CHAPTER XV
THE BOAT ON THE BAR
WHEN Little Peter discovered the presence of the men before him, hisfirst impulse had been to turn and make a dash into the woods; but thecall which he heard quickly changed all that. As one after another ofthe band appeared, he recognized some of them as men who had beenenrolled in the local militia, and his alarm for a moment subsided.
The one who had addressed him he remembered as a young man not mucholder than himself, who had all the summer been away from his home,busied with his friends and neighbors in protecting the salt works alongthe shore, and striving to hold back the outlaws from their raids in thecounty.
The salt works were of especial value at this time, as some of them wereowned by the government and aided in increasing the scanty revenues ofthe poverty-stricken country. Several of them already had been burned bytories or bands of sailors, who had landed from some of the gunboatswhich had come to anchor off the shore for the purpose of inflictingsuch damage as lay within their power upon the adjacent region.
"What are you doing here, Peter?" repeated the lad who had first spoken.
As Little Peter now recognized the men before him as friends, he quicklyrelated to them the story of the sad misfortunes which had come upon hishome; and the many expressions of anger and sympathy which his wordscalled forth were not unwelcome, we may be assured, to the troubled boy.
When his brief story was told, the young man who had hailed him said,"We're on an errand that may fit into your feelings a bit. We're shortone man, too. Don't you want to join us?"
"What are you trying to do?"
"We've just had word that a boat is aground off here on the bar, andwe're going to see if we can't get her. We've got a whaleboat down hereon the shore, and we're going to put out in her and see if we can't pullthe other boat off and bring her in with us."
"But there are a couple of gunboats not more than three quarters of amile out," protested Peter. "You can't do anything while they arethere."
"We can try," said the man who was acting as the leader. "We're one manshort, as Lyman here has just said, and if you feel inclined to join uswe shall be glad to have you."
Little Peter hesitated. It was not alone the danger of the enterprisewhich troubled him. He was thinking of his father and his own purpose todiscover whether he had been sent to New York or not.
When he explained the cause of his perplexity, the leader said, "That'sall right, Peter. We're going down to Tom's River just as soon as we'vetaken this boat out here. You see, our watch told us the boat is loadedwith supplies, and, if we can get her, we're going to do a double deed,for we'll keep the others from having them, and we'll make good use ofthe stuff ourselves. Now, if you'll go along with us, you'll makeanother oar for us, and we'll be all the more likely to succeed. Thenyou can go with us down to Tom's River, and poor company will be betterthan none in times like these."
"I'll go," said Little Peter quickly, and the march was at onceresumed.
As they approached the wigwam, where Peter had left his Indian friends,he stopped for a moment to explain to Indian John the cause of thechange in his plans.
John listened quietly until the lad had finished, and then said, "Me seeum again."
Little Peter did not understand just what the Indian meant by his words,but he did not wait to inquire, for his friends were already in advanceof him, and he hastened to rejoin them.
No one spoke as they silently walked on to the shore, but when they hadgained the bluff, Lyman suddenly said, "There! Look there, will you? Theword was all right. The boat's aground out there on the bar."
Little Peter instantly recognized the boat as the one which he had seenapproaching from the gunboats, and for which the band of men fromRefugee Town had evidently been waiting. Doubtless they had mistaken himand Indian John for members of the neighboring militia, and the cause oftheir pursuit was now explained.
The men did not hesitate now, but going to a place a little farther upthe shore, they hastily removed a pile of brush and drew forth the longwhaleboat which they had concealed beneath it. The boat was not heavy,and, lifting it in their arms, they bore it down to the water's edge.
Then grasping its sides, they ran with it into the water, and, at theword from the leader, scrambled on board. In a moment they were allseated, the long oars were drawn forth, and the men gave way with awill.
Little Peter was in the bow, next to his friend Lyman. The excitementnow for a time banished from his mind the thoughts of his sorrow, andeven the search for his father was for the moment forgotten.
About three-quarters of a mile out at sea were the two gunboats ridingat anchor, and resting as gracefully upon the water as if they had beenbirds. Directly before them was the supply boat, about a quarter of amile from the shore, and not more than that distance in advance. Theycould see that four men were on board, and they were still strivingdesperately to push her off from the bar on which she had grounded.
Not a word was spoken on the whaleboat now, and the men were all rowingwith long and steady strokes. The ocean was unusually calm, but everylift of the heavy groundswell disclosed to them more clearly theoutlines of the boat they were seeking. Their purpose had not yet beendiscovered by the men on the other boat, or if it had been discovered notoken was displayed. It was more than possible that they were regardedas friends coming to the aid of the unlucky boat.
In this manner several minutes passed, the whaleboat, meanwhile, makingrapid progress over the water, driven forward by the efforts of thedetermined men. The long, sandy shore stretched away in the distance,the masses of clouds in the sky seemed to be lined with silver as therays of the sun shone through them, and not a sound could be heardexcept the heavy breathing of the men and the regular clicks of the oarsin the row-locks.
In spite of the peacefulness of the scene, however, all the men in thewhaleboat fully realized the desperate nature of their undertaking, andthe likelihood that in a moment everything might be changed. Still,there were no evidences of action on the gunboats, and the men on thegrounded boat betrayed no signs of alarm.
"There are some men on the shore up yonder," said the leader, as he sawa group standing on the beach directly opposite the boat they wereseeking. "They don't seem to be able to help them," he added. "I don'tbelieve we've anything to fear from them. Give way, men! Give way!"
The band responded with a will, and the whaleboat darted forward withincreasing speed. The other boat lay only a few yards away, and the endhad almost come. The excitement on board was intense now, and, althoughno one spoke, the expression on every face betrayed the feelings of themen. They could see that the others were watching them, but still theymanifested no alarm at the approach of the whaleboat.
As the latter ran in alongside, and the men quickly backed water, one ofthe sailors on the stranded boat--for such their uniforms disclosed themto be--called out, "You're just in time, men! We thought we'd never getthis tub off the bar. The tide's coming in, but we're stuck fast."
"That's just what we came for," replied the leader, as he threw a ropeto the other boat. "Now make fast and we'll yank you off before you knowit."
One of the sailors caught the rope and made it fast, but evidently achange came over his feelings then, for, glancing suspiciously at themen before him, the one who had acted as the leader said, "You're fromRefugee Town, aren't you? You're strangers to me, but I take it forgranted you're all right!"
"No, sir; we're militia from Old Monmouth. We've come out here to getyou and your boat, too. Here, none of that!" he quickly added, as he sawthe men turn to grasp their guns. "We'll send you to the bottom beforeyou can tell your names if you try any of your games on us."
At his command the men in the whaleboat quickly covered the others withtheir guns. For a moment the silence was unbroken. The advantage for thepresent was very decidedly with the attacking party. Not only did theyoutnumber the others, but they were also in a condition to act, and actquickly. The situation, however, could not long remain
as it was. Thegunboats were not more than a half mile away, and, doubtless, assistancewould be sent as soon as the predicament of the men should bediscovered.
Then, too, there were the men on the shore to be reckoned with.Apparently, they had no boat with which they could come to the rescueof the luckless sailors, but they might soon obtain one, for RefugeeTown was not far away. Why they had not already gone there was notapparent. Perhaps they were trusting to the aid of the rising tide andthe efforts of the men.
"Pass over your guns!" said the leader on the whaleboat.
The men obeyed, and silently picked up and handed their guns to theattacking party.
"Now we'll see what can be done," said the leader, after he haddeposited the weapons on the bottom of the whaleboat. "These fellows areharmless now, and we'll take our oars and see if we can't pull them offfrom the bar."
His men grasped their oars and began to row. The rope tightened, theboat started a little, but still stuck fast to the bottom. Again the menpulled desperately, but with all their efforts they could not move thegrounded boat.
"I'm afraid we'll have to cast overboard a part of the load," said theleader, when the third effort proved as futile as its predecessors.
He arose from his seat and grasped the rope to pull the whaleboatnearer, when the four men before him suddenly united in a loud shout,and, leaping from their seats, together grasped some other guns whichhad been concealed beneath the sailcloth, and, turning about beforetheir captors could recover from their surprise, stood aiming theirweapons directly at their faces.
"It's our turn," laughed one of the men. "You'll hand over your own gunsnow!"
No one in the whaleboat moved from his position. The leader still stood,leaning over the side and grasping the rope with his hands. Every onehad been so startled by the unexpected summons that he seemed almostincapable of action.
"Come, be quick about it!" said the sailor, as the men still did notmove.
A faint sound of a shout now could be heard from the shore, and themovements of the men there, as they ran about the beach, betrayed thefact that they were aware that something was wrong. In the distance,Little Peter could see that two barges filled with men were startingforth from the gunboats. The situation was becoming rapidly worse,critical as it then was.
"Their guns aren't loaded, men!" called the leader suddenly. "They can'tharm us."
Still his men did not respond. For an instant no one moved, while theirfear was plainly evident from the expressions upon their faces. No oneknew whether the leader's words were true or not, and in breathlesssuspense they waited, fearing every moment to hear the reports of theguns in the other boat.
As the men did not fire, the leader quickly shouted again, "They're notloaded, I tell you! They can't hurt us! Don't pay any attention tothem!"
His words instantly served to arouse his companions, for they now knewthat if the guns had been loaded they would have been discharged beforethis.
The sight of the barges which had started forth from the gunboats, andthe increasing confusion of the men on the shore, combined to render theattacking party desperate now. Whatever they were to do they must doquickly.
The leader called to his companions to cover the others with their guns,and, drawing the whaleboat close up, said: "The boat's loaded with gunsand powder! That's just what we want. Now you take your oars and pushwhile my men row," he added, speaking to the sailors. "The first one ofyou that draws back will get a dose of lead. Now! Quick! Do as I tellyou!"
The men sullenly laid down the empty guns, and, picking up their oars,began to push against the sandy bottom. The men in the whaleboat wererowing desperately, and soon could feel that the other boat had started.
It was not yet free, however, and the leader called again to thesailors, "Harder, men, harder! You aren't half pushing. That's right!Harder yet! Harder, I say! We'll be out of this in a minute. Give way,men! You aren't asleep, are you? Pull! Pull!"
In his eagerness, the leader laid down his gun, and, hastily grasping anoar, began to pull with his companions. Slowly the grounded boatresponded to their efforts. Inch by inch it slipped from the bar, butwas not yet free.
Meanwhile, the confusion on the shore was increasing. The men wererunning up and down the beach, waving their arms and shouting. The twobarges were coming swiftly from the gunboats, and if the loaded boat wasnot soon dragged from the bar, it would once more be in the possessionof the enemy.
They were still working desperately. The perspiration stood out in greatdrops upon their faces. They braced their feet against the seats infront of them and put forth all their strength. The moments seemed likehours to the struggling men, but the loaded boat was slow to respond totheir efforts. It was steadily yielding, however, and at last they sawthe boat slide from the bar and rest easily upon the open water.
Boys of Old Monmouth: A Story of Washington's Campaign in New Jersey in 1778 Page 15