CHAPTER II.
AT BENEDICT.
I had not supposed that the people of Benedict would know very muchconcerning what was going on at the lower end of the bay; but theAvenger was hardly more than at anchor when I understood that we couldhave gone to no better place in order to learn what was being done.
We had but just come to anchor, not having time to set foot on theshore, when Jim Freeman rowed over to us, his eyes bulging and everyfreckle on his face standing out like pips on a gooseberry.
"What did you put in here for?" he cried before yet coming alongside."Are you hankerin' to have your pungy burned or sunk?"
"What's the matter, Jim?" Jerry cried. "You're actin' like as ifsomethin' had gone wrong!"
"Gone wrong?" Jim exclaimed, and it did really look as if his eyeswould roll right down on his cheeks. "The whole bloomin' bottom hasdropped out of everything. The Britishers are comin' into the baythicker'n spatter, an' I don't see how you got in here without bein'caught!"
"In here?" I cried in amazement. "Have you lost your wits that youthink the Britishers would come into the Patuxent river?"
"I reckon it's you that are needin' wits!" Jim cried as he scrambledover the rail. "So you think they wouldn't come into the Patuxent,eh?"
"Certainly not, and for the very good reason that there's nothing herethey want."
Jim looked at me in pity, and I afterward understood that there wasgood reason for his so doing.
"How long have you been up Baltimore way?"
"Near to ten days," Jerry replied, hoping to hasten Jim in the tellingof the news with which he was near to bursting. "We had hard work tosell our oysters at any price, an' then it fell a dead calm withweather hot enough to tan a nigger."
"Then there's little wonder that you boys are way behind the times asto what has been goin' on 'round here," and Jim threw out his chest ashe swelled with the importance of being the first to impart startlingnews. "In the first place," he said, speaking slowly as if to prolonghis enjoyment at giving information which would not be pleasing tohear, "Admiral Cochrane, the Britisher, has passed the capes withtwenty-one vessels, an' Commodore Malcolm is below with a fleetloaded with soldiers. Tom Harrison swears there were more'n tenthousand men."
"Somebody has been stuffin' you, Jim," I said, not crediting his news.
"Then they've stuffed Commodore Barney too, an' when he runs I allowthe rest of us had better be huntin' a hole."
"Commodore Barney don't run!" Darius cried angrily, for he neverallowed anything disparaging to be said in his presence of the manwhom he believed to be the greatest naval commander who ever lived.
"Perhaps he don't very often; but he has this time," Jim said in atone so decided that we could not but believe he was convinced of thetruth of his own words.
"Did you see him?" Darius demanded, and I expected that when heanswered this question Jim's story would fall to pieces; but the ladreplied bold as a lion:
"Of course I did! All the boats laid here after the fight in St.Leonard's bay, an' it was only yesterday they scooted up the river!"
Here was news with a vengeance, and I no longer felt the same desireto punch Jim's head which had come over me when he first came aboardwith what I believed was a cock and bull story.
Then, with first one and another asking questions, we learned fromJim that while we were in Baltimore the British frigate Loire hadchased Commodore Barney's flotilla into St. Leonard's bay, andblockaded it there until Colonel Carberry's artillery came down fromFrederick and drove the enemy away.
Then, having learned of the enormous force at the mouth of the bay,Commodore Barney sailed to Benedict, where he remained four and twentyhours, or till word was brought that ten or twelve of the enemy'svessels were bound up the bay, bound most likely for Baltimore orWashington, when he sailed for Nottingham, further up the river.
Darius was more concerned than either of us, for he firmly believedthat Joshua Barney would not have beaten a retreat without firsthaving been positive that an overwhelming force was near at hand, andif there were Britishers near enough to drive the commodore away, wehad got ourselves in a pickle by coming up the river.
The first thought which came to my mind was that the Avenger was ingreat danger of being captured in short order, for I made no questionbut that the enemy would pursue Barney, and we were where we could notescape, save by way of the bay.
Jerry, however, had the idea that all these manoeuvres would furtherhis scheme, and he said as if being thoroughly well satisfied withthe situation:
"We can run up to Nottingham, as well as the commodore, and once thereI reckon it will be possible to make our trade."
"But if the fleet is forced to remain there, all hands will be idle,and the commodore won't care to hire us while several hundred men areloafing around the decks," I suggested, and Jerry's jaw fell.
But Jim had not exhausted his budget of news, although it wasimpossible for him to give us anything more very startling.
"The commodore had only got eight pungies an' five barges of thefleet--"
"Where are the other boats?" Darius demanded sharply.
"Somewhere on the Delaware side; they went off on a cruise before theBritishers hove in sight. He has taken on the schooner Scorpion, whichwas here at anchor, an' I heard one of the officers say that there wasabout five hundred men in this part of the fleet."
"I'm goin' ashore," Darius said abruptly. "It ain't no ways certain tome that Jim has heard this thing right, an' I count on gettin' down tofacts."
Jerry and I were eager to land, and, without even stopping to thankJim for the news he brought, we went over the rail into our canoe,pulling in hot haste for the shore.
Never waiting to speak with such few loungers as were to be seen nearthe water front, I went directly to my own home, and there found moretidings of war.
My father had joined Commodore Barney, as had nearly all theable-bodied men of Benedict, agreeing to remain in service while oursection of the country was menaced by the enemy, and mother seemed tohave the idea that I would follow his example.
Jerry's father had gone with the fleet, and, as she said, only thosewho had been opposed to the war with England, remained at home. Aftergreeting me, and telling what little she knew of the situation, motherset about getting together the few things I owned which might beneeded on a long cruise, and I was ashamed to say that as yet I hadhad no idea of going to fight the Britishers.
Don't let it be understood I believed the United States could havedone other than declare war in 1812, or that I had any secret likingfor the Britishers. I simply believed that I did not have the backboneof a fighter, and preferred to stand at a distance while the moreeager went ahead; but yet I was not really a coward, as I think wasafterward proved.
However, just then it made me feel rather uncomfortable to havemother gathering up my few belongings, and telling me what to do inevent of receiving such or such a wound, and, with my brain all in awhirl, I went out of doors under the pretense that it was necessary Ishould have a talk with Darius and Jerry.
Once alone by myself, behind the corn-crib where no one would belikely to see me, I tried to sum up the situation so far as I wasimmediately concerned, and it did not look cheering. We had sailed theAvenger down the bay and up the river never sighting a single craft,although it appeared that the British were swarming near about ourvery course. It was not probable we could run to the southward withoutcoming across some of their vessels, especially if they were reckoningon pursuing Commodore Barney, and even though we did get to the mouthof the river in safety, where could we go? The big fleets were at theentrance of the bay, and had not come there for nothing; the enemy wascounting on attacking Washington or Baltimore, it seemed certain, andby going to the northward we would likely find ourselves out of thefrying-pan into the fire.
It seemed very much to me as if we had lost the Avenger, whichever waywe turned, and my heart grew heavy, for once she was gone Jerry and Iwere badly off.
Hardly know
ing what I did, I went toward my friend's home, and methim coming my way, a look of excitement and eagerness on his face.
"Well, it seems as if we were in for it!" he cried when we were comewithin hailing distance, and I asked irritably:
"In for what?"
"A bit of fightin', of course. You wouldn't be willin' to stay herewith the cowards Commodore Barney left behind, would you?"
"There are a good many things I had rather do than poke my nose into ahornet's nest," I replied, feeling as if Jerry was in some way myenemy because he appeared to be so delighted with the situation.
"What did your mother say?" he asked, giving no heed to my grumpiness.
"Nothing much; she is getting things ready for me to go away, andwithout so much as asking if I counted on leaving."
"She knows, as I do, that you wouldn't remain behind," the lad cried,showing as much joy as if we were thinking of visiting a peepshow."Come on; Darius is waitin' for us. We must try to get a supply ofprovisions, for it's likely they haven't any too large a store in thefleet."
Then was the moment when I should have declared bluntly that I had noidea of putting myself in a position to be shot at if it could beavoided; but I hadn't the courage to tell him that I would not leaveBenedict immediately, although I was fully determined not to go up theriver.
Jim Freeman and a couple of other boys strolled along, having been insearch of us. They also took it for granted that the Avenger wouldjoin Commodore Barney's fleet, and were come to ask that the three beallowed to go with us.
"It won't do, Jim," Jerry said, taking it upon himself to act asspokesman, although I figured as captain of the pungy. "We can't feedourselves, the way things look now, an' it don't stand to reason weshould add to the crew."
"But I'll bring enough to eat," Jim persisted, and turned to me as hesaid, "I've done you many a good turn, Amos, an' you won't loseanything by givin' me lift now."
"Do you call it a lift to be put where the Britishers can kill you?" Iasked angrily, for if these lads were so eager to have a hand in thefighting as to beg for a chance, it would be all the harder for me todeclare that I wouldn't join the fleet.
"We might carry you as far as Nottingham, if you'd agree to ship onsome other craft after we got there," Jerry said without stopping toask my permission.
"That we'll do, an' be glad of the chance," Jim replied, acting as ifreally overjoyed by the permission to run his nose into danger."We'll be on board in half an hour; you can't get under way beforethen?"
"No; we shall likely be here an hour or more," Jerry said as if he wasthe sole owner of the Avenger, and when the foolish boys ran away atfull speed, he began to figure as to where we could get a small storeof food.
I held my peace, angry and timorous, until we were come to the waterfront, where we found Darius awaiting us, and he, as could be seen ata glance, was of the same mind as Jerry.
"I've found two hams an' a side of bacon!" he cried triumphantly,pointing to the articles which were in the canoe. "If you fellows canscare up some meal, we'll be fixed for a spell. Did you see JimFreeman an' his crowd?"
"Yes; they're goin' to Nottingham with us," Jerry replied, and the oldman asked me:
"How soon can we get under way?"
I hesitated; it was on the tip of my tongue to say that I would notstir a hand in the matter, nor should the Avenger leave her moorings;but, fortunately, I remembered that we couldn't hold the pungy thereto be destroyed when the enemy came up the river, and, to tell theabsolute truth, I was ashamed to declare bluntly that I had no idea ofcasting in my lot with such a firebrand as Commodore Barney.
"We ought to leave here in an hour," Jerry said, making answer becausehe thought I was trying to figure how long it would take us to makeready. "Amos won't need more than ten minutes to get what stuff hismother is puttin' up for him, an' I'm goin' round by the mill to seeif they will trust us for half a bushel of meal."
He was off like an arrow as he spoke, and Darius had no idea that Iwas hesitating as to the course to pursue, for an old fighter like himsupposed it would be a pleasure for me to voluntarily go into theworst kind of a row.
It was fortunate indeed for me that the old man never suspected whatwas in my heart, otherwise I would have been shamed in my home to suchan extent that I could never go there again; but all that came to mindlater. Just then I felt as if I was being cruelly wronged by those whoshould have stood my friends.
Darius would have told me yet further of what Commodore Barney haddone in the past; but I cut him short by saying like a spoiled child:
"I don't care to hear anything more about him; just now it strikes methat we'd better be thinking of ourselves."
The old man looked really distressed, and but for the fact that myheart was sore, I could have laughed because of the mistake he made.Darius really believed that I was grieving over being thus obliged toleave my mother and the children, and he said soothingly:
"I come somewhere near knowin' how it is, lad. At such a time as thisthe least home talk that's made, the better, for it kind'er unstringsa fellow. You wait here, an' I'll go after what dunnage your mother isgettin' together; she'll understand that a short partin' is the best."
I could not have stopped him, for he was off before I had time to somuch as open my mouth, and there I stood leaning against the canoe,giving the people of Benedict to believe I was eager to be fightingfor my country.
Jim Freeman and his companions came along a few moments after Dariusleft, and in order to have some occupation, rather than from a desireto serve them, I offered to put the three aboard the Avenger.
They talked of nothing but what they would do once the enemy gave theman opportunity, until I asked petulantly:
"Is everybody in Benedict as eager to shed blood as are you?"
"Not much," Jim cried with a laugh. "There's Elias Macomber, forexample--he's an Englishman, you know, an' hasn't been in this countrymore'n four years. He's makin' a lot of wild talk 'bout what he'll doto us folks when the Britishers come up the river."
"What reason has he to make any fuss?" I asked, rather for the sake ofsaying something, than because I desired information.
"Well, I suppose all hands have roughed into him pretty bad, onaccount of things he's said, an' now he counts on showin' what hiscountrymen can do."
Now it was that I began to feel glad because of having said nothing inopposition to joining Commodore Barney's fleet. By hanging back whileall the others were taking up arms, I would be ranging myself on theside of Elias Macomber, which would have caused me to be ashamed ofmyself, for he was by no means a reputable citizen.
However glad I might be because I had refrained, or been prevented,from saying that which would have made it appear as if I took sideswith the British, I was in nowise reconciled to the idea of goingwhere the bullets were like to be flying, and, after putting Jim andhis friend aboard the Avenger, I pulled back to the shore in anythingrather than a cheerful frame of mind.
Darius was waiting for me, and he must have run every step of the wayfrom the river to my father's home. He had with him a small bundlewrapped in one of mother's blankets, and said as he pulled the bow ofthe canoe up on the mud:
"I reckon it is jest as well that I went after your dunnage, lad, foryour mother was ready to have a cryin' fit, which she couldn'tperlitely let come on while I was there; but I'll warrant the waterwould have run had you been alone with her."
"She can't be feeling terribly bad, otherwise she wouldn't have beenso anxious to have me go," I said sulkily.
"I don't know about that, my boy. It stands to reason she had ratheranything else happened, than that you should stay at home when thispart of the country needs every hand that can be raised in defense.She feels sore because you are goin'; but I'll go bail she'd have feltten times worse had you said you'd stay back with such as EliasMacomber."
I wasn't in a proper frame of mind to appreciate all that the old mansaid, and continued to consider myself as being abused, although notto such an ext
ent as before I heard about Elias Macomber.
It was noised around in the village, told most likely by Jim Freeman,that we were going to Nottingham to join the commodore, and whileDarius and I stood by the canoe waiting for Jerry, we were literallybesieged by women, whose husbands or sons were with the fleet, nearlyall of whom wanted to send some message, or this or that article whichhad been forgotten at the time of departure.
I believe of a verity that Darius and I charged ourselves with no lessthan twenty errands by word of mouth, and as for packages, why we hadthe bow piled full, until it seemed as if we were to carry somethingby way of reminder for every man under Commodore Barney's command.
Near-by where we stood were also gathered four men whose sympathieswere entirely with the British, and among them, as a matter of course,was Elias Macomber.
These worthless ones who would injure the country which had providedthem with a home, food and clothing, to say nothing of the comforts oflife, evidently counted on ruffling our feathers, believing it wouldbe safe to do so now that nearly all the men were gone from thevillage, and they began by talking loudly of the sorry spectacle whichthe commodore and his followers would present when Admiral Cochraneand his vessels came up the river.
I feel certain that Darius would have held his peace, for he was notnaturally a quarrelsome man, had they made sport of everybody in theAmerican army and navy, save Joshua Barney; but a word against him wasto the old man much as a red flag is to a bull, and in a twinkling thetrouble began.
"The man who says aught against the commodore must answer to me forhis words," Darius said angrily as he strode toward the four who weretrying to bait him. "I'll not stand here and listen to such talk!"
It was Elias Macomber who showed his lack of sound sense by makingreply:
"We didn't ask you to stand here; but if you choose to do so, it'smore than likely you'll hear a good many things which may not pleaseyou."
"Hold your tongue as to Barney, or it'll be the worse for all hands!"Darius cried angrily, and at that moment Jerry appeared, staggeringunder a bag which must have contained a full bushel and a half ofmeal.
I shall always believe Elias Macomber held the idea that Darius was afeeble old man, otherwise he would have kept his tongue between histeeth, for he was far from being brave; but however that may be, hereplied hotly:
"I do not count on choosin' my words when I speak of such a bag ofwind as Josh Barney has shown himself to be!"
It seemed to me as if the words had not been fully spoken beforeDarius launched out, and, in, less time than it takes to tell it, wasin the midst of a hot, one-sided fight, for the Tories all pitchedinto him, regardless of the fact that his quarrel was with Elias.
It stands to reason that I could never remain idle while a shipmatewas getting the worst of it, particularly when his adversaries weremen for whom I entertained no friendly feelings, and the scrimmage washardly more than begun when I took a hand, standing close by the oldman's side.
As I aimed a blow at Elias I saw, out of the tail of my eye, Jerrydrop his meal as he came forward at full speed, and at almost the samemoment a loud splashing in the water caused me to glance quickly inthe direction of the pungy.
Jim Freeman had jumped overboard to do his share toward teachingMacomber a lesson, and when he arrived the odds would be even.
Of course it was a disgraceful spectacle; but it could not have beenavoided, so far as I was concerned, and I did my best, fighting asvigorously as if I had been the one to urge upon my companions thenecessity of joining the fleet.
It is not well that I give too much space to this brawl when there areso many other adventures, in which a fellow might well take pride, tobe recorded, therefore I will only say that we had no very easy taskto down these admirers of King George and the Prince Regent; butfinally succeeded, thanks to the assistance of Jim Freeman.
It is doubtful which side got the worst drubbing, although we claimeda victory because the others ran; but positive it is that the four ofus had all the punishment needed, and were forced to wash our facesmore than once before we could look at each other without a certainfeeling of shame.
"What made you tackle the whole of 'em?" Jerry asked the old man. "Ifthe rest of us hadn't been near at hand, they'd wiped you out."
"I'd tackle twenty if they dared say anything against Joshua Barney!"Darius cried as he shook his fist in the direction where ouradversaries had last been seen. "I'd rather get the toughestpummellin' such as them could give, than keep my mouth shut while theywas slurrin' their betters!"
We were actually obliged to use force with him, otherwise the old manwould have gone in pursuit of the British-lovers, and it was only bytumbling him into the canoe head-foremost, holding him down by sittingon him once he was there, that we could make Darius listen to anythinglike reason.
"Let up on me, an' I'll keep quiet," he said after we had threatenedto continue the drubbing begun by the Tories; "but this much Ipromise, that after the commodore has made shoestrings of thatconceited admiral, I'll come back here an' have it out with EliasMacomber."
"We'll let it go at that," Jerry said as he released his hold ofDarius and went back for the meal, while Jim wrung the water out ofhis clothing as best he could, for the fellow had not stopped to throwoff coat or shoes when he jumped overboard to take a hand in thescrimmage.
It was near to half an hour before we were ready to go on board theAvenger, and by that time it was too late to make any protests againstfollowing the commodore.
My comrades took it for granted that I was equally eager with them tobe where I could do my share of fighting the Britishers, and sostirred up was I by the game of fisticuffs ashore that I actuallyforgot to be frightened by the prospect of taking part in a battle.
We got our anchor and made sail on the Avenger without delay, andthus, in less than an hour from the time of making port, we were offagain on what proved to be a series of wild adventures.