"well, christy, how do you feel this morning?" asked captain passford, one bright morning in april, at bonnydale on the hudson, the residence of the former owner of the bellevite, which he had presented to the government.
"quite well, father; i think i never felt any better in all my life," replied lieutenant passford, of the united states navy, recently commander of the little gunboat bronx, on board of which he had been severely wounded in an action with a confederate fort in louisiana.
"do you feel any soreness at the wound in your arm?" inquired the devoted parent with some anxiety.
"not a particle, father."
16 "or at the one in your thigh?"
"not the slightest bit of soreness. in fact, i have been ready to return to my duty at any time within the last month," replied christy very cheerfully. "it would be a shame for me to loiter around home any longer, when i am as able to plank the deck as i ever was. in truth, i think i am better and stronger than ever before, for i have had a long rest."
"your vacation has been none too long, for you were considerably run down, the doctor said, in addition to your two wounds," added captain passford, senior; for the young man had held a command, and was entitled to the same honorary title as his father.
"these doctors sometimes make you think you are sicker than you really are," said christy with a laugh.
"but your doctor did not do so, for your mother and i both thought you were rather run out by your labors in the gulf."
"if i was, i am all right now. do i look like a sick one? i weigh more than i ever did before in my life."
"your mother has taken excellent care of you, 17 and you certainly look larger and stronger than when you went to sea in the bronx."
"but i am very tired of this inactive life. i have been assigned to the bellevite as second lieutenant, a position i prefer to a command, for the reasons i have several times given you, father."
"i am certainly very glad to have you returned to the bellevite, though the honors will be easier with you than they were when you were the commander of the bronx."
"but i shall escape the responsibility of the command, and avoid being pointed at as one who commands by official influence," said christy, rather warmly; for he felt that he had done his duty with the utmost fidelity, and it was not pleasant to have his hard-earned honors discounted by flings at his father's influence with the government.
"it is impossible to escape the sneers of the discontented, and there are always plenty of such in the navy and the army. but, christy, you wrong yourself in taking any notice of such flings, for they have never been thrown directly at you, if at all. you are over-sensitive, and you have not correctly interpreted what your superiors have said to you," said captain passford seriously.
18 his father recalled some of the conversations between the young officer and captain blowitt and others, reported to him before. he insisted that the remarks of his superiors were highly complimentary to him, and that he had no right to take offence at them.
"i dare say i am entirely wrong, father; but it will do me no harm to serve in a subordinate capacity," added christy.
"i agree with you here; but i must tell you again, as i have half a dozen times before, that i never asked a position or promotion for you at the navy department. you have won your honors and your advancement yourself," continued the father.
"well, it was all the same, father; you have used your time and your money very freely in the service of the government, as you could not help doing. i know that i did my duty, and the department promoted me because i was your son," said christy, laughing.
"not at all, my son; you deserved your promotion every time, and if you had been the son of a wood-chopper in the state of maine, you would have been promoted just the same," argued captain passford.
19 "perhaps i should," answered the young officer rather doubtfully.
"after what you did in your last cruise with the bronx, a larger and finer vessel would have been given to you in recognition of the brilliant service you had rendered," added the father. "i prevented this from being done simply because you wished to take the position of second lieutenant on board of the bellevite."
"then i thank you for it, father," replied christy heartily.
"but the department thinks it has lost an able commander," continued the captain with a smile.
"i am willing to let the department think so, father. all i really ask of the officials now is to send me back to the gulf, and to the bellevite. i believe you said that i was to go as a passenger in the chateaugay."
"i did; and she has been ready for over a week."
"why don't she go, then?" asked christy impatiently.
"on her way to the gulf she is to engage in some special service," replied captain passford, as he took some letters from his pocket.
"letters!" exclaimed the young lieutenant, 20 laughing as he recalled some such missives on two former occasions. "do you still keep your three agents in the island of great britain?"
"i don't keep them, for they are now in the employ of the government, though they still report to me, and we use the system adopted some two years ago."
"what is it this time, father?" asked christy, his curiosity as well as his patriotism excited by this time at the prospect of capturing a confederate man-of-war, or even a blockade-runner.
"there are traitors in and about the city of new york," answered captain passford, as he returned the letters to his pocket. "we had a rebel in the house here at one time, you remember, and it is not quite prudent just now to explain the contents of the letters."
"all right, father; but i suppose you will read them to me before i sail for the south."
"i will talk to you about it another time," added the captain, as a knock was heard at the door. "come in!"
it was the man-servant of the house, and he brought in a tray on which there was a card, which captain passford took.
21 "captain wilford chantor," the captain read from the card. "show him in, gates. lieutenant chantor is appointed to the command of the chateaugay, christy, in which you take passage to the gulf; but she will not go there directly."
"captain chantor," said gates, as he opened the door for the visitor.
"i am happy to see you, captain chantor, though i have not had the pleasure of meeting you before," said the captain, as he rose from his chair, and bowed to the gentleman, who was in the uniform of a lieutenant.
"i presume i have the honor to address captain horatio passford," said the visitor, as he took a letter from his pocket, bowing very respectfully at the same time, and delivering the letter.
"i am very glad to meet you, captain chantor," continued captain passford, taking the hand of the visitor. "allow me to introduce to you my son, lieutenant passford, who will be a passenger on your ship to the gulf."
"i am very happy to make your acquaintance, mr. passford, for i need hardly say that i have heard a great deal about you before, and this is a very unexpected pleasure," replied captain chantor.
22 "thank you, captain, and i am equally happy to meet you, as i am to be a passenger on your ship," added christy, as they shook hands very cordially.
"i had three other passengers on board, but they have been transferred to the store-ship, which sails to-day, and you will be my only passenger."
"at my suggestion," said captain passford smiling, doubtless at the puzzled expression of the captain of the chateaugay at his statement.
"i am to attend to some special service on my voyage to the gulf, and i am ordered to take my instructions from you," added captain chantor.
"precisely so; but i hold no official position, and your orders will be put in proper form before you sail," replied christy's father. "now, if you will be patient for a little while, i will explain the nature of the special service."
"i shall be very glad to understand the subject, and i am confident my patience will hold out to any extent you may require."
the conversation so far had taken place in the library. the owner of bonnydale rose from his arm-chair, opened the door into the hall, and looked about him very cautiously. then he closed a window 23 which the unusual warmth of an april day had rendered it necessary to open. he conducted his companions to the part of the room farthest from the door, and seated them on a sofa, while he placed his arm-chair in front of them. even christy thought his father was taking extraordinary precautions, and the visitor could make nothing of it.
"as i have had occasion to remark before to-day, there are traitors in and about new york," the captain began.
"if you have any private business with captain chantor, father, i am perfectly willing to retire," suggested christy.
"no; i wish you to understand this special service, for you may be called upon to take a hand in it," replied captain passford; and the son seated himself again. "there are traitors in and about new york, i repeat. i think we need not greatly wonder that some of the english people persist in attempting to run the blockade at the south, when some of our own citizens are indirectly concerned in the same occupation."
this seemed to the captain of the chateaugay an astounding statement, and not less so to christy, 24 and neither of them could make anything of it; but they were silent, concluding that the special service related to this matter.
"in what i am about to say to you, captain chantor, i understand that i am talking to an officer of the utmost discretion," continued captain passford, "and not a word of it must be repeated to any person on board of the chateaugay, and certainly not to any other person whatever."
"i understand you perfectly, sir," replied the officer. "my lips shall be sealed to all."
"i wish to say that the command of the chateaugay would have been offered to my son, but i objected for the reason that he prefers not to have a command at present," said the captain.
"that makes it very fortunate for me."
"very true, though the change was not made for your sake. you were selected for this command as much on account of your discretion as for your skill and bravery as an officer."
"i consider myself very highly complimented by the selection."
"now to the point: i have information that a fast steamer, intended to carry eight guns, called 25 the ovidio, sailed from the other side of the ocean some time since, and she is to be a vessel in the confederate navy. her first port will be nassau, new providence."
"does that prove that any americans are traitors in and about new york, father?" asked christy.
"she is to run the blockade with a cargo consisting in part of american goods."
captain passford took a file of papers from his pocket.
