"Nor I either, mate," said the captain, with an upward glance at the rigging and a side squint across the sea. ""Tisn"t any fault o" mine.
I protested."
"I heard ye," replied the mate. "They only laughed at us. They said the king"s cruisers"d swep" these waters as clean as the Channel. Glad ye know "em."
"Know "em?" laughed Captain Watts. "I"m a Ma.s.sachusetts man. I know "em like a book. Don"t need any pilot."
"How "bout h.e.l.l Gate, when we get there? We"ve lost a ship or two--"
"Brackett, man," interrupted the skipper, more seriously, "that"s a long reach ahead, yet. I know h.e.l.l Gate channel when we get there.
Our risks"ll be in the sound. The rebels haven"t any reg"lar cruisers.
What we"ve to look out for is the Long Island whaleboat men. Tough customers. They say nigh half on "em are redskins,--Indian scalpers."
"Well! As to them," said the mate, "we can beat "em off. Our four-pounder popguns"d be good against whaleboats but not for anything bigger."
"Six on "em," said Captain Watts. "We can handle "em, too."
"I"d rather "twas a frigate," said the mate. "Our crew"s none too strong, and half of "em are "pressed men. No fight in "em."
"Oh, yes, they"ll have to fight," was responded. "Fight or hang, perhaps. I hate a "pressed man. Anyhow, it"ll take a better wind than this to show us h.e.l.l Gate channel before day after to-morrow. We"ll be tackin" about in the sound, to-night."
"It"s a"most a calm! Bitter cold, too."
He was a very intelligent looking British sailor, that first mate of the _Windsor_. She was a bark-rigged vessel of possibly six hundred tons, and she was freighted heavily with military and other supplies for the king"s forces at New York.
Somehow or other, the discontented mate could not say why or how, the _Windsor_ had become separated from her convoy and consorts. These were seeking their harbor by way of Sandy Hook, while she had been sent through Long Island Sound. She was hardly in it yet, although it may be a wide water question as to precisely at what line the sound begins.
Not a sail of any kind larger than a fisherman"s shallop was in sight.
There was solid comfort to be had in the knowledge that the Americans had no navy, and that all these waters were regularly patrolled by English armed vessels. It looked as if there could be no good cause for anxiety, and Mate Brackett was compelled to accept the situation.
He turned away, and the captain himself went below, hopefully remarking:--
"Cold weather"s nothin". There"ll be more wind, by and by. We"ll be ready to take it when it comes."
"He"s a prime seaman. No doubt o" that," said the mate, looking after him. "He"s pilot enough, too, and our bein" here"s no fault o" his.
We"ll be ready for any rebel boats, though. I"ll cast loose the guns, such as they are, and I"ll get up powder and ball. Grapeshot"d be the thing for boats. Sweep "em at short range. This "ere craft"s goin" to reach port, if we fight our way in!"
He was showing pretty good judgment and plenty of courage. His six guns, three on a side, looked serviceable. The crew appeared to be numerous enough to handle so few pieces as that, whatever their other deficiencies might be. Part of them, indeed were first-rate British tars, the best fighters in the world. As for Captain Watts, he was understood to be an American Tory of the strongest kind, to be depended upon even more than if he had been a Hull man or a Londoner. No set of men, anywhere, ever showed more self-sacrificing devotion to their political principles than did the loyalists, or royalists, of America in their long, fruitless struggle with what they deemed treason and rebellion.
It is possible that Mate Brackett might have studied his cannon and their capacities even more carefully than he did, if at that morning hour he could have been for a few minutes one of a little group upon the deck of a craft that was at anchor in New London harbor.
The tonnage of this vessel was much less than that of the _Windsor_, but she was sharper in the nose, cleaner in the run, trimmer, handsomer. She was schooner-rigged, with tall, tapering, raking masts that promised for her an ample spread of canvas. She was, in short, one of the new type of vessels for which the American shipyards were already becoming distinguished. She had been built for the whale-fishery, and that meant, to the understanding of Yankee sailors, that she was to have speed enough to race a school of runaway whales, strength to stand the squeeze of an icefloe, the b.u.mp of an iceberg, or the blast and billows of a hurricane. She must also have fair stowage room between decks and in her hold for many casks of oil.
"Up-na-tan like long guns," said one of the voices on the deck of the _Noank_. "Now! Coco swing him. No man help. One man swing. All "tan back. Brack man try."
He was asking a practical question as an experienced gunner. It was necessary to know whether or not the pivoting of that long, bra.s.s eighteen-pounder had been perfectly done for freedom of movement. In action there would be men enough to handle it, but even the work of many hands should not be impeded by overtight fittings and needless frictions.
"Ugh! Good!" he exclaimed, as his black comrade turned the gun back and forth, and then he tried it himself.
"Captain Avery, that"s so, he can do it," remarked Guert Ten Eyck, thoughtfully, "but those two are made of iron and hickory. It isn"t every fellow can do what they can."
"No, I guess not," laughed Captain Avery.
"I"m glad the old Buccaneers are pleased, though. There goes the redskin to the other guns. He can"t find any fault with "em. Not one of "em"s a short nose."
Three on a side, polished to glittering, the long bra.s.s sixes slept upon their perfectly fitted carriages. Every one of them bore the mark of the _fleur de lis_, for they were of a pattern which the French royal foundries were turning out for the light cruisers of King Louis.
Such of them as were already mounted in that manner were lazily waiting for a formal declaration of war with England. These here, however, and others like them, were already carrying on that very war. Before a great while, the entire French navy was to become auxiliary to that of the United States, and considerable French land forces were to march to victory shoulder to shoulder with the Continentals under General Washington.
The sailor comrades of Up-na-tan and Coco were evidently well aware that the savage-looking couple had seen much sea service upon armed vessels. The less said about it the better, perhaps, but some of it had been upon British cruisers, in whatever manner it had been escaped from. Some of it had been, it was said, under a very different fighting flag. Their inspection of the broadside guns was therefore watched with interest.
"Long!" said Up-na-tan. "Good. Shoot bullet far. Not big enough.
Want nine-pounder. Old chief like big gun. Knock hole in ship. Sink her quick."
"Take out cargo first," muttered Coco.
"Then sink ship. Not lose cargo."
"Jest so!" exclaimed Captain Avery. "That"s what we"ll do! Chief, I believe the frame of the _Noank_ is strong enough to carry a long thirty-two and six eighteens."
"No!" replied the Indian, firmly. "Too much big gun "poil schooner.
No run fast any more."
According to the red man"s judgment, therefore, the Yankee skipper"s enthusiasm might lead him to overload his swift vessel or make her topheavy in a sea. It was likely that things were just as well as they were. At all events, her brilliant armament and her disciplined ordering gave her an exceedingly efficient and warlike air as she rode there waiting her sailing orders.
"Sam Prentice"s boat!" suddenly called out a voice, aft. "Father, he"s headed for us. Here he comes, rowing hard!"
"_Noank_ ahoy!" came across the water, from as far away as a pair of strong lungs could send it. "I say! Is Lyme Avery aboard?"
"Every man"s aboard! All ready! What news?" went back through the speaking trumpet in the hands of Vine Avery, at the stern.
"Tell him to h"ist anchor! British ship sighted away east"ard! Not a man-o"-war. "Rouse him!"
"All hands up anchor!" roared Captain Avery. "Run in the guns! Close the ports! Gear that pivot-gun fast! Up-na-tan, that"s your work."
"Ugh!" said the Indian. "Shoot pretty soon."
Vine and Sam Prentice were exchanging messages rapidly as the rowboat came nearer. All on board could hear, and now the trumpeter turned to note the eager, fierce activity of the old Manhattan.
"It does you good, doesn"t it," he said. "You"re dyin" for a chance to try your Frenchers."
"Ugh!" grunted the chief, patting the pivot-gun affectionately. "Sink ship for ole King George. Kill plenty lobster! Kill all captain!
Whoo-oo-oop!"
His hand was at his mouth, and the screech he sent forth was the warwhoop of his vanished tribe,--if any ears of white men can distinguish between one warwhoop and another. That he had been a sailor, however, was not at all remarkable. All of the New England coast Indians and the many small clans of Long Island had been from time immemorial termed "fish Indians" by their inland red cousins. The island clans were also known as "little bush" Indians. All that now remained of them took to the sea as their natural inheritance, and their best men were in good demand for their exceptional skill as harpooners.
The anchor of the _Noank_ was beginning to come up when the boat of Sam Prentice reached the side.
"Did you sight her yourself, Sam?" asked Captain Avery.
"Well, I did," said Sam. "I was out more scoutin" than fishin", and I had a good gla.s.s. She"s a bark, heavy laden. It"s a light wind for anything o" her rig. She can"t git away from our nippers. I didn"t lose time gettin" any nigher. I came right in."