CHAPTER XVII.
Toward evening the young people again gathered about the captain,asking that his story of naval exploits might be continued.
"I am not sure," he said pleasantly, "that to recount naval exploits isthe wisest thing I can do; it stirs my blood, and revives the old lovefor the service."
"Oh, Papa, please don't ever, ever go back to your ship and leave us!"exclaimed Gracie, tears starting to her eyes at the very thought.
"I am not at all sure that I would be accepted should I offer myservices again, my darling," he answered, drawing her into his arms andcaressing her tenderly; "but really I have no serious thought of sodoing."
"Oh, I'm glad of that, you dear Papa!" she said with a sigh of relief,putting her arm about his neck and kissing him with ardent affection.
"So am I," said Lulu. "I don't know what I wouldn't rather have happenthan to be parted again for months and maybe years from my dear father."
A loving look was his reply as he drew her to his other side andcaressed her with equal tenderness.
At that little Elsie came running toward them. "Me too, Papa," shesaid, "kiss me too, and let me sit on your knee while you tell 'boutthings that happened a long while ago."
"Yes, the baby girl has the best right to sit on Papa's knee when shewants to," said Lulu, good-naturedly making way for the little one.
A loving look and smile from her father as he lifted the baby girl tothe coveted seat and gave her the asked for caress, amply rewarded herlittle act of self-denial.
"I cannot begin to tell you to-day all the exploits of our navy evenduring the first war with England," the Captain said; "you will have toread the history for yourselves, and I trust will enjoy doing so, butI shall try to relate some of the more prominent incidents in a way toentertain you."
"What kind of flag did our naval vessels carry at the beginning of theRevolutionary War, Captain?" asked Evelyn. "It was not till 1777, if mymemory serves me right, that our present flag was adopted by Congress."
"You are quite right," the Captain said, "and up to that time eachvessel of the little Continental navy carried one of her own choosing;or rather each commander was allowed to choose a device to suithimself. It is claimed for John Paul Jones that he raised with his ownhands the first flag of a regular American cruiser. The vessel wasHopkins's flag-ship the 'Alfred.' It was at Philadelphia, early in 1776the banner was raised. It had a white field, with the words 'LibertyTree' in the centre above a representation of a pine tree; beneath werethe words, 'Appeal to God.'"
"Yes, sir; but didn't some one about that time raise a flag composed ofthirteen stripes?" queried Eva.
"Quite true," replied the Captain, "and across it a rattlesnake;underneath that, the words, 'Don't Tread On Me.'
"Both Continental vessels and privateers were very successful, and bymid-summer of 1776 they had captured more than five hundred Britishsoldiers. There was a Captain Conyngham, a brave and skilful seaman,who sailed from Dunkirk in May, 1777, in the brig 'Surprise,' underone of the commissions which Franklin carried with him to France forarmy and navy officers. (Those of you who have studied geography will,I suppose, remember that Dunkirk is in the north of France.) Conynghamwas very successful; had in a few days captured the British packet ship'Prince of Orange' and a brig, and returned with them to Dunkirk. TheEnglish ambassador at Paris complained very strongly, and to appeasethe wrath of the English, the French Government put the captain and hiscrew in prison."
"Oh, what a shame!" cried Lulu.
Her father smiled slightly at that. "They were not kept there verylong," he said, "but were soon released, and Conyngham allowed to fitout another cruiser, called the 'Revenge.'"
"A very suitable name," laughed Max.
"Yes," assented his father, and went on with his history. "The BritishGovernment had sent two vessels to arrest Conyngham and his men aspirates, but when they reached Dunkirk he had already sailed. Hadthe British succeeded in taking them, they would no doubt have beenhanged as pirates; for both Government and people of Great Britainwere at that time much exasperated by the blows Americans were dealingtheir dearest interest, commerce. 'The Revenge' was doing so muchinjury,--making prizes of merchantmen, and so putting money into thehands of the American commissioners for public use,--that the Britishwere at their wit's end; the people in the seaports were greatlyalarmed, and insurance on cargoes went up to twenty-five per cent. Someof the British merchants sent out their goods in French vessels forgreater security,--so many of them, in fact, that at one time therewere forty French vessels together in the Thames taking in cargoes.
"At that time British transports were engaged in carrying German troopsacross the Atlantic to fight the Americans. Conyngham was on thelook-out for these, but did not succeed in meeting with any of them."
"Such a despicable business as it was for George III to hire thosefellows to fight the people here!" exclaimed Max. "I wish Conyngham hadcaught some of them. Papa, didn't he at one time disguise his ship andtake her into an English port to refit?"
"So it is said," replied the Captain; "it was for repairs, after astorm. It is said also that he obtained supplies at one time in anIrish port."
"Didn't British ships take ours sometimes, Papa?" asked Grace.
"Yes," he replied, "victory was not always on the side of theAmericans. The fast-sailing British frigates captured manyprivateersmen and merchantmen, and considering their great superiorityof numbers it would have been strange indeed had that not been thecase. The war on the ocean was very destructive to both parties; yetthe Americans were, with reason, amazed and delighted with theirmeasure of success, astonishing in proportion to the odds against them.
"During that year--1776--they had captured three hundred and fortyBritish vessels; four had been burned, forty-five recaptured, andeighteen released.
"It was in the fall of that year that Benedict Arnold commanded somestirring naval operations on Lake Champlain. In the previous springthe British had made preparations to invade the Champlain and Hudsonvalleys, hoping thus to effect a separation between New England and theother colonies which would naturally make it an easier task to conquerboth sections.
"To ward off that threatened danger the Americans holding Ticonderogaand Crown Point--both on the lake as you will remember--constructed asmall squadron, the command of which was given to Arnold, who knew moreabout naval affairs than any other available person. Three schooners,one sloop, and five gondolas were armed and manned, and with thislittle squadron Arnold sailed down to the foot of the lake and madeobservations.
"In the mean time the British had heard of what was going on, and they,too, had prepared a small squadron on the river Sorel, the outlet ofthe lake. Their navy consisted of twenty-four gun-boats, each armedwith a field-piece or carriage-gun, and a large flat-bottomed boatcalled the 'Thunderer,' carrying heavy guns.
"It was not till the middle of October that the fight took place.Arnold, with his flotilla, was then lying between the western shoreof the lake and Valcour Island. The 'Congress' was his flag-ship. TheBritish attacked him, and a very severe fight followed. It was broughtto a conclusion only by the coming of a very dark night. The Americanshad lost the 'Royal Savage' in the action; the rest of the flotillafled up the lake, eluding the British in the darkness.
"The next morning the British followed; and all that day and thefollowing night the chase continued. Early the next morning the Britishsucceeded in coming up with the Americans, and another battle followed.Arnold, who was on the galley 'Congress,' fought hard until his vesselwas nearly a wreck, then ran her and four others into a creek and setthem on fire to prevent their falling into the hands of the foe.
"Those who were left of the crews escaped and made their way to CrownPoint."
"Arnold did do good work for his country in the early part of the war,"exclaimed Rosie. "If he had been killed in that fight he would alwayshave been considered as great a patriot as any other man of the time."
"Yes," replied the Captain with an i
nvoluntary sigh, "if he had fallenthen, or even some years later, his memory would have been as fondlycherished as that of almost any other soldier of the Revolution. Hewould have been considered one of the noblest champions of liberty.Ah, what a pity he should turn traitor and make himself the objectof infamy, as lasting as the history of his native land, which heattempted to betray into the hands of her foes!"
"Doubtless after years must have brought him many an hour of bitterregret," said Mrs. Travilla, echoing the Captain's sigh. "Poor fellow!I hope he repented and was forgiven of God, though his countrymen couldnever forgive him. He had a pious mother who tried to train him uparight, and certainly must have often prayed earnestly for her son; soI hope he may have repented and found forgiveness and salvation throughthe atoning blood of Christ."
"I would be glad indeed to know that he had, Mamma," said Violet.
"I too," added the Captain. "I think he must have been a very wretchedman in the latter years of his life."
"Was he treated well in England, Papa?" asked Lulu.
"Not by every one," replied her father; "some of the noble-minded thereshowed him very plainly that they despised him for his treason. GeorgeIII. introduced him to Earl Balcarras, who had been with Burgoyne atthe battle of Bemis's Heights; but the earl refused his hand, andturned on his heel saying, 'I know General Arnold, and abominatetraitors.'"
"How Arnold must have felt that!" exclaimed Rosie. "I would not haveliked to be in his shoes."
"Nor I," said her mother. "The British officers thoroughly despisedhim, and there is an anecdote of a meeting he once had with Talleyrandwhich must have been trying to his feelings, if he had any sense ofhonour left.
"It seems that Talleyrand, who was fleeing from France during therevolution there, inquired at the hotel where he was at the time, forsome American who could give him letters of introduction to personsof influence here. He was told that an American gentleman was in anadjoining room. It seems it was Arnold, though no one, I suppose, knewwho he was. Talleyrand sought an interview with him, and made hisrequest for letters of introduction, when Arnold at once retreated fromthe room, as he did so saying with a look of pain on his face, 'I wasborn in America, lived there till the prime of my life, but, alas! Ican call no man in America my friend.'"
"I should feel sorry for him in spite of that black act of treason,"Violet said, "if he had not followed it up by such infamous deedsagainst his countrymen, even those of them who had been his neighboursand friends in his early years. I remember Lossing tells us that whileNew Haven--set on fire by Arnold's band of Tories and Hessians--wasburning, he stood in the belfry of a church watching the conflagrationwith probably the same kind of satisfaction that Nero felt in thedestruction of Rome. Think of such a murderous expedition against thehome and friends of his childhood and youth! the wanton destruction ofa thriving town! It showed him to be a most malicious wretch, worthy ofthe scorn and contempt with which he was treated even by many of thosewho had profited by his treason."
"Yes; 'the way of transgressors is hard,'" quoted her mother.
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