CHAPTER IX.
AN UNEXPECTED MEETING.
It was as if the elements favored us in the race to Nottingham andindeed I counted it a race in which were pitted against us the Britishfleet and Elias Macomber.
The wind held strong, the day was cloudless, and the canoe, clumsycraft as I had always looked upon her, sailed like a bird. Bill Jepsoninsisted on holding the steering paddle, and we were well content tohave him at the helm, for he held her so nearly to the course that ourwake stretched out behind us straight as an arrow.
Under almost any other circumstances we would have made at least ashort stop at Benedict; but now it was out of the question, and wesailed by at full speed, being hailed by several of our acquaintanceswho urged that we come to for a moment, but we resisted all suchentreaties.
I knew that my mother, on being told we had refused even to so much ashave speech with our friends as we passed, would understand we wereon urgent business, and have no thought that I had slighted her.
When, in due course of time, we passed the mill from which had beentaken the prisoners, it bore the appearance of being deserted,therefore we had good reason for believing that Macomber was the onlyone of our capturing who succeeded in making his escape.
It was late in the night before we came upon the fleet, and werebrought to by a hail from the guard-boat.
The commodore was yet with the flotilla on board the Scorpion, so thesentinels told us; but they were minded to prevent our having speechwith him at that unseemly hour.
Had Jerry and I been alone I believe of a verity we would have beenforced to wait until morning before seeing Joshua Barney; but BillJepson could not be put aside as easily as two lads, and he roared outas if he had been an admiral of the blue at the very least:
"Tell him that Darius Thorpe has sent word from the lower bay, an' itmust be delivered straight away."
"I remember your face, my man;" said the Commodore."Come aboard at once." Page 153.]
In the darkness, when it was impossible to see him, no one could saythat Bill was not a person of the greatest importance, and thesentinels, judging from his voice, must have concluded that he, or theman whose name he gave, was some one high in authority, therefore theynot only allowed us to approach the schooner, but went before toannounce our arrival.
The commodore was not the kind of an officer to keep any one inwaiting simply that due respect might be shown to his station; butcame on deck half-dressed, bidding one of the sailors to hold alantern that he might see who we were.
"So you lads have come back in haste, eh?" he said, on recognizingJerry and me. "Have you by chance lost the pungy?"
"No, sir; she is in the lower bay oysterin', with Darius in charge," Imade haste to say.
"And who is this you have with you?"
"Bill Jepson, sir, who has served under you twice; but is now adeserter from his majesty's ship, Severn, having been pressed into theBritish service nigh to three years ago," the sailor replied, risingto his feet at imminent risk of overturning the canoe.
"I remember your face, my man. Come aboard at once, all hands of you."
We clamored over the rail, having made the canoe fast, and entered thecommodore's cabin.
"When did you desert from the Severn?" Joshua Barney asked, showingmore of excitement than I had ever seen him display.
"Last night, sir, an' it may be by so doin' I've upset some of yourplans; but when I asked for help it never struck me that Darius mightbe there on special business."
"Tell me all the story," the commodore said, motioning toward me, andwithout delay I gave him a full account of what we had done, save thatthen I said nothing regarding Elias Macomber.
Then he questioned Bill Jepson regarding what he knew, and, if I amany judge of such matters, he got considerable valuable information.
The sailor was able to give him the names of nearly all the vessels inthe two fleets, together with their probable weight of metal, andrepeated the gossip which had leaked from the Severn's cabin throughthe marines on guard.
The commodore listened intently, making many notes as Bill spun hisyarn, and when it was come to an end he said:
"You did well to steer for here at once; but I am inclined to believethat the enemy will move very soon. Is there anything else to besaid?"
"I would like to speak about Elias Macomber, sir?" I made bold to say.
"That was the prisoner who escaped? One of them got away, and there isgood reason to suspect that he received aid from some of our men. Wehave no time to look into the matter now; but it shall be thoroughlysifted later, and if there be a British sympathizer among us, it willgo hard with him."
Then I gave him all the information we had concerning the traitor, andwound up by asking if there was any reason why we should not go backand re-take the cur.
"You may as well make the attempt, although I question if he can tellthe enemy anything which is not already known. The utmost he could saywould be that our force is small, and so much the British learned atSt. Leonard's bay. However, I would like to have the fellow; but amnot willing you should run into any danger for the purpose ofeffecting the capture."
"I believe that Jerry and I will be able to get hold of him, and wewill go back at once, unless you have other work for us."
"There is nothing especial that you can do here. Warn Darius Thorpe tobe ready for an immediate move on the part of the enemy, and tell himto make sail for the Patuxent at the first signs of activity. You ladshad better get some sleep before setting off again. Go forward, andsee that you have a hearty meal at once. Jepson, you will remainaboard the schooner."
Bill thanked the commodore, and the three of us went into a sort offorecastle which had been rigged up in the forward part of the vessel,where, after considerable arguing, we succeeded in getting so muchfood as satisfied our hunger, which was no small amount.
Then we turned in by lying down on deck, which was preferable togetting into a bunk on such a hot night.
As a matter of course we were aroused right early, even before anysigns of a new day could be seen; but the three hours of sleeprefreshed us wonderfully, and we were ready to set off down the river.
We managed, at the expense of considerable argument, to get a supplyof provisions from the cook without awakening Commodore Barney, and,after a warm parting with Bill Jepson, cast off the canoe.
Because the wind was blowing straight up the river it was impossibleto use a sail, save at the cost of considerable time, and we took tothe paddles, which seemed like mighty hard work after our experiencewith the rag of a sail.
Don't let it be thought that we begrudged our labor; I would havepaddled till the skin was worn from both hands for the sake ofre-taking Elias Macomber, and looked pleasant all the while; but whena fellow has been flying over the water with no effort of his own saveto keep the little craft on her course, he cannot but contrast thatpleasure with the dreary work of shoving her ahead with an ashenblade.
Again we felt obliged to pass our homes without stopping. It wouldhave taken a full hour, hurry as we might, to go ashore and speak everso briefly with those who would greet us, and in that length of timeElias Macomber could, possibly, join his friends the Britishers.
"We'll keep well over on the eastern shore, where there is less chanceof bein' seen, an' do our best at the paddles," Jerry said as wediscussed the matter just before coming within sight of the village."I'd give a good deal to see mother an' the children; but it seems asif we had no right to loiter."
I was of his mind, and we hugged the opposite bank of the river,keeping under the screen of foliage as much as possible, until therewas no danger of being recognized.
During all that day and far into the night we paddled. Now and thenone would stop to rest his arms; but the other continued the labor,therefore the canoe did not come to a stop from the time we left thefleet until we were arrived at Hog Point.
There we run her bow on the shore while we ate a hearty meal, anddiscussed the question as to whether it
would be better to approachthe house from the northerly or the southerly side.
I was in favor of going ashore where we then were; but Jerry won theday by suggesting that if we ran around on the other side, it would bepossible to see if the British came up the bay, and this last wasquite important to us in case we were forced to spend much timewaiting for a fitting opportunity to catch our game.
After refreshing ourselves with food, we paddled around the pointwithout danger of being seen, because it was so late in the night,and landed at the same place as before, knowing that from there wewould have no difficulty in finding the dwelling.
After pulling the canoe up amid the bushes, and hiding her as well aswas possible in the darkness, we laid down on the ground, fallingasleep almost immediately we had stretched ourselves out at fulllength, and not until the first beams of the rising sun shone acrossour faces did we awaken.
It was but natural that we should look down the bay before doinganything else; but we saw nothing to disturb us. A small craft wascoming slowly up, for the breeze was light; but to her we gave littleor no heed.
We began the day by eating breakfast. Then we saw to it the boat wasso nearly concealed by the foliage that she would not be seen saveafter careful search, and we set out to reconnoiter the premises.
We advanced cautiously, stopping every half dozen paces to listen lestwe inadvertently stumble upon the owner of the plantation, or hisguest, and after spending half an hour in such slow progress, we camein view of the place.
Elias Macomber was pacing to and fro in front of the dwelling, as ifweary of his voluntary confinement, and gazing seaward every fewseconds, for from that side of the house it must have been possibleto get a full view of the bay.
"We might get our musket, an' rush up on him now," Jerry whispered,and I replied as I believed Darius would have done:
"We don't know how well armed Jenkins may be, nor what he will bewilling to do in aid of his friend. My idea is that we should waithere until the owner goes to his work, leaving the traitor with thewomen folks, and even then the task won't be an easy one, for we mustcome out in sight of all hands a full three minutes before arriving atthe house, however fast we run."
"We should have brought the musket with us on this trip," Jerrygrumbled, and I soothed him by saying:
"There is really no time lost. The first thing to be done was to makecertain the scoundrel yet remained here; that has now beenascertained, and I will go for the weapon while you stand watch. Wemustn't be in too much of a hurry, or we may spill the soup."
Jerry was satisfied to act as sentinel, and I walked leisurely back tothe shore, believing that much time must elapse before we would getthe desired opportunity.
Arriving at the shore I spent some minutes searching for the canoe, sowell had we hidden her, and once getting the musket and ammunition inmy possession I strolled down to the beach where I could have a viewof the bay.
Only the single small vessel was in sight, and I was on the point ofturning away, thinking it useless to gaze long at her, when somethingin the rig of the craft struck me as being familiar.
I looked again; laid down the weapon and gazed yet more intently,until finally there was no longer any question in my mind.
The vessel was none other than the Avenger! If Darius was yet on boardwhy had he left his post of duty? If anything had happened to him, whyhad Jim Freeman taken it upon himself to leave the lower bay?
The more I tried to solve the problem the stronger became theprobability, in my own mind, that some serious disaster had overtakenour comrades, and I ran at full speed, giving little heed as towhether the advance might be heard by Macomber, until I was come towhere Jerry remained crouching in the grass, his eyes fixed upon thedwelling.
"You're makin' a terrible row!" he said angrily, never looking around."Fortunately the cur has just gone inside, or he might have heardyou."
"Jerry!" I said, speaking with difficulty because of heavy breathingafter having run so fast. "The Avenger is close at hand; she is thecraft we saw! Something must have gone wrong!"
Jerry turned his head very quickly now, forgetting for the instanthis desire to make a prisoner of Elias Macomber.
"What do you think can have happened?" he asked, and I repliedimpatiently:
"That we shall only find out by boarding her. Come to the beach atonce!"
"But what about our work here?" and now it was the pungy that wentfrom his mind, leaving there only the great desire to accomplish thepurpose for which he had come.
"Never mind that now! It may be we won't want to fool around here onhis account! Come quickly, Jerry, for she was close at hand before Istarted!"
It was actually necessary to shake the lad before I could arouse himto a full sense of the situation; but once that had been done, hefollowed me readily enough, even urging that I move faster.
The pungy was no more than half a mile away when we reached the shore,and we launched the canoe without delay, paddling straight out in hercourse.
As she came up I could see Darius at the tiller, with Jim beside him,and the other two fellows lounging forward.
Nothing had happened to the crew, that much seemed certain, and I wasat my wits' end to account for the Avenger being apparently headingfor home.
When we were come within hailing distance I shouted, never thinkingthat I might be heard by those on the Jenkins plantation:
"Why are you coming back? What has happened?"
"Where is Bill Jepson?" Darius cried.
"With the fleet."
"When did you leave him?"
"Yesterday. What is the matter?"
"Come aboard an' I'll tell you," the old man replied as he threw thepungy up into the wind, and we did not waste many seconds in goingover the rail.
"Now what is it?" I asked impatiently when I stood facing Darius.
"The Britishers are gettin' under way, an' it kind'er looked as if theoyster business wouldn't be any good after they'd left moorin's. Ifthere'd been any wind, you'd be seein' 'em by this time. What broughtyou ashore at Hog Point?"
"Elias Macomber is there, living with Jenkins the planter. We stoppedon our way up thinking to get some provisions, and not only saw thecur, but heard him say he was waiting for the Britishers, to whom hecould give a lot of information."
While I had been speaking Darius brought the pungy into the windagain, and she was standing directly away from the man we had been soeager to capture.
"Here!" Jerry cried sharply. "You must heave to till we get thatvillain."
"How many people do you reckon are in the house?" Darius asked as hetwisted off a large piece of tobacco.
"We've only seen Macomber and Jenkins."
"Don't know anythin' more about the situation?"
"We haven't had time to learn anything more; but it don't stand toreason there are other men."
"They've both of 'em got wives, who'd fight if it come to a pinch. No,lads, the best you could count on in the way of time would be a fullday, an' we can't afford to waste an hour."
"But it wouldn't be wastin' time if we finally caught him," Jerrycried hotly.
"That's where I don't agree with you, lad. The son of a sea-cook can'tgive the Britishers any very valuable information, whereas we can tellthe commodore that which may be the means of savin' our whole fleet.I'd like to lay Macomber by the heels as well as you would; but Idon't believe in usin' a salmon to catch a sprat. We'll run across himsome day; but jest now its our duty to get up the river in shortorder. We'll try the canoe with a little bigger canvas, an' if shesails faster than the pungy you shall go ahead, for an hour now isworth a full day next week."
I was not convinced that the business of catching the traitor beforehe could give his information to the Britishers, was less importantthan that of carrying to the commodore word of preparation fordeparture on the part of the fleet, more particularly since not avessel had as yet hove in sight; but when it came to arguing a pointwith Darius I generally got the worst of it, therefore I held my
peace, although it went sadly against the grain to do so.
Jerry did not give in so readily; but insisted on heaving to thevessel, declaring that he and I would do the work alone, while theAvenger went on up the river.
"You'll do nothin' of the kind, lad," Darius said emphatically."There's no tellin' what Joshua Barney will decide on when he hearsthe word I have for him, an' I don't count to leave you down here atHog Point to be gobbled up by the Britishers, for you're already undersuspicion of havin' had a hand in Bill Jepson's desertion."
"What do you mean?" I asked in surprise.
"Jest what I said. The officer from the Severn declared that you twolads could tell what had become of Bill."
"I had actually forgotten that we aided a deserter," I cried. "Tell uswhat happened after we left the Avenger?"
"Well," Darius said slowly, stopping to twist off a huge piece oftobacco, and otherwise trying to make his yarn a long one so that wemight round Hog Point in the meanwhile. "We run over to the Delawareshore, as I counted on doin', tryin' to find a boat; but it was no go.We didn't see anythin' that would float, an' of course we couldn'tfool 'round there very long after sunrise, else the Britishers wouldsee us, so I made up my mind that the best plan was to face the musicright soon.
"We ran down for the Narcissus; but was hove to by the Severn, an' alieutenant with four marines came aboard. Bless your heart, lad, butthey did search the pungy from stem to stern, even shovelin' theoysters over as if thinkin' we might have Bill under 'em. Then theofficer went on board, an' that little nincompoop of a midshipmanboarded us. 'Where's your crew?' he squeaked, an' I said innocentlike, 'They're all aboard, sir.' 'You're a liar!' says he, 'when I washere last there were five lads on deck, an' now I see only three.' 'Ohthe other fellows have gone home,' says I. 'They only came out with usfor a lark.' 'Where's your boat?' says he. 'She belonged to them,'says I. 'You're a liar,' says he. 'Yes, sir,' says I, which same wastrue, an' off he goes madder'n a wet hornet.
"Then the lieutenant comes aboard after I saw a lot of 'em on thequarter-deck talkin' fit to kill, an' he asks me when you went home. Itold him you lived on the Delaware shore, an' you skipped when thepungy got near shore. 'You're a liar,' says he, an' I agreed with himsame's I had with the midshipmite. 'The boys have helped a deserterfrom the Narcissus,' says he, 'an' have carried him to the mainland.I've a mind to seize your vessel.' I tell you what it is, lads, 'boutthat time I thought the Avenger was a goner, for Britishers inAmerican waters are mighty apt to do whatever comes into their minds."
"Well, did that settle it?" I asked as Darius ceased speaking, much asthough his story had come to an end.
"No, we had three or four officers come aboard later, an' I ain'tcertain but that we'd lost the pungy if signals hadn't been sent up onthe flag-ship, which I took to be a command to prepare for gettin'under way. Leastways, them as was botherin' us scuttled over to theirown craft in short order, an' then there was a heap of knockin' aboutin gigs an' barges, with nobody givin' any attention to us. We'd beenhove to half a musket shot from the ship, an' when I saw they hadother fish to fry an' plenty of 'em, I run close aboard as I yelledlike a countryman, 'Any orders for us, sir?' It was quite a long spellbefore anybody answered, an' I'd sung out two or three times, whenthat little midshipman squealed, 'You are to go about your businesswith that pungy, an' we'll overhaul you again when we have more time!"
"Then you started for the Patuxent the best you knew how," I said,thinking I understood just what should have been done under thecircumstances.
"I wasn't such a bloomin' fool," Darius replied. "We run down to theNarcissus bold as lions, an' I told 'em we'd brought some moreoysters; but they threatened to fire into us if we didn't sheer off,an' then I coaxed for 'em to take what cargo I had, offerin' to sellat six cents a bushel, till they must have thought I was a starknatural fool."
"But why didn't you get away when you had the chance?" Jerry asked insurprise.
"I didn't want 'em to think I was anxious to go, an' meanwhile I hadmy eye on what they was doin', which told plain as the nose on yourface that the signals were as I had thought. I almost cried when Isaid I'd have to run all the way to Baltimore to sell the oysters, an'the best I got from them was more threats. Then we could steerstraight up the bay without givin' rise to suspicion that we was jestnaturally hankerin' to come."
"You played a fine trick on 'em!" I cried, filled with admiration atthe old man's method of getting away from unpleasant neighbors. "Itcouldn't have been done better."
"I'm not so certain of that," Darius replied, but I could see that hewas pleased by the praise. "I didn't have time to think up anythin'different, for the whole business come about so sudden like.Howsomever, we've got news that Joshua Barney needs to hear, an' ourcruise to the lower bay will pay if we can get to Nottingham half adozen hours ahead of the Britishers, which seems to be a settled thingwith this wind."
Then I told him that the commodore felt convinced the enemy wouldadvance sooner than was generally believed, and he said in a tone ofadmiration:
"There's a man for you! He can smell more'n the most of folks can see,an' when he says it's in his mind that a thing is so or so, you canset it down as comin' mighty near to bein' a fact."
Then the old man asked concerning our interview with the commodore,and by the time we had come to an end of our story Hog Point was sofar astern that there was no longer any thought in my mind ofreturning.
I was trying to make the best of the situation, when Jerry saidfretfully:
"It was a big shame that we couldn't have taken Elias Macomber when hewas there ready to drop, like a ripe peach. We might have walked rightup to that house when we first saw him, an' the thing could have beendone."
"But we mightn't have walked back again, if there had happened to betwo or three more in the building than we counted on. Never mind,Jerry, we'll have the traitor before we're many weeks older, andwhat's more, we'll take him ourselves, never asking any man forassistance."