wanted to see it again from any place. To think of
me, a decent Qod-fearing, seafaring man, at my time
of life, turning soldier ! " It is not in the power of
written language to express the peculiar intonation
of contempt which the old man laid upon that
inoffensive word, "soldier." No one venturing to
interrupt him, after staring at his particular aver-
sion for a few moments, he went on more mildly,
and in a reflective tone, ā
" Not but what I have seen some decent soldiers
ā a few. There was old Blodgett, and young Mr.
Talbot, ay, and General Washington too! Now
there 's a man for you, ship-mates. Lord, what a
sailorman he would have made! They tell me he
had a midshipman's warrant offered him when he
was a lad once, and actually refused it ā refused it !
preferred to be a soldier, and what a chance he lost I
Might have been an admiral by now ! "
" I 've heard tell as how 't was his mother that pre-
vented him from goin' to sea ā when he was ready
an' willin' an' waitin' to get aboard," returned one
of the men.
" May be, may be. The result 's the same. You
never can tell what women, and 'specially mothers,
will do. They 're necessary, of course, leastways
it 's generally believed we all had 'em, though I re-
member none myself, nor Captain Seymour neither,
and he 's a pretty good sort of a man ā let alone
me ā but they've no place aboard ship. Now look
what this one did, ā spoiled a man that had the
makin's of a first-class sailor in him, and turned
him into a soldier ! "
" But where would we be in this country of ours
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now, bosun, if it were not for the soldiers? No,
no, don't be too hard on this man, Captain Washing-
ton; he's done his duty, and is doing it very well,
too, so I *m told, accordin' to your own account,
matey," replied the old carpenter; "and soldiers
is good too ā in their places, that is, of course,*' he
went on deprecatingly. "There are two kinds of
men, as I take it, William, to do the fightin' in this
world, sailormen and soldiermen ; each has a place, a
station to fill, and something to do, and one can't do
t* other's work. Look at that there blasted marine,
aft there in the gangway, for instance; he's a good
man, I make no manner o' doubt, and he has got his
place on this barkey, even if he is only a kind of a
soldier and no sailorman at all. "
"Now I asks you. Chips, what particular good
are soldiers, anyway, leaving marines out of the
question, for they do live on ships," said the old
sailorman. "What can they do that we can't.?
They can fight, and fight hard ā I *ve seen 'em, but
so can we," he continued, extending his brawny
arm; "and they can march, too, ā I've seen their
bloody footmarks in the snow; but there were sailor-
men there that kept right alongside of 'em and did all
that they could do. Oh, I forgot one thing ā they
can ride horses, that 's one thing I could never learn
at all! You 'd ought to seen me on one of the land-
lubberly brutes. A horse has no place on shipboard,
no more than a woman, and I 've no use for either of
*em. But if this country would spend all its money
buying ships, and man 'em with real first-class
sailormen, why, d'ye see. King George's men could
never land on our shores at all. We 'd keep 'em off,
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A SAILOR'S OPINION OF THE LAND
and then there 'd be no use for the soldiers ; they
could all go a-farming. No, give me ships every
time, they always win. I know what I am talking
about; I have been on the shore for a month at a
time until I thought I would turn into mud itself.
No, 't is not even a fit place to be buried in; * earth
to earth ' won't do for me when I die; I just want
to be dropped overboard ā there."
"There is one time ships didn't win," said the
carpenter, persisting in the argument, and pointing
aft to the low mounds of sand backed by the rudely
interlaced palmetto logs, behind which the gallant
Moultrie had fought Parker's fleet six months before,
until the ships had been driven off in defeat.
"Those were British ships, man," said the old
sailor, with contempt. "I meant Americans, of
course; it makes all the difference in the world.
But as for land ā I hate it. It 's only good to grow
vegetables, and soft tack, and fresh water, and tar,
and timber, and breed children to make sailormen
out of ā why, it 's a sort of a cook's galley, a kitchen
they call it there, for the sea at best ! Give me the
sight of blue water, and let me have the solid feel of
the deck beneath my feet ; no unsteady earth for me !"
"Well, that's my own opinion, too, bo. But,
after all, that's all that ships is good for, anyway;
just to sail from land to land and take people and
things from place to place. The sea *s between
like."
"You look at it the wrong way, mate. Certain
of us men have sense enough to live on the sea, and
keep away from land, except for water and provision.
We go from sea to sea, and land 's between."
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"And what would you do for a country if we had
no land? You 're always talking about lovin' your
country, bosun."
"Ay, that I do," said the old man. "I look upon
a country, that is a land country, as a kind of neces-
sary evil. My country 's this ship, and yon flag,
what it means and stands for. It means liberty,
free waters, no interference with peaceful traders on
the high seas, following their rightful pursuits, by
British ships-of-war. Every man that has ever been
aboard of one of those floating hells knows what
liberty is not^ well enough. No taxing of us by a
Parliament on t* other side of the world, neither.
No king but the captain. Freedom ! So free that
the lubberliest landsman on shore has a right to
govern himself ā if he can ā subject to discipline
and the commands of his superior officer, of course;
and, besides, it *s like a man's wife; if he's got to
have one, he may beat her and abuse her, perhaps,
but nobody else shall. No! Land *s a pretty poor
sort of a thing in general, but that aft there is the
best there is going, and it 's our own. We *11 die
for it, yes, for love of it, if it comes to that, even if
we do hate it, on general principles mind, you
understand. "
There was evidently a trace of Irish blood in the
old sailor, it would seem, and so saying, with a wave
of his hand, which brushed aside further argument,
he turned abruptly on his heel and walked aft. In
spite of all his words, which only reflected the usual
opinion of sailors, in those days at least, he yielded
to no man in patriotism and devotion to the cause
of liberty and the land that gave him birth. And
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A SAILOR'S OPINION OF THE LAND
no man in all Washington's army had done better
service, marched more cheerfully, or fought harder
than this veteran seaman. The men on the fore-
castle generally agreed with him in his propositions,
but the obstinate old carpenter, with the charac-
teristic tenacity of the ancient tar, maintained the
discussion forward, until the sharp voice of the
officer of the deck sent all hands to the braces.
The ship was brought to the wind on the starboard
tack, a manoeuvre which was followed in succession
by the other vessels of the squadron, which had been
previously directed to keep, though still within sig-
nal, at long distances from each other during the
day, closing up at night, in order to spread a broad
clew and give greater chance of meeting the enemy.
The young captain paced the quarter-deck alone
ā no man is ever so much alone among his fellows
as the commander of a ship ā a prey to his own sad
thoughts. Those who had known him the gayest of
gay young sailors in Philadelphia were at a loss to
account for the change which had come over him.
He had become the gravest of the grave, his cheery
laugh was heard no more, and the baffled young
belles of Charleston had voted him a confirmed
woman-hater; though his melancholy, handsome
face, graceful person, distinguished bearing, and
high station might have enabled him to pick and
choose where he would. But there was room in his
heart for no more passions. Even his love of coun-
try and liberty had degenerated into a slow, cold
hate for the British, and a desperate resolve to do his
duty, and make his animosity tell when he struck.
A dangerous man under whom to sail, gentleman
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of the Randolph, and a dangerous man to meet, as
well. He could not forget Kate, and, except in the
distraction of a combat, life was a mere mechanical
routine for him. But because he had been well
trained he went through it well ā biding his time.
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CHAPTER XXXI
Seymour's Desperate Resolution
SIX rather uneventful days passed by, during
which prizes to the number of five fell to the
lot of the squadron, one loaded with military stores,
and another with provisions of great value. The
lively little Fair American, being far to windward of
the fleet, had also a smart action with a heavily
armed British privateer, which struck her flag before
the others could get within range, and was found to
be loaded with valuable portable goods, the sittings
of a long and successful cruise. Young Wilton had
manoeuvred and fought his ship well, and had been
publicly complimented in general orders by Seymour
for skill and gallantry. The fleet had been exercised
in signals and in various simple evolutions, the
weather was most pleasant, the men in excellent
spirits, and all that was necessary to complete their
happiness was the appearance of the looked-for
squadron of the enemy. The eager lookouts swept
the seas unweariedly, but in vain, until early in the
afternoon of the sixth day, the fleet being in Lon-
gitude 58Ā° 1 8' West, Latitude 14Ā° 30' North, about
forty leagues east of Martinique, heading due west
on the starboard tack, it was reported to Seymour,
who was reading in the cabin, that the Fair Ameri-
can, again far in the lead and somewhat to windward*
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had signalled a large sail ahead. A short time should
make her visible, if the vessels continued on the pres-
ent course, and, after having called his fleet about
him by signal, Seymour stood on for a nearer look at
the stranger. An hour later she was visible from the
deck of the Randolph, a very large ship, evidently
a man-of-war under easy sail. The careful watchers
could count three tiers of guns through the glass,
which proclaimed her a ship of the line. From her
motions, and the way she rose before them, she was
evidently a very speedy ship, capable of outsailing
every vessel of Seymour's little fleet without diffi-
culty, except possibly the brig Fair American. It
would be madness for the squadron of converted and
lightly armed merchantmen to attack a heavy ship of
that class, ā all who got near enough to do so would
probably be sunk or captured ; yet the approaching
vessel must be delayed or checked, or the result
would be equally serious to the fleet. Seymour at
once formed a desperate resolution. Signalling to the
four State cruisers and the six prizes to tack to the
northeast, escape if possible, and afterward make
the best of their way back to Charleston, he him-
self stood on with the little Randolph to engage the
mighty stranger. At first the older seamen could
scarce believe their eyes. Was it possible that Cap-
tain Seymour, in a small thirty-two-gun frigate, was
about to engage deliberately and wilfully in a combat
with a ship of the line, a seventy-four ! ā the differ-
ence in the number of guns giving no indication of
the difference in the offensive qualities of the two
ships, which might better be shown by a ratio of four
or five to one in favor of the ship of the line. It was
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SEYMOUR'S DESPERATE RESOLUTION
like matching a bull terrier against a mastiff. The
men half suspected some wily manoeuvre which they
could not divine ; but as the moments fled away and
they saw the rest of the fleet and the prizes slipping
rapidly away to the northeast, the Fair American
lagging unaccountably behind the rest of the fleet,
while they still held their even course, they began to
comprehend that they were to fight to save the fleet,
and Seymour meant to sacrifice them deliberately, if
necessary, in the hope of so crippling the enemy that
his other little cruisers, and the prizes, might escape.
They were not daunted, however ā your true Jack is
a reckless fellow ā by the daring and desperate
nature of the plan ; quite the contrary !
In a few moments the familiar tones of Bentley*s
powerful voice, seconded by the cheery calls of his
mates, rang through the frigate, ā
** All hands clear ship for action ā Ahoy ! "
The piercing whistling of the pipes which followed
was soon drowned by the steady and stirring roll of
the drums, accompanied by the shrill notes of the
fifes, beating to quarters. The old call, which has
been the prelude to every action on the sea, ushering
in with the same dreadful note of preparation every
naval conflict for twice two hundred years, went roll-
ing along the decks. At the first tap of the drum the
men sprang, with the eagerness of unleashed hounds
before the quarry, to their several stations.
In an instant the orderly ship was a babel of appar-
ently hopeless confusion; the men running hastily to
and fro about their various duties, the sharp com-
mands of the officers, the shrill piping of the whistles,
and the deep voices of the gun captains and the
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boatswain's mates, made the usually quiet deck a
pandemonium. Some of the seamen stowed the
hammocks on the rail to serve as a guard against
shot and splinters, others triced up stout netting fore
and aft, as a protection against boarders. The light
and agile sail-trimmers rove extra slings on the
yards, and put stoppers on the more important rig-
ging, and tightened and strengthened the boats'
gripes. The cabin bulkheads were unceremoniously
knocked down and stowed away, giving a clean sweep
fore and aft the decks. The pumps were rigged and
tried, and hose led along the deck. Arm chests were
broken out and opened, and cutlasses and pistols dis-
tributed, and the racks filled with boarding-pikes.
Division tubs filled with water were placed beside the
guns, and the decks sanded lest they should grow
slippery with blood. The magazine, surrounded by
a wetted woollen screen to prevent fire, was opened,
and grape and solid shot broken out and piled in the
racks about the hatchways near the guns, the heavy
sea lashings of which were cast loose by the different
crews, after which they were loaded and run out and
temporarily secured, the slow matches having been
carefully examined and lighted. The oldest quarter-
masters took their places near the helm, and others,
assisted by a small body of men, manned the reliev-
ing tackles below, to be used in case, as frequently
happened, the wheel should be shot away. The offi-
cers, many of whom put on boarding caps of light
steel with dropped cheek pieces, and covered with
fur, fastened on their arms, looked to the priming of
their pistols, and then hastened to their various
stations.
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SEYMOUR'S DESPERATE RESOLUTION
Most of the watch officers, under the direction of
the first lieutenant or executive officer, were to take
charge of the different gun divisions in the batteries ;
though one of them remained aft near the captain,
to look after the spars and rigging, command the
sail-trinimers, and see that any order of the captain
touching the moving of the ship was promptly carried
out. The surgeon and his mates went below into the
gloomy cockpit, spreading out the foreboding array
of ghastly instruments and appliances, ready for the
many demands certain to be made upon them. Some
of the ubiquitous midshipmen commanded little
groups of expert riflemen in the tops, which were
well provided with hand grenades; others assisted
the division lieutenants ; and several were detailed as
aids to the commanding officer. The little company
of marines, under its own officers, was drawn up
on the quarter-deck to keep down the fire of the
enemy's small-arm men, and be ready to repel
boarders, or head an attack, if the ships should come
in contact. In that case grapnels, strong iron hooks
securely fastened to the ends of stout ropes or slen-
der iron chains, were provided at convenient inter-
vals along the bulwarks, ready for catching and lash-
ing the two ships together.
The men, their other duties performed, gradually
settled down at the guns, or about the masts, or in
the tops, in their several stations, many of them
naked to the waist, and their deep voices could be
heard answering to their names as they were mus-
tered by the officers. In an incredibly short time
the whole was done, and the impressive quiet was
broken only by the excited voice of the first lieu-
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tenant, Nason ā a young officer, and this his first
serious battle ā reporting to the gloomy captain that
the ship was clear and ready for action.
Seymour had of course taken personal charge of
the deck himself. Oh, he thought, after scanning
closely the approaching ship with great care, if he
had only a ship of the line under his command,
instead of this little frigate, how gladly would he
have entered the coming conflict I Or if his own
small vessel had been, instead, one of those heavy
frigates which afterward did so much to uphold the
glory of American arms, and exhibit the skill and
audacity of American seamen, in their subsequent
conflict with Great Britain, he might have had a
better chance ; but none realized more entirely than
he did himself the utter hopelessness of the undertak-
ing which was before him. At the same time he was
determined to carry it through, seeing, as few others
could, the absolute necessity for the sacrifice, if he
were to effect the escape of his fleet. Calling the
men aft, he spoke briefly to them, pointing out the
necessity for the conflict, and the nobility of this
sacrifice. He entreated them, in a few brave, manly,
thrilling words, to stand by him to the last, for the
love of their country and the honor of their flag.
As for him, he declared it to be his fixed purpose
never to give up the ship, but to sink alongside
rather, trusting before that happened, however, so to
damage his mighty antagonist as to compel her to
relinquish the pursuit. The men, filled with the
desire for battle, and inspired by his heroic words,
were nerved up to the point where they would
cheerfully have attacked not one line-of-battle ship
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SEYMOUR'S DESPERATE RESOLUTION
but a whole fleet ! They answered him with frantic
cheers, swearing and vowing that they would stand
by him to the bitter end ; and then, everything hav-
ing been done that could be done, in perfect silence
the taut frigate boldly approached her massive
enemy.
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CHAPTER XXXII
The Prisoners on the Yarmouth
IT is usually not difficult for an individual to define
the conditions of happiness. If I only had so
and so, or if I only were so and so, and the thing is
done. Each successive state, however, suggests one
more happy, and each gratified wish leads to another
desire more imperative. Miss Katharine Wilton,
however, did not confine her conditions to units.
There were in her case three requisites for happi-
ness, ā perfect happiness, ā and could they have beea
satisfied, in all probability she would have come as
near to the wished-for state as poor humanity on this
earth ever does come to that beatific condition. She
certainly thought so, and with characteristic boldness
had not refrained from communicating her thoughts
to her father.
The astonishing feature of the situation was that
he was inclined to agree with her. There was noth-
ing astonishing in itself in his agreement with her,
for he usually did agree with her, but in that her con-
ditions were really his own. For it is rare, blessedly
so, that two people feel that they require the same
thing to complete the joy of life, and when they
parallel on three points *t is most remarkable. Even
two lovers require each other ā very different things,
I am sure. Stop ! I am not so sure about the third
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THE PRISONERS ON THE YARMOUTH
proviso with the colonel. I say the third, because
Miss Wilton put it number three, though perhaps it
was like a woman's postscript, which somehow sug-
gests the paraphrase of a familiar bit of Scripture, ā
the last, not will be, but should be, first !
Here are the requisites. One: The flag floating
gracefully from the peak of the spanker gaff* above
them, in the light air of the sunny afternoon, should
be the stars and stripes, instead of the red cross of
St George ! Two : The prow of the ship should be
turned to the wooded shores of Virginia, and the Old
Dominion should be her destination instead of the
chalk cliffs of England ! Three : that a certain hand-
some, fair, blue-eyed, gallant sailor, who answered to
the name of John Seymour, should be by her side
instead of another, even though that other were one
who had once saved her life, and to whose care and
kindness and forethought she was much indebted.
Her present attendant was certainly a gentleman;
and to an unprejudiced eye ā which hers certainly
was not ā quite as handsome and distinguished and
gallant as was his favored rival, and boasting one
advantage over the other in that he bore a titled
name ā not such a desideratum among American
girls at that time, however, as it was afterwards des-
tined to become ; and in a girl of the stamp of Miss
Katharine Wilton, possibly no advantage at all.
But, could the heart of that fair damsel be known,
all talk of advantage or disadvantage, or this or that
compensating factor, was absolutely idle ! She was
not a girl who did things by halves ; and the feeling
which had prompted her to give herself to the young
sailor, though of sudden origin, had grown and grown
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during the days of absence and confinement, till, in
depth and intensity, it matched his own. She was
not now so sure that, among the other objects of her
adoration, he would have to take the second place ;
that, in case of division, her heart would lead her to
think first of her country. Insensibly had his image
supplanted every other, and with all the passionate
devotion of her generous southern nature she loved
him.
Lord Desborough had ample opportunity for ascer-
taining this fact. He had seen her risk her life for
Seymour's own. He could never forget the glorious
picture she made standing across the prostrate form
of that young man, pistol in hand, keeping the mob
at bay, never wavering, never faltering, clear-eyed,
supreme. He would be almost willing to die to have
her do the like for him. He could still hear the
echo of that bitter cry, ā " Seymour ! Seymour ! *' ā -
which rang through the house when they had dragged
her away. These things were not pleasant reminis-
cences, but, like most other unpleasant memories,
they would not down. In spite of all this, however,
he had allowed himself ā nay, his permission he
vowed had not been asked ā to fall violently in love
with this little colonial maiden, and a country maiden
at that ! , Not being psychologically inclined, he had
never attempted to analyze her charm or to explain
his sensations. Realizing the fact, and being young
and therefore hopeful, he had not allowed himself to
despair. Really, he had some claims upon her.
Had he not interfered, she would have been murdered
that night in the dining-room. He had earned the
gratitude then and there of her father, and of herself
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THE PRISONERS ON THE YARMOUTH
as well ; and he had earned more of it too when he
had shot dead a certain brutal marauding blackguard
by the name of Johnson, at the first convenient
opportunity, having received incidentally, in return
for his message of death, a bullet in his own breast
to remind him that there are always two persons and
two chances in a duel. A part of the debt of the
Wiltons had been paid by the assiduous and solici-
tous care with which they ā Katharine chiefly, of
course ā had nursed him through the long and dan-