 | CHAPTER VIII.
THE PILOT. The cruiser of the mist |  |
8. CHAPTER VIII.
THE PILOT.
The cabin, into which Randolph followed
the captain of the schooner, was finished
handsomely with polished oak panels,
and combined elegance and luxury with
the warlike paraphernalia of pistols and
cutlasses, arranged in cresents and circles—stars
of swords, and standing-racks
of blunderbusses and small arms.
The commander of the schooner himself
was a young man, a little undersized,
with an accomplished address, and the
air of a man who knew the world.
“You say you are a friend to my vessel,”
he said, as he threw himself upon a
settee, while Randolph, not being invited
to sit, stood before him.
“Yes!”
“You live near Perth Amboy?”
“Yes sir!”
“Do you know General Ledyard?”
“I knew him,” answered Randolph,
without betraying any emotion of surprise:
“but he lives no longer!”
“Ah! is he dead?”
“Three days since!”
“So! that is quite as well. He has
left a widow?”
“Yes!”
“I am told he was rich, and that he possesses
a deal of plate, besides keeping all
his money at his house in gold and silver.”
“So I have heard people say!”
“He is dead, then!” said the captain,
musingly. “Do you know Colonel Oglethorpe?”
“I know he lives on the Island, not far
from Amboy.”
“He has a fair daughter, I am told.”
Randolph started with such emotion
that the young captain half rose, and regarded
him with a look of surprise.
“Yes, I have seen her;” he promptly
answered, seeing that he had nearly subjected
himself, perfect as he acted his
part, to suspicion.
“She is passing rich, as well as fair!”
“I have heard the Colonel was rich.”
“He is doubly so in possessing this
sweet daughter and his gold!”
Randolph's eyes flashed; for he did
not feel like permitting any other man to
speak of the maiden whom he had so
madly loved, albeit he had so lately parted
from her in angry displeasure. It was
with difficulty he could command his feelings.
“Have you seen her?”
“Have I, indeed! aye, I have had the
honor of being a rejected suitor!”
“You?”
“Why, man, you need not speak so
loud, as if you were talking to a fellow-fisherman.
Yes, I have seen her. We
met three years agone, in the city, at the
opera, for I went to operas then, and was
in society; but,” added the bucanier in a
light tone, “I used other men's names
after I had worn my own out, and so I
took to privateering. I got to be captain
of this craft just as the war closed, and
not being in the mood to give up my command
ere I had got something by it, I continued
at sea; and because I have board
ed a few vessels, and borrowed what I
needed, the pother has been raised about
my ears that you have heard of. Vessels
worth bringing to are scarce of late, and
hearing that General Ledyard's villa lay
near the sea, and knowing that my sweet
haughty beauty, Miss Oglethorpe, dwelt
near by, I took it in my head to leave my
pursuers behind me, and pay a visit both
for beauty and booty!”
Randolph could hardly restrain his fiery
spirit. He conceived at once, on the spot,
the most deadly hostility for the captain
who dared to think of, and speak lightly of
a maiden once so dear to him. He vowed
revenge. His motive in deciding to
board the schooner, though at first scarcely
defined, assumed, as he rowed towards
her, a definite aim. He resolved that he
would become the instrument of her capture,
and thereby achieve a reputation
that should place him in the path to fame
and honor; for the reckless feelings which
had at first agitated his soul had been
gradually subdued and removed by the
moral influence which his benevolent act
in rescuing the drowning keeper reflected
back upon his heart. A nobler feeling
took possession of his soul; and the sight
of the freebooting schooner, when he beheld
her from the lantern of the light-house,
instead of presenting to his mind a
welcome field for lawless adventure, as it
would have done a few hours before, in
spired him with the brave and noble resolution
to attempt the achievement of her
capture. For this end he assumed the
disguise which he now wore, and fearlessly
threw himself into the midst of those
whom he determined to betray on the first
opportunity. Little, however, did he anticipate
that on board that vessel he should
hear the name of Olive Oglethorpe, or
listen to a project for plundering Lenafe
Manor. He now saw the necessity of
preserving strictly his disguise, towards
which not the least suspicion had yet been
directed. He seemed to be, to all on board,
the fisherman he assumed to be. The necessity
of coolness and self-possession kept
time to dwell, as heretofore, upon his own
wrongs. He could think only of the singular
events with which he had now so
strangely become associated.
“I will punish the arrogance of this
man!” thought he to himself, “and at the
same time do my country service. I will
remain by him, and on board his vessel till
both are in the power of those who seek
them. I will contribute to her capture,
or perish in the attempt!”
“You are thoughtful, fisherman,” said
the corsair, regarding him closely: “what
are you thinking of?”
“Whether it would be full tide at the
time you would wish to be at Lenafe
Manor.”
“I am glad you are regarding my interests
instead of your own. I want to be
up with Amboy as soon after dark as
may be; for I do not care about having
my movements observed!”
“The fog will soon be in from sea to
help you.”
“Can you pilot the schooner up to Amboy
under a fog? You see it will be dark
in half an hour, long as these autumn twilights
are. The sun is already down.
With the night and the fog we shall be
secret enough running up, but will it be
possible?”
“I have sailed in Raritan Bay till I can
go anywhere in the night, so that I can
see a compass!”
“Good! Then all is favorable. Do
you know the most retired path to Lenafe
Manor from the water-side?”
“Yes. I can guide you.”
“And also to the villa of Colonel Oglethorpe?”
“Yes, captain!”
“You are a treasure. Half the trouble
is taken off my hands; for, to tell you the
truth, I have never been at either of the
places, and have only the directions of
others. Be faithful and serviceable, my
good man, and you shall be well rewarded,
but deceive me and your death is as certain
as your treachery!”
“Do not doubt me. I am already half
a bucanier!”
“So you seem. But I am called on
deck. Come up also, and remain aft, for
I don't care to have you mix with the
men,—besides we shall soon need your
services.”
They went on deck, Randolph following
the captain, with the air of an inferior,
though it was with difficulty he could
bend his proud carriage to the subservient
demeanor demanded of him.
The rich glow of twilight filled the sky
and illumined the landscape still with the
brightness of day. The wind was just
rippling the surface of the water, which
was the color of mingled topaz and gold,
and every wave, reflecting the crimson
clouds of the west, as it broke, seemed to
scatter rubies upon the surface. The
deep green of the shores of Staten Island,
which lay to the right as they sailed southwardly
along them, contrasted beautifully
with the pure cerulean of the heavens
bending above. South, about a league
distant, rose the light-house of Sandy
Hook, like a column of alabaster marking
the eastern limits of the new world. Seaward,
hung low upon the bosom of the
deep, the evening mist, which, at the declining
of the sun at this season, was wont
to fling its vapory mantle over land and
water. It seemed at rest, but was slowly
moving towards the main, and was distant
from the schooner only about a mile and
a half.
“It is a question whether we or the fog
get to the mouth of the Raritan Bay first,
said the, captain of the schooner to his
first officer, Ellis, as he surveyed it. “It
is an even chance! But our good fisherman
here, says he can pilot us in by compass
and lead! So we will let our friend
mist embrace us, if it will, for it may do
us service, for what we know, as heretofore!”
“One would think you raised mists at
your will, captain,” said Randolph. “The
story is, that when you are chased, you
always have one to run under, and that
fog-bank!”
“That is pretty nigh the truth,” answered
the corsair, laughing. “So they
tell such stories of me and my schooner,
do they? Well, so much the better. I
care not how much they talk, so they
never have to say, `The Cruiser of the
Mist' is at last captured! Men shall
never have that to say, so long as I tread
her deck!”
Randolph smiled slightly, with that feeling
of self-confidence which springs from
a determined purpose. The schooner
stood on, with a light wind from the north,
and rapidly approached the light-house.
The fog-bank also steadily moved in from
sea, till it nearly overhung the Hook. The
twilight deepened, and the light of the
heavens suddenly blazed up, flinging its
fiery scarf out upon the water to the very
vessel's side. Yet there was still more
day than night. The shores of Jersey,
with the spire of Perth Amboy, were distinctly
outlined against the bright west.
The captain of the schooner stood upon
his deck watching the advancing mist,
fearing lest it should cover the entrance
to the Raritan Bay, which was just before
him, ere they could enter it.
“That fog comes in strangely, Ellis,” he
said, after regarding closely the centre of
the misty column, which seemed to advance
more rapidly than the rest, and to
be more agitated, as if a current of wind
was forcing it along.
“Yes, I have been noticing it.”
“It will be upon us now in five minutes.
But we shall have doubled this point of
the island, into the Raritan, in three. Let
it come! It will cover our advance like
a good friend! But, what ho! That is
not all fog! To quarters! to quarters!
I am caught in my own meshes!”
Every eye was turned upon the advancing
mist, and slowly became visible, sail
by sail emerging from its vapory mass, a
tall pyramid of canvass. It came so suddenly
into view out of the cloud, as if it
had been of it, that every one was struck
with surprise and wonder. It was light
enough for the corsair captain to recognise
the gun-brig which he supposed he
had left watching for him off Block Island.
He was, however, cool and self-possessed.
His rapid orders were given with spirit
and decision. The schooner was instantly
kept away three points, so as to bring
her broad-side to bear, while her ports
were thrown open, her guns run out, and
every man stood at his post ready for battle.
It was a moment of intense expectation.
The two vessels, moving different ways,
came nearer and nearer every instant.
The brig had evidently, from the sudden
confusion on board, come upon the schooner
unexpectedly. The drum rolled loudly
to quarters, and the voices of her officers
could be heard giving their quick and
startling orders. The two vessels were
not a third of a mile from each other when
the brig emerged from the mist, under
which she had come into the bay in pursuit
of her foe, and before the latter could
throw wide her ports, and run out her
guns, they were abeam of each other.
The schooner, with the men at her guns
and matches a-light, moved steadily by,
without a sound heard on board, and,
slowly entering the cloud of mist, out of
which the brig had come, was the next
moment lost to sight from the latter.
“Here is the devil's luck, and no mistake,”
exclaimed the commander of the
brig, as the schooner's main-boom disappeared
from his eyes in the fog. “Who
would have thought of finding him here.
If the fog-king isn't his particular crony,
I hope I may never catch the infernal
schooner. Ready, about! We have got
another fog chase for our amusement!
Three minutes more, and I would have
had my broad-side ready; but the men at
their suppers, and—confound my luck!
The fellow had his men at his guns, and
went by as if he disdained to waste powder
on us!”
The brig was put about, and had hardly
got steering way on her, when the mist
also enveloped her.
“It won't do to poke about here, with
Sandy Hook a-lee, and land all about us,”
said the captain, with deep chagrin. “We
have nothing to do but to anchor, to keep
from sticking the brig's nose ashore!
May he go ashore keel dry! But wishes
won't harm him. His craft is insured in
the fire office down below! Did you ever
see anything like it, Mr. Waters?”
“We seem to have brought the fog in
with us for his special benefit!”
“That is what vexes me. Who would
have supposed he was just where he was?
From the account of the coaster we spoke
this afternoon, I supposed she had run up
to the top of New York Bay! But I
might have known, if I had reflected a
moment, that the confounded craft would
never be found out of hail of a fog-bank!
Down anchor, and lay here and whistle
through our fingers till morning! I
wouldn't wonder, gentlemen, if the fellow
was lying to within three cable's length,
one side or the other, of us!”
“We were rightly informed, sir,” said
Mr. Waters, who was scarcely less annoyed
than his commander.
“Yes, the skipper told us truly in saying
he saw such a schooner making for
New York Bay. But what satisfaction is
it to have him here in a fog so thick that
you can make ground window-glass of it?
I suppose we shall have to lay here till an
hour or two after sun-rise.”
“The fog seldom breaks away before
then, unless it rains, or the wind blows
heavily.”
“Patience then. Doubtless she is
standing right out to sea. We will bide
our time.”
Thus speaking, the disappointed commander
of the brig lighted a cigar as a
comforter.
The schooner, in the meanwhile, after
standing on for a few minutes, came gently
to the wind, and directed her course
through the cloud that enshrouded her,
N. W. by W., directly for the head-land
of Perth Amboy, the bearings of which
had been taken by compass a moment before
the brig hove in sight.
“You will now stand by the helmsman
and con the schooner closely, man,” said
the captain. “One of you get into the
fore-chains and keep the lead going, and
report in a whisper to the officer. Make
no splashing in the water as you cast the
lead! The fog is my good angel, you
see, after all!” added the captain to Randolph.
“Yes, I see that it is. You made a
narrow escape!”
“My escapes are always pretty close
ones! The brig, I suppose, will poke
about astern till she anchors or runs
ashore. I trust to you to pilot me
safely!”
“I will do so,” answered Randolph,
who, although he knew nothing of the
sea, was perfectly familiar with the bay,
in which he had sailed and fished so often.
It is true, neither light-house nor land,
star nor sea, were visible, yet he was
familiar with the depth of water, and knew
that his present course would bring him
opposite the town.
At length the leadsman reported a depth
of water which Randolph well knew was
not half a mile from the bluff on which he
had last parted from Arthur. The tide
had taken the schooner northwardly, and
brought him some distance from the point
for which the vessel laid her course. He
reported to the corsair the position of his
vessel, who immediately anchored, and
despatched a boat in the direction of the
land. In twenty minutes it returned, confirming
Randolph's report.
“You have piloted well, and not deceived
me, my man. I have full confidence
in you now. I will take you as my guide
to the villa.”
“I will guide you there,” said Randolph,
after a moment's hesitation.
His situation was now a peculiar one.
He had piloted the schooner to an anchorage
opposite the home from which he was
an exile. The object of the expedition, he
whether he ought to suffer and forward it,
he had not yet determined. He had no
love for his step-mother, that he should prevent
it; nay, he could not help feeling a
momentary triumph, as he reflected, that
he had it in his power to punish her duplicity
and avarice, by depriving her of
those possessions, to bestow which upon
her son she had criminated herself and
ruined his own prospects in life. For
some time he hesitated what to do. Finally
he decided that he would be the guide,
and appear before his step-mother as an
avenger. He thought not of Arthur, for
he felt that Arthur was his greatest enemy,
whether innocently so or not.
“Yes, my mother-in-law shall feel that
I am not utterly insignificant, that she has
not wholly crushed me. She shall suffer,
and justly too! But I must save Olive
from this lawless corsair. It is for her
sake I have attached myself to him, that I
have done what I have. While he thinks
I most serve him, I shall most defeat his
purposes. It is for this I am at his side.”
Two boats were now manned, and left
the schooner with muffled oars. In the
leading one was the corsair captain and
Randolph. The boat landed at the spot
where, that morning, he had embarked, as
he believed, never to tread upon its shores
again.
| CHAPTER VIII.
THE PILOT. The cruiser of the mist | |