THE A I) VEX TIT RES
Iff _^- -
OF
E O B I N DAT
ROBERT MONTGOMERY JBIH I ),M. D.
I 'HOB OP
v ? AIV "THE INFIDEL," "NICK OF THE WOODS," &c.
> Of most disastrous chances;
Of moving accidents by flood and field;
Of hair-breadth 'scapes i' the imminent deadly broach T
Of being taken by the insolent foe,
And sold to slavery; of ray redemption thence,
And 'portance in my travel's history.
OTHELLO.
NEW YORK :
JOHN POLIIKMUS, PUBLISHER,
102 XASSAI STKEKT, COR. ANN.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Page
The Neptunian origin of Robin Day; with an account of his early friends,
Mother Moll and Skipper Duck, and his preferment to a fat office
CHAPTER II.
An adventure of a Goose and a Gander, with what happened thereupon to Rob-
in Day 16
CHAPTER III.
Robin Day begins his education, and advances in the opinion of the world 23
CHAPTER IV.
Three years at school, under the ancient system of education ; with an account
of Robin's rival, the heroic Dicky Dare, and the war of the Feds and Demies. 30
CHAPTER V.
The patriot Dare preaching the doctrine of schoolboys' rights, and the young .
Republicans strike for freedom 36
CHAPTER VI.
The Academy is converted into a Republic, and how it prospered under its
Presidents 42
CHAPTER VII.
A conspiracy against the liberties of the infant 'republic ; and President
M'Goggin is elected to rule over it 46
CHAPTER VIII.
President M'Goggiu converts his government into a despotism ; the patriots
rise in insurrection, and strike a terrible blow for freedom ; the effects of the
great battle between the oppressor and the oppressed 50
CHAPTER IX.
Robin escapes from slavery, and begins to be a young person of promise 53
CHAPTER X.
The unconquerable Dare organizes a new conspiracy, and the tyrant is at last
stormed in his citadel and overthrown ... 59
78*32X2
VI CONTENTS.
CHAPTER XXXIV.
Page
In which Robin Day stumbles upon another acquaintance and companion in af-
fliction 181
CHAPTER XXXV.
A conversation between Robin Day and his friend Captain Brown, in which the
latter throws some light upon the adventure of the highwayman 1<S4-
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The two friends put themselves into disguise, and make preparations for a
career of philanthropy 190
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Containing Robin Ray's first essay as a quack doctor, and the wonderful effects
of the Magian medicines 1%
CHAPTER XXXVIII.
The Mermaid's Eggs effect a miraculous cure, and Chowder Chow rises in repu-
tation 204
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The progress of Chowder Chow and his master, continued 207
CHAPTER XL.
Another miraculous cure, but the credit of which Chowder Chow is willing
should rest with Captain Brown entirely 211
CHAPTER XLI.
Chowder Chow performs, as he hopes, his last cure, at the expense of Mr. Fa-
bius Maximus Feverage 214
CHAPTER XLII.
Robin Day meets an astonishing reverse of fortune, and plays the Magian on his
own account 219
CHAPTER XLIII.
Robin Day escapes from slavery, is chased by a bloody-minded pursuer, and re-
lieved by an unexpected friend 227
CHAPTER XLIV.
In which Robin retrieves his reputation in the opinion of Dicky Dare, and is re-
stored to the friendship of that heroic adventurer 2#i
CHAPTER XLV.
Robin Day and his commander, Captain Dare, set out again for the wars, and
win a great victory along the way ; in which, as is usual, all the honor and
profit fall to the commander's share 25W
CHAPTER XLV1.
The Bloody Volunteers arrive at the field of battle, and acquire distinction un-
der the command of Captain Dare 245
CONTENTS. Vil
CHAPTER XLV.
Page
Captain Dare, at the head of his Bloody Volunteers, wins ne\v laurels by the
storm and capture of an Indian village 252
CHAPTER XLVI.
Captain Dare, with the Bloody Volunteers, attempts the conquest of the Indian
country. He fights a great battle, and fortune declares against him but
still more decidedly against Robin Day, who falls into the hands of the
enemy. . . . 255
CHAPTER XLVII.
Robin Day, a prisoner among the Indians, is carried to their village, where he
is made to run the gauntlet ; the happy device which he puts into execution
against his tormentors 261
CHAPTER XLVIII.
How the Indians condemn Robin Day to the stake, along with Captain Brown,
their adopted brother, and in what manner the two are saved from being
burned alive 269
CHAPTER XLIX.
Robin is separated from his fellow fugitive, and after wandering through; the
wilderness, stumbles on his old friends, the Bloody Volunteers, and, with
that corps of heroes, is taken prisoner by the Spaniards of Florida 274'
CHAPTER L.
The Bloody Volunteers are carried to Pensacola, where Robin Day receives an
agreeable surprise 280
CHAPTER LI.
In which Robin Day makes ragjd progress in the regards of the fair Isabel 287
CHAPTER LII.
Robin Day is surprised by the appearance of Skipper Duck and other old friends 292
CHAPTER LIIL
In which Robin Day meets another surprise, and a perilous one, which is suc-
ceeded by a story of much interest to the Intendent 296
CHAPTER LIV.
A denouement and catastrophe, and Robin Day loses the favor of the Intend-
ent, and is packed off to a fort for safe-keeping 303
CHAPTER LV.
Robin Day escapes against his will from the fort, and finds himself a third time
on board the Jumping Jenny 308
CHAPTER LVI.
The Jumping Jenny hoists the black flag, attacks and captures a superior ves-
sel, and Robin Day finds himself a pirate 31$
viii -CONTES T .-.
CHAPTER LVII.
Page
In which Robin Day is carried to Cuba, and made acquainted with the tender
mercies of pirate law and Captain Hellcat 317
CHAPTER LVIII.
The second cruise of the Viper ; she captures the Querida, and the Intendent's
daughter becomes the prize of Captain Hellcat 333
CHAPTER LIX.
Robin Day adopts a desperate resolution, and escapes from the pirates, with the
beautiful Isabel ; and what fell out thereupon 338
CHAPTER LX.
The voyage in the jollyboat; in which Robin Day makes an interesting and sur-
prising discovery 336
CHAPTER LXI.
Robin Day and Isabel are rescued from the jollyboat by an American schooner ;
which is taken by the pirates, and Robin is again their prisoner 344
CHAPTER LXIL
The pirates are chased by the armed brig Vengador, and, in. the pursuit, both
vessels are driven ashore : 353
CHAPTER LXIII.
The battle between the wrecked pirates and their wrecked enemies, and what
happened therein to Robin Day 357
CHAPTER LXIV.
In which Robin Day meets with many delightful surprises, takes a new name,
and explains such circumstances as require explanation 361
CHAPTER LXV.
In which Robin Day takes leave of his adventures and the reader 368
THE ADVENTURES
OF
ROBIN DAY
CHAPTER I.
The, Neptunian origin of Robin Day with an account of his
early friends, Mother Moll and Skipper Duck, and his pre-
ferment to a fat office.
ST LLA, the Roman dictator, is, as far as I know, the only great
man on record who attributed his advancement to good luck; all
other great men being modestly content to refer their successes
in life to their own merits; insisting, with the philosophers, that
there is not, in reality, any such thing as luck at all, good, bad or
indifferent, but that every man's fortune, whether happy or evil,
is referable to his own agency, the direct result of his own wise
or foolish actions. Such may be the fact, for aught I can say,
(it is a comfortable doctrine for the fortunate), and I do not pre-
tend to controvert it; but of one thing I am very certain, namely,
that whether there be bad luck in the world or not, there is an
abundance of those unhappy personages who are commonly con-
sidered its victims that is to say, unlucky dogs ; of which race
I was undoubtedly born a member.
My introduction into the world was, of itself, sufficient to estab-
lish my claim to preeminence in misfortune ; for, from all I was
ever able to learn, instead of making my appearance in the usual
way, I came ashore, one stormy night in September, in the year
1796, upon the coast of New Jersey, washed up by the sea, like
a king-crab; with this advantage, however, that I had for my
shell, or cradle, the battered hull of a Yankee schooner, which, if
10 ADVENTURES OF
it did not keep me as dry and snug as was desirable, preserved me,
at least, from being swallowed up by the raging billows. In
other words, I was cast ashore in a wreck " name unknown," as
the gazettes say, from which I was taken, a puny little bantling
of some twelve or fifteen months old, half famished and half
drowned, the only living creature, save two ducks that were
soaking in a coop, and a broken-backed cat in the forecastle, that
escaped.
The particulars of this eventful catastrophe, there were many
good reasons why I, though so much interested in knowing them,
should never succeed in making myself perfectly acquainted with.
The scene of disaster was in the neighborhood of Barnegat, a
place famous in the annals of shipwreck; and the vessel, there
was little doubt, contained a rich freight of rum and sugar, and
other West Indian products, which it was manifestly nobody's
business to know how to account for. Besides, it was thought
not improbable that the wreck of this particular schooner was
owing less to the fury of the storm than to the instrumentality of
the people of the coast land pirates, as they have been called
from time immemorial who were often accused in past days, as
sometimes in the present, of setting up false beacons, to decoy un-
suspecting mariners to their ruin. I have even heard it said,
there was a rumor at the time that the crew of the unfortunate
vessel (whose disappearance could not be otherwise accounted for),
had met with foul play from the wreckers ; which, if true, was a
better reason than all for their keeping a veil of obscurity over the
whole aifair. But this rumor, after all, had no better foundation
than surmise, and a disposition on the part of malicious people to
explain the disappearance of the crew, which was undoubtedly a
very remarkable feature in the shipwreck, in the most unfavorable
way. It was more charitable to suppose they had been sud-
denly washed from the deck by some furious billow, which had
carried away every thing above board ; and that I owed my pres-
ervation to being left nestling in the highest berth in the cabin,
whence I was plucked by my robber preservers.
Another reason why the particulars were never known, was that
no one interested ever made inquiry. No agent or emissary of
owner or underwriter, as far as I could learn, ever visited the spot
to investigate the circumstances attending the wreck, or attempted
the recovery of the property lost : which, I suppose, was be-
KOBIN D.VY. 11
cause the news of the disaster never traveled more than a dozen
miles from the scene, and then only among ptople, who, whatever
cause they might have to report the worst of it among themselves,
had too much interest in the preservation of coast privileges
the uninterrupted enjoyment of flotsam and jetsam to invite the
interference of strangers and law officers. As for myself, I think
the reader will allow, I was entirely too young to trouble myself
in the matter ; or, indeed, to know anything about it. Who were
my parents, or whether I had any, were questions which, as they
concerned nobody, so nobody cared to inquire. But, I believe, it
was generally thought among those who had the first charge of
me, I must have been the son of the ship's cook, as I had an* in-
ordinate love of good eating, with a judgment in dainties which
could only be expected from one who had been indulged in the
fat of the caboose ; besides showing, when I grew a year or two
older, an extraordinary tact in roasting crabs and fiddlers, oysters
and sand-eels, and such other stray edibles as I could lay my
hands on.
My earliest recollections go back to some such scenes ; and I
have a vague remembrance that I lived a life of famine in a mis-
erable hut by the sea-side, with an old beldam, who used to wear
a sailor's tarpaulin hat and pea-jacket, and was, as I have been
since informed, a very Semiramis among land-pirates, and had not
only been engaged in robbing, but had been the actual cause of,
more wrecks than any man on the coast. She had a wretched lit-
tle starveling pony, whose legs she used to tie together of nights,
and, having hung a lantern to his side, send him stumbling along
the beach ; in which operation, the motion of the lantern rocking
up and down, had the appearance, to persons on the sea, of a light
from a vessel sailing along the coast ; and thus was undoubtedly
sometimes the cause of the observers driving on shore before they
dreamed they were nigh it. Of this circumstance I have the bet-
ter recollection as I myself was frequently sent out, especially in
bitter stormy nights, when such stratagems was most practiced, to
keep the said pony to his duty, by whipping him up and down the
sands ; an employment in which if I at any time failed, by drop-
ping asleep from cold or fatigue, or sneaking away under a sand-
hill, to shelter me from the winds, I was sure to be rewarded with
such a drubbing as kept me in memory of my fault for a week
after. I am pretty confident, indeed, it was with an eye to my f u-
12 ADVENTURES OP
ture usefulness in this line of employment, that old Mother Moll
(for by that name they called her), after helping herself to such
other valuables in the wreck (which she was one of the first to en-
ter) as she could lay hands on, deigned in like manner to add un-
lucky me to her share of plunder, and carry me to her hovel ;
where, first under the name of Sammy September a title given
me by the wreckers, in memory, I suppose, of the month of ship-
wreck, and, next, under that of Robin Rusty, which became, at
last, the more frequent appellation I had the satisfaction to be
cuffed about from morning till night, and from one year's end to
the other, until rescued by a change of fate from her intolerable
clutches.
She had the greater need of some such assistant, as the only
other being over whom she had any control, a reprobate son,
called Isaac, or Ikey, was now grown a huge, hulking hobbledehoy
of fourteen, was waxing day by day more restive and intolerant of
authority, and betraying every evidence of a manly inclination,
sooner or later, to give her the slip, and set up in the world for
himself. He was, assuredly, a most graceless and abandoned
young scoundrel a worthy son of such a parent ; arid I have a
recollection of his communicating to me one day, which he did
with much apparent satisfaction, his expectation in about one
year more, of being able to trounce, or, as he expressed it, to
" lick," his mother ; an idea, which, I must confess, was infin-
itely agreeable to my infant fancies, as it associated the prospect
of my being able, in course of time, to do the same thing myself,
and thereby requite some of the million afflictions which Mother
Moll was in the daily practice of dispensing on my own cheeks
and shoulders. I had this addition, however, to the conception,
and the pleasure of it, in my own case ; inasmuch as I hoped that
the day which should see rne able to settle accounts with Mistress
Moll, would find me in a condition to award the same justice to
her son Ikey ; for I know not which used me most cruelly, from
whom I received the greatest number of daily drubbings, or which
of them I most heartily detested.
It was to the excess of severity of this she-barbarian and her
savage son that I finally, at the age of about seven years-, owed
my escape from their hands ; for their cruelty being observed by
others of the wreckers, excited a kind of indignation and pity even
among them ; and one of them, a fellow named Day, though
EOBIN DAY. 13
better known under the nickname of Duck, which he himself
commonly accepted and acknowledged, the skipper and owner of
a shallop, the Jumping Jenny, in which he carried wood, oysters
fish, and sundry other articles of merchandise, including at times,
the plunder of the wreckers, to New York and other places,
interfered one day in my favor ; and, having tried more amicable
means in vain, seized me and carried me off by force. It is true,
that he afterwards, in a fit of generosity, sent the old beldam a
cask of rum, which he had, in the beginning, offered as the price
of my ransom, and which she was now glad to receive as a com-
pensation in full for her loss.
It was for this reason, I suppose, that my humane deliverer
ever after chose to regard me as his property, an item of his goods
and chattels, bought at what he always assured me was a price
infinitely above my value, a movable which nobody could doubt
his light to do with whatever he pleased.
Having settled this point to his satisfaction and, perhaps, also,
to mine, for I never dreamed of disputing it he proceeded to de-
port himself accordingly ; and the end was, that, before I had been
a month in his employ, I was convinced that the servitude I had
endured under Mother Moll, infernal though it might be called,
was a kind of paradise, compared with, the purgatory of bondage
to which I was now reduced by my generous and tender skipper.
The first thing the tyrant did, after getting me on board, was to
appoint me to the honorable office of ship's cook ; an appointment
which I doubtless owed in part to the talents I had already dis-
played in that line, while living with Mother Moll, though more,
perhaps, to my being the only person of the whole crew or rather
of the ship's company, for crew there was none, there being,
besides the captain, only one other man on board, and he called
himself the mate who could be spared for such a duty. Nor
should I have been in less danger of the appointment, had my
talents been inferior, or my years even fewer ; the only qualifica-
tions for the office being that I should be old and strong enough
to hold up the end of a frying-pan, and of sufficient experience to
know, as captain Duck said, a potatoe from a pig's foot. The
appetite of my noble captain being extremely artless and unso-
phisticated, never aspired beyond the two simple dishes of aboil and
a fry, as he was used to call them ; and the preparation of these was
always the same, no matter what might be the variation in the
14 ADVENTURES OF
materials, which were only determined by the contents of the lar-
der. If a boil were ordered, all my duty consisted in tumbling
into the pot, along with a sufficiency of water, a specimen of every
eatable on board, fish, fowl, and flesh, salt and fresh, beans,
peas, pumpkins and potatoes, clams, oysters, onions, and what
not, and boiling away at a furious rate, until the signal was
given for serving up, by the skipper roaring to me, " dinner ! you
son of a cook's jackass !" If a fry, the operation was equally
simple, as nothing was to be done but to throw the same articles
into the pan, with a pound or two of slush, and keep up the fire
until the mate, in his turn, gave the signal by suddenly whisking
the pan out of my hands, and as suddenly kicking me over into the
lee scuppers.
When I was first made acquainted with the office to which my
skipper's generosity assigned me, I must confess my youthful
spirits danced with joy ; for having been fairly starved under
Mother Moll's ministry, nothing could be more agreeable to my
desires than a post which assured me, ax officio, of a full dinner
every day. But on this occasion, s on a great many others that
have befallen me, I reckoned entirely without my host ; being
soon forced to the disagreeable discovery that my duty, as under-
stood by Captain Duck, was to cook dinners, and not to eat them.
My captain was indeed a brute, arid a much worse one than old
Mother Moll ; who, though savage enough, had her seasons few
they were and far between of good humor. His apparent
humanity in snatching me from the dragoness, was, at bottom, the
same feeling that induced the latter to take me from the wreck ;
that is, he had occasion for my services ; or perhaps he was humane
at the moment ; for all persons are capable of pitying distresses
not inflicted by themselves, but by other persons. But be that as
it may, it is certain that such touches of human feeling never
visited his breast again ; and that during the whole term of five
years or more, that I remained in his power, there was no tyranny
or cruelty that a despot could exercise at the expense of his most
helpless slave, which he did not make me suffer. One would have
thought that my destitute condition, a miserable little vagabond
child without a single kinsman or friend I could call my own,
would have sometimes awakened his sensibilities, and procured me
better treatment ; but I am rather inclined to think my destitution
ROBIN DAY. 15
only made him give a greater loose to his ferocity, since there was
no one left to call him to account.
As a temper of such unmitigated barbarity is, fortunately, so
uncommon in the world that some will feel disposed to doubt its
existence, it is incumbent on me to explain the secret of his char-
acter, which was reduced to that extreme pitch of brutality only,
I believe, by indulgence in strong liquors. The fellow, in short,
was a sot, and had been all his life ; not indeed that he ever ap-
peared to the world in a state of positive intoxication ; for that
was a point no liquor could bring him to ; but, as he was always
drinking, so his potations kept him constantly in a condition of
sullen fury, like that of the Malay who is smoking opium for a
muck, and may, one knows not how soon, burst out into a frenzy
of rage and murder.
In this frame of mind, it may be supposed, he would as often
have vented his anger upon the mate as upon me ; and this I have
no doubt he would have done, had not this useful officer, who
was his cousin, been a great two-fisted fellow, who made no diffi-
culty of knocking him down and drubbing him into his senses,
when the wind lay in that direction ; by which means it happened
that the skipper was forced, in spite of himself, to confine his
operations entirely to me.
The particulars of his cruel usage I have no desire to enter
upon ; but their effects were such, that at the beginning of my thir-
teenth year, which was the last of my bondage, I was a wretched
little stunted thing, to appearance not more than nine years old, a
picture of raggedness, emaciation and misery, a creature with no
more knowledge, intelligence, or spirit than a ferryman's horse,
or a sick ape ; which latter animal, I have often been told, I much
more resembled at that time than a hunian child. In fact, the
brutality of my skipper had made me almost an idiot : it had
killed my spirit, and stupefied my mind ; and such was the gross
darkness in which I had been suffered to grow up, that I was ig-
norant even of the existence of the Great Being, the refuge of
the orphan, and the avenger of his wrongs. I had never even
heard .his name, except in the execrations with which my tor-
mentor coupled it a thousand times a day.
16 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER II.
An adventure of a goose and a gander, with what happened
thereupon to < Robin Day.
Such a creature was I, as wretched and as hopeless, when the
business of my master carried him, one Summer's day, to a cer-
tain great town in New Jersey, situated upon a river, where we
cast anchor in the morning; and I, without troubling myself with
any thoughts of shore, which it was seldom my lot to visit, fell to
work at my vocation in preparing my master's dinner, in the
course of which I had occasion to murder a venerable old gander
that had been squalling in the coop, in expectation of his fate, for
the last two days. This execution being over, and not without
five or six hearty cuffs, which my patron gave me for performing
it bunglingly, I sneaked away to the bows, where, perched upon
the bowsprit, I began, in the process of plucking the animal, to
distribute a shower of feathers over the tide.
This operation, as it chanced, attracted the attention of a knot
of schoolboys who were playing, some of them, on a wharf hard
by, while three or four others were busking about in a batteau, to
which they had helped themselves; and, whether it was that there
was something more than usual of the ludicrous given to my em-
ployment by my uncouth appearance, or that the urchins were
ripe for mischief, they forthwith began to salute me with a battery,
first, of jokes and sarcasms; to which they afterwards added an
occasional volley of pebbles and oyster shells. This was a pro-
ceeding that caused me no surprise, for I had been too much ac-
customed to unkindness all my days to expect any thing else; and,
I may also add, that such was the indifference to bodily pain into
which I had been beaten, and so stupefied within me were all the
ordinary instincts of self-preservation, that although I was once or
twice hit by the missiles cast at me, and in danger of faring still
worse, I neither removed from my perch, nor intermitted a mo-
ment in my task.
ROBIN
My insensibility, or want of courage, as it doubtless appeared,
gave additional edge to the malice of my persecutors; and those
who were in the batteau, having taken in a sufficient supply qf
small shot that is to say, of the pebbles and shells as aforesaid
ventured to push into the stream, for the purpose of attacking me
nearer at hand, which they did with infinite zeal and intrepidity;
and one little fellow of ten years old, that seemed the greatest
imp of all, the most voluble in railing and the most energetic in
attack, succeeded in planting upon the top of my forehead the
ragged edge of an oyster shell, by which I was cut to the bone,
and my face in a moment covered with blood. This, indeed, stung
me to resentment, for the anguish of the wound was very great ;
but so sluggish were the movements of all my passions that I had
scarce proceeded to a greater length in the expression of my rage
than by turning a haggard look of reproach upon the assailant
when an accident happened which changed the current of my feel-
ings. The little reprobate who had immortalized himself by so
capital a shot had given such energy and strength to the cast that
he lost his balance, pitched forward, and at the very moment I
looked down upon him, plumped, with a dismal shriek, into the
river, which was deep, and the current strong. It was evident the
little dog could not swim ; and such was the terror which the ca-
tastrophe caused among his companions that they lost the only
oar they had in the boat, and were incapable of rendering him any
assistance.
In the meanwhile, the hero of the scene, whose disaster I re-
garded with sentiments of complacency and approbation as being
nothing more than he deserved for the unprovoked injury he
had done me, sank to the bottom, whence in a moment he
came whirling and gasping to the surface, and was swept
by the tide against the sloop's cable, which he attempted to
seize, but without success, for though he had hold of it for an
instant, he was not able to maintain his grasp. In this state of
the adventure, the little fellow was immediately under me, where
I sat on the bowsprit ; and as the tide swept him from the cable,
he looked up to me with a countenance of such terror, and agony,
and despair, mingled with imploring entreaty though, being on
the point of strangling, he was neither able to speak nor to cry
out that I was suddenly struck with feelings of compassion.
They were the first human emotions, I believe, that had entered
1* ADVENTURES OF
my bosom for years. And such was the strength of them that
before I knew what I was doing, I dropped into the river gander
and all to save the poor little rascal from drowning.
Such a feat did not appear to me either very difficult or danger-
ous, for I could swim like a duck, and had had extraordinary ex-
perience in the art of saving life in the water ; not, indeed, that I
had ever performed such service for anybody but myself, but in
my own case I had almost daily occasion, for nothing was more
common than for Skipper Duck to take me by the nape of the
neck and toss me overboard, even when on the open sea, though
the mate always threw me a rope to help me on board again, ex-
cept when we were becalmed, or at anchor, in which cases he left
me to take care of myself. In the present instance, however, as it-
proved, the exploit was not destined to be performed without diffi-
culty, for dropping down with more hurry than forecast, right
before the stem, and with a force that carried me pretty deep into
the water, I was swept under the shallop's bottom, which, in the
effort to rise to the surface, I managed to strike with my head
with a violence that would undoubtedly have finished me had not
that noble excresence been in those days of unusual thickness.
The shock was, however, sufficient to stun and confound the small
quantity of wits I possessed, and to such a degree that I lost my
hold of the gander, which, up to this moment, I had clutched with
instinctive care ; besides which, I was swept, before I had time to
recover myself, along the whole of the sloop's bottom ; and this
being pretty well studded with barnacles, young oysters, and the
heads of old nails, I had the satisfaction of enjoying as complete
and thorough a keelhauling as was ever administered to any vaga-
bond whatever, my jacket, shirt and back being scratched all to
pieces. Of this, however, as well as of the loss of the gander, I was
for a time quite unconscious, being confused by the shock my head
had suffered ; and the moment I succeeded in passing the rudder
and reaching the surface, I had all my thoughts engaged in rescu-
ing the boy, who had now sunk two or three times, and was, I
doubted not, sinking for the last time, for he was quite insensible,
when it was my good fortune to reach and seize him by the collar.
The batteau had, by this time, been borne by the tide against
a projecting wharf, whither I easily swam with my charge ; and
then giving him up to his companions, who had now, by dint of
yelling, brought several men to their assistance, I took to my heels,
ROBIX DAY. ' 1$
hoping to regain the sloop before Captain Duck, who had gone
ashore, should return and discover my absence. My only way of
getting on board was that in which I had departed, namely, by
swimming ; and to this I betook me, by running a little up the
stream and then leaping again into the river.
My haste, however, was vain, the worthy skipper reaching the
vessel an instant before myself ; and when, having clambered up
by the hawser and bobstay, I succeeded in jumping on deck, I
who was in such a pickle, what with my clothes torn to shreds, and
dripping with water, and the blood trickling down my face, as the
reader cannot conceive found myself confronted with my tyrant
face to face. He gave me a horrible stare of surprise, took one
step forward so as to bring me within reach of his arm, and ex-
claimed :
" You draggle-tailed tadpole ! where have you been?" which
question he accompanied with a cuff on the right cheek that tossed
me full a fathom to the larboard.
" Please, sir," said I, in as much terror as my stupidity was ca-
pable of " overboard, sir."
" Overboard, you son of a tinker's cowbell !" cried my master,
giving me a cuff with the other hand, that sent me just as far
starboard ; " what have you been doing overboard ?"
" Please, sir, saving boy's life, sir," returned unhappy I, begin-
ning to be conscious of the enormity of my offense.
" Saving a boy's life, blast my fishhooks !" ejaculated Skipper
Duck, knocking me again to larboard : and here I may as well
observe that this was his usual way of conversing with me, or
rather of pointing his conversation, his stops being usually but
three, a cuff to the right and a cuff to the left, which he alterna-
ted with extreme regularity, at every other speech ; and a full pe-
riod used at the close, by which I was laid as flat as a flagstone..
'Saving a boy's life !" cried the Skipper, boxing me as aforesaid:
" I wish all the boys were in Old Nick's side-pocket, roasting 1
Where's the gander ?"
The gander? ay, where was the gander? The question froze my
blood. I remembered the loss. By this time the gander was a mile
down stream, if not already lodged, in divided morsels, in the ca-
pacious jaws of a hundred catfish.
The skipper noticed my confusion, and his face of a sudden be-
came small, being puckered by an universal frown, that beg:m {it
20 ADVENTURES OF
forehead and chin and the two ears, and tended to the center, car-
rying these several parts before it, till all were blended in a knot
of wrinkles scarce bigger than his nose. He stretched forth his
hand and took me by the hair, of which I had a mop half as big
as my whole body, and giving his arm a slow motion to and from
him, like the crank-rod, or whatever they call it, of a locomotive,
just as it is getting under way, and making my head, of course,
follow in the same line of traverse, thundered in my ears
" The gander ! you twin-born of a horse mackerel ! where's the
gander?"
" Please, sir," I spluttered out, in a confusion of intellects that
was with me extremely customary " boy was overboard jumped
overboard to save him "
" D n the boy !" quoth my honest master ; " where's the gan-
der?"
" Please, sir, jumped overboard," I repeated ; " got under the
keel ; knocked head senses out, and and"
" And the gander ? blast my fish-hooks ! the gander ?"
"Please, sir ; couldn't help 'most drowned lost it !"
The skipper's eyes rolled in their sockets, and he turned them to
heaven, as if to invoke thunder-bolts of vengeance on my guilty
head. Then taking a quid of tobacco, to compose his nerves, he
made me a speech, importing, first, that he had bought me of old
Mother Moll at the price of a ten-gallon keg of rum ; secondly,
that I was not worth the tenth part of a sous-marquee, or ten
scales of a red herring ; thirdly, that I was the ugliest wall-eyed,
shock-headed son of a ship's monkey he had ever laid eyes on ;
fourthly, that he had always said I would come to the gallows,
without even the grace of arriving at the yard arm ; fifthly, that he
had borne as many of my dog's tricks as mortal man could ; sixthly,
that the loss of the gander was the most atrocious piece of cold-
blooded knavery he had ever heard of, for which hanging was too
good for me ; and seventhly and lastly, that as it was his duty to
take a father's care of me, he would forthwith proceed to give me
the handsomest trouncing I had ever had in my whole life, blast
his fish-hooks. And this oration, which was interlarded with more
profane execrations than I desire to repeat, being ended, he kicked
and dragged me along into the cabin ; where, seizing up a rope's
end, he fell to work upon my half-naked body with a vigor that,
I think, would have ended in his killing me outright, had not
ROBIN DAY. 21
fate sent me assistance in the person of a friend it was the first
one I ever had whom the accident of the morning had gained
me, all unknown to myself.
The little boy whom I had saved from drowning, was, as it hap-
pened, the son of a worthy and wealthy gentleman a physician
of that town, who chanced to be nigh at hand, when I landed the
little fellow on the wharf ; and being drawn thither, among others,
by the cries of the children, had the happiness to find his child
already restored to his senses, and suffering no inconvenience from
the catastrophe, except a good ducking and a hearty fright. He
took pains to inform himself on the spot of the particulars of the
accident, which a little inquiry among the boys soon put him in
possession of, including all the circumstances of the attack, as
well as of my instrumentality in saving the graceless urchin ; and
he was pleased to express as much approbation as surprise at what
he called my magnanimity a word, by the by, which, when he
afterwards delivered it into my own ears, filled me with consterna-
tion, as, from its bigness, I supposed it must mean something very
horrible. Nay, his feelings becoming more interested, when he dis-
covered from what a wretched looking little imp (for, it seems, I had
passed him, while running up the wharves, and he had noticed my
squalid appearance) the good act had proceeded, he determined
to visit the shallop on the instant, to do me reparation, for the in-
juries I had received, as well as to reward me for my humanity
which word also, when he pronounced it, struck me as a very ter-
rible one, though not so awful as " magnanimity." He accord-
ingly procured a boat, and in company with several other persons
immediately came on board, the visit being for me the most oppor-
tune in the world, as the honest skipper was thrashing me, as he
expressed it, " within an inch of my life," and was, indeed so
enwrapped in the business that he was entirely unconscious of
the entrance of the visitors into the vessel and the cabin, until my
new friend, shocked and enraged at his brutality, brought it to an
end by suddenly knocking him down with his cane.
My miserable, wretched appearance for, besides my starveling
looks, the blood was still streaming over my face and the inhu-
man tyranny to which he thus saw me exposed, operated to such
a degree on the benevolent feelings of this most excellent man,
that he determined to release me from my skipper's clutches alto-
gether, 'which he immediately effected, by carrying me ashore to
22 ADVENTUKES OF
his own house, where he dressed my wounds and had me washed
and clothed in decent attire.
^ Nor did his good offices rest here, for having questioned me,
and discovered what a friendless creature I really was, and how
much I had suffered from the cruelty of the skipper, his indigna-
tion was roused to such a pitch that he proceeded to lodge an in-
formation before a magistrate, who immediately granted a war-
rant for Duck's apprehension, and he was in a few hours laid by
the heels in the common jail ; when, being tried, he was mulcted
in a heavy fine and punished also with a month's imprisonment.
And this punishment not seeming severe enough to certain worthy
citizens, whose choler had been exceedingly inflamed by the (De-
velopments of his cruelty that took place at the trial, the skipper
was no sooner released from prison than they carried him aboard
his own vessel, where, after subjecting him to the process of keel-
hauling, administered in a much more regular way than had hap-
pened in my case, they shaved his head and tarred and feathered
him from top to toe, and then ordered him to get under way,
never to appear again in their waters, under pain of being hung
from his own cross-trees, an injunction which, I believe, the scoun-
drel very faithfully observed, for I never heard of his being again
seen in that neighborhood.
As for me, the events of that day had, although I knew it not,
operated an entire and thorough change on all my future pros-
pects. I had gained a friend and protector, who was as able as he
was willing to repair the mischiefs I had suffered in body and
mind, and to guard me for the future from wrong and outrage.
And all this was, as I may say, the result of my own action of
the indulgence of a natural feeling or instinct, of the laudable-
ness of which I was entirely ignorant. I had done a good act,
and like the young Pawnee Indian,* who saved the life of a fe-
male captive, without knowing he had done a good deed, until his
Christian rewarders told him so I did not know it. And for this
reason, I certainly deserved neither credit nor recompense 1 ; but I
would that all good actions were us well rewarded.
* Petclex/iaroo, son of Latelesha, or the Knife-Chief, head of the Pawnee-Loupg, who cut
from the stake, where his nation had devoted her to the flames, a Paduca, or letan girl, and
carried her in safety to her own tribe, for which heroic act he was presented with a medal
by the young ladies of a seminary at Washington. The young savage, in returning his
thanks, declared, with great simplicity or good manners for the assertion looks very much
like a stretch of politeness that he " did it in ignorance," and " did not know that he had
done good, until his sinters, by giving him a medal, told him so." See Morse's Indian Re-
ports, aud, also, Long's Expedition to the Rocky Mountains.
ROBIN DAY. 23
CHAPTER III.
Robin Day begins his education, and advances in the opinion of
the world.
MY patron, Dr. Howard (for that was his name), was not con-
tent with merely releasing me from bondage and punishing my
tyrant, but carried his goodness still further. The few hints I
was able to give him in relation to the shipwreck led him to
indulge a kind of hope that my parents were perhaps living, and
that I might be restored to their arms ; in consequence of which
he not only instituted inquiries into the circumstance, but even
paid two different visits to the coast, where he made every effort
to sift the affair to the bottom. His exertions were, however,
of little avail ; the reasons for sileiflce which I had mentioned
were still in operation, and kept every 'man's memory under lock
and key. No one of those interested as actors in the scene had
the slightest knowledge or recollection of the affair ; there were a
great many wrecks, they said, on their coast, and they could not
pretend to remember them, or to say who came ashore on them ;
they knew in general, no such personage as little Robin Rusty,
though some professed to have heard the name, and some believed
there had been a boy so called, whom old Mother Moll had picked
up somewhere ; they had never troubled themselves to ask where.
In short, they were determined to hold their tongues, and all the
information that my patron ever succeeded in acquiring was ob-
tained from persons living at a distance from the scene ; and,
indeed, the further they were off, the more they seemed to know
of the matter. The only difficulty was, that no two agreed in
telling the same story, from which, as well as from the thousand
manifest falsehoods and contradictions with which the relation
was overburdened, it was clear these worthy personages had
gained their intelligence from their own imaginations, and in
reality knew nothing more than the inquirer himself.
He might, perhaps, have gained all the information he sought,
24 ADVENTUKES OF
from the old beldam, Mother Moll, who was now grown decrepid
and helpless with age, had been long abandoned by her vagabond
son, and was dragging out existence in the most hopeless poverty ;
but she had reached the period of dotage and mere oblivion, and
was incapable of rendering him any assistance. It was with the
greatest difficulty she could be made even to remember my name ;
and when she did, and was questioned particularly concerning me,
she, by some unaccountable perversion of association always
confounded me with her son Ikey, whose history, including all
his monkey tricks, and sometimes mine with them, his sundry
rebellions against the maternal authority, and final desertion of
her, she was very willing to tell, so long as her memory served ;
but that was never long. She seemed to have some glimmering
recollections of the wreck, but they were not such as could be
turned to profit ; and as to the date, which she sometimes threw
twenty years back, and sometimes but a few months, nothing of
the least account could be gained from her.
All that my patron, therefore, learned, after every inquiry, was
no more than what he knew before ; namely, that there had been
a wreck, and that I had come ashore in it ; but of the exact period
of the catastrophe, of the name and character of the vessel, of the
fate of the crew, and other the most interesting and important
particulars he knew nothing. The discouragement which he suf-
fered did not, however, prevent his making the only other effort
that remained. He drew up a brief account if account it could
be called of the occurrence, and caused it to be inserted in several
of the newspapers of the day, in hopes it might attract the eye of
some one interested, and thence lead to further developments that
might finally bring my parentage to light. But the effort resulted
in nothing. Some few persons, merchants who had lost vessels,
and others who had been deprived of friends, wrote to him for
further particulars, which he had not to give ; and there the mat-
ter dropped. Whatever might be my good qualities, nobody
thought me worth claiming.
In the meanwhile, neither my protector's inquiries nor their fail-
ure of success troubled me in the least. I had arrived at a fate
which satisfied all my youthful longings, inasmuch as I had
plenty to eat and drink, could take my fill of sleep whenever I
wanted it, and had no fear of an hourly drubbing. In the enjoy-
ment of these blisses, and in the kitchen corner, whither my
ROBIN DAY. 25.
instincts and ambition both carried me, I should have been content
to pass my existence, contending for nothing but the warmest rug
and the hugest cast-bit, with no rivals but Towzer the house dog
and Tabby the torn cat. A nobler strife and competitors more
distinguished were subjects that entered neither into my desires
nor thoughts. I was entirely of opinion that the life of a scullion
in a rich man's kitchen was the happiest that human being could
lead a life for a skipper, or the gods themselves.
This groveling disposition there were some who considered an
inborn one, a characteristic of a naturally low and vulgar spirit,
though I am very well convinced it was all owing to Skipper
Duck and his villainous treatment ; and certain it is, had any
nobler feelings ever existed in my bosom, they could not have sur-
vived the long course of debasing cruelty to which I had been
subjected. The truth is, it had resulted in quenching every spark
of intellect and spirit I ever possessed, in stultifying, in stupefy-
ing, in reducing me to a condition very little above that of a mere
animal ; so that, I verily believe, my old prototype of Cyprus, he
that was
Cymon call'd, which signifies a brute,
So well his name did with his nature suit',
was the Seven Wise Masters of Greece all in one body, compared
with me, whom everybody agreed in considering not merely a
dolt and blockhead of unusual barrenness, but a kind of Orson, or
Wild-boy Peter, on whose nature, as on Caliban's, " nurture could
never stick," and every effort at instruction must be entirely
thrown away.
And in this opinion, I am sorry to say, my benevolent patron
also joined, after he had worn out his patience in the vain effort
to awake my dormant faculties, which he declared were of so low
an order as to be incapable of any cultivation, and so, in despair,
left me to myself, to my own enjoyments, and in the honorable
office the only one he deemed me fit for of scullion and turn-
spit, my cooking abilities, though sufficient for the purposes of
Skipper Duck, not being, in his opinion, brilliant enough for the
appointment of Commander-in-Chief of the culinary department
in his household which was, indeed, very capably filled by an
old negro, whom we called Don Pedro, a slave from one of the
Spanish West India Islands.
26 ADVENTUBES OP
Thus consigned to contempt, and given over as a case of hopeless
stupidity, I must have remained among pots and pattypans, an
ornament of the kitchen for life, had it not been for the good
offices of two other friends who were not so willing to desert me.
The first of these was Nature, who, having been outraged in my
person for years, and, in fact, driven out of it, now returned, and
having nothing to oppose her, save the craziness of the mansion,
began a course of renoVation, which, though slow and at first im-
perceptible, was destined sooner or later to make itself manifest.
The second was my patron's son Tommy his only son, and
therefore a spoiled one to whose exploit with the oyster-shell I
owed my advancement. The little gentleman, who was my junior
by at least three years, though my equal in size, and infinitely
superior in everything that marks the intelligent being such
were the advantages of a parent's love and care was by no means
the malicious and wicked imp his unprovoked attack on me
seemed to declare, but, on the contrary, a very amiable and gen-
erous boy, although wild and prankish, and easily led into
mischief, as most boys are. Perhaps I should say, as most boys
were, for the juveniles of the present generation, as I have observed,
are a much more manly and rational race than their predecessors
of the last, the difference resulting, I suppose, from a better
system of education. The boys of my day, I declare, were the
greatest scoundrels conceivable ; quarrelsome, vindictive and cruel
oppressors of one another and of every living thing that was too
weak to resist them ; in short, Neroes and Domitians in
miniature. And those who were not born with these happy
characteristics hastened to get inoculated with them, as nothing
was held more contemptible, because evincing a babyish,
cowardly spirit, than a peaceable temper, and tenderness
to cats and dogs. My little friend Tommy was of a mixed
class, having been born with spirit enough to adventure into
every excess, and yet with milder and kindlier feelings that, if
carefully governed, might have made him the best of boys ; and
he was of just such a character as to be able, at any moment, to
enter with enthusiasm upon the torture of a tabby cat, and burst
into tears, the next, at the sight of her dying agonies.
The little fellow's best feelings had been enlisted by the service
I rendered him by plucking him from the water; and his father
had made him aware if, indeed, his own conscience had not of
ROBIN DAY. 27
the meanness and cruelty he had been guilty of in attacking such
& poor, inoffensive vagabond as I; and the end was, that Master
Tommy was anxious to repair the mischief he had done, and do
me some important service in return. He straightway contracted
a fiery friendship for me, which he showed in a thousand different
ways; and especially by cramming me with oranges and sugar-
plums, and other infantile luxuries, such as had never before
blessed my lips ; and, what was better still, by appointing me his
chief playmate.
It was Anaxagoras, I think, the philosopher of Lampsacus, who,
being asked at his death-hour, by the magistrates of the city, what
he wished to be done in commemoration of him, desired they
would give the boys a holiday on the anniversary of his death, and
let them play oven his grave. This sentiment is generally con-
sidered as proving that Anaxagoras must have been an uncommonly
amiable old gentleman, who had spared the birch in his school, and
was determined the boys of Lampsacus should be as happy after
his death as before. To my mind, it proves a good deal more, and
shows that the philosopher was a philosopher in earnest, who
knew the influence of childish play because an institution of
Nature herself in expanding the powers of the childish mind;
and therefore aimed, in his festival, as much at the improvement
as the happiness of his youthful heirs. Of the justice and truth
of this remark I am the more strongly persuaded, as I believe I can
trace the first efforts of expansion in my own spirit to the influence
of boyish sports ; and I am convinced that I learned more by play-
ing leap-frog and cock-horse with Master Tommy Howard than
by thumbing all the hornbooks and primers his father ever put in-
to my hands.
It must be recollected that the sports of childhood those first
and truest sources of enjoyment, of health and of happiness
were vanities I had never known, nor even dreamed of, all my
tender years having been passed in captivity and servitude, and
every hour and moment devoted to some infernal drudgery as
killing to the mind as the body. The smile and laugh of happy
vacancy, the shout of merriment, the whistle, the song, the uproar
of play, were music that had never visited my ears, which were,
indeed seldom invaded by anything, except abusive language
and the hard palms of my honest skipper. I was now, for the
first time, to be made acquainted with such joys, and the delight
28 ADVENTURES OF
I experienced from them was only equaled by their happy effects
on my benighted spirit. The change was speedily manifested in
my visage and person, the former of which gradually lost the look
of stupefaction that had hitherto marked it, while the latter took
a sudden start, and grew out of the similitude of a starved ape,
which it had first borne, though, I must confess, as far as stature
is concerned, I have not even yet entirely got over the effects of
my early sufferings. A still better evidence of the transforma-
tion that had been effected was soon shown, for little Tommy,
now taking upon himself the office of a schoolmaster, ambitious to
succeed in an exploit which his father had pronounced impractica-
ble, I was actually, through his instrumentality, taught to read,
and that before the good doctor dreamed that the attempt had
been made to teach me ; and, indeed, the first intimation he had
of the miracle was when Tommy carried me in triumph before
him to display the fruits of his skill and enterprise.
The work of regeneration thus commenced by the son, the pa-
rent was determined it should not languish for want of encourage-
ment on his part, and the result was that, in a short time, I was
translated from the kitchen to his study, and from thence to a
public school, where it was my good fortune to make such pro-
gress as entirely satisfied my patron, who from that moment
treated me rather as a child than a poor dependent on his charity.
And there unhappily occurred, soon after, an event which, while
it brought mourning into his family, advanced me to a still higher
niche in his affections. This was nothing less than the death of
poor Tommy, who, to the eternal grief of his parents, and myself
for I loved him with all my heart having now learned to swim
a little, was drowned while bathing with other boys in the river.
How the catastrophe happened was not known, as none of his
companions were by him at the moment, and, indeed, he
was not missed by them until they had finished their sports and
gone on shore to dress, when the sight of his clothes reminded
them of his disappearance; nor was his body ever recovered. He
was, as I have mentioned, an only son I might almost have said,
an only child, for, though Dr. Howard had another, a daughter,
who was a year older than Tommy, yet she was, and, from
her youth up, had been, of so frail a constitution that nothing but
her father's skill and extreme care seemed to keep her alive, and
few believed her term of existence could extend to many years^
ROBIN DAY. 29
The death of Tommy was, therefore, almost as heavy a blow as if
he had been, in reality, an only child; and it plunged his father
into a kind of despair that lasted several months, after which he
gradually recovered his spirits, and began to treat me with un-
common marks of regard, transferring to me in a great degree the
affection which had once been lavished on his son. In this he was
imitated by his wife, an excellent woman, who had always distin-
guished me by her favor, and now carried her benevolence to such a
pitch that, as I have been told, 'she once even proposed they should
adopt me as their child, and give me their name; and, although
the good doctor did not altogether consent to carry the matter so
far, I was treated by them both as if the act of affiliation had
really occurred, and also by the world at large that is to say, the
people of our town, who all considered that my fortune was now
certainly made. My name was so far changed as to make it read
Robin Day, instead of Robin Rusty; the Day, I presume, having
been borrowed from my skipper.
ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER IV.
Three years at school under the ancient system of education y with
an account of Robin's rival, the heroic Dicky Dare, and the
war of the Feds and Demies.
In the meanwhile, I accommodated myself to the change with
surprising readiness; and, as I grew older, I assumed the deport-
ment and gradually took upon me all the airs of a rich man's son,
bearing my honors and the favors of my protectors with as much
grace as if I had been born to them; and this presumption, as it
was indicative of a gentlemanly spirit, and had the good fortune
to be backed by a gentlemanly little body for I was grown, as
everybody said, quite a pretty little fellow served the purpose of
endearing me still further to my pseudo parents, who suffered me
to fume and pout, to swell and strut, to play the impertinent and
tyrant, and indulge all the other humors of a spoiled child, yield-
ing to them with as much dutiful submissiveness as if they had been
my parents in reality. And, certainly, so long as my good patron-
ess lived which, unhappily, was not long, for she died suddenly
of an affection of the heart, in but little more than a year after her
son even Tommy himself had not been more effectually humored
to the top of his bent.
But, however bravely I bore it in my patron's house, there was
one place where my pretensions were not so readily submitted to;
that is, at school, in which the only way to obtain supremacy, I
found, was to fight for it and drub down all opposition.
As I have represented the associates of my boyhood in no very
amiable colors, as being neither Cupids nor cherubs, such as the
poets delight to picture them, it may be supposed niy delineations
were meant to apply to my schoolmates especially, which is very
true, only that the picture was then only half drawn, being a
sketch designed only to embrace those general characteristics
which I supposed would apply to the whole race of schoolboys all
over the continent. My own particular associates at school were
ROBIN DAY. 31
individuals of a genus as much worse than the boys in general of
of that day as the latter class was worse than the boys of this ; in
fact, a set of such imps and scapegallows as would now be con-
sidered fit only for a house of refuge, in which opinion I think the
reader will agree when he has followed me through a few more
chapters, although I shall speak of no more of their rogueries
than are necessary as parts and illustrations of my own history.
In the first place, then, they were all sons of Ishmael, at war with
themselves and everybody else ; and firmly persuaded that, as
courage was by far the highest and noblest of all human attributes,
so strife and battle were the most delightful of human enjoyments.
No new comer was allowed the freedom of the school until he
had undergone a sound drubbing, which was commonly inflicted
the first day of his appearance ; and I remember well how greatly
I was astonished, on my first day, when, at the breaking up of school,
a manikin of about my own size, whom I had never seen before,
suddenly marched up to me and scratched my buttons (which, it
appears, was a signal of defiance to mortal combat), and, upon my
replying only by an innocent stare, fetched me a cuff that sent me
sprawling ; a feat that was instantly rewarded by shouts and cries,
from some, of, " Hurrah, Jim ! give it to him handsome !" while
others roared out, " Fair play ! Let him up ! Hurrah for the
monkey-faced little fellow !" meaning me, for there were some
who heroically took my side of the question, and encouraged me
to get up and fight like a good fellow. This was a piece of ad-
vice I was compelled to take whether I liked it or not, or other-
wise be trounced without making resistence, and, accordingly, I
fell to work with great spirit, and had the satisfaction, after half
an hour's combat, yard and yard arm, as the sailors say, of coming
off second best that is, of being flogged until I could stand up to
be beaten no longer.
But, although thus vanquished, I gained a great deal of credit
by the constancy with which I endured the pommeling, and, the
more particularly, as I refused at the last moment to "holler
enough," as my adversary, with great magnanimity, bawled at
every blow ; and when the affair was over, I was complimented on
all sides as being " a knotty little feller, that had the game in him,
and would be good fight some day or other," and encouragingly
assured that I had only been whipped " because I did not know
how to fight," which was very true, as, from never having been
32 ADVENTURES OF
in boys' company, I had never been in combat before in my whole
life.
As for the credit I gained by enduring the beating so well, and
not obeying the charge to cry enough, I am not so certain I
deserved it, for, as to the latter point, the words were to me
heathen Greek all, and I did not understand what was required of
me ; and as to the former, I had been so hardened to drubbing in
the hands of my skipper (which was the only benefit I ever de-
rived from the villain), that I cared no more for it, unless when
it came in excess, than from the puffing of the winds.
The callousness or indifference to the pain of cuffing, gave me,
with the honorable nickname of Sy Tough, which the boys pre-
sently bestowed upon me, an infinite advantage over all my school-
mates, as I soon discovered; and, as my only deficiency was alack
of knowledge and skill in the art pugilistic, which, praised be my
comrades, they gave me every opportunity to acquire, by engag-
ing me in one battle at least, every day, I had the satisfaction,
before my first quarter was out, of drubbing master Jim, my first
antagonist, to his heart's content, and, in a few months more, of
extending the same favor to three-fourths of all the boys in school,
so that I came to be looked upon, in time, as a young Julius Caesar,
a hero, a paragon of schoolboys.
How, as my disposition was naturally pacific, and as averse
from squabbling and contention as could be desired, I ever came
to be engaged in so many battles as it was my fate to fight and,
I think, for three years, they must have averaged at the rate of at
least one-and-a-half each day I am scarce able to say ; but I be-
lieve the chief cause was that my schoolmates so willed it, there
being a standing conspiracy among them to get up a battle when-
ever it was possible, each and every one of them, though not al-
ways fond of fighting in his own person, being delighted when others
could be driven into it. This passion was especially observable
among the bigger boys, who were never so well content as in set-
ting their juniors by the ears; and, indeed, I have known them so
bent upon their purpose that, when they found it impossible, by fair
means, to engage a pair of reluctant belligerents in affray, they did
not hesitate to flog them into it.
With this class of worthies, the leaders of the school, it was my
fate to become a favorite; and they proved their affection by en-
gaging me in a never-ending round of conflicts; which, from my
KOBIN DAY. 33
simplicity, ignorance, disregard of fisticuffs, and, above all, a na-
tural facility of being led by the nose, was no very difficult task.
In this way it happened that, in the course of two or three years,,
I had been involved in battle with every soul in the school (which
varied in number from fifty to seventy boys) that could be con-
sidered, in any degree, a suitable antagonist; and, as the tough-
ness and insensibility to pain I have mentioned gave me an advan-
tage that no one else possessed, I usually came off victor, until r
at last, there was but one other boy of my own degree who was-
able to dispute the palm with me.
This was master Richard, or Dicky Dare, the son of an old cap-
tain of the Revolution, who had infused into his son's heart the
spirit, not merely of a soldier, but of a whole regiment, and. filled
his head with drums, trumpets, ambition, glory and other martial
trumpery, to such degree that there was no room in it for any-
thing else. He was about my own age i. e. y about the age I was-
supposed to be though somewhat taller and stronger, so that I
should never have been able to contend with him for superiority.,
had it not been for the above mentioned toughness; and he had,,
like myself, under the direction of the seniors, drubbed all the rest
of the school. Nothing remained then for our leaders but to pit
us against each other, and, as neither was found the better man,
to incite us to the tug of war as often as possible. In this latter
particular they succeeded so well that, after awhile, one battle a
day between us became a matter of course, and was as regularly
expected by the whole school and ourselves at the breaking up in
the morning as the dinners that were to follow it. And this kind
of diversion we practiced daily, to the infinite delight of our com-
rades, for more than a year, until, in fact, we, in our turn, had be-
come big boys, and leaders and masters of the whole .herd, which,
like conquerors, we divided between us.
Nor let it be supposed that during this long period of strife,,
there was any peculiar animosity or ill feeling betwixt my rival
and me ; on the contrary, we drubbed one another into mutual
friendship in less than a month after the rivalry began, after
which we continued to fight because it seemed to be expected of
us, and because, from having fallen into the habit, we had come to
consider it as very good pastime. Nor, when we ceased, as after a
time we did, to pommel one another, did we leave it off from dis-
gust of combat, but only that we might organize a plan devised
34 ADVENTURES OF
by the martial Dicky, and recommence hostilities on a grander
scale.
My rival, although pronounced by the master the greatest block-
head in school (and truly, he never knew a lesson that I, out of
my friendship had not drilled into him), was, nevertheless, the
soul of honor and generosity, and a prodigious genius into the
bargain, nature having intended him to rule the million, and
trample nations under his feet, though an unfortunate accident
caused him to leave the world before his work was completed.
The military spirit, which, it was said, he had inherited from his
father, and which had hitherto been indicated only by a love of
fisticuffs, was beginning to blaze out its nobler attributes ; ambi-
tion, the love of rule, and a desire and resolution to fight his further
battles, not with his own hands merely, but with the fists of his in-
feriors. He was determined to organize his adherents, who made
up one half the school, into an army, of which he was to be gene-
ral ; and he desired me to do the same with mine ; with which
forces, after having disciplined them to our minds, we should fight
our battles like true soldiers.
The notion was as agreeable to our adherents as to ourselves,
and, in a very brief space, behold us, to wit, General Dicky Dare,
and General Sy Tough (for by that sobriquet my schoolmates
always preferred to distinguish me), each at the head of his train-
bands, all in Coventry uniform, tag, rag and bobtail, with shingle
swords and broomstick muskets, banners of old paper-hangings,
and full bands of music for, in truth, every soul, the generals
only excepted, was musician as well as soldier in which old
kettles and frying-pans contended with conches and tin horns, and
fifes and pitch-pipes with penny whistles, Jews-harps, and comb
organs. In such array, and all eager for the battle, we were wont
to meet, of Saturday afternoons, on the school-house green ; and,
having saluted each other with a preliminary shower or two of
pebbles and potatoes, march gallantly up to the charge, and to it
pell-mell like brave fellows ; so that the plain of Troy and Donny-
brook fair were mere nothings in comparison. And such battles,
fought with extreme rancor, and at an expense of numberless
broken heads, and, once or twice, a broken bone, we never could
give over, until the towns-people, who by no means encouraged
such excesses, fell foul of us with switches and horsewhips, and so
routed both armies together.
ROBIN DAY. 35
Such interference we deemed a great hardship, as the sport was
in great vogue among us, and the more particularly as we had
dubbed our parties, respectively, Feds and Demies that is, Fede-
ralists and Democrats in imitation of the grown children, our
fathers of the country at large, and thought we had as much right
as they, under the above titles, to knock one another on the head.
But the enemy, or the armed intervention, prevailed ; switches and
horsewhips were weapons we could not resist, and both armies,
having been effectually routed half a dozen times, were finally dis-
banded, to the unspeakable grief of my great rival, General Dare,
who mourned his discomfiture in sorrow and humiliation, but was
too great of soul to despair. His spirit was, indeed, not to be van-
quished by one rebuff, and his genius soon supplied, in a new
undertaking, a nobler field of fame than that from which we had
been driven.
ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER V.
The patriot Dare preaches the doctrine of schoolboys' rights, and
the young Republicans strike for freedom.
THE seminary of which I have spoken under the disparaging
name of school, enjoyed the nobler title of Academy, to which
it had the better right, as its affairs were administered by Trus-
tees, who never troubled their heads about it, and was intended
to indoctrinate boys in all kinds of learning, from spelling in two
syllables up to Pons Asinorum and Hic-hozc-hoc. The only diffi-
culty, as some esteemed it, was that the task of dispensing these
multifarious subjects of education was made the duty of one
single teacher, there being neither assistant nor usher in the
school ; but the duty was, after all, no great matter in a country
where it is every man's business to be a jack of all trades, and
capable of turning his hand to anything.
The worthy person to whom was committed this weighty
charge, I have not yet spoken of, nor do I now think it necessary
to say anything more of him than that his name was Burley, his
nickname Old Bluff, and that he was a very good sort of person,
who was so occupied in horsing and trouncing his scholars all day
long, that he had little time left for anything else, and in particu-
lar, none at all for directing their studies.
This latter circumstance, as we had the true schoolboy detesta-
tion of hard lessons, endeared him very greatly to our affections;
though there was a good deal of grumbling on account of the
trouncing; so that, to balance matters fairly, as he lost as much good
will by one peculiarity as he gained by the other, he may be said
to have occupied a very doubtful place in our regards. Unfortu-
nately, however, he chose to side with the town's people in their
opposition to the warlike pastime just mentioned, which he pro-
fessed to consider a very outrageous irregularity, disreputable to
the school and to him, its master, and calling for the severest
measures to put it down. These measures involved, of course, a
ROBIN DAY. 37
prodigious amount of flogging; of which, though all had their
proportion, a principal share fell to the commanders in chief of the
two armies that is, to Dicky Dare and myself. The school had
been ever a Babel; but it was now Pandemonium itself, nothing
being heard from morning till night, but the thwacks of the birch
and ferule, and the yells of infant innocence. Inexpressible were
the terror, the confusion, the lamentation that prevailed ; and bro-
ken spirits and broken hearts, and tingling palms and smarting
backs, were the lot of all.
In this exigency, the genius of General Dare, whose soul only
grew the bigger under oppression, and whose ambition took a
higher flight for every ignominious elevation upon a schoolmate's
back, devised an expedient, than which nothing could have been
better contrived to obviate every difficulty, to free us from present
pangs, and secure us from all future tyranny. Taking advantage
of our assembling together, one morning after school alas, as-
sembling no longer to fight or play, but to mourn our sufferings
and invoke execrations on the head of our tyrant he invited us to
follow him into a neighboring graveyard (a favorite place of meet-
ing, whenever we had any mischief to concoct), where, mounting
upon a gravestone a proper rostrum for an occasion so solemn
doflinghis hat with a graceful courtesy, and puckering up his
visage with the zeal for the public good, of a veteran stump-orator,
he began to harangue us in the following terms:
" I tell you what, boys and fellers," he cried, jumping in medias
res with the directness of a Spartan, " there's no two words about
the matter, and the long and short of it is, Old Bluff is the biggest
old tyrant that ever was, and treats us like slaves and Guinea nig-
gers; which is a thing quite unbearable and scandalous; because as
how, this is a free land, and we are free people, as good as any
body else ; and its agin all law and constitution for any body to
treat anybody like a slave, except the niggers; which is because
the niggers is slaves, and not free people. Now I'll tell you what,
by Julius Ca3sar, I've been considering about school-keeping and
flogging the boys; and I've just made it out, they haVt no right,
no how, to do no such thing in America; because as how, we
haven't no kings here, but Presidents, which is make by the people,
and is the people's servants, and hasn't no right to hang people,
and cut off their heads and flog 'em; because how, they ain't
kings, but Presidents; and its just the same thing with school-
38 ADVENTURES OF
masters, for all of their cutting up like kings, for they ain't kings,
but only Presidents. Now, you see, this is a free land, and a re-
public, which is all freedom and equality; and the people isn't
ruled over by nobody, like England, and Rome, and Greece, and
them foreign parts; but they governs themselves; and when there's
anybody to be punished for kicking up, why the people tells the
President, and he gives it to 'em. And so it's just as clear as coffee
it ought to be the same thing in a school; for we're the people,
aud Old Bluff's only the President; and Old Bluff hasn't no right
to give it to any of us, until we say so ; because as how, we're free-
men, by Julius Caesar! and we ought to govern ourselves! "
This doctrine, which Avas worthy a child of the republic, was
highly acceptable to the boys, and they agreed, nem. con., that
Old Bluff had no right to flog them ; but, nevertheless, it was
sagaciously argued, he did flog them ; and how were they to help
themselves ?
" Why," said our Demosthenes, with a proud and resolved look,
" just do as our dads did before us ; for if it hadn't been for them,
we wouldn't have had no Presidents over us at all, but kings. For
you must know, we was once slaves, and old King George, he was
king over us ; and he carried on as he liked, and cut off heads, and
horsed and flogged the people, and all that, just like Old Bluff.
Well, you see, the old folks couldn't stand that, and they turned
about and they licked him ; father, he was one of 'em, and he has
told me all about it till Pm tired of it, he makes such long stories
about it ; they trounced the old feller ; it was what you call the
Revolution. And ever since that, there's been no more kings to
flog us, but only Presidents. And so here's just my idea : if Old
King Bluff won't stop trouncing, why we'll have a Revolution too,
and we'll turn on him and give it to him thump him, the old
rascal ! thump him like thunder !"
Thump him ! thump Old Bluff ! The idea was at lirst too great,
for our conceptions, and made us look aghast. But the spirit of
the young patriot, who had delivered the last words with terrible
resolution, was not to be checked. " Thump him's the idea, my
fellers !" he resumed ; " and we can do it just as easy as the old
folks thumped King George ; because as how, he's but one man,
and we're sixty-four : (sixty-four's the number, for I was counting
you over, all the mourning ;) by Julius Ca3sar ! were enough to
ROBIN DAY. 39
eat him up. All we want is the pluck ; and if we've only got
that, what's one feller of a man among us ?"
In short, the young hero made it apparent to the meanest of our
capacities and the weakest of our hearts, that nothing could be
easier than for sixty-four boys, of whom at least a dozen were full
sixteen years old, and two or three, like himself, nearly a year
older, to bring our tyrant to a reckoning for all his manifold op-
pressions and acts of cruelty ; and having debated the matter over
again twice or thrice, to determine upon a plan of proceedings, it
was at last unanimously resolved to begin a revolution forthwith,
for the purpose of dethroning the despot, or reducing him to the
level of a mere president of the school, and establishing our rights
upon a firm republican basis, to endure for ever.
This resolution, which the democratic reader cannot but ap-
prove, we had an opportunity to put into practice the very next
morning, when our tyrant, unconscious of the mine about to burst
under his feet, proceeded to begin the bnsiness of the school in his
usual way ; that is, by calling up for punishment an unlucky
little culprit, whom he judged most worthy of his favor at that
moment. Upon this the patriotic Dare, who had offered himself
for this trying duty, rose behind his desk, and catching up a
pewter inkstand of some two pounds in weight, addressed the as-
tonished autocrat as follows :
" I tell you what, Old Bluff ! that is, Mr. Burley ! we have a
sort of resolved, all of us, that this here eternal horsing and thump-
ing is not the sort of thing we can stand any longer ; because as
how, this is a free country, where the people is all free republican
people, and we boys is as free people as any body else, and will
fight for our rights like our fathers before us. And so don't touch
that boy ; for we won't stand such doings no longer ; we won't,
by Julius Caesar !"
This address, and the meanacing attitude which all the boys,
thus encouraged by their patriot leader, immediately assumed, each
grasping at some weapon or other, a slate or book, or whatever he
could pick up, seemed to have actually pertified the pedagogue,
who turned pale, and sat down, staring around him as if in a
dream ; of which the lad whom he had called up took advantage
to sneak away to his bench ; while the insurgents, not doubting
that their tyrant was actually to use their own elegant word
cowed by their display of resolution, began to resume their seats,
40 ADVENTURES OF
uttering murmurs of felicitation and triumph. The sound awoke
the master from his trance ; he sprang up, and grasping his
birch, called out in a most furious voice "You Dickey Dare-
devil, what's that you ? Come here, you villain, and I'll trounce
you."
"I won't be trounced," said Dickey Dare, " except by a vote of
the boys ; for I goes on the popular principle, and " But
Dickey had no time to finish his sentence, for Burley immediately
rushed forward to seize him, which Dickey was fain to avoid by
leaping over his desk to the floor; where, being closely followed,
he let fly his inkstand, by which he did great damage to the head
of one of his schoolmates, without, however, hurting the master,
and then dropping like a log on the floor, whereby the autoract,
whose legs he dexterously s.eized upon, was suddenly overturned,
with a shock that left him for a moment quite breathless. " Now,
fellers ! them that ain't cowards, fall on!" cried the hero to his
fellow conspirators ; who, having been somewhat horrified by the
sudden rally of the enemy, now recovered courage, and rushed
upon him pell-mell ; so that when he recovered from the shock of
his fall, not Gulliver himself, waking from his first nap in Lilliput,
was more multiduniously overrun by the bodies, or more hope-
lessly secured in the toils of his pigmy foes.
" Bang away," roared General Dare, the patriot ; " down goes
all tyrants ! Freedom and equality for ever ! All them that's
got sore bones, pay him up old scores."
Horrible were the din and confusion that now prevailed ; and
horrible also, for a moment, were the struggles of the down-
fallen monarch ; who, however, being somewhat troubled with
an asthma, became after a time completely exhausted and inca-
pable of further resistance ; upon which Master Dare demanded
handkerchiefs to bind him securely ; which being effected, this
incomparable putter- down of tyrants snatched up a birchen twitr,
and dispensed, with uncommon coolness, a dozen thwacks upon
the victim's shoulders. Nor did he rest here, but passing the
rod from hand to hand, compelled every member of the new
born republic to administer, in like manner, the same number
of blows, which w T ere, in general, laid on with exceeding good
will. This being accomplished, he called for three cheers ; after
which we all took to our heels, leaving the deposed ruler to his
meditations.
ROBIN DAT. 41
The result of this exploit exceeded our most sanguine expec-
tations. We had our misgivings, when it was over, as to its
effect upon the good people of the town, especially upon our
parents and guardians ; who, we fearecl, might espouse the
enemy's interests, and exact a terrible retribution. But, as our
good fortune would have it, Burley was by no means a favorite
of the people, his manners being stiff and disagreeable, and his
severity in school occasionally made the subject of remark and
disapproval ; and his misadventure, which was indeed surprising
and ridiculous enough, excited much more mirth than commisse-
ration. The disgrace of the thing, added to this want of sym-
pathy, and the impossibility of obtaining any satisfaction or
reparation for he was ashamed to carry his complaints before
a magistrate drove the poor fellow half mad; so that he packed
up his effects, and in two days decamped from the town, without
any one knowing whither he had gone.
42 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER VI.
The Academy is converted into a Republic ; and how it prospered
under its Presidents.
THE exploit was productive also of another effect extremely ad-
vantageous to our schoolboy interests. It set the town people to
discussing the merits of the flogging system of education, which,
being now brought under consideration for the first time, was pro-
nounced by the majority entirely unsuited to the character and
genius of a republican people, whose children, it was demonstrated,
ought to be brought up with the highest ideas of personal inde-
pendence and honor of freedom and equality, which the tyranny
of the rod must inevitably beat out of their tender spirits. To
subject them to the sway of a despot in youth, was to prepare
them for slavery in their riper years, to render them the ready prey
of any designing demagogue who might aim at the liberties of the
people. In short, this question (there being a minority opposed to
the new docrine) produced a furious ferment in the town, and would,
I doubt not, in time, have resulted in an entire change in the State
Government, for it was fast assuming a political aspect, when it
was put an end to by the minority yielding the point, and agree-
ing with the others that the Academy should thenceforth be gov-
erened on republican principles that is, that there should be no
more flogging.
In pursuance of this resolve, a new teacher was sought for, ca-
pable of administering Hic-hcec-hoc on the new system, and a worthy
personage, who had previously made application for the vacancy,
and was willing to try the experiment, was engaged, and forthwith
entered upon his presidential labors.
The experiment, in his hands, lasted only a fortnight, for,
whether it was that he was at heart opposed to the system, or that
we were as yet too young in liberty to know how to enjoy the
blessing in moderation, it is very certain that, at the expiration of
the second week, he summoned the Trustees together, assured them
ROBIN DAY. 43
that the republican system of schoolkeeping was all moonshine,
and declared that unless he was permitted to resort to the ultima
ratio pcedagogorum, i. e. the birch, to maintain his authority, he
must give up his charge altogether; and, as he was as resolute in
his demand as the Trustees were in refusing it, the controversy
ended in his immediate abdication.
A new teacher was soon obtained, who warmly approved of the
new principle, and averred that, from his experience, boys were
more easily, as well as more profitably, governed by appealing to
their pride and good sense than to their palms and shoulders that
the rod, which always left the memory and taint of dishonor, or
any kind of bodily punishment, did more harm than good that he
had never trounced a lad in his life, but, in extreme cases, had
found that exposing the culprit to the ridicule of his playmates
was sufficient, and, indeed, the most effectual puunishment that
could be inflicted. And this kind of punishment he proposed to
administer by means of a fool's cap or ass's head, I know not which
he called it, (but I remember it had long ears with little bells all
over it), to be clapped on the offender's head; and this, the Trus-
tees, after he had displayed it for their inspection and admiration
on his own head, (which, I think, it must have become exceed-
ingly), agreed he should be permitted to introduce into the
school.
The first trial was unfortunately made upon the poll of General
Dickey Dare, for some slight offence I believe, whistling Yankee
Doodle in the midst of a recitation, of which he was growing tired
who took it in great dudgeon, and, indeed, flung it out of the
window, a freedom that the President, forgetting his horror of
all bodily punishment, resisted by a furious box on the ear. This
outrage, the more intolerable, as all now knew that the Trustees
themselves had espoused our cause, and forbidden flogging in toto,
was instantly avenged by a volley of inkstands from all quarters
of the room, by which the aggressor was so amazed and terrified
that he immediately leaped out of the same window that had
given exit to the foolscap, which, . with himself, was never more
seen in the Academy
The next teacher obtained met the views of all concerned, being
a very amiable, indolent personage, who agreed the more readily
to adopt the republican system, as he had just brains enough to
perceive it would save him a vast deal of trouble. He seemed
44 ADVENTURES OF
very well content we should do as we pleased, get our lessons
when we liked, and as we liked, come in and go out, laugh, talk,
play, fight, or do anything else just as we thought proper; a de-
gree of forbearance that won our entire love and respect, which we
were accustomed to show by peppering him, whenever he was in
a brown study, with potato popguns and showers of ripe elder-
berries; by emptying the ink bottle on his chair when he appeared
in white trowsers, and strewing it with pin caltrops when in brown;
and by sundry other innocent tricks, wherewith tender juveniles
delight to show their affection. These little freedoms, it is true,
sometimes drove him into a passion,when he scolded at us with great
energy and emphasis; but they gave him no disgust to the school,
in which he might have perhaps remained the president to this
day, had it not been for a discovery made by some busy bodies,
which brought his administration to a close, after six months' sway,
and wrought somewhat of a change in public opinion on the sub-
ject of the new system.
The discovery was, that, under the said system, learning was at
a stand-still, the boys having actually advanced in nothing but
mischief during all that period. The system was again brought
under discussion ; the minority who had originally opposed it, re-
peated their denunciations ; and, after another squabble, which,
this time, bade fair to shake even the National Government (so
hot, furious, political and patriotic were the passions it excited),
our enemies prevailed, and schoolboy rights and schoolboy glory
fell forever.
It was now urged, that the best way to bring up the boys of a
republic in detestation of tyrants, was- to put tyrants over them
during their school days, and thwack them into a thorough appre-
ciation of the horrors and inconveniences of oppression. In short,,
it was agreed that the Ancien Regime should be restored, and the
birch used as before ; or, at least, so far as was necessary to help
us along with our books and keep us on our best behavior.
In coming to this resolution, our enemies (for so we now con-
sidered the Trustees, and all who took part with them), forgot the
lessons of history and experience ; which teach, that, however
easy it may be to enslave a people who have enjoyed freedom so
long as to be tired of it, it is by no means easy to subjugate those
who 'have just come to a taste of it. Had they pondered this
truth a little, they would have saved themselves a good deal of
EOBIN DAY. 45
surprise at what befell, upon the third day of the reign of the new
master they had appointed to rule over us ; when that indiscreet
personage, having nourished his rod for the first time, was val-
iently set upon by General Dare and the rest, and ejected from
the premises, after having suffered a castigation ten times more
severe and wholesome than any he could have ever designed to
inflict.
Another teacher was obtained, and with a like result ; and then
another, whose reign was as briefly and ingloriously brought to an
end ; by which time, the Trustees, who were now unanimously of
opinion that the democratic system had ruined us, and were re-
solved to leave no means untried to flog us into submission, began
to perceive a difficulty in obtaining masters those whom we had
driven from the chair having united in representing us as such a
set of bloody-minded young desperadoes, nay, of incarnate imps,
that others of the race were filled with terror, and declined hav-
ing anything to do with the school ; and, in fact, there was an in-
terregnum of two months during which we happy republicans en-
joyed a famous holiday.
46 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER VII.
A. conspiracy against the liberties of the Infant Republic; and
President M"* Goggin is elected to ride over it.
At the end of this space, the Trustees succeeded in engaging
the services of a personage, who, I verily believe, was procured
for the sole purpose of testing the efficacy of the brutuni fulmen,
of subjugating us by main force ; for he was an illiterate, vulgar
dolt, an Irishman just caught, who professed, as he said himself,
to teach nothing but " r'ading, writing, 'rithmetic^ and dacent
manners ;" although, in other respects, the very man the Trustees
wanted. His name was M'Goggin. He was six feet high, and
limbed and shouldered like a Hercules ; and, indeed, of such
strength and activity, that, had he been set at the business for
which he was best qualified that is, canal-digging I have no
doubt he would have cut through the Isthmus of Panama in a
month, without any assistance. He had an ugly look, too, about
the eyes, which, besides being of the color of a cat's, were over-
shadowed by a pair of brows of such a bigness and appearance
that they looked like two stuffed rat-skins stuck on with glue ; and
his complexion was of the hue of sole leather, plentifully be-
sprinkled with freckles of the size of half -dimes. To add to his
demerits, he was entirely incapable of fear, and had such a natu-
ral love of a row, that, when informed by the Trustees of our
character and doings, and the probability, or indeed, certainty of
his soon being embroiled with us, he rubbed his hands with satis-
faction, and declared we were " swate little divils," and that " we
should get along very well together."
I remember very well the impression which the first view of
this destined enslaver produced upon the scholars ; and it was
none the weaker for some hints of his qualities which had begun
to circulate among us. We were assembled at the Academy door,
comparing accounts, when the new President was pointed out by
one who had seen him before, crossing the street to a turnstile,
ROBIN DAY. 47
which led into the schoolhouse green, through a fence full five feet
high. We all pronouuced him a giant, and some one said he
looked as if he could " walk over the fence like nothing ;" a de-
claration, which, though made in jest, was justified by the event ;
for the gentleman, neglecting the stile, either because he did not
see it, or scorned to pass by a mode so humble and commonplace,
suddenly leaped into the air and over the fence, without so much
as laying his hands upon it ; which, indeed, he could not do, both
hands being occupied by two mysterious-looking bundles, the
nature of which, at that distance, we could not make out. The
facility with which he performed this wondrous feat, as if it were
a matter of every day's occurrence, and the appearance he had in
the air so like a fiery dragon or a flying dromedary, struck a kind
of terror into the youthful republicans, who looked upon one
another with blank visages ; and then, as Mr. M'Goggin drew nigh,
slunk away silently into the school, and betook them to their seats.
In a moment more, M'Goggin entered ; and we then saw that
the two bundles he carried were composed of goodly birchen
twigs, there being at least a gross of them altogether ; and this
sight, it may be supposed, did not banish the chill of our first im-
pressions. These odious emblems of rule, carried on his shoulders
like the fasces of a Roman lictor, he bore to the master's desk, sit-
uated on a platform ; which having ascended, he turned upon us
the light of his countenance, and roared, (for his voice was like
the bellow of a bull,) in tones that made the glasses rattle, and, I
might almost add, some of our bones into the bargain " Good
morrow till ye, ye spalpeens ! I'm your masther and t'acher. Get
up and make me a bow, to show your good manners."
Now whether it was that there was electricity in his tones, or
that we were all willing to prove we were well bred young gen-
tlemen, it is very certain that every soul in school, at these words,
bounced up and fell to scraping and ducking with the utmost ci-
vility ; which being done, the invader, dropping down upon his
chair, roared out again, before we could follow his example and
resume our seats, which we were about to do " Stand at aise ! as
ye are, ye rapperees, 'till I lay down the law till ye !"
In this, also, he was obeyed ; though I cannot say any of us
actually stood at our ease, but, on the contrary, we remained casting
wild and anxious glances one upon another, as if doubting whether
we had not of a sudden got some dangerous nondescript animal, in-
48 ADVENTURES OP
stead of a new preceptor, among us. But the gentleman gave us no
time for pondering. " Now, ye blackguards !" he cried, " listen to
my spache, and remimber it every letther ; and him that doesn't
belave me, I'll have the skin of him. D'ye hear, ye vagabones !
Now, thin, I'm tould ye're an illigant set of divil's imps, one an'
all, that knows nayther manners, nor obadience, nor dacency of be-
havior ; but, arrah, ye divils, look me in the face, till I tell ye what
I am of meselfy that is the Masther over ye !"
Every eye was at once obediently turned upon the gentleman,
who with furious voice, and hideous contortions of countenance,
like a bulldog taking physic, continued :
" Be the powers, I'm nothing at all at all, only jist the gentle-
man that will bate the wickedness out of ye ! D'ye hear that, ye
rapscallions ?"
And with that, Mr. M'Goggin, whose ire seemed to rise at the
sound of his own voice, jumped up again ; and nourishing his
birches, a whole bundle at a time, again burst forth : " D'ye want
to be licked, ye divils ? I'm tould ye're grand fighting ganiuses.
But d'ye want it ? Does any of ye want it ? If so, spake ; spake
up like big little fellows, any of ye ; for, be me sowl, I'm itching
to begin wid ye !"
This harangue, or rather defiance, for it was nothing less, the
horrid fellow concluded by marching round the room, and prying
into every countenance, as if for the purpose of finding some one dis-
posed to try conclusions with him ; and it is wonderful with what
pacific modesty every eye was cast to the floor, the moment Mr.
M'Goggin stood before its possessor. Even General Dicky Dare,
who we thought could face Old Nick himself, was observed to be-
come so studious and intent upon a sum he was working on his slate,
as the gorgon passed, as to be quite unable to lift his eyes up to it.
In short, we were all very peceably inclined that morning, and
stood the challenge with patience because, as we agreed, as soon
as we got out of school, Mr. M'Goggin was a stranger, and it was
not worth while to quarrel with him at the first introduction.
Besides, as we also concluded, it would be just as well to wait a
while, to know what sort of person he was.
In this particular, Mr. M'Goggin did all he could to gratify us,
by laying open his characteristics as fast as possible. I should
rather say, his characteristic, for he had but one ; and that was a
raging desire to get an opportunity to trounce some of us. He
ROBIN DAT. 49
sat upon the watch all day long, birch in hand, threatening, fifty
times an hour, if a boy did but look up, or scratch his head, or
drop a book, or stir on his seat, or do, in fact, any thing at all, to
" bate " him, if he did that again ; and as we were all too intent
upon the study of his characteristics, as above, to think of giving
him such an opportunity of quarreling with us, it so happened that,
for five whole days, to the infinite astonishment of the whole town,
we were the best behaved boys that were ever seen in a school-
room.
50 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER VIII.
President M* Gog gin converts his government into a despotism :
the patriots rise in insurrection, and strike a terrible blow for
freedom : the effects of the great battle between the oppressor
and the oppressed.
ON the sixth day, the usurper waxing weary of his close appli-
cation, and deeming his power perfectly established, began to
relax somewhat in his vigilance ; and in the afternoon took
occasion to pay a visit to a house across the way, that he had
hired for the reception of his family, which, with the assistance of
an old negress whom he had taken into 'his service, he was now
fitting up for his residence. We took advantage of his absence to
relax a little ourselves, being as tired as he of the stupidity of the
five former days; and not knowing in what better way to amuse
ourselves, we got up a little fight between two of the juniors; and
this gradually setting some half dozen others by the ears, there
presently arose a prodigious uproar, which reached the auditories of
M'Goggin, and brought him immediately back. As we had
warning of his return, the fray was over, and we were all at our
seats, diligently poring over books and slates, before he entered ;
which he did with thundering step, bellowing, as he snatched up a
bundle of his birches " Who's been fighting ? Tell me, ye
villains, and I'll give it till 'em ! " a question which, being
addressed to the whole school, no one felt himself called on to
answer.
Seeing this, and having repeated the question a second time
without effect, M'Goggin strode to the door, locked it, and de-
posited the key in his pocket; and we were thus shut up with the
tiger, with no possibility of escape; a horrid situation; but its
very desperateness began to infuse a kind of courage into the
breasts of many of us. Then stepping back to his platform, he
cried out again, with a most ferocious look " Arrah, ye little
divils, ye don't think I'm now going to tache you a lesson ! Look
ROBIN DAY. 51
upon me face ! I intind to ask you the question one after another,
and him that doesn't answer, be the powers, I'll have the sowl
of him ! And, be me faith, I'll begin with the biggest of ye."
And with that he stepped to Dicky Dare, (who being now
driven to the wall, exchanged glances with me, full of martial
meaning and resolution,) and demanded " Who's been fighting,
ye spalpeen ?"
" Why, really," responded Dicky, modestly, (but I observed he
stole his fingers towards an inkstand; and I did the same, besides
winking invitingly to others to make ready,) "I have been so busy
with this here problem, I can't pretend to say any thing about it."
" Ye lie, ye vagabone !" cried the tyrant; an expression that the
insulted general immediately retorted by calling him an "Irish black-
guard," and throwing the contents of the inkstand into his face ;
while, at the same moment, down came, like the tail of a comet,
whisking a world out its sphere, the whole bundle of switches upon
Dicky's head, whereby, as he afterwards said, he got six dozen
stripes all in one. " Hurrah for freedom and school boys' rights!"
roared Dicky, making the inkstand follow the ink. " Come up to
the scratch, boys, and we'll trounce the black-faced beggar in
no time ;" a call that was responded to by some twenty or thirty
of us, who felt that the case was desperate, and that we must fight
now or yield for ever. But more than half our republicans, I am
ashamed to say, were under such terror of the oppressor's looks,
that they sat still, giving us no assistance whatever.
And now came the tug of war the crashing of the bundled
birches on heads and shoulders, the rattling of inkstands against
breast, wall and window the shout, the cry, the rush, the scuffle,
the squeak and groan, the thump, the kick, the slip, the tumble,
the sound of rending garments for it was a Kilkenny business,
and coats and jackets went to pieces, if they did not utterly vanish
in dust and smoke. Never did twenty patriots rush to the attack
of their country's foe with nobler intrepidity than we; never did
twenty bulldogs more valiantly leap upon the throat and back of
armed rhinoceros or Hyrcan tiger. In short,, we did wonders,
but the greatest wonder of all was, that we did wonders in vain ;
for in five minutes space there was not a soul of us that was not
put hors de combat. Valor, patriotism, the love of liberty and
glory, could do nothing against a foe like Mr. M'Goggin; who,
having snatched up General Dare as General Dare would
52 ADVENTURES OF
have snatched up a kitten, and slung him round by the leg, in a
circle, as a slinger whirls his sling, whereby myself and seven
others where laid flat, and Dicky, who unfortunately slipped
through his fingers, lodged on the top of a bookcase that contained
the school library caught up another combatant, whom he hurled
like a cannon ball at the heads of the rest, disabling four, as well
as his missile, and ended by demolishing the others in the
usual Irish way, that is, by knocking them down with his fists.
This ending, however, was, with him, only the beginning ; for,
having now rendered the whole of us comf ormable, he recurred to
his birches, and flogged us alas ! no longer resisting, in a manner
that is quite indescribable. In short, he entirely used up his bun-
dle of six dozen upon us ; and this being done, he appropriated
the remaining fascis to the others, the non-combatant members of
the confederacy, whom he trounced with great regularity and im-
partiality, one after the other, till he had gone over the whole
school. In half an hour we were a vanquished people all
vanquished, all subdued dreaming no longer of our rights, but
of our backs crest-fallen, heart-fallen, chop-fallen, without the
courage left us even to indulge the hope of vengeance.
But vengeance was, nevertheless, in store.
ROBIN DAY. 53
CHAPTER IX.
Robin escapes from slavery, and begins to be a young person of
promise.
AT the time of M'Goggin's appearance and usurpation, 1 was, or
(for the matter was by no means certain) was supposed to be very
nearly seventeen years old ; an age at which the reader may be
surprised at finding me still a schoolboy.
To explain this circumstance, I may observe, first, that boys m
my day, and in that country, were not supposed to reach the years
of discretion so soon as they do now ; it being no uncommon thing
to see gawky fellows of eighteen or nineteen, with mown chins
and bass voices, sitting at the desk in school, as simple as their
neighbors, or playing shinney on the green with all the zeal and
abandon of boyhood. This undoubtedly arose, in a great meas-
ure from the defective system and means of education ; but ir
part also, from the negligent way in which boys were brought up
by their parents ; who, having their heads full of their own busi-
ness, were usually glad to delegate all charge of them, with all the
trouble to ill-rewarded and incompetent schoolmasters.
When boys were intended for college, greater pains were indeed
taken to find them good teachers, who inspired them with early
manliness ; but in the common schools, where the majority of ]
were to finish their education, the masters being such ignoramuses
as I have described, they were commonly left to themselves, and
remained, to all purposes, boys, until their education, or rather the
period assigned to it, was completed; when, being taken away
from school, they immediately became men, the change being e
fected, like that from day to night in tropical regions, without any
twilight, or gradual merging of the one into the other
ner of the transformation was as ridiculous as its *^^
ness was striking. A neckcloth and a pair of high-heeled boots
were put on ; and then the wearer suddenly amazed his friends y
beginning to talk grammar-that is, by saying, for them i
54 ADVENTURES OF
lers "" those fellows ;" for "me and him," "he and I," &c.
using big words, and trouncing all the boys, his associates of the
day before, who accosted him with the old familiar nickname of
friendship, instead of saluting him by the honorable title of Mis-
ter.
There was the additional reason for my remaining so long a
schoolboy, that I was more than twelve years old before I began
my education, and was, at that period, as I have mentioned, seve-
ral years behind my age, as it respected the growth of both mind
and body. It is true, that, having once taken a start, I was soon
on a par, as to intelligence, with other boys of my age, and, in
some respects, even advanced beyond them ; but J was certainly,
like the rest, a mere boy, so long as I remained at school and,
indeed, as the reader may perhaps think, for a good while after-
wards.
From what I have said of the anxiety of parents to escape the
charge and trouble of their children, it will not seem very sur-
prising that little was done on their part to abate or punish the
excesses into which we were driven by the belligerent and demo-
cratic spirit prevailing amongst us. There was, undoubtedly,
great commotion among them at every new flogging and expul-
sion of the master they had set over us ; at such times they scolded
us with great energy, expatiated upon the enormity of the offence,
and even threatened us with the terrors of private castigation ;
nay, sometimes, even vowed they would give us up to the civil
authorities, to be punished for riot and assault and battery. As
for expelling us the school, that was never talked of, for the ex-
cellent reason that, as every one of us hated school more than any-
thing else in the world, so expulsion would have been esteemed
the greatest favor they could have bestowed on us. It is very
certain that, whatever they did to bring us back to reason, they
failed to effect their purpose.
In my own case, I must confess that the share I had in all these
excesses was very disagreeable to my good patron; who, although
immersed in the cares of his laborious and harassing profession,
was yet at pains to watch over me as much as he could, to admon-
ish me of the folly and wickedness (for so he called it,) of my be-
havior, and, pointing out the peculiar impropriety and heinousness
of it in my case, to exhort me to such modesty of deportment
and devotion to my studies as my peculiar situation made the
ROBIN DAY. 55
more imperatively necessary. Such discourses had their effect
only for a time; for, whatever were the virtuous resolutions I
framed, and the promises I made him, I was sure, so easily was I
led away by the example and incitements of my schoolmates, to be
as bad, in a week or two, as ever.
This incori igibleness, and the disappointment of the hopes he
had once indulged of my growing up worthy of his care and af-
fection, his disgust of my boisterous conduct, and indignation at
my folly, gradually undermined me in his regards; and the aliena-
tion was the more rapid, as well as excusable, because he had now
an object upon whom nature impelled him to lavish all his richest
affections.
His little daughter of whom I have spoken her name was
Nanna, derived, I believe, from some Swedish ancestress on the
maternal side as one whom, from her infirm constitution, every
body almost daily expected to see fall into the tomb, began, about
the period of her mother's death, to exhibit symptoms of returning
health; which being taken immediate advantage of by her skilful
parent, she was in a few months, to his own inexpressible joy and
the amazement of every one else, restored to complete health. The
development of her faculties, her rapid advance in beauty, grace,
sweetness of disposition in everything that could warm the heart,
and inflame the pride of a doting father, were indeed surprising;
and at the time of which I speak that is when I reached what was
supposed to be the verge of my eighteenth year she was a crea-
ture, being nearly fifteen years old, whom no one could look
upon without interest and admiration. She was the loveliest of
creatures; and I, who had, from habit, grown to regard her as, and
and to call her, a sister, was as proud of her beauty as was my pa-
tron, her father himself. It was not, therefore, unnatural, having such
a being, his own offspring, to love, that he should love me less; and
whatever pain I felt at the change in his affections for, boy as I
was, I perceived there teas a change I ceased to regret it, when I
thought that he had taken from me only to bestow on Nanna.
However, I do not intend to be sentimental.
It could not be otherwise than that such a being, with whom
my daily and hourly intercourse was that of a brother, should,
sooner or later, exercise a strong and happy influence, even without
knowing it herself, over both my manners and my feelings; and it
is to the commencement of that influence, more than to the re-
56 ADVENTURES OF
monstrances of my patron, that I date the first improvement in both.
So true it is that the silent, and even unsuspected, influence of
woman sways the heart more strongly to virtue and manliness
than the wisest admonitions of sages.
I felt this influence for the first time, when rushing into the before
mentioned battle with President M'Goggin; which, indeed, I en-
tered into with no small degree of reluctance; though as M'Gog-
gin was such a champion as I had never before broken lance with,
I cannot, for the life of me, say whether there was not quite as
much deterring influence of another kind videlicet, a fear of the
consequences. But that battle over, I am very certain, I began to
experience the unmixed influence of Nanna in the feelings that
followed; for I was ashamed of myself for having got such a flog-
ging; whereas I never remember to have experienced any shame
after a flogging before, the whole gist of the grief, in such cases,
lying only in the pain of the blows.
And I felt that influence still more strongly in a desire that im-
mediately seized me to leave the school; and that, not merely for
the purpose of escaping similar humiliations for the future, of
which, I confess, I had no little dread, but that I might begin a
course of reform and amendment in my life and manners, which,
I had a vagae notion, I could not so easily do, while remaining a
boy at school. In this feeling, I took advantage of a lecture my
patron gave me on the subject of this last and greatest, the M'Gog-
gin battle, to assure him I was sorry for my ill-deeds, and desirous
to live a new life more in consonance with his wishes; and in fine,
begged him, as that was a necessary preliminary, to take me from.
M'Goggin's hands and from schoo.l
To this he consented; and then, having endeavored to impress
upon my mind a sense of my peculiar situation, as one which,
(putting his own kindness, and the dependence I might place on
it out of the question,) should make a youth of spirit eager to
embrace every means of securing his own independence ; and
assuring me that he did this, not by way of hinting an intention
of withdrawing his protection, which he should continue to me,
until my own misconduct rendered it impossible, which he hoped,
notwithstanding all that had passed, should never be the case :
having done this, I say, he offered to my choice either to go to
college, (after having spent one year in careful preparation at some
distant and secluded school ;) which having passed through, he
ROBIN DAY. 57
would then advise with me as to my future course ; or to enter his
office, and there, while striving as far as possible by my own dili-
gent efforts, to repair some of the deficiencies of my education,
to be instructed by him, by and by, in his own profession, and thus
be prepared for future usefulness in the world. Either of these
plans, he said, I was free to adopt ; and, in either, he would give
me all the assistance I could expect from a parent ; but, whichever
might be my choice, he would expect of me a promise of such
diligence and good conduct as it was both a parent's right and
duty to expect.
My first inclinations were very clearly in favor of the first
named proposal ; for I thought, from what I had often heard, there
must be grand fun at a college : and, in fact, in the midst of all
the solemn admonitions and exhortations upon the necessity of
soberness and diligence which my benefactor was giving me, my
imagination was most easily seduced by the ideas of sport and
frolic. To the college, therefore, I felt strongly inclined ; and I
was about to say so, when (and I know not why such a considera-
tion should enter my brain) I was struck with the thought that
Nanna would not be there ; and as it was but a step in the process
of association to remember that Nanna would be where I was, I
immediately resolved upon the latter proposal ; at which, I
thought the good doctor looked a little gratified. I promised
all he wished as to diligence, good behavior, &c.; and should
have promised the contrary, or any thing else, just as easily.
In fact, 1 was not at all accustomed to trouble myself with doing
things upon reflection, in those days.
The school was left, and in two or three days, I turned man ;
that is, I put on the boots and neckcloth as aforesaid ; astonished
the grammer and the dictionary, as well as the neighbors, with the
elegance of my phraseology ; and should have been happy to
comply with the last requisite of transformation, and trounce all
my schoolmates lor calling me Sy Tough, instead of Mr. Robin
Day, had I not been afraid not of angering my patron, for,
really, I forgot him in the premises but of grieving the gentle
heart of Nanna ; who, by some means or other, became, about
this time, inextricably involved in every net of ratiocination my
brain attempted to weave.
There was but one regret I felt at leaving the school ; which
was, that I was in debt to Mr. M'Goggin for a trouncing, without
58 ADVENTURES OF
the means of making payment ; and, indeed, I hated the villain so
heartily for having been the first to make me feel ashamed of my-
self, that it was only owing to the secret influence and oft recur-
ring thought of Nanna that I did not obey the impulse I felt to pelt
him with stones, whenever I chanced to meet him in the street
especially as the odious wretch never passed me, without the in-
sulting salutation " Good morrow till ye, ye vagabone : ye'll
come to the gallows, ye divil ! "
I wish I had not felt so vindictive, as it would have saved me a
deal of trouble, and, in particular, the trouble of writing my ad-
ventures ; but it was fated I should have satisfaction of President
M'Goggin for all his injuries.
BOBIN DAY. 59
CHAPTER X.
The unconquerable Dare organizes a new conspiracy, and the ty*
rant is at last stormed in his citadel and overthrown.
HAVING got the mastery of the schools, M'Goggin, the most in-
veterate of despots, with the consent and approbation of the Trus-
tees and townsfolk, continued to exercise his authority in a way
that was designed to annihilate eveiy vestige of liberty, and make
the late republicans slaves indeed. From their own accounts, he
flogged every soul at least once a day, some of them twice or
thrice ; and as for General Dicky Dare, whose dullness at learning
still kept him at school, and whom the tyrant chose to consider the
" sowl of every mischief," he, from his own representation, got a
flogging once an hour.
But Dicky's soul was all of iron ; and, like that noble metal, the
more it was hammered the harder it grew. Besides, the country
was now at war with Great Britain ; and the accounts continually
coming to his ears of battles lost and won, of deeds of valor by
sea and land, on the yawning billow and in the imminent deadly
breach, had kindled his martial spark anew ; and, notwithstanding
his daily drubbings, he was more of a soldier than ever, full of
plots, and stratagems, and treasons. He bore his own pangs with
heroic patience, being engaged, all the while, meditating a capa-
ble and wide revenge ; and the pangs of his schoolmates he beheld
even with satisfaction ; for, as he said to me, his friend and confi-
dant, like a statesman and patriot, " Though they are a pack of
cowards, you can even thump cowards into bravery, by Julius
Caesar ; and by and by, Bully M'Goggin," ( which was his honor-
able title in private,) " will trounce them up to the sticking point."
In this, General Dare prophesied aright ; for in six months'
time, M'Goggin's cruelty had driven the boys into such a frenzy
of desperation and hatred, that there was not one of them who
would not have murdered him in cold blood provided any one
should have shown them how, and made them, as they called it,
60 ADVENTURES OF
free of the hangman. This pitch of fury was what General Dicky
meant by his elegant expression, " the sticking point ; " and the
moment they reached it, he invited them, now ready for any ex-
tremity, to join him in the execution of a plan of revenge he had
long digested, and which may be considered a monument at once
of his genius and his wrath. And in this great design, for my
sins, Dicky invited me to join him, drawing, in such agreeable
colors alas, I had drawn it a thousand times before such a
ravishing picture of the bliss I must enjoy in paying M'Goggin
all his dues, that even N anna's image, though it fluttered through
my head as often and as sweetly as ever, could not entirely banish
it from my thoughts. Nevertheless, I had the grace to refuse as-
sisting in the scheme, and to repeat the refusal over and over again,
until the moment for executing it had come ; and then But
after all, I went only to enjoy the scene as a spectator ; which is,
however, the way in which many other persons go into a squab-
ble.
The day wbich was to witness this grand proof of a school's re-
venge, and of Dicky Dare's genius and resolution, was at the close
of April, and the year, 1813 ; a period rendered the more aus-
picious to the design by the ferment into which the people of the
Middle States were thrown by the visitations of sundry British
fleets to their waters ; Admiral Cockburn being at that moment
employed with all his forces in the Chesapeake, robbing farmers'
henroosts, and Admiral Beresford attempting the same thing,
thougli with no great luck, at the mouth of the Delaware. The
news of these gallant forays had just reached our town, which
was kept in a furious commotion by the passage through it of
sailors and soldiers on their way to the scene of action ; and still
more by the patriotic efforts of its citizens, who, having no better
way to show their zeal, mustered three or four companies of vol-
unteers, who killed the British without stirring from home, and
kept the town in a terrible tumult, day and night but particularly
at night by firing off cannons, and sometimes their heads and
arms ; while the juniors and rabblement at large imitated them,
as far as they could, by burning tar-barrels, firing fifty-sixes that
is, not fifty-six pound cannons, but fifty-six pound weights well
rammed with gunpowder, and blowing their eyes out with squibs
and popguns. Nothing could be more favorable to the scheme
of revenge than the nightly recurrence of these disorders ; and
KOB1N DAY. 61
this the great contriver and conspirator, Dicky, knew full well.
Arid, fortunately, the hubbub on the night in question was even
greater than usual.
M'Goggin's house, which, I mentioned, was near the Academy,
was in a sequestered part of the town, there being but few other
dwellings, and those of the meanest order, near. It was built on
a large lot, in which M'Goggin had established a kitchen garden,
well stored with potatoes ; and there was an attempt at flowers
and fruit trees near the house, which stood a little back from the
street, and was a small and very old and ugly cottage-looking
building. Immediately before the door was a clump of four Lom-
bardy poplars, ancient and decaying, that stood, in a square, two
on each side of the path, and had been taken advantage of by
some romantic dweller of former days to construct a kind of rude
alcove, by nailing strips of board on the sides, and throwing a few
beams across, by way of roof ; which, in Summer, was usually
shaded by vines of gourds and squashes. At the gate, immedi-
ately in advance of the poplars, was a locust tree. On the right
hand was a cowhouse, and, on the left, a pig pen ; and, on the
whole, the cottage was quite romantic enough looking for Mr.
M'Goggin.
The happy individuals who, with Mr. M'Goggin, shared this
peaceful abode, were an old negro man, whom he worked half to
death among his potatoes, and an ill-favored woman that he called
his wife, but whom every one else considered his slave, as he was
said to be very savage to her, and to make as great a drudge of
her as the negro. Indeed, the boys had a story that he sometimes
beat her ; but, though many believed it, no one knew this for cer-
tain. He had, besides, a great bulldog, which he starved, to make
him ferocious, and therefore the better guard over his potatoes.
The removal of this dangerous ally of the tyrant we considered
a necessary preliminary to the attack on the master ; and this
Dicky effected, the night preceding the explosion, by training him
off with a piece of meat tied to a string, until he had thrust his
neck into a noose ; by means of which he was dragged to a horse-
pond, and there drowned, amid the rejoicings of the whole band of
conspirators. This being done, the youthful general, upon whose
shoulders fell the execution of every task that had* the incon-
venience of being attended with danger, climbed up the locust
tree at the gate, and with a saw, cut out two small notches, which
62 ADVENTURES OP
he then plastered over with clay, to prevent their being seen next
day. The object of this manoeuvre, which concluded all the pre-
parations required, will be presently seen.
It was not till after ten o'clock on the following night that the
conspirators assembled on the scene of action, prepared to carry
their vengeful plot into full execution. They came marvelously
well provided with ammunition that is, with pebbles and brick-
bats, and some, I fear, with more dangerous weapons. The peb-
bles and brickbats were chiefly in the hands of the younger boys,
whom General Dicky, having long and laboriously drilled them
for the enterprise, now proceeded to station so as to surround the
house, and particularly to command the front and back doors.
There was a troop of older boys armed with fireballs (the General
called then grenades,) made of oakum dipped in turpentine, which
they were ready, by means of lighted cigars and a little gun-
powder, to kindle at any moment. These the General called the
Invincible Grenadiers, and stationed, like the others, both in front
and on the rear of the building, but much nearer than the brick-
bat guards ; and, besides his grenade, each of these desperadoes
had a good stout crabtree, by way of sidearms.
These arrangements having been effected, and all in deep silence,
the General, who had previously spied a little into the state of the
premises, made a second reconniossance, prior to entering upon
the last and grandest of his dispositions. And here I may ob-
serve that all these things were done with but little fear of alarm-
ing the enemy ; for besides the hubbub kept up in town by the
volunteers and patriotic citizens, there was a gale of wind blow-
ing, and making a great rustling and howling among the trees and
chimneys. Accordingly, General Dare had no difficulty in making
his way to a window, and through a cranny spying into the pro-
ceedings within ; which proceedings some of us, who had from
curiosity crept nearer to the house, judged to be uncommonly in-
teresting, as we could hear an occasional murmur of voices, a
mingling, as it seemed, of growling and lamenting, which we
knew not how to account for. The mystery was soon unraveled
by General Dicky Dare, who crept back, and declared, to our as*
tonishment and indignation, that President M'Goggin was beating
his wife that he had seen him strike her with his hand that he was
drunk or mad, he knew not which and that the poor woman, who
was in a great fright, was crying and begging him not to abuse her.
ROBIN DAY. 63
This intelligence, as may be supposed, produced a strong effect
upon the feelings of the conspirators, who were not without gener-
ous and chivalrous sentiments ; and they swore, one and all, they
would have satisfaction of the ruffian for his brutality to the
woman, as well as for the injuries he had done themselves. And
this discovery, I may also say, wrought an immediate change in
my own resolutions ; for whereas I had, up to this moment, reli-
giously persisted in the determination I had made not to take part
in the affray, I was now so operated upon by indignation at
M'Goggin's brutishness, that I fell to work with zeal, anxious to
avenge the poor woman's wrongs ; and was, from that moment to
the end, a very prominent ringleader in the whole row.
The gallant Dare, now doubly excited to diligence, produced a
long rope, having a running noose at the end. This he threw over
theroofof the arbor, and then laid the noose across the path,
supporting it on little sticks in such a way that it was impossible
any one should pass along the walk, without striking it with his
foot ; and the noose was made so large that it not only stretched
over the whole path, but would admit a man to pass through it,
standing erect. Near the other extremity of the rope, was tied
by one end a stout bar of wood, in which was a notch, meant to
receive one end of a second bar that was loose ; while its other
end, as well as the end of the bar that was tied, was designed to
be placed each in one of the notches sawn in the locust tree the
preceding evening, at a height of fifteen or twenty feet from the
ground ; the whole forming a kind of trap which would support a
great weight at the end of the rope, until something should jerk
b the noose; in which case the 'loose bar that served as a prop,
must be dislodged, the trap sprung, and the weight instantly fall to
the ground, dragging the noose up to the top of the arbor, and
with it Mr. M'Goggin, for whose sole benefit this beautiful con-
trivance was invented by General Dicky.
And supposing we once had the tyrant in the toils, there was
then little fear but that we should be able to work our will with
him at our leisure. The trap being set, the rope was weighted by
some half a dozen fifty-sixes, which were passed up the tree, and
suspended by Dicky's own hands. We had previously thrown on
the ground, under the noose, a quantity of straw, sprinkled with
turpentine and sawdust, which we designed to fire the moment
our tiger was caught, and so give him the benefit of a moderate
64 ADVENTURES OF
roasting and smoking, as an introduction to what was to follow.
It will be perceived that, in laying this ingenious trap for
M'Goggin, the great contriver did not anticipate the possibility of
any one else falling into it. There was good reason, indeed, why
no one else should ; for the negro being a very cowardly old fel-
low, (who would, moreover, in all probability be sound asleep in
his garret,) and Mrs. M'Goggin, a weak, timid woman, it was in-
ferred our assault would only confine them more closely to the
house ; while M'Goggin, being quite fearless, would undoubtedly
make a rush upon us. The result proved that the calculations
even of Dicky Dare might be defeated, like those of any other
great military genius.
Our arrangements being at length all completed, the signal for
assault was given, and at a period, as it proved, extremely critical
for Mrs. M'Goggin ; for, just as the word was passing round,
"All ready !" we heard her utter a dismal shriek, as if the ruffian,
her lord and master, was again asserting his supremacy. We
uttered three tremendous cheers ; and then, following them up
with yells of " Down with the tyrant ! and schoolboys' rights
forever !" let fly a terrible volley of brickbats and grenades, by
which the shutters of the lower windows and the glasses in the
upper ones were dashed to atoms ; and some half dozen of the
latter missiles, the fireballs, entering the upper rooms, the house
was straightway illuminated, as if on fire, and filled with smoke.
The effect of this furious cannonade was immediately made
manifest by a medley of cries, ejaculations, and roaring curses
from within, the woman squeaking, the negro yelling, and
M'Goggin vociferating I know not what, but, I believe, maledic-
tions on the heads of himself, us " the divil-born school-
whelps," and everybody else ; and the woman, in an ecstacy of
terror, was immediately seen darting through one of the back
windows, which had been dashed open ; whence she fled shrieking
away, no one offering her molestation, but on the contrary,
making passage for her, glad to have her out of the way. At
the same moment, the front door was opened with a crash, and
out came rushing, in his night-gear, mad with fright not the
autocrat M'Goggin, as we fondly hoped, but the negro man ; who
running blindly forwards, stumbled against the noose, and was,
in a twinkling, jerked up to the top of the arbor, where he was
seen hanging by one leg, such an extraordinary picture of amuze-
ROBIN DAY. 65-
merit and terror as was never before witnessed, and such a target
for' our fireballs, (for a volley was thrown before we had time to
remark what kind of game we had caught,) as schoolboys never
before enjoyed.
The melo-dramatic character of the spectacle was, in the same
instant, wonderfully heightened, and its interest to us increased
to the highest pitch, by an incident that immediately befel ; for
M'Goggin, who was close at the negro's heels, armed too, as we
discovered to our horror, with a gun, with which he rushed for-
ward in the act of firing, having come within reach of the
suspended negro, was seized upon by this distracted personage,
who had been clawing the air in vain, and now succeeded in fasten-
ing one hand amid the master's locks, while the other, or the
fingers thereof, got by mischance into his mouth. This accident
so discomposed the nerves of the despot, who, I fancy, must have
thought himself pounced upon by some incarnate devil, darting
upon him from the air, that he uttered a wild howl, dropped his
gun, which went off in falling ; and then, forgetting us, fell foul
of the negro, whom he cuffed with maniacal energy, being himself
haled, scratched and hugged by this flying demon in a style just
as eager and extraordinary.
" Bang away !" roared Dicky Dare, firing the bundle of straw,
which instantly burst into flames and smoke around the two victims,
both of Avhom were now suspended ; for some of the besiegers
had seized upon the rope and hauled away so furiously that, in a
trice, M'Goggin lost his footing on the ground, and was dragged
by the inveterate negro into the air, where they continued to wage
a battle which could only be compared to the aerial fray of the
Genii and the Lady of Beauty in the Arabian story, while all the
time there was such a shower of fireballs raining against their
bodies, and such volumes of flame and smoke ascending from the
burning straw, as to render the spectacle grand, ludicrous and
horrible altogether in short, it was quite indescribable.
And now, while these strange combatants were pursuing their
strange fight the negro pulling at his adversary's hair and yelling
with the pain of his fingers, which M'Goggin was grinding be-
twixt his teeth ; M'Goggin, on his part, biting and cuffing' and
growling and kicking the air there arose a cry that one of the
boys was shot, struck by a bullet from M'Goggin's gun, and that
he was dying intelligence that afterwards proved to be false, but
66 ADVENTURES OF
which, exasperating feelings that were already rancorous enough,
was followed by furious calls to " Kill the murdering villain !" and
by a rush that many made upon him with their clubs, with which
they furiously beat him until the rope, frayed and worn by the
rough bark of the locust, suddenly gave way, bringing him and
the negro, with a most terrible plump, to the ground.
The negro, who fell uppermost, and had, besides, the good for-
tune to fall upon his head, which was not composed of trilling
materials, rolled from his master and from the embers of the
straw, into which they had fallen together, kicked his leg free
from the noose, and then ran limping off, yelling like a madman.
As for M'Goggin, upon whom we rushed, now certain of our prey,
he lay without motion, and a bright blaze from the house now fall-
ing on his visage, there was straightway a cry that we had killed
him. " He's done for !" said General Dare, with much composure,
being the only one that was not horrified at this result of our en-
terprise " He's done for, by Julius Caesar ! And so is the house,
too, or there's no snakes in Virginnie !"
It was even so. The cottage, which we had been for the last
few moments too busy to look at or think of, we now discovered
was on fire, flames already gushing out of the upper windows, and
the alarm fast passing tnrough the town and bringing crowds of
people to the scene of our triumph.
" Right about face cut dirt !" cried General Dare, and in a
moment we were scampering from the field of battle in all direc-
tions, terrified at the thought of what we had done, and still more
at the fear of what might be the consequences.
KOBIN DAY. 67
CHAPTER XI.
In which Robin Day^ flying the terrors of the law, is sent out into
the world to seek his fortune.
FOR my own part, I was in such a horror of fright at the idea of
having committed what I now felt was nothing short of a murder,
that I betook myself to the fields, running as if the hue and cry,
the posse comitatus, constable, hangman and all, were after me ;
and it was not until I had plumped over head and ears into a ditch,
whereby the ferment of my mind was somewhat allayed, that I
recovered enought of my wits to consider what I was about. I then
reflected, that it was by no means certain M'Goggin was actually
dead, although, to be sure, he had looked marvellously like a sub-
ject for the undertaker, his face being bloody, and of a cadaverous
hue. I remembered, too, that he had fallen from the rope with suffi-
cient force to stun him for awhile; and moreover, that the negro man
had tumbled upon him, and so must have beaten the breath out
of his body ; and, hence, it was not improbable, he had been only
in a swoon, from which he might have revived already. In short,
I satisfied myself that I was a great simpleton for being so much
frightened, and that the wisest thing I could do would be to creep
away to my comfortable home, without any further thought of
leaving it, until assured I had really got myself into trouble.
Home, accordingly, shivering with wet and anxiety; and finding
the door open, though no one was stirring, I sneaked away to my
chamber, where I slipped off my wet clothes, and was about slink-
ing quietly into bed, when the motion was arrested by the sudden
and unexpected entrance of my patron. His countenance, which
was pale and disordered, filled me with alarm, and this he proceeded
to heighten into the wildest consternation by exclaiming
" Wretched boy, you have killed a man ! Up and away : you
must fly, or be seized, tried, and perhaps hanged, as a murderer!"
I leaped up, it may be supposed, quickly enough, and attempted
to give utterance to excuses and explanations, that were none of
68 ADVENTURES OF
the calmest or most coherent; but Dr. Howard checked me: assur-
ing me, in an agitated and hurried voice, that I had no time to
lose, that he had seen M'Goggin, who was dying of his injuries
of concussion, or compression, of the brain, I knew not which
that he had learned I was one of the ringleaders in the affray; that
some of the citizens had gone for warrants to apprehend me, as
well as others, my companions; that he had left the dying man, un-
der pretence of getting his trephining instruments, but in reality
to find me, and send me off. before it was too late; and he ended
by mingling upbraidings of my folly and wickedness, with injunc-
tions to put on my clothes, and pack up a change of linen in the
saddle-bags, which he had brought with him into the room, as I
must mount horse and be gone immediately.
I stood aghast; for the sentence of banishment from his house
was more dreadful to my feelings than my fears had been; and in
my confusion, I uttered, I knew not why, the name of Nanna. He
loooked discomposed, the tears came into his eyes, and he exclaimed
with mingled grief and bitternses " Ah, wretch, you have lost her,
too: you knew not what I designed for you!" Then, suddenly
changing to anger, he bade me not name her again ; and calling me
madman, murderer, houseburner, and I knew not what besides, he
ended by ordering me again to dress and be ready; and then
left me.
I did as he bade me, slipped on my best coat, stuffed the saddle-
bags with clothes, with which his generosity had always supplied
me even to extravagance and excess ; and, though I did all in ex-
treme agitation of spirits, I had finished before he returned, which
he presently did, bearing a letter and pocket-book, both of which
he put into my hands, saying that I must proceed to Philadelphia,
and deliver the letter to the gentleman to whom it was directed,
who would assist to put me out of the way of danger, at least for
a time.
" He is my distant kinsman a merchant and has a privateer
which he is about sending to sea : he will give you a berth in her,
and you will then be free to follow your bent, and cut throats to
your liking."
This he said with such bitterness of sarcasm, that it overcame
my spirits, and I could not avoid shedding tears ; which seemed
to soften him, and he then spoke more gently.
" It is the last life I should ever have desired for you," he said,
ROBIN DAY. 69
*' for it is little better than f reebooting piracy legalized. But it
cannot be helped : the emergency is too sudden for choice ; there
is no alternative. The letter contains money : it will help to fit
you out : Mr. Bloodmoney," (the merchant to whom the letter
was directed), "will supply you what more is needed. The pock-
et-book will keep you on the road. You must ride all night I
have ordered you Bay Tom he will carry you to the city : but
should he fail, leave him on the road, and hire another. You
must be in Philadelphia to-morrow."
By this time we could hear a trampling at the stable, which was
not far off ; and my patron, saying all was ready, ordered me to follow
him ; but immediately bade me hold, while he ran to his study,
from which he returned with a memorial of the wreck the only
one he could ever obtain which he had lighted on, at his last visit
to the coast, and bought for a trifle of old Mother Moll, the first
of my persecutors. This was a memento of whose existence I had
long been aware, though I never attached any importance to it, as
my patron was sometimes inclined to do ; for, in truth, I cared
nothing for my origin, and was too well content with the protec-
tion, and, as I might have called it, the parentage of the good doc-
tor, to wish to exchange it for another's, even a father's. There
was, in fact, in the relic nothing very striking or interesting. It
was a string of beads of different sizes, of some black wood, I
know not what, but they were polished, and had a fragrant odor :
and there was a central one, in shape somewhat of a cross, of con-
siderable size, with grotesque carvings, that served as a sort of
locket to connect the two ends of the string. It was, I always
thought, just such a poor trifling gewgaw as any common woman,
a sailor's wife, might wear, and I was the more impressed that it
had belonged to some such personage, as there was roughly
scratched, as with a jack-knife, on the back of the locket, the name,
as far as we could make it out, of Sally Ann, which had decidedly
the smack of a tar's delight about it. This, to be sure, Dr. How-
ard agreed was likely enough ; but the poor sailor's wife might
have been my mother notwithstanding. But what chiefly ren-
dered the trinket of importance in his regard, was that Don Pe-
dro, the Spanish negro, our cook, of whom I have spoken, and who
was a mighty good Catholic, and had an uncommon share of in-
telligence for his degree, declared it was nothing less than a Cath-
olic rosary, as he knew by the number and arrangement of the
70 ADVENTURES OP
beads ; and in fact, having put it into his hands, he began to tell
the beads, and, as he did so, to jabber out a string of Ave-Marias
and Pater-Nosters with great readiness and fluency ; only that he
made such a hotch-potch of the matter as neither himself nor any
one else could make sense of. This, my patron averred, was a cu-
rious circumstance ; as a Catholic child in a Yankee schooner (it
seems Mother Moll had admitted she had taken the beads from
my neck, and Dr. Howard was convinced the wreck had been a
trading vessel from New England), was certainly something out
of the usual coarse of things ; and he therefore resolved to treas-
ure the beads up, hoping that they might be the means some day
of leading to the most interesting discoveries.
This string of beads, or rosary, or whatever it might be, he now
put into my hands, bidding me preserve it with religious care, nay,
even to wear it around my neck, for fear of accidents, as it might
conduct me perhaps to the arms of my parents ; " of whom," he
added, with some emotion, " you have now greater need than
ever, having thrown away ." But here he interrupted him-
self, and bade me follow him ; which I did, until we had come to
the stable ; where we found his horse Bay Tom, an animal that he
greatly valued, standing at the door ready saddled, and with him
old Don Pedro himself, who had long professed a great friendship
for me, and from whom, indeed, in the course of the last five years,
I had gradually picked up some little knowledge of the Spanish
tongue, which afterwards stood me in good stead.
" Mount, and ride for your life," said my benefactor, with a stern
voice, yet wringing my hand with a painful earnestness ;
"n^ount," he cried, "and heaven forgive you this fatal deed, and
go with you."
Don Pedro, also, having helped me into the saddle, gave me a
farewell shake, and blubbered, in his own tongue " 'Adios, mi
nino j adieu, my child ; at last, you are going to the devil : an as-
surance which was by no means so pleasant as it seemed true.
This done and said, Pedro opened a gate leading into the high-
way, (the doctor's house being seated on the borders of the town),
that I might ride through. But I faltered a moment, to look back
to the house, in which, notwithstanding the folly and violence of
my career, I had lived so many happy hours of my youth. There
was a light burning in Nanna's chamber, who was as yet unac-
quainted with the miserable adventures of the night. As I looked
ROBIN DAY. . 71
up, the light was suddenly put out ; and the darkness that ensued
smote upon my heart as a mournful omen.
" Why do you pause ?" muttered my patron with impatience.
" Begone ; your life depends upon your speed."
Thus commanded, I turned my horse through the gate, gave
him the rein and spur, and in a moment was out of the town, fly-
ing all the more fleetly for the din, the cries and shouts that still
prevailed ; and which, as the blast brought them to my ears, my
fancy converted into the halloos of vengeful pursuers.
72 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XII.
Robin Day meets an alarming adventure, and stumbles upon a
companion in misfortune.
And now behold me upon the world alone, a hero of eighteen,
with just such qualifications for making my way through the stormy
paths of life as one might expect in a cockboat for performing
a voyage round Cape Horn.
It is true, I entertained or had done so, until the affairs of the
night had frightened it out of me the best possible opinion of
my own merits and abilities ; and such complacent self-regard, it
is conceded on all sides, is the best foundation and prognostic of
worldly success. I had trounced all my schoolmates, (General
Dicky Dare, my friend and confederate, though my rival, only
excepted ;) and it was but a natural consequence that I should
suppose myself able in like manner to conquer all mankind ; and
the share I had had in demolishing the power and pretensions of
the tyrants of the academy, had convinced me I possessed the same
ability to resist the oppressions of the great men of the world, the
kings and presidents ; of whom I entertained a very mean opin-
ion, believing they were only Burleys and M'Goggins on a larger
scale.
Besides this generous sense of my own merits, I possessed an-
other qualification thought to be of almost equal efficacy in helping
one through the world ; namely, a good personal appearance ; for,
from having been the ugliest little imp in the world, I was now
grown, as my looking-glass told me, quite a handsome young fel-
low, with black eyes and hair the latter very curling and glossy,
and, indeed the admiration of all the young ladies in the town, as
well as myself, and a figure that, in the main, satisfied my own
predilections ; there being no fault I could find, except that I was
a thought shorter than was necessary, and my complexion some-
what more tawny than suited my ideas of perfect beauty.
This vanity and self-conceit, as the reader may properly esteem
ROBIN DAY. 73
it, I know not whether I owed in greater part to a natural spirit
of coxcombry, or to the uncommon indulgences I had so suddenly
fallen heir to in my patron's family ; which were enough to turn
the brain of one to whom indulgences had been before wholly un-
known. But, at all events, the foible was never strong enpugh
to throw me open to remark ; and, as I have mentioned, the catas-
trophe of the night had banished it from my breast, at least for a
time ; so that I certainly derived no advantage from it in what
may be properly considered my outset in life.
My other qualifications for the great strife of the world were
neither many nor striking. I had acquired, during my five years
at the academy, the ordinary rudiments of education, besides " a
little Latin," as the crabbed Ben Johnson disparagingly said of his
great superior, " and less Greek ;" to which I managed to add,
during the few months I was ensconced in my patron's office, a lit-
tle French, a knowledge of pestles and mortars, and the knack of
pulling out easy grinders. I had picked up some bad Spanish
from the cook, and from the coachman the art of riding and spoil-
ing a horse. A French barber had taught me how to dance, and
I learned to squeak upon a cracked flute from the impulse of my
own genius ; which even impelled me to the frenzy of attempting
the fiddle, whose mellifluous tones I dispelled among pill-boxes and
swinging bones, until my preceptor, disgusted at my music and
inattention to what he esteemed my proper duties, advised me, if
I wished to play the fiddle to draw the bow over my own head
a sarcasm which ended my violining on the instant.
What other qualifications I may have possessed I am ignorant
of except, indeed, an uncommonly good and strong constitution,
capable of enduring all exposures and hardships ; and this was, I
believe, after all, the only one on which I ought to have placed
any reliance. I was, in short, an ignorant youth, a great school-
boy entirely incompetent to the task of self -management or self-
preservation ; and my benefactor had acted with wisdom in
assigning me to a situation, wherein, besides enjoying security
from the vengeance of the law, which was the first object to be
aimed at, I should not be left to the dangerous duty of taking care
of myself.
I rode with great speed, for the first two or three miles, being
all the while in terrible fear of pursuit ; but, by and by, I slack-
ened a little in my gait, the night being still very dark and gusty,
74 ADVENTURES OF
and the road, like all other roads in New Jersey, intolerably
rough and dangerous. As my fears subsided, my griefs began
to usurp their place ; and the thought of my forlornness and
banishment of my benefactor, whom I loved well, and of Nanna
whom, I discovered, I loved still better, both now lost to me, and
perhaps forever weighed so heavily upon my heart, that I gave
myself up to despair, and lamented my fate with floods of tears.
In this melancholy employment I continued a mile further ; and
would perhaps have continued all night, had it not been for an inci-
dent that presently bef el, and aroused a multitude of other feelings.
I had arrived at a place, where, at the bottom of a slaty hill, a
by-road, that came in a roundabout way from the town, joined,
and terminated in, the highway upon which I was traveling ; and
the hill being pretty bare, for it was a barren, dreary place, so as
to offer no obstacle to the transmission of sounds, and the winds
lulling at the time, I was made sensible, first, by the animation
and snorting of my steed, Bay Tom, and then by the surer evi-
dence of my own ears, that a horseman was upon the by-road,
descending the hill, and at as round a trot as myself. This dis-
covery filled me with confusion, for I did not doubt it was one of
the many pursuers, who were, in all probability, by this time,
scouring the country in search of me.
Afraid to turn back, as that would be only to rush into the
hands of, perhaps, a whole band of constables and deputy sheriffs
from the town, and relying upon the speed of Bay Tom, who was
of good blood, and had a genealogy ten times longer than my
own, I increased my pace, in the hopes of getting beyond the by-
road before the enemy had left it : after which, I intended to
show him as clean a pair of heels as possible.
To my dismay, the stranger increased his pace in like manner ;
and the thunder of his hoofs, which grew louder and louder every
moment, as the roads converged nigher together, shook the hill.
It was plain he was riding as furiously as myself, determined to
get before me to the bottom of the hill, and so intercept me. I
spurred the harder : the enemy did the same ; and both came
thundering together at the meeting of the roads, where my terror,
which was now mounted to a pitch of perfect ecstasy, was com-
pleted by the bloody-minded villain flashing a pistol in my face,
and exclaiming with a voice of fury and desperation " Death
before dishonor ! I won't be taken alive !"
KOBIN DAY. V5
The flash of the pistol brought my horse upon his hams, fright-
ened out of his wits, as I was out of mine ; but judge my astonish-
ment when I recognized in those terrible tones the voice of my
friend Dicky Dare ! who, a fugitive like myself, and, like myself,
prepared to see everybody an emissary of justice, had made pre-
cisely the same mistake I had done, had taken me for a deputy
sheriff, as I had taken him, had aimed, and sorely striven, to be first
in at the meeting of the roads, with the same intention of escape ;
and finding himself, as I had done, intercepted and caught, had,
very unlike me, resolved to sell his life dear, and so came within
an ace of blowing my brains out.
" Dicky Dare !" cried I.
" Sy Tough !" quoth he.
These were our exclamations ; and, the next moment, we burst
into a roar of laughter, in which, fright, sorrow and everything
else, save the ridiculousness of the rencontre, was for a while en-
tirely forgotten.
Having exercised our lungs in this way until the humor of
merriment was satisfied, we came to a mutual explanation ; and I
found that General Dicky was, like myself, an outcast and exile,
cast upon the world to seek his fortune that we were brothers
in distress, as we had been in mischief.
He, it seemed, after retiring from the battle-ground, had made
his way home, though without any preliminary visit to the fields
or dip in a ditch, and not without some doubts, as he confessed, as
to " what the lawyers would think of the matter," which grew
more strongly upon him, when, presently, a friend of his father,
Captain Dare, suddenly broke in with the fatal intelligence of
M'Goggin's being at the point of death, the application for the war-
rants, etc. ; whereupon the father, eyeing his promising heir for a
moment, with ire and indignation, at last roared out " D your
"blood, if you're so good at killing, go kill the enemies of your coun-
try !" An injunction worthy of a Roman or Spartan, which was fol-
lowed by Captain Dare giving him a horse, a sorrel nag of no great
value, greatly inferior, indeed, to my own blooded charger, a
hanger, and a pair of pistols ; to which he added a small supply
of money an article that the gratitude of the Republic took good
care he should never be greatly overburthened with and then
ordered him to be gone to the nearest army, to " fight like a bull-
' dog, and if need should be, to die like one,"
76 ADVENTURES OF
This was exactly the thing for General Dicky, whose soul was
as eager for conflict as a young charger's, and " smelt the battle
afar off, the thunder of the captains, and the shouting ;" and who,
in fact, from all I could discover, seemed to look upon the killing
of M'Goggin as the happiest act of his life, inasmuch as it was to
that alone he owed the gratification of his dearest hope and most
enthusiastic desire ; that is, to which he would owe it, provided
he should be so happy as to escape the harpies of the law, of whom
he was in some dread, as his late transports had made manifest.
ROBIN DAY. 77
CHAPTER XIII.
Another terrible adventure befalls, and Robin Day saves his mon-
ey and loses his friend.
MEANWHILE, we had not paused to enter into these explana-
tions, but rode onward at such speed as the nature of the road
permitted ; and the martial equanimity wherewith the brave
Dicky seemed to bear the misfortune of the murder, which, in fact,
he professed to consider a mere accident of war, had the effect of
somewhat enlivening my own spirits. We found, to our mutual
delight, that both were bound, in the first instance, to Philadel-
phia ; and Dicky demanded what were my designs, after I should
get there. I told him I was to go to sea in a privateer, as my pa-
tron had arranged for me ; a declaration that gave him extreme
disgust.
" Upon my honor, and soul, and conscience, by Julius Caesar,"
said he, " I would as lief go to battle in a meal-bag, tied up to
the chin. It's all small game, this sea business a fight between
two dirty little ships a dog and a pig squabbling in a gutter ;
twelve killed and twenty wounded, and a hellaballoo in the news-
papers. Give me," he cried, with enthusiasm, " a fight where
there is a thousand killed of a side, or it may be twenty thousand,
with scratches in proportion ; five or six hundred field pieces
blazing away, slambang, all together fifty thousand muskets pep-
pering all at once, bayonets shining, horses charging, trumpets
clanging, drums rattling rub-a-dub-a-dub with generals, and
field-marshals, and cocked hats and feathers, and all that, my fel-
low ! by Julius Caesar, that's the thing for me ! But your nasty
ships all tar and bilge water, brine, slush, stale junk, and mouldy
biscuit rolling about sick as a dog, no soul in you nothing but
firing off cannon and making wood fly nobody killed worth talk-
ing about a small business 'pon my honor, and soul, and con-
science by Julius Caesar, a small business !"
" But remember, Dicky," said I, somewhat moved at his con-
Y8 ADVENTURES OF
temptuous picture of my destined profession " remember the
prize-money."
"Curse the prize-money," said Dicky Dare, with the lofty
spirit of a soldier ; " I go for the glory ! However," he added, re-
lapsing into sentiments not so high-flown, " there's the booty that
a soldier has, to put against your prize-money : and there's some-
times grand picking after a battle, especially in an enemy's country.
Think of a city taken by storm, by Julius Caesar ! the shops, the
banks with vaults full of money ! the rich houses, and stables full
of elegant horses ! the churches with golden candlesticks and all
sort of things ! the heaps of plate, the rings, and the jewels !
Ah, by Julius Caesar, it's no such small matter, that booty, after
all. However, I don't stick for that ; the honor's the thing, the
fame and the greatness, my fellow ; and that's enough for a sol-
dier."
With this the gallant general, after indulging in another tirade
against the meanness and insignificance of existence at sea, partic-
ularly in a privateer, which he held to be no better than life in an
oyster-boat, proposed I should give up the design, and unite
my fotunes with his ; that is, turn soldier ; for which, having a
good horse, and some of the sinews of war in my pocket, he held
me admirably well qualified. It was his intention to proceed with-
out delay to the theatre of war on the Chesapeake, which was the
nearest field of distinction ; and there, he doubted not, wes hould
play the very mischief with the enemy, and cover ourselves with
immortal renown.
The idea was not disagreeable to my inclinations. The voyage
in the privateer I had not yet had time to reflect upon, nor to ask
myself what appetite I, whom my early adventures had imbued
with an inveterate horror of salt water, might have for it. The
conversation of Dicky recalled me to a memory of my disgust, and
-I felt a stirring desire to unite with him in his noble enterprise ;
whereby I should both avoid the terrors of the sea and secure to
myself the company and countenance of Dicky, whom I recog-
nized as a superior genius, and ardently longed to have as a com-
panion.
But as I could not prevail upon myself to attempt an adventure
so important without the consent of my patron, who had assigned
to me another career, and to whose will I was desirous to yield
implicit submission, as some amends for my past misconduct, I
KOBIN DAY. 79
proposed deferring my answer until we got to Philadelphia ;
whence I promised to write to Dr. Howard, and request his per-
mission to seek my fortune on dry land.
To this proposition the General very readily agreed, declaring
that a day or two could make 110 difference, that he had heard
there was great fun in the big cities, and that the theatres were
the finest places in the world ; and besides, he added, having dis-
covered I had made the highly unmilitary blunder of setting out
without any arms, while he, on the contrary, was armed to the
teeth, we should want a day or two to fit me out with the proper
weapons and other munitions of war ; among which, in the
warmth of his fancy, he seemed disposed to consider as highly
proper, though he would not pretend to say they were indispen-
sably necessary, a brace of General's uniforms, with chapeau and
feather, and epaulettes, complete. But as these articles, he ad-
mitted, were expensive, it was proper to consider how we stood
provided with the needful. Accordingly, he demanded how much
money the "old codger," as he irreverently termed my benefac-
tor, had given me. I replied, " I did not know : the doctor had
given me a pocket-book, which I had in my pocket ; but I had not
time to examine it, and I knew not what were its contents."
" As for me," said Dicky, with an important tone, " I never go
into a campaign without knowing what is in the military chest ;
and, by Julius Caesar, when dad gave me his purse, I took good
care to count all the money in it ; and, by Julius Cassar" (speak-
ing as if he expected me to be astonished), " there's fifty dollars
in it !"
But this was a fortune to Dicky ; who, from the poverty of his
father, had always been kept bare of money, and never expected,
perhaps, to handle such a sum in his life. But mean as the sum
appeared to me, who, besides having been always lavishly sup-
plied, had been accustomed to hear my patron speak of his thou-
sands and tens of thousands (for he was a very rich man), I was
astonished, as Dicky anticipated ; though, as it happened, not so
much at the vastness of his treasure as at a danger which sud-
denly invaded it.
We had, by this time, left our homes some fifteen or twenty
miles behind us, and had just descended one of the many vile hills
by which our speed was retarded, coming to a wild place very
dark with woods, and very dismal, where the road seemed to fork ;
80 ADVENTURES OP
and we were about to halt, to debate upon our route, when, all
of a sudden, a man leaped from among the bushes, and seizing
both our horses by the bridles, exclaimed "D n my, eyes ! if
you're so flush in the locker, I ain't. Your money, or your
blood ! " a demand whose abruptness threw me into such mor-
tal terror that I thrust my hand into my pocket, intending to give
him all I had, and beg for mercy besides. General Dare received
the application in quite another way. " My blood, then, by Julius
Caesar ! " cried the valiant youth, who pulled out a pistol, and fired
it without ceremony in the highwayman's face, bawling, at the
same time, " Surrender you dog, or die ! "
The shot did instant execution, first upon the robber, who fell
to the earth, with a curse and a groan, and then upon our horses,
neither of which displayed the courage to be expected of chargers
bound to the battle-field, but, on the contrary, fell to plunging and
prancing like incarnate fiends ; and then, each choosing a different
fork of the road, betook them to all their speed, whether we would
or not, leaving the wounded highwayman to his fate.
To this inglorious flight, I, obeying in my own instincts, which
were pretty much like those of the animal's, should not, I believe,
have opposed any particular objections, had it not been for the
separation from General Dare ; but of this I was for a time un-
conscious, the frenzy of Bay Tom, who, besides running as hard
as he could, made sundry desperate attempts to get rid of his
rider, giving me no leisure to think of anything but the preserva-
tion of my own neck. Nor did I recover my composure until the
animal, having continued his flight for about half a mile, suddenly
came to a stop among a crew of wagoners, who, with their
wagons, were encamped for the night in front of a little tavern on
the wayside, greatly patronized by worthies of that class ; and
finished the adventure by flinging up his heels, in a fury, I sup-
pose, of delight at his happy escape ; whereby I was very sud-
denly transferred from his back to that of a wagoner, who had got
up to stir the fire, and was now prostrated by the vigor of the
salutation.
The man, at first frightened, and then enraged, awoke his com-
panions by his exclamations ; and they came tumbling out of their
carriages, threatening dire things against the invader of their rest ;
but when I had informed them of the cause of the accident, and
the attack of the highwayman, they abated their rage, or rather
ROBIN DAT. 81
directed it to the robber, whom they immediately swore they would
take, dead or alive. Each seized upon a horse, and the man whom
I had prostrated, jumped without any ceremony, upon Bay Tom ;
thus putting it out of my power to accompany them as perhaps
I should have willingly done, to seek for my friend Dicky and
away they galloped to the field of battle.
82 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XIV.
A still more extraordinary adventure, in which Robin Day falls
among Philistines, and is convicted of highway robbery / and
how he escapes the dangers thereof.
IN the meanwhile, the tavern-keeper had got up, and opened his
doors, and I was glad to shelter me in his bar-room, where was a
cheerful fire. He plied me with questions about the robbery,
which I satisfied as well as I could, and then about myself, making
little ceremony in asking who I was, whence I had come, whither
I was going, why I traveled at night, etc. ; questions which I could
not answer without some appearance of confusion and eqnivoca-
cation (for I feared lest he should discover I was a fugitive from
justice), which gave him an unfavorable opinion of me, and ex-
cited suspicions not altogether advantageous to my character.
Fortunately for me, his interrogatories were soon put an end to
by the return of the wagoners, who had found the robber lying
senseless on the road, dragged him with no great tenderness be-
tween them to the tavern, and now haled him into the bar-room,
where he displayed a figure that inspired me with dread.
He was a stout, sinewy, middle-aged man, dressed like a sailor,
with a tarpaulin knapsack on his back, a new blue cloth jacket,
and old canvas trousers exceedingly well daubed with pitch, and
no hat or cap, that covering having been lost in the scuffle. He
had a most savage countenance, covered with whiskers, beard, and
hair, all black and grizzled, with a swarthy skin that was now,
owing to faintness and loss of blood, of a cadaverous, leaden color;
and there were drops of blood on his forehead, coming from some
wound on the head, and a more plentiful besprinkling on his
uhirt, that added to the grimness and ferocity of his appearance.
The roughness with which he had been dragged from the road
had stirred up the latent powers of life and he was beginning to
rouse from his insensibility, as the wagoners brought him into the
room, vociferating a thousand triumphant encomiums upon their
ROBIN DAY. 83
own courage, and as many felicitations upon the prospect they
thought they had, both of being rewarded by the Governor of the
State for apprehending such a desperate villain, and of seeing
him hanged into the bargain. Being in such a happy mood, they
agreed with great generosity to treat their prisoner to a glass of
grog, with a view of enlivening his spirits and recalling his wits ;
and this being accordingly presented, and immediately swallowed
with great eagerness, had the good effect of restoring him at once
to his faculties. This he made apparent by suddenly bending an
eye of indignant inquiry on his captors, who held him fast by the
collar, and by exclaiming, in corresponding tones, " Sink my
timbers, shipmates ! do you intend to murder, as well as rob
me?"
This address, which filled them with surprise, the wagoners
answered by telling him, " they were no robbers, but he was, as he
should find to his cost ;" a charge that, to my amazement, the
honest man, instead of admitting in full, repelled with furious in-
dignation, swearing that, instead of being a robber, he had him-
self been robbed by a brace of rascally land-rats on the road under
their noses plundered of a huge store of prize-money, the gains
of a whole year of fighting, which he was carrying to his wife and
children in Philadelphia, and knocked on the head into the bargain;
that he would have the blood of the villains, whom he could swear
to, and would pursue to the ends of the earth ; and if
they, the wagoners, were honest fellows, and loved a sailor that
had been fighting their battles on the stormy seas, they would help
him to catch the rascals, instead of jawing him like a thief and a
pirate they would, split him.
This address, delivered with matchless effrontery, and with an
air of injured and insulted innocence quite indescribable, had the
effect of staggering several of the captors, who evidently began to
think they had made a mistake ; while others laughed it to scorn ;
and one of them called me forward (for I had kept, from modesty
and fear, in the background,) to confront the fellow ; which I did,
though with no good heart, having a great dread of his ferocious
looks. But, however terrible the robber appeared in my eyes, I, it
seems, possessed an appearance equally alarming in his ; for no
sooner had he caught sight of me, than he roared out, " That's one
of the land-sharks, sink me ! " and starting back, with the air of
one endeavoring to overcome a fit of trepidation, called upon some
8 4 ADVENTURES OP
of the company to give him a pistol or cutlass, and upon the
others to " hold the villain fast, for he could swear his life against
me."
I was confounded at this sally ; and as the sailor had every ap-
pearance of being in earnest, and the wagoners looked as if vastly
inclined to believe his story, I began to have my doubts whether I
was not a robber in reality. To complete my confusion, the inn-
keeper now swore " he had had his suspicions of me from the
first," and said I ought to be searched for the sailor's money. A
furious contention arose among the wagoners, some insisting that
I was, others that I was not, the robber ; the former arguing my
innocence from the fact of my coming of my own accord into
their camp ; while the others, among whom was the man upon
whose back I had been pitched, declared the visit was not volun-
tary, but that I had been thrown among them by my horse, entire-
ly against my will, and had invented the story of my having been
robbed, only to prevent their arresting me as the robber.
And during all this time, the real Simon Pure, the highwayman
himself, kept up a terrible din, calling me a thief and pirate, de-
manding a weapon, insisting that the wagoners should hold me
fast ; and, in the midst of all his rage, discovering so much disin-
clination to come within arm's length of me, who was, on my part,
ready to swoon with dismay, that some of the company were scan-
dalized at his cowardice ; which was the more remarkable in one
of his age and warlike profession, and assured him " the little
boy," as they contemptuously termed me, " would not eat him."
Encouraged, or pretending to be encouraged, by this assurance,
(for the crafty knave was merely playing a part,) he threw aside
his fear, seized me by the collar, and gave me a furious shaking,
overwhelming me with denunciations and maledictions ; and the
others of the company, moved by the same imitative impulse,
which, when one dog of a village attacks a currish visitant, leads
all the other dogs of the town to set upon the stranger in like man-
ner, fell upon me likewise ; so that I thought I should have been
shaken to death among them.
It was in vain I remonstrated, and protested my own innocence
and the guilt of the sailor. The latter worthy grew more furious
and determined every moment ; and finding that I had a horse at
the door, he carried his audacity to the pitch of claiming him as
his own, or rather as his captain's, which, he said, he was carrying
ROBIN DAY. 85
to Philadelphia for his commander ; swore I had knocked him off
that very beast's back, and then run off with him ; and ended by
jumping upon Bay Tom's back, and riding immediately off, for
the purpose, as he said, of hunting up my accomplice, " the other
villain," who had made off with his prize-money ; in which under-
taking he invited the assistance of the wagoners, promising a
handsome reward to any who should help him to a sight of the
pirate. This induced two or three of them to mount their horses ;
and I had the satisfaction of seeing the scoundrel, whose unparal-
leled impudence had thus carried him through, gallop away with
my patron's horse, leaving me a prisoner in his place.
I was nearly distracted by this turn of affairs ; and seeing no
other way left to release myself from the hands of the innkeeper
and his customers, and persuade them to attempt the recovery of
the horse before it was too late, I made a merit of necessity, and
told them who I was, and the causes of my adventurous journey.
This only made matters a hundred times worse than before ; for
the wagoners, now discovering I was a fugitive from justice, and
trusting there might be a reward offered for my apprehension,
which they had it in their power to secure, immediately locked
me up in a Itttle room in the garret ; whence I could hear them
through the chinks of the floor, debating with one another wheth-
er they should immediately carry me back to the town I had
left, or detain me a prisoner, until made certain that a reward had
been actually proclaimed for my delivery. As neither of these
alternatives possessed any charms for me, but, on the contrary,
filled me with new desperation, I began to cast about for some
means of escape ; and I had the good fortune to discover a win-
dow, through which I found no great difficulty in creeping out
upon the roof, and thence, by means of a shed, and a willow-tree
that grew beside it, of dropping on the ground.
86 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XV.
How Dicky Dare meets and routs tioo armies of wagoners, while
Robin Day plays the Babe in the Wood.
MY escape from the tavern and the wagoners thus effected, I
ran with all my speed to the nearest wood, glad to be a freeman
once more, though with the loss of my horse and saddlebags, in
which latter was all my clothes; and the loss of it was the more
provoking, as I had snatched it from Bay Tom's back, when the
wagoner mounted him, and so saved it from the robber only to
leave it to the tender mercies of his captors. But the loss was,
after all, not so very great; for the villains, notwithstanding their
threats, having abstained from searching my pockets, I was still
in possession of my pocket-book, and the letter to Mr. Bloodmoney,
as well as the string of beads, which my patron had insisted I
should put round my neck.
I was, I am certain, more grieved at the loss of my friend Dicky,
whose disappearance I knew not how to account for, than at any
other deprivation, as I had now greater need than ever of his
countenance and assistance. But as I knew not where to look for
him, and felt it needful to improve the time in getting as far as
possible from the dangerous vicinity of the tavern, 1 did not pause
to lament or consider; but discovering the points of the compass
by the gray streaks of the dawn, which were beginning to appear,
I turned my face towards the southwest, which I judged to be
pretty nigh the direction of Philadelphia, and set forward with all
the vigor I possessed, hoping to make my way, like a wild Indian,
through the woods.
And here I may as well inform the reader what became of my
friend Dicky, the history of whose adventures I did not learn until
many weeks afterwards. He had had, like me, the misfortune to be
run away with by his horse, which, plunging into a wood, managed
to get rid of the General, after a time, by brushing him off against
a bough, % and then ended the race by plumping into a swamp,
ROBIN DAY. 87
where he stuck fast, and was presently found by Dicky, who, after
an hour of toil, succeeded in extricating him from the mire. This
done, Dicky rode back to the battle-ground, and thence to the
tavern, at which he arrived only a few moments after I had left it,
and, indeed, just as my jailers had made discovery of my flight,
which had thrown them into a ferment of rage and disappoint-
ment.
The appearance of Dicky, who, by the questions he asked after
me, they discovered to be my fellow robber and accomplice in
flight, and who would therefore prove as valuable a capture as
myself, was the signal for an assault that they instantly made
upon him, but which the valiant Dicky, no wise disconcerted by
their numbers, repelled with equal resolution and discretion. Snatch-
ing at his pistols, which the practice of the night had already
made him familiar with, he let fly among the assailants, shooting
one of them right through the hat, who, leaping back in mortal
terror, overthrew a companion, with whom he fell to the earth;
and both believing themselves dead men, they yelled out in such a
horrible way that the others were struck with consternation, and im-
mediately put to flight. Of this the youthful general, who was too
much of a soldier to pursue a success too far, took instant advan-
tage by riding off, though only, as it appeared, to encounter a
new danger. The wagoners who had pricked away with the vil-
lanous sailor in quest of my fancied accomplice, were by this time
returning from the expedition, after having been by some unac-
countable accident separated from their leader, whom, with Bay
Tom, they were never destined to see again, and they had arrived
so nigh the little inn as to hear the sounds of conflict, and even to
see, though indistinctly, (for the morning was yet but little ad-
vanced,) the rout of their companions and the retreat of the victor,
whom, not doubting him to be the identical highwayman they had
been seeking, they now made preparations to intercept, taking up
such a position on the road as rendered a passage through them
desperately diflicult, if not wholly impracticable. But Dicky's soul
was now up in arms; his late victory had given double edge to his
courage, so that he eyed his opponents with disdain, and resolved
to cut his way through them or die nobly in the attempt. And
for this undertaking there was now the greater necessity, as he
perceived the assailants he had just put to flight had caught sight
of their comrades, and, being encouraged by the reinforcement,
88 ADVENTURES OF
were making demonstrations of a design to attack him on the
rear.
He rode forward, therefore, preserving a good countenance, and
having come within striking distance, discharged, without any
hesitation, his remaining pistol at his foes ; and then, drawing his
hanger, he charged upon them at full gallop, using his weapon
with such fury, slashing one over the back, slicing the fingers of a
second, and nearly poking out the eyes of a third, that the
wagoners, who had been already somewhat disconcerted and dis-
ordered by the pistol shot, were thrown into a panic, and fled
from before the terrors of his face ; until a lucky gap in a fence
gave them an opportunity of darting into the woods, and so escap-
ing the terrible thwacks which he dealt around him with relentless
rigor. The road being thus cleared, the young champion pursued
his way ; and giving me up for lost, or supposing, (as he after-
wards told me,) that I was before him on the road, he spurred
onward with such vigor as to reach Philadelphia before the close
of the day, the distance from our town being fully sixty miles.
As for me, I made no such speed in my journey, which I was
obliged to perform on foot. For though I discovered, upon
examining the pocket-book, that my good patron had supplied me
with abundant means even to have bought another horse, had I
chosen, or to have traveled in any other way, I was so terrified at
the mishaps that had already befallen me, and was in such fear of
being apprehended a second time, that I avoided the highway
altogether ; and even resorted to lanes and by-ways only because
I found it impossible to make any progress in the woods ; where,
besides being always bewildered, I was in danger of perishing with
famine. I made one or two efforts to hire a horse of farmers in
lonely places, but found no success, none of them liking my looks
or account of myself, which, I doubt not, were both suspicious
enough ; and as some of them betrayed an inclination, or so I
thought, to detain me upon speculation, in the hope that they
might make something by it, I found myself compelled to give
over all attempts of that kind, and trust to my own legs for safety.
Nay, as I perceived there was a danger even in visiting their
houses for food or shelter, because they were all so inquisitive,
and so distrustful, when they perceived my hesitation in answer-
ing their questions, I took means to make such visitations unneces-
sary, by buying, in a small village I passed through, a little wallet
ROBIN DAY. 89
or knapsack, which I crammed with food, and such other necessaries
as I could procure, and slung upon my back. Thus provided, I
trudged along with greater independence, and in less fear, and
even had the hardihood to sleep one night in the woods, though in
horrible discomfort from the cold, and a furious rain that fell that
night.
From these causes, it happened that I traveled very slowly ;
and it was not until the afternoon of the third day that I arrived
at the town of Camden, on the Delaware ; and thence, in a ferry-
boat, crossed over to Philadelphia, whose huge size and endless
array of ship masts and chimneys, stretched in a waving line along
the river, filled me with astonishment and alarm. I was landed
by the ferryman at the foot of High Street, which, as it was a
market day, was full of people, and especially shad-women, from
one of whom, whose basket I had the misfortune to make my first
step into being beside myself with wonder and confusion I
received a benediction much more eloquent than elegant, and
would perhaps have had a box on the ear also, had I not made a
precipitate retreat out of her reach and the region of the fi'sh
market.
90 ADVENTURES OP
CHAPTER XVI.
Robin Day arrives at Philadelphia, and meets many adventures
therein and some grievances, which he cures with a pinch of
snuff.
HAVING got over my first amazement at the sight of such a
prodigious number of houses and people, and emerged from a
species of dejection which held me for a moment at the thought
of my insignificance and almost nonentity among such a multitude
of men, I began to enjoy greater ease and contentment of mind
than I had known for several days. My very insignificance, it
appeared to me, was my best protection, for " sure," thought I,
"among so many people I shall be in little danger of my pursuers,
the constables and deputy sheriffs, who might hunt for me in such
a city for weeks in vain."
With this encouraging reflection, my natural spirits returned at
length to such a degree, that instead of jumping into the gutter
to make room for every body that passed, as I had modestly done
at first, I elbowed my way along like others, endeavoring to
assume, as far as I could, the air of ease and the step of busy haste
which seemed to characterize the citizens.
In this I succeeded to my wish, and had just begun to conceit
myself almost a citizen, and to fancy that everybody else so con-
sidered me, when my equanimity received a blow from the wheel-
barrow of a black porter, who, coming up from behind, whistling
Yankee Doodle with a vigor that drowned the crocking of his
wheel, tumbled me into a lot of pottery arranged along the pave-
ment, whereby, though I received no greater injury than a rent or
two in my coat, great damage was done among the merchandise.
This accident, which might have moved the concern of any
rational being, its cause, the negro, did not seem in the least to re-
gard, but went on his way, whistling as before ; which incensing
me, I started up, intending to chastise him for his impudent
assault with a staff I had cut in the woods and still retained.
ROBIN DAY. 91
But here I was doomed to a disappointment, the dealer in wash-
bowls and pattipans seizing me by the collar, and declaring I
should not leave him until I had paid for the damage I had clone,
which he estimated at two or three dollars, though he afterwards
abated his demand to one. I would have remonstrated upon the
injustice of making me pay for a mischief evidently caused by the
negro ; but my merchant only grew angry, and declared he would
carry me to the nearest justice ; which was an alternative so fright-
ful to me, who had such terror of, and such occasion to keep at
a distance from, all limbs of the law, that I consented to satisfy
his demand, and handed him a five-dollar bill accordingly. But
this being a New Jersey note, which, he affirmed, was, like the bills
of all New Jersey banks, at a discount, he refused to receive it,
unless I allowed him an additional half-dollar by way of premium ;
and I was about yielding to his demand, when a decent looking
man stepped forward, inveighed against the roguery of the fellow
for endeavoring, as he said, to take advantage of my youth and
ignorance, swore that New Jersey bank-bills were never at a dis-
count, but always at par, and ended by giving the fellow a dollar
bill of some Philadelphia bank, and handing me four others as
change ; which being done, he clapped my Jersey note into his
own pocket, and walked off to escape the thanks with which I,
charmed with his politeness and liberality, was disposed to over-
whelm him.
This occurrence gave me a high idea of the generosity and
kindness of Philadelphians to strangers ; which was only abated
by my discovering, as I did about five minutes afterwards, that the
four bills given me by the good-natured stranger were counterfeit,
and my liberal gentleman a rascally swindler, who had rescued my
youth and ignorance from the jaws of the pottery merchant, only
to enjoy a huger bite of them himself.
Having accomplished this adventure, I proceeded onward, intend-
ing to hunt my way to some respectable hotel, without asking
assistance of any one to direct me ; a measure that I thought was
needless, and which I had, besides, the greater aversion to, as it
would be to acknowledge myself a stranger ; and I considered that
the fewer who knew that, the less would be my danger of discovery.
I had not well got over the anger I had been thrown into by the
assault of the porter, when it was my fate to encounter another
blackamoor, a strapping tatterdemalion, who had upon his shoulder
92 ADVENTURES OF
an axe and beetle, with a brace of iron wedges suspended by a
string, which he clinked together as he went, crying at intervals,
" Wood ! wood ! split wood !" with a very nasal twang, and a
melodious snap quite inimitable. This vagabond, who seemed as-
deeply engaged in the enjoyment of his music as the porter had
been, I very naturally expected would get out of the way, as he
passed me ; instead of doing which, he stalked against me, as if
entirely ignorant of my presence, or quite indifferent to it ; and I
was, in a twinkling, laid upon my back by his maul, which struck
me on the head, while his two wedges, at the same time, beat such
a tattoo on my breast, that I thought, during the instant of con-
tact, they would have drummed my heart out. I leaped up,
greatly exasperated, and snatched at my stick to beat the villain ;
who, perceiving my design, which was made the more manifest by
some abusive epithet I let fly at him, paused a moment, and
regarding me with extreme astonishment and contempt, exclaimed
' Guy ! guess the younker's a fool ! Git out of my way, will
you?" And with these words, and the addition of his usual
twanging note, " Wood ! wood ! split wood !" he passed on, leav-
ing me covered with rage and mortification, which Avere the
greater for my not having dared to beat him ; for, in truth, while
he spoke, he laid hold of his beetle as if resolved to requite
any attack I should presume to attempt, by making a wedge of
me, and driving me through the pavement.
In two minutes more I encountered a similar accident; a third
negro running against me with a violence that pitched me into a
cellar, where was a cooper making cedar barrels or churns, one of
which I had the satisfaction to demolish, just as he had completed
his task of putting its different parts together. And here, again,,
I expected to be met with a claim for damages, but my cooper was
a good-natured fellow, and, having eyed me a moment with sur-
prise, while I was dragging my leg from amid the ruins of his
work, he said, as if giving me friendly counsel, " You've kicked
the barrel to pieces this time, my fine fellow; take care, the next,
you don't kick the bucket." Which piece of wit for a piece of
wit, I believe, he considered it having passed his lips, he burst
into a haw-haw of approbation at his own smartness; and I, curs-
ing him in my heart for his insensibility to my pangs for I had
broken my shin by the accident and mad with vexation and a
vengeful desire to punish the author of my misfortunes, clamb-
ROBIN DAY. 93
ered up to the street again, but only to find that the victorious
rascal had vanished away.
These three several assaults led me to further observation of the
deportment of the colored gentlemen of Philadelphia, and I was
soon convinced that they were, next to the pigs, the true aristoc-
racy of the town, or, at least, of the streets thereof. I perceived
that all passers-by of white complexion and genteel appearance,
of all ages and both sexes, gave the way to their sable brethern,
stepping reverentially aside to let them pass, and that, if they did
not, the chance was that the sable brethern would revenge the
slight by jostling them into the gutter or any open packing-box
that lay convenient. I observed also, that there was nothing to be
gained by the sufferer remonstrating in such cases, except a deal
of insolent and abusive language, which the lords of the trottoir
had always ready at command, by way of convincing the com-
plainant that they were as good as himself, if not a great deal bet-
ter. The insolence of the black republicans was to me astonishing,
though not more so than the general submissiveness with which I
found it endured. I saw one fellow, a porter with a wheelbarrow,
execute, upon a well-dressed lady, the same feat that his comrade
had lately performed upon me; that is, he knocked her down with
his carriage, though not upon a pile of pottery; and the only
apology the villain made was a great horse-laugh, and a giggling
cry of " Couldn't help it, Missus, 'pon wudder honor !" Nor did
I find a single one of the many persons who witnessed the aggres-
sion and helped the lady to her feet, who was disposed to resent it
further than by declaring, " the colored people were growing too
insolent," except, indeed, myself, who, being, by this time, boiling
over with indignation, saluted the grinning baboon with a thwack
of my staff over the shins, which had the effect of surprising him
into a very singular leap or dodge that carried him head-foremost
into his own barrow, the back of which giving way under the
blow, he went shooting over the wheel like a ship at a launch
rushing down her rollers into the dock, ploughing his way with
his nose over the bricks in a manner that was astonishing to be-
hold. For this salutation, it is highly probable, I should have
received in return a furious drubbing from the incensed gentleman
had not a shopkeeper who stood at his door surveying the spectacle,
advised me to retreat before the negro had recovered his feet, as-
suring me that he (the blacky) would have me immediately taken
94 ADVENTURES OF
up and carried before a magistrate, by whom I would be heavily
fined for the liberty I had taken.
The name of magistrate was sufficient to put me on my best be-
havior ; and I left the place, accordingly, without delay. But I
was still so much enraged at the insolence of these black gentry,
having never before been accustomed to see any that were not
very polite and humble in their carriage, that I could not resist an
impulse, which now seized me, to provide in advance a suitable
punishment that is, of a character that should not endanger my-
self for the next one I should happen to meet. Perceiving a
tobacconist's shop at my elbow, I entered it, and bought some
Scotch snuff, and a box to hold it ; and it was here that I made the
discovery of my four bank-notes being counterfeit, the tobacconist
refusing to receive them, and even showing some inclination to
detain me and send for an officer to inquire how I had got them ;
until I appeased his distrust by producing one of my Jersey bills,
and relating how I had been imposed upon. This man I found to
be as facetious as the cooper. Upon my demanding if he had any
very strong snuff, he replied with a grin " he had some so strong
the box wouldn't hold it ;" and when I told him of my mishap
with the pottery, he declared that " that was only a way of taking
pot-luck uninvited." He consoled me for the imposition practised
upon me with the four notes, by saying that, " whatever we might
think of them, they were undoubtedly counterfeit which he sup-
posed, in plain English, meant fit for the counter." In short, this
happy personage astounded me by a multitude of quibbles, which
he produced as a hen does her eggs, with a furious cackle after
each ; and then dismissed me with my box of snuff, which, its
violence setting me sneezing as I left the door, he declared was,
nevertheless, " not to be sneezed at."
I had not walked twenty steps, before I beheld a black fellow
approaching, dressed like a dandy, though of the shabby genteel
order, his hat cocked smartly on the side of his head, a rattan in
his hand, with which he thwacked his boots at every second step,
with a swaggering gait, and a look that said as plainly as if lab-
eled in show-bill letters on his nose, which was the broadest part
of his countenance, " Get out of my way, white man !" an in-
junction very dutifully observed by every well dressed white man
who met him.
As for me, who was not at all disposed to yield him such indul-
EOBIN DAY. 95
gence, but was, on the contrary, eager for the encounter, I
loosened the cover of my snuff-box, as if to regale me with a
pinch ; and, pretending to look over my shoulder, as if ignorant
of his approach, continued to advance in the middle of the walk,
until the gentleman, scandalized at my presumption, and resolved
to punish it, suddenly came in contact with me in such a way, and
with such violence, as must have prostrated me, had I not pre-
pared myself for the assault. I took advantage of the concussion
to tap the bottom of my snuff-box, from which the contents im-
mediatly flew into the rascal's face, filling eyes, nose, mouth, and
lungs ; from which last there presently issued a most terrific yell
of surprise and anguish, that was followed by a volley of shrieks
and execrations without number, the fellow dancing about, in the
agony of pain and blindness, in a manner highly consolatory to
my insulted feelings. I .crowned my triumph by exclaiming, as if
with indignation and rage at my loss, " Hang you, you rascal,
you've spilled my snuff ?" With which reproach, that served the
purpose of both explanation and apology for the accident, to the
pessons who came crowding round the negro, I immediately took
my departure, turning into another street and walking away with
all the unconcern imaginable.
96 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XVII.
A short chapter, showing the inconveniences of visiting the high
places of hospitality in a tattered coat, with a pack on the top of
it.
THE sense of gratified revenge, added to that of security from
my foes, had a favorable effect on my spirits and deportment,
which latter was now as stiff as might be expected of a schoolboy
entering upon the world with a high opinion of his own merits and
importance ; and seeing a great hotel, that had the appearance of
being one of the best in the city, and was therefore just the thing
to suit me, I stepped boldly in, and going to the bar, demanded of
a dapper personage who stood therein and rested for a moment
from his labor of compounding slings and hailstones, by throwing
his elbows on the bar, and his chin into his hands, in which posi-
tion he very lazily and complacently regarded the groups of cus-
tomers scattered about the room if I could have lodgings. The
gentleman raised his eyes, without disturbing the economy of his
attitude, and surveyed me with a look of placid inexpressiveness,
but made no reply ; seeing which, and supposing he had not
heard me, I repeated the question. Upon this, he roused himself
so far as to disengage his right thumb from his cheek, and point
with it to the door, eyeing me still with a look that seemed to ex-
press little or nothing, but which I at last understood to convey
an intimation that I might go the way I had come.
I was so enraged and mortified at this insulting repulse, that my
first impulse was to lay my staff over the man's pate for his imper-
tinence : but just then I observed a huge dog rear himself by
his fore paws behind the counter, and eye me in a way that con-
vinced me it would be dangerous to attempt any liberties with
his impertinent master. To complete my confusion, I perceived,
as I turned to depart, that every body was laughing at me, seem-
ing to .be vastly diverted at the insolence of the barkeeper, as
well as my own unconcealed chargin ; a degree of cruelty and
ROBIN DAY. 97
boorishness, which, notwithstanding my shame, I had yet the-
courage to reprehend, by begging their pardon for having intruded
upon them, because, as I said, " I supposed the house was a place
of resort for gentlemen."
With this cut, which, in the innocency of my heart, I supposed
was prodigously witty and severe, but which only made my gen-
tlemen laugh the louder, I left the house, and hunted my way,
though with less confidence than before* to a second hotel, where
I met a similar rebuff : at least, the barkeeper told me, with a
sneer, " they never harbored runaway ' prentices ; " and upon my
retorting his impertinence, called a servant to put me out of the
house. A third attempt resulted in equal mortification ; and
having made one or two more efforts, in vain, I began fairly ta
weep with vexation and shame ; for I perceived that every body
regarded me with contempt, as being entirely unfit to be received
into decent lodgings, among genteel and respectable persons.
This, I began to suspect, was all owing to the appearance of my
clothes, which my travels through the woods had by no means
beautified ; and still more to the knapsack I carried, the effect of
which, as I could well believe, was to give more the air of a ped-
ler than a gentleman.
This consideration, and the mortifications I had already endured,
besides reducing me in my own opinion, and making me feel very
forlorn, caused me to debate whether I should not go to a tailor's
shop, and transform myself immediately into a gentleman, or in-
quire out the residence of Mr. Bloodrrioney, and betake my self im-
mediately to him for advice and countenance. The latter alter-
native appearing to me most advantageous, I summoned courage
enough to enter a little tavern, or chop-house, to make inquiry ;
and finding myself courteously received by a very greasy, bluff
and mean-looking personage, who appeared the master of the
house, and met me with a courteous demand what I would have,
" Tripe, chop, steak or soused sturgeon ?" and my appetite being
pretty eager, I was glad to preface my questions with a dinner
such as the man had to give me.
This accomplished, I asked after Mr. Bloodmoney, and received
such directions as, I had no doubt, would enable me to find his
house without further assistance ; and as I had now (not knowing
how better to provide myself) resolved to lodge in the steak-house,
where the greasy man assured me I could have a very decent bed.
98 ADVENTURES OF
provided Mr. Bloodmoney should not direct me otherwise, I left
my knapsack in the man's charge, and set out to report myself to
that gentleman ; who, mine host gave me to understand, in a mali-
cious way, was a " great bug," that is, a great personage, rolling
in wealth ; which, for his part, he did not envy, because he was
an honest man, who made his money honestly by the sweat of his
brow, (he should have said the grease,) and not by grinding the
face of the poor, and sen*ding out ships in the slave trade, and
getting into banks and using the people's money, and all that sort
of thing. In short, my landlord was one of those honest per-
sonages who console themselves for their poverty by abusing their
richer neighbors ; which I could see well enough : nevertheless, I
thought this account of Mr. Bloodmoney might be true, as it is
not always necessary that a rich and great personage should be a
man of honor and virtue.
EOBLN DAY. 99
CHAPTER XVIII.
Robin goes in quest of Mr. Bloodmoney ; and how he fares in
the hands of that gentleman.
It was already evening when I set out; and Mr. Bloodmoney's
house being at a considerable distance, it was dark before I
reached the street in which he resided, and endeavored, in the
light of the lamps, to discover his dwelling.
While I was engaged in the search,which was the more difficult be-
cause the houses were all built after the same pattern, and none of
them furnished with door-plates for, it seemed, the citizens resid-
ing in this quarter were too great and distinguished to suppose
anybody in the world could require such vulgar guides to their
mansions I had the misfortune to run against a man who was
hurrying by ; by which accident both of us were staggered and
well nigh overthrown. The stranger, who, although a stout and
muscular personage, and received the, greater damage, ripped out
a dreadful oath, and demanded what I meant by running against
him, the question being asked in such a ferocious style of bullying
and profanity, that I stood aghast, and began, as soon as I could
gather the breath which had been knocked out of my body, to
stammer forth excuses and apologies, assuring him, in my confu-
sion, that I had been so intently occupied looking for Mr. Blood-
money's house, that I had forgotten everything else, and so failed
to notice his approach ; and upon his demanding, which he did
with some appearance of surprise, and another oath, what I wanted
with Mr. Bloodmoney, I replied, with great frankness (for I
thought, from his tone, he must be an acquaintance of the gentle-
man, and might therefore direct me to his house), that I had a
letter for him from his friend and kinsman, Dr. Howard; and, in-
deed, I had it in my hand at the moment, having taken it from my
pocket on arriving at the square.
" My friend, Dr. Howard ? " cried the gentleman, with another
oath, though in tones somewhat more amiable ; and, as he spoke,
100 ADVENTURES OF
he whisked the letter out of my hand, and advanced to a lamp to
read it, assuring me, to my amazement, that I had lighted upon
my man, Mr. Bloodmoney himself.
While I was wondering both at the oddness of the encounter,
and the singular conversation, manners, and appearance of the
gentleman, which did not at all answer the opinions I had con-
ceived of him, he opened the letter, withdrew the inclosure, con-
sisting of several bank-notes, which, with a hearty and approving
malediction on his blood and the lamplight, he transferred to his
pocket, and then made an effort to read the letter ; but this was
rendered vain by the insufficiency of the light and the impatience
of the reader, who to every word he succeeded in spelling out,
added a running commentary of execrations on the crabbedness of
the chirography. Nevertheless, with the help of an occasional
hint from myself, he made out enough to understand the nature
of the application, of which he expressed his approval by observ-
ing, that, " when one was too big a rascal for the land, the sea was
the only place for making him a gentleman ; " and then asked
whether I had been "breaking a strong-box or slicing a wea-
sand?"
I replied, with some spirit being, indeed, affected by the un-
savory nature of these inuendoes " that I was no such contemp-
tible villain as he seemed to consider me, and knew nothing of
broken strong-boxes or sliced weasands, but had had the misfor-
tune to kill a tyrannical schoolmaster, or at the least, to beat him
within an ace of his life ; for which it was thought ." But
here Mr. Bloodmoney burst into a laugh, shook me by the hand,
and swore I was a fine fellow and should have a berth in the Love-
ly Nancy, which, it appeared, was the name of his privateer. This
declaration he accompanied by asking, " how I stood furnished in
the locker," or, as he afterwards expressed it, " what funds I had
for my outfit ;" and upon my intimating, that, besides the sum con-
tained in the letter, my patron would supply me further, accord-
ing as he himself should direct, he swore, with every appearance
of satisfaction, that he that is, my patron, his friend and kinsman
was " the right sort of an old hunks," and invited me to follow
him to a tavern, to discuss the matter at leisure. I was surprised
he did not take me to his house, which was so near ; but perceiv-
ing from his conversation that he was an odd sort of personage, I
followed at his heels without demur, and was led by him into a
EOBIN DAY. J //^ - ; $
very mean by-street and a mean-looking house ; which he, how-
ever, declared was a snug and respectable place, fit enough for our
business. Here he ordered a room, with a supper, which, being a
very extemporary one of steaks and oysters, entered the room
nearly as soon as ourselves ; and being garnished with a flagon of
ale and a bottle of wine, was attacked by him with a zeal and en-
ergy that struck me with as much surprise as I felt at his personal
appearance, now revealed in the light of two tallow candles for the
first time. He was a middle-sized man, but very muscular, as I
mentioned before, dressed in clothes, which, though of good blue
broad-cloth, were none of the newest or handsomest, and looked
out of place upon him, who, I could not help thinking, had the air
of a sailor in landsman's toggery ; for which opinion there was
the better reason, as his conversation had throughout a strong
smack of the sea. His countenance was bold, and alternately re-
pulsive and prepossessing ; being now open and jocund, and now,
if he but chanced to purse his brows together, as black and glum
as Satan's. His skin was very dark, but I thought there was some-
thing of a sickly hue about it, as if he had but recently risen from
a sick bed ; though it was clear enough, from the strength of his
appetite, that his disease was now entirely banished. He was a
man of forty-five or more, and his hair, which was very long and
bushy, and had been a jet black, was now becoming grizzled and
frosty.
It struck me, as I surveyed the gentleman, that I had seen him
before, and so, in the innocence of my heart, I told him, adding,
that I supposed it must have been in former years, at my patron's
house. "Ay, ay," he mumbled out of a corner of his mouth,
which was too full of provender to admit an easy reply " remem-
"ber you well a young porpoise-faced baboon; always told your
father you'd bring up at the gallows."
" Sir," said I, glad to escape the compliment, "the Doctor is not
my father, and you must mean his son, Tommy, who was drowned
five years ago."
To this all that Mr. Bloodmoney designed to reply was, " Was
he, d him?" his further expressions of sympathy being cut
short by a mouthful of oysters.
Having finished his supper and swallowed a tumbler of wine to
fortify the ale which he had previously got rid of, he looked up
and honored me with a stare, which was first severe, then wild
,1012 ADVENTURES OP
or so I thought it, for it seemed to express inquiry mingled with
astonishment and then became placid and pleasant; and in this
frame he continued looking me in the face for a minute or more,
and then, bursting into a sudden and furious fit of laughter, ex-
claimed, as soon as the convulsion was over, "And so you were
drowned five years ago, split me ?"
" No, sir," said I, perceiving the gentleman had been in a reverie,
and was not yet well out of it; "it was my friend Tommy."
"Oh, ay! what was I thinking of !" cried he, with another peal,
which having indulged, he produced and read aloud my patron's
letter, in which Mr. Bloodmoney was entreated to send me to sea
as soon as possible, and to draw upon him for any sum necessary
for my outfit, the amount inclosed (which, I believe was a hundred
dollars,) being all that the hurry of the occasion enabled him to
despatch with me. " Talks like a ship's pig !" grumbled the gen-
tleman, by way of comment; "ought to have sent five hundred or
a thousand; and might just as easy as not. Here, you, shipmate,"
he added, addressing me, " you, Timothy Howell, or what's your
name, "
"My name," said I, "is Robin Day."
" Very well you Robin Day, write home to my cousin Howell
what's his name ? Howard, split me ! I could never bear it in
mind, two glasses at a time, because how, Howell comes more
natural; write home, curse me, and tell him to send you all the
money he can raise, d'ye see, from five hundred up the more the
better."
" Sure," said I, "I thought it would not take so much to fit me
out! "
" To fit out a cook's mate, or a powder-monkey," said Mr. Blood-
money, with an air of disdain, " or, mayhap, a runt of a midship-
man, with a head all rat-licked. Hark you, my skilligallee, you've
sunk a schoolmaster; it's a sign of blood, and I like you; for I did
the same thing in my young days, only that I blew the dog up with
gunpowder, and left him as blind as a barnacle for life. Get the
money, split me, and I'll make a man of you, and bring you home
with a swab on your shoulder, and a whole ,ship-load of prize
money. 'Pon my soul and conscience, split me, I'll make you a
lieutenant, and take you into the cabin with me."
I was surprised to hear him talk thus, and told him I had no idea
he ever commanded any of his vessels himself. " Brought up to
ROBIN DAY. 103
it," said the gentleman, who seemed to be a little flustered with
the wine, which had vanished as fast as the ale ; " began a boy
before the mast, and learned to smell fire with them that knew
how to teach me I did, split me. I won't say nothing ; but I
say, my lark, you've heard of Captain Hellcat? " I was obliged to
inform him I had not; at which he seemed both surprised and of-
fended, assuring me that Captain Hellcat was the greatest man
that ever boarded an enemy, and I nothing more than a green gos-
ling that knew not so much as whether my nose pointed North or
South of a Sunday; in fact, upon reflection, I found that I had
heard of some such worthy, as I now confessed, but said I believed
he was a pirate. This Mr. Bloodmoney very readily admitted,
but swore he was an honest fellow for all, and a brave one; and
seemed to intimate, as far as I could understand his language,
which was frequently too nautical for my comprehension, that he
had acquired a portion of his naval art under that honest com-
mander, could navigate and fight a ship as well as any body, and
would go to sea, if he felt in the humor, he would, split him.
With that, he ate an ounce or two of cabbage, as he said, to lay
the liquor; asked me where I put up, and being told, commended
my prudence in avoiding the public hotels ; bade me write for more
money, and keep myself in quiet till I received it ; assured me
I should hear from him, and ended by knocking for a waiter, ask-
ing what was the reckoning, and bidding me pay it; which hav-
ing directed, and, truly, it was directed with all coolness and equa-
nimity, he walked out of the room and the house, leaving me
astounded at the oddness of his character.
I paid the bill as directed, though I did not think Mr. Bloodmoney
showed either hospitality or good breeding in making me do so, and
still less in not having once invited me to his house, nor even offered
me protection from the inveteracy of my pursuers.
On the whole, I was greatly disappointed in the gentleman, and
felt so little inclination to take a voyage with him, or withany cap-
tainin his employ, that I was now resolved, provided I might by any
happy chance light upon Dicky Dare, to unite my fortunes with his,
turn soldier with him, and trust to the eloquence of the representa-
tion I should make, to obtain forgiveness of my patron.
While pondering thus, returning to my lodgings, on Dicky
Dare, and debating what steps I could most safely take to discover
him, provided he had, like me, escaped the wagoners, I found
104 ADVENTURES OF
myself in front of a theatre; and remembering that Dicky had
expressed on the road a great desire to rest in Philadelphia for a
few days, were it only for the sake of visiting these temples of
Thespis, I bought me a ticket and entered, in the hope that I
might light upon my lost friend within. I had, I must confess,
some fear lest I should stumble upon a less desirable acquaintance,
perhaps a New Jersey constable, with a warrant for my apprehen-
sion in his hand ; but the wine I had swallowed gave me courage,
and I was too anxious to find my comrade, not to be willing to
encounter a little risk. My fears, however, returned when I found
myself in the house, exposed to a blaze of lamps, and to the eyes
of a countless number of gaily dressed people, all of whom, I
thought, were looking at me ; in consequence of which, I retreated
for safety to the darkest corner of the remotest box, where I lay
perdu during the whole of the representation, of which I heard
but little and saw less ; for, in fact, I had no sooner recovered
from my fears, than I fell sound asleep, being very weary and
heavy, and so remained to the end of the afterpiece ; when I was
waked by the noise of the audience getting up and leaving the
house. I departed with them, and was surprised, while making
my way to my lodgings, to hear the clocks striking midnight.
EOBIN DAY. 105
CHAPTER XIX.
Robin Day is turned out of his lodgings, and hospitably invited to
the house of a friend.
I MADE my way without any difficulty to the chop-house, which,
I had been in fear, from the lateness of the hour, I should find
closed. I found it, however, open and filled with guests, who
were, in general, of such a mean, and some of them of so
raggamuffinly an appearance, and were, besides, drinking and
carousing in so noisy and riotous a manner, that I was filled
with disgust, and repented that I had not searched out a better
lodging.
Nor was my uneasiness abated, when I ascended to the chamber
where I was to sleep, and found it full of beds, in some of which
lodgers were already soundly snoring, men, to all appearance, of
a class no better than the roisterers below. I liked not the idea of
sleeping in such company ; and even feared I might among them
be robbed before morning. Upon examining my wallet, however,
I found my apprehensions were, in this particular, entirely su-
perfluous, and for the best reason in the world namely, that I
was robbed already ; the wallet, which was without lock and key,
and only secured by straps and buttons, having been opened in my
absence, and plundered of the few little articles of dress it had
contained.
Counfounded and enraged at this discovery, I proceeded to the
bar-room, where I preferred a complaint to mine host, exhibiting
the empty pack as evidence of the truth of the charge ; and mine
host was instantly in as great a passion as myself. The only diffi-
culty was, that, instead of being in a rage with, he was in a pas-
sion at me, swearing, with great volubility, that the charge was a
slander upon his house, and him not to speak of his lodgers and
guests, who were as honest people as any in the world ; and his
guests that Is, such of them as were drinking in the bar-room
taking part against me, there was presently a furious quarrel be-
106 ADVENTURES OF
gun, some accusing me of robbing myself, others of robbing the
sleepers up stairs, while a third class went the length of insisting
that I had robbed the landlord, if not even themselves ; and all
agreed that I ought either to be taken in hand by themselves and
flogged on the spot, or given over to the watch ; both which pen-
alties, I believe in my conscience, would have been enforced
against me, had not one vagabond, who was wiser and more hu-
mane than the rest, proposed a new punishment, which was that
I should treat the company o a gallon of gin, and then be turned
out of the house. And this penalty w^as straightway put into exe-
cution, the company being treated to a glass all round at my ex-
pense (for I found I should be maltreated, if I refused to pay),
and myself, the moment the libation was made and accounted for,
turned neck and heels out of doors.
I was in a frenzy of rage at this vile and ignominious usage, and
felt, for a moment, inclined to call the watch, and give the whole
company into charge of the authorities ; but a moment's re-
flection satisfied me that my hard fate did not permit me to in-
dulge in the sweets of revenge ; since the probability was that,
whatever might be the fate of my oppressors, when brought before
the Mayor, I should myself remain a victim in his hands. I was
constrained, therefore, to rest satisfied with such smaller revenge
as I had it in my power to enjoy ; and this I effected by launch-
ing a brickbat through the window of the bar-room into the midst
of the revellers ; and, judging by the direful tumult that imme-
diately ensued, I must have done considerable execution among
them ; though this I did not wait to ascertain, but, on the con-
trary, took to my heels and ran, until persuaded I was no longer
in danger of pursuit.
And now I began to be in despair, not knowing whither to di-
rect my steps, or where to seek for shelter in all this great and in-
hospitable city ; when, by and by, my thoughts happily reverted
to the little tavern where I had supped with Mr. Bloodmoney, and
which, although of an appearance not a whit better than the chop-
house, was yet, as Mr. Bloodmoney had said, a very decent sort of
place, where I might, perhaps, procure a bed, provided its doors
were still open.
Thither, accordingly, I resolved to make my way ; and I pro-
ceeded with greater speed, as I perceived that foul weather was
brewing, with every appearance of a furious storm. Indeed, it
ROBIN DAY. 107
had been cloudy all the evening, and a gale of wind was already
blowing, though as yet without rain ; but before I had gone much
more than half the distance, it began to fall in showers, that grew
every moment heavier and more frequent, so that I was by and
by soaked to the skin.
To add to my distress, I became aware, after a time, that, what
with the darkness and my hurry, I had missed my way, and knew
not how to regain it, unless by betaking myself to a watchman ;
which I was loth to do, as I thought that the chances were that
lie would take me up as a vagrant, and introduce me to lodgings I
should like still less than those in the chop-house. As for asking
assistance of other persons in the street, which I was well enough
disposed to do, there was the great difficulty that no such persons
were to be found, it being now after one o'clock, and the streets
as solitary as the walks of a graveyard, in which I was the only
ghost that roamed. The winds blew, the lightnings gleamed, the
rains fell, the spouts rattled, the gutters gurgled, the shutters
clattered, but I had it all to myself, and bade fair to have it so all
night, being monarch of all I surveyed, the storm and the city,
without, however, being the master of so much as a straw bed.
In this exigency, whilst I was now bewailing and now cursing
my fate, which I began to consider the hardest in the world, now
tumbling over a curbstone, and now plumping into a gutter, and
all the while shivering with cold and despair, it was my hap to
discover, when I least expected it, a man who seemed to be a way-
farer like myself, and no watchman and, in truth, I had seen but
little of the guardians of the night since the storm began.
As the individual was at a distance and only revealed to me by
a flash of lightning, I was obliged to run forward to overtake him,
which I soon did, and then asked him, with a voice all chattering
with cold, if he could direct me where Mr. Bloodmoney lived ;
not that I wished to find Mr. Bloodmoney's house in particular,
but I knew, when once in the street where it stood, I could make
my own way to the little tavern. To this question the gentleman
answered by discharging a terrible oath that was directed espe-
cially against his eyes and blood, and asking, ejaculatorily,
" whether the devils were all broke loose ?" and " what I wanted
with Mr. Bloodmoney ?"
I thought I knew the voice ; and, indeed, a sheet of lightning
now bursting over the sky and revealing his features, I saw to my
108 ADVENTURES OF
surprise that I had fallen a second time upon Mr. Bloodmoney
himself.
He seemed, on his part, quite as much surprised, and demanded,
with another choice execration, " what I was doing in the street,
swimming about like a lost tadpole ?"
I replied that I had been turned out of my lodgings, at which
he was prodigiously diverted ; but he laughed still more when I
told him how my knapsack had been rifled ; though he expressed
some indignation at that, and swore that robbery was becoming
intolerably frequent, and that strangers in a city were plundered
and imposed upon by everybody especially young ones.
I then told him how I had lost my way in attempting to find the
little tavern, in which if I could not procure admission, I must
walk the streets in the rain all night, as I knew not how else to
help myself.
This I uttered in a very dolorous tone ; but its only effect was
to increase the mirth of Mr. Bloodmoney, who told me I was " a
pig in a strange latitude," with other expressions, which, from
their abounding with salt-water technicalities, I did not exactly
understand. He concluded, however, by declaring, in a sudden fit
of hospitality, at which I was both surprised and pleased, that as
he saw I was no more capable of taking care of myself than an
unshelled oyster, he would carry me to his own house, and see
what he could do for me ; and this resolution he immediately pro-
ceeded to put into execution by bidding me follow him, and lead-
ing the way to the square in which he lived. This, as it proved,
was at no great distance, and I had soon the satisfaction of finding
myself at the corner of the street where was a watchman's box
that I had noticed before. As we passed it by, I perceived the
wind had blown the door open and exposed the watchman sitting
sound asleep ; which being noticed by Mr. Bloodmoney, he closed
the door, " to keep the rain," as he said, with a smothered laugh,.
" from blowing in the poor fellow's face ;" though he immediately
after swore "it was a rascally thing for the man to be thus
snoozing away the night, who was so well paid for guarding the
property of the citizens ;" adding that such negligence encour-
aged, and even invited burglary, and that he should not be sur-
prised if some of the neighbors had their houses robbed that very
night.
KOBIN DAY. 109
CHAPTER XX.
He finds himself in Mr. Bloodmoney^s house, who makes great
preparations to entertain him.
As we walked towards the house, which was now nigh at hand,
Mr. Bloodmoney gave me to understand there was sickness in his
family, his wife being ill with a nervous fever, or " some such
cursed out-of-sortishness," as he called it, which he mentioned,
he said, not merely as a caution against making any noise after
we should have entered, but as an excuse for the badness of the
entertainment I might expect, since, as his servants were, by this
time, all fast asleep in bed, and could not be roused nor, indeedj
do anything, if roused without making such a clatter as must
drive his wife distracted, there was nothing to be done but to wait
upon ourselves. I hastened to assure him I should be very care-
ful in obeying his injunctions, and begged that no trouble might
be taken on my account, since all I desired was a bed to sleep in
and some means of drying my clothes, the two robberies together
having left me no others to shift myself.
" It's an ill wind that blows nobody good," quoth Mr. Blood-
money, laughing ; and then added, with another of the oaths
without which he seemed incapable of conducting any conversa-
tion, " If the sack is empty, so much the better, for I shall fill it
with such a freight as it never carried before ; I will, split me ! "
With that, Mr. Bloodmoney ascended a suite of marble steps
leading to the door of a very magnificent house that is, magnifi-
cent so far as size was concerned ; but, otherwise, it looked like a
barn, being nothing but a great flat wall of red bricks, broken
only by the windows, door, and a petticoat of white marble below,
there being not one pennyworth of architectural design, or orna-
ment of any kind, to be seen on any part of it, this being the ap-
proved fashion of building fine houses in Philadelphia. Here,
bidding me "belay my jaw," for I was venturing a remark up-
on the storm, which was now raging with increased violence, and
110 ADVENTURES OF
pouring a deluge of rain, Mr. Bloodmoney, with a key, essayed
the door, which, not opening as readily as he wished, he so far
forgot his own injunctions as to let fly a multitude of execrations,
first upon the door, then the key, and finally upon himself, all
which and whom he abused with equal fervor ; and he had suc-
ceeded in consigning himself to what he called "the home of all
the hellcats " before the door finally yielded to his efforts and
let us in.
This happy success he signalized by d g his blood, and
then closed and secured the door, which being effected, he bade
me follow him, and we groped our way along a dark passage,
and thence into a dark room, where, however, was a smoldering
fire of coals twinkling in a grate, which Mr. Bloodmoney, who
was also pretty well drenched with rain, seemed as happy as my-
self to see. He bade me hold fast at the door until he had got a
light, which he obtained by first kindling a paper match at the
fire, and then a brace of wax candles that stood in a branch
over the mantel.
In this light, I pergeived we were in a very spacious saloon,
opening, by means of folding leaves, that were wide spread, into
another of equal size, and both of them furnished with a luxury,
sumptuousness and splendor, that struck me dumb with admiration,
for I had never dreamed that such gorgeousness was found in anv
but a princely palace, much less in the dwelling of a plain demo-
cratic American citizen. The rich carpets, the huge mirrors, in
massive carved frames, extending from the ceiling to the floor, the
dark antique-looking pictures in frames as rich and solid, the win-
dow draperies of satin and fine lace, the chairs and ottomans,
with cushions covered with crimson velvet, the lamps and chande-
liers of dead gold, the branches, brackets, mantel vases, and other
ornaments, made up a spectacle that both delighted and confound
ed me. It was to me almost a scene of fairy-land, for my bene-
factor, Dr. Howard, though very rich, never dreamed of indulg-
ing in such luxurious display, either because he did not care for
it, or was afraid of incurring the envy and hatred of his less
affluent neighbors by too greatly eclipsing them in state. In fact,
it daunted me, and I felt both ashamed and afraid to mov% in my
drenched and squalid condition, among so many objects of splen-
dor, until the lord of the mansion, who seemed to survey the spec-
tacle with infinite satisfaction, as being fully conscious of all its
ROBIN DAY. Ill
advantages, beckoned me forward to help him replenish the fire
from a coal-scuttle that the servants had left standing hard by,
either for the convenience of their master, who was, doubtless,
accustomed to be out late at nights, or to lessen their own labors
in making the morning fires. The coal being bituminous, was soon
in a blaze, though, from our anxiety to avoid noise and disturb-
ance, we were some time in putting it on ; and we had, after a
while, a fine roaring fire, which our wet clothes and the coolness
of the night made uncommonly agreeable.
My eccentric host noticed the looks of approbation I still cast
about me, whereupon he muttered, with an encouraging grin,
" Fine harbor to moor in, eh ? All made on blue water, with a
cast or two in soundings. The sea's the place, my lad the true
Spanish mine that you might poke Potosi, Golgotha, or whatever
you call it " (I suppose he meant Golconda), " and Gopher, and
the Gold Coast, and all the rest of your dry-land mines in, and
never find them again. D n my blood, you Powel what's your
name ? " " Robin Day, sir," I put in. " Very well ; half a dozen
voyages or so, and you're made for life ; just such a snuggery
(Sailor's Rest, eh?), a bank of money, a nervous wife, and seven
squalling hell's-kitten children, blast 'em, and all the rest of the
good things, split me, provided Davy Jones don't claim you for
supper beforehand. And talking of supper, if I could but light
upon one of the niggers, I could eat one that is, a supper, and
not a nigger, though, upon a pinch, I shouldn't make mouths at
a young one, seeing that I once ate a whole leg off one, in a small
boat, for want of something better, split me ! "
With that, the gentleman, complaining there was not light enough
to see by, got upon a chair and lighted a chandelier depending from
the ceiling, which done, he swore he must have something to drink
or die for it, and began to rummage about, and at the first attempt
produced the remains of a bottle of Rhenish wine, that stood
on a sideboard, and seemed to have been very recently opened.
This he pronounced cursed wish-wash bilgewater and vinegar
but, nevertheless, took a hearty draught of it, handing me the re-
mainder, and assuring me it was " poor stuff, indeed, but milk for
babes." He then, in the search for something better and stronger,
made an attempt upon the sideboard with a key taken from a huge
bunch of all shapes and sizes, and, while trying one after another,
until he hit upon the right one, he took occasion to inform me
112 ADVENTURES OF
" there was no trusting servants, especially the nigger ones ; that
there was nothing would keep them out of mischief, except lock-
ing every thing up , and, finally, that he was always obliged to
carry the keys himself, when Mrs. Bloodmoney was sick ; and
split him, he knew the use of them, though he never could tell one
from another."
By this time he had opened the sideboard, whence he drew forth,
with a chuckle of satisfaction, some half dozen or more decanters,
containing various liquors, spirituous and vinous, each having a
case or foot-box of silver, in the old style, to stand in. These he
deposited with great glee upon a table that stood in the center of
the room, as if it had been left after clearing away supper. Ano-
ther visit to the sideboard resulted in his finding a brace of cake-
baskets, also of silver, in one of which was the remnant of a huge
black or plum cake, in the other a farrago of smaller cates and con-
fectionery. These he pronounced, with great disdain, school-boy
trumpery, and betook him to the sideboard again, but without any
further success in discovering eatables, though he lighted upon
sundry articles of plate, all which he drew out and laid upon the
table, swearing, with as much energy as he could express in a
whisper, " that he would have a supper, if he had to raise the
house for it." I took the liberty of telling him, "I hoped he was
not giving himself any of that trouble on my account," upon
which he nodded and laughed, swore I was " an odd dog," and de-
clared he intended to make my fortune.
I thought, upon my conscience, that if there was any odd dog
in the case, he was the one, for a more strangely behaved person-
age I had never seen before in my whole life, and every act and
expression served but to increase my surprise.
Having dispatched the sideboard, he made an attack upon a
brace of closets in the chimney- wall, which, after a deal of trouble,
he succeeded in opening, but only to find them empty, whereupon
he fell into a rage, and swore he believed the servants had robbed
them, for Mrs. Bloodmoney, he knew, used to keep the spoons and
forks in one or the other of them. I ventured to say, " I thought we
could do very well without any such superfluities," but he cut me
short by applying to my eyes one of those energetic benedictions
with which he was wont to distinguish his own, bidding me " hold
my tongue, or use it, like a cat, to dry myself," an expression
whose oddity seemed so agreeable to himself that he immediately
KOBIN DAY. 115
got rid of a sour look he had put on, and fell to laughing, though in
a subdued manner, as became the husband of the sick and nervous
Mrs. Bloodmoney. Indeed, I may observe, that, although the din
of the storm, which seemed rather to increase than diminish, the
howling of the winds, the pattering of the rain, and the clamor
of numberless shutters slamming and banging in all quarters,
might have excused a little indulgence, since no ordinary talking
or laughing could have been heard out of the room itself, and
none, if heard, could have distressed any nerves that were undis-
turbed by the tempest, Mr. Bloodmoney was, nevertheless, ex-
tremely careful, in everything he did or said, to make as little noise
as possible, which convinced me that, notwithstanding his oddi-
ties and coarseness of manners, Mr. Bloodmoney had an affection
for his wife, and this, I felt, was one good quality, however de-
ficient he might be in others.
114 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXI.
In which Mr. Bloodmoney gives Robin his supper and tells him
several astonishing secrets.
HAVING advised me to use my tongue as aforesaid, and laughed
at his own facetiousness, Mr. Bloodmoney swore he would make
a voyage of exploration over the house in search of the proper
materials for a supper, and that he might do this with less fear
of disturbing his lady, he pulled off his boots, that were somewhat
of the heaviest, and being also, as he said, water-logged, made a
gurgling noise at every step, which he himself compared to the
" gasp of a drowning tomcat." This being done, and not with-
out my assistance, which he demanded without any ceremony, he
sallied forth in his stocking feet with a candle, bidding me
keep quiet till he returned.
I kept quiet, as he directed, sitting by the fire, indulging in
speculations on his character, and wondering whether its singu-
larity and coarseness were shared by any of the members of
his family supposing he had one, which, I thought, might be
inferred from his remark about the seven squalling children.
Supposing his wife, however, were his only companion, I had
soon good evidence, as I esteemed it, of her being a very dif-
ferent sort of personage from her lord, for, besides a magnifi-
cent piano that stood against the wall, and a guitar lying upon
it, I perceived, upon getting up to look about me, an equally
magnificent harp standing, half covered, in a corner, with a music-
stand, and books scattered in some disorder around it.
The sight of the harp filled my eyes with tears, for it re-
minded me of Nanna, who had learned to play upon that instru-
ment, and brought to my memory the days of happiness I had
enjoyed in her father's house days which I was, perhaps, never
to know again.
I turned away from it, that I might conquer my agitation
before Mr. Bloodmoney's return, and then betook me to the
KORIN DAY, 115
pictures, which I surveyed with much interest, having always
had a passionate regard for the painter's art. Some of these ap-
peared to me very ancient and excellent, being religious pieces,
representations of Madonnas and Saints, and scenes of crucific-
tion and martyrdom, that awoke sad and painful emotions in my
breast.
Besides these, there were several portraits, of which two, hang-
ing as pendants, occupied conspicuous places on the wall, repre-
senting, the one a female, not very young or handsome, but
amiable looking ; the other, a gentleman advanced in life, but of
a vigorous frame, stern and somewhat sinister countenance, and
with powdered hair.
Another, that hung in the corner above the harp, interested
me more, both because it was a better painting, as I could per-
ceive, notwithstanding it had but an insufficient light, and be-
cause there was something at once striking and noble in the
visage. It was also the portrait of a gentleman, though much
younger than the other, in some foreign costume, rich and pic-
turesque ; his countenance very handsome, but swarthy, with long
black hair falling upon his shoulders, and around his neck a string
of black beads that, I thought, looked pretty much like my own,
only that there was suspended to it a rich golden cross, with a
cluster of jewels at the ends of each arm, and another at the point
of intersection. But what struck me more than the richness of
dress and decorations, or the beauty of the countenance, was an
air of uncommon gloom and dejection that sat upon every feature,
expressing a tale of suffering that wrought upon my feelings and
awakened my curiosity ; and Mr. Bloodmoney returning about
this time with a huge load of eatables and other things he had
gathered up, 1 directed his attention to the picture, begging to
know who it was it represented. He cast his eye indifferently
towards it, but his countenance suffered a change the moment he
regarded it. He seemed, indeed, perturbed and confounded,
gazed upon it with a sort of wildness for an instant, and then
turned hastily away, bidding me " mind my own business, and be
curst," though he presently added, as if ashamed of his roughness,
" that it was an old friend of his who had gone to Davy Jones
long ago," with which gracious information I was obliged to rest
satisfied.
He now spread upon the board the spoils collected in his expe-
116 ADVENTURES OF
dition (which, he declared, he had conducted without disturbing
so much as a cat or a mouse), consisting of cold meats and fowls,
pastry, sweatmeats, and I know not what beside ; but there was
enough to feed a regiment, as well as an astonishing quantity of
plate spoons, forks, goblets, salvers, &c. his bringing which and
spreading it on the table, where it made a rich and tempting, but
useless show, I could only account for by supposing he desired to
amaze and confound me with the evidences of his boundless
wealth, a supposition that appeared to me natural enough of a
man whose conversation indicated so vulgar, and, doubtless, so
poor an origin, and which was, moreover, confirmed by his openly
soliciting my admiration to his treasure, asking me if it was not
a " cargo for a Spanish galleon " " an invoice worth a Jew's
eye," with other like expressions.
Having arranged it to his mind, he now sat down to eat and
drink, bidding me do the same, and, out of the various cold bits
he had collected, we made a very good supper together Mr.
Bloodmoney in particular, who ate with a vigor that would have
surprised me, had not the energy with which he attacked the pot-
ables absorbed all my attention. One bottle of wine he dis-
patched at a gulp, without taking the trouble to pour it out ; a
second he attacked with like fury, but was obliged to breathe in
the middle of the draught, and when he had cracked oif the neck
of a third, which he did with a knife, as if slicing off the head of
an enemy, his zeal was so much abated that he was content to
drink, as he said, "in the genteel way;" that is, by pouring the
wine into a tumbler, for he professed too great a contempt of
Wine glasses to condescend to such small ware.
Having arrived at this point of moderation, I could not observe
that his energies suffered any further abatement, or that his
draughts declined either in quantity or frequency. In short, Mr.
Bloodmoney, as he freely confessed, loved his glass, particularly,
as he added, in foul weather, when the soaking of the inner man
was the only way to prevent the saturation of th3 outer, " for
how," quoth he, ingeniously, " can water get into a barrel that's
already full of better liquor ? "
Upon this principle he drank, and with a very visible effect on
his heart and spirits, the one growing warm and loving, the other
facetious and boisterous ; so that he, by and by, fell to stretching
across the table, to shake hands with me, in a manner the most ar-
ROBIN DAY. 117
dent in the world, swearing he loved me, " for all of my nose be-
ing too big for my eyes " (an expression which, although it was
a riddle to me then, I suppose was meant to convey the idea that
it was so big metaphorically speaking as to prevent my seeing
beyond it), and finally to trolling a sea song, which he began to
sing so loudly that I was forced to remind him of the tender state
of Mrs. Bloodmoney's nerves ; whereupon he declared he had for-
got himself, and declared it with an oath thrice as loud as the song.
In a word, the gentleman was becoming merry, of which he
gave a new and stronger proof every moment, being guilty of
a thousand absurdities of speech and action that are not
necessary to be recorded, except in so far as they had a bearing
upon my own interests. One of hia pranks was to cram my
knapsack with the valuables he had collected together, and, as
he prefaced this step by embracing me, and swearing, as he was
now accustomed to do every half minute, that he intended to
make my fortune, I thought, upon my conscience, he meant to
make me a present of the whole collection, and was amazed at
the extravagance of his folly. He then clapped the sack upon
the table, swore he was once the best sailor that ever trod a
plank, declared I should be his first lieutenant, and asked me if I
ever had heard of Captain Hellcat, and upon my reminding him he
had spoken of that worthy at the little inn, he averred, with great
volubility, and in one breath, that the said Captain was a very
honest fellow, and the biggest villain the earth had ever produced;
and this very wise and consistent assertion be concluded by ac-
quainting me, in a fit of great communicativeness, that Captain
Hellcat, or Brown for this, it appeared was his real appellation,
the former being a mere nickname was in Philadelphia, and
had made application for the command of the privateer, the Lovely
Nancy.
At this information I was both surprised and alarmed sur-
prised, as I told Mr. Bloodmoney, that any such piratical villian
should dare show himself among honest men in a great city, not
to speak of his audacity in asking command of an honest man's
ship ; and alarmed, as I also freely confessed, at the possibility of
my being sent to sea under charge of such a commander. To this
Mr. Bloodmoney made answer, first, by particularizing my eyes in
his customary way, and bidding me not abuse a better man than
myself, and then by referring in the same way to his own, and ask-
118 ADVENTURES OF
ing if I thought him such a horse as to trust a ship in the hands of
such a desperado, who might run away with her the moment it
suited his interests not he, spilt him. " No," said he, " I'm no
such gudgeon, but a deep-water fish, fin, head and tail, 'as you'll
find me. And yet I would I could trust the Lovely Nancy in the
dog's hands, for I'll be hanged if there's his equal, could one but
depend upon his honor and honesty, in all creation. Sails a ship
like an angel ; storm and shine, blow or no blow; all's one to Jack
Brown ; and fights, ah split me, where's his match at a fight ?
fights like a hellcat, and there's the name of him. An honest
felloVT, split me ! made me a power of money. As how ? Why, by
fishing for niggers on the Gold Coast, and stray Spaniards
on the Gulf, et cetera, as the learned folk say. But that neither
here nor there. Bad luck's the lot of the best ; even Davy
Jones gets a snub, sometimes, when the parsons chouse him out of
a dying sinner ; and so Jack came to misfortune ; and them that
were his old friends turn up their noses at him, especially us that
live in big houses and have made our fortunes by him ; we do,
split me. Well, Jack comes to me, and says he, ' I'm an honest
man now, and go for fighting the foes of my country ; give me
the Lovely Nancy, and I'll sweep the Irish Channel. ' I liked the
idea, split me ; for, no doubt, there was good picking there, and
nobody to interfere, for d'ye see, John Bull would never think of
clapping a guard at his parlor door. But, nevertheless, d'ye see,
I meant the ship for the Gulf and the West Indies, having busi-
ness of my own there ; and so said I, Jack, I can't trust you with
a ship, for you'll run away with her. Then Jack d d his eyes
and talked of his honor ; but I told him that was all old junk and
oakum, for unless he could find some one to stand security for
his good behavior, or raise a pledge that would nail him to the
same, he should whistle for the Lovely Nancy ; he should, split
him. And now, d'ye see, here's the case : Jack's as mad as fire,
because of my scorning his honor, and he's mad for the Lovely
Nancy, for she's a beauty, and he's mad to raise a pledge, because
he can't get a ship without it. And what do you think he'll do ?
Why, I'll be hanged, if I know ; only I shouldn't wonder if he
should rob me, the rascal break my house, carry off my plate and
what else he can lay hands on, and so make a pledge for his good
faith with my own money ! I shouldn't, split me, for it's in the ras-
cal it is, split me ! "
ROBIN DAT. 119
With that, Mr. Bloodmoney, seizing upon my knapsack, and
clapping a few more articles of plate into it, informed me, with a
look of unutterable sagacity, that he was going to balk the rascal
by removing every valuable from the house, and depositing them
for safe-keeping in the lockers of the Lovely Nancy herself;
nay, so urgent appeared to him the necessity of such a transfer,
of making it that very night, " for who, " said he, " can tell how
soon Hellcat may be down upon me ? "
120 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXII.
An adventure of a Sleeping Beauty, in which Robin Day shines
out as a hero.
HAVING thus solved the mystery of the plate, he assured me
again it was more than probable that, from the difficulty of pro-
curing a suitable captain, he should take command of his vessel
himself, in which case I might depend upon being appointed his
first lieutenant, an honor which, I am sorry to say, did not, at this
time, appear to me too great for my merits, for, if I must say the
truth, the libations I felt obliged, out of civility, to make oftener
than I should have otherwise desired, had somewhat turned my
head and robbed me of understanding.
For the same reason, as I grew foolish, I became also sentimental
and tender-hearted, and, happening to direct my eyes to the por-
trait of Mrs. Bloodmoney, I was seized with concern at the thought
of Mr. Bloodmoney leaving her to embark upon an enterprise of
such danger, and so told him, whereupon he assured me in confi-
dence, " she was a confounded jade and a shrew, and he longed to
be rid of her," adding that he was going to carry a passenger to
the Gulf a certain young lady the most beautiful creature in the
world, and who, as he swore, he would marry her the moment he
should have got out of Mrs. Bloodmoney's sight, I did not doubt
was a main reason of his resolving to sail the vessel himself.
His rapturous commendations of this young lady, in whose hon-
or he immediately began to sing a very strange love-song, abounding
with marine phrases and saline similes, had the effect of making
me think again of the beautiful Nanna, and as I had now reached
the point of festive sensibility when one can be lachrymose or
merry, just as the whim shifts, I immediately burst into a flood of
tears, and informed Mr. Bloodmoney I was the most unhappy of
men. " Of boys, you mean," said Mr. Bloodmoney, who then de-
manded, with great sympathy, " what I was blubbering about ?"
and whether there was a women in the case, and, upon my ad-
ROBIN DAY. 121
mitting that such was the fact, that my misfortunes had separated
me from the lovliest and most amiable of her sex, he gave me a
fervent hug, and swore, with great generosity, that if that were
the case, I should have the young lady, his beautiful passenger,
myself I should split him for, such was his regard for me, he
could refuse me nothing no, not even this adorable young lady,
who would make me amends for the loss of a princess; for why ?
a queen was a dowdy compared with her.
With that, he launched again into his praises and his song, now
carolling a stave in a voice that was as loud, as broken, and, per-
haps, as musical as the wind itself howling around the chimneys,
now diverging in extemporary recitative, uttering I know not
what confused and incoherent nonsense, for the gentleman was
now in his seventh heaven, when the door which Mr. Bloodmoney
had left ajar suddenly opened, as of its own accord, and tJere
stepped into the room a vision or apparition for so, at first, I
thought it of a young and beautiful female, dressed all in white
indeed in a night dress holding a candle in her hand, though not
lighted, with which she made her way, stepping softly, towards
the harp, when she laid the light down upon a table, and then be-
gan to remove the cover from the instrument as if about to play.
She took no notice of either Mr. Bloodmoney or myself, and
seemed, in truth, quite unconscious of our presence, though she
passed so near me, as I sat at the corner of the table, staring at her
aghast (for I was confounded at her appearance), as to brush me
with her clothes. It was then, however, that I perceived her eyes,
which were wide open and very large and black, had in them an
air of stony fixedness and inexpressiveness, a want of life and
speculation, which I had read of as characterizing the sleep-walker,
and such, I began to suspect, the young lady must be, and such
as it proved, she, in fact, was.
She laid down the candle, and uncovered the harp, as I have men-
tioned, and then began to fumble among the music, as if in search
of a piece to play, when Mr. Bloodmoney, who was, for a mo-
ment, struck dumb, like myself, exclaimed : " There she is, shiver
my timbers ! Ain't she a lass for a commodore ? " And, jumping
up, he advanced towards her, staggering and lurching like a ship
in a storm, swearing " he'd have a buss, if he died for it ; " and
before I knew what to say or think of his strange proceedings, he
clapped his arms around her and snatched a salute from her lips.
122 ADVENTURES OP
The rudeness and violence of the attack instantly awoke the fair
somnambulist, who, thus restored to sudden consciousness, and
finding herself in a man's 'arms, uttered a shriek, the "wildest, shril-
lest, and most expressive of terror and desperation, I had ever
heard ; and this she followed up by a dozen others, as loud and as
harrowing, struggling all the time, though without avail, to free
herself from Mr. Bloodmoney's grasp, who, telling her, with
more energy than tenderness, she might " squeak and be hanged,"
swore " he would have another smack ; he would, split him ! "
During the first part of this adventure, surprise kept me nailed
to my chair, as well as speechless ; but now, being roused from
my stupor, and in part, also, from the effects of the wine, by the
lady's shrieks, and perceiving her almost mad with terror and dis-
tress, I began to be sensible the liberty Mr. Bloodmoney was tak-
ing was neither civil nor manly nay, on the contrary, that it was
indecorous and brutal ; and that it became me to rescue the af-
frighted beauty from his clutches. Prompted by these considera-
tions, and still more by my feelings, which were naturally chival-
rous enough in the cause of women, I ran to her assistance ; and,
not knowing in what better way to proceed, I took advantage of
the instability of my entertainer's footing to trip up his heels, and
so lay him upon the floor, assuring him, as I did so, by way of
apology, that " that was no way to treat a lady."
As virtue does sometimes meet with its reward, so it happened
that mine was in this instance destined to a recompense, for the
lady was no sooner released from Mr. Bloodmoney's arms than
she flung herself into mine, grasping me around the neck, and em-
bracing me with such fervor, that my heart began to pitapat with
confusion. In truth, the embrace of such a lovely creature, now
the more lovely for her terror, wrought a kind of enchantment on
my brain ; I felt myself, on a sudden, transformed into a hero of
romance whom a wondrous destiny had thrown into contact with
my star-ordained heroine, for whom I was to dare all perils and
achieve all exploits that had ever been recorded of a Belmour or
Lord Mortimer ; whom I was to adore in the intensest manner
possible, and be faithful to, through good and evil, through storm
and bhine, through pomp and temptation, &c., &c., &c., in the
usual sentimental way. All that I do know, in addition to what I
have said, is that I, for the moment, entirely forgot my dear Nan-
na, and that I returned the embrace of my new charmer, swear-
KOBIN DAY. 123
ing, by way of re-assuring her, that I would die in her defense ;
to all which, as well as to my tender embraces, she paid not the
slighest regard, having, in fact, fallen into a swoon. It was to this,
to do her justice, more than to any thing else, that I owed the
favor of her embrace, for she had clutched me, to avoid falling,
just as she would, from instinct, have clutched a post or a block,
though the sound of a defender's voice no doubt caused her to
turn to me as a protector, and so gave me a preference I should
have enjoyed had there even been a post or a block for her to
choose between us.
124 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXIII.
Another adventure of a, more terrible cast, in which the Sleeping
Beauty performs the part of a heroine.
In the meanwhile, my entertainer, enraged at my interference,
sprang to his feet, and made another dart at the maiden, to snatch
her from my arms ; in which he would have, perhaps, succeeded,
had not a fourth person now rushed into the room, with a pistol,
which he fired at the gentleman, though without doing him any
harm, and ^hen, .with a chair which he snatched up and wielded
with both hands, knocked him down. The intruder, as I saw at a
glance,was the original of the portrait that hung as the pendant to the
effigy of Mrs. Bloodmoney to wit, the gentleman with the pow-
dered hair, stern countenance and vigorous frame ; and the sight
of him brought I know not what strange fancies and suspicions
into my head. But I had little time to entertain them, for having
knocked Mr. Bloodmoney down, he began to vociferate in terms of
wrath and alarm, " Here ! John, Tim, Dick, George ! Robbers,
thieves ! Fetch the watch murder ! help ! George, Dick, Tim,
John, watch ! thieves ! robbers !" And immediately three or four
negro men, very spruce and active looking, though but half-
dressed, came tumbling into the room, with looks and cries of as-
tonishment and indignation, following the gentleman, who now
made an assault upon me, bidding me " surrender for a house-
breaking dog," and strengthening his exhortation by the same ar-
gument he had used in the case of my worthy host ; that is, by
knocking me down with the chair. At the same moment some of
blackies whisked the young lady out of my hands, and helped her,
now recovering her senses, out of the room, while the others,
holding fast upon my entertainer and myself, imitated the leader
in the nocturnal onslaught, in brawling to " fetch the watch," and
" to bring ropes to tie the robbers."
The weight of the chair, applied without any consideration of
what might be the consequences, to a head considerably softer
ROBIN DAY. 125
than usual, had somewhat stunned and muddled my faculties, and
their confusion was rather increased than abated by the outcries
of the strange gentleman and his attendants, and their violent
proceedings in regard to my friend and myself. Nevertheless, I
was not so much stupefied as to be incapable of forming my own
opinions of the true state of matters and things ; but, had I been,
all uncertainty must have been put to flight by what followed.
The negroes having secured my hands behind me with a hand-
kerchief, pulled me upon my feet, that the powdered gentleman
might see, as he said, " who the rascal was." He gave me a furi-
ous stare, told me I was " a bloody-minded looking villain young
for a housebreaker, but old enough to hang;" to not one word of
which friendlv and flattering address did I .return an answer
being, in truth, so utterably confounded, that my tongue, as I may
say, clove to the roof of my mouth.
He then turned to my entertainer, who being helped to his feet
in like manner, received him with a volley of drunken oaths and
maledictions, called him " Old Commodore," and demanded, with
every appearance 'of honest indignation, " If that was the way
he treated an old friend and visitor."
" A visitor !" quoth the white-headed gentleman, starting at
sight of him as at a basilisk, and, in his surprise, uttering a name
that made my flesh creep on my bones ; it was the name of the
redoubtable Captain Brown, alias Hellcat !
I understood my position at once, or, at least, I thought I did :
the white-headed gentleman, and no other, was the true Mr. Blood-
'money, and the other a villainous sharper, pirate, cut-throat
everything that was roguish who had taken advantage of my
ignorance and simplicity, choused me out of my letter of recom-
mendation, with its inclosure of money, and, what was worse, in-
veigled me into the commission of a felony, made me his accom-
plice in a burglary, and a burglary, too, in the house of the very
man to whom I was bearing the letter of recommendation.
If I was confounded before, I was now in a trance of confusion
a hundred times worse than ever, being thrown into such a fit of
consternation at the discoveiy of my deplorable condition that I
not only was incapable of seeing what it was proper for me to do
to extricate myself from the dilemma to wit, to inform Mr.
Bloodmoney who I was, and how I had been entrapped but lost
my seven senses along with my wits, so that I no longer saw or
126 ADVENTURES OF
heard anything that passed around me, being conscious only of a
multitude of sounds as of men in wrathful argument, whom I
could no more see than I could distinguish their words. In this
condition I was dragged away, at the order, I believe, of Mr.
Bloodmoney, into another room, where one of the blackies re-
mained in watch over me, armed with a poker, with which he
gave me to understand, twenty times a minute, he would knock
out my brains, if I made any attempt to escape ; to render which
the more difficult he was at the pains to produce a second hand-
kerchief, with which he bound my legs; leaving me lying like a
log on the floor.
I now began to recall my wits a little, and could then hear the
hum of loud and angry voices from the saloon, and presently a
greater hubbub, as of altercation ; then a yell and cry of murder,
followed by other sounds not less frightful; upon which the negro
who had charge of me ran out to join the fray, leaving me in the
dark and as much terrified as himself. To increase the din, there
was now heard a prodigious banging at the door and ringing of
what I supposed was the street bell, and the shrieking of women
up stairs, which, together with the storm that still rattled as fu-
riously as ever, made up such a chorus of horrible sounds as I
had never heard before no, not even at the execution of the de-
throned tyrant M'Goggin.
In the midst of the hubbub, the young lady, the heroine of the
night, suddenly appeared before me, pale with affright and
excitement, yet with something of resolution marked on her
beautiful visage. She entered the room, closed the door,
and stepping hastily to where I lay, looked me intently in the face,
and then muttered, in tones slightly distinguished by a foreign ac-
cent, and low and tremulous, yet expressive of the energy of
passion, " You are a robber, a house breaker, and a villain ; but
you have saved me J)ios mio ! I know not from what ! You
shall escape."
With these words she tore the handkerchiefs from my hands
and feet, and throwing open a window that seemed to look into a
garden, bade me leap through it and begone, an injunction in
which I was extremely willing to obey her, being as eager, in fact,
to get out of the horrible scrape I was in as ever was mouse to fly
his narrow prison of wire. Nevertheless, I could not leave such a
beautiful creature, without some attempt at retrieving my charac-
ROBIN DAT. 127
ter in her opinion. " I am no robber, no villain," I said, " but a
miserable dupe of " I would have added, " the villain, Captain
Brown, and my own egregious folly ;" but she interrupted me im-
patiently, waving with one hand to the window, and with the other
pointing warningly to the door of the room, at which I heard, or
fancied I heard, the steps and voices of men, coming to make sure
of me. " Begone," she muttered, " and, if you are honest, God
will go with you."
I leaped as commanded, my heart full of gratitude, my head
again teeming with romantic notions, which not even the peril of
my situation could prevent returning, at this second encounter with
the lovely Spaniard, for such, by her exclamation, Dios mio, I
knew she must be.
But what peril could not do in the way of curing me of my sen-
timent, a very trivial mischance soon did, for, dropping from the win-
dow, which was some six or seven feet from the ground, I had the mis-
fortune to plump into a rain hogshead, then brimful ; that is, I
plumped into it with one leg, bestriding it as a dragoon his war-
horse, and the vessel being unsettled by the jar, toppled over with
me to the ground with a violence that must have done much dam-
age to my exterior leg, had not the fury of the deluge it imme-
diately shot over me, washed me, as I may say, clean out of it, be-
fore I had reached the ground.
The worst consequence of this misadventure was my being now,
for the second time, drenched to the skin ; but this I did not long
lament, as it was raining as furiously as ever, and I perceived I
must at all events have been, in a few moments, as thoroughly-
soaked as ever. I had no time to lose in bewailing my misfor-
tunes, and therefore thought of nothing so much as making my
escape from Mr. Bloodmoney's garden, which I effected by climb-
ing a gate and dropping into a little alley, whence I made my way
into a street.
Here I was in some danger of falling into the hands of a watch-
man, who was running along towards Mr. Bloodmoney's house, as
I supposed, making a terrible din with his rattle ; but I avoided
him by slipping behind a corner till he had passed ; after which, I
took to my heels, and ran, I knew .not well whither, until I found
myself out of breath and in the suburbs of the city.
This discovery, or rather the latter part of it, was the more
agreeable, as I was now heartily sick of the City of Brotherly
128 ADVENTURES OP
Love, which, after such a feat of burglary, however innocent my
own part in it, did not seem the safest place in the world for me
to remain in. I pursued my way, therefore, without so much
caring whither it might lead me, as desiring it should bear me as
far as possible from Philadelphia; and was, in half an hour more,
outside of the town, waddling along (for I cannot call it walking)
through a long puddle of fluid brick-clay, knee-deep at least,
which, I afterwards ascertained, was one of the principal highways
from Philadephia to the South.
ROBIN DAY.
CHAPTER XXIV.
The Hegira continued, with some philosophical reflections in the
boot of a coach.
ALONG this excellent and highly agreeable road, miring at every
step, buffeted by the winds, without my hat (which, with my
knapsack, I had left in Mr. Bloodmoney's drawing-room), I jour-
neyed onward with all the speed I could, being more and more
frightened, the more I thought of it, at the terrible quandary into
which I had now fallen.
To be so egregiously duped, as I had been, by Captain Brown,
was mortifying enough to my self love, as proving that, with all
my vanity and conceit, I was but a schoolboy in the world after
all ; but to be duped into a burglary, to be rendered, or made to
appear, the actual accomplice of a robber in a felony the most
audacious ever attempted there was the rub, there was the rock
upon which I found my bark of adventure was in danger of going
to pieces. How I was to extricate myself from this dilemma, by
my own unaided exertions, unless by flight, I knew not. That I
could sooner or later, indeed, establish my innocence, through
the means of my patron, I did not doubt ; but I had seen enough
of Mr. Bloodmoney, and the opinion he had formed of me, to
know that any attempt to explain the circumstance to him, without
the assistance of the letter of which Captain Brown had deprived
me, could result in nothing but my being immediately consigned,
like any common rogue, to a prison ; whence not to speak of the
ignominy of such confinement I had good reason to expect to be
discharged only into the hands of a New Jersey police officer, duly
commissioned to conduct me back to the scene of the M'Goggin
adventure, and perhaps the gallows, a thought that set my teeth
to chattering worse than even the wet and cold did, and gave a
vigor to my feet that was the more necessary, as, without some
such stirring impulse to urge me on, I should never have been able
to make any progress through the mud, and against the storm.
130 ADVENTURES OF
Upon the whole, it appeared to me that my only hope of safety,
the only course that was left me, was to get out of the reach of
Mr. Bloodmoney and the prisons of Philadelphia, as soon as' pos-
sible, and, this having been affected, to write to my patron, in-
forming him of all my mishaps, of the last in particular, leaving
it to him to make my peace and restore my credit with Mr.
Bloodmoney.
While I was debating this matter in my mind, it was my for-
tune to be overtaken by a mail-coach (for such it proved), that
had just left the city and was floundering through the mud like
myself, though at a rate of travel somewhat more rapid than my
own. Whither it was going I had not the remotest idea ; never-
theless, being heartily sick of trudging in the mire and rain, I felt
disposed to hail the driver and demand a seat ; and I should
have done so had I not been afraid of finding in it some villainous
constable, watchman, or agent of Mr. Bloodmoney, sent in pur-
suit of me. But as I perceived behind it a very capacious boot,
that seemed, from the flapping of its leather covering, to be quite
empty, and was capable of affording me both carriage and shelter
from the storm, I could not resist the temptation to clamber into
it, which I did, unseen by the driver, and there ensconced myself,
defended somewhat from the rain by the leather covering, which
I buckled around me as well as I could.
In this position, lugged along like the lion of a traveling cara-
van in his cage, or a duck in a coop (which may be the better
simile), I had ample leisure to reflect upon my extraordinary ill
luck in getting into difficulties, whether I would or not, and to
devise some plan of avoiding them for the future. And, I have
no doubt, I thought many very sensible thoughts and framed
many wise resolutions while thus cooped up in my little prison,
from which, however, I derived the less profit, as there was never
a thought entered my head or a determination formed in my mind,
that it was not, a moment after, beaten out of my recollection by
some sudden plump of the coach into a mud-hole, or furious jolt
over a stone, by which I was either frightened or bruised out of
my philosophy.
I remember, however, that having pondered my affair w r ith the
pseudo Mr. Bloodmoney, alias Captain Hellcat, over and over
again, and satisfied myself that my being duped was more owing
to my own simple credulity than to any peculiar skill in hoaxing
BOBIN DAY. 131
on the part of that honest personage, I manfully resolved never
again to be duped by mortal man ; to prevent which, nothing more
appeared to me necessary than to act upon a maxim in great vogue
among philosophers, and to consider every man a rogue until he
should prove himself honest, and so remain on the alert against
knavery and deception.
This resolution I was the better able to fix in my memory, as, at
the time of framing it, the coach suddenly emerged from mud and
stones and rolled softly along a bed of plank and timber, which,
moving my curiosity, I peeped out, and found we were upon a low-
floating bridge, crossing a river. This, I supposed, was the Schuyl-
kill, as, in fact, it was ; and hence, as I knew this river ran west
of Philadelphia, I inferred the coach was taking me exactly the
way I wished to go that is, from Philadelphia, and not back into
New Jersey, and perhaps even southward, toward the Chesapeake,
whither, of all the places in the world, I now desired most to go
in the hope of meeting my friend Dicky Dare, under whose com-
mand and protection I was resolved to place myself and so fight
the enemies of my country on dry land.
These thoughts were highly agreeable and consolatory, and ban-
ished half the fears and distresses from my mind ; so that, by and
by, in spite of the jolts, I fell fast asleep, being pretty well worn
out by the watchings and labors of the night, not to speak of my
insufficient slumbers in the woods of New Jersey the preced-
ing night. I dreamed that I had stumbled on my friend Dicky
Dare, who was a great general at the head of an army, and I his
second in command ; that we went into battle with an army of
red coats, whom we put to rout, performing prodigies of valor,
I, in particular, cutting off so many heads that I quite eclipsed
my friend Dicky, as well as all the other great heroes, Hannibal,
Julius Caesar, &c., that ever lived, so that the soldiers were in a rap-
ture, assembling on the field of victory to crown me king over them;
a consummation of triumph that made me feel very glorious, but
which I should have been still better pleased with, had it not been
for a sudden jolt of the coach (that was at that moment fording a
brook, swollen by the rain), whereby I was tossed out of my perch,
plumped head over heels in the flood and well nigh drowned, be-
fore I knew what was the matter with me. By dint of much effort
and scrambling, however, I made my way at length to the bank
without loss or damage, which I was the better able to do as the day
132 ADVENTUKES OP
was beginning to break, and the storm to clear away ; and having
devoted a moment or two to lamenting my unlucky fate in meeting
so many uncomfortable accidents, I resolved to make my misfor-
tune the means of helping me to a seat in the coach, which I had for
some time suspected, from not having heard any voices in it, was
without passengers, as indeed proved true.
My resolution to treat for the future every person I met as a
rogue until he should prove himself an honest man involved also
a determination to act like a rogue myself that is, to quibble, coz-
en and deceive as far as it was necessary to keep me out of trouble.
Tor this reason, being conscious that I made but a strange and
sorry appearance in my reeking clothes, and that an application for
a seat in the coach in such a place and at such an hour, and coming
from such a figure, must look somewhat suspicious, I told the driver,
whom I was obliged to wake out of a nap he was snugly taking on
his seat, first " that he had certainly set out that morning earlier
than usual " (meaning to insinuate that I had intended to enter
the coach in the city, and had been compelled to walk after h to
overtake it), and secondly, " that I had had the misfortune to get
out of my depth in crossing the brook, and thereby to lose my hat
.and bundle," "all which," the honest man declared, rubbing his
eyes with great zeal, " was like enough, considering the weather,"
though which he meant was like enough considering the weather,
the early start of the coach, or my dip in the brook I did not
trouble myself to inquire.
I found, as I expected, that the coach was entirely empty, so
that I was relieved of all fear of uncomfortable companions, and
the driver told me we should soon arrive at a village to breakfast,
where I might easily get a hat and such clothes as I desired; pro-
vided, as he took care to add, looking at me as if he had some
apprehensions for his fare, I had the money to buy them. I easily
satisfied him on this score, and we, by and by, reached the village,
where I procured a cap, and a valise, with a few pieces of linen to
put in it, being all the ready-made articles of clothing, except
cowskin boots, quaker hats, and a rejected coat made for a Daniel
Lambert, that were for sale in the village. But for this I cared
the less, as I imagined I should soon be a volunteer under some
gallant commander, who would, doubtless, fit me out in a hand-
some uniform at the expense of the government, and thereby en-
able me to keep my money for more pressing occasions.
ROBIN DAY. 133
I found out, also, after a little roundabout maneuvering for it
would not do to avow ignorance on so important a point that
the coach was bound to Wilmington, in Delaware ; a discovery that
greatly rejoiced me, that town being on the direct road to the Chesa-
peake, whither I was now so desiroiis to go. And at that town
not to waste time in describing a journey that was without adven-
ture we did not arrive until after nightfall, in consequence of
the badness of the road and the horses, together with, I believe,'
some fears the coachman had of driving into the midst of a British
army, which, from a thousand flying rumors that now met us at
every roll of the wheels, we supposed had landed on the Chesapeake,
and almost feared had already taken possession of Wilmington.
We found, however, no British there, but great talk about them,
with a prodigious deal of drumming and fifing, shouting and
swearing, and riding up and down, for it seems they had re-
ceived news of the enemy having actually landed in great force at
the head of Elk, or some other water of the Chesapeake, not more
than twenty or thirty miles off, and were, in consequence, beating
up. with great spirit, for volunteers, to proceed forthwith to the
scene of danger.
This news, though it seemed to have disconcerted everybody
else, was by no means disagreeble to me, who, besides perceiving
that my greatest security from all law officers would be found amid
the din and terrors of a camp, was beginning to warm with patri-
otism and martial ardor. I resolved, if any band of volunteers or
other armed men should set out in the night, I would go with
them, in which thought I entered the hotel where the coach stopped
to get my supper, together with such useful information as I
might be able to pick up.
As for my supper, I was ushered into a room where stood a table
bountifully furnished with the good gifts of nature, but so thronged
with guests, all older and wiser than myself, and all so much bet-
ter skilled in the art of storming bread and butter, and dividing
the spoils of the platter, that I had much ado to lay hands upon
a morsel of food. As for information, the case appeared still more
desperate; for though every man present seemed as martially in-
clined as I (indeed, the conversation ran on nothing but blood and
battle), and perfectly well disposed to hold forth on the subject
that engrossed all minds to any one at all inclined to listen, I could
obtain no information of any one man that was not immediately con-
134 ADVENTURES OF
tradicted by the next person to whom I addressed myself. In short,
there was nothing to be learned but that the British had landed,
or were about to land, somewhere at the head of the Chesapeake,
and that sundry companies of militia and volunteers either had set
out, or were on the point of setting out, with the full intention
of sweeping these audacious invaders from the face of the earth.
KOBIN DAY. 135
CHAPTER XXV.
Robin Day incurs a great danger, and surrenders to his unrelent-
ing pursuer, John Dabs, but calls his wisdom, to his assistance
and performs a wonderful feat of dexterity.
THE patriotic spirit manifested by all the company greatly in-
creased the fervor of my own ; so that, having completed my sup-
per, I resolved at once to seek out, with mine host's assistance,
some one of the many bands preparing to march to the field of
honor, and enrol myself among them. I left the supper table
and proceeded to the bar room, where I was in the act of receiving
the advice I wanted, when a new comer brushed me aside, and
engaged the innkeeper's attention by eagerly demanding "if
there was not in his house a young fellow that had arrived by the
city stage, and"-
But I did not remain to hear anything further. The first words
struck me with a panic, which was vastly increased by a look at
the stranger's face, in which I immediately recognized the well-
known lineaments of a certain John Dabs, a constable of our town,
and famous for his energy and success in hunting up transgressors
and fugitives from the law, whenever there was anything to be
gained by it. I immediately made a demonstration towards the
door, but John Dabs, whose eyes were as busy as his tongue and
speedily detected the movement, was too quick for me.
" I've got you, by jingo !" cried John Dabs, taking me by the
shoulder and grinning with triumph, while I almost fainted with
terror and despair. In an instant, we were surrounded by curious
spectators, some demanding " what I had done," while others dis-
dained inquiry, swearing, one, that I was " a runaway prisoner of
war ;" another " that I had stolen a horse, he knew by the look of
me ;" a third that I was " a kidnapper, a Georgeye nigger steal-
er," and so on, so that I soon began to believe myself guilty of
all the crimes that had ever been committed.
In this emergency, Mr. John Dabs, to my extreme surprise, and
136 ADVENTURES OF
somewhat also to my gratification, as relieving me from exposure
and the disgrace of the moment, declared " I was no criminal, but
a young gentleman what had run away from his friends, who had
employed him, John Dabs, to carry me back to them ; and that
he was very glad to find me, as I was a young gentleman what
didn't know the world, and my friends was all in a peck of
troubles because of me." With which explanation, that appeared
very satisfactory to all the company, Mr. John Dabs asked, with
an appearance almost of civility and respect, to have a little private
talk with me, a proposal to which I, of course, very courteously
acceded, and accompanied him to a private room, with hangdog
looks I douBt not, but busily plotting a thousand plans of escape
from his inexorable clutches.
The moment we had got by ourselves, Mr. Dabs began to in-
dulge in sundry encomiastic gratulations on his success in finding
me out, then laughed immoderately at the alarm I had betrayed,
when seized by him, asking me " if I did not think I was certainly
to be carried to the gallows ?" and ended by assuring me I had
nothing to fear in that way, or any other ; for why ? Mr. M'Gog-
gin was neither dead nor dying, and none the worse for his broken
head when was an Irishman ever ?" said John Dabs, the con-
stable ; " no, he was out of danger, on his feet, as well as ever he
was, and had been bought off by my benefactor, Dr. Howard, not
to appear against me, and sent away by the trustees, who were re-
solved to have no more barbarian teachers. Upon this happy re-
sult, he declared, Dr. Howard had come to a determination to have
me back again ; for why ? he was afraid the sea would be the ruin
of me, and had sent for him, John Dabs, to hunt me up and bring
me back, offering a handsome reward if he should find me ; where-
upon he, the said John Dabs, had followed me to Philadelphia, in-
quired for me in vain of Mr. Bloodmoney, lost all track of me, but
stumbled upon that of my friend General Dare, who had, the day
before, left Philadelphia by the Wilmington road, and with whom
he doubted not he should find me ; and, accordingly, taking the
road on his own horse, and making inquiries at every stopping
place, he had at last heard of me in the stage (" sly dog," said
John Dabs, " not to enter it in Philadelphia !"), and so lined me
straight to the tavern, where he had me as dead as a herring, as well
as his hundred dollars from the doctor, and something handsome
from me, as he expected, for bringing me such happy intelligence.
ROBIN DAY. 137
But this happy intelligence, which, the reader may suppose, filled
me with joy and transport, did not by any means produce the
agreeable effect that Mr. John Dabs anticipated. I had not yet
forgotten the events of the preceding night, with my reflections
thereon, and especially the resolution I had so lately framed not
to be made a dupe a second time by mortal man. I saw very
clearly that Mr. John Dabs was a very cunning personage, an ex-
perienced thief -taker, who very well knew how to manage a pris-
oner with the least trouble to himself, by flattering away his fears,
and lulling him into a false security. In short, I did not believe a
word of his story, being convinced, in my own secret heart, that
it was a villainous fabrication, from beginning to end, devised for
the purpose of deluding me back to New Jersey, or to the nearest
prison, like a lamb to the butcher, unsuspicious of evil; nay, dream-
ing, like that woolly representative of innocence and simplicity,
only of green leas and enameled meadows, while capering onwards
to the slaughter house. " No, no, Mr. John Dabs," thought I to
myself, "you'll not catch me napping so easy."
Perceiving, therefore, Mr. Dabs' true drift, I was by no means
enraptured at the account he gave me ; though, after a moment's
consideration, I feigned to be. It occurred to me, moreover, that
while Mr. John Dabs was so busy cajoling me, I might profit
somewhat by playing the same game with him. So long as he
should think it proper to have me believe I was not his prisoner,
it was manifestly necessary he should act the character rather of a
friendly emissary than a jailor, avoiding, as far as possible, the
appearance of constraining or watching my motions ; and it was
equally clear that he would allow me a longer tether, the more he
was satisfied I was the unsuspecting dupe of his cunning. I was
resolved to have him think I entertained no doubt of his story
whatever.
Acting upon this resolution, I told him I was very glad to see
him, and asked, with feigned composure, the news from our town,
and above all, how my patron did, how Don Pedro, and how
sinner that I was that I could not name her whom I should have
most desired to hear about how everybody else ?
" Oh," said Mr. John Dabs, " all well enough, except the Doctor
and his daughter Nannie " (so the scoundrel called her) ; " both of
whom is quite killed up about you if they ain't I'm blowed the
poor gal in partickilar ; and they do say," continued the villain,
138 ADVENTURES OP
with an air of the most sympathetic condolence, "it's all on
account of her true love for you ; and old Mammy Jones, the
baker's wife, told my wife Sue, f she reckoned she'd die, poor soul,
for grieving after you, 1 and she reckoned that was the reason the
Doctor was so mad to have you back again."
I was so much affected at the mere thought of Nanna being
sick, that it was not until a moment or two I remembered this was
but an additional falsehood contrived by Mr. Constable Dabs to
help him in his business of getting me safely back to New Jersey;
but when I did remember it, I was so much incensed at the free-
dom with which he had spoken of her, that I longed to knock
him over the head with the chair, from which his cruel fiction had
startled me. I recovered myself, however, in an instant, told him
" care killed a cat " (for which sagacious observation I know not
how to account for my using on such an occasion, unless it was
that I modestly wished to deprecate the idea of anybody dying
for me), and then proposed to show my gratitude for the good
news he had brought me by treating him to a bottle of wine, the
best the inn could afford.
" With all my heart," quoth John Dabs, " but, considering the
hard ride I've had over this cruel bad road, I don't care if you call
it a quart of brandy toddy." On my agreeing to which, Mr.
Dabs got up to ring the bell for a servant, an operation that he
repeated thrice over without the least effect, the house being in
such a hubbub of confusion that it is doubtful whether any sound
wduld have been noticed short of a flourish of British trumpets,
or the sudden cannonade of besiegers.
Seeing this, I was resolved to try my hand at a stratagem, and
complaining suddenly of feeling sick and faint, at which Mr. Dabs
expressed as much concern as if he was not engaged in the very
act of leading me to the gallows, I begged he would do me the
favor, as no servants appeared likely to answer the bell, to step to
the bar room and order the brandy toddy in person, together with
a little peppermint and sugar, which I had no doubt would soon
render me able to join him in discussing the better beverage.
To this Mr. Dabs assented with the most benevolent readiness,
and immediately, to my inexpressible satisfaction, and almost
wonder (for I could hardly believe the duper would allow him-
self to be duped so easily), left the room, and went down stairs,
assuring me he would he back before I could say Jack Robinson.
EOBIN DAY. 139
It is highly probable he kept his promise, but I did not remain
to verify that important particular. The moment Mr. John Dabs'
figure vanished from the door, that very moment my own slipped
softly out of the window, taking a leap of some twelve or four-
teen feet, for the window was at least so high above the street, of
which, under other circumstances, I should not have been at all
ambitious to make trial. But I was leaping for freedom, for lif e ;
it was my only chance of escaping the halter, which my rencontre
with Mr. Dabs had conjured up before my imagination the noose
already yawning for my neck. Nor did I receive any injury from
the fall, except jarring my legs a little, though even this was an
evil that passed off, and was forgotten in a moment.
140 ADVENTUKES OF
CHAPTER XXVI.
How it appeared that Robin Day had no such great cause to plume
himself on his adroitness.
HAVING reached the ground, and fortunately, without being
seen by any one, notwithstanding that the street was full of
people, I stole out of the town, taking a course indicated by the
north-star (the night being extremely bright and beautiful), which
I knew from having, before supper, consulted a large map that
hung in the bar room, led to the nearest waters of the Chesapeake.
The moment I found myself clear of the crowd and the town, and,
as I could not doubt, upon the proper road, I quickened my pace,
or rather, I ran as fast as I could, determined to leave no effort
untried to put myself out of the danger of pursuit by Mr. John
Dabs. What he had told me of my friend Dicky Dare leaving
Philadelphia by the Wilmington road the preceding day con-
vinced me I could not be far behind my martial companion in mis-
fortune, whom I was quite certain I should find in company with
the first soldiers I might overtake on the road ; and some gallant
band or other, I doubted not, I should stumble upon before morn-
ing, provided I employed due diligence in my nocturnal march.
Of this diligence I felt very capable, nothwithstanding my having
had so little sleep I might almost say no sleep at all for so many
nights in succession. With Mr. John Dabs so close behind me,
I felt, and knew I should continue to feel, no inclination to lose a
moment in rest and inaction ; for, though I had outwitted that
worthy personage once, I thought it highly improbable I should
ever, if again in his hands, have an opportunity to do so a second
time.
The consciousness, however, of having out-generaled this crafty
individual, beaten him, an experienced and veteran warrior, at his
own weapons, was, I may say, one of the many stimulants I had to
nerve me on to new and more manly exertions. The reflection of
my victory over him was first satisfactory, as having released me-
ROBIN DAY. 141
from the meshes of the law; but it was a subject of equal if not
greater exultation, as an evidence of my own wisdom and address.
I began to feel that my morning resolution had completed my
education, and carried me over the last barrier between youth and
manhood. " Yes," said I to myself, swelling with a sense of dig-
nity, a consciousness of resource and importance I had not before
felt, " he who can outwit John Dabs, the constable, need not fear
a conflict with any man. Treat every man as a rogue until he
proves himself honest, and one will be sure to escape roguery !"
The only unhappiness in this case, as I may here state, though
it was a long time before I discovered it, was: that besides duping
Mr. John Dabs so handsomely, I had duped another individual
much more egregiously; and that individual was myself. Mr.
John Dabs had, after all, told me nothing but the truth. Instead
of being sent after me, to arrest and bear me back to prison, he
was, in reality, what he had professed, an emissary employed by
my patron to bear me the good news of M'Goggin's recovery, and
conduct me home; for, it seems, upon learning my friend Dicky
Dare had also fled, and with a design to play the soldier, he
shrewdly suspected Dicky would decoy me into the same enterprise,
and that something more was necessary to my restoration than a
mere message of recall addressed to Mr. Bloodmoney, to whom it
might admit of a question whether under such circumstances, I would
report myself. It was, perhaps, unlucky that the ambassador had been
selected from among the constabulary ; but I am not certain I should
not have been struck with quite as much terror at the appearance of a
private messenger any person, in truth, coming from our town
and played him the same trick I had practisedon honest John Dabs.
And thus it happened that my first exercise of new-born wisdom
was entirely at my own expense; which is, I believe, the usual way
in which it is exercised, wisdom being a kind of edge tool, where-
with young philosophers are more apt to cut their own fingers than
to employ it to a profitable purpose. Had I been less sagacious,
less bent upon guarding myself from the rogueries of my species,
I should have saved myself a deal of trouble and adventure, of
affliction and peril, which I was now destined to encounter. But I
should have also lost the opportunity of seeing the world and gain-
ing my experience in the shortest possible time, as well as of arriv-
ing at certain discoveries of no little consequence and influence
over my future fortunes.
142 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXVII.
Robin Day, after sundry alarming adventures, finds himself at last
a volunteer, and on the eve of going into battle.
I TRAVELED with great diligence all the night, inspired in part
by the fear of being pursued by the truculent John Dabs, and in
part by the hope of overtaking some gallant band of patriots en-
camped on the road, with perhaps General Dicky Dare among
them. In this hope I was destined to be gratified, though, as it
proved, not precisely in manner and form as I had fondly an-
ticipated.
I had trudged along, perhaps, three or four hours, passing
through one or two villages, in each of which my presence created
a terrible confusion ; first, by alarming all the dogs, and thereby
their masters, all of whom I believe, in my conscience, attributed
the sudden uproar to an assault by Admiral Cockburn and all his
vagabond banditti, when it was my fortune to reach another little
rural town, upon the skirts of which it happened a band of volun-
teers had made their camp around a huge watchfire, where they
were snoozing away the night dreaming, of conquest and glory. A
sentinel, for my sins, had been stationed upon the road by which I
advanced, who, being waked out of some vision of blood and battle
by the sound of my footsteps, was seized with a direful panic,
and roaring out, "The British ! the British!" let fly at me with his
musket, and then took to his heels, alarming his comrades, who
sprang from their beds and fled with equal speed and spirit, each
firing off his piece, like the sentinel, though for what purpose, un-
less in hopes to do some chance execution on the assailing foe, I
never could divine.
I am sorry to say, this very unexpected reception produced a
somewhat unheroic perturbation in my own spirits, so that I was
suddenly seized with the apprehension notwithstanding that the
soldier's cries very plainly declared the contrary that I had stum-
bled upon a party of invaders, instead of Americans; an idea that
BOBEST DAY. 143
prevailed upon me to such an effect, that I began to run away as
furiously as they ; and, to be the more certain of getting out of
danger, I sprang from the road into the fields, and thence ran into
a wood, where I was soon as thoroughly amazed and bewildered as
if buried in the depths of a Western wilderness.
Having wandered about in this bosky refuge for several hours,
reflecting upon the adventure, I became at length convinced I had
made a mistake in supposing myself among the British, and, being
heartily sick of the woods, as well as excessively fatigued, I re-
solved to extricate myself as fast as I could, look up some farm
house, and beg shelter an d a bed for the remainder of the night.
From the wood I succeeded in escaping, and a farm house I was
lucky enough to find ; but there ended my good fortune, for, be-
sides being direfully barked at by dogs, that seemed only waiting
their master's orders to tear me to pieces, I had no sooner
come within pistol-shot of the house than up flew the windows, and
out came the contents of some six or seven muskets, fired at me by
as many heroic inmates, -whom I could hear calling to one another,
in an ecstasy of patriotic fury, to " defend the house to the last ex-
tremity." This dreadful volley was followed by an immediate
charge of the dogs, by whom I was driven, with loss, from the
field, and compelled to ascend a tree, where, though out of reach
of the animals, who kept up a dismal barking below, I was in mo-
mentary expectation of dying the death of a treed bear that is,
of being followed and shot down by some of those ardent worthies,
the defenders of the house.
To prevent a catastrophe so imminent, I fell to work with my
penknife, the only weapon in my possession, and cut me off a huge
bough from the tree ; with which I descended, nerved to despera-
tion, among my canine besiegers, and charging them with great
intrepidity, knocking one over the head, and breaking the leg of a
second, besides dealing a world of lesser injuries around, I had the
good fortune to put them entirely to rout, and thus secure an un-
disturbed retreat.
I had now little difficulty in making my way to a high road,
though without being able to say whether or not it was the one I
had left when repulsed from the village. To add to my difficulties,
the sky became now so overcast with clouds that I could no longer
determine the points of the compass, and knew not in what direc-
tion I ought to proceed. My adventures in the village and at the
144 ADVENTURES OF
farm house had not cooled my desire to reach the scene of action
on the Chesapeake. Indeed, I had no other resource; and the
hopes of finding my friend Dicky Dare, without whose advice
and assistance I felt it next to impossible to tread aright the dan-
gerous paths of glory, were enough of themselves to urge me on.
But how to proceed was now the question, to solve which I took a
seat upon a stump at the roadside, where, at the first effort to
call up my thoughts, being inexpressibly worn and wearied, I fell
sound asleep.
The two previous nights, as I have already mentioned, were
passed almost wholly without sleep, and the present made, as I
may say, the third in which I had not closed my eyes, for I be-
lieve it was well nigh dawn when I dropped asleep. Sound, dead,
and long, therefore, were my slumbers, and it was not until many
hours after the sun had risen that I again opened my eyes and
rose from the sod, whereon (for I had rolled, in my sleep, off the
stump) I certainly enjoyed as pleasant a nap as I had ever known
in my life.
I was wakened by sounds the most agreeable, at that time, that
could fall upon my ears ; they were bursts of military music, the
roll of a distant drum that accompanied a fife, breathing out the
spirit-stirring notes of Yankee Doodle.
" Bravo !" said I, kindling with joy and enthusiasm ; " I shall
now be a volunteer, and Mr. John Dabs, and cowardly villagers,
and barking dogs, and their crazy masters may all go to the "
it is no matter to whom.
I followed the sounds, and by and by I caught sight of the mar-
tial band from which they proceeded, consisting of no more than
ten or twelve persons in all, whose odd appearance and equipments
struck me with amazement. Their dresses were by no means mil-
itary, no two being decked precisely alike ; some had long coats,
some jackets, and some neither jacket nor coat; but most of them
had scarfs, or what were meant for scarfs, of all imaginable hues
red, yellow, green, blue tied about their loins, and a few had
even additional ones wrapped round their hats. Their arms were
as various as their accoutrements, each man having a hanger at
his side, and a belt stuck full of pistols, besides guns, of which
there seemed a plentiful variety ; some marching with one on each
shoulder, like so many Robinson Crusoes. As for their march, I
never saw anything so disorderly, every man stalking along as
ROBIN DAT. 145-
best pleased himself, and all swearing, talking, whistling, singing y
in a manner wonderful to observe. Their officers (and I almost
doubted, at first, whether they had any) seemed to be but two in
number, and were distinguishable only by being more obstreperous
than their followers ; at least, the man who marched at their head
swore with a louder voice and greater volubility than any one else,
except a second worthy personage, who carried a banner of a very
odd appearance which, indeed, I afterwards found was an old red
flannel petticoat and seemed to aim at rivalry in profanity with
the other.
I immediately saw, or thought I saw, that thi^, instead of being
a band of regular soldiers or disciplined volunteers, was a com-
pany of mere militia-men, got together in a hurry, and stuffed
with Dutch courage for the occasion, having quaffed, along with
the gallantry that swims in the bottle, a deal of the folly and per-
verseness that lie at the bottom. This was a great disappointment
to me, as I should have preferred to unite my fate with some
company of soldiers in handsome uniform ; but I thought it was
not much matter with what corps I began my campaign, seeing I
should soon, as I hoped, transfer my services to another to that,
whichever it might be, honored by the presence of my friend
Dicky Dare.
Having solaced myself with this reflection, I advanced toward
the warriors, who, at sight of me, began to make some demonstra-
tions of hostility, such as it had been my luck already twice to
meet during the last eight hours ; that is, they drew, some of
them, their swords and pistols, while others leveled their guns,
as if about to blow or hew me to atoms, a catastrophe that was
averted partly by their commander d g their eyes for being so
ready to fight without his orders (which reproof, by the way, was
immediately echoed, in the same tones, by the knight of the petti-
coat), and partly by myself calling out, with great energy, that I
was a friend.
"Friend be d d that is friend, advance," quoth the com-
mander ; an injunction which I immediately obeyed, though with
somewhat of fear and trembling.
And now I observed, as I drew nigh, that my redoubtable
warriors, who were, three-fourths of them at least, in a very
soldierly condition, and the other fourth hastening to become sa
by frequent and open application to sundry gourds, canteens and
146 ADVENTURES OF
Mack bottle that were circulating among them, had taken as
good care of the main chance in the second particular as the first,
facing quite as well provided with meat as with liquor. There
was scarce a man of them that had not in his hand, or upon his
faack, something wherewithal to meet the exigencies of hunger ;
some bore fowls, some little pigs, some sheep, and one tall fellow
was staggering under a hind quarter of beef, that looked like a
gate of Gaza on his shoulders. Even the magnificent captain him-
self was as well burdened as any of his men, having a garland of
young chickens hung round his neck and a bundle of screaming
guinea-fowls hanging from his sash which sash, by the way, bore
to my eyes a prodigious resemblance to a woman's shawl, or some
other article of female apparel. And, indeed, the same might be
said of the brilliant girdles and hatbands that adorned the persons
of the others, who seemed to me to have borrowed largely of their
wives and daughters to complete their equipments.
The captain received me with a stare of mingled wrath and so-
lemnity, and demanded, with a dreadfuf hiccough, and still more
-dreadful oath, "who I was."
" Sir," said I, with as much dignity as I could assume, though
somewhat coufounded at the strange reception "my name is
Robin Day; and I have come to volunteer my humble assistance
in this glorious service."
" Glorious, by G ! " cried the commander; "never was on such
a chicken-eating campaign in my life; chickens to fight and
chickens to eat and oxen and assen, and piggen and sheepen, and
But, curse me, there's no time for gabble. Well, sir, d n my
eyes, consider yourself a prisoner of war."
" A prisoner, sir !" said I, amazed; " I come to volunteer."
" Oh, ay ! you do ?" quoth the officer, recollecting himself.
*" Well, then, "-here he flung a bundle of chickens on my shoulders
" hang on to the roosters, and fall in."
"Sir," said I, hastily, "if you will give me a sword and a mus-
ket, I should much prefer "
" Oh, you would, would you ?" cried the captain, turning, with
a, hiccough, to his men: " Here, you Black Jack, or Tom Spike,
or some of you, d n my eyes, han't you a reefer's toothpick, or a
barking iron, or some such bloody piece of business, for the young
im ?"
"Just the thing to sarve him, my eyes !" cried a one-eyed sailor-
ROBIN DAY. 147
looking fellow, clapping on my shoulder a gun some eight or ten
feet long a huge ducking piece, such as I had heard fowlers used,
but without dreaming it was ever so horribly big and heavy.
"Just the thing to a ropey am," said the one-eyed man, grinning
as I embraced, with no good will, the gigantic weapon, nearly
twice as long as myself;" couldn't fit better, my eyes ! if you'd
been measured for it by the tailor."
" Hold your jaw, Sam Slack," quoth the captain, eyeing me with
such an approving look of drunken gravity that I felt tempted to
beg permission to exchange my unwieldy weapon f of another of
more appropriate size, as also to hint a dignified desire to get rid of
the chickens; a request that was, however, prevented by the mar-
tialist exclaiming, " I likes them that's gentlemen, and has the game
in them. But, I say, shipmate, hang on to the roosters ! r Then
turning to his followers, he gave the word of command to resume
the march "Attention! Starboard your helm right about
wheel march. Strike up, music; let's have a little more of Yankee
Doodle."
With that, the music struck up, my gallant captain wadd
forward, his Falstaff regiment followed at his heels, and I, who
had been assigned no particular place, and therefore marched, as
I stood, at the commander's side, trudged along in equal time, won-
dering much at my brothers in arms, and perhaps quite as much at
myself for having taken service with them.
It struck me that these gallant personages, from the captain
down, had much more of a nautical than military character
about them, their dress and speech alike smacking of
saltwater. But this did not appear very surprising, considering
the country where we were, the shores of a vast navigable bay
or arm of the sea; and, besides, the ravages of the enemy, it
might be supposed, had driven on shore the crews of all
the bay vessels, who would very naturally band together to
resist his further encroaches on the land. I must confess, how-
ever, I was greatly perplexed by many odd expressions that fell
from these amphibious heroes, whose destination, as well as other
interesting particulars in relation to them, I became very desirous
to learn, and addressed myself to the commander accordingly.
The answer I got was a command to " hold my peace and hang on
to the roosters," accompanied with a look of authority I durst not
dispute.
148 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXVIII.
JRobin Day^s first battle ; with a surprising discovery which Jie
makes in the midst of it.
So I held my peace and the chickens, assumed a bold military
step, and marched onward with my new comrades, until a turn of
the road brought us suddenly in view of a broad river, and a vil-
lage of some ten or a dozen houses standing on its banks.
Among these we could peceive the glimmer of arms and military
uniforms, and a banner waving in the wind over the heads of
a company of soldiers, drawn up on the borders of the river, evi-
dently to receive a fleet of armed boats that was seen, at no great
distance, ascending the tide with all the force of oars. At the
same time I perceived five or six companies similar to our own,
but most of them more numerous, and some of them of a much
more orderly and soldier-like appearance, marching from different
points, over the fields towards the village, one of which imme-
diately effected a junction with us, its conductor, of superior
rank to our own leader, assuming the command over us, and unit-
ing us to his own company. He signalized his authority by
d ning his subordinate's eyes, and telling him he was drunk ; by
pronouncing the company a set of lubbers and horse-marines ; by
thwacking the knight of the petticoat over the back with the flat
of his sword for calling him Swabs, and offering him, with drunken
generosity, a sop from a black bottle which he produced ; and,
finally, turning to me, he demanded very magisterially, " who I was,
and what the devil I was doing with my long nine " (meaning the
duck gun), "at the head of the company, marching like a bull-
frog under a bean-pole ? "
I replied, as I had done before, that " I was a volunteer," at
which he looked surprised, and was about to ask me further ques-
tions, when the sudden report of a musket from the village, an-
swered by a lusty hurrah from the boats, and from some of the
companies on shore, put other matters into his mind, and he has-
KOBIN DAY. 149
tily exclaimed, addressing especially my disorderly brothers-in-
arms, " Now, you drunken blackguards, fight like bull-dogs, or
I'll marry you to the gunner's daughter, every one of you. There's
the enemy in the town, already banging at us, d'ye see ; and there
are the boats trying to overhaul the ragamuffins before us, d'ye
see ; give way quick step ; make ready for a broadside, and car-
ry the ship by boarding."
With these words he drew his sword, and putting himself at our
head, led the way gallantly towards the town ; in which example
he was imitated by the leaders of the other companies, all of them,
as I now observed, quickening their march, as if to see which
should first reach the field of battle.
The words of my new commander filled me with confusion. I
had, all along, supposed we were marching to the town to rein-
force its defenders, and repel the British, then approaching against
it in boats. What did my commander mean by calling the village
troops " the enemy ?" and what did they mean by firing, or, in his
eloquent phraseology, banging at us ? for it seemed the musket
shot had been aimed at us.
As these questions occurred to me, I gave another look to the
town, which we were now approaching at charging speed, and per-
ceived that the flag waving over the heads of its defenders was
starred and striped that is, an American flag; there was no mis-
taking that, for our leader called attention to it by crying, " There
goes the gridiron give 'em a sight of the red bunting !" I looked
round upon the banner which was immediately displayed over our
own heads; and, horror of horrors, it bore the bloody cross of
Britain !
Our commander noted my looks of confusion, and exclaimed,
with great ire, waving his sword as if about to cut me down, but
without relaxing his steps, " What ! you cowardly rascal ! is
that the way you volunteer to fight the enemies of your king
and country? Fight bravely, you dog, or I'll slice you to
pieces ! "
" Sir," said I, in great distress, " I have made a mistake I have
volunteered on the wrong side ! " Which was no more than true,
as I now clearly perceived, having, in my great hurry to enter
upon the glorious life of a patriot soldier, taken service along with
a band of marauders foraging sailors, whom I had mistaken for
soldiers, and, worse than all, for American militia-men.
150 ADVENTURES OP
But the error was now irretrievable. Business was waxing
thick and hot on my commander's hands; the enemy that is, his
enemy, not mine were nigh at hand, and shots began to be fired
from various quarters ; the scent of gunpowder was in his nostrils,
and the savor of plunder on his lips; and to my piteous exclama-
tion, " I was on the wrong side," he deigned no other reply than a
hasty "D n the difference fight away like a brave fellow ^'add-
ing to my comrades, " Now, men, give them a shot, and at 'em
like bulldogs ! "
Bang ! bang! went twenty guns about my ears, and I immedi-
ately felt myself borne towards the village by a rush of my com-
panions, among whom I was swept, whether I would or not, re-
ceiving, every now and then, the prick of a bayonet or cutlass in
the back from some hasty brother-in-arms, by which my steps were
wonderfully accelerated. In short, I marched into the village;
which, being speedily cleared of its defenders, though how I never
knew, being too much frightened to make any observations on the
action, was taken possession of, plundered, set in flames, and then
immediately evacuated, the victors embarking in the boats with
their plunder and my unlucky self, whom the strangeness of the
adventure left still overwhelmed with amazement and terror.
BOBIN DAY. 151
CHAPTER XXIX.
How, by a second exercise of his new-born wisdom, Robin Day es-
capes a terrible difficulty. He meets two old friends, and has
a controversy with Skipper Duck.
I POUND myself, as soon as I had collected my wits sufficiently to
look around me, crammed into a barge with as many of my new
companions-in-arms and as much plunder of various kinds as the
boat would hold. At my side was the valiant personage, the sup-
posed captain of militia, to whom I had first offered my patri-
otic services, and who now wore a tattered handkerchief round his
jaws, in token they had received some damage in the action ; and
in the stern was his superior, our gallant leader, now in command
of the boat. Around us were other boats, forming quite a fleet, all
as much crowded and deeply laden as our own, and all rapidly de-
scending the river towards a squadron of armed schooners and
shallops, which were seen at anchor some six or seven miles be-
low.
The sight of these vessels prizes picked up in the bay, and
now employed in ravaging its inmost nooks and corners, in which,
once embarked in them, I knew not to what further warlike ex-
peditions against my own countrymen I might be led, filled me
with desperation; and I immediately desired the commander's at-
tention to my case by assuring him, as before, that I had made a
mistake, " of which," I told him, " it was my opinion he could not,
as a gentleman, take advantage; and, therefore, I expected he
would immediately set me ashore."
" Ha '."cried the commander, "I remember you; fought like
a born devil highly approve of your spirit didn't think it was
in you. But now I think of it you are a volunteer, ha? Who
are you, and where did you copie from ? "
"Sir," said I, " my name is Robin Day; I am not a volunteer
at least not on your side. I have made a mistake, sir; I am an
American."
152 ADVENTURES OF
" The devil you are ! " quoth the officer, staring at me with as-
tonishment; while my late leader opened his bandaged jaws to
give utterance to a horselaugh, in which he was joined by all the
boat's crew, and to the exclamation, "Here's a Johnny Raw, d n
my eyes ! "
"Hold your jaw, Tom Gunner, you drunken jackass; and you,
men, mind your eyes, d n me ! " quoth the commander, irefully.
He gave me another stare as full of surprise as the first, re-echoed
my confession " An American ! " and then turned to Tom Gun-
ner to resolve the riddle: "Here, you lubber," he cried, " what
means all this ? Where did you pick up the younker ? "
" 'Long shore," said Tom Gunner, with a hiccough ; " came a vol-
unteering for his king and country grabbed roosters like a wea-
sel, and fought the enemy like a tomcat ! Says he to me, says he
hiccough says he to me, ' Captain ' (for d'ye see, my eyes ! he
takes me for a commodore) says he to me, says he; he did, lieu-
tenant, by G ! " And here the worthy speaker came to a stand,
admiring at the wonderfulness of my communication, of which,
however, he forgot he had not related one word.
" Hark you, Sam Slack," quoth the officer, turning to the one-
eyed man from whom I had received the long nine; " you are the
only man of the boatswain's gang not as drunk as himself; how
did you come by the young fellow ? "
" Sir," said I, waxing impatient, "I can tell you that myself as
well, and, indeed, much better than he can. I am an American,
as I said before. I came down here to fight the enemies of my
country; and happening by accident upon this gentleman and his
company " (" Gentleman ! " quoth Tom Gunner, with a nod of
humorous wonder, " what the h will he make of me next, I
axes ! ") " I say, sir," I continued, " stumbling upon this person
and his company, playing Yankee Doodle on a drum and fife "
(" Picked 'em up in ditch, where they were dropped by a company
of milishy, then under full sail on the lee beam, standing no'th-
east half east," murmured Mr. Gunner) " I say, sir, I had the
misfortune to be deceived in their character to take them for a
company of American militia men " (" Take me for a milishy
man ! " quoth Tom Gunner " my eyes, what will become of
me !") " Upon which, sir, I volunteered my services. Nor did
I discover the error, sir, until the moment of going into bat-
tle."
KOBIN DAT. 153
" Upon my soul," said the commander, " do you expect me to
"believe all this cock-and-a-bull story ? An American, ha ! Discov-
ery of error before going into battle, ha ! Why, did I
not see you, with my own eyes, fight the Americans with the
greatest spirit in the world ? "
" If I did, sir," said I, " it was because I was frightened out of
my senses ;" at which words, uttered with the earnestness of truth,
the lieutenant burst into a laugh, then swore at the men for imita-
ting, his example, and ended by asking me, with much gravity,
" And so, sir, because you made a mistake mistaking a company
of his Britanic Majesty's naval forces for a gang of ragamuffin
American militia (and, curse me, I don't think, just now, the mis-
take very unnatural) you expect me to put you ashore?"
" Certainly, sir," said I ; " you can't, as a gentleman, refuse to
do so."
" I'll be hanged if I can't, though," said the officer. " Having
once volunteered to take arms in his majesty's service "
" But," said I, interrupting him, " I never did volunteer to
take arms for his majesty ; it was in the service of my own
country. And sir," I added, with suitable spirit, " I won't con-
sent to be considered a volunteer any longer."
" You won't ? " quoth the lieutenant. " Well, then, do me the
favor to know your place to hold your tongue, and consider
yourself a prisoner of war ; for one or the other you are a
volunteer, sir, or a prisoner of war."
A prisoner of war ! It needed not the solemn and severe look
with which the commander pronounced the word to fill me with
consternation. I had often heard of British prison ships ; my
whole life, as I may say, had been passed in view of those waters
on which, in the days of the Revolution, these floating Bastiles
had acquired their terrible notoriety ; and I had known several
old soldiers of the War of Independence, who, having been con-
fined in them, had many a dismal tale to tell of the miseries of
such captivity. As a prisoner of war I perceived I must be
immediately thrnst into some horrible hulk, to roast and freeze, to
hunger and thirst, to pine for air, to languish in fetters, to be
tyrannized over by all hands, to be carried over the seas afar from
my country and friends in short, to be the most miserable crea-
ture in the world.
To escape this odious fate now became an object which I cast
154 ADVENTURES OF
over in my mind with desperate energy and haste ; for there was
no time to be lost. Once received on board a British ship, a pris-
oner of war, all, I f orsaw, must be over with me ; escape would
then be hopeless. A brilliant prospect struck my mind, and in-
stantly dispelled the clouds of despair which had been gathering
upon it. Received as a volunteer, I should, of course, escape
fetters and tyrannical usage, and, what was of much greater con-
sequence, I should be sent ashore with the rest, to burn villages
and attack farm yards, or (which was my way of viewing it) r
while my comrades were thus engaged, to give them the slip, and
so achieve my liberty. The idea captivated my mind in a mo-
ment, and, turning to the lieutenant, I hastily assured him I had
changed my mind, and begged he would consider me a volun-
teer as before, as I was determined to live a life of glory. And
upon his expressing a little wonder at my willingness to " fight the
Americans, my own countrymen, " I gave him to understand it
was doubtful whether I could claim them as such, it not being at
all certain that I was born in the country. Nay, I even informed
him of my late adventure with M'Goggin, the schoolmaster, to
convince him I had the best reasons possible to avoid return-
ing to the Americans.
I am sorry to say the gentleman did not seem to consider the
killing of a schoolmaster any very heinous offence ; on the con-
trary, he was extremely diverted at the affair, swore I was a lad of
mettle, and that he would protect me against the universal Yankee
nation. Finally, he declared I should be received as a volunteer
in his own ship, and, by and by, recommended to the admiral for
a commission, provided I should signalize my courage, at the next
excursion on shore as handsomely as he declared I had already
done. I discovered I had made a favorable impression upon his
mind, and I must say he made as satisfactory an one upon mine,
being a good-humored, pleasant personage who seemed to take an
interest in my affairs, of which he questioned me a good deal,
besides laughing heartily at everything I said.
Our conversation lasted until we reached the fleet of small ves-
sels anchored below; in one of which, a miserable, old and dirty look-
ing shallop, I was disappointed to find the " ship " into which I was
to be received a volunteer, under the immediate command of my
new friend. He pointed her out as we approached, declaring, by
way of commendation, she was " the best oyster boat on the bay."
BOBIX DAY.
155
I looked up to her, and rubbed my eyes to dispel a dream that
seemed suddenly to have seized upon my mind. Nothing could
be more familiar than the appearance of the vessel, which, in a
moment, conjured up remembrances that had long slumbered, and,
indeed, been for a time entirely lost. Methought I saw before me
the notorious Jumping Jenny, that identical vile bark in which I
had passed so many years of childhood and suffering ; and to make
the illusion more perfect, I beheld, sitting upon the bowsprit, as
she swung by her anchor, the figure of a boy, as ragged and un-
.couth as boy could be, engaged in that very occupation, the last I
had been condemned to in the Jumping Jenny that is to say,
plucking a goose, and dropping its feathers idly over the tide,
saw, methought, not merely my eidolon, or alter ego, but myself,
such as I had been five years before ; and so strongly did the feel-
ing of identification possess me that I, for an instant, fairly took
to myself, and blushed and trembled at the jeering notices which
several of our drunken boat's crew took of the hero of the bow-
sprit as we approached, and found myseli involuntarily dodging
in anticipation of the shower of pebbles and oyster shells which
I felt was necessary to give the last finish of reality to the scene.
A second look, however, showed me that my representive was a
much bigger and older boy than I had been at the epoch of the
-gander pulling ; and he presently showed that, with all his squalid
looks, he was not deficient in a kind of savage spirit, such sa I,
certainly, had never possessed, nor, indeed, any spirit at all, while
under the dominion of Skipper Duck. To the gibes of the sailors
he made immediate response by invoking all kinds of coarse and
puerile maledictions on their heads ; when, having thus vented
his indignation, he fell to work again upon the goose, leaving us to
enter the vessel without further scolding.
We jumped, accordingly, aboard, where the appearance of
things called up still more vividly the recollections of my own
unhappy childhood. I could have sworn I again trod the deck of
the Jumping Jenny. And, indeed, I had not been half a minute
-on board when full confirmation of the suspicion was furnished
by the sudden appearance of no less a man than the veritable
Skipper Duck himself, my horrible tyrant, whom I immediately
recognized, and, I believe, by mere instinct, for five years had
wrought many changes in his visage and person. What fury pos-
sessed me at the moment I hardly know perhaps the recollections,
156 ADVENTURES OF
thus renewed, of his former barbarities, awakened the desire for
vengeance, and perhaps the desperation of my present circum-
stances had a share in the excitement but certain it is,no sooner had
had this aniable personage, in obedience to the call of the lieutenant^
"Here, pilot, skipper, where the devil are you," made his appear-
ance, than, driven by an irresistible impulse, I flew at him, and with
the words, " Now, you scoundrel, I'll pay you up for old times,"
and some half a dozen cuffs, applied with all my strength, laid him
sprawling on the deck.
" Hurrah for you, Mister !" cried my representative, rushing
from the bowsprit to my side, goose in hand, and looking half
frantic with delight ; "that's the way to serve him ; give him a
little more !"
" I will," said I, fortified by such encouragement, and squared
off to give the skipper, amazed and confounded at such an
attack, the rising blow, when my commander, as much aston-
ished as Duck, but still vastly diverted, bade me (after first
kicking the lad of the goose out of the way) " hold," and asked
" what I meant by beating the king's friends after volunteering to
fight his enemies?"
" Sir," said I, " this man is the biggest villain in America, and
treated me like a dog when I was a little boy."
"I!" said Skipper Duck, wiping the blood from his nose, and
admiring its ruddy appearance on his thumb ; "I !" ejaculated the
rast-al, with meek and submissive astonishment, " I never seed the
young gentleman before in my life."
" What, you thief !" said I, " don't you recollect Robin Day ?"
" Robin Day !" cried he, giving me a look of surprise, then of
Burly resentment ; " very well, little Cock Robin, I won't forget
you !" With which words he sneaked away and I saw no more of
him.
The lieutenant now invited me into the cabin that dog hole in
which I had so often played the part of a menial and slave to
inquire a little more into my history, and I gave him a full ac-
count of all Skipper Duck's behavior, upon which he commented
by laughing very heartily, and by declaring .that Skipper Duck
deserved all I had given him and something more into the bar-
gain. " As for his cruelty," said ho, " they tell me he used to-
treat boy Tom that's the cook boy with the goose, his 'prentice
just as savagely. But Tom's a devil, and deserves a rope's end
ROBIN DAT. 157
every watch and, upon my soul, I believe he gets it." I asked
him how Skipper Duck came to be in the British service, upon
which he told me they had captured his vessel, and the skipper,
preferring a handsome reward and the hope of having his shallop,
by and by, restored to him, to remaining a prisoner of war or
being set ashore a penniless beggar, had accepted a situation as
pilot, being weH acquainted with all the Chesapeake waters.
"What a traitorous villain !" thought I to myself, and would
have said it had it not immediately occurred to me that any such
expression of virtuous indignation would look suspicious, coming
from me in my present circumstances. But I resolved in my heart
some time or other to have Skipper Duck hanged for high treason.
My commander having asked me all the questions he thought
proper, first as to my own affairs and then in relation to the vil-
lages on some of the neighboring waters, of which, however, I
soon satisfied him I knew nothing, now gave me to understand
that as a volunteer taking arms in his majesty's service it was
expedient I should be taught the use of arms, for which purpose,
greatly to my disappointment, for I expected he would have invi-
ted me to dinner, which boy Tom was now laying on the table, gave
me in charge of a man in a red coat I believe a marine who was
exercising the sailors on the deck, and teaching them a more scientific
use of their legs and muskets than they naturally possessed, all,
doubtless, to fit them more advantageously for the land service, on
which they were to be employed. And in this kind of exercise,
stopping only for a time to eat our dinners (I, to my great dudgeon,
being obliged to mess with the men, as a person of no greater
consideration than themselves), we continued for several hours dur-
ing the afternoon, when, a boat coming on board with a message
to the lieutenant, we were ordered to go below and turn in that
is, go to bed and snatch a little sleep, previous to embarking on
a new enterprise, to be undertaken some time during the night.
I felt my dignity again outraged by being compelled to sleep in
the common hold among the men, and thought that my friend the
lieutenant was not treating me in the most gentlemanly manner in
the world; but the prospect of going on shore, and so effecting my
escape, reconciled me to the wrong, and I lay down on the hard
planks of the hold (for not a bit of a bed had I) with great resig-
nation, and straightway fell fast asleep, dreaming of prison ships
all the time.
158 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXX.
Robin Day distinguishes himself at the attack on Havre de Grace
and meets with a misfortune.
I WAS roused from my sleep at last by my new acquaintance and
late captain, Tom Gunner, who undoubtedly held some petty office
on board the ship, but what it was I never knew; and, indeed, I
am equally unaware what was the true rank and title of my friend
the lieutenant, though I suspect he was nothing more than a mid-
shipman. And here I may as well confess a greater ignorance of
all naval and nautical matters than would seem becoming in one
who drew his first breath on the sea, spent his childhood in an
oyster boat, fought or served six weeks as a volunteer in the
British Navy, and smelt powder in but I must not anticipate my
story. The truth is, as I suspect, my early experience gave me a
disgust to the sea and its affairs, and, although I have since tried
to dive a little into their mysteries, it was all labor lost, and 1 find
myself still as ignorant as ever. This will explain, and, I hope,
excuse, the errors into which I may fall, in treating of these pas-
sages and branches of my existence.
I was waked by Tom Gunner, who told me to " get up and be d d,"
and intimated we were going to attack a town (it was the town of
Havre de Grace, at the head of the Chesapeake), and that I was to
have the honor of fighting in a barge under the command of my lieu-
tenant. I got up, accordingly, and, going upon deck, which was al-
ready swarming with men, was struck with the novelty of the spec-
tacle that awaited me. It was not yet day, although the dawn was
not far off, so that objects were but dimly discernible. I perceived,
first, that we were under sail, but making way very slowly, there
being scarcely any wind ; and, next, that we had, during the time I
was asleep, exchanged a river of half a mile wide for one of at least
ten times the magnitude, with bold shores looming duskily up in
the distance, and finally that our fleet had grown to thrice the
number of vessels, some of which, following at a distance behind,
were large ships.
ROBIN DAY. 159
As we proceeded onwards, the day began to break, and I saw,
some miles off, the indications of a town or village ; which having
approached within a mile or two, the fleet came to anchor, and
orders were given to man the boats. I descended, with a heart
beating betwixt fear and hope, into the barge that already lay be-
side the Jumping Jenny, and which now received the same crew
of heroes with whom I had so unluckily distinguished myself the
preceding day.
Our commander having also entered the boat, we lay upon our
oars for a few moments, waiting the signal to proceed. It was
given at last by a sudden discharge of great guns from the ships
of war, the thunder of which, with the patterings of the iron
balls about their ears, were, I believe, the first intimation the
sleeping villagers had of the presence of the enemy. The horri-
ble uproar of so many cannons shot off nigh at hand, and the
dreadful sheets of flame bursting from the black sides of the
ships, threw me into a great panic, which was not much dimin-
ished when our commander gave the word to proceed against the
village. " Give way, my hearties," he cried; "we 'shall have
something better to pick in yon dog hole than ducks and
chickens !"
The men responded with loud cheers, which were now heard
proceeding from all quarters ; for a great many barges like our
own were on the water ; and the rowers addressing themselves to
their oars, we were soon rapidly approaching the devoted town.
But as we drew nigh we noticed certain appearances which
convinced us that the villagers, however astounded at the salute
we had given them, were not inclined to receive their visitors
without returning the compliments of the morning. And, first,
we perceived a great body of them running hastily down to the
beach before the town, where stood three or four strange looking
objects, which, at that distance and in the uncertain light of the
morning, I could not make out ; nor, I presume, should I have had
the least idea of their character, had not Tom Gunner suddenly
ripped out an oath, and declared " the bloody villains " (meaning
the townspeople), "had cannon, and were going to give us a
salvo."
And, true enough, the words were scarce out of his mouth,
when bang went a piece, and a cannon ball, striking the river hard
by our boat, which was one of the headmost, dashed a shower of
160 ADVENTURES OF
water in my face, by which I was greatly frightened, thinking at
first it was my life's blood all let loose. This salute, as it did, I
believe, no damage to any in the fleet of boats, only served the
purpose of inflaming the martial ardor of all. The officers d d
their souls, the men cheered, and rowed onwards with redoubled
vigor ; so that, in a few moments, we reached the water's edge
and sprang ashore. Previous to this, however, we received
several other discharges ; the wonder of which was that they
were all fired by a single man, who, suddenly deserted by his
townsmen, that had been scared off by the noise of their own
gun, stuck valiantly to the pieces, fired them oft* at us, one after
the other, and was even seen, without any assistance, to recharge
and refire them, until our sudden jumping ashore, and a volley
of small arms let fly at him, compelled him to beat a retreat.
But even then, his flight was conducted in most heroic order,
facing his enemies all the while with a musket, which he fired;
then loaded, as he retreated and fired again. " Charge upon the
rascal run him down," quoth the lieutenant, who, having had the
honor first to reach the shore, paused a moment to form his men,
which he found no easy task in the face of so determined a foe. At
that moment, I still in mortal affright, yet thinking of nothing
but escape took to my heels, and ran up the street, along which
the intrepid defender of the town was backing at his leisure, hav-
ing no desire so great as to reach him and put his heroic defence
betwixt me and thcinvaders. As I had had a musket put into my
hands, which I still carried, holding on to it rather from instinct
than inclination, and unfortunately forgot in my hurry to inform
him of my peacable intentions, it is not extraordinary, when I ap-
proached him, which, running at a great rate, I soon did, that his
reception of me proved anything but friendly. In fact, I had no
Sooner come within reach of his arms than, clubbing his musket,
and exclaiming, with a strong Irish accent, " surrender, ye vil-
lain," which I should have been very happy to do, had he let me,
he fetched me a terrible blow over the head, by which I was felled
to the ground, and left insensible.
And so ended, for that day, my hopes of flight, as well as my
share in the martial events that followed, of which I have no fur-
ther knowledge (and that acquired afterwards from others) than
that the town was taken, plundered, set in flames, and then, in due
course of time, abandoned by the magnanimous victors.
ROBIN DAY. 161
CHAPTER XXXI.
Containing an account of Robin Day's successor in the Jumping
Jenny ^ and who he was.
WIIEX I recovered my wits, I found myself again in the Jump-
ing Jenny, lying sick and sore in a bunk, surrounded by sailors,
who were, however, attending to their own affairs, without at all
concerning themselves with me. And thus, sick and sore, among
the sailors in the hold of the Jumping Jenny, I may say at once,
to shorten my story, I remained for several weeks, having received
such a hurt from the patriotic Hibernian as required all the
strength of a naturally sturdy constitution to carry me through
with life. And this was doubtless fortunate, as it prevented my
taking a share, as otherwise I must have done, in those other
forays against the villages of my countrymen, by which the
British warfare in the Chesapeake continued to be distinguished.
I received two or three visits from a surgeon belonging to the
fleet, who was a very humane personage, and who told me my
wounds were not, as I apprehended, of any very great account, con-
sidering my youth and hardy constitution ; and once, also, I was
visited by my friend the lieutenant, who asked me how I fared,
swore I was " a brave dog," and vowed he intended to recom-
mend me to the admiral for a commission, " in reward of my gal-
lant behavior at the taking of the Irishman ; " for, it seemed, he
had mistaken my sudden rush from his crew for an outpouring of
valor, an attack actually upon the bloody-minded defender of the
village. It was none of my business to undeceive him in the mat-
ter, and I took care not to do so. After this I saw no more of
him, nor do I believe he ever more troubled his head about me.
In the midst of this universal neglect, which greatly lowered
my opinion of my own importance, as well as of the dignity and
profit cf volunteering in his majesty's service, I perceived many
manifestations of good will in a quarter from which I never should
have expected it-^-namely, from Boy Tom, whom I have already
162 ADVENTUKES OF
called my representative, as filling in the Jumping Jenny the same
unhappy office of football and slave of all work once filled by me.
It soon appeared that I had won his affections, or as he was too
much such an insensate clod as I had once been to have any affec-
tions to win that I had made some sort of agreeable impression
on his instincts by beating his tyrant, the detestable Duck. In-
deed, I remember, the first time he made his appearance at my
bedside, or the first time my returning consciousness allowed me
to observe him and hear him speak, that his first words to me,
pronounced with an accent of mingled eagerness and encourage-
ment, were. " I say, mister, when you gits well, you'll give him
a little more of it, won't you ?" words which he repeated, or
something to the same effect, at every visitation, until I began to
understand the drift of them.
He was, to appearance, a boy of twelve or thirteen years old ;
but allowing for the effects of Skipper Duck's brutality, which I
could w r ell appreciate, I had no doubt he was in reality three or
four years older. His figure was short and squat, but somewhat
robust, looking all the bigger, however, for being bagged up in
some of Skipper Duck's cast-off garments. His visage was not in
itself unhandsome, having quite regular and rather delicate fea-
tures; but it was so begrimed with dirt and smoke, arid set in
such a mop of hair, that seemed never to have known scissors or
comb, and there was withal an expression in it of a spirit so mulish
and savage and stupid, that no one would have thought of calling
it otherwise than ugly. Such a spirit was indicated also by his
conversation, which was full of oaths and ignorance, and by his
behavior, which to all, saving perhaps myself, on board the Jump-
ing Jenny, was full of perverseness, obstinacy, and enmity. He
seemed, indeed, a son of Ishmael among them ; all men's hands
and I may add, feet were against him ; he was a butt upon whom
all seemed to take a malicious pleasure in venting sarcasms and
buffets, which he requited with abuses, and, where he durst, with
blows. All swore Boy Tom possessed the spirit of a devil " a dumb
devil," as Tom Gunner called it but I believe they had beaten it
into him.
The attentions of this little wretch, who played the part of a
rude nurse while I lay sick, and brought me daily my physic and
food, together with the striking similarity betwixt his condition as
it was, and mine as it had been, begot in me a species of interest,
ROBIN DAY.
163
which increased from day to day, and was still further augmented
by a suspicion that came over me, I could not tell how, that there
was more than a resemblance that there was some kind of connec-
tion between his fate and mine. I employed a portion of the leis-
ure, of which I had more than enough while on my back, in specu-
lating on the peculiarities of his character, and the causes which
had molded it into what it was.
And first, it appeared to me that Boy Tom had not always been
the mulish, ignorant creature he now was, but that unlike me, in
whom brutal treatment had prevented the natural growth of the
mind he was one in whom mind, after a certain stage of develop-
ment, had been driven back, or thrust out by hard usage ; yet not
so completely but that some relics and fragments of it might be
seen still lingering behind. Thus, with all his stupidity, there
might be occasionally detected in him gleams of sense, the sparkles
of a fire that had not been wholly extinguished ; and, amid all the
coarseness and profanity of his conversation, I was sometimes
struck with expressions that I fancied could have been caught only
among educated and refined people, such as he never could have
met on board the Jumping Jenny. His spirit too for, certainly,
he was a spunky little dog, as his continual though unavailing re-
sistance to the tyranny of all on board proved could never, ac-
cording to my doctrine, derived from my own experience, have exis-
ted, had he been accustomed to such treatment from his earliest
days. Besides, it was quite evident he could not have been in
Skipper Duck's hands longer than from the period of my de-
liverance. This had happened between five and six years ago ;
and as Boy Tom was now at least fifteen years old, it followed
that at least ten years of his existence must have been passed in
other, and doubtless better, hands than those of Skipper Duck.
The more I speculated upon these things the greater became
my interest in the boy, whose rude but kindly attentions grew
more frequent day by day, until at last it was quite evident
he took pleasure in being with me, giving me the benefit of
all the time he had to spare, as well as a great deal that he
had not. The more I saw of him the stronger grew my sus-
picion as to that connection between our interests of which I have
spoken before ; and several times I was seized with, I cannot
say an absolute persuasion, but a feeling that I had seen him be-
fore, though where or when my puzzled memory could not
164 ADVENTURES OF
say. And one day this impression became so strong that I
could not resist questioning him on the subject, for the pur-
pose of satisfying my curiosity ; and truly, the result was sur-
prising enough. I asked him, " what was his name ?"
" Tom," said he ; " Boy Tom."
" But your other name ?" demanded I ; " your father's name ?"
Tom scratched his hjad with a stupid stare. " The Cappin's a
father over me," said he ; "Cappin Duck, dang his buttons !"
" But your own father,'' quoth I ; " you certainly had a father ;
what was his name ?"
"Never had no father," said Tom resolutely; "had only a papa."
There was something in the use of the word " papa" (not to
speak of the confusion of ideas), that struck me ; but judge my
more than astonishment, when, asking u what was that papa's
name," the boy answered without the slightest hesitation, " Dr.
Howard."
I started up from my bunk, sick and feeble as I was, and looked
almost with terror upon the lad ; who, as if quite unconscious of
having said anything at all surprising, continued to inform me
that his papa " lived all the way off in Jersey," as if that were at
the other end of the earth. His father my patron, Dr. Howard ?
himself my little schoolmate Tommy, who had been drowned, as
all the world knew, or supposed, five years before \ The idea was
too amazing for belief ; but it had conjured up a thousand sleep-
ing memories, and as I looked into the little wretch's face I could
now perceive points of resemblance not before noticed, which stag-
gered me from my incredulity. " You Tommy Howard !" I ex-
claimed, with a faltering voice ; to which the poor oaf, taking the
ejaculation for an inquiry, answered bluffly, " No, Boy Tom, I
tells you ; papa's name was Dr. Howard, but mine's Boy Tom."
" If Dr. Howard is your papa, you then must be Tommy How-
ard," I said. "Yet it cannot be. Tommy was drowned; every
body said so ; they found his clothes on the shore."
Then looking again upon the urchin, who, not comprehending
my remarks, or the drift of them, began to stir about as if he had
already discharged the subject of conversation from his thoughts,
I cried, as a new thought struck me, " If you are Tommy How-
ard you must know me / I am your old friend Robin Day !"
Boy Tom stared at me with a face of great simplicity ; " Never
know'd no sich feller," said he.
ROBIN DAY. 165
" "What ! not Robin Pay, that fished you out of the river when
you hit him with an oyster shell ? Robin Day, that you taught his
letters to ; that used to play with you in the garden all day long ?"
" 'Twar'n't no sich feller as Robin Day," said Tom, very reso-
lutely ; " 'twas little Sy Tough. Ay, dang my buttons !" he con-
tinued as the gleam of recollection shot over his murky mind, " Sy
was sich a feller for eatin' and drinkin' ! Know'd Sy Tough well
enough, but never know'd no Robin Day."
The reader will remember that Sy Tough was my nickname at
school, and he may judge how much of satisfaction, mingled with
pain, I felt at hearing it thus pronounced by the poor boy ; satis-
faction, because, to my mind, it afforded the clearest proof of the
identity of Boy Tom and the lost Tommy Howard ; and pain, be-
cause it was only with grief I could look upon my old playmate
and friend, the child of my benefactor, thus degraded in intellect
and manners, a wreck of what be had been, a nonentity compared
with what he might, and ought to have been.
But he was my patron's son, Tommy Howard, there was no
doubt of that. I could see it in his visage, I could hear it in his
voice, I could trace it in his broken and confused recollections.
Five years of slavery in the hands of such a man as Skipper Duck,
were enough to make even the bright little Tommy what he was
to rob him of every faculty of mind, and every acquisition of
manners, feeling and knowledge ; the only wonder was that he
should have retained any thing, that he should have recollected
any thing, that he should not have been wholly brutalized.
But little Tommy Howard had been drowned ; had not the
whole village said so ? had not every one settled even the particulars
of his death ? I conned the circumstances over in my mind. It was
true, every one believed little Tommy had been drowned ; but
that did not prove he had been. All that was actually known of
the catastrophe was, that Tommy, with some twenty or thirty other
urchins had gone one evening into the river to swim, amusing
themselves as usual among the shipping or, to be more correct,
the shalloping moored about the wharves, and anchored in the
river ; that he was missed when his companions left the water to
dress, and only then, when some one remarked an unclaimed bun-
dle of clothes which were found to be his ; that he was supposed
to have been drowned because that was the easiest and most natu-
ral way of accounting for his disappearance. The river had been
166 ADVENTURES OF
dragged for his body, though without success. That made noth-
ing, at the time, against the belief in his unhappy end ; but it was
now every thing in favor of my own conclusions. Had his body
been indeed found, the circumstances of Boy Tom calling him-
self the son of Dr. Howard, and remembering the name of Sy
Tough, would have been merely wonderful ; as it had not been
found, it was, with these, another proof of his existence, and of
his being one and the same person with Boy Tom.
It remained now to account for his sudden disappearance, and
his falling into the hands of Skipper Duck ; and here, although I
received no assistance whatever from him, his memory being on
this point as on most others, quite extinguished, I was at no great
loss to frame a plausible solution of the difficulty. It will be re-
membered that Skipper Duck had expiated his wrongs to me by a
severe punishment by fine and imprisonment not to speak of the
keel-hauling and banishment from our town forever, which visita-
tions of justice were directly to be traced to my patron, Dr. How-
ard, to bring him to justice ; and nothing could be more natural
than that he should seize any opportunity that fell in his power of
revenging himself upon the doctor, the cause of his misfortunes.
I, who knew the Skipper- so well, felt that the cutting of the doc-
tor's throat itself would not have been an enormity too great for
him, had it not been for the cowardice of his nature, the only
quality that kept him from the commission of the greatest crimes.
Upon revolving the matter in my mind, viewing it in every way, I
became convinced that, at the time of the catastrophe, Skipper
Duck must have been with his vessel in the river, and, doubtless,
in disguise, as was necessary to his safety that little Tommy had,
by some means fallen into his hands, perhaps by swimming to and
clambering into his vessel, which kind of visitations it was a com-
mon thing for the boys to make to the vessels anchored in the
river ; that the Skipper had recognized him as the son of his enemy
and persecutor (as he most probably considered the doctor), and,
upon an impulse of revenge, immediately concealed and carried
him away, to wreak upon his innocent body the revenge he owed
the parent. And such an act was not the less probable, that it
gained him a slave to fill the office from which I had been removed.
Then, by changing the scene of his operations from the New Jer-
sey to the Chesepeake waters, it was as easy to retain possession
of his prize as to escape the consequences of his crime.
EOBIN DAY. 167
Such was the way in which I explained the marvel of poor Tom-
my's existence and debasement, and such was, as it afterwards
appeared, the true explanation.
It may be supposed, with such a belief upon my mind, that I did
not cease my efforts to awake the memory of the boy to the other
facts and circumstances of his former life, to heap together still
further (though I required no more convincing) proofs of his iden-
tity. But here my ingenuity and perseverance were alike unre-
warded; he knew nothing, he remembered nothing, save that his
" papa's " name was Dr. Howard, who lived " all the way off in
Jersey," and that he once had a playmate, Sy Tough, whose head
he had laid open with an oyster shell, who had fished him, in re-
turn, from the bottom of the river, and who was " sich a feller f or
eatin' and drinkin'!" as, no doubt, I was when first translated
from the house of famine to the fleshpots of my patron's kitchen,
and the apples and oranges of little Tommy's storehouse in the
garret. His sister, his playmates, old Pedro the cook every
thing else was forgotten even the skill he had imparted to me
in reading was gone; I found in making the experiment he scarce
knew one letter from another. In short, he was such a ruin, such
a wreck of what he had been, so stupid of mind and callous of feel-
ing, that it pained me to the heart to look at him, and, especially,
to pursue the investigations, which only the more glaringly re-
vealed his deficiencies. But I had one cheering hope: once again
in the hands of his father, I doubted not of his speedy regeneration;
the hand that had rescued an alien from barbarism would be still
more powerful to rescue the benighted son.
This discovery, by which I was greatly excited, did what physic
and my own desires had hitherto failed to do; it put me immediate-
ly upon my legs, and I crawled upon the deck to look up my friend
the lieutenant, and the villanous Duck, for the purpose of repre-
senting to the former the singular case of little Tommy, and charg-
ing the latter with kidnapping him; besides, I hoped to procure the
lad's liberty, and have him sent back to his parent. But neither
the lieutenant nor the skipper were to be found; the commander
had gone off, with a single boat's crew, taking Duck along with
him, upon an expedition which proved very unfortunate, the lieu
tenant losing his life, and all his crew, including the skipper, being
either destroyed or taken prisoners. This we learned in the eve-
ning when another officer, an old midshipman, came on board the
168 ADVENTURES OF
Jumping Jenny and read his orders to assume the command of the
vessel.
To this officer, though somewhat daunted by his looks, which
were glum and ferocious, I did not long defer carrying my story,
though I must say its reception, as well as my own, was not very
encouraging or flattering. I had not well opened my mouth when
he unlocked his own to pour a volley of abuse, his wrath being
caused, it seemed, by my audacity in speaking to him without
having been first invited to do so; and he ended the explosion by
demanding "who the h 1 I was?" to which I replied, I was" a
volunteer in his Majesty's service."
" Volunteer be d d," quoth he, sending for the ship's list, which
he looked over for. my name, though, I believe, without finding it 7
upon which he fell into a groat passion, and swore I was a prisoner
of war and nothing better, until Mr. Gunner came to my assistance,
and bore witness I had volunteered my services to him, that they
had been accepted by the late lieutenant, and, finally, that as a
volunteer I had won my wounds fighting bravely on shore at the
storming of Havre de Grace.
The commander then, with another oath,asked me what I wanted,
upon which I told him poor Tommy's story, or, rather, as much as
he would hear, which was little enough; he d d Tommy's eyes, as
well as mine, and upon my preferring an humble request that he
would give the former his freedom, to return to his bereaved parent,
he asked me whether I was " a volunteer horse, or volunteer jack-
ass ?" told me to mind my own business, and then uncivilly dis-
missed me from his presence that is, he picked up a handspike,
and threw it at my head, as I was hastily, to avoid his wrath, de-
scending to my quarters.
ROBIN DAY. 169
CHAPTER XXXII.
jRobirfs plans of escape are interrupted, and he marches with the
British to the attack on Craney Island.
HAVING thus lost all hope of effecting the liberation of my poor
playmate through the humanity of the lieutenant's successor, I
now cast about for other means of insuring my ends ; and none
better offering, I laid a plan for escaping with him in a boat to
the shore, which I thought might be done under cover of the
night, as the watch was not always kept with great strictness. And,
once upon terra firma, I thought there would be no great difficulty
in finding the means of sending Tommy to his friends, notwithstand-
ing that my unlucky circumstances rendered it inexpedient for me
to attempt turning my face toward the same quarter.
I digested and perfected the scheme at my leisure, taking care
to admit none to my counsels, not even Tommy himself ; who, I
doubted not, would be willing to fly with me from the tyranny of
the Jumping Jenny at a moment's warning, and upon whose pru-
dence and co-operation I saw it was necessary to rely as little as
possible. At the same time, having procured a sheet of paper
from a literary marine who kept a journal of his exploits, I drew
up a long letter to my patron, which I designed to send by Tom-
my, in which I described, first, the happy discovery I had made,
with all matters thereto relating ; and in the second place, my own
unlucky adventures from the time of leaving his house up to the
present moment. I was particular in explaining the incident of
the robber, that he might see I was innocent of the charge laid at
my doors by the audacious highwayman, as well as of the loss of
the horse which that impudent fellow had ridden off with ; and I
gave him the true account of my adventures with the false and
the true Mr. Bloodmoney, begging that he would clear up my
character, which had, no doubt, suffered in the estimation of that
worthy gentleman. I informed him of my fortunate escape (for
so I considered it) from Mr. John Dabs, the constable, as well as
170 ADVENTURES OP
of my unhappy encounter with the British, begging him to ob-
serve that I had volunteered to take arms with them only for the
purpose of avoiding the horrors of a prison-ship, and of effecting
my escape to my own countrymen at the earliest opportunity. I
concluded the missive by detailing my plan of escape and assur-
ing him that, as I intended to make Tommy the bearer of my
epistle, he might infer, upon the receipt of it, that I had effected
my purpose and was at liberty. I ended by a postscript, in which
I sent my love to Nanna, with a hint that as soon as I should escape
the British and light upon my friend Dicky Dare, she would, perhaps,
hear fu.ther of me in the papers, fighting the battles of my country.
My letter, when finished, I concealed about my person, to have in
readiness for the moment of escape, which I now resolved should
soon take place and that before being called upon again to bear
arms in the service of his Britannic Majesty.
My resolution, as far as it had reference to fighting again in the
ranks of the enemy, it would have been as well had I omitted,
since it required, to make it good, the consent of other persons,
whose consent might not have been so easily obtained. At all
events, after having quite settled the matter in my own mind to
my own satisfaction, I was given to understand, one fine morning,
after being first informed I was discharged from the sick list,
that I was that day, for the third time, to have the honor of fight-
ing his majesty's enemies, and ordered to prepare myself for
action accordingly. This information was conveyed by my friend
Tom Gunner, who, noting my surprise, or perhaps a stronger
feeling, for I was, in his phrase, rather taken aback by it, told
me, " there was no use in being scared, as the d d bullets never
got out of one's way for being afraid of them," and added,
" after all, d his heart, he believed we were going, for once, to
knock our heads against a stone wall, and that some of us would
see Davy Jones before the day was over." And in reply to my
question, upon what expedition we were bound, he told me we
were to attack the city of Norfolk, somewhere near to which the
whole fleet lay at anchor ; that if we succeeded, we should have
" hellish fine times among the women, and grand picking among
the crockery ware and niggers ; though, to his mind, we were
more like to come off with a salt eel than anything better." And
upon my asking what made the enterprise more dangerous than
usual, he replied, there was " a cursed island, with a cursed fort
EOBIN DAY. 171
upon it, to take, before we could approach the city that the
<;ursed island, besides its cursed fort, was also defended by a
cursed Yankee frigate and twenty cursed Yankee gunboats," all
which cursed things, island and fortress, frigate and gunboats,
were "manned with fellows that knew the difference between
grog and gunpowder with sailors, d his blood, that had seen
service, and none of your blasted milishy, that one could lick by
merely looking hard at them."
However grieved I may have felt at this unexpected order, I
had gained too much experience to think of disputing it ; and,
accordingly, I made my preparations, and, in a very brief time,
found myself in a barge, strongly manned and officered by the
new commander, which, with a great number of others, now set
off for the southern shore of James River, near the mouth of
which that is to say, in Hampton Roads the British fleet lay
anchored.
The reader, who is better conversant with geographical science
than I happened to be in those days, knows that the position of
Norfolk is upon a smaller river that empties into the James River,
from which the town is seven or eight miles removed. Upon this
smaller river, three miles above the James River, lies Craney
Island " the cursed island " of Tom Gunner separated from the
western bank by a narrow channel, which is, I believe, fordable ;
at least it was so reported among my friends the British, who
thereupon founded their plan of attack. It was designed that a
part of the invading force should advance upon the island in the
boats, while the remainder, landing at the mouth of the river,
should march up behind the island, while its defenders were en-
gaged with the boats, wade the narrow channel, and carry the
works on the island by storm.
The crew of the Jumping Jenny, it appeared, were to take part
wilh the latter division, composed of land troops, (brought over
by Admiral Warren), marines, and sailors a destination which, I
believe, gave great pleasure to every soul in the division ; for,
as it was pretty generally understood that the fort on the island
was a fort in earnest, with abundance of artillery and men, not to
speak of the frigate and twenty gunboats, lying so convenient for
its assistance, so it was as commonly believed that the attack
upon it in front with barges would prove anything but safe or
agreeable to those assigned to the duty. As for myself, I was
172 ADVENTURES OF
doubly pleased pleased to escape the dangers of the boat ser-
vice, and pleased to put my foot again upon dry land, where (so-
hot was now my desire to escape), I determined, if possible, to
desert the King's service, leaving little Tommy Howard, not, in-
deed, to shift for himself, but to be liberated in a way and by
means to be afterwards devised.
Our division landed without difficulty or molestation, and im-
mediately took up the line of march towards the object of at-
tack, marching through scrubby woods and thickets, so as to strike
the river in the rear of the island or, as Tom Gunner called it, "to
take it astarn ; " and this part of our design we effected without
any accident that is, we came in sight of the river and its
island, the theatre on which we were all shortly to play parts so
important and heroical. We came in sight of it at a moment of
great excitement and interest ; for, just then, the barges were seen
close to the island, upon which they were rushing with furious
spirit and speed, while a host of blue-jackets sailors from the
American squadron drawn up in the river above stood behind a
breastwork on the shore, with artillery, to dispute their landing.
We could see the gunners whirling their matches in the air, as if
upon the very point of firing; the expectation of which, with the
interest of the scene, brought our land army to an involuntary
halt, to behold the beginning of the battle. It is true, our com-
manders d d our eyes, and ordered us, some to " march," and
some to " give way," according as they belonged to the bull-dog
or sea-dog families ; but even they could not resist the feeling of
the moment, which chained all feet to the ground, while all eyes
were directed to the scene of strife about to open. " My eyes ! "
said Tom Gunner, opening them upon his friends in the barges,
"they gits it ! " which was a very prophetic speech of Tom Gun-
ner's.
At this moment, the forces in the boats, who, I fancy, had just
caught sight of us, their coadjutors, so opportunely arriving, set
up a lusty cheer, and dashed with renewed spirit against the is-
land ; and a few more strokes of the oars would have carried them
to the strand, which, however, but few of them were destined to
reach. The blue-jackets returned the cheer with another not so
loud, but quite as bold and confident ; and immediately we beheld
some ten or a dozen matchsticks descend upon the vents of as many
cannon, followed by a din of explosion that shook the earth under
KORIN DAY, 173
our feet. The effect of this discharge was, to my fancies at least,
prodigious. The river was tossed into foam, its whole surface
around and among the boats converted into froth by the showers
of ball and grape-shot poured from the cannon ; while the frag-
ments of at least one barge shattered by a ball, were seen knocked
into the air, with, perhaps, the mangled limbs of several of her
crew, whose bodies were, an instant after, seen scattered over the
tide. The assailants, undeterred by the discharge, gave breath to
another hurrah, which was, however, cut short by another broad-
side, that rapidly succeeded the former, and, I believe, wrought
horrible havoc among them ; but of this we could now know noth-
ing, as the smoke of the artillery drove over the water as well as
around the battery, and concealed friend and foe alike from our
view. But from that nitrous cloud long came to our ears the
sounds of battle the roar of the American cannon, as well as
those in the boats (for they had ordnance on board, and now put
them to use), the rattle of musketry, and the shouts of the com-
batants.
There was another reason why we should no longer take much
note of the proceedings of our comrades, which was a sudden oc-
casion we found for giving all our attention to our own interests.
The second volley of the blue-jackets awoke the wrath of our
leaders, who gave the order again to march, and carry the island
at a blow. We had scarcely turned our faces to obey, when we
were petrified at the sight of a multitude of men spread through
the woods, some of them very tatterdemalion-looking personages,
but all armed and formed somewhat in military order, who had
marched upon us unaware, and were still advancing full in our
front. And to make this apparition the more disagreeable, we
immediately heard a strong voice among them, doubtless that of
their leader, cry aloud " Now, boys, there they are, the villains!
let them have it ! " And, indeed, they did let us have it immedi-
ately that is to say, a volley of small arms, chiefly rifles, I be-
lieve, by which at least a dozen of our men were shot dawn, one
of them, a sailor at my side, who rolled his eyes, and having
Tom Gunner's late observation on his memory gasped out, " Now
we gits it, too, d n my blood ! " and immediately expired.
" Cut the villains to pieces ; they are only militia charge them
out of the wood !" cried our own commandcr-in-chief ; and my
fellow soldiers, whose blood was now up, obeying the order, rushed
174 ADVENTURES OF
upon the offending freemen with a fury not to be withstood, and they
immediately retreated, though in very good order, rather backing
away than flying, and keeping up an incessant firing all the time.
We drove them thus through the woods a few hundred paces, when,
all of a sudden, a volley was fired at us from the bushes on the river
bank, which was on our left, and, turning to charge upon this new
foe, we received a third fire upon our backs from a detachment,
which, it appeared, had out-flanked us on the right. At tii3 same
time our adversaries in front came to a stand, and, having given
us one more salute with their rifles, suddenly unmasked a battery
of field-pieces, by the first discharge of which a score of my com-
rades were made to bite the dust, and the whole force thrown into
confusion.
Of the remaining occurrences of the battle I do not profess to
be able to give any clear and satisfactory account, having been, in
fact, thrown into such disorder by the fire of the artillery, only a
few rods in front, and the havoc wrought by the great balls among
the trees, which came tumbling down about our ears, and among
our men, whose mangled bodies, torn by these tremendous mis-
siles, filled me with horror and astonishment, that I was no longer
able to note the proceedings around. All that I know is that the
militia were too strong, and their fire too hot for us ; that we beat
a retreat in our turn, and were pursued by the enemy, whose num-
bers seemed to increase as they followed us, and that our forces,
or at least that portion of them with which I acted, were thrown
into disorder by a furious charge of the pursuers, who became, in
a manner, for a few moments, mingled with us, fighting in melee.
I remember very well that a company of the most beggarly-look-
ing militia of them all came rushing up, like so many devils, to
where I stood (without yet an opportunity to fly), led on by a very
young officer in uniform, who flourished a long cut-and-thrust
sword, seemingly devoured by his own valor, and furiously cheer-
ing his men to deeds of fame and glory.
Up to this moment, the crew of the Jumping Jenny had not suf-
fered any very great loss, and were able to retreat in a body, pre-
senting a firm face to the enemy. But the fury of the present at-
tack, leveled particularly against us, was more than we could
stand, especially as our captain (whom, however, nobody regretted,
he was such a tyrant) was shot down by a chance ball as they
came on. Nevertheless we (that is my comrades) made some show
ROBIN DAY. 175
of resistance, even when broken by the fury of the shock, and en-
gaged hand-to-hand with the assailants. Tom Gunner, in particu-
lar, swearing " he be d d if he was going to be whipped by any
riff raff milishymen," and calling upon the men to remember "they
were beef-eating Britons, and not fever and aguy Virginee
Yankees," rushed against the captain of the enemy with his cutlass
and immediately engaged him hand-to-hand. Fierce, but brief
was the conflict; thwack went the cutlass, clash went the cut and
thrust; " Surrender, you bloody baby !" roared Tom Gunner, the
epithet expressing his contempt of the officer's youthful looks
"Die, you British thief !" cried the latter; then thwack and clash
and clash and thwack again, until, suddenly, the bold Tom, van-
quished by the superior fortune or skill of his antagonist, fell to
the ground exclaiming, " I'm done for, d me," and ended his
marauding campaigns forever; at least, I suppose so, that being the
last I ever saw or heard of him.
176 ADVENTURES OP
CHAPTER XXXIII.
Robin Day discovers his friend Dicky Dare ; but his pleasure is
damped by a new misfortune which separates him from his
brother adventurer, and sends him again upon the world a
fugitive.
THE disorder into which our company was thrown by this furi-
ous attack afforded me the opportunity I had so long desired for
effecting my escape an opportunity, however, of which I did not
immediately take advantage, owing to my fears and confusion of
mind, having no other thought at that time but how to get out of
the reach of the frantic militia-men, who were dealing death upon
all before them. But a circumstance that befell in the battle be-
twixt Tom Gunner and the young officer, which was fought, as I
may say, hard by me, startled me from my panic, and recalled the
thought of escape. The appearance of the captain of militia pre-
sented nothing unusual to my eyes; but his voice, proclaiming de-
fiance and the confidence of victory over his opponent, electrified
my inmost spirit it was the voice of my friend Dicky Dare! Yes!
a look at him, as his valiant arm whirled in the air to strike the
blow that brought the vanquished Gunner to his feet, convinced
me it was indeed he, whom the lustre of a martial uniform could
now no longer conceal from my eyes. It was he, my friend and
brother-in-arms, fighting like a young Mars, fighting in the front
ranks of victory, fighting, too, which was equally advantageous and
glorious, on exactly the right side on the side of his country.
The apparition of my friend and fellow adventurer, so long lost,
so long sought, filled me not only with surprise, but with joy and
rapture ; and shouting his name, with a cry half plaintive, half
triumphant, I rushed towards him, to put myself under his pro-
tection and command, with the full intention of turning my arms
against my friends of the Jumping Jenny. But it was, I soon
found, no easy matter to claim an acquaintance, or renew a friend-
ship, on the field of battle.
ROBIN DAY. 177
A dozen combatants rushed between me and my friend ; and,
worse than that, they turned their unfriendly arms against me,
some crying " No quarter for the robbers," while others more
mercifully bade me "Surrender," which I was very willing to do.
" Surrender, you British murderer and plunderer ! " cried one,
with tones of the most virtuous indignation, clutching me, at the
same time, by the collar. The voice was another surprise ; and I
beheld in the captor no less a man than the missing master of the
Jumping Jenny, the detested Skipper Duck.
The villain recognized me at the moment of speaking, and a
grin of exultation illumined his dark and vindictive countenance.
" Little Cock Robin ! blast my oyster-tongs ! " he cried, giving
me at the same time a furious box on the ear, and another at the
back of it, before I could recover from my surprise. Then, clutch-
ing me tighter than before, he swore I was " a valuable capture
that I was a traitor, an American born subject, who had volun-
teered with the British, and been with them at the burning of
Frenchtown and Havre de Grace, and I know not how many other
fields of foray besides that he was a witness, and could swear to
all he had charged me with that they themselves, the militia-
men, had caught me in the very act of treason, fighting with the
British, against my own country and fellow citizens for which I
ought to be hanged ; as I undoubtedly would be." In short,
I found that I had stepped from one dilemma into another, that
Skipper Duck had consigned, or was on the point of consigning,
me to that very fate I had so patriotically proposed for him, and
that I was in the fairest possible way of being carried to the gal-
lows for high treason.
There was, indeed, some prospect of my escaping this undesira-
ble catastrophe, by being murdered on the spot, Duck's compan-
ions, the militia-men, being so exasperated by the charges which I
could not contradict, (how could I, since they were all perfectly
tru^,) that some of them proposed to blow out my brains, without
further ceremony or inquiry.
At this moment, while I was vainly struggling to explain away
the guilt of my apparent treason, by representing from what good
motives I had acted, my friend Dicky Dare came hobbling up, (for,
it seemed, he had received an honorable wound in the battle,) and,
with the tremendous voice of authority, ordered his men to con-
tinue the pursuit of the enemy, who were still on the retreat, de-
178 ADVENTURES OF
claring, as if the lives of all mankind depended upon his will, that
" not a soul of them," meaning the British, " must be suffered to
reach their boats alive." Upon this, all opened their lips to boast
their fortunate capture of a traitor, and I to claim the protection
of my brother-in-arms.
Dicky Dare looked astonished at the sight of me, and was still
more amazed at the charge of treason so volubly preferred by the
malignant Skipper, and so hotly confirmed by his companions ; but
putting on the look of a commander-in-chief, and swearing like a
private, he ordered his men to follow after the enemy without fur-
ther delay, and leave the prisoner to him : " On my brave fellows ! "
said the youthful chief " the enemy is not yet cut to pieces : on,
then, and cover yourselves with immortal glory ! "
"Immortal glory forever! hurrah for Uncle Sam !" cried the
gallant ragamuffins, immediately resuming the pursuit of the
enemy all except Shipper Duck, who seized me by the collar
again, swearing I was "his prisoner, and he wasn't going to give
me up for nobody, blast his fish-hooks but would carry me to
head-quarters, where he expected to be handsomely rewarded for
his prize."
" What, you mutinous rascal ! do you disobey orders ?" quoth
Dicky Dare, aiming with his sword a terrible blow at the refractory
Skipper, which the latter avoided by leaping aside, without, how-
ever, loosing his hold of me ; until I, encouraged by the counte-
nance of my friend, took part in the affray, and knocked the vin-
dictive caitiff down. He then sneaked off, swearing, as he
went, that he would report the valiant Dicky at head-quarters
for befriending the renegade whom he had in vain taken
prisoner.
" A confounded insolent scoundrel," said Dicky in a fume ;
" think, by Julius Csesar, I have seen the rascal before."
" Yes," said I, " it is that notorious villain, Skipper Duck, that
used to be of our town." But Dicky's thoughts were upon more
important subjects.
" I say, Mr. Robin Day, by Julius CaBsar," said he, in great
haste, yet with exceeding dignity " there's no time, while the
battle is raging, to talk ; a brave man, sir, can think of nothing but
fighting ; so we must be short. Do you mean to allow, sir, you
landed on this soil in company with British forces?"
"I did, Dicky Bu1
ROBIN DAY. 179
" And that you came with arms in your hands, a volunteer in
the British service ?"
" I did, Dicky. But
" And that you fought with them at Frenchtown and Havre de
Grace ?"
" Yes, Dicky. But
"But what?" cried the young patriot, surveying me with dis-
gust, and putting on the lofty part of a hero : " do you expect to
excuse such an act, sir ? an act of treason, sir ? I'd have you
to know, sir, by Julius Caesar," he addeJ, with increased dignity
and emphasis, "I despise a traitor above all created things ! My
old friend Sy Tough a volunteer in the British service !"
I explained to him that that was a mere stratagem of war that
I had volunteered in the first place by mistake, and then continued
to bear arms only for the purpose of effecting my escape to my
friends, the Americans.
" H'm," said Dicky, with the snort of a war-horse blowing the
breath of contempt on his enemies, " and do you suppose that
that excuse will serve your turn at a court-martial ? that such a
motive as that or any motive, by Julius Caesar, sir, will justify
you, sir, or anybody, sir, by Julius Caesar, sir, in taking up arms
against your country, sir ?"
These questions fairly set my hair upon end ; and I felt that
it was a great omission I had made not to ask them of myself,
when first adopting that sagacious device by which I designed to
effect my escape from the British.
" I believe I have been a great fool, Dicky," said I ; " but I
hope you will do me the justice to believe my motives were good."
" Confound your motives," said General Dare, sublimely ; " ac-
tions, sir, actions are the things the government and people of the
United States will look to. And as for actions, here you are, sir,
taken in action, with arms in your hands, fighting against your
country! I say, sir, by Julius Caesar! " he cried, "do you know
wliat will be the end of all this? Do you know, sir, what is the
punishment for taking service with the enemy ? "
I stammered out a faltering hope that my case was not so bad
as he would have me believe.
" For my part," said Dicky, " I don't know whether they shoot
traitors or hang them ; but one or the other is certain for you,
by Julius Caesar ! You are taken a prisoner to head-quarters, ac-
180 ADVENTURES OF
cused of high treason, convicted by a court-martial, and up you
go or down, sir, I don't know which but hemp or lead finishes
the business !"
" Alas, Dicky !" I cried, reduced to despair ; and demanded if
he could not, or would nor help me out of my desperate perdic-
ament.
" That's exactly what I mean to do," said Dicky Dare, with
loftier emphasis than ever. " I hate and despise a traitor beyond
mention ; but, for old love's sake, and considering it is your first
offense, I pardon you. Go, sir, by Julius Caesar ; I give you your
life and liberty I release you; go, fly, save your bacon run,
jump, cut stick, clear out ! make streaks, I tell you, and hide in
woods and caves from the wrath of your injured and offended
country. As for me, sir, by Julius Caesar, here goes again for
another knock at her enemies !"
With these works the youthful patriot ran hobbling through
the woods after his company and the flying foe, and I, conscious of
my crime and of the imminent danger it had plunged me into, be-
took me to my heels returning in another direction, in which, I
judged, there was least fear of falling again into the hands of my
injured and offended countrymen.
EOBIK DAT. 181
CHAPTER XXXIV.
In which Robin Day stumbles upon another acquaintance and
companion in affliction.
The words of my friend " I don't know whether they shoot
traitors or hang them, but hemp or lead must finish the business "
remained jingling in my ears for many hours after I lost sight
of him, and stimulated the violent exertions which I made to es-
cape the dangerous vicinity of the battle.
I ran through the woods and fields, until the lesser sounds of con-
flict, the shouts and rattle of musketry, no longer came to my
ears; though I could long hear, at intervals, the dying thunder of
the cannon. But, by and by, even this was no longer heard, and
I had, therefore, reason to fancy myself beyond the immediate dan-
ger of pursuit, supposing that pursuit should be attempted; which
I thought not unlikely, considering the malicious temper of my
foe, Skipper Duck. Nevertheless, I did not cease running at the
very top of my speed as long as my strength held, being impelled
by the urgency of my fears to make the most of my time; and,
even when quite worn out by my exertions, and obliged to pause to
take breath, I allowed myself only a few moments of rest, and im-
mediately resumed my journey, which I pursued as fast as I could
walk, until late in the afternoon, when I felt satisfied I had left the
field of battle more than twenty miles behind me.
Whither I was going I did not greatly trouble myself to take
into consideration. My first object was to get out of danger, and
beyond the reach of the patriotic militia-men, which it appeared
to me would be most easily effected by striking away from the
coast, where I supposed all the fighting-men of Virginia were now
concentrated, to repel the invader ; and I had some vague kind
of notion, that, once out of their reach, I would hunt up some
other field of glory, and there, by fighting very valiantly on the
side of my country, wipe out the sin of treason, of which I had
been guilty in act, though not in intention.
182 AD V JEN TUBES OF
My first object, then, was to make my way into the interior :
my next desire was to proceed with as little risk of interruption
as possible ; for which reason I avoided, at least during the great-
er portion of the day, all public roads, confining myself to the
barren pine woods with which that country is covered, and in which
I had less fear of stumbling upon suspicious persons for, truly,
that day, I thought all persons were suspicious. With the same
view I eschewed all human habitations, giving a wide berth to
every farm house and cottage it was my fate to see, not knowing
what dangers I might encounter by approching them. And hence
it happened, as I had laid in no store of provender for my journey,
that I was in quite a state of famine towards evening ; at which
period, weary and forlorn, I sat down upon the bank of a small
river, where a by-road crossed it, to bewail my hard fate, and
to devise some means, if possible, of escaping a death of star-
vation.
As for my hard fate, it was now undoubtedly harder than ever ;
and I could not but wonder, while I grieved, at the variety of
perils which a persecuting fortune had, in so short a period,
heaped upon my back. First, I had brought myself under the
danger of the law for a murder for, be it remembered, I had no
knowledge of the restoration to life of the unfortunate M'Goggin,
Mr. John Dab's advices to the contrary notwithstanding ; secondly,
I lay under an accusation of highway robbery and horse-stealing ;
thirdly, I had been drawn into the commission of a burglary, and
a most incredibly audacious one, too ; and, last and worst of all, I
was a traitor to my country, accused, convicted, condemned, (at
least by my friend Dicky Dare,) with the most undeniable pros-
pect of being hanged, or shot, for my pains, the moment my coun-
try should catch me. And all this had happened within the few
weeks in which I had been left to govern myself by my own wis-
dom. " Alas !" I cried, beginning to doubt whether my wisdom
was so great as I had supposed it to be a doubt most distressing
to a sensible person beginning to question even my ability to
take care of myself a question still more afflicting to a young
person who has believed himself for a while much cleverer than
others of his species.
My hunger was also an evil which sorely oppressed me, and the
more bitterly as I had still a handsome sum of money about me,
enough to buy food for a regiment, but which I durst not apply to
ROBIN DAY. 183
relieving my wants, for I was afraid lest the attempt should only
lead to my being taken up for a suspicious person.
When I reflected upon these things and remembered that I was
a stranger in a strange land, flying I knew not well whither, but, as
I greatly feared, only from one chapter of dangers to another, be-
ing very hungry besides, the tears coursed down my cheeks, and I
gave myself up to despair. One while I thought I would hang
myself in the wood in which I must otherwise make my bed ; and
then I thought I would try and catch a terrapin in the creek for
my supper. But the terrapin slid off his log the moment I be-
gan to look too hard at him, and the thought of suspension passed
from my mind as too disagreeable to be debated. Now, I had
some notion of going back to the militia to surrender myself to the
court martial, trusting to the influence of my friend Dicky Dare,
whose regimentals convinced me he had become a great character,
to come off in safety ; and then I half proposed even to return to
New Jersey and take my trial for the killing of M'Goggin. In
the one case I should have the satisfaction of being near iny brother-
in-arms ; in the other of being befriended by my beneficent pa-
tron ; but in either I must run a risk of "hemp or lead," which I
could not bear to think of. But what was I to do ? how was I to
escape the perils that followed me behind, and perhaps environed
me in front ; and also how was I to get my supper ?
While I sat weeping and asking myself these questions in vain,
entirely absorbed by the greatness of my distresses, I was sur-
prised by the sudden appearance of a horseman, who rode up
through the soft sandy road without my hearing him, or suspect-
ing his presence, until he made it known by an abrupt question :
" I say, brother, d n my blood," he cried, " do you swim this
river or jump over it ?"
The sound of a man's voice so near me, my dangers considered,
was sufficiently alarming ; but there was something in the speak-
er's tones that doubled my dread, which was still further in-
creased, when, looking in his face, I perceived to my amazement
the harsh features of the pseudo Bloodmoney, my fellow burglar,
the redoubted Brown, alias Captain Hellcat.
Nor was his memory a whit more backward than my own ; he
recognized me in a moment, looked astonished, and then burst into
an immoderate fit of laughter, demanding, with great emphasis,
" What cheer now, lieutenant ?"
184 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXXV.
A conversation between Robin Day and his friend Captain
JBrotcn, in which the latter throws some light upon the adven-
ture of the highwayman.
MUCH as I had reason to fear and detest this remarkable person-
age, Captain Brown, by whom I had been so basely defrauded and
cheated into a participation in knavery, and who I had cause from
his own confessions to believe was, or had once been, a noted pirate,
yet my feelings at sight of him mingled something like satisfac-
tion with my fear and resentment. I was so forlorn and helpless
in the midst of embarrassment and danger, so much in want of a
friend to counsel and assist me, that even Captain Hellcat's coun-
tenance appeared to me desirable. At such a moment, I could have
accepted the friendship of almost Old Nick himself. He had done
me a great deal of mischief to be sure, but, in my present situation,
it was scarcely possible he could do me any more. From his cour-
age and worldly experience, nay even from his good will for I
almost looked upon him as a friend, though a mischievous and dan-
gerous one much was to be expected; and, besides, our adventures
together had established a kind of community of interests between
us, at least to a certain extent (were we not house-robbers and run-
aways together?), which, I thought, must ensure me his good offi-
ces at this moment of difficulty and distress. I resolved, in a word,
having no other way to help myself, to throw myself upon his
friendship, and trust to him for rescue from the dangers that beset
me.
Yet I could not avoid opening upon him in terms of reproach,
the more particularly as he followed up his first questions by de-
manding, with another laugh as obstreperous as the first, " what
curse of a scrape I had got myself into now ? and why I sat there
gasping on the river-bank, like a stranded catfish ?"
" Sir," said I, " whatever scrape I have got into is all owing to
you, who imposed upon my ignorance so grossly, and so brought
ROBIN DAY. 185
me to ruin." And I could scarcely avoid again bursting into tears
at the thought of it.
"I bring you to ruin ?" quoth Captain Brown; " why, hang me,
you look very comfortable, considering all things; and I don't
think the first lieutenant of the Lovely Nancy, d'ye see, intends
to break his heart for a small matter."
" You may call it a small matter, Mr. Hellcat, or whatever you
entitle yourself," said I, nettled into courage by the grin of deri-
sion with which he emphasized the title of first lieutenant, "to
pass youself off for another man" (Captain Hellcat grinned
harder than ever, " to open letters not addressed to you, to pocket
money that did not belong to you "
" Only a hundred dollars, shiver my timbers!" quoth he, the
grin becoming still broader.
" And, after cheating me so unhandsomely, to make me an ac-
complice in a house-robbery, to the ruin of my character, and al-
most the loss of my life ; for, I assure you, I escaped from Mr.
Bloodmoney's house almost by a miracle."
" Did you ? by - " but the oath may be omitted : " did you, in-
deed ?" cried Captain Brown, with another explosion of merriment
-"and so did I; it was only by knocking out the watchman's
brains with a poker, and "
" Good Heavens !" said I, starting with horror, " you did not
commit a murder ?"
"No," said Captain Brown, innocently " only knocked out the
brains of a watchman, and stabbed one of the niggers."
" And if these are not murders," said I, petrified, " what is ?"
"What is?" quoth Captain Hellcat, giving me a ferocious stare
" why, d n my blood, stopping the weasand of a crying baby
drowning a woman at sea twisting the neck of your own brother
there's a kind of murder for you, split me ; but there's plenty
more, when you come to think of it ; such as defrauding widows,
robbing orphans, belying honest men, grinding the face of the
poor, and stabbing men in the dark all murder, that, d n my
blood, and bloody murder, too ! But as for breaking a head, or
sticking a gizzard, in open fight, why that's all fair and square,
and above board, split my timbers."
"But you don't mean to say," quoth I, almost ready to take to
my heels and fly from the desperado, "that you killed the watch-
and the negro ?"
186 ADVENTURES OF
" I'll be hanged," said captain Brown, " if I know what was the
end of it ; for d'ye see, I left them in a sort of tornado, having
neither time nor weather for observations. But, I say, my hearty,
how did you slip your moorings ? and what brings you into these
sand-fly latitudes ?"
" You brought me here," said I, with a sigh ; " I fled here to
escape the consequences of your imposition to avoid arrest, im-
prisonment, shame and ruin. You see me now what you have
made me, a fugitive from the laws."
" Shiver my topsails," said Captain Hellcat, " but you speak as
if that was a great matter ! Where's the difference. You don't
think Bloodmoney and the constables are still after you ?"
" I don't know but they are," I replied ; adding " But that is
not the worst of my misfortunes."
And here I hastened to explain the later evils into which I had
fallen, and all which I properly laid to his door my unlucky trea-
son, the narrow escape I had just had from the court-martial, and
the danger I was still in, a story, which, told in few words and
with all the energy of distress, only renewed the mirth of Mr.
Jack Brown, alias Captain Hellcat, who swore I was " a rum one,
born to die on salt water ; or, why, I must have been triced up by
Jack Ketch long ago."
" And so you think there's nobody in a pickle but yourself ?" he
added, with profane emphasis, and laughing furiously ; " I'll be
hanged if you ain't mistaken though. Here am I, your com-
mander, split me, making foul weather enough to sink an Injie-
man, with great guns blowing on one quarter and hellcats spitting
on the other, a white squall astern, and ahead, a sea whereof I
knows as much as a pig does of a mizzen-top, no chart aboard, log-
line lost overboard, sextant broken all to smash, and the compass
gone to the devil. Here conies I down hereaway, an honest man,
to fight the battles of my country ; and, split me, didn't I offer
the same thing in Philadelphia ? and a fine return I got for my
venture. There's Bloodmoney, sink him ! first turned me the cold
shoulder, and then would have clapped me in the bilboes, for play-
ing him a little bit of an innocent trick, split me :" (" A very in-
nocent little trick !" thought I, amazed at the cool composure with
which he spoke of that adventure) : " and so, shiver me, I had to
slip my cable, and leave their cursed Quaker port under a press of
canvas. Then brings I up here at Norfolk, to fight the bloody
ROBIN DAY. 187
British, along with the lubberly milishy ; and hang me, I could
have shown them what fighting was either at long shots with the
great guns, or at close quarters with pistol, hanger, and Spanish
knife, whereof I knows the use ; when, as Davy Jones would
have it, who should come up but a dog-faced villain named Duck
" Skipper Duck ?" cried I, interrupting my honest friend, now
-extremely earnest and eloquent in his relation. But earnestness
and eloquence vanished at the interruption ; and he turned upon
me, with another roar of laughter, to which he seemed ever un-
commonly prone.
" What ! you know Skipper Duck then ?" he cried ; " an
honest dog as ever lived, may the sharks eat him !"
" As big a knave as ever went unhung !" said I ; and im-
mediately informed him how my present dangers were all owing
to the malice of Duck, who had accused me of the treason I had
so unluckily, though with no evil intention, committed.
"Exactly my own case, shiver me!" cried Captain Brown,
laughing harder than ever : " Up comes the lubber, that was one
of my dirty dogs of old, and spins his yarn to the Posse Come-
atibus, or Come-at-us, or whatever you call it ; and theif there was
a hellaballoo ; for, sink me, says he, d'ye see, c Here's Hellcat, the
pirate, the horse-marine ! So there was no cruizing longer in
them latitudes, d'ye see ; and away I scuds, a ship in distress, with
a whole fleet of small-craft land- thieves peppering after me ; for,
hang me, them cursed Britishers have brought them down here-
away as thick as land crabs on a, sea beach. And in the midst of
the row, up comes another enemy on the weather bow, and claims
the very ship I sails on my horse, split, me as honestly borrowed
as need be ; and then there was another storm about my ears, and
it was on one side, ' stop pirate !' and on the other, 'stop thief !'
and all that. And here I am, my skillagallee, in as dirty a kettle
of fish as may be, and here are you in another ; and here we
are both of us, hard chased, a regiment of Jack Ketches under full
sail behind, and a whole forest of gallows-trees around us."
Here Captain Brown paused to take breath, and to indulge in
another peal of laughter. His account increased my dismay, for
it was evident his presence only doubled my perils by adding
those peculiar to himself, and it was equally clear, if arrested, I
.should gain nothing by being caught in his company. Here, then,
188 ADVENTURES OF
was a man who made no attempt to conceal that he was a rogue
and reprobate of the highest, or lowest, grade, whom I had known
to my cost, a swindler and burglar, and who was, from his own
showing, a pirate, horse thief, and most probably a murderer ;
who was, besides, closely pursued, and in momentary danger of
arrest, and who was of so callous and hardened a nature as to make
mirth equally of his danger and his crimes. From association
with such a wretch I should, at another moment, have revolted
with horror, as even now I felt I ought to do. But, alas ! my
fears conquered my scruples. The very indifference with which
he spoke of his villainies and perils, his furious mirth and savage
gaiety, proved a consciousness of power to escape all embarass-
ments a power of which my necessities urged me to accept the
advantage. It was better even to be the comrade of Captain Hell-
cat then to be hanged, or shot, by a court-martial. Besides, I
felt that I was already, in a measure, degraded ; why then should I
recoil, as one with an untarnished reputation might have done,
from the profit of another step in dishonor ?
It is, alas, such a consideration that confirms the ruin of half
the rogues in the universe. Reputation is the palladium of virtue
(where religion has not substituted a diviner bulwark) ; and it is
scarcely possible to lose it, or think we have lost it, without slack-
ening in the defense of integrity.
" Alas, what is to be done ?" I cried ; " we shall be caught and
condemned to death."
" Speak for yourself !" said Captain Brown ; " as for me, I've
no notion of any such cursed nonsense. And as for being outnav-
igated, or outwitted, by any snubface of a landsman, why there,
my skilligallee, you're out of your reckoning."
" I hope, Captain Brown," said I, " you won't desert me."
" Desert you, my hearty !" quoth Brown, " I never deserted a
shipmate that was willing to stand by me ; and split me, I said
you should be my lieutenant on board the Lovely Nancy, and I
mean to stick by the articles. But, I say, you Bob Lucky "
Robin Day," said I.
" Well, Mr. Robin Day, I say, have you any idea how to play
nigger ? Look you, my lad," he added, seeing that I did not un-
derstand the question ; " I'm for a voyage to see the world, sink
me that is, the land part of it ; and I goes under false colors ;
and why, d'ye see, can't you f
BOBIN DAY. 189
" Sir," said I, " I'll do whatever you tell me, provided it is not
criminal. And I give you to understand," I added, boldly, " that
I will neither steal horses, nor rob houses, nor knock out watchmen's
brains, nor stab negroes, nor "
" Hold fast there," cried Brown, laughing ; " I intend to try an
honest life myself, shiver my timbers, for I loves variety."
And he directed me to hold his bridle, while he, without leaving
the horse, proceeded to effect some changes in his outward ap-
pearance, for the purposes of disguise. The first thing he did
was to clap to his face a set of false whiskers and beard, ex-
tremely huge and ferocious looking, and yet so natural withal
that no one would have suspected they were placed there in any
other mode than by the natural process of growth ; and it was
wonderful the change they made in his appearance.
The transformation was to me the more astonishing, as I im-
mediately recognized in the hairy visage the grim looks of the
highwayman that identical villain who, at the beginning of my
misfortunes, in the night of flight, had made the unsuccessful
attack on the purses of Dicky Dare and myself, and succeeded in
shifting the charge of his crime upon me, and running off with
Bay Tom and my saddle bags.
190 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXXVI.
The two friends put themselves into disguise, and make prepara-
tions for a career of philanthrophy.
MY start of fear made the honest Proteus acquainted with the
discovery, which he distinguished with a fresh peal of merriment,
exclaiming, " Aha, my cock of the game ! you've discovered an-
other old friend, have you ? Happy dog, to be so well provided !
But, I say, you conf ounded baby," he added, ' do you know you
came within a hair's breadth of shooting my brains out ? "
"It was not I; it was my friend Dicky Dare," said I, sighing
to think of his braver spirit and happier fate. " But, now we
talk of it, I should like to know upon what principles you justify
that nefarious attack."
"Principles !" quoth Captain Brown; "it is long since I have
sailed in them latitudes, split me ! But, after all, my skilligallee,
it was only a bit of a joke ; for there was I on the road, and here
came two cursed cub-headed schoolboys, just run away from the
master, bragging of their money ; and so the devil got into me 1
for a spree, and says I, 'Strike, my hearties!' An who would
have thought of an unlicked schoolboy firing a pistol in Jack
Brown's face half blowing his brains out ? "
" Perhaps," said I, " that was a mere joke, too, your accusing
me of being the robber ? "
" No, hang it," said Captain Brown, laughing, " that was quite
a serious piece of business; for how else was I to get out of the
jaws of them jackasses, the wagoners ?"
" And pray, Captain Brown," said I, " allow me to ask what you
did with my horse, Bay Tom ?"
" Sold him, hang me," quoth Captain Brown, with the utmost
coolness " sold him to a lubber of a Jerseyman ; and, shiver my
timbers," he added with energy, "the money was all counterfeit,
and was nigh getting me in limbo into Philadelphia, where not a
ROBIN DAY. 191
rogue of 'em would take it. Nevertheless," he continued, "I
find it very good here in Virginia at a discount !"
By this time, the worthy gentleman, who made all these con-
fessions with equal frankness and composure, had completed his
disguise, having substituted for the long-tailed coat he had on, a
seaman's jacket, which he took from a bundle behind him, and
which was, I believe, that identical garment he had worn at his
introduction on the highway. The coat took the place of the
jacket in his bundle ; a handsome cloth cap which he had on his
head was turned wrong side out, and converted into a worsted
bonnet ; and he looked the sailor to perfection.
Having thus effected his own "transmogrification," as he
called it, he proposed making some changes also in my appearance ;
to which, being convinced by my fears of their necessity, I reluc-
tantly consented. They were extremely simple, and consisted
merely in gathering my hair into sundry tails or queues, which he
knotted with ropeyarns, produced from his stores in placing on
my head a kind of turban made of a bandanna handkerchief, in-
stead of my cap, which I found room for in my pocket and
finally, in darkening my naturally tawny complexion, by rubbing
my face and hands with moistened tobacco, a chunk of which he
furnished me for the purpose.
What particular object he had in view in thus transforming
me, and especially in knotting my hair, I believe he did not know
himself ; but when the task was finished, he swore he had " made
a man of me ;" though it was my own opinion, as I looked at my-
self in the river, the only convenient looking-glass, that he had
made me a scarecrow. I was ashamed of my appearance, ashamed
of my disguise ; but Brown assured me, over and over again, it
was essential to my safety, and I was forced to submit.
This matter finished, we crossed the river, which was f ordable,
and preceded on our adventures, Brown saying he could complete
our arrangements as well while traveling as while lying at anchor
there on the road, to be boarded all of a sudden by our enemies.
As I walked along at his side, my faithful friend began the com-
pletion of the arrangements as above mentioned, by asking me
"how I was off in the lockers?" which question not suiting my
comprehension, he explained it by asking " how much money I
had in my pockets ?"
As I had not the greatest confidence in the world in my com-
192 ADVENTURES OF
rade's honesty, I felt but little disposed to put it to any greater
temptation than was absolutely necessary, and therefore replied
ambiguously, that " if he would remember how he himself had
appropriated the contents of my letter of recommendation to Mr.
Bloodmoney, and call to mind the disasters I had suffered ever
since, he might imagine my funds were light enough."
" That is, I suppose," quote he, " you mean to say you are as
bare as a beggar's platter ; and if 1 say so too, why there's two of
us, that's all ; only there's some of them Jersey counterfeits yet
lying under hatches. But where's the difference? Them that
knows how to fish, never dabbles among herrings for nothing ; and
money, my hearty, is just the same thing as herrings, split me.
There's enough of it scattered about among the lubbers here along
shore, and it will go hard if we don't light upon some way of grab-
ing our portion."
" I give you to understand, as I did before, Captain Brown,"
said I, alarmed at what I deemed a hint of evil designs upon my
integrity, as well as upon the pockets of the good people of Virgin-
ia, " that, however you may think it a joke to seize upon the
property of other people, I don't ; and I won't be drawn into any
kind of swindling or roguery, I assure you."
At this, Captain Brown grinned with amiable contempt, and re-
peated that he was going to live as honest a life as anybody ;
" for, shiver his timbers," he wanted to know what it felt like.
"But," said he, in his usual emphatic manner, "we must put on
some kind of character, my skilligallee, hoist some sort of colors,
split me ; and if they happen to be false ones, where's the differ-
ence ? Since not a lubberly rascal of us all ever sails under his
own bunting."
With that, he asked me " what I was good for what I knew
what I was brought up to ?" and I replied, that I had not yet de-
voted myself to any particular study, but that I had some little
knowledge of the languages, the mathematics, and other academic
sciences.
" Hang the languages, and mathematics, and academy sciences,"
quoth the vandal, contemptuously. " Can you sing a song, dance
a jig, jump on a tight-rope, play hocus-pocus, eat fire, transmog-
rify shillings, or any of that sort of thing?"
I was obliged to reply in the negative ; upon which he expressed
so much disappointment and contempt of my ignorance that I was
KOBIN DAY.
compelled, in ray defense, to remind him that I had but just emerged
from my schoolday existence into the life of manhood ; that I had
not yet had time to learn much, and, although about to commence
the study of a profession when my wanderings began, I had done
little more, as yet, than read a few medical books in my patron's
office.
" Doctor's books ?" quoth he, with great animation, " what, you
can play Pilgarlic then ? Nothing better : we'll set up doctor
and physic the folks wherever we catch them."
I assured him, hastily, " I had not knowledge of physic sufficient
to undertake the part of a practitioner.
" Oh, never mind the knowledge," said Captain Brown, grinning^
at the happiness of the conceit ; " it's the idea we want, and that
will do the business. And as for being regular doctors, I don't
mean no such thing, sink me ; I goes entirely for the quacking
system."
I gave my friend to understand I had no more appetite for
quacking than for scientific physicing ; that I knew my own incom-
petency, and, knowing it, was too conscientious to be willing to
trifle with the lives of my fellow-beings in a medical way ; and
was pursuing the argument warmly when he interrupted me with
sundry oaths, declaring he intended to do all the physicing him-
self, and required nothing more of me than to look wise, while he
administered to the wants of the afflicted, and when appealed to
by him, to reply in certain cabalistic phrases, which he proceeded
to teach me.
" You see, d'ye see," said he, with the glee of a schoolboy setting
traps for the neighbors' cats, " ./passes for an old sailor that has
seen the world and shiver my timbers, I'm just the man that has
seen it, and that knows it ; and you passes, my lark, for one of
them wise Injiemen, d'ye see, that knows all things, an Injun
Magi, or Midge-eye, or whatever you call it, that can make white
black, and black white, and see a blasted heap farther through a
millstone than other people."
"But," said I; " I can't make white black, and black white, nor
can I see further through a millstone than other people."
" I'll be hang'd if you can't, though," said Captain Brown, laugh-
ing. "Harkee, my skilligallee ; can you say Holly -golly -wow?"
" Yes," replied I, repeating the mystic word, " but I don't know
what it means."
194 ADVENTUEES OF
" And Sammy -ram-ram f n quoth Captain Brown.
" Sammy-ram-ram" said I.
" Bravo !" said Captain Brown, with another explosion of mer-
riment, " that will do. Them two words will make a man of you ;
and hearkee, my hearty, they are the only ones you are to speak.
You don't understand English, d'ye see, and speaks only in your
native lingo."
" But what," said I, " do Holly-golly-wow and Sammy-ram-ram
mean?"
" What do they mean ? Why, hang me if I know, nor anybody
else, for that matter," quoth Captain Brown. " All that you have
to do is to roll out the one or the other, when I speaks to you, and
with as much of an owl look as you can, and understand nothing
that is spoke in English ; for, you see, d'ye see, you don't know
the language. Yes," he added, surveying me with rapture, " with
that tobacco-colored mug," (here the gentleman meant my visage,)
" them monkey-tailed streamers," (here he designated my dishon-
ored locks,) " that dishclout turban," (meaning the bandanna cap)
" and a small matter of wise looks, holly -gqlly -wow and sammy-
ram-ram will carry it against the world ! But now for laying in
a stock of physic."
With these words, my accomplished associate drew from his
pocket a twist of tobacco, which, as he rode slowly along, he bit
into sundry small pieces, suitable for his purpose; and then, com-
manding me to pick up some clay from a puddle on the roadside,
he formed of it a number of formidable looking boluses, in each
of which was imbedded a morsel of tobacco. Of these he gave
me some to carry exposed to the air, that they might dry the sooner;
and others he stowed away in a paper in his cap for the same
purpose, swearing that his head was the hottest part of his
body.
I ventured to express a hope that he had no intention to admin-
ister these highly original pills to any human beings ; as, from what
little I had learned of the medicinal powers of tobacco, I feared
that some of them were strong enough to produce very dangerous
consequences.
" The consequences be curs'd," said he, with sublime disregard of
all petty contingencies; "that's the lookout of the patient. How-
ever," he added more amiably, " I don't think any pill of tobacco
under a pound in weight would stir the stomach of folks in these
ROBIN DAY. 195
latitudes; because how, they eats it, and it is meat and drink to
them."
Being moved, however, by my remonstrances, he consented to
add a store of less energetic medicaments to the boluses. He di-
rected me to pick him up a handful of sand from the roadside,,
which he wrapped up in paper and deposited in his pocket, declaring
that he now had physic enough to cure all the diseases that flesh
was heir to.
These important preparations completed, he assured me we were
now safe from all danger and suspicion, and might enter any house
or village in Virginia without fear; which I was the more happy
to believe, as I was now half dead with hunger, and the night was
beginning to close around us. And, by and by, approaching a little
hamlet, consisting of a tavern, a store, a blacksmith shop, and one
or two scattered cottages, we proceeded up to it without hes-
itation, though, on my part, not without some misgivings, because
of a great number of persons, who, at sight of us, came rushing out
of the tavern door.
196 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XXXVII.
Containing Robin Day's first essay as a quack doctor, and the
wonder/til effects of the Magian medicine.
" Now," quoth Captain Brown, with one of his customary ex-
pletives, " remember to hold your tongue, and to know nothing,
except when I talks to you in the East-Injun tongue, or what's the
same thing, any nonsensical gibberish that may pass for it ; and
then out with the Holly -golly -wow or Sammy -ram-ram ; and my
skilligalee, you'll see what will be the end of it."
With these words he rode boldly up to the tavern door, I follow-
ing, with what face I could, at his heels.
For a moment no one noticed me ; all occupied with Captain
Brown, of whom they eagerly asked the news from Nor-
folk whether the British had attacked and taken it ? whether
they had murdured everybody, and burned the houses ? whether
they were on the march into the interior, and might be soon ex-
pected in their town ? with similar questions expressive of their
anxieties and fears.
To these Captain Brown made answer by invoking the usual
benediction on his eyes, and begging the gentlemen to know " he
had more important business in the world than to concern himself
about the doings of sodgers and milishymen, because why, their
business was to knock one another on the head, while his was to
relieve the distresses of mankind." " However," quoth he, benev-
olently, " as I see you are curious on the subject, I may as well in-
form you that the milishymen have, this time, won the vic-
tory, saved Norfolk, licked the enemy, and driven them clear out
of the land.
At this, there was great rejoicing among the villagers, who gave
three cheers for " Old Vawginnee and Uncle Sam," followed by a
tremendous shaking of hands, each of the happy republicans cross-
ing palms with the bearer of good news, and insisting upon treat-
ing him to something to drink ; while even mine host, who was a
KOBIN DAY. 197
vinegar-faced man with a hole in his hat, awoke to love and mu-
nificence and swore, " stranger should have meat, drink and
lodging for himself and his hoss into the bawgain, and he
wouldn't take one fo'pence ha'penny for it, or his name warn't
John Turnpenny."
So into the bar-room, nothing loth, went Captain Brown, to en-
joy the reward of his happy tidings ; and I, having received no
hint to the contrary, followed also into the room, where my pres-
ence attracted the regards and excited the surprise of one of the
party, who horrified me by demanding of Captain Brown "I say,
stranger, by Jehosophat, what kind f nigger do you call that ?
and where did you come by him ? "
" Oh," said Captain Brown with gravity, after despatching the
first glass of the juice of the maize put into his hand, and ex-
tending his hand for another, " he ain't exactly a nigger, hang
me, but a blackey of the East Injun breed, and such a piece of
man's flesh, as, I reckon was never before seen in these parts,
and will never be seen again. You've heard tell of the Magi
breed ? them great wise fellers in the Injies, that knows all
things can eat fire, chaw swords, find money, read the stars, raise
the devil, cure the consumption and draw rum out of a beer-barrel.
Well, shiver my timbers, he's a Magi !"
" Lord bless us, you don't say so ! " quoth the landlord, eyeing
me, as all the rest now did, with wonder and admiration " draw
rum out of a beer barrel ? Raise the devil ! How did you come
by him?"
" Bought him, if you must know, my hearty," said Captain
Brown, " of the King of the Injies, for ten half -joes, two hunks
of tobacco and a jack-knife ; and then had to kidnap him away ;
for these Magi fellers, dy'e see, ain't to be had every day, and
the King he rued his bargain."
" Draw rum out of a beer barrel ! " again ejaculated mine host,
to whom this faculty appeared most surprising and enviable, " per-
haps he can draw good French brandy out of a cider cask, hah ?
I say, boy, hah ! can you do that f " he added, addressing himself
to me ; who, astounded and indignant at being mistaken for a
scion of the Ethiopian race, and petrified at the impudence and
audacity of my comrade, was now afraid that the attention he had
drawn upon me, and the incredible account he gave of my quali-
ties, might eventuate in suspicion and danger. But Captain Brown
198 ADVENTURES OF
stepped immediately to the rescue that as soon as he had dis-
patched a second glass of liquor.
" Harkee, shipmate," said he to Mr. John Turnpenny ; " you
might as well preach a Dutch sermon to a ship's* figurehead as ask
any of your palavering' questions of that young whelp of a
Magi ; because how, he don't understand English. And as for
drawing rum out of a beer barrel, raising the devil, and so on,
why I will just take the liberty to inform you, d'ye see, he don't
do no such tricks, because Tiow, I bought him young, before he
had finished that part of his education. No, in all them things
he is no better nor wiser than any other jackanapes. But what I
bought him for was for the good of human natur', whereof he
knows things enough to make your hair stand on end. Look at
him ! There's the boy Chowder-Chow they call him in the In-
jies who is the seventh son of his father, which was the seventh
son of his grandfather, and the greatest doctor in all the Injies,
and cured the king's wife of the cholery, after she had been
lying dead three days in her coffin ; and Chowder-Chow here,
for all his being so young and looking so like a jackass, is just
as great a cure as his father."
"Can he cure the aguy?" cried an indigo colored personage,
who, with his hands buried in his trowsers pockets, his head
sunk on his breast and otherwise looking very chilly and dis-
consolate, now stared at me with solemn eagerness, and a doleful
yawn in the face.
" Can he cure the aguy ?" repeated Captain Brown with dis-
dain, " aguy and bilious cholery, and the small-pox, consumption,
happyplexy, sore eyes and stich in the side, lock-jaw and the
falling-sickness, liver complaint and the horrors, rheumatiz, tooth-
ache, and water in the brain every unfortunate disease you ever
heard of ; besides all the ills of horses, cows, sheep, dogs, asses,
pigs and niggers what is he the seventh son of a seventh son,
which was an Injun Maji for, if he can't cure the whole of 'em
just as easy as look at 'em ? "
" Because," said the blue-visaged man, his visage growing still
bluer, " I have a touch of the complaint, which has been hang-
ing about me, on and off, I reckon now for about seven years, and
I fancy I am about having a shake of it right off now, be-
cause my nose is as cold as a dog's, and it is coming on to the
time, which is about early candle-light. And if so be as how
ROBIN DAY. 199
this Injun doctor can cure me, why, I'll pay him for his
trouble, that's all."
And to prove that the poor fellow was not mistaken in his
reckoning, his speech was ended by a sudden snap of the teeth,
which was followed by another, and another, until presently there
was such a chattering and clattering of his jaws as might
have moved an alligator to surprise and envy,
" Can he cure a weakness in the small of the back, with a pain
in the inwards ?" quoth the landlord Turnpenny, " Can he cure
a misery in the tooth ?" demanded another. " Can he do anything
at a weak stomach, and the hopthalmy in the eyes ?" cried a third,
and presently there was not a man of them that was not busy re-
counting his bodily infirmities, and inquiring my abilities to re-
move them.
Captain Brown was not satisfied with replying boldly in the
affirmative ; he assured them my powers were so wonderfully
great that I could remove half the diseases of the world merely
by looking at them ; and, for the other half, I required only two
remedies, each of such peculiar, yet incompatible virtues, that,
although either was a perfect specific for all the diseases to which
it was applicable, it was certain death if administered to the mal-
adies requiring the use of the other.
" And," said he, with a great oath, " here's the wonder of the
thing ; for, whereas you might think that with two such drugs,
you, or I, or any body else, might go into the world and spoil the
regular doctors' business, you would think, axing your pardon for
saying so, like so many jackasses ; because how, we should never
know which of them to give, and if we gave the wrong one, we
should send your sick man to Davy Jones in no time no, I'll be
hang'd, none but a Magi knows that. Now," said he, turning to
the shivering subject of ague, and producing his wondrous medi-
cines viz., the tobacco boluses and the paper of sand ; " here I
have the great cure-alls, split me, the holy medicines of the Magies,
one in one hand and t'other in the t'other ; and I knows one of
them will cure you, d'ye see, the other kill you ; and that's all I
knows, or you knows, or anybody else knows ; and if you want to
try your own luck at 'em, here's at your sarvice you may have
a trial all for nothing ; I allows all people to do that^ for the
good of human natur'. But," he added, " if you axes the Magi
to tell you the true one that will cure you, why, then, here's the
200 ADVENTURES OF
case, shiver me, all in short out with your rhino ; for that's not
a thing to be done free gratis for nothing."
Fever-and-ague recoiled from the perilous choice, so charitably
offered him, and fell to fumbling, as well as the "shakes" would
permit, in his pocket for the means of engaging the services of
the young Magi ; while the others, gazing with reverent curiosity
on the magical drugs, begged to know " their names and naturs,
if it was axing a fair question."
" Fair enough," quoth Captain Brown, with conscious dignity;
*' I am not one of them ignoramus quacks that makes a secret of
their kill-dog stuffs, which does no good, except to kill off jack-
asses, whereof there is too many in the world ; because as how,
if they tell the secret, any body may lay hold of the same non-
sensical trash, and set up a quacking in opposition. But there is
no fear of that with me; because as how, if any body gits the
medicines, he can't use' em, d'ye see, without a Magi to help him;
and, secondly, he can't get them, without he sails all the way to
the Injies, and then buys them of the Magies. These here,"
quoth he, extending a handful of boluses, " is them rare and
precious things, Mermaids' Eggs, fished up by the pearl divers
from the pearl banks of the Injun Ocean."
" Lord bless us ! " quoth Mr. Turnpenny ; " do mermaids lay
eggs ? I thought they was half fish and half woman ! "
" And so they are," quoth Captain Brown ; " but they lay eggs
notwithstanding. I harpooned one, off the coast of Coromandel ;
and I'll be hang'd if she wasn't as full of eggs as a tortoise, and,
split me for a ninny, (because as how, I didn't then know of their
virtues), I had 'em all cooked in a mess, and the sailors eat 'em
for dinner ; but the carcass we threw overboard, because as how,
it was too human looking for eating."
Here Captain Brown had very nearly forgotten himself, as was
proved by one of the men present asking " what were the medical
effects of this extraordinary dinner upon his crew ? " to which,
however, he immediately replied, that the effects were in the main,
bad enough, as they killed twenty-seven men, out of thirty that
eat of them ; though they cured him of a terrible Bengal fever,
that then possessed him, and that so thoroughly that he had never
been sick since, and never again expected to be "because how,
it was the virtue of these Magi medicines, that, when they cured a
man of any disease, no matter what it might be, he was never sick
ROBIN DAY. 201
afterwards of any malady whatever, and always died of mere old
age."
" And this here stuff that's in the paper," quoth Captain Brown,
displaying the second treasure.
" Lord bless us," said Mr. Turnpenny, " it looks for all the
world like common sand ! "
" And so it is," said the voyager, " but such sand as you, nor any
other man, never before saw in America. It is that wonderful sand,
more precious than gold or silver, the Holy Sand of the Ganges."
" Lord bless us ! " ejaculated Mr. Turnpenny.
" It comes from the holy places in the mountains, where the
river comes out of a rock, and where none but the Magies goes,"
said Captain Brown ; " and it has such a wonderful power, that if
you throw one single grain of it into a pine-wood fire, it will blow
the house up ; and where you give it in the wrong cases, and the
man swallows it, he falls to pieces like au unhooped hogshead.
And to tell you the honest truth, d'ye see," he added, " it is not
safe to swallow it in any case : the true way to take it is to put it
into a bottle of water and shake it, and then smell at the bottle
when you get up in the morning, seven days fasting."
By this time, fever-and-ague had collected all the small coin in his
pocket, which he proposed to exchange for a dose of the wondrous
physic, provided the Magi Chowder Chow should select it, and
provided also Chowder Chow's master should warrant him against
all danger, and guarrantee a perfect cure into the bargain. Cap-
tain Brown deposited the money in his pocket, after swearing that
he had never before taken so small a sum for such valuable physic,
no, not he ; but that " something was better than nothing, split
him, and he would go a great way for the good of human na-
tur ' ; " and then bade them observe in how wonderful a manner
Chowder Chow would proceed in deciding upon his case, and its
proper specific.
" You see him, there he stands," quoth the villian, " and knows
no more of our lingo than I do of a cat's conscience or a monkey's
mathematics. Well now, mayhap, you may think he will have to
ask a whole heap of questions, and I to answer them, in his lingo,
for this here gentleman that is a shaking like a shutter in a high
wind, as to the state of his inwards, and all that, like a common
physicianer ; which is all nonsense, d'ye see ; because why, a Magi
looks into a man's face and sees through him, and knows all about
202 ADVENTURES OF
him, inside and out ; and where then's the use of asking ques-
tions ? I shall just put the poor devil which is to say, begging his
pardon, the poor gentleman before his eyes, and you'll see what
will come of it."
With that, he took the shiverer by the shoulder, and placed him
Kefore me, saying, " Well now, Chowder Chow, my hearty, what
do you think of the poor man, and what is to be done with him ?"
Chowder Chow, in spite of the reluctance he felt at being made
a party to a fraud so impudent and yet so ridiculous, felt, never-
theless, the necessity of acting up to the character he had assumed;
and, taking the hint from the words of his master, of which he
was supposed to understand not a syllable, and from instructions
previously given, he stared in the man's face with as much cour-
age as he could muster, backed by a suitable proportion of solemn-
ity, and " Holly-y oily -wow /" he muttered.
" Ah, indeed !" quoth Captain Brown, turning with admiration
to the expectant company " there you see the use of having a
Magi : for shiver me, if I didn't think, from my own numskull
notions, that the Holy Sand of the Ganges was the very thing to
cure the gentleman of his aguy ; whereas Chowder Chow says,
says he, ' The man has got the f ever-and-aguy, and has had it for
seven years, and it has turned his liver into milk and molasses :
give him a Mermaid's egg, and wash it down with half a pint of
whiskey.'"
" Lord bless us !" said the landlord ; and " By Jehoshaphat ?"
said the others, expressing their wonder and admiration. One of
them, however, looked a little perplexed, and repeating the word
" Holly -golly -wow" asked how it was possible it could express so
much as honest Brown had rendered as its meaning. To this
Brown replied, " the Magi lingo was a short-hand language, which
crammed a barrel of notions into a pint of words, and was ex-
tremely difficult to learn, it was, split him." Then, having thus
ingeniously satisfied the doubter, he made the sick man, to my
horror, swallow one of the hugest of the boluses, and immediately
after wash it down with an immoderate glass of whiskey.
He then turned to mine host Turnpenny, who was eager upon
Brown's offering, "out of respect to the house," as he said, to
physic him for nothing, to have the great Magi at work upon his
weakness in the small of the back, and pain of the inwards ; and
Brown having brought him before me accordingly, I was about to
I.
ROBIN DAY. 203
deliver another oraculous opinion, when the bolus we had admin-
istered to the ague patient, being, I suppose, at length dissolved
by the whiskey, produced such a sudden and tremendous effect
upon his inwards, as to discompose the company, and interrupt
my Magian proceedings. The poor man turned from blue to pale,
gave a hidious gasp, clapped his hands upon his epigastrium, arch-
ing his back up, like a frenzied cat, and then, with a yell of
astonishment and distress, he rushed from the room into the
porch, where his rebellious digester discarded the Magian medi-
cine ; but not without such throes of anguish and convulsions of
nausea, as left the poor fellow, when the operation ceased, more
dead than alive.
I was very much frightened when they brought him in, and so,
indeed, was everybody else, except Brown, who grinned, declared
all was right, and ended the scene by ordering them to give him
another glass of whiskey, and carry him to bed, which was imme-
diately done.
This calamitous termination of the first miracle of Chowder
Chow, the Magus, (or Magi, as Captain Brown would have it) cast
a discredit, at least for a time, over the Mermaid's Eggs, and the
company no longer showed an inclination to be physiced. Even
Turnpenny, upon being appealed to, to resume his station before
the dispenser of panaceas, excused himself, giving a reason that
supper was now ready, and he could not think of losing so great a
luxury, which, it was evident, he must do, if the Magian medicines
produced so strong an effect upon him as they had done on his
aguish neighbor.
The word supper was music to my ears, and quite banished the
fears I had felt as to the ulterior effects of the bolus, and while
dispatching it, which I was obliged to do at a side table, (for, as a
slave, which my audacious friend had represented to me to be, no
one thought me a suitable companion at the table, while my Ma-
gian character fortunately preserved me from the ignominy of the
kitchen), I resolved to bear the ills and degradation of my present
state, as long as circumstances made it necessary, with as much as
resignation and philosophy as I could.
204 ADVENTUKES OF
CHAPTER XXVIII.
The Mermaid^ Eggs effect a 'miraculous cure, and Chowder-
Chow rises in reputation.
WHEN the supper was over, Turnpenny, with some others, went
up stairs to visit the victim of the bolus, whom, wonderful to be
said, they found relieved of his ague, and, according to his own
account, as well as ever he was better, indeed, as he said, than he
ever remembered to have felt before in his life, and desirous to
know the great doctor's will, whether he might not get up to en-
joy the company, or, at least, have another glass of whiskey to
recompense the pains of solitude.
This wonderful cure, which I suppose was owing to the tremen 1 -
dous shock of the bolus upon the martyr's whole system, produced
the effect that might have been expected upon Turnpenny and his
friends, especially as Captain Brown declared the man would
never be sick again as long as he lived; and their eagerness was re-
newed to have the extraordinary Chowder Chow administer to
their various ailments.
Turnpenny again offered himself to my inspection, though it
must be confessed his resolution faltered a little at the moment,
and he assured Captain Brown, "if it was all one to him and to
the Doctor, he would rather prefer having a dose of the Holy
Sand of the Ganges to smell at than a Mermaid's egg to swallow,
because his stomach was naturally a tender one, and, he was
sure, any violent attack upon it would be the death of him."
Captain Brown averred upon his honor that his Magi medicines,
administered by the Magi, never were the death of any body; and
comforted him with the assurance that, if severely handled by
them, he might be sure he had been desperately in need of their
assistance, "because as how," quoth Captain Brown, with ex-
haustless ingenuity, or impudence, "the way these Magi medicines
cures a disease is by fighting it out of a man's body it is pull
dick, pull devil between them ; when the disease is strong the light
ROBIN DAY. 205
is strong, but when it is small matter, why the fight is a small
matter; and that's exactly the way of it."
Then, turning to me, he said, " Well, Chowder Chow, my lad,
Polly -wolly -smash f " which he interpreted to the company as
meaning, " What is to be done with the landlord ? "
Fortunately for this anxious worthy, his doctor was as desirous
as himself that his medicine should be of the mildest character ;
I had no inclination to bring him within an ace of his life, for the
sake of removing a weakness in the back and a pain in the in-
wards. I, therefore, after giving him the wisest look I could sum-
mon to my assistance, pronounced the magical " Sammy -ram-ram"
which, I justly inferred, would condemn him only to a dose of the
Holy Sand of the Ganges. Captain Brown picked, with the ut-
most care and circumspection, a single grain from his paper, and
presented it to Mr. Turnpenny. "Put this," said he, " into a bot-
tle, and fill it up with water; " which being immediately done, he
bade Turnpenny smell it seven times, and then asked, " if he did
not feel much stronger in the back and easier in the inwards ? "
" Well," returned mine host, with a look of wonder, " I don't
know but I do. But, I declar', it has the most powerful smell I
ever did smell ! "
"Has it?" quoth Captain Brown; "that is a sign, then, that
there is a powerful strength in the weakness of your back, and the
Holy Sand is taking a powerful pull at it. But this is nothing to
the good it will do you, when you smell it in the morning, which
you must do, fasting, seven times, and for seven days running ;
when, if you ain't clear of all ailments forever and a day after, I
give you leave to eat me, that's all. But, I say, shipmate," he
added, solemnly, " take care you don't let that grain of sand, by
any mischance, get too near a pine-wood fire, or sky-high goes
the house to Davy Jones in a twinkling."
The landlord vowed he would take great care to avoid such a
misfortune ; and Captain Brown turned him to the others, all of
whom, in turn, now applied to Chowder Chow for relief. Nay,
business thickened on my hands. Turnpenny brought in his wife
and children to be prescribed for, an example that was followed by
two o'thers present, being the blacksmith and shopkeeper of the
hamlet, who went out for their families to have them doctored ;
not because they were sick and wanted doctoring, but because
Captain Brown, in the plentitude of his impudence, assured them
206 ADVEXTUKES OF
that the Magi medicines, administered, according to the constitu-
tion (and it was the peculiarity of constitution, he swore, and not
of disease, that indicated the medicine), to people in good health,
were sufficient to prevent the takers ever being sick of any disease
in their lives.
From all these happy people, for whom I took care to order
nothing but the Holy Sand of the Ganges or from as many of
them as had any money the brazen fellew exacted a reward, be-
ing every penny he could get; so that, when the entertainments
of the evening were over, and we retired to bed, he swore he had
pocketed at least five or six dollars. I told him " the money was
not acquired honestly;" to which he replied, that "he had often
heard of money being acquired honestly, but had never yet seen
a case of it ; and all the honest people he ever knew were as poor
as King David's goslings, and expected to remain so."
I would have argued with him upon the knavery of our pro-
ceeding; but I saw argument was all wasted upon a man who
seemed actually to think that cozening and swindling were excel-
lent pastime the finest thing in the world or, as he called it, " as
good as a glass of grog." But I gave him warning, it was against
my conscience to persist in such deception, and that I would aban-
don the Magian vocation as soon as I found myself beyond the
reach of pursuers and courts martial.
This protest I made in the chamber assigned to the honest Cap-
tain ; in which was spread upon the floor a bundle of straw, a bed
scarce worthy of the dignity of an East India doctor, but fit
enough for the favored bondman of a traveler. Upon this score
of bondage, too, I had some indignation to express; for I saw no
reason why he should represent me in so degrading a light as his
slave. "Oh," said he, "it is your only safety; who will think of
court-martialing a slave for high treason ? " With that he be-
stowed a profane benediction on my eyes, and closed his own, be-
ing in a moment sound asleep; and I, being weary and heavy
enough, was glad to follow his example.
KOBIN DAY. 207
CHAPTER XXXIX.
The progress of Chowder Chow and his master continued.
WE arose at an early hour in the morning to resume our journey,
but not until Captain Brown, from an impulse of friendship, had
bought of our host, for my use, a sorry nag, with saddle and bri-
dle; for which, as he told me afterwards with great delight, he
had paid in counterfeit money, being some of the remaining portion
of the notes he had got for Bay Tom. This grieved and discon-
certed me greatly ; but I was not informed of it until it was too
late to make restitution.
I discovered, during the previous evening, from some expressions
of honest Turnpenny, that his little hamlet was in possession of a
post-office, at which mails were received once a week; and that
the dignity of postmaster, along with that of publican, centered in
his honored person.
This recalled to my memory the letter I had written, and still
carried about me, while in the Jumping Jenny, to Dr. Howard,
informing him of my misfortunes and captivity, of the extraordi-
nary and most happy discovery I had made of his son Tommy, and
of my intention to effect for him and myself a speedy escape from
the hands of the invaders. I sighed to think how I had been baf-
fled in regard to Tommy, who was still a prisoner; but I felt the
necessity of informing my patron of the discovery without further
delay. For this purpose, I determined to sieze the present oppor-
tunity of committing my letter to the post ; and I designed, in the
morning, to add an envelope, in which to acquaint him with my
having escaped alone, and the necessity of his taking some steps
to effect the liberation of his son.
But when morning came, I found our early setting-out, which
Brown declared was necessary to our saf ety,deprived me of the pow-
er of adding anything further to the letter ; which I was, therefore,
enforced to send as it was. As I was sensible it would be an ob-
liviously suspicious step for me, in person, to hand the letter to
208 APVKXTl HKS OF
Turnpenny, I was obliged to request Captain Hrown's good otliees
in the mutter ; aiul, as 1 gave it to him, I bogged ho would not
think it necessary to make as free with it as ho had done with my
letter of introduction ; for which there was the loss reason, as there
was no money in it. Brown laughed, and carried the letter to
Turnpenny ; but I took eare to keep my eye upon him notwith-
standing. As it was addressed to Dr. Howard, which Turn-
penny observed, Brown took the occasion, and such an occasion
he manifestly never could resist, to tell him a very big falsehood,
namely, that it was a letter of his writing-to a very great and rich
doctor, who wanted to buy the secrets of the Magi ami the Magi
himself for which and whom ho nad offered twenty thousand dollars
in hard money ; but which Brown had refused, "because as how it
was not half the value of the articles.'*
This business settled, and to my satisfaction, for I saw the letter
safely deposited in a trunk, the strong box. of the post-otliee, we
mounted our horses, any rode forth upon our adventures, taking
eare, however, for very obvious reasons, to seek them upon the most
retired and unfrequented roads.
We stopped to dine at another out-of-the-way hamlet, where I
was compelled a second time to assume the character of a Magus,
and dispense the wonderful drugs of the K:ist to such :is were will-
ing to be administered to in our wonderful way.
As I had my reasons for preferring the Holy Sand of thcliangee
to the Mermaids' Kggs, I took eare, when the first patient appeared
before me, to pronounce the Magian Sammy-ram-ratn, not doubt-
ing that the luck\ Mitl'erer would get off with the mildest dose of
our medicines. I nit I soon found that I had reckoned without my
host; for Captain Urown, who, I began clearly to perceive, was
possessed by a devil of mischief, and preferred the energetic oper-
ation of theboluses to the gentler etYeets of the Holy Sand, inter-
preted, this t\iin\&nntny-ratn-ramlo mean Mermaid's Kggs ; and a
Mermaid's Kgg he forthwith administered to the patient. And, in-
deed on all fuutre occasions, whether I commenced my proceedings
with Sammy-ram-ram or Ilolly-t/olly-trotr, he was sure to begin
/i in with a tobacco bolus.
Our efforts in the cause of humanity, in this way, were contin-
ued for rather more than a week, and might, but for an accident
of which I shall presently speak, have continued much longer, as
our Magian pretensions, and the miraculous cures which, it seems.
ROBIN DAY.
we effected, began to swell the trump of fame. And, I believe,,
we might have made our fortunes, too, so great became our renown
and the eagerness of our patients, had we not unfortunately com-
menced operations in a poor and but thinly settled district, where
credulity was much more plentiful than money. Nevertheless, I
inferred from what Captain Brown said, that we did a pretty fair
business.
Another inference I also made, namely, that of all the modes of
swindling mankind, and in particular, American mankind, yet
devised, drugging them with quack medicines is at once the easi-
est and most profitable; and this opinion, drawn from my own
youthful experience in the honorable trade, I find in these my riper
years, confirmed by the accounts of others, and especially the
accounts daily published in the newspapers, by which it is appa-
rent that the quack trade has arrived at a pitch of stupendous im-
portance, and bids fair to become, in time, the great business of
the country.
To Captain Brown this kind of life, which entirely fulfilled his
ideas of an honest one, presented a variety of charms which my
conscience did not permit me to find in it. To gull was the first
of his delights, and the more impudent the cheat the better ; and
as to the consequences of his roguery, whether serious or not,
they gave him not the least concern. His only regret, as constantly
expressed, was that my obstinate adherence to the Holy Sand of
the Ganges prevented his oftener administering the Mermaids'
Eggs, which he had the greatest satisfaction in doing, as well as
in watching their lugubrious effects upon the visages and stomachs
of his patients.
Next to this was the pleasure he took in stretching the credulity
of his patrons to the utmost. He was not even content with ex-
acting full belief in the extraordinary pretensions he put forth in
favor of his medicines ; he vowed Chowder Chow could cure a
patient without seeing him, nothing more being necessary than
that some friend should step forward as his representative and
pronounce his name; whereupon Chowder Chow could, and would,
immediately, he declared, with unerring sagacity, determine the
medicine that was necessary for his case and constitution ; which
medicine was warranted by him just as certainly to effect a cure as
if administered by his own hands. In this assumption, in truth,
we found our greatest advantage and profit, since, as we never tar-
210 ADVENTURES OF
ried at any one place longer than to eat or sleep, and therefore
did not wait until the sick and ailing could be brought to us to
be physiced, we must have lost a great many patients, had we
not thus possessed the power of physicing them at a distance.
To me, as I have already hinted, this life of deception and
roguery was distressing enough, and only endured for a time to
serve the purpose of self-preservation. Every day increased my
longing to throw off the humiliating mask of the merry-andrew
which I was compelled to wear, and with it the friendship and
company of Captain Brown, whose character now fully exposed,
his wild, graceless, unprincipled, devil-may-care disposition, I knew
not whether I most wondered at or detested.
Of this desire I did not scruple to make him acquainted ; but
he only laughed, and asked me " how I was to navigate clear of
the officers of justice, if I lost his convoy ?" a question that com-
monly reduced me to silence and submission. Towards the end
of the week, however, I began to think I was now so far removed
from the coast, and from the theatre of war for we had been
journey ing west ward all the time as to be no longer in danger of
a court-martial ; and one fine but sultry evening, upon the
banks of the river Roanoke, which we had now reached, I resolved
that that should be the last day of my humiliation.
" To-morrow," quoth I to myself, " I will tell Captain Brown,
or Hellcat, or whatever he may call himself, that he must, in
future, be his own Magus ; pronounce the absurd Holly -golly -wow
with his own lips, and dispense with his own hands (as he has,
in fact, done all along,) his confounded Mermaids' Eggs, and the
Holy Sand of the Ganges."
ROBIN DAY. 211
CHAPTER XL.
Another miraculous cure, but the credit of which Chowder Chow
is willing should rest with Captain Brown entirely.
As these resolutions were forming in my mind, we perceived of
a sudden, in a cotton field, which we were riding by, a group of
men, all of them negroes, except one, who seemed an overseer,
surrounding a fellow laborer, who had fallen down in a fit, as it
afterwards appeared ; though, with all my Magian knowledge, I
had not the least notion what was the matter, until my comrade
d d his eyes, and swore there " was meat for .our market,"
meaning that there was a case proper for our medicines. With
that he rode into the field, bidding me follow him, and coming
up to the group, demanded of the overseer what was the matter.
" Oh," said the overseer, with a drawling voice, " it's nothing
it's only a gone nigger ; fell down smack with the happyplexy."
" Did he ?" quoth Captain Brown, with an oath ; " then here's
just the lad, the great East Injun Doctor, that can cure him."
And with that, he cfescended from his horse, and turned the
negro, who lay terribly snorting on his face, over upon his back.
" Well !" quoth the overseer, turning from the officious stranger
to me, whom he regarded with a languid, yawning curiosity ;
while the negroes, forgetting their comrade, grinned a stupid
amazement in my face " Well, I did hear some 'un say some-
thing of the East Injun Doctor ; but, I reckon," he added, looking
round again to Brown, "he can do nothing for the boy ; because
as how, he is done for, and I don't allow any physic can touch the
happyplexy."
" Nor I neither," said Brown, " except the Magi physic ; which
is a thing, my hearty, whereof you knows no more of than a cat
of the forte-piano. But you shall are, shiver my timbers, what
Chowder Chow can do ; and if he don't cure him, why, I'll eat
him, that's all. You shall see Chowder Chow look through his
black carcass in no time."
212 ADVENTURES OF
With that, he turned to me, saying, "How now, Chowder
QhQwpolly-wolly-smash /" which he, as was his wont, interpreted
for the overseer's benfit to mean, "What is to be done with the
man !"
I was amazed, nay, confounded, at the audacity of Brown in
offering my services in a case so desperate ; for to me the poor
negro seemed at the very last gasp, in articulo mortis, as the
doctors say ; and it was with a faltering voice, and rather from
the associations of habit than any operation of the will, that I
muttered out the customary " Holly-golly-wow." My amazement
was increased by the interpretation Brown immediately gave this
phrase, which had never before meant any thing but Mermaids'
Eggs or the Golden Sand of the Ganges : but which now, he de-
clared, signified nothing less than that the overseer should use the
whip he had in his hand, and apply it to the back of the dying
negro.
" Lash a feller that's dying !" ejaculated the overseer, his dull
eyes opening with astonishment, perhaps with humane indignation.
" No, stranger, I don't do no such thing as that, no how."
" You wont ?" quoth Brown, snatching the whip from his
hand ; " I'll be hang'd if I don't, then ; for, d'ye see, when
Chowder Chow says whip, he means whip, and no mistake about
it."
With that, he fetched the poor creature a terrible thwack over
the shins, which happend to be bare, and with an effect the most
astonishing in the world. The legs, that seemed stiffening in death,
were jerked upwards with convulsive vivacity ; the snort of apo-
plexy was changed to a yell of pain ; and up jumped the dying
negro, dancing about to avoid the slashes Brown still aimed at his
shins, and lustily roaring, " Lorra gor, Massy ! all cure now Massy !
all cure." And I heard him add, sotto voce, when the operation
was over, " dis here nigger nebber play 'possum no more !"
"Well !" ejaculated the overseer, surveying first the resuscitated
negro, (who the moment Brown ceased to castigate him, caught
up a hoe, and began to annihilate weeds and blue grass with
astonishing zeal and industry,) then Brown, the performer of the
cure, and, lastly, him, the sagacious Chowder Chow, who had di-
rected it " Well now ! I'm hanged if I ever did hear of troun-
cing a feller out of the happyplexy ! I say, stranger," he added,
addressing Brown, " do you cure any other diseases that way ?"
ROBIN DAY. 213
"The way," quoth Brown, "depends upon Chowder Chow, the
Magi doctor ; who always cures every ailing exactly the right
way, and never misses, because how, shipmate, a miss isn't in
him.
"It aint ?" said the overseer, giving me another admiring stare;
"well, then, all I have to say is, if that's the sort of short work he
makes upon a sick man, he has just come to the right place, here
upon this plantation, to get his hands full of business ; because
we've a heap of hands here among us, and this here Roanoke air
always keeps us a full hospital."
With that he invited us to follow him to the mansion of his
employer, who lived in seclusion upon his estate, which was a very
great and valuable, but not very healthy one, and would, doubt-
less, be very happy to engage our services, as well as reward them
handsomely. To this proposal Brown immediately consented, and
we rode to the house much, however, against my secret will ; for
I feared lest the owner of the estate should prove a man of edu-
cation, intelligent enough to penetrate our shallow devices, to
laugh at, and perhaps to punish the imposition.
214 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XLI.
Chowder Chow performs, as he hopes, his last cure, at the expense
of Mr. Fabius Maximus Feverage.
FORTUNATELY, as it proved, my fears were in this case groundless ;
for Mr. Feverage (which the overseer told us was the proprietor's
name,) received us with the greatest possible respect; and upon
being told the miraculous cure we had wrought upon the apoplectic
slave, which the overseer did his best to make still more miracu-
lous, swore, (for Mr. Feverage though a rich and respectable man,
could swear too, and that roundly,) that he had never before
heard, or read, of their being such good doctors in the East Indies,
but that he could now believe it; asked if I cured all diseases, like
the apoplexy, instantaneously; and upon Brown replying I never
required more than seven days to cure the most desperate diseases,
said I was " a wonderful young devil," demanded what were the
nature of my remedies, and if I had a good store of them; and
ended by desiring to carry me to the hospital, or sick cabins, where
he said, he had some twenty or thirty hands down with various
diseases, which I should be handsomely rewarded for administer-
ing to.
To this last proposal Brown, to my great relief, demurred, say-
ing he had traveled all day and was tired and hungry " because
how, he was a mortal man, and so was Chowder Chow, although
a Magi; and, split his timbers, the niggers might wait till morn-
ing;" to which proposition Mr. Feverage very politely submitted,
and ordered supper to be brought in.
Upon this, Captain Brown, charmed by his hospitality, told him,
that although Chowder Chow was too weary to attend to the ne-
groes, he would not object to his giving him a proof of his skill in
his own person, provided he had any ailing he wished to be rid of.
Mr. Feverage, who looked to me the picture of robust health, not-
withstanding the insalubrity of his estate, declared " he had he
didn't know what to call it he could not say he was a sick man,
ROBIN DAY. 215
but he believed he had, and had had, ever since last fall, when he
had a bilious fever he would not call it a pain or a weakness, or a
stiffness, but a kind of coldness, and yet it wasn't cold neither
but his left leg wasn't exactly the same as his right one."
"Well," quoth Captain Brown, " that may be a small matter or
a great one, which neither of us knows nothing about, but Chow-
der Chow does, and if you stands up before him, and looks him
straight in the face, he'll tell you what it is in no time."
" Oh," said Mr. Feverage, " I shall be glad to know."
And up he jumped before me, who, perceiving I was to say
something, and not knowing anything better to say, murmured out
a modest " Holty-goUy-wow"
" How ! you don't say so !" quoth Captain Brown, looking very
much surprised, or pretending to be; and, immediately turning to
Mr. Feverage, he assured him, with great solemnity that is, with
one of his choice execrations, which not even the presence of so
respectable a gentleman could check that it was a fortunate thing
he had consulted the wonderful Chowder Chow, who had told him
that "that coldness, or stiffness, or weakness, or whatever he
thought it, was nothing less than the beginning of a palsy in his
limb."
"A palsy ! God bless me !" cried Mr. Feverage, looking -prodig-
iously alarmed ; "I hope not; I never should have believed it;
I'm not that sort of a man yet. Yet, I remember, I had an uncle
that is, my wife had an uncle who died of palsy ; and such things
run in a family !"
" Oh," said Brown, with an encouraging air, " you needn't be
frightened; for, if you had all the palsies in the world, Chowder
Chow would clear them out of you in less time than I could empty
a glass of grog, he would, split me. And if you are for making an
end of the matter, before it goes any further "
" Oh, yes, by all means !" interrupted Mr. Feverage, in great
agitation ; " I remember that my wife's uncle lost all the use of one
side ; his arm dangled and his leg hung, and one cheek was all out
of shape, and his mouth awry. I wouldn't look so for the world !
And if the doctor can prevent it
"Prevent it !" quoth Brown with an air of pity; " if he don't,
just consider me bound to make a supper of him, that's all."
With that, he bade the gentleman again take his station before
me, which he did, and I, cursing in my secret thoughts Brown's
216 ADVENTURES OF
officiousness in procuring a patient, when I could have done so
well without one, was obliged to pronounce the words of wisdom;
and, " Sammy-ram-ram " concluded my part in the exhibition.
I took it for granted that Brown would be content, in this case,
with dispensing the Holy Sand of the Ganges, our patient and
host being a man of too much consequence and dignity to be con-
demned to the infernal boluses. But Brown's audacity was not of
a kind to be subdued by the rank of a patron, and his affection for
the boluses too great to permit the loss of any opportunity to use
them. A Mermaid's Egg, therefore, he immediately administered,
and with such effect, that, within five minutes, Mr. Feverage grew
deadly sick, and gulped and retched in a manner doleful to be-
hold. And to make the matter worse. Brown, at every qualm,
plied him with questions, " how his leg felt ? " " Was not the
coldness going off?" "Had not the weakness diminished?"
" Was not the pain entirely gone ? " until the poor gentleman,
driven to phrenzy by the pangs of his stomach, and the imperti-
ence of his physician, burst into execrations, d d his leg, the
weakness, the pain, and the coldness, and called for a basin to pre-
pare for that catastrophe he could no longer doubt was coming,
and which was, indeed, not much longer deferred.
In this way, he was, at length, relieved of the chief part of his
distresses ; and the remaining qualms were conquered by a glass
or two of cold toddy he had previously ordered to be mixed ; af-
ter which, being now restored to that happy state of ease he had
been in before, he fell into a rapture, and vowed " I was a wonder-
ful doctor, and my medicines most extraordinary that they had
certainly removed all his symptoms, his coldness, weakness, &c.;
and he could take his oath upon the gospels that one leg now felt
exactly like the other."
He now asked a great many questions concerning me, which
Brown answered by the story he had, by constant repetition, al-
most committed to memory, viz., that he had bought me of an In-
dian king for ten half-joes, two hunks of tobacco, and a jack-
knife, &c. &c. ; all which Mr. Feverage heard with interest and
admiration, especially the fact of my being a slave. He declared
he would swap any ten of his hands for such a paragon, and of-
fered to buy me on the spot, if mymaster would put anything like
a reasonable price on me. But Captain Brown swore, with affec-
tionate emphasis, " he would not part with me for the world, be-
ROBIN DAY. 217
cause how, split him, he was not going to sell the bread out of his
mouth."
By this time the supper was laid, and a sumptuous one it was,
too ; and down sat the hospitable host, having previously directed
Captain Brown to do the same.
As for me, who had with longing eyes ana dissolving lips sur-
veyed the dishes as they were brought in one after the other, and
so far forgot myself as to anticipate the pleasure I should have in
making away with them, I received a sudden hint that I was not
expected to be of the party, by Mr. Feverage bidding one of the
negro footmen, of whom there were some half a dozen or more
that came into the room to wait on the table, to " take the doctor
to the kitchen, and give him his supper ; " an order, however, that
he immediately revoked by saying " But, after all, he's no com-
mon blackey, or company for blackeys : and so take him to the
housekeeper's pantry, and there feed him like a white-man."
Alas ! how my cheeks reddened beneath their brown covering
at my unworthy fate ! how my blood boiled to think that Captain
Brown, a vulgar ignoramus and desperado, should sit down to a
gentleman's table, from which I was driven to the half menial
feast of a housekeeper's pantry ! Alas, alas ! However, I was
too hungry to remain long in a passion.
My sable attendant, by whom I was taken to the pantry, assisted
by her highness the housekeeper, in whom I expected to discover
a respectable matron of my own hue, but found only an old mu-
latto wench, supplied me with abundance of cold victuals ; to
which was, by and by, added a dish or two that had been removed
from the parlor table, after serving the turn of my honored
master. I sighed as I fell foul of them. " But nevermind," quoth
I to myself ; " this is the last time the vile Captain Brown shall
have such an advantage over me. To-morrow I cast off the slough
of a slave and resume the character of a gentleman." This
thought comforted me, and I made, doubtless, as hearty a meal as
Captain Brown himself did.
My supper finished, I had some hope of being conducted again
to the parlor, where Captain Brown was enjoying himself over
the good cheer of Mr. Feverage, and telling him, no doubt, a
great many unconscionable stories ; but in this I was disappointed,
being left not to myself, for every minute there came, at least,
one blackamoor visage to the door to survey the great Magus with
218 ADVENTURES OF
looks of superstitious wonder and fear but to enjoy my own
company in the pantry for a couple of hours or more. At the
end of this time, there came a blackey, who made me many signs,
which I could not understand, until he expressed his wishes in an
ejaculation of perplexity " Guy now ! he no talk me r and I no
talk him ! How I make dislnjie niggah go up de garret to bed ?"
I liked not the epithet " Injie niggah," but I made the Ethio-
pian happy by understanding his gestures, and following him up
the stairs of the spacious mansion (for a spacious one it was, and
I wondered to see it occupied only by Mr. Feverage and his do-
mestics,) to a doleful little garret, where the servant showed me
a blanket stretched upon the floor, and signified that there lay my
bed. This done, he marched away, carrying the light with him.
as if that were a superfluous luxury for one of my condition, and
I got into bed in the dark. And here, notwithstanding the mor-
tification I felt, I presently fell sound asleep, and did not awake
until rather a late hour in the morning.
ROBIN DAY. 219
CHAPTER XLII.
Robin Day meets an astonishing reverse of fortune, and plays the
Magian on his own account.
I was called up by the same negro who had ushered me to bed,
and now motioned me to follow him down stairs to his master,
whom I found no longer alone, but surrounded by quite a family
his wife and children, who, it seemed, had been away at a ball
or other merry-making, at a neighboring estate, and had either
just returned, or had arrived late in the night, while I was sound
asleep. I was greatly abashed to find myself in such good com-
pany, particularly as two of the children were young women
grown, and extremely handsome and genteel, and another a
young gentleman of nineteen or twenty : besides these, there
were three or four smaller children.
" Here he comes !" cried Mr. Feverage, with great exultation
as I entered the room : " don't understand a word of English, but
is the most astonishing fellow ever brought to America. Never
could have believed in such things, but for the actual proof ;
cured lazy Jim of the apoplexy without physic ; and as for me
Ah ! my dear Mrs. Feverage Ah ! my dear children," he added,
pathetically, " you never knew what was the matter with me ; I
could not find the heart to tell you anything so afflicting ; besides
I wasn't so sure of it ; but the truth is, it was a palsy beginning
in my leg " " Ah, lauk !" said Mrs. Feverage. " Yes, my
dear," quoth Mr Feverage, " a. palsy ; but the Lord be thanked,
Chowder Chow (for that is his name), cleared it out with one
single dose of physic, and I am now free of it forever. A most
surprising fellow, by G ! begging your pardon, my dear !
worth his weight in gold."
" Dear me ?" cried one of the Misses Feverage, who, like the
rest, surveyed me with curiosity ; " what an ugly, awkward look-
ing wretch it is !"
" Quite ridiculous," said the other.
220 ADVENTURES OF
" All the East Indians," quote the brother, with the air of one
conscious of superior learning, "the Hindoos, Chinese, and all,
are of the Tartar race, which is a kind of half -man, half -monkey
family ; but I don't think the fellow is so ill-looking, only he looks
to me more like a sheep than a philosopher."
" I don't care one curse I beg your pardon, my dear ! about
his looks," quoth Mr. Feverage, apparently disturbed (but by no
means so deeply as myself) by these disparaging remarks; " it is
commonly the case that your wise people, your men of genius and
learning, your Tullies and Mirabeaus, your ^Esops, Socrateses,
and Alexander Popes, are born scarecrows, but who thinks the
worse of them for their want of beauty ?"
" Oh, dear !" said Miss Feverage senior, " I'm sure he may be
wise enough for me, but I thought all the Oriental people were
handsome, like the princes we read of in the Arabian Nights' En-
ter tainments."
I looked around for Captain Brown to help me out of my diffi-
culties, but he was now present ; and such was my rage and morti-
fication at the contemptuous remarks of which I was the object,
but which, of course, I was not supposed to understand, that I
was rejoiced, notwithstanding my great repugnance to the Magian
practice, when I heard Mr. Feverage say he was going to conduct
me immediately to the hospital, to cure all his sick negroes at a
blow.
But I did not thereby, as I had fondly hoped, escape from those
unamiable young ladies, (for unamiable enough they now ap-
peared in my eyes,) in whose regards I had found so little favor.
Moved by curiosity, they, with their mother, brother, and even
the little children, declared they would go with papa, to witness-
the miracles I was expected to perform. " Come along, Chow-
der Chow," said Mr. Feverage, making me a sign to follow him
to the hospital, which I found was nothing more than a row of
log cabins, though kept pretty clean and comfortable, among
which the sick were distributed.
Here I had no doubt I should find Captain Brown, whose ab-
sence in the parlor had previously caused me some surprise, but
no Captain Brown was there, nor did he even seem to be expected
by anybody but myself. Mr. Feverage took me by the elbow and
marched me up to a form, on which lay a poor negro man in what
I judged was the last stage of consumption : " If he can cure
ROBIN DAT. 221
him" quote Mr. Feverage, with a look of confident expectation,
" he can cure anybody. So, Chowder Chow, boy, begin I wish
to G ! I beg your pardon, my dear ! I knew something of the
lingo."
I looked around me again, and with uneasiness, for Captain
Brown, without whose powerful assistance and encouraging au-
dacity, I felt no great confidence in my Magian abilities.
" What is the scoundrel gaping after ?" quoth Mr. Feverage,
waxing impatient ; when, perceiving I must play my part whether
Brown came or not, I put on the look of wisdom, and pronounced
the Magian " Holly -golly -wow."
" Hang your holly -golly -wow" said Mr. Feverage ; " why don't
you give him the physic ?"
I gave the physic, indeed ! That was the province of Captain
Brown, who, moreover, carried the Mermaids' Eggs and Holy Sand
of the Ganges in his own pockets, I not having about me so much
as a single dose.
" Holly -golly -wow" repeated I, in great perplexity.
" Curse you gibberish, I tell you !" reiterated Mr. Feverage,
begging his wife to excuse him for swearing ; " it's the physic I
want, you numskull ; can't you understand me ?"
" Dear me !" cried Miss Feverage, junior ; " how can he, pa,
when he don't understand English ? You should have asked the
sailor-man how you were to do things."
" D n the sailor-man pray, my dear, excuse me ! he told me
all about it," said Mr. Feverage, growing hotter than ever ; "he
told me all that was to be done was to put the staring jacka-
napes before the sick man, and that he would cure him in from
seven minutes to seven days, and no mistake about it."
I was frightened at the violence of my worthy host, but still
more at what he said of Captain Brown, who But could it be ?
Had he, afraid, as I might well suppose, of the difficulty of mak-
ing good his impudent boasts, afraid of the responsibility of prac-
tice among so really sick persons had he deserted me, sneaked
away, left me to cure them the best way I could ? and cure them
too, without Mermaids' Eggs or the Holy Sand of the Ganges ?
Certainly he had, I could no longer doubt it ; how otherwise was
I to understand the fact of his having instructed Mr. Feverage
how he was " to do things," how he was " to put the jackanapes
before the sick man," coupled with his extraordinary absence at
222 ADVEKTUKES OF
such a time of need ? My heart died within me to think of his
baseness and duplicity ; my. blood ran cold as I thought of the
scrape he had left me in. How was I to get out of it ? But the
intemperance of Mr. Feverage left me little time for reflection,
and so I acted upon instinct.
' Holly-golly-wow /" I cried again : then turning upon Mr. Fever-
age, before he could vent another volley of abuse, which I saw
him preparing, I resorted to the Magian language, (for, of course,
I knew no other,) and demanded, with the looks of one asking
the most important question in the world, " Willy -whary-gonny-
doggy-Brown. ?"
"What is the infernal rascal jabbering about now?" quoth Mr.
Feverage : " do you suppose I understand your diabolical jargon ?"
" Willy-whary-gonny-doggy-Brown !" I repeated.
" He says Brown !" cried Miss Feverage ; who, notwithstanding
her want of judgment and taste, was the shrewdest person present;
" he says JBrown and that was the name of the sailor-man : and
perhaps he is asking for him."
" Are you, you baboon !" said Feverage ; " why, he went off at
daylight. But what has that to do with our business ? Why don't
you physic the sick man ?"
" Willy-whary-gonny Holly-golly-wow ! Willy -whary-g onny-
Sammy-ram-ram ?" I again demanded, hoping the gentleman
would understand I was asking for the Magian physic ; which,
which, however, he did not, until I had expended a great deal of
ingenuity in explanatory gesticulation, and then hit upon the device
of putting my finger in my mouth, by which I meant physic, and
next of turning a pocket wrong side out, to indicate that I had
none.
Miss Feverage again penetrated my meaning ; and nothing
could exceed the mingled consternation and rage of the parent,
when the conception first flashed upon his mind that I had no
medicines to administer to his tenants of the hospital.
"Oh! that infernal villain 1" he cried; " that swindling Brown!
He has gone off with the Mermaids' Eggs and the Holy Sand of
the Ganges ! And what is the doctor good for without them ?
Bitten, swindled, most atrociously swindled? No wonder the
rascal was willing to trade so reasonably ; for what's the doctor
without his physic ?"
It was now my turn to be struck with consternation ; and the
ROBIN DAY. 223
reader may judge the horror into which I was thrown by finding,
from the expressions of the gentleman, that Captain Brown, my
villainous confederate, had not merely deserted me, but had actu-
ally sold me, sold me as a slave, for but I do not know what sum
it was he got for me to my present master, Mr. Fabius Maximus
Feverage ; having also disposed of my nag, which he represented
as being a Tartar pony from some royal stable in the East Indies.
Yes ! it was true ! astounding, horrifying as it was, it was
true ; the intolerable villain had sold me, and gone off with the
money.
What was the difficulty I had previously lamented, of being
left to play the doctor alone, compared with this newer and more
dreadful dilemma in which I was now plunged ? It was fortunate,
perhaps, that my agitation, which was for a moment inexpressibly
great and how could it be otherwise ? was, in a manner, lost and
unnoticed in the tumult of my master's (my master's !) rage ;
and after that had blown itself away, and the family could again
turn their eyes upon Chowder Chow, his confusion was most
naturally and charitably attributed to the loss of his Magian
medicines, the infallible Mermaids' Eggs and the panaceal Holy
Sand of the Ganges.
But not a thought, or a care, gave Chowder Chow, at that mo-
ment, to his medicines. I had more important matters to excruciate
my mind ; which, at first overwhelmed by the greatness of my
predicaments, was next filled by a whirl of hurrying projects to
escape them.
My first idea was to tell the truth to unlock my lips, and in
plain English expose the fraud that had been practised upon Mr.
Feverage and my unfortunate self, and assert my freedom as a
freeman should.
But alas ! my fears (not to give the credit to my common-
sense,) told me that expedient could only serve to translate me
from the culinary vessel, in which I may well say I was frying, to
the fire wherein I must suffer the equal pangs of broiling. To
tell the truth would be to confess myself an accomplice in fraud,
the confederate of a swindler who had been cheating the good
people of the district for more than a week ; and whether I (to
prove that had necessity, and not my own will, had forced me into
the reluctant complicity,) should reveal the cause of my sub-
mission, or keep that secret to myself, I must encounter a similar
224 ADVENTURES OF
danger ; in the one case, take my chance before a court-martial
for high treason in the other, before a court-civil for felony.
To tell, moreover, to a man who was already raging over the
loss of the Mermaids' Eggs and the Holy Sand of the Ganges, a
truth which n,ust add to that the loss of the money he had paid
for me, was, even of itself, an undertaking of highly questionable
expediency ; and when I reflected that to the indignation at the
loss of his money must be added the mortification of having
been so grossly played upon, in the matter of the palsy, I shrank
from the dangers of confession.
" No, no," thought I to myself ; " honesty is undoubtedly the
best policy in the main ; but it won't do in this case." I have
learned to put another interpretation upon the old saw of the
copy-books, which is, that honesty is the best policy, where one
wishes to go to heaven ; but where earthly prosperity the attain-
ment of wealth, and honor, and power is the only thing aimed
at, it may be often very conveniently dispensed with.
What then since I durst not claim my freedom, by telling the
truth remained for me to do ? Must I remain a slave, because
the unparalleled Captain Brown had sought fit to sell, and the un-
suspicious Mr. Feveragv had deemed proper to buy me for one ?
No, by mine honor, I had no idea of that.
There were but two ways I could think of, in which my liberty
was to be retrieved ; and one having been considered and rejected,
I was compelled to place all my reliance upon the other, which
was considered and adopted during that brief period of agitation
which the rage and fury of Mr. Feverage gave me leisure to in-
dulge. I resolved to submit that is, to allow myself to be con-
sidered a slave just so long as I could not help it, and recover my
freedom by running away at the very first opportunity. And
this, all things considered, was perhaps the wisest resolution I
could have adopted.
But I had been bought as a Magus a dispenser of life and
health and it was necessary I should continue to preserve the
character. The difficulty was how I was to do it, being robbed by
Captain Brown of what Mr. Feverage seemed to consider the most
important part of his purchase, the Mermaids' Eggs and the Holy
Sand of the Ganges. And this difficulty, which was now the main
source of grief to my master (fortunately, as I could not speak
English, I was not obliged to call him so,) might have continued a
KOBIN DAT.' 225
long time, had it not been removed by the sagacity of ' young
missus,' (I have less shame in giving her the title, though I shall
never forget her reflections upon my good looks,) who said, that
" if I was a good doctor my knowledge could not certainly be
confined to but two medicines ;" and therefore recommended I
should have the family medicine chest brought me, to see what I
could do with it.
The father caught at the idea ; the medicine chest was brought,
and signs made that I should select from it such drugs as were-
suitable to my purpose.
./select, indeed ! My knowledge of the Materia Medica was
somewhat too limited for selection ; but I affected to do so. I
tumbled over the bottles of potions and powders, taking good care
to appear not to read or understand the labels, but to judge of
their qualities by smelling. Some I rejected with a learned con-
tempt, others with frowns of knowing detestation ; until coming
upon a bottle of salts, thinks I to myself, " Salts can't hurt any-
body," and was going to administer a dose to my patient, the
consumptive negro before whose bunk had been acted the whole
of the preliminary play. His ghastly looks fortunately frightened me
into a doubt of the propriety of giving him such a medicine ; and
the same reason deterred me from a dose of calomel and jalap,
which association presented as the next most natural, because best
known remedies ; when my eye fell upon a bottle of laudanum, of
which I immediately gave the poor fellow a dose, taking care, as I
did so, to look round upon my master with a melancholy shake of
the head, as if to inform him I had but little confidence in the med-
icine, and only gave it because I could find nothing better.
"He knows what he is about, after all!" said my master, return-
ing the melancholy shake ; " he means to say poor Joe is beyond
all common remedies (May the devil seize that rascal Brown
for carrying off the Mermaids' Eggs ! for who knows but that one
of them might have cured him ?) and that all that can be done for
him is to give him laudanum, and let him die easy."
Of my next patient all that I can say is, that he was sick, and I
did not know what was the matter with him ; but as he was a ro-
bust young fellow, I thought no harm could come of giving him
a dose of salts, which I accordingly administered. And this pre-
scription had also the merit of meeting my master's approbation,
which he expressed by saying, " After all, I believe the rascal is
226 ADVENTURES OF
worth the money, and sees through a disease with a look. What a
pity we had not some of his own Indian medicines !"
To the third patient, whose case was as mysterious to me as that
of the second, and who appeared to be neither particularly strong
nor particularly weak, I ventured to administer a little calomel and
jalap, upon which my master observed, " My practice was just
like that of the regular physicians ; it was plain there was no
quackery about me ;" and he ended by a hearty execration upon
Brown for not leaving some of the Holy Sand of the Ganges,
which was undoubtedly of greater efficacy than all the regular
physic in his drug box.
In short, (for I have no design to record my experimental es-
says upon the lives of all the sick in the hospital,) I went
through my task the best way I could; and my hap-hazard prac-
tice quite contented my master, who seemed, since I had no
Magian medicines to administer, not to expect any very miracu-
lous cures of me; and I heard him afterwards assure his wife,
who, with all her children had left the hospital as soon as they
found I was to do nothing astonishing, that "he believed he
would have his money's worth of me, as I would save him two
or three hundred dollars a year in doctors' bills; but he never
would forgive that cursed sailor-man, Brown, (begging her par-
don,) for having cheated him out of the Mermaids' Eggs."
ROBIN DAY. 221
CHAPTER XLIII.
Robin Day escape? from slavery, is chased by a bloody-minded
pursuer, and relieved by an unexpected friend.
THE extraordinary fatality which had attended all my previous
efforts to escape from the different misfortunes that had befallen,
me, plunging me only from one difficulty into another, had now
taught me a lesson of prudence ; and I resolved, this time, to act
with the greatest circumspection, and arrange such a plan of es-
cape as should, besides most certainly restoring me to freedom, re-
sult in as few inconvenient consequences as possible. To run away,
I perceived, was not of itself sufficient to secure my liberty ; the
fugitive slave always expects pursuit ; and from my uncommon
value, it was but reasonable to suppose my master would take un-
common pains to recover me. It was necessary I should make my-
self acquainted with the country through which I was to fly, so as
to decide upon a route the most advantageous for my purpose ; it
was necessary to anticipate every possible danger that might arise,
and the means of avoiding it : in short, it was necessary to think
and do a great many things, none of which could be thought or
done in a moment.
While arranging these indispensable preliminaries, I submitted
or seemed to submit with great gravity and resignation, to my
lot of servitude, and played the part of the Indian doctor to per-
fection. The servitude itself was no great matter, and but for the
name would have been nothing, since my learned character, and
perhaps my complexion, which favorably distinguished me from
the sons of Africa, (and which, by the way, I was obliged to re-
new every day,) prevented my receiving the treatment of a com-
mon blackey. Without being flattered by any particular marks of
respect, I was neither kicked nor cuffed ; and I had the happiness
of not being compelled to any kind of slavish occupations. It is
true, I heard my master once talk of making me wait at table ;
but he came to the conclusion that I was unfit for such service,
while incapable of understanding a word of English.
228 ADVENTURES OP
My only business was to physic the sick, to attend upon the
hospital, where I spent nearly all my time, as much to deceive Mr.
Feverage with my appearance of zeal, as to keep out of the sight
of his family. What good I did the patients I am not yet learned
enough in the medical art to say ; but I physicked away at them
with the best intentions. All that is certain is, some died and
some got well ; but whether I killed the former, or cured the lat-
ter, was not so sure, even at the time of practice. And, indeed,
I did not trouble myself greatly to inquire or to think upon the
subject : my mind was all the time engaged with the thought of
escape.
As in most sudden transformations of character or changes of
-conduct, one commonly jumps into extremes, so it happened with
me upon this unlucky occasion. I was determined, as I have said,
to act, in my project of escape, with the utmost prudence and cir-
cumspection ; and so prudently and circumspectly I did act that
I was like never to have put my project into execution. To pro-
vide against difficulties and dangers, it was necessary to anticipate
all that could happen : and I anticipated so many that I was al-
most afraid to encounter them. My imagination, as I dwelt upon
them, drew them in such formidable colors as frightened herself :
.and the enterprise looked daily more doubtful and dreadful. I
trembled, faltered, vacillated, and the beginning of the seventh
week from the desertion of Captain Brown found me, to my own
astonishment and affliction, still a slave. And it is not improbable
I might have consumed still seven weeks longer in hesitation, had
not a circumstance arisen which frighted me out of fear and des-
perately nerved me to action. This was nothing less than a pro-
ject my master suddenly formed of selling me for I believe he
was now tired of his bargain, being a fickle-minded man to a
Carolina planter, who had a higher opinion of my abilities or
greater need of my services. The subject was freely discussed in
my presence (who was still ignorant of the English language
and, truly, that same ignorance caused me to hear a great many
conversations I should not otherwise have been made privy to), in
the hospital, whither my master brought the purchaser to examine
me and my proceedings among the sick.
The effect of their discussion upon my mind did not tend, I fear,
to the benefit of my patients ; for such was the consternation into
which I was thrown, that I, from that moment, began to lay about
KOBIN DAY. 229
me among the sick with a maniacal activity and forgetf ulness of
consequences ; which, however, only recommended me more
strongly to the stranger's regard. He observed " I was a bold
practitioner, and knew how to treat negro constitutions." He
then, with Mr. Feverage, left the hospital, the one agreeing to pur-
chase, the other to sell, the only subject of controversy being the
price, which I had no doubt they would soon agree upon.
It was then late in the afternoon, and they adjourned from the
hospital to supper ; " after which," I heard Mr. Feverage say,
** we will be able to settle the matter to our mutual satisfaction."
"You may settle it to your satisfaction," quoth I to myself;
" but I doubt whether either will be so well satisfied in the morn-
ing." In truth, I resolved to run away that very night.
I stole back to the house, and into the housekeeper's room,
where my presence never caused any surprise, as, indeed, the
medicine chest was kept there, to which I had, of course, con-
tinual access ; and the yellow lady, the mistress of the place, had
accommodated me with a little table in the corner, where I used to
measure out, and sometimes compound (for I grew bold with
practice) the drugs that so insufficiently supplied the place of the
Magian medicines. I entered the room for no other purpose than
to fill my pockets with food to sustain me in the flight ; but the
housekeeper being there at the time, engaged making a pot of
chocolate, I was obliged to conceal my object, and pretend to
busy myself with the medicine chest.
While I was thus occupied tumbling the drugs about, the
housekeeper stepped for a moment out of the room, when the
devil (for I know not how else to account for the desperate
prompting) put it into my head that, as nothing would more
certainly facilitate my escape than the soundest slumber on the
part of every member of the family, including also my intended
purchaser, so nothing would more manifestly secure them a sound
nap than a dose of opium thrown into their chocolate.
This brilliant idea was no sooner formed than put into execu-
tion, and without thinking (for, verily, I had no time to think)
of the consequences that might result, I snatched up a huge mass
of the narcotic , enough to physic the whole household, and with
trembling hand tumbled it into the pot. In another instant the
housekeeper returned, gave her chocolate the finishing stir, and
carried it off into the parlor. I took advantage of her second
23?)
A I) VK NITRES OF
sortie to gather up a hasty supply of eatables, and then retreated
to my medicine chest again, to await the period of my own supper,
which I thought it necessary to take to avoid suspicion, for I had
planned to begin my flight in the dead of night, after a pretence
of going to bed ; and Cowder Chow, with all his bothers and
afflictions, never went to bed in Mr. Feverage's house without his
supper.
But by and by there arose a great scolding in the parlor, and
I could hear my master and his family finding fault with the choco-
late, declaring that it had a very odd and unaccountable taste ;
and her ladyship the housekeeper was forthwith summoned to the
room to explain the mystery.
I was terribly frightened at this unexpected turn of affairs, and
scarce doubting but that the inquiry thus instituted must result in
a discovery of the liberty I had taken, I saw no hope but in im-
mediate flight. I slipped from the pantry and the back door, and
fled through the fields to a wood not far off, which I reached
without difficulty or notice, it being then almost dark.
One of the chief, and as I esteemed it, most necessary prepara-
tions for escape consisted in the study of a large State map of
Virginia, which my master had hanging up -in the hall or main
passage of his house, where I had many opportunities of viewing
it unobserved. And I pored over it so often and long that I had
fairly committed to memory all the roads, rivers, towns and moun-
tains in that part of the State through which I designed to fly ;
nay, I had even taken the pains to construct in secret a little rude
but sufficient map of my own, on which I could better rely than on
my memory alone. My course I had long determined should be
westward, towards the interior, which I flattered myself would be
precisely the direction in which no fugitive slave would be be-
lieved to bend his steps. In that quarter I should soon reach the
mountains, among which, in case of extremity, I might find hiding
places and rocks of safety in abundance ; and, following among
their sequestered valleys, or along their wild ridges, I must soon
penetrate to the great West, whose name associated the most
agreeable ideas of freedom and independence.
My course thus resolved upon, a map of the country in my head,
and an itinerary in my pocket, I struck boldly through the woods,
seeking for a road which, I knew, led to a ferry over the Roanoke,
some seven or eight miles from Mr. Feverage's house. The road
ROBIN DAY. 231
I found, and the ferry also, where, not having the courage to call
the ferryman to my assistance, I helped myself to a canoe, which I
discovered on the bank, and paddled across the river.
The bank being gained, I immediately removed from my per-
son every vestige of my late Magian character and servitude.
The vile complexion, which I had been compelled daily to renew,
to avoid detection, I washed away in the river ; into which I also
threw the detestable bandanna and the horrid yarns that bound
my hair. Then drawing my cap from its concealment in my
pocket, to be remounted upon my head, and securing the canoe,
so that the owner could get it again if he pleased, I resumed my
steps, walking with such diligence and speed that, if my map was
to be relied on, I had by morning put at least thirty miles between
me and my master's house.
And this was exactly what I had calculated upon in my plan of
escape. I had always esteemed it a matter of the first necessity to
get over the greatest possible distance the first night ; and thirty
miles was just what I assigned myself, besides thirty more to be
accomplished during the day.
Unfortunately, however, in thus calculating the distance, I for-
got to calculate the strength necessaiy to carry me through it, as I
soon discovered to my cost ; for I had scarce congratulated myself
upon having done so much when I found I was unable to do any
more. I was, in a word, completely exhausted, worn out, knocked
up, incapable of proceeding further, compelled to come to a stand,
when every moment of delay, I knew, was a big danger. The
inactive life of Chowder Chow had melted away the strength of
Robin Day ; and, besides, Robin Day had overtasked his powers.
I sat down upon a stump on the road side to draw breath, and
consider what was to be done ; and I had just come to the con-
clusion I could do nothing better than hunt up some hiding place
in the woods, and there sleep till night, at which period I hoped
to be able to continue my journey, when I perceived a traveler, in
a military garb, come riding up from behind on a sorrel horse.
I had no particular reason to apprehend a pursuer in the person
of a gentleman of the army, regular or militia ; but I held it most
for my interest at that time to avoid the observation of all persons.
I therefore rose from my stump, and slipped aside into the wood,
hoping I had escaped the stranger's notice. But I was mistaken ;
and as he rode up he uttered a loud halloo, and turned into the
J-J Un'KN H'KKS OK
wood aftor mo. at \vhioh I was thrown into suoh a panic that I
Ot m\ fatiguo, and immodiatoly took to my hools to bury
m\solf among tho t roos and bushes. But, alas, the stranger in
slant ly spurrod after me, ordering me to stop, to suri^nder, and
1 kiu-w not wliat ; but I only r:u tlu> t'astt-r, at whirli, growing
furious, ho jmlh'd out a pistol and (irod at nu>, and then h>t llv
another, and ondod by drawing a long s\vord, witli wliii-li, b^ing
now rlosr at my liools, ho offered to Out mo down ; so that 1 was
fain to oomo to an immodiato halt, ami bog for moroy. What was
my ama/i-mont, what my jv>y. whim, turning round ami looking
into the face of my blood thirsty rmrsuor, I perceived the fea-
tures of my fnond l>ioky Dare \
IIOWN DAY. 233
CHAPTER XLIV.
In which Robin retrieves kin reputation in the opinion of Dicky
Uare, and is restored to the friendship of t/utt Jwroic adventurer.
"On, Dicky! " cried I, "do you mean to murder mc?"-
question for which there was good reason, as my martial friend
was in a towering passion, and still brandished his cut-and-thrust
about my ears, as if half of a mind to carve rne to pieces.
"Robin Day ! " quoth he, in equal astonishment : "may I ne-
ver smell gunpowder, by Julius Caesar, if I didn't think you were
omc flying jailbird of a prisoner of war or a rascal broke loose
from a county prison, or some such rabblement stuff to runaway
in such a cowardly style, when I only wanted to ask about the
road ! But I say, by Julius Caesar, what are you doing here? "
It was some time before I could reply to the question, so
great was the ferment of joy into which I was thrown by this
happy encounter ; for in the presence of Dicky I saw a release
from every affliction, a protection from every danger.
" Oh, Dicky," said I, " fate has sent you here to help me out
of the greatest difficulty as great an one perhaps as that you
saved me from when I was taken prisoner by that caitiff,
Duck, and accused of high treason. I shall never forget your
kindness, that time, in saving me from a court-martial."
" Sir," said Dicky, in a lofty way, " that was in memory of
our old friendship ; but I beg you to observe that I am not to be
called upon to interpose in your favor, under such circumstances,
a second time. Friendship, sir, is one thing, but honor, sir by
Julius Caesar, honor is another."
" Yes," said I, " Dicky, it is ; but I hope you don't regret
saving me from being shot or hanged ? I'm sure I would have
done as much for you."
" Oh," said Dicky, "as it turned out, I don't think they would
hav<; altogether made it out -so bad a case for you at the court-
martial ; because that rascal Duck that accused you was a traitor
hirnhelf."
234 ADVENTURES OP
" Yes," said I, " he was ; he piloted the British up and down
the Bay to all the towns."
" Exactly so," said Dicky ; " the prisoners we took informed
against him, and in less than an hour after you were gone we had
the dog arrested, to stand his trial ; and I believe they hanged
him, or intended to do so."
" I hope so," said I, devoutly. " And as for my being a traitor,
I think I can prove to your satisfaction I was a very innocent
one."
" If you can, by Julius Caesar," said Dicky Dare, with gener-
ous impetuosity, " I shall shake hands with you, and be very good
friends with you ; though, sir, I'll be hanged if I think as much of
your spunk as I used to do."
" Oh," said I, " I can explain that too."
" Very well," said Dicky ; " you can explain along the road,
and no time lost, as we go to breakfast ; for I understand there's a
tavern only two or three miles ahead, where we can eat ; and, by
Julius Caesar, I'm hungry."
I told him I was too tired, having been on foot all the night,
and must have a little rest.
And with that, I invited him to dismount and tie his horse, and
take a seat by me on a log ; and, to show him he need not concern
himself about his breakfast, I instantly produced a store of cold
chicken legs and other dainties from my pocket, which I invited
him to share with me.
" A soldier," quoth Dicky Dare, " can ask no better breakfast,
or place to eat it. I remember, dad told me that General Marion
used to dine off a log in a swamp, and feed on parched corn and
sweet potatoes."
And so saying, the young soldier dismounted, unbitted his nag,
who straightway fell to work upon the young twigs and bushes
around, while his master, with equal appetite, addressed himself
to the nobler provender drawn from the larder of Mr. Feverage.
During the meal, I acquainted him with all my adventures from
the time of our separation on the highway up to the moment of
our second parting on the field of battle, upon all which, as well
as upon my conduct in them, he commented in a very free and
characteristic way. He expressed great contempt of my pusil-
lanimity in allowing myself to be seized by the wagoners, and
contrasted with it his own courageous and successful resistance of
EOKIN DAY. 235
those zealous thief -takers, of which I was now informed for the
first time. He highly commended the address and spirit of Cap-
tain Brown in shuffling the charge of robbery upon my shoulders,
and then riding off with my horse, an act, he averred, I should,
and easily might have prevented by blowing his brains out. My
further adventures with Captain Brown he considered very ex-
traordinary, as, indeed, I did myself, both from the audacity of
Captain Brown and my own stupidity in allowing myself to be so
-easily imposed upon. But when I came to inform him how I had
mistaken the British sailors for American militiamen, without
perceiving the error until charging with them against, my own
countrymen, and how I had pretended to volunteer in their service,
only to secure an opportunity of escape, his surprise was only ex-
ceeded by his indignation. He swore by Julius Ca3sar, seven
times over, I was the biggest ninny in warlike matters, and, he be-
lieved, in all others, the world had ever produced a compliment
which I took without offence, for I was, in truth, so happy to fall
in with him, and so deeply persuaded of the superiority of his
genius, that I could have borne even much more disparagement
without repining. Besides, I was more than half persuaded he
charged nothing more than was true.
Then followed my final adventure with Captain Brown, the
story of the disguise and the Magian medicines ; at which, for the
first time (for Dicky had put on the gravity of the soldier), he
indulged in a violent fit of laughter, and swore, by Julius Ca3sar,
that " Brown was a comical dog," and that I, in the part of a
quack doctor, had hit upon a character the best suited to my
genius ; " because," said he, " by Julius Caesar, I'll be hanged if
you'll ever make a soldier."
Last of all came that climax of wonder and atrocity, my being
sold to slavery ; at which Dicky, giving the reins to his mirth,
laughed with such furious energy that the sorrel nag, who had
strayed away some distance, browsing, came trotting and whin-
nying back, as if to know what was the matter. Nor was he less
diverted at my escape, and the incidents attending it, especially
that of the chocolate pot, though he immediately threw me into
a panic by asking if it had not occurred to me that, in thus drug-
ging it, I might possibly have murdered some of my master's
family, or, at the very least, might bring myself under a charge
of an intention to murder them ?
236 ADVENTURES OF
It was now Dicky's turn to relate his adventures, in which there
was nothing near so remarkable as in mine. He had reached
Philadelphia in safety, where, having the good fortune to receive
a letter from his father, with a further supply of money, and being
no longer able to resist the inclination to put on a soldier's coat
along with the soldier's spirit, he ordered a military suit ; and
when it was completed, left the city, and (as Mr. John Dabs had
truly informed me) left it only a day before myself. He had
spurred for the theatre of war, but in vain sought an opportunity of
measuring his sword with the enemy, until his good fortune car-
ried him to Norfolk, in time to assist its brave defenders in re-
pelling the invaders from their shores. His company consisted
only of some score of idlers and tatterdemalions, supernumeraries,
and volunteers in that particular battle, who, collecting in a hurry
and having no commander of their own, had willingly accepted
the martial-looking Dicky for their leader. He had re-
ceived a wound, a scratch in the leg, of which he was uncertain
whether it was owing to a British bullet, or to a tumble he had
had over a stump, in the fury of the charge ; nevertheless, he
prided himself on it, as being the first hurt received in the wars.
This battle began and ended Dicky's campaigns in Virginia ; for,
saving the horrible affair at Hampton, three days after, at which
he was not present, nothing more was done by the enemy to afford
him an opportunity to display his valor ; and, soon after, the Brit-
ish fleet deserted the waters of the Chesapeake entirely.
Dicky, I found, was now on his way to the southwest. Troubles
were brewing, he said, on the Indian border; and wise men looked
soon to see the chief theatre of war transferred to the delta of the
Mississippi. In either case, he observed there would be plenty of
fighting; " and where there's plenty of fighting," said my heroic
friend, gnawing the last morsel from a chicken-bone, " there, sir,
by Julius Caesar, there is the place for ine."
I told him at once I would go along with him, and fight the
battles of my country at his side ; upon which there arose a con-
troversy between us, he assuring me he thought I was too big a
coward for a soldier, and I insisting, with heat, that I had as much
courage as he; for, he knew, I had as good as trounced him a do-
zen times at school.
"I don't know any such thing," said Dicky Dare; "though I
allow, you always fought me spunky. But this fighting a school-
BGBI'N DAY. 237
fight, and this fighting the battles of your country by Julius Cae-
sar, they are quite different matters. There are some fellows that
have great pluck for a war of fisticuffs, and will stand hammering
like old iron ; but when you put them before the muzzle of a mus-
ket, with a man's finger at the trigger or a park of artillery, with
the matches all smoking or a squadron of horse drawn up ready
for charging why then, by Julius Caesar, these fisticuff bulldogs
are exactly the fellows to fall all of a tremble, and run off like so
many rats before a bull-terrier. It's the seeing one's blood flow,
and feeling the pain of a wound, that tries what stuff one's liver is
made of. As for me, sir, by Julius Caesar, I have had an enemy's
bullet through the leg, without minding it ! "
" Or you scratched it over a stump, as you admitted of your
own accord was probable," said I. "And if you come to that, I
have had a severer wound than you ; for I was knocked on the
head with the butt of an Irishman's musket, which broke my head
open, and I was laid up six weeks by it in the doctor's hands."
" I allow," said Dicky Dare, " you have had the hardest knock :
but how did you take it ? there's the question."
" I took it I don't know how," said I, " for it knocked me out of
my senses ; but all the sailors said I was as brave as a lion. And be-
sides, if you come to that, you have been in action but once ;
whereas I have been three times in battle."
" But how did you go into battle ? " demanded Dicky ; " did
you feel proud, and happy, and furious, and all that ? "
" No," said I ; " I felt uneasy."
" To be sure you did ! " said Dicky, with disdain ; " and that's
not the way a brave man feels."
" I have no doubt," said I, " I should have felt proud, and happy,
and furious, and all that, had I been on the right side ; but, I
fancy, if you had been, like me, fighting against your country, you
would have felt uneasy too."
"And so I should," said the soldier, with generous frankness ;
" I forgot you were fighting against your country ; which must
make even a brave man a coward. But, I say, Robin," he added,
" by Julius Caesar ! you were so terribly frightened at all these
other matters so frightened about roasting that old tyrant,
M'Goggin frightened at Brown and the wagoners frightened at
Mr. Bloodmoncy frightened at John Dabs, the constable
frightened when we took you prisoner frightened when you were
238 ADVENTURES OF
sold a slave and, by Julius Caesar, you are so frightened now that
you have run away ! I say, by Julius Caesar, I don't think a fel-
low that gets frightened so often can have the true grit in him,
after all."
"Oh," said I, "Dicky, fear in such cases is not cowardice.
Every man is afraid of getting into the hands of the law of being
put into prison, tried for felony, and perhaps brought to the gal-
lows. In all these cases, you must see, I had the dangers of the
law behind me. With the wagoners and John Dabs I was in
fear of being carried back to our town to be hanged for murder ;
with Mr. Bloodmoney, of being imprisoned for house breaking ;
and, to skip all other matters, here I am now in fear of being
pursued as a runaway slave, or laid up by the heels for a swin-
dler."
" By Julius Caesar, that does alter the case," said my friend, for
I recollect, when I left our town, I was afraid myself of having the
constables after me, though I tell you what," he added, with a
grim look of fortitude, " before they should have taken me, there
would have been a fight, and somebody's brain blown out, by Ju-
lius Caesar."
My ingenious defence, by which I was half convinced myself,
satisfied the valorous Dicky that I was worthy of his friendship ;
whereupon he gave me his hand, and said I should follow him to
the wars. He bade me discharge from my rnind all fear of Mr.
Feverage and his emissaries ; " for," said he, " if the worst comes,
we can fight them off, by Julius Caesar." He then asked " how I
was off for money," and being assured I had, in all my troubles,
held fast to my pocketbook, he expressed great satisfaction, " for,"
said he, " you can now buy a horse and arms, and so travel on-
wards like a soldier." And thereupon he bade me for the future
cease calling him Dicky, like a great schoolboy, and desired I
would address him as Captain Dare ; " because why, by Julius
Caesar, he had on a captain's uniform, and everybody was a cap-
tain in Virginia."
Inspired by the presence of my martial friend, and refreshed by
the meal, I now professed myself able to resume the march ;
Dicky very generously offering me his horse till more thoroughly
rested, which, however, I refused. He therefore mounted the
saddle himself ; and I walking at his side, we left the wood and
returned to the highway.
KOBIN DAY. 239
CHAPTER XLV.
Robin Day and his commander. Captain Dare, set out again for
the wars, and win a great victory along the way, in which, as is
usual, all the honor and profit fall to the commander's share.
We arrived in a short time at the tavern where Dicky, or, to
give him his desired title, Captain Dare, had expected to take his
breakfast, and where he now for a moderate sum succeeded in
purchasing me a pony that would serve my turn, though he was
but a sorry nag after all. And having again set out on our jour-
ney, Captain Dare proposed I should give him, as was proper for
a soldier's charger, some handsome name ; informing me at the
same time that he called his sorrel steed Bucephalus, after the
war-horse of Alexander the Great. I proposed dubbing mine
Hard-Back, which I considered expressive of one of his most strik-
ing qualities, but Dicky demurred, insisting that that was a vulgar
and unmilitary title ; and I agreeing, at last, he might bestow
upon him what title he pleased, he named him Pegasus, " which,"
he said, " was the name of the horse ridden by the great general,
Perseus, when he slew the Centaurs." Without venturing a hint
to Pegasus's godfather, that his clas>ic reminiscences were none of
the most accurate, and that the steed of the Muses was dishonored
by carrying such an insignificant and unpoetic personage as I, I
accepted the name, and Bucephalus and Pegasus pricked forward
with their riders in peace.
We reached and dined that day at a village, where Captain
Dicky, who took the charge though not the cost of equipping me
into his own hands, bought me a rifle, (which, he said, was the
properest weapon for a soldier going to fight the Indians) with a
powder horn, scalping knife, and other articles appropriate to a
backwoodsman ; and I adding, at my own instance, a hunting frock
of light summer stuff, a brace of cotton checked shirts, and some
other articles of apparel of which I was in want, I was presently
trigged out to my own satisfaction as well as Captain Dare's.
240 ADVENTURES OF
And now our journey was commenced in earnest, and continued
during a space of more than two weeks, with all the zeal to be
expected of two such gallant adventurers, and with as much speed
as the nature of the country, which was full of savage mountains,
and the strength of Bucephalus and Pegasus, who rivalled one
another in laziness, would permit. And during all that time, such
was the lenity of our fortunes, we met not a single adventure
worth recording ; though I must confess to a fright I received by
stumbling, at a village inn, upon a newspaper, in which, under the
caption of '* Stop the Villain," was an advertisement subscribed by
my late master, Mr. Fabius Maximus Feverage, offering a reward
for the capture of the slave Chowder Chow, who had absconded
after an atrocious attempt to poison his master's family with
opium. But the terror was only momentary ; I was growing
valiant under the countenance of my valiant friend, and once
parted from and out of sight of the inn that contained the detesta-
ble paper, I declared that Mr. Fabius Maximus Feverage, with his
advertisement, might go to a certain personage who shall be
nameless, and snapped my fingers in token of my disdain.
The end of the second week of our travels saw us upon the
rentiers of Tennessee, and we had scarce crossed them when we dis-
covered that we were already upon the eve of great adventures.
News had just reached this secluded district of the commence-
ment of the Indian war, which my comrade and captain had so
confidently anticipated of the horrible catastrophe, the Massacre
at Fort Mimms on the Alabama River, by which it was opened,
and in which, as is well known, more than four hundred human
beings, half of them women and children, the families of poor
settlers, fell under the Creek tomahawk at a blow.
This dreadful intelligence, spreading fast among the inhabitants
of this wild mountain country, had created the greatest excite-
ment among them. Some, the young and manly, burned with
fury, and swore they were only waiting the movements of the
proper authorities, the proclamation of their Governor and the
commands of their military leaders, of which they were in daily
expectation, to snatch their arms, march upon the bloodthirsty
barbarians, and sweep them from the face of the earth. Others,
again, were in a horrible panic on their own account ; for though
the Creeks were afar off, the Cherokees were their near neighbors,
and might be upon them, murdering and destroying, at any mo-
KOBIN DAY. 241
ment. It is true, the Cherokees were then, as they had been for
many years, and, in fact, continued during the whole of the en-
suing war, the friends of the whites ; but they were Indians ; and,
in the logic of fear, nothing was more natural ^than to suppose
they would join their red brethern in the contest.
The further we advanced, the greater seemed the ferment,,
which was attended, and augmented, by rumors of the most por-
tentious character. It was now reported that the savages, uniting
in innumerable hordes, had destroyed the great city of New Or-
leans, and roasted all the sugar-planters in their own boilers ; and
that they were, besides, marching upon the capital of Tennessee r
with the fairest prospects of carrying off the scalps of the whole
body of Legislators, then in conclave ; and now there was a cry
that the Cherokees had taken up the hatchet, and were already
killing and burning in their own neighborhood. Iji short, the ex-
citement was prodigious, and it extended to Captain Dare and his
follower ; exhibiting, in the one, that warlike fury which distin-
guished the bolder portion of society, and the other, I am ashamed
to say, a little of the panic that marked the less heroic division.
But what may not a great military genius effect even upon the
worst of materials ? The fervor of Captain Dare dissipated the
doubts and uneasiness of my mind ; I caught a spark of his am-
bition ; and was infected with the audacity of spirit which con-
temned danger, derided wounds, and thought of battle only as
the stepping stone to victory and renown. Hot for the conflict,
we spurred or rather, Dicky spurred, and I pommelled with my
heels, for I had no spurs, the snorting Bucephalus and the grunt-
ting Pegasus, (for Pegasus was broken-winded,) to hasten our ap-
proach to the theatre of war ; and along the way we devised a
hundred stratagems by which the enemy was to be defeated, and
ourselves raised to the pinnacle of fame. Dicky talked strongly
of raising a company nay, his thoughts sometimes rose to a regi-
ment of mounted riflemen, along the way ; which, received (as r
considering the urgency of the occasion, he had no doubt it would
be), into the service of the United States, would secure him at
once a commission, and that power and consideration among men
of the steel, of which he was so ambitious. He even made at-
tempts to persuade several valiant persons we met at the inns and
farmhouses, where we stopped to bait or sleep, to follow his ban-
ner to the wars ; but the hurry of our progress, which left no time
242 ADVENTURES OF
for persuasion, interfered with his success ; not to speak of the
disinclination of even the bravest and most patriotic to go a sol-
diering under a commander whom they had never seen before, who
bore no commission either from State or National Government, and
whose military chest did not allow of any bounty beyond a glass
of grog.
But fate, which had created Dicky for a leader, willed that he
should have a command, notwithstanding, and that he should
achieve it by his own valor.
It happened, one day about noon, as we were pricking along the
road, that, at a solitary place at the bottom of a hill, we stumbled
suddenly upon a company of volunteers, who had that morning,
in such a fit of warlike enthusiasm as inflamed Dicky Dare and
myself, set out from their native village, some fifteen or twenty
miles off, intending to offer their services to the commanding gen-
eral of the district, and who, their dinner hour having arrived, had
halted, like veterans, to discuss their bacon and hominy upon the
road, disdaining to seek the ordinary luxuries of shelter. They
had halted like veterans, but they had not troubled themselves to
form a camp, or establish sentinels, or do any thing else in a vet-
eran-like manner. On the contrary, they were scattered about in
a very disorderly harum-scarum way, divided into groups, which
were so distributed that when we came in view there were only
four persons of the whole company to be seen, and these sitting
around a fire, where they were broiling their dinner and enjoying
themselves.
I know not whether it was on account of their hunting-shirts,
which they had newly bedizened for the wars with colored tapes
and fringes, or for whatever reason ; but no sooner had the valiant
Dicky caught sight of them, than he swore by Julius Caesar they
were Indians, and therefore enemies ; and proposed, as they were
only four in number, that we should make war upon them ; " for,"
said he, with a tremendous look of slaughter, " we can take them
by surprise, and shoot down three at the first crack you, one
with your rifle, I two with my pistols ; and then charge upon
them ; and I answer for the other fellow with my sabre ;" for
so he called the cut-and-thrust.
I cannot say I had the greatest appetite for such an encounter,
and, indeed, my natural impulse was to turn Pegasus the other
way, and beat an instant retreat. But the fire of Dicky prevailed
ROBIN DAY. 243
over my hesitation ; and following him into the wood, that we might
approach the enemy unobserved, we succeeded in reaching within
a hundred paces of them ; at which distance we let fly our fire-
arms, and then charged upon them at full speed.
Who can calculate the effects of resolution ? The surprise, the
terrible volley, (by which, however, no one was harmed), and
our furious charge, secured us an immediate, victory. The four
enemies started to their feet, and, marvellous to be said, a score
more to the back of them ; who, leaping into view from among
the bushes which had concealed them from our sight, fled away,
with yells of astonishment and terror ; some jumping upon their
horses, which were haltered around a tree, others flying on foot,
but all doing their best to escape the danger that had so suddenly
fallen upon them. The rout was irretrievable, the victory com-
plete ; but just as we had effected it we made the discovery that
our supposed Indians were all white men ; and they making the
same discovery in regard to us, whom they had taken for a band
of five hundred Cherokees just bursting into war, they returned
to their camp at least, the majority of them did, the others
having continued their flight all the way back to their native vil-
lage burning with shame and rage ; and, for a few moments, I
thought they would have murdered Dicky and me, so much did
they take to heart our bloody-minded assault, and their own dis-
graceful retreat.
But a revolution soon took place in their feelings ; they admired
the surprising courage of their conqueror, who could rush into
battle so regardless of odds, and his handsome uniform won their
hearts ; and when, after a little explanation, they found that Dicky
was a volunteer for the Indian Wars, like themselves, and that he
was fresh from the battle fields of Virginia that he had seen the
red-coats and fought them ay, and beat them too they fell into
a rapture, and immediately offered to elect him their captain,
which they were the more able to do, as their own commander, the
first to fly, had now entirely disappeared, and was never more
heard of. To this proposal there was but one dissenting voice,
that of the first lieutenant of the company, who insisted upon his
right to succeed to the command. But his obstinacy was immedi-
ately overcome by one of the company, who, indignant that an offi-
cer of volunteers should presume to oppose the will of his follow-
ers, fell foul of him and gave hem a tremendous drubbing ; where-
:244 ADVENTURES OF
upon he threw up his commission in disgust, and mounting his
horse, followed after his runaway superior.
I had, on my part, some hopes of being preferred to this second
office, as I also had seen the red-coats, and fought among them,
as well as Captain Dare, though, to be sure, not on the same side ;
but as I had no handsome uniform, as I had not perhaps preserved
quite so bold a front as Dicky, at the moment when the enraged
warriors were upon the point of blowing our brains out, and above
all, as I had not the same good luck as my companion, I was des-
tined to be disappointed. The lieutenant's seat was filled by the
intrepid fellow who had just flogged him out of it ; and I, finding
I could do nothing better, was content to be admitted a private
member of the band, of which Dicky Dare was unanimausly
elected captain.
EOB1X DAY. 245
CHAPTER XLVI.
The Bloody Volunteers arrive at the field of battle, and acquire
distinction under the command of Captain Dare.
THIS important business finished, and order restored, we pro-
ceeded to despatch the dinner we had interrupted, and soon after
resumed the march, Captain Dicky Dare riding in great state at
the head of his company, which, originally got up in the hurry
and enthusiasm of the moment had never numbered more than
twenty-seven men and was now reduced to nineteen including
Captain Dare and myself. But Captain Dare, before he reached
the battle-field, had, by dint of energy and eloquence, managed
to increase its numbers by the addition of some ten or a
dozen ambitious lads, whom he, at different times, seduced to
join his standard.
In truth, the Bloody Volunteers f or such was the sounding name
the company had assumed, even at the starting had sealed their
own good fortune in electing Dicky Dare their commander. His
courage and great experience in war for the victory at Craney
Island was, in their apprehension, equivalent to a whole life of bat-
tle inspired them with a fortitude akin to his own ; while his he-
roic bearing at their head, and especially his address in providing
supplies, and ministering to their wants on the road, prodigiously
increased his popularity.
The dinner on the road-side had pretty well exhausted the
rations laid by the Bloody Volunteers ; who, forming a sort
of guerilla or independent troop, attached to no particular
regiment of their district, and acting without any authority,
began to be doubtful, as the supper hour drew nigh, in what man-
ner,and at whose expense, the needful provender was to be obtained;
and these doubts became the more distressing, when an unpa-
triotic tavern-keeper on the road-side, at whose house we sought
refreshment, swore " he would be hanged if there was a man of
us should have supper without paying for it."
246 ADVENTURES OF
Captain Dare solved the difficulty in a moment, by ordering a
file of men into the pig-pen, where they slew a pig and a dozen
chickens, and then by taking military possession of the kitchen,
where the spoils were prepared for supper. Another file was de-
spatched to the barn, to find quarters and provender for our
chargers.
In short, Captain Dare acted as if he knew what he was about ; to
prove which, next morning, having first given me to understand that
he appointed me his military secretary, he bade me draw out a bill
against the Treasury of the United States in favor of Mr. Tobias
Small, the innkeeper, for the pig, chickens, horse-meat, and night's
lodging of the company, which I did ; and he immediately append-
ed the important order, " Treasury of the United States, pay the
above," signed " Richard Dare, Capt. of the Bloody Volunteers
of Tennessee, now in service of the United States," and handed it
over to Mr. Tobias Small, with a magnificent There, you dog !
there's an order upon the Government : send it to the Treasury
and get your money !"
Our breakfast was paid for with a similar order ; and so was our
dinner, but with this difference, that the order was now addressed to
the Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Tennessee ; because we
had learned from a mail-courier on the road that the Governor of
the State had at length issued his proclamation, calling out the
militia, and empowering the commanding officers of the State army
to receive and enroll all the mounted riflemen who might offer
their patriotic services ; news vastly relished by the Bloody
Volunteers and their warlike captain.
With a soveriegn State to back us, there were no longer difficul-
ties to hinder us on the march ; and in a few days more we ar-
rived at the town of Knoxville, the headquarters of the General-in-
Chief of the Eastern District of Tennessee ; where the Bloody
Volunteers were immediately received into the service of the
State, and incorporated with a regiment of mounted men, all as
ardent and bloody-minded as ourselves. And here we remained a
short time, until all the forces of the division required for the war
were mustered ; after which, we took up the line of march for the
Indian country.
This period of rest but rest not to us was, I may say, the be-
ginning of the campaign to the Bloody Volunteers ; the history of
whose adventures on the march to headquarters, and especially
ROBIN DAY. 247
the attack by Captain Dare and their consequent rout, with his
immediate election to the command, having leaked out in the reg-
iment, became the theme of many witty remarks, that were not,
however, at all agreeable either to the commander or his men.
But the former knew how to support his dignity as an officer, as
well as the dignity of the company he had the honor to command;
and, accordingly, the day after our introduction to the regiment,
he pulled the nose of a brother captain who spoke disparagingly
of the company, and challenged him, in addition, to fight a duel ;
and the challenge being immediately accepted, and the duel
fought, he had the good fortune to shoot his adversary through
the leg, which was the very place he aimed <at, because the gen-
tleman had too freely commended the legs of his company.
This spirited vindication of their honor endeared Captain Dicky
still more to his company ; and the Bloody Volunteers, taking ex-
ample from their leader, turned in like manner upon a brother
company, who were pleased to crack similar jokes at their expense;
and immediately there was a battle royal between the two, the
fight being waged furiously with fists and feet for two mortal
hours ; at which period victory declared in our favor, though it
was a victory dearly won. Indeed, the colonel of the regiment
declared, next day at parade, he had never before seen so many
black eyes together in all his life.
This double triumph somewhat abated the humor of our ad-
versaries ; but we did not entirely escape their gibes, even when
we marched, as we at last did, into the enemy's country, and were
immersed in the business of war.
The history of the Creek Campaign, to which the victories of
General Jackson, commanding the forces of the Western District
of Tennessee, gave such brilliant eclat, is well known to every
citizen of the United States ; and it is not therefore necessary
that I, who played in it so subordinate a part, should attempt to
relate it to the reader. My business is with the history of the
Bloody Volunteers, whose valiant achievements, owing to some
unaccountable neglect, have been entirely overlooked by the his-
torians of the campaign. And this is the more extraordinary, as
the actions of the Bloody Volunteers were, with but a single
exception, the only ones performed by the Eastern Division worthy
of commemoration. Our General, marching through the country
of the Cherokees, who, notwithstanding the fears at first enter-
248 ADVENTURES OF
tained of their martial inclinings, remained firm and faithful
friends during the war, established his camp on the Coosa River,
on the boarders of the Creek territory, and there remained I know
not how long, (for it was my fate soon to part from him,) doing I
know riot what, unless holding councils of war and digesting
plans of conquest ; while his rival of the Western Division, with-
out troubling himself to do either, was already carrying sword
and flame to the enemy's wigwams. The victory of Jackson at
Talladcga, one of the Indian towns, fired the emulous spirits of
our own troops, and perhaps the envy of our commander ; who,
wakening at length to life and ambition, detached a brigade with
orders to march against another Creek village or cluster of villa-
ges, called the Hillabee towns, and win him a similar victory. It
was the good fortune of the Bloody Volunteers to form a part of
this detachment.
The march from headquarters to the scene of action, distant
about a hundred miles, occupied us a week; during which the
Bloody Volunteers had the honor of being constantly employed
on the most important and critical duties. Sometimes we were
sent off to burn little hamlets of deserted wigwams villages pro-
per to be destroyed, though too insignificant to demand the pres-
ence of the brigade ; but, more frequently, we were employed as
a scouting party, to beat the woods in advance, look for trails and
stray squaws, from whom to glean intelligence of the foe, and
perform other similar services.
This honor for so our superiors told us we must esteem it
we owed, in a great measure, to Captain Dicky, whose decided
military genius, his zeal and activity, his intrepidity, and, perhaps,
his experience in battle, had recommended him to the notice of the
brigadier; but, I believe, we owed it in a still greater degree to
the troublesome valor of his men, who had grown so proud of
their victory in the melee of which I have spoken, that they were
now always ready to go to battle with any of their comrades who
reminded them, as some were always willing enough to do, of
their adventures on the march to headquarters: and such affrays
were now become dangerous, because Dicky Dare had succeeded
in obtaining permission to arm his men with swords, to be able to
act when occasion required as cavalry, which they took a great
pride in wearing, and showed much inclination to use in their pri-
vate bickerings. To keep the brigade, or, at least our regiment,
ROBIN DAY. 249
from being continually at loggerheads, it was necessary to keep
the Bloody Volunteers at a distance from their brothers in arms.
This was a happy circumstance for Captain Dare, who thus ob-
tained a kind of independent command, the most agreeable to his
lofty spirit. Free from restraint, left half the time to his own re-
sources and judgment, and feeling within himself that conscious-
ness of greatness which inspires the destined hero, he longed for
independence still greater, for a yet wider field of action, for a
still braver opportunity of winning his way to distinction. He
wished for to me, his friend and secretary, he revealed his
thoughts he wished the President of the United States would
make him a major-general, and confide to him the two divisions
of the Tennessee army, with the task of conquering the Creeks;
which he thought he could do in a much more rapid and glorious
way than any body else; and then he sighed to think he was
only a militia captain.
But Dicky was too old a soldier to omit making the best of his
present circumstances ; and while executing every duty assigned
him with a zeal that ensured approval, he took means gradually to
increase the numbers of his company, by soliciting occasional rein-
forcements from among our Indian allies for we had many friend-
ly Indians among us, fighting their own countrymen whom, he
assured his superiors, he could employ to advantage. Some of
these painted barbarians, in fact, always accompanied us in our ex-
peditions, as guides and spies ; but Captain Dare would have had
an army of them, though he never succeeded in permanently at-
taching more than eighteen or twenty of them to his company.
But with even this slight addition, bywhich the force of the
Bloody Volunteers was increased to about forty men, Dicky
began to have great thoughts, and entertained the hope of finding,
or making, some opportunity of fighting a battle and winning a
victory on his own account ; " for," as he justly remarked to me
in private, " the brigade might win twenty victories and, by Julius
Caesar, as a militia captain, be none the better for any of them."
It was a lucky thing for our brigadier that, in the battle which we
soon after had at the Hillabee towns, Dicky Dare, though but a
militia captain, had only forty men under his particular command ;
for, otherwise, he undoubtedly would have snatched the victory en-
tirely into his own hands.
We arrived, the evening preceding the attack, within a few
250 ADVENTURES OF
miles of the village, undiscovered ; and, early the following morn-
ing, marched against it, our forces being so distributed as nearly,
if not entirely, to surround it. The Bloody Volunteers were, as
usual, assigned to the post of honor and danger ; taking a position
beyond the village, for the purpose of cutting off the retreat of
fugitives, who, flying from the brigade, would most naturally run
into our clutches.
In such a position, it may be supposed, we could have had our
hands sufficiently full of business, destroying fugitives and picking
up prisoners. But the ambition of Captain Dare disdained the
inglorious task of finishing the work of others ; and so he had no
sooner arrived at his post, whence, from among the trees and bushes,
we could see the scattered wigwams of the Indians, looking all in
peace and quiet, as if unconscious of the presence of a foe, than
he came to a resolution to open the attack himself, and, if
possible, carry the place before the arrival of his general. And he
was just on the point of ordering us to dismount for the purpose,
when, fortunately for the fame of the latter, the assault was sud-
denly begun by his superiors on the other side of the village, and,
in an instant, the village became the theatre of tumult and conflict.
A thousand muskets and rifles were heard roaring through the
woods ; and with them was mingled the din of the Indian halloo,
the wild scream that freezes the blood of those unaccustomed to it,
and gives at once so peculiar, and I may say demoniacal, a charac-
ter to an Indian battle. Certainly, those horrible yells, that seemed
to express the fury of devils let loose upon a newly arrived
company of condemned spirits, turned pale the cheecks even of
the Bloody Volunteers ; but when Dicky Dare, to reassure us,
cried, " Courage, my brave fellows remember, an Indian screech
is neither a tomahawk nor a rifle-bullet ! " the color returned, and
they all d d their souls, like veterans of ten years service, and
swore " they valued an Injun war-whoop no more than the squeak
of a stuck pig at Christmas. "
At this moment a band of some fifty or sixty warriors, at
whose wild appearance I felt some very extraordinary sensations,
and especially a tingling at the top of my head, as if the scalping
knife were already at work at it, were seen running towards us ;
upon which, at Dicky's orders, leaping from our horses before they
had yet discovered us, and imitating our Indian adherents by
covering our bodies behind trees and the thickest bushes, we gave
KOBE* DAY. 251
them a volley, by which a number were killed, and the rest thrown
into the greatest disorder. " Load again, my lads, and let 'em have
another touch, by Julius Caesar !" cried Captain Dare ; which we
did, and with such good effect that the savages, who had rallied
and were now rushing against us with great apparent courage,
were again brought to a stop ; whereupon Captain Dicky immedi-
ately exclaimed, with irrepressible ardor, " Now, by Julius Cae-
sar ! now's the time ; mount, my boys, and we'll finish them with
our sabres !"
The blood of the Bloody Volunteers was fully up, and they
were now equal to any enterprise. So we mounted our horses
and rushed upon the disordered and now retreating Indians with
our swords, charging them into the village, of which we should un-
doubtedly have taken immediate possession had it not been for a
tremendous discharge of bullets shot by a regiment or two of our
own friends, who were also marching into it, and were too busy to
inquire who they were shooting at. "Leave the horses," quoth
Captain Dare, " and pursue the fugitives." We obeyed the order
and again dashed after the band of savages, whom we had driven
.so far, and who were now making off in the forest, which was, for the
most part, sufficiently open to allow of the operations of cavalry
on a small scale. The fugitives were soon brought to bay, and,
scattering they took refuge behind the trees, and gave us so warm
a fire that we were compelled to dismount and fight them in the
same manner ; when our Indian allies, whom he had distanced, com-
ing at last to our aid, so that we became superior in numbers, our
intrepid captain ordered us to close upon them, which we did, and
they again took to flight. We followed them thus for several
miles, killing several of them, and doubtless wounding many
more ; but by and by they had all made their escape, and we re-
turned to the village, which, with a great number of squaws and
children, and some old men, was now in the hands of our forces.
252 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER XLY.
Captain Dare, at the head of his Bloody Volunteers, wins new
laurels by the storm and capture of an Indian milage.
THE valor of the Bloody Volunteers was favorably noticed by
the General, who complimented Captain Dare for his good con-
duct ; and, what delighted the latter infinitely more, gave him or-
ders, after refreshing his men, to proceed with them and an addi-
tional body of fifty friendly Indians whom he put under his com-
mand, along the creek (a branch of the Tallapoosa River), on
which the Hillabee towns stood, to destroy all the scattered wig-
wams he might come across.
Captain Dicky immediately set out, and the wigwams were
given to the flames through a distance of ten or twelve
miles from the field of battle, and the young captain might now
have returned in triumph to the army. But with such a powerful
force, which our red allies swelled to nearly a hundred men, at his
command, Captain Dare felt it impossible to return to the camp
without having performed some exploit worthier of fame than the
burning of a dozen cabins of bark and logs ; and hearing from the
Indians that there was a small village of the enemy some seven or
eight miles further down the creek, where it was probable the
Hillabee fugitives would seek refuge, he immediately resolved to
stretch his discretionery powers so far as to march against it, and
immortalize his name by its immediate destruction. This the
Indians, who, to give them their due, were as fond of a little inde-
pendent burning and killing as Dicky himself, represented as a
feat neither difficult nor dangerous ; and the Captain, haranguing
the Bloody Volunteers, and representing the immmortal honor
they had it in their power to achieve, they unanimously agreed,
with great swearing, they would follow him to that Indian town
or any other he pleased, and kill all the warriors and take all the
squaws prisoners.
We set out accordingly, and by nightfall had come to a hill
ROBIN DAY. 253
within a mile of the devoted village, and overlooking it ; and here
the Indians proposed we should encamp for the night, and surprise
the town next morning at dawn, according to the usual Indian
mode of attack. But Captain Dare, too impetuous or too saga-
cious to waste time in delay, was resolved to commence the as-
sault immediately ; he represented that the fugitives were
now weary with flight, and overcome with panic, and might,
therefore, be more advantageously assailed than in the morning,
after having refreshed their bodies and recovered their spirits.
" They will think," quoth Dicky, " that they have been followed
by our General, and that he is pouncing upon them with his whole
army. And besides," he added pathetically, "if we stay here all
night we shall get no supper ; whereas, in that village, we shall
doubtless surprise the squaws in the midst of their flesh pots, and
so feast like fine fellows."
His arguments were effectual even with the allies, who grunted
their approbation, more especially at the idea of the flesh pots.
Never were military calculations better borne out than
by the issue of our attack on the village. A single volley
from our guns, with one peal of warwhoops from the allies,
settled the whole affair. I have no doubt the Indians thought,
precisely as Captain Dicky said they would that the whole army
from the Hillabee towns was on them; and the gloom of the twi-
light, which was gathering fast, prevented their discovering their
error. Such were the confusion and terror among them that not
so much as a gun was fired at us by the warriors; who fled from
the cabins, like the squaws and children, yelling terribly, until the
woods and darkness assured them of escape. Many of them even
left their arms and ammunition behind them, as we discovered
by searching the huts; in one of which we lighted upon a plentiful
store of corn and dried meat a valuable capture, as there was
great scarcity of provisions in the camp at that time. What in-
jury, besides the loss of the village and stores, we had inflicted
upon the enemy, we could not well determine; but we found the
bodies of two warriors in the street, besides another discovered in
a wigwam, which, from appearances, we judged was that of a fugi-
tive, who had been wounded in the battle of the morning, and had
been carried by his comrades thus far and then died.
The victory achieved, it was now to be decided whether we
should destroy the village and stores of provisions, and endeavor
254 ADVENTURES OF
to retrace our steps to the camp, without regarding the darkness,
or fortify our position in the village and keep possession of it un-
til the stores could be transferred to the army.
The latter course was resolved upon by Captain Dare, who, re-
moving all arms and other valuables into the wigwam in which we
had found the stores, clapped the torch to the other cabins and
burned them to the ground. Then fortifying the store wigwam,
which was converted into a camp, and stationing sentinels, like a
man who knew what he w T as about, Captain Dare called his secre-
tary, Robin Day, who wrote after his dictation the following im-
portant dispatch (which was immediately sent off by one of the
Indian allies) to his commander, the Brigadier:
"General: Hearing of an Indian town, where it was supposed
the enemy might harbor, I have the honor to report its capture
by the forces under my command, after an action of two minutes;
together with a store of corn equal to six days, rations for the
army, and enough meat to make a feast all round; and also some
guns and ammunition. I have burned the town, except one wig-
wam which I have fortified for the protection of the stores, until
further orders."
This dispatch will mark the genius of Captain Dare. The judi-
cious reader cannot but observe the sublime brevity of its opening
that little clause in which the young conqueror condensed, with-
out words, ideas which would have caused another to resort to his
dictionary. Even the thrasonical Ca3sar found it necessary to clap
down his veni and vidi / whereas Dicky Dare may be said to have
accomplished his purpose with a vici only. " Hearing of an Indian
town, I have the honor to report its capture." What a laconic
concatenation of extremes, of dissevered circumstances, of a past
and a future condensed into a single present. " Hearing of an In-
dian town, I report its capture " as if the hearing of it, or having
heard of it (for it is not necessary a great man should be particu-
lar about his grammar), was not merely necessarily followed by
its capture, but was to all intents and purposes the same thing as
its capture. It is thus genius leaps from its thoughts to their re-
sults disdainful or unconscious, of the steps that connect them.
ROBIN DAY. 255
CHAPTER XLVI.
Captain Dave, with the Bloody Volunteers, attempts the conquest
of the Indian country He fights a great battle, and fortune
declares against him, but still more decidedly against Robin
Day, who falls into the hands of the enemy.
THE night passed away without disturbance ; and the Bloody
Volunteers rose from their couches the proudest of militiamen.
And now it was that Captain Dare (who, I believe, from the
greatness of his aspirations, had not slept a wink all night), being
convinced from the ease with which he had won so great a victory
that it would require but little more trouble to accomplish still
greater ones, resolved to pursue his good fortune still a little fur-
ther. His dispatch to the Brigadier, he had no doubt, would
bring that officer, with all his arrny, before many hours, to take
possession of the village and valuable stores Dicky had won for
him. What need the Bloody Volunteers, then, to remain longer
in watch, idling the time that might procure them a second vic-
tory ? There were plenty more Indian villages waiting to be
sacked. Why might not Dicky Dare, while his General was fol-
lowing at his heels, march bravely forward with his command,
and capture another of them ? and, after that, another, and
another, until there remained no more until the Creek nation
was entirely subdued.
In short, Dicky Dare was seized with the ambition to conquer
the Muscogee nation himself, with his Bloody Volunteers and
Indian allies ; not, indeed, that he thought his band, however
swelled in numbers, was of itself sufficient for such an enterprise;
but it was amply competent, he argued to me, to whom he con-
fided all his mighty plans, while backed by the brigade, following
nigh at hand, and sustained at a distance by the army of General
Jackson, and the other forces, which, at different points were
operating in the Creek territories.
And here it is proper to observe, that besides our own division,
256 ADVENTURES OF
now descending the Tallapoosa River, and General Jackson's, at
that time on the Coosa, both aesailing the Creeks from the North,
there were two other detachments attacking them from other
quarters one from Georgia in the East, another ascending the
Alabama River, of which the Coosa and Tallapoosa are tribu-N
taries, from the South.
With so many armies assailing them, the Creeks, Captain Dicky
argued, must be worried and bothered, and frightened out of
their senses. " There's not a man of them," quoth he, " turns his
face towards one army of enemies without being apprehensive
the other three may at any moment be upon his back ; if he
hears a rifle bang, he takes it for granted a whole division is at
him." In fine, Captain Dare decided that in the midst of these
distractions of the enemy nothing further was required for his
destruction than a moderate force of men under some intrepid
leader, with judgment enough to know how much might be done
by audacity and energy. " I attack this village here," quoth
Dicky ; " well, the enemy fancies its a whole division at him,
yells and flies, and the town is mine ! I attack another, and the
same thing follows ; and so it may be to the end. And who,
then, is the conqueror ? I take it for granted the President and
Congress of the United States could do nothing less than send
me a general's commission immediately ; and, by Julius Caesar, I
should know better how to employ it than some of these old gran-
nies, that do nothing for a whole year, and then let the enemy
trounce them."
I objected to Dicky's plan the possibility of his being attacked
by superior numbers. " In that case," said the hero, " we must
fight for it, by Julius Ca3sar ; and, at the worst, we can fall back
upon the brigade."
" But they may cut us off from the brigade," said I. " Indians
have a great knack at getting on an enemy's rear."
" Well then," quoth Dicky, " we can fall back upon one of the
other armies, which is the comfort of the thing; retreat must
always be open in some quarter or other."
Such were Dicky's plans, which, confided to me alone (for he
had some misgivings they were too grand to be properly appre-
ciated and approved by others of the band), he resolved to make
trial of ; and accordingly, as soon as the Bloody Volunteers had
finished their breakfast, he directed each man to help himself
ROBIN DAY. 25 T
from the stores to a week's provisions, and as much more as he
thought fit to carry, remarking, that " while we had such scurvy
contractors to take care of us, it was best for every man to take
care of himself ;" which was meant to prevent their suspecting he had
a particular purpose in thus providing them. He requested them
also to fill up their powder horns and bullet pouches ; " because,'
quoth he, with a grim facetiousness, "if we have many more
villages to take by storm we shall run through the ammunition
chest in no time ;" a jest which was not very witty, but highly
agreeable, because of its complimentary character, to the Bloody
Volunteers.
This being all done, he told them " the General and army were
now close at hand, and they must mount for a little more duty
among the wigwams ;" which being nothing more than usual, no
one made objections ; and, accordingly, out we all marched to
subdue the Creek nation.
Our first movement, as Dicky had informed me, was to be
against another village twelve miles off of which the Indians had
told him ; though he had not yet thought fit to acquaint these
faithful auxiliaries of his having any further designs than to recon-
noitre in its neighborhood, to collect such information as might
be advantageous to the army. But I believe these painted son&
of the forest began, by and by, to suspect there was more in the
wind than they knew or could approve of, as some half dozen or
more of them took their opportunity, one by one, to slip away
from us ; while others became very importunate to turn back,
without, however, giving any better reason for the step than that
they thought we were getting too far from the Big Captain that
is, the Brigadier. By and by some of them saw, or said they saw,
numerous signs or trails of the enemy, and swore with sundry oaths,,
which they had learned from their white friends, that we should
all be killed if we went any further ; an assurance which, I am
sorry to say, had an unfavorable effect upon the spirits of the
Bloody Volunteers, who burst into a sudden mutiny, came to a
halt, and swore they loved their captain, but they would be not
killed, as the Indians said but they would be hanged if they
went any further. Alas ! Captain Dicky, in laying his plans, had
quite forgot that his valiant volunteers were free and independent
militiamen.
But Captain Dicky did not yet despair of the Bloody Volun-
258 ADVENTURES OF
teers. He raised himself in his stirrups, and began to address
them in a speech, full, or intended to be full, of ingenious argu-
ments to prove that the first duty of a soldier, and even a militia-
man, and even an American militiaman, was to obey his officer;
when speech and logic were both brought to a close by a sudden
volley of small arms, let fly from a clump of bushes not far off; by
which one of the allies was brought to the ground and a volunteer
slightly wounded.
" By Julius Cassar," cried Dicky Dare, triumphantly, " I reckon
you'll obey orders, now, my fine fellows; because if you don't you
will be whipped, that's all ! "
And with that he directed them immediately to charge the ene-
my out of their cover; a command which the Bloody Volunteers,
recovering from the first feelings of consternation, readily obeyed
and perhaps the more readily, as it did not seem from the
weight of the volley that the ambushed party could be a numerous
one. Of this opinion also were the allies, who, uttering a spirited
whoop, darted away to right and left with the intention of sur-
rounding the enemy, who were immediately seen, to the number
of twelve or fifteen warriors, flying through the woods.
We pursued them, with sufficient ardor, a little way to a thicket
in which they had taken refuge, and from which they gave us
a second fire ; while almost at the same moment a third volley
was discharged from the wood at our left, by which we perceived
we had more than one party to contend with.
Upon this, there was a cry among the men to fall back, lest we
should be surrounded by superior numbers and our retreat cut
off.
" Very well," quoth Captain Dicky Dare; "but we must first
trounce these vagabonds; for by Julius Caesar, I am not going to
fly before them."
The auxiliaries were directed to dislodge the first party from
the thicket; while Captain Dare, with the Bloody Volunteers, rode
.against the other in the wood. Both parties were soon driven from
their coverts, with some loss on their side; and as both the bands
were greatly inferior in strength to the forces acting against them,
we were tempted to continue the pursuit a little further, the
friendly Indians chasing their party in one direction, and we ours
in another.
In this manner we became a little separated from the allies;
ROBIN DAY. 259
when, on a sudden, a great firing was heard in the direction they
had taken, by which the Bloody Volunteers were thrown into a
second panic, and were with great difficulty persuaded by the
magnanimous Dicky to ride with him to the assistance of uur red
friends, who, it was now plain, had fallen upon and were engaged
with a considerable body of enemies. We found them in full re-
treat before a force of savages as strong as our own, but disputing
every inch, and fighting, in their way from tree to tree, as they re-
tired.
Observing the condition of the battle with the eye and judg
ment of a Bonaparte, Dicky ordered us to dismount, and leave our
horses in charge of the wounded man, who retired a little distance
to the rear; while we took a concealed position such as would
bring us upon the enemy's flank, as he drew nigh in the pursuit.
This in a few moments procured us an opportunity of delivering a
most successful and destructive fire, by which the savages were
for a moment greatly disordered ; so that nothing more was neces-
sary to secure us the victory than firmness on the part of our al-
lies, whom Dicky, not doubting their faithful co-operation, now
called on to unite with us in a general charge. But, alas ! the
Bloody Volunteers charged alone; the allies taking advantage of
the diversion effected in their favor, only to continue their re-
treat.
Our gallantry only served the purpose of bringing upon us the
whole body of enemies, who came rushing up with terrible whoops
and yells, brandishing their knives and hatchets, gnashing their
teeth in short, acting like so many tigers hungry for their prey.
The Bloody Volunteers forgot their fame, and fled. It was in
vain Captain Dicky entreated them to " stand firm, and let the
villains have it ;" the cry was " every man for himself;" and
away they ran pell mell after the horses, to secure their escape.
Even Captain Dicky himself, thus abandoned by his heroes, was
compelled to follow their example ; and so, it may be supposed,
was I. I ran as hard as I could; and being both lighter and fleeter
of foot than any of the Bloody Volunteers, I was soon up with
the headmost, and, indeed, a little in advance of them, looking
eagerly for the horses, none of which, however, were to be seen,
when the flight of the whole company was terribly brought to an
end, at least in that direction, by a volley from another and more
powerful band of Creeks, who had laid an ambush upon our rear,
260
ADVENTURES OF
:and now, having fired their guns fairly in our faces, leaped upon
us to finish the work with their tomahawks. As for myself, being
in advance of the rest, I actually rushed into the very midst of the
ambuscade, and almost into the arms of a warrior, who started up,
shot off his piece within two yards of my head, and then, dropping
it, ran at me with a long scalping knife, roaring with triumph^
and in good English, " Shiver my timbers, shipmate, I'll haveyo^
scalp anyhow ! "
The words, unspeakably dreadful to my ears, were not less wonder-
ful than dreadful ; they came from the lips of my extraordinary
friend, Captain Jack Brown, whom, notwithstanding that his face
was all streaked over with paint like an Indian's, I immediately
recognized, because not to speak of his voice, which I could not
so soon forget he wore the very same sailor's clothes in which I
had last seen him in Virginia.
It was no time then to remember the wrongs he had done me :
at such a moment I could have forgiven him if he had robbed,
cozened, and sold me to slavery a dozen times over. I called im-
mediately for quarter. " Quarter, Captain Brown !" I cried
41 don't kill an old friend. "
" What ! Chowder Chow, sink me ! " he cried ; and his fury
evaporated in a tremendous laugh. " And so you're out of that
scrape, are you ? But I'll be hang'd if you ain't in a much worse
one now/"
KOBIN DAY. 261
CHAPTER XLVII.
Robin Day, a prisoner among the Indians, is carried to their vil-
lage, where he is made to run the gauntlet The happy device
which he puts into execution against his tormentors.
WITH that he laughed again, but seized me by the arm and
pulled me down into the bushes to conceal me from the Creeks,
who, he said and, truly, I believed him would murder me if they
saw me ; and there he held me until they had got a little away in
pursuit of the Bloody Volunteers, who were now flying in another
direction.
" Split my topsails !" cried Captain Brown, laughing again, " but
I believe you'll be my lieutenant yet ! How, in the name of Davy
Jones and all the prophets, did you get here among these
^blasted Injuns, and how do you like 'em ? For my part, sink me,
I think its a fine thing, this fighting in the way of nature bang-
ing away from a bush, and cutting off scalps as you'd slice the
top off an orange."
" Captain Brown, there's no time for talking," said I, and would
have said more, but he interrupted me.
"True enough," quoth he, "and while the red raggamuffins
are making mince meat of them milshy men, the lubbers, why we'll
just save your numskull from their dirty fingers."
And with that he bade me follow him, which I did some dis-
tance through the woods, until the savages were no longer to be
seen, though we could hear a brisk firing, as if the Bloody Volun-
teers, or perhaps their Indian allies, had turned bravely to fighting
again ; when I told him I thought I could now make good my es-
cape, and find my way back to the brigade.
He told me, " no the woods were now full of Creeks, who had cut
off the retreat of our party, and not a man of it could escape ; the
savages would have every scalp in less than an hour, and mine too,
unless he took good care of it for me, which he intended to do,
because, split him, he loved me." And thereupon he said he
262 ADVENTURES OF
would take me to the Indian town (that very one Captain Dicky
had set out in the morning with such a valiant design of taking
by storm) as his prisoner. I assured him, in great tribulation, " I
would rather take my chance in the woods, because it was notori-
ous the Creeks in this war had never admitted a prisoner to
mercy," which he agreed was very true, but I was his prisoner
and not theirs ; and with that he delivered a volley of oaths and
gave me his word of honor the Indians should not kill me.
" But," said I, grasping my rifle, which I had not yet deserted,
" I have no notion of remaining even their prisoner. And so, Cap-
tain Brown, with many thanks to you for your good-will, and
especially for having saved my life (for which reason, I forgive
your having made a slave of me), I bid you good-by."
And so saying I turned to escape, when, to my horror and as-
tonishment, Captain Brown let fly his piece (which he had re-
charged as we walked along) within an inch of my ear, and then
seizing me by the collar, as I stood petrified, brandishing at the
same time a knife in my face, as if he meant to cut my throat, he
cried : " Hold still, you blasted skilligallee, or you'll be murdered
to a certainty !"
I understood in an instant that his purpose was to save, not to
destroy me, for even as he spoke I heard a shrill whoop, and up
ran three wild savages, who must have been within view as I
started to run, and would undoubtedly, had I got any distance
from Brown, have served me the turn they were now most anxious
to do, that is, to kill me. They came yelling and ravening up,
and it was all Brown could do to save me from their knives and
hatchets. He cursed and swore, threatened, looked big and fero-
cious, and told them repeatedly, now in English, now in a mongrel
Indian jabber he had picked up, that I was his prisoner, and if
they wanted one they might go hunt for one themselves. In short,
he prevented their murderous designs, though he could not entirely
drive them off as he wished ; and when he presently signified that
I must accompany him to the village, which I prepared to do with-
out resistance, being no longer able to help myself, they followed
at a little distance behind us, looking sullen and ferocious and ex-
pectant, like so many wolves awaiting the moment to snap up the
poor traveler whom they are dogging on his journey.
This circumstance, in addition to other causes of grief, the fate
of my brother volunteers, who, I feared, were by this time all
EORIN DAT. 263
massacred, and the prospect of captivity, supposing nothing worse
should ensue, it may be supposed had no very favorable effect
upon my spirits.
But the natural buoyancy of my mind, added to the assurances
of Captain Brown, who repeatedly declared I had nothing to fear,
and laughed at my uneasiness, gradually brought me into a more
cheerful frame, so that I could give ear to the conversation with
which he beguiled the way to the village.
He desired again to know how I had escaped from the hands of
Mr. Feverage, upon which I related the whole story, and asked
him how he could reconcile it to his sense of honor to treat me in
that way ? " Oh !" said he with a grin, " the devil got into my
head, and I couldn't help it. Besides, it was what the sodgers
call a mine countermined, a trick for a trick, split me ; because
how, d'ye see, my hearty, you were just meditating how you should
give me the slip, and hang me, no craft yet ever took the weather
of Jack Brown on land or water."
I then, having informed him of the remainder of my adventures,
with which he was vastly diverted, but with none so much as the
discovery that the gallant Dicky Dare, his vanquisher on the high-
way, was the commander of the Bloody Volunteers, the heroes and
sufferers of the day I then requested, in my turn, to know what
had thus brought him among the Indians, and arrayed him so
traitorously in arms against his own country.
" My own country be d d !" quoth Jack Brown, with lofty con-
tempt ; " I sails under my own flag and nobody's else. But as for
how I came here among these red Injuns, why, blast me, it was
partly because of an accident ; for, d'ye see, hang me, I took to the
road again for diversion, just to kill time on the way, but some
how, split me, I killed a niggur trader "
" Killed a negro trader !" cried I, with a faltering voice.
" Yes," said Captain Brown, with ineffable coolness ; " I knocked
him off his horse with his own riding whip, which I borrowed for
the purpose, and then marched his niggurs to the next town to sell
them ; for, shiver my timbers, d'ye see, the niggurs, being niggurs,
could not witness against me. But somehow or other they got
up a row about it, and so there was nothing but to up anchor and
crowd on all sail for the Injun country. And so, hearing the
paint-faced lubbers loved an Englishman, why , sink me, says I, 'I'm
an Englishman, and I'm come to have a brush with you against
264 ADVENTURES OP
your foes, my red-faced hearties, for I loves it. ' And so they made
much of me, and I have very good times with 'em, taking top-
knots. And," concluded Captain Brown, " there's fun in it."
What a perverse fate was mine, to connect me, and, as it seemed,
FO inextricably, with the fortunes of such a man as Captain
Brown, a fellow to whom swindling and fraud of every kind were
but jests who spoke of killing a man as if nothing were more
natural and proper, and saw nothing but very good fun in helping
savage Indians to take the scalps of his own countrymen.
Nevertheless, Captain Brown had, just that moment, saved my
life, and was the only person who could afford the protection of
which, it was obvious, I still stood in need. And, therefore, I had
no idea of letting the horror and disgust with which he inspired me
deprive me of the advantages of his friendship.
After an hour or two, walking, we reached the village, where
my unepected presence produced a furious hubbub among the
squaws and papooses, the only inhabitants, all the warriors and
others capable of bearing arms having gone out against the unfor-
tunate Volunteers. They screeched and raved like so many furies
and little imps of darkness ; some pelted me with mud and chunks
of wood, the little boys shot at me with arrows, and set the dogs
on to devour me; while one or two old beldames, as ugly as baboons
and as fierce as tiger-cats, ran at me with knives, making every
effort to dispatch me. Captain Brown interposed, as before, to
save me. He cursed the boys, he kicked the dogs, and tossed the
old women away ; but I did not esteem myself perfectly safe until
he had dragged me into a cabin, of which, I soon found by the airs
he put on, he was the master.
Here, though I was protected from the mob of the street, I found
myself confronted by three young but by no mean handsome
squaws ; who also burst into a rage at sight of me, and seemed in-
clined to give me as savage a reception as the others had done ;
but upon Captain Brown swearing at them, which he did with
great energy, they slunk away to their domestic occupations, one
to pounding corn in a mortar, another to puffing a fire under a pot,
the third to some other work, but all grumbling and scolding in
their own language, like viragos of the most acid temperament,
giving me every now and then looks of implacable hatred. I asked
Captain Brown who they were ; to which he replied, to my aston-
ishment, " they were his wives, sink them, and as cursed a pack of
ROBIN DAY. 265
jades as were to be found in the whole Creek nation. " And there-
upon the intolerable Turk told me, " if I wanted one, I might have
one or, for the matter of that, all three of them ; and for his part,
split him, he would never marry another Injun wife again as long
as he lived, because why, he believed one was just as big a jade as
another. "
This was a new illustration of the extraordinary want of princi-
ples which Brown had long since coolly avowed, and which every
act and word of his only more surprisingly confirmed.
A half hour or more was spent in conversation, in which Brown
gave a more detailed history of his adventures since abandoning
me to Mr. Feverage; and then we sat down to an Indian dinner of
meat, corn, pumpkins and sweet potatoes, all boiled together in a
pot. The dish was not the most savory in the world, but, being
hungry, I should perhaps have very well enjoyed it, had it not
been for the entrance into the hut of a savage-looking warrior, ap-
parently fresh from the battle, who was presently followed by an-
other, and then another and another, until there were more than a
dozen of them present. I was not much dismayed at the appear-
ance of the first visitor, who, at Captain Brown's invitation, squat-
ted down at his side, and partook of our dinner; and, being asked
upon the subject by Brown, proceeded, in broken English, to in-
form him of the results of the battle. He stated that the affair
was not yet over ; that the Bloody Volunteers had been unluckily
driven in such a direction as to stumble upon and effect a junction
with their allies, the friendly Indians, who had been also intercep-
ted ; that the party, thus reunited, had rallied under the encour-
agement of the intrepid Dicky, and taken possession of an old de-
serted wigwam, from which it was not thought prudent to attempt
to disdodge them until night ; and that, accordingly, the Creeks
had retired to a distance, still, however, surrounding the ruin,
which, there was no doubt, they would carry at the approach of
darkness. This had given an opportunity to our informant, and,
as it afterwards appeared, to many other Indians, to return for a
while to the village.
It was some satisfaction to me to hear that poor Dicky and his
followers were yet alive; but the appearance of so many savages
in the cabin drove from my mind all thoughts of my friends, and
of every thing else but self; especially when one of these despera-
does, after having eaten a very hearty meal, got up, and in the
266 ADVENTURES OF
course of a long speech, addressed in broken English to Captain
Brown, proposed that I, his prisoner, should be taken out and
made to run the gauntlet, for the satisfaction of the women and
children ; who, he represented with great pathos, were mourning
the loss of many a husband and father, slain by the white man,
and stooJ therefore in need of some such consolation.
To this amiable proposal Captain Brown, to do him justice, at
first returned a flat refusal ; but the other Indians now joining
in the request, and some proceeding to the length of actually
laying hands upon me, as if determined to have their will, wheth-
er Brown consented or not, he made a merit of necessity and
surrendered me up, notwithstanding the many piteous entreaties I
made him to protect me. I reminded him of the promise he
had made, on his honor, that the Indians should not kill me ; to
which, he replied, very coolly; "they were not going to kill, but
to carbonado me ;" and comforted me with the assurance that
"one was not to expect to get through the world without a
few little rubs, split him."
In short, Captain Brown, with all his professions of friendship,
seemed not in the least distressed at my affliction; and I was
immediately haled out into the air, where my former torment-
ors, the squaws and little boys, already collected in expectation,
received me with cries of mingled fury and delight. They im-
mediately arrayed themselves, with the assistance of the warriors,
into two lines about six feet apart, and perhaps a hundred paces
long; thus forming a narrow alley, through which I was to run
to Brown's cabin, at the door of which the lines ended. All the
persons forming the lines squaws, children, and warriors were
armed with sticks and bludgeons, and some of them, I am
certain, with knives and hatchets, notwithstanding that Brown,
who assisted with great apparent spirit and gusto in arranging
the lines, assured me the warriors had agreed there should be
no dangerous weapons used.
I need not tell the reader with what emotions of indignation
and grief I found myself degraded to such a fate, to make sport
and pastime for vagabond Indians, whom I despised, even while I
feared and hated them. But indignation and grief could not save
me from the fate. I must run the gauntlet through those lines ;
and Brown, cautioning me to " run fair," as he called it, declared I
would be infallibly murdered if I broke through the lines ; and all
KOBIN DAY. 267
I could hope was, by employing my utmost speed and agility in
avoiding the blows to be aimed at me, to get through the infernal
eremony as quickly and with as little hurt as might be.
Such was the advice of Captain Brown ; who, having proved his
friendship by giving it, and placed me at a point a few yards in ad-
vance of the lines, ready to start at the signal, took post at his own
<?abin door to give it, and to receive me when the race was over.
As I stood a moment, looking down the living alley, bristling
with clubs upheld in readiness, and sparkling with eyes all turned
towards me with diabolical expectation, my fears got the mastery
of me, and I felt a sudden inclination to run the race the other way
that is, fly to the woods, instead of to Captain Brown's wigwam
My next feeling was wrath and malice, and a desire, since escape
was impossible, to make the sport result in as much suffering to my
tormentors as to their victim. This vengeful feeling, or some good
.angel, I know not which, suddenly brought to my mind the recollec-
tion of my adventures with the negroes in the streets of Philadel-
phia, and the device by which I had so effectually revenged upon
the black dandy the indignities I had suffered from his brethren.
I had no Scotch snuff, to be sure, to enable me to play the same
game over again on the present occasion ; but my eye was attracted
by a mass of loose light sand strewing the path on which I stood ; and
I felt that a better substitute for Scotch snuff could not have been
offered me. Stooping down to the ground and busying myself a
moment about my shoe, as if securing it for the race, I took the
opportunity to snatch up in each hand as much sand as I could well
<?ram into them*; and then, the word being given by Brown crying
out, " Now, my skilligallee, run, you lubber !" words that brought
a peal of yells from the savages, I started at full speed down the
alley, scattering, as the husbandman does his seed, a little sand
from both sides, and aiming it with admirable accuracy full at the
eyes of my persecutors, administering always a double dose where
I had reason, from the bigness of the club or the fury of the visage,
to apprehend the most dangerous enemy.
The device succeeded wonderfully ; it protected me from many
a blow, aimed or intended to be aimed, at my unprotected body ;
and it changed the cries of ferocity of my enemies to yells of
pain and anguish. Nothing can express the horrible confusion I left
at every step, as I ran, behind me ; two hundred and fifty savages
man, woman and child were suddenly consign edto blindness,
268 ADVENTURES OF
with each at least ten grains of sand in either eye ; and how they
ever got rid of them, as I am certain I left not a sound eye to help
the afflicted in all the village, I know not.
Next to the satisfaction of thus repaying, or anticipating, their
cruelties, was that of my almost perfect exemption from injury.
Some slight blows I received, indeed, and one cut, which I sup-
posed was from a knife, on my left shoulder ; but I should have
reached Brown's cabin without a hurt of any consequence, had it
not been that this worthy himself, my faithful friend, after giving
the signal, had jumped in at the end of the line with a shillelah ;
with which, roaring in animated tones, " run, you lubber," he hit
me a tremendous thwack, by which I was tumbled, or rather dar-
ted, headlong into the cabin. Unfortunately for my own interests,
as I had entertained no apprehensions of such a salute from Cap-
tain Brown, I had made no preparations to prevent it ; unfor-
tunately for Captain Brown, however, I was aware of his intent
in time to revenge it ; and at the very moment his stick came in
contact with my back, I succeeded by a violent effort in flinging
all my remaining ammunition into his face ; and his furious ex-
clamation, " shiver my timbers, I'm blinded for ever !" was mingled
with the less comprehensible but equally agonized ejaculations of
the Indians.
KOBIN DAY. 269
CHAPTER XLVIII.
How the Indians condemn Robin Dag to the stake, along with
Captain Brown, their adopted brother ; and in what manner
the two are saved from being burned alive.
"You have blinded me, you cub of a sea dog !" cried Captain
Brown, groping his way into the cabin, where were now none but
ourselves ; for his amiable wives, it seemed, had been too happy to
take part in the savage entertainment, in which they had suffered
as well as others. The smarting of my back gave a bolder
emphasis to my reply, " No craft yet ever took the weather of
Jack Brown on land or water !"
" Bravo !" cried Jack Brown, bursting into a laugh, which,
however, ended in a growl : " I've heard of a rat taking a cat by
the nose, and a jackass kicking a lion. But, split me, no more
gabbling ; pick the sand out of my eyes."
This piece of friendship I performed for the gentleman ; who,
being at last freed from pain, fell into a good humor, and highly
commended the novelty and ingenuity of my device, and swore,
the next time he went cruising, he would take in a cargo of
sand, " becuase why, it would be a great saving of gunpowder." I
had my doubts and fears as to the effects of my stratagem upon the
tempers of the savages ; but Brown assured me it was a good
joke, which they would themselves enjoy, as soon as they got
their eyes washed out.
By and by, having tired of jesting upon the subject, he pro-
posed I should turn savage like him though he recommended
me not to trouble myself with any wives, " because why, they were
infernal jades, all of them " and accompany him forthwith to the
scene of battle, for the honest purpose of assisting in the destruc-
tion of my late friends and comrades, the Bloody Volunteers,
which, he said, would make the Creeks fond of me. I rejected the
proposal with indignation ; upon which he himself started off,
leaving me, to my great grief, to the tender mercies of his spouses
270 AD VENTURES OF
who, perhaps, thinking themselves responsible for my safekeeping,
immediately laid hands upon me, and with a deal of scolding and
glowering, proceeded to tie me hand and foot, which being done
to their liking, they rolled me into a corner of the hut, and left
me to my meditations.
And thus to my meditations I was left for more than twenty-
four hours that is, until late in the afternoon of the following day
during all of which time I suffered inexpressible pangs from the
tightness of the rope, and from hunger and thirst ; for the Mistresses
Brown, having established me in the corner, paid no further regard
to me than if I lay at the bottom of the Red Sea, bringing me no
food, taking no notice of my moans and lamentations, and petitions
to have my bonds slackened a little, and, indeed, appearing to be ,
almost unconscious of my existence.
At the end of that period, the savages returned to the village, as
I was apprized by a great number of wild yells that suddenly arose
in the forest ; and presently Captain Brown came into the hut,
looking very much fatigued, and with a handkerchief bound round
his arm, as if he had been wounded. He looked surprised, and
then laughed to see me bound, but swore very majestically at his
wives, and immediately released me from my painful bonds, with
the observation, made by way of apology for the treatment I had
endured from the furies, that " I might thank my stars they had
not taken a twist of the rope round my neck, instead of my wrists
and ankles ! "
He then informed me, to my great surprise and joy, that Captain
Dicky, with his Bloody Volunteers, instead of being devoured by
the savages, had outgeneraled, if not even defeated them ; that he
had taken advantage of the night and the confidence of the be-
siegers to creep from his fortress, and, after an attack as furious
as it was unexpected, in which he had inflicted considerable loss
upon them, to steal away, marching so vigorously during the whole
night, that the savages had not been able to overtake him, though
following hotly upon the track from morning till noon ; and that,
in consequence, many of the latter, and especially the Indians of the
village, had given over the pursuit in despair, and returned home
in a very bad humor. But, he added, there were plenty of other
Creeks in pursuit (for the enemies of the Bloody Volunteers were
not confined to a single village), and they would undoubtedly,
sooner or later, come up with and destroy them ; because Dicky,
BOBIN DAY. 271
supposing himself cut off from, the brigade, had turned in another
direction, and was marching into the heart of the Creek territories.
While Brown was speaking, I was sensible of a great hubbub in
the streets, which increased and approached, and, directly, a mul-
titude of warriors, fierce with paint and rage, came rushing into
the hut.
" Shiver my timbers," said Brown, " the rapscallions are after
mischief !"
And so, indeed, they were ; for rushing upon me, the object of
the visitation, in a body, and with such eagerness that some of
them tumbled one over the other to the floor, they seized me with
violence, and began to drag me from the cabin. I cried out to
Brown for protection ; upon which he repeated one of his pro-
fanest interjections, adding, with what seemed to me more of sur-
prise than concern, that " he believed they were going to roast me."
Nevertheless, he made some effort for my relief, demanding, with
some appearance of indignation, "what they wanted with his
prisoner," and insisting they should do me no hurt, " because
why, sink him, he had adopted me into the nation."
The savages took not the least notice of his remonstrances, but
haled me from the cabin into the streets, where I again saw all the
squaws and children collected ; and they burst into yells, at sight of
me, as they had done before, crowding eagerly and tumultu-
ously around the warriors, who pulled me to the river bank (for
the village stood on the banks of the Tallapoosa), and there tied
me by the back to a pine tree that grew near the edge of the bluff,
and immediately many of the squaws ran up, bearing armloads of
wood, which they began to pile in a ring around me.
It was no longer to be doubted that they were going to burn
me alive, and that they were in the greater hurry to begin their
diabolical pastime, because the night was now coming on fast,
leaving them scarce sufficient time to enjoy the spectacle of my
dying agonies by daylight.
I looked around for Captain Brown, who had followed to the
scene of execution, and was, I believe, doing all he could among
the warriors, by argument and dissuasion, to save me from the
horrid fate to which they had consigned me ; but I was in such
dismal confusion and anguish of spirit, that I could note nothing
but that he was among them, and think of nothing but the share
he had had in bringing me to the present pass. I called to him, and
272 ADVENTURES OF
reproached him bitterly with the promise he had made that my
life should not be touched, and reminded him he had pledged hi&
honor for my safety. At another moment, I might have smiled at
the idea of appealing to the honor of such a man as Captain
Brown ; but, after all, he had something of the kind yet left in
his breast, or some dare-devil sense of right and wrong, for I
doubt if there was virtue in it, which took the place of honor in his
composition.
" I sticks to my honor, my hearty," he cried, with a resolute
voice, ll and I don't intend the lubberly rascals shall do you any
hurt."
And with that he forced his way up to the tree, and, in open
defiance of the whole herd, began deliberately with a knife to cut
the thongs that bound me. The savages seemed for a moment
staggered at the act, as well as at the intrepid bearing of their
ally, but, presently relapsing into rage, they fell upon him tooth
and nail, some snatching the knife from his hands, and others seizing
him by the shoulders to drag him away.
" Are you there, shiver me !" cried he, shaking himself free
from their grasp, which he immediately requited by some half
dozen or more terrible blows of his fist, planted with admirable
precision full in the faces of those who had made most free with
him. This exasperated their passion into frenzy, in the midst of
which, overpowering him with numbers, he was at last tumbled to
the ground, and in two minutes after, bound like myself to a tree,
on the point of sharing the death he was no longer able to prevent.
But fate had not willed we were to perish the victims of Indian
tortures. The day was closing fast ; but it was the darkness of a
tempest that shortened it prematurely. A wild moaning sound,
the uproar of a hurricane booming through the forest, was heard
even above the yells of the Indians, during their conflict with
Brown ; and, when that was over, and the whoopings came to an end,
it had increased to such a degree as to engage the attention and
excite the fears of all. Indeed, the ropes had not well been secured
upon Brown's body, when, on a sudden, the trees on the opposite
bank of the river, were seen snapping and flying in the air, while
the river, late so dark and still, was converted into a chaos of
boiling foam, intermixed with the limbs and trunks of trees,
as the tornado, with the speed of the wild horse, swept across
it to the Indian village.
EOBIN DAY. 275
The savages, screaming with fear, fled to the refuge of their
cleared fields ; and so, doubtless, would their victims have done,,
if able; for I can declare, at least for myself, that the horror of that
dreadful tumult of the elements, the sight of great trees whirling-
in the air like straws, and of the river spouting up from its bed
for no other word will express its commotion as if the whole body
of waters were about deserting it, filled me with such consternation,
that I quite forgot I was on the point of being burned alive, for-
got, too, that death by a thunderbolt or falling tree would be mercy
compared with immolation by the hands of torturing Indians.
The tornado was on us in a moment, and but I have no kind
of knowledge what happened, or how it happened ; but I remem-
ber having looked, one moment, with horror upon Brown, who was.
venting terrible execrations, in no apparent fear, but great amaze-
ment at the appearance of things, and, the next, finding him lugging
me down the bank of the river, swearing as furiously as before, and
assuring me, " if I was not done for, now was the time to give them
blasted Injuns the go-by. " And with that, tumbling me into a
canoe that lay on the verge of the river, and pushing her off into-
the water, which was still in great commotion, he jumped in,
snatched up a paddle, and, giving me another, bade me "flap away
like a mud-terrapin. "
The storm was still blowing, though with moderated rage; but a
great rain had succeeded, and was now pouring in such deluges,
that as I looked back to the scene of the intended torture, I could
barely discern that the village was in ruins, and the trees that
divided it from the river all prostrated. I could see no Indians ;
they had not yet returned in quest of their victims. The next
moment, the site of the village was concealed from my eyes by a
bend of the river, down which our canoe was urged at the greatest
speed we could give it.
274 ADVENTURES OP
CHAPTER XLIX.
Robin is separated from his fellow fugitive, and after wandering
through the wilderness, stumbles on his old friends the Bloody
Volunteers, and with that corps of heroes, is taken prisoner by
the Spaniards of Florida.
I ASKED Captain Brown the particulars of our escape, but he said
"he knew nothing about it, except that the blasted pine" (mean-
ing the tree he was bound to), " came down like the mast of an
Injieman in an ox-eye off Good Hope, and so snapped him loose,
and then he had cut me free, sink him ; and that was all he knew
of it, except that if he ever turned Injun again, the devil might fry
him in butter for breakfast, split him."
And with that he bade me paddle away, which I did with all
my strength, asking him the while very anxiously what we were
to do, and what was the prospect we had of making good our es-
cape from among the Indians. He replied that we could do noth-
ing better than paddle down the stream as fast as we could during
the night ; that it was lined with Creek towns, which, however, we
<jould easily pass unobserved ; that two nights' paddling would
carry us out of the heart of the Creek settlements, after which we
could proceed on by day as well as by night, and so he supposed
that in four or five days we should reach some American fort or
other on the Alabama River.
"But what," asked I anxiously, "during these four or five days
are we to do for food, having none with us, and no means of pro-
curing any ?"
" What are we to do ? Why starve" quoth Captain Brown,
coolly ; " a thing I have had great practice in, for once, hang me,
I lived nine days on a pair of shoes and a gallon of rum ; and
another time, fourteen days on nothing, except the hind leg of a
iriggur, which was none of the best, because how, it wasn't crooked
and no rum, salt, or pepper to make savory. And as for starving
five or six days here on a fresh river, where one may fall to on the
ROBIN DAY. 2T5
dry grass like a hippopotamus (and shiver my timbers, I don't
believe grass is such bad eating neither, because why, how do the
cows get so fat on it)? I don't think that any great matter.
And mayhap if we have luck, we may catch a young alligator or
two for dinner, though split me, it wouldn't be wonderful if we-
were snapped up ourselves by the old ones."
I liked not at all the prospect of fasting four or five days, or
feeding on dry grass and alligators ; but the thought that I was
escaping from the savage stake determined me to meet my fate
with fortitude. It was not my fate, however, to starve long in the
company of Captain Brown.
The storm that followed the hurricane lasted but a short time,
but it rained violently during nearly the whole night a circum-
stance we esteemed no great misfortune, as it gave us the better
hope of passing the Creek villages unnoticed. We paddled on,
therefore, with zeal and confidence, and by and by when the rain
ceased, as it did a little before daylight, we had left the torture-
ground many a long league behind us.
But while congratulating ourselves upon our success, we had
the misfortune, while rounding a point on the right bank of the river,
suddenly to come in contact with a great sawyer, as I believe they
call it, by which our bark was turned topsy-turvy and wrecked,
and ourselves tumbled into the tide.
Everybody has heard of the drowning sailor who caught hold
of the anchor for preservation, and went with it to the bottom.
In the confusion of the moment, I was guilty of a somewhat simi-
lar piece of folly, for I grasped the tree which had wrecked us,
and upon which I was no sooner mounted than it plumped under
water, then up, then down again, giving me such a tremendous
seesawing, and all between wind and water, that I lost the little
wits left me by the immersion, and so was on the point of drown-
ing before I could think of making an effort for safety. I was
partly recalled to my senses by a sudden snorting from Captain
Brown, who immediately roared out a little down the stream,
whiiherhehad been carried by the current, " I say, split me, hilloa
there, my hearty ! have you gone to the bottom ? Here's the bank
near ; swim, you horse-mackerel !"
But alas, the voice of Captain Brown pealing over the river,
awoke upon that solitary bank he recommended me to swim to,
and which he was doubtless himself striving to reach, certain
276 ADVENTURES OP
echoes, the most disagreeable and fearful that could fall upon my
ears. They were nothing less than the yells of Indians first, a
single startling shriek that was responded to by a multitude of
voices, as of a party that had just been roused from sleep ; and in
the midst of the uproar, a dozen or more rifles were fired off in the
<dark, as I supposed, at Brown, and then I heard or fancied I heard
the noise of moccasined feet jumping into canoes, and the rattling
of paddles against their wooden sides.
Roused by the new danger, I immediately let go my hold of the
tree, and swam to the other side of the river, where not pausing to
look for Brown, or even to think of him, because I fancied the In-
dians in their canoes were close behind me, I ran up the bank, and
was presently in the depths of a trackless forest. I then indeed,
thought of Brown, but it was too late to look for him, supposing
he had escaped to the bank, as I had done, and besides, I dare not
stop for such a purpose. It was now almost dawn ; in half an
hour the Indians would be able to follow me by my trail, and well
I knew how necessary it was to make the most of the advance I
had of them. I ran on, therefore, through the woods, and by sun-
rise I reckoned I had left the river five or six miles behind me. I
then slackened my pace somewhat, but not much, being still in
fear the Indians might overtake me.
Towards midday I felt a little more at ease, and was able to
collect my thoughts, and consider though I did not come to a
stand to do so what I was to do, thus left by my cruel fate
.alone in a wide wilderness. I had treasured in my memory all
that Captaim Dicky and Brown had said of American armies
entering the Creek Nation from the East and South, and of forts
recently built on the Alabama River. But how I was to find either
an army or fort, unless I should stumble upon them by mere
accident, was not very clear, as the east was a wide quarter of the
compass, and the Alabama a pretty long river. It appeared to me
but a hopeless task to go in search of either ; yet, as it was neces-
sary to go in some direction, I thought my best course would be
to proceed to the Southwest, which from a general notion I had of
the country, I fancied would bring me to the Alabama River, near
to its confluence with the Tombecbee, where I hoped to find my-
self in the neighborhood of forts or settlements.
But, alas, I soon discovered it was much easier to resolve upon a
course than to pursue it. The sun, upon which I chiefly depended
ROBIN DAY. 277
to guide me on my way, presently refused to shine, and for not
that day only, but several others, for it was now November, the
month of fog and storm; and, when night camc,and it was even clear,
I found there was no seeing the stars through the overarching
boughs of the forest that spread around me, apparently without
end. I could, indeed, sometimes manage to determine the points of
the compass ; but the end was, that I soon became bewildered, lost
in the wild desert, in which not to dwell upon an adventure that
was varied only by my fears and distresses I wandered for seven
weary, dreary days, subsisting upon nuts, when I had the good
fortune to find them, which did not happen every day, and more
especially toward the last, when I entered upon a barren, sandy
country, upon which nothing grew but pine trees ; and where,
therefore, I had the best prospect of dying of famine. But there
was relief in store for me, and it came at a moment when, being
quite worn out with hunger and fatigue, and reduced to despair, I
stood most in need of it.
It was the seventh day of my flight, in the afternoon, and I had
thrown myself upon the ground, as I almost hoped, to die ; when I
heard at a distance a sudden firing of guns, at first a volley, and
then an irregular succession of discharges, which convinced me
there was a battle waging nigh at hand. This dispelled my despair,
and my first thought was to fly, not doubting that, where there
was fighting, there must be Indians also ; but remembering that
although Indians might be engaged on one side, there must be
white men on the other, and being emboldened by my desperate
condition, I resolved to steal towards the field of contention, and,
if possible, effect a junction with the supposed white men.
This proved to be no very difficult matter ; for although the firing
suddenly ceased, so that I was deprived of the means of directing
my course, I presently saw a body of men, twelve in number, march-
ing pretty rapidly through the woods towards me, all of them
armed, and all, as I knew by their clothes, good American back-
woodsmen. I ran towards them, crying out that I was " a friend,"
not desiring they should shoot at me as an enemy ; and, accordingly,
I arrived among them unharmed, and immediately discovered
myself in the midst of my old friends, the Bloody Volunteers or
what remained of that once formidable company, their gallant
leader, Captain Dicky Dare, still marching at their head.
Yes ! there they were, twelve heroes and men of might, who
278 ADVENTURES OF
finding their return to the brigade cut off, had carved their way
through the heart of the Indian nation, and fighting and flying
together, had arrived in the piny desert, bringing, not merely
famine and fatigue such as I endured, but a host of enemies, by
whom their march was continually harassed, and their numbers
thinned, and from whom they owed their daily escapes only to the
military genius of their commander. Where they were, or
whither they were going, they knew no more than I ; nor had they
known for many days. Some attempts the valiant Dicky had
made to penetrate both to the east and west, to execute his pre-
concerted plan, in case of necessity, of effecting a junction with
one of the American armies ; but those quarters were precisely the
ones in which he found it impossible to proceed ; and during the
last four or five days he had been content to march to any point
of the compass which his fate, or his foes, permitted.
Great as were the wonder and joy on both sides for the Bloody
Volunteers were all rejoiced to see me alive again, having supposed
me long since dead, and Captain Dicky, who looked half -starved
himself, pulled a handful of corn from his pocket, being all the food
he had remaining, and generously divided it with me there was
no time to indulge in congratulations. There were Indians close
behind ; the Bloody Volunteers had just repelled their attack, but
it might be at any moment repeated. " Push on, " was the word ;
and away we went whither, as I said before, no one knew, but
with the encouraging assurance of our captain, that, " whichever
way we went, we must sooner or later, come to someplace or other."
Fortunately, our commander's words were soon verified ; for we
had not continued the march more than an hour, when our ears
were unexpectedly saluted by the tones of p. bugle pealing through
the woods. Whence could such a sound proceed save from some
American fort or camp ? We pressed onward with renewed speed,
and by and by caught sight, not of a fort or camp, but of a train of
forty or fifty mounted men, all in handsome uniform, who came
trooping along through the forest, but at sight of us suddenly
halted, and we perceived them unslinging carbines, which they
had hanging at their backs, as if preparing to meet an enemy.
Then galloping towards us, they came to a second halt within a hun-
dred paces of us, while their leader, parting from them, rode up
nearer, and saluted us, to our surprise, in the Spanish language, de-
manding who we were, and whence we came ; questions which I,
ROBIN DAY. 279
being the only one of the company who understood the language,
interpreted to the Bloody Volunteers, as well as the reply of Captain
Dicky to the officer, that we were a detachment of such a brigade
of such a division of the Tennessee army. Upon this, the officer
very politely informed us we were his prisoners, and begged we
would do him the favor to surrender our arms to those of his Majesty
the King of Spain, upon whose territories we were now unlawfully
bearing them ; hinting, at the same time, that our refusal to do so
would place him under the disagreeable necessity of cutting us to
pieces.
This was a greater surprise than the other, though, it proved by
no means painful to the Bloody Volunteers ; who, repelling a sug-
gestion of the indomitable Dicky that " he thought they might whip
the haughty Dons, if they would, for all of their numbers," insisted
upon laying down their arms immediately, whereby they would
escape all future danger from the Indians, as well as the pangs of
starvation that now afflicted them.
" Well, " said Captain Dicky, with a sigh, " it can't be helped,
then; and perhaps the American Government would not sustain
us, even if we trounced them, because we are at peace with Spain.
But the consolation is, the greatest generals and bravest soldiers
have been sometimes prisoners of war. Tell the officer," said he,
" we surrender to the arms of his Majesty the King of Spain. "
So the twelve of fame gave up their arms, and were forthwith
marched off to the town of Pensacola, from which we were only
twenty or thirty miles distant, and which we reached early in the
afternoon of the following day, being treated very well on the
road, and sumptuously feasted.
280 ADVENTURES OP
CHAPTER L.
The Bloody Volunteers are carried to Pensacola^ where Robin Day
receives an agreeable surprise.
As soon as we arrived, Captain Dicky's eleven followers were
carried to a fortress near the town, where they were confined ;
while the young hero and myself I being invited to officiate as
interpreter were conducted to the house of the Intendente, or
mlitary governor of the town, the Senor Coronel Aubrey, or de
Aubrey ; for such Captain Yaldez, our captor, told us was his
name ; and upon my remarking that the name appeared to me
rather English than Spanish, he admitted with a shrug that seemed
to be full of meaning, though I could not divine what the
meaning was, that his Excelencia the Coronel was but a half Cas-
tilian after all, nay, that he was a North American by birth, who
had left the Carolinas at the period of the American Revolution,
and entered the Spanish colonial service, in which he had remained
ever since. And Valdez added, with another shrug, as profoundly
significative and as incomprehensible as the first, that Colonel
Aubrey had acquired wealth as well as power, while many pure-
blooded Castilians might be found in the service of his sovereign,
who, caramba ! were no richer than he was.
A few moments saw us ushered into the presence of this dig-
nitary, a fine, and, indeed, noble-looking man of fifty or fifty-five
years ; in whom, notwithstanding* the difference of years, I was
struck with a resemblance to the portrait of the Spanish gentle-
man which I had so much admired in the drawing-room of Mr.
Bloodmoney. And to prove that he could be no other than the
original of that picture, I saw hanging upon the wall of the apart-
ment in which he received us, a copy, the very counterpart of
that portrait. Allowing for the difference of years, there was
but one characteristic in which the Intendent differed from his
effigy. The countenance of the latter expressed a deep and set-
tled melancholy ; whereas Colonel Aubrey's was in the main a
ROBIN DAY. 281
-cheerful one, or at most sedately cheerful. " But," thought I to
myself, " a man is not in sorrow all his life."
He received us or rather, I should say he received Captain
Dicky, whose regimentals, though greatly the worse for his forest
campaign, distinguished him as my superior with courtesy, but
seemed very much surprised at his juvenile appearance ; indeed he
turned to our captor, and asked him with some sharpness
fortunately for the pride of Captain Dicky, the question was in
Spanish whether he had not made a mistake, and brought him
the drummer instead of the leader of the American party ?
" Upon my soul," replied the officer, " the little fellow is com-
mander-in-chief of the whole party. And," he added, casting his
eye upon me, "if we are to believe what the young gentleman, his
friend and follower, says of him and his feats, it is time the Amer-
ican Government had made him a general of division."
The Intendant here gave me a scrutinizing look, which ended in
a smile, and he addressed himself to the business in hand, by asking
a great many questions in regard to the Bloody Volunteers, their
objects in thus invading the territories of his Catholic Majesty
whether they were acting under the orders of General Jackson,
or any other American commander and a multitude of other
inquiries, such as were, doubtless, proper to the occasion ; and to
all which Captain Dicky, as soon as I had rendered them into
English, returned the most appropriate and dignified answers.
He assured the Governor upon his honor as a soldier, that neither
his government nor commanding general had the least idea of
violating the territory of their Spanish friends ; that the invasion
was an affair of accident, attributable solely to him, and to him
only on account of his ignorance of the Spanish boundaries. In
short, he answered everything, and said everything necessary to
allay the suspicions that might be entertained by the Governor as
to any sinister movements of the American army in progress or
designed against his little Intendancy.
So far all went very well ; but a difficulty unexpectedly arose
when his Excellency, politely assuring Captain Dicky that his ex-
planations were quite satisfactory, begged to be permitted to look
over his papers that is to say, his commission, and the orders of
his brigadier, in the attempted execution of which he had been
driven so very far from headquarters. The difficulty was that
Captain Dicky had no papers ; the irregularity of his election, and
282 ADVENTURES OF
the hurry of affairs, had prevented his receiving, before marching
to the theatre of war, a formal commission from the executive of
Tennessee ; and as for orders, he had never yet been distinguished
by any but verbal ones from his general.
To remove the difficulty, .Captain Dare entered into a labored
explanation of the circumstances, from the period of his election
up to his surrender to the arms of his Majesty of Spain, including
the whole of his adventures during the flight through the Indian
country an exploit that can be compared only to the memorable
Anabasis of the Ten Thousand ; in which Colonel Aubrey seemed
much interested, and I am sorry to say, diverted ; for he laughed
once or twice very heartily. He then asked me if I could as a
gentleman (for, upon his demanding what my rank was in the
company, I took the opportunity, which the ragged appearance of
my outer man rendered desirable, to tell him I was a gentleman
volunteer, a soldier of fortune serving in the ranks), indorse all the
statements of my friend Captain Dicky ; and upon my hinting in
reply, that my captivity among the Indians, and long sep ration
from the company, rendered me an incompetent authority as to a
portion of the statements, though I had no doubt of their truth, he
became very anxious for the recital of my adventures also, which
I gave him that is to say, my adventures in the Indian nation
with Captain Brown ; whom, however, for my own sake, I took
care to represent as a mere fellow in misfortune, without saying
anything of his rascalities and piratical character ; and it seemed
to me, that while equally diverted, he was still more interested by
them than he had even been with the exploits of Captain Dare.
These representations satisfied him that Captain Dare's state-
ments were to be relied on ; or at least, he said as much ; upon
which, Captain Dicky assumed, in his turn, the character of ques-
tioner, and demanded to know of his Excellency his intentions in
regard to himself and his Bloody Volunteers ; whether they were
to be detained as prisoners of war (in which case he begged the
Intendant to observe he protested against the detention, as an act
unfriendly and injurious to the United States, the ally of Spain),
or whether they were to he treated as friendly visitants, and al-
lowed to depart immediately to their own country ; in which lat-
ter event, Dicky declared that, having now found out how the
land lay, he had no doubt he could conduct his command to the
American lines at Mobile.
ROBIN DAY. 283
To these interrogatories the Governor replied, with a smile, that
the affair being a very extraordinary one, he did not feel himself
at liberty to decide upon the course necessary to be pursued, until
he had deliberated further on the subject ; but, for the present,
he said he would consider Captain Dare only in the light of a guest,
and immediately requested the honor of his company to dinner ;
an invitation which, on the faith of my being a gentleman volun-
teer, as he said, with some emphasis on the phrase, he extended
also to me.
But here another difficulty arose, founded on the condition of
our habiliments ; in which we "were the more loath to appear at a
gentleman's table, as Captain Valdez had hinted the Governor had
a very charming daughter, who would, do.ubtless, preside on the
occasion ; and I was obliged to confess on Dicky's account, that,
captain as he was, he had not a shirt to his back, having torn it
into bandages for his wounded volunteers ; while I lamented, on
my own behalf the ferocity of the Indians and the fury of the bri-
ers, which had quite destroyed the beauty of a handsome hunting
frock I had bought at the beginning of the campaign. Colonel
Aubrey laughed, and said he was happy to have it in his power to
relieve us from so serious a dilemma ; and with that, he conducted
us into a chamber, where we were left in charge of a negro servant,
who supplied us with linen from his master's wardrobe, and the
means of making a very gentlemanly and luxurious toilet. And
by and by another slave made his appearance, bearing for my
use a handsome military frock ; which, as it very nearly fitted
me, I fancied the Governor had obtained from some juvenile
officer, to serve my purpose, until I could fit myself out in a
manner becoming a gentleman volunteer.
Having C9mpleted our toilet very much to the satisfaction of
both, and rejoined the courteous Intendent, we were immediately
conducted by him into a sumptuous saloon, where we found a
table already spread, with many black servants around it, besides
whom there where three other persons in the room, one an old
man in a clergyman's dress, his Excellency's chaplain ; the second
a stiff and starched matron, whom I took for a duenna, but
who proved to be merely the cas'era, or housekeeper, and the
third a young lady, the fair daughter, as I could well believe, of
the Intendent. But, heaven and earth ! what was my amazement
.and confusion, when, looking bashfully up into the face of the
284 ADVENTURES OF
senorita, who received the two strangers with graceful courtesies,
I beheld the beautiful somnambulist, the Spanish girl to whose
gratitude or humanity I had owed my escape from Mr. Blood-
money's house, on the memorable night of the burglary ! She
recognized me at the same moment, and her confusion was al-
most as great as my own ; though with me to surprise was
added the fear and anticipated shame of exposure : " In a mo-
ment," thought I to myself with such thrills of dismay and an-
guish as I had never before felt, " I become, instead of a gentleman
volunteer, a rascally housebreaker, angrily and ignominiously ex-
pelled from the Intendent's house, perhaps consigned to a Spanish
prison."
At that very moment of discovery, Colonel Aubrey, who had
already presented Captain Dicky to his daughter, was in the act
of commanding me, el Senor Voluntario, as he called me, to her
notice. He smiled at my agitation, as supposing it, perhaps, the
mere bashfulness of a gawky boy ; but when he saw that his
daughter shared my confusion, he was struck with astonishment,
which immediately darkened into suspicion arid displeasure.
" How, Isabel ! " he cried with a frown, " you have then seen
the young man before ? "
" Si, padre mio querido ! yes, my dear father," cried the lady,
with a voice whose faltering tones cut me to the soul, and I thought
I should have sunk through the floor ; for the next word, and
all must be revealed, and the poor housebreaker Fy ! I thought
of Captain Brown and the Indian stakes on the banks of the
Tallapoosa, and I wished the Creeks had finished their work, and
burned us alive him for his villainy in making me a burglar, and
me, if for no other purpose than to save me the humiliation of the
present moment.
But the humiliation endured only for a moment ; the voice of
Isabel ceased to falter, her eye to dwell upon the floor, and the
angelic creature for such she now appeared added, with equal
firmness and address, " I have seen him, my dear father ; and I
Owe it, perhaps, to the young gentleman that I am now here alive
before you ! It was in Mr. Bloodmoney's house : I wandered in
my sleep Santa Maria ! I shall never wander in sleep again !
a robber was in the house : he seized me ; and and yes, mi
padre ! " she cried with animation, " this young man saved me
from his murderous clutches !"
ROBIN DAY. 285
At this dreadful story, for dreadful it seemed to all, Colonel
Aubrey turned as pale as a ghost, the ecclesiastic crossed himself,
the cas'era fetched a half shriek, the negroes rolled their eyes, and
Dicky Dare, giving me a nudge on the ribs, whispered eagerly
"I say, by Julius Caesar, what's all this the girl's talking about ?
" Seized by a robber !" at last ejaculated the Intendant ; "your
life endangered ! in Mr. Bloodmoney's house, too ? and I not
told a word of it !"
" Alas !" cried Isabel, " the Senor Bloodmoney was so much
affected that such a thing should happen to me in his house, and
the Senora, his wife, so deeply afflicted, so much afraid of your
anger, that, at her entreaty, I promised, before we sailed, you
should not know of it ; and, though loath to conceal anything
from my dear father, I should not have told you what may be of
disadvantage to the Senor Bloodmoney to be known (though, in-
deed, it was not his fault, but the audacious villainy of the rob-
ber), had it not been for my surprise at so suddenly seeing the
young gentleman who rescued me."
What an amazing transition in my position, as well as feelings !
From a burglar, I was, as by a touch of magic, converted into a
hero ; and from emotions of terror and disgrace I passed into
sensations of the most rapturous delight and exultation. My
original feelings toward the lovely Isabel were, as I have long
since confessed, of a highly romantic and tender character ; and
such was the nature of those which now seized me, that I felt
an almost irresistible impulse to catch her in my arms, as the
scoundrel Brown had done, and profess I know not how much of
love and gratitude. And perhaps I might, in the fervor of the
moment, have committed myself by some such demonstrations of
affection, had not Colonel Aubrey been prompted by a similar im-
pulse in favor of myself, whom he immediately caught in his
arms, calling me the preserver of his child, his friend, his bene-
factor, and I know not what beside.
But I do know that I had at that moment some idea of what
might be the feelings of a modest young women in a man's arms,
by experiencing those of a modest young man in a similar predica-
ment. I was, in a word, very anxious to get out of them, not-
withstanding all the Intendent's obliging expressions ; and per-
haps I blushed the harder, after the embrace was over, for Dicky
Dare, whose curiosity was waxing hot to penetrate the mysteries
286 ADVENTURES OF
of my good fortune, giving me a second nudge and whisper,
"I say, by Julius Caesar, what was the old gentleman hugging
you for? And why the deuce don't we sit down to dinner, & be-
fore it spoils by standing ?"
BOBIN DAY. 287
CHAPTER LI.
In which Robin Day makes a rapid progress in the regards of the
fair Isabel.
It seemed as if Colonel Aubrey divined the meaning of Captain
Dicky's questions, or, at least, the latter one ; for banishing his
fervor with a smile, he bade us " sit down ;" adding, " that from
all I had told him of my forest feats, he did not doubt I would
prefer a good dinner to all the fine words he could utter, or the
warm embraces he could give me." But as soon as the reverend
padre had delivered a benediction on the meal, and we had taken
our seats, he renewed the subject, and requested that his daughter
would now inform him of the particulars of the adventure in which
I had played a part so interesting and questionable.
But Isabel looked again embarrassed, and gave me a quick un-
easy glance, while she replied .
" Indeed, my father," she said, " I have told you nearly all I
know. As to the robber, he was a vile fellow, a sailor, Mr. Blood-
money informed me, who had applied to him to have the command
of the vessel, which it was supposed Mr. Bloodmoney was equip-
ping as a privateer ; and the wretch, to convince Mr. Blood-
money he was the best man for his purpose, assured him he had
passed his. life in an employment, which is doubtless the best
school for privateersmen piracy nay, that he was a famous vil-
lain too, called Tiger-cat, or Hell-cat, or some such name of re-
nown "
" Hah !" said Colonel Aubrey, " there was some such fellow in
the gulf here, that I have heard of ; El Gato I think they call
him, and sometimes El Infernal But they said he was marooned
or murdered by his own men, because too bloody-minded a villain
even for a pirate. And this fellow would have commanded the
brig then ? What said Bloodmoney to that ?"
"Oh, "replied the damsel, "he world have none of him, and
threatened besides, to hand him over to the police. But Mr.
288 ADVENTURES OF
Bloodmoney did not, in reality, believe he was the rogue he so
freely professed to be, thinking that that was a mere braggadocio,
crack-brained piece of bantering ; and he threatened him with the
police only to get rid of him. But, however this might be, the
man broke into the house that very night, collecting with unexam-
pled audacity all the plate and other valuables ; with which he
would undoubtedly have got off undisturbed, had it not been for
my misfortune in walking in my sleep, and so stumbling upon him
in the midst of his operations. He was seized and overpowered,
yet made his escape, after dangerously stabbing a watchman, who
had been called in from the street to take charge of him. And
this, my dear fathor," added the maiden, giving me another uneasy
glance, " is all I know of the man ; for the brig sailed away from
Philadelphia with me a few days after."
" All this is very well," quoth the Intendant ; " but you say
nothing of my young friend here, who, I presume, is a friend or
connection of Mr. Bloodmoney's ?"
" Yes, sir ; I believe so," said the young lady, giving me a
third, and very piteous look. " But as I had never seen him be-
fore, and sailed away immediately after "
" Never seen him before !" said Colonel Aubrey with surprise ;
upon which, I, feeling that it was necessary to prevent his astonish-
ment going any further, and perceiving that the fair Isabel was no
longer able to help me, hastened to explain that I was, in reality,
neither friend nor kinsman of Mr. Bloodmoney, and that I had
never been in his house before the eventful night ; but that I was
on my way to him with letters of recommendation and credit from
a gentleman, Dr. Howard, who was his connection, and my friend.
" Yes," cried Isabel, here eagerly interrupting me ; " Dr. How-
ard came himself, soon afterwards ; and Mr. Bloodmoney told me
he was his kinsman, and a man of great wealth and respectability."
Encouraged by this interruption of the young lady, who, I could
not but see, was as anxious as myself to make the most of every
favorable circumstance, and to avoid all unfavorable ones, I pro-
ceeded to assure the Intendent, that " a strange accident" (and so
it was a strange accident), "together with my ignorance of the
city, and other circumstances, had prevented my reaching Mr.
Bloodmoney's house until a late hour in fact, when all were asleep;
but that I should never regret the irregularity of a visit which had
enabled me to be of service to the young lady, his daughter."
ROBIN DAY. 289
" Nor I neither, by my faith," said Colonel Aubrey, warmly.
" But I wonder Bloodmoney did not inform me of the affair, were
it only to afford me an opportunity to show what kind of gratitude
was due to the preserver of my Isabel."
He then asked me what was my relationship to Dr. Howard ; to
which I, being seized with a devil of mendacity and deception, for
I was ashamed to confess my humble origin in the presence of the fair
Isabel, replied that it was a very distant one ; but added (what I
was not ashamed to confess), that I owed everything, my educa-
tion and even my subsistence, to his benevolence. And I would
have added more in his praise, had not Colonel Aubrey, with great
delicacy, immediately shifted the subject, by asking jocularly,
" whether I had gone to Mr. Bloodmoney for the purpose of turn-
ing privateersman, like honest Captajn Hellcat?"
Upon my replying that, in fact, I had, he looked surprised, and
laughed very heartily, and informed me that the vessel was no pri-
vateer, after all ; that he had bought her, through Mr. Blood-
money, and fitted her out for his own purposes ; that she lay then
in the port, though under another name ; for he had called her
La Querida, because she brought back to him his quericla, or be-
loved Isabel, after two years of absence, which the young lady had
passed in Philadelphia, completing her education.
He then alarmed me by a question, which was, doubtless, very
natural and appropriate to the occasion what, since I had set out
to go to sea, had turned me from my purpose, and converted me
into a soldier ? But I got over the difficulty by hinting that my
friend and schoolmate Dicky Dare, had persuaded me to follow
him to the wars and, truly, had he not ? an explanation that
perfectly satisfied the Intendent. And from that moment, giving
over his questions, he addressed himself to the business of the ta-
ble, bestowing a due share of his attentions upon Captain Dicky,
who had been previously rescued from neglect by the fair Isabel
addressing him in English, and thus giving him an opportunity to
enter into conversation without the intervention of an interpreter.
At the dessert, in which we were feasted with the delicious
fruits of the tropics, fresh brought from the neighboring island of
Cuba, the reverend padre left the table to attend, I presumed, to
some clerical duty ; and presently, after the servants were dis-
charged, and we were left a little party of four persons, who
were enjoying ourselves very agreeably in conversation, when a
290 ADVENTUEES OF
messenger came running post haste from the fort, with an account
that the Bloody Volunteers, for some reasons best known to them-
selves suspicious, perhaps, from the long absence of their captain,
that some foul play was intended them had burst into a mutiny,
which it was feared would terminate in bloodshed. Upon this,
the Intendant got up in haste, with Captain Dicky, whom he in-
vited to go with him and appease the tumult, committing me,
who, he said, might remain to entertain his daughter, to her sole
charge and keeping.
The moment the two had left the room, Isabel, starting up, and
advancing a step or two towards me, exclaimed in low and hur-
ried, but earnest tones, and in English, " Senor ! lay no miscon-
struction upon what I have said and done. If I have deceived
my father if I have descended to evasion, and almost to false-
hood know that I was paying a debt of gratitude, which makes me
forget things my father could not have judged but with harshness.
I lament that one so young, so warmly befriended, so seemingly full
of promise, should have fallen into evil hands and practices ; but
fear not exposure from me, who neither can nor will betray you."
I was confounded by the words and manner of the beautiful
girl, who it was apparent, thought me a rogue in earnest. A mo-
ment before, I fancied I required nothing but an opportunity to
speak to her in private to retrieve my character in her eyes and
convince her I was no robber. But on a sudden I felt it might be
no such easy matter.
"Alas!" I cried, in extremity, "have you seen Dr. Howard
was he at Mr. Bloodmoney's house and can you still think me a
burglar ? Did he think me one ?"
" What otherwise could he think " replied Isabel firmly ; " what
ought he to have thought after what had preceded? After a
beginning in murder Ah ! you perceive, he told us all !
And, though he softened the circumstances, and the poor man did
not actually die "
" M'Goggin did not die ? Thank Heaven for that !" cried I ;
" for that was the only thing which to myself seemed like crime.
And yet that was no murder, had the wretch died twenty times
over ; and, if you know the circumstances of that unfortunate
affair, you must be aware it was a mere silly schoolboy scheme of
vengeance, in which a serious injury to the pedagogue was neither
desired nor intended."
ROBIN DAY. 291
" But," said Isabel, " there was still more they spoke of ; that
but it seemed to me, even then, too extraordinary for belief
there were people who charged you and your companion with a
highway robbery upon a poor sailor, on the road to Philadel-
phia !"
" Oh, the confounded wagoners ! it all arose from them, I have
no doubt." And with that, I told the whole story to the young
lady, who, listening at first with eager interest, at last, when I
came to describe the audacious trick of Brown, by which, the in-
conveniences of the crime were transferred from the robber to the
robbeb, suddenly burst into a most unromantic fit of laughter.
" And this impudent sailor, then," she cried, " was the same man
the fellow with the horrid name, from whom you but gratitude
makes me too readily take sides with you ! How, seiior," she
demanded more seriously " how comes it that you are the next
moment found in company with this man, whom you already
knew to be a rubber, in Mr. Bloodmoney's house or, indeed any
where ?"
Upon this I told her how, having changed his clothes and re-
moved his hideous beard, he had made me believe he was Mr.
Bloodmoney himself, robbed me of my letter of introduction and
money, carried me into Mr. Bloodmoney's house ; in short, I told
her the whole of that unlucky adventure, which moved her to as
much risibility as before, though she soon reproved her mirth
by the expression, " Alas senor ! it is not well to laugh at an
adventure which, however ridiculous, was the cause, and perhaps
is yet, of pain to your friends, and of injury to your good name.
And it is still less proper for me to laugh," she added, "since
it brought me relief at a moment of need and terror."
I told her, with much fervor, I cared not how much she
laughed at my folly, provided she was satisfied of my innocence.
Upon which she said my story was too ridiculous not to be true ;
that it explained all the circumstances of my case very perfectly,
and that she believed it. " And, indeed," said she, with charming
frankness, " I always thought there must be some delusion in the
matter, and that you could not be a robber in reality, because
you did not look like one, and because, you know, you told me so."
292 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER LII.
Itobin Day is surprised by the appearance of Skipper DucJc
and other old friends.
I THOUGHT at that moment I had never seen so -celestial a
creature, and felt prompted to say I know not what silly things,
and perhaps should have said them, had not the maiden requested
me, with an enchanting smile, to inform her what other extraordi-
nary adventures (" for truly," said she, " you seem to have been
born for extraordinary adventures ") had followed my flight from
Mr. Bloodmoney's.
I took up the tale accordingly, and had proceeded as far as my
unlucky mistake with the British sailors, and the discovery of it,
while marching into battle with them against my own countrymen,
an incident which recalled the mirth of the beautiful hearer,
when Colonel Aubrey suddenly returned, and being surprised at
his daughter's merriment, requested to know the cause of it.
" Oh," quoth she, " the Senor Day has been entertaining me with
the history of his surprising adventures, which I hope, some
time " (and here I thought she gave me a significant look, besides
emphasizing the word some time) " he will also relate to my dear
father."
" I shall be happy to hear all that the Sefior Day may think
proper to relate," said the Intendant ; " but, in the meanwhile, I
must beg of him the favor to attend me to the audience chamber,
where " Here Isabel looked pale, and I, thinking the summons
must have some reference to the Bloody Volunteers, interrupted
him by hoping that nothing unpleasant had resulted from their
quarrelsome outbreak.
"Nothing at all," said he : "they had, somehow, got into their
heads a ridiculous idea that they were to be sent off to South
America, to be condemned to the mines. But all is now quiet ;
and Captain Dare, who chooses to remain with them awhile, will
presently return to favor us with his agreeable society." He
KOBIN DAY. 293
added, that the business at which he begged my assistance, was
the examination of several men, the crew of a small vessel, which
had that day entered the port under suspicious circumstances, but
who claimed to be good and honest American citizens ; in which
case it would, doubtless, be advantageous, as well as agreeable, to
them to have a gentleman, their own countryman, present as an
interpreter. The suspicious circumstances were chiefly the want
of sufficient papers, and of cargo ; the disproportion between the
crew and vessel, the latter being a mere coasting shallop, while
the former comprised eighteen or twenty men, of whom nearly
two-thirds were negroes ; and, and what was more suspicious still,
a great piraticul looking long-torn, stowed away with a quantity
of small arms and ammunition, in her hold. In short, Colonel
Aubrey suspected the vessel to be a pirate, a stray member per-
haps of the fraternity then known to exist under Lafitte at Bar-
rataria Bay ; though the master, or chief man among them, insisted
he was an honest negro-trader from the Carolinas, come to try his
luck, with a small cargo of slaves, among the Spaniards of the
Gulf.
Having given me this explanation, the Intendent led me, all
loath to leave the charming Isabel, into the audience chamber ;
where among a number of soldiers, who kept guard over them,
were six or seven men in sailor's clothes, whose appearance startled
me a little out of my propriety ; because some of them I immedi-
ateley recognized as my quondam friends of the Jumping Jenny,
the followers of honest Tom Gunner ; and another look showed
me, standing foremost among them, and looking excessively dog-
ged, yet discomposed, the detestable Skipper Duck ; whom, of
all the men in the world, I least expected to stumble upon in this
remote quarter. When I first caught sight of the fellow, he was
stealing a glance at the Intendent that expressed perhaps more
than a rogue's usual fear of the face of Justice ; but when, rolling
his eyes askant from Colonel Aubrey, they fell upon me, I was
myself astonished at the actual dismay into which his uneasiness
was immediately converted.
" What !" cried Colonel Aubrey, " you seem to know the fel-
low ?"
Before I could reply, one of the sailors, having caught sight of
ine, exclaimed, pointing me out to his messmates, " I'm blasted if
that aint our little fighting-cock, Day, that was with us in the
294 ADVENTURES OF
Chesapeake, and was snatched up by the blasted Yankees at Nor-
folk !"
These words covered me with confusion ; for I knew not^ in the
moment, what unlucky construction the Intendent might put upon
this portion of my history, unless told him in my own version ;
and the embarrassment was increased by his suddenly giving me a
sharp look, and saying " he thought it proper to inform me, that,
although long years of disuse had made it a very painful and dis-
agreeable task to him to speak English, it was nevertheless his
mother tongue, and he retained sufficient knowledge of it to un-
derstand every word that was spoken." Yet I recovered my
courage in a moment, upon reflecting that neither Skipper Duck
nor any of his men could accuse me of murder, or highway rob-
bery, or burglary ; and immediately replied " Senor, I have no
objection you should understand anything, or all, that these men
may say to me, or I to them. In truth, I do know them ; this
fellow," pointing to Skipper Duck, who still looked frightened
out of his wits " in particular, who is as foul a knave as the sun
ever shone on. The others are, or were, British sailors, with
whom, and with others, their comrades, it was my misfortune to
be compelled to bear arms or rather to appear to bear arms,
against my own countrymen on the Chesapeake ; an adventure
which I was but this moment engaged relating to the Senorita
Aubrey."
" Ah !" cried the Intendent ; " you told her ? And it was that
she was laughing at ?" Upon my assenting to which, he looked
pleased, and smiled, declared he was impatient to hear my whole
8tory, and then requested I would inform him more particularly
in regard to Duck and his accomplices.
I told him, that if the vessel was, as I supposed, the Jumping
Jenny, Duck was her skipper, and, I believed, her owner ; that
she had been captured by the British in the Chesapeake, manned,
armed (whence, doubtless, the long-torn and the ammunition),
and employed, with other similar vessels, in their plundering ex-
peditions ; and that Duck had served on board as their pilot ; that
he had been, after a time, taken prisoner by the Americans, or
made his escape to them ; at all events, he must have told them
a good story, as I had seen him, apparently at liberty, fighting
with them against his late employers, the British ; and there ended
my knowledge of him and the Jumping Jenny. How he got
ROBIN DAY. 295
possession of her again, I knew not ; but I suspected he must
have returned to her voluntarily, and then, with the sailors who
were now with him, and who, it could scarce be doubted, were
deserters, had run away with her, at a convenient period, when
the rest of her crew, with their officers, were ashore upon some
adventure. As for the negroes, I supposed they were slaves whom
he had stolen from their masters ; or that they had been picked
up along shore, with other plunder, by his British associates, and
merely carried off by him, to make his flight more profitable.
In this very reasonable explanation, I, at a future period, learned
I had exactly hit the truth ; and, indeed, upon examining them a
little, Colonel Aubrey was satisfied the sailors were deserters
from the British navy, and Skipper Duck a trader in stolen
goods ; for which reason, he directed they should be con-
fined in the fort, to be surrendered, with the vessel and slaves, to
the first British commander who should visit Pensacola.
But before he sent them away, I told him the story of little
Tommy, the son, I assured him, of my benefactor, Dr. Howard,
the kinsman of his friend Mr. Bloodmoney ; and I immediately
taxed Duck to his face with having stolen him. The villain was
greatly disconcerted, and denied that Tommy was Dr. Howard's
son ; but he admitted he was still on board the vessel, having
been, like the negroes, thought too insignificant to be brought
before the Intendant ; and Colonel Aubrey, who was much struck,
and even affected, by the story, immediately gave orders to have
him brought to the house, declaring he would find means to have
him restored to his father.
296 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER LIII.
In ichich Robin Day meets another surprise, and a perilous one,
which is succeeded by a story of much interest to the Intendent.
I NOW thought I might return again to the society of the en-
chanting Isabel ; but Colonel Aubrey informed me he must beg
my assistance in the examination of yet another American ; adding,
with a smile, that he fancied I would meet another surprise, and a
pleasant one, "for," said he, "some of my troopers have just
brought in from the woods, where they found him lost and famished,
a poor man, who reports that he has just escaped from captivity
and torture among the Creeks ; and, as they say he has the ap-
pearance of an old sailor, it would not surprise me if he should
prove the poor fellow your companion in flight."
The poor fellow my companion in flight ! A pleasant surprise,
indeed ! I was horrified by the announcement, for not to say that the
appearance of Captain Brown had always boded me some new mis-
fortune, his entrance upon the present scene could not be other-
wise than dangerous to me. I would gladly have dispensed with
the interview, but perceived I could not do so without awakening
suspicion. My hope was that the stranger should, after all, prove
not to be Brown, but some other person unknown. But, alas, the
hope was almost immediately dispelled by the entrance of the
" poor fellow," who proved to be Captain Jack Brown himself,
though sorely altered by famine and distress. His appearance was
emaciated and squalid, and even his spirit seemed broken down by
suffering ; the look of fearless self-possession and audacity had de-
serted his countenance, which now wore a hangdog expression of
suspicion and fear, enough to convince anyone he was a rogue ;
and I perceived it had but an unfavorable effect upon Colonel
Aubrey. I might myself have been astonished at such a change in
the man, who seemed scarce able to look the Intendent in the
face, had I been less occupied with my own anxieties."
"Well," cried the Intendant, " is this the man?"
ROBIN DAY. 297
Brown startled at the words, and looking round him, caught
sight of me, seemed astonished, and then brightened up in a won-
derful manner, as if for I thought I could read what was passing
in his mind satisfied that my presence would be of advantage to
him. " Ah ! shiver me, Chowder, my hearty ! " he cried, rushing
forward and seizing me very affectionately by the hand ; " and so
you've cleared them blasted Injun niggurs after all, have you ?
Tell him," he added in a whisper, which he sought to conceal from
the Intendant, and uttered with great haste and vehemence " tell
him my name's John Smith ; or d n me, I'll murder you ! Glad
to see you alive again ; " here he raised his voice, and shook my
hand with terrible ardor ; " glad to see you afloat ; for, sink me,
I thought the red rascals had sunk you to Davy Jones long ago."
With that, letting go his hold of me, he now, as if quite restored
to his courage, raised his eyes to the Intendant's face, gave him a
scrape of his foot, and hitching up his trowsers, and otherwise
putting on the airs of a bluff old sailor, quite ignorant of the forms
and ceremonies of the world, he exclaimed, " Split my topsails !
{ axing your honor and excellency's pardon) if so be there's no
offense, I'm am American sailor, sink me ; and so I axes to know
what your honor and excellency means by making a prisoner of
me ? because how I sails under the stars and stripes, and I knows
my rights, and split me, I sticks to 'em. But perhaps your honor
and excellency don't understand my lingo ? which is a thing
whereof I am sorry, because as how I don't know no Spanish."
His honor and excellency surveyed the speaker very earnestly,
smiled faintly at his eloquence, passed his hand thoughtfully across
his brow, and then surveyed him again, when, finally, turning to
me, he demanded with adruptness, " Have you known this man
long?"
" Not long, Seiior," I replied, not disposed to speak too much to
the point ; " but he is the fellow-prisoner I spoke of."
" To my mind, he has an evil look," said the Intendent ; " and
methinks I have seen him before. Do you know enough of him to
answer for his honesty ? "
Alas ! what a question ! I knew perfectly well that Brown was
a villain deserving the halter ; but the services he had rendered me
among the Creeks, and especially his manful attempt to snatch me
from the stake, even at the risk of his own life, dwelt upon my
memory, and I was loath to say anything to his prejudice. But
298 ADVENTURES OF
to assume the responsibility of giving him a good name was entirely
too much for my gratitude.
" I should be sorry, senor," I replied, " to be answerable for the
honesty of any person, upon so short an acquaintance." The an-
swer stuck in my throat, for I felt that, however evasive, it in-
volved a substantial falsehood.
" His name," demanded Colonel Aubrey.
"Really," said I, "I am not certain I know even that. He
told me once it was Smith ; but " here Brown gave me a direful
look of warning and menace, which I disregarded, for I found
that one falsehood in his favor was all my conscience would per-
mit " at other times, I understood it was Brown."
" Brown !" ejaculated the Intendent, starting wildly from the
chair on which he had taken his seat, and advancing towards
Brown, who immediately putting a good face on the matter, ex-
claimed
" Ay, your honor, there's no gainsaying it ; that's a name I
sometimes sails under, and, mayhap, have the best right to, because
why, it belongs to the family."
" Brown !" again cried Colonel Aubrey, surveying him with the
utmost agitation. " Can it be ! Is it possible ? I knew the face.
And yet and yet " and here the disorder of his spirits rendered
his expressions for a moment inarticulate ; and he sat down again
upon the chair, from which, however, he immediately afterwards
sprang up, exclaiming, " Fellow, if you be he indeed, you must
know me. Look ! My name is Aubrey ! Seventeen years have
not yet changed me so far that you can say you do not remember
me?"
"Never saw your honor's excellency before in all my life,"
said Brown, with great apparent sincerity.
"If you have lost all memory of me," said the Intendent, seiz-
ing Brown by the arm, and pointing to the portrait of which I
have before spoken, hanging upon the wall " If you have lost all
memory of me, him, at least, you cannot have forgotten !"
' I had been greatly struck by this singular turn of affairs, and
was burning with curiosity to know what fate could have ever
connected the affairs of the Intendant with such a rogue as Brown.
And, it may be supposed, I looked on with a double interest when
the portrait was referred to that very picture, or its duplicate,
which, when I had pointed Brown's attention to it, in Mr. Blood-
ROBIN DAY. 299
money's house, had discomposed him not a little, and drawn from
him the explanation that it was " an old friend of his who had
gone to Davy Jones long before." It produced a somewhat simi-
lar effect upon him on the present occasion ; and he muttered,
"Ay! I knows him! It looks just like him, when " But he
interrupted himself. " I knows him," he repeated ; " poor gen-
tleman. His name was Mowbray "
" Aubrey ! Aubrey !" cried the Intendent, with a smothered
voice.
" Well, it may be," said Brown, " but I always thought it was
Mowbray ; and sure, his own brother the sodger, told us so the
skipper and me when he bought us over to the sarvice. It was
Aubrey, or Mowbray ; and poor gentleman, the hellcats (whereof
I mean, the d d Spanish constables) were after him, because
how he was a traitor, or conspirator, or whatsoever you call it ;
and so we sent the boat, and took him off by night, him and the
rest of them and a whole chest-full of money, and off went the
Sally Ann a bragging through blue water. Off she went and,
split me, the blue water soon had the best of her ; she foundered,
please your honor's excellency ; and the skipper and the passengers,
with our Mr. Aubrey, if so be that's his name, went down with
her to the bottom."
"My miserable brother !" cried the Intendent, covering his
face with his hands, and sinking into a chair. But starting up
again, he demanded, " But how is this ? You were saved others
were saved "
"None but me and Tim Duck," said Brown, at which name
'Colonel Aubrey eagerly demanded, turning to me : " What !
was not that the name of the fellow, the captain of the sloop, just
before us ?"
This question, which I answered in the affirmative, not without
:alarm lest Duck should be sent for and immediately impeach my
lionest acquaintance, had the effect of disturbing the latter like-
wise ; so that, forgetting his former assurance that he knew no
Spanish, he hastened to exclaim, " There's more Ducks than swim
on salt water ; but this here fellow can't be Tim Duck, because
.how, Davy Jones has got him." Fortunately for Brown, the
Intendent was too much excited to notice the inconsistency ; and
Brown, to secure his attention to less dangerous subjects, immedi-
ately resumed his story.
800 ADVENTURES OP
" None but me and Tim Duck," said he, " stood it out ; because
how, d'ye see, we took to the boat the three men and me, which
was the mate, and was to be skipper next voyage, and the niggur
boy, which jumped after us ; and that was all of us when we
pushed off "
" What then !" cried Colonel Aubrey, " my poor brother was
abandoned, without an effort to save him ?"
" Why, d'ye see," quoth Brown, "he would run below after the
younker ; and just then the schooner took a lurch, and so we
pushed off, and down she went with him, and the skipper too, for r
blast me, he was lying sick in his bunk, unable to help himself.
And so we pushed off in the boat, without bread, water, or com-
pass, and pitched about fourteen days on a stretch ; and two of
the men, they died ; and says I to Tim Duck, says I, 'Tim Duck,
we must draw lots ;' and says he to me, * Let's do for the niggur ;'
and so he killed the blackey, and we lived on him six days ; and
then came the ship, the Good Hope, of Boston, and picked us up,
and there, shiver my timbers, your honor and excellency, there's
the end of the story."
" It is not yet the end of it," said Colonel Aubrey, with a stern
voice. "It is now seventeen years since that vessel sailed out of
her port, never more to enter another, and up to this moment not
a word of her fate was ever breathed to human being ; and no one
but believed she had foundered at sea, and that every soul on
board had perished with her. How comes it that neither you nor
the fellow Duck, the survivors of the wreck, ever gave informa-
tion of the calamity to any one to owners or underwriters ? How
could this have happened, if your story be true ? And, by Heaven,
your silence throws a suspicious character over what was before
only deemed a natural accident of the sea. Speak, fellow ; though
you pretend to have forgotten me, I remember you well, and I
remember, too, there were persons who said the mate of the Sally
Ann had not always been in so honest a vessel, and was not the
safest man to entrust with either a rich cargo or the life of a
wealthy passenger !"
"They lied then, d n their blood," cried Brown, with great
emphasis ; " for the mate of the Sally Ann was as honest a lad, at
her sailing, as ever rose from the forecastle to the quarter-deck, and
if you're the gentleman, poor Mr. Mowbray's brother, whereof I dis-
remember, who made the bargain with the skipper and me, and
ROBIN DAY. 301
brought him and the younker, and the young nigger, and the
money, aboard, you must know the old skipper said I was to have
the schooner next voyage, blast her, because how he was the
owner, and he was old, and he knew I was a man to be depended
on. And as for this here thing that surprises you," he added
very bluffly, " because as how your honor never heard tell of the
sinking of the schooner till now, why, sink me, that's a matter
soon settled. For, d'ye see, the ship that picked up me and Tim
Duck was the Good Hope of Boston ; and she was an Injieman
on her outward voyage ; and so says Captain Jones, her com-
mander, to us, says he, t I'll send you back to the States by the
first return ship we meets, or I'll drop you at the Cape ;' but hang
me, there was no return ship we sees ; and when we comes to the
Cape, there was nothing there ; and the Good Hope was short of
hands, because she lost four men overboard in a squall ; and says
Captain Jones to us, says he, " If you'll enter for the voyage, my
boys, you shall be well treated, and have pay from the time of
picking up into the bargain.' And so we entered for the voyage,
me and Tim Duck ; but it was a blasted unlucky voyage for all
of us, for the ship she was caught in a Typhoon, and wrecked on
the east coast of Sumatra ; and the Malays fell on us, curse 'em ;
and them that wasn't drowned they killed, and them they didn't
kill they captivated, whereof I, John Brown, was one ; but Tim
Duck they killed. And I was a slave among 'em twelve years,
and they treated me like a nigger ; and a Dutch captain that was
there after pepper, he bought me for a barrel of rum and two old
muskets ; but he said it was six hundred dollars ; and so, when we
comes to Batavia, a Dutch judge there says I must sarve the
Dutch captain four years for the money, and I sarved him. And
when my time was out, I ships in the Dutch ship called the Polly
Frow for Amsterdam, and there I ships in an American brig
called the George Washington, which fetches me right straight to
Boston, where I landed on the seventh day of May, in this here
year of Our Lord, after an absence of seventeen years, or there-
abouts. And then I tells my story, and they logged it right away
in the newspapers, with the whole account of the sinking of the
Sally Ann, whereof nobody cared, because how the captain he
was the owner, and not insured, and his wife was married to
another man. And," quoth Brown, to whose relation I listened with
mingled wonder and distrust, having strong reasons, of my own
302 ADVENTURES OP
to believe it was a tissue of falsehoods from beginning to end
" if you axes to know how a sailor like me comes into the hands
of them cursed Injuns, why here's the case, blast me: for my
friends they makes me up a purse in Boston, because of my mis-
fortunes, and so I starts off to try my luck a peddlering, because,
d'ye see, I've had enough of the sea, sink me, and don't want to
see no more of it. And so I turns my back to it, and that fetched
me among the Injuns, and they snapped me up, pack and all ; and
they fatted me up to make a feast of me, whereof this young
gentleman " (meaning me) " will bear witness, because he was
tied up with me. And we broke loose, and sailed off in a canoe,
and she was wrecked on a log ; and we swum for it, him one way,
and me another, and so we parted company, and I navigated the
woods alone ; and I'll be hang'd, but I found it a crooked and
dangerous navigation."
BOBIN DAY. 303
CHAPTER LIV.
A denouement and catastrophe, and Robin Day loses the favor
of the Intendent, and is packed off to a fort for safe-keeping.
AND so ended the story, which told with an appearance of great
simplicity and truth seemed, notwithstanding my disbelief of it,
to carry conviction to the mind of Colonel Aubrey, and to remove
all the suspicions he had begun to entertain in relation to the real
fate of his unfortunate brother. He returned immediately to the
subject of the wreck, and asked a multitude of questions, to all
which Brown replied with so much readiness that it was impossi-
ble not to believe that, upon this point of his history, he was ut-
tering at least some truth.
To the Intendent all his answers seemed as natural as they were
affecting ; and having concluded his melancholy inquisition, he
turned to a servant who was near him, and bade him go fetch the
Senorita Isabel, " that she might see with her own eyes the man
who But what else he said I heard not, being so horrified
at the idea of the young lady being brought into the room while
Brown was in it that all my senses deserted me, and I stood such
a picture of consternation that Colonel Aubrey, starting from the
gloom into which he had fallen, asked " what ailed me, and if I
were sick ?" Before I could stammer out a reply and, in truth,
I know not what I intended to reply the anticipated catastrophe
had arrived ; the young Isabel had entered the room, and cast her
eyes upon Captain, Brown who, astonished out of his prudence,
ripped out a hasty oath, with an equally profane addition. " D n
my blood !" he cried, " we goes to h 11 now in a hurricane !"
As for Isabel, whose recollections were perhaps stimulated by
Brown's voice, she immediately uttered a shriek, and threw her-
self into the Intendent's arms, crying, " El Gato ! M Gato! It
is the villain himself !"
Great was the confusion produced by this turn of events, so
unexpected by all but unhappy me. Even Colonel Aubrey looked
304 ADVENTURES OP
petrified for a moment, though, the next, he ordered the soldiers,
who had brought Brown in, to secure him, which they did, Brown
submitting with a very good grace, but all the while protesting
he was " no more El Gato, as they called him, than he was Davy
Jones himself."
" We shall inquire into that, as well as other things," quoth the
Intendent, turning from Brown to me, whom he regarded with a
stern countenance.
" So ! young man !" he cried ; " you concealed from me your
knowledge of this man, of his acts and character ! pretended not
to know in him the ruffian from whom you had rescued my daugh-
ter !"
" Alas, sir," I cried, " if you will allow me to explain."
" We will allow you an opportunity to do so at another mo-
ment. At present "
But he was interrupted by Isabel, who, starting from her ter-
rors, caught him by the hand, exclaiming eagerly, " Oh, my dear
father, the young gentleman is innocent. If I had only told you
all at first!"
" Hah !" cried the Intendent, bending a scowling eye even upon
her have you, too, united with him to deceive me ?"
The fair Isabel stammered out an excuse " she could explain
all she always meant to explain all." The Intendent arrested her
further speech by a look full of the most penetrating inquiry,
which he immediately after extended to me. Then, waving Isabel
imperiously to silence, he directed the soldiers to carry Brown to
the fort and guard him well. " And you, senor," he added, ad-
dressing himself to me," will do me the favor to accompany them,
and lodge to-night with your companions."
" Appearances, as well as your suspicions, are against me, senor,"
I said, gathering hope from the assurance that I left a friend
behind me in the beautiful Isabel ; " but I trust yet to convince
you I am only the most unlucky person in the world, and noihing
worse."
And with these words, and a stolen glance at Isabel, who looked
the picture of grief and humiliation, I stole or sneaked, which is
perhaps the proper word out of the room and house, in which, a
few moments before, I had felt so proud and romantic, and fol-
lowed, with Brown (who, instead of expressing compunction for
being the cause of my present, as of nearly every other, misfortune,
BOBIN DAY. 305
indulged sundry hearty execrations upon what he called my dis-
obedience of orders in not passing him off for Mr. John Smith
only), to the fortress, which I justly regarded as a prison. At its
gates I met my friend and commander, Captain Dicky, returning
to the mansion whence I had been so ignominiously banished, and
informing him in a few words of my mishap, I authorized, and,,
indeed, begged him, since no other course now remained to me, to ac-
quaint Colonel Aubrey with the whole history of my connection
with Captain Brown, to convince him I was not in reality the ac-
complice, but the victim of that worthy personage. I had no-
idea, at the moment, that he could have any other reason for his
severity than the suspicion of my being a knave and the confederate
of Brown. Had I been a little older and wiser, I might have seen
an additional cause in an equally natural and more painful ap-
prehension, awakened by the good understanding that seemed to-
exist between the fair Isabel and myself.
It was nearly night when I entered the fort, where the appearance
fo Captain Brown excited a good deal of curiosity among the Span-
iards of the garrison, who crowded around to view a rouge bearing a
name so formidable and renowned as El Gato ; but I thought they
expressed greater admiration than horror at the sight of him. Nor
were there any greater pains taken to secure him from flight or
mischief than to clap a pair of light manacles upon his wrists,,
after which he was suffered to ramble up and down the fort, con-
versing with the soldiers of the garrison ( which was not a numer-
ous or particularly well disciplined one), and with the prisoners
Skipper Duck and his comrades, who were not fettered at all, and
a number of convicts degraded soldiers who idled about, each
with a cannon ball chained to his leg.
My first care, upon entering the fort, was to look for little
Tommy ; but the Govenor had sent for him, and he was already
gone. I then sought out and found my companions in arms, the
Bloody Volunteers, who sat retired, like Milton's philosopher
devils, not yet entirely cured of their suspicions and fears of
Spanish faith and South American gold mines. I did all I could
to convince them their apprehensions were groundless, and that they
would, in all probability, be,in a day or two, released and furnished
with guides to conduct them to Mobile, but, by and by, growing
weary of arguing with men who had made their minds up to their
own opinions, and tiring the sooner, perhaps, that I was in a very;
306 ADVENTURES OF
melancholy and contemplative mood, I walked away from them to
a corner, where I could sit by myself, and build castles in the
moon, which was rising over the bay, and changing a leaden
twilight into a night of silver.
My meditations were soon broken in upon by Brown, who
opened the conversation by assuring me, with sundry oaths, he
had a regard for me, and meant to help me out of my present
difficulties. He then showed me that his manacles were loose ;
and swearing he was "not going to stay to be strung up by that
blasted old skurmudgeon, Aubrey, whom he had helped to a for-
tune,curse him," he informed me that he designed making his escape
from the fort, and, out of his friendship for me, would restore me
to liberty also.
I was astonished at what seemed the audacity of such a design,
and asked how he could hope to break from a garrisoned fort, with
sentries at the gates and along the walls ? He replied that " the
garrison was nothing the officers were all dressing for a ball,
which the Intendent was to give them that evening " (" Alas !"
thought I, " but for this vile Brown, I might have had the honor
of dancing with the charming Isabel !") " half the soldiers had
already slipped away to seek their own diversions; as for the sentries,
the lubbers would go to sleep as soon as the officers were oft' ;"
and finally he assured me he had friends in the fort, who would
make escape an easy matter. I asked what was to be done, after
escaping. Was he to fly back to the Indians again, or abscond
about the town to be discovered and again imprisoned ? Upon
which he invoked a blessing on my brain of mud and molasses, as
he called it, and told me he had struck up a league with his old
friend Duck, " who was Tim Duck, for all his blasted lies to the
governor," and that they were to escape together in the Jumping
Jenny, which was lying hard by the fort.
Although I listened to this account not without interest, I felt
my curiosity moved by the reference to Skipper Duck, as connected
with the subject of the Sally Ann ; and I could not help asking
him " if there was then no truth in what he had told Colonel
Aubrey ?" " All a blasted yarn," said he, " from beginning to
end." " But you were mate of the schooner, and must know
whether she really foundered or not, and whether the fate of
Colonel Aubrey's brother was as you represented it." " What's
that your business ?" said he, sharply ; " stick to things that con-
ROBIN DAY. 307
cern you, sink me, and stand ready for cutting loose from the
fort whenever I gives the order."
I told Captain Brown " I had no objections to his making his
escape, if he could, and that nothing would give me more satis-
faction than to be certain I should never more see him again in the
world ; that as to escaping with him, I had no intentions that way
at all : I was under no fears of being strung up by Colonel
Aubrey, as he professed to be, and was content to remain where
[ was. In short, I told him I would not fly with him. Upon
which he called me sundry hard names, swore, with a diabolical
gjrin, that when I knew him better I would find the first thing
for a first lieutenant to do was to obey orders, and then, to my
great satisfaction, left me to my meditations, and to my castle-
building, which, asit is always a seductive employment,and was then
the most agreeable one I could engage in, I continued for an hour
longer ; at which period my fancies began to flag, and my head
to nod with all the grace of a Chinese Mandarin's, in the face of her
ladyship, the moon.
508 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER LV
JRobin Day escapes against his will from the fort, and finds him-
self a third time on board the Jumping Jenny.
I WAS, in a word, on the point of falling asleep, the night,
though a late November one, being, in that benignant climate,
quite warm and agreeable, and I had just begun to dream I saw
my friend Captain Dare dancing a waltz with the beautiful Isabel,
in the midst of a splendid assemblage of ladies and gentlemen,
who were all saying, " what a handsome couple they were," when
the rage and envy and jealousy into which the visionary spectacle
threw me were suddenly dispelled by a couple of men jerking me
up by the elbows, bidding me, in Spanish, follow them, and then,
without waiting for me to obey, hurrying me away I knew not
whither.
My first idea was that they were soldiers of the fort conduct-
ing me to some lock-up place for the night ; my next, finding they
were hastening me to the gate of the fort, was that they were
messengers despatched by Colonel Aubrey to invite me again to
his presence ; a notion extremely agreeable, as it convinced me
the representations of Captain Dickey, together with those of
the Senorita Isabel, had fully succeeded in restoring me to his
favor.
Nor was this flattering assurance dispelled until I suddenly
found myself upon the shore of the bay, where were a number of
men crowding into a small boat, and another, nearly empty, row-
ing with muffled oars from a shallop that lay anchored a little
way from the beach. That shallop, my fears told me, was the
Jumping Jenny, and my two unknown friends, it was plain, were
conducting me to her.
I endeavored to come to a stop, assuring my conductors " I was
not one of the escaping party, did not choose to run away, and
would go back, if they pleased, to the fort ; " upon which they dis-
played a brace of glittering knives, and one of them said, in
EOBIN DAY. 309
Spanish, "I might go to the mire, for all he cared," (which is a
polite way they have in Spanish of telling you you may go to a
much worse place,) while the other swore a terrible Castilian oath
" he would eat my soul if I gave them any further trouble."
There was no resisting such an oath, two Spanish knives, a pair of
whiskered visages that looked uncommonly ferocious in the moon-
light ; and I therefore yielded, and, with a Heavy heart, stepped
into the boat, which, three minutes afterwards, I exchanged for the
deck of the Jumping Jenny.
"Are you there, lieutenant, d n my blood?" cried Captain
Brown, whom I had not before seen, but who now gave me a grin
and a squeeze of the hand.
" Captain Brown," said I, intending to remonstrate with him
for thus carrying me off against my will ; but was cut short by his
saying, in tones too diabolically emphatic to be resisted, " Hold
your jaw, you " (but I omit the epithet,) or I'll fry you for
supper ! " and I saw him no more for several minutes ; during
which he was busily engaged restoring order among a great num-
ber of men who crowded the deck, and getting the Jumping Jenny
under way. The latter purpose was effected with surprising ra-
pidity ; and in a moment, as it seemed to me, the sloop was under
full sail, driving with a favorable wind down the bay.
The moon, which, until this period, was extremely bright, reveal-
ing the objects on shore with great distinctness, was now suddenly
overcast with clouds a fortunate circumstance, as it proved ; for
presently a great hubbub was heard arising in the fort, which we
were fast leaving behind us ; and by and by several cannons were
fired off, the balls of which came dancing along the water at no
great distance from us, and perhaps would have come still closer,
had the gunners been favored with a better light to direct their
aim. Rockets were also let off, and these were presently answered
by others that appeared in the air above the fort at the Barrancas,
as it was called a position a few miles below Pensacola, and just
at the entrance of the bay, which it was supposed to command.
Upon this, there began to be some confusion and indications of
alarm among my fellow fugitives, which Captain Brown, who
seemed to have assumed the command of the vessel, attempted to
remove by cursing and swearing ; failing in which, he threw open
the hatches, and directed all who were " afraid of their carcasses "
to descend into the hold ; and if the spirit of his crew was to be
310 ADVENTURES OP
determined by the readiness with which the invitation was accepted,
it was certain three-fourths of the company were not heroes, for
just so many of them immediately vanished from the deck.
My own inclinations, notwithstanding that it might be supposed
my experience in the wars had robbed me of all faint-heartedness,
were also in favor of a descent into the hold ; but a sense of shame
withheld me, not to say I was conscious there could be, in reality,
little protection from danger in such a place, on board so small a
vessel. Anxiety, moreover, to ascertain the destination of the
sloop, and the designs of Captain Brown, which I feared might be
none of the most virtuous or lawful, kept me upon the deck ; and
I watched the first opportunity to accost him again, demanding
whither we were bound. "To h 11 !" quoth Captain Brown ; or-
dering me a second time, in the most ferocious tones, to hold my
tongue, which I did ; for I saw he was in no humor for trifling.
Indeed, he seemed to have been suddenly changed into another
man, and was, withal, so grum, and crusty, and savage, that I
thought it was my best plan to keep out of his way as much as
possible for the remainder of the night.
I accordingly left the quarter-deck, where I had previously ta-
ken my stand, and went to the bow of the vessel, where was a
group of men, some of them, as I knew by their voices, the com-
rades of Skipper Duck, and other Spaniards, who had their eyes di-
rected towards the Barrancas fort, which we were fast approach-
ing, though endeavoring to pass it at as great a distance as the
width of the channel would permit. As we drew nigh they be-
gan to fire upon us, but did us no harm, until, by some mischance,
the Jumping Jenny was run upon a shoal, where she lay nearly
an hour, until the rising of the tide floated her off ; and during
that time the gunners of the fort, having a stationary object to
aim at, and occasional moonlight to direct them, succeeded in stri-
king us with several balls, one of which knocked a great hole into
the cabin and killed a man who had taken refuge there ; while
another, still more unfortunately, as Captain Brown, judging by
his execrations, seemed to regard it, carried away the bowsprit, by
which the jumping Jenny was very seriously disabled. The mis-
chief was repaired in some way or other by the exertions of Brown
and the sailors, so that presently, the tide floating us clear of the
shoal, we were able to make way against the current, to get out
of reach of the fort, and finally to proceed to sea.
ROBIN DAY. 311
As soon as we were beyond the range of the Barrancas guns, all
hands were called up to assist in further repairs that were found
to be needed ; and I had now an opportunity of making my re-
marks upon the crew, whose numbers, for there were nearly forty
of us altogether, had previously tilled me with surprise. I had al-
ready distinguished the voices of Duck's crew of British deserters ;
I now saw that Duck himself was among them, and apparently on
pretty good terms with Captain Brown ; and I had some reason
to dread the fury of his revengeful temper ; but he was too busy
to notice me. I was next struck with the appearance of twelve
or thirteen negroes, all very likely fellows, whose awkwardness
with their legs and hands proved they were too little accustomed
to salt water to be pirates, as Colonel Aubrey had been inclined
to suspect them, while their coarse tow-linen garments, resembling
those in which I had seen the negroes so commonly dressed in Vir-
ginia, convinced me that they were, as I had suspected, slaves
whom Duck had stolen or seduced away from their masters. Be-
sides these, there were nine or ten Spaniards, most ferocious
looking fellows, in whom I fancied I recognized the ball-and-chain
prisoners, or felons, of the fort ; and my suspicions were correct,
for, as it afterwards proved, there was but one honest fellow among
them, if such I may call a soldier who had been an ancient com-
rade of Brown, and was easily seduced by him to desert his post
as a sentry at the fort-gate, and assist in the escape of all the pris-
oners who were desirous of deliverance.
Last of all came creeping from the hold and I was confounded at
the sight of them my old friends the Bloody Volunteers, who,
as I soon learned from them, had been imposed upon by Brown,
or his confederates, to believe that the Spanish Governor had
ordered them all to be shot at sunrise ; that Captain Dicky
sanctioned or ordered their flight in the Jumping Jenny ; and
finally, that the Jumping Jenny was to carry them around to Mo-
bile, at which American town they were assured they would cer-
tainly arrive, at the f urtherest, in twenty-four hours. I assured
them, privately, that two-thirds of the story told them were un-
doubtedly false ; that the Governor could not have ordered them
to be shot, nor could Captain Dicky have sanctioned, or even
known, of their escape ; and as for the remaining third, I feared
that was as false as the others, and that the Jumping Jenny was
312 ADVENTURES OF
more likely to carry us to Barrataria Bay, among the freebooters,
than to at honest place like Mobile.
The Bloody Volunteers were indignant at the idea, and Cor-
poral Pigeon, a courageous young fellow, the only non-commis-
sioned officer (except the Captain,) who had survived the Indian
war, began to hint that we were twelve of us, who, if we stood
together, might take the question as what port the Jumping Jen-
ny should sail to, into our own hands, and to swear, he for one,
would never go to such a place as Barrataria Bay ; when the ves-
sel, coming into rough water, began to pitch and roll, the Bloody
Volunteers all fell deadly sick, and Corporal Pigeon declared,
with woful qualms, the Jumping Jenny might carry him to the
bottom of the sea it was all now indifferent to him.
ROBIN DAY. 313
CHAPTER LVI.
The Jumping Jenny hoists the black flag, attacks and captures a
superior vessel, and Robin Day finds himself a pirate.
WITH all the repairs that could be given her, the Jumping Jenny
made such slow progress that, by daylight, we were not more than
ten or fifteen miles distant from the land, with the wind, which
had suddenly chopped about, blowing us right back to Pensacola.
And to add to our uneasiness, we could perceive a sail standing
out from the bay, which the Spaniards said could be no other than
the Governor's vessel, the Querida, which there was reason to
believe had been hastily armed and sent out to retake us. At the
same time another sail was discovered, which proved to be a
schooner, making in, with a fair wind, for the bay, and approach-
ing us very fast. Upon this, Captain Brown, after surveying the
latter vessel from the mast-head, made a speech, as soon as he had
descended, or rather, two speeches, one in Spanish, the other in
English, in both which tongues he swore with equal fluency, de-
claring that we must " take that schooner, or hang, every soul of
us ; because how, we must have a better ship than we sailed in,
if we expected to escape that blasted Querida, whereof he sup-
posed she was full of men and guns from the fort, and would blow
us into kingdom-come, unless we could give her the slip." And
he hinted that a signal of distress, with our evident crippled con-
dition, would bring the schooner near enough to make sure of her.
His words were so manifestly true, and the idea of capture so
unpalatable to every soul on board, except myself, who desired
nothing so much as to be out of a vessel commanded by such a
desperado, and perhaps, the negroes for whose wishes nobody
inquired or cared, that it was straightway resolved the schooner
should, if possible, be taken and converted to our uses ; even the
Bloody Volunteers raising their disconsolate faces from the sloop's
side, over which they had been for a long time all hanging, and
bobbing and gulping in a row, to retch out a forlorn assurance
314 ADVENTURES OF
that they would fight rather than surrender, if there was any
danger of being hanged by the captors. The Spaniards and
sailors, in particular, avowed themselves ready for action, and pro-
posed to raise from the hold, where it was yet lying, the formidable
long-torn by way of preparation ; but Brown swore he was no
such lubber as to put an eighteen pound shot through the ship he
was just going to sail in, or to display so formidable an engine to
the eyes of men whom he was inviting to his assistance. And,
that there might be as little room for suspicion as possible, he
directed all the company, with the exception of six or seven men,
to conceal themselves below, keeping themselves in readiness, with
such arms as they could find, to rush up when he should give the
command.
This order, I found, was not to extend to myself, whom he
arrested, as I was going below, telling me, with some appearance
of his former devilish humor, that " the quarter deck was the place
for a lieutenant, and that he expected me to do my duty and fight
like a hell-cat." I summoned courage, the crisis being alarming,
to assure him that we had very different ideas of our duties ; that
I saw no right /had to attack that schooner or any other, and no
right lie had to command me to do so ; that I was not his lieu-
tenant, and would not consent to be so regarded ; and if he was
bent upon a desperate course himself, he might be assured that I
was not going to be dragged into it with him.
To this he vouchsafed to reply, first, that, " as to the matter of
right, I talked like a sucking pig, and must hold my jaw for the
future, on pain of having it sliced off with a broadaxe ;" secondly,
" shiver his timbers, he loved me, and was willing to make my
fortune ; and as for the lieutenancy, sink him, he had promised I
should be his lieutenant, and I should be, d n his blood, or else
his cook, or his powder-monkey ; for he saw nothing else I was fit
for;" and, finally, as to my assurance I was not going to be
dragged by him into any unlawful act, he told me " I should be
dragged through h 11 fire, if he willed it ;" and he ended the
ferocious reply by warning me that he was " my captain, and he
was Captain Hellcat, split him, who never had a man say nay to
him ; and that upon any grumbling or disobedience of orders, he
would not hesitate to tie me up and give me a thousand lashes."
I found, in short, that Captain Brown on land, and Captain Hell-
cat at sea, were two very different persons ; and that, however
ROBUST DAY. 315
much I might have detested the one, there remained for me noth-
ing but to fear the other. My spirit was not heroic enough to rise
in arms against an oppressor, who talked of broadaxes, and a thou-
sand lashes, not to speak of the metaphorical fires of doom, as if
nothing could be more natural to him than to employ them as in-
struments of authority and punishment ; and I confess, with as
much shame as is proper to the occasion, that his savage menaces
terrified me into immediate submission ; in which state I re-
mained as long as it was my miserable fate to continue in his
hands.
In the meanwhile, Brown had completed his preparations for the
attack, by arming the men he kept on deck, who were the Spanish
felons, three or four of the sailors, and Skipper Duck, with pistols
and cutlasses brought from below ; which arms were laid about in
places whence the men could snatch them up in a moment, and
where there was no fear they could be seen by the people in the
schooner. He then hoisted a flag of distress, which was no sooner
seen by the schooner, than she stood directly for us, and came so
near that, by some manoeuvre or trick, which I did not exactly un-
derstand, Brown managed to make her run afoul of his own vessel;
which no sooner happened than he gave a terrible yell, more like
the scream of an Indian than anything else, and leaped on board
the schooner, followed by the Spaniards and sailors ; while the
rest of the company, the remaining sailors, the negroes, and the
Bloody Volunteers, came tumbling up from the hold, to complete
by their appearance the victory which would have been just as
easily won without them.
There were but five men on board the schooner, which was but
a small one ; they had no arms to resist us, and they were so ter-
rified at this most unexpected assault from men into whose power
they had been drawn by their humanity, that they yielded at once
and fell upon their knees, piteously begging for their lives. Nor
had I, who, in pursuance of orders which I feared to disobey, crept,
all of a tremble, into the schooner with the others, -the least thought
that any harm would be done them ; because it was so needless,
and they had not provoked it by resistance. But, alas, I had not
yet attained a full conception of the character of Brown ; who,
with a most murderous spirit, called out to " give the rascals no
quarter," fired his pistols at them, as he jumped upon the deck,
and then rushed upon them with his cutlass, followed by the Span-
316 ADVENTURES OF
iards ; who, whether the whole thing had been arranged between
them and Brown before, or whether his devilish example awoke
a sudden and equally devilish spirit of imitation, as is most pro-
bable, were as forward and active as himself ; and the poor men
were immediately butchered before my eyes.
The horror with which this brutal and wanton slaughter filled
my whole mind was shared by others of the company, and espe-
cially by the Bloody Volunteers and two or three of the English
sailors, as I could see by their countenances, turned upon one an-
other with lootfs of fear and inquiry. Like me, they seemed to
wonder what could have urged Brown to such a massacre ; a mys-
tery which was presently explained by his exclaiming, " There, d n
my blood ! the thing is done, and there is no backing out of it. Now,
my jolly dogs, the sea is before you and the gallows behind you
the gallows or the yard-arm, d'ye see, blast me ; whereof, on one
or the other there's not a man of you but must swing the moment
he turns his face backward. So a free life is the word for all, be-
cause, shiver me, my hearties, you can't help it ; a free life and a
jolly one. And here you are with a good vessel under you ; and
here am I, d n my blood, Hellcat by name, to command you to
show you where gold grows on the sea, that may be hauled up by
bucketsfull, and where to spend it without fear of law or lawyer.
So, say the word, sink me, a gallows on shore or 'a cruise under
the sign of the Hellcat !"
It was plain from his own words that Brown had murdered the
poor wretches for the purpose of making pirates of us all, whether
we would or not ; for, after such a deed of blood which
in the eyes of the law must dye us all with nearly equal hues
few felt that anything remained but to adopt the outlaw life on
which he himself was evidently bent. Or if any there were, they
were like me, too much overcome by fear of the ruthless desperado
to utter a single word of remonstrance. The Spaniards received
the proposal of a cruise with cries of approbation, the Englishmen
shook hands and said, "if they were to be hanged, they must be,
and there was no helping it;" the negroes asked Massa Hellcat, as
they called him, if they were to be free provided they turned pi-
rates also ; and upon Brown saying they should be " as free as
blackbirds," they uttered a huzza and said they could cut throats
as well as anybody. The Bloody Volunteers said nothing ; horror
and sea-sickness together subdued them to submission.
KOBIN DAY. 317
CHAPTER LVII.
In which Robin Day is carried to Cuba, and made acquainted
with the tender mercies of pirate law and Captain Hellcat.
THE capture, the murder, the proposal of Brown for a cruise
and its acceptance, were altogether the work of but a few minutes.
A few more served, at Brown's orders, to transfer from the Jump-
ing Jenny to the schooner every thing of value which the former
contained the sails, stores, and arms, and especially the eighteen-
pounder, which was swung up from the hold and received
on board the schooner with acclamations, as the herald and
author of many a future victory. All being at last taken from her,
the Jumping Jenny was cut loose, after being first set on fire ; the
bodies of the murdered mariners were thrown overboard; and the
schooner, which we soon discovered had on her stern the name of
the Moro, or Moor, of Havana, bore away to the South West,
leaving the sloop to burn, and the Querida to follow us, if she
could.
A search was now instituted throughout the Moro, and it was
soon found that she had on board a cargo of military stores for
the garrison at Pensacola; a happy circumstance for the new-made
pirates, for the Jumping Jenny was but badly provisioned, and the
Intendent had taken the precaution to remove from her nearly all
the gunpowder, as well as some of the small arms, so that the fol-
lowers of Captain Brown, but for this discovery, would have been
as badly armed as they were provisioned for the intended cruise.
There was found, also, a good store of liquors on board; a discov-
ery that completed the exultation of the commander, who imme-
diately ordered a cask of brandy to be broached, and treated his
crew to a rouse, drinking, himself, several deep potations with all
the gusto of one who enjoyed and had long been denied the
luxury.
This completed the conversion of his proselytes, or of all who
were convertible. The Spaniards uttered many vivas in honor of
318 ADVENTURES OF
El Capitan Gato, who, they protested, was the greatest man that
ever sailed the sea; the Englishmen shook hands again, and swore
they cared not a fig for gallows and yard-arms, the negroes fell to
singing and quarreling, and one of the Bloody Volunteers declared
" he would not object to a little pirating, if he could do it on dry
land, because, by George " and finished the rest of his speech
over the side of the vessel. Even Captain Hellcat became a little
glorious, and expatiated upon the pleasures and advantages of a
freebooter's life, robbing and murdering at will ; " he had tried the
land, d n his blood, in every way he could take it; he had
swindled and cheated; robbed houses and nigger- traders ; taken
scalps, and three wives among the Indians ; cut thief -takers
throats and played the quack-doctor; but after all, blast him, it
was nothing; the sea was the only place fora jolly dog, a free-
booter's life the only life for a gentleman and man of honor."
" And, talking of honor, sink me," said he, suddenly turning his
eye upon Skipper Dick, who was serving out grog from the cask,
" I have just to inform you, my young hellcats, that a pirate must
be a man of honor as well as another. He that betrays his mess-
mate to the harpies on shore, is a rascal, and a knife in the gizzard
is too good for him.
And with that, reminding the unfortunate Skipper that he had
played the traitor at Norfolk, and assuring him that he spared
his life only because of his acting with good faith, and playing
so important a part, in the escape from Pensacola, he ordered him
to be tied up and punished with five hundred lashes.
The astounded Skipper was immediately seized upon by the
sailors and Spaniards, who seemed indignant at his perfidy, and
eager to prove their zeal to the commander ; and, notwithstanding
his remonstrances, which soon changed to pleadings and beseech-
ings, the punishment was inflicted with a scourge hastily con-
structed of knotted ropeyarns, and placed in the hands of the
negroes, ten of whom were ordered to administer each fifty
lashes on his naked back, and to administer them well, which they
did.
It cannot be supposed that I, who had such cause to hate him,
should grieve for any misfortune that could happen to Skipper
Duck ; but the atrocity, the horrible severity of the punishment,
which appeared to me only a more brutal murder that any I had
witnessed, awoke emotions that were akin to pity ; and perceiving
the poor wretch had fainted before more than half the number of
ROBIN DAY. 319
stripes had been inflicted, I presumed to beg Captain Brown not
to carry the punishment further, assuring him the man would
die under it. All the answer I got was, that " he might die
and be d d," and an injunction to mind my own business ; and
when the bloody business was over, and Duck, at last untied,
fell like a dead man on the deck, he very coolly ordered the
negroes to " throw the carcass overboard."
I interfered again, and having felt the poor fellow's pulse,
said he was not yet dead ; upon which Hellcat swore I was a
doctor, and I should be the ship's doctor, now he thought of
it, and so directed me to take him in hand and cure him. I
said I should be happy to do all I could for him, but asked
what I was to do for remedies ? " Oh !" said the unfeeling
villain, " give him some holly-golly-wmo !" and then left me,
after a great horse-laugh, to solve the difficulty as I could.
Fortunately, there was soon after discovered among the stores
the Moro a large chest of drugs, that was doubtless intended
for hospital service at Pensacola ; so that I had the means of
trying my skill, though I had but little confidence it would re-
cover the skipper from the effects of so dreadful a flogging. I
had him carried below, where I established him as com-
fortably as I could, dressed his wounds to the best of my
ability, and had the satisfaction, in about an hour, of seeing him
open his eyes and restored, though it was but for a little
while, to consciousness. He seemed surprised to find me ad-
ministering to him, and was struck with a sudden remorse for
the wrongs he had done me, for he begged me wildly to for-
give him, and, still more wildly, said he could reward me for
my goodness, and would do so, if he lived ; and then he declared
he would have vengeance on Brown, whom he said he could hang,
and would, too, if he had to hang beside him. The ferment of his
spirits, added to the anguish of his wounds, presently threw him
into a delirium, in which condition, indeed, with occasional and
imperfect intervals of consciousness, as I may here say, he re-
mained for more than two week, in which it was my grief to be in
attendance upon him.
In the meanwhile, Captain Brown, though indulging in a brief
carouse, omitted nothing necessary to secure his escape from the
Querida, which was seen to sail towards the burning sloop, and
then alter her course to pursue us; though it was by and by seen
that she was gradually falling behind us, which, as it was said
320 AD VENTURES OF
she was a very fast vessel, was considered a proof that the Moro
was no mean sailer. Something was, however, allowed for the
hurry with which the Querida had been fitted out, and, perhaps,
imperfectly, to pursue us ; and Captain Hellcat himself said he
would be very willing to make an exchange of vessels, and give
as he added, all the negroes to boot. Long before night we had
lost sight of her entirely ; and then our course was altered, and I
understood from the Spaniards that we were bound, not to Bar-
rataria, as I had supposed, but to some other haunt of pirates on
the coast of Cuba.
And there we arrived upon the fifth day of our voyage, during
which the appearance of the schooner was altered by paint and
other devices, and her name changed from Moro to Vibora, or
Viper; a much more appropriate title for a thing so full of treach-
ery and venomous hostility against all mankind. During this
period, Brown had converted her into a pirate in earnest, and
thoroughly organized his crew, appointing for his lieutenant (for
he was now content to dub me his doctor,) the ferocious fellow
who had threatened to eat my soul at Pensacola, and who was the
most worthy of the honor, although no sailor, because, next to
Brown himself, the most devilish spirit on board. This worthy
assumed to himself the name of Gatito or the Kitten ; but upon
Captain Brown bestowing the same title upon his followers in
general, the lieutenant signified his will to sail for the future under
the name of DiabUtto, or the Little Devil, the diminutive addi-
tion being expressive merely of his modesty, for he was a man
nearly six feet high, and robust in proportion.
We arrived upon the coast of Cuba without difficulty or ac-
cident, but, alas, not without further bloodshed, for, upon the
fourth day of the voyage, meeting a British schooner, supposed to
be from Jamaica, our captain, in a fit of drunken valor (for, in-
deed, he was seldom entirely sober), determined to attack her,
although she was armed with two guns, and seemed not at all
afraid of us. She made, in fact, a vigorous resistance, and fired a
shot through us, by which one man was killed and three wounded,
being struck by splinters ; but a ball from long-torn, striking her
between wind and water, avenged the injury ; and five minutes
afterwards she went down, her crew, in the meanwhile, making sig-
nals of surrender and distress, which no one regarded. As long as
she remained above water, we continued to fire at her, and finally
bore away, leaving three or four miserable wretches, who were
ROBIN DAY. 321
seen floating on the sea, clinging to planks and spars, to the mercy
of the waves and sharks, of which there are always great num-
bers basking about in the tropical regions of the gulf.
The next day we came in sight of the highlands of Cuba, near
its western cape, and entered an out-of-the-way harbor, where,,
however, a number of Spaniards soon made their appearance on
board the schooner, seeming very glad to see El Capitan Gato,
whom they hailed as an old acquaintance. And here El Capitan
Gato, to the great astonishment and affliction of this portion of his
followers, immediately put up for sale the thirteen negroes, and
they fetched a very good price, which Captain Brown assured
them, by way of consolation, was the only thing, according to his
way of thinking, that a negro was good for. Their place was sup-
plied more advantageously for his purposes by fifteen cut-throat
islanders, selected from a number who begged the honor of mak-
ing their fortunes under his diabolical auspices ; and, truly, they
approved themselves, in the end, worthy of their leader.
We remained here but two days, during which Captain Hellcat
had an opportunity of establishing his authority by a second act
of punishment inflicted upon a faithless follower, and proved the
justice of the remark with which he adjudged it that " one had
better walk into h 11 with a bumb-shell hung round his neck
than attempt foul play with him." It seemed that the Bloody
Volunteers, not yet enamored of the free life of the sea, and
very desirous to make their escape from the Viper, had laid a plan
for effecting their purpose, as soon as we entered the harbor.
It was resolved that if any one should have the good fortune to
get ashore, he should proceed in search of a magistrate, and in-
form him of the true character of the Viper ; for, poor fellows,
they had no thought but that we were in the harbor under false
colors, fancying that all the visitors of the schooner were made
to believe she was an honest trader. The public authorities, or
any good citizens, informed she was a pirate, they had no doubt
she would be immediately seized, the murderous Brown and his
voluntary followers conducted to the gallows, and themselves
liberated. The attempt was made by one, who was allowed to
accompany Brown to the shore, and succeeded so well in his enter-
prise that, in less than an hour after he had been first missed, he
was brought back to the schooner by the honest people of the
harbor, to whom, or to one of them, who could speak English,,
322 ADVENTURES OF
he had told his story. "Very well," quoth Brown, making use
of the language I have chronicled above ; adding, with horrible
oaths, that " since he was so eager to make his way to the sharks,
he would help him to them ; but they should be water sharks,
sink him, and not land sharks." And the poor wretch was imme-
diately bound by the arms and let down into the sea from the bow
of the vessel, where he was presently surrounded by these tigers
of the deep, and at last set upon by them and devoured before
our eyes.
With all my fear of Brown, my horror at such barbarity gave
me courage to interfere, to intercede for the poor fellow's life ;
but Brown, who was more intoxicated, as well as more devilish
than usual, caught up a cutlass, and drove me below, to " do my
own butchering," as he called it that is, to attend to the wounded
men, who, as well as Duck, had been consigned to my chirurgical
care.
ROBIN DAY. 823
CHAPTER LVIII.
The second cruise of the Viper. She captures the Querida, and
the Intendentfs daughter becomes the prize of Captain Sell-
cat.
THIS dreadful act of vengeance completed the subjection of the
Bloody Volunteers, who, from that time forth, gave over all plans
and prospects of escape, and yielded to their fate and the tyrant
into whose hands they had fallen, with a sullen resignation that
showed it was an easy thing even for the brave and free to
stoop to bondage ; and a few weeks more might have seen the
Bloody Volunteers, passing from despair to recklessness, con-
verted into a set of as thoroughpaced buccaneers and desperadoes
as their comrades. As for me, the case was somewhat different.
My medical office, and, perhaps, the mean opinion Brown formed
of my courage, prevented my being ever called on as a combatant;
and hence I was in little danger of being hardened into a villain
by sights of blood, and the consciousness of having shed it.
But I was none the less a slave. The effect of the murder was to
increase my fears of Brown, to rob me of all hope of escaping the
horrible life he had assigned me, and to break down with a sense
of misery and degradation the spirit which had been once before
so nearly broken by my first oppressor. There was some resem-
blance, indeed, between my fate in the Viper and what it had
once been in the Jumping Jenny. The difference was, that, in
the one case, I had been beaten and tortured in the body ; while,
in the other, the scourge of brutality was applied to my mind.
The insults and menaces of Brown (perhaps it was my prudence
only which saved me from grosser weapons) were as painful and
killing as ever had been the blows of Skipper Duck. A few
weeks might have seen my brother volunteers changed into
pirates ; but I, in that time, must have pined away and died of
a broken heart.
The next day the Viper sailed out of the harbor, without, how-
ever, proceeding far, and took a station to intercept vessels
324 ADVENTURES OF
doubling the west cape of .Cuba ; and there she remained cruising
four days, during which two captures were made one of them a
very valuable one of vessels from Jamaica ; and, in both
instances, their crews were massacred to a man, for it was
a maxim Brown constantly inculcated, to leave no one to witness
against him. "He had heard of many a free lad of the sea
going out of the world in a hempen horse collar, " he said,
*' but, it had always turned out they had let some lubber off to
blab against them."
Of the particulars of these murderous exploits I have ITO heart
to speak ; they are sickening to my memory. I have enough,
and more than enough, to relate of atrocities in which my own
interests and history were too deeply involved to be forgotten.
Returning for a day to the harbor to dispose of the prizes and
their cargoes, for which latter, at least, there seemed to be no
want of purchasers among the honest people on shore, we sailed
out again to the station, to lie in wait for a certain English
brig, which Brown, in some way, got intelligence of, and which, it
was said, would be such a capture as would make the fortune of
very man on board. Upon the second day of the cruise, she
made her appearance, and efforts were made to approach her,
which was found, however, to be no easy task, as she imme-
diately took the alarm, altered her course to the North, and
stood away from us in a style which proved her to be a very
fast sailer. But she was too valuable a prize to be given up
without an effort; and, accordingly, the Viper crowded on all sail in
pursuit, which was continued until night, when we lost sight of her.
But even then the chase was riot abandoned, for, supposing
from the relative position of the vessels, the character of the wind,
and other circumstances, that the brig would change her course
again in the darkness, Brown ordered a similar change in the
course of the Viper, expecting to get sight of the chase again in
the morning.
In this, however, he was disappointed, for, when morning came,
the brig was nowhere to be seen ; but about midday, when we
were beginning to retrace our course to Cuba, the man at the mast-
head descried a sail, which, at first thought to be the lost chase,
was soon discovered to be another brig, standing, like the Viper,
to the south. Upon this, Hellcat, who had been assuaging his
wrath at the loss of the English brig with deep potations, swore
he would take the stranger, if he died for it a resolution in which
ROBIN DAY. 325
he was confirmed by some of his Pensacola recruits declaring,
after a time, that the stranger was no other than the Governor's
brig, the Qnerida, which had herself so recently been the pursuer.
To Brown's desire to attack her there was, at first, a great deal
of opposition made by many of the crew, who feared she was
actually cruising in search of us ; in which case there was every
reason to believe she was sufficiently well manned and armed to
subdue us. But the lieutenant, Diablillo, swore he bad no appre-
hensions of that the Querida was a private vessel entirely, armed,
indeed, as all trading vessels were in that period of war, but
slightly, and, if she had been dispatched after the Jumping
Jenny, it was because no other vessel in port could be so easily
got ready, and because little danger to her was to be apprehended
from the resistance of the Jumping Jenny ; and he added, more-
over, as a thing he knew, that the Querida, at the period of our
flight, was preparing to sail to the Havanna, with invalid soldiefs
from the garrison, and, he had no doubt, she was now on the
voyage, and might be easily taken ; but, he added, with a free-
booter's discretion, as there was no reason to suppose she could
have any and much less a valuable cargo on board, coming from
such a place as Pensacola, he saw nothing to be gained by engag-
ing her, except blows ; for, truly, it might be expected the old
soldiers would make some kind of resistance.
Brown swore, in reply, the gain would be the brig herself ;
and declared, with many oaths, he would have her. He "had
fallen in love with her," he said, " in Philadelphia, at first sight,
and had nearly run his head into a noose trying to get her ; and,
if she was Governor Aubrey's ship, that only made him more
determined to take her ; for why, he had sworn eternal war
against him and his whole blood (and, blast him, he began the
world and the life of a man by shedding it) ; and he would be
curst if he ever let slip an opportunity to do him a mischief."
No one presumed to debate a question already decided by Cap-
tain Hellcat, and, accordingly, it was resolved the Querida should
be his ; upon which he magnificently promised, as soon as the
prize was secured, the victory should be celebrated by a carouse,
and they should all, in his own phrase, " get as drunk as em-
perors."
As the intended victim was steering the same course with the
Viper, nothing more was done with the latter, after preparing the
guns (of which we had now two twelve-pounders, taken from a
326 ADVENTURES OF
prize, besides long-torn) and other weapons, but to shorten sail a
little, so as to let the Querida gradually overtake us which, by
and by, she did, not seeming to have any suspicion of our being
anything more than honest British traders (for we had an English
flag at the mast-head) ; and about an hour before nightfall she
had come so nigh that Brown was able, after firing a broadside,
that was meant not so much to injure the vessel as to strike a
panic into her crew, to run her aboard and grapple with her ; after
which her capture was soon effected by boarding. It is true, her
crew, who were many of them Americans, that had slapped in
her at Philadelphia, though taken completely by surprise, made a
gallant effort at resistance, firing off one of her guns, as we closed
with her, by which several of our men were torn to pieces, and
then, when the latter were leaping on board, delivering a volley of
muskets and pistols, which they had hastily caught up ; but they
were but fifteen or sixteen in number ; their captain, from whom
they derived their courage, was cut down at the first flash of a
cutlass, and it was madness to oppose such an overpowering force
as was arrayed against them. Some threw down their arms and
ran below, to gain a temporary and unavailing concealment ; while
others begged for quarter, which was refused them. In five min-
utes the Querida was a prize, and Hellcat her master.
During these brief moments, as well as for hours before, I had re-
mained on the deck of the Viper, expecting and then witnessing
a spectacle which I had always before been happy to shun the
sight of the murderous conflict. Never before had I anticipated
an engagement, save with grief and horror ; but on this occasion
1 looked forward to the attack with an eager impatience as great
as that of the veriest pirate on board. Alas ! I hoped that the
pirates were, after all, deceived that the Querida was well
armed, and actually in search of us, and that the onset of the
Viper would be the signal only for her own capture. I fancied,
when she came so nigh that I could almost count the men on her
deck, that she had craftily concealed, like the Viper, the over-
powering numbers of her crew, to lure the pirates more surely to
their doom ; and, even when the latter were boarding her, I looked
to see them suddenly leaping out to overmaster the assailants.
The fall and flight of her vanquished defenders, and the rush
of the pirates, some into the cabin, others into the forecastle and
hold, after the miserable survivors, dispelled the illusion, and I
ROBIN DAY. 327
covered my eyes with my hands, that I might see no more of the
scene of butchery.
At that moment, there came from the Querida the shrieks of
women the cries of several female voices, one of which srnote
like the peal of my own death-bell upon my ear. I started up,
and looked wildly to the Querida, frqrn whose cabin issued several
of the pirates, one of them dragging with him a man a Catholic
priest who, with looks of terror, extended a crucifix above his
head, as if with that symbol of divine mercy to entreat the mercy
of man, the pity of the slayers around him ; another hauling
along a woman, in whom I immediately recognized the Casera or
housekeeper of Colonel Aubrey ; and, a third, the lieutenant
Diablillo, dragging Oh, my God ! it was Isabel herself !
I leaped I forgot then the abjectness and pusillanimity of
spirit to which despair had reduced me I leaped from the
schooner into the brig, and dared to seize the bulky Diablillo by
the arm, with the frantic cry, " Villain, unhand the lady !" when
my puny heroism was rewarded by a buffet from his Herculean
fist, by which I was thrown bleeding to the deck ; while, with the
other, he grasped the shrieking Isabel, exclaiming with exultation,
" Fuego de Dios ! let others take what they want, here is my
share of the plunder !"
" Yours, you blasted jackanapes?" roared Captain Hellcat,
who made his appearance from some other part of the vessel, and
gave a snatch at the lieutenant's prize : " take the granny and
the nigger gals, if you want; but, d n my blood, this prize falls
to your master."
"You shall have my blood first," cried the lieutenant; who,
suddenly letting go his hold of the wretched Isabel, and calling,
with the rancor of long concealed envy or hatred, " Let every
Spaniard stand by me, and down with the American tyrant !"
attacked Hellcat with his cutlass; while Hellcat, nothing loth,
crying, " Let every man stand by and see the end of a mutineer !"
engaged his rebellious lieutenant with equal strength and superior
skill, and at the third blow brought him to the deck, with his skull
cloven to the eyes. The Spanish pirates, who composed nine-
tenths of the whole crew, were perhaps willing enough to side
with Diablillo, and put down their foreign master, but they
paused to await the result of the conflict; and the moment it ter-
minated they returned to their allegiance, with loud cries of
" Captain Hellcat forever ! and down with all traitors !"
328 ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER LIX
Robin Day adopts a desperate resolution, and escapes from the
pirates, with the beautiful Isabel / and what fell out thereupon.
IN the meanwhile, Isabel, who caught sight of me rising from
the deck, and grasping for a weapon, with which, in the madness
of the moment, I was determined to strike her ravisher to the
heart, flung herself, the instant he let her go, into my arms, wildly
calling upon me to kill her. " Kill me stab me to the heart! Oh,
God ! you can do nothing else ! Kill me, and I will die blessing
you ! " But Brown, turning from the corpse of his lieutenant,
tore her from my grasp, telling her, with brutal jocularity, " he
was the man to be hugged, d n his blood ; " and . But I
heard nothing but the shrieks of Isabel, whom, despite her fren-
zied struggles, grinning with triumph and complacency, he folded
in his blood-stained arms.
Where was the courage which, but a moment before, would
have armed me for a contest with for my death from Diablillo ?
I fell upon my knees, and with the tone of a slave begged the
heartless caitiff, " for the sake of the mother that bore him, to do
the lady no harm. Her father is rich," I cried ; " he will ransom
her with his fortune ! "
"Yes, yes," cried the poor priest, the chaplain whom I had seen
at the Intendent's table, and who, displaying a terror but little be-
coming one of his holy profession, caught at the prospect of re-
lief ; " as you are Christian men," he exclaimed piteously, " do
us no harm do her no harm. Her father is rich and powerful ;
he will ransom us he will ransom her. Santos Santisimos !
Deus mei! " And here he fell to praying, while the casera sobbed
from a distance, stretching her hands towards her young mistress,
whom, perhaps, she hnd nursed in infancy, "Oh, mi nina, minina
my child, my child ! "
"A priest, d n my blood ! " cried Hellcat, looking admiringly
upon the chaplain. " Why, then, split me, give us a bit of your
ROBIN DAY. 329
lingo say the sarvice, and splice me to the senorita; for I wish I
may be sunk if I won't marry her."
" Ransom ! ransom ! " interrupted many of the Spaniards, who
were evidently better pleased with the idea of a prize in money,
which could be divided in shares among themselves, than one that
must fall to the lot of their captain only. " The Intendent is rich,
the girl is his only child. Ransom, ransom ! "
"Ay, ay," quoth Brown ; " but, strike my topsails, I'll marry
her first, and ransom her afterwards. For, d'ye see, sink me,
she'll fetch no better price to-day than to-morrow, and no worse
to-morrow than to-day ; and the longer I keeps her the madder
her father will be to have her ; and where's the difference whether
she goes back Mrs. Hellcat or a plain senorita. I mean to marry
her, d'ye see ; and you shall all get drunk at the wedding."
And with that, the miscreant, still holding his victim in his pow-
erful grasp, ordered the terrified priest to * splice away, blast him,
and take care to make short work of it ; " and upon the latter,
first timorously remonstrating, and then absolutely refusing to
prostitute the sacred forms of religion to a purpose at once so
farcical and dreadful, he burst into a furious lage, and would have
murdered him on the spot, but for the interference of the Span-
iards, to whom, though willing enough for any common murder,
the killing of a priest was an impiety not to be thought of. The
spirit even of Hellcat stooped before the prospect of an universal
mutiny, which he put an end to by yielding his bloody pur-
pose, pretending that he had threatened his reverence only in
jest.
" But ; " said he, " if his holiness won't marry me in the way of
the Church, I'll marry myself, d n my blood, in a way of my
own."
And thereupon he released the wretched Isabel, permitting, or
rather ordering, her to go into the cabin, to enjoy a reprieve of a
few moments, which he devoted to the yet unfinished business of
victory. As she staggered wildly down the companion-w:iy, I
succeeded for an instant in catching her eye, and making her a
sign it was but a look meant to express that I would save her,
or perish with her; and, indeed, I had suddenly conceived a pro-
ject, which, though desperate and full of difficulties enough, I was
resolved to attempt in her behalf.
It had been mentioned by Diablillo that the Querida was to carry
330 ADVENTURES OF
to Cuba invalids from the garrison of Pensacola, andt wenty
such invalids were found below, where some of them had been lying
during the conflict, and whither others, that were not so helpless,
had fled, after yielding some little assistance to the sailors in the
fight. In the first rage of conflict, three or four of these poor
wretches were slain by pirates, who followed them below ; but the
murderers relented when they found they were killing men who,
besides being their own countrymen, were half dead with disease
already. And such was the new-born humanity of the victors,
who had already experienced the power of determination and
unanimity, that they defended the prisoners even from the fury of
Captain Hellcat, who would have tossed them all into the sea, and
with difficulty agreed to a mode of disposing of them devised by
the crew, which, while it saved their tender consciences the guilt
of murder, left it very much to be doubted whether the prisoners
should ever survive to witness against them, as Hellcat swore they
would, in a hall of justice. The brig's long-boat was lowered
into the sea, and into this the sick men were sent, along with the
priest, and the cas ra, whose withered looks were her safety if
being placed in the long-boat could be called safety. Some
friendly hands threw them an oar or two, a cask of water, and a
few pounds of biscuit, after which the boat was cut loose, and
they were left upon the wide sea, several hundred miles, I believe,
from any land, to perish of starvation, or to go to the bottom at
the first breath of the tempest, while the Viper and her prize, the
pirates being pretty equally divided between them, and Hellcat
himself assuming command of the latter, proceeded, under every
sail, and in company, on their course toward Cuba.
And now began the carouse which was to celebrate the victory.
The pirates called aloud for their grog, and Hellcat, himself more
than half intoxicated already, called, as I had expected, upon me
to mix it. My commission as surgeon, though it procured me ex-
emption from the perils and guilt of combat, did not exempt me
from various other duties of a degrading and even menial charac-
ter, which Brown took a wanton pleasure in imposing upon me;
among others, the office of cup-bearer and compounder of strong
drink, for he declared, with his usual oaths, " he saw no reason
why I should not mix liquors as well as medicines, one being as
much and as good physic as the other."
It was upon this degrading office, which I had submitted to Sul-
ROBIN DAY. 331
lenly but without complaint, that I founded a sudden and despe-
rate project to relieve the unhappy Isabel ; I was resolved to re-
peat the experiment I had performed in the household of Mr.
Feverage, to drug the liquor of the pirates to drug it deeply, too
I cared not if it should kill some of them, or, indeed, all and
then, at night, when they were overcome with stupor, trusting to
the jolly-boat hanging upon the Querida's stern, which I thought I
could launch without assistance, with the rescued Isabel beside me,
commit myself to the waves, in the hope of reaching the long-boat,
or, at the worst, of remaining afloat until picked up by some pass-
ing vessel, or thrown upon some hospitable shore.
To the the calm judgment of ease and security, such a project
appears nothing short of madness; but there was nothing better to
be done, and the desperateness of the scheme was no objection,
when no other could be attempted, or even imagined ; and, above
all, where from life having become already burdensome, I was will-
ing to lose it in the endeavor.
I had every facility for the execution of such an enterprise the
command of the medicine chest and the key of the spirit-room,
which Brown had committed to my keeping two days before ; and
the only real difficulty which I apprehended was to disguise the
taste of the laudanum, of which I poured all there was in the chest
into the huge vessel in fact, it was a common bucket in which
I mixed the infernal potion a mixture of rum, brandy and spirits*
diluted with strong wine, with sugar and spices added, according
to instructions originally given me by Hellcat for brewing
what he called his hell broth ; but I got over the difficulty by
throwing in a bottle of brandy bitters, Hellcat's favorite morning
drink, and adding an unusual quantity of spices, by means of which
the peculiar savor of the opium was entirely concealed.
Nor was any objection made to the novel compound, when it
came to be drunk; on the contrary, Brown, to whom, as in duty
bound, I offered the first bowl, swearing, upon recognizing the
taste of his bitters, " it was the best physic I had ever yet mixed,
d n his blood," and the crew also agreeing that it was excellent.
They drank, and drank again ; got drunk, danced, swore, fought,
became stupid, and dropped about the deck, where they fell asleep,
so that in less than two hours there was not a man of them all
who was not overcome by the drug and liquor together.
Brown himself was the first to succumb, being, from his previous
332 ADVENTURES OF
draughts, in the best state for receiving the influence of the nar-
cotic; not to say that he drank more deeply than any one else, ac-
cording to his universal custom. He soon became very much in-
toxicated, and his countenance put on a look of apoplexy, when,
declaring with a brutal jest, "he must look after his young wife,
d n his blood," and bidding his followers drink a rouse to her
honor and health, he staggered down the companion-way into the
cabin, leaning upon my arm for support, whicli he was obliged to
accept, and which I had offered with the full determination to stab
him with his own knife, if that should prove necessary to save
Isabel from his ferocious clutches.
But, happily, no such dreadful act was required of me ; he
reeled from the last step, and fell at his length upon the cabin
floor, where he instantly dropped fast asleep, snoring, or rather
snorting, prodigiously.
I looked for Isabel ; she had shrunk to the farthest corner of
the little but handsome cabin, where I saw her on her knees,
striving to pray, her cheeks as white as snow, her lips livid, her
whole frame trembling, her eyes wild with fright, and her hand
grasping a knife, which she had picked up somewhere in the
cabin, and held as if prepared, at the moment of extremity, to-
bury it in the breast of the ravisher, or her own.
" Fear nothing," I hastily whispered, " and be in readiness to
follow me at a moment's warning."
I then immediately left the cabin, and returned among the
bacchanals on deck, to endure the scurrilous jests upon HellcatV
marriage, as they called it, and to ply them still further with
drugged liquor.
It was now night, and my heart was beating with hope. Every
moment added another stupefied sleeper to the list of my victims ;
and I might look the sooner, and the more surely to the period of
escape. Before the orgies began, Hellcat had appointed a guard
of five men to take care of the brig during the carouse, ordering
them, of course, to keep sober the while on pain of his high dis-
pleasure. It was necessary to my purpose that they should drink
like the rest, and, fortunately, I found it no difficult thing to
seduce them also into the debauch, and, by and by, to see four of
them laid insensible on the deck.
The fifth man alone, who was at the wheel, though he made no-
scruples of drinking, resisted the influence of the narcotic, ever*
ROBIN DAY. ?33
after every other miscreant was sound asleep, and I despaired of
bringing him under its power. He was a robust villain, and one
of the basest and cruelest spirits on board, and the knowledge
of his depravity nerved me to an act, which, though now neces-
sary to my hopes, I should not otherwise, perhaps, have had the
courage to attempt. I struck him down it was a treacherous
and unworthy blow, but I could not help it I struck him down
with a handspike, and while he lay stunned and powerless
I bound his hands and feet with a rope I had prepared for the pur-
pose, and secured a gag in his mouth, so that, although when he
revived, as he presently did, he might watch my proceedings, he
could neither impede me in my purpose, nor rouse the others by
his cries. I then lashed the helm, so that the Querida might con-
tinue her course without interruption during the whole night.
All obstacles were now removed, and with a beating heart I
completed my preparations by putting into the boat a pair of oars,
(there was, it rejoiced me to find, a sail with its mast, wrapped np,
already lying in her, and also a rudder, a compass, some provi-
sions, and other things, which I had laid down in my mind as
necessary to provide against every accident, and I was surprised
at the apparent coolness and deliberation with which I collected
them in different parts of the vessel, and carried them through
the sleepers to the boat. I satisfied myself, by a trial at the
pulleys, that I could, without much difficulty, let the boat down
into the water by lowering a little at the bow, and then the stern,
and then at the bow again, and so on, and that there was no danger
of her filling with water in the act, because the wind was very
light, and the brig was making headway but slowly ; and besides,
the sea was not rough.
I then stole back to the cabin, and found its inmates as I had
left them half an hour before, Hellcat lying in a stupor on the
floor, and Isabel on her knees, grasping the knife, arid looking as
if changed into a statue, her eyes alone retaining the mobility and
wild vivacity of life.
"Fear nothing," I again muttered "come with me; you are
saved."
But she only stared at me more wildly than before, seeming to
be unconscious of my meaning, arid incapable of any exertion ;
until, at last, having given her my hand, and assisted her to rise,
she suffered me to bear her from the cabin to the boat, in which I
334 ADVENTURES OF
placed her ; and then cautioning her not to be alarmed nor to lose
her balance, I began to lower her into the water, a proceeding
which, from the necessity of using a great deal of care, occupied
me a considerable time. As soon as the boat reached the water, I
slipped down by the ropes ; and separating the hooks by which
she was suspended, we were in a moment floating free in the
waves, the Querida sailing slowly away from us. I seized upon
the oars, which I had previously wrapped around with bits of can-
vass, by way of muffles, and rowing in the opposite direction, the
night being cloudy and very dark, had soon the satisfaction of los-
ing sight both of the Querida and her consort the Viper.
And now, dropping the oars, I resolved to spread the sail, and
take advantage of the little breeze that was blowing to get as far
from the pirates as possible ; but before I did so I addressed my-
self to Isabel, who had not yet spoken a word, and indeed seemed
to have had all her powers of mind frozen within her, and told
her to be of good heart, for the pirates were now out of sight.
" God be praised ! " she exclaimed, and fell upon her knees in
the bottom of the boat, sobbing out an incoherent prayer ; which
she interrupted to cry, wildly, " Are we safe then ? and shall we
not again fall into their dreadful hands ? "
" We are safe for the present," I replied ; " and I hope, I trust
nay, I can almost believe for Providence that has set us free
will not abandon us that we shall never see them more."
Upon this, the beautiful girl threw herself into my arms, and
clasping me around the neck, exclaimed in tones of impassioned
gratitude and devotion " Sefior, I will love you, and bey our
slave ! Yes, yes ! Save me but again God has sent you twice to
rescue me from a villain save me but again, and I am yours for-
ever ! "
Alas, poor Nanna ! How was it possible, at that moment, to re-
member that I had once fancied I adored her ? The beauty of the
fair Spaniard, the romantic interest in which I had won a privilege
to treasure her memory, the feelings she had so evidently cherished
in my favor, at Pensacola, under her father's eyes, had more than
half turned my heart and brain already : and it needed scarcely
so devoted a proof of her regard to seal me to the slavery of af-
fection she so wildly offered. "I will save you or die," I cried,
folding her in my arms.
" I will die with you or live to love you forever ! " she mur-
ROBIN DAY. 335
mured in return : and there, upon the wild sea, in the midst of
peril and distress, we plighted our faith with equal fervor and art-
lessness, and exchanged our vows of eternal affection. With all
the misery of fear and degradation that had lately borne me to
the earth ; with all the anxieties and doubts, the apprehensions of
waves, and tempests, and pirates, which, however I might conceal
them from Isabel, I could not but entertain, I felt, in that mo-
ment, the thrill of happiness, the exquisite elation that sublimes
the lover beyond the low ambition and the pride of kings.
336 ADVENTURES OP
CHAPTER LX.
TJie voyage in the jolly-boat ; in which Robin Day makes an
interesting and surprising discovery.
BUT the maid of my love was to be saved she was to be
borne, before day, long beyond the view, and, if possible, the
reach of the pirates. I shipped the rudder, stepped the mast, and
spread the little sail, of the management of which I had but little,
if indeed, any knowledge ; and the gentle breeze bore us softly
onwards in a direction which I judged or hoped would be most
likely to bring us by morning in sight of the long-boat ; which
gained, I reckoned upon the wisdom of the padre, or the counsels of
the soldiers, to determine the best steps to be taken to secure the
safety of us all. It was in deciding upon the direction I must
steer to find the invalids, I discovered that the compass which I
had taken, though it might prove an excellent guide by day, was
but an indifferent one by night, when it was impossible to see it.
But I was happy enough to get an occasional glimpse at the north
star, by which I laid and maintained my course as well as I could.
As soon as the sail was set, I took my Feat at the tiller ; and
there, with my dear Isabel at my side, maintained it through the
best part of the night, having nothing to do but to steer, to en-
courage her spirits, to repeat my vows of love, and to enter into
mutual explanations of the extraordinary circumstances by which
we had been thus thrown together upon the solitary sea. I told
her the story of my flight from the fortress ; and she sobbed with
joy to find it had been compulsory; that I had not voluntarily
accompanied the detestable Brown.
"I told them so," said the ardent girl; "I told my father you
cquld never have united in any enterprise with the wretch from
whom you had saved me, and whom, therefore, you must hate as
much as I did. But he was angry with me, and because you had
pretended not to know the man when brought before him because
you did not immediately expose and denounce him. Ah! why did
KOBIN DAY. 337
you not so ? If you loved me, why did you not say to my father
'This is the wretch who assailed my Isabel.'"
I replied that my reasons were, first, the fear of being made to
appear as his accomplice in the burglary; that was a foolish fear,
but the surprise and confusion I was in all the time prevented my
thinking so; and, in the second place, because, notwithstanding
my many reasons for hating Brown, he had actually saved my
life, and endangered his own in doing so, among the Indians; and
I therefore could not, without base ingratitude, have denounced
him, when the denunciation would most certainly have been fol-
lowed by the severest punishment.
This matter explained (and the beautiful girl accepted my ex-
cuses), I proceeded to relate the remainder of my adventures among
the pirates up to the moment in which a cruel destiny had brought
her into their hands. 1 then requested to know what causes had:
brought her to sea in her unfortunate namesake, the Querida.
"Alas," she replied, again throwing her arms around my neck,
and sobbing on my bosom, " you are the cause or rather, I am
myself the cause ; for it was not your fault if I loved you. My father
is good and honorable, but proud, suspicious, quick in his anger,
and stern in his resolutions; and he saw indeed, I did -not know
it myself that I was more than grateful for the service you had!
done me at Philadelphia; and then I had not told him all, and he
thought I had deceived him; and, besides, appearances were
against you, and he was angry I should think of one whom he
thought badly of. But he will think better of you, mi querido"
she sobbed, " when we go back to him again, and I tell him how
you have saved me a second time."
After these preliminary expressions she gave me an account of
the events that had followed, and some that preceded my flight
from Pensacola.
As soon (after the Intendent had sent me off to the fortress)
as his angry reproaches had allowed Isabel an opportunity to speak
in my defense, she acquainted him with those particulars of my
Btory which I had related to her, explaining the true nature of my
connection with Hellcat in the burglary; and by-and-by Captain
Dicky, who presently made his appearance, and was called upon to
speak on the subject, confirmed the account by telling my whole
story up to the point of my capture by the Indians, with which I
had made him well acquainted; and, as he did me the honor to
338 ADVENTURES OF
say, that, " although he considered me a very big goose, and es-
pecially too big one for a soldier, yet he would stand sponsor for
my honor and. integrity against the whole world," Colonel Aubrey
was at last brought to believe his opinion had done me injustice;
to repair which he dispatched a messenger to bring me from the
fort to his house again. The messenger arrived just fifteen min-
utes too late; but he discovered the flight of the prisoners and
gave the alarm; the forts were ordered to fire upon us to bring us
to; which failing, the Querida was hastily despatched after us,
and, as has been seen, to no other purpose than to witness at a
distance the murderous attack upon the Moro, which she was not
able to prevent.
My flight with Brown (which none but the warm-hearted Isabel
could believe involuntary), and, worse than all, the act of piracy
that so immediately succeeded it, had the natural effect of de-
stroying every favorable impression in my behalf that had been
made in Colonel Aubrey's mind ; and the attempt of Isabel to ad-
vocate my cause only excited him to deeper indignation at the un-
worthy perversity of the maid, who could bestow her regard upon
a wretch so degraded and abandoned as I. And in this feeling, a
week after he placed her in the Querida, now ready for her voyage
to the Havana, under the charge of the reverend padre, to be
consigned to a convent until sufficiently punished for or cured of
her romantic fancy.
I expressed my surprise that Colonel Aubrey, with all his anger,
should have been willing to expose her in a vessel so insufficiently
armed, with the full knowledge that a pirate like Hellcat was now
ranging the Gulf ; but she replied that was an apprehension that
had never entered his mind. No one doubted but that the despe-
rado had hastened to join the outlaws at Barrataria Bay, and was,
therefore, for the time at least, out of harm's way, and, besides,
the Querida was considered very well armed and manned ; and,
Toeing also a fast vessel, she might have beaten the corsair off, or
escaped by superior sailing, had her crew been soon enough aware
of the character of the Viper.
These explanations, with many a vow repeated over and over
again with a fervor and tenderness which our desolate situation
both prompted and excused, occupied us through half the night ;
during which our little bark skimmed her way easily and safely
along the sea ; when, on a sudden, a gust swept over us, whipped
ROBIN DAY. 33 &
the mast out of its step, and blew it with the sail entirely away,
by which calamity we were doubtless saved from being instantly
capsized, though we were left without any other assistance than
the oars to help us along.
To the oars, therefore, I betook me, as soon as the gust had
passed by, and I plied them diligently until morning, at which pe-
riod I looked eagerly around to see if the Viper was yet in sight ;
but she had vanished, with her prize. I then looked as eagerly for
the long-boat, but no long-boat was to be seen; the little jolly-boat
and ourselves were the only objects that broke the wide-spread mo-
notony and solitude of the sea.
My heart sunk, but I concealed my fears from Isabel, and plied
the oars again, although well-nigh exhausted, until another gust
swept the waves, by which I suffered the further misfortune of
losing one of the oars, which was broken in my unskillful hands.
Even the greatness of this calamity I disguised from Isabel, by
assuring her I could use the remaining oar as a scull, and get along
nearly as fast with it as with two. But my pride, or tender solici-
tude to keep Isabel from alarm, could hold me no longer against
a discovery I now made, which was, that with all my pains to
gather into the boat everything I could think of that could be ser-
viceable to us on our voyage, I had forgotten the greatest neces-
sary of all : bread and meat there were in abundance, but, ah me!
not a single drop of water.
" But we shall soon find the long-boat," said Isabel, with equal
simplicity and confidence in my nautical abilities ; " and then we
shall have water enough."
Alas ! I had now given up all hope of finding the long-boat ; my
only trust was that Providence would direct some vessel in our
way, that should pick us up. And with this forlorn expectation I
was obliged to acquaint Isabel, when, long after mid-day, she
began to express wonder at the non-appearance of the long-boat,
asking me if I did not think we should find it.
Upon being made aware of our truly unhappy situation, she
became greatly agitated and terrified, now throwing herself into
my arms and telling me she would die with me, now dropping upon
her knees and offering such wild and piteous supplications to
Heaven as drew the tears from my eyes ; and then springing to
me again, and striving to comfort me with assurances that she
was not afraid, that she was not thirsty, and would not be, and
-340 ADVENTURES OF
then again returning to her prayers. I did and said all I could
to reassure her, and by and by she recovered her composure
somewhat ; and, to fortify her spirits still further, she drew from
her bosorn a rosary, which she began to tell, like a good Catholic,
and doubtless would have continued to do so, until she had gone
through the whole 'circle of beads, had I not been suddenly im-
pelled to interrupt her.
I have already observed that I was struck, in the portrait of the
Spanish gentleman, the brother of Colonel Aubrey, with a rosary
worn around his neck, because of a resemblance which I saw or
fancied in the beads to those which my patron Dr. Howard had
obtained from Mother Moll and preserved for me with great care,
thinking they might, at some period, contribute to unravel the
mystery of my birth and parentage. The beads which I now saw
in the hands of Isabel were identical with those in the portrait ;
and they were, as I could see, identical with my own, save that
the great central bead or cross in Isabel's rosary was richly stud-
ded with gold and gems, of which the cross in mine was destitute ;
although there were cavities on its surface in which such might
have once existed.
The coincidence was remarkable, as the beads were of a singular
kind of wood, and of strange fashion and carving ; and it was to
me so much the greater and more interesting, as, to my awakened
fancy, it seemed to foreshadow a connection in reality between my
fate and that of the beautiful being to whom I had just sworn
eternal attachment. My brain teemed with sudden recollections
of the foundered schooner and the mysterious fate of her exiled
passengers ; and, moved by an irresistible impulse, I caught the
.rosary from Isabel's hands, exclaiming, as well as my great agita-
tion would permit me, " These beads, Isabel ! they belonged to the
original of the picture your father's brother, who was lost in that
schooner of which Brown was the mate, and of which Colonel
Aubrey spoke with Brown ? "
" Yes," replied Isabel, surprised out of both devotion and fear
by the interruption, the question, and, above all, by my disturbed
looks.
" And there was a fellow to it ? " E cried " another similar
rosary, of the same strange wood and fashioning ? "
" Yes," said she, with a sigh ; " it was on the neck of little
Juan." How my heart leaped at the words ! " They were holy
ROBIN DAY. 341
beads from Jerusalem, consecrated on the sepulchre of our Lord ;
and but if you are not a Christain that is, not a Catholic you
will smile at such things ; but we held them as a kind of talisman
because of their being consecrated on the tomb of the Redeemer.
But, alas ! they have proved no talisman to us yet !"
" And you will know that other, its fellow ?" I cried, fumbling
for the beads, which I had long since tied round my neck for
safety, because my patron Dr. Howard had so earnestly charged
me to preserve them, though I held them myself in so little estimation
that it was seldom I ever thought of them. " You will know it ?"
I cried, loosening the string and putting the beads into her hand ;
"the jewels are gone, but are not the beads the same ?"
At the sight of them, Isabel's agitation became nearly as great
as my own ; she gave me a look full of wild inquriy, and then
taking her own rosary into her hand, she faltered out, "There is
a way to prove whether they are fellows," and with that, twisting
the cross of the latter between her lingers, she showed me what I
should never before have dreamed that it consisted of two pieces
that screwed together in the center, so as to make a little box, and
that each piece contained, within the box, a little miniature, the
one a likeness of Colonel Aubrey's brother, as he was represented
in the portrait, the other the semblance of a young and beautiful
woman, somewhat resembling, as I thought, the dear Isabel her-
self.
" If tJds" said Isabel, placing my own between her trembling
fingers "if this be indeed the fellow it must contain the same
portraits."
As she spoke, the cross, which, from the ingenuity of its con-
struction, neither I nor any one else had ever supposed to be any-
thing but solid wood, parted in twain and disclosed the same pair
of visages concealed in the little box.
" Dios mio /" cried Isabel, starting up wildly, "how came you
by this rosary ?"
I could scarcely articulate a reply : " Seventeen years ago, a
vessel from the West Indies was wrecked upon the coast of New
Jersey, and I, a helpless infant, the only living thing on board,
was taken from it by wreckers."
"And ?" cried Isabel, eagerly
" And this rosary was upon my neck ! Oh, my dear Isabel, it
must be so ! Nature herself stirred up the affection that warms'
342 ADVENTURES OF
our bosoms. It must be so ; that wreck I can see it all now, and
can almost prove it that wreck could have been no other than
the fatal schooner, and I, dearest Isabel I am the little Juan you
spoke of, and your cousin."
" My cousin ? O my God !" cried Isabel, " if it be so, you are
my own brother ! We were twin-born together!"
" How!" I cried, confounded by her words, " and Colonel Aubrey,
your father."
" My father in name and affection only," said Isabel " the
father of my infancy and childhood, whom 1 have never called by
any other name, who is, however, in reality, but my uncle, my
father's brother. My father, and your father, if you be Juan,
perished in that dreadful schooner, the Sally Ann."
" Yes !" I cried, struck by a sudden recollection ; " here is the j
very name scratched upon the cross, though by whom scratched
I know not. Dr. Howard always thought it must be the name of
my mother. And now, too," I added, " I can understand the ex-
pressions of Duck, which I thought the mere ravings of delirium,
that he could reward my humanity and make my fortune by the
same act that should obtain him vengeance on Brown ; for it is
certain it was proved by Brown's own admissions before Colonel
Aubrey, when ignorant that Duck was in Pensacola, and con-
firmed by his direct confession to me afterwards, in the fort that
Duck was actually on board the Sally Ann, and had been his ac-
complice in a deed of villainy hitherto unsuspected ; for, Isabel, I
know enough to convince me that our father, instead of being
drowned by the foundering of the schooner, was murdered by her
crew, and Brown at their head, for his money."
" Yes," said Isabel ; " and so thought my father my uncle
I can scarce call him ; and he was resolved, upon the arrival of a
brig of war attached to the station, and therefore under his com-
mand, but then absent on a cruise, to dispatch her to Barrataria
in pursuit of Brown, with orders to spare no means to ensure his
capture, that his brother's death might be fully avenged. But
how is this, my brother my heart tells me I must call you so !"
said Isabel, anxiously : " how.is it the schooner could have come
ashore, and you in it, and yet my uncle, who had instituted in-
quiries in America, should hear nothing of it ?"
" That," I said, " was easily accounted for ;" and informed her
that the knowledge of the wreck was, for a period of eleven or \
ROBIN DAY. 343
twelve years, confined to the wreckers themselves ; and that, at
the end of that time, Dr. Howard had in vain labored among my
jealous preservers to learn even so much as her name, or the period
of the wreck ; which latter he could only guess at by forming his
own conclusions as to my age, and coupling with them the fact
he had learned, that I was an infant too young to speak, when I
came ashore.
In short, strange and wondrous as the circumstances all seemed,
and imperfect as they were in the chain of connection, they bore
with them such convincing evidence of my identity, that neither
Isabel nor I could longer doubt we were brother and sister, the
twin-born offspring of parents long since passed away to the world
of death. We wept and embraced, and exchanged, by a na-
tural transition, the fervor of lovers for the affection of brother
and sister, which a romantic casuistry has pronounced to be the
purest and heavenliest of all the bonds that connect the hearts of
man and woman.
344 ADVENTUEES OP
CHAPTER LXI.
Robin Day and Isabel are rescued from the jolly-boat by an
American schooner, which is taken by the pirates, and Robin
is again their prisoner.
I LEARNED from Isabel, what I had in part been informed of
that my father, with his younger brother, the present Intendent,
had emigrated from South Carolina in the war of the Revolution,
being loyalists, whom the fall of the British power in the colonies
reduced to ruin. They had entered the Spanish service in Cuba,
where the elder brother acquired rank in the army, and rose to
wealth by espousing a Spanish heiress, my mother and Isabel's,
but, in an unfortunate moment, was drawn into some treasonable
project or conspiracy to subvert the Spanish power in the island.
The conspiracy was discovered, and my father escaped from the
officers appointed to arrest him only through the instrumentality
of the younger brother, who, faithful throughout to the Govern-
ment he served, yet ardently attached to my father, procured him
the means of flight in the fatal schooner. One boat carried to her
my father and little Juan myself with a single attendant, and
such valuables as he had time to collect ; another following, with
my mother and sister, was intercepted ; and my father was com-
pelled by extreme peril to set sail alone. Neither my father, nor
the schooner, nor any of her crew were ever heard of afterwards,
until Brown's sudden appearance in Pensacola. Grief for her
husband's fale, which had been followed by the confiscation of his
estates, drove my mother to the tomb. Isabel, a portionless
orphan, was adopted by her uncle, whose own wife (for he also
had married in the island) died in a few years, leaving him child-
less, and who, partly by purchase, and partly through the bounty
of the Government which could thus reward his own long and
faithful services, had effected the recovery of a great part of
his brother's estates, which, with his own, were destined to swell
the dowry, or inheritance, of his adopted daughter.
ROBIN DAY. 345
This discovery, brought about by a means so simple, and at a
time so perilous, had the happiest effect on the spirits of Isabel,
who declared with pious fervor that the Providence which had, in
so extraordinary a manner, brought us together and revealed the
secret of our relationship, could not have done so only to let us
perish in each other's arms on the broad deep; and her confidence
restored me in part to mine.
But, alas ! the night came upon us and passed away without
relief, and then another day and night, and yet another ; in short,
the third day passed away, and the fourth night was approaching,
and we were yet upon the sea. My poor Isabel was dying in my
arms dying of the thirst, which, to lessen the misery of my self-
accusing despair, she protested to the last she did not feel. At
that time Heaven sent us relief. A vessel drew in sight, ap-
proached us, caught sight of us, dispatched a boat to our assist-
ance, and, just as the sun sank at last into the ocean, I had the
inexpressible happiness to find myself with Isabel in safety on
board an American schooner, homeward bound from Jamaica,
where she had been, under the protection of a British pass, with a
cargo of supplies, which had been converted into money. I need
not inform the historic reader that such passes were, in those days,
granted by the British Admirals on the American coasts to such
honest Americans as were willing for a price to supply the wants
of their own national enemies ; and that there were always to be
found spirits sordid enough to accept the advantages and profits
of such a trade, until a special Act of Congress, passed during
that very year, put a sudden end to it.
It might be inferred from such a circumstance that Captain
Galley of the Fair American (for such was the name of the com-
mander and the vessel, of which he was also a part owner) was^
not exactly the person to whom I should have chosen to owe the
obligations of life, or from whom the most hospitable or gener-
ous treatment was to be expected. Yet, sordid as he might be, I
found him not deficient in good feeling; and his wife, a young wo-
man whom he had married at Jamaica, and was taking home
to America, displayed the warmest and kindest sympathy for the
distresses of Isabel, which she immediately addressed herself to
relieve.
I know not whether it was from an impulse of humanity infused
into his breast by his warm-hearted wife, of whom he was exces-
346 ADVENTURES OF
sively fond, or from a coarser motive of gain, or from the two
feelings combined, that Captain Galley, upon learning in what
relationship Isabel stood to the rich Governor of Pensacola, began
to express his regrets that that port was so very far out of his
way, hinting that, if it were the Havana, from which, he said,
having a fair wind, we were scarce distant twenty-four hours
sail, he would not hesitate to carry her thither to her friends, with-
out asking of them anything further in recompense than the pay-
ment of his expenses. His schooner was partly his own; he was
his own insurer; his partners would not find fault with him; it
would be a pity to carry the young lady so far from her friends,
leaving them so long mourning for her supposed death.
Upon my informing Isabel of this, she eagerly entreated that
he should carry her to the Havana, where there were many of
her father's friends and her own, who would recompense him for
his trouble and humanity; her father was rich, and would think
no sum of money too great to reward the preserver and restorer of
his Isabel.
Upon such assurances, Galley immediately put up his helm for
the Havana, promising, if the wind held, we should see the harbor
lights before midnight of the ensuing day.
But the wind did not hold, being, in a few hours, succeeded by
calms and baffling breezes, that occupied us during two whole
days, at the end of which we were no nearer to the Havana than
before, and with so little prospect of reaching it that Captain Gal-
ley declared he must give it up and resume his voyage; a resolution
that, however, yielded to the supplications of Isabel, and especially
to her assurances that he should be munificently rewarded for
every moment of delay, for, notwithstanding that he still said he
desired nothing but his expenses, I could fancy he had some secret
expectations of turning a pretty penny by his adventure.
But the Fair American was never destined to convey us to the
Havana. That day, soon after noon, while we were vainly strug-
gling against a southeast wind, which was directly in our teeth, two
vessels a brig and a schooner came in sight, and when they had
approached us sufficiently nigh to be made out with the glass, I was
struck with horror to find they were nothing less than the Viper
and her late prize the Querida.
Captain Galley, whom I immediately informed of their charac-
ter, was greatly alarmed although he had several times before
ROBIN DAY. 347
declared he was not afraid of pirates, because he relied upon the
swiftness of his vessel, and had in her, moreover, a large eighteen-
pound gun, with which he thought he could beat a single antag-
onist off. But two pirates together, one of them carrying a piece
as heavy as his own, were enemies to awake the most serious fears;
,and these became agonized apprehensions when, the pirates imme-
diately giving chase, it was found, after a little trial that they were
actually gaining upon us, with every probability of overhauling us
before night.
Upon this, Captain Galley asked me, with much agitation, if I
thought the pirates would let him off, with his life and vessel pro-
vided he should give them up all his money, the proceeds of his
oargo ; and I saw by this that he already had thoughts of surren-
dering to them. I told him " No ;" that I had no doubt every
soul of us would be murdered except the poor women, whom I
begged him to remember, and for whose sake I besought him to
defend the schooner to the last drop of his blood ; assuring him
that, for my part, rather than fall again into their hands, I would
immediately jump with my sister into the sea, and there perish
with her. If we could but resist them until night, we might es-
cape them in the darkness ; and certainly we might keep them off
until then. I begged him to observe that the Viper, which proved
to be a faster sailer than the Querida, and was, for that reason,
;and because she carried an eighteen-pounder (the Querida's guns
being light), our most dangerous enemy, was superior to us only in
the numbers of her crew ; that that superiority was of no account
while she was so far off as to be able to fight us only with the
great gun, because our crew of six men (which was the number,
excluding ourselves) was as competent to the management of our
piece of ordnance as thrice the number could be ; and that it was
not improper to hope we might cripple her by a lucky shot, in
which case we could avoid the Querida until night, and thereby
escape her altogether.
These representations had their effect upon Galley, as
well as upon the crew, who, being driven into courage by
sheer desperation, and further fortified by a glass of grog,
that was served round to each man, swore they would
stand by each other, their captain, their ship, and above all,
the helpless women on board, to the last moment. And they im-
mediately began their preparations for battle by bringing up shot
348 ADVENTURES OF
and cartridges from below, and changing the position of the cannon
from the bow to the stern, where it was soon in readiness for the
pursuers. Some muskets and cutlasses were also collected, to arm
us against boarders, in case it should be our hard fate to be
brought to close quarters.
While the men were engaged in these preliminaries, the captain
took me aside to assist him in removing Isabel and his wife to a
place of safety that is, out of reach of the cannon shot. We
carried them, both half dead with fright, into the lowest hold,
where Galley knocked out the head of an empty puncheon, in
which he placed them, having previously rolled it into a dark nook
among the ballast ; with which, and pieces of rubbish, he proceeded
to cover it up, so that it might readily escape the eye of a careless
searcher. But a moment's reflection convinced me such a device
offered but an insufficient protection against pirates, who were ac-
customed to ransack every cranny and hole of a captured vessel in
search of concealed valuables. Besides, L the schooner should be
taken, the pirates would either carry her to their haunts or set fire
to her, in either of which cases supposing the women might es-
cape immediate detection one of two dreadful calamities must
overtake them. In the one case, they must sooner or later be dis-
covered ; in the other, they must perish in the burning vessel.
These considerations armed me for a desperate project, which I
proposed to Captain Galley, who accepted it as the last refuge of
despair. We placed a barrel of powder, laying a train from it to
the cabin floor ; and we agreed, should the pirates succeed in
boarding the schooner, that either of us who might be alive should
set fire to the train and blow up the vessel ; whereby, if we
destroyed with our own hands those we would have died to pro-
tect, we, at the worst, only accelerated their death, while defending
them from the possibility of a yet more dreadful fate.
Nor was this horrible device without another favorable effect.
Captain Galley, the moment we returned upon deck, informed the
sailors of what he had done, avowing a solemn determination, the
moment he observed any signs of cowardice, or heard any talk of
surrendering among them, to blow up the schooner with all on
board; so that the sailors perceived they must fight bravely,
whether they would or not ; and thereupon they called for more
liquor, and swore, one and all, if they must die, they would die
fighting.
ROBIN DAY. 349
The contest now soon began, and was opened by ourselves let-
ting fly at the schooner, which was thought to be within reach
of the gun, and was approaching in her usual insidious way, al-
though she must have seen, from our efforts to escape, that we un-
derstood or suspected her character. Our first shot had no other
effect than to make her run up a black flag and display her crew,
which, though more than half of them were, as I supposed with truth,
on board the Querida, was still pretty numerous ; but, by and by,
she brought the long torn to bear upon us, and the battle was be-
gnu in earnest. At first, both the vessels fired without doing any
injury to each other, being too distant for accurate aim ; but pre-
sently, as the Viper drew nearer, the shots began to tell, and we
had, after a while, the inexpressible satisfaction of seeing the fore-
mast of the Viper go tumbling over her side.
It was now plain she could follow us no longer, and we set up a
shout of mingled joy and defiance. But alas! in the midst of our
exultation, she sent a return ball, by which her injury was avenged
upon the Fair American, the latter being almost as seriously crip-
pled as herself. The consequence of this was, that, although we
had no more to fear from the Viper, whom we found, notwithstand-
ing our injury, we could now outsail, we were brought within the
danger of the Querida, which came bearing down upon us, assisted
by a change of the wind, of which she could reap all the benefit
and we none. It is true our eighteen pounder gave us a great ad-
vantage over her, which Captain Galley endeavored to make the
subject of encouragement to the men, who were still further ani-
mated by the appearance of a strange sail, that seemed to have
been attracted by the sound of our firing, was evidently doing her
best to approach us, and was pronounced, while still at a great dis-
tance, a ship of war by our sailors, who burst into shouts of joy
at sight of her, resolving, at all extremities, to keep up the fight
until she had arrived to our assistance.
But our courage was not seconded by good fortune. It was in
vain we fired shot after shot at the Querida, with the hope of
crippling her; several of them struck her in the hull, and even
killed some of her men, but masts, spars and rigging all escaped,
and, finally, opening her own batteries upon us, by which half of
our men were slain, she succeeded at last in closing and grappling
with us, and then, with yells of vengeance, and Hellcat himself
350 ADVENTURES OF
at their head, thirty pirates leaped on board, and it was all over
with us in a moment.
Galley, giving me a look of horror and despair, ran down into
the cabin to fire the train A musket shot struck him at the head
of the companion way and he fell headlong on the floor; but
gathering strength for an effort, he raised himself upon his arms,
and flashed a pistol on the powder. It was soaked with his own
blood, and his life and the ineffectual flash were extinguished
together. I would have rushed after him to complete the de-
sign, but it was too late ; the path was intercepted, and I
was surrounded by pirates, from whom I expected immediate
death, being at a single blow disarmed and wounded, when
some of them recognised me, and called out my name; and Brown
himself saved me from their vindictive fury, though not with a
purpose of mercy.
"You shall feed the sharks, d n my blood !" he cried, with
furious exultation, taking me by the throat, and demanding
eagerly, "where was the girl?" while, in the same breath, he
ordered his men to " look her up," as if taking it for granted
she was concealed somewhere in the vessel. I could make but
one effort to save her from his brutal arms. " They will look in
vain," I cried, "unless they look at the bottom of the sea, to
which your cruelty consigned her."
" How ! drowned ?" cried Brown.
"Yes, drowned," I replied; whereat he made a furious blow
at me with a cutlass, from which I was saved by one of the
men jerking me away, saying, " that was not the way to end a
deserter !" "Ay, sink me to h , he shall die like a dog !" said
Brown, and I was immediately dragged into the Querida, and
there secured by being tied to one of the guns, while the
pirates searched the Fair American for the spoils of victory.
But the search was conducted in the utmost hurry and con-
fusion. The strange sail was now seen approaching the Viper,
making demonstrations of hostility, which alarmed the pirates of
the Querida for the safety of their consort, now left far behind,
and perhaps for their own. A few moments served to bring to
light pc>or Galley's money, the proceeds of his cargo; a few
moments more, to show they had, in this lucky windfall, secured
the chief profits of the voyage, with which they hastened back
to their own vessel, leaving Isabel and her companion undis-
KOBIN DAY. 351
covered; and then the Querida, crowding on all sail, stood away
from her prize, leaving her, as I anticipated nay, as I had hoped
in flames. As I raised my head from the gun to which I was
tied, and perceived the fire running up her rigging and seizing
upon her sails, I could thank God that my sister had thus escaped
the malice of the pirates. But I could not look a second time
upon her funeral pile.
I dropped my head upon the gun, and closed my eyes, until
a sudden cannonading in the direction of the Viper, and exclama-
tions of alarm from the pirates, awoke me to life and the desire of
vengeance. The strange vessel, which I could now see was a
large brig of war, had overtaken the crippled Viper, and was
pouring into her a heavy and continuous fire, which the Viper
returned manfully with her great gun, as if relying upon
speedy assistance from the Querida. But this assistance there
was no one in the Querida disposed to render. It was manifest
the brig was superior in strength to both the corsairs together;
and I understood from the expression of Hellcat's crew that she
was recognised by some of them to be the Vengador, the Spanish
brig of war attached to the Pensacola station that very vessel of
which Isabel had spoken as designed by Colonel Aubrey to be
sent in pursuit of the pirates. Alas ! had she but come a few
hours nay, but an hour sooner ! I looked back to the Fair
American; one of her masts had fallen over her side, and the
flames were fast sapping the strength of the other.
I turned away, looking again to the Viper ; the Vengador had
closed with her ; the black flag, which had been, a little before,
run up in defiance, was now sinking to the deck ; she was con-
qured ; the Querida had deserted her, and nothing remained for
her abandoned crew but to surrender at discretion, or die fighting
upon their own decks.
35? ADVENTURES OF
CHAPTER LX'II.
The pirates are chased by the armed brig Vengador, and, in the
pursuit both vessels are driven ashore.
THE pirates of the Querida took advantage of the fall of their
comrades to secure their own escape. The night was fast ap-
proaching and closing in with the appearance of a storm : a few
moments, and darkness must separate the corsair and her too
powerful foe. Yet before the darkness had wholly invested the
ocean, the Vengador was seen to leave her prize, and set her sails
in pursuit of the Querida.
But the pirates were confident of escape, and they laughed
her hostile intentions to scorn ; and they turned to vent their ex-
asperated feelings, their passions, always infuriated by battle, and
now more than usually excited by the loss of the schooner and her
crew, upon me, their ready victim, guilty of the crime of desertion,
of attempting to poison them and, still worse, of robbing them
of the rich ransom they expected to obtain for the Intendent's.
daughter ; and they called upon their captain to do justice upon
me, according to the laws of the sea that is, I presume pirate's
law, for I know no other which they acknowledged.
" Ay, ay," said Captain Brown, with his usual oaths, " I have
not forgotten him."
And with that I was taken from the gun and carried to where
he stood on the quarter deck, expecting nothing but instant death,
and now indifferent to it, only that my flesh crept at the thought
of the tortures with which it might be accompanied. But the
fury had departed from the capricious breast of Hellcat ; he gave
me a stare expressive rather of humorous approbation than anger,
and then burst into a horse-laugh, still more strongly indicative
of his change of feelings.
"Well done, d n my blood, my skilligallee !" he cried ; "and
so you've set up for yourself at last, sink me ! poisoned a whole
ship's company, captain and all carried away my wife, and
drowned her robbed my honest hell's kittens of their money t
ROBIN DAY. 353
Well, I'll be curst if this isn't a touch of the hellcat in you, after
all, for all I took you for no more than a green gosling ; and,
shiver me, but I love you for it." And, with that, he asked me,
with a facetious affectation of anger, that proved how little he
really cared for the crime, or for the fate of Isabel, what put me
upon running away with her, demanding, however, with more
earnestness, if I had received assistance in my project from any of
his crew.
I was too well acquainted with the brutal whimsicalities of Cap-
tain Brown's temper to found any hope of escaping death upon
his apparent good humor. I knew he could murder in cold blood,
as well as in hot ; and I still expected he would condemn me to-
death as soon as he had sufficiently amused himself by examining
me. This assurance, together with despair of mind and anguish
of body (for I had received a wound from a cutlass on my right
arm, which gave me inexpressible pain), enabled me to answer his
questions with a boldness that disregarded his anger. I told him
I had fled with Isabel to save her from his villany ; that I had poi-
soned his drink to facilitate the design, indifferent if the drug
should have killed him, whom I thought a monster too great to
live ; and I was almost tempted to play the part of the Athenian
Aristogiton, and accuse his worthiest followers as my assistants,
with the hope of bringing them also to execution. But I could
not die with a lie of malice in my mouth, and I therefore con-
fessed I had effected my escape without any assistance whatever.
He then asked after my adventures in the boat, and how it was
my companion had been drowned, and I saved. Upon this sub-
ject I could now safely speak the truth, and I felt a kind of vin-
dictive triumph in admitting that I had snatched Isabel a third
time from his grasp, that I had concealed her in the schooner, in
which he had left her to perish in flames, applied, perhaps, by his
own hands.
Up to this moment, he had laughed very heartily both at my
adventures and invectives ; but he was furiously incensed at find-
ing how grossly he had been outwitted and robbed of his prey,
thus brought again within his grasp, and with a volley of execra-
tions, and a ferocious aspect, he asked me " what I expected would
come of my dog's tricks ?" and he made a sign to one of the
sailors, who threw a noosed rope round my neck, while a second
one ran up aloft to pass its other end through a block on the yard-
arm. " I expect," replied I, not intimidated by the prospect of a,
354 ADVENTURES OF
death so much less cruel than any I had expected, "that you will
murder me, as you murdered my father before me."
".T murder your father, shiver my topsails !" cried Brown, with
surprise ; " and who was he ?"
"He was John Aubrey," I replied boldly, "whom you killed in
the schooner Sally Ann, when I, a little infant, was left alone in
her to perish."
The reader will perceive how far my ingenuity or imagination
supplied the gaps in that story of grief and mystery, But Hell-
cat's countenance proved that I had supplied them correctly. He
looked confounded, and hastily exclaimed : " That blasted Duck !
he has been 'peaching then ? "
" You impeached yourself," I cried, " when you admitted both
that your story to Colonel Aubrey was false and that you began
the world by shedding the blood of his family."
" And so I did, d n my heart," said the hardened ruffian. " I cut
his throat while he was asleep in his berth, and I should have
served the baby the same way, but, as soon as I killed his father,
the blasted brat turned right up and hugged me. And so I gave
him his life, and was for carrying him off in the boat, but the
others said no ; and so we left him in the schooner, to go down with
her. And, hang me ! now I think of it, she did go down, for we
scuttled her, and the boy sunk with her."
" Scuttled or not," I replied, " the schooner drove ashore on the
coast of New Jersey, and the boy I myself was taken alive
from her. And if Duck is ever able to speak* again, he can tell
you so, for he knows all the circumstances."
"Duck be d d !" said the murderer ; " if you be the boy, there
was a chain on your neck "
"A chain of beads," said I ; "it is on my neck still, with the
name of Sally Ann scratched on it."
" I scratched it there myself," said Brown, " one day, with a
jackkriife ; and Aubrey, he railed at me for spoiling the trinket.
But I spoil'd it more before I was done with it, for it was stuck
all over with gold and diamonds, and I scraped them off, for
Where was the use of leaving them, when the beads were good
enough for the boy without them ? and, blast me, I sold them to
a jeweler for something handsome. And so you are my lad of the
Sally Ann ? Curse me, but it is a very strange piece of busi-
ness ! "
And that was all the emotion expressed by the blood-stained
ROBIN DAY. 355
--
caitiff, who spoke to me of the murder of my father without so
much as a look of shame or compunction, which in truth he seemed
to have long lost the power of feeling. Yet some feeling, perhaps,
he showed by giving over, as he immediately did, his purpose of
hanging me up like a dog, and some glimmering suspicion that
what he had done was not the best thing in the world to commend
him to my friendship and gratitude, he indicated by asking me
c * what I would do, if he should cut me loose and forgive me the
tricks I had played him."
" I would kill you as you killed my father !" I cried, driven by
a feeling of vindictive hatred which I was neither able nor willing
to conceal.
"In that case," said Brown, laughing as if he thought my
hostility an excellent jest, " you may just .lick the mainmast until
you are in a better humor."
And, with that, he ordered his crew to tie me to the mast, which
they did, grumbling at the respite, but not daring to resist the
mandate of their leader. And there, I may add, I remained bound
during the whole of the night, which had by this time gathered
around us, so that we could no longer see the Vengador or her
prize. The Fair American had also vanished. I cast my eye along
the horizon in search of the light, which I supposed would betray
the position of the burning schooner, but none was to be seen,
and I doubted not she had already burnt to the water's edge, and
gone, with my poor sister and her companion, to the bottom.
The night closed in very dark and cloudy, and, by and by, gusts
began to sweep the sea, increasing in frequency and force until
about midnight, when there arose a furious storm from the north,
which obliged us to lie to, the pirates being alarmed both at the
violence of the winds and our position, which was not so far from
the coast of Cuba but that we were in some danger of being blown
on shore. It was, in truth, a terrible storm, the sea, in a short
time, running mountains high, the winds piping and howling
through the ropes and spars; and the horror of our situation was
increased by the pitchy darkness that prevailed during the first
two hours after midnight, at which the storm was at its height,
and still more by the terror of the pirates, most of whom were
Spaniards indifferently acquainted with the sea, who fell to invok-
ing all the saints of the calendar for assistance and protection, and
offering up vows, some to perform pilgrimages to their favorite
shrines, some to make presents to chapels and convents, some to
356 ADVENTURES OF
fast so many days in a month, to say an unusual number of prayers,
to scourge themselves at certain stated periods in short, to
do a great many things, except to repent of their sins and give up
their lives of plunder and murder, none of them whom I could
hear making any promises on that score. The only person be-
sides myself, whom misery rendered indifferent how soon the storm
might overwhelm us, that seemed to preserve his courage, was
Brown, who vented continual execrations against the pusillanimity
of his men, by which the safety of the vessel was jeoparded, for
he could scarce prevail upon them to perform the duties necessary
to their own preservation.
About two hours after midnight there began to be much thun-
der, with extremely vivid, and sometimes very long continued,
flashes of lightning, in the midst of which we suddenly descried
another vessel lying to in the storm like ourselves, and scarce half
a mile distant. It was, as we soon saw, the Vengador, which ac-
cident, or an overruling fate, had brought after us as accurately
.and successfully as if she had followed in our wake by daylight;
and, to prove how furiously hostile and determined was the spirit
that governed her motives against us, she no sooner caught sight
of us than she began to fire on us, taking advantage of the flashes
of lightning to aim her guns. There was little danger to be ap-
prehended from such a cannonade in such a storm, but it made a
terrible addition to the horrors of the tempest, the sound of the
ordnance contending with the peals of thunder, their lurid burst
of flame succeeding and rivaling the flashes from the clouds; it
jseemed as if the spirits of the air had taken upon them visible
-shapes, to wage, with more than ordinary din and fury, the battle
of the elements.
The crew of the Yengador perceived that their fire was inef-
fectual, when, in the eagerness of their animosity, disregarding
the tempest and the dangers of such a manoeuvre, they suddenly
changed their helm and bore toward us to engage us nearer at
hand, or, perhaps, as the pirates apprehended, to run us down.
The terror of such a catastrophe prevailed over their fears of the
storm; the Querida's helm was also turned, and the flight and pur-*
suit were immediately renewed, continued for an hour or more with
equal spirit and at equal risk, and calamitously terminated by both
vessels suddenly going ashore upon a reef of rocks that was seen too
late be avoided.
KOBIN DAY. 357
CHAPTER LXIII.
The battle between the wrecked pirates and their wrecked enemies,
and what happened therein to Robin Day.
I HAVE no words to express the awful situation in which we
were now placed, stranded among breakers that went roaring over
us, lifting the brig from one rock only to dash her against another,
until we were at last wedged tight among them ; still less am I able
to describe the confusion and dismay, the prayers and shrieks of
the pirates, some of whom were washed overboard and drowned,
whils others lashed themselves to different parts of the vessel for
safety.
Brown alone maintained his courage, and continued his oaths and
maledictions, calling vociferously loi help to cut away the masts ;
which, at last, he attempted himself ; at least, he began to hack
away with an axe at the shrouds of the mainmast, to which I was
still tied, with the expectation that it would then fall ovei by its
own weight. I called to him for the love 01 life was not yet so
completely extinguished as I thought begging him to release me
before he cut away, lest I should be killed by the fall of the mast ;
but he replied only with a horrid oath of disregard and indifference,
and proceeded in his work. The shrouds were cut, and the mast
fell, but it broke off above my head, and I was not hurt by
it, although injured by some of the ropes, which, as it washed
overboard, lashed violently against my body.
We remained in this condition until the dawn of day ; by which
time the storm had greatly abated, although the breakers still ran
very high ; and finding that the land, which was very high, rocky
and desolate, was but a mile off, and that the brig was fast going
to pieces, the despairing crew listened to Brown's commands, and
constructed hasty rafts, which were our only means of reaching
the shore, the boats having been long since stove or washed away.
Upon these perilous floats, in parties of five or six, they launched
themeselves among the waves, one party after another ; and I
358 ADVENTURES OF
thought they would have abandoned me to perish alone ; but
presently Brown came and cut me loose, saying I should have as
good a chance for my life as another ; and almost before I knew
what had happened I found myself in the surf, clinging to the
same raft on which he had taken refuge.
We reached the shore in safety, with fourteen others, the only
survivors out of a crew of thirty -five or six ; and we reached it to
find a peril staring us in the face greater than we had left behind
us on the wreck.
The Vengador, whose disaster, similar to our own, we had rather
inferred than known, for none had actually seen her go ashore,
had struck upon the reef scarce a quarter of a mile distant, where
she was still lying, but derserted by her crew, who had left her,
some on rafts like ourselves, but the greater number in the long
boat, which had survived the shocks of the night. In this manner
some twenty or twenty-five of them reached the land at the same
time with ourselves ; and no sooner had they done so, than, with a
fury which the horrors of shipwreck had not quelled, they rushed
upon the pirates, with such arms as they had preserved, calling to
one another to "give no quarter, nor let a dog of them escape."
Escape, indeed, was impossible : we had landed upon a little cove
scooped in a wall of precipices, which, on one hand, ran out into
the sea, preventing flight in that direction ; while, on the other,
the path was intercepted by the enemy.
Flight was impossible, surrender equally so ; the pirates were
armed only with their knives, and some few with cutlasses, but
if the enemy displayed muskets and pistols, it scarcely needed the
encouraging assurance of Brown that " no gun ever blew out a
man's brains when full of salt water," to convince the desparadoes
their enemy could boast no actual superiority over them but in
numbers.
Unfortunately for the pirates, who prepared to meet the assail-
ants with all the rancorous courage of despair, the assurance that
they had little to fear from the firearms was disproved by a sud-
den volley from six or seven guns, that sent among us as many
bullets, by one of which I was struck down, without, at the time,
knowing that I was hurt by it. I had reached the shore benumbed
and exhausted, and was scarcely able to stand erect ; and my
feebleness was increased by the agitation of mind I was thrown
into by the unexpected prospect of deliverance. I summoned, or
ROBIN DAT. ' 359
endeavored to summon, strength for an effort which I was re-
solved to make ; and I was on the very point of running from the
pirates to their enemies, when I sank upon the beach, sick, giddy,
and powerless, and attributing my fall only to the impotence of
exhaustion.
My eyes closed, or my mind wandered for an instant : I was re-
called to my senses by the shrill tones of a well-known voice crying
above the roar of the breakers
" Bloody Volunteers ! if there are any of you with the enemy, step
forward and join your captain ! "
It was the voice of Dicky Dare ; and as I raised upon an elbow
for I could do no more and looked around for him, I beheld him
at the head of the Vengadores, marching among several officers
who led them on against the pirates. At the same moment four
of the latter suddenly parted from their comrades and ran towards
the assailants ; they were all that remained of the Bloody Volun-
teers, of whom four others had been drowned in the wreck.
The next moment the assailants came rushing on, charging the
pirates with their cutlasses. The latter yielded to the fury of the
attack, which was, indeed, irresistible ; but though broken, and 1
reduced to contend singly, sometimes each man with several anta-
gonists, each better armed than himself, they fought desperately,
selling their lives only at the price of lives.
Among others my eye was attracted by the appearance of
Brown, who was pressed by three enemies, one of them an officer,
and that so warmly that he was obliged to give back, approaching
very near where I lay ; but he wielded his cutlass with astonishing
address, defending himself from the blows of his antagonists, in-
flicting others, in fact many more, than he himself received. One dex-
terous thrust rid him of the officer, who fell at his feet, mortally
wounded ; but his place was immediately supplied by another offi-
cer in militiary garb, who sprang forward, crying, with a voice
of thunder, in the Spanish tongue " I have found the miscreant
leave him to me ! "
It was the Intendent, Colonel Aubrey, my uncle the avenger
of his brother and of Isabel.
" Ready for all of you, d n my blood ! " cried Hellcat, meeting
the new assailant with the greater intrepidity, as the two others,
obeying my uncle's furious injunction, stepped back, leaving him
to subdue the outlaw alone. A few ferocious blows were ex-
360 ADVENTUKES OP
changed between them ; but the advantage of skill, and the
energy that arises from deep passion and determination, were on
the side of my kinsman, who, with one savage blow, wounded and
well nigh disabled his antagonist, and with another would have
slain him, but that the treacherous steel fell to pieces in his hand.
" It is my turn now, sink me to h ! " cried Brown, rushing for-
ward and putting all his remaining strength into an effort meant
to dispatch his enemy ; but was arrested by yet another antago-
nist, no less a person, indeed, than the gallant Captain Dare, who,
running suddenly up, struck Brown at unawares under the sword-
arm, and ran him through the body.
" You have robbed me of my vengeance, but you have saved
any life ! " cried Colonel Aubrey, as Brown measured his length
on the sands ; and then, catching up the wounded officer's sword,
my kinsman sprang forward to seek other objects of vengeance.
His eye fell upon me, and it was burning with unsated lust of
Mood ; I had raised myself again upon my elbow, and strove
,to rise to my feet, but could not ; I endeavored to speak, to call
3iim by name, to avert, by a single word, the wrath that seemed
about to destroy me ; but nothing came from my lips but a gush
of bloody foam, and I fell down upon my face without sense or
^notion.
KOBIN DAT. 361
CHAPTER LXIV.
In which Robin Day meets with many delightful surprises, takes
d new name, and explains such circumstances as require expla-
nation.
IT was many, many days before I awoke again to life. In truth,
that unlucky musket bullet, by which I had been prostrated, with-
out much suspecting its agency in my downfall, had passed through
my body, inflicting desperate mischief in its way, from which I
never could have recovered, had not Heaven sent me such assist-
ance as could only be found in a skillful and devoted physician,
and endowed me with a constitution capable of withstanding the
severest shocks and injuries.
I opened my eyes in a strange room, to look upon a stranger
sight ; it was my friend and patron, Dr. Howard, who was bend-
ing over me with looks of deep anxiety, one hand lying upon my
breast, as if feeling whether life was yet beating at my heart, the
other holding a cup from which he had just poured some hot and
pungent liquid between my lips. I could express the sense of
pleasure mingled with surprise, which I felt at sight of him, only
by a faint smile, being incapable of any speech or motion ; but
the look was perceived, and drew from him an exclamation
" God be praised ! he is yet alive ! " and I then saw other counte-
nances bending over me, that filled me with still greater delight,
though it was like the delight of a dream, vague, confused and
confusing. The first was that of my sister Isabel : I thought I
was in heaven with her ; but she was sobbing over me, and by her
side was Colonel Aubrey, looking haggard with grief ; and I knew
that such feelings belonged not to heaven, but to earth. Was I
not dreaming ? I was sure I must be ; for the next visage that
met my eyes was that of Nanna Howard. Yes, it was Nanna her-
self, but pale and wasted, and with the look that spoke of the
canker-worm preying on the heart.. There were still others about
me shadowy forms, in which I might dimly trace, or fancy, the
362 ADVENTURES OF
lineaments of other friends my friend Dicky Dare, little Tommy,
the piiest and the casera ; but they soon vanished away, with all
the former ones, excepting Dr. Howard and Isabel, who still re-
mained at my side. In fact, as I afterwards understood, they had
been summoned together to see me die, and were only dismissed
from the room when it was discovered I had taken a new lease of
existence.
The powers of life rallied at the last gasp; gathered, after a day
or two of uncertainty, fresh strength; and in a week more I was
out of danger, rejoicing, in the arms of my sister and uncle (for my
claims to the relationship were now established upon evidence
much stronger than my own eager belief), and in the society of
Nanna and her father, over those wonderful circumstances to
which we owed the happiness of our meeting.
But let me take up the story of explanation at the period when
the invalids of the Querida, with the priest and the casera, were
committed to the sea in the long-boat, and left to perish. Happier
than I, who sought so vainly, and indeed foolishly, to join them,
they had the good fortune to be discovered, early the next morn-
ing, by a Spanish vessel bound to the port they had left, and which
they returned to with the dismal story of the capture of the brig,
the murder of her crew, the fate of the hapless Isabel. The Ven-
gador was then in the bay; in two hours she was under sail with
the Intendent on board, in pursuit of the Viper, though with little
hope of overtaking her. Captain Dicky, always ready to volun-
teer where there was a prospect of fighting, was also on board;
and he was the more anxious to accompany the expedition, as he
hoped to reclaim his unfortunate followers, seduced by a strange
error and misfortune from the path of their duty and perhaps,
also, to save their necks from the halter.
Little Tommy was also carried with them, as it was thought his
acquaintance with a portion pf Hellcat's followers, the original
crew of the Jumping Jenny, might be productive of useful testi-
mony againet them.
The pirates had lost several days cruising up and down in search
of the fugitive jolly boat ; they were returning, in all the ill humor
of disappointment, to their accustomed harbor, when accident threw
in their way another prize, the Fair American ; the reports of the
guns, heard at a great distance, brought the Vengador to the scene
of battle.
ROBIN DAY. 363
The Viper was immediately captured, and a prize-crew put on
"board, with orders to dispatch a boat to the Fair American, to res-
cue, perhaps, some of her mangled crew who might be still living,
and could be easily saved ; for, in reality, the torch had been hur-
riedly applied to some of the sails, which, with the rigging, had
been consumed, leaving the hull of the vessel almost unharmed;
while the Vengador gave immediate chase to the Querida.
The result of the pursuit has been already seen. From one of
the few pirates taken alive from the Viper Colonel Aubrey
learned the escape of his adopted daughter ; but he could well
believe, with his informant, she had fled from the Querida only to
perish with her deliverer. And the assurance that she had thus
been driven to an untimely grave among the waves of ocean did
not abate the feeling of rancorous revenge which impelled him to
attack the pirate amid the horrors of the tempest which carried
him with her among the breakers, and was not sated until the
last of the freebooters had been cut to pieces on the strand.
Then, indeed, his fury relented, and such of the wretches as
still survived were collected, and, with his own wounded, carried
to a distant hacienda, or plantation, where such assistance was
given them as could be obtained ; and hearing that a foreign
physician, an American, who had visited the island with a sick
daughter, to enjoy the benefit of the tropical air, was at another
plantation, some miles off, he dispatched a messenger to solicit his
attendance upon the wounded.
That stranger physician was my patron, Dr. Howard ; and I was
the first patient whom Colonel Aubrey besought him to take in
charge.
The account of my instrumentality in saving Isabel, which he
Tiad received from the captive pirate, after the previous stories
told him by the chaplain and casera of the attempt I had made in
her favor at the moment of capture, had long since driven sus-
picion and anger from my uncle's mind, and I had greatly mis-
taken his feelings, when, approaching me as I lay wounded on the
strand, I fancied I beheld fury and vengeance in his aspect. They
were feelings of amazement at my appearance, whom he thought
buried with Isabel in the sea, and, still more, of sudden hope, of
eager curiosity, of anxious solicitude on her account, for from me
perhaps he might learn the secret of her fate.
This secret he was destined soon to learn from others. The
364 ADVENTURES OP
"boat from the Viper had reached the Fair American ; Isabel and
the captain's wife were discovered and released ; the Viper, though
crippled, stood out the gale, and in the morning made a harbor at
no great distance from the scene of shipwreck and battle. The
messenger dispatched for Dr. Howard found him already engaged
in the duties of humanity among the wounded of the Viper ; he
obeyed the summons, and Isabel attended him to her amazed and
rejoicing uncle.
The story of the rosary was soon told ; it was found upon my
neck, and identified both by Dr. Howard and my uncle ; and,
while I still lay unconscious, hovering between life and death, the
evidence of two living witnesses of my father's death, Captain
Brown and the miserable Skipper Duck, had established my identity
with the " little Juan" beyond the possibility of doubt.
Brown survived his wounds three days and died the hardened
villain he had lived ; but, being appealed to my uncle, he readily
confessed the truth in regard to the fate of my father. The wealth
of the unhappy exile was a temptation Brown, a dissolute and
unprincipled fellow, although not then a pirate, could not resist.
The crew of the Sally Ann were one by one gained over to his;
purpose ; they rose in the night, killed the master, my father, and
his attendants, and then, scuttling the vessel, betook them to a,
boat, and reached the land, some thirty or forty miles off, the fol-
lowing day. Brown insisted to the last that he wanted to save
the baby that is, myself but that the others objected, lest it
should lead to a discovery of their villainy ; and all he could
obtain for me was the privilege of being left to go down with the
schooner alive. He did not know, and could not understand, why
the schooner did not go down, as he bored the holes through her
bottom himself ; but he supposed it was all owing to me, he said
ending his confession with a brutal jest, " because them that was.
born to be hanged, d n his blood, they couldn't be drowned."
Skipper Duck was captured on board the Viper, where his-
miserable condition procured him quarter and even pity. I have
sometimes suspected it was owing to his having been for so
many days deprived of my medical attentions, but he had grown
much better in the interim, and recovered his senses, and Dr.
Howard thought, at first, that he would recover. In considera-
tion of his not having taken, as, indeed, he could not, any part iir
Brown's late atrocities (excepting the capture of the Viper alone) s .
ROBUST DAY. 365
and of the importance of his testimony to my interests, Colonel
Aubrey pledged his influence to procure him a free pardon, upon,
condition of his also making a confession of all the circumstances-
attending the catastrophe of the Sally Ann, which he immedi-
ately did. He confirmed Brown's story in nearly all its parts,,
and confessed that he had purchased his vessel, the Jumping;
Jenny, out of his share of the plunder, intending to live an honest;
life for the future, and declared he had lived as honest a one as:
he could. He 1 insisted, however, that it was he who saved my
life, and not Brown ; and that he had bought me of old Mother-
Moll for the purpose of befriending me, a pious intention
which he admitted he had not fulfilled, and could not, " because
the devil was in him, and he never looked at me without hating
me." His malice, I fancy, may be explained by the maxim of
the philosopher that he is our bitterest enemy who is conscious
he has done us the deepest wrong. The poor wretch did not.
live to enjoy the offered pardon ; his delirium returned after a-
few days, and before I had recovered strength to leave my
bed he expired miserably of gangrene, the consequence of the
terrible scourging he had received.
He made, before he died, another confession, by which little
Tommy's claims were as satisfactorily established as my own. He
admitted that the boy was Dr. Howard's lost son, that he had kid-
napped him out of revenge against his father, to whose efforts to
bring him to justice for his barbarity to me he properly attri-
buted all the punishments that followed the imprisonment, the
heavy fine by which he was robbed of all the gaining of years,
and the lynching that ended the chapter of retributions , not to
speak of the loss of so valuable a slave as I had been. Accident
brought little Tommy into his power, for having swam ambi-
tiously into the river among the vessels lying at anchor, fatigue
compelled him to take refuge for a while in the one nearest him,
which unfortunately proved to be the Jumping Jenny, them
making her last visit to the town. Upon being roughly questioned^
he told his name to Duck, who immediately thrust him into the
hold, and, soon after, setting sail, carried him off, leaving his.
parents mourning for his supposed death. From that moment,
the unfortunate lad became the object upon which he vented all
the fury of his brutality and revenge ; and it is not wonderful
that five years of cruelty had changed him from a bright and
366 ADVENTURES OF
generous boy into the stupid, vindictive cub I had found him.
Alas ! his restoration to the arms of his father and sister produced
less of rapture than pain and humiliation ; but they remembered
that I had been rescued from degradation as deep and unprom-
ising, and they hoped a similar happy resurrection for him.
But what had brought them my benefactor and Nanna thus
so opportunely to the island ? It was an expedient adopted to
save the life of Nanna, who, while I was so ready to forget my
allegiance, to forget her, and fall so violently in love with my own
sister (but that, after all, was mere nature and instinct, a burst of
preordained fraternal affection, which a boy of nineteen, or rather
less, might naturally mistake for love of another kind), was re-
membering me in tears, and pining away with grief over the sup-
posed fall and ruin of one she loved better than she, or I, or any
one else suspected.
The affair of M'Goggin, who was for more than twenty-four
hours supposed to be dying, though he suddenly remitted and
got well in a very few days, was of itself such a shock to Nanna' s
spirits and health that her father was doubly rejoiced upon her
account, when the favorable change in M'Goggin's symptoms al-
lowed him to dispatch a messenger with a permission or com-
mand for my immediate return. The reader has seen how my re-
turn was prevented by my suspicions of the messenger. The news
of the trick by which I effected my escape from Mr. John Dabs
reached my benefactor at the same moment that he was made ac-
quainted with my midnight visit to the house of Mr. Blood-
money ; not to speak of the rumors of the highway robbery,
which had also been brought to his ears. And, soon after, there
came an account I know not how such an unlucky truth could
reach him that I had entered the British service, and, of course,
turned traitor to my country. The effect of these unlucky stories,
it may be imagined, had the unhappiest effect upon the little repu-
tation I had left behind me, and upon the minds of my friends.
It was in vain Dr. Howard strove to make others believe, and to
believe himself, that there was some inexplicable error and illu-
sion at the bottom of the affair ; that it was impossible I could so
suddenly have been transformed from a thoughtless, innocent boy,
into a desperate and accomplished rogue ; his visit to Mr. Blood-
money proved my share in the burglary beyond question. My hat
and knapsack, the latter full of Mr. Bloodrnoney's plate, were evi-
EOBIN DAY. 367
dence too strong to be resisted ; and nothing spoke in my favor
except my parting asseveration to Isabel that I was no robber or
villain, and this spoke but faintly, as my actions seemed so clearly
to establish the contrary.
A letter from me might have cleared up the whole mystery, and
one was long impatiently expected, but expected in vain. It was
many weeks before I had an opportunity to write; and it was some
months before my letter, committed to a provincial post-office,
and exposed to all the irregularities and accidents of a period of
war, reached its destination. It cleared up my character,
indeed, at least to my patron's mind ; but it came too late
to repair the mischief inflicted upon poor Nanna's health. She
was rapidly sinking into a decline, and the distracted father, doubly
distracted in consequence of the wonderful story of little Tommy
told in the letter, leaving to others the task of recovering his lost
son, was glad to embrace the opportunity of a Spanish vessel sail-
ing to Cuba to carry his daughter thither as the only means left
of arresting a malady that was fast threatening to become fatal.
A pleasant situation on a lonely plantation near the coast, the
benignant air, and the explanations in my letter, with the hope
which never abandons the youthful spirit, had already produced a
favorable change in the maiden's health, which, notwithstanding
the shock of my sudden and lamentable appearance, wounded al-
most to death, was gradually confirmed, and, indeed, thoroughly
re-established, before I myself was entirely restored to my wonted
strength.
368 ADVENTURES OP
CHAPTER LXV.
In which Robin Day takes leave of his adventures and the reader.
WITH the explanations contained in the preceding chapter, I
might terminate my narrative, as there is nothing to follow which
might not be readily imagined. Yet as a few words will complete
the story, it is but proper I should write them.
As soon as I was well enough to be removed, the whole party of
friends whom destiny had thus so strangely brought together
were carried by my uncle to one of his estates, which, being near
the coast, we reached by water in a single day; and there we all
passed a very happy Winter, my uncle having resigned his Inten-
dency at Pensacola that he might watch over my recovery and
repay by hospitable attentions, and his warmest friendship, the
debt of gratitude he professed to owe the protector of my friend-
less youth.
The Spring saw Nanna restored to health, as blooming and as
joyous as my sister, who, w T ith the enthusiasm of her nature, soon
became her warm and devoted friend.
But the Spring did not see her removed from us. Dr. Howard
had experienced the happy effects of the tropical air upon the
maiden's health, and was easily seduced to prolong his stay to
talk even of purchasing an estate and submitting to an exile of an
indefinite period in a climate so auspicious to the life of his dearest
child! And, besides, after a great deal of discussion on the sub-
ject between my uncle and him, between Isabel and Nanna, and
between Nanna and me, it was at last unanimously decided that
there was no reason why they should ever leave the island at all,
or, at least, no reason why Nanna should. In short, it was agreed,
with the full consent of Isabel, who merrily absolved me of all the
vows I had made her, that a match should be made between Nanna
and myself, and a year afterwards I had the happiness of leading
her to the altar, little Tommy, who, by this time, was converted
into a Christian and a gentleman, although a young one, playing
KOBIN DAY. 369*
the part of paranymph, while Isabel, who had trained him with
great care for the purpose, appeared the happiest and most beauti-
ful of bridesmaids.
If I had had my will in the premises we should have had a
second wedding the same day. My sister was not more anxious
to make a match between me and her friend, than I was, or would
have been, to make another between her and mine. I should have
been glad to bestow her upon my friend Dicky ; and I have na
doubt she would have fallen heartily in love with him, had he
asked her, because Dicky was, in reality, a very handsome fellow,
and what maiden could have resisted so gallant a soldier ? But
Dicky was wedded to glory ; he was as ready as Othello to recount
to Isabel the histories of his wars, but he never cared to take her
in the pliant hour, like that worthy blackamoor ; and, in fact, I
doubt greatly whether any, the remotest, idea of love and matri-
mony ever entered his warlike brain. He was never truly content
until my uncle had packed him off, with his four volunteers, the
poor wreck of his company, and with some valuable presents of
horses and arms, which I was now able to make him, to Mobile,
aftei which, we lost sight of him, though we heard he rejoined the
American army, and fought through the whole of the campaign
that terminated in the brilliant victory at New Orleans. The next
year a year, in the United States, of peace, of which Captain
Dicky soon grew sick fortune opened to him a new field of com-
bat ; he went to Mexico with the celebrated Mina, with whom he
might have had the honor of being shot as a heroic freebooter,
with a bandage round his eyes, had not ambition conducted him to
an earlier and more glorious grave. The same great spirit which
carried him, with a single company, into the heart of the Creek
nation, to snatch the conquest out of the hands of his brigadier,
was revived in Mexico. He took an opportunity one day to separate
himself from his commander, and set out with a force of fifty men,
and the commission, or title, of Colonel, which Mina had conferred
on him, to liberate the Mexican nation on his own account. He
doubtless calculated upon receiving great assistance from the
Mexican nation itself, and having his command swelled by suc-
cessive patriots into a countless army ; but before any reinforce-
ments appeared he had the misfortune to be attacked by vastly
superior numbers, and was, with his whole company, cut to-
pieces.
370 ADVENTUEES OF ROBIN DAY.
My brother Tommy, who, as his mind re-expanded, betrayed a
somewhat similar inclination for a life of glory, has had a happier
fate, but on another element, for which, unlike me, he contracted
a passion, even under the rough tutelage of Skipper Duck. His
father, at his earnest desire, placed him in the American navy, in
which he is now a distinguished officer.
Years have since passed away and effected other changes in the
circle of friends that originally graced and gladdened my island
home. My uncle and father-in-law have vanished away ; but they
vanished away in the fullness of years, and their places have been
filled by young strangers, who bear their names and the names of
Nanna and Isabel.
With these around me, a loving wife and devoted sister at my
side, with peace, and affluence, and happiness under my roof, and
the wisdom of advancing years stealing into my head, I can look
back without regret and review with smiles the tissue of misfor-
tunes by which I was led to such enviable possessions ; and Juan
Aubrey can attribute his felicity to the schoolboy follies and
adventures of ROBIN DAY.
THE END.
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