Fighting for the Right Part 32

protested the negro.

"I don't think so, Quimp."

"De ossifers and men ob de Reindeer will go asho' when you done took de steamer; don't you see dat, ma.s.sa?"

"What shall I do with you then?" asked Christy, as he handed him two sovereigns and two shillings.

"T'ank you, sar; dat's a pile ob money!" exclaimed Quimp, as he looked with admiration upon the coins.

"It is what I agreed to give you. But what shall I do with you now? That is the question I want answered," continued the officer impatiently.

"You can't do not'ing wid me, Ma.s.sa Ossifer, and I must tooken my chance to go up in de boat. Better hab my froat cut 'n be chawed up by a big alligator. Was you ever bit by an alligator, Ma.s.sa Ossifer?"

"I never was."

"I knows about dat, ma.s.sa," added Quimp, as he bared his leg, and showed an ugly scar.

Christy would not wait to hear any more, but ordered the c.o.c.kswain to go ahead again. It looked to him that Quimp, now that he had received his money, and made fifteen dollars out of his morning's work, was intentionally delaying the object of the expedition, for what reason he could form no clear idea.

"I spose, if Captain Stopfoot kill me for w'at I done do, you'll bury me side de old woman dat done gone to glory ten year ago?" continued the negro, who did not look old enough to have buried a wife ten years before.

"I am not in the burying business, my friend, and after you are dead, you had better send for your sons to do the job, for they will know where to find the grave of the departed companion of your joys and sorrows," replied Christy, as the boat came in sight of the bowsprit of the Reindeer again.

"My sons done gone away to Alabamy, sar, and"--

"That's enough about that. There are no alligators about here, and you can swim ash.o.r.e if you are so disposed; but you must shut up your wide mouth and keep still if you stay in the boat. Heave the lead, bowman!"

"Mark under water two, sir," reported the leadsman.

In a few moments more the cutter had gained a position where the steamer could be fully seen. She was a side-wheeler, and appeared to be a very handsome vessel. She had a considerable deck-load of cotton, and doubtless her hold was filled with the same valuable commodity.

"Is that steamer armed, Quimp?" asked Christy, who could see no signs of life on board of her.

"She don't got no arms, but she hab two field-pieces on her for'ad deck," replied the negro.

"How many men has she on board?"

"L'em me see: the cap'n and de mate is two, two ingineers, two firemen; dat makes six; and den she hab two deck-hands."

"But that makes only eight in all," replied Christy. "Are you sure that is all?"

"Dead sh.o.a.r dat's all, Ma.s.sa Ossifer."

"But that is not enough to handle the steamer on a voyage to a foreign port, for I dare say she is going to Na.s.sau," added Christy, who was on the lookout for some piece of strategy by which his boat and its crew might be destroyed.

"I don't know not'ing about dat, sar; but Cap'n Stopfoot is a pow'ful smart man; and he's Yankee too. I done hear him say he gwine to j'in de Yankee navy."

What Quimp said was rather suspicious; but Christy could see nothing to justify his doubts. He directed the c.o.c.kswain to steer the cutter as closely to the side of the Reindeer as the movement of the oars would permit, so that the field-pieces could not be brought to bear upon it.

The steamer lay at a sort of temporary pier, which had evidently been erected for her accommodation, and the cotton had doubtless been brought to the key by river steamers by the Suwanee and other streams from cotton regions.

There was no habitation or other building on the sh.o.r.e, but a gangway was stretched to the land, over which a couple of men were hastening on board when the cutter reached the stern of the Reindeer. From appearances Christy judged that the water had been deepened by dredges, for a considerable quant.i.ty of sand and mud was disposed in heaps in the shallow water a hundred feet or more from the rude wharf.

"Boat ahoy!" shouted a person on board, near the starboard accommodation ladder, which the officer of the boat had noticed was in place.

"On board the steamer!" replied Christy.

"What is your business here?" inquired the person on the deck of the Reindeer, though he could not be seen from the cutter.

"I will go on board and inform you," replied Christy.

As there were no signs of resistance on board of the vessel, the officer of the cutter directed his men to make a dash for the accommodation ladder, which had the appearance of having been left to make things convenient for a boarding-party. The crew were all armed with a cutla.s.s and revolver in the belt.

"Lay her aboard!" said Christy, quietly enough, as he led the way himself, for he was a bold leader, and was not content to follow his men. As he leaped down from the bulwarks to the deck, he confronted the person who had hailed him in the boat.

"What is your business on board of the Reindeer?" demanded, in a very tame tone, the man in front of him.

"I am an officer of the United States navy, and my business is to make a prize of this steamer and her cargo," replied Christy.

"Is that so? You did not give me your name, sir," added the man.

"Lieutenant Pa.s.sford, attached to the United States steamer Bellevite.

Do me the favor to explain who you are, sir," returned Christy.

"I am Captain Solomon Stopfoot, in command of the Reindeer, at your service, born and brought up on Long Island," answered the commander of the steamer.

"Then what are you doing here?" demanded the naval officer. "Where were you born on Long Island?"

"In Babylon, on the south sh.o.r.e."

"Then Babylon is fallen!" exclaimed Christy, indignant to find a man born so near his own home doing the dirty work of the Confederate government.

"Perhaps not; and perhaps you may change your view of me when you have heard my story," added Captain Stopfoot.

"Well, Captain, there is only one story that I care to hear just now, and its t.i.tle is simply 'Surrender,'" replied Christy rather impatiently. "You understand my business on board of the Reindeer; and if you propose to make any resistance, it is time for you to begin."

"It would be folly for me to make any resistance, and I shall not make any. I have only two engineers, two firemen, foreigners, hired in Na.s.sau, who would not fight if I wished them to do so, and two deck-hands. I could do nothing against the eight well-armed men you have brought on board. I surrender."

"I should say that was a wise step on your part, Captain Stopfoot,"

replied Christy. "When you are more at leisure, I hope you will indulge me in an explanation of the manner in which a Long Islander happens to be engaged in blockade-running."

"I am an American citizen now, as I have always been; I shall be only too happy to get back under the old flag. As an evidence of my sincerity, I will a.s.sist you in getting the Reindeer out of this place.

The tide is high at this moment; and half an hour from now it will be too late to move the vessel," said Captain Stopfoot, with every appearance of sincerity in his manner.

"I will see you, Captain, as soon as I have looked the steamer over,"

replied Christy, as he left the commander of the Reindeer at the door of his cabin, and went forward to examine the vessel.

He found the steam up; and the engineer bowed to him as he looked into his room. There was nothing to be seen but cotton, piled high on the deck, and stuffed into the hold; and he returned to the cabin.