Then the men fell to shouting once more, jumping and dancing around the deck like a pack of savages, and one of them cried out, in a tone so loud that it could be heard distinctly by all hands:
“Three cheers for the bloomin’ ghost what has brought us into such luck!”
The men laughed, and then cheered until the Britishers on board the Hope must have believed we had entirely lost our heads over their capture.
When the excitement had died away somewhat, Captain Ropes, still facing us near the break of the quarter, said:
“I allow, my lads, that we are a fairly good match for any British sloop-of-war afloat, and while I’m not hankerin’ for a fight which would bring in no dollars on the tail of it, we can afford to take the chances of meeting one of the king’s vessels while we pick up a stray merchantman. We’ll get rid of this prize as soon as may be, an’ then turn our attention to what should, within the next eight an’ forty hours, put us in fair shape to swing the America’s nose toward home. Bo’sun Valpey will choose twelve men as a prize-crew, an’ take charge of the Hope, making for the nearest port north of New York. Stir yourselves lively, my boys, for there’s no time to be lost!”
I question if at that moment a single member of the crew, not excepting Master Joshua, remembered any of the alleged omens which had seemingly threatened disaster to us all.
Every man Jack of them fluttered about with a will, and before another hour was passed a prize-crew had been thrown aboard the captured ship. We had thirty-one additional prisoners in the hold, making eighty-three in all, and the Hope was crowding on all sail with her nose pointing northward.