After the brief talk with his uncle, Christy had waited for him to
return to the deck, as he supposed he would after what the captain had
said to him; but he did not appear. In fact, Colonel Passford was too
much cast down by the capture of the two vessels, and the loss of his
fortune thereby, that he was not disposed to see any person if he could
avoid it.
"Don't you think you had better turn in, Mr. Passford?" asked the
commander, as he halted in his walk at the side of the lieutenant.
"I have been waiting here to see my uncle; for I thought, after what you
said to him, that he would come back," added Christy.
"I sent Dr. Linscott down to see him, for he looks so pale and feeble
that I thought he must be sick. The surgeon reported to me half an hour
ago that he had made him eat his breakfast against his will, and he was
feeling better and more cheerful. He thinks your Uncle Homer's trouble
is entirely mental, and he does not feel like seeing any person,"
answered the commander.
"What mental trouble can he have?" asked Christy, as he gazed into the
face of the captain, wondering if his father's brother was insane.
"The colonel has shipped a vast amount of cotton intending to use the
proceeds of its sale to purchase ships for the Confederacy; and he has
lost most of them, for you captured quite a number of them when you
were in command of the Bronx.
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