Flint came below to see him at
the end of an hour when he had performed his most pressing duties. He
reported that Mr. Pennant's wound was slight, and did not disable him.
Eight seamen in all had been wounded, and one of them was likely to die
of his injury.
"But we have done our work well, Captain Passford, and I don't believe
that one-half the garrison of that fort are fit for duty at this
moment," added the first lieutenant.
"But that was a splendid fellow who commanded there," continued Christy
with admiration. "If his guns had not been taken away from him, and his
force reduced to a handful of men, we should have had to wait for the
Sphinx to come out of the bay; and it might have been three weeks or a
month before she concluded to do so."
"We have damaged the enemy enough to make it pay, and the steamer and
her cargo will put at least seventy-five thousand dollars into the
pockets of our side in the conflict."
"And by taking the bull by the horns, instead of waiting till the
captain of the Sphinx concluded to take his chances of being captured
in getting to sea, we have made the Bronx available for duty at once in
another quarter, where she can do better work than in chewing her cable
off the bar of Barataria," said the wounded commander, thus satisfying
his conscience that he had done his duty.
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