UNDER WAY.
The boatswain speedily returned with the "bracelets" which he had been
sent to bring, and by that time some of the crew had untied his hands.
They proved to be irons, one for his wrists and another for his feet. In
less time than it takes to tell it the irons had been put on and now
Caleb was a prisoner, sure enough.
"Now, then, take him down and put him in the brig,"[6] said the captain.
"See to it that he does not get anything to eat or a drop of water to
drink to pay him for insulting his Majesty's officer by throwing a
bucket of yeast at him."
[Footnote 6: The brig is a small, dark apartment on board a vessel in
which culprits are confined.]
Captain Moore acted as if he were mad about something, and for fear of
the "gag" with which he had been threatened Caleb was unable to say a
word to him. The boatswain took him by the arm and hurried him forward.
The prisoner was pushed rather than led down the gangway to the brig,
which was ready to receive him. He saw that the grated door was open,
and when he came opposite to it he was shoved headlong into the dark,
not knowing where he was going to bring up. But the brig was not deep
enough to permit him to fall. By putting his manacled hands in front of
him he brought up against the bulkhead with stunning force, and for a
moment he stood there not knowing where he was or what to do.
[Illustration: He was shoved headlong into the dark.]
"There, you rebel," said the boatswain, "I guess you will stay there."
The door was closed and locked behind him, and then Caleb turned about.
There was a lantern outside which threw its beams into the brig, and by
their aid Caleb was enabled to take a view of his prison. It was about
six feet square, large enough to hold all the members of the schooner's
company who were liable to be put there for various misdemeanors, and
there was not a thing in the way of furniture in it--no stool to sit
down on and no bed to sleep on. Caleb drew a contrast between that
room and his plainly furnished little apartment at home and drew a
long-drawn sigh.
"Yes, I guess I will stay here," said he, as he seated himself opposite
the door so that he could see all that was going on on deck. "Am I a
rebel because Zeke Lewis would not let that magistrate fine me? The
magistrate did not care what James said, he wanted to know what I did;
and if that is justice I don't want to see any more of it. And I must go
to New York. And what is going to become of mother in the meantime? I
tell you, I hope that the boys' attempt on this schooner to-morrow will
be successful. How I can pass the night waiting for them I don't know."
The first thing that attracted Caleb's attention was that his irons were
too tight. They pinched him in every way that he could place them, and
he first tried to get them off; but his hands were too big. He did not
think he could live that way until he got to New York, and he appealed
to the first sailor that came along to take the irons off and replace
them with some others; but the sailor smiled grimly and shook his head.
"You threw some yeast at the officer, did you not?" said he.
"He tried to take me while I was minding my own business," said Caleb.
"You would have done the same thing if you had been in my place."
"Well, you had better let the irons alone. They don't pinch half as hard
as the rope will when you get it around your neck."
Here the sailor turned his head on one side and made a motion with his
right hand as if he were pulling something up with it.
"I will not be hanged for that, I tell you," said Caleb. "If the officer
wanted me, why did he not come up to the house and arrest me?"
"You have insulted one of his Majesty's officers by throwing that stuff
on him, and you don't get anything to eat for a day," said the sailor as
he turned away. "You will be hungry before you get your next meal."
"Then I have nothing left for it but to go to sleep," said the prisoner
to himself. "That is, if I can go to sleep. If I was master of a vessel
I would not treat a captive in this way."
That was a long night to Caleb, but he picked out as comfortable a
position as he could on the brig's floor and fell asleep while thinking
of his mother and Enoch Crosby. He was as certain as he wanted to be
that Enoch and Zeke would turn the village up side-down to find what had
become of him, and when they had made up their minds that he was on
board the schooner, they would not rest easy until they had rescued him.
He was aroused by the changing of watches, and then he did not know
anything more until the boatswain called all hands in the morning. He
straightened up and took his position opposite the door where he could
see the crew as they passed to and fro engaged in their duties of the
ship. He knew when the decks were washed down, and when they went to
breakfast. There was a mess chest standing on the deck right where he
could see it, and the Tories took no little delight in biting off their
hard-tack and eating their corned beef before him. But Caleb knew that
there was no breakfast waiting for him, although he was as hungry as he
ever had been.
After breakfast the decks were swept down, and then an order was passed
which Caleb could not understand; but he soon became aware that the crew
were getting ready to go ashore. It was Sunday, and of course the men
dressed in white on that day. Pretty soon an officer passed, and he was
got up with all the gold lace that the law allows, but he paid no
attention to the prisoner. Presently a boat was called away, and then
another, and Caleb could hear the men scrambling down the side in order
to get into them, and he knew that the crew had left barely enough men
on board to look out for the safety of the vessel. What a time that
would be for the men on shore to capture her! While he was thinking
about it a sailor came up alongside the grating which formed the door,
and after looking all around to make sure that no one was watching him,
he put his hand into his bosom and slipped a small package in to the
prisoner.
"There you are," said he. "Eat your fill."
The sailor moved away as quickly as he had come, and Caleb was not long
in taking care of the bundle. He took it back out of sight, so that if
any one chanced to look in to see what the prisoner was doing, he would
not have seen him eating the contents of the package. For there was a
good breakfast in there, and how the man had managed to steal it was
something that Caleb could not understand.
"I wish I had taken a good look at him," said Caleb, with his mouth full
of hard-tack and meat. "I believe that when the attack is made, and it
will not be long now, I can do him a favor. He is not a Tory. He belongs
on our side easy enough."
Caleb did not want as much to eat as he thought he did, for he stopped
every few minutes to listen. But he did not hear any sound to indicate
that an attack had been made on the schooner's crew, nor any cheer to
tell him that all was ready. An hour passed--such an hour as that was,
Caleb hoped he should never live over again--and then hoarse commands
were heard on the deck and then a commotion arose which was greater, if
possible, than when the boats were called away. The prisoner arose
hastily to his feet and pressed his face close to the grating to see if
he could discover anything that created such a hubbub; but he could not
see anything. But the men were all on deck, and pretty soon he heard
the dropping of hand-spikes and the dash of ropes above him as if the
crew were getting ready to train a gun upon the town.
"Bussin' on it!" whispered Caleb, who was so excited by what he heard
that he repeated Zeke's favorite expression before he knew what he was
doing. "It has come. The boys have made the attack and I shall soon be
free. There are two persons I want to remember; one is the boatswain who
threw me into this brig, and the other is the man who gave me my
breakfast. It is coming sure enough."
After the men had got their gun trained, for Caleb was certain that was
what they were doing, there was silence for a few minutes, and then he
heard the splash of oars in the water. He heard Captain Moore's voice
pitched in a loud key, and then he was sure that all of the crew who had
gone off in the boats came aboard. That was something for which he could
not account. If the attack was made it had failed, and the crew were on
the lookout.
"Now, it is mighty strange how those men came aboard," said Caleb, to
himself. "And what was the reason they did not arrest them there in the
church?"
If Caleb had been in the habit of using strong language he would have
used it now, but he did nothing but stand there and wait. The men had
taken the alarm, there could be no doubt about that, for presently he
heard the vessel moving a little as if springs had been got out to her
cables, and she was being moored broadside to the town.
"I wonder if they are going to fire on the village?" said Caleb in great
alarm. "If she does, I wonder what will become of my mother? Why can I
not escape?"
He seized the grating with both hands and exerted all his strength upon
it, but, although he could make the gate rattle, the locks still held
firmly in their place. Fifteen minutes passed in this way, and then he
heard a roar over his head as if heaven and earth were coming together.
Another followed it, and the prisoner, firmly believing that the
schooner had opened on the town, for the purpose of setting it on fire,
left the grating and seated himself once more in the further end of the
brig. The firing continued--how long Caleb did not know; but he realized
that he was shutting his ears to all sound of the guns.
"This thing has commenced war with me at any rate," said he, to himself,
"and if I ever get free and have a gun in my hands that I can use, I
will kill a person for every person in Machias that has been struck by
their shells."
Finally the firing ceased, and a sound was heard like a man's steps
coming down the companion ladder. When he came nearer Caleb saw that it
was the man who had given him his breakfast.
"Say," said he, in a low tone. "How many of them did you kill?"
The man looked around to make sure that there was no one in sight and
then replied--
"None of them. We just fired a shot or two over the town to show them
that we are on guard. Have you got some relatives there?" he added,
noticing that Caleb drew a long breath of relief.
"I should say so. My mother is out there."
The prisoner was about to ask him what was the reason the attack on the
schooner had failed, but he happened to think that by so doing he would
let out some things that Zeke had cautioned him particularly to guard
against; and another thing was, the sailor passed on about his business.
He did not have time to exchange another word with him.
"It is lucky that I did not have time to ask him about the attack on the
schooner," said Caleb, once more returning to his seat. "He is not a
Tory, but I don't know that he is friendly enough to us to keep still
about it. Now I want to know what is the reason I did not hear that
cheer."
Caleb did not have more than two minutes to turn this matter over in his
mind, when some more sailors were heard coming down the ladder. They
proved to be the watch who had been granted shore liberty that day, and
their business was to change their holiday clothes for their working
suits. They worked as if they were in a hurry, paying no attention at
all to the prisoner, and as fast as they put on their working clothes
they ran on deck. Some more hoarse orders greeted them, and this time
they were followed by the creaking of halyards and the singing of men,
which told Caleb that they were getting the ship under way. In a few
minutes the rattling of the windlass joined in, and by listening
intently Caleb heard a man ordered to the wheel. This was as much as he
cared to know. He covered his face with his hands and for a moment
groaned aloud. He was off for New York, he would be put in jail there
for not paying his fine and there was no telling what treatment he would
receive after he got there. And his mother too, who was wondering all
this time what had become of him! He did not know what to think about
her. Enoch and Zeke would have to look out for her, for the chances were
that he would never come back. While he was thinking about it, a sailor
passed by so close to the grating that Caleb put out his hand and
stopped him.
"Are we going to New York now?" he asked.
At this moment an officer, who had stood a little back out of his sight,
stepped into view. It was the boatswain--the very man of all others of
whom he had learned to stand in fear.
"Look here, you rebel," said he, shaking his brawny fist so close to the
grating that Caleb instinctively drew back. "If I hear another word out
of you I will start you in a way that will make you open your eyes."
The prisoner released his hold on the door and retreated to the opposite
end of his cell. He knew what the boatswain meant by saying that he
would "start" him. If he had taken pains to cast his eye about the
schooner's deck when he was brought below, he would have seen the
dreaded "cat" suspended from the main-mast. Its thongs were all knotted
to render the blows more severe, and they were covered with blood. The
"cat" had evidently been used upon somebody's bare back, and Caleb did
not want to bring it into further use. The only thing he could do was to
keep still and let time show him what was coming.