CHAPTER II.
[figure description] Page 086.[end figure description]
“Guard boats were stationed across the river; the lamps were to be
extinguished at nine o'clock at night, after which all persons found in
the streets without a passport, were to be arrested as spies.”
“Although a large reward was offered by the governor for the chief
of the Barritarians, he frequently visited the city in disguise.”
Sketches of the last war.
THE VOLUNTEERS—COLLOQUY INTERRUPTED—PRISONERS—
THE CITY.
The two men were sitting in the boat, engaged in
social discourse, one with his face to the stern,
the other fronting the bows, upon whose features
the rays of the light shone brightly.
“But, Mr. Aughrim, in your opinion, what think
these Englishers would do with't if they should,
(which is a mighty bad chance for 'em) take the old
yallow fever city?” said one of the oarsmen of the
boat, gently rubbing with his palm the head of a
carbine, whilst with the other hand he occasionally
dipped his oar into the water, with just force enough
to counteract the current.
“Why you see, Tim, dear,” replied his companion,
“the ould counthry has her eye open, sure! and
is not this the kay of Ameriky; it's a kingdom
they'll make of it at wanst—bad loock to the likes
o' thim. Faix, its for faar o' that same Dennis Aughrim
is this blissed night a 'listed sojer.”
“I reckon they'll feel a small touch of the alligator's
tooth, and a kick from the old horse
-- 087 --
[figure description] Page 087.[end figure description]
Kentuck, afore they turn narry acre o' land in the States
into a kingdom, come.”
“Troth, honey—bad loock to the likes o' my
mimory;” said the Irish volunteer rubbing that intellectual
organ, “sure I've heard that same big
bog-trotter of a hoorse, mintioned—the omadhoun!
An' has he divil of an alligator's tooth in his beautiful
mouth, Tim, dear—or is it ony a `figur o'
spache' as ould father Muldoodthrew, pace to his
mimory, used to say.”
“Look! what is that?” said his companion hastily,
pointing out a dark object floating on the water,
towards which they pulled for a moment, and then
again rested on their oars.
“Nothin' my darlint,” said Dennis, “but one of
thim same jewells that coom sailin' all the way from
furrin parts, about the north pole. We'll kape our
four eyes aboot us, sure, but divil a sthraw could
dhrift by, widout Dennis Aughrim's seeing it wid
his peepers shut.”
“Perhaps,” said his companion speaking slowly,
giving utterance to the thoughts the inanimate object
called up, “perhaps that old log has drifted by my
door, and the old woman and little ones have looked
at it, and thought how it was floating away down to
Orleans, where daddy Tim is;” and till it faded in
the distance from his eyes, he gazed after the floating
tree, which, even in his rude breast conjured up
emotions, for a moment, carrying his thoughts far
back to the rude cabin and the little group he had
left behind him, to go forth and fight the battles of
his country.
“Is it far, the childer and the ould 'ooman live,
Masther Tim?” inquired Dennis, chiming in with
the feelings of his comrade.
“It is in old Kentuck—Hark?” he said, as one
guard boat challenged another which was rowing
across her bows.
-- 088 --
[figure description] Page 088.[end figure description]
“An' thin is there the likes o' sich a hoorse in
your counthry?” inquired the Irishman after a moment's
silence, “faix, it's exthraordinary.”
“And you never saw old Kentuck?” said his
companion, recovering at once, the low humour
characteristic of his countrymen, “Well, he's a caution!
He's about four hundred miles long from
head to tail, and when he stands up, one foot is on
the Mississippi and another on the Ohio, and his
two fore legs rest on Tennessy and old Virginny.
“Thrue for you, indeed! Masther Tim; but sure
it's joking you are, Tim, dear,” said Dennis in credulous
surprise.
“Never a joke in the matter, paddy—he's a screamer
I tell you. Why, his veins are bigger than any
river in all Ireland, and he has swallowed whole
flat boats and steamers; and stranger, let me tell
you, the boys aboard, never minded but what they
were sailing on a river—only they said they thought
the water looked a little reddish. Why it takes a
brush as large as all Frankfort, and that's a matter
of some miles long, to rub him down, and every
brustle is a pine tree. When he drinks you can
wade across the Mississippi for a day after, just
about there. He snorts louder than July thunder,
and when he winks, it lightens—make him mad, and
he'll blow like one of these here new fashioned
steam boats.—”
“Oh! Holy mother! The saints betune us and
this omadhoun! But it must take the mate and the
praitees to feed him. Och hone!”
“But this is not all, Dennis;” continued his companion
with humour, amused at the credulity of his
fellow soldier; “his tail is like a big snake and as
long as the Irish channel.”
“The Lord and the blessed St. Pathrick betwixt
us and harm.”
-- 089 --
[figure description] Page 089.[end figure description]
“His back is covered with a shell of a snapping
turtle, that you could put your island under.—”
“Oh murther! but may be it's no expinse the
Prisident will be for a saddle. Lord! Lord!”
“Not a bit, paddy; nor a bridle either, for that
matter,” continued the Kentuckian with impertuble
gravity, while his companion, with incredulous
and simple wonder, listened aghast; “his head is
shaped like an alligator's, with a double row of teeth
and a large white tusk sticking out each side of his
mouth.—”
“Oh! the Lord look down upon us! there
he is!” suddenly shrieked the Irishman, and
fell senseless on the bottom of the boat. Before
the Kentuckian could turn to see the cause of the
alarm, the slave, whose hideous features seen
over the bows, combined with his excited imagination,
had terrified the simple Irishman, already
inflamed by the recital of his comrade, sprung forward;
and he felt the iron clutch of Cudjoe's fingers
around his throat, and his arms pressed immoveably
to his side. Until his captive grew black in the face,
the slave kept his hold; and when he found him incapable
of resistance, he seized the oars and pulled
into the mouth of the canal, opposite which the
boat had now drifted.
“Done like Cudjoe,” said his master, who had
watched with interest, the success of his plan, as
the boat touched the bank.
“Ha, slave! did I not tell you to shed no blood?”
he added angrily, as his eye rested upon the prostrate
forms of the boatmen.
“Cudjoe no spill one drop,” replied the slave;
“one sojer tinky me alligator, curse him; he make
one yell and den go to de debil, dead directly. Dis
oder big sojer—he only little bit choke.”
“Take them out,” he said to his crew, “and lay
them on the bank.”
-- 090 --
[figure description] Page 090.[end figure description]
In a few moments, the Kentuckian revived, and
looked around him in moody silence.
“You are a prisoner,” said Lafitte.
“And to the devil, I suppose, stranger,” he said,
looking at Cudjoe's ungainly figure. The next moment
a thought of his lonely family swelled his
bosom, and a desire to escape suddenly inspired
him. Leaping from the ground, while his captors
thought him incapable of rising, he threw himself
headlong into the river. In a few seconds, they
heard the water agitated far below them by his
athletic arms. He gained the shore on the lower
side of the canal, beyond pursuit, and his receding
footsteps were heard far down the leveé.
“Better he were free,” said Lafitte; “that man
would lose his life before he would betray the
watch-word. But this looks like baser metal,” he
added, placing his foot upon the body of the Irishman,
who, after being deluged with a few caps full
of the cold river water, revived.
“Oh! murther, murther!” he exclaimed, as a generous
discharge nearly drowned him—“Oh! the
hoorse—the hoorse! Och, murther me! It is kilt
you are Dennis Aughrim! Och, hone—”
“Up, sir, up, and stop that howling,” said Lafitte,
“taking him by the collar, and lifting him as a less
muscular man would a child, and placing him upon
his feet—
“What is the pass-word of the night?”
“The woord is't yer honor?” said Dennis, his
consciousness partially restoring—“and devil a bit
did I know, how ever I coome here. Oh, the
hoorse, and the alligathur!” he suddenly exclaimed,
looking about him, as if he expected again to see
the object of his fears—“and did yer honor pick
me from the wather, where he dhragged me to devoor
me. Oh! holy St. Pathrick! but it was a divil
of a craather.”
-- 091 --
[figure description] Page 091.[end figure description]
“Back, Cudjoe,” said Lafitte, as the slave was
gradually creeping round to intercept his vision.
“Give me the pass word of the night, soldier.”
“By dad, an' wid a heart an' a will would I
oblige yer honor; the mither in heaven send blessin'
on blessin' on yer honor's head; for savin' me
from droouin'; but Tim, Tim is it wid de bit paper.”
“No trifling man, or you will be worse off than
in an alligator's jaws,” replied his captor sternly.
“Oh, thin, dear, yer honor! but I must spake it
low,” and standing on his toes, he whispered in the
ear of Lafitte, the pass word of the night.
“'Tis as I thought,” he exclaimed. “Now get
into this boat and guide us up to the city; serve me
faithfully, and you shall soon be free; betray or deceive
me, and you die.”
“Oh, blissed mither! that Dennis Aughrim should
be prisoner to the Inglishers! and, poor craythur!
that he should lit them into the city, to make it a
kingdom. Och, Dennis! but you'll have to go
back to ould Ireland! Amiriky is no more to be
the free counthry o' the world. Och, murther me!
that Dinnis's own mither's son should come to
this!” he soliloquized, as he reluctantly stepped
into the boat for the purpose of betraying his trust.
Leaving orders for his men to remain in their
concealment until his return, and be on the alert
against surprise, the buccaneer chief stepped into
the guard-boat with Théodore and his slave.
Taking an oar himself, and giving the other to
his guide and prisoner, he pushed boldly out from
the bank, and confidently passed the line of boats,
every challenge from them being answered by the
familiar voice of the Irishman, as they passed within
two or three oars' length of the line of guard-boats;
all but the chief and the guide lying in the
bottom of the barge.
-- 092 --
[figure description] Page 092.[end figure description]
In about half an hour after leaving the shore, he
shot into the inlet of canal Mariguay, and nearly
under the guns of fort St. Charles. At this point
were collected many other boats and fishing craft;
and having passed the chain of guard-boats with
security, he pulled along side of the leveé, and into
the midst of the boats, without attracting observation.
Leaving the Irishman in the barge under the
charge of Cudjoe, of whom he stood in mortal fear—
the chief, accompanied by his companion, mounted
the leveé, and with an indifferent pace passed under
the walls of the fort. As he walked forward,
the esplanade in front of the city, was crowded
with citizens and soldiers, along which mounted
officers were riding at speed, and detachments of
soldiers moving swiftly and without music, down
the road which wound along the banks of the river.
At every corner he passed by guards posted there,
and nearly every man he met was armed, and as
the lamps shone upon their faces, he discovered that
expectation of some important event dwelt thereon,
giving a military sternness to their visages.
The parade was nearly deserted except by citizens
and soldiers, too old to bear arms in the field.
Without being questioned or challenged by any one,
for the hour of nine, when vigilance more thoroughly
reigned throughout the guarded city, had not yet
arrived.
Turning from the leveé and leaving the parade on
his left, he passed up Rue St. Anne to Charles-street,
without lifting his eyes to the cathedral, its
dark towers rising abruptly and gloomily against
the sky, overtopping the government house and
other massive public buildings around it.
A soldier in the uniform of Lateau's coloured regiment
was pacing in front of the government-house
-- 093 --
[figure description] Page 093.[end figure description]
with his musket to his shoulder. Against the wall
of the church, leaned a group of citizens and soldiers,
all of whom, though apparently off duty, wore arms,
and had the air of men who momently expected to
be called into action. A neighbouring guard-house
was full of soldiers smoking segars, burnishing their
arms and discussing the great subject of the expected
attack upon their city. Occasionally, a private
or an officer in uniform hurried past on the
trottoir, neither turning to the right or left, nor replying
to the questions occasionally put to them by
the inquisitive passers-by.
“Soldier, is the governor in the city?” inquired
Lafitte, stopping as he met the guard.
“You must be a stranger here, monsieur, to put
such a question,” said he, eyeing him suspiciously;
“next to her noble general, is he not the guardian
of our city?”
“You say well, monsieur—he is then in the government-house?”
inquired the buccaneer.
“Would you speak with the governor, señor;”
said one of the soldiers stepping up.
“I have important papers for him,” answered
Lafitte, looking at the man fixedly.
“You will then find him at the quarters of the
general in Faubourg Marigny—he rode by with his
staff not half an hour since,” replied the man.
“Thank you, monsieur,” said Lafitte.
As he spoke, the bell of the cathedral tolled nine,
and the report of a heavy piece of artillery placed
in front upon the parade, awoke the echoes of the
city, warning every householder to extinguish his
lights, and confining the inhabitants to their own
dwellings. The foot of the loiterer hastened as the
first note struck his ear, and a thousand lights at
once disappeared from the windows of the dwellings;
and before the sound of the last stroke of the
-- 094 --
[figure description] Page 094.[end figure description]
bell died away, the city became silent and dark.
After that hour, until sunrise, with the exception of
here and there one bearing about him a passport
from the American chief, every one abroad was on
the severe duty of a soldier.
“You have the pass, monsieur?” inquired the
soldier, whom he first addressed, extending his hand
as the clock broke the stillness of the night.
Lafitte gave the word which had passed him
through the chain of boats.
“It will not do, monsieur,” replied the guard,
“have you not a passport?”
The soldier who had directed him where to find
the governor whispered in his ear—“Pensacola.”
Lafitte starting, repeated the word to the guard;
adding, “I gave you before by mistake, the word
for the river.”
“It is well, monsieur,” said the soldier, giving
back, “pass with the youth.”
Lafitte and his companion turned and retraced
their steps to the suburb, occupied by the commander-in-chief.
As they were crossing Rue St. Phillipe, some
one called the chief's name in a distinct whisper.
He turned and distinguished the figure of the soldier
who had given him the pass-word.
“Ha! is it you, Pedro? I knew you then! but
how is this? Have you turned soldier?”
“For a time, señor captain—I must not starve.”
“Nor will you if you can find other man's meat,”
said Lafitte, laughingly. “I thought you had taken
your prize money and gone to Havana.”
“No, señor; a pair of large black eyes and one
small bag of five-frank pieces tempted me out of
that.”
“That is, you are married!”
“It is a sad truth, señor. I am now captain of
-- 095 --
[figure description] Page 095.[end figure description]
a carbaret on Rue Royal, and my dame is first officer.
And master Théodore, how fare you, señor,”
he said, abruptly changing the subject and addressing
the youth. “It is many a month since I have
seen your bright eye. Well, you are coming up to
the tall man,” continued the quondam pirate, curling
his mustachio and drawing up to the full attitude of
his five feet one inch, until his eyes reached to the
chin of the young buccaneer. “You will yet walk
a deck bravely.”
“How did you recognize me so soon?” inquired
Lafitte.
“When you folded your arms, and threw your
head up, in the way you have, while you spoke to
the guard, I said to myself `that's Captain Lafitte,
or I'm no Benedict.”
“Well, your penetration has done me good service,
Pedro.”
“Yes, señor; I wish you may always profit as
well by having your disguise penetrated. Your
tall figure, and way of fixing your head, will betray
you more than once to-night, if you are on secret
business, as I conjecture. A little stoop, and a lower
gait, like a padre, if such be the case, would be
wisdom in you, as you walk the streets. You
know the reward offered for your head, by the Governor.”
“I know it, Pedro; and you have no doubt seen
my proclamation for the governor's, wherein I have
done him much honour, valuing his head five times
at what he fixes mine,” said he, laughingly.
“And you are seeking him,” exclaimed Pedro.
“This is strange; but it is like you, Captain Lafitte,”
he added, impressively. “There were six
out of the seven standing with me, when you came
up, who would have taken your life for a sous, if they
could. Be careful señor! but if you are in danger,
you will find many brave hearts and ready
-- 096 --
[figure description] Page 096.[end figure description]
hands even in this city, to aid you. If you would
like a taste of Bordeaux or old claret of the true
brand, I should be honoured to have you seek it in
my humble carbaret. The wine, the carbaret—all I
have, is at your service, señor.”
“All? good Benedictine,” said his former Captain,
playfully, and with a stress upon the first word.
“But I'll come, if thirst drive me; so, adieu, and
thanks for your timely service to-night.”
“Adios, señor; the saints prosper you!” said
Pedro, taking leave of his chief, and returning to
his comrades; while Lafitte, with a firm and steady
pace, proceeded to the quarters of the commanding
general.
-- 097 --
[figure description] Page 097.[end figure description]
Ingraham, J. H. (Joseph Holt), 1809-1860 [1836], The pirate of the gulf volume 2 (Harper & Brothers, New York) [word count] [eaf156v2].
