Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 277 — page 21: what you’re looking at

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

ra ~ “ — ~ nee er 2 i —_ — Blair did not seem to be a bit taken aback, | Mr. Hackett,” he said. though Lady Jane blushed furiously. Blair said: e ‘‘ Jane, my love, you must allow me to intro- duce to you our new captain of the Saucy Jane. Captain Eaton—Lady Jane Biair.” Lady Jane bowed in the stiffest possible man- ner, and said: ' : 7 a a ee re kind of a vesse] thatis.” He took the captain’s glass and mounted the | come. rigging to the lofty perch, where the lookout had taken his stand on the cross-trees of the schooner, and was swaying to and fro with the motion of the vessel as she plunged through the heavy seas that were constantly threatening to : The Saucy Jane, Privateer. 21 ee ee “EF want to see what| ‘Let them send a boat, of course, captain. If they want to doit in such a sea, they are wel- ] don’t want to send out any of our | men.” So the schooner was brought to the wind, and _the great ship came swooping down on them ““T thought that you were the commander of overwhelm her and as constantly passing barm-_ this vessel, Frank?” “Only the owner, my love—only the owner. | It is not customary for the owner of a vessel to sail her nowadays. He is apt to be too tender of her, especially if he is a married man, So I have decided to let Eaton have the vessel, and take her home to the United States, as fast ashecan. Eh, Jenny?” Lady Jine looked as if she did not forgive the intrusive man for coming into the cabin so quickly; but she made shift to say, in a short and ungracious manner: “Certainly, There is nothing that we can do while there is war, I suppose, except to get out | lessly under her keel. Up there on the cross-trees the view was much more extended than down on the deck be- low. One could see over the crests of the waves, _and the prospect was by no means a cheerfal | one. The seas had an uzly look. The color of the _ water was very dark, and the whole surface of of the way. I should be frightened to death if | there were any fighting while | was on board. Promise that you won’t allow anything of the sort, Frank. I insist on it.” Blair }ooked at Eaton in an appealing manner, as if puzzled. The young man understood the look, and im- mediately struck in: ‘IT suppose, Lady Jane, you are aware that we are at war with England, and that, if we meet ati English ship, we shall have to fiz ht, as we did this afternoon.” ‘*T don’t suppose any such thing, sir. I sup- pose that it is perfectly proper to run away from her, is it not?” Blair burst out laughing at her simplicity: ‘Why, child, it would be a disgrace forever | to your husband, if he was to run away from anything but a frigate, like that fellow that chased us today. If we me-t any of the small fry, we shall have to fight them, or bave them go round, saying that the Americans are a pack of cowards. Do you want your husbani called a coward, Jane?” The lady’s eyes flashed, as she answered: *1’'d like to hear any one call you a coward, before me.” ““They will, child, unless we fight. Come, that is the question of the hour—shall we fight, or shall we run?” Lady Jane looked, for the first time since she had entered the schooner, a little afraid of the future his words pictured to her, and asked in a low tone: “Ts there no way of getting out of a fight without dishonor, in these times?” ‘‘None whatever, unless one bas to run be- | Then he went down to the deck and order _ small drummer to beat to cause of having ladies on board. In that case we may as well go into port, and give up our cruise for the future.” {ct was Eaton who said this, with a grave face; and the lady looked at him, as if she disliked bim more avd more, for his intermeddling. However, sbe made no remark beyond: ‘Thank you for your information, sir.” Blatr nodded to Eaton to get out of the cabin, the ocean seemed to be a tossing confusion of wave-crests and nothing else in sight, It was some time before Eaton, with all his practice at lookout work at sea, could find the object that had attracted the attention of the sailor at the mast-head. At last he fixed it in the glass, and saw that, as the lookout had said, there was a shipin sight on the weather quarter of the schooner, with all the appearance of a man-of-war, She was coming down toward the schooner with the advantage of the weather-gage, _and bid fair to overbaul her in avery short time, at the rate at which sh® was going. The young commander of the Saucy Jane was a little disturbed at the fact that the stranger was a man-of-war, a conclusion that he came to from the trimnses of the yards and sails in view. The strange vessel bad only her topsails spread to the wind, and her top-gallant yards had been sent down on deck, a sure sign that she was no | merchant vessel, but a well manned ship, And in those latitudes it was pretty certain that any vessel that made its appearance was an enemy, The schooner had been stripped to her fore an l mainsail, both closely reefed, and was plunging in a manner that prevented any ex- hibition of speed on her part. She was going fast enough, but she had to go up and down so often that ber forwafd progress | was not great. And the strange ship was coming down as if the seas did not affect ber. SE S| Sse ' ; She towered over and plunged through them | at a great rate, and was coming up with the Saucy Jane at every plunge. Eaton did not leave the mast-bead till the strange ship bad he could see plait the uarters. In the midst of a s‘orm,; mcreasing every mo- ment, whith threatened to develop into a burri- cane, the crew of the little privateer went to their quarters with a steadiness that won from Eaton the comment: * Welldone, boys. No men-of-war’s-men could bave done that better. Don’t cast loose the gun, till you get the order, We can afford to and soon followed him on deck, when he said to | lt the other fellow begin the action this time; him: , you see. What the deuce am I todo with her? She will not be happy till «e are safe at home, and until I have left the sea. Don’t come down for any more orders; but act your own pleasure, and come to dinner as soon as you hear the bell ring.” CHAPrER XX. “OLD IRONSIDES.” THE Saucy Jane was flying along, the next morning, at fifteen knots an hour, undera gale from the northwest, that had replaced the Trades, about midnight. The schooner had got out of the region of the regular breezes that waft the mariner softly along, for weeks at a time, asin the first voyage of Columbus, till it seems as if storms were things that ought never to be talked about in tropical seas, was in the latitude of the Bahamas and rapidly nearing a hurricane, to all appearance, ton, muffled up in a watch coat that show- ed how the temperature bad changed since the day before, was pacing the quarter-deck and watching the horizon, when the lookout at the mast-head called out: “On deck there! quarter!” Eaton turned round to see where the sail could be that had missed his usually keen sight, but could see nothing. He hailed the top again: ‘‘Whereaway is that sail you talk about? I see nothing.” . The lookout ca!led back: “On the weather quarter, sir. A large ship, bull down from here uess you can’t see her from the deck.” “What do you r-ake of her?” asked Eaton. ** Guess she’s a Britisher, sir,” was the reply of the lookout, as he squinted over to wind- ward. ‘She Jooks like a man-of-war, sir.” A sail on the weather- if he wants to have anything to do with us.” The men replied to this speech with a hearty cheer, and the schooner rushed on her course, followed by the big stranger, till the latter was Lod visible from the deck of the Saucy ane, All doubt that the frigate was an armed vessel was removed, inside of half an hour, when the stranger was seen to yaw slightly from ber course, and the flash of a gun from her bow-port, was followed by the bum of a round shot over the masts of the schooner, so close that more than one of the men crouched instinctively and Eaton remarked to himself, not having any one else to talk to at the time: ‘*That fellow shoots too well for an English frigate.” He had spoken aloud, and the words were hardly out of his mouth, when Blair came run- ning up the a net i and called out, with everv mark of anxiety: ‘- What is it, Eaton? Who is that?” Exton was saved the necessity of answering. The gun had hardly been fired, when the stranger yawed still more, so as to display her whole side and the crew of the Saucy Jane burst into a tempest of cheering the moment they saw ber spanker-peak. Wor there, in the midst of the gray sky, the first time since they left the port of New York, they behela the Stars and St on the ak of an American frigate! lair yelled ouder than any one else at the sight, and [a- ton called to the quartermaster to send — the ensign at once, to show the American frigate, whoever she might be, that it was needless to fire any more shotted puns at such a vessel as the Saucy Jane. The answering flag was greeted from the frigate by a series of signals, which were translated into the demand: “Show your number, or heave-to, till we send a boat on board,” ‘“We have no number,” said Blair, who was ton turned to Hackett, who was pacing the | hanging around, as if be did not like to have a + deck beside him. “Take the deck, while I go to the mast-head, . nothing to do, spite of his recent disclaimer of command, ‘‘ What will you do, Eaton?’ ' | ' with a rapidity that seemed amazing, after the way in which they had kept ahead of ber be- fore, and showed how fast the vessels were go- ing. As she passed them, a boat was drepped from her side, in a manner that showed that she had a well trained crew; came dancing over the waves like a cockle shelk; caught at the quarter of the schooner with the boat-hook, and set on beard a young cflicer, who walked up to Eaton, saying: **Commodore Hull’s compliments, sir—” Then he stopped and started back, with the exclamation: ‘““Why, bless my soul, Eaton, what in the world are you doing here?” Eaton colored bigh. It was the first time he had met any of bis old naval friends, since the day he had gone over the side of the Chesapeake, after the court-martial, The cfficer who bad boarded the. privateer was his old friend and messmate, Liewtenant Vanderwerk, an old Knickerbocker scion, one of the few men who, after the unfortunate re- sult of the court-martial, bad said publicly that he ‘“‘thought Eaton had been treated with in- justice,” and that he ** was certain that he was no coward, whatever else be might be.” And now it was Vanderwerk who was shak- ing Eaton’s hand with great fervor, and say- ing: ; ‘Why, Eaton, old fellow, how sare you, and how in the name of wonder did you come here?” . ‘*T am the commander of this privateer,” said Eaton, coloring with pleasure at the sight of his old friend. ‘*Tbhe owner, Captain Blair, has just been on a cruise to Jamaica, and bas picked up a wife from the enemy. Weare now going home to the United States to land the lady, before we do any more cruising. What ship is that, Van?” Vanderwerk laughed heartily. “ Well, well, and is it nbiatbte that you don’t know the old barky in which we both received all the training we ever had, Why, man, that’s Old Ironsides, the ship which made the Bey of Tripoli teke in bis borns; and, what is more, ~~ 1 not finished ber history yet, by a good eal,” Eaton gazed for one moment at the vessel got so near the schooner, that | that hed had such a glorious history already, ily she was a large frigate. | and was destined to become the most famous ship in the American navy. His eyes filled with tears, in spite of himself; and be turned to the crew of the privateer and cried out: ‘Boys, three cheers for the CONSTITU- TION)” Tbe vessel rung with the shouting of the Americans, and the men of the Constitution looked over the’ side and answered the cheer with a will, as they saw the neat decks and realized that the schooner was not an English- man in disguise, as the captain had imagined at first, and for which he had sent Vanderwerk on board with bis boat’s crew. | Biair bad kept in the background when the American officer came on board; but now Eaton introduced bim to his old friend, with a great deal of pride, as his owner and com- mander. Bleir greeted Vanderwerk with hearty ccr- diality, and invited bim to dirner; but the lieutenant told them that his orders were to re turn to the Constitution, as soon es he had satisfied himself that the schooner was what she claimed to be. ‘For the commodore is a ve man,” he soid; ‘‘and he could no the life of him that a Yankee vessel of such small siz could possibly be bold enough to ven- ture into the middle of the enemy’s cruisers as you have cone.” ‘Enemy's cruisers,” echoed Eaton, ‘ Why, we have seen but one, all the time, since we left New York. We were in company with the President 2nd United States, and we chased the Englishman till the frigates gave up, and we got out of the way in disgust, to look for prizes in the West Indies.” ‘“‘ Nevertheless,” his friend assured hb “‘there are a namber of English sbips abroa on our coast, with the express object of catch- ing the President, in revenge for that chase; and we have bad several brushes with them al- ready. You bad better look out sharp for them. Well, Eaton, I should like to stay with pe for a good long chat; but the commodore s getting impatient, and I must be off. Good- by, old fellow, and remember that I shall take pains to tell every one I meet where you are, and what you are doin a” Eaton pressed bis friend’s band warmly; for he knew what the other meant. Vanderwerk hed always believed Eaton unjustly punished, and now he was going todo all be could to in- fluence public opinion in bis friend’s faver, by ex :Iting oy eee of the Saucy Jane to the Ebooks " old believe for utmost. | eoim in 4 com