But the conversation was interrupted at this point by the appearance of the cook, whose legs were more tangled up by his tipples than his master's. He delivered the request of Captain Sullendine that they should come into the cabin, and partake of the lunch which had been set out for them. As they moved towards the companion, they saw Sopsy creep over to the alley where Bokes had been sleeping, and take up the bottle of apple-jack Christy had given him, and drink from it. It was evident to them that the cook could not be much longer in condition for any duty.

The two mates went below as invited, and found the captain at the table.

He had brought out the bottle of whiskey, and was eating of the dishes before him, but plainly with little relish.

"Have another little drink, Mr. Balker; but I think Mr. Sandman had better not take anymore," said the master, whose speech was rather thick by this time.

"Thank you, Captain Sullendine; I will do a little in that way, for we are likely to have a very damp night of it," replied Graines, as he helped himself, though he did not take ten drops.

"A little does one good; but it don't do to take too much when we have very important business on our hands. After that one, Mr. Balker, I advise you not to take any more till we get clear of the blockaders,"

added the skipper, as he emptied the bottle into his gla.s.s.

The ham on the table was of excellent quality, and the two mates ate heartily of it, with the ship-bread. The last dose the captain had taken appeared to cap the climax, and he could no longer eat, or talk so as to be clearly understood. When the mates had finished their lunch, they saw that the skipper had dropped asleep in his chair. They rose from their places, and rattled the stools. The noise roused the sleeper, and he sprang to his feet with a violent start.

"What's time'z it, Mr. Zbalker?" he demanded, catching hold of the table to avoid falling on the cabin floor.

He seemed to be conscious that he was not presenting a perfectly regular appearance to his new officers; and he dropped into his chair, making a ludicrous effort to stiffen his muscles and put on his dignity, but it was a failure.

"Quarter-past two, Captain Sullendine," replied Graines in answer to the question.

"Most an hour more 'fore we git started," stammered the invalid.

"I didn't sleep none last night, I'm sleepy. I'm go'n to turn in for half an hour, 'n then I'll be on deck ready for busi-- ready for buzness."

Graines a.s.sisted him to his stateroom, for he could not walk, and he was afraid he would fall and hurt himself. He helped him into his berth, and arranged him so that he could sleep it off, and he did not care if he did not do so before the next day. He waited till he had dropped off into a deep slumber, and then joined Christy in the cabin.

"If I had not been a temperance man before, I should be now," said the lieutenant. "It is just as well that the captain is clean over the bay, for we might have been obliged to shoot him if he had been sober."

"But we could have taken possession of the vessel in spite of him, if the steamer had not interfered," replied Graines, as he led the way to the deck. "I don't see that we have anything to do but wait for the moving of the waters, or for the moving of the steamer. I suppose our men are all right forward."

"I have no doubt of it, though I have not seen them lately. I gave one of the bottles of apple-jack the captain sent forward for them to Bokes, and poured the contents of the other into Mobile Bay. I think we had better go forward and look the vessel over," said Christy.

They had gone but a few steps before they stumbled over the body of Sopsy, who had evidently succ.u.mbed to the quant.i.ty of firewater he had consumed. He had a.s.sisted Bokes to empty the bottle given to him, and both of them were too far gone to give an alarm if they discovered at any time that something was wrong about the movements of the West Wind.

They found the Belleviters lounging about on the cotton bales, some of them asleep, and others carrying on a conversation in a low tone. They were glad to see their officers, who told them the time for some sort of action was rapidly approaching. Then they went to the bow of the vessel, where they found that she was anch.o.r.ed, though the chain had been hove short. The hawser by which she was to be towed to sea was made fast to the bowsprit bitts, and led to the stern of the steamer, where it was doubtless properly secured.

While they were looking over the bow, a boat approached from the Tallahatchie, and an officer hailed, asking for Captain Sullendine.

"He is in the cabin; I am the mate," replied the engineer, "and the captain has shipped a new crew, we are all right now."

"Weigh your anchor at three short whistles," added the officer.

"Understood, and all right," said the new mate.

The boat pulled back to the steamer.

CHAPTER IX

THE DEPARTURE OF THE TALLAHATCHIE

The fog, which had been coming and going during the whole of the night, had now lifted so that everything in the vicinity of the fort could be seen; but across the point, down the ship channel, it was dense, dark, and black. The wind was fresh from the south-west, which rolled up the fog banks, and then rolled them away. Such was the atmospheric condition near Mobile Point, and Christy believed it was the same at the southward. He thought it probable that the commander of the Tallahatchie would wait for a more favorable time than the present appeared to be before he got under way.

"All hands to the forecastle," he called to the men on the cotton bales.

All of them, knowing his voice as well as they knew their own names, hastened to answer to the call.

"We have to heave up the anchor with a windla.s.s, Mr. Graines," said he to the engineer. "We had better get the hang of it while we have time to do so. Ship the handspikes, my men."

Doubtless all of them had worked a windla.s.s before, for every one of them was an able seaman, which had been one of the elements in their selection, and they went to work very handily. A turn or two was given, which started the vessel ahead, showing that the anchor was not hove entirely short. Graines went to the bow, and reported a considerable slant of the cable with the surface of the water. Christy ordered the six seamen to work the windla.s.s, with French to take in the slack. They continued to heave over with the handspikes for some time longer.

"Cable up and down, sir," reported Graines.

"Avast heaving!" added the lieutenant; and he had taken the command, paying no attention to the fact that he was the second mate under the new order of things, and the engineer did not remind him that he was the chief officer. "Let off the cable a couple of notches, so that the anchor will not break out. Make fast to the bitts, French, but don't foul it with the towline."

"We are all right now," said Graines, as he moved aft from the heel of the bowsprit.

"What time is it now?" asked the lieutenant. "Bring that lantern forward, Lines."

"Ten minutes of three," replied the engineer, holding his watch up to the light.

"The fog is settling down again, and I have no doubt the captain of the steamer will get under way at about the hour named," said Christy, putting his hand on the wire towline, and giving it a shake, to a.s.sure himself that it was all clear. "Now, Mr. Graines, or rather, Mr. Balker, as you are the mate and I am only the second mate, I think you had better go aft and see that all goes well there."

"Very well, Mr. Sandman; I will leave you in charge of the forecastle,"

replied the engineer, with a light laugh; but they had been boys together, and understood each other perfectly.

"Captain Sullendine is the only dangerous man on board, and I think you had better look after him," added Christy. "If there is any lock on the door of his stateroom, it would be well to turn the key."

"I will look after him at once, sir," answered Graines, as he leaped upon the cotton bales and made his way to the quarter-deck.

On the way he examined the condition of Sopsy, and found him snoring like a roaring lion, in an uneasy position. He turned him over on his side, and then went to the lair of Bokes, who was in the same condition; and he concluded that neither of them would come to his senses for a couple of hours at least.

Captain Sullendine had been a.s.sisted to a comfortable position when he turned in, and he was sleeping with nothing to disturb him. There was no lock on the door, and Graines could not turn the key. The interior of the cabin was finished in the most primitive manner, for the vessel had not been built to accommodate pa.s.sengers. The door of the captain's stateroom was made of inch and a half boards, with three battens, and the handle was an old-fashioned bow-latch. There was a heavy bolt on the inside, as though the apartment had been built to enable the master to fortify himself in case of a mutiny.

The engineer could not fasten the door with any of the fixtures on it; but it opened inward, as is generally the case on shipboard, and this fact suggested to the ingenious officer the means of securing it even more effectually than it could have been done with a lock and key. In the pantry he found a rolling-pin, which the cook must have left there for some other purpose.

This implement he applied to the bow-handle of the fixture on the door.

It would not fit the iron loop, but he whittled it down on one side with his pocket-knife till he made it fit exactly in its place with some hard pressure. But shaking the door might cause it to drop out, and he completed the job by lashing it to the handle of the door with a lanyard he had in his pocket. When he had finished his work he was confident the captain could not get out of his room unless he broke down the door, which he lacked the means to accomplish.

"West Wind, ahoy!" shouted some one from the stern of the steamer before the engineer had completed his work in the cabin.

Christy thought that French's voice was a better imitation of Captain Sullendine's than his own, and he directed him to reply to the hail, telling him what to say.

"On board the Tallahatchie!" returned the seaman at the lieutenant's dictation.

"Are you all ready?" shouted the same officer.