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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/29387.txt b/29387.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..19efd6c --- /dev/null +++ b/29387.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9012 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Marcy The Blockade Runner, by Harry Castlemon + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Marcy The Blockade Runner + +Author: Harry Castlemon + +Illustrator: George G. White + +Release Date: July 12, 2009 [EBook #29387] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MARCY THE BLOCKADE RUNNER *** + + + + +Produced by Gary Sandino, from scans generously provided +by the Internet Archive. + + + + + + [Frontispiece: MARCY AND THE OVERSEER.] + + CASTLEMON'S WAR SERIES. + + + + MARCY + + + + THE + + + + BLOCKADE-RUNNER + + BY + + HARRY CASTLEMON, + + AUTHOR OF "GUNBOAT SERIES," "ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES," + + "SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES," ETC., ETC. + + Four Illustrations by Geo. G. White. + + + + PHILADELPHIA: + + PORTER & COATES. + + + + Copyright, 1891, + + BY + + PORTER & COATES. + + + + CONTENTS. + + + + CHAPTER PAGE + + I. MARCY HAS A VISITOR, 1 + + II. HIDING THE FLAGS, 26 + + III. BEARDSLEY BETRAYS HIMSELF, 52 + + IV. TWO NARROW ESCAPES, 77 + + V. A CAT WITHOUT CLAWS, 105 + + VI. RUNNING THE BLOCKADE, 125 + + VII. THE mate's LUCKY SHOT, 150 + + VIII. A NOISE AT THE WINDOW, 174 + + IX. THE "_SUMTER_" LOSES A PRIZE, 197 + + X. A COOL PROPOSITION, 219 + + XI. THE BANNER ON THE WALL, 241 + + XII. CONFLICTING REPORTS, 268 + + XIII. UNION OR CONFEDERATE--WHICH? 292 + + XIV. JULIUS IN TROUBLE, 317 + + XV. THE ENCHANTED LOOKING-GLASS, 339 + + XVI. OFF FOR THE FLEET, 362 + + XVII. AN UNEXPECTED MEETING, 381 + +XVIII. CONCLUSION, 403 + + + + + + MARCY, THE BLOCKADE-RUNNER, + + + + CHAPTER I. + + MARCY HAS A VISITOR. + +The boys who have read the first volume of this series of books, in +which we followed the fortunes of our Union hero, Marcy Gray, and +described the persevering but unsuccessful efforts he made to be true to +his colors in deed as well as in spirit, will remember that we left him +at his home near Nashville, North Carolina, enjoying a brief respite +from the work he so heartily detested, that of privateering. He had made +one voyage in the _Osprey_ under Captain Beardsley, during which he +assisted in capturing the schooner _Mary Hollins_, bound from Havana to +Boston with an assorted cargo. When the prize was brought into the port +of Newbern the whole town went wild with excitement, Captain Beardsley's +agent being so highly elated that he urged the master of the _Osprey_ to +run out at once and try his luck again, before the capture of the +_Hollins_ became known at the North. But Beardsley, who was afraid to +trust landsharks any farther than he could see them, declared with a +good deal of earnestness that he would not budge an inch until the +legality of the capture had been settled by the courts, the vessel and +cargo sold, and the dollars that belonged to him and his crew were +planked down in their two hands. Knowing that it would take time to go +through all these formalities, Marcy Gray asked for a leave of absence, +which Beardsley granted according to promise, and in less than half an +hour after the _Osprey_ was hauled alongside the wharf, her disgusted +young pilot, wishing from the bottom of his heart that she might sink +out of sight before he ever saw her again, left her and went home as +fast as the cars could take him. When we last saw him he had reached his +mother's house, and was reading a letter from his cousin, _Rodney the +Partisan_ a portion of which we gave to the reader at the close of the +first volume of this series. + +"Rodney is full of enthusiasm, isn't he?" exclaimed Marcy, when he had +finished reading the letter. "He says he looks for 'high old times' +running the Yankees out of Missouri, but I am afraid he'll not enjoy +them as much as he thinks he will. Perhaps the Yankees are not good +runners. But Rodney has been true to his colors and I have not. I said I +never would fight against the Union, but I have stood by and seen a gun +fired at the old flag; and I have no doubt that the skipper of the +_Hollins_ when he saw me aboard the privateer, took me for as good a +rebel as there was in the crew. Perhaps he will see his mistake some +day. I shall have to accept my share of the prize money, for if I don't +Beardsley's suspicions will be aroused; but I'll put it away and send it +to the master of the _Hollins_ the first good chance I get. Has Wat +Gifford been here since I went to sea? You know he warned me of two +secret enemies I would have to look out for, and hinted that he would +some day tell me who the rest are." ["But I think I know already," added +Marcy mentally.] While he was at sea he had had ample leisure to think +over the situation, and had made up his mind that he knew right where +the most serious danger that threatened him and his mother was coming +from. + +"Walter has been here," replied Mrs. Gray, "and I understand that he has +since gone back to the army, his furlough, which was a short one, having +expired. I was glad to see Walter, for it was a very great relief to +visit with some one to whom I knew I could talk freely; but I must say +he left a very unpleasant impression on my mind. He told me, in so many +words, that we are suspected of being traitors at heart, and that there +are but few of our neighbors we can trust." + +"And who are they?" inquired Marcy. "When we know who our friends are, +it will be no trouble for us to pick out our enemies." + +"I asked Walter that very question, and after some hesitation he was +obliged to confess that he could not name a single person. There are +some who denounce secession in the very strongest terms, but that +doesn't prove anything, for Walter has often done the same thing +himself, and he is a rebel soldier," said Mrs. Gray sadly. "Only think +of it, Marcy! To not one of the many who were our warm friends in times +past, can we go for advice and sympathy, now that trouble is coming upon +us. Is it not dreadful?" + +"Who cares for advice or sympathy?" exclaimed the boy wrathfully. "We've +got each other and Jack to go to when the pinch comes, and outsiders can +just mind their own business and live to themselves, and let us do the +same. Traitors! That word doesn't apply to us, mother." + +"I know it doesn't; but for all that I am afraid that the 'outsiders,' +as you call them, will not let us live to ourselves. Young Gifford +almost as good as told me that some of our near neighbors intend to keep +themselves posted in regard to our movements." + +"The--the impudence of the thing!" exclaimed the young pilot, pounding +his knees with his clenched hands. "Who's going to keep them posted? +Where do they expect to get their information? Through the overseer?" + +"Through the overseer," whispered Mrs. Gray, in reply. + +"Are you afraid to speak the words out loud?" cried Marcy, who had +seldom been so excited as he was at that moment. "Great Moses! Have +things come to such a pass that we dare not talk in our ordinary tones +in our own house, but must carry on our conversation in whispers?" + +"I was in hopes that my letters would prepare you for something like +this," said his mother slowly. + +"Well, they didn't. Of course I knew I should find things changed, but I +never thought we should be spied upon in our own house," answered Marcy. +"Traitors, are we, when we haven't done the first thing to deserve the +name! But is there no way in which that villain Hanson can be got rid +of?" + +"There is but one way that occurs to me now," was the reply. "When his +contract expires we can tell him that we do not intend to employ an +overseer any longer." + +"And that will be almost a year from now," groaned Marcy. "How can we +live for so many months, knowing all the while that our every movement +is watched, and that some one is constantly trying to catch every word +we say? I don't believe I can stand it. Did Gifford say anything +about----" + +Marcy paused, got upon his feet, and opened quickly, but silently, one +after another, all the doors that led from the room in which he and his +mother were sitting. There were no eavesdroppers among the servants +_yet_ but that was no sign that there wouldn't be some to-morrow or next +day. An overseer who was left as much to himself as Hanson was, held +great power in his hands; and some negro servants are as open to bribery +as some white people are. Having made sure that there was no one +listening at the door, Marcy drew his chair close to his mother's side +before he spoke again. + +"Did Gifford say anything about the money--the thirty thousand dollars +in gold you have hidden in the cellar wall?" he asked, in suppressed +tones. + +"He did, and it troubles me more than anything else he said during his +visit," replied Mrs. Gray, glancing nervously around the room, as if she +feared that there might be a listener concealed behind some of the +chairs or under the sofa. "In spite of my utmost care, that matter, +which I hoped to keep from the knowledge of even the most faithful among +the servants, has become known. I cannot account for it. It fairly +unnerves me to think of it, for it suggests a most alarming +possibility." + +"Did Gifford say, in so many words, that you were known to have money in +the house?" + +"He did not. He said it was suspected." + +"And what is the alarming possibility you just spoke of?" continued +Marcy. + +"Why, I am afraid that there is some trusted person nearer to me than +the overseer is--some one right here in the house who has been watching +me day and night," answered his mother, shivering all over and drawing +nearer to her sturdy son, as if for protection. "You don't know how it +makes me feel, or how keenly I have suffered since young Gifford's +visit." + +"I wish he had stopped away," said Marcy, almost fiercely. + +"I don't," replied his mother. "He meant it for the best, and wouldn't +have told me a word if I had not insisted. You must not blame Walter. It +is best that I should understand the situation; and Marcy, you know you +would not have told me a word of all this if Gifford had told it to +you." + +"Perhaps he did say something to me about it," answered the boy, with an +air which said that his mother had not been telling him anything he did +not know before. "But I have been more careful of your feelings than +Gifford was." + +"And did you mean to leave me all in the dark and utterly ignorant of +the perils that surround us?" said Mrs. Gray reproachfully. "Do you +think that would have been just to me? Don't imagine, because you are my +protector and the only one I have to depend on while Jack is at sea, +that you have all the courage there is between us. I know you would +shield me entirely if you could, but it is impossible; and you must let +me bear my part. I shall have to whether you consent or not. But you +haven't yet told me where you have been, how you captured that vessel, +what the captain said about it, or--or anything," she added, with a +feeble attempt to bring the boy's usual smile back to his face. +"Remember, I am deeply interested in all that you do." + +"Well, you wouldn't be if you had seen the cowardly work I helped +Beardsley carry out," replied Marcy. "In the first place, Crooked Inlet +is buoyed in such a way that the stranger who tries to go through it +will run his vessel so hard and fast aground that she will be likely to +stay there until the waves make an end of her, or the shifting sands of +the bar bury her out of sight." + +"That's murderous," exclaimed Mrs. Gray, with a shudder. "Is Captain +Beardsley about to turn wrecker?" + +"He means to wreck any war vessel that may give chase to his schooner," +answered Marcy. "If we are pursued, I can take the _Osprey_ through all +right; but if the man-of-war attempts to follow us, and allows herself +to be guided by the buoys, she'll stick. Oh, it's lovely business--a +brave and honorable business," exclaimed the boy, running his hands +through his hair and tumbling it up as he used to do at school when he +found anything in his books that was too hard for him. "I have the +profoundest contempt for the villain who brought me into it, and despise +myself for yielding to him." + +"But, Marcy, what else could you have done? Gilford assured me it was +the only course open to you, and that by shipping as pilot on board that +privateer you have somewhat allayed suspicion." + +"Mother," said Marcy, placing his arm around her neck and whispering the +words in her ear, "Captain Beardsley doesn't need a pilot any more than +he needs some one to command his piratical craft. I suspected as much +all the while, and the minute we got up to Crooked Inlet I knew it. He +can tell you more about the coast in five minutes than I could in an +hour." + +"Of course, a trader----" began Mrs. Gray. + +"Mother," repeated Marcy, "Lon Beardsley is not and never has been a +trader. He's a smuggler between this country and Cuba. He says himself +that he never made a voyage farther away from home than the West Indies. +He knows every inch of the coast like a book." + +"Then what does he want of you?" inquired Mrs. Gray, with a look of +surprise. "Why can he not permit you to stay at home in peace, as he +knows I want you to do? Do you still think he wants to test your loyalty +to the South?" + +"That's just what he is up to," replied Marcy. "He came here in the hope +that I would refuse his offer, so that he would have an excuse for +getting me into trouble." + +Yes, that was one object Captain Beardsley had in view when he proposed +to make Marcy Gray pilot of the privateer, but there was another behind +it, and one that was much nearer to the smuggler's heart. As Marcy had +told his friend Wat Gifford, on the day the two held that confidential +conversation in front of the Nashville post-office, Beardsley wanted to +marry Mrs. Gray's plantation; and when he found that he must give up all +hope in that direction, like the poor apology for a man that he was, he +hit upon a plan for taking vengeance upon Marcy's mother. If she proved, +when the test was applied, to be friendly to the South and its cause, he +would not dare lift a finger against her or her property, for he knew +that if he did his neighbors would quickly interest themselves in the +matter; but if she would only refuse to permit Marcy to ship on board +the privateer, then he would have a clear field for his operations. He +could accuse Marcy's mother of being a Yankee sympathizer, and that +would turn the whole settlement against her at once, because she was +already suspected of Union sentiments, and some of her nearest neighbors +were so certain that she was loyal to the old flag and opposed to +secession, that they thought it their duty to cease visiting her. It +would be no trouble at all, Beardsley thought, to arouse public feeling +against her; but unfortunately for the success of his plans, Mrs. Gray +did not refuse her consent; the boy took the position offered him on the +_Osprey_ made one voyage at sea, and did his duty as faithfully as any +other member of the crew. + +"I know Beardsley wanted to find out where I stood," repeated Marcy. "He +expected and hoped that I would refuse to accept his proposition so that +he would have an excuse for persecuting us; but being disappointed +there, he intends to work in another direction. He means to make trouble +on account of the money you have in the cellar." + +"But what business--what right has he with it?" said Mrs. Gray +indignantly. "It's ours." + +"I know it, and we're going to keep it; but if Beardsley can make sure +that you went to Richmond, Wilmington, and Newbern for _money_--and I +think you will find that he looks to Hanson, the overseer, to furnish +him with the proof, and bring a gang of longshoremen up here from +Plymouth some dark night----" + +"Oh, Marcy!" cried Mrs. Gray, starting from her chair and clasping her +hands in alarm, "don't speak of it!" + +"I wish from the bottom of my heart that I need not have told you of +it," said the boy, getting upon his feet and pacing the floor with +restless, angry strides. "But Wat Gifford believes that something of the +sort is going to happen, and so do I. Wat didn't say so, but I am sure +that is what he would have told me if he had found me at home when he +came here. You knew there was danger in every one of those gold pieces +you brought home with you; else why did you take so much pains to put +them where you thought no one would be likely to find them?" + +"It is true I did know it, and was afraid that if the news got abroad in +the settlement, some of our poor neighbors might be tempted to commit +crime," answered Mrs. Gray. "We never had so large an amount of money in +the house before, and its presence troubles me greatly; but I never +dreamed that we had anything to fear from an organized band of +freebooters." + +"And the fear of what Beardsley will do, if he finds out that the money +is really in the house, is what troubles me," said the young pilot +dolefully. "That man is capable of any desperate deed when he thinks he +has the power on his side. I know you never thought of such a thing at +the time, but your trips about the country, which Wat Gifford says could +not have been made without an object of some sort, have excited a good +deal of talk among the neighbors. Captain Beardsley posted Hanson, and +Hanson, so Wat told me, is more to be feared than any one else, for he +is right here on the place. These secret enemies will drive us both +crazy." + +"We'll not give them the satisfaction of knowing that they can trouble +us in the least," replied his mother, with dignity. "Now we will dismiss +them entirely from our minds, while you tell me all the interesting +things that happened during your cruise." + +"There isn't a thing to tell," was Marcy's answer. "We sighted the +_Hollins_ inside Diamond Shoals, threw a couple of shrapnel at her and +she came to; that's all there was of it. Her skipper was a sailorman all +over, and plucky, too; and if he had had anything to fight with, he +would have made things lively for us. I never before felt so sorry for +anybody as I did for him; but of course I didn't have a chance to tell +him so. I may some day meet him under different circumstances." + +When the boy said this he did not really believe that such a thing ever +could occur, but nevertheless it did. Strange things happen in this +world sometimes, and in process of time it came about that the young +pilot again stood face to face with the master of the _Mary Hollins_ no +longer a prisoner pleading with Captain Beardsley that his men might not +be ironed like felons, but standing free on the quarter-deck of an armed +vessel, with a hundred blue-jackets ready to do his bidding, and the +Stars and Stripes waving proudly and triumphantly above him. And +Beardsley--he was there, too; and perhaps we shall see what sort of +heart he kept up when he found himself thrust into the "brig" so quickly +that he did not have time to tell what his name was. + +"How long does your leave of absence extend?" inquired Mrs. Gray, after +a little pause. + +"Until I am ordered to report," replied Marcy, with a laugh. "Perhaps +the captain didn't know I wrote it out that way, but that isn't my +fault. It was his business to read the paper before signing it. If he +wants me he will have to send for me. You ought to have heard that +Newbern mob whoop and yell when the crew of the _Hollins_ were marched +off to jail. They called them 'Abolitionists' and 'nigger-lovers'; but +the prisoners kept their eyes straight to the front, and marched on as +though they didn't hear a word of it. It was a shame to treat brave men +that way." + +Just as the young pilot ceased speaking there was a gentle knock at the +door; and so sudden and unexpected was it, that it brought both him and +his mother to their feet in a twinkling. How long had the person who +gave that knock been within reach of the door, was the first thought +that arose in the mind of each. Had some one crept along the hall and +listened at the key-hole in the hope of hearing some of their +conversation? + +"If that is the case," Marcy whispered to his mother, "she has had her +trouble for her pains. We haven't said a dozen words that could have +been heard the length of this room. 'Come in!'" + +The door opened to admit one of the numerous female house servants, who +announced that there was a gentleman on the gallery who had called to +see Mrs. Gray on very important private and particular business. + +"She looks innocent enough," thought Marcy, who could not bring himself +to believe, as his mother evidently did, that some of the domestics were +watching their movements and reporting the result of their observations +to the overseer. "I don't think she heard a word, and she certainly +could not have seen anything." And then, finding that his mother was +looking at him as if she meant him to understand that she knew what the +visitor's business was, and desired him to take it off her hands, he +said, aloud: "Who is the gentleman, and do you know what he's got to say +that is so very important and particular?" + +"I don't know, sah, what he want to speak about," answered the girl, +"but de man is Mr. Kelsey." + +Marcy could hardly keep back an exclamation of disgust, and in an +instant he was on his guard. The man's name and the message he had sent +in warned him to be on the lookout for treachery. Kelsey was one of +Beardsley's "renters"--that is to say, he hired from the captain a few +acres of ground, on which he managed to raise enough corn and potatoes +to keep his family from absolute want, and a little log cabin in which +he found shelter when he was not absent on his hunting and thieving +expeditions. Marcy had not seen him since his return from Barrington, +but he had heard of him as a red-hot Confederate who went about +declaring that hanging was too good for Yankees and their sympathizers. +When Marcy heard of this, he told himself that the man was another Bud +Goble, who, when the pinch came, would take to the woods and stay there +as long as danger threatened. + +"I'll be with him directly," he said, addressing himself to the girl, +who went out, closing the door behind her. + +"What in the name of wonder can that worthless man want with me?" +whispered Mrs. Gray, when she thought she had given the domestic time to +get out of hearing. "He has never been in this house before except to +beg." + +"And he wouldn't be here now if he hadn't been sent," replied the boy. + +"Oh, Marcy!" said his mother. + +"That is just what I mean. It isn't old clothes or grub that he is after +this time." + +"But Beardsley couldn't have put him up to anything. He is in Newbern." + +"No odds. He left plenty of friends behind to do his dirty work, and +this fellow, Kelsey, is one of them. It will take a sharper man than he +is to pull the wool over my eyes." + +"Don't be over-confident, my son. He is not too insignificant--no one is +too insignificant these times to do us some terrible injury. Be careful +how you treat him and what you say to him. It might be dangerous to make +him angry, for he has powerful friends behind him. Don't be gone long, +for I shall be uneasy until you return." + +"I'll be right back," promised Marcy; and, giving his mother a +reassuring kiss, he left the room and went out on the porch to see what +Beardsley's friend and spy wanted. + +The latter looked just as he did the last time Marcy saw him--too lazy +to take a long breath. He was tall and lank, his hair fell down upon his +shoulders, his whiskers were as tangled and matted as a little brush +heap--in short, he was as fine a specimen of a poor white as one could +find anywhere in the seceded States. He looked stupid as well as +shiftless, but the young pilot knew he wasn't. He was as sly as a fox +and as cunning as well, and Marcy confessed to himself that he stood +more in fear of him than he did of Captain Beardsley. When the man heard +Marcy's step upon the porch, he tried to assume the servile air which +was characteristic of poor Southern whites before the war; but he did +not succeed very well. His manner seemed to say that he knew he was +dealing with one he could crush whenever he felt like it, and of whom he +need not stand in fear; and Marcy was quick to notice it. + +"Sarvent, sah," said Kelsey, rising to his feet and taking off his +tattered hat, which, however, he almost instantly replaced. "I heared +that you had got back again from sea, an' that you had whopped the +Yankees first time tryin', same as our fellers done down to +Charleston." + +"Yes, sir," replied Marcy, seating himself, and depositing his feet on +the railing, as if to indicate that he was quite at the service of his +friend Kelsey as long as the latter wanted to talk to him. "We whipped +them, and we could do the same thing again." ["And that's nothing but +the truth," he added, to himself. "When an armed vessel meets one that's +not armed, the helpless one is bound to go under every time."] + +It is hard to tell just what Kelsey expected the boy to say in response +to his greeting, but in spite of his usual self-control his face showed +that he had not looked for any such answer as this. Marcy spoke and +acted as if he were delighted with the success that had attended the +_Osprey's_ first cruise at sea, and proud of being able to say that he +was one of her crew. + +"You sent in word that you desired to see my mother on very particular +business," continued Marcy. "She doesn't feel like seeing anybody +to-day--upset by the war news, you know--and I am here to speak for her. +It's nothing bad, I hope?" + +Kelsey straightened up on his seat and assumed a business air, as if +these words had suggested an idea to him. + +"Yes, it's kinder bad," said he. "We uns know that you are true blue, +fur if you wasn't you wouldn't be on that privateer; an' if your maw +wasn't true blue, she wouldn't a let you go." + +["That sounds exactly like Beardsley," said Marcy, to himself.] "Well, +what of it? Didn't I do my duty faithfully?" + +"I ain't sayin' nothing agin that," replied the man hastily. +"But--you're fur Jeff Davis, ain't you?" + +Instead of answering in words, Marcy pulled down the corner of his right +eye and looked at Kelsey as if to ask him if he saw anything green in +it. + +"What do ye mean by them movements?" demanded the visitor. + +"I mean that I am not going to talk politics with you," was the reply. +"This settlement is full of traitors, and I'm going to hold my tongue +unless I know who I am talking to. If I do that, I shan't get into +trouble by speaking too freely in the hearing of a Yankee spy." + +"But look a-here, Mister Marcy," protested Kelsey. + +"If you came to pry into our private affairs, you might as well jump on +your mule and go home, for you'll not get a word from me. I ought to put +the dogs on you, for if all I hear is true you're the worst kind of a +traitor." ["And so you are," thought Marcy, closely watching the effect +of his words, although he did not seem to be doing so; "you're a traitor +to the old flag."] + +The visitor was astonished beyond measure, and it was fully a minute +before he could collect his wits sufficiently to frame a reply. + + + + + CHAPTER II. + + HIDING THE FLAGS. + +"I think I have taken the right course," soliloquized the young pilot, +who mentally congratulated himself on the ease with which he had "got to +windward" of this sneaking spy. "If I fight him with his own weapons I +shall probably get more out of him than I could in any other way." + +"You heared that I was a traitor?" exclaimed Kelsey, as soon as he could +speak. "Mister Marcy, the man who told you that told you a plumb lie, +kase I ain't. I whooped her up fur ole Car'liny when she went out, I +done the same when our gov'ner grabbed the forts along the coast, an' I +yelled fit to split when our folks licked 'em at Charleston. Any man in +the settlement or in Nashville will tell ye that them words of mine is +nothing but the gospel truth." + +Marcy knew well enough that his visitor's words were true, but he shook +his head in a doubting way, as he replied: + +"That may all be; but _I_ didn't hear you whoop and yell, and you must +not expect me to take your word for it. You must bring some proof before +I will talk to you." + +"Why, how in sense could ye hear me whoop an' yell, seein' that you was +away to school in the first place, an' off on the ocean with Beardsley +in the next?" exclaimed Kelsey. "Ask Dillon, an' Colonel Shelby, an' the +postmaster, an' see if they don't say it's the truth." + +"You have mentioned the names of some of our most respected citizens," +said Marcy slowly, as if he were still reluctant to be convinced of the +man's sincerity. "And if they, or any of them, sent you up here to talk +to my mother--why, then, I shall have to listen to you; but mind you, if +you are trying to play a game on me----" + +"Mister Marcy," said Kelsey solemnly, "I ain't tryin' to come no game. +Them men done it sure's you're born." + +"Did what?" + +"Sent me up here this mawnin'." + +"That's one point gained, but won't mother be frightened when she hears +of it?" thought Marcy, leaning his elbows on his knees and covering his +face with his hands so that his visitor could not see it. "Some of the +best men in the country have so far forgotten their manhood, and the +friendship they once had for our family, that they can send this +sneaking fellow here to worm something out of us." + +"I don't believe a word of it," he cried, jumping to his feet and +confronting his visitor. + +"Ye--ye don't believe it?" faltered Kelsey, springing up in his turn. +"Well, I--I--look a-here, Mister Marcy, mebbe this is something else you +don't believe. Them men whose names I jest give you, say that you an' +your maw an' all the rest of the Gray family is Union. What do ye say to +_that?_" + +"I say that they had better attend to their own business and let me +attend to mine," answered Marcy. "Are Colonel Shelby and the rest of +them for the Union?" + +"Not much; an' nuther be I." + +"Are you in favor of secession?" + +"I reckon." replied Kelsey earnestly; and Marcy knew all the while that +he could not have told what the word secession meant. + +"Then why don't you prove it--you and Colonel Shelby, and the rest of +the neighbors who are saying things behind my back that they don't care +to say to my face? Why don't you prove your loyalty to the South by +shouldering a musket and going into the army?" + +"Why, we uns has got famblies to look out fur," exclaimed the visitor, +who had never had this matter brought squarely home to him before. + +"That makes no difference," answered the boy, who wondered if Kelsey's +family would fare any worse while he was in the army than they did now, +while he was out of it. "Every man in this country must show his good +will in one way or another. And there's that loudmouthed fellow Allison, +who went out of his way to insult me in the post-office just before I +went to sea. Nashville is full of such braggarts as he is. When they +can't find anything else to talk about they talk about me; and I have +smelt powder while they haven't." ["No odds if it was our own powder and +the wind blew the smoke into my face," he said to himself.] + +By this time Marcy had the satisfaction of seeing that he had taken the +wind completely out of Kelsey's sails, and that the man who had come +there to trouble him was troubled himself. He even began to fear that he +had gone too far, and that if he did not change his tactics the visitor +would go away without giving a hint of the errand that had brought him +to the house; for Kelsey picked up the hat he had placed upon the floor +beside his chair, put it on his head and leaned forward with his hands +on his knees, as if he were about to get upon his feet. That wouldn't do +at all. There was something in the wind--something that Captain +Beardsley, aided by Colonel Shelby and others, had studied up on purpose +to get Marcy into a scrape of some kind, and Marcy was very anxious to +know what it was. + +"You hinted a while ago that Colonel Shelby had sent you here to tell me +some bad news," said the young pilot, in a much pleasanter tone of voice +than he had thus far used in addressing his visitor. "Are you ready now +to obey orders and tell me what it is?" + +"Well, I dunno. I reckon mebbe I'd best ride down an' see the colonel +first," replied the man. But his actions said plainly that he _did_ +know, and that he had no intention of facing his employer again until he +could tell him that his instructions had been carried out. + +"Of course, you must do as you think best about that; but if it is +anything that concerns my mother or myself----" + +"I should say so," exclaimed Kelsey. "I don't reckon it'll do any harm +to tell you--but ain't there anybody to listen? It's very important an' +private." + +"I think you may speak with perfect freedom; but in order to make sure +of it----" Marcy finished the sentence by getting up and closing both +the doors that opened upon the veranda. "Now we're safe," said he; +whereupon Kelsey revealed the whole plot in less than a score of words. + +"Mebbe you don't know it," said he, in a whisper which was so loud and +piercing that it could have been heard by an eavesdropper (if there had +been one) at least fifty feet away, "but you are harboring a traitor +right here on the place." + +"Who is it?" + +"Your mean sneak of an overseer." + +It was now Marcy's turn to be astonished. He knew that there was not a +word of truth in what the man said, and that if the overseer really was +a Union man the planters round about would have sent a person of more +influence and better social standing than Kelsey to tell him of it; but +after all the plot was not as simple as it looked at first glance. + +"Where's your proof?" was the first question he asked. + +"Well, Hanson has been talkin' a heap to them he thought to be Union, +but it turned out that they wasn't. They was true to the flag of the +'Federacy." + +"What do Colonel Shelby and the rest want me to do?" inquired Marcy, +catching at an idea that just then flashed through his mind. "If they +will write me a note stating the facts of the case and asking me to +discharge Hanson, I will attend to it before the sun goes down." + +"Well, you see they don't keer to take a hand in the furse at all, +seein' that there's so many Union folks in the settlement," said Kelsey. +"They've got nice houses an' nigger quarters, an' they don't want 'em +burned up." + +"But they are willing that I should get into trouble by discharging +Hanson, and put myself in the way of having my house and quarters +destroyed, are they?" exclaimed the boy, his face growing red with +indignation, although, as he afterward told his mother, there wasn't +really anything to arouse his indignation. "You may tell those gentlemen +that if they want the overseer run off the plantation, they can come +here and do it. If the Union men are as vindictive as Colonel Shelby +seems to think they are, I don't care to get them down on me." + +"But the Union folks won't pester you uns," said Kelsey, speaking before +he thought. + +"Ah! Why won't they?" + +"Kase--kase they think you're one of 'em." + +"I don't see how they can think so when they know that I belong to a +Confederate privateer." + +"Them men, whose names I give ye a minute ago, thought that mebbe you'd +be willing to turn Hanson loose when you heared how he had been swingin' +his tongue about that there money." + +Kelsey had come to the point at last. He looked hard at Marcy to see +what effect the words would have upon him, and Marcy returned his gaze +with an impassive countenance, although he felt his heart sinking within +him. + +"What money?" he demanded, in so steady a voice that the visitor was +fairly staggered. The latter believed that there was rich booty hidden +somewhere about that old house, and he hoped in time to have the +handling of some of it. + +"I mean the money your maw got when she went to Richmon' an' around," +replied the man, who, in coon hunters' parlance, began to wonder if he +wasn't "barking up the wrong tree." + +"Can you prove that she brought any money back with her?" + +"No, I can't," answered Kelsey, in a tone which said as plainly as words +that he wished he could. "I--me--I mean that the neighbors suspicion +it." + +"Oh, that's it. Let those officious neighbors keep on talking; and when +they have talked themselves blind, you may tell them, for me, that what +money we have is safe," said Marcy, with a good deal of emphasis on the +adjective. "If you want to see what mother brought back from the city, +go and look at the servants. Every one of them is dressed in a new suit. +Now go on and tell me the bad news. I'm getting impatient to hear it." + +"Heavings an' 'arth! Haven't I told it to ye already?" Kelsey almost +shouted. "I think it is bad enough when you an' your maw are keepin', +right here on the plantation, a man who is all the time waitin' an' +watchin' fur a chance to do harm to both of ye. If you don't think so, +all right. I was a fule fur comin' here, an' I reckon I'd best be +lumberin'. If anything happens to ye, bear in mind that I give ye fair +warnin'." + +"I will," answered Marcy. "And in the mean time do you bear in mind that +I am ready to discharge Hanson at any time Colonel Shelby proves to my +satisfaction that he is a dangerous man to have around; but I shall make +no move unless the colonel says so, for I don't want to get into trouble +with my neighbors." ["I wonder if I have done the right thing," thought +Marcy, as the visitor mounted his mule and rode out of the yard. "The +next plotter I hear from will be Hanson himself."] + +The boy remained motionless in his chair until Kelsey disappeared behind +the trees that bordered the road, and then got up and walked into the +sitting-room, where he found his mother pacing the floor. Her anxiety +and her impatience to learn what it was that brought Kelsey to the house +were so overpowering that she could not sit still. + +"Another plot to ruin us," whispered the boy, as he entered the room and +closed the door behind him. + +"Oh, Marcy, it is just what I was afraid of," replied Mrs. Gray. "Who is +at the bottom of it this time?" + +"The same old rascal, Lon Beardsley; but he's got backing I don't like. +There's Colonel Shelby for one, the postmaster for another, and Major +Dillon for a third." + +"The most influential men in the neighborhood," gasped Mrs. Gray, +sinking into the nearest chair. "And the best." + +"They used to be the best, but they are anything but that now. When men +will stoop as low as they have, they are mean enough for anything. I +suppose you ought to hear what that fellow said to me, but I don t know +how I can tell it to you." + +"Go on," said his mother, trying to bear up bravely. "I must hear every +word." + +Marcy knew that it was right and necessary that his mother should be +kept fully informed regarding the plots that were laid against them, and +that she should know what the planters were thinking and saying about +her; for if she were kept in ignorance, she would be at a loss how to +act and speak in a sudden emergency. She might be surprised into saying +something in the presence of a secret enemy that would be utterly +ruinous. So he drew a chair to her side and told her everything that had +passed between Kelsey and himself. He did not try to smooth it over, but +repeated the conversation word for word; and when he came to the end, +his mother was as much in the dark as Marcy was himself. She said she +couldn't understand it. + +"There are but two things about it that are plain to me," answered +Marcy, "perhaps three. One is that the house is watched by somebody, and +that the neighbors knew I was at home almost as soon as you knew it +yourself. Another is that the suspicions aroused in the minds of some of +our watchful neighbors are so strong that they amount to positive +conviction. They are as certain that there is money in this house as +they would be if they had caught you in the act of hiding it." + +"Doesn't that prove that the overseer is not the only spy there is on +the place?" said Mrs. Gray. "And I was so careful." + +"I never will believe that anybody watched you at night," said Marcy +quickly. "The neighbors saw you when you went away and came back." + +"But I brought goods with me on purpose to allay their suspicions." + +"I am really afraid you didn't succeed. The other thing I know is, that +you need not think yourself safe out of Captain Beardsley's reach even +when he is at sea. As I said before, he has friends ashore to work for +him while he is absent." + +"What can we do? What do you advise?" asked his mother, after she had +taken time to think the matter over. + +"There is but one thing we can do, and that is to wait as patiently as +we can and see what is going to happen next. This last plot is not fully +developed yet, and until it is we must not make a move in any direction. +I am as impatient as you are, and so I think I will ride out to the +field and give the overseer a chance to say a word if he feels in the +humor for it." + +"Be very cautious, Marcy," said Mrs. Gray. + +The young pilot replied that sleeping or waking he was always on the +alert, and went out to the little log stable, which did duty as a barn, +to saddle his horse. A long lane led through the negro quarter to the +field in which the hands were putting in the time in clearing out fence +corners and burning brush, while waiting for the early crops to get high +enough for hoeing. The overseer's mule was hitched to the fence, and the +overseer himself sat on a convenient stump, watching the hands at their +work, and whittling the little switch that served him for a riding-whip. +The man was almost a stranger to Marcy. The latter had seen and spoken +to him a few times since his return from Barrington, but of course he +did not like him, for he could not forget that his mother was afraid of +him, and would be glad to see him leave the place. He liked him still +less two minutes later, for, as he drew rein beside the overseer's perch, +threw his right leg over the horn of his saddle and nodded to the man, +the latter said, first looking around to make sure that none of the blacks +were within hearing: + +"I was sorry to see that man ride away from the big house a while ago." + +"What man?" inquired Marcy. He looked over his shoulder and saw that the +front of the house was entirely concealed from view, and that the road +that ran before it "was shut out from sight by the trees and the +whitewashed negro quarter. It followed then, as a matter of course, that +Hanson could not have seen anybody ride away from the house. He was deep +enough in the plot to know that if mother and son had not had a visitor, +they ought to have had one. + +"I suspicioned it was that shiftless, do-nothing chap, Kelsey," replied +the overseer. "Looked sorter like his mu-el." + +"Oh, yes; Kelsey has been up to see us," answered Marcy. And then he +tapped his boot with his whip and waited to see what was coming next. If +the overseer wanted to talk, he might talk all he pleased; but Marcy was +resolved that he would not help him along. Hanson twisted about on the +stump, cleared his throat once or twice, and, seeing that the boy was +not disposed to break the silence, said, as if he were almost afraid to +broach the subject: + +"Have much of anything to talk about?" + +"He talked a good deal, but didn't say much." + +"Mention my name?" + +"Yes. He mentioned yours and Shelby's and Dillon's and the +postmaster's." + +"Say anything bad about us?" continued the overseer, after waiting in +vain for the boy to go on and repeat the conversation he had held with +Kelsey. + +"Not so very bad," answered Marcy, looking up and down the long fence to +see how the work was progressing. + +"Looka-here, Mister Marcy," said Hanson desperately. "Kelsey told you I +was Union, didn't he? Come now, be honest." + +"If by being honest you mean being truthful, I want to tell you that I +am never any other way," said the boy emphatically. "What object could I +have in denying it? I don't care a cent what your politics are so long +as you mind your own business, and don't try to cram your ideas down my +throat. But I'll not allow myself to be led into a discussion. Kelsey +did say that you are Union; and if you are, I don't see why you stay in +this country. You can't get out any too quick." + +"Are you going to discharge me?" + +"No, I am not; and I sent word to Shelby and the rest that if they want +you run off the place, they can come up here and do it. I shall have no +hand in it." + +Marcy could read the overseer's face a great deal better than the +overseer could read Marcy's; and it would have been clear to a third +party that Hanson was disappointed, and that there was something he +wanted to say and was afraid to speak about. That was the money that was +supposed to be concealed in the house. + +"Was that all Kelsey said to you?" he asked, at length. + +"Oh, no. He rattled on about various things--spoke of the ease with +which the _Osprey_ captured that Yankee schooner, and let fall a word or +two about the battle in Charleston harbor." + +"Is _that_ all he said to you?" + +"I believe he said something about being a good Confederate, and I asked +him why he didn't prove it by shouldering a musket. I don't go about +boasting of the great things I would do if I were only there. There's no +need of it, for I have been there." ["But it was because I couldn't help +myself," he added mentally.] + +"But folks say you're Union, all the same," said Hanson. + +"What folks? Are they soldiers?" + +"No. Citizens." + +"Then I don't care that what they say," replied Marcy, snapping his +fingers in the air. "When they put uniforms on and show by their actions +that they mean business, I will talk to them, and not before." + +Marcy waited patiently for the overseer to say "money," and the latter +waited impatiently for Marcy to say it; and when at last the boy made up +his mind that he had heard all he cared to hear from Hanson, he brought +his leg down from the horn of his saddle, placed his foot in the +stirrup, and gathered up the reins as if he were about to ride away. + +"Kelsey didn't say nothing to get you and your maw down on me, did he?" +inquired Hanson, when he observed these movements. + +"I shouldn't like for to lose my place just because I am strong for the +Union and dead against secession." + +"If you lose your place on that account, it'll be because Colonel Shelby +and his friends will have it so," answered Marcy. "You are hired to do +an overseer's work; and as long as you attend to that and nothing else +you will have no trouble with me. You may depend upon that." + +"But before you go I'd like to know, pine-plank, whether you are +friendly to me or not," continued Hanson, who was obliged to confess to +himself that he had not learned the first thing, during the interview, +that could be used against Marcy or his mother. + +"I am a friend to you in this way," was the answer. "If I found you out +there in the woods cold and hungry, and hiding from soldiers who were +trying to make a prisoner of you, I would feed and warm you; and I +wouldn't care whether you had a gray jacket or a blue coat on." + +"He's a trifle the cutest chap I've run across in many a long day," +muttered the overseer, as Marcy turned his filly about and rode away. "I +couldn't make him tell whether he was Union or secesh, although I give +him all the chance in the world, and he didn't say "money" a single +time. Now, what's to be done? If the money is there and Beardsley is +bound to have it, he'd best be doing something before that sailor gets +back, for they say he's lightning and will fight at the drop of the hat. +I reckon I'd better make some excuse to ride over town so't I can see +Colonel Shelby." + +"I think I have laid that little scheme most effectually," was what +Marcy Gray said to himself as he rode away from the stump on which the +overseer was sitting. "They haven't got a thing out of me, and I have +left the matter in their own hands. If there is anything done toward +getting Hanson away from this country (and I wish to goodness there +might be), Shelby and his hypocritical gang can have the fun of doing +it, and shoulder all the responsibility afterward." + +But what was the object of the plot? That was what "banged" Marcy, and +he told his mother so after he had given her a minute description of his +brief interview with the overseer. Was it possible that there were some +strong Union men in the neighborhood, and that Beardsley hoped Marcy +would incur their enmity by discharging Hanson on account of his alleged +principles? Marcy knew better than to believe that, and so did his +mother. + +"I'll tell you what I think to be the most reasonable view of the case," +said the boy, after taking a few turns across the floor and spending +some minutes in a brown study. "Beardsley knows there is no man in the +family; that we'd be only too glad to have somebody to go to for advice; +and he hoped we would take that ignorant Hanson for a counselor, if he +could make us believe that he was really Union. But Hanson didn't fool +me, for he didn't go at it in the right way. He's secesh all over. The +next thing on the program will be something else." + +"I trust it will not be a midnight visit from a mob," said his mother, +who trembled at the bare thought of such a thing. + +"So do I; but if they come, we'll see what they will make by it. They +might burn the house without finding anything to reward them for their +trouble." + +"Oh, Marcy. You surely don't think they would do anything so +barbarous." + +"They might. Think of what that Committee of Safety did at Barrington." + +"But what would we do?" + +"Live in the quarter, as Elder Bowen and the other Union men in +Barrington did after their houses were destroyed. And if they burned the +servants' homes as well as our own, We'd throw up a shelter of some sort +in the woods. I don't reckon that Julius and I have forgotten how to +handle axes and build log cabins. The practice we have had in building +turkey traps would stand---- Say," whispered Marcy suddenly, at the same +time putting his arm around his mother's neck and speaking the words +close to her ear, "if a mob should come here to-night and go over the +house, we'd be ruined. There are those Union flags, you know." + +"I never once thought of them," was the frightened answer. "Suppose I +had had a mob for visitors while you were at sea? Our home would be in +ashes now. Those flags are dangerous things, and must be disposed of +without loss of time. I am sorry you brought them home with you. Don't +you think you had better destroy them while you have them in mind?" + +"Of course I will do it if you say so, and think it will make you feel +any safer; but I was intending--you see----" + +His countenance fell, and his mother was quick to notice it. "What did +you intend to do with them?" she asked. + +"One of them used to float over the academy," replied Marcy. "Dick +Graham, a Missouri boy, than whom a better fellow never lived, stole it +out of the colonel's room one night because he did not want to see it +insulted and destroyed, as it would have been if Rodney and his friends +could have got their hands upon it. He gave it to me because he knew it +would some day be something to feel proud over, and said he hoped to +hear that it had been run up again." + +"But, Marcy, you dare not hoist it here," exclaimed Mrs. Gray. + +"Not now; but there may come a time when I shall dare do it. The other +flag--well, the other was made by a Union girl in Barrington, who had to +work on it by stealth, because her sister, and every other member of her +family except her father, were the worst kind of secesh. Rodney thought +sure he was going to put the Stars and Bars on the tower when the Union +colors were stolen, but our fellows got mine up first, and would have +kept it there if they had had to fight to do it. But I'll put them in +the stove if you think best." + +"You need not do anything of the kind," said Mrs. Gray, whose patriotism +had been awakened by the simple narrative. "I shall not permit a party +of beardless boys to show more loyalty than I am willing to show +myself." + +"Bully for you, mother!" cried Marcy. "We'll see both of them in the air +before many months more have passed over our heads. Now, think of some +good hiding place for them, and I'll put them there right away. Not in +the ground, you know, for if the Union troops should ever come marching +through here, we should want to get them out in a hurry." + +"How would it do to sew them up in a bed-quilt?" said Mrs. Gray, +suggesting the first "good hiding place" that came into her mind. + +"That's the very spot," replied Marcy. "Put them in one of mine, and +then I shall have the old flag over me every night." + +No time was lost in carrying out this decision, and in a few minutes +mother and son were locked in the boy's room, and busy stitching the +precious pieces of bunting into one of the quilts. It never occurred to +them to ask what they would do or how they would feel if some half-clad, +shivering rebel should find his way into the room and walk off with that +quilt without so much as saying "by your leave." Probably they never +dreamed that the soldiers of the Confederacy would be reduced to such +straits. + + + + + CHAPTER III. + + BEARDSLEY BETRAYS HIMSELF. + +Never before had the hours hung as heavily upon Marcy Gray's hands as +they did at the period of which we write. There was literally nothing he +could do--at least that he _wanted_ to do. He did not care to read +anything except the newspapers, and they came only once a day; he had +never learned how to lounge around and let the hours drag themselves +away; he very soon grew weary of sailing about the sound in the _Fairy +Belle_ with the boy Julius for a companion; and so he spent a little of +his time in visiting among the neighboring planters, and a good deal +more in "pottering" among his mother's flower beds. Visiting was the +hardest work he had ever done; but he knew he couldn't shirk it without +exciting talk, and there was talk enough about him in the settlement +already. + +To a stranger it would have looked as though he had nothing to complain +of. He was cordially received wherever he went, often heard himself +spoken of as "one of our brave boys" (although what he had done that +was so very brave Marcy himself could not understand), and visitors at +Mrs. Gray's house were as numerous as they ever had been; but Marcy and +his mother were people who could not be easily deceived by such a show +of friendship. Some of it, as they afterward learned, was genuine; while +the rest was assumed for the purpose of leading them on to "declare" +themselves. It was a mean thing for neighbors to be guilty of, but you +must remember that, like Rodney Gray when he wrote that mischievous +letter to Bud Goble, they did not know all the time what they were +doing. Of course the high-spirited Marcy grew restive under such +treatment; and when, after long waiting, the postmaster handed him a +letter from Captain Beardsley, ordering him to report on board the +_Osprey_ without loss of time, he did not feel as badly over it as he +once thought he should. On the contrary, he appeared to be very jubilant +when he showed the letter to Allison and half a score of other young +rebels who were always to be found loafing around the post-office at +mail time. + +"I'm off to sea again," said he. "Now the Yankees had better look out." + +"It must be an enjoyable life, Marcy," replied Allison. "You see any +amount of fun and excitement, draw big prize-money in addition to your +regular wages, and, better than all, you run no sort of risk. It may +surprise you to know that I have been turning the matter over in my mind +a good deal of late, and have come to the conclusion that I should enjoy +being one of a privateer's crew. What do you think about it?" + +"I am not acquainted with a single fellow who would enjoy it more," +answered Marcy, who told himself that Allison was just coward enough to +engage in some such disreputable business. "You are just the lad for it. +It is such fun to bring a swift vessel to and haul down the old flag in +the face of men who are powerless to defend it." + +Sharp as Marcy Gray was, his strong love for the Union and his intense +hatred for the business in which he was perforce engaged, sometimes led +him to come dangerously near to betraying himself. Allison looked +sharply at him, but there was nothing in Marcy's face to indicate that +he did not mean every word he said. + +"I am heartily glad I am going to sea again," continued the latter; and +he told nothing but the truth. The companionship of the ignorant +foreigners who composed the _Osprey's_ crew was more to his liking than +daily intercourse with pretended friends who were constantly watching +for a chance to get him into trouble. + +"Do you think I could get on with Captain Beardsley?" inquired Allison. + +"You might. The crew was full when I left the schooner, but I will speak +to the captain, if you would like to have me." + +"I really wish you would, for I am anxious to do something for the +glorious cause of Southern independence. When do you sail?" + +"I don't know. About all the captain says in his letter is that he wants +me to report immediately." + +"Does he say whether or not the _Hollins_ has been sold yet?" + +"Oh, yes; he speaks of that, and congratulates me on the fact that I +have eight hundred and seventy-live dollars more to my credit on the +schooner's books than I did when I left her at Newbern." + +"W-h-e-w!" whistled Allison. "How long did it take you to make the +capture?" + +"Four or five hours, I should say." + +"Eight hundred and seventy-five dollars for four or five hours' work! +Marcy, you have struck a gold mine. You will be as rich as Julius Caesar +in less than a year." + +"How long do you suppose Uncle Sam will allow such--such work to be kept +up?" exclaimed Marcy. + +"Oh, no doubt he would be glad to stop it now if he could; but when he +tries it, he will find that he's got the hardest job on his hands he +ever undertook. There never was a better place for carrying on such +business than the waters of North Carolina. Our little inlets are too +shallow to float a heavy man-of-war." + +"No matter how big the job may be, you will find that these small-fry +privateers" (it was right on the end of Marcy's tongue to say "pirates") +"will be swept from the face of the earth in less than a year; so that I +shall have no chance to get rich. But I'll have to be going, for I must +start for Newbern this very night. I suppose you will all be in the army +by the time I get back, so good-by." + +Allison and his friends shook hands with him, wished him another +successful voyage, and Marcy mounted and rode away, his filly never +breaking her lope until she turned through the gate into the yard, and +drew up before the steps that led to the porch. His mother met him at +the door and knew as soon as she looked at him that he had news for +her. + +"Yes, I've got orders from Beardsley," said the boy, without waiting to +be questioned. "And if Jack were only here, and I was about to engage in +some honorable business, I should be glad to go. Mother, on the day we +captured the _Hollins_ we robbed somebody of fifty-six thousand +dollars." + +"Oh, Marcy, is it not dreadful!" said Mrs. Gray. + +"It is, for a fact. We're having a bully time now, but the day will come +when we'll have to settle with the fiddler. You will see. Yes, the +vessel and her cargo sold for fifty-six thousand dollars. Half of it +went to the government, and half of the remainder was divided among the +three officers, Beardsley getting the lion's share, I bet you. The +sixteen members of the crew get an equal share of the other fourteen +thousand, the difference in rank between the petty officers and foremast +hands being so slight that Beardsley did not think it worth while to +give one more than another; but he hints that he has got something laid +by for me." + +"My son, it will burn your fingers," said Mrs. Gray. + +"I can't help it if it does. I'll have to take all he offers me, but, of +course, I don't expect to keep it. Now, mother, please help me get off. +The longer I fool around home the harder it will be to make a start." + +Marcy wanted to caution his mother to look out for Hanson while he was +gone; but he did not do it, for he well knew that she had enough to +trouble her already, and that the mention of the overseer's name would +awaken all her old fears of spies and organized bands of robbers. He +sent word to Morris, the coachman, to have the carriage brought to the +door, loitered about doing nothing while his mother packed his valise, +and in twenty minutes more was on his way to Newbern, which he reached +without any mishap, not forgetting, however, to send a telegram on from +Boydtown informing Beardsley that his orders had been received, and that +the pilot was on his way to join the _Osprey_. + +"And I wish I might find her sunk at her dock, and so badly smashed that +she never could be raised and repaired," was what he thought every time +he looked out of the car window and ran his eyes over the crowds of +excited people that were gathered upon the platforms of all the depots +they passed. "But, after all, what difference does it make? If I don't +go to sea I shall have to live among secret enemies, and I don't know +but one thing is about as bad as the other. If any poor mortal ever +lived this way before, I am sorry for him." + +Although Marcy was almost a stranger in Newbern, he had no difficulty in +finding his vessel when he got out of the cars. He walked straight to +her, and while he was yet half a block away, the sight of her masts told +him that she was still on top of the water. She would soon be ready to +sail, too, for her crew were rushing her stores aboard, while Captain +Beardsley walked his quarter-deck smoking a cigar and looking on. His +face seemed to say that he was a little surprised to see his pilot; but +if he was he did not show it in his greeting. + +"Well, there, you did come back, didn't yon?" said he, extending his +hand. + +"Of course I came back," replied Marcy. "What else did yon expect me to +do? I was on the road in less than two hours after your order came to +hand." + +"That's prompt and businesslike," said the captain approvingly. "But I +didn't look for you to appear quite so soon. How's everybody to home?" + +"All right as far as I could see; and Allison wants to join your crew." + +"The idea!" exclaimed Captain Beardsley. "Well, he can just stay where +he is for all of me, hollering for the Confederacy and doing never a +thing to help us gain our independence. His place is in the army, and I +won't have no haymakers aboard of me. See any Union folks while you was +to home?" + +"I saw and talked with one man who said he was for the Union," answered +the young pilot. He was prepared for the question, and positive that if +he managed the matter rightly, Beardsley would soon let him know whether +or not he was concerned in that little plot, as Marcy believed he was. +But, as it happened, no management was necessary, for keeping a secret +was the hardest work Beardsley ever did. + +"Did, hey?" he exclaimed, throwing the stump of his cigar over the stern +and looking very angry indeed. "I always suspected that man Hanson. You +discharged him, of course." + +"No, I didn't," replied Marcy. "It wouldn't have been safe. I told +Kelsey that if the colonel and his friends desired that he should be run +off the place, they could attend to the matter themselves. I wouldn't +have the first thing to do with it. I was given to understand that there +were many Union men in the settlement, and I didn't care to give them an +excuse for burning us out of house and home." + +"That was perfectly right. And what did Shelby say?" + +"I didn't hear, for he sent no message to me." + +"Did you say anything to Hanson about it?" + +"I did, and told him that as long as he attended strictly to his +business he would have no trouble with me." + +Marcy had purposely avoided speaking Colonel Shelby's name and Hanson's, +preferring to let Captain Beardsley do it himself. The latter walked +squarely into the trap without appearing to realize that he had done it, +and the young pilot was satisfied that his commander was the man who +needed watching more than anybody else. + +"I can't say that I hope Beardsley will be killed or drowned during the +cruise," thought Marcy. "But I do say that if he was out of the way I +would have less trouble with my neighbors." + +"Never mind," said Beardsley, after a little pause. "When I get home I +will ask Shelby and Dillon to tell me all about it; and if that overseer +of yourn is really Union, perhaps I can make him see that he had better +go up to the United States, where he belongs." + +The captain took a turn or two across the deck, looked up at the +topmasts as he might have done if the schooner had been under way and he +wanted to make sure that everything was drawing, and then he leaned up +against the rail. + +"Oh!" said he, as if the thought had just come to him, "what do you +think of your good fortune? Eight hundred dollars don't grow in every +boy's dooryard. I tell you. And, Marcy," he went on in a lower tone, +"I've got as much more laid by for you. I told you I would do the fair +thing, and I meant every word of it. You're pilot, you know." + +"Thank you, sir," replied the boy--not because he felt grateful to +Captain Beardsley for giving him nearly nine hundred dollars of +another's man's money, but because he knew he was expected to say it. + +"Seventeen hundred dollars and better will keep your folks in grub and +clothes for quite a spell, won't it?" the captain continued. "But law! +what am I saying? It ain't a drop in the bucket to such rich people as +you be." + +Marcy listened, but said nothing. He thought he knew what Beardsley had +on his mind. + +"Some folks pertend to think we're going to have the very toughest kind +of a war, but I don't," said the latter. "The Yankees don't come of +fighting stock, like we Southern gentlemen do; but if a war should come, +I suppose your folks are well fixed for it?" + +"About as well fixed as most of the planters in the settlement," +answered the pilot. "You know we've had the best of crops for a year or +two back." + +"But I mean--you see--any money?" inquired the captain cautiously--so +very cautiously that he thought it necessary to whisper the words. + +"Oh, yes; we have money. How could we live without it?" + +"That's so; how could you? I reckon you've got right smart of a lot, +ain't you?" + +"Mother has some in the bank at Wilmington, but just how much I don't +know. I never asked her." + +The young pilot's gaze was fastened upon the men who were at work +getting the provisions aboard, but for all that, he could see that +Beardsley was looking at him as if he meant to read his most secret +thoughts. + +"I don't believe there's no money in that there house," was what the +captain was saying to himself. + +"Sly old fox," thought Marcy. "I knew he would betray his secret if I +only held my tongue and gave him a chance to do it." And then he asked +the captain when he expected to get the schooner ready for sea, and +whether or not any prizes had been brought into port during his +absence. + +"There's been one prize brought in worth ten thousand dollars more'n +our'n, dog-gone it all--there she is right over there--and there's been +three blockade-runners went out and two come in," was the captain's +answer. "I didn't see why they should call 'em blockade-runners when we +didn't think there was a blockade at all, excepting the paper one that +appeared in Lincoln's proclamation; but seeing that the brig _Herald_ +ain't been heard from since she run out of Wilmington, I begin to +mistrust that there's war vessels outside, and that the _Osprey_ may +have a chance to show her heels. If that happens we'll make the best +time we know how for Crooked Inlet, and trust to you to bring us +through." + +"You won't need any help from me," was what the boy said to himself. +"I'll bet my share of that prize-money, that if we get into trouble with +a Union cruiser you will take command of the schooner yourself and sail +her through Crooked Inlet as slick as falling off a log." + +"The folks around here and Wilmington have been hoping that the _Herald_ +might be captured, and that the United States people will have the +backbone to hold fast to her," added Captain Beardsley. + +"Why do they hope for any such bad luck as that?" inquired Marcy, +considerably surprised. + +"May be it wouldn't be bad luck. You see she is a Britisher, the +_Herald_ is, and her cargo was consigned to an English house all fair +and square. A blockade, to be legal and binding upon foreign nations, +must be effectual," said the captain, quoting the language his agent had +often used in his hearing. "A paper blockade won't do; and if the +Yankees can't send ships enough here to shut up our ports completely, +any Britisher or Frenchman can run in and out as often as he feels like +it, and the Yankees dassent do a thing to him. If the _Herald_ has been +captured she will have to be given up." + +"But suppose Uncle Sam won't give her up?" + +"We are hoping he won't, for that will get the British folks down on +him; and between the two of us we'll give him such a licking that he'll +never get over it. See?" + +Yes; Marcy saw, now that the situation had been explained to him, but it +was something he had never thought of before. Almost the first lesson he +learned in history was that England had no love for the United States, +and if she took a hand in the war that was surely coming, why then---- + +"Why, then, France may help Uncle Sam," exclaimed Marcy. "She has always +been friendly to us, and didn't she send troops here during our +Revolutionary war to help us whip the English?" + +"She did; but what was the reason she sent them troops over here?" +demanded the captain, who had heard this question discussed a good many +times while Marcy was at home on his leave of absence. "Was it because +she had any love for republican--republican--ah--er--institutions? No, +sir. It was because she wanted to spite the English for taking Canady +away from her. France won't lift a hand to help the Yankees if we get +into a row with them." + +Beardsley took another turn about his quarter-deck, lighted a fresh +cigar, and became confidential. + +"Something tells me that this business of privateering ain't a going to +last long, and so I think some of dropping it and starting out in +another," said he. "Any idea what it is?" + +Marcy replied that he had not. + +"Well, it's trading--running the blockade." + +"To what ports?" asked the boy. + +"I can't rightly tell till I get some word from them vessels that's just +went out," was the answer. "But it'll be Nassau or Havana, one of the +two. I'll take cotton out--cotton is king, you know, and must be had to +keep all them working people in England from starving--and bring +medicine back. Medicine is getting skurse and high-priced already. And +percussion caps. They're the things you can make money on. Why, I have +heard it said that there wasn't enough gun caps in the Confederacy to +fight a battle with till Captain Semmes made that tower of his through +the Northern States, buying powder and bullets, and making contracts +with the dollar-loving Yankees to build cannon to shoot their own kin +with. But I want to see how the land lays before I go into the business +of running the blockade. If there's big risk and little profit I ain't +in." + +"What port will you run out of?" was Marcy's next question; and when the +captain said it would probably be Wilmington, the boy was delighted, for +he expected to hear him announce that after he gave up privateering and +took to blockade-running he would no longer need the services of a +pilot. But if such a thought came into Beardsley's mind he did not speak +it aloud. Just then he was called to another part of the deck and Marcy +picked up his valise and went below. + +"Beardsley doesn't mean to let me go," he soliloquized, as he tossed the +valise into his bunk and opened the locker in which he had stowed his +bedding for safe-keeping. "He's got me fast, and there's no chance for +escape as long as the _Osprey_ remains in commission. Well, there's one +comfort: Beardsley is not a brave man, and he'll make haste to lay the +schooner up the minute he has reason to believe that it is growing +dangerous outside." + +Marcy went on deck again, and having nothing to do with the loading of +the vessel, sauntered around with his hands in his pockets. He fully +expected that Beardsley would have something more to say about the money +that was supposed to be hidden in Mrs. Gray's house; but he didn't, for +the captain had almost come to the conclusion that there was no money +there. If there was, Marcy could not be surprised into acknowledging the +fact, and so Beardsley thought it best to let the matter drop until he +could go home and hold a consultation with the overseer. + +Bright and early the next morning the privateer cast off her fasts and +stood down the river, reaching the sound in time to catch the flood tide +that hurried her up toward Crooked Inlet. It was now the middle of July, +and the Union and the Confederacy stood fairly opposed to each other. +The Confederate Government, having established itself at Richmond, had +pushed its outposts so far to the north that their sentries could see +the dome of the Capitol across the Potomac. There were nearly eight +hundred thousand square miles in the eleven seceded States, and of this +immense territory all that remained to the Union were the few acres of +ground enclosed within the walls of Fortress Monroe and Forts Pickens, +Taylor, and Jefferson. Loyal Massachusetts men had been murdered in the +streets of Baltimore; battles of more or less importance had been fought +both in the East and West, and on the very day that Marcy joined the +privateer, the future leader of the Army of the Potomac won a complete +victory over the rebel forces at Rich Mountain. The Richmond papers had +very little to say about this fight, except to assure their readers that +it was a matter of no consequence whatever; but they had a good deal to +say concerning the "gallant exploit" that Captain Semmes had performed a +few days before at the passes of the Mississippi. Well, it was a brave +act--one worthy of a better cause--to run the little _Sumter_ out in the +face of a big ship like the Brooklyn and when Marcy read of it he +recalled what his Cousin Rodney had once said to him while they were +talking about sailor Jack, who was then somewhere on the high seas: + +"He may never get back," said Rodney. "We'll have a navy of our own one +of these days, and then every ship that floats the old flag will have to +watch out. We'll light bonfires on every part of the ocean." + +That was just what Captain Semmes intended to do, and history tells how +faithfully he carried out the instructions of the Richmond Government. + +Somewhat to Marcy's surprise, Captain Beardsley turned the command over +to him when the schooner reached Crooked Inlet, and Marcy took her +safely through and out to sea. If there were any war ships on the +coast--and it turned out that there were, for the brig _Herald_ had been +captured and taken to a Northern port--they were stationed farther down +toward Hatteras Inlet, and the schooner's lookouts did not see any of +them until she had been some hours at sea. At daylight on the morning of +the third day out the thrilling cry from the crosstrees "sail ho!" +created a commotion on the privateer's deck, and brought Marcy Gray up +the ladder half dressed. + +"Where away?" shouted Captain Beardsley. + +"Broad on our weather beam and standing straight across our bows," was +the encouraging response from aloft. + +"Can you make her out?" asked the captain, preparing to mount to the +crosstrees with a spy-glass in his hand. "You're sure she isn't a +cruiser?" + +"No, sir. She's a brig, and she's running along with everything set." + +"Then we must cut her off or she'll get away from us. Put a +fifteen-second shell in that bow gun, Tierney! Stand by the color +halliards, Marcy!" + +These orders were obeyed with an "Ay, ay, sir," although the brig was +yet so far away that she could not be seen from the deck; but as the two +vessels were sailing diagonally toward each other, she did not long +remain invisible. The moment Marcy caught sight of her top-hamper, and +while he stood with the halliards in his hand waiting for the order to +run up the Stars and Stripes, Captain Beardsley began swearing most +lustily and shouting orders to his mates, the sheets were let out, the +helm put down, and the privateer fell off four or five points. Marcy +knew the meaning of this before the excited and angry Beardsley yelled, +at the top of his voice: + +"The rascal is trying to dodge us. He's got lookouts aloft. Run up that +flag, Marcy, and see if that won't quiet his feelings. Them war ships +down to Hatteras have posted him, and if we don't handle ourselves just +right we'll never bring him within range." + +Marcy lost no time in running up the old flag; but if the master of the +brig saw it he was not deceived by it. He showed no disposition to run +back to Hatteras, and put himself under protection of the war ships +there, as Marcy thought and hoped he would, but put his vessel before +the wind, squared his yards, and trusted to his heels. It looked to +Marcy like a most desperate undertaking, for you will remember that the +schooner was far ahead of the brig, and that the merchant captain was +about to run by her. It didn't seem possible that he could succeed, but +the sequel proved that he knew just what his vessel was capable of +doing. She came up at a "hand gallop," and finally showed herself from +water-line to main-truck in full view of the privateer's crew. Her +canvas loomed up like a great white cloud, and her low, black hull, by +comparison, looked no bigger than a lead pencil. She went like the wind, +and Marcy Gray told himself that she was the most beautiful object he +had ever seen. + +"I hope from the bottom of my heart that she will get away," was the one +thought that filled his mind. + +Perhaps the wish would have been even more fervent if he had known who +was aboard that brig. + + + + + CHAPTER IV. + + TWO NARROW ESCAPES. + +"Another Cuban trader," shouted Captain Beardsley, standing erect upon +the crosstrees and shaking his eye-glass in the air. "She's worth double +what the _Hollins_ was, dog-gone it all, and if we lose her we are just +a hundred thousand dollars out of pocket. Pitch that shell into her, +Tierney. Take a stick out of her and I'll double your prize money. Run +up our own flag, Marcy. May be it will bring him to his senses." + +The howitzer's crew sprang at the word. The canvas covering was torn off +the gun and cast aside, the train-tackles were manned, and a minute +afterward a fifteen-second shrapnel went shrieking toward the brig, all +the privateer's men standing on tiptoe to watch the effect of the shot. +To Marcy's great delight the missile struck the water far short of the +mark, _ricocheted_ along the surface a few hundred yards farther, and +finally exploded, throwing up a cloud of spray, but doing no harm to the +brig, which never loosened tack or sheet, but held gallantly on her way. +A moment after the shrapnel exploded, her flag--the old flag--fluttered +out from under the lee of her spanker, and little puffs of smoke arose +from her port quarter. Some of her crew were firing at the privateer +with rifles. Of course, the distance was so great that they never heard +the whistle of the bullet, but it was an act of defiance that drove +Captain Beardsley almost frantic. + +"When we catch her I'll hang the men who fired those shots," he shouted, +jumping up and down on his lofty perch. "What are you standing there +gaping at, Tierney? Give that gun more elevation and try her again." + +"I had her up to the last notch in the rear sight, sir," replied +Tierney. "I can't give the gun any more elevation. The cascabel is down +to the bottom of the screw now. I can't reach the brig into an eighth of +a mile." + +"Try her again, I tell you," roared the enraged captain. "Are you going +to stand chinning there while a hundred thousand dollars slips through +our fingers?" + +The captain continued to talk in this way while the howitzer was loaded +and trained for the second shot; but he might as well have saved his +ammunition, for this shrapnel, like the first, did no harm to the brig. +It didn't frighten her company, either, for they set up a derisive yell, +which came faintly to the ears of the privateer's crew. + +"Oh, how I'd like to get my hands on that fellow!" shouted Captain +Beardsley. "I'd learn him to insult a Confederate government vessel. +I'd----" + +Marcy Gray, who stood holding fast to the halliards, looking aloft and +listening to what Beardsley had to say, saw the lookout, who had +remained at his post all this time, touch the captain on the shoulder +and direct his gaze toward something in the horizon. Marcy looked, too, +and was electrified to see a thick, black smoke floating up among the +clouds. Could it be that there was a cruiser off there bearing down upon +them? He looked at Captain Beardsley again, and came to the conclusion +that there must be something suspicious about the stranger, for the +captain, after gazing at the smoke through his glass, squared around and +backed down from aloft with much more celerity than Marcy ever saw him +exhibit before. + +"It is a cruiser," thought the young pilot, when the captain assumed +charge of the deck and ordered the schooner to be put about and headed +toward Crooked Inlet. "She has heard the sound of our guns and is coming +up to see what is the matter." + +Marcy couldn't decide whether the captain's pale face and excited, +nervous manner were occasioned by the fears that had been conjured up by +the sudden appearance of that strange vessel in the offing, or by the +rage and disappointment he felt over the loss of the valuable prize he +had so confidently expected to capture. He hauled down the schooner's +flag, packed it away in the chest where it was usually kept, and then +had leisure to take a look at the crew. Could they be the same men who +had so valiantly fired into that unarmed brig a short half hour before? + +"It _is_ a cruiser," repeated Marcy, turning to the side to conceal the +look of exultation which he knew the thought brought to his face. "It +can't be anything else, for the whole ship's company are scared out of +their boots. We were so busy with the brig that we never saw her until +she got so close on to us that she is liable to cut us off from the +Inlet. If she comes within range of us Captain Beardsley will find that +there is a heap of difference between shooting and being shot at. I +hope----" + +Marcy was about to add that he hoped the on-coming war ship would either +capture or sink the _Osprey_, and so put a stop to her piratical career; +but if she did, what would become of him? If one of those big shells +came crashing into the schooner, it would be as likely to hit him as +anybody else, and if the privateer were cut off from the Inlet and +captured, he would be taken prisoner with the rest of the crew and sent +to some Northern prison. Of course, Marcy could not make the captain of +the war ship believe that he did not ship on the privateer of his own +free will, and that he was strong for the Union; and indeed it would be +dangerous for him to try, for the folks at home would be sure to hear of +it sooner or later, and then what would happen to his mother? As the +young pilot turned these thoughts over in his mind, he came to the +conclusion that he would feel a little safer if he knew that the +schooner would reach the Inlet in advance of the steamer, but he was +obliged to confess that it looked doubtful. She was coming up rapidly, +land was a long way off, and it would be many hours before darkness came +to their aid. + +"That rain squall out there is our only salvation," Marcy heard the +captain say to one of the mates. "When it comes up we'll haul our wind +and run for Hatteras. The cruiser will hold straight on her course, and +if the squall lasts long enough we may be able to run her out of +sight." + +Although Captain Beardsley was frightened at the prospect of falling +into the hands of those whose flag he had insulted, he did not lose his +head. The plan he had suddenly adopted for eluding the steamer proved +that he could take desperate chances when it was necessary. By hauling +his wind (which in this case meant shaping the schooner's course as near +as possible toward the point from which the wind was blowing), he would +be compelled to pass within a few miles of the steamer, and if the +rain-cloud, under cover of which he hoped to escape, lifted for the +space of one short minute, he was almost certain to be discovered. The +squall came up directly behind the steamer, and in about half an hour +overtook and shut her out from view. + +"Now's our time," exclaimed Beardsley. "Flatten in the fore and main +sails and give a strong pull at the headsail sheets. Tierney, go to the +wheel." + +Marcy lent a hand, and while the orders were being obeyed was gratified +to hear one of the crew remark that the squall was something more than a +squall; that it was coming to stay, and that they would be lucky if they +saw the end of it by sunrise the next morning. If that proved to be the +case they would have nothing to fear from the steamer. All they would +have to look out for was shipwreck. + +Half an hour was all the time that was necessary to prove that the +sailor knew what he was talking about. The wind blew a gale and the rain +fell in torrents. Just before the storm reached them, Captain Beardsley +thought it would be wise to shorten his canvas, but all he took in were +the gaff-topsails and fore-topmast staysail. Shortly afterward it became +necessary to reef the sails that were left, and when that had been done +the captain declared that he wouldn't take in anything else, even if he +knew that the wind would take the sticks out of the schooner by the +roots. He would rather be wrecked than go to prison any day. + +Things could not have worked more to Beardsley's satisfaction if he had +had the planning of the storm himself. The privateer's crew never saw +the steamer after the rain and mist shut her out from view; and when the +sun arose the next morning, after the wildest night Marcy Gray ever +experienced on the water, there was not a sail in sight. + +"I wish it was safe for us to stand out and try our luck again," said +Captain Beardsley, who had been aloft sweeping the horizon with his +glass. "But the Yankee war ships are getting too thick for comfort." + +"Don't you expect to find some of them about Hatteras?" inquired Marcy. + +"Of course I do. I believe the one that was chasing us yesterday came +from there, and that that brig we lost held some communication with her +before she sighted us. If she hadn't been warned by somebody, what was +the reason she began dodging the minute she saw us? I hope to slip in +between them, or at least to get under the protection of the guns of the +forts at the Inlet before any of the cruisers can come within range. +Privateering is played out along this coast. As soon as we get into port +I shall tear out the bunks below, reduce my crew, and go to blockade +running." + +"But you'll run the same risk of capture that you do now," Marcy +reminded him. + +"But I won't be captured with guns aboard of me," said Beardsley, with a +wink that doubtless meant a great deal. "Perhaps you don't know it, but +I gave orders, in case that steamer sighted us again, to throw +everything in the shape of guns and ammunition overboard. Then they +couldn't have proved a thing against us." + +"The size of your crew would have laid you open to suspicion," replied +Marcy. + +"Yes; but suspicion and proof are two different things," was the +captain's answer. "But I am afraid of them howitzers, all the same, and +am going to get shet of them the minute we get to Newbern. I don't +reckon I can give you a furlong to go home this time, 'cause it won't +take two days to get the schooner ready to take out a load of cotton." + +"But you'll not need a pilot any longer," said Marcy, who was very much +disappointed. + +"What's the reason I won't? Do you reckon I'm going to run out of +Hatteras in the face of all the war ships that are fooling around here? +Not much. And I'm not going to hug the coast, neither. I'll make Crooked +Inlet my point of departure, like I always have done, and then I'll +stand straight out to sea till I get outside the cruisers' beat. See? +Then I'll shape my course for Nassau. It'll give us a heap of bother and +we'll go miles out of our way; but we'll be safe." + +"But suppose we are captured after all your precautions; what then?" + +"Well, if we are we'll lose our vessel and be sent to jail; but we'll +not be treated as pirates, don't you see? The Northern folks are awful +mad 'cause our President has issued letters of mark-we and reprisal, and +their papers demand that every one of us who is taken shall be hung to +the yardarm. To tell you the honest truth, that kinder scared me, and +that's one reason why I want to get out of the business of +privateering." + +"And you think you will still need a pilot?" + +"Can't you see it for yourself from what I have told you?" asked +Beardsley, in reply. "And, Marcy, you'll make more money with less risk +than you do in this business. It ain't to be expected that men will run +the risk of going to jail for regular foremast hands' wages. They want +more money, and it's right that they should have it. Why, them +blockade-runners I told you about paid their hands five hundred dollars +apiece for the run to Nassau and back. What do you think of that?" + +"I think it is good wages," replied Marcy. ["If the business was only +safe and honorable," he added, to himself.] + +"Of course it is good wages. I don't expect to get a crew for any less; +but, as I said before, I'll do the fair thing by you. If you go home you +will have to enlist--I've heard the folks say that everybody had got to +show his hand one way or the other--and then you would get only twelve +or thirteen dollars a month. Think of that!" + +Marcy was right when he told himself that the captain had him fast, and +that there was no release for him as long as the _Osprey_ remained in +commission. It was a gloomy outlook, but the only thing he could do was +to make the best of it. + +As soon as the captain thought it safe to do so every inch of the +privateer's canvas was given to the breeze, and she made good headway +toward her destination. That day and the ensuing night passed without +excitement of any sort, and at sunrise the next morning two objects were +in plain sight from the schooner's deck. One was the entrance to +Hatteras Inlet, and the other was a large steamer in the offing. The two +vessels had been in view of each other ever since daylight. They were +both headed for the same point--one making the most desperate efforts to +place herself under cover of the guns of the forts, and the other making +equally desperate efforts to bring the schooner within range of her +bow-chaser before she could get there. It was a close and exciting race, +and the crews of both vessels watched it anxiously. The black smoke +rolled in thick clouds from the steamer's funnels, and the privateer's +topmasts snapped and bent like fishing-rods, while her white-faced +captain paced his quarter-deck, dividing his attention between his +imperilled top-hamper and the pursuing steamer, and rubbing his hands +nervously. At last the climax came. A puff of white smoke arose from the +steamer's bow, and a shell from an old-fashioned smooth-bore thirty-two +pounder dropped into the water about half way between her and the flying +schooner. If that same steamer had had for a bow-chaser the heavy rifled +gun she had a few months later, the result would have been different. As +it was, Captain Beardsley gathered courage, and the anxious look left +his face. + +"If that's the best he can do we're all right," said he gleefully. "If +this breeze holds half an hour longer we'll show him our flag." + +"Shall we give him an answer from one of the howitzers, sir?" inquired +Tierney. + +"Not for your life!" replied Beardsley, quickly. And then he added in a +lower tone, addressing himself to Marcy, who stood near, "That would be +a bright idea, wouldn't it? This breeze may die away any minute, and we +don't want to do anything to make them Yankees madder at us than they be +now. Another thing, we mustn't give 'em anything to remember this +schooner by. We may be caught when we try to run the blockade with our +cargo of cotton, and we don't want anybody to recall the fact that we +once had guns aboard. See?" + +It was a long time before Marcy Gray could make up his mind how the +chase was going to end, although he noticed when it first began that +there were two things in the schooner's favor. One was that she was so +far out of range that her pursuer could not cripple her, and the other +was, that the wind that was favorable to her was unfavorable to the +steamer, so that the latter could not use her sails. He also took note +of the fact that Beardsley hugged the shore pretty closely, and this +made it evident that he intended to beach the schooner rather than +permit her to fall into the hands of the Yankees. But he was not driven +to such extremity. The breeze held out, and although the steamer +continued to fire her bow-chaser at intervals, the privateer rounded the +point unharmed; while the pursuer, not caring to trust herself within +range of the rifled guns on shore, veered around and stood out to sea. A +look through his glass showed Beardsley that the half-finished batteries +had been manned in readiness to give the war ship a warm reception if +she had ventured to follow the privateer through the Inlet. + +"Marcy, run up the flag so that our friends in the forts can see who we +are!" commanded Beardsley. "The last time we sailed through here we had +a prize following in our wake, and we would have had a more valuable one +to-day if that brig hadn't been warned by them Yankees outside." + +The Confederate emblem proved to be as good as a countersign, and +Captain Beardsley was permitted to sail on through the Inlet without +going ashore to give an account of himself. As soon as he was safe +inside the bar he directed his course toward Newbern, which he reached +without any more adventures; but there were no cheers to greet him as +his schooner was pulled into the wharf. Beardsley's agent, who was the +first to spring over the rail, looked very much disgusted. + +"Why, Captain, how is this?" were the first words he uttered. "I didn't +expect to see you come back empty handed." + +"No more did I expect to come back that way," was the captain's reply. +"But we can't always have luck on our side. There is too many cruisers +out there." + +"Did you see any of them?" + +"Well, I reckon. We had a race with two of them, and I ain't going +privateering no more." + +"Scared out, are you?" said the agent, with some contempt in his tones. +"Well, it may interest you to know that while you were fooling around +out there, doing nothing, we have fought the battle that will bring us +our independence." + +"_You_ did?" exclaimed Beardsley, who knew that the agent thought he had +played the part of a coward in making such haste to get back to port. +"You didn't have nary hand in it. You stay around home, yelling for the +Confederacy, and flinging your slurs at we uns who have been under the +fire of a Yankee war ship, but you ain't got the pluck to go into the +service yourself. We didn't see but one merchantman while we was gone +and she was a brig; and as she carried three times the canvas we did she +had the heels of us, and besides she wouldn't let us come within range. +It was all we wanted to do to get into Hatteras, on account of the +cruiser that fired on us. What battle was it that gained us our +independence?" + +"Bull Run," replied the agent. + +"Where's that?" + +"Somewhere up in Virginia. We had thirty-five thousand men and the +Yankees more than twice as many; but we threw them into a panic and run +them clear into Washington. I expect our army has got the city by this +time." + +"I didn't think the Yankees would fight," said the captain reflectively. +"Then the war is just as good as over." + +"That's what the Richmond papers say." + +"And it won't be no use for me to go blockade running?" + +"Oh, yes it will. Peace hasn't been declared yet, and you had better +make money at something while you can. After all, I don't know that I +blame you for coming back. We've lost two blockade-runners and one +privateer since you went out." + +"There, now"; exclaimed Beardsley. "And I'd have lost my own vessel if I +hadn't had the best of luck. What you sneering at me for?" + +"Well, you see you were safe outside, and I was sure you would come back +with a prize. I was disappointed when I saw you coming up the river +alone." + +"Not more disappointed than I was myself," answered the captain. "That +brig was worth a power of money, and I might have been chasing her yet +if that man-of-war hadn't hove in sight." + +This was all the conversation Marcy overheard between Beardsley and his +agent, for the two drew off on one side and talked earnestly in tones so +low that he could not catch a word they said. It was plain that they +came to an understanding on some point, for shortly afterward they went +into the cabin, and Marcy was commanded to station himself at the head +of the companion ladder and pass the word for the crew as fast as their +names were called. He could see that the schooner's books and papers had +been placed upon the cabin table, and that led him to believe that the +reduction of the crew was to begin immediately. When the first man who +was sent below came on deck again with his wages in his hand, Marcy +whispered: + +"What did the captain say when he paid you off B+" + +"He didn't say he was gallied," replied the sailor, with a knowing look, +"but I'll bet he is. The booming of that war ship's guns was too much +for his nerves, and he's going to quit pirating and go to blockade +running. I don't see but that one is about as dangerous as the other." +One by one the members of the crew were sent into the cabin, and as fast +as they received their money and their discharges they bundled up their +clothes and bedding and went ashore. At last there were only six +foremast hands left, including Marcy Gray, and these were summoned into +the cabin in a body to listen to what Captain Beardsley had to propose +to them. He began with the statement that privateering was played out +along that coast, because numerous cruisers were making it their +business to watch the inlets and warn passing vessels to look out for +themselves. It was no use trying to catch big ships that would not let +him come within range, and so he had decided to put his howitzers +ashore, tear out the berths and gun decks fore and aft, and turn the +_Osprey_ into a freighter. He would change her name, too, give her +another coat of paint, and take the figures off her sails, so that she +could not be recognized from the description the _Hollins's_ men would +give of her when they went North. + +"I have kept you men because you are the best in the crew," said +Beardsley in conclusion, "and of course I want none but good men and +true aboard of me; but you needn't stay if you don't want to. I want you +to understand that blockade running is a dangerous business, and that we +may be captured as others have been; but if you will stand by me, I'll +give you five hundred dollars apiece for the run--one hundred to spend +in Nassau, and the balance when you help me bring the schooner safe back +to Newbern. What do you say?" + +The men had evidently been expecting something of this sort, for without +a moment's hesitation Tierney, speaking for his companions, replied that +the captain's liberal offer was accepted, and they would do all that men +could do to make the _Osprey's_ voyages profitable. Marcy said nothing, +for Beardsley had already given him to understand that he was to be one +of the blockade-runner's crew. He was the only native American among the +foremast hands, and the only one who could sign his name to the shipping +articles, the others being obliged to make their marks. When this had +been done the men returned to the deck, and the agent went ashore to +make arrangements for landing the guns, to hunt up a gang of ship +carpenters, and find a cotton-factor who was willing to take his chances +on making or losing a fortune. He worked to such good purpose that in +less than an hour two parties of men were busy on the schooner--one with +the howitzers and the other with the bunks below--and a broker was +making a contract with Beardsley for taking out a cargo of cotton. When +the broker had gone ashore Beardsley beckoned Marcy to follow him into +the cabin. + +"The schooner owes you seventeen hundred dollars and better," said he, +as he closed the sliding door and pointed to a chair. "It's in the bank +ashore, and you can have it whenever you want it. Would you like to take +out a venture?" + +It was right on the point of Marcy's tongue to reply that he would be +glad to do it; but he checked himself in time, for the thought occurred +to him that perhaps this was another attempt on the part of Captain +Beardsley to find out something about the state of his mother's +finances. So he looked down at the carpet and said nothing. + +"There's money in it," continued Beardsley. "Suppose you take out two +bales of cotton, sell it in Nassau for three times what it was worth a +few months ago, and invest the proceeds in quinine; why, you'll make +five hundred percent. Of course I can't grant all the hands the same +privilege, so I will make the bargain for you through my agent, and +Tierney and the rest needn't know a thing about. What do you say?" + +"I don't think I had better risk it," answered Marcy. + +"What for?" asked Beardsley. + +"Well, the money I've got I'm sure of, am I not?" + +"Course you are. Didn't I say you could have it any minute you had a +mind to call for it?" + +"You did; but suppose I should put it into cotton, as you suggest, and +the _Osprey_ should fall into the hands of one of those war ships +outside. There'd be all my money gone to the dogs, or, what amounts to +the same thing, into the hands of the Yankees. I may want to use that +money before the war is over." + +"But didn't you hear the agent say that we ain't going to have any war? +We've licked 'em before they could take their coats off." + +"But perhaps they'll not stay whipped. My teachers at the academy were +pretty well posted, and I heard some of them say that a war is surely +coming, and in the end the Southern States will wish they had never +seceded." + +"Well, them teachers of yourn was the biggest fules I ever heard tell +of," exclaimed Beardsley, settling back in his chair and slamming a +paper-weight down upon the table. "Why, don't I tell you that we've got +'em licked already? More'n that, I don't mean to fall into the hands of +them cruisers outside. I tell you that you'll miss it if you don't take +out a venture. And as for your mother needing them seventeen hundred +dollars to buy grub and the like, you can't pull the wool over my eyes +in no such way as that. She's got money by the bushel, and I know it to +be a fact." + +"Then you know more than I do," replied Marcy, his eyes never dropping +for an instant under the searching gaze the captain fixed upon him. +"Now, I would like to ask you one question: You have money enough of +your own to load this vessel, have you not?" + +"Why, of course I--that's neither here nor there," replied Beardsley, +who was not sharp enough to keep out of the trap that Marcy had placed +for him. "What of it?" + +"I know it to be a fact that you could load the schooner with cotton +purchased with your own money if you felt like it," answered the young +pilot, "but you don't mean to do it. You would rather carry cotton +belonging to somebody else, and that is all the proof I want that you +are afraid of the Yankees. If you want to do the fair thing by me, why +do you advise me to put my money into a venture, when you are afraid to +put in a dollar for yourself?" + +"Why, man alive," Beardsley almost shouted, "don't I risk my schooner? +Every nigger I've got was paid for with money she made for me by +carrying cigars and such like between Havana and Baltimore." + +"That's what I thought," said Marcy, to himself. "And you didn't pay a +cent of duty on those cigars, either." + +"I do my share by risking my schooner," continued the captain. "But I +want somebody to make something besides myself, and if you don't want to +risk your money, I reckon I'll give the mates a chance. That's all." + +"What in the name of sense did I go and speak to him about them cigars +for?" he added, mentally, as the pilot ascended the ladder that led to +the deck. "I think myself that there's a war coming, and if we get +licked I must either make a fast friend of that boy or get rid of him; +for if he tells on me I'll get into trouble sure." + +It looked now as though Marcy might some day have it in his power to +make things very unpleasant for Captain Beardsley. + + + + + CHAPTER V. + + A CAT WITHOUT CLAWS. + +"I really believe I've got a hold on the old rascal at last," said Marcy +to himself, as he leaned against the rail and watched the men, who, +under direction of the mates, were hard at work getting the howitzers +ashore. "From this time on he had better be careful how he treats my +mother, for he may fall into the hands of the Yankees some day; and if +that ever happens, I will take pains to see that he doesn't get back to +Nashville in a hurry. I'll go any lengths to get a letter to the +Secretary of the Treasury, telling him just who and what Beardsley is, +and then perhaps he will stand a chance of being tried for something +besides piracy and blockade-running." + +Marcy's first care was to write to his mother. While omitting no item of +news, he took pains to word the letter so cautiously that it could not +be used against him in case some of his secret enemies in and around +Nashville, the postmaster and Colonel Shelby, for instance, took it into +their heads to open and read it instead of sending it to its address. +They had showed him that they were quite mean enough to do it. Then he +went ashore to mail the letter and take notes, and was not long in +making up his mind that he was not the only one who thought there was +going to be a war. Although the Newbern people were very jubilant over +the great victory at Bull Run, they did not act as though they thought +that that was the last battle they would have to fight before their +independence would be acknowledged, for Marcy saw infantry companies +marching and drilling in almost every street through which he passed, +and every other man and boy he met was dressed in uniform. As he drew +near to the post-office he ran against a couple of young soldiers about +his own age, or, to be more exact, they ran against him; for they were +coming along with their arms locked, talking so loudly that they could +have been heard on the opposite side of the street, and when the +_Osprey's_ pilot turned out to let them pass, they tried to crowd him +off into the gutter. But Marcy, beside being a sturdy fellow, knew how +to stand up for his rights. He braced his foot firmly against the +curbstone and met the shock of the collision so vigorously that those +who would have sent him headlong into the street were sent backward +themselves, and came very near going head first down the stairs that led +into a basement restaurant. + +"Don't you think I ought to have a little of this sidewalk?" he asked +good-naturedly, as the two straightened up and faced him with clenched +hands and flashing eyes. + +"Then put on a uniform and you can have as much of it as you want," said +one, in reply. + +"How long have you had those good clothes of yours?" inquired Marcy. +"Were they in the fight at Bull Run?" + +"Of course not. We only enlisted a week ago, but we show our good will +and you don't." + +"Then you have never smelled powder or heard the noise of the enemy's +guns?" + +"It isn't likely, for there's been no fighting around here," said the +same speaker, who began to wonder if he and his companions hadn't made a +mistake. + +"Then go and get some experience before you take it upon yourselves to +shove a veteran into the ditch," said Marcy loftily. "I've been in the +service ever since President Davis issued his call for privateers. +You've heard of the _Osprey_, haven't you? Well, I belong to her." + +"Is that so?" exclaimed the other, extending his hand, which the pilot +was prompt to accept. "I am sorry we insulted you and beg your pardon +for it. But you ought to wear something to show who you are, for the +folks around here don't think much of citizens unless they have declared +their intention of enlisting as soon as they can get their affairs in +shape." + +"I knew why you bumped up against me, and that was the reason I didn't +get mad at it," answered Marcy. "You don't seem to have much to do; and +if you will walk up to the post-office with me, I'll show you over the +_Osprey_, if you would like to take a look at her. But we'll have to be +in a hurry if we want to see her with the guns aboard, for she is being +changed into a blockade-runner." + +"Ah! That's the money-making business," said one of the recruits with +enthusiasm. "I wish I knew something about boats, so that I could go +into it myself. What wages do you get?" + +"Five hundred dollars for the run to Nassau and back." + +The eyes of Marcy's new friends grew to twice their usual size. They +looked hard at him to see if he was really in earnest, and then whistled +in concert. + +"It's worth it," continued Marcy, "and I don't believe you could get men +to go into it for less. From the time we leave the protection of the +forts at Hatteras to the time we get back, we shall be in constant fear +of capture. We know something of the dangers of the business, for we had +two narrow escapes during our last cruise." + +Of course the recruits wanted to know all about it, and as they faced +around and walked with him, Marcy gave them a short history of what the +schooner had done since she went into commission. When he told how +neatly that Yankee brig had slipped through Captain Beardsley's fingers, +his companions looked at him in surprise. + +"What a pity," said one. "And yet you talk as if you were glad of it." + +"I talk as if it was a brave and skilful act, and so it was," answered +Marcy. "You would say the same if you had been there and seen it done." + +"No, I wouldn't. The Yankees are not brave and skilful, and they can't +do anything to make me think they are. How will they feel when they see +our President sitting in the White House, dictating terms of peace to +them? I hope our company will be there to witness the ceremony." + +This was a point Marcy did not care to discuss with the two recruits, +for fear he might say something to arouse in their minds a suspicion +that he was not intensely loyal to the Confederacy, even if he did sail +under its flag; so he inquired if there were anything else but drilling +and marching going on in Newbern. + +"Not much else in the city," replied one of the young soldiers. "But +there's a heap going on about five miles below. There's a corps of +engineers down there laying out a system of fortifications which are to +be a mile long. It will take eight or nine thousand men to garrison +them, and they will be defended by thirty-one guns." + +"But I don't see any sense in it," said the other, who seemed to think +he had learned considerable of the art of war since he put on his gray +jacket. "A Yankee army will never come so far south as Newbern, and +their gunboats can't get past the forts at Hatteras." + +But, all the same, the Confederate authorities thought the works ought +to be pushed to completion, and so they were; but they did not amount to +much, for Burnside's troops captured them after a four hours' fight, +with the loss of only ninety-one men killed, the garrison retreating to +Newbern and taking the cars for Goldsborough. When Marcy heard of it a +few months later, he wondered if his new acquaintances were in the +fight, and if they still held to the opinion that the Yankees were not +brave. + +After leaving the post-office they spent an hour on board the _Osprey_ +and parted at last well pleased with the result of their meeting, and +fully satisfied in their own minds that the Yankees had been so badly +whipped at Bull Run that they would never dare face the Confederate +soldiers again. At least the two recruits were satisfied of it; but +Marcy thought he knew better. + +On the morning of the next day but one, a tug came alongside and towed +the schooner up to a warehouse, where there was a load of cotton waiting +for her; and for want of something better to do, Marcy hunted up a +cotton-hook and assisted in rolling the heavy bales on board. The little +vessel was so changed in appearance that a landsman would hardly have +recognized her. The treacherous figure "9," which Beardsley had caused +to be painted on her sails, in the hope that merchant vessels would take +her for a harmless pilot-boat, was not to be seen; all the black paint +about her, from the heel of her bowsprit to the crosstrees, had given +place to a bluish-white; and on both sides of her bow and over her cabin +door the name _Hattie_ appeared in large gilt letters. + +"Now, when them _Hollins_ men get home and try to give the war ships a +description of the privateer that captured them, they will be mighty apt +to shoot wide of the mark, won't they?" said Captain Beardsley, who was +much pleased with the work the painters had done under his instructions. +"There ain't the first thing aboard of us to show that we used to be +engaged in the privateering business. Oh, I'm a sharp one, and it takes +something besides a Yankee to get the start of me." + +Beardsley was so impatient to get to sea, and so very anxious to handle +the fortune he was sure he was going to make by his first attempt at +blockade running, that he employed all the men that could be worked to +advantage, and took on board every bale he could possibly find room for. +The deck load was so large that it threatened to interfere with the +handling of the sails! and when a tug pulled the schooner's head around +till it pointed down the river, she set so low in the water that she +could not show her usual speed, even with the tide in her favor, and +Tierney said in Marcy's hearing that he believed he could hoist a sail +in a washing-tub and reach Nassau before the schooner could leave the +sand dunes of Hatteras out of sight. But the captain did not seem to +think he had made any mistake in loading his vessel, although he did +show some anxiety for her safety; for when she reached Crooked Inlet he +walked aft and took charge of the wheel himself, and without saying one +word to the young fellow whom he called his pilot, until he saw the +latter looking at him as if he wanted to know what Beardsley meant by +such work. + +"There, now," said the captain, by way of explanation, "I thought you +was below; I did for a fact. And so I said to myself that I wouldn't +bother you, but would try and take her through without your help, just +to see if I could do it, you know. Supposing you was the only one aboard +who knew the channel, and something should happen to you, and I should +want to come through here in a hurry to get out of the way of a war ship +that was close in my wake; wouldn't I be in a pretty fix? Now stand by, +so't you can give me a word in case I don't hold her just right." + +"You old hypocrite," thought Marcy. "If that was the first lie you ever +told it would choke you. So he thinks something is going to happen to +me, does he? Now what does he mean by that?" + +Captain Beardsley had done nothing more than Marcy expected him to do, +but he did not have a word of fault to find with it, as a regular pilot +would have done when he saw his business taken out of his hands in so +unceremonious a fashion. If the skipper was willing to pay him five +hundred dollars for doing nothing, the boy didn't think he ought to +complain. He took his stand close by the captain's side, but he did not +touch the wheel, nor did he so much as look at the black and red buoys +that marked the channel. He was turning these words over in his mind: +"Suppose something should happen to you!" Was he to understand that +Beardsley had made up his mind to get rid of him in some way? + +"If that is what he wants, why didn't he pay me off while we were in +Newbern?" was the question Marcy asked himself. "But for some reason or +other it doesn't suit him to have me at home with mother; and that makes +me think that there's going to be an attempt made to steal the money she +has hidden in the cellar wall. Oh, how I wish Jack was at home." + +When the schooner was clear of the Inlet, Beardsley gave the boy a wink +as if to say, "I did take her through, didn't I?" held a short +consultation with the mates, during which the course was determined +upon, then mounted to the cross trees with his glass in his hand; and +after sweeping it around the horizon, gave the cheering information to +those below that there was nothing in sight. But there was something in +sight a few hours later--something that put Beardsley in such a rage +that he did not get over it for a day or two. It was a schooner a little +larger than his own, and she was standing directly across the _Hattie's_ +bows. She did not show any disposition to "dodge" as the brig had done, +but held straight on her course, and this made Captain Beardsley suspect +that there might be a cruiser following in her wake to see that she did +not get into trouble. But if there was, his glass failed to reveal the +fact, and this suggested an idea to him. When the stranger's topsails +could be seen from the _Hattie's_ deck he shouted down to his mate: + +"Say, Morgan, I'll tell you what's the matter with that fellow. He don't +know that there's such things as privateers afloat, and he ain't seen +nary cruiser to warn him. That's why he don't sheer off." + +"I reckon you're right, cap'n," replied the mate. "It's plain that he +ain't afraid of us." + +"Well, if I am right," continued Beardsley, "it proves that the war +ships off Hatteras have went off somewheres, and that the coast below is +all clear; don't you think so? What do you say if we make a straight run +for our port? We'll save more than a week by it." + +"I'm agreeable," answered the mate, who, upon receiving a nod from the +captain, gave the necessary orders, and in a few minutes the _Hattie_ +was close-hauled and running in such a direction that if the two vessels +held on their way, they would pass almost within hailing distance of +each other. Of course the captain of the stranger must have witnessed +this manoeuvre, but he did not seem to be surprised or troubled by it; +for he kept straight on and in another hour dashed by within less than a +quarter of a mile of Captain Beardsley, who lifted his hat and waved it +to a small party of men, her officers probably, who were standing on her +quarter deck. In response to the salutation the Stars and Stripes were +hoisted at her peak. + +"If she had done that three weeks ago wouldn't I have brought that flag +down with a jerk?" exclaimed Beardsley angrily. "Did anybody ever hear +of such luck? Why didn't she show up when we had them howitzers aboard? +They don't know what to make of us, for I can see two fellows with +glasses pointed at us all the time. Run up that Yankee flag, Marcy." + +The latter was prompt to obey the order, and he was quite willing to do +it, since it was not in Beardsley's power to do any harm to the handsome +stranger. After being allowed to float for a few minutes the two flags +were hauled down and stowed away in their respective chests, and the +little vessels parted company without either one knowing who the other +was. But there was an angry lot of men on board the _Hattie._ Beardsley +showed that he was one of them by the hard words he used when he came +down from aloft and sent a lookout up to take his place, and Tierney, +after shaking his fist at the Yankee, shut one eye, glanced along the +rail with the other, as he had glanced through the sights of the +howitzer he once commanded, and then jerked back his right hand as if he +were pulling a lock-string. Marcy Gray was the only one aboard who +carried a light heart. + +After the schooner's course was changed there was a good deal of +suppressed excitement among the crew, for Captain Beardsley was about to +take what some of them thought to be a desperate risk. Probably there +were no cruisers off Hatteras when that merchant vessel passed, but that +was all of fifteen or twenty hours ago, and they had had plenty of time +to get back to their stations. So a bright lookout was kept by all +hands, and Beardsley or one of the mates went aloft every few minutes to +take a peep through the glass. Marcy thought there was good cause for +watchfulness and anxiety. In the first place, the Bahama Islands, of +which Nassau, in the Island of New Providence, was the principal port, +lay off the coast of Florida, and about five hundred miles southeast of +Charleston. They must have been at least twice as far from Crooked +Inlet, so that Captain Beardsley, by selecting Newbern as his home port, +ran twice the risk of falling into the hands of the Federal cruisers +that he would if he had decided to run his contraband cargo into +Savannah or Charleston. + +"It seems to me that the old man ought to have learned wisdom after +living for so many years in defiance of the law," thought Marcy, when it +came his turn to go aloft and relieve the lookout. "Of course a smuggler +has to take his chances with the revenue cutters he is liable to meet +along the coast, as well as with the Custom House authorities, and I +should think that constant fear of capture would have made him sly and +cautious; but it hasn't."--"Nothing in sight, sir," he said, in answer +to an inquiry from the officer who had charge of the deck. + +And this was the report that was sent down by every lookout who went +aloft during the next four days; and what a time of excitement and +suspense that was for Marcy Gray and all the rest of the _Hattie's_ +crew. Perhaps there was not so much danger of being run down at night by +some heavy vessel as there would have been a few months before, but +Marcy's nerves thrilled with apprehension when he stood holding fast to +the rail during the lonely mid-watch, and the schooner, with the spray +dashing wildly about her bows and everything drawing, was running before +a strong wind through darkness so black that her flying-jib-boom could +not be seen, and there was no light on board except the one in the +binnacle. + +"I know it's dangerous and I don't like it any better than you do," +Beardsley said to him one night. "But think of the money there is in it, +and what a fule you were for not taking out a venture when I gave you +the chance. I bought four bales apiece for the mates, and they will +pocket the money that you might have had just as well as not." + +"But I want to use my seventeen hundred dollars," replied Marcy; and so +he did. He still clung to the hope that he might some day have an +opportunity to return it to the master of the _Hollins_, and that was +the reason he was unwilling to run the risk of losing it. + +"Go and tell that to the marines," said Captain Beardsley impatiently. +"They'll believe anything, but I won't. You don't need it; your folks +don't, and I know it. Keep a bright lookout for lights, hold a stiff +upper lip, and I will take you safely through." + +And so he did. Not only were the Federal war ships accommodating enough +to keep out of the way, but the elements were in good humor also. The +schooner had a fair wind during the whole of her perilous journey, and +in due time it wafted her into the port of Nassau. Although Marcy Gray +had never been there before, he had heard and read of New Providence as +a barren rock, with scarcely soil enough to produce a few pineapples and +oranges, and of Nassau as a place of no consequence whatever so far as +commerce was concerned. It boasted a small sponge trade, exported some +green turtles and conch-shells, and was the home of a few fisherman and +wreckers; this was all Marcy thought there was of Nassau, and +consequently his surprise was great when he found himself looking out +upon the wharves of a thriving, bustling little town. The slave-holders' +rebellion, "which brought woe and wretchedness to so many of our States, +was the wind that blew prosperity to Nassau." When President Lincoln's +proclamation, announcing the blockade of all the Confederate ports was +issued, Nassau took on an air of business and importance, and at once +became the favorite resort of vessels engaged in contraband trade. There +were Northern men there too, and Northern vessels as well; for, to quote +from the historian, "The Yankee, in obedience to his instincts of +traffic, scented the prey from afar, and went there to turn an honest +penny by assisting the Confederates to run the blockade." The supplies +which the Confederates had always purchased in the North, and of which +they already began to stand in need, were shipped from Europe in neutral +vessels; and being consigned to a neutral port (for Nassau belonged to +England), they were in no danger of being captured by our war ships +during the long voyage across the Atlantic. It was when these supplies +were taken from the wharves and placed in the holds of vessels like the +_Hattie_ that the trouble began, and men like Captain Beardsley ran all +the risk and reaped the lion's share of the profits. Almost the first +thing that drew Marcy's attention was the sight of a Union and +Confederate flag floating within a few rods of each other. + +"What's the meaning of that?" he asked of Beardsley, as soon as he found +opportunity to speak to him. "We don't own this town, do we?" + +"No; but we've got a Consulate here," was the reply. "I don't know's I +understand just what that means, but it's some sort of an officer that +our government has sent here to look out for our interests. If a man +wants to go from here to our country, he must go to that Consulate and +get a pass before any blockade-runner will take him. Now don't you wish +you had took my advice and brought out a venture?" + +"It's too late to think of that now," answered Marcy. "And your own +profits are not safe yet. It must be all of a thousand miles from here +to Newbern, and perhaps we'll not have as good luck going as we did +coming. I am to have a hundred dollars to spend here, am I not?" + +"Course. That's what I promised before you and the rest signed articles. +I'll give it to you the minute this cotton is got ashore and paid for. +What you going to do with it?" + +"I thought I would invest it in medicine." + +"Your head's level. You couldn't make bigger money on anything else." + +"And as it is my own money and the captain of the _Hollins_ has no +interest in it, I shall feel quite at liberty to spend it as I choose," +soliloquized Marcy, as the captain turned away to meet the +representative of the English house to which his cargo of cotton was +consigned. "Besides, I must keep up appearances, or I'll get into +trouble." + +"Turn to, all hands, and get off the hatches," shouted one of the mates. +"Lively now, for the sooner we start back the sooner we'll get there." + +Marcy did not know whether or not he was included in this order +addressed to "all hands," but as the officer looked hard at him he +concluded he was. At any rate he was willing to work, if for no other +purpose than to keep him from thinking. Somehow he did not like to have +his mind dwell upon the homeward run. + + + + + CHAPTER VI. + + RUNNING THE BLOCKADE. + +The gang of 'longshoremen, which was quickly sent on board the _Hattie_ +by the Englishman to whom we referred in the last chapter, worked to +such good purpose that in just forty-eight hours from the time her lines +were made fast to the wharf, the blockade-runner was ready for her +return trip. Meanwhile Marcy Gray and the rest of the crew had little to +do but roam about the town, spending their money and mingling with the +citizens, the most of whom were as good Confederates as could have been +found anywhere in the Southern States. Marcy afterward told his mother +that if there were any Union people on the island they lived in the +American Consulate, from whose roof floated the Stars and Stripes. Marcy +was both astonished and shocked to find that nearly every one with whom +he conversed believed that the Union was already a thing of the past, +and that the rebellious States never could be whipped. One day he spoke +to Beardsley about it, while the latter was pacing his quarter-deck +smoking his after-dinner cigar. + +"If those English sailors I was talking with a little while ago are so +very anxious to see the Union destroyed, I don't see why they don't ship +under the Confederate flag," said he. "But what has England got against +the United States, anyway?" + +"Man alive, she's got everything against 'em," replied the captain, in a +surprised tone. "Didn't they lick old England twice, and ain't the +Yankee flag the only one to which a British army ever surrendered? +You're mighty right. She'd be glad to see the old Union busted into a +million pieces; but she's too big a coward to come out and help us open +and above board, and so she's helping on the sly. I wish the Yankees +would do something to madden her, but they're too sharp. They have give +up the _Herald_--the brig I was telling you about that sailed from +Wilmington just before you came back from your furlong. She was a +Britisher, yon know, and a warship took her prisoner; but the courts +allowed that Wilmington wasn't blockaded at all, except on paper, and +ordered her to be released. I only wish the Yankees had had the pluck to +hold fast to her." + +Marcy's thoughts had often reverted to the capture of the brig _Herald_ +and to Captain Beardsley's expressed wish that the act might lead to an +open rupture between the United States and England, and he was glad to +learn that there was to be no trouble on that score. But England could +not long keep her meddlesome fingers out of our pie. She did all she +dared to aid the Confederacy, and when the war was ended, had the fun of +handing over a good many millions of dollars to pay for the American +vessels that British built and British armed steamers had destroyed upon +the high seas. + +"I saw you bring aboard some little bundles a while ago," continued +Beardsley. "What was in 'em?" + +"One of them contained two woolen dresses I bought for mother, and in +the others there was nothing but medicine," said Marcy. "Woolen goods +will be worth money by and by." + +"Oh, yes; they'll run up a little. Things always do in war times. The +money them medicines cost, you will be able to turn over about three +times when we get back to Newbern. You'll clear about three hundred +dollars, when you might just as well have made five thousand, if you'd +took my advice and put in your seventeen hundred, as I wanted you to +do." + +Marcy made no reply, for he had grown weary of telling the captain that +he intended to use that money for another purpose. + +During the two days they remained in port two large steamers came in, +and on the way out they passed as many more, both of which showed the +English colors when Marcy, in obedience to Beardsley's orders, ran the +Confederate emblem up to the _Hattie's_ peak. + +"Everything that's aboard them ships is meant for us," said Captain +Beardsley. "I know it, because there never was no such steamers sailing +into this port before the war. Them fellows over the water are sending +in goods faster'n we can take 'em out. Go aloft, Marcy, and holler the +minute you see anything that looks like a sail or a smoke." + +When the pilot had been discharged and the schooner filled away for +home, her crew settled down to business again, and every man became +alert and watchful. Those dreadful night runs on the way down Marcy +always thought of with a shiver, and now he had to go through with them +again; and one would surely have ended his career as a blockade-runner, +for a while at least, had it not been for the credulity or stupidity of +a Union naval captain. This particular night, for a wonder, was clear; +the stars shone brightly, and Marcy Gray, who sat on the cross trees +with the night-glass in his hand, had been instructed to use extra +vigilance. There was a heavy ground swell on, showing that there had +recently been a blow somewhere, and the schooner had just breeze enough +to give her steerage way, with nothing to spare. Marcy was thinking of +home, and wondering how much longer it would be necessary for him to +lead this double life, when he saw something that called him back to +earth again. He took a short look at it through his glass, and then +said, in tones just loud enough to reach the ears of those below: + +"On deck, there." + +"Ay, ay!" came the answer. "What's to do?" + +"Lights straight ahead, sir." + +"Throw a tarpaulin over that binnacle," commanded Beardsley; and a +moment later Marcy saw him coming up. He gave the glass into his hands +and moved aside so that the captain could find a place to stand on the +crosstrees. Either the latter's eyes were sharper than Marcy's, or else +he took time to make a more critical examination of the approaching +vessel, for presently he hailed the deck in low but excited tones. + +"I'm afraid we're in for it, Morgan," said he. "I do for a fact. Tumble +up here and see what you think of her. I can make out that she is a +heavy steamer," he added, as Marcy moved to the other side of the mast, +and the mate came up and stood beside the captain, "and if she can't +make us out, too, every soul aboard of her must be blind. Our white +canvas must show a long ways in this bright starlight. What is she?" + +"I give it up," replied the mate. + +"She is coming straight for us, ain't she?" + +"Looks like it. Suppose you change the course a few points and then we +can tell for a certainty." + +Captain Beardsley thought this a suggestion worth acting upon. He sent +down the necessary orders to the second mate, who had been left in +charge of the deck, and in a few minutes the schooner was standing off +on the other tack, and rolling fearfully as she took the ground swell +almost broadside on. Then there came an interval of anxiety and +suspense, during which Marcy Gray strained his eyes until he saw a dozen +lights dancing before them instead of two, as there ought to have been, +and at last Captain Beardsley's worst fears were confirmed. The relative +position of the red and green lights ahead slowly changed until they +were almost in line with each other, and Marcy was sailor enough to know +what that meant. The steamer had caught sight of the _Hattie_, was +keeping watch of her, and had altered her course to intercept her. Marcy +began to tremble. + +"I know how a prison looks when viewed from the outside," he said to +himself. "And unless something turns up in our favor, it will not be +many days before I shall know how one looks on the inside." + +It was plain that his two companions were troubled by the same gloomy +thoughts, for he heard Beardsley say, in a husky voice: + +"She ain't holding a course for nowhere, neither for the Indies nor the +Cape; she shifted her wheel when we did, and that proves that she's a +Yankee cruiser and nothing else. See any signs of a freshening +anywhere?" + +"Nary freshening," replied the mate, with a hasty glance around the +horizon. "There ain't a cloud as big as your fist in sight." + +Of course Beardsley used some heavy words--he always did when things did +not go to suit him--and then he said, as if he were almost on the point +of crying with vexation: + +"It's too bad for them cowardly Yankees to come pirating around here +just at this time when we've got a big fortune in our hands. Them goods +we've got below is worth a cool hundred thousand dollars in Newbern, if +they're worth anything, and my commission will be somewhere in the +neighborhood of twenty-five per cent.; dog-gone it all. Can't we do +nothing to give her the slip? You ain't fitten to be a mate if you can't +give a word of advice in a case like this." + +"And if I wanted to be sassy I might say that you ain't fit to command a +ship if you can't get her out of trouble when you get her into it. There +can't no advice be given that I can see, unless it be to chuck the cargo +over the side. I reckon that would be my way if I was master of the +_Hattie._ + +"But what good would that do?" exclaimed Beardsley. "Where are my +dockyments to prove that I am an honest trader? And even if I had some, +and the cargo was safe out of the hold and sunk to the bottom, I +couldn't say that I am in ballast, because I ain't got a pound of any +sort of ballast to show. Oh, I tell you we're gone coons, Morgan. Do the +Yankees put striped clothes on their prisoners when they shove 'em into +jail, I wonder?" + +The mate, who had come to the wise conclusion that the only thing he +could do was to make the best of the situation, did not answer the +captain's last question. All he said was: + +"If you dump the cargo overboard the Yankees won't get it!" + +"But they'll get my schooner, won't they?" Beardsley almost shouted. +"And do you reckon that I'm going to give them Newbern fellows the +satisfaction of knowing that I saved their goods by sending them to the +bottom? Not by a great sight. If that cruiser gets my property she'll +get their'n, too. I don't reckon we'd have time to clear the hold +anyway." + +Marcy Gray had thought so all along. The lights were coming up at a hand +gallop, and already they were much nearer than they seemed to be, for +the shape of the steamer could be made out by the unaided eye. When +Beardsley ceased speaking, the sound of a gong was clearly heard, and a +minute later the steamer blew her whistle. + +"What did I tell you, Morgan?" whined the captain. "She's slowing up, +and that whistle means for us to show lights. The next thing we shall +see will be a small boat coming off. I hope the swell'll turn it upside +down and drown every mother's son of her crew that--On deck, there," he +shouted, in great consternation. "Get out lights, and be quick about it. +She'll be on top of us directly." + +"She can see us as well without lights as she can with 'em," growled the +mate, as he backed down slowly from the crosstrees. "I don't care if she +cuts us down. I'd about as soon go to the bottom as to be shut up in a +Yankee prison." + +Marcy Gray was almost as badly frightened as Beardsley seemed to be. The +steamer was dangerously near, and her behavior and the schooner's proved +the truth of what he had read somewhere, that "two vessels on the ocean +seemed to exercise a magnetic influence upon each other, so often do +collisions occur when it looks as though there might be room for all the +navies of the world to pass in review." So it was now. The two vessels +drifted toward each other, broadside on, and the breeze was so light +that the _Hattie_ was almost helpless; but the stranger was well +handled; her huge paddle wheels, which up to this moment had hung +motionless in the water, began to turn backward, and presently Marcy let +go his desperate clutch upon the stay to which he was clinging, and drew +a long breath of relief. Whatever else the cruiser might do to the +_Hattie_ she did not mean to send her to the bottom. + +"Schooner ahoy!" came the hail. + +"On board the steamer," answered Captain Beardsley, who had been allowed +a little leisure in which to recover his wits and courage. + +"What schooner is that?" + +"The _Hattie_ of New York," shouted Beardsley. "Homeward bound from +Havana with a cargo of sugar. Who are you?" + +"The United States supply steamer _Adelaide._ What are you doing a +hundred miles eastward of your course, and showing no lights?" asked the +voice; and Marcy fully expected that the next words would be, "I'll send +a boat aboard of you." + +"I'm afraid of privateers," was Beardsley's response. "I heered there +was some afloat, and I can't afford to fall in with any of 'em, kase +everything I've got on 'arth is this schooner. If I lose her I'm +teetotally ruined." + +"Well, then, why don't you hold in toward Hatteras, where you will be +safe? There's a big fleet in there, and in a few days there'll be +more." + +"You don't tell me! Much obleeged for the information! I will put that +way as fast as this breeze will take me. Seen anything suspicious? No? +Then good-by and farewell." + +Beardsley shouted out some orders, the schooner filled away so as to +pass under the steamer's stern, and to Marcy's unbounded astonishment +she was permitted to go in peace. The stranger's gong sounded again, and +she also went on her way. There was scarcely a word spoken above a +whisper until her lights had disappeared; then the schooner's own +lanterns were hauled down, her head was turned to the point of the +compass toward which it had been directed when the steamer was first +discovered, and Captain Beardsley was himself again. + +"By gum!" said he, striding up and down the deck, pausing now and then +to go through the undignified performance of shipping his mates on the +back. "_By_ gum, I done it, didn't I! What sort of a Yankee do you +reckon I'd make, Marcy? I talked just like one--through the nose, you +know. Pretty good acting; don't you think so?" + +"It was good enough to save the schooner," replied Marcy. + +"And that was what I meant to do if I could. I wouldn't have give a +dollar for my chances of getting shet of that steamer till she began to +back away to keep from running us down, and then something told me that +I'd be all right if I put a bold face on the matter. And that's what I +done. Oh, I'm a sharp one, and it takes a better man than a Yankee to +get ahead of me. I was really much obliged to him for telling me of that +blockading fleet at Hatteras, for now I'll know better than to go nigh +that place. Hold the old course, Morgan, and that will take us out of +the way of coasters and cruisers, both. I'll go below and turn in for a +short nap." + +"If I should follow this business until I am gray-headed I don't think I +should ever again have so narrow an escape," said Marcy to himself, as +he too went below to take a little needed rest. "Why, it seems like a +dream; and somehow I can hardly bring myself to believe it really +happened. If the Yankees talk the way Captain Beardsley did, all I can +say for them is that they are queer folks." + +It seemed as though the schooner's crew could never get through talking +about their short interview with the supply steamer, for every one of +them had given up all hope of escape, and looked for nothing else but to +see an armed boat put off to test the truth of Captain Beardsley's +statements regarding the _Hattie_ and her cargo. The mate, Morgan, was +completely bewildered. He could not understand how a man who had showed +a disposition to cry when he saw his vessel in danger, could be so cool +and even impudent when the critical moment came. + +In due time all thoughts of the enemy they had left astern gave way to +speculations concerning those they might find before them. The latitude +of Hatteras Inlet was thought to be particularly dangerous; but that was +passed in the night and Marcy breathed easily again, until Beardsley +began to take a slant in toward the shore, and then there was another +season of suspense. But the day drew to a close without bringing any +suspicious smoke or sail to add to their fears, and when darkness came +Crooked Inlet was not more than thirty miles away. If the strong and +favoring wind that then filled the schooner's sails held out, her keel +would be plowing the waters of the Sound by midnight or a little later, +and Captain Beardsley's commission would be safe. At least that was what +the latter told Marcy; and, while he talked, he jingled some keys in his +pocket with as much apparent satisfaction as though they were the +dollars he hoped to put there in a few days more. But the old saying +that there is many a slip came very near holding true in Beardsley's +case. The latter was so certain that he had left all danger behind him, +and that he had nothing more to do but sail in at his leisure and land +his cargo when he got ready, that he did not think it worth while to man +the crosstrees after nightfall; consequently there was no watchful +lookout to warn him of the suspicious looking object that moved slowly +out of the darkness a mile or so ahead, and waited for him to come up. +About eleven o'clock Marcy Gray strolled forward and climbed out upon +the bowsprit to see if he could discover any signs of the land, which, +according to his calculations, ought not to be far distant. + +"I might as well be out here as anywhere else," he thought, pulling out +the night-glass, which he had taken the precaution to bring with him. +"Of course the skipper will run her through without any aid from me, as +he did before, and so--what in the world is that? Looks like a smooth +round rock; but I know it isn't, for there's nothing of that sort about +this Inlet." + +Marcy took another look through the glass, then backed quickly but +noiselessly down from his perch and ran aft to the quarter-deck. The +captain was standing there joking with his mates, and congratulating +them and himself on the safe and profitable run the _Hattie_ had made; +and as Marcy came up he threw back his head and gave utterance to a +hoarse laugh, which, in the stillness of the night, could have been +heard half a mile away. + +"Captain! Captain!" exclaimed Marcy, in great excitement, "for goodness' +sake don't do that again! Keep still! There's a ship's long boat filled +with men right ahead of us." + +It seemed to Marcy that Beardsley wilted visibly when this astounding +piece of news was imparted to him. His hearty laugh was broken short off +in the middle, so to speak, and when turned so that the light from the +binnacle shone upon his face, Marcy saw that it was as white as a +sheet. + +"No!" he managed to gasp. + +"Why, boy, you're scared to death," said one of the mates, rather +contemptuously. "Where's the ship for the long boat to come from?" + +"I don't know anything about that," answered Marcy hurriedly. "I only +tell you what I saw with my own eyes. Here's the glass. Captain. Go +for'ard and take a look for yourself." + +The captain snatched the glass with almost frantic haste and ran toward +the bow, followed by the mates and all the rest of the crew, with the +exception of the man at the wheel. With trembling hands Beardsley raised +the binoculars, but almost immediately took them down again to say, in +frightened tones: + +"For the first time in my life I have missed my reckoning. We're lost, +and the Yankee fleet may be within less than a mile of us. Take a look, +Morgan. I never saw that rock before." + +"But I tell you it isn't a rock," protested Marcy. "It is a boat, and +she's lying head on so that she won't show as plainly as she would if +she lay broadside to us. Do you see those long black streaks on each +side? Those are oars, and they were in motion when I first saw them." + +The mate was so long in making his observations that Marcy grew +impatient, and wondered at his stupidity. He could see without the aid +of a glass that it was a boat and nothing else; and more than that, the +schooner had by this time drawn so near her that he could make out two +suspicious objects in her bow--one he was sure was a howitzer, and the +other looked very like the upright, motionless figure of a blue-jacket, +awaiting the order from the officer in command to pull the lock-string. +An instant later a second figure arose, as if from the stern-sheets, and +the command came clear and distinct: + +"Heave to, or we'll blow you out of the water!" + +"Now I hope you are satisfied!" exclaimed Marcy. + +He expected to see Beardsley wilt again; but he did nothing of the sort. +It required an emergency to bring out what there was in him, and when he +saw that he must act, he did it without an instant's hesitation. + +"Lay aft, all hands!" was the order he gave. "Marcy, stand by to watch +the buoys in the Inlet. Morgan, go to the wheel and hold her just as she +is. Don't luff so much as a hair's breadth. We'll run them Yankees down. +It's our only chance." + +"And a very slim one it is," thought Marcy, as he took the glass from +the mate's hand and directed it toward the point where he thought the +entrance of the Inlet ought to be. "The cruiser to which this boat +belongs can't be far away, and she will come up the minute she hears the +roar of the howitzer." + +"Heave to, or we'll sink you!" came the order, in louder and more +emphatic tones. + +"Starboard a spoke or two. Steady at that," said Beardsley, turning +about and addressing the man who had been stationed in the waist to pass +his commands. "Ten to one they'll miss us, but all the same I wish I +knew how heavy them guns of their'n is." + +"They have but one," replied Marcy, wondering at the captain's coolness. +"Can't you see it there in the bow?" + +"Well, if it's a twenty-four pounder, like them old ones of our'n, and +they hit us at the water-line, they'll tear a hole in us as big as a +barn door." + +All this while the schooner had been bearing swiftly down upon the +launch, and when the officer in command of her began to see through +Beardsley's little plan, he at once proceeded to set in motion one of +his own that was calculated to defeat it. His howitzer was loaded with a +five-second shrapnel, and this he fired at the schooner at a point-blank +range of less than a hundred yards. He couldn't miss entirely at that +short distance, but the missile flew too high to hull the +blockade-runner. It struck the flying jib-boom, breaking it short off +and rendering that sail useless, glanced and splintered the rail close +by the spot where the captain and his pilot were standing, went +shrieking off over the water, and finally exploding an eighth of a mile +astern. The skipper and Marcy were both prostrated by a splinter six +feet long and four inches thick that was torn from the rail; but they +scrambled to their feet again almost as soon as they touched the deck, +and when they looked ahead, fully expecting to find the launch under the +schooner's fore-foot and on the point of being run down, they saw an +astonishing as well as a most discouraging sight. The boat was farther +away than she was before, and her whole length could be seen now, for +not only was she broadside on, but the darkness above and around her, +which had hitherto rendered her shape and size somewhat indistinct, was +lighted up by a bright glare that shot up from somewhere amidships, and +the sound of escaping steam could be plainly heard. + + [Illustration: CAPTAIN BEARDSLEY SURPRISED.] + +"Oh, my shoulder! Dog-gone it all, my shoulder!" cried Beardsley, +placing the instep of his left foot behind his right knee and hopping +about as if it were the lower portion of his anatomy that had been +injured instead of the upper. "She's got a steam ingine aboard of her, +and them oars of her'n was only meant for snooping up and down the coast +quiet and still' so't nobody couldn't hear 'em. We're gone this time, +Morgan; and I tell you that for a fact!" + +The moment Marcy Gray recovered his feet he made an effort to pick up +the glass that had fallen from his grasp, but to his surprise, his left +hand refused to obey his will. When he made a second attempt, he found +that he could not move his hand at all unless he raised his arm at the +shoulder. He was not conscious of much pain, although he afterward said +that his arm felt a good deal as it did when Dick Graham accidentally +hit his biceps with a swiftly pitched ball. But his right hand was all +right, and with it he snatched up the glass and levied it at the Inlet, +which to his great delight he could plainly see straight ahead. + +"Mind what you are about, Captain," said he, as soon as he could induce +the man to stand still and listen to him. "That first buoy is a black +one, and you want to leave it to port. If you keep on as you are holding +now you will leave it to starboard, and that will run you hard and fast +aground." + +"Don't make much odds which way we go," whined Beardsley, holding fast +to his elbow with one hand and to his shoulder with the other. "Just +look what them Yankees is a doing!" + +The captain became utterly disheartened when he saw that his plan for +sinking the launch and making good his escape into the Inlet was going +to end in failure, and Marcy did not blame him for it. The officer in +command of the small boat, whoever he might be, was a determined and +active fellow; his crew were picked men; his little craft was a +"trotter," and he knew how to handle both of them. He had been sent out +by one of the blockading squadron to patrol the coast and watch for just +such vessels as the _Hattie_ was, and although he had steam up all the +while, he used his twenty-four muffled oars, twelve on a side, as his +motive power; and this enabled him to slip along the coast without +making the least sound to betray his presence. As luck would have it, he +had not discovered Crooked Inlet. If he had, he would have lifted the +buoys, and it might have led to extra watchfulness on the part of the +blockading fleet. But he had discovered the _Hattie_ and his actions +proved that he did not mean to let her escape if he could help it. + + + + + CHAPTER VII. + + THE MATE'S LUCKY SHOT. + +"Just look what them Yankees is a doing now," repeated Captain +Beardsley; and when Marcy turned his eyes from the warning buoy to the +launch, he saw that the latter was scuttling rapidly out of harm's way; +that her bow was swinging around so that she would pass by within less +than a hundred feet of the schooner; that the oars had been dropped +overboard, and were dragging alongside by the lanyards that were +fastened to them; that some of the crew had arisen to their feet and +stood facing the _Hattie_; and that the rest were busy with the howitzer +in the bow. + +"Heave to, or we'll cut you all to pieces!" shouted the officer in +command; and Marcy could see him plainly now, for he stood erect in the +stern-sheets with a boat-cloak around him. "We'll send canister and +rifle balls into you next time, and they'll come so thick that they +won't leave so much as a ratline of you. Heave to, I say!" + +At this juncture a rifle or pistol shot, Marcy could not tell which it +was, sounded from the schooner's quarter-deck, and the plucky officer +was seen to throw his hands above his head, grasp wildly at the empty +air for a moment, and then disappear over the side of the launch. In an +instant all was confusion among the blue-jackets. The coxswain, who of +course was left in command, shouted to the engineer to shut off steam, +to the crew to drop their muskets and pick up their oars, and to the +captain of the howitzer to cut loose with his load of canister. + +"Lay down, everybody," cried Beardsley, who plainly heard all these +orders; and suiting the action to the word, he quickly stretched himself +upon the deck. Marcy had barely time to follow his example before the +howitzer roared again, and the canister rattled through the rigging like +hail, tearing holes in the canvas, splintering a mast here and a boom +there, but never cutting a stay or halliard. If a topmast had gone by +the board, or a sail come down by the run, the schooner would have been +quite at the mercy of the launch; for the latter could have carried her +by boarding, or taken a position astern and peppered the _Hattie_ with +shrapnel until Captain Beardsley would have been glad to surrender. The +captain did not see how his vessel could escape being crippled, and he +would have surrendered then and there if any one in the launch had +called upon him to do so; but when he got upon his feet and saw that +every rope held, and that the schooner was just on the point of entering +her haven of refuge, he took heart again. + +"Marcy, go aft and tell Morgan that that buoy ahead is a black one," +said he, as soon as he had taken time to recover his wits. "Lay for'ard +some of us and cut away this useless canvas. The _Hattie_ ain't catched +yet, doggone it all. I tell you, lads, it takes somebody besides a +plodding, dollar-loving Yankee to get to windward of Lon Beardsley." + +"The captain desired me to remind you that that buoy is a black one, and +you want to leave it to port," said Marcy, taking his stand beside the +man at the wheel. "Who fired that shot? It came from this end of the +vessel." + +"The second mate fired it," replied Morgan, "and he done it just in the +nick of time. The killing of that officer was all that saved our +bacon." + +"Oh, I hope he wasn't killed!" exclaimed Marcy. + +"You do, hey? Well, I don't. I'd like to see the last blockader on this +coast tumbled into the drink in the same way. What did the old man say +about it?" + +"Not a word. I think he was too surprised to say anything." + +"Was anybody hurt by that shell?" continued Morgan. "I seen the jib +flying in the wind and the rail ripped up, and you and the old man was +standing right there." + +"Something or other knocked both of us flatter than pancakes," answered +Marcy. "The captain must have been hit all over; but I was struck only +on the arm, and I don't seem to have much use of it any more." + +"You can go forward and lookout for the buoys, can't you? All right. +Sing out when ever you see one, and I will stay here and take her +through while the cap'n gets that headsail out of the way." + +Before obeying this order Marcy stopped long enough to level the glass +toward the place where he supposed the launch to be. Having worked the +water out of the cylinders the engineer had shut off the stop-cocks so +that she could not be heard, and as there was no flame shooting out of +her smoke-stack, she could not be seen; but she was still on top of the +water, and eager to do mischief. While Marcy was moving his glass around +trying to locate her, the howitzer spoke again; but as the schooner took +the wind free after rounding the first buoy, her course was changed, so +that the shell passed behind her, and exploded far ahead and to the +right. + +"You've got your wish," said Morgan. "That shot means that they have +picked up their cap'n, and that he's as full of fight as ever. Well, let +him bang away, if he wants to. He can't hurt the sand-hills, and this +channel is so crooked that he won't hit us except by accident." + +"But he will follow in our wake, won't he?" + +"Who cares if he does so long as he don't sight us? We'll dodge him easy +enough after we get into the Sound. Now toddle for'ard and look out for +me." + +["It's an ill wind that blows nobody good," thought the boy, as he +leaned his uninjured arm upon the splintered rail and brought the glass +to his eye. "This night's work will put an end to the _Hattie's_ +blockade-running. If that fellow astern don't catch us, he will surely +find and pull up the buoys, and then we can't follow the channel except +by sending a boat on ahead with a lead-line. That might do when we were +going out, but it wouldn't work running in if there was an enemy close +behind us. Another thing, this Inlet will be watched in future. Now you +mark my words."] "Red buoy on the starboard bow," he called out to the +man at the wheel. + +Morgan repeated the words to show that he understood them, and just then +Beardsley came up, having seen the useless jib brought on deck and +stowed away. + +"Be careful and make no mistake, Marcy," said he. "It's a matter of life +and death with us now--and money." + +"I can call off the color of every buoy between here and the Sound," +replied the pilot confidently. "I took particular pains to remember the +order in which they were put out. Where are you hurt, Captain?" he +added, seeing that the man had let go of his shoulder and was now +holding fast to both elbows. + +"I'm hurt in every place; that's where I am hurt," said Beardsley, +looking savagely at Marcy, as if the latter was to blame for it. +"Something hit me ker-whallop on this side, and the deck took me +ker-chunk on the other; and I'll bet there ain't a spot on ary side as +big as an inch where I ain't black and blue. You wasn't touched, was +you? But I thought I seen you come down when I did." + +"I went down fast enough," answered Marcy. "I bumped my head pretty +heavily on the deck, but the worst hurt I got was right here. And I +declare, there's a bunch that don't belong to me. Is it a fracture of +the humerus, I wonder?" + +"A which?" exclaimed the puzzled captain. + +"I really believe the bone of my upper arm is broken," replied Marcy, +feeling of the bunch to which he had referred. "It doesn't hurt much +except when I touch it. It only feels numb." + +Just then the howitzer spoke again, and another shrapnel flew wide of +the schooner and burst among the sand dunes. Another and another +followed at short intervals, and then the firing ceased. The launch had +given it up as a bad job; the pursuit was over and Marcy and the captain +were the only ones injured. + +"She has either run hard and fast aground, or else she is amusing +herself with them buoys of our'n," said Beardsley, when he became +satisfied that the launch was no longer following in the schooner's +wake. "Now, where's that good-looking son of mine who fired the lucky +shot that tumbled that Yankee officer overboard? Whoever he is, I'll +double his wages. He ought to have it, for he saved the vessel and her +cargo. Let him show up." + +The second mate obeyed the order, exhibiting the revolver that had fired +the shot, and the captain complimented him in no measured terms. Marcy +could not help acknowledging to himself that their escape was owing +entirely to the prompt action the mate had taken without waiting for +orders; but all the same he was sorry for that Federal officer. + +Less than an hour's run sufficed to take the schooner out of the Inlet +and into the Sound, and when Beardsley had given out the course and seen +the sails trimmed to suit it, he went into his cabin, from which he +presently issued to pass the word for Marcy Gray. When the boy descended +the ladder he found the first mate and two foremast hands there besides +the captain; and on the table he saw two pieces of thin board, and +several strips of cloth that had evidently been torn up for bandages. He +noticed, too, that the atmosphere was filled with the odor of liniment. + +"What are you going to do?" he asked, in some alarm. + +"We're going to set that--that--what-do-you-call-it of your'n," replied +the captain cheerfully. The name that Marcy had given to the bone of his +upper arm was too much for him. He could not remember it. + +The boy knew that all sea captains have more or less knowledge of +medicine and surgery. It is necessary that they should have, for sailors +are often seized with illness, or meet with serious accidents when their +ship is at sea, and so far from a doctor that without immediate aid from +some source they would surely lose their lives. Marcy had read of a +whaling captain, one of whose men was jerked overboard from his boat by +a wounded whale, dragged for six hundred feet or more through the water +with frightful speed, and who was finally released by his leg giving way +to the strain. The captain saw that that leg must be attended to or the +man would die. His crew were too badly frightened to help him, so he +amputated the injured member himself; and all the surgical instruments +his ship afforded were a carving-knife, a carpenter's saw, and a +fish-hook. But he saved the man's life. Marcy thought of this and +shuddered at the thought of submitting himself to Beardsley's rude +surgery. + +"I believe I would rather wait until we get to Newbern," said he +doubtfully. + +"Why, man alive, we may not see port for a week," answered the captain. +"How do we know but what there are a dozen or more steam launches, like +the one we've just left astern, loafing about in the Sound waiting for +us? If there are, we'll have to get shet of 'em somehow, and that will +take time. If we don't 'tend to your arm now, it may be so bad when the +doctor sees it that he can't do nothing with it without half killing of +you. Take off his coat and vest, men; and Morgan, you roll up his +sleeve. There is folks around home who think you are for the Union, and +that you ain't secesh, even if you do belong to my vessel. If you run +foul of one of 'em while you are gone on your furlong, just point to +your arm and tell him to hold his yawp." + +"Are you going to give me a leave of absence?" asked Marcy, who was so +delighted at the thought that he could scarcely keep from showing it. + +"I reckon I'll have to. I ain't got no use for a one-handed man; but +I'll keep your place open for you, never fear. Just see that, now. Ain't +that a pretty looking arm for a white boy to carry around with him? It +makes me hate them Yankees wusser'n I did before." + +The wounded arm was already becoming inflamed, and it was painful, too; +and although Beardsley's assistants were as careful as they could be, +Marcy winced while they were helping him off with his coat and vest and +rolling up his sleeve. When this had been done one of the men, in +obedience to a slight nod from the captain, seized Marcy around the +chest under his arms, the mate by a movement equally quick grasped his +left wrist, and both began pulling in opposite directions with all their +strength, while Beardsley passed his huge rough hands up and down over +the "bunch" until he was satisfied that the protruding bone had been +pulled back to its place. The operation was a painful one, and the only +thing that kept Marcy from crying out was the remembrance of Beardsley's +words "I ain't got no use for a one-handed man." That broken arm would +bring him a furlough. + +"There, now; that'll do. 'Vast heaving," said the captain, at length. +"Put some of the stuff in that bottle on one of them bandages and hand +it over here. Pretty rough way of getting to go home, but better than +none at all, and I reckon your maw will be just as glad to see you as +she would if you had two good arms. Don't you reckon she will?" + +After his arm had been bandaged and placed in a sling, Marcy was quite +willing to go into the forecastle and lie down in his bunk; and there he +stayed until the schooner entered the Neuse River and a tug came +alongside to tow her up to the city. This time there were plenty of +cheers to welcome her, the first coming from the working parties who +were building the fortifications, and the next from the soldiers and +loafers who were assembled upon the wharf to which she was made fast, +and who howled themselves hoarse when they caught sight of the holes in +her sails, her broken bowsprit, and her splintered rail. + +"I see that blockade running has its dangers as well as privateering," +said Beardsley's agent, as he sprang over the rail and seized the +captain's hand. "The _Hattie_ is cut up pretty badly, but the _Osprey_ +was never touched. Been in a fight?" + +"Well, no, not much of a fight, because we uns didn't have nothing to +fight with. But the schooner ran through a pretty tol'able heavy fire, I +tell you." + +It was all over now, and Beardsley could afford to treat the matter with +indifference; but Marcy remembered that when that splinter knocked him +down, the captain was the worst frightened man in the crew. However, +Beardsley was not as badly hurt as he thought he was. When he came to +make an examination of his injuries, all he could find was a black and +blue spot on one of his shoulders that was about half as large as his +hand; but he made more fuss over that than Marcy Gray did over his +broken arm. + +"Anybody shot?" continued the agent. + +"Well, yes; two of us got touched a little, but not enough to growl +over. You see it was this-a-way----" + +"I suppose I may go ashore now and hunt up a surgeon, may I not?" Marcy +interposed. + +He thought from the way Beardsley settled himself against the rail that +he was preparing for a long talk with the agent, and that it would be a +good plan to have his own affairs settled before the captain became too +deeply interested in his narrative to listen to him. There was little to +detain him in Newbern. On the way up the river Beardsley had given him a +written leave of absence for ninety days, and a check on the bank for +his money; and all he had to do besides presenting that check was to +have his arm examined by a surgeon. + +"Of course you can go," replied Beardsley. "And if I don't see you when +you come back for your dunnage, don't forget them little messages I give +you for the folks at home, nor them letters; and bear in mind that I +want you back as soon as ever you can get well." + +Marcy promised to remember it all, and the captain went on to say: + +"He's the bravest lad that ever stepped in shoe leather. When them +Yankees sent that shell into us and knocked him and me down and smashed +his arm all to flinders, he stood in the bow and piloted us through +Crooked Inlet as slick as falling off a log; and there was his arm +broken all the while, and hanging by his side as limp as a piece of wet +rope. Oh, he's a good one, and I don't for the life of me see how I am +going to get on without him. I've said as much in them letters I wrote +to the folks to home." + +Under almost any other circumstances Marcy Gray would have been +disgusted; but as it was, he was quite willing that Beardsley should +talk about him in this strain as often as he felt like it. + +"Perhaps it will help me with those secret enemies at home," he said to +himself, as he stepped upon the wharf and forced his way slowly through +the crowd, not, however, without being compelled to shake hands with a +dozen or more who wanted to know when and where he got hurt and who did +it, and all about it. "I should really like to see the inside of the +letters the captain gave me to hand to Shelby and the rest. I wonder if +he thinks I am foolish enough to open and read them? He'll not trap me +that way; but I wouldn't trust any letters to him that I didn't want him +to read, I bet you." + +Arriving at a drug store which bore the name of a medical man upon one +of its doorposts, Marcy entered and asked where he could find somebody +to tell him whether or not his broken arm had been properly set and +cared for. + +"Step right this way, and I will tell you in less than five minutes," +said the man who stood behind the counter. "How did you break it?" + +"I was knocked down," replied Marcy. + +"Who knocked you down?" + +"A Yankee!" + +"Heyday! Bull Run?" + +"No, sir; Crooked Inlet." + +"Well, I thought you looked like a seafaring man. What vessel do you +belong to?" + +"The blockade-runner _Hattie._ She used to be the privateer _Osprey._" + +"Were you one of the brave fellows who captured the _Mary Hollins_?" +exclaimed the surgeon, giving Marcy a look of admiration. "It was a +gallant deed." + +"I was there when she was taken," answered the boy, while the doctor was +helping him off with his coat. "Do you know what become of her crew?" + +"They were paroled and sent North long ago. We didn't want such folks +among us." + +"But they are not prisoners of war." + +"That doesn't matter. They had to promise that they would not take up +arms against us until they were regularly exchanged; and if they do, and +we find it out, they will stand a fine chance of being strung up. You've +got a pretty good surgeon aboard your ship, and he has made a good job +of this. I wonder if I know him. Is he a Newbern man?" + +"No, sir; he hails from up toward Plymouth. And he isn't a doctor, +either. He's the captain." + +"Oh, ah!" said the surgeon, who was very much surprised to hear it. "I +see, now that I come to look at it closely, that it is not quite as +straight as I thought it was. It sticks out a little on this side, and +your arm will always be more or less crooked. It is unfortunate that you +did not have a surgeon aboard; but we will have to let it go." + +"Of course I can't do duty with one hand," said Marcy, "and so the +captain has given me leave to go home for awhile. I can travel on the +cars, I suppose?" + +"There's nothing in the world to hinder it," replied the medical man, +who seemed on a sudden to have lost all interest in Marcy and his +injured arm. "I will do it up again and give you a little medicine, and +you will get along all right. It's a mere trifle." + +When Marcy asked what his bill was, he told himself that he made a +mistake when he said it was the captain and not a doctor who set his +arm, for the surgeon charged him a good round price for his trouble, as +well as for the little bottle of tonic he wrapped up for him; and when +he went to the telegraph office, the operator who sent off a dispatch to +his mother made no distinction between him and a citizen. The dispatch +ran as follows: + +Arrived from Nassau this morning with a valuable cargo after a running +fight with the Yankees. Had two men slightly injured. Will leave for +Boydtown by first train. + +"After mother reads that she will not be so very much shocked when she +sees me with my arm in a sling," was what he told himself as he passed +the dispatch over to the operator. + +"Did you have a fight with one of the blockaders?" asked the latter +carelessly. He had become accustomed to the sight of wounded men since +the battle of Bull Run was fought, and did not take a second look at +Marcy. + +"It wasn't much of a fight, seeing that there was but one shot fired on +our side," answered the pilot. "But that one shot was what brought us +through. It wasn't a blockader, either, but a launch; and if you want to +see what she did to us, step down to the wharf and take a look at the +_Hattie_. One more round of canister would have made a wreck of us." + +"And you happened to be one of the two who were wounded, I reckon," said +the operator. "Fifty cents, please." + +"The last time I sent off a dispatch from here you did not tax me a cent +for it," Marcy reminded him. "Is your patriotism on the wane?" + +"Not much; but you couldn't expect us to keep up that thank-ye business +forever, could you? How would we run the line if we did? We think as +much of the brave boys who are standing between us and Lincoln's +Abolitionists as we ever did; but it takes the hard cash to pay +operators and buy poles and wires." + +Marcy had no trouble in getting his check cashed, and when he went back +to the schooner after his valise and bundles, he had twenty-one hundred +dollars in his pocket. But there were seventeen hundred dollars of it +that did not belong to him. He was only keeping it until he could have +opportunity to return it to the master of the _Mary Hollins._ He found +that Captain Beardsley had gone ashore with his agent, and as Marcy had +already said good-bye to him, it was not necessary that he should waste +any valuable time in hunting him up. He took a hasty leave of his +shipmates, hired a darkey to carry his luggage to the depot, and was in +time to purchase his ticket for a train that was on the point of leaving +for Goldsborough. He had hardly settled himself in his seat before he +became aware that nearly all the passengers in the car were looking at +him, and finally one of them came and seated himself by his side. + +"You are not in uniform," said the passenger, "but all the same I take +it for granted that it was the Yankees who put your arm in a sling." + +"Yes, sir; they did it," answered Marcy. + +"Well, now, I want to know if it's a fact that the Yankees outnumbered +us two to one in that fight," continued the man. + +"You refer to the battle of Bull Run, I suppose. I don't know. I wasn't +there, and I don't hesitate to say that I am glad of it. One howitzer is +as much as I care to face. I got this hurt while coming into Crooked +Inlet on the schooner _Hattie_. She's a blockade-runner." + +"Oh! well, if there's going to be a war, as some people seem to think, +you blockade-runners will be of quite as much use to the Confederacy as +the soldiers. We shall be dependent upon foreign governments for many +things that we used to get from the North, and men like you will have to +supply us. Was it much of a fight?" + +Marcy briefly related the story, and when it was finished the man went +back to his old seat; but during the journey the young pilot was obliged +to tell more than a score of people that he was not present at the +battle of Bull Run, and consequently could not have got his injury +there. He kept his ears open all the way, and was gratified to learn +that the Confederates had not followed up their victory, that they were +not in Washington, and that there was no reason to suppose that they had +any intention of going there immediately; and he thought he knew the +reason why, when he heard one of the passengers say that a few more +victories like Bull Run would ruin the Confederacy. + +At an early hour the next morning Marcy stepped off the train at Boyd +town and found Morris waiting for him. That faithful servitor's eyes +grew to twice their usual dimensions when he saw his young master with +his arm in a sling, and without waiting to learn the extent of his +injuries, he broke out into loud lamentations, and railed at the Yankees +in such a way that the by-standers were led to believe that old Morris +was the best kind of a rebel. + +"The Missus done tole me two men shot on the _Hattie_ and las' night I +dreamed you one of 'em," said he. + +"Silence!" whispered Marcy angrily; "can't you see that you are drawing +the attention of all the people on the platform by your loud talking? I +wasn't shot, either. Come to the carriage and I will tell you all about +it." + +Even after Morris had been assured that the young pilot had merely been +knocked down by a splinter, Marcy didn't tell him that that "splinter" +weighed between fifteen and twenty pounds, for he knew it would get to +his mother's ears if he did; and that his injuries were by no means +serious; the old slave was not satisfied, but continued to scold and +fume at such a rate that Marcy was glad when the carriage whirled +through the gate and drew up at the steps, at the top of which his +mother stood waiting to receive him. + +"Da' he is, Missus; but the Yankees done kill him," exclaimed Morris, +opening and shutting the carriage door with a bang, as if he hoped in +that way to work off some of his excitement. + + + + + CHAPTER VIII. + + A NOISE AT THE WINDOW. + +Mrs. Gray's countenance grew white with alarm. She flew down the steps, +and throwing both her arms about her son's neck, hid her face on his +shoulder and sobbed violently. Marcy put his uninjured arm around her, +and his mother leaned so heavily upon it that the boy thought she was +going to faint. + +"Now see what you have done, you black rascal, by wagging your tongue so +freely," said Marcy angrily. "I've the best notion in the world to have +you sent to the field." + +"But, moster," protested the frightened coachman, "de Yankees did +shoot----" + +"Hold your tongue! If you lisp another word I will have you sent to the +overseer as sure as you are a living darkey. Now take those things out +of the carriage and put them in my room; and when you have done that, go +off somewhere and spend an hour or two every day telling the truth, so +that you will get used to it. Come into the house," he added gently, +leading his mother up the steps, "and I will tell you all about it. I +wasn't shot. I was struck by a splinter." + +"Oh, Marcy," sobbed Mrs. Gray, "your face tells a different story. You +have suffered--you are suffering now; and there isn't a particle of +color in your cheeks. Don't try to deceive me, for I must know the worst +sooner or later." + +"I am not trying to deceive you," answered Marcy, although he _was_ +trying to break the disagreeable news as gently as he could. "I was +knocked down by a splinter and my arm was broken." + +"There now," began his mother. + +"But it's all right," Marcy hastened to add. "Beardsley set the bone in +less than three hours after it was broken, and the surgeon I consulted +in Newbern said he made a good job of it. I don't know what you think +about it, but I am not sorry it happened." + +"Oh, Marcy! why do you say that?" + +"Because it gave me a chance to come home. To tell you the truth, +blockade running is getting to be a dangerous business. We had four +narrow escapes this trip. Beardsley's impudence and a Union captain's +simplicity brought us out of the first scrape, a storm came to our aid +in the second, sheer good luck and a favoring breeze saved us in the +third, and a shot from the second mate's revolver brought us out of the +fourth. We are liable to fall into the hands of the cruisers any day; +and suppose I had been captured and thrown into a Northern prison! You +might not have seen me again for a year or two; perhaps longer. Bring +those bundles in here and take the valise upstairs," he added to the +coachman, who just then passed along the hall with Marcy's luggage in +his hands. "Open that bundle, mother. You need not be ashamed to wear +those dresses, for they were bought in Nassau with honest money--money +that I earned by doing duty as a foremast hand. I didn't pay any duty on +them because no one asked me for it. And in fact I don't know whether +there is a custom-house in Newbern or not. The box in the other bundle +contains nothing but bottles of quinine." + +"What induced you to get so much?" asked Mrs. Gray, who had wiped away +her tears and was trying to look cheerful again. + +"Captain Beardsley first called my attention to the fact that medicine +had gone up in price, and I saw by a paper I got in Nassau that the +rebels are already smuggling quinine across the Potomac," answered +Marcy. "There's a good deal of ague about here, and we'd be in a pretty +fix if we should all get down with it, and no medicine in the house to +help us out." Here he got up and drew his chair closer to his mother's +side, adding in a whisper, "I've twenty-one hundred dollars in gold in +my valise, lacking what I paid for my railroad ticket, and nearly four +hundred dollars of it belongs to me. The rest belongs to the captain of +the _Hollins._" + +"Do you still cling to the hope that you will some day meet him again?" +asked his mother. + +"I know it will be like hunting for a needle in a haystack, but if I +don't find him I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that I tried to, +and that I haven't spent any of his money. I'll keep it locked in my +trunk until my arm gets so that I can handle a spade, and then I'll hide +it in one of the flower beds. Now, how is everything about home? Has +Kelsey shown his ugly face here since I went away, or have you heard +anything from those 'secret enemies' that Wat Gifford spoke of? How has +Hanson behaved himself?" + +Mrs. Gray's report was so satisfactory that Marcy was put quite at his +ease. She had had nothing to worry over, she told him, except, of +course, his absence and Jack's, and if she had not received so many +warnings she would not have suspected that there were such things as +secret enemies around her. But she had relaxed none of her vigilance, +and was always on her guard when any of the neighbors came to see her. +It was a dreadful way to live, but there was no help for it. + +By the time Marcy had removed some of the stains of travel from his face +and clothing, supper was announced; and as he had to talk about +something during the meal, he entertained his mother with a minute +description of the exciting incidents that happened during the +_Hattie's_ homeward run. He could talk of these things in his ordinary +tone of voice, and he did not care who overheard him. More than that, he +was satisfied that every word he uttered in the presence of the girl who +waited at table would go straight to Hanson's ears, and he was really +talking for Hanson's benefit. He retired at an early hour, after his arm +had been bathed and bandaged again (his mother could not keep back her +tears when she saw how inflamed and angry it looked), and left his lamp +burning, as he had done every night since his friend Gifford dropped +that hint about a visit from an organized band of 'longshoremen. Before +he got into bed he unlocked his valise and took from it two things that +his mother knew nothing about,--a brace of heavy revolvers,--which he +placed where he could get his hands upon them at a moment's warning. +"Thank goodness the old flag is above me once more, and not that +secession rag that Beardsley seems to be so proud of," thought Marcy, as +he pounded his pillow into shape and drew the quilts over his shoulders. +"If Colonel Shelby and the rest knew that there are two Union flags +somewhere among these bedclothes, how long do you suppose this house +would stand? If those men are such good rebels, I can't for the life of +me understand why they don't go into the service, instead of staying at +home and making trouble for their neighbors. I should think they would +be ashamed of themselves." + +There were plenty of such men all over the South, and Marcy Gray was not +the only one who wondered why they did not hasten to the front, seeing +that they were so very hostile to the Yankees and their sympathizers, +and professed so much zeal for the cause of Southern independence. His +cousin Rodney often asked himself the same question while Dick Graham +was staying at his father's house, waiting for a chance to get across +the Mississippi River. Tom Randolph, who could not forget that Captain +Hubbard's Rangers had refused to give him the office he wanted, was +Rodney's evil genius. Although Tom became in time commander of a small +company of Home Guards, he could be for the old flag or against it, as +circumstances seemed to require. When the Union forces took possession +of Baton Rouge and the gunboats anchored in front of the city, Randolph +sent more than one squad of Yankee cavalry to search Mr. Gray's house +for firearms, and took measures to keep Rodney, Dick Graham, and the +other discharged Confederates in constant trouble; but when General +Breckenridge and his army appeared, and it began to look as though the +rebels were about to drive the Union forces out and take possession of +Baton Rouge and the surrounding country, Tom Randolph gave his scouts +the names of all the Union men in Mooreville and vicinity, and of course +they did not escape persecution. But Tom, sly as he was, could not play +a double part forever. His sin found him out and his punishment came +close upon the heels of it. We shall tell all about it in its proper +place. + +Having no watch to stand on this particular night, and having no fear of +capture by cruisers or a fight with armed steam launches, Marcy soon +fell asleep, to be awakened about midnight by a sound that sent the cold +chills all over him. He could not have told just what it was, but all +the same it frightened him. He sat up in bed and pulled one of his +revolvers from under his pillow. He listened intently, and in a few +seconds the sound was repeated. Then he knew that it was made by a +pebble which some one in the yard below had tossed against his window. +It was a signal of some sort, but who made it, and why should the +visitor, whoever he might be, seek to arouse him without disturbing his +mother? + +"By gracious!" thought Marcy, resting his revolver on his knee with the +muzzle turned toward the window, as if he half expected to see some one +try to force an entrance there. "What can it mean! It may be a dangerous +piece of business to draw the curtain and open that window, for how do I +know but that there's somebody below waiting for a chance to pop me +over? How do I know but those 'longshoremen have come up----" + +When this thought passed through the boy's mind his fear gave place to +indignation; and hesitating no longer he threw off the bedclothes and +advanced toward the window, just as another pebble rattled against it. +He dashed the curtain aside, threw up the sash, and thrust his head and +his revolver out of the window. The night was so dark that he could not +see a thing except the dark sky and the darker shadows of the trees +against it. + +"Who's there?" he demanded. "Speak quick." + + "The despot's heel is on thy shore; + His torch is at thy temple door. + Avenge the patriotic gore + That flecks the streets of Baltimore + And be the battle queen of yore-- + Maryland! my Maryland!" + +That was the answer he received to his challenge. It was given in a +voice that he had never heard before, and Marcy was so utterly amazed +that he could not interrupt the speaker, or say a word himself when the +verse was concluded. It was part of a rebel song that had recently +become very popular in Baltimore, but it had not yet reached North +Carolina. For only an instant, however, did Marcy stand motionless and +speechless, and then he pointed his weapon in the direction from which +the voice sounded, saying in steady tones: + +"If you don't give me an answer that I can understand, I'll cut loose. +Who are you?" + +"I am a homeless, friendless smuggler," replied the voice; and at the +same instant a familiar bark, followed by an impatient whine, told the +astonished Marcy that his faithful watchman, Bose, was under the window +with the stranger. The unexpected discovery made every nerve in his body +tingle with excitement, and his next words were uttered in a husky and +indistinct tone. + +"Jack!" he exclaimed. "Oh, Jack! Is that you?" + +"It's I," answered the visitor, speaking in his natural voice this time. +"I'm here safe and sound, and none the worse for having been a prisoner +in the hands of that pirate, Captain Semmes." + +"Go round to the front door and I will be right down," said Marcy, in +suppressed tones. He could not imagine why his brother should make his +presence known in this guarded way instead of boldly demanding +admittance at the door, but he knew that there was some reason for it +and conducted himself accordingly. He moved about his room very quietly +while he dressed himself as well as he could with only one hand to work +with, and then he caught up the lamp, hurried downstairs and made his +way to his mother's room. His low tap met with an instant response. + +"Oh, mother," exclaimed Marcy, "Jack's come home, and he's Union." + +"Of course he is for the Union," answered Mrs. Gray calmly, although she +was almost as highly excited as Marcy was. "I have never thought of him +as being a rebel." + +"The rebels had him prisoner," added Marcy; and with this bit of news to +add to his mother's excitement, the boy ran to the front door. The +moment he opened it a stalwart young fellow sprang upon the threshold +with his arms spread out; but he stopped suddenly when his eyes fell +upon Marcy's white face and upon the sling in which he carried his left +hand. + +"What's happened to you?" he demanded, as soon as he could speak. + +"I got that while helping Captain Beardsley run a cargo of contraband +goods through Crooked Inlet," replied Marcy, laughing at the expression +of surprise and disgust that came upon the young sailor's bronzed face +as he listened to the words. "First I was a privateer and now I am a +blockade-runner." + +"There must be some good reason for it, because I know as well as you do +that you do not belong on that side of the house," said the returned +wanderer, closing and locking the door after beckoning to Bose, who was +never permitted to enter the house except upon extraordinary occasions. +"I had a fine chance to become a rebel pirate. When the prize-master who +was put aboard of us after we were captured, found that I was from a +seceded State, he promised if I would ship on the _Sumter_ to ask +Captain Semmes----" + +Just at this point the young sailor looked over his brother's shoulder +and saw his mother coming along the hall. A second later he held her +clasped in his arms. She looked very small and frail while standing +beside that tall, broad-shouldered son, who was as fine a specimen of an +American sailor as could be found anywhere outside of New England. +Although he was but three years older than Marcy, who was by no means a +puny fellow, he stood head and shoulders above him, and was built like a +young Hercules. It was little wonder that Mrs. Gray and Marcy had +awaited his coming with the greatest anxiety and impatience, or that the +former should say to himself: "From this time on I can sleep in peace. +Jack's got home and mother's property is safe." + +"Now that you have got through saying 'hallo,' I'd like to have you tell +me why you came home like a thief in the night instead of knocking at +the door," said Marcy. "I don't know when I have been so frightened." + +"Aha! That shows that I did not make a mistake in going to so much +trouble to be on the safe side. You are afraid of the neighbors, are +you? I read the papers when I could get them, and among other things I +learned that the South is divided against itself, and that few men know +for certain who their friends are. Let's go somewhere and sit down." + +Jack led his mother into the sitting-room. Marcy following with the +lamp, and taking care to see that all the doors were closed before he +seated himself. + +"I should judge from your actions, Marcy, that this family is divided +against itself, and that you are afraid to trust the servants," said +Jack. "If that's the case, the papers told the truth. Now tell me how +you got that bad arm. Were you shot?" + +Marcy did not spend much time on his story, for he was impatient to +learn when and where his brother had been captured, and how he had +managed to escape after a prize crew had been thrown aboard his vessel. +He simply told of his experience in the blockade-runner _Hattie_, +leaving his exploits in the _Osprey_ to be narrated at some future +time. + +"I am glad the _Hattie_ got through the blockade all right seeing that +you were aboard of her," said Jack, when Marcy brought his story to a +close. "But if Uncle Sam doesn't do something to break up +blockade-running, he'll have a war on his hands that will make him open +his eyes. It will not take me five minutes to tell my story. I was a +prisoner not more than twelve hours, and during that time not the first +exciting thing happened. If it hadn't been for the fact that there was a +strange officer in command of the brig, and that our old man was walking +around with his hands in his pockets, saying nothing, we wouldn't have +known that we were prisoners at all." + +With this introduction the returned sailor settled into an easy position +among the sofa pillows and related his experience very nearly as +follows, with this exception: He quite forgot to say that he was the one +who first conceived the idea of taking the _Sabine_ out of the hands of +the prize crew that Semmes had placed aboard of her, and that, if it had +not been for his courage and prompt action, the brig would either have +been sold for the benefit of the Confederate Government, or burned in +the Caribbean Sea after her neutral cargo had been put ashore. + +It happened on the morning of July 4, and the _Sabine_, in company with +the brig _Herndon_, was sailing along the southern coast of Cuba, having +recently left the port of Trinidad-de-Cuba with a cargo of sugar and +molasses, which was consigned to an English port in the Island of +Jamaica. Although there was some sea on and rain squalls were frequent, +there was but little breeze, and consequently the _Sabine_ could not +have run into neutral waters even if second mate Jack Gray, who had +charge of the deck, had known that the steamer that was bearing down +upon her was the freebooter, _Sumter_. + +"What do you mean by neutral waters?" Marcy wanted to know. + +"Why, every country that owns a strip of seacoast owns also the waters +for three miles out," replied Jack. "And inside of that marine league, +as it is called, the cruisers of one nation mustn't trouble the ships of +another with which it happens to be at war. For example, if two armed +vessels belonging to two different nations who are at loggerheads, +happen to sail into the same neutral port, they can't fight there, but +must go outside; and if one of them runs out, the other must wait +twenty-four hours before following her." + +The coast of Cuba was in plain view when the _Sumter_ was sighted, but +as there was little breeze stirring, and the brigs could not escape, +Captain Semmes was not obliged to resort to the cowardly trick he +usually practiced--that is, hoisting the English ensign to quiet the +fears of the crew of the unlucky vessels he intended to destroy. He +began business at once; and the first thing that drew the attention of +second mate Jack Gray, as he planked the quarter-deck thinking of almost +everything except Confederate war vessels, was the roar of a thirty-two +pounder. Jack looked up to see a thick cloud of white smoke floating +slowly away from the side of the steamer, and to take note of the fact +that a peculiar looking flag floated from her peak. Jack had never seen +it before, but he knew in a minute what it was. At the same time he +noticed that the _Herndon_ which was half a mile or so in advance of the +_Sabine_ had backed her main topsail and hoisted her own colors--the +Stars and Stripes. + +"Tumble up here, Captain," exclaimed Jack, rushing to the top of the +companion-ladder. "There's a rebel steamer on the lee bow, speaking to +us." + +"I wondered what that noise was," said the captain, as he came up the +ladder in two jumps, and saw that a boat had already been lowered from +the steamer and was putting off to take charge of the _Herndon_. + +The captain knew that there were rebel privateers afloat, for in a +foreign port he had read of the escape of the _Savannah_ from Charleston +on June 2, and of the inglorious ending of her short career as a +freebooter. The _Savannah_ captured one merchantman with a cargo of +sugar, and afterward gave chase to a brig, which turned out to be the +man of war _Perry_. The _Savannah_ was captured after a little race, and +her crew were sent to New York as prisoners. But the captain of the +_Sabine_ never knew until that moment that the rebels had let loose +steam vessels to prey upon the commerce of the Northern States. He +looked at the "pirate," which, having sent off a boat to complete the +capture of the _Herndon_ had put herself in motion again and was drawing +closer to the _Sabine_ glanced up at the sails, and then turned his +wistful eyes toward the Cuban coast line. + +"There isn't the ghost of a chance," said Jack, who easily read the +thoughts that were passing in the mind of his commander. "If we try to +run and she doesn't feel like chasing us, she'll shoot us into little +bits." + +"She's got five guns," remarked the first mate, who was making a close +examination of the steamer through the spyglass. "She's loading one of +them, and it might be a good plan for us to come to and show colors." + +These words brought the captain to his senses. He gave the necessary +orders, and in a few minutes the brig's maintopsail had been backed and +the Union emblem was floating from her peak. There were an astonished +lot of men aboard of her, and they were so angry, too, that they could +not stand still. They clenched their hands and gritted their teeth when +they saw a boat filled with armed men put off from the steamer, and when +the boarding officer came over the side and informed the captain of the +_Sabine_ in courteous tones, that his vessel was a prize to the +Confederate cruiser _Sumter_ they could scarcely control themselves. + +"I suppose I shall have to give in," said the Yankee skipper. "But I +tell you plainly that if I had five guns and as many men as you've got, +one or the other of us would have been on his way to the bottom before +this time." + +"Oh, I don't doubt that you would make us plenty of trouble if you had +the power," said the rebel officer, with a smile. "But, fortunately, you +haven't got it. I shall have to ask you to get your papers and go off to +the _Sumter_ with me. What's your cargo, where from, and whither bound?" +he added, turning to Jack, when the captain had disappeared in the +cabin. + +The second mate did not waste any time or words in giving the desired +information. + +"Ah! A neutral cargo bound from one neutral port to another," said the +officer. "I am sorry to hear that." + +"Why are you?" inquired Jack. + +"Because under the circumstances we cannot destroy your vessel." + +"What's the use of being so mean just because you happen to possess the +power?" said Jack. + +"Young man," replied the officer sharply, "we are bound to harass you +Yankees all we can and in every way we can. That's what your people are +doing to us. But what else can we do? France and England have denied us +the privilege of taking our prizes into any of their ports, and there's +but one course left for us to pursue. But Spain hasn't spoken yet, and +perhaps we shall test her friendship for us by taking you into a Cuban +port." + +Things turned out just as the boarding officer thought they would. The +captain of the brig was taken off to the _Sumter_, and after his papers +had been examined he was sent back, and a prize crew, consisting of a +midshipman and four sailors, was placed on board the brig. Both prizes +were then taken in tow by the _Sumter_, which steamed away for the +harbor of Cienfuegos, Captain Semmes laboring under the delusion that +Spain would permit him to have his Yankee prizes condemned and sold in a +Spanish port. The Confederate midshipman commanded the brig, the Yankee +sailors sullenly performed the little work there was to be done, and the +four Confederate sailors stood around and kept watch of them. + +Only one thing that was worthy of note occurred during the day. The +_Sumter_ steamed slowly along the coast, making not more than five knots +an hour, and the Yankee sailors, enraged over the loss of their vessel, +and looking forward to nothing else but a long term of confinement in a +Southern prison, were very uneasy, and naturally enough they wanted to +exchange opinions on the situation; but that was something the +midshipman would not permit. He was vigilant, and would not allow the +brig's crew to get together for fear that they might hatch up a plan for +recapturing their property. If a couple of them got near enough together +to whisper a few words to each other, he would call out roughly: + +"What are you about, there? Get farther apart, you two." + +This state of affairs continued until night came and darkness settled +down over the Caribbean Sea, and then Captain Semmes himself did +something that caused the heart of every one of the _Sabine's_ crew to +beat high with hope. + + + + + CHAPTER IX. + + THE "SUMTER" LOSES A PRIZE. + +While the majority of the _Sabine's_ crew chafed and fretted like +captive birds which beat their wings against the bars of their cage to +no purpose, there were two who stood aloof from every one and from each +other; who never spoke a word, but who nevertheless came to a perfect +understanding through the interchange of frequent and expressive +glances. They were the captain and Jack Gray. Each one knew as well as +if the other had explained it to him, that both had resolved upon the +same thing--that before the sun rose again the _Sabine_ must be taken +out of the hands of the prize crew, and her course shaped toward a +Northern port, no matter what the risk might be. + +"I knew, although I had no chance to speak to the old man about it, that +our first hard work must be to disarm those five rebels," said Jack, in +telling his story. "I knew it would be easy enough to do that if we all +moved together, for there was but one native American in the prize +crew--the midshipman--and he was a little whiffet to be strangled with a +finger and thumb. Even the fact that we were in the middle of the tow, +the _Sumter_ ahead and the _Herndon_ behind, wouldn't have made any +difference to us if we had had control of the brig, because a few lusty +blows with an axe would have severed the two hawsers and the darkness +would have aided us in making our escape; but the trouble was, the +elements were against us. The wind would not come up, and of course it +would be of no use for us to take the brig unless we had a breeze to +help us draw off." + +While the captain and his vigilant second mate were waiting and watching +in the hope that something might unexpectedly turn up in their favor, +Captain Semmes came to their aid. The _Sumter_ with her heavy tow and +little breeze to help her, was making headway altogether too slowly to +suit him; and besides, it had occurred to him that it might be well to +run ahead and find out what the authorities at Cienfuegos thought of him +and his government, and whether or not they would permit Yankee prizes +to be condemned and sold in that port. The first intimation the brig's +crew had that Captain Semmes was about to cast off his tow was a warning +whistle from the _Sumter_. This was followed by a sudden slackening of +the hawser, and a few minutes later the _Sumter's_ black hulk showed +itself on the starboard bow. She was backing water. + +"_Sabine_ ahoy!" came the hail. + +"On board the _Sumter!_ replied the midshipman. + +"Cast off the _Herndon's_ hawser and stand by to pass it aboard of us." + +The midshipman responded with an "Ay, ay, sir!" and ordered the brig's +crew to lay aft and hold themselves in readiness to cast off when they +received the word. It took half an hour to transfer the line from one +vessel to the other (it was accomplished by the aid of a small boat), +and then another order came to the prize-master of the _Sabine_. + +"Haul in your own hawser and make sail and follow us into port," were +the instructions he received, and which he at once proceeded to act +upon. He did not notice, however, that the first man to seize the hawser +and lay out his strength upon it with a "Heave yo! All together now," +was the surly second mate, who seemed to take the loss of his vessel so +much to heart that he hadn't said a word to anybody since the prize crew +was put aboard of her. But Jack Gray was there with an object. When the +end of the hawser had been wound around the capstan, and the bars were +shipped, he took pains to place himself next to a couple of Green +Mountain boys, whose courage had been proved in more than one trying +ordeal. + +"Heave yo! 'Round she goes. Strike up a song, somebody," shouted Jack; +and then he leaned over and spoke so that not only the two men who were +heaving at the bar with him but also the three who were on the bar in +front could hear every word he said. "Listen, boys," said he earnestly. +"We're going to take the ship out of the hands of these pirates. Put a +handspike or an axe where you can get your hands on it, and be ready to +jump the instant the old man or I make a move." + +Jack could say no more just then, for in his progress around the capstan +he came opposite the place where the midshipman was standing. He +breasted the bar manfully and joined in the song, looking as innocent as +though he had never thought of knocking the midshipman overboard if the +latter gave him even the shadow of a chance to do it. + +"I knew well enough that you cabin fellows would never let these +villains get away with the brig," said the man on his left, as soon as +it was safe for him to speak. "Jump as soon as you get ready and we'll +be there. What was it you read to us from that Mobile paper you brought +aboard at Rio--that one Southern gentleman is as good as five Northern +mudsills? We will give them a chance to prove it." + +"Pass the word among the boys and tell them to stand by to bear a hand +when the time comes," added the second mate. "But be sly about it, for +we must not arouse the suspicions of these rebels. They are armed and we +are not." + +In due time the hawser was hauled aboard and stowed away, and then the +midshipman prepared to make sail and follow the _Sumter_ which was by +this time so far off that her lights could not be seen. It took a good +while to do this, and once, while working on the foreyard, Jack was +delighted to find himself by his captain's side. + +"I hope that rebel officer didn't see you come up," said Jack. "If he +did he will be on his guard, and then good-by to all our chances of +taking the ship." + +"Do you take me for a dunce?" asked the captain, in reply. "I came up +when he wasn't looking, because I wanted a chance to say a word to +you." + +"I know what you would say if you had time," was Jack's answer. "So do +the men. They have all been posted, and are as eager to get the ship +back as you can possibly be." + +"Very good," said the captain, who was highly gratified. "Stand by the +companion-ladder and watch all that goes on in the cabin." + +Having seen the last sail sheeted home Jack obeyed the order to "lay +down from aloft," and engaged the midshipman in conversation to give the +captain a chance to gain the deck without being discovered. At the same +time he noticed that the long wished for breeze was springing up, and +that everything was beginning to draw beautifully. At this moment the +steward came up from the cabin and approached the place where they were +standing. + +"You haven't had any supper, sir," said he, saluting the midshipman. +"Won't you come down and drink a cup of coffee and eat an orange?" + +Jack fairly trembled while he waited for the officer's reply. He was +afraid he would decline the invitation--Jack knew he would have done so +if he had been in the midshipman's place, and that nothing short of an +overpowering force would have taken him from the deck so long as he was +prize-master of the brig. But the young officer's fears had not only +been lulled to sleep by the orderly conduct of the _Sabine's_ crew, +which led him to believe that they, like all the rest of their +countrymen, were too cowardly to show fight under any circumstances, but +he was tired and hungry, and he thought that a cup of coffee and +something good to eat would take the place of the night's sleep which he +knew he was going to lose. Accordingly he followed the steward toward +the cabin, and then Jack told himself that something was about to +happen--that this was a part of the captain's plan for seizing the +vessel. Jack had been instructed to stand at the top of the +companion-ladder and watch all that went on below, and in order that he +might carry out those instructions without attracting the midshipman's +attention, he quietly removed his shoes and stood in his stocking feet. +As he was about to start for the post that had been assigned him, he saw +an opportunity to aid the captain that was too good to be lost. Standing +within less than ten feet of him was one of the Confederate sailors. He +was leaning over the rail looking down into the water, evidently in a +brown study. He held his musket clasped in his arms in a position +something like "arms port," and Jack knew that he carried his revolver +on the right side, that the butt was entirely out of the holster, and +that there was no strap to hold the weapon in place. He had taken note +of these facts when the prize-crew first came aboard. + +Before attempting to carry out the desperate plan he had so suddenly +conceived for securing this particular rebel, Jack swept a hasty glance +over the deck to calculate his chances for success. They could not have +been better. There was not another one of the prize-crew in sight; but +just across from him, on the other side of the deck, stood Stebbins, one +of the Green Mountain boys who had worked at the capstan with him. Other +members of the crew were making a pretense of being busy at something in +the waist, but they were one and all keeping a close watch on the second +mate, and there were hand-spikes, axes, or belaying-pins within easy +reach. Jack made a warning gesture to Stebbins, and the sailor at once +reached for his capstan-bar. With two quick, noiseless steps Jack placed +himself close behind the dreaming rebel, and thrusting his left arm over +his shoulder seized his musket with a firm grasp, while at the same +time, with his right hand, he deftly slipped the revolver from its +holster. + +"Not a word--not a whisper!" said Jack, placing the muzzle of the heavy +Colt close to the rebel's head. "Let go that gun. Stebbins, take off his +cutlass and buckle it around your own waist." + +When the captive recovered himself sufficiently to look around, he was +astonished to find that he was confronted by four of the brig's foremast +hands, all of whom carried weapons of some sort, which they held +threateningly over his head. There was no help for it, and he was prompt +to obey both Jack's orders; that is to say, he gave up his gun and kept +his lips closed. + +"Lead him aft, Stebbins, and stand guard over him with your cutlass," +commanded Jack. "If he tries to run or give warning to his companions, +cut him down. Smith, take this musket and keep a sharp eye on me. The +officer is in the cabin, and I don't think the old man means to let him +come out very soon." + +Stebbins moved off with his prisoner. Smith and the other two sailors +stationed themselves where they could see everything the second mate +did, and the latter advanced close to the companion-way so that he could +look down and obtain a view of the interior of the cabin. At the very +first glance he saw something to discourage him. + +"The moment the old man told me to watch all that went on in the cabin, +that moment I understood his plan," said Jack. "And when I afterward +compared notes with him and the steward, I learned that I had made no +mistake. The captain was not denied the privilege of going in and out of +his cabin as often as he pleased, and that was one place where the +midshipman, who was really a sharp officer, did wrong. Another wrong +move he made was in scattering his men about the deck. If he had kept +them close together, so that they could have helped one another, we +never could have taken the brig." + +It was during one of these visits to the cabin that the captain took his +revolver from the place in which he had concealed it when he saw the +prize-crew coming aboard, and put four pairs of hand-cuffs into his +pockets; for when the rebel boarding officer hauled down his colors, he +determined that at sunrise the next morning the Stars and Stripes should +again float at his peak if he had to sacrifice half his crew to get them +there. His next move was to order his steward to dish up supper, and +when it was ready he sent word to the midshipman to come down and have a +bite; but, although the brig was towing at the stern of the _Sumter_ and +there was not the smallest chance for her to escape, the officer would +not trust himself within reach of the skipper and his mates. However, he +was not afraid to go into the cabin alone, and when the steward asked +him, in Jack's hearing, to come below and drink a cup of coffee and eat +an orange, he accepted the invitation; but his actions indicated that he +was very suspicious. + +"Sit down here, sir," said the steward, drawing back the chair he had +placed for him. + +"Well, hardly," replied the officer, glancing at the door behind him, +which, by the way, opened into the captain's state-room. "Move that +chair and plate to the other side of the table." + +"Certainly, sir," said the steward, in his politest tones; and the +command was promptly obeyed. + +The first thing the midshipman did after he had taken his seat, was to +draw his revolver from its holster and show it to the steward; and then +he placed it on the chair under his left leg. + +"You will observe that I don't put it on the table and give you a chance +to snatch it while I am in the act of drinking my coffee," said he +blandly. + +"Certainly, sir," said the steward again. + +"You Yankees have the reputation of being pretty sharp people," +continued the officer, "and I believe you are somewhat famous for the +tricks you play upon unsuspecting strangers; but you will find that +there are smarter men south of Mason and Dixon's line than there are +north of it. Now, if we understand each other, trot out your grub." + +The steward ran up the ladder, at the top of which he found the second +mate, standing back out of the light so that the midshipman could not +see him if he chanced to look toward the deck. + +"Did you notice that he would not sit where I wanted him to?" whispered +the steward. "The old man is in his state-room, waiting for a chance to +rush out and grab him, but I am afraid that move on the Confederate's +part will knock the whole thing in the head." + +"Not by a long shot," replied Jack. "We've got firearms of our own now, +and if the worst is forced upon us, we'll engage them in a regular +battle. But we don't want to shoot if we can help it, for that might +bring the _Sumter_ upon us." + +The steward vanished in the galley, and while he was gone Jack thought +seriously of giving him the revolver he had taken from the captured +rebel, and telling him to watch his chance to put it to the head of the +midshipman while he was eating his supper, and demand his surrender on +pain of death. That would have been just the thing to do, Jack thought, +if he were only sure that the steward's courage would not fail him when +the critical moment came; but unfortunately he was not quite positive on +that point. He had never had an opportunity to see how the steward would +act in an emergency, and after a little reflection he concluded that he +had better keep the weapon in his own possession. + +In a few minutes the steward came out of the galley, carrying a tray +upon which he had placed a tempting supper, and Jack saw him descend +into the cabin and put it on the table. + +"Here, you fellow, that won't do," he heard the midshipman exclaim. +"Don't take quite so much pains to get behind me, if you please. Stand +around on the other side of the table, so that I can see everything you +do." + +"Certainly, sir," answered the steward, as he hastened to take the +position pointed out to him. + +If Jack Gray had been in the cabin at that moment he would have seen +that he did a wise thing when he decided to hold fast to his revolver +instead of handing it over to the steward and depending upon him to +capture the midshipman, for when the latter emphasized his commands by +pulling his six-shooter from under his leg and raising and lowering the +hammer with one hand, keeping the muzzle pointed toward the steward's +head all the while, the latter grew as white as a sheet and trembled in +every limb. After he thought he had inflicted sufficient torture upon +the timid fellow, the Confederate put up his weapon and demanded: + +"What State are you from?" + +"Massachusetts, sir." + +"Are all Massachusetts men as great cowards as you are?" + +"Certainly, sir," answered the steward, who was afraid to say anything +else. + +"Then we're going to have a walk-over, sure enough," said the rebel. +"You Yankees are afraid to fight." + +"Certainly, sir." + +Every word of this conversation was overheard by a man who, but for a +most unfortunate interruption, would have forced the Confederate officer +to swallow his words almost as soon as they had left his lips. It was +the skipper. He had come down from aloft and reached his cabin without +being seen, and it was in obedience to his instructions that the +prize-master had been asked below to get some supper. His plan was to +have the steward seat the officer with his back to a certain state-room, +so that he could be seized from behind and choked into submission before +he knew that there was a third party in the cabin; but that could not be +done now. The rebel's suspicions led him to change to the other side of +the table, and he now sat facing the state-room door, on whose farther +side stood the merchant captain with rage in his heart and a cocked +revolver in his hand. The captain knew that he was going to put himself +in danger when he attempted to make a prisoner of the midshipman, but +that did not deter him. When he heard that sweeping charge of cowardice +made against the men of his native State he could stand it no longer, +but jerked open the door and sprang into the cabin. + +Now came that unexpected interruption to the skipper's plan of which we +have spoken. The steward heard the door of the state room creak softly +behind him, and, knowing what was coming, he made a quick jump to one +side to get out of the skipper's way and leave him a clear field for his +operations; but he was so badly frightened that he hardly knew what he +was about, and consequently he did the very thing he tried to avoid. He +sprang directly in front of his commander, and the two came together +with such force that they measured their length on the cabin floor, the +captain and his revolver being underneath. For one single instant the +prize-master sat as motionless in his chair as if he had been turned +into a block of wood; but it was for one instant only. He was quick to +comprehend the situation, and equally quick to act. He sprang to his +feet, and before either of the prostrate men could make a move he ran +around the end of the table and covered them with his revolver. + +"If you stir or utter a word I will shoot you as quickly as I would +shoot a couple of dogs which disputed my right to use the highway," said +he, in tones that could not have been steadier if he had been ordering +the boatswain's mate of the _Sumter_ to pipe sweepers. "Captain, drop +that revolver on the floor without moving your hand a hair's-breadth." + +"Let go your own revolver," said a voice in his ear: and to his infinite +amazement the Confederate suddenly found himself in a grasp so strong +that it not only rendered him incapable of action, but brought him to +his knees in a second. One vise-like hand was fastened upon the back of +his neck and the other upon his wrist, turning the muzzle of the +revolver upward, so that it pointed toward the roof of the cabin. + + [Illustration: JACK GRAY RECAPTURES THE BRIG.] + +This is what we referred to when we stated that if it had not been for +Jack Gray's courage and prompt action, it is probable that the brig +would never have been recaptured. When the midshipman jumped from his +chair and ran around the table, he turned his back toward the +companion-way; and the moment he did so, Jack Gray, who saw that the +critical time had come and that the next few seconds would decide who +were to be masters of the brig, made a spring for the ladder. As he was +in his stocking feet his movements were noiseless, and so rapid, too, +that he had the Confederate prize-master in his grasp before the latter +was fairly done speaking. Then he was powerless, for the second mate had +a grip that few who knew him cared to contend against. + +"Didn't you have the revolver you took from the captured sailor in your +pocket?" inquired Marcy, when Jack reached this point in his story. + +"I did, but I didn't think it best to depend upon it, for this reason: +Although the midshipman wasn't much to look at, he had showed himself to +be possessed of any amount of pluck, and I was afraid that even if I +succeeded in getting the drop on him he might shoot any way, for the +double purpose of disabling me and calling his men to his assistance. So +I made all haste to get a hold on him." + +"Now that I think of it," continued Marcy, who was deeply interested in +the narrative, "why did Captain Semmes keep the _Herndon_ in tow when he +cast off the _Sabine?_ Why didn't he let both vessels go?" + +"I have never been able to account for that except upon the supposition +that he had more confidence in our prize-master than he had in the one +he put aboard the _Herndon_," replied sailor Jack. "The _Herndon_ was a +heavy vessel, and had a much larger crew than we had; and perhaps that +had something to do with it. I think we taught Semmes a lesson he will +remember. I don't believe he will ever again trust a Yankee prize and a +Yankee crew out of reach of his big guns." + +The master of the brig and his frightened steward got upon their feet as +soon as they could, and found that the Confederate officer had been +secured beyond all possibility of escape. The second mate had twisted +his revolver from his grasp; Smith, the man to whom Jack had given the +captured musket, was holding a bayonet close to his nose, and another +sailor was threatening him with a handspike. + +"Did you really think that nine Yankee sailors would permit five +traitors to work their sweet will on them?" demanded the skipper, as he +let down the hammer of the officer's revolver and dropped the weapon +into his own pocket. "I think you will learn to your cost that you have +been very much mistaken in the opinions you have formed of Northern +people. I shall have to ask you to go into my state-room and remain +there, leaving the door open. Smith, stay here and watch him, while the +rest of us go on deck, and attend to the other four." + +"There are but three left, Captain," observed Jack. "One is already a +prisoner, and Stebbins is keeping guard over him." + +At that moment a body of men marched aft from the forecastle, came to a +halt at the top of the ladder, and a hoarse voice hailed the cabin. It +was the voice of the first mate. + +"Tumble up, Cap'n," said the officer. "We've got the rest of 'em hard +and fast. Tumble up and take command of your ship. She's your'n once +more." + +That was the most gratifying piece of news Jack Gray had ever heard. + + + + + CHAPTER X. + + A COOL PROPOSITION. + +Although the captain and Jack had not spoken to the first mate since the +brig was captured, except it was in the presence of some member of the +prize-crew, they had scowled and winked at him as often as the +opportunity was presented, and the mate knew well enough what they meant +by it and what they intended to do. He determined to do his part. He +managed to exchange a few words with some of the brig's crew, whom he +instructed to stand by him and be ready to lend a hand when the time +came. He saw Jack make the first capture, with Smith's aid and +Stebbins's, and by adroitly engaging the other three members of the +prize-crew in conversation, it is probable that he kept them from taking +note of what was going on in the waist. When he saw Jack make a rush for +the companion-ladder, he seized the nearest Confederate, his men quickly +overpowered the other two, and then he marched aft to tell his captain +the good news. It was all done in less than two minutes, and Captain +Semmes was none the wiser for it. The surprise was complete. There was +not a shot fired, and the movements of the Yankee sailors were so rapid +that resistance was useless. + +"You've got the brig all to yourself again, Cap'n," said the mate. "What +shall I do with these varmints?" + +"Send them down here," was the reply. "And tell Stebbins to send his man +down also." + +As the four prisoners filed into the cabin, Jack was rather surprised to +see that they did not appear to be at all cast down by the sudden and +unexpected turn affairs had taken. Indeed, one of them, who spoke with a +rich Irish brogue, boldly declared: + +"Sure it's not mesilf that cares at all, at all. I've had enough of the +bloody hooker." + +"Have a care," whispered Jack, nudging him in the ribs with his elbow. +"Your commanding officer is in that state-room. He can hear every word +you say." + +"Sorry a wan of me cares whether he can or not," replied the sailor. "We +were promised big wages and prize-money by the bushel if we would help +capture the Yankee ships on the high seas. We've took two prizes besides +this wan, and the _Herndon_ but we put the torch to thim, and niver a +cint of prize-money is there forninst the name of Paddy Scanlan on the +books." + +"Well, Paddy," said the captain, with a laugh, "you may abuse the rebels +all you please, and no one aboard my vessel will say a thing to you. +Now, will you give your word of honor that you will behave yourselves as +long as you stay aboard of me?" + +"Sure I will," replied the sailor earnestly. + +"I mean all of you rebels," said the captain. "You treated us very +civilly while we were your prisoners, and I want to treat you in the +same way if you will let me. Let's have your promise." + +It was given without a moment's hesitation, and was to the effect that +as long as they remained on the _Sabine_ they would make no disturbance, +but would in all respects conduct themselves with as much propriety as +though they had been regularly shipped as members of her crew. + +"As long as you stand to that agreement I will allow you the liberty of +the deck, beginning to-morrow morning," said the captain. "But I tell +you plainly that if you go back from your word, I will have you in irons +before you know what is the matter with you. Smith, stand at the foot of +the ladder until you are relieved. On deck the rest of us!" + +Never had the _Sabine's_ crew worked harder than they did on this +particular night to bring their vessel about and get her on her course +again; but this time the skipper did not intend to make for the port to +which his cargo was consigned. He told his mates that as soon as the +brig rounded the western end of the island of Cuba, he would fill away +for Key West, which was the nearest Federal naval station. + +"I won't trust myself and my ship in these waters an hour longer than I +am obliged to," he declared. "How do I know but that there may be a +dozen or more vessels like the _Sumter_ cruising about here, watching +their chance to make bonfires of the defenseless merchant vessels? Now +let this be a standing order: While we are under way we'll not speak a +single ship, no matter what flag she floats. If you see a sail, run away +from it." + +"And strict obedience to that order saved our bacon," said Jack, in +conclusion. "We got up to Key West without any mishap, turned our +prisoners over to the commandant of the station, and then filled away +for Boston, taking with us a cargo that ought to have gone another way. +We were warned to look out for little privateers--sailing vessels with +one or two guns aboard--and the navy fellows told us that the coasts of +North and South Carolina were particularly dangerous; but our brig was a +grayhound, the captain had the fullest confidence in her, and so he held +his course. But we kept a bright lookout night and day, and were almost +worn out with watching by the time we reached our home port." + +"You didn't see anything of those privateers, did you?" said Mrs. Gray. + +"Yes; we sighted one somewhere in the latitude of Sandy Point," answered +Jack. "She fired a couple of shells at us, and tried to lay herself +across our course; but she couldn't make it. We ran away from her as if +she had been anchored." + +"What sort of a looking craft was she?" exclaimed Marcy, starting up in +his chair. + +"Well, she was a fore-and-after and had figures painted on her sails to +make us believe that she was a pilot boat," answered Jack, somewhat +surprised at his brother's earnestness. "But she was about four times +too big for a pilot boat. She hoisted Union colors, and when she found +that she could not decoy us within range that way, she ran up the +secession rag and cut loose with her bow-chaser; but she might as well +have saved her ammunition, for she didn't come anywhere near us." + +"And neither did the rifle-shots that you fired in return come anywhere +near us," added Marcy. + +"Anywhere near you?" exclaimed Jack, starting up in his turn. "What do +you mean? What do you know about it?" + +"I know all about it, for I was there," replied Marcy. "It was I who ran +up those flags, and although I didn't dream that you were on the brig, +you can't imagine how delighted I was when I saw that she was bound to +give us the slip. That privateer was Captain Beardsley's schooner, and I +was aboard of her in the capacity of pilot." + +Sailor Jack settled back in his chair as if to say that that was the +most astounding thing he had ever heard in his life. + +"_Pilot!_" he exclaimed, at length. "Lon Beardsley doesn't need a pilot +on this coast. He has smuggled more than one cargo of cigars through +these inlets." + +"I know that. But you are aware that Beardsley has been our enemy for +years. He couldn't find any way to take revenge until this war broke +out, and then he began troubling us. He knew, and he knows to-day, that +I am Union all over, and down on secession and all who favor it, and +when he offered me the pilot's berth and promised to do the fair thing +by me, he was in hopes that mother would refuse to let me go; then, +don't you see, he would have had an excuse to set our rebel neighbors +against us on the ground that we were traitors to our State." + +"I always knew that Lon Beardsley was beneath contempt, but this rather +gets ahead of me," said Jack hotly. + +"But it so happened that we saw through his little game. Mother never +said a word, and I shipped as pilot aboard the privateer _Osprey_" +continued Marcy. "And, Jack (here he got up, moved his chair close to +the sofa on which his brother was sitting and lowered his voice to a +whisper), I was on her when she made her first and only capture, and +upstairs in my valise I have seventeen hundred dollars in gold, my share +of the money the _Mary Hollins_ brought when she was condemned and sold +in the port of Newbern." + +"That would be a nice little sum of money if it had been earned in an +honorable way," observed Jack. + +"But it wasn't," said Marcy, "and consequently I don't intend to keep +it. I'm going to give it back to the one to whom it belongs. Oh, you +needn't laugh. I mean it!" + +"I know you do, and I hope that you will some day find the man; but I am +afraid you won't. Where is Beardsley now?" + +"I left him at Newbern. The presence of the cruisers on the coast +frightened him so that he gave up privateering--he didn't want to run +the risk of being captured with guns aboard of him for fear that he +might be treated as a pirate--and took to running the blockade. We made +one successful trip, taking out cotton and bringing back an assorted +cargo worth somewhere in the neighborhood of a hundred thousand dollars, +and it was while we were trying to make Crooked Inlet on our way home +that we came the nearest to being captured. We ran foul of a howitzer +launch, which turned loose on us with shrapnel and canister, and gave me +this broken arm and Beardsley a black and blue shoulder." + +"I wish from the bottom of my heart that she had given him a broken +head," said Jack. "Were you much hurt?" + +"I don't mind it in the least," answered Marcy. "It has given me a +chance to visit with mother and you. But I don't quite understand why +you came home as you did. What made you so sly about it? Go more into +particulars, but don't talk too loud." + +"Is it a fact that you are afraid to converse in ordinary tones in your +own house?" said Jack, looking inquiringly at his mother. + +"Marcy and I have been very cautious, for we don't know whom to trust," +answered Mrs. Gray. "One of our principal sources of anxiety is the +money we have hidden in the cellar wall." + +"Thirty thousand dollars!" whispered Marcy in his brother's ear. "Mother +brought it home herself and spent three nights in fixing a place for +it." + +"Holy Moses!" said Jack under his breath. "Do the neighbors know it?" + +"They suspect it, and that is what troubles us." + +"I don't wonder at it. Why, mother, there are plenty of white trash about +here who would rob you in a minute if they thought they could do it +without bringing harm to themselves. I declare, I am almost afraid to +leave home again." + +"Oh, Jack!" said his mother, the tears starting to her eyes; "you surely +will not leave me again." + +"Not if you bid me stay, but I didn't think you would do it, knowing, as +I did, that you are strong for the Union. That was the reason I came +home in the night and threw stones at Marcy's window. I intended, after +a short visit, to show my love for the old flag by making my way out to +the blockading fleet, and shipping with the first commander who would +take me. Consequently, I did not want to let any of the neighbors know +that I came home at all. I was sure that there must be some Union people +here, but of course I don't know who they are any more than I know who +the rebels are; so I thought it best to keep my movements a secret. +However, I might as well have saved myself the trouble," added Jack, +while an expression of anxiety settled upon his bronzed features; "of +course I can't keep out of sight of the servants, and if there are any +treacherous ones among them, as you seem to think, they will blab on me +to the first rebel they can find." + +"They will tell the overseer of it," said Marcy. "He's a sneak and a spy +as well as a rebel." + +"Why do you keep him, then?" demanded Jack. "Why didn't you kick him off +the place as soon as you found out that he could not be trusted?" + +"I hired him for a year," answered Mrs. Gray. "And if I should discharge +him on account of his political opinions, can you not see that I would +give the rebels in the settlement the very opportunity that I believe +they are waiting for--the opportunity to persecute me?" + +"Perhaps there is something in that," said Jack thoughtfully. "I must +say that this is a nice way to live. But the Confederates can't say a +word against you now, because Marcy sails under their flag." + +"If anybody tells you that story don't you believe a word of it," said +Marcy. "They know why I went aboard that privateer as well as if I had +told them all about it. But, Jack, what did you mean when you told me +that you were a homeless, friendless smuggler?" + +"I am not exactly homeless and friendless," replied the sailor, with a +hearty laugh, "but it is a fact that I am a smuggler in a small way. +When I found myself safe in Boston, the first thing I thought of was +getting home. I first decided I would go to Washington and try to get a +pass through the Union lines; but I soon found that that wouldn't do, +for I saw by the papers that the Federals were straining every nerve to +close the Potomac against smugglers and mail-carriers, and that +satisfied me that no passes were granted. My only hope then was to get +here by water. I met my captain every day or two, and he helped me out +by securing me a berth on the schooner, _West Wind_. He never said a +word to me about the character of the vessel, although he must have +known all about it and given me a good recommend besides, for the day +after I went aboard. Captain Frazier called me into his cabin, and took +me into his confidence. + +"I thought the master of the _Sabine_ was a strong Union man," said +Marcy. "But this looks as though he was giving aid and comfort to the +rebels." + +"Well, no; he didn't mean it that way. He was giving aid and comfort to +_me_, don't you see? He wanted to help me get home, and I assure you I +was glad of the chance he gave me. Captain Frazier was an old friend of +his. He happened to find out that Frazier was about to turn an honest +penny by selling the Confederates medicine and other little things of +which they stood in need, and instead of betraying him, he recommended +me as a suitable man for second mate, for I was a tolerable sailor, and +well acquainted with the coasts of the Carolinas. I accepted the +position when it was offered me, and brought the _West Wind_ through +Oregon Inlet as slick as you please, although the channel doesn't run +within a hundred yards of where it did the last time I went through +there." + +"Did you take out a venture?" + +"Of course. I risked about two-thirds of my hard-earned wages." + +"What did you buy?" + +"Quinine, calomel, and about half a dozen different kinds of quack +medicines in the shape of pills and tonics. But there was where I made a +mistake. I ought to have put all the money in quinine. If I had, I would +have made two or three hundred dollars more than I did. As it was I +cleared about twelve hundred. And that reminds me that I left my +grip-sack on the gallery." + +He and Marcy went out to bring it in, and when they returned, Jack was +slapping the side of the valise to make the gold pieces jingle. + +"My son, I am very sorry you did it," said Mrs. Gray reproachfully. +"Very sorry indeed." + +"Why, mother, just listen to this," replied Jack, hitting the valise +another sounding whack. + +"I hear it," said his mother. "But when you brought those things down +here and piloted that vessel through the blockade, didn't you violate +the laws of your country? Did you not render yourself liable to arrest +and imprisonment?" + +"Well, to be honest, I did; but you see I was looking into the future. +When I reached Newbern I wasn't home by a long shot. There's a right +smart stretch of country between that place and this. I walked nearly +every step of the way from Boydtown, and every man I met was the hottest +kind of a rebel, or professed to be. When questioned, as I often was, I +could tell a truthful story about being second mate of a schooner that +had slipped into Newbern with a lot of goods for the Confederacy, and +furthermore, I had the documents to prove it," said Jack, drawing an +official envelope from an inside pocket. "This is a strong letter from +the captain of the _West Wind_, recommending me to any blockade-running +shipmaster who may be in need of a coast pilot and second mate; but I +never expect to use it. Here are some documents of an entirely different +character," and as he said this, the sailor thrust his hand into the leg +of his boot and pulled forth another large envelope. "This contains two +letters, one from the master of the _Sabine_, and the other from her +owners; and they give a flattering history of the part I took in +recapturing the brig. These letters may be of use to me when the time +comes for me to ship on a blockader." + +"I don't see how you got out of Boston with your contraband cargo," said +Marcy. "How did you clear at the custom house?" + +"Why, bless you, our cargo was all right," replied Jack, "and so were +our papers. The cargo was brought aboard in broad daylight, and +consigned to a well-known American firm in Havana; but the little +articles that were brought aboard after dark and scattered around among +the barrels and boxes in the hold, would have sent the last one of us to +jail if they had been discovered." + +"Oh, Jack!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray, "how could you do it? I can't see how +you could bring yourself to take so much risk." + +"I did it to keep up appearances; and hasn't Marcy done the same thing +and with your consent? Didn't he join that privateer and run the risk of +being captured or killed by the Yankees because you and he thought it +policy for him to do so? I am not a policy man, but in times like these +one can't always do as he wants to." + +There were so many things to talk about, and such a multitude of +questions to be asked and answered on both sides, that the little clock +on the mantel struck four different hours before any one thought of +going to bed; and then Jack did not go to his own room, but passed the +rest of the night with Marcy, for the latter hinted very strongly that +he had some things to say to him that he did not care to mention in his +mother's presence. + +"She has enough to bother her already," said he, as he closed and locked +the door of his room; "and although I have no secrets from her, I don't +like to speak to her on disagreeable subjects. I wish she could forget +that money in the cellar wall and the hints Wat Gifford gave her about +'longshoremen coming up here from Plymouth some dark night to steal +it." + +Sailor Jack, who was standing in front of the bureau putting away his +letters of recommendation and the canvas bag that contained his money, +turned quickly about and looked at his brother without speaking. + +"Of course I don't know that such a thing will ever happen," continued +Marcy, "but I do know for a fact that Beardsley and a few others are +very anxious to find out whether or not there are any funds in the +house. Beardsley tried his level best to pump me, and Colonel Shelby +sent that trifling Kelsey up here for the same purpose. Now what +difference does it make to them whether mother has money or not, unless +they mean to try to take it from her?" + +"Marcy," said Jack, who had backed into the nearest chair, "I wish that +money was a thousand miles from here. You haven't anything to fear from +those wharf-rats at Plymouth; but if the Confederate authorities find +out about it, and can scrape together evidence enough to satisfy them +that mother is Union, they'll come down on this house like a nighthawk +on a June bug. And, worse than that, Beardsley may contrive to have +mother put under arrest." + +"No!" gasped Marcy. "What for?" + +"Don't you know that the Richmond Government has instructed its loyal +subjects to repudiate the debts they owe to Northern men and to turn the +amount of those debts into the Confederate treasury?" + +"Well, what of it? We don't owe anybody a red cent." + +"No odds. If Beardsley wants evidence to prove that we _do_ owe some +Northern house for the supplies we have been receiving, and that we are +holding back the money instead of giving it to the Confederacy--if +Beardsley needs evidence to prove all that he can easily find it." + +"Why, the--the villain!" exclaimed Marcy, who had never been more +astounded. + +"He's worse than that, and he'll do worse than that if he sees half a +chance," said Jack, with a sigh. "I wish the Yankees might get hold of +him, and that some one would tell them who and what he is, for I judge +from what you have told me that he is at the bottom of all mother's +troubles. Now, let me tell you: you must stay at home and take care of +mother, and I will ship on a war vessel and do my share toward putting +down this rebellion." + +"But how can I stay at home?" interrupted Marcy. "My leave is for only +ninety days, and Beardsley looks for me to join the schooner as soon as +my arm gets well." + +"All right. No doubt you will have to do it; but you'll not make many +more trips on that blockade-runner. It'll not be long before all our +ports will be sealed up tight as a brick by swift steamers, and sailing +vessels will stand no show of getting out or in. I know Lon Beardsley, +and he will quit blockade running when he thinks it's time, the same as +he quit privateering. Why, Marcy, you can't imagine what an uproar there +is all over the North. They're getting ready to give the South +particular fits." + +"Then the result of the fight at Bull Run didn't frighten or discourage +them?" + +"Man alive, if you had had as much to do with Northern people as I have, +you would know that they don't understand the words. They've got their +blood up at last, and now they mean business. Recruits are coming in +faster than they can equip and send them off. And I can't stay behind. +Mother must let me go." + +"Do you think of enlisting on one of the blockading fleet?" + +"I do." + +"But how are you going to get to it? It's off Hatteras." + +"So I supposed. Where's the _Fairy Belle?_" + +"Great Scott!" ejaculated Marcy "Do you expect me to take you out on +her?" + +"Well, yes; I had rather calculated on it." Marcy was profoundly +astonished. He threw himself upon the bed, propped his head up with his +uninjured hand, and looked at his brother without saying a word. + + + + + CHAPTER XI. + + THE BANNER ON THE WALL. + +"You seem to be very much surprised at a very simple proposition," said +Jack, at length. + +"And you seem to have a deal more cheek than you did the first time I +made your acquaintance," replied Marcy. + +Jack laughed heartily. + +"Why, what is there to hinder you from taking me down to the fleet?" he +demanded. "Haven't I often heard you boast of the _Fairy Belle's_ +sea-going qualities? If she can cross the Atlantic, as you have more +than once declared, she can surely ride out any blow we are likely to +meet off the Cape." + +"Oh, she can get there easy enough," answered Marcy. "I was not thinking +about that. But suppose I take you down to the fleet and the Yankees +won't let me come back? Then what?" + +"Nonsense!" exclaimed Jack. "They'll let you come back. They are not +obliged to force men into the service against their will. They've got +more than they want." + +"But there's another thing," continued Marcy. "There are two forts at +the Inlet; and suppose some of the rebels in those forts should see a +little schooner communicating with one of the blockading fleet. Wouldn't +they take pains to find out where the schooner belonged, and who her +owner was? And then what would they do to me?" + +"They would put you in jail, of course," replied Jack, with refreshing +candor. "But I take it for granted that you are sharp enough to go and +come without being seen by anybody. If you magnify the dangers of the +undertaking by holding back or raising objections to the programme I +have laid out, I am afraid you will frighten mother into saying that I +can't go." + +"I'll neither hold back nor object," said Marcy resolutely. "When you +are ready to go say the word, and I will do the best I can for you." + +"I knew you would. Now let's lie down for a while. I have tramped it all +the way from Boydtown since daylight, and am pretty well tuckered out." + +"If you had telegraphed to Nashville, I would have met you with a +carriage," said Marcy. + +"Of course. But I thought I would rather have a talk with you and mother +before I let any one know I was in the country. And now that I have got +here and had the talk--what would you do if you were in my place? Keep +out of sight?" + +"No, I wouldn't. What good would it do as long as the servants know you +are here? Make it a point to say 'hallo' to all the neighbors, talk +politics with them, and tell them how you ran that schooner into Newbern +through Oregon Inlet. By the way, what was done with the cargo that was +intended for that house in Havana?" + +"It wasn't intended for Havana. It was sold in Newbern, as the owners +meant it should be, and when I left, the _West Wind_ was loading up with +cotton for Nassau. Well, suppose I play that I am as good a Confederate +as any of the people hereabouts; what then? When I leave for the +blockading fleet they will want to know where I have gone, won't they? +And what will you say to them? We must think about that and cook up some +sort of a story on purpose for them." + +The boys tumbled into bed while they were talking, but it was a long +time before Marcy could go to sleep. He shuddered every time he thought +of what the consequences would be if by any misfortune it became known +in the settlement, that Jack Gray, whom everybody took to be a good +Confederate, and who had been permitted, while at home, to go and come +as he pleased, had seized the first opportunity to go down to Hatteras +and ship on board a Union gunboat. + +"This house would be in ashes in less than twenty-four hours after the +news got noised about in the neighborhood," said Marcy, to himself, +wishing that the sound sleep that so promptly came to his weary brother +might come to him, also! "Then I should learn by experience how it seems +to live in a negro cabin. But there's one consolation. They couldn't +burn the cellar walls, so mother's money would be safe." + +The clock struck nine before the boys got up that morning, but there was +a hot breakfast waiting for them. A family council was held while they +were seated at the table, during which it was decided that the only +course for Jack to pursue while at home was to do as he always had +done--go about the settlement as though he had a perfect right to be +there (as indeed he had), and act and talk as though such a thing as war +had never been heard of. If political questions were forced upon him, he +could tell of his voyage on the _West Wind_, and show Captain Frazier's +letter; but he must be careful not to say anything about his short +captivity in the hands of the _Sumter's_ men. Accordingly, when Marcy's +filly was brought to the door after breakfast, there was another horse +brought with her for Jack's use. The coachman, who had been so soundly +rated the day before, came also, for the two-fold purpose of making his +peace with Marcy and welcoming the returned sailor. + +"Sarvent, Marse Marcy. Sarvent, Marse Jack," said he, dropping his hat +upon the ground and extending a hand to each of the boys. "So glad to +have you back, Marse Jack, and so proud to know that you wasn't took +prisoner by that pirate Semmes. We saw by the papers that he run out on +the high seas las' month, and I was mighty jubus that you might run onto +him. Glad to see you among us again, safe and sound, sar." + +"And Morris, I am very glad to see myself here," replied Jack, giving +the black man's hand a hearty shake. "So you take the papers, do you?" + +"Well, no sar; I don't take 'em, but the Missus does, and she tells me +what's into 'em, sar." + +"I don't know that it makes any difference how you get the news so long +as you get it. But I am rather surprised to see you on the plantation. I +thought that of course you had run away and joined the Yankees before +this time. You had better dig out, for you are an Abolitionist, and they +hang Abolitionists in this country." + +"Now, Marse Jack, I don't like for to have you talk to me that a way" +said the coachman in a tone of reproach. "All the other niggers may go +if they want to, but Morris stays right here on the place. He does for a +fac'. Who going to drive the carriage if Morris runs away." + +"Well, that's so," replied Jack, gathering up the reins and placing his +foot in the stirrup. "I didn't think of that. Help Marcy into his saddle +and then tell me what I shall bring you when I come from town--a plug of +store tobacco for yourself, and a big red handkerchief for Aunt Mandy?" + +"Thank you kindly, Marse Jack," said the coachman, with a pleased laugh. +"You always thinking of we black ones." + +"Yes; I have thought of them a good many times during the two years and +better that I have been knocking around the world," said Jack, as he and +his brother rode out of the yard. "Especially did I think of home when +the brig was dismasted by a tornado in the South Atlantic. We came as +near going to the bottom that time as we could without going, and I +promised myself that if I ever again got a foothold on solid ground, I +would keep it; but here I am thinking of going to sea once more, as soon +as I have had a visit with you and mother." + +"I can't bear to think of it," said Marcy. + +"I'd like to stay at home, but these fanatics who are trying to break up +the government won't let me," answered the sailor. "Now that you have +had a chance to sleep on it, what do you think of the proposition I made +you last night?" + +"About taking you down to the blockading fleet at the Cape?" inquired +Marcy. "Well, if you are bound to go, I don't see that there is anything +else you can do. Of course I shall do all I can to help you, and if +there was some trustworthy person to look out for mother, I would go +too; but I should go into the army." + +"Of course. Your training at Barrington has fitted you for that, and you +would be out of place on board ship. What color is the hull of the +_Fairy Belle_?" + +"It's black," replied Marcy, catching at the idea. "But it wouldn't take +you and me long to make it some other color. That is what Beardsley did +when he turned his privateer into a blockade-runner." + +"And that is what we will do with your little schooner--we will disguise +her," said Jack, "and by the time we get through with her, her best +friends won't recognize her. More than that, if we have to run within +spyglass reach of the forts at the Inlet, we'll hoist the rebel flag +with the Stars and Stripes above it, to make the Confederates think that +she has been captured by the Yankees." + +"But we haven't any rebel flag," said Marcy. + +"What's the reason we haven't? When the _Sumter's_ boarding officer told +our captain that we were a prize to the Confederate steamer, he hauled +our colors down, and ran his own up in their place; and they were there +when we took the vessel out of the hands of the prize-crew. I jerked it +down myself, said nothing to nobody, and brought it home as a trophy. +It's in my valise now. When we return from town I intend to stick it up +in the sitting-room where every one can see it." + +"You do?" exclaimed Marcy. "Mother won't let you." + +"Oh, I think she will," said Jack, with a laugh. "She will know why it +is put on the wall, and so will you. Every time you two look at it, you +will think of the part I played in turning the tables on Semmes and his +prize-crew; but the visitors who come to the house on purpose to wheedle +mother into saying something for the Union and against the Confederacy, +will think they are barking up the wrong tree, and that the Gray family +are secesh sure enough." + +"I hope they will, but I don't believe it," answered Marcy. "When you +join the blockading fleet and the neighbors ask me where you are, what +shall I tell them?" + +"That's a question I will answer after I have been here long enough to +get my bearings," said Jack. "Did you remark that you would have to stop +at Beardsley's? Well, here we are." + +The rapidity with which news of all sorts traveled from one plantation +to another, before and during the war, was surprising. Among the letters +that Marcy Gray had been commissioned to deliver was one addressed to +Captain Beardsley's grown-up daughter, and the girl was waiting for them +when they rode into the yard and drew rein at the foot of the steps. + +"Morning, gentle_men_," was the way in which she greeted the two boys. +"I was dreadful frightened when I heard that the Yankees had run onto +you, and that you had got your arm broke, Mister Marcy. But it seems paw +was into the same boat. Was he much hurted? Hope your venture in quinine +paid you well, Mister Jack. You done yourself proud by running that +schooner into Newbern with all them supplies aboard, but you oughter +stayed with her and helped her through the blockade." + +"Oh, the skipper will find plenty of pilots in Newbern," replied Jack, +who was not a little astonished to learn that the news of his return had +already got abroad in the settlement. "If I can't ship on something +better than a blockade-runner, I will stay ashore." + +"But they do say there's a power of money in it," said the girl. "Is +that a fact, Marcy? Paw must have got safe out and back from Nassau, or +else you wouldn't be here now. Did he make much, do you reckon?" + +"I believe he calculated on clearing about twenty-five thousand +dollars," answered Marcy, who was looking over the package of letters he +had taken from his pocket. + +"I say!" exclaimed the girl, fairly dancing with delight. "If paw made +that much he must get me the new dress I want, and that's a word with a +bark onto it. That letter for me? Sarvent, sar. Good-bye." + +"I don't see why Beardsley went to the trouble of writing to her," said +Jack, as the two turned about and rode away. "She can't read a word of +it." + +"And I am very glad she can't," answered Marcy. "She will take it to old +Mrs. Brown, most likely, and if she does, she might as well stick it up +in the post-office. Mrs. Brown is a regular built gossip, and if there +is anything in the letter about me, as I think there is, I shall be sure +to hear of it. But don't it beat you how things get around? Just see how +much that girl knows; and I haven't been out of the house since I came +home yesterday afternoon. I tell you there are spies all about us. Don't +trust any one you may meet in town. Tell just the story you want +published, and nothing else. And don't forget that before you sleep +to-night I want you to bury seventeen hundred dollars for me. You've got +two good hands." + +"Marcy, I am almost afraid to do it," replied Jack. "Suppose some one +should watch us and dig it up as soon as we went away?" + +"We'll take Bose with us for a sentry, and slip out of the house after +everybody else has gone to bed. We'll take all the precautions we can +think of and trust to luck. There's Nashville; now be as big a rebel as +you please. I know they'll not believe a word of it, but that won't be +your fault." + +As Marcy expected, the first one to rush out of the post-office and +greet them, as they were hitching their horses, was young Allison. He +gave the sailor's hand a hearty shake, and then he turned to Marcy. + +"Really, I am surprised to see you here, and in citizen's clothes, too," +said the latter. "I should have thought that your zeal for the +Confederacy would have taken you into the army long ago. Man alive, +you're missing heaps of fun. Look at my arm. I've suffered for the cause +and you haven't." ["And what's more to the point, you don't mean to, +added Marcy to himself.] + +"It's fun to have a broken arm, is it?" exclaimed Allison. "I can't see +it in that light. The reason I haven't enlisted is because I thought +that perhaps you would bring me a favorable word from Captain Beardsley. +Did you speak to him about taking me as one of his crew?" + +"I did, before I had been aboard the schooner half an hour." + +"And what did he say?" + +"His reply was that he couldn't accept you. The crew is full; you know +nothing about a vessel; he wants nothing but sailor-men aboard of him, +and if you want to do something for the South, the best thing you can do +is to go into the army." + +"Well, I'd thank him to hold fast to his advice until he is asked to +give it," said Allison spitefully. "I'll not carry a musket; I can tell +him that much. I have seen some fellows who were in the fight at Bull +Run, and they say that the privates in our army are treated worse than +dogs. If I could get a commission the case would be different." + +"That's the idea," said Jack. "Why don't you pitch in and get one? +Begin at the top of the ladder and not at the foot. Crawl in at the +cabin windows and don't bother about the hawsehole. I mean--you see," +added the sailor, seeing by the blank look on his face that Allison did +not understand his nautical language, "aboard ship we take rank in this +way: First the captain, then the mates, then the captain's dog, and +lastly the foremast-hands. And I suppose it must be the same in the +army." + +"You don't mean it!" exclaimed Allison, opening his eyes. + +"I do mean every word of it. Ask any seafaring man and he will tell you +the same. Whatever you do, don't go before the mast--I mean don't go +into the ranks. Get a commission and be a man among men." ["You'd look +pretty with straps on your shoulders, _you_ would," said Jack mentally. +"I'd like to gaze upon the man who would be foolish enough to put +himself under your orders."] + +"Don't go into the office yet," said Allison, when the boys turned about +as if to move away. "There's a crowd in there, and I want you to stay +and talk to me. Tell me how you got wounded, Marcy." + +"Let Jack tell you how he piloted that Yankee schooner into the port of +Newbern with a cargo of supplies for the Confederacy," replied Marcy. He +said this with an object in view; and that object was to find out how +much Allison knew about Jack's movements and his own. Consequently, +after his interview with Captain Beardsley's daughter, he was not +greatly surprised to hear Allison say: + +"Jack hasn't much to tell, has he? As I heard the story he had no +trouble at all in bringing the schooner through--he didn't even see the +smoke of a blockader. But there's one thing about it," he added, in a +lower tone, "you boys have shut up the mouths of some talkative people +around here who have been trying hard to injure you, especially Marcy." + +"Why should anybody want to injure me?" exclaimed Marcy, looking +astonished. "I don't remember that I ever misused any one in the +settlement." + +"I never heard of it," continued Allison. "But they say that you are for +the Union, and that the only reason you shipped on Beardsley's schooner +was because you had to." + +"Some people around here say that I am for the Union?" repeated Marcy, +as though he had never heard of such a thing before. "And that I shipped +because I had to?" + +"That's what they say, sure's you're born; but your broken arm gives the +lie to all such tales as that. And as for Jack--did he know that the +_West Wind_ was a smuggler when he joined her in Boston?" + +"Of course he knew it," answered Marcy. "He brought out a venture and +cleared twelve hundred dollars by it." + +"Whew!" whistled Allison. "I wish I could make as much money as that; +but somehow such chances never come my way. But what is a venture, +anyway?" + +"It is a speculation that sailors sometimes go into on their own hook," +replied Marcy. "For example. Captain Beardsley wanted me to invest my +wages and prize-money in cotton, sell it in Nassau for more than double +what I gave for it, put the proceeds into medicine and gun-caps, and so +double my money again when we returned to Newbern. If I had taken his +advice, I might have been four or five thousand dollars ahead of the +hounds at this minute." + +"You don't mean to say that you _didn't_ act upon his advice?" exclaimed +Allison. + +"Yes; that's just what I mean to say. You see, we stood a fine chance of +being captured by the Yankees, and Beardsley was so very much afraid of +it that he wouldn't load his vessel himself, but took out a cargo he +obtained through a commission merchant.--I see Jack is going into the +post-office, and we might as well go, too. If you hear anybody saying +things behind my back that they don't want to say to my face, tell them +to ride up to our house and look at the Confederate flag in our +sitting-room, and then go somewhere and get shot before they take it +upon themselves to talk about one who has risked his life while they +were stopping safe at home." + +"I'll do it," said Allison, and Marcy was almost ready to believe that +he meant what he said. "But are you really flying the Confederate +colors? Every one says that your mother----" + +"Yes, I know they do," said Marcy, when Allison paused and looked +frightened. "They think she is for the Union, and have set some mean +sneaks at work to get evidence against her; but you ride out to-morrow +or the next day and take a look at that flag. How do you do?" he added, +turning about to shake hands with Colonel Shelby and Mr. Dillon, who +came up at that moment and greeted him with the greatest cordiality. + +"We were very sorry to hear of your misfortune," said the latter, "but +you have the satisfaction of knowing that you have suffered in a +righteous cause. Did Captain Beardsley send any word to either of us?" + +"No, sir; but he sent a letter to each of you," answered the boy, +thrusting his hand into his pocket. "And there they are. This other one +is for the postmaster, and perhaps I had better go in and give it to +him." + +The Colonel and his friend were so very anxious to learn what Captain +Beardsley had to say to them that they did not ask the wounded +blockade-runner any questions, but drew off on one side to read their +letters; and this action on their part went far toward confirming +Marcy's suspicions that these two men were the ones Beardsley had left +ashore "to do his dirty work" while he was at sea. He was as certain as +he could be, without positive proof, that those letters told of the +unsuccessful attempts the captain had made at different times to find +out whether or not there was any money hidden in Mrs. Gray's house. That +money had been a constant source of trouble to the boy, but now he felt +like yelling every time he thought of it. If their "secret enemies" took +the course that sailor Jack was afraid they might take--if they told the +Confederate authorities that Mrs. Gray, after repudiating her debts to +Northern merchants (debts that she never owed), had concealed the money +instead of turning it into the Confederate treasury as the law provided, +then there would be trouble indeed. + +When Marcy and Allison went into the post-office they found Jack +surrounded by an interested group of old-time friends, to whom he was +giving a humorous account of Captain Beardsley's unsuccessful effort to +capture the vessel to which he belonged. + +"It happened right here on our own coast," said Jack. "She first tried +to fool us by showing the figures that were painted on her sails; but +that wouldn't go down with our old man. Then she hoisted the English +colors, but that made us sheer still farther away from her; for what +would a pilot-boat be doing in these waters with a foreign flag at her +peak? Than she cut loose on us with her bow gun, and we yelled and shot +back with sporting rifles. What do you think of a fellow who will try +his best to bring trouble to his only brother by showing a friendly +flag, and then shoot cannons at him when he finds he can't do it? That's +the way Marcy served me and more than that, he had the face to tell me +of it when I came home last night." + +Of course this raised a laugh at Marcy's expense, but he didn't seem to +mind it. He gave the postmaster Captain Beardsley's letter and asked for +the mail in his mother's box. + +"And of course when the brig escaped you yelled as loudly as any Yankee +in the crew," observed one of his auditors. "I suppose you had to in +order to keep out of trouble." + +"But I don't reckon he'll do it again in a hurry," said another. "When +he brought that Yankee schooner into Newbern he proved to my +satisfaction that he is as good a Confederate as any man in the State. +Why didn't you stay with her. Jack, and make yourself rich by running +the blockade?" + +"I had two reasons," answered the sailor. "In the first place I wanted +to come home for awhile; and in the next, there is too much danger these +times in cruising about on an unarmed vessel. The next time I ship it +will be aboard of something that can fight." + +"Did you hear any talk of an ironclad that is being built in the river a +few miles above Newbern?" asked a third. + +Jack winked first one eye and then the other, looked sharply into the +face of each member of the group around him, and then turned about and +softly rapped the counter with his riding-whip. + +"You needn't be afraid to speak freely," said the postmaster, who knew +what the sailor meant by this pantomime. "There isn't a traitor within +the hearing of your voice. We are all true blue." + +"One can't be too careful in times like these," replied Jack, turning +around again and facing the crowd. "After I have been among you awhile, +I shall know who my friends are. I did hear some talk of a heavy vessel +that is to be added to the defensive force of the city, and which might +some time go outside and scatter the blockading fleet, but I didn't go +up to take a look at her. I couldn't spare the time. She'll need a crew +when she is completed, and if I leave the settlement between two +days--if I am here to-night and gone to-morrow morning--my friends +needn't worry over me." + +"We understand. You'll be on board an armed vessel fighting for your +principles." + +"You're right I will. Now, George," he added, turning to the clerk and +slamming his saddle-bags upon the counter, "I want one of those pockets +filled with plug tobacco, and the other stuffed with the gaudiest +bandanas you've got in the store." + +The clerk took the saddle-bags, and when they were passed back to their +owner a few minutes later, they were so full that it was a matter of +some difficulty to buckle the flaps. Then the boys said good-bye and +left the store. They started off in a lope, but when they were a mile or +so from the town and alone on the road, they drew their horses down to a +walk, and Jack said: + +"Do they take me for one of them or not?" + +"They pretend to, but everybody is so sly and treacherous that you can't +place reliance upon anything," answered his brother. "What you said +about leaving home between two days was good. It will help me, for I can +refer to it when you are gone. Now, Jack, you must put up that rebel +flag the minute you get home. I told Allison about it, and if he should +ride out some day and find the flag wasn't there, he would suspect that +we are not just the sort of folks he has been led to believe." + +"All right! And our next hard work must be to hide your money and paint +that schooner of yours. We'll go about it openly and above board. We'll +say she is scaling,--if she isn't she ought to be, for it is a long time +since she saw a brush,--and that she needs another coat of paint to +protect her from the weather." + +This programme was duly carried out. Of course Mrs. Gray protested, +mildly, when Jack brought down his rebel flag, and, after spreading it +upon the floor so that his mother could have a good view of it, +proceeded to hang it upon the sitting-room wall; but when the boys told +her why they thought it best to place it there, she became silent and +permitted them to do as they pleased. While they were putting the trophy +in position, Jack found opportunity to whisper to his brother: + +"Now, if any of our officious neighbors give the Confederate officers a +hint that mother is keeping back money that she ought to turn into the +treasury, and they come here to search the house, they'll take a look at +this flag and go away without touching a thing. Mark what I tell you." + +"But suppose the Yankees come here and take a look at it; then what?" +whispered Marcy, in reply. + +"Well, that will be a black horse of another color," said Jack. "They'll +come here--don't you lose any sleep worrying about that; but when they +come, you must see to it that this flag is out of sight. I'll say one +thing for the rebels," he said aloud, turning his head on one side and +gazing critically at his prize, "they've got good taste. I've seen the +colors of all civilized nations, and that flag right there on the wall +is the handsomest in the world, save one." + +"But think of the principles it represents," exclaimed Mrs. Gray. +"Disunion and slavery." + +"Of course," replied Jack. "But when these fanatics have been soundly +thrashed, there will be no such things as disunion and slavery. They +will be buried out of sight. I was speaking of the rebel flag, which, +next to our own, is the prettiest I ever saw. Their naval uniforms are +handsome, too." + +Of course it soon became known among the servants that there was a +Confederate banner displayed upon the walls of the "great house," and +those who came into the room turned the whites of their eyes at it and +then looked at Marcy and Jack in utter astonishment. But the boys did +not appear to notice them nor did they volunteer any explanation--not +even when old Morris came in to satisfy himself that the astounding news +he had heard was really true. The sight of the emblem, which he knew was +upheld by men who were fighting for the sole purpose of keeping him and +his race in bondage, struck him dumb, and he left the room as silently +as he had entered it. In less than half an hour the news reached +Hanson's ears, and that worthy, astonished and perplexed, waited +impatiently for night to come so that he could ride into town and tell +Colonel Shelby about it. + + + + + CHAPTER XII. + + CONFLICTING REPORTS. + +During the next three weeks Marcy Gray would have lived in a fever of +suspense had it not been for the presence of courageous, happy-go-lucky +sailor Jack. He could not for a moment forget the letters which, at +Captain Beardsley's request, he had delivered to Colonel Shelby and the +rest. Did they convey to those who received them the information that +Beardsley no longer believed that there was money concealed in Mrs. +Gray's house, or did they contain instructions concerning a new plot +that was to be worked up against Marcy and his mother? The boys did not +know, and never found out for certain what it was that the captain wrote +in those letters. That night, after placing the captured Confederate +flag upon the wall of the sitting-room, Jack turned the proceeds of the +sale of his "venture" over to his mother, buried Marcy's prize money in +one of the flower beds, and bright and early the next morning went to +work to disguise the _Fairy Belle_ so that "her own brother wouldn't +know her." If the neighboring planters who visited them, and whom they +visited in return, had any suspicion that the captured flag in the +sitting-room did not express the political sentiments of the family, +they said nothing to indicate it. Their life apparently was as quiet and +peaceful as though such a thing as a slaveholders' rebellion had never +been heard of; but one day it was broken up most unexpectedly, and young +Allison was the first to tell them of it. + +"Glorious victory of the Confederate arms," he shouted, jumping off the +steps of the store in which the post-office was located, and running +full tilt toward the place where Jack and Marcy were hitching their +horses. "Didn't we always say the Northern people had no business +alongside of us? The crowd in the post-office have cheered themselves +hoarse, and you fellows ought to have been here to join in." + +"Has there been another fight?" asked Jack. "Where did it take place and +how much of a fight was it?" + +"Well, you see," said Allison, "there hasn't exactly been any fight yet, +but there's going to be if the cowardly Yankees will only give us a +chance to get at them." + +"Oh," said Jack, while an expression of disgust settled on his face. +"Where is it going to come off and how do you happen to know so much +about it?" + +"Why, the authorities know all about it, and I suppose the papers got +the information from them," replied Allison. "At any rate, there's a +strong land and naval expedition being fitted out at Fortress Monroe, +and it is coming down here to destroy forts Hatteras and Clark and block +up Hatteras Inlet." + +"And that expedition hasn't got here yet?" + +"No. It's going to sail on Monday. We know all about it in spite of the +efforts the Yankees have made to keep it secret." + +"If the ships haven't even sailed yet, why do you raise such a row over +a Confederate victory that is not won?" asked Jack. + +"Oh, it's going to be won," said Allison confidently. "Everybody says +so, and we thought we would begin to holler in time. What we are afraid +of is, that old Hatteras will turn in and fight the battle for us by +kicking up such a sea that the Yankee ships won't dare come near the +Inlet. That would be bad for us, for of course if they keep beyond the +range of our guns we can't sink them. Oh, they're bound to get a +whipping if we can only get a chance to give it to them." + +Although the Confederates boasted loudly of the strong fortifications +which (so they said) had been thrown up everywhere along their coast, +and even went so far as to warn the Federal government that the most +powerful expedition that could be fitted out against these +fortifications would be sure to meet with disaster, Marcy Gray was well +aware that the coast was almost defenseless, because one of his papers, +the Augusta _Chronicle and Sentinel_ was brave enough to tell the truth +now and then. Only a few days before, this paper had called upon the +government to provide for coast defense by "organizing and drilling +infantry and guerrillas at home," so that there would be no need to call +upon the Confederate President for troops. The same paper also stated +that the Union naval officers knew the bays and inlets along the coast +like a book from surveys in their possession, and if so disposed, there +were many places where they might raid and do damage before they could +be driven off. But events proved that the Union forces did not go down +to the coast of the Carolinas just to give the Confederates the fun of +driving them off. When once they got a foothold there they kept it, in +spite of all the efforts that were made to dislodge them. + +Having secured their horses and listened to all that young Allison had +to tell them concerning the glorious victory that had not yet been won, +the brothers bent their steps toward the post-office, where they found a +crowd of men and boys who seemed to be trying to make themselves +ridiculous. They acted in the same senseless way that those travelling +companions did whom Marcy Gray found on the train when he left +Barrington, and could not have been more excited and jubilant if the +five war ships and two transport steamers, that were to operate against +the forts at Hatteras Inlet, had already been wrecked on the bar or sent +to the bottom by Confederate shells. One of these two things was sure to +happen to that expedition; they had not the slightest doubt on that +point. + +Marcy and his brother did not linger long at the post-office after they +received their mail, for the boyish antics and confident boastings of +the crowd that filled every foot of space between the two counters, were +more than they could stand. Pleading business as an excuse, they got +away as soon as they could, and unfolded their papers when they were in +their saddles, only to find that Allison had told them about all there +was to be learned regarding the Hatteras expedition. There were the +editorials, of course, and when the boys glanced over them they knew +where that crowd in the post-office got its inspiration. + +"These editors remind me of Allison," said Marcy. "Seated in their +comfortable rooms, hundreds of miles away from the threatened point, +they speak of _our_ coming victory and the pounding _we_ are going to +give the Yankee ships the minute they come within range. But I'll tell +you one thing, Jack--that expedition isn't strong enough." + +"Don't worry about that," replied Jack. "Uncle Sam won't send a boy to +mill as long as he's got a man handy. If they sail from Fortress Monroe +on Monday, they ought to get here on Tuesday afternoon at the latest. +Probably the fight will begin on Wednesday. Now let's watch the weather, +and see whether or not Allison's amiable wish is likely to be gratified. +Now Marcy, I will tell you something. If the Federals win a victory they +will garrison those forts to break up blockade running, and carry on +operations farther down the coast. As soon as we hear they are doing +that, you must stand by with the _Fairy Belle_." + +"She'll be ready when you want her, but it is the hardest task one +brother ever put upon another," answered Marcy. + +"I am sorry to ask you to do it," said Jack, "but it is my only chance; +and you can see for yourself that I can't live at home. Our whole family +is under suspicion; and if I don't get away while I can, there will be +such a pressure brought to bear upon me by and by, that I shall be +forced to enter the rebel service or take to the swamps." + +"Why Jack, you know you wouldn't do such a thing as that," exclaimed +Marcy. + +"Hide in the swamps? I'd do it in a minute sooner than lift a hand +against the flag that your grandfather and mine died under, and under +which I have sailed the world over. Why Marcy, you claim to love the old +flag, but I tell you that you don't know any more about it than the man +in the moon. Now don't get huffy, but wait until you have laid for long +weeks in a foreign port, thousands of miles from home and friends, +looking for a cargo which takes its own time in coming, and surrounded +by people whose hostility to all white men is such that they would cut +your throat in a second if they were not afraid of the consequences, and +let some one on deck report a stranger inside. You look over the side +and see a handsome ship standing in with the Stars and Stripes waving in +the air. When you have felt every nerve in you thrill with excitement +and pride, as I have on such occasions, then you can talk of your love +for the old flag. I'll fight for it as long as I can stand; but I'll +starve and die in the swamp before I will fight against it." + +Sailor Jack spoke with unusual warmth, and if Marcy's patriotism had +been on the wane, his brother's earnest words would have infused new +life and strength into it. If the Northern people, with their immense +resources, were animated by the same spirit, it would not be long, he +told himself, before the old flag would crowd its secession rival to the +wall. Of course Mrs. Gray was very much alarmed by the startling news +the boys brought from Nashville, and she straightway began talking of +hiding the money Jack had given her, and of stowing the family silver in +some safe place; but Jack laughed at the idea. + +"Why, mother, the Northern soldiers are not coming down here to steal +our valuables," said he. "They are not robbers." + +"But have you never read how lawless all soldiers are?" inquired Mrs. +Gray. "They take delight in despoiling an enemy. It seems to be part of +their creed. And then--look a' that," she added, pointing toward the +rebel flag. + +"That will not be in sight when the Federals come around here," replied +Marcy. "I'll make it my business to get it out of the way, and then I'll +rip up one of my bed quilts and show them my Union colors." + +The fear that had taken possession of Marcy's mother--that possibly the +Union forces might ascend the Roanoke River, capture Plymouth, and +devastate the surrounding country--now took possession of Marcy also. +Northern soldiers had not yet been given an opportunity to show the +merciful way in which the inhabitants of captured cities were to be +treated during the war, and Marcy may be pardoned for looking into the +future with fear and trembling. The neighboring planters and their +families did much to add to Mrs. Gray's fears and Marcy's, as well as to +increase the general feeling of uneasiness which began spreading through +the settlement as soon as the newspapers arrived. If they believed, as +the Charleston and Newbern editors seemed to believe,--that the attack +on Hatteras Inlet was sure to end in failure,--they nevertheless thought +it the part of wisdom to prepare for the worst; and they at once began +the work of concealing everything that was likely to excite the cupidity +of the lawless Union soldiers. Remembering what their Mobile papers had +said about the ragged, half-starved appearance of the Massachusetts +troops who marched through the streets of Baltimore, they even hid their +clothing and carted the contents of their smoke-houses and corn-cribs +into the woods. But busy as they were, some of the women found time to +run over and compare notes with Mrs. Gray, and see what she thought +about it; and because she tried to accept Jack's view of the situation, +and believed that there would be no invasion of the Union forces, the +visitors went away to spread the report elsewhere that Mrs. Gray wasn't +afraid of the Yankees because she sympathized with them. + +"Would you believe it, she isn't hiding a thing," said one of these +gossips. "She looks white, but she can't make me think that she's +frightened as long as she sits there in her rocking-chair as cool as a +cucumber. I know that Jack belongs to a blockade-runner, that Jack +piloted a Yankee smuggler into one of our ports, and that Mrs. Gray has +a Confederate flag hung up in her sitting-room; but I don't care for +that. She's Union, the whole family is Union, and I know it." + +Mrs. Gray and the boys always looked troubled after an interview with +one of these busybodies, who did not scruple to magnify every rumor that +came to their ears, and wished from the bottom of their hearts that they +would stay at home and attend to the business of hiding their valuables; +but when the day drew to a close the gossips ceased to trouble them, for +they were afraid to go out of doors after dark. + +"And between you and me I don't blame them for being afraid," said Jack, +when he and Marcy went up to bed. "It is in times like these that the +turbulent and vicious members of the community show their hands. The +rebels have been maltreating Union people all over the South, and I +don't know why we should expect to escape. Well," he added, shoving a +brace of revolvers under his pillow, while Marcy provided for his own +defence in the same way, "if anybody comes we'll give him as good as he +sends, provided he gives us half a chance." + +The moment Jack Gray opened his eyes the next morning he jumped out of +bed and drew the curtain. "All right so far," said he, in a satisfied +tone; "and that rebel Allison is in a fair way to be disappointed." + +"But you must remember that the fleet hasn't arrived off the cape yet," +Marcy reminded him. "With the best of luck it cannot get there until +late this afternoon. I wish we could go down and watch the fight." + +"I wish we could be in it," replied Jack, "for I just know it will end +in a Union victory." + +But as they could do neither one thing nor the other, they were obliged +to possess their souls in patience. Of course they went to Nashville +after breakfast, and of course, too, they found in the post-office the +same excited and confident crowd they had met the day before, who had +all sorts of stories to tell them. + +"Report says that the most of the Union ships foundered before they were +fairly out of sight of Fortress Monroe," shouted Allison, in great glee. +"I am sorry for that, for I wanted our boys to have the honor of sending +them to the bottom." + +"Another report says that one of the old tubs that the Yankees were +using for a transport ship sprung a leak and went down with every soul +on board," said a second speaker. + +"Why didn't the other vessels save them?" asked Marcy. + +"They couldn't. There was a heavy gale on." + +"Who brought these reports?" inquired Jack. + +"The papers, of course." + +"How did the papers get them, seeing that all telegraphic communication +with the North is cut off?" continued Jack. + +"It makes no difference how they got the news so long as they got it," +exclaimed Allison. "You talk and act as though you don't want to believe +it." + +"It is no concern of yours how I talk and act, you stay-at-home +blow-hard. My common sense will not let me believe any such reports, +which are not reports at all, but something those newspaper men made up +all out of their own heads, on purpose to give such fellows as you a +subject to talk about. Some of the fleet may have sprung a +leak--probably they did if they were not seaworthy; but it wasn't in a +gale. I watched the weather closely last night, and if there had been a +blow outside we should have felt some of the force of it," said Jack. He +spoke calmly enough, but he gave Allison such a look that the latter did +not think it safe to say another word until the brothers were well on +their way toward home. + +During the rest of the day Jack and Marcy did little else but stroll +about the grounds and talk--they had no heart for work of any sort. +Every time Jack took out his watch he would offer some such remark as +this: "If the expedition has had no bad luck, it ought to be off such +and such a place by this time;" and at three in the afternoon he +electrified his brother by declaring confidently: "Now the ships are off +Hatteras, and are probably looking about for a good place to put the +troops ashore." And subsequent events proved that he guessed pretty +close to the mark, for history says, "By two o'clock on Tuesday the +fleet arrived off Hatteras, and the _Monticello_ was despatched to +reconnoiter the position, and to look out a suitable landing-place." + +Thus far everything had gone well. The weather was all that could be +desired, and the hearts of the loyal people along that coast beat high +with hope; but when Jack Gray drew the window curtain on Wednesday +morning, he turned to his brother with a look of disappointment on his +face. + +"They will probably try to land some of the troops to-day to cut off the +retreat of the Fort Hatteras garrison after the war ships have whipped +them," said he. "But if they don't get about it pretty soon, I am afraid +they'll not make it. It's going to blow by-and-by, and if the wind comes +from the southeast, as it generally does, the ships will have to make an +offing to secure their own safety." + +And that was just the way things turned out. That morning some of +General Butler's troops were landed a few miles from the forts under +cover of some of the gunboats, while the others opened a hot fire upon +the fortifications. The battle thus commenced lasted from nine o'clock +until almost night, and then Fort Clark was abandoned, while the flag +was hauled down on Fort Hatteras in token of surrender, whereupon the +_Monticello_ steamed into the inlet; but when she came within a few +hundred yards of the fort, the heavy guns of the Confederates opened +upon her with such terrible effect that she was badly cut up, and in +danger of sinking. The man in command of the fort who was guilty of this +act of treachery was Commodore Barron, formerly of the United States +Navy. He would have scorned to do such a thing while the old flag waved +above him, but when he threw off his allegiance to the government he had +sworn to defend, he threw off his manhood with it. But he gained nothing +by it. The battle was fiercely renewed by the Union forces, and the next +day Commodore Barron hoisted the white flag and surrendered himself and +his garrison unconditionally. In going off to the fleet he was obliged +to pass close under the guns of the _Wabash_, a fine vessel which, six +months before, he had himself commanded with honor. + +While these events were taking place at Hatteras Inlet, Marcy and his +brother remained at home, waiting with as much patience as they could to +see how the battle was going to end. They knew there was a battle going +on, for they heard about it when they went to the post-office on +Thursday morning; and if they had believed all that was told them, they +would have gone home very much disheartened. One man assured them (and +he got his information from his papers) that the remnant of the fleet, +that is to say all the vessels that had not been wrecked when the +expedition left Fortress Monroe, had made its appearance in due time, +begun the assault in the most gallant manner, and the few that had not +been sunk or disabled by the seventeen heavy guns of the forts, had been +scattered by the gale. The flag of the Confederacy waved triumphant, and +Hatteras Inlet was yet open to blockade-runners. + +When the two were on their way home, and each had read all he cared to +read in papers that did not give any reliable information, Marcy +inquired: + +"How much of those stories do you believe?" + +"Not quite half," replied Jack. "Perhaps some of the attacking fleet +were sunk; they are liable to be when they go into action. But I believe +that if our fellows were whipped, they were whipped by the gale and not +by the forts. We ought to hear something definite in the course of a few +days." + +And they heard something the very next morning; but even then, to quote +from Jack, who was very much disgusted when he said it, they "didn't get +the straight of the story." Young Allison did not come out to greet them +when they drew up their horses at the hitching-rack (he objected to +being called a stay-at-home blow-hard), but Colonel Shelby and his +intimate friend, Dillon, were standing close by, and the boys noticed +that they looked very solemn. + +"Well, the agony is over," said the colonel. + +"Have you received some reliable news at last?" exclaimed Jack. "How did +it come out? Which whipped?" + +"Oh, the Federals overcame us with the force of numbers aided by their +long-range guns," answered the colonel. "My paper acknowledges a defeat, +but says it doesn't amount to anything, for it will not help the enemy +in any way." + +"It will close Hatteras against blockade-runners, will it not?" said +Marcy. + +"Oh, that doesn't amount to a row of pins," said the colonel. "We have +Wilmington, Charleston, and a dozen other ports that the Yankees can't +shut up for want of a suitable fleet. They haven't stationed a ship off +Crooked Inlet yet, and you and Captain Beardsley----" + +"I know they haven't put a ship there," Marcy interposed. "But if they +didn't have the wickedest kind of a steam launch at that very place the +last time I came through, I don't want to lay up anything for old age. +That night's work put the blockaders on their guard, and we can't use +that Inlet any more. Beyond a doubt they pulled up our buoys, and more +than that, they'll watch it as a terrier watches a rathole. Beardsley +will have to lay his schooner up or go somewhere else." + +"You will go with him, I suppose?" said Dillon carelessly. + +"I am ordered to report at the end of ninety days," replied Marcy, who +knew that the question was meant for a "feeler." "If I live I shall do +so; and I expect to stay with the schooner as long as she is in the +business." + +"As for me, I shall report in less than ninety days," said Jack. "I've a +notion to start for Newbern to-morrow; and if I find that things are +working as I should like to have them, I will return and say good-bye to +mother, and some fine morning you'll see Marcy ride down to the +post-office alone." + +"Good for you, Jack!" exclaimed the colonel, thrusting out his hand. "I +looked for something like this when I heard that you had purchased a +Confederate flag and brought it home with you. Where did you get the +flag, if it is a fair question?" + +"Of a good Confederate," replied Jack readily. "He left it in a certain +place, and when I saw my chance I took it." + +"Had to take it on the sly, did you? Then there must have been some +Union men hanging around." + +"There were, several of them; and they were fighting mad, too. But I got +away with the flag." + +"I hope it will not be the means of bringing mischief to you and your +mother," said the colonel; "but if I were in your place, I wouldn't make +it so conspicuous. Now, when you go to Newbern to enlist in the army----" + +"But if I go there, it will not be for any such purpose," interrupted +Jack. "On land I am as awkward as a mud-turtle; but when I am at sea, I +can get about with the best of them. I shall go into the navy if I can +get the chance." + +"Never fear. You'll get the chance easy enough. When you return I should +like to have you tell me how things look on our side, and what the +Yankees are doing at the Inlet." + +"You mustn't be surprised if I don't," answered Jack, "for I may slip +back and slip out again without taking time to say good-bye to anybody. +When I fail to come to town with Marcy, you may know that I am in the +navy." + +When the boys went in after their mail, they found a silent and +sulky-looking company leaning against the counters. They said not a word +to the new-comers or to one another, but simply stared at the floor, +apparently absorbed with gloomy reflections. Jack and his brother were +glad to find them so, for it gave them an opportunity to secure their +mail without delay and get away by themselves, where they could exult to +their hearts' content over the victory at Hatteras. + +"What is this new notion you have taken into your head all of a sudden?" +was the first question Marcy propounded. "You haven't any idea of going +to Newbern." + +"Yes, I think it would be a good plan," said Jack. "I want to know just +where the Union fleet is, and what it is doing, and I can't depend upon +these lying rebel papers to tell me. So the only thing I can do is to +find out for myself; for of course I don't want to run outside in the +_Fairy Belle_ unless I know of a certainty that there is a gunboat there +to receive me. If Beardsley's schooner is in port I'll take a look at +her, and then I can tell whether or not she is the one that chased the +_Sabine_." + +"She's the one," replied Marcy. "But you'll not know her. She is +disguised." + +Jack said he didn't care if she had been painted a dozen different +colors since he saw her, she couldn't fool him. He would look at her +"general make-up;" and while he was describing some peculiarities in the +_Hattie's_ rigging that Marcy had not noticed himself, they rode through +the gate into the yard. + + + + + CHAPTER XIII. + + UNION OR CONFEDERATE--WHICH? + +For the first time since sailor Jack came home he was the bearer of good +news, and you may be sure that his mother was glad to listen to it. He +declared that he took no stock whatever in the thousand and one +conflicting reports that had come to him through the papers, and so +suspicious had he become that the only thing that led him to believe the +rebels had been worsted in the fight at Hatteras, was because they were +willing to confess it themselves. Of course it would not be safe for him +to try to carry out his resolve to enlist in the Union navy until he +knew just how the land lay; and the only way in which he could find out +would be to go to Newbern and make personal observations. If his mother +did not object he would start the very next morning and take Marcy with +him. This proposition startled Mrs. Gray, for she had looked upon +another separation from Jack as something that was far in the future, +and would not allow herself to think about it if she could help it. She +said nothing discouraging, however, and Jack's programme was duly +carried out. + +The trip to Newbern was the most exciting and altogether disagreeable +one that Marcy had ever taken on the cars. The train was crowded with +soldiers, and among them were some boisterous and inquisitive ones who +seemed to think it their duty to question every civilian who came on +board. And they did not do it in the most gentlemanly manner, either. +Before the train had left Boydtown a mile behind, a young man, dressed +in a neat, clean uniform that had never seen a minute's service at the +front, stopped in the aisle and laid his hand heavily on Jack's +shoulder. + +"Look here, my lad," said he, in a tone that was as offensive as his +manner, "you are strong and able-bodied, are you not?" + +"You'll think so if you don't take your hand off my collar mighty +sudden," replied Jack, jumping from his seat. + +"Hallo!" exclaimed the young man, starting back in some alarm when he +saw the sailor's broad shoulders rising to a level with his own. "I +wouldn't throw on any airs," he added, glancing around at his uniformed +companions, who straightway became interested in the proceedings. + +"I won't, and I don't mean to let you do so, either--not with me," +replied Jack. "You seem to feel very important because you happen to +have some good clothes on, but you haven't been under fire yet." + +"Neither have you," answered the Confederate. + +"That's all you know about it. Now go off and let me alone, or I'll +pitch you through the window." + +The young man fell back to call up re-enforcements, and Jack took his +seat again. + +"It's all right," said he, when he noticed the troubled expression on +his brother's face. "Because he wears a uniform himself, he thinks he +had a right to know why I haven't one also; but it is none of his +business. Besides, it is nothing more than you did to Allison in the +post-office at Nashville." + +"But I was among friends when I backed Allison down, and these men are +all strangers to us," replied Marcy. + +"No matter for that. I judge by their looks that they are mostly +Americans, and if they are they will see fair play. There will be a +white man along to question us presently." + +And sure enough there was. The defeated rebel drew back a little way to +hold a council of war with some of his friends, and in a few minutes one +of these friends, whose uniform was by no means as clean and neat as the +others', arose from his seat and came down the aisle. + +"Beg pardon, sir," said he respectfully. "I wish to offer a word of +excuse for my impulsive young companion's conduct. He is a warm +patriot----" + +"So I see," said Jack, with a smile. "A good many get that way the +minute they put on a gray suit; but my brother and I, who have already +risked our lives and liberty, do not feel called upon to give an account +of ourselves to every raw recruit who may demand it. If he had asked me +a civil question I would have given him a civil answer." + +"Of course; certainly. But I know you will overlook it this time. But +are you two really in the service?" + +"My brother has been on a privateer and now he belongs to a +blockade-runner," answered Jack. "You see he's got a bad arm, don't you? +The Yankees gave him that." + +"Well, well!" exclaimed the man, who did not know what else to say. "He +ought to have a uniform on." + +"His crew don't have any," replied Jack. "And if you want to know what I +have done--by the way, are you going to Newbern?" + +The soldier said he was. + +"Well, when you get there go to Parker & Wall's and ask them whether or +not the supplies the _West Wind_ brought down from Boston are going to +be of any use to the Confederacy. I was second mate and pilot of that +craft, and might have been on board of her yet if I had been inclined to +stay; but if there is going to be a war I want a hand in it. I am going +to Newbern to see if there is any chance for me to get into the navy." + +Of course, after such a talk as this it was impossible for the brothers +to keep to themselves as they would like to have done. The inquisitive +rebel apologized to Jack and introduced his friends; and from that time +forward there was a crowd of soldiers hanging about his seat all the +while. Some of them had seen service and some hadn't; and the latter +were particularly anxious to know how Marcy felt when that shrapnel came +over the _Hattie's_ bow and knocked him and Captain Beardsley down, and +whether or not he was frightened and afraid he was going to be killed. + +"The whole thing was done so quickly, and I was so excited, that I +didn't have time to ask myself whether I was frightened or not," was +Marcy's invariable reply; and it seemed to satisfy his questioners. + +To Jack Gray's disappointment there was not a soldier in the car who +could tell him anything definite regarding the situation at Hatteras +Inlet; but some of them interested themselves in the matter, and finally +discovered a citizen who knew all about it, but who, upon being +questioned, proved to be almost as ignorant as the rest. The few things +he _did_ know, however, were very encouraging to Jack. The captured +forts had not been destroyed, he said, and that seemed to indicate that +the Yankees intended to place garrisons there. The vessels of the +attacking fleet had not been sunk or scattered, and neither was there a +sailor killed during the whole of the fight. The war vessels were still +hanging around the Inlet, ready to go up or down the Sound, according to +the orders they might receive from Washington, and the rebel garrison at +Fort Ocracoke, which was located on the seaward face of Beacon Island a +few miles below, as well as the troops who occupied the camp on the +opposite side of the island, were trembling in their boots, and holding +themselves ready to run at a moment's notice. He didn't know the first +thing about naval matters, he said in conclusion. There might be a +gunboat or two building in the river above Newbern, but he didn't think +there was, and the only thing left for Jack was to ship on some +blockade-runner. They still had the free use of Ocracoke and Oregon +Inlets. + +"I thank you for the information you have given me," said Jack. "I +declare it is refreshing to find a man who can tell the truth. The +falsehoods I have read and listened to during the last few days are +enough to disgust anybody. The possession of Hatteras Inlet is important +to the Federal government, and you'll find it out." + +"We have found it out already," answered the citizen. "The Yankee ships +are hauling in the prizes as fishermen haul in their catch with a drag +net. You see, the blockade-runners that are bound in don't know that the +Inlet has been captured, and neither do they find it out until they run +slap into the arms of the cruisers, who are always on the watch for +them. They had hardly ceased firing upon the forts before they captured +five schooners." + +"All in one day?" exclaimed Marcy. + +"All in one day," repeated the citizen. + +"Good enough," said Marcy, to himself. "I hope the _Hattie_ was one of +them." Then aloud he said: "Do you know the names of those schooners? +The reason I ask is because my captain has had plenty of time to load +up, run down to Nassau, and get back again. His name is Beardsley, and +he commands the _Hattie_." + +"Oh, yes. I heard about him, and when he gets back you will see an +account of his daring exploit in the papers. That man has pluck, I tell +you." + +"What did he do, and why will the papers wait until he returns before +saying anything about it?" inquired Marcy. + +"He had taken his cargo of cotton on board, and was all ready to sail +when word was received that the Yankee ships had appeared off Hatteras," +answered the citizen. "No one supposed that he would think of going out, +but he did; and the first thing we heard of him was that he had got +safely off." + +"He didn't run out of Hatteras, of course?" + +"Certainly not. He stole a march on the Yankees and went down to +Ocracoke." + +"Then I can't see what he did that was so daring," said Marcy, to +himself. "The greatest coward in the world, if he can handle a vessel at +all, ought to be able to run her out of a wide inlet when there is +nothing to oppose him." + +"And the reason our papers didn't speak of it is because we don't want +the Yankees to be on the watch for him when he comes back," continued +the citizen. "We can tell by the way they have acted since they captured +the forts, that they know what is going on in the city as well as we do. +They must get the papers regularly; and if we ever find out who is to +blame for it, I wouldn't give much for his neck." + +"Now that's what _I_ call pluck," thought Marcy. "Captain Beardsley +didn't show a particle when he ran out to sea under the guns of Fort +Ocracoke, for there was nothing for him to be afraid of, all the +blockaders, if there were any, having gone to Hatteras to help the +fleet. But when a Union man, in such a nest of rebels as Newbern is, +risks his life by sending information to the defenders of the old flag, +he's got nerve. But I am sorry to hear that about Beardsley. He'll keep +on running the blockade until he is captured, and what if I should +chance to be aboard the schooner when that happens?" + +Having given them all the information he could, the citizen went back to +his own seat, and the boys were at last left to themselves. They hadn't +learned much, and they did not learn any more when they reached Newbern. +The fortifications below the city were being rapidly pushed to +completion (negroes and poor whites did the work, the officers finding +life in town much more to their liking than digging in the trenches), +and there had been some talk of building gunboats to assist in the +defence of the place; but so far nothing had been done about it. But, +after all, there was no need of gunboats, for the thirty-one pieces of +heavy artillery that had been planted on the works below, would send the +Yankee fleet to the bottom in short order, should its commanding officer +be so foolhardy as to bring it into the Neuse River. There was nothing +to keep the boys in the city, for the _West Wind_, which Marcy wanted +much to see, had already sailed for Nassau with a cargo of cotton; and +after spending two days in making inquiries that did not bring them the +information they desired, they took the cars for home. Old Morris, whom +they found waiting for them at Boydtown depot, was both surprised and +disappointed because they did not ride on the box with him, as they +usually did; but as the boys wanted to be alone, they went inside. + +"You haven't done much talking since we started," said Marcy, when +Morris cracked his whip and drove away from the depot. "What's the +matter?" + +"I have been laying my plans," replied Jack. "But with all my thinking I +haven't been able to decide upon anything further than this: As soon as +it comes dark, we'll begin and load the _Fairy Belle_ with provisions +and such other things as we may be likely to stand in need of, and +to-morrow morning we'll slip down and out." + +"To-morrow night, you mean," suggested Marcy. + +"No, to-morrow morning; just as soon as we have had breakfast. I am +impatient to be off; and besides I really cannot afford to waste any +more time. We must go at once or run the risk of missing the Federal +fleet. It may be ordered somewhere else." + +"But every one along the river will see us," protested Marcy. + +"Who cares if they do? In fact I should care if they did not see us. +We'll hoist my Confederate flag at the peak as----" + +"Why, Jack. And sail under a lie?" + +"Now just listen at you" exclaimed Jack, shaking his finger at his +brother. "Captain Semmes didn't sail under a lie, I suppose, when he ran +up the English colors to quiet the fears of the _Herndon's_ commander, +and neither did you when you hoisted the same flag to coax my vessel +within reach of your guns." + +"Do you imagine that I would have done such a thing if I had been in a +position to refuse?" retorted Marcy, with some spirit. "I couldn't help +myself." + +"I know it; and can't you see that hoisting the rebel rag will help both +of us? I can, and I only wish Nashville was situated on the river so +that Allison and Shelby and the rest of those blatant traitors could see +us as we go by. It will save you from a heap of questioning, and may be +the means of keeping a roof over mother's head." + +"But what will the Union men in the settlement think and do about it?" + +"Not the first thing. There are but few of them, and they dare not say +their souls are their own. They know they are watched as well as mother +knows that she is watched, and there isn't one among them who dares lift +his hand or say a word. For their own sakes, I hope they will not do +anything to you and mother because they think we are rebels, for if they +do, their houses will go up in smoke." + +"But, Jack," persisted Marcy, "I wouldn't dare go alongside a Union +gunboat with that flag on board my schooner." + +"When the time comes, we will pull it down and hoist one of your Union +flags in its place," was the answer. + +"But suppose we should be seen by some one on shore who happened to have +a strong spy-glass in his hand? Wouldn't I find myself in a fix when I +got back?" + +"It is no part of my programme to hug the shores so closely that our +flag can be seen and recognized," replied Jack. "You are not going to +get yourself into trouble by taking me down to the fleet. If I thought +you were, I would not ask you to go; but that money in the cellar may be +the means of turning you out of doors." + +When the boys reached home, their mother saw at a glance that something +had been decided upon, but she asked no questions until they were all +seated at the supper table, and then they told her as much of their +plans as they were willing Hanson should know, and no more. + +"There isn't the sign of a navy in or about Newbern," said Jack, talking +for the benefit of the girl who waited at table as well as for the +information of any other eavesdropper who might chance to be hanging +around. "But there must be some vessels fitting out at Edenton or +somewhere else in these waters, and we intend to find out before we come +back. We shall set out to morrow as soon as we have had breakfast, and +in order to do that we must provision the _Fairy Belle_ before we go to +bed." + +Of course the news of their intended movements got noised among the +servants, as the boys were sure it would, and when they were ready to +set to work, there were any number of volunteers at hand to assist them, +the boy Julius, who took it for granted that he was to be one of the +crew, being particularly active and "bossy." He and another small darkey +were sent off in a skiff to cast the schooner loose from her moorings +and tow her to the shore, and the minute that duty had been performed he +jumped out, seized a bundle which he had left on the bank, and was +climbing back over the side with the agility of a monkey when Jack +called to him: + +"Avast, there. What are you about?" cried the sailor. + +"Going to stow dis yere dunnage of mine in de fo'castle," replied +Julius, without stopping. + +"Well, come back. You can't go this trip." + +"Ain't I going to sea with Marse Marcy?" said Julius, who was almost +ready to cry. + +"Not this trip, I tell you. You are an Abolitionist, and we can't trust +you. If I should get a chance to go into the navy I shall not want you +around, for you would come back and blab it all over the neighborhood. +Somebody must stay home and take care of mother. Come ashore and lend a +hand with this grub." + +"I jes' ain't going to do no such nigger's work as dat," replied Julius +spitefully. "If I can't run on de schooner, I shan't help load her. I +tell you dat for a fac'. I jes' hope she'll go to de bottom 'fore she +sees Seven Mile creek agin." + +The darkey emphasized his words by throwing his bundle as far as he +could send it, and by flinging himself over the side as if he had been a +bag of cotton. The moment his feet touched the ground he snatched up his +property again and disappeared in the darkness. + +"Sorry he went off mad," said Jack, "but it can't be helped. In times +like these the only persons we can trust are those who can keep still +tongues in their heads, and that is something Julius was never known to +do. Now," he added, turning to the half a dozen blacks who remained, "if +there are any among you who don't want to aid in loading a vessel that +is going to hoist the Confederate colors to-morrow, you can go also." + +"But, Marse Jack," exclaimed Morris, who had been waiting for an +opportunity like this, "you ain't no rebel." + +"Of course I am not. Who said I was?" + +"But I mean, you don't go in for the 'Federacy; kase if you did go in +for the 'Federacy, the Missus wouldn't luff you in the house. I don't +see what you want with that rebel flag in the sitting-room, nohow. I +just believe--" + +"I don't care what you believe," interrupted Jack, who was afraid that +the coachman was about to give utterance to some suspicions that would +come too near the truth. "Are you for the Union?" + +"Course I is, Marse Jack. And so be you." + +"Are all the rest of you black ones for the Union, too?" + +"Yes, sar, we is," was the unanimous response. + +"Very well. I don't try to control your opinions; but if you are going +to take sides with those who are coming down here to rob us of our +property, you may trot right back to the quarter and leave us to do our +own work. Off you go, now." + +The astonished negroes urged and pleaded to no purpose. Jack, who +thought he knew just what he was doing, would not listen to them, and +finally they turned slowly and sorrowfully away, leaving Bose to act as +sentry and bodyguard. + +"If everybody on the place doesn't hear of this in less than half an +hour and set you down for a rebel, it will not be your fault," said +Marcy, when the negroes were out of ear-shot. + +"I don't care what they set me down for, so long as they let you and +mother alone while I am gone," replied Jack. "I have been here long +enough to find out what is the matter with our neighbors. They are mad +because we will not declare ourselves." + +"And you think the safest plan is to make them believe, if you can, that +we are Confederates," added Marcy. "But don't you know that this game of +deception can't last forever? Now that the Yankees have got a foothold +on the coast, what is there to hinder them from spreading all over the +country? Suppose they should come here, and some Union man should tell +them that we hoisted the first rebel flag that was seen in the +settlement--then what?" + +"Then will be the time for you to show how smart you are, for I shall +not be here to help you. Now, Bose," he added, speaking as though the +animal could understand every word he said, "you stay here and keep +watch; and if you hear anybody sneaking up on us, take after him and +hold him at bay till we come." + +So saying he picked up the nearest basket and hoisted it over the +schooner's side. + +The _Fairy Belle_ having been built under sailor Jack's personal +supervision, was especially adapted for the service for which she was +intended, that of single-handed cruiser. Although she was provided with +top-masts, she had no sails for them, and all the sheets and halliards +were made to lead aft, so that they were under complete control of the +boy at the helm, who could put his hand upon any of them without moving +from the cock-pit. Beginning forward, there was the chain locker, which +contained all the extra cordage the schooner was likely to need during a +cruise, and also served as a place of storage for the ground tackle when +not in use. Abaft of that was a forecastle, with bunks for two hands, +and then came a small but convenient galley, with cupboards and dishes +in plenty, from which a door gave entrance into a neatly furnished +cabin. It was all there, too, no space being taken up with state-rooms. +An upholstered locker, running the full length of each side of the +cabin, not only served as receptacles for hunting and fishing outfits, +canned provisions, flags, and clothing, but could easily be made into +beds that would accommodate four boys. Nothing had been omitted that +could in any way add to the comfort of her master and crew, and her +speed, under the four sails she usually carried, was all that could be +desired. She had sailed over nearly every mile of Albemarle and Pamlico +Sounds, and been fifty miles outside the sand dunes; but that was before +Yankee gunboats with their sharp-eyed lookouts were known upon the +coast. When Marcy made those trips he had but one flag--one that was +known and respected the world over; but when he went outside this time +he would have two, either of which might be the means of sending him and +his brother to prison. + +It did not take the boys more than ten minutes to put their supplies +aboard the schooner, and while they were about it they talked in their +ordinary tones, so that their words could have been heard and understood +by any one who thought it worth while to come to the top of the bank and +listen to them; but they were careful to weigh the words before they +uttered them, and the sequel proved that the precaution was not a +needless one. After everything had been stowed in its proper place and +the hatches were fastened down. Jack said: + +"Of course we can't leave her alone; we must have some one to watch her. +So if you will keep an eye on her, I'll go to the house and send Morris +and Julius down." At the same time he pointed to Bose; and Marcy, +comprehending his meaning, seized the dog by the neck to keep him from +following Jack, who lumbered up the bank, making any amount of noise, +and singing a sailor ditty as he went. + +Scarcely had the words of the song died away in the distance, when +something that sounded suspiciously like the breaking of twigs came to +Marcy's ears, and at the same instant the faithful watch-dog tore +himself loose from his master's detaining grasp and bounded up the bank, +barking fierce and loud at every jump. This must have been what Jack was +thinking of when he left Bose behind. As quickly as he could Marcy got +upon his feet and shouted words of encouragement to his four-footed +friend. + +"Pull him down," he yelled. "Pull the spy down and let me see who he +is." + +The dog heard the command and probably tried to obey it, for his bark +changed to an angry snarl, and a second later a familiar but frightened +voice cried out: + +"Call him off, Mister Marcy! Call him off! He'll eat me up if you +don't." + +"It's nothing more than I expected," thought the boy, who was in no +particular hurry to give ear to the entreaty. "Now who is it that +carries news to him from the house? That's the next thing to be found +out." + +"Is that you, Hanson?" he exclaimed, as if he were much surprised. "Come +away, Bose. What brought you down here, and why did you come in that +sneaking way? Jack will be mad enough to knock you down," he added, when +he stood face to face with the overseer. + +"Why Mr. Marcy, I had no thought of playing the part of a sneak," +protested the man. "I couldn't make head or tail of what the darkey +tried to tell me, but I knew there was something going on in the creek, +and thought it my duty to come down and take a look at things. I didn't +know you was here." + +"You are Union, are you not?" said Marcy, who knew there wasn't a word +of truth in the overseer's story. + +"Of course I am, and so are you. So is Mr. Jack." + +"Well, if he is, what is that Confederate flag doing in the house?" + +"It's put there a purpose to fool folks. The niggers don't know what to +think about it, but I do; and I think it was a good idee on your part. +There's plenty of folks about here who would be glad to see harm come to +you, but I'm watching 'em." + +"So am I; and some day, when they least expect it, I will bring some of +them up with a round turn. I hear Jack coming, and you had better get +out of his way. He'd just as soon pick a quarrel with you as not." + +But the overseer did not want Jack to pick a quarrel with him, so he +took Marcy at his word. He went away more mystified than ever. Were the +Grays Union or Confederate? He would have given almost anything he +possessed to have his doubts on this point cleared up, and the men for +whom he was working in secret would have done the same thing. + + + + + CHAPTER XIV. + + JULIUS IN TROUBLE. + +By the time the overseer was out of hearing sailor Jack came up, +followed by two negroes, who carried blankets on their arms. They were +the ones who had been selected to watch the schooner during the night, +and the first words they uttered in Marcy's hearing seemed to indicate +that they were not very well pleased with the duty that had been imposed +upon them. Having learned from their companions that the Stars and Bars +were to be hoisted at her peak on the following morning, they did not +want to have anything to do with her. + +"I couldn't find Julius, but I heard of him," said Jack. "He is mad +clear through, and hopes some Union man will walk off with the _Fairy +Belle_ as soon as we rebels turn our backs upon her. I never knew him to +talk as spitefully as I heard he did when he took his bundle back to the +quarter. Now, boys, tow her out to her moorings and look out for her +till we come again. Good-night." + +"But, Marse Jack, Ise mighty jubus about dis business; I is for a fac'. +Sposen some of de Union men in de settlement----" + +"Well, if any Union folks come here before morning, it will be because +some of you black ones have posted them," interrupted Jack. "The people +in this settlement know our business as well as we know it ourselves, or +think they do, and some of you boys are to blame for it." + +"Now, Marse Jack----" began the negroes, with one voice. + +"I am not accusing either one of you," exclaimed the sailor. "But if the +shoe fits you, you can wear it. There's one among you who runs to a +certain person with everything that is done in and about the house that +he can get hold of. I know who he is," Jack added, to Marcy's great +amazement, "and can put my hand on him in less than ten minutes. But I'm +not going to do it. I shall let somebody else punish him; and some dark +night, when the ghosts come out of the church-yard and walk around the +quarter----" + +"Oh, Marse Jack," cried the frightened blacks throwing down their +blankets and moving closer to the boys for protection. "Don't say dem +unrespec'ful words. If you do, yo' boat sink wid you to-morrer, suah." + +"Well, you know it to be a fact, don't you? At any rate I have often +heard some of you say that white things do walk around of nights. I know +it, whether you do or not; and some night, when you are all asleep in +the quarter, and I am away on the water fighting for the flag I believe +in, something, I don't know just how it will look, will walk into a +certain cabin down there and take a man out: and it will be a long time +before you will hear of him again. You'll be astonished when you wake up +the next morning. But you two will be all right if you keep still +tongues in your head. If you don't, I'll not answer for the +consequences." + +"But, Marse Jack----" began one of the negroes. + +"I can't waste any more time with you," said the sailor impatiently. +"Haven't I told you that I don't know how the thing will look when it +gets ready to go to work? I don't even know when it is coming; _but it +is coming._ You may depend upon that. Now take the schooner out to her +moorings and keep an eye on her till morning." + +The astonished Marcy, who did not understand the situation any better +than the frightened blacks did, fully expected so hear them refuse duty; +but Jack had so worked upon their feelings that they were afraid to do +it. Out of pure mischief he had often done the same thing before, by +telling them of the wonderful adventures he had met at sea. He had seen +lots of mermaids riding on the waves and dressing their hair with the +combs they had taken from the pockets of drowned sailors; had often +listened to the entrancing music of sirens, who, seated on submerged +rocks in mid-ocean, had played their harps for all they were worth in +the hope of drawing his ship to destruction; and once the vessel on +which he was sailing had a two weeks' race before it could get away from +the whale that swallowed Jonah. This whale got hungry once every hundred +thousand years; and whenever that happened he sunk the first ship he +came to and made a meal off the crew. But Jack himself always came off +safe by reason of the powers of a charm which he carried in his +ditty-bag. This wonderful charm not only brought him good luck in +everything he undertook, but enabled him to give a wide berth to those +who sought to do him harm, and to turn the tables upon them whenever he +saw fit to do so. Without saying another word in protest, the two +negroes stepped into the skiff and made ready to tow the schooner to her +moorings, while the boys faced about and started for the house. + +"Jack, what in the name of sense are you up to now?" demanded Marcy, +when he could speak without fear of being overheard. + +By way of reply the sailor laughed heartily but silently, and poked his +brother in the ribs with his finger. + +"I know you have made the darkeys afraid of you by telling them your +ridiculous stories, and I am ashamed to say that I have backed up all +you have said to them," continued Marcy. "But I don't see why you +stuffed them up that way to-night. It wasn't true, of course." + +"All sailors are strictly truthful," replied Jack. "But seriously, +Marcy, I never told a straighter story than I told those blacks a while +ago, when I warned them that some morning they would find a man +missing. + +"Jack," said Marcy, suddenly, "what is it that has been taking you out +of the house so much of nights during the last two weeks? Mother and I +have often thought we would ask you, but have as often come to the +conclusion that when you were ready to let us know, you would tell us." + +"And a very wise conclusion it was," answered Jack. "By leaving me +entirely alone, you have thrown no obstacles in my way." + +"But if you were working up anything, why didn't you take me into your +confidence?" said Marcy reproachfully. + +"Because one can hide his movements better than two. Besides, I did not +see my way clearly, and I didn't want to raise any false hopes. But I +think the thing is cut and dried now, and as sure as you live," here he +sunk his voice to a whisper, "there'll be the biggest kind of a rumpus +in the quarter some morning; and if mother happens to be awake, she will +wonder why she doesn't hear the horn." + +"Why won't she hear it?" + +"For the very good reason that there will be no one there who has a +right to blow it." + +"_Jack!_" Marcy almost gasped. + +"Well, you wait and see if I don't know what I am talking about," +replied the sailor. + +"Where will Hanson be on that particular morning?" + +"I can't tell. I only know that he will be gone, that he will not be +likely to trouble you and mother any more, for a while at least, and +that the whole thing will be so very mysterious that such fellows as +Shelby and Allison will be frightened out of their boots; and, Marcy," +added Jack, speaking in a still lower whisper, "you needn't go back to +the _Hattie_ if you don't want to." + +"Jack, I wish you would tell me just what you mean," said Marcy +impatiently. + +"All right. Give me a chance and I will. But, in the first place, what +was Bose barking at while I was gone? He acted as though he was getting +ready to bite something or somebody. Was it Hanson?" + +"That's just who it was," replied Marcy. + +"And did Bose hold him until you had opportunity to speak to him!" +continued Jack. "All right. That was what I left him for. I don't care +now what Hanson told you, for I don't suppose there was a word of truth +in it; but what did you think when you spoke to him?" + +"I said to myself that one eavesdropper had been brought to light, and +that the next thing would be to find out who it is that carries news to +him from the house," replied Marcy. + +"Exactly. Well, there's no one that carries news, but there is a little +nig who used to take him a pack of lies every day," replied Jack, "and I +know who it is. That was what I meant when I told those two darkeys +awhile ago that I could put my hand on the talebearer in less than ten +minutes. It's Julius." + +"Jack, you are certainly dreaming," exclaimed Marcy, growing more and +more amazed. + +"If you should try to take my measure on the ground right here, you +might find that I am tolerably wide awake," replied the sailor, with a +laugh. "I have had several talks with the overseer, all unbeknown to you +and mother, and by taking it for granted that he was a good rebel, I +caught him off his guard a time or two (but that wasn't a hard thing to +do), and learned, to my surprise, that somebody was keeping him very +well _mis_informed regarding the doings in the house. Of course that +excited my curiosity, and after thinking the matter over I took Julius +by the neck one day when I happened to catch him alone, and frightened +the secret out of him." + +And this was the secret, which Jack told in as few words as possible, +for he knew that his mother was anxiously awaiting his return. Julius +was one of the few servants who were allowed the freedom of the house; +but, like many others of his race, he was somewhat given to laying +violent hands upon things that did not belong to him. He was rarely +detected, and when he was he generally succeeded in lying out of it, and +of course this made him bolder; so when he saw Mrs. Gray's valuable +breastpin lying exposed on her dressing-table, he slipped it into his +pocket, made his way from the house without being seen, and went behind +one of the cabins to admire it. But, as bad luck would have it, the +overseer, who never did things openly and above board as other folks do +them, came "snooping" along the lane and caught him in the act. + +"What's that you've got there?" he demanded. + +"Wha--what thing, Marse Hanson?" stammered Julius. + +"That thing you're putting in your pocket," replied the overseer. "Hand +it out, or I'll wear this rawhide into slivers on your black hide." + +"Look a yer, Marse Hanson," exclaimed Julius. "My missus don't 'low no +white trash of a oberseer to whop de house servants. I tell you dat." +And before the words were fairly out of his mouth the little darkey took +to his heels and ran like a deer. + +"All right," shouted Hanson. "Run away if you want to, and I will go to +the missus and tell her that you've got something of hers--some of her +gold things. You won't lie me down, either, like you done the last time, +for I seen you have 'em." + +This dreadful threat reached the ears of the thief and stopped his +flight. He turned about and faced the overseer. + +"And then do you know what the Missus will say to me?" the latter went +on. "She'll say, 'Mister Hanson, take this boy to the field and put him +to work. He ain't fitten to stay about the house.' And when I get you +into the field," he added, shaking his riding-whip at the culprit, +"won't I see that you handle them hoes lively? I reckon not. Come here +and give me that, I tell you." + +"You'll lick me if I come back," said Julius. + +"No, I won't tech hide nor hair of ye. Honor bright." + +"And won't ye tell de Missus, nuther?" + +"Well, that depends on whether I do or not," replied Hanson evasively. +"If you'll mind every word I say to you and jump the minute you hear the +word, I won't tell her. Come here, now." + +Not being able just then to discover any other way out of the scrape, +Julius tremblingly obeyed. When the overseer took the stolen pin in his +hands his eyes seemed ready to start from their sockets. + +"Do you know what you've went and done, you thieving nigger?" he said, +in a mysterious whisper. "What do you reckon these yer things is +scattered round 'mongst this gold?" + +"Glass, ain't they?" faltered Julius. + +"Glass, you fule! They're diamonds. They cost more'n a hundred thousand +dollars, and that's more'n a dozen such niggers as you is worth," said +Hanson, who was not very well versed in figures. + +This incident happened at the beginning of the troubles between the +North and South, and about the time that everybody was supposed to be +"taking sides." All the people in that part of the country, with but a +single exception, had declared for secession (whether they were sincere +or not remains to be seen), and that single exception was Mrs. Gray, who +could not be coaxed, cajoled, or surprised into saying a word in favor +of one side or the other. Of course this did not suit the red-hot rebels +in the vicinity, and as they could not find out anything themselves, +they bribed Hanson to try his luck; but he was at fault, too. The +trouble with him was, he did not live in the great house, but close to +the quarter, which was nearly half a mile away; he had nothing whatever +to do with the house servants; and he was pretty certain that those he +found opportunity to question, did not always take the trouble to tell +him the truth. He must have a reliable ally in the house--some one who +was in a position to hear and see everything that was said and done by +the inmates, who must not, of course, be given reason for believing that +they were watched. Until this episode of the breastpin occurred, Hanson +did not know how he was going to get such an ally; but he thought he had +found him now. + +"I'll keep these yer diamonds till I find out whether or not you are +going to do Jest like I tell you," said the overseer, putting the +jewelry into his pocket. + +"But, Marse Hanson," protested the darkey, "it ain't right for you to +keep dat thing." + +"Now listen at you," said the overseer angrily. "Wasn't you going to +steal it? I ain't. I'm only going to hold fast to it a little while to +see if you are going to do like I tell you. If you do, the Missus will +get her pin back, and she won't never know who took it; but if you +don't, I'll have you in the field where I can find you every time I +retch for you. Now listen. I reckon you know that Mister Marcy is coming +home from school one of those days, don't you? Well, when he comes, I +want you to find out if he's Union or secesh. What's the Missus +anyway?" + +"She's jes' the same that you be," replied Julius. + +"Look here, nigger," said the overseer, in savage tones, "that won't go +down. You're Union, ain't you?" + +"Oh, yes sar. Ise Union if you is." + +Hanson raised his whip and Julius dodged like a flash. + +"'Tain't what I want, and you know it well enough," the man shouted. "I +want to know for a fact--for a fact, mind you--what them folks up to the +great house is; which side they leans to, Union or Confederate. And if +you don't come down to my house this very night after dark with some +news of some kind, I'll take these yer diamonds straight to the Missus +and tell her where I got 'em. You know what I mean, so cl'ar yourself." + +Glad to escape the whip with which the overseer constantly threatened +him while he was talking, Julius lost no time in making his way to the +great house; but he did not go near Mrs. Gray till she summoned him into +her presence to ask him if he had been in her room that day. Of course +he hadn't been upstairs at all, not even to "tote up de wash-watah, kase +dat was de gals' work and not his'n." + +"I never heard that mother lost a breastpin," said Marcy, when Jack had +got this far with his narrative. "Did she find it again? Did Hanson give +it up?" + +Instead of replying in words, Jack took hold of a small cord that +encircled his neck, and pulled his ditty-bag from beneath the bosom of +his flannel shirt. This he opened with great deliberation, taking from +it a small vial and a package wrapped in a piece of newspaper. + +"What have those things to do with mother's breastpin?" demanded Marcy. +"What's in that bottle?" + +"That vial contains my charm; and a most potent one it is," said the +sailor gravely. + +"If you don't quit your nonsense and come to the point, I will leave you +and go into the house," said Marcy angrily. + +"I'll bet you won't. This thing is getting interesting now, and it will +not be long before it will be more so," answered Jack. "Look at that!" + +He had been unwrapping the newspaper while he was talking, and Marcy was +struck dumb with astonishment when he saw him bring the lost breastpin +to light. + +"Jack," he faltered, "where did you get it?" + +"The charm brought it. Hold on, now," exclaimed Jack, when his brother +turned away with an ejaculation indicative of the greatest annoyance and +vexation. "It helped bring it, and a little common sense, backed by an +insight into darkey nature, did the rest. Now, don't break in on me any +more. Mother will begin to wonder what's keeping us." + +When Julius came to ponder the matter, he found that he was in the worst +scrape of his life. A house servant considered it an everlasting +disgrace to be sent to the field, and Julius thought he would about as +soon die or take to the swamps, one being as bad as the other in his +estimation. But there was one thing that could be said in his favor: He +was loyal to every member of the family in whose service his father and +mother had grown gray. Although he could not possibly tell the truth, +and found it hard to keep his nimble fingers off other people's +property, the tortures of the whipping post, if there had been such a +thing on the plantation, could not have wrung from Julius a word or a +hint that could be used to their injury. He didn't like to work, but he +knew he would have to if he was not ready with "some news of some kind" +that very night. But what could he do when there wasn't any news? In his +extremity he bent his steps toward the barn where old Morris was busy +washing the carriage. + +"Say," he began. + +"Look here, nigger," replied Morris, straightening up as quickly as a +jack in the box, "who you calling 'Say'? If you can't put a Mister to my +name, cl'ar yourself and don't bother me no more." + +"Say, Mistah Morris," repeated Julius, taking another start. + +"That's better," said the coachman approvingly. "What was you going to +deserve?" + +"Say, Mistah Morris, we uns is all Union, ain't we?" + +"Jest listen at the chile. G'long, honey. What you know 'bout +politicians? Course we is all Union; all except the overseer, and he +ain't fitten to live. Run along, now." + +Julius was quite willing to obey, for he had learned all he wanted to +know. If Hanson was a rebel, it followed, as a matter of course, that it +would afford him satisfaction to learn that the inmates of the great +house were rebels also; accordingly when the time came for him to make +his report, he was on hand and eager to unburden himself. The overseer, +who was waiting for him, took him into a room and carefully locked the +door behind him. This not only made the darkey feel a little uneasy, but +it stimulated his inventive faculties as well. + +"What do you know?" Hanson inquired, taking his pipe from the mantel +over the fireplace. "Have you heard anything?" + +"Well--I--yes, sar," stammered Julius, as if he did not know how to +begin. "I--oh, yes, sar. Is you Union?" + +"Of course I am," replied Hanson. "Every white man is." + +"Den you ain't got no call to have truck wid de Missus. If she find out +dat you is Union, she chuck you off'n de place quick's a cat kin bat her +eye. She don't like Linkum. I hearn her say so dis bery day." + +"Are you telling me the truth?" asked Hanson, looking sharply at the +darkey, who met his gaze without flinching. + +"If I ain't telling you de fac's ob de case, you kin w'ar dat rawhide o' +your'n out on me quick's you please," said the boy, earnestly. "If you's +Union you best dig out, kase de Missus put de secesh on you suah," added +Julius, hoping that the man would act upon the suggestion and leave +before morning. + +"But I don't want to give the Missus warning till I know that she's got +money enough to pay me." + +"Oh, yes, sar; she got plenty ob money," declared Julius, whereupon +Hanson began pricking up his ears. "I seen her have as much as a dollah +dis bery day. I seen it wid my own two eyes." + +"A dollar," sneered the overseer. "She owes me more'n that, and she's +got more'n that. She's got a bushel basketful hid away somewhere; and +Julius, if you will find out where it is, and tell me and nobody else, I +will give you a piece of money just like that." + +As he said this he put his hand into his pocket and brought out a +twenty-dollar gold piece--a portion of the liberal sum Colonel Shelby +had given him for spying upon the family whose bread he ate. Julius +declared, with much earnestness, that he didn't believe Mrs. Gray had +concealed any money, but if she had he could find it out if anybody +could, and he would bring the news straight to the overseer. + +When his supposed ally took his departure Hanson was obliged to confess +to himself that he did not know any more about Mrs. Gray and the money +she was thought to have in the house than he did before. And we may add +that he never did learn anything through the boy Julius. That astute +darkey was altogether too smart for the overseer, and brought him only +such news as he thought the man wanted to hear; and more than half of +that had not a word of truth in it. In the first place his only thought +and desire was to keep the overseer from telling his mistress that he +stole the breastpin; but as Hanson became more communicative and stood +less on his guard, and the boy's eyes were opened to the startling fact +that Mrs. Gray had an enemy in the overseer, he threw the fear of +punishment to the winds, and set himself at work to defeat all the man's +plans. How he managed to keep his secret was a mystery, for never before +had the negro been known to hold his tongue. But he kept it, and kept it +well until sailor Jack frightened it out of him. + + + + + CHAPTER XV. + + THE ENCHANTED LOOKING-GLASS. + +Things went on in this unsatisfactory way for a long time--so long, in +fact, that Hanson began to grow discouraged. And well he might, for with +all his scheming he had not been able to add a single scrap of +information to the first report he made to Colonel Shelby. The boy +Julius held manfully to his story--that Mrs. Gray was the best kind of a +Confederate, that she had no money except the dollar she carried in her +pocket-book--and the most cunningly worded cross-questioning could not +draw anything else from him. In process of time Fort _Sumter_ was fired +upon, Marcy Gray came home from school, and then the overseer rubbed his +hands joyously and told himself that he would soon know all about it. +Well, he didn't, but Julius did; and this was the way it came about. + +In the ceiling of the dining-room, to which apartment the family usually +betook themselves when they had anything private to talk about, was a +stovepipe hole, communicating with a store-room on the floor above. It +happened that Julius was roaming about the house one day when Mrs. Gray +had company at dinner, and the sound of voices coming up through this +opening attracted his attention. He listened a moment, and found that he +could plainly hear every word that was uttered in the room below; but he +never would have thought of playing the part of eavesdropper if Hanson +had not told him that he was expected to do it. Believing that he could +add to his usefulness and better guard the interests of the family if he +knew more about its private affairs, Julius hastened to the store-room +the minute he saw Marcy and his mother going in to breakfast, and put +his ear directly over the open stovepipe hole, and heard some things +that made him tremble all over. There was money in the house after +all--thirty thousand dollars all in gold; it was hidden in the cellar +wall, and he could earn a nice little sum by carrying the news straight +to the overseer, as he had solemnly promised to do; but he never thought +of it. On the contrary he strove harder than ever to make Hanson believe +that there was not a dollar in the house beyond the one Mrs. Gray kept +in her pocket; because why, hadn't he heard her tell Marse Marcy so with +his own two ears? If the overseer did not say "money" during their +interviews, Julius did; but he did not dwell long enough on the subject +to arouse the man's suspicions. More than that, Julius was brave enough +to "take the bull by the horns," and one day he disheartened the +overseer by declaring: + +"I seen something dis day, Marse Hanson, dat done took my breff all plum +away; I did so. Marse Marcy he come home a purpose to go into our army; +and his mother she cried and cried, and pooty quick she say: 'My deah +boy, dat man Linkum mus' be whopped; dat am de facs in de case'; and den +she slap him on de back and sick him on. Yes, sar. I done see dat wid my +own two eyes dis bery day." + +The reason Hanson was disheartened was because he had been promised a +liberal reward if he could bring evidence to prove that Mrs. Gray was +opposed to secession, and that her journeys to Richmond and other cities +had been made for the purpose of drawing funds from the banks; and when +Marcy backed up the young negro's bold statement by shipping on board +Captain Beardsley's privateer, Hanson came to the sorrowful conclusion +that it was not in his power to earn that reward. He was none too good +to bear false witness against Mrs. Gray, but he was afraid to do it. +Sailor Jack might come home some day, and--well, Hanson had never seen +sailor Jack but he had been told that he was a good one to let alone. + +The long-expected wanderer returned in due time, and the wide-awake +little negro was the second on the plantation to find it out, Bose being +the first. Julius slept in the back part of the house, so close to +Marcy's room that if the latter wanted anything during the night, all he +had to do was to open his window and call out, and consequently it was +no trouble at all for him to catch every word that passed between Jack +and his brother. He was not far off when the sailor was admitted at the +front door, and when he saw the reunited family go into the dining-room, +he bounded up the back stairs into the store-room and placed his ear at +the stovepipe hole--not because he wanted to repeat anything he heard, +you will understand, but because he wanted to know what subjects to +steer clear of in his interviews with the overseer. When he heard that +Jack had passed himself off for a rebel, that he had brought a smuggler +into a Southern port, and that he had made considerable money out of the +sale of his venture, Julius thought it would help matters if the news +were spread broadcast; and he lost no time in spreading it among the +negroes, and by their aid it reached Nashville before the boys went +there for their mail the next morning. He told about the _Hattie's_ +adventure with the steam launch, also (of course he made it more +thrilling than it really was), and that was the way Captain Beardsley's +daughter came to know so much about it; but he never said a word +concerning Jack's short captivity in the hands of the _Sumter's_ men. + +After Jack had been at home long enough to find out how things stood, he +set himself at work to learn who it was that kept certain people in the +neighborhood so well posted in regard to his mother's private affairs. +He said not a word to anybody, but worked in secret, for he believed +that his efforts would result in the unearthing of a spy who lived in +the house. It would add to his mother's troubles if she knew that Jack +believed, as she did, that there was some trusted servant who kept an +eye on her movements and went to the overseer with a report of them--so +he kept his own counsel, and laid siege to Hanson the very first thing. +The latter wasn't sharp enough to hold his own with any such fellow as +Jack Gray, and Jack learned all he cared to know about Hanson in less +than two days. The next step was to find the servant on whom the +overseer depended for his information. This looked like a hopeless task, +but fortune favored him. One morning he stood in front of the mirror in +Marcy's room performing his toilet. The door, which was behind and a +little to one side of him, was open, and the lower end of the long hall +was plainly reflected upon the polished surface of the looking-glass. So +was the slim, agile figure of the small darkey who slipped out of one of +the rooms, ran along the hall with the speed of the wind, and +disappeared down the back stairs. + +"That's Julius," said Jack, whose first thought was to call the boy back +and make him give an account of himself. "He has been up to some +mischief, I'll warrant; but I will see if I can find out what it is +before hauling him over the coals." + +So saying Jack stepped into the hall, and the first door he opened was +the one leading into the store-room. There was the open stovepipe hole, +and through it voices came up from the room below. He bent a little +closer to it, and distinctly heard his mother tell one of the girls to +put breakfast on the table and ring the bell for the boys. In an instant +the whole secret flashed upon him. He said not a word, but as soon as he +returned from the post-office, and Marcy had ridden to the field to +carry some instructions to the overseer, Jack went up to his room, +leaving orders with one of the girls to send Julius there at once. When +he came, the first thing Jack did was to lock the door and put the key +in his pocket. + +"Now, Julius," said he, in his most solemn tones, his face at the same +time taking on a fierce frown, "if you are an innocent boy, if you have +been strictly honest and truthful ever since I have been at sea, if you +have obeyed your mistress and kept your hands off things that do not +belong to you----" + +"Oh, Marse Jack," exclaimed the frightened boy. "Suah hope to die I +nevah----" + +"Don't interrupt me," commanded Jack, with a still more savage frown. +"I'll show you in a minute that I have it in my power to find out just +what you have done while I have been gone, from the time you stole----" + +"Marse Jack, I nevah took dat breastpin; suah hope to die if I did," +began Julius. + +"Hal-lo!" thought Jack. "I've got on to something when I least expected +it. That's what comes of knowing how to handle a darkey. I didn't even +know that mother had lost a breastpin." + +"I haven't asked you whether you stole it or not," he said, aloud. +"There is no need that I should ask you any questions, for I have a way +of finding out everything I want to know. If you have been an honest, +truthful boy during the last two years, sit down in that chair; but I +warn you that if you are deceiving me, it will drop to pieces with you +and let you down on the floor. Sit down!" + +"Oh, Marse Jack," cried the darkey, backing away from the chair. "Don't +I done tol' you dat I didn't took it?" + +"Do you stick to that story?" demanded Jack. + +"Yes, sar. I stick to it till I plum dead." + +"All right. I hope you are telling me the truth, and I'll very soon find +out whether you are or not. The Yankees are coming right through this +country some day, and I don't want to give you up to them, as I am +afraid I shall have to do. You have heard Aunt Mandy tell her +pickaninnies what awful fellows the Yankees are, have you not? Why, +Julius, it scares me to think of them. If a live Yankee was in this room +this minute,--don't get behind me, for I wouldn't try to help you if one +should walk in and carry you off,--if one came in and sat down in that +chair that will fall to pieces if you touch it, and you should take off +his hat and his right boot, you would find that he had horns and a +cloven hoof--a hoof like an ox instead of a foot like yours." + +"Look a hyar, Marse Jack," exclaimed Julius, clinging to the sailor with +one trembling hand while he pointed toward the wash-stand with the +other. "Wha--wha' you doing da'? Wha' dat white stuff for?" + +While Jack was telling the boy what terrible fellows the Yankees were +supposed to be, he had slowly and solemnly filled a goblet with water +from the pitcher, and then in the same solemn and deliberate way drew +forth his ditty-bag and took from it a small bottle containing a +harmless-looking white powder known to the druggists as citrate of +magnesia. He held it at arm's length as if he were afraid of it, and +that made Julius so weak with terror that he could scarcely keep his +feet. + +"Do you want to know what--look out for yourself, now! If it explodes +when I remove the cork, look out! Do you want to know what this is?" +said Jack. "Then I must whisper the words to you, for it would never do +to say them out loud. It is my enchanted looking-glass--my fetich--my +voodoo charm." + +That was too much for Julius. With a wild scream he jumped for the door; +but it was locked, and he could not get out. + +"Now watch," continued Jack, who knew that he would get at the truth of +the whole matter in a minute more. "To begin with, I shall command my +enchanted looking-glass to show me the likeness of the villain who stole +that breastpin; and in the next, I shall tell it to show me the place +where it is now. Now, stand by to look in and tell me who you see +there." + +He poured a small portion of the white powder into the goblet, whose +contents at once began to bubble and boil in the most unaccountable +manner. When the water boiled up to the top and ran over on the +wash-stand, Jack commanded Julius to look in and tell him what he saw +there; but the boy sprang away and curled himself up on the floor in the +farthest corner of the room. + +"Come here!" said Jack sternly. "You won't? Then I'll look myself. Ah! +What is this I see? Julius, come here this instant and tell me who this +is." + +Jack emphasized the order by taking the negro by the back of the neck +and lifting him to his feet; but he soon found that he could not hold +him there without the use of more strength than he cared to put forth. +Julius was like an eel in his grasp. As fast as he raised him from the +floor he would somehow manage to slip back again; and all the while he +begged and pleaded so loudly that Jack was forced to desist for fear +that his mother would hear the uproar, and come to the door to ask what +was the matter. + +"You are afraid to look in that goblet and you dare not sit in the +chair," said Jack at length. "That proves that you did take the pin. Now +where is it? If I have to fill my enchanted glass again, I'll make you +look in it whether you want to or not. Where is it?" + + [Illustration: THE ENCHANTED LOOKING-GLASS.] + +"De oberseer got it," was the reply that made the sailor wonder whether +he was awake or dreaming. "Suah's you born, de oberseer done made me gib +it to him." + +Jack had not the least doubt of it, but in order to test the boy's +sincerity, he told him to sit down in the chair, assuring him, at the +same time, that he had nothing to fear. As he had atoned for his guilt +by making a confession, the chair would hold him up as it would anybody +else. Julius tremblingly obeyed, and when he found that the chair really +did support him, he gained courage, and with a little questioning told +the whole story pretty nearly as we have told it, with this difference: +He omitted some important items which we have been obliged to explain in +order to make the narrative clear to the reader. It was a very nice +scheme, Jack told himself, but he had not yet got the game as completely +in his own hands as he determined to have it. + +"Julius," said he impressively, "do you know what will happen to you if +you fail to prove the truth of this most remarkable tale? You'll be sold +down South before the week is over. A darkey who has been as carefully +brought up as you have wouldn't last long in the cotton fields." + +"But, Marse Jack," said Julius earnestly, "I kin prove dat I ain't tole +you nuffin but the gospel truth. I kin fotch you de pin; but you musn't +luff de oberseer whop me." + +"He shall not put a hand on you," Jack assured him. "Keep away from the +quarter, take no more reports to him, and I will stand between you and +all harm." + +As he said this he unlocked the door, and the darkey disappeared like a +flash. He was gone about half an hour, and when he returned he handed +Jack the breastpin, which was wrapped in a piece of newspaper. The +overseer being away in the field and his cabin unlocked, it was a matter +of no difficulty for the darkey to rummage his bureau drawers until he +found the object of which he was in search. Whether or not Hanson ever +discovered that he had been robbed of the "charm" that gave him such +power over Julius, Jack never knew. If he did, he never said a word +about it while he remained on that plantation. + +But this was not the only good work Jack Gray did during the first two +weeks he passed at home. When the _West Wind_ was a day out from Boston, +he accidentally learned that one of his best foremast hands was a +resident of his own State, and that his father, who was a strong Union +man, lived but an hour's ride from Nashville. Of course the two became +friends at once. All the lightest and easiest jobs about deck seemed to +fall into Aleck Webster's hands, and Jack won the good will of his mess +by taking it upon himself to see that their food was not only abundant, +but that it was well-cooked and properly served. They talked over the +situation as often as they could get together, and not knowing just how +matters stood at home they concluded that they had better not recognize +each other after they reached Newbern. If, after they had passed a few +days at their respective homes, they thought it safe to do so, they +could very easily bring about a meeting, and who could tell but that +they might find opportunity to work together for the good of the old +flag, or for the relief of some persecuted Unionist? Jack knew of one +Unionist who was persecuted by being watched by rebel neighbors, and +that one was his mother. He and Webster met at the post-office one +morning, but they met as strangers. In fact his shipmate was a stranger +to all present, for his father, who was a small farmer, had moved into +that section from Georgia while Aleck was at sea. Having the misfortune +to be a "cracker," or a poor white, Mr. Webster was rather looked down +on by such men as Colonel Shelby and Major Dillon, but Jack Gray was not +that sort. Aleck was a good sailor, and such a man was worth more in a +gale at sea than a landsman who could call upon his bank account for a +hundred thousand dollars. + +During his first interview with his old shipmate Jack Gray heard some +things that made him open his eyes. It was true, as he afterward told +Marcy, that the Union men in the neighborhood were few in number, and +that they dared not say out loud that their souls were their own; but +they were well organized, and by no means afraid to follow the example +set them by the rebels, and act in secret. Aleck said that there were +about twenty of them all told, and no one could join their company +unless he was vouched for by every man in it. They calculated to defend +themselves and one another. They would not go into the Confederate +service, and if they were crowded upon too closely they would take to +the swamps and fight it out with any force that might be sent against +them. They were well armed and resolute, and Aleck said they would be in +just the right humor to deal with Hanson's case when it was brought to +their notice at their next meeting. + +"My mother rather took me to task because I helped that smuggler into +port, but if you can give me the assurance that these Union men will +stand between her and that cowardly overseer she's got on the place, I +shall be glad I became a smuggler for the time being," said Jack. + +"I can give you that assurance, Mr. Gray," said Aleck positively. +"That's just what the company, or society, or whatever you have a mind +to call it, was got together for. I know, because I was present at their +last meeting, and the whole thing was explained to me before I took the +oath to stand by it. Why can't you come down and join us?" + +"We're not on board ship now, and my name is Jack. There's no Mister +about it," was the reply. "I am in full sympathy with you and with the +object for which you have been brought together, and if I was going to +stay at home I should surely ask you to hand in my name. But my mother +will be defenseless when I go into the navy and Marcy leaves to join +that blockade-runner, and if Shelby and Beardsley and Hanson should find +out that I knew there was an organization like yours in existence, they +would burn up everything we've got. We can't discharge Hanson without +bringing ourselves into serious trouble; and if you fellows could think +up some way to drive him off the place, and bring old Beardsley home so +that my brother wouldn't have to go blockade running any more, you would +make us all your everlasting debtors." + +"If you wanted to write to this Captain Beardsley you would address him +at Newbern, wouldn't you? All right. We meet somewhere in the woods next +Wednesday night, and then we will talk it over and see what can be done +for you." + +Jack Gray always was light-hearted and jolly, no matter whether things +worked to suit him or not; but Marcy and his mother thought they had +never seen him quite so much at peace with himself and all the world as +he appeared to be after this interview with Aleck Webster. If those +Union men were in earnest and did what his shipmate thought they +certainly would do, there might be a fight right there on the +plantation; and that was the reason Jack did not take his mother into +his confidence. To quote from Marcy, she had enough to trouble her +already. If the attempt to drive the overseer from the place was made +and resulted in failure, it would probably lead to some vigorous action +on the part of Colonel Shelby and his friends; and that was the reason +Jack did not tell Marcy of it. If a difficulty arose, he wanted Marcy to +be able to say that he did not know a thing about it. But this +particular night might be the last one he would ever spend with his +brother, and he thought it prudent to make a clean breast of the +matter. + +"That is my story," said Jack, in conclusion. "What do you think of +it?" + +"I think you have worked to some purpose," replied Marcy, who could not +yet understand how Jack had done all this without his knowledge. "But +there is one thing you have yet to explain. You told me that I need not +go back to the _Hattie_ if I don't want to. I certainly do not want to, +but how shall I get out of it?" + +This was the way Jack explained that. On the Thursday morning following +the day on which he held his first interview with Aleck Webster, he met +him again, and the young fellow had startling news for him. After the +two had seated themselves on a low fence a little way from the store, +Aleck fastened his gaze upon a paper he held in his hand and said: + +"It is just as I told you it would be. Our men were all mad when I told +them that Unionists, and women at that, were being mistreated right here +under their very noses, and them setting around like bumps on a log and +doing nothing to stop it, and it's my private opinion that if that +overseer of your'n had been handy last night, they would have used him +rough. He'll get out; I can promise you that." + +"Well, look here, Aleck. My brother is going to take me down to the +blockading fleet in a few days, and I wish you wouldn't make a move +until we are gone. Then folks can't say we had a hand in it or knew +anything about it." + +"Very good, sir. We'll look out for that. And perhaps you and your +brother will be glad to learn that Captain Beardsley will be warned +to-day that if he don't quit blockade running and bringing in supplies +for the Confederacy, he will miss some of his buildings when he gets +back." + +"That will bring him sure," said Jack gleefully. "You can't touch him in +a worse place than his pocket. But you didn't say anything about his +forcing Marcy into the rebel service, did you? For if you did, he'll +bounce my folks the minute he gets home." + +"If he tries it, may be he'll miss some more buildings when he gets up +in the morning," said Aleck. + +"But he'll not let you or anybody know that he is working against them," +said Jack. "He's too sharp for that." + +"If anything happens to your folks we will lay it to him and act +accordingly," said Aleck, with a laugh. "But the man who was told to +write that letter to Beardsley will take care to word it so that he +can't lay the blame on any one person's shoulders. You tell your brother +that if he doesn't want to go blockade running again, he needn't go; for +his schooner is about to quit the business." + +"Do I know any of those Union men?" inquired Marcy. + +"Probably you are acquainted with all of them, but they will make no +sign," replied Jack. "The only one I know is Aleck Webster. I tell you +it was a lucky thing for all of us when Captain Frazier took me aboard +the _West Wind._ Now you take charge of this pin, and when the agony is +all over, when Beardsley has been brought home and Hanson has been taken +care of, give it to mother and tell her how you came by it. Perhaps the +story will prove as interesting to her as I hope it has been to you. +Now, let's go into the house. She will wonder what is keeping us out so +long." + + + + + CHAPTER XVI. + + OFF FOR THE FLEET. + +Mrs. Gray was always uneasy when the boys were out of her sight, and +that was not to be wondered at, for they so often brought her bad news +when they came back. But on this particular evening they had no news of +any sort, except that which shone from their radiant faces. Marcy +thought he had good reason to feel light-hearted, for was he not getting +the better of the secret enemies of whom he and his mother had stood so +much in fear? Julius would carry no more reports to Hanson; Hanson +himself would soon disappear from their sight; Captain Beardsley would +be compelled to stop blockade running; and Colonel Shelby and his +friends would have to act with the greatest caution in order to escape +the vengeance of the Union men who held secret meetings somewhere in the +woods. That was good news enough for one night, and Marcy was sorry that +he was obliged to keep it from his mother. It was long after midnight +when the boys went upstairs, and there they passed another half hour in +ripping up one of Marcy's bed quilts to get at the flags that had been +stitched into it. + +"I hope there are no more privateers on the coast," said Marcy, as he +drew one of the flags from its hiding place. + +"So do I," replied Jack, "for if we should happen to run foul of one of +them, my Confederate colors would be no protection whatever. The +boarding officer would very naturally inquire: 'What are you doing out +here so near the blockading fleet?' and no answer that we could give +would satisfy him. Why don't you take the old one? It would be a pity to +have that nice piece of silk whipped to tatters by a Cape Hatteras +gale." + +"My friend Dick Graham gave me that old flag," answered Marcy; "and I +told him that the next time it was hoisted it would be in a breeze that +was not tainted by any secession rag. I want to keep my promise if I +can. Now, I will put what is left of the quilt in my trunk where mother +can find it in the morning." After that the boys went to bed, but not to +sleep. Marcy was too nervous. Thinking over the details of the +remarkable story his brother had told him during the evening, and +speculating upon the possible results of his trip to the blockading +fleet, effectually banished slumber; and seeing how restless he was. +Jack was considerate enough to stay awake to keep him company. The time +passed more rapidly than it generally does under such circumstances, and +it did not seem to them that they had been in bed an hour before they +heard their mother's gentle tap at the door, and her voice telling them +that the day was breaking. + +"I told her we shouldn't need a warm breakfast," said Marcy. "But this +looks as though she had stayed up all night on purpose to have one ready +for us." + +The only thing the boys had to do before they left the room was to hide +some papers which they did not want anybody to see while they were +gone--to wit, Marcy's leaves of absence, signed by Captain Beardsley, +and the letter of recommendation that the master of the smuggling vessel +had given Jack. These they slipped under the edge of the carpet, where +the boys thought they would be safe (they little dreamed that the time +would come when that same carpet would be torn up and cut into blankets +for the use of Confederate soldiers); but the papers which related to +the part he had taken in rescuing the brig _Sabine_ from the hands of +the _Sumter's_ men, Jack put carefully into his pocket. They were +documents that he would not be afraid or ashamed to show to the officers +of the blockading fleet. + +That was the last breakfast that Jack Gray ate under his mother's roof +for long months to come. Realizing that it might be so, it required the +exercise of all the will power he was master of to keep him from showing +how very gloomy he felt over the coming separation. He was glad when the +ordeal was over, when the last kiss and the last encouraging words had +been given, and he and Marcy, with the two rival flags stowed away in a +valise, were on their way to the creek. Greatly to Marcy's surprise, +though not much to Jack's, they found the little skiff which did duty as +the _Fairy Belle's_ tender drawn out upon the bank, and Marcy was almost +certain that he saw the woolly head of the boy Julius drawn out of sight +behind the schooner's rail. + +"What's the meaning of this?" he demanded. "Where are the +ship-keepers?" + +"Let's go aboard and find out," replied Jack, with a twinkle in his eye +which said that he could tell all about it if he were so inclined. "I +was afraid we would have to tow out to the river; but this is a topsail +breeze that will take us down there without any trouble at all. Take the +valise and get in and I will shove off." + +Marcy had plenty of questions to ask, but knowing that his brother would +not take the least notice of them unless he felt like it, he stepped +into the tender and picked up one of the oars. A few sturdy strokes +sufficed to lay the skiff alongside the schooner, and the first thing +Marcy did when he jumped aboard, leaving Jack to drop the small boat +astern, was to look down the hatchway that led into the forecastle. +There stood Julius, as big as life, with his feet spread out, his hands +resting on his hips, and a broad grin on his face. + +"What are you doing there, you imp of darkness?" exclaimed Marcy. +"Didn't you understand that we don't want any Abolitionists aboard of us +this trip?" + +"G'long now, honey," replied the boy, turning his head on one side and +waving Marcy away with his hand. "Ise heah 'cording to Marse Jack's +orders." + +"That's all right," said Jack, who had come aboard by this time and was +making the skiff fast to the stern. "You see," he added, coming forward, +"I wanted to make all the darkeys on the place think that I am going +down to Newbern to join the rebel gunboat that so many people seem to +think is being built there." + +"Aw, g'long now, Marse Jack," said Julius. "Mebbe de niggahs all fools, +but dey ain't none of dem b'lieves dat." + +"You hold your tongue," said Jack good-naturedly. "Perhaps our darkeys +are all right, and perhaps they are not. It won't do in times like these +to trust too many with things that you don't want to have scattered +broadcast over the neighborhood. Our nigs all know, Marcy, that you have +been in the habit of taking Julius with you on all your trips about the +coast, and when I told him to stay behind I did it with an object. I +meant to take him and he knew it. You will need his help coming back, +and his presence will give weight to the story we are going to tell the +blockaders." + +"But what will the hands say when they miss him?" inquired Marcy. "What +will mother think?" + +"Dey'll all think I done took to de swamp," declared Julius, with such a +hearty guffaw that it made the boys laugh to hear it. "Dat's what I tole +'em all I going to do, and I ain't nevah coming back no mo' till Marse +Marcy come too." + +"You see he played his part well. There's the chink I promised you," +said Jack, tossing a gold coin down to the boy, who scrambled for it as +though some one was trying to get it away from him. + +"But what has become of the two ship-keepers?" said Marcy. "They were +told to remain on board till we came." + +"Law-zee, Marse Marcy," exclaimed Julius, with another laugh, "you jes' +oughter see dem niggahs hump demselves when I swum off to de schooner +and cotch de bob-stay. 'Oh, dere's one of dem white things,' dey holler; +but I ain't white and I knows it, and den dey run for de skiff and jump +in and go off to de sho' so quick you can't see 'em for de foam dey riz +in de watah." + +"Did you scare them away?" exclaimed Marcy. + +"I reckon so, sar; kase dere ain't nobody but Julius been on de schooner +or 'bout it sence dat time." + +"Well, let's get to work," said Jack. "Julius, you stay below till I +tell you to come up, do you hear? If I see so much as a lock of your +wool above the combings of the hatch, I'll chuck you over for the +catfish." + +A laughing response from the black boy showed just how much he feared +that the sailor would carry this threat into execution; but it kept him +below, and that was what Jack wanted. As matters stood now, Julius could +account for his absence from the plantation by saying that he had got +angry and run away because Jack ordered him to stay ashore; but he +couldn't say that with any hope of being believed if any of the settlers +along the coast saw him on board the schooner. + +If Jack Gray had been so disposed, he could have taken the _Fairy Belle_ +into Pamlico Sound without showing her to the Plymouth people at all, +for a small stream, called Middle River, and its tributaries, ran +entirely around the city behind it, and out of sight of the +fortifications that the Confederates had thrown up on the banks of the +Roanoke. Starting from Pamlico River below Roanoke Island, a small boat, +manned by those who were acquainted with the windings of the different +channels, could come up through Middle River and Seven Mile Creek, +passing within a few hundred yards of Captain Beardsley's house and Mrs. +Gray's, and strike the Roanoke two miles above Plymouth. Please bear +this in mind, for it is possible that we may have to speak of two +expeditions that made use of these rear waterways to avoid the +Confederate batteries. But there was no danger to be apprehended from +the Plymouth people. The danger would come when the schooner passed +outside and drew near to the blockading fleet; and that was the reason +Jack had thought it best to disguise her. + +The breeze being light and the channel crooked, it took the schooner an +hour or more to work out of the creek under her jib, but when the rapid +current of the Roanoke took her in its grasp, and the fore and main +sails were run up, she sped along at a much livelier rate. As the _Fairy +Belle_ approached the town the roar of the morning gun reverberated +along the river's wooded shores, and the Confederate colors were run up +to the top of a tall flagstaff. + +"Now comes something I don't at all like," said Jack. "We will run our +own rebel rag up to the peak, and when we come abreast of the town we'll +salute the colors on shore." + +"How do you perform that ceremony anyhow?" asked Marcy. + +"By lowering and hoisting the flag three times in quick succession," +replied Jack. "It takes two to do it as it ought to be done, but of +course you can't manage the halliards with only one hand. All I ask of +you is to hold the wheel. I don't suppose those haymakers in the fort +will have the sense to answer the salute, but we don't care for that. It +may save us the trouble of going ashore to listen to questions that we +can't answer with anything but lies." + +The first gray-coated sentry they passed looked at them doubtfully, as +though he did not know whether it was best to halt them or not, but +probably the sight of the flag they carried settled the matter for him. +At any rate he did not challenge them, and neither did any of the other +sentinels they saw along the bank; but one of the numerous little groups +which had assembled, as if by magic, to see them go by, hailed them with +the inquiry: + +"Where do you uns think you are going?" + +"We hope to see Newbern some day or other," was Jack's reply. "Now stand +by the wheel, Marcy, and I will see what I can do with the halliards." + +The ceremony of saluting the Confederate flag was duly performed, but, +as Jack had predicted, no notice was taken of the courtesy. The soldiers +looked on in silence, and probably there was not one among them who knew +why the _Fairy Belle's_ colors were hauled down and up again so many +times; but when Jack made the halliards fast to the cleat and took his +brother's place at the wheel, the same voice called out: + +"Will you uns bring us some late papers when you come back?" + +The sailor replied that he would think about it, and then he said to +Marcy: + +"You want to have your wits about you when you pass this place on your +way home. If they hail you and ask where your partner is, you can tell +them that I am in the navy. If they inquire where Julius was that they +didn't see him when we went down, he was below attending to his duties; +and if they ask about the papers, you were so busy that you couldn't get +them." + +The next place where Jack wanted to show his captured flag was in +Croatan Sound. The Confederate force which had been mustered to defend +these waters, having been compelled to abandon, one after the other, all +the forts they had erected to defend the various inlets leading to the +open sea, were concentrating on Roanoke Island, which they were +preparing to hold at all risks. They were building forts, fitting out +gunboats, and sinking obstructions in the channels. Everything was well +under way when the boys went through, their captured banner serving as a +passport here as it had done at Plymouth. They took the deepest interest +in all they saw, little dreaming that the day would come when the big +guns, which now offered no objection to their progress, would pour a hot +fire of shot and shell upon both of them. Sailor Jack would have been +delighted if some one in whom he had perfect confidence had assured him +that such would be the case, but Marcy would have been overwhelmed with +astonishment. + +"This island is already historic," said Jack, as the little schooner +dashed by the unfinished walls of Fort Bartow, and he waved his hat in +response to a similar salute from one of the working party on shore, +"and it'll not be many weeks before it will be more so." + +"What has ever happened here to give this lonely island a place in +history?" inquired Marcy. + +"I am surprised at you," answered Jack. "Here you are, a North Carolina +boy born and bred, and you don't know the history of your own State. +Well, I didn't know it, either, until I happened to pick up an old +magazine, thousands of miles from home, and read something about it--not +because I cared a snap for history, which is awful dry stuff to me, but +because I had nothing else to do just then. Of course you know that many +of the Croatan Indians, who have gray eyes and speak the English +language of three hundred years ago, claim to be descendants of Sir +Walter Raleigh's lost colony, don't you? Well, that colony was planted +here in 1585 on the shores of Shallow Bag Bay, which lies on the seaward +side, and a little to the northeast of the fort we just passed. They +were the forerunners of the English-speaking millions now on this side +of the big pond. Here, on the 18th of August, 1587, Virginia Dare, the +first white American, was born. The county of which this island forms a +part was named after her family. Now tell Julius to bring up some +supper, and while we are eating it we'll take a slant over toward the +main shore. There may be some sailor men among those soldiers for all we +know, and, if they are watching our movements, we want to make them +believe that we are holding a course for the lower end of the Sound, and +that we have no intention of going near any of the inlets." + +Up to this time Julius had kept below out of sight; but his forced +inactivity did not wear very heavily upon him, for he had been asleep +all the while. He was prompt to respond to Marcy's call, and took Jack's +place at the wheel while the two boys were eating the cold supper he +brought up for them. It was quite safe for him to stay on deck now, for +it was almost dark, and besides it was not likely that he would be seen +by any one on shore who knew him. When he had satisfied his appetite +Jack hauled down the Confederate colors and asked his brother where he +should hide them. + +"It looks to me like a dangerous piece of business for you to hide them +anywhere," replied Marcy, who had been thinking the matter over. "It +looks sneaking, too. We are all right and we know it. We are never going +to get through Crooked Inlet without meeting that steam launch or +another one like her, and if the officer in command shouldn't be +satisfied with your story or with your papers either, and should take it +into his head to give the _Fairy Belle_ a thorough overhauling, then +what? If he found that flag stowed away in some secret place, he'd make +prisoners of us, sure pop." + +"If I didn't think it would be of use to you when you come back I would +tie a weight to it and chuck it overboard," said Jack. "On the whole I +think we'd better not try to hide it. The honest way is the best where +Yankees are concerned. I'll put it in the locker alongside our own +flag." + +It was about twenty-five miles across the Sound to Crooked Inlet, and +the schooner covered this distance in four hours. Of course Captain +Beardsley's buoys had been lifted and carried away long before this +time, and the only safe way to take the vessel into open water was to +pull her through with the skiff which was towing astern. Although that +would involve three or four hours of hard work, it was not a thing to be +dreaded; but the thought of what they might meet before or after they +got through, almost made Marcy's hair stand on end. + +The night being clear and starlight, Marcy had no trouble in piloting +the _Fairy Belle_ into the mouth of the Inlet. Then the sails were +hauled down, the skiff was pulled alongside, and a tow-line got out. + +"Now, Julius," said Jack impressively, "stand by to turn over a new +leaf. Quit lying and tell the honest truth." + +"Now, Marse Jack," protested Julius. + +"I know what you want to say," interrupted the sailor, "but we have no +time for nonsense. I don't care what sort of lies you tell those rebels +round home, but nothing but the truth will answer our purpose here. +We've got to go aboard some ship--we can't get out of that; and while +the captain is questioning Marcy and me, some other officer may be +questioning you. If your story doesn't agree with ours in every +particular, all of us will find ourselves in trouble. Tell them who we +are, where we came from, why we are here, and all about it." + +"But, Marse Jack," said the darkey, who seemed to have forgotten +something until this moment, "I dunno if I want to go 'mong dem Yankees. +I don't want to see no horns an' huffs." + +"It's too late to think of that now," replied the sailor. "But I will +tell you this for your encouragement: You won't see any horns and hoofs +if you do just as you are told. But if you begin lying, you'll see and +hear some things that will make your eyes bung out as big as my fist. +Crawl over, Marcy, and I will hand you the boat-hook." + +Marcy clambered into the skiff followed by Julius, Jack lingering behind +long enough to lash the rudder amidships. Then he also took his place in +the tender and picked up one of the oars, Julius took the other, Marcy +knelt in the bow to feel for the channel with his boathook, and the work +of towing the schooner through the Inlet was begun. There was not a buoy +in sight, and when he removed them the officer whose business it was to +guard that particular part of the coast must have thought he had done +his full duty, for the active little launch that Marcy so much dreaded +did not put in her appearance. They passed through the Inlet without +running the _Fairy Belle_ aground or seeing anything alarming; and it +was not until the broad Atlantic opened before them that the +long-expected hail came. + +"Not a thing in sight," said Jack, with some disappointment in his +tones. "I was in hopes we could get through with our business so that +you could return to the Sound before daylight, but perhaps it is just as +well as it is. You want to keep away from those soldiers long enough to +make them believe that you have been to Newbern. Haul the skiff +alongside, and we'll fill away for Hatteras." + +"Jack, Jack!" exclaimed Marcy suddenly, "there comes something." + +Looking in the direction indicated by his brother's finger, the +experienced sailor distinctly made out the white canvas of a natty +little schooner that was holding in for the Inlet. It was the most +unwelcome sight he had seen for many a day. + + + + + CHAPTER XVII. + + AN UNEXPECTED MEETING. + +"What is she, Jack?" said Marcy, in a suppressed whisper. "Do you make +her out?" + +His voice was husky, and he trembled as he asked the question, for he +knew by the exclamation that fell from his brother's lips that those +white sails were things he did not like to see. + +"I make her out easy enough, in spite of her disguise," was Sailor +Jack's reply. "And I would rather meet all the gunboats in Uncle Sam's +navy than her." + +"Disguise!" Marcy almost gasped. "You surely don't think----" + +"No, I don't think anything about it," Jack interposed. "I know that +that is Captain Beardsley's schooner. I wish from the bottom of my heart +that she had been sunk or captured before she ever caught us here; but +it is too late to get away from her. She will go by within less than +twenty yards of us." + +"And do you think Beardsley will know the _Fairy Belle_ in her new +dress?" asked Marcy, who had never before been so badly frightened. + +"Being an old sailor he can't help it." + +"Of course he will mistrust what brought us out here, and spread it all +through the settlement," added Marcy. + +"That is just what he will do," said Jack truthfully. + +"And what will Shelby and Dillon and the rest of them do to us--to +mother?" + +"You must make it your business to see Aleck Webster as soon as you get +home," replied Jack. "Tell him that Beardsley has returned, that he +caught us out here, and that the time has come for him and his friends +to show their hands. I think you will have time to see Aleck before +Beardsley gets home, because he's got to go to Newbern with his cargo." + +All this while Captain Beardsley's blockade-runner had been swiftly +drawing near to the mouth of the Inlet, where the _Fairy Belle_ lay +rising and falling with the waves, and now she dashed by within less +than a stone's throw of them. The boys, who were standing up in their +skiff holding fast to the _Fairy Belle's_ rail, could not see a man on +her deck except the lookout in the bow and the sailor at the wheel. The +lookout was Beardsley himself; Marcy and his brother would have +recognized his tall form and broad shoulders anywhere. He kept his eyes +fastened upon the _Fairy Belle_ as he swept by, but he did not say a +word or change his course by so much as an inch. In five minutes more he +was out of sight. + +"Now will somebody tell me what that old villain wants of a pilot?" +exclaimed sailor Jack, as he climbed over the rail and turned about to +help Marcy up. "He knows more about Crooked Inlet than you do, or he +couldn't run it with all his muslin spread and no buoys to mark the +channel." + +"I always said he didn't need a pilot," replied Marcy. "He has kept me +with him on purpose to torment mother." + +"He'll not do it any longer," said Jack confidently. "You must send word +to those Union men as soon as you get home. If you don't, Beardsley will +make it so very hot for you that by the time the fire gets through +burning mother won't have a roof to go under when it rains. Stand by, +Julius." + +Jack and the darkey went forward to hoist the headsails, and Marcy, +filled with the most gloomy forebodings, undid the fastenings of the +wheel and laid his uninjured hand upon one of the spokes. One after the +other the sails were given to the breeze, lights were put out to show +the first cruiser they met that they were honest folks going about +honest business, and Jack came aft to relieve his brother. + +"I have been thinking of Barrington," said the latter, as he backed away +and leaned up against the rail. "It has somehow run in my mind that our +little settlement would escape the horrors of war, but the events of the +last half hour have opened my eyes. We're going to see trouble." + +"I really believe you are," answered Jack. "And when it comes, you must +show what you are made of. I have no fear but that you will stand up to +the rack like a man." + +"It isn't myself I care for; it's mother." + +"I know; but when it comes to the pinch you will find that she's got +more pluck than you have. That money is what scares me. If the +suspicions of the authorities become aroused, look out. But don't lisp a +word of that where mother can hear it." + +"Oh, Marse Jack," exclaimed Julius, who just then came aft in two jumps, +"de Yankees out da'." + +"Out where?" inquired Jack, while Marcy's heart began beating like a +trip-hammer. "Oh, yes; I see them now. Stand by with a lantern, +Julius." + +The darkey hastened forward to obey the order, muttering as he went that +Marse Marcy would have to take de light kase he wasn't going nigh dem +Yankees till he seed 'em fust, and the schooner held on her course. What +the boys saw was a bright light shining through the darkness a short +distance off the starboard bow, and what they heard a moment later was +the puffing of a small but exceedingly active steam engine. The light +presently disappeared but the puffing continued, increasing in force and +frequency as the approaching launch gathered headway, and then came the +hail: + +"Schooner ahoy!" And almost in the same breath the same voice added: +"All ready with that howitzer." + +"Ay, ay, sir," answered Jack promptly; and anticipating the next command +he gave the wheel a rapid turn and spilled the sails, while Marcy took +the lantern Julius gave him and held it over the side. + +In five minutes more a large launch, carrying a crew of twenty men and a +twelve-pound howitzer in the bow, came alongside, half a dozen pairs of +brawny hands laid hold of the _Fairy Belle's_ rail, and an officer, +dressed in an ensign's uniform, came over the side, being immediately +followed by four or five blue-jackets, armed with cutlasses. What sort +of a reception they expected to meet at the hands of the _Fairy Belle's_ +crew it is hard to tell, but they were plainly surprised when they +looked about her deck and found that there was no one there to oppose +them. + +"Who are you?" demanded the officer, as Jack slipped a becket over one +of the spokes in the wheel and came forward to meet him. "What schooner +is this and where are you going?" + +"This schooner is the _Fairy Belle_ and she is the property of my +brother," answered Jack, waving his hand in Marcy's direction. "We are +going to the blockading fleet. And as to who I am--will you be kind +enough to run your eye over these? They will answer the question for +you." + +As Jack said this, he placed his papers in the officer's hand, while +Marcy held up the lantern so that he could see to read them. He was by +no means so surprised as Marcy expected him to be, and the reason was +simple enough. Since the forts at Hatteras Inlet were captured, scarcely +a day passed that some vessel of the blockading fleet did not hold +communication with Union people on shore. There was more love for the +old flag in that secession country than most of us dreamed of. If Marcy +Gray had known this he would not have felt as uneasy as he did. + +"I have been on the watch for an audacious little blockade-runner that +slipped by one of our boats into this Inlet a few weeks ago," said the +officer, as he folded the papers and handed them back to their owner. +"You're quite sure you're not the fellow?" + +"Do I answer his description?" asked Jack, in reply. + +"Well, no; I can't say that you do. But it is very easy to disguise a +vessel of this size." + +"And it is just as easy for you to look around and see if I have any +place to stow a cargo," said Jack. "Come below, if you please." + +Taking the lantern from his brother's hand Jack led the way through the +standing-room into the _Fairy Belle's_ cabin, where he stopped to throw +back the cushioned top of one of the lockers. + +"Here's the flag I have sailed under ever since I was old enough to shin +aloft," said he, taking up the carefully folded Union banner. "The other +is the one Semmes's boarding officer hoisted on the _Sabine_ when she +was captured. When we took her out of the hands of the prize crew I +hauled it down and kept it. It brought us safely by Plymouth and Roanoke +Island, and I hope it will take my brother safely back." + +With this introduction Jack went on to give the officer a hasty +description of the state of affairs in and around the settlement in +which his mother lived, and told what the Confederates were doing at +Roanoke Island; and all the while he was leading the officer from one +room to another and showing him all there was to be seen on the Fairy +Belle. But he did not say a word about the _Hattie_. The officer did not +know that that "audacious little blockade-runner" had slipped through +his fingers, and Jack thought it would be the part of wisdom to steer +clear of the subject of blockade-runners if he could. A reference to +them might lead to some questions that he would not care to answer. + +"I am entirely satisfied with your story," said the officer, when they +returned to the deck. "But, all the same, I shall have to send you to my +commander. I have no authority to act in a case like this." + +"Very good, sir," replied Jack. "We are quite willing to go. Do I +understand that you take the schooner out of our hands?" + +"By no means," was the prompt reply. "I will put a petty officer aboard +of you to act as your pilot, and you can run the vessel down yourselves. +I must stay about here till daylight and look out for that +blockade-runner. Bo'son's mate!" + +The petty officer stepped forward and received some brief instructions +from his superior, which were given in Jack's hearing. + +"These are Union boys, and one of them has come out here to ship," said +the officer. "I want you to pilot him to the _Harriet Lane_. You are not +to interfere with the management of the schooner in any way, for she is +not a prize. She sails under our flag. Tell the captain the same story +you have told me," he added, turning to Jack, "and I think it will be +all right. Good-bye." + +With these parting words the officer and his boarding party clambered +down into the launch, which put off to resume her useless vigil at the +mouth of the Inlet; the boatswain's mate, at Jack's request, took his +place at the wheel, and the _Fairy Belle_ filled away on her course. + +"All right so far," said Marcy, who breathed a great deal easier now +than he did when the launch first hove in sight. "If the captain of the +_Harriet Lane_ treats us as well as that ensign did, I shall be glad I +came out here." + +"He will, sir," said the boatswain's mate, letting go of the wheel with +one hand long enough to raise his forefinger to his cap. "He always +does. We have often had shore boats, come off to us since we have been +on the blockade." + +"You have!" exclaimed Marcy, who was very much surprised. "And do you +let them go ashore again when they get ready?" + +"Cert'ny, sir. They come and go betwixt two days--not because they are +afraid of us, but because they must look out that the rebels ashore +don't hear of it. Some of the boats get news from Newbern every day or +so." + +"We know that," answered Jack. "And we heard a rebel say, not long ago, +that if the Newbern people could find out who it is that sends off the +papers so regularly they would make short work of him. How much farther +have we to go?" + +"Not more than ten miles, sir. We'll see our lights directly." + +"Do you know anything about this little blockade-runner that your launch +is watching for?" inquired Marcy. "Who is she? What's her name and where +does she hail from?" + +"We know all about her, sir, for we chased her once when she was the +privateer _Osprey_. She belongs up Roanoke River, but she runs the +blockade out of Newbern. Her captain--what's this his name is +again?--Beardsley, used to be a smuggler; and if we get our hands on him +we'll be likely to remember him for that. Our Uncle Sam ain't so broke +up yet but what he can deal with men who have violated his laws." + +"I hope to goodness you may get your hands upon him," thought Marcy, who +was surprised at the extent and accuracy of the blue-jacket's +information. It proved beyond a doubt that there were Union men ashore +who kept the Yankee commanders posted, and Marcy wished he knew who they +were. He might find it convenient to appeal to them if he and his mother +got into trouble with Captain Beardsley. + +The strong breeze being in her favor, the _Fairy Belle_ made good speed +along the coast, and in due time the warning lights of the Union war +vessel showed themselves through the darkness. It was not customary for +the Union cruisers to show lights and thus point out their position to +vessels that might approach the coast with the intention of running the +blockade, but being anchored off an inlet that was known to be in full +possession of our forces, the captain of the _Harriet Lane_ knew that no +such vessels would come near him. While the blue-jacket was explaining +this to the boys, a hoarse voice came from the gunboat's deck. + +"Schooner ahoy!" it roared. + +"No, no!" replied the man at the _Fairy Belle's_ wheel. + +"That's a little the queerest answer to a hail _I_ ever heard," was +Jack's comment. + +"Be ready to stand by the sheets fore and aft, for we must round to +under her stern and come up on her port side," said the boatswain's +mate. "The answer was all right, sir, and in strict accordance with +naval rules. Had I been a captain, I should have given the name of my +ship. Had I been a wardroom officer, I should have answered, 'Ay, ay!' +But being neither one nor the other, I gave the same reply that the +steerage officers have to give." + +"And what answer would you have given if the admiral was aboard of us?" +inquired Jack. + +"I should have said 'Flag,' sir. You give different replies for +different ranks so that the officer of the deck may know how to receive +the people that are coming aboard. It would make him awful mad if you +gave such an answer that he would extend wardroom honors to a steerage +officer. Now, stand by to slack away and haul in." + +Five minutes' skilful manoeuvring sufficed to bring the schooner around +the stern of the gunboat and up to an open gangway, in which stood the +officer of the deck and one of the ship's boys, who held a lighted +lantern in his hand. To the former the boatswain's mate reported: + +"A shore boat, sir, with a couple of Union boys aboard. Mr. Colson sent +me down here with her. One of 'em wants to ship, sir. He's got papers." + +"Let them come aboard," said the officer. + +"It was easy enough for Jack to obey the order, for the gangway was low; +but Marcy, having but one hand to work with, required a good deal of +assistance. As there was considerable swell on, Julius and the +boatswain's mate remained on board the schooner to fend her off with the +aid of boat-hooks. + +"I have come off to ship under the old flag, sir," was the way in which +Jack introduced himself and his business. + +"Are you an able seaman?" inquired the officer. + +"I am, sir, and there is the proof." + +Jack produced his papers, and the officer of the deck read them by the +light of the lantern, Marcy improving the opportunity to make a hasty +inspection of his surroundings. He didn't see much except the big guns +which had aided in the reduction of the forts along the coast, the +quartermaster on the bridge, and a few men lying on deck, apparently +fast asleep, but he took note of the fact that everything was as neat as +his mother's kitchen. By the time he had made these observations the +officer had finished reading Jack's letters of recommendation. When he +handed them back, all he had to say was: + +"So you have had some experience with that pirate, Semmes, have you? I +wish we had been around there about the time he captured your vessel. We +will attend to your case in the morning. The doctor and paymaster are +asleep, and it isn't worth while to rout them out just to ship one +man." + +"It will not be necessary for my brother to lie alongside all night, +will it, sir?" + +"Oh, no. Boatswain's mate, you go back and report to Mr. Colson." + +"Very good, sir," replied the petty officer, with his finger to his +cap. + +"May I make bold to inquire if you have any papers aboard that you can +spare?" continued Jack, who would not have thought of asking such a +question if he had had a blue shirt on and been sworn into the service. +"We'd like some Northern papers, if you have them, for as we are +situated we get the news from only one side." + +In response to this request the messenger boy was commanded to run down +to the wardroom and bring up any papers he might find on the table +there, and while awaiting his return Jack turned to say a parting word +to his brother. + +"Now Marcy," said he, "you've got to look out for yourself--and for +mother. Not knowing what dangers you are likely to meet, I can't give +you a word of advice; you will have to be on the alert and act according +to circumstances. See Aleck Webster at the post-office, and tell him to +put a stopper on those secret enemies of ours the first thing he does. +You have seen me talking with him, and will know him the minute you see +him. I shall trust you to communicate with me as often as you can, +though I can't ask you to write to me. Tell mother you left me well and +in good spirits. Good-bye." + +"Why, my lad, things must be in a bad way in your part of the country," +said the officer of the deck, who had heard all Jack had to say to his +brother. + +"They are indeed, sir," answered the sailor. "It is easy enough for you +Northern folks to be loyal to the old flag, but it is as much as one's +life is worth down here." + +The messenger boy having returned by this time, Marcy took the papers he +handed him, gave Jack's hand a parting shake, and was assisted over the +side. + +"Shove her bow off, Snowball," commanded the boatswain's mate, as he +moved aft to take his place at the wheel, and let her drift astern. +"Come back here, sir, and sit down," he added, in a vain effort to cheer +Marcy up a little. "He's a fine lad. I'll warrant, that brother of +yours." + +"He is, indeed," replied Marcy proudly. "And a sailor man, too, I think +you will find." + +He had never before felt so gloomy and downhearted as he did at that +moment, and he didn't care to talk. Calling Julius aft to strike a light +for him, he went into the cabin and tried to read, leaving the +man-of-war's man to sail the schooner, which he was able to do without +help from anybody. In the bundle of papers that the messenger boy gave +him, Marcy was glad to find three that were published in Newbern. These +he kept out to be read at once, intending when he passed Plymouth to +throw them ashore for the soldiers; but the Northern papers he stowed +away in one of the lockers beside the flags. He wanted time to read them +carefully, for he believed they would tell him the truth; and that was +something he had not heard for many a day. It seemed to him that he had +not been below more than half an hour when he heard a hail, to which the +hoarse voice of the man at the wheel responded. A moment later it +added: + +"On deck, if you please, sir. I've got to leave you now. My launch is +close aboard." + +She was almost alongside by the time Marcy reached the deck, and five +minutes later the officer in command of her again came over the rail; +but this time he came alone. There were no blue-jackets with drawn +cutlasses at his heels. + +"I guess you've had luck," were the first words he said. "I don't see +the other fellow anywhere." + +"No, sir. We left him aboard your vessel," replied Marcy. "He will be +examined and sworn in in the morning. By the way, what did the officer +of the deck mean when he said that the paymaster was asleep as well as +the doctor? What has the paymaster to do with swearing him in?" + +"He or his clerk has to take the descriptive lists, you know, sir," +replied the sailor. "Then he gets an order from the captain to give the +men their clothes and small stores--tobacco, soap, sewing silk, and the +like, you know, sir. I was told to come back and report to you, Mr. +Colson." + +"Very good. Get aboard the launch. Can you and the moke get along by +yourselves?" he continued, turning to Marcy. "I see you have but one +hand." + +"Oh, yes, sir; we'll get along all right," answered Marcy, who was very +much afraid that the officer would ask him how he had got hurt. "Seen +anything of that blockade-runner since we left?" + +"I haven't seen a thing except this schooner to-night," was the reply; +and Marcy judged from the tone in which the words were uttered that the +officer was much disgusted at being obliged to stay out there all night +in an open boat for nothing. No doubt he would have been still more +disgusted to learn that if he had been two miles farther up the coast he +would have had a chance of capturing the "audacious" little vessel that +he was looking for. + +The officer wasted no words in leave-taking, but went at once, and Marcy +Gray felt more gloomy than ever when he found himself alone on the ocean +with nobody but the boy Julius for a companion. He sent the latter to +the wheel and went forward to act as lookout and pilot, intending to +follow Captain Beardsley's example and run through Crooked Inlet under +full sail. He thought he could remember about where the buoys had been +placed, and besides he had the flood tide to help him. If he succeeded, +he would run across the Sound and hunt up some little bay in which he +could go into hiding until such time as he thought it safe to come out +and start for home. + +This programme was duly carried out, and the good luck that had thus far +attended him stayed with him to the end. He piloted the schooner through +the Inlet without the least trouble, ran across the Sound without being +seen by anybody, and put into the mouth of a little bayou, where he tied +up and turned in for a much needed rest. He remained there all that day +and the ensuing night, and at sunrise on the following morning ran +Sailor Jack's Confederate flag up to the _Fairy Belle's_ peak, and stood +boldly out for Roanoke Island. + + + + + CHAPTER XVIII. + + CONCLUSION. + +As soon as the schooner was straightened on her course so that Marcy +could manage her with one hand, he came aft and took the wheel. + +"Go below and hide that Union flag," said he. "These rebels may not be +as easily satisfied this time as they were when we went down, and if +they send a boat aboard of us I don't want them to find anything. I +don't care to know where you put the flag. All you have to do is to hide +it where we can find it again when we want it." + +Julius was gone not more than five minutes, and when he returned to take +the wheel Marcy walked forward, carrying in his hand one of the Newbern +papers which he had folded and twisted, newsboy fashion, so that it +could be thrown a considerable distance. + +The first thing that attracted his attention, after the _Fairy Belle_ +passed the foot of the island, was a steamer, whose crew were busy +adding to the obstructions that had already been placed in Croatan +Sound. But there was a wide clear space close under the guns of Fort +Bartow, and into this Julius held his way, passing so near the steamer +that Marcy was able to throw his paper among the crew. + +"Newbern," he shouted to the Confederate officer, who flicked up the +paper and waved his thanks. "It isn't a very late one, but it was the +best I could do." + +That blockade had been run in safety, but when they reached the head of +the island Marcy found himself menaced by another danger which he was +afraid could not be so easily passed. One of Commodore Lynch's gunboats +was lying there, and when she saw the schooner approaching, she sent one +of her boats off to intercept her. Marcy's hair began to stand on end. + +"What have you done with that Union flag, Julius?" he asked. + +"Now, jes' listen at you," replied the boy. "What for you want dat flag +now? It hang you, suah." + +"I only wished to be assured that you had it safe," said Marcy, as he +ran into the cabin to bring up another paper; and when he returned with +it, he shook it at the men in the boat and beckoned them to come +alongside, Just as if he didn't know that that was what they intended to +do. As the small boat came nearer and began to swing broadside to the +schooner, Marcy raised his hand and Julius spilled the sails. + +"You needn't stop," said the young master's mate, who sat in the +stern-sheets. "Throw us a line and we'll tow alongside. Our old man had +a little curiosity to know who you are, where you have been, and where +you belong. Thanks for the paper. What's the news?" + +"I didn't get any," replied Marcy. "I saw one Yankee cruiser riding at +anchor off the coast, and also saw one blockade-runner come in. What +sort of a cargo she brought I don't know, for I didn't exchange a word +with any of her crew." + +"What's the matter with your hand?" inquired the master's mate. + +"De Yankees done guv him dat hand, sar," said Julius promptly. "Dey done +knock him 'mos dead wid a shell." + +"The Yankees!" exclaimed the young rebel. "Are you in the service?" + +"I was running the blockade when I was hurt," answered Marcy. "But I +wasn't hit by a shell. I was knocked down by a heavy splinter." + +"Pass us down your other flipper," said the officer, standing up in his +boat and extending his hand. "I am glad to meet you. When you get the +use of your arm again come aboard of us. We need men, and I know the +captain will be glad to take you." + +"He got one brother in de navy now," added Julius, who thought that +Marcy wasn't trying half hard enough to make the boat's crew believe +that he was loyal to the flag that waved above him. + +"Is that so? Then if he comes in himself that will make two, won't it? +Well, I will detain you no longer. Come aboard of us if you can, for we +think we are going to see fun here in the course of a few weeks. Good-by +till I see you again. Shove off, for'ard." + +"Julius, I am afraid you talk too much," said Marcy, when the boat was +left out of hearing. "If you don't keep still you may get me into +trouble." + +"Look a yere, Marse Marcy," said Julius, "Marse Jack done tol' me it +plum time for me to stan' by to tell what's de troof, an' I ain't done +nuffin else sence he tol' me dat. De Yankees did guv you dat hand, you +done got one brother in de navy, an' dat's all I tol' dat rebel. I +didn't say you a rebel you'self, kase dat would be a plum lie; an' all +de black ones knows it." + +At the end of two hours a bend in the shore hid the island and Commodore +Lynch's gunboat from view, and as night was drawing on apace, Marcy +began looking around for a suitable spot in which to tie up for the +night. He knew better than to try to pass Plymouth after dark. The +countersign would be out, and not only would he be obliged to go ashore +to get it, but he would also be compelled to land to _give_ it to every +sentry on the bank. That would be a good deal of trouble and might prove +to be dangerous as well. It would give the soldiers off duty a chance to +board the schooner, and that was something Marcy did not want them to +do. They would go all over her, peeping into every locker and corner, +steal everything they could get into their pockets or put under their +coats, and one of them might accidentally find that Union flag. For +these reasons Marcy thought it best to lie by for the night. + +"It will bring us home in broad daylight, Julius, and some of the +servants will be sure to see you when you leave the schooner to take me +ashore," said he. "So the story you made up to tell them about running +away to the swamp, will have to be changed to something else. It would +have to be changed any way, for of course Captain Beardsley saw you when +he ran by us at the mouth of the inlet." + +"I been thinkin' 'bout dat," answered Julius, "an' I going to tell +nuffin but de troof. Dat's de bes'. I was stowed away on de schooner, +an' you nevah knowed it till you come off in de mawnin' an' cotch me." + +Marcy said nothing more, for he did not believe that either of them +could tell a story that would save them from the trouble that Captain +Beardsley would surely try to bring upon himself and his mother. He +would take Jack's advice and lose no time in seeking an interview with +Aleck Webster. + +Marcy easily found a hiding-place for the night, and bright and early +the next morning set out to run the last of the blockade--the garrison +at Plymouth. This was accomplished without any trouble at all, the depth +of the water permitting Julius to hold so close in that Marcy could +throw his last Newbern paper ashore. The soldiers scrambled for it as if +it had been a piece of gold, and shouted for him to send off some more; +but Marcy could truthfully say that he had no more, the garrison at +Roanoke Island having got the others. The Northern papers were too +precious to be given to rebels. Those were to be saved for his mother. + +In due time the _Fairy Belle_ reached the mouth of Seven Mile Creek, the +sails were hauled down, and Julius, with such slim aid as Marcy could +give him with one hand, began the work of towing her to her moorings. It +took them two hours to do this. When Marcy had seen her made fast to her +buoy he did not get out of the skiff, but sent Julius aboard the +schooner with instructions to put both the flags and the Northern papers +into his valise and hand it over the side. To his great surprise there +was not even a pickaninny on the bank to say, "Howdy, Marse Marcy?" and +he usually found them out in full force whenever he returned from his +sailing trips. Presently Julius got into the skiff to row him ashore, +and followed him to the house carrying the valise in his hand; but even +when they passed through the gate they did not see a person about the +premises, nor a dog, neither. Bose seemed to have "holed up" the same as +the rest. The doors and windows were wide open, but where were the house +servants that they were not singing at their work? Marcy did not know +what to make of it, and Julius gave it as his opinion that something +done been going wrong on the plantation. + +"I believe you and Jack, between you, have frightened everybody off the +place," declared Marcy, little dreaming how near he came to the truth +when he said it. "But we'll soon know all about it, for here's mother." + +He ran lightly up the steps to greet her as she appeared at the door, +but stopped short when he reached the gallery, for he saw that his +mother was as solemn as her surroundings. She tried to call a cheerful +smile to her face, but the effort was a sad failure. + +"What in the world is the matter here?" demanded Marcy, as soon as he +could speak. "Have the hands all run away? Where is everybody? Why is +the place so quiet?" + +"Oh, Marcy!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray, motioning to Julius to take the valise +into the house, "such a strange thing has happened since you went away. +Hanson has disappeared as completely as though he had never been on the +place at all." + +"Good enough," cried Marcy, giving his mother a bear-like hug with his +one strong arm. "Now we shall be free from his--eh? You don't mean to +say you are sorry he has gone, do you?" + +"I don't know whether I am or not," was the astounding reply. "If he had +left of his own free will I should be glad, I assure you; but the manner +of his going frightens me." + +"The manner?" repeated Marcy, who was all in the dark. + +"Yes. The night after you went away, some of the field hands were +awakened by an unusual noise and went to the door of their cabins to see +a party of fifteen or twenty masked men making off, with Hanson bound +and gagged in the midst of them. They were so badly frightened +that--Marcy," exclaimed Mrs. Gray, holding the boy off at arm's length +and looking searchingly into his face, "do you know anything about it? +Is Jack at the bottom of this strange affair?" + +These last words were called forth by the exclamation of surprise and +delight that Marcy uttered when the truth of the whole matter flashed +suddenly upon him. The absent Jack had told him that the morning was +coming when his mother would not hear the field hands called to work +because there would be no one to call them, and his prediction had been +verified. Aleck Webster was true blue, the Union men who held secret +meetings in the swamp could be depended on to hold their rebel neighbors +in check, and Marcy Gray could hardly refrain from dancing with delight +at the thought of it. + +"Come in and I will tell you all I know about it," said he, throwing his +arm about his mother's waist and leading her into the hall. "You needn't +worry. Every one of the men who came here that night were your friends +and mine, and they----" + +"But who were they?" asked Mrs. Gray. + +"It is probable that one of them sailed with Jack when he was on the +_West Wind;_ but who the others were I don't know, and it isn't at all +likely that I shall ever find out," replied Marcy. "Not in the +dining-room, please, because there's a stove-pipe hole in the ceiling +that leads into a room upstairs. Oh, it's a fact," he added with a +laugh, when his mother stopped and looked at him. "A certain person, +whose name I shall presently give you, listened at that pipe-hole time +and again, and took messages straight to Hanson. But you'll not blame +him when you hear my story. Let's go into the back parlor. By the way, +did you find your breastpin?" + +His mother said in reply, that she had neither seen nor heard of it +since the day it was stolen. + +"Well I've got it safe and sound," continued Marcy; and then he settled +back in his chair and repeated, almost word for word, the story sailor +Jack had told him the night before he left for the blockading fleet. He +told how Julius had taken the pin in the first place, how the overseer +had worked upon his fears to compel him to give it up, and how he had +used the power which the possession of the stolen pin enabled him to +exercise over the timid black boy. Then he described how sailor Jack and +his "Enchanted Goblet" appeared upon the scene; and from that he glided +into the history of Jack's acquaintance with Aleck Webster, and the +interviews he had held with him at the post-office. But there were two +things he did not touch upon--the meeting with Captain Beardsley at +Crooked Inlet, and sailor Jack's fears that the Confederate authorities +might interest themselves in the matter if they learned, through any of +her "secret enemies," that Mrs. Gray kept money concealed in the house. +His mother was profoundly astonished, and when Marcy finished his story +she did not know whether to be glad or frightened. The boy thought, from +the expression of her countenance, that he had added to her fears. + +"You don't act as if you were pleased a bit," said he dolefully. "Are +you not glad to know that I can stay at home now? Beardsley has got to +quit business, and of course he can't make any more excuses to take me +away from you. He never did need a pilot, the old rascal. When he reads +the warning letter that is waiting for him in Newbern, he'll fill away +for home without the loss of a moment." + +"Of course I am glad that you will not be obliged to go to sea any +more," said Mrs. Gray. "But I don't want those Union men to destroy +Captain Beardsley's property. When you see this man Webster I hope you +will say as much to him." + +"If it's all the same to you, mother, I'll wait and see how Beardsley +conducts himself," answered Marcy, who did not like the idea of trying +to protect a man who had done all he could to annoy his mother. "If he +lets us alone, we'll let him alone; but if he bothers us, he had better +look out. When he finds out what those Union men did to Hanson, I think +he will haul in his horns. I wonder if Shelby and Dillon know it?" + +"That's another strange thing that happened while you were absent, and I +did not know what to make of it," replied Mrs. Gray. "Of course the +story of the overseer's abduction spread like wild-fire, and I know it +must have reached the village, for the very next afternoon Mr. and Mrs. +Shelby rode out to visit me; and that is something they have not done +before since these troubles began." + +"Aha!" said Marcy, in a significant tone. "They began to see that you +were not so helpless as they thought you were, and that it might be to +their interest to make friends with you." + +"That is what I think now that I have heard your story," replied his +mother, "but I did not know what to think at the time they made their +visit. I am sorry that I was not more courteous to them, but they were +so _very_ cordial and friendly themselves that it made me suspicious of +them." + +"That was perfectly right," said Marcy approvingly. "You did well to +stand on the defensive. Don't let them fool you with any of their +specious talk. They're treacherous as Indians, and would burn your house +over your head to-morrow, if they were not afraid." + +"Oh, I hope they are not as bad as that. What do you think these Union +men did with the overseer? They didn't--didn't----" + +"Kill him as they ought to have done?" exclaimed Marcy, when his mother +hesitated. "No, I don't think they did; and neither can I guess what +they did with him. But Jack said, in effect, that after he was taken +away he would not bother us again for a long while. Did Shelby ask after +Jack and me?" + +"He did; and I told him that you had gone off in the _Fairy Belle._ Mrs. +Shelby hinted that Jack might be on his way to Newbern to join the navy, +and I did not think it worth while to deny it. It seems Jack told young +Allison that if you rode into Nashville alone some fine morning, Allison +might know that Jack was aboard a gunboat. Of course Mrs. Shelby thought +he meant a rebel gunboat." + +"Don't you believe it," said Marcy earnestly. "She knew better than that +and so did Allison. Did the hands seem to be very badly frightened over +Hanson's disappearance?" + +"There never was such a commotion on this plantation before," answered +Mrs. Gray. "According to the coachman's story, Jack predicted that +'white things' would some night appear in the quarter and carry Hanson +away with them; and although the abductors were not dressed in white, +the fact that they came and did just what Jack said they would do was +terrifying to the minds of the superstitious blacks. I wish Jack would +not tell them such ridiculous tales." + +"He'll not be likely to tell them any more for some days to come," +replied Marcy. "But there was nothing ridiculous about his last story. +It was business, and I think that villain Hanson found it so. Now, if +you will come up to my room and stitch my Union flag into the quilt +where it belongs, I will hand over your breastpin." + +When this had been done, Marcy strolled out to the barn to tell Morris +to saddle his horse, and to see what the old fellow thought of the +situation. Just as he stepped off the gallery he heard a piercing +shriek, and hastened around the corner of the house to find the boy +Julius struggling in the grasp of the coachman, who flourished the +carriage whip over his head. + +"What are you about, there?" demanded Marcy. + +"He going whop me kase I say Marse Jack in de navy," yelled Julius. +"Turn me loose, you fool niggah." + +"No, I ain't going whop him for dat, but for lying," said Morris, +releasing his captive with the greatest reluctance, and with difficulty +restraining his desire to give him a cut around the legs as he ran away. +"He say Marse Jack gone on a _rebel_ boat, an' I know in reason dat +ain't so." + +"You won't get nuffin mo' outen Julius if you whop him till he plum +dead," shouted the black boy, who had taken refuge behind Marcy and was +holding fast to him with both hands. "I reckon I know whar Marse Jack +gone, kase I was dar." + +"Go into the house, Julius. You will be safe there; and, besides, your +mistress wants to see you. Put the saddle on Fanny, Morris, and I will +ride to Nashville. Where's the overseer?" + +"Oh, Marse Marcy, we black ones so glad you done come back," exclaimed +the coachman, throwing his whip and hat on the ground, and shaking the +boy's hand with both his Own. "We safe now. Nobody won't come to de +quarter and tote folks away to de swamp when you around." + +"Who did it?" asked Marcy. + +Morris laughed as he had not laughed before since Marcy went away. "Now +listen at you," said he. "How you reckon a pore niggah know who done it? +Everybody afraid of de niggahs now-days; everybody 'cepting de Union +folks. Going get 'nother oberseer, Marse Marcy?" + +"Yes. I think I shall take the place myself." + +"Dar now," said Morris, with a delighted grin. "Dem niggahs wuk +demselves to death for you. Now you go in de house an' tell your maw +whar you going, an' I bring de hoss an' holp you in de saddle." + +Marcy good-naturedly complied, and hearing voices coming from the +dining-room he went in there, and found Julius listening to a lecture +from Mrs. Gray on the sinfulness of stealing. But Julius defended +himself with spirit, and declared that for once his habit of picking up +any little articles he found lying around loose had been productive of +good to every member of the family. + +"When I put dat pin in my pocket, missus, I know I ain't goin' to steal +it," he protested, with so much earnestness and with such an appearance +of sincerity that almost anybody except Mrs. Gray would have believed +him. "I don't do no stealin'. I jes' want to look at de pin, an' I goin' +put it back when I get done lookin' at it. But de oberseer he done took +it away from me, an' dat's de way you find out what sort of a man he is. +No, missus; I don't steal. I always tell de troof." + +Marcy Gray did not ride to Nashville with any hope of meeting Aleck +Webster that day, and consequently he was most agreeably surprised when +he saw him standing on the steps of the post-office. He did not look or +act like a man who had been engaged in any underhand business, and +neither did Colonel Shelby, who hastened down the steps and came across +the road to the hitching-rack to help Marcy off his horse. + +"So glad to see you safe back," was the way in which he greeted the boy. +"Your brother said that if you came down here without him some day we +might know he was in the navy; so I suppose that is where he is. He +didn't waste much time in going, did he? What's the news from Newbern?" + +Marcy cut his replies as short as he could without being rude, and went +into the office to look at his mother's box, which had been emptied by +the coachman half a dozen hours before. He exchanged a very slight nod +and a wink with Aleck Webster as he passed him, and the latter, who +seemed to know just what he meant by the pantomime, mounted his horse +when no one but Marcy was watching him and went down the road toward +Mrs. Gray's plantation. There were plenty of loungers in the office, +young Allison, of course, being one of the most talkative ones among +them, and although they seemed to know where Jack was, they could not +imagine what had become of Hanson. + +"I tell you honestly, Marcy, that if it hadn't been for that Confederate +flag in your mother's dining-room, we should have laid his abduction at +your door," said Allison. "But the flag proves that you are all right; +and, besides, you couldn't have had a hand in it, for you were on your +way to Newbern when it happened. It opened our eyes to the fact that +there are traitors among us, and that we must be careful who we talk +to." + +"Traitors," repeated Marcy. "I don't know what you are trying to get at. +Hanson told me with his own lips that he was a Union man. Kelsey told me +the same, and brought word to the house that Colonel Shelby and Mr. +Dillon wanted Hanson discharged; but I sent back word that if they +wanted the overseer run off the place they could come up and do the work +themselves, for I would have no hand in it. I don't want to get my +neighbors down on me if I can help it. If Hanson was a Union man, as he +professed to be (and I don't know whether he was or not, for I would not +talk politics with him), it was Confederates living right around here +who came to the quarter and took him away." + +Marcy saw by the astonished look that came to Allison's face that all +this was news to him, and this made it plain that he was not in Colonel +Shelby's "ring." He backed up against one of the counters and glanced +around at his companions, but had not another word to say. The time came +when he was admitted into the "ring," and showed himself to be one of +the most active and aggressive ones in it. To keep up appearances Marcy +bought a paper, took another look at his mother's box and left the +office; and as no one went with him to help him on his horse, he led her +alongside the fence and mounted without assistance. A mile and a half +from Nashville the road followed the windings of a little creek whose +banks were thickly wooded. As he drew near this point he dropped the +reins upon his horse's neck and pulled his paper from his pocket--not +with any intention of reading it, but to be in readiness to answer Aleck +Webster's hail when he heard it. It came before he had ridden twenty +yards farther. The man had hidden his horse in the bushes, and now stood +in the edge of them within easy speaking distance, but out of sight of +any one who might be watching Marcy Gray. + +"You are Mr. Jack's brother, ain't you?" said he, as Marcy stopped his +horse and fastened his eyes upon the paper he held in his hand. "I +thought so; and I want to know if you are satisfied, by what we did +while you were gone, that we will do to trust." + +"We are more than satisfied," replied Marcy. "We'll never forget you for +it. What did you do with him?" + +"Turned him loose with orders never to show his face in the settlement +again. We wanted to take him off to the fleet; but of course we +couldn't, for he wasn't in the rebel service. Shelby was sort of civil +to you, wasn't he? Well, he got a letter, same as Beardsley did, or will +when he gets to Newbern----" + +"He's in Newbern now," interrupted Marcy, still keeping his gaze +fastened upon the paper. "We passed him at Crooked Inlet just as we were +going out. That frightened Jack, and he told me to lose no time in +telling you of it." + +"That's all right; but Beardsley will not trouble you. We've written +letters to him and Shelby and all the rest telling them that if they +don't stop persecuting Union folks we'll burn everything they've got; +and if that don't quieten them, we'll hang the last one of them to the +plates of their own galleries. Go home and sleep soundly. We'll take +care of you. Where did you leave Mr. Jack?" + +Marcy gave a brief history of his run to the blockading fleet and back, +told how very badly frightened his mother's servants were when they saw +the overseer carried away by armed men, and how the circumstance had +affected some of the "secret enemies" of whom they stood so much in +fear; hinted very plainly that if at any time Aleck or any of his +friends found themselves in need of bacon, meal, or money, they could +have their wants supplied at his mother's house, and wound up by urging +him to keep a sharp eye on Captain Beardsley. + +"I don't think he will ever trouble you," was Aleck's reply. "At any +rate, he will never make you go to sea again against your will. But if +anything does happen to you after the warning we have given him, we'll +blame him for it, whether he is guilty or not, and some night you will +see his buildings going up in smoke. Is there any one on the road who +will be likely to see me if I come out? Well, then, good-bye." + +Marcy put his paper into his pocket and rode away with a light heart, +little dreaming how soon the time would come when another of sailor +Jack's predictions would be partly fulfilled, and he, the well-fed Marcy +Gray, standing sorely in need of some of the bacon and meal he had +promised Aleck and his friends, would steal up to his mother's house +like a thief in the night to get them, starting at every sound, and +keeping clear of every shadow he saw in his path for fear that it might +be an armed man lying in wait to capture him. But that time came. It is +true that Captain Beardsley and his friends did not do anything against +him openly (they were afraid to do that), but they worked against him in +secret and to such purpose that Marcy Gray, forced to become a fugitive +from his home, was glad to take up his abode for a while with the Union +men who lived in the swamp. How this unfortunate state of affairs was +brought about, what young Allison did after he became a member of the +"ring," and how Captain Beardsley, Colonel Shelby, and the rest paid the +penalty of their double dealing, shall be told in the next volume of +this series of books, which will be entitled, "MARCY, THE REFUGEE." + +THE END. + + + +The + +Famous + +Castlemon + +Books. + +BY + +Harry Castlemon. + + + + [Illustration: Specimen Cover of the Gunboat Series.] + +No author of the present day has become a greater favorite with boys +than "Harry Castlemon;" every book by him is sure to meet with hearty +reception by young readers generally. His naturalness and vivacity lead +his readers from page to page with breathless interest, and when one +volume is finished the fascinated reader, like Oliver Twist, asks "for +more." + +***Any volume sold separately. + + + +GUNBOAT SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $7 50 + +Frank, the Young Naturalist 1 25 + +Frank in the Woods 1 25 + +Frank on the Prairie 1 25 + +Frank on a Gunboat 1 25 + +Frank before Vicksburg 1 25 + +Frank on the Lower Mississippi 1 25 + +GO AHEAD SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols,, 12mo. Fully illustrated. +Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 + +Go Ahead; or, The Fisher Boy's Motto 1 25 + +No Moss; or, The Career of a Rolling Stone 1 25 + +Tom Newcombe; or, The Boy of Bad Habits 1 25 + +ROCKY MOUNTAIN SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 + +Frank at Don Carlos' Rancho 1 25 + +Frank among the Rancheros 1 25 + +Frank in the Mountains 1 25 + +SPORTSMAN'S CLUB SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 + +The Sportsman's Club in the Saddle 1 25 + +The Sportsman's Club Afloat 1 25 + +The Sportsman's Club among the Trappers 1 25 + +FRANK NELSON SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols. 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 + +Snowed Up; or, The Sportsman's Club in the Mts 1 25 + +Frank Nelson in the Forecastle; or, The Sportsman's Club among the +Whalers 1 25 + +The Boy Traders; or, The Sportsman's Club among the Boers 1 25 + +BOY TRAPPER SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 + +The Buried Treasure; or, Old Jordan's "Haunt" 1 25 + +The Boy Trapper; or, How Dave Filled the Order 1 25 + +The Mail Carrier 1 25 + +ROUGHING IT SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 + +George in Camp; or, Life on the Plains 1 25 + +George at the Wheel; or, Life in a Pilot House 1 25 + +George at the Fort; or, Life Among the Soldiers 1 25 + +ROD AND GUN SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 + +Don Gordon's Shooting Box 1 25 + +Rod and Gun 1 25 + +The Young Wild Fowlers 1 25 + +FOREST AND STREAM SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 + +Joe Wayring at Home; or, Story of a Fly Rod 1 25 + +Snagged and Sunk; or, The Adventures of a Canvas Canoe 1 25 + +Steel Horse; or, The Rambles of a Bicycle 1 25 + +WAR SERIES. By Harry Castlemon. 3 vols., 12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, +extra, printed in colors. In box $3 75 + +True to his Colors 1 25 + +Rodney, the Partisan 1 25 + +Marcy, the Blockade Runner 1 25 + +OUR FELLOWS; or, Skirmishes with the Swamp Dragoons. By Harry Castlemon. +16mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $1 25 + + + +Alger's + +Renowned + +Books. + +BY + +Horatio Alger, Jr. + + + + [Illustration: Specimen Cover of the Ragged Dick Series.] + +Horatio Alger, Jr., has attained distinction as one of the most popular +writers of books for boys, and the following list comprises all of his +best books. + +***Any volume sold separately. + + + +RAGGED DICK SERIES. By Horatio Alger, Jr. 6 vols., 12mo. Fully +illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. In box $7 50 + +Ragged Dick; or, Street Life in New York 1 25 + +Fame and Fortune; or, The Progress of Richard Hunter 1 25 + +Mark, the Match Boy; or, Richard Hunter's Ward 1 25 + +Rough and Ready; or, Life among the New York Newsboys 1 25 + +Ben, the Luggage Boy; or, Among the Wharves 1 25 + +Rufus and Rose; or, the Fortunes of Rough and Ready 1 25 + +TATTERED TOM SERIES. (First Series.) By Horatio Alger, Jr. 4 vols., +12mo. Fully illustrated. Cloth, extra, printed in colors. 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