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CHAPTER I
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 THE MISSION TO MOBILE POINT
 
"I almost wish you were the second or the third lieutenant1 of the Bellevite, instead of the executive officer, Christy," said Captain Breaker, the commander of the steamer, as they were seated together one day on the quarter-deck.
 
"Do I fail in the discharge of my duty in my present position, Captain?" asked Christy, very much astonished, not to say startled, at the remark of the commander.
 
"Not in the slightest degree, my dear boy!" returned Captain Breaker with very decided2 emphasis. "You have served in your present capacity for four months; and if you were fifty years old, and had twenty years of naval3 experience behind you, it would be hardly possible for you to 16 be more correct and dignified4 in the performance of the details of your office."
 
"I thank you, Captain, for the partial view you take of what I have done," added Christy, taking off his cap and bowing to his superior.
 
"Well, you ought to be a good officer in any situation, my dear fellow," continued the commander. "I doubt if there is another officer in the navy who has enjoyed the advantages you have had in preparing himself for the duties of his profession. You were brought up, so to say, on board of the Bellevite. You were a good scholar in the first place. Without including myself, you have had excellent teachers in every department of science and philosophy, among whom your father was one of the wisest. Poor Dashington was one of the best seamen5 that ever trod a deck; and he took especial delight in showing you how to make every knot and splice6, as well as in instructing you in the higher details of practical seamanship. Blowitt and myself assisted him, and old Boxie, who gave his life to his country, was more than a grandfather to you."
 
"I have certainly been very grateful to you and to them for all they did for me," replied Christy 17 with a sad expression on his handsome face as the commander recalled the three shipmates of both of them who slept in heroes' graves.
 
"Perhaps the brilliant genius of our engine-room did quite as much for you as any other person, though not many years your senior."
 
"Paul Vapoor is my friend and crony; and if he had been my professor in a college he could have done no more for me. I assure you, Captain, that I keep alive my gratitude7 to all my instructors8, including some you have not mentioned."
 
"I was only explaining why you are what you ought to be, for you have had very exceptional opportunities, better by far than any other officer in the service. But it is altogether to your credit that you have used those opportunities wisely and well."
 
"I should have been a blockhead if I had not."
 
"That is very true; but the mournful wrecks9 of wasted opportunities strew10 the tracks of many, many young men. I think you can look back upon as few of them as any one within my knowledge," said the commander, bestowing11 a look of genuine affection upon his chief officer. "More than once, even before we entered upon this terrible war, I 18 have told your father how happy he ought to be in having such a son as you are."
 
"Come, come, Captain Breaker, you are praising me!" exclaimed Christy impatiently.
 
"I am speaking only the simple truth, and I have very rarely said as much as I say now. It was when you asked me if you had failed in the discharge of the duties of your present position that I was led into this line of remark; and I am sure you will not be spoiled by honest and just praise," replied the captain.
 
"Then, to go back to the point where you began, why do you almost wish that I were second or third lieutenant, instead of executive officer, of the Bellevite, Captain?" continued Christy, rising from his seat, and fixing an earnest gaze upon the face of the commander, for he was very sensitive, and he could not help feeling that he had been lacking in something that would make him a better executive officer than he was.
 
"Mr. Ballard, the second lieutenant, and Mr. Walbrook, the third, are gentlemen of the highest grade, and excellent officers; but they are both somewhat wanting in dash and cool impetuosity."
 
19 "'Cool impetuosity' is very good, Captain," added Christy with a laugh.
 
"But that is precisely12 what I mean, my boy, and no two words could express the idea any better. You cannot carry an enemy by boarding with the same precision you man the yards on a ceremonious occasion, or as a regiment13 of soldiers go on dress parade. It requires vim14, dash, spirit. The officers named have this quality in a very considerable degree, yet not enough of it. But what they lack more is ingenuity15, fertility in expedients16, and the expansive view which enables them to take advantage promptly17 of circumstances. You never lose your head, Christy."
 
"I never knew the gentlemen named to lose their heads, and I have always regarded them as model officers," replied the first lieutenant.
 
"And so they are: you are quite right, my dear boy; but it is possible for them to be all you say, and yet, like the young man of great possessions in the Scripture18, to lack one thing. I should not dare to exchange my second and third lieutenants19 for any others if I had the opportunity."
 
"I confess that I do not understand you yet, Captain."
 
20 The commander rose from his seat, stretched himself, and then looked about the deck. Taking his camp-stool in his hand he carried it over to the port side of the quarter-deck, and planted it close to the bulwarks20. The second lieutenant was the officer of the deck, and was pacing the planks21 on the starboard side, while the lookouts22 in the foretop and on the top-gallant forecastle were attending closely to their duty, doubtless with a vision of more prize money floating through their brains.
 
The Bellevite, with the fires banked in the furnaces, was at anchor off the entrance to Mobile Bay, about two miles east of Sand Island Lighthouse, and the same distance south of the narrow neck of land on the western extremity23 of which Fort Morgan is located. Her commander had chosen this position for a purpose; for several weeks before, while the Bellevite was absent on a special mission, a remarkably24 fast steamer called the Trafalgar had run the blockade inward.
 
Captain Passford, Senior, through his agents in England, had some information in regard to this vessel25, which he had sent to Captain Breaker. Unlike most of the blockade-runners built for this particular 21 service, she had been constructed in the most substantial manner for an English millionaire, who had insisted that she should be built as strong as the best of steel could make her, for he intended to make a voyage around the world in her.
 
Unfortunately for the owner of the Trafalgar, who was a lineal descendant of a titled commander in that great naval battle, he fell from his horse in a fox chase, and was killed before the steamer was fully26 completed. His heir had no taste for the sea, and the steamer was sold at a price far beyond her cost; and the purchaser had succeeded in getting her into Mobile Bay with a valuable cargo27. She was of about eight hundred tons burden, and it was said that she could steam twenty knots an hour. She was believed to be the equal of the Alabama and the Shenandoah. The Bellevite had been especially notified not to allow the Trafalgar to escape. She had recently had her bottom cleaned, and her engine put in perfect order for the service expected of her, for she was the fastest vessel on the blockade.
 
When Captain Breaker had assured himself that he was out of hearing of the officer of the deck, he invited Christy to take a seat at his side. He spoke28 22 in a low tone, and was especially careful that no officer should hear him.
 
"Perhaps I meddle29 with what does not concern me, Christy; but I cannot help having ideas of my own," said the commander, when he was satisfied that no one but the executive officer could hear him. "There is Fort Morgan, with Fort Gaines three miles from it on the other side of the channel. Mobile Point, as it is called at this end of the neck, extends many miles to the eastward30. It is less than two miles wide where it is broadest, and not over a quarter of a mile near Pilot Town."
 
"I have studied the lay of the land very carefully, for I have had some ideas of my own," added Christy, as the commander paused.
 
"If Fort Morgan had been Fort Sumter, with bad memories clinging to it, an effort would have been made to capture it, either by bombardment by the navy, or by regular approaches on the part of the army," continued Captain Breaker. "They are still pounding away at Fort Sumter, because there would be a moral in its capture and the reduction of Charleston, for the war began there. Such an event would send a wave of rejoicing through the North, though it would be of less real 23 consequence than the opening of Mobile Bay and the cleaning out of the city of Mobile. Except Wilmington, it is the most pestilent resort for blockade-runners on the entire coast."
 
"Then you think Fort Morgan can be reduced from the land side?" asked Christy, deeply interested in the conversation.
 
"I have little doubt of it; and while I believe Farragut will resort to his favorite plan of running by the forts here, as he has done by those of the Mississippi, the army will be planted in the rear of both these forts. As we have lain here for months, I have studied the situation, and I want to know something more about the land on the east of Mobile Point."
 
"I should say that it would be easy enough to obtain all the information you desire in regard to it," suggested Christy.
 
"There is an unwritten tradition that the commander must not leave his ship to engage in any duty of an active character, and I cannot explore the vicinity of the fort myself."
 
"But you have plenty of officers for such duty."
 
"I have no doubt there are pickets31, and perhaps a camp beyond the rising ground, and the exploration 24 would be difficult and dangerous. The two officers I have mentioned before lack the dash and ingenuity such an enterprise requires; and a blunder might involve me in difficulty, for I have no orders to obtain the information I desire."
 
"The officers named are prudent32 men within reasonable limits."
 
"They are; but I would give up my idea rather than trust either of them with this duty," replied Captain Breaker very decidedly. "But I have a further and nearer object in this exploration; in fact, examining the ground would be only secondary."
 
"What is the real object, Captain?" asked the first lieutenant, his curiosity fully awakened33.
 
"I feel that it will be necessary to use extraordinary efforts to capture the Trafalgar, for no steamer of her alleged34 speed has ever run into or out of Mobile Bay. After I informed the flag-officer in regard to her, which your father's information enabled me to do, the Bellevite was especially charged with the duty of capturing her, if she had to chase her all over the world."
 
"I have not much doubt that you will do it, Captain."
 
25 "I mean to do so if possible. Now these blockade-runners usually anchor near the lower fleet, or under the guns of the fort in five fathoms35 of water. Sometimes they remain there two or three days, waiting for a favorable opportunity to run out. Perhaps the Trafalgar is there now. I wish to know about it."
 
"I infer that you consider me fitted for this duty, Captain Breaker," said Christy earnestly.
 
"For that reason only I almost wished you were second or third lieutenant, rather than first," replied the commander with some earnestness in his manner.
 
There was no unwritten tradition that the first lieutenant should not be sent on any duty.

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1 lieutenant X3GyG     
n.陆军中尉,海军上尉;代理官员,副职官员
参考例句:
  • He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
  • He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官,递上了一张简短的便条进去。
2 decided lvqzZd     
adj.决定了的,坚决的;明显的,明确的
参考例句:
  • This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
  • There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。
3 naval h1lyU     
adj.海军的,军舰的,船的
参考例句:
  • He took part in a great naval battle.他参加了一次大海战。
  • The harbour is an important naval base.该港是一个重要的海军基地。
4 dignified NuZzfb     
a.可敬的,高贵的
参考例句:
  • Throughout his trial he maintained a dignified silence. 在整个审讯过程中,他始终沉默以保持尊严。
  • He always strikes such a dignified pose before his girlfriend. 他总是在女友面前摆出这种庄严的姿态。
5 seamen 43a29039ad1366660fa923c1d3550922     
n.海员
参考例句:
  • Experienced seamen will advise you about sailing in this weather. 有经验的海员会告诉你在这种天气下的航行情况。
  • In the storm, many seamen wished they were on shore. 在暴风雨中,许多海员想,要是他们在陆地上就好了。
6 splice irmyA     
v.接合,衔接;n.胶接处,粘接处
参考例句:
  • He taught me to edit and splice film.他教我剪辑和粘接胶片。
  • The film will be spliced with footage of Cypress Hill to be filmed in America.这部电影要和将在美国拍摄的柏树山乐队的音乐片段粘接在一起。
7 gratitude p6wyS     
adj.感激,感谢
参考例句:
  • I have expressed the depth of my gratitude to him.我向他表示了深切的谢意。
  • She could not help her tears of gratitude rolling down her face.她感激的泪珠禁不住沿着面颊流了下来。
8 instructors 5ea75ff41aa7350c0e6ef0bd07031aa4     
指导者,教师( instructor的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The instructors were slacking on the job. 教员们对工作松松垮垮。
  • He was invited to sit on the rostrum as a representative of extramural instructors. 他以校外辅导员身份,被邀请到主席台上。
9 wrecks 8d69da0aee97ed3f7157e10ff9dbd4ae     
n.沉船( wreck的名词复数 );(事故中)遭严重毁坏的汽车(或飞机等);(身体或精神上)受到严重损伤的人;状况非常糟糕的车辆(或建筑物等)v.毁坏[毁灭]某物( wreck的第三人称单数 );使(船舶)失事,使遇难,使下沉
参考例句:
  • The shores are strewn with wrecks. 海岸上满布失事船只的残骸。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • My next care was to get together the wrecks of my fortune. 第二件我所关心的事就是集聚破产后的余财。 来自辞典例句
10 strew gt1wg     
vt.撒;使散落;撒在…上,散布于
参考例句:
  • Their custom is to strew flowers over the graves.他们的风俗是在坟墓上撒花。
  • Shells of all shapes and sizes strew the long narrow beach.各种各样的贝壳点缀着狭长的海滩。
11 bestowing ec153f37767cf4f7ef2c4afd6905b0fb     
砖窑中砖堆上层已烧透的砖
参考例句:
  • Apollo, you see, is bestowing the razor on the Triptolemus of our craft. 你瞧,阿波罗正在把剃刀赠给我们这项手艺的特里泼托勒默斯。
  • What thanks do we not owe to Heaven for thus bestowing tranquillity, health and competence! 我们要谢谢上苍,赐我们的安乐、健康和饱暖。
12 precisely zlWzUb     
adv.恰好,正好,精确地,细致地
参考例句:
  • It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
  • The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。
13 regiment JATzZ     
n.团,多数,管理;v.组织,编成团,统制
参考例句:
  • As he hated army life,he decide to desert his regiment.因为他嫌恶军队生活,所以他决心背弃自己所在的那个团。
  • They reformed a division into a regiment.他们将一个师整编成为一个团。
14 vim ZLIzD     
n.精力,活力
参考例句:
  • He set to his task with renewed vim and vigour.他再度抖擞精神,手完成自己的工作。
  • This young fellow does his work with vim and vigour.这小伙子干活真冲。
15 ingenuity 77TxM     
n.别出心裁;善于发明创造
参考例句:
  • The boy showed ingenuity in making toys.那个小男孩做玩具很有创造力。
  • I admire your ingenuity and perseverance.我钦佩你的别出心裁和毅力。
16 expedients c0523c0c941d2ed10c86887a57ac874f     
n.应急有效的,权宜之计的( expedient的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • He is full of [fruitful in] expedients. 他办法多。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Perhaps Calonne might return too, with fresh financial expedients. 或许卡洛纳也会回来,带有新的财政机谋。 来自辞典例句
17 promptly LRMxm     
adv.及时地,敏捷地
参考例句:
  • He paid the money back promptly.他立即还了钱。
  • She promptly seized the opportunity his absence gave her.她立即抓住了因他不在场给她创造的机会。
18 scripture WZUx4     
n.经文,圣书,手稿;Scripture:(常用复数)《圣经》,《圣经》中的一段
参考例句:
  • The scripture states that God did not want us to be alone.圣经指出上帝并不是想让我们独身一人生活。
  • They invoked Hindu scripture to justify their position.他们援引印度教的经文为他们的立场辩护。
19 lieutenants dc8c445866371477a093185d360992d9     
n.陆军中尉( lieutenant的名词复数 );副职官员;空军;仅低于…官阶的官员
参考例句:
  • In the army, lieutenants are subordinate to captains. 在陆军中,中尉是上尉的下级。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
  • Lieutenants now cap at 1.5 from 1. Recon at 1. 中尉现在由1人口增加的1.5人口。侦查小组成员为1人口。 来自互联网
20 bulwarks 68b5dc8545fffb0102460d332814eb3d     
n.堡垒( bulwark的名词复数 );保障;支柱;舷墙
参考例句:
  • The freedom of the press is one of the great bulwarks of liberty. 新闻自由是自由最大的保障之一。 来自辞典例句
  • Surgery and X-irradiation nevertheless remain the bulwarks of cancer treatment throughout the world. 外科手术和X射线疗法依然是全世界治疗癌症的主要方法。 来自辞典例句
21 planks 534a8a63823ed0880db6e2c2bc03ee4a     
(厚)木板( plank的名词复数 ); 政纲条目,政策要点
参考例句:
  • The house was built solidly of rough wooden planks. 这房子是用粗木板牢固地建造的。
  • We sawed the log into planks. 我们把木头锯成了木板。
22 lookouts 7926b742eec0dc62641ba32374f99780     
n.寻找( 某人/某物)( lookout的名词复数 );是某人(自己)的问题;警戒;瞭望台
参考例句:
  • Lookouts were spotted all along the coast. 沿海岸都布置了监视哨。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
  • Lookouts and leadsmen in bulky life jackets stumbled and slipped after him. 监视哨和测深员穿着饱鼓鼓的救生衣,跌跌撞撞地跟在他后面。 来自辞典例句
23 extremity tlgxq     
n.末端,尽头;尽力;终极;极度
参考例句:
  • I hope you will help them in their extremity.我希望你能帮助在穷途末路的他们。
  • What shall we do in this extremity?在这种极其困难的情况下我们该怎么办呢?
24 remarkably EkPzTW     
ad.不同寻常地,相当地
参考例句:
  • I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
  • He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。
25 vessel 4L1zi     
n.船舶;容器,器皿;管,导管,血管
参考例句:
  • The vessel is fully loaded with cargo for Shanghai.这艘船满载货物驶往上海。
  • You should put the water into a vessel.你应该把水装入容器中。
26 fully Gfuzd     
adv.完全地,全部地,彻底地;充分地
参考例句:
  • The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气,然后全部呼出。
  • They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。
27 cargo 6TcyG     
n.(一只船或一架飞机运载的)货物
参考例句:
  • The ship has a cargo of about 200 ton.这条船大约有200吨的货物。
  • A lot of people discharged the cargo from a ship.许多人从船上卸下货物。
28 spoke XryyC     
n.(车轮的)辐条;轮辐;破坏某人的计划;阻挠某人的行动 v.讲,谈(speak的过去式);说;演说;从某种观点来说
参考例句:
  • They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
  • The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。
29 meddle d7Xzb     
v.干预,干涉,插手
参考例句:
  • I hope he doesn't try to meddle in my affairs.我希望他不来干预我的事情。
  • Do not meddle in things that do not concern you.别参与和自己无关的事。
30 eastward CrjxP     
adv.向东;adj.向东的;n.东方,东部
参考例句:
  • The river here tends eastward.这条河从这里向东流。
  • The crowd is heading eastward,believing that they can find gold there.人群正在向东移去,他们认为在那里可以找到黄金。
31 pickets 32ab2103250bc1699d0740a77a5a155b     
罢工纠察员( picket的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • Five pickets were arrested by police. 五名纠察队员被警方逮捕。
  • We could hear the chanting of the pickets. 我们可以听到罢工纠察员有节奏的喊叫声。
32 prudent M0Yzg     
adj.谨慎的,有远见的,精打细算的
参考例句:
  • A prudent traveller never disparages his own country.聪明的旅行者从不贬低自己的国家。
  • You must school yourself to be modest and prudent.你要学会谦虚谨慎。
33 awakened de71059d0b3cd8a1de21151c9166f9f0     
v.(使)醒( awaken的过去式和过去分词 );(使)觉醒;弄醒;(使)意识到
参考例句:
  • She awakened to the sound of birds singing. 她醒来听到鸟的叫声。
  • The public has been awakened to the full horror of the situation. 公众完全意识到了这一状况的可怕程度。 来自《简明英汉词典》
34 alleged gzaz3i     
a.被指控的,嫌疑的
参考例句:
  • It was alleged that he had taken bribes while in office. 他被指称在任时收受贿赂。
  • alleged irregularities in the election campaign 被指称竞选运动中的不正当行为
35 fathoms eef76eb8bfaf6d8f8c0ed4de2cf47dcc     
英寻( fathom的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The harbour is four fathoms deep. 港深为四英寻。
  • One bait was down forty fathoms. 有个鱼饵下沉到四十英寻的深处。


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