At two bells in the first watch she could not be seen; but the commander kept on his course another half-hour, and then he ran into a fog.
The log indicated that the ship was making her best speed; and if the chase continued on her former course, she must have been within sight or hearing by this time.

Christy peered through the gloom of the night and the fog, and listened for any sound.

He kept up a tremendous thinking all the time, and acted as though he was in doubt.
"Make the course east, Mr.Baskirk," said he, calling the executive officer.
"East, Captain Passford ?" interrogated the lieutenant; and if he tried to conceal the astonishment he felt, his tones failed him.
"East, Mr.Baskirk," repeated the commander.
The course was given to the quartermaster at the wheel; and the St.
Regis came about gradually, and stood off in the direction indicated.
Christy had a theory of his own, in regard to the probable movements of the chase, and he desired to be solely responsible for the result: therefore he kept his plan to himself.
"Call all hands, Mr.Baskirk, but without any noise at all," continued the commander, while the ship was still driving ahead at the rate of twenty knots an hour.
The ship's company silently took their stations, and no one on the deck spoke a loud word, though no order to this effect had been given.

All the white cotton cloth that could be found on board was brought to the waist, where it was torn into strips about three inches wide, and two feet in length.

These two pieces were distributed among the ship's company, with the order to tie them around the left arm, above the elbow.
The fog was deep and dense; and the lookouts, who were stationed on the top-gallant forecastle and aloft, could not see a ship's length ahead.
Christy had gone forward, and made his way out on the bowsprit, in order to get as far as possible from the noise of the engine.