A Colonial Free-lance

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Contents

CHAPTER PAOB

I. — "'TWIXT THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP SEA" . . 1

II. — Alias Captain Lounsbuey 14

Chapter II. Alias Captain Louxsbuky

Now the headsails being let go with a run and hanging loose over the bow, the foresail and its traveling blocks giving out a deafening protest against its slack sheet, the mainsail joining in the thundering chorus, and the wheel jerking violently hither and thither with the kick of the rudder, we were sufficiently beyond the usual order of things to suit my purpose, and my trump card, in the shape of a dead man lying in the scupper, lay clear to the eye of any who might board us. The sight was uncanny enough, and my instinct was to have the negro heave the body overboard; but, as it was to be a silent witness to the story I was about to tell, I let it bide, though, as the sequel showed, ^twould have saved me a sight of trouble to have followed my first impulse.

I confess that my heart beats took on additional force and frequency as I stood and watched the schooner's nearer approach. She came on to within easy gunshot, and swung into the wind, all of a flutter from stem to stem, and then " lay to " with her headsails full aback. From the scarlet flag at her peak to her clean cutwater she was an object of beauty, though in a light air I doubt she would have slid her keel through the brine with greater speed than would the Phantom, which had been built for fleetness and rapidity in stays.

With my wits by this time well about me, and my

ALIAS CAPTAIN LOUNSBURY. 15

wound bleeding but little (as was shown by the few drops that now dripped from my fingers* ends), I stood by the helm and took in every detail of the enemy, from the crowd at her davits to the long brass piece forward of the foremast, the gun being trained point blank at me.

The stranger worked with the alacrity of a man-of-war, for the schooner had barely lost her way when I saw a boat drop from her larboard quarter and pull toward us, while another came around her bow and followed. They were both filled with well-armed men, as could be seen by the glitter of musketry, and the way they came over the whitecaps showed their temper. It showed temper, too, in the smart manner they boarded me, the first boat hooking on to the main channels, the men clambering out with scarcely a shout and no questions, and in a twinkling I beheld half a score of them on my deck, they, I fancy, being mightily surprised at having met with no resistance.

The crisis was now at hand, and I played my first card with something of the desperation of a ruined gambler. Striding up to an officer whom I saw coming aft with bare sword in hand, I said:

" Ye show scant courtesy in boarding me, sir. Had you turned up an hour agone, 'twould have been to some purpose.''

^^ Who in h — ^1 are you? Where's the captain of this ghip?" was the excited rejoinder.

Now there was something about the tone of his voice, the way of calling a schooner a ship, as well as the getup of the man himself, that, angered as I was at his reply, made me back a pace and look at him. A quick glance showed me I was not dealing with a man bred to the sea, much less to the regular service, for, though I then had small knowledge of the uniforms of the British, I knew that which graced the back of the officer before me was not of his Majesty's navy. Itciew WVj its cut and garniture, and the land flavor of the man lay also in the fact that he wore a forage cap and carried a cavalry sabre instead of a cutlass. His face, too, lacked the true sea tan, its fair complexion showing the effects of unusual exposure to sun and wind. What his rank might be I had no idea, and speculation was lost in the quick retort that naturally rose to my lips.

" Who are you, sir, to tumble aboard a prize of his Majesty^s in this fashion? Ye stand in need of a lesson in marine manners as well as marine matters. Do ye hope to judge of a craft's cargo by a squint at her hatch cover, or of a man by the cut of his jib? Think not to deceive yourself or me! I know my rights, and also know the difference betwixt the cry of a sea bird and a henhawk! ''

K I had any doubt as to the official position of the oflBcer, it was set at rest by the subdued laugh that came from the group about us. Piqued by the sound of mirth from those he had no power to punish, his face turned to an ugly red, and, lifting his sabre as though to cut me down, he shouted:

" You insolent dog! I will make you sweat for this! Lay hold of him, some of you! Tie the villain up! Damnation! are you all cowards? '^ he continued, as there was a shuffle of feet, though no one approached me.

There is no telling what might have been the upshot of this dispute had there been no interruption, for the fellow seemed determined to use his sabre on me. But, fortunately for one of us, we were joined by another officer, whom I afterward found had come from the second boat.

" Hold hard, Scammell ! You are not handling one of- your own dragoons! What is this all about? — ^You fly the signal of a prize, sir," he continued, turning to me; "how comes it you are alone? Who and what are you? "

ALIAS CAPTAIN LOUNSBURY. 17

''I am Captain Jack Lounsbury, bearing instructions from Sir Henry Clinton, as that cockatrice might have found ere this had he used a smooth tongue. This is my prize — a Yankee schooner laden with lead for New London, and taken by me single-handed. There lies her skipper, and all but one of her crew are overboard.^^ And with this I pointed to the body of my mate.

I had hardly spoken when two marines came aft with the negro Stole betwixt them. He was trembling like a sail in the wind, and hung his head as though he had lost all strength to lift it. I was looking for an exposure on the instant, but the officer waved them back with a motion. There was an unspoken but plainly shown respect for me in the demeanor of the crowd as it spread away. The two officers stood for a moment in undisguised wonder at the recital of my prowess, giving alternate glances at the body and myself, and then the last comer, who was plainly the one in authority, spoke.

"You alone did this? — By Saint George, Scammell, you came near getting into a mess! I promised to show you a sea scrimmage, but not the kind you were hatching. — Let us have furi:her warrant of these facts,^^ he continued to me. " Who was he? ^^ pointing toward the scupper, "and when did this happen? Let us come by the papers.^^

"Yonder fellow is Donald Thorndyke, the master till I overcame him,*' I answered. " I shipped as mate. If you will go below, we can come by the whole matter,*' I replied, not caring to extend my yarn with the negro within hearing. " Or, better, we can take what we there find and go aboard before your captain, where the whole matter may 'be boiled down at one sitting."

"'Twould be a saving of time, certainly," he answered, " but we'll hear the yarn while tVie ^duooiifcx *\^ being searched; of course, you understand the importance of the form." And he turned to a sea corporal and gave him the necessary orders. "Now, sir, I am at your service," he said, crossing the deck toward the cabin companion. Hesitating there, he seemed to hang in the wind for an instant, and then strode over to the body.

" Did you shoot him? " he asked, as he bent over the prostrate form.

" Nay, I struck him," I answered.

" Faith, then," he returned, sizing me up with a side glance, " Fd sooner take the chance of a bullet than a blow from that fist if you struck in earnest! Did he wing you at the onset?"

" Nay, nay; ^twas a nigger striving to knife me in the back. Let's below. Mayhap ye have a doctor aboard who will fix up a bad cut."

Through all this I was conscious of the eye of Scammell fixed on me. Whether or not he was suspicious of me, or whether he was still boiling under the dressing I had given him, there were no means of telling. I saw plainly the resentment he made little effort to conceal, and felt that I had made an enemy who would be mighty glad to cross swords with me on the slightest provocation. He was twenty-eight or thirty in years, or about my own age, and was under me not two inches in stature, which is speaking well for him, as I stood three inches above six feet, unshod. By weight and brawn I well overmatched him (as I did most men), especially in the latter quality of physique; but he made a typical dragoon officer, and would be a formidable antagonist in any field.

I might hope for little mercy if ever I fell into the power of this man, for mercy was a quality which, strained or unstrained, he and his fellows had naught to do with. This I made sure of on getting into the

ALIAS CAPTAIN LOUNSBURY. 19

cabin, where in course of conversation it turned out that he was a captain in De Lancy^s Loyal Legion, a body of Tory cavalry half freebooters and half in the regular service. I had heard of them, as who has not? Betwixt New York and Philadelphia and the country surrounding both places they were a terror, their malignancy equaling if not surpassing the rapacity of Tryon himself.

I itched to get my fingers on him then and there, that there might be one less bloodsucker aboveground, but policy held me from committing an act which probably would have at once wrought ruin to my plans and left my poor mother without a son. I was, therefore, bound to treat him with civility, which I did when a word to him was necessary, but I fancy we each knew the other was but skipping over the thin ice of politeness.

Being, as it were, in the enemy^s lines, I followed the bent of the lieutenant, and laughed loudly and long over the puzzlement (as he called it) into which the Phantom had led them. I drank to the King and damned the rebels; told a story of being a free lance under elastic instructions from Sir Henry Clinton, and how I had taken the vessel by killing Captain Thorndyke and besting the crew. In short, I put myself into my maters former place as nearly as was possible, following his coarse manner and uncouth language, exhibiting the rough-and-ready character befitting a fellow of his breeding.

But, beyond Sir Henry^s signature, never a line did I show them or tell the nature of my orders; and that for the best of reasons, for I knew little of the business myself, not having had the opportunity to more than scan the papers I had taken from the body.

The regular clearance discovered the schooner to be a Yankee trader. There was a Yankee sa\\oT e.^^\?05^^ and a Yankee captain dead, and why should there be suspicions? — and there were none in the mind of the lieutenant; but of his friend, the dragoon, who had come aboard for a bit of dangerous play (and had nigh achieved his wish), I was not so sure.

In my turn at questioning, I found that the enemy was the Sprite, an American capture, refitted and renamed, one of the last of Howe's fleet (as Lounsbury had surmised), bearing two passengers beside her usual complement**of men, and bound for New York to meet General Clinton, then on his overiand trip from Philadelphia to that city.

Now we had been sitting below for upward of an hour, drinking my rum and making game of the rebels on land and sea (though once, when I spoke of John Paul Jones, I saw I was on dangerous ground, and belayed my tongue, cursing the liquor for having loosed it), when the companion way was darkened by a marine, who, jerking a salute, said, with a scarcely eontrolled grin:

" We have another prisoner, sir.'^

" Another! " exclaimed the lieutenant, starting up and giving me a stern look. — " What's the meaning of this, Lounsbury? Are you dealing fairly?"

I was as surprised as he, and had no answer to make, but before my confusion became manifest the marine again spoke.

"'Tis the dead man come to life, sir. We were flushing him an' the deck, an' 'twas the water as fetched him, sir."

^^ Glad I am 'tis no worse," said the officer with a light laugh. " I feared I smelled a trick. You American bom are the devil and all at playing deep games, and, faith! for a second I thought you might have cozened me. Let us to the deck."

I had sud^den reason to turn my curse from the

ALIAS CAPTAIN LOUNSBURY. 21

liquor, for had it not been in me I doubt not I would have fallen backward. Like a drowning man, I had visionfi passing through my mind with a rapidity that makes description impossible. My very strength gave out for the moment, but there was enough left to get me to my feet and follow the others to the deck.

I have faced death since, and well-nigh shaken hands with it, but never did the knowledge of its nearness affect me as did the words of the marine; and 'twould take more than money to make me go through a like thirty seconds, or the time it took me to get from the cabin.

Lounsbury had been moved, and lay on his back on the deck with his head resting on the edge of the helm grating. He was soaking from the sousing that had brought him to life, but I sent up a mental thanksgiving on the discovery that it had not also brought him to reason. The sole sign of vitality lay in the fact that he breathed. There was a hoarse and hollow tone at each heave of his broad chest, which I knew to be due to his broken head; and though I felt him to be a deadly enemy and a charnel house for morals, there was a pity in it to see the abject helplessness of the once powerful figure as it sprawled on the hot, white planking.

Scammell stooped for the man's pulse, peering closely into his face the while, and then for a moment the whole load of anxiety came back on me as he straightened up and said:

"I have seen this fellow before, though I fail to place him as Thorndyke. He looks like the chap who escaped from the rebels after spiking the guns near White Plains. But that was before we took New York. Why the d — 1 can't I remember names? "

Here again was mighty dangerous ground, for Scammell was right, though I knew nothing ot \\. XJciet^ ^<^t until after the war was over. The spiking of the guns was an old story, but it had been long agone, and I was only aware of the bald fact. However, I felt that he had struck a scent, which if followed up (and I fancied him the man for it) might, nay, would, be likely to drive me to bay.

It was well, then, that at that moment a recall gun sounded from the off-lying schooner. It seemed to wake the lieutenant to the fact that time had gone, and that the sun was well toward its setting. Without more ado a guard was left on the vessel until a report could be made to the captain of the Sprite, and with the others I went aloiig, that I might again tell my tale and get my knife-thrust into proper dressing.

CHAPTER in.

A VOLUNTARY PRISONER.

Darkness was well settled on the sea, though there still hung a faint, hot glow in the west when I had finished my business on the Sprite.

Barring the baleful eye of Seammell, there had been nothing to mar the proceedings in making a report in harmony with my story. The dragoon^s silence and steady gaze were a trifle disconcerting, and the knowledge of the captured black (who had been conveyed to the Sprite), coupled with the feeling that Lounsbury might return to his senses and spring a mine beneath me, served to keep my nerves at a tension which became well-nigh unbearable.

There had been a number in the elegant cabin, but of them I wot not, save that most of them got hot with liquor. For a sight of it had been taken, even the captain having his judgment crossed and his jollity increased by constant recourse to the bottle.

And here let me say that, in my poor opinion, both the length and cruelty of the war were helped more than a little by this never-ending taking aboard of " Dutch courage.^' Had it made men battle in propori:ion to their boasting, ^twould have served some proper end, but I never found that I could fight better with eyes and wits tangled with liquor, and, in fact, though I preach not, never touched it when in trouble save as on this occasion — ^to keep up appearances.

And even on this occasion I had still the upperhand of what I drank, and noticed that Scammell was nursing himself as well; but, aside from we two, Hwas a noisy crowd that tumbled to the deck to see me back to the Phantom.

I had made myself mighty popular during my short stay aboard. A change of berths had been offered me, but I had small notion of leaving my own craft with its hidden cargo, though I put it on the ground of forfeiting prize money if I deserted her. A crew of five men were given me (which would make a small claim for salvage in favor of the Sprite), and now, with the doctor, who was to give a hand to Lounsbury, I stood by the side while laying a small wager on the race to New York.

I had little heart in the laugh and last hand shake to the rest, and was about putting foot on the side steps to pass to the boat that was swinging high and low on the running seas, when my attention was caught by the face of a girl who rose through the companion and stood startlingly clear against the black background of the night. The bright lamplight from the cabin flooded and brought out every detail of her features. It was but the face and bust I saw, the open door cutting off the lower part of her figure, but ^twas the face of an angel, and for an instant I forgot to move, looking at her as I would at a beautiful picture.

And a picture she made as she stood there turned toward us. High breeding showed in the delicate contour of chin and cheek, dark eyes and clearly cut straight ' nose, but ^twas the small mouth with its fine red lips, half open as though in inquiry that held me by its sweetness, while the mass of auburn hair, dressed high, as was the fashion of the times, gave a touch of perfection to her countenance.

The vision — for ^twas more akin to a vision than

A VOLUNTARY PRISONER. 25

reality — ^lasted but a breath, for Scammell thrust his form betwixt us, and made rapid steps toward the companion way, while I, with a hand wave to the others, joined the doctor in the boat.

The surgeon, a tall, raw-boned Irishman, afflicted with a strong after-dinner hiccough and a desire to talk, settled back in the stern sheets, and voluntarily fell into an explanation of a lady being on board the Sprite.

" An' ye know not Mrs. Badely, Sir Henr/s lightoMove? 'Tis a shame that King's officers be made to dance attendance to that ilk. Her ward seems to be o' different clay, though. A bonny lass she is, an' a lonely one, having no great love for her guardian, as 'tis plain to see, an' few to turn a word with, saving Scammell. Did ye mark the way he slid to her when she lifted o'er the hatch? 'Tis in my mind he's jealous o' the deck her foot lights on, an' he hangs about her like a brooding hen. 'Twas a sorry move Sir Henry made when he lit on him for a guard o' honor to Mrs. Badely and Gertrude King. Bad for him, I mean, since 'tis plain he's struck between wind and water by the lass, though, in my mind, she'll have little to do with the likes o' him after setting foot ashore."

From this and other rambling talk I gathered that the Sprite was taking two ladies from Philadelphia to New York — ladies high in favor with General Clinton — ^and that one of them, Mrs. Badely, was the famous beauty to whom the doughty knight had given his heart without the honorable accompaniment of his hand and name. Her notoriety had even spread beyond the British lines, and much of the opportune inactivity of the enemy was explained as due to the fascination of his mistress and the inability of the commander to withdraw from her influence and take the field.

Of the younger lady I had never YieatA., ivot, ^\\.^t my fleeting glimpse of her, could I make myself believe that her nature was tainted. Scammell was the official guard of the two for the trip, which accounted for the dragoon being at sea, and, according to the doctor, he had become deeply enamored of his younger charge, the fair Gertrude King. Doubtless it was a desire to cover himself with glory and dazzle the eyes of his love which had led him to take a hand in boarding the Phantom, but I gave over interest in the whole matter by the time the boat reached its destination.

The half -slewed Irishman made but hasty work with Lounsbury. The unconscious man had been removed to the cabin, and lay in my berth with eyes fast closed, still breathing like a pump. The doctor looked at him frowningly, felt of his head and pulse with a careless air, and then gave his diagnosis.

" Flip a sovereign, cap'n, and bet on its fall, and ye will have as good a notion of how the case will turn out as myself. There^s no knowing at all what the man will come to. He has had the devil's own shock. 'Tis concussion and mayhap fracture, mayhap structural lesion of the brain. Who knows? He may die, he may live, but he'll be a bit fashed in his wits if he pulls through, and ne'er be the lad he was. What's one dead rebel more or less? Let him lie and take chances. Have you a drap o' potheen to say good-night on? I'm off."

I felt like kicking the man for his heartlessness, but gave him a drink and saw him started for his own craft; then getting the crew together, I set them to work, and in short order we were under way.

The surgeon's words had not tended to depress me. The passion possessing me when I struck my mate had passed away, and if he would live and remain " fashed " until I had cleared from the muddle into which I had been forced, I would pray for his final recovery.

A VOLUNTARY PRISONER. 27

It was an easy matter to sail for New York. As the schooner now bore, wing on wing, that port lay fair off the end of the jib boom. The Sprite sailed something less than half a mile on our larboard beam, and thus we went for hours, each holding her own. In the early light of the following mom the wind suddenly lightened, then shifted to the north, and by the time I had made Sandy Hook, where the bulk of Howe's fleet lay waiting the arrival of the British army, the Sprite was some miles to windward.

I had forgotten the race. The sick man had most of my time and attention, for he had taken to raving, and was finally lashed to his bunk. His speech was but an uncouth mouthing of words that meant nothing, and when at last, in the lower bay, the schooner was formally taken possession of, I passed the care of him to others, and began to look sharply to my own affairs.

It was two days after the mess on the Phantom before we dropped anchor off the city, coming to a final rest near the upper limb of the bight of the small bay below Corlears Hook, on the Sound River.*

There had been more than a little fuss and many questions put by the authorities before I stepped ashore. Answers, too, were given, which might have been picked full of holes had suspicions arisen in the minds of the reigning powers; but owing to the disorder due to the retreat of Clinton from Philadelphia, and the arrival of his army, which had now boarded the fieet at Sandy Hook, confusion ran riot in all branches of government, and saved me from much fine lying.

There had never been a moment when I could have gotten at the gold in the cabin without exciting suspicion. In fact, I had but little time to study the

* East River.

papers I had appropriated and still had on my person; and now, well-nigh destitute from want of cash, I had the misery of seeing the King^s broad arrow painted on the bows of the Phantom and of finding myself turned ashore.

I was not greatly troubled by my lack of ready money. I held indorsed documents for a claim on my own ship for prize money for capturing her, and could easily turn it into gold by allowing a liberal discount; but it went to my heart to see the broad arrow (which marks the King's property), and know the craft was, by hook or by crook, a prize in possession of the enemy.

But if my comparative poverty caused me no great uneasiness, I was worried over the fact that I had two living witnesses against me, one of whom, the negro, was capable of damning me with his evidence could he but obtain the ear of an official. It struck me forcibly^ too, that I was fairly within the enemy's lines and under a false name and character. It were one thing had I been caught at acting a part on the high seas and on my own schooner, but quite another to be discovered under the existing circumstances. The first could have made me a prisoner of war at most; the second would damn me as a spy, and give me short shift to the next world by means of a rope.

At that time it might have been possible for me to have left New York and gotten on my way homeward. But it did not happen to lie in my blood to turn up with the report of having forfeited everything save liberty and life. With a weakling it would have passed; with me 'twould look as though I had thrown away all for the sake of lightening my heels, and would likely injure my reputation.

Aside from this, there lay hidden close at hand five hundred pounds, and none, save Lounsbury, had

A VOLUNTAEY PRISONER. 29

fathomed the secret. It was my all, barring the schooner, though that was not a total loss, as the admiralty papers in my pocket bore witness. No man willingly foregoes two thousand, four hundred and odd dollars in gold rightfully his own, unless he be a coward; and that, I maintain, I am not. And so by my fortune I determined to stand until it should be sunk, blown up, or otherwise lost.

There was more than this pecuniary interest which sealed my determination to stay where I was for a space and risk the future. And that — ^the war.

Lest my reader think I had been a laggard in the conflict which had now been on better than two and a half years, let it be known that I had been active against the enemy, both afield and afloat; noticeably in the whaleboat warfare on the coast.

I had made more than one lobster-back wish he had stayed in Merry England (unless he was at once set past wishing), and helped dig a mighty hole in the King's exchequer by destroying his properi;y. But that was in the past, and runs not with this tale.