We landed in the
morning, and went to dine with Mr. Keysler, since dead, but who then
lived in Water Street. He was extremely anxious to visit his family,
and, having a few commissions to perform in the city, which would not
demand more than a couple of hours, he determined to set out next
morning in the stage. Meanwhile, I had engagements which required me to
repair with the utmost expedition to New York. I was scarcely less
anxious than my brother to reach Baltimore, where my friends also
reside; but there was an absolute necessity of going eastward. I
expected, however, to return hither in three days, and then to follow
Watson home. Shortly after dinner we parted; he to execute his
commissions, and I to embark in the mail-stage. "'In the time prefixed I returned. I arrived early in the morning, and
prepared to depart again at noon. Meanwhile, I called at Keysler's. This
is an old acquaintance of Watson's and mine; and, in the course of talk,
he expressed some surprise that Watson had so precipitately deserted his
house. I stated the necessity there was for Watson's immediate departure
_southward_, and added, that no doubt my brother had explained this
necessity. "'Why, (said Keysler,) it is true, Captain Watson mentioned his
intention of leaving town early next day; but then he gave me reason to
expect that he would sup and lodge with me that night, whereas he has
not made his appearance since. Besides, his trunk was brought to my
house. This, no doubt, he intended to carry home with him, but here it
remains still. It is not likely that in the hurry of departure his
baggage was forgotten. Hence, I inferred that he was still in town, and
have been puzzling myself these three days with conjectures as to what
is become of him. What surprises me more is, that, on inquiring among
the few friends which he has in this city, I find them as ignorant of
his motions as myself. I have not, indeed, been wholly without
apprehensions that some accident or other has befallen him.' "'I was not a little alarmed by this intimation. I went myself,
agreeably to Keysler's directions, to Watson's friends, and made anxious
inquiries, but none of them had seen my brother since his arrival. I
endeavoured to recollect the commissions which he designed to execute,
and, if possible, to trace him to the spot where he last appeared. He
had several packets to deliver, one of which was addressed to Walter
Thetford. Him, after some inquiry, I found out, but unluckily he chanced
to be in the country. I found, by questioning a clerk, who transacted
his business in his absence, that a person, who answered the minute
description which I gave of Watson, had been there on the day on which I
parted with him, and had left papers relative to the capture of one of
Thetford's vessels by the English. This was the sum of the information
he was able to afford me. "'I then applied to three merchants for whom my brother had letters. They all acknowledged the receipt of these letters, but they were
delivered through the medium of the post-office. "'I was extremely anxious to reach home. Urgent engagements compelled me
to go on without delay. I had already exhausted all the means of inquiry
within my reach, and was obliged to acquiesce in the belief that Watson
had proceeded homeward at the time appointed, and left, by forgetfulness
or accident, his trunk behind him. On examining the books kept at the
stage-offices, his name nowhere appeared, and no conveyance by water had
occurred during the last week. Still, the only conjecture I could form
was that he had gone homeward. "'Arriving at Baltimore, I found that Watson had not yet made his
appearance. His wife produced a letter, which, by the postmark, appeared
to have been put into the office at Philadelphia, on the morning after
our arrival, and on which he had designed to commence his journey. This
letter had been written by my brother, in my presence, but I had
dissuaded him from sending it, since the same coach that should bear the
letter was likewise to carry himself. I had seen him put it unwafered in
his pocket-book, but this letter, unaltered in any part, and containing
money which he had at first intended to enclose in it, was now conveyed
to his wife's hand. In this letter he mentioned his design of setting
out for Baltimore on the _twenty-first_, yet on that day the letter
itself had been put into the office. "'We hoped that a short time would clear up this mystery, and bring the
fugitive home; but, from that day till the present, no atom of
intelligence has been received concerning him. The yellow fever, which
quickly followed, in this city, and my own engagements, have hindered
me, till now, from coming hither and resuming the search. "'My brother was one of the most excellent of men. His wife loved him to
distraction, and, together with his children, depended for subsistence
upon his efforts. You will not, therefore, be surprised that his
disappearance excited, in us, the deepest consternation and distress;
but I have other and peculiar reasons for wishing to know his fate. I
gave him several bills of exchange on merchants of Baltimore, which I
had received in payment of my cargo, in order that they might, as soon
as possible, be presented and accepted. These have disappeared with the
bearer. There is likewise another circumstance that makes his existence
of no small value. "'There is an English family, who formerly resided in Jamaica, and
possessed an estate of great value, but who, for some years, have lived
in the neighbourhood of Baltimore. The head of this family died a year
ago, and left a widow and three daughters. The lady thought it eligible
to sell her husband's property in Jamaica, the island becoming hourly
more exposed to the chances of war and revolution, and transfer it to
the United States, where she purposes henceforth to reside. Watson had
been her husband's friend, and, his probity and disinterestedness being
well known, she intrusted him with legal powers to sell this estate. This commission was punctually performed, and the purchase-money was
received. In order to confer on it the utmost possible security, he
rolled up four bills of exchange, drawn upon opulent, merchants of
London, in a thin sheet of lead, and, depositing this roll in a leathern
girdle, fastened it round his waist, and under his clothes; a second set
he gave to me, and a third he despatched to Mr. Keysler, by a vessel
which sailed a few days before him. On our arrival in this city, we
found that Keysler had received those transmitted to him, and which he
had been charged to keep till our arrival. They were now produced, and,
together with those which I had carried, were delivered to Watson. By
him they were joined to those in the girdle, which he still wore,
conceiving this method of conveyance to be safer than any other, and, at
the same time, imagining it needless, in so short a journey as remained
to be performed, to resort to other expedients.