r he looked it over, and found that it meant business, and he was
delighted with the idea of having something to do before he reached the
port for which the ship was bound, for the inactivity of the blockade
was not wholly to his mind. He slept as soundly as usual, for already he
had come to regard war as the business in which he was engaged, and he
had but little sickly sentiment over it.

It was a tearful parting with his mother and sister before he took the
train with his father, and it was a sad one with his father when he went
off to the Bellevite in the boat. But neither of them shed any tears,
for both felt that they were called upon to discharge their duty to
their country.

Captain Breaker had always trained his officers and seamen to perform
their duty in conformity with the discipline of the navy so far as it
was practicable to do so, and consequently his ship's company were very
nearly at home from the beginning of the voyage. He had received his
sealed orders, and at noon the Bellevite went down the bay on her
mission to the South, though no one on board knew where the ship was
bound. The crew had been re-enforced by as many men as she had usually
carried, and the first day was a very busy one in putting everything in
order. Christy had handed the letter his father had given him to the
captain, and after dinner he spoke of it.

"Did you read this letter, Mr. Passford?" asked the captain.

"I did, sir; my father told me to read it," replied Christy.

"It appears that a very fast steamer loaded with a valuable cargo sailed
from Belfast eleven days ago, clearing for the Bermudas. We shall all be
very happy to pay our respects to her; but I can say nothing till I have
opened my orders to-morrow," said Captain Breaker.

"If she sailed eleven days ago from Belfast, she ought to be well
up with the Bermudas, if she is as fast as represented, sir," added
Christy, hoping the orders would permit the Bellevite to look out for
the Killbright, as she was called.

The next day, as the observations indicated the latitude in which the
sealed orders were to be opened, the seal of the official envelope was
broken. Captain Breaker read the letter, and a smile came over his
bronzed face. The orders were evidently to his satisfaction; and
Christy, who was on duty near him, remembered what his father had said
to him, and asked no question, as he would have been likely to do under
other circumstances. But the commander was