As soon as Mr. Gilfleur had been welcomed back to the Chateaugay the commander gave the order to the officer of the deck to have the Bahama boat hoisted to the deck, and disposed of as before.

"I beg your pardon, Captain Chantor; but be so kind as to allow the boat to remain alongside, for I must return to Nassau," interposed the detective.

"Return to Nassau!" exclaimed the captain.

"Yes, sir; it is really necessary that I should do so, for you see that I have come back without Mr. Passford," replied the Frenchman. "He was attacked by a cowardly ruffian in front of a saloon in the town, and I lost sight of him after that. I have been terribly distressed about him, for the ruffian threatened to kill him, and I fear he has executed his threat."

"Don't distress yourself for another instant, Mr. Gilfleur, for Mr. Passford is on board of the ship 291 at this moment, and doubtless asleep in his stateroom," said the captain, cutting short the narrative of the detective.

"On board of the ship!" exclaimed the Frenchman, retreating a few paces in his great surprise. "Impossible! Quite impossible! I found our boat just where we had left it at the back side of the island."

"But what I say is entirely true; and Mr. Passford wished me to have him called when you came on board," added the commander, as he sent a quartermaster to summon Christy to the captain's cabin.

"I don't understand how Mr. Passford can be on board of the ship," continued the bewildered Frenchman. "Ah, he might have hired a boat like the Eleuthera to bring him off."

"He might have done so, but he did not," replied Captain Chantor, as he directed the officer of the deck to go ahead, making the course east, as soon as he had secured the detective's boat. "Now, if you will come to my cabin, Mr. Gilfleur, Mr. Passford shall inform you himself that he is on board of the ship; and he has quite an exciting story to tell."

292 The commander and the Frenchman went below, and seated themselves in the cabin of the former.

"Mr. Passford has already informed me that the Ovidio is at Nassau, but that she has been seized by a British gunboat for violation of the neutrality laws," said the captain.

"That is quite true, and it is not probable that the case will be settled for a month to come," replied Mr. Gilfleur. "But I ascertained by great good luck that her armament was waiting for her at Green Cay, if you know where that is: I do not."

"It is on the Tongue of the Ocean, as it is called, nearly a hundred miles to the southward of Nassau. I supposed it would be managed in some such way as that," added the commander. "But do you think it will be a month before her case will be settled?"

"Of course I know nothing about it myself; but I found a court official who was very desirous of talking French, and he invited me to dine with him at his house. I began to ask him questions about the blockade, and the vessels in the harbor; and finally he gave me his opinion that a decision in the case of the Ovidio could not be reached in less than a month, and it might be two mouths."

293 At this moment there was a knock at the door of the cabin, and the captain called to the person to come in. Christy, who had taken the time to dress himself fully, opened the door and entered the cabin. The Frenchman leaped from his seat, and embraced the young officer as though he had been his wife or sweetheart, from whom he had been separated for years. Christy, who was not very demonstrative in this direction, submitted to the hugging with the best possible grace, for he knew that the detective was sincere, and had actually grown to love him, perhaps as much for his father's sake as for his own.

"Oh, my dear Mr. Passford, you are to me like one who has come out of his grave, for I have believed for nearly three days that you had been killed by the ruffian that attacked you in the street!" exclaimed Mr. Gilfleur, still pressing both of his late companion's hands in his own. "I was never so rejoiced in all my life, not even when I had unearthed a murderer."

"Perhaps you expected to unearth another murderer," said Christy with a smile.

"That was just what I intended to do. I heard the villanous ruffian swear that he would kill you, 294 and I was almost sure he had done so when you failed to meet me in the rear of the hotel."

At the request of the commander, Christy repeated the story of his adventure in Nassau as briefly as possible, up to the time he had been picked up by the Chateaugay's cutter, and conveyed on board of the ship. The detective was deeply interested, and listened to the narration with the closest attention. At the end of it, he pressed the hand of the young officer again, and warmly congratulated him upon his escape from the enemy.

Mr. Gilfleur then reported more in detail than he had done before, the result of his mission. He gave the names of all the intending blockade-runners in the harbor of Nassau; but the captain declared that he could not capture them on any such evidence as the detective had been able to obtain, for it would not prove the intention.

"The Ovidio may not come out of Nassau for two months to come, and then she will proceed to Green Cay," said Captain Chantor. "I do not think I should be justified in waiting so long for her, especially as she is to run her cargo into Mobile. The blockaders will probably be able to pick her up. I think my mission in the Bahama 295 Islands is finished, and the Chateaugay must proceed to more fruitful fields."

"But you have not made a bad voyage of it so far, Captain Chantor," added Christy. "You sent in the Ionian, sunk the Dornoch, and captured the Cadet and the Snapper, to say nothing of bagging a Confederate commissioner, and the son of another. I should have been glad if you had sent in Colonel Pierson, for he has already done our commerce a great deal of mischief."

"I am entirely satisfied, and doubtless the information obtained here and at the Bermudas will enable our fleet to pick up some more of the steamers you have spotted," added the captain, as he rose from his seat, and dismissed his............