As an owl that in a barn
Sees a mouse creeping in the corn,
Sits still, and shuts his round blue eyes,
As if he slept, until he spies
The little beast within his reach;
Then starts and seizes on the wretch.
HUDIBRAS.
The salute of the Albatross was duly returned from the battery, and the
entire _posse_ of idlers in the port, or little village at the
landing-place, which is rather more than two miles from the town of St.
Blas, were collected at the pier to see what manner of men her
whale-boat contained, as she pulled swiftly in towards the shore. About
half way between the ship and the shore the whale boat was met by that
of the harbor-master; the crew of the former tossed their oars out of
the water, and held them upright in token of respect, while, at the same
time, the officer in the stern-sheets arose and raised his hat. This
respectful behavior was by no means lost upon the military dignitary,
who listened with great affability to the stranger's account of
himself--namely, that he was first officer of the ship Albatross, of
Boston, commanded by Captain Israel Williams; that she had put in for
supplies of wood, water, and fresh provisions; that she was bound to
Canton, and sundry other particulars of minor consequence; Mr. Morton
not deeming himself bound in honor or honesty to inform said
harbor-master that it was the intention of the captain and officers to
smuggle certain cases of silks, cloths, and linen on shore without his,
the said harbor-master's, privity or consent.
As soon as the strange ship had anchored, Don Gaspar mounted his horse
and galloped through the plaza towards the landing-place, at the
imminent risk of his own neck, and compromising the sublunary welfare of
a swarm of children that were basking in the hot sand in utter defiance
of parental authority and of all passengers, bipedal or quadrupedal. Not
long after he had gone, Isabella threw her veil over her head, and
tripped, with a palpitating heart, towards Dame Juanita's house, which
she entered by a back passage well known to herself, and sat down in the
little room behind the shop. In a moment the good dame made her
appearance, her face literally shining with pleasure.
"I have seen him, senorita! I have seen him and spoken with him."
"Seen him! seen whom?" gasped Isabella, but blushing rosy red at the
same time.
"Ah, senorita, you know whom," said Juanita, "that handsome American
that you used to meet here a year ago nearly."
As the young lady sat with her back towards the shop-door, and was
besides eagerly drinking in all Juanita's news, she did not perceive
that a man had entered the room. A gentle voice that thrilled to her
heart pronounced her name; she turned, uttered a shriek, and fell
fainting into the arms of Morton.
Excessive joy did, in ancient times and in one or two instances, prove
fatal; but I suspect that the world has grown more wicked, or the human
heart less susceptible, for I doubt whether there is any body now alive
who has ever experienced a sufficient degree of pleasure at once to do
more than agitate the nerves for a few minutes.
Isabella soon recovered her senses, partly from the effects of cold
water sprinkled upon her face by the tender-hearted Juanita, and perhaps
there might be something reviving in a soft kiss that the young seaman
could not avoid dropping upon her lips as he supported her in his arms.
I have already intimated my incompetency to describe a parting scene
between two lovers, for reasons then specified: a tender meeting is
liable to the same objections. Such things should always be left to the
reader's imagination; for it is ten chances to one if the author's
description pleases any body, not even himself.
After the first emotions of meeting had subsided, Isabella informed her
lover of her uncle's promise, and that she was free from all persecution
with regard to Don Gregorio. Morton, on the other hand, communicated to
her all that had passed between his father and himself. "So that you
see, dearest Isabella, if you had consented to go home with me as I
urged, we might at this moment be comfortably seated at my father's
fire-side. In the mean time, Captain Williams knows how I am situated,
and will give the most effective assistance to my plans. We shall
probably be detained here for two or three weeks, and I shall have daily
opportunities of seeing you."
Time flies with lovers, and they had been nearly an hour in
conversation, when Juanita put them in mind of its lapse, and urged the
danger of Isabella's staying away from her uncle's house any longer.
They separated with a thousand promises to meet again.
In a day or two, Captain Williams had made arrangements for disposing of
the remnant of his cargo, in a quiet way, to certain merchants who are
always and every where to be found, ready and willing to evade the
exactions of the custom-house.
One branch of the river empties into the north-eastern, part of the bay,
from which the slope up to the plaza on the summit of the hill is
gradual. The point formed by this branch and the bay is covered with a
thick growth of limes and other trees, through which winds a scrambling
sort of path, passable by mules, and but very seldom used. After winding
through the trees and bushes, and up a steep hill, that farther to the
left, or westward, becomes an abrupt precipice of two hundred feet in
height; it emerges in an obscure and narrow street on the eastern side
of the town.
The Albatross's launch was sent every night, under the command of one or
other of the mates, with a cargo of goods, which were landed near the
termination of the above-mentioned winding path, and loaded upon mules
that were always ready, concealed among the bushes, to be brought out at
an appointed signal from the boat. It would be difficult to select a
place better adapted for the peculiar purpose; unguarded and
unsuspected, nobody had ever dreamed of any smuggling attempt being made
there.
This plan of landing cargo had been carried on with equal secrecy and
success for many nights, till nearly all was discharged. In the mean
time, information had been conveyed to the commandant, by some person
who had accidentally seen the boat one night engaged in discharging her
precious freight, and the mules loading on the beach. In consequence of
this intelligence, orders had been issued to the officer commanding the
troops at San Blas, to march a strong party to the place, and secure all
merchandize and persons found there. Part of this behest was executed to
the letter; the remainder Jupiter dispersed into thin air.
Mr. Morton, with six hands in the jolly-boat, came on shore at the usual
time, bringing all the remainder of the cargo, which was hardly enough
to load two mules. Every thing was landed and loaded upon the mules
without interruption, excepting a small package containing silk
handkerchiefs, when suddenly a low whistle was heard in the bushes.
"What is that?" said Morton, who held the aforesaid package in his
hands.
"Santa Maria!" exclaimed the muleteers, springing upon their horses, and
putting them and the mules into rapid motion; "vienen los soldados
malditos," the d--d soldiers are coming; the signal was repeated, and in
an instant soldiers rushed from different parts of the adjacent bushes,
and surrounded the whole party. So sudden and complete was the surprise,
that the seamen, though standing in the edge of the water, were
intercepted and made prisoners. Morton, as soon as he perceived that
flight and resistance were equally out of the question, hailed the two
men in the boat that was lying a few yards from the shore, and ordered
them to make the best of their way to the ship--an order that was
acknowledged by the customary "ay, ay, sir," and obeyed by hoisting
their lug-sail, which, filled by a fresh land-breeze, soon carried them
out of danger. He, with the remaining four men, were made prisoners.
Whether the soldiers were not used to acting against cavalry, or thought
the prisoners of more consequence than the merchandise, is doubtful; the
mules and their drivers got off safe, although several shots were fired
at them as soon as their retreat was perceived.
Ascertaining that there was nothing more to be got on the field of
battle; for it was indeed one, as one of the sailors, feeling somewhat
restive under the tight grasp that the corporal laid upon his collar,
had bestowed upon that humble candidate for military honors a slap in
the face, that caused him, in the Nantucket dialect, to "blow blood;"
the guard took up their line of march through the wood with their five
prisoners. On their melancholy route towards the town, the commanding
officer of the party, mindful of the politeness and attention with which
he had been treated by Mr. Morton, behaved to his prisoners with great
kindness, and endeavored to console this officer by representing that
nothing had been found that would or could be deemed sufficient to
convict them of any attempt to violate the laws of the province; that
the escape of the mules was a favorable circumstance, as they had
carried off whatever might have otherwise appeared as evidence against
them, whether merchandise or men; which last, with the treachery
peculiar to Spaniards, and more universally inherent in the mixed breed
of the colonies, would compound for their own safety by implicating
their employers; that the governor was a gentleman, and a man of kindly
feelings, and that he would undoubtedly pass over what had occurred that
night without the exercise of any greater severity than perhaps the
imposition of a moderate fine; with sundry other and similar topics of
consolation, suggested by kindness and sympathy. But Morton's mind was
too confused and agitated by the events of the evening, to allow him to
make much reply or to pay much attention to the consolations of the
officer; he longed to reach the guard-house, where, in the solitude and
silence of the prison, he might have time and opportunity to arrange his
ideas, and reflect upon his melancholy and apparently hopeless
situation, and correspond, if permitted, with his commander, and with
one other.
"But no," he thought, after the lovely image of Isabella had presented
itself to his mind, "no, she will not dare to visit me, or exert herself
in my behalf--and why should she? it would but expose her to suspicion,
and me and these poor fellows to greater rigor."
He knew but little of the strength of woman's love--her devotedness, her
acuteness, and energy and activity, in contriving and executing plans
for the relief or comfort of her loved one in affliction. His four
companions in misfortune, with all that philosophical indifference to
calamity and danger that characterizes seamen, after expending an
incredible number of strange curses and sea jokes upon their captors,
stretched themselves upon the stone floor of the "caliboza," or prison,
and were soon sound asleep; and Morton himself, fatigued in body and
harrassed and bewildered in mind, soon lost all consciousness of his
unhappy situation in deep and prolonged slumber.
Having lodged his prisoners in the guard-house and given orders that
they should be treated with all kindness, the officer waited upon the
governor, and reported the proceedings of the night. His excellency
looked rather blank at learning that none of the goods had been secured;
but having complimented the officer upon his vigilance and zeal, he
retired to rest, feeling all the pride and self-gratulation of a little
mind, after having done a very little action. He did indeed feel
somewhat anxious as to the effect the intelligence might have upon the
ladies of his household, who had been projecting another visit to the
American ship, being the fourth that had already taken place; but he
finally determined, as the only course left him, to ensconce himself
behind the intrenchments of his dignity, and to merge the urbane
feelings of the hospitable gentleman in the awful gravity of the dog in
office. Besides, he hoped that his vigilance and severity on the present
occasion would be a sweet savor in the nostrils of his august monarch,
and that promotion would follow as an affair of course; and he dropped
asleep, fancying himself Lieutenant-General Don Gaspar de Luna, Knight
of the most noble order of St. Jago de Compostella, and Governor-General
of the island of Cuba or St. Domingo.