"I have no doubt that every thing connected with the steamer is all right. I know that your father is a Northern man, but I am confident that he will be on the right side in this conflict," added the major. "He will certainly be on the right side," said Christy; but he had gone far enough to know that there were two right sides to the question, and one seemed to him to be as honest, earnest, and resolute as the other. "We shall soon know something more about it," added the major, evidently disappointed at not being able to obtain any information from the owner's son. The tug went out into the bay, and then changed her course to the eastward. One of the soldiers went to the galley, and breakfast was served to the major and his guest in the captain's room; and Percy was released long enough to take the meal with them. But he was sullen, and even morose, in view of the fate that awaited him. "Boat just come round that point," said the captain from the pilot-house, when the party had returned to the forecastle. Captain Pecklar seemed to be hardly able to speak; he was so exhausted by his night watch, and by constant fits of coughing, that he could hardly make himself heard. "What boat is it, Pecklar?" asked the major, straining his eyes to discover it. "I don't see it." "Take my glass, and you can see it," added the captain, more faintly than before. "I don't think I can stand it any longer, Major Pierson." "But we can't get along without you, Pecklar. We haven't another hand that knows how to steer," replied the major, as he hastened up to the pilot-house, followed by Christy. Captain Pecklar had fainted and fallen from the wheel. CHAPTER XIX THE REPORT OF THE SCOUT FROM THE SHORE Captain Pecklar had held out as long as it was possible for him to stand it, and he had only given up when his senses deserted him. Major Pierson raised him from his position on the floor of the pilot-house, and, with Christy's assistance, bore him out into the air. The wheel had gone over when the sick man could no longer hold it, and the tug was beginning to whirl about in an erratic manner, when the major rang the bell to stop the engine. The captain was carried down to his room, and put into his berth, where one of the soldiers was detailed to act as his nurse. "I haven't a man on board that knows the first thing about handling a steamboat; and I am not a bit wiser myself," said the major, when the sick man had been disposed of. "Every man that is fit to be made into a soldier is sent to the army; and we have nothing but the lame, and the halt, and the blind to handle these boats." "It does not look like good policy," added Christy. "Dallberg and his two men are soldiers, and they know no more about a steamboat than the rest of us," continued Major Pierson. "It looks as though we should have to stay here till some other boat comes along; and that may be in three days or a week, for steamers have no occasion to come up here now."