Nashville union and American. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1868-1875, 1872-11-10
cHArrER TILE FOURTH.
- CHAPTER THE FOURTH.
No more shall feel the Captains tread,
Nor sail the watery main;
The harpies OF the Martha Ann, r7r
Have plucked the Betsy Jane.


No more shall feel the Captains tread, - 'a-a
Nor sail the watery main;
The harpies of the Martha Ann a-.rr
Have plucked the Betsy Jane.
70. W. HOLMES.
The conclusion OF the first chapter saw
the white winged Bstsy Jane blowing her
| way "o'er the dark waters Of the deep blue
Bay" as the poet tastefully observes. Upon
her quarterback stood the unhappy De
Pompano, for whom Hope had ceased to
smile, and DER whose wounded spirit fell
Despair brooded like q demon dark as
Erebusl As he strobe the deck his brow
| indicated breast swept by q tempest of
| thought too deep for tears! Ever and anon
his eagle glance wandered, like an electric
fash, tar across the murmuring waves.
| .'If the log lie not, he at last muttered
in hoarse whisper, eve are nearing the
mouth of Dog river. If the sccursed hound
is to return to the city tonight, it is high
time he had left the shore"
Suddenly the man at the masthead an
nounced sail in sig I.
'.In what quarter%' cried Capt. De Pom
PIANO, while fresh confsgration seemed to
rage in his dark eyes.
1910 the ~indwsrd, sbaft the headlight p
was the reply.
Capt. De Pompano turned and gszed
eagerly in the direction indicated. He in
stantly recognized the Martha Ann By the
saucy cut of her jib. The recognition seem
ed 70 transform him into maniac demon.
Dashing his spy-glass against the scuppsr
and flinging his hat overheard, he sprang
into the rigging with the bound of an en-
ragged tigress, and, running up the main
mast hand over hand, unfurled the black
flag and nailed it to the top gallant yard
arm. Then descending the mast with the
rapidity Of thunderbolt, he seized his
meerschaum and 6ereely piped al hands up
on deck. ELHE5 u E.tE
When the crew, consisting of the boat
swain, the cook, and the chambermaid, had
assembled at the startling cali, Capt. De
Pompano, with nostrils dilating and eyes
sfame, pointed to the ebon ensign fioaLing
darby above them, and hoarsely exclaim-
ed:
"Behold ye yonder fag?"
"We DOVE do!' shouted the crew in ne
voice.
'And do you see HER?" exclaimed the
captain in a voice of thunder, pointing to
the Martha Ann, which came dashing on
not hundred yards distant.
"We do, we dow again cried the crew,
enthusiastically.
"Fben clear the deck fer action and go
for heri" exclaimed the captain in voice of
seven-fold thunder, at the same time seiz.
ing one ounce howitzer (of the Captain
Grant patterD) and firing bunch Of grape
shot across the bow of the enemy, thus
creating terrific commotion on her deck.
Capt. O'Groupa, hurrying on the wings
of love to Maud and matrimony, had no
cause to anticipate hostile collision with
his rival, the impetuous commander of the
Betsey Jane, but his frequent encounters
with the pirates which invest the bay had
taught him the necessity Of being constant
ly prepared for any emergency. He saw
the Betsey Jane unfurl the black fia9-he
heard the pattering thugs of the grape shot
as they plunged into the bay-and his orac-
ular and prophetic soul told him that anoth-
er death struggle was at hand! To snatch
off his shirt, to bring 1t in contact with the
character Of Southern Loyalist" he
happened TO have On board, and to all it
TO the jack staff as substitute for black
flag, was but the work of moment. Then
instantly furling his jib-boom and Delaying
bis larboard scuppers, he ran up the union
jack to keep the gangway from going by the
board, and having unlimbered his hog chain
and double shotted his gun-room, he dashed
himself to the main brace of the forward
poop, and calmly awaited the coming strug-
gle. .s,-- -
He did not haze long to ,uditl
In much less time than we have taken to
describe this thrilling scene the Betsy Jane,
whose fiery soul was in arms, and evidently
eager for the fray, dashed up alongside the
Martha Ann, and the terrible conflict began!
With unerring precision the crew OF each
vessel threw their graphing irons simalts-
neously, and the velocity Of the one vessel
overcoming that of the other (for they were
sailing in opposite directions), they sudden
ly came to a stand-Still.
"And then there arose yell
As if the hends from heaven that fell
Hadrung the banner cry of u"
But let us draw m usquito bar over the
frightful scene which followed; an ordinary
veil would scarcely cover the case, nor con-
ceal half rs Stygian horrors from the gaze
Of shudderng world. Far be it from us
to seek to curdle the warm blood of the
gentle reader by repeating here the fearful
story Of Actyum or Of Lspanto
Ten days after the celebrated naval en-
gagement between the Betsy Jane and the
Martha Ann, to which we have so feebly
alluded, there was magnificent wedding
in splendid twO-story mansion in Spanish
Alley, at which, it is hardly necessary to
say, soft eyes looked love to eyes which
looked the same thing, and all went merry
as they usually do on such joyous occa-
siOns. 49,. -
The bride was the beautiful Maud Ger
aldine Filzperkins belle of Spanish
Alley.
The bridegroom was the gallant naval
hero, Capt. Cssabianca O'Groupa, of tie
inviGcibe Martha Ann.
O'Groupa was the h3ppiest and the luck
lest of men. Scarcely mad he risen from
the breakfast table on the morning immedi-
ately succeeding his marriage, when the
munifcent Fitzperkins handed him check
on the Freedmen's Savings Bank for twenty
seven dollars and half, which the delight
ed O'Groups, knowing the peculiar un-
Certainty of such institutions in this
country, Immediately had cashed. And
the fond papa was scarcely less generous TO
his darling Maud. A deed of gift of a
twenty dollar COW and calf, duly recorded
in the Office of Judge Bond, will forever
attest the magnitude of that paterna gen.
erosity Never did a young couple enter
upon the fowery field of matrimony under
more gorgeous auspices Er si..I-.-
Times ever rolling time, which bears all
its sons away, passed on, as usual. Under
this rolling process, three days were thrown
back upon the irrevocable past, as the body
of the drowned mariner is thrown back
upon the shore three days since the hero
and heroine of this story were legally au-
thorized to feel that they carried about
them couple of souls with but q single
thought, and an equal number of hearts
that best as one. Three Adays-days
thronged with rose-leaves, flutes and moon
beams-and as the happy pair landed at
the foot of Spanish Alley on their
return from bridal tour to Tensas
and Blakely, they beheld per-
son standing GU the wharf and
gazing at them with scowl 50 unutterably
full OF malignant hate that but for the con-
sciousness that there Was strong arm near
to protect her, the gentle bride wonld have |
and taken TO her heels. With |
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