ould only be three or four days in duration. Baskirk and McSpindle were
required to make all the speed they could consistent with safety, though
Christy hardly thought they would encounter any Confederate rover on the
voyage, for they were not very plenty at this stage of the war.

It seemed a little lonesome on board of the Bronx after the two steamers
had disappeared in the distance, and the number of the crew had been
so largely reduced by the drafts for the prizes. The steamer was hardly
in condition to engage an enemy of any considerable force, and Sampson
was directed to hurry as much as possible. Christy had heard of the
Bellevite twice since he left her off Pensacola Bay. She had been sent
to other stations on duty, and had captured two schooners loaded with
cotton as prizes; but at the last accounts she had returned to the
station where the Bronx had left her.

Christy was not so anxious as he had been before the recent captures
to fall in with an enemy, for with less than twenty seamen it would not
be prudent to attack such a steamer as either of those he had captured,
though he would not have objected to chase a blockade runner if he had
discovered one pursued by the gunboats.

It was a quiet time on board of the Bronx compared with the excitement
of the earlier days of the voyage. In the very beginning of the trip,
he had discovered the deaf mute at the cabin door, and his thought,
his inquiries, and his action in defeating the treachery of the second
lieutenant had kept him busy night and day. Now the weather was fine
most of the time, and he had little to do beyond his routine duties. But
he did a great deal of thinking in his cabin, though most of it was in
relation to the events which had transpired on board of the Bronx.

He had captured two valuable prizes; but he could not feel that he was
entitled to any great credit for the achievements of his vessel, since
he had been warned in the beginning to look out for the Scotian and the
Arran. He had taken the first by surprise, and the result was due to the
carelessness of her commander rather than to any great merit on his own
part. The second he had taken with double the force of the enemy in
ships and men; and the latter was not precisely the kind of a victory
he was ambitious to win.

At the same time, his self-respect assured him that he had done his duty
faithfully, and that it had been possible for him to throw away his
advantage by carelessness.