"That is what I was calculating upon," added the captain. "Now, Mr. Passford, I shall be compelled to take my leave of you, for we have to stow the cotton over again before we go to sea. I am exceedingly obliged to you for the very valuable service you have rendered me."
"I was not aware that I had rendered you any service," replied Christy, wondering what he could mean.
"You are not? Then your perception is not as clear as I supposed it was. When it was reported to me that two gunboats were coming into the bay I considered the Reindeer as good as captured, as I have hinted to you before. My cargo will bring a fortune in Nassau, and I am half owner of the steamer and her cargo, if Mr. Groomer, the mate, is not. I was almost in despair, for I could not afford to lose my vessel and her valuable cargo. I considered myself utterly ruined. But just then I got an idea, and I came to a prompt decision;" and the captain paused.
"And what was that decision?" asked Christy curiously.
"When I saw your boat coming, for I was on the long key, I determined that you should bring the Reindeer out into the Gulf, and save me all trouble and anxiety in regard to her, and I knew that you could do it a great deal better than I could. Wherefore I am extremely grateful to you for this very important service," said Captain Stopfoot, bowing very politely. "But I am compelled to leave you now to your own pleasant reflections. Mr. Passford, I shall ask you and your men to take possession of the cabin, and not show yourselves on deck; and you will pardon me if I lock the door upon you."
The captive officer followed the captain aft to the door of the cabin. On a bale of cotton he saw the cutlasses and revolvers which had been taken from him and his men, which had apparently been thrown in a heap where they happened to hit, and had been forgotten. Seated on the cotton he found all his men, with their hands tied behind them. Captain Stopfoot opened the cabin door, and directed his prisoners to enter.
"Excuse me for leaving you so abruptly, Mr. Passford," continued the captain while he was feeling in his pocket for the key of the door. "It looks as though it were going to blow before night, and I must get ready for it. Besides, the Bellevite may return on the present tide, and I am informed that she is a very fast sailer, as the Reindeer is not, and I must make the most of my opportunity; but when my fortune is made out of my present cargo, I shall owe it largely to you. Adieu for the present."
Captain Stopfoot left the cabin, locking the door behind him. The hands of the prisoners, ten in number, were tied behind them with ropes, for probably the steamer was not provided with handcuffs. Christy examined his men in regard to the manner in which they had been overcome. The three men who had been left near the cabin door had been overthrown by those who jumped down upon them when they were separated, one at the stern, one on the bales, watching the Bellevite in the distance, and the third asleep on a cotton bale. The lieutenant had seen the rest of the enterprise.
"This thing is not going to last long, my men," said Christy, who realized that he should never be able to stand up under the obloquy of having brought out a blockade-runner for the enemy.
He caused the hands to march in front of him till he found one who had been carelessly bound. He backed this one up in the rear of Calwood, the quartermaster, and made him untie the line, which he could do with his fingers, though his wrists were bound. It was not the work of three minutes to unbind the rest of them.