more excited than he had ever been in the face of
the enemy, for the present looked like a case in which his honor was at
stake. He felt that it would be his ruin if the Vernon sailed without
him. There had been some mistake in his orders, or in those of the
commander of the store ship, and he was likely to be the sufferer for
it. He rushed to the stern end of the ferry-boat in order to obtain a
better view of the steamer; and at this moment he discovered a boat,
pulled by one man, headed towards the navy-yard.

"Boat, ahoy!" shouted Christy, with almost frantic earnestness.

"On board the ferry-boat!" replied the man, resting on his oars.

"Five dollars if you will put me on board of that steamer before she
gets off!" added the officer.

"I'm the one for your money," returned the oarsman, as he headed his
boat into the slip.

Without much difficulty Christy dropped his valise into the boat, and
then dropped himself in after it. The belated passenger cast an earnest
look at the Vernon, which had just begun to move, though at a snail's
pace, and he hoped he should be able to get on board of her.

"Naval officer, sir?" interrogated the boatman.

"Yes; but I have no time to spare, and you must not stop to talk,"
replied Christy rather sharply.

"Time enough, sir, if you are going on board of the Vernon, and I will
give you one of my oars if I don't put you on her deck," said the
boatman very positively. "I hope you are nimble with your feet and
hands, sir."

"I will take care of that part of the matter if you will put me
alongside the steamer," answered Christy. "No more talk, if you please,
for you are wasting your wind."

"I have plenty of it for this job. You said five dollars, I believe,
sir," added the man, looking earnestly at his passenger.

"Five dollars is just what I said," replied the lieutenant, as he took
a bill of that denomination from his porte-monnaie, rolled it around the
boat-hook, and fixed it so that it should not blow away.

"Thank you, sir," said the rower, as he pulled with more vigor even than
before, and did not say another word till the boat was alongside the
Vernon.

Christy found a rope hanging over the side, to which the boatman
attached his valise, the young officer going up the line hand over hand
as though he was used to that sort of thing. The oarsman secured his
five-dollar bill, and Christy hauled up his valise. He felt that he had
saved himself from the dishonor of fail