For the freedom of the sea Author:Cyrus Townsend Brady Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: CHAPTER II A Wager of Battle SUPPER was over, the sun was not yet set, and all the members of the house party were out of doors in the pleasant evening weath... more »er. Old Colonel Barrett, a soldier of the Revolution, and Sir James Heathcote, engaged in earnest conversation, were sitting near the end of the long, lofty porch, which extended across the front of the building, and rose to the height of the roof. Two officers, one a very tall, thin, melancholy looking man, in the uniform of the British Navy, the other wearing an American Naval uniform, and as short and stout as his companion was long and slender, were walking slowly down the gravelled walk toward a little pleasure-house, which stood just on the edge of the high bluff overlooking the bay. In the doorway the two young girls were standing, and surrounding them, a group of young officers, all, apparently, in eager rivalry for the favors of the fair. In a grove near the house, and just on the brow of the hill, the white tents of a battery of artillery and a battalion of infantry, which had encamped there for the night, while en route to Washington, the capital, gleamed under the trees, and the bright uniforms of the men as they lounged on the outskirts of the camp, gazing at the occupants of the Hall, gave a dash of vivid color to the scene. The two naval officers stopped at the summer- house, and looked down upon the three ships below them. A pretty picture they made, — the white decks; the rows of spotless hammocks; the grim, black guns; the lofty spars, with their tightly and neatly furled sails; the seamen lounging about the deck after supper, for it was the second dog watch, one of Jack's infrequent hours of play. The short man broke the silence. " I tell you, Dacres, it's got to stop." "My dear Hull," rep...« less