CHAPTER XXII
THE DISPOSITION OF THE TWO PRIZES
The surgeon reported the condition of the first lieutenant to thecommander at once, and a long conversation between them followed.Devoted as Captain Breaker was to his executive officer, and filled withadmiration as he was for the gallant exploit of that day, he was notwilling to do anything that could be fairly interpreted as favoritismtowards the son of Captain Passford. The summer weather of the South wascoming on, and the heat was already oppressive, even on board of theships of war at anchor so much of the time on the blockade, and this wasthe strong point of the doctor in caring for his patient.
Dr. Linscott was very earnest in insisting upon his point; and thecommander yielded, for he could hardly do otherwise in the face of thesurgeon's recommendation, for the latter was the responsible person. Thenext morning, after the wounded officer had passed a feverish night,Captain Breaker visited him in his stateroom, and announced thedecision. Christy began to fight against it.
"I am not so badly off as many officers who have been treated in thehospital down here; and if I am sent home it will be regarded asfavoritism to the son of my father," protested the lieutenant.
"You are too sensitive, my dear boy, as you have always been; and youare entirely mistaken. You have earned a furlough if you choose to askfor it, and every officer and seaman who has served with you would sayso," argued the captain. "I shall insert in my report, with other matterconcerning you, Christy, that you were sent home on the certificate ofthe surgeon; and even an unreasonable person cannot call it favoritism."
"I don't know," added Christy, shaking his head.
"I know, my boy. Merciful Heaven!" exclaimed Captain Breaker. "You didenough yesterday to entitle you to any favor it is possible for thedepartment to extend to you. You saved the lives of a quarter or a thirdof the ship's company. But it was not simply a brave and daring exploit,my boy, though even that would entitle you to the fullest commendation;but it included sound judgment on the instant, lightning invention, andconsummately skilful action;" and the commander became positivelyeloquent as he proceeded.
"Come, come, Captain Breaker! You are piling it on altogether toothick," cried Christy, overwhelmed by the torrent of praise. "I only didwhat I could not help doing."
"No matter if you did; it was the right thing to do, and it was done atprecisely the right instant. A moment's delay would have brought thewhole force of the enemy down upon you. It was absolutely wonderful howyou got that gun off in such a short space of time. I report CaptainRombold's words to you."
"He is a magnanimous gentleman," said Christy.
"He says, too, that a dozen muskets and revolvers were discharged atyou, and it is a miracle that only one bullet struck you."
"I found a bullet-hole in my cap, and two more in the skirt of my coat,"added the patient with a smile, as he pointed to his coat and cap.
"But we are off the subject; and I was only trying to show that you areentitled to a furlough," said the commander; but the discussion wascontinued for some time longer, though Christy consented to be sent homein the end.
The thought of going to Bonnydale was exceedingly pleasant to him, andhe allowed his mind to dwell upon each member of the family, and topicture in his imagination the greeting they would all give him. Not tothe members of his family alone did he confine his thoughts; for theyincluded the beautiful Bertha Pembroke, whom, with her father, he hadtaken from the cabin of a cotton steamer he had captured. He concludedthat the surgeon's certificate would shield him from adverse criticism,after he had fully considered the matter.
The flag-officer of the Eastern Gulf Squadron was not off Mobile Point;and Captain Breaker, as the senior officer present, was obliged todispose of his prizes himself. Some necessary repairs had to be madeupon both ships before anything could be done; and the carpenter and hisgang, with all the other seamen who could handle an axe or an adze, werehurrying forward the work. The prize had lost her mizzen mast, hersteering gear had been knocked to pieces both forward and aft, she hadbeen riddled in a dozen places, and shot-holes in the hull had beenhastily plugged during the action.
Her Armstrong gun amidships had been disabled by Blumenhoff at his firstfire. Christy had not found the opportunity to examine this piece, as hedesired; but Mr. Graines had done so for him; and it was found that thegun carriage had been knocked into a shapeless mass so that it could notbe put in condition for use. The machinists from the engine room of bothvessels, for those of the Tallahatchie had no feeling on the subject,were restoring the steering apparatus, and were likely to have the workcompleted the next day.
Captain Breaker was in great doubt as to what he ought to do withColonel Passford. He was certainly a non-combatant; and it could not beshown that he had any mission to Nassau or elsewhere in the service ofthe Confederacy, though it would have been otherwise if the steamer andthe West Wind had not been captures, for he was to sell the cotton inEngland, and purchase a steamer with the proceeds; but his mission endedwith the loss of the vessels. He finally decided to send him to FortMorgan under a flag of truce.
Before he left he called upon his nephew. He was still in a stateof despondency over his own losses, and his failures to benefit theConfederacy, whose loss he counted as greater than his own. He statedthat the commander had announced his intention to send him on shore.Christy had seen him but for a moment, for his uncle had not desired tomeet him again.
"We will not talk about the war, Uncle Homer," said Christy. "How areAunt Lydia, Corny, and Gerty? I hope they are all very well."
"Your aunt is not very well, for the hardships of the war have worn uponher. Except Uncle Jerry and Aunty Chloe, the cook, all our negroes haveleft us, or been taken by the government to work on fortifications, andmy wife and Gerty have to do most of the housework," replied Uncle Homervery gloomily; and it was plain to Christy that the mansion at Glenfieldwas not what it had been in former years.
"How is Corny? I have not heard from him lately."
"Corny is now a captain in the Army of Virginia, and is doing his dutylike a man," answered the colonel proudly; and this fact seemed to bealmost the only pleasant feature of his experience. "We have been calledupon to endure a great many hardships; but we still feel that the God ofjustice will give us the victory in the end, and we try to bear ourburdens with resignation. The captain informs me that you are goinghome, Christy."
"The surgeon has ordered me to the North on account of the heat in thislocality."
"I learned in Nassau as well as when I was at Bonnydale, that yourfather holds a very prominent and influential position among yourpeople, and your advancement seems to be made sure," added the planter.
"He has never held any office under the United States government, andI hope I do not owe my advancement to him; and he has often assured methat he never asked for my promotion or appointment," said Christy.
"You have been of very great service to your government, as I know to mysorrow, and I have no doubt you deserved whatever promotion you haveobtained," added the colonel, observing that he had touched his nephewin a very tender spot. "But I suppose the boat is waiting for me, and Imust bid you good-by. Remember me in the kindliest manner to your fatherand mother, and to Miss Florry. They were all as good to me when I wason parole at Bonnydale as though no war had ever divided us."
The colonel took Christy by the hand, and betrayed no little emotionas they parted. The lieutenant realized that his uncle was sufferingseverely under the hardships and anxieties of the war, and he wasprofoundly sorry for him, though he uttered no complaint. Both on hisown account and on that of the Confederacy, he had shipped severalcargoes of cotton to Nassau to be sent from there to England; but everyone of them had been captured, most of them by his nephew while incommand of the Bronx. But he was still confident that the Confederacywould triumph.
Colonel Passford had been sent to the fort under a flag of truce, andhad been received by the commandant. In a couple of days the repairs ofboth ships had been co
mpleted. Captain Rombold, though his wound wasquite severe, was getting along very well. Captain Breaker had completedhis arrangements for the disposal of the prizes and prisoners; and itbecame necessary to remove the wounded commander to the cabin of theTallahatchie, to which he did not object, for the wounded in his cabinhad been placed in a temporary hospital between decks. He was permittedto occupy the stateroom he had used while in command, while the otherwas reserved for the prize-master.
Ensign Palmer Drake, the senior of the two officers waitingappointments, was made prize-master of the Tallahatchie, for he hadproved to be an able and brave man in the recent action. Mr. Ballardbecame executive officer of the Bellevite, and Mr. Walbrook the secondlieutenant, while the place of the third was filled by Mr. Bostwick, whohad been master. French was appointed prize-master of the West Wind,with a crew of five men, as she was to be towed by the prize steamer.
It was found that the Tallahatchie had gone into the action withninety-five men, including the forward officers. More than one-third ofthem had been killed or disabled, without counting those who were stillable to keep the deck and sleep in their hammocks. Fifty of them werein condition to do duty; and Captain Breaker did not consider it prudentto send so many prisoners to the North in the prize. He therefore sentforty of them to Key West in the Holyoke, assured that the Bellevite wasabundantly able to maintain the blockade, even with her reduced ship'scompany, during the absence of his consort.
The engineers of the prize were willing to continue their services atthe expense of their new employer, or even to accept permanentappointments; for they did not belong to the upper classes in Englandwho favored the cause of the Confederacy, and were only looking for thehighest wages. Weeks, the oiler, and Bingham, a boatswain's mate, wereappointed first and second officers of the Tallahatchie, and twentyseamen were detailed as a prize crew. To insure the fidelity of the fourforeign engineers Mr. Graines was sent as a sort of supervisor, with theknowledge and assent of those in actual charge of the machinery.
When all was ready for her departure, Christy went on board of theTallahatchie in the same boat with the engineer, after a rather sadparting with the captain and his fellow-officers, and amid the cheers ofthe seamen, who had mounted the rail and the rigging to see him off. Mr.Drake conducted him to the captain's cabin when he went on board of theprize, where he met Captain Rombold, with whom he exchanged friendlygreetings.
"Fellow passengers again, Mr. Passford; but you are going to yourreward, and I to my punishment," said the late commander verycheerfully.
"Hardly to my reward, for I neither desire nor expect any furtherpromotion," replied Christy. "I am not yet twenty years old."
"But God makes some fully-developed men before they are twenty-one, andyou are one of them."
"Thank you, Captain."
"I am willing to wager the salary I have lost that you will be promotedwhether you desire it or not."
"I hope not," replied the lieutenant, as he went to the temporarystateroom which had been prepared for him.
The apartment was much larger than the permanent ones, and it wasprovided with everything that could contribute to his comfort. While Mr.Graines was assisting him to arrange his baggage, the steamer got underway.