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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9783732684120 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Outlook Verlag |
| Publication date: | 05/23/2018 |
| Pages: | 194 |
| Product dimensions: | 6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.56(d) |
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But he might as well have opened the book of the black art to Percy, for he could not steer by compass. Christy got the Leopard on her new course, by which she would come somewhere near intercepting the Bellevite; and then he found an object on the shore, many miles distant, for the guidance of the pilot.
But the longboat was now almost within hailing distance of the Leopard. Major Pierson was certainly aware that the tug was under way, and he made the most energetic demonstrations for her to stop her screw. Suddenly the Bellevite changed her course again, and run directly towards the tug.
This movement was apparently noticed by the major; for his men doubled their efforts at the oars, pulling for the Leopard. The boat was then out of the trough of the sea, and its progress was much better. Then the Bellevite changed her course again; and it was impossible to determine what she deemed to do, though possibly she was following a crooked channel.
"Leopard, ahoy!" shouted Major Pierson; and he was near enough now to be distinctly heard.
"In the boat!" returned Christy, though he knew the parley could amount to nothing.
"Stop her!" yelled the major.
"Not yet!" replied the acting captain.
"Stop, or I will fire into you!"
"I'm not going to stand here and be shot down!" exclaimed Percy. "My brother doesn't know that I am at the wheel, and I shall be the first one to get hit."
Christy could not blame Percy for not wishing to be shot by the party under his brother's command; and he had no more relish for being shot himself, quite in sight of his father's steamer. But to abandon the helm was to abandon control of the tug, and the major could recover possession of her and of his prisoner within a few minutes.
"Go below, Percy, and put yourself in the fire-room, for you will be safe there," said Christy.
At that moment the crack of a musket was heard, and a bullet crashed through the pine boards of the pilothouse. It was the first evidence of actual war which Christy had seen, and it impressed him strongly.
"It isn't safe for me to show myself," said Percy, as his companion took the wheel from him.
"You must be your own judge of that," replied Christy, as he dropped down on the floor, with the compass in his hand.
"What are you going to do down there?" asked Percy.
"I have no wish to be shot any more than you have. I am going to keep out of sight, and steer the steamer by compass," replied Christy.
"I will steer her if I can keep out of sight," added Percy.
"You can't steer by compass; but you can do something if you are willing," suggested the pilot.
"I am willing to do all that I can; but I don't want my brother to shoot me, as much for his sake as my own. What shall I do?" asked Percy.
"Crawl out of the pilothouse on the port side, where they can't see you from the boat, and then keep watch of all the other steamers. Report to me just where they all are, and what they are doing."
"All right; I will do that," replied Percy, as he obeyed the order.
The boat continued to fire at the pilothouse of the Leopard, and though a shot came uncomfortably near Christy, he stuck to his post; for to leave it was to give up the battle.
"The Bellevite is headed directly towards us," called Percy, outside of the pilothouse. "The other steamers are just as they were."
"All right; keep your eye on them all the time."
"The Bellevite is headed directly towards us," said Captain Pecklar, coming to the top of the ladder on the port side.
"Head her off to the northeast," replied Christy, opening the binnacle.
"So Percy has just reported to me."
"But you will get killed if you stay here," said the captain, with genuine solicitude in his looks and manner.
"But I must stay here all the same," replied Christy, who felt too proud to desert the post of duty because it happened to be the post of danger at the same time.
"But let me take your place, Christy," continued Captain Pecklar, finishing the ascent of the ladder.
"No, no, captain! Don't expose yourself," protested Christy. "It is as safe for me as it will be for you."
"But I have got about to the end of my chapter of life; and there is not more than a year, if there is as much as that, left for me. You are a young fellow, and the pride of your father, I have no doubt; at any rate, you ought to be. Give me that place, and you will be safer in the engine room." Captain Pecklar insisted for some time, but Christy obstinately refused to leave his post.
"Men pulling in the boat with all their might!" shouted Percy.
"I think I can bring their labors to an end," added the captain. "But do you understand what the Bellevite is doing, Christy?"
"She is coming this way; that is all I know."
"She is coming this way because the major has been fool enough to fire on the Leopard. The shooting assures your father that this tug is an enemy."
The captain went below again, leaving Christy to consider his last remark. But he had not been gone five minutes before the report of a cannon shook the hull of the Leopard, and the pilot saw that it was on the forecastle of the tug.
Table of Contents
1 Astounding News from the Shore2 The Brother at the South
3 Dangerous and Somewhat Irregular
4 The First Mission of the Bellevite
5 The Bellevite and Those on Board of Her
6 Mr. Percy Pierson Introduces Himself
7 A Complication at Glenfield
8 A Disconsolate Purchaser of Vessels
9 Christy Matures a Promising Scheme
10 The Attempt to Pass into Mobile Bay
11 The Major in Command of Fort Gaines
12 How the Bellevite Passed Fort Morgan
13 A Decided Difference of Opinion
14 The Blue and the Gray
15 Brother at War with Brother
16 Christy Finds Himself a Prisoner
17 Major Pierson is Puzzled
18 The Morning Trip of the Leopard
19 The Report of the Scout from the Shore
20 A Rebellion in the Pilothouse
21 The Sick Captain of the Leopard
22 The Proceedings on the Lower Deck
23 The Expedition from the Leopard
24 The Engineer Goes into the Forecastle
25 The First Lesson for a Sailor
26 The Post of Duty and of Danger
27 A Cannonball through the Leopard
28 The American Flag at the Fore
29 On Board of the Bellevite
30 Running the Gauntlet Glossary