Taking possession of the Ralph Nickerson did not vary from previous work of this kind.
The commander of the ship, having surrendered when he hauled down his flag, received our men with due submission, and when the boats returned they brought with them thirty-three sailors, the first officer, and the captain, as prisoners.
The sea yet ran high, and it was no slight task to get the Britishers aboard safely, for many of them were so disgruntled and stubborn over being captured as to take the chances of being drowned rather than help themselves in the slightest degree.
John Proctor, our fourth mate, and eleven men were sent on board the Ralph Nickerson as a prize-crew, and such of the enemy’s men as had been left in their own craft already were agreed, in consideration of being set at liberty when port was made, to aid in working the ship.
No more than three hours were thus spent before the captured vessel was under way, steering westward, and the America laid on such a course as it was believed would bring her in the track of the enemy’s merchantmen.
The wounds which the prize had received during the engagement would be attended to on her passage to the United States. While all the injuries might have been speedily repaired had we laid alongside of her so that our crew could aid in the work, Captain Ropes did not consider it wise to remain near at hand, lest a British cruiser should heave in sight, and, on seeing the two ships hove to, understand all that had occurred.
Now that my mind was set at rest concerning what the seamen believed had been a ghostly visitor, I found new cause for alarm.
First, however, let me set down the conclusion which Simon and I arrived at concerning that which had so alarmed our crew.
The fact that one of the prisoners was missing from the brig seemed to us—and from the expression on Captain Ropes’s face I fancied he looked at the matter much the same as we did—conclusive proof that he who was at liberty had played the part of ghost, although how it might have been contrived we did not attempt to explain.
Of course we knew full well that there were no such things as spirits, even though we had been seriously alarmed, and it was not necessary we should reason out the entire scheme in order to say with good certainty that it had been brought about by the Britisher who should at this moment have been in the brig.