9^2 
FOREST AND STREAM. 
[Dec. 22, 1906. 
equally true that the ruling passion is strong- 
in birth with dogs. 
We went down the railroad track to the 
village, and had to cross quite a long bridge 
on the ties. Lassie managed this all right, 
but finding stepping places for four clumsy 
legs at once was a little too much for Terry, 
and often one or two of them would drop 
down between the ties. However, he righted 
up every time and came on. 
We found a woman who would bake bread 
for us, and do our washing, and then went 
to the store and loaded ourselves with pro¬ 
visions. We bought a number of tin pails and 
hung them on our baskets and bodies, wher¬ 
ever we could-make them stay. When we 
could think of nothing else that we wanted, 
we clattered our way back to camp, reflecting 
the sunlight all over the neighborhood. 
Winfield T. -Sherwood, 
[to be continued.] 
A Story of the Blockade. 
As Told on Christmas Eve by Capt, Hicks. 
During the war between the States, having 
been educated at the Naval .Academy, I had 
wished to enter that arm of the service, but there 
being no place for me, had attached myself to 
the cavalry corps of Gen. J. E. B. Stuart, so it 
was quite a surprise when Secretary Mallory 
handed me a captain’s commission with orders to 
proceed to Wilmington, N. C., and take charge 
of a small steamer with instructions to run the 
blockade to Nassau, then to- Eleuthera, one of 
the Bahama group and there await a sailing ves¬ 
sel from England loaded with guns and munitions 
of war for the Confederacy. 
The Little Hattie was a snug steamer already 
loaded with cotton and having a crew composed 
of adventurers of many nationalities. At this 
time the port of Wilmington was closely block¬ 
aded, so I chose a dark and gusty night, threaten¬ 
ing a gale, when we steamed down "Cape Fear 
River, left the protection of the batteries of Fort 
Fisher, crossed the bar and made a dash to run 
the gauntlet of the Federal fleet. Every light 
was out, and perfect silence was ordered, when 
chancing to turn my eye, I caught a flash of 
light cast on the water from our deck. I knew 
at once we had a traitor on board, and springing 
upon a man I found crouched among some coils 
of rope, I seized him by the collar. As he at¬ 
tempted to free himself, lie let fall a dark lantern 
concealed under a shawl. I kicked the lantern 
into the sea and hurled the wretch to the deck 
with such force as to completely stun him, then 
tossed him overboard. At the same moment a 
rocket shot up, which was answered by signal 
lights in every direction. I sprang upon the pilot 
box as I saw-. the black hull of a large ship 
directly in front of me, and seizing the wdieel 
from the sailor in charge turned the head of the 
Little Hattie, and shot almost under the stern 
of our huge enemy. Before "she could bring her 
guns to bear, we were speeding away among the 
whitecaps, now our greatest protection, for not 
only were both vessels tossing so as to make us 
an uncertain target, but my ship was painted a 
dull lead color, and was scarcely discernible 
against the leaden skies. When the big guns 
belched forth shot and shell, they went whirring 
and hissing high over our heads, while we dis¬ 
appeared. 
Then a calcium light from the deck of the man- 
of-war lit up the sea. exposing us to the hostile 
fleet, and another vessel opened fire on us. One 
shot struck our rigging, another cut the ban¬ 
nisters on deck, scattering splinters all around us. 
The calcium lights exposed our position, but also 
showed 11s our pursuers, and I saw all the ships 
of the line closing in on 11s. I also saw an open¬ 
ing in the cordon of our foes, and putting on a 
full head of steam, I made a dash for it, and 
cleared the cul de sac amid a roar of artillery 
and hissing of bursting shells. The lights went 
out, and the night seemed blacker than ever; -but 
ship after ship lighted up the waves, and as the 
men-of-war would catch a glimpse of us they 
turned and fired a shot after us. Each shot re¬ 
tarded their speed, while we were widening the 
space and getting beyond the influence of the 
calicum lights. 
As soon as we were hidden by the darkness 
we altered our course, and dodged tQ one side 
while our enemies passed by. Then running a 
couple of hours in a northerly direction, until 
we had eluded them, we resumed our course. 
There were large ships with powerful engines 
after us that would soon have run 11s down in a 
gale, for the little blockade runner could not long- 
have stood the pressure on her machinery in a 
heavy sea; so as soon as I felt safe, speed was 
slackened, but we kept steadily on until the Gulf 
Stream was reached. And even then the danger 
was not over, for Federal cruisers were scattered 
over the ocean between Wilmington and the 
Bahamas. With the light of dawn we might find 
ourselves close to one of our enemies. You may 
be sure I chafed under this unequal contest, for 
the laws of nations forbid merchantmen carrying 
guns, otherwise the blockade could not have been 
enforced. With the exception of a few men-of- 
war the blockading squadron was composed of 
merchant steamers, many of which were captured 
blockade runners converted into war vessels 
which carried only one gun, called a Long Tom, 
thAt was worth little, except to disable an un¬ 
armed craft. The greatest danger to which the 
blockade runner was subjected was finding it¬ 
self close to one of those fast running light-armed 
steamers at early dawn with an all day chase 
before them. So when daylight began to appear 
we kept a vigilant lookout. The rosy morning 
rolled back the mantle of night, and to our joy 
there was no sail in sight. As the sun arose— 
as it only does at sea—dispelling the mist from 
the ocean’s swell, the man at the masthead 
shouted. “Sail ho!’’ and pointed out a thin column 
o'f smoke off our starboard bow. Although it was 
scarcely perceptible, we quickly turned from it 
and fled, for the blockade runner ran from every 
shadow of danger, and when the lookout again 
discerned a pillar of cloud on our port bow, we 
availed ourselves of the benefit of the doubt, and 
turned from the suspicious column that was 
painting a sign of warning in the heavens’. 
This day and the. next was marked by neither 
incident nor mishap. As night again closed 
around us, we felt greatly relieved and I retired 
to rest wearied with constant watching. The sea 
was now calm and the balmy air of the Gulf 
Stream invited sleep. During the night, while 
the Little Hattie sped on to tropic isles, I was 
awakened by the cry of “Sail ho!” and saw a 
steamer bearing down on us. Fortunately the 
moon, although shining brightly, would soon be 
down, but being closely pursued we put on steam, 
and when the moon went out of sight altered our 
course and escaped in the darkness. Worn out 
with anxiety. I sat at the stern, leaning over the 
railing watching the phosphorescent sparkles that 
fell like glittering jewels from the rapid whirl 
of our propeller, until I slipped quietly down 
amid a pile of canvas and fell asleep. Whether 
awake or dreaming I never knew, but I saw a 
short distance from me the Bahama pilot in low 
earnest ’conversation with a Portuguese sailor. 
They were speaking in Portuguese, with which 
language I am familiar, and in the stillness of 
the night I could distinguish every word they 
uttered. 
“We must wreck her, Armbrister, as soon as we 
get among the reefs. The schooner will cer¬ 
tainly be on the lookout for 11s among the cays.” 
“I dare not undertake it,” replied the other, 
“until we sight the schooner. The skipper here 
won’t stand any foolishness, and if I have to 
jump and swim for it, I want help at hand. You 
know every fishing smack about the islands is 
ready to rush in and claim salvage, and old 
Saunders’ gang of wreckers is always on the 
watch for wrecks.” 
“But you don’t intend to miss the chance, do 
you ?” 
“Not much: but I want the skipper to get the 
steamer safe in sight of the Bahama Banks, and 
when he turns her over to me I’ll set her fast 
on a rock near Green Turtle Key.” 
They went forward to the forecastle, and as I 
watched them pass out of sight I rubbed my eyes. 
Was I dreaming or awake? It all seemed so 
real, yet seemed to have reached me through 
some other sense than that of sight, for it was 
too dark to distinguish their features, much less 
the expression of the treacherous scoundrels 
which nevertheless was stamped on my memory 
as vividly as if seen by the light of day. I am 
yet uncertain wJiether it was a reality or a dream. 
I resolved, however, to act upon the impression 
made on my mind, and to watch the villains with¬ 
out letting them know of my suspicions. I sought 
my berth and slept until daylight, when I was 
awakened and informed that a steamer was bear¬ 
ing down on us. Rushing on deck, I saw that 
our only chance lay in out-speeding our enemy. 
We put on steam, and under a full spread of can¬ 
vas and unfurled the Confederate flag. There 
being only a gentle breeze, not sufficinet to roughen 
the sea, the Little Hattie rode the undulating 
swell like a waterfowl. We were gaining rapidly 
on our pursuers when they began to fire on us, 
but the shot fell short. 
We were congratulating ourselves on outstrip¬ 
ping our adversary, when we saw the smoke of 
another steamer, evidently intending to intercept 
us, and directing its course by the boom of the 
cannon. We made a slight deviation in our 
course which we resumed in an hour, closely pur¬ 
sued by two Federal steamers. The last; ship was 
the United States man-of-war San Jacinto, fam¬ 
ous for the capture of Mason and Slidell, Con¬ 
federate ministers to England and France. If 
the sea had not settled down as calm as a lake 
the San Jacinto would have soon overtaken us, 
for it was a vessel of great speed and power, 
and in spite of every effort on our part, it gained 
on us. As I stood calculating our chances, I 
caught the odor of the Bahamas, though fifty 
miles away. The spicy-breath of the fragrant 
isles, stealing over the sea, whispered hope and 
encouragement. On we went, piling on fuel, until 
the engineer reported the coal running short. 
This was appalling. 
"Pile it on while it lasts,” I ordered. 
“What then, Captain?” 
I answered in the desperation of despair, “Burn 
everything, and then I’ll blow her up, before she 
shall be captured !” 
On we went at a terrific rate of speed, all the 
power of the engine being exerted to its utmost 
capacity. Still the San Jacinto clung to 11s like 
a Nemesis, the other steamer having given up the 
chase. 
“Land ho!’’ shouted the man at the lookout, a 
sound that thrilled our hearts with joy. I ex¬ 
amined my chart and found I was in sight of one 
of the Bahamas known as Green Turtle Key. As 
I called up the pilot, Armbrister, the name sug¬ 
gested my dream, and I asked him if he was 
familiar with the coast around Green Turtle Key. 
He replied promptly that he knew every nook 
and corner about it, and if we could only hold 
out to reach it, he could carry a vessel of our 
draft through a channel in a reef where no large 
ship could follow. We could land at the village 
where there was a small garrison of British 
troops and a magistrate appointed by the crown 
for the government of the island. Again it was 
reported that the coal was nearly out. Every 
piece of timber that could be spared went as 
fuel. As we neared the island the San Jacinto 
began to fire, shot after shot falling near. One 
passed through our rigging, taking off a bit from 
our masthead. We were near enough to shore 
to have claimed the protection of British waters, 
but the San Jacinto was not noted as a respecter 
of international law. 
As we neared the reef through which we must 
pass to insure our safety, I turned the ship over 
to.the Bahama pilot, saying in a whisper, “Arm¬ 
brister, are you sure you can take the steamer 
through yon reef?” 
“I would bet my life on it,” he replied con¬ 
fidently. 
I pointed to my revolver, “Then know that 
your life is the stake, for I dreamed that your 
confederates were awiting you in a schooner, 
and that you intended to set this vessel on a reef. 
If you do. I’ll kill you the moment it strikes, and’ 
feed the sharks on your carcass. Go ahead, now, 
and be careful!” 
He turned pale, but took the wheel with a 
firm hand, and in a few minutes more we were 
in the white-capped foam of the treacherous reef.. 
The sailors all seemed to hold their breath until 
we passed out of the foam into a beautiful sheet 
