officer by the name of Galvinne. I do not know
whether the report was true or not."

"It was quite true, uncle Homer; and he has been quite as unfortunate
as he was in his former expedition to the North," added Christy very
quietly.

"What do you know about him, Christy?" asked the colonel with the
deepest interest.

"I can assure you first that he is alive and well. I am not informed how
he got to New York, but he did get there, and in company with two naval
officers, one by the name of Byron, as well as Galvinne."

"Byron was an actor in Mobile; he had been the mate of a cotton ship,
and he obtained a commission in the navy; but for the want of a steamer
both of them were unemployed," the planter explained.

"In New York they got up a plan to obtain a small steamer, about the
size of the Bronx," continued Christy. "Galvinne had been in the navy,
and he readily obtained an appointment as second lieutenant of the
store-ship Vernon. Byron shipped as a seaman. Corny was appointed by the
two officers to take the place of a regular officer, who came down in
the Vernon. He looked something like the officer whom he personated, who
was to command a small steamer in the gulf."

"It was a hazardous plan," suggested Colonel Passford, "and I should
suppose that Corny was hardly competent to play such a _role_. I hope
the scheme was successful, for, as you know very well, all my prayers
and all my aspirations are for the triumph of the Confederate cause."

"The scheme was successful up to a certain point, and Corny obtained
the command of the steamer, passing for the genuine officer before the
commodore, and even on board of the vessel where the commander was well
known."

"That sounds like a story for a novel," added the planter, smiling.

"If there had been no setback, Corny would have gone into Pensacola Bay
in a few hours more, in nominal command of the steamer, though of course
Galvinne was the real commander."

"It is a strange story, and I cannot see how Corny succeeded in passing
himself off as the officer he personated."

"He stole that officer's commission and other papers while he was
sleeping in his own home," added Christy.

"But where did you learn this history of Corny's operations?" asked
his uncle, knitting his brow as though he did not quite believe the
narrative.

"Oh, I am the officer whom Corny personated," replied the commander with
a quiet smile. "The story is not a second-handed one, uncle Ho