Brave Old Salt; or, Life on the Quarter Deck: A Story of the Great Rebellion

by Oliver Optic

  CHAPTER IV.

  THE FRONT CHAMBER.

  "But I am going to get back the money I lost, and make a pile besides,"said Coles, when he had fully detailed the events attending the loss ofthe Snowden.

  "If you can," added the sceptical Langdon.

  "Of course there is some risk, but my plans are so well laid that afailure is hardly possible," continued Coles.

  "It was possible before."

  "Nothing but an accident could have defeated my plan before. Everythingworked to my satisfaction, and I was sure of success."

  "But you failed."

  "I shall not fail again."

  "I hope not."

  "Then believe I shall not," retorted Coles, apparently irritated by thedoubts and fears of his companion.

  "It is not safe to believe too much," added Langdon, with a kind ofchuckle, whose force Somers could hardly understand; "you believed toomuch before."

  "I have been more cautious this time, and I wouldn't give anybody fiveper cent. to insure the venture."

  Somers was becoming very impatient to hear the particulars of the plan,for he was in momentary fear of being summoned to the bedside of thewounded sailor. Coles was most provokingly deliberate in the discussionof his treasonable project; but when the naval officer considered thatthe conversation was not especially intended for him, he did not veryseverely censure the conspirators for their tardiness.

  "I don't understand what your plan is," said Langdon.

  "Nor I either," was Somers's facetious thought.

  "I will tell you all about it. Are there any ears within hail of us?"

  "Not an ear."

  "Is there anybody in the front room?"

  "No."

  "Are you sure?"

  "The old woman told me the front room was not occupied. She sent inthere an officer who wanted to see a sick sailor upstairs; but he isgone before this time."

  "Perhaps not; make sure on this point before I open my mouth. I have noidea of being tripped up this time," said the cautious Coles.

  "I will look into the front room," added Langdon, "though I know thereis no one there."

  Somers was rather annoyed at this demonstration of prudence; but it wasquite natural, and he was all the more interested to hear the rest ofthe conference. Dismissing for a moment the dignity of the quarter deck,he dropped hastily on the floor, and crawled under the bed, concludingthat Langdon, who was already fully satisfied the front room was empty,would not push his investigations to an unreasonable extent. But he hadalready prepared himself for the worst, and if his presence weredetected, he resolved to take advantage of the high estimation in whichhe was held, and, for his country's good, proposed to offer his valuableservices in getting the piratical ship to sea. He could thus obtain thesecret, and defeat the purposes of the conspirators.

  He fortunately avoided the necessity of resorting to this disagreeablecourse, for Langdon only opened the door, and glanced into the chamberhe occupied.

  "The room is empty," he reported to Coles, on his return.

  "There are cracks around this door big enough to crawl through. Somebodymay go into that room without being heard, and listen to all I say."

  "There is no danger."

  "But there is danger; and I will not leave the ghost of a chance to bediscovered. Langdon, lock that front room, and put the key in yourpocket. I must have things perfectly secure before I open my mouth."

  Langdon complied with the request of his principal; the door was locked,and Somers, without much doubt or distrust, found his retreat cut offfor the present. But, at last, everything was fixed to the entiresatisfaction of Coles. The glasses clinked again, indicating that theworthies had fortified themselves with another dose from the bottle.Somers crawled out from under the bed, and heedless of the dust whichwhitened his new uniform, placed himself in a comfortable position,where he could hear all that was said by the confederates.

  Coles now told his story in a straightforward, direct manner, and Somersmade memoranda on the back of a letter of the principal facts in thestatement. The arch conspirator had just purchased a fine ironside-wheel steamer, captured on the blockade, called the Ben Nevis. Shewas about four hundred tons burden, and under favorable circumstanceshad often made sixteen knots an hour. It had already been announced inthe newspapers that the Ben Nevis would run regularly between New Yorkand St. John. Coles intended to clear her properly for her destinedport, where she could, by an arrangement already made, be supplied withguns, ammunition, and a crew. She was to clear regularly for New York,but instead of proceeding there was to commence her piratical course onthe ocean.

  This was the plan of the worthy Mr. Coles, which Langdon permitted himto develop without a single interruption. But the prudent, or rathercritical, confederate raised many objections, which were discussed atgreat length--so great that Somers, possessed of the principal facts,would have left the room, if the door had not been locked, and escapedfrom the house, so as to avoid the possibility of being discovered. Thewounded sailor could be attended to on the following day.

  "But one thing we lack," continued Coles, after he had removed all theobjections of his companion.

  "More than one, I fear," said the doubtful Langdon.

  "Well, one thing more than all others."

  "What is that?"

  "A naval officer to command her."

  "There are plenty of them."

  "No doubt of it; but they are not the kind I want. I need a man who willplay into my hand, as well as grind up the Yankees. I have no idea ofburning all the property captured by my vessel."

  "Why don't you take command yourself?"

  "I have other business to do."

  "There are scores of Confederate naval officers in Canada and NewBrunswick," suggested Langdon.

  "I know them all, and I wouldn't trust them to command a mud-scow. In aword, Langdon, I want this Somers, and I must have him."

  "But he is a northern Yankee. He would sooner cut his own throat thanengage in such an enterprise."

  "Thank you for that," said Somers to himself. "If you had known me allmy lifetime, you couldn't have said a better or a truer thing of me."

  "I know he is actually reeking with what he calls loyalty. He will be ahard subject, but I think he can be brought over."

  "Perhaps he can."

  "It must be done; that is the view we must take of the matter."

  "It will be easier to believe it than to do it."

  "This is to be your share of the enterprise."

  "Mine?"

  "Yes."

  "Well, I think you have given me the biggest job in the work."

  "It can be done," said Coles, confidently. "Somers is a mere boy inyears, though he is smarter and knows more than any man in the navy inthe prime of life."

  "I'm afraid he is too smart, and knows too much to be caught in such ascrape."

  "No; he is young and ambitious. Offer him a commission as a commander inthe Confederate navy, to begin with. I have the commission duly signedby the president of the Confederacy, countersigned by the secretary ofthe navy, with a blank for the name of the man who receives it, which Iam authorized to fill up as I think best. Somers must have thiscommission."

  "If he will take it."

  "He will take it. In the old navy he is nothing but a paltry ensign. Hehas been kept back. His merit has been ignored. He must stand out of theway for numskulls and old fogies. Even if the war should last ten yearslonger, he could not reach the rank, in that time, which I now tenderhim. He will at once be offered the command of a fine steamer, and maywalk the quarter deck like a king. He is ambitious, and if you approachhim in the right way, you can win him over."

  Somers listened with interest to this precious scheme. He did not evenfeel complimented by the exalted opinion which such a man as Colesentertained of him. It would be a pleasant thing for a young man likehim to be a commander, and have a fine steamer; but as he could regardonly with horror the idea of firing a gun at a vessel bearing the
starsand stripes, he was not even tempted by the bait; and he turned histhoughts from it without the necessity of a "Get thee behind me, Satan,"in dismissing it.

  "Where is this Somers?" asked Langdon.

  "He is at the Continental," replied Coles. "He has been appointed fourthlieutenant of the Chatauqua; but what a position for a man of hisabilities! He is better qualified to command the ship than the numskullto whom she has been given. Waldron, the first lieutenant, is smart: heought to be commander; though I think Somers did all the hard work inDoboy Sound, for which Waldron got the credit, and for which he waspromoted. Pillgrim, the second lieutenant, is a renegade Virginian."

  "We had some hopes of him, at one time," said Langdon.

  "He is worse than a Vermont Yankee now--has been all along, for thatmatter. I tried to do something with him, but he talked about the oldflag, and other bosh of that sort."

  "Let him go," added Langdon, with becoming resignation.

  "Let him go! He never went. He has always been a Yankee at heart. If thenavy department wouldn't trust him, it was their fault, not his, for theSouth has not had a worse enemy than he since the first gun was fired atSumter. He is none the better, and all the more dangerous to us, becausehe gives the South credit for skill and bravery."

  Somers was pleased to hear this good account of Lieutenant Pillgrim; notbecause he had any doubt in regard to his loyalty, but because itconfirmed the good impression he had received of his travellingcompanion. If the conspirators would only have graciously condescendedto resolve the doubts in his mind in regard to some indefinite previousacquaintance he had had with the second lieutenant of the Chatauqua, hewould have been greatly obliged to them. They did not do this, andSomers was still annoyed and puzzled by the belief, patent to hisconsciousness, that he had somewhere been intimate with the "renegadeVirginian," before they met at the house of Commodore Portington.

  "Now, Langdon, you must contrive to meet Somers, sound him, and bringhim over. You must be cautious with him. He is a young man of goodmorals--never drinks, gambles, or goes to bad places. He is a perfectgentleman in his manners, never swears, and is the pet of thechaplains."

  "I think I can manage him."

  "I know you can; I have picked you out of a hundred smart fellows forthis work."

  "How will it do for me to put on a white choker, and approach him as adoctor of divinity."

  "You can't humbug him."

  "If I can't, why should I try?"

  "If you should pretend to be a clergyman, and he smelt the whiskey inyour breath, he would set you down as a hypocrite at once."

  "That's so," thought Somers.

  "He wouldn't listen to a preacher who drank whiskey. He is a fanatic onthese points."

  Somers could not imagine where Coles had obtained such an intimateknowledge of his views and principles; though, if he wanted his servicesin the Confederate navy, it was probable he had made diligent inquiriesin regard to his opinions and habits.

  "I think I could blind him as a D.D., but I am not strenuous."

  "You had better get acquainted with him in some other capacity."

  "As you please; I will think over the matter, and be ready to make astrike to-morrow morning. What time is it?"

  "Quarter past ten."

  "So late! I must be off at once."

  Somers heard the clatter of glass-ware again, as the conspirators tookthe parting libation. He listened to their retreating footsteps, heardLangdon return the key, and then began to wonder what had become of TomBarron and his mother. He had waited more than two hours in the frontroom, and no summons had come for him to see the wounded sailor. It wasvery singular, to say the least; but while he was deliberating on thepoint, a hand was placed on the door of the chamber. The key turned, anda person entered.

  Now, Somers had a very strong objection to being seen after what hadoccurred. If discovered in this room, Coles might see him, and findinghis plans discovered, might change them so as to defeat the ends ofjustice. And the listener felt that, if detected in this apartment bythe conspirators, they would not scruple to take his life in order tosave themselves and their schemes.

  For these reasons Somers decided not to be seen. The person who enteredthe room was a rough, seafaring man, and evidently intended to sleepthere, which Somers was entirely willing he should do, if it could bedone without imperilling his personal safety. He therefore crawled underthe bed again, as quietly as possible. Unfortunately it was not quietlyenough to escape the observation of the lodger, who, not being of thetimid sort, seized him by the leg, dragged him out, and with a volley ofmarine oaths, began to kick him with his heavy boot.

  Somers sprang to his feet, and attempted to explain; but the indignantseaman struck him a heavy blow on the head, which felled him senselesson the floor.