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THE LOG CABIN LIBRARY. o
ol
yack to report to the commodore that the schooner lay moored
With two anchors, ahead about a cable’s length of the India
wharf.
Now the thing prayed for by the British was the dark night,
and for a week or more they had the clearest nights they had
seen since they lay off the port.
But at last it clouded up. to the north-west, and there was
every sign of a rainy, stormy night. The wind, too, would
come from a quarter which would make the getting away easy
when the work was done; for the quicker they could get away,
the better it would be for them when the Seligoner was once
ablaze. :
There were ten swift-rowing boats assigned to this duty. Each
was manned with six oarsmen, one officer, and two marines,
making a force of seventy well-armed men—veterans every
one.
“It cannot fail—it cannot fail!” said the commodore, as the
boats all left his ship in company.
We will see what.sort of a reception. the Rattlesnake gave
them.
The night set in very dark, with a drizzling-rain, and not a
great deal of wind, but what there was came from the north-
west, and blew right out of the harbor.
“The tide is running out yet, they'll not come tillthe turn of
ebb to flood, I'll bet,”’ said Clewline, just before midnight.
“Fast boats will never mind how the tide is, if they’ve deter-
mined, men on board,” said Pemberton.
“Hark—what was that?” asked Clewline.
“The plash of muffled oars repdy, men, pass the word fore
and aft—ready!” said Pemberto
The next instant the lookout forw ard and one aft, shouted:
‘Boats, ahoy!
No answer came, but there was a . sharp decisive word of com-
mand out on the water: |
“There she is! Board men—board the infernal Yankee!”
And on amid a shower of bullets from the swivels and mus-
kets came a mass of boats, and the next minute men were
alongside trying to clamber up over the bulwarks..
But the boarding-netting was in the way, and pistol shot, cut-
lass, and pike thrusts were sw iftly exchanged through the unex-
pected barrier.
Suddenly now Doctor Le Berte appeared on the scene with
one of his huge, terrible syringes, and as be darted along the
“side throwing the terrible aquafortis in the face and eyes of the
assailants, their shrieks and cries told the terrible tortare which
no man could endure and face.
With screams of agony the British fell back into their boats,
and quickly all who yet survived, or had not been blinded by
this new and .terrible weapon of war, pushed clear of the
- schooner, sid followed by a volley from the muskets, swivels
and great guns, and the triumphant shouts of the victorious
Americans, struggled away in the darkness. :
“We're well rid of the cusses—they fought well!” said Clew-
line, in a faint voice, as the cheers told the story.
He was leaning against the wheel when he pase thus to Pem-
berton.
“You’re hurt, Jack?”
“Yes; only a flesh wound—there’s another worse off than I.
Look to poor Josi.”
The warm-hearted captain called Le Berts to see to Clewline,
and sprung himself to look for Hopkins. He found the latter
flat on deck, face down, and lifting him up placed his hand over
his heart.
“It beats—he still lives!” he cried, trying to find the wound.
“Darnation! don’t let ’em git aboard!” cried Hopkins, ina
dazed way.
“They’re beaten off, old fellow; don’t fret.
“hurt?” cried Ned.
“Hurt? Who says I’m hurt? What’s the matter?” and Josi,
aided by Pemberton, staggered to his feet. ‘‘Hurt? Jerusalem!
What's that?” and he felt a stream of blood trickling down his
face. ‘They must have hit me, or blood wouldn’t come.’
Pemberton helped him into the cabin, where Clewline had
been already carried, for the latter was badly hurt; worse, in-
deed, than he would ‘acknowledge.
The doctor, who had temporarily stanched the bleeding from
a pistol-shot wound and bayonet thrust in Clewline’s side, now
looked to Hopkins.
Taking the cap from his head, he placed his hand upon what
appeared to be a severe wound, as it bled freely, and took up a
nusket-ball literally flattened against the upper part of his fore-
sad.
‘Sare, ze thickness of ze skull save your life,” he cried.
Where are you
I wash my head I’m all, right, doctor, though I feel as dull as if
I'd been asleep a week.’
“You wash your head, zen put on zis plaster, while I look.
Zere must be more men wounded.”
Pemberton, after saying a word to Clewline to cheer the poor
fellow up, rushed on deck, for below in the bay the batteries had
opened sharply, the guard having been notified of the attack
above by hearing the guns. The officers in charge threw out
blue lights and rockets, and the English boats were discovered
as they tried to pass.
The water was now literally swept with grape and canister,
and it seemed wonderful if even a single boat could escape.
Pemberton listened to the rapid and continuous firing, and at
first thought the British fleet was trying to force its way up the
channel, but soon the firing ceased, and he knew then that the
retreating boats had been discovered and attended to by the
batteries.
Tt was in the gray of dawn that one boat, with two men in it
only that were capable of pulling an oar, got alongside of the
British commodore.
The boat contained three dead men—one was the. officer who
had commanded the expedition, and four wounded, two of them
blinded by aquafortis, and suffering untold agony.
And this was the only boat of the ten sent out that ever came
back, the only one that escaped the batteries after the terrible
Yepulse in the harbor.
CHAPTER XLIII. ~
A QARING EXPLOIT.
A week ran onwith nothing to note, only that Clewline grew
stronger every day, a good constitution, a strong will, and an
excellent surgeon helping him along wonderfully. And then
came something which struck the heart of Ned Pemberton like
the chill of death. It was aletter from Sigismund Taliaferro,
telling him of the first victory of the Sons of Liberty, and then
of the sudden descent ahd surprise by Lord Dunmore, detail-
ing the capture of his father, sister, Fanny, and Mr. Maynard,
who had become u stanch patriot. Sigismund told Ned of the
threat which kept the Sons of Liberty from attacking Dunmore,
and he added:
“Your father, the ladies, and. Mr. Maynard are prisoners on
board the Formey, and h e threatens to take them with him to
England, to be tried for treason, when he sails, which will be
within two weeks. We would attack the Formey in boats, and
try to rescue them all. But we landsmen know nothing of
boats, and we need a leader like you. Come, Sead us, and we
will rescue your loved ones, or die with them.”
“Merciful Heaven! what can Ido? I must get out of here!”
cried Pemberton, as he told his\officers what Sigismund kad
written.
“Cap” n, there’s one plap, and but one I can think of to get
out 0’ here, and even then we’ve got to leave the schooner be-
hind us,” said Hopkins.
“What is it?”
“To turn tables on them Britishers. The fastest craft in all
their fleet is a sixteen-gun brig, and she lays the closest in all
the time. I’ve been sailing down the bay. and watched her -
many atime. Jf wecan surprise her with a boat expedition, and
capture her without too much noise, we can get to sea, and once
there, nothing they've got can catch us.’
« ‘By Jupiter! ’tis a grand idea, and I can get a hundred volan-
teers to help in the work.”
“Capitaine, suppose to ze plan of Monsieur Hopkeen I make
what you call one small additione?” cried Dr. Le Berte.
“What is it?” asked Pemberton.
“T propose I‘ shall pretend to desert—shall run away wiz one
small boat, and volunteer to be a cook on zat John Bull breeg.
Zen I prepare one suppare zat shall make zem sleep, and zen -
wiz no trouble you take zat breeg—no trouble, no noise.”
“Do you think you can possibly do it?” asked Pemberton.
*Certainement. If I try, I do heem.”
“And will you try?”
““Zat is what I propose.” .
‘And if you succeed, how shall we know you have done so.”
“I go zis day. To-morrow night, if I make zem all asleep, or
so many as TI can, low down from ze bow or ze stern, as ze tide
serve zis way, I pat two lights.”
“Good! ‘The plan will do—I feel it—and we will succeed!”
cried Pemberton, with enthusiasm, ‘‘We will at once make our
arrangements.”
All the next day Rattlesnake Ned was busy as he could be
making his final arrangements. When night fell he had on
board the. Rattlesnake, and in boats alongside, two hundred
[ knew I was durned thick-headed, but I never believed my
would flatten a bullet. before,” said Hopkins. ‘I reckon if;
'as good men as ever raised acutlass in defense of freedom’s
catlse, .