Wag Benton, the Black-Birder [pp. 49-55]

WAG BENTON, THE BLACK-BIRDER
head above the surface, he scrutinized the
vessel. If it did not fly the American flag
he let it pass without hoisting a signal of
distress. When the suspected enemy had
passed, he bailed out the boat, spread his
sail, and continued his solitary voyage. At
the end of the third day the wind shifted
to the northeast, and as his boat was not
built for tacking, he was driven far into
the mouth of the Gulf of Mexico, where he
hoped to be picked up by some Gulf and
Atlantic coastwise steamer. The vessel
that he looked for never came, but in its
stead two steamers from the southeast in
close company bore down upon him on the
morning of the tenth day of his dubious
voyage.
While he was justly alarmed over the prospect of being picked up by a vessel whose
colors he could not make out, yet there was
no use in trying to escape from the leading
steamer; for it was heading directly for him.
To submerge his boat would only increase
the danger of its being run down. There
was no escaping this vessel, friend or foe,
so he boldly displayed his distress signal,
and as the ship heaved to he saw that it
was an American man-of-war. Benton's
sigh of relief was followed by a wild cheer
from the ship as the mate lowered his glass
and spoke to the men who crowded the
gunwale. It was like raising the coffined
dead from the grave to the surprised sailors,
when Wag Benton and his boat were hoisted
upon deck of his old guardian ship, which
had so faithfully maintained her "honor
among thieves." The report had reached
Broa bay that Wag was one of the four
men who were shot at Moro castle. The
story of his escape from the Englishman was
almost incredible, even to the reckless men
who were famillar with perilous adventures.
The other vessel was the Trafican manned
by her old black-birding crew. The Spaniards when they knew that the ship had been
a pest hospital, looked upon it as a Jonah,
and sold it to the American captain for a
trifle of its value. It was taken to New
Orleans, where it was disinfected and sold
for a handsome advance above the purchase
price. The money was divided among the
crew whose faithfulness to their duty had
so well earned it, although they had been
engaged in a contraband business. Each
man had been promised a hundred dollars
per month, and a choice negro as his pay,
which, had the enterprise not failed, would
have amounted to at least a thousand dollars. As it turned out a hundred dollars
apiece was all that they realized out of over
four months' time spent in an unlawful, inhuman, and neck-risking undertaking.
Wag Benton went to New York, to visit
his old home, and to start again in life,
this time in a legitimate line. A few weeks
later as he was watching the landing of a
Liverpool steamer, there was a mutual surprise when the Trafican's captain, mate, and
boatswain, walked down the stage plank.
They were almost astounded to see Benton,
and at once ceased lamenting his barnacled
bones at the bottom of the sea.
It is a very easy thing to send a prisoner
several thousand miles away from the place
of his arrest for trial. It is a more difficult matter to send convincing proof of his
guilt along with him. Under such circumstances it is not difficult for the accused to
apply for a writ of habeas corpsrs and demand an immediate trial, and in default of
prosecuting evidence, to be discharged by
the court from custody.
As the captain, mate, and boatswain, were
leaving the London court room, they were
met by a clerk of the American Legation,
who presented them with their portion of
the proceeds of the sale of the Trafican, sent
from New Orleans. The following day they
were again afloat upon the Atlantic under
the American flag. Standing beneath the
stars and stripes that waved over a legitimate deck, they swore by Neptune, the god
of the sea, that they would henceforth employ the business methods of honorable men.
And they ever afterwards kept their oath.
The American captain was never detected
as an abetter of the black-birding expedition, but never again was treacherous to an
official trust. And as if to atone for his
faithlessness, he, with many of the slaver's
crew went down to a seaman's grave in a
famous naval battle of the civil war.
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