"Send for him and his assistants, Mr. Sampson."
The engineer went to the engine hatch, and called the men below.
"Now send for Mr. Gawl," added the captain. "He is your first assistant; is he a competent man to run an engine?"
"As competent as I am myself; and the engine of this steamer is exactly like that of the Bronx, so that he can have no trouble with it, if you think of retaining him on board of the Ocklockonee," replied Sampson.
"I propose to make him chief engineer of her."
"You could not find a better man," said Sampson, as he went to summon Gawl.
The three engineers of the prize came on deck, and the captain took the chief aside.
"Mr. Bockburn, I believe, the chief engineer of the Ocklockonee?" said Christy.
"Of the Scotian, sir; for I know nothing of the jaw-cracking names that the officers in the cabin have given her," replied the engineer, shrugging his shoulders, and presenting a dissatisfied air.
"Are you an engineer in the Confederate Navy, sir?" asked Christy, bringing the business to a head at once.