we
named her the Avenger, with never a thought that she might one day do
something toward avenging poor Tom's wrongs.

Jerry's parents and mine were poor people, who could not afford to
give their sons what so many fortunate lads have--a good education,
fine clothes and money to spend. We were obliged to do all we could to
aid our families, and had been wage-earners since our tenth birthday.

It would be too long a story if I should attempt to set down all that
my friend and I did by way of gathering up money enough to pay
Nicholas Trundy one hundred dollars for his pungy, which was then
going on six years old. It was a big lot of money for two lads to
save, after contributing to the support of their families, and we were
near to four years doing it.

It was a proud day for us when the little vessel became our property,
and we painted out the name "Handsome Susan," to put in its place in
big red letters, "The Avenger."

She was about twenty-four feet long, with a cuddy in which were four
small bunks, and had been in the oyster business since being launched,
as we intended she should remain there.

We bought her early in the spring of 1812, when the people were
talking strongly for or against war; but it never entered our minds
that we might get mixed up in the fighting, for who could ever have
dreamed that the Britishers would come to Benedict? It was enough to
satisfy us that the oyster business was fairly good, and that we could
often earn, with the pungy, as high as three dollars a day, not
counting the time occupied in running up to Annapolis or Baltimore.

During the second year of the war we did not do as well; but there is
no good reason why I should go into all the details of what would not
be entertaining save to an oysterman. It is enough if I jump over to
the spring of 1814, when we made a trade with an old sailor by name of
Darius Thorpe, whereby he was to sail with us for one-third of the
profits after all expenses had been paid, and this bargain was a good
one for us lads, since he was a master-hand at dredging, being able to
work all around either Jerry or me.

Besides being an expert fisherman, old Darius was an artist at
story-telling, and there was hardly an evening during the first two
months he was with us, when we did not sit in the cuddy long after we
should have been asleep, listening to the old man's yarns.

Then, as everybody knows, about April, Captain Joshua Barney was
ordered to fit