At this moment an officer came up and spoke to Captain Carboneer. As both of them looked aft, Christy did the same, and, after studying the speck he saw on the ocean, he was satisfied that it was the Bellevite, coming down upon the Yazoo with all her speed.
[CHAPTER XVII]
A SATISFACTORY ORDER
Whatever had happened to the Bellevite, it was plain enough now to Christy that she had repaired the injury, for the speck in the distance was assuming the form of a steamer. The discovery was not calculated to fan the hopes of Captain Carboneer and his officers, though the two Unionists on board of the Yazoo were elated. The chase was continued till the middle of the afternoon, when the Bellevite opened fire with her heavy midship gun.
"Mr. Passford, your ship has opened fire upon us, and I will not compel you to expose yourself to it," said Captain Carboneer, as one of the shots from the Bellevite dropped into the water near the Yazoo. "You are at liberty to retire to any part of the vessel you desire, with your companion."
"Thank you, sir; you are very kind; and as I don't care to be shot by my friends, I will go below," replied Christy.
It was hardly safer below than on deck, and it was not likely that the resolute commander of the Yazoo would allow her to be captured as long as he could make any resistance. Christy got the idea from the decision he had observed in the face and expression of Captain Carboneer, that the only way to capture the steamer would be to knock her to pieces. He expected to be saved from the fate of a prisoner of war, but he was not ready to believe that the Yazoo would be sent to the North as a prize. She had not half the force of the Bellevite, either in men or guns, and it had been proved that her speed could not save her. But all the chances of accidents were to be incurred, and no one could predict the final result.
Christy and Beeks went below, and seated themselves in the wardroom of the ship. It looked as though it had been altered from the dining-saloon of a passenger steamer for its present use. But the vessel was an elegant affair, and Christy thought it was evident from what he saw that she had been built for a steam-yacht by some British magnate. She was not more than two-thirds as large as the Bellevite.
The sound of the firing indicated that the Bellevite was gaining on the chase even more rapidly than in the morning. At the end of a couple of hours more she seemed to be within a mile, or perhaps less. The Yazoo was shaking in every fibre of her steel body, and it was plain that Captain Carboneer was straining her to the utmost to effect his escape.
"It is beginning to warm up a little," said Beeks, as he tried to look out at one of the round ports of the wardroom.