The old man went over the rail as he spoke, and I would have followed, but that he said sharply:

"Stay where you are, lad. We ain't dead certain 'bout that yarn, an'

if it's a case of gettin' into trouble, it better be one than two who pays for nosin' 'round a British camp."

Captain Hanaford felt certain the news must be correct, for our informant had the appearance of being an honest man, and nothing could have been gained by spreading such a story.

"We'll cook the best breakfast to be had, by way of rejoicin'," he said, "an' after that's been done all hands shall come into a council of war, to decide if we're to make the venture down the river."

"If the enemy has really evacuated the city, it is reasonable to suppose that the fleet will go back down the bay," I said, thinking myself very wise in such matters. "It strikes me that the way home lies open before us."

My companions were of the same opinion, and a very merry party we were on the oyster pungy that morning as we tried in vain to guess why the enemy had left so suddenly, when there seemed to be nothing to prevent him from taking possession of all the country round about.

Before the feast was ready to be eaten Darius returned, and a single glance at his face was sufficient to show that the good news was true.

"They've gone, an' there's no mistake about it," he announced, as he sprang over the rail lightly as any boy. "I went to the place where the troops were encamped, before bein' willin' to believe they'd turned tail so suddenly. Now I'd like to know if that very friendly gentleman Elias Macomber, has been left behind, or if he followed the force? If he's in this city I could make it mighty interestin' for him."

"Never mind the sneak, Darius!" my father cried. "There is no need for you to punish him, because if the British go away he'll find it very uncomfortable around here, and that's enough to serve the cur out for all he has done."

Darius did not appear to think that Macomber's misdeeds could be atoned so easily; but he kept his opinion to himself, and joined us in what was at the same time a feast of rejoicing and thanksgiving.

Not until the meal was come to an end did we begin the discussion as to how we should get home, and then Captain Hanaford opened the question by asking:

"Now, lads, are we to run up stream into the mud, or take our chances of findin' the British fleet 'twixt here an' the bay?"

Darius immediately proposed that we strike out for the Chesapeake, using the same argument I had, that since the retreat of the soldiers there was little chance the vessels would make any effort at running past Fort Washington.

Bill Jepson, who could not be blamed for feeling a bit nervous at going any nearer a British vessel of war than was absolutely necessary, believed that it would be safer for us to go back to Benedict by land, keeping at a respectful distance in the rear of the enemy; but his plan was not considered, because it would be impossible for my father to travel on foot, and I, at least, was not disposed to part company with him.

We spent a full hour discussing the situation, and then it had been decided that we would run boldly down the river, nearly all of us feeling confident that there were no longer any British vessels to block our way.

There was nothing to delay us in making the start as soon as the river should be clear of the tokens sent by the storm, except Darius' desire to make systematic search for Elias Macomber; but to this all of us objected so strongly that, much against his will, he was forced to give over the idea.

For my part I had seen enough of the British-lover; we had captured him twice, which was our full share of such business, and if we did spend time hunting him down, providing he yet remained in the city, what could we do with the villain? He had forfeited all rights of citizenship in our section of the country, and I had no doubt that wherever he went his sins would find him out. It was better we leave him alone, from whatever standpoint I viewed it.

Captain Hanaford decided that the river would be clear of drift by morning, therefore we were agreed to set sail then, and, as a means of pa.s.sing the time pleasantly, we lads went over to the "stone house" to see how the old sh.e.l.l-backs managed to escape so readily.

We found the building open and abandoned. The enemy had taken the prisoners away, and we were not hindered in going over it thoroughly.

When that inspection was ended, we viewed the ruins in the different parts of the city, paid a visit to the smoke-house, and returned to the pungy late in the afternoon, well satisfied to bring our visit to the capital to the earliest possible close.

On that evening Captain Hanaford brought aboard a surgeon, who cared for my father's wound, and, what was better, declared that he saw no reason why it should not heal speedily, leaving him none the worse for having received it.

We were eager to be under way, as may be supposed, and as soon as the day dawned on the 27th of August, we cast off from the dock, feeling that the good G.o.d had been very kind in permitting us to return to our homes when so many had been left at Bladensburg to fill soldiers'

graves.

It was as if everything favored us at the start of the homeward journey. The river was free from the drift of all kinds which had covered its surface; the wind was blowing gently from the north, and the day gave promise of being clear.

The pungy slipped along as if conscious that she, like ourselves, had escaped from great dangers, and was longing for another cargo of oysters in her hold.

Bill Jepson acted as if he had suddenly lost his senses. He sang the wildest kind of songs, danced two or three hornpipes, and then insisted on Darius joining him, while Jim Freeman furnished the music by whistling fast and furiously. As a matter of fact, all of us, even including my father, were disposed to be exceeding jolly now that we were homeward bound with the belief that the enemy was no longer in a position to annoy us.

We lads talked of the pungy we would buy when the government paid us for the Avenger, and laid many a plan for the future when Jim, his two friends, Jerry, Darius and I would begin oystering again, in a craft capable of carrying three or four times the cargo we had been able to squeeze into the old boat which had been sacrificed at Pig Point.

Then, when it was near noon, we had come within sight of Fort Washington, and as we rounded the bend Captain Hanaford gave vent to an exclamation of surprise and fear, which was echoed by Bill Jepson.

At some considerable distance down the river it was possible to see the upper spars of seven vessels of war which were slowly approaching the fortification from the southward.

"It's the British fleet!" Captain Hanaford cried as he shoved the tiller hard down, thereby swinging the pungy's nose into the mud of the eastern bank. "We were bloomin' fools to think that the enemy had all run away!"

"It's the fleet under Captain Gordon, an' I can tell you just how strong it is," Bill Jepson said as he rubbed his head nervously.

"There are two frigates of thirty-six an' thirty-eight guns; two rocket ships of eighteen guns each, two bomb vessels of eight guns each, an' one schooner carryin' two guns."

"The schooner would be enough to bring us up with a sharp turn, therefore I hold that it don't make any difference how many frigates are behind her," Darius cried. "The question is whether the fort can prevent their comin' up the river?"

No one aboard could say what might be done by those in the fortification, or how strongly it was garrisoned; but later I read the following in one of the newspapers, and will set it down here so that what happened while we were on the river may be the better understood.

"The only obstruction to the pa.s.sage of the fleet on which the Americans might place the least reliance, was Fort Washington, on the Maryland side of the Potomac, about twelve miles below the national capital. It was a feeble fortress, but capable of being made strong.

So early as May 1813, a deputation from Alexandria, Georgetown and Washington waited upon the Secretary of War, and represented the importance of strengthening the post.

"An engineer was sent to examine it. He reported in favor of additional works in the rear, while he believed that the armament of the fort, and its elevated situation, would enable a well-managed garrison to repulse any number of ships of war which might attempt to pa.s.s up the river. Nothing more was done.

"In July, 1814, when a British fleet and army were in the Chesapeake, the authorities of Alexandria again called the attention of the Secretary of War to the feeble condition of Fort Washington. The secretary did not believe the enemy would push for the capital, and nothing was done. The Alexandrians appealed to General Winder, who recommended the strengthening of the post. Three of the banks in Alexandria offered to loan the government fifty thousand dollars for the construction of more defences for the District. The money was accepted, but nothing was done to Fort Washington. When the battle of Bladensburg occurred, and the seat of government was left to the mercy of the invaders, Fort Washington was as feebly armed as ever, and its garrison consisted of only about eighty men, under Captain Samuel T.

Dyson."

CHAPTER XX.

DODGING THE ENEMY.

As I have said, Captain Hanaford shoved his tiller hard over, throwing the pungy around until her nose struck the mud, and it was a question of getting her off the bank in the shortest possible s.p.a.ce of time, unless we were minded to lay there when the action began, for none of us doubted but that an engagement was close at hand.

"It's a case of runnin' back up the river," Bill Jepson said nervously, "An' the sooner we get about it the better."

Darius was not of the same opinion, as was shown when he said, after waiting a moment to learn if any other had an opinion to express:

"I'm willin' to agree that we're bound to put back a bit, so's to be out of the way when the iron begins to fly; but I don't hold that we should run very far off until findin' out how things are goin' to turn."

"You might settle that question after the pungy is afloat," my father said grimly. "Just at present we're in a bad place if there's to be any firing done, and when we're off the mud you'll have plenty of time in which to discuss the situation."

"That's about the size of it," Captain Hanaford added emphatically, and then he ordered us lads into the small boat that we might pull the pungy's bow around.

Any one who has ever run an oysterman such as we have in the Chesapeake, knows that when a craft of that build takes ground ever so lightly, it is not a simple matter to float her, especially when there's no cargo that can be shifted to bring the stern down and the bow up.

We lads worked our prettiest with the paddles after making fast to the vessel's nose, and, finding that we were making no headway, the three able-bodied men began pushing with poles which are kept aboard for such purpose, until she slid slowly into deeper water.