The Delaware farmer., 1883-09-07
THE CRUISE OF THE TOM

ILL OIbO lDL VI LIE lUlI
The Tom, of Baltimore, was sauc7
hermaphrOdite brig, whose men tool
y great pride in the tony forty-two pound.
er which she carried amidships. and en-
tertained also an exceeding admiration
for the skill of their first lieutenant Mr..
Gale, who in all cases of emergency took
upon himself the immediate direction of
that destructive engine.
One extremely foggy night, off Ber-
muda, the Tom found herself in the
midst of what seemed a fleet. The slips
OF convoy always carried lights aloft
after dark, in order that each might
know the whereabouts of the others; but
upon this occasion the air was so thick
with mist that no light would show
unless very close at hand; so that it was
only at intervals that the crew of the
prlyateer could detect the glimmer of
one; yet the fact that they could occa-
sionally do so proved their unknown
neighbors to be much nearer than could
have been wished under all the uncer-
tainties of the case. 1t appeared prob
able that some of the strangers might be
merchantmen and others men-of-war:
but, of course, no definite conclusion
could be arrived at in this respect.
As there fell at the moment an almost
entire calm, the relative positions of the
vessels could be changed but very slow
ly, If at all; but the men of the Tom
keeping a careful silence, her proximity
remained unknown to the others. what ]
ever they might be. Now and then q
light would show family through the S
fog, seeming to be close to the privateer /
then becoming wholly obscured bv an +
increasing density of the mist. The J
weather was precisely in that state which n
S apt to keep sailors at work shifting
'tudding sails from one side to the other =
u their vessel, in order to profit by what q
'ver light air there may be, as it comes Y
low from starboard and now from port 81
occasionally a boatswain's pipe was 8,
leard; and the hollow atmosphere per- 4,
litted even the words Of command ON A.
oard of some of the strangers to be re
lade out with great distinctness bv the ",
rvateer's men. The sentences were
omewhat like these: 90
''Lay h'aft, ere, and give pull hon m
lat mizzen-top-sl-'alyard The Yards If
it h-up Were t BELONGS p, #
"H'in with them larboard stunners'lsl, av
Small pull hon the weather braceslu br
"COme, h'up with the fore and mair, ST,
cks and h'ease h'aff sommut hon the m,
eets !'' -
"H'eight bells Call the watch there " wa
The nationality of the strangers
uld no longer remain in doubt. am
In the morning, after the sunbeams wh
d dispersed the fog, it was found that bee
fleet consisted of three West India gul
IN and a seventy-four-gun ship. tail
The man-Of-war immediately gave mi,
ase to the Tom, then about three me
les Oft, and, as the pursuer had the 9th
st OF the breeze, the privateer rs-men F
themselves III a position of no little the
nj. But, after the kings ship had all
'ceeded IL decreasing the distance by erw
nlrd, she ceased to gain. The chase She
continued in this manner fora num- the
OF hours-for the American captain. side
ing that the breeze had become ron,
ldy, and consequently that he could New
three miles to the enemy's two. wba
lg drag under the TOMS bows in t;on
er to deaden her headway and give N
DiIton sucn nope OF overtaking her fort,
7ould cause him to continue the chase time
ne snoula De widely separated dow
the merchantmen. mil
g iOng lne west India vessels were Of h,
ar off that their top-masts could one
eely be seen above the bending won
u; and now the Tom began to trv brin,