Captain Almy of the Connecticut had reason to be proud of his prize. Not only would he share generously in the proceeds of the captured vessel, but the newspapers would carry the story of his capture of “The Siren of the Shenandoah,” Belle Boyd.
Leaning back in his chair, Captain Almy felt very pleased with himself. He ran over again in his mind the money that would come from the seizure of the Greyhound and then began to write his report to Rear Admiral S. P. Lee, Commander of the North Atlantic Blockading Squadron:
The Greyhound has a very valuable cargo on board of eight hundred bales of cotton, thirty-five tons of tobacco, and twenty-five casks of turpentine. She threw overboard twenty bales of cotton endeavoring to avoid capture.
The captain’s name is George H. Bier, whom I formerly knew as a lieutenant in the United States Navy. Now, however, he is on the Confederate Navy register as a captain.
I placed officers of the prized crew on board the Greyhound. She is, at this moment, in Boston Harbor. Ensign Samuel Hardinge Jr., is in charge of the ship. …
After he had finished writing his report, Captain Almy placed it in an envelope. He went to the sailor on guard outside his cabin door, handed him the letter, and said, “Take this and see that it gets posted.”
“Aye, sir.”
Boston harbor was filled with ships. He looked them over with a critical eye and then pulled a newspaper clipping from his pocket and reread it. It was dated May 20:
The steamer had on board as passengers the famous Rebel spy Miss Belle Boyd, and Mr. Pollard of Richmond, author of a Southern history of the rebellion. Miss Boyd came on board the steamer at Wilmington as Mrs. Lewis, and her deportment on ship is described by the officers as very ladylike.
Captain Almy was a humorless man and smiled little. However, his lips turned up slightly as he considered again the fame that would come to him as the man who had captured Belle Boyd.
When Ensign Hardinge came by Almy’s cabin late in the morning, he was surprised by the pleasant, almost jovial, aspect of his captain.
Leaning back in his chair, Almy stared at the ensign.
“Do you have any orders, Captain Almy?”
“No, Ensign Hardinge, not for the moment.” The captain stared at the young officer for a moment longer and smiled. “How’s your romance with the Rebel going?”
Ensign Hardinge flushed. He knew that the captain, as well as others on board, had been aware of his feelings for Belle Boyd. He had taken considerable teasing from the men and even from the dour Captain Almy himself.
“It’s not something I’d like to joke about, sir,” he said rather shortly—as shortly as he dared with his captain.
“Now, now, my boy, these things happen! She’s an attractive young lady, and you’re a young man. It’s quite natural, I’m sure.” He studied the ensign. “But impossible, of course. You know what the woman is.”
“I know she’s a very dedicated, beautiful young woman!” Ensign Hardinge declared.
“Dedicated? She’s dedicated, all right! She’s dedicated to overthrowing the government of the United States of America.” His face grew stern, and he said in a voice that raked on the young officer’s nerves, “Put such things out of your mind! You have a fine career ahead of you in the navy.”
Hardinge bit his lip nervously. “I’m sorry you take such a dim view of it, Captain.”
“I think only what everyone would think if you get involved with such a woman. I don’t understand you. Don’t you know what she’s famous for?”
“I beg your pardon, sir?”
“Why, she eats young Union officers like a black widow spider,” Almy said grimly. “She charms them, gets military information from them, and then throws them away. According to the papers, she’s done it dozens of times.”
“That’s not the way this is, sir!”
Almy appeared shocked. “Why, Ensign, you’re not serious about this woman?”
“Yes, sir, I am.”
“But—but that’s impossible!”
“No, sir, it isn’t impossible.”
“Why, you’d be throwing your career down the drain. Besides,” he said, “chances are she’ll wind up in the Old Capitol Prison again. The authorities are tired of her antics. You must surely be aware of all of this, aren’t you?”
“If that did happen, sir, it wouldn’t change my feelings.”
Hardinge had not intended to reveal so much to the captain. He had hoped that somehow Belle would be set free and the two of them could continue their lives together. He felt sure by this time that Belle loved him, and the many obstacles to their marriage simply caused him to be all the more determined.
For a long time Almy sat arguing with his young officer. Then, obviously seeing it was an impossible situation, he threw up his hands. “Well, this is the end! I give up, Ensign! I thought you were a young man of sense and judgment, but I can see that I was mistaken. You’re dismissed.”
“Yes, sir.”
As Hardinge walked away, he thought soberly, Well, there goes my career in the navy. Captain Almy would never give me a good recommendation after this.
“Belle,” Leah asked, a worried look on her face, “are you still sure this will work?”
Belle Boyd’s eyes gleamed with excitement. She said quickly, “I think it will, but even if it doesn’t, how would we be worse off? Captain Bier won’t have a chance after they take him to a prison. And you know what horrible places they are.”
“That’s true.” Then Leah said, “The guards here aren’t very alert, are they?”
“There hasn’t been much need to be when we were at sea. After all, where could anyone go to out in the middle of the ocean? Now that we’re on land, though, it’s different.”
“Can he swim?” Leah asked in a worried tone.
“I have no idea,” Belle confessed. “But remember the dory. Somehow we’ll have to use that. If he can just get into it, he can make his escape to shore.
“I don’t know. I just don’t know,” Leah said. It all seemed terribly difficult to her.
“Let’s go talk to Mr. Pollard,” Belle said.
The two girls went at once to Pollard’s cabin. He was surprised to see them, and when they stepped inside he looked at Belle carefully. “You’re excited about something,” he said. “I can tell by the look on your faces. What is it?”
Belle made a face. “I can’t hide my feelings,” she said. “Yes, I am. There’s something we want to do, John.”
“What is it?”
“We’d like to help Captain Bier escape.”
Surprise washed over Mr. Pollard’s face. “So would I, but I don’t see any chance of that.”
“But there is!” Belle insisted. “All we’ve got to do is get him off this ship. Once he gets to shore—he’s a clever man. He can disguise himself, hire a wagon or a horse, and ride out of Boston. It would be a difficult trip, making his way through the lines, but he could do it.”
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.”