WITH THE FLEET.
The British sailors did not make any talk on returning to
consciousness and finding themselves bound hand and foot. The officer,
however, after recovering from the bewilderment which appeared to have
come over him because of having been taken prisoner in such an
unceremonious fashion, protested against being tied like a criminal.
"Will you give your word to make no attempt at escape?" Darius asked;
but this did not suit the Britisher, for most likely he was reckoning
on a rescue by those of the people who favored the king, and there
were not a few of such vermin on the Patuxent river.
"I refuse to give my parole, save to an officer of the American army
or navy," he said stiffly, and Darius replied cheerily:
"Then you see that we've got no other course save to deal out the same
dose for all, 'cause we're not countin' on losin' any of you."
"What are you goin' to do with me?" the miller asked, and I took it
on myself to make reply:
"You'll get the same treatment as Elias Macomber, and however harsh it
may be, you won't have it as tough as is deserved. These others are
prisoners of war; but you two are traitors and spies, therefore must
expect to fare according to your deserts."
"That's about the size of it, Amos," Darius said as he went from one
to another of the prisoners to make certain they were secured
properly, and in condition to travel. "I reckon, lad, that we might as
well be gettin' the crowd down to the shore, for unless the wind has
died away entirely Josiah Coburn should be here mighty soon."
"How would it do to take along a supply of meal?" Jerry asked. "If it
so be that we don't come up with the fleet by noon to-morrow, we'd be
short of provisions, with so many to feed."
"Right you are, lad. We'll take from Essek Harland's meal-chest as
much as may be needed, an' surely he can't make any complaint when he
gets his share."
While Jerry was rummaging around to discover the miller's store, we
got the prisoners down-stairs, finding it no slight task because two
of the sailors, in a spirit of pure mischief, refused to walk, and we
were forced to tote them like so many barrels of flour. By the time
they were at the foot of the stairs, however, both were willing to
provide their own means of transportation, for we did not handle them
with any too much care.
Essek Harland whimpered and whined like the cur that he was, until we
came to suspect he might be making a noise in order to give an alarm
to somebody in the vicinity, when Darius reduced him to silence by
threatening to put a gag in his mouth.
We had no more than got in fairly good marching shape when Josiah came
up with the Avenger, the wind being strong enough to push her along
about as fast as a man could walk.
Then well on to an hour was spent before the prisoners and the meal
were stowed in the hold of the pungy, and I counted that it was near
daybreak when we started up the river toward where Commodore Barney's
fleet was supposed to be.
It struck me that we should meet with a warm reception from the
commander, when we delivered up to him the Britishers and the
traitors, for by capturing the spies we had delayed the coming of the
enemy for a few hours at least.
And in thinking of this I came to ask myself how we were to present
ourselves? Whether as lads who wanted to make a bargain to supply the
fleet with fish, or as recruits? Ponder over it as I might, it was
impossible to come to any satisfactory conclusion, and I decided that
before committing myself in any way I would ask the advice of my
father, whom I was likely to find on some of the vessels belonging to
the flotilla.
It was Darius who broke in upon my perplexing thoughts by asking:
"Well, what do you think of it now, lad? We couldn't have done the job
any browner if we'd had on board a full cargo of rifles an'
ammunition."
"Ay, Darius, it has been well done because you were on hand; but I
question if another might have worked the scheme as well."
"There are thousands who'd make less bungle of it," the old man
replied, and I could see that he was well pleased because of being
praised, even by a boy. "All that's needed is a little backbone; but
if the other fellow happens to have more'n you've got, then things are
apt to go wrong."
"Thanks to your arrangement of the affair, the enemy didn't have a
chance to show his pluck; but we'd have been in a bad box if you
hadn't made the Britishers believe, for a minute or two, that we were
their friends."
Darius laughed heartily as he thought of the brief conversation with
the sailors, and then said with a chuckle:
"If I'd only known the name of a vessel belongin' to their fleet, we'd
been right on top of 'em before bein' found out; but as it was we got
well alongside when the trouble began."
Then Jerry came aft to take part in the conversation, and we spent a
good half-hour praising each other and chuckling over the good fortune
that had been ours.
We might have continued at such pleasing occupation a very long while,
but that day began to break, and there was too much work on hand to
admit of further foolishness.
Darius gave up the tiller to me, and went below to look after the
prisoners, returning five minutes later with the British officer, who,
much to my surprise, was no longer fettered.
"This gentleman has decided that he can give his parole to us as well
as to brother officers," Darius said by way of introduction. "He has
pledged his word to make no attempt at escape, therefore we will give
him the liberty of the ship."
"Which won't mean much for one who has been accustomed to the luxury
found on board some of his majesty's vessels," I added, trying to show
that I had some semblance of good breeding. "An oyster pungy isn't the
most beautiful craft in the world."
"Very true," the officer replied with a friendly smile; "but there is
a vast difference between the hold and the deck of an oysterman."
"Yes, I can fancy that to one unaccustomed to such things, the Avenger
seems like a foul ship below."
"So your vessel is named the Avenger?" and the gentleman looked at me
quizzically. "Isn't that rather high-sounding for a peaceful
fisherman?"
The officer was so different from what I had fancied a Britisher might
be, and had such a friendly air, that I made no hesitation in telling
him how the pungy got her name, and after the explanation he ceased to
laugh at it.
"I can well believe that some of your people have been abused," he
said in a kindly tone; "but there are always two sides to a story, and
the commander of one of the king's ships may believe that he is doing
absolutely that which is right and just, when in your eyes he commits
a most grievous wrong."
I had sense enough to understand that if I attempted to argue with the
officer on the causes of the war I should speedily find myself in deep
water, therefore I made reply:
"It is not for me to measure words with such as you, sir. I know that
Jerry's brother, who had never stepped foot on other than American
soil, was forced to serve in one of your ships, being carried forcibly
and secretly away, to the great distress of all who cared for him."
"And in that case his majesty's officers did a most grievous wrong,"
he said frankly, and then as if to turn the subject of conversation,
he asked, "When do you expect to come up with Barney's fleet, for I
understand you are in search of it?"
"If the wind holds, we should be there by noon, providing Commodore
Barney is yet at Nottingham."
With this the gentlemen turned away to take note of what was being
done, for Darius had brought the three sailors on deck, they also
having solemnly pledged themselves to refrain from attempt at escape.
Jerry was making preparations for cooking breakfast, which would be no
small job with so many to be fed, and Jim Freeman was helping him. It
was to be a good wholesome meal, better than we of the Avenger had
enjoyed for many a day; because there was to be a plentiful supply of
fried ham with corn-dodgers, which last Jerry could make better than
any person I ever knew, except my mother.
The British sailors were taking things comfortably, being seated on
the deck well forward, and apparently enjoying the sail up the river,
even though they were going as prisoners rather than passengers who
could come or depart at will.
Darius remained in the hold some time, and when he showed himself
again as if his work was done, I asked what he had been about.
"I've been makin' them two sneaks fast to a stanchion, where they
won't have any too good a time. I reckon we've got to treat 'em
somewhere near decent, though it goes mightily agin the grain. How is
breakfast comin' on? I could eat the toughest mule that ever walked!"
Fortunately for him Jerry announced at this moment that the meal was
ready, and Darius would have it that I should eat in the cuddy with
the officer; but I insisted he was the one who could best do the
honors aboard the Avenger, when we had seamen as guests, and literally
forced him to act the host.
Dody Wardwell and Josiah Coburn were detailed to feed the prisoners,
including the curs in the hold, and Jerry, Jim and I ate on the deck
aft, where I could at the same time keep the pungy in the channel.
Jim brought out some of the stores he had taken from home, and we lads
had a veritable feast, with the cause of success to give flavor to
food which could not be improved upon even though it had been served
on a king's table.
It is needless for me to set down all that was said during the
forenoon when we sailed very slowly up the river, chatting in friendly
fashion with our prisoners--meaning such of them as were allowed to
remain on deck--, or discussing our plans for the future among
ourselves, and as we did this last we almost unconsciously reckoned
Jim and his friends as belonging to the pungy. In fact, after what
they had done toward helping out on the night's work, it was no more
than right they should be allowed to consider themselves as a portion
of the Avenger's crew, if so be their desire ran that way.
It was half an hour past twelve o'clock when we came in sight of the
flotilla anchored off Nottingham, and seemingly blocking the river
until it would have been difficult for anything larger than a canoe to
pass through.
"Where shall we find the commodore among all that crowd of vessels?" I
asked in perplexity, and Darius replied promptly:
"He's like to be aboard the Scorpion, unless havin' gone ashore. At
all events, it's there we should look for him."
Fortunately for us, the schooner was anchored nearer down stream than
the remainder of the craft, and there was no difficulty in running the
Avenger alongside.
"You shall do the talking, Darius," I said as Jim Freeman passed a
hawser, and his friends dropped the sails.
"I'll look after that part of it so far as tellin' Joshua Barney who
you are; but after that you'll take the tiller, for the owners of a
vessel are the ones to show themselves."
Just then a kindly-faced gentleman came from the schooner's cabin and
looked about as if asking how we dared to make fast alongside. He was
one whom I would have picked out for a good friend, rather than a
desperate fighter, therefore my surprise was great when Darius
whisked off his hat, made a great flourish as he bowed in sailorman
fashion, and said:
"We're here to report for duty, an' it please you, Commodore Barney,
though you wasn't more'n a captain when I sailed under ye. We've
brought a few British prisoners, an' a couple of traitors."
"Why, bless my heart, its Darius Thorpe!" the commander cried as if
well pleased at seeing the old sailor, whereupon Darius bowed again,
grinning with delight until it seemed as if he would split his mouth
from ear to ear.
"It's the same old shell-back, sir, only he's turned oysterman, bein'
too stiff in the joints for much deep-sea work."
"When your joints grow stiff, Darius, I shall begin to look after
mine; but up to the present time they're fit for a hornpipe almost any
day. Is that your craft?"
"No, sir; she is owned by these two lads," and he pointed to Jerry and
me.
"And you have taken prisoners on your own account?" the commodore
asked, looking directly at me as he advanced nearer the rail,
therefore I felt called upon to reply.
"It was really Darius who took the prisoners, sir," I made answer. "He
planned the work, and did most of the execution; the rest of us simply
obeyed his orders, with the result that we have this officer," and I
pointed to the gentleman who was standing well forward as if to be
out of ear-shot, "with three sailors, all on parole. In addition,
there are, in the hold, two men living on the river, whom we found
giving information to the enemy, and aiding them in their spying."
"Come aboard, and let me hear the particulars," the commodore said
kindly, and yet the words were a command.
I beckoned to Jerry, and, observing it, the commander said:
"Come with the lads, Darius Thorpe, it may be that I have particular
need of you."
We three clambered on to the schooner's deck, following the commodore
into the cabin which was not fitted up very much better than our
cuddy, save that it had a fair-sized table with chairs, and here we
seated ourselves as comfortably as if about to have speech with our
equals.
"Now tell me how it happens that you are on the Patuxent river taking
prisoners here and there without due warrant from the government at
Washington," the commodore said with a smile, and I began by
explaining why we started in search of the fleet, not forgetting to
make mention of the fact that we had hoped to find a sale for fish or
oysters.
Then I gave a detailed account of all that had happened to us, winding
up by saying:
"We count that you'll take the prisoners from us, sir, because we
haven't overly much food for so large a number, and if it so be you
can buy such as we can catch, it shall be at whatever price you set."
"Do you think, lad, that I would encourage you to spend your time
fishing when you have already shown yourselves capable of bigger
things? I can use Darius to good advantage, and I doubt not but that
he may need you and your vessel. Are you minded to serve your country,
lad?"
"Ay, sir, if it so be she needs me; but lads like Jerry and me may be
of more service as fishermen than as soldiers."
"Regarding that I am not so certain, because of the proof you have
brought; it strikes me that your pungy and her crew will well serve my
turn. You may deliver the prisoners to an officer whom I will send
aboard, and later in the day we will have another chat."
Then the commodore arose to his feet in token that the interview was
at an end, and we lads went out, Joshua Barney saying to Darius as he
went up the companion-way stairs:
"Since your joints are so stiff it may be a good plan for you to stay
aboard the sloop during the remainder of the day, and then you'll be
on hand when I'm ready to see you."
I was both surprised and pleased to know that the old man stood so
well with the commander, I had looked upon Darius Thorpe as a
broken-down sailor; but Commodore Barney appeared to have a far
different idea on the subject.
Darius was actually puffed up with pride when he gained the deck of
the Avenger. His face was as red as a beet, and his mouth open so wide
that I could have tossed a quart of oysters into it without spilling
one.
"Well, lads," he cried, turning on Jerry and me insistently, "you've
seen the biggest man in this country, an' what do you think of him?"
Neither Jerry nor I could do less than praise the commodore, for he
had treated us in a friendly fashion; but although we spoke our minds
emphatically, declaring that he was a very pleasant gentleman, Darius
was not satisfied.
"I tell you he's the greatest man in the country," he repeated, and I
am not certain but that he would have insisted on our saying the same
over and over again if an officer from the schooner had not come to
receive the prisoners.
The officer and the sailors went over the rail on being told that they
were to change quarters; but it was necessary that the traitors be
brought from the hold, and I proposed that Darius and Jim Freeman
attend to such duty, for I had no desire to set eyes on Elias Macomber
again.
"Let's you and I deliver some of these packages and messages with
which we are charged," I suggested to Jerry. "By so doing we shall
meet many old friends, and I would, if possible, have speech with my
father before seeing the commodore again."
"Why?" Jerry asked as if in surprise, when we went into the cuddy to
get the articles which were to be delivered.
I was at a loss to make reply. It would not be pleasant to tell the
lad that I wanted my father's advice before agreeing to serve under
the commodore, since he might believe that to be a coward's trick,
therefore I said after some hesitation:
"It is for him to say what I shall do; surely a fellow's father should
decide anything of this kind."
"But your mother the same as told you to come."
"Ay, and I am here; now I will see my father, which is but natural. Do
not spend so much time in idle words for I would be out of the pungy
before those curs are brought from the hold."
We had our arms full of packages by this time, and it did not take us
long to load them into the canoe, after which we paddled among the
fleet having a bundle or message for some person aboard nearly every
craft in the river.
It was not until our work was nearly done that I came upon my father
and he received me as if expecting I would come.
"When did you arrive at Benedict?" he asked.
"Yesterday noon, sir."
"You couldn't well have got here earlier because of the wind. I
allowed you would join us as soon as possible."
"Then you think, father, that I should serve under the commodore,
taking the chances of losing the pungy after having paid so much money
for her?"
"Don't you?" he asked sharply, and I could do no less than reply as he
expected I would.
Thus it was settled beyond a peradventure that the Avenger and her
crew should become a portion of Commodore Barney's flotilla, and I
really felt better in mind after the question had been definitely
decided.
We stopped long enough to give father a detailed account of our
adventures, and by the way he slapped me on the back after the story
was brought to an end, I knew that he felt right well pleased because
I had begun serving my country in such a satisfactory manner.
When we returned to the Avenger after our round of visits, we found
Jim Freeman and his friends keeping ship in great style. They were
looking as proud as peacocks, and I failed to understand the meaning
of it all, for ordinarily they were meek lads, until Jim whispered:
"The commodore is a mighty nice man."
"Ay, that he is," I replied, thinking that Darius had been drilling
the crew in our absence to sing the praises of Joshua Barney both in
and out of season.
"We're goin' to have a chance to do some big things."
"Why do you think so?"
"Because when Darius gave the word that the pungy had better be hauled
down stream a bit an' anchored, the commodore put a stop to it, by
allowin' that he wanted this craft where he could put his hand on
her."
"And because of that you think that we are to play an important part
in this portion of the war, eh?"
"It looks like it for a fact," Jim replied, strutting to and fro, and
I could not but laugh outright, for the idea that we might be called
upon to do more than any others seemed ridiculous.
Matters began to wear a different look a moment later, however, when
an officer came over from the Scorpion, and said that the commodore
would have speech with Jerry and me.
"Where is Darius?" I asked, looking around without seeing the old man.
"He's been aboard the schooner this last half hour an' I've taken
particular notice that everybody else is kept out of the cabin," Jim
replied. "That's one reason why I'm so certain we'll have a soft time
of it while we stay with the fleet."
"Don't stand there chewin' things over in your mind," Jerry said
impatiently as I loitered near the helm. "It strikes me that when the
commander of a fleet sends for a couple of lads they should step out
right lively."
Jerry was right, and I meekly followed him to the commodore's cabin,
where we saw Darius hob-nobbing with Joshua Barney as if they were two
old cronies.
We lads saluted in as sailorly a fashion as was possible, for we were
not well up on such manners, and the commodore said abruptly as he
handed me a folded paper:
"Here is a guarantee from the government, through me as the commander
of the naval forces in this section, that if your vessel is captured
or destroyed by the enemy while you are under my orders, you are to be
paid the sum of four hundred dollars."
I was dumfounded. Of course it was pleasing to know that we would be
paid a good price in case we lost the Avenger; but why such an
arrangement should be made at this time was way beyond me, until
Darius said:
"Wouldn't it be a good idee, sir, if you was to tell the lads what is
expected of 'em? I'm not allowin' they'd go contrary to what I said;
but it would be pleasanter all around if they got the business from
your lips."
"It shall be as Darius says," and the commander half-turned in his
chair to face Jerry and me. "I propose that you shall continue to act
as oystermen; but without spending much time at the labor. In other
words, I want information from the enemy, such as you can gather, and
have spent considerable time explaining where and how you may
communicate with me. That part of the business need not be repeated.
This much you should know: Darius has said that you would do, so far
as possible, whatever I might set for you. Now I want your pungy to
drop down the river at once; you are to act as if engaged in the
peaceful occupation of fishing for oysters, and try to sell your cargo
to the enemy. In other words, lads, you are to spy out the disposition
of the British ships when they advance, for I am convinced that as yet
they remain in the lower bay."
If I had been faint-hearted before, what shall be said of my condition
now? In plain words, the commodore proposed that we turn spies, and if
we were caught while thus engaged, we would make a speedy trip to the
nearest British yard-arm with a rope around our necks!
Jerry did not appear to realize the dangers of the undertaking
proposed, and when the commodore suggested that we had better get
under way at once, he started toward the companion-way as if about to
embark on some pleasure excursion.
"Are we to take on any weapons?" I asked, remembering the crippled
muskets, and how dangerous it might be to discharge them.
"Oystermen do not carry modern arms," Joshua Barney said curtly. "Go
exactly as if you were performing your regular work, as indeed you
are, except that the price received for your wares does not cut any
figure."