Read Online Blockade Runner by Gilbert L. Morris - Free Book Online Page A

and said softly, “We had some fine times, didn’t we?”
    “Yes, we did.” Jeff wanted to say more, but his pride was still stiff. He tried to bring himself to say he was sorry for all that had happened.
    And perhaps he would have found a way to say it, but at that moment Captain Bier yelled, “She’s getting close! Lieutenant—tell the chief to add coal dust to the firebox!”
    “Coal dust?”
    “That’s what I said! Do I have to give every order twice?”
    Lieutenant Mailer swallowed hard and ran to the ladder.
    Leah and Jeff were close enough to the captain to hear him muttering under his breath.
    “What would he want to throw coal dust into the fire for?” Jeff wondered.
    “I can’t imagine,” Leah said, sounding mystified. “But he’s a smart man. I’ll bet he’s got something in his mind.”
    “It’s almost dark.” Jeff looked up at the sky. “If we can just stay out of range for another hour, it’ll be dark, and we can sneak away.”
    Soon not only Jeff and Leah but the crew discovered why the captain had given such a strange order.
    John Pollard was standing beside Jeff and Leah. Looking up at the stack, he exclaimed, “Look at that! I’ve never seen such thick smoke!”
    It was a thick, oily smoke that didn’t rise but instead fell toward the sea. Within a short time the
Greyhound
had laid down a smoke screen that swallowed up the Federal gunboat.
    “She’ll never find us in that mess!” Jeff cried out. “And it’s getting dark—I think we’ve made it!”
    He proved to be correct, for the billows of black smoke and the falling darkness swallowed up both ships—which was exactly what Captain Bier had planned!
    After the excitement of the chase, Belle Boyd said, “Come on down to my cabin, Leah. I’m not sleepy yet—we can talk.”
    “All right.”
    Leah accompanied Belle to her cabin, and they sat talking for a long time. Leah had already discovered that Belle loved to speak of her exploits, and once she smiled and said, “You ought to go on the stage, Miss Belle.”
    “I’ve thought of that,” Belle said seriously. “A lot of people go on the circuit, telling of their adventures. I might bill myself as ‘The Lily of the Shenandoah.’ That’s one of the names they call me, you know.”
    “Yes, I know.”
    “Or maybe just ‘The Rebel Spy.’” She stood and took a dramatic position, reciting with theatrical gestures, “And there I was, in the middle of theBattle of Bull Run with all of the weight of winning the battle on my shoulders. I had to get through to the Confederate forces …”
    She turned around twice, bowed, and then laughed at herself. “How was that?” she asked. “Do you think I could make a living on the stage?”
    “I think you could.” Leah listened until Belle finally grew quiet, then said, “Were you serious about what you said to the captain?”
    “About what, Leah?”
    “About marriage.”
    “Oh, I was just talking. I don’t even remember what I said now.”
    “You said you had to have a romantic courtship and then romance afterwards.”
    “Well, I would like that. What woman wouldn’t?”
    “I hear about a lot of romantic courtships, but I don’t know about afterwards. Marriage must be especially hard in these times.”
    Belle Boyd leaned back. She picked up a perfume bottle from the table, took the top off, smelled it, then smiled. “I’d like to find a man that’d sweep me off my feet,” she said. “Plenty of them have tried, but none has made it so far.”
    “Well, one of them will some day, I’m pretty sure.”
    Leah went to her own cabin then and went to bed. As the ship rose and fell with the waves, she thought about Belle Boyd’s desire for a romantic courtship. She rolled over thinking,
That would be nice, but I don’t know if it’s what I want or not. I’d just like a good, solid man who wouldn’t change all the time and would take care of me. Marriage, I think, is more than moonlight and poetry and the stuff