All the vigilance of the authorities, however, though extending to the prohibition of any intercourse whatever between the San Jacinto and the shore, was unable to prevent the Yankee from establishing a code of signals by which he might at once be put in possession of any movement on the part of the Confederate steamer, which he now, no doubt, fully looked on as his prize.  Two of his boats were, as was afterwards discovered, on the look-out during the night, and an understanding had been come to with the master of the Yankee vessel lying in the harbour to signal the Alabama’s departure.

By dusk, Captain Semmes’ preparations were completed; the funds, which the Martinique merchants had allowed to slip through their too-widely-opened fingers, were safely despatched on their way to Liverpool; the necessary supplies were on board; and, with decks cleared for action, all lights carefully extinguished, and all hands at quarters, the Alabama stole quietly from her anchorage, and steamed cautiously across the harbour on her way to the open sea.

It was a period of intense anxiety as the Alabama slipped silently through the tranquil water of the harbour, each moment bringing her nearer to the powerful enemy, who, when dusk had shut him from their view, had been planted in the very centre of the entrance, eagerly looking out for the expected prize.  Presently it was found that her movements were, at all events, known to the spies of the enemy, and a succession of signals from the Yankee vessel they had left at anchor were evidently intended to warn the San Jacinto of the attempted escape.  Momentarily now was expected the flash of the enemy’s gun, and the hoarse roar of his shot, and each crew stood by its loaded gun ready with a prompt reply.  Not a word was uttered on the crowded deck, and so deep was the silence, that the low throbbing of the Alabama’s propeller, as it revolved slowly in the water, seemed to strike on the ear with a noise like thunder.  But the minutes passed by and the expected broadside never came.  The straining eyes of the look-outs could see no sign of the San Jacinto.  Either she had misunderstood the signals of her accomplice on shore, or by some strange fatality they had altogether escaped her; and the Alabama held on her course unmolested, until, at twenty minutes past eight, less than an hour after the start, she was considered fairly out of danger of interception.

The guns were now run in and secured, the word passed to the engineers to fire up and give her a full head of steam; the men were piped below, and the Alabama, throwing off the silence in which for the last hour she had been wrapped fore and aft, darted off merrily over the rippling waves, in the direction of the island of Blanquilla, at the rate of fourteen knots an hour.  It subsequently transpired that, notwithstanding all her vigilance and all her pre-arranged signals, the San Jacinto had been totally unaware of the escape of her agile foe, and actually remained for four days and four nights carefully keeping guard over the stable from which the steed had cleverly stolen away.