. 449
448 Chronicles of the Cape Fear River Blockade Running

and disappeared. I said to the general, who was a friend of
mine, “There is no use of our going back to quarantine after
this, you either have the infection or not,’ and I induced him
to telegraph to Richmond again. The answer came back,
‘Banshee must discharge and load as quickly as possible, and

mington, a well-known dry-goods merchant, who had prospered
on Confederate contracts, and who had often tried URETICeS
fully to obtain General Whiting’s permission to visit Nassau,
sauntered into Mr. John Dawson’s store near the foot of Mar-
ket Street, and obtained permission to search the loft above the

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proceed to sea; lend all assistance.’

“The general acted on these instructions, and upon the third
day we were gaily proceeding down the river again with an
outward cargo on board, passing quite a fleet of steamers at the
quarantine ground, whose crews were gnashing their teeth. We
got safely out and returned, after making another trip, to find
the same boats in quarantine, and, as it was raised three days
after our arrival, we steamed up the river in company, much
to the disgust of their crews.

“Good old horse! he saved me from a dreary confinement in
quarantine, and made the owners of the Banshee $100,000 to
$150,000 extra, but he was nearly the cause of our all being
put in a Northern prison and losing our steamer. On a very
still night, as we were running in and creeping noiselessly
through the hostile fleet, he commenced neighing (smelling the
land, I suppose). In an instant two or three jackets were
thrown over his* head, but it was too late; he had been heard
on board a cruiser very close to which we were passing, and she
and two or three of her consorts immediately opened fire upon
us. We had the heels of them, however, and our friend, Colonel

Lamb, at Fort Fisher, was soon protecting us, playing over our
heads with shell.

“On a subsequent occasion, disaster might have overtaken the
Banshee under somewhat similar circumstances had a cruiser
happened to be near. A game cock which we kept on board as
a pet suddenly began to crow. But this time the disaster was
to the game cock and not to the Banshee, for, pet as he was, his
neck was promptly twisted. Such experiences as these show
how easy it was to increase the risks of blockade running; ab-

sence of all avoidable noise at night was as essential as the
extinction of all lights on board ship.”

Upon this remarkable incident so graphically described by

Mr. Taylor, there hangs a local story which proves the ready
wit of the children of Israel under all circumstances,

A day or two after the landing of the Arabian horse, which
was the most docile, most beautiful animal ever seen in Wijl-

store for anything worth while which might be put to good use
during the stress of war and famine. He found nothing but
a soiled and greasy horse blanket which had been used upon
Mr. Dawson’s well-known race horse, and afterwards thrown
aside when he parted with him a year or so before. It was
originally of fine blue padded silk, with Mr. Dawson 7 2
gram, “J. D.,” in large letters tastefully embroidere es it.
Our friend having been assured by Mayor Dawson that he =
quite welcome to the blanket, proceeded with the metas e
his accomplished wife to renovate and repair 1t ste , under
their skillful manipulation, it was made almost as g00 as =
Having obtained through a friend a letter of introduction to
Mrs. Jefferson Davis, he proceeded to Richmond es
ushered into the presence of that distinguished lady. Wit 2
most engaging smiles he said he was about to depart on a =
to Nassau and that he hoped he might be favored with an order
from Mrs. Davis for any articles of personal or household =
which were then unobtainable in the Confederacy. W hat appea
to the feminine heart could be more potent! While she gra-
clously responded to this attractive proposal, the President pac
self entered the room, to whom, in another courteous speech,
the Wilmington merchant presented, with complimentary allu-
Sions to the Arabian horse, a beautiful silk blanket bearing the
President’s monogram, “J. D.,” which was as graciously ac-
cepted in token of our friend’s personal loyalty and devotion.
The subsequent details included a pass to Nassau signed by
the highest authority in the Confederacy, which was brought
back to Wilmington in triumph, and a few days afterwards a

favored son of the Scattered Nation was a very seasick man
on a voyage to Nassau through the Cape Fear blockade.