Fighting for the Right, Oliver Optic [easy novels to read .txt] 📗

boat!" replied Christy, turning around as he suspended his labor with the oar.

"Lieutenant Passford!" exclaimed Mr. Hackling, the second lieutenant of the Chateaugay. "Is it possible that it is you?"

"I haven't any doubt of it, Mr. Hackling, if you have," replied the late prisoner, heartily rejoiced to find himself in good company again.

"But what does this mean? How do you happen to be here?" demanded the astonished lieutenant of the ship.

"I happen to be here because I have just played a sharp game. I was a prisoner on that steamer yonder, on my way to a rebel prison. But I think it is necessary that I should report immediately to Captain Chantor in regard to the character of the Snapper, which is the name of the vessel you have been chasing."

The Snapper's boat was taken in tow, and the crew of the cutter gave way with a will. In due time Christy was received with the most unbounded astonishment by the commander on the deck of the Chateaugay.

"Where is Mr. Gilfleur? I hope that no accident has happened to him," said the captain with deep anxiety on his face.

278 "None that I am aware of; but if you will excuse me from explanations for the present, I will state that the steamer on the bank is the Snapper, Captain Flanger, bound for Mobile; and the captain told me that he intended to run the blockade."

"Mr. Hackling, take charge of the second cutter, and give Mr. Birdwing my order to make a prize of that steamer, and bring her off to the deep water."

It was quite dark when this order was executed.

279 CHAPTER XXV CAPTAIN FLANGER IN IRONS

Christy Passford related to Captain Chantor all that had occurred to the detective and himself from the time of their departure from the ship to their parting on the shore; and he did not fail to mention the fact that Mr. Gilfleur had come to his assistance when he was assaulted by the ruffian in front of the saloon.

"You have had a narrow escape, Mr. Passford," said the commander, when he had concluded. "The idea of avenging an injury received in that way is something I never happened to hear of before, though my experience is not unlimited. Mr. Birdwing," he continued, after the first lieutenant had reported to him, "had you any difficulty in effecting the capture of the Snapper?"

"Only with the captain; for my force was sufficient to have taken her if she had been fully armed and manned. There was no fighting; but I was 280 obliged to put the captain in irons, for he was about the ugliest and most unreasonable man I ever encountered," replied the chief of the boat expedition. "I was not at all satisfied that the steamer was a fit subject for capture till your order came to me, brought by Mr. Hackling. Then Captain Flanger not only protested, with more bad language than I ever before heard in the same time, but he absolutely refused to yield. I could not give him the reasons that induced you to send me the order, and I referred the matter to you."

The Snapper had been anchored within a cable's length of the Chateaugay, and Mr. Birdwing had brought Captain Flanger on board of the ship, with Percy Pierson, that the question of prize might be definitely settled by the commander, for he was not quite satisfied himself. The captain of the Snapper was still in irons, and he and his companion had been put under guard in the waist. The man with the mutilated nose had not yet seen Christy, and possibly he was still wondering what had become of his chief officer and the two men who had been ordered to put the prisoner on the ledge.

281 Christy had informed Captain Chantor, in his narrative, of the manner in which he had turned the tables on his custodians, and he had not forgotten that the party were still where he had left them. He reminded the commander of the latter fact, and a quartermaster was sent in the third cutter to bring them off, and put them on board of the Snapper; where a considerable force still remained under the charge of Mr. Carlin, the third lieutenant.

"Now we will settle this matter with the captain of the Snapper, and I hope to convince him that his vessel is a lawful prize, so far as she can be so declared in advance of the decision of the court," said Captain Chantor. "Come with me, if you please, Mr. Birdwing. For the present, Mr. Passford, will you oblige me by keeping in the shade till I send for you?"

"Certainly, Captain Chantor, though I should like to hear what Captain Flanger has to say in defence of his steamer," replied the passenger. "But I will take care not to show myself to him till you are ready for me."

"I do not object to that arrangement. I do not quite understand who this Percy Pierson is, though 282 you mentioned him in your report of what had occurred during your absence," added the commander.

"He is the son of Colonel Richard Pierson, a Confederate commissioner, who represents his government at Nassau, purchasing vessels as opportunity to do so is found. His son is the person who tried to induce me to take passage in the Snapper, with the promise that I should be permitted to land at Key West. It was only a trick to get me on board of the steamer; and when it failed, for I declined to fall into the trap, I was captured by a gang of four or five ruffians, Captain Flanger being one of them, and conveyed to the vessel, where I was locked up in a stateroom till after she had sailed."

"That is a proper question for the British government to deal with, and I hope it will be put in the way of adjustment by the proper officials, though I am inclined to regard it as an act of war, which will justify me in holding the men engaged in the outrage as prisoners. Do you know who they are, Mr. Passford?"

"I can designate only three of them,—the captain, Mr. Dawbin, the mate, who is now on the 283 ledge, and Percy Pierson. I am sure they were all in the carriage that conveyed me to the beach where I was put into the boat. The others were sailors, and I could not identify them."

"I will hold the three you name as prisoners," added Captain Chantor, as he moved forward, followed by the executive officer.

It was getting dark, and Christy made his way to the shadow of the mainmast, where he obtained a position that enabled him to hear all that passed without being seen himself. Captain Flanger seemed to be more subdued than he had been reported to be on board of the Snapper, and the commander ordered the irons to be taken from his wrists.

"Captain Flanger, I have concluded to make a prize of the Snapper; but I am willing to hear anything you may wish to offer," Captain Chantor began.

"I protest; you have no more right to make a prize of my vessel than you have to capture a British man-of-war, if you were able to do such a thing," replied the commander of the Snapper.

"Do you claim that the Snapper is a British vessel?"

284 "Yes, I do!" blustered Captain Flanger recklessly.

"Are you a British subject?"

"No, I am not; but I am not attempting to run the blockade."

"For what port are you bound?"

"Havana."

"Have you a clearance for that port?"

"For Havana, and a market."

"But you have no more idea of going to Havana than you have of going to China," added the captain of the Chateaugay. "You are bound to Mobile, and you intend to run the blockade; and that intention proved, you are liable to capture."

"You seem to know my business better than I know it myself," said Captain Flanger, with a sneer in his tones.

"Perhaps I know it quite as well as you do, at least so far as the voyage of the Snapper is concerned," replied the commander of the Chateaugay, who proceeded to explain international law in relation to the intention to run the blockade. "I shall be able to prove in the court which sits upon your case that you left Nassau for the purpose of running the blockade established at the entrance 285 of Mobile Bay. I presume that will be enough to satisfy both you and the court. In Nassau you did not hesitate to announce your intention to run the blockade, and get into Mobile."

"I should like to see you prove it," growled the captain of the Snapper, in his sneering tones.

"I don't think you would like to see me do it; but I will take you at your word, and prove it now. I have an excellent witness, to whom you made your announcement;" and at this remark Christy stepped out from behind the mainmast, and placed himself in front of the astounded ruffian. "Lieutenant Passford, a naval officer in excellent repute, is all ready to make oath to your assertions."

Captain Flanger and Percy Pierson gazed in silence at the witness, for they supposed he was on the ledge to which he had been transported by the boat. Christy repeated what he had said before, and stated in what manner he had been made a prisoner on board of the Snapper.

"For this outrage in a neutral port I shall hold you and Mr. Pierson as prisoners, leaving the government to determine what steps shall be taken in regard to you; but I trust you will be handed over 286 to the authorities at Nassau, to be properly punished for the outrage."

Of course this decision did not suit Captain Flanger; and Percy Pierson appeared to be intensely alarmed at the prospect before him. Captain Chantor, after consulting with his naval passenger, determined to send the Snapper to Key West, from which she could readily be despatched to New York if occasion should require. Mr. Carlin was appointed prize-master, with a sufficient crew; and at daylight the next morning he sailed for his destination.

The boat which had been sent for the mate and two men belonging to the Snapper put them on board of the steamer; but the captain and the passenger were retained on board of the Chateaugay. The man with the mutilated nose was so disgusted at the loss of his vessel, and with the decision of his captor, that he could not contain himself; and it became necessary not only to restore his irons, but also to commit him to the "brig," which is the ship's prison.

"What is to become of me, Christy?" asked Percy in the evening, overcome with terror at the prospect before him.

287 "That is more than I can inform you," replied Christy coldly.

"But we had no intention of doing you any harm; and we treated you well after you went on board of the Snapper."

"You committed a dastardly outrage upon me; but your punishment will be left to others."

"But I had no intention to do you any harm," pleaded Percy.

"No more lies! You have told me enough since I met you."

"But I am speaking the truth now," protested the frightened Southerner.

"No, you are not; the truth is not in you! Did you mean me no harm when you attempted to entice me on board of the Snapper? Did you mean me no harm when you engaged Flanger and his ruffians to make me a prisoner, and put me on board of his steamer? It was a flagrant outrage from beginning to end; for I had the same rights in Nassau that you and your father had, and both of you abused the hospitality of the place when you assaulted me."

"You were a prisoner of the Confederacy, and had escaped in a blockade-runner; and I thought 288 it was no more than right that you should be returned to your prison," Percy explained.

"I had the right to escape if I could, and was willing to take the risk; and my capture in Nassau was a cowardly trick. But I did not escape from a Confederate prison."

"You told me you did."

"I did not; that was a conclusion to which you jumped with very little help from me."

"I thought I was doing my duty to my country."

"Then you were an idiot. You have done your best to compromise your country, as you call it, with the British government. If your father is not sent out of Nassau, I shall lose my guess as a Yankee."

"But my father would not allow Captain Flanger to do you any harm; for he