Defending the Island: A story of Bar Harbor in 1758Otis, James
History
Defending the Island: A story of Bar Harbor in 1758
Otis, James
Mount Desert Island (Me.) -- History -- Colonial period, ca. 1600-1775 -- Juvenile fiction
The storm subsided at sunset; the clouds disappeared, and the first
night after the besieged were turned jailers was as calm and
peaceful as if the harmony of nature had never been disturbed by the
clash of arms.
Luke remained on duty until about ten o'clock in the evening, when
Susan took his place, and shortly after midnight Mark took his turn
at guarding the prisoners.
The Frenchmen had shown no signs of a disposition to do other than
as they were commanded; but Mark would not put faith in them, and
kept his watch as if knowing they had already formed a plan for
capturing those who succored them.
The lad paced to and fro in front of the dwelling, looking in upon
the men every five minutes, until a new day had come, and then as he
gazed across the waters watching for the sun to rise, he saw the
dingy canvas of the _Future Hopes_, glistening like silver in the
early light.
The fresh breeze was bearing the little vessel swiftly on, and
before any inmate of the Pemberton house was astir, she swung to her
anchor close inside the harbor, while the two men listened to the
story which Mark had to tell.
The fishermen had not been able to gain a shelter when the storm
burst upon them, therefore the _Future Hopes_ scudded before the
wind during the four and twenty hours, which explained why she had
arrived so much sooner than had been expected.
It would be a labor of love to follow the fortunes of these two
families who, in 1758, defended the Island of Mount Desert so
bravely against the combined attacks of French and Indians; but
historians make no further mention of them, after setting forth in
the fewest possible words their deeds, therefore this tale must
perforce come to an end.
We do know, however, from the records of Pemaquid, that Masters
Pemberton and Harding carried to the fort eight Frenchmen as
prisoners, and that the authorities of Massachusetts took them in
charge several weeks later.
It is also known that in 1769 one Mark Pemberton, with his wife
Susan, settled on Penobscot Bay near where the town of Camden now
stands, and it is reasonable to infer that this man was the same
who, aided by Susan Harding, so bravely defended the island.
THE END.
[Transcriber's Notes:]
Here are all the misspelled words, odd usages and other things of
note that I have found.
The word "defence", as it is spelled throughout, is time period
spelling.
1. This paragraph is accurate to the book. It could read like this:
"...otherwise the defences would not be being strengthened when the
boys should have been making ready...".
2. The words "any one" appear to be time period usage. It is used
twice.
3. The original does use the word "then" though it should probably
be "when": "...relieved from guard duty, and when the gate had been
closed..."
4. The original does use the word "and": "...the gate was barred on
the inside, and Mary Pemberton standing close beside it..."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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