A Victorious Union by Oliver Optic (most life changing books TXT) 📗

accept, to conduct them to Bonnydale, for I know you must be in a hurry to get there," continued Captain Bentwick, as he shook the hands of both officers, and returned to the office.

"That shows what it is to have powerful friends," said Mr. Graines, when his companion had directed the driver to the railroad station.

"Mrs. Passford rushed down the steps." Page 264.

"I have not asked anything unreasonable, 263 Charley," replied Christy, sensitive as usual in regard to influential assistance.

"Certainly not; but if I had asked to have your Confederate friends paroled, a thousand yards of red tape would have to be expended before it could be done," added the engineer with a laugh.

They reached the station, and discharged the carriage; but they found they had to wait two hours for a train to Bonnydale. As it was after noon, they went to a hotel for dinner, and passed the time very impatiently in waiting for the train. Both of them were burning with the desire to see their friends at home; but the train started in due time, and they left it at the nearest station to Bonnydale, proceeding there in a carriage.

Christy gave the bell a very vigorous pull, and the servant that came to the door was a stranger to him. He wished to see Mrs. Passford; and the man was about to conduct him to the reception room, when he bolted from him.

"Mrs. Passford is engaged just now, sir; but she will be down in a few minutes," said the servant, laying his hand on his arm for the purpose of detaining him.

264 "But I cannot wait," returned the lieutenant very decidedly, and he shook off the man, and began to ascend the stairs.

An instant later there was a double scream on the floor above, and Mrs. Passford rushed down the steps, followed by Florry. Christy retreated to the hall, and a moment later he was folded in the arms of his mother and sister, both of whom were kissing him at the same time.

"But, my son, your arm is in a sling!" exclaimed Mrs. Passford, falling back with an expression of consternation on her face.

"You are wounded, Christy!" cried Florry, as a flood of tears came into her eyes.

"Only a scratch, mother; don't be alarmed," protested the lieutenant. "It was all nonsense to send me home on a furlough; but it was the commander's order, at the recommendation of Dr. Linscott."

"But you are wounded, my son," persisted his mother.

"You have been shot in the arm, Christy," added Florry.

"But I was not shot through the head or the heart; it is not a bit of use to make a fuss about 265 it; and Paul Vapoor was not wounded, for he had to stay in the engine room during the action, and he is as hearty as a buck," rattled the lieutenant, and making his pretty sister blush like a fresh rose.

"I am really worried about it, my son. Where is the wound?" asked his mother.

"Here, Charley, tell them all about it," called Christy to his companion, who had been forgotten in the excitement of the moment.

"Why, Charley Graines!" exclaimed Florry, rushing to him with an extended hand. "I did not know you were here."

"I am glad to see you, Charley, especially as you have been a friend and associate of my son, as you were before the war," added Mrs. Passford.

"I am very glad to see you, Mrs. Passford and Miss Passford," said he, bowing to both of them. "I have been on duty recently with Christy, and I have been looking out for him on the voyage home."

"Charley has been a brother to me, and done everything under the canopy for me. I am somewhat fatigued just now," added the lieutenant, as he seated himself on a sofa in the hall. "He will 266 answer your questions now, and tell you that I am not killed."

"But come into the sitting-room, my son, for we can make you more comfortable there," said his mother, taking him by the right arm, and assisting him to rise.

"I don't need any help, mamma," added Christy playfully, as he rose from the sofa. "I have not been butchered, and I haven't anything but a little bullet-hole through the fleshy part of my left arm. Don't make a baby of me; for a commander in the Confederate navy told me that God made some fully-developed men before they were twenty-one, and that I was one of them. Don't make me fall from my high estate to that of an overgrown infant, mother."

"I will not do anything of the kind, my son," replied Mrs. Passford, as she arranged the cushions on the sofa for him. "Now, Florry, get a wrap for him."

Christy stretched himself out on the sofa, for he was really fatigued by the movements of the forenoon and the excitement of his return to the scenes of his childhood.

"Tell them what the doctors said about my 267 wound, Charley," he continued, as he arranged himself for the enjoyment of a period of silence.

"Mr. Passford has had two surgeons," Mr. Graines began.

"Then he must have been very badly wounded!" ejaculated Florry, leaping to a very hasty conclusion.

"Not at all," protested the engineer. "Both of them said he was not severely wounded."

"Why was he sent home on a furlough?" asked Mrs. Passford.

"Because the weather was getting very hot in the Gulf of Mexico, and it was believed that he would do better at home. He has been somewhat feverish; but he is improving every day, and in a couple of weeks he will be as well as ever."

"Thank God, it is no worse!" exclaimed Mrs. Passford.

Then she insisted that he should be quiet, and they all retired to the library.

268 CHAPTER XXIV LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER CHRISTOPHER PASSFORD

Christy Passford dropped asleep when left alone in the sitting-room, and his slumber lasted a full hour. During this time Mr. Graines had related the incidents of the action in which he had been wounded, and given a full account of the expedition to Mobile Point. He was not sparing in his praise; but he brought it out in what had been said by others, especially by the commanders of both vessels and in the demonstrations of the seamen of the Bellevite.

When the wounded officer awoke it was with a start, and he was surprised to find he had been asleep in the midst of such happy surroundings. He rose from his couch, and found that his mother and sister had left the room. He passed out into the hall, and there heard the voice of the engineer in the library which he entered at once.

"I hope you feel better, my son," said his mother, as she and Florry rose from their chairs 269 rejoicing anew at his return home after the fearful peril through which he had passed, for the recital of his brilliant exploits by his friend had been intensely thrilling to both of them.

"I'm all right, mother dear; I was only tired a little, for I have taken more exercise to-day than usual lately," replied Christy, as Mrs. Passford kissed him again and again, and Florry followed her example.

"Charley Graines has told us all about it, Christy," said his sister.

"So you have been spinning a yarn, have you, Charley?" asked the hero.

"I have related only the simple truth, Christy, for I knew you would not tell them the whole of it," replied the engineer.

"I am afraid you were reckless, my son," added Mrs. Passford.

"Reckless!" exclaimed Christy. "When I saw my duty there was no alternative but to do it; and that was all I did. You have been decorating your yarn, Charley."

"Not a particle; and Captain Breaker would confirm everything I have said," protested Mr. Graines. "So would Captain Rombold, if he were here, as I suppose he will be soon."

270 "That reminds me, mother, that you are to have some visitors; for I expect Captain Rombold and Dr. Davidson will be here some time to-day, for I have spoken to have them paroled," interposed Christy.

"Who is Dr. Davidson, my son?" asked his mother.

"He was the surgeon of the Tallahatchie. Both of your visitors are rebels to the very core," added the lieutenant playfully. "I was hit in the arm by a bullet when I was in the mizzen rigging; but I did not report to the surgeon"—

"As you ought to have done," interrupted the engineer.

"Dr. Linscott had his hands full, and I did not want to bother him then. I went on board of the prize to take a look at the disabled Armstrong gun. Captain Rombold, who was wounded in the right thigh, was sitting on the quarter-deck. He spoke to me, for I was well acquainted with him. While we were talking, I began to feel faint, and slumped down on the deck like a woman. The captain sent for his surgeon, though his own wound had not been dressed; and Dr. Davidson was the gentleman who came, and very soon I felt better. 271 They treated me like a brother; and that is the reason I have asked to have them both sent here."

"I am very glad you did, Christy; and we will do everything we can for them," added Mrs. Passford.

The father and mother of Mr. Graines lived in Montgomery, two miles distant, and he was anxious to see them. Leaving Christie in the hands of his mother and sister, he took his leave early in the afternoon. Later in the day a carriage stopped at the mansion, and the expected visitors, attended by the naval officer who had paroled them, were admitted by the servant. As soon as they were announced, Christy hastened to the hall, followed by his mother and sister. The captain carried a crutch, and was also supported by the doctor and the naval lieutenant.

"I am very glad to see you, Captain Rombold," said Christy, as he gave his hand to the commander. "And you, Dr. Davidson;" and he proceeded to present them to his mother and sister.

"This is Lieutenant Alburgh of your navy, Mr. Passford; and he has been very attentive to us," interposed the surgeon, introducing the paroling officer.

272 "I am very happy to know you, Mr. Alburgh;" and he presented him to Mrs. Passford and Florry.

The lieutenant declined an invitation to dinner; for he was in haste to return to New York, going back to the station in the carriage that had brought him. Mrs. Passford invited the party to the sitting-room, and Christy and the doctor assisted the wounded commander. He was placed upon the sofa, where he reclined, supported by the cushions arranged by the lady of the house.

"I am extremely grateful to you both, gentlemen, for your kindness to my son when he was beyond my reach, and it affords me very great pleasure to obtain the opportunity to reciprocate it in some slight degree," said Mrs. Passford, when the captain declared that he was very comfortable in his position on the sofa.

"And I thank you with all my heart for what you did for my brother," added Florry.

"You more than repay me; and, madam, permit me to congratulate you on being the mother of such a son as Lieutenant Passford," replied Captain Rombold warmly. "I am still a rebel to the very centre of my being; but that does not prevent me from giving the tribute of my admiration to an 273 enemy who has been as brave, noble, and generous as your son. The brilliant exploit of Mr. Passford, I sincerely believe, cost me my ship, and at least the lives or limbs of a quarter of my ship's company. It was one of the most daring and well-executed movements I ever witnessed in my life, madam."

"Please to let up, Captain," interposed Christy, blushing as Florry would have done if Paul Vapoor had entered the room at that moment.

"He is as modest as he is brave, Mrs. Passford. It was sheer admiration for the young officer which compelled me to send for my own surgeon when he sank fainting upon the deck, with the blood streaming from the ends of his fingers," added the commander.

"If you are going to talk about this matter the rest of the day, Captain Rombold, I must beg you to excuse me if I retire," interposed Christy, rising from his chair.

"I won't say another word about it, Mr. Passford!" protested the captain. "But I hope your mother will have a chance to read Captain Breaker's report of the action, for he and