The First Capture; or, Hauling Down the Flag of England

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER XII.

  DIFFERENT OPINIONS.

  "Bussin' on it, they are gone!" exclaimed Zeke, with a disconsolate air."Now some one of you is a traitor. He told him what we were up to, andhe went in to get his other officers and got out of one of the windows.Now which one of you is it?"

  If there had been a traitor in that little company who had come out tocapture the officers of the schooner's crew, Zeke did not take theproper way to find him. He was about as angry as he could well get. Hetook off his hat, slammed it down upon the ground, and glared from oneto the other of his band as if he were just aching for one of them todeclare that he was to blame for it.

  "Never mind, Zeke," said O'Brien, who was as much cut up as anybody tofind that the officers had escaped them. "There is another day coming.Remember that we have not given that cheer yet."

  "I know that," said Zeke, picking up his hat. "But we don't want atraitor among us when we go off to capture that schooner. No doubt hewill go to the captain and tip him the wink, and the first thing we knowshe will be out at sea."

  "Let us go down and see what they are going to do," said O'Brien,walking toward the wharf. "Perhaps they are going to stay right there."

  "I will bet you a shilling that that isn't what you would do if you wascommander of the vessel," said Zeke, falling in by the side of O'Brienand moving along with him. "You would let the sloops go."

  "No, I would not. If I were sent here to protect them I would stay withthem until we were all captured. If the captain pulls up his anchor anddrops down the bay, he will stay there until the sloops are loaded andready to start."

  Zeke made no reply; he was too indignant to talk. He walked along by theside of O'Brien, and when they came within sight of the Margaretta theyfound that there was something of a commotion on board. The men wererunning everywhere about the vessel in obedience to the harsh orderswhich came faintly to their ears, and presently the sound of droppinghand-spikes was heard, and a group of sailors were seen gathering abouta gun which was pointed over the town.

  "They are going to shoot at us!" shouted three or four of the men inZeke's company.

  "Let them shoot!" replied Zeb Short. "If we don't leave men enoughbehind us to make them pay for every drop of our blood that they willspill here to-day, we ought to be killed."

  Not a man was seen who showed a disposition to run and find a safe placefrom the ball in the cannon which they knew would come flying towardthem in a minute more. They all stood up, and although there were somepale faces among them, they waited with a dogged determination to see ifthe captain was going to shoot them down. Another minute passed, andthen there was a roar aboard the schooner and something passed abovetheir heads so close that they felt the wind of it. Another and anotherfollowed it, and during all this time Zeke and his men stood there onthe wharf in plain sight, resolved that they would not go until theschooner got through firing. But not one of the balls entered thevillage. They all went over it and were intended, as the sailor hadinformed Caleb Young, to let the citizens of Machias see that the crewof the Margaretta were on the alert. Finally the guns ceased firing andthe crew proceeded to secure them; and when this was done they turnedtheir attention to something else. The schooner was too far off for themto hear the orders that were issued, but they saw the motions, and knewthat the vessel was getting under way. She was not going to wait for thesloops after all.

  "Bussin' on it!" exclaimed Zeke, taking off his hat and throwing it onthe ground beside him. It seemed as if Zeke's hat was the first thing tostand his exhibition of fury whenever he got that way. He plucked it offand threw it as far from him as he could, and then was ready to go onwith his grievance.

  "Are they going to get under way sure enough?" stammered Enoch.

  "You have been to sea often enough to know what 'stand by the capstan'means," retorted Zeke. "Of course she is going to get under way and letthese sloops take care of themselves. You have seen Caleb Young for thelast time."

  "Don't put too much faith in what Zeke says," said Mr. O'Brien. "Thatschooner is going to get under way, but she is only going to drop down afew miles where she can have more sea-room. Do you know that Caleb is onboard that schooner?"

  "No, sir; but he is not in jail, and I don't know where else he couldbe. I believe Mr. Howard had him taken on board, too."

  "Let us go with her and see where she is going to bring up," said ZebShort, who felt very uneasy every time he looked at Zeke. "Perhaps wecan make her surrender."

  "Yes, you will make her surrender," said Zeke, in accents of disgust;but all the same he arose, as the others did, and walked along towardthe point which was about three miles off. The schooner fairly beat themin the race because she had her mainsail up by this time, and was goingahead as fast as a four-knot breeze could send her. The men kept her insight until she rounded to under the point and cast anchor about aquarter of a mile from shore.

  "Do you see that, Zeke?" said Mr. O'Brien, cheerfully. "She is going towait for the sloops. When they come down all ready to sail she will goon with them to New York."

  "I am in favor of going up and getting one of the sloops and attackingher," said Enoch, whose eyes brightened wonderfully when he saw theMargaretta come to anchor. "We can't get her in any other way."

  "I believe the boy is right there," said Wheaton. "If we are going totake that schooner at all, we must go out to her in some way."

  A long discussion followed on this point, some were decidedly in favorof Wheaton's proposition and some were not. Every man had something tosay, but without coming to the point, and before long the sun began tosink out of sight behind the hills.

  "Well," said O'Brien, jumping up and turning his face toward home, "youhave settled the matter for one day at least; but when to-morrow morningcomes you will surely hear that cheer. We will take a sloop and comedown here and capture that schooner."

  "Hear! Hear!" shouted one of the men.

  "All of you who are in favor of going with us we shall expect to seedown here," continued O'Brien. "Those of you who don't favor it, stay athome."

  "Of course if you are going to fight the schooner, we shall go too,"said another, who could not see the beauty of taking a sloop to go outwhere the schooner was and be licked. "When you give that cheer you willfind us all ready."

  "I wish you had been as ready to-day as you say you will be to-morrowfor we would have had that schooner in an hour from now," said O'Brien."I hope you will come prepared to do your duty."

  Zeke and his friends walked home, but they did not say much during theirjourney. He and Enoch were very much disappointed, and they began tothink that the enthusiasm that some of their party had displayed was allput on for the occasion. They had the best of reasons for believing thatCaleb was a prisoner on board that vessel, and that a few more hourswould find him safe in New York and that they would never see him again.They were more anxious to fight now than they had ever been before; andwhen Enoch parted from him at his gate, Zeke said:

  "That's what comes of postponing a dangerous thing like this. Thosefellows yesterday were all eager to fight, and you saw how some of thembacked out down there at the point."

  "You are going to take that schooner, are you not?" asked Enoch.

  "To be sure we are," said Zeke, striking his palms together. "If thereis one man left of our party, he is going to sail that boat into theharbor."

  "I am glad to hear you say that," said Enoch, smiling and rubbing hishands together. "The only brother I have is aboard that boat, and I ambound to get him out if I can."

  "You keep your ears open and you will surely hear the sign," said Zeke,impressively. "Then you come a running."

  Enoch replied that he would be there as soon as any of them, andcontinued on his way toward home. On the way he was obliged to pass Mr.Howard's house, and he saw somebody sitting on the porch whom he hopedhe might never see again. It was the boy whose father had placed Caleb aprisoner aboard the schooner. He was sitting on the porch with hiswounded eye done up, and when he
saw Enoch approaching he got up andcame down to the gate; but Enoch noticed that he did not come withinreach of it. He stopped just outside of the touch of Enoch's arm.

  "Well, Enoch, you did not get them, did you?" said he.

  "Get what?" said Enoch in reply.

  "Oh, I don't suppose you know that there was fifteen or twenty men whowent down to the church this morning to arrest the officers of theschooner," said James, with a laugh. "I know all about it. You did notguard the windows as well as the door, and so they slipped out. You willhave to be sharper than that if you hope to gobble Britishers."

  Enoch thought he had got all he wanted to know out of James, and turnedto go on again, but before he had made many steps James called afterhim.

  "I have got something more that I want to tell you," said he. "How manyof you did they kill when they opened fire on you?"

  "They did not kill any of us. They shot over our heads just to let usknow that they were on the watch."

  "Yes; and they could have wiped you all out if they had had a mind to.You want to go easy around that schooner, for they have got one of youboys there in irons."

  "You know that, do you?" said Enoch. He drew cautiously up to the gate,but James was on the watch and he stepped back a pace or two.

  "Yes, sir, I know it. The captain said he would arrest him, and he wasnot with you fellows down to the church; so he must be on board theschooner. He is going to New York, and he will find men there who arestrong enough to make him pay his fine."

  "If you will just step outside that gate for one minute I will put yourother eye in mourning, and then you will have two eyes just alike," saidEnoch, who was almost beside himself with fury.

  "No, I thank you," said James, with a laugh. "My other eye suits meexactly. You will get yourself arrested, too, if you don't look out.Caleb will pay his fine at the rate of a shilling a day, and that willtake him thirty days to square it all up. Thirty days shut up away fromhome and friends and surrounded with men who don't like you, will teachhim a lesson."

  "Well, I will tell you one thing," said Enoch, whose pale face showedhow angry he was. "Don't let me catch you outside this gate again. Andwhen Caleb gets back--he will be out before the thirty days are up----"

  "He will, eh? How is he going to get out?"

  "He will get out; don't you forget it. And when he comes back, you hadbetter stay in the house unless you want your other eye tied up too."

  James did not say any more, for something Enoch had said had started aserious train of reflections in his mind. He looked sharply at Enoch fora second or two, and then turned and walked into the house, while Enochkept on toward home.

  "If Caleb won't lick him I will lick him myself," soliloquized the boy,who was so excited that he could scarcely keep from going back andassaulting James in his own dooryard. "I don't know now how I kept myhands off him."

  "Well, what did that young rebel have to say to you?" said Mr. Howard,as James entered the sitting-room where his father was. "Did you tellhim about Caleb?"

  "I did, and he was as saucy about it as you please," said James. "Hesays that Caleb won't stay in prison for thirty days, and when he comesout he will fix my other eye to be tied up, too."

  "He won't stay there for thirty days!" said his father. "What does hemean by that? They can't capture the schooner, for if she sees a boatcoming out with a lot of men on board, she will slip her anchor and putout to sea. I guess he will stay there thirty days."

  "I guess I had better stay in the house altogether," said James, with anair of disgust. "I have made Enoch mad at me, and he will beat me if hesees me on the streets."

  "Why don't you let him punch you?" said Mr. Howard. "Then we will havehim shut up too."

  James did not see fit to answer this question. He looked at his fatherwith surprise and then walked out on the porch again.