Page:The Immortal Six Hundred.djvu/117

   It was good enough for Rebels, he said. When we reached the blockading fleet off Charleston no one was allowed on deck from below. Again we were in sight of the promised land; would we enter? was the absorbing question we asked one another. The anxiety amongst the prisoners became intense. We all hoped for an exchange, yet there was a doubt.

After being kept a whole day below decks a request was made by Colonel Manning, of Captain Webster, that from fifteen to twenty of the prisoners should be allowed to go on deck at one time to get some fresh air. In his appeal to Webster, Colonel Manning said: "We are away out here in the ocean; we are surrounded by your gunboats, and no man can swim from here ashore; no man can escape; it's brutal to keep us down below in that pest hole." The only reply Webster made to this appeal was "You must stay below decks." Colonel Manning then said, "Captain Webster, if you will not allow us on deck have the hose of