Commodore Barney's Young Spies
We began the day by eating breakfast. Then we saw to it the boat was so nearly concealed by the foliage that she would not be seen save after careful search, and we set out to reconnoiter the premises.
We advanced cautiously, stopping every half dozen paces to listen lest we inadvertently stumble upon the owner of the plantation, or his guest, and after spending half an hour in such slow progress, we came in view of the place.
Elias Macomber was pacing to and fro in front of the dwelling, as if weary of his voluntary confinement, and gazing seaward every few seconds, for from that side of the house it must have been possible to get a full view of the bay.
"We might get our musket, an' rush up on him now," Jerry whispered, and I replied as I believed Darius would have done:
"We don't know how well armed Jenkins may be, nor what he will be willing to do in aid of his friend. My idea is that we should wait here until the owner goes to his work, leaving the traitor with the women folks, and even then the task won't be an easy one, for we must come out in sight of all hands a full three minutes before arriving at the house, however fast we run."
"We should have brought the musket with us on this trip," Jerry grumbled, and I soothed him by saying:
"There is really no time lost. The first thing to be done was to make certain the scoundrel yet remained here; that has now been ascertained, and I will go for the weapon while you stand watch. We mustn't be in too much of a hurry, or we may spill the soup."
Jerry was satisfied to act as sentinel, and I walked leisurely back to the shore, believing that much time must elapse before we would get the desired opportunity.
Arriving at the shore I spent some minutes searching for the canoe, so well had we hidden her, and once getting the musket and ammunition in my possession I strolled down to the beach where I could have a view of the bay.
Only the single small vessel was in sight, and I was on the point of turning away, thinking it useless to gaze long at her, when something in the rig of the craft struck me as being familiar.
I looked again; laid down the weapon and gazed yet more intently, until finally there was no longer any question in my mind.
The vessel was none other than the Avenger! If Darius was yet on board why had he left his post of duty? If anything had happened to him, why had Jim Freeman taken it upon himself to leave the lower bay?
The more I tried to solve the problem the stronger became the probability, in my own mind, that some serious disaster had overtaken our comrades, and I ran at full speed, giving little heed as to whether the advance might be heard by Macomber, until I was come to where Jerry remained crouching in the grass, his eyes fixed upon the dwelling.
"You're makin' a terrible row!" he said angrily, never looking around. "Fortunately the cur has just gone inside, or he might have heard you."
"Jerry!" I said, speaking with difficulty because of heavy breathing after having run so fast. "The Avenger is close at hand; she is the craft we saw! Something must have gone wrong!"
Jerry turned his head very quickly now, forgetting for the instant his desire to make a prisoner of Elias Macomber.
"What do you think can have happened?" he asked, and I replied impatiently:
"That we shall only find out by boarding her. Come to the beach at once!"
"But what about our work here?" and now it was the pungy that went from his mind, leaving there only the great desire to accomplish the purpose for which he had come.
"Never mind that now! It may be we won't want to fool around here on his account! Come quickly, Jerry, for she was close at hand before I started!"
It was actually necessary to shake the lad before I could arouse him to a full sense of the situation; but once that had been done, he followed me readily enough, even urging that I move faster.
The pungy was no more than half a mile away when we reached the shore, and we launched the canoe without delay, paddling straight out in her course.
As she came up I could see Darius at the tiller, with Jim beside him, and the other two fellows lounging forward.
Nothing had happened to the crew, that much seemed certain, and I was at my wits' end to account for the Avenger being apparently heading for home.
When we were come within hailing distance I shouted, never thinking that I might be heard by those on the Jenkins plantation:
"Why are you coming back? What has happened?"
"Where is Bill Jepson?" Darius cried.
"With the fleet."
"When did you leave him?"
"Yesterday. What is the matter?"
"Come aboard an' I'll tell you," the old man replied as he threw the pungy up into the wind, and we did not waste many seconds in going over the rail.
"Now what is it?" I asked impatiently when I stood facing Darius.
"The Britishers are gettin' under way, an' it kind'er looked as if the oyster business wouldn't be any good after they'd left moorin's. If there'd been any wind, you'd be seein' 'em by this time. What brought you ashore at Hog Point?"
"Elias Macomber is there, living with Jenkins the planter. We stopped on our way up thinking to get some provisions, and not only saw the cur, but heard him say he was waiting for the Britishers, to whom he could give a lot of information."
While I had been speaking Darius brought the pungy into the wind again, and she was standing directly away from the man we had been so eager to capture.
"Here!" Jerry cried sharply. "You must heave to till we get that villain."
"How many people do you reckon are in the house?" Darius asked as he twisted off a large piece of tobacco.
"We've only seen Macomber and Jenkins."
"Don't know anythin' more about the situation?"
"We haven't had time to learn anything more; but it don't stand to reason there are other men."
"They've both of 'em got wives, who'd fight if it come to a pinch. No, lads, the best you could count on in the way of time would be a full day, an' we can't afford to waste an hour."
"But it wouldn't be wastin' time if we finally caught him," Jerry cried hotly.
"That's where I don't agree with you, lad. The son of a sea-cook can't give the Britishers any very valuable information, whereas we can tell the commodore that which may be the means of savin' our whole fleet. I'd like to lay Macomber by the heels as well as you would; but I don't believe in usin' a salmon to catch a sprat. We'll run across him some day; but jest now its our duty to get up the river in short order. We'll try the canoe with a little bigger canvas, an' if she sails faster than the pungy you shall go ahead, for an hour now is worth a full day next week."
I was not convinced that the business of catching the traitor before he could give his information to the Britishers, was less important than that of carrying to the commodore word of preparation for departure on the part of the fleet, more particularly since not a vessel had as yet hove in sight; but when it came to arguing a point with Darius I generally got the worst of it, therefore I held my peace, although it went sadly against the grain to do so.
Jerry did not give in so readily; but insisted on heaving to the vessel, declaring that he and I would do the work alone, while the Avenger went on up the river.
"You'll do nothin' of the kind, lad," Darius said emphatically. "There's no tellin' what Joshua Barney will decide on when he hears the word I have for him, an' I don't count to leave you down here at Hog Point to be gobbled up by the Britishers, for you're already under suspicion of havin' had a hand in Bill Jepson's desertion."
"What do you mean?" I asked in surprise.
"Jest what I said. The officer from the Severn declared that you two lads could tell what had become of Bill."
"I had actually forgotten that we aided a deserter," I cried. "Tell us what happened after we left the Avenger?"
"Well," Darius said slowly, stopping to twist off a huge piece of tobacco, and otherwise trying to make his yarn a long one so that we might round Hog Point in the meanwhile. "We run over to the Delaware shore, as I counted on doin', tryin' to find a boat; but it was no go. We didn't see anythin' that would float, an' of course we couldn't fool 'round there very long after sunrise, else the Britishers would see us, so I made up my mind that the best plan was to face the music right soon.
"We ran down for the Narcissus; but was hove to by the Severn, an' a lieutenant with four marines came aboard. Bless your heart, lad, but they did search the pungy from stem to stern, even shovelin' the oysters over as if thinkin' we might have Bill under 'em. Then the officer went on board, an' that little nincompoop of a midshipman boarded us. 'Where's your crew?' he squeaked, an' I said innocent like, 'They're all aboard, sir.' 'You're a liar!' says he, 'when I was here last there were five lads on deck, an' now I see only three.' 'Oh the other fellows have gone home,' says I. 'They only came out with us for a lark.' 'Where's your boat?' says he. 'She belonged to them,' says I. 'You're a liar,' says he. 'Yes, sir,' says I, which same was true, an' off he goes madder'n a wet hornet.
"Then the lieutenant comes aboard after I saw a lot of 'em on the quarter-deck talkin' fit to kill, an' he asks me when you went home. I told him you lived on the Delaware shore, an' you skipped when the pungy got near shore. 'You're a liar,' says he, an' I agreed with him same's I had with the midshipmite. 'The boys have helped a deserter from the Narcissus,' says he, 'an' have carried him to the mainland. I've a mind to seize your vessel.' I tell you what it is, lads, 'bout that time I thought the Avenger was a goner, for Britishers in American waters are mighty apt to do whatever comes into their minds."
"Well, did that settle it?" I asked as Darius ceased speaking, much as though his story had come to an end.
"No, we had three or four officers come aboard later, an' I ain't certain but that we'd lost the pungy if signals hadn't been sent up on the flag-ship, which I took to be a command to prepare for gettin' under way. Leastways, them as was botherin' us scuttled over to their own craft in short order, an' then there was a heap of knockin' about in gigs an' barges, with nobody givin' any attention to us. We'd been hove to half a musket shot from the ship, an' when I saw they had other fish to fry an' plenty of 'em, I run close aboard as I yelled like a countryman, 'Any orders for us, sir?' It was quite a long spell before anybody answered, an' I'd sung out two or three times, when that little midshipman squealed, 'You are to go about your business with that pungy, an' we'll overhaul you again when we have more time!"
"Then you started for the Patuxent the best you knew how," I said, thinking I understood just what should have been done under the circumstances.
"I wasn't such a bloomin' fool," Darius replied. "We run down to the Narcissus bold as lions, an' I told 'em we'd brought some more oysters; but they threatened to fire into us if we didn't sheer off, an' then I coaxed for 'em to take what cargo I had, offerin' to sell at six cents a bushel, till they must have thought I was a stark natural fool."
"But why didn't you get away when you had the chance?" Jerry asked in surprise.
"I didn't want 'em to think I was anxious to go, an' meanwhile I had my eye on what they was doin', which told plain as the nose on your face that the signals were as I had thought. I almost cried when I said I'd have to run all the way to Baltimore to sell the oysters, an' the best I got from them was more threats. Then we could steer straight up the bay without givin' rise to suspicion that we was jest naturally hankerin' to come."
"You played a fine trick on 'em!" I cried, filled with admiration at the old man's method of getting away from unpleasant neighbors. "It couldn't have been done better."
"I'm not so certain of that," Darius replied, but I could see that he was pleased by the praise. "I didn't have time to think up anythin' different, for the whole business come about so sudden like. Howsomever, we've got news that Joshua Barney needs to hear, an' our cruise to the lower bay will pay if we can get to Nottingham half a dozen hours ahead of the Britishers, which seems to be a settled thing with this wind."
Then I told him that the commodore felt convinced the enemy would advance sooner than was generally believed, and he said in a tone of admiration:
"There's a man for you! He can smell more'n the most of folks can see, an' when he says it's in his mind that a thing is so or so, you can set it down as comin' mighty near to bein' a fact."
Then the old man asked concerning our interview with the commodore, and by the time we had come to an end of our story Hog Point was so far astern that there was no longer any thought in my mind of returning.
I was trying to make the best of the situation, when Jerry said fretfully:
"It was a big shame that we couldn't have taken Elias Macomber when he was there ready to drop, like a ripe peach. We might have walked right up to that house when we first saw him, an' the thing could have been done."
"But we mightn't have walked back again, if there had happened to be two or three more in the building than we counted on. Never mind, Jerry, we'll have the traitor before we're many weeks older, and what's more, we'll take him ourselves, never asking any man for assistance."
CHAPTER X.
A CHANGE OF BASE
When we were come near Benedict I was not minded to pass it for the third time without stopping to see my mother, and I said to Darius:
"There seems to be no good reason why Jerry and I should not visit our homes, leaving you to continue on with the news. We can take the canoe, and paddle up the river to-night."
"It is your place to remain aboard the Avenger," the old man said almost sharply.
"What can we do more than would be done by you?" Jerry asked in surprise.
"Nothin', so far as sailin' up the river is concerned; but with the news we're takin' to the commodore, it is more'n likely there'll be a quick change, when you might be needed."
"There can't be anything very serious happen 'twixt now and to-morrow morning," I persisted, yet holding to my scheme. "We wouldn't be more than twelve hours behind you under any circumstances."
"Not if everything was in your favor; but how if you met a boat-load of Britishers such as we captured the other night? It ain't safe to be foolin' 'round the river alone just now, an' that's a fact."
"Meaning that there is more of fear in your mind lest we come upon spies of the enemy, than expectation Commodore Barney might need our services?" I asked, and the old man finally admitted that perhaps such was the case.
Then, in my pigheadedness, I declared we would stop in the village, and he gave proof of what he could do when things did not go exactly to his liking.
"I shall stop you from leavin' the pungy!" he said doggedly, without looking towards us.
"Do you mean to say, Darius Thorpe, that you'd prevent us from goin' ashore?" Jerry cried hotly.
"That's exactly the size of it, lad. I never'd let a shipmate of mine run his nose into danger when there was nothin' to be made by so doin'."
"But how would you stop us?" Jerry asked, his anger rapidly giving way to mirth as he pictured to himself Darius, the man whom we had hired to help us in the fishing, setting himself up to say what we should or should not do.
"I'd knock you down, with a belayin' pin if it was handy, but if not, with my fist, knowin' Joshua Barney would uphold me in bringin' back at any price the same crew I took away."
I felt certain that the old man believed it his duty to do exactly as he had said, in case we persisted in going contrary to what he thought was prudent, and I also came to realize that to his mind the danger was great, otherwise he never would have spoken in such a strain.
However, I did not let him know what was in my mind; but stood well forward when we sailed past Benedict, as if I was too angry to have further speech, and, probably, acted like a sulky school-boy thinking that I was upholding my dignity.
When we had run past the village, however, and there was no longer any possibility Jerry and I would attempt to go ashore, Darius humbly asked us to come aft, and once there he explained in a friendly way why we, who had virtually bound ourselves to serve under Commodore Barney, should report to him before attending to pleasure or personal matters. He also made it plain that at this time, when we knew beyond a peradventure the enemy was about to make an attack, it was absolutely necessary every American who had agreed to aid in the defense, should be ready for duty at a moment's notice.
In fact, he showed us so clearly that he was in the right and we wrong, that I was ashamed of having given way to the sulks, and told him so, whereat he said:
"Then we'll drop the whole thing right out of our minds, an' now that it's over, I'll bet you two or three cents' worth of silver spoons that we'll be in Benedict on service, sent there by the commodore, before four an' twenty hours have passed."
I would have asked him how that might be, but just then Jim Freeman sung out for me to have a look at the cable, which was considerably chafed, and I did not get an opportunity of continuing the conversation.
Again we came up to the fleet in the night; but Darius did not hold any long parley with the occupants of the guard-boat who hailed us, simply saying as he steered the Avenger straight for the Scorpion:
"Private service for the commodore."
We ran alongside the schooner, made the hawser fast ourselves, since the single militiaman standing guard at the top of the cabin companion-way did not see fit to aid us, and while this was being done Darius leaped on board the vessel, saying in a loud tone:
"We're come on board to report to the commander."
"You can't see him now," the soldier said stiffly, presenting his musket as if intending to use it in case the old man persisted in advancing.
"Now look here, you lop-sided lobster," Darius cried at the full strength of his lungs, "you report to the commodore that the Avenger is alongside, or there'll be trouble 'twixt you an' me."
It is not probable the old man expected that he could bully the sentinel, who had had his orders as a matter of course; but by bawling so loudly that he could have been heard on every craft of the fleet, he awakened Joshua Barney, which was exactly what he aimed at doing.
"Who's kickin' up this row?" the commodore asked sternly as he poked his head above the hatchway.
"The crew of the Avenger, sir, come to report."
"Get below here at once," and the commander spoke as if impatient to hear that report.
I had counted that Darius should go alone to the interview; but he insisted on being accompanied by Jerry and me, therefore we followed him into the cabin.
The old sailor did not spend much time in saluting; but in the fewest words possible told what he had learned, and the commodore did not appear surprised by the information.
"It tallies with what I have already heard," he said grimly. "How long will it take the enemy to run up to the mouth of the river?"
"They should be there to-morrow night, for there are some fast sailers in the fleet, sir."
"Find the swiftest canoe in the fleet; put on board rations for twenty-four hours, getting them from this schooner, and run down the river without delay. If your own crew is not huge enough to insure quick work, call on for what men you need. Can you leave in thirty minutes?"
"In five, sir, if we knew where to find the canoe. We're ready, an' I'll keep the same crew."
The commodore ran on deck, hailed the guard-boat, spoke a few words in a low tone, and returned to us, saying as he did so:
"Rout out my cook, and tell him what you want. Say that I give him five minutes in which to have your provisions on deck. If necessary, in order to learn all which should be known here, send a portion of your crew back with the boat, and do the remainder of your work ashore. In case I am not here when you get back, report to Lieutenant Frazier, and take his orders as you would mine."
All this the commander had said hurriedly, as if the moments were precious, and, having come to an end, he began writing at the table, giving no more heed to us than if we never had an existence.
We left the cabin without delay, and while Darius went forward to have speech with the commodore's cook, Jerry and I clambered on board the pungy to let Jim and his friends know of the new duty to which we had been assigned.
"Its a case of keeping on as spies," I said, after repeating the commander's words. "You're to be ready at once; but who's to look after the Avenger is something that hasn't been told us."
There was no time to say anything more, for at that point the guard-boat came alongside, having in tow a long canoe which looked as if a single stroke of the paddle might send her on a long voyage.
"Here is the swiftest craft on the river, and her owner's heart will be broken if you allow the Britishers to get hold of her," the officer in charge of the boat said as he passed me the painter of the canoe.
"Do you know what we are to do with the pungy?" I asked.
"My orders are to anchor her further up stream after you have gone. Don't leave anything valuable aboard, for there's a good chance you'll never see her again."
"We don't own anything valuable, except the pungy herself, and I fancy she wouldn't be very precious save to two lads like Jerry and me who may never own one again if anything happens to her," I said with a laugh, for, strange to say now, when we were about to set off on the most dangerous portion of our work, I failed to feel the slightest fear.
At this moment Darius and the commodore's cook came on deck, each bearing in his arms a certain amount of cooked food, and this the old sailor threw without care into the bottom of the new canoe, himself following with the utmost haste.
"Come on, lads, if you count on gettin' any sleep this night," he cried impatiently as he took up one of the paddles.
"Are we to go without weapons?" I asked.
"We shan't need them. If we meet the Britishers it will be in such force that half a dozen of the best rifles ever made would do us no good, and there will be none others on the river with whom we shall want to interfere."
"But we might run across Elias Macomber," I urged, not minded to go empty-handed on such a perilous voyage.
"It is too late to fool around with spies now," Darius said sharply. "They've done us all the mischief possible, an' it's a case of standin' before an open enemy."
I had no desire to argue further within hearing of the commodore, and scrambled down into the boat, where my comrades were seated ready to begin the voyage.
Now indeed was Darius the leader of the party, and after the conversation in regard to the muskets, I was prepared to obey him without a murmur.
It is a large canoe which will carry six people comfortably, without sign of being overloaded, yet the boat we were in did it, and I would not have hesitated to put in a couple more had it been necessary, while she paddled as easily as a craft half her size.
"It's a great little boat," Darius said approvingly as we began the voyage with a burst of speed which absolutely surprised me. "I reckon we could show our heels to the best that can be found on the river."
"Where are we goin'?" Jim Freeman asked, impatient to know more regarding our purpose.
"That's what I can't say, lad. We'll run down till we see somethin' of the Britishers, even though we come off the Tangiers again; but I'm thinkin' we'll do well if we make Hog Point this trip."
Jim would have asked more questions; but that Darius cut him short by saying gruffly:
"There's a decently good reason for believin' that the enemy may show himself any minute now, an' if we don't want to get into trouble it'll be safe to hold our peace. There'll be plenty of time for tongue-waggin' later."
It can be fancied that we remained silent after such a remark and the old man kept four of us at the paddles constantly, himself doing twice as much work as any other, while the helmsman occupied that post only in order to rest himself, the steering blade being shifted from one to the other accordingly as we grew tired.
