James Otis

“ The richly laden ship had but whetted the appetite of the men for more, and some of the most sanguine believed we might remain in the midst of the fleet, seizing a vessel here and there, until we no longer had men enough on board to make up a prize-crew.
That we would succeed in capturing one or more other craft out of all the number that had left port seemed absolutely certain, even though the convoying sloops-of-war came across us while we were at our work, for, as Captain Ropes had said, we could make it exceeding lively for either the Ringdove or the Scorpion. ”

“ No reply was received to my outcries, and when I gained the top of the ladder the gun-deck was deserted.
Nearby the hatchway were the pannikins of food; but I gave no heed to them as I stood gazing around me, rapidly giving way to fear and apprehension.
“What’s the matter?” Simon cried, coming hurriedly to the foot of the ladder.
“That’s what I don’t know. Here are the prisoners’ dinners, and yet no one has come to relieve us.” ”

“ Within an hour of noon we had overhauled and brought to the British brig James and Charlotte, Lavitt, master, from Liverpool, bound for St. John’s with a cargo of hats, dry goods, and a general assortment of merchandise.
One gun had been fired to bring her to, and no more powder than the single charge was burned in the capture of what all hands knew beyond a peradventure was a valuable prize.
It would have pleased me well had I been allowed to board her; but Captain Ropes was not disposed to spend any idle time when there were, perhaps, other merchantmen to be overhauled. ”

“ By that time, the Britishers were upon him, and he went down like a man of straw, apparently trampled under their feet, as the foremost made a rush for the gun-deck, knowing full well that there would be found arms in plenty.
As a rule, I am a coward; but at that moment, my hand never so much as quivered, while I took careful aim at the leader, and he fell off the ladder at the same instant the report of my musket rang out, knocking down those who were immediately below him.
In a twinkling the entire mob had turned on us lads. ”

“ That portion of our troubles had been cast aside once and for all, as a lying omen.
Each morning I expected that Simon and I would be summoned aft by the captain, and each day was I grievously disappointed in my expectations.
The prisoners, now so formidable in number, knowing that there was one on the outside who, at the first favourable [129] opportunity, would aid them, grew insolent, jeering at the guard until it seemed positive our men would so far forget themselves as to raise their hands against apparently helpless captives. ”

“ None of the crew appeared willing to remain in the vicinity of the forward hatchway, and more than one sat facing aft, lest there might yet be some horrible thing to be seen in the bow of the ship.
During this time of silence the thought came to me suddenly that Captain Ropes himself must have been in a certain degree impressed by the voice, else would he have tried to convince the men that it was nothing supernatural, instead of railing at them as he did.
The mind of a sailorman can be coaxed into almost whatsoever channel you will; but it is not often possible to force it. ”

“ By noon we were off Baker’s Island heading due southeast, and I realised that the voyage was really begun, when the good ship rose and fell upon the ocean swell with a motion well calculated to upset the stomach of a landsman.
Simon Ropes and I considered ourselves fairly good sailormen, and yet, before night came, we were paying the same penalty, and in quite as severe a form, as the veriest landsman who ever ventured outside the harbour. ”

“ Simon asked, in a scornful tone, and, now grown bold because of increased hope, I said, as if having weighed well the matter, although of a verity it had come only with Master Josh’s speech:
“There’s an old saying, that if nothing be ventured nothing can be gained, and surely we shall be in no serious condition if your father and my uncle refuse permission for us to become members of the crew.”
“We are like to gain their laughter and scorn; but nothing more,” Simon replied. ”

“ Had the America been snugged down in proper condition to meet the furious blasts, the tempest might have howled yet louder without causing a single sensation of uneasiness or fear, because we knew full well that the good ship was fit to meet any ordinary tumult of nature. ”

“ Then again, the accident had occurred on the first Friday after leaving port, and before we had sighted the sail of an enemy. Such a combination of circumstances, so the old shellbacks declared, was sufficient to stamp the affair as an omen of the most pronounced character.
The fact that all the men who had been aloft were saved, without even so much as a scratch, was brought forward by Simon, whenever the crew would condescend to listen to him, as a good reason why we should look upon the matter as one of good rather than bad significance, but day by day the mutinous talk grew louder. ”

“ Those who had clung to the belief that the carrying away of the topmast was an omen of ill fortune declared the apparition in white to be a second warning, and I question if there was a man forward of the cabin who did not feel decidedly uneasy in mind.
It was nearly morning before Simon and I could compose ourselves sufficiently to turn in, and when, after a short time of slumber broken by most disagreeable dreams, I leaped out of the swinging bed, it was only to find the men in such a mental condition as it is difficult to describe. ”

“ The cruise is ended!”
For a single instant after the words rang out clear and sharp, not a sound could be heard save the seething waves as the stem of the ship divided them, or the whistling of the wind amid canvas and cordage.
Then came a quick, angry cry from the captain:
“Let every man come aft! Every one of you! We’ll break up this tomfoolery before I’m many hours older!”
It was much as if the crew were eager to obey the [70] order, and in a twinkling the ship was crowded near the break of the quarter, until Simon and I were like to be trodden upon. ”

“ We saw what the man called a ghost, and were frightened by it.”
“Then you had best go ashore when next we make port, an’ say that you are not fitted for sailormen,” the captain cried, sharply. “Are you all turned fools that a shadow shall persuade you there’s a ghost aboard?”
“It was not a shadow, sir,” I made bold to say. “Simon and I were sitting just abaft the mizzenmast, and I saw something white rise out of the forecastle hatchway, even before any one spoke. Then it disappeared as the men began calling one to another.” ”

“ Captain Ropes and his officers must have been well aware of the dangerous condition of mind into which the men were fallen, for no less than three paced the quarter-deck constantly, and when an order was given they took extra care that it should be obeyed promptly, as if fearing lest the first indication of such delay as might be counted for insubordination should prove to be the match that exploded a magazine of fear and passion. ”

“ When the people of the United States had finally discovered that patience ceased to be a virtue, that the time was arrived when we as a nation should protect our own seamen against Great Britain’s press-gangs, my uncle and cousins decided that the good ship America should take part in the struggle, by teaching the Britishers a much needed lesson at the same time that she brought in many dollars to her owners. ”

“ Both he and you will live many a long day yet, unless it so chances that you foolishly stand in the path of a British ball when it comes aboard,” the stern-visaged yet kindly doctor said, in a cheery tone. “You two lads are rather the worse for wear, I’ll admit; but you’ve proven yourselves men on this night, and, what’s more, have saved the America. But for you I doubt not that all hands of us would now be dead, or in the brig with our late prisoners as guards over us.” ”

“ We would find the stranger an English frigate, at the very least, and the cruise of the America as an American vessel would come to an end before sunset.
I believe of a verity that, had we fallen in with a Britisher who carried no greater weight of metal than ourselves, these predictions would have come true, so dispirited were the crew, and while we slowly drew nearer the strange sail, Simon and I stood well forward, burning with the most painful anxiety, fancying we were approaching some terrible doom. ”

“ Two of the guard were on deck, having been drawn there by news that the chase was being rapidly overhauled, when I saw a man suddenly spring out of what had appeared to be a solid stanchion, as it looked to me, and before I had time to raise a cry the door of the brig was thrown open, the prisoners pouring out like swarming bees.
The sailor, who should have been on the alert, was standing near the foot of the ladder, waiting to learn from his two comrades who had gone on deck as to the chances of our coming up with the chase, and not until I cried out did he realise his danger. ”

“ Master Josh shouted as we approached, and it was easy for us to understand that he had in mind something different from omens and signs of danger. “She’s every inch as good a sailer as the America, and but for the carrying away of her topmast, we never should have overhauled her.” ”

“ Now the men treat us as belonging to their mess; but if we ate in the cabin while pretending to do duty forward, father says our lives would soon be made burdensome, and surely he ought to know.”
To my mind the argument was a feeble one, not worthy a brave man like Captain Ropes; but I held my peace, understanding that it could hardly be pleasing for Simon to hear me criticise his father.
While the crew discussed the supposed ominous omen, I brooded over the fancied injustice of the captain toward Simon and myself, and in a very short time succeeded in believing that I was a veritable victim. ”

“ Fancy loading heavy guns when the powder must be held in the arms of the men lest it be rendered worthless by moisture! Think of two or three sailors holding their coats or strips of tarpaulin around the cartridge while it was being placed in the muzzle of the piece, to guard against a sudden inrush of the water! Picture to yourself the ship plunging, rising, rolling, and tossing about while the men made ready to shed the blood of their fellow creatures! ”

“ On this day after we parted company with the Hope, praying that the prize-crew might succeed in taking her to an American port, where she could be sold for our benefit, it seemed necessary we two lads should exercise more vigilance than ever before, because the excitement among our crew was so great that those detailed for duty as prisoners’ guard gave heed to what was going on above, rather than to watching the throng of enemies which was so rapidly increasing in size. ”

“ Then we went aft a short distance, to discuss the matter, and Simon repeated again and again this question:
“What could it advantage a man to escape from the brig, in case an opportunity presented itself? By so doing he would shut himself off from taking exercise in the open air once a day, and stand a chance of getting mighty hungry.”
“Now I am positive that the fellow to whom I spoke took two allowances.”
“How can it avail the man who is free, if there be one outside? With a guard kept night and day, nothing could be passed out from the brig.” ”

“ Within two days after the topmast had been carried away the men were in very nearly a mutinous mood, some claiming that the America should put back sufficiently long to cast off the spell of ill fortune which had been thrown over her, and others declaring that at the first opportunity they would desert, believing they were morally entitled to do so in order to save their own lives. ”

“ When consciousness returned I was in the cockpit being attended to by the surgeon, and Simon Ropes, bandaged and wrapped in white cloth until only a comrade would recognise him, lay still as death.
“Is he dead?” I managed to ask, although the simple act of moving my tongue caused pain. ”

“ If the old man thinks he can work last night’s business out of our heads, he’s makin’ a big mistake. The port watch had no more’n got below than they fell to jawin’ about it livelier than ever. Josh Seabury says there’s a chance to save our lives if the America’s course is changed right soon.”
“You’ll hardly see the ship heading for home while there’s a Britisher in sight, and I should think the men would be ashamed to speak of such a possibility,” Simon cried, stoutly, and it was no more than right for him to say whatsoever he might by way of defending his father. ”

“ Because of the fact that we were in the immediate vicinity of a large fleet, some sail of which we hoped to capture, word had been passed to the effect that the prisoners would not be allowed to come on deck for exercise until further orders, and when this was made known to the Britishers they became so bold as to indulge in open threats of what they were able to do.
Some of the most reckless declared they could leave the brig at will, and that the America would be their prize in due course of time. ”