Stand By The Union | Page 2

years of age. We find a few in the list who were only sixteen and seventeen years. In this regiment, 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, therefore, 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 became men prematurely, and distinguished themselves 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 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.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER I.
A Mysterious Visitation 15
CHAPTER II.
The Absconding Man-servant 26
CHAPTER III.
Christy Passford is utterly confounded 37
CHAPTER IV.
The Sick Officer in the Stateroom 48
CHAPTER V.
Lieutenant Passford and his Apparent Double 59
CHAPTER VI.
The Conference in the Captain's Cabin 70
CHAPTER VII.
The Announcement of the Decision 81
CHAPTER VIII.
The Prisoner of War 92
CHAPTER IX.
A Moral Philosopher 103
CHAPTER X.
A Change of Quarters in the Confusion 114
CHAPTER XI.
Laying out a Plan of Operations 125
CHAPTER XII.
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 169
CHAPTER XVI.
The Disposal of the Prisoners 180
CHAPTER XVII.
The Second and Third Lieutenants 191
CHAPTER XVIII.
A Battle on a Small Scale 202
CHAPTER XIX.
The Skipper of the Sloop Magnolia 213
CHAPTER XX.
An Expedition to St. Andrew's Bay 224
CHAPTER XXI.
A Non-combatant on Board the Bronx 235
CHAPTER XXII.
The Stranger in the Captain's Cabin 246
CHAPTER XXIII.
A Very Impudent Declaration 257
CHAPTER XXIV.
A Critical Situation in the Cabin 268
CHAPTER XXV.
The Destruction of a Prominent Facial Member 279
CHAPTER XXVI.
The Meeting with the Bellevite at Night 290
CHAPTER XXVII.
The Planning of an Expedition 301
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Negro Village on the Isle Grande Terre 312
CHAPTER XXIX.
A Professional Visit to the Fort 323
CHAPTER XXX.
The Attack upon the Fort 334
CHAPTER XXXI.
A Wounded Commander 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 on 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 in 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 on his watch; but at Bonnydale, his quiet home, far removed from the scenes of actual conflict, he was an industrious 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 some 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