Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1899-07-27

We're not, the weigIitiest oFwhich mol Being
the danger of transshipment, but one
deemed unnecessary to mention, and which
as yet l would not fully acknowledge to my
self.
Knowing nothing Of the march of events,
| conided to the captain my fears of Gen.
Sulliyan's safety, and told him what | had
learned of Clinton's intended movement to
the relief of Pigot, hoping he would be able
to transmit warning to the American
general in time to prevent surprise.
Thus suddenly relieved of care, we sailed
away under mansail, foresail and lib, and
had made the.remainder of the voyage with
out incident. 1t was with emotions al
most boyish and uncomfortable that
marked the mingled reds, yellows and blues
of the great clay foreland of Gay head, doub-
~ brilliant in the light of the westering SUM-
by then our eonsort was well to the north
west, but | now feared neither the British
nor the devil, for, if closely pursued by the
former, | should have run the Phantom
ashore and taken to the woods, even though
it broke my heart to do it.
Bat no further necessity for heroic action
presented itself, and we slipped into the
haven of Holmes Hole and dropped the only
anchor we had left, creating flutter among
the inhabitants of the hamlet. who We're
nightly alarmed at seeing schooner bear
ing no flag sail up within gunshot of the
shore and round 10 as though for a broad
side. Heretofore they had not been mo-
Tested, but perhaps it was an inward sense
of trouble impending which made them
quake at the mysterious action of the Phan-
tom, for barely fortnight was to elapse
ere Grey, the "Hand of Iron, sailed up as
/ had done, and under the guns of the fleet
demanded the usual tribute of blood and an
unusual one Of forage.
But now, saving few fishermen drawn
up on the beach, there was not a craft in the
harbor The peace of the evening" the
quiet beauty of the green land, and the feel
ing Of safety fell on my spirits like bene.
dietion after an impressive sermon, and /
breathed as one breathes on waking from the
horrors of nightmare War and danger had
vanished as had vanished the storm clouds
Of the day before, and, indeed, SO far as
the events Of the past few days had affected
me, they had been but as a nightmare or
as had been the storm to the land, leaving
but few marks to tell of its fearful reality.
In week hal recovered from the ter
iAbiC oAlNLh ~ MUCH \ ftd bttu SuiJGAAthy
noticing only that my head had taken on
a few white threads had never seen be
fore, hut my nerves, which had been my
mainstay through life, We're neither loosened
nor frayed by the desperate tune circum-
stance had thrnmmed upon them.
| had suddenly shot from an era OF con-
fict to enc of peace, | thought, nor did |
dream | should be aroused again, unless
voluntarily took the field, became a
hero, too, nor was my notoriety cheap one.
From Edgartown to the heights of GAY
head the fame Of my achievements spread,
even the halG-hreed Indians, whose ground
lay about the latter point, being unstinted
IN their sober congratulations to the big
Thorn" as | was called by them.
Seafarers and those drawing their sub
sistence from the sea are stolid to apparent
indifference as to the fortune, be it good or
bad, fate deals out TO them. They become
Injured TO the iickleness Of the great element
which is at once a threat and a mainstay,
and the rack Of uncertainty on which they
are stretched for most of their lives makes
wild demonstration impossible, be their JOYS
mighty or their griefs deep.
And so, when | appeared before my moth
err who, as | feared, had given me over as
dead, there was no violence of emotion
only a stunned, ghost-seeng look on her
white face as | entered her presence and
opened my arms to her, and the single ar
ticulate cry of MY sonl my son" as she fell
into them. 1t was but little more from my
sister, who had been brouSht up in the
same stoical school, and by tho time my long
story had been told, much as am telling it
here, the quiet round of daily life had been
regained, the sick and wounded transferred
to the small house overlooking the sound,
and the doctor, full Of protestations as to his
good intentions, and yet surly witha, in
stalled medical attendant.
After my arrival my earliest business was
to clear up my mind of two responsibilities
weighing thereon: the first to get word to
Gen. Sullivan OF the inNuded move Of Sir
Henry Clinton, as | feared that by some
/ slip my first message through the Jenny 5
captain might have miscarried; the second,
to have the Phantom's cargo delivered at
| New London
The news of the arrival Of Howe and the
departure from Newport of the French to
fight him had already reached the Vine
yard, but | was not deceived by this into
| thinking that Clinton had worked ahead of
ms NNiittHHNt iIttlAlApiA vi lEOb
the course of two weeks 1t would be too
unlike the man to act with such promptness,
and there had been no force landed to sue
cor the beleaguered royalists Lord Howe's
mapeuver had been a move to open the
gates for reinforcement, and it had been
successful. The doughty British general to
whom had offered personal violence would
| hardly have altered his plans because they
lol Il. 1 ~
according to report, had never escaped 10
/ transmit warning, and who now presum
ably lay dead at the bottom of the ocean
! With his mistress he doubtless felt vii
! famous satisfaction on hearing that the
Phantom, with Beverly Ames on board, had
not followed the Sprite into New York,
but had foundered in the great storm.
to this day wonder as to their thoughts re-
garding Gertrude King (who to them had
entirely disappeared) TO the man she
must have been a sword Of Damocles, which
dropped at a time when he had gotten to
live in the fancied security of believing it
would never fall.
If my conjectures regarding Clinton's
movements were right, | had something
like week in which to act, and. as luck
NoutA hdNG IT, lltlt SldgEtitu mo the
harbor priyateer sloop-of-war, storm
scared, under a jury mast and in a sinking
condition, with half her men lost in the
tempest. And hardly had her anchor reached
bottom when she suddenly tilted and fol-
lowed it, taking with her most of her re-
naming crew, and to-day her oaken ribs lie
petrifying in the salt sands just east of West
Chop, from whose bluff the red eye Of the
lighthouse now winks its warning.
Her captain, whom | well knew, was
Providence man, though his ship hailed from
New London (as did most Of the privateers
cruising to the east, so to him | committed
the Phantom and my message to Sullivan,
and within three days, from the pine heights
abreast of the house, saw my schooner dis
appear west of Naushon, and felt that my
duty had been done.
CHAPTER XXVI.
CONCLUSION.
The series of adventures in which Donald