But Lafitte
quieted the angry feelings of his followers, conducted the officers to
his own house, and treated them with great hospitality, which he was
able to do in fine style, for his men brought into Barrataria luxuries
from all parts of the world.
When Lafitte opened the package of papers which Captain Lockyer handed
to him, he was very much surprised. Some of them were general
proclamations announcing the intention of Great Britain if the people of
Louisiana did not submit to her demands; but the most important document
was one in which Colonel Nichols, commander-in-chief of the British
forces in the Gulf, made an offer to Lafitte and his followers to become
a part of the British navy, promising to give amnesty to all the
inhabitants of Barrataria, to make their leader a captain in the navy,
and to do a great many other good things, provided they would join his
forces, and help him to attack the American seaports. In case, however,
this offer should be refused, the Barratarians were assured that their
place would speedily be attacked, their vessels destroyed, and all their
possessions confiscated.
Lafitte was now in a state of great perplexity. He did not wish to
become a British captain, for his knowledge of horseshoeing would be of
no service to him in such a capacity; moreover, he had no love for the
British, and his sympathies were all on the side of the United States in
this war.
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