"It will not only suit me better, but you cannot fail to see that it is
the only practicable way for me to operate with my present very limited
resources. If I had a dozen good men and true,--not such dunderheads as
your officer captured in the Magnolia,--I should be able to proceed in a
more orderly and regular manner. In that case, I should issue my orders
in person, and not compel you to act as my intermediary."
"I understand you perfectly now; but as you have not, fortunately for
me, and unfortunately for yourself, the dozen men at hand, I am to hold
the fiddle while you play upon it, as I have seen a couple of negro
minstrels do it."
"An excellent simile, Captain Passford, and I could not have invented a
better myself," returned the privateersman. "I think we understand each
other perfectly, and therefore it is not necessary to use up any more
time in explanations. You are too intelligent a person to fail to
comprehend my plan. As an epitome of the whole scene, I may add that I
propose to do what my friend Galvinne undertook with that cousin of
yours: I intend to take the Bronx into Pensacola Bay, and have her used
in the service of the righteous cause in which the people of the South
are engaged," continued Captain Flanger, as though he believed in all he
was saying.
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