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Transcriber's Notes: Obvious errors have been corrected. Italic text
in the original has been enclosed by '_' and bold text by '='.




[Illustration: Darius cried out in my ear; but I heard him not, I was
insane with the scene of carnage. Page 272.]

        COMMODORE BARNEY'S
        YOUNG SPIES

        A Boy's Story of the Burning of
        the City of Washington

        By JAMES OTIS

        Author of "Across the Delaware," "At the Siege of Havana,"
        "Life of John Paul Jones," "With Warren at Bunker Hill,"
        etc., etc.

        [Illustration]

        With six page illustrations
        By J. WATSON DAVIS

        A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
        NEW YORK


        Copyright 1907
        By A. L. BURT COMPANY

        COMMODORE BARNEY'S YOUNG SPIES




CONTENTS.


      CHAPTER                            PAGE

      I. Captain Joshua Barney              1

      II. At Benedict                      20

      III. Elias Macomber                  39

      IV. A Lively Tussle                  58

      V. With the Fleet                    77

      VI. Feeding the Enemy                96

      VII. An Old Acquaintance            115

      VIII. The Deserter                  133

      IX. An Unexpected Meeting           151

      X. A Change of Base                 169

      XI. The British Forces              188

      XII. Suspense                       207

      XIII. Burning the Vessels           226

      XIV. At Washington                  245

      XV. Bladensburg                     263

      XVI. In Hiding                      282

      XVII. Missing                       300

      XVIII. The Escape                   318

      XIX. The Unexpected                 336

      XX. Dodging the Enemy               354

      XXI. In Port                        372




LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS


      Darius cried out in my ear; but I heard him not, I was
          insane with the scene of carnage                  Frontispiece

                                                                    PAGE

      "Pass up your painter, or I'll shoot!" Cried Darius             56

      With the lantern in my left hand I thrust forward the
          barrel of my musket full in the face of the miller          72

      "I remember your face, my man;" said the Commodore.
          "Come aboard at once."                                     153

      As we pulled away I glanced back at our fleet and saw
          that the vessels were well on fire                         233

      As soon as the line was made fast, a man slipped down,
          quickly followed by another                                335





FROM LOSSING'S "WAR OF 1812."


"Evidently ashamed of the barbarism committed by British hands,
Vice-Admiral Cochrane attempted to palliate it by a pitiful trick.
After the destruction of the capital, and the invaders were safely
back on their vessels in the Patuxent, Cochrane wrote a letter to
Secretary Monroe, in which he said to him, 'Having been called upon
by the Governor-General of the Canadas to aid him in carrying into
effect measures of retaliation against the inhabitants of the United
States for the wanton destruction committed by their army in Upper
Canada, it has become imperiously my duty, conformably with the
Governor-General's application, to issue to the naval force under my
command an order to destroy and lay waste such towns and districts
upon the coast as may be found assailable.' Cochrane then expressed a
hope that the 'conduct of the executive of the United States would
authorize him in staying such proceedings, by making reparation to the
suffering inhabitants of Upper Canada,' etc. This letter was antedated
August 18, or six days before the battle of Bladensburg, so as to
appear like a humane suggestion, in the noncompliance with which might
be found an excuse for the destruction of the national capital. It did
not reach Mr. Monroe until the morning of the 31st of August, a week
after Washington was devastated, when that officer, in a dignified
reply, reminded the vice-admiral that the wanton destruction by the
British of Frenchtown, Frederick, Georgetown, and Havre de Grace, and
the outrages at Hampton by the same people, had occurred long before
the destruction of Newark."




COMMODORE BARNEY'S YOUNG SPIES.




CHAPTER I.

CAPTAIN JOSHUA BARNEY.


It is two years since what we called the "War of 1812" came to an end,
and I, Amos Grout, once owner of the oyster pungy, Avenger, propose to
set down here that which happened to my friend, Jeremiah Sackett, and
myself, during the year of grace, 1814