as to avoid all possible noise. When the
first cutter was abreast of the Key, the pilot pointed out the dark
outline of the peninsula, which was less than a mile distant. No vessel
could be seen; but the pilot thought they might be concealed by the
railroad buildings on the point. Christy asked where the battery was
which the pilot thought he could locate, and the spot was indicated to
him. Christy wanted a nearer view of it, and the cutter was headed in
that direction.

CHAPTER XXIII

THE VISIT TO A SHORE BATTERY

The first cutter reached the Seahorse Key closely followed by the
second. It was within an hour of high tide, the ordinary rise and fall
of which was two and a half feet. On the Key was a light house, and a
cottage for the keeper of it; but the former was no longer illuminated,
and the house was as dark as the head of the tower. So far as could be
discovered there was no one on the Key, though the boats did not stop to
investigate this matter. The crews still pulled a moderate stroke with
their muffled oars, the men were not allowed to talk, and everything was
as silent as the inside of a tomb.

The pilot stood up in the stern sheets of the cutter, gazing intently
in the direction of the point nearly a mile ahead. The outlines of the
buildings could be discerned, and Amblen soon declared that he could
make out the tops of the masts of several vessels to the westward of
the point with which the peninsula terminated. This looked hopeful, and
indicated that the information upon which the expedition had been sent
out was correct. Christy began to think he should have a busy night
before him when Amblen said there were at least three vessels at the
port.

The battery was first to be visited and cared for if there was one,
and it was not probable that a place so open to the operations of
the blockading force would be without one, especially if the people
were actually engaged in loading cotton, as the masts of the vessels
indicated, though the hulls could not yet be seen. As the first cutter
approached nearer to the place the outlines became more distinct, and
soon embodied themselves into definite objects. Both officers in the
stern sheets watched with the most anxious vigilance for any moving
object denoting the presence of life and intelligence.

As the boats came nearer to the shore, a breeze sprang up, and cooled
the air, for early as it was in the season, the weather was very warm,
and it was