"general beauregard," said lacy, as the two young officers were ushered into the general's office, "i have a most unusual request to make of you, sir."
"what is it, major lacy?" returned the little general.
"i want you to relieve me of the duty of taking out the david to-night, sir."
"what!"
"i want you to give it to mr. sempland here."
"you wish to avoid the danger?" queried beauregard, gazing intently at lacy.
"he does it as a favor to me, general," interrupted sempland. "he has had his chance, and i have had none. i begged and implored him to allow me to go, and only wrung a most reluctant consent from him."
the general turned his head away, his fingers tapped softly on the desk.
"things have not gone as we wished," he murmured half to himself, "the south is hard pushed, indeed. the war has dragged on. it becomes harder and harder, but we may not despair for our beloved country when her sons strive for posts of danger and are emulous to die in her service. do you know what this means, mr. sempland?"
"what it means, general?"
"there is about one chance in a thousand of your coming back. every time that infernal submarine has been used she has done no damage to the enemy and has drowned her crew. payne was drowned in her with eight men when she was first sent out. she was swamped by the wash of a passing steamer on her next trial, and all hands were lost. then she sank at fort sumter wharf, carrying down six of her men. hundley took her into the stono river and made a dive with her, hit mud, stuck there, and every soul was suffocated. they raised her and fixed her up again and tried her once more in the harbor here. she worked beautifully for a while, but fouled the cable of the receiving ship trying to pass under her keel, and stayed there. she has just been raised, the dead cleared out of her, now you want to go on her again."
"i do, sir," returned sempland.
"is life worth so little to you that you are willing to sacrifice it?"
"there is lacy, sir."
"oh, he is different!" burst out the general, and then bit his lip. "it would be greatly to lacy's credit," had flashed into his mind, "if he could manage to die in some such heroic action."
lacy and sempland knew what the general thought, and sempland could think of no words to bridge over the pause.
"you see," at last said lacy, smiling satirically at sempland, "the general understands. you would better let me go."
"no. the thing sometimes works. glassell got out alive when he tried to blow up the new ironsides, and anyway, i want this chance. i have had four years of war and have spent three of it in prison. for god's sake, general—"
"very well. you shall have it," answered beauregard, "but i will not have the boat used as a submarine. you can sink her until her hatch is awash, but no lower."
"thank you," answered the delighted sempland; "where shall i get a crew?"
"one has already been selected from among hundreds who volunteered. five seamen are to attend to the propeller and an artillery officer to look after the torpedo. you can steer the boat?"
"i lived on the water before i entered the army."
"all right. the wabash is lying off the main ship channel. i have no instructions to give you except to go at her and sink her. i am told the most vulnerable spot of a ship is just forward of the mainmast. hit her there. don't explode your torpedo until you are in actual contact if possible. glassell's went off the moment he saw her without touching, else he would have sunk the new ironsides. you will find the torpedo boat at the government wharf. everything is ready. you will leave at seven. the three blockade-runners will follow you as close as is practicable, and when you torpedo the frigate they will dart through the swash and try to get to sea. i reckon upon the other yankee ships running down to aid the wabash. i'll see you on the wharf. god bless you, and may he have mercy on your souls!" said the little general, solemnly.
he put out his hand to the young man, and sempland shook it vigorously.
"i pray that i may succeed for the sake of the south, sir," returned the young man, firmly.
"for the sake of the south, gentlemen. that is our watchword," cried beauregard, standing up and bringing his hand to a salute.
"have you any preparations to make, sempland?" asked lacy, when they left the office.
"i have a letter to write."
"very well. i will look after the boat and will meet you on the wharf. shall you see miss glen before you go?"
"no."
"you must."
"i cannot. what difference does it make to her, anyway? i will be at the wharf"—he looked at his watch, it was already six o'clock—"in three-quarters of an hour. good-by."
the two men shook hands and separated.
"the boat is ready," said lacy to himself. "i saw to that this afternoon. there is nothing for me to do there. i wonder—by jove, i'll do it!"
a few minutes after he was ushered again into the presence of miss fanny glen. she had at first pleaded indisposition, but he had insisted upon seeing her.
"i have something of so much importance to tell you, miss glen," he began, as she entered the room, "that i was forced to override your desires."
"is it about the subject that we—i—talked about this afternoon? if so—"
"it is not. i shall say no more on that score. i had my answer then."
"i am very sorry," continued the girl. "i admire you, respect you, but—but—i do not—"
"i understand. never mind that. you said that sempland had never done anything to distinguish himself. well, he's going to do it to-night."
"what is he going to do?" asked the girl, all the listlessness instantly going out of her manner.
"he is going to take out the david."
"yes?"
"and blow up the wabash."
her hand went to her heart. her face turned whiter than the frock she wore.
"my god!" she whispered, "admiral vernon's ship!"
"she loves him! she loves him!" flashed into lacy's mind, and for the moment he suffered agonies of jealous pain.
"but," continued the girl, "why should they—"
"in the first place," went on lacy, "if the venture succeeds, we sink a noble ship and put out of the way a most determined enemy, and we hope to let the blockaded cotton ships get to sea."
"but the david!" said the girl, who knew the sinister story of the crazy submarine torpedo boat as did every one in charleston. "it is sure death!"
"it is dangerous," said lacy, softly, "but general beauregard has ordered sempland to keep her on the surface. that ought to give them a chance. glassell escaped, you remember, when he tried the new ironsides."
"he will be killed! he will be killed!" she cried piteously, "and—admiral vernon!"
"what is the yankee admiral to you, to any of us?" lacy asked, curiously interested to know the meaning of her remark.
"why do you tell me of all this?" she asked, failing to notice his question in her anxiety and alarm.
"because i want you to know sempland as the hero he is, and because—forgive my frankness—i believe that you love him. so i want him to hear you say it before he goes out. it will double his chances of escape if he has your love to think of. you will inspire him to come back. as it is now, i am afraid he does not especially care to. he's too good a man to lose, if we—if you—can save him, miss fanny."
"and this man abused you to me this afternoon!" murmured the girl.
"he said what was true. i honor him for it. i love you, miss fanny. i am proving it to you now as i proved it to him when i gave him my place at his earnest entreaty. the detail was mine."
"why did you do it?"
"for his sake, for yours. it's his solitary chance. i've had so many, you know."
"and he is going to blow up the wabash, the admiral's ship, did you say?"
"yes, if he can."
fanny glen was a picture of terror plainly apparent in spite of her valiant effort to conceal her feelings. her agitation was so overwhelming, her anxiety so pronounced, that even on the hypothesis of an ardent affection for sempland, lacy was completely at loss to account for her condition. what could it mean? but he had no time to speculate upon it. the minutes were flying by.
"come, miss glen," he said at last, "it isn't so bad as all that."
"but those men on the ship, the—the admiral! they won't have a chance for their lives. it is appalling to think of! i cannot bear it! i—"
"let them lift the blockade then," coolly returned the young officer; "it is a chance of war. don't waste your sympathy on them. bestow it nearer at hand. sempland starts in half an hour. won't you see him before he goes?"
"yes," whispered the girl, "if you will send him to me."
"there is no time to lose. i will have him here in a few moments."
as he turned away the girl stretched out her hand to him.
"you have been very good—very brave—very noble," she faltered. "i wish—i—i loved you more than—than i do."
he stooped over her and kissed her bended head. she was a little woman and so appealing. he breathed a prayer over her and tore himself away.
"thank you," he said, "you have rewarded me. good-by."
