Page:The Immortal Six Hundred.djvu/119

   towards Charleston, but at daylight found ourselves far out at sea. During the day we steamed back to our old anchorage under the guns of the blockading fleet. No one seemed able to interpret this move. Late in the evening our scouts from the upper deck reported the flag of truce boats together, just off Fort Sumter. All night the excitement amongst the prisoners ran high. At night our ship again took up anchor and steamed out to sea, and next morning, when allowed to go on deck, we found ourselves in Hilton Head Harbor. Here we remained three days, daily begging Captain Webster to turn on the ship's hose and wash the filth out of our quarters, which he persistently refused to do. In fact, we could not get him to do the least thing to alleviate our suffering, although he was fully cognizant of the filthy condition of our prison quarters below decks. After our stay of three days at Hilton Head, at the mouth of Broad River, our ship again pulled anchor and we steamed back