Commodore Barney's Young Spies

CHAPTER XI.

THE BRITISH FORCES

After we were in a position to see all that might be going on immediately opposite, and for a mile or more down the river, we could make out the spars of several ships which appeared to be at a stand-still, and at once the question was raised as to whether they were aground or at anchor.

"You lads shall stay here, never venturin' to leave the hidin'-place unless the Britishers themselves drive you out, an' I'll take a little trip down stream to see what is goin' on. If the enemy has come into the river without a pilot, I'll go bail that more than one of his vessels has taken the ground."

Then the old man stole softly through the underbrush, and we gave but little heed to his departure, so intent were we on the wondrous panorama spread out before us.

The first craft to heave in sight was an armed brig, the decks of which were brilliant with red uniforms and glittering weapons, and immediately astern of this vessel were a dozen or more barges, and two pungies.

Then came boats filled with soldiers, one astern of the other until it surely seemed as if every craft in the Chesapeake had been brought here to make up the procession, which was more imposing than anything I had ever seen.

It was the glittering, fanciful side of war, which would be transformed into something hideous immediately the actual work was begun, for then one lost sight of the pomp and parade, seeing only the ominous stains of blood, and unable to hear aught save the shrieks of the dying and the groans of the wounded.

Then, to our great surprise, we found that the Britishers were making preparations to take possession of the village. The armed brig was moored stem and stern in the channel where her full broadside could be brought to bear upon the settlement, and the three barges, each having on board a twelve-pounder, were rowed up to the beach on which no less than four hundred soldiers, with weapons ready for use, stood as if to repel an attack.

"They are makin' a mighty lot of fuss." Jerry said with a laugh. "A corporal's guard could capture Benedict without turnin' a hair, an' yet look at that crowd!"

It was truly astonishing that so many men should have been brought to take possession of our little village. Boat-load after boat-load came up the river, landing their living cargoes in the cove where we lads had always kept our canoes, and before the disembarkation had been concluded, the shore of the river was literally covered with soldiers, marines, and, strangely enough, companies of negroes who were decked out in uniforms of the British army.

Since that day I have seen statements made by the enemy's officers to the effect that five thousand men were landed at Benedict, and for what purpose we lads were unable to imagine.

I had never seen such a throng of people before; the town was over-run, and the woods above and below seemed to be packed full of armed men.

Fortunately for us, none attempted to come on our side of the river; but all stood in something approaching a military formation as if expecting an immediate attack.

As a matter of course all us lads were greatly alarmed lest our families should come to harm amid such a gathering; but we could not have afforded them any relief had we been at home, and it was necessary to choke back our anxieties as best we might, though it was difficult at times to prevent the tears from coming into a fellow's eyes.

The troops and guns had been landed before Darius returned, and, what seemed to me strange, no other vessels of any size had put in an appearance. There were pungies, barges and row-boats enough to entirely choke up the river; but nothing larger than the armed brig which had first arrived.

When the old man came back we learned why the fleet had apparently shrunken to such small proportions as compared with the size of the army.

"Nearly every vessel is aground," he said when he approached our hiding-place with every evidence of having traveled long and rapidly. "The river is black with 'em from here to the point, an' some are likely to stay quite a spell on the mud unless mighty quick work at lighterin' is done. I allowed the Britishers had better sense than to run ships up here where there's about half water enough to float 'em."

"But what is the meaning of their landing so many men?" I asked. "There are twice as many as would be needed to capture the whole of Charles and Calvert counties."

"It's Washington they're aimin' at," the old man said confidently, "though why they've stopped here I can't figger out, unless it is that so many of the ships are aground. Whoever is responsible for this end of the Britishers' movement has made a big blunder."

"Will they do any harm to the townspeople, think you?" I asked anxiously.

"It don't stand to reason they would. There may be some plunderin' by the rank an' file; but that's to be expected. You're thinkin' of your mother an' the children, eh? Well, don't worry; they won't come to harm, an' on that I'll go bail."

"There's no tellin' how soon some of that crowd will come over here," Jerry suggested. "There ain't room enough on that side of the river for all hands of 'em, an' they'll begin to spread out pretty quick."

"That won't bother us any, for we're goin' to pull up stakes," Darius replied quietly.

"Are we to join the fleet?" I asked.

"It's the proper thing just now, I reckon, seein's there ain't likely to be anythin' new around here till the enemy pushes on up the river, which will be when he has floated some of his vessels."

Even after making this statement Darius appeared to be in no hurry to move on. He sat amid the foliage watching the throngs on the opposite side of the river until half a dozen officers came down close to the water's edge, having in their midst one in civilian's garb.

"There's a friend of yours," the old man said quietly as he motioned toward the group, "an' you can eat my head if I don't guess what's up."

My face flushed with answer as I looked in the direction indicated, and there saw in earnest converse with the Britishers, Elias Macomber, the traitor.

"He has joined his friends without losin' any time. I wish I could get my fingers around his throat for a couple of minutes!" Jerry cried, shaking his fist in impotent rage.

"An' I reckon you'll soon have that chance, lad," Darius said, calm and serene as a summer's morning. "Watch out now, an' you'll get an idee of the whole business, which will go to show that you didn't lose anythin' much when you left him at Hog Point. It wouldn't surprise me a little bit if he's had a good share in sendin' the ships aground, for he couldn't have told within ten feet, of the water to be found in the channel."

I failed to understand very much of what the old man referred to; but kept my eyes fixed on the opposite shore, and saw that Elias was making ready to embark in a canoe, which was hauled up near at hand.

"He's goin' back to see how many vessels are aground," Jerry suggested, and Darius added placidly:

"You'll find that he's bound up river spyin', an' we count on goin' in the same direction."

Now I understood! Elias was to reconnoiter the river for his very good friends, and we could catch him on his return, as we had done once before.

I was near to crying aloud with joy when I realized that once he set out as Darius predicted, nothing could save him from our clutches, therefore I literally held my breath as he took his seat in the canoe and pushed off.

Just for one instant my heart sank within me, for it seemed as if he was bound down river; but it appeared that he was simply making a flourish to exhibit his skill with the paddle, and then he pulled up stream, thereby doing Jerry and me the greatest possible favor.

"Yes, he's our meat," Darius said with an odd smile as I looked at him questioningly. "He'll go somewhere near the fleet, to make certain it yet remains at the place where he made his escape, an' we won't press the villain. Give him plenty of time to get well away from his friends."

Then the old man settled back amid the foliage as if counting on remaining quite a while, and I no longer thought of anything save the pleasing fact that we would once more present to Commodore Barney the miserable renegade.

Darius soon learned that it would not be well to prolong his halt; we could see the soldiers pointing toward the thicket in which we were hidden, as if suggesting it as a pleasant camping place when the day was so hot as to bring perspiration to a negro's face, and a few moments later some of the lighter boats were pushed out from the shore.

"I reckon it's time for us to make a move," Darius said as he arose to his feet lazily. "We may as well be movin' toward the canoe, though I had counted on stoppin' here till it was a bit cooler."

According to my way of thinking we had no more than time enough in which to get away, for now at least an hundred soldiers were coming across, and in case we were discovered lurking amid the underbrush there would be such a hue and cry that we could not hope to escape.

Darius, however, would not move one whit more quickly because of my urging; in fact, it seemed much as if he walked the slower to test my nerves, and instead of parleying with him further, Jerry and I went ahead at full speed, having due care, of course, to caution.

It pleased me when the old man was obliged to quicken his pace to a run, for before we were well out of the thicket the foremost of the boats had gained the shore.

We pressed on rapidly until coming to where our canoe was hidden, and there we halted, not wanting to embark until Elias had had plenty of time in which to get well up the river, for, to me at least, his recapture was more important than the task of carrying information to the commanding officer.

Lying within the shade of the trees, and so far up river that we could neither see nor hear the swarm of soldiers which had lighted upon Benedict, we took things easy for a couple of hours, keeping sharp watch, however, to make certain that no craft passed us, and then Darius gave the word to get under way.

By this time it was night, but the young moon and the stars in a cloudless sky, lighted up the water-way clearly, and we had no fear that Macomber could give us the slip, unless he returned by land.

We paddled leisurely, for our news was not of such a nature that an hour or two sooner or later would make a difference so far as Commodore Barney's plans were concerned, and had gotten such a distance on our journey that I began to fear the traitor had struck across the country, when we hove him in view half a mile or more ahead.

He was still running up the river, but I questioned if he intended to take any chances on being discovered, for such as he would rather manufacture information out of his head than encounter danger.

Darius, who had been using one of the paddles, now took the helm, and the canoe was swung inshore where she would be partially hidden by the shadows of the foliage, for we did not care to start in open chase because he would probably take to the woods on discovering us, and then our chances of making the capture would be small indeed.

When our quarry rounded a bend in the river, shutting himself out from view, we bent all our energies to the paddles, sneaking inshore immediately we opened him up again, and thus we rapidly lessened the distance until at the third turn of the shore we were less than thirty yards astern.

"Now give it to her, lads!" Darius said sharply. "Put all your strength to the blades, an' we'll heave him to in short order!"

As we rounded the bend, the water foaming from the boat's bow much as it would have done from the stem of a ship under full sail, Macomber was but a short distance ahead, and Darius cried:

"Push her along, lads! Now's our time!" Then, bringing the paddle to his shoulder as if it had been a musket, he shouted, "Drop that oar mighty quick, Macomber, or I'll fire!"

The traitor, thus receiving the first intimation that an enemy was near at hand, glanced backward quickly, and, seeing the supposed weapon leveled full at him, threw down his paddle with an exclamation of mingled fear and anger.

We shot up alongside him like an arrow from the bow, all hands of us reaching out to grasp the gunwale of his canoe, and as we thus made fast Darius grasped the fellow by the throat.

"You may as well give in quietly," the old man said, tightening his grasp until it would have been impossible for the man to make the lightest outcry. "If you flounder about much all hands will go into the water, an' once there I give my word that you won't come to the surface, for we don't count on losin' you the second time."