and the paddle-wheels
began to revolve faster and faster, as the fleet little steamer rose
higher and higher in the water from the immense force of the rapid
strokes; she actually felt like a horse gathering himself up under you
for a great leap. After a little while, the few faint sounds from the
deck which we could hitherto faintly catch in the cabin ceased
altogether, and there was the stillness of death except for the sounds
necessarily made by the movements of the machinery. Then we realized
that we were running for our lives past the line of cruisers, and that
at any moment a big shell might come crashing through our cabin,
disagreeably lighting up the darkness in which we were sitting. Our
suspense was prolonged for some minutes longer, when the speed was
slackened, and finally we stopped altogether. Even then we did not
know whether we were safely through the lines, or whether we had been
brought to under the guns of a hostile ship, for we could distinguish
nothing whatever through the portholes. However, we were soon released
from the cabin, and walked on deck, to find ourselves safely through
the blockade. In the offing could be descried several of the now
harmless blockaders, and near at hand lay the coast of North Carolina.
Soon the gray dawn was succeeded by a brilliant, lovely sunrise, which
lighted up cheerfully the low-lying shores and earthworks bristling
with artillery, while from a fort near by floated the Southern Cross,
the symbol of the glorious cause for which we had come to fight."

When the blockade-runner, after safely running the gauntlet of the
warships, steamed leisurely up to the wharves of the blockaded town,
every one rushed to the docks to greet her. Her captain and crew
became at once people of great importance. They were beset on every
side for news of the great world outside. The papers that they brought
in were bought eagerly by the people, hungering for tidings of
something else than the interminable war. The sailors of the steamer,
on being paid off, rambled about the streets of the city, spending
their money royally, and followed by a train of admiring hangers-on.
The earnings of the sailors in case of a successful voyage were
immense. A thousand dollars for the four or five days' trip was
nothing unusual for common seamen, while the captain often received
eight or nine thousand. But the risk of capture, with the confiscation
of all property, and some months' imprisonment in a Fe