the captain rather impatiently,
for he was too busy to enjoy the humor of the engineer.

"He is a thrifty Scotchman; and I don't believe he has any interest in
anything under the sun except his wages; and he is a little sour on that
account to find that his cruise is finished, as he puts it."

"Send for him and his assistants, Mr. Sampson."

The engineer went to the engine hatch, and called the men below.

"Now send for Mr. Gawl," added the captain. "He is your first assistant;
is he a competent man to run an engine?"

"As competent as I am myself; and the engine of this steamer is exactly
like that of the Bronx, so that he can have no trouble with it, if you
think of retaining him on board of the Ocklockonee," replied Sampson.

"I propose to make him chief engineer of her."

"You could not find a better man," said Sampson, as he went to summon
Gawl.

The three engineers of the prize came on deck, and the captain took the
chief aside.

"Mr. Bockburn, I believe, the chief engineer of the Ocklockonee?" said
Christy.

"Of the Scotian, sir; for I know nothing of the jaw-cracking names
that the officers in the cabin have given her," replied the engineer,
shrugging his shoulders, and presenting a dissatisfied air.

"Are you an engineer in the Confederate Navy, sir?" asked Christy,
bringing the business to a head at once.

"No, sir, I am not," answered the engineer very decidedly. "You see,
captain, that the Scotian was sold to come across the water, and I was
out of a job, with a family to support. They did not say anything about
the service in which the Scotian was to be engaged, but I understood it.
When they spoke to me about it, I was glad to keep my place as long as
she did not make war on the United Kingdom. In truth, I may say that I
did not care a fig about the quarrel in the States, and was as ready to
run an engine on one side as the other as long as I got my wages, and
was able to support my family handsomely, as, thank God, I have always
done. I am not a student of politics, and I only read enough in the
newspapers to know what is going on in the world. I always find that I
get ahead better when I mind my own business, and it can't be said that
Andy Bockburn ever--"

"Precisely so, Mr. Bockburn; but I will hear the rest of your story at
another time," interposed the captain when he found that the man was
faithful to the description Sampson had given of his talking powers.

"You understand perfect