During or after a severe action on board a ship of war, the dead are
usually disposed of with but little or no ceremony, as the exigency of
the hour may require, as had been done on board of the prize. But
Captain Breaker was more considerate, as the conditions permitted him to
be; and the killed had been sewed up in hammocks, properly weighted.
"All hands to bury the dead;" piped the boatswain of the Bellevite, when
breakfast was finished.
By this time the deck had been cleaned up, and dried off under the warm
sun which had dissipated the fog and the morning mists. The bodies of
the slain had been previously placed at the port gangway, covered with
the American flag. The seamen removed their caps, the commander read the
service, and the bodies were committed to the deep. The officers and
seamen witnessed the ceremony with uncovered heads, and in reverent
silence.
CHAPTER XIX
COLONEL HOMER PASSFORD OF GLENFIELD
As soon as the battle on the deck of the Tallahatchie had been decided,
Graines, in command of the flanking party, had returned to the engine
room of the Bellevite. He and his men had fought bravely and effectively
in the action, though the full effect of the movement under his charge
could not be realized in the change of circumstances. The engine of the
ship had now cooled off, and Paul Vapoor hastened to the deck to see his
friend and crony, the news of whose wound had been conveyed to the
engine room in due time.
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