Within The Enemys Lines | Page 8

board, and
convey her to our destination," said the captain, rather earnestly.
"Not against her will, as you and Corny will have it," protested
Mulgate.
"Do you renounce that plan or that idea, whatever it may be?"
"I do not renounce it. If the lady is willing to go with me, as I believe
she will be, I know of no reason why she should not go as a passenger,"
argued Mulgate.
"I think we had better abandon the enterprise in the beginning, for I
think we can be of more service to our country at liberty than within the
walls of Fort Lafayette," added the captain, with not a little disgust
mingled with his indignation.
Whatever his object in visiting this locality, he was clearly a high-toned
gentleman, and the idea of prosecuting a love adventure in connection
with what he regarded as a highly patriotic duty was repulsive to his
nature. He found by trial that the Florence was not grounded very hard
on the beach, for the tide was rising, and he drew the boat farther up
from the water, as he turned to walk away from the spot.
"Am I to understand that you retire from this enterprise, Captain
Carboneer?" asked Mulgate.
"Am I to understand that you renounce your scheme to carry off a

woman as a part of the enterprise?" demanded the captain.
"I do not renounce it, though I have no intention to carry off a woman,
as you put it. The most I have asked is that she be permitted to go as a
passenger of her own free will," replied Mulgate.
"She never will go with him of her own free will," interposed Corny.
"I will not have a woman on board of the vessel, whether she goes
willingly or otherwise. Do you renounce that scheme entirely?"
"I think you are driving me into a small corner, Captain Carboneer."
"After what you have said before, I think I am fully justified in what I
require. With your private affairs, I have nothing to do. If you choose to
marry this young lady, I have nothing to say about that; but no woman
can be a passenger in a war vessel under my command. After I have
landed you at Bermuda or Nassau, I shall not attempt to run the
blockade, which is now enforced, in order to land you and the lady.
Besides, we may be in action at any time after we get under way."
"Then if I do not yield the point, you intend to leave me to carry out
this enterprise alone?" demanded Mulgate.
"In that case, I wish to go with you, Captain Carboneer," added Corny,
with emphasis. "But I want it understood that I shall not leave
Bonnydale without telling my uncle to look out for his daughter."
"Then you mean to be a traitor, Corny?" said Mulgate angrily.
"Call it what you like."
"All this is absurd, Mulgate," interposed Captain Carboneer. "Without
my resources, you can do nothing at all, and it would be foolish for you
to attempt the capture of the vessel. You are not a sailor or a navigator,
and you could do nothing with the vessel if you succeeded in getting
her to sea."
"I have no doubt I could find a hundred men in New York, including

half a score of navigators, to assist me in this enterprise," replied
Mulgate.
"I have another steamer in view, though the Bellevite is vastly superior
to anything I know of in speed and general fitness. Do as you think best,
Mulgate; and I shall be able to explain in a satisfactory manner my
failure to obtain this vessel."
"The fault will be mine, I suppose," muttered Mulgate.
"The court-martial will decide that point," replied the captain.
Mulgate seemed to be buried in his own reflections, no doubt suggested
by the last remark of the other. Possibly he considered that the failure
of such an important enterprise because he had insisted upon bringing a
lady into the affair would not sound well at home. Whatever he was
thinking about, he was greatly agitated, and Captain Carboneer walked
in the direction of the road, half a mile from the river. He had no time
to consider the matter: he must yield at once, or abandon the scheme.
"I will do anything you ask, Captain Carboneer!" he shouted, forgetting,
in his excitement, the demand for secrecy.
The naval officer, as his conversation indicated that he was, turned and
retraced his steps to the beach. He did not seem to be at all excited
because his associate had changed his mind, for in his judgment it
would have been worse than madness for him to persist in his
intentions.
"I have stated the case as I understand it, and