CHAPTER XII.
HOME AGAIN.
Marcy Gray waited until the boat drew a little nearer, and then lookedagain. There could be no mistake about it. The man in the stern-sheetswith the coxswain was Aleck Webster, the one who had promised to have aneye on Marcy and his mother while Jack was at sea, and those whocomposed his party were men whom Marcy met at the post-office almost asoften as he went there. If they were coming off to enlist, as Marcythought they were, wouldn't that break up the band who held meetings inthe swamp? And if that band should be broken up, who would there be tostand between his mother and the wrath of Captain Beardsley? Thesequestions and others like them passed through the boy's mind, as he camedown from the bridge and stepped to the gangway to meet Aleck and hisfriends when they came on board. Aleck was the first to get out of theboat and mount the ladder, and when he reached the top, where theofficer of the deck was standing, he touched his hat and said:
"We want to ship, sir."
"Very good," was the answer. "Stand to one side, and some one will talkto you presently."
This gave Marcy the opportunity he wanted to speak to Aleck. He moved tohis side at once, and was surprised to hear Aleck say, as if he hadexpected to find him there:
"I was little in hopes I should have a chance to say good-by to you,sir. Where's old man Beardsley, and have you seen anything of Mr.Jack?"
"Did you know I was here?" asked Marcy.
"I knew you were in the fleet, of course, for the darkies told us aboutthe Yankees coming ashore and taking you and Beardsley away to act aspilots," replied Aleck. "But I didn't know you were serving on thisship, if that is what you mean. Yes; we're going now where we can fightfor our principles. We are tired of living in the woods."
"But who will protect the Union families if you go away?" said Marcy.
"They'll not need any one to protect them now," answered Aleck. "Italked to some of the soldiers on shore, and they told me they were hereto stay; and as long as they do stay, Beardsley and Shelby and among 'emwill keep as still as mice. They won't dare to do or say anything to youwhile there is Union cavalry scouting around through the settlementevery day or two. We left thirteen men in the swamp; and whether or notthey will come out and show themselves as Union men, depends on the waythings look after the fleet goes away."
Marcy was on the point of telling Aleck that Beardsley had been placedin irons by Captain Benton, who was master of the _Mary Hollins_ at thetime she was captured by the _Osprey_, but before he could open his lipsa messenger boy came up and told him that the captain wished to see himin the cabin. Marcy went, and found the captain seated at his tableholding a pen in one hand and something that looked like a blank sheetof paper in the other.
"Sit down," said he, pointing to a chair. "I suppose we are as near toyour home as we shall go; and as we are about to start for Newbern,where you will not be of much service to us as a pilot, I propose togive you your release unless you have made up your mind to stay with us.I should be glad to have you do it, and will advance your interests inevery way I can."
"But what would my mother do without me?" asked Marcy.
"I assure you I have not forgotten her, and so I do not urge you toremain," replied the captain. "Now, how can you get home in the easiestway?"
"By boat, if I had one."
"You can have three or four if you want that many. You know that we havecaptured every sort of craft we could find along the shore, and you cantake your pick of any of those on deck. I don't know that this will beof any use to you," said the captain, shaking the sheet of paper he heldin his hand, "but I think it would be a good plan for you to take italong, for there is no telling what may happen. You don't think there isanything on it, do you? Well, there is, and it is the strongest letterof recommendation I know how to write. We are going to leave garrisonsscattered all through this region, and if at any time you find yourselfin trouble with them, tell the first officer you can find to hold thispaper before a hot fire and read the words the heat will bring out. Theletter is written with sympathetic ink, and you don't want to use ituntil you have to, because, after the characters have once been broughtout, there is no way that I know of to make them invisible again. I amdeeply indebted to you, and wish there was some way in which I couldserve you."
It made Marcy sad to have the captain talk to him in this way. Althoughhe was impatient to get home, he did not like to take leave of the newfriends he had made on board that ship, for the probabilities were thathe would never see them again. After thinking a moment he replied thathe did not know of anyway in which the captain could favor him, unlessit was by taking a brotherly interest in Aleck Webster and his friends,who had come off to his ship for the purpose of enlisting.
"They are on deck now," said Marcy, in conclusion, "and I was sorry tosee them come aboard. Of course they have a right to do as they please,but I had somehow got it into my head that they would stay on shore toprotect those of us who are unable to protect ourselves. But Aleckthinks we do not need any one to protect us now that all these capturedpoints are to be held by the Union forces."
"And that is what I think," replied the captain. "The commanding officerat Plymouth will not stand by and let your rebel neighbors impose onyou. If they don't behave themselves, report them; that's all you've gotto do."
"But you don't know how sly they are, and how hard it is to proveanything against them. The commodore as good as said that CaptainBeardsley would be released."
"Of course; and Burnside probably released him at the time he paroledthe prisoners we captured on the Island. When you get home you willprobably find him there, but I don't think you have anything to fearfrom him. There's your letter, and here are a few copies of a jointproclamation by Burnside and Goldsborough, which I am instructed toscatter wherever I go," said the captain, placing a good-sized packagein Marcy's hand and rising from his seat as he spoke. "Take them along,and put them where you think they will do the most good. I suppose thefolks ashore think we are outlaws of the worst description."
Marcy replied that that was about the idea the people in his settlementhad of Yankees, and added that he did not believe that a single articleof value could be found in a plantation house within a circle of tenmiles of Plymouth, everything that was worth stealing having beencarried away and concealed in the swamps.
"Well, when you meet people of that sort, call their attention to thelast paragraph of that proclamation," said the captain. "Now, we shallhave to say good-by, for I expect to drop down the river in a fewminutes."
"And you'll not forget to look out for Jack and Aleck?" said Marcy. "Youknow Aleck is the man who saved me from choking. And I can have my flagback, I suppose?"
"I'll have Webster sworn in this very night, and when I see the captainof the _Lane_ I will tell him what I know about Jack Gray, and will saythat his brother did me good service while the fleet was in Croatan andAlbemarle sounds. The quartermaster will return your flag at once."
Marcy went into the state room that he had used as his own since he hadbeen on board the ship, and when he came out he brought his valise, inwhich he had stowed the package the captain had intrusted to his care.The flag with which his Harrington girl presented him, and which hadwaved triumphant during three hard battles and several sharp skirmishes,was promptly handed out by the quartermaster on watch, and then Marcyfollowed the captain to the waist, to pick out the skiff that was totake him to his home. As his wounded arm was not yet in a serviceablecondition, he selected a boat with a square stern, that could be sculledwith one oar. After it had been put into the water, and the countersign,"Roanoke," had been whispered in his ear, Marcy shook hands all around,not forgetting Aleck Webster and the other Union men among the rest, andpushed off into the darkness. The current was strong, and Marcy huggedthe bank to keep out of it as much as he could, and by so doing broughthimself to the notice of half a dozen sentries who compelled him to comeashore with the countersign. Of course this was a bother, and theprogress he made with his one-handed sculling
was slow and laborious;but it was safer than following a lonely road and running the risk offalling in with some of those rebel soldiers whom General Burnside hadsent to their homes. Marcy told himself that that was about the worstthing that could have happened to him. He was afraid that these paroledprisoners would be pliant tools in the hands of Captain Beardsley, andthey were so numerous that the thirteen Union men, who were all therewere left of the band that had rescued him and his mother from the powerof the robbers, could not hold their own against them.
"Things will be worse now than they ever were before," thought Marcy, ashe sculled his boat out of the river into Seven Mile Creek, and sat downto take a much-needed rest and eat a portion of the lunch that CaptainBenton's steward had put up for him. "Beardsley will be more vindictivethan ever, because I did not say a word for him when Captain Benton puthim in irons, and if the truth will not answer his purpose, he'll notscruple to lie about me. He'll try his best to force me into the army sothat he can have a clear field for his operations, but I'll tell youwhat's a fact, I'll not go," said Marcy hotly. "Jack declared that hewould take to the swamp before he would fight for the Confederacy, andwhy shouldn't I do the same? I will. I'll become a refugee rather thanshoot at the flag my brother is sailing under. Refugee: one who fleesfor refuge or safety. That's me, as Dick Graham used to say. I'll seeksafety among the Union men who spend the most of their time in thewoods. It's my opinion that from now on they will have to spend alltheir time there, for I don't believe that the prisoners Burnsidereleased will leave any houses for them to go into. Mother's will haveto go with the rest."
Marcy had often made the trip from his mother's house to Plymouth andback in a rowboat, and if he thought it hard when he had two hands touse, it was doubly tedious and discouraging now that he had only one,and nothing but the most gloomy thoughts for company. He had almost madeup his mind that he would camp on the bank for the rest of the night andwalk home in the morning, when he was startled by hearing a low,familiar whistle, something like the chirp of a cricket, a shortdistance away. He listened until the sound was repeated, and then calledout, in a husky voice:
"Julius!"
"Hi ya!" came the answer through the darkness; and Marcy thought he hadnever heard anything half so melodious as the black boy's laugh. "I donetol' dat fool niggah he didn't know nuffin, but he won't listen toJulius. Eberybody take Julius for a plum dunce; but I done fine you,Marse Mahcy, an' dere's dat Morris----"
"Where are you?" interrupted the boy. "Come here and tell me what youmean, and what brought you here so far from home."
"Nuffin didn't brung me hyar; I jes done come," replied Julius; and aslight splashing in the water indicated that he was in a boat, and thathe was pushing off from the bank in the direction from which Marcy'svoice sounded. "Dat fool Morris, he take de mu-el an' de filly an' donegone to Nashville lookin' for you; but I know you aint gwine come homedat a way fru all dem rebel soldiers, an' so I come hyar."
"And very glad I am to see you," answered Marcy, laying hold of the sideof the dugout that just then bumped against his skiff. "You came here tomeet me while Morris went to Nashville with my horse. How did you know Iwas coming home to-night?"
"Well, de missus say you boun' to come mighty soon, now dat de Yankeesdone cotch Plymouth, an' so I come hyar," replied Julius. "Howdy, MarseMahcy!"
The latter replied that he felt pretty well but hungry, although he hadjust finished a hearty lunch. Julius had been thoughtful enough toprovide for that, and straightway produced a basket whose contents wouldhave withstood the assaults of two or three boys with appetites sharperthan his own; and while he ate, Marcy asked a good many leadingquestions, in the hope of inducing his close-mouthed black friend totell him just how things had been going at home during his absence. Helearned that Captain Beardsley had returned in company with some of theprisoners who had been paroled at the Island, but so far as Julius knewhe had not set any new plans afloat against Marcy and his mother.Perhaps he did not think it would be safe to do so until things became alittle more settled, for among those who had been captured at Roanokewere many who were very bitter against the Confederate government, andwho declared that they would fight before they would go into the armyagain. Some of the soldiers had stopped at the house to ask forsomething to eat; but others had marched by shaking their fists andyelling derisively. Marcy's heart sank when he heard that, for it provedthat he had not been mistaken as to the course Captain Beardsley wouldpursue when the Federals permitted him to return to his home.Undoubtedly he had told all he knew about Mrs. Gray and her two sons,and it would have been just like him if he had urged the defeated andenraged Confederates to take satisfaction out of all the Union peoplethey could find, since they had failed to beat those who had confrontedthem in battle. Indeed, that was what Beardsley did; and Marcy afterwardfound out why his scheme did not work.
Having taken the sharp edge off his appetite, Marcy told Julius to makethe skiff's painter fast to the stern of his dugout and go ahead; andthe sooner he reached home the better he would like it. He found it mucheasier to lie at full length on the bottom of his boat, and allow Juliusto tow him, than it was to work his way against a strong current withone hand--so very much easier, in fact, that he dropped asleep andslumbered until the bow of the skiff touched the landing abreast of thebuoy to which his little schooner was moored. The sight of her recalledto mind the last conversation he had held with Captain Benton.
"I am afraid we shall have to look up a new berth for the _Fairy Belle_"said he. "It may not be safe for her to stay here any longer, becausethe Yankees are taking possession of everything in the shape of a boatthat they can get their hands on."
"What for dey do dat?" exclaimed Julius. "De boats aint agin de Union."
"They have been made to do service against the Union," answered Marcy,"and they can be used to carry dispatches from one side of the river tothe other."
"Well, den, luf dem go down an' bus' up Cap'n Beardsley's schooner,"exclaimed Julius. "She wuk agin de Union when she run de blockade."
"I know that; and I had half a notion to put Captain Benton on the trackof her," said Marcy, who knew very well that he had no intention ofdoing anything of the kind. "That is the way he would serve me if he hada good chance. Pick up my valise and come along."
When Marcy went through the gate he missed his faithful Bose, who hadalways been the first to welcome him; but some of the house servantswere stirring, and these greeted him as though they had never expectedto see him again. They knew where he had been and what he had beendoing, and had thought of and prayed for him as often as they heard theroar of the big guns, which the breeze now and then brought faintly totheir ears. They made such a fuss over him that Marcy was saved thetrouble of awaking his mother, whom he found waiting for him in thesitting-room.
"You told me that when I came home you wanted me to be able to say thatI did my duty," said the young pilot, as his mother laid her head on hisshoulder and cried softly. "I can honestly say it, and I have a letterin my pocket from Captain Benton that will bear me out in it."
"I am sorry you brought it with you," said Mrs. Gray. "The country isoverrun with Confederate soldiers, and from the way some of them behaveI am led to believe that they know all about us."
"I'll bet they do," said Marcy bitterly. "You know, of course, thatBeardsley was carried away the same night and for the same purpose Iwas? Well, the Yankees did not call upon him to act as pilot, but puthim in irons at once; and I am sorry to say that he was paroled at thetime the other prisoners were. But you need not worry about my letter,as I shall presently show you. Sit down, and tell me what you have doneto kill time since I have been gone."
To his relief Marcy found that Julius had told the truth for once in hislife, and that his mother had had nothing beyond his absence to troubleher, if we except the demonstrations that some of the paroled prisonersmade while they were going by the house. They had not annoyed her bycoming into the yard, as they might have done if their officers had notbeen along
to restrain them, but they had whooped and yelled andthreatened in a way that was enough to frighten anybody. She said thatthe excitement and alarm that took possession of the people when thenews came that Roanoke Island was in the hands of the invading forces,was something she would remember as long as she lived. The news musthave reached Nashville and Plymouth on the night of the surrender, forat daylight the next morning the road in front of the house was filledwith fugitives who were making all haste to carry their property out ofharm's way. If a body of Yankee cavalry had suddenly appeared at theirheels it would scarcely have caused a flutter among them, for they werepanic-stricken already.
"The world is full of fools," exclaimed Marcy, undoing the string thatheld together the bundle of proclamations that Captain Benton had givenhim, "and the biggest ones I ever heard of live right around here.Didn't they ask you why you didn't pack up and run, too?"
"They did; and my reply was, that I had a son who had been impressedinto the Union service; that if I went away he would not know where tolook for me, and that I intended remaining in my home until hereturned," said Mrs. Gray.
"Good for you, mother!" exclaimed Marcy. "You'll do. Of course, the lastone of them was suspicious of you, but you couldn't help that. Now, hereare some copies of a proclamation that Captain Benton gave me, with therequest that I would spread them around where they would do the mostgood. He wished me to call particular attention to the last paragraph,and now I will see how it reads."
Seating himself by his mother's side, with a copy of the proclamation inhis hand, Marcy proceeded to read it aloud. After referring to thedesolating war, that had been brought on by comparatively few bad men,the last paragraph went on to say:
"These men are your worst enemies. They, in truth, have drawn you into your present condition, and are the real disturbers of your peace and the happiness of your firesides. We invite you, in the name of the Constitution, and in that of virtuous loyalty and civilization, to separate yourselves at once from their malign influence, to return to your allegiance, and not compel us to resort farther to the force under our control. The government asks only that its authority may be recognized; and we repeat that in no manner or way does it desire to interfere with your laws, constitutionally established; your institutions, of any kind whatever; your property, of any sort; or your usages, in any respect.
"That was what Mr. Watkins told you on the night he took me away," saidMarcy, when he had finished reading the proclamation. "He said that theSouth could end the war by laying down their arms, and General Burnsideand Commodore Goldsborough say the same."
"But, my son, that is not what the secession leaders want," said Mrs.Gray. "They demand a separate government, and say they will not returnto their allegiance."
"They'll have to do it, and, when they go back, they'll not take slaverywith them. Mark my words. The time is coming when the darkies will be asfree as we are; and I wish that time might come to-morrow, if it wouldonly bring peace upon the land once more. I sometimes think, and hope,that I am having a horrid dream, and that I will wake up in the morningto find everything as it was before. Now, don't cry, mother. I'll nottalk so any more. There's my flag as sound as it was when I took itaway; but it has been in battle-smoke so thick that you couldn't see itfrom the deck. I must hoist Dick Graham's next, but not until it canfloat in a breeze that is untainted by any secession rag. That was thepromise I made him when he gave me the flag, instead of turning it overto Rodney, who wanted to destroy it. Can't we have breakfast a littleearlier, so that I can go to town?"
"You can have breakfast whenever you want it; but, Marcy, I am almostafraid to have you go to town," replied his mother.
"If I thought I would be in any more danger there than I am at home Iwouldn't stir one step," said the boy. "I don't think it would be policyfor me to keep away from those paroled prisoners, but that it would besafest for me to go among them as Captain Beardsley does. Besides, Iwant to hear what sort of stories that old villain has been tellingabout me since he came back. Now, where would be a good place to putCaptain Benton's letter? We are liable to receive a visit from the Unioncavalry any day, and the letter ought to be kept handy."
In accordance with Marcy's request breakfast was served as soon as itcould be made ready, and during the progress of the meal Marcyentertained his mother with a glowing description of the variousengagements through which he had passed on Captain Benton's vessel.Contrary to his expectations, he said, he did not feel frightened whenhe went into the first fight at the Island, and no doubt the reason wasbecause he had so many things to occupy his mind; but after that he grewpale and trembled every time he heard the call to quarters, for he had afaint idea of what was before him. And the oftener he was under fire themore he dreaded the thought of going into action. His experience waslike that of every soldier in this land; and when we say _soldier_ we donot mean _coffee-cooler_.
Mrs. Gray became alarmed when Marcy told her how Captain Beardsley hadbeen put in irons by the man who had once been his prisoner, for she waswell enough acquainted with the captain to know that he would berevenged upon somebody for it. When he had eaten all the breakfast hewanted, Marcy mounted his mother's horse, that had been brought to thedoor in place of his filly which old Morris had taken to Nashville, andgalloped out of the yard. The first man he saw was Beardsley, standingby the ruins of his house. The man looked up when he heard the sound ofhoofs on the road, and when he discovered Marcy he beckoned him to comein.
"I've just thought of something," said the boy to himself, as he turnedinto the gate. "This villain is going to play off friendly, and I can'twatch him any too closely. When the Yanks get to scouting through here,he will be the best Union man in the world; and who knows but he willsend them to our house after Jack's rebel flag? That flag must come downthe minute I get home."
Then he rode up and shook hands with Captain Beardsley, who acted as ifhe was glad to see him.