The Abbeville messenger. (Abbeville, S.C.) 1884-1887, 1886-08-03
BAFFLED.

1t was during the time of powdered
hair and cooked hats-the year 1881.
Off Philadelphia lay the twenty-gun
ship Ariel, just arrived under command
Of Commodore Paul Jones.
There were in the city many persons
who had never seen that remarkable man.
among them the subject of this sketch,
Ben. Wilson, trim, powerful young
Jack-tar of twenty-five, who had lately
married Susan Gray, a humble but beau
&iful damsel of eighteen. There had
been another suitor, also a sailor, named
Thomas Wright, who hated Wilson be-
cause Susan had preferred him, and who,
being of a cruel, malicious disposition,
tonged to do him some injury.
Having finished his term aboard one of
the vessels in the harbor, Ben. shipped
aboard the Ariel, that he might serve
under the renowned hero who, with his
craft, the Bon Homme Richard, had
fought the English frigate Scraps.
Learning that Ben. had shipped,
Wright, who, like the former, had never
seen Jones, also became one of the Ariel's
crew. Neither, however, could yet get
sight of the commodore, who was absent
would not be back for a week.
Ina few days Wright was chosen to
act in the place of the boatswain's mate.
who was at that time i'll. His duties besides
blowing on the call, ETC., were to punish
with the cola coil of rope from two to
three feet long-and also with the CATO
aine-tails, usually termed the Scat" such
Of the sailors rs "offended" against the
rules of the ship, and he ardently hoped
hat he might yet have a chance to floe
with his cruel lash the man he hated for
winning pretty Susan.
One day some of the crew were grant
: ed ~iberty-that is to say, permission to
go ashore. They were ordered to return
TO the ship at nine o'clock. The boat
swain's mate, Wright, and Ben. Wilson.
we're among them, the former on the
watch for the coveted chance which
might favor his evil designs. Unfortu-
nately, Ben. drank, and in a state of par
tial intoxication he visited, a few min
ntes before nine o'clock, when he should
lave repaired to the boat, ''The DOL
phin"-a tavern not twenty Yards from
the landing. Here the landlord accom-
modated him with a glass of brandy,
which the young man lifted high, saying
at the same time, in a loud voice:
"a health to Commodore Paul Jones y,
Then he left the place, not to 90 to
the boat, but intending to seek some
other tavern.
1t was a dark night, but by the bright
light streaming through the windows of
the house, Ben, could see a middlinp-
sized, road%-shouldered man, enveloped in
q shaggy %overcoat, watching him with a
mingled expression of stern disapproval
and amusement o N his broad, weather
beaten face.
'Hold there, my man" said this per-
son, laying q hand on his shoulder.
$tsWhat's your name, and what shin do
you belong to"
my namea Why, now, my name is
Ben. Wilson, and my ship is the Ariel, |
but blast me if know what business it is
of yoursW
ut is time you went to the boat. You
will get yourself into trouble if you don't
go in time. Bear a hand"
"Aye, aye, all very we'll; but I amt
ready yet, do you seeY"
"Come, you must gow and the hand
on Wilson'S shoulder pressed it heavily.
1Let go of met" cried Ben. a~nerily:
but the other, half smiling, gripped him
yet more firmly.
Then Ben. pade a blow at him, which
the man parrief, when a struggle ensued.
Ben. fought bis best, but the man at
length succeeded in grasping him round
the arms from behind, in which position
Wilson was litefally carried to within a
few fathoms of the boat, when, seeing a
number of the Sailors approaching, the
stranger releasedihis hold, and laughing,
.a'do Of in tho darkness, Ere Bon.