Before the owner had finished the reading of the papers, the Bellevite had reached the anchorage chosen by the pilot, and the vessel was soon fast to the bottom in a quiet sea. "The tide is just right for going up to the city," said the pilot, who had left his place in the pilot-house, and addressed himself to the owner in the waist. "But we shall not go up to the city," replied Captain Passford, in a very decided tone. "But that shall make no difference in your pilot's fees.--Captain Breaker." The captain of the steamer, who had also come out of the pilot-house, had stationed himself within call of the owner to receive the next order, which might throw some light on the reason for anchoring the steamer so near her destination on a full sea. He presented himself before the magnate of the yacht, and indicated that he was ready to take his further orders. "You will see that the pilot is paid his full fee for taking the vessel to a wharf," continued Captain Passford. The captain bowed, and started towards the companionway; but the owner called him back. "I see what looks like a tug to the westward of us. You will set the signal to bring her alongside," the magnate proceeded. This order was even more strange than that under which the vessel had come to anchor so near home after her long cruise; but the captain asked no questions, and made no sign. Calling Beeks, he went aft with the pilot, and paid him his fees. When the American flag was displayed in the fore-rigging for the tug, Captain Passford, with his gaze fixed on the planks of the deck, walked slowly to the place where his wife was seated, and halted in front of her without speaking a word. But there was a quivering of the lip which assured the lady and her son that he was still struggling to suppress his agitation. "What is the matter, Horatio?" asked the wife, in the tenderest of tones, while her expression assured those who saw her face that the anxiety of the husband had been communicated to the wife. "I need hardly tell you, Julia, that I am disturbed as I never was before in all my life," replied he, maintaining his calmness only with a struggle. "I can see that something momentous has happened in our country," she added, hardly able to contain herself, for she felt that she was in the presence of an unexplained calamity. "Something has happened, my dear; something terrible,--something that I did not expect, though many others were sure that it would come," he continued, seating himself at the side of his wife. "But you do not tell me what it is," said the lady, with a look which indicated that her worst fears were confirmed. "Is Florry worse? Is she"-- "So far as I know, Florry is as well as usual," interposed the husband. "But a state of war exists at the present moment between the North and the South." CHAPTER II THE BROTHER AT THE SOUTH