At the
daily rising of this great curtain of nature, at the present time,
scores of white sails and sluggish vessels are seen thickening on the
water, with that air of life which denotes the neighborhood to the
metropolis of a great and flourishing empire; but to Henry and the
peddler it displayed only the square yards and lofty masts of a vessel
of war, riding a few miles below them. Before the fog had begun to move,
the tall spars were seen above it, and from one of them a long pennant
was feebly borne abroad in the current of night air, that still quivered
along the river; but as the smoke arose, the black hull, the crowded and
complicated mass of rigging, and the heavy yards and booms, spreading
their arms afar, were successively brought into view.
"There, Captain Wharton," said the peddler, "there is a safe resting
place for you; America has no arm that can reach you, if you gain the
deck of that ship. She is sent up to cover the foragers, and support the
troops; the rig'lar officers are fond of the sound of cannon from their
shipping."
Without condescending to reply to the sarcasm conveyed in this speech,
or perhaps not noticing it, Henry joyfully acquiesced in the proposal,
and it was accordingly arranged between them, that, as soon as they were
refreshed, he should endeavor to get on board the vessel.
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