CHAPTER XIII.
THE RETURN OF THE CONQUEROR.
"Where is that brave man who, at the risk of his life, rescued ourwounded and our men?" asked Captain Dacres, as he paced the deck of the_Constitution_ with Captain Hull.
"Is he not in the boat?" asked Hull.
"I see him not. I should feel that a great calamity had happened werehe not to return," responded the British officer.
Captain Hull took the glass and looked at the approaching boat.
He knew Tempest so well that he was sure he would be the last to leavethe sinking ship.
Tempest was not in the boat.
"Boat ahoy!" he shouted.
"Ay, ay, sir!"
"Is Mr. Tempest with you?"
The answer came back clear and distinct.
"No, sir; he fell overboard and we could not find him."
Captain Dacres seemed more affected than did the American commander.
"If you will order a boat lowered I will go with a crew to find him,"he said, and there was a deep earnestness in his voice.
"Lower a boat!" ordered Captain Hull.
The davits were swung around and the boat lowered.
Dacres pleaded so earnestly that he was permitted to go with the smallcrew in search of the missing man.
It was a generous act, and the name of Dacres was just as much honoredin Faneuil Hall, a few days later, as that of Cornwallis was execrated.
The little boat skimmed over the waves toward the wreck, portions ofwhich were still burning.
The hull of the _Guerriere_ was floating about, a mass of flame, for,although a wreck, the stout vessel seemed too proud to give in.
Another explosion lifted the little boat out of the water, and sent itscrew into the waves.
They speedily righted it and climbed in.
"See! there he is," cried Midshipman Eagle, pointing to a human headwhich was just discernible on the water.
"Pull for your lives, men!" shouted Dacres, and the men obeyed with ahearty good will.
"Steady there! Look to the starboard side, right! Now, then, boys, fora strong pull."
The little boat shot forward, and Dacres stretched forth his handtoward the floating object.
He caught Tempest's shoulder and held it in an iron grip until youngEagle saw him, and then he, too, reached over and helped to pull theyoung privateer into the boat.
Tempest had lost consciousness, but, as Dacres said, "while there islife there is hope."
"Pull hard, you lazy fellows," shouted the English captain. "A fewminutes' delay, and one of the bravest men I have known will be dead."
The men bent their backs, and the oars dipped the water. Never had boatsped along so fast.
Eagle was rubbing Tempest's stomach and chest as he lay in the boat.
A loud cheer greeted the little crew as the boat was made fastalongside the _Constitution_, and when Lieutenant John Tempest of the_Lively Bee_, privateer, was lifted on deck, another cheer rent theair.
Middie Eagle reported to the captain, and his praise of Dacres was justand generous.
"Dang me, captain!" he exclaimed in an off-hand manner, almostforgetting that he was addressing his superior officer, "dang me, butthe English captain ordered the men about as though they were English,and the boys obeyed. Only think, a few hours ago we were trying to blowDacres into kingdom come, and now we are obeying his commands."
Captain Hull grasped the Englishman's hand with a vigorous grip.
"Thank you, Captain Dacres. If all Englishmen were like you, therewould be no need of war, and you would help us sing 'Yankee Doodle,'while we would join in singing 'God Save the King.'"
"That is how it ought to be, Captain Hull, and God grant it may comesoon. We are one people, even if we do run on different routes."
"Ay, ay, there is room for us both, and some day we shall join hands asbrothers."
While the two captains were talking, the men on deck were rollingTempest over a barrel to eject the water.
The young man was strong and healthy, and was not fated to be drownedthat time.
A good stiff glass of grog seemed to revive him wonderfully, and aftera sleep he awoke just as the good ship _Constitution_, all decked outwith bunting, was entering Boston harbor.
The bells of King's Chapel and the Old South Church were ringing outmerrily, and crowds were gathered on the wharves.
For the display of bunting on the war ship betokened victory.
The city gave itself up to a joyousness almost unprecedented.
There was no time for much preparation, for the _Constitution_ had beensighted only just outside the harbor, but the city did what it could.
A signal was fired for the war ship to anchor until a boat could putoff for the news.
At first Captain Hull was inclined to disregard it.
When war had been declared against England, the flags were all hoistedin the city, but at half mast; funeral dirges were played through thestreets, and a meeting was held in Faneuil Hall to express mourning andhumiliation.
Hull remembered this, and chafed at the thought that Boston was thenearest port.
But he remembered his country, and if Boston wanted to rejoice with thevictors, it might be of advantage nationally.
So he ordered the salute to be answered, and he anchored until the boatcould reach him.
The worthy mayor of the city came off in the boat, wearing all thetrappings of his office.
He clambered on deck with the usual awkwardness of a landsman, andbowed very low as he saluted Captain Hull.
The naval officer was blunt and honest.
He spoke to the point, and never weighed his words long.
He hated obsequiousness, and hesitated whether to deal with the mayorcourteously or brusquely.
But his sense of good manners conquered, and he greeted the citizenwith the greatest courtesy.
"How long wilt thou wait outside the harbor?" asked the mayor.
"One hour. The tide forbids me further delay," was the answer.
The mayor descended to the boat, and was rowed back to the city.
Every few minutes he forgot his dignity and shouted to fishermen,lightermen and crafts of all kinds:
"Get out your flags, England has been beaten."
It was surprising how soon the ships in the harbor were decked withbunting.
Every flag was flying, and all sorts of things pressed into service.
One man tore up his red shirt to make a pennon; women gave up red andblue shawls; children contributed clothing; anything of bright colorwas utilized, and the scene was almost instantly transformed from thesomberness of everyday life to the brilliancy of festival attire.
A great flotilla of gayly decorated boats went out to meet and surroundthe _Constitution_.
The flags of surrounding vessels were dipped in salutation as thewar-scarred veteran ship made her way to the wharf.
The Boston Artillery Company, that organization whose deeds will neverbe forgotten, assembled on the dock and fired a national salute.
As the guns of the _Constitution_ responded, Captain Hull remarkedthat he fired them with more pleasure than when another vessel was thetarget.
The people needed cheering, for all the news had been of disaster.
The British had gained victories on land.
The Canadian frontier, near Detroit, had been the scene of Americanreverses, and the people were beginning to despair.
The victory gained by Captain Hull raised the people into an elysium ofexcitement.
England had been empress of the seas, but on her own domain she hadbeen beaten.
It was no use for any English apologist to declare the _Guerriere_ tobe an inferior ship, for she had been lauded to the skies, and herinvulnerability praised by poet and statesman.
When the British squadron left the English coast, the London _NavalChronicle_ took for its motto the distich:
"The winds and seas are Britain's domain, And not a sail but by permission
spreads."
And the _Guerriere_ was praised in the most fulsome language.
The people of Boston were almost frantic with joy.
When Captain Hull landed he found the city decked with bunting, and thestreets crowded with people.
In front of Faneuil Hall was a large white banner, on which the wordshad been hastily painted:
"The _Constitution_, a bunch of pine boards under a bit of stripedbunting."
The paint was not dry; how could it be?
It ran over the white canvas; but, blurred as it was, it did its work.
With all the enthusiasm, Captain Hull was still the calm naval officer,not spoiled by praise or injured by flattery.
The mayor had given orders for a grand banquet to be prepared to begiven the officers of the ship.
Six hundred sat down, and the first toast, after that of the President,was to the "Bunch of pine boards under a bit of striped bunting."
At the banquet, trying to escape unnoticed, was Captain Harry Vernon,of the _Lively Bee_, privateer.
He wondered whether the people would hail him with the same joy as theydid Captain Hull, were he to return a victor.
But one saw him, and hastened to his side.
"Captain, how is the _Lively Bee_?" asked John Tempest.
"She sails to-morrow, Tempest."
"Is my place still vacant, for I want to sign."
"Your place should be in the regular navy."
"My place, captain, is with the _Lively Bee_."
There was no moving Tempest when he had made up his mind, and, to tellthe truth, Vernon was right glad to have him back.