On The Blockade Page 6

  CHAPTER IV

  A DEAF AND DUMB MYSTERY

  As he dismissed Mulgrum, Christy tore off the leaf from the tablet onwhich both of them had written before he handed it back to the owner.For a few moments, he said nothing, and had his attention fixed on thepaper in his hand, which he seemed to be studying for some reason of hisown.

  "That man writes a very good hand for one in his position," said he,looking at the first lieutenant.

  "I had noticed that before," replied Flint, as the commander handedhim the paper, which he looked over with interest. "I had some talk withhim on his tablet the day he came on board. He strikes me as a veryintelligent and well-educated man."

  "Was he born a deaf mute?" asked Christy.

  "I did not think to ask him that question; but I judged from thelanguage he used and his rapid writing that he was well educated. Thereis character in his handwriting too; and that is hardly to be expectedfrom a deaf mute," replied Flint.

  "Being a deaf mute, he can not have been shipped as a seaman, or even asan ordinary steward," suggested the captain.

  "Of course not; he was employed as a sort of scullion to be workedwherever he could make himself useful. Mr. Nawood engaged him on therecommendation of Mr. Lillyworth," added Flint, with something like afrown on his brow, as though he had just sounded a new idea.

  "Have you asked Mr. Lillyworth anything about him?"

  "I have not; for somehow Mr. Lillyworth and I don't seem to be veryaffectionate towards each other, though we get along very well together.But Mulgrum wrote out for me that he was born in Cherryfield, Maine, andobtained his education as a deaf mute in Hartford. I learned the deafand dumb alphabet when I was a schoolmaster, as a pastime, and I hadsome practice with it in the house where I boarded."

  "Then you can talk in that way with Mulgrum."

  "Not a bit of it; he knows nothing at all about the deaf and dumbalphabet, and could not spell out a single word I gave him."

  "That is very odd," added the captain musing.

  "So I thought; but he explained it by saying that at the school theywere changing this method of communication for that of actually speakingand understanding what was said by observing the vocal organs. He hadnot remained long enough to master this method; in fact he had done allhis talking with his tablets."

  "It is a little strange that he should not have learned either method ofcommunication."

  "I thought so myself, and said as much to him; but he told me that hehad inherited considerable property at the death of his father, and hewas not inclined to learn new tricks," said Flint. "He is intenselypatriotic, and said that he was willing to give himself and all hisproperty for the salvation of his country. He had endeavored to obtaina position as captain's clerk, or something of that sort, in the navy;but failing of this, he had been willing to go to the war as a scullion.He says he shall fight, whatever his situation, when he has theopportunity; and that is all I know about him."

  Christy looked on the floor, and seemed to be considering the facts hehad just learned. He had twice discovered Mulgrum at the door of hiscabin, though his presence there had been satisfactorily explained; orat least a reason had been given. This man had been brought on board bythe influence of Mr. Lillyworth, who had been ordered to the Gulf forduty, and was on board as a substitute for Mr. Flint, who was acting inChristy's place, as the latter was in that of Mr. Blowitt, who outrankedthem all. Flint had not been favorably impressed with the acting secondlieutenant, and he had not hesitated to speak his mind in regard to himto the captain. Though Christy had been more reserved in speech, he hadthe feeling that Mr. Lillyworth must establish a reputation forpatriotism and fidelity to the government before he could trust himas he did the first lieutenant, though he was determined to manifestnothing like suspicion in regard to him.

  At this stage of the war, that is to say in the earlier years of it,the government was obliged to accept such men as it could obtain forofficers, for the number in demand greatly exceeded the supply ofregularly educated naval officers. There were a great many applicantsfor positions, and candidates were examined in regard to theirprofessional qualifications rather than their motives for entering theservice. If a man desired to enter the army or the navy, the simple wishwas regarded as a sufficient guaranty of his patriotism, especially inconnection with his oath of allegiance. With the deaf mute's leaf in hishand Christy was thinking over this matter of the motives of officers.He was not satisfied in regard to either Lillyworth or Mulgrum, andbesides the regular quota of officers and seamen permanently attachedto the Bronx, there were eighteen seamen and petty officers berthedforward, who were really passengers, though they were doing duty.

  "Where did you say this man Mulgrum was born, Mr. Flint?" asked thecaptain, after he had mused for quite a time.

  "In Cherryfield, Maine," replied the first lieutenant; and he could nothelp feeling that the commander had not been silent so long for nothing.

  "You are a Maine man, Flint: were you ever in this town?"

  "I have been; I taught school there for six months; and it was the lastplace I filled before I went to sea."

  "I am glad to hear it, for it will save me from looking any further forthe man I want just now. If this deaf mute was born and brought up inCherryfield, he must know something about the place," added Christy ashe touched a bell on his table, to which Dave instantly responded.

  "Do you know Mulgrum, Dave?" asked the captain.

  "No, sir; never heard of him before," replied the steward.

  "You don't know him! The man who has been cleaning the brass work on thedoors?" exclaimed Christy.

  "Oh! Pink, we all call him," said the steward.

  "His name is Pinkney Mulgrum," Flint explained.

  "Yes, sir; I know him, though we never had any long talks together,"added Dave with a rich smile on his face.

  "Go on deck, and tell Mulgrum to come into my cabin," said Christy.

  "If I tell him that, he won't hear me," suggested Dave.

  "Show him this paper," interposed the first lieutenant, handing him acard on which he had written the order.

  Dave left the cabin to deliver the message, and the captain immediatelyinstructed Flint to question the man in regard to the localities andother matters in Cherryfield, suggesting that he should conduct hisexamination so as not to excite any suspicion. Pink Mulgrum appearedpromptly, and was placed at the table where both of the officers couldobserve his expression. Then Flint began to write on a sheet of paper,and passed his first question to the man. It was: "Don't you rememberme?" Mulgrum wrote that he did not. Then the inquisitor asked when hehad left Cherryfield to attend the school at Hartford; and the date hegave placed him there at the very time when Flint had been the master ofthe school for four months. On the question of locality, he could placethe church, the schoolhouse and the hotel; and he seemed to have nofurther knowledge of the town. When asked where his father lived, hedescribed a white house next to the church; but Flint knew that this hadbeen owned and occupied by the minister for many years.

  "This man is a humbug," was the next sentence the first lieutenantwrote, but he passed it to the captain. Christy wrote under it: "Tellhim that we are perfectly satisfied with his replies, and thank him forhis attendance;" which was done at once, and the captain smiled upon himas though he had conducted himself with distinguished ability.

  "Mulgrum has been in Cherryfield; but he could not have remained theremore than a day or two," said Flint, when the door had closed behind thedeaf mute.

  The captain made a gesture to impose silence upon his companion.

  "Mulgrum is all right in every respect," said he in a loud tone, sothat if the subject of the examination had stopped at the keyhole of thedoor, he would not be made any the wiser for what he heard there.

  "He knows Cherryfield as well as he knows the deck of the Bronx, and asyou say, Captain Passford, he is all right in every respect," added thefirst lieutenant in the same loud tone. "Mulgrum is a well educated man,captain, and you w
ill have a great deal of writing to do: I suggest thatyou bring him into your cabin, and make him your clerk."

  "That is a capital idea, Mr. Flint, and I shall consider it," returnedthe commander, making sure that the man at the door should hear him,if Mulgrum lingered there. "I have a number of letters sent over fromEngland relating to blockade runners that I wish to have copied for theuse of any naval officers with whom I may fall in; and I have not thetime to do it myself."

  "Mulgrum writes a very handsome hand, and no one could do the work anybetter than he."

  Christy thought enough had been said to satisfy the curiosity of Mulgrumif he was still active in seeking information, and both of the officerswere silent. The captain had enough to think of to last him a longwhile. The result of the inquiry into the auditory and vocal powers ofthe scullion, as Flint called him, had convinced him that the deaf mutewas a fraud. He had no doubt that he could both speak and hear as wellas the rest of the ship's company. But the puzzling question was inrelation to the reason why he pretended to be deaf and dumb. If he wasdesirous of serving his country in the navy, and especially in theBronx, it was not necessary to pretend to be deaf and dumb in order toobtain a fighting berth on board of her. It looked like a first classmystery to the young commander, but he was satisfied that the presenceof Mulgrum meant mischief. He could not determine at once what it wasbest to do to solve the mystery; but he decided that the most extremewatchfulness was required of him and his first lieutenant. This was allhe could do, and he touched his bell again.

  "Dave," said he when the cabin steward presented himself before him, "goon deck and ask Mr. Lillyworth to report to me the log and the weather."

  "The log and the weather, sir," replied Dave, as he hastened out of thecabin.

  Christy watched him closely as he went out at the door, and he wassatisfied that Mulgrum was not in the passage, if he had stopped thereat all. His present purpose was to disarm all the suspicions of thesubject of the mystery, but he would have been glad to know whether ornot the man had lingered at the door to hear what was said in regard tohim. He was not anxious in regard to the weather, or even the log, andhe sent Dave on his errand in order to make sure that Mulgrum was notstill doing duty as a listener.

  "Wind south south west, log last time fifteen knots and a half,"reported Dave, as he came in after knocking at the door.

  "I can not imagine why that man pretended to be deaf and dumb in orderto get a position on board of the Bronx. He is plainly a fraud," saidthe captain when Dave had gone back to his work in the state room.

  "I don't believe he pretended to be a deaf mute in order to get a placeon board, for that would ordinarily be enough to prevent him fromgetting it. I should put it that he had obtained his place in spite ofbeing deaf and dumb. But the mystery exists just the same."

  The captain went on deck, and the first lieutenant to the ward room.