[Cyrus Cole looked at me to see if he could detect my belief or what I was thinking. He then continued his story of Mayo and the British ship, Spencer. His nervousness perplexed me, the blockade being some sixty and more years hence.]
"I hear tell that after the crew went below, Mayo gathered up their weapons, went overboard, and walked the flats into town. He informed the militia of the stranded boat and she was easily captured."
"The militia was comprised of local farmers and fishermen, so it took some time for them to gather after Mayo inform town fathers of the boat. One young lad, Ebenezer Freeman (1), followed the armed men as they headed toward the beach. Now according to his story, he watched from the bluff as the group surrounded the stricken vessel. No shots were fired as none were needed. Soon the militia had the captured crew marching back to shore.
[Cyrus seemed to know great detail about the militia’s actions that day, leading me to believe that he may in fact be the youngster mentioned. If so, he would have been just 8 years old at the time.]
"The tide was soon to come, but the youngster, wanting a better look at the now empty vessel like some of the other onlookers, headed out onto the flats. He was about three hundred yards offshore, when he was surprised and shaken to the depths of his soul as six very small men ran past him at great speed. They were onto the vessel in but a second, and then they were gone.
The boy ran back to the beach, hollering to a group of men who were also headed out for a better look.
[Cyrus grew increasingly agitated at this point of his tale. His voice cracked and his point of view suddenly shifted to the present tense as if we were on that very beach, the Spencer resting on the flats beyond.]
“Did you see them?! Did you see them?!”
“See what, boy?” one of the men asked.
“Those little men! They ran like the wind!”
The men laughed. “Boy we’ve been here just like you. There were no little men. You been at your old man’s rum?”
“No sir, I swear it.”
[Cyrus stopped his now theatrical narration. He was shaking and sweat dripped from his brow. He quickly looked out the window to avoid my stare.]
“Hard to believe isn’t it, Doc? Well, that’s what the boy told me he saw. That’s what he told me."
[I made another appointment for Cyrus for September 8th.]
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(1) We could find no record of such a boy.
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