in various parts of the deck of the bellevite, the officers, seamen, engineers, and coal-passers of the steamer were gathered in knots, evidently discussing the situation; for the news brought on board by the pilot had been spread through the ship.
captain passford hardly noticed the announcement made to him by the commander, that the tug was alongside, for he was not yet ready to make use of it. even the wife and the son of the owner wondered what the mission of the little vessel was to be; but the husband and father had not yet disclosed his purpose in coming to anchor almost in sight of his own mansion.
"why have you come to anchor here, horatio?" asked mrs. passford, taking advantage of the momentary pause in the interesting, and even 36 exciting, conversation, to put this leading question.
"i was about to tell you. i have already adopted my plan to recover florry, and bring my brother and his family out of the enemy's country," replied the owner, looking with some solicitude into the face of his wife, as though he anticipated some objection to his plan.
"you have adopted it so quick?" inquired the lady. "you have not had much time to think of it."
"i have had all the time i need to enable me to reach the decision to rescue my child from peril, and save my brother and his family from privation and trouble in the enemy's country. but i have only decided what to do, and i have yet to mature the details of the scheme."
"i hope you are not going into any danger," added the wife anxiously.
"danger!" exclaimed captain passford, straightening up his manly form. "war with all its perils and hardships is before us. am i a villain, a poltroon, who will desert his country in the hour of her greatest need? i do not so understand myself."
37 "of course i meant any needless exposure," added mrs. passford, impressed by the patriotic bearing of her husband.
"you may be assured, julia, that i will incur no needless peril, and i think i am even more careful than the average of men. but, when i have a duty to perform, i feel that i ought to do it without regard to the danger which may surround it."
"i know you well enough to understand that, horatio," said the lady.
"i believe there will be danger in my undertaking, though to what extent i am unable to say."
"but you do not tell me how you intend to recover florry."
"i intend to go for her and my brother's family in the bellevite."
"in the bellevite!" exclaimed the lady.
"of course; there is no other possible way to reach glenfield," which was the name that homer passford had given to his plantation.
"but fort morgan, at the entrance of mobile bay, is in the hands of the confederates, and has been for three or four months," said christy, 38 who had kept himself as thoroughly posted in regard to events at home as the sources of information would permit.
"i am well aware of it; and i have no doubt, that, by this time, the fort is strongly garrisoned, to say nothing of other forts which have probably been built in the vicinity," replied captain passford.
"it says in this paper that the ports of the south have been blockaded," said christy, glancing at the journal in his hand.
"the president has issued a proclamation to this effect, but there has hardly been time to enforce it to any great extent yet. but of these matters i have nothing to say yet. the important point now is that i shall go in the bellevite to mobile bay, and by force or strategy i shall bring off my daughter and the family of my brother."
"then i suppose christy and i are to be sent on shore in the tug alongside," suggested mrs. passford.
"that is precisely what i wanted the tug for," added the husband.
"i should be willing to go with you, and share 39 whatever dangers you may incur," said the lady, who had by this time come to a full realization of what war meant.
"i should be a heathen to allow you to do so. a woman would be more of a burden than a help to us. you had better return to bonnydale, julia, where i am sure you can render more service to your country than you could on board of the steamer. all that i am, all that i have, shall be at the service of the union; and i wish you to act for me according to your own good judgment."
"i shall do whatever you wish me to do, horatio," added the lady.
"my mission will be a dangerous one at best, and the deck of the steamer will be no place for you, julia."
"very well; christy and i will take the tug as soon as you are ready to have us leave you."
"am i to go on shore, father?" demanded christy, with a look of chagrin on his handsome face, browned by exposure to the sun on the ocean. "i want to go with you; and i am sure i can do my share of the duty, whatever it may be."
40 "you are rather young to engage in such an enterprise as that before me, christy," added his father, as he gazed with pride at the face and form of his son, who had thrown back his head as though he felt the inspiration of all the manliness in his being.
"if there is to be a war for the union, i am a union man, or boy, as you like; and it would be as mean and cowardly for me to turn my back to the enemy as it would be for you to do so, sir," replied christy, his chest heaving with patriotic emotion.
"i am willing you should go with me," added captain passford, turning from the young man to his mother.
there was a tear in the eyes of the lady as she looked upon her son. it was hard enough to have her husband leave her on such a mission: it was doubly so to have christy go with him.
"christy might be of great service to me," said his father. "i look upon this war as a very solemn event; and when a man's country calls upon him to render his time, his comfort, even his life, he has no moral right to put himself, his father, his brother, or his son in a safe place, and 41 leave mere hirelings, the thoughtless, reckless adventurers, to fight his battle for him."
"i am ready to go, sir," added christy.
"he may go with you, if you think it best," said the mother with a quivering lip. "i shall miss him, but i am sure you would miss him more."
"my first mission is hardly in the service of my country; at least, it is not directly so, though i hope to be of some use to her during my absence. as i said before, i think my first duty—a duty committed to me by the almighty, which takes precedence over all other duties—is, within reasonable limits, to my own family. i will not spare myself or my son, but i must save florry and my brother's family."
"i think you are right, horatio."
"on my return i shall present the bellevite to the government, which is in sore need of suitable vessels at the present time, and offer my services in any capacity in which i can be useful," continued captain passford. "captain breaker," he called to the commander.
"here, sir."
"pipe the entire ship's company on the forecastle, 42 and see that no one from the tug is near enough to hear what is said there."
captain breaker had formerly been a lieutenant in the navy, and the forms and discipline of a man-of-war prevailed on board of the steam-yacht. in a minute more the pipe of the boatswain rang through the vessel, and all hands were mustered on the forecastle. the tug was made fast on the quarter of the steamer, and no one from her had come on board.
captain passford and christy walked forward, leaving the lady with her own thoughts. she was a daughter of a distinguished officer in the navy, and she had been fully schooled in the lesson of patriotism for such an emergency as the present. she was sad, and many a tear dropped from her still handsome face; but she was brave enough to feel proud that she had a husband and a son whom she was willing to give to her country.
the ship's company gathered on the forecastle; and every one of them seemed to be deeply impressed with the solemnity of the occasion, for not a light word was spoken, not a laugh played on any face. they had just learned that the country was in a state of war; and the present 43 occasion indicated that the owner had some serious question in his mind, which was now to be presented to them.
the bellevite was heavily manned for a yacht; but every person had been selected for his position, from the highest to the lowest, with the utmost care by captain breaker, assisted by the owner. every one of them had been attached to the steamer for at least a year, and some of them for a longer period. all of them were personally known to the owner and the members of the family, who had taken the greatest pleasure in improving and assisting them and their families, if they had any.
they were all devoted to the owner and the members of his family, who had taken such a strong personal interest in them and theirs. many instances of the kindness of the lady in times of sickness and death, as well as in the brighter days of prosperity and happiness, could be related; and in return for all this generous and considerate treatment, there was not a man on board who would not have laid down his life for the family.
it was certainly a model ship's company; and 44 if there had ever been another owner and captain like those of the bellevite, there might also have been such another collection of officers and seamen. but every one of them had been selected for his moral character, not less than for his nautical skill and knowledge. in fact, the personal history of any one of them would have been interesting to the general reader.
these men composed the audience of captain passford when he took his place at the bowsprit bitts; and, if the occasion had been less solemn, they would have cheered him, as they were in the habit of doing on every suitable opportunity, and even when it was not suitable.
the owner prefaced his remarks with a statement of the events which had occurred in the country since the last dates they had received, and then proceeded to describe his mission as indicated to his wife and son. he fully stated the perils of the enterprise, with the fact that his operations would be somewhat irregular; though he intended to make an immediate tender of the vessel to the government, with his own services in any capacity in which he might be needed.
in spite of the solemnity of the occasion, the 45 men broke out into cheers, and not a few of the sailors shouted out their readiness to go with him wherever he might go, without regard to danger or hardship. one old sheet-anchor man declared that he was ready to die for miss florry; and he was so lustily cheered that it was evident this was the sentiment of all.
"i have called the tug at the quarter alongside to convey mrs. passford to the shore, though christy will go with me," added the owner.
at this point he was interrupted by a volley of cheers, for christy was a universal favorite on board, as florry had always been; and the ship's company regarded her as a sort of mundane divinity, upon whom they could look only with the most profound reverence.
"in view of the danger and the irregularity of the enterprise, i shall not persuade or urge any person on board to accompany me; and the tug will take on shore all who prefer to leave the vessel, with my best wishes for their future. those who prefer to go on shore will go aft to the mainmast," continued captain passford.
46 officers and seamen looked from one to the other; but not one of them took a step from his place on the forecastle, to which all seemed to be nailed.
