"I can't say I do. In fact, I never went on the sea till I went to Na.s.sau with my father," replied Percy candidly. "But I can soon learn all about it."

"A nice lieutenant you will make! Why don't you apply for the position of commander of her?"

"I am willing to take a subordinate position till I learn something about the business."

"That's right! Be humble at first, and you will be great afterwards."

"I should have been willing to go into the army as a captain, or even as a lieutenant; but I couldn't quite stand it to go in as a common soldier, while my brother made a beginning as a major."

"I think I will not go any farther, Mr. Percy," said Christy, as he halted near the gate.

"Oh, don't leave me now, Mr. Pierson! We are half way to my father's house," Percy objected.

"I can't go any farther, for I may be wanted."

"You will be safe enough, Mr. Pierson, My mother is at home, and she will be glad to see you."

"I think I will not see your mother to-night," added Christy, as he turned, and began to retrace his steps towards the mansion of his uncle.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Four Men Sprang in Front of Him (Page 183)]

They had halted in the road near the gate, and on both sides of it was a thick undergrowth of small trees and bushes; and in the shade of this foliage it had become quite dark. Christy had not taken three steps before four men sprang out of the thicket in front of him, all of them armed with muskets, and wearing a uniform of gray. Two placed themselves in front of Christy; while the other two rushed after Percy, who took to his heels as soon as he saw them.

The gate was an impediment to the latter; and before he could get over or through it, the two soldiers had laid violent hands on him. He could offer no effectual resistance, and it was evident that he was frightened out of his wits; for he looked and acted like the ghost of despair itself. The two men immediately tied his hands behind him; and, though they did not use any undue harshness, they did their work thoroughly.

Christy was even more astonished than his companion at this sharp discipline. He did not regard himself as a fit subject for such treatment, and he could not understand why he had been subjected to it.

He was not liable to do military duty, and Major Pierson could hardly think of pressing him into the service of the Confederacy. His two captors were as prompt in their action as the two who had taken Percy, and his hands were also tied behind him.

"Good-evening, gentlemen," said Christy, as soon as the soldiers had bound him, and then stood in front to take a look at him. "Don't it strike you that you are indulging in rather sharp practice?"

"We haven't any thing to do with the practice: all we have to do is to obey orders," replied one of the men.

"But I think you have mistaken your orders," suggested the prisoner.

"I think not: if we have, we will set things to rights at once," replied the man, who appeared to be the sergeant in command of the party. "But our business is not so much with you as with the other young fellow."

Upon this, Christy was conducted to the gate, where Percy had not yet recovered any of his self-possession. For his own part, he felt that a mistake had been made, which must soon be corrected. He knew nothing of the wide difference of opinion which had suddenly become apparent between his father and his uncle, and he was sure that the latter could soon effect his release.

"This is an outrage!" exclaimed Percy, who perhaps felt that it was necessary for him to say something, now that Christy had come within hearing distance.

"Perhaps it is, Mr. Pierson," replied the sergeant. "But that isn't any of my business."

"You will be held responsible for it, sir!" protested Percy.

"Perhaps I shall; but I shall obey my orders," replied the soldier doggedly.

"Who gave you your orders?" demanded Percy imperatively.

"Well, I don't belong to the cla.s.s in catechism, and I don't answer all the questions that are put to me."

"My father will have something to say about this business."

"He can say all he likes, but he need not say it to me; for I only obey my orders, and I have nothing to do with giving them."

"What are you going to do with me?" asked Percy, when he found he could make nothing of the sergeant.

"I don't know what they will do with you; but I reckon they won't shoot you, as they might a fellow whose father was not a man of some consequence," replied the sergeant, as he ordered one of his men to open the gate.

"Shoot me!" exclaimed Percy, evidently appalled at the bare possibility of such an event.

"I reckon they won't do that," added the soldier.

"This is my father's plantation, and my mother is in the house,"

continued Percy.

"She can stay there: we shall not meddle with her."

"But you are going to take me away from her."

"You look like a stout young fellow, and you ought to be able to get along for a while without your mother," chuckled the sergeant. "You belong in the army; and I reckon you will have to go back to it, in spite of your mother."

"I don't belong to the army," protested Percy.

"Well, they call you a deserter, anyhow."

Percy seemed to be overcome by this statement, and Christy thought there was something more of his story than he had told on board of the Bellevite. It was possible, after all, that Major Pierson was not as much of a brute as be had appeared to be. But, if his companion was a deserter, he certainly did not come under that head himself, and he could not understand why he had been arrested.

"I suppose you don't claim me as a deserter, do you?" asked Christy good-naturedly.

"I don't think they do," replied the sergeant, as pleasantly as he had spoken himself.

"Then, why do you arrest me?"

"My orders were to arrest any person with Mr. Pierson; and that is all I know about your case, and I am very sorry to give you any annoyance.

Things are a little mixed, and I hope they will soon get them levelled down. If you don't object, we will march."

"I suppose you will march all the same, if I do object," added Christy.

"I was not aware that it was a crime here to be in the company of that young man."

"I reckon I was ordered to arrest you as a matter of precaution; and I dare say they will let you return as soon as we report to the major,"

said the sergeant, leading his prisoner through the gateway.

The other men took Percy by the arm; and, after they had closed the gate, they followed the road for a considerable distance, and then struck across the fields. Not far ahead, Christy saw many lights; and he concluded that this must be the location of the mansion of Colonel Pierson, the father of Percy, and for some reason best known to himself, the sergeant desired to avoid going very near it.

A march of a short distance farther across the field brought them to a road, which they followed till they came to a wagon drawn by two horses.

The animals were hitched at the side of the road, and no one seemed to be in charge of the team. But the sergeant halted his party at this point; and, leaving the prisoners in charge of his men, he went to the wagon.

"Major Pierson," said he; but no answer came to his question, and he repeated it with no better success.