One Thousand Dollars Reward.
"I really think it was just the neatest thing that I ever did in thatline," said the grizzled old Captain Gapsill.
"To what do you allude?" I inquired, knowing that I was about to hearsomething interesting.
"That little affair I had with Black Ben."
"Black Ben? Who is he?"
"Hain't you ever heard tell of him?" demanded the captain, inamazement; and then, recollecting himself, he added: "I forgot; thatwas before your time--at least, you must have been quite a younkerthen. Black Ben, next to Mike Fink, was one of the greatest piratesthat ever infested the Mississippi."
"What became of him?"
"I was going to tell you. In the first place, you mustn't imagine hewas a negro because he was called Black Ben. He had a skin as dark as amulatto's, and a fearful lot of great, black, bushy hair, which stoodup like bristles; and, as he always went without a hat, I can tell youhe was just about the most villainous-looking creature you ever saw.Besides that, he had jet-black whiskers, short and sticking out likeneedles, and growing up almost to his eyes; so when you looked at himyou saw about a bushel of black, bristling hair, and in the midst hisgreat eyes glowing like coals of fire. He wasn't more than five feetin height; he had short legs, very long arms, and immense muscularpower. He generally went dressed as a backwoodsman, and had twocomrades--ordinary-looking men, but as bloody and merciless cutthroatsas he.
"Black Ben had been seen as far up as Cairo, and as low down asNatchez. He was such a queer-looking creature that it was impossiblefor him to disguise himself enough to go among the towns or where hewould have run any danger. His principal hunting-ground was from themouth of the Arkansas north to the Tennessee line. Here he had all theopportunity he wished for hiding himself, and I don't believe a partyof red Indians ever could have hunted him to his hole. If he hadn'tmet his fate in the queer manner he did he might have hunted thereuntil he died of old age.
"In those days a great many flatboats used to pass down the Mississippion their way to New Orleans, and these were the favorite prey of BlackBen and his men. As the river navigation, with its snags and sawyers,is always so dangerous, these boats often lay to under the bank duringthe night, when the chances are ten to one that the sharp eyes of thesepirates detected them, and, at the dead hour of midnight, they stoleout as silently as shadows, crept over the boat, cut the throats ofthe unsuspicious sleepers, gutted the craft, then scuttled it and setit afloat. Out in deep water it would sink, and that would be the lastever seen or heard of that flatboat.
"Black Ben was a horrid dog, and it was no wonder that there was suchterror of him all along the river. Captain Hallongton, an old friendof mine, had his boat served in this manner, but the night was so darkthat he managed to swim off, although his three men were every one ofthem murdered. The captain had a hard story to tell, and he offeredfive hundred dollars to any one who would shoot this bloody cutthroat.
"I had been from Cincinnati down to New Orleans fully a dozen timeswithout once encountering this redoubtable Blue Beard. I had lain toat a place where, it was said, he would be sure to find us; but neveronce did we catch sight or sound of him, and I would have doubted hisexistence but for the testimony of Captain Hallongton and his friends,whom I could not refuse to believe.
"'It is strange that I never meet him.' I once said, when he and I wereconversing together regarding this river outlaw. 'It must be that he iseither afraid of me, or else has a feeling of friendship toward me.'
"'Don't congratulate yourself too soon,' replied my friend. 'Dependupon it, Black Ben will yet pay you a visit.'
"'I have heard so much of him that I must say my curiosity is reallygreater than my terror.'
"'See here!' interrupted the captain, starting up in sudden excitement;'you're going to start down the river next week?'
"'A week from to-morrow.'
"'Good! You take Dick and Tom, your usual help?'
"'Of course.'
"'I ship with you as a common hand, just on purpose to help you to asight of Black Ben. What do you say?'
"The proposition struck me very favorably, and I urged the captain toit. As he was ten times as rich as I was, I didn't exactly like theidea of his going as a common hand, although on my flatboat there wasno other position for him. It was finally agreed that he should passhimself as one of my assistants; but as there was no need of his work,he was to do little more than dress himself as such, to deceive anyone whom we might encounter, while he might accommodate the labor tohimself.
"We made all our arrangements as if certain of encountering thisfellow. We went more fully armed than we ever did before, and it wasagreed that when we reached that part of the river where we had reasonto expect the appearance of Black Ben, or where there was the leastlikelihood of his seeing us, that nobody should show themselves abovedeck except Captain Hallongton and myself. This was for the purpose ofmaking the pirate believe there were only two of us on board, and thusluring him on to what we hoped would be his destruction.
"Well, we swung loose from Cincinnati one fine morning, and in due timereached the Mississippi, and lay to at Memphis, Tennessee, one stormynight, where we fixed everything to our satisfaction. When we startednext morning, Tom and Dick were sent down below in the cabin, with theunderstanding that they were not to show themselves until they hadpermission to do so.
"It was late in the autumn of 1838, and I remember that the weather wasquite chilly, so much so that both Hallongton and myself kept on ourovercoats all the time. We passed to and fro, plainly showing ourselvesto any one who might be along the bank. Tom and Dick were allowed tocome up only when the night was dark, and then they exchanged placeswith us, so that under no circumstances were more than two of usvisible at the same time.
"Down below Helena, on the Arkansas side, we had fixed as the placewhere we might reasonably look for the appearance. There was a longstretch of wood country, where the wretch's most inhuman deeds had beenlocated.
"It was a cold, blustering night that we worked our boat under thewooded shore and made fast to the identical spot, where my friend hadhad his memorable adventure with Black Ben. He recognized it by severallandmarks, and assured me that we would hear from the gentleman beforemany hours had passed over our heads.
"For the last few miles, before tying up, we had kept up a sharpscrutiny of the shores, in the hope of detecting some signs of theoutlaw. I saw nothing; but Hallongton was positive he caught severalglimpses of a man flitting along the Arkansas bank, and maintaining asharp watch upon our movements.
"After we had securely tied up our boat, we went below, after oursupper, and then made our final arrangements. I should state here thatmy flatboat was one made after a fashion of my own. It was long andquite narrow, the cabin being, as usual, in the rear. This was made ofdouble thick planking, immediately adjoining the cargo, which stretchedaway to the bow. A small orifice had been bored through this planking,so that one in the cabin could talk in a whisper to one who was in themain body of the boat among our cargo of pork. This was done at thesuggestion of Captain Hallongton, in accordance with a plan which wehad formed between us.
"When it was fully dark, Tom and Dick crept carefully over the cabin,in among the pork, and took their position near the hole which I havejust mentioned. When we had chatted together a while, Hallongton didthe same, while I maintained my place near the cabin.
"We were so close under the bank that a long limb hung directly overthe cabin.
"As it looked quite thick and strong, I grasped it with my hands andswung myself upon it. The next moment I had climbed to the top of thetree, and seated myself near the trunk astride of a large limb, where Ipatiently awaited whatever was to come.
"Our plans were fully agreed upon, and I knew that I might have satthere until morning without hearing a word from them, or detecting animpatient movement upon their part.
"The night, for a time, was pitchy dark, but the moon soon came up overthe river, shedding a light which made the oppo
site shore visible,and gave me a little uneasiness as to whether I would not be detectedfrom the ground below. However, as our line of action had been agreedupon, it was now too late for us to make any change in our part of theprogram.
"I was speculating on these matters, when a slight noise belowattracted my attention, and, looking down, I could discern a dark body,moving cautiously toward the boat. In the shadow of the wood, the gloomwas too great to make out its identity; but, while I was looking, itleaped as lightly and dexterously as a monkey upon the gunwale, and thenext minute I saw that Black Ben was on the flatboat.
"In the bright moonlight he was plainly visible, and answered perfectlythe description which I have given. He circled around the boat with thesilence of a phantom, and finally halted near the cabin and listenedas if to hear the breathing of those within. Having finished hisreconnoisance, he sprang lightly ashore and disappeared.
"I had seen no one but Black Ben, but a slight noise heard when he wason the boat satisfied me that he had one companion at least with him,and I was sure that he would speedily return.
"I was now anxious to hear whether Captain Hallongton had seen thepirate and whether he was 'posted.'
"To satisfy myself, I gave a low whistle. It was immediately repliedto--a fact which convinced me that my friends were 'all right.'
"It was plain that Black Ben had no suspicion of the little plan whichwe had concocted for his benefit; but whether that same little plan ofours would miscarry or not was another question, for we knew that theoutlaw was a desperate character, who would play the mischief if heshould ever get into close quarters.
"Now came a period of watching and waiting, continued so long that Ihad great fear that Black Ben had scented danger and concluded to giveus a wide berth. Fully two hours passed away, with me shivering andcramped in the tree; but I had resolved to stay there until morning ifthe outlaw did not make his appearance before that time.
"It could not have been far from midnight when I caught the rustling ofbushes beneath me, and I felt sure that Black Ben was there; but, as Ipeered down, I was disappointed in discerning not a man, but a largeblack bear that was lumbering along the shore and awkwardly approachingthe flatboat. Reaching it, he waded into the water, snuffed around theboat, poked his nose against it, struck his paws against it, and made aracket which struck me as singular upon the part of a bear.
"'I would soon stop your sport,' I reflected, 'if I were not watchingfor bigger game.'
"I was watching the brute, when something in his manner of moving aboutattracted my suspicion, and I scanned him more narrowly than I hadyet done. My heart gave a great leap as I penetrated the ruse, anddiscovered that instead of the object under me being a bear, it wasonly a man disguised as such. His object in making such a tumult aroundthe boat was evidently to learn whether the men on board were asleep.
"Occasionally the creature paused and was perfectly still, as iflistening; but nothing but the sullen surging of the muddy Mississippi,or the dipping of some overhanging branch was heard, and, becomingsatisfied that everything was in the shape desired, the bear withdrewfrom the water, and tumbled away into the wood, in a style which hehardly would have dared to use had he been aware that a pair of eyeswere intently scrutinizing his every movement.
"A half-hour later, a form sprang from the dark line of wood whichlined the shore, landing on the gunwale of the boat at a single bound.One glance was sufficient for me to see that Black Ben had boarded the_General Jackson_, and that the critical moment was at hand.
"The hideous-looking creature glided as swiftly and silently as ashadow from one part of the boat to the other, in order to assurehimself that no one was watching in any of the out-of-the-way places.He then glided back to the cabin and made a single motion with his arm.The response was in the shape of another dark form, which leaped besidehim with all the agility of a monkey.
"From where I sat I had both of these precious scamps in range, and Icould have sent a bullet crashing through both of them; but, as thatwas not the plan agreed upon, I concluded to wait.
"As I had always understood that Black Ben was accompanied by two men,I looked for the appearance of his companion; but, as the bushy-headedchief turned his head upon the shore the instant he was joined by hisfriend, I supposed that he was absent, and would not appear in thismatter, which pleased me greatly, as it could not but make the matterall the more easy for us.
"The two villains put their heads together and seemed to converse awhile in the same manner that you frequently see horses or cows do.Agreeing upon their course of action, Black Ben quietly drew backthe slide which covered the door which communicated with the cabin.Flashing a sort of bull's-eye lantern down into the gloom, he leanedhis head forward and scanned every part of the cabin.
"And I know what he saw. What were apparently two human forms wrappedup in their blankets and sound asleep. The next instant the sharpreport of two pistols in immediate succession broke the stillness, andBlack Ben and his comrade sprang down into the cabin.
"Just what we wanted. Hardly a second had elapsed when I was on deck,and had slid the door back to its place at the same moment that CaptainHallongton and Tom and Dick hurriedly clambered up beside me.
"'We've got 'em!' exclaimed the captain delightedly. 'Be quick andfasten that down.'
"Everything had been prepared for such a denouement as this, andnot ten seconds passed ere we had Black Ben and his friend firmlyimprisoned.
"The next proceeding of Captain Hallongton was to dance a doubleshuffle upon the deck and exclaim: 'We've got him! we've got him!'
"'Keep still,' I said; 'you act like a crazy man.'
"'Do you know there is a thousand dollars offered for his head in NewOrleans?' said he.
"I didn't know that, and I felt somewhat like making as big a fool ofmyself over it, but I did not.
"The next thing we heard was a terrible rumpus below--swearing andyelling enough to raise the hair on your head. But what cared we? Wehad the mighty river-pirate, Black Ben, and one of his comrades in ourpower.
"Not knowing but what some of his friends might be in the neighborhood,we untied the fastenings of the boat and swung out into the stream. Weran considerable risk in so doing, as this was a dangerous part of theriver, but Captain Hallongton understood the current better than I did,and we decided that this was the safest and best thing that we could dounder the circumstances.
"The tempest and tumult continued below until we were in the middle ofthe Mississippi and gliding rapidly down the stream. Then a silencecame, and Black Ben called up to us and asked us what this all meant.We told him that we had caught him trespassing on our boat and intendedto take him down to New Orleans and sell him. The answer to this wasa couple of pistol-shots fired at the spot where he supposed I wasstanding. It struck beneath my feet, and no doubt he imagined it wouldpass through the planking and kill me; but it was bullet-proof andthere was no danger. Finding he could do no harm he took a differentcourse of action. He tried to bribe us to let him go, and made usrepeated offers until he reached a figure as high as ten thousanddollars. We told him we would take time to think about it, but we werenot quite fools enough to accept any offer which he could make. We knewthat all he wanted was to get out on deck, and then there would be thetallest kind of a rumpus. Our only safety was in keeping him just wherehe was and not give him the slightest advantage.
"Finding his efforts in this direction useless, he fell upon his firstplan, of swearing. I have heard some terrible profanity in my time, butI don't think I ever heard anything to equal that of Black Ben. He keptit up until morning, and then all was still again.
"I suppose you understand the way in which we trapped our bird? CaptainHallongton had taken the trouble of finding out Black Ben's manner ofdoing business and had laid his plans accordingly. It was his custom towait until the crew of the boats he intended to rob went asleep, andhe then stole aboard and quietly despatched them either with the knifeor pistol. Knowing this, we had arranged a couple of dummies, wh
ich,as we intended, were mistaken by the river-pirate for the entire crewof the _General Jackson_. The small orifice which I first spoke of asconnecting the cabin with the main body of the boat had been made byCaptain Hallongton, so that in case there was parley between him andBlack Ben before surrendering the boat, the latter personage could thusbe made to believe that it came from one of the forms inside, but hiscourse of action rendered this precaution unnecessary.
"We ran a great deal more danger in capturing this renowned outlaw thanany of us imagined. We had carefully removed everything in the shape ofa knife or hatchet or any kind of a weapon from the cabin, and yet wehad every reason to believe that both of these dogs would have theirknives with them; but by a purely providential circumstance neitherof them carried anything with them except their pistols. How it cameabout, I cannot say, for it certainly was odd. Had either of them theirweapons, it would have taken them but a few hours to cut their waythrough the planking, thick as it was, and we would have been compelledto shoot them to save ourselves from being shot.
"If they had become satisfied that there was no hope for them, the nextthing in order would have been the bottom of the boat. They would havemade a leak which would have carried themselves and the flatboat to thebottom, and likely enough ourselves, too, for you must know it is noeasy matter to make your way through the Mississippi at high water.
"We did not feel easy when we heard them thumping and rubbing theside of the boat, for we were well aware what wonderful things thesedesperate characters do when they find themselves in such desperatestraits.
"Captain Hallongton stood with his loaded rifle, expecting almostevery moment to see Black Ben burst out to view like a raging fury. Byplacing our ears against the cabin we could hear a peculiar grindingnoise, which told us that the gentlemen in there were doing something,although what it was we could only guess. We could hear them mutteringand talking to each other, but I could not catch any of the wordsuttered.
"Toward the close of the second day, just as we came within sight ofthe Crescent City, two pistol-shots broke the stillness. We couldonly conjecture what it meant. My supposition was that they had shotthemselves, but Captain Hallongton suspected it was only a stratagem toget us to open the cabin door to give them a final chance to escape, oran opportunity to put a bullet through some of us who might look down.So we paid no heed, but kept on floating down the river.
"When we had tied up at the wharf, we brought a number of policeofficers, acquainted them with our prize, surrounded the boat, andthen removed the door of the cabin. We waited a long time, but no onecame forth, nor did any sound betray the presence of the men within.At last, one of the officers, more venturesome than the rest, venturedto steal up to the cabin and look down. The next instant he uttered ashout and sprang down, while we rushed toward the cabin.
"One glance showed all. Black Ben and his comrade had both shotthemselves, and were stone dead. They had no knives, as I said, butwith their simple pistol-barrels they had almost cut their way throughthe planking. I do believe that if New Orleans had been a hundred milesfarther off these two precious scamps would have got out of the cabinand, perhaps, effected their escape.
"However, we had the satisfaction of receiving one thousand dollarsreward, and of knowing that we had cleared the Mississippi of one ofthe most desperate outlaws that ever infested its banks."
Motor Matt's Century Run; or, The Governor's Courier Page 18