Captain John Crane, 1800 - 1815 — Released on Parole
RELEASED ON PAROLE.
--GO TO PORTSMOUTH.
--OLD FRIENDS.
--DECLARATION
OF PEACE.
--RETURN TO AMERICA.
--WEDDING BELLS.
--THE END.
It required the unlocking and opening of several doors to reach the office of the commandant; and at each door the orderly was obliged to exhibit a permit from the commandant for me to accompany him, or rather, for him to be accompanied by "one prisoner."
At the last of the gates the permit was retained by the keeper; there was another gate to be passed to get outside the prison, consequently it would have been impossible for the orderly to set me free had he been inclined to do so.
Captain Shortland did not waste time or words in the interview between us.
"Are you John Crane, captain of the late privateer Marguerite?"
he asked, as soon as I was brought into his presence.
"I am," I answered.
"You are to be released on parole, according to orders from London.
William Haines, your second mate, goes with you."
Then he turned instantly to another orderly, and told him to go for William Haines.
A secretary made out the necessary permit, and the orderly departed.
I waited for him to say something further to me, but speedily found from his manner that he had nothing to say.
Watching till he paused in giving instructions to those about him, I asked if I was to go immediately.
Without looking up from his desk he said,-- "You will leave here very soon."
"In that case I would like to go back to my quarters for a few minutes."
"What do you want to go back for?"
he asked, in a tone almost of vexation.
"I want to pack my trunks and store my furniture," I said; "and also want to say good-by to my comrades."
The absurdity of the first half of my reason for returning seemed to amuse him, for he smiled visibly, in spite of the austerity of his manner.
He knew that I had nothing but the clothes I stood in, and therefore my trunk-packing and storage of furniture were flights of fancy.
He nodded assent, and told his secretary to fill out a permit.
I went back with the orderly, bade farewell to my companions in misfortune, promised to do all I could for them, and then returned to the commandant's office.
I was not permitted to speak to any one but those in my immediate mess, and then only in the presence of the orderly.
On reaching the office I was carefully searched to make sure that I had no letters concealed about me.
When the search was concluded I was told to stand aside and wait orders.
Haines came while I was waiting; he asked permission to go back to say good-by to his companions, but was abruptly refused.
We waited ten or fifteen minutes, and then were required to sign certain papers which set forth the conditions of our parole.
These were made out in triplicate, and one copy was given to me and one to Haines, to remind us of our promise in case we might be tempted to forget it, and also to prove to any officer of his Majesty's service or anybody else who had a right to know, who and what we were.
Then we received the money that was taken from us on our arrival.
Ten minutes later we were escorted out of the office and beyond the prison gates, where a wagon was waiting.
In this wagon we took seats, and immediately set off for Plymouth, rattling along the descending road in fine style.
How different the journey was compared with our toilsome ascent on foot!
We were taken to the office of the commandant of the Citadel, where our papers were examined, and a letter was placed in my hand.
It was from Captain Graham, explaining the delay that had occurred in consequence of his absence in Germany at the time my letter was posted to him.
He had obtained our release on parole, and arranged for our passage to Portsmouth, where he was stationed.
He gave me directions for finding the office at which our passage had been secured, and told us where we could find him when we reached Portsmouth.
We went to the office and ascertained that the packet, a schooner, would leave the next morning for Portsmouth, and we must be on board not later than six bells.
From the office we went straight to The Blue Anchor, and made ourselves known to Joe Waghorn, its proprietor, telling him we had been released on parole.
"All right, mates," said he; "and where's yer papers?"
We showed him our paroles; and as soon as he had read them he said he had something he'd been keeping for us.
The "something" was a box containing my private effects, which had been taken from the Marguerite to the Reindeer at the time of the former's capture, and left in the hands of her commander.
Captain Woods had taken good care of them, and so had Waghorn, as I found everything safe and secure.
What Haines had saved from the wreck was in a canvas sack, and Waghorn told me that the dunnage-bags of the Marguerite's men were stored in a warehouse close by, and could be had whenever the prisoners were liberated.
The Reindeer only remained a few days in port, and had gone to sea again in the hope of using up more American privateers.
In good time the next morning we were on board the Portsmouth packet, which left very promptly with a favoring wind.
What a delight it was to be on the sea again, and how we enjoyed every whiff of the fresh breeze that was blowing!
It seemed to me that years had elapsed since I last sailed the ocean; years of suffering and sorrow; but I was rapidly forgetting them all in the delight of my newly regained liberty.
All day I remained on deck.
When night came and we retired to the cabin I was unable to sleep, so great was the ecstasy of being again afloat and free!
Haines had the same experience.
He explained to me in the morning that he found it so jolly sleeping on board ship again that he had to lie awake to enjoy it.
We sailed up the Solent, which separates the Isle of Wight from the mainland, and entered the roadstead of Spithead, passing the spot where the Royal George went down in 1782. She was a man-of-war, and had been heeled over while undergoing repairs.
While in this position a gust of wind struck her, carrying her so far over that the water rushed in through the port-holes of the depressed side, and filled her rapidly, so that she sank in a few minutes.
Eleven hundred persons were aboard at the time, including the admiral, all the officers and crew, and three hundred women and children.
Two hundred were saved, and all the rest were drowned, including the admiral and nearly all the women and children.
Many of her guns have been fished up, but all attempts to raise the hull have failed.
As we passed the spot where the wreck lies, I thought of the lines of the poet Cowper, which were written shortly after the occurrence:-- "Toll for the brave, The brave that are no more!
All sunk beneath the wave, Fast by their native shore!"
Portsmouth is an important naval and military station of England, and has a splendid harbor, four miles long by three in width, opening upon the magnificent roadstead of Spithead, where a thousand ships of the line could ride at anchor, and find plenty of room.
The dockyards are very extensive; at least, that is what I was told, as we were not permitted to visit them, nor to go about the fortifications, which were jealously guarded against inspection by foreigners.
As soon as we had landed I wrote to the address which Captain Graham had given me, telling of our arrival, and naming the hotel where we were staying, which was one that had been suggested by our friend Waghorn, of The Blue Anchor, at Plymouth.
I sent the letter by a boy who was attached to the hotel; and, two or three hours later, a note came from the captain, telling me he had spoken for lodgings for us at a house in Southsea, the southern suburb of Portsmouth, and advising me to go there at once.
With the aid of the boy we moved to the lodgings, and found them very comfortable, as well as reasonable in price.
Captain Graham was living in Southsea with his family, and the lodgings he had secured for us were less than ten minutes' walk from his house.
He invited me to call there in the evening, and bring Haines with me.
It was with much difficulty that I persuaded the honest fellow to accompany me, as he dreaded the tortures of sitting at table along with what he called "fashionable folks," and even shrank from an hour upon a chair in a parlor!
We went, and were most cordially received.
On my comrade's account I had agreed that the call should be a short one, and I took the opportunity to whisper as much to the captain, while Haines was engaged in conversation with Mrs. Graham and her daughters.
Before we left the house the captain asked if we were in need of anything which he could supply.
Happily I had all the money required for our present wants, and so told him; whereupon he said he wished me to inform him promptly whenever he could be of any service.
Of course I promised to do so, and then the subject was dropped.
I asked his advice as to our movements and conduct, now that we were out on parole.
"I would advise" said he, "that you live here as quietly as you can, at least for the present.
The indications are that the war will not last much longer; our government and people are getting tired of it, thanks to the depredations of your privateers upon our commerce.
We have learned that American sailors can fight just as well as British ones;
and no man of sense in England disparages your navy at the present time, as he was likely to do before the war broke out.
The British loss of merchantmen, of all classes, is fully twenty-three hundred, while the American loss does not exceed five hundred.
Fifty-six British war vessels have been captured, with eight hundred and eighty cannon;
while twenty-five American war vessels with three hundred and fifty guns have been taken by us.
The game is a losing one to the British side, and negotiations for peace are now going on!"
"And the sooner we have it the better for all concerned," I replied.
"No one will hail it more warmly than I shall."
"For one, I shall be very glad of it," said Mrs. Graham, "as I don't like to be obliged to regard you and Mr. Haines as enemies."
"Nor we ain't no enemies, neither, Mrs. Graham," replied Haines, with more self-possession than I had seen him display during the entire evening; "if our countries are clawin' at each other 'tain't no reason why we should fight!"
A few minutes later we took our leave.
Next day we visited a tailor, and procured clothing that was not likely to be remarked as foreign garb, and from that time on we lived very quietly.
I was a frequent, almost a daily, visitor at the house of the Grahams; dined and took tea with them quite often; walked out occasionally with the two girls;
and spent many an hour in their charming little parlor.
Mrs. Graham suggested that I ought to write the story of my adventures to pass away the time; and it was by her prompting that I devoted my forenoons to putting on paper the narrative which is rapidly coming to an end.
Haines amused himself by taking short strolls around Portsmouth and its suburbs of Southsea and Portsea; but he was very cautious about his movements, lest he might be impressed, and taken to serve on one of his Majesty's ships.
On his account I ransacked an old book-store, and bought a supply of sea stories and other reading matter, with which he whiled away a good many hours.
He never ventured out at night, but haunted the smoking-room of our lodging-house, where he was a general favorite on account of his facility at spinning yarns, of which the majority were of other material than the pure, unadulterated wool of truth.
One morning he went out for his usual promenade, leaving me busy in my room with my writing.
He came back fully an hour before his accustomed time, rushing into my room, very red in the face, and puffing considerably from having walked with much more than ordinary rapidity.
He dropped into a chair, ejaculating as he did so,-- "Shiver my timbers, Captain, but there's big news!"
"What is it?"
I asked, as I ceased writing and placed my pen on the table.
"What is it!
Well, the news is the two countries have made peace; and you and me won't be the enemies of the Grahams no more."
"The captain was correct in his predictions," I replied, "when he said the war would not last much longer.
We'll have a chance to go home now;
and the first thing to look after is the liberation of the crew of the Marguerite.
I'll go at once to the Grahams' and ascertain if the news is well founded, or only a rumor."
"Seems to me it has a good foundation," said Haines, "as they've got a big placard up in front of the post-office, saying there's peace between Great Britain and the United States!
I heard a feller say it came down by semaphore from London.
The semaphore was a-workin' at a lively rate; but, of course, I don't know nothin' more about it than a cat does about boxin' the compass!"
