and have the jib and flying-jib ready to set at a moment's notice.

"I don't think Captain Sullendine can get out of his stateroom, where
he has been confined, or Bokes out of the deck-house; but if either of
them should do so, you must secure them as you think best," continued
Christy. "Do you fully understand your orders, French?"

"Perfectly, Mr. Passford; and I will do my duty as well as I know how,"
answered the able seaman, who, like many others in the service, deserved
a better position.

The new officer and crew went to work on the sails, and in a few minutes
they were ready to be set. Another bank of fog was rolling up, in which
the two vessels would soon be involved. But the Tallahatchie was in a
position where it was plain sailing now, and her future troubles would
all come from the blockaders.

"There you are!" exclaimed the engineer, as the peal of a gun boomed
over the water from the westward. "The steamer has been seen by a
blockader, and she will catch it now."

"I don't believe that was one of the Bellevite's guns," added Christy.
"Captain Breaker would not take a position over to the westward, for
that would give him the outside track, and he always goes at anything by
the shortest way."

"We have the fog again for the next ten or fifteen minutes. The
blockader that fired that shot must have got a sight at the steamer, and
she is still pegging away at her. We may get knocked over by our own
guns," continued Graines.

"There is no danger at present. She can't hit anything in this fog
except by a chance shot."

"And one of them sometimes does the most mischief. The fog is heavier
just now than it has been at any time during the night. I can't see the
Tallahatchie just now."

"It is blacker than a stack of blackbirds," added Christy. "I am
confident that we are at least a mile south of the lighthouse, and we
will take advantage of the gloom to hoist the mainsail, and then the
foresail if it holds as it is now;" and he gave the order to French,
who was assisted by the engineer in the work.

The lieutenant took the wheel, and sent Lines to assist the others.
The blockader to the westward continued to discharge her guns; but her
people could see nothing, and her solid shot began to fall astern of
the West Wind, and the Tallahatchie took no notice of her or her guns.
Christy saw that the fog was lifting again, and this would reveal to the
steamer ahead what he had been doing. Besides, he had gone