the capture of the schooners possible
and even easy, as it would not have been if the order of Captain Rowly
to drag them over to the wharf could have been carried out.

The taking of the Havana had been rather a side incident, hardly
connected with the rest of the affair. Everything had favored the
young commander of the expedition, and he had made good use of his
opportunities, though he had embraced some of them blindly, without
being able to foresee the consequences of his action at the time it was
taken. He had time now to review the events of the morning, and the
result was in the highest degree pleasing to him.

On board of the two schooners the crew had put in an appearance; but
when he inquired of the negroes he learned that the captains of the
vessels were not on board. The mate of each was on deck, and they were
the only white men. On the rail of the one on the port side sat the fat
captain of the garrison of the place. Thus far he had said nothing, and
he appeared to be sitting figuratively on the stool of repentance, for
he had not been faithful to the trust reposed in him.

Dolly had said he had gone to visit a planter who had a daughter;
but this statement did not appear to be true, for he had put in an
appearance early, as the Havana was making fast to the first prize. He
had left his men in the barrack to sleep off their fatigue and apple
jack after their unaccustomed labor in loading the steamer. He had not
so much as posted a sentinel, who might have enabled him to defeat the
invaders of the port, even with his diminished force. If Homer Passford
had been on the spot, his faith in the Providence that watched over his
holy cause might have been shaken.

"Good morning, Captain Rowly," said Christy cheerfully, as he walked up
to the disconsolate captain. "I hope you are feeling quite well."

"Not very well; things are mixed," replied the fat officer, looking down
upon the planks of the deck.

"Mixed, are they?" added Christy.

"I can't see how it all happened," mused the military gentleman.

"How what happened, Captain Rowly?" inquired Christy.

"All the vessels in the place captured, and carried off!" exclaimed the
late commander of the garrison.

"I don't discover the least difficulty in explaining how it all
happened. You were so very obliging as to allow your men to go to sleep
in the barrack without even posting a sentinel at the battery. That made
the whole thing as easy as tumbling off