University of Virginia Library

2. CHAPTER II.

On the morning which followed these
events, the tender of the British frigate was
standing off and on under easy sail, close in
with Sandy Hook. The wind was from the
southwest, and blowing a five knot breeze.
The sky was without a cloud, and only a
gentle undulation lifted the surface of the
ocean. The tender was a clipper built vessel,
very long and narrow in the beam; and
constructed wholly with an eye to her fast-sailing
qualities and she gave proof of them
by over-hauling every thing. She carried
amidships a long thirty-two pounder. Her
crew consisted of about forty men in the
uniform of the British Navy. They were
now principally assembled in the bows or on
the windlass, talking together or watching
the shore. Aft, the officer of the deck, a
bluff, full-faced young English `middy,' was
lounging over the quarter railing smoking a
cigar. The man at the helm had a sinecure
of his post, for the vessel skipped along so
easily that she seemed almost to steer herself.

`Sail, ho!' cried the look-out, from the
heel of the bowsprit.

`Where away?' quickly demanded the
officer.

`In shore, two forward the beam.'

`Aye, aye, I see! answered the middy,
levelling his glass at a sloop just stealing out
of the harbor, closely hugging the shore.
It's another of the Yankee coasters. A
sail in shore, Mr. Stanly,' said he, speaking
through the sky light.

The lieutenant, a stout, fleshy, port-wine
visaged John Bull, came on deck and took
sight at the stranger, which was about a
league distant.

`It is a lumber sloop; but we will bring her
to if she dares to venture out, for we may get
some fresh provisions and vegetables from
her, if nothing more.'

`Shall I put her on the other tack, sir?'

`Not yet. Keep on as we are, till the
sloop gets an offing. If we run for her now,
she will take refuge in the harbor!'

The sloop stood out half a mile, and then
hauling her wind, beat down along the land.
The tender delayed the chase until she had
got too far from the entrance of the harbor
to get back again, and then putting about,
began to make the best of her way toward
the harbor she had left. Confident in the
speed of his own vessel, the English lieutenant
felt satisfied that the chase was already
his, and laughed at the efforts of the sloop to
get away.

At length they came near enough to see
that her decks were covered with pigs and
poultry.

`A rare haul we shall make this morning!'
said the middy. `Enough chicken-pie for
the whole of the frigate's crew, to say nothing
of turkeys and roast pig for the cabin.'

`What a regular slab-sided Yankee skipper
she has at her helm! Man and boy, she has
a stout crew!' said the lieutenant laughing.
`They look frightened out of their senses, as

they begin to think they are gone for it!
Sloop ahoy!'

`What do ye want?' came across the water
in the strongest nasal Yankeedom.

`I want you to heave to, brother Jonathan!'

`I'd rather not, if it's all the same to you
—I'm in a mity hurry! Frank!' added the
distinguished American officer, in an under
tone, `when I order you to let go the jib,
haul it aft as hard as your strength will let
you. I, at the same time, will put the helm
hard up, so the sloop will pay rapidly off and
fall aboard of the tender; for I'm determined
to fall aboard of her. I shall curse your
blunders and order you to let go; but don't
mind me, keep pulling the jib-sheet hard to
windward. Leave the rest to me. Now,
my men,' he said, speaking through the
companion-way, `take a good grasp of your
pistols and cutlasses. When I stamp my
foot on the deck over your heads, throw off
the hatches and leap on deck and follow
me.'

`Heave to, or I will sink you! What are
you palavering about?' shouted the Englishman.

The two vessels were now side by side,
steering on the same course, abeam of each
other, the tender being to leeward, and about
a hundred fathoms off.

`Wal, don't be too free with your powder,
and I will. Aminidab, let go that arjib-sheet!'

`Yes, I will,' answered the young reefer,
and with a hearty will he began to draw it to
windward. At the same moment the American
officer put his helm hard up, and the
sloop rapidly played off right towards the
tender.

`Let go that jib-sheet!' shouted the English
officer.

`Yes, Aminadab, you tarnal fool you, let
it go, I say. Let it go! Don't you see we
are coming right aboard the Captain's vessel?'

But `Aminadab' pulled the harder, and
fairly took a turn with the sheet about a belaying
pin.

The English officer was about to pourout
apon him a volley of oaths, seeing that the
sloop would certainly fall foul of him, he
turned to give orders for the peotection of
his own vessel, but ere he could utter them,
the sloop's bows struck her near the fore
rigging, and swung round stern with stern.
At the same instant, the American officer
stamped on the deck, and forty armed men
made their appearance from the hatches,
forecastle and cabin, and leaped after Percival
upon the tender's deck. The Englishmen,
taken by surprise, surrendered without
scarcely striking a blow; and getting both
vessels under sail, in the very sight of the
frigate, the gallant young captor sailed with
his prize back into harbor, and safely anchored
her off the Battery, after an absence of six
hours and twenty-seven minutes.

This exploit is doubtless one of the boldest
and most spirited affairs that come off during
the war. The account given above is a
faithful narrative of the transaction, and the
chief circumstances will be recognized, both
by the brave officer in question, as well as
by his friends.