It was impossible to discover the nature or extent of the injury the chase had received from the shot from the midship gun; but she had been disabled, though it might be but slightly. The Bellevite dashed on, as though impatient to obtain possession of her prey. All the glasses on board were brought to bear on the injured vessel, which all hands regarded as already a prize.

The glasses did not reveal any considerable havoc in the side of the steamer, and the shot hole could easily be plugged when necessary; but the commander of the craft did not yet give up the ship, for he seemed to be engaged in hoisting her foresail and jibs, evidently with the intention of bringing her about so that he could use his guns. The wind was very light, and his chances of accomplishing his purpose were not very brilliant.

180 "Mr. Dashington, you will call all hands, and be ready to board the prize in three divisions when we run abreast of her," said Captain Breaker. "Let Mr. Passford command the forward division; Mr. Blowitt, the waist; and Mr. Calvert, the quarter."

The boarders were mustered at once, as there was no occasion to fire again at the prize. Each officer arranged his men, and spoke some stirring words to them. Men in the tops were supplied with muskets, and all with revolvers and cutlasses. It was not believed that all this force would be necessary to capture the prize, but there was some evidence that she had a fighting crew on board, and the captain prepared for the worst.

As the Bellevite came nearer to the prize, the sound of hammers was heard, and it appeared that the engineers were engaged in an effort to repair the mischief which had been done to the engine. It was still impossible to see how many men she had on board, but Captain Breaker did not estimate that she had a full ship's company, for vessels intended for war purposes, escaping as this one doubtless had, did not usually take their force on board at the beginning of the cruise.

illustration of quoted scene
"Christy and Beeks on the Steamer's Deck."—Page 181.

The three divisions of boarders were all in readiness, 181 and all they feared was that there would be little for them to do on board the enemy. Captain Breaker was in the fore rigging where he could observe all that was done on the decks of both vessels. The Bellevite went ahead with all speed till the signal was given to slow down. The sea was not heavy, and the captain laid her alongside of the prize.

"Do you surrender?" demanded the commander in a loud tone, but with his usual dignity.

"I do not surrender!" replied the captain of the steamer.

"Boarders away!" shouted Captain Breaker.

Christy Passford was the first to leap upon the rail of the other vessel, and then he dropped in the same instant upon her deck. At that moment he was conscious that the steamer under him was moving, though it might be the shaking which the Bellevite gave her when she came alongside. On the deck of the prize, as he still taught himself to consider her, he saw not more than thirty men; and with nearly three times that number on the other side, it did not look as if it could be a very hotly contested battle.

As Christy jumped down from the rail, Beeks 182 followed him, and he was not a little surprised to find that they were alone. But there was no enemy at hand upon whom he could flesh his cutlass, and he sprang upon the rail again. He found that his impression had been correct, for the vessel was moving. She had already left a gap a dozen feet wide between the Bellevite and herself.

It appeared that the machinery had been repaired, and that it was now capable of doing all that it had done before. The steamer was the Killbright, for the lieutenant saw the name painted in several places about her forward deck. She had suddenly shot ahead very unexpectedly to the captors, as they supposed they were, alongside of her. A puff of wind had been favoring her before, and she darted away towards the northwest. As she began to move, the lock-strings of her port battery were pulled as rapidly as possible.

It would have been impossible to help hitting the Bellevite, with the three guns fired into her at so short a distance. But the cloud of smoke that enveloped both vessels prevented the captain from taking in the situation. The crew of the Killbright were ordered to reload their guns instantly. Whatever was to happen in the near 183 or distant future, it was evident that the dangerous steamer had not yet been captured, and Christy did not think of her as a prize any more just then.

The Killbright crowded on all the steam she could obtain, and she rapidly increased the distance between herself and the Bellevite. She fired her three broadside guns continually, but it was clear to Christy that the men had not been trained to this business, or they might perhaps have sunk the naval vessel by this time.

The Bellevite fired her two broadside guns, and they made terrible havoc in the upper works of the Killbright. But the strangest thing of all to the young lieutenant, caught on board of the anticipated prize, was that the Bellevite did not go ahead, and give the boarding parties a chance to get on the deck of the enemy.

"I don't understand it, Beeks," said Christy as he found himself by the side of the quartermaster. "Why don't the ship give chase?"

"I think she must be disabled, sir," replied the warrant officer.

"What could have disabled her?"

"I suppose she might be hit as well as this 184 vessel," replied Beets, no better pleased with the situation than his companion in trouble. "They fired three shots into her while she was alongside."

"She must have been hit in a bad place, or she would have been alongside of us before this time. But here we are."

The third lieutenant and............