the prisoner of war
after rendering his decision it was evident that captain battleton had something to say to christy, for he waited in silence till corny had closed the door behind him before he even looked at the officer standing before him. the lieutenant from the moment the envelopes were opened and their contents exposed to the view of all present, had fully expected the result just announced. whatever he thought, suspected, or surmised when he saw the blank papers taken from his official envelope, he kept to himself.
"you have heard the decision i have just given, mr. passford, for i have no doubt that is your real name," said the captain, when the cabin door was closed.
"i have, captain," replied christy, bowing respectfully.
"have you anything to say in regard to it?"
93 "nothing at all," replied christy, bowing again, and bearing himself with the dignity of a veteran officer; and in the matter of demeanor, the confederate captain carboneer had presented to him one of the best models he had seen, both in action and as a prisoner.
"you do not wish to make any explanation of the remarkable situation in which you find yourself placed at the present moment?"
"at present, i do not, captain."
"you certainly could not have been aware that your official envelope contained only blank paper. i cannot believe that one more simple-minded than i believe you to be would have had the effrontery to present such matter as evidence that he was an officer of the united states navy," continued captain battleton, with a look of greater severity than he had before assumed, possibly because he realized that the real lieutenant passford was higher in rank than he was himself.
"i supposed the official envelope contained my commission and orders."
"you believe that your papers were taken from you, and the blanks substituted for them?"
"i cannot explain the matter at present, and 94 you must excuse me from offering merely vague suspicions and conjectures."
"do you realize your present situation, mr. passford?" asked the captain, apparently disappointed at the unwillingness of the young man to attempt an explanation.
"i think i do, captain, and i submit to your authority as the commander of the ship," answered christy, with a dignified bow.
"as i said before, i have no doubt you are a passford; and i have been compelled to decide that you are not the son of captain horatio passford, the distinguished gentleman who has done so much for his country in the present war."
"with the evidence before you, i do not see how you could have decided otherwise."
"whether the decision be just or not, i am obliged to regard you as son of the homer passford who supports the government of the confederacy. you and the other mr. passford have recognized each other as cousins."
"we are cousins."
"then it follows that one of the two must be a confederate who is on board of a united states 95 ship for some purpose not yet explained, but fairly supposed to be hostile."
"i admit the correctness of your conclusion."
"i have already recognized the union officer, and therefore you must be the confederate."
"without reflecting upon your decision, i must deny that i am a confederate, and proclaim that my motto is 'stand by the union!'"
"in spite of your denial and your motto, i shall have to regard you as a prisoner of war, and treat you as such," said the captain, rising from his chair, the others following his example.
"i submit to your authority, captain battleton," replied christy, bowing to the commander.
"but i do not wish to subject you to any unnecessary restraint, and i shall be willing to accept your parole that you will engage in no hostile movement on board of the vernon," continued the captain, in milder tones.
"i cannot accept a parole, captain, for that would be equivalent to an admission that i am a confederate; and i claim to be a loyal officer."
"if you are, i am sorry that you are unable to prove your claim. i have only one officer on board as a passenger, for the reason that i had only 96 one spare stateroom. there is no place for you in the ward room, and it does not appear that you are an officer."
"i shall find no fault with my accommodations, whatever they are," replied christy.
"i must object to your wearing the shoulder straps of a lieutenant on board of the vernon," added captain battleton.
"i have a plain frock in my valise which i wore when the teaser was captured," added christy with a smile. "i will remove my coat and wear that."
"now i will see where i can find a place for you to berth," said the captain as he left the cabin.
"i am sorry you did not explain the blank paper in your envelope, mr. passford," said the surgeon, as they were leaving the cabin.
"i cannot explain it—how can i?" replied christy. "whoever took out my papers and put the blanks in their place, did not make me his confidant in the operation."
"but can you not recall some event or circumstance which will throw some light on the mystery?" persisted dr. connelly.
"i can; but i have not had time to consider any 97 events or circumstances, and it would not be treating captain battleton with proper respect to submit a string of crude conjectures to him."
at this moment the captain appeared in the gangway, and interrupted the conversation. he informed the prisoner of war, as he chose to regard him, that he had directed the carpenter to put up a temporary berth for him. christy opened his valise, and took from it his frock, which he put on after he had disposed of his coat. then he looked like a common sailor. he was informed that his berth was just forward of the steerage, in that part of the steamer where the men slung their hammocks. the third lieutenant was directed to show him to the place indicated.
the carpenter and his assistants were still at work on the berth, and christy, placing his valise near it, seated himself by it. for the first time since he came on board of the vernon he had an opportunity to reflect upon the events of the day. corny passford was the present master of the situation. he had not been aware till he met him in the captain's cabin, that his cousin was even in the vicinity of new york. with an amount of assurance for which he had not given him credit, 98 corny had undertaken to personate his nautical relative, and was now actually on his way to the gulf to take command of the bronx.
the little gunboat had certainly done a great deal of mischief to the confederate interests, for she had captured two valuable vessels intended for the southern navy, to say nothing of half a dozen others loaded with cotton, and ready to sail. from the confederate point of view, it was exceedingly desirable that she should be prevented from doing any further injury to the maritime interests of the south. but it seemed almost incredible that corny passford should be employed to bring about her capture by stratagem. his cousin was not a sailor; at least, he had not been one the last time he had met him, and it was hardly possible that he had learned seamanship, navigation, and naval tactics in so short a time, and so far as christy knew, with little practical experience.
he had seen the commission which corny presented to the captain of the vernon, and recognized it as his own. in spite of the statements his cousin had made, christy saw that the handwriting of the report he submitted as a copy of the genuine document was in corny's usual handwriting. 99 where had he obtained the commission, and where the original report? these were not hard questions, now that the preliminaries of the plot had been fully developed.
walsh, the man-servant at bonnydale, was now a seaman on board of the vernon, under the real or assumed name of byron. he denied his identity, as he would naturally do under the circumstances; but christy had not a doubt that he was the man who had suddenly disappeared after the mysterious visitation of the night before. doubtless, corny had been the visitor at the mansion, and had procured the contents of the official envelope on this occasion.
he appeared to have been unwilling to trust byron, as the seaman preferred to be called, and had attended to the business in person with the assistance of his confederate. the report was lying on the table in his chamber, and byron could have borrowed it for any length of time to enable corny to make a copy. whoever had visited his chamber in the night, whether corny or the man-servant, he must have taken the official envelope to the library, or some other part of the house, for it had been carefully opened, and restored to its 100 former condition after the genuine documents in it had been replaced by the blank paper.
it was now all as clear to christy as though he had observed the proceedings of the conspirators, and taken notes of all they had done. the purpose of all these operations was quite as obvious as the details of the scheme. either the vernon or the bronx was to be captured, perhaps both, for of course christy could not determine in what manner the mischief was to be accomplished. prisoner of war as he was, he never felt burdened with a greater responsibility than when he realized the actual situation.
this responsibility was not of a personal nature. he did not have the feeling that he had been vanquished in the contest before the captain, and the fact that he was a prisoner hardly disturbed him. it was the prospective injury to the cause of his country which occasioned his solicitude. his object was to save the vernon, the bronx, or both, from being handed over to the enemy without a struggle to save them, one or both.
he had no fault to find with the captain for his decision against him, which seemed to be natural and warrantable. he had no ill-feeling against 101 his cousin, for he was trying to serve the cause he had espoused. he was even willing to believe that he would have done the same thing himself under like circumstances.
after he had considered the subject for a couple of hours he went back to one of his first points, relating to the fitness and capacity of corny to accomplish the task he had undertaken. it was evident enough on the face of it that his cousin, even if he had been a veteran naval officer, could not carry out the plan alone. he must have confederates, in the double sense, on board of the vernon. in the early stages of the war, men who had served in the navy as officers were coming home from all parts of the world to take part on one side or the other in the struggle. those even who were disloyal could obtain commissions in the loyal navy if their consciences would let them take the oath of allegiance with a mental reservation. christy had encountered several of this kind.
many of the seamen were foreigners who cared little on which side they served, and one or more of the four officers in the ward room might be at work for the confederacy. christy thought he 102 was in an excellent position to investigate the matter, and he decided that this should be his first duty. among the crew there must be some who were to take part in the plot of corny, whatever it was.
before the close of the conference the atlantic had begun to be quite "sloppy," and the vernon was now laboring in an ugly cross sea, which caused her to roll heavily.
