The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1875-05-26
RICHMOND.
waters and the thick. dark sky. The
sight Of ship at sea for the inpcril-
ed crew of a frail fishing boat is now

waters and the thick. dark sky. The
sight Of ship at sea for the impcril-
ed crew of a frail fishing boat is now
a welcome one. ax&a kAassE#H 91.I.S
8 To these three men of Marblehead
il was thing more portentous of evil
than the cruelty Of the ocean and the
frowns Of the skies Itcouh be moth
ing less. than an armed vessel of the
aIienay's, for the colonies had but lit
tie merchant marine, and their ships
OF war were as yet standing peacefully
In their primitive woods. To lie cap
tured had but one meaning-a inger-
ing death by imprisonment in some
dungeon hulk, or possibly to be i'm
pressed into a service which they Bit
terly abhorred- any case, long if
not final parting from all those they
loved. = 12 efTE&
5 There was still one chance; their
little boat. lying low, might not be
seen, and the British vessel panepn.
This, hope was coon crushed, as the
rapidly enlarging ship came up with
close reefed sails before the stiff
breeze, into which the gale of the pre-
ceding night had subsidized. Only a
few minutes elapsed before a shot was
fred and a hoarse voice, roaring
through speaking trumpet, bade
them come alongside.
Abner Taft and his mates had fall :
en- into the fate they SO bitterly and
Justly dreaded. They we're in the
merciless clutches Of the British. In
stantly they had mounted the sides,
they were summoned to the quarter
deck and confronted with the English
captain. a heavy, dissipated-l looking
man, whose red face Wed with the
scarlet splendors OF his uniform. Cap
tain Scott. commanding the English
sloop-of Tartar..a q ship carrying
sixteen guns and nominal crew OF
200 men, had an unenviable reputa
ton even among his brother officers
for brutality. Is x
The legend preserves some record
of the interview between the captor
and his victims, as they stood before
him with stern and surly looks, which
they we're either unwilling or unable
to subdue into the semblance of SUBJ
mission. ~ !. @ -
''D-d rebel spawn, I'll warrant
said Captain Scott; who are?"
Fishers from Marblehead, driven
to sea by the storm, said Abner Taft,
in slow, full tones, and the peculiar
accent which marked the speech of
his native town, so different from that
of the rest of Yankee land
The characteristic intonation struck
the ear of the British captain, as he
peered keenly and suspiciously in the
faces of his victims.
'Englishmen, by Cd" said he;
mo cursed rebel Yankee ever talked
like that. Pass the word forward for
the bosom; he'll know 'em down to
the shire and village"
The bo son, a weather-beaten old
salt, with villanous face, who had
been one of the most cruel and un-
scrupulous crimps in the Plymouth,
and was a sort of humble edition of
his chief, came aft.
"Ah. ha! bosom, here's a good. fat
piece of work cut out for you and your
mates with the cat, roared the COM
mander. Look at these scoundrels,
Englishmen, deserters from the col
ors of their King. They'd pass for
Yankees; but 1 know the breed too
we'll. Talk to 'em and let's know
what part of Old England they hail
from"
''Ay, ay, your honor; [ know 'em by
the very cut of the jib!" answered the
petty officer, scraping and pulling his
topknot to his superior.
The men of Marblehcad saw the
trap into which they had fallen, and
obstinately refused to answer any4ur-
ther questions. Seeing nothing but
grim death before them they were 60
ing to die grimly and silently.
Away with 'em to the gangway and
trice 'em to the gratingl' shouted the
English captain, with volley of oaths,
infuriated with the dogged disdain of
apiece, and with right good will, too,
places. Tomorrow, it will be mat
ter of the yard arm"
The bosom executed his mission
with cruel delight, and the crew
were mustered to witness the savage
torture as the blood spurted on the
naked backs from the strokes of the
terrible cat.
The unfortunate men were taken
below and put in irons, expecting next
day to be executed on the pretext
which had been SO Unexpectedly rails
ed by their brutal captor. His COM
rades had WINGED under the fierce tor
ment of the cat, but the blows had
fallen on Abner Taft's herculean
shoulders as on cold, impassive mar :
ble Not sound from his lips, nor a
culver in the flesh; only cold, quiet
look in the eyes, full of some strange
meaning.
The three fishermen owed their
lives to the fact that the Tartar was at
that time somewhat short-handed.
She had taken several prizes, and
crews under the command of petty
officers had been detached for the cap
tured vessels. Her ordinary compile
ment of hands was thus cut down
more than a third. Capt Scott and
his junior officers, in discussing the
fate of the prisoners that night, con-
cluded 10 postpone their purpose of
execution. They could be used to
advantage in working the ship for the
present, and y-and by they might be
tried by court martial.
So Taft aud his two comrades were
released from the calaboose and as
signed to duty, though strictly watch
ed for some weeks. This sharp sur
velilance, however, gradually wore off
in view of the apparent submission
and good behavior of the men.
The British navy at that period was
largely supplied with sailors through
the operations of crimping agents,
who seized and carried of men by
armed force-a species of kidnapping
tacitly countenanced by the governs
ment. Naturally, therefore, there
were many sour and discontentcd
spirits in the navy. Ahner Taft was
not long in discovering that there
were many mutinous and disaffected