The captain at once told him that he could not make the passage on that boat.
"This man?" the crew shouted. "Sail with him? Why, he's a pirate, a cut-throat, a murderer! He'll kill us all! He's Ben Hogan!"
This last assertion climaxed it all; and in spite of threats and entreaties, Ben was forced to disembark. But he was not discouraged--not at all--and going to Gen. Fuller, he secured a passport.
The "Burnside" had no more than fairly got under way when those on board saw a man swinging his arms wildly and heard him shout:
As the captain was expecting the mail, he could do nothing but wait until the man on the bank had launched out for the steamer, which he accordingly did. The stranger, who was supposed to bring with him the mail, was drawn up over the side of the "Burnside," when, to his consternation, the captain discovered that he was none other than Ben Hogan!
"What do you mean?" he cried angrily. "Haven't I told you that you can't sail on this vessel?"
"Don't trouble yourself," said Ben quietly. "I sail on whatever vessel I want to; just steam ahead, and keep cool."
When the "Burnside" ran into Newberne, Ben was taken before the Provost Marshal; but, to the amazement of his accusers, that official said:
"This man has more power than I have. You had better make peace with him, for if he says you may go, you may; and if he says you can't, why you can't!"
After this startling announcement, Ben's enemies concluded that it would be wise to hold their peace. He made the rest of the voyage to Boston on the "Burnside."
Some time after this occurrence, Ben happened to run across the old captain in New York. He professed to be overjoyed at the meeting, and invited him to go to the nearest saloon, where they drank to one another's health with great cordiality. The captain was a little man with an odd, weazen face, and full of eccentricities. He wore, on this particular occasion, an old-fashioned swallow-tail coat which must have seen a good many years of service. Ben made up his mind to have a little sport at his companion's expense, and so, getting some lampblack in the saloon, he smeared it over his hands, and then stepping up to the captain, exclaimed:
"By Jove, you've grown fat since I saw you last!"