“Lieutenant Haines presents his compliments, sir,” I began, “and desires me to say that the British ships are going on down the coast, and in his judgment are seeking a landing-place where we cannot follow them or send down a land force to prevent them.”
“I surmised as much,” answered the Commodore with a smile. “It is what I should do, if I were in charge of those forces. Has Lieutenant Haines gone down the coast to keep watch of them?”
“I beg your pardon, sir,” I replied. “I should have reported that also, and he wishes to know if you have any new orders?”
“Wait a moment,” he directed, “and I will send down to you a day’s rations for the lieutenant and his men. Then you may go over to your own frigate and provision your own boat similarly, and return down the shore. When the enemy have effected a landing, one of your boats may come back to tell me where it has been made. The other may remain to watch the movements of the red-coats.”
“Aye, aye, sir!” I replied and gave my men the order to pull away.
In a short time I had secured the rations, and was on my way to rejoin Lieutenant Haines. It was noon before I overtook him, or rather his boat. I found that pulled on the north side of John’s Island, thirty miles below Charleston, but the lieutenant was not with his men.
“The British are landing on the other side,” the boatswain in charge explained, “and Lieutenant Haines is over there watching them.”
In about an hour he came back.
“Ah!” he said as he caught sight of me, “I thought it was about time for you to be here, and they sent down our rations? I expected it. We’ll have dinner right away, and while eating it I’ll tell you what I have seen.”
Kindling a small fire on the beach, we made some coffee, and were soon stowing away our food with the hearty appetites a keen air had created.