· P REFA C E. COURAGE to dare, fortitude to endure, enterprise to accumulate, and prudence to...

THE [KLE A S A NT C O VE S E R I E S .

THE

Y O UNG DE L IVE R E R S

“

P L E A S A NT C O V E .

E LIJAHSK ELLOGG,

A UTHOR OF “LION BEN OF ELM ISLAND,” “

CHARLIE DELL . THE W A IF OF ELMISLAND,” “

THE A R K OF ELM ISLAND ,” “THE BOY- FARMERS OF ELM

ISLAND,” “THE YOUNG SHIP- BUILDERS OF ELM ISLAND,"

“THE HABD- SCRABBLE OF ELM ISLAND ,” “

A RTHUR

BR OW N, THE YOUNG CA PTA IN.

”

BO STONLE E A ND S H E P A R D , PUB L I S HE R S .

NE W YOR K :

LE E , SHEPA RD A ND D ILLINGHA M,

No s . 47 AND 49 GREENE STREET.

E ntered , ac c o rd ing t o A c t o f Co ngress , in the year 1871,

By LE E AND SHEPA R D,

In the O ffi c e o f the Librarian o f Co ngre ss , at W ash ingt o n.

E lec tro typed at the Bo sto n Stereo type Fo undry,19 Spring Lane.

The Pleasant Lemme Series.

TO BE COMPLETED IN S I! VOLS .

1 . A RTHUR BROW N, THE YOUNG CA PTA IN.

2 . THE YOUNG DE LI VERER S .

(Others in Preparatio n .)

P R E F A C E .

COURAGE to dare,fortitude t o endure

,enterpris e

to accumulate,and prudence to retain

,are quali

tie s that,however valuable in themselve s

,when

in exce ss impart,

to chara cter a coloring dry,

hard,and even render it repuls ive . But if be

neath the exuberance o f young life we dete ct

the germs o f those sympathie s that,travelling

beyond the limits o f self,re cognizing the com

m o n bond that links all humanity,holds fellow

ship with the joys and sorrows o f others ; that

true nobility o f so ul, ,no t derived from without,

but existing within,and ennobling whatever it

touches,— it i s then that youth becomes most

attractive,its e ff orts win sympathy

,its example

i s contagious . With ability to accumulate,pluck

5

6 PREFA CE .

to dare,and under the influence o f the prin

c iple s referred to , these young deliverers con

se crate themselve s to a high purpose,en c o un

te r peril and fatigue to break the fetters o f the ir

humble friend,and restore him to hi s country and

friends .

C ONTENTS .

C H A P TE R I .

THE OVEN. .

C H A P TE R I I .

NED PR OPOSE S To IMPROVE THE DIVINE PLAN.

C H A P T E R I I I .

THE BOY S CONSC IOUS O F HIGHER A IMS .

C A P T E R IV.

GA BRIEL QUE SNA RD .

C H A P TE R V.

THE YANK EE BOYS’ HOLIDA Y IN PR OVENCE .

C H A P TE R V I .

THE POW ER O F A S SOC IA TION.

C H A P TE R V I I .

YANK EE INGENUITY A MONG THE PEA SANTS .

8 CONTENTS .

C H A PTE R V I I I .

THE LA ST DA Y W ITH THE PEA SANTS .

C H A P TE R I ! .

THE MISTR A L .

C H A P TE R X .

THE INFERNA L .

C H A P TE R ! I .

A STA R TLING DI SCLOSURE .

C H A P TE R ! I I .

THE NO BLE VOLUNTEERS

C H A P T E R X I I I .

CA PTA IN RHINE s AND DICK CA MERON.

C H A P T E R ! I V.

W A LTER AND HENRI LEM‘

A IRE .

C H A PT E R xv.

VA UCLIN.

C H A P T E R ! V I .

O , MA SSA , BUCK RA CA LHE R !

C H A P TE R X V I I .

DELIVERED .

THE YOUNG DELIVERERS

P L E A S A N T C O V E .

CHAPTER I .

THE OVEN .

N courte sy to those who have n o t read the preE ceding volume o f this serie s,it i s proper toO bserve that Arthur Brown

,the principal character

o f it,i s a young m an

,twenty-one years o f age

,

res cued,in c ircumstance s o f pe culiar p eril, by

Captain Rhine s,who ( in the discharge o f Obliga

Q tions incurred to the young man ’s father), together

! with others , puts him in command o f the brigan

tine “ Arthur Brown,

” named for the young man’sfather

,who peri shed at sea .

The vessel,built by Charlie Bell at Pleasant

Cove,modelled for speed

,with a numerous crew o f

able seamen,having already made a succe ssful voy

9

10 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

age to Marseille s,a blockaded port

,i s now ready

to sail again . Walter Gri"

in i s a Pleasant Cove

boy,belonging to a very athletic

,re solute family

,

—who began active life in a store,but

,finding

that mode of life ill adapted to hi s inclinations and

capacitie s,be came a sailor

,shipped in the brigan

tine before the mast,and is n ow first mate .

Ned Gate s i s a Salem boy,in his nineteenth

year,rather small o f his age

,was rescued at the

same time with Arthur Brown by Captain Rhine s

( the details o f which occurrence will be found in

the previous volume ), being a tOwnie and at school

with Arthur,was an excellent boy

,and much

beloved by him .

On the form er voyage,Walter and Ned were

before the mast together In the same watch,and

slept in the same berth,till

,o n the home passage ,

Walter was promoted ; the ir friendship still c o n

tinnes,although with fewer opportunitie s o f inter

course .

Jacque s Bern o ux i s a Frenchman,native o f

Marseille s,fi sherman by occupation

,and thoroughly

acquainted with the coast .

Jame s Peterson is a negro,born o f slave parents

in Martinique,but sold in boyhoo d to an Am eri c an

THE OVEN .

captain,re siding near Pleasant Cove

,and Obtained

freedom when slavery was abolished in New England . Although ignorant and much addicted tointemperance at particular times

,he was very

much liked ( e specially by two familie s , Captain

Rhines ’s and Edmund Griffin ’s ), and by all theb o vs

,be cause o f other sterling qualitie s . He was

posse ssed o f great personal strength,an excellent

seaman and pilot,fi rst-rate calker

,perfectly honest

,

and o f a most affectionate dispos ition . The boys

idolized him,because he taught them to wre stle

,tie

sailor knots,and

,when at le isure

,was ever ready

to make playthings for them . On stormy days,when it was known he

‘

could not work,his house

would be thronged with boys,coaxing him to make

o n e thing o r another. Lu ce,hi s wife

,was a splen

did cook,and nothing suited them better than to

be asked t o step to dinner ; victuals tasted a great

deal better there than at home . Ben,his olde st

s on,was as great a favorite with the young fry as

hi s father,—excelling in all sports that required

strength and agil ity,always good-natured

,never

pre suming,and full o f queer

,witty sayings . Ben

Peterson was ( in b o y language and e stimation) a

bully fellow.

12 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS o r PLEASANT COVE .

Thu s it fell o ut that the cross-path which l ed to

his house was deeply worn by young fe et . Going to

Peterson ’s,and having a good time

,were converti

ble terms .

By the e fforts o f his young friends,he was per

suaded to abandon his cups,and taught to read and

write ; the re sult o f which was , that he immediately

began to acquire property,became a freeholder

,

and was universally re spected and beloved .

Captain Murch,o f the mast ship Casco

,coming

home sick,a new captain

,o f the name o f Aldrich

,

was put in to go the voyage . It was very difficult

to get a crew for her,as he was generally disliked .

Captain Rhines,anxious to get the ship away

,per

suad ed Peterson and another by the name o f Danforth Eaton to ship first

,in consequence o f which

a crew was Obtained .

One evening,while the ship was lying in Mar

tinique , Peterson ( then acting as cook, the cook

having gone to the hospital,si ck) was sent ashore

by the captain with letters . In the morning he

was missing. Search being made,it was evident

that he returned on board,as a fire was burning

and breakfast partly prepared ; at length hi s ker

chief was discovered o n the fender,and the dock

THE OVEN . 13

was dragged,but without finding the body . The

captain concluded that he had met with some Old

shipmate s the evening before,and was prevaile d

upon to take a friendly glass,which waked up the

o ld appetite , and the next morning he had turnedo ut early, obtained more liquor, fallen from the

gangway plank,and the '

tid e had swept the body

to sea . The crew,on the contrary

,refused tO be

li eve he drank,but thought he went ashore to get

something t o s easo n his stew,made

,in his haste

,a

misstep,and fell overboard .

Captain Rhine s and the community at largeinclined to the opinion of the crew . Hi s deathwas universally lamented ; the boys sadly misse d

the ir colored friend,and the grass grows over the

well-worn path that lead s ’

t o his dwelling .

Captain Murch re suming the command,Aldrich

L__J

went to England . Percival,the mate

,becoming

intemperate,was reduced to the pos ition ofJum pe r

around the wharve s in Boston .

There was,however

,something quite mysterious

about the disappearance of Peterson : hi s family

refused to believe he was dead,and opinions were

divided . It long ford a top ic of dispute and

di s cus sion at the winter fi re sid e s some contending

14 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA SA NT COVE.

that a man so athletic and agile as Peterson would

have caught hold o f something,and never would

have been drowned between the ve ssel and the

wharf ; at least, he would have made an outcry ; to

which it was replied,that he might have struck hi s

head o n the wharf o r fender,and stunned himself.

In reply to this,

' it was urged that a negro ’s head

i s to b thick to be aff e cted in that manner . After awhile

,other topics o f intere s t came up

,and the

vexed subje ct was gradually dropped . Before the

arrival o f the Casco,bringing that sad news

,the

brigantine had sailed for Marseille s . Thus Walte r

and Ned went away ignorant o f the whole matter.

Walter and Ned had made their preparations for

this voyage to Marse ille s with feelings qu ite differ

ent from that blithe some,buoyant mood in which

they weighed anchor before .

The death o f Uncle Isaac,as he was fondly called

by the young people , had blighted antic ipations o f

pleasure to be derived from going into the woods

during the holidays ; and the los s o f o ne who unit

ed in hi s single person the characters o f parent,counsellor

,and most genial companion

,weighed

heavily upon their hearts . Having been called t ohis bedside

,his last words Of aff e ctionate counsel

to them were fre sh in thei r remembrance .

https://www.forgottenbooks.com/join

1 6 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEASANT c o v

moted to a chief mate ’s berth,he

,in order to save

Ned ’s feelings,and enable him to handle it

,had a

royal buntline rove,the legs O f which

,led through

thimble s o n each lee ch,which spilled the sail

,that

i s,threw the wind o u t o f it

,gathered it up

,and

enabled him to handle it in all weathers .

Even this chafed the proud-spirited boy,be cause

he thought everybody knew what it was done for

and felt that it was a tacit acknowledgment o f in

competence .

Walter and Ned went o n board the ve ssel in Bos

ton some days before the crew came up from Pleas

ant Cove . Ned goe s aloft in the night,unreeve s

the royal buntline,takes the thimble s from the sail

,

the block from the eyes o f the rigging,and the

thimble s from the tie,and stows them all away.

“ Ned,

” said Walter,the next day

,as he was

looking over the running-rigging,preparatory to

bending sails,

“ where i s the royal buntline“ I thought

,sir

,it wouldn ’t be needed,

” replied

Ned,slightly coloring ; so I unrove and stowed it

away .

”

All right . I missed it, and thought some dockthief had stolen it .”

The shrewd course of Captain Brown,in making

THE OVEN . 7

Jacque s Bern o ux a handsome pre sent for his past

service s,and thus attaching him to his interests

,

was n o w evident . Jacque s was not merely a fi sh

erman,but also a pilot

,and thoroughly acquainted

with the coast all along the shore s of the Gulf o f

Lyons,and e specially between Toulon and Mar

seille s . Along some portions of the gulf the landis low and there are m anv lagoons

,separated by

narrow portions o f land,into w hich the sea i s

forced by storms ; but towards Toulon the shore s

are bolde r,and the land broken into many rocky

heights and promontorie s,interse cted by creeks

and coves . With every On e of these Jacque s was

thoroughly acquainted,as he had been a smuggler

before hi s marriage .

All the passage Captain Brown w as studying thecharts o f the French Coast

,and obtaining informa

tion from Jacque s in re spe ct to it .

Arthur Brown had no ordinary foe s to deal with .

Lord Hood was in command of the Me diterraneanfleet

,with orders to take all ve ssels

,of whatever

nation,attempting to enter Marseille s or Toulon

,

and under him was Nelson,in the Agamemnon

,

s ixty-four guns— a very fast ship,that is

,for an

English ship . It was merely a question of shrewd

2


ness and seamanship,as the Arthur Brown was nu

armed,and could not resist .

In order to pas s the time a t sea , Jacque s f re

quently told storie s in relation to hi s expeditions

with the smugglers,and

,among other things

,de

scribed a cove where he had often aided t o land

cargoes o f smuggled goods,and which was singu

larly adapted for concealment .

The captain li stened attentively,but

,at the con

c lusio n'

o f the sto rv merely remarked that it must

be a curiou s place .

It was the middle o f an afternoon,and the vessel

well in with the land,when they made a sail which

Jacques,after looking at it a long time with the

glass,declared to be Nelson ’s ship .

I don ’t care who she is,

” said the captain ;she ’s dead to leeward . She can ’t catch us

,and

we can dodge her in the night .”

The wind was blowing a whole sale breeze,and

fair .“ Jacque s , said the cap tain, laying his hand o n

the pilot ’s shoulder,do you remember that singu

lar cove you were telling about a fortnight ago

The oven,s ir ? ”

That’

s it . Could you take a vessel in there inthe night ?

THE OVEN . 19

Ye s,captain

,night or day .

'

I know it as well

as I know the way to mv berth .

It is‘

bright sta rlight ; the wind is fair, and

plenty o f it . Put this ve ssel in there before day

light,and I ’ll make it the best night’s work you

ever did in your life .

”

I can take you in,captain ; but remember it i s

an oven . If any'

cfi'

the fleet se e you,you are

gone ? ’

I ’ll take the ri sk .

With a spanking breeze,and every inch o f can

vas spread that would draw,the swift ve ssel sped

o n her way,and long before daybreak was under

the shadow of the land,with her studding—sails and

all her square-sails taken in .

The entrance was so narrow that two ve ssels

could not have gone in abreast while high bluff s

and o verhanging foliage made it as black as a wolf’ s

mouth . The ship ’s company held their breath .

The ve ssel se emed rushing o n to certain d estru c‘

fi o n ; but, as she ro unded a, lfigh. tdufi,the wind

was left behind, and , after running twice her length

into a calm basin,Jacque s ordered the anchor let

go, and she was brought up .

“ There, captain,” said Jacque s

,

“ I ’ve put you

20 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA SA NT COVE .

into a harbor whe'

re no wind can touch yo u ,and

about half way bet w een Marse ille s and T o n lo n .

The re st i s your affair . ”

How much of this ve ssel,lying here

,could be

seen from a'

passing ship“ A ve ssel o f this size

,nothing below the top

mast-head . Beside s,men-O f -war don ’t care to come

in here . There are batterie s o n the shore a mile

from this,each way . If they thought o f looking

,

they couldn ’t se e so small a spar as thi s ve ssel ’ s

topgallant-mast without a glas s .”

The morning light revealed a most singular

place . On the starboard hand,a rugged pro m o n

tory,covered with a thick growth o f pine and fir

,

mixed with o ak and ash,rose perpendicularly from

the sea . The other,and port s ide o f the entrance

,

was formed bv a small i sland,its extremity

,like that

o f the other point,terminating in a long

,rocky

,and

wooded bluff,but of le s s height . (Perhaps some o f

o ur young readers may have noti ced,and thought

strange,that seamen never say

,Put the helm to

larboard,

”o r speak of the larboard s ide o f a vessel,

but say,Port the helm

,

” “ Hard a-port,

”o r

,

“ Hard

down .

” Po rt i s a m ilitary term borrowed from the

French , an abbreviation of “ Pe rm la tim o ne,

”

THE OVEN . 21

meaning,

“ Carry the helm to the left,

” because

soldiers,when they port arms

,carry the pie ce s to

the left . )The inner extremity o f this i sland

,where it ap

pr o ac hed the main land,“ locked by ”

(as the sea

men say) another wooded point o f the main shore ,affording between them only a shallow and tortuou s

passage for small boats . The position o f the se two

points completely intercepted the view o f the har

bor fromthe sea . It was only from the main shore

that it was poss ible t o look into it through the pas

sage between the points .

It must be evident to o ur young r eaders that tthe

captain o f the brigantine could only hope to e scape

capture,or at least the loss of ve ssel and cargo

,by

Concealment . In entering thi s oven,he had com

pletely cut himself O ff from all chance of flight,

Since,should the enemy discover him

,a man-O

’

war ’s crew might eas ily enter,and t o w the vessel

o ut or set her o n fire .

On the other hand,if undiscovered, he was in asafe harbor ; the cargo, in case of ne ce ssity, could

be landed,and transported to Marse ille s o r Toulon

by land ; and it was suffi ciently valuable to leave a

handsome profit,even if the ves sel was lost .

22 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

It i s be st . said the captain, to be on the safe

s ide,e specially if yo u have to do with Engli sh

ailo rs,commanded by Nelson

,who hate s a Yankee

as much as he doe s a Frenchman . Ifwe had to do

with Frenchmen and Spaniards,it would be anothe r

matter .”

He instantly set the crew at work to send downthe foretopgallant-mast and maintop-mast

,with the

yards . He then run a hawser to a tre e,and

,pay

ing out o n the cable,hauled the ve s sel in’ close un

der the high C liff s o n the starboard hand,

.

and,not

sati sfied even with thi s,cut branches from the

tre e s,and lashed them to the head Of the main-mast

and also o f t he foretop-mast . It was no w imp o ssi

ble to se e the ve sse l from sea ; and even a boat

pulling along shore could n o t perce ive her without

actually entering the mouth o f the oven . This

was next to imposs ible,as man-o

’-war boats

,liable

to be fired upon with sm all arm s and fi eld -pie ces,were not inclined to venture near the shore with

o ut some special Obj e ct,o r information o f some val

uable prize,which might repay them f o r the risk .

Ja cque s,having rece ived a very handsome reward

from the captain,went to Marseille s to see hi s fam

ily,and bore a message from the captain to mer

chants there , to whom he sold hi s former cargo .

2-1 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

o f a large,evergreen oak

,that stood o n the highe st

part of the bluff ; the ladder was mad e in thi s

manner : they fastened three parts Of a rope to a

large branch near the body of the tre e a studdingSail boom was placed upon the ground and lashed

to the roots of other tree s ; to this they fastened

three old bull ’s eye s,rove the rigging through

them,and set up the ir shrouds by the end taut

with a Spanish windlas s an extemporaneous ma

chine,but

’

o f considerable power,made by sailors

with two levers and a pie ce o f small rope ; they

then rattled the shrouds down (fastened small

rope s across to step on), and were provided with an

excellent method o f ascent .

They next made fast a single block to the t0 p o f

the tree,rigged a whip

,with it hoisted up pole s

and planks,laid a platform

,and railed it in with

pole s lashed to the limbs o f the tre e . It was a

project o f Ned ’s,Walter having told him about

Charlie Bell and hi s boy companions constructing

o n e somewhat Similar in the t o p Of the big maple ,on Elm Island . This

,however

,far exceeded that

,

inasmuch as they were posse ssed o f rigging and all

requ i s ite m aterials to work with .

Walter,wh o at first did not feel much intere sted

NED PROPOSES TO IMPROVE THE D IVINE PLAN . 25

in the efl“

o rt,but engaged in it to gratify Ned

,

soon became very much so in consequence o f

working on it,and preposed a great many additions

to the original conception o f Ned,which was

merely to construct a lookout,from which

,with the

excellent glas s o f the captain,they might se e a

great distance,and watch the motions o f the block

ading fleet .

Ned,

” said he,let us make some chairs to Sit

in we don ’t want to sit down flat on the platform .

’

Well,that will be nice ; but what shall we make

them O f

“ Empty bread barrels,

” repli ed Walter,who

,a

Gri ffin,inherited all the mechanical ingenuity o f

his race . Forthwith they “ roused ” the grind

stone out of the long-boat,the rusty tools from the

tool chest,ground a chisel

,draw-shave

,and plane

irons,and Walter file d the handsaw.

I

The tools in order,Ne d set to work planing some

pieces o f boards o n one side . Walter took a barrel,

and after nailing well the hoops,sawed it across

,

just above the se cond hoops,to a depth which left

sufficient wood to form the back,being careful to

stop at a joint in the stave s . He then made a cutof the same depth and height from the ground on

the other end and the other side .

26 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS o r PLEA SANT COVE .

All that held the barrel together no w was the

bilge hoops o f each end ; the se he cut through,when the barrel dropped apart

,making two chairs

,

as far as backs and legs were concerned,but

minus the seat . He now took a flat hoop,bent it

round the inside o f the barrel to the height o f the

saw-cut,fastened the ends togethe r with a nail

,and

gave it to Ned . There,Ned

,i s the measure o f

your bottom .

”

He then by a mark which he had made along theedge o f the hoop

,proceeded to nail o n supports

for the seat ; Ned, in the mean while , putting the

piece s o f board side by side,laid the hoop o n them

,

marked out and sawed Off the pie ce s he had planed

trimmed the edge with a draw-shave,fayed in the

bottom,and nailed it

,while Walter was at work

upon another barrel ; he then nailed a pie ce o f

hoop around the t o p edge of the back to keep the

staves in place,and cut a hole for the hand to

move it by . When they had made four they hoisted

them to the platform,and sat down with the greatest

sati sfaction imaginable . The backs were rather

low,and perfe ctly straight but SO were all the chairs

of that period ; and there was not the least d anger

o f the legs of their chairs coming o u t . People in

NED PROPOSES To IMPROVE THE D IVINE PLA N . 27

those days had not time to loll ; there were not so

many inventions for the comfort of lazy folks as at

the present.

They were soon convinced that the ir labors pos

sessed a practical value,and were appreciated the

captain,finding the platform an excellent lookout

,

easy O f acce ss,the chai rs convenient

,took his

telescope up,and would sit there and smoke .

Walter,notic ing this

,made a box and fastened it to

the railing to keep the tele scope in,and prote ct it

from the weather . The crew also went up there

so they made four more chairs to accomm odate their

company . Mr . Hadlock,the se cond mate

,was very

partial to the tree .

0,Walter

,

” said Ned,as they sat conversing

after dinner,

“ I wish James Peterson was here .

”

SO do I ; he i s such a good man, and could tell

uS so many things,for he knows so much more than

Bern o ux,and i s well acquainted in this country .

”

0,i sn ’t he good

,Walter How much he did for

me when I was Sick

Do you know,Ned

,o ne O f the first things I can

remember is going down to Peterson ’s with mother

or grandsir (when he was able to walk about), and

Luce baking me turnovers,and Peterson making


playthings for me . I tell you there wasn ’t a spear

o f gras s in the path that ran acros s lots from o ur

house to James ’s . I used to eat half my meals

there ; v i ctuals tasted better th ere than anywhereelse . I tell you

,Ned

,it takes Luce to cook . I

heard L ion Ben tell fathe r that if Peterson hadrece ived an education

,there wouldn ’t be many

ahead of him .

”

“He thinks a great deal of you,Walter . D on ’t

you remember,the night yo u was going to be

land ed o n that rock right in the ocean,and left

there all alone,how he came forward and insi sted

o n going in your room ? ”

“ There ’s another I wish was here,said Walter

,

in a subdued tone,and who will not be there to

Shake hands with us when we get home from thi s

v o yagefi’

Uncle Isaac,said Ned

,his eye s filling .

Walter made no answer,and the conversation

dropped . A fter s itting a while in silence,the boys

,

saddened by the tender and touching associations

invoked,left the spot

,went o n board the ves sel

,

and set to W ork stopping a leak in the coating of

the mainmast . The n ext day a peasant b roughtalong a straw h ive o f honey to se ll . The boys

NED PROPOSES TO IMPROVE THE D IVINE PLA N . 29

bought some,and

,o n going to the tre e to eat it

,

found there the captain and se cond mate,wi th

whom they shared,as they had purchased no small

quantity .

While they Were talking and eating,wishing for

a gale Of wind— a real Gulf of Lyons gale— tos catter the fleet

,they saw a man- o

’-war get under

way,evidently for England

,convoying two supply

ship s .

The captain ascertained her name through

Jacques ; and it afterwards appeared that Nelson

wrote to his brother by the man-o ’-war that the in

habitants o f Marse ille s and Toulon were starving ;that the blockade had been so strict

,not even a

boat could get into e ither place o r o n the coast

with provis ions . While this brave seaman was

battling with the furiou s gale s, heavy seas,thun

der,lightning

,and squalls o f the Mediterranean

,

Captain Brown,Walter Grihn

,Ned Gate s

,and

Sam Hadlock were lying among the foliage o f the

o ak,eating honey and soft bread,o r watching him

through the glass,and counting the very buttons

o n his coat,as he stood back and forth along the

coast,patient

,re solute

,faithful to his weary

,har

assing task,and congratulating himself upon the

strictne s s of the blockade ;

30 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA SANT COVE .

Fo r nineteen weeks,

” write s he,my crew

have n o t had a morsel o f fre sh meat or vegeta

ble s only salt junk,hard bread

,and lime-juice .

”

During all this time,a Yankee brigant ine

,loaded

to the bends with wheat and good yellow corn

raised by Captain Rhines,Uncle Isaac

,Lion Ben

,

Charlie B ell,and their ne ighbors

,and pork

,beef

,

saltpetre,and arms bought in England o r the Brit

i sh province s,was lying

,almos t within gunshot

,in

a c ul-d e—sa c,where she could n o t e scape if d is c o v

ered,and coining money for her o

m

c ers,crew

,and

owners .

While thus eating and chatting,they were joined

by Jacques,who had returned from a visit to hi s

family .

Pilot,said the captain

,i s there any good

place near here where we can fill water ?

Ye s,captain never a better.

”

The next morning,the water-casks were put

into a boat,and Jacques piloted them to the place .

It was a lovely spot . Over the edge o f a precipice

crowned with pine s poured,in o ne broad sheet

,a

swift mountain torrent into a rocky basin,from

which the white froth floated o ff into the cove .

fl

The water was o f su i c ient depth to enable them

32 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEA SANT COVE .

I don’t know about that,Ned . I think there ’s

something to be said in favor o f the tide . Jus t

call to mind what an abominable dirty hole the port

o f Marse ille s i s ; all the filth of the city pouring

into it ; no motion only in a gale o f wind , and not

much then ; all that foul stuff stewing and s immer

ing under a southern sun . If there was a tide to

make a current,bring in a fre sh supply o f water

,

and carry o ff this slime every six hours,how much

better it would be 7’

I never thought Of that,Mr . Gri II] .

There ’s another thing I should think yo u would

have thought o f,Ned

,

” said Mr . Hadlock .

What is that,s ir ?

Why,in re spe ct to cleaning, calking, o r grav

ing a ve ssel’s bottom

,repairing

,o r stopping a leak .

S ee what a fuss we had here the other day,clean

ing and putting tallow o n this ve ssel ’s bottom °

had to heave her o ut,and work and wade in the

water at that . No w,if we had been at home

,all

we need to have done would have been t o haul her

o n to the beach in Captain Rhine s ’s Cove that yo u

d e spise so much,at high water

,ground her

,and

have e ight o r ten hours to work,o n a good sand '

beach,too .

NED PROPOSES TO IMPROVE THE D IVINE PLANT 33

I gue ss,said Ned

,I should have done better

to have held my tongue .

Our readers will bear in mind that there were

no railways in those days by which vessels are

hauled o ut of the water,o r dry docks into which

they are floated at high water,and the water

pumped out ; but o u r forefathers grounded them

acros s logs or blocks,or

,if they wanted to get at

the keel,hove them down on one side

,by means o f

tackle s made fast to the mast heads,till the keel

was o ut o f water .”

“ That is not all,either

,Ned

,

” said the second

mate . If the tide didn ’t ebb,there wouldn ’t be

any clams and that would be a very serious affairindeed to the fishermen who want bait . Once it

would have caused starvation in some case s,and

might again .

”

Ho w could that be,s ir ?

I ’ll tell you,myboy . You were born and have

grown up in Salem,and don ’t

,perhaps

,realize the

value o f clams ; but I’do . I ’ve heard old Mr . Gri n ,

the mate ’s grandfather,say

,that when he was

cutting down the tree s on his place,before he

could raise anything,and met with bad luck in

hunting,he had been

,the first summer o r two, so

3

3 -1 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

put to it for food,that he had to boil bee ch leaves

the ends Of the branche s and the tops o f the

pine tree s ( that are very tender in June , when

they are growing fast), to pre serve life , and that

if it had not been for clams,he and his fam ily

mus t have starved . I ’m sure they were a great

help to us after my father died,for we were very

poor . I was young,not strong enough to do m uch

work ; bu t I could d ig clams , and my little s iste r

picked them up . I could,with them for bait

,catch

fish and lobsters,and with a little rye and Indian

bread and some bean broth,mother got along

,and

kept us all -together . Had it not been for the clamflats

,I don ’t know what we should have done .

”

I can say amen to that,

” said Willard Lancaster ;and I know that when Peterson used to drink so

bad,and brought little o r nothing home to his

family,that Luce and the children got most of

the ir living o ut of the clam flats .”

It i s not only the value o f the clams as food

said Walter “ but a good part of the fish that are

cured and exported to all parts of the world to

feed thousands,are caught with clam bait .”

“ That,indeed

,

” said the captain .

“ What vast

quantitie s O f fish are exported from Salem to the

FNED PROPOSES To IMPROVE THE D IVINE PLA N .

West Indie s and o ther place s ! and that i s bu t a

trifle compared with the whole amount .

Ye s,indeed

,si r . I didn ’t think of all the se use s

for the tide . I was thinking only how convenient

it would be to have it always high water for a few

things .“ There are many oth er things

,said Walter

that the ebb and flo w of the tide are very c o nven

ient for . Three years ago,father was build ing a

wharf in o ur cove : the logs were master great

one s ; it would have taken twenty men to place

them where we wanted them but father and I cut

the score s in the other logs to receive them,rolle d

them into the water with the oxen,then tied a rope

to them,floated them at high water to the spot

,

held them till the tide ebbed,and they settled into

the groove s just as easy as a cat would lick her ear .

“Te didn’t lift an ounce the tide lifted all those big

logs for us . D id yo u ever see the Casco, Ned ?”

“ No,s1r ; she was always away when I was

at Pleasant Cove,but I ’ve heard say she i s a

monster .”

SO she i s— seven hundred tons ; you mayjudge what her an chors must be . Well

,I can

tell yo u what they are : the be st bower is 3000,and the small bower

36 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA sANT COVE .

O,my What a junk o f i ron that must be

We rode o u t a gale of wind in Cadiz,with both

anchors ahead and all the scope out . It blew a gale,

I tell you,and the anchors were well bedded .

When we came to get under way for home,we

hove up the small anchor ; but the other we hove ,and hove

,and hove

,and couldn ’t start it. At last

the captain said,Avast heaving ; let the tide take

it o u t .

’ We waited till lo w water,hove her d own

as long as we could catch a pawl on the W indlass,

and made all fast . At length the tide began to flow,

the ship began to bury forward ; down she went, till

the water was coming into the hawse-hole s,the

cable sung,and the tar b egan

'

to stand in drop s o n

it with the strain,when all at once the anchor let

go with a surge that threw every man from hi sfeet. The tide was ve rv convenient then ; if it

had not been for it,we must have gone ashore

,got

a grappling,and grappled to the fluke o f the

anchor,o r left it . Again the tide i s very c o nven

Ient for a timepie ce ; if yo u keep the run of the

tide,you have the time o f day .

”

“ It i s about as well to take things as the Lordhas arranged them

,said the captain

,

“ and be

contented and thankful .”

NED PROPOSES TO IMPROVE THE D IVINE PLAN . 37

That,

” said Ned,

“ brings to my mind a pie ce

mother read to me once,about a man who thought

,

if the dispos ition of aff airs had been committed to

him,he could have arranged them a great deal

better than they n ow are ; that it was not at all

proper that so large and noble a thing as a pump

kin should be attached to a vine lying upon the

ground,while so insignificant a thing as an acorn

o r beech-nut grew upon a lofty tree ; but falling

asleep one day under an o ak,an acorn falling o n

his nose awoke him,when he exclaimed

,

‘Wretch

that I am Had it been a pumpkin it would havedashed my brains o ut .

’ I don ’t know as I re colle ct

it aright,but that was the amount o f it .”

“ It i s certainly better,Ned

,to be in the hands

Of a wise and good Providence,than to be le ft to

plan for ourselve s . If the di sposal of events had

been committed to you or me,we never should

have suffere d the Madras to spring aleak,and

endured what we did upon the raft ; yet it carried

us to Pleasant Cove,to Captain Rhine s and Charlie

Bell,and was the best thing that could have hap~

pened to e ither o f us . Way enough,men ; fend o ff ,

Jacques .”

38 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEA SA NT COVE .

CHAPTER III .

THE BOYS CONSCIOUS OF HIGHER A IMS .

HOSE luxurious boys,n o t sati sfied with eating

soft bread,lolling in their new chairs

,bath

ing and fri sking in the blue waters o f the Me diter

ranean,re solved to sleep in the Bird ’s Ne st

,as they

had christened the stru cture in the tre e . Thi s was

a plan o f Ned,who proposed taking the ir beds up

into the tre e and sleeping there .

“ Don ’t let us sleep o n that Old straw,but throw

it away and get some fre sh,

” said Walter ° though,

upon se cond thoughts,I don ’t know where we

should get it . These peasants only raise rye,and

rye straw is too hard,only fit for s tufling horse

collars . Let u s get moss and bee ch leave s,Ned the

o ld leaves that have fallen o ff will be just the thing,

only dry them .

So we will .I ’ll tell you what I ’ve been thinking o f . Won

der I didn ’t think o f it before .

”

A’

) THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

Then,perhaps

,they would think

,if they didn ’t

say it, that it was rather small busine s s for a mate

O f a vessel who wanted to be master, and a young

fellow who wanted to be mate,and had run the

broadside Of a hundred gun ship,and been twice

wounded,to be Spending all the ir time building

birds ’ nests better leave that to the birds,and set

about the busine s s they were m ade f o r .

”

Come,grandfather

,replied Ned

,patting Wal

ter ’s cheek,

“ just leave ‘that alone ; thi s ne st i s not

without its use . We must have some place f o r a

lookout to watch the fleet ; and, were it not for this ,the captain would have to go the be st part o f a

mile to a hill . These chairs are a real comfort to

him,as well asto us . I ’m sure it i s o ur duty to do

anything we can for him,who is so good to u s

,and

puts us ahead . A fellow must have some fun to Oilthe wheels and make everything run smooth ; be

side s, grandp a , you will b e obliged to allow,

that if

I first thought o f making the nest, yo u have put

ten times the work in it I eve r intended d oing ;and I ’m sure the chairs were all your o wn get

ting up ; and n o w you want to get moss to fill

beds with .

”

There , you’ve said enough

,you little monkey .

THE BOYS CONSCIOUS OF H IGHER A iMs . 4 1

“ I think this nice warm climate,just like May

,

makes anybody feel lazy and shiftle'

s s . Only think,

Wal,at hom e

,n o w

,they are all covered up in

snow,i c icle s hanging from the cattle ’s nose s

,and

big roaring fire s in the hous es ; and here I saw

yesterday,right o n the s ide o f that little kn oll

,

strawberrie s in blossom .

I gues s you ’re right,Ned

,

” said Walter,stretch

ing himself ; and that i s just as o ur Jo e i s always

saying— the frost puts the grit in .

”

I gue ss so,for there don ’t se em to be much grit

in the folks here ; it seems as though the women

did half the work .

Let us ask the captain . Ned, for liberty to go

and take a look at the c o untrv then we c an get

information,and something to fill o ur beds with

beside s having a good time— pleasure and profit,

youngster .”

Where shall we sleep ; o ut doors ?”

Ye s ; take a blanket ( the weather i s warm),just to keep the dew O ff .

“ And we can carry provisions ? ”

Ye s,and

!

fireworks .

I should like that ; it would be something like

what we were going to d o at Pleasant Cove,when


uncle Isaac was hurt . I never was in the woods ;always have been either at s chool or at sea .

”

I don ’t think you ’ll find much woods . I can ’t

se e from the tre e any that I should call woods .There seems to be as much about this even as

anywhere,and I suppose that was left to shelter

and conceal the harbor . for the smugglers .”

“ I tell you,Walter

,

’twill seem real nic e,after

being penned up aboard ship,to lie down under a

tree,stretch out

,loll about

,no ‘anchor watch

,

’ don ’t

care whether school keep s o r not, even if yo u don’t

do anv more than that .”

There ’s a roll of canvas under my berth . I ’ll

ask the captain to give u s enough to make a couple

Of packs .”

Having obtained the canvas,needle s

,and twine

,

they were soon in the Bird ’s Nest,s ewing and talk

ing over their proposed tramp . They invi ted

Jacque s to make one o f the party ; but he wasabout to return and re sume his employment o f

fishing,and in the mean time keep watch O f the

Engli sh fleet,and pick up any information that was

valuable,until hi s service s should be again required

as pilot .

Walter sent Ned to the captain for liberty,which

THE BOYS CONSCIOUS OF H IGHER A IMS . 43

he not only gave c he e rfullv, but added , There’s

nothing to be d one ; yo u m ay stay as long as you

like ; only be sure , i f you see any change in th e

weather,to hu rry aboard .

Ned,delighted

,thanked the captain most enthu si

astic ally .

“ Y o u know,Ned

,

” said he,

“ you have not eu

joyed much for a boy . You ’ve never had a greatdeal of boyhood

, yo u were kept at school very

closely by your parents,then went to sea

,was cast

away . When you got over that,went right O ff

again,was wounded

,suffered a great d eal

,and

then was disappointed in re spect to the good time

you were re ckoning upon. at Pleasant Cove with

Mr . Murch and Walter . Now you are a right down

good boy,Ned

,and I hope you will enjoy yourself

,

for nobody can tell what will befall u s next .”

Having set o ut at sunrise,they travelled till

noon,and after gaining the summit o f a high hill

,

lay down beneath a tre e to re st . Their life o n

shipboard had entirely unfi tted them for walking ;the strap o f the packs cut the ir shoulders, and they

were thirsty,for the dry

,barren plains of Provence

afforded n o water : they were extremely fat igued .

A fter stretching themselve s at full length upon


the ground to re st,not caring whether school

kept or not,theywent in quest o f water, and at

last came to a place where a very little tri ckled

from a seam in the ledge,but was evaporated bV

the hot sun,nearly as fast as it ran

,barely moisten

ing the rock .

What shall we do,Walter ?

I ’ll show you .

He broke some branches from a clump o f p ine

bushes,set them against the rock

,then sat down

with Ned under them . The bushe s kept o ff the

sun,and the water

,no longer evaporating

,c o l

le c ted in a little cavity o f the rock,and they were

bountifully supplied . Opening their packs,they

began to eat with the greate st reli sh .

We ’re all right no w,VVal said Ned .

I shall be when I get this junk of beef down .

It came from Elm Island —L ion Ben ’s Old brind ledox . Only see the fat o n it l— that goe s to the right

place,Ned . I call thi s rather a poor

,mean coun

try ; the soil seems to be a hungry gravel, all burnt

up ; scarcely any wood .

”

I suppose they don ’t need a great deal,only a

little to cook with,the weather i s so warm .

”

The captain says they have cold winds in the


spring,from the mountains

,and hail and sno w

hail enough sometimes to kill sheep and destroy

the whole crop .

”

They n o w re sumed their packs and went o n,

chatting and making their Observations in re spect

to the land and the peasants whom they saw at

work in the fields .“ Where do thes e people live ? ” asked Ned . I

don ’t se e a house,although there are plenty o f

fields,and people at work in them . Only see the

women shovelling sand and picking up rocks ! AsI live

,if there ain ’t a horse and jackass working

together ! ”

“ Look over there, said Walter ; se e those

oxen,the yoke lashed to their horns .

“ Wonder where they cut any hay ! ” said Ned ;don ’t se e any mowing-fi eld s .

”

I don ’t suppose they need much ; they have no

snow to lie,and the cattle graze all winter

“ I should think so,by the looks o f them .

O,Ned

,what kind o f a tree i s that

,with those

rough things o n the branche s ? Let’s go and see .

Why,it ’s a che stnut ! Here are some just such as

they sell in the stores .“ Why

,Walter

,didn ’t yo u ever se e a che stnut

tree before ?


No ; they don’t grow o ur way ; only walnuts

and butternuts .”

There ’s plenty o f them in Massachusetts . But

what are all the se stone walls built round the side s

o f the hills for ? and what i s that growing on them ? ”

“ Vine s ; I’ve seen those in Spain .

”

But how do they ever get any manure up

there ?“ Lug it on their backs in baskets .I guess this land must all belong to o ne man

,

for I don ’t see any divi sion fence s only once in a

while a ditch,o r a little pile o f stone s . He must

have an everlasting sight o f land,for I can ’t see

any house . What kind of a tre e is that with pale

green leaves“ An olive .

”

Is that what they make o il from,Walter ?

Ye s .”

And that o ne next to it ?A fig tree .

”

Ho w do you know ?

Jacque s showed me o ne at Marseille s,last vo y!

age,in a garden .

”

“ And the se others ?I don ’t know what they are .


Look,Walter. I see the spire o f a church

,o r

something that looks like it,between those two

hills .”

“ Ye s ; I se e it . Those people seem very kind .

Let us go and have a talk with that Old man whoi s at work at the foot o f that tre e with sueli a lot

round him ; all the family, I gue ss . You Speak tohim

,Ned .

”

Walter knew that the French he had learnedfrom the exile s at Salem was quite different fromthe pato Is o f Provence

,being the language of cul

t ivated society,whereas Ned had picked his up

from Peterson,Jacque s

,and Mr . Bell

,and it was

the very dialect o f this locality,

the diale cts,in

different parts o f France,differing almost as much

as th e climate . Walter had also learned many

words from the same source as Ned .

“ I’ll speak to him ; I can talk their lingo first

rate n ow ; but let us s it down and re st a while .

I ’m real tired ; where shall we sleep to-night“ Under that high cliff

,th e o ther side o f the val

ley ; and we can drink from the brook . I see some

tree s there,and we can make o ur fire right under

them, drive a stake into some crevice , hang o ur

kettle , and have a cup o f tea.”


Think we couldn ’t get some milk o f those folks,

Wal

I expe ct it would be goat ’s milk,if we did .

Goat ’ s milk i s first rate,I tell you . We had

two goats aboard the Madras .“ Perhaps i t i s but it always seemed to me that

it must taste just as a goat smells .”

“ O,Wal

,what a b o y yo u are ! W h o ever heard

o f tasting a smell ? ”

I don ’t care . There ’ s a mighty diff erence be

tween a c o w and a goat. A cow ’s breath is as

swe et as a rose .

4


CHAPTER IV.

GABRIEL QUESNA RD.

they lay with heads pillowed on their packs ,

Ned,

” said Walter,I wish we could imi

tate Charlie Bell,John Rhines

,and Fred Williams

in something be s ide s building a platform in a tre e

top,or getting coral and sponge to take home with

us,o r even obtaining information about the people

and country we are in .

”

I think this i s first rate,

” said Ned,sticking his

legs,which were stiff and swollen with walking

,

up In the air . “ What would you have,Wal ? I

think we ’ve both done pretty well . I made a hun

dred dollars a month clear,last voyage you

,twic e

that ; which i s more than they all did when they

started .

”

“ But we have been hired,and have only done

w hat other people laid o ut for us ; whereas they

struck o ut for themselve s,planned

,worked

,and

built a ve ssel , as you may say, o ut of nothing,

o w ned and load ed her to boot .”

GABRIEL QUESNA RD. 5 1

There were four Of them,and they had good

advisers but,when left o n that rock alone

,didn ’t

y o u get hold Of Jacque s , and wasn’t it due to you r

re solution and contrivance that the ve ssel got into

Marseille s,and made 'all she d id make

“ Ned,do you think getting money or being

smart is t o be put before everything else ?

“ I gues s I don ’t,

” said Ned,rolling over

,and

putting hi s arm round Walter . “ I think having

friends to love who love you,and to do what i s

right,i s t o be put ever so much before that .”

Is there nothing else ? ”

Y o u mean,said Ne d

,in a subdued tone

,be

ing what my mother calls pious .”

No . I never talk O f'

that ; I know nothing

abou t i t ; wish I did .

”

“ What d o yo u mean, then ?”

“ I ’ll tell yo u . I don ’t suppose it i s boasting to

say that W e have been smart,trusty

,and filled the

place s we were put in,perhaps

,as well

,in o ur way

,

as they in the irs ; but they have done other things

that we have not .

What are they

They have done good . Isaac Murch persuaded

Peterson to leave liquor alone,and taught. him to


read . Ho w Charlie,John

,and Fred helped Old

Mrs . Yelf after her husband died ! and she,with

her Old fingers,wove the royal o f the Hard-s crab

ble,and luck has fol lowed that ve ssel from the dav

she was launched . Isaac Murch said he left hi s

luck behind him when he left the Hard-s crabble

for S eth Warren has made double,in proportion to

the cost o f th e two ve ssels,in her to what he has

in the great ship . She has never lost a spar o r a

man ; and it’s my belief she never will be cast

away,bu t die a natural death in the head o f Cap

tain Rhine s ’s Cove,where the squirrels will make

nests in her cab in,and heard the ir acorns

,the rob

ins will build o n her spars,the little children have

her f o r a play-house,and the big boys to dive

from . Uncle Isaac said he knew just as well before she sailed that she would be lucky as he did

afterwards .”5 4Why 77

Because a robin built her ne st o n the gammon

knee , under the bowsprit ; and Captain Rhine s putO ff rigging her a week

,that the nest might not be

disturbed .

I never heard Of that before Walter ; but Char

lie Bell told me how much Captain Rhine s andUncle Isaac did for the wid ow Hadlo ck.

”

GA BRIEL QUESNA RD . 3

There ’s o ne thing he never told you,I ’ll war

rant : that Fred Williams was once o ne O f the

worst boys in town ; and he and John refor med

him,took all the money they had earned , an d set

him up in busine s s .”

NO,he never told me that . At home they

praise us,and call u s smart . We risked o u r l ive s

last voyage,and are ready to risk them again

,to

make m oney .

”

But Captain Rhine s,Uncle Isaac

,Lion Ben

,

o ur Joe,and Charlie Bell ri sked their live s to save

yours and the captain ’s .

”

“ Ye s ; and see what Captain Rhine s has donesince for o ur captain and hi s mother ’s fam ilv.

”

“ You know what Uncle Isaac ’s last words were,

Ned . I shall never forget them ; th ey keep coming

up .

‘What Li

now like most to think about,boys

,

ain ’t what I ’ve done for myself , but to help others .’

I ’m sure,Walter

,I feel just so ; but I don

’t

know what we can do like them . If Uncle Isaacwas alive

,he could tell u s .”

“ No r I,e ither ; but I don

’t mean to wait to do

some great thing to m ake a sound,but take hold

o f the first thing that comes up .

”

“ I ’m bound to do what yo u d o ,W al. But come,

I ’m rested ; let’s go on .

”


D e scending the hill to the valley,they beheld a

most lively scene . Men,women

,and children were

busily employed gath ering olive s,which were n o w

ripe , and looked similar to a r ipe damson . Somewere in the tree s

,shaking them from the branche s

,

others beating them Off with pole s,and still others

pi cking up and loading upon mule s and asse s ,

which stood near,with wi cker panniers acros s

their backs . They were also lead ing into the

queere st-looking carts imaginable —the wheels

solid,made o f two layers o f planks

,with a short

piece o n each side to increase the thickne ss and

th e bearing , and take the place Of a hub . To some

o f the se carts oxen were attached,yoked by the

horns ; and every time thes e wheels turned they

made a doleful scre e ching .

“ I should think,

” said Ned,

“ if they are making

Oil,they might afford enough to grease th ei r

wheels .”

“ SO should I . Look at those women,Ned

,

’

pointing to three who were bearing Off sacks o n

their Shoulders,filled with olive s . “ What a way

that i s , lading women, and letting asse s and mule s

stand still !

Gre'

at were the surpri se and delight o f the boys,


n either read nor write,he had neverthele ss thought

m uch,li stened well

,and Observed closely

,been a

constant attendant at the assemblie s o f the pe o

ple,and an actor in all the terrible s cene s o f the

fi rst years Of the revolution . Like many others o fthe more reflective and intelligent portion o f the

inhabitants o f the southerni

pro vin c es, he was sat-i s

fi ed when those abominable extortions, levied upon

the peasantry both by clergy and noble s under thename o f “ seignioral rights

,

"o r

,as it was some times

called,

“ the servitude o f the soil,

” were swept away,

joined the m ore moderate party,who th ought blood

eho ugh had been shed , and were opposed to the

savage fanati c s,who

,in the nam e o f liberty

,slew

all whom they either hated o r feared .

“ Y o u find us busy,citizens

,

” he said ; for it i s

the Olive-harvest,and we are later about it than

common ; but it i s“

now nearly time to leave work .

Y o u will go with me to my poor house,and pass

the night .”

“ We thank yo u kindly,” said Ned ; but we are

sailors , accustomed to being o ut o f doors,and all

kinds o f exposure . After be ing so long pennedup o n shipboard , we wish to stretch o ur limbs

,see

the country , and crops, h ow the people live , and

GA BRIEL QUESNA RD. 57

have made up o ur minds to sleep o n the s ide of

yonder hill,In this sweet air .”

“ It i s winter-time,and the nights are long and

77

This weath er i s summer to us . We came from

a country where the winters are severe . We have

blankets,and are used to sleeping on the soft s ide

o f a plank .

”

But your food,c itizens .

We have plenty of provision in o ur packs .

Gabriel n o t se eming at all re conciled to thi s,and

st ill urging the claims o f ho spitality,Walter told

himthey wished to go farther to se e the face o fthe country

,productions

,and manner in which the

people l ived .

“ And how can yo u se e in what fashion the people live if you don ’t go into the ir homes

,and eat

and drink with them ? ”

We couldn ’t se e the country in the house,

re

plied Walter . “ We will sleep o n the hill-side to

night,tO -morrow travel farther to please ourselve s

,

and,o n o ur return

,stop at your hou se to gratify

By that time,said Gabriel

,

“ we hope to be

more at le i sure for sociab ility and a good time .

”


I ’ve seen Olive s before,said Walter

,in Spain

,

and eaten them ; but they were green . These are

violet .”

“ That was because they were unripe . These

are ripe . I used to sell the greater part o f mine

green before the blockade .

What do you do to them when you sell them in

that way ?

Soak them te if hours in lye,afterwards a week

in cold water,then put them in brine

,with some

sweet herbs . That i s all . Some only put them inbrine .

What are you going to do with the se 9

Pre ss them f o r O il. ”

What a great tre e this i s that you are gather

ing no w said Ned .

“ Let ’s se e if w e can claspit,Walter .

Putting their arms around the tre e,they were

bare ly able to touch the tips of the ir fingers .“ I didn ’t know Olive tree s grew so large

,said

Walter . “ None of the others here are half as

large as this . How brown the bark looks andgreat furrows in it

,just like an Old willo w

,and the

leave s look like willow leave s . It i s hollow,too

,

and c overed with warts .

G A BRIEL QUESNA RD . 59

Ye s,because it i s so o ld .

How old i s it ?

God only knows ; perhaps as Old as the world .

As old as the world ? ”

Ye s,citizens

,it might have been the first o ne

made .

”

The first o ne made

Well,nobody ever knew o ne to die

,except it

was burnt,cut down

,or killed by the frost . They

can’

t bear the frost . A f ew years ago,most of the

tree s in the lo w ground were hurt bv the frost, but

this,being on higher ground

,e scaped . I don ’t

believe they ever die Of the ir own a ccord .

“ How long is it,

” asked Walter,after they are

planted,before they bear

They bear a few Olive s in ten or twelve years,

but not much o f a crop till they are twenty-five o r

thirty .

”

Don ’t they lose the ir leavesA part Of the leave s turn yello w

,as you see

“

, in

the fall,but they are never bare and in the Spring

the new one s push O ff the Old one s .”

DO they hear every year ?

No,every other they work one year for them

selve s,and o ne f o r the owner .”


Do they yield much o il ?

A hundred weight Of clean Olive s make s aboutthirty o r thirty-two pounds o f Oil .”

How much o il will a big tre e , like that we have

clasped,make

This year that tre e has about o n e hundred and

forty livre s

How much Oil w ill they makeAbout. a barrel—t w enty o f your gallons .What is it worth ?

Three franc s ( s ixty cents) a gallon' but then

we raise other crops among the Olive s .“ But I suppose they are like o ur crops that we

raise in the orchards— rather light ?“ Ye s ; but the olive will grow o n poor land eu

dure the drought,and don ’t require much care .

“ What do you dre s s them with ? ”

The skins and stone s that are le ft after pre ss

ing,are as

.

good as anything .

”

How much do the other tree s average ? There

are no othersnear as large as this .”

About two gallons,take o ne year with another.

The olive s , however, come o ff after the grain harve st

and the vintage are over,when there i s not much

else to do .

”

GABRIEL QUESNA RD.

“ Taking o ut the big tree,that wouldn ’t be more

than fifteen dollars to an acre every other year,

according to the number o f tree s you ’ve go t here ,making no allowance for blight and bad years . Then

you ’ve no straw,nothing le ft but the Oil

,and that

won ’t keep a great while ; i f yo u don’t se ll i t

,

cattle can ’t eat it . I ’d f ather raise corn o n a burn,

where I can get a c rOp worth five time s as much,that I can eat

,sell

,o r that my cattle will fat o n

,

will keep,and then have a c rOp o f fodder left after

all i s d one . DO they ever fail o f a crop in the

bearing years ?“ Yes

,they sometime s blight and cast the ir

f ruit .”

“ I should call it rath er sm all bu sine s s to wait

twelve years for a tree to bear at all,then twenty

five o r thirty more for it to bear full ;' afte r all, to

bear only every other year ; som etim e s blight, and

then get Only S ix dollars from the very largest

tre e s . I shouldn ’t think they ’d be worth th e pick

ing up .

‘No t worth the picking up ! ” cried Gabrie l in

astonishment ; o lives n o t wo r th p ic king up Theybring much money to the poor man .

”

“ How much are a man ’s wages he re

-62 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASA NT COVE .

Twenty sous ( cents ) a day, a woman’s,ten

,to

work in the f ield .

Why,in America a man working o n the land in

harve st gets s ix o r nine francs,and found .

”

“ Mon D i eu s creamed Gabriel my wife,m y

children,hear that . Felix Be rtault

,my neighbor

,

he shouted to a peasant,who was a short distance

away pruning vines,but

,having heard the loud

talking and witne ssed the excited gesture s caused

by Walter ’s words,stood gaping with open mouth

,

and pruning-hook in hand .

Step this way,

” said Gabriel,and listen to

what this young citizen i s saying that in Americaa laboring man gets nine francs

,and his victuals

be side s .”

The new comer expre ssing equal surpri se,they

talked and‘

gesticulated with such fury,that Ned

whispered to Walter

DO you believe,Wal

,that a Frenchman could

talk if you tied his hands

I guess n o t ; Captain Rhines says they couldn ’t .”

What kind o f tree s are those with su ch crookedlimbs ? ” asked Ned .

Mulberrie s .The bark and body look some like a maple ;

w hat are they good for ?


them ? Why can’t yo u leave them o n the tre e s to

take care o f themselve s, and, when they have made

their house s,go and pick them O ff

Gabriel then explained to the boys that the

s ilk-worm and the mulberry tre e were both na

tives o f a warmer climate than France , where theworm could live and hatch out o f doors

,like

oth er worms ; and that, although the mulberry

tree had become acclimated,and could live and

grow o ut Of doors,and even sustain a severe win

ter,the worm couldn ’t

,and therefore they kept

them in the house,and brought the leave s to them ;

and when they came t o se e him,he would take

them over to the house o f Felix Be rtault,who

raised them,show them the cocoons and silk

,and

tell them all about it.

Our young readers must not be surpri sed that

Walter thought the worms made silk ready for

use . How should he know anything about it ? Agood many boys who read the se books may n o t

know any more ; those who do , have obtained

the ir kno w ledge by reading,and perhaps never

saw a silk-worm in all the ir live s,although they

are rai sed in Connecticut,and a f ew in Massa

c husetts but Walter had not acce ss to books that

GA BRIEL QUESNA RD. 65

treated o f such matters . Walte r now asked the

peasant to what the fragrance of the air was

owing ; to which he replie d that, o n the hills

from which the wind then blew,a great many

fragrant plants were growing wild,and also in

the fields o f his ne ighbors ; they were cultivated

f o r the purpose o f the perfumer ; but there was

not so much o f that busm e ss here as at Nismes,

Nice,and Canne s ; but still a good many plants

were cultivated and sent to those and other

place s to be sold .

“ Doe s anybody own land here,except the n o e

bility ? o r are the laboring people all tenants ? ”

We have been delivered from all that trash by

the revolution ; cut Off their heads , or they have

fled ; we’re all noble s n o w. To answer your que s

tion,citiz ens

,it used to be so in a good measure

here . A lthough the people owned land,more o r

le ss,all over France

,yet the most O f it was in the

hands o f the grand se igniors ; and that which the

common people held was so burdened with taxe s

to be paid the ari sto'

cracy,clergy

,and government

,

that it was better to be without it ; but since the

revolution,in consequence o f the confiscation of

the e state s of the seigniors and prie sts who were

5


guillotined or emigrated,all that land was thrown

into the market by the National As sembly,divided

into lots,from o ne .to ten acre s

,sold to the citizens

,

and five years allowed to pay for it in .

”

D o you o wn this land ? ” asked Walter.

IVhat,all thi s valley

Ye s .”“ Citizens

,are you mad ? NO peasant owns so

much as that .”

“ Why not A great many persons in my country Own more than thi s whole valley .

”

A great part o f th i s land,

” said Gabriel,

“ be

longed t o a grand se ignior,some small portions

being owned by citizens ; but he was guillotined,his property confiscated

,the land parcelled o ut and

sold , so that it has pass ed into the hands Of the

people . Before the revolution,

” said he,

“ the land,

at the death Of the parent,went to the olde st so n

but that law i s abolished,and it i s now equally

divid ed ; for which reason, in re spe ct to some

small propertie s,the children posse ss only a few

rods ; sometime s an olive tree, or mulberry, stand

ing in ten rods o f land ; and this i s the homestead

Of a’

wh o le family the ir farm .

”

THE YANKEE BOYS ’ HOL IDA Y IN PROVENCE . 67

CHAPTER V .

THE YANKEE BOYs’ HOL IDAY IN PROVENCE .

HE peasants now began to return to the village,

while the boys prepared to camp o ut . Wal

ter,at a hasty glance along the side o f the moun

tain,perce iving m any tree s

,took it for granted

,

without further examination,that they were fore st

tree s,and would furnish material for a fire ; but as

they approached,to hi s great chagrin

,he noticed that

they were mulberry,Olive

,and figs

,and that there

was not even a bush o r a bramble that could be

taken to feed a fire . This at once reversed the

whole train o f his ideas,and threw him into a state

o f mind entirely foreign to hi s usual cheerful,

buoyant frame,and a mood not to be pleased with

anything,which communicated itself

,though with

le ss intensity, to Ned, who, never having experi

enc ed those pe culiar emotions begotten o f the ifre ewild life in the woods

,was n o t peculiarly touched

by the disappointment .


I think it is a great way for people who live bytheir labor to be so far from th eir work . I should

think it would take half of the ir time to go and

come .

“ They don ’t know how to put things ahead with

a rush,as we do

,

” saidWalter .

How can a man think much o f his time when it ’sworth only twenty cents a day ?

It ain ’t worth that,for a sou ain ’t quite a cent .

They will work all day in a half bushel,and don

'

t

know how to take advantage o f work . I ’ve heard

the captain say that they were once little bette r

than slaves to the ari stocracy,and have been so

long used t o working at a slave jog that they keep

it up,and always want to hudd le together like a

nest o f rats .

”

While talking they had gained the decliv ity Ofthe hill

,and sat down .

Only look at that troop,Wal .

It was, indeed, a curious spe ctacle th at peasant

train, some driving asse s,othe rs mule s

,and sti ll

others oxen attached to thei r queer-looking carts

heap ed with Olive s, and all making f o r the gap

between the hills,through which the boys had

seen the church spire .

THE YA NKEE BOYS ’ HOL IDAY IN PROVENCE . 69

Spreading their blankets beneath a shelvingrock

,they rolled themselve s in them

,and began

to converse .

How sweet this air smells ! said Ned,snu ffing

the odor o f the wild thyme,lavender

,marjoram

,

absinthe,and other fragrant plants among which

they lay .

“ I don ’t think much o f it,

” said Walter,who was

not in a humor to be pleased with anything .

“ I

call it a God-forsaken country,all dried up

,no

water to drink without travelling ten mile s,and

then sucking it out o f the rocks . Here we ’ve passedtwo or three beds o f brooks all dried up ; plenty o f

water when you don ’t want it,none when you do ;

and n o t a stick of wood to build a camp fire . Thi s

smell i s not to be mentioned in the same day with

the fragrance o f good pine woods,and I know it

i sn’t half so whole some . Give me a good apple

orchard in bloom,and you may have all the se

misera ble herbs .”

I ’m sure,

” said Ned,I ’d rather have a tumbler

o f cider than “ all their sour wine ; and what is an

Olive to an apple

“ Ye s,Ned

,to the cat-heads that grow down

behind our pig-sty . They may talk about the juice


of the grape ; give me the good maple sirup , and

sap,and a country where a man can earn enough

to afford to eat m eat .”

I know it,Walter ; and where the women don

’t

have to”

shove ! dirt,hoe

,reap . and work just like

an Indian squaw. I twigged that . And then bragabout the ir politenes s

I never heard there was any po litene ss among

the Griffins ; but I wonder what my father would

say to se e mother shovelling sand,o r lugging

manure o n her back up the side of a mountain .

Guess he ’d roar some ; guess she’d have to send

into the house qui cker .“ D id you ever see such pigs ? ” said Ned who

was n ow thoroughly imbued with the fault find inghumor of his companion .

“ Guess they have to

boil the ir pork ; for I don’t believe there ’s grease

enough in it to fry itself.”

“ D id you ever se e such oxen ? They ain ’t biggerthan rats—nasty

,scraggly-looking things

,c ow

horned and cat-hammed,no ne cks o r quarters

,

every hair sti cking up straight . Don ’t believe theycould t w itch a spruce bush . I ’ll bet our Old Starand Golding (just let father speak to

’em) would

drag six such,tail foremost . They ’re welcome to

THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

he last words distinguishable were,God-forsaken

country no wood for a camp fire .

”

In the morning,as the re sult Of a consultation held

while eating,they determined first to ascend the hill

,

and afterwards t o explore the country . Here they

found a long-moss o n the rocks,which they conclud ed

would be just the thing with which t o fill the ir

beds,and re solved to take some o f it with them

when they returned .

O,Wal

,we ’ll dry some o f these fragrant plants

and m ix With the moss . ’

Ye s that will be nice .

Following a cart track through a gap in the hill s,

they came upon a highway in most excellent order ;

and bordered with tre es,and saw

,a little upon

their left,the village o f the peasants

,consi sting of

house s built of mud and stone huddled together,

many without glass,and no entrance fOr light

except the door,the roofs covered with tile s

,and

not a tree near them .

Their attention was attracted by the towers of 3.

large castle,evidently in ruins

,upon the summit o f

an eminence th at commanded th e Village . With

curiosity greatly excited,they were about to climb

the hill to View it more closely,when Ned said

,

THE YANKEE BOYs’ HOLIDAY IN PROVENCE . 73

Let us go ahead,see the country

,come back here

to night,an d camp in the ruins .”

Skirting the base of the hill upon which thecastle stood

,they came again upon the stream

that watered the vale — n o w increased in volumefi r“by a uents from the mountains

,—falling over a

cliff upon which were the remnants of a dam,and

just below it a mass of half-burned timber and large

stones,that Walter

,more familiar than Ned with

such matters,declared to be the ruins o f some

kind Of a mill . The se large circular stone s lay

embedded in a mass o f coals and brands,the

shafts burned o ut o f them,white from the action

Of fire,and every o n e split in two . It seemed

probable thi s had been accompli shed by fl inging

water upon them while red hot .

There was no water,at this time

,within several

rods o f the stone s ; but, from the appearance o f the

banks,it was evident that the stream

,s ince the

destruction o f the dam,had changed its channel

,

and had once flowed near to the stone s,to which

it had been b rought in a flum e,the remains being

still visible . After inspecting the se stone s withthe greate st curiosity

,Walter said

,

I don ’t see what they could grind with such


stones as the se ; they certainly couldn ’t grindgrain ; they couldn

’t gr ind anything ; they are

not “ picked,

” like a millstone,but as smooth as

my hand ; they could only squat . If they raised

apple s here,I should think they were made to

squat them .

”

Our young readers will bear in mind that mill

stone s are “ picked,

” or cut in sweeping furrows,

which leave sharp edges to catch and grind the

grain .

Still farther from the bank Of the stream,on

some high and level ground,were two more pairs

Of stones . These,it was evident

,had not been

enclosed in any building, as the only C inders lying

around were those re sulting from the burning Of

the shafts that had once been used to operate them .

The lower stone s were raised about two feet from

the ground,and dishing nearly ten feet in diam

eter,with hole s drilled through them

,around a

central one . Upon these lay two smaller stones,

with square hole s in their centre s,in o n e o f which

was a half-burned shaft . These were all,save o ne

upper stone,split in halve s .

Ho w did they split the se ? ” asked Ned .

“ Theyhave not been heated .

”

THE YANKEE BOYS ’ HOL IDAY IN PROVENCE. 75

With powder,

” said Walter,pointing to hole s

drilled in the stones .

Then why didn ’t they split thi s one ‘7

They tried to,but the charge blew o ut ; there

are the holes .”

“ Perhaps their powder gave o ut .

I gues s I know h o w this went .

Ho w

This stone ran on its edge round the other ;there was an upright shaft in the middle ; and that

hole in the centre was made to re ce ive a pintle,to

hold th e foot O f it,and it was turned by a horse

,o r

by hand,just like a cider mill .”

Walter began to hunt in the long grass around

the stone,and soon exclaimed

Here it i s here i s the track worn into the

ground,where somebody o r something travelled .

”

“ It was a horse o r mule,

” said Ned,holding up

a rusty shoe .

“ That is too big for the foot o f an ass .

What i s the stone trough underneath for,Wal ?

To catch whatever ran from the mill . It must

have be en liquid,for nothing else could go through

these hole s .”

“ It i s very strange,said Ned

,

“ that these peo


ple should set. to work and plant tre e s along th

highways,and n o t put so much as one tre e

,rose

bush,o r even a lilac

,around their o wn house s .”

Although not aware o f i t,they were now among

a people to whom those pe culiar fe elings which in

the mind of the Anglo-Saxon are conne cted withhome and the domestic hearth

,are unknown . Had

they been aware that these Splendid roads,orna

m en ted with magnificent tree s,and so skilfully laid

o ut as to present the most picture sque and im

posing scenery to the eye of the traveller,were

all constructed and kept in ord er by means of the

dreaded c o rve’

e compulsory labor,which signi

fi ed that the poor peasant might be taken from his

work to labor on the public roads,and

,should he

chance to Offend a capricious master,even in time

o f harvest,to leave the bread of his household to

waste in the fi eld,— they would have ceased to

wonder that the wretched pea sant,burdened with

a thousand exactions and goaded to d e spair,should

be rather disposed to b ree d over his wrongs,and

nurse the hope of vengeance,than to embelli sh a

d w elling whi ch,in the great majority o f instance s

,

u as not his o wn .

D etermining to follow the course O f the stream,

THE YANKEE BOYS ’ HOL IDA Y IN PROVENCE . 77

rather than the highway,they had proceeded but a

short distance,when they reached a spot

,where

,

divided by a mass Of rock,it enc ircled a level

i sland of about three acre s,entirely covered with a

growth o f rods as smooth and pointed as a bulrush .

They were plante d in re gular rows,with great care

,

were e ight or ten feet in height,perfe ctly straight

,

and entirely destitute o f leave s o r limbs,except that

in some instance s there was a fork at the top .

“ What can the se be ? ” asked Ned .

I don ’t know let ’s se e if we can ’t find a place

where we can wade acro s s .”

Following the stream till abreast the middle o f

the i sland,they e spied a row o f stepping-stones

,

upon which they crossed,and

,finding a peasant at

work,he informed them that they were “ osiers

,

”

anglice sallows,and were used to make hampers for

wine,cover bottle s and demijohns

,and tie vine s to

the stakes,were made into chairs and playthings for

children,and that a great many

,after be ing dive sted

Of their bark,were exported to New York .

“ Why,Walter

,

” said Ned,

“ the se are the verythings Mr . Bell made baskets of

,that he and Charlie

called sallie s . I heard him ask the captain to get

him some rods,and tell him that if he put them in


earth o r wet m ess in the vessel ’s hold, they would

grow by being stuck down,when the ve ssel go t

home .

“ Then we will get a lot for him .

They asked the peasant,who told them the rods

must be cut into pie ce s,s even or e ight inches long

,

that in two years they would yield something,and

in three a good crop Of rods .

Charlie has a splendid place to plant them o n,

said Ned,right o n a little flat by the mouth of

the brook .

“ Ye s,

” said Walter,

“ but here are willows ten

feet high . Mr . Bell carried no willows like these .

”

The peasant told him the reason that the se grew

so remarkably,was

,that in the spring and fall the

stream o verflo wed its banks,leaving a rich slime

,

which fertilized the soil,and the island

,being sur

rounded by water,was moist throughout the year

,

and that the large st he was then cutting were

used to hoop wine casks .

On the other s ide o f the little i sle was a rude

bridge , upon which they crossed to the opposite

shore . Following the course o f the stream over

heaps o f gravel mixed with stone s,brought down

by streams from the mounta ins in the spring flood s,

80 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEASA NT COVE .

and where the sun shone warm and pleasantly,they

began le i surely to eat,till

,th e demands o f appetite

appeased,they stretched themselve s upon the grass .

Wonder what kind o f tree s the se are,

‘ said

Ne d ; “ guess they are w alnuts .

”

“ They look more like oaks,

” said IValter .

Well,so they are

,

” said Ned,who

,lying o n his

back,was looking up through the branches

,for I

see an acorn .

”

“ Here i s another I ’ve found o n the ground .

What a funny acorn ! The cup comes half w ayover it .

Near by them was a rude building Open at the

side s,and with thatched roof .

I ’m going to se e what i s in that building,Wal .

And going to it,he cried out Come here ; it i s half

full o f great sheets o f cork .

SO it i s,Ned ; and these are cork trees, you

may depend .

” Trying the bark with their knive s,

they found it t o be the fact .

O,my I ’m so glad we came Only think how

much we have learned tod ay ; and we’ve got the

Old castle to se e when we go back .

”

I never thought before,said Walter

,

“ that a

cork tree was an o ak,and bore acorns .”

THE YANKEE BOYs’ HOL IDAY IN PROVENCE . 8 1

Returning,they re-cros sed the island .

Ho w Old,

” asked Walter o f the peasant,must

a cork tree be,before they can take Off the

cork ? ”

“ Twenty years ; after that, they take it every

ten years,but the cork i s not o f the best quality

till the third stripping .

”

“ Don ’t it injure the tre e

N0 more than it doe s you to peel the dead skin

fromyour hands ; only the live bark beneath mustnot be injured .

”

What time of year do they peel it

July and August .

”

Ho w do they get it Off

They first pound the tre e to loosen the dead

bark from the live,then make two up and down

cuts the whole length Of the body o f the tre e,then

cross-cuts about thre e feet apart,and remove the

bark with a wedge .

”

“ That,said Walte r

,

“ is the way we peel hem

lock bark in America only we cut the tre e s down,

and don ’t beat the bark .

”

What els e do they do to it ? asked Ned .

They scorch it to close the grain,and warp it

straight,then put on rocks to keep it so till it gets

6


set ( like that you saw in the hovel), when it i s

ready to sell .

As they went o n,Walter said

,

“ I shouldn ’t think

a m an In this country would ever have courage

enough to commence farming .

”

“ VVhy not ?”

“ Because you must wait twelve »

years for an

olive tree,twenty for a cork

,and forty before the

bark is first rate . Give me New England,where

,

with nothing under heavens but his rifle and narrow

axe,a man can raise his bread on a burn the first

year,knock up a log hut, and have hi s meat for

the killing .

And wood enough for'

a camp fire,

” said Ned

laughing.

THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION . 83

CHAPTER VI .

THE POWER OF ASSOC IATION .

the boys returned by the same road,which

pre sented no n ew Obje cts to excite their

curiosity,much le ss time was consumed in m easur

ing the same distance and they ascended the emi

nenc e upon which the castle was situated, and

stood before its principal entrance long before

night.

It was o ne of the f ew Old feudal strongholds still

remaining in France that had not been suffered togo to de cay by its posse ssors . It had been the

property Of a grand seignio r (derived from hi s

ance stors), who , having built a m odern chateau

near it,with extensive stable s and other o ut-build

ings,kept the Old castle in complete repair

,till

sacked by a m o b during the reign o f terror .

It had evidently been a place o f great strength,

but occupying so much space that a large garri son

would be required to man its exterior fortifi cations .


It was beautifully s ituated upon a noble swell o f

land,falling away in natural terrace s to the stream

upon whose banks were clustered the dwellings

o f the peasants . The hand o f violence had swept

away all but the relics o f its former magnificence

and beauty . The axe had levelled the vast groves

and long avenue s o f o ak,che stnut

,bee ch

,and mas

s ive pine s,which had for ages delighted the eye

and gratified the taste,and beneath whose hoary

limbs generations had lived and d i ed,except o ne

clump of large pine s,at some distance in the re ar

o f the fortre ss .

Everything without the walls that would burnhad been consumed by fire

,while the tall chim

ney Of the chateau,and other buildings standing

amid heaps o f rubbish,the wild weeds sprIngIng

from the joints ‘Of the hearth-stones,imparted a

peculiarly de solate appearance to the scene .

Gunpowder had been freely used to Obtain an

entrance into the fortre s s,and afterwards to de

stroy it ; but such was the enormous thicknes s o f

the walls that but comparatively little impression

had been produced upon them,although single

apartments had been blown up and whole floors

had fallen , th e pillars which supported them hav

THE POWER OF ASSOCIATION . 85

ing been mined . Entire floors,supported at o ne

end by the beams,which still remained in the

walls,and a few pillars

,while the remaining por

tion lay upon heaps Of rubbish,bricks

,mortar

,frag

ments o f clothe s,domestic utensils

,carved frames

,

broken china and glass ware o f the rare st patterns

and the riche st colors,presented an inclined plane

,

up which the boys clambered to the apartments

above,passing through chambers once the abode

o f luxury,bu t from whose walls the rich tapestry

hung in tatters,exposed to sun and wind

,that

found free entrance through shattered easem ents

and demolished doors . The boys gazed with wo nder upon the relics Of a magnificence o f which they

had be fo re no conception .

The most s ingular spectacle awaited them in

the great hall o f the castle,which they n ow en

tered . Nothing remained undisfigure d here ex

cept the lofty arches of the roof,with its beauti

ful fret-work,the carving o n the capitals and some

portions O f the windows , by reason o f the ir he ight

di“

cult to reach .

The walls had been adorned with ance stral por

traits O f the former inhabitants o f the castle and

the o ld French nobility,with banners and su its o f


armor,statue s in marble and bronze , paintings and

copies o f paintings by the greate st masters ; but

they were n ow torn from their place s, pierced

with bullets,and battered with rocks and clubs ;

for,in consequence o f o ne of those caprice s which

sometimes influence the conduct Of a mob even in

the midst o f the wilde st excitement, they had ab

stained from using fire within the walls, while

they had burned everything combustible o utsid e,

although many o f the t imbers and much o f the

panel-work bore trace s o f the peasants ’ axe s, un

doubtedly cut for fi re-wood .

In the m idSt o f this spacious hall was a vast col

lection Of article s which appeared to have been

brought from all parts o f the castle and firing here

in indiscriminate confusion ; marble statue s, paint

ings,ancient armor

,antlers Of stags

,hunting im ple

ments,and flags from Old battle-fi eld s .

Walter sat down upon a marble statue o f a chief

tain in armor,from which th e left arm and shield

had been broken,and the face flattened .

Ned placed himself on a pile Of gilded frame s o f

large paintings he had thrown together,and thus

seated they surveyed at le isure the fretted roof,

and whatever o f interest and beauty had escaped

the fury of the assailants


0

large pane from o ne o f the windows, upon whi ch

was repre sented the Saviour in the‘

act Of healing

the withered hand .

“ And I thi s,

” said Walter,holding up a panel

upon which were carved Laocoon and his sonswrithing in the folds Of the snakes .

“ Look at that window,said Ned ;

“ only six

pane s o f glass left, and two thirds of the sash

gone f ’

This sight,

” said Walter,

“ reminds me o f storie s

I have heard Monsieur Vimont,my French teacher

at Salem,tell . He said the mob attacked the cha

teaux and castle s o f the noble s,murdered their pos

se sso rs,or dragged them to pri son

,except such as

we re able to save themselve s by flight .”

Walter,who sympathized with the refugee s

,and

listened to his recita l o f the terrible s cene s through

which th ey had passed,was much prejudiced in

favor Of the nobility and against their assailants.

As they followed along the walls,noticing the

shattered windows and the positions from which

the paintings and statuary had been torn,they

came to a place from which a very large painting

o f a knight templar in full armor had been thrown,

and lay defaced upon the floor . Lying upon this,

THE POWER OE ASSOCIA TION . 89'

grinding up the gilded frame,and breaking the

canvas,w as o ne o f the large stone s of the wall .

This stone had once be en hung upon mass ive

hinges,no w broken .

Through the opening it had once closed a fl ight

Of stairs was visible,constructed in the thicknes s

o f the wall by an arrangement o f the stones at the

time of building,and which led to the foundation

o f the castle .

Ned was burning with impatience to enter the

opening and see whither the stairs led ; but Walter,naturally intere sted in everything of a mechanical

nature,would not proceed till he had ascertained

the method by which an entrance was effected.

He found th e whole painting had been raised byhidden weights

,and

,by the pre ssure of a spring

adroitly concealed in the frame,was elevated suf

fi c iently to permit o f pas s ing under it,when by

the pressure o f another spring the stone was set

free and sprung outwards,affording an entrance

,

after which,by concealed mechanism

,the whole

was re stored as before . When he had mastered

the principle O f the machinery,they de scended

the stairs,from the bottom o f which a winding

passage led to a corridor from which several doors


opened into vaulted chambers dimly lighted by slits

in the walls . Some o f them appeared to have beenused as dungeons

,ring-bolts

,with chains attached

,

being secured to the walls .

A s they proceeded they came to another dooradmitting to a winding passage-way

,entirely dark

but,their curios ity being excited

,they continued

to grope their way,carefully placing o ne foot in

advance,and dragging the other after

,le st they

might stumble into some pit .

At length Ned,who led the way

,suddenly

stopped and gave back .

“ What is the matter,Ned ? What are you

stopping for ? ”

“ Walter,

” he exclaimed in a half whisper,

there’s something here , under my feet . I ’ve

put my hand o n it,and I

"

believe it ’s some d ead

man ; there’s something feels like clothe s and

buttons .“ D rag it ~ o ut to where it ’s lighter ; o r let me

,

if you don ’t like to .

”

DO you think I ’m afraid ? ”

Ned began to step backward,dragging the

Obj e ct. after him,while Walter threw open the

d oors leading to the vaults . By the glimm e ring O f

THE POWER OF ASSOCIA TION . 9 1

light thus obtained,they beheld the skeleton of a

human body,held together by the articulations O f

the joints,the clothe s

,drie d gristle

,and sinews

,

being partially mummified .

Nei ther o f the boys had ever se en the human

skeleton before,o r even so much as a bone

,and

this was to them a fearful sight th e te eth white

and prominent,the

‘eyeles s sockets,and the re

maining portion o f the skull black with de cayed

fle sh that still adhered to it (for the air was cool

and dry,ventilation being in some way provided).

The right hand had dropped O ff,the stump O f the

wrist proje cting from the sleeve,while the black

ened bones and shrivelled sinews o f the left re

mained in place .

It‘

was a boy,said Ne d “ you can see by the

clothe s .”

Poor fellow,he was about your size .

Hi s hair,

” said Ned,pointing to some brown

locks that had lodged in the breast of the coat,

“ was just the color o f yours . Think he was

murdered ?“ I expect so

,f o r it don ’t seem likely that a place

as strong as this was given up without a struggle,

unle ss it was occupied only by a family, or was

surprised .

”

9 12 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

Then,perhaps

,there ’s more in there .

“ Let us try to make some kind of a torch . I

w ant to see all there i s,and to find where this

secret passage leads to that so much pains was

taken to make and conceal .”

Returning,the boys hunted over the great heap

of rubbish In the hall, and searched every nook and

corner in order to find a lamp or wax candle (which

they knew were much used in that country), butin vain .

0,if we were only at home

,s aid Walt-er

,

“ instead O f being in this wretched country, h ow

quick I could get a pie ce of pitch wood,o r strip

the bark from a birch tre e,and make a fi rst-rate

torch ; but there are no birche s here , and no Old

pines with any pitch wood in ’em .

”

“ But we shouldn ’t have any castle s there tosee

,said Ned .

At last they found an iron pot,and resolved to

build a fire in that,and carry it as a torch .

While they were breaking up piece s o f dry

w ood for that purpose,Ned exclaimed

,

“ Who knows

but olive wood will burn well. I should think

i t would be full o f o il.”

“ Perhaps it will .”

THE POWER o r ASSOCIATION . 93

They broke some branches from the tre es,and

put them in the pot with pine slivers from old

panels . Walte r took a horn full of tinder from

his pack,and

,holding it between his kne es

,with

an Old‘ file and flin t-stone struck the sparks into

the horn till he ignited the tinder su'

fi c iently to

l ight a brimstone match,and kindled his fire in the

pot,when they found that the Olive wood burned

freely,lasted longer

,and afforded a better light

,

than the pine o r o ak ; therefore they procured more

o f it

No w for something to carry it with,

” said Ned“ and here it i s

,

” pulling a long iron rod from the

pile o f miscellaneous article s that strewed the

floor .“ And here i s something to hold a supply of

Wood,

” said Walter,picking up a steel helm et and

filling It with the chips .T

W ith the kettle o f blaz ing brands between themthey proceeded to explore the pas sage .

The first obje ct that arre sted their attention

(and almost touching a door, through the grate s O f

which a fre sh cu rrent o f air,fragrant with the

scent of the earth and fi elds,was blowing) w as the

skeleton of an aged man . The skull had be en cle f t


by some sharp weapon ; long locks o f gray hair

strewed the floor,and across the breast. O f the

skeleton lav that of a d o g, the fore paws outstretched

,and the nose thrust among the clothe s

that covered the breast .“ O

,Walter

,cried 'Ned

,the tears springing to

his eyes,

“ what a sight ! ”

The saddest sight I ever saw. That dog starved

to death because he would no t leave his master .”

“ I shall always love'

a dog after this .”

They are noble creatures . D id you ever seewhat was on Tige Rhine s ’s collar ? ”

“ About hi s taking the little girl from the millpond ? ’

“ Yes ; and that i s not all he did ; he saved thelive s o f John

,Charlie Bell

,and Fred Williams , by

waking them up when they were asleep in a cave

into which the tide was flowing .

”

“ This must be that boy ’s father,said Ned .

Or his grandfather,

” replied Walter . “ He wasmurdered

,at any rate

,

” pointing to the eleven

Skull .“ See here , Wal,” holding a brand close to the

floor ;“ see the blood all drie d o n the stone s . ”

“ Poor o ld man,cut down with his hand almost


They soon encountered another similar door .

No w,Ned

,I ’m just going back to look at that

Spring .

”

By the knowledge thus Obtained,Walter was

enabled to detect a s imilar spring in thi s door,

though in a different place .

They n o w began to perce ive the light,and came

to a horizontal grate,which was unfastened

,and

reached by only two steps . Walter flung it back,

and they crawled o ut o n the ir hands and knee s

beneath an overhanging cliff ( through which the

passage was cut), and into a tangle of wild Vines

that clung to the cliffs,weeds

,bramble s

,and

shrubs, efl'

e c tually concealing the passage from

casual Observation .

“ Whoever built this ,” said Ned

,

“ knew how to

m ake secret passage s . One might pass thi s place

all his lifetime,and never suspect it .”

It didn ’t do them much good,

” said Walter .“ I ’d rather live in a country where they are not

needed . Ned, don’t you think we ought to put

this father and so n in the ground ? ”

I was thinking of that .

What can we find to dig a grave with ? ”

When I went after the crowbar,I found it

THE POWER OF ASSOCIA TION . 97

among a lot o f garden tools ; there were shovels,rake s

,and hoes

,but the handle s were all burnt

away .

”

“ No matter ; we’ll bury them in the Old garden

,

where the ground is mellow ; we can make a hole

with the bar,and throw out the loose earth with

the shovel-blade s,if they have no handle s .”

A shallow grave was soon dug in the soft mould .

“ We buried a man from the Madras,said Ned ;

he was sewed up in canvas .“ We lost the second mate when I was in the

Casco,

” said Walter ;“ he was buried ashore

,and

rt

we put the American flag on the co r‘

n for a pall .

Suppose we should wrap their bone s in the se flags

taken from the walls ; they are their country’s

flags ”

I suppose they would like it if they could know

it,and would rather lie here

,where the nightin

gale s will s ing in the summer,than in that dark

aHeyfi’

They carefully gathered the bones,wrapped

them in the tattered banners,and committed

them to the earth .

“ What shall we do with the dog,Walter ? ”

D o with him ? Bury him with them .

”


“ In the same grave ? ”

To be sure ; at their feet . He Was the bestand only friend th ey had

,and died on his mas ter ’s

breast ; he is worthy to sleep in,

marble

IVell,I feel just so but I d idn ’

t k n o w.

The sun was just sinking behind the horizon,and his last lingering rays fell

,as it were

,in bene

diction upon the boys,as

,feeling the ne ce ssity o f

instant preparation for the night,they hastened

from the spot . Admonished by the approachingt w ilight

,they went rapidly from room to room

,in

order to sele ct one suited to their piI rp o se .

“ Let us go out o f this hall,

” said Ned,

“ into

God ’s air,and get clear o f rubbi sh

,musty walls

,

and dead men ’s bones .”

Yes, into that clump o f pine s I had rather

lug the wor

o d,and be out o f doors .

It was not long before they heaped together a

great pile of oaken b eams , boards , picture-frames ,broken furniture , and panels, and, seated by the

ruddy blaze , were enjoying a hearty meal, till, full

even to repletion . they seated themselve s with

their backs against a tre e to enjoy the grateful

warmth O f the fire .

The rising moon began to silver the lofty towers


glass frames,harpsichords

,and carved work . I

wonder if any boy ever did that before .

”

“ Perhaps some soldiers have .

After this they sat some time , hand clasped inhand

,and each occupied with his own thoughts .

“ I should like to know what you are thinking

about Wal .

You see that little cove the river has eaten o ut

o f the bank“ Y o u mean where the moonlight i s shining o n

that large rock,and be side which a tre e i s grow

ing ? ”

That i s the spot . Well,the Saturday afternoon

before I was going to sea for the first time,in the

Madras,I went to the c ate c hisIng, because I knew

that I should find all the boys and girls there,and

I wanted to bid tliem good by . After that I kepto n to Charlie Bell ’s . It was a moonlight evening

,

just like this ; and after supper we went to the

head of Pleasant Cove,sat down

,and leaned o ur

backs against an o ak,just as you and I are leaning

against thi s pine . We could hear the brook that

runs through his field,behind u s

,just as we c an

hear this stream below,and the ripple Of the tide

as it crept along the beach . I felt tender that

THE POWER OF A SSOCIA TION. 10 1

night,for I loved Charli e Bell dearly. Yo u know

,

Ned,how a boy feels

,if he doe s want to go , when

the time comes .

That I d o . When he ’s thinking about going,

longing to be o ff,and hi s folks trying to put him

O f f the notion,then he ’s all stirred up

,and only

thinks about getting away ; but, when they’ve

given the ir consent,he has signed the article s

,

packed his che st, go t his prote c tion at the Cus

tom House,i s sure o f going

,and all i s s ettled

then,if he has a good home

,and any soul in him

,

it will give him the heartache to say good by .

There never was a boy more crazy to go to sea

than I was counting the days till the ve ssel was

ready . She lay in the stream,ready to s ail in the

morning . After supper the se cond mate took meand three men whom he could trust

,and went

ashore . We were ordered to be down to the

boat at nine o ’clock. It was seven when I reached

home . D idn’t those two hours go quick as I sato n the sofa in the parlor

,between father and

mother and my sisters before me . When the

bell rang for nine,and I got up to start for the

beach,I didn ’t fe el altogether so keen for going

as I did the week before .

”

102 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEA S ANT c ove .

“ That was what I meant . I felt j ust so tha t

night,while Charlie and I sat together at the head

o f Plea sant Cove , beneath the oak, and he talked

to me .

”

What did he say

A great many th ings . He wanted me to loveG o d and pray to him ; he said there would be

nights at sea when the moon would be shining

o n the ocean,just as it was then upon the waters

o f that cove ; that he should look a t i t and ,think

o f me ; hoped I would look at it and think o f him

and his words and that as the same planets were

above us,so the same God was around o ur daily

paths ; that perhaps when I thought that som e

dear friend I loved much was thinking o f and

praying for me,I should feel I ought to pray for

myself .”

“ Have yo u never thought of it before to

night ? ”

Thought o f i t ? Ye s,truly . On many a bright

moonlight night,when yOu and .I have been pacing

the d eck together,have I been occupied with those

mem orie s . Y o u may think it strange,but they

w o re in my mind when the shot from that Engli shship of the line was flying round us but the moon


No,I never was brought up to . Will yo u say

the Lord ’s prayer with me,Ned ?

Shall we kneel ? ”

They knelt together between the roots o f the

pine,after which they repleni shed the fire

,rolled

themselve s in their blankets,and were soon asleep .

YANKEE INGENUITY AMONG THE PEASANTS. 105

CHAPTER VII .

YANKEE INGENUITY AMONG THE PEASANTS .

N the morning,afte r eating and still further ex

plo ring the different apartments of the castle,they bent their steps towards the village o f the

peasants .“ Would you mention to Gabriel what we found

in the se cret pas sage ? ” asked Ned .

I don’

t think I should . I expect he knows more

about’

i t than we do .

”

They found Gabriel and his neighbors all busily

engaged . Some were brui sing t he Olive s in largemortars others were treading them in tubs . There

was oil everywhere,and the odor was anything

but agreeable . Others,after placing the bruised

pulp in sacks made o f gras s or rushe s,carried them

to the se cond story of a building,and

,placing the

sacks in the middle of the floor,piled great stone s

upon them,which pre ssed the o il through hole s

b o red in the floor,and it was re ce ived in ve s se ls


beneath . In consequence o f this Slow method o f

procedure,a large portion o f the Olive s was likely

to decay before they could be pre ssed,while not

more than half the o il was extracted . As theweight of the stones did not suffic iently compre ss

the pulp,much o f it was wasted o n the floor

,and

still more was lost in being soaked up by the mul

titu d e o f different ve ssels in which the olive s were

trampled . This did n o t,however

,obtain in re spect

to those bruised in the mortars,which were stone .

Gabriel conducted the boys from o ne building to

another , and Showed them the olives,belonging to

different peasants,which were spread over the

floors,where women and little Child ren were pick

ing o u t the leaves,stone s

,and decayed ones .

Why don ’t you have a mill to grind these

olive s ? ” asked Walter,and screws to pre s s the

pulp ? A great part o f them will rot before yo u

can bruise them in this way ; bes ide s , you don’t

get half the O il,to say nothing of what i s wasted

,

or of the time lost .”

Gabriel told them that before the revolution

there were mills and pre sse s— the property of

the grand seignior - in which all the olive s o f

the peasants w ere ground and pres sed ; but they

were destroyed a t that time .


What iS ‘that

Conscripted .

”

Yes .”

What be came of his tools ?He sold them in Marse ille s to get bread for his

children .

”

“ In my country we are not tied to me chanic s

because it is a new country,and they are scarce ;

but w hen a m an wants a thing, he must set his

brains at work and make it, or do without it. Ho wdid that concern on the high ground work ?

The smaller stone,lying on top

,went round the

other,and was turned by a mule .

”

Guess I know . It was rigged just like UncleJohn Go d so e ’s mill that he ground bark with . A

stone ran edge w ays on a plank floor,and they

shoved the pie ce s of bark under the stone . Who

do the castle and the land round it belong to

new ?

“ It was confiscated and sold by the National

Assembly . Felix Be rtault o w ns the land wherethe mill stood

,and t w o other peasants

,Tonnele t and

Bernard,the castle and the re st o f the land .

”

Then it w as the ir wood we burned last night.I will pay them for it . ”

YANKEE INGENU ITY A MONG THE PE A S ANTs . 109

That i s nothing .

Look here,old friend

,

” said Walter,Slapping

Gabriel o n the shoulder I am not a m e chanic,

but all my breed of people can handle tools . I can

set that o ld aff air going again,and better than

ever it went before the upper stone i s whole,and

though the lower o ne i s gone,I can lay a wooden

platform . There ’s timber enough,and the best o f

timber,in the o ld castle

,and though not equal to a

water-mill it will be an everlasting sight better

than your mule s,and you can use them while I am

doing it,if yo u like . I can fix a pre ss

,too

,that

will get about all the oil from the ' pulp .

But,c itizen

, yo u haye no tools .

There are tools enough on board the ve ssel and

I ground them a f ewdays ago . Go among your

neighbors,and se e what they say to it .”

Gabriel was in rapture s,and ran to tell the

peasants . He soon returned,saying that every

man,woman

,and child were overjoyed, would do all

they could to aid ; that the carpenter’s apprentice

was left,and proff ered hi s service s .

“ That i s first rate,said Walte r . No w

,Ned

,

you must go to the ve s sel and get the tools . Be

sure yo u get a cros s- c u t saw,and ask the captain

1 10 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEA SA NT COVE .

to lend us the tackle and fall we get the anchors o n

to the bows with .

Ned was soon mounted o n a cart with Gosset

(Gabriel’s son), as Ned didn

’t know how to drive a

mule that might take a notion to step when half

way there,and they set off.

Nimble hands and plenty o f carts soon transport-ed

the o ld floor beams and o ak plank (which Walter

sele cted) to the spot . The gate posts made capital

s ills,upon which he laid hi s platform at the same

height from the ground as the bottom stone o f the

o ld mill,in order that the trough for re ce iving the

o il might go under it .

The apprentice,Raffard

,proved to be a good

workman, and Gosset also evinced a d e cide d me

c hanic al ability . Ned,too

,could use tools quite

well .

That boy, said Walter to Gabriel,only

wants instruction and practi ce to make a fi rst-rateQ

mechanic .

”

There was no lack o f i ron belts in the strong

hold, and the blacksmith made all the iron-work

necessary . An upright shaft was prepared,to be

placed in the centre of the platform,which

,sup

ported by cross-beams attached to posts set in the

1 12 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEA SA NT COVE .

The boys took supper at the hou se o f Gabriel ,

bu t not w ithstand ing his entreatie s to pa s s the nightwith him

,preferred their camp fire

,although thev

gladly accepted the pre sent of a pair o f chickens ,

a dozen eggs from Felix Be rtault,honey from

Tonnelet,and potatoe s from Leroux . Indeed

,the

entire community w ere ready to place the ir all atthe disposal of these young republicans

,in whose

energy,ingenuity

,and self-reliance

,th ey flattered

themselve s they beheld mirrored the future of thei r

o wn children under the Operation of the principle s

o f liberty,fraternity

,and equality they had so

re cently inaugurated . As they separated,Walte r

told Gabriel that all except Raffard,Gosset . and

Felix,had better keep at work among the Olive s

after their Old fashion,as

,the stuff be ing all o n the

spot,they were as many as could work to advantage

o n the mill,and the others could be called f o r a hard

lift . They no w set o ut for the castle .

Won ’t we have a tuck-out to-morrow morn

ing ? said Ned .

“ I gue ss there ’ s n o lack o f pe ts

and kettle s among the ruins o f the chateau . That

o ne we carried the brands in will b e first rate it ’s

all burnt o ut clean .

While Ned was making a fire,Wa lter was walk

YANKEE INGENU ITY A MONG THE PEASA NTS . 1 13

ing round among the woods on the Side o f the hill,apparently searching for something. When he re

turned,he found a blaz ing fire at the old spot

,but

Ned nowhere visible .

Ned,whe re are you ? ”

Here,Wal only c o m e he re .

Following the d i re ction o f the voice he foundNed on hi s knee s before the kitchen fireplace o f

the chateau,the c him nev of which was still stand

ing. He was surrounded by o ld pots and kettle s,

o ne o f which he was bu sily engaged in scouring .

He had also placed the wood o n the o ld andirons

re ady to light in the morning .

O,Wal

,just you se e here ’s a c rane

,pots

,and

kettle s . I'

ve found the well,and a tin pail to draw

water in,but som e bru i sed ; a pitcher, with the

nose broken o f f ; Six plate s , three of’em whole ;

four cups only o ne o f them is broken,and a

,l ittle

pie ce i s broken o ut o f the s ide o f . another ; a cou

ple of linen towels,but o ne of them i s scorched a

little . I can ’t find anyi

s o ap ; but I’ve washed

them out in lye . I ’ve found lots o f knive s,forks

,

and spoons only they are black and rusty,and the

handle s burnt O f f . Ain ’t i t great,Wal ?

8

1 14 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA SANT COVE.

Ye s,we are all provided for . A in ’

t vou glad

we didn’t stop with Gabriel ? ”

“ I guess I am .

”

“ Let u s get everything ready to-night , be causein the morning we Shall want to start early, and it

will take some time to get breakfast,we ’re going

to have such a famous o ne .

”

After helping Ned scour the kettle s,Walter went

to the castle,and soon returned with some cord

,

which he wound around the knive s,

“affording a

very good substitute for handle s . He then ranthem into the ground

,and rubbed them with brick

and ashes,till he made them c lean and somewhat

bright .

Let 's have a table,Wal . That will put the

touch o n .

“ Agreed .

”

Ned drove four stakes into the ground with the

crowbar, and Walter brought a large panel from

the hall,which he placed o n them .

“ I ’ll put the finishing stroke to it,

” said Ned

and , running back, he came with a pie ce o f splen

did tapestry,which he fiung over it and no w they

set the table .

There ,” said Ned,

“ who can beat that— a


beast to pull level ; and then the stone must run

true.

Next m orning,after a gloriou s breakfast, the

boys repaired to the village . YVith the aid of a

strong force,the tree was cut o u t by the roots, the

stick hewed On the spot, and transported o n the ir

shoulders to the mill . By means o f the ve ssel ’s

purchase,planks laid

,and plenty o f help

,the great

Stone was parbuckled on to the platform,and put

in place .

No w,fellow-citizens

,said Ned

,fl inging up hi s

hat,

“ hurrah for a Yankee bark-mill ! Bring on

your mule s and olive s .”

A mule was attached to the sweep,amid the

cheers o f the whole village . The mill was found

t o work excellently well,and ground the Olive s SO

fast that it required the efforts of all who had been

employed bruising them in mortars to carry the

pulp to the cham ber and pre ss i t .

New,said Walte r

,for the press . Ho w did

you use to pre ss them,Gabriel ? ”

“ There were presse s belonging to the grand

seignior, with wooden s crews ; but they were

burnt .”

I don ’t know but I could cut the thread of a

YANKEE INGENU ITY AMONG THE PEASA NTS . l l7

wooden screw,if I had time enough . However

,

that i s not here nor there . I know what I c an do

I can make a pre s s with a lever,that will give you

as much again o il as you can get by piling o n

stones,and make it right beside this mill

,where

yo u can shovel the pu lp o n to it,and save all port

age and waste .

The next day,Walter

,Ned

,and the ir fellow

workmen— who had be come quite expert in the

use o f tools laid another platform within two

fe et o f the mill,and o n a level with it

,in order

that the pulp could be easily transferred from o ne

to the other,and the oil from each run into diff erent

ends o f the same trough,and be dipped o ut be

tween them . He then cut a deep Channel around

the edge of the platform,leading to the trough

,to

conduct the Oil . After thi s he built up,with the

aid o f the peasants,two abutments o f stone , sev

eral feet above the platform,leaving in the middle

,

near the top,an opening e ighteen inche s square .

Are yo u a stone-mason ? ” asked Gabriel,in

surprise .

NO but I ’ve been used to building stone wall .

I ’ve worked o n rocks till my fingers were worn so

thin I couldn ’t take up a c up o f hot coffee .

”

1 18 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS o r PLEA SA NT COVE .

Now with the cattle they hauled three halve s of

the millstones that had been split to the spot,and

,

with skids and the tackle,placed them o n the abut

ments,one upon the other

,composing an enormous

aggregate o f weight .

I calculate i t will take some strength to lift

those,

” said Walter,viewing his work with great

complacency .

“No w,Gabriel

,for the biggest beam

in the o ld castle ! If I was at home,I could get

o ne big enough.

”

There i s plenty of timber and large fore sts in

France,my brother

,although

,Since the revolution

,

it has been cut away in this part . Before that,the

fore sts were very strictly guarded ; but the Na

tio nal Assembly have sold a great deal . There are

great beams in the castle that grew in the olden

time .

After much labor,they obtained from beneath

o ne o f the floors an o ak beam fifty feet in length

and a foot square . One end o f thi s was placed in

the opening left in the stone-work ; at the othe r

I'Valter bu ilt what he called a gin,

” which was a

tripod o f timber,fourteen feet in height

,with a

belt at the top to fasten the tackle,and a W indlas s

between t w o o f the legs,by which the timber could

1 20 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

o ut o f the cellars o f the ari stocrats ; he can have

that . ”

It was about four O ’clock of an afternoon when

the boys arrived at thi s succe ssful termination o f

the ir philanthropic labors .“ This

,

” said Gabriel,

“ has been a great day,a

good day,o ne long to be remembered . Let us do

no more tod ay,but enjoy ourselve s with these

good C itizens ; we can soon pre ss the olive s now .

”

As they sat conversing, after supper, Waltersaid to the peasants

,

“ People in our country—when a person hasdone a foolish thing ; injured himself in trying to

to hurt another—have a fashion of saying ‘thathe has bitten o ff his nose to spite his face .

’ It

seems to me that you did a very Silly thing when

you broke the millstone s and burnt up the o il

and wine pre sse s o f the ari stocrats . The stones

never harmed you . D idn ’t you know that yourcrops were coming o f f

,and that you would need

all the se things yourselve s ? Why did you destroy

those beautiful avenue s and grove s ? No w that

the ari stocrats are gone,you would be right glad

to have those noble tree s yourselve s .

In the course of thei r talk,Walter related t o

YANKEE INGENUITY AMONG THE PEA SA NTS . 121

Gabriel some of the conversations he had held

with th e refugee s at Salem,and obse rved that a

great proportion of the American people,though

ready to sympathize with any nation desirous of

self-government,were struck with horror at the

crueltie s o f which they had heard,and the whole

sale massacre s perpetrated,e spe cially by the ex

e c utio n o f the king and queen .

The peasant leaped to his fe et ; his eye s shot

fire,his lips were d rawn apart

,and hi s face as

sumed an expre s sion so demoniacal as to leave

upon the minds of the boys no doubt o f the part

he had taken in the se terrible scenes .

Exec utio n of a king !”

.

he his sed between his

teeth : “ what bette r i s the blood o f a king than

that of auv other creature God has made ? ”

Controlling himself,he said more calmly

,

Young citizens,you have been deceived . You

have heard but o ne story that of the aristocrats

o f the oppre s sors . L isten n o w to that o f the o p

pre’ssed— to me,Gabriel Qu e snard , a peasant born

and bred on the soil o f France,as were all my

ance stors . I am not about to relate to you the

crueltie s practis ed in the days of my forefathers,

when a noble has been known to kill a peasant,


that he might warm his fe et by thrusting them

into his body on a cold day .

“ Horrible exclaimed both the boys in a breath .

lVas that ever done ? ”

Indeed,and it would be diffi cult to tell what

crueltie s were not practised ; neither shall I speak

o f such things as the peasants being compelled to

beat the water in the marshe s with pole s to keep

th e frogs from c reaking, when the wife of their

lord was Sick,le st they should disturb her. But

I shall tell you o f those miseri e s which are o f yes

terday, which myself, my neighbors, and children

o f your ages,have endured . Let me tell you of

the ‘Zettres d c c a chet,

’ i s sued by the king yo u

by which a person was seized .pity so much,

perhaps in the stre et,and

,without any form of

trial, hurri ed to the Bastile , while his friends could

only guess what had be come o f him . Any o ne

who had money enough could buy o ne .

“ When we levelled that accursed dungeon,we

found ci tizens who had grown gray there,un c o n

scious of crime and utterly ignorant o f what they

were accused .

In the spring the peasant i s trying to get in his

seed to raise bread for his family . He,perhaps

,

1 2-1 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

the d i strict . Ye s,and the peasant was forbidden

to weed or ho e his o w n grain, le st he should disturb the young partridge s that were devouring

his substance . Neither was he allowed to cut o r

plough under hi s own stubble,le st they Should be

deprived o f shelter . This was a right granted by

the king to prince s of the blood . All the se exac

tions cam e dire ctly from the king,whom you pity

so much . In addi tion to thiswere countle ss se ignio ral rights . There w'ere perpetual dues . A seignior could sell his land

,and still draw rent from the

very peas ant who had bought it o f him in the

Shape o f se ignioral due s . They,t o o

,had their

‘c o rv! es

,

’ and the peasant was forced to labor for

them a certain number of days in each year . On

everything that he owned must he pay due s to

them . Yes,he must pay them f or the right of

selling his o wn produce in the m arket . Though

in my time thi s cu stom o f stilling the frogs was

abolished,we were com pelled to pay a fine instead

of it. When,amid all the se impositions

,the peas

int has raised his grain,he can ’t have a hand -mill

to grind it in . He must grind in the mill of thelord , bake his bread in the oven , and pre ss hISgrapes and olive s in the pre s s of his master

,and

YANKEE INGENUITY AMONG THE PEA SA NTS . 125

pay for the privilege , and, if unmarried, was sub

je c t to conscription while from this and taxe s the

noble s were exempt,and so were thousands o f

others— petty clerks,government officers

,and all

worth over so much property . Thus all the bur

den of taxation was thrown upon the peasant be

cause he was poor,and taken from the noble be

cause he was not . To this it must be added that

the C le rgy , with their tithes , took what little was

left . Now , consider that I have omitted almost as

much as I have mentioned,and you will be able t o

se e the poor man ’s condition under the tyranny we

have destroyed . That was the ‘Servitude o f the

soil . ’ Marvel not that we were frantic,and only

thought o f de stroying everything that was an ih

strument o f oppre ss ion while we had the power.

D id you never see a dog bite the stone that hadbeen flung at him ?

Ye s,

” replied Ned .

So it was with us . We hated those mills ;those presses

,where we had been forced to work ;

th e se ovens,where we had been compelled to

yield up a portion o f o ur scanty loaf ; bread avenue s of tree s that we and o ur folks had been

forced to plant ; those roads , ad orned w ith tree s

1 26 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OE PLEA SANT COVE .

SO beautiful to others,were watere d with the tea rs

o f the oppressed, and appeared frightful to us . In

o ur delirium we thought only o f destroy ing all that

could remind us o f those dete sted tyrants and those

bitter days .”

I have understood,

” said W'

alter, that, for these

many years past,the peasants had been le s s hardly

d ealt with ; that, although the laws remained un

changed upon the statute-books,they had not been

rigid ly enforced .

”

“ That i s true,citizens

,and was the very reason

o f o ur ris ing .

”

“ That i s strange,that people should ri se just

when their condition was improving”

,

Had you fallen into a deep pit,from which yo u

could se e no pos sible way o f e s cape, yo u would re

s ign yourself to your fate ; but, did you perce ive

some proj e ction upon which you might clamber

and escape,would it not cau se yo u to strain every

nerve ‘7

To be sure .

Thus it was with us . When we were le sshardly dealt with

,we knew it was from lack of

power ; that it was not from charity,but fear.

When we felt that the clutch o f the oppres sor


vie w ed with horror,becau se we have shed much

b lood in a short time ; but they have been shedding it all the time . Which

,my brother

,carrie s

the most water to the sea, the rive r that waters

the valley,and whose stream is always full

,o r the

m ountain torrent that floods the vale in the spring,and then leave s a dry channel

‘7

The river,to be sure

,

” replied Walter .

Such is the difference between them and. us .For hundreds o f y ears there has not been a day

when the peasant ’s blood has not flowed at the

will of hi s master . We guillotine a noble,o r a

prie st ; the news fli e s over all lands . Who knows ,o r care s to know

,the misery he had infl i cted upon

the poor,and by which he had deserved a thou

sand deaths ? Our banished ari stocrats are scat

te red over Europe and America . They are learned

men,o f noble blood tell the ir story at every court

,

among all people s,and write it in books for all to

read ; while the peasant has suffered in silence ,perished in prisons by starvation

,and in the gal

leys,as unregarded as the dead leave s that strew

yonder vineyard .

”

I never thought o f all these things before said

YA NKEE INGENUITY A MONG THE PEASANTS . 129

Walter when Gabriel concluded ;‘ “ this i s indeed

a story of fearful oppre ssion .

”

“It i s a true story, c itizen . Fo r age s the blood

o f the oppre ssed has been crying from the ground,

and,at last

,vengeance has come .

”

9


CHAPTER VIII .

THE LAST DA Y WITH THE PEASANTS .

HAT night,as the boys sat around their fire ,

Ned observed “ Walter,it appears to me that

you have done the very thing yo u have been talking about so long .

”

I d on ’t understand you,Ned .

In making that mill and pre s s for the peasants,

you have certainly done some good .

”

“ If so,I am surely glad o f it ; but I thought it

was a shame for people to work after such a fashion

as they were doing,and

,s ince I have heard Gabriel

,

I wish I could do more .

”

Do you know what was running in my head allthe time he was talking

“ VVhat ? ”

That it was a ble ssed thing to live in a fre e

country . If Captain Rhine s asks me if I ’ve seenany better plac e than home , I think I shall knoww hat to say .

”

132‘ THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEA SA NT COVE .

seigniors,they might have everything if they

would only put in and work— might raise two

crops a year . Leroux said those potatoe s he gaveme were planted after the wheat came o ff . Now

,

we don ’t have any nicetie s at o ur house . We are

plain,rough people ; but, heavefi s ! there

’s eno ugh.

I couldn ’t help thinking o f the difference between

their dinner and ours . We have a great pewter

platter as big over as half a bushel o n the table,

with great junks o f pork and beef o n it . Fatherwill stick the great knife up to the handle into five

o r Six inches o f clear pork o r'

a junk of beef all

yellow with fat . For vegetable s,we had about a

peek o f potatoe s,cabbages

,onions

,beets

,and car

rots ho t bi scuit,tea and c o fi e e

,a great loaf o f rye

and Indian bread as much better than their black

stuff as white i s better than Indian ; and then mother

will come walking along just as careful with a

brimming pan o f milk,and say

,

‘Now,boys

,help

yourselves .“ And butter

,said Ned

,

“ good,yellow butter

,

instead o f oil .”

And then, in the fall, when we kill an ex,such

soups as are soups ; ain’t mad e of bread

,water

,

and garlics . Father ’ll take a great Shin,crack it

THE LAST DAY WITH THE PEASANTS . 133

up with the axe , and great junks o f marrow will

drop o ut o f it . That ’s the stuff in a cold day,I

tell you . Give a boy plenty of that and it will

make him stretch o u t and grow give him strength

to put the axe in . We waste more in o u r fam ily

than they eat . I ’ve looked in all the ir house s ;they don ’t have any swill-pail at the door ; eat the

swill themselve s .”

I ’ll tell you what I ’d like,W al

,and

,if I ever get

home,I mean to have mother make it— a chicken

pie,with real flaky crust

,rings all round it

,and

apple dumplings,with lots of sauce .

”

But about going back,Ned shall we start in

the morning ? ”

“ We c an’t,Wal . We want to get the mos s to

fill our beds,and the willow sets for Mr . Bell ; then,

you know,we want to go over to Felix Bertault ’s ,

and see the silkworms .

Well,get ready to-morrow

,and start bright and

early in themorning .

”

The next day they went over to the house of

Felix . He told the boys he could not Show them

the Silkworms,as it was not the time o f year at

which they were hatched . However,he showed

them the eggs,which were about as large as a

134 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS o r PLEA SA NT COVE .

mustard seed,and gray . He informed them that

the worm was like a common caterpillar,three or

four inche s long,l ived upon mulberry leave s

,could

not bear the cold,and

,when spring came

,and it

was most time for the mulberry to leaf,they put

the eggs in a warm room,in the kitchen

,o r wore

them on their bodie s,and the heat hatched them .

As soon as they were hatched,they put th em o n

mulberry leave s,which must be dry and tender.

This made th em grow so fast, that in six days they

were too large for the ir skin,when it cracked

,and

they shed it,coming out with a n ew o ne ; in Six

days more,Shed that

,till they passed through five

changes,and had four new Skins .

What do they do then asked Ned .

After shedding the ir last skin,they seem kind

Of miserable for a week o r more,and then they be

gin to eat very greedily,grow

,and fill up with the

stuff they m ake th e S ilk o f .”

What kind o f stuff i s it ? ” asked Walte r .

I ’ve torn open the bag,and it looks like gum .

”

But they do something to it that makes it s ilk .

What next ? ”

We know now that they want to Spin ; so we

fasten upon the shelve s where we keep them little

136 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE.

There i s one o f the ir ne sts,” showing him a c o

coon .

There ’s a hole in one end .

Ye s that i s where the moth gnawed o ut .

”

What do yo u do with the eggs ?”

We wrap them in a cloth,and put them in a

cool,dry place but we kill all the worms that we

do not want to become moths,and lay eggs

,as soon

as they are done spinning,by baking them in a hot

o venfi ’

What for

If we didn ’t,they would become moths

,eat o ut

,

o ut the S ilk o ff,and break the thread so that it

could not be reeled .

What i s done with this rough silk that is o n the

outside“ It i s carded and spun like wool ; so are those

cocoons that the moths hatch in .

”

“ I don ’t understand h ow the worm makes the

silk all in one thread . Doe s he roll over and overlike a shaft

,and wind it round him ? ”

No ; he puts it o n , back and forth, moving hi s

head from side to Side in crooked patches,but all

one thread, because he keeps the end o f it in his

mouth, and never breaks it .

THE LAST DA Y WITH THE PEASANTS . 137

“ But if they don ’t wind it round them,what

keeps it in place ? ”

“ The gum .

”

Ho w do yo u get it o ff the cocoon ?”

Felix called hi s wife,who took ten o f the cocoons

,

and put them into warm water to loosen the gum

then she stirred them with a little broom o f straw

the threads o f the Silk stuck to the broom so She

was able to take hold o f them with her fingers ;she then joined five of the threads together

,making

two compound threads o f the ten,and put those

two through hole s in a thin pie ce o f i ron that lay

acros s the kettle,brought them together

,wound

them on a hand reel,and made a Skein o f silk

,which

she divided,giving o ne heir to Ned

,and the othe r

to Walter .

Felix told the boys that they sold the cocoons atthe mills where they reeled it, as it required ma

chinery to do it properly,and hi s wife had only

reeled that ju st to let them see h ow it could be

done .

“ Suppose the thread Should break,

” said Ned .

Then all you have to do i s to lay the end o n to

the main thread,and the gum will sti ck it.”

He said the reason his wife stood so far from the


kettle was,that the gum might cool and the threads

not sti ck togeth er . He then gave them some eggsand cocoons to take home with them .

Gabriel,

” said Walter,when they met again

,

I ’ve changed my mind sinc e I came here . I

thought at first it was the last place for a man to

live by farming ; but if ever you get a good govern

ment,under which a man can rece ive the fruits o f

his labor,and no t be beggared by imposition, I will

engage to c o m e here and get ri ch in ten years .

Ho w could yo u do that, citizen ?“ In the first place I would make every day o f

the year tell . I ’d raise two crops in a year,where

you raise o ne . I would build a m i ll to grind and

pres s the se olive s in a quarter o f the time it take s

you,and get a third more o il than yo u can get from

the pre ss I made you . I would build my house in

the midst o f my land,and no t los e a great part o f

my tim e walking back and forth, carting stuff , and

wearing o ut both cattle and carts . I would make

a cart that would run so much easier than yours,

that o ne mule would haul as much as two do in

yours . Then,in the winter

,when there was le isure

,

I would make a good read ; that would make half as

much difference more . Then,instead o f making


The boys now began to prepare for departurecolle cting moss

,lavender

,and other herb s for t heir

beds,getting willow sets from the island for Mr .

Bell,and some pie ce s o f carved panel and broken

china, o n which were beautiful de signs, from the

o ld castle .

When they returned,Gabriel said,

“ Don ’t takethe se broken things to America ; and he gave thema bowl and goblet most elaborately ornamented

,

while Raffard gave them a panel that had never beeninjured

,o n which was the figure o f a dee r with an

arrow in its flank . Leroux gave Walter a pistolinlaid with s ilver

,To nnelo t presented Ned with a

rapier ri chly ornamented indeed,all were sorry to

part with them,and anxious to give them some

thing as a token o f affection and remembrance .

Julien,Franc ois, and Beaupr! ( sons o f Bernard

and Bertault); brought from their house s pears

pre served in honey,almonds

,figs

,pickled olive s

,

and preserved quinces .

Early the next morning they took leave o f the

peasants, and set out with Gabriel for the vessel,having with them

,in the cart

,the ir pre sents and

the wine and o il contributed by the peasants forthe purchase o f the tackle from the capta in .

THE LAST DA Y WITH THE PEA SA NTS . 141

They arrived just before dinner and the captain

not only sold Gabriel the tackle,but o ff ered to buy

all the o il he and his neighbors had to dispose o f

at a much higher price than they could sell it for at

Marse ille s,and also the ir honey .

Afte r feeding his mule s and eating a heartydinner himself

,Gabriel went home in high Spirits

to carry the news to his neighbors .


CHAPTER IX .

THE MISTRA L .

they were riding along on their way to theve ssel

,the boys amused themselve s by im

agining the astonishment they would create at

home by telling all they had learned in regard to

affairs in France,and e spe cially concerning silk

worms,but were quite cre stfallen upon finding that

the capta in was as familiar with the subj e ct as

themselve s,who informed them that they had been

,

and were then,raised at home .

A t ho m e ! ” cried both the boys,in surpri se .

W here

They were raised in Vi rginia and Georgia’

when the country was first settled . I have read

about it in books in the Salem library . I read in

an old newspaper that Pre sident Stile s we re atCommencement

,in 1788

,a gown of s ilk made and

woven in Conne cticut . Two years ago my mother

had a pai r o f silk stockings sent her from North

1 44 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OP PLEA SANT COVE .

boys felt so reluctant to get into the ir berth s in the

vessel,even for a night

,that they lost no t ime in

filling their beds,and placing them in the tree ,

where they enjoyed a most delightful night ’s repose .

I declare,Ned

,

” said Walter,as he woke in the

morning,

“ if we were on wage s,instead o f share s,

and were not eating our o wn grub,I shouldn ’t care

much though we had a f ew more lazy days .”

During the forenoon they were occupied in making rough coops for some hens the captain had

engaged o f Gabriel but,being at le isure after

dinner,they hastened to the platform to talk over

the past,lay plans

,and cherish expe ctations for the

future .

About three o ’clock in the afternoon,— which

was beautiful,with a very light breeze that barely

stirred the leave s on the evergreen oak,Walter

said,How clear the Sky looks and the water in

the cove I can see the bottom from here . I can

see those sea-fowl that are diving when they are

o n the bottom .

”

“ Only hear the c rews,said Ned ;

“ what a yell

ing Look in these pine s they are black withthem . They are having a meeting just as they do

at home .

THE MISTRA L . 145

Then I guess the Sheep are having a meeting,

too . Look under the side o f that ledge of rocks .INhat a lot o f ’

em l and their heads all one way !

There ’ s o ne cloud,a real mare ’ s tail ” ( cirrus ),

creeping up in the north .

”

“ Here comes Jacque s running as hard as hecan . Look at him . He s hallooing

,and making

signals . I can ’t hear a word he says ; but it mustbe something abou t the fleet . ”

The boys,occupied with the singular conduct o f

Jacques,had ceased to take note of the sky

,or

they w ould have perceived that the cirrus cloudhad spread o u t

,covering a great extent o f sky,

while below it was anothe r,of darker hue , and,

while striving to catch Jacques ’ words,attributed

hi s S ignals to something connected with the fleet ;and so did the captain

,who

,having ob served his

motions,was hastening to the tree in order to se e

if there was any man- o’-war in sight .

But Jacque s was shouting,

“ Mistral,m i stral

with all his might . There was a Sharp flash,

followed by a terrific peal o f thunder,a rear

among the tree tops,and instantly th e air was

filled with broken limbs,leaves

,both green and

dry,torn from the tree s

,and raised from the ground

,

10


mixed with clouds o f gravel . A large pine nearby w as torn up the platform , with everything o n

i t,sent whirling in the air ; the o ak bent, groaned ,

and seemed ready to follow the pine . Walter

caught hold of a limb forming one s id e of a crotch ;

the branch split down four o r five feet,when the limb

to which he clung came in contact with another

cross limb ; the tough fibre s of the o ak,aided by

the spring of the cross limb,held o n

,and there he

hung,blown o u t like a streamer . Ned caught by a

larger branch,clasping it with hi s legs . The cap

tain ’s spy-glass,falling into the cleft o f the fork

,

stuck there ; three o f the chairs went over the

land to sea ; another lodged in the thick top o f a

pine ; the re st went acros s the cove , and were

blown up against the bank . Ned ’s blanket was

twisted round the main-topmast rigging ; Walter ’s

sailed for parts unknown . Ned ’s bed,lavender and

all,went to sea ; Walter

’s was jammed between

two rocks,o n the end o f the high blu ff .

Hail,mixed with snow

,began to fall

,and every

thing wore the garb o f winter . When the squall

struck,the capta in was half way up the tre e the

rope -ladder being on the weather-Side,the lashings

that held the bull ’s eye s to the ground were parted,


Yesterday he chased a French ship , o ut her o fffrom Marse ille s

,and she ran under the guns o f a

very heavy battery,an earth-work

,half way be

tween here and Marseille s ; and he i s watching

her .”

Can they hold On ?

No,except the Agamemnon . She i s more under

the lee . Nothing c an held against this except they

are under a lee,and stro ngly

'm o o red with anchors

well b edded . They generally lie at a single an

chor,and the topsail yards swayed up

,so as to be

ready to get under way in a moment .”

We will hold o n a while,to let the fiery edge

get o ff the wind,and give them a chance to get

o ut of the way .

In the mean time the mainsail was balance-re efed,

the scope hove in,the fore topmast and main stay

sails loosed,ready to set

,which was all the sail the

brigantine would bear,so great was the violence

o f the wind .

Jacque s now said“

to the boys,

“ Why didn ’t

you come down when I was making signs to you,

hallooing mistral enough to split my throat ?

We couldn ’t hear you .

Couldn’t you hear the c rews , and see the sheep

all huddled togethe r ?

THE MISTRAL . 149

We didn ’t know what it meant

I rather think yo u know now .

They lay thus for an hour,when

’

an orde r was

given to man the Windlass . The crew,all young

,

athleti c men,having enj oyed a long repose

,stim

u lated by the strongest motive s,self-intere st

,pride

o f seamanship,and manly emulation

,sprang like

tigers to their work,and catted ” the anchor by

hand .

“ There ’s your bed,Mr . Griffin

,

” said Ned,as

they shot by the high bluff.“ Never mind ; I

’ve had o ne good night’s sleep

in it.”

There ’s Nelson,said Jacques

,as they rounded

the first prominent headland ;“ he means to hold

o n . I had a good look at him yesterd ay with a

glass . He has sent his top hamper down ; hisyard s are pointed to the wind

,and

,I ’ve no doubt

,

two anchors ahead .

”

Nelson hate s the Yankees,said the captain .

Ho w he would grit hi s teeth if he knew who we

are l

Nelson ’s dislike for the Yankees was based uponvery solid grounds .After the War o f independence

,the United States


were prohibited by Great Britain from all trade

with her West India colonie s . Before the war

that trade had been exceedingly profitable,and

the Ameri cans were loath to relinquish it . It hadbeen no le s s so to the inhabitants o f the islands

,

custom-house o icers,and all holding 0

f

ee under

the crown,since that shrewd and persistent peo

ple,fully appreciating the importance o f the prin

c iple illustrated by the old saw of “ throwing a

sprat to catch a herring,

” had never shown them

selve s ungrateful . With a shrewd suspicion o f

this,the home government sent o u t a fleet to

look after matters in general,and enforce pro

bibit-ion .

But th e naval o"

cers,from the adm iral to his

mid shipmen, dearly loved dinner-partie s given bythe c ivil magistrate s and wealthy merchants

,and

were much influenced by them . The C h eers of

his maj esty ’s customs—governor,generals

,and

presidents of council— misse d many a box of

spermaceti candle s,and were often feelingly

reminded of the ir o ld friends by their empty

pockets . When,therefore

,a down-east brig

,dis

playing the stars and stripe s,and laden scuppers

to with lumber,spermaceti candle s

,c o dfi sh

,butte r

,

1 5 2 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE .

o w ned by Americans,and with American captain s

and crews .

But in 1784,when Nelson—who cared nought

for dinner-partie s,and whose ruling nature was

love of glory and duty— was sent o ut to the West

Indie s,under Admiral Hughes

,and found the Brit

i sh ports full o f the se ill i c it traders , he pounced

upon them like a falcon upon a flock o f herons .

Adhering to the words o f the statute,that all

trade to and from the Briti sh West Indi e s and

America must be in British bottom s,navigated by

Briti sh captains,three fourths o f the crew British

seamen,and owned by Engli shmen

,inhabitants o f

Great Britain or her colonie s,he seize d at once

four American vessels under Engli sh colors,with

L_

1

Engli sh registers,but with American capta ins and

crews,owned and -built in America . But the

American captains,so far from submitting

,prose

c uted him in the civil court for assault and im

prisonment,laying their damages at the enormous

sum o f four thousand pounds sterling,while Nel

son, knowing he could not obtain a fair trial in the

islands , dared not leave his ship for e ight weeks , f o r

fear o f being arre sted on a civil suit ; and, as he

continued to se ize vessels,the captains

,after his

THE MISTRAL . 153

return to England to avoid prose cution, served aw rit on his wife

,laying the damages at twenty

thousand pounds sterling .

The adm iral was disposed to wink at these pro

c e edings, and, in reply to a repre sentation from

Nelson,said it was an affair of the custom-house

officers,and ordered him not to interfere with

their decis ions .

In this dilemma he petitioned to the king,who

came to the re scue,and ordered him to be de

fended by his lawyers . The Yankees howeverwere an overmatch for him

,aided as they were

by unprincipled o h c ials .

American captains w ould clear for some of theDutch or French islands, th en go to Trinidad, putth e vessel un d er

'

Spanish colors , ship a few creole s ,to put a better face on the matter

,take some live

stock o n deck,and go to the Briti sh i slands .

The custom-house Officers,despite the e ff orts of

Nelson,would admit them

,under an Old

“

order from

th e Board of Treasury,1 763

,d e claring Briti sh ports

open to Spanish ve ssels bringing bullion and livestock

,although all the bullion they brought was a

hold full o f Yankee lumber .Our young readers will n o w perce ive why Nel


son disliked the Yankees,and how much good it

w ould have done him to have closed his jaws uponthe Arthur Brown .

”

Suppose we should run up the colors , capta in,said Walter

,and stir them up a little .

”

“ We are dead to leeward . If too much pr o

vo ked,he might slip his cable s and come d own

o n us .

No provocation,said Jacque s

,

“ could make

him leave the vessel he i s watching ; for he knows

as soon as he makes sail she i s away .

”

It was evident the brigantine had already been

the subj e ct o f close scrutiny ; for, while Ned was

bending the flag to the halyards,a flash was se en

from the stern o f the ship,followed by the report

,

and a ball sank harmles s into the water,a long dis

tance to windward ; for the guns o f that day were

of short range,compared with those o f the pre sent

time .

A S th e flag streamed o u t on the wind,shot fol

lowed Shot in quick succe ssion,atte sting the gall

ing nature o f this taunt .

Let her luff,Lancaster

,said the captain to th e

seaman at the helm .

Luff, si r .”


thick,and he so low in the water ; they are lying

o n the ir ears,and the cockswain is standing up

,

looking round . We must save him,or he ’s a dead

man . Hard down the helm .

”

Instantly W alter,followed by Ned and two more

o f the crew,o ne o f whom was Henry Merrithew

(the strongest man in the Ship’s company), sprang

to cut the lashings o f the boat . It was no child’ s

play to launch a boat,get clear of the ve ssel

,and

pull to windward against that wind and sea ; but

with the exception of Ned,who made up in re solu

tion and quickness o f apprehension for lack o f

strength and practice , these men had from child

hood been brought up in boats,accustomed to fi sh

ing among shoals in the edge o f the surf,and pur

suing sea-fowls amon g breaking rocks . Envelopedin spray

,they forced the boat to windward with

long,steady strokes

,while the captain

,with his eye

o n the man,pointed out the dire ction in which they

were to pull,which

,as they were back to

,was a

most. e ff ectual aid .

K eep cool,Merrithew

,said Walter

,who pulled

the afte r o ar,as he heard the crack o f a thole-pin

behind him ; “ keep cool ; if you break that ear or

thole-pin,we are dished .

THE MISTRAL . 157

Here he is,close aboard

,

” said Ned,looking over

his shoulder .

Walter,fl inging his ear o u t o f the r o w-lock into

the scull-hole,steered th e boat dire ctly for the man

,

who was clinging by the jack-stay to a royal

yard .

Ship your ear,Ned

,and stand by .

Ned caught the end o f the Spar as it came broad

side on,when it drifted alongs ide o f th e boat

,

bringing the man abreast of Merrithew,wh o caught

him by the hair and collar o f hi s coat . No twith

standing the great strength o f the seaman,he

could n o t break the death-gripe of the drowning

man . In a moment Blai sdell drew his knife acros s

the jack-stay,and he was taken on board.

“ A midshipman,by his dre ss

,and dead dead

enough,to o

,poor boy

,

” said Merrithew,as he laid

him in the stern-sheets .

There ’s life in him yet,said Walter . “ I saw

him treading water with his feet to ke ep the spar

from rolling over,while you were pulling up .

”

“ Hi s mouth i s shut,

” said Blai sdell,

“ w hichshows he knew h o w to take care of himself in th e

water . If he was d ead,his mouth would be partly

open,and hi s tongue between his te e th .

”


There ’s a big sea coming round with her be

fore it gets along ; pull , boys , pull , and don’t let him

die in the boat . The air is colder than the wate r,and taking him out of the water

'

has chilled him .

”

When the boat came alongside , and the apparent.

ly lifele ss body was conveyed to the cabin of the

brigantine,every heart was touched .

D ear little fellow He can ’t be more than eighteen ; and what a noble face said the captain

,

while they were stripping o ff hi s wet clothing,

rubbing the body,and wrapping him in blankets .

“ There ’s life,

” said he,afte r he was place d in the

captain ’s o wn berth .

“ I can just se e that he

breathes,and there ’s a faint fluttering of the

heart . ”

A S the readie s t and most en”

c a c io us means in

their power,they put bags fi lled with hot salt to

his feet and other parts o f his body . Hi s cheekswere pale

,fle sh cold

,muscle s relaxed

,and eye s

half closed .

-The crew of the man-O’-war ’s boat

,

after w itne ssing the re scue,endeavored to return ;

but they could no longer perce ive the ship,and

,as

the only course le ft them by which to ' save their

own live s,pulled for the brigantine .

A rope was thrown to them as they came under

1 60 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA SA NT COVE .

The young man lay for three hours in th e cond

tion we have de scribed,breath ing regularly, but

fa intly,and manife sting no other signs o f returning

consciousness than a convulsive twitching o f the

eyelids . The captain hung over him with the

greate st anxiety,making such outward application

as he thought o f use .

In three hours more,to his great delight

,his pa

tient was able to swallow but it was not till

nine o ’clock the next morning,twelve hours after

he was taken from the water,that he could speak

,

o r reply to questions . A scertaining where he was,

and by whom re scued,he seemed greatly moved

and expre ssed the wish that he had peri shed rather

than be carried to Marseille s,

‘

and become a Frenchprisoner of war.

“ Make yourself easy,s ir

,replied the captain .

I will cut my right hand O ff before I will deliver

those who have come o n board my vessel in dis

tre ss into the hands o f the ir enemie s . I ’ll put you

and your men into an Engli sh man-o’-war .

fl ”

ic ac io us

than all the other remedie s that had been adm inis

tered . Hi s pale cheeks flushed in a moment,the

light o f youth and vigor returned to his eye s,and

,

This frank declaration proved more e

THE MISTRAL. 161

after eating,he got up

,and put o n his uniform

,

which the seamen had dried for him,and scoured

the buttons . He then went o n deck,and met the

boat ’s crew,who manife sted great pleasure at se e

ing him . He shook hands with them all,calling

each man by name .

The weather n ow began to moderate fast . The

reefs were shaken o ut,yards sent up

,and all sail

made upon the ve ssel . When,at length

,the high

lands of Marse ille s,and Planier Island, ten mile s

from the city,came into Vi ew

,and it was evident

the coast was clear o f blockaders,the brigantine

was hove to . A very stri ct watch was kept duringthe night and

,just as the sun rose

,the lookout at

the mast-head sung o u t,

“ A sail to le eward ! ”

The mate went aloft with the glas s,and reported

that it was an English man-o’-war .

“ She is beating back to her station,said th e

captain . We ’ll get o ur breakfast while she i s

working up .

The midshipman,somewhat surprised at the

coolne ss o f the captain,said

,

“ You have greatconfidence in the sailing qualitie s of your ve ssel

captain .

”

I have reason for it,Mr . Reed

,

” was the reply .

1 1


Indeed,if assured this wind would hold, I should

not fear to lie here till she came nearly within gun

shot .”

After the meal was concluded, which was not atall hurried

,the man-O

’-war was near enough to be

distinguished with the naked eye .

Do you recognize that frigate,Mr . Reed ? ”

Ye s,sir . It i s the Leda, Captain Campbell .

One o f your blockading fleet ? ”

Ye s,Sir .

The frigate,with every sail se t

,new came up

fast .“ I am about as near to her as i s prudent

,

” said

the captain,and gave orders to launch the gig.

He th en Said,New

,Mr . Reed

,there i s one o f

your o wn fleet . Y o u are at liberty to depart wi th

a fair wind and a fre sh crew . Your captain,I b e

lieve,don ’t like us Yankee s but give my re spects

to him,and add whatever you think proper .”

All sail was m ade o n the brigantine,and

,by the

time the boat reached the frigate,she was nearing

the harbor o f Marse ille s .

Not w ithstand ing Nelson ’s prej udice s ( certainlyn o t groundles s), the Arthur Brown had not been aweek in Marse ille s when a flag o f truce came in

,

164 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS o r PLEA SA NT COVE .

CHAPTER X .

THE INFERNAL .

HE midshipman,at the clos e o f hi s lette r

,

written in the mos t aff e ctionate spirit, par

tic ular reference being made to hi s re s cuers,Wal

ter,Ned

,and thei r com panions in the boat

,o n

tha t occasion,said

,

You will re colle ct,my dear sir

,that when yo u

first hove in sight,o n the day o f the gale

,it was

not so thick as afterwards,and then a person in

e ither ve ssel could,with a glass

,easily m ake o ut

the other ; but, Shortly after I fell overboard, i t

shut down thi ck o f snow . During that tim e,o ur

captain and first lufl° ( lieutenant) re cognized theArthur Brown

,knew her to be the same vessel

that was almost under the guns o f the Lo we staff

in a fog,some months ago

,and that she gave chase

to . The officers and crews o f all the Other vessels

had a good chance to look at he r,when you lay so

long under the guns of the castle,after running the

THE INFERNA L . 165

fire o f the flag-ship . Her masts rake so much,she

carries such a cloud of canvas,. and is such a beau

tiful model,that there i s no mistaking her

,although

you have altered her paint Since the last trip . The

fleet has taken scarcely any prize s,so that all are

hungry for prize-money . Every o n e o f us,from the

adm iral to the powder-monkeys,feel chagrined at

being thus bearded ; that our reputation as seamen

will suffer if yo u should again e scape us . There ’s

another motive . W e all know if we could take the

Arthur Brown,and put a f ew light guns on board

o f her,She would catch everything o n the coast

,

and fill our pockets with prize-m o nev. Add tothis

,your slapping o ur captain in the face with

your flag,the other day

,and you will perce ive ho w

matters stand between us . In short,while your

nob le treatment o f myself and shipmate s has gainedyou the re spe ct and good will o f every o n e

,and

you would experience the utmost kindnes s,should

you fall into o u r hands,believe me

,you have a

diffi cult task,and o ne which will tax your re source s

to the utmost,for the fleet are dete rmined to have

the brigantine,o r s ink her . I could not do le ss

than put those,to whom I o we my life

,o n the ir

guard . But,from what I have se en o f yourself

,


the character o f your crew,and the capaci ty o f

the brigantine,I should not be so m uch surpri sed

as my shipm ate s,Should yo u ,

by some o f those

chance s which always seem to turn up in favor of

your people,e scape us

,though it by no means befl

come s me,as a British O

“

cer,to expre s s any such

desire .

”

The ship ’s company of the brigantine being,with

the exception o f Jacque s , all Americans, most o fthem having grown up together from childhood

,

and a good part o f them shipmate s o n the last

voyage,the relation between Officers and crew

was very different from that usually existing o n

shipboard .

The communion was also more intimate from the

fact that no o ne was hired,each having a share in

the ri sk and profits o f the voyage,and that they

were bound together by a sense o f common danger,cherished a personal attachment to each other

,and

reposed perfe ct confidence in the ability o f the

captain,insomuch that Quesnard , who marked with

curious intere st the m anner in which things went

o n board the brigantine,said that he “ would vote

for a king in France if they could have a govern

ment like the government o f that ve ssel.”


as that youngster Says,

n o t wishing any harm to

him ho w somever,that so m ething

’ll turn up on

o ur s ide .

”

This cool preference o f greater ri sk,with th e

prospect o f greater profit,was re ce ived with a

universal murmur o f assent .“ Well

,boys

,

” said the captain,folding up the

letter,

“ I wanted to know your minds,because we

can ’ t wait here a great while for a gale o f wind to

drive the fleet from their anchors . We have sold

o ur cargo,and shall soon be short o f provisions

,

and there are none to be had here . We must

take our chance,the first suitable night

,to run

their battery, unle s s I can contrive some othe r

While the ve ssel was completing her lading,

the captain seemed quite thoughtful,and spent

the greater portion o f his time alone on a high

hill, called Vi ste , over which led the road to Paris,and commanding a good View of the fleet .

The port o f Marse ille s i s completely land-locked

being a salt water lake,o f the shape o f an egg

,half

a mile in length, and a quarter o f a mile in breadth .

The entrance into it i s not more than a hundred

yard s rin width,and defended by strong f o rtifi c a

tions .

THE INFERNAL . 169

From his situation on the hill,the captain soon

had ocular evidence of the accuracy of the state

ments contained in the letter he had rece ived . Hesaw that not only had the number of ve ssels cruising outside been reduced to two

,but they had

formed a complete cordon acros s the road,e ffe c tu

ally stopping all egre s s except by encountering

their broadside s at Short range . The increase d

number o f ve ssels also made it evident to him

that the night patrols would be doubled .

A S the young captain— after a careful scrutinyof th e disposition o f the ve ssels— sat with the

glas s lying acros s hi s knee s , an idea pre sente d

itself,which

,o n his way to dinner, he m ore fully

matured .

“ Jacque s,said he

,while eating

,

“ what was it

you were saying the other day to a countr yman o f

yours about a fi re -ship ? I can only catch a word

o r two,here and there

,of your diale ct .”

I was telling him,captain . th at there were two

condemned ve ssels lying here . o ne a private er , and

the other a Guineaman ( slaver), and the govern

ment was going to make fi re -ships o f them both .

and send them down among the blockading fleet

now that they are moored in such close order .


“ Indeed,

” replied the capta in ; but, making no

further allusion to the topic , he asked,“ Ho w i s

the water along the shore,from the outlet of the

port,as you go to the westward ? ”

“ The shore i s quite bold,captain

,with a few

shoal spots,for some mile s . ”

Could you carry this ve ssel along shore,in the

night,for two mile s without getting aground ? ”

“ Ye s,captain . I can feel my way with the lead

,

o r I can carry,

you through narrow passages,be

tween islands and the main Shore,where no man

o’-war can follow .

”

The captain said no more,but

,ri sing from the

table,sought hi s merchants

,who went with him to

wait upon the authoritie s . From them he learnedthat th e private er only was to be fitted f o r a fi re

ship ; that the magazine was already made , and thepowder would be put o n board dire ctly .

Captain Brown bought the slaver for a trifle,as

she was fit only to break up f o r her iron . He also

bought some o ld sails,and then hauled her along

side his Own ve ssel . She was not far from the tennage o f the Arthur Brown and there was so muchresemblance between them

,that

,in the night

,o ne

might easily be mistaken for the oth er. They were

1 72 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA SANT COVE .

will not be likely to have a very dark night . The

guard-boats w ill probably se e them before they getvery near

,and give warning . It cannot be very

hard work to get out of the way o f a ve ssel steer

ing herself.”

I should like very well,

” said Walter,“ to have

the fleet s cattered,but have no de sire that the

young midshipman,whose life we labored so hard

to save,should be blown to pie ce s .

He won ’t be,

” said Jacque s .

Why no t he as liable as another ? ”

‘Because the Agamemnon,the ve ssel he belongs

to . i s the faste st ves sel they have , and i s most al

ways cruising .

In the hold o f the old privateer,near the foot of

the mainmast,was constructed a square room for

a magazine . in which were placed eight hundred

barrels o f powder . From thi s to the stern a fi reproof passage-way or trunk was m ade

,in which

the tram was laid,that it might not explode pre

maturely . The train was ignited by a port-fi re ,arranged to burn long enough to give those firing

the train time to e scape .

The de ck was filled with barrels of tar,dry

wood, shavings , l ive shells , pie ces o f pot-me tal,

THE INFERNAL . 173

spike s,broken glass

,and links o f chains

,to act as

m is sile s when the explosion took place , and the

guns were loaded with grape shot .

Men who had volunteered f o r the duty were to

fire the mass o f combustible s o n de ck in three

place s,and the train leading to the magazine

,all

at the same moment,whenever the approach of the

fi re -ship was discovered by the enemy . Then,the

fire being applied,and the helm lashed

,she was to

be left to make her o wn way .

The night,so anxiously expe cted

,came at last

hazy,with here and there a star just vi s ible ; the

wind moderate,but fair

,and enough of it to give

the ves sels good headway . It was half an hour past

midnight when thi s infernal contrivance glided si

lently from the harbor and passed the forts , —hav

ing the appearance o f a blockade runner,—and

steered for the centre of the Engli sh fleet,followed

by the slaver with all her sails set . She,however

,

hove to,when a short distance from the por t

,leav

ing the infernal to proceed alone .

Moments seemed lengthened to hours,as the

boys,hanging over the rail

,gazed upon the dim

ou tline s of the re ceding ve ssel . around which dark

shadows were closing fast . Although the distance


w as not great which separated them from the fi reship or the fleet

,a thin haze

,which obscured the

light o f the stars, completely obstructed the Vi ew.

With bated breath they li stened for some token

from the bosom o f that misty shroud . which they

strove in vain to penetrate .

No sound,save the occasional surge of the helm

in the le e be cket,o r the quiver o f a sail

,as th e ves

sel came up to or fell o ff from the wind,disturbed

the repose o f the night .“ W alter

,

” whispered Ne d,this s ilence i s fear

ful ; they must be almost there .

A pre s sure of hi s arm was the mute re sponse .

A few moments m ore o f su spense,when a stern

hail broke the ominous silence so suddenly that,

with a convulsive start,the boys sprang to their

feet . There was no reply . Again the summonsrose louder on the air

,instantly followed by a

shot .“ They are discovered ” said Ne d . But even

while the words were.

i s suing from his lips thre e

spiral s of bright flame,shooting up from the fi re

ship , revealed to the boys ~ —who were looking

from darkne s s towards the light— a s cene com

bining every element,both o f the sublime and

176 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OF PLEASA NT COVE .

fi c er o f the leading boat ; we ’ll put o ut the ir fire

and their slow-match .

”

With an answering shout they dashed the ears

into the water again ; but the flames burst from

the port-hole s and over the rail into the ir very

faces,rendering usele ss all attempts to board

,the

very purpose for which this mass o f material had

been prepared and ignited . As,expecting explo

l

sion,they pulled rapidly away

,a volley from the

fi re-Ship killed the midshipman in charge and two

men . The stern o f that ve ssel,where stood the

four men,was as yet clear o f flame

,

‘

the wind

carrying the fire and smoke forward .

Why,in the name o f Heaven

,d on ’t. they leave ?

There ’s a boat towing astern,

” cried Ned ;“ she

must blow up soon .

”

“ Ned,those men don ’t mean to leave .

D on ’t mean to leave ! ”

No ; they know if that ve s sel i s left to steerherself

,ten to o ne if she strike s an English ship .

They ’re going to sacrifice themselve s .

Right ahead o f the infernal,as near as they

could.s w ing at the ir anchors , lay an eighty-gun

ship and a S ixty-four . It was evidently the in

tention of these desperate men to lay her between

THE INFERNA L . 1 77

them,apply the match

,and blow both themselve s

and their enemie s into eternity together . It

s eemed most probable that they would accomplish

their purpose ; the breeze was light, and scarcely

felt by the men-o f-war,whose crews had cut the

cable s and made sail,while the infernal

,by reason

o f momentum previously acquired,was coming

down fast,bearing de struction and death .

No w ensued an uproar impossible to de scribe .

Blazing C inders and Sparks from the fi re -Ship blew

o n to the main-topsail o f the e ighty,which was

tan tly in f lam e s ; but with that cool courage and

perfe ct discipline so characteristic o f British sea

men,the topmen c ut the sail from the yard

,and

passed water in buckets ; the boats’ crews were

town the ship ahead,while at the same time a

hot fire was kept up upon the fi re - ship from every

gun that could be brought to bear ; the other ships ,that were out o f her path

,also poured in whole

broadside s,in the hope o f e ither blowing up o r

s inking her before she should get near enough to

do exe cution .

That Ship i s gone for ’t,

” said Ned,as the helms

man of the infernal,see ing the two ships were

separating,and that he could hope t o d e stroy but12


o ne,altered his course

,and steered dire ct f o r the

e ighty . At this moment a well-dire cted broadsidecut o ff the foremast o f the fi re -Ship

,that

,with all

the head sails . went over the side . This brought the

ve s sel to the wind,and arre sted her progre ss

,th

man-O’-war improving the fortunate moment to

e scape .

The scene n ow grew appalling. The air was

filled with the roar o f hundreds o f cannon,while

,

as the n o w unmanageable ves sel came head to

wind,the flame s ran up the rigging of the main

mast,and swept over the place where those self

devoted men stood .

In the midst o f this horrid din,a shell exploded

o n her de ck,a flash of blue flame illumined with its

ghastly light the whole horizon,followed by an

explos ion that made every ve ssel quiver as though

racked by the throe s o f an earthquake . The blaz

ing mast shot up to the sky like a rocket,followed

by jets o f water and torrents o f flame,hearing

before them countle s s missile s,legs

,arms

,and

other portions o f the di smembered bodie s o f that

ill-fated crew,t o which succeeded a darkness made

more intense by clouds o f smoke,and a stillnes s as

of death .


being too much occupied with the ir prize t o c o n

cern themselve s about them .

Having put a good d i stance between themselvesand the boats

,they lay upon their ears to breathe .

Won ’t there be some swearing,Ned

,

” said

Walter,

“ when they come to look over thei r

prize,and find her a condemned slaver

,full o f

rocks ? ”

Ye s ; but I gue s s there will b e more when theyfind What I have written o n the companion-way .

In the afternoon,while waiting for the fi re-Ship

,

Ned had written with chalk on the slide o f the

companion-way the value o f the Arthur Brown ’scargo

,showing the man-o

’-war ’s men what a ri ch

prize they had lost,closing with some refle ctions

upon the disappointments to Which mankind are

liable,and leaving the be st re spects o f himself

and Walter.

In the mean time the Arthur Brown,without

a single sail set to attract attention,propelled by

n

m u ed sweeps,and skilfully piloted by Jacques

,

was creeping along und er the Shadow o f the land

in calm water,till

,entirely beyond the reach o f

observation,a kedge was silently lowered to the

bottom , and she waited for her boat . Upon the

THE INFERNAL . 18 1

arrival of the boys,with every inch o f canvas

spread,the swift ve ssel

,now swi fter than ever

(for she had been coppered in Marseille s a re cent

practice,and at that time scarcely known in the

Stat e s), turned her prow homeward .

Just as the sun rose above the horizon in themorning

,the lookout at the mast-head o f the

Agamemnon,sung o ut

,

“ Sail,O l

Where away ?

Right ahead,s ir .

Mr. Reed beheld through the glass the wellknown form o f th e Arthur Brown bathed in sunlight

,studding sails

,alow and aloft

,wi th the wind

o n her quarter making f o r the Straits o f Gibraltar

at a rate that defied pursuit . A smile of satisfa ction— which he walked forward to conceal

passed over the fine feature s of the midshipman,

as he took the glas s from his eye .

When,having composed hi s feature s

,he reported

to hi s superiors that he knew the vessel,and that

it was the brigantine,it was considered usele s s t o

chase her ; and long before e ight bells struck, she

had faded from their View.

1 82 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS o r PLEASANT COVE .

CHAPTER XI .

A STARTL ING D ISCLOSURE .

reason o f the tarry o f the Arthur Brownin the even

,her voyage was so lengthened

,

that much uneasine s s was felt respe cting her at

Pleasant Cove,and in Salem

,by the parents o f the

captain and Ned .

A great many consultations were held betweenL ion Ben

,Captain Rhines

,Fred Williams

,John

Rhine s,and Charlie Bell

,her o wners .

Father,

” said Ben,I ’m afraid they have been

taken by the ' English, or foundered in a levanter.

Only consider h o w much longer they have been

gone than they were o n the other trip !

They say,

” replied Fred,

“ that people there are

killing each other—half o f them drunk,the rest

crazy ; perhaps they’ve been murdered .

”

Charlie Bell thought,that as affairs there were in

a very unsettled state,the people had but a scanty

supply of food,and the vessel be ing loaded with


captain said,I d on ’t know but I will ; I shall have

to go up before long to se e him on some other

busine ss,and the coaster i s going up the last o f

the week .

”

He obtained no information in Boston o r Salem,

but determined to remain there a while . On going

through a portion o f the town very much occupied

with sailor boarding-house s,he mad e a short c ut

through Black Dog Alley,

” when hi s progre s s was

stopped by a crowd o f sailors,all m ore o r le s s

under the influence of liquor . One o ld tar had

taken it into hi s head to hire a truckman ’s horse

for a ride up and down the s tre et . D runk as hewas

,he sat the horse well ; for, as he boasted he

had been brought up among horse s,and was half

horse himself. He wou ld not have the harness

taken o ff the horse,which was a leade r

,but

m ounted,taking the trace-chains o n hi s shoulder

,

with the rattling o f which he and all seemed to be

delighted ; and, as he was flush o f money,his ve st

pockets being crammed with bills,bes ide s some

silver in a purse which he frequently shook in the

truckm an ’s face,exclaiming

,Ri ch owners

,my o ld

boy the latter seemed incl ined t o submit to all his

whims . He w as surrounded by an admiring crowd

A STA ETLING D ISCLOSURE . 1 85

o f shipmate s,w ho

,like himself

,had just been paid

off,all gloriously drunk

,but good-natured

,and bent

o n having a merry time o f it . In addition to these

w as a crowd o f loafers and loungers,su ch as are

generally abundant when sailors are paid o f f and

liquor is plenty .

The dre s s o f this horseman w as comical enough .

He had o n a pair o f Turkish trousers,an India

Shawl round his wai st for a sash,a Shirt made o f

fine grass-cloth also o f East India manufacture,

exceedingly fine and beautiful ; o n his head a Greek

cap,which made his large

,flushed feature s appear

m ost prominent ; hi s o n e w as wound with red ribbon,the two ends streaming down his back

,and red

slippers on his feet . Over the beautiful shirt were

the rusty trace-chains,the hooks of which chafed

against the shawl at every motion o f the horse .

After Shaking his purse in the truckman ’s face,

and boasting o f his riche s,he next took it into his

head to beg,and

,pulling o ff hi s cap

,he knocked

the top in,causing it to re semble a bowl .

“ Chri stian people,one and all

,

” cried he,in dole

ful accents,holding o ut the cap

,

“ pity a poor,dis

enabled sailor,who ’s lost his legs fighting for hi s

country,whose father and moth er are frying eggs

186 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS OP PLEASANT COVE .

in a wo o den saucepan on the rock o f Gibraltar ;

pity him,good people

,and drop a shot in the lee

locker . ”

As he concluded,cheers arose from the crowd

,

and hi s shipmates flung a shower o f sm all coin into

the cap,when

,whirling it around hi s head

,the

S ilver was scatte red among the crowd , creating a

universal scramble .

The truckman new wanted his horse .

Your horse ! You ’re drunk,o ld boy

,and d on ’t

know what you ’re talking about . I ’ve chartered

thi s ere horse for the vige,and the vige ain ’t up

yet . Ain ’t that so,shipmate s ?

This declaration was followed by a chee r of

assent . Captain Rhines,m eanwhile

,was m aking

strenuous efforts to get through the crowd,for he

had recognized in the sailor o n horseback D ick

Cameron,who had been a great many voyage s with

him . D ick was an e special favorite with CaptainRhines

,f o r he was a splendid seam an when at sea

and away from liquors , and the captain would

have been right glad to have met and shaken hands

with his old shipmate when sober,o r to have enter

tained him at hi s house but he d readed re cognition

by him in his pre sent state,and was striving to


peared in Calcutta ? I thought yo u was overboard,

o r knocked o n the head with a slung shot ; for I

never believed you would run away from m e .

“ Run away from yo u, cap’n ? I would run to

you as I would to my mother if She was alive,God

bles s her I got a dose o f Sheet lightning,and

,

when I waked up,I was aboard an English ship

bound to Australia . What be come o f my cloth e s ?

I had a good c histful.

I kept them aboard till I gave them all away to

sailors that had been robbed by the land-sharks .

Jest right,cap ’n

,j e st like you . No w

,ship

mate s,give me a fist . I want to go ashore

,and

shake the c ap’n’s fl ippers .”

With their aid he dismounted,and

,getting hold

of the captain ’ s hand,which he extended most cor

d ially, he continued to pour forth his prote stations

o f re spect and affe ction .

o w i s the wife,cap ’n

,and the pickaninnie s

and that le etle boy o f yours,what ’s got Bunker

Hill o n his shoulders ? Ah,shipmate s

,that ’s the

bully boy can bend a crowbar over his knee,and

mast-head a topsail alone .

”

4: They are all well . But where are you from,

D ick ?

A STARTL ING D ISCLOSURE . 189

Messina .

Have yo u spoke any American ve ssels o n the

coast ? ”

Ye s two .

What were they ? ”

West Indiamen from Antigua,bound into New

London .

”

How long have you been ashoreS ince ei ght o ’clock this morning j est long

enough t o moisten th e clay a little .

”

Here the conversation was interrupted by thetruckman attempting to lead o ff the horse

,having

rece ived his pay in advance ; but this D i ck ’s shipmate s would by no means permit . One shook his

fist in the truckman ’ s face,threatening to drive hi s

teeth down his throat ; another seized the horse bythe bridle

,while two others caught hold of his

long tail .

Catch a turn,Bill

,round that timber-head .

Bill caught a turn with the tail round a barber ’s

pole that was s et in the ground before the door o f

a grog-Shop,the barbe r occupying rooms overhead .

But the horse,not accu stomed to being thus dealt

with,began to kick and jump

,amid the Cheers and

laughter o f the crowd,till he pulled the pole over

amongst them .

190 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS o r PLEA SANT c o vn.

In o rder to re store good feeling, D i ck now pro

posed to the truckman to take some b itters .I say

,D ick

,

” said Bill Matthews , i t. se ems to

me as how vou ought to treat this”ere horse .

”

So I will,shipmate s, ble s s me if I don

’t,

” said

D i ck,who had meantime been trying to persuad e

the captain to drink with him . If the cap ’n wo n'

t

drink,the horse sha ll and

,m ounting

,he intended

to ride him into the bar-room . The horse prote st

ed,and so did his owner

,but both alike Without

succe ss . D e spite his struggle s,the beast was

pushed up thre e steps,into the bar-room .

“ Mix him a good stiff glass,Tom

,

” said D i ck .

He heeds it .The bar-keeper

,nothing loath

,as he calculated to

get his pay for all the liquor poured o ut,whether

drank o r not,obeyed . The room was crammed

,

all crowding in to se e the fun and share the drink

ing,as D i ck had invite d all hands no change out

o f a dollar .

Captain Rhine s might have e s caped n ow ; but

he wi shed to make some further 1nqu 1r1e s o f D i ck.

He was interrupted by the tru ckman calling forhis horse , and the disturbance that followed ; so he

remained o n the sidewalk .


Was She heavy sparred ? D id she carry apre ss o f sail ?

She was all sail ; long yards, and plenty o f

stay-sails and savealls,a whacking main-sail

,and a

ringtail at the end o f it . I noticed it,

” said D i ck,

“ and spoke of it then,what a spread she had to her

fore-rigging and long spreaders o n the cros s-tree s

to spread the topgallant and royal backstays .”

That must be the ve ssel I ’m looking for ; but if

She passed you,beating up

,why ain ’t she here ?

She went into Salem .

”

0,ho went into Salem ! Then it ’ s her . The

captain belongs in Salem ; and, as he had a headwind and tide

,he went in the re

,and will be up to

d ay .

”

Captain Rhine s had proceeded but a little wayafter leaving D i ck

,when

,just before him

,a man

was pushed o u t of the door o f a sailor boarding

house,and fell hi s wlro le length o n the Sidewalk .

He rose with di i c ulty to hi s feet as the captaincame along

,and addre ssed him by name . He was

covered with filth,hiS face brui sed and bloody

,a

battered tarpaulin o n hi s head,a beard of three

weeks ’ growth,clothed in a red Shirt

,canvas trou

sers, and barefoot . He trembled like a man with

A STA RTLINC D ISCLOSURE . 193

the fever and agil e , evidently be ing in that stateexpre ssively termed by sailors the

“ horrors ” and

could scarcely stand .

Cap ’n,

” he cried,don ’t you know me ? ”

“ N he replied,after looking at him a moment

,

“ and don ’t want t o .

”

I ’m Percival,IVilliam Percival

,that went mate

o f your Ship with Captain Aldrich .

“ Your o wn mother wouldn ’t know you,Perci

val . How came you in thi s condition ? ”

I ’ve had hard luck, cap’n been cast away ; lo st

everything but what I stood in .

”

The captain was the last man to b e imposed

upon . He had always believed that Percival andAldrich both were two precious rascals

,saw in

an instant what had reduced him to his present

state,and that the story o f shipwreck was manu

fac tured at the spur of the moment .

You ’ve cast yourself away,

” was the reply .

You might have been master o f a ship if you hadbehaved yourself, and had any principle . Don ’t li eto me . You ’ve got the shakes o n you this ble ssedminute .

That ’s so,cap ’n

,

” said the poor wretch,making

a virtue o f nece ssity but I only drank to drown

1 3


m i sery . O,cap ’n

,

” he cried,stretching o ut his

hand s,

‘whic h trembled like an aspen leaf, give me

a quarter,just to get a little rum to taper Off with .

”

Not a cent . You ’ve had too mu ch n ow.

”

0,cap ’n

,dear cap ’n

,do

,

” cried the miserable

wretch ° only a fourpence ha ’pp’ny, cap

’n .

”

NO .

Thre e cents,then

,just to g et o ne glas s to taper

o ff with .

”

Why don ’t yo u go and ship

No cap ’n will have me as I look now,when

men are plenty .

”

I will give yo u victuals .

I can ’t eat,nor I can ’t sle ep .

If I give you clothe s,you ’ll s ell them for rum .

The capta in was turning to leave him,when he

said,I could tell yo u something that would make

you shell out the o hink .

”

The captain,paying no attention

,kept o n

,when

he cried,I can tell you what be came of that nig

ger yo u thought so much of.”

The captain whirled o n his heel in an instant.

What nigger ?

Why,that was pilot in the Casco .

James Peterson ? ”


“

and get a night’s sle ep . I will come here to-mor

ro w at ten o ’clock and,if I have reason to think

there ’s any truth in your statements,I ’ll d o more

for you .

”

In the course of the afternoon the Arthur Browncame up with the flood tide . It was a j o yfuhm e e t

ing between Captain Rhines,Arthur Brown

,Wal

ter,Ned

,and the whole crew

,wlio

'

were all hi s

neighbors . They spent the evening talking over

the events o f the voyage,while the captain made

them acquainted with all that had taken place athome .

S eeing Captain Rhine s was next to se eing thei ro wn parents

,e specially t o Ned whose life he

,with

others,had saved . Ned got o n

-

o ne Side and Wal

ter the other,and plied him with que stions about

everybody and everything at home .

After re tiring that night,the captain strove to

re call all he had ever heard said by any o ne o f the

crew who were in the Casco at the time o f the

mysterious disappearance o f Peterson, and re c o l

le c ted that Eaton,who was a great friend to Peter

son,said there had been some diffi culty between

him and the captain o n the passage o ut . He wassorely puzzled for

,from the time he first heard Of

A STA RTLING D ISCLOSURE . 197

the occurrence,he had cherished an opinion that

somehow o r othe r Aldrich was concerned in thematter ; still he could not help feeling that there

was not the least evidence of it,and that th i s

Opinion was based more upon his prejudice against

the captain than upon anything els e ; while he had

no better opinion of Perc ival than to beli eve he

would trump up any kind o f a story,if there was

the least possibility o f its being believed,in order

to obtain money . At ten o ’clock he was at Washburn’s

,where he found Percival arrayed in a decent

suit of seaman ’s clothe s,clean

,shaved

,hi s nerve s

steadied by liquor and a night ’ s re st,and altogether

another man .

It i s even n ow a moote d question among physi

c ians whether,in delirium tremens

,to give moder

ate dose s o f liquor to “ taper O ff ” with,as it i s

called,or not ; but in those days there was but

o ne opinion and o ne mode o f practice- to give the

individual a hair of the dog that hit him,which

the captain had done .

No w,Percival

,

” sai d he,

“ I am ready to hear

what you have to say .

”

“ Y o u se e,Captain Aldri ch was down on that

nigger from the day he came aboard the ves sel.”


What f o r ?“ I ’m sure I don ’t know

,except be cau s e every

body else liked him . He was the best cook I everse e o n board a ves sel

,and the best seaman ; always

ready to lend a hand,night o r day ; knew his place,

and kept it .”

You ’ve told the truth there,Perc ival .

I intend to tell the truth all the way through .

There was a good deal o f hard feeling . The

cap ’n was overbearing . The men wouldn ’t stand

it,be cause there was no occasion f o r it . He came

near having a r o w with Eaton,but thought better

o f it,and o ne day he picked a quarrel with the

nigger.”

And h ow did he come out with that ?Out o f ’ the little end o f the horn

,as they say .

Peterson saidi

so m e pretty hard things about him

and hi s folks,which the m en said af terwards was

all true,and set o ut to fl ing him overboard . He

run aft,scared half to death .

“ I wish he had . He would have been no morein James Peterson ’s hands than a pe ck o f wheat

bran f ’

“ Well, Aldrich was a very proud man , and itgravelled him terribly to be put down by a nigger

,


I heard him say to Aldri ch,Cap ’n

,I ’ll give yo u

two thousand in gold for that nigger. ’ The cap ’n

laughed,but said nothing .

”

The planter was joking,said Captain Rhine s

I have had planters in Cuba and Antigua say SOto me a hundred times

,when I ’ve had Peterson

and other darkie s w ith me .

”

“ I ’ve no d oubt he was,when he first spoke ; but

it put an idea into Aldri ch ’s head,and he carried it

o u t . Fo r some days afte r that,I saw him and the

planter Henri Lemaire always with the ir heads t ogether o n the pile s o f boards

,and saw them look at

”

Peterson . Then they would be together a long time

in the cabin o f his droger ; and they had no busine s s

wi th each other,for we hauled in to the govern

ment wharf,because we sold our lumber to the

government . This set me on the lookout . I tried

to listen, but c o uldnit get a chance to hear anything. One night the cap ’n sent Peterson ashore

with letters,and he never came back . Then I

knew he h ad sold him .

”

“ But he did come back . Danforth Eaton andall the crew told me that there was a good fire in

the fireplace ; that he had got breakfast well under

way the next morning when they turned o ut,and

A STARTL ING D ISCLOSURE . 0 1

had gone ashore,as they supposed

,to get some

thing for hi s ‘lobscouse,

’ and fell overboard .

“ Peterson never made that fire,nor peeled the

potatoe s and onions,o r cut the pork and put it

in the frying-pan ; but he pounded the coffee and

chopped the beef the night before,for I saw him

do it.”

“ Who did the re st

The cap ’n did it himself .

The c ap tain“ A y . I had a tooth that grumbled

,and didn’t

sle ep well . I heard the cap ’n get o ut o f his berth,

like a cat crawling after a squirrel,and

,having my

suspic ions,I followed him

,and saw what he was up

to saw him kindle the fire,put on the tea-kettle

,

and do all the other things .”

But hi s boy,Ben

,told me that they found his

handkerchief o n the fender .”

True ; but it was a handkerchief that he wore

o n his head when he was cooking, and kept it o n

a nail before the fire and the cap ’n put it on the

fender himself. Beside s,what did he want to send

Pe terson to the Offic e with letters that were blank,

i f it was not to make an errand to get him ashore

Il l—

tile night,that he might be kidnapped ?


Blank letters P

A y . I peeked through the Skylight,and saw

him fold and direct them,and there was not a

word written in them .

The captain rose and took a turn o r two acros s

the room . He was a shrewd judge o f men,had

watched Percival closely during the conversat ion,

and was strongly inclined to believe all he said .

Hi s account o f the captain ’s relations with the

ship ’s company tallied pre cisely with what. he had

previously heard from the men,and it se emed alto

gether improbable,if not imposs ible

,that he could

have originated some of the statements .“ I have always suspe cted

,

” said the captain,s it

ting down again,

“ th at there was foul play of some

kind . I have known Ezra Aldrich from the egg,

and knew he was capable of any kind of villany

never wanted him to go in the ship,but was over

ruled by oth ers . If what you say i s true,i t c er

tainly looks like it . But how d o you know that he

was sold ? You have no proof . He might have been,

and probably was,murdered . There are plenty

of renegade Spaniards in Martinique,and French

m en,too

,that would stab a man in the back in the

nigh t for two dollars . There was E noch Freeman,

O—I THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS O F PLEASANT COVE .

N0,it wasn ’t. I ordered the boat to be o n the

beach at four it was five minute s afte r. ’

He then began to blow round deck,growl

,

curse,and find fault .

“ ‘Why ain ’t those skids got ready,

’ he roared,

to take in sugar ? The lighter will be alongs ide in

the morning .

’

They are ready,Sir .

’

The skids were over the hatchway and blocked

IVell,they ain ’t right . ’

Ye s,they are right

,s ir . I know h ow to rig

skids to take in molasse s and sugar,and how to

stow it afterwards,as well as you

,o r any other

man .

’

‘You d o — do you ? ’

Ye s,s ir

,I d o .

’

Why ain ’t those headstays set up,as I ordered

,

and chaf ing gear put on the fore stay in the wakeo f the topsail ? ’

There was not time,s ir ; the hold had to be

cleared up,and the dunnage piled up fore and af t

ready for taking in cargo .

’

Why didn'

t yo u do it yourself, then ?

I didn ’t come here to work,s ir . ’

A STA RTLING D ISCLOSURE .

What did yo u come for

To se e other folks work .

’

I now left him,and went below but he came

down into the cabin,and began upon me again .

If you come here t o se e oth er folks work,why

don ’t you do it ? Why didn ’t yo u send that foretop

sail down,and have it mended The duty o f the

ship can ’t go on,if I am ashore se eing to my

busine ss . ’

I couldn ’t bear no more,but walked straight

up to him,and

,looking him right in the eye

,said

,

‘Ho w about that nigger,Cap ’n Aldri ch ? Ho w

about those blank letters,those onions and pota

toe s I saw yo u peeling, that handkerchief you put

o n the fender ? ’ HeO

Changed countenance in a

moment,became as pale as a corpse

,staggered

,and

caught hold o f the pantry door f o r support . I said

no m ore,but went on de ck .

”

“ What did he say afte rwards . D id he ask yo uwhat yo u meant ?

“ Never a word,but was as agreeable as could

be,though he didn ’t make much talk with me but

I was afraid he would poison me didn ’t drink any

liquor all the passage for fear he might give me a

dose,and watched him as a cat would a mouse .

”


Pity you cou ldn ’t always have sailed with him .

It might have made a sober man of yo u .

”

One night,after we got in the edge of the gulf

,

he got crooking his elbow again,and began to u se

bad language to me because I shortened sail in my

watch without consulting him . I just held up my

fore-finger, and said,‘Look here

,my fine fellow : we

are in the edge of the gulf . I will hang yo u when

we get in .

’ I then told him that I knew all about

hi s selling that nigger to Lemaire,that he had

abused me in Martinique,and on the passage thus

far home,and I would have my revenge that the

moment we made land,I would tell the crew

,put

him in irons,and appear against him in court .”

“ What did he say to that ? ”

He was terribly frightened ; said he was sorryhe did it

,but he couldn ’t bear to be put down

before the crew by a nigger ; and that he never

Should have thought o f that way o f getting revenge,

if the planter hadn ’t put it into hi s head ; and wound

up by telling me that he would give me five hundred

dollars to say.no thing about it, when we go t in .

”

Then Peterson ’s al ive,and a slave to this

LemaireA y. The cap ’n said

,the moment he proposed to


CHAPTER XII .

THE NOBLE VOLUNTEERS .

A PTA INRHINES was occupied with busine s sthe remainder o f the day

,and in the even

ing went aboard o f the brigantine . The Arthurleft before the arrival o f the Casco bringing tidingso f the disappearance o f Peterson ; consequently the”

ship ’s company had not heard of it till informed by

the captain,o n the evening o f the ir arrival . It

therefore excite d no little astonishment and inter

e st when they were informed that he was sold for

a slave in Martinique . After the affair had beenthoroughly discussed in all i ts bearings

,the captain

said,

“ I am getting somewhat the worse for wear,

and when I went to Cuba o n the raft,I took leave

o f the sea,as I th ought

,forever but James Peter

son saved my life once and before a man like him

(born a slave , n o w an American citizen,and as

noble -hearted a creature as ever drew the breath

o f life) shall live and die a slave, perhaps feel the


lash,I ’ll ri sk the se old bone s once more

,and spend

the last dollar I’ve got in the world .

”

“ Captain Rhine s,

” cried Walte r,leaping to his

feet, yo u shan

’t go . Y o u ought not to go . I’ll

go . I,too

,loved Peterson dearly . He carrie d me

in his arms when a child . I have spent weeks at

his house . He made all my playthings,and would

do anything for our folks I ’ll go,and something

tells me I shall succe ed .

Count me in,too

,

” cried Ned .

“ I love every

body that Walter love s . Jame s was just like a

father to me when I was wounded sat up nights,

and did everything for me .

”

It i s a great undertaking for persons o f your

age,and without much experience bu t

,ever sinc e

you went from home, yo u have been put in place s

where boys ripen fast,and always shown your

selve s capable o f accomplishing whatever you un

d e rto o k . Y o u are going,too

,upon a good

,I may

say holy,errand

,and may certainly expect aid and

wisdom from aloft. Have you thought o f any plan,

Walter

No,sir ; we are only boys, and must leave the

d ire ction o f affairs with y o u ,who know every

thing .

”

'


I am a great ways from knowing everything,

said the captain,smiling . W

l

e have been talking

this matter over amongst ourselve s the bette r part.

o f an hour and a half,and I don ’t think yo u made

the offer you have without some plan in your headupon which it was built . ”

The captain made these remarks,wishing to

draw Walter out .

A S I sat li stening to your account,

” said Wal

ter,

“ it appeared t o me that,as Ned and m yself

had quite a little pile o f money for boys of our age,

we could not spend part of it in any better manner

than by using it to re store Peterson to hi s family ;that we might ship in some ve ssel

,before the mast

,

to Martinique,for lo w wage s

,to leave when we got

there . If we couldn ’t do that,work o ur passage ;

and,if no captain would take Us o n that lay

,pay

o ur passage . As we both speak French well, weshould have no di i c rilty in finding the place where

he is,if alive .

”

Ho wwould yo u get him o f f,if you found him ? ”

I suppose we must be governed by circum

stance s,when Ou the spot . ’

“ But you have probably thought o f some way,

if you should succeed in getting hold o f him,to

get him and Yourselve s home

212 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS o r PLEASANT COVE .

Yo u know,s ir

,after you . took us from the raft

I was a long time at Charlie Bell ’s , very weak and

miserable could only s it in a chair,and walk

about the room .

“ Ye s .”

Well,Charlie

,in orde r to amuse me and pass

the time,told me about your going to Havana in

the Ark ; o f the venture s yo u carried for him and

others . He told me what a lot o f money was madeo n such simple things as beets , onions , carrots, and

potatoe s,that are worth next to nothing at home

that you m ade a lot o n some hens,butter

,candle s

,

and o n beef more,acc o rding to , than even o n the

lumber .

That i s all so .

I hope you and Captain Brown will excuse me,

s ir,for pre suming to plan for people who know all

about it . I was thinking that perhaps by and byWalter and I might put o ur money together

,build

part o f a vessel,and go in her

,— he master

,and I

mate and that we ought,if it i s right

,to keep o ur

money,and get all we can to put with it . No t bu t

I am willing to spend the last dollar for James,if

it i s nece ssary ; but it seems to me it wou ld be

better to make money than to spend money .

T IIE NOBLE VOLUNTEERS . 213

But how are,

you going to get James ?

I was thinking,sir

,i f we could get a fore -and

after,a sloop

,or some kind of a ves sel that we could

handle,load her with something that wouldn ’t be

so bulky as lumber,l ike those things you carried

for venture s,— so that a small ve ssel could carry

a good deal o f value,we might get Peterson clear,

and make money for ourselve s likewise .

”

Bravo,my boy ! That ’s a plan just as full o f

sense as it can be .

”

Then,you know

,s ir

,we should have the ve ssel

to get home with and bring James in .

”

To be sure you would,and make a lot o n your

return cargo . What do you think o f that plan,

Walter“ I think it i s a fi rst-rate plan

,s ir .

This little chap that you and all o f us h avebeen petting

,and calling little Ned so long

,i s

o utgrowing his teachers . He ’ll be taking thewind o ut of your sails by and by .

“ There ’s nothing lost that a good friend gets

said Walter, putting hi s arm round Ned .

“ Well said . It ’ s a princ iple I have always

acted upon .

”

“ It struck me,while Ned was Speaking

,that


if we carrie d such kind o f freight as he sugge sts,

whv not go and peddle it o u t at some o f the small

ports . What i s to hinder going to the plantation

o f this very Lemaire,and swap o ur truck for his

,

get the right s ide o f him,and that would give us a

fi rst-rate opportunity to get at Peterson .

So yo u could . Nobody but a Yankee wouldhave thought o f that ; whereas, if you should gohanging round there without any bu sines s

,

’

o u

would be suspe cted in a moment,watched

,and

perhaps shot o r stabbed .

”

“ Allow me to make a suggestion,

said Captain

Brown .

Certainly ; the more heads the better.Doe s that Lemaire own those drogers

,o r only

go in them“ Owns them Man alive

,he owns three e state s

and four or five hundred niggers . I ’ve sold himlumber

,bought sugar and coff e e o f him

,and they

say he treats his slave s well,and give s them a

chance to earn money for themselve s,and buy

their freedom .

”

Then he must have to buy a great m anv spars

for drogers ’ masts . Why not take a deck-load o f

spars and the other stuff in the hold ? Then he


in town (now Uncle Isaac Murch i s gone). He won’t

abuse an ox,ne ithe r

,nor let anybody else ; but

Joe (he’ s n o teamster at all

,nor much else ; when

he gits stuck,he take s o ff the forrard cattle ), he

can ’t m ake four oxen pull together ; he’s real cruel

,

too . I ’ve se en him stand with o ne foot o n the

tongue,and the other o n an ox ’ s back

,and beat him

w ith a stake . Wal,he got to the foot o f Merrithew’

s

H ill with a heavy load and four oxen ; the cattlewouldn ’t haul for him ; he licked his goad up

about ’em,and holle red

,and s cree ched

,and cursed .

They wouldn ’t haul ; he looked round f o r a stake ,but it was stone wall both side s of the road

,and he

had to go a good ways down,over the first little

ri se,to get o ne . Lion Ben come s to the t o p o f the

hill ; he’d heard the s cre e ching ; saw the team stand

ing there . Frank Chase told me this ; he was picking rocks in their field

,and saw the whole of it.

He said the L ion came along,went to the cattle

,

patted ’em,l ifted up the yoke s

,pulled up a last

year ’s mulle in stalk,flouri shed that over ’em a few

times, put his pretty little shoulders to the wheel,and spoke to the cattle . Frank said he didn ’t speakloud enough for him to hear ; and they went right

up the hill with it ; then Ben squats down behind


the log fence . Joe came back with hi s stake to

whale ’em,and there was no team there . Frank

said it was comical enough to se e h im rub hi s eye s

and stare round . Bime by he went up the hill .

There was hi s team . Frank said he looked unde rth e load

,o n the top of the load

,and everywhere .

Frank held his tongue,and Jo e alle rs thought that

the cattle started for fear of the li cking they would

get when he come back .

”

D id he ever find o ut asked IValter .

Ye s ; ! the L ion met him o n e night at the store,

and told him,before all hands

,that if ever he saw

him beat cattle with a stake,o r heard tell on ’t

,he ’d

pay hi s r e spe cts to him . I re ckon you kin gues s

what Li on Ben ’s re spects would be .

“ All the satisfaction,

” said the captain,

“ I W ishof the Villain that sold and the villa in that bought

Peterson i s,that Ben might get his mud-hooks on

them both . If the blood and brains wouldn ’t fiywhen he smashed the ir heads togeth er

,I

’

ll never

guess again . But about the frames,S ewall ? ”

Wal,th e upshot was

,the planters almost quar

i

relled to se e who should git ’em,they were so taken

with ’em,and gave him his own price . The Old

man said he wished he ’d loaded with ’em .

”


Just the things for us,S ewa said the captain .

“ I ’ve heard people speak in meeting,when I

thought they had ' better have held their tongue s,

but yo u have spoken to the purpose .

The Old cap ’n,

” continued Lancaste r,said he

might have made his jack if he had only brought

bolts,locks

,and cheap hinge s for doors

,cause

sometime s they want to lock the darkie s up ; and

also if he had brought handsome ones for the

planters ’ house s,and nails

,he might have thribbled

his money ; but that hi s wits allers come after

ward s . He seemed quite in a passion about it,

cause he hadn ’t made more,when he ’d made enough

a ’ready to sati sfy any reasonable person .

”

Thank you,S ewall ' we ’ll try and not have o ur

wits come afterwards .

The greate st di culty with me at the outset,

’

said Walter,i s,where to find a ve sse l .”

“ I ’ll settle that matter at once— charter the

Perseverance o f Ben . I can rig her so that noth

ing o f her s ize can catch her ; and a better sea

boat never swam .

0

No matte r how hard it blows ;she ’ll lay to like a duck

,go dry

,and work to wind

ward all the time .

”

She m ay do well in the bays and along shore ,but she i s o ld ,

and must be rotten .

”


next year,or a hundred years from now

,as well as

to-day . D epend upon it,my boy

,Aldri ch will get

his broth as hot as he can sup it,and

,perhaps

,a

good deal o f it as he goes along .

O,I am so glad we are going to have the Perse

ve ran c e,not only because she i s fast and a good

sea-boat,but it was her that you took us o ff the

raft with .

Ye s,my brave sailor-boy

,said the captain

,

taking Ned o n his knee (for hi s j ovial , sanguine

temperament was stirred to its depths by the safe

arrival of the brigantine,the prospect o f liberating

Peterson,and the noble sentiments and practical

ability manife sted by the boys ),“ had not the

schooner been just where I could lay my hand

upon her,you m ust have perished ; nor do I know

of another ve ssel,that

,in such a sea and wind

,

would have towed the raft clear of the breakers ;indeed

,i t was touch and go . Had the foremast

gone overboard thre e minute s before It d id, yo u

would not be sitting on my knee t o -night . I was

frightened myself,after I was safe on shore

,and the

pre ssure was taken off.”

“ A penny f o r your thoughts,Mr . Gri ffin ,

”o b

served Captain Brown,noticing that Walter was

preoccupi ed .

THE NOBLE VOLUNTEERS . 221

Out with it,my boy,

” said Captain Rhine s .I was thinking over something Sewall ’ s conver

sation put in my“ head

,not clear to me . I have not

go t it shaped as yet . But if we can get to Marti

nique with the kind o f cargo S ewall speaks o f,and

Peterson is alive,I feel sure that I know what to

do when there .

”

What i s that ? asked Captain Rhine s,pointing

to the companion-way .

It ’s daylight,

” said Ned ; we ’ve talked allnight ; it i s break o f day .

”


CHA PTER XIII .

CAPTA IN RH INES AND D ICK CAMERON.

URING the day they were occupied in discharging cargo

,were tired at night

,and

turned in early to make up their sle ep . But th e

night following the same company assembled again

in the cabin o f the Arthur .Now

,

” said Captain Rhine s,for the crew .

Ned and I are o fficers and crew,said Walter

we can handle her.”

Y o u could handle her in good weather,o r in a

gale o f wind,if it gave you time

,but yo u might

lose your masts in a sudden squall ; be sides, you

must have more than o ne in a watch . Y o u mustfl

have a lookout,and you might have a s o u e to get

Peterson . Y o u must have two men,and a b o y f o r

a cook ; o ne stout,reliable man

,. an able seaman

,

and an ordinary,o r stout

,smart boy

,e ighteen o r

nineteen . One o f yo u may b e s ick, o r washed overboard . However

,there ’s time enough for that . I

think I know where to find the able seaman .

”


“ Shiver my limbs if I know,cap ’n ; mayhap as

many times as there are yarns in the be st bower

cable .

It has done a great deal of good . Y o u are just

the same old Sixpence you were when you saile d

with me,fi fteen years ago .

”

IVell

,cap ’n

, yo u take a l ittle something when

you have a mind . Why Shouldn ’ t an o ld sailor

that nobody care s anything about,and that ’s going

to be thrown overboard when he ’s worn o ut,just

like the cook ’s h o t water and ashe s take hi s com

fort while he can ? I tell you,cap ’n

,you don ’t know

anything about it . It ain ’t so easy to get clear o f

your shipmate s . Here ’ s mayhap half a dozen,or

mayhap twenty-five o f us,been o n a long vige o r

a short vige . We come ashore ; go to a boarding

house . They treats me . Of course I must treat

them . One glass brings o n anoth er, till we are all

blind drunk .

'

“ Do n’t I know all about it ? Haven ’t I been

through it all Wasn ’t I a sailor,before the mast,

years and years

Not such a sailor as D i ck Cameron,poor, Go d

forsaken devil . When you got into port,you had

som ething ahead . You had a good home,fathe r,

CA PTA IN RH INES AND D ICK CAMERON. 225

mother,brothers and si sters

,way back in the

bush,that yo u carrie d to sea with you in your

heart . When yo u turned in,and when yo u

turned o ut,they turned in and turned o ut with

yo u . They were clos e by yo u all the while .

When yo u was at the wheel, o n the lookout,

o r walking the deck in the middle watch,they

were there . When yo u go t farther along yo u

thought o f that young wife,dutiful woman

,the

little children,the tree s yo u had planted ; and

though,m ayhap, . yo ur body was in Trieste , A n

tigua,o r Calcutta

,your heart was at home with

the wife and the little ones . Y o u could se e

the ir face s,hear the fire snap . The moment yo u

got in,and the ve ssel was made fast

,the gras s

didn ’t grow under your feet till yo u was at home .

Y o u didn ’t se e anything els e . Y o u looked right

o ver

i

everything else to that home .

”

“ That i s true,D i ck

,every word o f it .

You see . cap ’n , with all the s e shrouds, andhead-stays

,and back-stays to hold yo u up, you

could take your liquor in moderation,and stop

when yo u had enough . But here ’s o ld D ick come s

ashore . He ’ s no parents,no home ; nothing but

his shipmate s They go t o a rum mill . He ’s a


d r ankard,they are drunkards

,and you know the

re st . I drew up a strong re solution thi s time .

Before I come ashore,says I t o myself

,

‘I ’ll take

my glas s in moderation,just as my old cap ’n

,Ben

Rhines,used to

,and not make a beast o f myself. ’

But it all ended in smoke .

”

“ I don ’t take my glas s in moderation, D ick .

I ’ve knocked o ff fiung it all overboard . Ben has

done the same . We don ’t drink,nor keep it in the

h o use f’

“ That ’s a go,now ! S lipped the cable

,and let

the end run o u t the hawse -hole ? ”

“ Yes,D i ck ; and haven

’t buoyed the cable,

neither .”

“ But what was th e need o f that ? Y o u never

abused yourself with liquor . Y o u could stop at

the score .

”

“ Ben begun it . Y o u know John Strout,who

was such a great friend o f his .

Was mate o f the Leonidas ? ”

The same . !Vell,he fell overboard drunk

,after

getting hi s liquor at Ben ’ s house . Ben swore then

that he ’d never drink another drop,and he never

has . I held out a good while ; but at length I

found I was making drunkards o f the young folk


something with horse s,for my fath er carri ed the

king ’ s mail from Greenock ; and , s ince I was knee

high t o a toad,I have been used to horse s bht i t ’s

little old D i ck knows about your horned cattle .

"

“ I ’ll tell yo u what I want of you . Have youforgotten Jame s Peterson

,that used to go with

me“ I never had any shipmate o f that name that I

knows o f .”

“ Ye s, yo u had . He was ‘ a negro . I used to

hire him o f his master . He was with u s in theJame s Welch to Cadiz the time I had the big dog.

”

I don ’t mind any n igger,only Flour .”

Well,it ’s F lo ur I mean . H i s real name i s Pe

terson .

”

A y, I mind him well , and liked him well .

Y o u know the blacks are fre e here at the north

since the war .

”

“ I ’ve heard so . Then they are a mighty s ightbetter o ff than the sailors .

He went o ut o f here to Martinique , with a

great Villain , in o n e o f o ur ve ssels . I coaxed him

to go , be cause it was hard to get a crew and the

rascal has sold him t o a planter there . I am going

to have him back .

”

CAPTA IN RHINES AND D ICK CAMERON . 229

If you can get him .

I shall get him .

Why don ’t you get your government t o demandhim of the French government

,if he ’s a citizen

,

and save the expense and trouble

They have no government that amounts to any

thing . They don ’t like u s be cause we won ’t go

into a war with England o n their account . Peter

so n might die o f o ld age,and I likewise

,before

they could be go t to move in the matter . Ben

has got a ve s sel that sails like a witch ; she has

been repaire d thi s winte r past ; we are going to

put new rigging and a new suit o f sails o n her

and two o f o ur boys have volunteered to take

charge,and go after Peterson

,and get him back by

hook or by crook .

”

What do yo u want me to do

I want you to go home with me . Y o u,myself

,

and Ben will cut and make the sails,rig and load

her. You will live in my family,get all the salt

junk and bad rum o ut o f you,be amongst steady

people,away from temptation

,go o ut in the ve ssel

with the boys,and

,perhaps

,a couple more of o ur

young men no rum,no landlords

,no drunken ship

mate s . I ’ll give yo u bette r wage s than you ever

2 30 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA SANT COVI

had in your life , because you shall have a share of

the profits when th e voyage is up . I’ll build you

a ve ssel ; and, as you are no navigator, you shall

coast along the shore in her,Captain Richard Cam

eron,marry some o ne o f o u r good girls

,and be a

man . Is not there a chance to be decent ? and do

as I have do ne let the liquor alone .

”

God ble s s yo u , cap II ; will you do all that for

o ld D i ckI will

,and there ’s m y hand on it .

The seaman grasped the extended hand o f hi s

benefactor,exclaiming

,I ’ll do it

,cap ’n . Don 't

think the manhood i s all so leached o ut o f nie by

rum and bad company that I can ’t rally with such

a motive as that .”

I don ’t want yo u to feel that the obligation i s

all o n one side . It i s not so . I know yo u , Ri chardCameron

,through and through ; you are a cool,

resolute,powerful, noble -hearted man . I never ex

pe c te d to meet you again but I have always said

that,in a real trying time

,you were worth any two

men I ever had . I can ’t help thinking yo u have

been sent to help me at this present time . Y o u

have had experience,and are seasoned to all cli

mate s and all kind o f hardships,and you may have

to throttle som ebody .


raise money to ransom him but it was finally con

cluded to wait till Captain Rhine s came home ,who

,no o ne doubted

,would stir at once in the

matter .

S ewall Lancaster expre ssed hi s willingness togo

,and Captain Rhine s gladly accepted him

,as he

was well acquainted in Martinique and with theirtrade and

,two days after the Arthur Brown was

d i s charged,the captain

,with the boys and seamen

started in a coaste r for Pleasant Cove .

They found everything ripe and ready for their

purpose . L i o n Ben told the boys they were welcome to the s chooner

,and refused to re ce ive a cent

o f remuneration .

The whole community rose up as o ne man to

load her . Every household contributed its supplyo f butter

,candle s

,and vegetable s .

Captain Rhine s said if they were going round tothe plantations it was no use to carry fowl

,as there

were enough there but they took a few t o sell in

S t . Pierre,as everybody was eager to contribute

something,and some who had nothing else could

furnish fowls.

Twenty-five young men,with Charlie Bell at

their head, went into hi s woods, cut down th e

CAPTA IN RH INES AND D ICK CA MERON . 233

tree s,rolle d them into th e pond

,floated them to

the saw-mill,sawed them into joist

,and framed the

small hou se s . Others contributed money to buy

locks,hinges

,and nails .

The boys were not permitted to contribute a

cent,i t being agreed o n all s ide s that whatever

was made should be divided between th e re scuersand Peterson ’s family . Captain Rhines had also

brought with him in the coaste r from Boston a

large lo t o f spermaceti candle s,which Arthur

Brown,Mr . W elch

,and the crew of the brigantine

contributed .

I trust you will not think that Captain Rhine sL ion Ben

,and the boys were idle amid all this

commotion . Y o u m ay believe thi s experienced

seaman,and the b o ys

,full o f enthusiasm

,made the

Perseverance look saucy enough . D i ck Cameronwas in the right place n ow. A S they sewed o n the

sails,he told yarns that excited as m uch laughter

as wonder ; for D i ck, as o ur readers may suspect

was a jollysoul, and, as he was in agreeable company

,had a clear conscience

,was full o f good re s

o lutio n s and new-born hope s,a happier fellow you

never saw. They grafted,hitched

,and pointed

every rope o n board o f her that admitted o f it,

234. THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OP PLEA SA NT COVE .

even to the bucket-rope,and holy- stoned the de ck

till it was white as snow . Didn ’t

'

they put the

muslin o n her— a bonnet o n her j ib f o r l ight winds,

a lug fore sail that trimmed way aft to the tille r

head,a square sail that travelled o n an up

-and

down stay,and two gaff -topsails that set from the

deck ? These were all kite s for light winds,and

could be set o r taken in very quick . I wish you

could have se en her boat . The readers o f the Elm

Island Storie s know very well that Charlie Bellwas by no means slow as re spe cted boat-building

and was a complete epitome o f progress .

Just after they began to repair the Persever

an ce,his o ld father said to him o ne day

,as they sat

before the fire,

“ Charlie, they have a new fashion of building

boats in France .

How i s that,father ? ”

Why,instead o f doing as you d o

,and

‘

getting

natural crooks for timbers,they saw them o ut o f a

white-o ak plank,o r whatever kind o f wood they

make them o f,put them into a steam-box

,and bend

them . They generally get natural crooks f o r stem,

stern-post,and floor-timbers but often they saw

them o ut o f plank,becaus e timber i s not so plenty


much longer . She was just the pre tti e st,lightest

thing imaginable ; and she would streak it with a

good breeze . After work at night,

“

the boys did

enjoy sailing in her . Pleasantly and swiftly did

the se days pas s away . They hardly ate two meals

in the same hou se ; for they were universal favor

ite s,and all wanted to have the boys at their

house s,and it was only on Sabbath days that Wal

ter spent the day at home .

Again he sat be side Charlie B ell in the Oldchurch

,and had many a pleasant talk with him ;

but Walter was obliged to tell Charlie,that

,al

though he had often thought o f that moonlight talk

by the brook,and h o w vividly

,among the crum

bling ruins o f the o ld castle,th e power o f associa

tion re called that conversation,he had complied

with his reque st no farther than to repeat the

Lord ’s Prayer with Ned then,and ever afte r when

he retired to re st .

The Perseverance'

was no w ready for sea ; as

D ick Cameron said,everything about her was ship

shape and Bristol fashion . Never did more good

wishe s and fervent prayers follow a craft than fol

lowed her, as,with a whole sale bre eze,she weighed

CAPTA IN RH INES AND D ICK CA MERON . 237

anchor,and went down the bay like a race-horse .

Reluctantly the crowd o f spectators le ft the heightsfrom which they had watched her as she faded

from Vi ew,and slowly sought their different place s

of abode .


CHAPTER ! IV.

WALTER AND HENRI LEMA IRE .

make a qui ck passage was the great d e s ire

o f all on board the s choone r from various mo

tives . the m ost prominent o f which was to break

the fetters o f Peterson at the earli e st opportunity ;but th ey also burned t o Show themselve s equal t o

the occasion,and justify the expe c tations formed

of them,well a w are that the attention of the whole

community,and those whom they loved b e st

,was

fixed upon them . Time was also precious,as they

could not tell how much time might be occupied in

the search and re s cue at Martinique,and it was of

the greate st importance to get away from there

before the hurri cane months .

I Vith ne w rigging and masts,new sail s

,and

plenty of them,a clean bottom

,and a wholesale

bre eze . the gallant little craft,that had been em

ployed o n so many errands of mercy,and with

whi c h so many pleasant associations were con


crati c arrangement ; for the captain and mate

worked ship,and took their tri cks at the helm

,

although D i ck and S ewall were very particular inaddre ssing them by their title s ; and, when the

captain was o n de ck,Ned was as s crupulous about

taking the weather-s ide o f the quarter-deck as

though he had been aboard the large st ship .

At daybreak o f the ninth day,they made Mount

Pelee in th e distance,and soon after s ighted the

north-western part o f Martinique,and saw ' a big

rock,and a flat point

,with a plantation o n it .

This,

” said Lancaster,i s Point Precheur

,and

the rock Pearl Rock .

”

It was not long before they made “ the white awn

ings o f the ve ssels in the harbor o f St . Pierre,the

principal commercial port o f Martinique . This

i sland belongs to France,i s about thirty-five mile s

long,and o f irregular shape

,rocky

,somewhat

mountainous,abounding in intri cate cove s and

creeks of diffi cult navigation,but affording excel

lent sheltered harbors for ve ssels both o f large and

small burdens . The soil i s fertile,and water

abundant ; the population ninety-nine thousand,o f

whom seventy-eight thousand are negroe s . It i s

subj ect to earth quake s and hurricanes at ce rtainseasons of the year .

WALTER AND HENRI LEMA IRE . 4 1

Captain Rhine s had given Walter particular dire ctions about taking care o f the ve ssel at S t .Pierre

,which is an open roadstead . The town is

built o n the side of a hill which falls off towards

the water,forming a circular beach . The shore

being bold,vessels moor head and stern

,with an

chors carrie d o ut to the south-east and north-west .

Lumber i s rafted to the eastern portion of the harbor

,where the water i s shoaler

,and merchandise

from the shore i s brought o ff in launches . Forspe cial reasons

,the boys were in n o haste t o sell

,

and went ashore to look at the place .

The town pre sented a singular appearance,being

built in such a manner upon th e d e clivity o f the

hill,that from theve ssel you saw a good part o f

'

o n e house over the roof o f the.

one in front,while

steeper hills behind seemed to overhang the house s .

The roofs Of the ir house s were covered with

tile s,which excited Walter ’s curios ity to se e h ow

they were made,as he was always intere sted in

everything o f a mechanical nature . SO he clam

bered up on to the roofs,and found the t ile s were

o f two kinds : some were shaped like a gouge,o r

half o f an earthen pot . A row o f the se were laid,

hollow side up,the length o f the roof

,and two o r

16

242 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS O E PLEA SA NT COVE .

three inche s apart,to e conomize stock ; then oth

ers laid hollow side down to cover the space be

tween the others,and dire ct the water into the

hollow o f those first laid ; and SO on, till the roof

was covered .

Multitude s o f bats find a lodgment under the

tile s covering the j oints,and come o ut as twilight

comes o n .

Other tile s were made the shape o f the letter S,

the extremity o f o ne lapping the hollow o f the

other . These tile s were made o f strong,coars e

pottery,of differen t colors

,red predom inating

,and

were laid in mortar .

The house s o f the negroe s and the poorer class

Of white s were merely four bamboo posts,stuck in

the earth,the walls formed o f wicker-work

,and

plastered with m uIl,and the roofs thatched with

cane leave s .

There had been a rain the day before,and the

water was running in streams from the hills,in

paved gutters,through the m iddle o f the streets .

The next morning pre sented a curious spectacle .

It seemed as though the entire population had

been se ized with a de sire to wash . Negro nurse s

were bringing children o f all ages and colors down


stripped from the bone s before the entrails were

removed . Then the bon e s were cut up in short

pie ce s,tied in little bunches

,and sold for a f ew

sous,o r a bit ( twelve cents ), to poor people , for

soups . A ll sorts o f coin were current there .

Walter went to the market to buy some f ruit

there were twenty-five cents in change due him

and the negro gave him a triangular pie ce o f s ilver .

What is this ? asked Walter .

Makkatena,

” replied the black ;“ he be two bit .

Upon examination,he found a Spanish dollar had

been cut into four equal parts,and

,upon inquiry

,as

c ertained that one way they procured small change

was to cut dollars,half dollars

,and quarters into

four pie ce s,which they called m akka

‘

tena .

”

“ Sewall,

” said Walter,when he returned o n

board the ve ssel,

“ the story,at first

,was

,that Pe

terson fell between the vesse l and the wharf . I

don ’t se e a wharf here .

”

They sold their lumber to the government,and

there was a breastwork belonging to them . Joe

Elwell said it was torn to pie ce s by the sea .

Nothing of that kind will stand here after the

middle of July,when the hurricane s come .

They were now surrounded by bumboat—men,

WALTER AND HENRI LEMAIRE .

115

wanting to buy vegetable s ; and the captain, who

was mu ch ashore,had several o ffers for his lumber ;

but he seemed in n o haste to sell ; thought he

should go round t o som e o f the plantations and

small village s along the coast ; didn’t. know but he

should go to Pre cheur,Case Pilote

,o r Case de

Navire might go to Port Royal,Trinity Bay

,o r

t o the plantations near Carvel (Caravelle ) ; meant

t o try the market ; guessed he had the right sort

o f things ; shouldn’t wonder at all if he went to

Guadaloupe ; rather thought he should ; guesse d

that was the be st market . In the mean time,he

retailed a few hens,som e vegetable s

,and a little

butter .

The captain was also very liberal to the blacks,

e specially to those belonging to launche s and

drogers,giving them beef and biscuit

,which

they carried o ff in the top o f the ir high-Crowned

hats . The whole ship ’s company were very socia

ble,parti cularly with the fre e negroe s . The re sult

o f this was,that the vessel was thronged with ne

groe s . One o ld black,a bumboat-man

,terribly

pock-marked,and hi s wool white with age

,was

very intimate with Nep, in consequence o f which

he got many a fritter and cup o f co ff ee,and bought

the cook ’s slush .


He also did a great many errands for the captain

,was half the time o n board the ve ssel and

often invited Nep to his house on Sundays . Hewas constantly telling about going to Point Solomon

,where he had a good many negro acquaint

an o e s ; s o Lancaster chri stened him Solomon,to

which name he answered as readily as t o his own .

Lion Ben told Walter,the day they sailed

,that

he might sell the boat,buy some cheap affair that

would answer to come home with,and divid e the

money between himself,Ned

,and the crew . Many

were the Off ers he had for this boat : he refused

them all .

Why don ’t you sell her ? asked D i ck Cameron .

I have good reasons for not doing it,

” was the

reply .

Solomon,said the captain o ne afternoon

,as the

o ld negro sat on the heel o f the bowsprit,enjoying

a cigar,

“ how o ld are yo u ?”

Golly,m assa

,dunno . How much be two hun

der ? ”I

As much again as one hundred .

D en s ’pose I be two hunder .”

“ No,you ain ’t two hundred

,o r o n e hund red .

IVhat makes you th ink you are so o ld

248 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS o r PLEASA NT COVE .

Ye s ; do you remember her ? ”

Ye s,massa . Bring great pile O ’ boards ; gob

erm ent buy it all . Me hab her slush . S ell manyt ings to de crew dey hab plenty o b money .

“ D id yo u know the cook ?”

He black man bery large white o n his hair.

Me buy de slush o b him .

“ What was his name ?

Dunno,massa Old man no ’member. He lose

part o b de small finger o n de right hand .

“ Just so . He was drowned . DO yo u remember

th e ir trying to find him o n the bottom

Dat man n ebbe r drowned,massa ; he libe now.

ow do yo u know that ?”

“ Sometime,when hurricane months come

,no

vessel . Me go to de house s,sell de candle s me

buy Ob de ’Merican sailors ; me go to Pierre Lallemont ’s house ; hear him tell de wife dat man no

dead ; he sold to de Frenchman o n de plantation .

”

“ What Frenchman ?Dunno

,massa ; no

’member.

Who is Pierre Lallem o nt ?

He f re e nigger ; cooper ; make much money ;hab niggers hisself . Eberyb o dy kn ow Pierre .

”

I gue ss that’s a story,Solomon

,that somebody

crew all said he was drowned . It i s likely they

knew best . ”

S ’pose so,massa .

Here ended Walter ’s questioning o f Solomon,

who certainly did not re semble hi s namesake in

wisdom . Walter told Nep to give Solomon halfa dozen bis cuit

,and send him ashore . After the

o ld man had been gone a while,he said t o Came

ro n,

“ Dick,take the cook ’s axe

,and stave in the

head of that empty water-cask that stands on end

abreast the main hatch .

”

It ’s'

a good cask,si r

,amazed at the orde r from

so prudent a man as Walter.

No matter do as I tell yo u .

Obey orders if you break owners said D ick ;and in went the head o f the cask .

Cut the upper ho ops o ff that beef-barrel .

D i ck did as he was ordered .

Take S ewall with you,go ashore

,and inquire

for a black cooper by the name o f Pierre Lallemont

,and ask him to come aboard

,and put a head

in a water-cask,cooper some barrels

,and bring the

stock to do it with . I want it. done aboard .

”


Walter gave Di ck the measure o f the head .

“ That beats all my going to sea,said D ick

,as

they pulled ashore to stave in the head o f a

good water-cask,c u t the hoops o f a new beef-bar

rel,and then send ashore for a cooper to mend ’em

as h igh wages as th e coopers charge here .

”

It ’s none o f o ur consarn We don ’t find the

water-casks or pay the Cooper .“ I guess L ion Ben wou ld think it was hi s con

sarn to let u s have the ves sel for nothing,and then

have water-casks stove up for the fun o f the thing .

There must be something the matte r with hi s head .

I hope the poor lad ain ’t go t a sun-stroke . He wassitting there a long time in the sun

,talking with

the bumboat-man .

”

I re ckon hi s head i s well enough,

” said S ewall .I wish mine had as much in it . ”

At noon the boa t came back, and , in company, ashore boat

,in which was Pierre Lallem o nt

,with

his stock and tools,rowed by a negro boy . He

was quite a contrast to Solomon,being a strong

,

tall , intelligent-looking man , pretty well bleached ,and in the prime of life . He went to work dire ctly ,wi th hi s boy

,o n the water—cask . When the j o b

was finished,Walter took him into the cab in alone

,


I know you can tell m e what became o f that

man,i f you will . I se e it in your face . No w take

the matter home to yourself . Suppose,after yo u

had worked hard,obtaining your liberty by many

long years o f hard toil,and had gone o n busine s s

to Guadaloupe,leaving wife and children behind

there been seized,and sold into slavery ; what

would yo u think Of a person o f"

your o wn color

who,having been a Slave

,and knowing from experi

ence how bitter that bondage was,would not c o n

tribute in so small a degree towards your deliver

ance as to tell your friends,your wife

,your chil

dren,where yo u was . Pierre Lallem o nt

,you are

that man .

”

Is that all you want m e to do,cap ’n

Ye s,to give such information as may enable

me to act .”

“ If I aid yo u ,and it i s known

,I am a dead

man .

”

“ I d on ’t want you to lift a finger,o r commit

yourself in any way . All the information I askvo u can give me on this spot

,where there are n o

witne sse s except the God above us ; and I neverwill breathe a word you utter . ”

Put your questions,captain .

WALTER AND HENRI LEMAIRE. 253

D id Aldri ch sell Peterson to Henri Lemaire f o rtwo thousand dollars ? ”

“ IIe Chd f ’

“ Is lua ahve ? ”

IIe iSJ’

VVhere ? ”

On Lem aire’s plantation .

Where i s that“ On the north-eastern side

,at Vauclin . He has

plantations at the northern part o f the i sland ; but

this i s hi s home place , where he live s, and where

he keeps the most slave s, and sto res the greate st

part of hi s coffee till he sells it .”

What doe s he put Peterson to d oing ? ”

Calking. He has SO many drogers,there ’s

work enough for him and others all the time .

Doe s he treat him well ?“ Ye s ; feeds him well, and hire s him holidays ;

doe s all he can to make him contented,for fear he

will get away,but locks him up every night .

Id aven% vo u o bHfin ed :Hfi Omn afi o n eno ugh ? ”

A f ew more questions . D oes he Often come toSt Pierre in hi s droger ?

Once a fortnight .”

Doe s he have any parti cular o n e f o r his o wn

u se ?”


Ye s .IS she any di fferent from the re st ?

She! has a white s treak,a red bead and L .

in her m ainsail ; the others are all black .

Here i s vour money .

”

I didn ’t give yo u th i s information for money,cap ’n . I ’ve been a slave to Henri Lemaire . If

he Should find o ut that any information had gone

from me,he ‘ would have me assas sinated . I have

put my life in your hands . ”

“ Y o u may trust in m e . I am equally in your

power . Y o u can se cure yourself and destroy me

at any moment by telling him my business here .

Have yo u any obj e ction t o inform me o f another

thing ? ”

NO,n ow that we have gone so far .

L

__J

Ho w came you by this knowledge ?

H i s overseer told me .

”

He was a very powerful man ; how did theytake him ?

“ He had to pass through a narrow alley o n his

way back to the ves sel . The overse er and four

more stretched a wire acros s it ; he couldn’t se e the

wire in the night,and fell over it . They leaped on

him while he was down,handcuffed

,gagged him

,and

WALTER AND HENRI LEMA IRE . 255

put him into a droger . It -was nothing uncommon

to se e Lem aire ’s overse er taking a runaway slave

home,and no o n e paid any attention to it . ”

When will he probably b e here again ?Tod ay i s Saturday ; next Tuesday will be his

day .

Walter did not communi cate his information to

any one,no t even to Ned . In the mean time

,they

were all very much puzzled to divine why he did

not get under way,if he was going from o ne plan

tatio n to another,and not lose any more time .

Sunday night,without giving the source of hi s

information,he told them he had ascerta ined where

Lem aire ’s plantation was ; that he would probably

be at S t.Pierre the next Tuesday

,or thereabouts

and to look sharp for a droger with a white waist,

a red bead round her,and H . L . in the m iddle cloth

o f her mainsail .

Tue sday afternoon about three o ’clock,Ned

,

whose curiosity had led him t o go to the mast

head,reported that there was a sail in sight

,

which proved t o be the droger they were expe ct

ing,followed at different distance s by several oth

ers,also belonging to Lemaire .

”

“ Mr . Gates,said the captain

,

“ let u s take the


boat when he gets along,and have a look at

him .

They put the sail in the boat,shipped the fancy

rudder,which had no t been used since they le ft

Pleasant Cove,and started ju st as the droger came

to anchor at. a cable ’s length from the beach .

They were pass ing the droger,o n their way to

the beach,while her negro crew were furling the

sails . The planter,wh o was seated o n deck

,sm o k

ing,hailed and invited them to come o n board .

They ‘gladly accepted an invitation which afforded

a personal intervi ew with the very man they wereso anxious t o see .

Quite contrary to their expectations , they found

Henri Lemaire,in appearance at least an affable

,

frank,pursy little Frenchm an

,o f about s ixty years

o f age,and very neatly dre ss ed . It was evidently

the boat that had attracted his attention ; for the

first que stion he asked,after the u sual salutations

had been exchanged,was

,

“ Will yo u sell that boat,captain ? ” instantly adding

,with a smile

,

“ Of

course yo u will . Your countrymen will sell anything ; f o r it was in this very harbor that o n e o f

your American captains sold all the masts he hadfor a thousand dollars

,and went home with a jury

mast .”


of the cove s and creeks,and barter with the

planters .”

What do yo u want f o r your lumber ?My ve ssel i s small to take sugar o r cotton ;

therefore prefer coffee,indigo

,clove s

,o r cocoa .

”

But that boat o f course you ’ll s ell her youare only holding Off for price .

”

“ Well,I d o n ’

t k n ow. Y o u se e you rself,if I go

calling round into the creeks,this boat i s just what

I want,and I could n o t get along without it .”

Walter then invited him t o get into her ”and take

a sail,which he did

,and they parted on the be st

Of terms .

VAUCL IN . 259

CHAPTER XV

VA UCL IN .

the crew o f the Perseverance thought their

young captain somewhat dilatory,they soon

had reason to m odify that Opinion,s ince he turned

them o ut at three o ’clock the next morning to raft

o ne o f the frame s ashore,and raise it on the beach .

A large crowd o f buyers came to look at it,and

among the first Lemaire . All were anxious to buy,

not merely the frames,but the hard w are

,some

edge-tools that were in the vessel , and, in short,the whole cargo but Lemaire outbid the re st

,and

made a bargain with Walter to go to his planta

tion at Vauclin,and there ex c hange hi s frames and

other cargo for coffee,indigo

,tortoi se-shell

,and

clove s,at certain pri ce s agreed upon between

them . Walter,for the sake of going to the spot

where Peterson wa s,would have closed with the

planter at almost any price ; but the rate s n ow

agreed upon left him a very large profit . The


frame o n the beach was taken d own,and put on

board o f one o f the drogers that had discharged

her cargo o f sugar,and she immediately made sail

for the plantation .

That night,when the crew o f the Perseverance

assembled in the cuddy,for

,like all pink sterns

she had her accommodations forward,and the salt

room aft,— VValter told them that in two days

,

during which time Lemaire would get throughwith his busine ss

,they were to set sail for hi s

plantation . The announcement gave rise to a mostanimated dis cus sion as to the course to be pur

sued after they arrived there . It was much nearer

morning than midnight when they turned in .

French and Spanish ve ssels are all wellmodelled,and

,in general

,sail well . The West India d rogers

,

being constantly obliged to work o ut in creeks and

cove s,and contend with head winds

,are generally

fast ve s sels ; but although, during the war o f In

d ependence,the Americans had been brought by

nece ssity to build sharp ve ssel s to prey upon Brit

i sh commerce,and escape from their men-o flwar

,

the great majority o f the American ve ssels employed in the West Ind ia trade were o f the o ld

English model,built after the fashion o f the colo


I must go ashore again . Y o u had better get you r

anchor and make sail .”

“ But I don ’t know the way .

No matter you can be j ogging along the coast.

I ’ll overtake you,and then you can follow me .

”

Very well,

” was the reply .

It was a good working breeze,the wind for a

portion Of the way nearly ahead a dire ction well

adapted to Show the weatherly qualitie s o f a ves se l .“ Make sail

,

” said Walter" “ we ’ll be j o gging.

”

With only her fore,mainsail

,and j ibs set

,the Pe r

severance soon left the harbor astern . Ho ur afte rhour passed

,and nothing was seen o f Lemaire but

as they knew the general dire ction,and that there

were no reefs o r shoals,they kept o n till they made

D iamond Rock,o n the port hand

,when they must

round the southern extremity o f the island,and

a pilot was needed . They accordingly hove to

abreast o f thi s s ingular rock,ris ing perpendicularly

between five and six hundred feet above the sea

except o n the we stern side,which i s acce ssible

,

and where are a f ew small tree s and bushes .

Lemaire was astonished,when

,after getting his

anchor,he looked in vain for the

'

Yankee schooner,

and knew not what"

to make of it,as she was hid

VA UCL IN .

den from his Vie w by the i sland . After waitntill the droger cam e up

,and passed ahead for

nearly a mile , they pu t the bonnet on the j ib , setthe gaff-topsails

,came up with and passed her

,as

D ick Cameron said,

“ hand over fist,

”

then hove to,and waited for her to come up .

I gue ss,

” said Walter,we can spare him the

gaff-topsails,the bonnet o ff the j ib

,and the flying

j ib,and then keep jogging .

”

Having thus shortened sail,they fell into the

wake o f the droger .

Lemaire was exce ssively annoyed at being beatenso outrageously by a lumber carrier

,and internally

re solved to buy the American schooner,as he had

not the least doubt but a Yankee w ould sell anything

,only give him his price ; and if she w ould

sail like that loaded,what wouldn ’t she do in a set

o f pig-iron ballast,and with copper o n her bottom

Rounding Cape Ferre,they entered the Passe

Vauclin,where the navigation was most intri cate .

Sewall Lancaster was o ne o f those who seem by

nature constituted for pilots . If he went to a place

once,he could go again . In the woods

,o r o n the

water,Sewall could find his way . Though an

uncouth,awkward being

,caring little whom he


pleased o r displeased, he was a good navigator,had been mate several voyage s

,and only went

b efore the mast in the brigantine because o f the

profits,and volunteered to go in the Perseverance

be cause he was a relative of W alter,and greatly

attached to Captain Rhine s . When Walter saw

the nature o f the navigation, he said,Sewall

,I must calculate on yo u to bring us out

again ; this i s a crooked place .

”

“ Never fear,cap ’n ; I

’ll take my landmarks,

crooked as it i s . ”

The plantation of Lemaire was o f great extent,

comprising two cove s,separated by a point of mod

e rate height,rocky at its extremity .

“ The cove o n

the southern side be ing appropriated to the houseand o

m

c e s conne cted with it,and the northerly

o ne where was a greater depth of water,was the

s ite o f the mill,the house o f the overseer

,negro

quarters,hospital

,and other buildings . Here were

a wharf, and facilitie s for repairing ve ssels, work

shop,and so on

,and here the drogers were moored .

The great wealth of this planter was evident from

the character of the buildings,which were to

a great extent of stone or timber,and the roofs

covered w ith tile s,instead of thatch and palm-leaf,

266 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OP PLEA SA NT COVE .

After supper they went ashore,and took a stroll

over the plantation,hoping th ey might get som e

inkling o f Peterson,but without making any in

quirie s, Or manife sting any undue curiosity to ex

Cite suspicion,for all felt that they were treading

o n dangerous ground . They went among slave s

employed in all sorts o f work,calkers

,coopers

,car

penters,not daring to inquire

,and

,without o b

taining any information,returned o n board .

Where do yo u suppose he can be ? said Ned .

We ’ve looked everywhere .

Perhaps they ’ve carried him to some o f his

other plantations,

” said Lancaster.No

,he ’s here

,said Walter .

Where i s he,then ?

Locked up . That was what that droger was

sent o ff in such a hurry for,that we put the

frame aboard o f,that was o n the beach

,to tell

the overse er that an American ve ssel was cominginto the creek . Lemaire i s not such a fool as notto know that a fellow as smart as Peterson would

do his be st to get aboard o f her . He will probably

be kept o ut o f s ight as long as we are here,and we

must find where he ’s confined,and get at him .

What puzzle s me,

” said D i ck,i s why so smart

VA UCL IN . 267

a nigger as you say he i s hasn ’t got a w ay before,

and got aboard some ve ssel .

That i s what puzzle s me,too

,sa id Walter.

What kind o f a ves sel do you call that,cap

tain said the planter,when he came d own in the

morning .

We call them pink-sterns .

Why don ’t yo u build larger ves sels o f the Same

model ?

“ They would draw t o o much water,and would

not carry enough .

”

What are they made f o r ?

F i shing . They will carry all the fish nece ssary,

and are excellent sea-boats .”

She sails like the Wind . Will yo u sell her ?

She doesn ’t belong to me .

“ Your captains are always allowed discretionarypowers . Your owners would not object to a roundpri ce .

”

She is owned by o ne man,who would not part

with her,as she once belonged to a dear friend o f

his .

Every e ff ort was made by Walter and his crew,

by prowling round in the night,to discover the

place o f Peterson ’s confinement .


They cultivated the acquaintance of the negroe s,

who for their long re sidence o n the e state,and sup

posed devotion to their master ’s intere sts,were pro

moted t o the o” ’

ic e of night watchmen,in hopes

something might drop from them to throw light on

the matter,while

,at

'

the same time,they dared

not commit themselve s by inquiry . The captain

also became more and more intimate with Lemaireand the overseer

,but all to no purpose

,till at

length the m atter grew serious . The ve ssel was

discharged,would soon begin to load

,and there

would be no longer any excuse for remaining .

One night,as Walter lay feverish and wakeful in

hi s berth,his mechanical turn furnished him with

an excuse for prolonging his‘stay .

Monsieur,said he the next day to Lemaire , “ I

thought you wanted a n ew hou se f o r your over

seer .

SO I do but these frames are not large enough .

Put three of them together,o ne o n top o f the

other,and the third for a porch .

”

“ That would be a great deal o f work .

“ I ’ll do it fOr yo u with my crew,if yo u will find

us,and pay us moderate wages

,cover the outside

,

lay the floors,and shingle the roofs

270 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEASANT COVE‘.

But the very poss ibil ity that Peterson was c o n

fined there mad e Walter ’ s heart leap to his throat.

He looked around . Below were Sewall,D i ck and

three negro assi stants . He made a signal to Ned,

and dire cted hi s attention to the place,and rece ived

a nod of intelligence .

Eve ry few moments that afternoon th e ir eyes

were fastened o n those grate s . A s the sun declined ,the rays

,falling o n the aperture s

,made them quite

confident that they saw a human figure pacing

back and forth . It seemed to Walter and Ned as

though the sun would never,never set that night .

The moment they reached the ve ssel the an

n o un c em ent was made . Walter,Ned

,and D i ck

began to devise methods to ascertain whether their

suspicions were well founded .

“ If you want to know,and can ’t se e

,said

Lan caster,w ho stood li stening in silence

,why

don ’t you take the glass ? That ’s what they have’em for .”

“ What preciou s fool s we are,said Walter

,

looking and longing all the afternoon,and couldn ’t

think of that ! ”

I Vithin a short distance of the frame they had

been at work upon,rose the high ground

,forming

VAUCLIN . 271

the point that separated the two coves . In the

evening,Walter hid the glass among some bushe s

o n the side o f the as cent,and while the re st were

at breakfast the next morning,he and Ned repaired

t o the spot .

Walter put the glas s to his eye,and was rewarded

by seeing the’

well-known feature s o f his black

friend pre ssed against the grate s .“ It ’s he

,

” whispered Walter,trembling with

suppre ssed delight,as he passed the glass to Ned .

The boys sat and looked at each other in silent

e cstasy,with hand clasped in hand for a fe w

moments,and then

,creeping stealthily from

'

the

place,by a look and ge sture conveyed the intelli

gence to their shipmate s as they joined them at the

building . Ho w to e stablish communication with

Peterson was the subj e ct that occupied the thoughts

o f Walter during the entire day .

Having made the habits of Jean a study for sometime

,he ascertained that he

,like m ost negroes

,

kept a very poor watch . An old log lay besidethe wall of the pig-yard

,several rods from Pete r

son ’s windo w ; upon this the negro would often s it,

lean his back against the wall,and get sound asleep .

During this time a good opportunity off ered t o

272 THE YOUNG DELIVERERS o r PLEA SA NT COVE .

attract the attention o f Peterson,and communicate

with him ; but as it was not until late . at night that

Jean fell asleep,Peterson would be asle ep also

,and

i t would be imposs ible to arouse him within those

thick walls without making noise enough to wake

Jean likewise . They therefore de termined to do

it in the daytime,as exposing them t o the least

chance o f dete ction,there being no watch kept

then,the building not situated in any comm on

thoroughfare,and the ri sk of ob servation from any

transient passe r very little . There i s a great

d ifi b ren c e in the treatment o f slave s by different

planters,some being o f a cruel

,others of a more

mild dispos ition,and disposed not to aggravate the

hardships o f their slave s by savage treatment ; and

there are some in whose hands the institu tion

assume s somewhat o f a patriarchal character .

Lemaire was o ne of this latter class ; whether it

sprang from kindnes s of natural dispos ition or

calculation,as thinking they would last longer and

accomplish more in the end,his slave s were well

fed,lightly worked

,and seldom f logged . He kept

a strict w atch over his overseers,and the negro

d rive rs especially,and has been known

,w hen he

heard the lash too frequently,to go to the spot

,

274: THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA SA NT COVE .

wholly deaf,sat half asleep on the steps ; a parcel

Of n egro children were burro w ing in the sandbeneath the walls o f the adjoining stable

,and teas

ing a turkey-cock by holding up before him a

tattered red handkerchief.

With these exceptions,no pe rson was se en around

the premise s . IVe need n o t fear that old negro,

nor these little children,said Walter

,

“ and we

never shall have a better Opportunity than at this

very time .

In the yard was a small building used for storing

the coarse cloth of which coffee-bags were made ;a cart was tipped up against it

,by clambering o n

which it was not di 1cult to reach the roof .

I will get up to the roof Of that shed,” said

Ned,

“ where I can see all around,and make a

signal

i

if any o ne i s c oming .

NO sooner had Ned gained the roof o f the shed,

than Walter placed himself dire ctly beneath the

grated window,at whi ch they had seen Peterson

the morning previous . The blacks posse ss a won

d erful ab ility for singing those songs o f labor used

by both black an d white seamen to lighten their

toil . Negroes in general pos ses s a great facilityfor remembering tunes

,and even the words o f

VA UCLIN . 273

songs . In the West Indie s you will hear negroe s

who cannot speak a word of Engli sh ( to knowwha ti t means ), s ing a song which they have caught from

white sailors,all through

,without kno w ing the

meaning of one word .

Peterson had a large stock o f the se songs,which

he had picked up in the course O f his sea life from

sailors of different nations,with whom he had

been shipmate . It had been a favorite recreation

Of !Valte r,in years past

,to sit o n Peterson ’s knee

,

and coax him to s ing those songs,while the little

fellow would clap hi s hands,j oin in the chorus

,and

applaud . most lu stily at the close,always winding

up with an entreaty for just one more . Sometimeso n a rainy Saturday afternoon

,when the weather

prevented Peterson from working,half a dozen Of

the boys would get “ round him,and

,together with

his o wn children,make the Old house ring with

the ir screams,while Luce

,Peterson ’s wife ; would

take her hands o ut Of the suds and join the merrycompany .

Walter stood some minute s leaning against the

wall,striving to recall some favorite song that had

Often served them upon those occasions . At length,

suddenly exclaiming,I have it

,

” he began in a low

tone to sing,'


IVhere have y o u b een all this d ay,B o nn ie ladd ie , Highland ladd ie ,

F r o m y o ur h ills s o f ar away ,

My b o nny Highland laddie ?

Instantly,in the same cautious tone

,came through

the grate s the succeeding stanza,

“ D o nald 5 be en t o Aberde en ,B o nn ie lass ie , Highland la ss ie ,

To see d e duk e in h is Highland green,My b o nn ie Highland lass ie .

”

Peterson,said Walter .

Here I i s . Who is you‘vValte r Walter Gri in .

Bress de Lord Who i s wid yo u ?”

L ittle Ned,

d

Sewall Lancaster,and D i ck

eron,your shipmate in the Leonidas

,and O ld Nep

tune as cook . We are here in the Perseverance,

and have come after you . Luce and the children,

Captain Rhines L ion Ben,and all o ur folks are well .”

“ Bre ss de Lord . He ’s to o good ; 0 ,bre ss de

Lord .

”

“ Here,Peterson take this ; and Walter took

from his pocke t a long pie ce o f tarred twine,with

a nail at the end of it,and fastening the string to a

piece of rattan,thrust it through the grate s .


mortar here were hogs,sucking pigs

‘

,and shote s

o f all ages . The fowls run at large . There were

ducks,geese , guinea-fowl, turkeys , and hens in

abundance . The se were all under the supervision

o f an Old negro,assi sted by several boys . Philip

was a Guinea negro,uncommonly stupid and indo

lent,although his Othee was no sine cure

,as the

other slaves stole all the fowls and pigs they could

lay their hands o n . But the depredations o f the

negroe s upon thei r m aster ’s poultry and pigs were

f ew indeed compared with those o f D i ck Cameron .

From the time D i ck was ten years o ld,and held

horse s for a baubee in th e streets o f Greenock,he

had been flung upon his own re sources,was an Old

forager,and hi s miscellaneous life was not favo ra

ble to the cultivation o f very accurate distinctions

in re spe ct to the rights o f individuals in such things

as fruit,fowl

,and other outlying property .

D i ck would have cut his right hand O ff soonerthan have cheated his landlord

,backed o u t after

S igning the ship ’s article s,o r run away after

taking his advance wage s but he would n o t hesi

tate an instant in helping himself to a pa i r o f trou

sers,o r a frock

,from any pie ce o f canvas that was

lying about decks,o r to any rope

,small line

,twine

,

VA UCLIN . 279

o r worming he wanted for be ckets to his chest,

hammock lashings,o r strings to a clothe s-bag . Em

te rtaining su ch sentiments , it was not wonderful

that,since the arrival o f the Perseverance

,tu rkeys

ducks,and guinea-fowl should disappear w ith as

t o nishing rapidity, e specially turkeys . At lengthWalter obj e cted to the proce ss by which he had .

good reason to suppose the table o f the Persever

ance was supplied ; but all the difference this made

was,that

,although he and Ned fared les s sump

tu o u sly, S ewall, D i ck, and Old Nep lived none the

worse,taking their meals at extra hours by them

selve s ; and what -they were unable to consume

there were plenty of invited guests to finish .

At length the disappearance Of some very fine

turkeys attracted th e attention Of the cook,who

told hi s master . He threatened to flog Phil if thematter wen t o n .

“ It i s the se white sailors,said the planter .

They steal them in the night . There ’s never a

ves sel comes here but the fo w l and pigs are stolen .

You must set a watch while this ve ssel i s here,

there ’s enough of y o u ,o r shut them up .

A sthe easie st method , Phil and hi s understrap

pers shut up the fo w l but every night,when Phi l

d rove them in ,some of the turkeys were missing .


Y o u lazy rascal,

” said Lemaire,can ’t yo u

keep them from stealing them in broad daylight ?

They don ’t take the geese ; why don’t you keep

them from taking the turkeys as well ?

W harra fur yo u flog poor nigga, massa ? How

I help it,mas sa ? When buckra man come

,goose

he say,Sailor m an

,sailor man .

’ D en Phil he looksharp . Buckra man go ’way ; no git him . Turkey

he big fool ; go round all de day long, head one s ide ,helle rin

, Quit, quit, quit .’ IVharra poor nigga do ?

He no tell when sailor man dere,

’cause turkey

holler,

‘Quit, quit,

’ all de time .

”

A f ew days after thi s conversati on with hi s maste r

,Phil was asle ep in the sun, in the midst o f his

feathered charge,when he was aroused by a great

outcry among the turkeys . Rousing up,he heard

all the turkeys crying, Quit, quit,

” and saw D i ckrunning for dear life

,with the gobbler after him

,

his neck outs tretched,and his wings flapping.

Yah,yah ! he exclaimed

,rubbing hi s eyes ;

W harra fur you run so,buckra man ? Turkey no

b ite you .

It i s said “ a stern chase i s a long chase .

” It

proved so in thi s instance ; for the gobbler neverreturned . The simple truth was

,D i ck had bai ted

VA UCLIN . 28 1

a hook with corn,and was drag ging the Old gob

bler afte 1 him .

Ned was quite fond of going up and sitting

among the negroe s Sundays,li stening to their

queer expressions,and watching the frolic s of the

little darkie s . One Sunday morning,the re were

m any o f them in a large yard near the house,one

part of which was a garden,separated by an open

f ence o f bamboo from the pig yard On the othe r

side o f the pig-yard was a smalle r place,set apart

for hens with young chickens .

The children were playing in the dirt and among

the hogs,the olde r negroe s sitting in the sun on a

bench,in the ir holiday clothe s

,chatting and laugh

ing . In the yard was a so w,with twelve pigs al

most weaned . Ned sat next to Phil,who

,as usual

was half asle ep,and saw a pollock-line

,which was

not far from the color o f the wall,flung over

,at

tac he d to which was a hook,baited with a pie ce Of

bread . In a f ew moments a great squealing drew

the attention of all,and one o f the pigs was seen

going right up the wall as fast as he could move

his le gs,and in a moment disappeared over the

.

summ it .

Je hay,buckra man ! ” cried Phil

,in amazement

,


and,turning t o Ned

,said

,

“ E ighte en year dis niggabeen in Martinique; nebbe r see pig run Ober dat

wall ’fore dis morning .

”

It may strike some o f o ur young readers as

rather singular,since we have spoken Of a garden

,

that vegetable s should be salable in the West In

die s,where the soil and climate are so favorable to

vegetation,and even bring high pri ce s , e spe cially

in Martinique,whi ch i s we ll

’

watered . One great

reason o f this,undoubtedly

,was neglect

,since

most o f the garden vegetable s are rai sed in Mar

tiniqu e now . It must be re colle cted that m anv

vegetable s used o n the table are n o t. palatable

when grown in a hot clim ate . Peas ripen so fast

that you can only have them just for o n e picking.

It i s the same with corn,which

,instead o f being a

long time in the milk,as with us at the north

,ripens

as it grows . Potatoe s are n o t half as good as those

o f cold climate s be ets and carrots soon grow tough

and stringy,running up to seed the first year ;

cabbage s won ’t form a close head,and are no w ex

ported by tons to Cuba . Add to thi s,that so m any

fruits grow spontaneously,and attention i s all di

re c ted to sugar,co ffee

,and cotton .


that did steal ’em and the re ceiver i s as bad as

the thie f . ”

Well,I won ’t do that

,

” was the reply .

In a f ew days there would be a double-cros s holi

day,when the negroe s would be froli cking and

danc ing night and day . It was,therefore

,re solved

to make the attempt the night after the frolic,when

the negroe s,being com pletely tired o ut

,would be

sure to sleep soundly on their posts .

Lemaire was notified o f the time o f sailing,and

requested to furnish a pilot. to take the ve ssel o u t

Of the creek . Meanwhile,S ewall Lancaster

,under

pretence O f fishing,had sounded the passe

,and made

himself familiar with the channel ; and the ves sel

w as towed o ut some distance from the wharf,to a

place where she was hidden from view by a sharp

turn of the creek around a wooded point,and lay

at a single anchor .

Walter sold the boat to Lemaire for o n e hund redand fifteen dollars and another boat

,that

,for a ve s

se l ’s u se,was worth more than the o ne he sold

,

being longer,stronger

,and m ore burdensome

though Clumsy and homely . Having ascertainedw hen the ve s sel was going, the planter said to hisoverseer

,

“ O,MA SSA

,BUCKRA C A LK EE ! ” 285

The schooner i s going t w o days afte r the holiday . They have made a great deal O f the servants

,

and perhaps may take O ff some of them,o r some

may stow themselve s away . You must keep agood watch the last night they are here .

“ The watchmen,

” said th e overseer,will all be

sleepy after the holiday . I will keep watch with

my son . They might take some fowl o r pigs,if

n othing else . They ’ve got an o ld sailor on board

that would steal a man ’s boots O ff his fe et while he

S lept .”

This arrangement would have interfered most

seriously with the de signs of the boys,as it was

their intention to sail the night before the ap

pointed time,and would probably have frustrated

the entire plan . But,the day before the holiday

,

a planter from Sans -Souci rode over to Vauclin .

He had seen the frames,and wan t ed to make ar

rangements with Walter to bring him some of thesame dimensions

,and also frames for a house , sugar

mill,and o ut-buildings

,inviting Walter so cordially

to come over to his plantation the next. morning,

offering to send a horse and servant for him , that

he consented . The next morning a servant came

o n horseback,and leading anothe r horse for Walte r,


who told the crew that he should b e back in the

evening to start . Walter dearly loved to rid e o n

horseback . Edmund Griffin,his father

,o w ned a

vast deal o f land,and raised a great many colts .

The travelling in those days,in that portion of

the country where Walter was reared,being almost

exclusively o n h orseback,he had been early accus

t o m ed to horse s . Many a spanking gallop he had

enjoyed,riding a half-broken colt to pasture

,bare

back,without shoe s Or stockings

,and clinging with

hi s great toe s to the animal ’ s s ide s,with no better

bridle than a rope halter,and a half hitch over the

colt ’s nose .

With a splendid,well-bitted horse under him

,

riding through wild and beautiful scenery,and

amid a vegetation entirely n ew,he enj oyed the

most exquisite pleasure . Uneasy and perplexingthoughts would have flung their sombre shadow

over those pleasant s cenes,and marred all their

beauty,had Walte r been aware that the overseer

and hi s son,both strong

,re solute men

,armed to

the teeth,were intending to share the watch that

night,and rouse any sle eping darkie s by blows o n

the skull from the butt o f a pistol .

In blissful ignorance of impending danger,he


Nep,in great alarm

,hastened back with the

tid ings,upon which D i ck Cameron instantly goe s

up to th e house,pulls O f f his hat

,and tells Le

maire that the captain has gone to Sans-Souci,to

be gone he didn ’t know h o w many days,and the

vessel wouldn ’t sail the next day ; there fo re there

was no need of the negro pilot .

After D i ck had gone,Lemaire sent f o r the over

seer,who was a Spaniard

‘

nam ed Juan Romero,

and said to him,

The vessel i s not going the day set . The cap

tain’

s gone to Sans-Souci . I ’m sorry,for I want the

calker to go to work o n the n ew droger . It ’s no

use to set those stupid creature s to work o n new

work without him ; neither do I understand it .

These Yankees make the most o f the ir time,and

he se ems as sharp as any o f th em . However,

there it i s ; she won’t go

,and you need not

watch .

”

“ I can explain it,replie d the overs eer . Mon

sie'

ur Renault has been here and wants to make acontract with him for timber . He has gone overto see about it

,what kind of a place it i s to ge t to ,

and the depth of water,because

,if he brings large

timber,he will need a bigger ve s sel

,and

,as I uh

O , MA SSA , BUCKRA CA LK EE ! ” 9

d e rstand it, he’s to bring, not only timber, but

boards , shingle s , nails , lattice s, and all the materi

als fo r the buildings .”

The next afternoon Renault sent Walter back toVauclin by water

,arriving at the ve ssel about

eight o ’clock .

It wasVery important for them to set o ut at the

earlie st moment,in order to place the greate st pos

s ible distance bet w een themselve s and the i slandbefore daybreak . SO

,at ten O ’clock in the even

ing,they went ashore

,scattered themselve s among

the different sentinels,and ' found n earlv all o f them

asleep.

During the whole Of the holiday,and for

most o f th e night,they had been engaged in frol

i cking,drinking

,and dancing fandango

,had been

kept at work during all the next day,and were

n o w so utterly exhausted that they dropped asle ep

the moment they sat down,and w ere so overcome

with drowsine s s as to stagger as they walked .

Walter and Ned went to the yard,where they

f o und Juan fast asleep . W alter gave a light tap o n

the door o f the lock-up,when it was instantly opened

and they entered . Peterson had drawn the staple .

The black "grasped - the hand s Of his young deliver

ers,and sobbed for j oy . They left immediately,

19

90 THE YOUNG’ DELIVERERS OF PLEA SANT COVE .

closing the door silently after them,and sought

the beach,soon coming to a watchman fast asleep ,

with D ick standing by,ready to throttle him if he

stirred . They passed o n till they came to ano ther .

whom Lancaster was wa tching,in the same situa

tion . All were now safely passed but the last,

whom they saw at a distance,pacing along the

beach .

I’ll take care o f him,said Ned .

As they must cross his beat d ire ctly to reach theboat

,the others lay flat upon the ground

,while Ned

went whistling along .

IVhO dere crie d the sentinel .

Ned,giving hi s name

,walked dire ctly up to him,

and they entered into conversation about the holiday . Ned

,giving him a c igar

,persuaded him to

sit down o n an Old boat and smoke .

The poor darky had drawn but a f ew whiffs,

when he began to nod ; for nature was exhausted

by the sports o f the holiday,want o f sle ep

,and sub

sequent labor . He fell over upon Ned,who was

sitting beside him,and the cigar dropped from his

lips . Ned put hi s arm round the negro,and gently

laid him at full length upon the boat . In“ a f ew mo

ments he was sound asleep,and Ned ran to join his

c o m pam o n s .

292 THE YOUNG DEL IVERERS OF PLEA SANT COVE.

while Ned and Nep took the boat and towed ahead .

Matters soon began to assume a brighter complex.

ion . Cameron and Peterson were men o f vast

strength . Lancaster was also a very strong m an,

and Walter belonged to a family renowned for

strength and endurance . They had,while lying

at the plantation,taken the pre caution to clean

the ve ssel ’ s bottom,and

,as they could procure

no tallow there,gave her bottom a coat o f tar

and brimstone,which rendered it smooth

,and

added greatly to her sail ing . They were also

excited to the u tmost by the ir previous good fortune

,dread o f being overtaken

,and lesing their

hard-earned prize . No t a word was spoken . NO

sound was heard but that o f the oars,the deep

breathing Of the rowers,as they exerted them

selve s to the utmost,and at time s a slight patter

,

as the sweat dropping from nose and chin struck

the deck . But when they had cleared the pass,

were in the open sea,no signs o f daybreak

,and

the le ssening shore as sured them they were mak

ing good progre s s,the ir e fforts

,though unrem it

ting,became les s s evere . In the course o f an

other hour they had made such progre s s that the

long silence was broken by Peterson .

O, MA SSA , BUCKRA CALKER ! ” 293

“ Nebber fear, Massa Walter,” he said ;

“ keep,

you heart up ; dey no ketch us dis time we soon

come to de wind ; land air so hot he kill de wind

in shore . I tell you,you ’se hab wind enough .

”

Only give me wind,

” said Walter,I ’ll risk

their catching us . ”

The wind has go t to come O ff the water,said

D i ck ; “ if we ’ve got no wind to flee they ’ve got

none to follow ; it’s as broad as ’

tis long .

“ I take it,Peterson

,said Lancaster

,

“ that we

are somewhat nearer to the wind than it i s from us

to the land .

”

Sartin ; we n o t near so fur to go to git de seabreeze as we hab come .

What time in the morning,

” asked Walter,did

they bring your breakfast ?

About e ight o ’clock .

”

They won ’t know that you are gone till Peter

come s to bring your breakfast . The vessel was

hidden by the woods except by mere Chance some

o ne should happen to go up o n the hill o r down the

cre ek in a boat,she could not be se en .

The day n o w began to break,and by the in c reas

ing light they saw with the glass the line of blue

water ahead rolling befo re the wind,while between


them and it extended a space O f calm surface as

smooth as glas s . A j oyous shout burst from theweary

,anxious crew at the s ight .

“ Come aboard,Mr. Gates

,

” said the captain ;“ we ’ll t ow no more .

”

Ned went to o ne Of the sweeps,while Nep busied

himself in preparing breakfast . The line that sepa

rated the broken water from the calm was n ow

qu ite near . Peterson,unable to contain himself

longer,gave vent to his emotions in a favorite

negro song,to which the re st contributed a rou sing

choru s .

My name is Jo hnny Jump - ro un ’

,

A nd ebery perso n kn o c k do wn .

Cho rus . HO , h o , h igh- land-a ,R o un ’ d e c o rner Sal ly.

My breast is made o b stee l-p late ,My arms d ey made Ob c row-bars .

Ch o rus . HO , h o , &c .

A nd if y o u do n ’t be l iebe m e ,

I gib yo u leabe t o try m e .

Cho rus . HO , h o ,”&c .

Under this new impulse the ve s sel went throughthe wate r faster th an ever before

,when the song

was interrupted by the order,Make sail .


Shipmate s,said Walter

,as he returned the

embrace,

“ I have be en for more than two years

try ing to do my duty and pray to my Maker ; bu t

though I have had courage for everything else,I

have not had for that . Let u s thank God f o r bringing us safely through .

Lancaster bent over the tille r,the re st

,even to

o ld Dic k,

'

knelt o n the de ck,while in a f ew broken

words Walte r gave vent to hi s emotions, and

expre ssed the common sentiment . Charlie Bell ’s

words had borne fruit,but not by the light o f the

moon o r beneath the stars in some lone midnight

watch,but in the bright glow o f the morning sun

beams . In the midst O f his crew,while his brow

was moistened with sweat,and hi s hand o ut

stretched to deliver the oppre s sed,the bles sing o f

H im whose ways are not o ur ways came .

Lemaire was at breakfast,when with eye s start

ing from thei r sockets,Peter entered the dining

hall (followed by Juan, Old Phil, and all the hou se

servants), exclaiming, O,massa

,de buckra calker

no d ere he gwine away .

”

Gone ! ” cried Lemaire,leaping from his chair.

Ye s, massa . I go wid de breakfast,de door

Open , buckra m an no dere .

The negroe s gave Peterson the name of buckra

calker to distinguish him,and o n account o f his

superiority,although there was n o t a blacker negro

o n th e e state .

Without another word Lemaire ran to a cupolao n the house-top

,which commanded a view o f the

sea . The schooner was nowhere to be seen ; not an

sail was v i s ible in the O ing.


CHAPTER XVII .

DELIVERED .

OTW ITHSTANDING the Perseverancemight

bring a cargo that m u st be di scharged in

Boston o r Salem,it was considered a settled fact

by all at home,that she would

,when arriving on

the coast,stee r first for Pleasant Cove

,and Captain

Rhine s was expe cting her d aily . The intere st felt

there in re spe ct to her coming was not a little

increased by the return o f Ben (Peterson’s olde st

so n ) in the Casco .

Ben brought home considerable money,having

been fortunate in a “ venture .

” The first thing

he did was to clothe his mother and the thre e

younge st boys,o n e eleven

,o ne thirte en

,and the

olde st fifte en ; the next, to clapboard the hou se

which,Peterson having lately built it

,was still un

finished . While Ben ’s hands were bu sy driving

the nails,his thoughts were o n the stretch re spect

ing the be st place from which to watch for the


corn,and then you can earn something

,and watch

for the ve ssel,t o o .

”

Two mornings after this conversation Ben was

in the tree just as th e day was breaking in order

that he might make his Obs ervations before it was

time to go to hoeing . There were plenty of schoon

ers,but none Of them the scho o ner . At length he

e sp ied o ne that se emed to be ste ering in a diff erentdire ction from the re st .

Long and patiently he watched her progres s .“ She i s heading dire ctly up the bay ; a pink

stern I gue ss,and about the right size .

“ It ain ’t

her,after all

,

” he exclaimed ;“ this ve s sel i s ri gged

diff erent ; and yet how much she looks like her !”

At thi s he caught sight of L ion Ben,who was

turning the cows into the pasture .

“ Mr . Rhines,

” he cried,“ I wish you would come

up here . A pink i s coming up the bay,steering

straight for Uncle Isaac ’s Cove . She hasn ’t varieda pint this hour and a half. I could swear it was

the schooner,only she ’s rigged differently .

”

“ Ho w i s thi s o ne rigged ? ”

She ’s got two j ibs and two gaff-topsails .SO has the Perseverance .

”

Peterson was n o t aware o f the Change that had

DEL IVERED . 30 1

been made in her rig,it having been done while he

was at sea .

The moment Lion Ben put the glas s to his eyehe said

,

“ It ’s her .”

Old and young were now flocking to every place

commanding a good View o f the water . Half waybetween Elm Island and the main was a whale -boatcontaining Ben Peterson

,Lion Ben

,and all his

family,the L ion pulling two oars

,and Peterson

o ne . Doubts n ow began to be freely expre ssed bVsome o f the least sanguine

,and indignantly scouted

by others .“ That ’s the ves sel

,to be sure

,said

'

Jo e Bradish,

always a prophet o f ill omen but no knowing as

Peterson ’s in her . He might be dead w hen theygot there

,o r that planter might have sold him to

another planter o n some other i sland,or they might

not be able to get him .

”

Just shut up your clam- shell w ill you You ’realways an O ff -o x

,saidJo e Griffin

,se eing poor Luce

tremb le and the tears run down her cheeks , - as

she stood holding the two youngest children by the

hand,— at the word s o f Bradish .

“ She ’s deeploaded ; that, to my mind , shows for itself that

they ’ve sold their cargo and had good luck ; d on'

t

it captain ? ” turning to Captain Rhines .


I think it doe s,Joseph . Cheer up

,my giri , to

Lu ce,and hope for the best .”

But,to the disappointm ent Of all

,the wind

,that

had been moderating for some time,died away to

a flat calm,the tide turned

,and the ve ssel so aux

io u sly expe cted was obliged to anchor .

Neighbors,said L i on Ben

,what say you for

towing her up ? ”

“ That ’s the talk,Ben

,said Jo e Gri

"’

in .

Boats and boys l ” shouted Joel Ricker .Hurrah f o r a t ow e choed the crowd .

Thanks to Charlie Bell,whale-boats were plenty

enough no“ Father

,

” said Ben, yo u shall b e fleet commo

d o rei ’

It was but a short time before twelve boats andfifty men were ready . Jo e Bradish was getting

fl"

n s boat .into Jo e Gri

Y o u shan ’t go, yo u small concern, said Jo e ,

and pitched him head foremost into the water.

Jonah ’s overboard—we shall have good luck,

now .

”

I ’ll hoi st the flag,neighbors

,said the captain

,

as they were shoving o ff,

“ if they ’ve got him .

If yo u want to get Peterson home , said Dic k


Tears o f j oyous sympathy moistened many a

cheek when Luce flung herself into her hus

band ’s arms,while the little one s clasped his

legs .

Walter and Ned have now become accustomed

to hardship,had experience o f danger

,and incurred

re sponsibility . The next volume o f the serie s,the

Cruise o f the Casco,will exhibit the ir capab ilitie s

when thrown more entirely upon their o wn re

sources,and placed in trust o f a large intere st

under circumstance s Of deadly peril .

· P REFA C E. COURAGE to dare, fortitude to endure, enterprise to accumulate, and prudence to...

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