You will
attempt no operations on your passage, and if an enemy appears you will
avoid her if possible with honor.' That's all, gentlemen."
The two listeners seemed to be utterly confounded.
CHAPTER XI
ANOTHER READING OF THE SEALED ORDERS
Christy finished the reading of the orders, folded up the document, and
put it in his pocket. But he immediately took it out and unfolded it
again, as though a new thought had struck him. Flint watched him with
the utmost attention, and he realized that the bearing of the commander
was quite different from his usual manner; but he attributed it to the
very unexpected nature of the orders he had just read. He was distinctly
directed to attempt no operations on the passage, and to proceed to the
destination indicated with all reasonable despatch.
The wording of the order was rather peculiar, and somewhat clumsy,
Flint thought; but then he had been a schoolmaster, and perhaps he
was inclined to be over-critical. But the meaning of the first clause
could not be mistaken, however, though the word "operations" seemed
to indicate something on a grander scale and more prolonged than an
encounter with a blockade-runner, or a Confederate man-of-war; something
in the nature of a campaign on shore, or a thorough scouring of the
ocean in search of the vessels of the enemy.
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