Captain Mitchell

“ Sir William had made me promise to believe no reports, and not upon any account to move without his written order for it. I thought it was best not to listen to any stories, so I told my maid Emma not to tell me any, and to do her best to get no alarms herself. Captain Mitchell I found of great service; he is a very sensible and seemingly good-hearted man. ”

“ A long period of silence above and below ensued.
“I fancy,” began the engineer, in a subdued voice, “that you mistrust Captain Mitchell’s Capataz.”
“Mistrust him!” muttered the doctor through his teeth. “I believe him capable of anything—even of the most absurd fidelity. I am the last person he spoke to before he left the wharf, you know. The poor woman up there wanted to see him, and I let him go up to her. The dying must not be contradicted, you know. ”

“ I am no more of a patriot than the Capataz of the Sulaco Cargadores, this Genoese who has done such great things for this harbour—this active usher-in of the material implements for our progress. You have heard Captain Mitchell confess over and over again that till he got this man he could never tell how long it would take to unload a ship. That is bad for progress. You have seen him pass by after his labours on his famous horse to dazzle the girls in some ballroom with an earthen floor. He is a fortunate fellow! His work is an exercise of personal powers ”

“ With a hollow rumble of wheels on the planks a couple of field guns, dragged by hand, rolled by. Then, after a small body of men had marched past escorting four or five figures which walked in advance, with a jingle of steel scabbards, he felt a tug at his arms, and was ordered to come along. During the passage from the wharf to the Custom House it is to be feared that Captain Mitchell was subjected to certain indignities at the hands of the soldiers—such as jerks, thumps on the neck, forcible application of the butt of a rifle to the small of his back. ”

“ Captain Mitchell was the name of her commander, and [70] he was also commandant of the remaining sixteen vessels of that rebel fleet.
"Captain Bailey could not fight so many at once without some assistance, so used his skill in avoiding the butting of the rams and the efforts to board his vessel. At the same time he was making such good use of his guns that, while saving his own vessels, he compelled three of the Confederate gun-boats to surrender to him before Captain Boggs and Captain Lee, of the Varuna and the Oneida came to his assistance. ”

“ With ten days' provisions Captain Josiah Mitchell performed this memorable voyage of forty-three days and eight hours in an open boat, sailing four thousand miles in reality and thirty-three hundred and sixty by direct courses, and brought every man safe to land. A bright, simple-hearted, unassuming, plucky, and most companionable man. I walked the deck with him twenty-eight days—when I was not copying diaries,—and I remember him with reverent honour. If he is alive he is eighty-six years old now. ”

“ It is true that the Cargadores are strangers here, too, for the most part—immigrants, Islenos.”
“His prestige is his fortune,” muttered the doctor, sourly.
“The man has proved his trustworthiness up to the hilt on innumerable occasions and in all sorts of ways,” argued the engineer. “When this question of the silver arose, Captain Mitchell naturally was very warmly of the opinion that his Capataz was the only man fit for the trust. As a sailor, of course, I suppose so. But as a man, don’t you know, Gould, Decoud, and myself judged that it didn’t matter in the least who went. ”

“ As the captain swung over the rail, half a dozen men ran up on deck shouting an alarm. The captain struck with the butt of his pistol. A man fell. De Courval grappled with a burly sailor, and falling, rose as the mate hit the guard on the head with a marline-spike. Then an officer fired, and a sailor went down wounded. It was savage enough, but brief, for the American crew and captain released, were now running aft from the forecastle, and the French were tumbled into the companionway and the hatches battened down in haste, but no man killed. ”

“ I said he should have spared his life, he being an old man who could [Pg 49] never do him much harm. He replied, "I have served him the same as they will serve me when they catch me."
Captain Mitchell told me he was now bound to New-York, which he intended to make his permanent residence, but he must go by the way of New Orleans, as he had fourteen negro slaves he wanted to sell there. I told him the laws of the United States strictly forbid the carrying of slaves into that country; if he was caught in the act his vessel and cargo would be forfeited. ”

“ Eldest son of the late Admiral Sir Andrew Mitchell, K.B. whose services are recorded in the Nav. Chron. XVI. 90–107; and brother to Captains Nathaniel and Andrew Mitchell, R.N.
We first find this officer serving as an acting lieutenant on board the Cleopatra frigate. Captain Sir Robert Laurie, Bart, in her gallant but unsuccessful action with la Ville de Milan, a French ship of nearly double her size and force, Feb. 17th, 1805; on which occasion he was badly wounded [1] . He obtained the rank of lieutenant Aug. ”

“ De Courval laughed. "Adieu, Citizen." The boat put off for the port, and the two ships made all sail.
By and by the captain called to De Courval to come to the cabin. "Well, Mr. Lewis,—if that is to be your name,—we are only at the beginning of our troubles. These seas will swarm with ships of war and English privateers, and we must stay by this old tub. If she is caught, they will go over the manifest and take all they want out of her, and men, too, damn 'em."
"I see," said De Courval. "Is there anything to do but take our chance on the sea?" ”

“ You have, I think you told me, a despatch for the captain of the corvette. Let me urgently advise you not to board that vessel. My boat shall take you to the ship,—deliver your despatch,—but let nothing tempt you to set foot on her deck. We are not on very good terms with France; you are still a French citizen. Several of the corvette's officers have been in Philadelphia. If you are recognized as a French noble, you will never see America again. You know what fate awaits an émigré in Paris ”

“ He laughed aloud in a frank, boyish way as their eyes met. “I knew you had some sinister motive in that speech. You almost fooled me.”
And she smiled as she retorted, “I was merely trying to please you. You say you are averse to intelligence in a woman.”
“Well, I take it all back. I am averse to nothing in a woman, except absence.”
Father Burke took all this in, and he disapproved. Captain Boyd was by no means the sort of man he would have selected for companion to this maiden. The young man’s appreciation of the lady herself was too honest and too evident. ”

“ Of a sudden, as if alarmed, the Stars and Stripes came down, a tricolor went up, and the Marie turned tail for the Jersey coast. De Courval watched the game with interest. The captain enjoyed it, as men who gamble on sea chances enjoy their risks, and said, laughing, "I wonder does that man know the coast? He's a morsel reckless."
The corvette went about and followed. "Halloa! He's going to talk!" A cannon flash was followed by a ball, which struck the rail.
"Not bad," said the captain, and turning, saw De Courval on the deck. "Are you hit, man?" he cried. ”

“ Camotte bowed and retired. Next moment the great American shipowner came in puffing and blowing.
"Sit down, sir," said Tom Mitchell.
The fat man obeyed with a grunt.
"I think it rather hard that a man like me—"
"Pardon me," said the captain, coldly; "allow me to remark, before you go any further, that I have no need of you, and did not send for you. You it is who, in the company of several other gentlemen, have come to me. All of you have, I dare say, serious reasons for taking this extraordinary step. I have in no way solicited the honour. All I can do is to listen to each in his turn. ”

“ About five in the afternoon on the 23d of May, 1792, the brig Morning Star of Bristol, John Maynard, master, with a topgallant breeze after her, ran into Delaware Bay in mid-channel between Cape May and Cape Henlopen. Here was the only sunshine they had seen in three weeks. The captain, liking the warmth on his broad back, glanced up approvingly at mast and rigging. "She's a good one," he said, and noting the ship powdered white with her salt record of the sea's attentions, he lighted a pipe and said aloud, "She's salted like Christmas pork." ”

“ He may have commanded ships in the merchant service, or followed the fortunes of Russell, and acted as his agent in his political intrigues at home and in Holland. After the revolution he was appointed to the Elizabeth of 70 guns, and in her took part in the battle of Beachy Head, 30 June 1690. In 1691, when Russell was appointed to the command of the fleet, Mitchell was appointed first captain of the Britannia, his flagship, an office now known as captain of the fleet. ”

“ Day after day passed, and the thermometer sank to a lower point, and the winds rose to a higher, and sleighing became uncomfortable; and even the dullest man longs for the cheer of a newspaper. The 'Nantucket Inquirer' came out for awhile, but at length it had nothing to tell and nothing to inquire about, and so kept its peace.
"After about a week a vessel was seen off Siasconset, and boarded by a pilot. Her captain said he would go anywhere and take anybody, as all he wanted was a harbor. ”

“ Mitchell; Q.—Did the Captain accuse you of being drunk while in the performance of your duty? A.—No, nothing of that kind. He could not do that, because I did not have any drink. Some ships will ship more water than others, but in an ordinary strong breeze a vessel should not take water on board. The water taken in by the Alert on the occasion I speak of ran out aft.
John Leith, examined by Mr. Smyth, stated: I am a master mariner. At the present time I am captain of the S. S. Maitland. She is engaged in the regular trade between Melbourne, Port Albert, and the Gippsland Lakes. ”

“ Hope replied that he did not care a d—— what the captain thought; that he would defy death; that the bullet was not yet moulded that would kill him; and he commenced exposing himself above the mud wall behind which we were lying. The captain was just on the point of ordering a corporal and a file of men to take Hope to the rear-guard as drunk and riotous in presence of the enemy, when Pipe-Major John M'Leod, who was close to the captain, said: "Don't mind the puir lad, sir; he's not drunk, he is fey! [meaning doomed] . It's not himself that's speaking; he will never see the sun set." ”

“ At all events as things stood it was none of our business—and after a moment’s reflection I said:
“We have quite enough on our hands without the woman. I shall see the count to-day, [Pg 51] and then we may be in a better position to know what further should be done.”
“Done?” laughed the captain. “I shall give all three fools what is called satisfaction. I don’t take much stock in them. I hate Aramis. It’s the woman interests me the most.” ”

“ You know, it's funny, but when I'm out with Carter I feel like such a boob, not daring to eat this or that, or smoke or—or anything." Heresy this, from the three years' captain of L. A. High who had never considered any sacrifice worth a murmur which kept him fit for the real business of life. "Somehow, he's so keen, he makes me wish I had more in my head and—and less in my heels! You know what I mean, Skipper. He does make me look like a simp, doesn't he?"
"No," said Honor, definitely. "Why, Jimsy, [Pg 55] you're a million times bigger person than Carter. Everybody knows that. ”

“ Knowing, as they did, the moment the steamer landed at Malden the Fugitives were as free as themselves, because it is British soil, they implored the captain not to stop there, for their Negroes would escape. He said he had nothing to do with the Negroes, it was wood he wanted, otherwise the steamer could not run. "For God's sake, Captain, don't stop at Malden. "No use, gentlemen, we must have wood, or we shall be lost." "Captain, land at Detroit before you do at Malden, and we will give you three hundred dollars (or £60) ." ”

“ Meanwhile the smoke grew thick and thicker. Here and there a song broke out, and the clink of coin and the rattle of dice went on. Then, when at last Montresor came to our table and said he was going, and would I come too, I rose, and, bidding my kinsman good-by, went with the captain. I heard him swear as he found the door locked. No one seemed to know who had the key, and as for me, not ill-pleased, and past feeling regret, I turned back and stood over a table where some officers were throwing a main. ”

“ Astern and to leeward lies the land, With its breakers white on the shingly shore. What matters the reef, or the rain, or the squall? I steady the helm for the open sea; The first mate clamors, "Belay, there, all!" And the captain's breath once more comes free. And so off shore let the good ship fly; Little care I how the gusts may blow, In my fo'castle bunk, in a jacket dry. Eight bells have struck, and my watch is below. Walter Mitchell [1826-1908]
IN OUR BOAT Stars trembling o'er us and sunset before us, Mountains in shadow and forests asleep ”

“ A boat put out and drew near with caution. The captain began to enjoy it. "A nibble," he said.
"Give me a boat," said De Courval. "They will [Pg 171] not come nearer. There are but five men. I must risk it. Let the men go armed." In ten minutes he was beside the Frenchmen, and seeing a young man in uniform at the tiller, he said in French: "I am from that brig. She is loaded with provisions for this port or San Domingo, late from the States."
"Very well. You are welcome. Run in. The vicomte will take all, and pay well. Foi d'honneur, monsieur; it is all as I say. You are French?" ”