CHAPTER XIX

THE REPORT OF THE SCOUT FROM THE Sh.o.r.e

Captain Pecklar had held out as long as it was possible for him to stand it, and he had only given up when his senses deserted him. Major Pierson raised him from his position on the floor of the pilot-house, and, with Christy's a.s.sistance, bore him out into the air.

The wheel had gone over when the sick man could no longer hold it, and the tug was beginning to whirl about in an erratic manner, when the major rang the bell to stop the engine. The captain was carried down to his room, and put into his berth, where one of the soldiers was detailed to act as his nurse.

"I haven't a man on board that knows the first thing about handling a steamboat; and I am not a bit wiser myself," said the major, when the sick man had been disposed of. "Every man that is fit to be made into a soldier is sent to the army; and we have nothing but the lame, and the halt, and the blind to handle these boats."

"It does not look like good policy," added Christy.

"Dallberg and his two men are soldiers, and they know no more about a steamboat than the rest of us," continued Major Pierson. "It looks as though we should have to stay here till some other boat comes along; and that may be in three days or a week, for steamers have no occasion to come up here now."

"Perhaps you may find a pilot among the men in that boat," suggested Christy, as he looked about the pilot-house, where the conversation took place.

The captain's gla.s.s was lying on a shelf in front of the wheel, and he took a look through it in order to find the boat. After searching in every direction, he discovered the boat, which was pulled by two men, with a third in the stern-sheets. He indicated the position of it to the major, and gave him the gla.s.s.

"That's Dallberg, without any doubt; but he must be five miles off. He can't reach the steamer for a long time," said the major, when he had examined the boat. "But we shall be no better off than we are now when she gets here, for not one of those in it is a sailor."

Christy was not a little interested in the situation; for he thought his father must have gone on board of the Bellevite, or she would not have changed her position. It was all a mystery to him as well as to the commandant of Fort Gaines, and the boat in the distance had been to the sh.o.r.e for the purpose of investigating it.

He had an idea in his head, and he continued to examine the interior of the pilot-house till he found a number of paper rolls in a drawer, which looked very much like local charts of the bay. He examined several of them, and found one which covered the portion of the waters around him.

He had noted the direction taken by the Bellevite the day before, and he had no difficulty in placing the inlet where she had moored at the wharf.

"What have you got there, Mr. Pa.s.sford?" asked the major, who had been looking on the floor, thinking what he should do in his present dilemma.

[Ill.u.s.tration: "You a Sailor?" (Page 215)]

"It is a chart of these waters, which appears to have been considerably improved with a pen and ink," replied Christy, still examining it.

"That is the work of Captain Pecklar. They call him the best pilot for Mobile Bay there is about here, though he has been here but two years."

"Here is the inlet, or river, where we pa.s.sed the night; and the captain has marked the wharf on it."

"What good is the chart without a man that knows how to steer a steamer?" asked the major, who was becoming very impatient in the presence of the delay that confronted him; for the illness of Captain Pecklar deprived him of the ability to do any thing, even to return to the fort.

"You forget that I am a sailor, Major Pierson," said Christy.

"You a sailor? I thought you were the son of a millionnaire, who could not possibly know any thing except how to eat and sleep," replied the soldier, laughing.

"I have steered the Bellevite for a great many hundred miles, and my father says I am competent to do duty as a quartermaster."

"You astonish me; and, as we are both engaged in the same good cause, I am heartily delighted to find that you are a sailor."

"Probably I shall astonish you still more before we have got through.

With this chart before me, I have no doubt I can find my way about here in the Leopard," said Christy.

"Then I give you the command of the steamer in the absence of Captain Pecklar," continued the major. "This boat and another are in the service of the forts; and if you don't want to join the army with Percy, perhaps I can obtain the appointment for you, especially as you are hardly old enough to go into the ranks. We will see about that."

"We will leave all that open for future action, if you please, Major Pierson," replied Christy, as he rang the bell for the steamer to go ahead.

The major watched him with the most intense interest, as though he feared that the young man would prove to be a failure as a steamboat captain. But the steamer went ahead at the sound of the bell, and in a minute or two Christy had her on her course in the direction of the approaching boat. He examined the chart very carefully, and satisfied himself that there was water enough for the tug anywhere outside the headlands which projected into the hay.

The Leopard held her course as steadily as though the sick captain were still at the wheel; and the major was entirely satisfied with the qualifications of the new master, after he had watched him for a while.

"Spottswood, how is the captain?" called the major from the pilot-house.

"Just the same: he don't seem to be any better," replied the sergeant.

"He ought to have a doctor; for the poor fellow may die here, away from any proper attendance," said the major, with more feeling than the new captain supposed he possessed.

"There is a very skilful surgeon on board of the Bellevite," suggested Christy. "Dr. Linscott served in the army in Mexico, and had a large practice in New York."

"Then he shall see Pecklar. Dr. Linscott is just the sort of a surgeon we want in our army; and I suppose he would not be on board of the Bellevite if he was not of our way of thinking," added the major.

Christy knew he was nothing but a Union man, and not of the way of thinking which the soldier suggested: so he said nothing. The Leopard was a faster tug than the one which had come off from Fort Gaines, and she came up with the boat which contained Lieutenant Dallberg and his two men, the latter of whom were nearly exhausted with the long pull they had taken; for, as they were not sailors, they did not row to the best advantage.

The new captain rang the bell to stop her, as soon as the boat came near, and the party came on board. The two men seated themselves on the rail as though they never intended to do another stroke of work, for they had been using the oars most of the time since the evening before.

"Come up here, Dallberg," called the major from the pilot-house.

The lieutenant looked as though he had just been through one war; for he had slept none the night before, and had been on duty without intermission. He came to the hurricane-deck, and entered the pilot-house, where he dropped on the sofa abaft the wheel as though he were not in much better condition than the captain when he fell at his post.

"You have made a night of it, Dallberg," the major began, seating himself by the side of the lieutenant.

"I am about used up, major. I believe I walked ten miles on sh.o.r.e; and I am not as strong as I wish I was," replied Mr. Dallberg. "But I found out all I wanted to know, and I expected the Leopard would be somewhere near the creek."

"I beg your pardon, Major Pierson," said Christy, who was standing at the wheel. "What am I to do now?"

"I will tell you in a moment.--Can you tell me, Dallberg, where the Bellevite is at the present time?" asked the major, turning to the lieutenant.

"She seems to be running up and down across the head of the bay. She is beyond that point now, and you will see her when you go within a mile of the land," replied the lieutenant.

"Have you been near her?"

"Not within a mile of her, I should say."

"All right, you may head her within a mile of that point, Captain Pa.s.sford," added the major; and Christy rang to go ahead.

When the major applied this high-sounding t.i.tle to the new captain, the lieutenant opened his eyes a little; but he asked no questions, for he had learned as he came on board that Captain Pecklar had fainted at his post.

"Well, what have you been about, Dallberg?" asked the major rather impatiently, as soon as the boat was under way again.

"Walking, talking, and rowing most of the time. As the poet says, 'Things are not what they seem,'" replied the scout; for such appeared to be the duty in which he had been engaged.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Major Pierson, opening his eyes very wide.