Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 277 — page 11: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

}- 1e le e 1e GOrO cte CO mes ha So ee | ae a te | ‘ee FM acc The Saucy Ja ‘waves, as heipless as a log of wood in a mill- race, _ The crew of the privateer raised acheer at the mp and the Englishmen, with the defiant spirit of the race, answered it with another cheer, as loud as that of the Americans. CHAPTER XI. THE PRISONERS. “‘Qunrer taste those fellows must have to cheer at that sort of thing,” ssid Blair, dryly. “*Let’s give ‘em another, since they like that one so well.” The men at the gun worked at the loading as hard as they could, but they were unable to get it done in time to send another shot at the gal- ley befor the latter had recovered from the mo- mentary confusion, and the negro rowers were rowing away toward shore as hard as they could make the vessel go. The schooner pursued; but the galley had the advantage that her path lay right in the wind’s eye, and so the rowers gained on the sailing vessel at every foot of space made by botb. By the time the Saucy Jane was ready to fire again, the galley had gained water smooth enough to make a sort of show for her to use her gun, and the crew of the privateer were surprised to hear a shot whizzing between their masts, and to see the smoke of the explosion hanging over the galley, as she rolled to and fro on the swells. The sound of the shot showed thet) that Eaton was right in his conjecture that the stranger was armed only with a carronade, for the bum was that of a spent shot, though the distance was not beyond the range of a long twelve-pounder, The Saucy Jane replied with her long thirty- two pounder, and the sbot, as before, struck, when that of the English vessel bad missed. This shot struck the galley in the bow, and knocked a hole through which the water at once began to pour in such quantities that i¢ was seen that the vessel must sink in a few min- utes if help were not speedily afforded to her. No sooner was this plain, than Blair ordered the course of the schooner laid toward the sink- ing galley, without further ado; and ran up to her just im time to find her whole crew strug- gling in the water, and to take in almost all of them, except a few of the marines, who had sunk before the Saucy Jane came up to the spot where the Spitfire had sunk, in twenty fathoms of water It was something of a risk to take in so many prisoners, when the whole crew of the privateer did not rouster more than half of their captives; but Blair never hesitated. A He ordered the schooner laid on her course to help the drowning peop'e, and he took charge of them as fast as they arrived on board, with a politeness that was in strong contrast to the haughty and sullen demeanor of the English men, who seemed to be mortified beyond meas- ure at the easy way in which the little priva- teer had disposed of them, without receiving a single shot. Captain Ferris was the first to be recognized by his uniform, and Blair invited him down to the cabin, and required of bim his parole not to connive atany attempt to rise on the Ameri-’ cans. The English cfllcer wassullenly indisposed to give any such promise, and answered; ‘You cannot expect me to do anything, sir. Tam @n ofhcer of bis majesty, and am bound to do the best I can for him, against all his ene- mies. Fcan give no such lo Blair who was now in his element, answered with the utmost politeness: ‘My dear sir, 1 admire your spunk in the matter. I admit that I would not give my arole, ANY more than you would; and there- fore it relieves me of all necessity of apologiz- ing to you, as I was abouf to do for what will follow.” Then, turning to the men, who had followed him into the cabin, fully armed, in expectation of trouble with the prisoners, he called out: — * Put all the Englishmen in irons at once, and shoov down the first man who makes the slight- est resistance,” The signal given, there was a short struggle; as the Englishmen, infuriated at the idea of e- ing put in irons by a foe they had been taught to despise, fought hard for a few moments to overpower the Americans; but the latter, with the sharp decision of the native character, and its remorseless pursuit of its object, in epite of all distractions, began to fire on the English- men, who were, for the most pert unarmed, as they bad thrown away their arms in their struggle for lifein the water. If they had flinched in the slightest, it is cer- tain that the Britons would bave gotten posses- sion of the vessel; but as it was, in less than five minutes, the whole of the crew of the gal- ley was driven below hatches, and Blair re- marked, ‘“‘Think we managed that pretty well, eh, Eaton? I don’t think Jobnn 1 will tackle us in a hurry, without looking to see whether we have not got a few pistols on board, as well asthe long gun amidships. And now, ay dear fellow, I intend to take command my- ee ee self for a short time, and send you ashore for a message to the Governor.” He said this in the cabin below, in presence of Ferris, who had made no resistance to the iron- ing, but had submitted to it in indignant silence. As the privateersman spoke, he kept a sharp look, out of the corner of his eye, at Ferris, who, on his part, was as impassive as a stone. It was Blair’s object to find out if he was known at the island, ana Ferris’s to hide any trace of emotion that might betray such a knowledge to the strange Yankee, till he had found out who he really was, Blair continued, in the same furtive way: “Yes, I want you to go ashore for me; give my compliments to the Governor; and tell bim that. I have taken a fot of prisoners, and that I want to exchange them, if he has any Ameri- can citizens in quod.” Ferris interrupted bim-* ‘We have none yet; but we shall nave some, if you stay here a little longer, my friend. The whole squadron will be bere in two days at the furthest, and then we can all be exchanged.” Blair turned round on him, with the polite- ness that he always displayed when he was about to do his most malicious acts, and re- torted: *“Much obliged, sir, for the information. Perhaps you will add to your kindness by tell- ing us the exact force of the squadron that is coming to eat us up.” Ferris colored as he answered: ‘*T am not here to furnish information to the enemy, sir.” ‘* Then I hope you will not endeavor to thrust any more of it on us unsoughbt,” said Blair, sharply. ‘I am about to send this officer to see the Governor with a flag of truce, and [ am going to propose an exchange in advance.” Ferris stared. “An exchange in advance!” echoed he, in ‘Tl never heard tones of great astonishment, What the deuce of such a thing in all my life. do you mean?” “I mean that I am going to propose to the Governor to give you all up at once, on con- dition that we are credited with a certain num- ber of prisoners, and allowed to take them out, whenever, in the future, any of ow? men hap- pen to get taken,” was the cool reply of Blair, with a wink at Eaton. “Iam sure you ought to be the last people in the world to object to that, Here you are in irons, and I intend to k ep you there, if the exchange is not made, fn the hold; and lock you up, as tbat Indian fel- low did, in the Black Hole in Calcutta, and let you take your chances of living or dying, just as your countrymen did there. How do you like the prospect, most noble sir?” Ferris eyed bim baugbtily enough. “T think, sir, that if your prefer to make a savage of yourself like Surajah Dowlah, you will share bis fate. You know what became of bim, I sup He was shot to death, for vio- lating the laws of civilized warfare, and you will the same, if you see fit to carry out your infamous and cowardly threat.” Blair laughed outright at the earnest way of the English officer, who fully believed that he meant his threat, ‘* Well, that is a consideration that I admit I had left out of sight, my friend. I don’t want to be shot to death in any way, except in ac- tion, and therefore T may not do as I have told you, except as a last resort; if I find you too obstreperous to listen to reason. In that case I must, for my own self protection, do what I can to save myself from the danger that, you must acknowledge, menaces us, as long as your men and yourself are on this schooner, numeri- cally superior to my men, and all ready to rise on us at any moment. If you will give your parole that the men shall not attempt to rise, I can release you from your own irons, and send you ashore to do my message to the Governor yourself.” Ferris hesitated. ‘“‘T am afraid,” he said presently, “that I couldn’t answer for the nen, though I could for the English part of them. ‘You see, I have a good deal of tlack bumanity on board, and much of it is fresh from Africa, and nof amen- able to anv'hing but blows. It is morally cer- tain that those fellows would rise on you, if they saw half a chance, But them where you please. I don’t care what be- comes Of thew. They are cg Rie Sa area and not liable to exchange. TI will give thy for the rest, and take any message that you mey desire to the Governor.” _. : aton, who could not, for the life of him, imagine what Blair could be driving at, was surprised to hear the privateersman say, in an- swer to the offer of Ferris: “Exactly the very man, of all others, that T should have chosen for my flag of truce. Your name and rank, if you please?” “Captain Austin Ferris, of the Second Foot Guards, aide-de-camp to Lord Gowrie, Gover- nor of Jamaica,” was the proud reply of the mf air kled h her sign air’s eyes twin ; but he let no ot of yi satisfaction escape him, as he asked: “Have you been long on the Island of Jamai- ca, Captain Ferris?” | you can keep ne, Privateer. eee ee | eee rrr eee 11 ‘* About a year, sir,” replied Ferris, coldly. ‘‘Then you know Lord Gowrie well, I pre- sume.” ‘Pretty well, sir. What of it? I really do not see the object of this sort of talk froma stranger. Have you met the earl yourself?” Blair had been waiting for this question, and his answer was ready at once. ‘* Certainly I have. The fact is, I want you to take a private message to him, as well as the official one about the prisoners. Will you oblige me by taking a letter from me to a lady at the Governor’s house, and delivering it to ber secretly?” Ferris stared at the Yankee, with such a mixture of amazement and horror at bis impu- dence, that Blair and Eaton could hardly keep their countenances. As soon as he was able to speak for indigna- tion, he said, fiercely: *’ No, sir, no, sir; a thousand times no: such an offer is an insult, that none but an ignorant Yankee would dare to offer a British officer and a prisoner.” lair affected great astonishment at his an- swer, and blurted out, with an appearance of some indignation. ‘‘Ob, very well, very well, I can get along without your help, sir. Mr. Eaton can get a chance to deliver the letter on the sly, | am pretty sure.” Eaton, who knew, by his commander’s eye, that he was expected to carry on the mystifica- tion of the British officer, replied at once: “Certainly, captain, T’ll be sure to give it to ber, into her own hands, if the Britishers let us ashore.” ‘* But they won't, they won't,” said Ferris, exultantly. ‘“‘They won’t let you asbore, and you can’t deliver any of your insulting letters to any one on the island; much less to Lady Jane Blair.” ‘* Lady Jane Blair!” echoed the bearer of the same name, with an appearance of great sur- prise. ‘“* Who is she, for the Lora’s sake?” ‘She is the Earl of Gowiie’s daughter,” said Ferris, in a moment of unguard. Blair snapped bim up. ¢ “And do you suppose that I meant to send a letter toa lady in her own right?” he asked, as if the idea was too absurd to be entertained, ‘Why, man, I never saw the lady in all my life; but I was acquainted with a man who was to have been married to her, he told me— bis name was Blair—did you ever bear of the man, sir?” Ferris drew himself up, to reply baughtily: ‘Yes, sir, | Aave beard of an insolent scoundrel of that bhame, who tried to get intoa nobleman’s family, on the strength of hav the same family name, and bad to be kick out of the bouse at last, as soon as bis true character was discovered.” ‘*Exactly.” said Blair himself, with a leasant smile, “I rather think that the old’ vernor did threaten to have some kic done; but concluded after all, that the least said was the soonest mended in that matter. However, that has nothing to do with what I was about tosay. The fact is, that this Blair died, about a year ago, and gave mea dying message, to deliver to this lady, if so be che was still alive. You don’t object to my baving a dead man’s letter, sent to the person to whom) it is addressed, do you?’ Ferris, whose face bad changed considerably during the delivery of this sweet little romance, at once said: “Ob, no, if that is the case, it is different altogether. Pardon me, sir, but I fancied you,’ the man, yourself.” ‘ Blair laughed aloud, as if the other had | something very funny, “‘J, ik Blair? Why, bless your sotil, sir, if k Blair had heard you call bim a scoundrel, I don’t think you would have been alive this Frank was always a devilof a fellow with his pistol, and it was a word anda shot with all the time. No, no, sir, you can tell Lo Gowrie, that be may rest easy at nights hére- after; for that Frank Blair bas gone to his long. home, and will never come back, as long as th present dispensation lasts.” ; ia Ferris 4+ pets to be pleased with the news; for he said: ——————————— ———_— — ‘You surprise me, sir; but at the same time - I must admit that'your story is not unpleasing. 1 am, sure that it will be a great relief to Lord = Bech to hear that this man is dead, at ast, , . ‘‘IT have no doubt whatever, on the me answered Blair, in the driest of tones, “I know a good many people in the world, who would be very much relieved at the news: could they know it. But unfortunatety, this time, I cannot let you out to the ‘sland, to communicate this piece of intelligence to Ls a Pe the = yan reason ~ I have etermin to send my mate, Mr. Eaton instead. You ner birente *y othe word, and stay away, after I let you go ashore; but he is certain to come back. In t I am to make you a ee vod nnd ee) eho sad. it was no use to grenible, only vowed ie sullen assent. Eomicbooks (E (E(@)