"I believe there is another steamer over there; and, if there is, it must be the Dauphine."

"What of her?" asked Christy anxiously.

"She is a steam-yacht of four hundred tons, and the fastest steamer in these waters. They have been fitting her up for the war, though I don't know whether she is to be a man-of-war or a blockade-runner."

"What makes you think it is she?"

"Because she has been over to the town you may have seen in that direction. She is behind the Bellevite, so that you can hardly see her."

"I am inclined to think the Bellevite can take care of herself," replied Christy.

"Why, the Bellevite cannot do any thing but run away; and Major Pierson says she will never do that till you have been taken on board of her. I heard him and Lieutenant Dallberg talk it all over near the door of my room."

"Perhaps the Bellevite can do something more than run away," added Christy with a smile.

"What do you mean, my friend?" asked the captain, suspending the operation of his jaws, he was so interested in the answer to his question. "The major said distinctly that she was a gentleman's pleasure-yacht, and that she was not armed."

"The major has a right to his opinion, and I shall not argue the point against him. My father came into the bay on a peaceful errand, and he had no intention to be aggressive."

"All right, Christy; I can see through plain glass even when there isn't a hole in it," said Captain Pecklar, laughing; for he seemed to be entirely satisfied with the situation, in spite of the fact that two hostile steamers appeared to menace the Bellevite, which he hoped would bear him to his home.

"Now, what do you know of the steamer astern of us?" asked Christy.

"That must be the Belle. She is no match for an armed steamer, but she may do a great deal of mischief. She used to run down the bay in the summer."

"I will go up to the pilot-house, and see if I can make out the Dauphine. If she is a sea-going yacht, she is the one we have to fear," said Christy, as he left the engine-room.

"See here, Christy; there is another steamer over beyond the Bellevite, and she is pretty near her, too," said Percy, as he entered the pilot-house.

The acting captain brought his glass to bear over the Bellevite, and he was satisfied that the approaching vessel was the yacht described by Captain Pecklar. But he had hardly got his eye on the Dauphine, before he saw that the Bellevite had started her screw. It looked as though she deemed it advisable to change her position in view of the approach of the steamers on each side of her.

"Where is she going, Christy?" asked Percy.

"I am sure I cannot tell you. You can see all that I can see," replied Christy, who was very anxious about the situation.

"We are not a great way from the long-boat," suggested Percy, who was more afraid of that than he was of all the steamers in sight. "What am I to steer for now? Shall I make her follow the Bellevite?"