Frank Before Vicksburg

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER XVII.

  The Smugglers' Cave--Conclusion.

  "Tom," said Frank, addressing himself to the quarter-master, as the twowere standing their watch that evening, "how came you to go to sea?"

  "I was born a sailor, sir," answered the man. "My father, and mygrandfather before him, followed the sea for a livelihood. They weresmugglers, living among the rocks and crags on the southern coast ofEngland.

  "My home was not such a one as would have suited you, sir; but it was apleasant place to me, and I often look back to the days of my boyhood,although passed amid scenes of danger, as the happiest ones of my life.Our house, as we called it, was a cave in the side of a high mountain,at the foot of which was a long, narrow, and rocky passage, that led tothe ocean. At the end of this passage, next to the mountain, was a smallbut deep bay, where a vessel could ride at anchor in safety withoutbeing seen by any one outside. In front of the cave was a small grassplot, which overlooked a vast extent of sea and land, and from which thedistant shores of France could be seen. This was my post, where I satmany a night, watching for the return of my father, who was the captainof the smugglers. It was my business to watch for revenue-cutters, andto give the signal of danger in case any appeared off the coast at thetime father was expected to return.

  "It would have been a lonely watch in that cave for one who was notaccustomed to it, for I never had a companion; but, having been broughtup to that kind of a life, I was never at a loss to know how to passaway the time. The fishing in the basin was excellent, and I had a smallboat, the exact model of my father's little schooner, with which Isometimes amused myself for hours together in running in and out of thechannel, which, owing to its rocky nature, was very difficult ofpassage. It was here that the cutters were always given the slip.Father never approached the coast except during the night, and many atime have I seen the swift little schooner come bounding over the waves,with every stitch of her canvas stretched, followed close in her wake bya cutter. The latter would be certain of his prize when he saw theschooner heading straight toward the rocks; but, the first thing heknew, the smuggler would be out of sight in the channel. No light wasnecessary, for father knew every inch of the ground, and before theman-o'-war could lower his boats and discover the place where his prizehad so mysteriously disappeared, father would have his goods landed,and, ere the cutter was aware of it, he would run out of the channelunder his very nose, and make all sail for France. No one outside of theband was ever known to enter the channel; for, even in broad daylight, aperson would have declined making the trial, as the waves dashed androared among the rocks in a manner that seemed to threaten destructionto any thing that came within their reach.

  "The schooner was several times overhauled and boarded while at sea, butfather never lost a cargo. He always succeeded in fooling the revenuechaps in some manner. I remember one time in particular, when I made atrip on board the schooner as mate. We made the run in our usual time,easily eluding the cutters that were watching us, and arrived off thecoast of France with every thing in order. One dark night we landed ourgoods, and, after receiving our money, we ran down to a little town, topurchase some necessary articles, and to take in our return supply. Alot of jabbering French policemen sprang on board of us, almost beforewe had touched the wharf, and commenced rummaging the hold; but they, ofcourse, went away disappointed in their hopes of finding something tocondemn us. We lay in port alongside of a little Dutch trading vessel,that was our exact model and build in every particular, until night,when we received our goods, ran by the police, and stood out to sea. Wegot along nicely until just before daylight, when an 'Irish-man'shurricane,' as we call a calm, set in, accompanied by a heavy fog, andwe lay motionless on the water, with the sails flapping idly against themasts. It was provoking, and a more uneasy set of men than thatschooner's crew I never saw. We remained becalmed for nearly an hour,anxiously waiting for the wind to spring up, when I happened to stepfor'ard, and heard a noise like the washing of the waves against theside of a vessel. I hastily ran aft and reported the matter to father,who silently stationed his men, and walked for'ard, with hisspeaking-trumpet in his hand, while we stood at our posts, almostfearing to breathe, lest it should be heard on board of the strangevessel, which was still concealed from our view by the thick fog.

  "At length, to our inexpressible relief, we felt a puff of wind; thencame another and another, each one increasing in force, until the sailsbegan to draw, and the schooner commenced moving slowly through thewater. We stood off on the starboard tack, intending to give ourinvisible neighbor a wide berth; but he had also caught the wind, and wecould hear him moving along almost in front of us. At length the foglifted a little, and we saw a large revenue-cutter standing directlyacross our bows, scarcely a cable's length distant. We luffed, to allowhim to pass, when a hail came from his deck:

  "'Schooner ahoy!'

  "'Yah,' shouted father through his trumpet.

  "'What schooner is that?'

  "'Dis? Dis is my schooner. You know it.'

  "We all held our breath in suspense, wondering what would be the resultof this strange answer, when we distinctly heard the voice say:

  "'It's that rascally Dutchman again.' Then, in a louder tone, came thequestion, 'Did you keep a good look-out for that smuggler, as werequested?'

  "'Yah! But I haven't saw him.'

  "'O, shiver your ugly figure-head,' was the answer. 'I've a good notionto put a six-pound shot into you, you wooden-headed sour-krout eater.This makes twice that we have been fooled by you. Now off you go, anddon't you cross our hawse again.'

  "Father made no reply, and the cutter put her helm down, and startedoff. We passed under her stern, and in a few moments she disappeared inthe fog. The next night we entered the channel, and landed our goods insafety. We afterward learned that the cutter, which had been closelywatching our movements, had boarded the Dutch schooner, (which I havebefore mentioned, and which sailed about two hours in advance of us,)and so certain were they that they had at last gobbled the smuggler,that they seized the vessel, and unceremoniously slapped the captain andhis crew in double irons. The skipper was so terrified that he forgothis English, and jabbered away in Dutch; and it was not until the ship'spapers had been overhauled, that the cutter discovered her mistake. Whenthe revenue fellows ran foul of us, they were again deceived by theresemblance between the two vessels, and the manner in which father hadimitated the Dutch skipper's language. About a year after that we had astopper put on our operations, by one of our own men.

  "The cave had two entrances--one by a rope ladder from the basin below,which we could draw up in times of danger, and the other by a paththrough the mountains, which was known only to a few of the band whomfather thought he could trust. But his confidence was abused. There is ablack sheep in every flock, and we had one among us--a man who, temptedby the offer of reward that was held out for our apprehension, betrayedus, and broke up our harboring-place.

  "It was this man's business to go to Bath, a small town about two milesfrom the cave, to dispose of our goods to the merchants in that place,and receive the funds. Young as I was, I almost knew that the fellowwould one day get us into trouble. He was a short, powerfully-built man,with a most villainous countenance. He was always silent and morose;could not bear to have you look him in the eye; in short, he was justthe man that I would have picked out from among a hundred as a traitor.Father seemed to repose entire confidence in him, and always asked hisadvice in times of danger; but, as much as I respected his judgment, Icould not conquer the feeling with which I had always regarded the man,and I was constantly on the watch.

  "One night the schooner sailed as usual, but this man, under pretense ofsickness, remained behind, with instructions from father, in case he gotbetter, to go to the village and collect some money due him for goods.

  "'All right,' answered the mate; 'I'll attend to it.' Then, as soon asfather had got out of hearing, he muttered, 'I'll collect something foryou that you won't expect.'

  "As so
on as the schooner had cleared the channel, and was fairly out tosea, the rapidity with which that man got well was astonishing. He staidabout the cave all day, scarcely saying a word to me, and at nightdeparted by the secret path for the village. I was very uneasy, for adread of impending evil constantly pressed upon me, and I determined towatch the path, and be ready for any emergency.

  "On the cliff, at the entrance of the channel that led to the bay, was apile of dry wood, that was to be lighted in case of danger. This Ireplenished, placing materials for striking a light close at hand, andthen returned to the cave to keep watch of the path.

  "Two days passed without the occurrence of any thing unusual, and thenight came on which the schooner was expected to return. I divided myattention between the secret path and the offing, and at length a bluelight, moving up and down in the darkness, told me that the schooner wasapproaching. I answered the signal, and stood peering through thedarkness to get a glimpse of the approaching vessel, when I heard arustling behind me, and looking down the path I discovered, to mydismay, a party of armed men approaching, headed by the traitor, whosaid, in a low voice:

  "'It's all right now. Catch that brat before he has time to light thesignal of danger, and let the schooner once get into the channel, and wehave got them fast.'

  "The person spoken of as 'that brat' was myself, and I knew that thesalvation of the schooner depended upon my exertions. In an instant Ihad determined upon my course, and, springing from the cave, I rantoward the rope ladder that led to the basin below, and commenceddescending. A moment afterward the mouth of the cave was filled by theburly form of the traitor, who exclaimed:

  "'There he is--shoot him!' and, suiting the action to the word, heleveled his pistol and fired. I felt a sharp pain shoot through myshoulder; a faintness seized upon me, and, being unable longer to retainmy hold upon the ladder, I disappeared in the basin. My sudden immersionin the cold water revived me, and, being an excellent swimmer, I struckout, intending to climb the cliff on the opposite side, and fire thepile. I exerted myself to the utmost, for I could see by the lights inthe mouth of the cave that the traitor and his men were preparing tofollow me; but, it seemed, in my hurry and excitement, that I scarcelymoved through the water. At length, however, I reached the oppositeshore, and after climbing the cliff, (which I did with the utmostdifficulty, for my wounded arm was hanging almost useless at my side,and I had not stopped to look for the path,) I ran at the top of myspeed toward the pile. The schooner having seen my signal, andsupposing, of course, that all was right, was still standing toward themouth of the channel. A moment more, and I would have been too late.

  "I had considerable difficulty in finding my flint, and then it seemedimpossible to strike a light; but, just as the foremost of my pursuersreached the top of the cliff, I succeeded in catching a spark; in amoment more, the whole pile was in a blaze. I could not refrain fromgiving a shout of triumph as I saw the flames shooting upward toward thesky, lighting up the whole face of the rocks, until every object was asclearly defined as in broad daylight. I heard an exclamation of surpriseon board the schooner, followed by a few hastily-spoken orders; then Iknew that I had succeeded, and the schooner was safe. But I was not amoment too soon, for the little vessel was rapidly nearing the mouth ofthe channel, and once enclosed by those rocky walls, once under theinfluence of those waves that dashed so madly over the rocks, retreatwould have been impossible.

  "I was allowed scarcely a moment to congratulate myself upon my success,for my pursuers, finding themselves foiled, determined to wreak theirvengeance upon me. They could plainly see me by the light of the burningpile, and the quick discharge of half a dozen pistols sent the bulletsthickly around me. It was death to remain where I was, so, taking a lastlook at the cave, I threw myself over the cliff, and struck out for theschooner.

  "My father, having seen me when I took the leap, laid the schooner to,and lowered a boat to pick me up. I tell you, sir, I was a proudyoungster when I stood on that deck, receiving the thanks and thecongratulations of those I had saved. I forgot the pain of my wound, andthe dangers from which I had escaped, in the joy I experienced atfinding myself once more safe among my friends."

  Their watch ending with Tom's interesting reminiscence, they then turnedin for the night.

  The next morning the attack upon the bluffs was renewed, withoutresulting to the advantage of either side, and at night the vesselsagain withdrew, and retreated down the river. The Trenton returned toher old landing, and Frank, at his request, was again placed in commandof one of the guns of the battery. But he was not destined to hold theposition long, for, now that the "beauties" had dismounted thattroublesome gun, General Sherman had advanced his works until he couldgo no further without getting into the enemy's line. At length, onemorning, a flag of truce was raised within their fortifications, andhostilities were at once suspended. Then came that celebrated interviewbetween the generals, during which the soldiers on both sides clamberedout of the rifle-pits, and conversed face to face with the men with whomthey had so long been engaged in deadly conflict.

  "How are you now, Johnny?" inquired Frank, seating himself on one of theguns, and waving his hat to a rebel officer who stood in the rifle-pits,gazing at the battery with great interest. "What does that flag oftruce mean? Are you going to surrender?"

  "Don't know," replied the rebel; "but, I say, Yank, will you let afellow come over there?"

  "Certainly. Come on."

  The rebel accordingly laid aside his weapons, and walked over to thebattery, where, after examining the guns very curiously, he entered intoconversation with Frank, in the course of which he informed him thatthey were a "played-out concern," and could not possibly hold out morethan a week longer.

  But they did not "hold out" so long; for, on the next day, the fourth ofJuly, the victorious army entered the city, and raised the STARS ANDSTRIPES over the "SEBASTOPOL OF THE REBELS."

  Here we leave our hero, reposing before Vicksburg on his well-earnedreputation as a gallant young officer, waiting to be ordered to newscenes of excitement and danger further down the Mississippi and up hertributary streams. Through these scenes we shall conduct our readers ina concluding volume, which will close Frank's career on our Westernwaters.

  THE END.