On The Blockade Page 27

  CHAPTER XXV

  THE NEW ENGINEER OF THE PRIZE STEAMER

  While enthusiastically pursuing his studies as an engineer, Christyhad visited a great many steamers with Paul Vapoor for the purpose ofexamining the engines, so that he could hardly expect to find one withwhose construction he was not familiar, whether it was an American or aforeign built machine. At the first glance after he entered the engineroom of the Havana, he knew the engine, and was ready to run it withoutspending any time in studying it. He had brought the pilot with him inorder to come to an understanding in regard to the bells, for in thenavy the signals differ from those in the commercial marine.

  "This steamer is provided with a gong and a jingling bell," saidChristy, as he pointed them out to his companion.

  "My little steamer on this coast was run with just such bells," repliedMr. Amblen.

  "And so was the Bellevite, so that I am quite accustomed to the systemof signals; but it is well to be sure that we understand each otherperfectly if we expect to get this vessel out of the bay after we goup to the port," added Christy.

  "I agree with you entirely, sir. A single strong stroke on the gong isto start or to stop her according to the circumstances," said the pilot.

  "Precisely so; and two strokes are to back her," continued Christy."Going at full speed, the jingler brings the engine down to half speed,or at half speed carries it up to full speed."

  "That is my understanding of the matter," replied Mr. Amblen.

  "Then we understand each other to a charm," continued the temporaryengineer. "Report to Mr. Flint that we are ready to go ahead."

  Christy found a colored man who was on duty as an oiler, and four othersin the fire room, who seemed to be engaged in an earnest discussion ofthe situation, for the capture of the Havana was a momentous event toall of them. The oiler was at work, and had thoroughly lubricated themachinery, as though he intended that any failure of the steamer shouldnot be from any fault on his part.

  The new official set two of the firemen at work, though the boilers hada good head of steam. The gong bell gave one sharp stroke, and Christystarted the engine.

  The Havana was headed out to sea when she was captured, and in the slackwater she had not drifted at all. He went ahead slowly, and soon had thebell to stop her; but he expected this, for the channel was narrow, andit required considerable manoeuvring to get the steamer about. Then hehappened to think of the guns on the Seahorse Key, and through thespeaking tube he passed the word to Mr. Flint to have him land therein order to take the guns and ammunition on board.

  After a great deal of backing and going ahead, the Havana was headedfor the key, where she was stopped as near to it as the depth of waterwould permit. The guns and other material were brought off, two of thefiremen, the oiler, and other colored men of the crew of the Havanaassisting in the work. The two guns that were provided with carriageswere mounted, and placed on the forecastle. They were loaded andprepared for service by the trained gunners of the crew. Christy haddirected all this to be done on account of the delay which had attendedthe good fortune of the expedition, for he might not get out of the baybefore the daylight came to reveal the presence of the force hecommanded to the people on the shore.

  The gong rang again when all these preparations had been made, and theHavana steamed slowly up the channel towards the bay. The oiler appearedto have finished his work for the present. He was a more intelligent manthan the others of his color on board, and seemed to understand hisduties. Christy spoke to him, for he said nothing unless he was spokento, and he had learned that the commander of the expedition was doingduty as engineer in the absence of any other competent person.

  "How many schooners are there at the landing place at the keys?" askedChristy.

  "Only two schooners, sir," replied the man very respectfully.

  "Are they loaded, --what is your name?" asked the engineer.

  "My name is Dolly, sir."

  "Dolly? That is a girl's name."

  "My whole name is Adolphus, sir; but everybody calls me Dolly, andI can't help myself," replied the oiler soberly, as though he had areal grievance on account of the femininity of his nickname. "The twoschooners are not quite loaded, sir, but they are very nearly full. Theyhad some trouble here, among the hands."

  "Had some trouble, did they? I should think there were soldiers enoughhere to keep everything straight. How many artillerists or soldiers dothey keep here?" added Christy.

  "They had about forty, but they don't have half that number now."

  "What has become of them?"

  "They were sent away to look for the hands that took to the woods. Oneof the officers and about half of the men were sent off yesterday,"replied Dolly, who seemed willing to tell all he knew.

  "Why did the men run off?" asked Christy curiously.

  "They brought about fifty hands, all slaves, down here to load thesteamer and the schooners. They set them at work yesterday morning, andthey had nearly put all the cotton into the schooners at dinner time.To make the niggers work harder, they gave them apple jack."

  "What is that?" asked the engineer, who never heard the name before.

  "It is liquor made out of apples, and it is very strong," answeredDolly; and he might have added that it was the vilest intoxicant tobe found in the whole world, not even excepting Russian vodka.

  "And this liquor made the hands drunk, I suppose."

  "They did not give them enough for that, sir; but it made them kind ofcrazy, and they wanted more of it. That made the trouble; the handsstruck for liquor before dinner, and when they didn't get it, they tookto the woods, about fifty of them. The soldiers had to get their dinnerbefore they would start out after them; and that is the reason theschooners are not full now, sir, and not a bale had been put into thissteamer."

  "But she seems to be fully loaded now."

  "Yes, sir; Captain Lonley paid the soldiers that were left to load theHavana. They worked till eleven in the evening; they were not used tothat kind of work, and they got mighty tired, I can tell you," saidDolly, with the first smile Christy had seen on his yellow face, for heappeared to enjoy the idea of a squad of white men doing niggers' work.

  "That was what made them sleep so soundly, and leave the battery on thepoint to take care of itself," said Christy. "Where were the officers?"

  "Two of them have gone on the hunt for the hands, and I reckon thecaptain is on a visit to a planter who has a daughter, about forty milesfrom here."

  "The soldiers were sleeping very soundly in the barrack about two thismorning; and perhaps they were also stimulated with apple jack," addedChristy. "Did you drink any of it, Dolly?"

  "No, sir, I never drink any liquor, for I am a preacher," replied theoiler, with a very serious and solemn expression on his face.

  "How do you happen to be a greaser on a steamer if you are a preacher?"

  "I worked on a steamer on the Alabama River before I became a preacher,and I took it up again. I was raised in a preacher's family, and workedin the house."

  He talked as though he had been educated, but he could neither read norwrite, and had picked up all his learning by the assistance of his earsalone. But Christy had ascertained all he wished to know in regard tothe schooners, and he was prepared to carry out his mission in the bay.At the fort it appeared that all the commissioned officers were absentfrom the post, and the men, after exhausting themselves at work to whichthey were unaccustomed, had taken to their bunks and were sleeping offthe fatigue, and perhaps the effects of the apple jack. While he wasthinking of the matter, the gong struck, and Christy stopped the engine.

  "Do you know anything about an engine, Dolly?" he asked, turning to theoiler.

  "Yes, sir; I run the engine of the Havana over here from Mobile,"replied Dolly. "I can do it as well as any one, if they will only trustme."

  "Then stand by the machine, and obey the bells if they are struck,"added Christy, as he went on deck.

  He found the second and third lieutenants standing o
n the rail engagedin examining the surroundings. The day was just beginning to show itselfin the east, though it was not yet light enough to enable them to seeclearly on shore. By the side of the railroad building was a pier, atwhich the two schooners lay. They could hear the sounds of some kind ofa stir on shore, but were unable to make out what it meant.

  "We are losing time," said Christy, as he took in at a glance all hedeemed it necessary to know in regard to the situation.

  "I was about to report to you, Mr. Passford; but Mr. Amblen wished toascertain whether or not there is a battery on this side of the point,"said Flint.

  "Do you find anything, Mr. Amblen?"

  "No, sir; I can see nothing that looks like a battery," replied thepilot.

  "Then run in, and we will make fast to these schooners and haul themout," added Christy in hurried tones.

  The pilot went to the wheel, and rang one bell on the gong. Dollystarted the engine before Christy could reach the machine. He saidnothing to the oiler, but seated himself on the sofa, and observed hismovements. A few minutes later came the bell to stop her, and then twobells to back her. Dolly managed the machine properly and promptly, andseemed to be at home in the engine room. The color of his skin was asufficient guaranty of his loyalty, but Christy remained below longenough to satisfy himself that Dolly knew what he was about, and thenwent on deck.

  By this time the noise on shore had become more pronounced, and he sawthe dark forms of several persons on the wharf. Flint and Amblen weremaking fast to the nearest schooner, and a couple of seamen had beensent on shore to cast off the fasts which held her to the wharf. Thiswas the work of but a moment, and the two men returned to the steamer;but they were closely followed by two men, one of whom stepped on thedeck of the schooner.

  "What are you about here?" demanded the foremost of the men, in a rudeand impertinent manner.

  "About our business," replied Christy, with cool indifference.

  "Who are you, young man?" demanded the one on the deck.

  "I am yours truly; who are you?"

  "None of your business who I am! I asked you a question, and you willanswer it if you know when you are well off," blustered the man, who wasrather too fat to be dangerous; and by this time, Christy discoveredthat he wore something like a uniform.

  "I will try to find out when I am well off, and then I will answer you,"replied Christy.

  "All fast, sir," reported Flint.

  The commander of the expedition, turning his back to the fat man, wentforward to the pilot house.