The Pilot by J. Fenimore Cooper

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"What's to be done now?" said Barnstable, as he stood and gazed with a
diminished excitement at their victim; "he will yield no food, and his
carcass will probably drift to land, and furnish our enemies with the
oil."

"If I had but that creatur in Boston Bay," said the cockswain, "it would
prove the making of me; but such is my luck forever! Pull up, at any
rate, and let me get my harpoon and line--the English shall never get
them while old Tom Coffin can blow."

"Don't speak too fast," said the strokesman of the boat; "whether he get
your iron or not, here he comes in chase!"

"What mean you, fellow?" cried Barnstable.

"Captain Barnstable can look for himself," returned the seaman, "and
tell whether I speak truth."

The young sailor turned, and saw the Alacrity bearing down before the
wind, with all her sails set, as she rounded a headland, but a short
half-league to windward of the place where the boat lay.

"Pass that glass to me," said the captain, with steady composure. "This
promises us work in one of two ways: if she be armed, it has become our
turn to run; if not, we are strong enough to carry her."

A very brief survey made the experienced officer acquainted with the
true character of the vessel in sight; and, replacing the glass with
much coolness, he said:

"That fellow shows long arms, and ten teeth, besides King George's
pennant from his topmast-head. Now, my lads, you are to pull for your
lives; for whatever may be the notions of Master Coffin on the subject
of his harpoon, I have no inclination to have my arms pinioned by John
Bull, though his majesty himself put on the irons."

The men well understood the manner and meaning of their commander; and,
throwing aside their coats, they applied themselves in earnest to their
task. For half an hour a profound silence reigned in the boat, which
made an amazing progress. But many circumstances conspired to aid the
cutter; she had a fine breeze, with smooth water, and a strong tide in
her favor; and, at the expiration of the time we have mentioned, it was
but too apparent that the distance between the pursued and the pursuers
was lessened nearly by half. Barnstable preserved his steady
countenance, but there was an expression of care gathering around his
dark brow, which indicated that he saw the increasing danger of their
situation.

"That fellow has long legs, Master Coffin," he said, in a cheerful tone;
"your whale-line must go overboard, and the fifth oar must be handled by
your delicate hands."

Tom arose from his seat, and proceeding forward, he cast the tub and its
contents together into the sea, when he seated himself at the bow oar,
and, bent his athletic frame with amazing vigor to the task.

"Ah! there is much of your philosophy in that stroke, long Tom," cried
his commander; "keep it up, boys; and if we gain nothing else, we shall
at least gain time for deliberation. Come, Master Coffin, what think
you! We have three resources before us, let us hear which is jour
choice; first, we can turn and fight and be sunk; secondly, we can pull
to the land, and endeavor to make good our retreat to the schooner in
that manner; and thirdly, we can head to the shore, and possibly, by
running under the guns of that fellow, get the wind of him, and keep the
air in our nostrils, after the manner of the whale. Damn the whale! but
for the tow the black rascal gave us, we should have been out of sight
of this rover!"

"If we fight," said Tom, with quite as much composure as his commander
manifested, "we shall be taken or sunk; if we land, sir, I shall be
taken for one man, as I never could make any headway on dry ground; and
if we try to get the wind of him by pulling under the cliffs, we shall
be cut off by a parcel of lubbers that I can see running along their
edges, hoping, I dare say, that they shall be able to get a skulking
shot at a boat's crew of honest seafaring men."

"You speak with as much truth as philosophy, Tom," said Barnstable, who
saw his slender hopes of success curtailed by the open appearance of the
horse and foot on the cliffs. "These Englishmen have not slept the last
night, and I fear Griffith and Manual will fare but badly. That fellow
brings a capful of wind down with him--'tis just his play, and he walks
like a race-horse. Ha! he begins to be in earnest!"

While Barnstable was speaking, a column of white smoke was seen issuing
from the bows of the cutter; and as the report of a cannon was wafted to
their ears, the shot was seen skipping from wave to wave, tossing the
water in spray, and flying to a considerable distance beyond them. The
seamen cast cursory glances in the direction of the passing ball, but it
produced no manifest effect in either their conduct or appearance. The
cockswain, who scanned its range with an eye of more practice than the
rest, observed, "That's a lively piece for its metal, and it speaks with
a good clear voice; but if they hear it aboard the Ariel, the man who
fired it will be sorry it wasn't born dumb."

"You are the prince of philosophers, Master Coffin!" cried Barnstable;
"there is some hope in that; let the Englishmen talk away, and, my life
on it, the Ariels don't believe it is thunder; hand me a musket--I'll
draw another shot."

The piece was given to Barnstable, who discharged it several times, as
if to taunt their enemies; and the scheme was completely successful.
Goaded by the insults, the cutter discharged gun after gun at the little
boat, throwing the shot frequently so near as to wet her crew with the
spray, but without injuring them in the least. The failure of these
attempts of the enemy excited the mirth of the reckless seamen, instead
of creating any alarm; and whenever a shot came nearer than common, the
cockswain would utter some such expression as:

"A ground swell, a long shot, and a small object, make a clean target;"
or, "A man must squint straight to hit a boat."

As, notwithstanding their unsuccessful gunnery, the cutter was
constantly gaining on the whale-boat, there was a prospect of a speedy
termination of the chase, when the report of a cannon was thrown back
like an echo from one of the Englishman's discharges, and Barnstable and
his companions had the pleasure of seeing the Ariel stretching slowly
out of the little bay where she had passed the night, with the smoke of
the gun of defiance curling above her taper masts.

A loud and simultaneous shout of rapture was given by the lieutenant and
all his boat's crew, at this cheering sight, while the cutter took in
all her light sails, and, as she hauled up on a wind, she fired a whole
broadside at the successful fugitives. Many stands of grape, with
several round shot, flew by the boat and fell upon the water near them,
raising a cloud of foam, but without doing any injury.

"She dies in a flurry," said Tom, casting his eyes at the little vortex
into which the boat was then entering.

"If her commander be a true man," cried Barnstable, "he'll not leave us
on so short an acquaintance. Give way, my souls! give way! I would see
more of this loquacious cruiser."

The temptation for exertion was great, and it was not disregarded by the
men; in a few minutes the whale-boat reached the schooner, when the crew
of the latter received their commander and his companions with shouts
and cheers that rang across the waters, and reached the ears of the
disappointed spectators on the verge of the cliffs.

CHAPTER XVIII.

"Thus guided on their course they bore,
Until they near'd the mainland shore;
When frequent on the hollow blast,
Wild shouts of merriment were cast."
_Lord of the Isles_.

The joyful shouts and hearty cheers of the Ariel's crew continued for
some time after her commander had reached her deck. Barnstable answered
the congratulations of his officers by cordial shakes of the hand; and
after waiting for the ebullition of delight among the seamen to subside
a little, he beckoned with an air of authority for silence.

"I thank you, my lads, for your good-will," he said, when all were
gathered around him in deep attention; "they have given us a tough
chase, and if you had left us another mile to go, we had been lost. That
fellow is a king's cutter; and though his disposition to run to leeward
is a good deal mollified, yet he shows signs of fight. At any rate, he
is stripping off some of his clothes, which looks as if he were game.
Luckily for us, Captain Manual has taken all the marines ashore with
him, (though what he has done with them, or himself, is a mystery,) or
we should have had our decks lumbered with live cattle; but, as it is,
we have a good working breeze, tolerably smooth water, and a dead match!
There is a sort of national obligation on us to whip that fellow; and
therefore, without more words about the matter, let us turn to and do
it, that we may get our breakfasts."

To this specimen of marine eloquence the crew cheered as usual, the
young men burning for the combat, and the few old sailors who belonged
to the schooner shaking their heads with infinite satisfaction, and
swearing by sundry strange oaths that their captain "could talk, when
there was need of such thing, like the best dictionary that ever was
launched."

During this short harangue and the subsequent comments, the Ariel had
been kept, under a cloud of canvas, as near to the wind as she could
lie; and as this was her best sailing, she had stretched swiftly out
from the land, to a distance whence the cliffs and the soldiers, who
were spread along their summits, became plainly visible. Barnstable
turned his glass repeatedly from the cutter to the shore, as different
feelings predominated in his breast, before he again spoke.

"If Mr. Griffith is stowed away among those rocks," he at length said,
"he shall see as pretty an argument discussed, in as few words, as he
ever listened to, provided the gentlemen in yonder cutter have not
changed their minds as to the road they intend to journey--what think
you, Mr. Merry?"

"I wish with all my heart and soul, sir," returned the fearless boy,
"that Mr. Griffith was safe aboard us; it seems the country is alarmed,
and God knows what will happen if he is taken! As to the fellow to
windward, he'll find it easier to deal with the Ariel's boat than with
her mother; but he carries a broad sail; I question if he means to show
play."

"Never doubt him, boy," said Barnstable, "he is working off the shore,
like a man of sense, and besides, he has his spectacles on, trying to
make out what tribe of Yankee Indians we belong to. You'll see him come
to the wind presently, and send a few pieces of iron down this way, by
way of letting us know where to find him. Much as I like your first
lieutenant, Mr. Merry, I would rather leave him on the land this day,
than see him on my decks. I want no fighting captain to work this boat
for me! But tell the drummer, sir, to beat to quarters."

The boy, who was staggering under the weight of his melodious
instrument, had been expecting this command, and, without waiting for
the midshipman to communicate the order, he commenced that short rub-a-
dub air, that will at any time rouse a thousand men from the deepest
sleep, and cause them to fly to their means of offence with a common
soul. The crew of the Ariel had been collected in groups studying the
appearance of the enemy, cracking their jokes, and waiting only for this
usual order to repair to the guns; and at the first tap of the drum,
they spread with steadiness to the different parts of the little vessel,
where their various duties called them. The cannon were surrounded by
small parties of vigorous and athletic young men; the few marines were
drawn up in array with muskets; the officers appeared in their boarding-
caps, with pistols stuck in their belts, and naked sabres in their
hands. Barnstable paced his little quarter-deck with a firm tread,
dangling a speaking-trumpet by its lanyard on his forefinger, or
occasionally applying the glass to his eye, which, when not in use, was
placed under one arm, while his sword was resting against the foot of
the mainmast; a pair of heavy ship's pistols were thrust into his belt
also; and piles of muskets, boarding-pikes, and naked sabres were placed
on different parts of the deck. The laugh of the seamen was heard no
longer, and those who spoke uttered their thoughts only in low and
indistinct whispers.

The English cutter held her way from the land, until she got an offing
of more than two miles, when she reduced her sails to a yet smaller
number; and, heaving into the wind, she fired a gun in a direction
opposite to that which pointed to the Ariel.

"Now I would wager a quintal of codfish, Master Coffin," said
Barnstable, "against the best cask of porter that was ever brewed in
England, that fellow believes a Yankee schooner can fly in the wind's
eye! If he wishes to speak to us, why don't he give his cutter a little
sheet, and come down?"

The cockswain had made his arrangements for the combat, with much more
method and philosophy than any other man in the vessel. When the drum
beat to quarters, he threw aside his jacket, vest, and shirt, with as
little hesitation as if he stood under an American sun, and with all the
discretion of a man who had engaged in an undertaking that required the
free use of his utmost powers. As he was known to be a privileged
individual in the Ariel, and one whose opinions, in all matters of
seamanship, were regarded as oracles by the crew, and were listened to
by his commander with no little demonstration of respect, the question
excited no surprise. He was standing at the breech of his long gun, with
his brawny arms folded on a breast that had been turned to the color of
blood by long exposure, his grizzled locks fluttering in the breeze, and
his tall form towering far above the heads of all near him.

"He hugs the wind, sir, as if it was his sweetheart," was his answer;
"but he'll let go his hold soon; and if he don't, we can find a way to
make him fall to leeward."

"Keep a good full!" cried the commander, in a stern voice; "and let the
vessel go through the water. That fellow walks well, long Tom; but we
are too much for him on a bowline; though, if he continue to draw ahead
in this manner, it will be night before we can get alongside him."

"Ay, ay, sir," returned the cockswain; "them cutters carries a press of
canvas when they seem to have but little; their gafts are all the same
as young booms, and spread a broad head to their mainsails. But it's no
hard matter to knock a few cloths out of their bolt-ropes, when she will
both drop astarn and to leeward."

"I believe there is good sense in your scheme, this time," said
Barnstable; "for I am anxious about the frigate's people--though I hate
a noisy chase; speak to him, Tom, and let us see if he will answer."

"Ay, ay, sir," cried the cockswain, sinking his body in such a manner as
to let his head fall to a level with the cannon that he controlled,
when, after divers orders and sundry movements to govern the direction
of the piece, he applied a match, with a rapid motion, to the priming.
An immense body of white smoke rushed from the muzzle of the cannon,
followed by a sheet of vivid fire, until, losing its power, it yielded
to the wind, and, as it rose from the water, spread like a cloud, and,
passing through the masts of the schooner, was driven far to leeward,
and soon blended in the mists which were swiftly scudding before the
fresh breezes of the ocean.

Although many curious eyes were watching this beautiful sight from the
cliffs, there was too little of novelty in the exhibition to attract a
single look of the crew of the schooner from the more important
examination of the effect of the shot on their enemy. Barnstable sprang
lightly on a gun, and watched the instant when the ball would strike,
with keen interest, while long Tom threw himself aside from the line of
the smoke with a similar intention; holding one of his long arms
extended toward his namesake, with a finger on the vent, and supporting
his frame by placing the hand of the other on the deck, as his eyes
glanced through an opposite port-hole, in an attitude that most men
might have despaired of imitating with success.

"There go the chips!" cried Barnstable. "Bravo! Master Coffin, you never
planted iron in the ribs of an English man with more judgment. Let him
have another piece of it; and if he like the sport, we'll play a game of
long bowls with him!"

"Ay, ay, sir," returned the cockswain, who, the instant he witnessed the
effects of his shot, had returned to superintend the reloading of his
gun; "if he holds on half an hour longer, I'll dub him down to our own
size, when we can close, and make an even fight of it."

The drum of the Englishman was now, for the first time, heard rattling
across the waters, and echoing the call to quarters, that had already
proceeded from the Ariel.

"Ay! you have sent him to his guns!" said Barnstable; "we shall now hear
more of it; wake him up, Tom--wake him up."

"We shall start him on end, or put him to sleep altogether, shortly,"
said the deliberate cockswain, who never allowed himself to be at all
hurried, even by his commander. My shot are pretty much like a shoal of
porpoises, and commonly sail in each other's wake. Stand by--heave her
breech forward--so; get out of that, you damned young reprobate, and let
my harpoon alone!"

"What are you at, there, Master Coffin?" cried Barnstable; "are you
tongue-tied?"

"Here's one of the boys skylarking with my harpoon in the lee-scuppers,
and by and by, when I shall want it most, there'll be a no-man's land to
hunt for it in."

"Never mind the boy, Tom; send him aft here to me, and I'll polish his
behavior; give the Englishman some more iron."

"I want the little villain to pass up my cartridges," returned the angry
old seaman; "but if you'll be so good, sir, as to hit him a crack or
two, now and then, as he goes by you to the magazine, the monkey will
learn his manners, and the schooner's work will be all the better done
for it. A young herring-faced monkey! to meddle with a tool ye don't
know the use of. If your parents had spent more of their money on your
edication, and less on your outfit, you'd ha' been a gentleman to what
ye are now."

"Hurrah! Tom, hurrah!" cried Barnstable, a little impatiently; "is your
namesake never to open his throat again!"

"Ay, ay, sir; all ready," grumbled the cockswain; "depress a little; so
--so; a damned young baboon-behaved curmudgeon; overhaul that forward
fall more; stand by with your match--but I'll pay him!--fire!" This was
the actual commencement of the fight; for as the shot of Tom Coffin
traveled, as he had intimated, very much in the same direction, their
enemy found the sport becoming too hot to be endured in silence, and the
report of the second gun from the Ariel was instantly followed by that
of the whole broadside of the Alacrity. The shot of the cutter flew in a
very good direction, but her guns were too light to give them efficiency
at that distance; and as one or two were heard to strike against the
bends of the schooner, and fall back, innocuously, into the water, the
cockswain, whose good-humor became gradually restored as the combat
thickened, remarked with his customary apathy:

"Them count for no more than love-taps--does the Englishman think that
we are firing salutes!"

"Stir him up, Tom! every blow you give him will help to open his eyes,"
cried Barnstable, rubbing his hands with glee, as he witnessed the
success of his efforts to close.

Thus far the cockswain and his crew had the fight, on the part of the
Ariel, altogether to themselves, the men who were stationed at the
smaller and shorter guns standing in perfect idleness by their sides;
but in ten or fifteen minutes the commander of the Alacrity, who had
been staggered by the weight of the shot that had struck him, found that
it was no longer in his power to retreat, if he wished it; when he
decided on the only course that was left for a brave man to pursue, and
steered boldly in such a direction as would soonest bring him in contact
with his enemy, without exposing his vessel to be raked by his fire.
Barnstable watched each movement of his foe with eagle eyes, and when
the vessel had got within a lessened distance, he gave the order for a
general fire to be opened. The action now grew warm and spirited on both
sides. The power of the wind was counteracted by the constant explosion
of the cannon; and, instead of driving rapidly to leeward, a white
canopy of curling smoke hung above the Ariel, or rested on the water,
lingering in her wake, so as to mark the path by which she was
approaching to a closer and still deadlier struggle. The shouts of the
young sailors, as they handled their instruments of death, became more
animated and fierce, while the cockswain pursued his occupation with the
silence and skill of one who labored in a regular vocation. Barnstable
was unusually composed and quiet, maintaining the grave deportment of a
commander on whom rested the fortunes of the contest, at the same time
that his dark eyes were dancing with the fire of suppressed animation.

"Give it them!" he occasionally cried, in a voice that might be heard
amid the bellowing of the cannon; "never mind their cordage, my lads;
drive home their bolts, and make your marks below their ridge-ropes."

In the mean time the Englishman played a manful game.

He had suffered a heavy loss by the distant cannonade, which no metal he
possessed could retort upon his enemy; but he struggled nobly to repair
the error in judgment with which he had begun the contest. The two
vessels gradually drew nigher to each other, until they both entered
into the common cloud created by their fire, which thickened and spread
around them in such a manner as to conceal their dark hulls from the
gaze of the curious and interested spectators on the cliffs. The heavy
reports of the cannon were now mingled with the rattling of muskets and
pistols, and streaks of fire might be seen glancing like flashes of
lightning through the white cloud which enshrouded the combatants; and
many minutes of painful uncertainty followed, before the deeply
interested soldiers, who were gazing at the scene, discovered on whose
banners victory had alighted.

We shall follow the combatants into their misty wreath, and display to
the reader the events as they occurred.

The fire of the Ariel was much the most quick and deadly, both because
she had suffered less, and her men were less exhausted; and the cutter
stood desperately on to decide the combat, after grappling, hand to
hand. Barnstable anticipated her intention and well understood her
commander's reason for adopting this course; but he was not a man to
calculate coolly his advantages, when pride and daring invited him to a
more severe trial. Accordingly, he met the enemy half-way, and, as the
vessels rushed together, the stern of the schooner was secured to the
bows of the cutter, by the joint efforts of both parties. The voice of
the English commander was now plainly to be heard, in the uproar,
calling to his men to follow him.

"Away there, boarders! repel boarders on the starboard quarter!" shouted
Barnstable, through his trumpet.

This was the last order that the gallant young sailor gave with this
instrument; for, as he spoke, he cast it from him, and, seizing his
sabre, flew to the spot where the enemy was about to make his most
desperate effort. The shouts, execrations, and tauntings of the
combatants, now succeeded to the roar of the cannon, which could be used
no longer with effect, though the fight was still maintained with
spirited discharges of the small-arms.

"Sweep him from his decks!" cried the English commander, as he appeared
on his own bulwarks, surrounded by a dozen of his bravest men; "drive
the rebellious dogs into the sea!"

"Away there, marines!" retorted Barnstable, firing his pistol at the
advancing enemy; "leave not a man of them to sup his grog again."

The tremendous and close volley that succeeded this order nearly
accomplished the command of Barnstable to the letter, and the commander
of the Alacrity, perceiving that he stood alone, reluctantly fell back
on the deck of his own vessel, in order to bring on his men once more.

"Board her! graybeards and boys, idlers and all!" shouted Barnstable,
springing in advance of his crew--a powerful arm arrested the movement
of the dauntless seaman, and before he had time to recover himself, he
was drawn violently back to his own vessel by the irresistible grasp of
his cockswain.

"The fellow's in his flurry," said Tom, "and it wouldn't be wise to go
within reach of his flukes; but I'll just step ahead and give him a set
with my harpoon."

Without waiting for a reply, the cockswain reared his tall frame on the
bulwarks, and was in the attitude of stepping on board of his enemy,
when a sea separated the vessels, and he fell with a heavy dash of the
waters into the ocean. As twenty muskets and pistols were discharged at
the instant he appeared, the crew of the Ariel supposed his fall to be
occasioned by his wounds, and were rendered doubly fierce by the sight,
and the cry of their commander to:

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