TURNING THE TABLES.
I was literally trembling with joy when the moment came that I had
gnawed half-way through the rope, and just when it seemed as if success
must attend my efforts, the sound of footsteps told that some one was
approaching.
Only with difficulty did I repress a cry of disappointment and rage,
believing Ezra Billings had come back, and Sam rolled hastily over on
his back that it might not be seen we two had been in communication.
Hope sprang up an instant later, however, when only Luther’s evil face
looked in at us to make certain we were as he left us. I fancy we had
remained so nearly silent that he thought it possible we might have
rigged up some plan for escape, and it was well for us that he did not
know how near such a supposition was to the truth.
“This is the last time I shall have a chance of seein’ you Whigs,
except through the bars of the frigate’s prison, an’ I don’t want to
waste any chances,” he said with an evil leer.
It was difficult to hold my peace, so strongly was I tempted to give
him a tongue lashing; but I remembered that the longer we held him in
converse, even though the subject might be a bitter one, the longer
would we be deprived of an opportunity to continue the work so well
begun, and some such thought must have been in Sam’s mind, for he
remained silent when I knew full well he was actually aching to speak
out that which was in his heart.
“So you’ve come to understand that we’ve got you fast, eh?” Luther
continued after waiting an instant without receiving any reply. “Don’t
forget that I’ve got friends aboard the fleet, an’ they’ll give me
every opportunity of lookin’ in to see that you’re stayin’ where you
belong. If you two Whigs don’t have a hot time from this out, it won’t
be fault of mine!”
We remained silent, and evidently despairing of arousing us to wrath
he wheeled about, returning to his former post of duty. Then, in a
twinkling, Sam was lying on his face in front of me once more.
Nervous and excited as I was, it seemed as if the Tory cur had occupied
a full half-hour of our precious time, though I now question if he
stood over us more than two or three minutes, and I went to work with
my teeth in a fever of energy.
Then, when it seemed to me as if the work was well nigh done, I heard
the sound of footsteps in the distance, and immediately afterward heard
Luther shouting Ezra’s name.
“It’s too late now!” Sam cried despairingly, and I set my teeth hard,
grinding them together in desperation at the same instant that he
exerted all his strength to give one mighty tug.
Then it was that I was near to crying aloud in triumph and exultation,
for the partially severed rope was broken asunder, and at almost the
same instant Sam was at work on the bonds which held my arms behind me.
“Have you found the boat?” we heard Luther cry, and from a distance
came the reply:
“Ay, but you’ll have to help launch her, for the tide is down, an’
she’s high up on the beach. We can take your Whigs there, an’ let ’em
enjoy seein’ us makin’ ready to carry them where they belong.”
My arms were free by this time, and I whispered excitedly:
“Can you see anythin’ that will serve as a weapon?”
“We’re not needin’ any,” was the grim reply. “I’m so eager to get even
with those scoundrelly Tories for what they’ve made me suffer, that I
can handle twice my weight, in anythin’ like a fair fight,” and Sam
crept toward the fringe of bushes, in order, as I understood, to be
ready to receive Luther when next he came.
And he had not long to wait. I crouched low that the cur might not
suspect anything and remain at a distance until Ezra came up, and by so
doing showed more wisdom than at any time since having called myself
the leader of the Minute Boys, for Luther, eager to set us in motion,
came running through the screen of foliage as he shouted:
“You’re to move lively, now, you miserable Whigs, an’ if either of you
tries to hang back in the harness, he’ll get a dose that won’t quickly
be forgotten.”
Luther set us in motion all right; but we were not the ones who got the
dose just then. When the Tory came through the bushes, Sam, who was
bending low behind the screen, caught him by the legs, and the fellow
went headlong to the ground, I clapping my hand with no gentle force
over his mouth even as he fell.
“Get that belt which was buckled on my arms!” I whispered. “Work
lively, an’ I’ll keep his tongue still so Ezra won’t suspect anythin’.”
It was impossible for Luther to put up much of a fight while one of my
hands was over his mouth and the other on the top of his head pressing
it down among the pine needles, and Sam was by no means a laggard in
obeying the command I had given.
He had the belt buckled around Luther’s arms almost before I was done
speaking, and then ripped off a goodly piece of the Tory’s shirt, with
which he made a gag. When this last was in place, and held by the rope
that had so lately fettered Sam, we were ready to give Master Billings
the reception of his life, and there is no question in my mind but that
he got it.
“Have the Whigs nestled ’round much since I left?” he asked with a
laugh as he stepped within the line of bushes, and on the instant I
dealt him a blow on the chin that seemingly knocked the life out of
him, for he fell like a log, and Sam asked nervously:
“Have you killed him, Eph?”
“I reckon there’s life enough left in him to do considerable mischief
to the Cause if so be he has the chance. He was needin’ that same dose
for the squarin’ of accounts between us, an’ I reckon he got it full
an’ plenty. I wouldn’t trust these sneakin’ Tories even when they look
harmless, so while I make certain he don’t find himself sufficiently to
raise an outcry, do you see what can be used with which to put him in
somethin’ the same shape we were a few minutes ago.”
By the time we had bound our prisoners securely, each with a gag in his
mouth, Sam and I had sacrificed the greater portion of our shirts; but
this waste of good clothing we did not mourn over, and would willingly
have given up all we wore rather than take any chances of their giving
us the slip.
“That’s what I call turnin’ the tables in good shape,” Sam said in a
tone of deepest content as he wiped the perspiration from his face, for
the night was warm and we had had considerable vigorous exercise. “The
question now is, what we’ll do with the sneaks?”
“Take ’em to New York!” I replied emphatically, for while gnawing at
the rope which bound Sam’s arms I had decided what we should do in case
we succeeded in changing places with the Tories.
“New York!” Sam cried as if in dismay. “It can’t be done!”
“Why not?”
“We’d never get from here to Wallabout with ’em, an’ that’s the fact.”
“I can’t see why it shouldn’t be done. With those gags to prevent them
from makin’ any outcry, an’ the points of our pocket-knives for spurs,
I fail to see why the trick can’t be turned, if we set out at once.”
“But what about our work here?”
“It won’t suffer durin’ the hours of darkness, an’ at least one of us
can be back here before the sun rises.”
“There’s nothin’ will please me more than to send ’em as a present
to General Putnam, an’ if you say it can be done, I’m ready for the
venture; but we’ll be in a box in case of runnin’ across two or three
Tories,” Sam said grimly, and I replied with a laugh of relief, for it
was mighty enlivening to be free once more:
“Lads who have been as near a British prison as you an’ I, can afford
to take some chances for the sake of servin’ out properly such sneaks
as these, an’ if by any bad luck we should come across a lot of Tories,
we’ll leave our mark on some of ’em before takin’ to our heels.”
I was not such a fool that I failed of understanding how precious time
was to us just then. If by daylight we had not arrived at Wallabout
bay, then the chances were decidedly against our ever getting there
with the prisoners, for as soon as the sun rose the Tories would be out
in full force, the presence of the British fleet having stirred them
into activity as the sun does half-frozen flies.
Even while talking with Sam I had asked myself what could be done if we
arrived before the sloop had returned from the trip to New York with
Abe, for I was not minded to bring down the wrath of our neighbors upon
my father and mother by making of their house a prison. However, so I
told myself, it would be time enough to consider what should be done
after we had come to the bay, and thus I put all forebodings as to the
future from my mind.
Sam was eager to be off, as indeed was I, and he said to the Tories who
were looking woefully down at the mouth, as well they might:
“You fellows are goin’ to take a little trip over to Wallabout in our
company. We’re not afraid you’ll try to give an alarm in case we come
near anybody, for the gags you’re wearin’ ain’t likely to slip out of
place; but we’ve got to take some precautions against your laggin’ on
the way, because we’re bound to make quick time, so look at the point
of this blade,” and Sam opened his pocket-knife. “We don’t allow to
treat you in any way harsh; but if so be you fail of stepping out as
lively as we’re needin’ to move, I shall put a quarter-inch of this
steel into whatever part of your body happens to be most convenient.
That much you’d better not forget, for it ain’t likely we shall speak
of it again. Now get on your feet.”
The prisoners evidently understood by the tone of Sam’s voice that he
would carry out his threat to the letter, for they scrambled up more
quickly than I had supposed was possible for fellows whose arms were
tied behind their backs.
There was no good reason for further delay, and we set off, driving the
Tories like sheep before us, they striving in good shape not to deserve
the pricking of the knife which Sam held conspicuously in his hand.
I had no good idea as to the time; but believed it was yet early in the
night when we started, and, if no accident befell us we should be able,
even while forced to strike across country, to arrive at Wallabout
before the sun showed himself.
Under ordinary conditions I would have been too weary to walk at any
very swift pace; but the thought of what we had so narrowly escaped
caused me to forget all else, and on I pressed as if having come from a
long time of rest.
Luther and Ezra had probably walked a number of miles before having
come upon us; but they showed no signs of lagging, and when we struck
the trail which showed that Wallabout was less than five miles away, I
believed we had ample time in which to conclude the journey.
“We’ve got over the worst of it,” I said to Sam, speaking for the first
time since we set out, it having been agreed that we would not indulge
in conversation lest the sound of our voices betray us, and he replied
grimly:
“I’d rather not do any crowin’, though I’m beginnin’ to believe that
we’ll work the trick all right. If Luther an’ Ezra hadn’t been quite so
sure things were all goin’ their way, we shouldn’t be drivin’ ’em along
in this fashion.”
I felt reproved, for the lad had hit the nail on the head. It would be
more becoming in me to save my breath for the task before us, instead
of crowing over what was not yet finished.
We pushed forward without slackening speed save once when crossing a
brook, and I would have slaked my raging thirst, when I realized that
our prisoners, with the cruel gags in their mouths, must be suffering
more severely for water than we, and at once said to Sam:
“We won’t show ourselves brutes, even though they were inclined to do
so when everythin’ was in their favor. Stand by to prod ’em with your
knife in case they make any noise when I take out the gags.”
Luther was the first who had the opportunity of wading into the brook
and quenching his thirst. He said never a word until having drank his
fill, and then how the cur did beg that I would not replace the gag!
“It seems as if I should choke to death with that rag in my mouth,”
he cried appealingly. “I’ll agree not to make the least little noise,
no matter how many may come along, if you’ll only let me have a fair
chance to breathe!”
While he was speaking I unfastened the ropes of cloth which bound
Ezra’s gag in place; but he said never a word until after literally
flinging himself into the brook to drink his fill, and we could well
understand how great must have been his sufferings.
“What do you say, Sam?” I asked, and the lad replied:
“I wouldn’t take the oath of a Tory, if anythin’ depended on it, an’
believe Luther would give an alarm if he saw any show to escape, even
though he’d sworn himself blue in the face. However, we know full well
how tough it must be to travel at a good pace on this hot night, with
one’s mouth tied up, an’ if you’re willin’ I’ll take the chances.”
“I’ll remember the favor, Sam Garratt,” Ezra said feelingly as he arose
refreshed from the brook, “an’ if it ever comes my way to do you a good
turn in payment, no matter what happens, I’ll do it.”
Not until this had been agreed upon did Sam and I slake our thirst, he
watching the prisoners closely while I drank, after which I did a like
turn for him.
Now was I more keenly on the alert for any sign of danger. The
prisoners were in condition to bring down upon us those who would
rejoice to send us aboard the British frigate, if so be we came near
to any Tory habitation, and I was resolved that the gags should be
replaced at the first indication that they were like to break the
promises made.
We traveled a bit more rapidly after the Tories could breathe freely,
and were come, as nearly as I could judge in the darkness, within two
miles of Wallabout, when suddenly I heard sounds as of footsteps on the
trail ahead of us.
I had been leading the way, with the prisoners between me and Sam, who
brought up the rear, and it can well be supposed that I came to a halt
in short order, gripping Luther Stedman by the throat as I did so. Sam
did not need to be told that something had given cause for alarm, and
he seized Ezra by the arm, leading him cautiously to one side of the
trail as he displayed his knife ostentatiously.
Within a dozen paces of the path I halted again, trusting that the
gloom of the night would shut us out from view of whoever might be
approaching, and crept back near the trail, leaving Sam to insure
silence on the part of the prisoners, as I knew he could do, otherwise
blood would be spilled.
Nearer and nearer sounded the footsteps, and while I was racking my
brain to guess who might be traveling toward the Narrows at that time
of night, the cause of the alarm came within view.
Just at the point where I crouched behind a friendly bush the foliage
of the trees was sparse, and I could see against the lighter sky a form
that caused me to cry aloud in joy and surprise.
It was none other than Abraham Decker who had sent us amid the bushes
trembling with fear, and the exclamation which escaped me caused him to
wheel about suddenly in alarm.
“Hold on, lad, don’t run away like a coward!” I cried with a laugh
which betokened relief of mind rather than mirth, and he, recognizing
my voice, cried in a tone of anxiety as he came forward once more:
“What has happened that you are here? Where is Sam?”
“Yonder, hidin’ from you. We have a couple of prisoners which we are
takin’ to the sloop, but didn’t count on havin’ such good luck as to
find you.”
By this time Sam came from the bushes driving the Tories before him,
and now it was Abe’s turn to cry aloud in astonishment as he recognized
the prisoners.
“Luther Stedman an’ Ezra Billings! How did it happen that you picked up
sich cattle as these?”
The story of the night’s adventures was not overly long as I told it,
and Abe was doubled up with mirth before I came to the end; but so
impatient was he to understand how our comrade chanced to be returning
to his post of duty so soon, that Sam cut short the laughter by asking:
“Didn’t you go to New York?”
“No; there’s no more wind at Wallabout than can be found here, which
ain’t enough to float a feather. Because there was little show of
movin’ the sloop, Abel Grant proposed to row across in the skiff an’
make the report in my stead, seein’ that I didn’t bring anythin’ of
great importance.”
“Why didn’t you go with him?” I asked, just a trifle impatiently, for
at the instant it appeared to me as if General Putnam might think we
were slighting our duty by thus sending a substitute with the report,
even though it did not appear of great value in our eyes.
“You know full well, Ephraim Lyttle, that to cross in the skiff to
Master Dyker’s dock, than walk down to Bowlin’ Green, an’ return in
the same way, would mean the spendin’ of twenty hours, an’ if I had
done so one of you must have been left on the shore alone when the next
messenger set out.”
The lad spoke truly, and I understood that his had been the wisest
course, but that which puzzled me for the moment was what we should
do. Even though we had taken two prisoners, we were not warranted in
leaving our post of duty to carry them to New York, and, besides, there
was considerable doubt coming up in my mind as to how General Putnam
might view our capturing the Tories.
It was Abraham who settled the matter, by saying:
“I reckon you two had better keep on to the sloop, an’ wait there till
Abel gets back. I’ll toddle along the way I started, an’ you should
join me by noon, though it’ll come a bit hard on the legs; but that you
can forget in view of what you’ve escaped. When you get to the Narrows
I’ll be in trim with whatever of importance I’ve scooped in.”
By pursuing the course he suggested we would still be following, to a
certain degree, the orders given by General Putnam, and at least one
of us could be overlooking the doings of the Britishers during all the
hours of daylight.
Sam agreed this was the wisest course that could be pursued, and
without further delay Abe went on his way, after stipulating that we
set out to join him immediately upon Abel Grant’s return from New York.
We pushed on toward Wallabout with somewhat lighter hearts because of
knowing that there would be one of our number on duty when the sun
rose; but I began to grow uncomfortably nervous regarding this capture
of Tories when we had been sent out for no other purpose than to spy
upon the enemy’s fleet.
Very shortly afterward, as it seemed to me, my mind being so engrossed
with the question as to whether we were doing right in taking Luther
and Ezra to New York that time passed rapidly, we came to the shore of
Wallabout bay.
It yet lacked a full hour to daybreak; but, and this was a possibility
I had not counted on, there was no skiff near at hand by which we could
board the sloop. Abel Grant had taken the one owned by my father, and
there was none other save at Sam’s home.
“I reckon I shall have to go for her, though my legs ache after so much
walkin’,” Sam said grimly. “The sloop can’t get in here, no matter how
long we wait, an’ an hour from now there will be more Tories around
than will be pleasin’ to the sight.”
He hurried away without loss of time, and I sat down on the sand with
the prisoners, relieved at having got them thus near New York; but
anything rather than comfortable in mind regarding the reception we
might meet with from General Putnam.
Sam came back with his father’s skiff, and we boarded the sloop without
having been seen, as I believed, by any enemy from the time our journey
was begun.
Seth Hartley did not need to be told that the Tories were prisoners,
after seeing that their hands were tied; but he asked no questions.
“I’ll have breakfast ready in short order,” he said, at once setting
about the work, “an’ I’m guessin’ you can get solid comfort by
stretchin’ out in the bunks, for you must have traveled far an’ fast.
Did you meet Abraham?”
I told him of our running across the lad on the trail, and explained in
fewest words possible why we had the Tories with us, asking his advice
by saying:
“Sam an’ I are tired, an’ about that there’s no mistake, but we don’t
know how to arrange for a rest without first makin’ the prisoners fast
in some way.”
“Why not give them all the cabin? You can sleep as well on deck in this
weather, an’ we’ll carry the stove into the cockpit. By makin’ the
cuddy hatch fast, you’ll have the lads secure enough.”
As he proposed so we did, he having first carried on deck all the
provisions that might be needed, and then Sam and I stretched ourselves
out on the locker in the cockpit, enjoying the chance to rest our limbs
as we had never enjoyed anything of the kind before.
That Seth appeared to take especial care not to ask any question the
answer of which would give information as to what we had seen or heard,
I set down to a desire that he might not be suspected of betraying
secrets, therefore took good heed to avoid speaking of what had been
done, save in a general manner; but my mind was so full of anxiety
regarding our right to take prisoners that I could not but give words
to the thought.
“I don’t understand how you could have done different than bring the
lads here,” the marine said thoughtfully. “Settin’ them free would only
have been to offer another chance for workin’ mischief.”
I did not expect he could set all my doubts at rest, therefore this
answer satisfied me, and I put the matter from my mind in order the
better to enjoy that which was at hand.
Verily the food was delicious on that morning, and we ate of it--Sam
and I, like lads who had been fasting eight and forty hours. Then,
after suggesting that it be done, Seth carried into the cuddy a
plentiful breakfast, with cold water in abundance, and after closing
the hatch again and fastening it with the iron bolt made for that
purpose, he said:
“You lads may sleep now, trustin’ that your prisoners won’t be tampered
with by me. I have never had any love for Tories, believin’ the people
of a colony should hang together at a time like this, for men that will
work harm to neighbors in favor of a king they’ve never seen an’ who
doesn’t give a rap whether they live or die, are poor cattle.”
“We’re not a little bit afraid you’ll do anythin’ that ain’t straight
an’ above-board,” Sam said sleepily, and then, rolling himself into
a more comfortable position on the locker, the lad’s eyes closed in
slumber.
Within a couple of minutes I followed his example, and when next I was
conscious of my surroundings, Abel Grant stood looking down into the
cuddy as if in there was to be seen some strange animal.
It goes without saying that I was called upon to relate the whole story
immediately he saw my eyes were open; but I refused to begin until
after he had told us of his trip to New York, and Seth aroused Sam that
he might hear the conversation.
“There’s nothin’ to be told, lad,” Abel Grant said irritably, for he
was in a hurry to hear how we had got hold of Luther and Ezra. “I
repeated all that Abraham told me, an’ explained to the general why
one of you Minute Boys hadn’t made the report. He allowed it was jest
as well for me to come, an’ much the same as said he was expectin’ the
Britishers would begin landin’ men on the Long Island shore mighty
soon. It’s the early news of anythin’ like that he wants, an’ I’m told
to say you’re to count the minutes precious till he’s been told. I
didn’t stay above five minutes at headquarters, so that’s all there is
to my yarn. Now let me have yours.”
I wasn’t chary of going into the details when I told of how Sam and I
had been captured, and the way in which we had turned the tables. The
story was a long one, and when finally I was come to the end Abel asked
like a simple:
“Wa’al, now what’er you goin’ to do with ’em?”
“Deliver them over to General Putnam.”
“Do you know that he wants ’em?”
“I reckon that can soon be learned. At all events, if we’re to be of
any service spyin’ upon the fleet, they can’t be left at liberty,
otherwise the Minute Boys will wind up their career in prison aboard
one of the king’s ships.”
“You’re right in that, lad, an’ I was a fool for askin’ the question.
I’m allowin’ you’ll start for the Narrows agin’ ’long ’bout sundown?”
I explained that Abraham would leave his post of duty when the night
was so far come that it would not be possible to see anything on the
opposite shore, and we would be there to take his place at sunrise.
“Then it’ll be him who’ll deliver the prisoners to the general. We’re
goin’ to have quite a stiff little breeze to-night, ’cordin’ to all
the signs, an’ I can set him across in short order after he comes
aboard.”
Abel appeared to think there was nothing further to be said about the
prisoners, and we talked of what the American troops were doing in the
way of making ready for an attack upon the town, until Seth had another
hearty meal ready for our eating.
When due attention had been given to this, Sam and I were set ashore in
the skiff by Seth, and our return journey was begun.
It would have pleased both of us to visit our parents; but because of
having brought in the prisoners it seemed like too much of a risk,
owing to the fact that if any of our Tory neighbors became aware of
our stopping at home for ever so short a time, it might be set down as
proof that Master Garratt and father had had some hand in the capture
of Luther and Ezra.
“We can’t afford to take the chances,” Sam said as he looked longingly
in the direction of home, and then set his face resolutely toward the
trail, I following in his footsteps.