the executive officer and the engineer had decided before this time to keep together; and, as soon as they had seen the second couple depart, they set out on their wandering march to the fort in a direction different from that of the others of the party. they walked directly towards the fort, for christy intended to make his examination of the ground to the eastward of the fortification, on his way to some spot where he could ascertain what vessels were at anchor between the point and the middle ground. he discharged this duty very faithfully; and before he reached his objective point he was confident he could draw a map of the region, with what information he had obtained before, which would meet the requirements of captain breaker.
"what's that?" demanded graines, suddenly placing his hand on the arm of his companion, and stopping short, as they were approaching the crown of the elevation.
a fire was burning on the ground in a depression 44 of the surface, which doubtless concealed its light from persons in the vicinity of the fort, if there were any there. around it could be seen four men, as the two officers looked over the crest of the hill, who appeared to be engaged in eating and drinking; and they were doing more of the latter than of the former, for the bottle passed very frequently from one to another.
"it looks like a bivouac on the part of those fellows," said christy in a low tone.
"but who and what are they?" asked graines.
"they may be deserters from fort morgan, though if they were they would hardly bivouac so near it," replied christy, who did not seem to his companion to be at all disturbed by the discovery of the men. "they are more likely to be sailors from some intending blockade-runner at anchor off the point, who have come on shore to make a night of it; and they appear to have made considerable progress in the debauch."
"they are not soldiers, for you can see by the light of the fire that they are not dressed in uniform," added the engineer.
"this is the third year of the war, and uniforms for the soldiers are not particularly abundant in the confederacy."
45 "we can't see the waters of the bay till we reach the top of the knoll yonder, and we don't know whether there are any vessels at anchor there or not. but we can easily avoid these fellows by keeping behind the ridge till we get where they cannot see us."
"i don't know that we want to avoid them, for i should like very much to know who and what they are. they must be tipsy to a greater or less degree by this time, for they do twice as much drinking as eating," answered christy, as he advanced a little way farther up the hill. "they have a basket of food, and i do not believe they are mere tramps. they are more likely to be engaged in some occupation which brought them to this point, and i think we had better fraternize with them. they may be able to give us some valuable information; and it looks as though they were drunk enough to tell all they know without making any difficulty about it."
"do you think it is quite prudent, mr. passford, to approach them?" asked the engineer.
"when we come on an excursion of this kind we have to take some risk. if i were alone i should not hesitate to join them, and take my 46 chances, for they must know something about affairs in this vicinity," replied christy in a quiet tone, so that his answer might not be interpreted as a boast or a reproach to his companion.
"i am ready to follow you, mr. passford, wherever you go, and to depend upon your judgment for guidance," said graines very promptly. "if it comes to a fight with those fellows, i beg you to understand that i will do my full share of it, and obey your orders to the letter."
"of course i have no doubt whatever in regard to your courage and your readiness to do your whole duty, mr. graines," added christy, as he led the way to the summit of the elevation. "now lay aside your grammar and rhetoric, and we must be as good fellows as those bivouackers are making themselves. we are simply sailors who have just escaped from a captured blockade-runner."
"i don't see anything around the fire that looks like muskets," said the engineer, as they descended from the elevation.
"i see nothing at all except the provision-basket and the bottles," replied christy.
"but they may be armed for all that."
"we must take our chances. they are so busy 47 eating and drinking that they have not seen us yet. perhaps we had better be a little hilarious," continued the lieutenant, as he began to sing, "we won't go home till morning," in which he was joined by his companion as vigorously as the circumstances would permit.
singing as they went, and with a rolling gait, they approached the revellers.
