Then,
all being quiet, Captain Lane went to his house to sleep and rest.
"He is gone," said Fernando when left alone near the big gun; "gone and
not a word said about Morgianna. What will she say, what will she think,
when she knows it is I who came to defend her?"
Fernando sighed and was very unhappy.
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE SAVING SHOT.
Little or nothing could be done by Captain Stevens that night. His men
were exhausted, and threw themselves down anywhere and everywhere. The
proprietor of the tavern took Fernando, Sukey, Terrence and Lieutenant
Willard of the marines to his house, where they were furnished beds and
slept soundly.
The morning of September 14, 1814, came. Fernando, at his request, was
awakened early, and with Lieutenant Willard went out to examine the fort
and artillery. It was scarcely daylight when they mounted the works and
gazed off the bay. They could not see as far as Duck and Mud Islands,
and sat down upon the gun carriages to await the rising of the sun.
A hundred stalwart Marylanders came from their houses with axes, picks
and shovels, ready to resume work on the redoubt.
"Lieutenant Willard." said Fernando, "your judgment is perhaps better
than mine. Will you give these men direction in regard to the works?"
Lieutenant Willard mounted the earthworks and walked along the entire
line, closely inspecting them and directing the improvement of what was
already quite a formidable fortification.
Pages:
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326