St. Landry democrat. (Opelousas, La.) 1878-1894, 1883-07-21

birds with one stone: They would pre-
vent the privat.crs from coming out,
and also prevent the stores from
going in.
Many still living, who resided upon
the kennebec during that war, remem-
Der well the season of that blockade.
| They depended for much of their pro-
visions upon the coasters which came
from Massachusetts; and now that the
small vessels were prevented from COM
ing in they suffered much. In HalloW-
| well, Waterville, Gardiner and other
places, provisions were SO scarce that
| many people who were considered well
off in ordinary times lived upon the
swill-gatherings of the more wealthy;
| and a silver dollars worth Of meal could
handkerchief. The suffering was great.
The people knew that there We're sew
eral vessels anxious to get in, but the
British war-brig at the rivers mouth
prevented them. s,s
Among the vessels which were ex-
pected at Hallowell was a heavy schooner
named the Polly Ann. She was owned
and commanded by q man named Eben
| Wait. Also another schooner called the
Eliza, which. belonged to Abner Jen-
kins.
The Polly Ann and the Eliza both
cleared at Salem. Mass, the former
loaded with one Of the most valuable
cargoes ever sent to the eastward, for,
| beside large lot Of excellent provisions,
such as -four, corn, rye and pork and
beef, she had a large quantity OF arms
and ammunition for two privateers that
/ We're living at Bath. The loss of the
4 Polly Ann would have been; a severe
blow in two ways: It would have sadly
/ added to the want of the poor people OF
the Kennebec. and have prevented the
/ outfit of two staDch privateers, and it
| would have also added much to the
power of the enemy by furnishing them
| with things which they much needed.
The Polly Ann was /; new and valua-
BILE craft; but not SO the Eliza. The lat
! ter was very old and very rotten, and
she was now upon her last trip. Her
! owner had resolved to try the run to
Hallowell, and then pull his old schoon-
er to pieces for firewood, as that was
/ about all she was good for. On the
present occasion she was loaded with
provisions, but the load was necessarily
4 a light one, as jenkins dare not venture
to sink her too deeply.
/ The two schooners sailed from Salem
| together. In fact jenkins would not
have dared to sail alone, for he was not
sure his rickety old craft would carry
him through. The Polly Ann was
manned by Captain Wait; his son Ma
\ fsf Nil ms of
thirty, named Jim TUFTS, and Samuel
Locke, a young man of twenty-five.
The Eliza had beside her Captain, Da
vid, a brother of the commander; Walter
Davis and Charles Allen, both young
men and able.
When the two schooners reached
! Wood Island, which lies at the mouth
of the Saco River, they were boarded
by some Yankee fishermen who resided
there, and who informed them that it
would be of no use for them to go any
1 further
- Ye can't git into the river,'' said
one of them, s'for a cussed brig-o'-war's
a lyin' off an on there all the time. An
4 / ken tell We one more thing, too: Them
Britishers are on the lookout for you.
They've heered as how't yeou We're a
comm in with provisions an arms for
priyateers. They've been. informed
somehow
This was damper upon Captain
Eben Wait He had known that there
| were British war vessels upon the
coast; but he had hoped that there
might be none in his way. He could
not turn back He knew that. those
whom he loved were suffering for the
want of the food he had with him; and
that the 5privateers could not sail until
/ they had the stores he had in charge
for them. And. further, much of the
4 provisions he had in cargo might spoil
4 by being kept too long in the hold OF
| his vessel.
E. What should he doe The loss to him,
great; but he thought !. not SO much
of that as he did of the loss to those who
! were depending upon him for the very
means of sustaining life. He questioned
| the fishermen very closely, and was
convinced that they spoke truly. Three
of them had come from Mauhegan only
| two days before, and had been robbed
Of their, fish by this same brig. 53
s.And, 2 continued the informant,
.sone of the officers asked us if we.
knowed the Yankee schooner Polly
Ann. We pretended at we didn't
know anything about it. He said he'd
have we eff ye come that way re
Captain Wait pondered a long while
on the information he had received.
..gt.. It's a hard case he sad to his
| friend, Captain jenkins. : know how
these fellows watch. There's no getting
by them. =
- IT'S COMPOUNDED bad returned
Jenkins. s'Now it 'twasn't for the