THE BRITISH FORCES.
After we were in a position to see all that might be going on
immediately opposite, and for a mile or more down the river, we could
make out the spars of several ships which appeared to be at a
stand-still, and at once the question was raised as to whether they
were aground or at anchor.
"You lads shall stay here, never venturin' to leave the hidin'-place
unless the Britishers themselves drive you out, an' I'll take a little
trip down stream to see what is goin' on. If the enemy has come into
the river without a pilot, I'll go bail that more than one of his
vessels has taken the ground."
Then the old man stole softly through the underbrush, and we gave but
little heed to his departure, so intent were we on the wondrous
panorama spread out before us.
The first craft to heave in sight was an armed brig, the decks of
which were brilliant with red uniforms and glittering weapons, and
immediately astern of this vessel were a dozen or more barges, and
two pungies.
Then came boats filled with soldiers, one astern of the other until it
surely seemed as if every craft in the Chesapeake had been brought
here to make up the procession, which was more imposing than anything
I had ever seen.
It was the glittering, fanciful side of war, which would be
transformed into something hideous immediately the actual work was
begun, for then one lost sight of the pomp and parade, seeing only the
ominous stains of blood, and unable to hear aught save the shrieks of
the dying and the groans of the wounded.
Then, to our great surprise, we found that the Britishers were making
preparations to take possession of the village. The armed brig was
moored stem and stern in the channel where her full broadside could be
brought to bear upon the settlement, and the three barges, each having
on board a twelve-pounder, were rowed up to the beach on which no less
than four hundred soldiers, with weapons ready for use, stood as if to
repel an attack.
"They are makin' a mighty lot of fuss." Jerry said with a laugh. "A
corporal's guard could capture Benedict without turnin' a hair, an'
yet look at that crowd!"
It was truly astonishing that so many men should have been brought to
take possession of our little village. Boat-load after boat-load came
up the river, landing their living cargoes in the cove where we lads
had always kept our canoes, and before the disembarkation had been
concluded, the shore of the river was literally covered with soldiers,
marines, and, strangely enough, companies of negroes who were decked
out in uniforms of the British army.
Since that day I have seen statements made by the enemy's officers to
the effect that five thousand men were landed at Benedict, and for
what purpose we lads were unable to imagine.
I had never seen such a throng of people before; the town was
over-run, and the woods above and below seemed to be packed full of
armed men.
Fortunately for us, none attempted to come on our side of the river;
but all stood in something approaching a military formation as if
expecting an immediate attack.
As a matter of course all us lads were greatly alarmed lest our
families should come to harm amid such a gathering; but we could not
have afforded them any relief had we been at home, and it was
necessary to choke back our anxieties as best we might, though it was
difficult at times to prevent the tears from coming into a fellow's
eyes.
The troops and guns had been landed before Darius returned, and, what
seemed to me strange, no other vessels of any size had put in an
appearance. There were pungies, barges and row-boats enough to
entirely choke up the river; but nothing larger than the armed brig
which had first arrived.
When the old man came back we learned why the fleet had apparently
shrunken to such small proportions as compared with the size of the
army.
"Nearly every vessel is aground," he said when he approached our
hiding-place with every evidence of having traveled long and rapidly.
"The river is black with 'em from here to the point, an' some are
likely to stay quite a spell on the mud unless mighty quick work at
lighterin' is done. I allowed the Britishers had better sense than to
run ships up here where there's about half water enough to float 'em."
"But what is the meaning of their landing so many men?" I asked.
"There are twice as many as would be needed to capture the whole of
Charles and Calvert counties."
"It's Washington they're aimin' at," the old man said confidently,
"though why they've stopped here I can't figger out, unless it is that
so many of the ships are aground. Whoever is responsible for this end
of the Britishers' movement has made a big blunder."
"Will they do any harm to the townspeople, think you?" I asked
anxiously.
"It don't stand to reason they would. There may be some plunderin' by
the rank an' file; but that's to be expected. You're thinkin' of your
mother an' the children, eh? Well, don't worry; they won't come to
harm, an' on that I'll go bail."
"There's no tellin' how soon some of that crowd will come over here,"
Jerry suggested. "There ain't room enough on that side of the river
for all hands of 'em, an' they'll begin to spread out pretty quick."
"That won't bother us any, for we're goin' to pull up stakes," Darius
replied quietly.
"Are we to join the fleet?" I asked.
"It's the proper thing just now, I reckon, seein's there ain't likely
to be anythin' new around here till the enemy pushes on up the river,
which will be when he has floated some of his vessels."
Even after making this statement Darius appeared to be in no hurry to
move on. He sat amid the foliage watching the throngs on the opposite
side of the river until half a dozen officers came down close to the
water's edge, having in their midst one in civilian's garb.
"There's a friend of yours," the old man said quietly as he motioned
toward the group, "an' you can eat my head if I don't guess what's
up."
My face flushed with answer as I looked in the direction indicated,
and there saw in earnest converse with the Britishers, Elias
Macomber, the traitor.
"He has joined his friends without losin' any time. I wish I could get
my fingers around his throat for a couple of minutes!" Jerry cried,
shaking his fist in impotent rage.
"An' I reckon you'll soon have that chance, lad," Darius said, calm
and serene as a summer's morning. "Watch out now, an' you'll get an
idee of the whole business, which will go to show that you didn't lose
anythin' much when you left him at Hog Point. It wouldn't surprise me
a little bit if he's had a good share in sendin' the ships aground,
for he couldn't have told within ten feet, of the water to be found in
the channel."
I failed to understand very much of what the old man referred to; but
kept my eyes fixed on the opposite shore, and saw that Elias was
making ready to embark in a canoe, which was hauled up near at hand.
"He's goin' back to see how many vessels are aground," Jerry
suggested, and Darius added placidly:
"You'll find that he's bound up river spyin', an' we count on goin' in
the same direction."
Now I understood! Elias was to reconnoiter the river for his very good
friends, and we could catch him on his return, as we had done once
before.
I was near to crying aloud with joy when I realized that once he set
out as Darius predicted, nothing could save him from our clutches,
therefore I literally held my breath as he took his seat in the canoe
and pushed off.
Just for one instant my heart sank within me, for it seemed as if he
was bound down river; but it appeared that he was simply making a
flourish to exhibit his skill with the paddle, and then he pulled up
stream, thereby doing Jerry and me the greatest possible favor.
"Yes, he's our meat," Darius said with an odd smile as I looked at him
questioningly. "He'll go somewhere near the fleet, to make certain it
yet remains at the place where he made his escape, an' we won't press
the villain. Give him plenty of time to get well away from his
friends."
Then the old man settled back amid the foliage as if counting on
remaining quite a while, and I no longer thought of anything save the
pleasing fact that we would once more present to Commodore Barney the
miserable renegade.
Darius soon learned that it would not be well to prolong his halt; we
could see the soldiers pointing toward the thicket in which we were
hidden, as if suggesting it as a pleasant camping place when the day
was so hot as to bring perspiration to a negro's face, and a few
moments later some of the lighter boats were pushed out from the
shore.
"I reckon it's time for us to make a move," Darius said as he arose to
his feet lazily. "We may as well be movin' toward the canoe, though I
had counted on stoppin' here till it was a bit cooler."
According to my way of thinking we had no more than time enough in
which to get away, for now at least an hundred soldiers were coming
across, and in case we were discovered lurking amid the underbrush
there would be such a hue and cry that we could not hope to escape.
Darius, however, would not move one whit more quickly because of my
urging; in fact, it seemed much as if he walked the slower to test my
nerves, and instead of parleying with him further, Jerry and I went
ahead at full speed, having due care, of course, to caution.
It pleased me when the old man was obliged to quicken his pace to a
run, for before we were well out of the thicket the foremost of the
boats had gained the shore.
We pressed on rapidly until coming to where our canoe was hidden, and
there we halted, not wanting to embark until Elias had had plenty of
time in which to get well up the river, for, to me at least, his
recapture was more important than the task of carrying information to
the commanding officer.
Lying within the shade of the trees, and so far up river that we could
neither see nor hear the swarm of soldiers which had lighted upon
Benedict, we took things easy for a couple of hours, keeping sharp
watch, however, to make certain that no craft passed us, and then
Darius gave the word to get under way.
By this time it was night, but the young moon and the stars in a
cloudless sky, lighted up the water-way clearly, and we had no fear
that Macomber could give us the slip, unless he returned by land.
We paddled leisurely, for our news was not of such a nature that an
hour or two sooner or later would make a difference so far as
Commodore Barney's plans were concerned, and had gotten such a
distance on our journey that I began to fear the traitor had struck
across the country, when we hove him in view half a mile or more
ahead.
He was still running up the river, but I questioned if he intended to
take any chances on being discovered, for such as he would rather
manufacture information out of his head than encounter danger.
Darius, who had been using one of the paddles, now took the helm, and
the canoe was swung inshore where she would be partially hidden by the
shadows of the foliage, for we did not care to start in open chase
because he would probably take to the woods on discovering us, and
then our chances of making the capture would be small indeed.
When our quarry rounded a bend in the river, shutting himself out from
view, we bent all our energies to the paddles, sneaking inshore
immediately we opened him up again, and thus we rapidly lessened the
distance until at the third turn of the shore we were less than thirty
yards astern.
"Now give it to her, lads!" Darius said sharply. "Put all your
strength to the blades, an' we'll heave him to in short order!"
As we rounded the bend, the water foaming from the boat's bow much as
it would have done from the stem of a ship under full sail, Macomber
was but a short distance ahead, and Darius cried:
"Push her along, lads! Now's our time!" Then, bringing the paddle to
his shoulder as if it had been a musket, he shouted, "Drop that oar
mighty quick, Macomber, or I'll fire!"
The traitor, thus receiving the first intimation that an enemy was
near at hand, glanced backward quickly, and, seeing the supposed
weapon leveled full at him, threw down his paddle with an exclamation
of mingled fear and anger.
We shot up alongside him like an arrow from the bow, all hands of us
reaching out to grasp the gunwale of his canoe, and as we thus made
fast Darius grasped the fellow by the throat.
"You may as well give in quietly," the old man said, tightening his
grasp until it would have been impossible for the man to make the
lightest outcry. "If you flounder about much all hands will go into
the water, an' once there I give my word that you won't come to the
surface, for we don't count on losin' you the second time."
The scoundrel was as meek as any lamb, and when Darius told me to
fasten his arms together with my belt, he held them out obediently.
I took a double turn around his elbows, and Darius ordered him to step
into our canoe, which he did without hesitation, but once there,
seated on the flooring of the boat with his back against the old man's
knees, he glowered at us like an angry cat.
"We reckoned you wanted to see Barney's fleet, when you put off from
Benedict, an' it ain't jest right to make you paddle a heavy canoe so
far," Darius said grimly. "You're goin' back with us, Master Macomber,
an' this time you'll stay."
"Not very long," the reptile said with a snarl. "Admiral Cochrane
declares that he'll destroy Barney's fleet Friday, an' dine in
Washington Sunday. So you see I'm not likely to stay with you any
great while after the British come up the river."
"That is as may be; now I'm countin' that when your admiral gets as
far up the river as Nottingham, if he ever does, you'll be somewhere
else, for we've taken you in charge."
"My time will come, an' then I'll pay off a good many old scores,"
Macomber cried with a look on his face which was not pleasant to see.
"If it does you any good, keep right on thinkin' so," Darius replied
mildly, "an' in the meantime we'll keep our eyes on you. Give way,
lads, the sooner we're with the fleet now, the better it will be."
We had no more than settled well to work when Darius ordered us to
cease paddling, as he half rose to peer steadily ahead, and, quite
naturally, all of us glanced in the same direction.
A canoe carrying four men was coming down stream, and while I was
asking myself if we might not have come upon more British spies, the
old man settled back with a sigh of relief.
"It's the Byard boys goin' home," he announced, and then, as the other
canoe came within hail, he gave them information of what was happening
at Benedict.
"It don't look as if we'd better go back there," Sam Byard said
thoughtfully when Darius had come to an end of his news. "I reckon the
Britishers might make trouble for us, eh?"
"They'd be apt to if it was known you'd just come from our fleet," the
old man replied with a laugh. "The best thing you can do is to turn
around an' follow us. Did you get your money?"
"Oh yes, the commodore handed that over all right."
"Where is Jim Freeman?" I asked.
"The commander allowed it wouldn't be many hours before all hands of
you came back, so he went aboard the pungy to keep ship."
"There!" Darius said triumphantly. "You can see how near Joshua Barney
comes to the truth when he makes a guess! I believe he could stay at
Nottingham without ever gettin' a report from anybody, an' tell just
what the enemy was doin'."
"He'll have a chance to see what they're doin', as soon as some of the
ships can be floated!" Macomber said with a laugh which was not
pleasant to hear.
"Which is more'n you can say for yourself if there's any danger of the
Britishers comin'," Darius retorted. "You're our meat, Master Traitor,
an' will stay in the same keepin' till we've settled our part of what
you call old scores."
Then the word to buckle down to the paddles once more was given, and
the Byard boys pulled their craft around to follow in our wake.
An hour later we were alongside the Scorpion again, and this time it
was not necessary to parley with those on the guard-boat, for, on
recognizing us, they sheered off, leaving our canoe to go where we
pleased.
Neither did the guard on the schooner hesitate to arouse the
commodore, and within one minute after arriving, Darius was explaining
to the commander all that had taken place at Benedict.
"It must be they counted on coming further up the river," the
commodore said half to himself when the story was come to an end, and
Darius took it upon himself to add:
"I allow there wouldn't have been any stop if the fleet hadn't gone
ashore; then the men were landed to prevent you from makin' an
attack."
"That seems reasonable; but they'll be here soon enough, for it is to
this place they must come in order to strike the direct road to
Washington."
Then it was that Darius bethought himself of what Macomber had said,
and he repeated the words, adding in conclusion as he laid his hand on
the prisoner's shoulder, for as yet we had not left the canoe:
"We've brought this cur back, sir, an' hope he won't find it as easy
to slip away a second time. He left Benedict to spy on you, as we saw
from the other side of the river, so we gathered him in."
The commodore looked at the man as one would at a snake, and then said
curtly:
"You'll have to keep him on board your vessel, Darius. Our facilities
for taking care of prisoners are not what they should be. Do
whatsoever you will with him, so that we can make certain of putting
our hands on him when the matter is to be settled. You had better take
up your quarters on the pungy, and if you're needing provisions, my
cook will supply you until rations are dealt out."
Then the commodore turned on his heel, returning to the cabin, and we
pulled around the fleet hunting for the Avenger.
Not until after getting speech with the officer in charge of the
guard-boat did we find the craft, and when we came alongside Jim
Freeman acted as if beside himself with joy. One would have said that
we had been separated a full year by the way he welcomed us, and when
his eyes fell on Elias Macomber it was as if he had lost his senses.
Well, we took the prisoner aboard the pungy, securing him in the hold
by lashing his hands behind him, and making them fast to a ringbolt,
thus giving him a chance to sit down; but he could neither stand nor
stretch out at full length.
"It won't be none too comfortable; but it's the best we can do now,"
Darius said to the prisoner as if apologizing for not making him more
secure. "At all events, I reckon you'll be here in the mornin', an'
then we may make a change."
The main hatch was put on and fastened down with the bar, after which
we went into the cuddy, ready for anything in the way of provisions
that Jim could set before us.
He was not overly well supplied, having been on board only a few
hours, but we contrived to make a hearty meal, and while eating Jim
heard all we could tell him regarding the occupation of Benedict by
the British forces.
It was past midnight when we turned in, so tired that all hands fell
asleep within two minutes after making ready, and it seemed to me that
I had not fairly closed my eyes when we were awakened by a vigorous
pounding on the side of the vessel.
Darius had his head out of the companion-way before it was possible
for me to get on my feet, and I heard a strange voice cry sharply:
"It is the order of the commodore that every vessel in the fleet move
up to Pig Point without delay. Rations will be served there at noon
to-morrow."
Then I heard the sound of oars as the messenger-boat was pulled to the
next craft, and Darius said hurriedly:
"Lads, I'll admit that there are a good many vessels in this 'ere
fleet what can sail clean around the Avenger; but let's show the
commodore that there's no crew under him who will obey orders more
smartly. Turn out lively, my bully boys! Jim, you an' Dody get home
the anchor, an' the rest of us will tail on to the halliards!"
Darius had a willing crew if there was any opportunity to win the
praise of the commander, and he was not yet at an end of giving his
orders when we began work.
I venture to say that within sixty seconds from the time we were
hailed, the Avenger was making way, rubbing past this craft and that
as she literally forced a passage through the fleet, and all this
before any signs of life could be seen on the other vessels. Even the
Scorpion was yet lying idly at her moorings.
"That's what I call a good start, lads," the old man said when we were
well clear of the flotilla, and the pungy forged ahead in good style
under the force of a fairly strong night breeze. "We're first under
sail, an' it'll go hard if we don't come to anchor off Pig Point ahead
of any one else."
"Why do you suppose this move is being made?" I asked, for it smacked
much of running away from the enemy, to retreat so far up stream, and
Darius had made us believe that Joshua Barney never retreated.
"The commander has got some good plan in his head, an' it'll come out
before we're many days older," the old man replied confidently.
"But surely we're tryin' to get away from the enemy," Jerry
suggested.
"Ay, it has that look just now, I'll admit; but you'll see some big
scheme in it very soon, or I'm a Dutchman, which I ain't."
"There's a boat dead ahead, with four men rowin' an' one steerin',"
Jim Freeman, who had stationed himself in the tow as a lookout, came
aft to report.
"Some smarty who's tryin' to make the anchorage first," Darius
growled; "but with this wind we can sail two miles to his one, so it
won't be that craft which will beat us in."
By this time we were well up with the boat, and to our surprise it was
Commodore Barney himself who hailed:
"Sloop ahoy! Pass a line, and I'll come aboard."
He got the line smartly enough, and when he came over the rail Darius
saluted, as he said:
"We counted you were aboard the Scorpion, sir."
"That schooner won't get off for ten minutes or more, and I allowed
that the other vessels would be handled in the same leisurely fashion,
so, I pulled ahead, thinking to be at the rendezvous before the
flotilla was well under way. You lads obeyed orders smartly."
"It's a way they have, sir," Darius said with a grin, as he looked
over the rail to see that the commodore's boat was being towed where
she would be the least drag on the pungy.
Then it was that I tried to play the host, by asking the commander if
he would go into the cabin.
"It isn't a very nice place, sir; but it's clean, and you may be able
to get some sleep."
"I'll venture to say it's as good a sea-parlor as I, or any other man,
deserves, lad; but I'm not needing sleep just now, therefore will stay
on deck."
Then he fell to pacing the starboard quarter, as if he had been on his
own ship at sea, and we lads gathered well forward in order that he
might see we understood somewhat of the respect due a commander.