THE REAL AMERICA IN ROMANCE

Volume X

SUSTAINED HONOR

The Age of Liberty Established

By

JOHN R. MUSICK

ILLUSTRATIONS BY

FREELAND A. CARTER

1909

PREFACE. 

Written history is generally too scholastic to interest the great massof readers. Dignified and formal, it deals mainly with great events, andoften imperfectly with these, because, not pausing to present clearimpression by the associations of individual life, it conveys a stiffand unnatural opinion of the past. Historians ignore the details whichgo to make up the grand sum total of history, and from the very besthistories one can get but a meagre idea of the life and times of thepeople of bygone ages. It is these minor details of past events whichlend to fiction its greatest charm, and attract the multitude, byappearing more like truth. Although untrue in the particularcombinations, scenes and plots delineated, yet well written fiction isdrawn from nature and experience, and these facts in life, as withchessmen, are only arranged in new but natural positions. History shouldinclude everything in the nature, character, customs and incidents, bothgeneral and individual, that contribute to originate what is peculiarin a people, or what causes their advancement or decline. So broad isits scope, that nothing is too mighty for its grasp--so searching, scarce anything is too minute. Were written history a clear transcriptof valuable incidents, it would be more enticing than the mostfascinating fiction. 

It is the purpose of this volume to deal with some of the remote anddirect causes of the second war with England, by endeavoring, as nearlyas our ability will permit, to transport the reader back to the scenesof eighty or ninety years ago, and give views of the incidents whichclustered around the events of that time. 

The war of 1812 has been properly termed by some historians the secondwar for independence; for, in truth, the independence of the UnitedStates of America was not established until after that event. GreatBritain across the ocean and the horde of Tories still in America hadnot abandoned all hope of yet making the United States a dependency ofthe country from which she had fought seven long years to free herself. The war of 1812 was never fought to a finish. In some respects it was adrawn fight. Its results were not satisfactory to the patrioticAmerican, and certainly were not to Great Britain. The contemptible"Peace Faction" continually crippled the administration all through thecontest of nearly three years. 

After studying the patriotism of New England through the War of theRevolution, one is surprised at the unpatriotic actions of that sectionof the United States in 1812. One can hardly believe that it was partyfealty and political hatred of the democratic party alone which madethese formerly patriotic colonies and States hot-beds of sedition andtreason. It looks as if those States, having built up a flourishingtrade with Great Britain, cared little about the impressment of sailors, or the enslaving of their countrymen, so long as they filled their ownpockets. The men seized were usually poor, and their happiness, libertyand life were lightly regarded in comparison with the prosperity of the"Peace Party" merchant. If patriotism were dormant in the East, however, in the growing West, and the generous South it was strong. From thosesections came the hardy sons of liberty, who taught Johnny Bull anew torespect the rights of the common people. Though the treaty of peace wasnot satisfactory in many particulars, it more clearly defined the linesbetween the United States and British possessions in America, leavingthe fishery question and the right to search and impressment in anunsettled condition, giving the "Peace Party" an opportunity to say, "Itold you so. "

An attempt is made in this story to cover the whole period of the warand the causes leading up to it, treating it from the standpoint of anindividual of the time. The pioneers of seventy-five years ago were ahardy race, long since disappeared. We hope that from Fernando Stevens, the hero of this volume, the reader may derive some idea of pioneer lifeas it then was. Fernando Stevens was a namesake of the cabin-boy ofChristopher Columbus on his first voyage to America, Hernando Estevan, of whom he was a lineal descendant. The hero of this volume was a son ofAlbert Stevens, a Revolutionary soldier, who was a son of Colonel NoahStevens, of the French and Indian War, who was a son of Elmer Stevens ofearly Virginia history, a son of Robert Stevens of the time of Bacon'sRebellion. He was a son of John Smith Stevens, of the early Virginiahistory, who was the son of Philip Stevens, or Philip Estevan, the youngSpaniard who was the personal friend of Captain John Smith and helpedlay the foundation of Jamestown. He was a son of Francisco Estevan ofSt. Augustine, who was a son of Christopher Estevan of Cuba, a companionof Pizarro and De Soto, and he was a son of Hernando Estevan, who wentas cabin-boy with Columbus on his memorable first voyage in which hediscovered the Western Hemisphere. 

This scion of a long line of stalwart but not famous ancestors is theone whose adventures we now narrate. Like his ancestors, he was only oneof the rank and file of Americans, whose names are seldom seen in print, but who, after all, go to make up the true history of our gloriousrepublic. Fernando's adventures, with those of Morgianna, the mysteriouswaif of the sea, form the romance of this story. 

JOHN E. MUSICK. 

KIRKSVILLE, Mo. , July 11th, 1893. 

TABLE OF CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER I. THE YOUNG EMIGRANT

CHAPTER II. MORGIANNA

CHAPTER III. JEFFERSONIANISM

CHAPTER IV. BRITISH CRUISERS

CHAPTER V. FERNANDO'S JOURNEY EAST. HE MEETS WITH QUEER PEOPLE

CHAPTER VI. WAR FEELING OF 1811

CHAPTER VII. FERNANDO'S FRIEND GETS HIM INTO A SERIOUS SCRAPE

CHAPTER VIII. THE BELLE OF THE BEACH

CHAPTER IX. THE ENGLISHMAN'S DILEMMA

CHAPTER X. THE SILENT GUNNER

CHAPTER XI. SHIPWRECK, ESCAPE AND RETURN TO OHIO

CHAPTER XII. WAR

CHAPTER XIII. THE PEACE PARTY

CHAPTER XIV. FERNANDO SEES SERVICE

CHAPTER XV. ON LAND

CHAPTER XVI. ON WATER

CHAPTER XVII. THE CRUISER'S THREAT

CHAPTER XVIII. THE SAVING SHOT

CHAPTER XIX. NEW ORLEANS

CHAPTER XX. CONCLUSION

HISTORICAL INDEX

CHRONOLOGY

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS. 

They took a last look at the spots which were hallowed by association

Emigrants' wagon crossing a stream

Morgianna

Carried the ship by the board after a terrible hand-to-hand conflict

Stephen Decatur

"Do you think dar is any Angler-Saxun blood in dese veins?"

Fulton's _Clermont_, the first steamboat

As near perfection as a girl of sixteen can be

That smile and that eternal stare disconcerted the British officer

"You surrender easily, "

He sat down on a broken mast

The boatswain's mate brought the terrible scourge hissing and cracklingon the young and tender back

He saw Captain Bones and his lieutenant trying to hide behind a barrel

It soon became evident that he did not intend to drown her

Henry Clay

John C. Calhoun

"Lave it all to me"

James Madison

Tecumseh

"My brave Kentucky lads, to us is accorded the honor of winning thisbattle. Forward!"

They came together in an earnest struggle

"My father will protect me; I want no other protection"

Sukey's thumb lifted the hammer of his gun

Packenham fell bleeding and dying in the arms of Sir Duncan McDougal

Map of the period

SUSTAINED HONOR. 

CHAPTER I. 

THE YOUNG EMIGRANT. 

[Illustration]

The first recollections of Fernando Stevens, the hero of this romance, were of "moving. " He was sitting on his mother's knee. How long he hadbeen sitting there he did not know, nor did he know how he came there;but he knew that it was his mother and that they were in a great coveredwagon, and that he had a sister and brother, older than himself, in thewagon. The wagon was filled with household effects, which he seemed toknow belonged to that mother on whose knee he sat and that father whowas sitting on the box driving the horses which pulled the wagon. Fernando Stevens was never exactly certain as to his age at the time ofthis experience; but he could not have been past three, and perhaps notmore than two years old, when he thus found himself with his father'sfamily and all their effects in a wagon going somewhere. 

He knew not from whence they came, nor did he know whither they weregoing. It was pleasant to sit on his mother's knee and with his greatblue eyes watch those monster horses jogging along dragging after themthe great world, which in his limited comprehension was all the world heknew, --the covered wagon. Suddenly some bright, revolving objectattracted his attention, and he fixed his eyes on it. It was the wagontire, and he saw it crushing and killing the grass at the side of theroad, or rolling and flattening down the dust in long streaks. 

Then they descended a hill. It was not a long hill, but seemed rathersteep. There was water at the bottom. He remembered seeing the bright, sparkling wavelets and never forgot the impression they produced. Therewas a boat at the bottom of the hill, and the wagon and horses weredriven into the boat. A man and boy began propelling the long sweeps oroars. He watched the proceeding in infantile wonder and especiallyremembered how the water dropped in sparkling crystals from the oarblades. The boy had on a red cap or fez with a tassel. That boy, thatcap and that oar with the sparkling dripping water from the blade wereto him the brightest pictures and greatest wonders he had ever known. 

He had not the least idea why the man and boy dipped those oars into thewater and pulled them out all dripping and pretty, unless it was toamuse him. The oars were painted blue. He did not know where they weregoing, or when this journey would end, or that it was a journey. 

Thus Fernando Stevens began life. This was the first page in hisexistence that he could recollect. In after years he knew he wasFernando Stevens, that his father was Albert Stevens, a soldier in theWar of the Revolution, that his kind, sweet-faced mother was EstellaStevens, and that the very first experience he could remember was thatof the family emigrating to the great Ohio valley. 

Albert Stevens was married shortly after the close of the RevolutionaryWar, and he tried hard to succeed in New England; but he had no tradeand no profession, and the best lands in the country were bought. Sevenyears of his early life, with all his dawning manhood had been spent inthe army, and now with his family of three children he found himselfpoor. Congress had made a treaty with the Indians by which the vastterritory of the Ohio valley was thrown open to white settlers, and heresolved to emigrate to where land was cheap, purchase a home and growup with the country. 

Resolved to emigrate, the father collected his little property andprovided himself with a wagon and four horses, some cows, a rifle, ashot-gun and an axe. His trusty dog became the companion of his journey. In his wagon he placed his bedding, his provisions and such cookingutensils as were indispensable. Everything being ready, his wife and thethree children took their seats, Fernando, the youngest, on his mother'sknee; while the father of the family mounted the box. The horses werestarted and the great vehicle began to move. As they passed through thevillage which had been to them the scene of many happy hours, they tooka last look at the spots which were hallowed by association--the churchwith its lowly spire, an emblem of that humility which befits aChristian, and the burial-ground, where the weeping willow bentmournfully over the head-stone which marked the graves of their parents. The children, who were old enough to remember, never forgot theirplayground, nor the white schoolhouse where the rudiments of aneducation were instilled into their minds. 

Their road was at first, comparatively smooth and their journeypleasant. Their progress was interrupted by divers little incidents;while the continual changes in the appearance of the country aroundthem, and the anticipation of what was to come, prevented those feelingsof despondency, which might otherwise have arisen on leaving a muchloved home. When the roads became bad or hilly, the family quit thewagon and trudged along on foot, the mother carrying the baby Fernandoin her arms. At sunset, their day's journey finished, they halted in theforest by the roadside to prepare their supper and pass the night. Thehorses were unharnessed, watered and secured with their heads to thetrough until they had eaten their meagre allowance of corn and oats, andthen were hobbled out to grass. Over the camp fire the mother preparedthe frugal supper, which being over, the emigrants arranged themselvesfor the night, while the faithful dog kept watch. Amid all theprivations and vicissitudes in their journey, they were cheered by theconsciousness that each day lessened the distance between them and theland of promise, whose fertile soil was to recompense them for all theirtrials and hardships. 

Gradually, as they advanced west, the roads became more and more roughand were only passable in many places by logs having been placed side byside, forming what was termed corduroy roads. The axe and rifle of theemigrant, or mover as he is still termed in the west, were broughtdaily and almost hourly into use. With the former he cut saplings, orsmall trees, to throw across the roads, which, in many places, werealmost impassable; while with his rifle he killed squirrels, wildturkeys, or such game as the forest afforded, for their provisions werein a few days exhausted. If, perchance, a buck crossed his path, and hebrought it down by a lucky shot, it was carefully dressed and hung up inthe forks of the trees; fires were built, and the meat cut into smallstrips and smoked and dried for future subsistence. 

As they advanced, the road through the woods became more difficult totravel, the trees being merely felled and drawn aside, so as to permit awheeled carriage to pass; and the emigrant was often obliged to beguided in his route only by the blaze of the surveyor on the trees, andat every few rods to cut away the branches which obstructed his passage. As the stroke of the axe reverberated through the woods, no answer cameback to assure him of the presence of friend or foe. At night in thesesolitudes, they heard the wolves stealing through the gloom, sniffingthe scent of the intruders; and now and then, then bloodshot eyes of thecatamount glared through the foliage. 

Days, weeks and months passed in this toilsome journey through thewilderness, so indelibly impressing it on the memory of FernandoStevens, that he never, to his dying day, forgot that journey. At lastthey arrived at the landmarks which, to Albert Stevens, indicated theproximity of his possessions. A location for the cabin was selected neara small stream of running water, on the south side of a slightelevation. 

No time was lost. The trees were immediately felled, and in a short timeFernando, looking out from the covered wagon, perceived a clear space ofground of but few rods in circumference. Stakes, forked at the top, weredriven into the ground, on which the father placed logs, and the chinksbetween these were stopped with clay. An enclosure was thus hastilythrown up to protect the family from the weather, and the wife andchildren were removed to this improvised abode. The trunks of the treeswere rolled to the edge of the clearing, and surmounted by stakes drivencrosswise into the ground: the severed tops and branches of trees piledon top of the logs, thus forming a brush fence. By degrees thesurrounding trees were "girdled" and killed. Those that would split werecut down and made into rails, while others were left to rot or logged upand burned. 

A year showed a great improvement in the pioneer's home. Several acreshad been added to the clearing, and the place began to assume theappearance of a farm. The temporary shanty had given place to acomfortable log cabin; and although the chimney was built of smallsticks placed one on the other, and filled in between with clay, occupying almost one whole end of the cabin, it showed that the inwardman was duly attended to; and the savory fumes of venison, of theprairie hen and other good things went far to prove that even backwoodslife was not without its comforts. [Footnote: The author has often heardhis mother say that the most enjoyable period of her life was in apioneer home similar to the above. ]

In a few months, the retired cabin, once so solitary, became the nucleusof a little settlement. Other sections and quarter sections of land wereentered at the land office by new corners. New portions of ground werecleared, cabins were erected; and in a short time the settlement couldturn out a dozen efficient hands for house raising or log rolling. A sawmill soon after was erected at the falls of the creek; the log hutsreceived a poplar weather boarding, and, as the little settlementincreased, other improvements appeared; a mail line was established, andbefore many years elapsed, a fine road was completed to the nearesttown, and a stage coach, which ran once, then twice a week, connectedthe settlement with the populous country to the east of it. 

This was the life the hero of this story began. It might be said to bean unromantic life; yet such a life was known to many of our Americanancestors. It had its pleasures as well as its pains. It had its poetryas well as its prose, and its joys as well as its sorrows. The vastnessof the forest and depths of the solitude by which he was surrounded, made its impress on his mind. He grew up in ignorance of tyranny andmany of the evils of the great cities. 

The cabin home and the narrow clearing about it formed his playground. His first toy was a half-bushel measure, which he called his "bushee!"This he rolled before him around the log cabin and the paths made in thetall grass, frequently to the dread of his mother, who feared that hemight encounter some of the deadly serpents with which the forestabounded. He remembered on one occasion, when his mother found him goingtoo far, she called:

"Come back, Fernando; mother is afraid you will step on a snake. "

He looked about him with the confidence of childhood, and answered:

"No 'nakes here. "

Just at that moment, the mother, to her horror, saw a deadly reptilecoiled in the very path along which the child was rolling his "bushee, "and with true frontier woman's pluck, ran and snatched up thebare-footed Fernando, when only within two feet of the deadly serpent, carried him to the house, and with the stout staff assailed and killedthe rattlesnake. 

He remembered seeing the wild deer bound past the cabin door, and oneday his father killed one. The big dog called "Bob, " on account of theshortness of his caudal appendage, on another occasion leaped on a wildbuck as he was passing the house, and seized the animal, holding ituntil it was slain. Wild turkeys were common; he saw them in greatflocks in the woods, and did not suppose they could ever become extinct. 

Fernando never forgot his first pair of shoes. He had grown to be quitea lad, and his bare feet had trod the paths in the forest, and over theprairies in summer and late in autumn, until they had become hardened. In winter his mother had made him moccasins out of deer skins; but hewas at last informed that he was going to have a pair of shoes, such ashe had seen some children from the eastern States wear. His joy at thisintelligence knew no bounds. He dreamed of those shoes at night, andthey formed the theme of his conversation by day. His sister, who wasthe oldest of the children, had been the happy possessor of three pairsof shoes, and she often discussed knowingly the good qualities of pedalcoverings and of their advantages in travelling through brambles or overstones. Often as he contemplated his scratched, chapped and bruisedfeet, the child had asked himself if it were possible that he shouldever be able to afford such a luxury as a real pair of shoes. 

Money was scarce, luxuries scarcer. The frontier people lived hard, worked hard, slept sound, and enjoyed excellent health. 

Though little Fernando had never owned a real pair of shoes in his life, so far as he could remember, he possessed a strong mind and body, and noprince was his superior. He had, as yet, never been to school a day, butfrom the great book of nature he had imbibed sublimity and loftiness ofthought, which only painters and poets feel. 

Though he was shoeless, he was inspired with lofty ideas of freedom suchas many reared in cities never dream about. The father had to make along journey to some far-away place for the shoes. The day beforestarting all the children were made to put their feet on the floor, while the parents measured them with strings, and tied knots to indicatethe size of shoes to be purchased. At last the measures were obtained, and the father put them in the pocket of his buckskin hunting jacket. Then he harnessed the horses to the wagon and, with, his trusty riflefor his only companion, drove away. Bob, the faithful watch-dog, wasvery anxious to accompany him, and whined and howled for two or threedays; but he was kept at home to defend the family. A faithful protectorwas Bob, and woe to the intruder who dared to annoy the household whilehe was around. Fernando waited patiently and long for the return of hisfather. Every night before retiring to his trundle-bed, he would ask hismother if "father would come next day. "

At last the joyous shout of the older children announced the approach ofthe wagon. They ran down the road to meet it. The horses jogged alongwith the wagon, which rolled and jolted over the ground to the house. The wagon was unloaded. There were bags of meal and flour, coffee andtea, and then came the calico and cotton goods, jugs of molasses and abarrel of sugar. The shoes were in a box and finally brought out. 

A great disappointment was in store for Fernando. His shoes were toosmall. The father had lost the string and purchased the shoes "byguess. " Fernando tried hard to squeeze his foot into the little greencoverings; but they were so small and there was danger of bursting them. Father had to go back to the land office in a day or two and wouldexchange them. He rode off on the white mare, "old Betts, " and on hisreturn had a pair of shoes large enough for Fernando. 

They were awkward at first and cramped, pinched and galled his feet. Hismother made him a suit of clothes of "blue drilling" and next Sabbaththe whole family got into the wagon and drove off eight miles to BearCreek to "meeting. "

The people of the west were as thorough a combination and mixture of allnations, characters, languages, conditions and opinions as can well beimagined. Scarcely a nation in Europe, or a State in the union, that didnot furnish emigrants for the great west. The greater mass from Europewere of the humble classes, who came from hunger, poverty andoppression. They found themselves here with the joy of shipwreckedmariners cast on the untenanted woods, and instantly became cheered withthe hope of being able to build up a family and a fortune fromnew elements. 

The Puritan and the planter, the German, the Briton, the Frenchman, theIrishman and the Swede, each with his peculiar prejudices and localattachments, and all the complicated and interwoven tissue ofsentiments, feelings and thoughts, that country, kindred and home, indelibly combined with the web of youthful existence, settled downbeside each other. The merchant, mechanic and farmer found themselvesplaced by necessity in the same society. Men must cleave to their kindand must be dependent upon each other. Pride and jealousy give way tothe natural yearnings of the human heart for society. They began to ruboff mutual prejudices. One took a step and then the other. They met halfway and embraced; and the society thus newly organized and constitutedwas more liberal, enlarged, unprejudiced, and of course moreaffectionate and pleasant than a society of people of like birth andcharacter, who would bring all their early prejudices as a common stock, to be transmitted as an inheritance to posterity. 

Depending only on God and nature, the simple backwoodsman came to regardGod as his only master and, like the Swiss patriot, would bow his kneeto none other. Men were left free to adopt such religious views andtenets as they chose, and the generous laws protected every man alike inhis religious opinions. Ministers of the gospel and priests, beingpresumed to be devoted to humanity, charity and general benevolence, were precluded by many State constitutions from any participation in thelegislative authority, and their compensation depended wholly upon thevoluntary aid of those among whom they labored in charity and love. Inthe wide district where the Stevens lived, the country was too sparselysettled to support a stationed minister, and "preaching" was a luxury. Unsustained by the rigid precepts of law in any privileges, perquisites, fixed revenue, prescribed by reverence or authority, except such as wasvoluntarily acknowledged, the clergy found that success depended uponthe due cultivation of popular talents. Zeal for the great cause mixed, perhaps, with a spice of earthly ambition, the innate sense of emulationand laudable pride, a desire of distinction among their cotemporariesand brethren, prompted them to seek popularity, and to study all thearts and means of winning the popular favor. 

Travelling from month to month through dark forests, with such ampletime for deep thought, as they ambled slowly along the lonesome horsepath or unfrequented roads, they naturally acquired a pensive andromantic turn of thought and expression, which is often favorable toeloquence. Hence their preaching was of the highly popular cast, such asimmortalized Peter Cartwright. The first aim was to excite theministers; hence, too, excitement, or, in religious parlance, "awakenings, " or "revivals" became common. Living remote from eachother, and spending much of their time in domestic solitude in vastforests or wide spreading prairies, the "appointment" for preaching waslooked upon as a gala-day, or a pleasing change, which brought togetherthe auditors from remote points, and gratified a feeling of curiosity, which prompted the pioneers to associate and interchange cordialcongratulations. 

As yet no meeting house had been erected in all the region where theStevens lived. The meeting on Bear Creek was at the home of Mr. Moore, who was the happy possessor of a "double log cabin. " One cabin or roomwas cleared of furniture, and sawn boards, placed on sticks of wood onend, furnished the seats. These were occupied and the "entry" betweenthe cabins was filled by children. The preacher, who was also chorister, took his position near the door so as to accommodate those without aswell as those within. He opened his saddle-bags and, pushing back hissoiled linen, took out his bible and hymn-book and, proceeding to "linea hymn, " "started it" himself, the congregation all joining. 

Fernando Stevens had heard from his sister about these wonderfulmeetings; but he had never dreamed that a score of voices could raisesuch an uproar, and he ceased admiring his new shoes, while he fixed hiseyes in terror on the capacious mouth of a pious old man, who, in hisfervent zeal, was singing with all his might. As he sounded forth eachresonant note, louder than the preceding, his mouth opened wider andwider, until Fernando took alarm and climbed upon his father's knee. 

At this critical moment, there came on the air a cracking sound, and oneof the boards which served the purpose of a pew broke in the centre andcame down with a crash, precipitating nearly half a score of buxom, screaming girls into a promiscuous heap upon the floor. This was toomuch for Fernando. He could not but attribute the disaster to thewide-mouthed singer, and he screamed so lustily in his fright, that hisfather took him from the house to calm his fears. 

Fernando's first experience at "meeting" was not very encouraging; buthe did not despair. Soon after their return home he heard the familybegin to speak of the "camp-meeting, " and learned that one was to beheld at the head waters of Bear Creek, not far from the home of Mr. Moore, and that the family was going. 

On the appointed day they took their places in the wagon and started forthe camp ground. Notice of the camp-meeting had been circulated forseveral weeks or months, and all were eager to attend. The country forfifty miles around was excited with the cheerful anticipation of theapproaching festival of religious feeling and social friendship. Whenthe Stevenses arrived on the grounds, wagons and carts, coaches and oldfamily chaises, people on horseback and on foot, in multitudes, withprovision wagons, tents, mattresses, household implements and cookingutensils, were seen hurrying from every direction toward the centralpoint. The camp was in the midst of a grove of beautiful, lofty, umbrageous trees, natural to the western country, clothed in theirdeepest verdure, and near a sparkling stream, which supplied the hostwith fresh water. White tents started up in the grove, and soon a sylvanvillage sprang up as if by magic. The tents and booths were pitched in asemi-circle, or in a four-sided parallelogram, inclosing an area of twoacres or more, for the arrangement of seats and aisles around a rudepulpit and altar for the thronging multitude, all eager to hear theheavenly messenger. 

Fernando beheld all in a maze of wonder, and half believed this was thatHeaven of which his mother had told him so much. He half expected to seethe skies open and the son of God descend in all his glory. Towardnight, the hour of solemn service approached, and the vast sylvan bowerof the deep umbrageous forest was illuminated by numerous lampssuspended around the line of tents which encircled the public area andbeside the rustic altars distributed over the same, which sent forth aglare of light from the fagot fires upon the worshipping throng, and themajestic forest with an imposing effect, which elevated the soul to fitconverse with its creator, God. 

The scenery of the most brilliant theatre of the world was only apainting for children compared with this. Meantime, the multitude, withthe highest excitement of social feeling, added to the generalenthusiasm of expectation, was passing from tent to tent interchangingapostolic greetings and embraces, while they talked of the approachingsolemnities. A few minutes sufficed to finish the evening's repast, whenthe moon (for they had taken thought to appoint the meeting at the timeof the full moon) began to show its disc above the dark summits of thedistant mountains, while a few stars were seen glimmering in the west. Then the service began. The whole constituted a temple worthy of thegrandeur of God. An old man in a dress of the quaintest simplicityascended a platform, wiped the dust from his spectacles, and, in a voiceof suppressed emotion "lined the hymn, " of which that vast multitudecould recite the words, to be sung with an air in which every voicecould join. Every heart capable of feeling thrilled with emotion as thatsong swelled forth, "Like the sound of many waters, echoing among thehills and mountains. " The service proceeded. The hoary-haired oratortalked of God, of eternity, of a judgment to come and all that isimpressive beyond. He spoke of his experiences and toils, his travels, his persecutions and triumphs, and how many he had seen in hope, inpeace and triumph gathered to their fathers. When he spoke of the shortspace that remained for him, his only regret was that he could no longerproclaim, in the silence of death, the unsearchable riches and merciesof his crucified Redeemer. 

No wonder, as the speaker paused to dash the gathering moisture from hisown eye, his audience was dissolved in tears, or uttered exclamations ofpenitence. Many who prided themselves on an estimation of a higherintellect and a nobler insensibility than the crowd caught theinfection, and wept, while the others, "who came to mock remainedto pray. "

In due time a schoolhouse was erected on the banks of the creek a mileaway from the house of Albert Stevens. Fernando was sent with the olderchildren. Mrs. Creswell the teacher had no end of trouble with thelittle fellow, whose ideas of liberty were inconsistent with discipline, and who insisted on reclining on the floor instead of sitting on abench. He became hungry and despite the fact that his preceptress hadforbidden "talking out loud" declared that he wanted something to eat. 

"Wait a bit, " answered the teacher. "We will have recess by and by. "

"Is recess something to eat?" he asked. 

This question produced a titter, and the insubordinate youngster wasagain told he must not talk. After awhile he became accustomed to schooland liked it. He grew older and learned his letters. It was a tedioustask, the most difficult of which was to distinguish "N" from "U, " buthe finally mastered them, and his education, he supposed, was complete. After two or three years, he learned to read. His father on one of hisjourneys to town brought to their forest home some excellent books, withbright, beautiful pictures. He was now nine years old, and could readwith some difficulty. One of his books was a story about a man beingwrecked on an island, and having saved a black man named Friday fromdeath by savages. Fernando never tired of this wonderful book, and, inhis eagerness for the adventures of Robinson Crusoe, learned to readwell without knowing it. 

From reading one book, he came to read others, and lofty, ambitiousthoughts took possession of his soul. His mind, uncontaminated ordwarfed by the sins of civilization, early began to reach out for highand noble ideas. 

His father had been a captain in the continental army, and had travelledall over the Atlantic States during the war for independence. He toldhis children many stories of those dark days and sought early to instilin their young minds a love for their country, urging them ever tosustain its honor and its flag. 

Fernando Stevens, even early in childhood, became a patriot. He could benothing more nor less than a patriot and lover of freedom with suchtraining, and growing up in such an atmosphere. With the bitter wrongsof George III. Rankling in his heart, he came to despise all forms ofmonarchy, and to hate "redcoats. " The cruelties of Cornwallis, Tarleton, Rawdon, Tryon and Butler were still in the minds of the people, and theboy, as he gazed on his father's sword hanging on the cabin wall, oftendeclared he would some day take it and avenge the wrongs done inyears gone by. 

Years passed on, and Fernando, in his quiet home in the West, grew to bea strong, healthy lad, with a constantly expanding mind. 

CHAPTER II. 

MORGIANNA. 

It was early on the morning of June 13, 1796, just twenty years afterthe Declaration of Independence, that Captain Felix Lane, of the goodship _Ocean Star_, was on his voyage from Rio to Baltimore with a cargoof coffee. The morning was specially bright, and the captain, as brave aman as ever paced a quarter deck, was in the best of spirits, for heexpected soon to be home. He had no wife and children to greet him onhis return, for Lane was a bachelor. He had served on board a privateerduring the War of the Revolution and had done as much damage as any manon salt water to English merchantmen. Like most brave men, Captain Lanehad a generous soul, a kind heart, and there was not a man aboard hisvessel who would not have died for him. He preserved perfect disciplineand respect through love rather than fear, for he was never known to beharsh with any of his crew. 

No one knew why the captain had never married. His first mate, who hadsailed under him four years, had never dared broach him on the subjectof matrimony. There was a story--a mere rumor--perhaps without theslightest foundation, of Felix Lane, when a poor sailor boy, loving thedaughter of an English merchant at Portsmouth, England. The mate got thestory from a gossipy old English sailor, who claimed to know all aboutit, but whose fondness for spinning yarns brought discredit on hisveracity. According to the old sailor's account, the fair English maid'sname was Mary. Her father was one of the wealthiest merchants in thecity; and one day when Lane was only nineteen he met Mary. Her beautycaptivated him and inspired him to a nobler life. Mary loved the youngsailor; but it was the old story of the penniless lover and cruelparent. The sailor was forcibly expelled from the house and sailed toAmerica, with a heart full of revenge and ambition. 

He arrived just after the battle of Lexington, and soon shipped aboard aprivateer. Again it was the old story of a rash lover laughing at death, seeking the grim monster who seemed to avoid him. His ship was sosuccessful, that in a short time each of the crew was rich from prizemoney. Four years and a half of war found Felix Lane commander of themost daring privateer on the ocean. He was already wealthy and continuedby fresh prizes to add to his immense fortune. The merchant marine ofGreat Britain dreaded his ship, the _Sea Rover_, more than the wholeAmerican navy. Lane was one of the most expert seamen on the ocean, andmight have had a high office in the regular navy, had he not found thissemi-piratical business more lucrative. 

One day his vessel sighted a large merchantman, off the coast of Spain, and engaged it in a terrible conflict. The merchantman carried twice asmany people and heavier guns than the _Sea Rover_; but by the skilfulmanagement of his ship Captain Lane continued to rake her fore and aftuntil she was forced to strike her colors. When the conqueror wentaboard, he found the splintered deck a scene of horror. Cordage, shrouds, broken spars and dead and dying men strewed the deck. Near thegangway was a middle-aged man holding in his arms a girl mortallywounded in the conflict. He recognized her in a moment, and the scenewhich followed tried all the powers of the old yarn-spinner'sdescriptive faculties. He held her in his arms and wept and prayed untilher life was extinct. It was said that she recognized him and that shedied with a sweet smile on her face, pointing upward to a place ofreunion. The father, who had survived the conflict, was released, andCaptain Felix continued his career a sadder and better man. 

Whether this story was true or not, no one can at this day tell, forJack tars are proverbial yarn-spinners, and seek more after romance thantruth. One thing is quite certain, though, Captain Lane was still abachelor, and had resisted all the advances of beautiful women, until noone doubted that he would end his days a bachelor. 

On this bright June morning a sail was descried S. S. E. , and thereimmediately sprang up a little conversation between master and mate asto the probable character of the ship. 

"Perchance, captain, it's a British cruiser, " suggested the mate. 

"If it should be, we have no fears. "

"No, for the _Ocean Star_ can show a pair of clean heels to anythingafloat. These British have a habit of searching all vessels they cancapture and impressing seamen. "

"It's ugly business. "

"It will breed another storm. "

"I don't think America will long submit. "

At this, the mate, whose temper was as fiery as his red hair, vowed:

"If they should board a ship of mine, I would give 'em lead and steel, until they would not care to search or impress any one. "

"They have no such right, " the captain answered, and his face grew verystern. 

The vessel, whatever she was, did not cross their path, however, and ina few hours disappeared around some jutting headlands. 

They had only left Rio the day before, and had very light winds. Theland breeze lasted long enough to bring them by Santa Cruz, and theirship drifted along all day between Raza and the main. Toward night thesea-breeze came in fresh from the eastward, and they made four-hourtacks, intending to keep the northern shore quite close aboard, and totake their departure from Cape Frio. The night was very clear, and ateight bells they tacked ship to the northward, heading about N. N. E. ;Raza lights could just be discerned, bearing about West. Captain Lanehad come on deck, as was his custom, to "stay" the brig, and, findingeverything looking right, was about to go below, when the man on thelookout cried:

"Sail ho!"

"Where away?" demanded the Captain. 

"Two points off the lee bow. "

The captain walked forward to the forecastle, from where he descriedwhat appeared to be a large square-rigged vessel standing directly forthem, with her port-tacks aboard. This seemed strange to the captain, ashe knew of no vessel which had left Rio, except one several daysprevious, and she should have been far on her voyage by this time. 

The stranger approached very rapidly, carrying a press of canvas, and"lying over" to it in fine style. In a short time the stranger wasalmost within speaking distance, and Captain Lane made her out to be alarge heavily-sparred clipper brig. A collision seemed inevitable, ifshe held her course. The _Ocean Star_ was a little to windward of thestranger with the starboard tacks aboard, and Captain Lane knew it wasthe stranger's duty to "bear up" and keep away. He jumped for hisspeaking trumpet and hailed:

"Brig ahoy!"

No answer; and the mysterious vessel came booming right on for them withfearful speed. 

"Brig ahoy!" shouted the captain again. "Hard up your helm, or you willbe into me!"

Still no answer; and, jumping to the wheel, the captain jammed it down, and they came up flying into the wind. Leaving the wheel to thefrightened seaman, he sprang into the port rail, to see where thestranger would strike them. As he did so, that mysterious craft flew by, and the whole sea seemed lighted up by a strange illumination. It waslike a terrible dream--so wild, so supernatural and unearthly. AsCaptain Lane stood by the port rail, he saw right under his quarter, alarge, low, black brig, with her decks crowded with men, and gunsprotruding from her ports; while on the weather rail, clinging with onehand to the shrouds, stood a strange, demoniacal-looking figure, holdingin his outstretched hand, above the water, a burning blue light. On thequarter-deck a little knot of men seemed standing, a short distanceapart from them was a strikingly handsome man, who, from his air ofsuperiority, Lane at once knew to be the commander. His perfectly poisedand graceful attitude, and thorough composure, as he removed a cigarfrom his mouth and motioned an order to the helmsman, struck thebeholder as wonderful. 

In an instant the whole thing flashed upon the captain--_he was apirate_! He had run under the stern of the brig and burned a blue lightto read the name of the vessel, and see if the bird was worth plucking. 

Captain Lane's decision was instantaneous. He knew that the whitefeather never helped one out with such fellows. It was all the work ofan instant. The stranger ran a couple of lengths astern the _OceanStar_, swung his main-yard aback and hailed; but while the boldbuccaneer was doing this, Captain Lane had performed an equallysea-manlike manoeuvre. He caught his sails aback, and his vessel havingstern way, he shifted his helm, backed her round, and, filling away onthe other tack, stood directly for the pirate. 

It was the stranger's time to hail now. The _Ocean Star_ was a sharp, strong, fast-sailing vessel, and was under good headway and perfectcontrol. Captain Lane then acted hurriedly, but with precision, givinghis orders to his mate and helmsman, and, seizing the cabin lantern andhis speaking trumpet, he jumped upon the topgallant forecastle, and, holding up his lamp, made the master mason's "_hailing sign ofdistress_. " He then hailed through his trumpet, in quick, determinedsyllables:

"Brig ahoy! Unless you swear as a man or as a Mason that you will notmolest me, as true as there is a God, we will sink together!"

Quick as thought, the answer came back through the trumpet, clear anddistinct:

"I swear as a Mason! Hard up your helm!"

"Hard up your helm!" the captain shouted aft, and, paying off like abird, the _Ocean Star_ swept by the stranger's stern near enough toalmost touch her. As they went sailing past her, it became CaptainLane's turn to bend forward with a lantern, and ascertain who his newacquaintance was. There, painted in blood-red letters on the blackstern, was the name

 MORGIANNA. 

He had scarce read it, when the same clear tones, more subdued, hailedhim, as he thought, with somewhat of kindness:

"Captain, do me the favor to back your main-yard; I will come aboard ofyou--_alone_!"

[Illustration: Morgianna. ]

The captain gave the necessary orders, and "hove to" within three orfour cables' length of the stranger; and in a very few minutes afour-oared boat, containing but a single figure besides the crew, wasseen approaching the _Ocean Star_. 

Captain Lane had a ladder put over the gangway and threw a rope to theboat as it came alongside; and the next moment the stranger sprang uponthe deck of the _Ocean Star_. 

With an easy grace he gave to the captain the quick, intelligible signof the "great brotherhood" and, taking his arm familiarly, walked aft. 

Captain Lane called the steward, sent for glasses and wine, and, as soonas they were placed upon the table, closed the cabin door, and foundhimself alone with his strange visitor. 

The captain filled his glass and, sipping it in Spanish fashion, passedthe decanter to the stranger. He followed his example, and after theusual interchange of courtesies addressed him:

"Captain, I have a favor to ask of you. "

"Name it. "

"You are probably not aware of the true motive which induced me to heaveyou to?"

"I am not. "

"It is this: I wish you to take a passenger to the United States--a ladyand her child. Now that I have seen you and feel acquainted with you, byour common ties, I feel a confidence in sending them by you, which Ishould never have felt, perhaps, with another. Will you take them? Anyprice shall be yours. "

"Yes; I will take them. "

"Thank you. I have a still further favor to ask. I wish to send to theStates a sum of money to be invested in the lady's name, and for heraccount. Will it be too much to ask you to attend to this? You maycharge your own commission. "

"I will obey your wishes to the letter, " Captain Lane answered. 

The stranger grasped his hand across the table and, with some emotion, added:

"If you will do this, and will place the lady and child where they mayfind a home, with the surroundings of Christian society, you will confera favor upon me which money can never repay. "

Captain Lane looked at the man with astonishment, and for the first timegave him a glance that was thoroughly searching and critical. 

He was apparently of about thirty-five years of age, a little above themedium height, with a broad forehead, over which fine, brown hairclustered in careless folds. He wore his beard and mustache long, theformer extending to a point a few inches below the throat. His eyes werebrown, large and full of expression, while in conversation, and a mildand melancholy smile occasionally stole over his features. 

His manners and conversation betokened refinement; and, take him all inall, he was the last man one would have ever taken for a smuggler ora pirate. 

Captain Lane became very much interested in him, and gradually theirconversation took a wider range. In the midst of it and before they hadfully completed their business arrangements in relation to thepassengers, whom Captain Lane had engaged to convey to the UnitedStates, the mate knocked at the cabin door, and informed them that aheavy squall was rising to westward. 

They hurried on deck, which no sooner had they reached, than thestranger, looking hastily in the quarter indicated, shook Captain Lanewarmly by the hand saying:

"I must go aboard, captain; that will be a heavy squall. Keep me insight if you can; but, if we part company, meet me off Cape Frio--thisside of it--to-morrow; wait for me till night, if you do not see mebefore. Good-by!" and springing into his boat, he pulled away forhis vessel. 

Captain Lane never saw him again alive. 

No sooner was he over the side, than the captain gave orders to shortensail. He took in royals and topgallant sails, furled the courses, trysail and jib, and double-reefed the topsails. They braced the yards alittle to starboard, hauled the foretopmast staysail sheet well aft, andthe captain, thinking he had everything snug, stood looking over theweather rails, watching the approaching squall. The wind had almost diedaway, and the atmosphere seemed strangely oppressive. Captain Lane wasan old sea-dog and had witnessed many strange phenomena on the ocean;but never had he seen a squall approach so singularly. It seemed to movevery slowly--a great black cloud, which looked intensely luminouswithal, and yet so dense and heavy, that an ordinary observer might havemistaken it for one of the ordinary rain squalls encountered in thetropics. Captain Lane consulted his barometer, and found itfalling rapidly. 

"Clew the topsails up!" shouted the captain to the mate. "All hands layaloft and furl them!"

The order was quickly obeyed; and just as the sailors reached the deck, the squall struck them. It did not come as it was expected; it hadworked up from the westward, but struck the _Ocean Star_ dead from theSouth. In an instant they were over, nearly on their beam ends, and aheavy sea rushed over the lee-rail, filling the deck. 

"Hard up your helm!" shouted the captain, and, springing aft, he foundthe helmsman jammed under the tiller, and the second mate vainlyendeavoring to heave it up. Taking hold with him, by their unitedefforts they at last succeeded; and, after a moment's suspense, the_Ocean Star_ slowly wore off before the wind and, rising out of thewater, shook herself like an affrighted spaniel and darted off withfearful speed before the hurricane. 

Leaving orders to keep her "steady before it" the captain went forwardto ascertain the extent of the damage they had sustained. It was nowintensely dark, the rain falling in torrents, and lightning boltsstriking the water all around them, accompanied by fearful and incessantpeals of thunder. A human voice could not have been heard five pacesaway. The wind, which fairly roared through the shrouds, and the delugeof water upon the deck, were enough of themselves to drown any voice. Byflashes of lightning, the captain soon ascertained that they werecomparatively unharmed, and their spars were safe. Gathering hisfrightened crew and officers about him, he succeeded at length infreeing the decks of water by knocking out the ports on either side. They next sounded the pumps, and found three feet of water in the well. Immediately double pumps were rigged, and the steady clinking of brakesadded to the noises and terror of the scene. 

It was a fearful night, and Captain Lane prayed Heaven that he mightnever see such another. 

About half an hour after the squall first struck them--the captain ofthe _Ocean Star_ was standing with his two officers on the quarter-deck, "conning the vessel by the feel of the wind and rain, " keeping her deadbefore the gale--when there came a flash and a peal which made themcower almost to the decks. 

"My God!" was the simultaneous exclamation of all. A long chain oflightning and a heavy ball of fire seemed to shoot from the sky, lighting up the whole sea, revealing, and at the same time striking, inits descent, a full-rigged brig, which, like themselves, was scuddingbefore the gale under bare poles, a few cables' length off their portbeam. The next instant, a fearful explosion, heard loud above theroaring storm, shook the sea, a volume of flame and fire shot up in theair, and when they looked again for the vessel, in the flashes oflightning, it was nowhere to be seen. 

As the morning broke, the gale abated, and settled into a light breezefrom the eastward. They made all sail, and stood to the southward withthe wind abeam, hoping to fall in with some survivors of the wreck. 

Captain Lane changed his wet garments for something more comfortable, refreshed himself with a strong cup of coffee, and, taking his glass, sought the foretopsail yard. About seven bells, he thought he discoveredsome object in the water three or four points off the lee bow. Hailingthe deck to keep off for it, he very soon made out fragments of avessel--spars, water casks, pieces of deck and, as they came stillnearer, a boat; but the captain, even from his lofty perch, could see nosign of any one in it. 

Descending to the deck, he ordered a boat to be cleared away, and, running as near as he dared to the wreck, he backed his maintopsail andtook a long and earnest survey with his glass. 

All hands were watching with anxious eyes the expression on thecaptain's face. He handed his glass to the mate, who carefully examinedevery fragment which appeared above water. The captain looked at themate inquiringly; but neither said a word. The mate handed back theglass and shook his head sorrowfully. 

Again the captain looked long and earnestly; the mate looked again, andagain returned the glass:

"Poor fellows--we may as well fill away, sir!" he said sadly. 

There was still considerable sea on, and the mere launching of a boatwas attended with more than ordinary danger, added to which was that tobe encountered from the broken spars and fragments of wreck driftingabout. Captain Lane thought of all these dangers, and was about to givethe order to "fill away the main-yard, " when something seemed to sayto him:

"_There is some one in that boat_!"

This impression was so strong that he felt as if it would be murder toleave the spot without making a more minute search, and he ordered theboat to be lowered at once. Jumping into the stern sheets, four goodoars well manned soon brought him within the little field of fragments, in the centre of which the boat was floating. No wonder none of the crewwas left, --the water literally swarmed with sharks. 

Standing in the bow with a boat hook, the captain warded off pieces ofwreck and gradually made his way to the strange boat. 

The sight there which met his eyes Captain Lane never forgot to hisdying day. When bowed down with old age, and his feeble steps weretottering on the verge of the grave, that scene came to him as vividlyas on that terrible day. Lying in the bottom of the boat was the burnt, blackened and bruised form of a man, which, with some difficulty, thecaptain recognized as the handsome stranger who had visited him on theprevious evening. Clinging to him, with her arms clasped tightly aroundhis mutilated form, a clasp which even death could not break, her fairface pressed close to his blackened features, was the lifeless body ofthe most beautiful woman Captain Lane had ever seen. The look of agony, of commiseration, of tenderness, of pity, of horror and despair, whichwas sealed upon, those lifeless features was beyond the powers ofdescription; but the saddest spectacle of all was a child, a little girlabout one year old, clinging frantically to the breast of her deadmother, and gazing silently at them in frightened wonder. 

For years, Captain Lane's eyes had not been dimmed with tears, but nowthe fountains of grief were opened up, and his cheeks were wet. Hecarefully entered the boat, felt of each cold body, laid his hand uponeach silent heart, and waited in vain for an answering signal to histouch upon the pulse. 

"It is all over, " he said, and sitting down in the stern sheets of theboat, he took the child in his arms and sent his men back for sheets andshot and palm and needle and prayer-book. "They shall have Christianburial, " declared the kind-hearted captain. 

They went away and left him alone with the dead and the baby. The infantseemed to cling to him from that moment, and the Great Father abovealone knows how strangely and rapidly those cords of love were cementedbetween the bluff, old bachelor sea-captain and the infant. That heart, which he had thought dead to all love since the awful day on board theEnglish merchantman, when he saw the only being he ever loved dying, wassuddenly thrilled by the tenderest emotions. Those sweet blue eyes wereupturned to his face with a glance of imploring trust, and thecaptain cried:

"Yes, blow my eyes, if I don't stand by you, little one, as long asthere is a stitch of canvas left!"

The time was very short until his men returned. Wrapping the dead in oneshroud and winding sheet, with heavy shot well secured at their feet, the captain put the little child's lips to its mother's, giving her anunconscious kiss, which caused the men to brush their rough sleevesacross their weather-beaten eyes. Then, reading with a broken voice, thelast service for the dead, the shroud was closed, and the opening watersreceived them and bore them away to their last resting place. 

Jumping into his boat, with the little stranger nestling in his arms, Captain Lane was soon aboard the _Ocean Star_, and with a fair wind andsunny skies was once more homeward bound. The captain seemed loath torelinquish his little charge. There was a goat on the vessel whichfurnished milk, and the cook prepared some dainty food for thelittle stranger. 

"What is her name, captain?" he asked, while feeding the hungry child. She was not old enough to know her name, and there was not found abouther clothes or in the boat anything whatever by which her name couldpossibly be known, so she had to be rechristened. What name should hegive her? He reflected a moment and then, remembering the name on thestern of that black, mysterious vessel, answered:

"Morgianna!"

"Morgianna?" said the cook. 

"Yes, Morgianna Lane! she is my adopted daughter. "

The cook smiled at the thought of bluff old Captain Lane the bachelorhaving an adopted daughter. 

After the perils and excitements of such a night, it was not strangethat Captain Lane slept long and soundly. He had good officers, and whenhe retired he gave them orders not to disturb him, unless absolutelynecessary, until he should awake. 

They obeyed the injunction to the letter, and on the following morninghe was awakened by hearing one of the crew ask in an undertone ofthe steward. 

"How is little Morgianna this morning?"

"Little Morgianna, " he said to himself; and then it all came back, andwith it a strangely tender dream which had all night long haunted hisslumbers. The captain rose hurriedly, dressed himself and inquired forthe child, who had been resigned to the care of the cook. She wasbrought to him, a bright, cheerful little thing, just beginning to lispunintelligible words. For a few days she missed her mother and wore alook of expectation on her infantile face, occasionally crying out; butanon this passed away, and she became cheerful and happy. The captainspent as much of his time with her as he could spare from his duties, and as he held the little creature on his knee, heard her gentle voicein baby accents, and felt her warm baby fingers on his cheek, a newemotion took possession of his heart. He loved little Morgianna dearlyas a father might. 

Before that voyage was over, Captain Lane resolved to abandon the seaand retire to his fine estate at Mariana, a village on the seashore nota score of miles from Baltimore. He kept his intentions a secret untilthe vessel was in port; then the merchants with whom he had been engagedin business for years, were astounded to learn that Captain Lane hadmade his last voyage. A nurse was engaged for little Morgianna and thegreat mansion house on the hill within a fourth of a mile of Mariana wasfitted up for habitation. Servants were sent to the place, and thevillagers were lost in wonder. 

The gossips had food for conjecture for weeks, and many were the strangestories afloat. Some of the old dames thought the captain was going tobe married after all. Then the young widows and ancient maidens who hadheard much about Captain Lane, sighed and looked disconsolate. Everykind of a story but the truth was afloat. 

When on one bright autumnal day, a carriage from Baltimore was seen todash into the village and roll up the great drive, between the rows ofpoplars, it was whispered he had come. One who watched averred that onlythe captain and a child not over a year and a half old alighted from thecoach. (The nurse came in another vehicle. ) The child started anotherrumor. She was a mysterious, unknown factor, and the gossips bandied thecaptain's name about in a reckless manner. Good old dames shook theirheads knowingly and declared they had suspected the captain had a wifeall the time in some far-off city. 

"You kin never depend on these sea-captains!" Mrs. Hammond declared. 

But despite all their conjectures, the captain lived in the old stonemansion house with his servants and Morgianna. A few weeks after hisarrival, she was christened at the village church as Morgianna Lane, herparents not known. 

Would wonders never cease? Bit by bit, the sensational story ofMorgianna got out into the village, and she became the object of thegreatest interest. Captain Lane adopted her, and when she became oldenough to accompany him, he seldom went away without her. Morgiannaloved the good old man, who, with all his rough seaman-like ways, wasfather and mother both to her. 

Never had daughter a kinder or more indulgent father. 

As years went on, Morgianna grew in beauty, intelligence, grace andgoodness. Captain Lane was proud of her, and she was never so happy aswhen sitting on his knee listening to his yarns of the sea. Her own sad, dark story had never been told to her, --that was left for the future. 

CHAPTER III. 

JEFFERSONIANISM. 

There is not a man of intelligence in America or Europe, who has notheard of the Democratic party in America, that great politicalorganization which has been in existence almost, if not quite, onehundred years. Many who claim allegiance to this great party know littleof its tenets, and still fewer know its history. There are orators onthe stump, in the halls of Congress, writers for the press, alladvocating "the glorious principles of Democracy, " who have neverthoroughly acquainted themselves with its history. The Democratic partyof to-day was originally known as the Republican party. The warmdiscussions on the national constitution engendered party spirit in thenew republic, which speedily assumed definite forms and titles, first asFederalist and anti-Federalist, which names were changed to Federalistand Republican, or Democrat. 

The Federalist party, headed by Alexander Hamilton, favored muchconcentration of power in a national government, but perhaps not morethan we have to-day, and, in fact, not more than is really essential tothe upbuilding of a stable republic like ours. There can be no questionbut that Washington held to the same views; but Washington was the onlygreat man America ever produced who rose so far above political partiesas to absorb them all. He has never been classed as belonging to eitherparty. The Republican or Democratic party favored State sovereignty andthe diffusion of power among the people. 

The American people had had such bitter experiences with monarchs thatthey dreaded anything which savored of monarchy, and it was argued thata centralized government was but a step in that direction. On the otherhand, Federalists pointed out the danger of State sovereignty, whichwould surely in the end disrupt the general government. Subsequenthistory has proven that the Federalists were right. We have said thatWashington was a Federalist at heart. His enemies, meanly jealous of hispopularity, often declared that he was a monarchist. 

Meanwhile, a revolution, violent in its nature and far-reaching in itsconsequences, had broken out in France. 

It was the immediate consequences of the teachings of the Americanrevolution. The people of France had long endured almost irresponsibledespotism, and were yearning for freedom when the French officers andsoldiers, who had served in America during the latter years of ourstruggles for independence, returned to their country full of republicanideas and aspirations. They questioned the right of the few to oppressthe many, and the public heart was soon stirred by new ideas, and in amovement that followed, Lafayette was conspicuous for a while. The king, like many tyrants, was weak and vacillating, and soon a body called thestates-general assumed the reins of government, while the king was infact a prisoner. The terrible Bastile, whose history represented royaldespotism, was assailed by the citizens of Paris and pulled down. Theprivileges of the nobility and clergy were abolished, and the churchproperty was seized. The king's brothers and many of the nobles fled inaffright across the frontier, and tried to induce other sovereigns totake up the cause of royalty in France and restore the former order ofthings. The emperor of Austria (brother of the French queen) and theking of Prussia entered into a treaty to that effect, at Pilnitz, in 1791. 

When this treaty became known, war at once followed. Robespierre andother self-constituted leaders in Paris held sway for a while, and themost frightful massacres of nobles and priests ensued. The weak andunfortunate king, who had accepted constitution after constitution, wasnow deposed and a republic was established. Affairs had assumed thenature of anarchy and blood, and Lafayette and other moderate mendisappeared from the arena. The king was tried on charge of invitingforeigners to invade France, was found guilty and was beheaded inJanuary, 1793. His queen soon shared a like fate. The English troopssent to Flanders were called to fight the French, for the rulers ofFrance had declared war against Great Britain, Spain and Hollandin February. 

Thomas Jefferson who entered Washington's cabinet in 1789, had justreturned from France, where he had witnessed the uprising of the peopleagainst their oppressors. Regarding the movement as kindred to the lateuprising of his own countrymen against Great Britain, it enlisted hiswarmest sympathies, and he expected to find the bosoms of the people ofthe United States glowing with feelings like his own. He was sadlydisappointed. Washington was wisely conservative. His wisdom saw thatthe cruelty of the anarchists of Paris was not patriotism, but the worstsort of despotism. The society of New York, in which some of the leavenof Toryism yet lingered, chilled Jefferson. He became suspicious of allaround him, for he regarded the indifference of the people to thestruggles of the French, their old allies, as an evil omen. Though theTories of New York were cool toward the French republic from fardifferent motives than Washington, yet the same cause was attributedto both. 

Jefferson had scarcely taken his seat as Secretary of State inWashington's first cabinet before he declared that some of hiscolleagues held decidedly monarchical views; and the belief became fixedin his mind that there was a party in the United States continually atwork, secretly and sometimes openly, for the overthrow of Americanrepublicanism. The idea became a monomania with Jefferson from which henever recovered till his death, more than thirty years afterward. Jefferson soon rallied under his standard a large party of sympathizerswith the French revolutionists. Regarding Hamilton as the head and frontof the monarchical party, he professed to believe that the financialplans of that statesman were designed to enslave the people, and thatthe rights and liberties of the States and of individuals were indanger. On the other hand, Hamilton regarded the national constitutionas inadequate in strength to perform its required functions and believedits weakness to be its greatest defect. With this idea Jefferson tookissue. He charged his political opponents, and especially Hamilton, withcorrupt and anti-republican designs, selfish motives and treacherousintentions, and so was inaugurated that system of personal abuse andvituperation, which has ever been a disgrace to the press and politicalleaders of this country. Bitter partisan quarrels now prevailed, inwhich Jefferson and Hamilton were the chief actors. The populace wasgreatly excited. The Republicans who hated the British intensely, calledthe Federalists the "British party, " and the Federalists called theiropponents the "French party. " The Jeffersonians hailed with joy the newsof the death of the French king, and applauded the declaration of waragainst England and Holland, forgetting the friendship which the latterhad shown for Americans during the struggle for independence. 

Amid all this uproar which proceeded from his cabinet, only Washingtonremained calm. No other American at that day nor since could haveremained neutral and guided the ship of state through such breakers ofdiscontent. He was the safe middle water between the dangerous reefs ofconcentration and State sovereignty. 

Had not the Federal party been the victim of many unfortunatecircumstances, it would certainly in time have become popular in thenation. It was beyond question Washington's party, and, notwithstandingthe false charges of monarchism and British sovereignty, it waspatriotic. Had it existed forty or fifty years longer, until thatincubus which haunted Jefferson's brain had passed away, and therepublic become so firmly established that people would no longer fearBritish dependency, the Federal party would have been a firmly fixedinstitution. Had Federal ideas been fully inculcated instead ofJeffersonianism and Calhounism, the rebellion of 1861 would not haveoccurred; but Aaron Burr murdered Hamilton, the friend of Washington, the bright genius of American politics and the hope of the Federalparty, and the Federalists were left without any great leader. When thewar of 1812 came, the Federalists were so embittered against theDemocrats, then in power, that they became lukewarm and threw so manyobstacles in the way of the patriots who were making the second fightfor freedom, as to almost confirm the suspicion that they were thefriends of Great Britain rather than America. This forever blighted theFederal party. 

In the year 1800, Thomas Jefferson was elected the third president ofthe United States, and the first of Democratic proclivities. 

Although the city of Washington, the great American capital, had beenlaid out on a magnificent scale, in 1791, and George Washington, withmasonic ceremonies, laid the corner-stone of the capitol building in1793, the seat of government was not removed there until the year 1800. The site for the city was a dreary one. At the time when the seat ofgovernment was first moved there, only a path, leading through an alderswamp on the line of the present Pennsylvania Avenue, was the way ofcommunication between the president's house and the capitol. For awhile, the executive and legislative officers of the government werecompelled to suffer many privations. In the fall of 1800, OliverWolcott wrote:

"There is one good tavern about forty rods from the capitol, and severalhouses are built or erecting; but I don't see how the members ofcongress can possibly secure lodgings, unless they will consent to livelike scholars in a college or monks in a monastery, crowded ten ortwenty in one house. The only resource for such as wish to livecomfortably will be found in Georgetown, three miles distant, over asbad a road in winter as the clay grounds near Hartford. 

". . . There are, in fact, but few houses in any one place, and most ofthem are small, miserable huts, which present an awful contrast to thepublic buildings. The people are poor and, as far as I can judge, livelike fishes by eating each other. . . . You may look in any direction overan extent of ground nearly as large as the city of New York, withoutseeing a fence or any object except brick kilns and temporary huts forlaborers. . . . There is no industry, society or business. "

On March 4, 1801, Thomas Jefferson was inaugurated and commenced hisfirst term under favorable auspices. He was then fifty-eight years ofage--a tall, bony man, with grizzled sandy hair and rather slovenlydress--a man who practised his Democratic simplicity in all things, andsometimes carried it to extremes. A senator, writing of him in1802, said:

"The next day after my arrival I visited the president, accompanied bysome democratic members. In a few moments after our arrival a tall, high-boned man came into the room. He was dressed, or rather undressed, in an old brown coat, red waistcoat, old corduroy smallclothes, muchsoiled, woollen hose, and slippers without heels. I thought him aservant, when General Varnum surprised me by announcing it was thepresident. "

In brief, Mr. Jefferson outlined his policy as follows, in a letter toNathaniel Macon:

"1. Levees are done made away with. 2. The first communication to thenext congress will be, like all subsequent ones, by message to which noanswer will be expected. 3. The diplomatic establishment in Europe willbe reduced to three ministers. 4. The compensation of collectorsdepends on you (Congress) and not on me. 5. The army is undergoing achaste reformation. 6. The navy will be reduced to the legalestablishment by the last of the month (May, 1801). 7. Agencies in everydepartment will be revised. 8. We shall push you to the uttermost ineconomizing. 9. A very early recommendation has been given to thepostmaster-general to employ no printer, foreigner or Revolutionary Toryin any of his offices. "

James Madison was Mr. Jefferson's secretary of state; Henry Dearborn wassecretary of war, and Levi Lincoln, attorney-general. Jefferson retainedMr. Adams's secretaries of the treasury and navy, until the followingAutumn, when Albert Gallatin, a naturalized foreigner, was appointed tothe first named office and Robert Smith to the second. The presidentearly resolved to reward his political friends when he came to "revise"the agencies in every department. Three days after his inauguration, hewrote to Colonel Monroe, "I have firmly refused to follow the counselsof those who have desired the giving of offices to some of theFederalist leaders in order to reconcile. I have given, and will give, only to Republicans, under existing circumstances. "

The doctrine, ever since acted upon, that "to the victor belong thespoils, " was then practically promulgated from the fountain-head ofgovernment patronage; and with a cabinet wholly Democratic, whencongress met in December, 1801, and with the minor offices filled withhis political friends, Mr. Jefferson began his presidential career ofeight years' duration. In his inaugural address he said, "Everydifference of opinion is not a difference of principle. We have calledby different names brethren of the same principle. We are allFederalists--we are all Republicans. "

Vigor and enlightened views marked his course, so that even hispolitical enemies were compelled to confess his foresight and soundjudgment in regard to the national policy. 

The administration of Jefferson was not marked with perfect peaceabroad. Napoleon Bonaparte, the outgrowth of the French revolution, hadoverthrown monarchy in France and conquered almost all Europe. He wasnot a Washington, however, and the French people were only exchangingone tyrant for another. 

The Algerians, those barbarous North African pirates, had been forcingthe Americans to pay tribute. Captain Bainbridge, who commanded thefrigate _George Washington_, for refusing to convey an Algerianambassador to the court of the sultan at Constantinople, was threatenedby the haughty governor with imprisonment. 

"You pay me tribute, by which you become my slave, and therefore I havea right to order you as I think proper, " said the dey. 

Bainbridge was forced to obey the orders of the Barbarian. 

[Illustration: Stephen Decatur. ]

The Americans resolved to humble the Algerians, and a fleet was sent toTripoli in 1803. The frigate _Philadelphia_, while reconnoitering theharbor, struck on a rock and was captured by the Tripolitans, who madeher officers prisoners of war and her crew slaves. 

Lieutenant Decatur, on February 3, 1804, by a stratagem, got alongsidethe _Philadelphia_ with seventy-four brave young sailors like himselfand carried the ship by the board after a terrible hand-to-handconflict. The Tripolitans were defeated, and the _Philadelphia_ wasburned. The American seamen continued to bombard Tripoli and blockadedtheir ports, until the terrified Bashaw made a treaty of peace. 

While the Americans were winning laurels on the Mediterranean, theinfant republic was growing in political and moral strength. During Mr. Jefferson's first term, one State (Ohio) and two Territories (Indianaand Illinois) had been formed out of the great Northwestern Territory. Ohio was organized as an independent territory in the year 1800, and inthe fall of 1802, it was admitted into the Union as a State. Long beforethe Northwestern Territory had been divided into different territories, the present limits of Ohio and Kentucky had already become quitepopulous. Emigrants like Albert Stevens were pushing out on the frontierand building up a great commonwealth. 

About 1802, there was great excitement in the country west of theAlleghany Mountains, in consequence of a violation of the treaty madewith Spain in 1795, by the governor of Louisiana in closing the port ofNew Orleans against American commerce. There was a proposition beforecongress for taking forcible possession of that region, when it wasascertained that, by a secret treaty, Spain had retroceded Louisiana toFrance. The United States immediately began negotiations for thepurchase of that domain from France. Robert R. Livingston, the Americanminister at the court of the First Consul, found very little difficultyin making a bargain with Bonaparte, for the latter wanted money anddesired to injure England. He sold that magnificent domain, stretchingfrom the Gulf of Mexico northward to the present State of Minnesota, andfrom the Mississippi westward to the Pacific Ocean, for fifteen milliondollars. The bargain was made in the spring of 1803, and in the fall thecountry, and the new domain, which added nine hundred thousand squaremiles to our territory, was taken possession of by the United States. When the bargain was closed, Bonaparte said:

"This accession of territory strengthens forever the power of the UnitedStates, and I have just given to England a maritime rival that willsooner or later humble her pride. "

It was the prevailing opinion in the country, that the Spanishinhabitants, who were forming states in the great valley, would notsubmit to the rule of American government. Aaron Burr, a wily andunscrupulous politician, who, having murdered the noble Hamilton in aduel, was an outcast from society, began scheming for setting up aseparate government in the West. Burr was unscrupulous and dishonest andat the same time shrewd. The full extent of his plans were really neverknown, and the historian is in doubt whether he intended a severance ofthe Union, or an invasion of Mexico. Herman Blennerhassett, an excellentIrish gentleman, became his ally and suffered ruin with Burr. Burr wasarrested and tried, but was found not guilty. His speech in his owndefence was so eloquent, that it is said to have melted his enemies totears, though all believed him guilty. Burr's life was a wreck afterthat. His fame was blasted, and he was placed beside Benedict Arnold asa traitor to his country. 

With the acquisition of Louisiana, there grew up a powerful oppositionto Jefferson in the North and East. The idea was disseminated that thepurchase was only a scheme to strengthen the south and the southerndemocracy. Mr. Jefferson came almost to having a wholesome dose of hisdoctrine of State sovereignty exemplified. A convention of Federalistswas called at Boston, in 1804, in which a proposition of secession wasmade. Fortunately, however, there was too much patriotism in the bodyfor the proposition to carry, and the government was saved. 

CHAPTER IV. 

BRITISH CRUISERS. 

The peace of 1783 between the United States and Great Britain had beenextorted by the necessities, rather than obtained by the good will ofEngland. Though, by a formal treaty, the United States were declaredfree and independent, they were still hated in Great Britain asrebellious colonies. That such was the general opinion is manifest fromthe letters of John Adams, our first minister to the court of St. James, and from other authentic contemporary accounts. Of course there were afew men of sufficiently enlarged and comprehensive minds to forget thepast and urge, even in parliament, that the trade of America would bemore valuable as an ally than a dependent; but the number of these wassmall indeed. The common sentiment in England toward the young republicwas one of scornful detestation. We were despised as provincials, wewere hated as rebels. In the permanency of our institutions there wasscarce a believer in all Britain. This was especially the case prior tothe adoption of the federal constitution. Both in parliament and out, itwas publicly boasted that the Union would soon fall to pieces, and that, finding their inability to govern themselves, the different Stateswould, one by one, supplicate to be received back as colonies. This vainand empty expectation long lingered in the popular mind, and was notwholly eradicated until after the war of 1812. 

Consequently the new republic was treated with arrogant contempt. One ofthe first acts of John Adams, as minister to England, had been topropose placing the navigation and trade between the dominions of GreatBritain and the territories of the United States, on a basis of completereciprocity. By acceding to such a measure England might have gainedmuch and could have lost but little. The proposal was rejected almostwith terms of insult, and Mr. Adams was sternly informed that a "noother would be entertained. " The consequences were that the free negroesof Jamaica, and others of the poorer inhabitants of the British WestIndia Islands were reduced to starvation by being deprived of theirusual supplies from the United States. This unreasonable policy on thepart of England naturally exasperated the Americans, and one of thefirst acts of the federal government in 1789 was to adopt retaliatorymeasures. A navy law was passed, which has since been the foundation ofall our treaties of reciprocity with England. A protective tariff wasalso adopted as another means of retaliation. In these measures, theUnited States, being a young nation with unlimited territory, hadeverything to gain, and England all to lose. Great Britain was first totire of restrictive measures, and, by a repeal on her part, invited arepeal on ours. 

In another way Great Britain exasperated the popular feeling hereagainst her, and even forced the American government, once or twice, tothe verge of war. By the treaty of peace, all military posts held byEngland within the limits of the United States were to be given up. Michilimacinac, Detroit, Oswegotche, Point au Fer and Dutchman's Pointwere long held in defiance of the compact. These posts became the centreof intrigues among the savages of the Northwest. Arms were heredistributed to the Indians, and disturbances on the American frontierwere fomented. The war on the Miami, which was brought to a bloody closeby Wayne's victory, was, principally, the result of such secretmachinations. In short, England regarded the treaty of 1783 as a trucerather than a pacification, and long, held to the hope of being able yetto punish the colonies for their rebellion. In two celebrated letterswritten by John Adams from Great Britain, he used the following decidedlanguage in reference to the secret designs of England:

"If she can bind Holland in her shackles, and France from internaldissensions is unable to interfere, she will make war immediatelyagainst us. " This was in 1787. Two years before he had expressed, thesame ideas. "Their present system, as far as I can penetrate it, " hewrote, "is to maintain a determined peace with all Europe, in order thatthey may war singly against America, if they should think it necessary. "

A sentiment of such relentless hostility, which no attempt was made todisguise, but which was arrogantly paraded on every occasion, could notfail to exasperate those feelings of dislike on the part of America, which protracted war had engendered. This mutual hatred between the twonations arose from the enmity of the people rather than of the cabinets, "There is too much reason to believe, " wrote our minister, "that if thenation had another hundred million to spend, they would soon force theministry into another war with us. " On the side of the United States, itrequired all the prudence of Washington, sustained by his hold on theaffections of the people, to restrain them from a war with England, after that power had refused to surrender the military posts. 

A third element of discord arose when England joined the coalitionagainst France, in 1793. The course which the former had pursued for thepreceding ten years, had, as we have seen, tended to alienate the peopleof America from her and nourish sentiments of hostility in their bosoms. On the other hand, France, with that address for which she is eminent, had labored to heighten the good feelings already existing betweenherself and the United States. A treaty of alliance and commerce boundthe two countries; but the courteous demeanor of France cemented us toher by still stronger ties, those of popular will. 

Before the revolution broke out in Paris, the enthusiasm of Americatoward France could scarce be controlled. There can be no doubt that, ifthe subsequent excesses had not alarmed all prudent friends of liberty, the people of this country could not have been restrained from engagingin the struggle between France and England; but the reign of terror, backed by the insolence of Citizen Genet the minister of the Frenchrepublic, and afterward by the exactions of the Directory, checked theheadlong enthusiasm that otherwise would have embroiled us in theterrible wars of that period. In his almost more than human wisdom, Washington had selected a course of strict neutrality, from which publicenthusiasm, nor fear of loss of public favor could swerve him. Hiscourse was wise and proper for the still weak confederacy; and every daywas productive of events which showed the wisdom of this decision. Neither Great Britain nor France, however, was gratified by thisneutrality. Each nation wished the aid of the Americans, and becamearrogant and insulting when they found the resolution of the Americansunbroken. Napoleon, on the part of France, saw the impolicy of suchtreatment, and when he became first consul, he hastened to abandon it;but England relaxed little or nothing. Circumstances, moreover, made herconduct more irritating than that of France, and hence prolonged andincreased the exasperation felt toward her in America. 

As a great naval power, the policy of England has been to maintaincertain maritime laws, which her jurists claim to be part of the code ofnations and enforce in her admiralty courts. One principle of these lawsis this, that warlike munitions must become contraband in war; in otherwords, that a neutral vessel cannot carry such into the enemy's port. Hence, if a vessel, sailing under the flag of the United States, shouldbe captured on the high seas, bound for France, during the prevalence ofa war between that power and England, and be found to be laden withship-timber or other manufactured or unmanufactured articles forwarlike purposes, the vessel would, by the law of nations, become aprize to the captors. The right to condemn a ship carrying suchcontraband goods has always been recognized by civilized nations, and, indeed, it is founded in common justice. England, however, havingsupreme control at sea, and being tempted by the hope of destroying thesinews of her adversary's strength, resolved to stretch this rule so asto embrace provisions as well as munitions of war. She proceededgradually to her point. She first issued an order, on the 8th of June, 1793, for capturing and bringing into port "all vessels laden, wholly orin part with corn, flour, or meal, and destined to France, or to othercountries, if occupied by the arms of that nation. " Such vessels werenot condemned, nor their cargoes seized; but the latter were to bepurchased on behalf of the English Government; or, if not, then thevessels, on giving due security, were allowed to proceed to any neutralport. Of course the price of provisions in France and in England wasmaterially different, and a lucrative traffic for the United States was, in this way, destroyed. Moreover, this proceeding was a comparativenovelty in the law of nations, and, however it might suit the purposesof Great Britain, it was a gross outrage on America. In November of thesame year, it was followed by a still more glaring infraction of therights of neutrals, in an order, condemning to capture and adjudicationall vessels laden with the produce of any French colony, or withsupplies for such a colony. 

The fermentation in consequence of this order rose to such a height inAmerica, that it required all the skill of Washington to avert a war. The president, however, determining to preserve peace if possible, despatched Jay to London as a minister plenipotentiary, by whose frankexplanations, redress was in a measure obtained for the past, and atreaty negotiated, not, indeed, adequate to justice, but better thancould be obtained again, when it expired in 1806. 

The relaxation in the rigor of the order of November, 1793, soon provedto be more nominal than real; and from 1794 until the peace of Amiens in1802, the commerce of the United States continued to be the prey ofBritish cruisers and privateers. After the renewal of the war, the furyof the belligerents increased, and with it the stringent measuresadopted by Napoleon and Great Britain. The French Emperor, boldlyavowing his intention to crush England, forbade by a series of decrees, issued from Berlin, Milan and Rambouillet, the importation of hercommodities into any part of Europe under his control; and England, equally sweeping in her acts, declared all such ports in a state ofblockade, thus rendering any neutral vessel liable to capture, whichshould attempt to enter them. The legality of a blockade, where there isnot a naval power off the coast competent to maintain such blockade, hasalways been denied by the lesser maritime powers. Its effect, in thepresent instance, was virtually to exclude the United States fromforeign commerce. In these extreme measures, Napoleon and England wereequally censured; but the policy of the latter affected the Americansfar more than the former. The exasperation against Great Britain becameextreme and pervaded the whole community; that against France wasslighter and confined to the more intelligent. Napoleon was first tobegin these outrages on the rights of neutrals; but his injustice waspractically felt only on land; while England was first to introduce thepaper blockade, a measure ruinous to American merchants. This wasfinally done on May 16, 1806, when Great Britain announced a "blockadeof the coast rivers and ports, from the river Elbe to the port of Brestinclusive. " On the 21st of November, of the same year, Napoleon inretaliation, issued a decree from Berlin, placing the British Islands ina state of blockade. This decree was followed by a still more stringentorder in council on the part of England. 

It now became necessary for the United States either to engage in awar, or to withdraw her commerce from the ocean. The popular voicedemanded the former course. Though France was, in the abstract, asunjust as England, her oppressive measures did not affect Americancommerce, and hence the indignation of the people was directed chieflyagainst Great Britain; but with the president it was different. Thoughhis sympathies were with. France, his judgment was against her as wellas England. In his maturer wisdom, he could now appreciate the greatgood sense of Washington's neutrality. Besides, the grand old man ThomasJefferson was determined to preserve peace, for it was his favoritemaxim that "the best war is more fatal than the worst peace. " A furtherreason led him to refuse the alternative of war. He was not without hopethat one or both of the belligerents would return to reason and repealthe obnoxious acts, if the conduct of the United States, instead ofbeing aggressive, should be patient. Actuated by these views, thepresident recommended to congress the passage of an embargo act. Anembargo law was enacted in December, 1807. By it all American vesselsabroad were called home, and those in the United States were prohibitedfrom leaving port. In consequence of this measure, the commerce of thecountry was annihilated in an hour; and harbors, once flourishing andprosperous, soon became only resorts for rotting ships. There can be noquestion now that the embargo was a serious blunder. It crippled theAmerican resources for the war that ensued; made the eastern Stateshostile to Jefferson's, as well as his successor's administration, andtended to foster in the minds of the populace at large, an idea that weshrank from a contest with Great Britain in consequence ofinherent weakness. 

There was a fourth and last cause of exasperation, against England, which assisted more than all the rest to produce the war of 1812. Thiswas the British claim to the right of impressment. In the terriblestruggles in which England found herself engaged with France, hermaritime force was her chief dependence, and accordingly she increasedthe number of her ships unprecedentedly; but it soon became difficult toman all these vessels. The thriving commerce pursued by the UnitedStates, as early as 1793, drew large numbers of English seamen into ourmercantile marine service, where they obtained better wages than onboard English vessels. By the fiction of her law, a man born an Englishsubject can never throw off this allegiance. Great Britain determined toseize her seamen wherever found and force them, to serve her flag. Inconsequence, her cruisers stopped every American vessel they met andsearched the crew in order to reclaim the English, Scotch or Irish onboard. Frequently it happened that persons born in America were taken asBritish subjects; for, where the boarding officer was judge and jury ofa man's nationality, there was little chance of justice, especially ifthe seaman was a promising one, or the officer's ship was short-handed. In nine months, during parts of the years 1796 and 1797, the Americanminister at the court of London had made application for the dischargeof two hundred and seventy-one native born Americans, proved to havebeen thus impressed. These outrages against personal independence wereregarded among the great masses of Americans with the utmostindignation. Such injuries exasperated every soul not made sordid byselfish desire for gain. That an innocent man, peaceably pursuing anhonorable vocation, should be forcibly carried on board a Britishman-of-war, and there be compelled to remain, shut out from all hope ofever seeing his family, seemed, to the robust sense of justice in thepopular breast, little better than Algerian bondage. The rage of thepeople was increased by tales of horror and aggression that occasionallyreached their ears from these prison ships. Stories were told ofimpressed Americans escaping the ships, who, on being recaptured, werewhipped until they died. In one instance, a sailor, goaded to madness, seized the captain and, springing overboard, drowned himself and histormentor. 

Every attempt to arrange this difficulty with England had signallyfailed. The United States offered that all American seamen should beregistered and provided with a certificate of citizenship; that thenumber of crews should be limited by the tonnage of the ship, and ifthis number was exceeded, British subjects enlisted should be liable toimpressment; that deserters should be given up, and that a prohibitionshould be issued by each party against clandestinely secreting andcarrying off the seamen of the other. In 1800 and again in 1806, it wasattempted to form treaties in reference to this subject; but thepertinacity with which England adhered to her claim frustrated everyeffort at reconciliation. In 1803, the difficulty had nearly beenadjusted by a convention, Great Britain agreeing to abandon her claim toimpressment on the high seas, if allowed to retain it on the narrowseas, or those immediately surrounding her island; but this beingrejected as inadmissible by the United States, all subsequent efforts atan arrangement proved unsuccessful. The impressment of seamen continuedand was the source of daily increasing abuse. Not only Americans, butDanes, Swedes, Germans, Russians, Frenchmen, Spaniards and Portuguesewere seized and forcibly carried off by British men-of-war. There areeven well attested instances of Asiatics and Africans being thusimpressed. In short, as the war in Europe approached its climax, seamenbecame more scarce in the British Navy, and, all decency being thrownaside, crews were filled up under color of this claim, regardless evenof the show of justice. In 1811, it was computed that the number of menimpressed from the American marine service amounted to not less thansix thousand. 

In the spring of 1807, a crisis approached. A small British squadron layin American waters near the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay, watching someFrench frigates blockaded at Annapolis. Three of the crew of one of thevessels and one of another had deserted and enlisted on board the UnitedStates frigate _Chesapeake_, lying at the Washington Navy yard. TheBritish minister made a formal demand for their surrender. Ourgovernment refused compliance because it was ascertained that two of themen were natives of the United States, and there was strong presumptiveevidence that a third was, likewise. No more was said; but the commanderof the British squadron took the matter into his own hands. 

The _Chesapeake_, on going to sea on the morning of June 22, 1807, wasintercepted by the British frigate _Leopard_, whose commander hailedthe commodore and informed him that he had a despatch for him. Unsuspicious of unfriendliness, the _Chesapeake_ was laid to, when aBritish boat, bearing a lieutenant, came alongside. Barron politelyreceived him in his cabin, when the lieutenant presented a demand fromthe commander of the _Leopard_ that the bearer be allowed to muster thecrew of the _Chesapeake_, that he might select and carry away thedeserters. The demand was authorized by instructions received fromVice-Admiral Berkeley, at Halifax. Barron told the lieutenant that hiscrew should not be mustered, excepting by his own officers, when thelieutenant withdrew and the _Chesapeake_ moved on. 

Having some fear of mischief, Barron made some preparation to resist;but it was too late to prepare to cope with the _Leopard_, whichfollowed close in her wake, and the commander called out throughhis trumpet:

"Commodore Barron must be aware that the vice-admiral's commands must beobeyed. " The _Chesapeake_ held on her course although this was repeated. The _Leopard_ sent two shots athwart her bows. These were followed by abroadside poured into the hull of the _Chesapeake_. The American vessel, having no priming in her guns, was unable to return the fire, and afterbeing severely bruised by repeated broadsides she surrendered to herassailants. Her crew was mustered by the British officers and thedeserters carried away. One of them, a British subject, was hanged atHalifax and the others, being Americans, were spared on their consentingto enlist in the English Navy. Commodore Barron was tried on charge ofneglect of duty in not being prepared for action, found guilty, andsuspended from the service for five years without pay or emolument. 

On March 4, 1809, Mr. James Madison of Virginia succeeded Mr. ThomasJefferson as president of the United States. His cabinet were RobertSmith, secretary of state; Albert Gallatin, secretary of the treasury;William Eustis, secretary of war; Paul Hamilton, secretary of the navy, and Caesar Rodney, attorney-general. There was a powerful party in thenation hostile to his political creed, and consequently opposed to hisadministration and the war with England which seemed inevitable. 

French and English nations became more embroiled in trouble, whichincreased the trouble between the United States and Great Britain. 

At last the English government sent men-of-war to cruise off theprincipal ports of the United States to intercept Americanmerchant-vessels and send them to England as lawful prizes. In thisbusiness, the _Little Belt_, a British sloop-of-war, was engaged off thecoast of Virginia in the spring of 1811, where, on the 16th of April, she met the American frigate _President_, under Captain Ludlow, bearingthe broad pennant of Commodore Rodgers. Commodore Rodgers, being aboardthe _President_, hailed the sloop and asked:

"What sloop is that?"

A cannon-shot was his reply. 

"Captain Ludlow, " said the commodore, "we will teach that fellow goodmanners. Are your guns in order?"

"They are. "

"We have been taught a lesson by Barron's mishap. Train the guns and beready to fire. "

With a speaking trumpet, the commodore once more hailed the sloop with:

"What sloop is that?"

This time he was greeted with a broadside. 

"Fire!" cried the commodore, and the cannon of the _President_ sent abroadside of heavy shot against the impudent stranger. 

The conflict lasted only about ten minutes, when Captain Bingham, afterlosing eleven killed and twenty-one wounded, gave a satisfactory answer. The vessels parted company, the _Little Belt_ sailing for Halifaxfor repairs. 

It was in the year 1809 that the American brig _Dover_, one of the fewof American merchant vessels which had managed to escape the ruin ofJefferson's embargo act, was sailing among the lesser Antilles. Themaster-captain Parson was a thorough seaman with a heart as big asan ox. 

British cruisers were a greater bugbear to American vessels thanpirates, and Captain Parson kept a constant lookout for them. 

On the afternoon of an Autumnal day, when he found himself becalmed offa small island not down on the chart, the skipper felt no littleuneasiness. He paced his deck impatiently, occasionally turning his eyeto every quarter, surveying the horizon for some sign of a gale of wind. 

"Mr. Brown, Mr. Brown, " he called to his mate. 

"Aye, aye, sir, " answered Mr. Brown, hurrying forward. 

"Mr. Brown, look across that point of land sou-west the island--get yourglass. "

"Aye, aye, sir!"

The mate ran and got his glass. He came back to the captain and leveledit in the direction indicated by the captain. 

"Do you see anything?"

"I do, sir. "

"What is it?"

"I see the top gallant of a ship. "

"I thought I was not mistaken. Can you make out her colors?"

"I will go aloft, captain, and see. "

The mate ascended to the foretop cross-tree, and took a long survey ofthe stranger. When he descended the captain asked:

"What is she?"

"An English frigate. "

"I knew it!" growled the captain. "I felt it in my bones. We shall havethe rascals overhauling us anon. Egad, I wish we had an armed crew andheavy guns--I would not wait for congress to declare war. "

"But captain, while this dead calm lasts, she cannot move more thanourselves. "

"Very true, Mr. Brown, but, egad, she will catch the breeze first, andcome up with it. Thank heaven we have no man aboard our ship born out ofthe United States. They cannot impress any for Englishmen. "

The mate answered:

"They care little whether we are English or American born; if they areshort of hands, they will take such of our crews as they want. "

The captain paced the deck uneasily, occasionally muttering:

"Zounds, don't I wish I had a few heavy guns. "

There was but one small brass piece aboard, and it was only a sixpounder, unable to render much service. His country was nominally atpeace with Great Britain; but that did not prevent honest merchantmensuffering at the hands of the British cruisers. 

The afternoon wore away and the sun had set before there was breezeenough to fill a sail. Just as the vessel began to glide slowly awayfrom the small island not more than two miles distant, the mate, who hadascended to the lookout's position cried:

"Boat, ho!"

"Where away?"

"To leeward, heading direct for us. "

The captain seized his glass and turned it toward the island. The sombreshades of twilight had already gathered over the scene; but he sawthrough them quite distinctly a boat pulled by four men, while a fifthsat in the stern holding the tiller. The steersman kept the small islandbetween them and the vessel Captain Parson had discovered. 

As the breeze grew stiffer and the _Dover_ began to fill away, the mate, who had never taken his glass off the approaching boat, suddenly cried:

"Captain Parson, they are signalling us to heave to!"

"So they are, by zounds!" the puzzled captain exclaimed. 

"What will you do?"

After a moment's hesitation, the captain said:

"Heave to, by Jove, and see what they want!"

The order was given, and the vessel rocked idly on the waves, while theboat drew rapidly nearer. At last it was near enough for them to makeout the five men dressed in the uniform of British marines. 

"Brown, I don't like this. Those fellows are from his majesty's frigate, there is no doubt, and they mean us trouble. "

"Wait and see, captain, " the mate answered, coming down to the deck. "There are but five of them, and, so far as I can see, all are unarmed. "The deck by this time was crowded with the crew, all waiting in anxiousexpectation and dread. 

"It am de press gang!" said the cook, who was a negro black as the aceof spades named Job. "Dey am comin' to take off everybody dat looks likea Britisher. Golly! do I look like a Britisher?"

Notwithstanding the gravity of the situation, a smile flittedmomentarily over the faces of the officers and crew. The boat by thistime was within hailing distance, though it had grown so dark theinmates of it could be only dimly seen. 

"Boat, ahoy!" cried the captain. 

"Aye, aye, sir!" came back the response. 

"What boat is that?"

"A boat from his majesty's ship the _Sea-Wing. _ We wish to come aboardyour vessel. "

When the captain asked them their business, they frankly confessed thatthey were deserters and had been secreted all day on the island watchingan opportunity to reach the American brig. 

Their story was a probable one, and the captain and his officersbelieved it. A rope was tossed to them, and in a few moments fivestalwart jack tars in the uniform of the British Navy stood on the deck. 

One tall, fine-looking seaman, who was every inch a gentleman, and whoseconversation was evidence of education and refinement, told their story. 

Three of them were Americans, and two were Swedes. They had been seizedby the press gang and made slaves on board the frigate. 

"It has been many years, " said the tall sailor, "since I saw my nativeland. I am a native of Hartford, Connecticut. "

"Why didn't you escape sooner?" the Captain asked. 

"Escape, captain, is no easy matter, and is attended with seriousconsequences. They usually hang one who tries to desert. I am a gunner, by profession, and but for the fact they need my services against theFrench, I would have been hung long since for trying to desert. "

The gunner impressed Captain Parson favorably. He was a man betweenforty and forty-five years of age. His eyes were deep blue, his hairlight. His round, full face was smooth shaven. As he stood on the deck, his brawny arms folded across his massive chest, he looked a perfectmodel of a man and a tower of strength. 

Captain Parson led him aside and said:

"You are no common sailor. "

"I'm only a gunner now, captain. "

"But in the past?"

"I once commanded a ship. I will tell you my story on the morrow. It isa sad one, but, thank God, there's nothing in it at which I need blush. For the present, however, let us get along as fast as your ship can makeit, for the _Sea-Wing_ is a swift vessel, and if we are not beyond reachof her vision before the dawn of day, we shall be overhauled. "

Captain Parson knew that some evil consequences might result from beingoverhauled by the _Sea-Wing, _ and consequently every stitch of canvaswas spread and the brig sped away with a good stiff breeze. It was along and anxious night; master and crew were all on deck. No one slept. The coming dawn would tell the story. If the frigate were in sight, then they might expect the very worst; even the ship might be capturedand borne away as a prize and the entire crew enslaved. 

Dawn came at last. Each anxious heart welcomed and yet dreaded to seethe new day. Sailors and officers swept the sea as it grew lighter, and, to their dread, just as the sun rose over the glossy surface of the sea, a snowy speck appeared far off to the westward. 

The lookout at the mast-head first called their attention to it, and asit drew nearer and nearer the tall handsome gunner went aloft with aglass to see if he could recognize it. In a few moments he came backand said:

"It is the frigate, sir. "

That she was in full chase, there could not be a doubt. Captain Parsonhad little hope of escaping; but he put the _Dover_ on her best sailingpoint and scudded away before the wind with every stitch of canvas theycould carry. 

"Oh, golly! I hope dey won't mistake--dey won't mistake dis chile for aBritisher!" groaned Job the cook, who was trembling from head to foot, and whose black skin was almost pale. 

The five deserters were pale but calm. They seemed to read their fateand bore it like men. A flogging was the very least they could expect;but the chances were that every one would hang. The frigate was theswifter sailor and overhauled them so rapidly, that, in two hours and ahalf, she was within a mile of the brig. 

Suddenly a wreath of white smoke curled up from the forecastle, and amoment later a ball came skipping over the water under their larboarddeck, while the boom of a cannon sounded over the sea. As the fine sprayclipped from the crested waves by the shot, flew over the deck, Mr. Brown said:

"Captain, it's no use, she will be near enough to sink us in tenminutes. "

"Heave to, Brown. Oh! I wish I had arms and a crew!"

"Captain, " interposed the tall, handsome gunner, "I--I know their skilland metal. If you had a gun--a single gun of proper calibre, I couldsink her. I am called the best shot in the English navy. "

"We have only a six pounder, " answered the captain, ruefully, pointingto their only gun. It was but an inferior piece, and when the gunnerexamined it, he turned to his four anxious companions and said:

"It would be suicide. "

Then the five sailors stood near the main gangway with arms folded, heads erect, and resigned like brave men to their fate. The frigate camebearing down upon them like a great mountain, and soon lay alongside. The captain and a score of marines all armed with muskets, came aboard. 

"So ho!" cried the captain, "you have my live runaways snug enough. Seize them and carry them aboard, lieutenant. "

A young officer with ten men now seized the five deserters, handcuffedthem and led them to their ship which lay alongside. As they went overthe rail, the brutal captain said something about swinging at the yardarm. Turning to Parson, he said:

"Captain, muster your crew and have them pass before me. "

Much as the captain disliked to do so, he was in the power of the brutalEnglishman and forced to do his bidding. As the sailors passed slowlybefore him, the Briton eyed each carefully. Suddenly he pointed to astout young sailor named Tom, and cried:

"Stop sir, you are an Englishman!"

"I am not, capen, ye's mistaken, I was born at Plymouth, Massachusetts. "

"Don't dispute my word, sir. I know you, seize him!"

Though three of Tom's messmates offered to swear that he was a native ofMassachusetts, he was seized, ironed and hurried away. Two more wereselected, despite the protests of Captain Parson, who was raging like amadman, and hurried aboard the frigate. The fourth man halted in theprocession was Job, the colored cook. 

"Stop, sir, I want you!" said the English officer. 

[Illustration: "DO YOU THINK DAR IS ANY ANGLER SAXUN BLOOD IN DESEVEINS?"]

"Want me, Capen? oh, golly! I ain't a Britisher!" cried Job, gesticulating wildly. "Do I look like I war a Britisher? Do you thinkdar is any Angler Sacksun blood in dese veins?"

Job howled and appealed in vain. The commander of the _Sea Wing_declared him to be an English negro, and he was hurried away to try thehard service on board a British war vessel. 

Having culled the crew of the _Dover_ to his heart's content, thehaughty Briton went aboard his own ship and continued his cruise, leaving Captain Parson expressing his ideas in such language as noparson should use. 

CHAPTER V. 

FERNANDO'S JOURNEY EAST. HE MEETS WITH QUEER PEOPLE. 

From the day Fernando Stevens began to read and learn of the great worldbeyond the narrow confines of his western home, he was filled with thelaudable ambition to know more about it. The solitude of the wildernessmay be congenial for meditation; but it is in the moving whirl ofhumanity that ideas are brightened. Fernando was promised that if hewould master the common school studies taught in their log schoolhouse, he should be sent to one of the eastern cities to have his educationcompleted. Albert Stevens, the lad's father, was becoming one of themost prosperous farmers of the west. He had purchased several tracts ofland which rapidly increased in value, and his flocks and herdsmultiplied marvelously. He was in fact regarded as "rich" in those daysof simplicity. He had sent several flatboats loaded with grain down theOhio and Mississippi to New Orleans and sold the cargoes at greatprofit, so that, in addition to his fields, his stock and houses, hehad between three and four thousand dollars in money. 

Fernando grew to be a tall, slender youth, and in 1806 having finishedhis education, so far as the west could afford, his father determined tosend him to the East, where it was hoped he would develop into a lawyeror a preacher. The mother hoped the latter. His brother and sister hadgrown up, married and were settled on farms in the neighborhood, takingon the same existence of their parents; living honest, peaceful andunambitious lives. 

The youth Fernando was more inclined to mental than physical activity, and his parents, possessing an abundance of common sense, decided not toforce him to engage in an occupation distasteful to him. 

What school should he enter? was a question which the father longdebated. There were Harvard and Yale, both famous seats of learning, andthere were any number of academies all over the country. Captain Stevensfinally decided to allow the youth to make his own selection, giving himmoney sufficient to take a little tour in the eastern States, beforesettling down. 

Captain Stevens had a well-to-do neighbor, who lived across Bear Creek, by the name of Winners. Old Zeb Winners was one of those quaintproducts of the West. He was an easy-going man, proverbially slow ofspeech and movement, and certainly the last person on earth one wouldexpect to become rich; yet he was wealthy. With all his slothfulness hewas shrewd, and could drive a better bargain than many men twice asactive in mind and body. One morning after it had become noised abroadthat Fernando was going away to college, Mr. Winners rode up to thehouse on his big sorrel mare, her colt following, and, dismounting, tiedthe mare to the rail fence and entered the gate. 

"Good mornin', cap'in, good mornin', " said the visitor. 

"Come in, Mr. Winners. Glad to see you. Hope you are all well!"

"Oh, yes, middlin' like, " answered the farmer entering the house withoutthe ceremony of removing his hat. A chair was offered, and he sat for amoment with his hands spread out before the fireplace, his hat still onhis head. There was no fire in the fireplace, for it was late in May;but Mr. Winners held his hands before it, from habit. 

"Wall, cap'in, I do hear as how yer goin' ter send yer boy Fernando tocollege. "

"I am. "

"Wall, that air a good notion. Now I ain't got no book larnin' myself;but I don't object to nobody else gittin' none. I've made up my mind tosend one of my boys along with 'im, ef ye've no objection. "

Of course Captain Stevens had no objection. Which of his boys was hegoing to send?

"I kinder thought az how I'd send Sukey. "

Sukey was a nickname given a tall, lazy youth named Richard Winners. Whyhe had been nicknamed Sukey we have never been able to ascertain; butthe sobriquet, attached to him in childhood, clung to him all throughlife. Sukey was like his father, brave, slow, careful, but a steadfastfriend and possessed of considerable dry humor. He took the world easyand thought "one man as good as another so long as he behaved himself. "

It was arranged that Sukey and Fernando should start in a week for NewYork, from which point they might select any college or school theychose. The mail stage passed the door of farmer Winners, crossed the bigbridge and then passed the home of Captain Stevens. Captain Stevens'house was no longer a cabin in the wilderness. It was a large, substantial two-story farm mansion, with chimneys of brick instead ofsticks and mud. The forests had shrunk back for miles, making place forvast fields, and the place had the appearance of a thrifty farm. 

Fernando's trunk was packed, and he sat on the door-step in his bestclothes awaiting the appearance of the stage. At last the rumblingthunder of wheels rolling over the great bridge smote his ears, and afew moments later the vehicle came up to the gate. The six prancinghorses were drawn up, and the vehicle stopped, while the driver cried:

"All aboard!"

Sukey was in the stage, his dark eyes half closed. He roused himself todrawl out:

"Come on, Fernando, we're off now, for sure. "

While two farm hands, assisted by the driver, placed the trunk in theboot, Fernando bade father and mother adieu. Sister had come over withher husband and the baby. His brother with his young wife were presentto bid the young seekers after knowledge adieu. They followed Fernandoto the stage coach and cried:

"Good bye, Sukey! take good care of Fernando!" and Sukey drawled out:

"Who'll take keer o' me?"

The last good bye's were said, and the great stage coach rolled on. Theimpressions of the young frontiersmen on approaching the first town werestrange and indescribable. The number of houses and streets quiteconfused them. There seemed to be little or no order in the constructionof streets, and everybody seemed in a bustle and confusion. Theystopped over night at a tavern, and at early dawn the stage horn awokethem, and after a hasty breakfast they were again on their journey. 

Several weeks were spent in traveling from town to town, and onSeptember 1st, 1807, they found themselves in New York City, stillundecided where they would go. 

One morning Fernando went for his usual walk toward the river, when alarge crowd of people at the wharf attracted his attention. Drawingnear, he saw a curious-looking boat on the water, the like of which hehad never seen before. It was one hundred feet long, twelve feet wideand seven feet deep. There was a staff or mast at the bow, another atthe stern. From a tall chimney there issued volumes of smoke, while froma smaller pipe there came the hissing of boiling water and white steam. Two great, naked paddle-wheels were on the boat, one on each side nearthe middle. Fernando thought this must be the toy of which he had heardso much, being constructed by Robert Fulton and Chancellor Livingston. On one side of the boat was painted the name _Clermont_. 

"What is that?" Fernando asked of a rollicking, fun-loving youngIrishman about twenty-two or three years of age, who stood near. 

"Faith, sir, it's a steamboat. We have all come to see her launched. They call her the _Clermont_; but it's mesilf as thinks she ought to be_Fulton's Folly_, for divil a bit do I believe she'll go acable's length. "

Fernando and his new acquaintance drew nearer. The hissing of the steamand the roaring of the furnaces were fearful. 

"Do you know Robert Fulton?" Fernando asked. 

"Indade, I do. Would you like to see the greatest lunatic out of Bedlam?Then it's mesilf as will point him out to yez. "

"I should like to see him. "

There were a number of men at work on the boat, all expressing thewildest eagerness and anxiety. They were rushing forward and aft, aboveand below, to those ponderous engines and boilers; but no one could seewhat they did. At last Mr. Fulton, the great inventor, appeared. He wasa large, smooth-shaved gentleman, with a long head and melancholy grayeye. On his nose was a smut spot from the machinery. Thousands were nowassembled to witness the trial voyage. Mr. Livingston gave the order tocast off, and start the vessel. The lines were loosed and the steamturned on. Loud hissed the confined monster; but the wheels did notmove. What was the matter?

"Failure!" was on every tongue, and the crowd assembled already beganto hoot and jeer. Mr. Fulton's face expressed the deepest anxiety. Heran below to inspect the machinery. A bolt had caught. This was removed, and then the ponderous wheels began to move. The great paddles churnedthe water to a mass of foam, and the boat glided forward against windand tide at a rate of speed astonishing. Fernando saw Robert Livingstonstanding in the stern waving his handkerchief at the crowd which was nowsending up cheer after cheer. The American flag was run up on the staff, and the steamboat continued on her course up the river to Albany, makingthe distance of one hundred and sixty miles in thirty-six hours againstwind and tide; and from that time until now, navigation by steam, traveland commerce, has been steadily increasing in volume and perfection, until such vessels may be seen on every ocean and in almost every harborof the globe, even among the ice packs of the polar seas. This was thesecond of the great and beneficent achievements which distinguishedAmerican inventors at that early period of our country's struggles. Thecotton-gin, invented by Eli Whitney, was the first; an implement thatcould do the work of a thousand persons in cleaning cotton wool of theseeds. That machine has been one of the most important aids in theaccumulation of our national wealth. 

[Illustration]

Fernando Stevens stood on the wharf among the assembled thousands, watching the steamer until it disappeared far up the river. He was lostin wonder and amazement and was first aroused from his reverie by theyoung man at his side saying:

"Don't she bate the divil?"

It was his skeptical Irish friend. 

Fernando turned to him and asked, "What do you think of it now?"

"Faith, she's a bird, so she is. Don't she cleave the water?"

From this time, the two became acquainted, and Fernando learned that theyoung Hibernian's name was Terrence Malone. Terrence was a true Irishmanof the good old type. He was brave as a lion, full of native wit andhumor, and yet an intelligent gentleman. From the first, he took a greatfancy to Fernando and when he learned that he had come from the West toenter some academy or college, he informed him that he knew of theplace--the very place. It was the Baltimore Academy. He was a member ofthe Baltimore school himself and he was sure there was not another likeit in the world. In short, the dashing young Irishman soon persuadedFernando to try the Baltimore school. 

He went back to the tavern where he had left Sukey writing letters. 

"What was all that catterwaulin' and yellin' about down at the river?"Sukey asked. 

"The new steamboat began her trial trip, " answered Fernando. 

"Wonder if that thing I saw with a stovepipe in it was a steamboat?"

"It was. "

Sukey shook his head sagely and remarked:

"It don't look as if it would ever amount to much. "

"Sukey, I have found a school for us at last. "

"Where?"

"At Baltimore. "

"What d'you want to go there for?"

"I met a young man who belongs there, and he advised us to go. "

"Who is he?"

"His name is Terrence Malone, an Irishman. "

"That name's not French any way. How are we going to Baltimore?"

"A schooner sails to-morrow. "

"Can we go in her?"

"Yes. "

"Plague take the sea! I never tried it, and I don't want to. "

"It will be a short voyage. "

"Short, yes, but long enough to make me sick. I don't want to be in thegame. I am not a water dog. Keep me on the dry land, and I'm all right. "

But Fernando knew that a journey by land would take much longer than bysea. Terrence Malone came to see them that evening and informed themthat the schooner would sail next day. He was a jolly young fellow andhad so many droll stories and jokes, that he kept his companions in aroar of laughter. One joke followed another in such rapid successionthat the youngsters had scarce done laughing at one, before he firedanother at them. 

"Baltimore is the most wonderful city in the world, barin Cork, " thefair-haired son of the Emerald Isle declared. "There you find gallantgintlemen and the prettiest girls on earth. Ah! if you could but see myKitty Malone! She's a beauty, just a trifle older than mesilf, but everyinch a darlint. Her head is red, her face a trifle freckled, her body'sso stout that the girt of a mule wouldn't encircle her waist, " and hereTerrence winked, "She plays on the wash-board an illigant tune, forwhich she charges a half a dime a garment. "

"Did you ever meet with such a jolly fellow?" laughed Fernando when hewas gone. 

"No, " Sukey answered. "He has made my sides ache. "

Next day found the westerners on board the schooner sailing out fromthe harbor of New York. The skipper was half tipsy, his crewinsubordinate, and for awhile no one seemed to know or care whither theywent. The captain had such frequent recourse to his demijohn, that itwas evident that he would soon be wholly unfit for duty. At lastTerrence declared he would have to take matters in hand himself. 

The sea was rough, and both Fernando and Sukey were too sick to leavetheir bunks long at the time. 

"Jist ye lie still there, like a darlint, and lave the skipper to me, "said Terrence to Fernando. "Not another divil of a drop shall he have, until we are safe in Baltimore. "

Then he went away, leaving Fernando wholly in ignorance of his plan. Atlast, becoming anxious about him, he went out to see what he was doing. The schooner was rolling heavily and Fernando was so sick he couldscarcely stand, yet he crept out under the lee of the cabin and saw asight that made him smile. 

Terrence and the captain were sitting on the deck playing cards. Theyoung Irishman had won two demijohns and three jugs of rum from thecaptain, and he was now playing for the last pint flask the skipperpossessed. The young Irishman won it and carried his property to hisstateroom, and when the skipper next applied for a drink, Malone answered:

"Divil a drop will ye get, till we are safe in Baltimore. " The captainplead in vain. Terrence was firm, and the skipper in time became sober. 

Next morning it was discovered that owing to the drunkenness andcarelessness of the captain and crew, they had drifted far out to sea. The waves rolled high, and the little schooner plunged about in a mannerfrightful to a landlubber. 

Fernando was awakened by a groan. It was Sukey, and going to his berthTerrence asked:

"What's the matter, Sukey?"

"I am dying!" he answered. 

"Courage, courage, me boy, ye'll get over it. "

"I don't want to get over it, " answered Sukey, with a hollow groan. 

A few moments later the skipper came to beg for a morning dram. 

"Divil a drop, cap'in, until we are in Baltimore. "

"How long will it take to reach Baltimore, captain?" asked the seasickSukey. 

"Twenty-four hours. "

"Oh, Heavens!" groaned Sukey. "Can't you sink the ship?"

"What do you want to sink for?" demanded the astounded skipper. 

"I'd rather drown than live twenty-four hours longer in this blamedboat. "

"You'll live over it, " growled the thirsty skipper. 

"I don't want to live over it. I want to die. "

Terrence roared with laughter, then he told a funny story which seemedto increase the pangs of poor Sukey. 

By the middle of the afternoon, Fernando had recovered enough to go outon deck. He found the captain and his crew huddled up in the fore partof the deck, discussing a large, square-rigged ship, which was bearingtoward them. He heard one of the sailors say:

"She flies English colors. "

A little later there was a puff of smoke from her forecastle and a balldashed into the water athwart their bow. 

"It's a cruiser, and that means to heave to; but blow my eyes if I doit!" cried the captain, who was opposed to search and impressment. Heput the schooner about and, with all sail spread, flew over the water ata rate of speed which defied pursuit. The cruiser fired several shotsafter them. 

"Who is that shootin'?" Sukey asked unconcernedly, as Fernando enteredthe wretched cabin. 

"A British man-of-war. "

"What is it shootin' at?"

"At us. "

"I hope she will hit us and put me out o' this misery, " groaned Sukey. 

Fortunately for the chief characters of this story, the man-of-war didnot hit them, and next day they reached Baltimore. Sukey recovered hishealth with remarkable rapidity, and a few hours on shore made himquite himself. 

Terrence, who seemed to know the town thoroughly, conducted them to aninn where they were to remain until arrangements could be made forentering the school. Terrence took the two young men under his care in afatherly way, assuring them it would be bad luck to any who spoke ill ofthem; but Terrence could not be with them for several days. He hadurgent business in Philadelphia, which would require his absence. 

For a week after their arrival at Baltimore, their lives were of themost dreary monotony. The rain, which had begun to fall soon after theirarrival, continued to descend in torrents, and they found themselvesclose prisoners in the sanded parlors of the miserable inn. They couldbut compare this wretched place with the grand old forests and broadprairies of the West, and Sukey began to sigh for home. 

"Are you homesick already, Sukey?" asked Fernando. 

"I am not homesick--blast such a place as this--give me a country whereit don't rain 365 days out o' the year, and I'm content, home orabroad, " growled Sukey. 

Their situation was by no means pleasant. Their front window looked outupon a long, straggling, ill-paved street, with its due proportion ofmud heaps and duck pools. The houses on either side were, for the mostpart, dingy-looking edifices, with half-doors, and such pretensions tobeing shops as the display of a quart of meal, salt, or string of redpeppers confers. A more wretched, gloomy-looking picture of woe-begonepoverty one seldom beheld. 

It was no better if they turned for consolation to the rear of thehouse. There their eyes fell upon the dirty yard of a dirty inn, and thehalf-covered cowshed, where two famishing animals mourned their hardfate as they chewed the cud of "sweet and bitter fancy. " In addition, they saw an old chaise, once the yellow postchaise, the pride and gloryof the establishment, now reduced from its wheels and ignominiouslydegraded to a hen house. On the grass-grown roof, a cock had taken hisstand, with an air of protective patronage to the featheredinhabitants beneath. 

Sukey stood at the narrow window gazing out on the dreary and melancholyscene, while he heaved an occasional sigh. 

"If this is what you call gitten an education I don't want it, " hedrawled at last. "I would rather go back to Ohio and hunt for deer orblack bear, than enjoy such amusement as this is. "

"Oh, it will get better, " said Fernando. 

"It has great room for growing better. "

"But it might be worse. "

"Yes, we might be at sea. "

Their landlady, a portly woman with two marriageable daughters, did allin her power to make their stay pleasant. She praised Baltimore for itsbeauty and health, its picturesqueness and poetry. It was surelydestined to be the greatest city in the United States. 

When they were alone, Sukey pointed to the mud heaps and duck pools andgravely asked:

"Do they show the poetry and picturesk of which she speaks? Is that oldchaise a sign of health or prosperity?"

"Be patient, Sukey; we have seen little or none of Baltimore. "

"Plague take me if I haven't seen more than I want to see of it now, "growled Sukey. 

At last the weather cleared a little, and the sun shone brilliantly onthe pools of water and muddy street. The young gentlemen strolled forthto look about the town. 

When about to start from the inn, Sukey asked:

"Say, Fernando, how are we goin' to find our way back?"

This was a serious question for even Fernando. He reflected over it amoment and then said:

"It's the house at the foot of the second hill with the road or streetthat winds around the cliff. "

"Wouldn't it be better to take hatchets and blaze the corners of thehouses as we go along?" suggested Sukey. Fernando smiled and thought theowners might raise some serious objections to having their housesblazed. They were still somewhat undecided in regard to the matter, whentheir landlady, with a movement about as graceful as the waddle of aduck, came down the rickety stairs, and they in despair appealed to her. She relieved them of their trouble in short order. On a piece of tinover her door was the number 611. She told them the name of the street, and assured them if they would remember that and the number, any onewould point it out to them. Besides they had only to remember the widowMahone, everybody in the town knew the widow Mahone. 

With this assurance of safe return, the two youngsters ventured forthinto the city. They were not as verdant as the reader may imagine. Bothhad been reared in the western wilderness and retained much of thepioneer traits about them; but books had been society for them, andtheir four months spent in New York and Boston had given them an urbanepolish. Sukey, however, had many inherent traits, which all the schoolscould not wholly eradicate. 

"I don't like towns, " he declared, as they ascended a hill, which gavethem an excellent view of the harbor and shipping. "They are too close. I want elbow room, and as soon as I get through my college course, I amgoing back to the woods. "

"Won't your education be lost there?"

"No; can't I be a lawyer, or a doctor, or a preacher as well there ashere? Besides, if we only sit down and wait awhile in Ohio, the citieswill come to us. "

"Yes, Sukey, you are right. Civilization is going West, and in course oftime the largest part of the republic will be west of the mountains. " Ofcourse Fernando referred to the Alleghany Mountains, for the RockyMountains were hardly thought of at this date. "But come; we don't seemto be in the most populous part of the town. Let us go over the hillwhere the houses are better and look cleaner. "

"I am willing, for, to tell you the truth, this place smells too much ofthe sea. "

They went along a narrow street, which had a decidedly fishy odor, forthere were two markets on it. They passed an old woman carrying on herback a great bag which seemed filled with rags and waste papers gatheredup from the refuse of the street. Sukey wondered if that was the way shemade her living. At the corner was a low public house in which were somesailors drinking and singing songs. 

"Fernando, there is a fellow with a plaguy red coat on!" suddenly criedSukey, seizing his companion's arm. 

"Yes, he is an officer of the English army or navy. "

"Do they allow him here?"

"Of course; we are at peace with England. "

"Well, I'd like to take that fellow down a bit. He walks too straight. Why he thinks he could teach Alexander somethin' on greatness. "

"Never mind him; come on. "

Next they met a party of half-drunken marines, who began to chafe them, and Sukey, though slow to wrath, was about to give them an exhibition offrontier muscle, when his friend got him away, and they hastened to abetter part of the city. 

Here they found beautiful residences, and on the next street weremagnificent stores and shops. Elegant carriages, drawn by horses inshining harness, indicating wealth, were seen. Elegantly dressed ladiesand gentlemen were premenading the street, or exchangingcongratulations. Sukey thought this would "sort o' do, " and he wonderedwhy Terrence Malone had quartered them down in that miserable frog pond, when there was higher ground and better houses. 

While standing on the corner watching the gay equipages and handsomelydressed people, a carriage drawn by a pair of snow-white horses camesuddenly dashing down the street. The equipage, though one of the finestthey had ever seen, was stained with travel as if it had come froma distance. 

"There, Fernando, by zounds, there is some rich fellow you can be sure!"said Sukey as the vehicle drove by. "Egad! I would like to see who isinside of it. "

He had that privilege, for the carriage paused only half a block away, and an elderly man with a rolling, sailor-like movement got out andassisted a young girl of about sixteen to alight. 

"Jehosophat--Moses and Aaron's rod, my boy! do you see her?" gaspedSukey. 

"Yes. "

"Ain't she pretty?"

"Hush! she may hear you. "

"Well, if she'd get mad at that, she is different from most girls. "

"Her father might not think it much of a compliment. "

The coachman, closing the door of the carriage mounted his box and tookthe reins, while the pretty girl took her father's arm and came down thestreet passing the young men, who, we fear, stared at her rudely. Theywere hardly to be blamed for it, for she was as near perfection as agirl of sixteen can be. Tall, willowy form, with deep blue eyes, soft asa gazelle's, long, silken lashes and arched eyebrows, with golden hair, and so graceful that every movement might be set to music. 

Fernando gazed after her until she disappeared into a fashionable shop, and then, uttering a sigh, started as if from a dream. 

"What do you say now, old fellow?" asked Sukey. 

"Let us go home. "

"Home?"

"Well, back to the widow Mahone's inn. "

"All right; now let us try to find the trail. "

It was no easy matter, although they had the street and number wellfixed in their mind. Finally they asked a watchman (policemen werecalled watchmen in those days) and he conducted them to the abode ofMrs. Mahone. 

The first person to greet them was Terrence. There was a bright smile onhis jolly face as he cried:

"It's right plazed I am to see ye lookin' so cheerful, boys; and it's agood time ye be having roaming the streets and looking at the beauty ofBaltimore. Much of it you'll find, to be sure. To-morrow we'll go to theacademy, pay our entrance fee and begin business. "

[ILLUSTRATION: AS NEAR PERFECTION AS A GIRL OF SIXTEEN CAN BE. ]

"Terrence, " said Fernando in a half whisper, "Can't we find a morecomfortable place than this to live in?"

"Oh, be aisy, me frind, for it's an illegant a house I've got for allof us, and we'll be as comfortable there as a banshee. "

Not knowing what a "banshee" was, Fernando, of course, could draw noconclusion from the comparison. When the three young men had enteredtheir room, Terrence began to tell them of a beautiful "craythur" he hadthat day seen in town, and on inquiry learned she lived a few miles awayon the coast. She was the daughter of an old sea captain and came almostdaily to the city. 

"What is her name?" asked Fernando. 

"Lane. "

"Great Jehosiphat, Fernando! Lane was on that carriage we saw, " criedSukey, starting suddenly from a couch on which he had been reclining. 

CHAPTER VI. 

WAR FEELING OF 1811. 

Mr. James Madison seems to have been one of the many great Americanscapable of changing his political views without losing public favor. Mr. Madison, as a delegate to the constitutional convention held atPhiladelphia in May, 1787, was beyond question a Federalist. Of theconvention, a writer of the highest authority says:

"Mr. Madison was prominent in advocating the constitution, and took aleading part in the debates, of which he kept private notes, sincepublished by order of congress. His views in regard to the federalgovernment are set forth at length in a paper still extant in thehandwriting of Gen. Washington. This paper contains the substance of aletter written to Washington by Mr. Madison before the meeting of theconvention, and proposes a scheme of thorough centralization. The writerdeclares that he is equally opposed to the individual independence ofthe States and to 'the consolidation of the whole in one simplerepublic. ' He is nevertheless in favor of investing congress with powerto exercise a negative in all cases whatever on the legislative acts ofthe States, as heretofore exercised by the kingly prerogative. He saysfurther that the right of coercion should be expressly declared; but thedifficulty and awkwardness of operating by force on the collective willof a State render it particularly desirable that the necessity of itshould be precluded. From these extreme views, Mr. Madison afterwardconscientiously departed; but in the convention he supported them withzeal and vigor. "

It was feared at first that Madison would perpetuate the policy ofJefferson; but the tone and temper of his inaugural address, deliveredMarch 4th, 1809, fell like oil on troubled waters. His most implacableenemies could not refrain from uttering words of approbation; and thewhole nation entertained hopes that his measures might change the gloomyaspect of public affairs. 

Madison's administration was now sustained by a larger majority of theAmerican people than that of Jefferson had ever been, and theFederalists, or the opposition, were in a hopeless minority. Thecontinued aggressions of the British were increasing the Democraticstrength every day; and in 1811, circumstances seemed to make war withGreat Britain an imperative necessity for the vindication of the honor, rights and independence of the United States. 

The Indian tribes on the northwestern frontiers of the United Statesbecame very uneasy, and the machinations of British traders andgovernment emissaries had stimulated the growth of that discontent intoa decidedly hostile feeling toward the nation of Republicans, thenpressing upon the domain of the savages. The suspension of the world'scommerce had diminished the amount of their traffic in furs, and therapid extension of American settlements northward of Ohio was narrowingtheir hunting grounds and producing a rapid diminution of game. Theintroduction of intoxicating liquors among the savages by white tradersand speculators had widely spread demoralization, with consequentdisease and death. 

English emissaries made the savages to believe that all these evils hadbeen brought upon them by the encroachments of the Americans; and in thespring of 1811, it became evident that a league was forming among thetribes for the extermination of the frontier settlers. 

Tecumseh, the Shawnee chief, shrewd, crafty and intrepid, endeavored toemulate Pontiac, the great Ottowa chief, in the formation of an Indianconfederacy in the Northwest, for making war upon the United States. Hehad a shrewd twin brother, called the prophet, whose mysteriousincantation and predictions and pretended visions and spiritualintercourse had inspired the savage mind with great veneration for himas a wonderful "medicine man. " He and Tecumseh possessed almostunbounded influence over the Delawares, Shawnees, Wyandots, Miamis, Kickapoos, Winnebagoes and Chippewas. 

The celebrated Shawnee chief Tecumseh, according to Drake, was born afew years before the Revolution, at the Indian village of Piqua, on MadRiver, about six miles below the site of Springfield, Clark County, Ohio. His tribe removed from Florida about the middle of the lastcentury. His father, who was a chief, fell at the bloody battle of PointPleasant, in 1774. From his youth, he showed a passion for war. He earlyacquired an unbounded influence over his tribe for his bravery, hissense of justice and his commanding eloquence. Like his great prototype, Pontiac, humanity was a prominent trait in his character. He not onlywas never known to ill-treat or murder a prisoner, but indignantlydenounced those who did, employing all his authority and eloquence inbehalf of the helpless. In 1798, Tecumseh removed with his followers tothe vicinity of White River, Indiana, among the Delawares, where heremained for a number of years. In 1805, through the influence ofLaulewasikaw, the brother of Tecumseh, a large number of Shawneesestablished themselves at Greeneville. Very soon after, Laulewasikawassumed the office of a _prophet_; and forthwith commenced that careerof cunning and pretended sorcery, which always enables the shrewdhypocrite to sway the ignorant, superstitious mind. Throughout the yearof 1806, the brothers remained at Greeneville and were visited by manyIndians from different tribes, not a few of whom became their followers. The prophet dreamed many wonderful dreams and claimed to have had manysupernatural revelations made him. The great eclipse of the sun thatoccurred in the summer of this year, a knowledge of which he had by somemeans attained, enabled him to carry conviction to the minds of many ofhis ignorant followers, that he was really the earthly agent of theGreat Spirit. He boldly announced to the unbelievers, that, on a certainday, he would give them proof of his supernatural powers by bringingdarkness over the sun. When the day and hour of the eclipse arrived, andthe earth, even at midday, was shrouded in the gloom of twilight, theprophet, standing in the midst of his party, significantly pointed tothe heavens and cried out:

"Did I not prophesy truly? Behold! darkness has shrouded the sun!"

It may readily be supposed that this striking phenomenon, thus adroitlyused, produced a strong impression on the Indians, and greatly increasedtheir belief in the sacred character of their prophet. 

In the spring of 1808, Tecumseh and the prophet removed to a tract ofland on the Tippecanoe, a tributary of the Wabash, where the lattercontinued his efforts to induce the Indians to forsake their vicioushabits, while Tecumseh was visiting the neighboring tribes and quietlystrengthening his own and the prophet's influence over them. The eventsof the early part of the year 1810 were such as to leave but littledoubt of the hostile intentions of the brothers. The prophet wasapparently the most prominent actor, while Tecumseh was in reality themainspring of all the movements, backed, it is supposed, by theinsidious influence of British agents, who supplied the Indians gratiswith powder and ball, in anticipation, perhaps, of hostilities betweenthe two countries, in which event a union of all the tribes against theAmericans was desirable. Tecumseh had opposed the sale and cession oflands to the United States, and he declared it to be his unalterableresolution to take a stand against the further intrusion of the whitesupon the soil of his people. 

So menacing had the Indians become in the Spring of 1810, that GeneralW. H. Harrison, a son of Benjamin Harrison, one of the signers of theDeclaration of Independence, and then governor of the Territory ofIndiana, invited the brothers to a council at Vincennes, in August. Tecumseh appeared with four hundred well-armed warriors. The inhabitantswere greatly alarmed at this demonstration of savage military power. Harrison was cool and cautious, while the bearing of the chief was boldand haughty. He refused to enter the place appointed for holding thecouncil saying:

"Houses were built for you to hold councils in; Indians hold theirs inthe open air. " He then took a position under some trees in front of thehouse, and, unabashed by the large concourse of white people before him, he opened the business with a speech marked by great dignity and nativeeloquence. When he had concluded, one of the governor's aids said tohim, through an interpreter, as he pointed to a chair by the side ofGeneral Harrison:

"Your father requests you to take a seat by his side. "

The chief drew his blanket around him and, standing erect, said, with ascornful tone:

"My father! The sun is my father, and the earth is my mother; on herbosom I will recline;" and he seated himself on the ground. 

The chief declared it his intention to form a confederacy for thepurpose of preventing any further cessions of lands to the whitepeople, and to recover what had been ceded. 

"Return those lands, " he said, "and Tecumseh will be the friend of theAmericans. He likes not the English, who are continually setting theIndians on the Americans. " The governor replied that the lands had beenreceived from other tribes, and that the Shawnees had no business tointerfere. Tecumseh sprang to his feet, cast off his blanket and, withviolent gestures, pronounced the governor's words false. He accused theUnited States of cheating and imposing upon the Indians; and then, giving a sign to his warriors near him, they sprang to their feet, seized their war clubs and brandished their tomahawks. The governorstarted from his seat and drew his sword, while the citizens seized anyweapons or missiles they could find. It was a moment of great peril tothe white people. A military guard of twelve men, under some trees ashort distance off, was ordered up. A friendly Indian, who had secretlyloaded his pistol while Tecumseh was speaking, now cocked it to shootthe chief. The guards were also about to fire when Harrison restrainedthem and prevented a bloody encounter. The interpreter, whom all theIndians respected, told Tecumseh that he was a bad man. The council wasbroken up. Tecumseh expressed regret that his violent temper had gottenthe better of him; but prudent men knew from his conduct that war wasinevitable. 

In the spring of 1811, the hostile savages began to roam over the Wabashregion, in small parties, plundering the white settlers andfriendly Indians. 

Soon after the council at Vincennes, Tecumseh went South among theCreeks to extend the confederacy of the people of Indiana among them. There is a tradition among the Tuckabachees that Tecumseh, failing toenlist them in his enterprise, in his wrath said:

"When I return to the North, I will stamp on the earth and make ittremble. " When the effects of the earthquake of New Madrid were felt, the Tuckabachees said:

"Tecumseh has reached the North. "

The hostile demonstrations on the part of the Indians in Indiana alarmedthe people of that territory, and General Harrison therefore tookmeasures to increase his regular force. He warned the Indians to obeythe treaty at Greeneville; but at the same time he prepared to break upthe prophet's establishment if necessary. In September, the prophet sentassurances to the governor that his intentions were pacific. About thesame time, he dispatched a message to the Delawares, who were friendly, asking them to join him in a war against the United States, stating thathe had taken up the tomahawk and would not lay it down but with hislife, unless their wrongs were redressed. The Delaware chiefsimmediately visited the prophet to dissuade him from commencinghostilities and were grossly insulted. On the 6th of November, 1811, Governor Harrison, with about nine hundred and fifty effective troops, composed of two hundred and fifty of the 4th Regiment U. S. Infantry, one hundred and thirty volunteers and a body of militia, being within amile and a half of the prophet's town, was urged to make an immediateassault upon the village; but this he declined, as his instructions fromthe president were positive not to attack the Indians as long as therewas a probability of their complying with the demands of the government. The Indians, in the course of the day, endeavored to cut off hismessengers and evinced other hostile symptoms, which determined Harrisonto at once march upon the town, when he was met by three Indians, one ofthem a principal counselor of the prophet, who avowed that the prophet'sdesigns were pacific. Accordingly a suspension of hostilities was agreedupon, and the terms of peace were to be settled on the following morningby the governor and the prophet's chief. At night the army encampedabout three fourths of a mile from the prophet's town. 

The governor was well convinced of the hostility of the prophet. Hebelieved that after attempting to lull his suspicions he intended tomake a treacherous attack on the Americans. Little anticipation of anight attack was indulged, yet every precaution was taken to resist oneif made. All the guards that could be used in such a situation, and allsuch as were used by Wayne, were employed on this occasion. That is, camp guards, furnishing a chain of sentinels around the whole camp atsuch a distance as to give notice of the approach of an enemy in timefor the troops to take their position, and yet not far enough to preventthe sentinels from retreating to the main body if overpowered. The usualmode of stationing picket guards at a considerable distance in advanceof the army or camp, would be useless in Indian warfare, as they do notrequire roads to march upon, and such guards would be inevitably cutoff. Orders were given in the event of a night attack, for each corps tomaintain its position at all hazards until relieved or further orderswere given to it. The whole army was kept during the night in themilitary position called lying on their arms. The regular troops lay intheir tents with their accoutrements on, and their guns at their sides. The militia had no tents, but slept with their clothes and bulletpouches on, and their guns under them, to keep them dry. The order ofthe encampment was a line of battle to resist a night attack; and so, as every man slept opposite to his post in the line, there was nothingfor the troops to do, in case of an assault, but to rise and take theirposition a few steps in the rear of the fires around which they hadreposed. The guard of the night consisted of two captains' commands offorty-two men and of four non-commissioned officers each and twosubalterns' guards of twenty men and non-commissioned officers each--thewhole amounting to about one hundred and thirty men, under command of afield officer of the day. The night was dark and cloudy, and aftermidnight there was a drizzling rain. 

At four o'clock in the morning of Nov. 7, 1811, Governor Harrison, according to practice, had risen, preparatory to the calling up of thetroops, and was engaged, while drawing on his boots by the fire, inconversation with General Wells, Colonel Owens, and Majors Taylor andHurst. The orderly drum had been roused to sound the reveille for thetroops to turn out, when there came the report of a sentry's rifle onthe left flank, followed by a score of shots, and the morning air rangloud with the wild war-whoops of savages. 

In an instant the army was in line, the campfires were extinguished, andthe governor mounted his horse and proceeded to the point of attack. Several companies had taken their places in the line within fortyseconds after the report of the first gun, and in two minutes the wholearmy was ready for action; a fact as creditable to their own activityand bravery, as to the skill and energy of their officers. The battlesoon became general, and was maintained on both sides with signal andeven desperate valor. The Indians advanced or retreated by the aid of arattling noise, made with deer hoofs, and persevered in theirtreacherous attack with an apparent determination to conquer or die onthe spot. The battle raged with unabated fury and mutual slaughter untildaylight, when a gallant and successful charge by the troops drove theenemy into the swamp, and put an end to the conflict. 

Prior to the assault, the prophet had given his followers assurance, that, in the coming contest, the Great Spirit would render the arms ofthe Americans unavailing; that their bullets would fall harmless at thefeet of the Indians; that the latter should have light in abundance, while the former would be involved in thick darkness. Availing himselfof the privilege conferred by his peculiar office, and, perhaps, unwilling in his own person to test the rival powers of a sham prophecyand a real American bullet, he prudently took a position on an adjacenteminence; and, when the action began, he entered upon the performanceof certain mystic rites, at the same time singing a war song. Soon afterthe engagement commenced, he was informed that his men were falling. Hetold them to fight on, it would soon be as he predicted; and then in, wilder and louder strains, his inspiring battle song was heardcommingling with the sharp crack of the rifle and the shrill war-whoopof his brave but deluded followers. Some of the Indians who were in theconflict, subsequently informed the agent at Fort Wayne, that there weremore than a thousand warriors in the battle, and that the number ofwounded was unusually great. In the precipitation of their retreat, theyleft thirty-eight on the field. Some were buried during the engagementin their town. Others no doubt subsequently died of their wounds. Drakeplaces their number in killed at not less than fifty. 

Of the whites, thirty-five were killed in the action, and twenty-fivedied subsequently. The total number of killed and wounded was onehundred and eighty-eight, --probably as great and possibly greater thanthe loss of the Indians. Among the slain were Colonel Abraham Owen andMajor Joseph Hamilton Davies of Kentucky. 

Though the battle of Tippecanoe, considered as a conflict from thelosses on each side, would to-day be regarded only as a skirmish, yet ithad a great moral influence in restraining the savages in thenorthwest, and, but for the meddling of the British agents, a permanentpeace with the Indians could have been established. 

Harrison burned the prophet's town. The prophet lost caste with hispeople. When reproached for his falsehoods, he cunningly told them thathis predictions had failed of fulfilment, because, during hisincantations, his wife touched the sacred vessels and broke the charm. His followers, superstitious as they were, would not accept such aflimsy excuse and deserted him, flying to secure hiding-places where thewhite man could not find them. After his town was burned, the prophettook shelter among the Wyandots. 

The events in the northwest aroused a war spirit among the patrioticAmericans, which could not be suppressed. Not only did Britishemissaries incite the Indians to make war, but British orders in councilcontinued to be vigorously enforced. Insult was offered to the Americanflag by British cruisers, and the press of Great Britain insolentlydeclared that the Americans "could not be kicked into a war. "

Forbearance ceased to be a virtue; it became cowardice. PresidentMadison found himself the standard-bearer of his party, surrounded byirrepressible young warriors eager for fight. Like a cautiouscommander, he sounded a careful war note in his annual message tocongress at the beginning of November, 1811. The young and ardentmembers of the house of representatives, who had elected Henry Clay, then thirty-four years of age, speaker, determined that indecisionshould no longer mark the councils of the nation. The committee onforeign relations, of which Peter B. Porter was chairman, intensifiedthat feeling by an energetic report submitted on the 29th of November, in which, in glowing sentences, the British government was arraigned oncharges of injustice, cruelty, and wrong. They said:

"To sum up, in a word, the great cause of complaint against GreatBritain, your committee need only say, that the United States, as asovereign and independent power, claims the right to use the ocean, which is the common and acknowledged highway of nations, for thepurposes of transporting, in their own vessels, the products of theirown soils and the acquisition of their own industry to any market in theports of friendly nations, and to bring home, in return, such articlesas their necessities or convenience may require, always regarding therights of belligerents as defined by the established laws of nations. Great Britain, in defiance of this incontestable right, captures everyAmerican vessel bound to or returning from a port where her commerce isnot favored; enslaves our seamen, and, in spite of our remonstrances, perseveres in these aggressions. To wrongs so daring in character and sodisgraceful in their execution, it is impossible that the people of theUnited States should remain indifferent. We must now tamely and quietlysubmit, or we must resist by those means which God has placed within ourreach. . . . The sovereignty and independence of these States, purchasedand sanctified by the blood of our fathers, from whom we received them, not for ourselves only, but as the inheritance of our posterity, aredeliberately and systematically violated. And the period has arrivedwhen, in the opinion of your committee, it is the sacred duty ofcongress to call forth the patriotism and the resources of the country. By the aid of these and with the blessing of God, we confidently trustwe shall be able to procure that redress which has been sought for byjustice, by remonstrance and forbearance, in vain. "

The report went over the land as fast as the mails in that day of stagecoaches could carry it, and made a profound impression on the minds ofthe people. Resolutions, drawn in accordance with the spirit of thereport, were appended to it, and these led to earnest debates. In thesedebates, the brilliant John C. Calhoun, then less than thirty years ofage, engaged. It marked the beginning of his long and illustriouscareer. He made his maiden speech in favor of war, and charmed hislisteners. John Randolph, always happy when in opposition to everybody, spoke vehemently against the report and resolutions. 

The Federalists, having always advocated a policy of being prepared forwar, could not from principle oppose these resolutions as theyrecommended only such preparations. The resolutions were adopted andbills prepared for augmenting the military force of the country. 

The regular army was increased to twenty-five thousand men; also twomajor-generals and live brigadier-generals, in addition to those then inoffice were authorized. A million dollars were appropriated for thepurchase of arms, ammunition and stores for the army, and four hundredthousand dollars for powder, cannon and small arms for the navy. 

War was not yet declared, and, with a proper course of treatment fromGreat Britain, it would not have been; yet the war feeling of 1811 wasstrong. It needed but a breath to fan the flame to a terribleconflagration. 

CHAPTER VII. 

FERNANDO'S FRIEND GETS HIM INTO A SERIOUS SCRAPE. 

In due time Fernando and Sukey were entered in the college. They weretransferred to more comfortable quarters than the wretched inn of Mrs. Mahone. Terrence superintended everything and was, in truth, the goodangel of the boys. He had a warm heart, was a genuine friend, and wouldhave shed his last drop of blood for them; but Terrence was, after all, a young scamp, whose dearest friend was not free from a practical joke. His jokes often became serious affairs and involved himself as well asfriends in trouble, though he never intended anything unpleasant. 

Fernando had been in college but a few months, and was already makingexcellent progress, when one day Terrence came to his room and said:

"Me frind, d'ye want to see a bit of good society?"

Laying down a heavy mathematical work, Fernando smilingly answered:

"I don't know, Terrence; I've hardly time for society. "

"What's the need of worryin' yer brains out over Latin, Greek andastronomy, when there's my amount of fun to be had? Come; a little miteof society will brighten up yer ideas. Now listen to me, lad. There'sgoin' to be a big ball given at the mayor's, and d'ye remimber thedarlint little craythur ye met on the street that day?"

Remember her? of course Fernando remembered her. She had scarcely beenout of his mind day or night since he had seen her. She had been theangel of his dreams, the princess of countless air castles; but he hadnever indulged a hope that he might see her again. 

"Will she be at the ball, Terrence?"

"To be sure. It's mesilf as heard it, and thin if ye'll look over theBaltimore papers, ye'll see her name Morgianna Lane, the daughter ofCaptain Felix Lane of Mariana, whose entree into society is to be theninth, chaperoned by Madame Barnhart. "

Terrence Malone evinced a wonderful ability at picking up information onany question that took his fancy. He had a bold way of insinuatinghimself into people's affections, for no one could dislike thelight-hearted, merry Irishman. 

"Now there is no need for ye to say ye won't go, because ye will, " saidTerrence. "It's a grand occasion to be sure. One of his majesty's shipso' war is in port, and some of the officers from her will be there, every alderman in the town, some congressmen and ex-President Jeffersonwill be there. "

Fernando looked at him in amazement and, after a moment, he said:

"Terrence, if the ball is to be such a grand affair, please to inform mehow we are to gain admission. "

"Now, me boy, lave that to me. Will ye go?"

"Yes. "

"And ye don't mind it if it's a thrifle of an adventure, do yez?"

"No. "

"That's it. I always said ye was a lad after me own heart; but, Fernando, don't yez say one word to Sukey. He's too slow and careful. Hemight make trouble with us and upset all our plans. "

At first, Fernando, who hated anything like deceit, opposed secresy; buthis Irish friend brought so many excellent arguments to bear, that hevirtually carried his point. 

"Terrence, I fear I will make an awkward figure in a ball room!"declared Fernando. "I am not accustomed to such things. "

"A glass or two of champagne will do it for ye. "

"But I never danced in my life. "

"I'll teach ye mesilf, and, bedad, ye'll be as foine a terpechorianartist be the toime, as will be at the ball. "

The last objection swept away, Fernando began secretly to take lessonsin the waltz, cotillon and other dances of the day. 

Whatever may be said against Terrence, one thing is quite certain, hewas no bad dancing master, and Fernando was an apt pupil. Somehow, therewas a spice of adventure in the escapade, which seemed to thrillFernando with pleasure, and he entered into it with a zeal that wasremarkable. 

The English man-of-war in the harbor was the _Xenophon_, CaptainConkerall commander. The captain had some acquaintances and friends inBaltimore, and this event transpired before the war spirit became sostrong that English officers dared not venture on shore. The captain andhis officers were of course invited to the ball. 

The day of the ball, the captain came ashore and was snugly quartered atthe Baltimore House, getting ready for the affair. 

The captain was in his room talking with some citizens of Baltimore anda congressman; a decanter and glasses were on a sideboard, and thecaptain's face was somewhat flushed, when there entered a neat, well-dressed young gentleman, whose language and features were slightlyHibernian. 

"I beg pardon, gintlemen, but this is Captain Conkerall? Sure I make nomistake, for the very bearin' tells me he is a son of Neptune. "

As the captain was in full uniform, of course there was no trouble aboutrecognizing him. The captain rose and, taking the hand of the young man, tried hard to remember where he had seen him before. 

"Sure, ye don't remember me. I am Lord Kildee, the son of the ould baronof Kildee Castle, who was a schoolmate of yer father. "

The captain, delighted at having so noted an acquaintance, took greatpleasure in introducing a scion of such a noble family as Kildee. Onewould have thought, from Captain Conkerall's manner, that he had been onintimate terms with the house of Kildee all his life, while in realityhe had never until that moment known that there lived such a being asthe Lord of Kildee. Wine and vanity work wonders, and the captain feltgreat pride in being recognized at Baltimore by Lord Kildee, whosefather was, as the new acquaintance assured him, a member of thehouse of lords. 

The visiting aldermen of the town and the congressman were introduced tothe Lord Kildee, who had the air of a genuine nobleman, with just enoughof the rich brogue to entitle him to the name of Irishman. 

Would his lordship have a glass of wine with them. To be sure he would. 

Captain Conkerall, who was expected to be the lion of the evening, indulged rather freely, and the more he indulged the more he had adesire to. 

At last the congressman rose to make a speech. He was rather unsteady onhis legs, but exceedingly eloquent on the question of Jefferson'sembargo act. He thought it an outrage designed to foster the unfortunateestrangement between the mother country and America. He, as aFederalist, had opposed Jefferson and Jeffersonianism. 

How much longer his harangue might have lasted, no one could have told, but the captain was warned that the hour for the ball was drawing near, and he gently insinuated that the speech be deferred for an after-dinnertalk. Just as the captain's guests were on the point of retiring, LordKildee, by a gentle hint, suggested that if he had an invitation hewould be glad to meet them at the ball. Of course so noted a person asLord Kildee could not be neglected, and, as one of the invitationcommittee was present, he issued a ticket at once. Then the captain andhis lordship were left alone. 

His lordship hinted that he had much to say to the captain inconfidence, having just come from the fleet of Vice Admiral Berkeley. Over their wine, he informed the captain that he was on intimate termswith the vice admiral and that the captain of the _Xenophon_ was downfor an early promotion. Captain Conkerall was delighted. He drank deepto the health of Vice Admiral Berkeley, Lord Kildee and himself. By thistime, the captain was ready to drink to the health of anybody. The LordKildee, strange to say, imbibed very little, and soon the captain wasinsensible on the floor, while his lordship was as sober as a judge. 

"Faith, it's a dacint bit of work, " he said, eyeing the prostratecaptain. "Now to the rest of the plan. "

Lord Kildee was none other than the rollicking Irish student TerrenceMalone. In a few moments, he had divested the captain of his coat, trousers and vest, which, with his chapeau, he rolled up in a neatbundle and hurried away to his friend Fernando Stevens. The hour waslate, and Fernando had almost given up going to the ball, when Terrencebolted into his room, his cheeks aglow with excitement. 

"Here, me lad, don the royal robes at once. Begorra, it's noblemen weare goin' to be to-night!"

"What does this mean, Terrence?" Fernando asked, as Malone unrolled thebundle containing the elegant uniform of a British officer. 

"Divil a question need ye be askin'; put on the uniform; it will fit yeto an exactness. "

In vain Fernando expostulated; his friend forced him into compliance, and, almost before he knew it, he was encased in a British uniform, anda handsome looking officer he made. Terrence then gave him a drink athis bottle to "steady his nerves, " and told him that it was one of the"divil's own toimes" they would have. 

Fernando, despite all his staid qualities and Puritanic instincts, lovedan adventure which promised fun, and finally entered into the schemewith a zest second only to his friend. The very idea of playing a prankon the captain of a man-of-war was enough to induce him to engage inalmost any enterprise. They managed to escape the house without beingdetected by Sukey, who was puzzling his brain over deep questions inphilosophy, and hastened down the street to a carriage which Terrenceengaged to take them to the mayor's. 

There was a ticket of admission in the captain's vest, which Fernandoused, and Lord Kildee had one for himself. 

As Terrence contemplated his young friend, whom the uniform fitted asneatly as if he had grown in it, he declared that he was perfection. 

Arrived at the door, Fernando, whose brain was in a whirl, found himselfsuddenly hurried up a flight of marble steps to the great vestibulewhere there was a flood of subdued light. The wine made him bold, reckless, and when he was introduced as Lieutenant Smither, of hismajesty's vice admiral's flag-ship, he half believed he was that personand, assuming what he supposed to be the manner and carriage of so highan official, received the bows and smiles of the fair ladies assembledwith the grace of a veteran seaman. 

There were a few officers from the _Xenophon_ present, among them aLieutenant Matson, who was dividing his time between a very pretty girland asking why Captain Conkerall was so late. 

Fernando played his part remarkably well, considering that he was new inthe role. Whenever he was in danger of "making a bad break, " LordKildee, who was the lion of the hour, was at hand to aid him, and withconsummate grace and ease helped him through the worst difficulties. Afew glasses of champagne made Fernando bolder. 

At last he met that beautiful creature whom he had seen alight from thecarriage and was introduced to Miss Morgianna Lane. Morgianna, young asshe was, detected the deception. Fernando talked without reserve on anyand every topic. Those he knew the least about, he discussed with mostfluency, until he bid fair to become the centre of attraction. 

When they were alone, Morgianna, with one of her sweetest smiles, said:

"I don't believe you are an Englishman. "

"I'll be honest with you, Miss Lane, " said he. "I am not. "

"Who are you?"

"If you will keep my secret, I will tell you all. " Morgianna, as fond ofmischief as Terrence, agreed to do so, and he told her everything. Shelaughed until the tears coursed down her pretty cheeks. She said it wasa good joke and as soon as she got home, she would tell her papa and hewould, she knew, enjoy it. 

"But you must not drink any more wine, " she added. "It affects yourhead. " Fernando admitted that he was not used to it, and he promised todesist. After waltzing for an hour with her and getting a tender squeezeof the hand, he restored her to an affable old lady who acted asMorgianna's chaperon, and then Fernando retired to new conquests, hishead in a whirl and his heart in a flutter. 

Lord Kildee soon had him under his care and introduced him to somefriends, among them Lieutenant Matson, who had early in the evening madeso many unsuccessful attempts to attract Miss Lane's favorable noticethat Fernando had come to regard him as a dangerous rival. Despite theinjunction of the fair Morgianna, he found himself half unconsciouslyquaffing three or four glasses to the good health of somebody; he reallydid not know whether it was King George or President Jefferson. 

Fernando, naturally witty, soon ingratiated himself into this welloccupied clique, and he dosed them with glory to their heart's content. He resolved at once to enter into their humor, and as the wine mountedup to his brain, he gradually found his acquaintance and politicsextending to every country and political creed. 

"Did you know Thomas Matson of his majesty's ship _Spit-Fire?"_ askedthe lieutenant. 

"Tom Matson!" cried Fernando. "Indeed I did sir, and do still! and thereis not a man in the British navy I am prouder of knowing. " Of course hehad never heard of Thomas Matson until this moment. 

"You don't say, sir?" said the lieutenant in astonishment. "Has he anychance of promotion, sir?"

"Promotion!" cried Fernando, in well-feigned astonishment. "Why, haveyou not heard that he is already in command of a ship? You cannotpossibly have heard from him lately, or you would have known that!"

"That's true, sir; I have not heard from him since he quitted the _BlackCloud_ in the South, I think they said for his health; but how did heget the step?"

"Why, as to the promotion, that was remarkable enough, " said Fernando, quaffing off a tumbler of champagne to aid his inventive faculties; butFernando, despite his native shrewdness and wonderful inventive powers, was liable to get into trouble. He knew as little about a ship as alandlubber might be supposed to know, and his companion saw at once thathe would make a mess of the story, so he came to his rescue by informingthe assembly that a fine vocalist at the other end of the room was goingto sing, and asked that the story be deferred until after the song. Theyall hurried away save Fernando, who, overcome by too deep potations, sank upon a sofa temporarily unconscious. 

He was roused from his stupor by his companion shaking him and saying:

"Fernando, me boy, it's a divil's own mess ye are makin' of this! Wakeup and get out!"

He roused himself and looked about. The room they were in was a smallapartment off the great saloon, and through the half-open folding-door, he could see that the festivities still continued. The music and gayforms of dancers reminded him where he was. 

"Fernando, we've played this game jist as long as we can, successfully;we had better go. "

"I am ready, " and Fernando got up and started diagonally across theroom, stepping with his feet very wide apart. The pretended Lord Kildeetook his arm, and they got to the door, where Fernando missed hisfooting and went tumbling down the steps in a very undignified manner. His lordship, Kildee, having imbibed rather freely himself, kept himcompany, and for a few seconds they remained at the bottom of theflight, dividing their time between studying astronomy and the laws ofgravitation. 

Fernando had badly smashed the captain's chapeau and one fine plume wasgone. They had not gone far before they ran upon a watchman, whothreatened to run them in; but the police of those days were assusceptible to a bribe as they are to-day, and after donating liberallyto the cause of justice and protection, they were taken to their roomsinstead of the calaboose. 

Young Stevens had no definite recollection of how he ever got to bed;but he awoke next morning with a wretched headache and found himself ina red coat, with the epaulets and gold lace of an officer. By degrees, the whole thing came back to him. 

Terrence came in a few moments later, a smile on his face, as heremarked they were in "the divil's own scrape. "

"Why?" asked Fernando. 

"We should have taken the clothes back to the captain. "

Fernando, who was in total ignorance of the manner in which the uniformwas procured, asked:

"How did you get them?"

Terrence told him the whole story, and Fernando, despite his wretchedheadache, laughed until the tears coursed down his cheeks. 

"That's not all, me foine boy. The whole thing is out. The papersprinted this morning are full of it. They say the captain was seen justbefore daylight goin' down the street to his boat with a sheet wrappedabout him. "

Again the youngsters roared. It was such a madcap frolic as students, utterly reckless of consequences, might engage in; but, after all, itwas a serious affair. The clothes had to be returned; then theperpetrators of the outrage would be known at the college, and theymight be expelled from the institution in disgrace. 

The clothes were returned. That was a point of honor which Fernandoinsisted upon, as he would neither agree to steal or wear stolen goods. For a day or two he was indisposed, and good, honest Sukey was afraidhis friend was "going to be real sick. " On the evening of the second dayafter their madcap frolic, Fernando told Sukey all about it and askedhis advice. After the tall young westerner had heard him through, he said:

"Well, Fernando, I am sorry you were in the game at all; but you are init, and now the best thing is to go to the college and make a cleanbreast of it to the president. It's your first, you know, and then afellow just from the woods like us is liable to stumble into badscrapes. Make a clean breast of it and keep out of such games inthe future. "

This was really the best advice that could have been given, andFernando, after consulting Terrence, decided to follow it. Consequentlythey all three presented themselves to the president of the faculty and, in the best way they could, laid the story before him. Terrence broughtall the pathos and eloquence which he naturally possessed to the aid ofhis friend and got both of them off pretty well. 

The old professor was one of the best-hearted men in the world, and whenhe came to contemplate the lonely condition of the boys so far fromhome, he forgave them freely, and Fernando went out of his presenceresolved never to be guilty of another unseemly trick again. 

"Now, if that divil's own ship the _Xenophon_ would only lave port, I'dfale better, " remarked Terrence as they wended their way to theirrooms. Fernando could not see any harm the _Xenophon_ could do them. The president of the college had forgiven them, and surely they need notcare for the ship. 

The students entered ardently into their studies, and Fernando tried toforget everything about the mayor's ball save the beautiful face ofMorgianna Lane. She was the only sweet picture in that wild dream, andhe would not have forgotten her for the world. Time wore slowly on. Aweek had passed, and all the papers in the country were nagging thecaptain about going to his vessel in a winding sheet. A wag wrote someverses which must have been galling to the pride of the haughty Briton. 

At last it leaked out that two students had played the trick on CaptainConkerall. A newspaper reporter came to see Fernando, who gave him atruthful history of the affair. 

"You've played the divil now, " said Terrence, when he read the interviewin the next issue of the _Baltimore Sun_. 

"Why?"

"Never moind, Fernando, I'll not desert ye, and if my one comes to yeabout satisfaction, or inything of the kind, and asks you to mintionyour frind, sind thim to Terrence Malone, and he will make thearrangements, that's all. "

Fernando had no more idea what he meant than if he had addressed him inHindoo, and he gave the matter little or no further thought. He was inhis room poring over his books the second day after the interview, whenthere came a rap at his door. 

"Come in!" he cried in his broad, western fashion. 

The door opened, and, to his surprise, a young English officer enteredthe apartment. 

"Is this Mr. Fernando Stevens?" he asked politely. 

"It is. "

"I am the bearer of a message from Lieutenant Matson. "

"Pray who is Lieutenant Matson?"

"Of his majesty's ship the _Xenophon_. "

Fernando thought he must be mistaken, as he had not the leastrecollection of ever hearing of Lieutenant Matson; but the ensignassured him that he was the person with whom the lieutenant had to deal, and then asked if he could refer him to some friend with whom thebusiness might be arranged. Then the youthful American rememberedTerrence Malone's strange instructions and sent the ensign at once tothe young Irishman. 

Just how Terrence would settle the matter, he did not know; but he whohad such remarkable ability for getting one into a scrape could surelydevise some means to get him out, and Fernando was perfectly willing totrust him. So, deeming the matter wholly settled, he sat down to hisbooks once more, and had actually forgotten the officer, when Terrencebolted into the room his face expressive of anxiety. 

"It's all arranged, me boy. Ye did right in lavin' it to me. The youngBritisher and I have made all arrangements. "

"Arrangements? what arrangements?" asked Fernando with guilelessinnocence. 

"Arrangements for the meeting, to be sure. "

"What meeting?"

"Meeting with Lieutenant Matson. "

Throwing down his book, Fernando started up impatiently said:

"I don't want to meet the infernal lieutenant. I thought you had settledit. "

"So I did, and right dacintly, too. Now what weapons do ye want?"

"Weapons!" cried Fernando, the truth at last beginning to dawn upon him. "Great Heavens! Terrence, do you mean a duel?"

"Certainly, me frind, nothin' ilse. There's no way to get out of it, honorably. "

Fernando reeled as if he had been struck a blow. He had read of duels, but, in the solitude of his western home on the farm, he had never knownof any. They were the bloody inventions of more polite civilization. One had been fought between two trappers at a trading post, not overforty miles away, in which rifles at thirty paces were used, and bothmen were killed. The preacher had said it was murder. Fernando wasbrave; but he shrank from a duel, and it was not until his pride hadbeen appealed to, that he determined to fight. Then Terrence assured himthe lieutenant's friend was waiting; all that was wanting wasthe weapons. 

"I must talk with Sukey. "

Sukey was sent for, and when the tall, lanky fellow entered theapartment, Fernando told him all. 

"Don't you be in the game, Fernando. Let me tell you, don't you be init, " Sukey answered. 

But he was informed that he must, or be forever disgraced. Besides, hisenemy was a hated Briton, whom their country was almost on the verge ofwar with, and it would not be a bad thing to kill him in advance. 

"Well, if you must be in the game, Fernando, fight with hatchets. Youknow you used to throw a hatchet twenty steps and split a pumpkin everytime. Fight with hatchets. "

It was a novel mode of dueling; but Terrence took the proposition to thelieutenant's friend. The Briton said his friend was a gentlemen, willing to fight with any of the weapons which civilized gentlemenused, and if Mr. Stevens would not consent to the same, the lieutenantwould publish him as a barbarian and a coward. Pistols were settled onas a compromise, and Terrence went away to settle the finalarrangements. He returned with a smile on his face and, rubbing hishands, said:

"Cheer up, me boy, it's all settled. "

"What? won't we fight?"

"Yes, it's settled that you will fight. "

For a long time, Fernando was silent, and then he said:

"When will it take place, Terrence?"

"To-morrow morning at sunrise. "

Fernando did not go to school that day. Sukey was enjoined to keep thematter a secret, and he went to his classroom as if nothing unusual wereabout to happen. Fernando spent the day in writing letters to be senthome in case he should not survive the affair which, after all, hebelieved to be disgraceful. Dueling he thought little better thanmurder; but he was in for it and determined not to show the whitefeather. Don't blame Fernando, for he lived in a barbarous age, when the"code of honor" was thought to be honorable. His chief remorse was forhis madcap, drunken freak, which had been the provocation for theevent, and yet, when he came to think of the ludicrousness of hisadventures, he smiled. 

More than once on that gloomy day he thought of Morgianna, whom inreality he loved at first sight. Would he ever see her again, or was sheonly the evening star, which had risen on the last hours of hisexistence? When Sukey returned, he held a long interview with him andgave him a bundle of letters and papers to send home if--he could notfinish the sentence. 

"Ain't there no way to get out of it, Fernando?" asked Sukey, his drollface comical even in distress. 

"Not honorably. "

"Well, now that you're in the game, just shoot that infernalEnglishman's head right off his shoulders, that's my advice. I've readlots about duels, and it all depends on who is quickest at the trigger. Take good aim and don't let him get a second the advantage of you. "

They went to bed early, and Fernando slept soundly. It was Terrence whoawoke them and said it would not do to be late. He had engaged a sailorcalled Luff Williams to take them in his boat to the spot, a long sandybeach behind a high promontory some five or six miles from the city. Thespot was quite secluded, and Terrence declared it a love of a place forsuch little affairs. 

"What are ye thinkin' of, Fernando?" asked Terrence, when the boat withthe three young men was under way. 

"I'm thinking, sir, if I were to kill him, what I must do after. "

"Right, my boy; nothing like it; but 1811 will settle all for ye. Idon't believe, now that America is on the verge of war with the British, that my one will make much of a row for killin' the murdherin' baste. Are ye a good shot?"

"I am with a rifle; but I never could do anything to speak of with apistol. "

"I don't moind that. Ye've a good eye; never take it off him afteryou're on the ground; follow him everywhere. I knew a fellow in Irelandwho always shot his man that way. Look without winkin'; it's fatal at ashort distance--a very good thing to learn, when ye've a littlespare time. "

As they came in sight of the beach where the duel was to be fought, theyperceived, a few hundred yards off, a group of persons standing on thesands, whom they recognized as their opponents. 

"Fernando, " said Terrence, grasping his arm firmly, as if to instillinto him some of his own hope and confidence, "Fernando, although you'reonly a boy, I've no fear of your courage; but this Lieutenant Matson isa famous duelist, and he will try to shake your nerve. Now remember thatye take everything that happens quite with an air of indifference;don't let him think he has iny advantage over ye, and you'll see how thetables will be turned in your favor. "

"Trust me, Terrence, I'll not disgrace you, " Stevens answered. 

"You are twelve minutes late, Mr. Malone, " said the ensign, who acted asthe lieutenant's second; "but we shall all be able to get back tobreakfast--those that will care to eat. "

Not to be outdone, Terrence said:

"All will be at supper; but your friend will be where he is eaten, rather than eats. "

"Don't be too sure; the lieutenant has killed his sixth man in affairslike this. "

The remark was of course intended for Fernando's ears. Sukey heard itand said:

"Fernando, that's a lie; don't you believe it. Aim at his plaguy head, and you can hit it. You used to snuff a candle that distance. "

Fernando smiled while he kept his eye on the lieutenant. That smile andthat eternal stare disconcerted the English officer, and he turned alittle pale. There was something about the imperturbable youth whichmade him dread the meeting. Fernando was strangely, unnaturally calm. Ten minutes more, and he might be in eternity. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

THE BELLE OF THE BEACH. 

No experienced duelist ever entered into the business with moreearnestness or zeal than Terrence Malone. He and the lieutenant's secondwere some distance away settling points of position, he saw three orfour men in the uniform of British officers coming around the bluff, among them the ship's surgeon with a case of instruments and medicinesin his hand. Captain Conkerall, though the real injured party, was noton the scene. His lieutenant readily took up his quarrel, on account ofhis jealousy of Fernando who had completely usurped his place as thefavorite of Miss Morgianna Lane. 

Arrangements were made at last, and Terrence came to his friend, tookhis arm and walked him forward. 

"Fernando, me boy, we've loaded the pistols. He loaded this and I theone for the lieutenant, I put in a thumpin' heavy charge, so he'llovershoot, I am to give the word; but don't look at me at all. I'llmanage to catch the lieutenant's eye, and do ye watch him steadily, aimat his middle and fire when he does, and all will be right. "

They were all the while moving to the place selected for the duel. 

"I think the ground we are leaving behind us is rather better, " saidsomeone. "So it is, " answered the lieutenant with a sneer; "but it mightbe troublesome to carry the young gentleman down that way; here all isfair and easy. "

In a few moments they were at the spot; the ground was measured off, andeach man was placed, and Fernando thought there was no chance foreither escaping. 

"Now thin, " said Terrence. "I'll walk twelve paces, count 'one, two, three, fire!' and you are both to fire at the word 'fire. ' The man whoreserves his shot or shoots a second before falls by my hand!"

This stern injunction seemed actually to awe the Britons, and Fernandofancied that he saw the lieutenant trembling. It was only fancy however. The lieutenant was really calm. Notwithstanding the advice of Terrence, Fernando could not help turning his eyes from the lieutenant to watchthe figure of his retiring friend. At last he stopped--a second or twoelapsed--he wheeled rapidly around. Fernando now turned his eyes towardhis antagonist. 

Lieutenant Matson was a slender man, and when he turned his right sidetoward Fernando, he was not much thicker than a rail. 

"One--two--three--fire!"

Fernando watched his opponent, and, at the word, raised his pistol andfired. His hat flew from his head, the crown torn completely out, whilehis antagonist leaped into the air, clapped his hand to the seat of histrousers and fell howling upon the ground. The people around Fernandoall rushed forward, save Sukey, who came to his friend and, seeing thathe was unhurt, began a mild reproof:

"Why didn't you aim higher, Fernando?"

Terrence came back a moment later and, bursting into laughter, said:

"Begorra! this will interfere with his sedentary habits for a month. Arrah, me boy, it's proud o' ye I am. "

Fernando caught two or three glances thrown at him with expression ofrevengeful passion. Half a score of marines were seen coming around therocks, and Terrence left off laughing. The three were alone against fivetimes their number. 

Fernando felt some one grasp him around the waist and hurry him from thespot, and ten minutes later they were in the boat skimming over thewater back toward Baltimore. 

"Put on ivery divilish stitch o' canvas yer tub 'll carry, " saidTerrence to Luff Williams. "The Johnny Bulls won't like this a bit, andbad luck to us if they git their hands on us. "

Fernando, now that the nervous strain was over, sank back in the boat, almost completely exhausted. 

"Fernando, ye did it illegintly, " said the young Irishman. 

"Will he die?"

"Not unless the doctors kill him trying to dig it out. "

"I hope they won't. "

"What the divil's the difference? Before this toime next year, we'll beshootin' redcoats for sport. "

"Say, what's that, shipmate?" drawled out Luff Williams. 

"Where?"

"Look ahead. "

"A long boat full o' British marines!" cried Terrence. "Boys, I don'tlike that. Mr. Luff Williams, if ye want a whole skin over yer body pullabout and sail down the coast like the divil was after ye!"

In less than two minutes' time their craft was put about and went flyingbefore the wind, under a full stretch of canvas. The boat impelled byeight stout oarsmen pressed hard in their wake. 

"Heave to! heave to!" cried an officer in the pursuing boat. "Heave to, or we will fire on you!"

"Niver mind him, me frind, " said Terrence to the man at the rudder. "I'll tell ye when to lay low. "

They were in long musket shot distance, and Williams assured them thatif they could round a headland, they would get a stiffer breeze andoutsail their pursuer. 

"Are they gaining on us?" Fernando asked. 

"Not much, if any, " was the response. 

Again the officer in the bow, making a speaking trumpet of his hands, shouted:

"Heave to, or I swear I'll fire on you!"

"To the divil with you, " roared Terrence. "We've downed one redcoat infair light; what more do ye want, bad luck to ye?"

The officer spoke to some one behind him, and a musket was handed him. 

Terrence sprang to the stern saying:

"Now look out! lay low, ye lubbers! the blackguard's goin' to shoot!"

The officer raised his musket, and a moment later a puff of smoke issuedfrom the muzzle. 

"Down!" cried Terrence. All laid low, and the next second the report ofa musket came on the air, and a bullet dropped in the water, a little tothe larboard. 

"They are coming agin, " cried Terrence. 

"Haven't you sweeps which we could work?" asked Fernando. 

There was a pair of sweeps in the craft, and Terrence and Fernandomanned them. Though Fernando was a little awkward at first, he soon cameto use the sweep quite effectively and helped the little craft along. 

"Do we gain on them?" asked Fernando. 

"Not much, if any;" the helmsman answered. 

At this moment, three or four muskets were fired from the boat, and theballs whistled among the sails or spattered in the water. Should theymeet with one of those sudden calms which frequently overtook vesselsoff the bay, they knew they would be lost. The British marines werelaying to their oars right lustily, and the boat flew over the waves. 

"Have you no arms in the boat?" asked Fernando. 

"Nothin' but a fowlin' piece and some goose shot. "

"Just the thing for me!" declared Sukey. "I was always good at killin'geese on the wing. "

Sukey hunted up the gun and loaded both barrels heavily with shot andslugs. Then he took up his post in the stern, ready to rake the longboat fore and aft, should it come within range of his formidable gun. The officer and three or four marines continued to load and fire, untilthe boat was out of the harbor, when a strong breeze struck her sailsand sent her spinning over the water. 

"Huzzah! huzzah! we are gainin' on' em now!" cried Sukey, flourishinghis gun in the air. 

The British fired half a dozen more shots at the fleeing boat; but thebullets began dropping behind. They were out of reach of their longestrange muskets. 

"There ain't no danger now, " declared Sukey. "They are not in the game. "

The breeze continued strong, and the little craft boldly cleft thewaters, as it sped forward over the bounding waves. 

"It's no use to be wearing ourselves out, Fernando, " said Terrence. "Thegood breeze is doin' more for us than a hundred oars could do. "

They put in their sweeps and, mounting the rail aft, clung to rigging, and shouted derision and defiance at their pursuers. 

Although the Britons had little hope or expectation of overtaking them, yet, with that bull-dog tenacity characteristic of Englishmen, theycontinued the chase. 

"That danger is over, " said Terrence, as they once more resumed theirseats in the boat. 

"What would they have done with us, Terrence, had they captured us?"

"Faith, it's hard telling; but I think we'd found it unpleasant. "

"Wasn't the fight fair?"

"As fair as iver one saw; but, begorra, it didn't turn out the way theyexpected. "

"Why, la sakes, they didn't think Fernando was goin' to miss, did they?"said Sukey. "He ain't been shootin' squirrels out o' the tallest treesin Ohio for nothin'. "

"This lieutenant thought he was going to have some sport with agreenhorn. "

"Can you see them yet?" asked Fernando of Williams, who sat well up inthe stern holding the helm. 

"Yes. "

"How far are they away?"

"Two or three miles. "

"And still a-coming?"

"Yes. "

"Plague take 'em!" growled Sukey, "why do they follow us sopersistently?"

"May be they think to get us when we go ashore; but, bad luck to thim, they'll find it tough if they come afther us. "

"Fernando, I wish we had our rifles, " growled Sukey. "Wouldn't we makeit unprofitable for the redcoats!"

Fernando was rather non-communicative, and sat in the bow of the boatlost in painful meditation. He had shed blood. It was the first, and, although in that age it was thought highly honorable, he felt an inwardconsciousness that dueling was both cowardly and brutal. Fear of beingbranded a coward had nerved him to face the pistol of his antagonist. Itis not true courage that makes the duelist. There is no more honor, gentility, or courage in dueling than in robbing a safe. The greatestcoward living may be a burglar, so he may, from fear of public scorn, fight a duel. Fernando had much to regret. He felt that his socialstanding had been lowered; yet he was happy in the thought that the duelhad had no fatal results. Could he ever return to the school? Could heever return to his home and face his Christian mother? He was rousedfrom his painful reverie by a loud laugh on the part of Terrence. Heturned his eyes toward the jolly fellow and found him convulsedwith mirth. 

"What ails you, Terrence?" he asked. 

"Did you aim at the spot you hit?"

"No; I aimed at a more vital part; but, thank God, I missed, and now Iam happy. "

"It's more than the lieutenant is, I'm thinkin'. "

"But, Terrence, the most serious question is, what are we going to do?"

"Now that's sensible. Let me see, Misther Williams, what's the nearestport? Isn't there a town above on this coast?"

"Yes, not more than ten miles away around that point o' land we'll finda willage. "

"Why not put in there?"

"Yes, we kin; but, hang it, how am I a-goin' to git back to Baltimore?"

"Oh, that's aisy enough. Run in after night. "

"Yes, an' be sunk by the blasted Britishers!"

"He won't know ye after dark. "

"But, Terrence, what are we to do?" asked Fernando. 

"It's do, is it?--faith, do nothin'!"

"But the academy?"

"It will get along without us. "

"But can we get along without it?"

"Aisy, me frind; don't be alarmed. We'll be back in a week or afortnight at most. It will all blow over, and no one will ask us anyquestions. Lave it all to me. "

Fernando had almost come to the conclusion that he had left too much tohis friend. Terrence had only got him out of one scrape into another, until he had come to mistrust the good judgment and sound discretion ofhis friend. Not that he doubted the good intentions of Terrence. He hadas kind a heart as ever beat in the breast of a young Irishman oftwenty-three; but his propensity to mischievous pranks was continuallygetting him and his friends into trouble. 

Fernando went to the fore part of the boat and sat by Sukey. 

For a few moments both were silent. Fernando was first to speak. 

"Sukey, how is all this to end?" he asked with a sigh. 

"I don't know, " Sukey answered, in his peculiar, drawling way. "Weneedn't complain, though; because we came out best so far. "

"But it was terrible, shooting at him. I might have killed him. "

"He might have killed you, and that would have been worse. "

"I never thought of that. "

"No doubt he did. "

"I wish we were back in the college; but I greatly fear we will beexpelled in disgrace. It would kill our mothers. "

"No; I think they would get over it; but I tell you, Fernando, myopinion is, it don't make much difference. "

"Why?"

"The United States and England are going to fight. I got a paper lastnight, and it was chock full of fight, and as for your shootin' thelieutenant, I am sure everybody, even your mother and the faculty, willbe glad of it. I only blame you for one thing. "

"What is that, Sukey?"

"When you had such a good chance, why didn't you aim higher?"

The expression on Sukey's face was too ludicrous for even the youngduelist, and he laughed in spite of himself. 

"Helloa, there's the town, " cried Sukey, as they rounded a headland andentered the mouth of a broad bay, standing in toward a beautifulvillage. This village has wholly disappeared. Railroads shunned it, andthe water traffic being too small to support it, it degenerated into avillage of fishermen, which, in 1837, was totally destroyed by fire, andhas never been rebuilt. Before the war of 1812, it was a neat, flourishing little town. 

"Is this the town you were spakin' about?" asked Terrence of theboatman. 

"Yes, zur. "

"What place is it?"

"Mariana. "

"Mariana, " repeated Fernando, "I have heard that name before. Where wasit? Mariana, --Mariana. "

Terrence came forward to his companions and said:

"Now, lads, like as not the frinds of Matson may be afther followingus. Lave it all to me. We'll change our names and go up to the tavern, where we'll hire rooms and be gintlemen traveling for pleasure. "

"Would they dare follow us on shore?"

"No; I think not; but if they should, my plan will answer. "

When they ran into shore, Terrence paid the boatman and discharged him. Terrence was the son of a rich Irish merchant in Philadelphia, who kepthis son liberally supplied with money, who, with correspondingliberality, spent it. 

Terrence felt that this was his scrape, and he resolved to bear theexpenses. 

With his friends, he went to the tavern, where they engaged rooms. Fernando and Sukey retired to their rooms, while Terrence remained inthe tap-room, where there was a crowd of Marylanders. He began tellingthem a most horrible story of the impressment of himself and his friendsby a British vessel and of their recent escape. He stated that they hadbeen closely pursued, and he would not be surprised if the Britisherssent a boat on shore to take them away. 

He could not have chosen a better theme to inflame those Marylanders. One tall, raw-boned man, who carried a rifle and bullet pouch withhim, said:

"Boys, that reminds us mightily o' Dick Long. "

Every Marylander assembled in the tap-room knew the sad story of poorDick Long. He was a fisherman with a wife and four children and wasloved by all who knew him. Dick was honest and peaceable, kind-heartedand brave. One day his fishing smack was driven by a gale some distanceout at sea, when a British cruiser captured him, and he was impressedinto his majesty's service. Dick managed after many weary months to geta letter to his wife. At Halifax, he tried to desert, was caught, brought back and lashed to the "long tom" and received a flogging withthe cat-o'-nine-tails. He struck the cruel boatsman, and was lashed tothe mast and flogged until he died. A deserter from the ship broughthome his dying words, which were these: "Tell my American brothers toavenge me. "

"Remember Dick Long, boys, and ef they come to Mariana, let us make 'emwish they had stayed away. "

The artful Terrence kindled the flame, and a short time after sunset, Fernando and Sukey were awakened from a doze by hearing a wild uproar onthe streets. They sprang to their feet and ran to the window. 

Fifteen or twenty officers and seamen had just landed and were makingtheir way toward the public house, when they were assailed by a hundredinfuriated Marylanders with sticks, clubs, stones, dirt, old tin bucketsand almost every conceivable weapon. The officer in command was tryingto explain that their intentions were pacific, that, after rowing forten hours against the wind and tide, they were tired and hungry; but theinexorable Marylanders continued to shout:

"Dick Long, Dick Long! Don't forget Dick Long!"

Now there was not one of those Britons who had ever heard of Dick Longbefore, and they could not conceive what that had to do with theirlanding; nor was this the boat crew which chased our friends; yetTerrence continued to agitate the matter. The truth is Terrence hadpersonally declared war against Great Britain in advance of the UnitedStates and had commenced hostilities. 

"Down with the bloody backs!" he cried. "Drive thim into the bay. "

The officers were forced to return to their boats and, tired as theywere, pull down the coast to Baltimore. 

Next morning, Fernando rose early and, after breakfast, went out aloneto look about the village. It was located in a picturesque and beautifulspot. On the East was the broad bay and sea. On the West were undulatinghills covered with umbrageous forests. To the South were somepromontories and romantic headlands, against which the restless waterslashed themselves into foam. On a hill about a fourth of a mile from thevillage, was a large, elegant mansion built of granite, looking like afairy castle in the distance. A broad carriage-drive, leading through anavenue of chestnuts, led up to the great front gate. The mansion wasalmost strong enough for a fort and was surrounded by a stone wall fivefeet high, with an iron picket fence on top of this. 

"Who lives in the great house on the hill?" Fernando asked a man. 

"Old Captain Lane. "

"Captain Lane. I have heard of him. Has he a daughter?"

"Yes, Morgianna. "

"It's the same, " he thought, as he wandered away to the beach. "Whatstrange providence has brought me here?" Fernando's regrets were in amoment changed to rejoicing. He was glad he had quarrelled with thelieutenant and had been driven away to Mariana. 

He went to the tavern and informed Sukey of his discovery and said:

"I am going to contrive in some way to speak with her again. "

"Well, don't take that plaguey Irishman in the game, Fernando, " saidSukey. "If you do, he'll make a precious mess o' the whole thing. "

Terrence was enjoying himself. Before he had been in the town two days, he knew every person in it. All were his friends, and he was quite alion. Terrence only hoped that a man-of-war would come to Mariana. Hevowed he would lead the citizens against her, capture the ship and keepher for coast defence of Maryland. 

It was the fourth day after their arrival, that, as Fernando wasstrolling alone according to his habit on the beach, his eyes fixed onthe sands meditating on the recent stirring events, he suddenly becameconscious of some one a short distance down the beach. He looked, up andsaw a young lady with a parasol in one hand tripping along the sands, now and then picking up a shell. In an instant he knew her. His heartgave a wild bound and then seemed for a instant to stand still. Then itcommenced a rapid vibration which increased as she approached. She wascoming toward him, all unconscious of his presence and only intent onsecuring the most beautiful shells. 

Suddenly, raising her eyes, she saw a handsome young man close to her. He tipped his hat, smiled and said: "Good morning, Miss Lane. "

"Oh, it's you, is it?" she answered with a little laugh. "Why, Ideclare, how you frightened me!"

"I am sorry for it. "

"Never mind; I will survive the shock; but I know why you came toMariana, " and there was a roguish twinkle in her blue eyes. 

"Do you?"

"Yes, you fought the lieutenant and had to run away. "

"Miss Lane, how did you learn this?"

"Learn it! Don't you know the papers are full of it? Papa read it thismorning at breakfast, and he laughed until he cried. Where is thatIrishman who gets you into so many funny scrapes?"

"He is at the tavern. "

"Well, papa says he must see you. He has fought duels in his day, and hethinks you a splendid shot; but it was naughty of you to fight withoutconsulting me. He might have killed you. "

Fernando was now the happiest man on earth. 

"Miss Lane, don't think because I did not consult you, I did not thinkof you. You were in my mind as much as any other person at that tryingordeal, unless it was my mother. "

"Oh, don't grow sentimental. Now that it is all over and not much harmdone, let us laugh at it;--but I want to scold you. "

"Why?"

"You did not obey me on that night. I told you to drink no more wine, and after I left, you drank too much, which provoked the quarrel. "

Fernando, who really had no clear idea of the subject-matter of thequarrel, answered:

"I plead guilty, Miss Lane, to being disobedient. Forgive me, and Ipromise to make amends in the future. Do you know him, LieutenantMatson?"

"Know Lieutenant Matson? Certainly I do; I have known him for fouryears. Father has known him longer. "

[Illustration: "YOU SURRENDER EASILY. "]

"Does he ever come here?"

"Frequently. "

"If he comes while I am here, we will have the fight out. "

"No you won't. "

"Why?"

"I forbid it. "

"Then I yield. "

"You surrender easily, " and the saucy blue eyes glanced slyly at hisface. Fernando was at a loss for some answer. Suddenly she brokein with:

"I must go now. There, I see father on the hill. Won't you come to teathis evening? Father would like so much to see you. "

Of course he would. He stammered out his thanks, while the fairy-likecreature tripped away across the sands, leaving him in a maze ofbewilderment. At the crest of the hill, she paused to wave herhandkerchief, smiled with ravishing sweetness, and disappeared over thehill with her father. 

CHAPTER IX. 

THE ENGLISHMAN'S DILEMMA. 

Morgianna Lane was the brightest gem in the little Maryland village. Theromantic mystery which enshrouded her birth seemed only to add to thecharm about her. Of course Fernando could not long be in the villagewithout learning that she was not the daughter of Captain Lane, buta sea waif. 

Frequently foundlings have some birth mark or scar about them, or thereis some letter or significant mark about their clothing by which inafter years they may be identified and their parentage made known; butin the case of Morgianna there was no probability of her identity everbeing discovered. Her plump little arms were utterly devoid of scar ormark; the clothes found upon the infant had no initial whatever, andwere cast aside, just as other worn-out garments. 

Fernando Stevens, in due time, called on Captain Lane, whom he found tobe as jolly an old Jack Tar as lives. He was greatly amused at theescapade of the student, but cautioned him against his Irish friend. 

"I have no doubt this Terrence Malone is a good, noble young fellow; buthe has too much native mischief in his composition, and will get youfrom one scrape into another with marvellous regularity. I don't meanthat you should cut him adrift; but though you sail in company with him, do not allow him to get too far windward of you. When you see he's goingto fly right into the teeth of some rash fate, get on the other tack, that's all. You did honorably, however, in fighting the duel withLieutenant Matson, even if he is my friend. "

"Is he your friend?"

"Yes; his father and I shipped afore the mast when we were boystogether. When the war broke out, he entered the British navy while Iwent aboard a Yankee privateer. I am glad to say we never metin battle. "

Fernando felt himself growing just a little bit uneasy. He did not likethis friendship between the captain and Lieutenant Matson; and he couldsee that the old seaman was glad the lieutenant's wound was not fatal. 

What strange emotion stirred the Ohio student's soul, when he met thesoft eyes of Morgianna, words cannot express. She talked on a variety ofsubjects, and at times Fernando flattered himself that she was pleasedto have him with her; but the next moment he reasoned that it might beonly her good breeding which made her appear to tolerate him. Fernandowas not foolish enough to be conceited. He lived in hope and doubt andwas the happiest man at times, and at others the most miserable. Thoughhe took Sukey into his confidence, Fernando was a little shyof Terrence. 

The reader will remember that Terrence had, on entering the village, suggested the propriety of going under assumed names. Fernando hadforgotten, if he ever knew, that he was registered at the tavern as Mr. Phil. Magrew of Hartford, and that good, innocent Sukey was GeorgeMolesworth, while Terrence was Larry O'Connor, a name quite in keepingwith his nationality. A ludicrous mistake, which came near being fatalto Fernando's respectability at Mariana, resulted from this incident. 

They had been a week at the tavern, and Fernando, who had lived athousand years of alternating bliss and agony in that short period, wassitting in the bar-room in front of a great roaring fire, which thechill evening of early autumn made comfortable, utterly oblivious of thegrumbling of the landlord, who was saying:

"When people stay a whole week 'thout any luggage, it be high time theypay up. I wonder Mr. Magrew don't take notice on't. "

The supposed Mr. Magrew, however, did not hear what he said. He wasgazing into the blazing fire, weaving bright pictures from which theeyes of Morgianna seemed gazing at him. Fernando had forgotten theacademy, home, parents and all in this new inspiration. Terrence andSukey entered while the landlord was still grumbling and looking hard atFernando, who was utterly oblivious of his wrath. 

"Mister Magrew, be ye a man o' honor?" demanded mine host; but "Mr. Magrew" was as indifferent as a statue of stone. "The wagabond sitsthere an' hears himself abused an' be too heedless to answer. By themass, I will even tweak his nose! Magrew--Magrew--I'll wake you!"

All the while Terrence, Sukey, and everybody else was wondering whom theenraged landlord meant. Suddenly Terrence recollected that he hadregistered Fernando under the name of Philip Magrew. He hastened to meetthe landlord before he reached Fernando, and thus prevented a collision, which would have been violent indeed. 

"Me frind, the honorable Misthur Magrew, is hard o' hearing, " explainedthe Irishman in an undertone. 

"Be hard o' hearin'? then he be hard o' payin' too, " answered thelandlord. "He 'ave been a whole veek in my 'ouse and not one pickyunne'ave paid. "

"Lave all to me, " said the Irishman in his conciliatory manner, gentlyleading the landlord to another part of the room. "Ye see me frind, knowing his infirmity, asked mesilf to pay all bills for Misthur Magrew, and he gave me the money, I clear forgot it, or I should have paid you. "

Then Terrence drew forth a well-filled purse, which greatly mollifiedthe landlord, and when all differences were squared, he was completelysatisfied, smiling and agreeable. 

Thus Fernando passed over a dangerous period in his life and never knewhow near he came having his nose pulled; nor did the landlord ever knowhow near he came to being knocked down for such an attempt. 

Morgianna had spoken on one occasion of the beauty of moonlight on theseashore, and Fernando was bold enough to ask the pleasure of rowingherself and father to the headlands some evening. She assented. The oldsailor had a friend visiting at his house, an old ex-sea-captain likehimself, and the four decided to make the voyage across the little bayand sit for an hour on the rocky promontory and listen to the "dashingwaves. " Fernando willingly welcomed the acquaintance as a fourth to theparty, for he was shrewd enough to see that the old sailors would be sowholly engrossed with each other, that they would scarcely notice theyoung people, and Morgianna and he would be left quite to themselves. 

Fernando, though an amateur at the oar, would on no account be dissuadedfrom rowing the small boat to the promontory; and, having helpedMorgianna, who was lightest, into a seat in the bow (inexpressiblehappiness) he cheerfully took his seat at the oars with the old men inthe stern facing each other. Then the little craft was cast loose, andthe young westerner bent to his oars and sent the boat swiftly throughthe water. Of course Fernando's back was toward Morgianna, and he couldnot see her, save when he twisted his head "quite off, " which he didfrequently; but he could hear her silvery voice humming snatches of asong, or her dimpled hand playing in the phosphorescent water whichsparkled like flashes of fire in their wake. The old men kept up acontinual talk, for which Fernando was exceedingly grateful. Finally thepromontory was gained, and in a quiet little cove Fernando beached hisboat and, springing out, took the small, white hand of Morgianna andassisted her to the dry sands, so gallantly that her dainty littleslippered foot did not touch the water. 

Then the whole party ascended the hill to the opposite side of thepromontory where the sea was beating furiously. Fernando was almostbeside himself with joy to find Morgianna clinging to his arm in theascent, and to hear her sweet voice in low, gentle tones breathing inhis ear. It was a fine, clear night, and for all her lowness of spirits, Morgianna kept looking up at the stars in a manner so bewitching thatFernando was clear out of his senses, and plainly showed that, if ever aman were over head and ears in love, that man was himself. The path theywere ascending was quite steep, and Fernando could not help glancing atthe pretty little hand, encased in a cream-colored kid glove, resting onhis arm. If Fernando had known that an executioner were behind him withan axe raised, ready to cut off his head if he touched that hand, hecould not have helped doing it. From putting his own right hand upon itas if by chance, and taking it away again after a minute or so, and thenputting it back again, he got to walking along without taking it off atall, as if he, the escort, were bound to do that as an important duty, and had come for that purpose. The most curious thing about this littleincident was, that Morgianna did not seem to know it. She looked soinnocent and unconscious when she turned her eyes on Fernando, that itwas quite provoking. 

She talked about the sea, the hills, the rocks, the sky, the stars, while the old men went on ahead, and when she slipped on the verge of aprecipice three feet high and came near falling into a pool of dirtywater, and he saved her from the fall by his coolness and daring, shethanked him and told him how grateful she was that he was near, and hesaid something about how happy he would be to be always near her, toguard her footsteps along life's rugged pathway. Then she said somethingto the effect that it would be pleasant if one could always have one'sfriends near, and that she hoped they would always be friends from thattime forth. And when Fernando said, "not friends" he hoped, Morgiannawas quite surprised and said not enemies she hoped; and when Fernandosuggested that they might be something better than either, Morgianna, all of a sudden, found a star, which was brighter than all the otherstars, and begged to call his attention to the same, and was ten timesmore innocent and unconscious than ever. 

In this way, they journeyed up the steep ascent, talking very littleabove a whisper, and wishing that the promontory was a dozen timeshigher--at least, such was Fernando's wish--when they finally reachedthe top and saw the two old men under the lee cliff listening to theocean's hollow roar. 

Fernando carried a robe and some wraps for Morgianna, and he conductedher to a sheltered spot below the first ledge of rocks, where he spreada robe for her to sit on, and then, with loving fingers that thrilledwith each touch, adjusted the wraps about her shapely little shoulders. For a long time they sat listening to the wild roar of the angry watersbelow, gazing on the phosphorescent flashes, where the swelling wavesbroke in crested splendor on the well-worn rocks. 

He was first to break the silence. 

"Miss Lane, " he said, "had I known that Lieutenant Matson was yourpersonal friend, I would have suffered disgrace rather thanencountered him. "

With a smile, she answered:

"It all turned out right. The lieutenant was scarcely injured at all. "

"Have you heard of him?"

"I have heard from him, " she answered, glancing slyly at Fernando fromthe corners of her roguish eyes. "He wrote me a letter which Ireceived to-day. "

Fernando felt a pain at his heart, but it was nothing to compare withthe shame and mortification which followed. She informed him thatLieutenant Matson was so slightly wounded, that his seconds decided on asecond fire, and sent a boat to inform them as they had left the beach, but that, although they chased the Americans for miles, they could notbring them back. Fernando was stunned by the information, and filledwith mortification and chagrin. 

"Do you think I am afraid to meet him again?" he asked, his voicetrembling with ill-suppressed excitement. 

"I don't know; but you won't, anyway--you are both my friends, and myfriends shall not fight. "

Fernando made no answer, but at that moment he would very much haveliked to knock her friend on the head. Of course a second meeting withthe Briton would now have been highly pleasing to the student; but itwas out of the question. The hour on the promontory was passed inalternating bliss and misery, and when the time came to return, he wasno nearer the subject dearest of all subjects than before. 

He hastened back to the tavern, where he found his Irish friend playingcards with the landlord and winning several weeks' board in advance. 

"Terrence, it is a fine fix you got me in by hurrying away from thesands so soon that morning, " he said angrily, when he got him tohis room. 

"Why, me boy, what d'ye mane?"

"That lieutenant was only slightly wounded, and that boat was chasing usto bring us back for another shot. "

"So ye've heard it at last, me frind?"

"Certainly I have, and now I will be branded as a coward. "

"Lave it all to me. The Britishers are in trouble enough. Sure, haven'tye read the Baltimore papers? Captain Conkerall is to be tried by acourt-martial for gettin' bastely drunk and goin' abroad with no garmentbut his shirt, and a sheet with a hole in it. " Terrence laughed untilthe tears trickled down his cheeks. Fernando could not see how he couldhelp fighting the lieutenant again if he demanded satisfaction; but theIrishman was quite sure the lieutenant would have enough to do to keephis captain out of his dilemma. Sukey, who had entered during theirconversation, said:

"Oh, Fernando, why didn't you aim higher and blow his head off?"

"Why did the lieutenant challenge me, when the captain was the injuredparty?" asked Fernando. 

Terrence explained that, while the Captain was really the injured party, it was a matter of courtesy that his officer lower in rank should takethe quarrel upon himself, more especially as Fernando had been hissuccessful rival at the ball. From this, the conversation gradually ledto Morgianna herself, and Terrence laughed and winked; and calledFernando a lucky dog. 

"Go in, me boy, and if ye nade any help, I am at hand. "

"I fear I have injured my prospects there, " said Fernando. 

"How?"

"By the duel. Lieutenant Matson is an old friend of the captain, and Ibelieve a suitor for the hand of his daughter. What show has a schoolboyagainst a lieutenant in the English navy?--none. "

"Yes he has, " declared Terrence. 

"What show can he have?"

"Lave it all to me, me frind, and I will bring ye out all right, see ifI don't. "

"I have left too many things to you, Terrence, and you have a mostremarkable faculty for getting me into trouble. "

Terrence assured him that he would yet aid him to outgeneral theEnglishman, and he only wished that he might come into port duringtheir stay. 

"Terrence, you must take no advantage of the public hatred of theEnglish to accomplish your purpose. Remember, Lieutenant Matson is theson of Captain Lane's friend. You might raise a mob and have him drivenaway; but I will not consent to it. "

"Indade, I don't mane it, me boy. Lave it to me. If he comes ashore, faith, we'll out-gineral him, sure. "

Next day there came letters for the runaways. Terrence's father, beingwealthy and influential, had gone to Baltimore, interceded with thefaculty and had the runaway scapegraces retained. There were alsoletters from the parents of the young men, condemning, but at the timeforgiving and warning them to be more careful in the future. 

It was some distance by the road to Baltimore, and the boys decided totake passage in a coasting schooner which was loading with barley andwould be ready to go in three days. 

One morning, two days before their intended departure, Fernando, ongoing out upon the street, was surprised and really alarmed to see anEnglish man-of-war anchored in the little harbor of Marianna. Hisuneasiness was greatly increased on reading the name _Xenophon_ on thebroad pennant floating from the main mast. His enemy was in port, and hecould guess his object, especially when he saw Captain Lane's carriagewaiting on the sands while Lieutenant Matson was being rowed ashore. Fernando gnashed his teeth and there were some ugly thoughts inhis heart. 

Sukey who had come out hastened to his side and reading his thoughtssaid:

"Now don't you wish you had aimed higher?"

The citizens, noticing the approach of an English war vessel, began tocongregate in a large body on the north side of the village, and theirdemonstrations were decidedly hostile to the landing of the Briton. Suddenly Captain Lane appeared among them, waving his staff andshouting. Having gained their attention, the old sea-captain mounted thestile near the village store and said:

"Shipmates and friends, the man coming ashore is the son of a man whom Iloved. I have sent my carriage down to bring him to my house where he isto be my guest. You have all heard me tell how his father saved my life. Would you injure him now, when he comes to pay me a friendly visit?" Ina short time the crowd dispersed, and Lieutenant Matson landed, enteredthe carriage and was driven to the house of Captain Lane. 

From the street, Fernando, with bitter feelings in his heart, saw thecarriage ascend the hill. He turned about and entered the tavern, wentto his room and shut himself up. Here he remained until the middle ofthe afternoon, when there came a knock at the door, and, on opening it, he was astonished to find one of the negroes of Captain Lane's house. Hewas dressed in livery and held a note in his hand, which he gave to"Mistah Stevens, " bowed politely and awaited his answer. 

The utter amazement of Fernando can better be imagined than describedat finding the note from Miss Morgianna Lane inviting himself and hisfriends to tea that evening with themselves, Lieutenant Matson andensign Post of his majesty's ship _Xenophon_. Had Fernando been summonedto a command in his majesty's navy, he could not have been moreastonished. He hesitated a moment and then decided to accept. ThisEnglishman should neither out-do him in generosity nor affrontery. Besides, the invitation came from Morgianna, and he could not refuse. Hewrote a polite answer, accepting the kind invitation and went to findSukey and Terrence. Sukey thought it would be a little odd for Fernandoto meet a man with whom he had exchanged shots; but Terrence declared itwas the only "dacint" thing to do. They were not "haythin, " tobear grudges. 

Consequently they went. The minds of the Americans were filled withdoubt and perplexity, while the Irishman was chuckling at a plan hiscunning brain was evolving, and which he determined to put in execution. The Englishmen met the Americans very cordially, and Lieutenant Matson, who was every inch a gentleman, did not dare be other than genteel inthe presence of the lady he loved; for he was as passionately in lovewith Morgianna as was Fernando. The lieutenant was of a romantic turn ofmind, and the mystery of the sea waif had interested him. He was quitesure she was the daughter of some nobleman. He had read in romances somany cases similar to hers, that he could not believe this would turnout otherwise. 

When Fernando and the lieutenant had shaken hands and mutually agreed tobury all past differences, had they not been rivals they might havebecome friends, for each recognized in the other some qualities thatwere admirable. 

The beauty of a lovely woman is like music, rich in cadence and sweet inrhythm; but that beauty must be for one alone. It cannot, like music, beshared with others. The best of friends may, as rivals, become thebitterest foes. Fernando did not like the Englishman, for, with all hisblandness, he thought he could observe a pompous air andself-consciousness of superiority, disgusting to sensible persons. Thismight have been prejudice or the result of imagination, yet he realizedthat he was in the presence of an ambitious rival, who would go to anylength to gain his purpose. 

The most careful and disinterested observer could not have discoveredany preference on the part of Morgianna. When they came to the table, she had the lieutenant on one side and Fernando on the other. The oldcaptain at the head engrossed much of Lieutenant Matson's time talkingabout his father, greatly to the annoyance of the officer. When Matsoncame to take his seat at the table, Terrence, who sat on the oppositeside of the lieutenant, whispered:

"Aisy!"

The lieutenant bit his lips and his face flushed angrily, while Sukey, who sat on the opposite side of the Irishman, snickered, and Morgiannabit her pretty lip most cruelly in trying to conceal the merriment whichher roguish eyes expressed. 

This was the only break made by the Irishman that evening. He played hispart with consummate grace and had such a way of winning the favor ofpeople, that, before the evening was over, the Englishman actually cameto like him. He praised the country about Mariana, and talked of theharbors and islands, declaring he knew them all from Duck Island to theChesapeake. He found Lieutenant Matson somewhat of a sport, and sooninterested him in stories of duck shooting, all of which were inventionsof his own ingenious brain. Miss Morgianna praised the wild ducks ofMaryland and thought their flesh equal to English Capons. Thelieutenant, in his gallantry, vowed she should have half a dozen braceof fowls before he left, and Terrence volunteered to assist him. 

Fernando was amazed at the course of his friend. The man-of-war was tosail the same day their schooner did, and he had just determined, by theaid of Terrence, to bag five dozen brace of ducks for the belle ofMariana, when his friend went boldly over to the enemy. 

"I'll give it to him, when I get a chance, " he thought. 

There was only one more night in which they could shoot ducks, andTerrence was engaged for that occasion. Fernando sighed and ground histeeth in rage and disappointment, while Morgianna, with Sukey on oneside and Ensign Post on the other, went to a large Broadwood piano, where she soon entertained all with her music. 

As they went to their tavern that night, Fernando said:

"A nice way you have treated me, Terrence, you who profess to be myfriend. "

"What the divil ails the boy?" asked Terrence. 

"You have volunteered to aid the lieutenant go ducking--"

"Aisy me boy! While the lieutenant is after ducks, lose no time with thegirl. Don't ye see I'm getting him out of yer way?"

Fernando had not thought of it in that light. On the next evening, thelast they were to spend at Mariana, the lieutenant was rowed ashoreattired for sporting, with top-boots and a double-barrelled fowlingpiece. Terrence, who claimed to be an experienced hunter, advised him to"kape their intintions sacrit, " as too many might want to go, and thatwould spoil the sport. Ducks could best be hunted after night. He wouldshow him how it was done. 

It was almost dark, when they set off in a small rowboat for DuckIsland, and twenty minutes later Fernando was on his way to his farewellvisit to Morgianna. 

The sun had set, but it was not yet dark when Fernando reached the broadpiazza. He asked himself if she would be at home or away. He had saidnothing of his coming. This visit was wholly on his own account. He hadwalked up and down the piazza two or three times, when through the opendoor he caught the flutter of a garment on the stairway. It wasMorgianna's--to whom else could it belong? No dress but hers had such aflow as that. He gathered up courage and followed it into the hallway. 

His darkening the door, into which the sombre shadows of twilight werealready creeping, caused her to look around. "Oh that face! If it hadn'tbeen for that, " thought Fernando, "I could never have faced the Briton. She is twenty times handsomer than ever. She might marry a Lord!"

He didn't say this. He only thought it--perhaps looked it also. Morgianna was glad to see him and was _so_ sorry her father was awayfrom home. Fernando begged she would not worry herself on any account. 

Morgianna hesitated to lead the way into the parlor, for there it wasnearly dark. At the same time she hesitated to stand talking in thehall, which was tolerably light from the open door. They still stood inthe hall in an embarrassing position, Fernando holding her hand in his(which he had no right to do, for Morgianna had only given it to him toshake), and yet both hesitated to go or stay anywhere. 

"I have come, " said Fernando, "to say good-bye--to say good-bye, for Idon't know how many years; perhaps forever. I am going away. "

Now this was exactly what he should not have said. Here he was, talkinglike a gentleman at large, who was free to come and go and roam aboutthe world at his pleasure, when he had expressed both in actions andwords that Miss Lane held him in adamantine chains. 

Morgianna released her hand and said:

"Indeed!"

She remarked in the same breath that it was a fine night and, in short, betrayed not the least emotion. With despair still settling over hisheart, Fernando said:

"I couldn't go without coming to see you. I hadn't the heart to. "

Morgianna was more sorry than she could tell that he had taken thetrouble. It was a long walk up the hill, and as he was to sail next day, he must have a deal to do; as if she did not know that he had notbrought even a trunk with him. Then she wanted to know how Mr. Winnerswas and Mr. Malone. She thought the Irishman a capital good fellow, andwas sure no one could help liking him. 

"Is this all you have to say?" Fernando asked. 

All! Good gracious, what did the man expect? She was obliged to take herapron in her hand and run her eyes along the hem from corner to corner, to keep herself from laughing in his face;--not because his gazeconfused her--not at all. 

This was Fernando's first experience in love affairs, and he had no ideahow different young ladies are at different times. He had expected a fardifferent scene from the one which was being enacted. All day long hehad buoyed himself up with an indistinct idea that she would certainlysay, "Don't go, " or "Don't leave us, " or "Why do you go?" or "Why do youleave us?" or would give him some little encouragement of that sort. Hehad even entertained the possibility of her bursting into tears, of herthrowing herself into his arms, or falling down in a fainting fit, without previous word or sign; but any approach to such a line ofconduct as this was evidently so far from her thoughts, that he couldonly look at her in silent wonder. The hated English rival had won herheart, and she was even glad he was going; yet it was so hard togive her up. 

Morgianna, in the meanwhile, turned to the corners of her apron andmeasured the sides, and smoothed out the wrinkles, and was as silent ashe. At last, after a long pause, he said good-bye. 

"Good-bye, " answered Morgianna with as pleasant a smile as if he wereonly going for a row on the water and would return after supper;"good-bye. "

"Come, " said Fernando, putting out his hands, "Morgianna, dearMorgianna, let us not part like this. I love you dearly, with all myheart and soul, with as much sincerity and truth as man ever lovedwoman. I am only a poor student; but in this new world every thing ispossible. You have it in your power to make me a grand and noble man, orcrush from this heart every ambitious hope. You are wealthy, beautiful, admired, loved by everybody and happy;--may you ever be so! Heavenforbid I should ever make you otherwise; but give me one word ofcomfort. Say something kind to me. I have no right to expect it of you, I know; but I ask it because I love you, and I shall treasure theslightest word from you all through my life. Morgianna, dearest, haveyou nothing to say to me?"

No, nothing. Morgianna was a coquette by nature, and a spoilt child. Shehad no notion of being carried off by storm in this way. Fernando had nobusiness to be going away. Besides, if he really loved her, why did henot fall on his knees like lovers in romance or on the stage, and tugwildly at his cravat, or talk in a wild, poetic manner?

"I have said good-bye twice, " said Morgianna. "Take your arm away, or Iwill call some one. "

"I will not reproach you, " Fernando sadly answered. "It's no doubt myfault, " he added with a sigh. "I have thought sometimes that you did notquite despise me; but I was a fool to do so. Every one must, who hasseen the life I have led of late--you most of all, for it was he atwhose life I aimed. God bless you!"

He was gone, actually gone. She waited a little while, thinking he wouldreturn, peeped out of the door, looked down the broad carriage drive aswell as the increasing darkness would allow, saw a hastily retreatingshadow melt into the general gloom, came in again, waited a littlelonger, then went up to her room, bolted herself in, threw herself onher bed and cried as if her heart would break. 

 * * * * *

Meanwhile, Terrence Malone and the lieutenant, Fernando's rival, wererowing toward Duck Island fire or six miles away. The island wasreached. It was a dismal affair little more than an elevated marsh. Whenthe tide was out on Duck Island, its extended dreariness was potent. Itsspongy, low-lying surface, sluggish, inky pools and tortuous sloughs, twisting their slimy way, eel-like, toward the open bay were all hardfacts. Occasionally, here and there, could be seen a few green tussocks, with their scant blades, their amphibious flavor and unpleasantdampness. And if you chose to indulge your fancy, although the flatmonotony of Duck Island was not inspiring, the wavy line of scattereddrift gave an unpleasant consciousness of the spent waters and made thecertainty of the returning tide a gloomy reflection, which sunshinecould not wholly dissipate. The greener salt meadows seemed oppressedwith this idea and made no positive attempt at vegetation. In the lowbushes, one might fancy there was one sacred spot not wholly spoiled bythe injudicious use of too much sea water. 

The vocal expressions of Duck Island were in keeping with its generalappearance, melancholy and depressing. The sepulchral boom of thebittern, the shriek of the curlew, the scream of the passing brent, thewrangling of quarrelsome teal, the sharp, querulous protest of thestartled crane, were all beyond powers of written expression. The aspectof these mournful fowls was not at all cheerful or inspiring, as theboat containing the Irishman and lieutenant approached the island. Through the gathering gloom of night could be seen a tall blue heron, standing midleg deep in water, obviously catching cold in his recklessdisregard for wet feet and consequences. The mournful curlew, thedejected plover and the low-spirited snipe, who sought to join him inhis suicidal contemplations, the raven, soaring through the air onrestless wings, croaking his melancholy complaints were not calculatedto add to the cheerfulness of the scene. 

[ILLUSTRATION: He sat down on a broken mast. ]

It was evident that even the inhabitants of Duck Island were not happyin its possession and looked forward with pleasure to the season ofmigration. 

The boat touched the north shore, and Lieutenant Matson jumped out inmud up to his knees, frightening some wild fowls which flew screamingaway. The Englishman gave vent to some strong language, and desired toknow if there was not a better landing place. Terrence assured him therewas not, and complained that ducks never sought a "dacint place" fortheir habitation. Nothing but the glorious reflection that he was makinghimself a martyr for Morgianna's sake could have induced the officer totake the torches and wade to the low bushes, where he was instructed tomake a light and wait until his companion rowed around the island anddrove the ducks in great flocks to the light, which he assured theBriton would attract them, and they would fall at his feet as if beggingto be bagged. 

Slowly the officer waded through the dismal marsh to the higher land, where grew the low bushes, and by the use of his tinder box kindled alight and, wrapping his boat cloak about him, sat down on a broken mast, which some storm had driven to the highest part of the island. 

The minutes passed on, and neither the Irishman nor the expected flockof birds came. Minutes grew into hours, and only the sobbing waves andmelancholy cries of birds broke the silence. Surely something hadhappened to his companion. About midnight a dense fog settled over theisland, and the alarm and discomfiture of the Englishman becamesupreme. At one moment he was cursing Terrence, and the next offeringprayer for his soul. Never did man pass a more dreary night. 

At last dawn came, and he could see, far across the water, his ship buta speck in the distance. It was to sail that forenoon, and he intendedto call on Morgianna and propose; but here he was on this infernalisland, hungry, damp and miserable. He knew the vessel would pass nearenough for him to hail it and have a boat sent for him; but then hewould miss his intended visit to Captain Lane's, and his futurehappiness depended on that visit. 

While he was indulging in these bitter reflections, a schooner suddenlyflew past the island, and, to his amazement, he saw the Irish student, Terrence Malone, whom he had been alternately praying for and cursingall night, standing on the deck apparently in the best of health andspirits. The scoundrel even had the audacity to wave him an adieu ashe passed. 

CHAPTER X. 

THE SILENT GUNNER. 

Of course, Terrence Malone had played a practical joke on the Englishlieutenant, and while the latter was passing the night on the gloomiestisland of all the Maryland coast, the former was sweetly dreaming ofdear old Ireland, in the most comfortable bed the tavern afforded. Nextmorning the captain of the _Xenophon_ sent ashore for Lieutenant Matsonto come aboard, as they were about to hoist anchor. Terrence, Fernandoand Sukey were just going aboard the schooner as the messenger came. Fernando had passed the most miserable night of his existence, and now, pale and melancholy, went aboard the schooner utterly unconscious of thefact that some one was watching him through a glass from the big houseon the hill. 

Terrence was as jolly as usual and had almost forgotten the lieutenant. Just as the schooner was about to sail, ensign Post came aboard andasked for Mr. Malone. Terrence was sitting aft the main cabin smoking acigar, when the ensign, approaching, asked:

"Where is Lieutenant Matson? I was told he went shooting with you lastevening. "

"Sure he did. You will find him on Duck Island enjoying the sport I'veno doubt. Faith, I had almost forgotten to tell ye to touch at theisland and take him off, as ye sailed out of the harbor. "

The ensign looked puzzled at this and said:

"This is strange, --this is certainly very extraordinary! Would he stayon the island all night?"

Terrence assured him that the lieutenant was a great sport and that thebest shooting was just before day. The Englishman returned to his boatand was rowed to the man-of-war to report, while the schooner weighedanchor and sailed out of the harbor. The _Xenophon_ followed two hourslater, having first sent a boat to Duck Island for the lieutenant, whoswore to shoot the Irishman at sight. There was no time for him to callon Morgianna and explain why he had not brought her the ducks, for soonafter his arrival the ship departed for Halifax, where the commander hadto give an account of his conduct at Baltimore. 

Meanwhile, the schooner on which the three students had taken passagestood out to sea and started down the coast. 

A strong breeze blowing from off land swept her out of sight of thecoast, when the wind suddenly shifted, until the skipper declared theyhad it right in their teeth, and, despite all the skill of master andcrew, the vessel continued to drift farther out to sea, while Sukey oncemore bewailed his fate at risking his life on the water. 

"Don't count me in this game again, " he groaned. "If I live to get onshore, I'll never risk myself on water broader than the Ohio. "

With such headwinds, the schooner could not possibly reach Baltimorethat night. All night long she struggled first on one tack and then onthe other, and at dawn only the blue mist, seen like a fog in the West, marked the line of the Maryland coast. 

"Don't be discouraged, lads, " said the skipper cheerfully. "Come down tobreakfast, and afore night I'll have ye snug in port. "

They went to breakfast, and when they returned found the master andthree seamen in the forecastle holding a very earnest conversation. Thefourth sailor was at the wheel. Fernando, glancing off to their larboardsaw a large ship, flying English colors, bearing down upon them, and hehad no doubt that this vessel was the subject of discussion. 

She signalled to the schooner to heave to, and as they were within rangeof her powerful guns, the skipper was forced to obey. This vessel wasthe English frigate _Macedonian_ cruising along the American coast, andat this time short of hands. In a few moments, the frigate came near andhove to, while a boat with a dozen marines and an officer came alongsidethe schooner. 

"What is your business?" asked the skipper. 

"We are looking for deserters and Englishmen. "

"Well, here are my crew, " said the skipper pointing to his sailors. "Every one I will swear is American born!"

"But who are these young men?"

"Three passengers I am taking to Baltimore. "

The three students began to entertain some grave apprehensions. Terrencefor once was quiet. His dialect he knew would betray him, and when hewas asked where he lived and where he was from, he tried hard to concealhis brogue; but it was in vain. 

Sukey came forward and tried to explain matters, but only made themworse. The result was that all three were in a short hour transported tothe _Macedonian_ in irons. Protest was useless; the _Macedonian_ wasshort of hands and they were forced to go. 

They were not even permitted to write letters home. However, the skipperhad their names, and the whole affair was printed in the _BaltimoreSun_, and copies were sent to the parents of the young men. 

Captain Snipes of the English frigate was one of those barbarous, tyrannical sea captains, more brute than human, and, in an age when thestrict discipline of the navy permitted tyranny to exist, he becamea monster. 

The three recruits were added to his muster-roll and gradually initiatedinto the mysteries of sailor's life on a war vessel. 

Poor Sukey for several days was fearfully seasick; but he recovered andwas assigned to his mess. Fortunately they were all three assigned tothe same mess. The common seamen of the _Macedonian_ were divided intothirty-seven messes, put down on the purser's book as Mess No. 1, MessNo. 2, Mess No. 3. The members of each mess clubbed their rations ofprovisions, and breakfasted, dined and supped together at allottedintervals between the guns on the main deck. 

They found that living on board the _Macedonian_ was like living in amarket, where one dresses on the door-step and sleeps in the cellar. They could have no privacy, hardly a moment seclusion. In fact, it wasalmost a physical impossibility ever to be alone. The three impressedAmericans dined at a vast _table d'hôte_, slept in commons and madetheir toilet when and where they could. Their clothes were stowed in alarge canvas bag, painted black, which they could get out of the "rack"only once in twenty-four hours, and then during a time of utmostconfusion, among three hundred and fifty other sailors, each diving intohis bag, in the midst of the twilight of the berth-deck. 

Terrence, in order to obviate in a measure this inconvenience, suggestedthat they divide their wardrobes between their hammocks and their bags, stowing their few frocks and trowsers in the former, so that they couldchange at night when the hammocks were piped down. They knew not whitherthey were bound, and they cared little about the object of the voyage. 

"How are we to get out of this any way?" asked Sukey one day, when thethree were together for a moment. 

"Lave it all to me!" said Terrence. 

"I am perfectly willing to leave it all to you, Terrence. Do just as youwill, so you get me on shore. "

Before they had been a month on the ship, they chased a Frenchmerchantman for twenty-four hours, and at times were near enough to firea few shots with their long bow-chaser; but a fresh breeze sprang up, quickly increased to a gale, and the Frenchman escaped. 

This was the nearest approach to a naval engagement they experiencedduring their stay on the war frigate. They cruised along the coast ofIreland and Scotland, went to Spain, entered the waters of theMediterranean for a few weeks, and then returned to the Atlantic, sailing for the West Indies. 

Not only were the officers of the _Macedonian_ brutal; but the crew wasmade up of a motley class of human beings of every class of viciousnessand brutality. 

"Now boys, if ye want to kape out of trouble, " said Terrence, "do'nt yeget into any fights with thim divils, or ye'll be brought up to thequarter-deck and flogged. "

His advice was appreciated, and both Fernando and Sukey did their bestto avoid trouble with any of their quarrelsome neighbors. They submittedto insults innumerable; but at last Sukey was one morning assailed by abrutal sailor whom he knocked down. Two other sailors were guilty of asimilar offence, and all four were put under arrest. Fernando wasshocked and alarmed for his friend, and hastened to ascertain the factsconcerning the charge. 

"I couldn't help it, " declared Sukey, whom he found in irons. "Plaguetake him! he hit me twice before I knocked him down. I didn't want to bein the game. "

The culprits could expect nothing but a flogging at the captain'spleasure. Toward evening of the next day, they were startled by thedread summons of the boatswain and his mates at the principalhatchway, --a summons that sent a shudder through every manly heart inthe frigate:

"_All hands witness punishment, ahoy_!"

The hoarseness of the cry, its unrelenting prolongation, it being caughtup at different points and sent to the lowest depths of the ship, produced a most dismal effect upon every heart not calloused by longfamiliarity with it. However much Fernando desired to absent himselffrom the scene that ensued, behold it he must; or, at least, stand nearit he must; for the regulations compelled the attendance of the entireship's company, from the captain himself to the smallest boy whostruck the bell. 

At the summons, the crew crowded round the mainmast. Many, eager toobtain a good place, got on the booms to overlook the scene. Some werelaughing and chatting, others canvassing the case of the culprits. Somemaintaining sad, anxious countenance, or carrying a suppressedindignation in their eyes. A few purposely kept behind, to avoid lookingon. In short, among three or four hundred men, there was every possibleshade of character. All the officers, midshipmen included, stoodtogether in a group on the starboard side of the mainmast. The firstlieutenant was a little in advance, and the surgeon, whose special dutyit was to be present at such times, stood close at his side. Presentlythe captain came forward from his cabin and took his place in the centreof the group, with a small paper in his hand. That paper was the dailyreport of offenses, regularly laid upon his table every morningor evening. 

"Master-at-arms, bring up the prisoners, " he said. A few momentselapsed, during which the captain, now clothed in his most dreadfulattributes, fixed his eyes severely upon the crew, when suddenly a laneformed through the crowd of seamen, and the prisoners advanced--themaster-at-arms, rattan in hand, on one side, and an armed marine on theother, --and took up their stations at the mast. 

"You, John, you, Richard, (Richard was Sukey) you Mark, you Antone, "said the captain, "were yesterday found fighting on the gun-deck. Haveyou any thing to say?"

Mark and Antone, two steady, middle-aged men, who had been admired fortheir sobriety, replied that they did not strike the first blow; theyhad submitted to much before they yielded to their passions; but as theyacknowledged that they had at last defended themselves their excuse wasoverruled. John--a brutal bully, who in fact was the real author of thedisturbance was about entering into a long harangue, when the captaincut him short, and made him confess, irrespective of circumstances, thathe had been in the fray. Poor Sukey, the youngest and handsomest of thefour, was pale and tremulous. He had already won the good will andesteem of many in the ship. That morning Fernando and Terrence had goneto his bag, taken out his best clothes and, obtaining the permission ofthe marine sentry at the "brig, " had handed them to him, to be put onbefore he was summoned to the mast. This was done to propitiate CaptainSnipes, who liked to see a tidy sailor; but it was all in vain. To allthe young American's supplications, Captain Snipes turned a deaf ear. Sukey declared he had been struck twice before he had returned a blow. 

"No matter, " cried the captain, angrily, "you struck at last, instead ofreporting the case to an officer. I allow no man to fight on this shipbut myself. I do the fighting. Now, men, " he added fixing his dark sterneye on them, "you all admit the charge; you know the penalty. Strip!Quartermaster, are the gratings rigged?"

The gratings were square frames of barred woodwork, sometimes placedover the hatches. One of these squares was now laid on the deck, closeto the ship's bulwarks, and while the remaining preparations were beingmade, the master-at-arms assisted the prisoners to remove their jacketsand shirts. This done, their shirts were loosely thrown over theirshoulders as a partial protection from the keen breeze, until their turnshould come. 

At a sign from the captain, John, with a shameless leer, stepped forwardand stood passively on the grating, while the bareheaded oldquarter-master, with his gray hair streaming in the wind, bound his feetto the cross-bars and, stretching out his arms over his head, securedthem to the hammock netting above. He then retreated a little space, standing silent. Meanwhile, the boatswain stood solemnly on the otherside with a green bag in his hand. From this he took four instruments ofpunishment and gave one to each of his mates; for a fresh "cat, " appliedby a fresh hand, was the ceremonious privilege accorded to everyman-of-war culprit. Through all that terrible scene, Fernando Stevensstood transfixed with horror, indignation and a thousand bitter, indescribable feelings. At another sign from the captain, themaster-at-arms, stepping up, removed the shirt from the prisoner. Atthis juncture, a wave broke against the ship's side and dashed the sprayover the man's exposed back; but, though the air was piercing cold, andthe water drenched him, John stood still without a shudder. 

Captain Snipes lifted his finger, and the first boatswain's-mateadvanced, combing out the nine tails of his "cat" with his fingers, andthen, sweeping them round his neck, brought them with the whole force ofhis body upon the mark. Again, and again, and again; at every blow, higher and higher and higher rose the long purple bars on the prisoner'sback; but he only bowed his head and stood still. A whispered murmur ofapplause at their shipmate's nerve went round among the sailors. Onedozen blows were administered on his bare back, and then he was takendown and went among his messmates, swearing:

"It's nothing, after you get used to it. "

Antone, who was a Portuguese, was next, and he howled and swore at everyblow, though he had never been known to blaspheme before. Mark, thethird, was in the first stage of consumption and coughed and cringedduring the flogging. At about the sixth blow he bowed his head andcried: "Oh! Jesus Christ!" but whether it was in blasphemy orsupplication no one could determine. He was taken with a fever a fewdays later and died before the cruise was over, as much perhaps ofmortification as from the inroads of the disease. 

The, fourth was poor Sukey. When told to advance, he made one moreappeal to the captain, avowing that he was an American. The captain, with an oath, said that was the more reason for flogging him. Heappealed until the marine guard was ordered to prod him with hisbayonet. They had to actually drag Sukey to the gratings. Sukey's cheek, which was usually pale, was now whiter than a ghost. As he was beingsecured to the gratings, and the shudderings and creepings of hisdazzling white back were revealed, he turned his tear-stained face tothe captain and implored him to spare him the disgrace, which he feltfar more keenly than the pain. 

"I would not forgive God Almighty!" cried the brutal captain. The fourthboatswain's mate, with a fresh cat-o-nine-tails swung it about his headand brought the terrible scourge hissing and crackling on the young andtender back. Fernando turned his face away and wept. 

"_My God! oh! my God_!" shouted Sukey, and he writhed and leaped, untilhe displaced the gratings, scattering the nine-tails of the scourge allover his person. At the next blow, he howled, leaped and raged inunendurable agony. 

"What the d---l are you stopping for?" cried the captain as theboatswain's-mate halted. "Lay on!" and the whole dozen were applied, though poor Sukey fainted at the tenth stroke. 

Reader, this was on an English war vessel, --the vessel of a nationprofessing a high state of civilization. We blush to say it, it was nobetter on an American man-of-war, if nautical writers of high authorityare to be believed, and, even to-day, the brute often holds a commissionin the American army and navy. Although flogging is of the past, punishment equally severe is inflicted. The necessities of disciplineare taken advantage of by men without hearts. An American naval officerin Washington City told the author that it was a common thing forofficers on an American man-of-war to swing the hammock of the sailor ormiddy whom they disliked, where he would have all the damp and cold, ending in consumption and death. If this be true, it is far more brutalthan flogging. Congressional investigations are usually farces. Congressmen place their friends in the army and navy, and theirinvestigations usually result in the triumph of their friends. 

For several days, Sukey was too ill to leave his hammock. "I don't wantto get well, " the poor boy said. "I want to die. I never want to seehome or mother again after that. "

"Faith, me lad, live but to kill the d---d captain, " suggested Terrence. 

"I would live a thousand years to do that. "

There was a negro named Job on the vessel, who was a cook. He earlyformed a liking for the three. He stole the choicest dainties from theofficers' table for the sick youth. 

"I ain't no Britisher, " he declared. "Dar ain't no Angler Saxon bloodin dese veins, honey, an' I thank de good Lawd for dat. I know what itam to be flogged. Golly, dey flog dis chile twice already. Nex' time, Ispect dat sumfin' am a-gwine to happen. "

"When and where were you impressed?" Fernando asked. 

"I war wid Cap'n Parson on de _Dover_, den de _Sea Wing_ came, an' deleftenant swear dis chile am a Britisher, and he tuk me away. Den me an'Massa St. Mark, de gunner, were transferred to de _Macedonian_. "

Sukey was sullen and melancholy. A few days after he was on duty, hebreathed a threat against Captain Snipes. A tall, fine-looking sailor, who was known as the chief gunner, said:

"Young man, keep your thoughts to yourself. For heaven's sake, don't letthe officers hear them!"

They were now in the vicinity of the West Indies and touched atBarbadoes. While lying here, Fernando witnessed another act of Britishcruelty. Tom Boseley, an American who had been impressed into theservice of Great Britain deserted, but was pursued and brought back. Hewas flogged and, on being released struck the captain, knocking himdown. For this act, he was tried by a "drumhead court martial" andsentenced to die. Tom had a wife and children in New York, but was notpermitted to write to them. Only one prayer was granted, and that wasthat he might be shot instead of hung, and thrown into the sea. 

Fernando, almost at the risk of his own life, visited Boseley the nightbefore his execution. He seemed indifferent to his fate, declaring itpreferable to service on an English war ship. "I would rather die a freeman, than live a slave, " he declared. Fernando asked if he would notrather live for his family. 

"Oh! Stevens, say nothing about my family to-night!"

He then requested him to take possession of some letters he would try towrite and, if possible, send them. Fernando said he would do so, and hethen asked him to remain with him through the night. This Fernandodeclared was impossible. The young American was greatly weighed down bythe terrible mental strain the whole affair had produced, and he haddouble duty to screen the unfortunate Sukey. 

"Won't you be with me when it is done?" Boseley asked. Money would nothave tempted him to witness that sight; but he could not refuse thedying request. He visited him early next morning and found him dressedin the best clothes his poor wardrobe could afford, a white shirt andblack cravat. He was a fine-looking man in features as well as stature. As Fernando gazed on him he thought, "_Dressed for eternity_!"

The doomed man gave him three letters, which Fernando secreted about hisperson and subsequently sent to their destination. Twelve marines weredrawn as executioners. Four muskets were loaded with balls and eightwith blank cartridges. Then the party went ashore. Boseley bore up welluntil the woods were reached, where he found an open grave. According topromise, Fernando went with him. Captain Snipes accompanied the sergeantof the marines to see that the prisoner was properly executed. He stillstung under the blow he had received, and Boseley was slain more togratify the vengeance of the captain than for any violated law. A numberof Boseley's shipmates were permitted to come and witness theterrible scene. 

The captain said to Boseley:

"What is your distance?"

"Twelve steps. "

"Step off your ground, " added the captain. 

"I cannot do it; you do it for me. "

"I will do it with you. "

The prisoner's hands were tied behind his back, and the captain, takinghis arm, walked him off twelve steps, as coolly as if they were onlypacing the quarter-deck. The captain then took a blanket, spread it onthe ground and told Boseley to kneel on it, and he did so, facing hisexecutioners. The ship's chaplain came and offered a prayer, after whichthe sergeant asked Boseley if he wished to have his eyes bandaged. 

"No; I am not afraid to face my executioners, " he answered. It was anintensely solemn occasion, and among all those hardy, rough-manneredsailors, there was not one, unless it was Captain Snipes, who was notdeeply affected. The captain's face was flushed, and his breath wasstrong with brandy, and he seemed but little moved. 

"Go ahead, and have this done with, " he said to the officer in charge ofthe affair. 

"Are you quite ready now?" asked the sergeant. 

"Yes, " was the answer in a faltering tone. 

"Make ready!" and the twelve glittering muskets were leveled at thissacrifice to the wrath of Captain Snipes. 

"Take aim!" and the gunners steadied themselves for the fatal word, tosend a fellow being to eternity. 

"Fire!" and instantly flashed a volley, reverberating a wild andunearthly death knell among the crags that looked down upon that awfulscene. In the clear morning air, the smoke of the guns curled up lazilyand hung like a funeral pall over the mangled, bleeding form. Fourbullets had pierced his body. He fell on his face and lay motionless fora few seconds. Then he began to slowly raise his head. Fernando camenear and stood in front of him. Ten thousand years could not efface thatscene from his mind. He continued to raise his head and body without astruggle. He looked the captain in the eye, and his mouth was in motionas though he were trying to speak, --to utter some dying accusation. Never did human eye behold a scene so pitiful as this dying man gazingon his destroyer, gasping to implore or to denounce him. In an instant adimness came over his eyes, and he fell dead. 

"Oh, Heaven!" groaned Fernando, and he hurried away to the ship. Forweeks, he saw that awful face every time he closed his eyes to sleep. 

Two years on board the British frigate had made Fernando, Sukey andTerrence tolerably fair sailors. Their hearts were never in the work, and they often dreamed of escape from this life of slavery. Fernando, byjudicious attention to business, had never yet won the positivedispleasure of the officers. One day the boatswain's mates repeated thecommands at the hatchways:

"All hands tack ship, ahoy!"

It was just eight bells, noon, and, springing from his jacket, which hehad spread between the guns for a bed on the main deck, Fernando ran upthe ladders, and, as usual, seized hold of the main-brace which fiftyhands were streaming along forward. When "maintopsail haul!" was giventhrough the trumpet, he pulled at this brace with such heartiness andgood will, that he flattered himself he would gain the approval of thegrim captain himself; but something happened to be in the way aloft, when the yards swung round, and a little confusion ensued. With anger onhis brow. Captain Snipes came forward to see what occasioned it. No oneto let go the weather-lift of the main-yard. The rope was cast off, however, by a hand, and, the yards, unobstructed, came round. When thelast rope was coiled away, the captain asked the first lieutenant who itmight be that was stationed at the weather (then the starboard)main-lift. With a vexed expression of countenance, the first lieutenantsent a midshipman for the station bill, when, upon glancing it over, thename of Fernando Stevens was found set down at the post in question. Atthe time, Fernando was on the gundeck below, and did not know of theseproceedings; but a moment after, he heard the boatswain's-mates bawlinghis name at all the hatchways and along all three decks. It was thefirst time he had ever heard it sent through the furthest recesses ofthe ship, and, well knowing what this generally betokened to otherseamen, his heart jumped to his throat, and he hurriedly asked Brown, the boatswain's-mate at the fore-hatchway, what was wanted of him. 

"Captain wants ye at the mast, " he answered. "Going to flog ye, Ifancy. "

"What for?"

"My eyes! you've been chalking your face, hain't ye?"

"What am I wanted for?" he repeated. 

But at that instant, his name was thundered forth by the otherboatswain's-mates, and Brown hurried him away, hinting that he wouldsoon find out what the captain wanted. Fernando swallowed down his heartas he touched the spardeck, for a single instant balanced himself on hisbest centre, and then, wholly ignorant of what was going to be allegedagainst him, advanced to the dread tribunal of the frigate. The sight ofthe quarter-master rigging his gratings, the boatswain with hisdetestable green bag of scourges, the master-at-arms standing ready toassist some one to take off his shirt was not calculated to allay hisapprehensions. With another desperate effort to swallow his whole soul, he found himself face to face with Captain Snipes, whose flushed faceshowed his ill humor. At his side was the first lieutenant, who, asFernando came aft, eyed him with some degree of conscientious vexationat being compelled to make him the scapegoat of his own negligence. 

"Why were you not at your station, sir?" asked the captain. 

"What station do you mean, sir?" Fernando asked, forgetting theaccustomed formality of touching his hat, by way of salute, whilespeaking with so punctilious an officer as Captain Snipes. This littlefact did not escape the captain's attention. 

"Your pretension to ignorance will not help you sir, " the Captainretorted. 

The first lieutenant now produced the station bill, and read the name ofFernando Stevens in connection with the starboard main-lift. 

"Captain Snipes, " said Fernando in a voice firm and terrible in itssincerity, "it is the first time I knew I was assigned to that post. "

"How is this, Mr. Bacon?" the captain asked turning to the firstlieutenant with a fault-finding expression. 

"It is impossible, sir, that this man should not know his station, "replied, the lieutenant. 

"Captain Snipes, I will swear, I never knew it before this moment, "answered Fernando. 

With an oath, the captain cried:

"Do you contradict my officer? I'll flog you, by--!"

Fernando had been on board the frigate for more than two years andremained unscourged. Though a slave in fact, he lived in hope of soonbeing a free man. Now, after making himself a hermit in some things, after enduring countless torments and insults without resentment, inorder to avoid the possibility of the scourge, here it was hanging overhim for a thing utterly unforeseen, --a crime of which he was whollyinnocent; but all that was naught. He saw that his case was hopeless;his solemn disclaimer was thrown in his teeth, and the boatswain's-matestood curling his fingers through the "cat. " There are times when wildthoughts enter a man's heart, when he seems almost irresponsible for hisact and his deed. The captain stood on the weather side of the deck. Sideways on an unoccupied line with him, was the opening of thelee-gangway, where the side-ladders were suspended in port. Nothing buta slight bit of sinnate-stuff served to rail in this opening, which wascut down to a level with the captain's feet, showing the far sea beyond. Fernando stood a little to windward of him, and, though Captain Snipeswas a large, powerful man, it was quite certain that a sudden rushagainst him, along the slanting deck, would infallibly pitch himheadforemost into the ocean, though he who rushed must needs go overwith him. The young American's blood seemed clotting in his veins; hefelt icy cold at the tips of his fingers, and a dimness was before hiseyes; but through that dimness, the boatswain's-mate, scourge in hand, loomed like a giant, and Captain Snipes and the blue sea, seen throughthe opening at the gangway, showed with an awful vividness. He was neverable to analyze his heart, though it then stood still within him; butthe thing that swayed him to his purpose was not altogether the thoughtthat Captain Snipes was about to degrade him, and that he had taken anoath within his soul that he should not. No; he felt his manhood sobottomless within him, that no word, no blow, no scourge of CaptainSnipe's could cut deep enough for that. He but clung to an instinct inhim, --the instinct diffused through all animated nature, the same thatprompts the worm to turn under the heel. Locking souls with him, hemeant to drag Captain Snipes from this earthly tribunal of his, to thatof Jehovah, and let Him decide between them. No other way could heescape the scourge. 

"To the gratings, sir!" cried Captain Snipes. "Do you hear?"

Fernando's eye measured the distance between him and the sea, and he wasgathering himself together for the fatal spring--

"Captain Snipes, " said a voice advancing from the crowd. Every eyeturned to see who spoke. It was the remarkably handsome and gentlemanlygunner, Hugh St. Mark, who was scarcely ever known to break the silence, and all were amazed that he should do so now. "I know that man, " saidSt. Mark, touching his cap, and speaking in a mild, firm, but extremelydeferential manner, "and I know that he would not be found absent fromhis station, if he knew where it was. "

This speech was almost unprecedented. Never before had a marine dared tospeak to the captain of a frigate in behalf of a seaman at the mast; butthere was something unostentatiously forcible and commanding in St. Mark's manner. He had once saved the captain's life, when a Frenchboarder was about to slay him. Then the corporal, emboldened by St. Mark's audacity, put in a good word. Terrence, who had been promoted toa small office, poured forth a torrent of eloquence, and, almost beforehe knew it, Fernando was free. As he was going to his quarters, hisbrain in a whirl, he heard Job the cook say:

"He ain't no Britisher! Dar ain't no more Angler Saxon blood in hisveins dan in dis chile!"

An hour later, when he stood near a gun carriage, still dizzy from hisnarrow escape from the double crime of murder and suicide, St. Markpassed Fernando. He grasped the hand of the silent gunner, held it amoment in his own and whispered: "Thank you!"

CHAPTER XI. 

SHIPWRECK--ESCAPE AND RETURN TO OHIO. 

Ship's rules, stringent as they were on the war frigate, and officerssevere as were those of the _Macedonian_ could not wholly curb therollicking spirit of Terrence. His exuberance of spirits constantly gotthe better of any good intentions he might have formed. Any wholesomedread he may have entertained of that famous feline of nine tails, knownto sailors of that day, was overcome by his love of pranks. 

What guardian spirit protects the bold and mischievous has never yetbeen discovered; but it is a well authenticated fact that wild, harumscarum fellows like Terrence Malone seldom come to grief or disaster. 

He was always the innocent lamb of the ship, whom no one would suspectof mischief. The chaplain of the ship was not more grave andsanctimonious than he. If the hammock netting were left so as to trip upthe dignified captain and throw him on the deck in a very undignifiedmanner, no one could possibly have suspected that the harmless Terrencehad any thing to do with it. 

The quarter-master was one day snoring in his hammock. Terrence, whowas on duty scrubbing the gun deck, had a large tub filled with water, which was unconsciously left just under the head of the hammock of thequarter-master. No one could tell how it happened; but the supports wereall cut save two or three, which the swaying of the hammock graduallyloosened until, just as the officer went to "change sides, " down he camewith a frightful splash head first into the tub. 

Terrence, who was near, ran to his rescue and quickly pulled him out. 

"It's bastely carelessness to lave the water there, " cried Terrence. "Faith, I hope the captain will give the shpalpeen two dozen as did it. "

"Who cut my hammock down?" roared the quarter-master. 

"Cut yer hammock, indade?"

The quarter-master was in a rage and swore like a trooper. Wiping thewater from his face, he roared:

"Yes, cut down my hammock! Don't you see the netting has been cut?"

"The truth ye tell, quarter-master; some haythin has surely beencutting yer netting. Now who could have done that? I hope the culpritmay be found, that's all. "

And the face of the quarter-master himself did not evince more savagefury than the Irishman. He was the first to report it to the lieutenant, and in his zeal actually burst in on the captain himself and told of thedisaster, volunteering his services to hunt down the culprit. 

"Find him!" thundered the captain, his face white with rage. "Find him, and, by the trident of Neptune, I swear I'll see his backbone!"

No one in the whole ship was as zealous as the Irishman in searching forthe culprit; but he took care never to find him. 

Captains of men-of-war are fond of delicacies, and the captain had afine fat pig, which he intended for a special feast to be given for hisofficers. Terrence, through his zeal, became such a favorite, that hewas even permitted to superintend the cooking. 

The quarter-master's favorite dog, which was as fat as the pig, suddenlydisappeared the day before the feast, and Terrence had a searchinstituted for him without avail, and gave it out as his opinion thatthe dog had fallen overboard. On the same day the officers feasted onroast pig, Terrence's mess had roast pig. The officers declared thattheir roast pig was very tender, but that the flavor was strong andpeculiar! The ship's surgeon afterward said he never saw the bones of apig so resemble the bones of a dog. There had been but one pig aboard, and had it been known that Terrence dined on roast pig also, there mighthave been some grave suspicions. 

Shortly after this event, there were some changes in the British navy. Captain Snipes was supplanted in command of the _Macedonian_ by CaptainCarden. Fernando, Terrence and the negro were shortly after transferredto the war-sloop _Sea Shell_, Captain Bones, while poor Sukey was stillleft aboard the _Macedonian_. Shortly after these changes Captain Snipesand Mr. Hugh St. Mark, the silent gunner, were transferred to theman-of-war _Xenophon_. Thus we see, by those interminable andinexplicable changes constantly going on in the royal navy the friendswere separated. There may be some reason for those constant changes inthe navy; but they are not apparent to the sagest landsman living. 

Captain Conkerall had made himself so ridiculous in Baltimore, that hehad been forced to quit the service in order to escape he ridicule ofhis fellow officers. This left Lieutenant Matson in command of the_Xenophon_ until Captain Snipes was assigned to that duty. 

Fernando Stevens felt some regrets in leaving the _Macedonian_. One'svery sufferings may endear them to a place. But Fernando's chief regretwas in leaving the friend of his childhood. Sukey and he shed manlytears as each saw the face of his friend fade from view. 

Terrence soon ingratiated himself into the favor of Captain Bones, whohad a weakness for punch and whist. Terrence knew how to brew the punchto the taste of the captain, and could play whist so artistically, thatthe captain could, by the hardest sort of playing, just win. 

Terrence boasted of excellent family connection, and gave as his reasonfor his not having a mid-shipman's commission, that his father objectedto the sea, and he had been impressed instead of entering the navy ofhis own accord. Bones was not as punctilious as most captains, especially when Terrence could brew such excellent punch, and Terrencesoon became a favorite and came and went at pleasure in the captain'scabin. When the captain imbibed quite freely, he often hinted at apromotion for Terrence. 

Fernando paid little attention to the course of the vessel. He had beenin nearly all the parts of the world, and seldom asked which continentthey were on, or in what waters they sailed. He was sober, silent andmelancholy. 

One bright August day in 1811, they were off some coast, he knew notwhat. All day the weather had been glorious. Toward sunset, the cloudsbegan to gather in heavy masses to the southeast, and a little later aheavy breeze sprang up from that direction. As darkness came on, thewind increased, blowing a strong gale, and it blew all night. As morningdawned a dense fog settled down over the vessel and completely obscuredeverything. Soundings were taken; but the captain, who had yielded tothe seductive punch of Terrence Malone, could not determine where theywere. When daylight came the sea had changed color, which proved thatthey were in shallow water. On heaving the lead it was ascertained thatthey were only in twelve fathoms water. 

"Wear ship!" shouted Captain Bones in a tone of thunder. The vessel wasthen under such small sail that she had not headway enough to stay her. As she answered to her helm and payed off, bringing the wind aft, highland was seen astern. Suddenly the fog lifted. At the same instant, thewind changed to the southwest, blowing harder. A cloud of canvas flewinto the air, and, looking up, Fernando saw it was the jib. The vessellost what little headway she had and drifted heavily to leeward. As thefog cleared toward the land, they looked early in that direction and totheir dismay and horror, they saw heavy breakers beating so close tothem, that there was no room to wear the ship round. The captain at oncegave orders to clear away the anchors. A seaman went forward with an axeto cut the lashings of the one on the port side. As soon as the cablehad been cut, the starboard anchor was sent adrift and thirty fathoms ofcable ran out. The order was given to "hold on, " and as it was obeyedthe port cable broke. The sloop immediately swung around, bringing allher weight on the starboard cable, which, being unable to stand thestrain, parted, and then they were left entirely to the mercy of thewind and sea. 

The suspense was short. A tremendous sea came rolling toward the sloop, struck it with terrific force, lifted it high on its crest and carriedit forward toward the breakers. In another instant the vessel was drivenwith a crash on the sandy bottom. At the same moment down came theforemast, taking with it the jib-boom and bowsprit, all disappearinginto the sea. Wave after wave washed over them in quick succession. Themainmast was split, and the noise made by it, as it was beaten about bythe gale was deafening. All the poor wretches on board the _Sea Shell_could do was to hold on for dear life. 

The captain ordered their only life-boat lowered, and, turning to thecrew, he shouted, for the roaring of the wind was terrible, that he withtwelve men would set out for shore, and after landing eight with himselfand officers, would send the boat back for others. The captain had nonotion that so excellent a punch brewer as Terrence should be lost, andinsisted that he go with the first boatload. The others had noalternative. They were compelled to submit. The captain, hislieutenants, Terrence and a dozen sailors sprang over the side, tooktheir places and pushed off. As the little craft rose and fell in thatfrightful sea, it seemed doubtful if they would reach the shore. 

Dumb with terror, Fernando had watched the whole proceeding. He couldonly hold on to a sail and, by the sheer strength of his hands and arms, save himself from being carried overboard, as sea after sea swept overthem. He strained his eyes until it seemed as though they would burst, to follow the movements of that boat on which their lives depended. Itseemed but a mere speck on the waves. Suddenly it rose to a surprisingheight, and then disappeared altogether. The next moment he saw the menstruggling in the water. The boat was broken into pieces and thefragments were brought out to them. Every man for himself was now thecry throughout the ship. How far they were from the shore no one couldtell. They had to take their chances. Although a strong swimmer, Fernando knew that in such a tremendous sea he would be powerless. Therewas, however, but the one thing to do. 

Raising his hands before him and pressing them firmly together, Fernando drew a long breath, then sprang from the sloop's rail into thewater beneath. When he rose to the surface he tried to swim. It wasimpossible, as he had foreseen. He was like a child in the grasp of amonster. The waves tossed him up like a plaything and carried him on--he could not tell how far or where. Suddenly a great black objectloomed up before him. It was a part of the wreckage. He tried to ward itoff; but he might as well have tried to ward off the sloop itself, forthe sea lifted him up and dashed him onward, and the great mass struckhim a heavy blow over the eye--a flash of lightning gleamed, then allwas darkness and a blank. 

How long after he could not tell, a strange sensation came creepingslowly over him. A low murmur of voices reached his ears. He wasbewildered and benumbed; but soon the truth began to dawn, and he knewthat, wherever he might be, he was not dead. Powerless to move, heopened his eyes and fastened them on the objects about him. He nowdiscovered that he was lying on a bed of straw in a large barn. How hecould have gotten there was yet a mystery. To his great delight, herecognized the face of Terrence Malone bending over him. 

"Well, me boy, ye're not dead yet, are ye?" "Where are we, Terrence?" hefaintly inquired. 

"Whist, me lad, an' I'll tell ye!" said Terrence, in an undertone. Terrence first looked round to assure himself that there was no onewithin hearing and then said, "Safe on mother earth, me lad, and, what'sbest of all, American soil!" American soil!--the very announcement senta thrill of hope and joy through his heart. Terrence then informed himthat they had been wrecked on the coast of Maine, that most of the crewwere saved, and the captain intended to march, as soon as the men wereable, over the line into Canada. Terrence assured Fernando that, so faras he was concerned, he had no intention of leaving America; but thematter had to be handled carefully. They were on a thinly populatedcoast and Captain Bones had enough English marines to enforce hisauthority. 

"Then how can we escape?" asked Fernando. 

"Lave it all to me!" said the Irishman. As Fernando was incapable ofdoing anything himself, he very naturally left it all to his Irishfriend. "Now I want ye to be too sick to travel for a week. By thattime, I'll have the captain all right and snug enough. "

Though badly bruised and stunned, Fernando had no bones broken. At anytime within three days after the shipwreck he could have left the barn, but, following the advice of Terrence, he assumed a stupid state andrefused to talk with any of the officers who called to see him. Terrence became nurse to the invalid as well as the brewer of punch forthe captain. Only one other person was taken into the secret plans ofthe Irishman, that was the negro Job. 

Job was delighted. 

"Gwine ter run away!" he chuckled, "yah, yah, yah, dat am glorious! Itell yer, dis chile ain't no Britisher. I tole yer dar ain't no AnglerSaxun blood in dese veins. "

Job was installed assistant nurse over Fernando, and when the captainasked the negro about him, the black face became sober, and Job shookhis woolly head, saying:

"Dun no, massa, spect he am gwine ter die. He am awful bad. "

Captain Bones gave utterance to a burst of profanity and seriously hopedthe wounded sailor would either get well or die, and be very quick aboutit. Fernando heard him as he lay in the barn loft and could not refrainfrom chuckling. 

"We've got to move soon, " growled the captain. "No ship will ever putinto this port for us. We must march to Halifax. "

"Golly! guess dis chile see himself marchin' ter Halifax, " the negromurmured, when the captain had left the barn. 

Captain Bones was quartered at the best fisherman's cabin in theneighborhood. It was not much of a shelter, but it was the best he couldfind. Captain Bones was provoked at the delay in Fernando's recovery. Heknew he was an impressed American, and if he left him, he would be lostto the service, and yet he dared not much longer delay going to Halifax. 

He was bargaining with a coasting schooner to take himself and crew toHalifax, when one evening Terrence came to him with a very serious face, as if the fortunes of Great Britain were in peril. 

"Captain, it's bad news I have for ye, " said Terrence. "The brandy isall gone, and divil a bit o' whiskey can be had for love or money. " Thiswas alarming to Captain Bones; but Terrence suggested that three milesaway lived a farmer Condit, whose cellar abounded with kegs of applejack and cider. Condit was a rabid republican and would not give aBriton a drop if he were dying for it; but, if the captain would betaken into his confidence, he had a little scheme to propose which had atrifle of risk in it, just enough to give spice to it. 

His plan was nothing more than to dress in citizen's clothes, enter thecellar after night and carry away some, if not all, of the kegs ofapple jack. 

Captain Bones, who enjoyed a frolic, thought the plan an excellent one. 

But he begged to allow the first lieutenant to become a party to thefrolic. This was just as Terrence wished, for he had intended to suggestthe first lieutenant himself. It was agreed that on Saturday night next, the three, dressed in citizen's clothes, were to go to the home of thefarmer, enter his cellar and secure enough apple jack and hard cider toalleviate the thirst of Captain Bones, during his stay in theneighborhood. 

Farmer Condit, the day before the intended burglary, received a verymysterious letter in a very mysterious manner. It read as follows:

"Farmer Condit: Saturday night your house is to be robbed. I am one of aband of robbers who are to rob you. I was forced to join them or bekilled, and will have to go with them that night. Have a few constablesready to seize them. They will not fight; but let the man in tall, peaked, brown hat, white trousers and gray coat escape, for that is me. If you could let me escape and seize the others, you would set atliberty a poor fellow creature, who warns you at the risk of his life. 

 Your friend. "

On the night in question, Terrence wore a tall, peaked brown hat, withblack band. He also wore white trousers and a gray coat. The three setoff in a cart which Terrence hired to bring back the treasure. It wasdark before they commenced their journey, for the officers did not wantthe men to know of the affair. 

They reached the farm house of Mr. Condit and prepared to enter it andbegin operations. The cart and mule were left under some trees. It wasnow ten o'clock, and the house was quite dark. Slowly they crept up toit, Terrence asking himself if the farmer had heeded his warning. Likemany farm-house cellars, there was a trap door opening on the outside. To this cellar door they made their way. Terrence, who was accustomed tosuch affairs, had provided himself with a lantern, which he was to lightwhen they entered the cellar. 

They descended the steps and had scarcely reached the floor, whenfootsteps were heard descending a flight of steps from the inside ofthe house. 

"Hide behind the barrels and boxes, ivery mother's son of ye!" whisperedthe Irishman. The officers were concealing themselves, when suddenly thedoor opened and a portly elderly gentleman in his shirt sleeves, kneebreeches and slippers, carrying a lighted candle in one hand and apistol in the other descended. He saw Captain Bones and his lieutenanttrying to hide behind a barrel. The captain, in his excitement, haddrawn a pistol and was cocking it. Terrence at this moment escaped. 

With a yell, the old gentleman dropped the candle, which lay on thefloor, the thin blaze ascending upward and dimly lighting the scene. Athis yell, there suddenly rushed into the cellar half a dozen stout men, armed with guns and pistols, and the supposed burglars were arrested. Next morning, Captain Bones and his chief officer were snugly reposingin the county jail, while Terrence, Fernando and Job set out across thecountry for Augusta. From this point they took passage in a swiftcoaster for New York. At New York they separated, Terrence going toPhiladelphia, Job to Baltimore, and Fernando to his home in Ohio. 

His journey was long and tedious. At the close of a hot day in autumn, 1811, the old stage coach came in sight of the dear old home. The pastfour years seemed like a terrible dream. The old familiar spot, whereevery tree and flower was endeared by sacred remembrances, was neverhalf so precious as now. His gray-haired father and sorrowful mother, who had long given him up for dead, wept over him and thanked God thathe had returned to again bless their home. Friends, relatives andneighbors, hearing of the sudden return of Fernando, all gathered onthat evening, and the youth told the sad story of his impressment andslavery. He told all save his love affair. That secret was too sacred. When he had finished, good old Mrs. Winners was weeping bitterly, andthere was scarce a dry eye in the house; for all remembered that poorSukey was still a slave to the rapacity and cruelty of anambitious monarch. 

CHAPTER XII. 

WAR. 

The story of the impressment, service and sufferings of Fernando Stevensand his friends are no exaggerations. Well authenticated history showsthat there were thousands of cases similar, and even worse than theirs. The conduct of England was without precedent and unbearable. Their greatneed of men might have been some excuse for impressment of Americans;but there was a spice of hatred in their cruel treatment of theunfortunate sailors. 

We read much about the rulers moulding the destiny of the people; but inour republic the people mould the destiny of the rulers. Long before thepresident had dared express a thought of war, there were staid oldwestern farmers, level-headed old fellows, who declared that war wasinevitable. America is not a country to be ruled by one man. The peoplerule it, and every man thinks for himself, so that out of the conflictof opinions the truth is usually reached. Before even the fiery congressof 1812 had taken up the subject of hostilities, the legislatures ofthe several States, urged by their farmer constituency, had byconcurrent resolutions declared in favor of war; but the timidpresident, influenced by his own convictions and the opinions of hiscabinet, still hesitated. Finally a committee of Democrats waited on Mr. Madison and told him plainly, in substance, that the supporters of hisadministration had determined upon war with England, that the patienceof the people had become exhausted at his delay, and that unless adeclaration of war should soon be made, his renomination and re-electionwould probably not be accomplished. The president consented to yield hisown convictions to the will of his political friends. Thus we see thatPresident Madison was not moved through patriotic motives to declare waragainst Great Britain, but from personal ambition. Patriotic motivesfollow personal convictions, be they right or wrong. 

On the first of April, 1812, he sent a confidential message to congress, proposing, as a measure preliminary to a declaration of war, the passageof a law laying an embargo upon all commerce with the United States forthe space of sixty days. This was done on the fourth of April, and onthe eighth, Louisiana was admitted into the Union as a State. 

At the end of the sixty days embargo, Madison sent a message to congressin which he reviewed the difficulties with Great Britain, portrayed theaggressions of that power, and intimated the necessity of war for themaintenance of the honor and dignity of the republic. The message wasreferred to the committee on foreign relations, when a majority ofthem--John C. Calhoun of South Carolinia, Felix Grundy of Tennessee, John Smillie of Pennsylvania, John A. Harper of New Hampshire, JosephDesha of Kentucky and Seaver of Massachusetts reported, June 3, amanifesto as the basis of a declaration of war. On the next day, a billto that effect, drawn by Attorney-General Pinckney in the following formwas adopted and presented by Mr. Calhoun:

"That war be, and the same is hereby, declared to exist between theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the dependenciesthereof, and the United States of America and their Territories, andthat the president of the United States is hereby authorized to use thewhole land and naval force of the United States to carry the same intoeffect, and to issue to private armed vessels of the United Statescommissions, or letters of marque and general reprisal, in such form ashe shall think proper, and under the seal of the United States, againstthe vessels, goods and effects of the government of the said UnitedKingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and the subjects thereof. "

Pending these proceedings, congress sat with closed doors. The billpassed the house of representatives by a vote of 75 to 49, and thesenate by 19 to 13. The president's immediate signature made it a law;and two days later, June 19, 1812, Mr. Madison issued a proclamation, inwhich he formally declared war against the offending governmentand people. 

Thus began the second war with Great Britain, generally known in theannals of history as the War of 1812, though it was in reality thesecond war for independence. It was the war which establishedindependence beyond the cavil of a doubt and sustained the honor ofthe nation. 

Immediate measures were taken by congress to sustain the declaration ofwar. The president was authorized to enlist 25, 000 men for the regulararmy, accept 50, 000 volunteers and call out 100, 000 militia for thedefence of the seacoast. About $3, 000, 000 were appropriated forthe navy. 

There were very few men in the United States trained in the art of warat this time. West Point was in its infancy, having been authorized onlyten years before, and as yet had not been able to accomplish anything. The older officers of the Revolution were already in their graves, andthe younger ones were far advanced in life; yet to the latter alone, thegovernment felt compelled to look for its military leaders. HenryDearborn, a meritorious New Hampshire colonel in the continental army, was commissioned major-general and commander-in-chief. His principalbrigadiers were James Wilkinson, who was on the staff of General Gatesin the capture of Burgoyne, Wade Hampton, who had done good partisanservice with Marion, Sumter, and others in South Carolinia, WilliamHull, who had served as colonel in the old war for independence, andJoseph Bloomfield, who had been a captain in the New Jersey line. 

At that time, Hull was a governor of the territory of Michigan. Satisfied that the American navy could not cope with that of GreatBritain, the Americans based their hopes for success largely upon thesupposed dissatisfaction of the inhabitants of Canada and other Britishcolonial possessions on their border. It was believed that the Canadianswould flock to the American standard as soon as it was raised on theirsoil. The American people have always clung to the belief that Canadianswere not loyal to Great Britain. It was the mistake of 1775, it was themistake of 1812, and strange to say Americans still hug the delusion totheir breasts that Canada favors annexation. They have reason for theirbelief only in the doctrine that such an annexation would be in theinterests of Canada, disregarding the stubborn fact that in politicalmatters, prejudices, rather than interests, control. 

Canada was then divided into the Upper and Lower Provinces, the formerextending westward from Montreal, along the shores of the St. Lawrenceand Lake Ontario, to Lake Huron and the Detroit River. It included aboutone hundred thousand inhabitants, who were principally the families ofAmerican loyalists, who had been compelled to abandon their homes in theStates at the close of the war of the Revolution, and had since livedunder the fostering care of the British government. They were loyal toGreat Britain from lingering resentment to the Americans, and because ofthe kindness of the English government. 

In 1812, George, Prince of Wales, was really the monarch of GreatBritain, for the court physicians had pronounced his father, GeorgeIII. , hopelessly insane. Great Britain was waging a tremendous waragainst Napoleon, having just formed an alliance with Russia against theambitious Corsican. England's naval armament on the American stations, Halifax, Newfoundland, Jamaica and the Leeward Islands, then consistedof five ships-of-the-line, nineteen frigates, forty-one brigs andsixteen schooners and some armed vessels on Lakes Ontario and Erie, withseveral others building. The British land forces in the two Canadianprovinces were about seven thousand five hundred, while the number ofCanadian militia did not exceed forty thousand with a frontier of sevenhundred miles to guard. 

The governor of Michigan went to Washington City in the winter of 1812and heard the question of the invasion of western Canada discussed. Heinformed the president that the success of such an enterprise dependedon having armed vessels on Lake Erie, with a competent force in thenorthwest to protect the American frontier against the Indians. In thespring, Governor Meigs of Ohio summoned the militia of that State torendezvous at Dayton, to meet the impending danger. Hull accepted thecommission of brigadier, and late in May arrived at Dayton, Ohio, andtook command of the troops at that place. Hull had under him such notedofficers as Colonels Duncan McArthur, James Findlay and Lewis Cass. Withthese forces, he marched to Detroit, through an almost tracklesswilderness. While on the march with about two thousand men, Hull wasinformed of the declaration of war, which news at the same time reachedthe British posts in Canada, and his little army was in imminent peril. The government gave Hull discretionary power for invading Canada. 

General Sir Isaac Brock, Lieutenant Governor of upper Canada, was incommand of the British forces. On July 12, 1812, Hull crossed theDetroit River with his whole force and encamped at some unfinished worksat Sandwich, preparatory to an attack on Fort Malden near the presentAmherstburg. From this point, Hull issued a proclamation, promisingprotection to the inhabitants who would remain at home and death to allwho should side with the Indians, then gathering under Tecumseh atMalden. General Proctor was sent to take command at Fort Malden, whileBrock began to assemble a force about him at Fort George. Here he wasjoined by John Brant, son of the great Mohawk chief with one hundredwarriors from Grand River. 

By his extreme caution and delay, Hull lost his opportunity to captureFort Malden, which was soon strongly reinforced by British and Indians. Meanwhile, information reached Hull of the fall of the fort on Mackinaw. He also learned that Fort Dearborn at Chicago was invested, while adetachment under Major Van Horne, sent down to the West side of theDetroit River to escort a supply train from Ohio, was attacked by theBritish and Indians, and after a sharp fight defeated. Hull decided toretreat to Detroit. The order was a surprise and disappointment to thearmy, and drew from some of the young officers very harsh remarksconcerning the imbecility and even treachery of General Hull. Sullenlythe army crossed the river, and on the morning of the 8th of Augustencamped under the shelter of Fort Detroit. On the same day ColonelMiller and several hundred men were sent to accomplish what Van Hornehad failed to do. They met and defeated the Indians under Tecumseh and asmall British force near the scene of Van Horne's disaster, and wereabout to press forward to meet the supply party and escort them to camp, when the commander-in-chief recalled them. 

On the 13th of August, Gen. Brock, a brave, energetic officer reachedMalden with reinforcements. Aware of the character of Hull, he preparedfor the conquest of Detroit. On the 14th, he planted batteries atSandwich, opposite the fortress of Detroit and demanded its surrender, stating that otherwise he should be unable to restrain the fury of thesavages. Instigated by his officers, Hull answered this by a spiritedrefusal and a declaration that the fort and town would be defended tothe last extremity. The British commenced a cannonade, and Hull wasgreatly distressed at the number of women and children in the fort, exposed to the fire of the enemy. The more charitably inclined historianinterprets his acts as the result of tender regard for the helpless andinnocent, rather than cowardice, especially as his daughter and herlittle children came near being slain by a ricocheting cannon-ball, which almost annihilated a group of officers in front of the door of thehouse in which the mother and her children were. The firing continueduntil next day. The alarm and consternation of General Hull had nowbecome extreme. On the 12th, the field officers, suspecting that thegeneral intended to surrender the fort, had determined on his arrest. This was probably prevented, in consequence of Col. McArthur and Cass, two very active and spirited officers, being detached, on the 13th, withfour hundred men, on a third expedition to the river Raisin. 

Early on the morning of the 16th, the British landed at Springwell, three miles below the town, without opposition, and marched up in solidcolumn toward the fort along the river bank. The troops were stronglyposted, and cannon loaded with grape stood on a commanding eminenceready to sweep the advancing columns. The troops, anticipating abrilliant victory, waited in eager expectation the advance of theBritish. What was their disappointment and mortification at the verymoment, when it was thought the British were advancing to certaindestruction, orders were given for them to retire within the fort, andfor the artillery not to fire. Then, the men were ordered to stack theirarms, and, to the astonishment of all, a white flag was suspended fromthe walls, and Hull, panic stricken, surrendered the fortress withouteven stipulating the terms. The surrender included, beside the troops atDetroit, the detachments under Cass and McArthur, and the party underCaptain Brush at the river Raisin. No provision was made for theunfortunate Canadians who had joined General Hull, and several of themwere hung as traitors. 

The disgraceful surrender of Detroit, excited universal indignationthroughout the country. When McArthur's sword was demanded, heindignantly broke it, tore the epaulettes from his shoulders and threwhimself upon the ground. When General Hull was exchanged, he was triedby a court-martial, found guilty of cowardice and sentenced to be shot;but, in consequence of his revolutionary services and his advanced age, the president pardoned him. His fair fame, however, has ever since beenblasted with the breath of cowardice. 

While General Hull was in Canada, he dispatched Winnemeg, a friendlyIndian, to Captain Heald, the commander of Fort Dearborn, at the smalltrading post of Chicago, with the information of the loss of Mackinaw, and directed him to distribute his stores among the Indians, and returnto Fort Wayne. Captain Heald had ample means of defence; but the orderreceived on the 9th of August left nothing to his discretion. ThePottawatomies, however, having obtained intelligence of the war from arunner sent by Tecumseh, collected, to the number of several hundred, around the fort. Notwithstanding the evident hostile demonstration ofthe Indians, Captain Heald proceeded to obey his superior's orders. Hedistributed his stores among the Indians, excepting what was mostwanted; while liquors and ammunition which they could not take, werethrown into the lake. This act enraged the Pottawatomies. On the 14th, Captain Wells arrived with fifteen friendly Miamies from Fort Wayne. This intrepid warrior, who had been bred among the Indians, hearing thathis friends at Chicago were in danger, had hastened thither to avert thefate, which he knew must ensue to the little garrison, if they evacuatedthe fort; but he was too late; the ammunition and provisions both beinggone, there was no alternative. The next day (August 15th), all beingready, the garrison left the fort with martial music and inmilitary array. 

Captain Wells, at the head of the Miamies, led the van, his faceblackened after the manner of the Indians. 

The garrison, with loaded arms, followed, and the wagons with thebaggage, the women and children, the sick and the lame closed the rear. The Pottawatomies, about five hundred in number, who had promised toescort them in safety to Fort Wayne, leaving a little space, afterwardfollowed. The party in advance took the beach road. They had no soonerarrived at the sand-hills, which separated the prairie from the beach, about a half mile from the fort, when the Pottawatomies, instead ofcontinuing in the rear of the Americans, left the beach and took to theprairie. The sand-hills intervened and presented a barrier between thePottawatomies and the American and Miami line of march. This divergencehad scarcely been effected, when Captain Wells, who, with the Miamies, was considerably in advance, rode back and exclaimed:

"They are about to attack us; form instantly and charge upon them. "

The words had scarcely been uttered, before a volley of musketry frombehind the sand-hills was poured in upon them. The troops were broughtimmediately into line and charged up the bank. One man, a veteran ofseventy, fell as they ascended. The battle at once became general. TheMiamies fled in the outset. 

The American troops behaved gallantly. Though few in number, they soldtheir lives as dearly as possible. While the battle was raging, thesurgeon, Doctor Voorhes, who was badly wounded, and whose horse had beenshot under him, approaching Mrs. Helm, the wife of Lieutenant Helm, with his face the picture of dread and despair, asked:

"Do you think they will take our lives? I am badly wounded, but I thinknot mortally. Perhaps we can purchase safety by offering a large reward. Do you think there is any chance?"

"Doctor Voorhes, " the brave little woman answered, "let us not waste thefew moments which yet remain, in idle or ill-founded hopes. Our fate isinevitable. We must soon appear at the bar of God. Let us make suchpreparations as are in our power. "

"Oh, I cannot die! I am unfit to die! If I had a short time toprepare!--oh, death, how awful!"

At this moment, Ensign Ronan was fighting at a little distance with atall and portly Indian. The former, mortally wounded, was nearly downand struggling desperately on one knee. Mrs. Helm, pointing her fingerand directing the attention of the doctor to him, cried:

"Look at that young man; he dies like a soldier!"

"Yes, " said the doctor, "but he has no terrors of the future; he is anunbeliever. "

A young savage sprang at Mrs. Helm, whose horse had been shot, andraised his tomahawk to strike her. She instantly sprang aside, and theblow intended for her head, fell upon her shoulders. She thereuponseized him around his neck, and, while exerting all her efforts to getpossession of his scalping knife, was seized by another Indian anddragged forcibly from his grasp. The latter bore her, struggling andresisting, toward the lake. Notwithstanding, however, the rapidity withwhich she was hurried along, she recognized, as she passed, the form ofthe unfortunate doctor stretched lifeless on the prairie. She wasplunged into the water and held there, despite her resistance, with astrong hand. It soon became evident, however, that it was not theintention of her captor to drown her, as he took care to keep her headabove the water. Thus reassured, she gave him a careful look andrecognized him, despite his disguise, as "Black Partridge, the whiteman's friend. " It was this friendly savage who had warned Captain Healdto beware of the march. Through the interpreter he said:

"Linden birds have been singing in my ears to-day; be careful on themarch you are going to take. "

The troops, having fought with desperation until two-thirds of theirnumber were slain, the remainder, twenty-seven in all, borne down by anoverwhelming force, and exhausted by efforts hitherto unequaled, atlength surrendered. They stipulated, however, for their own safety andfor the safety of their remaining women and children. The woundedprisoners, however, in the hurry of the moment were forgotten, and were, therefore, regarded by the Indians as having been excluded. 

[ILLUSTRATION: IT SOON BECAME EVIDENT THAT HE DID NOT INTEND TO DROWNHER. ]

One of the soldiers' wives, having been told that prisoners taken by theIndians were put to terrible tortures, resolved from the first not tosurrender. When a party of savages approached her, she fought withdesperation, although assured of kind treatment, and, exciting the angerof the Indians, was killed and left on the field. After the surrender, twelve children in one of the baggage wagons were slain by asingle savage. 

Mrs. Rebecca Heald, the young captain's wife, like Mrs. Helm was mountedon a horse. She carried a rifle with which she shot a savage dead. During the massacre, an Indian, with the fury of a demon in hiscountenance, advanced to her with his tomahawk raised. She had beenaccustomed to danger and, knowing the temper of the Indians, with greatpresence of mind, looked him in the face and, smiling, said:

"Truly, you will not kill a squaw?"

His arm fell powerless at his side. The conciliating smile of aninnocent female, appealing to the magnanimity of a warrior, reached theheart of the savage and subdued the barbarity of his soul. 

Captain Heald and his wife, by the aid and influence of To-pa-na-heeand Kee-po-tah, were put into a bark canoe and paddled by the chief ofthe Pottawatomies and his wife to Mackinaw, three hundred miles distant, along the eastern coast of Lake Michigan, and delivered to the Britishcommander. They were kindly received and afterward sent as prisoners toDetroit, where they were finally exchanged. 

Lieutenant Helm was wounded in the action and taken prisoner. He wasafterward taken by some friendly Indians to Au Sable, and from thenceto St. Louis, and was liberated from captivity through the interventionof Mr. Thomas Forsyth, an Indian trader. Mrs. Helm was slightly woundedin the ankle, and had her horse shot from under her, when assailed bythe savage from whom Black Partridge rescued her. After passing throughmany trying scenes and ordeals, she was finally taken to Detroit andsubsequently joined her husband. The soldiers, with their wives andchildren, were dispersed among the Pottawatomies on the Illinois, theWabash and the Rock Rivers, and some were taken to Milwaukee. In thefollowing spring, they were principally collected at Detroit andransomed. A part of them, however, remained in captivity another year, and during that period experienced more kindness than they or theirfriends had expected. 

Captain Wells, the intrepid leader of the Miamies, remained with theAmericans after his warriors fled and fell in the massacre. On the spotwhere this massacre occurred a little over two generations ago, nowstands a city, whose growth is one of the marvels in the history of theprogress of our great nation within the present century. It is thecentre of a railway system connecting the East with the West by fullytwelve thousand miles of railroad, all tributary to Chicago; and thatcity, which was only the germ of a small village fifty years ago, nowhas more than a million inhabitants, and is the great grain market ofthe western continent. 

On the bloody sands where Captain Heald's small command fought so noblyis now (1893) being held a great international exposition, the "World'sColumbian Exposition" in celebration of the discovery of the New Worldby Columbus. 

Thus far, the war with England had not been encouraging to Americans. Within two months from the time of this declaration, the wholenorthwest, excepting Forts Harrison and Wayne in the Indian Territory, were in possession of the enemy. Alarm and astonishment prevailedthroughout the West. The great mass of Indians, ever ready to join thesuccessful party, were flocking to the British; but by the spiritedexertion of the governors of Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, three thousandvolunteers were quickly raised and placed under command of General W. H. Harrison, for the purpose of subduing the Indians and regaining what waslost at Detroit. 

CHAPTER XIII. 

THE PEACE PARTY. 

Terrence Malone, with all his frivolity and tendency towardludicrousness, had a remarkable amount of shrewdness in his composition. He was a bold, harum scarum fellow, as liable to pull the beard of aking, as to kick a pauper. Though he had fared well for an impressedseaman, Terrence had no love for Great Britain. Like others of his race, he made a noble American. One can scarcely find, a more patrioticAmerican than the Irish American, who, driven by tyranny from the landof his birth, transfers his love to the land of his adoption. Americahas never had a war in which the brave sons of the Emerald Isle have notbeen found under the star-spangled banner, musket in hand, risking theirlives for their adopted country. 

Young Malone had a double cause to hate England. His father had beendriven from Ireland, when Terrence was but a child, by the tyranny ofthe British, and he had been made to give almost four of the best yearsof his life to the service of King George. 

In January, 1812, Terrence announced to his father his intention ofgoing to Washington City. 

"What the divil be ye goin' to Washington City for, me boy?"

"To see the prisident, " was the answer. 

"You'd better be goin' to school, I'm thinkin'. "

"School, father!" said Terrence, with an impatient shrug of hisshoulders. "Faith, don't talk to me of schools and colleges, when it's awar we are goin' to have, sure. My next school will be breakin' heads. "

"Be the times, you'll have yer own cracked!"

"Not before I've got even with some of the divilish Britons, methinks. "

"What be ye goin' to see the prisident about?"

This interview, the reader will bear in mind, was before war had beendeclared. 

"I am going to tell Prisident Madison to give Johnny Bull a goodwhippin'. "

"Prisident Madison will tell yez to moind yer own business, " theHibernian answered. 

"We'll see about that!"

Terrence was determined on making the journey, and he set out next dayby the mail coach for Washington City. Public houses in Washington werenot numerous then, yet there were a few good hotels, and he put up atthe old Continental House. Terrence, with all his reckless impetuosity, proceeded carefully to his point. Where boldness won success, he wasbold; where caution and prudence were essential to win, he was cautiousand prudent. 

He noticed a door opening into a room from the main corridor, over whichwas tacked a strip of white canvas bearing in large black lettersthe words:

"HEADQUARTERS OF THE PEACE PARTY. "

Men were coming and going from this apartment with grave and seriousfaces and corrugated brows, as if they had the weight of all the worldon their shoulders. Terrence watched the comers and goers awhile andthen halted a colored chambermaid, and, in an awe-inspiring whisper, asked who was sick in the room "ferninst. " He was told no one. Hethought some one must be dangerously ill, people went in and out sosoftly and talked in such low tones; but she assured him it was the roomwhere the "peace party" met to discuss means to prevent PresidentMadison and congress from declaring or prosecuting war against GreatBritain. That those men were congressmen or merchants from Boston andother New England towns, who opposed war. 

Terrence was opposed to peace, and he knew no better way to declare warthan to begin it on the peace party. A bull was never made more furiousat sight of a red flag, than Terrence Malone at the streamer of thepeace party. One who knows what Terrence had suffered cannot blame him. At the very outset of the war, the government encountered open andsecret, manly and cowardly opposition. The Federalists in congress, whohad opposed the war scheme of the administration from the beginning, published an address to their constituents in which they set forth thestate of the country at that time, the course of the administration, andits supporters in congress, and the minority opinion for opposing thewar. This was fair and, if they acted on their convictions and not frompolitical prejudices, was honorable; but outside and inside of congressthere was a party of politicians composed of Federalists and disaffectedDemocrats, organized under the name of the Peace Party, whose object wasto cast obstructions in the way of the prosecution of war, and to compelthe government, by weakening its resources and embarrassing theoperations, to make peace. They tried to derange the public finances, discredit the faith of the government, prevent enlistment, and in everyway to cripple the administration and bring it into discredit with thepeople. It was an unpatriotic and mischievous faction, and the greatleaders of the Federalists, like Mr. Quincy and Mr. Emot, who, when thewar began, lent their aid to the government in its extremity, frownedupon these real enemies of their country; but the machinations of thePeace Party continued until the close of the war, and did infinitemischief unmixed with any good. [Footnote: Lossing's "Our Country, " Vol. V. , Page 1203. ]

This was the contemptible Peace Party at whose headquarters TerrenceMalone stood gazing. He determined to venture into the den and see whatit was like. The hour for the opening of congress had arrived, and menwith bundles of papers in their hands and anxious looks on their faceshurried away to the capitol building. Some were congressmen, but most ofthem were New England merchants. Terrence waited until all were gone, then, as the door of the headquarters stood wide open inviting him toenter, he walked boldly into the apartment. 

A man about thirty-five, dressed very neatly, with glasses on, waswriting at a table littered with papers. 

"Good morning to yez, " said Terrence entering. 

"Good morning, sir, " said the writer, giving him a glance and resuminghis writing as if the fate of the nation depended on it. 

"An' so this is the place where ye make peace?"

"It's the place where we keep peace. It's the place where we oppose thefoolish and suicidal policy of President Madison, " was the curt answer. 

"Who are you, misther?"

"I am Ebenezer Crane, sir, secretary of the Peace Party. "

"Well, Misther Ebenezer Crane, " and Terrence glanced at the secretary'slong legs, as if he thought the name no misnomer, "will yez answer me afew questions?"

"Certainly, " and Mr. Crane threw down his pen, wheeled his chair aboutand looked vastly important. "What have you to ask?"

"Why do you oppose the war?"

"Why should I favor it?"

"Don't the government promise protection to its citizens? Is not theblissed stars and stripes insulted by the British? Have not they set themurdherin' haythin to killin' innocent women and children on thefrontier, and have they surrendered the posts as they should?"

Mr. Crane, with one wave of his hand, swept away every objection. 

"That is all nothing!" he cried. 

"Nothing! howly mother, sir! do you call it nothing for Americans to beknocked down, carried aboard British ships, to be made slaves, to beflogged until they die, and shot if they object?"

"Oh, those are all senseless, sensational stories, told for effect. "

"But I say they are true. I have jist returned from nearly four yearsservice on a British man-o-war. "

"But, sir, we must look to the welfare of our country. What are thelives of a few sailors--common fellows--compared to the rich commercewe enjoy with England? The wealthy men of New England would surely beruined by war. "

"Ye blackguard! do ye set up the riches of New England against the lifeof men because they are poor?"

"Certainly, " answered Mr. Crane, taking a cigar from his case, lightingit and proceeding to smoke. "What do Drake and Smoot, whom I represent, care for sailors like yourself? Why, if England wants such wretches, lether have them. We would sell them by the hundred, if we had our way. Caleb Strong, William Palmer and Roger Griswold, three of New England'sleaders, will never allow a soldier to march from their states to fightthe English--oh, no!"

Terrence was now almost beside himself with rage. He vividly recalledthe tyranny of Snipes, and remembered that many of his friends werestill slaves aboard the man-of-war. His cheek flamed, and his eyeflashed. Slowly rising, he said:

"Do yez set up yer riches aginst the poor lads, better than yerself, who are dyin' by the hundreds in British slavery? Do ye? Why, yespalpeen, ye have no more heart than a stone!"

"I don't believe your stories in the first place, sir, and I don't careif they are true in the second. What is the life or happiness of such alow creature as yourself to the prosperity of Strong, Palmer orGriswold? I think that impudence has mounted its topmost round, when youdare enter these headquarters. "

"So yer for peace?" cried Terrence, his eyes dancing. 

"Yes. "

"Well, I'm for war!" and with this he struck Mr. Crane a blow betweenhis eyes which smashed his glasses, lifted him from the chair and senthim head first into a waste basket. When Mr. Crane recovered, he was ata loss for awhile to tell whether the house had fallen upon him, or hehad been struck with a six pounder. Terrence disappeared from theContinental House, and on the next day applied at the white house to seethe president. 

"The president's engaged, " said the servant. Next day, the next, and thenext, he applied for admission and was always met with the same storythat the president was engaged, until Terrence began to believe that thedoor of the administration was closed to him, while he saw members ofcongress constantly admitted to the inaccessible man. 

At last, a gentleman who had witnessed his frequent calls, suggestedthat he send his card. The Irishman wrote:

"Terrence Malone, Irish American, late impressed seaman on H. B. M. Ship_Macedonian_. "

President Madison read the card and appointed a meeting with Terrence, and at the hour appointed the Irishman was at the white house. A servanttold him he would have to wait a few moments until Mr. Clay and Mr. Calhoun had finished a discussion with the president. Madison finallydecided to have these young members of the house hear the Irishman'sstory, and he was sent for. Terrence found himself in the presence oftwo of America's greatest statesmen, Clay and Calhoun. 

"Are you the prisident?" he asked of Mr. Madison. 

"Yes, sir; these are our friends, Mr. Henry Clay, speaker of the house, and Mr. John C. Calhoun. "

"Are you for war or peace?" asked Terrence. 

Mr. Madison, smiling, assured him they would much prefer peace, if itcould be obtained honorably, but that Great Britain would have to makeamends for some of the wrongs she had committed. He urged Terrence togive a detailed account of his impressment and captivity. He did so, omitting nothing from the time he was captured on the schooner bound toBaltimore to his escape. He was summoned a day or two later before acommittee of investigation, and narrated the story in all itshorrid details. 

[Illustration: HENRY CLAY. ]

The indignation against the Peace Party, who, in the face of all theevidence, would protest against war, was scarcely less than theindignation against Great Britain. The governor of Massachusetts (CalebStrong), of New Hampshire (William Plumer) and of Connecticut (RogerGriswold), refused to allow the militia of their respective States tomarch to the northern frontier on the requisition of the president ofthe United States. They justified their course with the plea that such arequisition was unconstitutional, and that the war was unnecessary. 

Terrence had frequent interviews with the president. His audacity andhis intense zeal won the admiration of President Madison and hiscabinet, as well as many congressmen. One day, while waiting in theanteroom, he noticed a man whose features were evidently Hibernian. 

"Do yez want to see the prisident?" asked Terrence. 

"To be sure; but I've waited long, " he answered, with just the leastbrogue in his speech. 

[Illustration: JOHN C. CALHOUN. ]

"Are ye fer war or peace?" asked Terrence, leading the stranger into afar corner. The stranger looked the young Hibernian in the face for amoment and answered:

"I am not an American; but if President Madison knew what I have to say, he'd give me an attentive ear. "

Terrence was shrewd enough to read the face of the stranger, and he knewhe had something of great importance to communicate. 

"Do yez want to see the prisident, really?" asked young Malone. 

"Certainly, I do. "

"Lave it all to me, " the Irishman answered. Then he explained that hewas on the best of terms with President Madison and could get the ear ofthe president, when an audience would be denied everybody else. He urgedthe stranger to give him an intimation of his business with Mr. Madison. One Irishman will nearly always trust another, so the two Hiberniansrepaired to a hotel and, in a close room, the stranger told Terrencethat his name was John Henry, and that he had lived for several years inCanada. He told Terrence a story of the perfidy and treason of NewEnglanders; which produced many uncomplimentary ejaculations from theyoung Irishman. 

Terrence at once sent a note to President Madison, in which he hintedthat he had new and strange developments to make. Madison again admittedTerrence, and they arranged for a meeting between the president and Mr. John Henry, who had a letter from Mr. Elbridge Gerry of Massachusetts. 

[Illustration: "IT ALL TO ME. "]

Late on a stormy night in February, 1812, Terrence conducted Henry tothe mansion of President Madison. But little was done at this firstmeeting. Henry said he had some secrets to divulge which were of verygreat importance to the people of the United States. An interview wasarranged for the next evening. Again Terrence conducted Henry to thepresident's mansion. 

On the way he said:

"Say what you say for war. I want to meet Captain Snipes on say orshore. "

When they were closeted in the president's private office, Mr. Madisonasked:

"Now, sir, who are you, and what is your business?"

"I'm John Henry, an Irishman, sir, " said Henry. "And I want to tell youthat for two years efforts have been in progress on the part of Britishauthorities in Canada, sanctioned by the home government, to effect aseparation of the eastern States from the Union, and attach them toGreat Britain. "

"Can that be possible?" cried the president. It was no news to him; forhe had heard the rumor before; yet he had always regarded it asgroundless;--at least he had doubted the disloyalty of his opponentsin the East. 

"It is every word true, Mr. President, and I have the very best proof inthe world of it. "

"What proofs have you?"

"Can I speak freely?"

"Certainly. "

"Without danger of arrest or imprisonment?"

"You can. "

With this assurance, Henry said:

"I was in the employ of Sir James Craig, governor-general of Canada, in1809, as a British spy to visit Boston and ascertain the temper of thepeople of New England. "

"You did so?"

"Yes, sir. "

"What was the temper of the people of New England?"

"At that time, sir, they seemed to be in a state of incipient rebellion, because of the passage of the embargo act. I was satisfied that the NewEnglanders were ripe for revolt and separation. "

"Well, was any action taken on your report?" asked the president. 

"No, sir. My performances in the matter so pleased Sir James, that hepromised to give me lucrative employment in the colonial government; butI waited and waited for the fulfillment of that promise, and in themeanwhile Sir James died. I went to England last year to seekremuneration for my services from the home government. I was flatteredand cajoled for awhile, and introduced into the highest circles ofsociety; but what did I want of society? I wanted money, and money Imust have. "

"Did they not pay you?"

"Not a cent. "

"What did you ask?"

"I demanded thirty thousand pounds sterling and not a farthing less. Ihad done the odious duty of a spy for my government. I had risked myfortune, my liberty and my life in the service of England, and sherequited me with empty promises. "

"They made you no offers?"

"None. I offered to take a lucrative position in Canada. "

"And they offered you none?"

"No. At last they seemed to grow weary with my demands, and hinted verystrongly that the disaffection in New England toward the government ofthe United States was nothing more serious than a local partisanfeeling, and, as a polite way of dismissing me and getting rid of mydemand, they referred me to Sir George Prevost, the successor of SirJames Craig. "

"And have you called on Sir George?" asked Mr. Madison, coolly. 

"No, sir; I have had enough of their delaying and dallying, and insteadof sailing for Quebec, I sailed for Boston, determined, if thegovernment of the United States would pay me for it, to divulge thewhole secret of British perfidy to this government. "

"We'll pay ye, won't we, Misther Madison?" put in Terrence, with hischaracteristic impertinence. 

"What proofs have you of the perfidy of Great Britain?" asked thepresident. 

"I have letters, sir, and official documents which would make anyhonorable man blush. "

"No doubt of it, yer honor, " put in Terrence. 

"Have you those papers with you, Mr. Henry?" asked the carefulpresident. 

"Some of them. "

"Will you produce them, so I may judge what they are?"

"Yes, the prisident and mesilf want to get a squint at the dockymints, "put in Terrence. 

The very impertinence of Terrence was his success. Mr. Madison could notrepress a smile. 

Henry laid before the president the strong documentary evidence, whichclearly proved that Great Britain, while indulging in the most friendlyexpressions toward the United States, and negotiating treaties, wassecretly engaged in efforts to destroy the young republic of the West, by fomenting disaffection toward it among a portion of the people, andintriguing with disaffected politicians with an expectation, with theaid of British arms, to be able to separate New England from the Unionand re-annex that territory to the British dominions. 

Madison, who was just about to declare war against Great Britain, waswell satisfied of the importance of Henry's disclosures. Examining themcarefully, he asked:

"What do you ask for these papers?"

"Lave that all to me, Misther Madison, " said Terrence with anearnestness which caused the grave Mr. Madison to smile; but Mr. Madisonwas not inclined to leave so important a matter with Terrence. He againasked Henry how much he asked for those papers. 

"I want one hundred thousand dollars. "

"It's too much, Misther Madison; we can't give it, " declared Terrence. 

Madison, glancing at the impetuous Irishman, said that he could not passon such an important matter without consulting his cabinet and takingtheir advice in the matter, and consequently he dismissed his visitorsfor the present, assuring Mr. Henry that he would give the matter ofpurchasing his documents serious consideration, and in the course ofthree or four days at most hold another conference with them. The secretservice fund was at the disposal of the president, and he determined topurchase the documents with this fund, if his cabinet would so advise. The advice was given, and he sent a proposition to Henry, offering himfifty thousand dollars for his documents, which consisted chiefly of thecorrespondence of the parties to the affair in this country andin England. 

Henry accepted the offer and was paid the sum for his papers. 

Terrence obtained an interview with the president and said:

"Misther Madison, why the divil did yez pay him such a price? If ye'd'a' left it all to me, I'd won the papers in three games of poker. "

The president thanked him and assured him that the government of theUnited States could well afford to purchase such valuable documents. 

"And now, Misther Madison, I am about to lave ye for awhile, " saidTerrence, "and I want to ask ye a very important question!"

"What is it?"

"Mind ye, if ye say yes, I'm goin' to stand by ye through thick andthin. " Mr. Madison assured him that his time was very much taken up, andbegged that he would be as brief as possible. 

"Are ye going to declare war, Misther Madison? Now ye needn't do any ofthe fighting yersilf. All I ask is that ye just turn me loose. I've gota frind, poor Sukey, who is still on board the English ship, and I justwant permission to go and bring him back. "

President Madison assured him that the public would be notified in duetime what course the administration would pursue, and that it was hisintention to maintain the honor and dignity of the nation to the lastextremity. 

Terrence left the president and went over to the Continental House tosee how Mr. Crane, the worthy secretary, looked with a rotten applebandaged over each eye. Terrence was arrested for assault and battery, plead guilty, and the patriotic Democrats took up a collection andpaid his fine. 

The disclosures of the documents procured from Henry, when made public, intensified the indignation of the Americans against Great Britain. Theinhabitants of New England were annoyed by the implied disparagement ofthe patriotism of their section of the Union. Both parties tried to makepolitical capital out of the affair. The Democrats vehemently reiteratedthe charge that the Federalists were a "British party" and"disunionists, " while the opposition declared it was only a politicalmove of the administration to damage their party, insure the re-electionof Madison in the Autumn of 1812, and offer an excuse for the war. Theacrimony caused by these partisan feelings was at its height, when theNew England governors refused to send their militia to the frontier; andthe British government, in declaring the blockade of the American coast, discriminated in favor of that section. That the British, mistakingpartisan feeling for unpatriotic disaffection, hoped to carry out theirplan for disunion, there is no doubt; but the suspicion that the NewEngland people contemplated disunion and annexation to the Englishcolonies was probably without foundation. 

Terrence Malone remained in Washington City during the fierce contestbetween the Peace Party and the War Party. He was a constant thorn inthe side of the peace faction, and more than once came to blows withsome of the members. When war was declared, he sent the word topresident that he was ready to set out at once, and shortly after tookcommand of a privateer, which his father fitted out. 

While New England was halting in its support of the war, the people ofthe South and West were alive with enthusiasm in favor of prosecuting itwith sharp and decisive vigor. They had already suffered much from theIndians under British control, and the massacre at Chicago kindled aflame of indignation not easily to be controlled by prudence. 

The government resolved to retrieve the disaster at Detroit, by aninvasion of Canada on the Niagara frontier. For this purpose, arequisition was made upon the governor of New York for the militia ofthat State. He patriotically responded to the call, and Stephen VanRensselaer, the last of the Patroons and a patriotic Federalist retiredfrom public life, was commissioned a major-general and placed in commandof the militia. The forces were concentrated at Lewiston on the NiagaraRiver, Plattsburgh on Lake Champlain, and at Greenebush, opposite Albany. 

The British had, meanwhile, assembled a considerable force on QueenstownHeights, opposite Lewiston. At midsummer, hostile demonstrations hadbeen made on Lake Ontario and on the St. Lawrence frontier. Both partiesearly sought to get control of those waters, and the preparation ofarmed vessels on them was vigorously begun. 

An armistice was concluded by General Dearborn. This armistice enabledBrock to concentrate forces at Detroit and compel Hull to surrender. 

On the morning of the 13th of October, just after a heavy storm, ColonelSoloman Van Rensselaer passed over the river near Lewiston with lessthan three hundred men. They routed the British there, who fled towardLewiston pursued by Captain John E. Wool, who, though wounded, did notrelinquish the pursuit. 

General Brock and his staff at Fort George hastened to the scene, butwere compelled to fly, not having time even to mount their horses. In afew minutes, the American flag was waving over the fort. 

Brock rallied his forces and, with fresh troops, pressed up the hillafter the Americans, but, after a terrible struggle, was driven back andmortally wounded. General Sheaffe, who succeeded Brock, rallied thetroops. Only two hundred and forty Americans were on the heights. Lieutenant-Colonel (afterward Major-General) Winfield Scott had passedover the river to act as a volunteer. At request of General Wadsworth hetook active command. The Americans, reinforced to six hundred, wereassailed by a horde of Indians under John Brandt. Scott led a chargeagainst them and drove them to the woods; but overwhelming forces ofBritish poured in on the Americans, and Van Rensselaer, who had gone tosend over militia, found they would not cross the river, their excusebeing that they were not compelled to serve out of their own State. 

Overwhelming numbers compelled the Americans to surrender. All theprisoners were marched to New Ark, where Scott came near having anencounter with two Indian chiefs. 

On the 13th of October, 1812, the Americans lost, in killed, wounded andprisoners, about eleven hundred men. General Van Rensselaer left theservice in disgust and was succeeded by Alexander Smythe of Virginia, who accomplished nothing of importance during the remainder of theseason. The situation of the Americans at the close of 1812 was this:The army of the northwest was occupying a defensive position among thesnows of the wilderness on the banks of the Maumee River; the army ofthe centre, under General Smythe, was resting on the defensive on theNiagara frontier, and the army of the north, under General Bloomfield, was also resting on the defensive at Plattsburgh. 

So far, the advantages had been altogether with the enemy, who were nomore gratified than the Peace Party, with their excellent excuse forsaying, "I told you so!"

CHAPTER XIV. 

FERNANDO SEES SERVICE. 

The trump of war stirred two passions in the heart of Fernando Stevens, revenge and patriotism. One was a noble and the other a very human butignoble passion; but Fernando was only a common mortal with mortalweaknesses. When he reflected on the wrongs he had suffered; when heremembered the death of poor Boseley, slain to gratify the malice ofCaptain Snipes, and poor Sukey still the slave of the British monarch, he could not be other than revengeful. 

"Mother, " he said one day, shortly after they had heard of war. "I amgoing to enter the army. "

The mother, who was plying her needle, sat for several moments insilence. She was not surprised at the declaration. For several days, shehad watched her son with the care and anxiety of a mother. She had notedthat he read the papers regularly. He pored over any news which hintedof war and was an eager listener to the latest rumor which his fatherbrought from town. The parents had talked the matter over frequently, and Captain Stevens, himself a veteran, said:

"I can't blame him; no, I can't blame him. Poor boy, he has sufferedenough to know the wrongs done to our flag. "

"But would it be for the flag, or revenge?" said the mother. 

"Both, " answered the practical father. "He is only human, wife, andhuman hearts can't endure what he endured without human resentment. "

The mother hoped it was more patriotism than revenge, for she was aChristian lady, and while war might be proper, even for Christianpeople, she thought it should be purely a conflict of principle and notof revenge. 

"Fernando, " said the mother laying aside her knitting and taking off herglasses and wiping them, "do you really mean to go?"

"Yes, mother. My country needs my services. There are thousands ofunfortunate Americans, still in bondage. I seem to hear their pitifulcries calling on their country to send brave men to their rescue. "

"I have expected this, " sighed Mrs. Stevens, and tears gathered in hereyes. 

"Mother, would you have me stay?"

It was hard for a mother to say it; but she had to do so. She waspatriotic, and she answered:

"No. "

"Then I will go. "

"When?"

"They are beating up for volunteers at town, and I am going there toenlist in a day or two. First I must help father drain the flat andclear off a few timber patches. "

It soon became rumored all over the neighborhood that Fernando was goingto enlist. Many friends came to see him, bid him good-by and wish himGod-speed. The day before he went away, he was chopping wood, when hesaw a large man riding a large bay mare followed by a large colt, crossthe old bridge a few hundred paces below and ascend the hill toward thehouse. The visitor was Mr. Winners. He had grown older and stouter, andthe mare was older and heavier, and this was her fourth colt since hehad come over to talk with his neighbor about sending his son to collegewith Fernando. The kind, good face of the old farmer expressed sadness, and his eye, always dull, seemed melancholy. 

He rode slowly up the hill to where Fernando was chopping wood. Fernandosaw him coming and laid down his axe, for it was quite evident that Mr. Winners wanted to speak with him. The old man, drawing rein close byFernando, said:

"Mornin', Fernando, how's all?"

"We are all well, Mr. Winners. How are yourself and family?"

"Oh, we are just middlin' like. "

"Won't you alight and come into the house?"

"No; I ain't got time, Fernando. I just came to see you, that's all. Fernando, I hear as how you're goin' t' ther war. "

"I am, Mr. Winners. I am a young man with no wife or children. Mycountry just now stands in need of young men. "

"Ya-as, it does, an' I don't come t' blame ye for it, --mind ye, I don'tblame ye fur it. I'm sometimes tempted to go myself, old as I am. "

"No, no, Mr. Winners, there is no occasion. Let the younger men do theservice. "

"I don't blame ye, for goin', Fernando; but I hope ye won't furgit onething. "

"What?"

"My Sukey's on t'other side. Now that fightin's begun, he'll have tolight his own flag; but he won't do it with a very good grace, lem metell ye. No, he won't. Now, Fernando, I don't want to ask ye to easedown on the British a bit; but when ye come to the crowd that Sukey'swith, won't ye kind a shoot easy?"

Fernando promised to do all he could to aid Sukey to escape, and assuredhim that, when once he was free, the cruel masters should pay for theirtyranny. The old man seemed partially satisfied, and, as he rode away, he twisted himself half way round in the saddle to say:

"Now, Fernando, if ye meet Sukey's crowd, I want ye to remember to shooteasy. "

"I will not harm Sukey, if I can help it, " Fernando answered. Nextmorning, he bade his parents farewell and, with his clothes tied up in alittle bundle, set out on his way to the town. 

A flag was streaming from a long pole, and Fernando heard the roll ofthe drum and the shrill notes of a fife. The company was more than halfmade up when he arrived. He enlisted at once and four days later thecompany was ready to march. 

As yet the armies of the United States were not organized, and for sometime Captain George Rose was at a loss what to do with his volunteers. They were riflemen, ready for any detached service to which they mightbe assigned. The militia forces raised were, of course, to serve intheir own respective States; but the volunteers were allowed to attachto any regiment they chose. For some time, it was doubtful whetherCaptain Rose would be sent West under Hull and Harrison, or to the Northto act under General Jacob Brown. 

The latter course was at last decided upon, and they hurried to thenorthern frontier of New York. But small preparations had been made forthe defence of this portion of the frontier. From Oswego to Lake St. Francis, an expansion of the St. Lawrence, General Brown's forces werescattered. The length of this territory was about two hundred miles. There was only one American war-vessel (the _Oneida_) on Lake Ontario. This was commanded by Lieutenant Melancthon Woolsey; while the British, in anticipation of difficulties, had built at Kingston, at the foot ofthe lake, a small squadron of light vessels-of-war. Brown and Woolseywere authorized to defend the frontier from invasion, but not to act onthe offensive except in certain emergencies. 

About the 20th of July, Fernando's company joined the regiment ofColonel Bellinger at Sackett's Harbor, at the eastern end of LakeOntario. Nine days later, the British squadron composed of the _RoyalGeorge_, 24 guns, _Prince Regent_, 22 guns, _Earl of Moira_, 20 guns, _Simcoe_, 12 guns, and _Seneca_, 4 guns, appeared and bore down on theAmerican forces there. Fernando was sleeping when the discovery wasmade, but was soon roused and saw soldiers hauling in the _Oneida_ so asto lay her broadside to the approaching enemy. Colonel Bellinger'smilitia were many of them raw recruits, and the approach of a fleetunnerved a few of them; but the majority were cool as veterans. 

"Take that thirty-two pound gun up on the bluff, " commanded thecolonel, pointing out an old iron cannon down by the shore. 

Fernando assisted them to drag it to the rocky bluff, and the wholebattery was placed in charge of Captain Vaughn, a sailing master in thenavy. Slowly the fleet bore in, the _Royal George_, having the heaviestguns, coming ahead of the others. A wreath of smoke curled up from herforecastle, and a ball, skipping over the water, struck the sandy beach. 

Captain Rose and his company of riflemen took up their station on thehigh bluff, where, should the troops attempt to land, they might doeffective work. Fernando had been promoted to sergeant in the companyand was quite popular with both officers and men. 

For two hours, a cannonade between the _Royal George_ and the big gunson shore was kept up, with very little effect, when a 32 pound ball fromthe former came over the bluff and ploughed a furrow near where theriflemen were standing. Fernando ran and caught up the ball and, runningwith it to Captain Vaughn, said:

"Captain Vaughn, I've been playing ball with the redcoats, and I havecaught them out. "

"That will just fit our gun, " said the captain. "Hand it to the gunner. "

Fernando did so. The gunner said:

"Captain, it fits better than our own balls. The shot we have beenfiring were all too small. "

"Send it back to them, " said Captain Vaughn. 

The gun was trained and fired. The heavy boom rang out over the bluffsand water. The ball went through the _Royal George_ from stern to stem, sending splinters as high as her mizzen topsail yard, killing fourteenmen and wounding eighteen. 

This ended the bombardment. The squadron, alarmed, sailed out of theharbor. 

Eight merchant schooners were at Ogdensburg, being converted intoAmerican war vessels, and, immediately after being repulsed at Sackett'sHarbor, two of the British armed vessels started to Ogdensburg todestroy them. The American schooner _Julia_ was armed and, with sixtyvolunteers from the _Oneida_ and Fernando's company of riflemen in aboat, set out to overtake the British. They caught up with them amongthe Thousand Islands, on the 31st of July, fought for three hours withthe enemy, and then, in the shadows of an intensely dark night, relievedoccasionally by flashes of lightning, reached Ogdensburg in safetybefore morning. 

During the armistice which was granted shortly after this, the _Julia_and her consort and the six schooners made their way to the lake, wherethe latter were converted into vessels-of-war. 

On the 8th of November, Chauncey appeared in those waters with a fleetof seven armed war-schooners and, after a short cruise, disabled the_Royal George_ and blockaded the British harbor of Kingston. Fernando, meanwhile, was at Ogdensburg under General Brown, who had about fifteenhundred troops, including the militia. On the 1st of October, the veryday of General Brown's arrival, a large flotilla of British bateaux, escorted by a gun-boat, appeared at Prescott, on the opposite side ofthe river. This flotilla contained armed men, who, on the 4th ofOctober, attempted to cross the river and attack Ogdensburg, but wererepulsed by the Americans. Eight days later, Fernando was with MajorG. D. Young when he captured a large portion of a British detachment atSt. Regis, an Indian village on the line between the United States andCanada. Fernando was close at the side of Lieutenant William L. Marcy(afterward governor of New York), when he captured a British flag, thefirst trophy of the kind taken on land in the war. 

While lying at Ogdensburg, Fernando heard of the daring feat ofLieutenant Jesse Elliott, who, with a picked party of seamen andriflemen, had at Black Rock, under the British heavy guns, captured thewar-schooner _Caledonia_ and burned the _Detroit_. While these manystories of the bravery of Americans were thrilling the hearts ofpatriots, the cowardice of the pompous General Smythe at Buffalo causedmuch ridicule and humiliation. 

Despite all his boasts and threats to invade Canada, he remained onAmerican soil. He was finally dismissed from the service, and, in apetition to congress to reinstate him, he prayed for permission to "diefor his country. " His petition excited much ridicule, and, at a publiccelebration of Washington's birthday, a wit proposed the following:

"General Smythe's petition to congress to die for his country. May it beordered that the prayer of said petition be granted!"

Early in January, 1813, Fernando Stevens' company, being Ohiovolunteers, was for some reason, he never knew what, transferred to thearmy of the West. General William H. Harrison had succeeded Hull incommand of this army. Historians do not accord to General Harrison thedistinction of greatness, though he was one of the successful generalsof the last war with England. It was under him that first victories weregained over the British in the Northwest. Though his name goes down toposterity connected with the battle of the Thames, Colonel Richard M. Johnson was the real hero of that conflict. Johnson's Kentucky riflemenfought and won the battle, though Harrison received the credit. Harrisonwas even more honorably remembered for his Indian wars, and, as the heroof Tippecanoe, gained a fast hold on the public heart; but Tippecanoewas only a skirmish and, viewed in the light of a battle, could hardlybe considered a great victory. The American losses were probably asgreat, if not greater than the Indians, and it was only an accident thatHarrison was not surprised. Tippecanoe was fought by the soldiers, andto their coolness and courage belonged the victory. Critically speaking, General Harrison was inferior in military genius to both Jackson andBrown. He wanted the terrible energy, the almost reckless bravery whichcharacterized these two leaders. He belonged to a different schoolaltogether. His was a policy of Fabius rather than of Marcellus, andthis not from necessity but for choice. The bent of his mind was to beprudent, economic of means, willing to listen to advice, a veryexcellent qualification for a general or a statesman. 

The dispute between Harrison and Winchester had been settled beforeCaptain Rose with his company reached the army and joined GeneralWinchester, then on his march to the Raisin, January 21, 1813. AsWinchester's volunteers were mostly Kentuckians, Fernando found manyfriends among them. Some had formerly lived in Ohio. On the sameevening, they reached Frenchtown, where they found Colonel Lewis, who, with Allen and six hundred men, had defeated and routed a force ofBritish and Indians under Major Reynolds. 

The troops were in the highest spirits, and all were anxious to press onto drive General Proctor from Malden. 

The day had been cold, and Fernando was wearied with long marchesthrough snow, ice and mud. The ground was covered with snow which hadbut a thin frozen crust over it, and the soldiers frequently brokethrough, especially in the swampy regions they crossed. Their secondlieutenant was sick; the first lieutenant, being wounded, was leftbehind, and the management of the company fell upon Captain Rose and hisorderly sergeant, Fernando Stevens. 

Captain Rose, though a brave man, loved his ease and comfort, so themost irksome duty fell upon the orderly. He saw that quarters ascomfortable as were possible were made for the men. Boards, canvas, brush and everything possible to make a shelter were provided. Thewintry sky was clear, and when night came on the stars came out one byone. The moon shone on the snow-covered earth, so soon to be crimsonedwith patriotic blood. 

Fernando Stevens and Captain Rose were quartered in an old shedbuilding, with a roaring fire in the broad fireplace. Their quarterswere quite comfortable, and, after having made all the necessaryarrangements for the company's comfort, Fernando partook of a lightsupper and, wrapping himself in a blanket, lay down on the left side ofthe broad fireplace to sleep. Corporal Mott entered and told CaptainRose, who sat smoking his pipe, that Colonels Wells and Lewis werehaving some trouble about their positions. 

"Why should they quarrel over that?" asked Captain Rose taking his pipefrom his mouth. 

"Wells, who is colonel of regulars, claims to outrank Lewis, and demandsto be posted on the right. "

"That's in an open field. "

"Yes; Lewis thinks that, in case of an attack, Wells should be posted insome gardens on the left. "

"Lewis knows more about it than Wells or Winchester either, " growledCaptain Rose. 

"Yes; but Winchester decided in favor of Wells. There is also a rumorthat Proctor is on his way from Malden to attack us. "

"I hope it is so, " said Captain Rose. "If he will come here and take hiswhipping like a man, it will save us going to Malden to give it to him. "

Then they wondered what General Harrison was doing and when they wouldjoin him; but Fernando left off listening to their conversation andgazed into the glowing fire before which he lay stretched onhis blanket. 

His mind was busy with his own sad life. All through the long years oftrying events, he had never forgotten Morgianna. Her sweet face hadhaunted him while a slave on the British war-ship. In the camp, or onthe battle field, she was ever near him. A thousand times he had saidto himself:

"Oh, why can I not forget her? Morgianna is nothing to me. No doubt, long ere this she has married Lieutenant Matson and is happy. May Godbless her in her happiness, and may Heaven spare her husband. "

It never once entered his mind that she could possibly care for him. Shehad been so cool, so careless, and seemed so unconcerned on the night oftheir parting, that he thought she must be glad that he was away and hadceased to annoy her. 

Yet her face, as he remembered it that night, lying gazing into thefire, half asleep and half awake, was lovely, and she was blameless. Tohim, she was a goddess to be worshipped, one incapable of wrong. If shehad rejected him, it was right. If she had loved the lieutenant, it wasperfectly right; yet he could not crush her image out of his heart. Itwas indelibly stamped there, and had become a part of his existence. 

The bleak northeast wind swept through the woods and howled about therude shanty, rattling the boards and causing the sentries to shiver, asthey drew their cloaks about their shoulders. Fernando felt almostcomfortable in this retreat, and the fire burned low, still giving out agenerous heat. 

Two officers from another company came to their quarters, and the lastFernando remembered was hearing them talking of the disposition of thetroops and the probability of meeting the enemy and sharing the glorywhich Lewis and Allen had won but three days before. 

Their voices were low and indistinct and finally became mingled with hisdreams of the past, forming a mass of events, sights and sounds which atfirst had no meaning. At last the scene changed. The officers ceasedtalking, the firelight disappeared, and his dreaming fancy, which hadbeen struggling with these realities, was freed to take what courseit chose. 

He was once more on the sands of Mariana. He saw the great white stonehouse on the hill and the form of Morgianna descending toward theseashore. He knew he had been gone for years, was conscious that theirparting had been unpleasant, and yet her appearance seemed to inspirehis heart with hope. The sun's golden rays fell upon the bright, fairy-like being as, with a glad smile she hastened toward him. 

"You have come at last, " she said, with a happy smile. "I have waited solong, oh, so long, that I feared you would never come. "

"Morgianna!" he cried, starting forward and clasping her in his arms. "Are you pleased to see me?"

"I am happy, Fernando, oh, so happy----"

Then he was partially awakened by some one throwing logs of wood on thefire, and he had an indistinct impression of hearing a soldier say:

"It's four o'clock and has begun to snow a little. We'll have it cold asblazes by morning. "

As the fire roared, and the wind whistled about their miserablebarracks, he sank away into dreamland again. He had hardly beensufficiently awakened to break the thread of his dreams. His mindhowever was disturbed by the entrance of the officer, and though hewooed back the gentle dream, it had lost much of its charm andbrightness. 

He saw Morgianna no longer wreathed in sweet smiles; her face wasexpressive of distress and agony. The joy and sunlight had given placeto sorrow and gloom. What had occasioned this change?

"Morgianna, do you not love me?"

She bowed her head and wept. 

"What is amiss?"

She pointed to her once beautiful home, and he discovered that it was inflames. Painted demons, whose yells seemed to make the earthquake, weredancing about the blazing, crackling building. Then wild cheers camefrom the ocean, with the boom of a cannon. 

He saw British marines, headed by Captain Snipes and Lieutenant Matson, leap from boats and rush toward them as they stood on the beach. 

"Fly! Morgianna, fly!" he cried. 

She turned to run, and Fernando, all unarmed as he was, wheeled to facethe foe. Suddenly there came a rattling crash of firearms. He sawMorgianna throw up her arms, and he sprang toward her, as she fellbleeding at his feet. He uttered a cry of horror and became conscious ofsome one shaking his shoulder. 

"Wake up, for Heaven sake, awake! we are attacked!" cried the voice ofCaptain Rose. 

On his ear, there still came a confused noise of cries, shouts, reportsof firearms and boom of artillery. 

"Sergeant Stevens, awake!"

He sprang to his feet and seized his rifle. The roaring of the battlecould be plainly heard, and a cannon-ball came crashing through the topof their miserable shanty. 

They leaped out to find all in utter confusion. General Winchester, who, despite his faults, was no coward, was mounted on his horse rallying hismen at every point. Wells was forming on the open fields, and Lewis, ina very disadvantageous position, was making a strong fight. It wasscarcely daylight yet. The air was sharp and frosty; but the snow hadceased falling. Day was dawning; but in the deeper shadows of the woodthe night lingered in patches. 

From the forest came those streams of fire, those storms of grape-shotand the yells of savage demons. A bombshell came screaming through theair and fell into one of the shanties, exploding and scattering theloose boards in every direction. 

"Who has attacked us?" some of the officers asked Winchester. 

"Proctor from Malden, " was the answer. 

It was just as day began to dawn, that Proctor, with his combined forceof British, Canadians and Indians, attacked the Americans, whileFernando was still lost in the mazes of a troubled dream. With his rightcovered with artillery, and his flanks with marksmen, Proctor advancedat first gallantly; but when he approached within musket-shot of thepickets, he was met by such a galling and incessant fire, that thecentre of his army fell back in confusion. On the left, however, he wasmore successful. Perceiving the exposed situation of the detachmentunder Wells, Proctor hastened to concentrate all his forces against it. A furious conflict ensued on this part of the field. Sharp and rapidvolleys followed in quick succession from either side, while high andclear above the terrible din of battle, rose the war-whoop of savagesand the wild cheers of the Kentuckians. That little band, unprotected asit was, could not long hold out against overwhelming numbers. The sunrose over the bleak woods, and, after a short fight of twenty minutes, Winchester ordered Wells to fall back and gain the enclosures of Lewis. 

At the first symptom of retreat, the enemy redoubled their exertions andpressed so obstinately on the Americans, that the little line was soonthrown into disorder. A panic seized the Kentuckians, who had justdefended themselves so bravely, and mistaking the command to fall back, for directions to retreat, they rushed to the river, which they crossedon the ice, and began to fly through the woods, in the direction of theMaumee Rapids. Exhilarated by victory, the British gave pursuit, thechase being led by the savages, who tasted, in anticipation, the bloodof the fugitives. In vain Winchester, riding among the men, endeavoredto rally them; in vain Colonels Lewis and Allen, hurrying from theirenclosures with a company of fifty men each, struggled to check thetorrent of defeat. Nothing would avail. Allen fell, bravely fighting inthe desperate attempt; while Winchester, with Lewis and other officerswere taken prisoners. The rout now became a massacre. The Indians, likehungry tigers, pursued the soldiers and brought them down with rifle ortomahawk. Of the whole of that chivalrous band which had left the Raisinwith Winchester two days before, all were slaughtered except forty whowere taken prisoners and twenty-eight who escaped. The troops atFrenchtown, about six hundred able-bodied men, surrendered. Sixty-fourwounded prisoners were burned in a house. 

Why dwell on the horrors of the River Raisin? They are matters ofhistory which had better be forgotten than remembered. Fernando Stevens'company did excellent work until the retreat began. Captain Rose, withhis sharpshooters, sought to cover the retreat of the Americans, butdiscovered that they were about to be flanked. 

"Sergeant, Sergeant!" cried Captain Rose, "we must fly!"

The two officers were almost alone on the field; but, taking to theirheels, they soon outstripped three big Indians who were trying to headthem off. Fernando shot one of the savages with his pistol and, dodgingthe hatchets which the others threw at him, charged them with hisclubbed rifle and knocked one down. The other fled. Fernando did notattempt to pursue him, but flew as fast as his legs could carry him tothe river. 

He had reached the middle of the frozen stream, which was covered withghastly forms, when Captain Rose suddenly clasped his hand to his sideand uttered a groan. 

"Captain, are you hit?" he asked. 

Captain Rose made no answer, but turned partially around. His eyes wereclosed; his jaw fell, and Fernando saw he was sinking. He caught him inhis arms; but Captain Rose was dead before he touched the ice. 

There was no time to waste with dead friends, and Fernando fled to thewood beyond. 

For a long time, the Indians were close at his heels. Once they were sonear that he heard a tomahawk as it came fluttering through the air pasthis head. Then the sounds of pursuit grew less, and at last he foundhimself alone on a hill. Three Indians were following on his trail, andhe concealed himself behind a tree until they were within range of hisrifle, and then fired. 

One of them fell, and his companions ran away. 

Fernando continued his flight until nearly night, when he fell in withfour Kentuckians, who had escaped the massacre, and they proceeded tothe Maumee Rapids, where General Harrison was building Fort Meigs. 

Fernando was in the fort when it was besieged several weeks later byProctor and Tecumseh with fully two thousand men. General Clay coming tohis assistance on the 5th of May, Proctor retreated. 

Colonel Dudley made a sortie from Fort Meigs on the same day and wasdrawn into an ambuscade. He was mortally wounded and lost six hundredand fifty men. 

Mr. Madison, who had been re-elected president of the United States, showed a disposition to prosecute the war with great vigor. While thesuccess of the Americans on land was not very encouraging, to thesurprise of everybody, their greatest achievements were on water. England's boasted navies seemed to have become second to the Americanwar-vessels. On Lake Erie, Commodore Oliver Perry, in command of aninferior fleet, had won a signal victory over Commodore Barclay after along and hotly contested battle. There has never been such a remarkablenaval victory on fresh water. Perry's famous dispatch to GeneralHarrison, "We have met the enemy and they are ours, " has becomea proverb. 

Shortly after the repulse of Proctor, Fernando, who had taken a place inanother company, was sent to Fort Stephenson, then commanded by MajorGeorge Croghan, a regular army officer only twenty-one years of age. Proctor's dusky allies marched across the country to assist the Britishin the siege of the fort; and when, on the afternoon of the 31st, theBritish transports and gunboats appeared at a turn in the river a milefrom the fort, the woods were swarming with Indians. 

[Illustration: JAMES MADISON. ]

Within the fort, all were calm, pale, yet determined. Only one hundredand sixty men were there to oppose the hosts of Proctor and Tecumseh. Proctor sent a demand to the fort for surrender, accompanied by theusual threat of massacre by the Indians in case of refusal. To hissurprise, Major Croghan sent a defiant refusal. A cannonade from thegunboats and howitzers which the British had landed commenced. 

All night long the great guns played upon the fort without any seriouseffect, occasionally answered by the solitary six-pound cannon of thegarrison, which was rapidly shifted from one block house to another, togive the impression that the fort was armed with several guns. Duringthe night, the British dragged three six-pound cannon to a point higherthan the fort to open on it in the morning. 

It was a trying night for Fernando. All night long, the incessantthunder of cannon shook the air, and the great balls, striking the sidesof the earthworks, or bursting over their heads, presented a scene grandbut awful. 

Morning came slowly and wearily to the besieged. As the gray dawn meltedinto the rosy hues of sunrise, many a brave man within that fort lookedup for the last time, as he thought, but still with no unmanly fear, only with that sad feeling which the boldest will experience when hesees himself about to be immolated. Such a feeling, perhaps, crossed theheart of Leonidas, when he fastened on his buckler and waited for thePersian thousands. Fernando stood near Croghan, who was in front of hismen, calm in that hour of extreme peril. It soon became apparent thatthe enemy did not intend an immediate assault, for, with the battery ofsix pieces, they began a fearful cannonade. 

"Lie under the breastworks, " said Croghan to his men as the balls werehurled about the fort, or bounded from the ramparts. The surface of theground in the line of fire, soon became covered with smoke, which everyfew moments was rent by a whistling ball. 

All that long forenoon Fernando Stevens remained behind the worksoccasionally picking off a gunner at long range. When the hot August sunbegan to decline in the West, the roar of artillery seemed to increaserather than diminish. At last he heard the young commander say:

"They are concentrating on the northwest corner of the fort; that is thepoint from which the attack will be made. " He called to Fernando and adozen other sharpshooters and hastened to the threatened spot. Every manwho could be spared from other quarters was put in requisition, andevery bag of sand and flour that could be found was hurriedly collectedand sent to strengthen the angle. 

"Lieutenant Stevens, " said Major Croghan, "get your riflemen togetherand pick off those fellows as fast as you can. Never mind those bags ofsand. Others will attend to them. "

Fernando and his score of sharpshooters soon began dropping the redcoatsas fast as they could see them. The solitary cannon, the only hope ofthe defenders, was loaded to its fullest capacity and trained so as toenfilade the enemy. The gunner who rammed home the charge said:

"By thunder, she's almost full to the muzzle. Shouldn't wonder if she'dbust. " Each soldier took his position. A tremendous volley of cannonshots suddenly rained on the fort. It seemed as if the British had firedevery gun at the same instant. A profound silence succeeded within, which lasted for perhaps two minutes, at the end of which time the enemywas seen to advance through the smoke, in one compact column, with thesteady tread of assured victors. When Croghan gave the order to fire, such a withering volley was poured in by the garrison, that the Britishreeled and fell into disorder. Whatever others may have done in thatfire, Fernando's sharpshooters wasted no bullets. For a moment, theBritons wavered and were about to fly, when Lieutenant-Colonel Short, who led the British in assault, sprang to the front of his soldiers and, waving his sword above his head, cried:

"Cut away the pickets, my brave boys, and show the d--d Yankees noquarter!"

A wild, angry shout answered this appeal, and the ranks recovering theirorder, the head of the column rushed forward, and leaped down into theditch, which was soon densely crowded. This was the time for whichCroghan had waited. Another minute and the fort would have beencaptured. The over-loaded six-pounder, so trained as to rake theassailants, now bore fully on the masses of soldiery in the ditch. Thedark mask which had concealed it was suddenly jerked aside, andCroghan cried:

"Fire!"

The match was applied. A clap of thunder, a sheet of flame, a hissingsound of grape, shrieks and groans, and Fernando saw whole ranks moweddown, as the white smoke arose for a moment hiding the prospect fromview. When the veil of battle blew aside, he saw such a scene of horroras he had never before witnessed. At first a lane was perceptibleextending through the densest portion of the assaulting mass, markingthe path traversed by the shot; but as the distance from the gunincreased, and the grape scattered, this clearly defined line gave placeto a prospect of the wildest confusion. One third of those who hadentered the ditch lay there a shapeless, quivering mass. In manyinstances, the dead had fallen on the wounded, and as the latterstruggled to extricate themselves, the scene resembled that depicted inold paintings of the final judgment, where fiends and men wrestle inhorrible contortions. Groans, shrieks and curses more terrible than allrose from that Golgotha. Lieutenant-Colonel Short was among the slain. The few who retained life and strength, after the first second ofamazement, rushed from the post of peril, leaped wildly upon the bank, and, communicating their terror to the rest of the column, the wholetook flight and buried itself in the neighboring woods; while such ashout went up to heaven from the conquerors as had never been heard onthat wild shore before. Well might the Americans exult, for thesuccessful resistance was against ten times their own number. TheBritish loss was one hundred and fifty. That hot day, August 2, 1813, atfive o'clock in the evening, George Croghan by one cannon-shotimmortalized himself. 

Fernando Stevens had been under a terrible strain all the day and thenight before, and no sooner was the enemy gone, than he sank exhaustedon the ground with scores of others. 

CHAPTER XV. 

ON LAND. 

Shortly after the gallant and successful defence of Fort Stephenson, Fernando, with a detached squad of twenty riflemen, joined GeneralHarrison, and was subsequently assigned to the regiment of ColonelRichard M. Johnson, whose Kentuckians won the battle of the Thames. 

After his signal defeat at Fort Stephenson, Proctor with his Britishtroops returned to Malden by water, while Tecumseh with his followerspassed over by land, round the head of Lake Erie, and joined him at thatpoint. Discouraged by want of success, and having lost all confidence inGeneral Proctor, Tecumseh seriously meditated a withdrawal from thecontest, but was induced by Proctor to remain. 

From a distant shore, Tecumseh witnessed Perry's wonderful naval battle;but of course could not determine which had been victorious. Proctor, toreconcile the chief, said:

"My fleet has whipped the Americans; but the vessels being muchinjured, have gone into Put-in Bay to refit and will be here in afew days. "

[Illustration: TECUMSEH. ]

This base falsehood did not deceive the wily Indian. The sagacious eyeof Tecumseh soon perceived indications of a retreat. He finallydemanded, in the name of the Indians under his command, to be heard, andon September 18, 1813, delivered to Proctor, as the representative oftheir great father, the king, the following speech:

"Father, listen to your children. You have them now all before you. Thewar before this, our British father gave the hatchet to his redchildren, when our old chiefs were alive. They are now dead. In that warour father was thrown on his back by the Americans, and our father tookthem by the hand without our knowledge, and we are afraid that ourfather will do so again at this time. Summer before last, when I cameforward with my red brethren and was ready to take up the hatchet infavor of our British father, we were told not to be in a hurry, that hehad not yet determined to fight the Americans. Listen! when war wasdeclared, our father stood up and gave us the tomahawk, and told us thathe was ready to strike the Americans; that he wanted our assistance, and that he would certainly get our lands back which the Americans hadtaken from us. Listen! you told us at that time, to bring forward ourfamilies to this place, and we did so; and you promised to take care ofthem, and they should want for nothing, while the men would go and fightthe enemy; that we need not trouble ourselves about the enemies'garrisons; that we knew nothing about them, and that our father wouldattend to that part of the business. You also told your red childrenthat you should take good care of your garrison here, which made ourhearts glad. Listen! when we were last at the rapids, it is true, wegave you little assistance. It is hard to fight people who live likeground-hogs. Father, listen! Our fleet has gone out; we know they havefought; we have heard their great guns; but we know nothing of what hashappened to our father (Commodore Barclay) with one arm. 

"Our ships have gone one way, and we are much astonished to see ourfather tying up everything and preparing to run away the other, withoutletting his red children know what his intentions are. You always toldus to remain here and take care of our lands; it made our hearts glad tohear that was your wish. Our great father, the king, is the head, andyou represent him. You always told us you would never draw your foot offBritish ground; but now, father, we see that you are drawing back, andwe are sorry to see our father doing so without seeing the enemy. Wemust compare your conduct to a fat dog, that carries its tail on itsback, but when affrighted, drops it between its legs and runs off. Father, listen! the Americans have not yet defeated us by land, neitherare we sure that they have done so by water; we, therefore, wish toremain here and fight our enemy, should they make their appearance. Ifthey defeat us, we will then retreat with our father. At the battle ofthe rapids, the Americans certainly defeated us, and when we returned toour father's fort at that place, the gates were shut against us. We wereafraid that it would now be the case; but instead of that, we now seeour British father preparing to march out of his garrison. Father, youhave got the arms and ammunition which our great father sent for his redchildren. If you have any idea of going away, give them to us, and youmay go and welcome, for us. Our lives are in the hands of the GreatSpirit. We are determined to defend our lands, and, if it be his will, we wish to leave our bones upon them. "

Unless the unscrupulous Proctor was utterly lost to shame, his cheekmust have burned as he listened to the stinging reproof of the nobleIndian Chief. Ever since the white men began their political strugglesfor power on the American continent, the unfortunate Indian has beentheir tool, and their scapegoat. Cheated, deceived by falsehoods andfalse friends, he was ever thrust forward as a sacrifice to the hatredof contending white men. Spanish, English and French were all alikeequally guilty. 

Proctor and Tecumseh fled from Malden at the approach of the Americans. They had been gone scarce an hour, when the head of the American columnappeared playing Yankee Doodle. 

Fernando Stevens was with Colonel Johnson's riflemen, when, on the 29thof September, they reached Detroit, while Harrison was encamped atSandwich. Informed that Proctor and Tecumseh were flying eastward towardthe Moravian town on the river Thames, or La Tranche, as the Frenchcalled the stream, eighty miles from Detroit, the American forces, aboutthirty-five hundred strong, on October 2, 1813, began pursuit. Johnson'smounted riflemen led the van, while General Selby, a hero of King'sMountain, followed with his Kentuckians, eager to avenge the slaughterof their friends at River Raisin. For three days the pursuit continued. At last, on the morning of the 5th of October, the army came up withProctor. Fernando was with the advance guard when they came on a smallparty of Indians. The sharp crack of their rifles warned the armies toprepare for action, and both began to form. 

The victory which followed properly belonged to Johnson and his mountedKentuckians, though, as historians seldom know any one save the heads ofarmies, it has been accorded to Harrison. 

Fernando galloped back to Colonel Johnson and informed him that theenemy was posted on a narrow strip of dry land, with the river Thames onthe left, and a swamp on the right. Tecumseh, with about twelve hundredsavages, occupied the extreme right on the eastern margin of the swamp. The infantry, eight hundred in number, were posted between the river andswamp, the men drawn up in open order. They waited for Harrison's ordersto attack. The general at first designed to attack with infantry; but, perceiving the position of the British regulars to be favorable for acharge, he turned to Johnson and asked:

"Will you undertake it?"

"I have accustomed my men to it from the first, " he answered. 

"Then charge!"

Galloping to the head of his regiment, Johnson said:

"My brave Kentucky lads, to us is accorded the honor of winning thisbattle. Forward!" The whole cavalcade, more than a thousand strong, went thundering over the solid plain. In the whole range of modernwarfare, perhaps there has never been a charge which, for reckless, romantic courage, could compare to this. The Kentuckians were armed onlywith long-barrelled rifles, hatchets and knives. None had sabres, soessential to cavalry; few had pistols, and there was not a carbine amongthem; but, as Johnson had said, they were accustomed to those charges onhorseback, and could load and fire those long rifles with marvellousrapidity even while in the saddle. Their hatchets and knives were asdeadly as the sabre. As they thundered down on the enemy, leaving theinfantry and General Harrison a mile behind, Johnson discovered that theground on which the British were drawn was too narrow for his wholeregiment to charge abreast, so he divided his force, sending his brotherLieutenant-Colonel James Johnson with one division, against theregulars, while he with the other turned off into the swamp, and felllike a tornado upon the Indians under Tecumseh. 

Fernando went with the division against the British; but he heard thesplashing of mud and water, the cracking of rifles and wild shouts ofcombatants, as, through smoke, spray, mud and low bushes, theKentuckians under Colonel Johnson charged the ambushed Indians. His owndivision continued galloping forward, until they were close on theBritish, who opened a heavy fire. The fire checked them; butJohnson shouted:

"Forward, Kentuckians!"

Ashamed of their momentary hesitation, the men shook their bridles and, with wild huzzahs, dashed right through the enemy, shooting right andleft. Wheeling rapidly about, as soon as the British line was passed theKentuckians poured in a destructive volley on their rear, and they fled, or threw down their guns and cried for quarter, which was granted. Proctor, with a part of his command, escaped, leaving his carriageand papers. 

Fernando's horse had been wounded in the shoulder, and as he dismountedto try to alleviate the suffering of the poor beast, he heard theconflict still raging on his right. Colonel Johnson with his half of theKentuckians had struck Tecumseh and was routing his entire force. TheIndians fought stubbornly until Tecumseh fell, and hearing his voice nolonger they fled in confusion. A complete victory was gained beforeGeneral Harrison reached the field. 

Some historians of good authority state that Johnson shot Tecumseh withhis pistol, just as his own horse fell dead under him;--that as thecolonel's horse was sinking under innumerable wounds, he discovered alarge Indian, whose regal feathers denoted his rank, coming toward himwith uplifted tomahawk. He drew a pistol and shot him through theheart. This has been denied. [Footnote: Seventeen years ago an aged man, who was in the conflict, informed the author that he saw Tecumseh fall, that he was shot through the head by a private soldier; "a bigKentuckian. "]

Fernando accompanied the army of General Harrison to Niagara to join thearmy of the centre; but Harrison, becoming offended at GeneralArmstrong, secretary of war, resigned and quit the service. Fernandowith his detached party, seven only of Captain Rose's original company, joined the army under Gen. Boyd on November 10th, 1813, was with them onthe next day, the 11th, when they fought the enemy five hours atChrysler's farm in Canada. The Americans were driven from the field witha loss of three hundred and thirty-nine. 

The writer must pause a moment to mention some of the stirring incidentsin which Fernando did not participate. On March 4th, 1813, Mr. Madisonwas inaugurated for his second term. Terrence, who chanced to be inWashington, greeted the president with: "Now Misther Prisident, we'llwhip the British sure. "

The Emperor of Russia having offered his services as mediator betweenthe United States and Great Britain, the president, on March 8th, 1813, appointed commissioners to treat for peace. On the 10th of April, theBritish attacked Lewiston, Delaware, but after several days bombardmentabandoned the siege. On April 27, the Americans under General Pikebesieged upper York under General Sheaffe. The British, deserted bytheir Indian allies, who fled before the roar of artillery, took postwith the garrison near the governor's house and opened a fire of grapeand round-shot on the invader. The battery was silenced and all thoughtthe British had surrendered. General Pike was sitting on the stump of atree talking with a captive British officer, when a tremor of the earthwas felt, 'immediately followed by a tremendous explosion near by. TheBritish, unable to hold the fort had fired a magazine of gunpowder onthe edge of the lake. The effect was terrible. Fragments of timber andhuge stones, of which the magazine walls were built, were scattered inevery direction over a space of several hundred feet. When the smokefloated away, the scene was appalling. Fifty-two Americans lay dead, andone hundred and eighty others were wounded. Forty of the British werealso slain. General Pike, two of his aides and the captive officer weremortally hurt. The dying general was taken to one of Chauncey's vessels. His benumbed ears heard the shout of victory, when the British ensignwas pulled down at York. Just before he died, the captured British flagwas brought to him. He smiled and made a sign for it to be placed underhis head. This was done, and he expired. Though Sheaffe and the largerpart of his force escaped, the civil authorities and a larger part ofthe militia formally surrendered York. The American loss in killed andwounded was two hundred and eighty-six; the British lost one hundred andforty besides prisoners. 

On May 27, General Scott and Commodore Perry captured Fort George atNiagara, and at the same time Sir George Prevost was repulsed atSackett's Harbor, New York, by General Brown. On June 6th, GeneralsChandler and Winder were surprised and captured, though their troopsretired. On the 23d, Colonel Boerstler with six hundred men was capturedat Beaver Dam by a superior force of British. 

While Perry was defeating the enemy on Lake Erie, and the Johnsonbrothers were defeating Proctor and slaying Tecumseh, the discontentwhich that redoubtable chief had stirred up in the South was beginningto have its effect among the Creeks. On August 30, 1813, they attackedFort Mimms, which they set on fire and captured, massacring all buttwenty out of four hundred men, women and children. The British agent atPensacola, it is said, had offered five dollars each for scalps, andmany of the savages carried the scalps of women and children there toclaim their reward. 

A cry for help went northward and the brave Tennesseeans flew to therelief of their neighbors. General Andrew Jackson, military commander ofthat region, was disabled by a wound received from a brilliant butbrutal ruffian named Thomas H. Benton, who was afterward United StatesSenator from Missouri. 

Late in September, Colonel John Coffee, at the head of five hundredcavalry, hurried to the Creek frontier. He rendezvoused at Fayetteville, where Jackson joined him early in October. On the 3d, Coffee attackedthe Indians at Tallahatchee (near Jacksonville, Benton county, Alabama)and killed two hundred warriors;--not a warrior escaped. On the 8th ofNovember, Jackson defeated the Indians with great slaughter atTalladega. Late in November, General Floyd with nine hundred Georgiansand four hundred friendly Indians attacked the hostile savages atAutossee and drove them from the holy ground. 

Weatherford, the Tecumseh of the South, was attacked, on the 23d ofNovember, at Econachaca. Weatherford was defeated and escaped by leapinghis horse from a precipice into the river and swimming to theother side. 

On January 21, 1814, General Jackson was fiercely attacked by theCreeks at Emucfau on the west bank of the Tallapoosa River. Though herepulsed the Indians, he thought it best to retire from the field. 

The Creeks were gathered in great numbers at the "Horse-shoe Bend" of theTallapoosa. A strong breastwork, composed mostly of hickory logs, wasbuilt across the neck of the peninsula. The Indians had great stores ofprovisions and supplies at this place. 

On the 27th of March, the Americans, led by Sam Houston, stormed thisfort and routed the Indians, whom they shot down like wild beasts. Thepower and spirit of the Creeks was broken, and even the haughtyWeatherford sued for peace. Save the trouble caused by the Spanish andBritish, the war in the South was practically ended. 

Fernando, who was still with the northern army, had been shifted aboutso much, that he had received but one or two letters from home. He hadparticipated in the affair at Black Rock, had seen Buffalo burned, andwhile lying in camp near the ruins, learned of the ravages of the enemyon the Delaware and Chesapeake bays. As yet the British, perhaps out ofrespect for the Peace Party, had done little damage to the coast of NewEngland. Fernando often thought of the Maryland Coast, of Baltimore andMariana, and wondered if she were there yet, in the great, white stonehouse on the hill. 

One day, about March 1st, 1813, he received a letter from his mother. Itwas the first news from home for nearly a year, for the facilities forfast mails were not so good then as now. 

"I have glorious news to tell you, Fernando. " she said, among otherthings. "Your friend Sukey is at home. His ship the _Macedonia_ wascaptured by the frigate _United States_. He says if he can learn whereyou are, he is coming to you. "

There was a slip of paper in his mother's letter on which was written ina well-known hand, "Fernando, I am coming soon, for I am in the game now. SUKEY. "

Fernando answered the letter, saying that he was soon to march underGeneral Wilkinson into Canada. A few days later, the Americans underWilkinson invaded Canada and, on March 30th, were repulsed at La Colle. Fernando returned with others to the American side. He was near Oswego, New York, when the British captured and destroyed it. He was assigned toBrown's command and was with it in the capture of Fort Erie, on July 3d. Fort Erie was the chief impediment to the invasion of Canada. 

Prompt measures were taken to secure the advantages gained by thisvictory; for it was known that General Riall, who was then the chiefcommander of the British on the frontier, was moving on Fort Erie. Earlyon the morning of the 3d, learning of the peril of the fort, he sentforward some royal Scots to reinforce the garrison. At Chippewa theyheard of the fall of the fort, and Riall determined to attack theAmericans next day. To meet this force, General Brown sent General Scottforward with Towsen's artillery. 

At noon on the 5th, Scott was joined by Porter with his volunteers andIndians. The British also were reinforced. Nearly half the day was spentby the two armies feeling of each other. Skirmishers were deployed andan occasional shot fired; but it was not until afternoon that they cametogether in an earnest struggle. The fight was long and desperate; butthe Americans triumphed and defeated Riall and the veterans ofWellington. They lost one hundred and thirty-three killed and forty-sixmissing, while the Americans' loss was sixty killed and two hundred andsixty-eight wounded and missing. 

The English troops in that portion of Canada hastened to concentrate. Onthe 25th of July, General Brown, being informed that a detachment of theenemy had invaded American soil, hurried General Scott forward toattack the party at the mouth of the Niagara, hoping by this division torecall the foe. General Scott at the head of thirteen hundred men camesuddenly across a superior force at Lundy's Lane, under GeneralsDrummond and Riall. A desperate conflict ensued, during which GeneralBrown arrived at dark, and, withdrawing Scott's brigade, the fight wasresumed. On a height at the head of the lane the enemy had posted abattery. General Brown asked Colonel Miller if he could take it. 

"I will try, " he answered. 

Amid a storm of grape, canister and leaden balls, the battery was takenand victory won. Several unsuccessful efforts were made by the foe toregain this elevation. The combat, which had begun before dark, rageduntil midnight. By this time, both Generals Brown and Scott were woundedand forced to retire from the field. The command now devolved on GeneralRipley. The enemy being repulsed, Ripley concluded to retire to camp, whence, after refreshing his men, he was directed to march by daylightand engage the foe; but, finding the enemy's force had been muchincreased during the night, Ripley thought it advisable to retreat, andaccordingly retired to Fort Erie, destroying the bridges as he went. Theloss of the British at Lundy's Lane was eighty-five killed, fivehundred and fifty-five wounded and two hundred and fifty-four missing. The American loss in killed, wounded and missing was eight hundredand sixty. 

General Ripley used every exertion to strengthen Fort Erie before theenemy should arrive. 

At midnight during the battle of Lundy's Lane, Fernando Stevens andabout fifty sharpshooters became separated from the American army in thedarkness, and at dawn, when the retreat began to Fort Erie, they foundthemselves cut off by the enemy. Three or four hundred Britishgrenadiers were sent in pursuit of them, and they continued to retreatskirmishing along the way for three days, until they fell in with someNew York militia hurrying to the southern part of the State. There wasnothing better than to go with them. Fernando was chosen captain of thecompany, and recruits soon swelled his numbers to a hundred. On reachingNew York he reported to Brown, for being a detached company, he had nocolonel to whom he could report. Brown had received orders by this timeto send all forces available to Washington, which was being threatenedby General Boss, and Fernando's riflemen were ordered South. TheAmericans under Ripley were besieged at Fort Erie on August 4th. On the15th, they repulsed the enemy with a heavy loss (962 men). On the 11thof September, Commodore McDonough of the American navy captured theBritish fleet under Commodore Downie. A simultaneous attack onPlattsburgh by Provost miscarried by failure of the fleet and panic ofthe soldiers. On the 17th, a sortie was made from Fort Erie, and theBritish works were surprised and taken with a loss of one thousand tothe enemy. 

The New England coast, which had, in the early part of the war, beenexempt from the ravages of the English, was now threatened. England cameto the conclusion that the New Englanders were blinding them withprofessions of friendship, in order to preserve their own peace andprosperity. Despite their professed objections to the war, New Englandcontinually sent volunteers to the aid of the country's cause. TheBritish attacked various points on the New England coast. At Stonington, on August 9, 1814, they were repulsed. Though Boston was threatened, itwas not bombarded. 

Fernando Stevens with over one hundred men reached Philadelphia, wherehe found two regiments of regulars marching to Washington. Heaccompanied them. The second day's march from Philadelphia, they wereovertaken by two mounted men dressed in citizen's clothes, who inquiredfor Captain Stevens. They proved to be Sukey and Terrence. 

"I've been runnin' all over creation looking for you, " Sukey declared. "How can you skip from one side o' the earth to the other as easily as aflea can cross a hammock? I went within sixty miles of Fort Erie the dayafter the fight, --lost you;--heard you were in New York, --went afteryou, --lost you; heard you were in Philadelphia, --went there, --lost youand found Terrence. We supposed you were with the soldiers and cameafter you. "

Terrence had just returned from a cruise; and his ship _Privateer Tom_had been so badly damaged in a gale, that it would take weeks to repairher, so he came with Sukey. 

Sukey had a terrible story to tell of captivity and service on the_Macedonian_, which we reserve for the next chapter. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

ON WATER. 

The English navy was the pride of that great nation in 1812, as it isnow. When war with the United States was discussed, the idea thatAmerica without a navy, and with but few if any trained naval officerscould cope with England, caused the Briton to smile; but a greatsurprise was in store. The first American victories were on the highseas. Tradition, discipline, ships and training seemed all of no avail. While the English were carrying everything on land, where it wassupposed they were weakest, they were losing everything on water, wherethought to be strongest. Everybody was surprised. They supposed thefirst three or four American victories were accidents; but as successafter success continued to follow the American arms at sea, they weredumfounded. England's boasted navy had lost its power. 

The first naval engagement of any consequence was on August 19, 1812. Captain Hull of the United States frigate _Constitution_ captured anEnglish frigate, _The Guerriere_, after a hard fought battle. _TheGuerriere_ had made herself very obnoxious in her way of challengingAmerican vessels. In this engagement she lost seventy-nine killed andwounded, while the _Constitution_ lost but thirteen. There were tenimpressed Americans on _The Guerriere_. On the 7th of September, theUnited States frigate _Essex_ captured the _Alert_ in a fight of eightminutes. The American sloop-of-war _Wasp_, on the 18th of October, encountered the British sloop-of-war _Frolic_, a much larger andstronger ship. The fight was terrible, and only three officers and oneseaman on the _Frolic_ remained unhurt; almost a hundred were killed andwounded, while the Americans lost but ten. The _Wasp_ did not long enjoyher triumph, however. On that same evening the British man-of-war_Poicters_, Captain Beresford, captured the _Wasp_ and her prize. 

The phrase "Free Trade and Sailors' Rights, " borne on the banner at themasthead of the _Essex_, soon became the war-cry of the American seaman. 

The 25th of October, 1812, one week after the victory and loss of thegallant _Wasp_, dawned bright and clear on the English frigate_Macedonian_ sailing westward of Canary Islands. Little change had cometo the _Macedonian_ since Fernando Stevens had been transferred from herto the sloop. At this time there were but three impressed Americans onthe _Macedonian_, Sukey, a negro sailor called Tawney and a mannamed Rogers. 

Notwithstanding their difference in race and social standing, Sukey andTawney were attached to each other. Both were Americans, and both lovedthe star-spangled banner. 

It was a holy Sabbath morning, and every sailor, according to CaptainGarden's orders, was dressed in his best, when the cry of, "Sail ho!"rang out from the masthead. It was ascertained that the stranger was anAmerican, and the ship was cleared for action. As the _Macedonian_ boredown on the American--her men at their quarters--Sukey and Tawney, whohappened to be stationed at the quarter-deck battery, respectfullyaccosted the captain, as he passed them in his rapid promenade, hisspyglass under his arm. 

"Say, look here, " said Sukey, "we are not Englishmen; we don't want tobe in the game. It's a bitter thing to lift a hand against the flag ofthat country which harbors our parents. Please release us from thiscontest and let us remain neutral during the fight; I tell you, I don'twant to be in the game. "

When a ship of any nation is running into action, there is no time forargument, small time for justice, and not much for humanity. Snatching apistol from the belt of a boarder standing by, the captain leveled itat the heads of the sailors, and commanded them instantly to theirquarters, under penalty of being shot on the spot. So, side by side withtheir country's foes, Sukey, Tawney and Rogers toiled at the guns, andfought out the fight to the last; with the exception of Rogers who waskilled by one of his country's balls. 

The conflict was terrible. Sukey was stationed on the gun deck, abreastthe mainmast. This part of the ship they called the slaughter-house, formen fell five and six at a time. An enemy nearly always directs his shotat this point in order to cut away the mast. The beams and carlines werespattered with blood and brains. About the hatchways it looked like abutcher's stall; bits of human flesh were sticking in the ring-bolts. Apig that ran about the deck, though unharmed, was so covered with blood, that the sailors threw it overboard, swearing it would be rankcannibalism to eat it. A goat, kept on board for her milk, had her legsshot away, and was thrown into the sea. 

The sailors who were killed were, according to the usual custom, orderedto be thrown overboard as soon as they fell; for the sight of so manycorpses lying around might appall the survivors at the guns. A shotentering one of the portholes cut down two-thirds of a gun's crew. Thecaptain of the next gun, dropping his lock string, which he had justpulled, turned over the heap of bodies to see who they were; when, perceiving an old messmate, who had sailed with him in many cruises, heburst into tears, and, taking the corpse up in his arms and going withit to the side, he held it over the water a moment, gazed on the silentpale face and cried:

"Oh, God! Tom--Tom, has it come to this at last----"

"D--n your prayers! over with that thing! overboard with it and down toyour gun!" roared a wounded lieutenant. The order was obeyed, and theheart-stricken sailor returned to his post. 

At last, having lost her fore and maintopmasts, her mizzenmast havingbeen shot away to the deck, and her foreyard lying in two pieces on hershattered forecastle, having been hulled in a hundred places with roundshot, the _Macedonian_ was reduced to the last extremity. Captain Gardenordered his signal quarter-master to strike the flag. 

Never did Sukey hear a command with greater joy. Never was a sailor sohappy at being defeated. When the order was given to strike the flag, one of Captain Garden's officers, a man hated by the seamen for histyranny, howled the most terrific remonstrances, and swore he wouldrather sink alongside than surrender. Had he been captain, probably hewould have done so. 

Sukey and Tawney were among the boat's crew which rowed Captain Gardento the enemy. As, he touched the deck, Captain Garden saluted hiscaptor, Captain Decatur, and offered him his sword; but it wascourteously declined. The victor remembered the dinner parties he andCaptain Garden had enjoyed in Norfolk, previous to the breaking out ofhostilities, and while both were in command of the very frigates nowcrippled on the sea. The _Macedonian_ had gone into Norfolk withdespatches; while Decatur was in that port. Then they had laughed andjoked over their wine, and a wager of a beaver hat was said to have beenmade between them upon the event of the hostile meeting of their ships. 

This was their next meeting. Sukey and Tawney went home in the Americanfrigate _United States_. With Sukey's return to his native country, thereader's interest in the naval operations perhaps ceases. Naval battlesare the same, bloody and desperate, and the details of the fight withthe _Macedonian_ are the details of all others. After briefly noticingthe principal victories and defeats on sea, we shall take up again thecharacters in our story. 

On November 22d, the United States brig _Vixen_ was captured by theEnglish frigate _Southampton, _ and both were subsequently shipwreckedon December 29th, the United States frigate _Constitution_, underCommodore Bainbridge, captured the British frigate _Java_, off the coastof Brazil. The American loss was 44 and the British 151. The Americanvictories of the year of 1812 with such little loss produced muchexultation in America and surprise and mortification in England. American seamen had been the greatest sufferers at the hands of theBritish, and they had long burned to avenge the insults of the EnglishNavy. They fought for patriotism, glory and vengeance. 

The year 1813 was noted for the continued success of the American Navy. On February 24th, the _Hornet_ captured the British brig _Peacock_ onthe coast of South America. On June 1st, the British frigate _Shannon_captured the _Chesapeake_ after a terrible battle, in which theAmericans lost 133 and the British half as many. Captain Lawrence of the_Chesapeake_ was mortally wounded, and his dying command, "Don't give upthe ship!" has been the motto for many worthy enterprises. 

In August, Captain Porter, with the American frigate _Essex_, cruisingin the Pacific Ocean, captured twelve armed British whalers. In the samemonth, the American sloop-of-war _Argus_, cruising in the Englishchannel, captured twenty-one British merchantmen, but on the 13th washerself captured by the British man-of-war _Pelican_ after a severeengagement. On the 3d of September, the American brig _Enterprise_captured the British _Boxer_ off the coast of Maine. Perry's victory onLake Erie, which occurred on the 10th of this month, has alreadybeen noticed. 

The year 1814 was not a line of unbroken success, though Americanvictories were many and brilliant. On the 28th of March, the brilliantcareer of the United States frigate _Essex_, in the Pacific Ocean, wasterminated by her capture by two British war vessels at Valparaiso. OnApril 21st, the United States sloop-of-war _Frolic_ was captured by theBritish frigate _Orpheus_. On the 27th of the same month, the UnitedStates sloop-of-war _Peacock_ captured the British brig-of-war_Epervier_ with $118, 000 in specie on board. On June 9th, the UnitedStates sloop-of-war _Rattlesnake_ was captured by a British man-of-war. This reverse was followed by the loss of the United States sloop _Syren_on the 12th. On the 28th, the American sloop _Wasp_ captured the Britishsloop _Reindeer_, in the British channel. On the 1st of September, the_Wasp_ captured the British sloop _Avon_, and after taking three otherprizes, this remarkably successful vessel mysteriously disappeared. Herfate was never known, though it is supposed she was lost at sea. 

On January 15, 1815, the United States frigate _President_ was capturedby four English vessels. On the 28th of February, although peace wasdeclared, the United States frigate _Constitution_ captured two Britishvessels of war, off the island of Madeira. In March, the United Statesfrigate _Hornet_ captured the British brig _Penguin_, off the coastof Brazil. 

The last hostile act at sea took place in the Straits of Sunda, in theEast Indies, where the United States brig-of-war _Peacock_ captured the_Nautilus_, a British sloop-of-war. The three American vessels at seawhen the war closed each came home crowned with laurels. The part takenby the American privateers during the war was considerable and adetailed history of them would fill a volume larger than this. Duringthe war there were I, 750 British vessels captured, against a loss ofI, 683 American ships. The spirit and energy of the American seamen, under all their embarrassments, gave an unmistakable indication of thefuture greatness of the power of the United States Navy. 

On the first night after Sukey and Terrence joined Fernando, the threesat about the bivouac fire, while all save the sentries slept, talkingover the past which, to Fernando, seemed like a troubled dream. 

"Did either of you ever meet Captain Snipes?" asked Fernando. 

"Bad luck to him, I did not, " said Terrence. "It's bad it would havefared with the spalpeen if I had. "

At mention of Captain Snipes, there came an expression over Sukey's facewhich is indescribable. His face grew pale, and his brow contracted, histeeth set, and his eyes seemed to have the glitter of steel, while heshrugged his shoulders, as if he again felt the cat-o'-nine-tailsabout them. 

"Did he never come aboard the _Macedonian_ again?" asked Fernando. 

"No. "

"Did you hear of him?"

"Yes. "

"Where was he?"

"He was transferred to the _Xenophon_. "

"The _Xenophon_? was not Lieutenant Matson in command of that vessel?"

"For awhile. "

"Was he not promoted?"

"No; it seems his affair with you got to England. "

"Just in time to spoil a nate little promotion, too, " put in Terrence. "I heard all about it from the captain of the merchantman I captured. Hetold me when we were playing poker one night. "

Fernando looked sadly into the smouldering bivouac and heaved a sigh. Almost five years had elapsed since he had seen Morgianna, and he hadnot heard a word from her since he left her in the great stone house onthe hill that night, --she laughing at his misery. 

After a long silence Fernando asked:

"Is he married?"

"Who?" asked Sukey. 

"Faith, the captain's absent minded, " put in Terrence. 

"I mean Lieutenant Matson. "

"Not as I know of. "

"Did you see him after we left Mariana?"

"Yes. "

"When?"

"Only six days before we were captured by Decatur. We touched at theCanary Islands, and the _Xenophon_ was there. He came aboard ourvessel. "

"Did he recognize you?"

"No, " Sukey answered. "Had he known me he wouldn't a-talked with acommon sailor. "

"Was he married then?"

"No; I heard him tell Captain Garden that he was still single. "

Fernando heaved another sigh and asked:

"Did he say--did he say anything about her?"

"Who?"

Fernando heaved another sigh and asked:

"Did he say--did he say anything about her?'7

"Who?"

The conversation was not interesting to Terrence and he had gone toanother part of the camp, to engage in a game of cards with a sentry. 

"Morgianna, " Fernando said. 

"Morgianna? no--she is the girl at Mariana, isn't she?"

"Yes. "

"I didn't hear him mention her name. "

"They are not married yet?"

"No. "

"Perhaps I was mistaken after all, " said Fernando thoughtfully. "May beshe don't care for him. "

Then Fernando sighed again and gazed into the smouldering fire. Afterseveral minutes more, he said:

"Sukey, she must be in love with him. "

"I thought so. "

Fernando sighed and remarked:

"She may have married some one else, though. "

"No, she ain't. "

"Have you heard of her?"

"I saw her!" Sukey declared. 

"When?"

"When I was in Baltimore last winter. "

"Did you talk with her, Sukey?"

"No. "

"Then how did you know she was not married?"

"When I was in Baltimore last winter. "

"Did you talk with her, Sukey?"

"No. "

"Then how did you know she was not married?"

"I was in a store and overheard two women who knew her gossiping. Oneasked the other if Morgianna Lane was married yet. One said:

"'I thought she would marry the English lieutenant. '

"The other said:

"'No, not yet. I suppose they are waiting till the war is over. '

"'Has she no other lover?' asked the other. Then the other woman saidshe believed not, at least none ever came to see her. "

Fernando was quite sure she must have lovers by the score. Such aglorious woman as Morgianna could not but have an abundance tochoose from. 

"You saw Morgianna, Sukey, how did she look?"

"Just as when we left. Not a day older. "

"You knew her at sight?"

"Of course; but she didn't know me. I suspect I was a hard-looking casethen; for I had just come from the ship and had on my Englishpea-jacket, and my linen was not the cleanest. "

Fernando sat silent for such a long time, that Sukey, who was tired, nodded awhile in silence, then, rolling up in his blanket, lay downunder a tree and slept. Fernando still sat gazing into the fire andsaying to himself:

"Oh, if it could have been, if it could have been!"

A young woman does a rash thing when she rejects such a warm, manlyheart as that of Fernando Stevens. Not all men are capable of suchunselfish devotion as his, and Morgianna little dreamed how much she wascasting aside. 

He was still gazing into the smouldering fire, when Terrence, who hadwon all the money from the soldier with whom he was playing cards, cameto him and said:

"Captain, are ye goin' to spend the night gazing into the fire?"

"No, Terrence; I am not sleepy; but I will lie down. "

"Captain, do ye remember the little girl at Mariana five years ago, theone yersilf and the Englishman were about to break heads over?"

"You mean Morgianna Lane, Terrence?"

"To be sure I do. I saw the swate craythur not two months since. "Fernando, who was anything but sleepy, asked:

"Where did you see her, Terrence?"

"In Baltimore. She is prettier than whin you used to stroll over thebeach in the moonlight with her. "

"Is she married?"

"Divil a bit. I talked with her, and, d'ye belave me, almost the firstquestion she asked me was about yersilf. Aye, Fernando, it was a grandstory I told her about ye making a hero of yersilf. I told her how yedefeated Tecumseh and killed the thief with yer own hand, and how yeconquered at Chippewa and Lundy's Lane. "

Fernando's heart gave a tremendous bound. Had she really asked abouthim? Then she had not forgotten him in five long years. Could this betrue? Terrence had not the strictest regard for truth, and he might beonly telling this out of mischief. 

"Terrence, are you telling me the truth?" he asked. 

"Ivery blissid word of it is the gospel truth, me frind, " Terrenceanswered. "The little girl still lives at the village beyant Baltimore, and if ye want her, ye kin win her. "

"Terrence, you are trifling with me; Morgianna cares nothing for me. "

"Don't ye belave it. If she didn't, why did she ask about ye the veryfirst chance she had? Me boy, whin a girl remembers a fellow after fiveyears, it's some sign. Now if ye want that blushin' damsel, lave itall to me. "

"Terrence, let us go to sleep, we have a hard march before usto-morrow. "

"I take it at yer word, captain. "

In less than ten minutes the light-hearted Irishman was buried inslumber. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

THE CRUISER'S THREAT. 

Terrence and Sukey both volunteered to accompany Fernando's detachedriflemen in the vigorous campaign which was before them. Fernando'sriflemen now numbered one hundred and sixty-two, composed mostly offrontiersmen, all dead shots. Sukey declared that he was in the game andwould kill a British officer for every stripe Captain Snipes had causedto be laid on his shoulders. 

"There were twelve blows, nine stripes each. Nine times twelve are onehundred and eight. "

"And have ye got the job all before ye, Sukey?" asked Terrence. 

"I've commenced. Eight have been blotted out. Only a hundred remains, "Sukey answered solemnly. 

No one asked when the eight had been blotted out, but Fernando knew hemust have done it while the _Macedonian_ was fighting the Americanfrigate. Sailors, driven to desperation, frequently take advantage ofsuch occasions to wreak vengeance on cruel officers. The boatswain'smate who had flogged Sukey was found dead on the gun deck at the closeof the fight. 

The American forces were hurried forward to Washington, where everythingwas in the wildest confusion. The contemptible Peace Party had done allby way of ridicule and argument to keep off the war, and were now doingall in their power to prevent its prosecution. General Winder andCommodore Barney were in command of the land and naval forces of theUnited States, for the defence of Washington. In vain Winder had calledon the government for more troops and supplies. 

When Fernando arrived at Washington, Barney had already blown up hisflotilla at Pig Point, and with his soldiers and marines joinedGeneral Winder. 

General Ross, the commander of the British land forces and one of themost active of Wellington's officers, on finding the American flotilla asmoking ruin, marched to upper Marlborough with his troops, where a roadled directly to Washington City, leaving Cockburn in charge of theBritish flotilla. Winder had but three thousand men, most of themundisciplined, to oppose this force; and he prudently retreated towardWashington followed by Ross, who, on the 23d of August, was joined byCockburn and his seamen. 

Uncertain whether Washington City or Fort Washington was thedestination of the enemy, Winder left a force at Bladensburg about fourmiles from the capitol, and with other troops watched the highwaysleading in other directions, while he hastened to the city to inform thepresident that the enemy were camped in ten miles of the capitol. 

Neither President Madison nor his cabinet slept that night. Fernando andhis riflemen were sent to Bladensburg at midnight, and on the morning ofAugust 24, 1814, a small scouting party sent down the road came backreporting that the British army was on the advance. 

Fernando with his riflemen went to meet the enemy and hold them in checkas long as possible. About ten o'clock, they came in sight of theadvance of the enemy. About two hundred redcoats were led by an officeron horseback. 

Sukey saw that officer, and he also saw an old tree about a hundredyards nearer the enemy and twenty paces to the left of the road. Fromit, one would be in long rifle range of the British. 

"Fernando, I want to go there, " said Sukey, hugging his long rifle as ifit were his dearest friend. 

"Go. "

He went with arms trailed, stooping as he ran, to keep the enemy fromseeing him, and gained the tree, which stood on an eminence thatoverlooked the narrow valley below. The British saw the Americans andhalted. The officer was riding up and down the line giving directions, wholly unconscious of the rifle behind the old tree. 

Suddenly a little puff of smoke curled up from where Sukey was crouched, and the crack of a rifle rang out. The officer in his gay uniformdropped his sword and fell from his saddle, while Sukey took a small daybook from his pocket and wrote "nine" in it. 

Fernando's company fell back to Bladensburg, where he deployed them soas to cover the Americans' line, and awaited the approach of the enemy. 

It was afternoon before they advanced, and the skirmishers for tenminutes held them in check, then, as they fell back to the main line, Fernando saw Sukey write "twelve" in his book. The fight began inearnest just below Bladensburg in an old field. The roar of cannon andrattling crash of musketry filled the air. General Winder, who had beenin Washington the night before, returned just before the battle began. The militia broke and fled in confusion; and the brave Barney, withCaptain Stevens' riflemen, sustained the brunt of the battle, untilBarney was severely wounded, when Winder, seeing no hope of winning avictory, ordered a retreat. The troops remaining fell back towardMontgomery Courthouse, in Maryland, leaving the battlefield inpossession of the invaders. The battle had lasted more than four hours, and the victory was won at fearful cost, for more than five hundredBritons were dead or wounded on the field, among them several officersof distinction, Sukey had added several numbers in his book. 

The president and his secretaries of war and state had come to witnessthe conflict and give assistance if possible. When the day was lost, they mounted swift horses and dashed back to the city. Terrence, who hadcaptured the steed of a British officer, overtook the president'sadvance party. Whipping his horse alongside the president, he cried:

"Misther Madison, wasn't that as illegant a knock down as iver a man sawin all his life? I enjoy such. "

"How are we to save Washington without an army?" cried the president, whose mind was wholly occupied with the safety of the capital. 

To this, Terrence responded with his stereotyped:

"Lave it all to me. "

Mrs. Madison, at the White House, had already been apprised of danger, by a messenger sent by her husband on the flight of the militia. Hercarriage was at the door ready for flight, and she had already sentaway to a place of safety silver plate and other valuables. Whilewaiting anxiously for her husband, she cut out of the frame forpreservation a full length portrait of Washington, by Stuart. At thismoment, her husband's messengers, Mr. Jacob Barker and another man, entered the house. Mr. Barker cried:

"Fly, Mrs. Madison, the day is lost, and the British are coming!"

"Where is my husband?" she asked. 

"Safe, and he will join you beyond the Potomac. "

Pointing to Washington's picture on the floor, she cried:

"Save that picture! save or destroy it, but do not let it fall into thehands of the British!"

Then, snatching up the precious parchment on which the Declaration ofIndependence was written, and which contained the names of the fifty-sixsigners of that document, she entered the carriage with her sister andtwo others, and the four were driven away to a place of safety beyondthe Potomac. The picture was saved, and it now adorns one of thereception rooms in the White House. 

The British entered Washington at sunset, August 24, 1814, and at oncebegan to plunder, burn and destroy. The capitol, president's house, treasury buildings, arsenal and barracks were burned, and of the publicbuildings only the patent office was saved. Some private houses wereplundered and others were burned. While these buildings were blazing inthe city, the public vessels and other government property at the navyyard were in flames, for Commodore Tingey, who was in command there, hadbeen ordered to destroy this property in case it was likely to fall intothe hands of the invaders. Two millions of dollars' worth of publicproperty were destroyed on that night. 

On the 27th of August, three days later, Alexandria was plundered of herpublic stores by the British. Having taken an enormous amount as ransomfor the city, the British sailed down the Potomac, annoyed part of theway by the guns from the American forts. 

Fernando Stevens' riflemen, after the battle of Bladensburg, hastenedtoward Baltimore, which they knew to be also threatened. Here they foundthe people energetically making every possible effort to defend thecity. Fort McHenry, which commanded the harbor, was garrisoned by abouta thousand men, under Major Armistead, and was supported by redoubts. Fernando's riflemen were assigned to General Stricker. 

On September 11, 1814, the enemy appeared off Patapsco Bay, and beforesunrise on the 12th had landed, nine thousand strong, at North Point, twelve miles from Baltimore. When news came that the British werelanding on North Point, General Smith, who had about nine thousand menunder his command, sent General Stricker with more than three thousandof them, to watch the enemy, and act as circumstances might require. 

Fernando Stevens' riflemen accompanied Stricker, and were sent forwarddown a rocky ravine, where they might watch the enemy. Fernando left hismen in the deepest hollow while he, with only ten or twelve, creptforward behind some large stones which lay at the roadside. About tenpaces to the right of Fernando was Sukey, with his formidable rifleresting in the hollow of his left arm. Soon the head of the long columncould be seen advancing up the broad thoroughfare. Fernando saw twogayly-dressed officers riding at the head. He afterward learned thatthey were Generals Ross and Cockburn. 

"Say, Fernando, " said Sukey, "those fellows are officers, ain't they?"

"Yes. "

"Must be generals by the clothes they wear?"

"Perhaps. "

Ross was riding gayly along by the side of Cockburn, laughing andjesting about making Baltimore his winter quarters, when on their leftthere suddenly rang out the sharp crack of a rifle, while a little puffof smoke curled up from the great black rock almost two hundredpaces distant. 

"Oh!" groaned the general, and jerking his rein, until his horse rearedin the air, his chin fell on his chest, and he began to sink from thesaddle. Cockburn caught him and called for assistance. They hurried himback to the boats, where he might have surgical aid; but he died beforethe boats were reached. 

Fernando Stevens heard the sharp report on his right, as Ross fell, and, turning his eyes in that direction, saw the smoke slowly curling up fromthe muzzle of Sukey's rifle. 

"Say, Fernando, I ought to count three or four for that one, shouldn'tI?" Sukey coolly asked. "He was a big one. " [Footnote: The reader willpardon this slight deviation from history. The real slayers of GeneralRoss were two Baltimore mechanics, Wells and McComas, both of whom fellin the conflict on the same day, and to whose memory a monument has beenerected by the citizens of Baltimore. ]

The British were thrown into momentary confusion by the sudden death ofGeneral Ross; but Colonel Brooke rallied them, and Fernando's riflemenfell back until they joined General Stricker's men. 

The British came on and a severe fight, which lasted two hours, ensued, when Stricker ordered a retreat to his reserve corps. There he reformeda brigade and fell back toward the city, as far as Worthington's Mill, where they were joined by General Winder and some fresh troops. 

Fernando witnessed the bombardment of Fort McHenry during that terriblenight, when Mr. Francis S. Key, a prisoner on board an English vessel, composed the song which immortalized him, --"The Star-Spangled Banner. "

Not only Baltimore, but all the Chesapeake and coast was threatened bythe British. Cruisers by the score were threatening almost everyseaport town. 

The day after the unsuccessful bombardment of Fort McHenry, GeneralSmith sent for Fernando Stevens, and when he was in the general's headquarters, that officer said:

"Captain Stevens, I would like to have you do a little detached duty. "

"General, I am willing to do whatever you wish. You can command me atyour pleasure. "

"There is a cruiser on the coast threatening a little town where somegovernment stores have been placed for safety. Will you undertake thedefence of the town?"

"Certainly; I will do the best I can; but success will depend on mymeans. "

"How many men have you?"

"One hundred and fifty. "

"I will send fifty marines with you. "

"But artillery?"

"There are some nine-pounders and one long thirty-two at the village. Muster your men, hasten there at once, and do the best you can. "

"But, general, you have not yet told me the name of the village. "

"Mariana. "

"What?" gasped Fernando, starting to his feet. "Did you say Mariana. Perhaps I misunderstood you. "'

"No; I mean Mariana. Captain Lane, an old privateer officer of theRevolution, is there. He has organized a company of Marylanders on thepeninsula on which Mariana is situated, and will be able to help yousome. You will find an abundance of ammunition for your artillery. "

Fernando left the general's quarters with his heart beating in a waywhich he could not explain. Terrence had just returned to the company. Fernando ordered his men to be ready to march at dark, and was hasteningacross the street to a tavern for his supper, when he was suddenlyaccosted by a familiar voice with:

"Golly! massa Stevens, am dat you?"

"Job, where have you come from?"

"Everywhar, Massa. I done been rovin' de worl' over huntin' for de massaI belong to when I war taken by de Britishers; but I can't find him. Whar ye gwine?"

Fernando explained, and the negro said:

"Golly! ye goin' dar?"

"Yes, Job. "

"De ship what am goin' ter bombard dat town am de _Xenophon_. "

"_Xenophon_!" cried Fernando; "surely Providence must be in this. "

Job volunteered at once to accompany the riflemen, and, having someknowledge of gunnery, his services were very acceptable. 

At dusk, with competent guides, Fernando set out for the village. 

 * * * * *

Five years had been added to the weight with which time was crushingCaptain Lane; but his spirit was still as undaunted as ever, and when hefound the town threatened by a British cruiser, he hastily organized thepeople into militia companies, and began throwing up a line ofearthworks, which extended from his own house to the lowest extremity ofthe village. 

The plan of the breastwork was well laid and executed; but the artillerywas poorly mounted and they were sadly in need of experienced gunners. 

"Father, don't exert yourself until you are sick!" said Morgianna, whenher father came home one evening exhausted. "Surely, if the Britishcome, they will not harm us. "

"My child, the plunderers have sacked other towns and insulted theinhabitants, and why not ours?"

"But no ship is in sight. "

"No; yet one has been hovering about the coast and Tris Penrose, who wasfar out in his fishing smack to reconnoitre, says it is the _Xenophon_. "

"The _Xenophon_!" and the pretty face grew pale. She remembered thatthat vessel, five years before, had paid the village a friendly visit. Captain Lane was watching her closely. She knew it and guessed thereason. After a moment's silence, she asked:

"Father, isn't Lieutenant Matson on the _Xenophon_?"

"I suppose he is. "

"Surely he is your friend. "

"In war there are no friends among the enemy, child, and no enemy amongfriends. We are simply Americans or British. "

"Yet, father, there are personal ties stronger than loyalty to nation orpolitical party. "

The old man heard her argument with evident anxiety. He loved his littlesea-waif as ardently as ever father loved a child, and for five yearshe fancied and feared she loved the lieutenant of the _Xenophon_. 

"True, child, you speak the truth, yet my heart tells me that we cannottrust to friendship now, seeing that this quarrel has grown so bitter. "He was sorry to say this, for he felt that every word he uttered waslike a dagger at the heart of Morgianna. After a painful silence, theold, white-haired seaman added, "Forgive me, Morgianna; but I am an oldman, and I may not look at things as you do. I love my country and herflag. I have seen our poor sailors too often enslaved to be a friend toany Englishman while the war lasts. "

"What do you mean, father?"

"You love him, Morgianna. I felt it, I knew it all along, but I couldn'thelp it. I knew I ought to do something, but, child, I didn't know whatto do. If you had had a mother she could have advised you, butI didn't. "

"Father, you talk so strangely; what do you mean?"

"I knew all along, my child, that you loved him; but Lieutenant Matsonis a bad one, even if he is the son of my old friend. I could see thedevil glinting in his eyes, and the mock of his smile, when he met theyoung Ohioan here five years ago. He's a bad man accompanied with foulweather wherever he goes, and I know it just so long as I know thecat's paw, the white creeping mist, like a dirty thing which makes mecry out to my crew, 'All hands to reef! Quick! All hands to reef!'" Theold man was silent for a moment, smoking his pipe, while his eyes wereon the floor. Had he looked up, he would have seen a decidedlymischievous look in the face of Morgianna, which certainly did notindicate that she was seriously affected. After a few moments, withoutlooking up, the old man with a sigh continued:

"Ah, my little maid, if you could only have listened a bit to the nobleOhioan;--if it could have been him instead of Matson, love andpatriotism could have gone hand in hand. The night we went to the cliff, I thought you did like him; but it was not to be. 'Tis dreadful!dreadful! why did God make woman so? Poor Fernando; there was good lovegoing a-begging and getting nothing for it but a frown and a hard word;while--" he did not finish the sentence, for a pair of white arms wereput around his neck, and a voice as sweet as the rippling music of thehillside brook said:

"Never fret yourself, father, for Morgianna loves you first of all andbest of all, " and she slipped on his knee and kissed away the anxiouscloud gathering on his brow. The old man was quite overcome by thiscaress, and before he could make any answer there came a heavy tread onthe piazza, a heavy knock, and a moment later a servant announced, TrisPenrose and John Burrel. They were admitted and Penrose, who had madeanother reconnoisance that afternoon in his fishing yacht, said:

"Aw, captain, I be just returned, and having somewhat of importance toimpart I came to tell you. "

Captain Lane asked the Cornish fisherman to be seated and asked:

"What have you seen, Tris?"

"You see, captain, it be like this. I be out at sea beyond the bay, andI see a great ship beating up in the bay against wind and tide, and Iwatch her for a long time as she do go first on one tack and then on theother, until I make sure she be heading for Mariana, and I hasten totell, with all sail. "

Burrel explained that from the farthest point of Duck Island the vesselhad been sighted, and that there was no longer any question of herdestination. Captain Lane rose to go down to the village, where thegreatest excitement prevailed. Turning to Morgianna, he asked:

"Will you be afraid to remain here, my gem o' the sea?"

"No, father. "

The captain went and quieted the people. A strong breeze was blowingfrom the land, and he knew full well that the _Xenophon_ could notpossibly come near enough to harm them for several hours. He gave somedirections concerning the strengthening of the fort, and went home andretired to bed. 

Next morning the ship-of-war, the _Xenophon_ was reported lying withoutthe harbor, and at noon, being unable, owing to contrary winds, to enterthe harbor, they saw her long-boats landing troops on the northern pointof land. Soldiers to the number of two hundred were landed on the pointof land, which, two miles north of Duck Island, projected far out intothe sea and was called O'Connor's Point. Mariana was situated on apeninsula from half a mile to two miles wide and the troops hurried tothe narrowest neck of this peninsula where they halted and proceeded tothrow up light earthworks, so as to completely cut off all retreat ofthe inhabitants. 

That evening some officers and a marine guard with a white flag wereseen coming down the great road leading from the neck of the peninsulato the mainland and thence to Baltimore. Many of the inhabitantsrecognized Lieutenant Matson before he came to the fort. They werehalted and asked what they wanted. 

Lieutenant Matson stated that it was his wish to see Captain Lane. 

Mounting the earthworks, Captain Lane asked:

"Do you come in peace or in war?"

"In peace. "

"Then, as the son of an old friend, you are welcome. You can send backyour guard and flag of truce, for I am sufficient surety foryour safety. "

The lieutenant told his guard to retire, while he went over the parapetand ascended the hill to the great white house. Lieutenant Matson wasvery grave and silent, when they reached the house, which was lighted, for it was now growing dark. Captain Lane asked his visitor to beseated and said:

"Now, Lieutenant Matson, you may proceed with your business. "

A pair of soft, dark eyes were fixed on them from a door which wasslightly ajar, and even the darkness seemed lighter from the glow ofgolden hair. The lieutenant's back was toward this room, and he did notsee the beautiful, anxious face and roguish eyes. Lieutenant Matson, after a brief silence, said:

"Captain Lane, I am come on a matter of business in which friendship andregard are mingled. Believe me that, had it not been for my great esteemfor yourself and Morgianna, I should have sent an under officer with mymessage instead of bringing it myself. "

Captain Lane bowed and hoped that Lieutenant Matson would not allowfriendship to stand in the way of duty. Lieutenant Matson continued:

"First, I have come, captain, to demand of you the surrender of thispost, --that is, of all the government stores in it, assuring you thatprivate property shall not be molested, and the men in arms shall betreated as prisoners of war. "

Without a moment's hesitation, the old sea captain answered:

"I refuse to comply with your demand. "

"Surely, Captain Lane, you must know that you cannot hope to resist the_Xenophon_. Her heavy guns will soon batter down your walls and destroyyour houses. "

"When that is done, it will be time enough to think of surrendering. "

"Surely you do not know that Washington is burned and Baltimoresurrounded. All night long the fleet bombarded the town. "

"Yes, we could hear the roar of cannon even here. "

"Well, you must ultimately surrender. "

Lieutenant Matson was greatly distressed by the stubbornness of CaptainLane. He reminded him of the helpless women and children in the town, and asked him, for their sakes, to consider the crime of resisting; butit was all in vain. Captain Lane had been chosen by the people to defendthem, and he swore he was no Hull to yield at the sight of an enemy. 

"No, sir; when our guns are dismounted, our walls battered down, ourhouses burned, and there is not a man able to hold a lanyard, then it istime to think of surrendering. "

"Very well, Captain, if such is your resolution, I must leave you; butpermit me to conduct Miss Morgianna to a place of safety. She would besafe on board the _Xenophon_ and I offer her----"

"What!" interrupted Captain Lane, his eyes flashing fire. "LieutenantMatson, do you wish to insult me?"

"No, Captain Lane, I merely wish to secure the safety of Morgianna. "

"Morgianna! Morgianna!" called the old man, starting to his feet andpacing the floor anxiously. 

"Here, father!" and, clothed in spotless white, looking like somecelestial being just reached this earth, Morgianna entered the room. "What do you want, father?" she asked, paying no heed to the lieutenant, who had risen to his feet with a most gracious smile and bow. 

"Morgianna, Lieutenant Matson announces that the English frigate_Xenophon_ is coming to destroy our town and kill our people. He offersyou a place on board that vessel where he says you will be safe. Do youaccept it?"

[Illustration: "MY FATHER WILL PROTECT ME; I WANT NO OTHER PROTECTION. "]

"No!" she answered, stamping one little slippered foot on the floor. Then going to the captain's side, she laid her head on his shoulderand said:

"My father will protect me; I want no other protection. "

"Morgianna, " began the baffled lieutenant, "I would like a word withyou in private--"

"Lieutenant Matson, I don't care to hear you--I will not listen to you. As my father's friend, I once did tolerate you; but now, as my country'senemy, I have no forbearance with you. Begone!" and her white, jeweledhand pointed to the door. 

The Briton's face flushed crimson, as he retorted:

"Morgianna, you may regret--"

"Lieutenant Matson!" interrupted the captain fiercely. "Not anotherword, lest I forget your father was my mate. Begone!"

With an oath, Matson left the town and returned to his men on the neckof the peninsula. When he was gone, Captain Lane turned to his daughterand was surprised to see a look of contempt instead of the grief he hadexpected. That one glance convinced him that he had been mistaken, andthat she did not love the Englishman after all. 

"Father, that man's true spirit was revealed to-night. Even though he isyour old friend's son, he is a villain. "

Next day some of the Marylanders had a skirmish with the British on theneck of land, and one of the villagers was wounded. The _Xenophon_ stillhovered near the mouth of the narrow harbor and only waited a favorablewind to enter the bay, and commence the siege which could have butone result. 

Captain Lane strove hard to be cheerful; but his heart was heavier thanlead. Again night came, with the _Xenophon_ anchored off Mud Island. Thenight was dark, and the wind from shore strong, so that Captain Laneknew she could not enter the harbor. 

He was sitting at his fireside, when suddenly from the narrow inletsouth of the peninsula there rang out a volley of musketry followed bywild cries and cheers. The volley was followed by heavy firing, andCaptain Lane, donning his hat, snatched his sword and ran down to theworks, where the drum was beating, and the Marylanders were seizingmuskets and falling into line. 

"What is it? whom have they attacked?" was the general query asked byall. The pickets were called in and the only sentries were the chainguards just outside the parapet. Suddenly the sound of footsteps camefrom the darkness, and the sentries knew that two or three men wererunning toward them. Zeb Cole, a large, powerful Marylander, finding oneof them coming directly at him, dropped his musket and, seizing thefellow's throat, hurled him to the ground. 

"Halt! ye wanderin' Israelite. Stop an' tell me who you are?"

"Oh, let go me, massa, lem me up!" pleaded the captive, struggling tohis feet. "I ain't no Britisher! dar ain't no Angler Saxun blood in deseveins. I is a Yankee nigger, massa, bet I am. "

Another man who had come up at a run cried in language in which theHibernian was plainly distinguishable:

"Hould hard, ye haythin! The redcoats are afther us!"

"Who be ye?" demanded Zeb. 

"The advance guard of two hundred Americans comin' to help ye whip theBritisher. Jist as we landed, afther crossing the mouth of the creek, the dirthy spalpeens fired on us; but we drove thim back, and here comeour boys at double quick. "

Terrence was correct, for Fernando and his riflemen having cut their waythrough the British, hurried into the fort. Captain Lane was amazed tofind their friends led by the young Ohioan, whom he had entertained athis house five years before. 

"Did you lose any of your men in the skirmish?" asked Captain Lane. 

"Two were wounded, none killed or missing. Has the _Xenophon_ commencedthe bombardment yet?"

"No; but she will as soon as the wind shifts to bring her in. "

"How many men have you capable of bearing arms, Captain Lane?" askedFernando. 

"Almost two hundred. "

"I have two hundred more, we will die together or beat off the ship. "

"Did General Winder send you to defend the town?"

"Yes, sir. "

"Then I will serve under you. Captain Stevens. "

Fernando tried to get the old captain to assume command; but he said hewas too old; that he would gladly advise him and serve with him andunder him; but he did not want the responsibility of the command. Then, all being quiet, Captain Lane went to his house to sleep and rest. 

"He is gone, " said Fernando when left alone near the big gun; "gone andnot a word said about Morgianna. What will she say, what will she think, when she knows it is I who came to defend her?"

Fernando sighed and was very unhappy. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

THE SAVING SHOT. 

Little or nothing could be done by Captain Stevens that night. His menwere exhausted, and threw themselves down anywhere and everywhere. Theproprietor of the tavern took Fernando, Sukey, Terrence and LieutenantWillard of the marines to his house, where they were furnished beds andslept soundly. 

The morning of September 14, 1814, came. Fernando, at his request, wasawakened early, and with Lieutenant Willard went out to examine the fortand artillery. It was scarcely daylight when they mounted the works andgazed off the bay. They could not see as far as Duck and Mud Islands, and sat down upon the gun carriages to await the rising of the sun. 

A hundred stalwart Marylanders came from their houses with axes, picksand shovels, ready to resume work on the redoubt. 

"Lieutenant Willard. " said Fernando, "your judgment is perhaps betterthan mine. Will you give these men direction in regard to the works?"

Lieutenant Willard mounted the earthworks and walked along the entireline, closely inspecting them and directing the improvement of what wasalready quite a formidable fortification. 

The guns were next examined and changed so as to more completely sweepthe bay. While the lieutenant was doing this, Fernando, with three orfour fishermen went down to the water with a glass to take a look forthe _Xenophon_. She could be seen still anchored off Mud Island. 

"The vind be strong off shore, " said Tris Penrose the Cornish fisherman. "Aw, she cannot sail in the teeth o' it. "

"How far is it to Mud Island?" asked Fernando. 

"It be about five mile, " the fisherman answered. 

"I am going out to that headland!" he said pointing to the rockypromontory. 

"It be dangerous, Capen; the ship's big guns, they reach to theheadland;" but Fernando insisted on being rowed to the headland, andfour fishermen, including Tris Penrose, took him to it in a boat. Thememories this early morning visit awoke in his breast are indescribable. Years seemed to have been rolled back, and he was once more withMorgianna, within the pale of hope. Ascending the promontory, he saw the_Xenophon_ lying at anchor not over three or four miles away. Two boatsloaded down with marines put off from the ship and rowed to the pointof land half a mile away. There they landed, formed, and marched toreinforce Matson on the neck of the peninsula. Three hundred men and twosmall cannon were now on land. 

Fernando went back, convinced that for some hours at least the attackwould be delayed. Lieutenant Willard was working with a will tostrengthen the redoubt. Bomb-proof apartments were made for the womenand children. They were still uncertain of the fate of Baltimore, andknew that the whole coast was threatened by the British fleet. 

While sitting at breakfast, Fernando received a note from Captain Laneinforming him that a sudden attack of rheumatism prevented him fromleaving his bed, and asked him to call at the house if he wished toconsult him. Never in his life was Fernando more glad to receive asummons, and never did he so dread answering it. 

"I am foolish!" he thought. "She cares nothing for me. She has told meas much, and she cannot have changed her mind. I will go, but as thecommandant and not as a supplicant--or lover. "

Fernando was in the uniform of a captain of infantry of 1812, thehandsomest uniform ever adopted by the American army. His dark bluecoat, buttoned to his chin, his sash, his belt and gilt sword, hischapeau-bras with flowing plume, set off his manly form. 

Fernando, as he ascended the path to the house, did not dream that hewas heroic or fine-looking. 

When he reached the house, he paused a moment on the piazza, just as hehad on that evening five years before, to school his rebellious heart. To his knock a servant answered, and he was hurried up to the room ofCaptain Lane. At every corner he expected Morgianna; but she did notappear. Perhaps she was with her father; but no, the captain was alone. 

"It's too bad, Captain Stevens, " the old sea-dog declared. "Here I amwith this infernal rheumatism holding me down like an anchor, when weare threatened with a squall. "

"Don't trouble yourself, captain, " said Fernando. "I fancy there areyoung men enough to fight our battles. "

"But one likes to have a hand in such affairs, you know. "

"Certainly, but don't worry yourself. The wind is still off shore, andthe bay is so narrow that, unless they get out a warp, they cannot haulin the _Xenophon_. "

"I have wondered they did not do that before, " said the old sailor. "Itcould be done. "

"Perhaps they have some other plan. They landed a hundred more men thismorning. "

"They can't be going to make a land attack. "

"No, the land forces are to cut off retreat. "

"It's that infernal Matson--Lieutenant Matson--curse him! He is the sonof my friend; but I say curse him, for all that!" cried the old sea-dog, his face expressing mingled rage and agony. 

"Is he in command?" asked Fernando. Before either could speak, a lighttread warned Fernando that a third person had entered the room. Hestarted to his feet and, turning about, bowed to Morgianna. 

"Captain Stevens, I am proud to welcome you back to Mariana; but I amsorry it could not have been under other circumstances. " She wasbeautiful--more beautiful than when he left; but there was not expressedby either voice, eye, or flushed cheek any symptom of a more tenderregard than friendship. Fernando had so schooled himself, that, as hetook her hand, he said in a most commonplace manner:

"I was sent here, Miss Lane. I am a soldier, and wherever duty calls, Igo, be it pleasant or unpleasant. "

Morgianna was not prepared for this. The cool, off-hand manner seemed tohardly indicate the respect of friendship. Her face grew deathly palefor a moment, and she almost ceased breathing; but she gained herself-control, and, in a tone as commonplace and cool as his own, hopedhe was well and that he would not be killed in the coming struggle. Thecoming struggle with the _Xenophon_ was nothing compared to his presentstruggle. Fernando still loved Morgianna. Five years had only added tothe intensity of his love; but he had once made a simpleton of himself, and he determined not to do so again. Thus two hungry souls, thirstingfor each other's love, acted the cold part of casual acquaintances. Could the veil have been lifted, could the barriers have been brokendown, what misery might have been spared! but it is ever thus. Humanityis contradictory and the heart's impulses are held in check. 

"Miss Lane, this house cannot be a safe place in the coming struggle, "said Fernando. "We have prepared bomb-proof shelters for the women andchildren, and I hope you will accept refuge in one. "

She said something about her father. 

"He shall be cared for. I hope you will let me send a sergeant with adozen men to convey you both to a place of safety. "

She assented, and he left. Her face was still white, her chin wasquivering, and her eyes were growing moist. 

"What's the matter, Morgianna?" asked Captain Lane. 

She did not venture an answer, but running to her own room, fell weepingon the couch. 

"After five long years, to return so changed--so cold--oh, God, thispunishment is greater than I can bear!" she sobbed. 

By the middle of the afternoon, the wind changed slightly, shifting tothe northeast, and some activity was evinced on board the _Xenophon_. Fernando thought longer delay was dangerous. Captain Lane and hisdaughter, with all other women and children, were conveyed to thebomb-proof houses, which had been constructed for them. He was so busyall that day, that he only caught an occasional glimpse of Morgianna. 

When night came, the _Xenophon_ had left her moorings, and Fernandopredicted she would be brought in broadside to begin the cannonade atdaybreak. He retired to his bed at eleven o'clock and at four LieutenantWillard came to him and said: "Captain, the wind has shifted due east. "

"How is the night?"

"Dark and cloudy. "

"Can anything be seen of the _Xenophon_?"

"No. "

"Send a dozen men to the promontory and build a fire. The light wouldshow her to us. "

A dozen bold fishermen, who knew the coast well, went out in theirboats, hugging the rocky shore until the promontory was gained, andgathering up great heaps of driftwood on the edge of the bluff, set iton fire, and pulled back. 

As the flames shot up, they revealed the _Xenophon_ slowly and carefullyfeeling her way into the bay. Not a shot was fired, for she wasstill far away. 

Thus the night wore on. Day began to dawn slowly, and as the first lightfell on bay and sea it revealed the dread enemy lying like a monstersea-bird in the bay, not a mile away. 

The _Xenophon_ was in no hurry to commence. She had her prey so thatthere was no possible chance of escape, and the officers and men atebreakfast and walked about the deck, talking and joking on the workbefore them. Through a powerful glass, which Captain Lane furnished him, Fernando recognized Captain Snipes standing on the quarter deck, smoking a cigar. 

Fernando had the guns loaded and shotted. They were sighted and readywhen the _Xenophon_ should take the initiative. 

"Say, Capen, dat Britisher doan git dis chile no more, " said Job. "Ican't find my real massa, but, by golly, I've saved up fifty dollars tobuy a new one, 'fore I go for to be a Britisher agin. "

Before Fernando could answer, Sukey came running along the breastworkand said:

"Fernando! Fernando--he is there! Captain Snipes is aboard that ship!"

Sukey's face was deathly white, and his fingers convulsively clutchedthe air as if grasping at an imaginary throat. 

Fernando was standing on the parapet, when a wreath of smoke curled upfrom the ship's side, followed by the boom of a heavy gun, and a ballcame whizzing through the air, and struck the breastwork. 

It was nine minutes after ten o'clock when the first shot was fired. This shot was the signal for a broadside, and a shower of balls withthree or four shells came screaming through the air striking the wallsof the fort, or exploding over it. One of the shells buried itself inthe sand but a few feet from Fernando, and burst, scattering sand andgravel over him. 

"Fire!" cried Fernando, without moving from his position. 

Immediately the thirty-two pounder and four smaller guns belched forthfire and thunder. Fernando watched the effect through the glass. Thethirty-two went wild, and the shots from the smaller pieces fell short. He turned and gave some instructions to the gunners, while a shell camescreaming over his head and burst a short distance away, killing one ofthe marines. 

"Fernando, there ain't no need of you standing up there!" cried Sukey. "You ain't in the game, till we get near enough to use rifles. "

"Divil a bit will the blackguards iver come near enough for that, " criedTerrence, boldly mounting the breastwork. "Captain, lave me have asquint through yer glass, " and Terrence, assuming a liberty which heonly could, took the glass from his hand. The screaming shell andwhistling shot continued to come from the _Xenophon_. "Faith, thim beesbuzz nicely round a fellow's ears, " added Terrence. 

Fernando seized his glass, when the thirty-two was again sighted andfixed it on the ship. As the heavy boom shook the earth, he saw a greatsplash of water twelve feet from the bow. 

"Let some one else train the gun, " he cried. "You miss the mark. "

All appeals to Fernando to come down from his dangerous position wereunavailing. His anxiety to pierce the _Xenophon_ with the thirty-twokept him on the parapet directing the gunners, while balls and shellsshrieked about him. Job tried three shots; but only one did any injury, and that was some insignificant damage to the rigging. Fernando saw atonce their disadvantage. 

"Oh, if we only had one experienced gunner, he would drive the shipfrom the harbor, " he thought. 

Lieutenant Willard tried three or four shots, and one struck the bow. With glass in hand, Fernando remained on the earthworks, watching theeffect of their balls and giving orders to the gunners, while balls andshells flew screaming around him. One shell exploded near the embrasureof one of the smaller guns killing one and wounding four. As yet, theyhad not touched one of the enemy, and the young commandant waschagrined, anxious and annoyed. He lost his temper and raved at thegunners, who were doing their best. They lacked science. 

His brave riflemen stood under the earthworks, grasping their guns whichwere useless now, while they lamented that the Britons were notin range. 

Officers, citizens and even privates implored Fernando to come down. Ashell exploded in the air, and a piece grazed his shoulder, yet he kepthis place on the rampart. Terrence Malone, who could see no reason forcourting death, had sought shelter behind a gun carriage. Fernando'sanxiety and mortification increased as he witnessed the repeatedfailures of his gunners to hull the _Xenophon_. Amid smoke, dust andwhizzing missiles, he kept his post. The thunder of guns, the whizzingballs, and shrieking shells were unheard in his great anxiety to defeatthe British. 

Suddenly a hand clutched his arm, and a silvery voice, which herecognized in an instant, cried:

"This is folly! Come down--come down from this certain death!"

"Morgianna, you here!" he cried. "For Heaven's sake, go to thebomb-proof shelter. You must not expose yourself here. "

"I will not go a step until you come from the rampart. " She clung tohim, and appealed so earnestly, the tears of anxiety and fear startingfrom her eyes, while her white, pleading face was upturned to his, thathe could not deny her. All other appeals had been unheeded, butMorgianna's he could not refuse. 

A wild cheer went up from the Americans within the fort as Morgiannadescended from the redoubt with the daring captain. He hurried her awayto the bomb-shelter, where her father lay raging and fuming, because hisinfirmity would not allow him to take part in the contest. Fernandoobtained a promise from Morgianna that she would not venture from theshelter, by promising in return to keep off the redoubt. 

The British shells were telling on the American fort. Though the wallswere strong and resisted their balls, several men had fallen beneaththeir shells. Two solid shot and one shell struck Captain Lane'selegant mansion on the hill, fired from spite, as the house was farremoved from the fort, and no one was near it. A cannon-ball entered thegreat, broad bay window overlooking the sea, made a wreck of thefurniture in the parlor, crashed through the wall, shivering a tallmirror and spreading havoc in the room beyond. 

The siege continued all day long, and late in the afternoon, just onehour before sunset, the redcoats appeared on the wooded hill back of thetown, and opened fire with two small pieces and muskets. Fernando'sriflemen had been waiting for this, and, with wild yells, they leapedthe redoubts, deployed along the stone fences and houses and picked offthe redcoats so rapidly, that they fled pell mell to their own works, glad to escape the bullets of those unerring riflemen. 

The cannonade kept up until long after midnight. The sky was ablaze withcircling shells, and the headlands reverberated with tenthousand echoes. 

All the guns in the fort save the thirty-two were silent, for thesmaller cannon at that range were useless. The soldiers in the fort layon their arms, and Fernando slept none. With anxious face he went therounds of the fort, occasionally watching through an embrasure the shipbeyond and the circling shells. During the night, three more of theirnumber were killed and six wounded, while as yet they had done theenemy no hurt. 

Shortly after midnight, the firing grew slower and an hour later ceasedaltogether. Morning dawned slowly, and the flag still floated over thebadly battered fort. A sullen, gloomy silence had fallen over theofficers and men. They watched the enemy, who at daylight began to warpthe ship in a little nearer, that her guns might be more effective. Fernando was silent and his brow dark. There seemed but one thingpossible and that was defeat. Reinforcements need not be expected. 

The _Xenophon_ came a little nearer to shore, then let go her anchorsagain and lay broadside to the fort. It was quite evident that she wasafraid to come too close, lest some blundering shot would strike her. All of a sudden, a sheet of flame and cloud of smoke from her sideconcealed the ship from view, and balls once more rained about the fort. The fire this day was more destructive than on the preceding. One housewithin the enclosure was completely battered down. The church which hadbeen converted into a hospital was set on fire. Fernando discovered itin flames and ran thither to hurry out the wounded. Entering the burningbuilding, through which a shell went screaming, he was horror-strickenand amazed to find Morgianna at one of the bunks, binding up the woundsof a sufferer. 

"Morgianna, Morgianna!" he cried, "why do you risk your life here?"

"There is suffering and death here!" she answered. "Am I better thanthose who risk their lives for me?"

"Morgianna, you must not, yours is no common life--" he began. In theexcitement of the moment he almost forgot himself. She was about toanswer, when he said, "Noble woman! do not, for Heaven's sake, runneedless danger. "

They hurried the wounded from the burning building. Another house, lowerdown the hill, was also on fire. It was so near to the great gun, thatthe heat almost blistered the men who worked it, and for awhile theirmagazine was in great peril. 

The soldiers did all in their power to extinguish the flames; but bothchurch and house burned to the ground. 

Night came once more, and the Americans were reduced to the soreststraits. Soon after dark, the cannonading ceased and a silence of deathfell over the fort, broken only by the groans of some poor, woundedfellow. The people within the fort went about talking in whispers. Threebodies, which they had not had time to bury, lay, stark and silent underthe shed, and there were nine fresh graves on the hillside. Inaddition, more than thirty of the defenders were disabled from wounds. 

Captain Stevens, Sukey, Terrence and Lieutenant Willard were holding aconsultation in a room of the old tavern. Lieutenant Willard said:

"Captain Stevens, there is no other alternative, we must surrender. Tohold out longer is murder. If we had a few competent gunners we mightdrive her away, but with our inexperienced men, we are wastingammunition and life to resist. "

"There is one chance, " said Fernando. "Perhaps we could carry the shipby the board. "

"By the board! divil a bit!" put in Terrence. "Why they'd sink us allbefore we could get within a hundred yards of the plagued ship. "

Sukey, remembering that Captain Snipes, his avowed enemy, was on boardthe _Xenophon_, was eager to make the effort to carry her by the board. 

"It will be a desperate undertaking, " said Lieutenant Willard. "If wehad sailors instead of riflemen it might be done very easily; but it isa desperate chance; yet we are in a desperate situation. "

"And faith ye'll come to a desperate end, if ye thry to carry that shipby the board, " interrupted Terrence. 

Fernando mustered three hundred men and, ascertaining there were boatsto take them to the _Xenophon_, was about to give the orders to marchto the water, when, suddenly, volley after volley of muskets and pistolsrang out from the ship. The Americans had passed from the works and weredrawn up on the sands. When they heard the firing at the _Xenophon_, they came to a halt, to guess and wonder at the cause. 

It was decided to march the men by a round-about course to thepromontory and embark in boats for the ship. By doing this, they couldcome upon the vessel from the side opposite to the fort, and effect amore complete surprise. Two dozen bold fishermen were entrusted to takethe boats along the rocky shore to the point of embarkation. The nightwas quite dark, and, the water rough, so it required great skill toaccomplish this difficult feat. 

Fernando and his troops had gained the neck of land reaching to thepromontory, and, fearing that the enemy might have landed a force there, and that they would be drawn into an ambuscade, he halted his troops ina dense growth of wood and left them with Lieutenant Willard, while he, with Sukey, Terrence and Job, crept forward to reconnoitre. They hadalmost reached the promontory, and, convinced that there was no one inambush, were about to return to the main force, when suddenly an objectpresented itself to their eyes, which absolutely rooted them to thespot. At about twenty or thirty yards distant, where but the momentbefore the long line of horizon terminated the view, there now stood astrange figure, which might be six and might be twelve feet in height. It had evidently risen up out of the ground and was floating in the air, as there seemed to be nothing to connect it with the earth. There was abody of spotless white, an obscure mass which might be a head, and twolong, white, straight arms, spread apart like a cross. This strangecreature was advancing toward them. 

"Oh, golly! massa, look ye dar! dat am a ghost!" whispered the darkey. 

"A banshee, begorra!" said Terrence. 

Fernando was impressed that the strange vision was the result of someEnglish trickery, while Sukey, cocking his gun, declared:

"If it's mortal, I'll soon make it immortal. "

"Hold, Sukey!" whispered Fernando, "let us see what it is before youfire. "

"Golly! massa, it am comin' dis way!"

Fernando could see that the object, with its strange incongruous head, its long arms, of which it now seemed to have three or four, wasadvancing toward them over the uneven ground; and he gave the order tofall back until they were nearer the troops. 

When within about one hundred paces, Fernando made a stand and cried:

"Halt!"

This was the first word uttered loud enough to reach the strangefour-armed, one-headed, but legless spectre. It produced a wonderfuleffect, for the odd figure wheeled about and started off at somethinglike a run. Sukey brought his gun to his shoulder and fired. 

The report of the gun was the signal for the riflemen under LieutenantWillard to charge, and all gave chase to the spectre. 

"Don't fire another shot!" cried Fernando. The spectre had not gone ahundred paces, before it stumbled over a loose stone and fell. In amoment, Terrence Malone had seized it and cried:

"Huzzah! boys, I've caught the divil himsilf. "

The spectre proved to be a very material like person in the form of atall sailor with a white jacket and cap and blue trousers. Hissuperabundance of arms could be accounted for by the long, white oar, which he had been carrying on his shoulder, and which he explained washis only weapon, offensive or defensive. 

"Where are you from?" asked Fernando. 

"I am from his majesty's frigate _Xenophon_, " he answered. 

"Are you a deserter?" asked Fernando. 

"Yes, sir; I am an American by birth, and will die before I raise myhand against my country. To-day, because I refused to work at the guns, I was arrested, to be flogged in the morning, hung or shot at thepleasure of Captain Snipes. "

"I believe I know that voice--" began Captain Stevens. 

"Holy golly! it am Massa St. Mark!" yelled a voice behind them, and Jobtore his way through the crowd and, flinging his arms about the sailor, cried: "Massa St. Mark! Massa St. Mark! am it you?"

"Faith, it's the best gunner in the British navy!" cried Terrence. 

Fernando had no trouble in recognizing in the stranger the gentlemanlygunner of the _Macedonian_, who had saved him from being flogged. Terrence, Fernando, Job and Sukey crowded about the newcomer and for amoment plied him with questions. He explained that, having slipped hishandcuffs, he rushed on deck, seized the oar, which he still carried, knocked down two sentries and leaped overboard. They fired a hundredshots at him; but, being an excellent swimmer, and the night being dark, he managed to escape. Lying on his back, holding to the oar, he watchedfor the flash of their guns and pistols, and, when they fired, duckedhis head under the water. 

The appearance of Mr. Hugh St. Mark naturally caused anotherconsultation. He discouraged their desperate attempt to carry the shipby the board, and Fernando, after sending six fishermen to the headlandto acquaint their companions there with the change, marched with hisforce back to the fort. An hour later the others came. 

When day dawned, the _Xenophon_ renewed her cannonading. Mr. Hugh St. Mark was given charge of the thirty-two, and after carefully measuringthe distance with an experienced eye, he weighed the powder and loadedthe gun. Fernando watched the flight of the first ball, which wentwhizzing over the leeward rail across the deck and out at the oppositeport into the sea. The second shot cut some of the rigging. The Britishsupposed those two shots accidents, but after the third, they wereconvinced that there was an experienced hand at the gun. 

Fernando, in his anxiety to mark the effect of the third shot, forgothis promise to Morgianna and, with the glass in hand, mounted therampart. The heavy boom of the cannon shook sea and shore. There was noneed of a glass to mark the effects. The ball crashed through from sideto side sending the splinters flying in every direction. A wild cheerrose from the fort, and Fernando saw five or six carried below the deck, while one of the guns was dismounted and useless. In a few seconds thegreat gun was again loaded. This, time the ball crashed through thehull. The fifth shot struck the mizzenmast about four feet above deck, and cut it almost away. 

"Victory is ours!" cried Fernando, waving his sword in the air. 

"Hurrah for ould Ireland and the United States foriver!" shoutedTerrence, leaping on the embankment, and dancing a jig. But the_Xenophon_ had not given up the contest yet. She continued to fire herballs and shells with murderous intent until the balls from St. Mark'sdirection had cut her mainmast down. It fell over on the lee sidedragging with it the fore mainstay and crippling the rigging to such anextent that Captain Snipes began to fear he could not get his vessel outof the harbor. The weight of the mainmast hanging over the side of thevessel was so great that the vessel heeled over to leeward. A dozencarpenters with axes flew to cut away the wreck and the shiprighted herself. 

While others were rejoicing, Hugh St. Mark was busy sending ball afterball crashing into the _Xenophon_ as if he had many old scores tosettle. Sukey, who stood by his side, said:

"Mr. St. Mark, don't hit the captain--leave him for me. "

The wind and tide bore the _Xenophon_ to the mouth of the harbor justbeyond the point of Duck Island, where she was temporarily safe from theballs of the avenging thirty-two. 

It soon became evident that the land force under Lieutenant Matsonintended to march to the point of land, embark, and return to the ship. Fernando determined to spoil their plan. He mustered two hundred andfifty of his soldiers, marines and militia and started to head them off. Lieutenant Willard was left alone in charge of the fort. 

A villager who knew a nearer route guided them by it to a pass betweentwo hills, where the Britons would be compelled to march. Sukey andTerrence were sent forward to reconnoitre, and as they came in sight ofthe narrow valley surrounded by hills they saw the head of the column ofredcoats coming, their banner upheld to the breeze. Terrence wheelingabout, ran with all speed back to the advancing soldiers, and cried:

"Come on, me boys! it's a divil's own time we'll have of it in thevalley, all to ourselves. "

"Halt! fix bayonets!" commanded Fernando. In a moment, the gleamingbayonets were on each gun. "Forward!--Double--Quick!"

The soldiers, at a run, dashed into the valley just as the Britishappeared, two volleys delivered in quick succession and they were at itsteel to steel. Fernando, bareheaded, engaged a stout Briton in ahand-to-hand struggle, which a quick thrust from Sukey's bayonet ended. Next, Captain Stevens found himself hotly engaged with his old enemyLieutenant Matson. Their blades flashed angrily for a moment, but as thelieutenant's men threw down their arms and begged for quarters, herealized the folly of resisting longer and yielded. His stubborn pridemade the struggle hard. He offered his sword to his victor, which hepolitely declined. 

"Keep your sword, lieutenant, " said Fernando. "Though you are my enemy, I trust you have not forgotten that you are a gentleman. "

"I trust not. "

"You shall be paroled as soon as we reach the fort. "

The Britons stacked their arms, and marched in double file under a guardto the fort. Oxen and carts were sent out for the arms and two pieces ofartillery which were brought into the fort. 

Silent and majestic as an uncrowned prince, seeming neither elated nordepressed by the victory, stood the gunner Hugh St. Mark by the side ofthe old thirty-two, with which he had fired the shots that savedthe fort. 

He was tall, straight, broad-shouldered, with hair once chestnut, butnow almost gray. His age might be anywhere between forty and fiftyyears. So calm, majestic and mysterious did he seem, as, with foldedarms, he stood gazing unconcernedly about him, that Fernando wasconstrained to ask himself:

"Who is he?"

CHAPTER XIX. 

NEW ORLEANS. 

Amid the exciting scenes which followed in such rapid succession, no onehad noticed that the weather had undergone a wonderful change. By thetime the prisoners were comfortably quartered the sun had set, and thesky was obscured with dark clouds from which constant flashes oflightning were emitted. The distant roll of thunder and the sighing ofthe wind gave warning of the approach of a storm. 

"The _Xenophon_ is in a poor condition to weather a storm to-night, "said Lieutenant Willard. "With her hull raked fore and aft a dozentimes, her mizzen gone, her foremast shot through, and her rigging socut to pieces, she can hardly be managed in good weather. A storm wouldsurely drive her on the rocks. "

The vessel could be seen by the flashes of lightning, struggling to getto sea. At last she disappeared. The storm rose and the wind blew aperfect hurricane. Fernando had gone to see Captain Lane to make a fullreport. It was midnight, and he was still with the captain, when theboom of a gun at sea was heard. That was no gun of battle but a signalof distress. 

"What is it?" cried Captain Lane. 

"It's the _Xenophon_. I fear she cannot weather the storm. "

Then they listened for an hour or more to the occasional boom of acannon. 

"She's comin' right in on the stony point sou'east o' the bay, " criedCaptain Lane. 

Fernando started to his feet and said:

"We must go to their rescue. "

At this Morgianna, who had been ministering to the wounded, entered andsaid:

"Are they not enemies?"

"Yes, but fellow-creatures, also. Those signal guns call out humanity, and the bravest are the most humane, " said Fernando. 

"I am glad you said that!" she remarked as Fernando hurriedly left theshelter in which the captain lay. 

Day dawned and the _Xenophon_ was a broken wreck scattered along theMaryland coast. Occasionally a bruised and bleeding form was picked upsenseless or dead among the rocks, or on the beach. Sukey was busiestamong the searchers; but the scenes of horror and suffering whicheverywhere met his view changed his hatred to pity. 

At last he came upon a poor, bruised, thoroughly soaked, wretched-looking man lying among some rocks, where the angry waves andreceding tide had left him. His once elegant uniform was now rotten, dirty rags. One gold epaulet was gone, and the other was somud-besmeared that one could scarce tell what it was composed of. 

[Illustration: SUKEY'S THUMB LIFTED THE HAMMER OF HIS GUN. ]

It required a second look for Sukey to recognize in that miserablecreature, drawing every breath in pain, the haughty Captain Snipes, whohad scourged and disgraced him. Snipes had severe internal injuries andwas dying. Sukey's thumb lifted the hammer of his gun, then he gazed onthe agonized face of his enemy, and, the tears starting to his eyes, helet down the hammer. At this moment Fernando came up, and Sukey cried:

"I can't do it, Fernando, --I can't do it! I've prayed for this, foryears, but now that it's given me, I can't. It's Captain Snipes, buthe's too bad hurt to kill. "

"God has punished him, " said Fernando, solemnly. "Verily, 'vengeance ismine, I will repay, saith the Lord. '"

They lifted their enemy as gently as if he had been their dearest friendand bore him to a fisherman's cottage, where Sukey did all in his powerto alleviate his suffering; but his time on earth was short. CaptainSnipes sank rapidly. That he was conscious and recognized his nurse noone can doubt, for just half an hour before he died, he took Sukey'shand and spoke the only words he was heard to utter after the wreck. 

"Forgive me!" he said. 

"I do, captain, God knows I do!" Sukey cried warmly, and the haughty, cruel Captain Snipes passed away, the victim of God's vengeance. 

The day after the wreck of the _Xenophon_, news came from Baltimore ofthe repulse of the British fleet and army. It was a day of generalrejoicing. A squadron was to be sent to guard the coast and relieveFernando at Mariana. For some time he had been asking to be attached tosome western regiment with his recruits. He received official noticethat he had been assigned to a Kentucky regiment under Colonel Smiley, and, with the notice, came a commission to the rank of major. Fernandowas ordered to join the regiment at Nashville, Tenn. , to act underGeneral Jackson in the South. 

The war was shifting to the South; and the western and southern troopswere hastening to its defence. Fernando notified his men of the orderand Sukey volunteered to go with them. Job also enlisted as cook; butTerrence, having been notified that _Privateer Tom_ ready for sea, oncemore bade them adieu, and departed for Philadelphia, taking Mr. Hugh St. Mark the gunner with him. 

Fernando went to the great white stone house, which had been repairedand again occupied by Captain Lane and his daughter. Captain Lane andMorgianna were alone in the large sitting-room when he entered. Thecaptain was convalescent, but not wholly recovered from his attack ofrheumatism. 

"So you are going away?" said Captain Lane when Fernando had told him ofhis last order. 

"Yes, captain, a soldier belongs to his country. "

"I know it. I don't blame you one bit. So you will serve under Jackson. Well, I don't think another ship will venture to bombard Mariana. Haveyou sent the prisoners to Baltimore?"

"Yes, sir, all save Lieutenant Matson. I took his parole, and he stillremains in the village, I presume, during his pleasure. He will berequired to report once a week to Baltimore, but that need not bein person. "

The captain was silent. While speaking, Fernando kept his eyes from theface of Morgianna. He could not look at her and be a witness to the glowof joy which he knew must warm her cheek on being informed that herlover was to remain. She quietly left the apartment while he wasconversing with the captain, and when he left, he found her alone inthe hall. 

It was almost dark; but her face in its beauty seemed to illumine thehall. He took her hand in his own, and felt that same old thrill of fiveyears before. 

"I am going away, Miss Lane, " he said, "and I cannot go without biddingyou adieu and telling you how much I appreciate your brave, noble, self-sacrificing efforts in caring for the wounded. "

Fernando really had a different opinion of Morgianna from that he hadat first entertained. He had thought of her only as a gay, frivolousgirl, witty, brilliant and beautiful; but the scenes of death, the siegeand carnage had shown him a new Morgianna;--it was Morgianna theheroine. She made several efforts to speak before she could fullycontrol herself. 

"Major Stevens, " she faintly said after a struggle, "the people of thispoor little village can never feel too grateful to you, for your braveand unselfish defence of their homes!"

"I am a soldier, Miss Lane, and I trust I did my duty. "

Then they stood silent. Fernando would have given worlds to speak thepromptings of his heart: but stubborn pride forbade him. 

"Whither do you go?" she asked. 

"To the South; what point I do not know, save that we join our regimentat Nashville. "

"Will you ever come back, major?"

"If duty calls me--"

"But have you no friends, " she asked slowly, "no friends here, whom youwould like to see after the war is over?"

"Many, Miss Lane. These brave men and noble women, who have shared mytoils and dangers, are very dear to my heart, and when the Britons havebeen driven from our country, nothing would give me greater pleasurethan to renew my acquaintance with them. "

"You are always welcome, major, " she said, deeply moved. "Will you makeme a promise?"

"What is the promise?"

"That you will come as soon as the war is over. "

"It is only a polite way of inviting me to her wedding, " he thought;then he asked:

"Will you be here?"

"If heaven spares me, I shall. "

"Then I will return, Miss Lane, if I live. "

Their discourse had been friendly, but cold and formal. Fernando hadonce overstepped the bounds when he declared his love; but he wascareful not to do so again. Notwithstanding she had leaped to theredoubt amid screaming shells and whistling balls, to persuade him backto the trenches, he could see nothing more tender than love of humanityin her act. He was so thoroughly convinced that she would wed LieutenantMatson, that he was once on the point of asking her when the marriagewould take place, but the subject was too painful to mention. 

She followed him quite to the door, and here he said in a voice that washusky despite his efforts to prevent it:

"Miss Lane, --Morgianna, I had him paroled for your sake. He can remainin the village. "

He was gone before she could make any response. His men were musteredat peep of day and marched away to Baltimore. 

General Andrew Jackson, to whom Fernando Stevens was marching, was thehero of the war of 1812 in the South. Having utterly crushed the Creekpower and wrung from them a treaty which extinguished them politicallyas a nation, he set about securing that portion of the country againstfurther molestation. The belief that the war in the South was endedproved a deception when the British suddenly appeared in a large forcein the Gulf of Mexico. By permission of the Spanish governor of Florida, the British took possession of one of the forts at Pensacola, where theyfitted out an expedition for the capture of Fort Bowyer, [Footnote: NowFort Morgan. ] on the eastern shore of the entrance to Mobile Bay. TheBritish attacked the fort, but were repulsed. Jackson, who was atMobile, hastened to Pensacola and demanded of the Spanish governor asurrender of the forts. The officer sent with the flag to demand thesurrender was fired upon, and next day Jackson with his troops chargedinto the town; when the frightened governor offered to surrender theforts. This was done, and the British blew up one, and abandonedthe others. 

On his return to Mobile, Jackson found a message from New Orleans, urging him to hasten to the defence of that city, as the Britishcommander in the gulf had declared his intention to invade Louisiana, and sent an inflammatory proclamation among the inhabitants. 

Jackson arrived at New Orleans, December 2, 1814, and found the cityutterly defenceless, and the people filled with alarm and distracted bypetty factions. Danger was imminent. The British troops that leftChesapeake Bay after their repulse at Baltimore had gone to the WestIndies, where they were joined by about four thousand veterans under thebrave Irish General Keane. The combined forces sailed in the directionof New Orleans, late in November. The wives of many of the officersaccompanied them, for not a man doubted that the speedy conquest ofLouisiana would be the result of the expedition. The dullness of thevoyage was enlightened by music and dancing, and all anticipatedexquisite pleasures to be found in the paradise before them. It is saidthat the British officers had promised their soldiers the privilege ofthe city, when captured, for three days, and that "booty and beauty, "was their watchword. 

Fernando Stevens, with his experienced marksmen, joined Jackson at NewOrleans on the very day that Jean Lafitte, the pirate of the Gulf, cameto offer the services of himself and band to Jackson. The BritishGeneral had tried to engage the services of this band of outlaws. Lafitte was a shrewd Frenchman, and he and his band had been outlawed bylegal proceedings, though their crimes were only violations of therevenue and neutrality laws of the United States. When the invitation ofthe British was put into his hands, he feigned compliance; but as soonas the bearer had departed, he called his followers around him on theborder of the sea, and said:

"Comrades, I am an adopted citizen of the United States, and will neverviolate the confidence placed in me by serving the enemies of mycountry. We have been outlawed; perhaps we deserve it by ourirregularities. No matter; I am ready to serve my adopted country, andask you to join me. What say you, comrades?"

His brawny followers threw up their hats and responded:

"We will! we will!"

Fernando was at the headquarters of General Jackson when the famousbuccaneer held his interview with him. Fernando's regiment shortly afterhis arrival was assigned to the brigade of General Coffee. 

The British forces halted at the entrance to Lake Borgne, between whichand the Mississippi New Orleans stands. Here, on December 14th, theycaptured a flotilla under Captain Jones, which secured to them completecommand of the lake. 

Meanwhile Jackson placed New Orleans under martial law, and carried onhis measures of defence so vigorously, that the citizens began to pluckup courage. When he heard of the capture of the flotilla, he sentcouriers to General Coffee and others at the head of Tennessee andKentucky troops, urging them to hasten to New Orleans. His efforts weretimely, for, on the 22d of December, General Keane, with more than twothousand five hundred men, reached the banks of the Mississippi througha bayou, nine miles below the city and prepared to take New Orleans bysurprise. Vigilant eyes were watching his movements; and a prisoner whomhe had taken, escaping, hastened to New Orleans and gave General Jacksonnotice of the near approach of the foe. At the same time, Coffee andCarroll arrived with the Tennesseeans, and Jackson put a column inmotion to meet the invaders. Early on the evening of the 23d ofDecember, they marched, eighteen hundred strong, led by Jackson inperson, and at the same time the armed schooner _Carolinia_ dropped downthe river to within musket range of the British camp. Shot from thatvessel first revealed the fact to the British that their presence wasknown at New Orleans. The shells and shot from the vessel broke uptheir camp, when they were attacked in the dark by Jackson and hisfollowers. The combat that followed was indecisive, except in making theinvaders more cautious and discreet. In this night conflict, theAmericans lost about two hundred men, while the British loss wastwice as many. 

New Orleans was saved from surprise; now it had to be saved from openinvasion. The events of the 23d dispirited the British, and in thiscondition General Packenham found the troops on his arrival on Christmasday with reinforcements, to take the chief command. He was a veteran, fresh from the Spanish peninsula, and was delighted to find under hiscontrol some of the best of Wellington's regiments. 

He immediately prepared to effect the capture of New Orleans and thesubjugation of Louisiana without delay. With hot shot the annoying_Carolinia_ was burned, and the _Louisiana_ was the only American vesselleft on the river. 

Jackson was wide awake, however, and began throwing up a line ofintrenchments from the banks of the Mississippi to an almostimpenetrable swamp in the rear, four miles from New Orleans. 

There has been some dispute in regard to the redoubt which defended NewOrleans. There was an old story that a part of the redoubt was composedof cotton bales taken from a rich planter named Mulanthy, and that thecotton bales were afterward sold with hundreds of pounds of Britishbullets in them. General Harney, in the Washington _Sunday Herald_, several years ago denied this story. General Harney said:

"I asked General Jackson, General Adair and General Coffee, the latterhaving the immediate command of a brigade of Tennessee and Kentuckysharpshooters, whose long rifles mainly did the work of death, if therewere cotton bales used at all, and they all answered that the only worksthe Americans had were of earth, about two and a half feet high, rudelyconstructed of fence-rails and logs laid twenty-four inches apart, andthe space between them filled with earth, and if there had been anyworks constructed from cotton bales they must have known it. " GeneralHarney was made by the Washington _Herald_ to say that in 1825 he waspromoted to captain in the first infantry, and sent to Nashville, Tennessee, to recruit for his regiment, and while there he met withGenerals Jackson and Coffee, from whom he obtained many points of thebattle which have never been in print. 

Fernando had seen no service since leaving Mariana on the Marylandcoast. His riflemen were eager to meet the foe; but in the nightencounter they had been detailed to guard the city, and preserve thepeace. Day by day they had expected the enemy to advance to the attack;but the 7th of January, 1815, passed, and the British had not yet movedto the attack, further than some skirmishing and cannonading. On thenight of the 7th, the Americans slept on their arms, for they knewPackenham would not long delay. The memorable morning of January 8, 1815, dawned at last. 

There was a heavy fog on the river, and the British troops had actuallyformed and were advancing before Jackson had made his arrangements. Fernando had just roused Sukey, who, having been on guard most of thenight, slept late, when he saw General Jackson on his white horse gallopup to where General Coffee and his staff stood. At this moment the foglifted a little, and the formation of the British army was seen, andFernando heard Jackson exclaim:

"By G--, they are ours!"

"They are coming, Sukey!" said Fernando. "Get your gun!". 

"Won't they give me time to eat my breakfast?" Sukey asked. 

"I am afraid not. "

At this moment, Job, who was Fernando's cook, came running forward withsome broiled beefsteak on the end of a ramrod. He gave it to Sukeyand said:

"Heah, massa, take dis an' chomp um down foh dey git near enough tofight. I's gwine ter git my gun an' teach 'em dis chile ain't got noAngler Saxun blood in his veins. "

Sukey presented an odd figure, for he wore no uniform. His head wascovered with an old, low, broad-brimmed hat. He sat on the carriage of abrass gun near and ate his breakfast, while watching the enemy advanceto the attack. 

Coffee's part of the line, to which Fernando was attached, was on theflank extending to the swamp. About a quarter of a mile from it, therewas a huge plantation drainage canal, such as are common in Louisianalowlands. At this, General Packenham formed his first attacking column. His formation was a column in mass of about fifty files front. This wasformed under the fire of the regular artillerists in a little redoubt inCoffee's front and that of some cannon taken from a man-of-war, placedin a battery on the river and served by sailors. Coffee, seeing thedirection of the attack, which was intended to turn his flank, dasheddown the line saying to his men:

"Hold your fire until you can see their belt-buckles. "

The riflemen were formed in two ranks so that one rank would load whilethe other was firing. 

Fernando's position behind the earthworks was near an old oak tree, which threw out its branches about his head. Sukey stood at his sideholding his long rifle in one hand and his broiled meat and sea-biscuitin the other. The enemy came boldly forward, and a finer display wasnever seen on review. Their lines were well dressed and Packenham, onhis snow white charger, rode as boldly as if he had no fear of death. AsSukey munched his hard biscuit, his eyes were steadfastly fixed on LordPackenham. 

"Say, Fernando, ain't that fellow on the big horse General Packenham?"

"No doubt of it, Sukey. "

"He'd wipe out the score of what's left of one hundred and eight, " saidSukey, swallowing his last bite of biscuit at one gulp and examining thepriming in his gun. 

Colonel Smiley was first to give orders to fire from Fernando's part ofthe work, and there rang out a volley all along the line. The brasspieces on their right began blazing away with the heavy iron cannon downtoward the river, which with the rattling of small arms almost made theground quake under their feet. Directly after the firing began, CaptainPatterson, from Knox County, Kentucky, came running along. He leaped onthe breastwork, and, stooping a moment to look through the darkness, aswell as he could, shouted:

"Shoot low, boys! shoot low! rake them! rake them! They're comin' ontheir all-fours!"

It was so dark that little could be seen, until just about the time thebattle ceased. The morning had dawned, but the dense fog and thick smokeobscured the sun. The Kentuckians did not seem to appreciate theirdanger, but loaded and fired, and swore, laughed and joked as though itwere a frolic. All ranks and sections were soon broken and after thefirst volley every man loaded and fired at will. Sukey did not fire asoften as some of the others, but at every shot he went up to thebreastwork, looked over until he could see a redcoat, and then takingaim blazed away. After each shot he paused to write in his book. Lieutenant Ashby, who had had a brother killed at the River Raisin, seemed frantic with rage and fiendish glee. He ran up and down theline yelling:

"We'll pay you now for the River Raisin! We'll give you something toremember the River Raisin!" When the British came up on the oppositeside of the breastwork, having no gun, he picked up a rifle barrel whichhad been broken from the stock and threw it over at them. Then findingan iron bar he leaped upon the breastwork and threw it at the mass ofheads crowding forward to scale their works. 

While the conflict was at its height, when Packenham was leading thelast grand charge against the earthworks. Major Stevens' attention wasdirected by repeated and vociferous shouts to "come down, " to an objecton his right. Turning his eyes in that direction, he saw Sukey, standingcoolly on the top of the breastwork peering into the darkness forsomething to shoot at. The balls were whistling as thick as hail aroundhim, and cutting up the dirt at his feet. 

"Come down, Sukey, come down!" Fernando commanded. Sukey turned roundand, holding up the flap of his old, broad-brimmed hat with one hand, tosee who was speaking to him, answered:

"Oh, never mind, Fernando--here's Sukey--I don't want to waste mypowder, and I'd like to know how I'm to shoot until I see something. I'mwatching for that man on the big white horse. "

It was not long until Sukey got his eye on the man on the big whitehorse, and leveling his rifle pulled the trigger. At that instantPackenham fell, bleeding and dying, into the arms of Sir DuncanMcDougall, his favorite aid, who performed a similar service for GeneralRoss when he was mortally wounded a few months before. Sukey coollydescended from the breastwork and, sitting down at the root of a tree, took out his book and said:

"I've balanced the score. They flogged me; but, by the eternal, I'm morethan even. "

During the action some of the Tennesseeans became mixed with Smiley'sregiment. One of them was killed about five yards from where Fernandostood. A ball passed through his head, and from the range of Britishbullets it seemed quite probable that he was accidentally shot by someof the Americans. This was the only man killed near where Fernandostood. The firing began to slacken when he fell. While three or four menwere carrying the body away, a white flag was raised on the oppositeside of the breastwork, and the firing ceased. The white flag was ahandkerchief on a sword or stick. It was raised by a British major, whowas cut off and unable to retreat with the main army. When the firingceased, he came over the breastwork. A little Tennesseean, who looked asif he had spent his days in the fever-infested swamps, demanded hissword; but the officer was looking about for some commissioned officerto give it to, when Colonel Smiley, whose democratic principles were atenmity with punctilio, ordered him to hand over the sword to "Paleface, "as the youth was called. A great many who were unable to escape in theretreat, came over and surrendered. Among them, Fernando saw a veryneatly dressed young man, standing on the edge of the breastworkoffering his hand as if for some one to assist him down. He was not overnineteen years of age, and his language and manner indicated thegentleman. 

Major Stevens took his musket and set it against the breastwork andassisted him to the ground. He at once began to take off his cartouchbox, and the major noticed a red spot on his clean, white under jacket. 

"Are you wounded?" Fernando asked. 

"Yes, sir, and I fear badly. "

"Let me help you, my man!" said the major, unbuckling his belt. 

"Please don't take my canteen, for it contains my water. "

"I shall not take anything that does not encumber you. "

Just then one of the Tennesseeans who had gone down to the river forwater came along with some in a coffee-pot. The wounded man saw him, and said:

"I am very thirsty, sir, will you please give me a drop?"

"Oh, yes, " said the Tennesseean. "I will treat you to anything I havegot. " The young man took the coffee-pot and swallowed two or threemouthfuls out of the spout, and handed it back. In an instant, Fernandosaw him sinking backward. He called to Sukey, who was near, and theyeased him down against the side of a tent, where he gave two or threegasps and was dead. He had been shot through the breast. 

A number of British soldiers and officers had sought shelter from thefire of the Americans in the ditch on the other side of the breastwork. These, of course, being unable to retreat came in and surrendered. Whenthe smoke lifted from the battlefield it disclosed a terrible spectacle. The field looked like a sea of blood, for it was literally covered withredcoats. Straight out before their position, the entire space occupiedby the British troops was covered with dead or wounded. In some places, where the lines had made a stand, they lay in piles like winrows of hay, while the intervals between were more thinly sprinkled. About twohundred yards directly in front of their position, lay a large dapplegray horse, which was said to have belonged to Packenham. Nearly halfway between the horse and the breastworks was a heap of slain, markingthe spot where Packenham fell; his horse having retreated some distancebefore it went down. 

The battle was over, and Sukey sat down to finish his breakfast whichhad been interrupted by the stirring event. 

The British left seven hundred dead and fourteen hundred wounded on thefield, while five hundred were made prisoners making a loss oftwenty-six hundred. The Americans lost eight killed andthirteen wounded. 

Packenham and three of his general officers slain in the fight were sentto England in casks of rum for burial. The British troops under GeneralLambert stole noiselessly away on the night of the 19th across LakeBorgne, in small transports, and escaped to the fleet. They thenbesieged Fort Bowyer for two days, February 20th and 21st, when MajorLawrence, who was in command, was compelled to surrender, and thevictors were about to push on to Mobile, when they were arrested bytidings of peace. 

The treaty of peace was signed at Ghent on December 24th, 1814, but, owing to the slow means of communication in those days, it was not knownin America until the following February, or the battle of New Orleanswould never have been fought. 

CHAPTER XX. 

CONCLUSION. 

Though the United States of America had sustained their honor in the warof 1812, the fight was never fought to a finish, nor were the results assatisfactory as might have been hoped. 

Had peace been made a little later, America might have obtained muchbetter terms. The war had been waged under great difficulties by theAmericans, who were not wholly united, and lacked money, men, arms, ships and experience, yet, under all these great difficulties, theUnited States came out of the war with the respect of the world, such asit had never before enjoyed. It became formidable to Europe as a greatand vigorous power, with which it was not safe to trifle. 

This was still more apparent, when the government declared war on thedey of Algiers, one of the pirate princes of North Africa, who, forhundreds of years, had made war on the commerce of all nations almostwith impunity. Having violated their treaty, President Madison sent anaval force to the Mediterranean, which, on June 17th and 19th, captured two Algerian vessels-of-war and threatened Algiers. The deymade peace and gave liberty to all prisoners without ransom, and fullsatisfaction for damages to commerce. 

The people of the new republic, learning by experience, in the year1816, began improving their coast defences and increasing their navy. Commerce and manufacturers were encouraged. In the autumn of 1816, JamesMonroe was elected president of the United States. On December 11, 1816, Indiana was admitted to the Union as a State. 

With Monroe's administration, a new era dawned for America. The failureof the French revolution, and, finally, the failure of NapoleonBonaparte and the re-establishment of the old monarchy in France, as theresult first of the excesses of the French republic, and then of themilitary interference of Bonaparte with the existing state of things inEurope, had an important influence in modifying the politics of theRepublican party in the United States; so they came, partially inJefferson's administration and completely by the close of Madison's, tofollow the wise and vigorous policy pursued by Washington and theFederal party; while the general government and the institutions of thecountry became deeply imbued with the regard to popular rights, andattention to the interests and will of the people that formed theleading idea of Jefferson and the original Democratic, or, as it wasthen called, Republican party. 

The leading events of Monroe's two administrations were the attentiongiven to internal improvements, among which may be mentioned the Eriecanal in New York, the encouragement of manufactures, the acquisition ofFlorida by treaty, the Seminole war, the Missouri compromise, December14th, 1819, the Monroe Doctrine, promulgated in 1822, and the visit ofGeneral Lafayette to the United States, in August, 1824. 

But little explanation of these events is necessary. In December, 1817, Mississippi was admitted into the Union, and Alabama became a territory. On March 2, 1819, Arkansas was organized into a territory, and onDecember 14, Alabama was admitted to the Union. In this year commencedthe earnest and acrimonious discussion between the North and South inregard to the extension of slavery. Both Maine and Missouri soughtadmission as States. Maine was admitted, March 15th, 1820, and, after atwo years' wild debate, it was thought the whole question of slavery wassettled by the Missouri Compromise, February 27, 1821. This compromisewas the adoption of a provision in the bill for the admission ofMissouri, that in all territory south of thirty-six degrees and thirtyminutes north latitude (the southern boundary of the State of Missouri)slavery might exist; but it was prohibited in the region north of thatline. A member of congress from Georgia prophetically said in the courseof the debate:

"A fire has been kindled, which all the waters of the ocean cannot putout, and which only seas of blood can extinguish. " Had the MissouriCompromise been kept inviolate to the present day, slavery might stillhave existed below thirty-six degrees and thirty minutes north latitude. 

The commerce of the United States was greatly injured by swarms ofprivateers under Spanish-American flags, who had degenerated intopirates, and so became outlaws, subject to chastisement by any nation. 

They infested the West Indian seas and the northern coast of SouthAmerica. Against these pirates and to protect American commerce, theUnited States sent Commodore Perry, with two ships of war, in the springof 1819. Perry died of yellow fever soon after his arrival in southernwaters. In June, 1822, Captain Allen, of the United States schooner_Alligator_, successfully fought a band of pirates in the West Indies, captured one of their schooners, and recaptured five American vessels;but Captain Allen was subsequently killed in an encounter with the boldbuccaneers. The next year Commodore Porter, with a larger force, entered the pirate infested waters and almost completely destroyed thebuccaneers. It was the policy of the government of the United States tofavor the revolt of the Spanish-American provinces, whose flag thesepirates had dishonored, as a means for preventing the establishment, inthe future, of monarchical powers on the American continent. The latterpolicy was avowed by the president, and has never been lost sight of byour government, and is known in history as the "Monroe Doctrine. "Accordingly, on the recommendation of the president, congress, early in1822, resolved by a unanimous vote to recognize the independence of fiveof the revolted colonies, and appropriated $100, 000 to defray theexpenses of envoys to the seat of government of each, whom the presidentsoon afterward appointed. 

The year 1824 was marked by the visit of Washington's and America's bestfriend General Lafayette. As every boy has read of the visit of thisgood man, only a brief mention of so important an event is necessary. Hearrived at New York August 15, 1824, and never did visitor receive sowarm welcome by any nation. 

"Many interesting incidents occurred during Lafayette's tour through thecountry. A touching one was related to the writer, many years ago, byGeorge Washington Parke Custis, the adopted son of General Washington. In October, 1824, Lafayette visited Mount Vernon and the tomb ofWashington. He was conveyed to the shore from the steamboat in a barge, accompanied by his son (who had lived at Mount Vernon with Custis whenthey were boys), secretary John C. Calhoun, and Mr. Custis. At theshore, he was received by Lawrence Lewis, a nephew of Washington, andthe family of Judge Bushrod Washington, who was absent on officialbusiness. He was conducted to the mansion where, forty years before, hetook his last leave of the patriot, whom he most sincerely loved as afather. Then the company proceeded to the tomb of Washington (the oldone on the brow of the hill), when Mr. Custis, after a brief speech, presented the general with a gold ring containing a lock of Washington'shair. Lafayette received it with emotion, and, after thanking the donor, he affectionately embraced him and the other gentlemen present. Then hefervently pressed his lips to the door of the vault. It was opened andthere were displayed the coffins of Washington and his wife, decoratedwith flowers. The general descended the steps, kissed the leadencaskets, while tears suffused his cheeks, and then reverently retired. "[Footnote: Lossing's "Our Country, " Vol. V. , p. 1327. ]

Shortly after peace was declared, Fernando's regiment was mustered outof the service, and he and Sukey went to their homes in Ohio. Both haddone their share toward preserving the honor of their country and wishedto retire to private life. A great change had come over Sukey. The textquoted by Fernando on the morning when they found Captain Snipes deadamong the rocks seemed ever to ring in his ear. 

"Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord. " He proceeded to acareful study of the sentence, and from that became a student of theBible. A few days after their return, he said:

"Fernando, what I did during the war was right, but was not done in theright spirit. I shot from revenge. I killed because I hated the Britishofficers. I seemed to feel the stinging cuts of the cat on my back. Thatflogging made a devil of me. I hated the sight of a redcoat. It's allgone now--not that my revenge is satiated, but because I am changed. Anew light has been opened up to my mind, and I can see it was nodisgrace to be flogged for freedom. It was the ignorance of my enemiesthat I should have pitied instead of condemned. "

Fernando suspected the bent of Sukey's mind long before he made theannouncement that he intended to enter the ministry. Back to theMaryland Academy at Baltimore went Sukey. He entered the theologicaldepartment, and four years later began a long and successfulministerial career. 

Major Stevens had not forgotten his promise to pay the Maryland villagea visit. If he had been disposed to forget his promise, which he wasnot, he would have been reminded of it by a letter which he receivedshortly after he returned home. The envelope was small, and thesuperscription was written in a neat feminine hand. Small as theenvelope was, the letter contained much, for it was closely written andevery page filled from top to bottom. There were other letters andpetitions from the grateful citizens asking him to be present at thebarbecue and Fourth of July celebration at the town of Mariana. None ofthese letters or invitations had stronger effect to induce him to take ajourney to Maryland, than the closely penned missive did, though it wasonly a friendly letter. 

Fernando set out the first of June. Peace again reigned over the fairland, and the country was all ablaze with glory. The ploughboy's whistlewas heard in every field in harmony with the lark. The journey by mailcoach was a pleasant one, for, being in no great haste, he traveled byeasy stages, stopping over frequently to rest. He saw on every handevidence of awakening interest and prosperity. New houses were building;new towns were laid out; new fields were inviting the ploughman; thebusy hum of industry everywhere filled the heart of the patriot, and hemore than once exclaimed:

"What a great country is ours!"

He arrived at Baltimore at the close of a delightful day, and alightedin front of the principal tavern. Some one, rushing across the street, pushed pedestrians right and left and howled in a voice loud enough tobe heard three blocks away:

"Tear and ages! Clear the track!--that's himself--divil a one else!"

This exclamation came from Terrence Malone, who, bareheaded and in shirtsleeves, was rushing through the throng of people on the street inreckless disregard of high hats and crinoline. Women screamed and onehysterical creature tried to faint, but was restrained by the fear thather elegant costume might be soiled. 

"Call the watchman! Take that fellow and lock him up! knock him down!Who is the wretch?"

These are only a part of the imprecations heaped on the devoted head ofTerrence Malone, who, regardless of everything and everybody, burst hisway through the crowd and reached Fernando's side. 

"O, murther! O; holy mother! O, Moses! Is it yersilf safe afther all?"

The poor fellow could say no more, but burst into tears, for a moretender heart never beat in any breast. Terrence had just arrived an hourbefore in Baltimore, having come from a long cruise in which he broughtfour prizes, for the privateers were slow to learn that the war wasover. He had put up at a rival house across the street and just removedhis coat for a bath, when, looking out of the window, he recognized hisold friend alighting from the stage coach. 

All former arrangements were cancelled and Fernando and Terrence thatevening occupied the same room. There was much to talk about. Terrencetold him that Mr. Hugh St. Mark the "illigant" gunner had served in thelast cruise on his vessel, and he never seemed to tire of talking abouthim. He was a "gintleman, " from the sole of his foot to the crown of hishead. Mr. St. Mark was on the ship in the harbor, and next day cameashore. He greeted the major with his kind quiet smile. Fernando learnedthat neither had been to Mariana since the bombardment and destructionof the _Xenophon_. He prevailed on them to accompany him, and next dayin a swift yacht they sailed out of the harbor and down the coast. Thescenery revived many recollections of Fernando's early experience. Theypassed the point where he had fought his duel, and he could not repressa smile at the ludicrous termination of what had so nearly proved aserious affair. Terrence did most of the talking, for Fernando was busywith his own reflections. He was asking himself if it might be possiblethat he would be just in time to witness the nuptials of Matson andMorgianna. He had never freed himself from the thought that she lovedthe lieutenant. Her regard for himself was gratitude not love. He wouldnot allow himself to believe that she entertained a more tendersentiment. 

When they arrived at Mariana the people congregated in a great crowd onthe beach, and the local martial band, consisting of three drums and afife, played "Yankee Doodle. " while Fernando and his friends wereescorted to the tavern. Here a local orator, who had been three times anunsuccessful candidate for a seat in the halls of the legislature, madea short speech. This had scarcely terminated in three rousing cheers, when a carriage from Captain Lane's house came rattling down the street. The captain was in the vehicle. 

"Why are you cheering? Who has arrived?" he demanded. 

"Major Stevens, who saved Mariana, when the British were about to takeit, " the orator answered. 

"Where is he?"

"In the tavern. "

"But he is not going to stay there!" thundered the old sailor, rollingout of his carriage and rushing on the piazza. "I have made room in myown house for him, and, by the trident of Neptune! he shall comewith me. "

Fernando, hearing the voice of his old friend, came out to grasp hishand; and Captain Lane, pointing to his carriage, swore he had come totake him bag and baggage to his house. Fernando explained that he hadtwo friends; but the captain did not care if he had a dozen, and in lesstime than the whole matter could be told the three travellers foundthemselves in the vehicle whirling up the avenue of trees, many of whichstill bore the marks of shells and cannon shot. 

The greeting between Fernando and Morgianna was warm, but formal. Terrence impulsively grasped the little hand of the "maid o' the beach, "as he called her, and paid her some pretty compliment, which caused herto blush, enhancing her beauty a hundred fold. 

She was formally introduced to Mr. St. Mark, the gunner whose skill hadsaved them. She had seen the quiet man at a distance during the siege, but had never talked with him. 

"Say, Fernando, do yez mark how Misther St. Mark stares at MissMorgianna?" asked Terrence that evening. "Bad luck to his ill manners, if he wasn't so ould, I'd think he was in love with her. "

Fernando made no response. Captain Lane, during the evening, engagedSt. Mark in a discussion about General Jackson, who was undergoing atrial by the civil courts of New Orleans for the violation of the civillaws in saving the city. Captain Lane was loud in his condemnation ofthe Peace faction, which, not satisfied with having thrown everypossible obstacle in the way of the administration in the prosecution ofthe war, was now ridiculing the manner in which it had terminated. 

Fernando and Morgianna, during the course of the evening, foundthemselves alone, and he ventured to ask:

"Is Lieutenant Matson in America?"

"I think not, " she answered, in a careless way that astonished him. Hefixed his eyes on the floor for a moment, and then ventured to say:

"Pardon me, Miss Lane, but as your friend I am interested in youraffairs;--when is it to come off?"

"When is what to come off?" she asked in real surprise. 

"Your marriage with Lieutenant Matson. "

She gazed at him a moment in astonishment, and then her old nativemischievousness got control, and she laughed outright. His veryearnestness gave the affair an air of ludicrousness. 

"I am in earnest, Miss Lane, " said Fernando, seriously. 

"So I perceive, " and she still laughed provokingly. 

"May I ask if you have not been engaged all along to Lieutenant Matson?"

"No. "

"When was it broken off?"

"It never was made. "

Fernando turned his face away to hide his confusion and said half aloud:

"Have I been a fool all along? If it was not the lieutenant, then who inthe name of reason was it?" The roguish creature seemed really to enjoythis discomfiture. Fernando's cheek had never blanched in battle, but inthe presence of this little maiden he was a coward. After severalefforts in which he found the old malady of something rising in histhroat returning, he said:

"But, Morgianna, was he not your lover?"

"No, he was father's friend; but I could never love him, though Itreated him respectfully. " She was serious now. 

"Then, Morgianna, who was it?" he asked impulsively. She was silent. Hewaited but a second or two and went on. "Some one surely stood in theway of our--my happiness. I had hoped that you did not despise me. Iscarce dared to think you loved me, but it was some one, --who stoodin my way?"

Her cheek grew crimson as the rich blood mounted to neck and face, andin a voice scarce audible she answered:

"No one!"

"Morgianna!" he whispered, "dare I hope--dare I for one minute--" he hadrisen to his feet and was standing at her side with wildly beatingheart. She made no answer, but her long drooping lashes almost concealedher eyes, as she gazed on the floor. 

He advanced a step nearer, bent over and took one little trembling handin his own. She did not attempt to withdraw it this time, and, gentlyslipping his disengaged arm about her waist, he murmured:

"Morgianna!"

Still she was silent. He went on:

"You know how I have loved you all these years;--you must have known howI have suffered and braved dangers untold. I sought--defied death, because I deemed you lost. I spared the man I thought my rival, becauseI believed you loved him. Though a young man, there are gray hairs in myhead, for it has been a living death since that night, Morgianna. Whyhave you----"

"Oh, don't, don't!" she plead, tears starting to her beautiful eyes. "Don't speak that way--forgive me. "

"Morgianna!" cried Fernando, "Morgianna!"

"Call me that; aye call me that always, " exclaimed the captain's littledaughter; "never speak coldly to me, never be distant, never againreprove me for the follies I have long repented, or I shall die, Fernando. "

"I reprove you!" said Fernando. 

"Yes, for every kind and honest word you uttered went to my heart. Foryou who have borne so much from me--for you, who owe your suffering tomy caprice--for you to be so kind--so noble to me--oh, Fernando!"

He could say nothing, not a syllable. There was an odd sort of eloquencein his arm, which had crept further round her waist, and their lips met. 

The barbecue and celebration was next day. Fernando was present, but alittle absent-minded. When called on for a speech, his ideas wereconfused, and he was about to break down, when a voice behind himwhispered:

"Ye're makin' a divil's own mess of it, Fernando, lave it to me. "

He took Terrence at his word, and announced that his Irish friend, oneof the defenders of Mariana, would now address them, and gave way to theorator. Terrence did the subject justice. With the rich brogue ofIreland rolling from his tongue, he avowed himself an American. Hedeclared that he was a better American than many present, as he was anAmerican from choice, and they by necessity. Terrence was an orator, andwith his ready wit, soon had the audience roaring and wild withenthusiasm. 

Fernando did not hear much of the speech, for he and Morgianna hadstolen away to the rocky promontory to listen to the sad sea waves, while they built air castles for the future. 

Next day, Mr. St. Mark expressed a wish to see Captain Lane in private. The request was granted, and when they were alone in the apartment ofthe old sea-captain, St. Mark said:

"Pardon me, Captain Lane; but I wish to speak to you on family matters, which may seem not to concern me. "

"Heave ahead, shipmate, for I have no family secrets. "

"Will you tell me the maiden name of your wife?"

"I never had a wife. "

This announcement brought St. Mark to his feet, and his usually placidfeatures exhibited the wildest excitement. "Never married! But yourdaughter--"

"Only daughter by adoption, shipmate. She is no blood relation to me, though I love her as dearly as any father could. "

"But her father--her mother?"

"I don't know who either of them are, I can only suspect. "

"Don't you know their names?"

"I never did. "

"This is remarkable!" and the features of the usually quiet man betrayedthe greatest excitement. "Where did you find her and when?"

"I found her at sea when she was a baby, too young to speak or rememberanything of herself. "

"Captain Lane, do you mind telling me all about the finding of her?"

The captain did not, and proceeded to tell him the story of Morgianna, which the reader already knows. St. Mark had regained his composure atthe conclusion of the story and, in a calm, clear voice, said:

"Captain, I may have the sequel to your story. I am a native of Vermontand, at the age of twenty-two, married Bertha Rigdon of Boston, whosebrother Alfred, like myself, was a sea captain. We were both young, ardent lovers of liberty, and thoroughly imbued with the ideas of ThomasJefferson in regard to the French Revolution. When our governmentrefused to take up the quarrel with France, we determined to espouse hercause ourselves. Both our fathers had died prisoners on board the old_Jersey_ prison ship, and we felt that our lives should be devoted toavenging them. This resolution was wicked, and perhaps the punishmentwhich followed we deserved. 

"We each commanded a vessel which began a warfare on English commerce, defying all their embargo acts and neutrality laws. We were soondeclared outlaws and prices set on our heads. Not only Great Britain, but Spain, Prussia and Austria declared us pirates, and our owngovernment dared not shelter us. 

"My wife, with our infant child, accompanied me on my last voyage. I wassailing in company with her brother, Captain Alf Rigdon, when we werechased by some British cruisers off Rio in June, 1796, and Alf's brigbeing the swiftest sailer, I sent my wife and child aboard his vessel, with a large sum of money to have them conveyed to the United States andcared for until we could return. 

"I parted from the ship and after a three days' chase was overhauled bythe British cruisers and captured. I was forced to join her navy to savemy life, and served Great Britain until I deserted during the siege ofMariana. I have never heard of my brother-in-law, my wife orchild since. "

Captain Lane prided himself on being able to control his feelings underall circumstances; but it required no little effort for him to do sonow. After a few moments, he asked:

"What was the name of your brother-in-law's ship?"

"_Morgianna_!"

Captain Lane did not start, for he expected this. 

"Was he a free mason?"

"Yes, sir. "

"Can you describe how he looked then?"

"He was about thirty-five years of age, a little above middle height, with a broad forehead, over which fine brown hair fell in carelessfolds; he wore his beard and mustache long, the beard extending in apoint two or three inches below the throat. His eyes were brown, largeand full of expression while in conversation. He was brave, noble, andall that goes to make up a grand man. "

"And your wife, can you describe her?"

"She was an exact counterpart of your daughter. "

Captain Lane rose and with considerable emotion grasped the hand of St. Mark, and said:

"My daughter is your daughter. "

Then came the serious task of breaking the intelligence to Morgianna. 

It was done deliberately and quietly, without any sensational scene. Yether joy at discovering her father increased her happiness almost tooverflowing. "I am more blest than most girls, " she declared. "I havetwo fathers, and while I will learn to love my new father, I will notforget to love my old father. "

The marriage of Fernando and Morgianna was celebrated the followingautumn at the new church which had been erected over the Ashes of theformer one. Both of Morgianna's fathers were present; but to her realfather was consigned the honor of giving away the bride. 

Terrence and Sukey were present. The Irishman declared the matter mighthave been consummated long ago if they had only left it to him. 

The wedding day was made a public holiday in the village. Never in allits existence was the little hamlet so gay. Bands played, choruses sang, and the old cannon, still left at the tumble-down fort, fired a salute, while American flags waved from every house. The local orator, who stillentertained hopes of the legislature, delivered a stirring address. 

Job, who heard of the happy event, came all the way from Baltimore toshake the hand of "Massa Stevens" and wish him much joy. 

"I iz all right now, massa, " he declared. "I iz found my own sure enoughmassa agin, an' I'm goin' back to work for him all de time. No moregoin' to sea fer me; I iz no Britisher. "

Fernando and his father-in-law, soon after his marriage, engaged inmanufacturing enterprises in New England, with Captain Lane as thesilent partner and moneyed man of the enterprise. Home industries havingbeen fostered by the war, American manufactures promised abright future. 

Sukey was for many years a prominent minister of the Gospel in Ohio. Terrence studied law and became a leading member of thePhiladelphia bar. 

Mariana is now no more. Time and disaster have swept it from thepeninsula, and to-day it remains only in the memory of the oldestinhabitants. The Stevens family, though subjected to many disasters, hasgrown, and become a part of the history of the country. The humble partplayed by Fernando in sustaining the honor of his country has never beenrecorded by the general historian; but it lingers in the memory of thegrateful posterity of many of the heroic men and women who lived in thetrying days of the early history of the Great Republic of the New World. 

THE END. 

HISTORICAL INDEX. 

 * * * * *

Adams, John, first minister to Court of St. James

Adams' proposition of reciprocity rejected by England

Alabama and Arkansas organized as Territories and Alabama becomes a State

_Alert_ captured by the _Essex_

Alexandria plundered by British

Algerians force Americans to pay tribute

American army at Detroit

Americans attacked at River Raisin

Americans return to Detroit

Americans repulsed at La Colle

American troops at Bladensburg

Attack by British on Plattsburg fails

Bainbridge forced to convey the Algerine ambassador to Constantinople

Baltimore threatened by the enemy

Barclay, Commodore, defeated at Lake Erie

Barker, Mr. , warns Mrs. Madison to fly

Barron, Commodore, suspended from the navy

Battle of Bladensburg

Battle of Chicago

Battle of Chippewa

Battle of Chrysler's Farm

Battle of Emucfau

Battle of Fort Stephenson

Battle of Horse-shoe Bend

Battle of Lake Erie

Battle of Lundy's Lane

Battle of New Orleans

Battle of Queenstown

Battle of River Raisin

Battle of Sackett's Harbor

Battle of the Thames and death of Tecumseh

Battle of Tippecanoe

Black Partridge saves Mrs. Helm at Chicago

Blockades of French and English

Bonaparte conquers almost all of Europe

Boerstler, General, captured at Beaver's Dam

British agent at Pensacola offers Indians five dollars for each scalp

British arraigned by committee on foreign relations

British at Lake Borgne

British capture Washington, and burn Capitol

British discrimination in favor of New England States

British impressment of American seamen

British repulsed at Fort Erie

British instigate Indians to an uprising

Brock, General, proceeds to attack Detroit

Brown, General Jacob, at Kingston

Brown repulses Prevost at Sackett's Harbor

Brown, General, at Lundy's Lane

Burr's, Aaron, conspiracy

Calhoun, John C. , in debate favors war

Camp meeting in the old pioneer days

Canada divided into Upper and Lower Canada

Canada, invasion of

Chandler and Winder, Generals, captured

Chauncey, Commodore, blockading British at Kingston

_Chesapeake_ attacked by _Leopard_

_Chesapeake_ captured by _Shannon_

Citizen Genet, insolence of

Clay, Henry, speaker of the house of representatives

_Clermont_, Fulton's first steamboat

Coffee, General, defeats Indians at Tallahatchee

Committee of Democrats inform Madison he must declare war

Contraband munitions of war

_Constitution_, the, captures _Guerriere_

_Constitution_, the, captures the _Java_

_Constitution_, February 28, 1815, captures two British vessels

Creek Indians in South attack Fort Mimms

Croghan, Major George, in command of Fort Stephenson

Dearborn commissioned major-general

Decatur, Stephen, destroys ship _Philadelphia_

Defeat of the prophet

Democratic party, how organized

Detroit besieged

Detroit surrendered by Hull

"Don't give up the ship"

Dudley, Colonel, mortally wounded near Fort Meigs

Effects of the Embargo Act

Embargo Act of 1807

Embargo laid on commerce for forty days before declaring war

Emigrants to the Ohio--the journey

Emperor of Russia offers himself as a mediator between the United States and Great Britain

England's idea of American independence of colonies

_Enterprise_, the, captures the British _Boxer_

_Essex_ captures the _Alert_ in a fight of eight minutes

_Essex_ captures twelve British whalers

_Essex_ captured by two British men-of-war

Federal party, how organized

Floyd, General, defeats Indians at Autossee

Fort Stephenson, British repulsed at

Fort George captured by General Scott and Commodore Perry

Fort Erie strengthened by General Ripley

Fort McHenry bombarded

Fort Bowyer, British repulsed at

"Free Trade and Sailors' Eights, " motto of _Essex_

French Revolution, its effect on American politics

_Frolic_, British ship, captured by American _Wasp_

_Frolic_ captured by _Orpheus_

Great Britain holds her posts in violation of treaty

Greenville, the prophet at

_Guerriere_ captured by Hull

Hamilton, Alexander, leader of the Federalists

Hamilton, Alexander, murdered by Aaron Burr

Harrison, General W. H. , invites Tecumseh and the prophet to a council at Vincennes

Harrison prepares to attack the prophet

Harrison at Tippecanoe

Harrison attacked at 4 o'clock A. M. 

Harrison succeeds Hull

Harrison, General, at Fort Meigs

Harrison, offended at General Armstrong, the secretary of war, resigns

Heald, Captain, at Fort Dearborn, notified of the fall of Mackinaw

Heald attacked near Fort Dearborn or Chicago

Heald, Captain, and wife saved from massacre

Helm, Mrs. , saved by Black Partridge

Henry, John, gets admission to Madison by a letter from Elbridge Gerry

Henry sells President Madison his papers

Houston's, Sam, General, victory at Horse-shoe Bend

_Hornet_ captures the _Peacock_

_Hornet_ captures the _Penguin_

Hull, Governor of Territory of Michigan

Hull in Washington, made Brigadier-General

Hull invades Canada; retreats

Hull at Detroit

Hull surrenders Detroit

Hull convicted of cowardice but pardoned

Hull, Captain, captures the _Guerriere_

Indians, treaty with, for Ohio lands

Indians, instigated by British to uprising

Indians plundering on the Wabash

Indiana and Illinois become Territories

Inhabitants of the Great West

Internal improvements after the war of 1812

Irish-American patriotism

Jackson, General Andrew, in command in the South

Jackson defeats Creeks at Emucfau

Jackson charging into Pensacola

Jackson at New Orleans

Jackson attacks the British camp

Jefferson, Thomas, founder of Democratic party, moved by French Revolution

Jefferson and Hamilton's opposing views on French Revolution

Jefferson, Thomas, elected President

Jefferson, description of; his policy

Jefferson's cabinet

Jefferson's ideas of peace and war

Johnson, R. M. , Colonel, at the Thames

Keane, General, threatening New Orleans

Key, Mr. Francis S. , the poet, composing the "Star Spangled Banner" while a prisoner

King George III. Hopelessly insane; Prince of Wales ruler

Lafayette's, General, visit to America

Lafitte, Jean, pirate of the Gulf, offers his services to Jackson

Lake Erie, battle of

Lambert, General, retreats from New Orleans

Laulewasikaw, the prophet, Tecumseh's twin brother

Lawrence, Captain, death of

Legislatures by concurrent resolutions ask Congress to declare war

Lewistown, Delaware, bombarded

Louisiana purchased from France

Louisiana admitted to the union

Mackinaw captured

_Macedonian_ captured by Decatur

Madison, James, President; his cabinet

Madison's political changes

Madison's inaugural address makes him popular

Madison's message to Congress to declare war against Great Britain

Madison re-elected President of the United States

Madison's second inauguration

Madison and cabinet flying from Bladensburg

Madison, Mrs. , saves Washington's picture and parchment of the Declaration of Independence

Maine becomes a State

Maiden captured by Americans

Marcy, Wm. L. , captures first British colors

Massacre at River Raisin

Maumee Rapids, Harrison building Fort Meigs at

Measures taken to sustain the declaration of war

Miller defeats Indians

Miller, Colonel, at Lundy's Lane

Ministers of the Gospel on the frontier

Missouri Compromise

Monroe, James, elected President of United States

Monroe Doctrine

_Nautilus_ captured by _Peacock_, the last navalengagement of war

Naval forces on lakes

Napoleon, influence of, on United States gone

New England governors (Caleb Strong, William Plummer, and Roger Griswold) refuse their militia to serve the United States

New England coast threatened

New Orleans, Jackson at

New Orleans under martial law

Ohio valley opened up to settlers

Ohio becomes a State, in 1802

Ontario, naval force on

_Orpheus_ captured by _Frolic_

Oswego, New York, destroyed by British

Packenham, General, death of

_Peacock_ captures the _Nautilus_, the last naval engagement

_Peacock_ captures _Epervier_

Peace party

_Pelican_ captures _Argus_

People forcing the war on the leaders

Perry's victory on Lake Erie

Pioneer's home

Pike, General, death of

Pottawattomies attack Americans near Chicago

Pirates of the West Indies

Preparations for war made

_President_ and the _Little Belt_

_President_ captured by English vessels

Prevost, Sir George, repulsed at Sackett's Harbor

Proctor attacks General Winder at River Raisin

Questions of wrong reviewed in Madison's message

Queenstown, battle of

Raisin River, Americans at

Raisin River, Winchester attacked at

_Rattlesnake_ captured by a British man-of-war

Redoubts at New Orleans

Rial, General, defeated by General Scott

Ripley, General, in command at Lundy's Lane, retreats. 

Rodgers, Commodore, insulted by _Little Belt_

Ross, General, and Cockburn, threaten Washington City

Ross, General, death of

Sackett's Harbor, siege of

Scott, Winfield, at Queenstown

Scott, General, at Lundy's Lane

Shawnees under Tecumseh roused

Short, Lieutenant-Colonel, killed at Fort Stephenson

Smythe, General, dismissed from service

"Star Spangled Banner, " how composed

Stephenson, British repulsed at

Stonington, British repulsed at

Strong, Caleb, Governor of Massachusetts, refused to allow militia of his State to defend northern Territory against British

Tecumseh rousing Indians to resistance

Tecumseh opposing sale of lands

Tecumseh demands a return of lands

Tecumseh's speech to Proctor

Tecumseh and Proctor abandon Maiden

Tecumseh, death of

Treaty with Indians for Ohio valley lands

United States commerce a prey to British cruisers

United States offers to register seamen

Van Horne defeated

Van Rensselaer, Stephen, Brigadier-General New York militia

"Victor and spoils" theory inaugurated by Jefferson in 1801

_Vixen_, United States brig, captured by the _Southampton_

War declared by Congress

War of 1812 waged under difficulties

War with Algiers

Washington's wisdom and conservative policy

Washington, George, laying corner-stone of capitol building, 1793

Washington City, seat of government removed to

Washington City, threatened by British

Washington City, captured by British, pillaged and capitol building burned

_Wasp_ captures _Frolic_ and is captured

Wasp captures _Reindeer, Avon_ and three other prizes and mysteriously disappears

Whitney, Eli, inventor cotton gin

Winder, General, trying to raise troops to defend capitol

_Xenophon_, the, on the Maryland coast

Young members in Congress who favor war with England elect Henry Clay speaker

York, siege of

Zeal of Jefferson to aid French

CHRONOLOGY. 

PERIOD X. --AGE OF LIBERTY ESTABLISHED. 

A. D. 1800 TO A. D. 1824. 

18OO. INDIANA TERRITORY formed, --July 4. 

LOUISIANA ceded to France by Spain by secret treaty, --Oct. 1. 

SEAT OF GOVERNMENT removed to Washington, D. C. ; Congress met, --Nov. 17. 

1801. THOMAS JEFFERSON inaugurated president, --March 4. 

MILITARY ACADEMY established at West Point, N. Y. , --March 10. 

TRIPOLI declared war against the United States, --June 10. 

1802. GEORGIA'S cession of territory to General Government, --April 24. 

OHIO admitted to the Union, --Nov. 22. 

1803. LOUISIANA ceded to the United States by France for 80, 000, 000 francs, --April 30. (By this cession the United States claimed to the present western boundary of Florida. )

1804. The _Philadelphia_ destroyed by Decatur at Tripoli, --Feb. 16. 

DUEL between Hamilton and Burr, at Hoboken, N. J. , --July 11. 

TWELFTH AMENDMENT to the Constitution declared in force, --Sept. 25. 

ORLEANS TERRITORY formed, --Oct. I. 

DISTRICT OF LOUISIANA formed, same as Louisiana cession, less Orleans Territory, --Oct. I. 

1805. LOUISIANA TERRITORY formed, --March 3. 

JEFFERSON'S second presidential term began, --March 4. 

TREATY OF PEACE concluded with Tripoli, --June 4. 

MICHIGAN TERRITORY formed, --June 30. 

1806. BONAPARTE'S Berlin Decree, --Nov. 21. 

1807. BRITISH "ORDERS IN COUNCIL" requiring goods to land in Great Britain, --Jan. 7. 

THE _Chesapeake_ attacked by the _Leopard_ off the coast of Virginia, --June _22_. 

AARON BURR tried for treason, at Richmond, Va. ; acquitted, --Sept. 1. 

FULTON successfully applied steam navigation on the Hudson, --Sept. 14. 

BRITISH "ORDERS IN COUNCIL" prohibited trade with France and allies, --Nov. 17. 

BONAPARTE'S Milan decree prohibited trade with English colonies, --Dec. 17. 

1808. BONAPARTE'S Bayonne decree ordered seizure of United States vessels, --April 17. 

1809. NON-INTERCOURSE ACT, prohibiting trade with Great Britain and France, passed, --Feb. 27. 

ILLINOIS TERRITORY formed, --March 1. 

JAMES MADISON inaugurated president, --March 4. 

1810. BONAPARTE'S Ramboulliet decree; 132 American vessels seized and sold, --March 23. 

1811. GEORGE, Prince of Wales, appointed regent of Great Britain, --Feb. 3. 

BATTLE between the _President_ and _Little Belt_, off Virginia, --May 16. 

BATTLE OF TIPPECANOE, Ind. ; Harrison defeats Indians, --Nov. 7. 

1812. LOUISIANA admitted into the Union, --April 30. 

WAR with Great Britain proclaimed by the United States, --June 19. 

HULL'S EXPEDITION against Fort Maiden, Canada, --July. 

FORT MACKINAW captured by British and Indians, --July 17. 

FIRST BATTLE of Brownstown, Mich. ; British defeated Van Horn, --Aug. 5. 

SECOND BATTLE of Brownstown, or Manaugua; American victory, --Aug. 9. 

BRITISH sloop _Alert_ taken by the _Essex_, off Newfoundland, --Aug. 13. 

HULL surrendered Detroit, --Aug. 16. 

THE _Guerriere_, British frigate, captured by the _Constitution_, off Massachusetts, --Aug. 19. 

BATTLE OF QUEENSTOWN, Canada; Van Rensselaer wounded, Brock killed, --Oct. 13. 

BATTLE OF LEWISTON, N. Y. ; Cowardly conduct of American militia, --Oct. 13. 

BRITISH ship _Poictiers_ captured the _Frolic_ and Wasp, off North Carolina, --Oct. 18. 

BRITISH ship _Macedonia_ captured by _United States_, off Canary Islands, --Oct. 25. 

MISSOURI TERRITORY formed, --Dec. 7. 

BRITISH frigate _Java_ captured by the _Constitution_, off Bahia, Brazil, --Dec. 29. 

1813. BATTLE OF FRENCHTOWN, Mich. ; Winchester defeated by Proctor, --Jan. 22. 

BRITISH brig _Peacock_ captured the _Hornet_ off the Demarara, South America, --Feb. 24. 

MADISON began second presidential term, --March 4. 

BATTLE OF YORK, Canada (now Toronto); explosion of British magazine, --April 27. 

FORT MEIGS besieged by 2, 000 British and Indians under Proctor, --May 1. 

GENERAL CLAY and I, 200 Kentuckians dispersed besiegers, --May 5. 

PBEVOST made an unsuccessful attack on Sackett's Harbor, --May 29. 

THE _Chesapeake_, Captain Lawrence, captured by _the Shannon_, in Massachusetts Bay, --June I. 

DEFENCE OF FORT STEPHENSON (now Lower Sandusky, O. ) by Major Crogan, --Aug. 3. 

AMERICAN brig _Argus_ captured by the _Pelican_, in the English Channel, --Aug. 14. 

THE CREEK WAR; Massacre of Fort Mimms, Ala. , --Aug. 30. 

BRITISH brig _Boxer_ captured by the _Enterprise_, off Maine, --Sept. 5. 

PERRY'S victory at west end of Lake Erie, --Sept. 10. 

BATTLE OF THE THAMES, or Moravian town, Canada; Tecumseh killed, --Oct. 5. 

BATTLE OF TALLADEGA, Ala. ; Jackson defeated the Creeks, --Nov. 9. 

BATTLE OF CHRYSLER'S FIELD, Canada; British repulsed, --Nov. 11. 

PORTER made a successful cruise in the Pacific with the _Essex_. 

1814. BATTLE OF TOHOPEKA, or Horse-Shoe Bend, Ala. ; last of the Creek War, --March 27. 

AMERICAN frigate _Essex_ captured off Chile, --March 28. 

WILKINSON repulsed at La Colle Mill, Canada, --March 30. 

_Peacock_ captured British brig _Epervier_, off Florida, --April 29. 

_Wasp_ captured British sloop _Reindeer_, near English Channel, --June 18. 

GENERALS SCOTT AND RIPLEY captured Fort Erie, --July 3. 

BATTLE OF CHIPPEWA, Canada; Scott defeated Riall, --July 5. 

BATTLE OF LUNDY'S LANE, Canada, the most obstinate of the war, --July 25. 

FIRST BATTLE of Fort Erie, Drummond repulsed, --Aug. 15. 

Ross dispersed Americans at Bladensburg, Md. , --Aug. 24. 

WASHINGTON D. C. , captured; public buildings burned, --Aug. 24. 

BATTLE OF LAKE CHAMPLAIN; American victory, Sept. 11. 

BATTLE OF PLATTSBURG, N. Y. ; Prevost, British, defeated by McComb, --Sept. 11. 

Ross defeated Americans at North Point, Md. ; death of Ross, --Sept. 12. 

BROOKS' unsuccessful bombardment of Fort McHenry, Md. , --Sept. 13. 

BRITISH bombarded Fort Boyer, Mobile Bay, without success, --Sept. 15. 

SECOND BATTLE of Fort Erie; Brown dispersed besiegers, --Sept. 17. 

JACKSON drove British from Pensacola, Fla. , --Nov. 7. 

AMERICAN flotilla surrendered to the British, at Lake Borgne, La. , --Dec. 14. 

CONVENTION at Hartford, Conn. , opposed to the war, --Dec. 15. 

BATTLE nine miles from New Orleans; Jackson retired to intrenchments, --Dec. 23. 

TREATY OF GHENT, Belgium (peace), signed, --Dec. 24. 

1815. BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS, fourteen days after treaty of peace, --Jan. 8. 

BRITISH squadron captured the frigate _President_, off New Jersey, --Jan. 15. 

BRITISH _Cyane_ and _Levant_ captured by _Constitution_, off Madeira Islands, --Feb. 20. 

WAR against Algiers declared by Congress, --March 3. 

_Hornet_ captured British brig _Penguin_, off Brazil, --March 23. 

1816. BANK OF UNITED STATES re-chartered for twenty years; capital, $35, 000, 000, --April 10. 

INDIANA admitted into the Union, --Dec. 11. 

1817. ALABAMA TERRITORY formed, --March 3. 

JAMES MONROE inaugurated president; "era of good feeling, "--March 4. 

SEMINOLES and Creeks began depredations in Georgia and Alabama. 

MISSISSIPPI admitted into the Union, --Dec. 10. 

1818. JACKSON seized Spanish forts in Florida. 

JOINT occupation of Oregon by United States and Great Britain agreed upon. 

PENSACOLA, Fla. , seized by Jackson; Spanish officials sent to Cuba, --May 25. 

ILLINOIS admitted into the Union, --Dec. 8. 

1819. FLORIDA ceded to the United States by Spain, --Feb. 22. 

ARKANSAS TERRITORY formed, ---July 4. 

ALABAMA admitted into the Union, --Dec. 14. 

1820. ACCESSION of George IV. To throne of Great Britain, --Jan. 29. 

MISSOURI COMPROMISE ACT passed, --March 3. 

MAINE admitted into the Union, --March 15. 

1821. MEXICO became independent of Spain, --Feb. 24. 

MONROE began second presidential term, --March 5. 

MISSOURI admitted into the Union, --Aug. 10. 

1823. FLORIDA TERRITORY formed, --March 3. 

"MONROE DOCTRINE" enunciated in the annual message, --Dec. 2. 

1824. LAFAYETTE visited the United States. --Aug. 15.