Taken by the enemy
Adams, William Taylor, 1822-1897
"*Q W*9/j tfMfc/} &T X, V i O * ^^ " ss*> •** «*= 0< ClL'*b, vvjvyg/? THE BLUE AND THE GRAY SERIES TAKEN BY THE ENEMY WITHIN THE ENEMY'S LINES ON THE BLOCKADE STAND BY THE UNION FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT (Iw PRESS) LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS BOSTON "THKKE CHEEKS FOB CAPTAIN PASSFOUD" (Page 75) BY OLIVER OPT'C [IM BYTHEEMI The "Blue and the Gray Series TAKEN BY THE ENEMY OLIVER OPTC AUTHOR OF "THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD' "THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES" "THE WOODVILLE STORIES" "THE STARRY-FLAG SERIES" "THE BOAT-CLUB STORIES" "THE ONWARD AND UPWARD SERIES" "THE YACHT- CLUB SERIES" "THE LAKE-SHORE SERIES" "THE RIVERDALE SERIES" "THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES" ETC. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BOSTON 1892 LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS 10 MILK STREET NEXT " THE OLD SOUTH MEETING-HOUSE*' NEW YORK CHARLES T. DILLINGHAM 718 AND 720 BROADWAY COPYRIGHT, 1888, BY LEE AND SHEPARD. All rights reserved. TAKEN BY THE ENEMY. TO MY NEPHEW, HERBERT W. ADAMS, STfjta 'Book IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED. PREFACE " TAKEN BY THE ENEMY " is the first of a new aeries of six volumes which are to be associated under the general title of " The Blue and the Gray Series," which sufficiently indicates the char acter of the books. At the conclusion of the war of the Rebellion, and before the writer had completed "The Army and Navy Series," over twenty years ago, some of his friends advised him to make all possible haste to bring his war stories to a conclusion, declaring that there could be no demand for such works when the war had come to an end. But the volumes of the series mentioned, are as much in demand to-day as any of his other stories, though from their nature the field of their circulation is more limited. Surpris ing as this may appear, it is still the fact; and certainly the author has received more -commend atory letters from young people in regard to the 5 6 PREFACE books of this series than concerning those of any other. Among these letters there has occasionally been one, though rarely, in which the writer objected to this series for the reason that he was " on the other side " of the great issue which shook the nation to the centre of its being for four years. Doubtless the writers of these letters, and many who wrote no letters, will be surprised and grieved at the announcement of another series by the author on war topics. The writer had little inclination to undertake this task; for he has believed for twenty years that the war is over, and he has not been disposed to keep alive old issues which had better remain buried. He has spent some time in the South, and has always found himself among friends there. He became personally acquainted with those who fought on the Confederate side, from generals to privates, and he still values their friendship. He certainly is not disposed to write any thing that would cause him to forfeit his title to the kind feeling that was extended to him. It is not, therefore, with the desire or intention to rekindle the fires of sectional animosity, now PREFACE 7 happily subdued, that the writer begins another series relating to the war. The call upon him to use the topics of the war has been so urgent, and its ample field of stirring events has been so inviting, that he could not resist; but, while his own opinions in regard to the great question of five-and-twenty years ago remain unchanged, he hopes to do more ample justice than perhaps was done before to those "who fought on the other side." The present volume introduces those which are to follow it, and presents many of the characters that are to figure in them. Though written from the Union standpoint, the author hopes that if will not be found unfair or unjust to those who looked from the opposite point of view. DORCHESTER, June 12, 1888. CONTENTS CHAPTER I. PACK ASTOUNDING NEWS FROM THE SHORE .... 13 CHAPTER II. THE BROTHER AT THE SOUTH 24 CHAPTER III. DANGEROUS AND SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR ... 35 CHAPTER IV. THE FIRST MISSION OF THE BELLEVITE. . . 47 CHAPTER V. THE BELLEVITE AND THOSE ON BOARD OF HER. . 58 CHAPTER VI. MR. PERCY PIERSON INTRODUCES HIMSELF ... 69 CHAPTER VII. A COMPLICATION AT GLENFIELD 80 CHAPTER VIII. A DISCONSOLATE PURCHASER OF VESSELS ... 91 CHAPTER IX. CHRISTY MATURES A PROMISING SCHEME . . . 102 9 10 CONTENTS CHAPTER X. FAGB THE ATTEMPT TO PASS INTO MOBILE BAY . . .113 CHAPTER XL TIIE MAJOK IN COMMAND OF FORT GAINES. . . 124 CHAPTER XII. How THE BELLEVITE PASSED FORT MORGAN . . 135 CHAPTER XIII. A DECIDED DIFFERENCE OF OPINION .... 146 CHAPTER XIV. THE BLUE AND THE GRAY 157 CHAPTER XV. BROTHER AT WAR WITH BROTHER .... 168 CHAPTER XVI. CHRISTY FINDS HIMSELF A PRISONER .... 179 CHAPTER XVII. MAJOR PIERSON is PUZZLED 190 CHAPTER XVIII. THE MORNING TRIP OF THE LEOPARD .... 201 CHAPTER XIX. THE REPORT OF THE SCOUT FROM THE SHORE . . 212 CHAPTER XX. A REBELLION IN THE PILOT-HOUSE , 223 CONTENTS 11 CHAPTER XXI. PAGE THE SICK CAPTAIN OF THE LEOPARD .... 234 CHAPTER XXII. THE PROCEEDINGS ON THE LOWER DECK . . . 245 CHAPTER XXIII. THE EXPEDITION FROM THE LEOPARD .... 256 CHAPTER XXIV. THE ENGINEER GOES INTO THE FORECASTLE . . 267 CHAPTER XXV. THE FIRST LESSON FOR A SAILOR 278 CHAPTER XXVI. THE POST OF DUTY AND OF DANGER .... 289 CHAPTER XXVII. A CANNON-BALL THROUGH THE LEOPARD . . . 300 CHAPTER XXVIII. THE AMERICAN FLAG AT THE FORE . . . .311 CHAPTER XXIX. ON BOARD OF THE BELLEVITE 322 CHAPTER XXX. RUNNING THE GANTLET , 333 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY CHAPTER I ASTOUNDING NEWS FROM THE SHORE " THIS is most astounding news ! " exclaimed Captain Horatio Passford. It was on the deck of the magnificent steam- yacht Bellevite, of which he was the owner; and with the newspaper, in which he had read only a few of the many head-lines, still in his hand, he rushed furiously across the deck, in a state of the most intense agitation. It would take more than one figure to indicate the number of millions by which his vast wealth was measured, in the estimation of those who knew most about his affairs ; arid he was just returning from a winter cruise in his yacht. His wife and son were on board ; but his daugh ter had spent the winter at the South with her 13 14 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY uncle, preferring this to a voyage at sea, being in rather delicate health, and the doctors thought a quiet residence in a genial climate was better for her. The Bellevite had been among the islands of the Atlantic, visiting the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, and was now coming from Bermuda. She had just taken a pilot fifty miles from Sandy Hook, and was bound to New York, for the captain's beautiful estate, Bonnydale, was located on the Hudson. As usual, the pilot had brought on board with him the latest New- York papers, and one of them contained the startling news which appeared to Aave thrown the owner of the Bellevite entirely off his balance ; and it was quite astounding enough to produce this effect upon any American. "What is it, sir?" demanded Christopher Passford, his son, a remarkably bright-looking young fellow of sixteen, as he followed his father across the deck. " What is it, Horatio ? " inquired Mrs. Passford, who had been seated with a book on the deck, as she also followed her husband. The captain was usually very cool and self- ASTOUNDING NEWS FROM THE SHORE 15 possessed, and neither the wife nor the son had ever before seen him so shaken by agitation. He seemed to be unable to speak a word for the time, and took no notice whatever of his wife and son when they addressed him. For several minutes he continued to rush back and forth across the deck of the steamer, like a vessel which had suddenly caught a heavy flaw of wind, and had not yet come to her bearings. " What is the matter, Horatio ? " asked Mrs. Passford, when he came near her. "What in the world has happened to overcome you in this manner, for I never saw you so moved before ? " But her husband did not reply even to this earnest interrogatory, but again darted across the deck, and his lips moved as though he were muttering something to himself. He did not look at the paper in his hands again ; and whatever the startling intelligence it contained, he seemed to have taken it all in at a glance. Christy, as the remarkably good-looking young man was called by all in the family and on board of the Bellevite, appeared to be even more astonished than his mother at the singular con duct of his father ; but he saw how intense was 16 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY his agitation, and he did not follow him in his impulsive flights across the deck. Though his father had always treated him with great consideration, and seldom if ever had occa sion to exercise any of his paternal authority over him, the young man never took advantage of the familiarity existing between them. His father was certainly in a most extraordinary mood for him, and he could not venture to speak a word to him. He stood near the companionway, not far from his mother, and he observed the movements of his father with the utmost interest, not unmingled with anxiety ; and Mrs. Passford fully shared with him the solicitude of the moment. The steamer was going at full speed in the direction of Sandy Hook. Captain Passford gave no heed to the movement of the vessel, but for several minutes planked the deck as though he were unable to realize the truth or the force of the news he had hastily gathered from the head-lines of the newspaper. At last he halted in the waist, at some distance from the other members of his family, raised his paper, and fixed his gaze upon the staring ASTOUNDING NEWS FROM THE SHORE 17 announcement at the head of one of its columns. No one ventured to approach him ; for he was the magnate of the vessel, and, whatever his humor, he was entitled to the full benefit of it. He only glanced at the head-lines as he had done before, and then dropped the paper, as though the announcement he had read was all he desired to know. "Beeks," said he, as a quartermaster passed near him. The man addressed promptly halted, raised his hand to his cap, and waited the pleasure of the owner of the steamer. " Tell Captain Breaker that I wish to see him, if you please," added Captain Passford. The man repeated the name of the person he was to call, and hastened away to obey the order. The owner resumed his march across the deck, though it was evident to the anxious observers that he had in a great measure recovered his self- possession, for his movements were less nervous, and the usual placid calm was restored to his face. In another minute, Captain Breaker, who was the actual commander of the vessel, appeared in the waist, and walked up to his owner. 18 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY Though not more than forty-five years old, his hair and full beard were heavily tinted with gray ; and an artist who wished for an ideal shipmaster, who was both a gentleman and a sailor, could not have found a better representative of this type in the merchant or naval service, or on the deck of the finest steam-yacht in the world. " You sent for me, Captain Passford," said the commander, in respectful but not subservient tones. " You will take the steamer to some point off Fire Island, and come to anchor there," replied the owner, as, without any explanation, he walked away from the spot. "Off Fire Island," added Captain Breaker, simply repeating the name of the locality to which his order related, but not in a tone that required an exclamation-point to express his surprise. Whatever the captain of the Bellevite thought or felt, it was an extraordinary order which he received. It was in the month of April, and the vessel had been absent about five months on her winter pleasure cruise. In a few hours more the yacht could easily be at her moorings off Bonnydale on the Hudson , ASTOUNDING NEWS FROM THE SHORE 19 but when almost in sight of New York, the captain had been ordered to anchor, as though the owner had no intention of returning to his elegant home. If he was surprised, as doubtless he was, he did not manifest it in the slightest degree ; for he was a sailor, and it was a part of his gospel to obey the orders of his owner without asking any questions. No doubt he thought of his wife and children as he walked forward to the pilot-house to execute his order, for he had been away from them for a long time. The three papers brought on board by the pilot had all been given to the owner, and he had no hint of the startling news they contained. The course of the Bellevite was promptly changed more to the northward ; and if the pilot wished to be informed in regard to this strange alteration in the immediate destination of the vessel, Captain Breaker was unable to give him any explanation. Captain Passford was evidently himself again; and he did not rush across the deck as he had done before, but seated himself in an armchair he 20 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY had occupied before the pilot came on board, and proceeded to read something more than the head lines in the 'paper. He hardly moved or looked up for half an hour, so intensely was he absorbed in the narrative before him. Mrs. Passford and Christy, though even more excited by the singular conduct of the owner, and the change in the course of the steamer, did not venture to interrupt him. The owner took the other two papers from hia pocket, and had soon possessed himself of all the details of the astounding news ; and it was plain enough to those who so eagerly observed his expression as he read, that he was impressed as he had never been before in his life. Before the owner had finished the reading of the papers, the Bellevite had reached the anchorage chosen by the pilot, and the vessel was soon fast to the bottom in a quiet sea. "The tide is just right for going up to the city," said the pilot, who had left his place in the pilot-house, and addressed himself to the owner in the waist. " But we shall not go up to the city," replied Captain Passford, in a very decided tone. " But ASTOUNDING NEWS FROM THE SHORE 21 that shall make no difference in your pilot's fees. — Captain Breaker." The captain of the steamer, who had also come out of the pilot-house, had stationed himself with in call of the owner to receive the next order, which might throw some light on the reason for anchoring the steamer so near her destination on a full sea. He presented himself before the magnate of the yacht, and indicated that he was ready to take his further orders. " You will see that the pilot is paid his full fee for taking the vessel to a wharf," continued Captain Passford. The captain bowed, and started towards the companionway ; but the owner called him back. " I see what looks like a tug to the westward of us. You will set the signal to bring her alongside," the magnate proceeded. This order was even more strange than that under which the vessel had come to anchor so near home after her long cruise ; but the captain asked no questions, and made no sign. Calling Beeks, he went aft with the pilot, and paid him his fees. When the American flag was displayed in the 22 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY fore-rigging for the tug, Captain Passford, with his gaze fixed on the planks of the deck, walked slowly to the place where his wife was seated, and halted in front of her without speaking a word. But there was a quivering of the lip which assured the lady and her son that he was still struggling to suppress his agitation. " What is the matter, Horatio ? " asked the wife, in the tenderest of tones, while her expres sion assured those who saw her face that the anxiety of the husband had been communicated to the wife. "I need hardly tell you, Julia, that I am disturbed as I never was before in all my life," replied he, maintaining his calmness only with a struggle. " I can see that something momentous has happened in our country," she added, hardly able to contain herself, for she felt that she was in the presence of an unexplained calamity. " Something has happened, my dear ; something terrible, — something that I did not expect, though many others were sure that it would come," he continued, seating himself at the side of his wife. " But you do not tell me what it is," said the ASTOUNDING NEWS FROM THE SHORE 23 lady, with a look which indicated that her worst fears were confirmed. " Is Florry worse ? Is she " — " So far as I know, Florry is as well as usual," interposed the husband. "But a state of war exists at the present moment between the North and the South." 24 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY CHAPTER II THE BROTHER AT THE SOUTH five months before, when the Bellevite had sailed on her cruise, the rumble of coming events had been heard in the United States ; and it had been an open question whether or not war would grow out of the complications between the North and the South. Only a few letters, and fewer newspapers, had reached the owner of the yacht; and he and his family on board had been very indifferently informed in regard to the progress of political events at home. Captain Passford was one of those who confidently believed that no very serious difficulty would result from the entangle ments into which the country had been plunged by the secession of the most of the Southern States. He would not admit even to himself that war THE BROTHER AT THE SOUTH 25 was possible ; and before his departure he had scouted the idea of a conflict with arms between the brothers of the North and the brothers of the South, as he styled them. Captain Passford had been the master of a ship in former times, though he had accumulated his vast fortune after he abandoned the sea. His father was an Englishman, who had come to the United States as a young man, had married, raised his two sons, and died in the city of New York. These two sons, Horatio and Homer, were respectively forty-five and forty years of age. Both of them were married, and each of them had only a son and a daughter. While Horatio had been remarkably successful in his pursuit of wealth in the metropolis, he had kept himself clean and honest, like so many of the wealthy men of the great city. When he retired from active business, he settled at Bonnydale on the Hudson. His brother had been less successful as a business-man, and soon after his marriage to a Northern lady he had purchased a plantation in Alabama, where both of his children had beec born, and where he was a man of high standing, 26 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY with wealth enough to maintain his position in luxury, though his fortune was insignificant compared with that of his brother. Between the two brothers and their families the most kindly relations had always existed ; and each made occasional visits to the other, though the distance which separated them was too great to permit of very frequent exchanges personally of brotherly love and kindness. Possibly the fraternal feeling which subsisted between the two brothers had some influence upon the opinions of Horatio, for to him hostili ties meant making war upon his only brother, whom he cherished as warmly as if they had not been separated by a distance of over a thousand miles. He measured the feelings of others by his own ; and if all had felt as he felt, war would have been an impossibility, however critical and momen tous the relations between the two sections. Though his father had been born and bred in England, Horatio was more intensely American than thousands who came out of Plymouth Rock stock ; and he believed in the union of the States, unable to believe that any true citizen THE BROTHER AT THE SOUTH 27 could tolerate the idea of a separation of any kind. The first paper which Captain Passford read on the deck of the Bellevite contained the details of the bombardment and capture of Fort Sumter ; and the others, a record of the events which had transpired in the few succeeding days after the news of actual war reached the North. This terrible intelligence was unexpected to the owner of the yacht, believing, as he had, in the impossibility of war ; and it seemed to him just as though he and his cherished brother were already arrayed against each other on the battle-field. The commotion between the two sections had begun before his departure from home on the yacht cruise , but his brother, perhaps because he was fully instructed in regard to the Union sentiment of Horatio, was strangely reticent, and expressed no opinions of his own. But Captain Passford, measuring his brother according to his own standard, was fully per suaded that Homer was as sound on the great question as he was himself, though the excitement and violence around him might have caused him to maintain a neutral position. 28 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY Certainly if the Northern brother had antici pated that a terrible war was impending, he would not have permitted his daughter Florence, a beautiful young lady of seventeen, to reside during the winter in a hot-bed of secession and disunion. The papers informed him what had been done at the North and at the South to initiate the war ; and the thought that Florry was now in the midst of the enemies of her country was agonizing to him. Though he felt that his country demanded his best energies, and though he was ready and will ing to give himself and his son to her in her hour of need, he felt that his first duty was to his own family, within reasonable limits ; and his earliest thoughts were directed to the safety of his daugh ter, and then to the welfare of his brother and his family. " War ! " exclaimed Mrs. Passford, when her husband had announced so briefly the situation which had caused such intense agitation in his soul. "What do you mean by war, Horatio?" "I mean all that terrible word can convey of destruction and death, and, worse yet, of hate and revenge between brothers of the same house- THE BROTHER AT THE SOUTH 29 hold ! " replied the husband impressively. " Both the North and the South are sounding the notes of preparation. Men are gathering by thousands on both sides, soon to meet on fields which must be drenched in the gore of brothers." " But don't you think the trouble will be settled in some way, Horatio?" asked the anxious wife and mother; and her thoughts, like those of her husband, reverted to the loving daughter then in the enemy's camp. " I do not think so ; that is impossible now. I did not believe that war was possible : now I do not believe it will be over till one side or the other shall be exhausted," replied Captain Passford, wiping from his brow the perspiration which the intensity of his emotion produced. "A civil war is the most bitter and terrible of all wars." " I cannot understand it," added the lady. "Is it really war, sir?" asked Christy, who had been an interested listener to all that had been said. " It is really war, my son," replied the father earnestly. "It will be a war which cannot be carried to a conclusion by hirelings ; but father, 30 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY son, and brother must take part in it, against father, son, and brother." " It is terrible to think of," added Mrs. Passford with something like a shudder, though she was a strong-minded woman in the highest sense of the words. Captain Passford then proceeded to inform his wife and son in regard to all the events which had transpired since he had received his latest papers at Bermuda. They listened with the most intense interest, and the trio were as solemn as though they had met to consider the dangerous illness of the absent member of the family. The owner did not look upon the impending war as a sort of frolic, as did many of the people at the North and the South, and he could not regard it as a trivial conflict which would be ended in a few weeks or a few months. To him it was the most terrible reality which his imagination could picture ; and more clearly than many eminent statesmen, he foresaw that it would be a long and fierce encounter. "From what you say, Horatio, I judge that the South is already arming for the conflict," said Mrs. Passford, after she had heard her THE BROTHER AT THE SOUTH 31 husband's account of what had occurred on shore. "The South has been preparing for war for months, and the North began to make serious preparation for coming events as soon as Fort Suniter fell. Doubtless the South is better prepared for the event to-day than the North, though the greater population and vast resources of the latter will soon make up for lost time," replied the captain. "And Florry is right in the midst of the gathering armies of the South," added the fond mother, wiping a tear from her eyes. " She is ; and, unless something is done at once to restore her to her home, she may have to remain in the enemy's country for months, if not for years," answered the father, with a slight trembling of the lips. "But what can be done?" asked the mother anxiously. " The answer to that question has agitated me more than any thing else which has come to my mind for years, for I cannot endure the thought of leaving her even a single month at any point which is as likely as any other to become a 32 TAKEX BY THE ENEMY battle-field in a few days or a few weeks," continued Captain Passford, with some return of the agitation which had before shaken him so terribly. " Of course your brother Homer will take care of her," said the terrified mother, as she gazed earnestly into the expressive face of the stout hearted man before her. "Certainly he will do all for Florry that he would do for his own children, but he may not long be able to save his own family from the horrors of war." " Do you think she will be in any actual danger, Horatio?" " I have no doubt she will be as safe at Glenfield, if the conflict were raging there, as she would be at Bonnydale under the same circumstances. From the nature of the case, the burden of the fighting, the havoc and desolation, will be within the Southern States, and few, if any, of the battle-fields will be on Northern soil, or at least as far north as our home." " From what I have seen of the people near the residence of your brother, they are neither brutes nor savages," added the lady. THE BROTHER AT THE SOUTH 33 " No more than the people of the North ; but war rouses the brute nature of most men, and there will be brutes and savages on both sides, from the very nature of the case." " In his recent letters, I mean those that came before we sailed from home, Homer did not seem to take part with either side in the political conflict; and in those which came to us at the Azores and Bermuda, he did not say a single word to indicate whether he is a secessionist, or in favor of the Union. Do you know how he stands, Horatio ? " " My means of knowing are the same as yours, and I can be no wiser than you are on this point, though I have my opinion," replied Captain Passford. "What is your opinion?" "That he is as truly a Union man as I am." "I am glad that he is." "I do not say that he is a Union man; but judging from his silence, and what I know of him, I think he is. And it is as much a part of my desire and intention to bring him and his family out of the enemy's country as it is to recover Florry." 34 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY "Then we shall have them all at Bonnydale this summer ? " suggested Mrs. Passford. " Noth ing could suit me better." " Though I am fully persuaded in my own mind that Homer will be true to his country in this emergency, I may be mistaken. He has lived for many years at the South, and has been identified with the institutions of that locality, as I have been with those of the North. Though we both love the land of our fathers on the other side of the ocean, we have both been strongly American. As he always believed in the whole country as a unit, I shall expect him to be more than willing to stand by his country as it was, and as it should be." "I hope you will find him so, but I am grievously sorry that Florry is not with us." "Tug-boat alongside, Captain Passford," said the commander. The owner of the Bellevite wished the tug to wait his orders. SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR 35 CHAPTER III DANGEROUS AND SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR IN various parts of the deck of the Bellevite, the officers, seamen, engineers, and coal-passers of the steamer were gathered in knots, evidently discussing the situation ; for the news brought on board by the pilot had been spread through the ship. Captain Passford hardly noticed the announce ment made to him by the commander, that the tug was alongside, for he was not yet ready to make use of it. Even the wife and the son of the owner wondered what the mission of the little vessel was to be ; but the husband and father had not yet disclosed his purpose in coming to anchor almost in sight of his own mansion. "Why have you come to anchor here, Horatio?" asked Mrs. Passford, taking advantage of the momentary pause in the interesting, and even 36 exciting, conversation, to put this leading ques tion.. " I was about to tell you. I have already adopted my plan to recover Florry, and bring my brother and his family out of the enemy's country," replied the owner, looking with some solicitude into the face of his wife, as though he anticipated some objection to his plan. " You have adopted it so quick ? " inquired the lady. "You have not had much time to think of it." "I have had all the time I need to enable me to reach the decision to rescue my child from peril, and save my brother and his family from privation and trouble in the enemy's country. But I have only decided what to do, arid I have yet to mature the details of the scheme." " I hope you are not going into any danger," added the wife anxiously. " Danger ! " exclaimed Captain Passford, straightening up his manly form. "War with all its perils and hardships is before us. Am I a villain, a poltroon, who will desert his country in the hour of her greatest need? I do not so understand myself." SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR 37 " Of course I meant any needless exposure,'* added Mrs. Passford, impressed by the patriotic bearing of her husband. " You may be assured, Julia, that I will incur no needless peril, and I think I am even more careful than the average of men. But, when I have a duty to perform, I feel that I ought to do it without regard to the danger which may surround it." " I know you well enough to understand that, Horatio," said the lady. "I believe there will be danger in my under taking, though to what extent I am unable to say." "But you do not tell me how you intend to recover Florry." " I intend to go for her and my brother's family in the Bellevite." " In the Bellevite ! " exclaimed the lady. " Of course ; there is no other possible way to reach Glenfield," which was the name that Homer Passford had given to his plantation. " But Fort Morgan, at the entrance of Mobile Bay, is in the hands of the Confederates, and has been for three or four months," said Christy, 38 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY who had kept himself as thoroughly posted in regard to events at home as the sources of information would permit. " I am well aware of it ; and I have no doubt, that, by this time, the fort is strongly garrisoned, to say nothing of other forts which have prob ably been built in the vicinity," replied Captain Passford. "It says in this paper that the ports of the South have been blockaded," said Christy, glancing at the journal in his hand. "The President has issued a proclamation to this effect, but there has hardly been time to enforce it to any great extent yet. But of these matters I have nothing to say yet. The important point now is that I shall go in the Bellevite to Mobile Bay, and by force or strategy I shall bring off my daughter and the family of my Drotner." " Then I suppose Christy and I are to be sent on shore in the tug alongside," suggested Mrs. Passford. " That is precisely what I wanted the tug for," added the husband. " I should be willing to go with you, and share SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR 39 •whatever dangers you may incur," said the lady, who had by this time come to a full realization of what war meant. " I should be a heathen to allow you to do so. A woman would be more of a burden than a help to us. You had better return to Bonnydale, Julia, where I am sure you can render more service to your country than you could on board of the steamer. All that I am, all that I have, shall be at the service of the Union ; and I wish you to act for me according to your own good judgment." "I shall do whatever you wish me to do, Horatio," added the lady. " My mission will be a dangerous one at best, and the deck of the steamer will be no place for you, Julia." " Very well ; Christy and I will take the tug as soon as you are ready to have us leave you." " Am I to go on shore, father ? " demanded Christy, with a look of chagrin on his handsome face, browned by exposure to the sun on the ocean. " I want to go with you ; and I am sure I can do my share of the duty, whatever it may be." 40 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY " You are rather young to engage in such an enterprise as that before me, Christy," added his father, as he gazed with pride at the face and form of his son, who had thrown back his head as though he felt the inspiration of all the manliness in his being. " If there is to be a war for the Union, I am a Union man, or boy, as you like ; and it would be as mean and cowardly for me to turn my back to the enemy as it would be for you to do so, sir," replied Christy, his chest heaving with patriotic emotion. " I am willing you should go with me," added Captain Passford, turning from the young man to his mother. There was a tear in the eyes of the lady as she looked upon her son. It was hard enough to have her husband leave her on such a mission : it was doubly so to have Christy go with him. " Christy might be of great service to me," said his father. "I look upon this war as a very solemn event; and when a man's country calls upon him to render his time, his comfort, even his life, 'he has no moral right to put himself, his father, his brother, or his son in a safe place, and SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR 41 leave mere hirelings, the thoughtless, reckless adventurers, to fight his battle for him." " I am ready to go, sir," added Christy. "He may go with you, if you think it best," said the mother with a quivering lip. " I shall miss him, but I am sure you would miss him more." " My first mission is hardly in the service of my country ; at least, it is not directly so, though I hope to be of some use to her during my absence. As I said before, I think my first duty — a duty committed to me by the Almighty, which takes precedence over all other duties — is, within reasonable limits, to my own family. I will not spare myself or my son, but I must save Florry and my brother's family." " I think you are right, Horatio." " On my return I shall present the Bellevite to the Government, which is in sore need of suitable vessels at the present time, and offer my services in any capacity in which I can be useful," con tinued Captain Passford. " Captain Breaker," he called to the commander. " Here, sir." "Pipe the entire ship's company on the fore- 42 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY castle, and see that no one from the tug is near enough to hear what is said there." Captain Breaker had formerly been a lieutenant in the navy, and the forms and discipline of a man-of-war prevailed on board of the steam-yacht. In a minute more the pipe of the boatswain rang through the vessel, and all hands were mustered on the forecastle. The tug was made fast on the quarter of the steamer, and no one from her had come on board. Captain Passford and Christy walked forward, leaving the lady with her own thoughts. She was a daughter of a distinguished officer in the navy, and she had been fully schooled in the lesson of patriotism for such an emergency as the present. She was sad, and many a tear dropped from her still handsome face ; but she was brave enough to feel proud that she had a husband and a son whom she was willing to give to her country. The ship's company gathered on the forecastle ; and every one of them seemed to be deeply impressed with the solemnity of the occasion, for not a light word was spoken, not a laugh played on any face. They had just learned that the country was in a state of war; and the present SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR 43 occasion indicated that the owner had some serious question in his mind, which was now to be presented to them. The Bellevite was heavily manned for a yacht; but every person had been selected for his position, from the highest to the lowest, with the utmost care by Captain Breaker, assisted by the owner. Every one of them had been attached to the steamer for at least a year, and some of them for a longer period. All of them were personally known to the owner and the members of the family, who had taken the greatest pleasure in improving and assisting them and their families, if they had any. They were all devoted to the owner and the members of his family, who had taken such a strong personal interest in them and theirs. Many instances of the kindness of the lady in times of sickness and death, as well as in the brighter days of prosperity and happiness, could be related; and in return for all this generous and considerate treatment, there was not a man on board who would not have laid down his life for the family. It was certainly a model ship's company; and 44 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY if there had ever been another owner and captain like those of the Bellevite, there might also have been such another collection of officers and seamen. But every one of them had been selected for his moral character, not less than for his nautical skill and knowledge. In fact, the personal history of any one of them would have been interesting to the general reader. These men composed the audience of Captain Passford when he took his place at the bowsprit bitts; and, if the occasion had been less solemn, they would have cheered him, as they were in the habit of doing on every suitable opportunity, and even when it was not suitable. The owner prefaced his remarks with a state ment of the events which had occurred in the country since the last dates they had received, and then proceeded to describe his mission as indicated to his wife and son. He fully stated the perils of the enterprise, with the fact that his operations would be somewhat irregular ; though he intended to make an immediate tender of the vessel to the Government, with his own services in any capacity in which he might be needed. In spite of the solemnity of the occasion, the SOMEWHAT IRREGULAR 45 men broke out into cheers, and not a few of the sailors shouted out their readiness to go with him wherever he might go, without regard to danger or hardship. One old sheet-anchor man declared that he was ready to die for Miss Florry ; and he was so lustily cheered that it was evident this was the sentiment of all. "I have called the tug at the quarter along side to convey Mrs. Passford to the shore, though Christy will go with me," added the owner. At this point he was interrupted by a volley of cheers, for Christy was a universal favorite on board, as Florry had always been ; and the ship's company regarded her as a sort of mundane divinity, upon whom they could look only with the most profound reverence. " In view of the danger and the irregularity of the enterprise, I shall not persuade or urge any person on board to accompany me ; and the tug will take on shore all who prefer to leave the vessel, with my best wishes for their future. Those who prefer to go on shore will go aft to the mainmast," continued Captain Pass- ford. 46 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY Officers and seamen looked from one to the other ; but not one of them took a step from his place on the forecastle, to which all seemed to be nailed. THE FIRST MISSION OF THE BELLEVITE 47 CHAPTER IV THE FIRST MISSION OF THE BELLEVITE CAPTAIN PASSFOBD looked over his audience with no little interest, and perhaps with consider able anxiety ; for he felt that the success of his enterprise must depend, in a great measure, upon the fidelity and skill of the individual members of the ship's company. " My remarks are addressed to every person in the ship's company, from Captain Breaker to the stewards and coal-passers ; and any one has a perfect right to decline to go with me, without prejudice to his present or future interests," continued the owner. More earnestly than before the officers and men gazed at each other ; and it looked as though not one of them dared to move a single inch, lest a step should be interpreted as an impeachment of his fidelity to one who had been a Christian and a trusty friend in all his relations with him. 48 TAKEN BY THE ENEMY "I know that some of you have families, mothers, brothers, and sisters on shore ; and I assure you that I shall not regard it as a disgrace or a stigma upon any man who does his duty as he understands it, without regard to me or mine," the owner proceeded. Still not a man moved, and all seemed to be more averse than before to change their positions a ^article ; and possibly any one who was tempted to do so expected to be hooted by his shipmates, if he took the treacherous step. " I sincerely hope that every man of you Avill be guided by his own sense of duty, without regard to what others may think of his action. I will not allow any man to suffer from any reproach or indignity on account of what he does in this matter, if by any means I can prevent it," con tinued Captain Passford, looking over his audience again, to discover, if he could, any evidence of faltering on the part of a single one. Still officers and men were as immovable as a group of statuary ; and not a face betrayed an expression indicating a desire to leave the vessel, or to falter in what all regarded as the allegiance they owed to the owner and his family. THE FIRST MISSION OF THE BELLEVITE 49 "We will all go with you to the end of the world, or the end of the war!" shouted the old sheet-anchor man, who was the spokesman of the crew when they had any thing to say. " If any man offers to leave " — " He shall go with my best wishes," interposed Captain Passford. "None of that, Boxie; you have heard what I said, and I mean every word of it. There shall be no persuasion or intimidation." " Beg pardon, Captain Passford ; but there isn't a man here that would go to the mainmast if he knew that the forecastle would drop out from under him, and let him down into Davy Jones's locker the next minute if he staid here," responded Boxie, with a complaisant grin on his face, as if he was entirely conscious that he knew what he was talking about. "Every man must act on his own free will," added the owner. 