the citizen. "The Yankee ships
are hauling in the prizes as fishermen haul in their catch with a drag
net. You see, the blockade-runners that are bound in don't know that the
Inlet has been captured, and neither do they find it out until they run
slap into the arms of the cruisers, who are always on the watch for
them. They had hardly ceased firing upon the forts before they captured
five schooners."

"All in one day?" exclaimed Marcy.

"All in one day," repeated the citizen.

"Good enough," said Marcy, to himself. "I hope the _Hattie_ was one of
them." Then aloud he said: "Do you know the names of those schooners?
The reason I ask is because my captain has had plenty of time to load
up, run down to Nassau, and get back again. His name is Beardsley, and
he commands the _Hattie_."

"Oh, yes. I heard about him, and when he gets back you will see an
account of his daring exploit in the papers. That man has pluck, I tell
you."

"What did he do, and why will the papers wait until he returns before
saying anything about it?" inquired Marcy.

"He had taken his cargo of cotton on board, and was all ready to sail
when word was received that the Yankee ships had appeared off Hatteras,"
answered the citizen. "No one supposed that he would think of going out,
but he did; and the first thing we heard of him was that he had got
safely off."

"He didn't run out of Hatteras, of course?"

"Certainly not. He stole a march on the Yankees and went down to
Ocracoke."

"Then I can't see what he did that was so daring," said Marcy, to
himself. "The greatest coward in the world, if he can handle a vessel at
all, ought to be able to run her out of a wide inlet when there is
nothing to oppose him."

"And the reason our papers didn't speak of it is because we don't want
the Yankees to be on the watch for him when he comes back," continued
the citizen. "We can tell by the way they have acted since they captured
the forts, that they know what is going on in the city as well as we do.
They must get the papers regularly; and if we ever find out who is to
blame for it, I wouldn't give much for his neck."

"Now that's what _I_ call pluck," thought Marcy. "Captain Beardsley
didn't show a particle when he ran out to sea under the guns of Fort
Ocracoke, for there was nothing for him to be afraid of, all the
blockaders, if there were any, having gone to Hatteras to help the
fleet. But when a Union man, in such a nest of rebels as Newbern is