The Blockade Runners Part 12

"Well, Mr. James?" said Crockston.

"We must have made more than a mile and a half," replied the Captain.

"You don't see anything, Crockston?"

"Nothing; nevertheless, I have good eyes; but we shall get there all right. They don't suspect anything out there."

These words were hardly finished when the flash of a gun gleamed for an instant through the darkness, and vanished in the mist.

"A signal!" cried James Playfair.

"Whew!" exclaimed Crockston. "It must have come from the citadel. Let us wait."

A second, then a third shot was fired in the direction of the first, and almost the same signal was repeated a mile in front of the gig.

"That is from Fort Sumter," cried Crockston, "and it is the signal of escape. Urge on the men; everything is discovered."

"Pull for your lives, my men!" cried James Playfair, urging on the sailors, "those gun-shots cleared my route. The _Dolphin_ is eight hundred yards ahead of us. Stop! I hear the bell on board. Hurrah, there it is again! Twenty pounds for you if we are back in five minutes!"

The boat skimmed over the waves under the sailors' powerful oars. A cannon boomed in the direction of the town. Crockston heard a ball whiz past them.

The bell on the _Dolphin_ was ringing loudly. A few more strokes and the boat was alongside. A few more seconds and Jenny fell into her father's arms.

The gig was immediately raised, and James Playfair sprang on to the p.o.o.p.

"Is the steam up, Mr. Mathew?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Have the moorings cut at once."

A few minutes later the two screws carried the steamer towards the princ.i.p.al channel, away from Fort Sumter.

"Mr. Mathew," said James, "we must not think of taking the Sullivan Island channel; we should run directly under the Confederate guns. Let us go as near as possible to the right side of the harbour out of range of the Federal batteries. Have you a safe man at the helm?"

"Yes, Captain."

"Have the lanterns and the fires on deck extinguished; there is a great deal too much light, but we cannot help the reflection from the engine-rooms."

During this conversation the _Dolphin_ was going at a great speed; but in altering her course to keep to the right side of the Charleston Harbour she was obliged to enter a channel which took her for a moment near Fort Sumter; and when scarcely half a mile off all the guns bearing on her were discharged at the same time, and a shower of shot and sh.e.l.l pa.s.sed in front of the _Dolphin_ with a thundering report.

"Too soon, stupids," cried James Playfair, with a burst of laughter.

"Make haste, make haste, Mr. Engineer! We shall get between two fires."

The stokers fed the furnaces, and the _Dolphin_ trembled all over with the effort of the engine as if she was on the point of exploding.

At this moment a second report was heard, and another shower of b.a.l.l.s whizzed behind the _Dolphin_.

"Too late, stupids," cried the young Captain, with a regular roar.

Then Crockston, who was standing on the p.o.o.p, cried, "That's one pa.s.sed. A few minutes more, and we shall have done with the Rebs."

"Then do you think we have nothing more to fear from Fort Sumter?"

asked James.

"Nothing at all, but everything from Fort Moultrie, at the end of Sullivan Island; but they will only get a chance at us for half a minute, and then they must choose their time well, and shoot straight if they want to reach us. We are getting near."

"Right; the position of Fort Moultrie will allow us to go straight for the princ.i.p.al channel. Fire away then, fire away!"

At the same moment, and as if in obedience to James Playfair, the fort was illuminated by a triple line of lightning. A frightful crash was heard; then a crackling sound on board the steamer.

"Touched this time!" exclaimed Crockston.

"Mr. Mathew!" cried the Captain to his second, who was stationed at the bows, "what has been damaged?"

"The bowsprit broken."

"Any wounded?"

"No, Captain."

"Well, then, the masts may go to Jericho. Straight into the pa.s.s!

Straight! and steer towards the island."

"We have pa.s.sed the Rebs!" cried Crockston; "and, if we must have b.a.l.l.s in our hull, I would much rather have the Northerners; they are more easily digested."

In fact, the _Dolphin_ could not yet consider herself out of danger; for, if Morris Island was not fortified with the formidable pieces of artillery which were placed there a few months later, nevertheless its guns and mortars could easily have sunk a ship like the _Dolphin_.

The alarm had been given to the Federals on the island, and to the blockading squadron, by the firing from Forts Sumter and Moultrie. The besiegers could not make out the reason of this night attack; it did not seem to be directed against them. However, they were obliged to consider it so, and were ready to reply.

It occupied James Playfair's thoughts whilst making towards the pa.s.ses of Morris Island; and he had reason to fear, for in a quarter of an hour's time lights gleamed rapidly through the darkness. A shower of small sh.e.l.l fell round the steamer, scattering the water over her bulwarks; some of them even struck the deck of the _Dolphin_, but not on their points, which saved the ship from certain ruin. In fact, these sh.e.l.l, as it was afterwards discovered, could break into a hundred fragments, and each cover a superficial area of a hundred and twenty square feet with Greek fire, which would burn for twenty minutes, and nothing could extinguish it. One of these sh.e.l.l alone could set a ship on fire. Fortunately for the _Dolphin_, they were a new invention, and as yet far from perfect. Once thrown into the air, a false rotary movement kept them inclined, and, when falling, instead of striking on their points, where is the percussion apparatus, they fell flat. This defect in construction alone saved the _Dolphin_. The falling of these sh.e.l.ls did her little harm, and under the pressure of her over-heated boilers she continued to advance into the pa.s.s.

At this moment, and in spite of his orders, Mr. Halliburtt and his daughter went to James Playfair on the p.o.o.p; the latter urged them to return to their cabins, but Jenny declared that she would remain by the Captain. As for Mr. Halliburtt, who had just learnt all the n.o.ble conduct of his deliverer, he pressed his hand without being able to utter a word.

The _Dolphin_ was speeding rapidly towards the open sea. There were only three miles more before she would be in the waters of the Atlantic; if the pa.s.s was free at its entrance, she was saved. James Playfair was wonderfully well acquainted with all the secrets of Charleston Bay, and he guided his ship through the darkness with an unerring hand. He was beginning to think his daring enterprise successful, when a sailor on the forecastle cried:

"A ship!"

"A ship?" cried James.

"Yes, on the larboard side."

The fog had cleared off, and a large frigate was seen making towards the pa.s.s, in order to obstruct the pa.s.sage of the _Dolphin_. It was necessary, cost what it might, to distance her, and urge the steam-engine to an increase of speed, or all was lost.

"Port the helm at once!" cried the Captain.

Then he sprang on to the bridge above the engine. By his orders one of the screws was stopped, and under the action of the other the _Dolphin_, veering with an extraordinary rapidity, avoided running foul of the frigate, and advanced like her to the entrance of the pa.s.s. It was now a question of speed.

James Playfair understood that in this lay his own safety, Miss Jenny's, her father's, and that of all his crew.