He had not
so much as posted a sentinel, who might have enabled him to defeat the
invaders of the port, even with his diminished force. If Homer Passford
had been on the spot, his faith in the Providence that watched over his
holy cause might have been shaken.
"Good morning, Captain Rowly," said Christy cheerfully, as he walked up
to the disconsolate captain. "I hope you are feeling quite well."
"Not very well; things are mixed," replied the fat officer, looking down
upon the planks of the deck.
"Mixed, are they?" added Christy.
"I can't see how it all happened," mused the military gentleman.
"How what happened, Captain Rowly?" inquired Christy.
"All the vessels in the place captured, and carried off!" exclaimed the
late commander of the garrison.
"I don't discover the least difficulty in explaining how it all
happened. You were so very obliging as to allow your men to go to sleep
in the barrack without even posting a sentinel at the battery. That made
the whole thing as easy as tumbling off a sawhorse," replied the leader
of the expedition, without trying to irritate the repentant captain of
the forces.
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