peech
suited to the occasion, and ordered the colors to be run up to the peak.
The ship was then in commission, and she was to sail on the tide the
next day. The subordinate officers and seamen then gave three cheers,
in which every person seemed to put his whole heart.

Christy conducted Bertha to the captain's cabin, which had been
restored to its original condition and refurnished. A lunch was served
to the whole party under an awning on the quarter-deck. Mr. Drake, an
eye-witness and actor in the battle, fought it over for the benefit of
the ladies; and before night they all returned to Bonnydale, where it
required at least three rooms to accommodate them during the evening.

CHAPTER XXVII

CAPTAIN PASSFORD ALONE IN HIS GLORY

Christy Passford was stirring at an early hour the next morning, and
so was Bertha Pembroke; for the St. Regis was to sail that day, though
the tide did not serve till four in the afternoon. After breakfast
his father called him into the library, and closed the door. Captain
Passford had remained in the city the evening before till the last
train, and it was evident that he had something to say to his son.

"I have no information to give you this time, Christy, in regard to the
coming of blockade-runners or steamers for the Confederate navy," said
he. "But I have been instructed to use my own judgment in regard to what
I may say to you about your orders. Of course you have observed that the
blockading squadrons in the Gulf have been greatly reduced."

"Only the Bellevite and Holyoke remained off the entrance to Mobile
Bay," added Christy. "We have had a very quiet time of it since I joined
the Bellevite, and the action with the Tallahatchie was really the only
event of any great importance in which I have been engaged."

"The enemy and their British allies have been so unfortunate in the
Gulf that they have chosen a safer approach to the shores of the South.
Nearly all the blockade-runners at the present time go in at the Cape
Fear River, where the shoal water favors them. A class of steamers of
light draft and great speed are constructed expressly to go into
Wilmington. Over $65,000,000 have been invested in blockade-running;
and in spite of the capture of at least one a week by our ships, the
business appears to pay immense profits. The port of Charleston is
closed to them now, as well as many others."

"I have studied this locality of the coast at the mouth of the Cape Fear