CHAPTER III.—THE MASTER’S WANDERINGS.
_From the Memoirs of the Chevalier de Burke_.
. . . I left Ruthven (it’s hardly necessary to remark) with much greatersatisfaction than I had come to it; but whether I missed my way in thedeserts, or whether my companions failed me, I soon found myself alone.This was a predicament very disagreeable; for I never understood thishorrid country or savage people, and the last stroke of the Prince’swithdrawal had made us of the Irish more unpopular than ever. I wasreflecting on my poor chances, when I saw another horseman on the hill,whom I supposed at first to have been a phantom, the news of his death inthe very front at Culloden being current in the army generally. This wasthe Master of Ballantrae, my Lord Durrisdeer’s son, a young nobleman ofthe rarest gallantry and parts, and equally designed by nature to adorn aCourt and to reap laurels in the field. Our meeting was the more welcometo both, as he was one of the few Scots who had used the Irish withconsideration, and as he might now be of very high utility in aiding myescape. Yet what founded our particular friendship was a circumstance,by itself as romantic as any fable of King Arthur.
This was on the second day of our flight, after we had slept one night inthe rain upon the inclination of a mountain. There was an Appin man,Alan Black Stewart (or some such name, {2} but I have seen him since inFrance) who chanced to be passing the same way, and had a jealousy of mycompanion. Very uncivil expressions were exchanged; and Stewart callsupon the Master to alight and have it out.
“Why, Mr. Stewart,” says the Master, “I think at the present time I wouldprefer to run a race with you.” And with the word claps spurs to hishorse.
Stewart ran after us, a childish thing to do, for more than a mile; and Icould not help laughing, as I looked back at last and saw him on a hill,holding his hand to his side, and nearly burst with running.
“But, all the same,” I could not help saying to my companion, “I wouldlet no man run after me for any such proper purpose, and not give him hisdesire. It was a good jest, but it smells a trifle cowardly.”
He bent his brows at me. “I do pretty well,” says he, “when I saddlemyself with the most unpopular man in Scotland, and let that suffice forcourage.”
“O, bedad,” says I, “I could show you a more unpopular with the nakedeye. And if you like not my company, you can ‘saddle’ yourself on someone else.”
“Colonel Burke,” says he, “do not let us quarrel; and, to that effect,let me assure you I am the least patient man in the world.”
“I am as little patient as yourself,” said I. “I care not who knowsthat.”
“At this rate,” says he, reining in, “we shall not go very far. And Ipropose we do one of two things upon the instant: either quarrel and bedone; or make a sure bargain to bear everything at each other’s hands.”
“Like a pair of brothers?” said I.
“I said no such foolishness,” he replied. “I have a brother of my own,and I think no more of him than of a colewort. But if we are to have ournoses rubbed together in this course of flight, let us each dare to beourselves like savages, and each swear that he will neither resent nordeprecate the other. I am a pretty bad fellow at bottom, and I find thepretence of virtues very irksome.”
“O, I am as bad as yourself,” said I. “There is no skim milk in FrancisBurke. But which is it to be? Fight or make friends?”
“Why,” says he, “I think it will be the best manner to spin a coin forit.”
This proposition was too highly chivalrous not to take my fancy; and,strange as it may seem of two well-born gentlemen of to-day, we span ahalf-crown (like a pair of ancient paladins) whether we were to cut eachother’s throats or be sworn friends. A more romantic circumstance canrarely have occurred; and it is one of those points in my memoirs, bywhich we may see the old tales of Homer and the poets are equally trueto-day—at least, of the noble and genteel. The coin fell for peace, andwe shook hands upon our bargain. And then it was that my companionexplained to me his thought in running away from Mr. Stewart, which wascertainly worthy of his political intellect. The report of his death, hesaid, was a great guard to him; Mr. Stewart having recognised him, hadbecome a danger; and he had taken the briefest road to that gentleman’ssilence. “For,” says he, “Alan Black is too vain a man to narrate anysuch story of himself.”
Towards afternoon we came down to the shores of that loch for which wewere heading; and there was the ship, but newly come to anchor. She wasthe _Sainte-Marie-des-Anges_, out of the port of Havre-de-Grace. TheMaster, after we had signalled for a boat, asked me if I knew thecaptain. I told him he was a countryman of mine, of the most unblemishedintegrity, but, I was afraid, a rather timorous man.
“No matter,” says he. “For all that, he should certainly hear thetruth.”
I asked him if he meant about the battle? for if the captain once knewthe standard was down, he would certainly put to sea again at once.
“And even then!” said he; “the arms are now of no sort of utility.”
“My dear man,” said I, “who thinks of the arms? But, to be sure, we mustremember our friends. They will be close upon our heels, perhaps thePrince himself, and if the ship be gone, a great number of valuable livesmay be imperilled.”
“The captain and the crew have lives also, if you come to that,” saysBallantrae.
This I declared was but a quibble, and that I would not hear of thecaptain being told; and then it was that Ballantrae made me a wittyanswer, for the sake of which (and also because I have been blamed myselfin this business of the _Sainte-Marie-des-Anges_) I have related thewhole conversation as it passed.
“Frank,” says he, “remember our bargain. I must not object to yourholding your tongue, which I hereby even encourage you to do; but, by thesame terms, you are not to resent my telling.”
I could not help laughing at this; though I still forewarned him whatwould come of it.
“The devil may come of it for what I care,” says the reckless fellow. “Ihave always done exactly as I felt inclined.”
As is well known, my prediction came true. The captain had no soonerheard the news than he cut his cable and to sea again; and before morningbroke, we were in the Great Minch.
The ship was very old; and the skipper, although the most honest of men(and Irish too), was one of the least capable. The wind blew veryboisterous, and the sea raged extremely. All that day we had littleheart whether to eat or drink; went early to rest in some concern ofmind; and (as if to give us a lesson) in the night the wind choppedsuddenly into the north-east, and blew a hurricane. We were awaked bythe dreadful thunder of the tempest and the stamping of the mariners ondeck; so that I supposed our last hour was certainly come; and the terrorof my mind was increased out of all measure by Ballantrae, who mocked atmy devotions. It is in hours like these that a man of any piety appearsin his true light, and we find (what we are taught as babes) the smalltrust that can be set in worldly friends. I would be unworthy of myreligion if I let this pass without particular remark. For three days welay in the dark in the cabin, and had but a biscuit to nibble. On thefourth the wind fell, leaving the ship dismasted and heaving on vastbillows. The captain had not a guess of whither we were blown; he wasstark ignorant of his trade, and could do naught but bless the HolyVirgin; a very good thing, too, but scarce the whole of seamanship. Itseemed, our one hope was to be picked up by another vessel; and if thatshould prove to be an English ship, it might be no great blessing to theMaster and myself.
The fifth and sixth days we tossed there helpless. The seventh some sailwas got on her, but she was an unwieldy vessel at the best, and we madelittle but leeway. All the time, indeed, we had been drifting to thesouth and west, and during the tempest must have driven in that directionwith unheard-of violence. The ninth dawn was cold and black, with agreat sea running, and every mark of foul weather. In this situation wewere overjoyed to sight a small ship on the horizon, and to perceive hergo about and head for th
e _Sainte-Marie_. But our gratification did notvery long endure; for when she had laid to and lowered a boat, it wasimmediately filled with disorderly fellows, who sang and shouted as theypulled across to us, and swarmed in on our deck with bare cutlasses,cursing loudly. Their leader was a horrible villain, with his faceblacked and his whiskers curled in ringlets; Teach, his name; a mostnotorious pirate. He stamped about the deck, raving and crying out thathis name was Satan, and his ship was called Hell. There was somethingabout him like a wicked child or a half-witted person, that daunted mebeyond expression. I whispered in the ear of Ballantrae that I would notbe the last to volunteer, and only prayed God they might be short ofhands; he approved my purpose with a nod.
“Bedad,” said I to Master Teach, “if you are Satan, here is a devil forye.”
The word pleased him; and (not to dwell upon these shocking incidents)Ballantrae and I and two others were taken for recruits, while theskipper and all the rest were cast into the sea by the method of walkingthe plank. It was the first time I had seen this done; my heart diedwithin me at the spectacle; and Master Teach or one of his acolytes (formy head was too much lost to be precise) remarked upon my pale face in avery alarming manner. I had the strength to cut a step or two of a jig,and cry out some ribaldry, which saved me for that time; but my legs werelike water when I must get down into the skiff among these miscreants;and what with my horror of my company and fear of the monstrous billows,it was all I could do to keep an Irish tongue and break a jest or two aswe were pulled aboard. By the blessing of God, there was a fiddle in thepirate ship, which I had no sooner seen than I fell upon; and in myquality of crowder I had the heavenly good luck to get favour in theireyes. _Crowding Pat_ was the name they dubbed me with; and it was littleI cared for a name so long as my skin was whole.
What kind of a pandemonium that vessel was, I cannot describe, but shewas commanded by a lunatic, and might be called a floating Bedlam.Drinking, roaring, singing, quarrelling, dancing, they were never allsober at one time; and there were days together when, if a squall hadsupervened, it must have sent us to the bottom; or if a king’s ship hadcome along, it would have found us quite helpless for defence. Once ortwice we sighted a sail, and, if we were sober enough, overhauled it, Godforgive us! and if we were all too drunk, she got away, and I would blessthe saints under my breath. Teach ruled, if you can call that rule whichbrought no order, by the terror he created; and I observed the man wasvery vain of his position. I have known marshals of France—ay, and evenHighland chieftains—that were less openly puffed up; which throws asingular light on the pursuit of honour and glory. Indeed, the longer welive, the more we perceive the sagacity of Aristotle and the other oldphilosophers; and though I have all my life been eager for legitimatedistinctions, I can lay my hand upon my heart, at the end of my career,and declare there is not one—no, nor yet life itself—which is worthacquiring or preserving at the slightest cost of dignity.
It was long before I got private speech of Ballantrae; but at length onenight we crept out upon the boltsprit, when the rest were betteremployed, and commiserated our position.
“None can deliver us but the saints,” said I.
“My mind is very different,” said Ballantrae; “for I am going to delivermyself. This Teach is the poorest creature possible; we make no profitof him, and lie continually open to capture; and,” says he, “I am notgoing to be a tarry pirate for nothing, nor yet to hang in chains if Ican help it.” And he told me what was in his mind to better the state ofthe ship in the way of discipline, which would give us safety for thepresent, and a sooner hope of deliverance when they should have gainedenough and should break up their company.
I confessed to him ingenuously that my nerve was quite shook amid thesehorrible surroundings, and I durst scarce tell him to count upon me.
“I am not very easy frightened,” said he, “nor very easy beat.”
A few days after, there befell an accident which had nearly hanged usall; and offers the most extraordinary picture of the folly that ruled inour concerns. We were all pretty drunk: and some bedlamite spying asail, Teach put the ship about in chase without a glance, and we began tobustle up the arms and boast of the horrors that should follow. Iobserved Ballantrae stood quiet in the bows, looking under the shade ofhis hand; but for my part, true to my policy among these savages, I wasat work with the busiest and passing Irish jests for their diversion.
“Run up the colours,” cries Teach. “Show the —s the Jolly Roger!”
It was the merest drunken braggadocio at such a stage, and might havelost us a valuable prize; but I thought it no part of mine to reason, andI ran up the black flag with my own hand.
Ballantrae steps presently aft with a smile upon his face.
“You may perhaps like to know, you drunken dog,” says he, “that you arechasing a king’s ship.”
Teach roared him the lie; but he ran at the same time to the bulwarks,and so did they all. I have never seen so many drunken men strucksuddenly sober. The cruiser had gone about, upon our impudent display ofcolours; she was just then filling on the new tack; her ensign blew outquite plain to see; and even as we stared, there came a puff of smoke,and then a report, and a shot plunged in the waves a good way short ofus. Some ran to the ropes, and got the _Sarah_ round with an incredibleswiftness. One fellow fell on the rum barrel, which stood broached uponthe deck, and rolled it promptly overboard. On my part, I made for theJolly Roger, struck it, tossed it in the sea; and could have flung myselfafter, so vexed was I with our mismanagement. As for Teach, he grew aspale as death, and incontinently went down to his cabin. Only twice hecame on deck that afternoon; went to the taffrail; took a long look atthe king’s ship, which was still on the horizon heading after us; andthen, without speech, back to his cabin. You may say he deserted us; andif it had not been for one very capable sailor we had on board, and forthe lightness of the airs that blew all day, we must certainly have goneto the yard-arm.
It is to be supposed Teach was humiliated, and perhaps alarmed for hisposition with the crew; and the way in which he set about regaining whathe had lost, was highly characteristic of the man. Early next day wesmelled him burning sulphur in his cabin and crying out of “Hell, hell!”which was well understood among the crew, and filled their minds withapprehension. Presently he comes on deck, a perfect figure of fun, hisface blacked, his hair and whiskers curled, his belt stuck full ofpistols; chewing bits of glass so that the blood ran down his chin, andbrandishing a dirk. I do not know if he had taken these manners from theIndians of America, where he was a native; but such was his way, and hewould always thus announce that he was wound up to horrid deeds. Thefirst that came near him was the fellow who had sent the rum overboardthe day before; him he stabbed to the heart, damning him for a mutineer;and then capered about the body, raving and swearing and daring us tocome on. It was the silliest exhibition; and yet dangerous too, for thecowardly fellow was plainly working himself up to another murder.
All of a sudden Ballantrae stepped forth. “Have done with thisplay-acting,” says he. “Do you think to frighten us with making faces?We saw nothing of you yesterday, when you were wanted; and we did wellwithout you, let me tell you that.”
There was a murmur and a movement in the crew, of pleasure and alarm, Ithought, in nearly equal parts. As for Teach, he gave a barbarous howl,and swung his dirk to fling it, an art in which (like many seamen) he wasvery expert.
“Knock that out of his hand!” says Ballantrae, so sudden and sharp thatmy arm obeyed him before my mind had understood.
Teach stood like one stupid, never thinking on his pistols.
“Go down to your cabin,” cries Ballantrae, “and come on deck again whenyou are sober. Do you think we are going to hang for you, youblack-faced, half-witted, drunken brute and butcher? Go down!” And hestamped his foot at him with such a sudden smartness that Teach fairlyran for it to the companion.
“And now, mates,” says Ballantrae, “a word with you. I
don’t know if youare gentlemen of fortune for the fun of the thing, but I am not. I wantto make money, and get ashore again, and spend it like a man. And on onething my mind is made up: I will not hang if I can help it. Come: giveme a hint; I’m only a beginner! Is there no way to get a littlediscipline and common sense about this business?”
One of the men spoke up: he said by rights they should have aquartermaster; and no sooner was the word out of his mouth than they wereall of that opinion. The thing went by acclamation, Ballantrae was madequartermaster, the rum was put in his charge, laws were passed inimitation of those of a pirate by the name of Roberts, and the lastproposal was to make an end of Teach. But Ballantrae was afraid of amore efficient captain, who might be a counterweight to himself, and heopposed this stoutly. Teach, he said, was good enough to board ships andfrighten fools with his blacked face and swearing; we could scarce get abetter man than Teach for that; and besides, as the man was nowdisconsidered and as good as deposed, we might reduce his proportion ofthe plunder. This carried it; Teach’s share was cut down to a merederision, being actually less than mine; and there remained only twopoints: whether he would consent, and who was to announce to him thisresolution.
“Do not let that stick you,” says Ballantrae, “I will do that.”
And he stepped to the companion and down alone into the cabin to facethat drunken savage.
“This is the man for us,” cries one of the hands. “Three cheers for thequartermaster!” which were given with a will, my own voice among theloudest, and I dare say these plaudits had their effect on Master Teachin the cabin, as we have seen of late days how shouting in the streetsmay trouble even the minds of legislators.
What passed precisely was never known, though some of the heads of itcame to the surface later on; and we were all amazed, as well asgratified, when Ballantrae came on deck with Teach upon his arm, andannounced that all had been consented.
I pass swiftly over those twelve or fifteen months in which we continuedto keep the sea in the North Atlantic, getting our food and water fromthe ships we over-hauled, and doing on the whole a pretty fortunatebusiness. Sure, no one could wish to read anything so ungenteel as thememoirs of a pirate, even an unwilling one like me! Things wentextremely better with our designs, and Ballantrae kept his lead, to myadmiration, from that day forth. I would be tempted to suppose that agentleman must everywhere be first, even aboard a rover: but my birth isevery whit as good as any Scottish lord’s, and I am not ashamed toconfess that I stayed Crowding Pat until the end, and was not much betterthan the crew’s buffoon. Indeed, it was no scene to bring out my merits.My health suffered from a variety of reasons; I was more at home to thelast on a horse’s back than a ship’s deck; and, to be ingenuous, the fearof the sea was constantly in my mind, battling with the fear of mycompanions. I need not cry myself up for courage; I have done well onmany fields under the eyes of famous generals, and earned my lateadvancement by an act of the most distinguished valour before manywitnesses. But when we must proceed on one of our abordages, the heartof Francis Burke was in his boots; the little eggshell skiff in which wemust set forth, the horrible heaving of the vast billows, the height ofthe ship that we must scale, the thought of how many might be there ingarrison upon their legitimate defence, the scowling heavens which (inthat climate) so often looked darkly down upon our exploits, and the merecrying of the wind in my ears, were all considerations most unpalatableto my valour. Besides which, as I was always a creature of the nicestsensibility, the scenes that must follow on our success tempted me aslittle as the chances of defeat. Twice we found women on board; andthough I have seen towns sacked, and of late days in France some veryhorrid public tumults, there was something in the smallness of thenumbers engaged, and the bleak dangerous sea-surroundings, that madethese acts of piracy far the most revolting. I confess ingenuously Icould never proceed unless I was three parts drunk; it was the same evenwith the crew; Teach himself was fit for no enterprise till he was fullof rum; and it was one of the most difficult parts of Ballantrae’sperformance, to serve us with liquor in the proper quantities. Even thishe did to admiration; being upon the whole the most capable man I evermet with, and the one of the most natural genius. He did not even scrapefavour with the crew, as I did, by continual buffoonery made upon a veryanxious heart; but preserved on most occasions a great deal of gravityand distance; so that he was like a parent among a family of youngchildren, or a schoolmaster with his boys. What made his part the harderto perform, the men were most inveterate grumblers; Ballantrae’sdiscipline, little as it was, was yet irksome to their love of licence;and what was worse, being kept sober they had time to think. Some ofthem accordingly would fall to repenting their abominable crimes; one inparticular, who was a good Catholic, and with whom I would sometimessteal apart for prayer; above all in bad weather, fogs, lashing rain andthe like, when we would be the less observed; and I am sure no twocriminals in the cart have ever performed their devotions with moreanxious sincerity. But the rest, having no such grounds of hope, fell toanother pastime, that of computation. All day long they would he tellingup their shares or grooming over the result. I have said we were prettyfortunate. But an observation fails to be made: that in this world, inno business that I have tried, do the profits rise to a man’sexpectations. We found many ships and took many; yet few of themcontained much money, their goods were usually nothing to ourpurpose—what did we want with a cargo of ploughs, or even of tobacco?—andit is quite a painful reflection how many whole crews we have made towalk the plank for no more than a stock of biscuit or an anker or two ofspirit.
In the meanwhile our ship was growing very foul, and it was high time weshould make for our _port de carrénage_, which was in the estuary of ariver among swamps. It was openly understood that we should then breakup and go and squander our proportions of the spoil; and this made everyman greedy of a little more, so that our decision was delayed from day today. What finally decided matters, was a trifling accident, such as anignorant person might suppose incidental to our way of life. But here Imust explain: on only one of all the ships we boarded, the first on whichwe found women, did we meet with any genuine resistance. On thatoccasion we had two men killed and several injured, and if it had notbeen for the gallantry of Ballantrae we had surely been beat back atlast. Everywhere else the defence (where there was any at all) was whatthe worst troops in Europe would have laughed at; so that the mostdangerous part of our employment was to clamber up the side of the ship;and I have even known the poor souls on board to cast us a line, so eagerwere they to volunteer instead of walking the plank. This constantimmunity had made our fellows very soft, so that I understood how Teachhad made so deep a mark upon their minds; for indeed the company of thatlunatic was the chief danger in our way of life. The accident to which Ihave referred was this:—We had sighted a little full-rigged ship veryclose under our board in a haze; she sailed near as well as we did—Ishould be nearer truth if I said, near as ill; and we cleared thebow-chaser to see if we could bring a spar or two about their ears. Theswell was exceeding great; the motion of the ship beyond description; itwas little wonder if our gunners should fire thrice and be still quitebroad of what they aimed at. But in the meanwhile the chase had cleareda stern gun, the thickness of the air concealing them; and being bettermarksmen, their first shot struck us in the bows, knocked our two gunnersinto mince-meat, so that we were all sprinkled with the blood, andplunged through the deck into the forecastle, where we slept. Ballantraewould have held on; indeed, there was nothing in this _contretemps_ toaffect the mind of any soldier; but he had a quick perception of themen’s wishes, and it was plain this lucky shot had given them a sickenerof their trade. In a moment they were all of one mind: the chase wasdrawing away from us, it was needless to hold on, the _Sarah_ was toofoul to overhaul a bottle, it was mere foolery to keep the sea with her;and on these pretended grounds her head was incontinently put about andthe course laid for the river. It was strange to see what merrimen
t fellon that ship’s company, and how they stamped about the deck jesting, andeach computing what increase had come to his share by the death of thetwo gunners.
We were nine days making our port, so light were the airs we had to sailon, so foul the ship’s bottom; but early on the tenth, before dawn, andin a light lifting haze, we passed the head. A little after, the hazelifted, and fell again, showing us a cruiser very close. This was a soreblow, happening so near our refuge. There was a great debate of whethershe had seen us, and if so whether it was likely they had recognised the_Sarah_. We were very careful, by destroying every member of those crewswe overhauled, to leave no evidence as to our own persons; but theappearance of the _Sarah_ herself we could not keep so private; and aboveall of late, since she had been foul, and we had pursued many shipswithout success, it was plain that her description had been oftenpublished. I supposed this alert would have made us separate upon theinstant. But here again that original genius of Ballantrae’s had asurprise in store for me. He and Teach (and it was the most remarkablestep of his success) had gone hand in hand since the first day of hisappointment. I often questioned him upon the fact, and never got ananswer but once, when he told me he and Teach had an understanding “whichwould very much surprise the crew if they should hear of it, and wouldsurprise himself a good deal if it was carried out.” Well, here again heand Teach were of a mind; and by their joint procurement the anchor wasno sooner down than the whole crew went off upon a scene of drunkennessindescribable. By afternoon we were a mere shipful of lunatical persons,throwing of things overboard, howling of different songs at the sametime, quarrelling and falling together, and then forgetting our quarrelsto embrace. Ballantrae had bidden me drink nothing, and feigndrunkenness, as I valued my life; and I have never passed a day sowearisomely, lying the best part of the time upon the forecastle andwatching the swamps and thickets by which our little basin was entirelysurrounded for the eye. A little after dusk Ballantrae stumbled up to myside, feigned to fall, with a drunken laugh, and before he got his feetagain, whispered me to “reel down into the cabin and seem to fall asleepupon a locker, for there would be need of me soon.” I did as I was told,and coming into the cabin, where it was quite dark, let myself fall onthe first locker. There was a man there already; by the way he stirredand threw me off, I could not think he was much in liquor; and yet when Ihad found another place, he seemed to continue to sleep on. My heart nowbeat very hard, for I saw some desperate matter was in act. Presentlydown came Ballantrae, lit the lamp, looked about the cabin, nodded as ifpleased, and on deck again without a word. I peered out from between myfingers, and saw there were three of us slumbering, or feigning toslumber, on the lockers: myself, one Dutton and one Grady, both resolutemen. On deck the rest were got to a pitch of revelry quite beyond thebounds of what is human; so that no reasonable name can describe thesounds they were now making. I have heard many a drunken bout in mytime, many on board that very _Sarah_, but never anything the least likethis, which made me early suppose the liquor had been tampered with. Itwas a long while before these yells and howls died out into a sort ofmiserable moaning, and then to silence; and it seemed a long while afterthat before Ballantrae came down again, this time with Teach upon hisheels. The latter cursed at the sight of us three upon the lockers.
“Tut,” says Ballantrae, “you might fire a pistol at their ears. You knowwhat stuff they have been swallowing.”
There was a hatch in the cabin floor, and under that the richest part ofthe booty was stored against the day of division. It fastened with aring and three padlocks, the keys (for greater security) being divided;one to Teach, one to Ballantrae, and one to the mate, a man calledHammond. Yet I was amazed to see they were now all in the one hand; andyet more amazed (still looking through my fingers) to observe Ballantraeand Teach bring up several packets, four of them in all, very carefullymade up and with a loop for carriage.
“And now,” says Teach, “let us be going.”
“One word,” says Ballantrae. “I have discovered there is another manbesides yourself who knows a private path across the swamp; and it seemsit is shorter than yours.”
Teach cried out, in that case, they were undone.
“I do not know for that,” says Ballantrae. “For there are several othercircumstances with which I must acquaint you. First of all, there is nobullet in your pistols, which (if you remember) I was kind enough to loadfor both of us this morning. Secondly, as there is someone else whoknows a passage, you must think it highly improbable I should saddlemyself with a lunatic like you. Thirdly, these gentlemen (who need nolonger pretend to be asleep) are those of my party, and will now proceedto gag and bind you to the mast; and when your men awaken (if they everdo awake after the drugs we have mingled in their liquor), I am sure theywill be so obliging as to deliver you, and you will have no difficulty, Idaresay, to explain the business of the keys.”
Not a word said Teach, but looked at us like a frightened baby as wegagged and bound him.
“Now you see, you moon-calf,” says Ballantrae, “why we made four packets.Heretofore you have been called Captain Teach, but I think you are nowrather Captain Learn.”
That was our last word on board the _Sarah_. We four, with our fourpackets, lowered ourselves softly into a skiff, and left that ship behindus as silent as the grave, only for the moaning of some of the drunkards.There was a fog about breast-high on the waters; so that Dutton, who knewthe passage, must stand on his feet to direct our rowing; and this, as itforced us to row gently, was the means of our deliverance. We were yetbut a little way from the ship, when it began to come grey, and the birdsto fly abroad upon the water. All of a sudden Dutton clapped down uponhis hams, and whispered us to be silent for our lives, and hearken. Sureenough, we heard a little faint creak of oars upon one hand, and thenagain, and further off, a creak of oars upon the other. It was clear wehad been sighted yesterday in the morning; here were the cruiser’s boatsto cut us out; here were we defenceless in their very midst. Sure, neverwere poor souls more perilously placed; and as we lay there on our oars,praying God the mist might hold, the sweat poured from my brow.Presently we heard one of the boats where we might have thrown a biscuitin her. “Softly, men,” we heard an officer whisper; and I marvelled theycould not hear the drumming of my heart.
“Never mind the path,” says Ballantrae; “we must get shelter anyhow; letus pull straight ahead for the sides of the basin.”
This we did with the most anxious precaution, rowing, as best we could,upon our hands, and steering at a venture in the fog, which was (for allthat) our only safety. But Heaven guided us; we touched ground at athicket; scrambled ashore with our treasure; and having no other way ofconcealment, and the mist beginning already to lighten, hove down theskiff and let her sink. We were still but new under cover when the sunrose; and at the same time, from the midst of the basin, a great shoutingof seamen sprang up, and we knew the _Sarah_ was being boarded. I heardafterwards the officer that took her got great honour; and it’s true theapproach was creditably managed, but I think he had an easy capture whenhe came to board. {3}
I was still blessing the saints for my escape, when I became aware wewere in trouble of another kind. We were here landed at random in a vastand dangerous swamp; and how to come at the path was a concern of doubt,fatigue, and peril. Dutton, indeed, was of opinion we should wait untilthe ship was gone, and fish up the skiff; for any delay would be morewise than to go blindly ahead in that morass. One went back accordinglyto the basin-side and (peering through the thicket) saw the fog alreadyquite drunk up, and English colours flying on the _Sarah_, but nomovement made to get her under way. Our situation was now very doubtful.The swamp was an unhealthful place to linger in; we had been so greedy tobring treasures that we had brought but little food; it was highlydesirable, besides, that we should get clear of the neighbourhood andinto the settlements before the news of the capture went abroad; andagainst all these considerations, there was only the peril of the p
assageon the other side. I think it not wonderful we decided on the activepart.
It was already blistering hot when we set forth to pass the marsh, orrather to strike the path, by compass. Dutton took the compass, and oneor other of us three carried his proportion of the treasure. I promiseyou he kept a sharp eye to his rear, for it was like the man’s soul thathe must trust us with. The thicket was as close as a bush; the groundvery treacherous, so that we often sank in the most terrifying manner,and must go round about; the heat, besides, was stifling, the airsingularly heavy, and the stinging insects abounded in such myriads thateach of us walked under his own cloud. It has often been commented on,how much better gentlemen of birth endure fatigue than persons of therabble; so that walking officers who must tramp in the dirt beside theirmen, shame them by their constancy. This was well to be observed in thepresent instance; for here were Ballantrae and I, two gentlemen of thehighest breeding, on the one hand; and on the other, Grady, a commonmariner, and a man nearly a giant in physical strength. The case ofDutton is not in point, for I confess he did as well as any of us. {4}But as for Grady, he began early to lament his case, tailed in the rear,refused to carry Dutton’s packet when it came his turn, clamouredcontinually for rum (of which we had too little), and at last eventhreatened us from behind with a cooked pistol, unless we should allowhim rest. Ballantrae would have fought it out, I believe; but Iprevailed with him the other way; and we made a stop and ate a meal. Itseemed to benefit Grady little; he was in the rear again at once,growling and bemoaning his lot; and at last, by some carelessness, nothaving followed properly in our tracks, stumbled into a deep part of theslough where it was mostly water, gave some very dreadful screams, andbefore we could come to his aid had sunk along with his booty. His fate,and above all these screams of his, appalled us to the soul; yet it wason the whole a fortunate circumstance and the means of our deliverance,for it moved Dutton to mount into a tree, whence he was able to perceiveand to show me, who had climbed after him, a high piece of the wood,which was a landmark for the path. He went forward the more carelessly,I must suppose; for presently we saw him sink a little down, draw up hisfeet and sink again, and so twice. Then he turned his face to us, prettywhite.
“Lend a hand,” said he, “I am in a bad place.”
“I don’t know about that,” says Ballantrae, standing still.
Dutton broke out into the most violent oaths, sinking a little lower ashe did, so that the mud was nearly to his waist, and plucking a pistolfrom his belt, “Help me,” he cries, “or die and be damned to you!”
“Nay,” says Ballantrae, “I did but jest. I am coming.” And he set downhis own packet and Dutton’s, which he was then carrying. “Do not venturenear till we see if you are needed,” said he to me, and went forwardalone to where the man was bogged. He was quiet now, though he stillheld the pistol; and the marks of terror in his countenance were verymoving to behold.
“For the Lord’s sake,” says he, “look sharp.”
Ballantrae was now got close up. “Keep still,” says he, and seemed toconsider; and then, “Reach out both your hands!”
Dutton laid down his pistol, and so watery was the top surface that itwent clear out of sight; with an oath he stooped to snatch it; and as hedid so, Ballantrae leaned forth and stabbed him between the shoulders.Up went his hands over his head—I know not whether with the pain or toward himself; and the next moment he doubled forward in the mud.
Ballantrae was already over the ankles; but he plucked himself out, andcame back to me, where I stood with my knees smiting one another. “Thedevil take you, Francis!” says he. “I believe you are a half-heartedfellow, after all. I have only done justice on a pirate. And here weare quite clear of the _Sarah_! Who shall now say that we have dippedour hands in any irregularities?”
I assured him he did me injustice; but my sense of humanity was so muchaffected by the horridness of the fact that I could scarce find breath toanswer with.
“Come,” said he, “you must be more resolved. The need for this fellowceased when he had shown you where the path ran; and you cannot deny Iwould have been daft to let slip so fair an opportunity.”
I could not deny but he was right in principle; nor yet could I refrainfrom shedding tears, of which I think no man of valour need have beenashamed; and it was not until I had a share of the rum that I was able toproceed. I repeat, I am far from ashamed of my generous emotion; mercyis honourable in the warrior; and yet I cannot altogether censureBallantrae, whose step was really fortunate, as we struck the pathwithout further misadventure, and the same night, about sundown, came tothe edge of the morass.
We were too weary to seek far; on some dry sands, still warm with theday’s sun, and close under a wood of pines, we lay down and wereinstantly plunged in sleep.
We awaked the next morning very early, and began with a sullen spirit aconversation that came near to end in blows. We were now cast on shorein the southern provinces, thousands of miles from any French settlement;a dreadful journey and a thousand perils lay in front of us; and sure, ifthere was ever need for amity, it was in such an hour. I must supposethat Ballantrae had suffered in his sense of what is truly polite;indeed, and there is nothing strange in the idea, after the sea-wolves wehad consorted with so long; and as for myself, he fubbed me offunhandsomely, and any gentleman would have resented his behaviour.
I told him in what light I saw his conduct; he walked a little off, Ifollowing to upbraid him; and at last he stopped me with his hand.
“Frank,” says he, “you know what we swore; and yet there is no oathinvented would induce me to swallow such expressions, if I did not regardyou with sincere affection. It is impossible you should doubt me there:I have given proofs. Dutton I had to take, because he knew the pass, andGrady because Dutton would not move without him; but what call was thereto carry you along? You are a perpetual danger to me with your cursedIrish tongue. By rights you should now be in irons in the cruiser. Andyou quarrel with me like a baby for some trinkets!”
I considered this one of the most unhandsome speeches ever made; andindeed to this day I can scarce reconcile it to my notion of a gentlemanthat was my friend. I retorted upon him with his Scotch accent, of whichhe had not so much as some, but enough to be very barbarous anddisgusting, as I told him plainly; and the affair would have gone to agreat length, but for an alarming intervention.
We had got some way off upon the sand. The place where we had slept,with the packets lying undone and the money scattered openly, was nowbetween us and the pines; and it was out of these the stranger must havecome. There he was at least, a great hulking fellow of the country, witha broad axe on his shoulder, looking open-mouthed, now at the treasure,which was just at his feet, and now at our disputation, in which we hadgone far enough to have weapons in our hands. We had no sooner observedhim than he found his legs and made off again among the pines.
This was no scene to put our minds at rest: a couple of armed men insea-clothes found quarrelling over a treasure, not many miles from wherea pirate had been captured—here was enough to bring the whole countryabout our ears. The quarrel was not even made up; it was blotted fromour minds; and we got our packets together in the twinkling of an eye,and made off, running with the best will in the world. But the troublewas, we did not know in what direction, and must continually return uponour steps. Ballantrae had indeed collected what he could from Dutton;but it’s hard to travel upon hearsay; and the estuary, which spreads intoa vast irregular harbour, turned us off upon every side with a newstretch of water.
We were near beside ourselves, and already quite spent with running,when, coming to the top of a dune, we saw we were again cut off byanother ramification of the bay. This was a creek, however, verydifferent from those that had arrested us before; being set in rocks, andso precipitously deep that a small vessel was able to lie alongside, madefast with a hawser; and her crew had laid a plank to the shore. Herethey had lighted a fire, and were sitting at their mea
l. As for thevessel herself, she was one of those they build in the Bermudas.
The love of gold and the great hatred that everybody has to pirates weremotives of the most influential, and would certainly raise the country inour pursuit. Besides, it was now plain we were on some sort ofstraggling peninsula, like the fingers of a hand; and the wrist, orpassage to the mainland, which we should have taken at the first, was bythis time not improbably secured. These considerations put us on abolder counsel. For as long as we dared, looking every moment to hearsounds of the chase, we lay among some bushes on the top of the dune; andhaving by this means secured a little breath and recomposed ourappearance, we strolled down at last, with a great affectation ofcarelessness, to the party by the fire.
It was a trader and his negroes, belonging to Albany, in the province ofNew York, and now on the way home from the Indies with a cargo; his nameI cannot recall. We were amazed to learn he had put in here from terrorof the _Sarah_; for we had no thought our exploits had been so notorious.As soon as the Albanian heard she had been taken the day before, hejumped to his feet, gave us a cup of spirits for our good news, and sentbig negroes to get sail on the Bermudan. On our side, we profited by thedram to become more confidential, and at last offered ourselves aspassengers. He looked askance at our tarry clothes and pistols, andreplied civilly enough that he had scarce accommodation for himself; norcould either our prayers or our offers of money, in which we advancedpretty far, avail to shake him.
“I see, you think ill of us,” says Ballantrae, “but I will show you howwell we think of you by telling you the truth. We are Jacobitefugitives, and there is a price upon our heads.”
At this, the Albanian was plainly moved a little. He asked us manyquestions as to the Scotch war, which Ballantrae very patiently answered.And then, with a wink, in a vulgar manner, “I guess you and your PrinceCharlie got more than you cared about,” said he.
“Bedad, and that we did,” said I. “And, my dear man, I wish you wouldset a new example and give us just that much.”
This I said in the Irish way, about which there is allowed to besomething very engaging. It’s a remarkable thing, and a testimony to thelove with which our nation is regarded, that this address scarce everfails in a handsome fellow. I cannot tell how often I have seen aprivate soldier escape the horse, or a beggar wheedle out a good alms bya touch of the brogue. And, indeed, as soon as the Albanian had laughedat me I was pretty much at rest. Even then, however, he made manyconditions, and—for one thing—took away our arms, before he suffered usaboard; which was the signal to cast off; so that in a moment after, wewere gliding down the bay with a good breeze, and blessing the name ofGod for our deliverance. Almost in the mouth of the estuary, we passedthe cruiser, and a little after the poor _Sarah_ with her prize crew; andthese were both sights to make us tremble. The Bermudan seemed a verysafe place to be in, and our bold stroke to have been fortunately played,when we were thus reminded of the case of our companions. For all that,we had only exchanged traps, jumped out of the frying-pan into the fire,ran from the yard-arm to the block, and escaped the open hostility of theman-of-war to lie at the mercy of the doubtful faith of our Albanianmerchant.
From many circumstances, it chanced we were safer than we could havedared to hope. The town of Albany was at that time much concerned incontraband trade across the desert with the Indians and the French.This, as it was highly illegal, relaxed their loyalty, and as it broughtthem in relation with the politest people on the earth, divided eventheir sympathies. In short, they were like all the smugglers in theworld, spies and agents ready-made for either party. Our Albanian,besides, was a very honest man indeed, and very greedy; and, to crown ourluck, he conceived a great delight in our society. Before we had reachedthe town of New York we had come to a full agreement, that he shouldcarry us as far as Albany upon his ship, and thence put us on a way topass the boundaries and join the French. For all this we were to pay ata high rate; but beggars cannot be choosers, nor outlaws bargainers.
We sailed, then, up the Hudson River, which, I protest, is a very finestream, and put up at the “King’s Arms” in Albany. The town was full ofthe militia of the province, breathing slaughter against the French.Governor Clinton was there himself, a very busy man, and, by what I couldlearn, very near distracted by the factiousness of his Assembly. TheIndians on both sides were on the war-path; we saw parties of thembringing in prisoners and (what was much worse) scalps, both male andfemale, for which they were paid at a fixed rate; and I assure you thesight was not encouraging. Altogether, we could scarce have come at aperiod more unsuitable for our designs; our position in the chief inn wasdreadfully conspicuous; our Albanian fubbed us off with a thousanddelays, and seemed upon the point of a retreat from his engagements;nothing but peril appeared to environ the poor fugitives, and for sometime we drowned our concern in a very irregular course of living.
This, too, proved to be fortunate; and it’s one of the remarks that fallto be made upon our escape, how providentially our steps were conductedto the very end. What a humiliation to the dignity of man! Myphilosophy, the extraordinary genius of Ballantrae, our valour, in whichI grant that we were equal—all these might have proved insufficientwithout the Divine blessing on our efforts. And how true it is, as theChurch tells us, that the Truths of Religion are, after all, quiteapplicable even to daily affairs! At least, it was in the course of ourrevelry that we made the acquaintance of a spirited youth by the name ofChew. He was one of the most daring of the Indian traders, very wellacquainted with the secret paths of the wilderness, needy, dissolute,and, by a last good fortune, in some disgrace with his family. Him wepersuaded to come to our relief; he privately provided what was needfulfor our flight, and one day we slipped out of Albany, without a word toour former friend, and embarked, a little above, in a canoe.
To the toils and perils of this journey, it would require a pen moreelegant than mine to do full justice. The reader must conceive forhimself the dreadful wilderness which we had now to thread; its thickets,swamps, precipitous rocks, impetuous rivers, and amazing waterfalls.Among these barbarous scenes we must toil all day, now paddling, nowcarrying our canoe upon our shoulders; and at night we slept about afire, surrounded by the howling of wolves and other savage animals. Itwas our design to mount the headwaters of the Hudson, to theneighbourhood of Crown Point, where the French had a strong place in thewoods, upon Lake Champlain. But to have done this directly were tooperilous; and it was accordingly gone upon by such a labyrinth of rivers,lakes, and portages as makes my head giddy to remember. These paths werein ordinary times entirely desert; but the country was now up, the tribeson the war-path, the woods full of Indian scouts. Again and again wecame upon these parties when we least expected, them; and one day, inparticular, I shall never forget, how, as dawn was coming in, we weresuddenly surrounded by five or six of these painted devils, uttering avery dreary sort of cry, and brandishing their hatchets. It passed offharmlessly, indeed, as did the rest of our encounters; for Chew was wellknown and highly valued among the different tribes. Indeed, he was avery gallant, respectable young man; but even with the advantage of hiscompanionship, you must not think these meetings were without sensibleperil. To prove friendship on our part, it was needful to draw upon ourstock of rum—indeed, under whatever disguise, that is the true businessof the Indian trader, to keep a travelling public-house in the forest;and when once the braves had got their bottle of _scaura_ (as they callthis beastly liquor), it behoved us to set forth and paddle for ourscalps. Once they were a little drunk, goodbye to any sense or decency;they had but the one thought, to get more _scaura_. They might easilytake it in their heads to give us chase, and had we been overtaken, I hadnever written these memoirs.
We were come to the most critical portion of our course, where we mightequally expect to fall into the hands of French or English, when aterrible calamity befell us. Chew was taken suddenly sick with symptomslike those of poison, and in the course of a few hours exp
ired in thebottom of the canoe. We thus lost at once our guide, our interpreter,our boatman, and our passport, for he was all these in one; and foundourselves reduced, at a blow, to the most desperate and irremediabledistress. Chew, who took a great pride in his knowledge, had indeedoften lectured us on the geography; and Ballantrae, I believe, wouldlisten. But for my part I have always found such information highlytedious; and beyond the fact that we were now in the country of theAdirondack Indians, and not so distant from our destination, could we buthave found the way, I was entirely ignorant. The wisdom of my course wassoon the more apparent; for with all his pains, Ballantrae was no furtheradvanced than myself. He knew we must continue to go up one stream;then, by way of a portage, down another; and then up a third. But youare to consider, in a mountain country, how many streams come rolling infrom every hand. And how is a gentleman, who is a perfect stranger inthat part of the world, to tell any one of them from any other? Nor wasthis our only trouble. We were great novices, besides, in handling acanoe; the portages were almost beyond our strength, so that I have seenus sit down in despair for half an hour at a time without one word; andthe appearance of a single Indian, since we had now no means of speakingto them, would have been in all probability the means of our destruction.There is altogether some excuse if Ballantrae showed something of agrooming disposition; his habit of imputing blame to others, quite ascapable as himself, was less tolerable, and his language it was notalways easy to accept. Indeed, he had contracted on board the pirateship a manner of address which was in a high degree unusual betweengentlemen; and now, when you might say he was in a fever, it increasedupon him hugely.
The third day of these wanderings, as we were carrying the canoe upon arocky portage, she fell, and was entirely bilged. The portage wasbetween two lakes, both pretty extensive; the track, such as it was,opened at both ends upon the water, and on both hands was enclosed by theunbroken woods; and the sides of the lakes were quite impassable withbog: so that we beheld ourselves not only condemned to go without ourboat and the greater part of our provisions, but to plunge at once intoimpenetrable thickets and to desert what little guidance we still had—thecourse of the river. Each stuck his pistols in his belt, shouldered anaxe, made a pack of his treasure and as much food as he could staggerunder; and deserting the rest of our possessions, even to our swords,which would have much embarrassed us among the woods, we set forth onthis deplorable adventure. The labours of Hercules, so finely describedby Homer, were a trifle to what we now underwent. Some parts of theforest were perfectly dense down to the ground, so that we must cut ourway like mites in a cheese. In some the bottom was full of deep swamp,and the whole wood entirely rotten. I have leaped on a great fallen logand sunk to the knees in touchwood; I have sought to stay myself, infalling, against what looked to be a solid trunk, and the whole thing haswhiffed away at my touch like a sheet of paper. Stumbling, falling,bogging to the knees, hewing our way, our eyes almost put out with twigsand branches, our clothes plucked from our bodies, we laboured all day,and it is doubtful if we made two miles. What was worse, as we couldrarely get a view of the country, and were perpetually justled from ourpath by obstacles, it was impossible even to have a guess in whatdirection we were moving.
A little before sundown, in an open place with a stream, and set aboutwith barbarous mountains, Ballantrae threw down his pack. “I will go nofurther,” said he, and bade me light the fire, damning my blood in termsnot proper for a chairman.
I told him to try to forget he had ever been a pirate, and to remember hehad been a gentleman.
“Are you mad?” he cried. “Don’t cross me here!” And then, shaking hisfist at the hills, “To think,” cries he, “that I must leave my bones inthis miserable wilderness! Would God I had died upon the scaffold like agentleman!” This he said ranting like an actor; and then sat biting hisfingers and staring on the ground, a most unchristian object.
I took a certain horror of the man, for I thought a soldier and agentleman should confront his end with more philosophy. I made him noreply, therefore, in words; and presently the evening fell so chill thatI was glad, for my own sake, to kindle a fire. And yet God knows, insuch an open spot, and the country alive with savages, the act was littleshort of lunacy. Ballantrae seemed never to observe me; but at last, asI was about parching a little corn, he looked up.
“Have you ever a brother?” said be.
“By the blessing of Heaven,” said I, “not less than five.”
“I have the one,” said he, with a strange voice; and then presently, “Heshall pay me for all this,” he added. And when I asked him what was hisbrother’s part in our distress, “What!” he cried, “he sits in my place,he bears my name, he courts my wife; and I am here alone with a damnedIrishman in this tooth-chattering desert! Oh, I have been a commongull!” he cried.
The explosion was in all ways so foreign to my friend’s nature that I wasdaunted out of all my just susceptibility. Sure, an offensiveexpression, however vivacious, appears a wonderfully small affair incircumstances so extreme! But here there is a strange thing to be noted.He had only once before referred to the lady with whom he was contracted.That was when we came in view of the town of New York, when he had toldme, if all had their rights, he was now in sight of his own property, forMiss Graeme enjoyed a large estate in the province. And this wascertainly a natural occasion; but now here she was named a second time;and what is surely fit to be observed, in this very month, which wasNovember, ’47, and _I believe upon that very day as we sat among thesebarbarous mountains_, his brother and Miss Graeme were married. I am theleast superstitious of men; but the hand of Providence is here displayedtoo openly not to be remarked. {5}
The next day, and the next, were passed in similar labours; Ballantraeoften deciding on our course by the spinning of a coin; and once, when Iexpostulated on this childishness, he had an odd remark that I have neverforgotten. “I know no better way,” said he, “to express my scorn ofhuman reason.” I think it was the third day that we found the body of aChristian, scalped and most abominably mangled, and lying in a pudder ofhis blood; the birds of the desert screaming over him, as thick as flies.I cannot describe how dreadfully this sight affected us; but it robbed meof all strength and all hope for this world. The same day, and only alittle after, we were scrambling over a part of the forest that had beenburned, when Ballantrae, who was a little ahead, ducked suddenly behind afallen trunk. I joined him in this shelter, whence we could look abroadwithout being seen ourselves; and in the bottom of the next vale, behelda large war party of the savages going by across our line. There mightbe the value of a weak battalion present; all naked to the waist, blackedwith grease and soot, and painted with white lead and vermilion,according to their beastly habits. They went one behind another like astring of geese, and at a quickish trot; so that they took but a littlewhile to rattle by, and disappear again among the woods. Yet I supposewe endured a greater agony of hesitation and suspense in these fewminutes than goes usually to a man’s whole life. Whether they wereFrench or English Indians, whether they desired scalps or prisoners,whether we should declare ourselves upon the chance, or lie quiet andcontinue the heart-breaking business of our journey: sure, I think thesewere questions to have puzzled the brains of Aristotle himself.Ballantrae turned to me with a face all wrinkled up and his teeth showingin his mouth, like what I have read of people starving; he said no word,but his whole appearance was a kind of dreadful question.
“They may be of the English side,” I whispered; “and think! the best wecould then hope, is to begin this over again.”
“I know—I know,” he said. “Yet it must come to a plunge at last.” Andhe suddenly plucked out his coin, shook it in his closed hands, looked atit, and then lay down with his face in the dust.
_Addition by Mr. Mackellar_.—I drop the Chevalier’s narration at thispoint because the couple quarrelled and separated the same day; and theChevalier’s account of the quarrel seems to me (I must confess)
quiteincompatible with the nature of either of the men. Henceforth theywandered alone, undergoing extraordinary sufferings; until first one andthen the other was picked up by a party from Fort St. Frederick. Onlytwo things are to be noted. And first (as most important for my purpose)that the Master, in the course of his miseries buried his treasure, at apoint never since discovered, but of which he took a drawing in his ownblood on the lining of his hat. And second, that on his coming thuspenniless to the Fort, he was welcomed like a brother by the Chevalier,who thence paid his way to France. The simplicity of Mr. Burke’scharacter leads him at this point to praise the Master exceedingly; to aneye more worldly wise, it would seem it was the Chevalier alone that wasto be commended. I have the more pleasure in pointing to this reallyvery noble trait of my esteemed correspondent, as I fear I may havewounded him immediately before. I have refrained from comments on any ofhis extraordinary and (in my eyes) immoral opinions, for I know him to bejealous of respect. But his version of the quarrel is really more than Ican reproduce; for I knew the Master myself, and a man more insusceptibleof fear is not conceivable. I regret this oversight of the Chevalier’s,and all the more because the tenor of his narrative (set aside a fewflourishes) strikes me as highly ingenuous.
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