Such was the state of things when, one day early in the year 1862, one of the partners in the house where I was serving called me into his room. After telling me how he and a few friends had purchased a steamer to have a try at the blockade, he asked me if I would care to go as supercargo?
The answer was not doubtful. It was a stroke of luck far better than I had any right to expect at my age (for I was but twenty-one), and needless to say I embraced my fortune with alacrity.
"By all means," said I, "if I am not too young."
My chief was good enough to say that he thought I was not too young, and so I was fairly launched in my career as a blockade-runner.
CHAPTER II
MY FIRST ATTEMPT ON THE DESPATCH
The Despatch—A blockade-runner's cargo—The start for the
West Indies—Put back to Queenstown—A terrific gale—Arrival at
Nassau—The dangers of somnambulism—A haunt for buccaneers—A
sleepy settlement—Neutral territory—Southern firms running