Part 34 (1/2)
On this report Christy rang four bells, and the Reindeer went ahead at full speed.
”By the mark three!” called the man at the lead.
The water was deepening rapidly, and presently the report of three and a half fathoms came from the forecastle. It was soon followed by ”And a half four,” upon which the lieutenant directed the wheelman to steer directly for the Bellevite. He had hardly given the order before the report of heavy firing from the upper waters of the bay came to his ear.
”What can that be?” he asked, looking at Captain Stopfoot.
”I don't know; but I suppose that the gunboat which went up the bay is firing at some battery she has discovered. They have strengthened the works in that direction which defend the town, since the only one there was silenced by one of your gunboats,” the captain explained.
The guns were heard on board of the Bellevite, and she began to move up the bay as though she intended to proceed to the a.s.sistance of her consort. Mr. Blowitt in the first cutter had followed the Bronx, and the third cutter, in charge of Mr. Lobscott, had gone over to Piney Point, to which there was a channel with from three to five fathoms of water, and which seemed to be a favorable place to load a vessel with cotton.
As the Reindeer approached the Bellevite, the latter stopped her screw, and Christy directed the wheelman to run the steamer alongside, and within twenty or thirty feet of her. There was no sea in the bay, and there was no danger in doing so. As the Reindeer approached the position indicated, two bells were struck to stop her. The flags that had been hoisted on board, informed Captain Breaker of the capture of the steamer, so that no report was necessary.
”I have to report the capture of the Reindeer, loaded with cotton, and ready to sail for Na.s.sau,” said Christy, mounting one of the high piles of cotton bales, and saluting the commander of the Bellevite, who had taken his place on the rail to see the prize.
”Do you know the cause of the firing up the bay, Mr. Pa.s.sford?” asked Captain Breaker.
”I do not, Captain; but I learn that the battery below the town has been strengthened, and I should judge that the Bronx had engaged it.”
”Have you men enough to hold your prize, Mr. Pa.s.sford?”
”I think I have, Captain.”
”You will go down the bay, and anchor outside of Egmont Key.”
Christy rang one bell, and then four.
CHAPTER x.x.x
A VERY IMPORTANT SERVICE
The Reindeer went ahead at full speed, while the Bellevite stood up the bay, picking up the crew of Mr. Blowitt's boat on the way, evidently with the intention of taking part in the action which the Bronx had initiated. The loud reports at intervals indicated that the Bronx was using her big mids.h.i.+p gun, while the feebler sounds proved that the metal of the battery was much lighter. The prize was not a fast steamer, and she was over an hour in making the dozen miles to Egmont Island, on which was the tower of a lighthouse forty feet high, but no use was made of it at that time.
The Bellevite proceeded very slowly, sounding all the time; but at the end of half an hour the Reindeer was at least ten miles from her, which was practically out of sight and hearing. About this time Christy observed that Captain Stopfoot left the pilot-house, where he had remained from the first; but he paid no attention to him. He had three men on the quarter-deck of the steamer, one in the pilot-house with him, and five more in other parts of the vessel.
Christy knew the channel to the south of the lighthouse, and piloted the steamer to a point about half a mile to the westward of the island.
He was looking through one of the forward windows of the pilot-house, selecting a proper place to come to anchor, in accordance with the orders of Captain Breaker. While he was so engaged he heard some sort of a disturbance in the after part of the steamer.
”On deck there!” he called sharply; and the five men who had been stationed in this part of the steamer stood up before him, jumping up from the beds they had made for themselves on the cotton bales, or rus.h.i.+ng out from behind them. ”Hopkins and White, go aft and ascertain the cause of that disturbance,” he added.
The two men promptly obeyed the order, and the naval officer directed the other three to stand by to anchor the steamer. In a few minutes the anchor was ready to let go. Perhaps a quarter of an hour had elapsed, when Christy began to wonder what had become of the two men he had sent aft to report on the disturbance.
”Linman,” he called to one of the three men on the forecastle, ”go aft and see what has become of Hopkins and White.”
Linman proceeded to obey the order, but had not been gone twenty seconds, before the noise of another disturbance came to Christy's ears, and this time it sounded very much like a scuffle. Up to this moment, and even since Captain Stopfoot had left the pilot-house, Christy had not suspected that anything on board was wrong. The sounds that came from the after part of the vessel excited his suspicions, though they did not a.s.sure him that the s.h.i.+p's company of the steamer were engaged in anything like a revolt.
”Follow me, Bench and Kingman!” he shouted to the two men that remained on the forecastle. ”Strike two bells, Landers,” he added to the wheelman.
Christy had drawn the cutla.s.s he carried in his belt, and was ready, with the a.s.sistance of the two men he had called, to put down any insubordination that might have been manifested by the s.h.i.+p's company of the prize. He would have been willing to admit, if he had given the matter any attention at that moment, that it was the natural right of the captured captain and his men to regain possession of their persons and property by force and violence; but he was determined to make it dangerous for them to do so.