by Oliver Optic
CHAPTER X
THE CASTING OFF OF THE TOWLINE
Christy Passford had been through this channel at least half a dozentimes in the Bellevite, and knew all the courses and bearings, thoughthe latter did not count in the dense fog which had settled down on thevicinity of the fort. The lights in the binnacle of the West Wind hadnot been put out, though they could not be noticed outside of theschooner. The great fortress could not be seen, and it was as silentas a tomb.
"How does she head, Christy?" asked Graines, as they met at the wheel.
"South a quarter west," replied the lieutenant, "which is the correctcourse. The fog is very dense just now. I think we have passed theobstructions by this time, though I do not know precisely where theyare placed."
"I should call it mighty ticklish navigation just here," added theengineer.
"It is all of that, or will be in five or ten minutes more. Sand IslandLighthouse is not more than a quarter of a mile from the middle of thechannel, and at that point the course changes. Perhaps the pilot canmake out the lighthouse in the fog. If he don't he will run into fiveor six feet of water in a few minutes, out of eight fathoms or more."
"I suppose you are prepared to let go the towline if anything goeswrong, Mr. Passford?" added the engineer, perhaps as a suggestion ratherthan as a question.
"I hope it will not come to that, for the schooner might get aground onthe Knoll before we could make sail," replied Christy.
"The steamer has shifted her helm," said Graines, to the great relief ofthe lieutenant. "The fog is lifting again, and the pilot must have seenthe lighthouse. We are headed more to the eastward now."
"The course is south by west, three-quarters west, when the lighthousebears west by south. We are out of the woods now, and there will be notrouble at all till some blockader stirs up the waters," said Christy.
"I wonder where the Bellevite is just now," added Graines, as he lookedall about him as the fog lifted a little more, though it was still toothick to make out any vessel, if there were any near.
"If my messenger reached the ship in time, she will be found somewherenear the channel," replied Christy. "Call Lines, if you please, Mr.Graines."
The seaman presently appeared; and the lieutenant directed him to takethe wheel, French instructing him how to keep the vessel in line withthe steamer.
"I believe you have sailed a schooner, French," said Christy, when hehad taken the man to the quarter.
"Yes, sir; I was mate of a coaster for three years, and I should havebecome master of her if the war had not come, and I felt that I ought togo into the navy, though I haven't got ahead much yet, as I expected Ishould; but I am satisfied to fight for my country where I am."
"That is patriotic; and I hope a higher position will be found for you.But we have not time to talk about that now," continued Christy. "It maybe necessary or advisable for Mr. Graines and myself to leave the WestWind at any moment now. In that case I shall place this vessel in yourcharge, and you will take her off where the Bellevite was moored lastnight, and come to anchor."
"Thank you, sir; and I will endeavor to do my duty faithfully," repliedFrench, touching his cap.
"Now call the men aft, and I will explain the matter to them."
The lieutenant explained the situation, and directed the other fiveseamen to respect and obey the man he had selected as captain. Then hedirected French to cast off the stops from the foresail and mainsail,and have the jib and flying-jib ready to set at a moment's notice.
"I don't think Captain Sullendine can get out of his stateroom, wherehe has been confined, or Bokes out of the deck-house; but if either ofthem should do so, you must secure them as you think best," continuedChristy. "Do you fully understand your orders, French?"
"Perfectly, Mr. Passford; and I will do my duty as well as I know how,"answered the able seaman, who, like many others in the service, deserveda better position.
The new officer and crew went to work on the sails, and in a few minutesthey were ready to be set. Another bank of fog was rolling up, in whichthe two vessels would soon be involved. But the Tallahatchie was in aposition where it was plain sailing now, and her future troubles wouldall come from the blockaders.
"There you are!" exclaimed the engineer, as the peal of a gun boomedover the water from the westward. "The steamer has been seen by ablockader, and she will catch it now."
"I don't believe that was one of the Bellevite's guns," added Christy."Captain Breaker would not take a position over to the westward, forthat would give him the outside track, and he always goes at anything bythe shortest way."
"We have the fog again for the next ten or fifteen minutes. Theblockader that fired that shot must have got a sight at the steamer, andshe is still pegging away at her. We may get knocked over by our ownguns," continued Graines.
"There is no danger at present. She can't hit anything in this fogexcept by a chance shot."
"And one of them sometimes does the most mischief. The fog is heavierjust now than it has been at any time during the night. I can't see theTallahatchie just now."
"It is blacker than a stack of blackbirds," added Christy. "I amconfident that we are at least a mile south of the lighthouse, and wewill take advantage of the gloom to hoist the mainsail, and then theforesail if it holds as it is now;" and he gave the order to French,who was assisted by the engineer in the work.
The lieutenant took the wheel, and sent Lines to assist the others.The blockader to the westward continued to discharge her guns; but herpeople could see nothing, and her solid shot began to fall astern ofthe West Wind, and the Tallahatchie took no notice of her or her guns.Christy saw that the fog was lifting again, and this would reveal to thesteamer ahead what he had been doing. Besides, he had gone in tow aslong as he intended. Graines reported the two sails as set.
"Stand by to hoist the jib!" he shouted, deeming it no longer necessaryto conceal his movements.
"What are you doing there?" demanded the officer, who seemed to be incharge of the after part of the steamer; and his tones, with the floodof profanity he poured out, indicated that he was in a violent fit ofanger.
"I reckon we won't tow any farther," replied Christy, who was still atthe wheel, and the officer yelled loud enough for him to hear at thehelm; but French repeated his answer.
"All ready to hoist the jib," Graines reported.
"Cast off the towline!" shouted Christy at the top of his lungs. "Hoistthe jib!"
"Towline all clear!" called the engineer a moment later, and the jibwent up in a hurry.
The jib filled on the starboard tack, and the West Wind went off to thesouth-east as Christy put up the helm. The fog lifted just enough toenable the officer at the stern of the steamer to see the West Windas she went off on her new course. No one on the former could havesuspected that the latter had changed hands; for French had answered forCaptain Sullendine every time a call was made, and his voice was notunlike that of the master of the schooner.
Christy could not understand why the officer who used so many expletivesshould be dissatisfied, for the Tallahatchie could certainly make bettertime when no longer encumbered by the towing of the West Wind. But itmust look to him just as though the schooner would be captured by thesteamer to the westward, which had been uselessly firing at theblockade-runners in the densest of the fog. He could not help seeingthat the vessel in tow had set her sails, and therefore the casting offof the wire rope could not have been caused by an accident.
The action of the captain of the schooner, for they had no reason tosuppose the change on board of the schooner was not made by him, musthave bewildered the officers of the Tallahatchie. But the fog waslifting, the steamer to windward was now under way, though moving veryslowly, and her solid shot fell very near to the Confederate vessel.
By this time the sails of the West Wind were all drawing full, and thecraft was making very good headway through the water. The fog bank hadscattered, and appeared now to be in a dozen smaller masses, floatingoff in the directi
on of Mobile Point. Christy still retained the wheel,while Graines was putting everything in order forward and in the waist,after setting the sails.
"Send French aft to take the wheel, Mr. Graines," called Christy, as theengineer came aft to see the main sheet.
This man, who was the captain of the forecastle, one of the mostimportant and best-paid of the petty officers, hastened aft to relievethe chief of the expedition, who went to work with his own hands whenthe exigency of the service required.
"Make the course south-west, French," said Christy, as he abandoned thewheel to the petty officer.
"South-west, sir," repeated the seaman.
"Can you make out the Bellevite, Mr. Graines?" asked he, as he met theengineer on the quarterdeck.
"I have kept a sharp lookout for her, Mr. Passford, but I have not seenher yet," replied Graines, as he looked earnestly in the direction inwhich the schooner was headed.
"If Captain Breaker received my message sent by Weeks, the ship musthave taken a position somewhere below the entrance to the channel, andthat is about four miles south of the fort, and out of the reach of anyof its guns," added the lieutenant.
"There are half a dozen of those fog banks floating about near the waterin that direction, and she may be there," replied Graines, as he took aspy-glass from the brackets in the companion. "Very likely she is downthat way somewhere, and the Tallahatchie may run right into her."
"I don't think Captain Breaker would place his ship where anything ofthis kind would be likely to happen," replied Christy. "It is still asdark as Egypt ahead, and I think we shall see the Bellevite very soon."
The Confederate steamer had sensibly increased her speed, and gave noattention whatever to the schooner or the blockader to the westward ofher. Captain Rombold seemed to be possessed of a supreme confidence inthe speed of his steamer, and a complete assurance that he should escapeunscathed from all pursuers, if any attempted to follow him. He was notaware that the Bellevite had recently had her bottom cleaned, and herengine put in thoroughly good condition, so that she could make as manyknots in an hour as ever before; and that was saying more than could besaid of any other craft in the navy.
"I would give my month's pay to know what the Tallahatchie has for amidship gun," said Christy, still gazing at the Confederate vessel asshe continued to increase her speed.
Suddenly, without saying anything, Graines, who had been at his side,left him, and hastened to the companion, where he stooped down and gazedinto the cabin. Christy had heard nothing to attract his attention, buthe concluded that Captain Sullendine had escaped from his prison, andhe called the two men who had been stationed in the waist to thequarter-deck to render such assistance as the engineer might need; butthis officer remained at the entrance to the cabin, and made no furthermovement.
