Cameron County press. [volume] (Emporium, Cameron County, Pa.) 1866-1922, 1899-10-12
CHAPTER |.
CHAPTER |.
s'TwIXT THE DEVIL AND THE DEEP
SEA"

/ thank God l am no coward, else that
which l am about to write would be un-
written for loss of subject matter. Nor do
[ make a boast of my bravery, seeing it is
a thing born in man and not of his own
making. For, as it i'll becomes a woman to
take to herself the credit of her beauty
flor the reason that it is fashioned by a
power not her own, so it would appear
vainglorious in me to laud myself for not
playing the part of child when necessity
demanded the action of man. And, fur
thermore, if in the following l seem to
make much of my quickness of brain and
power of arm, let me here disclaim all un-
Just pride in the matter, for my size and
strength are things l owe to cause higher
than myself, and as for my wits, why, they
are but those God gave me, and they
worked as He saw fit to have them.
These things / say in self-justiication for
what follows. l have known fear, but,
thank God! not the fear that parayzes ac-
tion. In a measure l felt it when | first
openly lifted my voice against the king,
and, later, the very day on which my story
opens.
We were then somewhere northward OF
the Delaware capes, with as fair a sea under
and above us and as fair though hot sky
as ever fell to my lot to see. l say we,
meaning the schooner Phantom, short
handed with two blacks and mate, and
myself, Donald Thorndyke, master, bound
from Norfolk to New London with cargo
of scrap lead to be turned into bullets, and
five hundred pounds in good British gold
secretly built into the bulkhead of the cab
in. This latter, with the schooner, being
the sole property | possessed, were further
protected by a double set of clearance pa
II IN i
hands to deceive such of the ships of his
gracious majesty George III. as by chance
might be encountered betwixt the two
ports.
And there was no small chance of such
an encounter, as one may well know by
glancing at the history of the united col
onies in the year of grace IT'S.
| had been held long in Norfolk for the
lack of mate with knowledge of naviga-
tion, being myself by no means blue
water sailor, only lodging about the coast
in years past on the laudable mission of
bestng the king customs-a practice which
had been wnked at by the authorities up
to the time of the breaking out of hostilities
And this profession injured neither credit
nor character, for such were the unjust
commercial laws with which parliament
had compassed US that the term of "smug
gler" bore no opprobrium in those days.
More was it title of virtue in the mind
sf each good colonist, and to this trade was
| bred by my father, who stood to be as
ptanch and God-fearing a man and one
above a mean act as ever listened to a
parson or issued orders from quarter
deck. Until two years agone he had been
my compass, rudder, mainstay and entire
trust, but the coast fever of the tropics
had cut him down, and no more would I
meet his brig fresh from Jamaica some
where off shore, and fill up with contraband
goods to be distributed as my judgment
saw fit. No more would he greet my
mother and sister in the long, low kitchen
hard by the heights of Gay Head and talk
of our getting to be forehanded. No more
would l hear him, in the Captains room"
of the "Anchor Watch" tavern, damn his
glorious majesty for being a pig-headed
Dutchman with ring in his nose, or de-
liver TRADE in good set terms against Butte,
North, German, and the rest, who were
leading him to the loss of his American
colonies. That was all in the past. Now
was ripe for my voyage and home.
But it was by no means an easy matter
to come by a navigator of any sort at that
time The war had absorbed such talent
long since, and the traders were at a dis
count, owing to the risk with no chance for
prize money. So it was with great satisfac-
ton that at last | met with one, John
Lounsbury, man | had slightly known in
Westchester before the war was well on.
He being set to get east, was willing to act
as mate on my own terms; and, though |
knew him to be of shady character, and with
morals to be spoken about behind ones
hand, | was glad enough to get him, es-
pecally as he seemed so loud against the
king, and, when he knew what was under
my matches, so well pleased to be able to
pilot load of metal on its first trip toward
the vitals of his majesty's hirelings
And thus it was that on the 18th of June,
IT'S, we were, as / said, little northward
of the Delaware capes, with a small wind
due east and on the starboard bow, and the
land low, blue cloud over the schooner s
taffrail.
1t was smothering hot in the cabin, where
/ had but just finished listing up the log.
The clock had barely gone three when
Lounsbury hailed me from the deck in
fashion not to be borne, being neither re-
spectful nor seamanlike, and at variance
with his usual custom.
Below there! Thorndyke! Lay up
here!"
Now, | made no profession of being pa
tient man, especially in the face of injus-
tice or bold disobedience; and, as disrespect
on my own quarterback has a SAVIOR of each,
] was not far behind his words when /
stepped out of the companionway.
A negro was at the wheel, and the mate
was striding the weather side of the deck
with spyglass under his arm, pipe in
his teeth, and very easy, self-satisfed set
to his countenace.
He was a short, burly man, bearing a
heavy, bronzed face, and having a smile the
meaning of which might be anything. His
light blue eyes were always half closed, in
a manner to be called a squint in another
man, but his actions had been bluff, good
natured and open, and the fellow had hith-
erto always shown sense of respectful hu-