n
its power, be eventually able to extract from him what the Federal
Government had vainly endeavored to obtain? And was it reasonable, was
it permissible, to suppose for an instant that he had been carried off
for the benefit of a private individual?

Certainly not, was the emphatic reply to the latter question, which
was too ridiculous to be entertained. Therefore the whole power of
the State was employed in an effort to recover the inventor. In every
county of North Carolina a special surveillance was organized on
every road and at every railroad station, and every house in town
and country was searched. Every port from Wilmington to Norfolk was
closed, and no craft of any description could leave without being
thoroughly overhauled. Not only the cruiser _Falcon_, but every
available cutter and launch was sent out with orders to patrol
Pamlico Sound and board yachts, merchant vessels and fishing smacks
indiscriminately whether anchored or not and search them down to the
keelson.

Still the crew of the _Ebba_ prepared calmly to weigh anchor, and the
Count d'Artigas did not appear to be in the least concerned at the
orders of the authorities and at the consequences that would ensue, if
Thomas Roch and his keeper, Gaydon, were found on board.

At last all was ready, the crew manned the capstan bars, the sails
were hoisted, and the schooner glided gracefully through the water
towards the Sound.

Twenty miles from New-Berne the estuary curves abruptly and shoots off
towards the northwest for about the same distance, gradually widening
until it empties itself into Pamlico Sound.

The latter is a vast expanse about seventy miles across from Sivan
Island to Roanoke. On the seaward side stretches a chain of long and
narrow islands, forming a natural breakwater north and south from
Cape Lookout to Cape Hatteras and from the latter to Cape Henry, near
Norfolk City, in Virginia.

Numerous beacons on the islands and islets form an easy guide for
vessels at night seeking refuge from the Atlantic gales, and once
inside the chain they are certain of finding plenty of good anchoring
grounds.

Several passes afford an outlet from the Sound to the sea. Beyond
Sivan Island lighthouse is Ocracoke inlet, and next is the inlet of
Hatteras. There are also three others known as Logger Head inlet, New
inlet, and Oregon inlet. The Ocracoke was the one nearest the _Ebba_,
and she could make it without tacking, but the _Falcon_ was sear