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SPECIAL LIMITED EDITION
For the Freedom of the Sea
A Romance of the War of 1812
BY
CYRUS TOWNSEND BRADY
CHAPTER II
A Wager of Battle
SUPPER was over, the sun was not yet set, and all the members of the house party were out of doors in the pleasant evening weather. Old Colonel Barrett, a soldier of the Revolution, and Sir James Heathcote, engaged in earnest conversation, were sitting near the end of the long, lofty porch, which extended across the front of the building, and rose to the height of the roof. Two officers, one a very tall, thin, melancholy looking man, in the uniform of the British Navy, the other wearing an American Naval uniform, and as short and stout as his companion was long and slender, were walking slowly down the graveled walk toward a little pleasure-house, which stood just on the edge of the high bluff overlooking the bay.
In the doorway the two young girls were standing, and surrounding them, a group of young officers, all, apparently, in eager rivalry for the favors of the fair. In a grove near the house, and just on the brow of the hill, the white tents of a battery of artillery and a battalion of infantry, which had encamped there for the night, while en route to Washington, the capital, gleamed under the trees, and the bright uniforms of the men as they lounged on the outskirts of the camp, gazing at the occupants of the Hall, gave a dash of vivid color to the scene.
The two naval officers stopped at the summerhouse, and looked down upon the three ships below them. A pretty picture they made — the white decks; the rows of spotless hammocks; the grim, black guns; the lofty spars, with their tightly and neatly- furled sails; the seamen lounging about the deck after supper, for it was the second dog watch, one of Jack's infrequent hours of play. The short man broke the silence.
"I tell you, Dacres, it's got to stop." "My dear Hull," replied the other, "I don't see how it can." "It can and shall." " But how? A British sailor is a British sailor wherever he goes and whatever he does; once a subject of King George, always one, you know." "No, I don't know — not when he goes as an American citizen under that flag. Besides, you have taken anybody you wanted. I know there are Americans on your ships down here." "Oh, come now, Hull." "I tell you again, Captain Dacres, I know it. We have stood this thing long enough, and, if I know the temper of our people, it's got to stop, or something will come of it. I don't hesitate to say that I'd rather sink alongside you than give up a man to any demand you fellows might make. I would not care of what nationality he was."
"My dear fellow," replied Captain Dacres, smiling imperturbably, "we disagree, I see. Well, if anything is coming, let it come. I fancy we shall be ready for it. If you won't give up our men, why, then we shall have to take them, that's all." "They 're not your men; but if they were, I would not give them up as long as I commanded a ship." "Oh, well, there are the points of difference. We must have men, and, as long as you have them, we will take them. Why, how could you help yourself?" went on the Englishman, calmly. "Suppose, for instance, you met the Guerriere. I could take you in half an hour; knock that bundle of pine boards of yours to pieces in less time, possibly."
"Captain Dacres, you insult me," exclaimed the stout, choleric American, his face flushing deeply at this nonchalant and certainly aggravating remark. His hand played ominously with his sword for a moment, but his face gradually cleared as Dacres explained, urbanely —"My dear Captain Hull, I mean no insult, and cry you pardon if one is conveyed in my words. I am only stating facts. We could knock you into a cocked hat, you know." "I'll bet you a cocked hat you don't, Dacres; and, if I don't finish you up in thirty minutes myself, I'll give you two cocked hats instead of one," said Hull, smiling. "Done; but I ought to give you odds, I think, to be perfectly fair." "Never mind the odds, or, if you think best, I will give them to you; mine is the heavier ship, you know." "That only makes us even; mine is an English ship." "And mine an American." "Dash it all, that's why I wanted to give you odds." "And that is why I shall feel uncomfortable about taking your cocked hat, Dacres." "Well, well, wait until you get it, my friend; meanwhile, we won't quarrel ourselves about it, but fight it out when the war begins."
"And begin it will unless you stop," replied Captain Hull. "And stop we won't." "There, you see, we begin our discussion all over." "Let us drop it, then," said Captain Dacres; "We can't agree." "Very well," was the reply." "There is only_ one way to settle it, and that is with the ships side by side — and then God guard the right." "Amen," said the Englishman, solemnly; "we, at least, will remain friends."
"Ay, surely," replied Hull, frankly; "my father fought against England in the Revolution, and died in the prison ship Jersey in Wallabout Bay." "And mine commanded a schooner in the naval battle on Lake Champlain, in the same war, and died a Vice-Admiral of the Red a few years since." "I am sorry he did not transmit a better opinion of us to his son." "Ah, well, my friend, all you lack is experience; when you have been fighting the Dutch, the French, the Spanish, the whole world, even," continued Dacres, proudly, "as long as we have, you'll get that experience." "We'll get all we need from you, Dacres," replied Hull, bluntly. "You will find us anxious and willing to give it to you, I 'm sure," said Dacres. "And don't forget the hat." "Not I, for I count upon wearing it — but it has grown late; let us go into the house; I see the guests of the evening are arriving." Arm in arm the two men turned toward the Hall.
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