“About fifteen miles by the coast, and six miles by land. But I say, boys,” continued the man, coming down to the wharf, “what boat is that?”
“The Dreadnought, from New Bedford,” answered Rich, with a wink at his companions.
“What are you doing so far from home?”
“O, just taking a sail, for the fun of the thing.”
The man, looking at the deserters with a comical expression on his face, continued:
“Perhaps that’s the truth, and then, perhaps, it isn’t. That sloop is the Swallow, and there was a tug here this morning after you. O, you can’t fool me,” he added, with a laugh, noticing that some of the boys opened their eyes, as if very much astonished. “I know all about it.”
“Jump ashore and cast off that line,” said Captain Harding, turning to one of his crew. “We had better get away from here.”
“O, you needn’t be afraid of me,” said the man. “I’m not going to trouble you. Besides, I would advise you to remain here until evening, for if you go to Edgartown now, you’ll certainly be captured.”
Some of the deserters were rather suspicious of the farmer, while others thought he looked like an “honest old chap,” and that he had no idea of attempting to detain them. However, they had nothing to fear from him, even if he proved himself to be an enemy; so, after a short consultation, they decided to remain at his wharf, at least long enough to take on board a supply of fresh water. Rich and his friends were strongly in favor of this, for they were impatient for an opportunity to put their plans into execution. After the deserters had got ashore, and talked a few moments longer with the farmer, they discovered that he was disposed to be friendly toward them, for he told them all about the intended movements of their pursuers, as far as he had been able to learn them. He said that there were no less than three steamers after them, and that the one which had left his wharf at daylight that morning, was loaded with students, who had authority from the principal of the academy to arrest the deserters wherever they found them. Some of the young soldiers had expressed the hope that they wouldn’t catch the runaways for two weeks, as they were having a jolly cruise on the tug, and wished to continue it as long as possible. The rightful captain of the Swallow was also on the tug, and, unlike the students, he was impatient to capture the deserters as soon as possible. He was astonished at the recklessness displayed by a “lot of green boys,” in putting to sea in a boat, without “knowing the first thing about seamanship or navigation,” and predicted that nothing more would ever be seen of the sloop or of her crew. The farmer then went on to say that the last exploit of the Night-hawks had caused great excitement among the citizens of Newport. The manner in which they had effected their escape from the academy astonished every one, and was the general topic of conversation. Mr. Newcombe, not being satisfied with what he had already done, was to send out two more tugs that morning; and, in all probability, the deserters would soon find the islands about Buzzard’s Bay very unsafe. After telling them this much, the farmer thought it a good opportunity to give the boys some advice. He assured the deserters that what they had done would win them no honor, and urged them to return to Newport immediately, and endeavor to make some amends for their misconduct by renewed attention to their duties.