sailor ben's arrival partly drove the new orleans project from my brain. besides, there was just then a certain movement on foot by the centipede club which helped to engross my attention.
pepper whitcomb took the captain's veto philosophically, observing that he thought from the first the governor wouldn't let me go. i don't think pepper was quite honest in that.
but to the subject in hand.
among the few changes that have taken place in rivermouth during the past twenty years there is one which i regret. i lament the removal of all those varnished iron cannon which used to do duty as posts at the corners of streets leading from the river. they were quaintly ornamental, each set upon end with a solid shot soldered into its mouth, and gave to that part of the town a picturesqueness very poorly atoned for by the conventional wooden stakes that have deposed them.
these guns ("old sogers" the boys called them) had their story, like everything else in rivermouth. when that everlasting last war -- the war of 1812, i mean -- came to an end, all the brigs, schooners, and barks fitted out at this port as privateers were as eager to get rid of their useless twelve-pounders and swivels as they had previously been to obtain them. many of the pieces had cost large sums, and now they were little better than so much crude iron -- not so good, in fact, for they were clumsy things to break up and melt over. the government didn't want them; private citizens didn't want them; they were a drug in the market.
but there was one man, ridiculous beyond his generation, who got it into his head that a fortune was to be made out of these same guns. to buy them all, to hold on to them until war was declared again (as he had no doubt it would be in a few months), and then sell out at fabulous prices -- this was the daring idea that addled the pate of silas trefethen, "dealer in e. & w. i. goods and groceries," as the faded sign over his shop-door informed the public.
silas went shrewdly to work, buying up every old cannon he could lay hands on. his back-yard was soon crowded with broken-down gun-carriages, and his barn with guns, like an arsenal. when silas's purpose got wind it was astonishing how valuable that thing became which just now was worth nothing at all.
"ha, ha!" thought silas. "somebody else is tryin' hi git control of the market. but i guess i've got the start of him."
so he went on buying and buying, oftentimes paying double the original price of the article. people in the neighboring towns collected all the worthless ordnance they could find, and sent it by the cart-load to rivermouth.
when his barn was full, silas began piling the rubbish in his cellar, then in his parlor. he mortgaged the stock of his grocery store, mortgaged his house, his barn, his horse, and would have mortgaged himself, if anyone would have taken him as security, in order to carry on the grand speculation. he was a ruined man, and as happy as a lark.
surely poor silas was cracked, like the majority of his own cannon. more or less crazy he must have been always. years before this he purchased an elegant rosewood coffin, and kept it in one of the spare rooms in his residence. he even had his name engraved on the silver-plate, leaving a blank after the word "died."
the blank was filled up in due time, and well it was for silas that he secured so stylish a coffin in his opulent days, for when he died his worldly wealth would not have bought him a pine box, to say nothing of rosewood. he never gave up expecting a war with great britain. hopeful and radiant to the last, his dying words were, england -- war -- few days -- great profits!
it was that sweet old lady, dame jocelyn, who told me the story of silas trefethen; for these things happened long before my day. silas died in 1817.
at trefethen's death his unique collection came under the auctioneer's hammer. some of the larger guns were sold to the town, and planted at the corners of divers streets; others went off to the iron-foundry; the balance, numbering twelve, were dumped down on a deserted wharf at the foot of anchor lane, where, summer after summer, they rested at their ease in the grass and fungi, pelted in autumn by the rain and annually buried by the winter snow. it is with these twelve guns that our story has to deal.
the wharf where they reposed was shut off from the street by a high fence -- a silent dreamy old wharf, covered with strange weeds and mosses. on account of its seclusion and the good fishing it afforded, it was much frequented by us boys.
there we met many an afternoon to throw out our lines, or play leap-frog among the rusty cannon. they were famous fellows in our eyes. what a racket they had made in the heyday of their unchastened youth! what stories they might tell now, if their puffy metallic lips could only speak! once they were lively talkers enough; but there the grim sea-dogs lay, silent and forlorn in spite of all their former growlings.
they always seemed to me like a lot of venerable disabled tars, stretched out on a lawn in front of a hospital, gazing seaward, and mutely lamenting their lost youth.
but once more they were destined to lift up their dolorous voices -- once more ere they keeled over and lay speechless for all time. and this is how it befell.
jack harris, charley marden, harry blake, and myself were fishing off the wharf one afternoon, when a thought flashed upon me like an inspiration.
"i say, boys!" i cried, hauling in my line hand over hand, "i've got something!"
"what does it pull like, youngster?" asked harris, looking down at the taut line and expecting to see a big perch at least.
"o, nothing in the fish way," i returned, laughing; "it's about the old guns."
"what about them?"
"i was thinking what jolly fun it would be to set one of the old sogers on his legs and serve him out a ration of gunpowder."
up came the three lines in a jiffy. an enterprise better suited to the disposition of my companions could not have been proposed.
in a short time we had one of the smaller cannon over on its back and were busy scraping the green rust from the touch-hole. the mould had spiked the gun so effectually, that for a while we fancied we should have to give up our attempt to resuscitate the old soger.
"a long gimlet would clear it out," said charley marden, "if we only had one."
i looked to see if sailor ben's flag was flying at the cabin door, for he always took in the colors when he went off fishing.
"when you want to know if the admiral's aboard, jest cast an eye to the buntin', my hearties," says sailor ben.
sometimes in a jocose mood he called himself the admiral, and i am sure he deserved to be one. the admiral's flag was flying, and i soon procured a gimlet from his carefully kept tool-chest.
before long we had the gun in working order. a newspaper lashed to the end of a lath served as a swab to dust out the bore. jack harris blew through the touch-hole and pronounced all clear.
seeing our task accomplished so easily, we turned our attention to the other guns, which lay in all sorts of postures in the rank grass. borrowing a rope from sailor ben, we managed with immense labor to drag the heavy pieces into position and place a brick under each muzzle to give it the proper elevation. when we beheld them all in a row, like a regular battery, we simultaneously conceived an idea, the magnitude of which struck us dumb for a moment.
our first intention was to load and fire a single gun. how feeble and insignificant was such a plan compared to that which now sent the light dancing into our eyes!
"what could we have been thinking of?" cried jack harris. "we'll give 'em a broadside, to be sure, if we die for it!"
we turned to with a will, and before nightfall had nearly half the battery overhauled and ready for service. to keep the artillery dry we stuffed wads of loose hemp into the muzzles, and fitted wooden pegs to the touch-holes.
at recess the next noon the centipedes met in a corner of the school-yard to talk over the proposed lark. the original projectors, though they would have liked to keep the thing secret, were obliged to make a club matter of it, inasmuch as funds were required for ammunition. there had been no recent drain on the treasury, and the society could well afford to spend a few dollars in so notable an undertaking.
it was unanimously agreed that the plan should be carried out in the handsomest manner, and a subscription to that end was taken on the spot. several of the centipedes hadn't a cent, excepting the one strung around their necks; others, however, were richer. i chanced to have a dollar, and it went into the cap quicker than lightning. when the club, in view of my munificence, voted to name the guns bailey's battery i was prouder than i have ever been since over anything.
the money thus raised, added to that already in the treasury, amounted to nine dollars -- a fortune in those days; but not more than we had use for. this sum was divided into twelve parts, for it would not do for one boy to buy all the powder, nor even for us all to make our purchases at the same place. that would excite suspicion at any time, particularly at a period so remote from the fourth of july.
there were only three stores in town licensed to sell powder; that gave each store four customers. not to run the slightest risk of remark, one boy bought his powder on monday, the next boy on tuesday, and so on until the requisite quantity was in our possession. this we put into a keg and carefully hid in a dry spot on the wharf.
our next step was to finish cleaning the guns, which occupied two afternoons, for several of the old sogers were in a very congested state indeed. having completed the task, we came upon a difficulty. to set off the battery by daylight was out of the question; it must be done at night; it must be done with fuses, for no doubt the neighbors would turn out after the first two or three shots, and it would not pay to be caught in the vicinity.
who knew anything about fuses? who could arrange it so the guns would go off one after the other, with an interval of a minute or so between?
theoretically we knew that a minute fuse lasted a minute; double the quantity, two minutes; but practically we were at a stand-still. there was but one person who could help us in this extremity -- sailor ben. to me was assigned the duty of obtaining what information i could from the ex-gunner, it being left to my discretion whether or not to intrust him with our secret.
so one evening i dropped into the cabin and artfully turned the conversation to fuses in general, and then to particular fuses, but without getting much out of the old boy, who was busy making a twine hammock. finally, i was forced to divulge the whole plot.
the admiral had a sailor's love for a joke, and entered at once and heartily into our scheme. he volunteered to prepare the fuses himself, and i left the labor in his hands, having bound him by several extraordinary oaths -- such as "hope-i-may-die" and "shiver-my-timbers" -- not to betray us, come what would.
this was monday evening. on wednesday the fuses were ready. that night we were to unmuzzle bailey's battery. mr. grimshaw saw that something was wrong somewhere, for we were restless and absent-minded in the classes, and the best of us came to grief before the morning session was over. when mr. grimshaw announced "guy fawkes" as the subject for our next composition, you might have knocked down the mystic twelve with a feather.
the coincidence was certainly curious, but when a man has committed, or is about to commit an offence, a hundred trifles, which would pass unnoticed at another time, seem to point at him with convicting fingers. no doubt guy fawkes himself received many a start after he had got his wicked kegs of gunpowder neatly piled up under the house of lords.
wednesday, as i have mentioned, was a half-holiday, and the centipedes assembled in my barn to decide on the final arrangements. these were as simple as could be. as the fuses were connected, it needed but one person to fire the train. hereupon arose a discussion as to who was the proper person. some argued that i ought to apply the match, the battery being christened after me, and the main idea, moreover, being mine. others advocated the claim of phil adams as the oldest boy. at last we drew lots for the post of honor.
twelve slips of folded paper, upon one of which was written "thou art the man," were placed in a quart measure, and thoroughly shaken; then each member stepped up and lifted out his destiny. at a given signal we opened our billets. "thou art the man," said the slip of paper trembling in my fingers. the sweets and anxieties of a leader were mine the rest of the afternoon.
directly after twilight set in phil adams stole down to the wharf and fixed the fuses to the guns, laying a train of powder from the principal fuse to the fence, through a chink of which i was to drop the match at midnight.
at ten o'clock rivermouth goes to bed. at eleven o'clock rivermouth is as quiet as a country churchyard. at twelve o'clock there is nothing left with which to compare the stillness that broods over the little seaport.
in the midst of this stillness i arose and glided out of the house like a phantom bent on an evil errand; like a phantom. i flitted through the silent street, hardly drawing breath until i knelt down beside the fence at the appointed place.
pausing a moment for my heart to stop thumping, i lighted the match and shielded it with both hands until it was well under way, and then dropped the blazing splinter on the slender thread of gunpowder.
a noiseless flash instantly followed, and all was dark again. i peeped through the crevice in the fence, and saw the main fuse spitting out sparks like a conjurer. assured that the train had not failed, i took to my heels, fearful lest the fuse might burn more rapidly than we calculated, and cause an explosion before i could get home. this, luckily, did not happen. there's a special providence that watches over idiots, drunken men, and boys.
i dodged the ceremony of undressing by plunging into bed, jacket, boots, and all. i am not sure i took off my cap; but i know that i had hardly pulled the coverlid over me, when "boom!" sounded the first gun of bailey's battery.
i lay as still as a mouse. in less than two minutes there was another burst of thunder, and then another. the third gun was a tremendous fellow and fairly shook the house.
the town was waking up. windows were thrown open here and there and people called to each other across the streets asking what that firing was for.
"boom!" went gun number four.
i sprung out of bed and tore off my jacket, for i heard the captain feeling his way along the wall to my chamber. i was half undressed by the time he found the knob of the door.
"i say, sir," i cried, "do you hear those guns?"
"not being deaf, i do," said the captain, a little tartly -- any reflection on his hearing always nettled him; "but what on earth they are for i can't conceive. you had better get up and dress yourself."
"i'm nearly dressed, sir."
"boom! boom!" -- two of the guns had gone off together.
the door of miss abigail's bedroom opened hastily, and that pink of maidenly propriety stepped out into the hail in her night-gown -- the only indecorous thing i ever knew her to do. she held a lighted candle in her hand and looked like a very aged lady macbeth.
"o dan'el, this is dreadful! what do you suppose it means?"
"i really can't suppose," said the captain, rubbing his ear; "but i guess it's over now."
"boom!" said bailey's battery.
rivermouth was wide awake now, and half the male population were in the streets, running different ways, for the firing seemed to proceed from opposite points of the town. everybody waylaid everybody else with questions; but as no one knew what was the occasion of the tumult, people who were not usually nervous began to be oppressed by the mystery.
some thought the town was being bombarded; some thought the world was coming to an end, as the pious and ingenious mr. miller had predicted it would; but those who couldn't form any theory whatever were the most perplexed.
in the meanwhile bailey's battery bellowed away at regular intervals. the greatest confusion reigned everywhere by this time. people with lanterns rushed hither and thither. the town watch had turned out to a man, and marched off, in admirable order, in the wrong direction. discovering their mistake, they retraced their steps, and got down to the wharf just as the last cannon belched forth its lightning.
a dense cloud of sulphurous smoke floated over anchor lane, obscuring the starlight. two or three hundred people, in various stages of excitement, crowded about the upper end of the wharf, not liking to advance farther until they were satisfied that the explosions were over. a board was here and there blown from the fence, and through the openings thus afforded a few of the more daring spirits at length ventured to crawl.
the cause of the racket soon transpired. a suspicion that they had been sold gradually dawned on the rivermouthians. many were exceedingly indignant, and declared that no penalty was severe enough for those concerned in such a prank; others -- and these were the very people who had been terrified nearly out of their wits -- had the assurance to laugh, saying that they knew all along it was only a trick.
the town watch boldly took possession of the ground, and the crowd began to disperse. knots of gossips lingered here and there near the place, indulging in vain surmises as to who the invisible gunners could be.
there was no more noise that night, but many a timid person lay awake expecting a renewal of the mysterious cannonading. the oldest inhabitant refused to go to bed on any terms, but persisted in sitting up in a rocking-chair, with his hat and mittens on, until daybreak.
i thought i should never get to sleep. the moment i drifted off in a doze i fell to laughing and woke myself up. but towards morning slumber overtook me, and i had a series of disagreeable dreams, in one of which i was waited upon by the ghost of silas trefethen with an exorbitant bill for the use of his guns. in another, i was dragged before a court-martial and sentenced by sailor ben, in a frizzled wig and three-cornered cocked hat, to be shot to death by bailey's battery -- a sentence which sailor ben was about to execute with his own hand, when i suddenly opened my eyes and found the sunshine lying pleasantly across my face. i tell you i was glad!
that unaccountable fascination which leads the guilty to hover about the spot where his crime was committed drew me down to the wharf as soon as i was dressed. phil adams, jack harris, and others of the conspirators were already there, examining with a mingled feeling of curiosity and apprehension the havoc accomplished by the battery.
the fence was badly shattered and the ground ploughed up for several yards round the place where the guns formerly lay -- formerly lay, for now they were scattered every which way. there was scarcely a gun that hadn't burst. here was one ripped open from muzzle to breech, and there was another with its mouth blown into the shape of a trumpet. three of the guns had disappeared bodily, but on looking over the edge of the wharf we saw them standing on end in the tide-mud. they had popped overboard in their excitement.
"i tell you what, fellows," whispered phil adams, "it is lucky we didn't try to touch 'em off with punk. they'd have blown us all to finders."
the destruction of bailey's battery was not, unfortunately, the only catastrophe. a fragment of one of the cannon had earned away the chimney of sailor ben's cabin. he was very mad at first, but having prepared the fuse himself he didn't dare complain openly.
"i'd have taken a reef in the blessed stove-pipe," said the admiral, gazing ruefully at the smashed chimney, "if i had known as how the flagship was agoin' to be under fire."
the next day he rigged out an iron funnel, which, being in sections, could be detached and taken in at a moment's notice. on the whole, i think he was resigned to the demolition of his brick chimney. the stove-pipe was a great deal more shipshape.
the town was not so easily appeased. the selectmen determined to make an example of the guilty parties, and offered a reward for their arrest, holding out a promise of pardon to anyone of the offenders who would furnish information against the rest. but there were no faint hearts among the centipedes. suspicion rested for a while on several persons -- on the soldiers at the fort; on a crazy fellow, known about town as "bottle-nose"; and at last on sailor ben.
"shiver my timbers!" cries that deeply injured individual. "do you suppose, sir, as i have lived to sixty year, an' ain't got no more sense than to go for to blaze away at my own upper riggin'? it doesn't stand to reason."
it certainly did not seem probable that mr. watson would maliciously knock over his own chimney, and lawyer hackett, who had the case in hand, 'bowed himself out of the admiral's cabin convinced that the right man had not been discovered.
people living by the sea are always more or less superstitious. stories of spectre ships and mysterious beacons, that lure vessels out of their course and wreck them on unknown reefs, were among the stock legends of rivermouth; and not a few people in the town were ready to attribute the firing of those guns to some supernatural agency. the oldest inhabitant remembered that when he was a boy a dim-looking sort of schooner hove to in the offing one foggy afternoon, fired off a single gun that didn't make any report, and then crumbled to nothing, spar, mast, and hulk, like a piece of burnt paper.
the authorities, however, were of the opinion that human hands had something to do with the explosions, and they resorted to deep-laid stratagems to get hold of the said hands. one of their traps came very near catching us. they artfully caused an old brass fieldpiece to be left on a wharf near the scene of our late operations. nothing in the world but the lack of money to buy powder saved us from falling into the clutches of the two watchmen who lay secreted for a week in a neighboring sail-loft.
it was many a day before the midnight bombardment ceased to be the town-talk. the trick was so audacious and on so grand a scale that nobody thought for an instant of connecting us lads with it. suspicion at length grew weary of lighting on the wrong person, and as conjecture -- like the physicians in the epitaph -- was in vain, the rivermouthians gave up the idea of finding out who had astonished them.
they never did find out, and never will, unless they read this veracious history. if the selectmen are still disposed to punish the malefactors, i can supply lawyer hackett with evidence enough to convict pepper whitcomb, phil adams, charley marden, and the other honorable members of the centipede club. but really i don't think it would pay now.
