Bainbridge

“ Bainbridge’s tone was not loud, but there was a compelling quality about it which stopped the boiling torrent of fury with amazing suddenness. Crane gulped hard, caught his trembling lips between his teeth—and finally subsided into his chair.
“You talk of plots—you!” The young man’s voice was hard, cold, full of unutterable contempt. “Do you happen to know the penalty for conspiracy to commit arson—and worse?” ”

“ STRUCK IN THE NIGHT.
WITH muscles tense and legs spread wide apart, Bob Bainbridge found himself crouching in the middle of the office shanty. It was yet dark, and in his ears still seemed to sound the dull, rumbling detonation which had made him leap from the bunk before he was even half awake. ”

“ He was tremendously interested in hearing all about the peculiar conditions of this particular drive, and before Bainbridge realized it he had given a brief narrative of his fight with the Lumber Trust and the events which had grown out of it.
You interest me extraordinarily, Mr. Bainbridge, the older man said, in his crisp, decisive way, when at last they paused at the point several miles below the scene of the last jam, where Sears had to branch off to reach his camp. Things of this sort always do, for it’s only those one has to struggle for which are really worth while. ”

“ It was simply the train of thought aroused which struck Bainbridge unpleasantly. He felt Schaeffer to be capable of almost any villainy provided it could be accomplished with safety to himself. The humiliation of that fight, too, had added a powerful incentive to the one already offered by Crane and the Lumber Trust for the eclipse of Bob Bainbridge. And a total eclipse would be so easy! Just a single shot fired from the bushes at a moment when there was no one else about to see or hear. In this wild country the chances of escaping were infinite. The man might not even be suspected. ”

“ Joseph Bainbridge was a younger brother of Commodore William Bainbridge, and like him he had gifts of popularity. He possessed a magnetic personality that attracted to him the notice of both officers and men, and a bold, adventurous spirit that won their admiration. Added to this was the fact that he was tall and strong, and conceded to be the handsomest young officer in the service.
When the boat drew up at the pier, the middies flocked off by themselves, and the two young lieutenants fell behind. ”

“ To have been one of the Philadelphia’s crew has ever been rightly deemed a strong claim on the gratitude of the republic, and, from the hour at which the ill-fated ship lowered her ensign, down to the present moment, a syllable of reproach has never been whispered. Bainbridge, himself, was brought prominently into notice by the affair, and the sympathy his misfortunes produced in the public mind, made him a favorite with the nation. ”

“ Before morning, Bainbridge had reached a stage of familiarity that permitted him to sit on the edge of Peters' bed and talk to the old fellow briefly and quietly about his farm, and of Doctor Castleton's goodness and ability, and on other subjects presumably interesting to the invalid. Bainbridge would gently pat the poor old man on a shoulder, and smooth his head—somewhat as one does in making the acquaintance of a big dog. ”

“ From this viewpoint the jam looked much more serious and far-reaching than from below. It seemed like some huge abatis bristling with spikes, and holding in place a vast expanse of tumbled timber piled up and mingled together in inextricable confusion. A greenhorn, unused to lumbering conditions, would have said at once that no human power could possibly break up this terrific tangle. Bainbridge’s practiced eye, ranging swiftly from right to left, and back again to the breast of the jam, saw instantly that affairs were serious indeed, but far from being hopeless. ”

“ In 1798, when war was about to break out between France and the United States and the American navy was organized, Bainbridge was appointed commander of the United States Schooner Retaliation, of fourteen guns, with the rank of lieutenant. In November his ship was captured by two French frigates—but it was released shortly afterward.
Bainbridge sailed for the West Indies as master commandant of the brig Norfolk. During this cruise he gave protection to the merchant trade of the United States and captured several of the enemy's merchantmen. ”

“ Perhaps, incredible as it might seem, Bainbridge did not know about Mary? She had been, Desire remembered, a visitor there when Benis met her. Perhaps her stay had been brief. Perhaps the ill-fated courtship had taken place elsewhere? Even then, it seemed almost unbelievably stupid of Bainbridge not to have known something. But of course, she had not met nearly everybody. This fact lent excitement to the idea of the reception. Something might be said at any moment.
If not—there was still John. John must know. A man does not keep the news of a serious love affair from his best friend. ”

“ I am afraid there is not a man on the line who will take duty until we do. So it is most important that the thing should be cleared, and without delay."
I readily assented to the inspector's proposition, and Bainbridge and I arranged that we should call for him at four o'clock at the village inn and drive him to the tunnel.
We then stepped into the wagonette which was waiting for us, and drove to Bainbridge's house.
Mrs. Bainbridge came out to meet us, and was full of the tragedy. Two pretty girls also ran to greet their father, and to glance inquisitively at me. ”

“ William Bainbridge, of the American navy, was born at Princeton, New Jersey, on the 7th of May, 1774. He was the son of Dr. Absalom Bainbridge, a respectable physician of that town. His education was limited to the usual branches of an English school, with a pretty good knowledge of the French language.
His first setting out in life was in a counting-house in New York. Thence he removed to Philadelphia, and was for some time employed as clerk in a mercantile house in that city. Some of his biographers say he was sent in some capacity to sea, by the house in which he was employed ”

“ The ship landed her passengers at Alicant, a neutral country, and then made the best of her way to America, where she arrived in due season.
This act of Bainbridge’s was quite in conformity with the generous tendencies of his nature. He was a man of quick and impetuous feelings, and easily roused to anger; but left to the voluntary guidance of his own heart, no one was more ready to serve his fellow creatures. It seemed to make little difference with him, whether he assisted an Englishman or a Frenchman; his national antipathies, though decided and strong, never interfering with his humanity. ”

“ Bainbridge had served with credit, and had now reached the highest grade which existed in the navy, when he wanted just five days of being twenty-six years old. He had carried with him into the marine the ideas of a high-class Philadelphia seaman, as to discipline, and these were doubtless the best which then existed in the country. In every situation he had conducted himself well, and the promise of his early career as a master of a merchantman was likely to be redeemed, whenever occasion should offer, under the pennant of the republic. ”

“ Bainbridge was indignant at this outrage—then, however, of almost daily occurrence on the high seas—and, finding his own remonstrances disregarded, he solemnly assured the boarding officer that, if he fell in with an English vessel, of a force that would allow of such a retaliation, he would take a man out of her to supply the place of the seaman who was then carried away. ”

“ I have never met another person whom it so much interested me to study as it did this young American. But after ample opportunity to know him, even now as I sit writing more than twenty years later, and I think of the pleasure of that temporary friendship in far-away Illinois, I am puzzled about many things concerning Doctor Bainbridge. He certainly possessed a scientific mind. He himself said that he had no very great love for written poetry: had he a poetic mind? He loved the beautiful in life: he loved symmetry in form, he loved harmony in color, he loved good music. ”

“ But as his peavey gripped the end of that troublesome log, there suddenly flamed into Curly’s mind—temptation. Bainbridge stood below him, perched perilously on the very face of the jam. A little thrust—the tiniest movement of the riverman’s arm—would send him plunging into the stream, while another movement would suffice to drop one of the looser logs upon him. ”

“ Bainbridge was quite aware that under ordinary conditions such a proceeding would have been foolhardy to a degree. For all he knew the jam might be started at any moment; the swirling, tumbling logs might sweep down upon them with irresistible force, overwhelming them before they could even reach the shore. But these were not ordinary conditions. Having allowed the jam to form with malicious intent, there was not one chance in a hundred of Schaeffer’s doing anything to break it unless absolutely forced to. ”

“ Bainbridge had known what it was to lose his ship, and he could feel for an officer under a similar misfortune. So thoughtful was his kindness to his prisoners, that General Hislop in gratitude gave him a splendid gold-hilted sword, and the two remained friends and correspondents during the rest of their lives. The conduct of Bainbridge and his officers was duly reported in England, and the Prince Regent, afterward George the Fourth, who could say [80] graceful things, remarked that he would like to shake hands with Bainbridge, for his magnanimity to the British prisoners. ”

“ Bell," said her father; "if he is as hungry as I am, he must want his lunch."
We then seated ourselves at the table and commenced the meal. Bainbridge, although he professed to be hungry, was in such a state of excitement that he could scarcely eat. Immediately after lunch he left me to the care of his family and went into the village.
"It is just like him," said Mrs. Bainbridge; "he takes these sort of things to heart dreadfully. He is terribly upset about Lucy Ray, and also about the poor fellow Wynne. It is certainly a fearful tragedy from first to last." ”

“ In his haste Bainbridge had not even taken effective measures to destroy his own ship. She was floated and brought into the harbor of Tripoli. Her guns were fished out of the water and remounted. She was manned with a strong Tripolitan crew. Thus she contributed to the strength of 9 the defenses, and constituted a threat to every merchant vessel in the Mediterranean. Gloomy were the thoughts of poor Bainbridge as he viewed these developments from his prison window.
Preble was not the man to worry over past disasters. He was concerned with future successes. ”

“ When the “Constitution” arrived at Bahia, Captain Lambert was carried up on the quarter-deck, and lay near where Bainbridge, still suffering acutely from his wounds, had been brought. Bainbridge was supported by two of his officers as he came over to Lambert’s cot, for he was very weak from loss of blood. He carried in his hand the sword which the dying Englishman had been obliged to surrender to him. Bainbridge put it down beside him on his bed, saying,—
“The sword of so brave a man should never be taken from him.” ”

“ Age did not induce him to retire, for he was not yet fifty; but others had claims on the country, and his family had claims on himself.
But, although unemployed afloat, Bainbridge continued diligently engaged in the service, generally of the republic and of the navy. He was at Charlestown—a favorite station with him—for some time, and then was placed at the head of the board of navy commissioners, at Washington. After serving his three years in the latter station, he had the Philadelphia yard. ”

“ Bainbridge did not answer for a moment. He was busy settling down in the chair which had not been offered him, and in seeing that Tweedy did the same. Then he drew out a cigar case and, with elaborate courtesy, extended it to Crane.
“No?” he murmured, as the latter declined with a brief gesture. “Given up smoking? Here, John.”
When Tweedy had accepted, and his own weed was lighted, Bainbridge leaned comfortably back in his chair.
“To crawl?” he repeated slowly, “Well, I don’t know about that. A fellow never likes to crawl if there’s another way out of a difficulty.” ”

“ Bainbridge treated all of his prisoners with great generosity, and they showed a very grateful appreciation of it. On the 4th of January, on being informed by Lieutenant Chads, next in command, of Captain Lambert's death, Bainbridge wrote a very beautiful letter, in which he said: "Commodore Bainbridge takes this occasion to observe, in justice to Lieutenant Chads, who fought the Java after Captain Lambert was wounded, that he had done everything which a brave and skilful officer could do, and further resistance would have been a wanton effusion of human blood." ”

“ Bainbridge had shed some very bitter tears when she looked her last on that dreary spot, and invoked, we grieve to say, the vengeance of Him who is as mighty to punish as to save upon the head of the absent profligate; but Time, as I was about to say, had produced its normal and blessed effect of softening the angry feelings, and making the rough places in human memories smooth. It is not often, I think, except in tales of fiction, that a wrong is treasured up through years upon years, in spite of change and absence, gathering intensity from the fermentation of the added heap. ”

“ Notwithstanding this, Lieutenant Bainbridge, in the Queen Charlotte's barge, with sixteen men, ran alongside, and boarded with the greatest impetuosity; and after a sharp conflict, carried the Lady Nelson, taking as prisoners seven French officers and twenty-seven men.—six or seven others having been killed or knocked overboard in the scuffle. Lieutenant Bainbridge was severely wounded in the head by the stroke of a sabre, and slightly in other places. ”