Read "A Victorious Union" by Oliver Optic online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
It was a favorable night for running the blockade, for the fog had settled down more densely upon the region in the vicinity of the ship channel, though it occasionally lifted, and permitted those on board of the Bellevite to see the tall tower of the Sand Island Lighthouse, which had not been illuminated for three years. The mists were generally thicker and remained longer towards daylight than at any other time, and this was the evident reason why three o'clock in the morning had been fixed upon for the departure of the Trafalgar and the West Wind in tow.
The engineer's head was as clear as it had ever been, notwithstanding the tipsy swaying and doubling-up of his body which he simulated, and he realized that his companion and himself had obtained very important revelations from the revellers. The hour at which the steamer was to leave, evidently by arrangement with the officers of the fort, was valuable knowledge, and he hoped they would be able to carry or send seasonable warning of the time to the Bellevite, for she was the only ship on the blockade that could be counted upon to overhaul the Trafalgar, if the reports of her great speed had been correctly given.