Blockade Runner (12 page)

Leah said, “Or maybe he could find a ship going away from Boston—he knows lots of sailors. Anything to get away from here! I hate to think about him going to prison—they’re terrible places.”

The three of them talked about Belle’s plan, and finally Mr. Pollard said, “All right, we’ll try it. Now let’s get this all down. We’ll only have one chance,
Belle. Captain Almy told me they were coming to take us ashore tomorrow. So it’s today—or tonight!”

The three of them sat for a long time in Mr. Pollard’s cabin, planning the details of the escape.

“All right,” Mr. Pollard said at last. “That’s all we can do for the moment.”

“But how will Captain Bier get to know all this?” Leah asked.

“I’ll have to go tell him what the plan is,” Pollard said. “They’ve been pretty good about letting me see him.”

“Then tell him I said good luck,” Leah said, “and that I hope to see him again.”

“I’ll tell him.”

Pollard made his way down to the small cabin below deck where they had confined the captain. The guard admitted him without question since Captain Almy had given him permission to visit.

“Why, hello, John,” Captain Bier said. “I was half expecting the guard to come and take me off to jail.”

“That’ll be tomorrow—if nothing happens.”

Perhaps something in the way Pollard spoke aroused the captain’s attention. Bier stared at him. “What’s on your mind?”

“Captain, I think there’s a chance for you to get away. Belle and Leah and I have worked up a scheme. If it works, you’ve got at least a chance.”

“What about you?” Captain Bier demanded. “You need to get away too.”

“Oh, they won’t do anything to me. That’s pretty clear, Captain. I’m not a military prisoner. But you well know how they treat the captains and officers on the blockade runners. You’d be in jail for the rest of the war.”

Pollard knew the thought distressed Captain Bier. He was a man who liked the sea and the open air. The thought of being cooped up in a smelly, dank prison for perhaps years was depressing.

Bier stared at him with an eager look. “Do you have help? Are you going to seize the ship?”

“Oh, no—no! Nothing like that,” Pollard protested. “Here’s what we’ll do …”

There was a great deal of excitement on the
Greyhound
and also on land. And Ensign Hardinge was giving orders here and there when one of the sailors came up to say, “Sir, we have sprung some kind of leak in the forward hull.”

Hardinge turned to Belle Boyd. “I’ll have to go see about this, Belle.”

“Yes, Sam. I’ll be right here.”

As soon as Hardinge left, Belle turned to Leah and whispered, “It’s got to be now or never!”

Leah’s heart began to beat fast. Darkness was already falling. There was still a little light, just enough to see by, but it was dark enough for their purposes. They hurried to the ladder, trying to keep out of sight as much as possible. When they were below, Belle whispered, “You hide in that cabinet over there. When you hear us go by, you’ll know it’s time.”

“All right, Belle,” Leah whispered. She opened the door of what she knew to be a supply cabinet. It was so crowded with all sorts of sacks and boxes that she had to squeeze in. But she was able to see through the slats in the closed door as Belle moved down the hall. “I hope this works,” she whispered. “It’s got to!”

Belle approached the sailor on guard at Captain Bier’s cabin door and spoke to him with a bright
smile. “Good evening, sir.” She thought the common sailor would be thrilled at being called “sir.”

He said quickly, “Good evening, Miss Belle. Come to visit with the captain?”

“Yes, I thought I might. But tell me about yourself. Have you been in the navy long?”

The sailor appeared flattered to be interrogated by the famous Confederate spy. A short, heavyset young man, he spoke eagerly of himself.

But suddenly Belle put her hand to her head and dropped her eyes.

He cut his words off abruptly. “What’s the matter, Miss Belle? Are you feeling bad?”

“Why—I do feel a little sick,” she said. Then she staggered slightly. “I do think I’m going to faint—”

“I’ll—you want me to get the doctor?”

“Oh, no, but … could you just help me back to my cabin?”

“Well … I’m on duty, ma’am.”

“Oh, of course,” Belle said. “I’ll probably … be all right.” She began to stagger away, allowing herself almost to fall.

“You—you’re going to faint!”

The sailor cast a desperate look at the door—it was well secured with a heavy oak bar—then said, “Come along, Miss Belle. I can take you to your cabin. Then I’ll have someone get the doctor.”

“Oh, thank you. You’re so kind.”

Leah watched breathlessly as Belle and the sailor passed by. As soon as they had ascended the ladder, she leaped out of the closet, ran down the corridor, and lifted the oak bar. Pulling the door open, she saw Captain Bier standing there waiting.

“Come along quickly, Captain! It’s dark, and Ensign Hardinge’s up in the front of the ship.”

“I’ll make it!” The captain gave Leah a quick hug and grinned, his eyes gleaming. “Thank you, and you pass my thanks along to Miss Belle.”

“I will,” Leah promised, “but hurry!”

The captain ran down the corridor. He paused at the ladder, then climbed upward and peered cautiously around the deck. It was almost totally dark. Only the lights in the harbor cast their illumination over the waves. Quickly he moved to the fantail and saw that John Pollard had maneuvered the little dory off the ship. It was floating below. Quickly he stepped over the rail, jumped, and thirty seconds later was rowing desperately for shore.

Alongside the rail, John Pollard stood alone. He laughed silently when he saw the captain disappear into the darkness, then said aloud, “Well, there’s one blockade runner the Yankees won’t put in jail.”

T
he escape of Captain Bier was almost as attractive a story to the newspapers as the capture of Belle Boyd. The docks were alive with gossip. The Boston paper put it on the front page, the newsprint screaming, “CONFEDERATE BLOCKADE RUNNER ESCAPES!” The story was not at all favorable to Captain Almy, who was responsible for the security of such prisoners.

The blow had fallen heavily on the captain, and he in turn let his wrath fall on the head of Ensign Sam Hardinge.

“It’s all your fault!” he shouted next morning when the young man arrived at his cabin. “I wouldn’t be surprised but what you yourself turned the man loose. You won’t get away with this!”

“I had nothing to do with it, sir,” Ensign Hardinge protested. “I was forward—all you have to do is ask any of the crew if you doubt my word.”

“Oh, don’t make excuses. I know you and that Boyd woman were in it together. You made it your business,” the captain snarled, “to be out of pocket, and she went down and lured that fool sailor away from the door. And I have no doubt it was Pollard—or perhaps that young girl—who let the captain out.”

“I couldn’t say, Captain.”

“You’ll regret this, Hardinge. I’m recommending that you be dismissed from the navy.”

“But, sir—”

Protest as he might, Ensign Hardinge could not change the captain’s mind.

Belle found Hardinge immediately after his interview with Captain Almy. She looked at his face and asked, “Is it bad, Sam?” She was surprised at how concerned she had become over his troubles.

He summoned a smile. “Well, they’re not going to hang me from the yardarm—though that’s pretty much what the captain would like to do, I’m sure!”

“Don’t joke about it,” Belle said sharply. “I know it means your career, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, it does. But there are other careers.” He looked at Belle and asked, “What will happen to you?”

“I think they’re going to send me to Canada, just to get rid of me.” She reached up and touched his cheek. “Poor Sam. You’d have been much better off if you’d never met me.”

Taking her hand, he kissed it, then pulled her close. “Don’t say that,” he said huskily. “I love you, Belle—and all I want to know is the answer to one simple question.”

“What is that?”

“Do you love me?”

Belle Boyd had found this tall young sailor possessed qualities that she had long admired in men. He was strong physically, of course, but there was also a steadfastness, a steadiness that she admired. Lacking this quality to some degree herself, she admired it when she saw it in others. She felt the honesty in him even now. She reached up, put her arms around his neck, and said, “Yes, I do love you.”

“Will you marry me, Belle?”

“Yes.”

He kissed her soundly, then exclaimed with joy written across his face, “Now what’s a career compared with getting a wife like you?”

“They wouldn’t marry us here,” Belle said. “And I don’t know how you’d find me in Canada.”

“I’d find you no matter where they sent you,” Hardinge insisted, his face bright with new happiness.

“I’ll probably eventually go to England. I have business there. Could you meet me?”

“Yes, I could.”

They exchanged addresses where they could get in touch. Hardinge wrote down the English address and stuck it in his waistcoat pocket. “It may take a while, but you can believe I’ll be there, Belle.”

Then the captain was at the door. “All right, Miss Boyd,” he said stiffly, “you will go with these gentlemen. They will see that you do not make
your
escape.”

“Why, Captain, I had no idea of such a thing,” Belle said, smiling at Almy’s angry face. “I was just saying good-bye to Ensign Hardinge.” She turned to Sam again. “Good-bye, Ensign. It’s been a lovely trip.”

“Good-bye, Miss Belle. May the Lord go with you and bless you every step you take!”

“Why, thank you, Ensign.” Belle turned to the captain, saying, “I’m ready now.”

“Take her ashore,” Captain Almy ordered. “If she tries to escape, you know what to do.”

An army lieutenant accompanied by a heavily armed sergeant stared at the captain. “There’s no need to be rude, Captain.” He turned to Belle and said, “If you’ll come this way, Miss Boyd, we’ll see that you’re well treated.”

“Why, thank you, Lieutenant.”

Belle stepped out on deck and walked toward the gangplank. Then she saw Leah standing at the rail and went over and embraced her.

“Good-bye, Leah. We’ll meet again. I feel sure of it.”

“Is everything all right, Miss Boyd?”

“Yes,” Belle whispered. “I’m going to marry Sam. I wish you could be at the wedding.”

“So do I,” Leah whispered. “He’s such a good man.”

Then Belle Boyd moved on, speaking to Jeff and Mr. Pollard on her way to the gangplank.

Leah, Jeff, and Mr. Pollard watched as Belle descended the gangplank with an air of confidence and got into a carriage accompanied by the lieutenant and the sergeant.

“Well,” Jeff said, “she’s some woman.”

“She is that!” Mr. Pollard agreed. “But I don’t think she’ll be doing much more spying for the Confederacy.”

“Why not?” Leah asked.

“Too famous.” Mr. Pollard shook his head. “Everybody knows her now. There’ve been pictures in all the papers. Every Union officer in the army knows about Belle Boyd. It would be impossible for her to charm information out of any of the rest of them.”

“I don’t know about that,” Jeff said with a grin. “Seems like they all fall for Belle.”

“And what will happen to you, Mr. Pollard?” Leah said suddenly.

“Oh, they’re going to turn me loose. All they have against me is that I wrote a book about the Confederacy. But that’s no crime. They may not like it, but they can’t hang me for it!”

“I’m glad for that!” Leah said.

“What about you two?”

“We’ve got to get back. I need to get back to Richmond,” Jeff said.

“I’m going to go to Kentucky,” Leah said abruptly.

Jeff stared at her and exclaimed, “Kentucky! You’re going back home?”

“Yes, I need to see my parents. Dad hasn’t been well, as you know, for a long time.” She hesitated, then an idea formed in her mind, and she said, “Jeff, why don’t you go with me?”

“Why, I couldn’t do that!”

“Why not?” Leah asked. “You haven’t seen your baby sister in a long time.”

Jeff thought about it. “That’s right, but—”

“And if you got to Kentucky, Jeff, it’d be easy to get back to Richmond from there.”

“That’s not a bad idea, Leah,” Mr. Pollard said. “Since Kentucky is a border state, it would be easy to travel.” He reached into his pocket, pulled out his wallet, and extracted some bills. “Here! You’d better take this for your journey. You may need it. I don’t suppose either of you has any money.”

“Why, we couldn’t take this, Mr. Pollard,” Leah exclaimed.

“Take it! Take it!” Mr. Pollard insisted. “You’ll need it to get to Kentucky.”

Neither Leah nor Jeff protested much more. They did need money, and going back to Kentucky did seem to be the thing for Leah to do.

Leah talked with Jeff about Kentucky until they were ready to leave the
Greyhound
, finally saying simply, “Jeff, please come with me.”

“Well, I still don’t know.” He rubbed his chin thoughtfully. “I really need to get straight back to the army. I may even be posted as a deserter.”

“Mr. Pollard will take care of all that,” Leah said. “You know how much influence he has. Please, Jeff.” When she saw he was wavering, she said, “I’d really feel safer if you came with me.”

“Safer?”

“Yes, you know it’s not safe for a young woman to travel alone.”

Actually she was not afraid but knew this would appeal to him.

Jeff blinked. “Why, I never thought of that!” he said.

Apparently it did not occur to him that Leah had made the trip alone from Richmond to Wilmington and that she had made other trips by herself.

She watched as he thought about it and finally drew a sigh of relief when he said, “Well, all right, we’ll go to Kentucky then. I’d sure like to see Esther and your folks too.”

Leah wanted to jump up and down with excitement. “Oh, Jeff! That’ll be so good, and you’ll get to see your home again. Won’t that be wonderful?”

Jeff’s face clouded. “I don’t know if I’ve got a home anymore—just the Confederate army, I guess. I think all the time about that place where I grew up, but we’ll never live there again.”