"Whether I did right or not, I can tell you all one thing; and that is, that we shall be prisoners if we stay here any longer. They have got our men under the hatches, and they have ordered out a boat to look for an officer they sent ashore."
"We can do nothing here, and we may as well put ourselves in safer quarters, for we have two prisoners to lose," said Lonley. "Mr. Passford, I shall have to trouble you to march to the other side of the island."
"I am your prisoner, Mr. Lonley, and I must obey your orders, though I am sorry to be away from my ship in the hour of victory," replied Christy submissively.
But he felt that his plan had been fully carried out.
[CHAPTER XXVII]
A VISIT FROM COLONEL HOMER PASSFORD
With his arms securely tied behind him, Christy realized that he could make no resistance to his captors. Flint was in the same unfortunate situation, and both of them had been deprived of their revolvers. But in spite of his unpleasant surroundings, the young lieutenant felt that the balance of advantage was on the side of the Union. If the government was deprived of the services of a midshipman and a master's mate, a dangerous privateer had been captured, and about forty prisoners had been taken from the employ of the Confederacy. In the face of this decided gain, Christy felt that he had no right to complain.
By this time the light of day had begun to have some effect on the darkness and fog, though the gloom seemed to be hardly less. Lonley directed his two prisoners to walk side by side behind the wounded lieutenant, while he and Levick took their places in the rear. The second lieutenant of the Teaser was duly impressed by what the first had said about a probable visit to the island in search of the missing midshipman, and he directed Folkner to march as rapidly as he could. He took the control of the party out of the hands of his superior, and very likely he wished he had done so sooner.
Folkner, as he had before suggested, still had the use of his legs, and he certainly used them well, for he travelled like a man who was in a hurry; but both Christy and Flint were in excellent condition, though they had been on active duty all night, and they had no difficulty in keeping up with their leader.
Lonley and Levick were both armed, and they kept their weapons in readiness for immediate use, for the former recognized the enterprising character of the young officer in front of him, and knew that he would escape if he could. But Christy did not feel called to take any desperate chances in order to restore himself at once to the service of his country, and he and his companion in captivity marched along very quietly. The two armed men soon dropped several paces to the rear, so that the lieutenant could listen to the details of the action on the deck of the Teaser. The prisoners could not hear what was said, and they started a conversation on their own account.