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MABOONEB’S ISLAND ;
OR,
Dr. Gordon in Search of His Children.
BY REV. F. R. GOULDING,
Author of “ The Young Maroonera.”
CHAPTER 111.
NEWS BY THE CUTTER.
doubt, the cutter Jaek
sou,” said the Major, as
rapid steps he and
l Dr. Gordon made their
jjlraiLa! way to the beach. “ She is ex-
P with Government dis
patches, and supplies for our
Mpj?? garrison. And, since she is di
rect from both Charleston and
Savannah, it is possible, Doctor,
that she may have letters for you as well
as for me.”
“ I shall greatly prize my mail,” re
sponded Dr. Gordon; “ yet my interest
in the cutter at this moment is paramount
to any reasons connected with news from
home. She has probably passed over the
very track pursued by my fugitives; and
if she has not been fortunate enough to
have given them a passage back, I can
not but hope that she is able to tell us
something about them.”
“Why did I not think of this myself?”
rejoined the other, in a tone of self-re
proach.
By the time they reached the low bluff
the approaching vessel had passed so far
to seaward on her larboard tack as to
present to their sight her full broadside,
with black hull, raking masts, and well
defined port-holes. Every one recognized
her as a cutter, the cutter Jackson.
“All aboard! Shove off!” were orders
issued in rapid succession. Officers and
men were in their seats, except the two
belonging forward. They were standing
in the water until the bow of the boat
had been lifted from its bed in the sand,
and was clearly afloat, when they leaped
lightly in and also took their places ; and
then the short and sharp “ Give way,
men,” brought the oars to work with such
vigor and concord as to make all feel the
successive impulses with which they shot
along the surface of the water, until they
had rounded a projecting shoal, when the
sail was again raised, the oars were un
shipped, and they glided noiselessly and
swiftly on their way.
Less than an hour’s time brought the
two parties together. The topsails of the
cutter had been backed by a signal from
the barge, bringing her to an almost dead
halt upon the water, and a ladder of rope
had been thrown over the vessels side, by
which Dr. Gordon and the Major ascend
ed to the deck, and received a cordial
BURKE’S WEEKLY.
greeting from Capt. Randolph and his
courteous lieutenants in command.
The question was not asked whether
the wanderers were aboard; they were
not to be seen, nor was the boat aboard
or in tow. The captain and his lieuten
ants, however, who became instantly in
terested in the case, gave an account of
what they had seen.
“About 2 o’clock, yesterday,” said the
captain, “ while we lay'becalmed about
fifty miles south of this, the watchman
sans: out 1 Signal ahead !’ and soon after
wards added, in a tone of wonder, ‘ Sail
boat running without wind or oars !’
“We all gathered to the starboard to
see this strange sight, when sure enough
our glasses showed us, about three miles
ahead, between us and shore, a masted
boat heading south and in rapid motion.
There were four persons aboard, one of
w T hom wms a female and another a little
boy. Something white had been run up
to the mast-head to attract our attention,
and we could see the smoke of several
guns, though the distance was too great
for the sound to reach us. Lieut. Somers
said he saw the little boy holding out his
hands, as if begging us to help them.
“ I instantly ordered a boat to be low
ered and manned with six strong oars
men, to intercept and help them as they
passed, and at the same time had a signal
run up and two cannons fired, to show
them that they had been seen.
“We were for a while at a loss to ac
count for the mysterious motion of the
boat, until an old salt belonging to these
waters explained it by saying that the
anchor had probably been tripped by a
devil fish, which had become frightened
and dragged the boat to sea. Now, we
are all familiar with this trick of that
stupid fish, and we know that it abounds
in these waters, and that it is strong
enough, too, in many instances, to run off
with a boat of that size, (for I myself
harpooned one out of a school in St. Jo
seph’s Bay that measured twenty feet
across the wings,) but we doubted whe
ther they were ever seen so late in the
season. Moreover, we could not but
wonder why, if, this surmise of the sailor
were correct, the people aboard had not
freed themselves by cutting the cable.”
“The cable was a chain,” Dr. Gordon
explained, “strongly linked and firmly
stapled, to resist robbery. The young
folks had no tools aboard that could cut
or break it. But pray go on with your
account.”
“From the time we first saw the signal
until the time the yawl started in pursuit,
could not have been more than ten min
xes; yet it was manifest by the change
of place that the boat was moving through
the water at a rate so fast that our only
chance of intercepting her was by keep
ing w T ell ahead and nearer shore. Unfor
tunately, however, for the help intended,
there came down such a shower of rain,
attended with thunder and lightning, I
that—”
At this moment the captain observed
an expression of great anxiety overspread
the face of his listener, who at the same
time noticed a significant glance exchan
ged by the lieutenants, and he hastily
added,
“There was no wind though ; at least
none that a boat so steady as that would
feel; only the little out-rider that you
may always see, on land and water, pre
ceding a shower, and which seems to be
a blast caused by the fall of rain. I am
pretty sure that, although the rain was
quite heavy all around the cutter, it did
not extend half way to the boat. What
do you say, Lieut. Somers ?” he asked,
addressing the pleasant looking young
man at his side.
“I am as sure as I can be of anything
two miles away,” he replied, “that not a
drop of rain reached the boat; and as for
wind, there was barely enough to shake
our sails for ten or fifteen minutes.”
With these assurances Dr. Gordon
seemed relieved and the captain continued:
“By the time the rain cleared away,
the boat had passed beyond reach, and,
indeed, beyond sight, for there w'as a
slight mist or fog sufficient to conceal ev
erything at the distance of a mile. We,
however, did not give up the boat and its
crew for a long time after it disappeared,
but every once in a while we fired a gun
to show wrhere we were, and to let them
know that we were ready to do what we
could for their relief.
“The last that any of us saw of them
was about four o’clock in the afternoon,
or later. The mist which still hung over
the sea near us had cleared away in the
south, and the man in the foretop said he
saw, far away down the coast, something
that looked like the spread of a small
sail glancing in the light of the almost
setting sun.
“Sorry I am, Doctor,” the captain said,
in conclusion, “that I can give no better
account of our attempt to succor your
young folks. I feel almost certain, how
ever, from what was reported by our look
out in the foretop, that they succeeded at
last in getting loose from the devilfish,
and that long before night they had safe
ly landed (for they were not more than
five or six miles from shore) and that by
this time they have again spread their
sail on their return home.”