"If she has found out that we can outsail her, very likely she will count upon the darkness to enable her to give us the slip," suggested Mr. Baskirk.
"Mr. Vapoor has come to his bearings, and in another half hour we shall be within one mile of her. But I am afraid we shall not be able to settle this affair finally to-night," replied Christy.
The darkness gathered around the two ships, and none of the steamers in the distance could any longer be seen. The officers could just make out the steamer ahead, which still kept on her course. The midship gun was now brought into use, and a round shot was sent on its mission to her; but with little chance of hitting her in the increasing gloom, for the sky was obscured with clouds, and all the signs indicated fog during the night, which would be exceedingly favorable to the chase. A flash was seen in the distance, and then came the roar of a heavy gun.
"She is not merely a blockade-runner; for it appears now that she is an armed vessel, and has some heavy metal on board," said Christy.
"But no shot has come within hearing," added Mr. Baskirk. "Perhaps she only wished to inform us that she could bite as well as bark."
The St. Regis kept on her course for another hour. Christy was very anxious, for the chase was plainly a Confederate man-of-war, or a privateer; and if she escaped she might begin her work of destruction the very next day. At two bells in the first watch she could not be seen; but the commander kept on his course another half-hour, and then he ran into a fog.
The log indicated that the ship was making her best speed; and if the chase continued on her former course, she must have been within sight or hearing by this time. Christy peered through the gloom of the night and the fog, and listened for any sound. He kept up a tremendous thinking all the time, and acted as though he was in doubt.
"Make the course east, Mr. Baskirk," said he, calling the executive officer.
"East, Captain Passford?" interrogated the lieutenant; and if he tried to conceal the astonishment he felt, his tones failed him.
"East, Mr. Baskirk," repeated the commander.