The two
officers hurried their crews, and the boats flew on their mission. The
commander felt that it was necessary to keep an eye on the fort, for its
energetic officer was not at all inclined to be idle at the present
exciting time. The Bronx had hardly stopped her screw before the
soldiers were to be seen on the barbette; but the shell with which
the midship gun had been charged sent them all to the casemates in an
instant.
"What is the matter, Captain Passford?" asked the first lieutenant,
as he halted on the deck. "You are as pale as a ghost."
"A ball went through my arm; but it is all right," replied Christy with
a ghastly smile.
He refused to go below, or to permit Dr. Connelly to come to him until
he had attended to the poor fellows who had been wounded on deck.
At the end of a couple of hours, the flames arose from the two bay
steamers which had been alongside the Sphinx, for the second lieutenant
had been ordered to burn them. The smoke was pouring out of the two
smoke-stacks of the steamer. Several boats filled with men pulled to the
shore, landing the crews of the three vessels. In less than another hour
the Sphinx was under way, and soon came alongside the Bronx.
As only one of the broadsides of the gunboat was available in the action
with the fort, the starboard battery was transferred to the captured
vessel.
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