Show I I 1I1 lit I i 1 EhIIUL 1 4 It3 Ji 1 1 T A BOY AGAINST A FLEET IIEJ Was a Hero From Heel to Crown and Outwitted the British BY MAURICE THOMPSON T Late in the month of December 17i8 Thomas Inis and his son Rose then Lout 16 years old were on one of the small marsl islands which lie in the i frUh of the Savannah river Savannah t Wa5 then a small town held by the I r t 1 Q TT L it F i 1 l r fr r I t f f 1 f IT AS NOW WOEl EOft DtE LIFE Amfrican army of patriots and the lt of the teyolution was in full prog rs thronghout the colonies From the Information furnished me it ds net appear what 111 Jms rid I n e were doIng on the marsh but they had a sailboat anchored in a creek and R for svme reason Mr Inis tool the boat and returned in it to Savannah leaving f his son alone on the island until her he-r hul come back f Ie seems that Rose had some provisions provi-sions and a gun wherefore I infer it was wildfowl shooting that had f tpmpted the twain down the river At aU events Rose was left alone and his I father had been gone scarcely an hour f when a large English vessel tall l masted and heavily armed appeared in a broad bayou or creek a mile from the island It was one of a strong fleet come to attack Savannah Rose knew as soon as he saw the ship just what it meant and his predicament pre-dicament seemed quite hopeless so far as escaping capture was concerned es 1ecially when a little later there came E a small slooprigged open boat containing con-taining a British officer and five men l which anchored almost where his own beat had lain when his father took itt it-t At this time Rose was on n bit oft of-t hummock land where a line of strag guns trees and bushes grew near a narrow t nar-row tide channel In the marsh Her He-r quickly hid himself and watched while r the officer anti crew came ashore and it soon appeared that they were a part par-t sent from the fleet probably to look for an eligible place upon which tot to-t establish a camp L Doubtless Hose being but a boy exaggerate ex-aggerate his danger and became unduly un-duly excited wrought upon by recol lectlons of stories he had heard of Brlt f ish cruelty to prisoners Still his feelings feel-ings were like prophecy of what was f to happen for when Savannah was Ir taken unarmed citizens were bay r onete In the streets by the brutal soldiers I sol-diers of invasion I Itos was no coward however On I the contrary ho came of a stock whose chief characteristic was the fighting I spirit and he was a patriot from heel ito i-to crown He looked to the priming u t iIs gun examined the edge of the flint I to be sure that it was dUly sharp for he did not mean to be taken without a fight and he even preferred death to capture I Meantime the BrItish party had made a swift survey of the little beach near I the boat Apparently the officer was I not quite satisfied He had perhaps I S seen the tracks made by Mr thIs and Rose and was taking precautions by S carefully reconnoitering Rose quickly foresaw that he would soon be tracked S up and found As his danger grew however his spirit and wit Infreased apace He held his gun ready while he lay In a tuft of scrub palmettos and he thought with lightning swiftness S swift-ness of what he should do when the last emergency came The party of British separated into S two squtds one passing east of Rose the othet to the west of him Evidently the intention was to beat the marsh in a systematic way It would not be long before one or the other squad would come upon the flank of his bitS bit-S of hummock land cross his trail andS I and-S so discover him The time for action of some sort could not be greatly de I layed Rose revolved the situation in his mind never once losing sight of the deliberately advancing soldiers The point where he lay concealed was perhaps the highest part of the little S S island and it gave him a wide view of S marsh lands and breezetossed waters I and wooded isles and distant bluffs of mainland Three war vessels were now S in sight over toward Tbee some miles mnlY What was to be done must be done It was one lone boy against the whole fleet of Commodore Parker IL5 S A truly irave spirit Is never without S adequate resources at a trying time 5 nose Inis caught the one bold chance as it offered It was a dcsDerate sur gesticU and it called for a tremudous snut of energy and a coolness a strength and a daring almost inlDos sible The dIrections taken led the two British scuads farther and farther apart and at the same time farther and farther from the boat which ViUlr sail HaDPing lay close by the shore ofi the creek As it afterward turned out the officer was a toograhical engineer I engI-neer and his actual U11Qse was to i fnd if possible a short route by either land or water to the outer defenses of J Savannah But Rose Inis felt SUre that I he WaS being tracked and now a sud j I dcnly formed 11an of escape took lieS lie-S tlve nossession of his mind With iyat Co moments co2sidcration he seized his gun and ran straight for the British sailboat As he sped along he stooped as much as he could in order I or-der to hub behind clumps of almetto and J3tches of tall marsh grass The alert soldiers soon flaw him however I and the one nearest him yelled for him I to stO1 Instead of obeying the order I I Rose redoubled his effort to reach the I I bc1t I I Bang went the Britons gun and its I I tall sang in the grass close to Roses i legs All the men and the officer now i I gave chase to the flyIng boy who I hen he reached the creek plunged in holding his gun so that the lock was I out of the water and swam to the boat I Out of breath and terribly excited I Rose scrambled aboard first tumbling his gun over the gunwale to the bottom of the boat It was now work for dear life nose was a clever saIlors and knew just how to go at the business in hand He hauled haul-ed In the little anchor and sprang to the sail loosed it grabbed the tiller and bot into the breeze Meantime on came the now thoroughly alarmed officer and men shouting shooting panting gesticulating ges-ticulating The breeze was fresh and favorable It took the sloops san with a vigorous sweep She leaned low and sprang along beautiull Hose had lest his hat and I his hair was all disheveled the Der I sriia ion Jomeel don his face On I came te soldiers and at the waters I edge the lost some time in confused I running Jack and forth Then by order I of their commander thy fell to reloading II I I re-loading their empty guns Every min 1ite i ever second was precious to the Ii I i brave boy S I Fortunately for him army muskets in th6se days were but rude weapons with i i I a very short range Two hundred yards could not be accurately shot over with tlitlin and already the swift little boat was a good hundred yards out and llr ing down the creek to the broad arm of the river nearby Fir cried the officer A vOlley rattled spitefully but not a I bullet struck the heroic boy One yent through the sail two hit the boat Then I the soHllers ran franti ally along the shore untIl they reached imnassable I mud Here they were comp lled to stop and give over the chase Rose knew every waterway in all that I region and seeing the masts of the British fleet he took a course to avoid the vessels But in doinG this he ures cathy sell into a cross channel which lost him the breeze and he had to row for more than a mile I Meantime the firinG had been board on board th fleet and the nearest vessel II ves-sel sailed u and tried to discover the cause It was too late Rose made his I vay to Savannah and was afterward in the thick of the fiht when the town fell into the enemys hands NQr did he give up even then With his father he went away as a privlte in the lIttle patriot army and served untIl the I uc cessIul close of the glorious war iis life was a long and happy one and although al-though he never became a distinguIshed man he enjoyed to the end of his days the esteem and respfct of all who knew him He often told the storr substantially I substan-tially as I have written it MAUnICE THOMPSON I |