Christy realized that it would be useless as well as foolish to deny his ident.i.ty to one who knew him so well. A moment's reflection a.s.sured him that he must make the best of the circ.u.mstances; but he wished with all his might that he had not come to Na.s.sau. He was particularly glad that he had insisted upon separating from Mr. Gilfleur, for the present encounter would have ruined his mission. The young man's father was Colonel Richard Pierson, a neighbor of Homer Pa.s.sford; and he was a Confederate commissioner for the purchase of vessels for the rebel navy, for running the blockade. Doubtless the son was his father's a.s.sistant, as he had been at the time of Christy's first visit.

Percy was not a person of very heavy brain calibre, as his companion had learned from an a.s.sociation of several weeks with him. Christy believed that he might obtain some useful information from him; and he decided, since it was impossible to escape the interview, to make the best of it, and he accepted the offered hand. He did not consider the young Southerner as much of a rebel, for he had refused to shoulder a musket and fight for the cause.

"I begin to see your former looks, and particularly your expression,"

said Christy. "I am very glad to see you, and I hope you have been very well since we met last."

"Very well indeed."

"Do you live here, Percy?"

"I have lived here most of the time since we parted on board of the Bellevite, and you put me on board of a schooner bound to Na.s.sau. That was a very good turn you did me, for I believed you would take me to New York, and pitch me into a Yankee prison. I was very grateful to you, for I know it was your influence that saved me."

This remark seemed to put a new face upon the meeting. Christy had done nothing to cause him to be set free; for the Bellevite, though she had beaten off several steamers that attempted to capture her, was not in the regular service at the time, her mission in the South being simply to bring home the daughter of her owner, who had pa.s.sed the winter with her uncle at Glenfield.

"I am very glad I was able to do you a good turn," replied Christy, who considered it his duty to take advantage of the circ.u.mstances. "I am just going out to take a sail; won't you join me?"

"Thank you; I shall be very glad to do so. I suppose you are a Yankee still, engaged in the business of subjugating the free South, as I am still a rebel to the backbone," replied Percy, laughing very pleasantly.

"But you are not in the rebel army now, any more than you were at that time," added Christy in equally good humor.

"I am not. You know all about my army experience. My brother, the major, sends me a letter by every chance he can get, and has offered to have my indiscretion, as he called it, in leaving the camp, pa.s.sed over, if I will save the honor of the family by returning to the army; but my father insists that I can render better service to the cause as his a.s.sistant."

Christy led the way down the steps, and the two seated themselves in the bow of the boat. The skipper shoved off after he had set his sails, and the boat stood out towards the Snapper, for he could hardly avoid pa.s.sing quite near to her.

"What are you doing in Na.s.sau, Christy?" asked Percy.

This was a hard question, and it was utterly impossible to make a truthful reply without upsetting the plan of Mr. Gilfleur, and rendering useless the voyage of the Chateaugay to the Bahamas.

"I am in just as bad a sc.r.a.pe as you were when you were caught on board of the Bellevite," replied Christy after a moment's reflection.

"Are you a prisoner of war?"

"How could I be a prisoner in a neutral port like Na.s.sau? No; I do not regard myself as a prisoner just now," answered Christy very good-humoredly.

"But you have been a prisoner, and you have escaped in some vessel that run the blockade. I see it all; and you need not stop to explain it,"

said Percy, who flattered himself on his brilliant perception.

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

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

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

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

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

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

But Christy did not put any confidence in his a.s.sertion. Percy was really a deserter from the Confederate army, and he knew that he had in several instances acted the traitor's part. He had more respect for an out-and-out rebel than for one who shirked his duty to his country as he understood it.

"I have been afraid some one might identify me here," suggested Christy, determined not to over-act his part.

"I might help you out of the sc.r.a.pe," said Percy, who appeared to be reflecting upon something that had come to his mind. "I suppose you are aware that most of the vessels in this harbor, and those outside the bar, are directly or indirectly interested in blockade-running."

"I supposed so, but I know nothing about it."

"Some of them have brought in cotton, with which others are loading for England. My business as my father's clerk takes me on board of most of them, and I know the captains and other officers very well. This little steamer we have just pa.s.sed was bought for a Mobile man by my father.

She carried a full cargo of goods into Mobile, and came out again full of cotton. She is called the Snapper, and she is a regular snapper at her business. She is now all loaded, and will sail on the next tide.

I am well acquainted with her captain."

"What sort of a man is he?" asked Christy in an indifferent tone.

"He is a very good fellow; bold as an eagle, and brave as a lion. He drinks too much whiskey for his own good; but he knows all the ports on the Gulf of Mexico, and he gets in or out in face of the blockaders every time," answered Percy with enthusiasm.

"Did he never lose a vessel?"

"Never but one; that was the Floridian, and I reckon you know as much about that affair as any other person, Christy," replied Percy, laughing as though it had been a good joke on Captain f.l.a.n.g.er.

"I know something about it."

"Your uncle, Colonel Pa.s.sford, lost several vessels, and you had a hand in their capture. But never mind that; you did me a good turn, and I never go back on a friend. Now, my dear fellow, I do not think it will be safe for you to remain here. You are looked upon as a dangerous fellow along the Gulf coast, as Colonel Pa.s.sford writes to my father; and if my governor should get a hint that you were here, he would make a business of getting you inside a Confederate prison."

"I am under the flag of England just now, and that is supposed to protect neutrals."

"That's all very well, my dear fellow; but my governor could manage your affair in some way. I can make a trade with the captain of the Snapper to put you ash.o.r.e at Key West."

"You are very kind, Percy."

"It will be necessary for you to buy a boat here, one with a sail, which can be carried on the deck of the steamer," continued Percy, evidently much interested in the scheme he was maturing.

At this moment the Dinah was pa.s.sing under the stern of a steamer, on which Christy read the name "Ovidio."

CHAPTER XX

A BAND OF RUFFIANS

The Ovidio was one of the vessels of which Captain Pa.s.sford had obtained information in New York, and by which the traitor merchant had at first intended to send the machinery on board of the Ionian into the Confederacy.

"That vessel flying the British flag appears to be a man-of-war," said Christy.

"That is just what she is, confound her!" replied Percy bitterly. "She is the Greyhound, and she has seized the Ovidio which we just pa.s.sed; but my father believes she will be released;" as in fact she was, after a delay of two months.

"That looks a little like neutrality," added the naval officer.