



Produced by Norman M. Wolcott







The Blockade Runners by Jules Verne


[Redactor's Note: _The Blockade Runners_ (number V008 in the T&M
numerical listing of Verne's works) is a translation of _Les forceurs
de blocus_ (1871). _The Blockade Runners_, a novella, was included
along with _A Floating City_ in the first english and french editions
of this work. This translation, which follows that of Sampson and Low
(UK) and Scribners (US) is by "N. D'Anvers", pseudonymn for Mrs. Arthur
Bell (d. 1933) who also translated other Verne books. It is also
included in the fifteen volume Parke edition of the works of Jules
Verne (1911). There is another translation by Henry Frith which was
published by Routledge (1876).

Both of these stories are about ships; _Floating City_ about the
largest ship of the time, the _Great Eastern_, and _Blockade Runners_
about one of the fastest, the _Dolphin_.

This text version was prepared from public domain sources by Norman M.
Wolcott, 2003, nwolcott2@post.harvard.edu]





The Blockade Runners

Table of Contents




  I  THE _DOLPHIN_
  II  GETTING UNDER SAIL
  III  THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM
  IV  CROCKSTON'S TRICK
  V  THE SHOT FROM THE _IROQUOIS,_ AND MISS JENNY'S ARGUMENTS
  VI  SULLIVAN ISLAND CHANNEL
  VII  A SOUTHERN GENERAL
  VIII  THE ESCAPE
  IX  BETWEEN TWO FIRES
  X  ST. MUNGO





THE BLOCKADE RUNNERS




Chapter I

THE _DOLPHIN_

The Clyde was the first river whose waters were lashed into foam by a
steam-boat. It was in 1812 when the steamer called the _Comet_ ran
between Glasgow and Greenock, at the speed of six miles an hour. Since
that time more than a million of steamers or packet-boats have plied
this Scotch river, and the inhabitants of Glasgow must be as familiar
as any people with the wonders of steam navigation.

However, on the 3rd of December, 1862, an immense crowd, composed of
shipowners, merchants, manufacturers, workmen, sailors, women, and
children, thronged the muddy streets of Glasgow, all going in the
direction of Kelvin Dock, the large shipbuilding premises belonging to
Messrs. Tod & MacGregor. This last name especially proves that the
descendants of the famous Highlanders have become manufacturers, and
that they have made workmen of all the vassals of the old clan
chieftains.

Kelvin Dock is situated a few minutes' walk from the town, on the right
bank of the Clyde. Soon the immense timber-yards were thronged with
spectators; not a part of the quay, not a wall of the wharf, not a
factory roof showed an unoccupied place; the river itself was covered
with craft of all descriptions, and the heights of Govan, on the left
bank, swarmed with spectators.

There was, however, nothing extraordinary in the event about to take
place; it was nothing but the launching of a ship, and this was an
everyday affair with the people of Glasgow. Had the _Dolphin_,
then--for that was the name of the ship built by Messrs. Tod &
MacGregor--some special peculiarity? To tell the truth, it had none.

It was a large ship, about 1,500 tons, in which everything combined to
obtain superior speed. Her engines, of 500 horse-power, were from the
workshops of Lancefield Forge; they worked two screws, one on either
side the stern-post, completely independent of each other. As for the
depth of water the _Dolphin_ would draw, it must be very
inconsiderable; connoisseurs were not deceived, and they concluded
rightly that this ship was destined for shallow straits. But all these
particulars could not in any way justify the eagerness of the people:
taken altogether, the _Dolphin_ was nothing more or less than an
ordinary ship. Would her launching present some mechanical difficulty
to be overcome? Not any more than usual. The Clyde had received many a
ship of heavier tonnage, and the launching of the _Dolphin_ would take
place in the usual manner.

In fact, when the water was calm, the moment the ebb-tide set in, the
workmen began to operate. Their mallets kept perfect time falling on
the wedges meant to raise the ship's keel: soon a shudder