The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1905-08-31
er one with her, and a third. can't
tell what she is. sir. The first one

looks like large ship"
'AIr. Wallingford, take the glass and
go up the crosstrees and see what you
make of them, SIR said the captain.
Very good, SIR" replied the lieuten-
ant, springing into the main rigging
and rapidly ascending to the cross
trees, glass in hand.
Gentlemen, we will have a nearer
look at these gentry" continued the
captain, glancing back at the officers,
who had all come up from below,
while the men, equally interested,
were crowding on the forecastle and
gazing eagerly in the direction of the
reported sails, which were not yet Wis
IDLE from the deck.
"On deck, there!"
"Aye, aye! What is it,"
81 can make out five ships, and two
briggs, and schooner, and some other
sails just rising, all close hauled on
the port tack. I think there are more
of them, sir, but can't say yet. We
are rapidly drawing on them and shall
be able to make them out in a minute
l think it is convoy or a fleet"
'"That will do, Mr.. Wallingford. Lay
down on deck, sir. Give the glass to
the man on the royal yard, though, be-
fore you come. Who is hep
: ut is me, sir-Jack Thompson"
keep bright lookout then, Thomp-
son, and if yon's an enemy's fleet or
convoy it means glass of grog and
guinea for you when YOUR watch is
over"
'Thankee, STRIP cried the delighted
seaman.
'Mr. Wallingford, could you make
anything out of the size of the ships?''
Zone of them I should say was a
large ship, frigate or ship of the line
possibly. The others were too far off,
1T can't be feet" replied Captain
Jones. "There are not so many of
the enemy's ships together in these
waters, if we are correctly Informed.
I suspect it must be a lot of merchant
men and transports conveyed by two
or three men-of-war. Now is our op-
portunity, gentlemen" he continued,
his eyes sparkling with delight. ''They
are apparently beating in for Halifax,
and probably the Mellish, our trans
port, will be among them. We will
pay them visit tonight in any event
I wouldn't let them pass by without
bow or two if they were a fleet of two
deckers.''
Apparently this reckless bravado en-
tirely suited the ships company, for
one of the men who had heard the
doughty captains speech called for
three cheers, which were given with a
will.
"Aye, that's fine, hearty crew and
full Of fight. Call on all hands, Mr..
Simpson,"
This was more Or less a perfunctory
order, since every man from the jack
of-the-dust to the captain was already
on deck.
'A1r. Seymour" said Jones to the
first lieutenant, who had taken the
trumpet at the call Of all hands, 1--WE
must dress for the ball, and our best
disguise for the present will be that Of
a merchantmen. I don't suppose that
the English imagine that we have a
ship ahoat in these waters, and posi-
bly, they can't see US against this cloud
bank in this twilight, as we can see
them against the setting sun; but we
will be on the safe side for the few
moments Of daylight left US. They
may be looking at US over there, so
we will hoist the English flag at
once, and, as we are nearing them
a little too rapidly, better brazil up the
fore and main sails and take in the
royals and the fore and mizzen topgal-
liant sails for the present and slack off
the running gear. Then beat to quar-
tiers and have the guns run in and dou-
bic shotted, close the ports and have
the arms distributed; clear the fore
castle, too, except Of two or three men,
and bid everybody observe the strictest
quiet, especially when we get in among
the convoy" he continued rapidly.
you can see them now from the
deck, sir,'' said Lieutenant Simpson,
handing the glass to the captain.
AYE, so you can, but not we'll.
Main royal there, can you make them
out any better?"
YES, sir. There's eighteen sail Of
them; one is frigate and one looks
like a sloop of war, sir. The rest is
merchantmen, some Of 'em armed
Every good. Have they seen US YETI"
Don't appear to take no notice on us
so>far, SIR"
Come down from aloft then and get
your grog and guinea, Jack. We won't
need you up there any more. It is get
ting too dark to see anything there
anyway. Beat to quarters, Mr.. Sey-
mour. All, there go the lights in the
convoy
For the next few moments the decks
presented a scene Of wild confusion,
which gradually settled down into an
orderly quiet, the various directions of
the captain were promptly carried out
and the ship was speedily prepared for
the conflict, though outwardly she had
lost her warlike appearance and now
resembled peaceful trader.
While the Ranger had been slowly