the two twelve-pounders in each boat were believed to weigh about six hundred pounds each, while the ordinary bronze boat gun of the same calibre weighs seven hundred and sixty pounds. the four guns, therefore, were rather too heavy a burden for the size of the cutters. but christy was unwilling to throw the two without carriages overboard, for the water in this locality was so clear that they could have been seen at a depth of two or three fathoms. they were useless for the duty in which the expedition was engaged, and the commander of the expedition decided to land them on the seahorse key till he had completed his operations in the bay, when they could be taken off and transported to the bronx as trophies, if for nothing better.
mr. flint was disposed to object to this plan, on account of the time it would require; but he 269 yielded the point when christy informed him that it was only half past two, as he learned from the repeater he carried for its usefulness on just such duty as the present expedition.
the guns and all that belonged to them were landed on the key, and the boats shoved off, the lieutenants happy in the thought that they were no longer embarrassed by their weight, while they could not be brought to bear upon them.
the boats had hardly left the little island behind them when the noise of paddle wheels ahead was reported by one of the trio in the bow of the first cutter. christy listened with all his ears, and immediately heard the peculiar sounds caused by the slapping of the paddle wheels of a steamer upon the water.
"we are in for something," said he to the pilot, as he listened to the sounds. "what might that be?"
"it is a steamer without any doubt coming around the point, and she will be in sight in a moment or two," replied mr. amblen. "it may be a river steamer that has brought a load of cotton down the suwanee, and is going out on this tide."
270 "then we may need those guns we have left on the key," suggested christy.
"if she is a river steamer, there is not much of a force on board of her," replied the pilot.
"we might return to the island, and use the two guns with carriages there."
"if she is a river steamer, we shall not need great guns to capture her."
christy had ordered the men to cease rowing, and the two cutters lay motionless on the full sea, for the tide was at its height by this time. even in the darkness they could make out whether the approaching vessel was a river or a sea steamer as soon as she could be seen.
"whatever she is, we must capture her," said christy, very decidedly.
"if she is a river steamer, she will be of no use to the government," added mr. amblen.
"of none at all." replied christy. "in that case i shall burn her, for it would not be safe to send good men in such a craft to a port where she could be condemned. the next question is, shall we take her here, or nearer to the shore."
"the farther from the shore the better, i should say, mr. passford. after she passes the 271 seahorse key, she will be in deep water for a vessel coming out of that port; and until she gets to the key, she will move very slowly, and we can board her better than when she is going at full speed," said mr. amblen.
"you are doubtless quite right, mr. amblen, and i shall adopt your suggestion," replied christy. "there she comes, and she is no river steamer."
she had not the two tall funnels carried by river steamers, and that point was enough to settle her character. there could be no doubt she would have been a blockade runner, if there had been any blockade to run at the entrance to the port. christy decided to board the steamer between the two keys, the channel passing between snake and seahorse. the first cutter fell back so that christy could communicate with mr. flint, and he instructed him to take a position off the snake key, where his boat could not be discovered too soon, and board the steamer on the port side, though he did not expect any resistance. each cutter took its position and awaited in silence the approach of the blockade runner. the only thing christy feared was that she would 272 come about and run back to the port, though this could only delay her capture.
the steamer, as well as the officers could judge her in the distance, was hardly larger than the bronx. they concluded that she must be loaded with cotton, and at this time it was about as valuable a cargo as could be put on board of her. she would be a rich prize, and the masts of the schooners were still to be seen over the tops of the buildings. she must have chosen this hour of the night to go out, not only on account of the tide, but because the darkness would enable her to get off the coast where a blockader occasionally wandered before the blockade was fully established. her paddle wheels indicated that she had not been built very recently, for very nearly all sea steamers, including those of the united states, were propelled by the screw.
as mr. amblen had predicted the steamer moved very slowly, and it was all of a quarter of an hour before she came to the seahorse key. at the right time christy gave the word to the crew to "give way lively!" and the first cutter shot out from the concealment of the little island, while flint did the same on the other side of the 273 channel. almost in the twinkling of an eye the two boats had made fast to her, and seven men from each boat leaped on the deck of the steamer, cutlass in hand. no guns were to be seen, and the watch of not more than half a dozen men were on the forecastle; and perhaps this was the entire force of the sailing department.
"what does all this mean?" demanded a man coming from the after part of the vessel, in a voice which christy recognized as soon as he had heard half of the sentence.
"good morning, captain lonley," said christy, in the pleasantest of tones. "you are up early, my friend, but i think we are a little ahead of you on this occasion."
"who are you, sir?" demanded lonley; and christy had at once jumped to the conclusion that he was the captain of the steamer. "i have heard your voice before, but i cannot place you, sir."
"fortunately for me, it is not necessary that you should place me this time," replied christy. "it is equally fortunate that i am not compelled to place you again, as i felt obliged to do, on board of the judith in mobile bay."
274 "passford!" exclaimed captain lonley, stepping back a pace in his astonishment.
"passford, late of the bellevite, and now executive officer of the united states steamer bronx, formerly the teaser, privateer," answered christy, in his usual cheerful tones. "may i inquire the name of this steamer?"
"this steamer is the havana," replied captain lonley. "may i ask you, mr. passford, in regard to your business on board of her?"
"i have a little affair on board of her, and my duty compels me to demand her surrender as a prize to the bronx."
"caught again!" exclaimed captain lonley, stamping violently on the deck in his disgust at his misfortune, and it was the third time that christy had thrown him "out of a job."
"the way of the transgressor is hard, captain lonley," added the commander of the expedition.
"transgressor, sir!" ejaculated the captain of the havana. "what do you mean by that, mr. passford?"
"well, captain, you are in arms against the best government that the good god ever permitted to exist for eighty odd years; and that is the 275 greatest transgression of which one can be guilty in a patriotic sense."
"i hold no allegiance to that government."
"so much the worse for you, captain lonley; but we will not talk politics. do you surrender?"
"this is not an armed steamer, and i have no force to resist; i am compelled to surrender," replied the captain as he glanced at the cutlasses of the men from the bronx.
"that is a correct, though not a cheerful view of the question on your part. i am very happy to relieve you from any further care of the havana, and you may retire to your cabin, where i shall have the honor to wait upon you later."
"one word, mr. passford, if you please," said captain lonley, taking christy by the arm and leading him away from the rest of the boarding party. "this steamer and the cotton with which she is loaded are the property of your uncle, homer passford."
"indeed?" was all that christy thought it necessary to say in reply.
"you have already taken from him one valuable cargo of cotton; and it would be magnanimous in you, as well as very kind of a near relative, to 276 allow me to pass on my way with the property of your uncle."
"would it have been kind on the part of a near relative to allow his own brother to pass out of mobile bay in the bellevite?"
"that would have been quite another thing, for the bellevite was intended for the federal navy," protested the confederate captain. "it would have been sacrificing his country to his fraternal feelings. this is not a confederate vessel, and is not intended as a war steamer," argued lonley.
"every pound of cotton my uncle sells is so much strength added to the cause he advocates; and i hope, with no unkind thoughts or feelings in regard to him, i shall be able to capture every vessel he sends out. that is my view of the matter, and i am just as strong on my side of the question as uncle homer is on his side. i would cut off my right hand before i would allow your vessel or any other to escape, for i have sworn allegiance to my government, and when i fail to do my duty at any sacrifice of personal feeling, it will be when i have lost my mind; and my uncle would do as much for his fractional government. we need not discuss such a subject as you suggest, captain."
277 captain lonley said no more, and retired to his cabin. christy was ready for the next question in order. accompanied by mr. flint, he looked the steamer over. the mate had lighted his pipe and seated himself on a water cask; and he seemed to be the only officer besides the captain on board. the engineers were next visited. there were two of them, but they were red hot for the confederacy, and nothing was said to them except to order them on deck, where they were placed with the crew, and a guard of seamen set over them. the firemen were negroes, and they were willing to serve under the new master, and doubtless were pleased with the change. the crew of the bronx on board of the havana were canvassed to find a man who had run an engine, but not one of them had any experience.
"that's bad," said flint, when they had finished the inquiry. "we have not an engineer on board, and we shall have to send off to the bronx for one."
"not so bad as that, mr. flint," replied christy. "there is one loyal engineer on board, and i am the one. you will take the deck, and mr. amblen will go into the pilot house. i am not quite ready 278 to go off to the bronx yet, for there are two or three cotton schooners in this port, and we are so fortunate as to have a steamer now to tow them out."
"very likely those soldiers have waked up by this time," said flint.
"let them fire those guns at us, if they can find them," laughed christy.
then he took mr. amblen into the engine room with him.
