether it's true or not."

"What is her name?" asked the detective, who from the beginning had broken up his English, and imparted a strong French accent to it.

"I did not hear any one mention her name, Mounseer. That vessel this side of the island is the mail steamer from New York; she got in yesterday," continued Joseph.

"That is important; if the Dornoch is the Confederate man-of-war that arrived at St. George's yesterday, this steamer brought letters from Davis to her captain," said the Frenchman to Christy, in French.

"But Davis could not have learned that the Ionian had been captured before the mail steamer left New York," added Christy, in the same language.

"No matter for that, Christophe. I did not resign my place at Davis's warehouse till the morning we sailed; and I have his letter to the captain of the Dornoch with my other papers on board of the Chateaugay, and I know that was the only letter written to him. As he has no information in regard to the Ionian, he will not wait for her."

"I remember; you showed me the letter."

Joseph listened with a show of wonder on his face to this conversation which he could not understand. The detective directed him to carry the two valises to the hotel named; but Christy interposed in French, and insisted that it would look better for him to carry his own valise, and the point was yielded. The Atlantic Hotel was on Front Street, the harbor being on one side of it. A couple of rooms were assigned to them, one of them quite small, which was taken by Christy, in order to keep up appearances.

M. Rubempré registered his name, putting "and servant" after it, Paris, and spoke even worse English than he had used to Joseph. Breakfast had been ordered, but Christy, being only a servant, had to take his meal at a side table. The detective was not dressed like a gentleman, and the landlord seemed to have some doubts about his ability to pay his bills, though he had baggage. He was not treated with anything like deference, and he saw the difficulty. After breakfast he took a handful of English gold from his pocket, and asked the landlord to change one of the coins for smaller money. Mine host bowed low to him after this exhibition.

"I want to see the American consul," said M. Rubempré, in his own language.

"I will go with you, but I think I will not see him, for he may take it into his head that I am not a Frenchman," added Christy.

"You can come with me, and stay outside."

When they reached the consulate, which was on the same street as the hotel, they found about a dozen sailors in front of the building. They were a very rough and hard-looking set of men. They appeared to be considerably excited about something, and to be bent on violence in some direction; but the strangers could make nothing of the talk they heard, though "the bloody spy" was an expression frequently used.

[CHAPTER X]

IMPORTANT INFORMATION OBTAINED

Christy walked behind the detective in his capacity as servant. It was soon evident to them that the ruffians gathered in the street meant mischief. On the staff over their heads floated the flag of the United States. Though Mr. Gilfleur was an alien, his companion was not. Of course he knew that the islands were the resort of blockade-runners, that they obtained their supplies from the two towns of Hamilton and St. George's. This fact seemed to explain the occasion of the disturbance in this particular locality.

"What does all this mean, Christophe?" asked M. Rubempré, falling back to join Christy at the door of the consulate.

"I should judge that these ruffians intended to do violence to the American consul," replied Christy. "I heard in New York that he was faithful in the discharge of his duty to his government, and doubtless he has excited the indignation of these ruffians by his fidelity. His principal business is to follow up the enforcement of the neutrality laws, which compels him to watch these blockade-runners, and vessels of war intended for the Confederate States."

"That was my own conclusion," added the Frenchman, speaking his own language, as usual. "I should say that his position is not a pleasant one."

"Here comes the bloody spy!" shouted several of the ruffians.

Looking down the street, they saw a dignified-looking gentleman approaching, whom they supposed to be the consul, Mr. Alwayn. He did not seem to be alarmed at the demonstration in front of his office. The disturbers of the peace fell back as he advanced, and he reached the door where the detective and his companion were standing without being attacked. The mob, now considerably increased in numbers, though probably more than a majority, as usual, were merely spectators, hooted violently at the representative of the United States.

The gentleman reached the door of his office, and by this time the ruffians seemed to realize that simple hooting did no harm, and they rushed forward with more serious intentions. One of them laid violent hands on the consul, seizing him by the back of his coat collar, and attempting to pull him over backwards. Christy felt that he was under the flag of his country, and his blood boiled with indignation; and, rash as was the act, he planted a heavy blow with his fist under the ear of the assailant, which sent him reeling back among his companions.

"No revolvers, Christophe!" said the detective earnestly, as he placed himself by the side of the young man.

Christy's revolver was in his hip-pocket, where he usually carried it, and the detective feared he might use it, for both of them could hardly withstand the pressure upon them; and the firing of a single shot would have roused the passions of the mob, and led to no little bloodshed. M. Rubempré was entirely cool and self-possessed, which could hardly be said of the young naval officer.

"He planted a heavy blow with his fist under the ear of his assailant." (Page 116)

By this time Mr. Alwayn had opened the front door of the office, and gone in. The detective backed in after him, and then pushed Christy in after the consul. The ruffians saw that they were losing their game, and they rushed upon the door. One of them crowded his way in, but M. Rubempré, in a very quiet way, delivered a blow on the end of the assailant's nose, which caused him to retreat, with the red fluid spurting from the injured member.

Taking his place, two others pushed forward, and aimed various blows at the two defenders of the position; but both of them were skilled in this sort of play, and warded off the strokes, delivering telling blows in the faces of the enemy. Mr. Alwayn had partially closed the door; but he was not so cowardly as to shut out his two volunteer defenders. As soon as they understood his object, they backed in at the door, dispersing the ruffians with well-directed blows, and the consul closed and locked the door. Before any further mischief could be done, the police came and dispersed the rioters. The consul fared better on this occasion than on several others, in one of which he was quite seriously injured.

As soon as order was restored, Mr. Alwayn conducted his defenders to his office, where he thanked them heartily for the service they had rendered him. During the mélee M. Rubempré had tried to address the ruffians in broken French, for he did not for a moment forget his assumed character. He used the same "pigeon-talk" to the consul, and Christy, in the little he said, adopted the same dialect.

"I see you are not Americans, my friends," said the official.

"No, saire; we are some Frenchmen," replied the detective, spreading out his two hands in a French gesture, and bowing very politely.

"Being Frenchmen, I am not a little surprised that you should have undertaken to defend me from this assault," added Mr. Alwayn.

"Ze Frenchman like, wat was this you call him, ze fair play; and ve could not prevent to put some fingers in tose pies. Ver glad you was not have the head broke," replied M. Rubempré, with another native flourish. "Mais, wat for de canaille make ze war on you, saire? You was certainment un gentleman ver respectable."

Mr. Alwayn explained why he had incurred the hostility of the blockade-runners and their adherents, for he was sometimes compelled to protest against what he regarded as breaches of neutrality, and was obliged in the discharge of his duty to look after these people very closely, so that he was regarded as a spy.

"Oh! it was ze blockheads, was it?" exclaimed the Frenchman.

"Hardly the blockheads," replied the consul, laughing at the blunder of the foreigner. "It is the blockade-runners that make the trouble."

"Blockade-runners! Merci. Was there much blockadeers here in ze islands?" asked M. Rubempré, as though he was in total ignorance of the entire business of breaking the blockade.

"Thousands of them come here, for this is about the nearest neutral port to Wilmington, where many of this sort of craft run in."

"Wilmington was in Delaware, where I have seen him on ze map."

"No, sir; this Wilmington is in North Carolina. If you look out on the waters of the harbor, half the vessels you see there are blockade-runners," added the consul. "And there are more of them at St. George's. It was only yesterday that a steamer I believe to be intended for a man-of-war for the Confederacy came into the port of St. George's, and I have been much occupied with her affairs, which is probably the reason for this attempt to assault me."

"Ze man-of-war," repeated the Frenchman. "Ze war, c'est la guerre; mais wat was ze man?"

"She is a vessel used for war purposes."

"She! She is a woman; and I think that steamer was a woman-of-war."

The consul laughed heartily, but insisted upon the feminine designation of the steamer.

"What you call ze name of ze man-of-war?" asked M. Rubempré, putting on a very puzzled expression of countenance.

"The Dornoch," replied Mr. Alwayn.

"The D'Ornoch," added the detective. "How you write him—like zis?" and he wrote it on a piece of paper by his own method.

"Not exactly," replied the consul, writing it as given in English.

"How long ze Dornoch will she stop in zat port?" asked the Frenchman, in a very indifferent tone, as though the answer was not of the least consequence to him.

"Not long; I heard it stated in St. George's that she would get her supplies and cargo on board to-day and to-morrow, and will sail before dark to-morrow night," replied Mr. Alwayn. "The government here ought not to allow her to remain even as long as that, for she is plainly intended for a Confederate cruiser, and my men inform me that she has six great guns, and fifty men."

M. Rubempré obtained all the information the consul was able to give him, and much of it was of great importance. The official was under obligations to the two strangers, and he seemed not to suspect that either of them was an American, much less a naval officer. They took their leave of him in the politest manner possible, and were shown to the door by the consul.

"I am not quite sure that all his information is correct, and we must investigate for ourselves," said the detective when they were in the street. "But this affray is bad for us, and I was very sorry when you interfered, Christophe."

"You did not expect to see me fold my arms when a representative of the United States, and under our flag, was attacked by a lot of ruffians?" demanded Christy, rather warmly, though he spoke in French.

"I know you could not help it, and I did my best to aid you," added M. Rubempré. "I only mean that it was unfortunate for us, for when we go about on the islands, we may be recognized by some of that mob. We must go back to the hotel."

In a few minutes more they were at the Atlantic, where the Frenchman, with his usual flourish, ordered a carriage to be ready in half an hour, adding that he was about to dress for some visits he was to make in St. George's. They went to their rooms, and each of them changed his dress, coming out in black suits. The master wore a frock coat, but the servant was dressed in a "claw-hammer," and looked like a first-class waiter.

It is about a two hours' ride over to St. George's, and Christy enjoyed the excursion as much as though there had not been a blockade-runner in the world. The town, with even its principal street not more than ten feet wide, reminded him of some of the quaint old cities of Europe he had visited with his father a few years before. But M. Rubempré was bent on business, and the delightful scenery was an old story to him. They took a boat at a pier, and for an hour a negro pulled them about the harbor. There were quite a number of steamers in the port, long, low, and rakish craft, built expressly for speed, and some of them must have been knocked to pieces by the blockaders before the lapse of many weeks, though a considerable proportion of them succeeded in delivering their cargoes at Wilmington or other places.

The visitors looked them over with the greatest interest. They even went on board of a couple of them, the detective pretending that he was looking for a passage to some port in the South from which he could reach Mobile, where his brother was in the Confederate army. No one could doubt that he was a Frenchman, and on one of them the captain spoke French, though very badly. M. Rubempré's good clothes secured the respect and confidence of those he encountered, and most of the officers freely told him where they were bound, and talked with great gusto of the business in which they were engaged. But none of them could guarantee him a safe passage to any port on the blockaded coast.

The excursion in the boat was continued, for the visitors had not yet seen the steamer they were the most anxious to examine. The detective would not inquire about this steamer, fearful that it might be reported by the negro at the oars, and excite suspicion. But at last, near the entrance to the harbor, the boatman pointed out the Dornoch, and told them all he knew about her. There were several lighters alongside, discharging coal and other cargo into her.

M. Rubempré, in his broken English, asked permission to go on deck, and it was promptly accorded to him. He was very polite to the officers, and they treated him with proper consideration. There were no guns in sight, and the steamer looked like a merchantman; but if she had been searched, her armament would have been found in the hold. The visitor again repeated his desire to obtain a passage to the South; and this request seemed to satisfy the first officer with whom he talked. He was informed that the steamer would sail about five on the afternoon of the next day, and he must be on board at that time, if he wished to go in the vessel. He learned many particulars in regard to her.

[CHAPTER XI]

AN UNEXPECTED RENCONTRE

It was lunch-time when the visitors landed, and they proceeded to the St. George's Hotel in Market Square, to attend to this mid-day duty. In the coffee-room they found quite a number of guests, and the only spare seat the detective found was at a large table at which a gentleman in uniform was seated.

"Wit your permis-si-on, I take one of the places here," said M. Rubempré with his politest flourish.

"Certainly," replied the gentleman, as politely as the Frenchman; and he seated himself at the table, Christy remaining standing.

"Demandez un garcon" (ask for a waiter), "Christophe." Then in French he asked the stranger opposite him if he spoke that language.

"A little, sir; but I am not fluent in it," replied the gentleman in the same language.

"Ah, my dear sir, you speak very well; and you have the Parisian accent," added the Frenchman, who, like his countrymen, counted upon the effect of a little well-administered flattery.

"You are very kind to say so, sir. I have been in Paris a few months, and was always able to make my way with the language," said the stranger, evidently pleased with the commendation bestowed upon his French accent; for many people take more pride in their foreign accent than in the proper use of their own language.

"Christophe, find a place for yourself, and order what you desire," continued the Frenchman, as a waiter, summoned by the acting servant, presented himself to take the order.

At this moment a gentleman behind the detective vacated his place at the table, and Christy took a seat close to his companion. The lunch of both was ordered, and the stranger opposite had but just commenced his meal. M. Rubempré "laid himself out" to make himself as agreeable as possible, and he seemed to be succeeding admirably, for the stranger appeared to be absolutely charmed with him. Speaking slowly and clearly, so that the person in uniform, who did not speak French fluently, could understand him, he told him all about his brother in the Confederate army, and strongly expressed his desire to join him, and perhaps the army, for he had very strong sympathy for the right in the great conflict; in fact, he was disposed to engage in fighting for the right.

Then he inquired of his new friend what wine was the best in the island. The stranger preferred sherry, but perhaps a Frenchman might take a different view of the subject. M. Rubempré ordered both sherry and claret, and then filled the glasses of his vis-a-vis and his own. He did not offer any to his servant, for he knew that he never touched it. They drank claret first to each other's health.

"You are in the military, my friend?" continued the detective.

"No, sir; I am a sailor. Allow me to introduce myself as Captain Rombold, of the steamer Dornoch."

"I am extremely happy to make your acquaintance, Captain Rombold. To reciprocate, I am M. Rubempré, of Paris," added the Frenchman, as he filled his companion's glass, and they tippled again with an abundance of compliments. "I presume that you are in the British navy, Captain Rombold?"

"At present I am not, though I was formerly in that service, and resigned to engage in a more lucrative occupation."

"Indeed, what could be better than the position of an officer in the Royal navy?"

"I am now a commander in the navy of the Confederate States," added the captain, looking with interest into the face of his companion. "I am taking in coal and cargo, and shall sail at five to-morrow afternoon for Wilmington."

"Is it possible?" said M. Rubempré, who appeared to be greatly impressed by what was said to him. "I wish I was a sailor, but I am not. You will break through the blockade?"

"I apprehend no difficulty in doing that, for the Dornoch is good for fourteen knots an hour, and most of the Federal fleet cannot make more than twelve."

Christy was very glad to hear this acknowledgment of the speed of the intended cruiser, for it assured him that the Chateaugay could outsail her. The two gentlemen at the other table passed the wine very freely, and both of them seemed to be considerably exhilarated; but he was glad to perceive that his friend allowed the captain to do the most of the talking. The lunch was finished at last, and both of them rose from the table.

"I am exceedingly obliged to you, M. Rubempré, for the pleasure I have derived from this interview," said Captain Rombold, as he grasped the hand of his companion. "I have had more practice with my French than for several years, and I take great delight in speaking the language. I hope we shall meet again."

"Thanks! Thanks! I am very sure that we shall meet again; and almost as sure that we shall meet fighting for the right," added the Frenchman.

"But I hope you will be a passenger on board of the Dornoch, as you suggested to me a little while ago. I will give you a good stateroom, though I cannot absolutely promise to take you to the port of our destination, for accidents may happen in the midst of the blockaders."

"If I can go with you, my dear Captain Rombold, I shall be on board of your ship by four to-morrow afternoon," replied the detective, as he took the hand of his new friend for the last time.

Christy had finished his lunch, and they left the hotel together. The carriage in which they had come called for them at the appointed time, and they returned to Hamilton. The conversation was continued in French, so that the driver was none the wiser for what he heard. At the Atlantic they went to their rooms, where the information they had obtained was collaborated, and written down in French, the detective concealing it in a belt pocket he wore on his body.

"The wonder to me has been that these officers talked so freely," said Christy, as they seated themselves at a window. "They talked to you as plainly as though you had been their friend for life."

"Why shouldn't they? They can't help knowing that I am a Frenchman; and I am sorry to say that my countrymen, like so many of the English, sympathize with the South in the great Civil War. They take me for a friend at once. Besides, as they understand the matter here, why should these blockade-runners, or even the Confederate commander, object to telling what they are going to do. There will be no mail steamer to New York till after they have all gone off; and there is no telegraph yet."

"Perhaps you are right, M. Rubempré; but I think a good deal more discretion would become them better, as they are likely to ascertain very soon," added Christy.

"I suppose none of these people here would consider it possible or practicable to land at these islands and pick up the news, as we have done. This was my plan for Nassau, but I did not think of applying it to the Bermudas, till Captain Chantor told me his difficulty as to waiting for the Dornoch."

"It seems to me we have done all we can do here, and there is nothing more to do."

"That is very true; but I supposed it would take at least two days to do our business. We have been much more successful than I anticipated, and performed the duty in half the time I supposed it would require. But it was better to have too much time than too little."

"It is nearly night now, and we have another day to spend here."

"We can rest from our labors in the hope that our works will follow us. I am ready to do a good deal of sleeping in the time that remains to us, for we may not be able to sleep any to-morrow night," added the detective as he threw himself on his bed, and was soon fast asleep.

Christy had slept enough the night before and during the morning; and he went out to take a walk in the town. He had taken off his suit of black, and put on the costume he had worn from the ship. He was inclined to see what there was in the town; and he walked about till it was dark, at which time he found himself in the vicinity of the Hamilton Hotel, the largest and best appointed in the town. He was dressed very plainly, but there was nothing shabby in his appearance; and he thought he would inspect the interior of the hotel.

He began to mount the piazza, when he suddenly halted, and started back with astonishment, and his hair almost stood on end. Directly in front of him, and not ten feet distant, sat his uncle, Homer Passford, of Glenfield, talking with a gentleman in uniform. The lantern that hung near him enabled him to see the features of the planter, but he could not see the face of the officer, with whom he was engaged in a very earnest conversation.

Christy's first impulse was to put a long distance between himself and his uncle, for his father's brother might identify him in spite of the color on his face. Such a discovery was likely to prove very annoying to him, and might render useless the information the detective and himself had obtained with so much trouble and risk. But the first question that came into his head was the inquiry as to what his uncle was doing in Bermuda. He was a Confederate of the most positive type, had done everything in his power for his government, as he understood it, and was willing to sacrifice his life and all that he had in the world in its service.

Colonel Passford must be there on some mission. He was a prominent and useful man in his State; and he would not have left it without some very strong motive. The nephew would have given a great deal, and exposed himself to no little peril, to be able to fathom this motive. He moved away from the piazza, and went upon it at another place. If he could hear some of the conversation he might be able to form some idea of the occasion of his uncle's visit.

Walking along the platform, he obtained a position behind Colonel Passford, and at the same time saw the face of the person with whom he was in conversation. He was not a little surprised to discover that the gentleman was Captain Rombold, commander of the Dornoch. He had hardly seen this officer, and he had no fear that he would recognize him; and, if he did, it was of little consequence, for he was there in the capacity of a servant. He took a vacant chair, turned his back to both of the speakers, and opened wide his ears. Probably nine-tenths of the people in the hotel were directly or indirectly concerned in the business of blockade-running; and secrecy was hardly necessary in that locality.

"As I say, Captain Rombold, we need more fast steamers, not to run the blockade, but to prey upon the enemy's commerce. In that way we can bring the people of the North to their senses, and put this unhallowed strife on the part of the Federals to an end," said Colonel Passford.

"Well, Colonel, there are ships enough to be had on the other side of the Atlantic, and your money or your cotton will buy them," added the naval officer.

"We have been rather unfortunate in running cotton out this last year. Several steamers and sailing vessels that I fitted out with cotton myself were captured by my own nephew, who was in command of a small steamer called the Bronx."

"Of course those things could not be helped," replied Captain Rombold; "but with the Gateshead and the Kilmarnock, larger and more powerful steamers than any that have been sent over, you can scour the ocean. They are ready for you when your money is ready."

"It is ready now, for I have sacrificed my entire fortune for the purchase of these steamers; and I wait only for a vessel that will take me to Scotland," replied Colonel Passford.

Christy promptly decided that the steamers mentioned should not be purchased to prey on the commerce of the United States, if he could possibly prevent it.

[CHAPTER XII]

AN IMPRACTICABLE SCHEME

Before the War of the Rebellion the commerce of the United States exceeded that of any other nation on the globe. The Confederate steamers, the Sumter, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and other cruisers, swept our ships from the ocean, and the country has never regained its commercial prestige. Christy Passford listened with intense interest to the conversation between his uncle and the commander of the Dornoch, and he came to the conclusion that the latter was a naval officer of no ordinary ability. He evidently believed that the six-gun steamer in his charge was a command not worthy of his talent.

The Sumter, and some other vessels fitted out as privateers or war vessels, had already done a great deal of mischief to the shipping of the Northern States, and the young man fully realized the meaning of his uncle's intentions. Colonel Passford had been supplied with money by his government, with what he had raised himself, to purchase larger and more powerful steamers than had yet been obtained, and Captain Rombold appeared to be his confidant, with whom he must have been in communication for a considerable length of time.

Colonel Passford was going to England and Scotland to purchase the steamers mentioned and recommended as the kind required by his present companion. Christy could think of no manner in which he could serve his country so effectually as by preventing, or even delaying, the adding of these vessels to the navy of the South. But it was a tremendous undertaking for a young man. His uncle had certainly been very indiscreet in talking out loud about his plans; but it could hardly have been supposed that any loyal ears were near enough to hear them, for even the American consul was not safe in the islands.

Christy had doubled himself up in his chair, and pretended to be asleep, so that no notice was taken of him by the two gentlemen in conversation. He continued to listen till he heard a clock strike nine; but he obtained no further information, except in relation to the details of the colonel's plans. He was in great haste to get to England to purchase the vessels, and he had the drafts about him for the purpose. It was a vast sum, for the prices of desirable steamers had largely advanced under the demand for them for running the blockade.

"The easiest and quickest way for you to get to Liverpool or Glasgow is to go to New York, and there take a steamer to either of these ports," suggested Captain Rombold.

"I dare not go to New York, for I should certainly be recognized there. My only brother is one of the most prominent agents of the Yankee government, and every passenger from Bermuda and Nassau is watched and dogged by detectives. It would not be prudent for me to go New York, for some pretext to rob me of the drafts I carry would be found," replied Homer Passford.

"There may be a steamer from Bermuda in a week or a month, for there is no regular line," added the naval officer.

"But there are regular lines from Havana, Mexico, Jamaica, and the Windward Islands," suggested the agent of the Confederate government.

"Very true, and it is not necessary that I should make a port in the Confederate States before I begin my work on the ocean," said Captain Rombold. "I have my commission from your government, with full powers to act, though I desired to make a port in the South, for, as you are aware, my wife is a native of Georgia, and is at her father's plantation at the present time. I captured two Yankee vessels off the Azores, and burned them."

"I have no doubt about your powers; but can you not aid me in getting to England?" persisted the colonel.

"If you will take the chances, I can, Colonel Passford. If you will go on board of my ship to-morrow afternoon, and sail with me, I have no doubt we shall overhaul a steamer bound to England in the course of a week, for I will get into the track of these vessels."

The agent promptly accepted this proposition, and soon after the conference ended, though not till the listener had taken himself out of the way, Christy had turned over in his mind a plan to terminate very suddenly his uncle's mission to purchase steamers, and to obtain possession of his drafts. M. Rubempré was adroit enough to accomplish almost anything, and he intended to have the detective make the colonel's acquaintance, and induce him to embark with them in the Eleuthera, pretending that he was going to France himself, and intended to intercept a French steamer from Progreso, whose course lay but a short distance south of the Bermudas.

But the plan suggested by Captain Rombold, and adopted by Colonel Passford, saved him from what the young officer regarded as his duty in the deception and capture of his uncle. When the Bellevite, while she was still the yacht of Captain Horatio Passford, had gone to the vicinity of Mobile, to the home of his father's brother, Homer had done all in his power to capture the steamer for the use of his government, and had made war upon her with armed vessels. He had done so conscientiously, believing it to be his duty to his country. This fact from the past made it easier for Christy to think of such a thing as the capture of his uncle, even in a neutral country.

The young man returned to the Atlantic Hotel. He found M. Rubempré still fast asleep, for his slumbers the night before had been very brief. He waked him, and told him all that had transpired during the evening, though not till the detective had ordered supper, which they had not partaken of so far. He stated the plan by which he had proposed to himself to prevent the purchase, for the present at least, of the Gateshead and Kilmarnock.

"Not a practicable plan, Christophe," said the detective, shaking his head vigorously.

"Why not?" demanded Christy; and he explained the conduct of his uncle in regard to the Bellevite, when she was on a peaceful errand to convey her owner's daughter back to her home.

Then he related the attempt of the colonel's son, his cousin Corny, to capture the Bronx by a piece of wild strategy.

"But I do not object to your scheme on moral grounds," interposed M. Rubempré. "Have you forgotten the affair of the Trent, when Messrs. Mason and Slidell were taken out of an English steamer? The British government made a tremendous tempest, and would certainly have declared war if the two envoys had not been returned to a British ship-of-war. The English flag waves over these islands, and they are supposed to be neutral ground."

"Neutral with a vengeance!" exclaimed Christy.

"If Colonel Passford had been carried off in the manner you thought of, the United States government would have been compelled to return him to these islands, with all his drafts and other property. I am very glad you found it unnecessary to carry out such a plot," said the detective, as a knock at the door announced that their supper was ready.

As Christy's plan was not in order, (missing words) the business of the visitors at the islands was finished. Both of them slept till very late in the morning, and after breakfast lay down again and slept all the forenoon. The young man was afraid to go out of the hotel in the afternoon, fearful that he might meet his uncle. But his companion walked about the place, and visited the Hamilton, where he again encountered Captain Rombold, who introduced him to Colonel Passford; informing him that he was to be his fellow passenger. When the commander of the Dornoch told him that he might not make a Confederate port for some weeks, if at all, M. Rubempré decided not to take passage with him. Of course nothing was said that could be of any service to the detective, for he had already obtained the information he needed; but he assured himself that the steamer would sail at the time stated the day before.

Towards night the detective informed the landlord that he was to go to St. George's in the evening, paid his bill, and liberally rewarded the waiters. He had been over to the pier to look after the Eleuthera, and had found Joseph at his house. The boat was all right; her keeper had washed her out, and put everything in order on board of her. M. Rubempré returned to the hotel, and after supper Joseph came for the valises. It was quite dark when they left the place, and made their way to the pier. No one asked any questions, and the detective had caused it to be understood that he had engaged a boatman to take him to St. George's by water.

They went on board of the boat, and the fisherman assisted them in getting under way. The liberal skipper gave him another sovereign, adding that he need not say anything to any person about him and his servant. Joseph was profuse in his expressions of gratitude, for with so much money in his pocket he need not go a-fishing again for a month or more, and protested with all his might that he would not mention them to anybody.

The night was dark enough to conceal the Eleuthera after she got away from the shore, but not so dark that the skipper could not find his way around the reefs to Hogfish Cut. It was high tide, as it had been when they came inside of the rocks, and the boat went along quite briskly in the fresh west wind that was still blowing. Without accident or incident of importance, though the wind was ahead a portion of the way, the boat reached the Cut at about midnight. She stuck on a reef at this point, but very lightly, though it required half an hour or more to get her off. She made no water, and did not appear to be injured.

Without further mishap the Eleuthera passed through the opening in the reefs, and, taking the bearing of the light on Gibbs Hill, Mr. Gilfleur, as Christy began to call him from this time, laid his course to the south-west. The Chateaugay was not to show any lights, and there was nothing but the compass to depend upon; but a light was necessary to enable the skipper to see it. The lantern was used for this purpose, but it was carefully concealed in the stern.

"We are all right now, Mr. Passford; and you may turn in for about three hours, for I don't think we shall sight the ship in less than that time," said the detective, as he put on his overcoat, for the night air was rather chilly, and his companion had already done so.

"I have no occasion to turn in, for I have slept enough at that hotel to last me for a week," replied Christy. "It looks now as though we had made a good job of this visit to the Bermudas."

"I think there can be no doubt of that, Mr. Passford; and there is an unpleasant surprise in store for your worthy uncle," said Mr. Gilfleur, chuckling as he spoke.

"And perhaps for your accomplished friend Captain Rombold. We have both heard him say that he was regularly commissioned as a commander in the Confederate navy, and that his ship is armed with all proper authority to capture, burn, and destroy the mercantile marine of the United States."

"But Captain Rombold is an ex-officer of the Royal navy, and you may depend upon it he will fight. There will be a naval battle somewhere in the vicinity of these islands to-morrow, and Captain Chantor will find that it will be no boy's play," added Mr. Gilfleur.

"My father told me that he was a very able officer, and had already rendered good service, good enough to procure his rapid promotion. I liked the looks of his officers and crew, and I have no doubt they will give a good account of themselves."

"I hope so, for I am to be an American citizen: I have filed my first papers."

"I doubt not you will make a good and useful citizen; and your wonderful skill as a detective will make you very serviceable to your new country."

The conversation was continued for full three hours longer; at the end of which time they saw a dark body ahead on the port bow, and heard some rather gentle screams from a steam whistle.

[CHAPTER XIII]

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.

[CHAPTER XIV]

AN EASY VICTORY

The shot from the Dornoch, which had evidently been intended to hit the Chateaugay, sufficiently indicated the purpose of her commander. On board of either steamer there could be no doubt in regard to the character of the other. Captain Chantor gave the order to beat to quarters, and in a few moments every officer and seaman was at his station.

Christy Passford went to his stateroom, buckled on his sword belt, and prepared his revolvers for use; for though he held no position on board of the Chateaugay, he did not intend to remain idle during the action, and was ready to serve as a volunteer. Mr. Gilfleur came to the open door of his room, and seemed to be somewhat astonished to observe his preparations.

"You appear to be ready for duty, Mr. Passford, though you are not attached to this ship," said he.

"I have no position on board of the Chateaugay; but it would be quite impossible for me to remain inactive while my country needs my services, even as a supernumerary," replied Christy.

"But what am I to do?" asked the detective, with a puzzled expression on his face.

"Nothing at all, Mr. Gilfleur; I regard you as a non-combatant, and I think you had better remain in your stateroom," replied Christy. "But I must go on deck."

The Frenchman followed him to the quarter-deck, and seemed to be inclined to take a hand in the conflict. He desired to be an American citizen, and possibly he believed he could win his title to this distinction in a battle better than by any other means. But he had no naval training, could be of no service at the guns, and was more likely to be in the way of others than to accomplish anything of value. It was a needless risk, and the captain suggested that his life was too valuable to his adopted country for him to expose himself before his mission had been accomplished. He stepped aside, but he was not willing to go below.

"I desire to offer my services as a volunteer, Captain Chanter," said Christy, saluting the commander. "If you will assign me to any position on deck, though it be nothing more than a station at one of the guns, I will endeavor to do my duty."

"I have no doubt you would do your whole duty, Mr. Passford," replied the captain, taking him by the hand. "You can be of more service to me as an adviser than as a hand at a gun. It is plain enough that the commander of the Dornoch intends to fight as long as there is anything left of him or his ship. Your report of him gives me that assurance."

"I suppose by this time, Captain Chantor, you have arranged your plan for the action," added Christy, looking curiously into the face of the commander, though he had resolved to give no advice and to make no suggestions unless directly requested to do so.

"I suppose the only way is to pound the enemy till he has had enough of it, using such strategy as the occasion may require. According to your report we outweigh her in metal, and we have proved that we can outdo her in speed," replied Captain Chantor.

"But the Dornoch will have the privilege of pounding the Chateaugay at the same time," said Christy in a very low tone, so that no one could hear him.

"That is very true; of course we must expect to take as good as we send."

"But then what use shall you make of your advantage in speed and weight of metal?" asked the passenger very quietly. "We both believe that there is humanity in war as well as in peace."

At that moment a shot passed under the counter of the ship, and buried itself in the water a cable's length beyond her.

"That is good practice, Captain Chantor," said Christy. "That shot was aimed at your rudder; and I have no doubt Captain Rombold is seeking to cripple you by shooting it away."

"I believe in humanity in war; but I do not see where it comes in just now, except in a very general way," replied the captain.

"If the Dornoch cripples you, and then takes her own time to knock the Chateaugay to pieces, it will amount to the sacrifice of many lives," suggested the unattached officer.

"I should be very glad to have your opinion, Mr. Passford," added the commander.

"I certainly do not desire to thrust my opinion upon you, Captain Chantor; but as you have asked for it, I will express myself freely."

"Thank you, Mr. Passford."

"I should adopt the tactics of Commodore Dupont at Port Royal."

"In other words, you would keep sailing around the Dornoch."

"Precisely so. I would not give him a shot till I was out of the reach of his broadside guns."

"And then pound her with the midship gun. That is my idea exactly. Quartermaster, strike one bell."

"One bell, sir."

"Strike four bells, quartermaster," added the captain.

"Four bells, sir."

The Chateaugay was soon going ahead at her best speed, headed directly away from the Dornoch, and it would have looked to an observer as though she was running away from her. At any rate, the enemy made this interpretation of her movement, and immediately gave chase, opening fire upon the ship with her bow guns. Presently she fired her heavy midship gun, the shot from which would have made havoc if it had hit the mark. It was soon evident that the enemy's speed had been overrated, for the Chateaugay gained rapidly upon her. A shot from her heavy gun knocked off the upper works on one side of the Eleuthera, but did no other damage.

At the end of two hours even the heavy gun of the enemy could not carry its shot to the chase. It would have been easy enough to run away from the Dornoch; but this was by no means the intention of Captain Chantor. He was very cool and self-possessed, and he did not ask his passenger for any further suggestions. He understood his business thoroughly, though he had at first been disposed to make shorter work of the action than he had now adopted. As soon as he had obtained his distance, he gave the order to bring the ship about. Thus far he had not fired a gun, and the enemy had apparently had it all his own way.

The midship was in readiness to initiate the work of the Chateaugay. At the proper moment, the gunner himself sighted the piece, the lock string was operated, and the hull of the ship shook under the discharge. Christy had a spy-glass to his eye, levelled at the Dornoch. She had just begun to change her course to conform to that of the Chateaugay, and the observer on the quarter-deck discovered the splinters flying about her forecastle. The shot appeared to have struck at the heel of the bowsprit.

"That was well done, Captain Chantor," said Christy.

"Excellently well done; but Mr. Turreton will improve when he gets his range a little better," replied the captain.

At this moment the report of the Dornoch's great gun was heard again; but the shot fell considerably short of the Chateaugay. At the same time she was crowding on all the steam she could make, and Captain Chantor was manœuvring his ship so as to maintain his distance. The midship gun was kept as busy as possible, and Mr. Turreton improved his practice very materially. Fought in this manner, the action was not very exciting. The ship followed her circular course, varying it only to maintain the distance. For several hours the unequal battle continued. The mainmast of the Dornoch had been shot away, and Christy, with his glass, saw several of the huge shots crash into her bow.

It was evident, after pounding her a good part of the day, that the enemy could not stand much more of this punishment. At eight bells in the afternoon watch she hauled down her flag. Christy had done nothing but watch the Dornoch, and report to Captain Chantor. As her flag came down, he discovered that her condition, after the last shot, was becoming desperate.

"She has settled considerably in the water, Captain Chantor, and that is evidently the reason why she hauled down her flag," said Christy, just as the ship's company were cheering at the disappearance of the Confederate flag from the peak of the enemy.

"I was confident she could not endure much more such hulling as Mr. Turreton has been bestowing upon her," replied the commander, after he had given the order to make the course directly towards the Dornoch.

Christy continued to watch the enemy's vessel. The ship's company were employed in stretching a sail over the bow, evidently for the purpose of stopping in whole or partially a dangerous leak in that part of the vessel; and she seemed to be in immediate peril of going to the bottom. They were also getting their boats ready, and the situation must have been critical. In a short time the Chateaugay was within hailing distance of her prize.

"Dornoch, ahoy!" shouted Captain Chantor, mounted on the port rail. "Do you surrender?"

"I do," replied Captain Rombold; for Christy recognized his voice. "Our ship is sinking!"

By this time the havoc made by the big gun of the Chateaugay could be seen and estimated. The bow of the steamer had been nearly all shot away. Her bowsprit and her mainmast had gone by the board. Her bulwarks were stove in, and most of her boats appeared to have been knocked to pieces. In spite of the efforts to keep her afloat, it was plain that she was sinking; and Christy could see her settling in the water. The boats of the victor were promptly lowered, and crews sent away in them to the relief of the imperilled enemy. There were not more than sixty men on board of her, including the officers; and they were soon transferred to the deck of the Chateaugay.

Christy watched the boats with the most intense interest as they came alongside the ship; for he knew that his Uncle Homer was on board of the Dornoch, if the plans arranged at the hotel had been fully carried out. Captain Rombold came in the last boat, and Colonel Passford was with him. His nephew did not care to meet him just then. The Confederate commissioner came on deck; and Christy looked at him with interest from behind the mizzenmast. His expression testified to his grief and sorrow at the early failure of his mission. The young lieutenant could pity the man, while he rejoiced at his ill success in building up the navy of the Confederacy.

His attention was drawn off from his uncle by the sudden sinking of the Dornoch; and the vortex that followed her disappearance extended to the Chateaugay. Most of the officers and seamen had brought off the whole or a part of their clothing and other articles.

When Captain Rombold came on deck, Captain Chantor politely saluted him, and returned the sword he surrendered to him. Colonel Passford kept close to him; and Christy thought he looked dazed and vacant.

"While I must rejoice in my own good fortune, Captain Rombold, I can sympathize personally with a brave commander who has lost his ship," said Captain Chantor, taking the hand of the late commander of the Dornoch.

"I thank you for your consideration, Captain. I am sorry to have been so easy a victim to your strategy; and I can reciprocate by congratulating you on your victory, though your better guns enabled you to knock my ship to pieces at your leisure," replied Captain Rombold.

He then introduced Colonel Passford, and both of them were invited to the captain's cabin. The wounded were turned over to the surgeon, and the crew were sent below. It was clearly impossible for the ship to continue on her voyage with such an addition to her numbers; and the Chateaugay was at once headed back to New York.

[CHAPTER XV]

THE GENTLEMAN WITH A GRIZZLY BEARD

The addition of about sixty persons to the full complement of the ship's company of the Chateaugay made a considerable crowd on board of her; but accommodations were provided for all, and in three days the ship would deliver her human freight to the authorities in New York. The Dornoch had gone to the bottom with all her valuable cargo; but her captors would be remunerated in prize-money by the government, so that in a material point of view she was not lost to them, and there was one less cruiser to prey upon the commerce of the loyal nation.

Captain Rombold and Colonel Passford remained in the cabin all the rest of the day; but the next morning both of them went on deck to take the fresh air. Christy and Mr. Gilfleur were in the waist, and noticed them as soon as they appeared. They had had some conversation the evening before in regard to confronting the two most important prisoners, though without arriving at a conclusion.

"Of course I must meet my uncle," said Christy. "I am not inclined to skulk and keep out of sight rather than meet him. Though I have assisted in doing him and his cause a great deal of mischief, I have done it in the service of my country; and I have no excuses to offer, and no apologies to make."

"I was not thinking of excusing myself, or apologizing for what I have done," replied the detective quite earnestly. "That is not the point I desire to make. Since I went to New York I have looked upon your country as my own; and I would do as much to serve her as I ever would have done for France."

"What is your point, Mr. Gilfleur?" asked Christy.

"I do not object to your fraternizing with your uncle, Mr. Passford, if you are so disposed," continued the Frenchman; "but the case is quite different with me. In the hotel at St. George's you were not presented to Captain Rombold, and you did not allow the Confederate commissioner to see and identify you. Neither of these gentlemen recognized you; but the captain of the Dornoch would certainly know me, for I talked with him a long time."

"Suppose both of them know us: what difference will that make?" demanded the young lieutenant.

"It will explain to them in what manner we obtained our knowledge of the force and weight of metal of the Dornoch. While we had as good a right to be on shore in the Bermudas as the Confederates, if we were recognized our method of operations would be betrayed, and in my opinion that would be very bad policy, especially as we are to adopt the same strategy in the Bahamas."

"I see; and I agree with you, Mr. Gilfleur, that it will be good policy to keep our own counsel in regard to what we have done in the islands," added Christy, as he saw Captain Chantor approaching him.

"Good-morning, Mr. Passford. You and your uncle do not appear to be on very friendly terms, for I notice that you do not speak to each other."

"Our relations have always been friendly, even while I was in a rebel prison; but I have not happened to meet him since he came on board of the Chateaugay."

"I will present you to him as his nephew, if you desire me to do so," continued the commander with a smile.

"I thank you, Captain: I intended to speak to him when an opportunity came. But you will pardon me if I make a suggestion without being asked to do so," said Christy, speaking in a low tone; and he proceeded to state what had passed between him and Mr. Gilfleur. "I hope you have not mentioned the fact that Mr. Gilfleur and myself have been in the Bermudas."

"I have not, for it came to my mind that it would be very unwise to do so," replied the captain. "Besides, I was not at all inclined to tell Captain Rombold that I knew all about his ship, her size, the number of her ship's company, and the weight of his guns. A man does not feel just right when he finds he has been made the victim of a bit of strategy; and I was disposed to spare his feelings. He charges his misfortune altogether to his antiquated steamer, her failure in her promised speed, and the neglect of the Confederate commissioners to provide him with a suitable vessel."

"Mr. Gilfleur will keep out of the captain's sight during the run to New York; but I was acting as a servant when we met him, and did not sit at the same table. I will speak to my uncle now."

Captain Chantor attended him to the quarter-deck, where the commissioner was taking his morning walk. They fell in behind him as he was moving aft, so that he did not observe his nephew.

"Colonel Passford, I have a young gentleman on board of my ship who bears your name; allow me to present to you Lieutenant Christopher Passford, who is simply a passenger on the Chateaugay," said the captain, directing the attention of the commissioner to the young man.

"My nephew!" exclaimed Colonel Passford, as he recognized Christy, and extended his hand to him.

"I am very glad to see you, Uncle Homer, though I am sorry to meet you under present circumstances," replied the nephew, taking the offered hand. "I hope you are very well, sir."

"Not very well, Christy; and I am not likely to improve in health in a Yankee prison," answered the colonel with a very sickly smile.

"Probably my father will be able to obtain a parole for you, and he will be extremely glad to have you with him at Bonnydale," added Christy.

"The last time I met you, Christy, you looked upon me as a non-combatant, released me, and sent me on shore."

"I am not sure that I did wisely at that time."

"I was not taken in arms; and I could hardly be regarded as a prisoner of war."

"But you were engaged in the Confederate service, Uncle Homer, for you were shipping cotton for the benefit of the cause."

"But I was merely a passenger on board of the Dornoch."

"Yet you are a Confederate commissioner, seeking a passage in some vessel bound to England, for the purpose of purchasing steamers to serve in your navy," added Christy with considerable energy, and without thinking that he was in danger of compromising himself and his companion in the visit to the Bermudas.

Colonel Passford stopped short, and gazed into the face of his nephew. He appeared to be utterly confounded by the statement, though he did not deny the truth of it.

"Without admitting the truth of what you say, Christy, I desire to ask upon what your statement is founded," said the commissioner, after some hesitation.

"As you are on one side in this great conflict, and I am on the other, you must excuse me for not answering your question," replied Christy very promptly, and declining to commit himself any farther.

"It is very sad to have our family divided so that we should be enemies, however friendly we may be personally," added Colonel Passford in a tone that indicated his profound grief and sorrow.

"I know how useless it is for us to discuss the question, Uncle Homer, for I am sure you are as honest in your views as my father is in his."

"I have no desire to argue the question; but I believe the North will come to its senses in good time—when the grass grows in the streets of New York, if not before."

"You will have an opportunity to see for yourself, Uncle Homer, that New York was never so busy, never so prosperous, as at the present time; and the same may be truthfully said of all the cities of the North," replied Christy with spirit.

"Sail, ho!" shouted the lookout forward.

An hour later the sail was reported to be a steamer, bound to the westward, and her streak of black smoke indicated that she was English. She was low in the water, had two smoke-stacks, and presented a very rakish appearance. She was a vessel of not more than eight hundred tons, and her build was quite peculiar. It was evident that she was a very fast steamer. But she seemed to have no suspicions in regard to the character of the Chateaugay.

Christy left his uncle, and went to the ward room, where he found Mr. Gilfleur in his stateroom. He desired the advice of the Frenchman before he said anything to the captain in regard to the approaching sail. Together they had looked over all the steamers in the harbor of St. George's, and those on board of them were not disposed to conceal the fact that they were to run the blockade as soon as they could get over to the coast of the United States.

"What have you been doing to yourself, Mr. Gilfleur?" asked Christy, as soon as he discovered the detective, for he had completely changed his appearance, and looked like an elderly gentleman of fifty, with a full beard, grizzled with the snows of many winters.

"I don't care to be shut up in this stateroom during the voyage to New York," replied the Frenchman with a pleasant laugh. "This is one of my useful costumes, and I don't believe Captain Rombold will recognize me now."

"I am very sure he will not," added Christy, looking him over, and wondering at the skill which could so completely change his appearance.

"I want you to see the steamer which is approaching, bound to the westward. If I am not mistaken, we have seen her before."

"I am all ready, and I will go on deck with you; but you must contrive to let the captain know who I am, or he will order me below, or have too much to say about me," replied the detective, as he followed Christy to the quarter-deck.

Colonel Passford and Captain Rombold had seated themselves abaft the mizzenmast, and seemed to be interested in the reports respecting the approaching steamer. Christy called Captain Chantor to the rail, and explained what the commander had already scented as a mystery in regard to the gentleman with the grizzled beard. He laughed heartily as he gazed at the apparent stranger, and declared that he thought he might be another Confederate commissioner, for he looked respectable and dignified enough to be one.

"I think that steamer is the Cadet, Captain Chantor; and I have brought Mr. Gilfleur on deck to take a look at her."

The Frenchman had no doubt the steamer was the Cadet, for she was peculiar enough in her build to be identified among a thousand vessels of her class. For some time they discussed the character of the vessel, and minutely examined her build and rig. Neither of them had any doubt as to her identity, and the passenger reported the result of the conference to the commander, who immediately ordered the American flag to be displayed at the peak; and gave the command to beat to quarters.

"We are over six hundred miles from any Confederate port, Mr. Passford," said the captain. "I should not like to have one of my captures surrendered to her owners."

"Of course you have your law books in your cabin, Captain; but I have studied them so much that I can quote literally from one bearing on this case," continued Christy. "'The sailing for a blockaded port, knowing it to be blockaded, is, it seems, such an act as may charge the party with a breach of the blockade.' Besides the evidence of her course, and that of the nature of her cargo, there are two witnesses to the declaration of the captain that he was intending to run into Wilmington."

"She has come about, and is running away from you, Captain!" exclaimed the passenger, who was the first on the quarter-deck to notice this change.

The commander ordered a gun to be fired across her bow, for the Cadet was hardly more than a quarter of a mile from the Chateaugay. No notice was taken of the shot, and a moment later the midship gun sent a shot which carried away her pilot-house and disabled the wheel.

[CHAPTER XVI]

AMONG THE BAHAMAS

"I am sorry to disturb you, gentlemen, but I feel obliged to ask you to retire to my cabin until this affair is settled," said Captain Chantor, addressing Colonel Passford and Captain Rombold.

"I beg your pardon, Captain Chantor, but do you consider that you have a right to capture that steamer?" asked the late commander of the Dornoch, who seemed to be very much disturbed at the proceedings of his captor.

"Undoubtedly; and I have no doubt I shall be able to procure her condemnation on the ground that she is loaded for a Confederate port, no other than Wilmington, and has the 'guilty intention' to run the blockade."

"I don't see where you could have obtained the information that enables you to make sure of her condemnation at the very first sight of her," replied the Confederate officer.

"Well, Captain Rombold, if I succeed in proving my position before the court, out of the mouth of Captain Vickers, her commander, would that satisfy you?" asked the commander with a cheerful smile. "But you must excuse me from discussing the matter to any greater length, for I have a duty to perform at the present time."

The Chateaugay was going ahead at full speed when the two gentlemen retired from the quarter-deck. She stopped her screw within hail of the Cadet. Her crew were clearing away the wreck of the pilot-house; but the destruction of her steering gear forward did not permit her to keep under way, though hands were at work on the quarter-deck putting her extra wheel in order for use. Of course it was plain enough to the captain of the Cadet that the Chateaugay, after the mischief she had done with a single shot, could knock the steamer all to pieces in a few minutes.

The first cutter, in charge of Mr. Birdwing, the executive officer, was sent on board of the disabled steamer, and Christy was invited to take a place in the boat. Captain Vickers was a broken-hearted man when he realized that his vessel was actually captured by a United States man-of-war.

"Do you surrender, Captain Vickers?" said Mr. Birdwing, as he saluted the disconsolate commander.

"How did you know my name?" demanded he gruffly.

"That is of no consequence, Captain Vickers. You will oblige me by answering my question. Do you surrender?" continued the lieutenant.

"I don't know that I can help myself, for this steamer is not armed, and I can make no resistance," replied the captain. "I had no idea that ship was a Yankee gunboat."

"But we had an idea that this was a blockade-runner," added Mr. Birdwing, as he proceeded to take formal possession of the vessel, and called for her papers.

An examination was made into the character of the cargo, which consisted largely of arms and ammunition. The extra wheel was soon in working order. Before noon a prize crew was put on board, and both vessels were headed for New York. In three days more the Chateaugay was at anchor off the Navy Yard, with the Cadet near her. The return of the ship caused a great deal of surprise, and one of the first persons to come on board of her was Captain Passford. He gave his son his usual warm welcome.

Christy gave his father the narrative of the brief voyage, and astounded him with the information that his brother was on board. The two brothers had not met since they parted at the plantation near Mobile, and the meeting was as tender as it was sad; but both of them refrained from saying anything unpleasant in regard to the war. The prisoners were taken from the Chateaugay by a tender, and conveyed to Fort Lafayette; but Captain Passford soon obtained a parole for his brother, which he consented to give for a limited period.

"I suppose the Chateaugay will sail again by to-morrow, Christy; but you will have time to go home and see your mother and sister. I am so busy that I cannot go, and you must take Uncle Homer with you," said his father.

They landed on the New York side, and took a carriage for the station. Perhaps the streets of the great city were never more crowded with all kinds of vehicles, and especially with wagons loaded with merchandise of all kinds. They passed up Broadway, and Colonel Passford was silent as he witnessed the marvellous activity of the city in the midst of a great war.

"I think you will not be able to find any grass growing in the streets of New York, Uncle Homer," said Christy, as they passed the Park, where the crowd seemed to be greater than elsewhere.

"There is certainly no grass here, and I am surprised to see that the city is as busy as ever," replied the commissioner in a subdued tone. "We have been told at the South that business was paralyzed in the cities of the North, except what little was created by the war."

"The war makes a vast amount of business, Uncle Homer," added Christy.

But the gentleman from the South was not disposed to talk, and he soon relapsed into silence. Mrs. Passford and Florry were very much astonished to see Christy again so soon, and even more so to meet Uncle Homer; but his welcome was cordial, and nothing was said about the exciting topic of the day. The visitor was treated like a friend, and not an enemy, and everything was done to make him forget that he was not in his own home.

Early the next morning the young lieutenant hastened to report on board of the Chateaugay, where Mr. Gilfleur had remained, though he had divested himself of his disguise as soon as Captain Rombold was conveyed to other quarters. They were kept very busy that day giving their depositions in regard to the character of the Cadet, and of the admissions of Captain Vickers in regard to his intention to run the blockade. The ship had been coaled, and the next day she sailed again. She gave the Bermudas a wide berth, for she had another mission now, though she could probably have picked up one or two more of the blockade-runners Christy and his companion had seen in the harbor of St. George's.

Four days from Sandy Hook, very early in the morning, Abaco light was seen; and about fifty miles south of it was Nassau, on the island of New Providence, a favorite resort for blockade-runners at that time. The mission of the detective was at this port. Christy had again volunteered to be his companion, and they desired to get into the place as they had done in the Bermudas, without attracting the attention of any one, and especially not of those engaged in loading or fitting out vessels for the ports of the South.

As soon as the light was discovered, Captain Chantor ordered the course of the ship to be changed to east; and till eight bells in the afternoon watch she continued to steam away from the Great Abaco Island. It was his intention to avoid being seen, though there was a chance to fall in with a blockade-runner. Standing to the south-west the last part of the day, the light at the Hole in the Wall, the southern point of Great Abaco Island, was made out in the evening. South-east of this point is the northern end of Eleuthera Island, where the Egg Island light could be seen. This was the locality where Mr. Gilfleur had decided to begin upon his mission.

His boat had been repaired by the carpenter after the shot from the Dornoch struck it, and it was now in as good condition as it had ever been. At eleven o'clock in the evening the Eleuthera was lowered into the water, with a supply of provisions and water, and such clothing and other articles as might be needed, on board. The weather was as favorable as it could be, with a good breeze from the north-west.

"Now, Mr. Gilfleur, I hope you will bring back as important information as you did from the Bermudas," said the captain, when the adventurers were ready to go on board of the boat.

"I hope so myself; but I don't know," replied the Frenchman. "I expect to find the Ovidio at Nassau; and, like the Dornoch, she is intended for a man-of-war. Mr. Passford and I will do the best we can."

"How long do you mean to be absent on this business?"

"About three days, as well as I can judge, though I have not had a chance to look over the ground. I have no doubt there are blockade-runners there, and we shall ascertain what we can in regard to them."

"I shall expect to pick you up to the eastward of the Hole in the Wall, and on the fourth night from the present time," added the captain. "You know that the navigation of this region is very dangerous."

"I am aware of it; but I have been here before, and I provided myself with a good chart in New York. I have studied it very attentively, and I have the feeling that I can make my way without any difficulty," replied Mr. Gilfleur confidently.

Christy had already taken his place in the boat, and the detective soon followed him. It seemed something like an old story, after his experience in the Bermudas. The Eleuthera was cast off, the captain wished them a safe and prosperous voyage to their destination. The mainsail had been set, and the breeze soon wafted the boat away from the ship. The Chateaugay started her screw, and headed off to the eastward again, on the lookout for blockade-runners.

"Here is a light ahead," said Christy, after his companion had set the jib, and taken the helm.

"That is Egg Island light, about forty miles from Nassau. Our course is south-west, which gives us a fair wind," replied the skipper. "Now, Mr. Passford, you can do as you did on our former voyage in the Eleuthera: turn in and sleep till morning."

"That would not be fair. I will take my trick at the helm, as it seems to be plain sailing, and you can have your nap first," suggested Christy.

"No; I slept all the afternoon in anticipation of to-night, and I could not sleep if I tried," the skipper insisted. "By the way, Mr. Passford, I am somewhat afraid that the name of our boat may get us into trouble."

"Why so?" asked the other curiously.

"The island on our port hand is Eleuthera, about forty miles long. Of course it is well known at Nassau, and it may cause people to ask us some hard questions. We may even stumble upon the boat's former owner, who would claim her."

"We could buy her, or another like her, in that case," suggested Christy. "The name is painted on the stern board, and we might remove it, if necessary."

Mr. Gilfleur said so much about it that Christy finally turned in, and was soon fast asleep. He did not wake till daylight in the morning. He found that the boat was headed towards an island, while in the distance he saw the light on Hog Island, with a portion of the town of Nassau, and a fort. The skipper had his chart spread out on the seat at his side, and he was watching it very closely.

"Good-morning, Mr. Gilfleur. I suppose that must be Nassau ahead of us."

"Yes; that is Nassau. I expected to get here earlier in the morning than this, and I am not a little afraid to sail into the harbor at seven o'clock in the morning, as it will be before we can get there. The wind died out in the middle of the night, though I got it again very early this morning. I must get to the town in some other way. The land on the port is Rose Island, and Douglas Channel is just this side of it. I am going through that, and shall make my way to the back side of the island, where we can conceal the boat."

"I should say that would be a good idea," added Christy, as he took in the plan. "The water is as clear as crystal here, and you can see the bottom as plainly as though nothing came between your eye and the rock."

The skipper stationed his companion on the bow of the boat to watch for rocks; but none interfered with the progress of the Eleuthera. She sailed to the back side of the island of New Providence, where they found a secluded nook, in which they moored the craft.

[CHAPTER XVII]

THE LANDING AT NEW PROVIDENCE

The water was so clear that the bottom could be seen at all times, the white coral rock greatly assisting the transparency. From Douglas Channel, through which the boat had passed, the chart indicated that it was twenty miles to the point where the skipper desired to land, and it was nearly eleven o'clock when the Eleuthera ran into the little bay, extending over a mile into the island, and nearly landlocked. The shore was covered with tropical vegetation, including cocoa-nut palms, loaded with fruit, with palmettoes, wild palms, and many plants of which Christy did not even know the names.

"We could not have anything better than this," said Mr. Gilfleur, as he ran the boat into a tangle of mangroves and other plants.

"This bay appears to be about five miles from the town of Nassau, and I should say that no person is likely to see the boat if it should stay here for a month," replied Christy, as he measured the distance across the island with the scale his companion had prepared.

"It will not take us long to walk that distance. There are all sorts of people in Nassau at the present time, as there were in St. George's and Hamilton; and we shall pass without exciting any particular attention."

"I think we had better look out for a cleaner place to land than this, for the mud seems to be about knee-deep," suggested Christy, as he tested the consistency of the shore with an oar.

"But there is hard ground within four feet of the water. I have a board in the bottom of the boat with which we can bridge the mud," replied the skipper. "But I think we had better have our lunch before we walk five miles."

"I am in condition to lunch," added Christy.

The sails had been furled, and everything put in order on board of the boat. The basket containing the provisions was brought out of the cuddy, and seated in the stern sheets they did ample justice to the meal. The detective had put on his suit of blue, and his companion dressed himself as he had done in Bermuda, though he was not to act the part of a servant on this occasion.

"It will not do to acknowledge that we are Americans, and it would not be prudent to claim that we are Englishmen," said Mr. Gilfleur.

"Why not? We speak English; and you can pronounce it as well as I can," argued Christy.

"Because we may be catechised; though I know London almost as well as I do Paris, I am afraid you might be caught."

"I have been in London twice, though I don't know enough about it to answer all the questions that may be put to me," added Christy.

"In that case we had better be Frenchmen, as we were before. We are not likely to find many people here who speak French, for the visiting portion of the population must be people who are engaged in blockade-running. Probably there are some Southern magnates here, attending to the business of the Confederacy."

"They were here two years ago, when I was in Nassau for a few hours, on the lookout for steamers for their navy. I remember Colonel Richard Pierson, who was extremely anxious to purchase the Bellevite, which anchored outside the light, for there was not water enough to allow her to cross the bar," said Christy, recalling some of the events of his first voyage in the steamer his father had presented to the government.

"Perhaps he is still in Nassau," suggested Mr. Gilfleur, with a shade of anxiety on his face.

"He would not recognize me now, for I have grown a good deal, and I hardly saw him. He employed his son, a young fellow of eighteen, to act for him in obtaining information in regard to the Bellevite. The son's name was Percy Pierson, and when he tried to pump me in regard to the Bellevite, I chaffed him till he lost all patience. Then he proposed to put the owner of our steamer, for she had not then been transferred to the government, in the way of making a fortune. I told him that the owner was determined to get rid of the ship, though I only meant to say that he intended to pass her over to the government. At any rate, Percy believed she was for sale, and he smuggled himself on board of her. He was not discovered till we were under way; and we had to take him with us."

"What became of this Percy Pierson?" asked the detective.

"We brought him off with us when we fought our way out of Mobile Bay. Off Carisfort Reef light we put him on board of a schooner belonging to Nassau; and that was the last I know about him."

"But I hope he is not in Nassau now," said Mr. Gilfleur.

"I don't believe he is, for his brother was doing his best to get him into the Confederate army."

"You must keep your eyes wide open for this fellow, Mr. Passford," added the skipper earnestly. "If he should recognize you, our enterprise would be ruined."

"I don't believe there is the least danger of that, for I am a different-looking fellow from what I was two years ago. But I will look out sharply for him, and for his father."

"We had better speak nothing but French between ourselves, and break up our English when we are obliged to use it," Mr. Gilfleur concluded, as he returned the basket of provisions to the cuddy, and locked the door.

The board was put down on the mud, and they walked ashore, dry-shod. The temporary bridge was taken up, and concealed in a mass of mangroves. The Eleuthera was so well covered up with trees and bushes that she was not likely to be discovered, unless some wanderer penetrated the thicket that surrounded her. A gentle elevation was directly before them, so that they could not see the town.

"We must not walk ten miles in making five," said the detective, as he produced a pocket compass. "Our course, as I took it from the chart, is due north, though it may bring us in at the western end of the town."

"Then we can bear a little to the east, though if we get to the town it will not make much difference where we strike it," added Christy.

The land showed the remains of plantations which had flourished there in the palmy days of the island. The ruins of several mansions and many small huts were seen. Cocoa-nut palms and orange-trees were abundant. After they had walked about a mile, they came upon what had been a road in former days, and was evidently used to some extent still. Taking this road, they followed it till they were satisfied that it would take them to Nassau.

The appearance of the island soon began to improve. The trees showed that some care had been bestowed upon them, and an occasional mansion was noticed. Then the street began to be flanked with small houses, hardly better than huts, which were inhabited by the blacks. All the people they met were negroes, and they were as polite as though they had been brought up in Paris, for every one of the men either touched his hat or took it off to the strangers. The women bowed also; and both of the travellers returned the salutes in every instance.

As they proceeded, the houses became better, and many of them were used in part as shops, in which a variety of articles, including beer, was sold. Christy had seen the negroes of the Southern States, and he thought the Nassau colored people presented a much better appearance. At one of these little shops a carriage of the victoria pattern was standing. Doubtless the driver had gone in to refresh himself after a long course, for the vehicle was headed towards the town.

"I think we had better ride the rest of the way, if this carriage is not engaged," said M. Rubempré, for they had agreed to use the names they had adopted in the Bermudas. "What do you say, Christophe?"

"I like the idea; I am beginning to be a little tired, for I have not walked much lately," replied Christy.

At this moment the driver, a negro wearing a straw hat with a very broad brim, came out of the shop, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his coat. He bowed with even more deference than the generality of the people. The strangers were not elegantly or genteelly dressed, but they wore good clothes, and would have passed for masters of vessels, so far as their costumes were concerned.

"Is this your carriage?" demanded M. Rubempré.

"Yes, sir," replied the man in good English.

"How far you must go to get into Nassau?" inquired the detective, mangling his English enough to suit the occasion.

"Two miles, sir."

"How much you make pay to go to Nassau in ze carriage?"

"Fifty cents."

"Feefty cents; how much money was zat?"

"Arn't you Americans?"

"Non!" replied M. Rubempré with energy. "We have come from ze France; but I was been in London, and I comprehend ze money of Eengland."

"Two shillings then," replied the driver, laughing.

"We go wiz you to ze Nassau," added the Frenchman, seating himself in the carriage, his companion taking a place at his side.

"Where do you want to go, sir?" asked the negro, as he closed the door of the victoria.

"We must go to Nassau," replied the detective, mangling his pronunciation even more than his grammar.

"Yes, I know; but where in Nassau do you wish to go? Shall I drive you to a hotel? The Royal Victoria is the best in the place."

"You shall take us to zat hotel."

For the sake of appearances, rather than for any other reason, each of the visitors to Nassau had brought with him a small hand-bag, containing such articles as might be useful to them. Having these evidences that they were travellers, it would be prudent to go to a hotel, though the want of more luggage had made the landlord in Hamilton suspicious of their ability to pay their bills.

Christy found enough to do during the ride to observe the strange sights presented to his gaze, even in the outskirts of the town. The people were full of interest to him, and he wondered that his father had never made a winter trip in the West Indies in former years, instead of confining his visits to the more northern islands of the ocean.

The carriage arrived at the Royal Victoria Hotel, located on a ridge which has been dignified as a hill, a short distance in the rear of the business portion of the town. M. Rubempré produced his purse, which was well stuffed with sovereigns, more for the enlightenment of the clerk who came out when the vehicle stopped, than for the information of the driver, to whom he paid four florins, which was just double his fare.

"Do you speak French?" asked the guest in that language.

"No, sir; not a word of it," though he understood the question.

"We must have two chambers for one, two, t'ree day."

"All right; we have two that were vacated this morning," replied the clerk, as he led the way to the office, where the Frenchman registered his name, and his residence as in Paris.

Christy wrote the name of Christophe Poireau, also from Paris. Then they chatted together in French for a moment, in order to impress the clerk and others who were standing near with the fact that they spoke the polite language. They were shown to two small chambers, well up in the air, for the hotel seemed to be as full as the clerk had suggested that it was. The blockade business made the town and the hotel very lively.

The newly arrived guests did not waste any time in their rooms, but entered at once upon the work of their mission. On the piazza they halted to size up the other visitors at the hotel. From this high point of view they could see the harbor, crowded with vessels.

[CHAPTER XVIII]

AN AFFRAY IN NASSAU

Christy's first care was to look about among the guests of the hotel gathered on the piazza, in order to ascertain if there was any person there whom he had ever met before. Very few of them were what could be classed as genteel people, and some of them were such people as one would not expect to see at a first-class hotel. They were dressed in seaman's garments for the most part, though not as common sailors; and doubtless many of them were commanders or officers of the vessels in the harbor.

Putting on an indifferent air he walked about the veranda, observing every person he encountered, as well as those who were seated in groups, engaged in rather noisy conversation, intermixed with a great deal of profanity. He breathed easier when he had made the circuit of the piazzas on the first floor, though there were two others on the stories above it, for he found no one he could identify as a person he had seen before.

There were quite a number of steamers in the harbor, or in that part of it which lies inside of the bar and in front of the town, with at least three times as many sailing craft. No doubt many of the latter, as well as the former, had brought cargoes of cotton from Confederate ports; for though the blockade was regarded as effective, and treated as such by foreign nations, many small vessels contrived to escape from obscure harbors on the Southern coast. Christy had been concerned in the capture of a considerable number of such. On the wharves were stacks of cotton which had been landed from these vessels, and several of them were engaged in transferring it to small steamers, for large ones were unable to cross the bar. But the visitors had no business with the vessels thus engaged, for they had completed their voyages, and were exempt from capture.

"I have taken not a few prisoners in or off Southern ports, and it would not greatly surprise me if I should meet some one I had met before," said Christy, in French, as he resumed his seat by the side of the detective.

"Then I fear that your coming with me was a mistake," replied M. Rubempré. "You must be extremely cautious, not only for your own protection, but because you may compromise me, and cause me to fail in the accomplishment of my mission here."

"I should be sorry to interfere with your work, and I think we had better separate," replied Christy, very much disturbed at the suggestion of his friend. "If I can do no good, I certainly do not wish to do any harm."

"No, my friend; I cannot desert you, especially if you are in peril," protested the detective. "How could I ever look your father in the face if I permitted you to get into trouble here?"

"I don't think I shall get into trouble, even if I am recognized by some person. This is not Confederate territory, though it looks very much like it; for all the people around us are talking secession, and the inhabitants sympathize with the South to the fullest extent. I could not be captured and sent to a Confederate State, or be subjected to any violence, for the authorities would not permit anything of the kind," Christy argued with energy.

"I am not so sure of that."

"I have no doubt in regard to my own safety; but if you appear to be connected with me in any manner, and I were identified as a United States naval officer, of course it would ruin your enterprise. For this reason I insist that we separate, and I will take a room at another hotel."

Christy was determined, and in the end the detective had to yield in substance to him, though it was agreed, for reasons that seemed to be good, that M. Rubempré should change his hotel. They arranged to meet after dark in the grounds in the rear of the Royal Victoria, to consult in regard to the future.

"In the mean time I will do what I can to obtain information in regard to steamers bound to Confederate ports. I will still claim to be a Frenchman, and talk pigeon English," continued Christy.

"If any misfortune happens to you, Christophe, I shall blame myself for it," added the Frenchman.

"You cannot fairly do that, for it will not be through any fault of yours. If I fail to meet you as agreed, you can look for me. If you cannot find me, you must leave at the time agreed upon with Captain Chantor, whether I go with you or not. But I have no idea that anything will happen to prevent me from returning to the ship with you."

"I could not leave without you," said the detective moodily.

"If you do not, you will be likely to get the Chateaugay into trouble; for if we did not return to her, she would probably come into this port after us."

"I will consider the matter before I assent to it," returned M. Rubempré, rising from his chair.

Christy was fully resolved not to endanger the mission of his companion, and he left the hotel. He walked slowly down Parliament to Bay Street, which is the principal business avenue of the town, running parallel to the shore. It was lined with shops, saloons, and small hotels on one side, and with the market and wharves on the other. He desired to see what he could of the place, and pick up all the information that would be serviceable to an officer of the navy.

"His blood was boiling with indignation at the unprovoked assault." (Page 207)

As he passed a drinking-saloon a torrent of loud talk, spiced with oaths, flowed out from the place. Before he had fairly passed the door a violent hand was laid upon him, seizing him by the collar with no gentle grasp. The ruffian had fallen upon him from the rear, and he could not see who it was that assaulted him. The man attempted to drag him into the saloon; but he was evidently considerably affected by his potations in the place, and his legs were somewhat tangled up by the condition of his brain.

Christy attempted, by a vigorous movement, to shake off his assailant; but the fellow held on, and he found it impossible to detach his grasp. His blood was boiling with indignation at the unprovoked assault, and his two fists were clinched so tight that iron could hardly have been harder and tougher. He levelled a blow at the head of the ruffian, who still kept in his rear, and delivered it with all the power of his strong arm.

The assailant reeled, and released his hold, for his head must have whirled around like a top under the crashing blow it had sustained. Christy turned so that he could see the ruffian. He was a stalwart fellow, at least fifty pounds heavier than the young lieutenant. His nose was terribly disfigured, not by the blow of the young officer, for, twisted as it was, there was no sign of a fresh wound upon it. One glance was enough to satisfy Christy as to the identity of the ruffian.

It was Captain Flanger, whose steamer Christy had captured, with a boat expedition sent out from the Bronx, in St. Andrew's Bay. He was a prisoner, but had escaped, and invaded the cabin of the Bronx, where he attempted to make Christy sign an order which would have resulted in delivering the steamer to the enemy. The heroic young commander, preferring death to dishonor, had refused to sign the order. The affair had culminated in a sort of duel in the cabin, in which Christy, aided by his faithful steward, had hit Flanger in the nose with his revolver.

The ruffian had sworn to be revenged at the time, and he seemed to have chosen the present occasion to wreak his vengeance upon the destroyer of his nasal member. The blow his victim had struck was a set-back to him; but he presently recovered the balance of his head which the shock had upset. It was plain enough that he had not given up the battle, for he had drawn back with the evident intention of using his clinched fists upon his adversary.

"Hit him again, Flanger!" shouted one of the brutal occupants of the saloon, who now filled the doorway.

The affair was rapidly becoming serious, and Christy was debating with himself whether or not he should draw a revolver he carried in his pocket; but he was cool enough to realize that he was on neutral ground, and that it would be very imprudent to be the first to resort to deadly weapons. He could not run away, for his self-respect would not permit him to do so. He braced himself up to meet the onslaught of the ruffian.

Flanger charged upon him, and attempted to plant a blow with his fist in the face of his intended victim; but the young officer parried it, and was about to follow up the movement with a blow, when Monsieur Rubempré rushed in between them, struck the assailant such a blow that he went over backwards. In fact, the man was too much intoxicated to stand without considerable difficulty.

At this moment a couple of colored policemen rushed in between the combatants. The tipplers in the saloon picked up their comrade, and stood him on his feet. The Nassau officers doubtless had a great deal of this sort of quarrelling, for drinking strong liquors was the principal occupation of the officers and crews of the blockade-runners while in port and on shore.

"What is all this about? Who began this quarrel?" demanded one of them, as he looked from one party to the other in the battle.

"I was passing the door of this saloon, and did not even look into it, when that man rushed upon me, and seized me by the collar," replied Christy. "I tried to shake him off, but I could not, and then I struck him in the side of the head."

"Look here, you nigger!" shouted Captain Flanger. "It's none of your business who began it."

"I shall arrest you for a breach of the peace," said the policeman.

"I don't reckon you will. Do you see my nose? Look at it! Don't you see that it is knocked into a cocked hat?" said Flanger fiercely.

"I see it is; but what has that to do with this matter?" asked the negro officer.

"That man shot my nose off!" roared Flanger. "I am going to kill him for it, if it costs me my head!"

"You shall not kill him here," protested the guardian of the peace. "You have been drinking too much, sir, and you must go with me and get sobered off."

The two policemen walked up to him with the intention of arresting him; but he showed fight. He was too tipsy to make an effectual resistance. His companions in the saloon huddled around him, and endeavored to compel the policemen to let go their hold of him; but they held on to their prisoner till two more officers came, and Flanger was dragged out into the street, and then marched to the jail.

Christy was very much surprised that nothing was said to him by the officers about the affair in which he had been one of the principal actors. He had expected to be summoned as a witness against the prisoner they had taken, but not a word was said to him. He looked about to see if the detective was in sight, but he had disappeared.

"That was an ugly-looking man," said a gentleman in the street, after the carousers had returned to the saloon. "I hope he has not injured you."

"Not at all, sir; he was too drunk to do all he could have done if he had been in full possession of his faculties, for he is a much heavier person than I am," replied Christy. "Why was I not summoned as a witness at his examination?"

"Oh, bless you, sir! they will not examine or try him; they will sober him off, and then discharge him. He is the captain of that little steamer near the public wharf. She is called the Snapper, and will sail for the States on the high tide at five o'clock."

"Do you know to what port she is bound?" asked Christy.

"Mobile."

The young officer walked down to the public wharf to see the Snapper.

[CHAPTER XIX]

AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE

The Snapper was quite a small craft, and looked like an old vessel; for she was a side-wheeler, though she had evidently been built for a sea-going craft. Whether Flanger had escaped from the Bellevite after being transferred to her from the Bronx, or had been regularly exchanged as a prisoner of war, Christy had no means of knowing. It made little difference; he was in Nassau, and he was thirsting for revenge against him.

The young officer did not feel that the brutal wretch had any reasonable cause to complain of him, and especially no right to revenge himself for an injury received while his assailant was the aggressor. He had done his duty to his country. He had been compelled to act promptly; and he had not aimed his revolver particularly at the nose of his dangerous assailant. Flanger was engaged in a foolhardy enterprise; and the mutilation of his nasal member had resulted very naturally from his folly.

His enemy was probably a good sailor, and he was a bold ruffian. Christy had captured the steamer loaded with cotton, in which he was all ready to sail from St. Andrew's Bay; and doubtless this was his first reason for hating the young officer. But no soldier or sailor of character would ever think of such a thing as revenging himself for an injury received in the strife, especially if it was fairly inflicted. The business of war is to kill, wound, and capture, as well as for each side to injure the other in person and property to the extent of its ability.

"Want a boat, sir?" asked a negro, who saw that Christy was gazing at the Snapper, even while he was thinking about his quarrel with Captain Flanger.

"Where is your boat?" asked the officer.

"Right here, sir," replied the boatman, pointing to the steps at the landing-place. "The best sailboat in the harbor, sir."

"I want to sail about this bay for a couple of hours," added Christy, as he stopped on the upper step to examine the craft.

It was built exactly like the Eleuthera, though not quite so large.

"I saw you looking at the steamer there," said the boatman, pointing to the vessel in which Christy was interested. "Do you wish to go on board of her, sir?"

"No; I desire only to sail about the harbor, and perhaps go outside the bar. Can you cross it in this boat?"

"Yes, sir; no trouble at all about crossing it in the Dinah. Take you over to Eleuthera, if you like."

"No; I only want to sail about the harbor, and look at the vessels in port," replied Christy.

While he was looking at the boat, he became conscious that a young man, who was standing on the capsill of the wharf, was looking at him very earnestly. He only glanced at him, but did not recognize him. He had taken the first step in the descent of the stairs, when this person put his hand upon his shoulder to attract his attention. Christy looked at him, and was sure that he had seen him before, though he failed to identify him.

"How are you, Christy?" said the stranger. "Don't you know me?"

"Your face has a familiar look to me, but I am unable to make you out at first sight," replied the young officer, more puzzled as he examined the features of the young man, who appeared to be about twenty years old.

"You and I both have grown a great deal in the last two years, since we first met on this very wharf; but I am Percy Pierson, and you and I were fellow-voyagers in the Bellevite."

"I think you have changed in that time more than I have, or I should have recognized you," answered Christy very coldly, for he was not at all pleased to be identified by any person.

"You are a good deal larger than when I saw you last time, but you look just the same. I am glad to see you, Christy, for you and I ran a big rig over in Mobile Bay," continued Percy, as he extended his hand to the other.

Christy realized that it would be useless as well as foolish to deny his identity to one who knew him so well. A moment's reflection assured him that he must make the best of the circumstances; but he wished with all his might that he had not come to Nassau. He was particularly glad that he had insisted upon separating from Mr. Gilfleur, for the present encounter would have ruined his mission. The young man's father was Colonel Richard Pierson, a neighbor of Homer Passford; and he was a Confederate commissioner for the purchase of vessels for the rebel navy, for running the blockade. Doubtless the son was his father's assistant, as he had been at the time of Christy's first visit.

Percy was not a person of very heavy brain calibre, as his companion had learned from an association of several weeks with him. Christy believed that he might obtain some useful information from him; and he decided, since it was impossible to escape the interview, to make the best of it, and he accepted the offered hand. He did not consider the young Southerner as much of a rebel, for he had refused to shoulder a musket and fight for the cause.

"I begin to see your former looks, and particularly your expression," said Christy. "I am very glad to see you, and I hope you have been very well since we met last."

"Very well indeed."

"Do you live here, Percy?"

"I have lived here most of the time since we parted on board of the Bellevite, and you put me on board of a schooner bound to Nassau. That was a very good turn you did me, for I believed you would take me to New York, and pitch me into a Yankee prison. I was very grateful to you, for I know it was your influence that saved me."

This remark seemed to put a new face upon the meeting. Christy had done nothing to cause him to be set free; for the Bellevite, though she had beaten off several steamers that attempted to capture her, was not in the regular service at the time, her mission in the South being simply to bring home the daughter of her owner, who had passed the winter with her uncle at Glenfield.

"I am very glad I was able to do you a good turn," replied Christy, who considered it his duty to take advantage of the circumstances. "I am just going out to take a sail; won't you join me?"

"Thank you; I shall be very glad to do so. I suppose you are a Yankee still, engaged in the business of subjugating the free South, as I am still a rebel to the backbone," replied Percy, laughing very pleasantly.

"But you are not in the rebel army now, any more than you were at that time," added Christy in equally good humor.

"I am not. You know all about my army experience. My brother, the major, sends me a letter by every chance he can get, and has offered to have my indiscretion, as he called it, in leaving the camp, passed over, if I will save the honor of the family by returning to the army; but my father insists that I can render better service to the cause as his assistant."

Christy led the way down the steps, and the two seated themselves in the bow of the boat. The skipper shoved off after he had set his sails, and the boat stood out towards the Snapper, for he could hardly avoid passing quite near to her.

"What are you doing in Nassau, Christy?" asked Percy.

This was a hard question, and it was utterly impossible to make a truthful reply without upsetting the plan of Mr. Gilfleur, and rendering useless the voyage of the Chateaugay to the Bahamas.

"I am in just as bad a scrape as you were when you were caught on board of the Bellevite," replied Christy after a moment's reflection.

"Are you a prisoner of war?"

"How could I be a prisoner in a neutral port like Nassau? No; I do not regard myself as a prisoner just now," answered Christy very good-humoredly.

"But you have been a prisoner, and you have escaped in some vessel that run the blockade. I see it all; and you need not stop to explain it," said Percy, who flattered himself on his brilliant perception.