JAMES FENIMORE COOPER (1789-1851)

At the close of the Revolutionary war the father of J. Fenimore Cooper joined the westward movement of the time and took up a vast tract of land on what was then the wild frontier at the headwaters of the Susquehanna in the state of New York. Here on the shores of Lake Otsego he built in 1786 a manor house in southern plantation fashion, the center of a little selfdependent community, and here he ruled with a kind of feudal authority for the rest of his life. It was no common home: distinguished visitors frequented it. The French statesman Tallyrand made it his headquarters for a time, and many prominent British travelers at one time or another were entertained under its hospitable roof. It was the center of a picturesque area of society. Indians and frontiersmen used it as a trading post, and every element of the wild life of the border surged constantly about it. A marvelous place it was for an impressionable boy, a unique training school for a young novelist. The boy Cooper came at the moment when the old régime was passing away and he saw the full glory of the primitive forests and the wild life that surged about the lakes. He accompanied trappers and Indians on trips into the woods and he listened night after night to their savage tales.

His father, however, had ambitious plans for the boy. He had him tutored carefully in Latin and Greek and had him ready at thirteen to enter Yale. The lad was too young to send to college. He wanted to play, and his free-aired childhood had made him impatient of restraint. Before he was sixteen the college had dismissed him for his pranks. The sea had laid hold of his imagination: he wanted to join the navy. Gaining his father's consent, he qualified by a year in a sailing vessel before the mast and in 1808 became a regular midshipman in the United States service. He served until 1811 when he was given an honorable discharge. He married at twenty-one and the rest of his life he spent unadventurously in the quiet of his peaceful home either in New York or in quarters abroad.

His literary career began in 1820 with Precaution, a dull domestic novel which he had written almost by accident as a protest against the insufferable English fiction that he had been compelled to read. The next year he produced The Spy with material and scenes with which he was familiar and all at once he awoke to find himself famous. The Pioneers, 1823, and The Pilot, 1823, especially the latter, established him as a novelist, and when in 1826, after issuing The Last of the Mohicans, he sailed with his family for Europe, his popularity had reached the highest point. During the seven years he spent in Europe he wrote continuously: tales of the sea, Indian stories, historical romances. European historical novels after the pattern of Scott, and defenses of his native land. Then, returning to America, he became engaged in bitter controversy with his countrymen. He wrote novels criticising American manners as contrasted with European manners, he prepared a history of the United States navy which made him enemies, and he began to prosecute vigorously all critics and papers which in his estimation libeled him. Little that he wrote during his last years ranks with his best work. In his thirty-two novels there is much that need not be read. One may ignore almost two-thirds of his entire set of books. Among his best stories are the five Leather-Stocking Tales: The Deerslayer, The Last of the Mohicans, The Pathfinder, The Pioneers, and The Prairie; five sea tales: The Pilot, The Red Rover, The Water Witch, The Two Admirals, and Wing and Wing; and two or three others, notably The Spy, Lionel Lincoln, and Satanstoe. The best life of Cooper is Lounsbury's in The American Men of Letters Series.

THE PILOT

CHAPTER XVIII

'Thus guided on their course they bore,
Until they neared the mainland shore;
When frequent on the hollow blast,
Wild shouts of merriment were cast.'

Lord of the Isles.

The joyful shouts and hearty cheers of the Ariel's crew continued for some time after her commander had reached her deck. Barnstable answered the congrat5 ulations of his officers by cordial shakes of the hand; and after waiting for the ebullition of delight among the seamen to subside a little, he beckoned with an air of authority for silence.

5

I thank you, my lads, for your goodwill,' he said, when all were gathered around him in deep attention: they have given us a tough chase, and if you had left us another mile to go, we had been lost. That fellow is a king's cutter; and though his disposition to run to leeward is a good deal mollified, yet he shows signs of fight. At any rate, he is stripping off some of his clothes, which looks as if he 10 were game. Luckily for us, Captain Manual has taken all the marines ashore with him (though what he has done with them or himself, is a mystery), or we should have had our decks lumbered with live 15 cattle; but, as it is, we have a good working breeze, tolerably smooth water, and a dead match! There is a sort of national obligation on us to whip that fellow; and therefore, without more words 20 about the matter, let us turn to and do it, that we may get our breakfasts.'

To this specimen of marine eloquence the crew cheered as usual, the young men burning for the combat, and the few old 25 sailors who belonged to the schooner shaking their heads with infinite satisfaction, and swearing by sundry strange oaths that their captain 'could talk, when there was need of such a thing, like the best 30 dictionary that ever was launched.'

During this short harangue, and the subsequent comments, the Ariel had been kept under a cloud of canvas, as near to the wind as she could lie; and as this was 35 her best sailing, she had stretched swiftly. out from the land to a distance whence the cliffs, and the soldiers who were spread along their summits, became plainly visible. Barnstable turned his 40 glass repeatedly, from the cutter to the shore, as different feelings predominated in his breast, before he again spoke.

'If Mr. Griffith is stowed away among those rocks,' he at length said, he shall 45 see as pretty an argument discussed, in as few words, as he ever listened to, provided the gentlemen in yonder cutter have not changed their minds as to the road they intend to journey—what think you, 50 Mr. Merry?'

'I wish with all my heart and soul, sir,' returned the fearless boy, that Mr. Griffith was safe aboard us; it seems the country is alarmed, and God knows what 55 will happen if he is taken! As to the fellow to windward, he 'll find it easier to Ideal with the Ariel's boat than with her

mother; but he carries a broad sail; I question if he means to show play.'

'Never doubt him, boy,' said Barnstable, he is working off the shore, like a man of sense, and besides, he has his spectacles on, trying to make out what tribe of Yankee Indians we belong to. You'll see him come to the wind presently, and send a few pieces of iron down this way, by way of letting us know where to find him. Much as I like your first lieutenant, Mr. Merry, I would rather leave him on the land this day, than see him on my decks. I want no fighting captain to work this boat for me! But tell the drummer, sir, to beat to quarters.'

The boy, who was staggering under the weight of his melodious instrument, had been expecting this command, and without waiting for the midshipman to communicate the order, he commenced that short rub-a-dub air, that will at any time rouse a thousand men from the deepest sleep, and cause them to fly to their means of offense with a common soul. The crew of the Ariel had been collected in groups, studying the appearance of the enemy, cracking their jokes, and waiting only for this usual order to repair to the guns; and at the first tap of the drum, they spread with steadiness to the different parts of the little vessel, where their various duties called them. The cannon were surrounded by small parties of vigorous and athletic young men; the few marines were drawn up in array with muskets; the officers appeared in their boarding-caps, with pistols stuck in their belts, and naked sabers in their hands. Barnstable paced his little quarter-deck with a firm tread, dangling a speaking-trumpet by its lanyard on his forefinger, or occasionally applying the glass to his eye, which, when not in use, was placed under one arm, while his sword was resting against the foot of the mainmast; a pair of heavy ship's pistols were thrust into his belt also; and piles of muskets, boarding-pikes, and naked sabers were placed on different parts of the deck. The laugh of the seamen was heard no longer; and those who spoke uttered their thoughts only in low and indistinct whispers.

The English cutter held her way from the land until she got an offing of more than two miles, when she reduced her sails to a yet smaller number; and heaving into the wind, she fired a gun in a direction

opposite to that which pointed to the Ariel.

'Now I would wager a quintal of codfish, Master Coffin,' said Barnstable, ' against the best cask of pórter that was ever brewed in England, that fellow believes a Yankee schooner can fly in the wind's eye! If he wishes to speak to us, why don't he give his cutter a little sheet and come down?'

-though I hate a noisy chase; speak to him, Tom, and let us see if he will answer.'

'Aye, aye, sir,' cried the cockswain, 5 sinking his body in such a manner as to let his head fall to a level with the cannon that he controlled, when, after divers orders, and sundry movements to govern the direction of the piece, he applied a match, 10 with a rapid motion, to the priming. An immense body of white smoke rushed from the muzzle of the cannon, followed by a sheet of vivid fire, until, losing its power, it yielded to the wind, and as it 15 rose from the water, spread like a cloud, and, passing through the masts of the schooner, was driven far to leeward, and soon blended in the mists which were swiftly scudding before the fresh breezes of the ocean.

The cockswain had made his arrangements for the combat with much more method and philosophy than any other man in the vessel. When the drum beat to quarters, he threw aside his jacket, vest, and shirt, with as little hesitation as if he stood under an American sun, and with all the discretion of a man who had engaged in an undertaking that required the free use of his utmost powers. As he 20 was known to be a privileged individual in the Ariel, and one whose opinions, in all matters of seamanship, were regarded as oracles by the crew, and were listened to by his commander with no little demon- 25 stration of respect, the question excited no surprise. He was standing at the breech of his long gun, with his brawny arms folded on a breast that had been turned to the color of blood by long ex- 30 posure, his grizzled locks fluttering in the breeze, and his tall form towering far above the heads of all near him.

but 35

'He hugs the wind, sir, as if it was his sweetheart,' was his answer; he'll let go his hold soon; and if he don't, we can find a way to make him fall to leeward.'

'Keep a good full!' cried the commander, in a stern voice: and let the 40 vessel go through the water. That fellow walks well, long Tom; but we are too much for him on a bowline; though, if he continue to draw ahead in this manner, it will be night before we can get along- 45 side him.'

'Aye, aye, sir,' returned the cockswain; 'them cutters carries a press of canvas when they seem to have but little; their gaffs are all the same as young booms, 50 and spread a broad head to their mainsails. But it's no hard matter to knock a few cloths out of their bolt-ropes, when she will both drop astarn and to leeward.'

'I believe there is good sense in your scheme this time,' said Barnstable; for I am anxious about the frigate's people

were

Although many curious eyes watching this beautiful sight from the cliffs, there was too little of novelty in the exhibition to attract a single look of the crew of the schooner, from the more important examination of the effect of the shot on their enemy. Barnstable sprung lightly on a gun, and watched the instant when the ball would strike, with keen interest, while long Tom threw himself aside from the line of the smoke with a similar intention; holding one of his long arms extended towards his namesake, with a finger on the vent, and supporting his frame by placing the hand of the other on the deck, as his eyes glanced through an opposite port-hole, in an attitude that most men might have despaired of imitating with success.

There go the chips!' cried Barnstable. 'Bravo! Master Coffin, you never planted iron in the ribs of an Englishman with more judgment: Let him have another piece of it; and if he like the sport, we 'll play a game of long bowls with him!'

Aye, ave, sir.' returned the cockswain, who, the instant he witnessed the effects of his shot, had returned to superintend the reloading of his gun; if he holds on half an hour longer, I'll dub him down to our own size, when we can close, and make an even fight of it.'

The drum of the Englishman was now for the first time heard rattling across the 55 waters, and echoing the call to quarters that had already proceeded from the Ariel.

'Ah! you have sent him to his guns!'

said Barnstable; we shall now hear more of it; wake him up, Tom- wake him up.'

two were heard to strike against the bends of the schooner, and fall back, innocuously, into the water, the cockswain, whose good-humor became gradually re5 stored as the combat thickened, remarked with his customary apathy:

· Them count for no more than lovetaps does the Englishman think that we are firing salutes!'

We shall start him on end, or put him to sleep altogether, shortly,' said the deliberate cockswain, who never allowed himself to be at all hurried, even by his commander. My shot are pretty much like a shoal of porpoises, and commonly sail in each other's wake. Stand by 10 Stir him up, Tom! every blow you heave her breech forward — so; get out of that, you damned young reprobate, and let my harpoon alone!'

'What are you at, there, Master Coffin?' cried Barnstable; are you tongue- 15 tied?'

Here's one of the boys skylarking with my harpoon in the lee-scuppers, and by-and-by, when I shall want it most, there'll be a no-man's-land to hunt for 20 it in.'

Never mind the boy, Tom; send him aft here to me and I'll polish his behavior; give the Englishman some more iron.'

give him will help to open his eyes,' cried Barnstable, rubbing his hands with glee, as he witnessed the success of his efforts to close.

Thus far the cockswain and his crew had the fight, on the part of the Ariel, altogether to themselves, the men who were stationed at the smaller and shorter guns standing in perfect idleness by their sides; but in ten or fifteen minutes the commander of the Alacrity, who had been staggered by the weight of the shot that had struck him, found that it was no longer in his power to retreat, if he wished 25 it; when he decided on the only course that was left for a brave man to pursue, and steered boldly in such a direction as would soonest bring him in contact with his enemy, without exposing his vessel to be raked by his fire. Barnstable watched each movement of his foe with eagle eyes, and when the vessel had got within a lessened distance, he gave the order for a general fire to be opened. The action now grew warm and spirited on both sides. The power of the wind was counteracted by the constant explosion of the cannon; and, instead of driving rapidly to leeward, a white canopy

'I want the little villain to pass up my cartridges,' returned the angry old seaman; but if you 'll be so good, sir, as to hit him a crack or two, now and then, as he goes by you to the magazine, the 30 monkey will learn his manners and the schooner's work will be all the better done for it. A young herring-faced monkey! to meddle with a tool ye don't know the use of. If your parents had 35 spent more of their money on your edication, and less on your outfit, you'd ha' been a gentleman to what ye are now.'

'Hurrah! Tom, hurrah!' cried Barnstable, a little impatiently; is your name- 40 of curling smoke hung above the Ariel,

sake never to open his throat again!'

'Aye, aye, sir; all ready,' grumbled the cockswain; depress a little; so-so; a damned young baboon-behaved curmudgeon; overhaul that forward fall more; 45 stand by with your match - but I'll pay him!fire! This was the actual commencement of the fight for as the shot of Tom Coffin traveled, as he had intimated, very much in the same direction, their 50 enemy found the sport becoming too hot to be endured in silence, and the report of the second gun from the Ariel was instantly followed by that of the whole broadside of the Alacrity. The shot of 55 the cutter flew in a very good direction, but her guns were too light to give them efficiency at that distance; and as one or

or rested on the water, lingering in her wake, so as to mark the path by which she was approaching to a closer and still deadlier struggle. The shouts of the young sailors, as they handled their instruments of death, became more animated and fierce, while the cockswain pursued his occupation with the silence and skill of one who labored in a regular vocation. Barnstable was unusually composed and quiet, maintaining the grave deportment of a commander on whom rested the fortunes of the contest, at the same time that his dark eyes were dancing with the fire of suppressed animation.

'Give it them!' he occasionally cried, in a voice that might be heard amid the bellowing of the cannon; never mind