CHAPTER X.
A CHANGE OF BASE.
When we were come near Benedict I was not minded to pass it for thethird time without stopping to see my mother, and I said to Darius:
"There seems to be no good reason why Jerry and I should not visit ourhomes, leaving you to continue on with the news. We can take thecanoe, and paddle up the river to-night."
"It is your place to remain aboard the Avenger," the old man saidalmost sharply.
"What can we do more than would be done by you?" Jerry asked insurprise.
"Nothin', so far as sailin' up the river is concerned; but with thenews we're takin' to the commodore, it is more'n likely there'll be aquick change, when you might be needed."
"There can't be anything very serious happen 'twixt now and to-morrowmorning," I persisted, yet holding to my scheme. "We wouldn't be morethan twelve hours behind you under any circumstances."
"Not if everything was in your favor; but how if you met a boat-loadof Britishers such as we captured the other night? It ain't safe to befoolin' 'round the river alone just now, an' that's a fact."
"Meaning that there is more of fear in your mind lest we come uponspies of the enemy, than expectation Commodore Barney might need ourservices?" I asked, and the old man finally admitted that perhaps suchwas the case.
Then, in my pigheadedness, I declared we would stop in the village,and he gave proof of what he could do when things did not go exactlyto his liking.
"I shall stop you from leavin' the pungy!" he said doggedly, withoutlooking towards us.
"Do you mean to say, Darius Thorpe, that you'd prevent us from goin'ashore?" Jerry cried hotly.
"That's exactly the size of it, lad. I never'd let a shipmate of minerun his nose into danger when there was nothin' to be made by sodoin'."
"But how would you stop us?" Jerry asked, his anger rapidly giving wayto mirth as he pictured to himself Darius, the man whom we had hiredto help us in the fishing, setting himself up to say what we should orshould not do.
"I'd knock you down, with a belayin' pin if it was handy, but if not,with my fist, knowin' Joshua Barney would uphold me in bringin' backat any price the same crew I took away."
I felt certain that the old man believed it his duty to do exactly ashe had said, in case we persisted in going contrary to what he thoughtwas prudent, and I also came to realize that to his mind the dangerwas great, otherwise he never would have spoken in such a strain.
However, I did not let him know what was in my mind; but stood wellforward when we sailed past Benedict, as if I was too angry to havefurther speech, and, probably, acted like a sulky school-boy thinkingthat I was upholding my dignity.
When we had run past the village, however, and there was no longer anypossibility Jerry and I would attempt to go ashore, Darius humblyasked us to come aft, and once there he explained in a friendly waywhy we, who had virtually bound ourselves to serve under CommodoreBarney, should report to him before attending to pleasure or personalmatters. He also made it plain that at this time, when we knew beyonda peradventure the enemy was about to make an attack, it wasabsolutely necessary every American who had agreed to aid in thedefense, should be ready for duty at a moment's notice.
In fact, he showed us so clearly that he was in the right and wewrong, that I was ashamed of having given way to the sulks, and toldhim so, whereat he said:
"Then we'll drop the whole thing right out of our minds, an' now thatit's over, I'll bet you two or three cents' worth of silver spoonsthat we'll be in Benedict on service, sent there by the commodore,before four an' twenty hours have passed."
I would have asked him how that might be, but just then Jim Freemansung out for me to have a look at the cable, which was considerablychafed, and I did not get an opportunity of continuing theconversation.
Again we came up to the fleet in the night; but Darius did not holdany long parley with the occupants of the guard-boat who hailed us,simply saying as he steered the Avenger straight for the Scorpion:
"Private service for the commodore."
We ran alongside the schooner, made the hawser fast ourselves, sincethe single militiaman standing guard at the top of the cabincompanion-way did not see fit to aid us, and while this was being doneDarius leaped on board the vessel, saying in a loud tone:
"We're come on board to report to the commander."
"You can't see him now," the soldier said stiffly, presenting hismusket as if intending to use it in case the old man persisted inadvancing.
"Now look here, you lop-sided lobster," Darius cried at the fullstrength of his lungs, "you report to the commodore that the Avengeris alongside, or there'll be trouble 'twixt you an' me."
It is not probable the old man expected that he could bully thesentinel, who had had his orders as a matter of course; but by bawlingso loudly that he could have been heard on every craft of the fleet,he awakened Joshua Barney, which was exactly what he aimed at doing.
"Who's kickin' up this row?" the commodore asked sternly as he pokedhis head above the hatchway.
"The crew of the Avenger, sir, come to report."
"Get below here at once," and the commander spoke as if impatient tohear that report.
I had counted that Darius should go alone to the interview; but heinsisted on being accompanied by Jerry and me, therefore we followedhim into the cabin.
The old sailor did not spend much time in saluting; but in the fewestwords possible told what he had learned, and the commodore did notappear surprised by the information.
"It tallies with what I have already heard," he said grimly. "How longwill it take the enemy to run up to the mouth of the river?"
"They should be there to-morrow night, for there are some fast sailersin the fleet, sir."
"Find the swiftest canoe in the fleet; put on board rations fortwenty-four hours, getting them from this schooner, and run down theriver without delay. If your own crew is not huge enough to insurequick work, call on for what men you need. Can you leave in thirtyminutes?"
"In five, sir, if we knew where to find the canoe. We're ready, an'I'll keep the same crew."
The commodore ran on deck, hailed the guard-boat, spoke a few words ina low tone, and returned to us, saying as he did so:
"Rout out my cook, and tell him what you want. Say that I give himfive minutes in which to have your provisions on deck. If necessary,in order to learn all which should be known here, send a portion ofyour crew back with the boat, and do the remainder of your workashore. In case I am not here when you get back, report to LieutenantFrazier, and take his orders as you would mine."
All this the commander had said hurriedly, as if the moments wereprecious, and, having come to an end, he began writing at the table,giving no more heed to us than if we never had an existence.
We left the cabin without delay, and while Darius went forward to havespeech with the commodore's cook, Jerry and I clambered on board thepungy to let Jim and his friends know of the new duty to which we hadbeen assigned.
"Its a case of keeping on as spies," I said, after repeating thecommander's words. "You're to be ready at once; but who's to lookafter the Avenger is something that hasn't been told us."
There was no time to say anything more, for at that point theguard-boat came alongside, having in tow a long canoe which looked asif a single stroke of the paddle might send her on a long voyage.
"Here is the swiftest craft on the river, and her owner's heart willbe broken if you allow the Britishers to get hold of her," the officerin charge of the boat said as he passed me the painter of the canoe.
"Do you know what we are to do with the pungy?" I asked.
"My orders are to anchor her further up stream after you have gone.Don't leave anything valuable aboard, for there's a good chance you'llnever see her again."
"We don't own anything valuable, except the pungy herself, and I fancyshe wouldn't be very precious save to two lads like Jerry and me whomay never own one again if anything happens to her," I said with alaugh, for
, strange to say now, when we were about to set off on themost dangerous portion of our work, I failed to feel the slightestfear.
At this moment Darius and the commodore's cook came on deck, eachbearing in his arms a certain amount of cooked food, and this the oldsailor threw without care into the bottom of the new canoe, himselffollowing with the utmost haste.
"Come on, lads, if you count on gettin' any sleep this night," hecried impatiently as he took up one of the paddles.
"Are we to go without weapons?" I asked.
"We shan't need them. If we meet the Britishers it will be in suchforce that half a dozen of the best rifles ever made would do us nogood, and there will be none others on the river with whom we shallwant to interfere."
"But we might run across Elias Macomber," I urged, not minded to goempty-handed on such a perilous voyage.
"It is too late to fool around with spies now," Darius said sharply."They've done us all the mischief possible, an' it's a case ofstandin' before an open enemy."
I had no desire to argue further within hearing of the commodore, andscrambled down into the boat, where my comrades were seated ready tobegin the voyage.
Now indeed was Darius the leader of the party, and after theconversation in regard to the muskets, I was prepared to obey himwithout a murmur.
It is a large canoe which will carry six people comfortably, withoutsign of being overloaded, yet the boat we were in did it, and I wouldnot have hesitated to put in a couple more had it been necessary,while she paddled as easily as a craft half her size.
"It's a great little boat," Darius said approvingly as we began thevoyage with a burst of speed which absolutely surprised me. "I reckonwe could show our heels to the best that can be found on the river."
"Where are we goin'?" Jim Freeman asked, impatient to know moreregarding our purpose.
"That's what I can't say, lad. We'll run down till we see somethin' ofthe Britishers, even though we come off the Tangiers again; but I'mthinkin' we'll do well if we make Hog Point this trip."
Jim would have asked more questions; but that Darius cut him short bysaying gruffly:
"There's a decently good reason for believin' that the enemy may showhimself any minute now, an' if we don't want to get into trouble it'llbe safe to hold our peace. There'll be plenty of time fortongue-waggin' later."
It can be fancied that we remained silent after such a remark and theold man kept four of us at the paddles constantly, himself doing twiceas much work as any other, while the helmsman occupied that post onlyin order to rest himself, the steering blade being shifted from one tothe other accordingly as we grew tired.
For the fourth time we passed Benedict without making a stop, but onthis occasion I made no protest, and when we had run a mile furtherdown the river we came upon a pungy belonging to our village, themaster of which was evidently doing his best to get all the speedpossible out of the craft.
"Better put back!" he shouted nervously, and Darius gave the word tocease paddling as he asked:
"What's the news?"
"The Britishers are comin' this way thicker'n spatter, an' I made upmy mind it was time to get under cover."
"Where were the foremost ships when you saw them?"
"Less'n a mile below Hog Point; it looked like there was more'n ahundred vessels."
"You'd better not count on stoppin' long at Benedict," Darius cried ashe motioned for us to take up the paddles again, and before thecaptain of the pungy had time to ask a question, we were beyondearshot.
"It may be the fleet that's bound for Baltimore," I suggested, notbeing prepared at that time to believe the enemy would attempt to takelarge vessels far enough up the river to disturb our fleet.
"I allow some of 'em are headin' Baltimore way," Darius repliedgrimly; "but you'll find that a good many of the fleet will make atry at stirrin' up Joshua Barney."
I knew the old man believed all he said, because from this out when wewere come to a bend in the river we would steer the canoe close up tothe bank, and slow down until he made certain that the next reach didnot have in it any of the enemy's craft.
In this cautious manner we ran down stream perhaps five miles belowBenedict, when, on rounding a bend, we saw no less than four armedvessels, with a dozen or fourteen barges, not more than a mile away.
"Back water, lads!" Darius cried sharply, swinging the canoe's sternaround with the steering paddle. "Here's where we find our work. I'dlike it better if you wasn't so nearly fagged out; but I reckon we canmake five miles more before you give in."
He had turned the canoe while speaking, and we were running up streamin less than two minutes after having sighted the Britishers.
"Five miles should bring us to Benedict," I suggested.
"Ay, lad, an' that's where we'll make the first stop."
"But do you count that the enemy will get as far up as the village?" Iasked in surprise mingled with no little consternation, for this wasbringing the war home to us with a vengeance.
"Some of the ships may find the bottom; but they'll get a few of 'emthere. Take the helm, Amos, an' I'll pull at the paddles."
Thus far, since we took service under Commodore Barney, all of Darius'predictions had turned out to be correct, therefore I was fullyprepared to believe all he said regarding the danger which threatenedmy native village.
The old man would not allow us to indulge in conversation after theretreat was begun.
"Don't waste your breath by talkin'," he said peremptorily. "We'llneed all our wind to take us to Benedict, an' once there I'll givesome of you a chance for tongue-waggin'."
Within two miles of the village we passed the pungy we had met whilegoing down stream, going by her as if she was standing still, andDarius shouted:
"Keep right on up the river! The Britishers won't stop this side ofBenedict, an' you can only save your vessel by joinin' Barney'sfleet."
"If all I've heard be true I'm as like to lose her where he is as inmost any other place," the captain cried, looking here and thereanxiously as if believing it possible he might find a few puffs ofwind lying around loose.
I was in good shape when we arrived finally at the village, because ofhaving remained at the steering paddle; but the other fellows werewell-nigh exhausted, and when we ran the bow of the canoe up on theshore, not one of them made a move toward changing his position.
"Get your wind, lads, as soon as may be, for we'll pull half a mile ormore up-stream before settlin' down here for any length of time," theold man said, leaping ashore smartly as if he had just awakened fromthe most refreshing slumber, and while hurrying up the bank he addedsharply, "Stay where you are, all hands, until we finish thisbusiness."
What it was he counted on finishing I could not so much as guess, andmy companions were too weary to speculate upon the matter just at thatmoment.
We saw him speak with this or that person who came out of the shops orbuildings as he appeared, and immediately it was as if he haddisturbed a colony of ants. Men and women began running hither andthither in terror, and not a few carried with them household goods ofsuch small value that it was a sheer waste of time to lug them around.In a twinkling the entire village was in a commotion, and no oneappeared to have time to spend on us who had brought the disagreeablenews.
Darius remained beyond our range of vision perhaps ten minutes, andthen he appeared with the four Byard brothers trailing behind him,whereupon Jerry, who had no particular love for these lads, askedfretfully:
"What do you reckon he counts on doin' with that trash? If he neededmore of a crew, it strikes me he might have found better material."
We soon learned what purpose the old man had in mind, for on nearingthe place where our canoe was drawn up, the Byard family went a shortdistance down stream in which direction their own craft was moored,and began making her ready for a voyage.
"One of you lads must go to the commodore with news of what we haveseen," Darius said, speaking quick and sharp as if to prevent us fromholding any parley on the subject.
"The Byards are to be paid forpaddlin' the best they know how from here to Nottingham, makin' nostop on the way, an' he who goes will only need to act as helmsman."
"Are the remainder of the party to stay here?" I asked, not minded totake myself out of the way when so much of excitement might soon bewitnessed.
"Sure. We who stay will be ready to make the quickest trip on record,once we've found out all that's to be known. Who will go to thecommodore?"
No one replied, and by this time the Byards had their canoe afloat.
"We'll draw lots," Darius said after finding that neither of us waswilling to volunteer for the service. "The one who pulls the shortesttwig starts without delay or grumblin', an' I'm free to tell you thatthose who stay behind with me are like to have the toughest night'swork they ever put in."
While speaking he had been breaking into bits a small twig, and fiveof these he held in his clenched hand.
"Make your choice quickly, for we can't waste many seconds over thisbusiness," the old man cried impatiently, and we obeyed his command, Ihoping most sincerely that the lot would fall to some other thanmyself, for I was willing to risk the hard work in order to remainwith the leader.
It was Jim Freeman who drew the short twig, and his face was pulleddown very long when he found that he had been selected.
"Into the canoe with you!" Darius cried, "an' listen well to what Isay. Tell the commodore that we came upon the advance ships of onefleet five miles below Benedict, and are waitin' here to make certainwhat they will do. He is to give these Byard boys three dollars fortakin' you to Nottingham. Make the best time possible, for the fate ofall our vessels in the river may hang on you're gettin' therequickly."
The Byards dug their paddles deep in the water as if determined toobey orders as promptly as possible, and in twenty seconds from thetime Darius ceased speaking the canoe was around the bend of theriver, Jim waving us a mournful adieu as he disappeared from view.
"Joshua Coburn is to go with me to hide the boat further up-stream,"the old man said with the air of a general giving his commands. "Theothers may stroll around the village; but in half an hour every onemust be here on the shore to meet me."
I gave no heed to my companions; but ran at full speed toward home,answering curtly the greetings from the neighbors as I passed, andsoon I was where every fellow longs to be--in mother's arms.
She, good soul, had heard from those who saw us, that we passed thevillage more than once; but never a word of complaint because I hadnot stopped to see her.
The first question was whether I had come to Benedict under orders ofthe commodore, or if I was taking time to visit her which should bedevoted to some other purpose.
I speedily soothed all such fears, and frightened her by saying thatDarius believed the Britishers would make a halt at the village.
At first it was my belief that she should take the children and go farinto the thicket; but she, good soul, soon convinced me that such acourse would be unwise, since it was not known how long the enemywould remain, and she could not stay in the forest very many hourswith the young ones.
"We will wait here, Amos dear. The British cannot be so barbarous asto make war upon the helpless. If you or father was near at hand, andI could go to you, the situation would be far different."
Then she insisted that I should tell her all I had been doing, and bythe time that long story was come to an end I had need to join Dariuson the shore, having stayed the full length of the furlough he gaveus.
It was not certain but that I could see my mother again before we wentup river, therefore our parting was not as sorrowful as it would havebeen had I known all the perils which were to be encountered ere Ilooked upon her dear face again.
The village was in even a greater state of confusion and bustle thanwhen I first passed through it. A full half of the people were on thepoint of running away, taking with them as many household belongingsas could be carried or transported in carts or boats. A large numberstood on the streets undecided what course to pursue, and asking eachperson they saw for advice, while not a few were apparently bent onfollowing the example set by my mother.
I was appealed to for the latest news by a full score before I couldreach the rendezvous; but to all I had the same reply, that I was ingovernment service and could not delay.
I was the last of our party to arrive at the shore; the other ladswere standing near Darius, looking uncommonly glum, and I could wellunderstand the reason for the sadness.
"Did you hide the boat?" I asked, and the old man replied:
"Ay, a little better than half a mile up stream, where we can come ather conveniently in a hurry. We have just been talkin', however, abouttakin' stations on the opposite bank, where it will be possible to seewhat is done without gettin' in the way of the enemy."
That seemed to me a very good idea, for there might be many chancesagainst our slipping away after the British had landed, and I urgedthat the change of base be made without delay.
It was if Darius had only waited for my opinion. Immediately after Igave it he led the way along the road which followed the course of theriver.
Within an hour we had the canoe hidden on the opposite shore, and wereseeking for some spot directly across from the village where we couldsee all that was done.
It was some time before we found exactly what we wanted, and then itwas in the midst of a small clump of trees on a gentle rise of theland, a full two hundred feet from the shore.
Here, by trimming away some of the branches, we could have a full viewof the river and settlement, in addition to being at a safe distancefrom the enemy, who would hardly land on that side of the stream.
"We've got into position none too soon," Darius said as he pointedover the trees on the opposite shore, where we could see the upperspars of what appeared to be a reasonably large vessel moving throughthe water slowly. "Within ten minutes we shall know whether it's acase of watchin' 'em come to anchor an' landin', or takin' to ourheels to gain the canoe before they can get that far up the river."