Wild was the cheering which answered him from the schooner. Some of the men began to dance, and Sam Prentice yelled:—
"Shake hands, Lyme Avery! I jest knew it'd come! I said so! We're goin' to flail 'em! Our turn's got here!"
Up-na-tan expressed his feelings in whoop after whoop, and Coco's yell was terrific.
"Won't the shore people jump?" said Guert Ten Eyck. "Oh! How I want to get in and tell mother!"
The news-bringer had described the Trenton victory fairly, but he had somewhat exaggerated the results of the severe fight at Princeton. Lord Cornwallis had not reported it in precisely that manner. The boat was now running along with the Noank, however, and the story of Washington's splendid work for liberty was fired into the schooner at short range, wadding and all. A pretty interesting conclusion for it was the account of the manner in which the news had been obtained in New York and carried along the Long Island shore, all the way to New London.
"We had to hug the land close," said the narrator, "but here we are."
"Home! Home!" shouted Captain Avery. "The folks must have this to cheer 'em up. It's the first bit of good news we've had in many a long day. Hurrah for George Washington! God bless him!"
It was an instantly arriving vexation, then, that the brisk breeze and the tide, so favorable for coming out, were not so much so for running in.
The Boxer's captain had also his vexations, for he shortly remarked:—
"There she goes! The boat's with her. We're not to have a chance at her to-day. If I can get at her, I'll sink her! She'll come out again."