CHAPTER VIII.
ADVENTURES ASHORE.
For some minutes the _Minnesota's_ men were kept in harrowinguncertainty as the _Merrimac_ hung off to mid-stream, apparentlyundecided as to what to do next. Then, to their unspeakable relief,she swung round, and turning her prow towards Norfolk, moved heavilyaway. She, too, like the _Monitor_, had had her fill of fighting forthat day.
At sight of this Terry tossed his cap in the air, and began an Irishjig on the fore-deck, crying,--
"Be off with you now. Sure, you've done mischief enough this blessedday. It's mighty glad I'd be never to see a sight of you again."
As it turned out he had his wish granted, for when the withdrawal ofthe ironclad became known at Fortress Monroe, two of the gunboats inrefuge there ventured out, and, attaching themselves to the strandedship, succeeded with great difficulty, and the aid of a flood-tide, ingetting her afloat again, and towing her down-stream to safe quartersunder the guns of the fort.
The following morning both Terry and Captain Afleck were able to getashore; and, rejoiced at regaining their liberty, they at once setabout ascertaining how they might make their way back to Boston.
This was a problem by no means easily solved. They were both pennilessand without friends, save such as they had made during their brief butexciting stay on board the _Minnesota_. Under other circumstances, nodoubt, the captain of the frigate, as some reparation for running downthe _Sea-Slipper_, would have exerted himself to send them forward; buthe, poor fellow, had been severely wounded in the fighting, and theother officers were too deeply engrossed in the pressing duties of themoment to give any attention to less important matters.
It was in this crisis that Terry's really daring and devoted servicesto the wounded during the thick of the battle brought forth fruit. Hewas wandering disconsolately about the beach at Fortress Monroe,wondering how he could make his way back to Halifax and set himselfright at Drummond and Brown's, when one of the _Minnesota's_lieutenants came along, and hailed him pleasantly,--
"Where away, Terry? You look kind of down on your luck this morning."
"Indeed that I am, sir," responded Terry promptly. "I've just beenaxin' myself how I'm to get back to Halifax, and faith I can't make itout at all, at all."
"Oh, you want to get back to Halifax, do you?" said the lieutenant."Well, I can't say about that, but it's only fair you should be sentback to Boston, for you would have been there long ago if we hadn't runyou down, wouldn't you?"
"It's the truth you're sayin', sir!" answered Terry; "and," here aneager appealing look came into his face, "if you can say a word to thecaptain, sir, and have Captain Afleck and myself given a lift that way,it's more obliged than I can tell you we'd both be."
The lieutenant evidently took kindly to the suggestion, and clappingthe boy on the back, he said,--
"I'll do it, Terry. You did us all a good turn on board the_Minnesota_ by taking water round when nobody could attend to it. Ourcaptain's in hospital, but I'll speak to the officer in command in hisplace, and he'll do the square thing, I'm sure."
The lieutenant was as good as his word. He took considerable pains topress the matter, with the result that on the following day CaptainAfleck and Terry were provided with railroad passes clear to Boston,and sufficient funds to pay their expenses _en route_.
They made a light-hearted pair, the big bronzed man and thefreckle-faced boy, as they set out for Baltimore, rejoicing in gettingaway from the scenes of bloodshed and destruction, of which they hadgrown profoundly weary.
They were more than satisfied with their first experience of war in allits horrors, and quite content that it should be their last. Terryaccurately expressed the feelings of both when he said, with a grunt ofdisgust that made his companion smile,--
"If you ever catch me in a scrape like this again, you may call me asmany sizes of an idiot as you like. It is bad enough to be kilt in arow of your own raisin', but what's the sense of it when it's not yourfight at all?"
By which deliverance Terry showed himself to be a true philosopher,with a very sound and practical theory of life. But, like many othermortals, Terry could teach a great deal better than he could practise,the truth being that the impulse of his race to take a hand in any funor fighting that might be going was as strong in him as if he had beenborn on the green sod.
However, he was sincere enough this time, and regarded with complacenceevery additional mile of country that separated him from the scene ofthe wonderful naval combat he had by so odd a chain of circumstancesbeen brought to witness.
As might be expected in time of war, when the whole country was more orless upset, the train service was very imperfect. The rate of speedwas poor, the stoppages many and prolonged, and the carriages fell farshort of being comfortable.
Yet none of these things troubled Terry. It was the first longrailroad ride of his life, and he enjoyed it keenly despite its manydrawbacks. He made friends with the conductors and brakesmen, whocould not resist his cheery humour. He amused his fellow-passengers byhis quick observation of and shrewd comments upon the people and placesby the way. He even succeeded in so ingratiating himself with thedriver of the train during a long stop at a junction, as to be invitedon to the engine for the remainder of that driver's run, and then hereturned to Captain Afleck grimy but triumphant.
"_He succeeded in ingratiating himself with the driverof the train._"]
From Baltimore to Philadelphia, and from Philadelphia to New York, theyhurried on. Under other circumstances, they would have been glad tomake a stay in each of these splendid cities; but Captain Afleck wasimpatient to get back to Boston to prepare his claim against theinsurance company, while Terry was no less eager to return to Halifax,that he might reinstate himself in Drummond and Brown's.
Yet in spite of their mutual anxiety they were both destined to anotherdelay which tried their spirits sorely.
The city of New York was at this time the centre of more interest andexcitement than Washington itself. The issue of the war still seemedin doubt, and there were divided counsels as to whether it should becarried on to the bitter end, regardless of consequences, or whethersome sort of compromise should be arranged with the South beforefurther successes had inflated her hopes too high.
In the face of this uncertain state of the public mind, nevertheless,the most earnest preparations for the prosecution of the struggle byland and sea were going on, and this of course attracted to the placewild and turbulent spirits from every quarter, eager to take advantageof the opportunity to fill their pockets, honestly or dishonestly, witha decided preference for the latter way as being more exciting.Bounty-jumping was a favourite device, and the city fairly swarmed withmen guilty of this dishonourable action, and who, afraid to showthemselves in the light of day, prowled about the streets at night withno very good intent.
It was late in the evening when the captain and Terry arrived in NewYork, and as they had been without food, since mid-day, their firstproceeding was to set out in quest of a restaurant. Captain Afleckknew something of the city, having been there before, and soon foundhis way to a quiet eating-house, where they obtained a comfortable mealat a reasonable price.
They took their time over it, for they were weary of the train, and itwas quite a relief to be rid of the roar and rattle for a time.Midnight was not far off when they went out into the street, andfeeling greatly refreshed, they were tempted into taking a strollbefore returning to the station, where they intended to pass the night,so as to be on hand for the first train to Boston in the morning.
The night was fine and bright. The captain lit his pipe, while Terrymunched some candy, and the two wandered on in a careless manner,enjoying the cold air and the quiet of the hour.
"It's a big place this, isn't it, Terry?" said the captain as theystood at an intersection of two streets, and looking north, south,east, and west, saw the long lines of lights go twinkling 'off as faras the eye could reach. "All the same, I believe I'd rather live inHalifax;
wouldn't you?"
"That I would," responded Terry promptly. "I'd be afraid of gettin'lost here all the time. Sure, there must be a sight of people here.It's not much chance a poor chap like me 'ud have wid such a crowd."
Now that Terry's ambition had been so thoroughly aroused, he alreadybegan to realize what the stress of competition meant, and it was clearenough to him that the bigger the city the more there were ready tofill every opening. Miss Drummond's encouraging statement about hergrandfather had taken deep hold upon the boy's mind, and there weretimes when he was bold enough to indulge in day-dreams having a similarfulfilment.
"I guess you'd stand as good a chance of holding your way as the mostof boys, Terry," said Captain Afleck, giving him a kindly pat on thehead. "You've got lots of grit in ye, and that's the sort of thingthat counts in these big places. But what's that? There's mischiefgoing on down there. Come, let's see what's up."
They were by this time on their way back to the railway station, andwere just crossing a narrow dark side street, when there came to themthrough the stillness of the night a muffled cry for help, followed bythe sound of heavy blows.
Captain Afleck carried a stout stick, and grasping this firmly, he speddown the street in the direction whence the sounds had come, Terrykeeping close at his heels.
In the very narrowest and darkest part of the street they almost fellover a group of three men, one being prostrate on the ground, while theother two bent over him, evidently engaged in rifling his pockets.
Shouting "Take that, you rascal!" the brawny captain struck one of thehighwaymen a sounding whack across the shoulders with his stick, andthe next instant tumbled the other over with his left fist. Theastounded scoundrels as soon as they recovered themselves made off atfull speed; and when assured of their departure, Captain Afleck turnedhis attention to the victim of their violence.
It was too dark at that spot to make out the extent of his injuries,so, with Terry's aid, he was dragged towards a lamp-post.
They had just placed him upon some steps, and were endeavouring toloosen his neckcloth, for he was quite insensible, when there suddenlyappeared two big policemen, who made haste to arrest them with greatshow of zeal.
Neither protests nor explanations were of any avail. A respectablecitizen returning quietly home had been brutally assaulted in thepublic street. The captain and Terry had been caught red-handed (as amatter of fact they did both have blood upon their hands, got from thewound on the poor man's head, which was badly cut), and they mustanswer for it at the police court in the morning.
Other policemen were whistled for, and the still insensible man wassent to hospital in a cab, while his two unlucky rescuers were marchedoff to the station-house, where they spent a miserable night inseparate cells.
Not only that night but the whole of the next day were they kept inconfinement, the injuries of the "respectable citizen" being too severeto permit of his appearing in court; and it was not until the followingday that they were brought up for examination.
Terry went before the police magistrate with quaking knees and beatingheart. Not that any sense of guilt filled him with fear, but becausehis whole past experience in Halifax had been such as to make theminions of the law objects of terror to him; and now that he was intheir clutches in a foreign land, his lively imagination conceived allsorts of dire consequences in spite of his big companion's attempts atcomfort.
Captain Afleck, on the other hand, was in a state of furiousindignation. The moment he got a chance to open his mouth he intendedto give the American authorities a piece of his mind, and threaten themwith the vengeance of the British nation for committing sounwarrantable an indignity upon one of its honest and loyal members.
A number of cases had precedence of theirs, and they watched theproceedings with very different feelings--Terry wondering, as he heardsentence after sentence pronounced by the magistrate in his hard, dry,monotonous voice, what penalty would be theirs if he and the captaincould not clear themselves; while the captain, nursing his wrath tokeep it warm, gave vent to a succession of wrathful grunts as he sawthe succession of miserable, unwashed, demoralized creatures with whomhe was for the time associated.
At length the rest of the docket had been cleared, and their case wascalled. It had been left to the last because of its being the mostserious on the list for the day. Just as the captain and Terry werebeing arraigned, there appeared in court a middle-aged man, whosecarefully-bandaged head, pale countenance, and general air of weaknessbetokened him to be the victim of the assault.
As the two prisoners stood up to answer to their names and the chargemade against them by Policeman No. 399, it was evident that theirappearance created a good deal of surprise. They certainly did notlook at all like the ordinary criminals. The case promised to be oneof special interest, and the spectators adjusted themselves so as tosee and hear to the best advantage.
But if they expected an interesting hour of it they were doomed to bedisappointed; for no sooner had the injured man raised his eyes to lookat the accused of having waylaid him than he gave a start, and thecolour mounted to his pallid face.
"These are not the men," he exclaimed. "There's some mistake. The menthat assaulted me were short and stout, and they were both men--not aman and a boy."
His words created a decided sensation. The countenance of the zealousbluecoats who had effected the arrest, and expected praise for theirefficient performance, grew suddenly long while the magistrate turnedupon them a look of stern inquiry, saying,--
"What's the meaning of this? Have you been making some seriousblunder?"
Captain Afleck now had his opportunity, and he used it gloriously,pouring forth the vials of his wrath as he told his story, until atlast the magistrate, entirely satisfied, stopped the stream of hiseloquence with uplifted hand, and proceeded to say, in a tone thatshowed genuine feeling,--
"You have been the victims of a very unfortunate blunder, for which Iwish it were in my power to make some reparation. As it is, all I cando is to express my profound regret, and to put you at once at liberty."
Amid a buzz of applause the captain and Terry made their way out intothe street, the boy hardly able to restrain his impulse to leap andshout for joy, but the man still grumbling and growling at theaggravation he had been so undeservedly compelled to endure.
Once more in the open air, Terry's first thought was to get away asfast as possible.
"Let us be off to the station," he cried. "Mebbe there's a train goin'soon."
This made the captain think of the railway passes, and he thrust hishand into the pocket where he kept his wallet. The pocket was empty!He tried the other pockets, but they were in the same condition! Thepasses and the remainder of his money were gone, stolen by some cleverpickpocket that very morning perchance. He turned upon Terry a facefull of consternation.
"I've been robbed, Terry," said he hoarsely. "We can't go to Bostonto-day; I've lost the passes, and all my money too."