The Cruise of the "Lively Bee"; Or, A Boy's Adventures in the War of 1812

The marriage of Harry Vernon with the daughter of Colonel Jones was an event of note in Washington society. No matter how quiet the contracting parties wished it to be, the peop...

The breeze ruffled the surface of the water around the _Caroline_, breaking into myriads of little waves, which leaped and danced and sparkled as the last rays of the sun fell u...

"Now coil up y'r nonsense 'bout England's great navy, And take in y'r slack about oak-hearted tars; For frigates as stout, and as gallant crews have we, Or how came their _Maced...

When he was told that Bob was in trouble, he at once deemed it to be his duty and a privilege to go with Vernon and see in what the boy's danger consisted.

Mr. Scarron, who led the song, stopped suddenly, and with a Yankee exclamation, more forcible than polite, declared that he hoped he might go to Davy Jones' locker if his eyes d...

"Where is that brave man who, at the risk of his life, rescued our wounded and our men?" asked Captain Dacres, as he paced the deck of the _Constitution_ with Captain Hull.

"That's true. And many a bet we made as to the amount of prize money we'd receive. You see, your honor, the men who gets most of the fighting, and who have to work the hardest,...

All doubt had ended. The _Regina_, of Torquay, professedly laden with tin, was as well armed as a war vessel, and was either a British privateer or a man-of-war of the second cl...

"The wind Increased at night until it blew a gale; And though 'twas not much to a naval mind, Some landsmen would have looked a little pale. The wind blew still more fresh; as i...

"The flag of our nation is committed to your care," he said. "Never let it be lowered by the hands of slaves or of enemies. Let it float there, as long as one arm can hold a cut...

There were many in that crowd who remembered 1783; there stood the man who, in his boyhood's days, had climbed the flagpole and torn down the Union Jack of England, and in its p...

Captain Carter was mad. He had coveted the fair woman and had stained his soul with crime's dark flood to abduct her from her home and to his ship, and had hoped that, when she...

"Well, sir, I don't know what to say. Our mizzen-mast is gone; our mainmast is gone; and I think, on the whole, you had better report that we have struck our flag."

The _Lively Bee_, privateer, had won the laurels of war, though she had not shared in the prizes, and Captain Vernon saw that the crew were getting somewhat dissatisfied. He cal...

"In with your canvas high, We shall want no sail to fly! Topsail, foresail, spanker and jib-- With the heart of oak in the oaken rib-- Shall serve us to win or die."

But she was fit to be a soldier's wife. Full of patriotic zeal, the overthrow of the British was a subject she rejoiced to hear spoken of; and when her own lover was the hero, h...

The boat was too far away as yet for the men to be recognized by the eye, unaided by a glass, and the questions were given in a loud voice through the speaking horn.

"And, oh; it was glorious and strange to behold, What torrents of fire from her red mouth she threw; And how from her broad wings and sulphurous sides, Hot showers of grapeshot...

"Go, my friend!" said Vernon, as the new captain of the _Lively Bee_ was leaving Baltimore to join the famous privateer--"go, bring back prizes if you can, act with honor, as I...

"You possess a time-honored name, young man, and have spunk to maintain it. Have you forgotten that you were on the _Essex_ when the British boarded her and demanded the surrend...

"Ah! then Could you have seen our men, How they sprung To their work of toil and clamor! How the boarders, with sponge and rammer, And their captains, with cord and hammer, Kept...

The republic was only a few years old, and there were many of the old tories who believed that England would subjugate the new nation, and reduce it to a principality or depende...

On the third day after the capture of the _Alert_, the two young men--for man we must call Farragut, though not one in years--were seated in the _Bee's_ cabin when Tempest whisp...

"Men, our prizes were rich ones. The prize money is here and will be divided. I did not give it to you while in port, for I know what temptations there are, and many of you have...

"'He made me swear.' Who did? 'Make my hair stand on end,' 'put prisoners in irons before night got dark'--really, Bob, your composition is an enigma. 'Bullets may be under the...

Tempest spoke almost angrily, for he had an idea that Bob had acted treacherously, else how would it have been possible for him to have wandered about the gun deck of a well-ord...

For those of our readers who do not understand the expression, we explain that a letter of marque gave permission to the owner of a private vessel to make war on another nation....

One can easily imagine the consternation in that brilliant assembly when Bob, the powder-monkey of the privateer, took upon himself the duties of toastmaster, and asked that dis...

The _Belvidera_ was a swift vessel, but it had to maneuver considerably, for the _Wasp_ was trying to get into the offing to prevent escape, and the _Lively Bee_ was keeping up...

The frigate, when first seen, was about two miles off, and had the _Lively Bee_ been in as good trim as when she left New York, no vessel afloat could have overtaken her.

"Like the fierce bird of Jove the Wasp darted forth, And he the tale told, with amazement and wonder. She hurled on the foe from her flame-spreading arms The firebands of death...

"Captain Decatur, we captured more than you see. The captain of the _Caroline_ had abducted one of the most beautiful American girls I have ever seen. He tried to force her to m...

"No, dear, a thousand times, no. I have loved you because you were so true. Your country is your first love, and were you false to your flag I should even doubt your love for me...

Commodore Rodgers had just heard of the declaration of war, and he was afraid that the order to detain him in the harbor would be signed and delivered to him before he could start.

The Capital had gathered there Her beauty and her chivalry; and bright The lamps shone o'er fair women and brave men; A thousand hearts beat happily; and when Music arose with i...