CHAPTER XVIII.
CONCLUSION.
As soon as the schooner was straightened on her course so that Marcycould manage her with one hand, he came aft and took the wheel.
"Go below and hide that Union flag," said he. "These rebels may not beas easily satisfied this time as they were when we went down, and ifthey send a boat aboard of us I don't want them to find anything. Idon't care to know where you put the flag. All you have to do is to hideit where we can find it again when we want it."
Julius was gone not more than five minutes, and when he returned to takethe wheel Marcy walked forward, carrying in his hand one of the Newbernpapers which he had folded and twisted, newsboy fashion, so that itcould be thrown a considerable distance.
The first thing that attracted his attention, after the _Fairy Belle_passed the foot of the island, was a steamer, whose crew were busyadding to the obstructions that had already been placed in CroatanSound. But there was a wide clear space close under the guns of FortBartow, and into this Julius held his way, passing so near the steamerthat Marcy was able to throw his paper among the crew.
"Newbern," he shouted to the Confederate officer, who flicked up thepaper and waved his thanks. "It isn't a very late one, but it was thebest I could do."
That blockade had been run in safety, but when they reached the head ofthe island Marcy found himself menaced by another danger which he wasafraid could not be so easily passed. One of Commodore Lynch's gunboatswas lying there, and when she saw the schooner approaching, she sent oneof her boats off to intercept her. Marcy's hair began to stand on end.
"What have you done with that Union flag, Julius?" he asked.
"Now, jes' listen at you," replied the boy. "What for you want dat flagnow? It hang you, suah."
"I only wished to be assured that you had it safe," said Marcy, as heran into the cabin to bring up another paper; and when he returned withit, he shook it at the men in the boat and beckoned them to comealongside, Just as if he didn't know that that was what they intended todo. As the small boat came nearer and began to swing broadside to theschooner, Marcy raised his hand and Julius spilled the sails.
"You needn't stop," said the young master's mate, who sat in thestern-sheets. "Throw us a line and we'll tow alongside. Our old man hada little curiosity to know who you are, where you have been, and whereyou belong. Thanks for the paper. What's the news?"
"I didn't get any," replied Marcy. "I saw one Yankee cruiser riding atanchor off the coast, and also saw one blockade-runner come in. Whatsort of a cargo she brought I don't know, for I didn't exchange a wordwith any of her crew."
"What's the matter with your hand?" inquired the master's mate.
"De Yankees done guv him dat hand, sar," said Julius promptly. "Dey doneknock him 'mos dead wid a shell."
"The Yankees!" exclaimed the young rebel. "Are you in the service?"
"I was running the blockade when I was hurt," answered Marcy. "But Iwasn't hit by a shell. I was knocked down by a heavy splinter."
"Pass us down your other flipper," said the officer, standing up in hisboat and extending his hand. "I am glad to meet you. When you get theuse of your arm again come aboard of us. We need men, and I know thecaptain will be glad to take you."
"He got one brother in de navy now," added Julius, who thought thatMarcy wasn't trying half hard enough to make the boat's crew believethat he was loyal to the flag that waved above him.
"Is that so? Then if he comes in himself that will make two, won't it?Well, I will detain you no longer. Come aboard of us if you can, for wethink we are going to see fun here in the course of a few weeks. Good-bytill I see you again. Shove off, for'ard."
"Julius, I am afraid you talk too much," said Marcy, when the boat wasleft out of hearing. "If you don't keep still you may get me intotrouble."
"Look a yere, Marse Marcy," said Julius, "Marse Jack done tol' me itplum time for me to stan' by to tell what's de troof, an' I ain't donenuffin else sence he tol' me dat. De Yankees did guv you dat hand, youdone got one brother in de navy, an' dat's all I tol' dat rebel. Ididn't say you a rebel you'self, kase dat would be a plum lie; an' allde black ones knows it."
At the end of two hours a bend in the shore hid the island and CommodoreLynch's gunboat from view, and as night was drawing on apace, Marcybegan looking around for a suitable spot in which to tie up for thenight. He knew better than to try to pass Plymouth after dark. Thecountersign would be out, and not only would he be obliged to go ashoreto get it, but he would also be compelled to land to _give_ it to everysentry on the bank. That would be a good deal of trouble and might proveto be dangerous as well. It would give the soldiers off duty a chance toboard the schooner, and that was something Marcy did not want them todo. They would go all over her, peeping into every locker and corner,steal everything they could get into their pockets or put under theircoats, and one of them might accidentally find that Union flag. Forthese reasons Marcy thought it best to lie by for the night.
"It will bring us home in broad daylight, Julius, and some of theservants will be sure to see you when you leave the schooner to take meashore," said he. "So the story you made up to tell them about runningaway to the swamp, will have to be changed to something else. It wouldhave to be changed any way, for of course Captain Beardsley saw you whenhe ran by us at the mouth of the inlet."
"I been thinkin' 'bout dat," answered Julius, "an' I going to tellnuffin but de troof. Dat's de bes'. I was stowed away on de schooner,an' you nevah knowed it till you come off in de mawnin' an' cotch me."
Marcy said nothing more, for he did not believe that either of themcould tell a story that would save them from the trouble that CaptainBeardsley would surely try to bring upon himself and his mother. Hewould take Jack's advice and lose no time in seeking an interview withAleck Webster.
Marcy easily found a hiding-place for the night, and bright and earlythe next morning set out to run the last of the blockade--the garrisonat Plymouth. This was accomplished without any trouble at all, the depthof the water permitting Julius to hold so close in that Marcy couldthrow his last Newbern paper ashore. The soldiers scrambled for it as ifit had been a piece of gold, and shouted for him to send off some more;but Marcy could truthfully say that he had no more, the garrison atRoanoke Island having got the others. The Northern papers were tooprecious to be given to rebels. Those were to be saved for his mother.
In due time the _Fairy Belle_ reached the mouth of Seven Mile Creek, thesails were hauled down, and Julius, with such slim aid as Marcy couldgive him with one hand, began the work of towing her to her moorings. Ittook them two hours to do this. When Marcy had seen her made fast to herbuoy he did not get out of the skiff, but sent Julius aboard theschooner with instructions to put both the flags and the Northern papersinto his valise and hand it over the side. To his great surprise therewas not even a pickaninny on the bank to say, "Howdy, Marse Marcy?" andhe usually found them out in full force whenever he returned from hissailing trips. Presently Julius got into the skiff to row him ashore,and followed him to the house carrying the valise in his hand; but evenwhen they passed through the gate they did not see a person about thepremises, nor a dog, neither. Bose seemed to have "holed up" the same asthe rest. The doors and windows were wide open, but where were the houseservants that they were not singing at their work? Marcy did not knowwhat to make of it, and Julius gave it as his opinion that somethingdone been going wrong on the plantation.
"I believe you and Jack, between you, have frightened everybody off theplace," declared Marcy, little dreaming how near he came to the truthwhen he said it. "But we'll soon know all about it, for here's mother."
He ran lightly up the steps to greet her as she appeared at the door,but stopped short when he reached the gallery, for he saw that hismother was as solemn as her surroundings. She tried to call a cheerfulsmile to her face, but the effort was a sad failure.
"What in the world is the matter here?" demanded Marcy, as
soon as hecould speak. "Have the hands all run away? Where is everybody? Why isthe place so quiet?"
"Oh, Marcy!" exclaimed Mrs. Gray, motioning to Julius to take the valiseinto the house, "such a strange thing has happened since you went away.Hanson has disappeared as completely as though he had never been on theplace at all."
"Good enough," cried Marcy, giving his mother a bear-like hug with hisone strong arm. "Now we shall be free from his--eh? You don't mean tosay you are sorry he has gone, do you?"
"I don't know whether I am or not," was the astounding reply. "If he hadleft of his own free will I should be glad, I assure you; but the mannerof his going frightens me."
"The manner?" repeated Marcy, who was all in the dark.
"Yes. The night after you went away, some of the field hands wereawakened by an unusual noise and went to the door of their cabins to seea party of fifteen or twenty masked men making off, with Hanson boundand gagged in the midst of them. They were so badly frightenedthat--Marcy," exclaimed Mrs. Gray, holding the boy off at arm's lengthand looking searchingly into his face, "do you know anything about it?Is Jack at the bottom of this strange affair?"
These last words were called forth by the exclamation of surprise anddelight that Marcy uttered when the truth of the whole matter flashedsuddenly upon him. The absent Jack had told him that the morning wascoming when his mother would not hear the field hands called to workbecause there would be no one to call them, and his prediction had beenverified. Aleck Webster was true blue, the Union men who held secretmeetings in the swamp could be depended on to hold their rebel neighborsin check, and Marcy Gray could hardly refrain from dancing with delightat the thought of it.
"Come in and I will tell you all I know about it," said he, throwing hisarm about his mother's waist and leading her into the hall. "You needn'tworry. Every one of the men who came here that night were your friendsand mine, and they----"
"But who were they?" asked Mrs. Gray.
"It is probable that one of them sailed with Jack when he was on the_West Wind;_ but who the others were I don't know, and it isn't at alllikely that I shall ever find out," replied Marcy. "Not in thedining-room, please, because there's a stove-pipe hole in the ceilingthat leads into a room upstairs. Oh, it's a fact," he added with alaugh, when his mother stopped and looked at him. "A certain person,whose name I shall presently give you, listened at that pipe-hole timeand again, and took messages straight to Hanson. But you'll not blamehim when you hear my story. Let's go into the back parlor. By the way,did you find your breastpin?"
His mother said in reply, that she had neither seen nor heard of itsince the day it was stolen.
"Well I've got it safe and sound," continued Marcy; and then he settledback in his chair and repeated, almost word for word, the story sailorJack had told him the night before he left for the blockading fleet. Hetold how Julius had taken the pin in the first place, how the overseerhad worked upon his fears to compel him to give it up, and how he hadused the power which the possession of the stolen pin enabled him toexercise over the timid black boy. Then he described how sailor Jack andhis "Enchanted Goblet" appeared upon the scene; and from that he glidedinto the history of Jack's acquaintance with Aleck Webster, and theinterviews he had held with him at the post-office. But there were twothings he did not touch upon--the meeting with Captain Beardsley atCrooked Inlet, and sailor Jack's fears that the Confederate authoritiesmight interest themselves in the matter if they learned, through any ofher "secret enemies," that Mrs. Gray kept money concealed in the house.His mother was profoundly astonished, and when Marcy finished his storyshe did not know whether to be glad or frightened. The boy thought, fromthe expression of her countenance, that he had added to her fears.
"You don't act as if you were pleased a bit," said he dolefully. "Areyou not glad to know that I can stay at home now? Beardsley has got toquit business, and of course he can't make any more excuses to take meaway from you. He never did need a pilot, the old rascal. When he readsthe warning letter that is waiting for him in Newbern, he'll fill awayfor home without the loss of a moment."
"Of course I am glad that you will not be obliged to go to sea anymore," said Mrs. Gray. "But I don't want those Union men to destroyCaptain Beardsley's property. When you see this man Webster I hope youwill say as much to him."
"If it's all the same to you, mother, I'll wait and see how Beardsleyconducts himself," answered Marcy, who did not like the idea of tryingto protect a man who had done all he could to annoy his mother. "If helets us alone, we'll let him alone; but if he bothers us, he had betterlook out. When he finds out what those Union men did to Hanson, I thinkhe will haul in his horns. I wonder if Shelby and Dillon know it?"
"That's another strange thing that happened while you were absent, and Idid not know what to make of it," replied Mrs. Gray. "Of course thestory of the overseer's abduction spread like wild-fire, and I know itmust have reached the village, for the very next afternoon Mr. and Mrs.Shelby rode out to visit me; and that is something they have not donebefore since these troubles began."
"Aha!" said Marcy, in a significant tone. "They began to see that youwere not so helpless as they thought you were, and that it might be totheir interest to make friends with you."
"That is what I think now that I have heard your story," replied hismother, "but I did not know what to think at the time they made theirvisit. I am sorry that I was not more courteous to them, but they wereso _very_ cordial and friendly themselves that it made me suspicious ofthem."
"That was perfectly right," said Marcy approvingly. "You did well tostand on the defensive. Don't let them fool you with any of theirspecious talk. They're treacherous as Indians, and would burn your houseover your head to-morrow, if they were not afraid."
"Oh, I hope they are not as bad as that. What do you think these Unionmen did with the overseer? They didn't--didn't----"
"Kill him as they ought to have done?" exclaimed Marcy, when his motherhesitated. "No, I don't think they did; and neither can I guess whatthey did with him. But Jack said, in effect, that after he was takenaway he would not bother us again for a long while. Did Shelby ask afterJack and me?"
"He did; and I told him that you had gone off in the _Fairy Belle._ Mrs.Shelby hinted that Jack might be on his way to Newbern to join the navy,and I did not think it worth while to deny it. It seems Jack told youngAllison that if you rode into Nashville alone some fine morning, Allisonmight know that Jack was aboard a gunboat. Of course Mrs. Shelby thoughthe meant a rebel gunboat."
"Don't you believe it," said Marcy earnestly. "She knew better than thatand so did Allison. Did the hands seem to be very badly frightened overHanson's disappearance?"
"There never was such a commotion on this plantation before," answeredMrs. Gray. "According to the coachman's story, Jack predicted that'white things' would some night appear in the quarter and carry Hansonaway with them; and although the abductors were not dressed in white,the fact that they came and did just what Jack said they would do wasterrifying to the minds of the superstitious blacks. I wish Jack wouldnot tell them such ridiculous tales."
"He'll not be likely to tell them any more for some days to come,"replied Marcy. "But there was nothing ridiculous about his last story.It was business, and I think that villain Hanson found it so. Now, ifyou will come up to my room and stitch my Union flag into the quiltwhere it belongs, I will hand over your breastpin."
When this had been done, Marcy strolled out to the barn to tell Morristo saddle his horse, and to see what the old fellow thought of thesituation. Just as he stepped off the gallery he heard a piercingshriek, and hastened around the corner of the house to find the boyJulius struggling in the grasp of the coachman, who flourished thecarriage whip over his head.
"What are you about, there?" demanded Marcy.
"He going whop me kase I say Marse Jack in de navy," yelled Julius."Turn me loose, you fool niggah."
"No, I ain't going whop him for dat, but for lying," said Morris,releasing his captive with the gr
eatest reluctance, and with difficultyrestraining his desire to give him a cut around the legs as he ran away."He say Marse Jack gone on a _rebel_ boat, an' I know in reason datain't so."
"You won't get nuffin mo' outen Julius if you whop him till he plumdead," shouted the black boy, who had taken refuge behind Marcy and washolding fast to him with both hands. "I reckon I know whar Marse Jackgone, kase I was dar."
"Go into the house, Julius. You will be safe there; and, besides, yourmistress wants to see you. Put the saddle on Fanny, Morris, and I willride to Nashville. Where's the overseer?"
"Oh, Marse Marcy, we black ones so glad you done come back," exclaimedthe coachman, throwing his whip and hat on the ground, and shaking theboy's hand with both his Own. "We safe now. Nobody won't come to dequarter and tote folks away to de swamp when you around."
"Who did it?" asked Marcy.
Morris laughed as he had not laughed before since Marcy went away. "Nowlisten at you," said he. "How you reckon a pore niggah know who done it?Everybody afraid of de niggahs now-days; everybody 'cepting de Unionfolks. Going get 'nother oberseer, Marse Marcy?"
"Yes. I think I shall take the place myself."
"Dar now," said Morris, with a delighted grin. "Dem niggahs wukdemselves to death for you. Now you go in de house an' tell your mawwhar you going, an' I bring de hoss an' holp you in de saddle."
Marcy good-naturedly complied, and hearing voices coming from thedining-room he went in there, and found Julius listening to a lecturefrom Mrs. Gray on the sinfulness of stealing. But Julius defendedhimself with spirit, and declared that for once his habit of picking upany little articles he found lying around loose had been productive ofgood to every member of the family.
"When I put dat pin in my pocket, missus, I know I ain't goin' to stealit," he protested, with so much earnestness and with such an appearanceof sincerity that almost anybody except Mrs. Gray would have believedhim. "I don't do no stealin'. I jes' want to look at de pin, an' I goin'put it back when I get done lookin' at it. But de oberseer he done tookit away from me, an' dat's de way you find out what sort of a man he is.No, missus; I don't steal. I always tell de troof."
Marcy Gray did not ride to Nashville with any hope of meeting AleckWebster that day, and consequently he was most agreeably surprised whenhe saw him standing on the steps of the post-office. He did not look oract like a man who had been engaged in any underhand business, andneither did Colonel Shelby, who hastened down the steps and came acrossthe road to the hitching-rack to help Marcy off his horse.
"So glad to see you safe back," was the way in which he greeted the boy."Your brother said that if you came down here without him some day wemight know he was in the navy; so I suppose that is where he is. Hedidn't waste much time in going, did he? What's the news from Newbern?"
Marcy cut his replies as short as he could without being rude, and wentinto the office to look at his mother's box, which had been emptied bythe coachman half a dozen hours before. He exchanged a very slight nodand a wink with Aleck Webster as he passed him, and the latter, whoseemed to know just what he meant by the pantomime, mounted his horsewhen no one but Marcy was watching him and went down the road towardMrs. Gray's plantation. There were plenty of loungers in the office,young Allison, of course, being one of the most talkative ones amongthem, and although they seemed to know where Jack was, they could notimagine what had become of Hanson.
"I tell you honestly, Marcy, that if it hadn't been for that Confederateflag in your mother's dining-room, we should have laid his abduction atyour door," said Allison. "But the flag proves that you are all right;and, besides, you couldn't have had a hand in it, for you were on yourway to Newbern when it happened. It opened our eyes to the fact thatthere are traitors among us, and that we must be careful who we talkto."
"Traitors," repeated Marcy. "I don't know what you are trying to get at.Hanson told me with his own lips that he was a Union man. Kelsey told methe same, and brought word to the house that Colonel Shelby and Mr.Dillon wanted Hanson discharged; but I sent back word that if theywanted the overseer run off the place they could come up and do the workthemselves, for I would have no hand in it. I don't want to get myneighbors down on me if I can help it. If Hanson was a Union man, as heprofessed to be (and I don't know whether he was or not, for I would nottalk politics with him), it was Confederates living right around herewho came to the quarter and took him away."
Marcy saw by the astonished look that came to Allison's face that allthis was news to him, and this made it plain that he was not in ColonelShelby's "ring." He backed up against one of the counters and glancedaround at his companions, but had not another word to say. The time camewhen he was admitted into the "ring," and showed himself to be one ofthe most active and aggressive ones in it. To keep up appearances Marcybought a paper, took another look at his mother's box and left theoffice; and as no one went with him to help him on his horse, he led heralongside the fence and mounted without assistance. A mile and a halffrom Nashville the road followed the windings of a little creek whosebanks were thickly wooded. As he drew near this point he dropped thereins upon his horse's neck and pulled his paper from his pocket--notwith any intention of reading it, but to be in readiness to answer AleckWebster's hail when he heard it. It came before he had ridden twentyyards farther. The man had hidden his horse in the bushes, and now stoodin the edge of them within easy speaking distance, but out of sight ofany one who might be watching Marcy Gray.
"You are Mr. Jack's brother, ain't you?" said he, as Marcy stopped hishorse and fastened his eyes upon the paper he held in his hand. "Ithought so; and I want to know if you are satisfied, by what we didwhile you were gone, that we will do to trust."
"We are more than satisfied," replied Marcy. "We'll never forget you forit. What did you do with him?"
"Turned him loose with orders never to show his face in the settlementagain. We wanted to take him off to the fleet; but of course wecouldn't, for he wasn't in the rebel service. Shelby was sort of civilto you, wasn't he? Well, he got a letter, same as Beardsley did, or willwhen he gets to Newbern----"
"He's in Newbern now," interrupted Marcy, still keeping his gazefastened upon the paper. "We passed him at Crooked Inlet just as we weregoing out. That frightened Jack, and he told me to lose no time intelling you of it."
"That's all right; but Beardsley will not trouble you. We've writtenletters to him and Shelby and all the rest telling them that if theydon't stop persecuting Union folks we'll burn everything they've got;and if that don't quieten them, we'll hang the last one of them to theplates of their own galleries. Go home and sleep soundly. We'll takecare of you. Where did you leave Mr. Jack?"
Marcy gave a brief history of his run to the blockading fleet and back,told how very badly frightened his mother's servants were when they sawthe overseer carried away by armed men, and how the circumstance hadaffected some of the "secret enemies" of whom they stood so much infear; hinted very plainly that if at any time Aleck or any of hisfriends found themselves in need of bacon, meal, or money, they couldhave their wants supplied at his mother's house, and wound up by urginghim to keep a sharp eye on Captain Beardsley.
"I don't think he will ever trouble you," was Aleck's reply. "At anyrate, he will never make you go to sea again against your will. But ifanything does happen to you after the warning we have given him, we'llblame him for it, whether he is guilty or not, and some night you willsee his buildings going up in smoke. Is there any one on the road whowill be likely to see me if I come out? Well, then, good-bye."
Marcy put his paper into his pocket and rode away with a light heart,little dreaming how soon the time would come when another of sailorJack's predictions would be partly fulfilled, and he, the well-fed MarcyGray, standing sorely in need of some of the bacon and meal he hadpromised Aleck and his friends, would steal up to his mother's houselike a thief in the night to get them, starting at every sound, andkeeping clear of every shadow he saw in his path for fear that it mightbe an armed man lying in wait to captu
re him. But that time came. It istrue that Captain Beardsley and his friends did not do anything againsthim openly (they were afraid to do that), but they worked against him insecret and to such purpose that Marcy Gray, forced to become a fugitivefrom his home, was glad to take up his abode for a while with the Unionmen who lived in the swamp. How this unfortunate state of affairs wasbrought about, what young Allison did after he became a member of the"ring," and how Captain Beardsley, Colonel Shelby, and the rest paid thepenalty of their double dealing, shall be told in the next volume ofthis series of books, which will be entitled, "MARCY, THE REFUGEE."
THE END.
The
Famous
Castlemon
Books.
BY
Harry Castlemon.