In the afternoon, the Middy went through Pass à l’Outre, and, before evening, was rolling about in the swells of the Gulf; but she was a good sea-boat, and the motion was rather refreshing to the old salts on board. Before daylight, she came to anchor near the Harrisburg. Visits were interchanged between the ship and the Middy during the day; but Jack was disappointed to find that Captain Bankhead had gone the day before. At sunset, the Middy departed for the eastward, and, on the following day, reported to the acting admiral commanding the Eastern Gulf Squadron. Captain McBride received his orders, and immediately sailed again for the station, which was near the mouth of the Suwanee River, in Florida. Tom Longstone expressed his disgust when he found, as he supposed, that the steamer was actually engaged in the blockading service; but Jack was too busy with his books to object to this life of inactivity. After they had lain on the station a few days, and Jack’s head was as full of lines and angles, projectiles and parabolas, as a professor’s, an incident occurred which broke up the monotony of the blockader’s life. Jack was standing at the window of the wheel-house, running over in his mind a difficult problem in geometry which had perplexed him during the day. It was a dark and foggy evening, and no lights were allowed; for it was just the time to tempt a blockade-runner into a daring deed: but Jack was an earnest student, and he did not cease to study because he could not use his book. As he meditated upon the mysterious problem, he thought he heard the splashing of a steamer’s paddles in the water, between the Middy and the shore. The sound drove all the mathematics out of his head; and he soon satisfied himself that the splashing was not an illusion. He immediately reported the fact to Mr. Dickey, who communicated it to Captain McBride. The cable was instantly slipped and buoyed, and the Middy was in motion. The fog was so dense, that nothing could be seen; but, after going at full speed for fifteen minutes in the direction of the mouth of the river, she was stopped, and her officers listened attentively for the sounds. They could now be distinctly heard; and the Middy continued the chase in the fog and darkness. She approached the mouth of the river, sounding her way, and stopping frequently to listen to the splashing of the steamer’s wheels, which could be more distinctly heard at every pause. “Hullo, de steamer!” said a voice, close aboard of her, at one of these stoppages. A negro in a skiff now emerged from a dense volume of fog, and came alongside. “May I come on board, massa?” said he. “I’m a pilot, massa: knows ebery foot ob de riber.” “Ay, ay; come on board!” replied the captain. “You go mos’ aground, massa! No water ober dar,” added the man as he pointed over on the port-bow. “How much water do you draw, massa?” “We can carry up about five feet,” replied Captain McBride.