The Schooner's Revenge by Robert Sutherland

Author:Robert Sutherland [Robert Sutherland ]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781554689279
Publisher: HarperCollins Canada

Chapter Twelve

“There they are! I can see them! They’re coming!”

Those weren’t the words Ben had meant to use if and when he saw the American ships enter the bay. He had rehearsed what he would say, ever since he had been given the telescope and told to keep watch: “Sail ho!” or “Ship ahoy!” or something equally nautical. But in his excitement he had forgotten all about that.

“They’re coming.” He said it softly to himself this time, a sudden tightness in his chest. There were three ships, their topsails jutting above the horizon, taking shape as the morning mists thinned. “They’re coming. The enemy.” He had known they would come, but somehow it hadn’t seemed real, until now.

“Let me see, Ben.” Lieutenant Worsely appeared beside him where he lay beneath the trees on the crest of the spit. Ben handed him the telescope and watched his face as he trained the glass on the horizon. Except for a slight lowering of the eyebrows, there was no sign to indicate his reaction. For only a moment he looked, then he turned to Mr. Livingston, who had come up to join them. Without a word, Mr. Worsely handed him the ‘scope.

Robert Livingston looked through the glass, then lowered it.

“The bigger one, that’ll be the Niagara,” he said, casually. “I’m not sure of the other two. Could very well be the Scorpion and the Tigris. Whatever they are, there’ll be more than thirty guns between them, not to mention five hundred men—sailors and marines. As you mentioned, Mr. Worsely, we’re a little outgunned,”

“We must be realistic, Mr. Livingston.” The lieutenant was scratching his ear. Ben had noticed that he had a habit of doing that when he was disturbed. “Our only chance is that they won’t see us and will assume we’ve gone farther east.” He folded the telescope and shoved it into his wide side pocket. “We won’t use this in case the sun catches it and they see the reflection. I think there’s a good chance we won’t be spotted. I doubt if they will see our masts from the bay. When they go east looking for us, we’ll get away in the dark back to Mackinac. We’ve enough provisions to keep the fort going for another year.”

“But if they do see us, Lieutenant? Or they might come ashore for relaxation. This is a beautiful area, and the beach will be inviting to weary sailors. What then?”

“As I said, we must be realistic.” His voice was grim. “We’ve moved our armament, such as it is, behind our barricade, and we’ll give them our best shot. But—well, I’ll be setting a fuse.” There was a catch in his voice. “If these supplies aren’t going to reach the fort, then at least we’ll make sure the enemy doesn’t get them.”

A fuse! So Lieutenant Worsely was contemplating blowing the Nancy up! Ben looked into his face, but it was expressionless—determinedly so. His first command! How this must hurt! But he gave no sign.

“I must tell Mr.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.