University of Virginia Library

7. CHAPTER VII.
THE LANDING AT OAKFORD'S COTTAGE.

The smuggler having changed his position,
so as to render the weight of his
chains easier to bear, and drank a glass
of wine which the Earl handed him from
the side-board, thus resumed his narrative:—

`I had got about ten leagues from the
island, when I hove my vessel too, and
began to deliberate what steps I should
take with reference to the lovely child,
which had taken such a hold upon my
heart, and also, its mute nurse, Mary.—
For hours I walked the deck, and formed
first one scheme, and then another, but
rejected each. To take possession of
them both in the night by the aid of my
men, I felt would be easy enough; but
when I got them on board my vessel,
what was to be done with them? This
was the difficulty. To keep them constantly
with me at sea, in all my cruises,
I saw would not do; it would be inconvenient,
and expose them to all the dangers,
to which I myself was exposed. I
loved them both too well, not to render
their situation, should I take them into my
hands, as pleasant as possible. I thought
seriously of proposing marriage to Mary,
after I got them on board; and I meant
to do it by showing her the picture of the
marriage ceremony in an old prayer-book
I always carried, in case of accidents.
As my wife, I intended to settle
with her in the United States, and there
bring up the little Flora as onr daughter.
But the idea of binding myself to a wife,
was rather startling to a man who had so
long had his freedom; and then I felt
afraid I should not make Mary happy.'

`Such a reflection was very honorable
to your feelings, Captain,' said Lord Percival.

`I do not think any man is entitled to
credit for doing what is right, my lord.—
I cogitated a long time what I should do.
At length in my perplexity, I called to
my councils my young friend, Nickerson,
who alwas lived in the cabin with
me, and who was at all times in my confidence.
I had frequent evidences of his
intelligence, judgment and readiness of
wit. He was now no longer a boy, but
a young man in his twentieth year, and
my second officer. He had seen that
something was on my mind, and more
than once asked me as we lay too, and I
was pacing up and down the deck, what
was the matter. At length I called him

into the cabin, and told him all about my
perplexity.

`After a few minutes reflection he said,

`I think, Captain, that I can relieve
you of the dilemma, and make all fair
and above board.'

`If you can do so, Harry,' said I, `I
will give you fifty guineas; for what to
do with our dear friends I know not.'

`You know,' said he, `that when I last
went ashore in England, that I found my
father and mother had emigrated to America.
Well, I found out last year by an
American sailor I met in Kingston where
they were, for he had come from the same
place and knew them well. It was near
Boston, at a place called Dorchester.—
My father was gardenering for a gentleman
of wealth, whose estate lay near the
waters of the harbour, or Bay of Boston.
Now if we can get Flora and mute Mary
on board, all we shall have to do will be
to set sail for Yankee-land, and place
them under charge of my father, who for
a small recompense, will take the best
of care of them. My father is a kind old
man, and my mother the best of women;
and the wonder is, how they ever came
to have such a reprobate son as Harry
Nickerson!'

`Your proposition is the very thing!'
I exclaimed, giving my hand to Harry.
`It is just what I wanted. The thing is
done. Towards night, we will stand in
again for the island, lay off and go ashore
for them!'

`And this now is what I wish to hear
about,' said the Earl, with additional interest.
I have had such information as
to cause me to believe that the child lived,
but where, or in what part of the world
she was, could not be told!'

`Your Lordship will not longer remain
ignorant,' responded Bonfield; `for I
see that you are Flora's friend!'

`Of that you will be convinced by and
by,' answered the Earl earnestly.

`I came within sight of the island again
about four o'clock, and the wind being
favorable, I stood in with both sheets hauled
aft, and as the sun went down I was
within five miles of the fort. I continued
to stand on, shortening sail every little
while, until I came too under the fore-top-sail,
only within about a mile of the
shore. It was a dark night, and at this
distance, with the little canvass I displayed,
I knew I should not be discovered
from the fortress. I then manned my
boat, took a sufficient number of pistols,
and cutlasses to arm my men, for I determined
not to be prevented in accomplishing
my purpose by any alarm that
Oakford might give, and pulled ashore
with muffled oars. I landed at the foot
of the path, and landing my men in strict
silence proceeded with seven of them
well armed and accompanied by Harry,
towards the cottage.

`As we had to wind around one of the
bastions of the fort, upon the battlements
of which was a sentinel, within half musket
shot distance, the least noise would
have betrayed us. But we passed the
bastion without being discovered and soon
gained the elevated plateau where the cottage
stood. A light, as at the time when
I first saw it, sparkled through the foliage
of lotus and accacia trees in the little yard.
I approached it within a few feet of the
gate in the paling, and stationed my men,
two of whom carried between them a
large arm-chair with straps crossed over
their shoulders to support it. I then advanced
to the door with Harry, and knocking
waited for it to be opened; for I
meant to do what I had set myself to do,
quietly if possible, forcibly if I must!

`What! Captain Bonfield again back!'
cried the sister of Robert Oakford, appearing
at the door.

`Yes,' I answered; `where is your
brother?'

`He is in the town, but will soon return.

He will be surprised to see you!'
and she spoke as if she was quite as unwilling
to see me as she was surprised;
for since my affair of cutting out the
French brig, both she and her brother
had regarded me with less favor than before.
But I know they dared not inform
against me, as this would necessarily lead
to an inquiry into matters which doubtless
they would prefer should remain quiet.
So they suffered my visits; but there was
an absence of cordiality in their reception
of me, and they always seemed to be
pleased to have me take my departure.

`When will your brother return?' I
asked.

`I expect him by eight o'clock,' she
answered, looking with misgiving at the
cutlass I held in my hand, and which I
had used as a walking-stick to climb the
path; and I saw also that she looked timidly
at the pistols stuck in Harry's belt.

`It is now half-past seven,' said I; `I
cannot well wait to see him. Where are
Flora and Mary?'

`But I had no need to inquire, my lord.
Before the words were out of my mouth
they were both in my arms. Flora in the
room had heard my voice and made
Mary acquainted with my presence, and
both fled to meet me.

`Flora,' I said, `run and get your bonnet
and shawl and your aunt Mary's, and
tell her that I have come to take you both
away with me!'

`At this the child clapped her hands
with joy, and instantly began with rapid
fingers to make known to her nurse what
I had said. Mary bent forward towards
her as if listening with her eyes. A
happy expression at once animated her
countenance, and taking my hand she
smiled and pressed it warmly. The next
instant she and Flora left me to get ready.
All this while the sister of Robert Oakford
stood bewildered. She seemed as if
unable to realize what was passing before
her eyes, for she had heard what I had
said to Flora.

`Do you really intend to take them
away?' she demanded between surprise
and doubt.

`Yes; I shall at once place them on
board my vessel,' I replied.

`And by what authority?' she demanded.

`What means this?' cried Robert Oakford,
coming into the house; `I could
hardly get into my own dwelling for an
armed party outside! You here, Captain
Bonfield? So your men there said,
but I could hardly credit it!'

As he spoke he came close to me and
looking at me and my weapons said to
his sister.

`What was this I heard about having
authority? What has Captain Bonfield
come for?'

`To take away Flora and Mary,' I
answered firmly. `They are now gone
to get ready. You will oblige me by aiding
them all you can to hurry their preperations,'
I added to his sister.

`Take them away! Has Lord Ross
sent for them?' he asked.

`I shall make no explanations,' I answered.
`They both are to go with me
on board at once. Your power over them
terminates now. Make no resistance nor
attempt to prevent it. I have an armed
party without, as you saw!'

`Will you tell me if you have instructions
from the Earl of Ross to do this?'
he asked, hardly able to command his
surprise.

`I have not—I should not ask him!'
was my reply. `He has cast them upon
the world friendless. No one truly loves
them but me. You take care of them because
you fear, from some reason or
other, the Earl of Ross; and because
you are well paid for it. I am sorry to
interrupt you in the receipt of your income
from this source; but Flora shall

not on this account be brought up in ignorance
and by a refinement of cruelty,
almost as speechless as if she were a
born mute. This iniquity shall not be
perpetrated. You will, therefore, at once
permit me to take them and be their protector.'

`Good God!' cried Oakford with looks
of alarm and grief, as he turned to his
sister, `what shall we answer to Lord
Ross?'

`Oh, Captain Bonfield!' she cried with
singular earnestness, `spare my brother!
You know not what evil will become his
if you take them away! It will be our
ruin—you know not how my brother is
in his power!'

`I indeed am ignorant,' I answered,
`of the singular connection that seems to
exist between his lordship and your brother;
but if he apprehends evil to himself
from the step I am taking I will fully acquit
him to his lordship. I will write a
letter to Lord Ross, and also give you a
receipt for the young woman and little
Flora.'

`I am in no situation to resist this aggression
on your part,' answered Oakford.
`Draw up the papers in a shape
that will clear me, that his lordship will
see that I have been compelled to give
them up.'

`This I will do,' I answered; and seating
myself at the table in the next room
I wrote as follows, for I remember it
nearly word for word:

`This was an extraordinary letter,
Captain Bonfield,' said lord Percival, with
an expression of wonder upon his face at
the boldness of the smuggler. `You are
as daring with your pen as with your
sword, I see.'

`I fear no man, my lord. In a bath
there is no difference between a king
and a beggar. The common people of

England that now bow their necks to the
yoke of the aristocracy, will, ere another
generation, learn this lesson. But, I beg
your lordship's pardon. When I had
read what I had written, to Oakford, I
folded and sealed it with the hilt of my
cutlass. He was satisfied with it; and
set quietly down letting me do as I chose.

`So I got the trunks belonging to my
protoges, helped to pack them, locked
them and gave them to my men, and then
wrapping both Flora and Mary in cloaks,
for it was a sharp night, I sat the latter
in the arm chair between the two sailors,
and folded Flora in my arms covering
her with my over-coat. Oakford and his
sister took a tearful leave of them, for it
was impossible they should not have been
attached to them, for they were angels
and would have won any body's hearts,
except such as Lord Ross carried in his
guilty breast.'

`His Lordship amply deserves the
severe reflections you cast upon him,
Captain Bonfield.'

`I am glad to hear you say so, Lord
Percival,' answered the smuggler, in a
hearty tone. `It shows me more and
more that you are a friend to Flora; and
so I take pleasure in telling you all that
occurred.'

`And I hope that you will be able to
tell me that she is alive, and can be found.'

`I will tell your Lordship all I know.
After we left the cottage, we proceeded
to the boat as rapidly as we could move,
and had just placed the chair with Mary
in it, in the stern, when we were hailed
by a sentry. I instantly told my men to
leap into the boat, and take to their oars.
I sprung to the after part of it, and placed
my person between Mary and the little
girl and the fort, so that if the soldier
fired, they should not be hit.'

`Captain Bonfield, I can almost forget
that you have been a smuggler,' cried
the Earl. `Every moment my admiration
of you, as a man, is increased!'

`We had hardly pushed off, and the
men taken the first stroke with their oars,
when the sentinel hailed a second time,
and then fired. It was well I had taken
the position I had, for a ball struck me
in the upper part of the shoulder, and
glancing upward, passed through the corner
of Mary's straw hat, as she sat before
me, holding Flora on her lap. If I had
not stopped the bullet, it would have
struck her in the breast and killed her.
The wound I got was pretty severe, for
I was not able to use my arm for three
months. We got safely on board through
a pretty smart fire which was opened
upon us from a six pounder; but the
night was so dark, we did not offer them
a very good target. But the flash of their
guns showed them my vessel, and I had
hardly struck her deck with my foot,
when the fortress opened a broad-side
upon us. But we were under sail in a
moment, and in ten minutes were beyond
reach of her guns, though with the loss
of one man killed and three wounded,
and a wound in our foremast by a spent
ball. But under the circumstances I got
off pretty well, my lord.'

`Yes, it was a very narrow escape for
you. Did you sail at once for the United
States?'

`Yes, and in five days I was in Boston
harbour, one of the handsomest harbours
in the world, with its beautiful
green islands, its surrounding country,
and noble city in the distance, crowning
the whole. It was my second visit there,
and I was not, therefore, wholly a stranger.
I showed my papers to the customhouse
officer, who pronounced them all
regular; and so I had nothing to do but
to look out for a home for Mary and
Flora!'

`If I loved the child, my Lord, when
it was an infant but a year old, I loved it
now that it had grown to a sweet little
angel of a child in her seventh year.—
She endeared herself to me so on this
last passage, that if I had had a thousand
lives, I would have given them all for
her; if I had had the riches of Mexico, I
would have laid them all by for her.—
She was so beautiful to look upon and so
good and sweet-tempered. Her eyes,
which were large and as blue as the sea
off soundings, seemed to dance always
with joy, or sparkle with mirth, or glisten
with emotion. Her smile fairly warmed
my heart. It was better than sunshine;
indeed it might have been never so cloudy
and stormy on deck, so long as I could
look at her beautiful countenance, it was
as if the sun shone down through the
sky-light. Her laugh too, my lord!—
It was better than the singing of any
tropical birds I ever listened to! I would
rather have heard Flora laugh than a
hundred canaries and mocking birds in
full chorus of a spring morning. She
would make more music than all of them
put together! You can't conceive, my
lord, how that was loved by me! And
Mary too! If possible I loved her quite
as well as I did Flora. I never saw two
persons so much alike as they were. By
means of Flora I could talk with Mary,
almost perfectly. The little child could
translate every word I uttered. Well,
my lord, I reached Boston harbour, and
anchored in the stream. Harry now
took it upon himself to find out his father.
He went ashore in the morning and about
noon came aboard, and told me that he
had been successful. He had seen both
his father and mother, who had received
him as if he had risen from the dead.—
He told me that they were very comfortably
situated, his father being part farmer,
and sole gardener to a gentleman,
who had let him have a neat cottage on
one corner of his estate, not a hundred
yards from the water side.

`To them, after the joy of the first
meeting was over, Harry made known
his business, telling that his Captain had
a young deaf and dumb friend and child,
for whom he wished to procure an asylum,
until he had done following the sea.
He told them that if they would take
them, they would be made independent.
They consented, and said that they had
a spare room, which would just answer
for the two guests.'

`When Harry had related all to me
concerning his visit, I resolved without
delay to go ashore with my proteges. It
was about half an hour before sunset
when, with both on board and Harry as
a guide, I pulled into the shore directly
opposite the cottage of the old gardener.
I could see it from the boat, and I was
pleased with its situation in the midst of
a garden, and overshadowed by trees,
which now, however, were rapidly losing
their leaves. It was just such a place as
would tempt me, whensoever I left the
sea, to cast anchor there for life. Well,
my lord, I found the old people precisely
the sort of persons Harry had represented.
They were kind, and hospitable,
and simple. They hardly knew how to
show themselves sufficiently grateful to
me, for restoring them, as they were
pleased to say it, their son again. Many
and Flora soon understood the new relation
they were to hold to these worthy
persons, and seemed greatly pleased with
them and every thing they saw about
them. They would have been perfectly
happy if I was to remain with them.
This I should be glad enough to do; but
after three days stay I got anxious to be
off and at sea again; for though I loved
to be with my proteges, I also was happy
away from them, knowing they were safe
and agreeably situated. So, after the
fourth day, my lord, I took a tender leave

of them, left with old Mr. Nickerson
one hundred and fifty pounds, and, with
Harry, pulled out to my vessel which I
had hauled in nearly abreast of the cottage.
I soon made sail and steered out
to sea.

From that time, my lord, I have seen
my protege every year until the present
one, and I assure you she has grown up
to be the most beautiful young lady that
your eyes, or those of any man, ever
looked upon. And she is well educated
too. I spared no expense for this.
I was on my way to visit her from the
Mediterranean, where I had been helping
the Greeks against the Turks, when
it occurred to me before I crossed the
Atlantic I would pay my old smuggling
haunts a visit. It was on this unlucky
visit my vessel was taken by surprise
by two revenue cutters, while I
was arrested on shore; for I had been
recognized by an old enemy, information
given, and I had thus fell into the
hands of the government. I was taken as
a smuggler only, my lord, but when I was
brought up here to London in my vessel
they had me put in chains as a pirate;
bringing up against me the old affair of
the French brig I had cut out of Bermuda,
and also charging me with a score of piracies
which other men had committed,
not I; for I plainly declare to you, my
lord, I have never committed an act of
piracy since I sailed the blue sea. The
worst that can be said of me is that I
have been a smuggler.