"I have kept a
list of the names of the vessels in the Federal navy so far as I could
obtain them; but it does not include the St.-- What you call her?
I never heard the name before."
"The St. Regis, after a river in the Adirondacks," said Captain
Passford, laughing. "But I can assure you, Captain, that you know her
better than any of the rest of us, for I never even saw her."
"The St. Regis?" interrogated the commander, puzzled by the assertion.
"Just now this steamer is something like a newly-married widow, for she
is entering upon her third name," continued the host, very lightly.
"Formerly she was the Trafalgar, a highly honored name in British
history; but more recently she received the name of Tallahatchie; and
now she becomes the St. Regis."
"I see," replied the Confederate commander, evidently trying to hide his
intense chagrin that the magnificent steamer, purchased by Colonel Homer
Passford for him, had so soon become a ship belonging to the Federal
navy. "You expressed a doubt in regard to her speed, my dear Captain."
"I simply doubted if she could make twenty knots an hour, for the
Bellevite overhauled her without difficulty."
"That was because our coal was very bad. The Trafalgar made twenty knots
an hour several times when she was under my command."
"So much the better, Captain; if the speed is in her, her new engineer
will get it out of her," replied the host.
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