thern wife, and she had enlisted all
his sympathies in the cause of her people.

"I suppose we have nothing more to hope for, Captain Rombold; and we
can only put our trust in the All-Wise and the All-Powerful, who never
forsakes his children when they are fighting for right and justice,"
said Colonel Passford, after he had condoled with the commander on his
wounded condition.

"We shall come out all right in the end, Colonel; don't be so cast
down," replied the captain.

"I raised the money by mortgaging my plantation and what other
property I had left for all the money I could get upon it to a wealthy
Englishman, the one who came to Mobile with us from Nassau, to obtain
the cargoes for this steamer. I had borrowed all I could before that for
the purchase of the Trafalgar; and if the current does not change in our
favor soon, I shall be a beggar," added the colonel bitterly.

"The tide will turn, my good friend; and it would have turned before now
if all the planters had been as self-sacrificing as you have," said the
captain.

"Cotton and gold are about the same thing just now; and with the
large cargo on board of the West Wind, which I induced my friends to
contribute to the good cause, and that in the hold of the Tallahatchie,
I was confident that I could purchase the Kilmarnock, which you say is
good for eighteen knots an hour. Now the West Wind and the Tallahatchie
are both prizes of the enemy, and there is no present hope for us,"
continued the colonel; and there was no wonder that he had become pale
and thin.

"We are in a bad situation, Colonel Passford, I admit, for both of us
are prisoners of war, so that we can do nothing, even if we had the
means; but everything will come out right in the end," replied the
wounded officer, though he could not explain in what manner this result
was to be achieved.

"Well, Captain Rombold, how are you feeling?" asked Dr. Linscott,
darkening the door when the conversation had reached this gloomy point.

"Very comfortable, Doctor," replied the commander. "My friend is Colonel
Passford."

"Bless me!" exclaimed the surgeon, as he extended his hand to the
visitor. "I am very glad to see you, and I hope you are very well. I am
happy to inform you that your nephew, who was wounded in the engagement,
is doing very well."

"Yes; I met him on deck," replied the planter very gloomily.

"What is the matter, Colonel Passford? You look quite pale, and you have
lost flesh sin