The First Capture; or, Hauling Down the Flag of England

by Harry Castlemon

  CHAPTER III.

  ZEKE LEWIS.

  Have you ever met a New England man whom your grandparents used toregard as the very personification of all that was utterly worthless sofar as the labor with his hands was concerned? We do not mean by sayingthis that Zeke Lewis was lazy--the old folks had a milder term for it.He was always at work at something, but he was shiftless. Nothing thathe could do appeared to get him ahead any. Work always looked for him;he never looked for work. If anybody wanted a pair of shoes mended Zekewas always the man looked for. He was generally to be found at thetavern (Zeke did not drink any, we'll say that much for him), or loafingaround the corner grocery, and he was always "lying on his oars," thatis, ready to pull in any direction in which work was to be found. Zekewould work early and late upon those shoes until he got them done, andhe carried his money straight to his wife, who had the faculty of makinga shilling go farther than he would. If a vessel was ready to sail,either up or down the coast or on a fishing trip, Zeke always got thefirst berth. He could do more work in less time and with less troublethan any two men you could find. And he was brave, too. No one ever sawZeke refuse to go where duty called him.

  He was just such a man as you would expect to see after this descriptionof his way of doing business. He was tall, and so round-shouldered thathe did not look as though he had any chest at all; he was strong; sostrong that when he got hold of a rope everybody knew he was there.There were two things about him that were noticeable--his smiling,good-natured face and his queue, which was always freshly combed andlooked as though it had come from the hands of a dresser. But then hiswife always attended to that. She took it down and combed it every day.

  Zeke was always in straits where money was concerned. No matter how hardhe worked or how little money he spent upon himself he never could makeboth ends meet. One night he came home after a hard day's work in thehay-field. He found his wife sitting in the kitchen engaged in knitting,but she made no efforts at all to get supper for her husband. Zekethought she looked a little paler than usual, but then he was used tothat. The patient little woman never had a word of fault to find withhim. She believed that Zeke was doing his best, and with that she wassatisfied.

  "Sick?" asked Zeke.

  "No, I am not ill," answered his wife. "I feel as well as usual."

  "Something is the matter with you and I know it," said Zeke. "I guess Iwill have to go to work and get my own supper. I am hungry."

  "You will not find a crust of bread in the house," said his wife.

  "You don't tell me!" exclaimed Zeke.

  "I have looked the house over and I cannot find anything. You ate thelast this morning."

  "Bussin' on it!" gasped Zeke, backing toward the nearest chair. "And youdid not have any?"

  "I thought you were at work in the field and would need it more than I.So I let you take it all."

  "Whew!" whistled Zeke. "And I thought there was not more than enough tokeep a hen from starving when I ate it. Mr. Howard owes me fiveshillings, but I don't like to ask him for it."

  "Are you working for that man? Then you will never get your money."

  "What for won't I?"

  "Because he will cheat you out of it just as he has cheated everybodyelse who has worked for him."

  "Eh? Do you see these arms?" asked Zeke, getting upon his feet andstretching himself so that his wife could see on all sides of him. "Ihave not often slung these arms about loose and reckless since I went toschool to old Parson Stebbins, and then I slung them at Jeems Howardbecause I thought he had tried to take my knickerbockers[4] away fromme. He has not forgotten that, I am proud to say. My wages will come dueon Saturday night and I shall get every cent that is coming to me. Butyou must have something to eat. Bussin' on it! Why did you not tellme?"

  [Footnote 4: Marbles.]

  Zeke went out into his woodshed where he kept his shoemaker's tools andbegan to gather them up in his arms. A pang shot through him while hedid so, for he could not help thinking what he was going to do ifsomebody came to him with shoes to mend while the tools were gone.

  "It can't be helped," said he, with a long-drawn sigh. "She took me forbetter or worst when she married me, and she has had the worst all thetime. I will go and see Jeems Howard about them, and see what he willgive me until next Saturday. He is the only one around here that I knowof who has got any money."

  As soon as he had gathered up all his tools Zeke went out of the backdoor, for he did not want his wife to see him; but there were othersthat saw him as he walked along the street, and every one wanted to knowwhere he was going to mend shoes. For in those days the cobblers alwayscame to a person's house and did their work there. Zeke always gave somegood-natured reply, for no one ever expected anything else of him, andin a few minutes he had walked through Mr. Howard's yard and come up tothe back steps.

  "I want to see if you will lend me five shillings on these tools untilSaturday night," said he, when he had brought the man for whom he was atwork to the door. "We want something to eat at our house."

  If the man had possessed the semblance of a heart he would have pulledout some money and given it to Zeke; but all was fish that came to hisnet, and he forthwith began to haggle with him in order to get them ascheap as possible. Zeke wanted more for them than he could afford togive, and he concluded that two and a half shillings were all he couldpay. He insisted so strongly upon it that Zeke was about to close withhis offer, when a new actor appeared upon the scene. It was JeremiahO'Brien, of whom we shall have something more to say as our storyprogresses. Something told him that Zeke was in trouble, and he openedthe gate and went in. Like all the rest of the patriots he had butlittle love for men of Howard's opinion, and he was not anyway backwardabout beginning his business.

  "Zeke, what are you doing with your tools here?" he asked.

  "I want to sell them until next Saturday night," returned Zeke.

  "How much are you going to get for them?"

  "I want five shillings, but Jeems allows that he can't give more thantwo and a half."

  "They are worth two pounds if they are worth anything," said O'Brienemphatically.

  "I know they are. Just see that knife. It is sharp----"

  "Pick up your tools and come with me," interrupted O'Brien.

  "Where are you going?"

  "Pick up your tools and come with me," insisted O'Brien. "I don't wantto tell you twice."

  Zeke smiled, drew himself up to his full height and looked at O'Brien.The latter returned his gaze with interest and Zeke finally thoughtbetter of it, gathered up his tools from the step where had placed themand followed him out to the gate.

  "Look here," said O'Brien, when they reached the street. "The next timeyou want to sell your tools that you make a living with, I want you tocome to me. Don't go to that old Tory, who is bound to cheat you out ofeverything you have. You say your wife has not had anything to eat?"

  "Not a smell," said Zeke looking down at the ground. "She gave me allshe had for breakfast and never has had a bite all day."

  "Well, lay your tools down here," said O'Brien, when they came to Zeke'shouse. "They can stay there until you come back."

  "Bussin' on it!" exclaimed Zeke. "What are you going to do?"

  "We will go up to the grocery and get some provisions. I am going tosend out a vessel next week and you can pay me then."

  This made everything all right in Zeke's estimation. He wanted credit,but he little knew how he could get it unless he was regularly employedin some business that would pay him in the end. Of course, when he wasat sea on one of Mr. O'Brien's vessels, his wife could go to the storeand get anything she pleased; but Zeke knew it was not so while he wasworking for James Howard. The old Tory was a cheat, and nobody exceptZeke or some other fellow who happened to be "hard up" would work forhim. He accompanied O'Brien to the grocery store and got everything hewanted. When he came back into his wife's presence he looked more likehimself.

  This little episode will give the reader a pretty good idea of the
kindof life Zeke Lewis led at Machias. Nothing bothered him. His wife beingout of provisions was the nearest thing that came to throwing him offhis balance; and when the goods obtained in this way were gone, why,then he would go to work at something and earn some more.

  We have said that nothing bothered Zeke Lewis. That was what all thepeople about Machias said, and they had known him for a long time. A manwho would not wake up from his shiftless habits and go to work atsomething in order to support his wife, who depended on him foreverything, was not of much use in the world; but on this particularmorning, after listening to the story of the battle of Lexington, Zekebegan to take a little interest in matters. In fact the people hadnever seen him so worked up before. He held a short but earnestconsultation with Joseph Wheaton, attended eagerly to what the man hadto say, and then walked away with his head up, his fingers movingconvulsively, and now and then he lifted his hands and brought themtogether with a loud slap.

  "What's the matter with you, Zeke?" asked one of his companions whowalked by his side.

  "Are there any Tories around here?" exclaimed Zeke, casting his eyebehind him. "Then I guess I can speak out here as well as anywhere. Isay we ought to go to work and do something to equal those fellows inBoston."

  "But there are no troops here," said his companion. "These Tories willnot come out so that we can shoot them down as they did at Concord."

  "No matter for that. They have got some property here, and we cancapture it as well as not."

  "I am in for that. Where is it?"

  "You know that the Margaretta is here to protect two sloops that areloading up with lumber for the crown. What is the reason we cannotcapture her?"

  "It would be all right if we could do it; but suppose we should fail?Have you forgotten what the penalty for piracy is?"

  "No, I have not forgotten it, and furthermore, I know that we are notgoing to fail. I will make one of half a dozen men that will capture herto-night. Where are the rest of you?" he continued, glancing around atthe men who had come up, one by one, to listen to what he had to say."Are you all Tories? If you are not, say you will join in."

  "She lies some little distance from the wharf," said one of hisauditors.

  "Are there not plenty of boats that we could get to take us out to her?"asked Zeke. "Some of you are afraid of being killed. That is what is thematter with you."

  "If the others are afraid of being shot at I am not," said Mr. O'Brien."What are your plans, Zeke? But first let us go somewhere so that we cantalk without being overheard."

  It put a different look on the matter when Mr. O'Brien began to inquireinto Zeke's scheme. If he was not afraid to undertake it the rest werenot. They crowded up around Zeke to hear what he had to propose.