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


the captain of: the vessel came on
board of the '"Kate" and appolo'
gized for what he called the un'
warrantable act of his drunken
mate. Tom, asa matter of course,
took the apology with all the dig
nifty of q bloody minded and in
dignant Englishman, and was not
appeased until the skipper bal
anced accounts with case of the
best brandy in port. Consul Sam
Whiting-a lily good fellow, by
the way-was not so easily salts
fed, and making complaint the
next day to the Governor of the
island, every blessed West Indian
who had a fragment Of the unfor-
tunate banner IS big as ten cent
piece, was obliged TO deliver the
same to the irate representative OF
the United States of America: at:
ter which, suitable apology was
made by the authorities Of the is
land.
The way was now paved for the
accomplishment of our object,
which was to obtain a cargo of
arms and ammunition of war, that
had been ordered by the. Confed-
crate Government, and which it
was vitality important should be
placed in the hands of our West
ern army, then in the vicinity of
Corinth, with the least possible
delay. 3 ...,,.7. -: -.:
This war material had been
brought to- Nassau by an English
brig, and part of her cargo was
unloaded at the dock, but as .sus-
picion had. been; aroused that
things were not exactly what they
seemed, she had dropped down
some distance from the town and
lay in.the stream awaiting our ar
rival. As many vessels were con-
stantly coming and going, these
movements oeeasioned 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. '
The custom house officer de-
tached to attend US. was as black
as Your hat, but, nevertheless, a
courteous and intelligent official.
Oakley had industriodsly cultiva-
ted this fellows acquaintance, and
he was so completely magnctized
by the peculiar manipulations of
the old blockade runner, that he
never saw anything which was
not proper to be seen, except
twenty dollar gold pieces or a bot
tie of wine. and, for all Confed-
crate purposes, was as blind as an
owl in the sunlight. =
The arms and accoutrements
were 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 shovels, manu-
factured in Springfield, Massachu-
setts. .-
We had been hurrying in the
cargo for about three hours, when
the captain of an English gunboat
rowed alongside and came on
board. He was q grufff, hearty old
fellow. of the bulldog stripe,
chunky, d.shouldered, yellow
haired, and red faced, with those
pretty blossoms on his rosy fea-
lures which are the unmistakable
symptoms of a devotee at the
shrine of John Barleycorn: Tom
knew his man in a minute, and
guessed his errand and you nev,
er saw one of the feline species
proceed to play with a captive
mouse more adroitly than was
done on this important occasion.
Vast interests were at stake.
None knew better than Captain
Oakley that perhaps the Confed-
crate success in the daily expected
battle of Shiloh depended on the
safe transit and delivery Of these
arms, and no man could possibly
feel the responsibility of the hour
more graveIy than himself, for be-
fore our departure, letter upon let
ter had been sent to Charleston
from both officers of the army and
of the government, begging us by
every consideration to forward
them with all possible dispatch.
Good morning, captain, I am glad
to see you," was Oakey's Oft hand
They had met before
on previous visits Of our blockade
runners to Nassau.
"Morn'n', morn'n, morn'n,"
grovled the old sea dog, extend
ing a fat, freckled hand, that
looked as if at some time it had
been the flipper of turtle.
"Just in time," said Tom. GIVE