as he went to the deck of the bronx, the young commander sent the first lieutenant on board of the prize to superintend the arrangements for disposing of the ship's company. captain dinsmore was requested to produce his papers, and christy conducted him to his cabin. as his father had advised him always to be on such occasions, he was studiously polite, as in fact he was at all times. whether the other captain was usually so or not, he was certainly courteous in every respect, though, with the heavy misfortune which had befallen him, it was vastly more difficult for him to control his feelings, and conduct himself in a gentlemanly manner. captain passford desired to understand in what capacity the scotian was approaching the american coast before he made his final arrangements. after giving his guest, as he regarded him, or rather treated him, 170 a chair in his cabin, christy called dave, who had followed him below.
"will you excuse me a moment or two while i attend to a necessary duty?" said he, turning to captain dinsmore, as he seated himself at the table.
"certainly, captain; i am not so much in a hurry as i have been at other times," replied the other with a rather sickly smile.
"keep a sharp lookout for the arran," christy wrote on a piece of paper, and handed it to the steward. "give that to mr. flint."
captain passford had observed when he visited the deck of the scotian that she was well armed, and he had no doubt that her consort was similarly provided for the business of war. it was therefore of the highest importance that the arran should not come unexpectedly upon the bronx at a time when she was hardly in condition to meet an enemy.
"now, captain dinsmore, may i trouble you for your papers?" he continued, turning to his guest, as he preferred to regard him.
"i admit your right to examine them under present circumstances," replied captain dinsmore, as he delivered the package to him.
171 "perhaps we may simplify and abbreviate this examination to some extent, sir, if you are so disposed," added christy, as he looked the other full in the face.
"i shall be happy to have you do so, captain passford," replied the visitor in the cabin, with something like eagerness in his manner. "you conduct yourself like a gentleman, sir, and i am not at all disposed to embarrass you unnecessarily."
"thank you, sir; i appreciate your courtesy."
"i am afraid it is not so much courtesy as it is desperation, for if i should act in accordance with my feelings, i should blow my brains out without any delay," said captain dinsmore. "i should not say as much as this to any but a generous enemy; but i feel that i am ruined, and that there is nothing more in the future for me."
christy really sympathized with him, and could not help thinking how he should feel if the situations were reversed. he realized that the commander of the scotian had been very careless in the discharge of his duty in permitting any vessel to come alongside of her without considering that she might be an enemy. this inefficiency was doubtless the cause of his distress. christy had 172 kept uppermost in his mind the advice of his father at the last moment before he sailed, and he asked himself if, while the prisoner was thus exciting his sympathy and compassion, the latter was not expecting the arran would appear and reverse the fortunes of war.
"i am sorry you take such a severe view of your situation," added the captain of the bronx. "but my first duty is to ascertain the character of the vessel which you surrender."
"you shall have no doubt in regard to that, captain passford," answered the commander of the scotian, proudly. "i am not a dickering merchant, trying to make money out of the situation of my country. the scotian, as you call her, is the confederate steamer ocklockonee, and here is my commission as a lieutenant in the confederate navy," he added as he took the document from his pocket and tendered it to his captor.
christy looked at the paper, and then examined the other papers in the packet. they left no doubt in his mind as to the character of the ocklockonee, if he had had any before. he folded up the commission and politely returned it to the owner. the examination was completed so far as he was 173 concerned; but captain dinsmore did not seem to be satisfied, though he made no complaint that anything was wrong in the proceedings. he was evidently a very proud and high-strung man, and appeared to be unable to reconcile himself to the situation.
"i am a ruined man!" he exclaimed several times; and when he looked at the commander of the bronx, measuring him from head to foot, as he had already done several times, it seemed to increase his distress of mind, and make him more nervous than before.
"while i regret that a brave man like yourself, captain, should be at war with the government which i honor and love, i hope that personally your future will be as bright as i am sure your merit deserves," said christy.
"if it had been a square and well-fought action, i should not feel as i do about it. you will pardon me, and understand that i mean no disrespect to you, captain, but i look upon myself as the victim of a yankee trick," said captain dinsmore, bitterly. "but please to consider that i do not charge any blame or treachery upon you, sir."
"i think i can understand your feelings, sir; 174 but i cannot see that in resorting to strategy to save my men, my conduct has been in any manner dishonorable," replied christy, holding his head a little higher than usual. "i should hold that i had been guilty of misconduct if i had failed to take advantage of the circumstances under which i have captured the ocklockonee."
"i quite agree with you, captain passford. i should have done the same thing myself if the opportunity had been presented to me," the guest hastened to say. "but that does not in the least degree relieve me from the consequences of my own negligence. when you are more at leisure, i hope you will permit me to make an explanation of the situation in which i was placed."
"i shall be happy to listen to anything you may desire to say to me when i have the leisure to hear you."
"thank you, sir."
christy hastened on deck to attend to the many duties required of him. the first sight that presented itself when he reached the head of the companion way was the form of the second lieutenant, which remained as it had fallen from the rail. he sent for dr. spokely, and directed him 175 to ascertain whether or not pawcett was dead. while the surgeon was examining him, mr. sampson came up from below with a bolt in his hand, and touched his cap to the commander.
"you are at work on the engine of the ocklockonee, are you?" asked christy, and this inquiry was one of the duties which had been on his mind before he left the cabin.
"yes, sir; and i have already examined her engine; i suppose you mean the scotian, for that is the name on her stern, they tell me," replied the chief engineer.
"her new name is the ocklockonee."
"i have examined the engine," replied sampson.
"is the damage very serious?" asked the captain anxiously.
"far from it; she has broken a bolt which disables her, and she ought to have had one to replace it without more than five minutes' delay, but it appears that they have not one on board; at least none could be found when it was wanted, and they were at work forging one when the bronx came alongside."
"all right; repair the damage as soon as possible. i heard a scuffle in the engine room just as 176 we were running alongside the ocklockonee," said the captain, looking inquiringly at the engineer.
"yes, sir; there was a scuffle there. pink mulgrum was rushing down the ladder when i stopped him. he tried to push by me when i made signs to him to return to the deck. then he gave a spring at my throat, and as i saw that he had a revolver in his hand, i did not hesitate to hit him on the head with a bar of iron i had in my hand. he dropped on the deck. i put his revolver in my pocket, and stretched him out on the sofa. he did not move, and i left him there."
"i will send the surgeon to him," added the captain, as he went on board of the prize, followed by sampson.
the first lieutenant had been busy on the deck of the vessel, but he had been able to accomplish but little in the absence of definite instructions from the captain. all the seamen were held in the forward part of the deck, and there were twenty-four of them, including the petty officers, but not the stokers, as the firemen were called. the engineers and all connected with their department remained below so far as could be learned. two officers remained seated on the quarter deck; 177 but they did not appear to be so thoroughly cast down as the captain, doubtless because they were not called upon to bear the responsibility of the capture.
"have you set a sharp lookout, mr. flint?" asked the captain.
"the lookout remains the same on board of the bronx, though i have cautioned the quartermaster on the fore yard to keep his eyes wide open; and i have stationed four men on board of the scotian."
"very well; we are all right so far; but if the other vessel is as well armed as this one she is capable of giving us a great deal of trouble," replied the captain.
"i only hope we may find her," added flint heartily.
"we shall look for her at any rate. but we must get things regulated on board of both vessels at once, for i judge that the arran cannot be far off, for the officers hailed us as the arran when we were approaching, which shows that they were confident in regard to her identity, or they would not have given themselves away so readily."
"we have made a lucky hit, and i hope we 178 shall be able to reap the full benefit of it," added flint.
"we must provide for the immediate future without any delay," continued christy. "our first duty will be to search for the arran, and we can use the ocklockonee, which the captain says is her present name, to assist in the chase, for we have force enough to man both vessels, though we are not oversupplied with officers."
"there are two more quartermasters who are nearly as good men as baskirk," replied the first lieutenant.
"i ask no better officer than baskirk has proved himself to be. i shall retain him on board of the bronx, and for the present i shall ask you to take command of the ocklockonee; and you may select your own officers. the probability is that, if we find the arran, we shall have a fight with her."
"then i shall make mcspindle my first lieutenant, and luffard my second," added flint, evidently pleased with the idea of having even a temporary command.
"i shall appoint baskirk in your place on board of the bronx; but i need one more."
179 "i recommend amblen, though he is not as well qualified as the others i have named."
"send for these men at once," added the captain.
one of them was on the topsail yard of the bronx, but all of them soon appeared in the waist of the prize. they were informed of the honor which had been conferred upon them, and were immediately assigned to duty. the crew of the ocklockonee were divided between the two steamers, and were put under guard below.
