atform, he obtained a position behind Colonel
Passford, and at the same time saw the face of the person with whom he
was in conversation. He was not a little surprised to discover that the
gentleman was Captain Rombold, commander of the Dornoch. He had hardly
seen this officer, and he had no fear that he would recognize him; and,
if he did, it was of little consequence, for he was there in the
capacity of a servant. He took a vacant chair, turned his back to both
of the speakers, and opened wide his ears. Probably nine-tenths of the
people in the hotel were directly or indirectly concerned in the
business of blockade-running; and secrecy was hardly necessary in that
locality.

"As I say, Captain Rombold, we need more fast steamers, not to run the
blockade, but to prey upon the enemy's commerce. In that way we can
bring the people of the North to their senses, and put this unhallowed
strife on the part of the Federals to an end," said Colonel Passford.

"Well, Colonel, there are ships enough to be had on the other side of
the Atlantic, and your money or your cotton will buy them," added the
naval officer.

"We have been rather unfortunate in running cotton out this last year.
Several steamers and sailing vessels that I fitted out with cotton
myself were captured by my own nephew, who was in command of a small
steamer called the Bronx."

"Of course those things could not be helped," replied Captain Rombold;
"but with the Gateshead and the Kilmarnock, larger and more powerful
steamers than any that have been sent over, you can scour the ocean.
They are ready for you when your money is ready."

"It is ready now, for I have sacrificed my entire fortune for the
purchase of these steamers; and I wait only for a vessel that will take
me to Scotland," replied Colonel Passford.

Christy promptly decided that the steamers mentioned should not be
purchased to prey on the commerce of the United States, if he could
possibly prevent it.

CHAPTER XII

AN IMPRACTICABLE SCHEME

Before the War of the Rebellion the commerce of the United States
exceeded that of any other nation on the globe. The Confederate
steamers, the Sumter, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and other cruisers,
swept our ships from the ocean, and the country has never regained its
commercial prestige. Christy Passford listened with intense interest to
the conversation between his uncle and the commander of the Dornoch, and
he came to the conclusion that th