Читать книгу The Captain from Connecticut онлайн

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"I shall send my surgeon on board the Princess Augusta," said Peabody. "I hope he will be able to relieve the wounded."

"Thank you, sir," said the captain.

There came a knock at the cabin door, and Washington opened it.

"It's Mistah O'Brien, sir."

"Tell him to come in."

O'Brien was carrying two small but heavy leather bags, on the fastenings of which dangled leaden seals.

"I brought these over myself, sir. I didn't want to trust 'em to anyone else."

The bags as he set them on the deck gave out the clink of gold; Peabody glanced at the British captain and saw the look of mortification which passed over his face. But now that the discovery had been made the captain took it with the best grace he could.

"Two thousand guineas," he said. "I was hoping you wouldn't find it before we were retaken."

"That's pay for the British Army in Canada," said Peabody. "You were quite right to bring it to me, O'Brien. Are the mail bags still on board?"

"Yes, sir."

Stanton's hint about the chance of the Princess Augusta being retaken no more than echoed what was already in Peabody's mind. It was hard for the United States Navy to take prizes, but it was harder still to profit by them. The rigid blockade off every American port made it extraordinarily difficult to send in captured ships. Peabody's instructions from the Secretary of the Navy, locked in the desk at his elbow, expressly authorised him to destroy prizes--even neutral vessels with contraband--at his discretion. The gold would be far safer on board the Delaware than in charge of a prize crew. But the mails were a different matter. At Washington they might be able to extract valuable information from them. It was worth while trying to send the brig in with the mail bags, even though it meant exposing a prize crew to the risk of capture. He sent O'Brien away with instructions before he turned back to Captain Stanton.