Day after day she lay there immovable,
with her white side gleaming dimly across the water, and far out of the
reach of us wistful filibusters;--for although there was a small brig
of General Walker's floating beside the pier which ran out into the
lake, yet it was out of repair; and, in any state, the wind blew too
strongly and constantly from the northeast for a sail vessel to make
the island, which lay almost in its teeth. Nevertheless, carpenters
were set at work on it, and row-boats, borrowed of the vessels in San
Juan harbor, were hauled over the Transit road; and it was said that
the old brig was to be filled with soldiers and worked across to the
island by aid of the row-boats. The thing seemed far from impossible.
The space between the island and Virgin Bay was not above ten or twelve
miles, and for part of the distance, under lee of the great volcano,
the wind was lull. Could the brig be worked round the wind and brought
into this calm water, the towing thenceforward was easy; and all this
done in the space of one night, the surprise and recapture of the
steamer were certain.
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