Dr. Franklin entered the little house from the garden at the back, mopping his wide forehead, for the day was hot. He advanced toward Mr. Hodge with his hand outstretched and greeted him warmly in his deep musical voice.
“Ah, friend Hodge,” he said, “back so soon? And you have brought some one with you, I see. From our side of the water?” he asked.
“Yes,” returned Mr. Hodge; “at least from the right side of the water. Allow me to present to you, sir, Captain Gustavus Conyngham, late commander of the Charming Peggy.”
“Of Philadelphia, owned by J. M. Nesbit and Company, was she not, and confiscated in Holland?” interjected Dr. Franklin, looking at Conyngham over the tops of his round spectacles.
“The same, sir,” replied the young captain, wondering at the doctor’s knowledge.
“I would that she had managed to get away with her cargo,” continued Dr. Franklin, “and I was distressed and sorrowed that I could not help you. But Holland, I fear, is under the thumb of Great Britain. I could pray again for the days of Van Tromp, but I fear me it is not to be.”
42 As he spoke the doctor motioned the others to be seated and placed himself at one side of a big table, upon which was a chess-board with the men placed upon it, as if they had been left in the midst of playing. As he continued speaking he moved them about from one space to another, as if his thoughts were divided between the subject of conversation and the game.
At first he asked a few questions about Philadelphia, and forestalled Mr. Hodge’s evident attempt to interrupt.
“Ah!” exclaimed the doctor at last, “I have it—it was the knight’s move and a very pretty problem!... Now, Captain Conyngham,” he went on, “you were born in Ireland, but having married a wife in Philadelphia one might say that your better half is American.”
“And seeing that the other is American by adoption also,” returned Conyngham, “although I acknowledge my birthplace and my speech at times betrayeth me, I can claim to be whole American, and I have as little love for England as the best of you.”
“Good,” returned Dr. Franklin, shoving the chessmen off the board; “’tis the proper disposition. And now, Mr. Hodge, I presume you have told Captain Conyngham of the great difficulties with which we are surrounded. And by the way,” he added hurriedly, “you can do a favor for me if you’ll be so kind. I was to meet Mr. Deane at his lodgings at about this hour. Could you act as my emissary? We have need to call on our friends for small services. Will you go to him and inform him that I shall not be able to keep my appointment, but kindly ask him to return with you here, where you will find Captain Conyngham and myself awaiting you?”
Mr. Hodge, although a little perplexed at the request,43 acquiesced immediately, and in a minute or two Franklin and the young captain were alone. The latter waited for the doctor to begin, and he did so by asking a question.
“Are the English smaller vessels better built and faster than those made in France?” he asked.
“By all means,” Conyngham returned; “there is none that can equal the work of the British shipyards, except ourselves, and there I mean Americans,” he added.
“And the Dutchmen?”
“Good seagoing craft, but clumsy,” returned Conyngham.
“Do you think it would be possible, Captain Conyngham, to procure a fast-sailing English cutter or lugger on this side of the water?”
“It would be hard to do so without exciting suspicion.”
“In England you think it would be possible to procure such?”
“Without the least difficulty, in Dover,” Conyngham replied. “That would be my plan,” he added, “and if once we could get her, say to such a port as Dunkirk, I would find the men easily to man her.”
Dr. Franklin arose and began slowly pacing to and fro.
“What do you think would be the best plan to set about the purchase of such a craft?” he asked at last. “Do you think that you could accomplish it yourself?”
“It would be better for some one else to try,” Conyngham replied, “for I am known to many in the English ports. In fact, I might say without boasting that I am a good pilot in both channels. If she were secured by a man who might pass himself off easily as an English merchant44 it could be done without attracting suspicion, and she might be brought over with a French crew to Dunkirk.”
After more talk, in which Captain Conyngham detailed his plans as to armament and outfitting, he came to the subject which hitherto neither had touched upon.
“Of course, Dr. Franklin,” he said, “no one realizes more than I do the danger of such an enterprise, and mark you, sir, it does not appal me, yet I might state that if I were captured, not only I, but the men with me, should meet with short shrift at the hands of the British. We should have few opportunities, after such an event, to serve our country again.”
Franklin paused and smiled. “We shall attend to that,” he said, turning to a large cabinet and unlocking one of the ponderous doors. “And now I shall have to call upon your discretion. There are a great many things nowadays that we have to keep secret even from our friends, but I have here the very instrument that we need in our business.”
As he spoke he drew forth from a large portfolio a printed form and laid it on the table.
“This,” he said, turning it so that Conyngham could read it, “is a commission in the navy of the United Colonies. Thinking that just this sort of a contingency might arise, I armed myself with a few of these papers sent me in America. You see it is signed by John Hancock, as President of Congress, and is attested by William Thompson, at Baltimore, where Congress was in session. It is dated the 1st of March of this year. I have but to fill in your name and the name of your vessel, and you are a full-fledged captain in the navy of the United Colonies45 from the moment. Your name I know, but the craft as yet is unchristened. What shall we call her?”
Conyngham paused a moment.
“You have surprised me, sir,” he said, “and my wits for a moment were wool-gathering, but the name would be an easy matter.”
“And you have suggested it, Captain Conyngham,” returned Franklin, chuckling. “We will call her the Surprise.”
Quickly, as he spoke, he filled in the blank spaces and handed the paper across the table.
“Captain Conyngham,” he said, “I greet you. You will receive such orders as may come through our agents, but one thing I admonish you—be cautious. You are not to venture to attack a seventy-four nor even a sloop of war. There are plenty of small fry about worth the saving. Now,” he went on, “another thing of great importance. Except in case of dire necessity show this commission to no one, not even to Mr. Hodge or our most intimate friends. It is a secret for the nonce between you and myself. You will readily understand the reason that I ask it. It would not only embarrass me just at present, but might embarrass the French Government; and they’re a little bashful just now, so we must consider their feelings. Ah, here come Mr. Hodge and Mr. Deane,” he added, looking out of the window. “Come, we will go out into the garden and sit under the trees, where we can discuss the weather, the fashions, and the ladies, in the open air.”
After the introductions had been gone through, and Captain Conyngham had been presented to Mr. Silas Deane, a short, thick-set, easy-going-looking man of commercial46 aspect, not a word was said about plans or plot, and Franklin wandered from anecdote to anecdote, heading off any attempt to touch upon the subject that was uppermost in all their minds. But just as they were leaving he spoke a few words which disclosed the situation.
“Captain Conyngham,” he said, “has undertaken to execute a commission of great importance and danger, and so, while it may come under discussion at some length in the future, he will need now nothing but our good wishes, and we will drink his health.”
The toast was drunk and the gentlemen arose to take their departure.
“The captain will accompany you to Dunkirk on your return, Mr. Hodge,” said Dr. Franklin, as he bade farewell, “and Mr. Deane will instruct you as to your further procedure.”
Conyngham never forgot the parting pressure of the doctor’s hand.