"She is armed; and she could blow your tug into ten thousand pieces in four minutes if she should open upon you," added Percy; and the listeners were of the opinion that he was beginning to use strong speech.

"That may be; but with a fort on each side of you, I don't think you will get into the bay in broad daylight," said the captain of the tug.

"The commander of Fort Gaines is in that boat, and I suppose he is coming off to examine the steamer. As you are not disposed to answer my questions, you can wait for him; but if you try to get into the bay, you will find that a shot from both forts can reach you."

"I am an agent of the Confederate government, and my father has been sent to Na.s.sau to obtain vessels for our navy," continued Percy, as he saw that the boat from the fort was still some distance from the vessel.

"Why didn't you say so before?" demanded the captain of the tug rather impatiently. "Of course you have some papers from the agent at Na.s.sau, to show what the vessel is."

"Not a single paper; he had no time to give me any."

"Who is the agent?"

The question was evidently put as a test; for if the young agent, as the captain could see that he was, gave a known name, it would be some evidence that he told the truth.

"Colonel Richard Pierson; and he is my father."

"Your father!" exclaimed the other, evidently impressed with the fact, and his tone was more respectful.

"You can come on board and see her for yourself," suggested Percy, prompted by the commander; for there was nothing on board to betray her true character, the guns having been concealed.

"I will not do that, as the commander of the fort will soon be here, and he may make the examination for himself. But perhaps you will be willing to give me your name?" added the captain.

"My name is Percy Pierson; and, as I told you, I am the son of Colonel Richard Pierson."

"Then you are the brother of Major Pierson, who is in command of Fort Gaines. I think it must be all right."

"Of course it is all right. Do you think I would bring a vessel into this bay if she were not all right?" inquired Percy with becoming indignation.

"I suppose you have heard there is going to be a war, and it is necessary to find out what vessels go into the bay," said the captain of the tug, when he had brought his craft quite near the steamer. "That is a very fine vessel."

"It is the fastest and strongest steamer that floats, and she will give a good account of herself when the trouble begins in earnest."

"Here comes the boat from the fort, and I see that Major Pierson is in the stern sheets. I have no doubt he will find you all right," said the captain.

The boat came alongside of the Bellevite, and the major went on board.

CHAPTER XI

THE MAJOR IN COMMAND OF FORT GAINES

Percy Pierson retained his position on the rail when his brother the major came up the gangway steps, which had been put over for him. As the latter went up, he could not help seeing him; and his astonishment evidently mounted to the highest degree, as manifested in his expression. The owner and the commander stood near the rail, to give the visitor a pleasant reception.

But the major took no notice of them; for his attention was plainly absorbed in his surprise at seeing his brother, dressed in uniform, on the rail of the steamer. He halted as soon as he had mounted the rail, over which he must pa.s.s to reach the deck. He looked at Percy for some time, without being able to say a word, and seemed to be not quite sure that it was he.

The younger brother was as silent as the older one; for he had had some rather exciting times with him in the matter of enlisting, and he was not very confident of his reception at the hands of the commander of Fort Gaines. He looked at him with interest, not unmingled with some painful solicitude for the future.

"Percy!" exclaimed Major Pierson at last, when he was entirely satisfied that the young man was his brother, in spite of the uniform of blue he wore, though the gray had not yet come into extensive use.

"Lindley!" added the younger, evidently desiring to go no faster than the occasion might require of him.

"I am glad to see you back again," continued the major, without offering to take his hand. "You deserted like a coward, and I have been ashamed of you ever since. A young fellow like you, eighteen years old, who will not fight for his country, ought to lose the respect of even his own brother."

"That is a pleasant greeting," replied Percy, with the suspicion of a sneer on his face.

"It is all that a coward deserves," replied Lindley severely.

"I am no coward, any more than you are," protested Percy. "You know that father did not wish me to join the army, though I wished to do so."

"I know that you wished to do so just as any other coward does,--over the left."

"What could I do when father told me not to go to the war?"

"What could you do? You could have gone! If you had not been a poltroon, you would have joined the first regiment that came in your way."

"I never was in the habit of disobeying my father," pleaded the young agent.

"You were not? You ran away to New Orleans last winter when your father told you not to go. You came home from the academy when he told you to remain there. You have spent the evening in Mobile when he told you not to go there. I could tell you instances all day in which you disobeyed him, and mother too," continued the soldier warmly.

"That was different."

"It was different; and you could obey your father in a bad cause, but not in a good one. I am heartily ashamed of you, and I don't feel willing to own you as a brother of mine."

"But my father told me that I could better serve the good cause by going with him than I could by joining the army."

"And you were willing to go with him, for then you could keep out of danger. Father is getting old, and he is not fit to serve in the army; and you have been his pet since you were born. But that is no excuse for you; and if I can get you back into the army, I mean to do so."

Percy was afraid he might succeed, and he did not feel as confident as he had been; and he lost, for the time, some of his self-possession. He was confronting the fate he had dreaded when he found the steamer was leaving Na.s.sau.

"What are you doing here?" demanded the major, looking down upon the deck of the vessel for the first time.

"I am taking this steamer into the bay, where she is to go into the service of the Confederate States," answered Percy, plucking a little more confidence from the nature of his present occupation.

"You are taking her into the bay!" exclaimed the older brother.

"That is what I said, and that is what I mean," added Percy, glad to see that his mission had produced an impression.

"Taking this steamer into the bay!" repeated the major, evidently unable to comprehend the mission of his brother. "Do you mean to say that _you_ are taking her in, Percy?"

"That is what I mean to say, and do say."

"Are you the pilot of the steamer? I should think you might have been, for she was aground just now," sneered the commander of the fort.

"I am not the pilot, and I don't pretend to be a sailor; but the steamer is in my charge," replied Percy, elevating his head to the need of the occasion.