"I am appointed to the command of the Bronx, in place of Lieutenant Blowitt, transferred to the Bellevite!" almost shouted the young officer. "If I could have selected a position for myself, this is the very one I should have chosen."
"I heard you say as much as that when you were appointed to the temporary command of the Bronx, and I shall plead guilty of having inserted a hint where it would do the most good," added Captain Passford.
"I am much obliged to you, father; for I don't object to that kind of influence, though I could have commanded the Bronx just as well as a master, which is the rank of her present temporary commander, Mr. Flint. I desire to win my own rank, and not get it by influence. I am ordered to proceed to the Gulf as soon as possible."
In three days he obtained passage in a store-ship steamer; and he spent all this time at home, as perhaps he would not have done if Bertha Pembroke had not been there. Before he reported on board of the store-ship, he visited the Vixen, which was undergoing alterations and repairs, and took leave of his officers. Before dark he was on board of the vessel and on his voyage to the scene of his future operations, where we hope to find him again, doing his best for his whole country, and true to his motto from the beginning, "Stand by the Union."
OLIVER OPTIC'S BOOKS
All-Over-the-World Library. By Oliver Optic. First Series. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.25.
1. A Missing Million; or, The Adventures of Louis Belgrade.
2. A Millionaire at Sixteen; or, The cruise of the "Guardian Mother."
3. A Young Knight Errant; or, Cruising in the West Indies.