A CLOSE SHAVE.
I needed no evidence to convince me that the Britishers would make
every effort to capture us. It was the one thing necessary for them to
do, even though they could not hope to keep secret the fact of their
encampment here on the North Foreland.
Whoever was in command of the troops must have known beyond a
peradventure that the Americans living on the opposite shore of the
lake had certain knowledge regarding the gathering of soldiers at this
point, for the camp was already established on that winter’s afternoon
when Alec and I ran blindly into the hands of the redcoats.
From what we heard while held as prisoners so many weeks previous, my
comrade and I knew that a movement was contemplated before the ice
broke up.
Why it had been delayed we might never learn to a certainty, but it
seemed positive to me at this moment--for when danger was so imminent
the veriest trifles passed through my brain with lightning-like
rapidity--that instead of abandoning the manœuvre it had simply been
delayed, in which case secrecy was even more necessary now than when we
came so unwittingly upon the enemy.
In other words, that my meaning may be more plain, I understood at the
moment that it was in the highest degree important to the enemy that
we two lads be prevented from carrying any information back to Presque
Isles, and, therefore, did I realize that the Britishers would spare no
labor in the effort to take us prisoners.
The soldiers were advancing without heed as to noise, and before
they were come so near that I could distinguish the words of their
conversation, Alec awakened, looking toward me as if on the point of
asking some question.
On the instant my hand covered his mouth, and the quick-witted lad
needed nothing further by way of explanation.
With a motion of the hand he let me know that the situation was fully
understood, and arose to a sitting posture as I removed the pressure
from his mouth, the voices of our enemies speedily telling the whole
story.
Nearer and nearer came the men, until we could distinguish every word
that passed between them.
Instead of talking about the possibility of capturing us, they spoke
of the vessel which had arrived during the night just past, and
questioned why the other craft were delayed when the wind was in their
favor.
We soon came to understand that the time for the expedition to move was
near at hand, and the blood literally boiled in my veins as I believed
that the attack would be made while we were thus virtually prisoners.
Although apparently deeply engrossed by the topic of conversation, the
search was not being conducted in any slipshod fashion.
From the sounds we knew that every bush sufficiently large to shelter
us was being examined, and it was not probable we could escape
detection.
In less than five minutes the soldiers would have come to the mouth of
the cave, and our capture was positive.
After that had been accomplished, a shameful death would speedily
follow for us, and the cold dew of fear covered my forehead as I saw,
in fancy, the last acts in our lives. For an instant it was as if I
already stood upon the scaffold, and then Alec broke the horrible chain
of thought which was making of me a woful coward.
He, dear lad, must have had the same mental pictures before him as
were distressing me, for, leaning over until his cheek rested against
mine, he clasped both my hands.
It was a mute farewell; the soldiers were so near that it seemed as if
they must be upon us before one could count ten, and I shut my eyes,
fearing to see what I believed was inevitable.
It seemed as if the men were standing within half a dozen paces of us,
shut out from a view of the cave by the fringe of bushes which screened
the entrance, when suddenly from the distance we heard a hail:
“This way! Quick! I have found traces of those whom you are seeking!”
It was Leon Marchand’s voice, and both Alec and I knew the lad was
imperilling his own life in the poor hope of being able to save ours.
I came near to crying out that he should think only of himself, leaving
us to such fate as might be in store, so eager was I that he cease
efforts which seemed to promise only danger for himself, without a
chance that we might be benefited, and then was shown me how foolish is
he who would try to change, by even so much as a hair’s-breadth, the
course of events.
The soldiers were not so foolish as to run at his summons; but halted
where, by advancing a single pace, the search would have been ended,
and began to parley with him.
“What have you found?” one asked, and the lad replied:--
“Only what appears to be a trail, but it leads toward the water.”
I heard one of the men propose that they go back to investigate the
matter; but a second called attention to the fact that they had been
ordered to make certain no one was concealed within the line marked
out, and with this difference of opinion came a parley which finally
resulted in the saving of our lives.
The soldiers argued one with another, in the meanwhile moving nearer
the point from which Leon was calling, and each second of time seemed
to lessen our peril.
“Now has come the moment when we must make a move of some kind!” Alec
said, clutching me by the arm fiercely to be certain I gave due weight
to his words. “Leon can delay them only a few moments, and once they
return to the search we are lost! It is better to make a venturesome
move than be caught here like rats in a trap.”
“But how can we benefit ourselves?” I asked stupidly. “It will be only
an exchange of hiding-places, for there is no possibility of our
leaving the shore in the daytime.”
“That remains to be proven. It is almost certain death to stay here,
and can be no worse to make a bold dash.”
While speaking he literally pulled me to my feet, and as I stood near
the entrance to the shallow cave only partially hidden by the bushes, I
heard Leon cry:--
“Since you have declared that I am in league with those who saved my
life when you would have taken it so cruelly, it is only fair to give
me the opportunity of proving that I have spoken truly. Here is a
trail, and if you neglect to follow it I shall insist that through your
carelessness or wilfulness the spies escaped!”
It was this threat which stirred the soldiers to decided movement, and
an instant later the sound of hurried footsteps told that they were
moving in his direction.
The most flimsy of tricks had availed to save our lives, and it would
be worse than folly if we failed to avail ourselves of the opportunity
which might never occur again.
“Come!” Alec whispered, pulling me yet nearer the mouth of the cave.
“At the worst we can only be captured, which is what must surely
happen if we stay here.”
“Where would you go?” I asked, giving rein to the cowardly fear which
had beset me when death seemed so near.
“We can at least follow them up. Having searched for a certain
distance, it is not likely they will go over the same ground twice, and
the slightest cover will avail us, providing it be beyond this place.”
Alec’s manner of speaking, which was really little less than a command,
acted upon me in proper fashion.
I recognized the fact that he was the true leader, and ceased to
question, which was what I should have done in the first place.
“Come on,” I said, now as eager to be in motion as I previously had
been to hang back, and he lost no time.
In the distance we could hear Leon urging the soldiers to come to him,
doing so solely for the purpose of giving us this poor opportunity to
make the venture.
Alec ran swiftly, but with exceeding caution, directly back on the
heels of the men, until we had gone perhaps fifty yards, and were so
near that further advance would have been dangerous, when, striking
sharply off to the left toward the shore, he increased the pace.
Thinking of the venture now, it seems well-nigh incredible that we
should have succeeded in giving the Britishers the slip at the very
time when they had us almost within their clutches; yet so it was
permitted that we should do, although not without much difficulty and
great danger.
Twice before gaining the shore we came near to running full upon one or
the other of those who were being lured by the French boy’s voice, and
how we succeeded in escaping them it is impossible for me to say.
I only know that we did, and that after what seemed a very long time of
scrambling over the fallen rocks, or wading waist-deep through bogs, we
came out upon the northerly side of the Foreland.
Involuntarily halting just within a fringe of bushes which marked the
limit of the water, I again asked myself helplessly of what avail was
it that we had exchanged one hiding-place for another, since it seemed
impossible, while being followed so closely, that we could embark.
Alec, brave lad that he was, did not hesitate because we had apparently
come to the end of our path; but, pushing on in the direction of where
we believed had been left our boat, he led the way at his best pace,
and after five minutes or more had passed, the voices of our enemies
sounded farther and farther in the distance, until even to my cowardly
heart came the assurance that again we had earned a respite, although
for how long no one could say.
Alec’s will was stronger than his body, and while I was yet
comparatively fresh it became necessary for him to make a brief halt in
order to regain his breath.
“What now?” I asked, showing by the question that I recognized him as
the rightful leader.
“I wish I might make answer in proper fashion,” he said, with the
ghost of a smile; “but it is a matter of chance. If it so be that Leon
arouses the suspicion of our enemies, instead of leading them on a
false scent, we are undone. But there yet remains the possibility that
being convinced he has deceived them, whether wittingly or not, they
will return without much search to the point at which he interrupted
them, and in such case we may go free for the time being. My only hope
now is of finding a craft of some kind.”
It was on the end of my tongue to say that it would be foolish to make
an attempt at crossing the lake in a common skiff; but I realized
that anything was preferable to the certainty which awaited us if we
remained on the Foreland, and held my peace.
We set out again, proceeding in the direction of Leon’s home as nearly
as might be; but meanwhile keeping within sight of the shore, and
before another ten minutes had passed we saw, hauled up among the
bushes as if with some attempt at concealment, a bateau in which were
two paddles.
“That boat was left here by Leon,” Alec said in a positive tone.
“He brought her around from his home in the hope of gaining our
hiding-place before the soldiers could arrive, and it only remains for
us to push off, taking the chances that the weather holds good until we
reach Presque Isle.”
“That is little less than madness,” I said decidedly, clutching him by
the arm as if it was my purpose to prevent his carrying into execution
any such plan as was intimated. “With half a gale of wind between here
and the opposite shore we should be swamped to a certainty.”
“And whether the wind blows high or low we are doomed if we stay
here, for it is not likely we shall be so fortunate as to escape the
searchers the second time.”
I would have protested, even though conscious of the fact that we had
best run any risk rather than remain, but he gave me no opportunity.
“We shall make the venture,” he said, and laying hold of my shoulders
pushed me on in front of him as he ran speedily to the water’s edge.
That we might set out from the shore and escape being seen by those on
board the vessels lying near at hand, I did not believe, and left to
myself I should have remained to take the poor chances on shore.
It was my comrade who saved me.
Literally forced to do his bidding, I pushed the bateau off from the
land, leaping into her as she was water-borne, and in another moment we
two lads were paddling for dear life, following the line of shore in
that direction which would lead us around the point of the Foreland,
from which place we might lay a straight course toward the American
side of the lake.
Lest I make too many words of this harmless although disagreeable
adventure, it is necessary I hasten over what at the time seemed to
Alec and I like a most thrilling experience, although, as in other
cases, we came to look upon it as something of but little moment.
We paddled along the shore of the Foreland within musket-shot distance,
and neither heard nor saw anything of the enemy until we had rounded
the point, when the British fleet lay fair before us.
Now was come the time when I believed we should be checked--when we
would speedily find ourselves in the hands of those whose duty it
would be to inflict upon us the punishment due to spies.
As we afterward learned, it was only the forwardness of their
preparations which prevented them from giving heed to the bateau that
was being urged farther and farther out into the lake, while apparently
continuing on a direct course.
Between the British vessels and the shore, boats were constantly
plying, carrying, as it seemed to us, full loads of soldiers; and we
doubted not but that the long-deferred attack upon Presque Isle was
about to be made.
“Knowing that two lads answering to our description came from the
American shore, it is not likely we shall pass unchallenged,” I said,
and Alec replied with so much of cheerfulness in his tones that it
heartened me wonderfully.
“There is much the same idea in my mind, Dicky Dobbins; but having
succeeded in setting sail when it seemed positive we should fail to
find an opportunity of leaving the shore, it is not seemly to look
ahead in search of trouble. We can do no less than paddle at our best
pace until some one does hail us, and then comes the question as to
whether we can afford to disobey the command to put about. But for the
fact that since we landed you have shown yourself to be a wondrously
brave lad, I should say that you were in danger of growing cowardly.”
“I have already become a coward; and as for showing myself brave, it is
not true. Any fellow will fight for his life when he is cornered, and
that is all I have done thus far. But for the fact that you forced me
to put off in this boat, I should now either be in the hands of those
who are searching for us, or skulking along the shore somewhere, with
good show of being speedily discovered.”
It is not to be supposed that we ceased our labor at the paddles while
thus speaking.
On the contrary, even as I acknowledged my cowardice I redoubled my
efforts, and the bateau sped over the water at a faster pace, I venture
to say, than ever she had before.
Well, strange as it may seem, we passed the fleet almost within hailing
distance, and yet apparently no attention was paid to us.
Within half an hour after rounding the point we were so far from the
starting-point that even I had little fear we would be overhauled while
the wind remained from the quarter it was then blowing, and a second
time had we made good the flight from the North Foreland when the
Britishers might, by exercising due caution, have prevented it.
Any other than Alec Perry would have taunted me with the fact that but
for his efforts we probably would have met our death as spies.
He said not one word regarding his share in the escape; but contented
himself with congratulating me upon what I had done against my own
will, and as the moments wore on into hours we lost sight of the
enemy’s fleet.
It was a tedious journey which we made in the light bateau across
the lake, having neither food nor water, and yet we would have been
ungrateful lads indeed had any word of discontent passed our lips, for
what was hunger, thirst, or fatigue as compared to that which would
have been our lot had the Britishers captured us while we were within
their lines?
More than once did we speculate upon how Leon Marchand might have
settled matters with the soldiers after he had diverted them from the
pursuit, and it was only when we thought of him that our hearts were
heavy, for it was not impossible that by saving us he had jeopardized
his own life.
Within twenty hours from the time of embarking in the bateau we were
come to Presque Isle bay, and were there halted by the guard-boats
which patrolled the entrance, for already had word been brought by
those friendly to our people that the enemy were making ready to
advance from the North Foreland.
If Alec and I had expected to be made much of on our arrival we were
disappointed.
Those who acted as sentinels guarding the channel of the harbor gave
but little heed to us, once having made certain we had a right to
enter, and on landing it was as if all the people were panic-stricken.
Everywhere could we see the inhabitants moving their household goods
toward the interior. Surely the town was being evacuated! Women,
children, and even men, ran here and there frantically, and one would
have said a sudden fear of death had come upon all.
We sought in vain for my father, believing he would be on shore, and
the first man who was sufficiently calm to answer our questions told
us that all who could be of service in manning the war-vessels were at
their post of duty.
“What is come upon the people, sir?” Alec asked. “It would seem as if
all had great cause for fear.”
“So they have; and you must be a stranger here not to know that at noon
yesterday the British set out from the North Foreland with a large
force to destroy this town.”
“We are but just come from there,” Alec said quietly, “and know that at
the time you mention the fleet was not ready to set sail.”
Now the man regarded us more intently, and recognizing me as Captain
Dobbins’s son, asked sharply:
“Is it true that you are but just come from the Canadian shore?”
“Ay, sir. We were sent to spy upon the Britishers, and were near to
falling into their hands. It may be they have begun by this time to
cross the lake, but less than four-and-twenty hours ago we can answer
for it that they remained inactive at the encampment. I had thought to
find my father ashore, otherwise we would have sought him on one of the
vessels.”
“He went aboard the _Lawrence_ less than two hours ago.”
It was one of the brigs to which the gentleman referred; she had been
named, by order of the Secretary of the Navy, in honor of the gallant
captain of the _Chesapeake_, who gave his life for his country.
I would have gone home before endeavoring to find my father, in order
that mother need not worry concerning us; but by this time several of
the townspeople, overhearing what Alec said, had halted near by, and
all of them demanded that we carry our information without delay to
Captain Perry, urging that it was of vital importance he should know
how matters stood on the North Foreland.
Therefore it was that within ten minutes after landing we embarked on
the bateau again, and pulled for the opposite shore toward Little Bay,
where the _Lawrence_ was lying at anchor.
It is not necessary I should repeat what was said during the interview
we had with Captain Perry and my father, neither of whom had given much
heed to the rumors that an immediate attack was to be made upon Presque
Isle.
Owing almost solely to the panic among the people, they had put our
little fleet in such a state of preparation as was possible, but both
understood that if the Britishers were near at hand some word must
perforce be brought in advance.
Captain Perry questioned us closely concerning what we had seen on the
North Foreland, appearing disappointed because we had failed to hear
more of the conversation between the soldiers regarding the coming of
the vessels which the Britishers expected; and then my father pinned us
down to a most careful estimate of the time which had passed since we
embarked on the bateau, after which Alec’s brother said:--
“You lads are at liberty until you have made ready to report on board
here for duty. Our force is so small that every person, whether man or
boy, must be ready to do a full share of such work as may fall to his
lot.”
Then we two were left to our own devices, and by talking with such
members of the brig’s crew as were acquaintances--for we had no idea of
going on shore while we might remain aboard the _Lawrence_--we learned
what had caused the commotion among the townspeople.
It was known even by the sailors that while the Government at
Washington had failed to furnish Captain Perry with the force which
was needed to man his fleet, orders had come for him to coöperate with
General Harrison, although it was absolutely impossible to take even
one of the brigs out of the harbor with so small a force.
We were told that reliable intelligence had been brought from Malden
that the British had a new and powerful vessel there called the
_Detroit_, which was ready for service against Presque Isle; also that
Captain Robert H. Barclay, who had served with Nelson at Trafalgar, was
in command of the fleet known to be cruising along the American shore.
Captain Perry, powerless to obey such commands as came from Washington,
yet burning with the desire to strike a blow in behalf of his
country, was forced to remain within the harbor on the defensive, when
his one desire was to begin hostilities. With a force of sailors so
small that the entire number would not have been sufficient to work
the _Lawrence_, he could do no more than answer Commodore Chauncey’s
summons in the following words:--
“The enemy’s fleet of six sail are reported off this harbor. What a
golden opportunity if we had men! Their object is, no doubt, either
to blockade or attack us, or to carry provisions or reënforcements to
Malden. Should it be to attack us, we are ready to meet them. I am
constantly looking to the seaward; every mail and every traveller from
that quarter is looked to as the harbinger of the glad tidings of our
men being on the way. Give me men, sir, and I will acquire both for
you and myself honor and glory on this lake, or perish in the attempt.
Conceive my feelings: the enemy within striking distance, my vessels
ready, and not men enough to man them. Going out with those I now have
is out of the question. You would not suffer it were you here. Think
of my situation: the enemy in sight, the vessels under my command more
than sufficient and ready to make sail, and yet obliged to bite my
fingers with vexation for want of men.”