Commodore Barney's Young Spies Part 46

CHAPTER XXI.

IN PORT.

The moments pa.s.sed in silence, save for the hissing of the rain-drops as they mingled with the water of the river, and I was saying to myself that of a verity we must have drifted safely through the fleet without touching a s.h.i.+p, when that came which I had been fearing.

Suddenly I felt a shock; then a noise as of wood grinding against wood, and I knew we had fouled the enemy!

While one might have counted five the pungy rubbed against the side of the s.h.i.+p, and then came the hail:

"Ahoy there! Ahoy!"

"What are you hailing?" a strange voice cried, and he who had first broken the silence replied:

"There's a craft of some kind alongside, sir!"

Then it was as if a swarm of bees had been let loose. The enemy's s.h.i.+p was alive with moving, buzzing beings, some of whom cried out this or that order, and others called down maledictions on the head of the man who had needlessly aroused them.

"There's nothin' here, sir. Sam was dreamin'," I heard the voice of a sailor cry, and almost at the same instant came the rattling of fire-arms as they were being handled, sounding so near aboard that it seemed as if a portion of the enemy had leaped upon our decks.

"Make ready! Fire!" sounded the command, sharp and quick.

Then came a sheet of flame which lighted up surrounding objects until we could distinctly see the deck of the bomb-vessel, and the eager men thronging her deck.

This illumination was but as the lightning's flash, and then we could hear the angry hum of the bullets as they swarmed above our heads.

We had been seen, and I believed that a broadside would follow in short order, yet at the same time I realized that our good fortune had followed us when it sent the pungy afoul of a bomb-vessel, instead of a craft which had her guns ready trained for service.

Now had come the time, however, when we were to remain idle no longer.

I heard Darius call Bill Jepson, and knew by the noises which followed that the two sailors were taking to the canoe in order to tow the pungy, and at the same time Captain Hanaford cast off the las.h.i.+ng of the tiller as he ordered us to run up the canvas.

Work? I have never moved so lively before nor since, as I did then when I felt positive that within a very few seconds our deck would be swept by grape and cannister.

At such moments of supreme danger one's senses are unnaturally acute, and while I gave strict attention to all that was taking place aboard the pungy, it became possible to understand what the enemy was about.

The other vessels of the fleet were making ready to take a hand in our destruction. From every quarter we could hear cries of command, mingled with the noise of men running to and fro, and just when the pungy began to feel the effect of the canvas which was clapped on her in such a hurry, a rocket went up, illumining the scene for ten seconds or more.

Then it was I saw that we had pa.s.sed three of the s.h.i.+ps, having come to grief on the last in the line, and had no time to take further note of the surroundings when the guns of all four craft belched forth with a mighty roar that caused the pungy to tremble, but the impact of the shot did not follow.

Thus suddenly aroused, and in the intense darkness which had been dispelled only long enough to dazzle a fellow's eyes, the gunners had not been able to take accurate aim, otherwise we must have gone to the bottom like a stone.

"They won't have time to try that game more than once again before we'll be well out of their way," I heard Darius say, and I knew we had sufficient speed to render useless the work of towing, otherwise the two sailors would not have come aboard.

Now three rockets were sent up in rapid succession, and while the light lasted I knew that the British gunners were taking aim at us; but we had slipped so far down the river by this time that there were some few chances in our favor, however closely they might shoot.

"Down on your faces!" Darius cried, and I dropped like a stone, understanding that such an order had been given to lessen the chances of our being hit; but at the same time the thought came to me that it was better to be killed by a round-shot which would cut a man's life short instantly, than mangled by a splinter.

Then came the flash of burning powder; the mighty roar of big guns; the hurtling shot striking the water on every side, and the pungy reeled and quivered as if she had struck a rock.

"One ball went home that time!" Darius cried, and I knew by the sound that he had leaped to his feet, running with all speed into the cuddy.

From below I made out the tiny gleam of the match as Darius lighted a lantern, and did not need to be told that he was gone to learn what injury our vessel had received.

Immediately the cannon had been discharged Captain Hanaford was on his feet, grasping the tiller as if it was possible to steer the pungy while the blackness continued so dense that one might fancy he could feel it, and then came the glare of more rockets.

This aided the helmsman of ours more than it did the British gunners, since it gave him an opportunity to see exactly where his vessel was; but as to that I gave no heed. All my mind was centered on the distance between us and the enemy.

I could have cried aloud with joy, and am not certain but that I did, on seeing that we were drawing away with more speed than I had believed was in the clumsy craft, and, what was of greater importance, the pungy was rounding a bend which, once pa.s.sed, would put us beyond reach of the guns.

The rockets had been fired just in the nick of time, otherwise we would have gone ash.o.r.e on the western bank.

For the third time we heard the thunder of the guns; but the shot must have pa.s.sed astern of us, for I did not hear either the splas.h.i.+ng of water or the splintering of our wood-work to tell where they struck.

Then Darius came on deck with an announcement that relieved me of nearly all my fears.

"The pungy has a solid shot above the water-line well forward; but there's no need of pluggin' it, for the ball didn't get through the timber. I reckon we've done the trick, eh, captain?"

"We're off for a fact, an' unless we strike the mud 'twixt here an'

the bay, we've seen the last of that lot of Britishers."

Now it was that all hands of us were ordered forward to act as look-outs, and the pungy danced along in the darkness, as if rejoicing at her escape from a peril that had well-nigh proved her ending.

It is impossible for me to set down what we said or did when it was seen that we had really escaped from as dangerous a venture as human beings ever embarked in. I dare say we acted like a party of simples, and certain it is that the older members of the crew were no less boisterous in their rejoicings than we lads.

And now there remains but little more to be said, for the homeward voyage was short.

At midnight the rain ceased falling; the clouds were partially dispersed, and we had sufficient light to enable us to navigate the little vessel without difficulty.

In four and twenty hours, without having come across an enemy, or anything to cause alarm, we were in Benedict once more, Captain Hanaford having sailed past his own home in order to land us, and well was it for all hands that we did not arrive the day previous, because not until then did the fleet under Admiral Cochrane, with the land forces under General Ross, take their final departure, leaving the little village looking as if a herd of cattle had been pastured there.

It only remains for me to say, since this story has nothing to do with my movements after we were returned from service under Commodore Barney, that in due time the government honored the commodore's guarantee, thus enabling Jerry and me to purchase a pungy much larger and better than the Avenger, and at the same time have quite a substantial sum of money to give our parents.

And all this I have written in the cuddy of the new boat, which we have named the "Joshua Barney," while Jim Freeman, Dody Wardwell, Josiah Coburn, Darius and Jerry have discussed each portion as it was set down, for we are s.h.i.+pmates in the oyster business, sharing the profits as well as the work, until a stranger would find it difficult to say which is the captain or which the cook.

Now that my portion of the work has come to an end, I shall copy here that which will serve to wind up the yarn in proper shape.

Referring to the close of the battle of Bladensburg, a newspaper writer says:

"The English sharp-shooters had straggled about, and were doing much mischief; Barney's horse fell between two of the guns, pierced by two b.a.l.l.s; several of his officers were killed or wounded, the ammunition wagon had gone off in the general confusion and retreat of the army; the enemy began to flank out to the right, under cover of a thick wood, and had nearly surrounded the commodore. His men were nearly exhausted, having undergone a three-days' march without a regular supply of provisions. He had received a wound in the thigh some time before, and was faint from loss of blood, when he ordered a retreat, which was effected in good order by the men and such officers as could follow. He retired a few yards with the help of three of his officers whom he had ordered away, and fell from weakness, in which situation he was found by the enemy.

"General Ross and Admiral c.o.c.kburn came to him and tendered every a.s.sistance. He was carried in a litter to the village of Bladensburg, and the next day, in the company of his wife and son, was taken home in a carriage. A week later he was formally exchanged for two British colonels. The ball had been probed for by the English surgeons, but without effect, and it was not found until after his death, which is said to have been caused by the wound."

And now regarding the fleet which we dodged, Mr. Lossing says in his "War of 1812."

"The British squadron appeared before Fort Was.h.i.+ngton on the 27th of August, three days after the capture of the capital. Captain Dyson either misunderstood General Winder's order, or was influenced by mortal fear, for he blew up and abandoned the fort without firing a gun. No doubt the British fleet could have been kept below by the heavy cannon of the fort. Dyson chose not to try the experiment, and for his injurious conduct he was dismissed from the service.

"The British squadron now had nothing to fear, and without interference the frigates sailed on, anchoring off Alexandria on the evening of the 28th. On the morning of the 29th it a.s.sumed a hostile att.i.tude a hundred yards from the wharves, and was well prepared to lay every building in the town in ashes. The citizens sent a deputation to Captain Gordon to ask upon what terms he would consent to spare the town. He replied that all naval stores and ordnance; all the s.h.i.+pping and its furniture; merchandise of every description in the city, or which had been carried out of it to a place of safety; and refreshments of every kind, must be immediately given up to him.

Also that the vessels which had been scuttled to save them from destruction must be raised, and delivered up to him. 'Do all this,' he said, 'and the town of Alexandria, with the exception of public works, shall be spared, and the inhabitants shall remain unmolested."