He found Dr.Spokeley there, and inquired in regard to the condition of the wounded men.

The surgeon described the wounds of his patients, and pointed them out to the captain.
"Does Mr.Hungerford talk any now ?" asked Christy.
"Who is Mr.Hungerford ?" asked the doctor.
"He is the deaf mute.

He was the first officer of the Confederate steamer Yazoo when we captured her in the Bellevite last year," replied the captain, upon whom the eyes of the wounded man were fixed all the time.
"He has not spoken yet in my hearing, though I have thought that he could hear." "His duty on board of the Bronx was to obtain information, and he procured a good deal of it, though not all of it was as reliable as it might have been." "Indeed! Then he was a traitor," added the surgeon.
"He is a gentleman in spite of the role he has been playing, and I am sorry he has been injured, though Mr.Sampson obeyed my order when he struck him down in the engine room." "Struck me from behind like an assassin," added Hungerford feebly.
"Did you expect to arrange a duel with him at such a time, Mr.
Hungerford ?" asked Christy.

"You went into the engine room to disable the machine when you found you could do nothing else.

If you had returned to the deck when the engineer told you to do so, he would not have disabled you.