We must leave Mr. and Mrs. Campbell and family on board the London
Merchant, and follow Alfred in the Portsmouth, during the passage to
Quebec.
For several days the weather was moderate, although the wind was not
always fair, and the convoy was kept together, and in good order. The
London Merchant was never far away from the Portsmouth, and Alfred
employed a large portion of his time, when he was not keeping his watch,
in keeping his spy-glass upon the vessel, and watching the motions of
his cousins and the rest of the family. On board of the London Merchant
they were similarly occupied, and very often a handkerchief was waved by
way of salute and recognition. At last they arrived off the banks of
Newfoundland, and were shrouded in a heavy fog, the men-of-war
constantly firing guns, to inform the merchant-ships in what direction
they were to steer, and the merchant-vessels of the convoy ringing their
bells, to warn each other, that they might not be run foul of.
The fog lasted two days, and was still continuing when the party on
board the London Merchant, just as they were sitting down to dinner in
the cabin, heard a noise and bustle on deck. Captain Wilson ran hastily
up and found that his vessel had been boarded by a French boat's crew,
who had beaten down the men and taken possession. As there was no help,
all he could do was to go down to the cabin, and inform his passengers
that they were prisoners. The shock of this intelligence was very great,
as may be supposed, but still there was no useless lamentation or
weeping. One thing is certain, that this news quite spoiled their
appetite for their dinner, which, however, was soon dispatched by the
French officer and his men, after the boat had left, and the vessel's
head had been put in an opposite direction.
Captain Wilson, who had returned on deck, came down in about a quarter
of an hour, and informed the party, who were silently brooding over this
sudden change in their prospects, that the wind was very light, and that
he thought the fog was clearing off a little, and that if it did so
before it was dark, he was in great hopes that they should be
recaptured. This intelligence appeared to revive the hopes of Mr. and
Mrs. Campbell, and they were still more encouraged when they heard the
sounds of guns at no very great distance. In a few minutes afterward the
cannonading became very furious, and the Frenchmen who were on board
began to show strong signs of uneasiness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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