he men worked so hard that it took them only eight days to build the
dam; which was wonderfully quick work. A place was left open in the
center, and there four barges loaded with brick were sunk.

When the dam was finished it lifted the water six feet higher, and down
in safety went three of the steamers, while the army shouted and
cheered. But just then two of the sunken barges were carried away, and
the water poured through the break in a flood.

The gunboat _Lexington_ was just ready to start. Admiral Porter stood on
the bank watching.

"Go ahead!" he shouted.

At once the engines were started and the _Lexington_ shot down the
foaming rapid. There were no cheers now; everybody was still.

Down she went, rolling and leaping on the wild waters; but soon she shot
safe into the still pool below. All the other vessels were also safely
taken down.

CHAPTER XXV

THE SINKING OF THE "ALBEMARLE"

LIEUTENANT CUSHING PERFORMS THE MOST GALLANT DEED OF THE CIVIL WAR

NOW I am going to tell you about one of the most gallant deeds done in
the navy during the whole Civil War. The man who did it was brave enough
to be made admiral of the fleet, yet he did not get even a gold medal
for his deed. But he is one of our heroes. It is all about an iron-clad
steamer, and how it was sent to rest in the mud of a river-bottom.

The Confederate government had very bad luck with its iron-clads. It was
busy enough building them, but they did not pay for their cost. The
_Merrimac_ did the most harm, but it soon went up in fire and smoke.

Then there were the _Louisiana_ at New Orleans, and the _Tennessee_ at
Mobile. Farragut made short work of them. Two were built at Charleston
which were of little use. The last of them all was the _Albemarle_,
whose story I am about to tell.

The Roanoke River, in North Carolina, was a fine stream for
blockade-runners. There was a long line of ships and gunboats outside,
but in spite of them these swift runaways kept dashing in, loaded with
goods for the people. Poor people! they needed them badly enough, for
they had little of anything except what they could raise in their
fields.

But the gunboats kept pushing farther into the river, and gave the
Confederates no end of trouble. So they began to build an iron-clad
which they thought could drive these wooden wasps away.

This iron-clad was a queer ship. Its keel was laid in a cornfield; its
bolts and bars were hammered out in a blacksmith