"The wolves will not probably disturb us again," said I, as I lay down.
"Wolves! be them wolves?" I heard Tom remark; but as I soon fell
asleep, I do not know what more he said.
Towards the morning I was again awoke by loud shouts, and growls, and
cries, and the sound of a tremendous tussle.
"I've caught ye, my bo!" I heard Tom exclaim. "If ye be a ghost or a
devil, ye shall just show yourself to Muster Hurry, before I let ye go."
Starting up, I found the two lads struggling with some beast or other at
the entrance to the wigwam. I soon discovered that they had got hold of
a black bear, who had doubtless been attracted to our wigwam by a pot of
sugar which had been left at the entrance, into which he was putting his
paw when Rockets discovered him. The noise brought a number of the
other men from the huts. They thought we were attacked by Indians or
the rebels, I believe. The poor beast made a good fight of it; but
before I could come to his rescue, he had been somewhat severely
handled. We, however, easily secured him, and kept him prisoner till we
settled what should be done with him. He was, we learned from old Nobs,
of a species not at all ferocious, and very easily tamed. We therefore
determined, instead of killing him in order to turn him into ham, to
carry him on board as a pet. He very soon became reconciled to his lot,
and at once ate willingly from our hands any mess we offered,
particularly if sweetened with sugar. Rockets considered him as his own
prize, and took him under his especial care. The men gave him the name
of Sugar-lips, and as Tom stood his sponsor he was known on board as
Tommy Sugar-lips.
However, I must not spend more time on my shore adventures, as I have
matter of so much greater interest to describe. In about five days we
had cut down and trimmed a sufficient number of trees for our purpose.
The greatest labour was to drag them over the snow to the harbour; but
at length that was accomplished, and we returned once more on board.
Shortly after this the frost set in harder than ever, but in consequence
of the rapidity of the tides the ice, though fully four feet thick, did
not form a consistent body in the harbour. In some places it was hard,
but the chief quantity round the ship was like a mass of wet snow, too
soft and too rotten to walk on, and yet too thick to allow a boat of any
size to be impelled through it. Thus all communication with the town
was suddenly cut off. At this time we had a gang of men on the opposite
shore, fitting the rigging at a spot where they could procure no
provisions. They were getting very hard up for food, when Captain
Hudson sent for me.
"Mr Hurry," said he, "I wish to send some provisions to the people on
shore. It will be a service of difficulty, and perhaps danger, but I
can entrust it confidently to you; you must take a couple of hands and a
light boat, and you may be able to force her either over or through the
ice."
"Ay, ay, sir," I answered; "I'll do it if it is to be done." And away I
went to make my preparations without loss of time. I always felt an
inclination to volunteer for any work to be done, and never thought of
throwing difficulties in the way of the performance of any thing that
was proposed. I chose Nol Grampus, the old quarter-master, and Tom
Rockets as my companions in the enterprise. The dinghy, a small boat we
carried astern, was the best suited to my purpose. Having laden her
with provisions, we shoved off from the ship among the floating ice.
Our progress was very slow, sometimes we worked our way among the sheet
ice, then we came to a hard slab on to which we jumped and hauled the
boat over it. "Take care, sir," said Grampus, as we were crossing a
slab, "this is treacherous stuff we are on." Just as he spoke I felt my
feet sinking into the slush, and had I not had firm hold of the gunwale,
I might have gone through altogether. As I sprang into the boat I could
not help shuddering at the thought of sinking into the cold deadly mass
which surrounded us without the possibility of making an effort for
life; too dense to enable one to swim, and yet too liquid to bear the
weight of a person, it was as sure to destroy one as the treacherous
quicksand or the furious maelstrom. Near us was another boat with an
old man and a boy, likewise endeavouring to cross the harbour. We saw
that they were exerting all their energies, but were not making better
progress than we were. After some time the tide made down stronger, and
on taking our bearings I found that the ice was setting us fast down the
harbour and out to sea. My men needed no encouragement to exert
themselves to the utmost, for the peril we were in was very apparent.
Captain Hudson observed it also, and made the signal for us to return to
the ship, but it was even more difficult to go back than to go forward.
In attempting to obey the order I found that we were carried more into
the strength of the current. I therefore kept on towards the wharf,
where some hundreds of people were collected, rather anxious spectators
of our adventure. Captain Symonds, of the Cerberus, and the
master-attendant of the dockyard were looking on, and they also hailed
to me to return to the ship. Sometimes we appeared to be making no
progress whatever, and I felt the probability of our being carried out
to sea--then again we advanced, though slowly, towards the shore. The
old man and his boy were less able to contend with the difficulties
which surrounded them. The old man had hurt himself, I fancy, and by
degrees relaxed in his efforts--the poor little fellow was still putting
forth all his strength to urge their boat forward, but it was too
evidently likely to prove unavailing.
At last they slowly drifted past us, and though at so short a distance
that I could clearly see the expression of their countenances we could
render them no possible assistance. I shall not quickly forget the poor
old man's look of despair and grief--more perhaps for the coming fate of
his boy than for himself. The poor lad had not yet given up all hopes
of escape. Now he would sit down and wring his hands, and then he would
start up, and, seizing an oar, try once more to shove the boat ahead.
We had little time, however, for contemplating their fate, for there was
still a great probability that we might have to share it. We were yet
drifting seaward, and for hours together our utmost exertions only
enabled us to hold our own. I can easily fancy the interest we excited
on shore, yet nothing could be thought of to help us. We could hear the
cry of horror and commiseration which rose from the crowd as the boat
with our companions in misfortune drifted past the spot whence there was
any hope of escape, and the old man and lad sat down and gave themselves
up to despair. The intense cold would, I guessed, soon deprive them of
all sensation and further power of exertion. Night was coming on, and
we lost sight of them in the gloom. We had now been six hours in our
perilous position, without time even to take a particle of nourishment.
We were making for the Cerberus as the nearest point where we could
receive assistance.
"We shall reach her, sir!" exclaimed Grampus at length, with a cheerful
tone. "See, they are ready to heave us a line if we could but get a few
fathoms nearer." Encouraged by this, we exerted ourselves still more
than ever, and at length a man from the jibboom end of the Cerberus hove
a lead which happily reached our boat. We seized it eagerly, and making
the line fast, we were hauled alongside the wharf. As soon as we landed
and had received the congratulations of the spectators of our adventure,
we were carried off, half-starved and frozen, by the master-attendant,
Mr Prowse, to his house; where we were most hospitably entertained. I
found in him an old shipmate, as he had been master of the Torbay when I
belonged to her. I spent upwards of two days at his house, and received
the greatest of kindness from him. While on shore I met another old
friend, Captain Lee, of the Harriet Packet, with whom I almost lived
during his stay at Halifax. As may be supposed, I found his comfortable
cabin a far more agreeable place of abode than a midshipman's berth with
the rough and scanty fare with which we were provided. I was anxious to
ascertain the fate of the old man and his son whom we had seen carried
out to sea by the ice. Sad to relate, they had been picked up two days
afterwards at the mouth of the harbour, frozen to death. They must have
died, I suspect, soon after we lost sight of them, for the cold was so
intense that it could not long have been resisted. We had, indeed,
cause to be thankful to providence that their fate was not ours. It is
but one of the many instances in which I have been mercifully preserved,
while those by my side have been cut off. For what end has this been
done? I wish that I could say that I have properly employed the longer
term of life thus vouchsafed to me. There had been at Halifax all the
winter a very limited supply of provisions. At length a fleet appeared
off the harbour's mouth, which proved to be that under the command of
Admiral Lord Shouldham, with the army of General Howe on board, (see
Note 2), who had been compelled by the American revolutionists, under
General Washington, to evacuate Boston, after having been besieged in it
for fully ten months. It will be remembered that we parted from the
Chatham, Admiral Shouldham's flag-ship, in a gale in the early part of
our voyage. She went through as much bad weather, and experienced
almost as many disasters as we had suffered, though at length she
reached Boston, where Lord Shouldham succeeded Admiral Graves as
Commander-in-Chief. Our disasters throughout the whole of that sad
contest with the American States arose from the foolish contempt with
which the British generals and their officers treated the provincial
troops. While General Howe was waiting for reinforcements from England,
General Washington was collecting an army and disciplining his troops.
Before, therefore, the expected reinforcements could arrive, General
Howe, to his great surprise, found himself outnumbered, and the city
commanded from some hills which overlook it, called Dorchester Heights.
He found that he must either dislodge the enemy from these heights or
evacuate Boston. A heavy gale of wind prevented the adoption of the
former alternative till the rebels were too strongly entrenched to allow
the attempt to be made with any prospect of success. A hurried retreat
was therefore resolved on, and not only the troops, but those of the
inhabitants who had sided with the British, were compelled to embark on
board the men-of-war and transports, vast quantities of military stores
and property of all sorts being either destroyed or left behind, to fall
into the hands of the enemy. This fleet had arrived ill provided with
provisions to feed so many mouths, and from there being, as I have said,
but a scanty supply of food in Halifax already, it was considered
necessary to put the army and navy on half allowance--an arrangement to
which, though very disagreeable, we were compelled to submit with the
best grace we could muster. From the time of our arrival till the 4th
of May we were busily occupied in fitting the ship for sea, and not an
hour was lost after that was accomplished, in getting under weigh, when
we stood to the southward. We were not sorry to have the chance of
seeing some active service. On the 8th we spoke HMS Merlin, with two
transports bound for Halifax, on the 12th the Milford and Lively, on a
cruise. On the same day we anchored in Nantucket Roads, Boston, where
we found lying the Renown, wearing the broad pennant of Commodore Banks,
which we saluted with thirteen guns. A constant cannonade was kept up
on the squadron by the rebels who now held Boston and the surrounding
heights, but without doing us much mischief. We returned the fire
occasionally with probably about the same result. After their late
successes the American patriots had become very bold, and no longer held
the British in any respect. Some parts of the coast of the harbour were
left unprotected by the enemy. One night I was sent on shore in command
of a watering-party, with strict orders to keep a watchful guard against
surprise. To do this I considered it necessary to take possession of a
house near the spot where we were filling the casks. As the house was
deserted I carried off a table and six chairs which I found in it, with
which to furnish the midshipman's berth--ours having been knocked to
pieces on the voyage to Halifax.
By the rules of war I had a right to take the property, I believe, but
it seems hard that the owners, who were probably not belligerents,
should be deprived of it. On the following day, the 15th, we sailed on
a cruise in search of any of the enemy's merchantmen or privateers, of
which they had begun to fit out a good many. The crews ran a great risk
of being treated as pirates, but as the rebels had already threatened to
retaliate, should the usual customs of regular warfare be departed from,
it was judged prudent to behave towards those who fell into our hands as
if they were regular prisoners of war.
We had begun to grumble much at our ill-luck in not falling in with
prize. "Ye'll na take anything which will put siller into any of our
pockets this cruise, ma laddies," said Andrew Macallan, the Scotch
surgeon's mate, who was much addicted to the prophesying of ill-luck.
We Orlopians were collected in the midshipman's berth towards the
termination of a not over-luxurious dinner. "I should think not,"
responded Kennedy. "What can we expect to get out of these beggarly
provincials? It's not likely they'll have any craft afloat which will
be worth capture."
"How do you know that?" exclaimed Frank Mercer, one of our mates, with a
deep crimson flush on his brow. "Now, from what I have heard, I believe
the patriots have a number of fine merchantmen sailing out of their
ports, and have already fitted out several privateers."
"From which of your friends on shore did you hear that?" asked Kennedy,
with a look of contempt.
"From common report," replied Mercer. He was known to have several
relations and friends in America who had sided with the rebels, and
though this made him look on them with a favourable eye, he had too
loyal a spirit to allow him to contemplate for a moment the desertion of
his colours. Still his heart often yearned towards those engaged in
what then appeared so unequal a struggle on shore, and he could scarcely
help expressing satisfaction at any success they met with. Poor Mercer
had to endure a great deal of irony and abuse on the subject, but while
he defended the rebels, and asserted their right to take up arms in the
defence of their liberties, he acknowledged that his own duty was to
remain loyal to his sovereign. The dispute was waxing warm, when little
Harry Sumner, who had been on deck, came below, and announced that there
was a suspicious sail away to the north-east, and that we were in chase
of her. I was on deck in a minute, and found everything being set alow
and aloft in chase of the stranger. After watching her for some time
from aloft, where I had gone with my spy-glass, I saw that we were
gaining on her rapidly, though she had also made all sail. This
convinced us that she was a craft belonging to the enemy. She was
sloop-rigged, but seemed to be a vessel of some size. After a chase of
four hours we got her within range of our guns, when a shot from one of
our bow-chasers, falling close alongside, convinced her that she had no
chance of escape, and that her wisest policy was to heave-to without
more ado. This she at once did, and I was sent on board to take
possession. She proved to be the Ranger, from Nantucket harbour, bound
on a whaling voyage, her crew consisting of a master, mate, boy, and ten
men. Her master, Mr Jotham Scuttle, was very indignant at being
captured, and good reason he had to be so, for half the vessel was his
own, and thus in a moment he was deprived of all his worldly wealth. He
was as unlike a seaman in appearance as could well be imagined; with his
broad-brimmed hat, knee-breeches, buckles to his high shoes, and long
waistcoat, but he was not the less active for all that. Leaving
Grampus, who had accompanied me, with two hands in charge of the sloop,
I returned with the prisoners to the frigate. The mate and men were
instantly pressed, without the question being asked whether they would
wish to join, and Captain Hudson ordered me to go back to the sloop,
giving me leave to carry Tom Rockets, in addition to the men already on
board, and to make the best of my way to Halifax. "Stay," said he,
"take the master and boy with you, Mr Hurry; we shall not know what to
do with them on board--and see that he plays you no trick." I laughed
at the idea of having anything to dread from the demure Mr Scuttle,
and, putting up a few necessaries, I tumbled into the boat which was to
take me on board my new command. I thought I caught a twinkle in friend
Jotham's eyes when he found that he was to be sent back to his own
vessel--but this was probably fancy. He sat looking very sad and
downcast as we pulled on board the sloop. The crew of the boat which
had brought me gave me three cheers, and Delisle, who had come in her,
wished me a prosperous voyage to Halifax, from which I was about two
hundred leagues distant. The frigate then hauled her wind, and I made
sail to the northward. Of course I felt very grand in my new command,
like Sancho Panza in his island, though it was not to last very long at
the utmost; and it was not impossible that I might be summarily
dispossessed of it at any moment; however, I did not trouble myself
about such thoughts just then. Having taken possession of the master's
cabin, and allowed him to occupy his mate's, I called my ship's company
together, and, having divided them into two watches, told them I
expected they would do their duty and behave themselves. Nol Grampus
had charge of one watch with one of the seamen and Mr Scuttle under
him, and I took the other with the other seaman, Tom Rockets and the
boy. Tom had not got over his innocent country look, though he was
sharp enough in reality, and did his duty as a seaman very fairly. Old
Grampus, who had taken a fancy to him, was always teaching him something
or other likely to prove useful. "Now, Tom, you may be no wiser nor a
young gull as has never learned to fly," I heard the old man say; "but
listen, my boy, if you follows my advice you'll soon be able to spread
your wings and skim over the water just for all the world like one on
them big albatrosses one meets with off the Cape of Good Hope, you've
heard speak of." Tom had not heard of such a place, so Grampus told him
all about it, and a great deal more besides. In that way my young
follower picked up his sea lore. The contrast between the two was
perfect. Tom's young, smooth, innocent face, and round boyish figure,
and the thorough old sea-dog look of Grampus, with his grizzly bushy
hair and whiskers, his long cue, his deeply-furrowed, or I may say
rather bumped and knobbed and bronzed countenance, and his spare, sinewy
form, having not a particle of flesh with which he could dispense.
As Mr Jotham Scuttle's eye fell on Tom he took him at once for a simple
lad, who could readily believe anything he had to say, and he formed his
plans accordingly. I got on very well with my scanty crew, for as there
were winches and tackles of all sorts on board, I managed to work the
vessel easily enough. We had an abundance of provisions, so that,
contrasted especially with the fare to which I had for many months past
been accustomed, we lived luxuriously.
The second day I invited Mr Scuttle to dine with me. The commencement
of the entertainment was not very lively, for though he did not play a
bad knife and fork, he uttered no sound except an occasional deep sigh
from beneath the very lowest button of his waistcoat. At last, after
leaning his head on his hand for some time, he looked up.
"It is very hard to be borne, mister," he exclaimed with vehemence.
"Here was I, with a fine craft I could almost call my own, and with
every chance of providing for my family, and now I'm worse than a
beggar--a prisoner, and forced to go I don't know where."
"You shouldn't have broken the blockade, and your friends shouldn't have
rebelled and broken the laws," said I.
"Laws!" he exclaimed with disdain, "they were bad laws, and it went
against the grain of every honest man to observe them."
"I don't know anything about that," I replied; "in my profession all we
have to do is to obey without asking questions, and I just fancy that
your people will very soon have to do the same, whether they like it or
not."
"Will they, forsooth?" he exclaimed, striking his fist on the table.
"The time has passed for that. I'll tell you what, sir, they'll fight
it out till every drop of honest blood is spilt in the country. It was
the supercilious, boasting airs of your lords and aristocrats who came
out among the military looking down upon all the first gentlemen in the
land as provincials and colonists, as they called them in contempt,
which was the real cause of the revolt. They made enemies wherever they
went, with their follies and pride and haughty words. They and their
government at home seemed to forget that we were Britons like
themselves, with British hearts, ay, and with truer loyalty than they
had for the king and the old country. What would you say, sir, if you
were insulted as we have been?"
"I certainly do not like being bullied by anyone," said I.
"No more do we colonists, sir," answered the poor skipper. "My father,
sir, came over from the old country; misfortunes compelled him to quit
it, but he loved it as much as ever, and brought up me, his son, to love
it also; and so I should to this day, had I, and those who had made
America their own, been fairly treated--not looked upon as children to
be played with, or slaves to be bullied and despised. Now, sir," he
continued, standing up and placing one hand on the table, while he
extended the other, "I tell you that there are not bitterer enemies to
the old country than your government have made me and many like me."
"I am very sorry for you," I said, seeing the justice of his remarks,
"but you see I cannot help it, so just sit down and mix yourself another
tumbler of grog; we can but make the best of circumstances."
"I don't want your pity, or that of any of the enemies of America," he
answered proudly. Then he seemed to soften, and he continued in a more
subdued tone, "But you, young gentleman, seem inclined to treat me as a
man should a man, and not as some of your officers have treated us
provincials, so I am thankful, and if the day should come when I can
return your kindness I shall be glad to do so."
"I only hope that I may not be in your place as a prisoner," said I.
"To be honest with you," he replied, "if I only had the chance of taking
the sloop from you, I should be right not to let it pass by, though I
have no great hope that it will be offered me."
"No, I should think not," I answered, laughing. I have often since
thought of the foolish, domineering way in which England and Englishmen
treat their brethren who turn colonists, and shall not be surprised if
she loses one colony after another as she was now doing her American
settlements. The skipper was soon pacified, and we became very good
friends. We were still talking away over our glass of grog, when Nol
Grampus put his head in at the cabin-door.
"I don't quite like the look of the weather, Mr Hurry," said he. "I
think it's going to breeze up a bit, and the sooner we shorten sail the
better."
I jumped up and went on deck, when I saw that he was right. We
accordingly at once made all snug. Thick clouds were banking up from
the westward and southward, which soon rushing on like a vast army
sweeping over a devoted country, deluged us with rain, bringing a heavy
breeze, which kicked up no small amount of sea. The wind keeping to the
southward of west we could lay our course, so on we went pitching and
tumbling before it in no very pleasant manner for several days.
Fortunately the Ranger was well found in every respect, and, proving a
very good sea-boat, showed that the men of Nantucket knew what was the
best economy in the end. She was newly painted, and had sixteen ports,
so that at a distance she had a somewhat formidable appearance; but as
they had no guns to them, though she could grin, she could not even
bark, much less bite. If, therefore, we fell in with an enemy I saw
that, should we not be able to escape by flight, we should in all
probability be captured. I had observed that my friend the skipper had
been in better spirits than at first. He spoke frankly to me, as he did
to the crew, and seemed to be on good terms with everybody. He was
evidently a clever man--full of resources of all sorts--above his
station I should say. He had been brought up as a farmer, and had never
been afloat till within the last six or seven years. He was now no
contemptible sailor. His next move would probably be to some totally
different sphere, where he would take a step higher in the social scale.
Such is the career of many a New Englander.
I had turned into my berth, after keeping the morning watch some days
after this, when, as I awoke, I saw Tom Rockets moving about in the
cabin.
"What do you want, Tom?" I asked.
"Hist, sir," he whispered, "I've just a word to speak to you."
"Out with it then, my man," I said.
"It's just about that strange skipper, sir."
"Well, go on."
"He's been talking to me, and asking if I wouldn't like to go and settle
in a land of liberty, and make my fortune, and no longer be subject to
be starved and flogged and ill-treated on board of a man-of-war?"
"And what did you say, Tom?" I asked.
"I told him just simply like that I belonged to you, that I would follow
wheresoever you went, and that if you thought fit to go and settle in
his country, I'd have no objection to go too."
"That was right, Tom. If he speaks to you again, give him the same sort
of answer. Don't let him suppose you are offended. Has he spoken with
either of the other men?"
"With all except Grampus; but I don't think he has made much way with
them. The old man, I fancy, sir, guesses what he's after, and has his
eye on him," answered Tom.
"All right, then, my lad. Keep your eyes about you, and let me know any
thing you observe, but don't allow the skipper to find out that we
suspect him."
Tom promised to follow my directions, and I sent him on deck while I
turned out and dressed. I treated Mr Scuttle just as if he were not
plotting against me, for forewarned, I felt myself fore-armed, and had
no fear that he could do me any harm.
That day the wind fell considerably and we again had fair weather. The
next morning, while I was at breakfast, old Nol hailed down the
sky-light--
"Would you just come on deck for a moment, sir?" said he.
"What is it?" I asked.
"There's a sail away to the south-west, and I don't quite like the looks
of her," answered the old man.
I jumped on deck in a moment. I was not long in making out a brig under
all sail holding the same course we were on. As I took the glass from
my eye I found Scuttle standing by my side.
"What do you think of her?" I asked.
"Maybe she's a whaler, or maybe a sealer, or a merchantman from one of
the provincial ports, or maybe a transport with British red-coats
aboard; but, Mr Hurry, it requires a man with a longer sight than I've
got to tell just now what she is," said the skipper, in the long
drawling tone of a New Englander.
I thought that there was something ironical in his tone as he spoke, and
that he more than probably knew perfectly well all about the stranger.
"Whatever she may be," I answered, "I'll show her my heels. Make all
sail, Grampus."
"Ay, ay, sir," he replied; and in a short time, the skipper pulling and
hauling with as good a will as the rest, we had every stitch of canvas
packed on the sloop which she could carry. I fancied, however, that the
skipper gave a knowing look at me as he went forward, as much as to say,
"You may make all the sail you like, but it won't do." At all events, I
soon found that the Ranger, though a very good sea boat, was a tub in
regard to sailing, under-rigged especially, as she was, for greater
convenience in handling.
The stranger was walking up to us fast. As the morning sun fell on her
sails they appeared to me very white, and to have a wide spread, and I
began to hope that she might prove an English man-of-war brig. Another
two hours, however, banished any such hopes, and I was convinced, on
looking at Jotham Scuttle's countenance, that she was likely to prove
his friend, but my enemy.
"What do you think of her now, Mr Scuttle?" I asked.
"She's a brig," he answered innocently.
"Anyone can see that with half an eye," said I; "but what is she? Where
does she hail from?"
"Well, then, maybe she hails from a provincial port," he answered
slowly. "I should not be very much surprised, too, if she carries
guns."
"A rebel privateer or pirate, in fact," said I.
"An American privateer, if you please, sir, I have no doubt she is," he
replied; "in two or three hours, I guess, you will find it safer to call
her so, at all events."
"Well, well, we will see about that," I remarked, laughing at his
coolness, though I began to entertain no slight apprehension that I was
about to lose my prize and to become a prisoner into the bargain.
"They've got their new-fangled flag a-flying from their peak, sir," said
Grampus, stepping up.
On looking through my glass I made out the star-and-stripe covered
ensign, just then begun to be carried by provincial vessels, flying out
proudly from her gaff end; while several ports at her side left me no
longer in doubt that she was an enemy most devoutly to be wished away.
Do everything I could, however, to increase the speed of the Ranger, she
rapidly came up with us. Still it was not in my nature to give in while
a chance remained of escape. Some man-of-war might heave in sight, or
some other craft the privateer might think more worthy of chasing; or we
might keep ahead till darkness came to my help. The chances were,
however, very small in my favour, and Mr Scuttle could not help showing
his satisfaction at the prospect of the probable change in our fortunes.
I went aloft and swept the horizon with my glass in every direction,
but not a sail appeared in sight. The breeze held steady, and indeed
seemed rather inclined to increase than fall. My heart sank lower than
it had ever done before. In another hour my people and I would be
prisoners, and Mr Jotham Scuttle would be offering me his
commiseration. He was speaking to my two men; doubtless telling them
they had nothing to fear. I felt a very strong inclination at the
moment to pitch him overboard; I wanted some one on whom to vent my
vexation. Poor man! however, there was in reality much to admire in
him. In another half hour the game would be up. Suddenly a bright idea
occurred to me. I had often seen a poor silly creature followed by a
troop of urchins hallooing at his heels and mocking him with their
thoughtless jests, when he would turn round with clenched fists and
grinning lips, and they would take to an ignominious flight. I would
try the effect of a similar trick. Descending on deck, I ordered
Grampus to get lines fastened to all the ports, so that they might be
lifted at once. As soon as the arrangement was made I put the sloop
about, and at the same moment, suddenly lifting all our ports--of which,
as I have said, we had eight on a side--under all sail, I stood boldly
down towards the enemy. Still she stood on, and my heart began to quake
for the success of my manoeuvre.
"It can't be helped, sir, I fear," said Grampus. "We are in for it."
"No, no," I exclaimed, with a shout of joy. "It's all right. Hurrah,
my lads!" The brig had taken in her studden-sails and was standing away
from us, close-hauled on a wind. I was so eagerly watching her that I
did not see what had become of friend Scuttle. I was aroused by a cry
from Tom Rockets.
"Just you come down, master!" he exclaimed.
I looked up and caught sight of the skipper and his boy going aloft with
knives in their hands. Their intention was obvious. It was to cut the
halliards, and by letting the sails come down by the run, call the
attention of the brig to our true condition, and thus bring her back to
our capture. Tom had got hold of the boy's leg, and I thought would
have jerked him overboard. Grampus in a moment was after the master,
and before he had reached the cross-trees had hold of him, and,
wrenching the knife from his hand, had hove it overboard. Whatever were
the thoughts and intentions of my two other men, they did not show any
inclination to side with the skipper. He began to show fight and to
kick and struggle not a little, but Grampus had held on with his teeth
in too many a gale while close-reefing top-sails, not to be able to gain
the mastery. With threats and very significant signs that he would
heave him overboard, he at length forced him down on deck.
"Now," said I, "Mr Scuttle, I should be justified in pistolling you on
the spot for the pretty trick you purposed playing me. But I will not
injure you. You gave me warning, I remember, what you would do, so, as
I believe you to be a man of honour, pass me your word that you will
attempt no further treachery and I will not injure you. Otherwise, for
my own safety, I must clap you in limbo, and shoot you the moment I find
you again at any such game."
"It's very, very hard," he answered, folding his arms on his bosom and
looking wistfully at the brig, which still held her course away from us,
"to have thought that I should get back my vessel and see my family
again in a few days perhaps, and now to have all my hopes rudely swept
away from me! It's hard--very, very hard!"
I really pitied the poor man and would on no account have injured him,
could I have avoided it.
"Well, Mr Hurry, luck's against me," he said at length. "In all things
regarding the navigation of the vessel, I'll obey you faithfully till we
reach Halifax. Then you have nothing more to fear from me."
I was sure that I could trust him. "Then," said I, "go about your duty,
and I will take no notice of what has passed."
Grampus, Tom, and I cheered lustily as we saw the brig continuing to
stand away from us, and the men joined us, though I suspect the fellows
did not care much about the matter. It was getting towards evening. I
longed for darkness, for I never felt so anxious in my life. I was
afraid every moment that the people of the brig might gain courage and
turn round upon us. If so, we should be worse off than ever, as we
should not have a chance of escaping. Friend Scuttle eyed the brig as
anxiously as I did, though with very different wishes. Still we held
on, looking, I doubt not, very fierce, and the privateer's men must have
been no less anxious to get away from us than we were from them. At
length evening approached, and never did I see the sun set with so much
satisfaction. Gradually the shades of night crept over the ocean, and I
drew a long breath as the brig was lost to our sight in the thickening
gloom. As soon as I was certain that we could not possibly be seen, I
ordered the sloop to be kept away, and once more made all sail to the
northward, altering my course a few points from that I had been steering
when first seen by the brig, lest she should by any chance be looking
after us in the morning. Probably the privateer's men were
congratulating themselves at thus easily escaping from us. As I gave
vent to my feelings in a hearty cheer the poor skipper exhibited his in
a deep groan, and then, having assisted in making sail, turned in to try
and forget his sorrows in sleep. The weather continued fine till the
7th of the month, when I made the land about five leagues to the
westward of Halifax harbour. Soon after this the wind fell and we had a
stark calm. By Mr Scuttle's advice I fitted a couple of fishing-lines,
and in the course of an hour, with those two lines alone, caught one
hundred and twenty-four very fine cod. They proved a welcome addition
to our usual salt-meat fare. Those we could not eat fresh we split open
and dried in the sun, and they thus served us for food for several days.
"What do you think of the weather now, Grampus?" said I, after we had
been fishing for some time.
"I don't like its looks at all, sir," he replied. "This is a ticklish
coast at all times, and one never knows what's coming."
"If you had asked me, I could have told you that we are going to have
wind, and fully enough of it," observed Mr Scuttle.
He had got into a mighty free-and-easy style of talking of late. He was
perfectly right, though in addition to the wind, which sprung up
immediately afterwards, we got a thick fog, which totally obscured the
land. I steered a course, however, which I hoped would carry us to the
harbour's mouth. We ran on for some time and then hove-to, that we
might sound. We had still plenty of water, so I stood on again. At
last the fog lifted a little, when to my very great disgust I found that
we had run three leagues past the mouth of the harbour. We endeavoured
to tack back, but before morning a heavy gale of wind sprung up directly
off shore. It was impossible to beat up against it, so I stood to the
eastward all that day and night, under a try-sail and storm-jib. During
this time the gale showed no signs of abating. It was a good trial to
our tempers, at all events. Grampus vowed that there was some old witch
in Halifax who must have taken a spite to us and was resolved to keep us
out of the harbour as long as she could. He was devising all sorts of
plans for exorcising her, but none seemed likely to prove satisfactory.
In the morning, the weather moderating a little, I stood to the westward
under close-reefed mainsail and double-reefed foresail, and by the
evening reached at length the mouth of the harbour. "There's many a
slip between the cup and the lip." We were congratulating ourselves on
getting all snug at night, when once more the wind breezed up with a
thickish fog, and as we were then in only forty fathoms of water I was
obliged again to run to sea. The bad weather kept me, as well as all
the people, on deck, for not knowing what might occur no one could
venture to go below. Some time before daylight I once more hauled my
wind and beat up towards the land. By the evening of the 10th we were
again in with Jabucta Head. We then got soundings on a reef of rocks in
eight fathoms water, but so worn out was I and everybody on board that I
ordered the anchor to be let go, that we might turn in and get some
rest. I fully expected to lose my anchor and cable, but when I came to
weigh at daylight the next morning I was fortunate enough to save them
both. I now fully expected to get safe into harbour, but as I was
standing up Major's Reach I saw a Falmouth packet coming down. The
temptation of speaking her and sending a message home was too great to
be resisted, so I stood over towards her. As the sloop was going about
she missed stays near a dangerous reef, and to prevent her driving on
the rocks it was necessary to be quick in wearing. In doing this the
boom came over with the whole main-sheet eased off, and carried it away
in six different places. This accident compelled me to run from the
narrow channel and lost me the opportunity of speaking the packet. Once
more making sail, and the wind favouring me, I got as high as George's
Island, when a sudden squall split my mainsail. This compelled me to
bring up. Manning a boat, I pulled up to Halifax to look out for the
prize agent, into whose hands I was to deliver the sloop.
I parted on the best of terms with Mr Jotham Scuttle. He hoped to find
some friends in Halifax who would advance him money to enable him to buy
back the Ranger.
"If ever you come to Nantucket," said he, "ask for me, and if I'm on
shore there's no one will give you a more hearty welcome."
I promised that I would not forget his kind invitation, and, after a
hearty shaking of hands, I saw no more of him.
I found the whole town in a state of great commotion, as the immense
fleet there collected, of men-of-war and transports, with a large army
on board, were on the point of sailing, it was said, on an expedition
which would effectually crush the rebels and bring the American
provinces once more into complete subjection. That I might not be left
behind I immediately reported myself to my Lord Shouldham. His lordship
ordered me at once to come on board the Chatham, with my people. I very
speedily returned to the Ranger and again got back to the Chatham. I
was, however, rather ashamed of my outfit, as it was not very
appropriate to the atmosphere of a flag-ship, consisting, as it did, of
one old uniform suit, four shirts, and a very few etceteras.
The fleet, I found, was bound for the projected attack on New York. It
consisted of his Majesty's ships Chatham, Rear-Admiral Shouldham, of the
White--she had on board General Lord Percy, General Pigot, and other
officers of rank--the Centurion, the Greyhound, which had on board
General Sir William Howe, the Commander-in-Chief, and brother to Admiral
Lord Howe, the Rose, Senegal, and Merlin, sloops of war, and nearly two
hundred sail of transports.
Two hours after I got on board the whole fleet of men-of-war and
transports made sail for their destination. It was understood that we
were to be joined at New York by Admiral Lord Howe, who was on his way
out from England. He was to take command of the fleet, while his
brother, the general, had command of the army. The two together were to
act as commissioners to treat with the rebels, and, by showing them the
overpowering force marshalled against them, to endeavour to bring them
to terms. Although the rebels had been for so long able successfully to
set the king's forces at defiance, there were a considerable number of
people throughout the country who still remained loyal to their
sovereign, known generally under the designation of Tories, and it was
supposed that they would materially aid both in putting down the
rebellion and in winning back the inhabitants to their allegiance. The
rebel army, under the immediate command of General Washington, held New
York and Long Island opposite to it, as well as the adjacent country. I
believe I knew the particulars I speak of at the time: if not I learnt
them soon afterwards.
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Note 1. Father of the late Admiral Sir William Symonds, and of the late
Admiral Thomas Symonds.
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Note 2. General Howe was the brother of Admiral Lord Howe.