Part 21 (1/2)

Christy realized that it would be useless as well as foolish to deny his ident.i.ty to one who knew him so well. A moment's reflection a.s.sured him that he must make the best of the circ.u.mstances; but he wished with all his might that he had not come to Na.s.sau. 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 Pa.s.sford; 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 a.s.sistant, 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 a.s.sociation 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 Na.s.sau. 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 pa.s.sed 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 circ.u.mstances. ”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, pa.s.sed 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 a.s.sistant.”

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 pa.s.sing quite near to her.

”What are you doing in Na.s.sau, 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 sc.r.a.pe 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 Na.s.sau? 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.

”The less I say about it the better it will be for me,” added Christy, willing to accept the situation as his companion had marked it out.

”But you must not let my father see you.”

”I never met Colonel Pierson, though I saw him once, and he would not know me if we should meet.”

”Then don't let him know who you are.”

”He will not know, unless you tell him.”

”You may be very sure that I will not mention you to him, or to anybody else, for that matter,” replied Percy very earnestly.