CHAPTER VI.
FEEDING THE ENEMY.
It was evident that Commodore Barney did not propose to spend any moreminutes with us explaining the proposition he had made, and, indeed,it really was high time he attended to others, for no less than fourgentlemen of importance in Nottingham had sent a request for aninterview.
When the commander arose to his feet, after settling the question asto whether we should be prepared to defend ourselves in case theoccasion required, I started up the companion-way stairs, beckoningfor Jerry to follow.
Darius Thorpe, although he had been only a sailor, understood somewhatof manners among people of gentility, and he saluted properly--whichwe had forgotten to do--while awaiting an opportunity to ascend thestairs.
It was as if we no longer had an existence, so far as Commodore Barneywas concerned. We were not yet out of the cabin when he called anorderly to say that he would see such or such a man immediately, andbegan turning over papers on his table without even glancing in ourdirection.
Once on board the Avenger I stopped to face my comrades, thinking thatnow has come the time we should discuss the matter which was of suchvital importance to ourselves; but Darius said impatiently:
"Why do you stop here, lad? Give the word for gettin' under way, sothe commodore may see we know how to obey in sailorman fashion, an' ifthere's any talkin' to be done we'll have plenty of time for tonguewaggin' while runnin' down the river."
"But surely you're not proposing that we shall start without knowingwhere we are going, or what is to be done?" I cried, showing quite asmuch impatience as he had.
"That's jest what I do propose! We can whittle out a plan while thepungy is slippin' down stream, as well as if she was made fast here."
"But what about Jim Freeman and his party?"
"There's no reason why they shouldn't go with us; six isn't any toomany for the crew of an oysterman."
"But do you count on taking them without first explaining thesituation? It strikes me that when a fellow sets about that which mayput his neck in a halter, he is entitled to something by way of anunderstanding."
"If that's all which blocks our makin' sail, I'll soon put an end toit," and Darius beckoned to Jim and his friends, who were standingwell forward that they might not seem to be listening to that whichpossibly was not intended for their ears.
The lads came aft quickly, knowing full well by the expression on ourfaces that something serious was afoot, and the old man said bluntly:
"The commodore wants us to spy on the British fleets. If we're caughton their anchorage, or nosin' around the ships, pretendin' to be whatwe're not, its a case of hangin', an' salt won't save us. If you ladswant to stay aboard, takin' the same chances we do, well an' good; ifnot, you'd better go ashore in quick order, for we shall be under waymighty soon."
"Shall we be helpin' the government the same as if we stayed aboardone of the vessels to do our share of fightin'?" Jim asked, and Dariusreplied:
"Yes, an' a good deal more. If you were taken prisoner after bein' ina fight, it's only a case of goin' to jail on one of his majesty'sships; but if you're taken while on such work as has been given out tous, it's a hangin' for sure, with you at the loose end of the rope."
No one could say that Darius had not put the matter plainly, and Iexpected to see Jim draw back; but to my surprise he said stoutly:
"I reckon we fellows can stand it if you do; we'll stay, an' thecommodore shan't have a chance to say that we didn't hold up our endof the business."
Surely I could make no protest of any kind after Jim had announcedhimself so firmly, and, in order to make it appear that I was reallyeager to set forth on this dangerous expedition, I said quickly:
"Cast off there! Darius, take the tiller! Tail on the halliards,lads!"
We got under way in fine style, and as the pungy swung around with thecurrent, I saw my father waving his hat from the craft to which hebelonged, and thus knew he understood we were bound on some servicefor the commander.
Nor was he the only one who bade us a mute adieu. Half the members ofthe fleet made some quiet demonstration in token of good wishes, andjust then it seemed almost a fine thing to be thus voluntarily goinginto extraordinary danger for the benefit of one's friends andacquaintances.
I am well aware that by writing down all my thoughts I have picturedmyself as a weak-kneed lad, and one who delighted in making a show ofauthority, as has been seen when I was disgruntled because Jerry orDarius took it upon themselves to say that this thing or that shouldbe done, without first consulting me, and yet I hold it is only fair Igive the same plain dealing concerning myself as I try to in the caseof my companions.
Now, however, as we were setting out on a cruise from which not one ofus might return, I was more than glad to surrender up to Darius thecharge of the Avenger, and I was determined that he should keep it,taking whatsoever of honor might come to the commander, contentingmyself with being simply a member of the crew who would ever strive toobey all orders promptly, whatever might be the situation. And in sodoing I counted myself to be wise.
The old man remained at the helm speaking not a word, and chewingvigorously as we worked the pungy down the reaches in face of a headwind, not very strong at that, but the current favored, therefore wehad the satisfaction of knowing that with all our pulling and haulingwe were doing better than two and a half miles an hour.
I had expected Darius would propose that we hold a consultation as toour future course; but he gave no sign of so doing and Jerry finallyasked:
"Where are we headin' for?"
"Fishin'."
I turned away, thinking the old man had given an idle answer to evadequestions; but Jerry was not to be turned down so readily, and he saidwith a laugh:
"We've given over the fishin' business for quite a spell, I reckon.'Cordin' to my way of thinkin', an' seein's how this cruise may turnout to be anything rather than a picnic, I allow that all hands shouldknow what is to be done."
"That's my idee to a dot, lad, an' I'm tryin' to think up some kind ofa plan so that when you fellows begin to figger, I can put in my oarwith some show of sense."
"But where do you reckon that we're bound for?"
"Fishin', lad. Where else can we be bound?"
I turned again, understanding now that the old man was serious, andasked him if he supposed we could do any spying on the British fleetwhile we were wasting time getting oysters or fish.
"Didn't the commodore allow that we should keep right on bein'oystermen?" Darius asked with just a shade of impatience. "How do youexpect we can sneak around the British fleet unless we've got someexcuse for goin' there? It was in Joshua Barney's mind, the way Ilooked at it, that we might sell oysters to the fleet, which wouldaccount for our bein' among the vessels, an' to do that we've got toput in a cargo."
It was plain enough, now that the old man had spoken of it, and Iunderstood that we had a bit of dredging before us in order to makeready for the more important portion of the work.
"But after we get a load, Darius? Shall we sail boldly down the bay,asking the Britishers to buy?"
"That's what I've been tryin' to make out. All of you can figger it'cordin' to your own idees, an' then we'll talk it over."
Surely this was putting it fairly, and we tried to follow the oldman's advice, or, at least I did; but without arriving at anysatisfactory conclusion. The only plan I could put together was thatwe first get our wares and then blunder ahead trying to sell them,trusting to luck for the rest.
We were a silent crew for some time, as each fellow tried to think upsome brilliant scheme, and then, when midnight was nearly come, we hadarrived off Benedict.
"Why not go ashore for an hour?" Jerry suggested, and all of us gladlyagreed, I in particular, because I wished to see my mother once morenow there was no petulance in my heart on account of her willingnessto have me go into danger.
Darius had no relatives, or even very near friends, in the village,therefore he volunteered to keep ship, a
nd Jim Freeman set us ashorein the canoe, taking two at a trip, after which each fellow went hisway.
My mother was overjoyed at seeing me so soon again, even though Iaroused her from sleep to open the door, and asked so many questionsthat I could do no less than tell her all which had happened since Ilast saw her.
She was frightened at learning what we were about to do, and showed itplainly; but never a word did she speak against the project.
"If it is your duty, Amos, I have nothing to say, although I wish mostheartily that others had been pushed forward into danger, and in thusspeaking I am selfish, for then some other mother's heart would ache.Be as prudent as you can without being cowardly, my boy, and may Godbe ever with you. It is believed in the village that Elias Macomberhas gone to join the British, because he has not been seen since lastnight; but if he should escape, Amos!"
"There is little fear of that, mother," I replied confidently."Commodore Barney is not the man Darius has pictured him, if he allowssuch a villain to escape."
After this we talked of family matters until I went up stairs to lookat my sisters and brother who were asleep. Then the visit was come toan end, and I went out into the night with a heavy heart; butdetermined that my family should have no cause to blush for me.
I was the first to arrive at the shore, and, lying at full length inthe canoe, I waited until my comrades returned from their visit.
Jerry and Jim came in company, and appeared to be excited oversomething, therefore to draw them on without asking any questions, Irepeated what my mother had said concerning Elias Macomber.
"Ay, that was the talk in town this forenoon," Jerry replied; "but nowpeople are saying that he came back just before sunset--"
"Back here to Benedict?" I cried in amazement.
"Ay, Jim's mother saw him as he went by her house on the way to hisown. She saluted him, but he made no reply--"
"But to be here he must have escaped!" I interrupted, unable to holdmy peace. "The commodore would not have set him at liberty withouttelling us!"
"That goes without sayin', an' now what shall we do?" Jerry asked asif he had some plan in mind.
"What can we do, except to get away before he brings some of hiscronies down here to make a row?"
"Jerry wants to catch him over again," Jim replied, since my partnerdid not speak. "If he's alone in his house it wouldn't be such adreadful hard job, surely not as compared with what we did at themill."
It seemed as if our own safety demanded that we give some especialattention to the traitor, and I proposed that we consult with Dariusat once.
This was agreeable to my companions, and we boarded the Avengerwithout delay, rousing the old man to bitter wrath when we told thatElias had escaped.
"Somebody will smart for bein' so careless!" he cried. "Joshua Barneyain't the man to overlook anythin' of that kind. Do you allow theremay be traitors in the fleet? It looks mightily like it when a cowardlike Macomber can give 'em the slip inside of twelve hours, for if hewas seen in this town at sunset, he must have been at liberty by noon,ay, even before we got under way!"
"Jerry thinks we might catch him again, by going at once to his home,"I said, impatient to make the attempt or set sail, for I was not easyin mind at lying there while the villain was free.
"And Jerry is right!" Darius, exclaimed, darting into the cuddy andreturning in a twinkling with the old muskets. "See that these arewell loaded, lads, an' if we can lay hands on that cur again, I'llattend to it that he don't walk off like a gentleman at large withinany very short time."
Well, we found the weapons in fit condition for immediate use, andpaddled ashore in a hurry, finding Josiah and Dody waiting for us.They also had heard that Elias was in the village, and we knew beyonda peradventure, even if we had not been certain before, that the curhad slipped away from those who should have guarded him with theirlives.
It was not a long walk to Macomber's house, and on arriving there wefound the building closely shuttered as if deserted; but we were notfor taking outside indications as facts.
Although knowing full well that we were not proceeding in accordancewith the law, since we had no authority for forcing an entrance into adwelling, we burst open the rear door, and made thorough examinationof the place.
The household goods were tossed and tumbled about as if some one hadlately been there having little time to spare; but no living thingcould be found.
The traitor had no children, therefore flight with his wife would becomparatively easy, and I was convinced that he had gone down theriver intending to claim protection from the enemy.
"That's what he has done!" Darius said emphatically when I gave wordsto my belief. "It stands to reason that he went away in a boat, an'there's just a chance we may come up with him yet! Let's get on board,lads, an' if the Avenger knows how to sail we'll bring it out of herthis night."
Then we returned with all speed to the shore; but I had little hope wecould overtake the traitor, because he had at least three or fourhours the start, and a canoe might be paddled twice as fast as thepungy would sail with such a light wind.
Darius, however, seemed certain we would overtake him, and urged uslads to greater speed or more severe exertions until the little vesselwas under way, gliding down the river but little faster than thecurrent would carry a canoe even though no paddles were used.
So eager in the chase was Darius that he would not allow either of usto go below, but insisted that all hands remain on the lookout, lestwe over-run the game, and losing no little time as he swung theAvenger in close to this bank or that where the overhanging foliageafforded a hiding place for a small boat.
Not until daylight did we arrive off St. Leonard's bay, and it goeswithout saying that we had seen nothing of our traitor, neither had wecome across a craft of any kind.
"He's bound now to go on until he overtakes the British fleet," Dariussaid angrily when the coming of daylight revealed the shores to us."We'll have the best of him once we're out of the river!"
"You can't keep up the chase much longer if we count on gettin' acargo of oysters," Jerry suggested, and the old man declared that hewould never throw over a dredge until it became certain that Macomberhad really escaped us.
But after some reflection he was willing to take back his words,knowing we could not go very far into the lower bay without someexcuse for being there, and also realizing that we must never pursueElias within sight of any vessel of the fleet, otherwise he might givesuch information as would cut short our career in this world.
With the coming of the new day the wind came out of the west with aforce that gave promise of providing the pungy with a goodly sizedbone in her teeth, and in case Macomber was no more than two hours inadvance there was yet some possibility of overtaking him.
We usually dredged for oysters off Hog Point, or Parker's creek,therefore in a short time we would be on the fishing grounds, unlesswe took the risk of standing across the mouth of the Potomac on thechance of seeing the traitor, and I did not believe he would ventureto make that long stretch while the breeze was so strong.
By the time we arrived at the mouth of the river there was nonecessity of discussing the situation, for the chase had surely cometo an end.
However great his need of coming up with the British, Elias Macomberknew too much to trust himself in a canoe on the open bay while thewind held as it did, and we knew beyond a peradventure that if he hadnot already gained the fleet, he was hiding on shore somewhere.
It would be folly to spend time in such a needle-in-the-haystackbusiness as looking for him on shore when we had no clue to guide us,as even Darius was forced to admit, and, therefore, we set about thework in hand, which was the dredging of oysters enough to give usexcuse for seeking out the enemy.
It seemed to all of us that we were in more danger through informationwhich Elias might give, than we would have been while playing the spywith him safely cared for on one of the vessels of Commodore Barney'sflotilla, and we went about the work as if it was possib
le to feel thechafing of British halters around our necks.
We began dredging exactly as we would have done had we been trying toget a cargo for the Baltimore market, and never a sail did we seeduring all that day, a fact which told us that the enemy was not yetready to open his campaign.
Not until well into the night would Darius allow that we had asufficient quantity of oysters to warrant us in finding purchasers,and even then there was no more than fifteen bushels aboard.
"It will do for a starter," Jerry said when Jim Freeman proposed thatwe spend one more day dredging.
"But the first Britisher we came across would buy as many as we'vegot," Jim objected, and Jerry replied with the air of one who hasthoroughly turned the matter over in his mind:
"So much the better. We shall then have established ourselves in thebusiness, and can come back for another cargo. There will be lesssuspicion of us the second time."
"I reckon you're right, lad," Darius said decidedly. "We can't expectto gather much of any news the first pop, an' if we get acquainted, itwill be a long step in the right direction."
As a matter of course, the old man's opinion settled the question, andwe hauled around for a run down the bay, double reefing the mainsailand jib, as was proper when you take into consideration the fact thatwe had the same as no cargo aboard to give the pungy stiffness.
Up to this time neither one had made any proposition as to how we wereto begin operations, and I naturally concluded that we would sailboldly up to the first craft we saw, asking if we could sell themoysters, therefore I suggested, when we were standing off on a coursethat would bring us on to the Tangier Islands:
"If we keep up this rate of speed, we may come upon the enemy while itis yet night."
"Ay, lad, an' I'm thinkin' it would be a good plan."
"But people don't go out sellin' things before daylight," I said witha laugh.
"I'm countin' on bein' properly interduced," Darius replied with agrin. "If we're hailed, an' ordered to lay by till mornin', we shallhave one ship's crew that'll listen to us."
I did not understand this explanation more than if it had been givenin Latin; but the others appeared to be satisfied, and I held my peacerather than display ignorance.
We kept our course a couple of hours, and, then, directly in a linewith the Tangiers, I saw the loom of what appeared to be a large ship.
"There's one of the fleet," I said in a whisper to Darius, who was atthe tiller, and he replied in a matter-of-fact tone:
"Ay, lad, I'm allowin' she's the Severn or the Narcissus, both ofwhich made it hot for the commodore in the Patuxent."
"How large are they?"
"The Severn should be carryin' thirty-eight guns, an' the other fourless, if I remember rightly."
"I had rather we made our first attempt with a smaller vessel," Isaid, feeling decidedly uncomfortable in mind now we were so nearbeginning the dangerous work.
"Bless you, lad, we might as well be overhauled by a frigate as asloop, so far as the chances of bein' found out are concerned; butwe're goin' through this business as slick as we did at the mill."
Darius held the Avenger straight for the enemy, and when we were comewithin half a musket-shot I heard the hail we had been expecting:
"Sloop ahoy!"
"Ay, ay, sir!" Darius cried.
"What craft is that?"
"An oyster pungy with part of a cargo which we're hopin' to sell, sir.Can we do any business with you?"
"Heave to, an' lay alongside until daylight."
"Very well, sir," the old man cried, and then he let fly a lot oforders to us of the crew which would have shamed a landsman to utter,for of a verity no sailor could have understood them.
However, by giving no heed to what he said, we brought the Avengerinto position; but I soon saw that the tide was setting us away fromthe Britisher, and suggested that we let go the anchor.
To this the old man would not agree.
"Obey orders if you break owners," he said with a grin, and I knew hehad some reason for thus being so foolish.
However, to make a long story short, we remained hove to until daydawned, and then we were within a cable's length of a large ship,while a mile or more further up the bay was the vessel that had firsthailed.
"Ahoy on the sloop!" came from the second ship, and Darius replied inthe tone of a countryman:
"Ay, ay, sir."
"Why are you loafing around here?"
"We came down to sell some oysters; but the chap on t'other craft toldus to heave to, an' we've been driftin' 'round here ever since. Idunno whether we ought'er go back to him, or try to sell you what fewbushels we've got."
"When did you take them?"
"Last night. Oh, they're fresh enough, if that's what you're thinkin'of. Don't you want to try 'em?"
"What is the price?"
"Ten cents a bushel; that's what we ought'er get up to Baltimore, an'I reckon we might knock off a little if we don't have to run there tounload."
Then, without waiting for permission, Darius began giving us foolorders intended to get the pungy under way, and we came lumberingaround under the ship's starboard, where we could have been blown intothe next world with no more labor than the lighting of a match.
Darius lifted one of the hatches and leaped into the hold ordering usto "bear a hand lively that the gentlemen might taste the oysters,"and passing up a basket full, shouting to me so loudly that he couldreadily have been heard on the ship:
"Pass 'em over the side, Bubby dear, an' be careful how you fool'round the rail!"
I should have laughed at his manner of speaking but that I knew he wasplaying a part, and I did my best to obey the command.
The sailors of the ship, eager for anything by way of a change offood, held out both hands invitingly for the fish, and I contrived toswing the basket aboard.
Then it was that I saw an officer take charge of the fish, calling forthe after steward to come forward, and a moment later some one cried:
"Where's your captain?"
I sung out for Darius; but he pretended to misunderstand, and replied:
"They can have the lot for eight cents a bushel. Ask 'em if I shallbegin takin' 'em out?"
Then it was that I fancied he had some good reason for wanting toremain out of sight, and I looked around in alarm to see what hadcaused the trouble.