the boat in which christy had come on shore carried off to the steamer the last load of supplies, and she sailed in the middle of the afternoon. captain passford and christy were standing on the quarter deck together; and, as the latter had not had time to tell his father his adventure before, he was now relating it.
the captain was amused with the story, and told his son that he had been approached by a gentleman who said his name was pierson, and he was probably the father of the enterprising young man who had been so zealous to assist in the purchase of a suitable vessel for the service of the confederates.
"let me alone! take you hands off of me!" shouted a voice that sounded rather familiar to christy, as he and his father were still talking 81 on the deck. "let me alone! i am a southern gentleman!"
"i know you are," replied mr. dashington, as he appeared on deck, coming up from the companionway that led to the cabin and ward-room, holding by the collar a young man who was struggling to escape from his strong grasp. "don't make a fuss, my hearty: i want to introduce you to the captain."
"what have you got there, mr. dashington?" asked captain breaker, who was standing near the owner.
"i have got a young cub who says he is a southern gentleman; and i suppose he is," replied the first officer. "but he is a stowaway, and was hid away under my berth in the ward-room.—here you are, my jolly frisker: and that gentleman is the captain of the steamer."
as he spoke, the officer set his victim down rather heavily on the deck, and he sprawled out at full length on the planks. but he was sputtering with rage at the treatment he had received; and he sprang to his feet, rushing towards mr. dashington as though he intended to annihilate him. but, before he reached his 82 intended victim, he stopped short, and eyed the tall and wiry first officer from head to foot.
he concluded not to execute his purpose upon him, for he could hardly have reached his chin if he resorted to violence. but he turned his back to the captain, so that the owner and his son did not get a look at his face. captain breaker walked up to him and began to question him.
"if you are a southern gentleman, as i heard you say you were, don't you think it is a little irregular to be hid in the ward-room of this vessel?" was the first question the commander asked.
"i am what i said i was, and i am proud to say it; and i don't allow any man to put his hands on me," blustered the prisoner.
"but i think you did allow mr. dashington to put his hands on you," replied the captain.
"of course i did not know that he was a southern gentleman when i snaked him out from under the berth," added the first officer.
"i accept your apology," said the prisoner, coming down from his high horse with sudden energy; possibly because he felt that he had a mission on board of the steamer.
83 all present laughed heartily at the apology of the giant mate, and christy changed his position so that he could see the front of the stowaway.
"why, that is the gentleman i met on shore,—mr. percy pierson!" exclaimed the owner's son, as soon as he saw the face of his late companion at the landing.
"i am glad to see you again, mr. percy pierson," said the original of that name, as he extended his hand to christy.
"i did not expect to meet you again so soon, and under such circumstances," replied he, taking the offered hand; for his father had proclaimed his own principle on board, that, though the war was not to be conducted on peace principles, it was to be carried on in an enlightened, and even gentlemanly manner, so far as he was concerned.
"i am right glad to see you, mr. percy pierson, for i think you can assist me in the object i have in view," said the first officer's victim, looking now as though he was entirely satisfied with himself.
"what do you mean by calling each other by the same name?" inquired captain breaker, somewhat astonished at this phase of the conversation.
84 "that is the most astonishing thing in the world, that my friend here should have the same name i have; and he even thought i was playing a game upon him when i told him what my name was," replied percy, laughing, and apparently somewhat inflated to find a friend on board.
"precisely so," interposed captain passford, before the commander had time to say any thing more about the name. "but, as you both have the same name, it will be necessary to distinguish you in some manner, or it may make confusion while you remain on board."
"i see the point, sir, though i do not expect to remain on board for any great length of time; or possibly you may not," answered percy.
"then, i suggest that you be called simply percy, for that is a noble name; and the other young man shall be addressed as pierson. by doing this we shall not sacrifice either of you," continued the owner, who did not understand what his son had been doing.
"i have not the slightest objection. my friend pierson gave me some information in regard to this steamer which made me very desirous to get on board of her. that must explain why i was 85 found here under circumstances somewhat irregular, though a true gentleman can sacrifice himself to the needs of his suffering country."
"to what country do you allude, mr. percy?" asked captain passford.
"to our country," replied percy with strong and significant emphasis, as though he were sure that this would cause him to be fully understood.
"exactly so," added the owner.
"but i see that you are sailing away from nassau as fast as you can, and i think i had better explain my business as soon as possible," continued percy, who seemed to be as confident as though he had already accomplished his purpose as hinted at in his conversation with christy.
"i shall have to ask you to excuse me for a few minutes, for i have a little business with the captain of the steamer and this young man," said captain passford. "the tall gentleman who so gracefully apologized for his seeming rudeness to you will entertain you while i am absent."
the owner presented the tall first officer by name to his late victim, and at the same time gave him a look which mr. dashington understood to the effect that he was to keep the young man 86 where he was. with a signal to his son and to the captain, he went below.
"i do not understand this masquerade, christy," said he, as he seated himself at the cabin table. "what have you been telling this young fellow?"
christy had only informed his father that he had been approached by percy, and that he had, as well as he could, evaded his questions, and he had fooled the young man. he then gave the substance of the conversation at the landing, which amused both the owner and the commander very much; though he could not recall the chinese names, invented on the spot, which he had used.
"all right, christy. this young man is evidently the son of the gentleman by the name of pierson who approached me for the purpose of purchasing the bellevite. i went so far as to tell him that the vessel was for service in southern waters. at any rate, he inferred that she was intended for the navy of the confederate states, and i did not think it necessary to undeceive him. with this belief, he sought no further to buy the vessel, and i had no difficulty in shaking him off. it seems that the same mission absorbs the attention 87 of the son, and that he has come on board to purchase the steamer."
illustration of quoted scene
"let me alone, i am a southern gentleman" (page 81)
"i told him that you wanted to get rid of her, and that you would do so soon, by which, of course, i meant that she was to go into the service of the government," added christy.
"i should not have taken this young man on board; but, as he is here, he may be of use to us. but it is necessary to conceal from him the real character of the bellevite, and we will keep up the farce as long as we please. so far as he is concerned, christy, you may be my nephew instead of my son."
captain passford led the way back to the deck, where they found the first officer evidently on the best of terms with his prisoner. but mr. dashington had been as discreet as a man could be, and percy had not obtained a particle of information from him.
"now, mr. percy, i am at your service," said the owner, when he reached the deck. "i think you said you had some business with me."
"i have not the pleasure of knowing who or what you are, sir; and mr. dashington and my 88 friend mr. pierson are all i know on board by name," added percy.
"then you must be made better acquainted before any thing can be done," replied the owner, pointing to the captain of the steamer. "mr. percy, this is captain breaker, the commander of the steamer."
"and this," added captain breaker, pointing at the owner, "is captain passford, who is the fortunate owner of this vessel, though she is soon to pass into other hands."
"captain passford!" exclaimed percy, bowing to both gentlemen as he was presented to them. "that is a familiar name to me; and upon my word, i thought it was colonel passford of glenfield when i first looked at him."
"he is my brother; but i never heard him called 'colonel' before," added the owner, laughing at the odd-sounding title, as it was to him.
"colonel homer passford is the name by which he is often called near his residence," percy explained. "he is the nearest neighbor of my father, colonel richard pierson."
"indeed! then you probably know my brother," 89 said captain passford, interested in spite of himself.
"as well as i know any gentleman in the state of alabama," replied percy. "by the great palmetto! you are colonel passford's brother; and i think you must know miss florence passford, who has been staying all winter with her uncle."
"she is my daughter," replied the owner with some emotion, which he could not wholly conceal when he thought of his mission in the south.
"i have met her several times, though not often, for i have been away from home at school. but my brother, major lindley pierson, i learn from my letters, is a frequent visitor at your brother's house: and they even say"—
but percy did not repeat what they said, though he had gone far enough to give the father of florry something like a shock.
"what were you about to say, mr. percy?" he asked.
"i think i had better not say it, for it may have been a mere idle rumor," answered percy, who was now beginning to disclose some of his better traits of character.
90 "does it relate to my daughter, sir?" asked the captain rather sternly; for, in the present condition of the country, he was more than ordinarily anxious about his daughter.
"i ought not to have said any thing, sir; but what i was about to say, but did not say, does relate to miss florence," replied percy, not a little embarrassed by the situation. "but i assure you, sir, that it was nothing that reflects in the slightest degree upon her. as i have said so much, i may as well say the rest of it, or you will think more than was intended was meant."
"that is the proper view to take of it, mr. percy."
"it was simply said that my brother lindley was strongly attracted to your brother's house by the presence of your daughter. that is all."
but the fond father was very anxious. of course the major was a confederate.
