"On the topsail yard!" called the captain, directing his speaking
trumpet aloft.
"On the bridge, sir!" replied the man.
"Can you make out the steamer?"
"No, sir; only her topmasts and fore rigging."
"How does she lie from the Bronx?"
"Still on the starboard bow, sir."
"Port the helm, quartermaster," added the captain.
"Port, sir," replied McSpindle.
For about five minutes more, the Bronx went ahead at full speed, and
Christy was confident that she was again making fifteen knots.
"On the bridge, sir!" called the man on the fore yard.
"Aloft!"
"I make her out now; she has the Confederate flag at the peak."
"All right!" exclaimed Christy to himself, though he spoke out loud.
The steamer had set her colors, and there was no longer any doubt in
regard to her character. The flag also indicated that she was not a
blockade runner in the ordinary sense of the word, but a Confederate
man-of-war. Warnock reported that she had taken her armament on board
from another vessel at some point south of England, and the colors also
assured Christy that the steamer was one of the pair expected.
Still the Bronx went ahead at full speed, and presently a gun was heard
from the direction in which she lay, though the captain was unable to
decide what it meant.
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