Midshipman Farragut . vessels,and so for the third time the men were disappointed—the Essex swung about on her heel and returned to herresting place. And thus it continued as it had been before—wearydays of waiting and nothing done. One night a boat expedition had been organized, andthe men, under cover of the darkness, had approachedclose enough to the British vessels to hear the talk onboard. As it was evident that the crew were lying ontheir arms, the cutting-out party rowed back. Grumbling had now commenced forward in theforecastle. We will leave our bones here, one of the sailorswas overh
Midshipman Farragut . vessels,and so for the third time the men were disappointed—the Essex swung about on her heel and returned to herresting place. And thus it continued as it had been before—wearydays of waiting and nothing done. One night a boat expedition had been organized, andthe men, under cover of the darkness, had approachedclose enough to the British vessels to hear the talk onboard. As it was evident that the crew were lying ontheir arms, the cutting-out party rowed back. Grumbling had now commenced forward in theforecastle. We will leave our bones here, one of the sailorswas overheard to remark. A3e, mates, the war may be over and we not knowit, said another. The midshipmen also caught the feeling of despond-ency, and feared they should never come to action. Butthe prognostication of the foremast hand and the fore-bodings in the steerage were soon to be proved wrong,and the midshipmen of the Essex were to be witnessesand active participants in one of the greatest tragedies ofnaval CHAPTER XVI. MISFORTUNE. News had arrived at Valparaiso that three other ves-sels of war had sailed for the Pacific in pursuit of the marauder, as Captain Porter had been termed. Theirappearance was expected at any moment, and at last, tohis disappointment, the American commander deter-mined that it was useless to try to bring the Phoebeto single combat. The Essex, Jr., was no match for the Cherub, and hedetermined to slip away and escape immediately. Ameeting place was agreed on, where Lieutenant Dovvneswas to join him later, if possible ; and everything wasmade ready to take advantage of a favorable opportunityand get out of the harbor. The 28th of March hadarrived, and it was only the previous evening that thedetermination had been formed to put to sea. The wind had been freshening all the day and hadblown, for the first time in months, what might becalled half a gale. Odenheimer was on the watch. Hewas the oldest of the midshipmen, and had been actinglieutena
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectfarragu, bookyear1902
