Bennie Ben Cree | Page 6

his idea of the matter.
But whenever I think of those words, "lacrim¾ rerum," they sound to
me as if spoken in my mother's voice, sighing, plaintive, and moving
away from me; or as if she might have meant the same thing in saying,
"The sea's hard on women, very hard."
The wind blew the curtain in so that it wavered in the room. "Lacrim¾
rerum. The sea's hard on women," a kind of sighing sound that moved
far and far away.
It was now come to the latter part of November, and about the middle
of a certain morning I heard Tony calling my name. At my coming he
winked in a manner to make me think he knew all about something,
only that he always winked to show his knowingness, whether he knew
anything or not. He pointed with his thumb to the door of the inn
parlour, where I went in, and found my father sitting with the three
strangers.
Their names, as I came to hear them, were these: the eldest, Captain
Cavarly; the odd-looking one, Dan Morgan; and the third, Mr. Sabre
Calhoun--a curious name, and he was tall and thin, and, like his name,
not to be quickly forgotten. Indeed, he was a man I never understood,
and, seeing that I came to have such chances of knowing him as do not
commonly fall between men, there must have been something odd with
him or with me. He had sandy hair, and grey eyes that seemed very
lively and shrewd.
"I make you acquainted with these gentlemen," said my father, "if the

captain don't mind your hearing his yarn."
"Shuly," said he, with a fine wave of his hand. "Glad to know you."
Mr. Calhoun nodded.
"Why, why," said Mr. Morgan, looking at my red cheeks. "You ain't
got any liver complaint. Well, sir, when I was so old I used to bust the
seams o' my clo'es, an' it hurt my feelins te'ible. I grew like a yellow
punkin, ve'y similar."
The captain went on with the story, which my coming had interrupted.
"Well, sir, then I started for Washington in a hurry, to see the Sec'etary
o' the Navy, an ol' gen'lman from hereabout 'ith a beard like a palm leaf
fan, yes, sir; an' I said to him, 'Sir, this country is fairly leakin 'ith
pat'iotism. Here's parties, that don't wish their names known for private
reasons--say they're Baltimore parties, but they want me to tell you,
'Here's the Octarara in Baltimore docks, small and steady, steam ten
knots, an' here's Cavarly an' Dan Morgan knowin' the coast better'n
Webster's Primer consid'able. Let the Gove'nment commission her, an'
Cavarly an' Dan'll raise the crew an' run her for high an' mighty? An'
there you are, sir.' An' there he was, that ol' gen'lman 'ith the palm leaf
beard, calm as a fish in his natchul element, an' me bustin' 'ith glory.
" 'The Gove'nment doesn't commission privateers,' he says. 'Do I
understand the parties offer this vessel to the Gove'nment? In that
case----' Then I saw of co'se it would have to be all regular, an' quite
right he was though too much like ref'ige'ated fish, an' I inte'upted him.
'The parties wouldn' be satisfied unless Morgan an' I sailed her, bein'
sort of in it ourselves----'
" 'In fact you are the parties,' said he.
"I said, 'Not altogther. But it would be like this, sir. If we offer the
Octarara, an' the Gove'nment puts her in commission, and furnishes
equipments, arms, ammunition, mess, the parties might see it was only
right the Gov'nment should put in its own crew, quite regular,

especially gunners, sir. Sir,' I said, 'I reckon I can take the Octarara into
the back dooryard of Virginia closer'n most, but put it you wanted to
target practice on the back door--I'm no gunner myself.'
" 'Ah,' he says, 'but you're not in the service now. That will of co'se be
necessa'y Well, sir, the Administ'ation appreciates your gen'osity,' he
says. 'You'll convey the Administ'ation's thanks to these myste'ous
parties,' he says, looking extraor'nary calm an' fishy. An' I goes back to
Baltimore feelin' a trifle damp, but still pat'iotic. Well, sir, they're
prompt at that Department, if they are damp. In three days I got orders
to take the Octarara up here to be fitted out an' commissioned an'
manned, an' instead of a family party there won't be but four Baltimore
men aboard her."
"They couldn't have anything that looked like privateering," said my
father, after a pause, "with a lot of Confederate privateers locked up in
the Tombs here for piracy."
"Tha's what I said to Dan. 'Twasn't reason to be sure. Dan wanted the
family party; but he saw reason, an' brought the Octarara up,