Part 26 (1/2)
”A countryman to be proud of,” remarked Mr. Lilburn.
”Oh, I wish I could have seen him!” exclaimed Grace. ”Papa, wasn't he a Christian man?”
”I think so, daughter,” replied the captain. ”He is said to have had a strong religious nature and a firm reliance upon Providence, believing in G.o.d's constant guidance.”
”Do you remember,” said Grandma Elsie, ”those lines of Oliver Wendell Holmes' written in honor of Admiral Farragut, and read at a dinner given him, in which this pa.s.sage occurs?
”Fast, fast are lessening in the light The names of high renown, Van Tromp's proud besom pales from sight, Old _Benbow's_ half hull down.
”Scarce one tall frigate walks the sea, Or skirts the safer sh.o.r.es, Of all that bore to victory Our stout old commodores.
”Hull, Bainbridge, Porter--where are they?
The answering billows roll, Still bright in memory's sunset ray, G.o.d rest each gallant soul!
”A brighter name must dim their light, With more than noontide ray: The Viking of the river fight, The Conqueror of the bay.
”I give the name that fits him best-- Ay, better than his own-- The Sea-King of the sovereign West, Who made his mast a throne.”
”A fine poem indeed, and with a subject worthy of all its praise,”
remarked Cousin Ronald, as Mrs. Travilla ceased. ”No wonder you are proud of him, cousins, for he was, as I said a moment since, one to be proud of; I should be proud indeed of him were he a countryman of mine.”
”As each one of us--his countrymen and women--certainly is,” said Mr.
Dinsmore.
There was a silence of a few moments, presently broken by the captain.
”Yes,” he said, ”I think there are few, if any, of his countrymen, who are not proud of our grand naval hero, Farragut; and there were others among our naval heroes of that day, almost, if not quite, as worthy of our affectionate admiration. Captain, afterward Admiral, Bailey, for instance, who was second in command at the taking of New Orleans, leading, in the _Cayuga_, the right column of the fleet of government vessels in the pa.s.sage of Forts St. Philip and Jackson, the capture of the Chalmette batteries and the city.
”As you probably remember, he pa.s.sed up ahead of the fleet, through the fire of the forts, the Confederate vessels, the rams, fire-rafts, blazing cotton bales, and dense clouds of smoke, meeting the attacks of all unaided.
”Also it was he who was sent by Farragut in company with only one other man, Lieutenant George H. Perkins, to demand the surrender of the city, the taking down of the Confederate flag, and the hoisting in its stead of the Stars and Stripes.
”It certainly required no small amount of courage to pa.s.s through those city streets surrounded by a hooting, yelling, cursing crowd, threatening them with drawn pistols and other weapons.
”And who can fail to admire the words of Bailey, in his official report of the victory: 'It was a contest of iron hearts in wooden s.h.i.+ps against iron-clads with iron beaks--and the iron hearts won?'
”And not less admirable was his modest behavior at a dinner given him at the Astor House, when called upon to reply to the toast of 'The Navy.'”
”Ah, what was that, sir?” asked Mr. Lilburn, p.r.i.c.king up his ears.
”I was reading an account of it only the other day,” pursued Captain Raymond. ”The old hero straightened himself up, and began, 'Mr.
President and gentlemen--hem--thank ye.' Then made a long pause, glancing up and down the table. 'Well, I suppose you want to hear about that New Orleans affair?' he continued. At that there were cries of 'Yes! yes!' and a great stamping of feet. So Bailey went on; 'Well, d'ye see, this was the way of it. We were lying down the river below the forts, and Farragut, he--he signalled us to go in and take 'em. Being as we were already hove short, it didn't take much time to get under way, so that wasn't so much of a job as ye seem to think. And then the engineers, they ran the s.h.i.+ps, so all we had to do was to blaze away when we got up to the forts, and take 'em, according to orders. That's just all there was about it.' And he sat down amid thunders of applause.”
”Ah ha, um h'm, ah ha! a nice, modest fellow he must have been,”
remarked Cousin Ronald, nodding reflectively, over his cane.
The call to tea interrupted the conversation, but on leaving the table all gathered upon the deck again to watch the sunset, the rising of the moon, and for the forts, Morgan and Gaines, which they were now rapidly nearing, and upon which all gazed with interest as the captain pointed them out and the vessel steamed slowly past.