predicament, indeed; but when I looked down into the hold,
and saw the clouds of vapor rising from the overheated journals, as a
stream of water was being pumped upon them, I saw that Schroeder was
right in the assertion, that unless the bearings were instantly eased,
the machinery would give way. I had implicit confidence in Schroeder,
and it had been justly earned, for he had served long under my command,
and had always displayed, under trying circumstances, great coolness,
presence of mind, and ability. He made every preparation for the work
before him, taking off his own coat, and when everything was in
readiness, the order to stop the engines was given. In a few moments, we
lay like a log upon the water, and the chaser was rapidly lessening the
distance between as, and the suspense became almost intolerable. Our
fate was hanging by a thread; but in ten minutes the journals had been
cooled off, the bearings eased, and the Chameleon again sprang ahead
with renewed speed. The steamer in chase had approached nearly within
cannon shot--probably within long range--but in the course of the next
hour, we had gained so rapidly in the race that the pursuit was
abandoned as hopeless; and as the stranger wore around, to resume her
station under easy steam, we followed in her wake till dark, when we
evaded her without difficulty, and continued on our course toward
Charleston.

But another precious day had been lost, and subsequent unfavorable
weather still further retarding our progress, we did not reach the coast
near Charleston Bar till the fifth night after our departure from
Nassau. The blockading fleet had been reinforced by all the light
cruisers from the approaches to the Cape Fear River; and as we drew in
to the land, we were so frequently compelled to alter the course of the
Chameleon, in order to evade the blockaders, that we did not reach the
bar till long after midnight, and after the tide had commenced to fall.
I was tempted to force the pilot to make the attempt, but finally
yielded to his assurances that access was impossible under the
circumstances. As this was the last night during that moon, when the bar
could be crossed during the dark hours, the course of the Chameleon was
again, and for the last time, shaped for Nassau. As we turned away from
the land, our hearts sank within us, while the conviction forced itself
upon us, that the cause for which so much blood had been shed, so many
miseries bravely endure