Beadle's New York Dime Library No. 277 — page 23: what you’re looking at

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

— either side by the stu’nsail booms, to expose the utmost surface of sail possible to the action of the wind. Under this cloud of canvas, which was sway- ing and flapping to and fro overhead, with the males of distant thunder, the frigate was mov- ing through the water perceptibly iaster, and the'’ tle schooner was gliding about three cable-lengths ahead of her, with all her light kites set, Captain Hull, on the quarter-deck of the Constitution, was looking through a ship's lass at the horizon, shifting the telescope rom one sail to the other, with an anxiety that he did not seek to hide. His face was set and stern, as if be realized that a great test was coming to bis ship; and it must be remembered by the reader that not a single victory had, at that early day, been wou from the English, who were still glorying in the name of Nelson, and calling themselves invincible on the ocean.” Eaton at once took his leave of the officers, and hurried back to the privateer in bis boat. He did not want to be left on the frigate ata time when the enemy was in sight of bis own vessel, For it was certain, to his mind, that the sails in sight were those of English ships, from the way in which they acted. When he first saw them, they were coming out of the fog with all sail set, and within ten minutes after the first sail was descried, there were five insight, all of which had the appear- ance of being men-of-w ar. Four of them were ships; one wasa brig; the last the nearest of any; but all heading toward the Constitution from all points of the compass, with their sails trimmed to catch the wind at the angle which would bring them down on the American frigate, When Eaton got on board the Saucy Jane, he found Blair in a great state of suppressed excitement, und as‘the young officer reached the deck, the warm-hearted privateersman grasped bis hand, and whispered to him: “Now, Eaton, is your chance, my bov! You are in sight of the navy fellows, and you have full swing. Here we are, and the Johus have got to suffer to-day. There is a whole fleet of them, and if the Saucy Jane can only manage to get one of them a prive, ycu can hold your head up with the best of them.” The privateersman, in his enthusiasm, act- ually imagined that what he said was true, Eaton, who was cooler, said to his owner quietly: ‘The question to-day, Captain Blair, will not be as to our taking any of the enemies’ vessels, but whetber we shall be able to save cur own bacon, and whether the Constitution can escape capture.” Blair looked incredulously at Eaton. ‘‘Man alive, you don’t mean to say that you think any such thing? Why, I shvuld be ashamed to give utterance to such a thought, even if I entertained it. Ill bet on Old Iron- sides, every time, to fight or run from any British ship floating.” “Tt will be run to-day!” quoth Eaton dryly. CHAPTER XXII. IN THE TOILS. Tue hunters had closed around their game, as they thougbt; and the result of the chase was no matter of doubt to them, in their over-san- guine anticipatiors. The vessels in sight on that 17th of July, 1812, were the Belvidera, that bad escaped from the President and her consorts, with the loss of all her anchors, a few weeks before; the Shannon, 38, to be made memorable, two years later, by the capture of the always unfortunate Chesa- peake; the Guerriere, 38, that was to yield her- self to old Ironsides, not long after; the Eolus, 32, and, last but by no means least, the Africa, a 64-gun ship, that came lumbering along be- hind the rest, always slow but always to be oar sy when she got near enough to make her- t elt. Eaton, ii the schooner, saw that, in the light winds that were likely to prevail for the next day or two, the Saucy Jane was in no danger from the frigates, | With her fine lines and great spread of canvas she could take advantage of every shift of wind, and pursue it to the uttermost; while the great ships would not be moved more than half the distance by the same puff. Moreover, the schovner had a strong crew, abd was able to ull sweeps, with a rapidity great enough to ke her out of barm’s way. e only thing he felt afraid of, was that the squadron might put all their boats out, to carry the schooner by boarding; in which case the Saucy Jane, with bn one gun, might stand a very poor chance, herefore, to put them out of ps ete he resolved to get out of the way, and directed the crew to get out the sweeps and pull with all their might out of the radins, within which, it was plain, a drama was about to be enacted of unusual interest. Slowly, but with a rate of advance that ex- celled that of all the ships, the Saucy Jane moved out of the dangerous circle that was ————— ——— _ The Saucy Jane, Privateer. closing round the Constitution, and found her- self within long gunshot of the Belvidera, as she passed the line of the British squadron. The temptation was too great to be resisted, and all the men of tbe privateer grinned, as Katon gave the order: “Clear away the long gun, and let that fri- gate havea taste of Yankee impudence.” The Belvidera was the leading ship of the Englishmen, that were now straining every nerve to cateh the Constitution, and as she passed the schooner, she fired a gun to wind- ward and showed her colors. : “Toad the gun carefully. I will sight and fire it myself,” commanded Eaton, and his orders were obeyed without comment, other than the delighted grins of the men, as they tugged at the tackles of the long thirty-two. The water was as smooth as glass, and ths swell was so slight as to be hardly perceptible, when the Saucy Jane was allowed to glide on, at the command: ‘“ Avast pulling!” The little vessel glided along for a few cable- lengths, before the gun was arranged to suit Eaton. Then he took a long, thirsty look through the sights, and stepped buck from the breech, giving the final order: “FIRE!!” It was the first gun fired in anger that day, an. the shot went :kipping over the water, till it struck the Belvidera full in the waist, and Blair remarked to Eaton with a grin: ‘IT guess that frigate will get to knowing us, after awhile, Eaton.” The bold action of the little privateer was greeted from the Constitution with a round of cheers, that came over the calm sea for neara mile and a half, and brought the flush of plea- sure to Baton’s face, as he reflected that his actions were being watched by the men, of all others, on whom it was necessary, for bis future, that he should make the impression he was making. As soon as he had fired his long gun, he gave the order: “Give way on those sweeps and make all you can, boys.” The men pulled on the sweeps as hard as they could; but the schooner bad not fully gathered way on her after ber shot, before the frigate sent her broadside at the impudent little craft, with a spitefulness about which there wes no mistake. Every shot came as if it had been sighted carefully; but only one struck the Saucy Jane on the quarter, and that one dropped «ff into the water, and left a dent behind it, that showed it to be only a spent ball, without strength to penetrate the timbers, That settled the status of the Belvidera, and Eaton took up his position a little further off again, and sent another shot at the ship, with an effect as great as before. Of course the shot called forth a reply; but, as the missives fell still shorter than before, the privateer might have gone on to pick the frigate to pieces with impunity, had she not been inter- rupted by the report of a long gun from another quarter of the horizon altogether, and found that, in eagerness to watch the Belvidera, the lookouts had neglected to keep their eyes on the other ships of the English squadron, and that the huge Africa, with her two decks and heavy battery, bad crept up within long gun shot of the Saucy Jane, and bad fired a shot that came within a foot or two of cutting her stern frame i half, in fact, the sound of the sbot fairly frightened the men. lt came, with a whizzing and groaning hum, that told it to be of the largest size and Eaton remarked to Blair: “The sooner we get out of the range of that sort of thing the better it will be for us. That was a forty-two.” Blair looked uneasily at the hage bulk of the two-decker, and said: ‘*T hope she has no more of that sort of gun on board, Eaton. I don’t want to be sent to the bottom on my wedding-trip,” At that moment the lookout called down: “* Here comes a shift of wind, sir.” * Eaton looked over the water, and saw the dark streak of ripples that announced a “ cats- paw,” coming down on the schooner’s quarter. The head of the little craft was pulled round to meet it at the most favorable angle, and the next minute it struck them, and filled the sails with a bang that threatened to snap the masts, so suddenly did it come, The schooner shot ahead with a rapidity that gave her pursuers no chance to take another such a steady << as they had had before; and the shift of wind Jasted long enough to take the Saucy Jane out of gunshot of the Africa, at the same time that it deprived them of any furthér chance of annoying the Belvidera. The aspect of the chase now changed consid- erably. The wind was becoming more baffling every minute. Now it would ¢ome with a rush from the north, and send the British ships on toward the Constitution, with a rapidity that threatened to bring them all within gun of the frigate at the same time. and give them the weather-gage. Anon it would change, as sud » ee ee ee ee re 3 i eee ; ' — I denly as it had come, and desert them, while it fil.ed the sails of the American ship. At last it began to grow dark, and the breeze slackened to a dead calm, under which circum- stances the sun set, Tbere was no moon that night, and the Saucy Jane kept on ber course till the darkness had fairly closed in, when she went off to the soutb, with a view of getting out of the range of all the Eaglish ships, if the morning should bring wind with if, Blair had come on deck, very uneasy on ac- count of bis wife, and was talking to Eaton about going into New York in the morning, as they could easily do, if the wind did not shift and blow bard against them, when the bright light of a rocket, from one of the English sbips, illuminated the horizon for a moment, and they saw it replied to by three rockets from the Africa, far astern of the rest of the squadron. ‘he enemy were signaling to each otber, Soon after this they saw the rigging of the Constitution set with lanterns. and Blair read from the signal book, the words: ‘‘Keep in sight as long as you can, and try to cripple some of the enemy’s ships.” “ The captain don’t seem to besitate to ask favors of privateersmen, I notice.” observed Blair, dryly. ‘‘I suppose that we sbould be quite justified, by all the customs of war, in running our best to the nearest port, and tell- ing the folks that the Constitution was a prize to the enemy, but the old man knows tbat a Yankee sailor won't desert a brother in distress, as long as be bas a sbot in the locker. Hey, Eaton?” ‘*f am glad to hear yousay so, or 5 Blair, because I was about to say to you, that 1 could not, in justice to you as the owner of the schooner, stay in the vicinity of this affiair any longer. Do you give me leave to stay bere and get the schooner sunk or captured, perhaps, to help save the frigate?” lair never hesitated a moment. ‘*I not only give you leave; but I tell you that I never shall forgive you if you don’t do it. Those “sews 2 Bulls bave got to be taken down, sooner or later, and now is as good a time as any.” The fogs came down on the schooner soon after this, but Eaton bad taken the precaution to ascertain the bearings of the Constitution before she bad disappeared, and be ran down with bis sweeps through the fog, and ma to get under the frigate’s stern without being fired at in the dark, and hailed ber, The way in which the bail was answered showed that the crew of the Constitution wasin excellent discipline; for there was ng confusion, as might have been expected, but a low voice asked : ‘* What vessel is this?” Eaton was surprised to find that the bail came — from the water, and that the schooner was sur- rounded by boats, not noticed in the fog, show- ing that *‘ Old Ironsides” was not going to be caught napping that night. The bail of the boats was answered, and Eaton went on board the frigate to see the cap- tain, and get any instructions that he might have to give, in case of misfortune to the Con- s' itution. . He found Captain Hull in his cabin, poring over a chart that showed the depth of water all along the coast of North America, and the com- mander looked up and greeted him with a cor- diality about which there was no mistake. ‘‘] am glad to see you on board my ship, Mr. Eaton,” be said, ‘‘and Lhope you will not take it amiss if 1 presume to give you some requests, although I know well enough that you are in no sense subject to any ordersof mine.” __ ‘‘On thecontrary, Captain Hull, I shall be only too proud to be intrusted with any orders that you may be disposed to give me, and d promise to perform them faithfully.” bind Hull pointed to the chart and said: 9a O82 ‘‘ What I want you to do is this: One of those vessels in sight at sunset was a brig; and some of my officers insist that she is our own Nantilus, that we bad before Tripoli, and that bad such a glorious history tbere. I can hardly believe this; but Mr. Finch, who served on board of her at Tripoli, is certain that it is the Nautilus and no other.’ ; 7 : “Then she must have been captured,” ex- claimed Eaton impulsively. ‘‘ Poor little Nau- tilus! Whata fate, after all her deeds in -Tri- oli! Captain Hull, do you wish me to take her ck to-night?’ amt 3 Hull looked.amezed at the idea. “My dear sir, by no means. IL could not take the responsibility of ordering any man on such an errand as that; but this 1 will say, that, if I could ascertain beyond a doubt that the brig in company with the English ships is the Nau | a British prize, my mind would be more at ease than itis. I should know the worst, and that would be a relief.” ‘7 will find out the fact for you, captain,” said the young man at once. ‘Have you any further instructions to give me, before cot”. Hull hesitated a moment and then said: _ ‘‘ Mr. Eaton, if you should find that the Nau- tilus has been taken, I have a further request to make of you. She had, at the time of her de- com GDOOCKS co 23