ing the Bellevite; and he was all ready to do
it. But the Leopard might as well have been without an engine as without
a pilot; for all the men on board were from the interior of the country,
and not one of them, not even the officers, knew how to steer the boat.

The marks and figures on the chart of the bay, which Christy had put on
the shelf in front of the wheel, were all Greek to them. Possibly they
might get the tug to the shore, or aground on the way to it; but the
steamer was practically disabled.

CHAPTER XXI

THE SICK CAPTAIN OF THE LEOPARD

Christy Passford now realized, for the first time, that he had
been taken by the enemy. War had actually been declared against the
Bellevite, and Major Pierson would undertake to perform the duty
assigned to him by Colonel Passford. The young man was determined to be
true to his colors under all possible circumstances; and therefore he
could do nothing, directly or indirectly, to assist in the capture of
the steamer.

Captain Passford, while he recognized the irregularity of his mission,
had come into the waters of Mobile Bay with no intention of committing
any depredations on the persons, property, or vessels of the
Confederacy. The Bellevite had not fired a shot, or landed a force,
in the enemy's country.

Indeed, the owner of the steamer had taken especial pains to conceal any
appearance of using force on coming into the bay; and all the guns on
the deck of the vessel, that could not be easily lowered into the hold,
had been covered up and concealed. Though Major Pierson had spent some
time on board of the Bellevite, he did not know whether or not she was
armed. He was no wiser than the owner's brother.

The major went to the lower deck of the Leopard, where Christy saw him
questioning the soldiers there, though he could not hear any thing that
was said. Of course he was inquiring for some hand who had steered a
steamer; but he soon returned alone, and it looked as though he had not
found the person he sought.

"It looks like bad weather, Mr. Passford, since you decline to be called
captain any longer," said the major, as he came into the pilot-house,
and looked at the sky in all directions.

Christy had noticed the weather signs before; and the wind was beginning
to pipe up a rather fresh blast, though the sun had been out for an hour
or more earlier in the morning. It came from the southward, and it was
already knocking up a considerable sea, as it