Fighting for the Right Part 28

"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 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 f.l.a.n.g.er 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 anch.o.r.ed within a cable's length of the Chateaugay, and Mr. Birdwing had brought Captain f.l.a.n.g.er on board of the s.h.i.+p, 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.

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. Pa.s.sford, 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 f.l.a.n.g.er has to say in defence of his steamer," replied the pa.s.senger.

"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 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 Na.s.sau, purchasing vessels as opportunity to do so is found. His son is the person who tried to induce me to take pa.s.sage 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 f.l.a.n.g.er 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. Pa.s.sford?"

"I can designate only three of them,--the captain, Mr. Dawbin, the mate, who is now on the 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 pa.s.sed without being seen himself. Captain f.l.a.n.g.er 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 f.l.a.n.g.er, 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?"

"Yes, I do!" bl.u.s.tered Captain f.l.a.n.g.er 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 f.l.a.n.g.er, 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 Na.s.sau for the purpose of running the blockade established at the entrance of Mobile Bay.

I presume that will be enough to satisfy both you and the court. In Na.s.sau 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 Pa.s.sford, a naval officer in excellent repute, is all ready to make oath to your a.s.sertions."

Captain f.l.a.n.g.er 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 to the authorities at Na.s.sau, to be properly punished for the outrage."

Of course this decision did not suit Captain f.l.a.n.g.er; and Percy Pierson appeared to be intensely alarmed at the prospect before him. Captain Chantor, after consulting with his naval pa.s.senger, 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 pa.s.senger 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 s.h.i.+p's prison.

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

"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 f.l.a.n.g.er 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 Na.s.sau that you and your father had, and both of you abused the hospitality of the place when you a.s.saulted me."

"You were a prisoner of the Confederacy, and had escaped in a blockade-runner; and I thought 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 Na.s.sau 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 Na.s.sau, I shall lose my guess as a Yankee."

"But my father would not allow Captain f.l.a.n.g.er to do you any harm; for he was bent upon hanging you as soon as he got out of sight of land, and he sent me with you to see my mother in order to prevent him from carrying out his threat."

"You would have been a powerful preventive in the face of such a brutal ruffian as Captain f.l.a.n.g.er," said Christy with a sneer. "You have lied to me before about your father, and I cannot believe anything you say."

"I am speaking the truth now; my father saved your life. I heard him tell f.l.a.n.g.er that he would lose the command of the Snapper if any harm came to you."

"If he did so, he did it from the fear of the British authorities.