Chapter X

Landing of the cargo at Tampico--A mysterious stranger makes friends with me--A chance to make a fortune by betraying trust--Tampico under French rule--Rejoicings at Maximilian's acceptance of the Imperial Crown of Mexico--Departure from Tampico--Arrival at Havana--Settling up accounts.

Tampico was at this time in possession of the French forces. It was not a very great place of business, and the arrival of a blockade runner always caused some stir. There were many applications for the consigneeship, the cargo being valuable plenty of money would be advanced upon it. The seamen would be paid off, and receive large bonuses, and they would be flush of money; and even in this rather out-of-the-way Mexican port it was astonishing to see what a number of kind-hearted English-speaking gentlemen gathered round the small vessel.

These gentlemen were, or pretended to be, actuated by their great sympathy with the Confederate cause, and their great admiration of the adventurous spirit of men who dared to run the blockade, and came to congratulate them on their deserved success. They were now volunteering their kind offices to them in any way, and wishful to show them where they would get all their wants supplied with everything of the best quality at the cheapest rates.

The supercargo, who represented Messrs. M. and Co., had directions to whom he should consign their part of the cargo, and as I knew no person in the place, I consigned the vessel to the same party, and got the vessel entered at the custom house.

The cargo was valued at something like 30,000 dollars, and if I remember aright the import and export duties had been somewhat reduced since the place had been occupied by the French. The freight due the vessel amounted to about 13,500 dollars.

There being no wharf where the vessel could land her cargo, she lay at anchor in the river, and the cargo was taken ashore in lighters.

As everything is done slow in Mexico, and only certain hours in the day that we were allowed to discharge, and a great many official forms to be observed, it took several days to discharge.

The vessel was at length discharged and inspected.

It had been observed that as soon as the vessel came into smooth water she had ceased to leak, and the cause of her leaking was now discovered.

The stevedore, having been warned while stowing the cargo not to screw the cotton too tight, had thrown it in loosely, and the hold not being packed tight the deck was not sufficiently supported to bear such a heavy deck load, the consequence was that the deck worked with the straining of the vessel in a sea way, and there being so little free board the water washed over the decks and the vessel leaked at the sheer plank.

As soon as the vessel was discharged the crew were paid off. Getting their extra pay for being short handed, and their bonuses for the outward trip, they had good large sums to receive. I told them that they might ship again as soon as they wished, as I did not intend to remain long at Tampico.

Fred, the cook, who was saving every penny was ready to join at once, and as a cook was wanted he joined the same day. Hagan and Polly joined in a day or two, but as for poor George, it was the largest sum he had ever possessed--about 220 dollars--it was too much for him. I tried to persuade him to put part of it by in some way. But it was no use; he had not had a spree for six months, and he was going to have a glorious one. The last time I saw him he was in a café with some French soldiers, shouting "Vive Napoleon."

A day or two after our arrival I made the acquaintance--I scarcely know how--of a gentleman who seemed to take great interest in blockade runners. There was a place some distance down the river from the town owned by an American, who had erected a small wharf for lighters. Also a small cotton press and some houses for storing cotton or other goods. Here the cargo was landed and weighed, the bales repaired and put in order for shipment to Liverpool.

It was here I met this gentleman. I thought at first that he was in some way connected with the cotton yard, but I found out that he was a stranger. He was much about when we were landing the cotton, often entered into conversation, and accompanied me on my walk up to the town after the day's work was over.

This man seemed very intelligent and amiable in his manner. He professed great sympathy with the Confederate States, but he feared very much that their end was very near.

On this point I did not express any opinion, and tried to avoid the subject, but he seemed to harp upon it in a somewhat sorrowful and desponding manner.

"Of course," said he, "it is easy for you, a foreigner, and a neutral to look upon the matter with indifference, but with me it is very different. My fortune has been ruined by this war, and I have no other country but the States."

"As for that," said I, "I am in the same position. I was in a good position in the States before the war broke out, and as a foreigner it might be thought I could have remained neutral, but in spite of myself I got entangled in the cursed war, and have lost my all."

"You may well say cursed war," said he; "but surely you can't complain. Are you not owner of that vessel? And look at the value of that cargo you are landing."

"That cargo don't belong to me," said I, "neither does the vessel. I am master of her and own one-eighth of her. Six months ago she belonged entirely to me, with a cargo besides. But that is all the interest I have in her now."

"How does that come about?" said he.

I gave him a rough account of my bad fortune in Mexico, of the sinking of the vessel, and other difficulties in Texas.

He listened with interest; asked if I had seen or known such-and-such parties in that part of Texas, and what had become of them?

I asked if he was acquainted in those parts, and if he had done any business there?

He said he had done some business on the Brownsville route before it was closed by the Yankees, but had lost heavily when it was closed, and some of his goods were now lying rotting at the mouth of the Rio Grande. He sympathized much with me in my losses in Texas.

I said that in these desperate times we must take fortune as it came. I hoped to be able to make it all up yet. The trip I had just completed would enable me to redeem a part of my vessel.

"Well, I hope so," said he. "But let me tell you this. If you intend to do it by blockade running, you will have to go very quick about it, as the time will now be very short, and the danger much greater."

"I don't know about that," said I.

"Oh," said he, "you take my word for it, blockade running is about at an end, and so is the Confederacy. I am sorry to say it, but I know a great deal of what is going on, both inside of the Confederacy and outside of it, and I would advise you to be watchful and do as others are doing, that is, to look out for Number One."

Just at this time we had got to the upper landing place, and I saw that Fred, the cook, which was the whole crew of the schooner, was ashore with the boat waiting for me. Standing by him was an old gentleman, who on my coming up said--

"Captain W., I presume."

"That's me," said I.

"My name is Currie," said he.

"Oh," said I, "Captain Currie. I have heard of you often. Glad to see you. Come away on board and have a chat."

We stepped into the boat and went off to the schooner.

Captain Currie had owned, or partly owned, a small schooner, and had succeeded in making three trips through the blockade, one to the Rio Grande and two to Tampico, by which he had made a little money, and being well advanced in years he had decided not to risk any farther, but to retire quietly on what he had, and as he rather liked Tampico he was going to make it his residence until the war was over.

He had just come to see me and have a talk. He also wished to recommend to me two excellent men who had sailed with him, one of whom had already been acting as mate, and would do well for me in that capacity.

I said that was just what I wanted, and they might come on board to-morrow; adding in a laughing way that on my run from Texas I had no mate, and only two men and a boy besides the cook, and yet the vessel carried two supercargoes.

"Was that one of your supercargoes that came up the road with you?"

"No," said I, "that is a man I have met once or twice about the cotton yard. I don't know anything about him, and I was just going to ask you if you knew him. He seems to be one of the many we meet up with whose fortunes have suffered by the war; his sympathies are very strong with the South, but he fears the Confederacy will not be able to hold out much longer."

"Their sympathies are always very strong with the South when they meet up with blockade runners," said Captain Currie; "and he may be wanting to borrow some money from you before long. But I don't know him at all; I have never seen him before, and he can't have been very long in Tampico."

Captain Currie soon afterwards went ashore, and on the following morning came with the two men. I engaged them both, one as mate, the other as seaman. They both proved excellent men, and remained with me as long as I had the schooner.

On the following evening, as I was coming up from the cotton yard, my friend of the preceding evening joined me, and we again got into conversation. I was wishful to hear something more of what he had last night spoken of regarding his knowledge of what was going on inside and outside of the Confederacy, and the possible early collapse of the latter.

He said the Federals had advanced much farther than was generally known.

I scarcely understood that.

"I mean," said he, "that they have advanced their influence and established a system whereby they know everything that is going on."

I said the Confederates, so far as I had seen, were united and determined, and would, I thought, resist to the last extremity.

"I am a very strong sympathizer with the South," said he, "and I see you are the same."

"Oh, no," I interrupted, "I never was a very strong sympathizer with the South. I was much opposed to the secession movement, and would have done anything I could to have prevented it. But when the North declared war I was in a position that I could not well withdraw from, and I served my time in the Confederate Army, and that has given me a sort of veneration for the South, though I would now wish as far as possible to remain neutral, but that I cannot well do, having suffered so much by the war. Still, I think that the secession of the States was a great mistake."

"A great many more have thought like you," said he; "and I for one. But what I was going to say was this--that although it might appear to you from what you saw in the Confederacy that all were united and loyal to the cause, that was very much because they dare not show themselves to be anything else. But I can tell you that there are at this moment within the Confederacy thousands and tens of thousands who did not sympathize with secession, and who are now suffering and sick of this war, and who look forward to the subjugation of the South as the first and only chance of a return to peace and prosperity. And they don't care how soon it may take place, although they don't express themselves openly. And further," added he, "there are plenty who pretend great zeal, and are even in the service of the Confederate Government, who, on the quiet, play into the hands of the Yankees, and trade with them."

"Oh, that is quite common," said I. "I knew of lots of that work going on on the Mississippi river twelve months ago, and I must say that in many instances I could scarcely blame them."

"Blame them! No. Who could blame them? I think," said he, "that for those who were opposed to secession, and had the war forced upon them, and their fortunes wrecked, and themselves partly deprived of their liberties, and in a manner forced into the service, they were perfectly justified in availing themselves of any chance that might offer or fall in their way to retrieve their losses, and that is just what a great many are now doing, and right they are."

I thought my friend was working round considerably from the sentiments he at first expressed, and I rather dropped in the conversation, merely remarking that hundreds of thousands would be brought to ruin by this war.

"Yes," said he, "and many of these were opposed to the whole movement, and I suppose you and I are among that number; but you are better situated than me, for you have a chance of retrieving your fortune."

"Not much," said I, "if it be as you prophesy--a sudden collapse of the Confederacy."

He stopped in his pace, turned towards me, looked around carefully, and raising his finger to his lip, said in a cunning but significant tone--

"You have chances that you don't know of."

I was a little astonished at the mysterious way in which he spoke, and I said I did not understand him.

He said he believed I did not; but what if he could put me on the way to make a very large sum of money in a very short time and with very little trouble.

I thought him some enthusiast, or some promoter, or agent for some airy scheme in which he thought to induce a thoughtless blockade runner to invest his suddenly acquired money.

I laughed and said, "What was this? To go into some gold-mining speculation?"

"No," said he, "it is something more practical and sure, and in connection with the subject we have been talking about, and when I have made it known to you, you will see the truth of what I have said in regard to the Federals knowing what is going on in the Confederacy."

I began to wonder what sort of a person he was, and wishing to come to the point, I assumed a sort of incredulous and careless air, and said--

"Well, let us hear what it is."

"Not quite so fast," said he. "You may have some scruples about the matter, but the sum to be obtained is very large, and would make you independent, after all your losses and troubles. But before I make it known to you I must have a solemn understanding with you."

"Oh, well," said I, "if there is to be solemn understandings in the matter, I don't care about going into any visionary or mysterious transactions, so you need not mind saying more about it."

"There is nothing visionary about it," said he, "but hard cash paid down to you, and what I want is a solemn promise that if you do not accept the proposition, you will never say to any one that such a proposition was made to you."

I began to feel a little uneasy in his company, and wishing to cut the matter short, I replied that never was a very long time, and I did not wish to bind myself to any such promise, and I thought we had better drop the subject.

He still persisted, and I must own that curiosity is a weakness, and I felt a desire to know what he was driving at.

At length, said he, after a pause: "Then will you promise not to mention it to any one before the war is over."

"I might promise that," said I, "unless it be some wicked or treacherous plot which honour would compel me to expose, or right or justice would suffer by my silence."

"It is nothing of that kind," said he, "if you do not accept the proposal, your silence on the subject will do no harm to any one."

"Very well," said I, "let me hear what it is."

"Well now, to come to the point," said he, "you have in your possession a packet containing despatches from General Magruder to the Confederate States Consul at Havana, and I can assure you that a very large sum of money will be paid to you if you hand these despatches to a person that I will introduce to you. I will not name the amount, but I believe you can name your own figure, and you will have it paid down to you."

I looked at him in astonishment for a moment, and then affecting to treat the matter lightly, I said, "And who has been playing this joke upon you? Who has told this story of my being the bearer of despatches."

"Never mind," said he, "did not I tell you that the Federal Government had long ears, and knew all that was going on in the Confederacy: you now see the truth of what I told you."

"Indeed I do not," said. I. "Do you think that General Magruder would intrust to me, an unknown and irresponsible foreigner, on a small vessel like that, despatches that would be worth ten cents to the Federal Government or to any one else?"

"General Magruder could not help himself," said he; "the Brownville route was blocked, and strict watch was laid for these despatches, and he entrusted them to you because there was no other conveyance."

"And if he had," said I. "it is not so long since I left the Brazos River, and how could you know of it down here?" I said this because I thought he was only trying to find out whether I had the despatches or not.

"Yankee couriers travel quick," said he. "Did I not tell you that they had established a system whereby they knew what was going on within the Confederacy."

"Then," said I, "do you really believe that I have such a thing."

"Yes," said he, "I do."

I gave a sort of incredulous laugh, and said, "Well, allowing it to be possible that General Magruder should do me the honour to trust me with such valuable and important despatches, would not I be a sweet-scented traitor to sell them for a sum of money? Would not that be playing Arnold with a vengeance? Was ever he a happy man?"

"That is for yourself to weigh," said he; "this case is very different from Arnold's case. Had the rebellious colonies at that time been put down by the British, as the Confederate States are certain to be now, Arnold would never have been mentioned as a traitor but held a high position as a loyal man; and you may return to your native country, and live in independence when the name of the Confederate States are forgotten, and no one be the wiser, and you would be doing nothing more than hundreds are doing every day to retrieve their lost fortunes, and these are men natives of and citizens of the Confederate States, whereas you are a foreigner and have no interest in the Confederate States whatever."

I made no reply, but walked on in silence. I could not understand how he could have got the information. I was certain that none of my men knew anything about the despatches; therefore the information must have come by land, and that very quick, and there must be treachery somewhere, as it was certain that the Federal Government knew that despatches of some importance were being sent, and they were on the look out for them, and I thought to put him off the scent, and after a pause, I repeated in a half-laughing way--

"But what on earth led you to suppose that I had any such despatches?"

"I have already told you that I know," said he, "and the source through which I got my information I can depend upon. And now do you say that you have not got such letter or despatches in your possession?"

"That," said I, "is putting the question very direct, and you must allow that I am not bound to answer it; nevertheless if it will do you any good to know, I may say that I have letters in my possession, plenty of them. Every blockade-running vessel has letters to bring out from people within the Confederacy to their friends outside, but which must be all read and approved by the Provost Marshal in my presence before I can take them. In none of these letters was there anything very interesting, except one from a Yankee sailor who is a prisoner in Galveston to his sweetheart in Boston, in which he says that he will return to her before six months if he should swim all the way. That letter I would not give up as I think the damsel ought to get it." I said this in a laughing way, thinking to joke the matter off and put him off the scent.

We were now approaching the place where my boat was waiting, and I made to go towards it.

"Well," said he, "I don't press the matter upon you, but there is the terms, and you need not be afraid to ask a large sum, you will get it. A few minutes and a few words will transact the business; you hand over the despatches, and the money will be put into your hand; so you can think over it. In the meantime you will keep your promise and say nothing about the matter."

I said I always kept my promises, and bade him good-night, and hastened to my boat glad to part company with him.

I must say that I felt somewhat nervous about the despatches, and my mind was not at ease until I got on board the vessel and opened my trunk, and saw that the packet was there all safe.

I did not know very well what to think of this matter. When I looked over the letter of instructions to me, it was no doubt said that the safe transmission of the despatches was of great importance, and equally disastrous to the Confederate cause should they fall into the hands of the enemy. But I could scarcely think that the importance of them could amount to such a large sum as he seemed to hint at.

Still I scarcely considered them safe in the cabin of the schooner, so I had them safely lodged, as some private and valuable papers of my own, in the iron safe of my consignees.

On the following day I was walking along the street with one of my consignee's clerks, when we met my friend; he merely saluted and passed. I asked the young man if he knew that gentleman. He said, no; but he had seen him a day or two before coming out from the office of the American Consul. I saw him again the same evening, but shunned him.

A day or two after this the Confederate agent, whom I had known at Matamoras, arrived over-land from that place. The traffic by that route having been stopped, and entry to Texas barred by the Federal troops occupying Brownsville, he had come by land to Tampico to get the mail steamer to Havana. I knew this gentleman, and he was one I might well trust, and as the mail steamer was to leave for Havana in a day or two, I delivered the package to him glad to have my mind relieved of the responsibility.

There was little more worth noting during our stay here. Although the town was occupied by the French troops, the civil government was not interfered with. Some cumbersome restrictions had been abolished by the French, and some reforms and progressive measures introduced, and, on the whole, business and things in general seemed to be tending towards prosperity. The people appeared to be contented, and, to outward appearance at least, they seemed to welcome the French.

During the time we lay here, there was one day of great rejoicing. It was a general holiday in honour of the news which had arrived of Maximilian having accepted the Imperial Crown of Mexico. The town was decorated with flags; the cathedral bells were rung; salutes were fired; and tremendous vivas went up from large crowds in the streets and plazas.

Talking that day with some prominent merchants of the place, I asked if they thought that the people were sincere in the part they took in the demonstration.

"Sincere enough during the time it lasts," was the reply, and they would just do the same to-morrow for President Juarez, if he could come in and drive out the French and unseat Maximilian.

Tampico not being much of a business town, it was not a likely place to get a cargo, and the prevailing winds in the Gulf of Mexico being from the eastward, the run to Texas would be somewhat to windward, and as there was a large number of Federal war vessels cruising along the coast of Texas betwixt Galveston and the Rio Grande, it would be rather a dangerous passage to beat up the Texas coast.

I also wished to have the vessel docked and overhauled, and that could not be done at Tampico, and also to have a settlement with Messrs. R. and D. G. M., the head partner of that house being then at Havana.

I therefore determined to proceed up to Havana, have the vessel put in thorough order, and if I made arrangements for another trip I would be to windward, and have a better slant across the Gulf to Texas. And at the same time we would cut across the line of cruisers with less chance of capture than by sailing along it.

The vessel could sail without ballast, but she required some weight to give her a hold of the water while beating to windward.

Ballast being very difficult to obtain in Tampico, I reshipped our own twenty-one bales of cotton, and filled some casks with water, and placed them in the hold to serve as ballast, but still the vessel drew very little more than three feet of water.

I got my name regularly enrolled as master, by the British Consul, and endorsed on the register, and having got a full crew, and three passengers, I got a clearance in proper form, and sailed for Havana about the beginning of March.

This was, of course, a voyage between two neutral ports, and we were supposed not to be subject to capture. It did not, however, take much to cause a seizure on suspicion, and the Yankees had been playing high jinks on the seas lately, even seizing vessels while on a perfectly legitimate voyage, between two neutral ports, simply because the vessel had on some former occasion run the blockade, or had on board cotton which had been run through the blockade. These vessels would be taken to New Orleans or Key West, and there detained for a month or two awaiting trial in a prize court, after which they might be released, but not until they had been put to very great expense and detention, the Yankees having the satisfaction of knowing that they had kept them out of mischief for a time at least.

Knowing this I took a route on which we were not likely to be overhauled, and beat up the Yucatan banks. This was more against the current of the Gulf Stream than by keeping further north, but I wished to have a pleasant trip without being constantly on the _qui vive_.

The three passengers we had were from the Southern States, and such was the feeling at the time that they preferred to take passage on the _Rob Roy_, because she was a blockade runner, than upon a larger and much more comfortable vessel that was going to Havana at the same time. This was the _Sylvia_, from St. John, which we had spoken before arriving at Tampico. The captain having discharged his cargo of lumber, was now going to take the vessel up to Havana, in hopes that he would be able to sell her there at a high price for blockade-running purposes.

On this trip up to Havana, there was nothing of interest to note. We had three days of very heavy weather, and the vessel being light, and drawing only about three feet of water, was knocked about a good deal, but, on the whole, it was astonishing how well she behaved, and made good weather under double reefs and two-thirds centre-board. All the rest of the time we had very light head-winds and adverse currents, and it took us fifteen days to beat up. But we were never overhauled or questioned, indeed, we scarcely saw a sail on the whole trip, until we made the coast of Cuba, and we reached Havana about the middle of March.

The crowd of sharks--land ones I mean--which generally gathers round a vessel when she enters a port is well known. Of course in the case of a large vessel with a number of passengers it is not so much to be wondered at, but to see a small one which looked like a mite among the others in the harbour, surrounded by a crowd of boats, all scrambling to get to her as she entered the harbour, showed that there must be some unusual attraction.

Although Havana was a Spanish city, this was not a Spanish crowd, but mostly of the Anglo-Saxon race, consisting of runners and speculators from America, Britain, and other places, who had flocked to Havana to reap a harvest off the thoughtless blockade runners, who, when they had made a successful run, would find themselves suddenly possessed of money which they did not, just at the moment, know what to do with, and these gentleman were exceedingly wishful to direct them on that point. So that as soon as a vessel was signalled at the Moro Castle, which had the appearance of a blockade runner, a crowd of boats would be making their way to greet her arrival.

Of course these gentlemen professed to have no other object in view than to be of service to any one who had rendered aid to the Confederate cause with which they professed great sympathy.

The _Rob Roy_ was not direct from a blockaded port, but she had run out from Texas, and though having touched at a neutral port, she had still some of the bonused crew and some of that magical commodity cotton on board. She would, of course, want a new outfit, cargo and stores, for another trip, off which there must be commissions. There would also be advances to the crew for the next voyage, which must be all spent before the vessel would sail again; and as these small blockade runners were generally consigned to master, who would wish to consign to a merchant of the place, there were numerous representatives of recently started firms applying for the consigneeship.

I had been advised that in the case of a stranger going to Havana with a vessel, it was best in all cases to consign to a respectable old-standing Spanish house. I had the name of one such, to whom I consigned, and by whom I was well served. The vessel was entered at the custom house and the small lot of cotton landed.

One of the first things I did after getting through the usual entry business, was to go to Mr. Helm and inquire if he had got the despatches. I found that gentleman, who informed me that he had received the despatches all right. On ascertaining that I was the captain of the _Rob Roy_, he asked me to dine with him the same evening, which invitation I accepted.

The dinner was at a restaurant, and there was a small company, consisting of Confederate officers and agents and some captains of blockade runners with whom I made acquaintance.

The two supercargoes had come with the vessel to Havana, and there was now to be a general settlement.

I, of course, was registered owner of the vessel, but Mr. F., the representative of the firm of Messrs. R. and D. G. M., held from me a power of attorney for three-fourths of the vessel. And Mr. P., my partner's representative, had documents of agreement for one half of the remainder, out of which he had to pay me the balance still due to me on his half of the vessel and cargo; he, of course, losing equally with me in the sinking disaster and other mishaps in the Brazos River.

Mr. R. M.--the senior partner of Messrs. R. and D. G. M.--was residing in Havana, and with him must be the first settlement.

I found Mr. R. M. a rather close customer to deal with. I had been paid at Tampico my wages as captain for the run out, at 7 dollars per bale as agreed upon, but now came to be divided the proceeds of the freight on the outward trip, the gross amount of which was 13,500 dollars, but by a statement made up by Mr. R. M. on data furnished by the house in Texas and sent out by the supercargo, after deducting disbursements, commissions, and other charges, and freight of our 21 bales of cotton, the balance due to us for our fourth interest in the vessel amounted to only 1,400 dollars. I thought he cut pretty sharp, but I accepted as I wished to be clear with him.

The vessel was to be valued, and he valued her at 4,000 dollars; his share of this would be 3,000 dollars. I then agreed to pay him 1,600 dollars, which, with 1,400 dollars balance which he owed us, would be the amount of his share of the vessel and he would give me up the power of attorney. This was done and we were clear of each other.

The net proceeds of our 21 bales of cotton sold in Havana was about 3,600 dollars, which, after redeeming the vessel, left about 2,000 dollars.

With my other partner it was not so easy to settle; he was a sort of _status quo_. He was still due to me the balance for his share of the vessel, which was more than his share of the proceeds of the voyage would amount to, and I was not prepared to buy him out altogether, and as his representative took no active part and was seldom seen while the vessel was in port, things remained as they were with him.