Beadle's Dime Library No. 911: The Blue Blockader

"The Blue Blockader: The Coast Grayhound" by Col. Prentiss Ingraham This Civil War adventure serial follows Captain Victor Fairfax commanding the *Blue Blockader*, a fast blockade-runner attempting to penetrate a Federal naval blockade guarding a Southern port. Under cover of darkness, Fairfax's paddle-wheeler steams toward the seventeen anchored warships, but his pilot—revealed as rival Ernest Fenton—ignites a blue signal light, exposing the vessel to the fleet. After Fenton jumps overboard, Fairfax rallies his crew and runs the gauntlet at full speed. Despite intense artillery fire that kills and wounds many sailors, Fairfax orders canvas set despite the bombardment. The *Blue Blockader* uses superior speed to evade most vessels. In the climactic sequence, a cruiser positioned directly ahead attempts to ram or cripple the blockade-runner, but Fairfax navigates through the desperate encounter as the crew watches breathlessly from an inland Confederate fort.