ot," added Christy. "I should not be surprised
if the enemy made an attempt to capture Pickens; but even if they storm
it in the darkness, I do not see that the ships can do anything until
they are able to see what they are to do."

"But this affair may keep us away from the ship for a day or two,"
suggested the second lieutenant.

"I don't think so, sir; I believe you will be on board again before
seven bells in the morning watch," replied Christy. "The ship's company
of the Teaser were to be somewhere on the shores of the sound where they
could be taken on board."

"But the men you landed at the point believed that the Teaser was to
get out through the sound," replied Mr. Blowitt. "They took you for the
pilot Gilder, and you did not tell them that you intended to run the
blockade."

"Of course I did not; if I had, they would have remained on board. But
the guard-boat attempted to stop us, and the artillery on the island
fired into it, though it is probable that they did not hit it in the
dense fog," Christy explained. "Our men may have learned from the
guard-boat that we took the steamer out through the main channel."

"If they did they probably learned that the Teaser went out with the
assistance of the garrison at the fort," suggested Mr. Blowitt.

"I am confident that the officer of the guard-boat would have no means
of knowing that fact," argued Christy. "Of course, he heard the firing
in the neighborhood of the fort, and he would naturally conclude that
they were firing upon the steamer to prevent her from running out."

"That may be; but, to tell you the truth, Mr. Passford, I am afraid we
shall not find these men," added the second lieutenant. "From the firing
we hear, I should judge that a movement of some kind is in progress, and
our men may be better informed than you expect."

"Of course, they may be; but I expect to find these men at some point
along the shore," replied Christy, who thought the second lieutenant was
just a little obstinate in not accepting his theory in full.

The steamer continued on her course to the eastward, and nothing more
passed between the two principal officers in regard to the crew from
Pensacola. But Flint was quite as confident as the third lieutenant that
the forty men, more or less, would be captured. The noise of the firing
could no longer be heard, and then Christy suggested that the whistle be
sounded as a signal to the men if they were in the vicinity.

The dep