In this emergency Captain Tucker stepped forward and offered to take charge of the vessel. To this Master Morris and the mates readily assented. The new commander’s first act was to assign me to his own position as third mate, and his second to assure the men he would save the vessel, if they would only promptly obey his orders. Then he went to the wheel, and, taking the helm into his own hands, guided the ship all that night through the storm.
His orders, issued from the wheel, were promptly executed by the sailors who had taken on new courage and when dawn came and the tempest abated, there was not a single soul on board but what was ready to own that it was to his skill and knowledge the ship and the crew owed their preservation.
This deed was the link in the chain that secured the fast friendship of Master Morris. Grateful for the saving of his vessel, upon our arrival in port, he introduced Captain Tucker to some of the other members of the Continental Congress, and before he left Philadelphia for home he had the promise of a captain’s commission in the Continental Navy.
Nor was I forgotten. Master Morris spoke a kind word for me, and I was assured that I should have a midshipman’s commission in return for the one I had lost.
CHAPTER VIII
OUR FIRST PRIZE
Our arrival in Marblehead created quite a sensation. Tidings of Captain Tucker’s imprisonment and the confiscation of his vessel had already reached there, while his escape was unknown. His sudden appearance in the streets of the village therefore brought him almost an ovation, and men, women, and even the children crowded around him, hoping to hear how he had escaped the enemy’s hands.
A few of the townspeople remembered my visit to the place several months before in search of the Captain, and when it became known that I had also been thrown into jail for defying the King, I came in for my own share of public attention; so for some days we both knew what it was to be famous.
Then the excitement subsided, and we were permitted to move among the people in a commonplace sort of way, and unmolested to attend to the daily tasks that fell to us. At the Captain’s request I made my home with him while we awaited our commissions, and, save for a brief visit to my native village early in January, I did not leave him.
It was January 20, (1776) when I returned from my visit. As I had only a small bundle with me, I left the stage at the door of the tavern, and started to walk to the house I now called my home. I had gone but a few yards when I heard the clatter of a horse’s hoofs behind me, and, turning, I saw a man in martial costume and adorned with the trappings of rank riding in hot haste towards me.
His coming had already aroused much curiosity on the part of the villagers, for they were gathering at the windows and on the streets and wharves, to gaze at the trooper as he galloped along. He dashed by me, and took the nearest road to Captain Tucker’s residence on Rowland Hill. Suspecting he was a messenger from the Congressional Committee, I quickened my steps and came in sight of the house in time to witness an amusing scene.