the officers on board of the teaser could not explain the occasion of the firing on the island, though it sounded as though an engagement of some sort was in progress. it had been foggy during the preceding day, and if any movement on the part of the enemy had been indicated it could not have been seen on board of the ships off the entrance to the bay.
"i hope this business we are to do this morning will not take us long," said mr. blowitt. "we may be wanted on board, and i should not like to be absent from the bellevite if she is to take part in an engagement of any kind."
"and i am sure i should not," added christy. "i should not be surprised if the enemy made an attempt to capture pickens; but even if they storm it in the darkness, i do not see that the ships can do anything until they are able to see what they are to do."
268 "but this affair may keep us away from the ship for a day or two," suggested the second lieutenant.
"i don't think so, sir; i believe you will be on board again before seven bells in the morning watch," replied christy. "the ship's company of the teaser were to be somewhere on the shores of the sound where they could be taken on board."
"but the men you landed at the point believed that the teaser was to get out through the sound," replied mr. blowitt. "they took you for the pilot gilder, and you did not tell them that you intended to run the blockade."
"of course i did not; if i had, they would have remained on board. but the guard-boat attempted to stop us, and the artillery on the island fired into it, though it is probable that they did not hit it in the dense fog," christy explained. "our men may have learned from the guard-boat that we took the steamer out through the main channel."
"if they did they probably learned that the teaser went out with the assistance of the garrison at the fort," suggested mr. blowitt.
"i am confident that the officer of the guard-boat 269 would have no means of knowing that fact," argued christy. "of course, he heard the firing in the neighborhood of the fort, and he would naturally conclude that they were firing upon the steamer to prevent her from running out."
"that may be; but, to tell you the truth, mr. passford, i am afraid we shall not find these men," added the second lieutenant. "from the firing we hear, i should judge that a movement of some kind is in progress, and our men may be better informed than you expect."
"of course, they may be; but i expect to find these men at some point along the shore," replied christy, who thought the second lieutenant was just a little obstinate in not accepting his theory in full.
the steamer continued on her course to the eastward, and nothing more passed between the two principal officers in regard to the crew from pensacola. but flint was quite as confident as the third lieutenant that the forty men, more or less, would be captured. the noise of the firing could no longer be heard, and then christy suggested that the whistle be sounded as a signal to the men if they were in the vicinity.
270 the depth of water was three or four fathoms close up to this part of the island. the soundings indicated that the steamer was as near as it was prudent to go in the dense fog. christy was sure that the privateer's crew could not have gone any farther to the eastward by this time, and the screw was stopped, while all hands made an anxious use of their ears to detect any sounds that came from the shore. but nothing could be heard at first, and mr. blowitt again intimated that they were engaged in a "wild-goose chase." but he had hardly uttered this cooling reflection before beeks came aft to report that a number of pistol shots, as he thought they were, had been heard in the distance.
"nobody can tell what they mean," said the sceptical mr. blowitt. "they may be a part of the affair we heard going on soon after we left the ship."
"in what direction were the shots, beeks?" asked christy.
"they sounded as though they were about half a mile or less to the westward of us," replied the quartermaster.
"blow the whistle in short blasts, beeks," 271 added mr. blowitt, who seemed to have gathered a little faith from the report of the quartermaster.
the order was obeyed, and beeks again reported that pistol shots had been heard from the westward. the third lieutenant was in a hurry to have the business finished, for he felt confident that the bellevite would soon be engaged in an affair of more importance than picking up a couple of score of prisoners. he ordered the steamer to come about, and move to the westward; but after she had been under way about five minutes, he rang to stop her, and then sounded the whistles again. several pistol shots responded to this signal. again he started the screw, and pointed the bow of the teaser squarely to the north.
the steamer moved very slowly, and two men sounded all the time till they reported "by the mark two," when there could not have been more than three feet of water under the keel of the vessel. the screw was stopped and backed so that she might not run upon any shoal place ahead of her, and the officers waited with interest and anxiety for further action on the part of the party on shore. by this time no one doubted that there were men on this part of the island; but whether 272 they were the crew of the privateer or not was yet to be proved.
"steamer, ahoy!" shouted some one on the shore.
"on the island!" replied christy, as he was instructed to do by his superior.
"what steamer is that?" demanded the speaker on the island.
whoever he was, he could not help knowing that a steamer was there, for the engineer had begun to blow off steam as soon as the screw stopped, though neither party could see the other in the fog and darkness.
"the teaser," replied christy. "who are you?"
"we are the ship's company of the teaser, and we want to get on board," replied the speaker. "is captain folkner on board?"
"he is on board—of the bellevite," the third lieutenant would have finished the sentence if he had told the whole truth, for he uttered only the first part of the sentence.
"all right. the first and second lieutenants are with us. is gilder on board?"
"he is; and he wants to get back to the other 273 side of the inland," answered christy, who considered it his duty to make his replies as suitable to the occasion as possible. "who is speaking?"
"lieutenant lonley," replied the man; and christy knew him, though he did not know his rank before. "he wants to see gilder before he goes on board. tell him to come on shore in his canoe."
"what is that for?" demanded christy, rather surprised at the unexpected request.
"i want to see him on particular business; i have a message for him, which i cannot deliver in presence of any other person," replied lonley.
"all right; you shall see him soon," answered christy.
"get out the boats to take us on board," continued lonley. "send them about a mile to the eastward, where we have left our bags."
"all right," repeated christy.
but he said what he did not believe, for everything did not look right to him. he could not understand why the bags of the men should be a mile to the eastward. he could not imagine what business lonley could have with gilder or his representative; 274 and if he had any, why it should be necessary to meet him on the island.
"of course you don't expect me to carry on the programme that fellow has marked out," said mr. blowitt. "i don't quite like the looks of the things that we can't see, mr. passford."
"neither do i, mr. blowitt," replied the third lieutenant frankly.
"i shall not send a boat from the steamer till i understand this matter a great deal better than i do now, and especially i shall not send the boats a mile to the eastward," added the second lieutenant.
"of course it is possible that my plan has miscarried already," added christy.
"i shall do everything i can to carry out your plan, as i am instructed to do by the captain; but i have the feeling, in spite of myself, that we are crawling into a hornet's nest," added mr. blowitt, with some anxiety in his tones. "you will call all hands quietly, and be ready to repel boarders. it is well to be prepared for whatever may come. the firing at the west end of the island indicated that something was going on, and perhaps these men on the shore know about it."
275 christy obeyed the order promptly, and the next minute, every seaman on board was ready with his cutlass and revolver to meet an attack. but no sound came from the shore just then, and the officers were in a state of uncertainty in regard to the situation which allowed them to do nothing. they waited for half an hour, when the leadsman reported that the water was shoaling, which indicated that the teaser was drifting towards the island.
"on board the teaser!" shouted lonley, so distinctly that he could hardly have been more than three hundred feet from the steamer.
"on shore," replied christy, prompted by mr. blowitt.
"i am waiting for gilder! why don't he come on shore?" shouted lonley, his impatience apparent in his tones.
"where are all the men?" demanded christy, as requested by the second lieutenant.
"they have gone a mile to the eastward where they left their bags."
"we will run down in the steamer for them," added mr. blowitt, talking through christy.
"don't do that!" protested the speaker on 276 shore. "there is a yankee steamer off in that direction. we heard her steam an hour ago."
"all right!" replied christy.
"that settles the matter in my mind," said mr. blowitt. "they are trying to play what they call a yankee trick upon us. when we send our boats to the eastward, we shall send them into a trap. if the boats are to bring off forty men, they will expect them to go with only men enough to pull the oars; and when they get possession of them, they expect to retake the teaser."
"i think you are right, mr. blowitt," replied christy, who began to believe that his scheme was rapidly approaching a failure, though he did not give it up just yet.
"this lonley is still on the shore near us," said mr. blowitt. "i should very much like to know what has been going on to-night on the island, and it may be that he knows all about it. as you are the representative of gilder, mr. passford, you may take the canoe that is astern, and have a talk with lonley at close quarters, if you don't object."
"i should have proposed it myself if i had not feared that the idea would be charged to my 277 audacity," replied christy. "i will take only flint with me, as he was with me before."
the canoe was brought up to the gangway, and flint took his place at the oars. mr. blowitt charged the young officer in the most serious manner not to run any risks, and the boat was shoved off. it required but a few strokes of the oars to bring it into shoal water by the beach. only a single man could be seen on the shore, and this one must be lonley. there seemed to be no risk, and christy landed.
