Frank on the Lower Mississippi Read online

  CHAPTER II.

  A Night Expedition.

  "The captain wishes to see you, gentlemen!" said the orderly, steppingup and saluting.

  The cousins repaired to the cabin, and after Archie had been introducedto the captain (for being utterly ignorant of the manner in which thingswere conducted on shipboard, he had not yet reported his arrival), hisorders were indorsed, and the captain, turning to his desk, ran his eyehastily over an official document, and said:

  "Mr. Nelson, I have received instructions from the admiral to make youthe executive officer of this vessel. Mr. Kearney's resignation has beenaccepted, and you will take his place. I am certain, from what I knowand have heard of your past history, that I shall have no cause toregret the change."

  After a few moments' conversation with the captain upon unimportantmatters, the cousins returned to the wardroom.

  Frank's constant attention to his duties had again been rewarded, and hewas now the second in authority on board the vessel. All orders from thecaptain must pass through him, and in the absence of that gentleman hebecame commander. To say that Frank was delighted would but feeblyexpress his feelings; he was proud of the honor, and determined that hewould prove himself worthy of it. In fact, he had now reached the heightof his ambition, although he had little dreamed that it would come sosoon. He asked nothing more. He had worked hard and faithfully eversince he had entered the service, but in receiving the appointment ofexecutive officer he felt amply rewarded.

  He was young in years for so responsible a position, but he had no fearsof his ability to perform all the duties required of him, for theroutine of ship life had become as familiar to him as was the road fromLawrence to his quiet little home on the banks of Glen's Creek. But hispromotion did not affect him as it does a great many who suddenly findthemselves possessed of power. He did not "stand upon his rank," nor inhis intercourse with his messmates endeavor to keep constantly beforetheir minds the fact that he was the second in command. Those who havebeen in the service--especially in the navy--will recall to mindincidents of this character; but our hero never forgot the respect heowed to his superiors, and his conduct toward those under him was markedby the same kindness he had always shown them.

  Frank knew that he had something of a task before him. Although he couldnow turn into his bunk at night without being called upon to stand hisregular watch, he had more difficult duties to perform. He wasresponsible for the manner in which affairs were conducted about decks,for the neat appearance of the vessel and of the men; and as the formerexecutive officer had been rather careless in this respect, Frank knewthat his first move must be made in that direction.

  For the next two days, as the rebels did not trouble them, Frank workedearly and late, and the results of his labor were soon made apparent.Every one remarked the improved appearance of the men, who, at theSunday morning muster, appeared on deck in spotless uniforms andwell-blacked shoes. After the roll had been called, and the captain, incompany with Frank, proceeded to inspect the vessel, the young officerknew that his improvements had been appreciated when the former, who wasan old sailor, said, with a smile of satisfaction:

  "Mr. Nelson, this begins to look something like a ship, sir. This reallylooks like business. The admiral may come here now and inspect thevessel as soon as he pleases."

  The next morning, as Frank sat at the table in the wardroom, engaged inanswering the letters he had received by the dispatch-boat, and Archiewas in his office straightening out his books and papers, a bullet camesuddenly crashing through the cabin--a signal that the rebels had againmade their appearance. Frank, who had become accustomed to suchinterruptions, deliberately wiped his pen, corked his ink-stand, and wascarefully putting away his letters, when there was a hurrying of feet inthe office; the door flew open, and Archie, divested of his coat,bounded into the cabin, exclaiming:

  "A fellow can't tell when he's safe in this country. I wish I was backin the fleet-paymaster's office. I wouldn't mind a good fair fight, butthis thing of being shot at when you least expect it isn't pleasant."

  As Archie spoke, he hurriedly seized a gun from the rack, which had beenput up in the cabin in order to have weapons close at hand, and sprangup the ladder that led into the pilothouse. Frank, although he laughedheartily at his cousin's rapid movements, was a good deal surprised, forhe had always believed him to be possessed of a good share of courage.It would, however, have tried stronger nerves than Archie's; but men whohad become familiar with such scenes, who had learned to regard themmerely as something disagreeable which could not be avoided, could notsympathize with one in his situation, and many a wink was exchanged, andmany a laugh indulged in, at the expense of the "green paymaster."

  When Frank had put away his writing materials, he ran below to see thatthe ports were all closed; after which he returned to the wardroom, and,securing a rifle, went into the pilot-house, where he found Archieengaged in reloading his gun, while the officers were complimenting himon a fine shot he had just made.

  "Mr. Nelson," exclaimed the doctor, as Frank made his appearance, "Iguess your white horseman is done for now. The paymaster lifted him outof his saddle as clean as a whistle."

  Frank looked out at one of the ports, and, sure enough, there was thewhite horse running riderless about, and his wounded master was beingcarried behind the levee. The officers continued to fire as often as arebel showed himself, but the latter seemed to have lost all desire forfighting, for they retreated to the plantation-house which stood backfrom the river, out of range of the rifles, where they gathered in abody as if in consultation, now and then setting up defiant yells, whichcame faintly to the ears of those in the pilot-house.

  "They are saucy enough now that they are out of harm's way," saidArchie, turning to his cousin. But the latter made no reply. He stoodleaning on his rifle, gazing at the guerrillas, as if busily engagedwith his own thoughts, and finally left the pilot-house and sought aninterview with the captain.

  "I have been thinking, sir," said he, as he entered the cabin and tookthe chair offered him, "that if that house out there had been burnedlong ago, we should not have had ten men killed by those guerrillas.They seem to use that building as their head-quarters, and if it couldbe destroyed they would cease to trouble us."

  "That's my opinion," replied the captain. "But who is to undertake thejob? Who's to go out there, in the face of three or four hundred rebels,and do it? _I_ can't, with a crew of only fifty men."

  "I didn't suppose it could be done openly, sir; but couldn't it beaccomplished by stratagem in the night, for instance?"

  The captain shook his head; but Frank, who was not yet discouraged,continued:

  "I have not made this proposition, captain, without thinking it allover--without taking into consideration all the chances for and againstit--and I still think it could be accomplished."

  "Well, how would you go to work?" asked the captain, settling back inhis chair with the air of a man who had made his decision, from which hewas not to be turned.

  Frank then proceeded to recount the plans he had laid for theaccomplishment of his object, to which the captain listened attentively,and when Frank had ceased, he rose to his feet and paced the cabin. Heknew that the young officer had before engaged in expeditions similar tothe one he now proposed, when, in carrying out his designs, he hadexhibited the skill and judgment of a veteran. In the present instance,his plans were so well laid, that there appeared to be but little chancefor failure. After a few moments' consideration, the captain againseated himself, and said:

  "Well, Mr. Nelson, it shall be as you propose. If you succeed, I amcertain that this guerrilla station will be broken up; if you fail, itwill only be what many a good officer has done before you."

  "I assure you, sir, I shall leave no plan untried to insure my success,"replied Frank, as he left the cabin.

  "What's the matter now?" inquired Archie, as his cousin entered thewardroom. "Been getting a blowing up already?"

  "Oh, no!" replied Frank. "Come in here
, and I'll tell you all about it;"and he drew Archie into the office, where he proceeded to tell him allthat had been determined upon. When he had finished, the latterexclaimed:

  "I want to go with you. Will you take me?"

  Frank thought of Archie's behavior but a few moments before, andwondered what use he could possibly be in an expedition like the oneproposed.

  "If you do go," he answered, at length, "you'll be sorry for it. Itrequires those who are accustomed to such business; and you have neverbeen in an action in your life. The undertaking is dangerous."

  "I don't care if it is," answered Archie. "That's just the reason why Iwant to go--to be with you; and I warrant you I'll stick to you as longas any body."

  "Besides," began Frank, "if any thing should happen to you"--

  "I'm just as likely to get back as you are," replied Archie, excitedly,"and I want to go."

  After considerable urging, Frank finally asked and obtained permissionfor Archie to accompany the expedition, at which the latter wasoverjoyed. He was very far from realizing the danger there was in theundertaking, and had as little idea of what would be required of him ashe had of the moon.

  The cousins passed the afternoon in the pilothouse, watching themovements of the guerrillas through spy-glasses, studying the "lay ofthe land," the directions in which the different roads ran--in short,nothing was omitted which they thought might be useful for them to know.Just before night a storm set in; the wind blew, and the rain fell intorrents; and, although Frank regarded it as something in their favor,under any other circumstances he would have preferred tumbling into bedto venturing out in it. The hammocks were not piped as usual, but allhands were to remain on deck during the night, to be ready to lendassistance in case it was required. At ten o'clock the cutter layalongside the vessel, the crew were in their places, and Frank and hiscousin, surrounded by the officers who had assembled to see them off,stood on the guards ready to start.

  "Paymaster," said Frank, turning to his cousin, "hadn't you betterremain on board?" (He addressed him as paymaster, for, of course, itwould have been contrary to naval rules to call him by his given name inthe presence of the captain.)

  "No, sir," answered Archie, quickly buttoning up his pea-jacket with aresolute air. "Do you suppose I'm going to back out now? If you do, youare mistaken. I'm not afraid of a little rain."

  Frank made no reply, but, after shaking hands with the captain andofficers, followed his cousin into the cutter, which floated off intothe darkness amid the whispered wishes for "good luck" from all theship's company who had witnessed its departure. Frank took the helm, andturned the boat down the river. Not an oar was used, for the youngofficer did not know but the rebels had posted sentries along the bank,whom the least splashing in the water would alarm. Archie sat beside hiscousin, with his collar pulled up over his ears, and his hands thrustinto the pockets of his pea-jacket, heartily wishing that Frank hadchosen a pleasanter night for their expedition. For half an hour theyfloated along with the current in silence, until Frank, satisfied thathe had gone far enough down the river to get below the sentries, if anywere posted on the bank, gave the order to use the oars, and turned thecutter's head toward the shore, which they reached in a few moments.

  The crew quietly disembarked, and as the sailors gathered about him,Frank said,

  "Now, men, I'm going to leave you here until the paymaster and myselfcan go up to the house, and accomplish what we have come for. Tom," headded, turning to the coxswain of the cutter, "you will have charge ofthe boat, and remember you are in no case to leave her. We may bediscovered, and get into a fight. If we do, and are cut off from theriver and unable to get back, I'll whistle, and you will at once answerme, so that I may know that you hear me, and pull off to the vessel.We'll take care of ourselves. Do you understand?"

  The crew of the cutter were old sailors--men who had followed the seathrough storm and sunshine all their lives. They had been in more thanone action, too, during the rebellion, and had gladly volunteered forthe expedition, supposing that they were to accompany Frank wherever hewent. During the short time the latter had been on board the Boxer, theyhad become very much attached to him. Although he was a very strictofficer, and always expected every man to do his duty promptly, healways treated them with the greatest kindness, and never spoke harshlyto them. This was so different from the treatment they had usuallyreceived at the hands of their officers, that it won their hearts; and,although they admired his courage, they would have felt much betterpleased had they received orders to accompany him.

  "Don't you understand, Tom?" again asked Frank, seeing that the coxswainhesitated.

  "Oh, yes, sir," replied the sailor, touching his hat; "I understand,sir. But, Mr. Nelson, may I be so bold as to ask one question--onefavor, I may say?"

  "Certainly; speak it out," answered Frank, who little imagined whatthoughts were passing through the minds of his men. "What is it? Do youwish to go back to the ship, and leave us here alone?"

  "No, sir," answered all the men in a breath.

  "Mr. Nelson," said the coxswain, "I never yet refused duty because therewas danger in it, and I'm too old a man to begin now. You have here,sir, twelve as good men as ever trod a ship's deck, and you know, sir,that when you passed the word for volunteers for this expedition, youdidn't have to call twice. But we all thought that we should go with youto the end; and, to tell the truth, sir, we don't like the idea of youand the paymaster going off alone among them rebels. You are sure to getinto trouble, and we want to go with you."

  On more than one occasion had Frank been made aware of the affection hismen cherished for him, and he felt as proud of it as he did of theuniform he wore; but he had never been more affected than he was on thepresent occasion.

  "Men," he answered, in a voice that was none of the steadiest, "I assureyou I appreciate the interest you take in my welfare, and were I goingto fight, I should certainly take you with me; but sometimes two canaccomplish more than a dozen. Besides, I promised the captain that Iwould leave you here, and I must do so. Now, remember and pull off tothe vessel if you hear me whistle."

  "Yes, sir," replied the coxswain; "but it'll be the first time I everdeserted an officer in trouble."

  The sailors were evidently far from being pleased with this arrangement,but they were allowed no opportunity to oppose it, even had they feltinclined to do so, for Frank and his cousin speedily disappeared in thedarkness.