The frigate came to the wind close under our lee, and a boat from her
was alongside in a very few minutes. The officer who came to take
possession leaped up the side, and was on the deck in a moment. I
received him, told him in few words what the vessel was, introducing the
captain and Green, both of whom I recommended to his particular notice
and attention for the kindness they had shown to me. I then requested
he would walk down into the cabin, leaving a midshipman whom he brought
with him in charge of the deck, and who, in the mean while, he directed
to haul the mainsail up, and make the vessel snug. The prisoners were
desired to pack up their things, and be ready to quit in one hour.
When lights were brought into the cabin, the lieutenant and myself
instantly recognised each other.
"Bless my soul, Frank," said he, "what brought you here?"
"That," said I, "is rather a longer story than could be conveniently
told before to-morrow; but may I ask what ship has taken the Yankee? I
conclude it is the _R---_; and what rank does friend Talbot hold in
her?"
"The frigate," said he, "_is_ the _R---_, as you conjectured. We are on
the Cape station. I am first of her, and sent out here on promotion for
the affair of Basque roads."
"Hard, indeed," said I, "that you should have waited so long for what
you so nobly earned; but come, we have much to do. Let us look to the
prisoners, and if you will return on board, taking with you the captain,
mate, and few of the hands, whom I will select as the most troublesome
and the most careless, I will do all I can to have the prize, ready for
making sail by daylight, when, if Captain T--- will give me leave, I
will wait on him."
This was agreed to. The people whom I pointed out were put into the
boat, four of whose crew came aboard the brig to assist me. We soon
arranged everything, so as to be ready for whatever might be required.
A boat returned with a fresh supply of hands, taking back about twenty
more prisoners; and the midshipman who brought them delivered also a
civil message from the captain, to say he was glad to have the prize in
such good hands, and would expect me to breakfast with him at eight
o'clock; in the mean time, he desired that as soon as I was ready to
make sail, I should signify the same by showing two lights at the same
height in the main rigging, and that we should then keep on a wind to
the northward under a plain sail.
This was completed by four a.m., when we made the signal, and kept on
the weather quarter of the frigate. I took a couple of hours' sleep,
was called at six, dressed myself, and prepared to go on board at
half-past seven. I heard her drum and fife beat to quarters, the
sweetest music, next to the heavenly voice of Emily, I had ever heard.
The tears rolled down my cheeks with gratitude to God, for once more
placing me under the protection of my beloved flag. The frigate
hove-to; soon after the gig was lowered down and came to fetch me; a
clean white cloak was spread in the stern-sheets; the men were dressed
in white frocks and trousers, as clean as hands could make them, with
neat straw hats and canvas shoes. I was seated in the boat without
delay, and my heart beat with rapture when the boatswain's mate at the
gangway piped the side for me.
I was received by the captain and officers with all the kindness and
affection which we lavish on each other on such occasions. The captain
asked me a thousand questions, and the lieutenants and midshipmen all
crowded round me to hear my answers. The ship's company were also
curious to know our history, and I requested the captain would send the
gig back for Thompson, who would assist me in gratifying the general
curiosity. This was done, and the brave, honest fellow came on board.
The first question he asked was, "Who fired the first shot at the
prize?"
"It was Mr Spears, the first lieutenant of marines," said one of the
men.
"Then Mr Spears must have my allowance of grog for the day," said
Thompson; "for I said it last night, and I never go from my word."
"That I am ready to swear to," said Captain Peters, of the privateer: "I
have known men of good resolutions, and you are one of them; and I have
known men of bad resolutions, and he was one of them whom you sent last
night to his long account and it was fortunate for you that you did; for
as sure as you now stand here, that moan would have compassed your
death, either by dagger, by water, or by poison. I never knew or heard
of the man who had struck or injured Peleg Oswald with impunity. He was
a Kentucky man, of the Ohio, where he had `squatted', as we say; but he
shot two men with his rifle, because they had declined exchanging some
land with him. He had gouged the eye out of the third, for some
trifling difference of opinion. These acts obliged him to quit the
country; for not only were the officers of justice in pursuit of him,
but the man who had lost one eye kept a sharp look-out with the other,
and Peleg would certainly have had a rifle-ball in his ear if he had not
fled eastward, and taken again to the sea, to which he was originally
brought up. I did not know all his history till long after he and I
became shipmates. He would have been tried for his life; but having
made some prize-money, he contrived to buy off his prosecutors. I
should have unshipped him next cruise, if it had pleased God I had got
safe back."
Peters was giving this little history of his departed mate, the
captain's breakfast was announced, and the two American captains were
invited to partake of it. As we went down the ladder under the
half-deck, Peters and Green could not help casting an eye of admiration
at the clean and clear deck, the style of the guns, and perfect union of
the useful and ornamental, so inimitably blended as they are sometimes
found in our ships of war. There was nothing in the captain's repast
beyond cleanliness, plenty, hearty welcome, and cheerfulness.
The conversation turned on the nature, quality and number of men in the
privateer. "They are all seamen," said Peters, "except the ten black
fellows."
"Some of them, I suspect, are English," said I.
"It is not for me to peach," said the wary American. "It is difficult
always to know whether a man who has been much in both countries is a
native of Boston in Lincolnshire, or Boston in Massachusetts; and
perhaps they don't always know themselves. We never ask questions when
a seaman ships for us."
"You have an abundance of our seamen both in your marine and merchant
service," said our captain.
"Yes," said Green; "and we are never likely to want them, while you
impress for us."
"_We_ impress for you?" said Captain T---; "how do you prove that?"
"Your impressment," said the American, "fills our ships. Your seamen
will not stand it; and for every two men you take by force, rely on it,
we get one of them as a volunteer."
Peters dissented violently from this proposition, and appeared angry
with Green for making the assertion.
"I see no reason to doubt it," said Green; "I know how our fighting
ships, as well as our traders, are manned. I will take my oath that
more than two-thirds have run from the British navy, because they were
impressed. You yourself have said so in my hearing, Peters--look at
your crew."
Peters could stand conviction no longer; he burst into the most violent
rage with Green; said that what ought never to have been owned to a
British officer, he had let out; that it was true that America looked
upon our system of impressment as the sheet-anchor of her navy; but he
was sorry the important secret should ever have escaped from an
American.
"For my part," resumed Green, "I feel so deeply indebted to this gallant
young Englishman for his kindness to me, that I am for ever the friend
of himself and his country, and have sworn never to carry arms against
Great Britain, unless to repel an invasion of my own country."
Breakfast ended, we all went on deck; the ship and her prize were lying
to; the hands were turned up; all the boats hoisted out, the prisoners
and their luggage taken out of the prize, and, as the crew of the
privateer came on board, they were all drawn up on the quarter-deck, and
many of them known and proved to be Englishmen. When taxed and
reproached for their infamous conduct, they said it was owing to them
that the privateer had been taken, for that they had left the lower
studding-sail purposely hanging over the night-head, and towing in the
water, by which the way of the vessel had been impeded.
Captain Peters, who heard this confession, was astonished; and the
captain of the frigate observed to him, that such conduct was exactly
that which might be expected from any traitor to his country. Then,
turning to the prisoners, he said, "The infamy of your first crime could
scarcely have been increased; but your treachery to the new government,
under which you had placed yourselves, renders you unworthy of the name
of men; nor have you even the miserable merit you claim of having
contributed to the capture, since we never lost sight of the chase from
the first moment we saw her, and from the instant she hauled her wind,
we knew she was ours."
The men hung down their heads, and when dismissed to go below, none of
the crew of the frigate would receive them into their messes; but the
real Americans were kindly treated.
We shaped our course for Simon's Bay, where we arrived in one week after
the capture.
The admiral on the station refused to try the prisoners by a
court-martial; he said it was rather a state question, and should send
them all to England, where the lords of the Admiralty might dispose of
them as they thought proper.
The _True-blooded Yankee_ was libelled in the Vice-Admiralty-Court at
Cape Town, condemned as a lawful prize, and purchased into the service;
and, being a very fine vessel of her class, the admiral was pleased to
say, that as I had been so singularly unfortunate, he would give me the
command of her as a lieutenant, and send me to England with some
despatches, which had been waiting an opportunity.
This was an arrangement far more advantageous to me than I could have
expected; but what rendered it still more agreeable was, that my friend
Talbot, who was the first to shake me by the hand on board the prize,
begged a passage home with me, he having, by the last packet, received
his commander's commission. The admiral, at my request, also gave
Captains Peters and Green permission to go home with me. Mungo, the
black man, and Thompson, the quarter-master, with the midshipman who had
been with me in the boat, were also of the party. My crew was none of
the very best, as might be supposed; but I was not in a state to make
difficulties; and, with half a dozen of the new negroes taken out of the
trader, I made up such a ship's company as I thought would enable me to
run to Spithead.
We laid in a good stock of provisions at the Cape. The Americans begged
to be allowed to pay their part; but this I positively refused,
declaring myself too happy in having them as my guests. I purchased all
Captain Peters' wine and stock, giving him the full value for it. Mungo
was appointed steward, for I had taken a great fancy to him; and my
friend Talbot having brought all his things on board, and the admiral
having given my final orders, I sailed from Simon's Bay to England.
There is usually but little of incident in a run home of this sort. I
was not directed to stop at St. Helena, and had no inclination to loiter
on my way. I carried sail night and day to the very utmost. Talbot and
myself became inseparable friends, and our cabin mess was one of perfect
harmony, avoided all national reflections, and abstained as much as
possible from politics. I made a confidant of Talbot in my love affair
with Emily. Of poor Eugenia, I had long before told him a great deal.
One day at dinner we happened to talk of swimming. "I think," said
Talbot, "that my friend Frank is as good a hand at that as any of us.
Do you remember when you swam away from the frigate at Spithead, to pay
a visit to your friend, Mrs Melpomene, at Point?"
"I do," said I, "and also how generously you showered the musket-balls
about my ears for the same."
"Your escape from either drowning or shooting on that occasion, among
many others," said the commander, "makes me augur something more serious
of your future destiny."
"That may be," said I; "but I dispute the legality of your act, in
trying to kill me before you knew who I was, or what I was about. I
might have been mad, for what you knew; or I might have belonged to some
other ship; but in any event, had you killed me, and had my body been
found, a coroner's inquest would have gone very hard with you, and a
jury still worse."
"I should have laughed at them," said Talbot.
"You might have found it no laughing matter," said I.
"How!" replied Talbot; "what are sentinels placed for, and loaded with
hall?"
"To defend the ship," said I; "to give warning of approaching danger; to
prevent men going out of the ship without leave; but never to take away
the life of a man, unless in defence of their own, or when the safety of
the king's ship demands it."
"I deny your conclusions," said Talbot; "the articles of war denounce
death to all deserters."
"True," said I, "they do, and also to many other crimes; but those
crimes must first of all be proved before a court-martial. Now you
cannot prove that I was deserting, and if you could, you had not the
power to inflict death on me unless I was going towards the enemy. I
own I was disobeying your orders, but even that would not have subjected
me to more than a slight punishment, while your arbitrary act would have
deprived the king, as I flatter myself, of a loyal and not useless
subject; and if my body had not been found, no good could have accrued
to the service from the severity of example. On the contrary; many
would have supposed I had escaped, and been encouraged to make the same
attempt."
"I am very sorry now," said Talbot, "that I did not lower a boat to send
after you; however, it has been a comfort to me since to reflect that
the marines missed you."
This ended the subject: we walked the deck a little, talked of
sweethearts, shaped the course for the night to make Fayal, which we
were not far from, and then retired to our beds.
Falling into a sound sleep, it was natural that the conversation of the
evening should have dwelt on my mind, and a strange mixture of
disjointed thoughts, a compound of reason, and insanity, haunted me till
the morning. Trinidad and Emily, the Nine-pin Rock, and the mysterious
Eugenia, with her supposed son, the sinking wreck, and the broken
schooner, all appeared separately or together--
"When nature rests;
Oft, in her absence, mimic fancy wakes--"
I thought I saw Emily standing on the pinnacle of the Nine-pin Rock,
just as Lord Nelson is represented on the monument in Dublin, or
Bonaparte in that of the Place Vendome; but with a grace as far superior
to either as the Nine-pin Rock is in majesty and natural grandeur to
those works of human art.
Emily, I thought, was clad in complete mourning, but looking radiant in
health and loveliness, although with a melancholy countenance. The dear
image of my mistress seemed to say, "I shall never come down from this
pinnacle without your assistance."
"Then," thinks I, "you will never come down at all."
Then I thought Eugenia was queen of Trinidad, and that it was she who
had placed Emily out of my reach on the rock; and I was entreating her
to let Emily come down, when Thompson tapped at my cabin door and told
me that it was daylight, and that they could see the island of Fayal in
the north-east, distant about seven leagues.
I dressed myself and went on deck, saw the land, and a strange sail
steering to the westward. The confounded dream still running in my
head--like Adam, "I liked it not," and yet I thought myself a fool for
not dismissing such idle stuff; still it would not go away. The
Americans came on deck soon after; and, seeing the ship steering to the
westward, asked if I meant to speak her. I replied in the affirmative.
We had then as much sail as we could carry; and, as she had no wish to
avoid us, but kept on her course, we were soon alongside of her. She
proved to be a cartel bound to New York with American prisoners.
In case of meeting with any vessel bound to the United States, the
admiral had given me permission to send my prisoners home without
carrying them to England. I had not mentioned this either to Peters or
Green, for fear of producing disappointment; but when I found I could
dispose of them so comfortably, I acquainted them with my intention.
Their joy and gratitude were beyond all description; they thanked me a
thousand times, as they did my friend Talbot, for our kindness to them.
"Lieutenant," said Peters, "I am not much accustomed to the company of
you Englishmen; and if I have always thought you a set of tyrants and
bullies it ain't my fault. I believed what I was told; but now I have
seen for myself, and I find the devil is never so black as he is
painted." I bowed to the Yankee compliment. "Howsoever," he continued,
"I should like to have a sprinkling of shot between us on fair terms.
Do you bring this here brig to our waters; I hope to get another just
like her, and as I know you are a damned good fellow, and would as soon
have a dust as sit down to dinner, I should like to try to get the
command of the _True-blooded Yankee_ again."
"If you man your next brig as you manned the last, with all your best
hands Englishmen," said I, "I fear I should find it no easy matter to
defend myself."
"That's as it may be," said the captain; "no man fights better than he
with a halter round his neck: and remember what neighbour Green has
said--for he has `let the cat out of the bag'--we should have no
Englishmen in our service if they had not been pressed into yours."
I could make no return to this salute, because, like the gunner at
Landguard fort, I had no powder; and, in fact, I felt the rebuke.
Green stood by, but never opened his lips until the captain had
finished; then, holding out his hand to me, with his eyes full of tears,
and his voice almost choked, "Farewell, my excellent friend," said he,
"I shall never forget you; you found me a villain, and by the blessing
of God, you have made me an honest man. Never, never shall I forget the
day when, at the risk of your own life, you came to save one so unworthy
of your protection; but God bless you! and if ever the fortune of war
would send you a prisoner to my country, here is my address--what is
mine is yours, and so you shall find."
The man who had mutinied in the boat, and afterwards entered on board
the privateer, who was sent home with me to take his trial, held out his
hand to Captain Green as he passed him, to wish him good-bye, but he
turned away, saying, "A traitor to his country is a traitor to his God.
I forgive you for the injury you intended to do me, and the more so as I
feel I brought it on myself; but I cannot degrade myself by offering you
the hand of friendship."
So saying, he followed Captain Peters into the boat. I accompanied them
to the cartel, where, having satisfied myself that they had every
comfort, I left them. Green was so overcome that he could not speak,
and poor Mungo could only say, "Good-bye, massa leptenant--me tinkee you
berry good man."
I returned to my own vessel, and made sail for England: once more we
greeted the white cliffs of Albion, so dear to every true English bosom.
No one but he who has been an exile from its beloved shores can
appreciate the thrill of joy on such an occasion. We ran through the
Needles, and I anchored at Spithead, after an absence of fourteen
months. I waited on the admiral, showed him my orders, and reported the
prisoners, whom he desired me to discharge into the flag-ship. "And
now," said he, "after your extraordinary escape, I will give you leave
to run up to town and see your family, to whom you are no doubt an
object of great interest."
Here a short digression is necessary.