The Noank's Log: A Privateer of the Revolution

by William Osborn Stoddard

  CHAPTER VII.

  HUNTING THE NOANK.

  An army in garrison will surely spend money, officers and men. So willa fleet in port. The British camps, upon and near Manhattan Islandcontained thousands of soldiers, and the warships on the station, orarriving and departing, were numerous. There was sure to be, uponalmost any day, enough of "shore leave" or camp leave given, and thestreets of New York City were often even brilliant with uniforms. Theburnt district could already show many new buildings, mostly shops andwarehouses, and the streets were clear of rubbish. The merchants andshopkeepers were said to be doing very well; some of them were makingfortunes out of the needs of the king's forces. In the social life ofthe town there had been a notable change. Rich loyalists from theinterior had fled to New York for safety. All the old houses wereoccupied, in one way and another. Some new ones were built orbuilding. There was a great deal of dinner giving and the like. Onthe whole, therefore, the ruined city was beginning a new and verypeculiar era of prosperity. This was to continue, during the years ofthe war, to such a degree that upon the return of peace all thingswould be in readiness for rapid commercial development.

  The harbor, with so many ships in it that were all at anchor, wore afrosty, sleepy look, one winter morning. Boats were pulling here andthere, from ship to ship, or between the ships and the shore. Themorning gun had long since sounded, and the reveilles at the forts andcamps. All the flags and pennants were drooping upon their staffs inthe still, cold air, and nowhere did any sails appear to be spreading.

  Upon the after deck of one elderly looking three-master stood a man whowas evidently taking a thoughtful survey of her.

  "Levtenant," he said, to a British naval officer standing near him,"this 'ere craft is ready for sea."

  "I've brought your sailing orders, then," said the officer. "Thesooner you're off, the better."

  "Jest so!" said Captain Luke Watts. "They all tell me she isn't a badone to go. I'm goin' to give her all the chances that are in her. Iain't in any hurry for a return cargo, though. I've had one lesson."

  "Pretty narrow escape, they say," said the lieutenant. "It wasn't yourfault, though. You'll be taking return cargoes from New York toLiverpool, before long. This war's nearly over."

  "Guess it is," said Watts, "but it'll be spring before anything morecan be done with Mr. Washington."

  "Cornwallis'll catch him, then," was the confident rejoinder. "The oldVirginia fox can hole away among his Jersey hills for a few weekslonger. Then Cornwallis promises to dig him out."

  "Oh, he'll do that, fast enough," said Watts. "I s'pose, if I ever gitback, I may find him a prisoner in New York. My first business,though, is to git this craft across the Atlantic. I'm to have a thincrew and no guns, and I've to depend on my sails altogether. There arerisks."

  "Can't help it," said the lieutenant, "and you mustn't lose her."

  "You may tell the admiral," answered Watts, a little sharply, "that ifI don't, he may have me shot."

  "I'll tell him so."

  "It's Liverpool or my neck!" said Watts, emphatically. "Tell him I'lltake the northerly course, weather or no weather, out o' the way o'pirates, and he needn't be uneasy."

  The carrying of that report to the captain of the port yet more firmlyestablished the confidence which was reposed in the loyalty of CaptainWatts. He was to be allowed to use his own judgment very freely, andhe was likely to have continuous employment as a Tory commander ofBritish ships.

  There was hardly any cargo worth speaking of in the hold of the_Termagant_. She was going home in ballast. British commerce with thecolonies was entirely cut off, and this of itself was a severe war blowto the mother country, equivalent to many defeats of her armies in thefield. American commerce itself, however, although terribly assailed,was all the while on the increase. Up to the outbreak of the war,everything produced for export in the colonies had to go out underBritish restriction, whether directly to England or otherwise. Allthat did not do so escaped by adventurous processes of a smugglingdescription, and the amount of it was limited. Now, for instance, thetobacco of Virginia and the Carolinas, when it could get out at all,could be sold in any port of Europe which it might reach. The WestIndia Islands, also, were ready to take wheat to any amount, paying forit in sugar, molasses, rum, cash, tobacco, or fruits. The war laws ofnations and the existing treaties, even if these were strictly adheredto, were not in such a shape as to hinder France or Holland or Spainfrom opening trade relations, hardly concealed, with the revoltedcolonies of Great Britain. All the politics of Europe were in adreadfully mixed, uncertain condition, and what was called peace wasvery like a war in the bud that promised to become full blown before agreat while.

  The greatest of all hinderances to American prosperity did not belongto the war at all. It was the absence of good facilities for inlandtransportation. The roads were bad, and little was doing to make thembetter. The natural watercourses, rivers, bays, and sounds, were ofgreat value, but they did not exist in many places where they wereneeded. Washington's army almost starved to death, simply becausethere were no railways, not even macadamized roads, by means of whichhe could receive the abundant supplies which his fellow-patriots innumberless localities were eagerly ready to send him. Large amounts ofproduce, year after year, rotted on the ground among the up-countryfarms of all the states, because the cost of wagoning was too great, orthe roads were impassable, or the markets did not exist.

  While this was the condition of things on the land, not only inAmerica, but in all other countries, there was a scourge of the seathat was almost as hurtful to commerce as was privateering itself.Piracy had been fought out of large parts of the ocean, only making anoccasional appearance, but in other parts it held an only half-disputedsway. One consequence was that the mere dread of the black flag keptout commercial enterprise almost altogether from a large number ofpromising fields. The fact was, that every case of a vessel lost atsea and not heard from, and of these there were many, was sure to becharged over to the account of piracy, so that the actual evil was madeto appear much greater than its reality.

  A severe check had been given to the slave trade at first by theclosing of its North American market, only a few human cargoes, if any,being delivered among the colonies during the Revolutionary War. Onthe other hand, the dealers in black labor were encouraged by asteadily increasing demand from the British and Spanish islands, andfrom South America.

  So entirely different was the ocean world, therefore, from what it isto-day, and so easy does it become to form wrong ideas concerningold-time war and peace on sea and land.

  The Yankee privateer, the _Noank_, Captain Lyme Avery commanding, hadindeed left a large British fleet behind her, and all the sea wasbefore her. Conversations between her commander and his veryfree-spoken subordinates, however, revealed the fact that what might becalled her commission as a ship of war was exceedingly roving. Eventhat very next morning, as he and his mate stood forward, anxiouslyscanning the horizon, the latter inquired:--

  "Lyme,--I say! How'd it do to tack back and try to cut out one o' themsupply ships?"

  "Too risky, altogether," replied the captain. "South! South! I say.We mustn't hang 'round here. There are more ships runnin' between Cubyand Liverpool than there ever was before."

  "Fact!" said Sam. "The British can't git their tobacker from thecolonies any more. They git a first-rate article from the Spaniards,though, and they have to pay tall prices for it."

  "That's it," said Avery. "I want to run one o' those fine-leaf cargoesinto New London. Good as gold and silver to trade with. I'd a leetleruther have sugar, though, full cargo, ship and all, with plenty o'molasses."

  Others of the schooner's company chimed in, agreeing generally with thecaptain, and it looked more and more as if the immediate errand of the_Noank_ might be considered settled. She herself was going ahead verywell, and was in fine condition.

  Away forward, at the heel of the bowsprit, with no sailor duty pr
essinghim just now, loafed Guert Ten Eyck. He had borrowed a telescope fromVine Avery, and he had been using it until he grew tired of searchingthe horizon in vain, and he had shut it up. He was feeling just alittle homesick, perhaps, after the over-excitement of the previousdays. He was thinking of his mother rather than of stunning successesas a young privateersman.

  "Wouldn't I like to see her this morning!" he was thinking. "I'd liketo tell her and the rest how we beat that British fleet--"

  "Ugh!" exclaimed a voice at his elbow. "Boy no lookout! Go to sleep!Wake up! Up-na-tan take glass!"

  Guert's dulness vanished, and he at once straightened up, for thecontemptuous tone of the old Manhattan stung him a little. He had notbeen stationed there by any order, as a responsible watchman, but theold redskin was unable to understand how any fellow on a warpath,whether in the woods or upon the water, could at any moment beotherwise than looking out for his enemies. His own keen eyes werecontinually busy without any mental effort or any officialinstructions. He now took the telescope and began to use itmethodically. Around the circle of the sea it slowly turned, until itsuddenly became fixed in a north-westerly direction.

  "Sail O!" he sang out. "Where cap'n?"

  "Here I am!" came up the forward hatchway. "Where away? What do youmake her out?"

  "Nor-nor-west!" called back the Indian. "Square tops'l. No see 'emgood, yet. Man-o'-war come."

  "Jest as like as not," said Captain Avery. "Shouldn't wonder if they'dsent a cruiser after us. Hurrah, boys! A stern chase is a long chase,but that isn't the first thing on hand. Sam! I was down at thebarometer. There's a blow comin'! Worst kind! All hands to shortensail! Lower those topsails!"

  It was a somewhat unexpected order for a crew to receive if an enemy'scruiser were indeed so close upon their heels, and there was hardly acloud in the steel-blue winter sky. It was obeyed, however, the menpassing from one to another the discovery of Up-na-tan while theytugged at their ropes and canvas.

  Guert sprang away aloft, for this was a part of his seamanship, inwhich the captain was compelling him to take pretty severe lessons.

  "You'll have to be on a square-rigged ship, one of these days," he hadtold him. "I want you to know 'bout a schooner before you get awayfrom her. But you'll find there's an awful difference 'twixt thehandlin' o' the _Noank_ and a full-rigged three-master. You'll needheaps and heaps o' sea schoolin'."

  Guert was very well aware of that, from more tongues than one, and SamPrentice was also beginning to put him through a mathematical course ofthe study of navigation. This, in fact, had begun during the longmonths of inactivity at New London, and he had been much helped in itby his Quaker friend, Rachel Tarns. He was to be of some use, one ofthese days, she had told him; and a fellow who did not know how tonavigate could never become a sea-captain. An ignorant chap, a meresailor, must serve before the mast all his life.

  In came the clouds of canvas, all but a reefed mainsail and foresailand a jib.

  "She's safe, now, I think," said the captain. "I guess I'll go downand take another look at that glass. It kind o' startled me, it wasgoin' down so. Sam, how's the stranger?"

  "Heading for us, I'd say," called back the mate. "She's athree-master, too. She's carryin' all sail, just now. If there's aheavy blow a comin', she may throw away some of her sticks."

  "She may do worse'n that," said the captain, "if she cracks on too muchcanvas. We won't, though."

  Down below he hastened, and now Up-na-tan was pointing at somethingwhite and hazy well up in the eastern sky. Every old salt on board wasquickly watching what appeared to be, at first, a change of color fromblue to gray. Some of them were shaking their heads gravely.

  "It's the wrong time o' year," said one, "for that sort o' thing. Iknow 'em. They're jest crushers. Tell ye what. If it's that kind o'norther, it'll drop down awful sudden when it gits here. Lyme Averyhasn't been a mite too kerful. He knows what he's about."

  "There's odds in storms," replied a grizzled whaler near him. "I'veseen a Hull trader knocked all to ruins in ten minutes by one o' themfellers. Every stick was blown out of her, and she foundered beforesundown."

  "Look out sharp for all the gun fastenings!" shouted the captain, as heagain came hurriedly on deck. "Up-na-tan, you and Coco guy thatpivot-gun, hardest kind. This boat's likely to be doin' some pitchin'and rollin' pretty soon. There'll be an awful sea. Where's thatEnglishman?"

  "Wait a bit," said Up-na-tan. "Ole chief give lobster one shot."

  "All right," said the captain. "She's in good range now. Have yourextra gearings ready to clap on. This schooner has weathered all sortso' gales, but it won't do to let her git caught nappin'."

  There had been more than a little surprise on board King George's finefrigate _Clyde_, of thirty-six guns. There had been a group ofseaman-like officers upon her quarter-deck at about the time she wasdiscovered by Up-na-tan. Marine glasses were at work in the hands ofmore than one of those gentlemen, and the express reason for itappeared in their conversation.

  The _Clyde_ was a cruiser somewhat noted for her speed. She had beenof the convoy of the fleet through which the _Noank_ had so cunninglyworked her way, and had been at once detailed to chase the saucyprivateer. This was decidedly pleasanter than guarding slowmerchantmen, and the frigate's commander had congratulated himselfheartily.

  "If we don't strike her, we may pick up something else," he hadremarked, adding: "I think I can make out the course she's most likelyto take. Two to one, she's bound for the Havana, to harry our WestIndia trade. We'll keep a sharp lookout."

  So he did, and he had been rewarded even sooner than he had expected.

  "Right under our noses," he had said, when the discovery of theschooner was announced. "We can outsail her."

  "Captain!" interrupted his next in command, excitedly. "If she isn'ttaking in sail! What can that mean?"

  "She may take us for something else," said the captain. "It's a finebreeze. She couldn't think of fighting us."

  "Not a bit of it," said the officer; but his commander was an old,experienced sea-captain, and the queer conduct of his intended prizeset him to thinking.

  He walked up and down the deck during about half a minute, and then hebegan to look up curiously at the sky.

  "That's it!" he shouted, his whole manner changing suddenly. "TheYankees are right! All hands! Shorten sail!"

  He poured rapid orders through his trumpet, while his lieutenants andother officers sprang away to their duties, leaving him almost aloneupon the quarter-deck.

  "It's plain enough what it means," he said aloud. "There's troublecoming; we must in with every rag. This ship's too light, anyhow, fora hurricane. The men don't know it, but they may be working for theirlives. All right! Things are coming in fast enough. I'll get thatschooner, too, wind or no wind."

  As yet, there was only a fresh breeze to take note of, so far as alandsman could have discerned. There was no actual excitement amongthe sailors of the _Clyde_, merely because of a change in the color ofthe sky. Some of them, however, had sailed as many seas as had theircaptain or the whalers of the _Noank_, and they were freely expressingto their comrades their approval of his prudence. All were working,therefore, with an uncommon degree of energy. Their ways and theirperformances would have been, if he could have seen them, a veryinstructive lesson to Guert Ten Eyck. He would have learned muchconcerning the differences between a square-rigged three-master and aschooner like the _Noank_.

  During this somewhat brief and exceedingly busy time, the two vesselshad steadily approached each other. The first officer of the _Clyde_had attended to his taking in and reefing, and he now stood once morebefore his captain.

  "The prize is within long range, sir."

  "All right, Mr. Watson. Give her a gun. We must take her or sink her."

  "Best sink her, sir. It's not safe to send off a boat. Most likelyshe's heavily armed, sir."

  "No," said the captain, "no boat. We're short-
handed, anyhow. We'llnot sink her if we can help it. One thing I'm after is to overhaul hercrew."

  "You are right, sir," laughed the lieutenant. "A shot may bring herto."

  There was more than one element, therefore, in the supposable value ofthe _Noank_, considered as the prize of the British frigate, _Clyde_.

  Out ran one of the latter's port guns, shotted. It was well aimed,too, whether or not it was intended mainly as a sharp command tosurrender. Its heavy shot went whizzing between the schooner's rakingmasts, doing no actual damage, but serving as a serious warning.

  "A little lower!" exclaimed Captain Avery. "That was closer than Iexpected. Up-na-tan! Let 'em have it!"

  He had but just given the order to go about, and the _Noank_ was almostas good as standing still, while the red man sighted his gun. Hismarksmanship was a shade better, too, than that of the British gunner.

  Such a response, or any at all with a gun, had been utterly unexpectedby all on board the _Clyde_.

  "Hit us?" gasped the captain. "We are struck? Was there ever suchimpudence! See what that is!"

  "The port o' th' capt'n's cab'n!" shouted a sailor. "It's mashed, sir!And 'ere comes th' wind, sir!"

  There had been a crash of wood and glass at the closed port-hole, andfrom that the Indian's iron messenger had gone on through the cabindoor. All to bits flew a great swinging lantern in the saloon, and awide gap was made in the woodwork of the state-room opposite. This hadbeen closely packed with dinner-table delicacies, including many casesof wine. Sad work was therefore made of the costly juice of the grape,whether purchased or captured. A small flood of it, as red as blood,but not as horrible, came streaming out to tell of the bottle-breaking.

  "'Orrid waste, sir!" groaned the captain's steward, as he gazed uponthat crimson rivulet. "'E could ha' dined the fleet on 'alf o' that.I'll not forgive they Yonkees!"

  "Give 'em a broadside!" roared the angry lieutenant on deck.

  "No!" as loudly commanded the cool and prudent captain, adding to hisfriend: "Not just now, my boy. Call all hands to quarters. It'll behold hard, in a few minutes. Ease her! Ease her! Starboard yourhelm! Steady all! Here it comes!"

  He was a prime good seaman, that captain of the _Clyde_, and he was atthat moment looking aloft to see his maintopsail blown to leeward.

  "I'm glad it went!" he exclaimed. "Good luck! since they couldn't getit in. That'll relieve the strain on the topmast. It wouldn't ha'stood it."

  Other sails threatened to follow, however, and the frigate wasbeginning to reel and pitch unpleasantly, although no very heavy seahad yet risen. The sky overhead was all one whiteness, but low down,northeasterly, it was blackening. The wind that came was bitterly coldand cutting, as well as resistlessly strong. On board the _Noank_ allhad been made ready for its arrival, and the schooner showed at oncethe excellence of her modelling. She leaned over, under her closelyreefed mainsail, with a mere apron of a jib, and sped away southerly ata rate which her square-rigged pursuer was not at all likely to rival.

  The captain of the _Clyde_ watched her, as he clung tightly to hislashings at the foot of his mizzenmast, using his telescope as best hecould, and making remarks as calmly as if he had been contemplating ahorse-race.

  "I'll say one thing for the Yankees," he said. "We can take lessonsfrom them in light ship building. That's a good one. I wish I had thesailors that are handling her. They turn out some o' the best seamenafloat. Worth twenty apiece of some that were sent to me."

  He was himself a fine specimen of the race of vikings who have madeEngland the queen of the seas. Nowhere have they ever been more highlyappreciated than among their cousins of the New World, and their manyachievements are a part of our own ancestral inheritance.

  For the immediate present, at least, the _Noank_ was safe, so far asthe British navy might be concerned.

  "Guert!" said Up-na-tan, when their watch below brought them together."Look ole brack man! Coco no like cole wind. Like 'em warm.Up-na-tan no care! Ugh! Want _Noank_ run south. No freeze hard."

  Poor Coco had indeed been shivering pitifully when he came down fromthe deck. Not all the experiences he had had during many northernwinters had prepared his Ashantee constitution to enjoy a norther.

  In fact, moreover, there was not an old whale catcher on board who didnot now and then congratulate himself that the schooner was steeringtoward the tropics, and would soon leave behind her that fierce,destructive river of dry, penetrating polar air.