CHEERING INFORMATION.
When we came near the captain both us lads halted, and neither dared
make any effort at attracting his attention, save we might do so by
silence.
We stood two or three feet away, much like culprits who had come to
beg for pardon, and there waited until the commander of the _America_
chanced to take the glass from his eyes.
Seeing us quite by accident, as it were, he looked wondrously
surprised, as if it were difficult for him to realise that we could
have so far transgressed sea customs as to venture unbidden on the
quarter-deck.
Although Captain Joseph Ropes should have been the one to show respect
when he and I met, because of the fact that he was my uncle’s employee,
and I was a step above him in station when we were ashore, I dared not
open my mouth, while he gazed at me curiously, with an expression of
severe disapproval upon his face.
But for the fact that Simon was with me, and succeeded in plucking up
heart at that moment, the interview which we had been waiting for so
long would have come to naught, owing to my being tongue-tied.
My comrade, however, rendered desperate, as he afterward told me, by
the thought that we might be forced to go forward again without having
communicated our secret, stepped close by his father’s side, and said,
in a low, yet emphatic tone:
“Nathan and I have discovered that which we believe you should know at
once, sir.”
Captain Ropes glanced around quickly to learn if any other might have
overheard his son’s words, and then said, in a low tone:
“Tell me quickly what you have learned, and do it in such manner that
no one may suspect we are holding private converse.”
“There are but eighteen prisoners in the brig, sir, and yet by Nathan
Crowninshield’s reckoning, as well as my own, there should be nineteen.”
“Nineteen were sent below,” the captain said, after a brief pause,
during which I fancied he was running over in his mind the number of
Britishers taken.
“There are but eighteen now, sir.”
“Are you two lads the only ones aboard ship who know that one of the
men is missing?”
“So it would seem, sir. The cooks send nineteen pannikins when meals
are served, and one of the prisoners comes forward twice for rations,
in order to hide the absence of his companion.”
“So! And that’s the ghost, eh? You lads have done me a service which
shall be rewarded later. Have you spoken with any of the crew on the
subject?”
“No, sir; we thought it best to come first to you, and should have done
so yesterday, had it been possible to get aft.”
“You have acted wisely; continue to hold your peace, and share guard
duty with the sailors in order that he who has gained his liberty may
not do a mischief. When the proper time comes, we’ll have a search for
the missing man. Go forward now, and remember that this matter is not
to be mentioned to the men.”
I was more than a little disappointed with the result of the interview,
as Simon and I, obeying the captain’s command, took up our proper
stations once more.
There had been in my mind the idea that some startling change would be
the result of our communication, and yet I fancied Captain Ropes looked
upon the matter as of but little importance, even though he declared we
had rendered important service.
We lads might have conversed at greater length with the commander of
the ship and yet failed of attracting the attention of our messmates,
so intent were all upon watching the _America’s_ boats as they neared
the prize.
Taking possession of the _Ralph Nickerson_ did not vary from previous
work of this kind.
The commander of the ship, having surrendered when he hauled down his
flag, received our men with due submission, and when the boats returned
they brought with them thirty-three sailors, the first officer, and the
captain, as prisoners.
The sea yet ran high, and it was no slight task to get the Britishers
aboard safely, for many of them were so disgruntled and stubborn over
being captured as to take the chances of being drowned rather than help
themselves in the slightest degree.
John Proctor, our fourth mate, and eleven men were sent on board the
_Ralph Nickerson_ as a prize-crew, and such of the enemy’s men as had
been left in their own craft already were agreed, in consideration of
being set at liberty when port was made, to aid in working the ship.
No more than three hours were thus spent before the captured vessel
was under way, steering westward, and the _America_ laid on such a
course as it was believed would bring her in the track of the enemy’s
merchantmen.
The wounds which the prize had received during the engagement would be
attended to on her passage to the United States. While all the injuries
might have been speedily repaired had we laid alongside of her so that
our crew could aid in the work, Captain Ropes did not consider it wise
to remain near at hand, lest a British cruiser should heave in sight,
and, on seeing the two ships hove to, understand all that had occurred.
Now that my mind was set at rest concerning what the seamen believed
had been a ghostly visitor, I found new cause for alarm.
First, however, let me set down the conclusion which Simon and I
arrived at concerning that which had so alarmed our crew.
The fact that one of the prisoners was missing from the brig seemed to
us--and from the expression on Captain Ropes’s face I fancied he looked
at the matter much the same as we did--conclusive proof that he who was
at liberty had played the part of ghost, although how it might have
been contrived we did not attempt to explain.
Of course we knew full well that there were no such things as spirits,
even though we had been seriously alarmed, and it was not necessary we
should reason out the entire scheme in order to say with good certainty
that it had been brought about by the Britisher who should at this
moment have been in the brig.
It was to me as if the visit of the supposed ghost had never occurred,
the new danger being so imminent as to drive all else from my mind.
This peril lay, so I believed, in the number of prisoners we had on
board.
There were, or should be, fifty-two in the hold, and three aft. Our
crew, which numbered, when we left port, one hundred and sixty-three
all told, had been weakened considerably by the prize-crews thrown
aboard the captured craft.
Twelve men in all were sent to the _Ralph Nickerson_, eight took charge
of the _Benjamin_, and seven were sent into the _James and Charlotte_,
making twenty-seven in all.
This reduced our number to one hundred and thirty-six, and although
such a force should overwhelm fifty-five Britishers if they took it
into their heads to rise, the enemy was sufficiently strong, more
particularly if our people were taken by surprise, to cause serious
trouble.
While thus casting about to find food for anxiety, I took well into
account the fact that, should the prisoners succeed in releasing
themselves, they would fight desperately, and not be blamed for so
doing, since they could only look forward to imprisonment when we made
the home port.
And they had good cause for venturing their lives in the effort to
escape, if they knew how their countrymen treated such of the Americans
as were captured, because they might reasonably conclude that we of
the United States would be equally brutal with those who fell into our
hands.
It must not be supposed that I remained idle in order to cast up all
these accounts which might work to our disadvantage.
I have simply set down here that which came into my mind like flashes
of light, as Simon Ropes and I walked forward to obey his father’s
command.
As the captain had left the matter, we were responsible in a certain
degree for the prisoners, and both of us were bent on showing, if
possible, that we could be depended upon even for such a difficult task
as this.
We went directly into the hold, and there found as lively a scene of
confusion and tumult as can well be imagined.
The Britishers whom we had taken from the other prizes were noisily
greeting the newcomers, and eagerly questioning them concerning the
news of the world from a British standpoint.
The brig was so full as to make it appear that the men were packed like
herrings in a box, and I wondered how it might be possible for them to
lie down at night without being stowed two or three deep over the floor
of the prison.
“How may it be possible to take so many out for exercise?” Simon asked,
in dismay, and I understood from the question that there was in his
mind somewhat of that which had been troubling me.
“They can go out in squads, I reckon, for it is not likely the captain
would allow all these on deck at the same time. However, that need give
us little concern, for it is our business to see that he who runs at
liberty somewhere in the hold be prevented from doing a mischief.”
“I cannot understand why matters are allowed to remain in this
condition,” Simon said, as if speaking to himself. “It would have been
more seemly, according to my way of thinking, had an immediate search
been made for the Britisher who has succeeded in getting out of the
brig. While he is at liberty much mischief may be done, however well we
perform our duty.”
“It appears that your father is not of the same mind, and we can set it
down as a fact that he knows best what should be done.”
“But think of the chances for trouble, while one of the Britishers is
free to move about the hold as he chooses!”
It was as if Simon’s fears gave me courage, for I replied, stoutly, as
one might who never knew what it was to be timorous:
“We have no right to question the captain’s wisdom, and should think
only of carrying out his wishes to the letter.”
Simon made no reply, for a lad cannot well grumble against his father’s
commands, and we loitered around as if from no other motive than that
of curiosity, while the prisoners were making a tumult with their
greetings and questionings.
Before the day was come to an end Simon suggested to me that we take it
upon ourselves to find the man who had escaped.
Since the last batch of prisoners had arrived the guard was strengthened,
and now, as I understood from Mr. Fernald, no less than three of the
crew would be on duty constantly, even during an engagement, therefore
might Simon and I make search for this solitary Britisher if it so
pleased us.
But I was not minded to act upon his suggestion, believing Captain
Ropes would have ordered an immediate search, unless it was his purpose
to so conduct the matter that the _America’s_ crew should understand
beyond a peradventure who had played the part of ghost.
If we two lads took the matter in our own hands, we might upset the
commander’s plans most seriously.
Therefore it was that we hung about the brig, regardless of the fact
that the men detailed as guard expressed no little surprise because of
our willingness to remain below while we might be on deck; and one day
after another passed, while the _America_ cruised to and fro in the
track of merchantmen, as if her commander had forgotten equally his son
and those whom the latter had been set to watch.
Each day the prisoners were taken on deck, twelve or fourteen at a
time, and the fellow who had succeeded in freeing himself from the brig
must have come to the conclusion that his was an unwise move, since he
had thus deprived himself of the privilege of fresh air.
We were seldom on the gun-deck, Simon and I, and therefore had
little idea of how our men were behaving, save as we overheard the
conversation between the sailors on duty in the hold.
Through this slight source of information we gathered that the majority
of the crew were quite willing to forget their previous belief in the
ghostly visitor; but the elder men, among them Master Josh, held to the
idea as strongly as if their happiness depended upon its being proven a
fact.
Our success had lessened the fears of the superstitious, and none of
the men had overmuch to say concerning the significance of our carrying
away a spar on the first Friday after leaving port.
That portion of our troubles had been cast aside once and for all, as a
lying omen.
Each morning I expected that Simon and I would be summoned aft by the
captain, and each day was I grievously disappointed in my expectations.
The prisoners, now so formidable in number, knowing that there was one
on the outside who, at the first favourable opportunity, would aid
them, grew insolent, jeering at the guard until it seemed positive our
men would so far forget themselves as to raise their hands against
apparently helpless captives.
Then came that morning when, judging from the confident bearing and
outspoken threats of the Britishers, I made certain they were prepared
to strike a blow of some kind, and I had called Simon Ropes aside with
the intention of suggesting to him that we go aft once more to tell his
father how much mischief was brewing, when we heard a great commotion
on deck.
The guard, who had been ordered not to leave their posts of duty
under any circumstances, except by express orders, urged that we lads
ascertain what had caused the seeming disturbance.
I was the more willing to comply with such request because in the
performance we might get an opportunity of speaking privately to
Simon’s father, and with all speed the lad and I went on to the
spar-deck, finding there both watches in the highest state of
excitement, as well they might be, for off to leeward, not more than
four or five miles away, could be seen a full-rigged ship.
“Is she a Britisher?” I asked of the man nearest me, and he replied,
confidently:
“Ay, lad, there’s no mistaking her build and rigging. She hails from
England, or I’m a Dutchman, and so heavily loaded with whatsoever may
be the cargo that we’ll find in her a prize worth taking.”
“Providing her captain isn’t in a condition to object,” I replied,
with a smile, whereat the man said, cheerily, as if he found in the
fact no little pleasure:
“She’s armed, lad, so I’ve heard the officers say, an’ shows six ports
on a side, therefore it stands to reason she carries no less than
twelve guns.”
“And probably can put up as severe a fight as did the _Nickerson_,”
Simon added, grimly.
“Well, I am allowin’ we need exercise of that kind, lad. What with
omens, an’ ghosts, an’ near to downright mutiny, this ’ere crew is
gettin’ so rusty that a little blood-lettin’ will work to their
advantage. I hold to it a privateersman gets into a bad condition if he
ain’t knocked around just about so much, an’ our prizes thus far have
come too easy. If we could suddenly find ourselves within range of a
British sloop-of-war it would do us a world of good.”
“I’m thinkin’ you’d change your song if anything like that should
happen,” Simon said, with a laugh, whereat the sailor, who was an
exceeding sensible man, gave us a long lecture upon the necessity of
running a privateersman into serious danger now and then for the sake
of holding him in proper discipline.
Well, it was destined that we should not receive any very painful
lesson on this day, despite the fact that the stranger was reasonably
well armed.
Before two hours had passed we threw a shot across the Britisher’s bow,
and sent another into her mizzen rigging which did no little damage.
Then her captain showed that he must have had more milk than blood
in his veins, for without discharging a single piece,--and we were now
come so near as to see that she did indeed carry twelve guns,--he hove
to quietly as any lamb.
Some of our people fancied there was a trick in all this; that when we
came to board her we would find ourselves in hot water; but Captain
Ropes was not the man to take any chances of this kind.
The _America_ hauled around under the stranger’s stern, where she could
rake her fore and aft with a broadside, and then the boats were lowered
away,--four of them, under command of Mr. Fernald.
It was the quietest capture one can imagine.
The Britisher did not make even a protest as our people swarmed over
the rail, and when Mr. Fernald returned, leaving on board twenty men to
hold possession, we knew that we had as a prize the British twelve-gun
ship _Hope_, from St. Thomas for Glasgow, with a cargo of sugar, rum,
and cotton.
What a cheer went up from our men when Captain Ropes, after a brief
conversation with the first officer, stepped forward to the break of
the quarter-deck and announced the fact in much the same words I have
just set down!
[Illustration: “WHAT A CHEER WENT UP FROM OUR MEN.”]
The men yelled themselves hoarse, for this ship would prove by all odds
the most valuable prize we had taken, and if the _America_ turned about
on the home run now, without adding further to her captures, we had
indeed made a most successful cruise of what at one time threatened to
end in disaster.
But good fortune was not to desert us with the capture of the _Hope_,
for Mr. Fernald had brought with him such news as caused the blood of
every member of the crew, including Simon and me, to tingle, and thus
did the captain impart it to his men:
“You lads who have been arguin’ an’ speechifyin’ ever since we left
port, tryin’ to prove that the _America_ was doomed because a rotten
spar chanced to carry away on a Friday, have thus far been disappointed
in all your doleful predictions. Not even the appearance of your
so-called ghost, and that sepulchral voice which you claimed to have
heard, could spoil our luck. We have already made a paying cruise of
it, such a one as will tassel well our neckerchiefs with dollars, and
yet there is more to come. Mr. Fernald brings the information, gathered
from the master of the prize, that yonder ship left St. Thomas three
days ago, one of a fleet of forty-five merchantmen under convoy of the
sloops-of-war _Ringdove_ and _Scorpion_. We are in the vicinity of that
rich fleet, my lads, and if we fail to pick up two or three good prizes
out of it, it will be only through our own neglect.”
Then the men fell to shouting once more, jumping and dancing around the
deck like a pack of savages, and one of them cried out, in a tone so
loud that it could be heard distinctly by all hands:
“Three cheers for the bloomin’ ghost what has brought us into such
luck!”
The men laughed, and then cheered until the Britishers on board the
_Hope_ must have believed we had entirely lost our heads over their
capture.
When the excitement had died away somewhat, Captain Ropes, still facing
us near the break of the quarter, said:
“I allow, my lads, that we are a fairly good match for any British
sloop-of-war afloat, and while I’m not hankerin’ for a fight which
would bring in no dollars on the tail of it, we can afford to take the
chances of meeting one of the king’s vessels while we pick up a stray
merchantman. We’ll get rid of this prize as soon as may be, an’ then
turn our attention to what should, within the next eight an’ forty
hours, put us in fair shape to swing the _America’s_ nose toward home.
Bo’sun Valpey will choose twelve men as a prize-crew, an’ take charge
of the _Hope_, making for the nearest port north of New York. Stir
yourselves lively, my boys, for there’s no time to be lost!”
I question if at that moment a single member of the crew, not excepting
Master Joshua, remembered any of the alleged omens which had seemingly
threatened disaster to us all.
Every man Jack of them fluttered about with a will, and before another
hour was passed a prize-crew had been thrown aboard the captured ship.
We had thirty-one additional prisoners in the hold, making eighty-three
in all, and the _Hope_ was crowding on all sail with her nose pointing
northward.