The Newberry herald. [volume] (Newberry, S.C.) 1865-1884, 1869-08-11

obtan and carried them to thoir
Z; Quarters. Tho upshot Of the affair
was, that In tho course Of an hour
=; tho captain Of tho vessel came on
board of the "J&ato' and appolo.
gized Tor what ho called the un-
warrantablo act Of his drunken
mate. Tom, as a matter Of course,
took the apology with ail'the dig
nifty Of bloody minded and in
dignant Englishman, and was not
appeasod until tho Skipper bal
, ancod accounts with case Of the
bost brandy in port. Consul Sam.
Whiting-a jolly good fellow, by
tho way-was not so easily salts
{ fled, and making complaint the
next day to the Governor Of tho
island, every blessed Wost Indian
who had II fragment Of tho untor-
innate banner as big as n ten cont
piece, was obliged TO deliver tho
same to the irate representative Of
tho United States of America. af:
ter which, suitable apology was
made by the authorities Of the is.
land.
Tho way was now paved for tho
accomplishments of our object,
which was TO obtain n cargo Of
arms and ammunition Of war, that
had been ordered by tho. Conted-
crate Government, and which it
was vitality important should be
placed in tho hands Of our West
crn army, then in the vicinity of
Corinth, with tho least possible
delay.
This war material had been
brought to Nassau by an English
brig, and part Of her cargo was
unloaded at tho dock, but rs sus-
picion had been aroused that
things wcro not exactly what they
seemed, she had dropped down
somo distance from the town and
lay in the stream awaiting our ar
rival. AS many vessels were con-
stantly coming and going, these
movements occasioncd no especial
comment. In two days after our
excursion party we coaled, and
steaming up to the dock took in
the portion Of cargo which had
been deposited as above described.
We then dropped down alongside
OF the English brig.
Tho custom house officer dc
tached to attend us. was rs black
as yonr hat, but, nevertheless,
courteous and Intelligent official.
Oakley had industriously cultiva-
tod this fellows acquaintance, and
be WAS 30 completely magnctizcd
by the peculiar manipuIations Of
the old blockade runner, that nc
never saw anything which was
not proper to be seen, except
twenty dollar gold pieces or u bot
tie of wine, and, for all Confcd-
crate purposes, was as blind rs an
owl in tho sunlight.
Tho arms and accoutrcments
wero packed in boxes and marked
"Hardware," and in all probability
the custom house official aforesaid,
is to. the present day, prepared to
swear the most horrible oath that
they contained in truth only le-
gitimate spades and shovcls, manu-
tactuued in Springfield, Massuchu-
sctts.
We had bcon hurrying in the
cargo for about threo hours, when
the captain Of an English gunboat
rowcd alongside and came on
board. He was a fruff, hearty old
fellow, Of the bulldog stripe,
chunky, broad. .shoul,icrcd, yellow
haired, and rod faced, with those
pretty blossoms on his rosy fca-
lures which arc tho nnmistukablc
symptoms Of devotco at the
shrine of John Barleycorn. Tom
knew his man in minute, and
guessed his errand ; and you nov.
or saw ono of tho folino species
proceed to play with q captive
mouse more adroitIy than was
dono on this important occasion.
Vast interests were at stake.
None know better than Captain
Oakley that perhaps tho Confed-
crate success in the daily expected
battle Of Shiloh depended on the
safe transit and delivery Of those
arms, and no man could possibly
fool tho responsibility Of tho hour
more gravcIy than himself, for be-
foro our departure, lottor upon let
tor had boon sent to Charleston
from both officers Of tho army and
of the government, begging us by
ovory consideration to forward
thcm with all possible dispatch.
"Good morning, captain, / aIn glad
to 500 YOU" was Oakoy's Off hand
greeting. They had mot before
on previous visits Of our blockade
runners to. Nassau.
"Morn'n', morn'n', morn'n,"
growlcd the old sea dog, extend.
ing fat, frocklcd hand, that
looked rs if at some limo it had
boon tho fllpper of n turtle. 81. |
Just in time" said Tom. "I've
inst orf1n, nd n to,id.,. J,,,o ox,o,