“Golly, massa! jus’ five foot on de bar at high water,--dat’s all!” grinned the negro. “Are there any batteries up the river?” “Yes, sir: tree guns up dar. Mos’ on de bar now, massa cap’n.” “We will remain here till high water, Mr. Dickey,” added the captain. “Dis chile want to run away awful bad, massa,” said the visitor. “Good pilot, massa: knows all about de Keys and all about here.” “I am glad to see you, then. What steamer was that which just went up the river?” “Don’t know, massa: ’speck it was de ’Lympus. She done run de blockade from de Keys.” The Middy remained where she was, and the pilot was taken below to be fed and clothed. CHAPTER XXIX. THE BLOCKADE RUNNER. The water on that portion of the coast of Florida to which the Middy had been ordered is very shallow. The shoals extend out from the land about sixteen miles; and, six miles from shore, there was not, in many places, more than a foot of water between the Middy’s keel and the bottom. Her light draught, and weatherly qualities, had been her principal recommendations for the service on which she had been sent; but, for in-shore duty, she was well-nigh useless without a pilot, which she had, thus far, been unable to obtain. The Suwanee River has two outlets. In front of these there is a long, circular reef, outside of which the Middy lay. The blockade-runner had approached from the direction of Cedar Keys, and entered the river by the most southern of the two outlets, passing inside of the Middy. The negro who had boarded the steamer said he had been after oysters. He had been on the lookout for a Government vessel for weeks; for, as he had declared, he “wanted to run away very bad.” Hundreds of slaves had come off to the fleet in various places; and Clem--this was the negro’s name--said there were thousands more who wanted to escape from slavery. There was no difficulty in believing all this, and nothing very strange in Clem’s coming off just when and where he did. His color was a sufficient guaranty for his loyalty, but not for his skill as a pilot in those difficult and dangerous waters. Captain McBride gave him some supper, and supplied him with clothing; for the poor fellow was not very far from naked. He questioned him very closely in regard to his knowledge of the navigation of the river and the contiguous waters. Clem answered that he had been a fireman on a river-steamer for ten years; had been fishing and oystering for five more; and, finally, that he had several times piloted a steamer, drawing three or four feet of water, from the Keys to Clay Landing; and he wished he “was jes as sartin of gwine to heaben as he was of gwine frew dem channels.” The Middy started, in the fog and darkness, to pass the bar; though not till the captain had carefully consulted all his authorities on board in regard to the channel, and ascertained that the spring-tides were then prevailing.