New Oregon plaindealer. (New Oregon, Iowa) 1859-1866, 1860-05-18

"""' o' aa american brig now ready for
"ea. AL NJ power in e ,g'4nd can le-
g"lIy detain me.
That won't go down y unsster,' re-
Piled tho captain, with = sneer; "you
are a little too young for such an Office.
The king needs inca, and You must take
your chance with the rest.
I'D you mean to say that / am to be
detained on hoard your ship siry
"Certair ly"
"Then SIR replied Tom, while his
eyes flashed 6re. you will do it a, your
peril. Already haze = ,ur people run
up heavy recok,ning and the day
shall yet come when your king will
nave to settleit. lam exempt by your
,wn laws from impressment, and you
know it,
The captain showed . little anger ~
:'ur hero spoke, but turning to ono OF
his heutenants, he said
"Mr. M,nson, have thesem ems names
entered, and then station and mess
thcm,' mad without further remark, he
walked aft to tho cabin. In . moment
TOMS mind was made up. and without
resistance Or remark Of any kind, he al :.
lowed bis nane to bs entered On the
purssr's books, and his station end
mes to be assigned to him, after which
a hammock and bedding were ssrvs.l
out to him, and he was directed to ''turp
i'm as quick ~ possible. The frigate
was we'll guarded, there being two up
"a the poop, ono at each gangway, one
on the forecastle, and one on the bow
spirit, besides those which were station
ell at various points below; so no fur
ther notice was taken of the new com.
crs after they had received their bel-
ding, excepting to give the ssntinels
additional caution with regard to watch
ing we'll that no one left the ship unless
he wac passed by the officer Of the deck
Toms hammock was already cleared,
and having hung it up, he turned into
it without undressing. The night was
warm and sultry, and as a means OF
a circulation of fresh air, the gun deck
ports were lowered, and from the place
in which our hero swung he could
look out upon the water, as it sparkled
beneath the beams Of the bright moon.
Tom lay quiet until midnight; but as
yet he could thi, k Of no means of es-
cape. Shortly after that hour passed
he heard the relief guard called, a"L
ir some ten minutes the corporal Of the
first guard came down upon the gan-
deck and uulashsi the hamm ,ek which
swung next bis own; which operation
heiag performed, he proceeded to un-
dress himself hanging his clothes Us
he did 30, upon the clews of his ham
mock. The four hours duty had given
the corporal an excellent appetite for
slesp. and in less than Eve minutes af-
ter he touched his matrass, he began
to snore.
"Now or never thought Tom, 10 my
chance, and with this idea in his mind
he slipped quietly out from his ham
mock, and pr,cseled to divcst himself
ofhis clothes, which having accomplish
ID he very sncerenoniously substitu-
ted those Of the snoring corporal in
their place, and then sat down upoa the
breehing gun to mediate upvn his plans
Cne bell struck, and the sentinels
passed a. usual "all;s well.' Then
Tom heard the corporal, as he started
to 60 his rounds, and ere long he de-
scended the main hatch ladder to visi
the post below. NJ sooner had the
marine officer passed beyond the galley
than our young hero sprang up the
ladder and gained the srar-deck, the
officer of the deck being upon the star
board side: the sentries were walking
their posts with regular tread, while
the old quatermaster stood upon the
poop with his night-glass under bis
arm. The sentriea performed their
walk upon the gang boards, raised even