<pre style="white-space: pre-wrap">xt70k649pf3v https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt70k649pf3v/data/mets.xml Optic, Oliver, 1822-1897. 1896  books b92-167-30116734 English Lee and Shepard, : Boston : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. United States History Civil War, 1861-1865 Fiction. Stand by the Union  / by Oliver Optic [pseud.] text Stand by the Union  / by Oliver Optic [pseud.] 1896 2002 true xt70k649pf3v section xt70k649pf3v 


    THE BLUE AND THE GRAY - AFLOAT
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        TAKEN BY THE ENEMY
        WITHIN THE ENEMY'S LINES
        ON THE BLOCKADE
        STAND BY THE UNION
        FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT
        A VICTORIOUS UNION


  THE BLUE AND THE GRAY - Ox LAND
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        BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
        IN THE SADDLE _
        A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN
        ON THE STAFF
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LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS BOSTON


I

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MR. GALVININE IS SUBi)uEi. - Page x66.

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       AllLt


   By OLIVER 0pr
STA4N    BY TFE UNI ION


I
W'-"

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      The Blue and the Gray Series


STAND BY THE UNION


                        BY

              OLIVER OPTIC,
AUTHOR OF " THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES' " YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD" e THR
GREAT WESTERN SERIES" "THE WOODVILLE STORIES"X "THE STARRY FLAG
  SERIES" " THE BOAT-CLUB SERIES " THE ONWARD AND UPWARD
    SERIES " " THE VACHT-CLUB SERIES" "THE LAKE SHORE SERIES "p
      "THE RIVERDALE STORIES" " THE BOAT-UEI.I)ER SERIES
         "TAKEN BY THEE ENEMY " "WITHIN THE ENEMYS
            LINES" P " ON THE BLOCKADE'3 ETC.


                BOSTON 1896
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
   J0 MILK STREET NEXT " THE OLD SOUTH MEETING UOUS S"

 
COPYRIGHT, xS9t, BY LEE AND SHEPARD.


         All rithts reserved.


       STAND BY THE UNION.

 
              TO

      MY TWO YOUNG FRIENDS,

 bi00 jelrcen Campbell ,Smntb

              AND

  offz 'Anna Uoekbull Zimtb,

        THE DAUGHTERS OF

M4Y FRIEND MR. GEORGE A. SMITH
           OF BOSTON,

         bi0 Yolume

   Hi AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED.

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PREFACE


  " STAND BY THE UNION" is the fourth of
"The Blue and Gray Series."   As in the pre-
ceding volumes of the series, the incidents of
the story are located in the midst of the war
of the Rebellion, now dating back nearly thirty
years, or before any of my younger readers were
born.  To those who lived two days in one
through that eventful and anxious period, some-
times trembling for the fate of the nation, but
always sustained by the faith and the hope
through which the final victory was won, it
seems hardly possible that so many years have
flowed into the vast ocean of the past since that
terrible conflict was raging over so large a por-
tion of our now united country.
  Though it is said that the South "robbed the
                       5

 
PREFACE


cradle and the grave" to recruit the armies of
the Confederacy, it is as true that young and old
in the North went forth in their zeal to "Stand
by the Union," and that many and many a
young soldier and sailor who had not yet seen
twenty summers endured the hardships of the
camp and the march, the broiling suns, and the
wasting maladies of semi-tropical seas, fought
bravely and nobly for the unity of the land they
loved, and that thousands of them sleep their
last sleep in unmarked graves on the sea and
the land. The writer can remember whole com-
panies, of which nearly half of the number could
be classed as mere boys. These boys of eigh-
teen to twenty, who survived the rain of bullets,
shot, and shell, and the hardly less fatal assaults
of disease, are the middle-aged men of to-day,
and every one of them has a thrilling story to
tell. The boys of to-day read with interest the
narratives of the boys of thirty years ago, and
listen with their blood deeply stirred to the
recital of the veteran of forty-five years, or even


ff

 
PREFACE


younger, who brought back to his home only
one arm or one leg.
   In his youth the author used to listen to the
stories of several aged Revolutionary pensioners,
one of whom had slept in the snows of Valley
Forge, another who had been confined on board
of the Jersey prison-ship, and a third who had
been with Washington at the surrender of Corn-
wallis. Not one lives to-day who fought in the
battles of the Revolution; but a multitude of
those who trod the battle-fields of the war that
was finished twenty-seven years ago have taken
their places, and have become as interesting to
the present generation as the heroes of former
wars were to the fathers and grandfathers of
the boys and girls of to-day.
  In the official record of a certain regiment
recruited up to the full standard, we find that
47.5 per cent of the non-commissioned officers
and privates were under twenty-one years of
age. We find a few in the list who were only
sixteen and seventeen years. In this regiment,


7

 
PREFACE


we find two captains only twenty-one years of
age, and three lieutenants who were only twenty,
This regiment was exceptional in regard to age.
though we find that over twenty-five per cent
of several companies, taken at random, were
under age. Even boys of fourteen and fifteen
were enlisted as musicians, "drummer boys,"
and served out their full term. It can, there-
fore, be truthfully said, that those who were
literally "boys" did their full and fair share in
fighting for the Union. Perhaps even a larger
proportion of minors served in the navy than in
the army; and the record of some of them could
be recited to prove that in those days boys be-
came men prematurely, and distinguished them-
selves by brave and daring deeds.
  The incidents of the story contained in this
volume are suggested by actual occurrence during
the Rebellion, though they are not absolutely
historical details, but are as probable as many
real events of the war. The enemy were busy
in some of the Northern cities, and there were


8

 
                    PREFACE                  9

many daring operations undertaken by them
which justify the story in its principal features.
Most of the characters have been introduced in
the preceding volumes of the series; and in the
succeeding volume the hero will be presented
in a somewhat different field of action, though
in whatever sphere he moves he will continue
to be engaged in " FIGHTING FOR THE RIGHT."
  DORCHESTER, MASS., April 23, 1891.

 This page in the original text is blank.


              CONTENTS


                 CHAPTER L
A MYSTERIOUS VISITATION  .  .


PAGE


. 15


                 CHAPTER IL
THE ABSCONDING MAIN-SERVANT.  .         . 26

                CHAPTER IlL.
CHRISTY PASSFORD IS UTTERLY CONFOUNDED  .  . 37

                CHAPTER IV.
THE SICK OFFICER IN THE STATEROOM    .  . 48


                 CHAPTER V.
LIEUTENANT PASSFORD AND HIS APPARENT DOUBLE,

                CHAPTER VI.
THE CONFERENCE IN THE CAPTAIN'S CABN ,

                CHAPTER VII.
THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DECISIOx.  I  .
                     11


59


70


81

 
12                CONTENTS

                                          PAGU
                CHAPTER VIII.
THE PRISONER OF WAR  .   .  .   .  .     . 92


                 CHAPTER IX.
A MORAL PHILOSOPHER  .    .   .  .   .   . 103


                 CHAPTER X.
A CHANGE OF QUARTERS IN THE CONFUSION  .  . 114


                 CHAPTER XL
LYING OUT A PLAN OF OPERATIONS .  .  .  . 125


                CH APTER XIL
A LESSON IN ORDINARY POLITENESS  .  .   . 136


                CHAPTER XIII.
THE OPENING OF THE SECRET ORDERS.  .  .  . 147


                CHAPTER XIV.
THE AFFRAY ON THE QUARTER-DECK OF THE BRONX, 158


                CHAPTER XV.
A REBELLIOUS AND PREJUDICED PRISONER   1. 89


                CHAPTER XVI.
THE DISPOSAL OF THE PRISONERS..          . 180


               CHAPTER XVIL
Tax SECOND AND THIRD LIEUTENANTS  ,  .  . 191

 
                  CONTENTS


               CHAPTER XVIII.
A BATTLE ON A SMALL SCALE


                CHAPTER XIX.
THE SKIPPER OF TIIE, SLOOP MAGNOLIA

                CHAPTER XX.
AN EXPEDITION TO ST. ANDREW's BAY

                CHAPTER XXI.
A NON-COMBATANT ON BOARD THE BRONX

                CHAPTER XXLI.
THE STRANGER IN TIIE CAPTAIN'S CABIN

                CHAPTER XIII.
A VERY IMPUDENT DECLARATION .

               CHAPTER XXIV.
A CRITICAL SITUATION IN THE CABIN

               CHAPTER XXV.


   .  . 213


     . 224


   .  , 235


       . 246


       . 257


  .   . 268


THE DESTRUCTION OF A PRO.MINENT FACIAL MEMBER,

               CHAPTER XXVI.
TUE MEETING WITH THE BELLEVITE AT NIGHT .

               CHAPTER XXVII.
THE PLANNING OF AN EXPEDITION  .

               CHAPTER XXV1II.
TIE NEGRO VILLAGE ON TIlE ISLE GRANDE TERRE,


  13

PACR

. 202


279


290


301


312

 
14


CONTENTS


                                         rAGE
               CHAPTER XXIX.
A PROFESSIONAL VISIT TO THE FORT .  .  .   . 323

               CHAPTER XXX.
THE ATTACK UPON THE FORT.     .         . 334


               CHAPTER X=XX.
A WOUNDED COMMANDER . . M


.  . 345


  STAND BY THE UNION


                CHAPTER I

          A MYSTERIOUS VISITATION

  "WHO'S there " demanded Christy Passford,
sitting up in his bed, in the middle of the night,
in his room onl the second floor of his father's
palatial mansion on the Hudson, where the young
lieutenant was waiting for a passage to the Gulf.
  There was no answer to his inquiry.
  "' Who's there  " he repeated in a louder tone.
  All was as still as it ought to be ill the middle
of the night, and no response came to his second
inquiry. The brilliant young officer, who had just
passed his eighteenth birthday, knew what it was
even better than an older person to pass a whole
night on difficult duty, without a wink of sleep,
for he had been accustomed to spend a portion of
every night in planking the deck oIn his wvatch;
but at Bonnydale, his quiet homle, far removed
                      15

 
STAND BY THE UNION


from the scenes of actual conflict, he was an inidus-
trious sleeper, giving his whole attention to his
slumbers, as a proper preparation for the stirring
scenes in which he was again about to engage.
  He slept soundly; but he had dreamed that
some one opened the door of his room, or somne
one had actually done so. He was not a believer
in dreams, and when an impression had fastened
itself upon his mind, he was inclined to investigate
It. It seemed to him that he had been awakened
from his sleep by the opening of the door of his
chamber. Some member of the family might be
sick, and he might be needed to go for the doctor,
or for some other service.
  He leaped from his bed when no answer came to
his second demand, lighted his lamp, and put on
his trousers. With the light in his hand, he
opened the door; but there was no one there, and
not a sound of any kind could be heard. He
walked about the hall in his bare feet, and listened
attentively at the doors of several of the chambers,
especially at that of Mr. Pembroke, the invalid
gentleman whom, with his daughter, he had
brought home as a passenger in the captured
Vixen.


16

 
A MYSTERIOUS VISITATION


  Christy heard nothing, and he silently descended
the stairs to the lower hall. All was as quiet there
as upon the floor above, andl he had begun to think
that the impression he had received had been given
him in a dream, though he could not remember
that he had been dreaming. But when he came
to the front door, he found it was ajar. It was
usually secured by a spring lock, and those who
were liable to be out in the evening were provided
with night-keys.
  At the present time his father was in 'Washing-
ton, and he could not have neglected to close the
door. He had been to the railroad station to meet
the last train, thinking it possible that his father
might return, and he was confident that he had
been the last to enter the house. He was very
sure that he had not left the door unfastened, and
this assurance made him confident that some per-
son had entered the house. The noise at the door
of his chamber was not an illusion or a dream.
though it had been made by closing rather than
by opening it, or he would have been likely to find
the intruder in his room whene he lighted his lamp.
  It seemed to him to be a matter of course that
the midnight visitor had come into the mansion


1.7

 
STAND BY THE UNION


for the purpose of plundering its occupants, or of
securing the valuables it contained. Putting his
lamp on the table, he went out upon the veranda,
and looked all about him. The grounds were
very extensive, and a broad avenue led to the
street. It was very dark; but as lie cast his eyes
inl the direction of the grand entrance to the
estate, he discovered some dark object in motion;
but lie lost sight of it in a moment.
  It was a living being, or it would not move, and
he was certain that he had made a discovery.
Then two regrets flashed through his mind as he
stepped down from the veranda; the first, that he
had not put on his shoes before he left his cham-
ber, and the second, that he had not taken his
pistols, for a bullet Would travel a great deal faster
than a barefooted officer, even of the ULnited
States Navy. But he ran with all his speed to the
street, to the great detriment of his uncovered
feet.
  He reached the grand entrance in an exceedingly
short space of time; but he might as well have
lveni in his chamber, for no ruffian, robber, or
Confederate spy could be seen. He had no means
of knowing which way the intruder at the mansion


is

 
A MYSTERIOUS VISITATION


had turned, to the right or the left, or whether, like
the timid colored gentleman in a trying situation,
lie had taken to the woods. Christy walked up the
street, and then down the street; but the under-
blush had recently been cut in the grove, and he
did not venture to explore it without any pro-
tection for his feet.
  He peered into the gloom of the night with all
his eyes, and listened with all his ears for over an
hour; and then, watchful and careful officer as lie
was, there were five hundred chances against him
to one in his favor, of finding the intruder, and he
reluctantly returned to the mansion.
  Like the other male occupants of the house, the
lieutenant wvas provided with a night-key. For
one who had only just developed a tolerably
thriving mustache, Christy was a prudent and
methodical young gentleman. As a part of his
method, he had a great many small drawers in his
rooms, and a dozen or more keys; but he had
never lost them, for the reason that he carried
them chained to his nether garment. But lie had
two sets of keys, one for the house, and one for
the ship. He had taken the night-key from the
former, and put it in his vest pocket; and when he


19

 
STAND BY THE UNION


reached the front door of the mansion, the key
he wanted was in his chamber, and he had
been careful to shut the door when he left the
house.
  He could not get in, and he walked around the
building to find a window which had not been
closed. His mother had a reasonable dread of
robbers, and she always looked out for the win-
dows before she retired. He did not wish to
arouse the family by ringing the great gong bell,
but it was too cold to spend the rest of the night
out-doors in his half-clothed condition, for he was
as liable to take a severe cold as any less brilliant
individual, and he might have to spend a month
in his chamber, instead of reporting to the flag-
officer of the Eastern Gulf squadron, in command
of the Bronx.
  He rang the bell, and the sound from it rever-
berated through the entire mansion. It was some
time before a servant came to open the door; but
the man who let him in was astonished to see him
partially dressed, and wondered if he had not been
walking in his sleep. In the lower hall, he was
satisfied that the whole house was astir, for the
gong which had sounded was the " emergency


20

 
A MYSTERIOUS VISITATION


bell," used only when the ordinary one at the front
door was not likely to be heard.
   "Walsh! " called Mrs. Passford from the head
of the stairs.
  "Yes, ma'am," replied the man who had ad-
mitted Christy, and who was still wondering what
fit, freak, or fancy had beset the young officer.
  "Who is it What is the matter " demanded
the lady of the mansion, in tones which indicated
anxiety if not alarm.
  "It is Mr. Christy, ma'am; nothing is the mat-
ter," replied Walsh; but then he appeared to think
that lie had replied without proper consideration,
and he revised his speech. "I don't know that
anything's the matter, ma'am," and still he gazed
at the young gentleman, as though he deemed it
possible that he had suddenly gone crazy.
  "1 Nothing is the matter, mother," called Christy.
"I am all right."
  " But why are you out at this time of night, my
son It is nearly two o'clock in the morning,"
said Mrs. Passford, as she descended the stairs.
"You are not half dressed, Christy."
  "But I am all right, mother, and there is not
the least reason to worry about anything, for the


21

 
STAND BY THE UNION


ship is not going to the bottom just yet," replied
Christy, indulging in a forced laugh to assist in
quieting his mother's fears.
   " But why are you out doors at this time of
night  " Mrs. Passford insisted. "' You will catch
a cold that will lay you up, if you go out in that
condition."
  "I should not have rung that bell if f had not
been afraid of taking cold," added the son.
  "But, Christy, something has happened; and
you must tell me about it, or I shall not sleep
another wink to-night," persisted the lady, con-
cluding that her son was trying to conceal some-
thing from her, as indeed he was, for he feared it
would alarm her if he told her some one had come
into the house.
  ";There is nothing to be frightened about,
mother; and I wili tell you all about it," added
Christy, as he took his overcoat from the stand
and put it on. "I waked an hour ago, or more,
with the idea that some one had opened the door
of my room," and he related the circumstances to
his mother, including his search in the grounds
and the road.
  "Do you think any one came into the house "


22

 
A MYSTER11IOUTS VISITATION


asked Mrs. Passford, though with but little of the
womlanl's terror that such a statement might have
caused.
  "That is my decided opinion. A noise at my
chamber door woke me; I found the front door
ajar, though I know I closed it when I caine ii
last night, and I saw something moving dovn the
avenue, which could only have been a man. Of
course, I conclude that it was a burglar; but
none of us have been killed or harmed."
  Christy went to his room and completed his
toilet. The house was warm, and he was soon coin-
fortable enough after the out-door chill. By this
time Mliss Florry Passford had put in an appear-
ance in the upper hall, with Bertha Pembroke.
The alarm was again briefly explained, and tlhe
invalid gentleman was assured that nothing alarm-
big, had occurred. Then the young lieutenant
anl his mother proceeded to ascertain what the
burglar had accomplished in the house.
  On the lower floor nothing appeared to have
been disturbed.  In the lpLrlor a gold watch,
adorned with diamonds, had been left onl the table
by Florry, who had forgotten it; but it had not
been taken. The burglar could vot have helped


23

 
STAND BY THE UNION


seeing it if he had explored the house as such
gentiy do on such occasions. In the dining-room
no attempt to open the steel safe set in the wall,
which contained a vast amount of silver, jewelry,
money, and other valuables, had been made. In
a word, wherever they examined the rooms, no
sign of any depredations could be discovered.
The burglar did not appear to have lunched in
the pantry where some choice viands had been
placed. The robber had certainly been very con-
siderate, and had done no mischief either for
plunder or diversion. He had evidently, in the
opinion of Mrs. Passford and her son, undertaken
a profitless enterprise.
  " But what could have been his object in coming
into the house" asked the bewildered lady.
  ,,I shall have to give it up, mother."
  " He might have taken Florry's watch, she was
so careless as to leave on the table in the sitting-
room," added she.
  "But he did not."
  "He could not have been disturbed until you
spoke to him; and he might have ransacked the
whole of the lower part of the house."
  " But he did not."


24

 
A MYSTERIOUS VISITATION


  They had given up the examination of the
premises, and given up the conundrum, and
Christy was leading the way up-stairs. He went
into his room, followed by his mother.
  "He must have come into your room, my son,
or you would not have heard him at the door.
Perhaps he has robbed you," suggested Mrs.
Passford.
  The young officer declared lhe had nothing there
to steal. As he spoke, he took from his coat
pocket on the bedpost an envelope containing his
commission and other papers. It was safe; so
were his purse and watch.
  The mystery was not solved till Christy em-
barked for the Gulf.


9-5


STAND BY THE UNION


                CHAPTER II

        THE ABSCONDING MAN-SERVANT

  LIEUTENANT CHRISTOPHER PASSFORD, in his
two years' experience in the navy, had been under
the fire of the enemy too many times to be
intimidated by a burglar, and he felt a certain
contempt for the midnight marauder, who had
entered the mansion and disturbed his restful
slumbers. He returned to his bed, therefore, and
slept like a marine till the call bell woke him in
the morning.
  As he dressed himself he could not help think-
ing of the mysterious visitation, and he asked
himself a great many questions in regard to the
object of the intruder, since it did not appear that
he had entered the house for the purpose of
robbing its occupants. He could not determine
whether or not the fellow had actually come into
his room; but his porte-monuaie, which contained
a considerable sum of money, and his gold


26

 
THE ABSCONDING MAN-SERVANT


repeater, a very valuable watch, were just where
he had left them the night before.
  In the breast pocket of his uniform coat he
found the envelope which contained his comnmis-
sion as a lieutenant, received only two days before
his orders, and some other papers. As a precau-
tion against inquisitive persons, if the package
should happen to be mislaid in the house, he had
applied some mucilage in the library, and resealed
the envelope. It had not been tampered with so
far as he could discover, and he returned it to the
pocket.
  The mysterious visitor at the mansion, whoever
or whatever he was, could not be regarded as a
burglar, or, if he wvas, he had strangely neglected
his opportunities, for he had failed to appropriate
at least five hundred dollars worth of wvatches and
money, which he could hardly have helped seeing.
His object was not plunders and there was nothincg
to indicate the purpose of his visit. In retiring0
from the house the intruder had left the front door
ajar: and Christy thought it would have been the
most natural thing in the world to close it, in
order to conceal the way by which lie biad left the
mansion. But he might have done this to avoid


27

 
STAND BY THE UNION


the noise of shutting it, or had neglected it in his
haste to escape.
   When he had completed his toilet Christy
looked at his watch, and was rather surprised to
find that it was a full hour later than usual when
the call bell had been rung. He went down-stairs,
and found his mother and Florry very busy in the
dining-room, setting the table.  This was the
man's work, and the young officer was astonished
to see his mother and sister doing it.
  "' What has broken now, mother" asked the
lieutenant, glancing from one to the other of the
busy couple.
  1 I don't know that anything has broken,"
replied Mrs. Passford, with a smile, after she had
said good-morning to her son.
  " You and Florry are not in the habit of setting
the table, mother; and the first bell rang an hour
later than usual," added Christy.
  "We were all disturbed last night, and I did
not wake till the cook knocked at my door. She
told me she could not find Walsh, and breakfast
had been ready half an hour. That is the reason
why everything is late this morning," Mrs.
Passford explained.


28

 
THE ABSCONDING MAN-SERVANT


  "But where is Walsh " inquired Christy.
  "I am sure I do not know. I called in the
coachman, and he has been to his room and looked
all over the place without finding him."
  "1 That is very odd," mused the officer, wonder-
ing whether this sudden disappearance had any-
thing to do with the principal event of the
precedinrg night.
  "Peach says he has taken his valise with him,
which indicates that he has gone for good."
  "; Who is Peach  " asked Christy, who had been
at home so little that he hardly knew the names of
the servants.
  " He is the coachman. I am not sorry that
Walsh has gone, for he has saved me the trouble
of discharging him. WVilder, who had been with
us so many years, took it into his head to enlist
in the army, and I was not willing to le1suade
him to shirk his duty. Walsh has not been here
quite two weeks. IHe said he was born in the
West Indies; but he was always prying into
matters that did not concern him, and I have
several times found him standing at the door when
we were talking about family matters. I reproved
him for it; but it did no good.   Your father


29

 
STAND BY THE UNION


intended to discharge him as soon as he returned
from Washington."
   Christy went to the library, and busied himself
in considering whether or not the sudden departure
of Walsh had any connection with the mysterious
midnight intruder.  The two events had been
near together in point of time; but he could
establish no other relation between them. Then
it flashed upon his mind that the man-servant had
been the person who had opened or closed his
door, and visited his room; but he wvas sure he
had seen a man near the grand entrance of the
estate. He had been all around the house, and
Walsh could not have escaped his observation.
He had answered the bell, and admitted him after
his search. He concluded that the servant was
not the person who had disturbed his slumbers.
  The morning mail brought a letter from Captain
Passford, informing the family that he was
detained in Washington, and that he could not
be at hoine to say good-by to his son, who was to
leave that day in the store ship Vernon.  He
wrote a special letter to Christy, containing not
only his adieux, but the good advice he would
otherwise have given him in person.


30

 
THE ABSCONDING MAN-SERVANT


   The breakfast was rather a sad gathering on
account of this parting, for Christy was to leave
in another hour.   Bertha Pembroke and her
father were quite as sad as the mother and sister,
and the young officer did his best to cheer up the
family and the guests. He tried to make them
laugh, but he found it was up-hill work.
  " You will be in command of a steamer, Christy,
when you reach the Gulf. I hope you will not be
rash, and try to do too much," said Mrs. Passford,
as they rose from the table.
  "I don't think I am ever rash, mother; and if
I have been exceedingly fortunate, it was more
because the circumstances favored me than because
I ran great risks," replied Christy very seriously,
for he was sensitive on the point his mother
had brought up. " Father has said a great deal to
me on this subject, and I have always done my
best to carry out his principles. It is not my fault
that I have a friend at court, and have had oppor-
tunities that have not been offered to many others.
But the tide may turn against me on my next
cruise."
  " I hope it will not, my son," added his mother
very earnestly.


31

 
STAND BY THE UNION


  " No one knows what is going to happen, and I
may spend the next year or two in a Confederate
prison. I don't think my Uncle Homer would cry
his eyes out if such should be my fate, for he has
lost several vessels and cargoes of cotton on my
account,' returned Christy.
  "' But I am sure he has no ill-will against you."
  "I don't think he has."
  "By the way, Christy, have you heard anything
from  him  or his family lately " asked Mrs.
Passford.
  " Not a word, and I am not likely to hear from
them. Corny Passford was exchanged, and sent
back to the South a year ago or more; and I have
no idea what has become of him since."
  After breakfast Christy packed his valise, where
he placed the new uniform in which he intended
to present himself on the quarter-deck of the
Bronx. The carriage was at the door to convey
him to the railroad station. The pIarting was not
less tender than it had been on former similar
occasions, and Mrs. Passford preferred that it
should be in the house rather than at the railroad
station, in the presence of curious observers.
Many tears were shed after the carriage drove off,


32

 
THE ABSCONDING IANA-SERVANT


for the patriotic young man might find a grave in
southern soil, or beneath southern waters.
  The young lieutenant choked down his emo-
tions, and tried to think of the future; his case
was not different from that of hundreds of thou-
sands of others who had gone forth to fight the
battles of their country, many thousands of whom
slumber in hallowed graves far away from home
and friends. As the train moved on towards the
great city, he obtained the command of his
emotions, and felt a new inspiration of patriotic
ardor.
  On his arrival in New York he hastened across
the ferry to the navy-yard. As he approached the
opposite shore, he discovered a steamer getting
under way. He had not seen the vessel on board
of which he was ordered to report as a passenger,
but when he asked a deck hand what the steamer
was, he was informed that it was the Vernon.
The ferry-boat had just gone into the slip, and
Christy was terribly startled to learn that he was
late. He was still two hours ahead of the time
indicated in his orders, and the Vernon was
actually getting under way.
  The young officer was more excited than he had


33

 
STAND BY THE UNION


ever been in the face of the enemy, for the present
looked like a case in which his honor was at stake.
He felt that it would be his ruin if the Vernon
sailed without him. There had been some mistake
in his orders, or in those of the commander of the
store ship, and he was likely to be the sufferer for
it. He rushed to the stern end of the ferry-boat
in order to obtain a better view of the steamer;
and at this moment he discovered a boat, pulled
by one man, headed towards the navy-yard.
  "Boat, ahoy ! " shouted Christy, with almost
frantic earnestness.
  "11On board the ferry-boat! " replied the man,
resting on his oars.
  "Five dollars if you will put me on board of
That steamer before she gets off! " added the
officer.
  "fI'm the one for your money," returned the
oarsman, as he headed his boat into the slip.
  Without much difficulty Christy dropped his
valise into the boat, and then dropped himself in
after it. The belated passenger cast an earnest
look at the Vernon, which had just begun to
move, though at a snail's pace, and he hoped he
should be able to got on board of her.


34

 
THE ABSCONDING M1AN-SERVANT


  "Naval officer, sir  " interrogated the boatman.
  ",Yes; but I have no time to spare, and you
must not stop to talk," replied Christy rather
sharply.
  "Time enough, sir; if you are going on board
of the Vernon, and I will give you one of my oars
if I don't put you on her deck," said the boatman
very positively. "1I hope you are nimble with
your feet and hands, sir."
  "1 I will take care of that part of the matter if
you will put me alongside the steamer," answered
Christy. "No more talk, if you please, for you
are wasting your wind."
  " I have plenty of it for this job. You said five
dollars, I believe, sir," added the man, looking
earnestly at his passenger.
  " Five dollars is just what I said," replied the
lieutenant, as he took a bill of th</pre>