the fact was they bore a ludicrous resemblance to two boars about to
engage in mortal combat; the captain, with his jolly, rosy face and
portly figure, not at all unlike a sleek, well fed "White Chester," and
Dyer quite as much resembling a lean, lank, wiry "razor-back" native of
his own pine woods. I discharged Dyer. The poor fellow's subsequent fate
was a sad one. While acting as pilot of a blockade-runner, inward bound,
he committed the folly one day of saying that he would put a steamer
under his charge ashore, before he would be captured. The remark was
overheard and treasured up by some of the crew; and a night or two
afterwards the steamer ran aground on the bar in the attempt to enter
Cape Fear River, and was deserted. As she was under the shelter of the
guns of Fort Caswell, a boat from shore was sent off to her next
morning, and poor Dyer was found in a dying condition on the deck with
his skull fractured. He had paid for his folly with his life.

Our first voyage to Nassau was made without any unusual incident. The
Major took passage with us by permission of the Secretary of War, and
his practical jokes amused every one except the butt of them; even the
aggrieved party, himself, being frequently obliged to laugh at his own
expense. There were two very young lieutenants of the Confederate Navy
then in Nassau, on their way to Europe; the senior of whom _ranking_ the
other by one or two days, assumed much authority over him. One day the
Major with the help of an accomplice, who was supposed to be able to
imitate my handwriting, addressed an official letter to the senior in my
name, informing him that both of them had been reported to me for
unofficer-like and unbecoming conduct, and requiring them to repair
immediately on board the Lee with their luggage, as I felt it to be an
imperative duty to take them back to the Confederacy for trial by
court-martial. The junior demurred, believing it to be a hoax, but the
senior peremptorily ordered him to accompany him on board. They were
caught in a drenching shower on their way to the Lee; and they made
their appearance in the cabin in a sorry plight, reporting themselves
"in obedience to orders," handing me the written document. As I
pronounced it a forgery, the junior turned to the senior and exclaimed,
"What did I tell you? didn't I say it was a hoax of that d----d Major
Ficklen?" They started to the shore, vowing vengeance; but the Major had
posted his sentinels at