CHAPTER X.
“—What care these roarers for the name of king?”
Tempest.
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The Manhattanese will readily comprehend the
situation of the two vessels; but those of our countrymen
who live in distant parts of the Union, may
be glad to have the localities explained.
Though the vast estuary, which receives the Hudson
and so many minor streams, is chiefly made by
an indentation of the continent, that portion of it
which forms the port of New-York is separated from
the ocean by the happy position of its islands. Of
the latter, there are two, which give the general
character to the basin, and even to a long line of
coast; while several, that are smaller, serve as useful
and beautiful accessories to the haven and to the
landscape. Between the bay of Raritan and that of
New-York there are two communications, one between
the islands of Staten and Nassau, called the
Narrows, which is the ordinary ship-channel of the
port, and the other between Staten and the main,
which is known by the name of the Kilns. It is by
means of the latter, that vessels pass into the neighboring
waters of New-Jersey, and have access to so
many of the rivers of that state. But while the island
of Staten does so much for the security and facilities of
the port, that of Nassau produces an effect on a great
extent of coast. After sheltering one-half of the harbor
from the ocean, the latter approaches so near
the continent as to narrow the passage between them
to the length of two cables, and then stretching away
eastward for the distance of a hundred miles, it forms
a wide and beautiful sound. After passing a cluster
of islands, at a point which lies forty leagues from
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the city, by another passage, vessels can gain the
open sea.
The seaman will at once understand, that the
tide of flood must necessarily flow into these vast
estuaries from different directions. The current
which enters by Sandy-Hook (the scene of so much
of this tale) flows westward into the Jersey rivers,
northward into the Hudson, and eastward along the
arm of the sea that lies between Nassau and the
Main. The current, that comes by the way of
Montauk, or the eastern extremity of Nassau, raises
the vast basin of the Sound, fills the streams of Connecticut,
and meets the western tide at a place called
Throgmorton, and within twenty miles of the city.
As the size of the estuaries is so great, it is scarcely
necessary to explain that the pressure of so wide
sheets of water causes the currents, at all the narrow
passes, to be exceedingly rapid; since that equal diffusion
of the element, which depends on a natural law,
must, wherever there is a deficiency of space, be obtained
by its velocity, There is, consequently, a
quick tide throughout the whole distance between
the harbor and Throgmorton; while it is permitted
to poetic license to say, that at the narrowest part of
the channel, the water darts by the land like an arrow
parting from its bow. Owing to a sudden bend
in the course of the stream, which makes two rightangles
within a short distance, the dangerous position
of many rocks that are visible and more that
are not, and the confusion produced by currents,
counter-currents, and eddies, this critical pass has
received the name of “Hell-Gate.” It is memorable
for causing many a gentle bosom to palpitate with
a terror that is a little exaggerated by the boding
name, though it is constantly the cause of pecuniary
losses, and has in many instances been the source
of much personal danger. It was here, that a
British frigate was lost, during the war of the
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Revolution, in consequence of having struck a rock called
`the Pot,' the blow causing the ship to fill and to
founder so suddenly, that even some of her people
are said to have been drowned. A similar but a
greatly lessened effect is produced in the passage
among the islands, by which vessels gain the ocean at
the eastern extremity of the sound; though the magnitude
of the latter sheet of water is so much greater
than that of Raritan-bay and the harbor of New-York,
that the force of its pressure is diminished by a corresponding
width in the outlets. With these explanations,
we shall return to the thread of the narrative.
When the person, who has so long been known in
our pages by the nom de guerre of Tiller, gained the
open street, he had a better opportunity of understanding
the nature of the danger which so imminently
pressed upon the brigantine. With a single
glance at the symmetrical spars and broad yards of
the ship that was sweeping past the town, he knew
her to be the Coquette. The little flag at her fore-top-gallant
mast sufficiently explained the meaning
of the gun; for the two, in conjunction with the direction
the ship was steering, told him, in language
that any seaman could comprehend, that she demanded
a Hell-Gate pilot. By the time the Skimmer
reached the end of a lone wharf, where a light
and swift-rowing boat awaited his return, the second
report bespoke the impatience of his pursuers
to be furnished with the necessary guide.
Though the navigation in this Republic, coastwise,
now employs a tonnage equalling that used in all the
commerce of any other nation of Christendom, England
alone excepted, it was of no great amount at
the commencement of the eighteenth century. A
single ship, lying at the wharves, and two or three
brigs and schooners at anchor in the rivers, composed
the whole show of sea vessels then in port. To these
were to be added some twenty smaller coasters and
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river-craft, most of whom were the shapeless and
slow-moving masses which then plied, in voyages of a
month's duration, between the two principal towns
of the colony. The appeal of the Coquette, therefore,
at that hour and in that age, was not likely to
be quickly answered.
The ship had got fairly into the arm of the sea
which separates the island of Manhattan from that
of Nassau, and though it was not then, as now, narrowed
by artificial means, its tide was so strong as,
aided by the breeze, to float her swiftly onward. A
third gun shook the windows of the city, causing
many a worthy burgher to thrust his head through
his casement; and yet no boat was seen pulling from
the land, nor was there any other visible sign that
the signal would be speedily obeyed. Still the royal
cruiser stood steadily on, with sail packed above sail,
and every sheet of canvas spread, that the direction
of a wind, which blew a little forward of the beam,
would allow.
“We must pull for our own safety, and that of the
brigantine, my men;” said the Skimmer, springing
into his boat and seizing the tiller—“A quick stroke,
and a strong!—here is no time for holiday feathering,
or your man-of-war jerk! Give way, boys; give way,
with a will, and together!”
These were sounds that had often saluted the ears
of men engaged in the hazardous pursuit of his crew.
The oars fell into the water at the same moment,
and, quick as thought, the light bark was in the
strength of the current.
The short range of wharves was soon passed, and,
ere many minutes, the boat was gliding up with the
tide, between the bluffs of Long Island and the projection
which forms the angle on that part of Manhattan.
Here the Skimmer was induced to sheer
more into the centre of the passage, in order to avoid
the eddies formed by the point, and to preserve the
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whole benefit of the current. As the boat approached
Coerlær's, his eye was seen anxiously examining
the wider reach of the water, that began to open
above, in quest of his brigantine. Another gun was
heard. A moment after the report, there followed
the whistling of a shot; and then succeeded the rebound
on the water, and the glittering particles of
the spray. The ball glanced a few hundred feet
further, and, skipping from place to place, it soon
sunk into the element.
“This Mr. Ludlow is disposed to kill two birds with
the same stone,” coolly observed the Skimmer, not
even bending his head aside, to note the position of
the ship. “He wakes the burghers of the town with
his noise, while he menaces our boat with his bullets.
We are seen, my friends, and have no dependence
but our own manhood, with some assistance from the
lady of the sea-green mantle. A quicker stroke, and
a strong! You have the Queen's cruiser before you,
Master Coil; does she show boats on her quarters, or
are the davits empty?”
The seaman addressed pulled the stroke-oar of the
boat, and consequently he faced the Coquette. Without
in the least relaxing his exertions, he rolled his
eyes over the ship, and answered with a steadiness
that showed him to be a man accustomed to situations
of hazard.
“His boat-falls are as loose as a mermaid's locks,
your Honor, and he shows few men in his tops; there
are enough of the rogues left, however, to give us
another shot.”
“Her Majesty's servants are early awake, this
morning. Another stroke or two, hearts of oak, and
we throw them behind the land!”
A second shot fell into the water, just without the
blades of the oars; and then the boat, obedient to its
helm, whirled round the point, and the ship was no
longer visible. As the cruiser was shut in by the
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formation of the land, the brigantine came into view
on the opposite side of Coerlær's. Notwithstanding
the calmness that reigned in the features of the
Skimmer, one who studied his countenance closely
might have seen an expression of concern shadowing
his manly face, as the Water-Witch first met his eye.
Still he spoke not, concealing his uneasiness, if in
truth he felt any, from those whose exertions were
at that moment of the last importance. As the crew
of the expecting vessel saw their boat, they altered
their course, and the two were soon together.
“Why is that signal still flying?” demanded the
Skimmer, the instant his foot touched the deck of his
brigantine, and pointing, as he spoke, at the little flag
that fluttered at the head of the forward mast.
“We keep it aloft, to hasten off the pilot,” was
the answer.
“Has not the treacherous knave kept faith?” exclaimed
the Skimmer, half recoiling in surprise. “He
has my gold, and in return I hold fifty of his worthless
promises—ha!—the laggard is in yon skiff; ware
the brig round, and meet him, for moments are as
precious now as water in a desert.”
The helm was a-weather, and the lively brigantine
had already turned more than half aside, when another
gun drew every eye towards the point. The
smoke was seen rising above the bend of the land,
and presently the head-sails, followed by all the hull
and spars of the Coquette, came into view. At that
instant, a voice from forward announced that the
pilot had turned, and was rowing with all his powers
towards the shore. The imprecations that were
heaped on the head of the delinquent were many
and deep, but it was no time for indecision. The two
vessels were not half a mile apart, and now was the
moment to show the qualities of the Water-Witch.
Her helm was shifted; and, as if conscious herself of
the danger that threatened her liberty, the beautiful
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fabric came sweeping up to her course, and, inclining
to the breeze, with one heavy flap of the canvas, she
glided ahead with all her wonted ease. But, the
royal cruiser was a ship of ten thousand! For twenty
minutes, the nicest eye might have been at a loss to
say which lost or which gained, so equally did the
pursuer and the pursued hold on their way. As the
brigantine was the first, however, to reach the narrow
passage formed by Blackwell's, her motion was
favored by the increasing power of the stream. It
would seem that this change, slight as it was, did not
escape the vigilance of those in the Coquette; for
the gun, which had been silent so long, againt sent
forth its flame and smoke. Four discharges, in less
than so many minutes, threatened a serious disadvantage
to the free-traders. Short after shot passed
among their spars, and opened wide rents in the canvas.
A few more such assaults would deprive them
of their means of motion. Aware of the crisis, the
accomplished and prompt seaman who governed her
movements needed but an instant to form his decision.
The brigantine was now nearly up with the head
of Blackwell's. It was half-flood, on a spring tide.
The reef that projects from the western end of the
island far into the reach below, was nearly covered;
but still enough was visible to show the nature of
the barrier it presented to a passage from one shore
to the other. There was one rock, near the island
itself, which lifted its black head high above the
water. Between this dark mass of stone and the
land, there was an opening of some twenty fathoms
in width. The Skimmer saw, by the even and unbroken
waves that rolled through the passage, that
the bottom lay less near to the surface of the water,
in that opening, than at any other point along the
line of reef. He commanded the helm a-weather,
once more, and calmly trusted to the issue.
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Not a man on board that brigantine was aware
that the shot of the royal cruiser was whistling
between their masts, and damaging their gear, as
the little vessel glided into the narrow opening. A
single blow on the rock would have been destruction,
and the lesser danger was entirely absorbed in the
greater. But when the passage was cleared, and
the true stream in the other channel gained, a common
shout proclaimed both the weight of their apprehension
and their relief. In another minute, the
head of Blackwell's protected them from the shot of
their pursuers.
The length of the reef prevented the Coquette
from changing her direction, and her draught of
water closed the passage between the rock and the
island. But the deviation from the straight course,
and the passage of the eddies, had enabled the ship,
which came steadily on, to range up nearly abeam
of her chase. Both vessels, though separated by the
long narrow island, were now fairly in the force of
those currents which glide so swiftly through the
confined passages. A sudden thought glanced on the
mind of the Skimmer, and he lost no time in attempting
to execute its suggestion. Again the helm
was put up, and the image of the sea-green lady
was seen struggling to stem the rapid waters. Had
this effort been crowned with success, the triumph
of her followers would have been complete; since
the brigantine might have reached some of the eddies
of the reach below, and leaving her heavier pursuer
to contend with the strength of the tide, she would
have gained the open sea, by the route over which
she had so lately passed. But a single minute of trial
convinced the bold mariner that his decision came
too late. The wind was insufficient to pass the gorge,
and, environed by the land, with a tide that grew
stronger at each moment, he saw that delay would
be destruction. Once more the light vessel yielded
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to the helm, and, with every thing set to the best advantage,
she darted along the passage.
In the mean time, the Coquette had not been idle.
Borne on by the breeze, and floating with the current,
she had even gained upon her chase; and as
her lofty and light sails drew strongest over the land,
there was every prospect of her first reaching the
eastern end of Blackwell's. Ludlow saw his advantage,
and made his preparations accordingly.
There needs little explanation to render the circumstances
which brought the royal cruiser up to
town, intelligible to the reader. As the morning approached,
she had entered more deeply into the bay;
and when the light permitted, those on board her
had been able to see that no vessel lay beneath the
hills, nor in any of the more retired places of the
estuary. A fisherman, however, removed the last of
their doubts, by reporting that he had seen a vessel,
whose description answered that of the Water-Witch,
passing the Narrows in the middle watch.
He added that a swiftly-rowing boat was, shortly
after, seen pulling in the same direction. This clue
had been sufficient. Ludlow made a signal for his
own boats to close the passages of the Kilns and the
Narrows, and then, as has been seen, he steered directly
into the harbor.
When Ludlow found himself in the position just
described, he turned all his attention to the double
object of preserving his own vessel, and arresting
that of the free-trader. Though there was still a
possibility of damaging the spars of the brigantine
by firing across the land, the feebleness of his own
crew, reduced as it was by more than half its numbers,
the danger of doing injury to the farm-houses
that were here and there placed along the low cliffs,
and the necessity of preparation to meet the critical
pass ahead, united to prevent the attempt. The
ship was no sooner fairly entered into the pass,
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between Blackwell's and Nassau, than he issued an
order to secure the guns that had been used, and to
clear away the anchors.
“Cock-bill the bowers, Sir,” he hastily added, in
his orders to Trysail. “We are in no condition to
sport with stock-and-fluke; have every thing ready
to let go at a word; and see the grapnels ready,—
we will throw them aboard the smuggler as we close,
and take him alive. Once fast to the chain, we are
yet strong enough to haul him in under our scuppers,
and to capture him with the pumps! Is the signal
still abroad, for a pilot?”
“We keep it flying, Sir, but 'twill be a swift boat
that overhauls us in this tide's-way. The Gate begins
at yonder bend in the land, Captain Ludlow!”
“Keep it abroad; the lazy rogues are sometimes
loitering in the cove this side the rocks, and chance
may throw one of them aboard us, as we pass. See
to the anchors, Sir; the ship is driving through this
channel, like a race-horse under the whip!”
The men were hurriedly piped to this duty, while
their young commander took his station on the poop,
now anxiously examining the courses of the tides
and the positions of the eddies, and now turning his
eyes towards the brigantine, whose upper spars and
white sails were to be seen, at the distance of two
hundred fathoms, glancing past the trees of the island.
But miles and minutes seemed like rods and
moments, in that swift current. Trysail had just reported
the anchors ready, when the ship swept up
abreast of the cove, where vessels often seek an anchorage,
to await favorable moments for entering
the Gate. Ludlow saw, at a glance, that the place
was entirely empty. For an instant he yielded to
the heavy responsibility—a responsibility before
which a seaman sooner shrinks than before any
other—that of charging himself with the duty of
the pilot; and he thought of running into the
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anchorage for shelter. But another glimpse at the spars
of the brigantine caused him to waver.
“We are near the Gate, Sir!” cried Trysail, in a
voice that was full of warning.
“Yon daring mariner stands on!”
“The rogue sails his vessel without the Queen's
permission, Captain Ludlow. They tell me, this is a
passage that has been well named!”
“I have been through it, and will vouch for its
character—he shows no signs of anchoring!”
“If the woman who points his course can carry
him through safely, she deserves her title. We are
passing the Cove, Captain Ludlow!”
“We are past it!” returned Ludlow, breathing
heavily. “Let there be no whisper in the ship—
pilot or no pilot, we now sink or swim!”
Trysail had ventured to remonstrate, while there
was a possibility of avoiding the danger; but, like
his commander, he now saw that all depended on
their own coolness and care. He passed busily among
the crew; saw that each brace and bowline was
manned; cautioned the few young officers who continued
on board to vigilance, and then awaited the
orders of his superior, with the composure that is so
necessary to a seaman in the moment of trial. Ludlow
himself, while he felt the load of responsibility
he had assumed, succeeded equally well in maintaining
an outward calm. The ship was irretrievably
in the Gate, and no human power could retrace
the step. At such moments of intense anxiety, the
human mind is wont to seek support in the opinions
of others. Notwithstanding the increasing velocity
and the critical condition of his own vessel, Ludlow
cast a glance, in order to ascertain the determination
of the `Skimmer of the Seas.' Blackwell's was already
behind them, and as the two currents were
again united, the brigantine had luffed up into the
entrance of the dangerous passage, and now followed
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within two hundred feet of the Coquette, directly in
her wake. The bold and manly-looking mariner,
who controlled her, stood between the night-heads,
just above the image of his pretended mistress, where
he examined the foaming reefs, the whirling eddies,
and the varying currents, with folded arms and a
riveted eye. A glance was exchanged between the
two officers, and the free-trader raised his sea-cap.
Ludlow was too courteous not to return the salutation,
and then all his senses were engrossed by the
care of his ship. A rock lay before them, over
which the water broke in a loud and unceasing roar.
For an instant it seemed that the vessel could not
avoid the danger, and then it was already past.
“Brace up!” said Ludlow, in the calm tones that
denote a forced tranquillity.
“Luff!” called out the Skimmer, so quickly as to
show that he took the movements of the cruiser for
his guide. The ship came closer to the wind, but
the sudden bend in the stream no longer permitted
her to steer in a direct line with its course. Though
drifting to windward with vast rapidity, her way
through the water, which was greatly increased by
the contrary actions of the wind and tide, caused the
cruiser to shoot across the current; while a reef,
over which the water madly tumbled, lay immediately
in her course. The danger seemed too imminent
for the observances of nautical etiquette, and
Trysail called aloud that the ship must be thrown
aback, or she was lost.
“Hard-a-lee!” shouted Ludlow, in the strong
voice of authority.—“Up with every thing—tacks,
and sheets!—main-top-sail haul!”
The ship seemed as conscious of her danger as any
on her decks. The bows whirled away from the
foaming reef, and as the sails caught the breeze on
their opposite surfaces, they aided in bringing her
head in the contrary direction. A minute had
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scarcely passed ere she was aback, and in the next she
was about and full again. The intensity of the brief
exertion kept Trysail fully employed; but no sooner
had he leisure to look ahead, than he again called
aloud—
“Here is another roarer under her bows;—luff,
Sir, luff, or we are upon it!”
“Hard down your helm!” once again came in
deep tones from Ludlow—“Let fly your sheets—
throw all aback, forward and aft—away with the
yards, with a will, men!”
There was need for all of these precautions.
Though the ship had so happily escaped the dangers
of the first reef, a turbulent and roaring caldron
in the water, which, as representing the element
in ebullition, is called `the Pot,' lay so directly
before her, as to render the danger apparently inevitable.
But the power of the canvas was not lost on
this trying occasion. The forward motion of the ship
diminished, and as the current still swept her swiftly
to windward, her bows did not enter the rolling
waters until the hidden rocks which caused the commotion
had been passed. The yielding vessel rose
and fell in the agitated water, as if in homage to
the whirlpool; but the deep keel was unharmed.
“If the ship shoot ahead twice her length more,
her bows will touch the eddy!” exclaimed the vigilant
master.
Ludlow looked around him, for a single moment,
in indecision. The waters were whirling and roaring
on every side, and the sails began to lose their power,
as the ship drew near the bluff which forms the
second angle in this critical pass. He saw, by objects
on the land, that he still approached the shore,
and he had recourse to the seaman's last expedient.
“Let go both anchors!” was the final order.
The fall of the massive iron into the water, was
succeeded by the rumbling of the cable. The first
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effort to check the progress of the vessel, appeared
to threaten dissolution to the whole fabric, which
trembled under the shock from its mast-heads to the
keel. But the enormous rope again yielded, and
smoke was seen rising round the wood which held it.
The ship whirled with the sudden check, and sheered
wildly in towards the shore. Met by the helm, and
again checked by the efforts of the crew, she threatened
to defy restraint. There was an instant when
all on board expected to hear the cable snap; but
the upper sails filled, and as the wind was now
brought over the taffrail, the force of the current
was in a great degree met by that of the breeze.
The ship answered her helm and became stationary,
while the water foamed against her cut-water,
as if she were driven ahead with the power of a brisk
breeze.
The time, from the moment when the Coquette
entered the Gate, to that when she anchored below
`the Pot,' though the distance was near a mile, seemed
but a minute. Certain however that his ship was
now checked, the thoughts of Ludlow returned to
their other duties with the quickness of lightning.
“Clear away the grapnels!” he eagerly cried—
“Stand by to heave, and haul in!—heave!”
But, that the reader may better comprehend the
motive of this sudden order, he must consent to return
to the entrance of the dangerous passage, and
accompany the Water-Witch, also, in her hazardous
experiment to get through without a pilot.
The abortive attempt of the brigantine to stem
the tide at the western end of Blackwell's, will be
remembered. It had no other effect than to place
her pursuer more in advance, and to convince her
own commander that he had now no other resource
than to continue his course; for, had he anchored,
boats would have insured his capture. When the
two vessels appeared off the eastern end of the island,
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the Coquette was ahead,—a fact that the experienced
free-trader did not at all regret. He profited by the
circumstance to follow her movements, and to make
a favorable entrance into the uncertain currents. To
him, Hell-Gate was known only by its fearful reputation
among mariners; and unless he might avail
himself of the presence of the cruiser, he had no
other guide than his own general knowledge of the
power of the element.
When the Coquette had tacked, the calm and observant
Skimmer was satisfied with throwing his
head-sails flat to the mast. From that instant, the
brigantine lay floating in the current, neither advancing
nor receding a foot, and always keeping her
position at a safe distance from the ship, that was so
adroitly made to answer the purpose of a beacon.
The sails were watched with the closest care; and
so nicely was the delicate machine tended, that it
would have been, at any moment, in her people's
power to have lessened her way, by turning to the
stream. The Coquette was followed till she anchored,
and the call on board the cruiser to heave the grapnels
had been given, because the brigantine was apparently
floating directly down on her broadside.
When the grapnels were hove from the royal
cruiser, the free-trader stood on the low poop of his
little vessel, within fifty feet of him who had issued
the order. There was a smile of indifference on his
firm mouth, while he silently waved a hand to his
own crew. The signal was obeyed by bracing round
their yards, and suffering all the canvas to fill. The
brigantine shot quickly ahead, and the useless irons
fell heavily into the water.
“Many thanks for your pilotage, Captain Ludlow!”
cried the daring and successful mariner of the
shawl, as his vessel, borne on by wind and current,
receded rapidly from the cruiser—“You will find
me off Montauk; for affairs still keep us on the
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coast. Our lady has, however, put on the blue
mantle; and ere many settings of the sun, we shall
look for deep water. Take good care of Her Majesty's
ship, I pray thee, for she has neither a more
beautiful nor a faster!”
One thought succeeded another with the tumult
of a torrent, in the mind of Ludlow. As the brigantine
lay directly under his broadside, the first impulse
was to use his guns; but at the next moment he was
conscious, that before they could be cleared, distance
would render them useless. His lips had nearly
parted with intent to order the cables cut, but he
remembered the speed of the brigantine, and hesitated.
A sudden freshening of the breeze decided
his course. Finding that the ship was enabled to
keep her station, he ordered the crew to thrust the
whole of the enormous ropes through the hawseholes;
and, freed from the restraint, he abandoned
the anchors, until an opportunity to reclaim them
should offer.
The operation of slipping the cables consumed
several minutes; and when the Coquette, with
every thing set, was again steering in pursuit, the
Water-Witch was already beyond the reach of her
guns. Both vessels, however, held on their way,
keeping as near as possible to the centre of the
stream, and trusting more to fortune, than to any
knowledge of the channel, for safety.
When passing the two small islands that lie at no
great distance from the Gate, a boat was seen moving
towards the royal cruiser. A man in it pointed to
the signal, which was still flying, and offered his
services.
“Tell me,” demanded Ludlow eagerly, “has yonder
brigantine taken a pilot?”
“By her movements, I judge not. She brushed
the sunken rock, off the mouth of Flushing-bay;
and as she passed, I heard the song of the lead. I
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should have gone on board myself, but the fellow
rather flies than sails; and as for signals, he seems
to mind none but his own!”
“Bring us up with him, and fifty guineas is thy
reward!”
The slow-moving pilot, who in truth had just awoke
from a refreshing sleep, opened his eyes, and seemed
to gather a new impulse from the promise. When
his questions were asked and answered, he began
deliberately to count on his fingers all the chances
that still existed of a vessel, whose crew was ignorant
of the navigation, falling into their hands.
“Admitting that, by keeping mid-channel, she
goes clear of White Stone and Frogs,” he said, giving
to Throgmorton's its vulgar name, “he must be a
wizard, to know that the Stepping-Stones lie directly
across his course, and that a vessel must steer away
northerly, or bring up on rocks that will as surely
hold him as if he were built there. Then he runs
his chance for the Executioners, which are as prettily
placed as needs be, to make our trade flourish;
besides the Middle Ground further east, though I
count but little on that, having often tried to find it
myself, without success. Courage, noble captain! if
the fellow be the man you say, we shall get a nearer
look at him before the sun sets; for certainly he who
has run the Gate without a pilot in safety, has had
as much good luck as can fall to his share in one
day.”
The opinion of the East River Branch proved erroneous.
Notwithstanding the hidden perils by which
she was environed, the Water-Witch continued her
course, with a speed that increased as the wind rose
with the sun, and with an impunity from harm that
amazed all who were in the secret of her situation.
Off Throgmorton's there was, in truth, a danger that
might even have baffled the sagacity of the followers
of the mysterious lady, had they not been aided by
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[figure description] Page 155.[end figure description]
accident. This is the point where the straitened
arm of the sea expands into the basin of the Sound.
A broad and inviting passage lies directly before the
navigator, while, like the flattering prospects of life,
numberless hidden obstacles are in wait to arrest the
unheeding and ignorant.
The `Skimmer of the Seas' was deeply practised
in all the intricacies and dangers of the shoals and
rocks. Most of his life had been passed in threading
the one, or in avoiding the other. So keen and quick
had his eye become, in detecting the presence of any
of those signs which forewarn the mariner of danger,
that a ripple on the surface, or a deeper shade in the
color of the water, rarely escaped his vigilance.
Seated on the topsail-yard of his brigantine, he had
overlooked the passage from the moment they were
through the Gate, and issued his mandates to those
below with a precision and promptitude that were
not surpassed by the trained conductor of the Coquette
himself. But when his sight embraced the
wide reach of water that lay in front, as his little
vessel swept round the head-land of Throgmorton,
he believed there no longer existed a reason for so
much care. Still there was a motive for hesitation.
A heavily-moulded and dull-sailing coaster was going
eastward not a league ahead of the brigantine, while
one of the light sloops of those waters was coming
westward still further in the distance. Notwithstanding
the wind was favorable to each alike, both vessels
had deviated from the direct line, and were steering
towards a common centre, near an island that was
placed more than a mile to the northward of the
straight course. A mariner, like him of the India-shawl,
could not overlook so obvious an intimation of
a change in the channel. The Water-Witch was
kept away, and her lighter sails were lowered, in
order to allow the royal cruiser, whose lofty canvas
was plainly visible above the land, to draw near.
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[figure description] Page 156.[end figure description]
When the Coquette was seen also to diverge, there
no longer remained a doubt of the direction necessary
to be taken; and every thing was quickly set upon
the brigantine, even to her studding-sails. Long
ere she reached the island, the two coasters had met,
and each again changed its course, reversing that
on which the other had just been sailing. There
was, in these movements, as plain an explanation as
a seaman could desire, that the pursued were right.
On reaching the island, therefore, they again luffed
into the wake of the schooner; and having nearly
crossed the sheet of water, they passed the coaster,
receiving an assurance, in words, that all was now
plain sailing, before them.
Such was the famous passage of the `Skimmer of
the Seas' through the multiplied and hidden dangers
of the eastern channel. To those who have thus accompanied
him, step by step, though its intricacies
and alarms, there may seem nothing extraordinary
in the event; but, coupled as it was with the character
previously earned by that bold mariner, and
occurring, as it did, in an age when men were more
disposed than at present to put faith in the marvellous,
the reader will not be surprised to learn that it
greatly increased his reputation for daring, and had
no small influence on an opinion, which was by no
means uncommon, that the dealers in contraband
were singularly favored by a power which greatly
exceeded that of Queen Anne and all her servants.
-- 157 --
Cooper, James Fenimore, 1789-1851 [1831], The water-witch, volume 2 (Carey & Lea, Philadelphia) [word count] [eaf061v2].
