and Christy enjoyed
the excursion as much as though there had not been a blockade-runner in
the world. The town, with even its principal street not more than ten
feet wide, reminded him of some of the quaint old cities of Europe he
had visited with his father a few years before. But M. Rubempre was bent
on business, and the delightful scenery was an old story to him. They
took a boat at a pier, and for an hour a negro pulled them about the
harbor. There were quite a number of steamers in the port, long, low,
and rakish craft, built expressly for speed, and some of them must have
been knocked to pieces by the blockaders before the lapse of many weeks,
though a considerable proportion of them succeeded in delivering their
cargoes at Wilmington or other places.

The visitors looked them over with the greatest interest. They even went
on board of a couple of them, the detective pretending that he was
looking for a passage to some port in the South from which he could
reach Mobile, where his brother was in the Confederate army. No one
could doubt that he was a Frenchman, and on one of them the captain
spoke French, though very badly. M. Rubempre's good clothes secured the
respect and confidence of those he encountered, and most of the officers
freely told him where they were bound, and talked with great gusto of
the business in which they were engaged. But none of them could
guarantee him a safe passage to any port on the blockaded coast.

The excursion in the boat was continued, for the visitors had not yet
seen the steamer they were the most anxious to examine. The detective
would not inquire about this steamer, fearful that it might be reported
by the negro at the oars, and excite suspicion. But at last, near the
entrance to the harbor, the boatman pointed out the Dornoch, and told
them all he knew about her. There were several lighters alongside,
discharging coal and other cargo into her.

M. Rubempre, in his broken English, asked permission to go on deck, and
it was promptly accorded to him. He was very polite to the officers, and
they treated him with proper consideration. There were no guns in sight,
and the steamer looked like a merchantman; but if she had been searched,
her armament would have been found in the hold. The visitor again
repeated his desire to obtain a passage to the South; and this request
seemed to satisfy the first officer with whom he talked. He was informed
that the steamer would sail about fiv