 | CHAPTER II. Lafitte |  |
2. CHAPTER II.
“Towards the close of the war, there appeared an armed brig on
the coast, opposite the pass of Barritaria. She fired a gun at a vessel
entering, and then tacked and anchored off the island. A pinnace,
bearing British colours and a flag of truce was sent to the shore, conveying
four British officers, who had come to treat with the chief, and
endeavour to gain him and his adherents, which comprised a force of
one thousand men, besides thirteen vessels, over to their interests.
Upwards of two hundred men lined the shores when they landed, and
it was a general cry among them, that the British officers should be
made prisoners as spies. It was with difficulty Lafitte dissuaded the
multitude from their attempt, and led the guests in safety to his camp.”
Latour's War.
Prisoners—mutiny—soliloquy—an interview.
The seamen placed their shoulders to the bows of
the boat and shoved her off, while their leader, taking
from one of his men a coarse seaman's jacket and tarpaulin,
put them on, at once and effectually covering
his richer dress, and concealing any indications of
rank above those around him. Stepping on board,
he seated himself in the stern sheets and took the
helm.
“Give way men!” he cried in a low yet energetic
tone of command; and the light boat shot away
from the beach like an arrow.
In a few moments, he approached within hail of
the pinnace, which, with steady pull was making
for the shore.
“Boat ahoy!” hailed an officer in the full uniform
of a British naval officer, who was standing near the
stern of the boat leaning upon his sword, while
military dress of a commander of infantry, were
seated under a canopy in the stern sheets.
“Ahoy!” and the manly voice of the disguised
rover rung full and clear over the water, as he replied.
“Where is your captain?” inquired the English
officer, as the boats came close to each other.
The outlaw, preferring from motives of policy to
conceal his real character, replied:
“If you mean the Barritarian chief, you will find
him on shore.”
“Are you of his band?”
“We can communicate any message to him,” he
answered evasively.
“I am the bearer of a packet to Captain Lafitte;”
replied the officer, “I would know to whom I entrust
it.”
“We are of Captain Lafitte's party, and will execute
any commission with which we may be entrusted,
be its import peaceful or hostile,” said Lafitte
firmly.
“What say you Williams, shall this business be
entrusted to this stranger?”
“It is perhaps, the only alternative;” he replied
cautiously; “he is, most likely, one of the outlaw's
band, and will no doubt convey the packet safely to
his chief.”
“Ho! Monsieur, will you convey this packet to
Captain Lafitte, and say to him that we will here
await his reply?” demanded the English officer;
and he proffered to him as he spoke, a large packet
heavy with seals.
“I will, gentlemen; but had you not better see
Captain Lafitte yourselves? If you will pull into the
shore with me, I will notify him of your desire of
an interview with him.”
After a few moment's hesitation the officer complied,
the island, by the buccaneers on the beach, who,
alarmed by the firing, had assembled on the shore
in great numbers, armed and prepared for conflict,
where they watched the movements of the boats
with no little interest.
When they came within reach of the guns of the
battery on the shore, and within hail of the beach,
where nearly two hundred men had already collected,
the disguised buccaneer, desirous of detaining
the officers until he learned the contents of the
package, stood up in his boat, threw aside the seaman's
jacket in which he was enveloped and turning
to the British officers, said calmly, but in a determined
tone:
“Gentlemen, I am Lafitte—you are my prisoners!”
The astonished officers, half drew their swords,
and grasped the handles of their pistols.
“Draw no weapons gentlemen! you are, you see,
in my power. I shall detain you but a few hours.”
“Base traitor! Well is it said, you honour no
flag but your own blood-stained ensign, if thus you
recognise a fag of truce. The devil himself would
respect that emblem of peace and honourable confidence!”
shouted the Briton fiercely.
“Nay, sir officer,—Do you bring messengers of
peace at the cannon's mouth?—Do you bear a flag
of truce in one hand and a lighted match in the other?
—Peace, sir,—It is you, sir, who tarnish the flag
you accuse me of dishonouring?”
The boats had now reached the shore, and Lafitte
springing out upon the beach, said:—
“Gentlemen, I will take your arms—”
“Jacques, hold these men,” he continued, pointing
to the crew of the pinnace, “under safe guard
until further orders. Stand back! back—men!”
be called loudly to his followers. “Why do you
around my prisoners?”
“Spies! spies! Muerto a los Ingleses,—Down
with the British!—seize them—hang them!” cried
the multitude, and rushed forward with lifted
weapons as if determined to seize them in spite of
the stern discipline which usually controlled their
fierce natures.
“Men, do you press me?” he shouted as they still
closed around the Englishmen. “Back, hounds!
or by the Holy God I will send one of you to breakfast
in hell!” and he drew a pistol from his belt.
The most forward of the men at that moment
laid his hand upon the arm of one of the officers,
who stood between the buccaneer chief and the bow
of the boat from which they had just stepped. The
report of a pistol rung in the air, and the daring mutineer
fell a corpse at the feet of the Englishman.”
The crowd fell suddenly back, as they witnessed
this summary act of piratical justice. “Away with
this mutinous slave!” he exclaimed; and his followers
near him, raised the corpse in silence and moved
away to bury it in a hastily scooped grave in the
sand beneath the cliff.
“There is nothing like blood to cool blood!” he
said, quietly turning to his prisoners. “Now, Messieurs,
let this severe but necessary act of discipline,
assure you of my desire to secure your personal
safety.”
“Here, my brave fellows, you are but tools of
subtler men,” said he, turning to the crew of the
pinnace, who sat moodily and in silence in their
boat, expecting momently to be sacrificed to the
violent passions of the lawless men, who, although
awed into temporary passiveness, might the first
opportunity, satiate their appetite for blood upon
their defenceless persons.
“Here men, shove off this boat!”
The British coxswain looked at his officer for
instructions.
“Put off, Carroll; but watch any signal from
the shore,” he said; and under the combined efforts
of several of his own crew the boat shot out from
the beach, the men stooped to their oars, and in a
short time, were along side of their brig.
In the meanwhile the Barritarian conducted
through the retiring horde, the English officers to his
fortress, while dark eyes gloated on them beneath
the lowering brows of men—familiar with crime,
pursued, until it had become a passion—whose hands
mechanically rested upon the butt of a pistol, or the
handle of a dirk or Spanish knife.
The fortilace into which the chief ushered his
prisoners, crowned a slight eminence of the island
overlooking the sea to the south, and the lake or bay
of Barritaria to the north, whose distant shore was
marked by a low level line of cypress and other trees.
The quarters, or camp, as it was more frequently
termed, of the outlaw, consisted of a brick edifice
within the fort, constructed on a plan similar to those
old Spanish houses still to be seen in the more ancient
portions of the chief maritime port of Louisiana.
The entrance to the fort consisted of a low,
massive gate-way, before which paced a sentinel in
the dress of a seaman, with a drawn sabre in his
hand and a brace of heavy pistols stuck in his belt.
On either side of this gate-way, was a row of barricaded
windows, admitting light into several small
apartments, used as store, sleeping, and guard rooms.
“Weston, close the gate and add three men to
every guard! on your life admit no one without my
orders!” said Lafitte as he passed into the fort.
The sailor whom he thus addressed lifted his hat
and moved to obey the order, while his captain with
his three prisoners passed through the gate-way
low buildings, serving as work-shops, store-houses,
and quarters for the men who staid on
shore. Several pieces of dismounted cannon were
lying about the court, while a long, mounted gun,
which turning on a pivot, commanded the whole
of the interior of the defences, made use of in
quelling domestic disturbances, stood in front of
the buildings, just mentioned as the quarters of
the chief. To this dwelling, after crossing the court,
he conducted his involuntary guests.
“Théodore!” he called, stopping at the entrance:
and the youth, with a pale, and as the Englishman
thought, a strikingly intelligent face, came forth
from a room communicating with the passage running
through the building, with a pen in his hand as
if the voice of Lafitte had interrupted him while
employed in writing.
“Théodore, conduct these gentlemen into the
opposite building and tell Weston to place a guard
at the door.” “Gentlemen,” he added with courtesy,
turning to the officers, “I regret the necessity
of placing you under temporary restraint, but the
fierce humor of my men require it. They unfortunately
suspect you visit our island under feigned
pretences, while your real object is, to examine the
coast for the purpose of making a descent:” and he
looked at them severally and fixedly as he spoke.
“You will excuse me,” he said abruptly after a
moment's pause, “while I examine the package of
which you are the bearer!
“Cudjoe, see that the gentlemen are comfortable
in their room and have refreshments placed before
them.”
The officers politely bowed to their captor, who
returned their courtesy with dignity; and following
their youthful guide, disappeared.
In a few minutes Théodore re-appeared in the
court, closed behind him a heavy door, turning the
massive bolt in the lock, and returned to the quarters
of the chief, where he found him examining the
contents of the package.
He was seated at a table in a small room, lighted
by two barred windows deeply set in the thick walls
overlooking the western pass, and affording an extensive
prospect of the southern sea. The opposite
window commanded the anchorage with its
little squadron, and the bay of Barritaria, with the
distant green line of the level horizon.
Five or six rude chairs, a large ship's table, and a
seaman's chest were the only articles of furniture.
Several charts, a few books, and bundles of filed,
and many loose papers, lay upon the table.
For an hour, he sat perusing the official papers
which had been placed in his hands, then laying
them upon the table, and leaning his head upon his
hand, he remained a long time buried in deep
thought. Suddenly starting up, he cried:
“Théodore, conduct Captain Lockyer to me.
What turmoil is that without?” he added with a raised
voice, as loud words reached his ears. “Send
Weston here!”
“Weston,” he said rapidly, as the captain of the
guard appeared at the door—“run the long gun out
of the port hole in the gate, and bring it to bear
upon the blustering fools, and wait my orders to
fire. See that it is well charged with grape.”
“Aye, aye, sir!” said the guard, who had been
recently promoted from the command of a pollacca
to the defence of the fort. And the creaking of the
gun-carriage as it was swung around to the appointed
position, had scarcely ceased, when a heavy
footstep was heard in the hall, and the bearer of the
packet entered the quarters of the pirate.
“Be seated, sir,” said Lafitte, waving his hand
to a chair, which the officer occupied. “I have
considered the propositions contained in these documents
before me, and feel honoured in the confidence
reposed in me by your government. But the
subject of which they treat is of too great moment
for hasty decision. I shall require a few days delay
before I can return a final answer.”
“Captain Lafitte!” replied the officer; “without
commenting upon the circumstances which make
me your prisoner, and which I am happy to acknowledge
it is not in your power wholly to control, I
will proceed, by communicating my private instructions,
to second the arguments made use of by
my superior officer, with which those papers before
you have made you acquainted, for the purpose
of inducing you to become an ally of England,
in this her present contest, with the North American
States. I am instructed to offer you a commission
in his Britanic majesty's service with the full
pardon and admittance into the navy, with ranks
equivalent to what they now hold, of all under your
command, if you will throw the weight of your
power and influence into the scale in our favour.”
“These are tempting and honourable proposals
Monsieur, and as honourable to the gentlemen who
make them as flattering to the subject of them!” replied
the outlaw in a tone between irony and sincerity;
“But do I understand you, that I and my
officers retain command in our own vessels, provided
that we substitute St. George's cross for the
flag under which we now sail?”
“Such were not my instructions, Monsieur Lafitte.
It is expected that the armed vessels which
compose your Barritarian fleet, will be placed at the
disposal of the officers of his majesty in the contemplated
descent upon the coast.”
“These are conditions with which I am not at
present, prepared to comply;” answered the chief.
“They are—”
“But consider the advantages which will result
sir, both to yourself and the numbers you command;”
interrupted the officer. “You will be restored to
the pale of society, bearing an honourable rank,
(pardon me, Captain Lafitte) among honourable
men. The rank of Captain shall be yours, if you
co-operate with us, and moreover, the sum of six
thousand pounds sterling shall be paid into your
hands, whenever you signify your acceptance of the
terms proposed. I beg of you sir, do not permit
this opportunity of acquiring fortune and honour to
yourself, but glory and success to the arms of England,
who is ready to welcome you as one of her
bravest sons, escape you.”
“Sir, replied the Barritarian, your offers are extensive,
too much so for an outlaw—a banned and
hunted man. Ambition will not allure me to accept
them; for have I not power, fame and wealth as I am?
Is the reward of ambition greater than this? what
will it gain me more? Honor? desire of an honourable
name? Alas! that, I have not. That—that indeed,
were a spur to drive me to your purpose. But
will men confer honour upon dishonour? Will a pardon,
a title, a station, make men think better of me?
Shall I not, in all eyes, still be Lafitte? the branded,
the despised, the feared and cursed of men? No
—no—no! Yet,” he added, as the image of Constanza
passed across his mind, “I will think of it,
Captain Lockyer; I will reflect upon your proposals.
I wish to become a better and a happier man.
Fate, passions, influence—not principles, has made
me what I am!
“I will consider this matter sir,” he added, coolly,
casting his eye upon the paper which lay before
the interview.
The officer however still lingered—“I should
think sir,” he urged, “that little or no reflection
would be necessary respecting proposals that obviously
preclude any kind of hesitation. You are at
heart, if not by birth, a Frenchman, Captain Lafitte,
and therefore, in the existing peace between our respective
nations, a friend to England. You are
outlawed by the government of the United States;
your name is held up to infamy, and a price is set
upon your head by the executive of Louisiana.
“What have you sir, to bind you to America?
The tie which alone binds the slave to the galley.
The ties that bind you to England are many and
may be increased a thousand fold. Promotion is
before you among the gallant gentlemen of her
navy—”
“Gentlemen!” interrupted Lafitte sarcastically,
“aye, gentlemen!” What Lethe can make the
outlaw the gentleman? Sir, I may become a British
officer—daring, brave and gallant, may be—but,
shall I be recognized as a gentleman?
“No, no!” he added after a pause, and with bitter
emphasis, “I must still be Lafitte—the pirate!”
“Nay, Monsieur! nay, Monsieur!” said the
Englishman touched by Lafitte's manner; “allow
me to suggest, that with your knowledge of the
coast and its narrow passes, your services will be
of infinite value to the success of our arms against
southern Louisiana. An army is now waiting in
Canada to unite with the forces here, and it remains
with you to promote the success of the step.
It is on your skill, sagacity and knowledge we rely
to bring about this object.”
“Truly Monsieur these are lofty schemes,—
well and deeply planned. Such inducements as
nor will they, be disregarded. I must, however,
deliberate before taking so important a step, as that
proposed by Col. Nichols, your superior. Good
morning sir.”
“Théodore! conduct captain Lockyer to the
guard room.”
| CHAPTER II. Lafitte | |