AN OLD ACQUAINTANCE.
Jerry was at the tiller; Jim Freeman and his friends stood near me at
the main-hatch ready to obey the commands of Darius, and since all
hands of us, with the exception of Josiah Coburn, really were
oystermen, knowing no other business or trade, there was little reason
for the Britishers to have any suspicions regarding us.
It was evident, however, that Darius had seen something to cause him
alarm, otherwise he would not remain in the hold, having a care to
keep out of sight while he might be seeing much which would please the
commander to hear about.
So far as I could make out, the Britishers regarded us as ignorant
fishermen who were trying to earn a very slim livelihood by selling
oysters at a price which would hardly pay enough to provide food for a
crew the size of ours.
Three or four of the petty officers were making very awkward attempts
to open the shells with a marlin-spike, while the idle crew, having
nothing better to do, watched the proceedings on their ship as well as
aboard our craft.
I was not looking for an explanation of the old man's behavior among
the seamen, therefore gave little heed to the old shell-backs who
lined the starboard rail from the forecastle-deck to the mainmast.
Gaze intently as I might, it was impossible to see anything which
could have caused Darius uneasiness, and I dismissed the matter from
my mind with the belief that he remained hidden from view simply to
avoid being recognized as an old sailor whom it would pay to impress
into his majesty's service.
It was just when I was growing a trifle more cheerful in mind because
of having banished the fears which assailed me when the old man leaped
so suddenly into the hold, that one of the officers called out:
"Here, you Bubby, come aboard and show us how to open these
shell-fish!"
"Will one of your men stand by for our line, sir?" I asked, because
the pungy was bobbing around on the small waves ten feet or more from
the ship's side, and I was not minded to take the chances of jumping
for the rail when there was good possibility of landing in the water.
The Britisher said something to the knot of men forward, and several
of them stepped forward, overhanging the rail, while Jerry made ready
to pass one of the small hawsers.
I stopped only long enough to get one of our oyster-knives from the
cuddy, and by that time the Avenger was alongside the ship, rubbing
against the huge fenders which had been swung out.
At the moment there was no thought of fear in my mind because I was
thus venturing into the very jaws of the lion; I had it in mind only
to play my part well, and believed that by showing the gentlemen how
easily the shells might be opened, I would be forwarding our business.
Much to my surprise, when I would have clambered aboard the ship,
whose rail towered many feet above ours, one of the sailors leaned far
over to give me aid when it was not really needed. He grasped both my
hands in a grip as of iron, holding me back when it appeared that he
would pull me aboard, and while I was thus hampered, I heard him
whisper:
"Tell Darius Thorpe to be to the eastward of the Tangiers this night!"
Having thus spoken, he hauled me inboard quickly, disappearing
immediately among the throng of men which literally covered the ship's
deck.
"Well, Bubby, have you gone daft?"
This aroused me to the consciousness that I was playing my part very
badly, and I quickly went to the after-hatchway where was our basket
of oysters around which several officers were standing.
Without speaking I whipped out the oyster-knife, and, using the
combing of the hatch as a bench, set about opening the shells as
rapidly as the most expert could have done.
The gentlemen were so astonished at seeing me do readily what they had
failed at, that I had a good two dozen fat oysters ready for the
eating before any one made an attempt at swallowing them.
From that out, until the basket was emptied, I was kept busy, and
although I searched with my eyes while thus engaged, it was impossible
to single out the sailor who had sent the message to Darius.
When there was nothing before me but shells, and one of the officers
asked if my father was going to send more aboard, I thought it would
be more in keeping with my part to act like a lad who was eager to
receive money for his cargo, therefore I replied that we would send
the whole load aboard at the rate of eight cents a bushel.
To this proposition the gentleman agreed, and I called out for the
others to begin slinging the baskets up, counting on lending a hand to
take them over the rail; but I was not allowed to abandon my job of
oyster-opener.
I worked as lively as I ever did in my life, and it surely seemed as
if I would not be allowed to go on board the Avenger until the entire
cargo had been eaten, therefore I called for Jerry to help me, after
our small lot had been dumped on the ship's hold.
Darius did not come out of the hold. He had good excuse for remaining
there while we were unloading; but once the pungy was empty I greatly
feared suspicions might be aroused by his remaining hidden from view.
Not until Jerry and I had opened a full two bushels, and given one of
the cooks a few lessons in the manner of holding a knife to the best
advantage while shucking, were we allowed to cease the tiresome labor,
for it must be known that we did not claim to be experts at such work.
One of the officers paid us for the cargo, and agreed to take as many
every other day while they remained at that station.
As if eager to know how long we might find a ready market thereabouts,
I asked if he could tell me when there was a possibility of the ship's
being moved; but he shut his mouth as close as any of our oysters,
saying that it was enough for us to know that they would patronize us
while they remained there, consequently I did not succeed in getting
any information for Commodore Barney.
I explained my reasons for asking such a question, by saying that it
would be a waste of time for us to sail down the bay when the fleets
were not there, because our only other market was at Annapolis or
Baltimore, and he said with a laugh:
"When we're not here you can look for us further north, and we will
take your oysters wherever we go."
I observed that we were on board the Narcissus, and thus understood
that Darius had made no mistake when he gave that name to the ship,
therefore my admiration for the old man's knowledge of nautical
matters increased, for only an experienced seaman could have thus
recognized a craft he had seen but once before.
By setting down so much when our business was concluded, it would
appear as if we loafed on the deck of the ship some time, whereas we
were given to understand that our room was better than our company
immediately the transaction was completed, and in a very few seconds
after the officers allowed Jerry and I to cease the labor of shucking,
we were aboard the Avenger, getting under way.
"Look at the name they've given that old bargee!" one of the gentlemen
on the quarter-deck cried with a laugh as the pungy swung around until
the letters on her stern could be read. "These Americans may be hot
for vengeance; but I take notice that they're ready to feed the enemy
if there's a dollar to be made."
All this seemed very funny to the Britishers, and they cracked many a
quip and joke at our expense, as I guessed by the roars of laughter
which could be heard so long as we were within earshot.
Darius came on deck once we had filled away; but he kept his hat
pulled well down over his face as he walked aft from the main-hatch,
and when he had taken the tiller I asked:
"What were you afraid of that you kept under cover so close?"
"It was a mighty snug shave, lad," he replied with a long indrawing of
the breath. "I knew one of the men on the forecastle deck, 'cause I
was shipmate with him on the privateer Honest Ben, when Joshua Barney
was in command. I'm not sayin' that he'd given me away; but I feared
he might sing out on seein' me."
"What is his name?"
"Bill Jepson. He's a Baltimore man; but whether he's there owin' to
fallin' in with a press-gang, or on account of his own free will, it's
hard to say, though I never believed Bill would willingly have served
the king."
"He wants you to be to the eastward of the Tangiers this night," I
said, and the old man started as if he had been struck by a bullet.
"How do you know, lad?"
Then I told him when the sailor had had speech with me, and again
repeated the message.
"That shows as how poor Bill was pressed into the service," Darius
said sympathetically, "an' now he's countin' that an old shipmate will
lend a hand."
"Which of course you will do!" I cried hotly.
"We must make some kind of a turn to favor him; but we're here on the
commodore's business, an' the question is whether we'll be warranted
in doin' what may turn all the plans upside down. Bill reckons to slip
over the side, an' swim ashore. If we're roundabout here, the
Britishers will count it for certain that we had a hand in the
desertion, an' the Avenger may be taken from us before we've got well
into our work. The king's officers ain't noways easy in handlin' them
as tries to get the best of 'em."
"But if the man swims for the islands expectin' to find us, and we're
not there, he'll be retaken."
"Ay, lad, an' most likely dance at the yard-arm for desertion."
"Then of course we must help him," and I beckoned to Jerry, knowing
full well he would fall into my way of thinking.
Before anything could be said between my partner and me, however, the
Avenger had come off the Severn, and we received peremptory orders to
heave to.
"Why didn't you remain alongside, as you were told?" an officer asked
angrily when the pungy was at a standstill, and Darius replied:
"The current carried us down the bay durin' the night, an' when
mornin' came the captain of that other ship ordered us alongside, sir.
He bought our cargo an' agreed to take more, so if you'd like to
trade with us, we can have fifteen or twenty bushels here by to-morrow
night, in case the wind holds."
I could see that two or three of the gentlemen on the quarter-deck put
their heads together, as if talking about us, and then the one who had
first spoken ordered us to lay alongside.
"They're goin' to search us, an' it may be I'll have an invite to stop
aboard quite a spell." Darius said half to himself as he swung the
pungy around preparatory to obeying orders.
"Then why do we go alongside? It wouldn't take many minutes to run out
of range," I said excitedly.
"They'd sink us in a twinkling, an' even though I knew we might give
'em the slip, it shouldn't be done, 'cause we couldn't come here
again, which never'd suit the commodore."
The possibility that any of our crew might be pressed into service on
board the ship frightened me, as may be imagined; but I understood
even while making the suggestion, that we could not hope to escape,
and the fate of poor Tom Sackett was pictured before me.
There was no way out of it, however, but my knees were very weak when
we ranged up under the starboard guns, waiting like criminals until
his majesty's officers should work their will regardless of right or
wrong.
Darius was the one who stood in the most danger, for it could readily
be seen that he was an old sailor; but he never turned a hair. One
would have said to see him that nothing was more pleasant than to thus
be overhauled, and he made a most awkward flourish by way of a bow
when we were come into position.
Jim Freeman passed a hawser, and when it was made fast a midshipman,
who acted as if he owned the whole of Chesapeake Bay, came aboard with
two marines.
The little whipper-snapper poked his nose into the cuddy, and
pretended to be nearly overcome by the odor of the place, therefore he
sent the marines below to overturn everything in the bunks, as if
believing we had somebody hidden there.
The soldiers came up with our three old muskets, and the little
whifflet demanded in a tone of authority to be told why we went so
well armed.
"We carry 'em, sir, so's we can get a mess of ducks now an' then,"
Darius replied as respectfully as if he had been speaking to the king.
"They ain't any great shakes of guns, seein's how all of 'em are
rusted pretty bad; but we oystermen can't afford anythin' better."
One would have thought the little ape had found three or four
thirty-two pounders, by the way he passed them up over the rail for
the inspection of the officers on the quarter-deck, and then he
turned his attention to the hold.
I heard the gentlemen laughing as they looked at our weapons, and in a
twinkling the pieces were thrown down on the deck with so little care
that the hammer of one was broken off short to the lock, but those who
served the king had little care how they destroyed the property of
those whose crime consisted in being born Americans.
The midshipman got one whiff from the hold, which I'm free to admit
wasn't pleasing, and the soldiers were sent below while he stood with
a handkerchief decked out with lace held to his nose, as if in danger
of fainting.
As a matter of course nothing was found below, save a lot of mud and
some oyster shells. A blind man might have seen that so far as the
vessel was concerned she could be nothing more than an honest
oysterman; but the whifflet forced the marines to search over every
portion of the hold, and while this was being done one of the officers
asked how many bushels we sold to those of the Narcissus.
Darius replied to the question, speaking as nearly unlike a sailor as
possible, and not until he had stated the price, showing British
silver as proof of the amount received, was the curiosity of the
gentleman satisfied.
Then the midshipman clambered over the side of the ship to make his
report, and the moment had come when if any of our number were to be
taken from us, we would be made aware of it.
I stood by the side of Darius trembling with apprehension, and even
amid my fear I took note of the fact that Jerry was feeling far from
comfortable in mind, while the old man chewed incessantly on a huge
piece of tobacco that caused his cheeks to swell out as if on the
point of bursting.
Although we had good cause for being frightened, nothing came of it,
and never did words sound more sweetly in my ears than when one of the
officers said:
"You can get on about your business; but don't make the mistake again
of trying to get below us without first reporting."
"We wasn't countin' on goin' very far away, sir," Darius replied
awkwardly. "There's good fishin' to be found around the islands here,
an' I was reckonin' on gettin' the drags out."
"Very well, but see to it that you heave to when coming nearabout, and
remain until getting permission to proceed."
"Yes sir, I'll do it for certain," Darius cried, and as one of the
Britisher's crew cast off our hawser, we filled away, standing to the
northeast.
There was not one aboard the Avenger who did not realize what a narrow
escape we had had from being forced to serve the king, and I dare
venture to say that all hands drew a breath of relief as the pungy
sailed beyond range of the big guns.
"Where are you bound?" Jerry asked when he was sufficiently master of
himself to note the course.
"I reckon we'll run over to Pocomoke; we'll find oysters in that
locality, such as they are, an' there's no need of running too far
away from the market."
"You're goin' to lend Bill Jepson a hand!" I cried joyfully, for it
would have gone far toward breaking my heart to turn a deaf ear to the
poor fellow's appeal.
"That's just what I ain't so clear about," Darius replied
thoughtfully. "Suppose we talk the matter over a bit."
I called Jim Freeman and his friends aft, knowing full well what their
opinion would be, and when we were together, repeated the story as I
had told it to the old man.
Then Darius explained that by helping a sailor to desert from one of
the enemy's ships, we might get into serious difficulties, to say
nothing of losing the sloop, and he also put it very plainly that in
going outside the task set us, we stood a good chance of disappointing
the commodore.
It was Jerry who put the matter to my liking, when he said:
"There are chances in favor of our bein' able to do this without
interferin' with the work set for us by the commodore; but there isn't
much hope for the sailor if he swims over to the Tangiers an' fails of
findin' us waitin' for him. You say he'll be hanged if they catch him
tryin' to desert. I don't believe I could sleep well nights if we
should leave this place, an' he met with his death."
All hands of us felt much as did Jerry, and after thinking the matter
over a moment Darius said slowly, as if choosing well his words:
"You lads must understand that I'm as hot for helpin' Bill as you can
be; but we're doin' our little part in a war, an' at such times the
life of one man don't count for very much when the good of others is
concerned. To tell the truth, I couldn't really say what we ought'er
do if I studied the thing over for four an' twenty hours. You lads own
this 'ere pungy, an' I allow you have the right to say somethin' as to
what shall be done with her, though you the same as put the craft out
of your keepin' when you took a guarantee from the commodore that so
many dollars should be paid in case she was lost. We'll consider it as
settled, an' now get to work. Swing out the drags, an' we'll let the
Britishers see that we're fishin', even though it ain't noways likely
we'll get much here."
I am free to confess that Darius' words made me a bit uneasy in mind
regarding our deciding the matter, for I knew full well that he had
spoken no more than the truth. It would be hard on Bill Jepson if we
gave him the cold shoulder; but by trying to lend a hand we might be
doing others a wrong.
However, the question had been decided, and there was little sense in
crying over spilled milk, for I was not minded to make any effort at
bringing about a change of opinion, therefore I turned to with the
others that we might appear to be industriously fishing.
Darius stood to the eastward until we were in Pocomoke bay, and there
we stood a good show of getting fifteen or twenty bushels before it
would be time to be at the rendezvous appointed by Bill Jepson.
During all this while we had the enemy's fleets in fairly good view,
for the vessels appeared to be to the northward of New Point; but, as
a matter of course, it could be of little benefit to the commodore to
know how many vessels there were, if we could not give him any idea of
their weight of metal.
It was nearly noon before we got breakfast, and when the meal was come
to an end we had struck some small oyster beds, therefore we were kept
jumping from that time until dark, and then had on board a good twenty
bushels of fair stock. Not enough from a money-making point of view;
but plenty to serve our purpose, for it might not be well to let the
Britishers think we could take on a cargo quickly.
Now the greater portion of this time we were in view of those aboard
the two vessels we had visited, and by using their spy-glasses it
would have been possible for them to make out what we were doing.
Once the night began to shut in, however, we were out of sight, and
Darius said as we hauled in the drags for the last time:
"Now we'll run over for the Tangiers, lads, an' stay there till two or
three o'clock in the mornin'. If Bill don't show up by that time we
must count that he couldn't get away, or was caught in the act."
"Are you simply reckoning on laying off the islands?" I asked,
understanding that a man might swim ashore at one point while we were
at another, and easily fail of finding us.
"I reckon that some of us will take to the canoe, an' cruise off the
western shore lookin' for him. His best time for makin' the try will
be when the last dog-watch goes off duty at eight o'clock, or again at
midnight. It won't be easy to paddle 'round so long; but it's a man's
life that you're after."
"Jerry and I will go in the canoe," I said, thinking it no more than
right for us to perform the greatest share of the labor since we were
held, by Darius, responsible for making the attempt to aid the sailor.
We made a hearty supper that night, eating the last of the ham, and
frying a generous quantity of oysters with it, and then the pungy was
hove to on the westward side of the large island, as near inshore as
we dared to run.
I proposed that she be anchored lest the wind set her on the beach;
but Darius claimed that it was necessary for us to be ready to leave
at a moment's notice, and promised to have an eye on the craft all the
while we were absent.
Then Jerry and I took to the canoe, with good prospect of half a
night's work before us, and paddled around to the eastward, after
which we set about going back and forth for a distance of a quarter of
a mile, since that seemed to be the place a man naturally would make
for.
We could see the riding lights of the ship plainly, and although it
would require considerable labor to swim so far, it should be readily
done by one who was at all familiar with the work.
"We'd find ourselves in a pretty hobble if a boat put off from the
ship just now," Jerry said in a low tone, and I was angry with him for
having offered such a suggestion. There was enough in the venture to
make a fellow nervous, without conjuring up all the possibilities at a
time when one needed to have his wits about him.
"We won't think of anything except trying to pick the poor man up," I
said sharply. "This isn't the kind of work that suits me, and I'm not
so cold-blooded that I can picture out all the trouble which may come
upon us."
"A fellow can't help thinkin'," Jerry replied grumpily, and I said yet
more curtly:
"He needn't talk about it to mix others up." Then, angered with myself
for having spoken so petulantly, I added, "To tell the truth, Jerry, I
am as frightened as a lad well can be, and don't dare to talk overly
much lest I should show the white feather in a way to make you ashamed
of me."
"You can't be any worse off than I am," my partner replied, and then
we both laughed softly. An acknowledgment of our timorousness seemed
to hearten us, and we worked the paddles in a more whole-souled
fashion.
As I have said, we decided to pull back and forth on a line about a
quarter of a mile long, and all the while kept a sharp watch in the
direction of the vessel, for a swimmer's head on the water is not a
very large object to see in the night.
We did not dare indulge in much conversation, and during an hour we
had not spoken once; but then I said, thinking to spare ourselves
useless labor:
"If he slipped off at eight o'clock, he should have been here by this
time. We may as well lay still till midnight."
I had hardly ceased speaking when we heard a sound as of some one
whistling softly, and nothing more was needed to tell us that Bill
Jepson had succeeded in slipping away from the ship.