On this report Christy rang four bells, and the Reindeer went ahead at full speed.

"By the mark three!" called the man at the lead.

The water was deepening rapidly, and presently the report of three and a half fathoms came from the forecastle. It was soon followed by "And a half four," upon which the lieutenant directed the wheelman to steer directly for the Bellevite. He had hardly given the order before the report of heavy firing from the upper waters of the bay came to his ear.

"What can that be?" he asked, looking at Captain Stopfoot.

"I don't know; but I suppose that the gunboat which went up the bay is firing at some battery she has discovered. They have strengthened the works in that direction which defend the town, since the only one there was silenced by one of your gunboats," the captain explained.

The guns were heard on board of the Bellevite, and she began to move up the bay as though she intended to proceed to the a.s.sistance of her consort. Mr. Blowitt in the first cutter had followed the Bronx, and the third cutter, in charge of Mr. Lobscott, had gone over to Piney Point, to which there was a channel with from three to five fathoms of water, and which seemed to be a favorable place to load a vessel with cotton.

As the Reindeer approached the Bellevite, the latter stopped her screw, and Christy directed the wheelman to run the steamer alongside, and within twenty or thirty feet of her. There was no sea in the bay, and there was no danger in doing so. As the Reindeer approached the position indicated, two bells were struck to stop her. The flags that had been hoisted on board, informed Captain Breaker of the capture of the steamer, so that no report was necessary.

"I have to report the capture of the Reindeer, loaded with cotton, and ready to sail for Na.s.sau," said Christy, mounting one of the high piles of cotton bales, and saluting the commander of the Bellevite, who had taken his place on the rail to see the prize.

"Do you know the cause of the firing up the bay, Mr. Pa.s.sford?" asked Captain Breaker.

"I do not, Captain; but I learn that the battery below the town has been strengthened, and I should judge that the Bronx had engaged it."

"Have you men enough to hold your prize, Mr. Pa.s.sford?"

"I think I have, Captain."

"You will go down the bay, and anchor outside of Egmont Key."

Christy rang one bell, and then four.

CHAPTER x.x.x

A VERY IMPORTANT SERVICE

The Reindeer went ahead at full speed, while the Bellevite stood up the bay, picking up the crew of Mr. Blowitt's boat on the way, evidently with the intention of taking part in the action which the Bronx had initiated. The loud reports at intervals indicated that the Bronx was using her big midship gun, while the feebler sounds proved that the metal of the battery was much lighter. The prize was not a fast steamer, and she was over an hour in making the dozen miles to Egmont Island, on which was the tower of a lighthouse forty feet high, but no use was made of it at that time.

The Bellevite proceeded very slowly, sounding all the time; but at the end of half an hour the Reindeer was at least ten miles from her, which was practically out of sight and hearing. About this time Christy observed that Captain Stopfoot left the pilot-house, where he had remained from the first; but he paid no attention to him. He had three men on the quarter-deck of the steamer, one in the pilot-house with him, and five more in other parts of the vessel.

Christy knew the channel to the south of the lighthouse, and piloted the steamer to a point about half a mile to the westward of the island.

He was looking through one of the forward windows of the pilot-house, selecting a proper place to come to anchor, in accordance with the orders of Captain Breaker. While he was so engaged he heard some sort of a disturbance in the after part of the steamer.

"On deck there!" he called sharply; and the five men who had been stationed in this part of the steamer stood up before him, jumping up from the beds they had made for themselves on the cotton bales, or rushing out from behind them. "Hopkins and White, go aft and ascertain the cause of that disturbance," he added.

The two men promptly obeyed the order, and the naval officer directed the other three to stand by to anchor the steamer. In a few minutes the anchor was ready to let go. Perhaps a quarter of an hour had elapsed, when Christy began to wonder what had become of the two men he had sent aft to report on the disturbance.

"Linman," he called to one of the three men on the forecastle, "go aft and see what has become of Hopkins and White."

Linman proceeded to obey the order, but had not been gone twenty seconds, before the noise of another disturbance came to Christy's ears, and this time it sounded very much like a scuffle. Up to this moment, and even since Captain Stopfoot had left the pilot-house, Christy had not suspected that anything on board was wrong. The sounds that came from the after part of the vessel excited his suspicions, though they did not a.s.sure him that the ship's company of the steamer were engaged in anything like a revolt.

"Follow me, Bench and Kingman!" he shouted to the two men that remained on the forecastle. "Strike two bells, Landers," he added to the wheelman.

Christy had drawn the cutla.s.s he carried in his belt, and was ready, with the a.s.sistance of the two men he had called, to put down any insubordination that might have been manifested by the ship's company of the prize. He would have been willing to admit, if he had given the matter any attention at that moment, that it was the natural right of the captured captain and his men to regain possession of their persons and property by force and violence; but he was determined to make it dangerous for them to do so.

"On the forecastle, sir!" exclaimed Landers, the wheelman.

Christy had put his hand upon the door of the pilot-house to open it as the two men were moving aft; but he looked out the window at the exclamation of the wheelman. The cotton bales seemed to have become alive all at once, for half a dozen of them rolled over like a spaniel just out of the water, and four men leaped out from under them, or from apertures which had been formed beneath them.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "His a.s.sailant put his arms around him and hugged him like a bear."

Page 339.]

Bench and Kingman seemed to be bewildered, and both of them were thrown down by the movement of the bales. The four men who had so suddenly appeared sprang upon them, and almost in the twinkling of an eye had tied their hands behind them. Christy drew one of the revolvers from his belt; but he did not fire, for he was as likely to hit his own men as their a.s.sailants. The victors in the struggle dragged the two men into the forecastle, and disappeared themselves.

Christy was almost confounded by the suddenness of the attack; but he did not give up the battle, for he had at least six men in the after part of the steamer. Bidding Landers draw his cutla.s.s and follow him, he rushed out at the door he had before opened. He could not see anything aft but the walls of cotton bales, with a narrow pa.s.sage between them and the bulwarks. He moved aft with his eyes wide open; but he had not gone ten feet before a man dropped down upon him from the top of the deck-load with so much force as to carry him down to the planks.

His a.s.sailant put his arms around him and hugged him like a bear, so that he could neither use his cutla.s.s nor his revolvers. At the same moment another man dropped down on Landers in like manner. It was impossible to resist an attack made from overhead, where it was least expected, and when they were taken by surprise. Christy was a prisoner, and his hands were bound behind him.

At this moment Captain Stopfoot presented himself before the prize-master, his face covered with smiles, and nervous from the excess of his joy at the recapture of the Reindeer. Christy could not see what had become of the rest of his men. He knew that three of them had been secured, but he did not know what had become of the other six, and he had some hope that they had escaped their a.s.sailants, and were in condition to render him needed a.s.sistance, for it seemed impossible that all of them could have been overcome.

In spite of his chagrin and mortification, Christy could not help seeing that the affair on the part of Captain Stopfoot had been well managed, and that the author of the plot was smart enough to be a Yankee, whether he was one or not. It was evident enough now that the mate and the rest of the crew had not "taken to the woods," but had been concealed in such dens as could be easily made among the cotton bales.

"I hope you are not very uncomfortable, Mr. Pa.s.sford," said Captain Stopfoot, as he presented his smiling face before his late captor.

"Physically, I am not very uncomfortable, in spite of these bonds; but otherwise, I must say that I am. I am willing to acknowledge that it is a bad sc.r.a.pe for me," replied Christy as good-naturedly as possible, for his pride would not allow him to let the enemy triumph over him.

"That would not be at all unnatural, and I think it is a very bad sc.r.a.pe for a naval officer of your high reputation to get into," added the captain. "But I desire to say, Mr. Pa.s.sford, that I have no ill-will towards you, and it will not be convenient for me to send you to a Confederate prison, important as such a service would be to our cause."

"I judge that you are not as anxious as you were to get into the old navy," added Christy.

"I confess that I am not, and that I should very much prefer to obtain a good position in the Confederate navy. I hope you will excuse the little fictions in which I indulged for your amus.e.m.e.nt. I was born in the very heart of the State of Alabama, and never saw Long Island in all my life," continued the captain. "By the way, my mate is not part owner of the Reindeer, though he is just as faithful to her interests as though he owned the whole of her; and it was he that pounced down upon you at the right moment. I a.s.sure you he is a very good fellow, and I hope you will not have any grudge against him."

"Not the least in the world, Captain Stopfoot," replied Christy.

"I hope I shall not be obliged to detain you long, Mr. Pa.s.sford; and I shall not unless one of your gunboats chases me. I shall endeavor to put you and your men on sh.o.r.e at the Gasparilla Pa.s.s, where you can hail one of the gunboats as it comes along in pursuit of the Reindeer, though I hope they will not sail for this purpose before night."

"The Bellevite is not likely to discover the absence of the prize at present, for she will have to remain up the bay over one tide," said the mate.

"That is what I was calculating upon," added the captain. "Now, Mr.

Pa.s.sford, I shall be compelled to take my leave of you, for we have to stow the cotton over again before we go to sea. I am exceedingly obliged to you for the very valuable service you have rendered me."

"I was not aware that I had rendered you any service," replied Christy, wondering what he could mean.

"You are not? Then your perception is not as clear as I supposed it was.

When it was reported to me that two gunboats were coming into the bay I considered the Reindeer as good as captured, as I have hinted to you before. My cargo will bring a fortune in Na.s.sau, and I am half owner of the steamer and her cargo, if Mr. Groomer, the mate, is not. I was almost in despair, for I could not afford to lose my vessel and her valuable cargo. I considered myself utterly ruined. But just then I got an idea, and I came to a prompt decision;" and the captain paused.

"And what was that decision?" asked Christy curiously.

"When I saw your boat coming, for I was on the long key, I determined that you should bring the Reindeer out into the Gulf, and save me all trouble and anxiety in regard to her, and I knew that you could do it a great deal better than I could. Wherefore I am extremely grateful to you for this very important service," said Captain Stopfoot, bowing very politely. "But I am compelled to leave you now to your own pleasant reflections. Mr. Pa.s.sford, I shall ask you and your men to take possession of the cabin, and not show yourselves on deck; and you will pardon me if I lock the door upon you."