corny climbed over the high palisade fence, with the assistance of mulgate, and the party walked to the sailboat at the beach below. by this time it was dark, though the gloom was not very dense under a clear sky.
"do you know anything about this boat, corny?" asked mulgate, as the trio approached the handsome craft, for such she was beyond a doubt.
the crusty tones of the speaker indicated that he had not yet recovered from the set-back he had plainly received in the late conversation, though he denied that he had any evil intentions in regard to miss florry.
"i do; i know all about her," replied corny.
"well, why don't you tell what you know?" demanded mulgate.
"what do you wish to know about her?" inquired 38 corny, who was disposed to maintain his equality in spite of the military rank of his companion, which he had incautiously betrayed in the beginning.
"whose boat is it?" asked mulgate.
"she belongs to my cousin, christy passford."
"where is he now?"
"i don't know, sir."
"was he at the house when you were there?"
"he was not; and his mother had become rather anxious because he did not return to supper," replied corny, becoming a little more pliable.
"this is a rather large boat, captain carboneer," added mulgate, as he surveyed the trim sloop. "she is rather too large for our purpose."
"she will answer very well," replied the captain, as he applied his shoulder to the stem of the craft to ascertain how heavily she rested upon the beach. "now, do you know whether there is any person on board of that steamer?"
"of course, i don't know anything about it," said mulgate.
"i am sure i don't," added corny.
"i sent you up here to ascertain all about the bellevite," continued mulgate, rather sharply.
39 "i have not had time to find out anything," corny explained, with some indignation in his tones.
"corny has done as well as he could in the time he has had to do it in," interposed captain carboneer. "i think you are inclined to stir up bad blood with this young man, mulgate. it appears now that you have a purpose of your own to accomplish, and that corny will not allow you to carry it out."
"my first purpose is the same as your own," replied mulgate.
"you admit that you have a second object; and i cannot tell when you will decide to make it your principal purpose," added captain carboneer. "i am not satisfied with the situation. i have done everything i can to accomplish our patriotic object. you endanger it by your crusty manner to this young man, who seems to be willing to do his duty; and he is in a position to be of great service to our enterprise."
"if you think it is necessary, i will take off my cap to this young man," said mulgate, with a sneer in his tones.
"be reasonable, mulgate."
40 "what can i do more than i have done?" demanded the military gentleman, as his title indicated that he was.
"the first thing to do on your part is to renounce this idea of taking a lady passenger with you in the steamer," replied captain carboneer, in a very decided tone. "women are not permitted on board of naval vessels, especially in time of war."
"i don't think i have any idea to renounce," muttered mulgate.
"you certainly hinted that you desired to take a lady on board, and convey her to our destination," said the captain, rather earnestly.
"not against her will, as you and corny will have it," protested mulgate.
"do you renounce that plan or that idea, whatever it may be?"
"i do not renounce it. if the lady is willing to go with me, as i believe she will be, i know of no reason why she should not go as a passenger," argued mulgate.
"i think we had better abandon the enterprise in the beginning, for i think we can be of more service to our country at liberty than within the 41 walls of fort lafayette," added the captain, with not a little disgust mingled with his indignation.
whatever his object in visiting this locality, he was clearly a high-toned gentleman, and the idea of prosecuting a love adventure in connection with what he regarded as a highly patriotic duty was repulsive to his nature. he found by trial that the florence was not grounded very hard on the beach, for the tide was rising, and he drew the boat farther up from the water, as he turned to walk away from the spot.
"am i to understand that you retire from this enterprise, captain carboneer?" asked mulgate.
"am i to understand that you renounce your scheme to carry off a woman as a part of the enterprise?" demanded the captain.
"i do not renounce it, though i have no intention to carry off a woman, as you put it. the most i have asked is that she be permitted to go as a passenger of her own free will," replied mulgate.
"she never will go with him of her own free will," interposed corny.
"i will not have a woman on board of the 42 vessel, whether she goes willingly or otherwise. do you renounce that scheme entirely?"
"i think you are driving me into a small corner, captain carboneer."
"after what you have said before, i think i am fully justified in what i require. with your private affairs, i have nothing to do. if you choose to marry this young lady, i have nothing to say about that; but no woman can be a passenger in a war vessel under my command. after i have landed you at bermuda or nassau, i shall not attempt to run the blockade, which is now enforced, in order to land you and the lady. besides, we may be in action at any time after we get under way."
"then if i do not yield the point, you intend to leave me to carry out this enterprise alone?" demanded mulgate.
"in that case, i wish to go with you, captain carboneer," added corny, with emphasis. "but i want it understood that i shall not leave bonnydale without telling my uncle to look out for his daughter."
"then you mean to be a traitor, corny?" said mulgate angrily.
43 "call it what you like."
"all this is absurd, mulgate," interposed captain carboneer. "without my resources, you can do nothing at all, and it would be foolish for you to attempt the capture of the vessel. you are not a sailor or a navigator, and you could do nothing with the vessel if you succeeded in getting her to sea."
"i have no doubt i could find a hundred men in new york, including half a score of navigators, to assist me in this enterprise," replied mulgate.
"i have another steamer in view, though the bellevite is vastly superior to anything i know of in speed and general fitness. do as you think best, mulgate; and i shall be able to explain in a satisfactory manner my failure to obtain this vessel."
"the fault will be mine, i suppose," muttered mulgate.
"the court-martial will decide that point," replied the captain.
mulgate seemed to be buried in his own reflections, no doubt suggested by the last remark of the other. possibly he considered that the failure of such an important enterprise because he had insisted 44 upon bringing a lady into the affair would not sound well at home. whatever he was thinking about, he was greatly agitated, and captain carboneer walked in the direction of the road, half a mile from the river. he had no time to consider the matter: he must yield at once, or abandon the scheme.
"i will do anything you ask, captain carboneer!" he shouted, forgetting, in his excitement, the demand for secrecy.
the naval officer, as his conversation indicated that he was, turned and retraced his steps to the beach. he did not seem to be at all excited because his associate had changed his mind, for in his judgment it would have been worse than madness for him to persist in his intentions.
"i have stated the case as i understand it, and i have nothing more to say, mulgate," said he.
"i renounce my scheme, and i will not ask that the lady be a passenger even to bermuda or nassau," replied mulgate, though not without a considerable display of emotion.
"very well; that is enough. nothing more need be said about your purpose, since you have renounced it. now we will visit the bellevite, 45 and learn what we can in regard to her," said the naval officer, in his usual quiet manner, and whether he was a confederate or a unionist, one could hardly have failed to be impressed by his dignified deportment.
at the request of captain carboneer, mulgate climbed to the forward deck of the florence. she was twenty-eight feet long, and her deck covered more than half of her length. she had a very large cabin for a boat of her size, which was fitted up with berths, with a cook-room forward of it, for christy passford was often absent a week in her.
"i think corny had better go back to the house, and keep an eye on christy, so as to make sure that he does not disturb us," suggested mulgate, as the planter's son was about to go on board of the yacht.
"i think we shall want him, and he had better be with us," replied the captain, as one would speak when he expected to be obeyed.
corny climbed up the stem of the florence. he had never seen the captain before, and had not even been informed who and what he was; but he appeared to be a more important person than mulgate, 46 and he did not wait for the latter to argue his point. he had sailed in the florence very often, and he knew all about her. he took a boathook, and planted its point on the beach, in readiness to shove off.
"not yet, corny," said the naval officer, as he sprang lightly to the deck of the sailboat. "let us see where we are before we do anything."
captain carboneer seated himself on one of the cushioned seats in the standing-room, and looked about him. a steamer towing a multitude of canal boats was approaching, and he waited for it to pass. then no steamer or other craft was to be seen on the river.
"so far as i have been able to discover, there are only two men on board of the bellevite, and i think we have not a moment to lose," said the naval officer, when he saw that the river was clear of everything that might interfere with his plans. "but we must go on board of her, and make sure of everything before we commit ourselves."
"as you said, captain carboneer, i am no sailor; and you don't think of taking the steamer out of the river alone?" added mulgate.
"i have not come here on a fool's errand, major 47 pierson," replied the captain. "we are alone now, and we may call things by their right names."
"but i don't care to have my name used in this vicinity," interposed this gentleman, when addressed by his own name.
"your wish in this respect shall be respected, mr. mulgate. i was about to say that i had a ship's company all ready to take possession of this craft, to handle her at sea, and even to fight a battle if necessary."
"but where are your ship's company?" asked mulgate, as he wished still to be called.
"i will produce them at the right time. now you may shove her off, corny," added the captain, as he took the wheel.
