"That was what made them sleep so soundly, and leave the battery on the
point to take care of itself," said Christy. "Where were the officers?"
"Two of them have gone on the hunt for the hands, and I reckon the
captain is on a visit to a planter who has a daughter, about forty miles
from here."
"The soldiers were sleeping very soundly in the barrack about two this
morning; and perhaps they were also stimulated with apple jack," added
Christy. "Did you drink any of it, Dolly?"
"No, sir, I never drink any liquor, for I am a preacher," replied the
oiler, with a very serious and solemn expression on his face.
"How do you happen to be a greaser on a steamer if you are a preacher?"
"I worked on a steamer on the Alabama River before I became a preacher,
and I took it up again. I was raised in a preacher's family, and worked
in the house."
He talked as though he had been educated, but he could neither read nor
write, and had picked up all his learning by the assistance of his ears
alone. But Christy had ascertained all he wished to know in regard to
the schooners, and he was prepared to carry out his mission in the bay.
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