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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/18549-8.txt b/18549-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d6f7b6d --- /dev/null +++ b/18549-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8556 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Von Toodleburgs, by F. Colburn Adams + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Von Toodleburgs + Or, The History of a Very Distinguished Family + +Author: F. Colburn Adams + +Illustrator: A. R. Waud + +Release Date: June 10, 2006 [EBook #18549] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VON TOODLEBURGS *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images produced by the Wright +American Fiction Project) + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: There was no happier couple in all the settlement than +Hanz and Angeline Toodleburg. Page 13.] + + + + +THE + +VON TOODLEBURGS; + +OR, + +THE HISTORY OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED FAMILY. + +BY + +F. COLBURN ADAMS, + +AUTHOR OF "MANUEL PERIERE, OR THE SOVEREIGN RULE OF SOUTH CAROLINA;" +"OUR WORLD;" "CHRONICLES OF THE BASTILE;" "AN OUTCAST;" "ADVENTURES OF +MAJOR RODGER SHERMAN PORTER;" "THE STORY OF A TROOPER;" "THE SIEGE OF +WASHINGTON," ETC. + + +ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY A.R. WAUD. + +PHILADELPHIA: + +CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, + +819 AND 821 MARKET STREET + +1868. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by + +F. COLBURN ADAMS, + +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the +Eastern District of Pennsylvania. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +I never could see what real usefulness there was in a preface to a work +of this kind, and never wrote one without a misgiving that it would do +more to confuse than enlighten the reader. + +The good people of Nyack will pardon me, I know they will, for taking +such an unwarrantable liberty as to locate many of my scenes and +characters in and around their flourishing little town. I have no doubt +there are persons yet living there who will readily recognize some of my +characters, especially those of Hanz and Angeline Toodleburg. That the +very distinguished family of Von Toodleburgs, which flourished so +extensively in New York at a later period, as described in the second +series of this work, will also be recognized by many of my readers I +have not a doubt. Nyack should not be held responsible for all the sins +of the great Kidd Discovery Company, since some of the leading men +engaged in that remarkable enterprise lived on the opposite side of the +river, many miles away. + +The reader must not think I have drawn too extensively on my imagination +for material to create "No Man's Island" and build "Dunman's Cave" with. +About eighteen years ago I chanced to have for fellow traveller an odd +little man, of the name of Price, (better known as Button Price,) who +had been captain of a New Bedford or Nantucket whaleship. He was an +earnest, warm-hearted, talkative little man, and one of the strangest +bits of humanity it had ever been my good fortune to fall in with. He +had lost his ship on what he was pleased to call an unknown island in +the Pacific. He applied the word "unknown" for the only reason that I +could understand, that he did not know it was there until his ship +struck on it. He regarded killing a whale as the highest object a man +had to live for, and had no very high respect for the mariner who had +never "looked round Cape Horn," or engaged a whale in mortal combat. He +was on his way home to report the loss of his ship to his owners. An act +of kindness, and finding that I knew something of the sea, and could +sympathize with a sailor in misfortune, made us firm friends to the end +of our journey. + +To this odd little man, then, I am indebted for the story of the old +pirate of "No Man's Island," and what took place in "Dunman's Cave;" for +it was in just such a place, according to his own account, that he lost +his ship. Much of his story, as told to me then, seemed strange and +incredible--in truth, the offspring of a brain not well balanced. + +Time has shown, however, that there was much more truth in this old +whaleman's story than I had given him credit for. "No Man's Island" is +somewhat better known to navigators now, though still uninhabited and +bearing a different name. "Dunman's Cave," too, has been the scene of +more than one shipwreck within six years. + +Those who have carefully studied the causes producing "boars," or "tidal +waves," as they appear in different parts of the world, and the singular +atmospheric phenomena which at times accompany them, will not find it +difficult to understand the startling changes which took place in +"Dunman's Cave" when the "_Pacific_" was wrecked. They will understand, +also, why the "_set_" was so strong at so great a distance from the +entrance, and why the "boar" rose to such a height in a narrow gate, or +entrance formed by steep rocks, before it broke, and went rushing and +roaring onward with irresistible force. They will also understand what +produced the noise resembling the sound of a mighty waterfall. + + F.C.A. + + WASHINGTON, D.C., _January_, 1868. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +BOOK I. + +Chapter. Page. + +I. Ancient Heads of the Family, 9 + +II. Coming into the World, 16 + +III. The New Comer, 21 + +IV. Changed Prospects, 25 + +V. Tite Toodleburg and a Modern Reformer, 30 + +VI. A Little Family Affair, 39 + +VII. The Town moved with Indignation, 46 + +[Transcriber's note: Chapter VIII is missing in book.] + +IX. Tite takes his Departure for the South Sea, 57 + +X. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman disagree, 63 + +XI. Mr. Chapman cultivates New Acquaintances, 70 + +XII. Strange Gentleman, 81 + +XIII. Captain Bottom, the Whale-Killer, 88 + +XIV. The Coming Winter and a Merry-Making, 100 + +XV. Mrs. Chapman and the Upper Circles, 109 + +XVI. A Night Expedition, 113 + +XVII. Mr. Gusher is introduced to Mattie, 123 + +XVIII. Rounding Cape Horn, 135 + +XIX. Making a Fortune, 143 + +[Transcriber's note: Chapter XX is missing in book.] + +XXI. Coming Events cast their Shadows, 158 + +XXII. The Chapmans move into the City, 166 + +XXIII. Mrs. Chapman gives a Ball, 176 + +XXIV. Very Perplexing, 186 + +XXV. An Unlucky Voyage, 196 + +XXVI. Dunman's Cave, 204 + +XXVII. Old Dunman and the Pirate's Treasure, 213 + +XXVIII. Mr. Gusher sustains his Character, 225 + +XXIX. Changed Circumstances, 230 + +XXX. A Terrible Calamity overtakes the Family, 237 + +XXXI. A Very Perplexing Situation, 247 + +XXXII. Harvest-Sunday, 251 + +XXXIII. Returned Home, 260 + +XXXIV. He brings Joy into the House, 273 + +XXXV. How He got away from the Island, 277 + +XXXVI. An Interesting Ceremony, 282 + + + + +THE VON TOODLEBURGS, + +OR THE + +History of a very Distinguished Family. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ANCIENT HEADS OF THE FAMILY. + + +Not more than a mile from the brisk little town of Nyack, on the Hudson +river, and near where the road makes a sharp turn and winds up into the +mountain, there lived, in the year 1803, an honest old farmer of the +name of Hanz Toodleburg. Hanz was held in high esteem by his neighbors, +many of whom persisted in pronouncing his name Toodlebug, and also +electing him hog-reef every year, an honor he would invariably decline. +He did this, he said, out of respect to the rights of the man last +married in the neighborhood. It mattered not to Hanz how his name was +pronounced; nor did it ever occur to him that some of his more ambitious +descendants might be called on in a court of law to explain the +circumstances under which their name was changed. I speak now of things +as they were when the old settlers around Nyack were honest and +unsuspecting, before Fulton had astonished them with his steamboat, or +those extravagant New Yorkers had invaded the town, building castles +overlooking the Tappan Zee, and school-houses where the heads of honest +Dutch children were filled with wicked thoughts. + +Hanz Toodleburg was short and stout of figure, had a full, round face, a +large blunt nose, and a small gray eye. Indeed, there was no mistaking +his ancestors, in whose language he spoke whenever the Dominie paid him +a visit, which he did quite often, for Hanz had always good cheer in the +house; and a bed for a stranger. In short, it was a boast of Hanz that +no traveller ever passed his house hungry, if he knew it. And it +increased his importance with his neighbors that he raised more bushels +to the acre than any of them, and sent better vegetables to the New York +market. More than that, he would tell all the big folks in the village, +with a nod of his head, that he owed no man a stiver he could not pay +before the sun set, and in such a way as to convey a sly hint that it +was more than they could do. The neighbors consulted Hanz concerning +their worldly affairs, and, indeed, received his opinions as good +authority. In fine, Hanz and the Dominie were called in to settle nearly +all the disputes arising between the country folks for miles around. And +it was said by these simple minded people that they got their rights +quicker and less expensively in this way than when they went to law in +the village and trusted to the magistrate and the lawyers for justice. + +As, however, there always will be idle and gossiping people everywhere +to say unkind things of their neighbors, especially when they are more +prosperous than themselves, so there were gossips and mischievous people +in the settlement who, when engaged over their cups, would hint at +suspicious enterprises in which Hanz's ancestors were engaged on the +Spanish Main. Indeed, they would hint at times that it was not saying +much for his family that his father had sailed with Captain Kidd, which +would account for the doubloons and Mexican dollars Hanz could always +bring out of a "rainy day." That Hanz had a stock of these coins put +safely away there could not be a doubt, for he would bring them out at +times and part with them, declaring in each case that they were the +last. But how he came by them was a mystery not all the wisdom of the +settlement could penetrate. It was conceded that if there was any man in +the settlement who knew more than Jacques, the schoolmaster, it was +Titus Bright, who kept the little inn near the big oak; and these two +worthies would discuss for hours over their toddy the question of how +Hanz came by his dollars and doubloons. But they never came to a +decision; and generally ended by sending their listeners home with their +wits worse perplexed than ever. It was all well enough for old Jacques +and the inn-keeper to show their knowledge of history; but the gossips +would have it that if Hanz's father had sailed with Captain Kidd he, of +course, knew where that bold pirate had buried his treasure, and had +imparted the secret to his son. Here was the way Hanz came possessed of +the doubloons and dollars. Indeed, it was more than hinted that Hanz had +been seen of dark and stormy nights navigating the Tappan Zee, alone in +his boat, and no one knew where he went. Another had it that he was sure +to part with a doubloon or two shortly after one of these excursions, +which told the tale. There were others who said it did not matter a fig +if Hanz Toodlebug's doubloons were a part of Kidd's hidden treasure; but +it was selfish of him not to disclose the secret, and by so doing give +his neighbors a chance to keep as good cows and sheep as he did. Hanz +was not the man to notice small scandal, and continued to smoke his pipe +and make his friends welcome whenever they looked in. Once or twice he +had been heard to say, that if anybody was particular to know how he +came by his doubloons and dollars he would tell them. There was a place +up in the mountain where he made them. + +I will say here, for the benefit of my readers, that the little old +house where Hanz Toodleburg lived, and about which there clustered so +many pleasant memories, still stands by the roadside, and is an object +of considerable curiosity. It is much gone to decay now, and a very +different person occupies it. There are persons still living in the +village who knew Hanz, and never pass the place without recurring to the +many happy hours spent under his roof. That was in the good old days, +before Nyack began to put on the airs of a big town. There is the +latticed arch leading from the gate to the door; the little veranda, +where the vines used to creep and flower in spring; the moss-covered +roof, and the big arm chair, made of cedar branches, where Hanz used to +sit of a summer evening contemplating the beauties of the Tappan Zee, +while drinking his cider and smoking his pipe. It was in this little +veranda that business of great importance to the settlers would at times +be discussed. The good sloop Heinrich was at that time the only regular +New York packet, making the round voyage every week. Her captain, one +Jonah Balchen, was much esteemed by the people of Nyack for his skill in +navigation; and it was said of him that he knew every rock and shoal in +the Tappan Zee, and no man ever lost his life who sailed with him. The +arrival of the good sloop Heinrich then was quite an event, and whenever +it occurred the neighbors round about would gather into Hanz's little +veranda to hear what news she brought from the city, and arrange with +Captain Balchen for the next freight. Indeed, these honest old Dutchmen +used to laugh at the idea of a man who would think of navigating the +Tappan Zee in a boat with a big tea-kettle in her bottom, and making the +voyage to New York quicker than the good sloop Heinrich. + +I have been thus particular in describing Hanz Toodleburg's little home, +since it was the birth-place of Titus Bright Von Toodleburg, who +flourished at a more recent date as the head of a very distinguished +family in New York, and whose fortunes and misfortunes it is my object +to chronicle. + +Having spoken only of one side of the family, I will proceed now to +enlighten the reader with a short account of the other, "Mine vrow, +Angeline," for such was the name by which Hanz referred to his good +wife, was a woman of medium size and height, and endowed with remarkable +good sense and energy. Heaven had also blessed her with that gentleness +of temper so necessary to make a home happy. They had, indeed, been +married nearly twenty years, and although nothing had come of it in the +way of an offspring, not a cross word had passed between them. It was +said to her credit that no housewife this side of the Tappan Zee could +beat her at making bread, brewing beer, or keeping her house in good +order. The frosts of nearly forty winters had whitened over her brows, +yet she had the manner and elasticity of a girl of eighteen, and a face +so full of sweetness and gentleness that it seemed as if God had +ordained it for man's love. Angeline's dress was usually of plain blue +homespun, woven by her own hands, and with her cap and apron of snowy +whiteness she presented a picture of neatness and comeliness not seen in +every house. + +There was a big, square room on the first floor, with a little bed room +adjoining, and an old-fashioned bed with white dimity curtains, fringe, +and tassels made by Angeline's own hand. Snow white curtains also draped +the windows; and there was a tidy and cosy air about the little bed room +that told you how good a housewife Angeline was. An old-fashioned +hand-loom stood in one corner of the big, square room; and a flax and a +spinning-wheel had their places in another. A farm-house was not +considered well furnished in those days without these useful implements, +nor was a housewife considered accomplished who could not card, spin, +and weave. Angeline carded her own wool, spun her own yarn, and weaved +the best homespun made in the settlement; and had enough for their own +use and some to sell at the store. In addition to that there was no +housewife more expert at the flax-wheel, and her homemade linen was +famous from one end to the other of the Tappan Zee. Hanz was, indeed, so +skilful in the art of raising, hetcheling, and dressing flax, that all +the neighbors wanted to borrow his hetchel. And if needs be he could +make reeds and shuttles for the loom, while Angeline always used +harnesses of her own make. And so industrious was this good wife that +you could rarely pass the house of a night without hearing the hum of +the wheel or the clink of the loom. + +The good people about Nyack were honest in those days, paid their debts, +were happy in their very simplicity, and had no thought of sending to +Paris either for their fabrics or their fashions. + +Now Angeline's father was a worthy blacksmith, an honest and upright +man, who lived hard by, had a house of his own, and owed no man a +shilling. This worthy blacksmith had two daughters, Angeline and +Margaret, both remarkable for their good looks, and both blessed with +loving natures. And it was said by the neighbors that the only flaw in +the character of this good man's family was made by pretty Margaret, who +went away with and married one Gosler, a travelling mountebank. This +man, it is true, asserted that he was a Count in his own country, and +that misfortune had brought him to what he was. His manners were, +indeed, those of a gentleman; and there were people enough who believed +him nothing more than a spy sent by the British to find out what he +could. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +COMING INTO THE WORLD. + + +It was mentioned in the last chapter that Hanz Toodleburg had seen +twenty years of the happiest of wedded life; and yet that Angeline had +not increased his joys with an offspring. Thoughtless people made much +ado about this, and there were enough of them in the settlement to get +their heads together and say all sorts of unkind things to Hanz +concerning this family failing. I verily believe that the time of +one-half of the human family is engaged seeking scandal in the +misfortunes of the other. And I have always found that you got the +ripest scandal in the smallest villages; and Nyack was not an exception. +No wonder, then, that Hanz had to bear his share of that slander which +one-half the world puts on the other. Not an idle fellow at the inn, +where Hanz would look in of an evening, but would have his sly joke. +Many a time he had to "stand" cider and ale for the company, and +considered he got off cheap at that. And when they drank his health, it +was with insinuating winks and nods; one saying: + +"What a pity. He ought to have somebody to leave his little farm to." + +"Yes," another would interrupt; "if he had a son he'd be sure to leave +him the secret of Kidd's treasure." + +The gossips of the village were to change their tune soon. Dame rumor +had been whispering it around for a month that there was something in +the wind at Toodleburg's. And, to put it more plainly, it was added +that Hanz was soon to be made a happy man by the appearance of a little +Toodleburg. This change, or rather apparent change, in the prospects of +the family did not relieve Hanz from the tax for ale and cider levied on +him by the idle fellows at the inn. Indeed, he had to stand just twice +the number of treats in return for the compliments paid him as a man and +a Christian. It was noticed, also, that the Dominie took tea more +frequently at Hanz's table; and that Critchel, the little snuffy doctor, +who had practised in the settlement for a quarter of a century, and, +indeed, assisted in bringing at least one-half of its inhabitants into +the world, and of course was considered very safe in such cases, had +increased his visits at the house. + +Now these honest old burghers had almanacs made with strict regard to +truth, and if they prognosticated a storm it was sure to come. They +would not consider it safe to navigate the Tappan Zee on a day fixed by +the almanac for a storm. On the 5th day of January, 1805, in the almanac +that never failed Hanz, there was this: "Look out for a snow storm." +This time, however, the snow, if not the storm, was ahead of the +almanac. Indeed, it had been falling slowly and gently for two days; and +a white sheet of it, at least three inches deep, covered the ground on +the morning of the 5th. The weather had changed during the night, and +now the air was sharp and cold. Dark, bleak clouds hung along the +horizon in the northeast, the distant hills stood out sharp and cold, +and a chilling wind whispered and sighed through the leafless trees. +Then the wind grew stronger and stronger, the snow fell thicker and +faster, making fantastic figures in the air, then dancing and scudding +to the force of the gale, and shutting the opposite shore from sight. +Nyack lay buried in a storm, and the Tappan Zee was in a tempest. Snow +drifted through the streets, up the lanes, over the houses, and put +night-caps on the mountain tops. Snow danced into rifts in the roads and +across fields, and sent the traveller to the inn for shelter. Lowing +cattle sought the barn-yard for shelter, or huddled together under the +lee of some hay-stack, covered with snow. Night came, and still the snow +fell, and the wind blew in all its fury. + +It was on that cold, stormy night that a bright light might have been +seen burning in the little house where Hanz Toodleburg lived. The storm +had shook its frame from early morning; and now the windows rattled, +discordant sounds were heard on the veranda, wind sighed through the +crevices, and fine snow rifted in under the door and through the +latch-hole, and tossed itself into little drifts on the floor. Nyack was +buried in a storm that night. There was an old clock on the +mantle-piece, and it kept on ticking, and its ticks could be heard above +the storm. And the bright oak fire in the great fireplace threw out +shadows that flitted over the great loom, and the wheels, and the +festoons of dried apples, and the pumpkins that hung from the beams +overhead. And old Deacon, the faithful watch-dog, lay coiled up on the +flag hearth-stone. + +The old clock had nearly marked the hour of midnight as Hanz came out of +the little room in an apparently agitated state of mind. The dog raised +his head and moved his tail as Hanz approached the fire and threw some +sticks on. "Dere's no postponin' it; and it sthorms so," muttered Hanz, +shaking his head. Then he put on his big coat and boots, drew his cap +over his ears, and went out into the storm, leaving the big dog on +guard. How he struggled through the snow that night, what difficulty he +had in waking up his two nearest neighbors, and getting one of them to +send his son for Doctor Critchel, and what was said about such things +always happening of such a night, I will leave to the imagination of my +reader. + +It was nearly an hour before Hanz returned, bringing with him two stout, +motherly-looking dames. The storm had handled their garments somewhat +roughly, and they were well covered with snow. The old dog was pleased +to see them, and wagged them a welcome, and made sundry other signs of +his affection. And when they had shaken the snow from their garments, +and taken seats by the fire, Hanz gave them fresh pipes, which they +lighted and proceeded to enjoy while he went to preparing something warm +for their stomachs, and doing various other little things regarded as +indispensable on such an occasion. + +The storm had caught the little house by the shoulders, and was giving +it one of its most violent shakes, when the dog suddenly started up, +gave a growl, then walked solemnly to the door and listened. A footstep +in the old veranda, then the stamping of feet, and a knock at the door +came. It was Critchel, the little snuffy doctor, who entered, looking +for all the world like an enlarged snow-ball. These were the occasions +in which the doctor rose into the most importance, and as his coming had +been waited with great anxiety, great efforts were made by those present +to assure him of the esteem in which he was held. Even the dog would not +go to his accustomed place on the hearth until he had caressed the +doctor at least a dozen times. Although held in great respect by the +settlers, Critchel was what might be called a shabby-looking little man, +for his raiment consisted of a brown coat, which he had worn +threadbare, a pair of greasy pantaloons that were in shreds at the +bottom, a spotted vest, and a Spitlesfield neckerchief. Indeed, he was +as antique in his dress as in his ideas of the science of medicine. He +had a round, red face, a short, upturned red nose, and a very bald head, +which Hanz always declared held more sense than people were willing to +give him credit for. There was no quainter figure than this familiar old +doctor as seen mounted on his big-headed and clumsy-footed Canadian +pony, his saddle-bags well filled with pills and powders, and ready to +bleed or blister at call. He was considered marvelously skilful, too, at +drawing teeth and curing the itch, with which the honest Dutch settlers +were occasionally afflicted. I must mention, also, that an additional +cause of the great respect shown him by the settlers was that he took +his pay in such things as they raised on their little farms and could +best spare. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE NEW COMER. + + +The storm ceased its fury at four o'clock, and a cold, bright, and calm +morning succeeded. The hills stood out in sharp, clear outlines, mother +earth had put on her cleanest cap, and there was not a ripple on all the +Tappan Zee. Hanz Toodleburg was now the happiest man in Nyack, for +Heaven had blessed his house and heart during the morning with as plump +and healthy a boy as ever was seen. There was a fond mother and a happy +father in the little house now; and the sweet innocent babe, their first +born, was like flowers strewn along their road of life. It was something +to live for, something to hope for, something to brighten their hopes of +the future, and to sweeten their love-dream. + +In spite of the snow drifts, news of this important event ran from one +end to the other of the settlement before the sun was an hour up, and +set it all aglow. The roadmaster was early at the door to warn Hanz out +to break roads, but excused him when he heard how happy a man he had +been made during the night. And when the merry men came along with their +oxen, and their sledges, and their drag-logs, ploughing through and +tossing the snow aside, and making a way for the traveller, there were +cheers given for honest Hanz and the little gentleman who had just come +to town. And as they ploughed along through the drifts, they struck up a +merry song, which so excited Hanz's emotions that he could not resist +the temptation to put on his coat and follow them. And when they reached +Titus Bright's inn that ruddy-faced host met them at the door and bade +them welcome under his roof, and invited them to drink flip at his +expense. Hanz was treated and complimented in steaming mugs, and the +health and happiness of mother and son were not forgotten. Even the +Dominie was sent for, and made to drink flip and tell a story, which he +did with infinite good humor. Then the school-master, who was not to be +behind any of them when there was flip in the wind, looked in to pay his +compliments to Hanz, for the snow had closed up his little school-house +for the day. But, in truth, the pedagogue had a weakness he could not +overcome, and when invited to take flip tossed off so many mugs as +completely to loose his wits, though his tongue ran so nimbly that he +was more than a match for the Dominie, who declined discussing a +question of religion with him, but offered to tell a story for every +song he would sing. Four mugs of flip and two songs and the +school-master went into a deep sleep in his chair, where he remained for +the rest of the day. + +The question as to who should name the young gentleman at Hanz's house +was now discussed. The names of various great men were suggested, such +as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Hanz shook his head +negatively at the mention of these. "It vas not goot to give a poy too +pig a name; t-makes um prout ven da grows up," he said. It was finally +agreed that the young gentleman should be called Titus Bright, after the +little ruddy-faced inn-keeper. And the little man was so pleased with +the idea of having his name engrafted on that of the Toodleburg family, +that he promised a fat turkey and the best pig of the litter for the +christening dinner. More flip was now drank, and the merry party shook +hands and parted in the best of temper. + +Hanz felt that as Heaven had blessed him and Angeline with this fine +boy, and so increased their joys, he must do something generous for his +friends. So, on the morning following he sent the Dominie a pig and a +peck of fine flour, for which that quaint divine thanked him and prayed +Heaven that he might send more. He gave the school-master a big pipe and +tobacco enough to last him a month. He also ordered the tailor to make +the pedagogue a new suit of homespun, something the poor man had not had +for many a day. School-mastering was not a business men got rich at in +those days, and poor Wiggins, for such was his name, had a hard time to +keep the wolf from his door. Indeed, he thought himself well paid with +four dollars a week and his victuals, which he got around among the +parents of his scholars. His worldly goods consisted of little else than +his birch and pipe, and the shabby clothes on his back. And as the +length of his engagements depended on his good behavior, which was none +of the best, he was frequently seen tramping from village to village in +search of a job. + +As for Doctor Critchel, Hanz felt that he owed him a debt of gratitude +he could never pay, even were he to give him the farm. It was no use +offering the doctor a new suit of clothes, as he was never known to wear +such things. As for snuff-boxes, he had at least a dozen. Hanz sent him +a goose to roast for his dinner, a fat sheep, and a bag of extra flour, +just from the mill. + +I may have been too particular in describing how and when this young +gentleman came into the world, but my reason for it is that there may +be those among my readers who will recognize the great and very +distinguished family of Von Toodleburg, which not many years ago amazed +New York with its brilliancy, and be anxious to know some of the ups and +downs of its early history. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CHANGED PROSPECTS. + + +Twelve years have passed since that stormy night when Titus Bright +Toodleburg--for the young gentleman as I have said before, was named +after the inn-keeper, came into the world. Great changes have taken +place since then. Tite, as the neighbors all call him, is now a bright, +intelligent boy, and a great favorite in the village. Hanz and Angeline +are proud of him, and he promises to be the joy of their declining +years. Hanz had always held to the opinion that men with too much +learning were dangerous to the peace of a neighborhood, inasmuch as it +caused them to neglect their farms and take to pursuits in which the +devil was served and honest people made beggars. He had, however, sent +Tite to school, and now the young gentleman could read, write, and +cypher; and this, he declared, was learning enough to get a man safe +through the world if he but followed an honest occupation and saved his +money. In addition to so much learning, the young gentleman had early +discovered an enterprising spirit, and a remarkable taste for +navigation. When only six years old he had his tiny sloops and +schooners, rigged by himself, on every duck-pond in the neighborhood. +And he could sail them with a skill remarkable in one so young. Indeed, +these duck-ponds were a source of great annoyance to Angeline, for +whenever one of Tite's crafts met with an accident he would wade to its +relief, no matter what the condition or color of the water. + +Hanz shook his head, and felt that no good would come of this taste for +the sea on the part of Tite. He intended to bequeath him the farm, so +that he could spend his life like an honest man in raising good +vegetables for the New York market. Following the sea, Hanz urged, was a +very dangerous occupation, and where one man made any money by it, more +than a dozen lost their lives by storms. But Tite was not to be put off +by such arguments. The spirit of adventure was in the boy, and all other +objects had to yield to his natural inclinations. And now, at the age of +twelve, we find Tite a smart, sprightly cabin-boy, on board the good +sloop Heinrich, making the voyage to New York and back once a week, and +taking his first lessons in practical seamanship. + +Wonderful changes had been developed along the beautiful Hudson during +these twelve years. People in the country said New York was getting to +be a very big, and a very wicked city. Already her skirmishers, in a +line of little houses, were pushed beyond the canal, and were +obliterating the cow-paths. The honest old Dutch settlers shrugged their +shoulders, and said it was not a good sign to see people get rich so +fast. Indeed, they declared that these fast and extravagant New Yorkers, +who were building great houses and sending big ships to all parts of the +world, would bring ruin on the country. + +A ship of five hundred tons had been added to the old London line, and +her great size was an object of curiosity. But the man who projected her +was regarded by careful merchants as very reckless, and not a safe man +to trust. + +That which troubled the minds of these peaceable old settlers most was +Mr. Fulton and his steamboat. Steam they declared to be a very +dangerous thing. And, as for this Mr. Fulton, he should be sent to an +insane asylum, before he destroyed all his friends, and lost all his +money in this dangerous undertaking. He might navigate the river with a +big tea-kettle in the bottom of his boat, but he would be sure to set +all the houses along the river on fire. And who was to pay the damages? +Steam was, however, a reality, and the little Fire Fly went puffing and +splashing up and down the river, alarming and astonishing the people +along its banks. She could make the voyage from the upper end of the +Tappan Zee to New York in a day, no matter how the wind blew. Hanz +Toodleburg called the Fire Fly an invention of the devil, and nobody +else. The bright blaze of her furnaces, and the long trail of fire and +sparks issuing from her funnel of a dark night, gave a spectre-like +appearance to her movements, that rather increased a belief amongst the +superstitious that she was really an invention of the evil one, sent for +some bad purpose. + +A meeting was called at Hanz Toodleburg's house to consider the +dangerous look of things along the river. The Dominie and the +schoolmaster, and all the wise men in the settlement, were present, and +gave their opinions with the greatest gravity. If this Mr. Fulton, it +was argued, could, with the aid of the evil one, build these steamboats +to go to New York and back in a day, why there was an end to the +business of sloops and barges. And if the honest men who owned these +vessels were thrown out of business, how were they to get bread for +their families? These new inventions, Hanz argued, would be the ruin of +no end of honest people. + +The schoolmaster, who assumed great wisdom on all such occasions, and +who had tossed off several pots of beer during the evening, put the +whole matter in a much more encouraging light. He had read something +about steam, he said, and knew that it was a very dangerous thing for a +man to trifle with. Mr. Fulton had built his steamboat one hundred and +nine feet long; and he could get to New York and back in a day, if +nothing happened to his boiler, which was all the time in danger of +bursting. Then if the boiler bursted, very likely the boat and all in +her would go to the bottom. Just let that happen once in the Tappan Zee, +and there would be an end to Mr. Fulton and his invention for getting +people to New York quick. Just let him set the Tappan Zee afire once, +and people would make such a storm that nothing more would be heard of +his inventions. When there was such danger of losing one's life +travelling in this way, what careful farmer, who had a family depending +on him, would think of either going himself or sending his produce to +market in such a way? There was no wisdom in the thing. The people would +stick to the sloops. That was the only safe way for sensible people to +get to market. Let them stick to the sloops, and Mr. Fulton would not +build a castle of what he got by his inventions. + +The meeting was highly gratified at what the schoolmaster had said, and, +indeed, felt so much relieved that Hanz ordered a keg of fresh beer to +be tapped. These noisy, splashing steamboats would frighten people, and +by that means the good old-fashioned way of getting to market would not +be interfered with. It was also a source of great relief to these honest +people, that when those extravagant New Yorkers had spent all their +money on such wild and dangerous experiments, they would be content to +stay at home and mind their own business. Another source of great alarm +to these honest people was that several New Yorkers had come to Nyack, +and were building large houses, and otherwise setting examples of +extravagance to their children, when it was reported that they did not +pay their honest debts in town. The people of Hudson, too, were going +wild over a project for establishing a South-sea Company, and sending +ships to the far off Pacific ocean--where the people were, it had been +said, in the habit of eating their friends--to catch whales. Now, as the +people of Hudson had no more money than was needed at home, this +dangerous way of spending all they had was not to be justified. + +Satisfied that they had settled a question of grave importance, and in +which the great interests of the country were involved, these honest +Dutchmen smoked another pipe and drank another mug of beer, and then +went quietly to their homes, feeling sure that the world and all Nyack +would be a gainer by what they had done. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +TITE TOODLEBURG AND A MODERN REFORMER. + + +Young Tite Toodleburg has grown up to be a boy of sixteen. A bright, +handsome fellow he is, every inch a sailor, and full of the spirit of +adventure. There is something more than Dutch blood in Tite, and it +begins to show itself. His figure is erect and slender, his hair soft +and flaxen, and his blue eyes and fresh, smiling face, almost girlish in +its expression, gave to his regular features a softness almost feminine. +And yet there was something manly, resolute, and even daring in his +actions. There was no such thing as fear in his nature. He had acquired +such a knowledge of seamanship that he could handle the good sloop +Heinrich quite as skilfully as the skipper, and, indeed, make the voyage +to New York as promptly as the greatest navigator on the Tappan Zee. He +was expert, too, at taking in and delivering out cargo, could keep the +sloop's account, and drive as good a trade as any of them with the +merchants in Fly Market. In this way Tite made a host of friends, who +began to look forward to the time when he would have a sloop of his own, +and be in a way to do friendly acts for them, perhaps to make a fortune +for himself. + +Tite thought very differently. Navigating the river in a sloop, to be +passed by one of Mr. Fulton's steamboats, was not the sort of sea-faring +that suited his ambition. He had seen big ships come home, after long +voyages, and the majesty of their appearance excited his spirit of +adventure. He had also spent his evenings reading the works of +celebrated navigators and travellers; and these very naturally increased +his curiosity to know more of the world and see the things they had +seen. He had also looked out through the Narrows of New York harbor, and +his young heart had yearned to be on the broad ocean beyond. If he could +only master all the mysteries of Bowditch, be a skilful navigator, and +capable of sailing a ship to any part of the world, and see strange +things and people--that day might come, he thought to himself. He had +listened, too, for hours at a time, to the stories of old sailors who +had come on board the sloop while in port. One had been to India, and +another to Ceylon; and both told wonderful stories concerning the +voyages they had made and the people they had met. Another had seen +every port in the North Pacific, had been wrecked on Queen Charlotte's +Island, and told wonderful stories of his adventures in rounding Cape +Horn. His adventures among the South Sea Islands were of the most +romantic kind, and colored so as to incite the ambition of a venturesome +young lad like Tite to the highest pitch. There was another old sailor +who had sailed the South and North Pacific, had killed his score of +whales, and been as many times within an inch of losing his own life. + +These stories so fired the young gentleman's imagination that he +resolved to try his fortune at a whaling voyage as soon as the people of +Hudson sent their first ship out. There was the wide world before him, +and perhaps he might find the means of making a fortune in some distant +land. But how was he to break this resolution to his kind parents, whom +he loved so dearly? What effect would it have on his mother, who doted +on him, and for whom he had the truest affection? His mind hung between +hope for the future and duty to his parents. Regularly every Saturday +afternoon Tite had come home, received his mother's blessing, and put +his earnings into her hands for safe-keeping. There would be an end of +this if he went to the South Sea. Then his parents were both getting +old, and would soon need a protector, and if anything serious happened +to them during his absence how could he ever forgive himself. Week after +week and month after month did Tite ponder these questions in his mind, +and still his resolution to see the world grew stronger and stronger. + +It was about this time that there settled in Nyack a queer and very +inquisitive sort of man of the name of Bigelow Chapman. He was a +restless, discontented sort of man, very slender of figure, with sharp, +well-defined features, keen gray eye, and wore his dark hair long and +unkept. His manner was that of a man discontented with the world, which, +he said, needed a great deal of reforming; indeed, that it could be +reformed, ought to be reformed, and that he was the man to do it. He had +been the founder of Dogtown, Massachusetts, where he had built up a very +select community of keen-witted men and women--just to set an example to +the world of how people ought to live. Dolly Chapman, his wife, (for +what would a reformer be without a wife,) was a ponderous woman, +weighing more than two hundred pounds, and a proof that even in +matrimony the opposites meet. She was a fussy, ill-bred woman, spoke +with a strong nasal twang, and a sincere believer in all the reforms +advocated by her husband, though she differed with him on one or two +points of religion. And there was Mattie Chapman, a bright, bouncing +girl of fifteen, with rosy cheeks and fair hair, ambitious for one of +her age, and evidently inclined to make a show in the world. These +constituted the Chapman family. + +Dogtown, of which I made mention, was a creation of Chapman's. With it +he was to demonstrate how the world could be reformed, and how the +prejudices were to be driven from other people's minds. Strong-minded +people from various towns in Massachusetts came and settled in Dogtown, +invested their money, were to do an equal share of work, and receive an +equal share of profits, and live together as happily as lambs. But +Dogtown did not long continue a paradise. Indeed, it soon became famous +for two things: for the name of Bigelow Chapman, and for having more +crazy and quarrelsome people in it than could be found in any other town +in Massachusetts, which was saying a good deal. The brothers and +sisters, for such they called themselves, got to quarrelling among +themselves on matters of politics and religion, though charity was a +thing they made no account of. In truth, there was more politics than +religion in their preaching. + +Chapman constituted himself treasurer of the community, and some little +private speculations of his led to a belief among the brothers and +sisters that his mind was not solely occupied with schemes for reforming +the world. To tell the truth, Bigelow Chapman was not so great a fool as +his followers. He had intended, when Dogtown got thoroughly under way, +to sell out, put the money in his pocket, and employ his genius +somewhere else. He, however, undertook the enterprise of building a +church on speculation, being persuaded to do so by an outside Christian. + +The church was to be a large, handsome building, with a butcher's shop +and a grocery, a shoe store and a confectionery in the basement, and a +school and a dancing academy up stairs; so that the brothers and +sisters could get everything they wanted, religion included, in one +locality. But the enterprise failed for want of funds to finish it, and +Dogtown went to the dogs, and the Chapman family to Nyack. Report has it +that the church was afterwards finished and converted into an insane +asylum, where several of the brothers and sisters lived for the rest of +their lives. + +It was hinted that Chapman had brought some money to Nyack with him, but +exactly how much no one knew. The only thing positively known about him +at that time was that he had a great number of new ideas, all of which +he was in great haste to develope. Indeed, he soon had Nyack in a state +of continual agitation. He declared it his first duty to open the eyes +of the Dutch settlers to truth and right; then to get them to thinking; +and finally to make fortunes for all of them. He begun business, +however, by quarrelling with nearly everybody in the village, and +asserting that he knew more than all of them. + +Twice he had Titus Bright, the inn-keeper, up before the magistrate and +fined for selling liquor in opposition to law. He proclaimed it highly +immoral to sell liquor at all, and told Bright to his teeth that no +honest man would do it. For this he had been twice kicked out of the inn +by Bright, who damned him as a meddling varlet, not to be tolerated in a +peaceable village. Again he had Bright up before the magistrate, who +justified the aggression, but fined the aggressor ten dollars a kick, +which Bright considered cheap enough considering what was got for his +money. Bright declared it a principle with him to give his customers +what they wanted, and let them be the judge of their own necessities. +Bigelow Chapman held that mankind was a big beast, to be subdued and +governed by laws made for his subjection. It never occurred to him, +however, that there might be reason in the opinions of others. Finding, +however, that he could not get the better of Bright in any other way, he +organized a company and set up an opposition tavern, where a traveller +could feel at home and have none of the annoyances of beer. The new inn +was to be conducted on strictly temperance principles, and the price of +board was to be reduced a dollar a week. But the principle of temperance +was carried out so rigidly in the fare that travellers, although treated +politely enough, found it difficult to get anything to eat, to say +nothing of drink. + +While this was going on Mrs. Bigelow Chapman was busying herself getting +up an anti-tea-and-coffee-drinking society. She declared that this +coffee and tea-drinking was nothing less than an oppression, breaking +down people's health and making them poor, while the grocers who sold +the stuff were getting rich. It was evident, also, that she was carrying +her principles out on the table of the new inn. However commendable +these reforms might be in the eyes of a true reformer, they were not +exactly the thing to satisfy the wants of hungry travellers. The new inn +soon got up an excellent reputation for giving its customers nothing but +politeness and clean linen. This not being satisfactory to the +travelling public generally, the establishment had to close its doors +for want of customers. Chapman was surprised at this. He could not +understand why reformers were not better appreciated about Nyack. The +stock-holders, however, had lost all their money, and were glad to sell +out to Chapman, which they did for a trifle, and that was all he +wanted. + +People began to inquire what the big building would next be turned into. +Mrs. Chapman and her dear husband, as she called him, were always +projecting something new. Indeed, she saw two fortunes in the future +where Chapman only saw one. The thought invaded her mind that there was +a fortune to be made by turning the big house into a great moral +progress boarding-school for young ladies, where "all the proprieties" +would be strictly attended to. Yes, "the proprieties" would take with +steady-minded people. She could attend to the proprieties, and dear +Chapman could look after the little money affairs. She did not want to +trouble herself with the sordid things of this world; she only wanted to +reform it. And to do that you must begin at the bottom. You must teach +young people, and especially young ladies, the value of reforms. In that +way you enable them to reform their husbands when they get them, and +also make them comprehend the value of new ideas. As for old people, she +declared it time wasted to try to get new ideas into their heads. + +Chapman congratulated his dear wife on this new and grand idea. He +agreed with her that a woman was just the thing to straighten up a +husband in need of mental and physical reformation. But it would not do +to start the enterprise until you could get people to take stock enough +to insure a sound basis. He did not care about money himself, still it +was necessary to the success of all great enterprises. And seeing that +the inn had failed, though based on great moral principles, he was not +quite sure that the people would hasten to take stock in the new +enterprise. + +It was also an objection with Chapman that with such an institution +there would be nothing to run opposition to except a few beer-drinking +school-masters, who got their victuals and fifteen dollars a month for +driving a knowledge of the rule of three into the heads of little Dutch +children. How different it would be with a church. And then the big inn +could be made such an excellent church, at such a small expense. A man +owning a church could feel himself strong in both politics and religion, +and have all the quarrels he wanted. Chapman was delighted with this new +idea of his; and his good wife supposed it was infinitely superior to +her own. It was another proof to her that there was no greater man in +the world than her dear Chapman. Once get the church going, and with a +preacher of the Dogtown school, to preach out and out transcendentalism, +and another ism or two, and they could get up an opposition that would +be popular with the people. In that way the thing would be sure to go. + +Chapman declared this a golden opportunity. He had felt for some time +like getting up something that would drive the devil and all the +Dutchmen out of Nyack and into the Tappan Zee, and establish an entire +new order of things. + +It was agreed between Chapman and his good wife that the church should +be put on its legs without delay; that the work of reforming Nyack and +the rest of the world should begin at once. As funds were necessary to +all great enterprises, and Chapman was inclined at all times to husband +his own, the good woman got up a regular season of religious +tea-parties, exclusively "for ladies." Mrs. Chapman was intent on +popularizing the enterprise, and to that end had inserted on her cards +of invitation, "exclusively for ladies." There was nothing like tea when +you wanted to make a great reform movement popular. Chapman had more +than once said that woman, under the inspiration of tea, made a mighty +engine in moving the world. Under its influence they gave enlargement +and development to progressive ideas. It had been charged that great +generals won their most celebrated battles under the influence of strong +drink. He had known great generals to win great battles under the +inspiration of tea alone. Tea and women were prodigious in their way. + +The tea parties were not only got on their legs, but soon became very +popular. There were women enough in Nyack to give them, and neither rain +nor hail would keep them home of a Thursday evening. The great value of +progressive ideas was thoroughly discussed over these cups; and the fact +that their husbands were to be brought into a line of subjugation not +before anticipated had an inspiring effect. In short, female Nyack began +to carry a high head, and to make male Nyack feel that he was no longer +master in its own house. Dolly Chapman presided at these tea-parties +with that smartness peculiar to women of her class, taking particular +pains to explain how much could be done for Nyack and the world--if only +the women could get the direction of things into their own hands. A +church as the means of carrying out these new and grand ideas was +exactly what was wanted. The tea-party women all took up the idea, and +the enterprise was made so popular that each resolved herself into a +begging committee, and soon had collected the sum of seven hundred +dollars, an amount sufficient to put the thing on its legs. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A LITTLE FAMILY AFFAIR. + + +While the heads of the Chapman family were engaged in their great work +of reform, and Hanz Toodleburg, as the head of the Dutch settlers, was +preparing to resist all their efforts, Mattie Chapman and young Tite +were engaging in a matter of a very different nature. A little flame of +love had begun to burn in their youthful hearts, and was giving out such +manifestations of tenderness. I have noticed that when once the little +under-current of love begins to ebb and flow in young and innocent +hearts, it will break over whatever obstacles you put in its way, and +rarely stops until it has reached that haven of happiness called +matrimony. The parents of these young people seemed to have been cast in +opposite moulds, mentally and physically. Their modes of thought, their +expectations, and their manner of living differed entirely. Hanz +Toodleburg was simple-minded, honest, contented with his lot in the +world, smoked his pipe, and lived in peace with his neighbors. And these +he esteemed the greatest blessings a man could enjoy. Chapman was +restless, designing, ambitious of wealth, and ready always to quarrel +with those who did not fall in with his opinions. Indeed, he never +seemed happier than when he had a quarrel on hand; and he had the rare +tact of turning a quarrel into profit. + +It was very different with the young people. In their innocent hearts +the fires of love had been kindled, and they were burning brighter and +brighter every day. The thought that they should incur opposition from +their parents never entered their minds. They would meet together of a +Sunday afternoon, and walk by the river side. They would meet and talk +over the gate as Tite passed and re-passed Chapman's house. And Mattie +was sure to meet him at the gate as he passed on his way to New York. +And then there would be an affectionate good-bye, and Mattie would watch +him until he had disappeared beyond the hill. The ordinary observer +would have seen in Tite's blushes and confused manner, whenever he met +Mattie, how the current of his love was setting. And when he returned at +the end of the week there was something for Mattie, some little token of +his affection; a proof that he had cherished her in his thoughts while +absent. + +This little love affair did not fail to attract the attention of the +Chapman family. Nor was honest Hanz Toodleburg indifferent to what was +going on. Indeed, the gossips at the inn had joked Hanz about it, +hinting at a future connection of the two families. To all of which Hanz +would reply that Tite was only a boy yet, and had a good deal of other +kinds of business to do before thinking of what sort of a wife he +wanted. "If ta torter ish like ta fader, sho quarrelsome, t'man what +gets her for a vife don't lives in t'house mit her," Hanz would always +conclude. + +Young as Tite was, he began to look on the matter seriously. The whaling +voyage was still exciting his ambition, however, and he began to enquire +of every one he thought likely to know, when the people of Hudson would +send their first ship to the South Sea. Then the thought of leaving +Mattie would depress his spirits, and for a time shake his resolution. +The trouble with him at first was how he could separate from his +parents; now his love for Mattie was added to his obstacles. + +Chapman had not failed to notice this little affair of the affections +between the young people. He had noticed, also, that it had attracted +the attention of his wife. But neither had spoken of it. In short, +Chapman was anxious to have his wife refer to it first, to see in what +light she viewed it. And Mrs. Chapman was equally anxious to have her +dear husband, as she called him, express an opinion on the subject +before she gave one. He had once or twice noticed that when the young +people were at the gate she would call Mattie and tell her it was time +to come in; that she ought not to stay there so long talking to a +sailor-boy. Mattie would yield obedience with blushes and an air of +reluctance, the meaning of which her mother properly understood. + +The truth of the matter was that the affair had engaged Chapman's +thoughts for some time; and it suddenly occurred to him that the whole +thing might be turned to profit. Toodleburg was a man of some +consequence among the people; they had great confidence in his +integrity, and implicitly believed him possessed of a secret that would +make the fortune of every man in Nyack. He had been evolving that secret +in his mind for some time, and if he could in any way get the confidence +of Hanz, and obtain the secret, or allow himself to be used in +connection with it, he could make money enough to live like a lord in +New York. And that was exactly what Mrs. Chapman wanted. The good woman, +however, had been so much engaged of late getting the new church on its +legs, and negotiating for the services of the Reverend Warren Holbrook, +of Dogtown, Massachusetts, who was to spread the doctrines of +transcendentalism, and a variety of other isms, before the people, and +turn Nyack out of doors, religiously speaking, that she felt that she +had not performed her whole duty towards Mattie. + +There had been a religious tea-party at Chapman's house, where the +affair of the new church had been talked over, and the opening day +arranged. Mrs. Chapman was in her best dress, with a profusion of +ribbons streaming down her back, and a puffy cap on her head. She had +received a letter from the Reverend Warren Holbrook, accepting the offer +of three hundred dollars a year and board and washing, and saying, that +in addition to transcendentalism, he would advocate the equality of the +great human family. If these poor, benighted Dutch people who lived +about Nyack would only be regenerated and made progressive. Mrs. Chapman +found great consolation in this letter, and sat down to read it to her +dear husband, who had moved up nearer to the lamp and opened the last +great-work on the new doctrine. + +When she had finished reading it she paused for a moment, and then +spoke. "Have you noticed, my dear," she enquired, and again hesitating, +"what has been going on between our Mattie--?" Again she hesitated. + +Expecting what was coming, Chapman interposed by saying, "Don't be +afraid to speak, my darling; I know what you mean." + +"I meant," resumed Mrs. Chapman, blushing and looking very serious, "I +meant, have you noticed the attention that sailor-boy--(young Toodlebug +did you call him?) horrors! what a name--was paying to our Mattie?" + +"Burg, my dear, not bug," rejoined Chapman. + +"People are beginning to talk about it, and they say such things!" The +good woman blushed, and assumed an air of great seriousness. "The young +man may be well enough, but then the Toodlebugs are only a common Dutch +family." + +"Toodleburgs, my dear, not bugs. The name makes a great difference with +some people," rejoined Chapman, correctively. "Very natural, my dear, +very natural. The most natural thing in the world for young people to +make love. And the most natural thing in the world is that people should +talk about it. It is according to the principles of true philosophy. You +must not be alarmed, my dear, when you see young people make love. Harm +rarely comes of it, and it generally ends in a very small affair." + +"Yes, my dear," replied the good woman, "and experience has proved to me +that it sometimes ends in a very large affair. A little flirtation +between young people--" + +"Should be encouraged, my darling," interrupted Chapman. + +"I was going to say," she continued, "was not objectionable. But when +looks come to be serious, the equality of things should be enquired +into. Time's a coming when we may be rich, and live in New York, and be +somebody, and move with the best of people. I looks forward to it, my +dear; and I am sure the enterprises we have on hand will be a success. +It will never do to marry our daughter to a sailor-boy, to say nothing +of connecting ourselves to a common Dutch family--" + +"You talk like a philosopher, my darling; but I have known worse things +done, and great results flow from them. That young man promises well, +and as for old Hanz, he is a man of more importance than you think. +Some of these Dutch people are slow, but solid," rejoined Chapman, +shutting up the book. "I have an object in view, and this little, +innocent flirtation may help to improve it. At least, it can do no +harm." + +"It is not good to let anything go on that might lead to harm," resumed +the good woman. "Mattie has good looks, and I intend that she shall have +a polished education, and shine in society some day. You have always +agreed with me, my dear, that it was good to look forward. How could +Mattie shine in society with such a husband, and such a name? The very +name of Toodlebug would sink us. Yes, my dear, sink us right down--" + +"Wrong again, my dear; Tutle-burg. You may put an _e_ in it instead of +an _r_, if you please. That's where the difference is," interrupted +Chapman. + +"I don't care, my dear; these polite people would turn up their noses, +and get it Too-dle-bug. They are very nice on names. If the young man +should get up in the world and keep a carriage, people would say 'there +goes Too-dle-bug's carriage--oh! what a name. What low people they must +have been.' If they should own a house in the fashionable part of the +city. We should both look forward to that, you know. Would'nt it be a +horrid name to read on the door? Toodlebug!" + +"Tutle-burg, my dear; there's a big difference," interposed Mr. Chapman. + +"As you says; but nice people would not pronounce it except with a bug," +continued the good woman, looking discomfitted. "You have given so much +time to progress and reforming the world, that you don't understand +these matters as well as I do. I am sure there would be blushes and +smiles enough over such a name. Think of our daughter being Mrs. +Toodlebug, (I pronounce it with a b-u-g, you see,) and inviting nice +people to her reception. There would be people enough at that reception +to make light of the name. Yes, Mr. Chapman, you might as well have her +married to a Mr. Straddlebug. It's so very vulgar, my dear." + +"As to that," replied Chapman, "the world is a great vulgarity, and only +puts on politeness for appearance sake. The young man might have his +name changed, or he might add something to it to soften it. How would +you like Von Toodleburg, my dear?" + +"Never can be softened; never! The Von would do something to lift a +family up into respectability. And then, socially speaking, there was +such a wide difference between them distinguished Dutch families and +them common Dutch families." + +"What would you have me do about it, darling?" enquired Chapman, +submissively. + +"Oppose it, my dear!" replied Mrs. Chapman, bowing, and becoming +earnest. "Oppose it. You know how to oppose everything, and surely you +can oppose this." + +This reply troubled Chapman considerably. He had for once found +something he would rather encourage than oppose. But he had a motive for +his action, as will be seen hereafter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE TOWN MOVED WITH INDIGNATION. + + +It was less than a week after the scenes we have described in the +foregoing chapter took place, that the good sloop Heinrich arrived, +having made her weekly voyage to New York and back. A small, ill-favored +man, with a very long red beard, and very long red hair, might have been +seen stepping ashore, with a book and an umbrella under his arm, and +wending his way up the lane, followed by Tite, carrying a corpulent +carpet-bag. There was a combative air about the little man, who stared +with a pair of small, fierce eyes, through a pair of glaring spectacles +at every one he met. He was dressed in a shabby black suit, that hung +loosely on his lean figure. This, with a broad, rolling collar, a pair +of russet brogans, and a common straw hat, turned up at one side, +completed his wardrobe, and gave an odd appearance to the man. Indeed, +the gentleman had no taste for the vanities of the world, and parted his +hair in the middle to save trouble. The ordinary observer might easily +have mistaken him for a school-master out of employment and in distress. +That such a man was to upset the settled opinions of a big town, few +persons would have believed. Such, however, was this odd-looking little +man's mission, and there was no end of new ideas contained in that +little bumpy forehead of his. + +The new arrival was the much-expected Reverend Warren Holbrook, from +Dogtown last. As I have said before, he looked askance and inquisitively +at every one he met as he walked up the lane. He bowed, too, and had a +smile for all the females; then he enquired the name and condition of +those who lived in each house he came to--how many children they had, +and whether they were boys or girls. Now he paused and rested on his +umbrella when he had reached a bit of high ground, and gazed over Nyack +generally, and then over the Tappan Zee. Here was the new field of the +great labors before him. How often he had taken Dogtown by the neck and +shaken her up severely. The day might come when he would have to take +Nyack by the neck and give her a good shaking up, morally and +religiously. Mrs. Chapman had written him to say that Nyack was a bad +place, secularly and otherwise. + +The whole Chapman family (including the big dog) was out at the door to +welcome the stranger; and such a warm greeting as he got. Mrs. Chapman +assured him that the best in the house had been prepared for him, and +that she had got the town in a state of great anxiety to see him. To +tell the truth, this busy, bustling woman had been blowing a noisy +trumpet for him in advance, and enlisting a large amount of female +sympathy by stating that he was preeminent as an advocate of woman's +rights in all things. + +Of course the Reverend Warren Holbrook's arrival soon got noised over +Nyack, and the female mind was in a state of great agitation. Before +bed-time a number of curious and somewhat aged women dropped in to pay +their respects to the gentleman, and see for themselves what this man of +great natural gifts, who was to reform all Nyack and the world +generally, was like. + +There was one member of the Chapman family, however, not pleased with +the way things were going, and that was Mattie. When the older Chapmans +had taken their guest into the house, she embraced the opportunity to +have a talk with Tite, and reproached him for what she had seen him do. + +"Now, Tite," said she, looking earnestly into his face, "if you have any +respect for me, never walk behind a man, carrying his carpet-bag--never! +And such a looking man as that! You are as good as he, or anybody else, +and if you don't think yourself so, other people wont think so for you. +Never think you are not as good as somebody. Don't act as a help for +anybody, for if you do you will be set down for nobody all your life." + +At first Tite hardly knew what to say in reply. The nature of the rebuke +showed the deep interest Mattie felt in him. "If I had taken pay," said +Tite, hesitating, "'twould have been different. I carried his +carpet-bag, I know, but then I did it as a favor; and, as you saw, +declined to take the sixpence he offered me. But I'll do as you say, +Mattie, and won't do so again; for I want to please you, you know." The +words fell nervously from Tite's lips, and there was a throbbing at the +heart he could not suppress. + +"My mother," resumed Mattie, in a frank, girlish manner, "brought this +man Warren Holbrook into the house at Dogtown, and he got father into +such a deal of trouble. He was always quarrelling with somebody. He got +up a disturbance in the church. And then the church all went to pieces. +Oh, what a church it was! And mother thinks he's such a nice man. I +don't. Don't carry his carpet-bag again, Tite. Don't make a menial of +yourself for anybody." After saying this she walked part of the way home +with Tite, and then they parted with a sweet good-night. + +The following day being Sunday, and the Reverend Warren Holbrook having +brought several prepared sermons with him, service was held in the new +church at the regular morning hour. The women gathered in great numbers, +and nearly filled the church; and the odd appearance of the little man, +as he took his place in the pulpit, was a subject of general remark. + +His sermon, I may here state, was one of the most singular and +pyrotechnical ever preached in Nyack. He began by saying that Christ had +risen, and was with them in person. He had come to Nyack, he added, to +tell the truth and preach to sinners, for he understood the devil had +had things his own way for a long time in the town; and he understood +also there were sinners enough in Nyack to sink it. The world had +reached a stage of wickedness when it needed reforming. It must be +reformed, or it would sink under the weight of its wickedness. People +were getting rich, and with great riches there always came pride and +wickedness. He continued in this strain for nearly an hour, mixing up +transcendentalism, rationalism, unitarianism, and a number of other +isms, so unartistically as to astonish and confound his audience, and +give his hearers something to talk about for a week. + +Then he suddenly broke away from his disputed points, as he called them, +and took up the subject of woman's wrongs. "My hearers," said he, +pausing and pointing upward with the fore-finger of his right hand, +"What would the world be without woman? From the very beginning of the +world she has been the victim of wrong, great wrong. Man has sinned +against her by making her his inferior. God never intended that she +should be the inferior of man. He never would have created her with a +form so beautiful, and a voice so soft and musical, if he had not +intended her for man's superior. And the day will come, and come soon, +too, when she will have her rights, and her voice will be heard in the +government of the nation. The angel that she is! Woman is a great power. +She has made kings and conquerors, and she can unmake them. She has +influenced the acts of statesmen, and made children of grave Senators. +Yes, my hearers, her power can be made greater than the throne. And yet +how few husbands appreciate their wives as they should do." Here the +reverend gentleman paused for a few seconds, and cast meaning glances at +several of his male hearers, who were evidently not inclined to receive +his remarks with favor. Indeed, Mr. Holbrook, while making a high bid +for popularity with the female portion of his audience, was throwing an +immense fire-brand into the family circle of a number of his hearers. + +"My hearers, remember this," resumed this odd little man: "Manage a +woman right, and you have a mighty power to carry out the greatest +project the world ever saw." + +Disjointed and illogical as this sermon was, it was just what Chapman +and Mrs. Chapman wanted to put the church of the new ideas firm on its +legs. It was popular with the women; and with their favor Holbrook could +ride triumphantly over any number of quarrels. + +Mrs. Chapman intimated to another admiring female that the little man +they had just listened to was very like an oyster--looked better when +opened. In short, it was the general opinion of the women that Mr. +Holbrook had preached a very sensible sermon; and they were delighted, +notwithstanding what their husbands said to the contrary. "We have got a +preacher now," said the women, "who will stick up for our rights. You +men have had it all your own way long enough." Some of the men, +however, were not inclined to let these taunts pass quietly, declaring +that they had never listened to such nonsense before. One shook his +head, and declared that no good could come of such preaching, since +there was no true religion in it. Another snapped his fingers, saying +the man was not only a fool, but a mischief-maker. A third said all the +trouble in the world had been made by just such meddlesome men. The +church of great moral ideas might be a good enough church for some +people; but such a preacher as this made more infidels than honest men. + +The whole town soon got into a dispute as to whether the Reverend Warren +Holbrook was a wise and good man, or simply a mischief-making egotist. +The women took the side of Holbrook, and stuck to it, like true women. +He preached the right sort of religion, they said, and was a wise and +good man, or he could not preach as he did. The men did not believe a +word of it, but seeing that their wives were inclined to have it all +their own way, and would not hear a word against the new preacher, +quietly submitted, as men generally do. That is to say, they surrendered +their authority. + +Chapman was delighted at the nice little turn his preacher had made in +the affairs of the town. Nothing pleased him better than to have a dozen +disputes on hand at a time. If only well nursed they could be all made +profitable. Woman was the great pillar of Chapman's hopes. He had always +regarded her as the great foundation of any church. She could make it +popular if she pleased, and she could make it profitable, too. This, in +a measure, accounted for the unlimited admiration Mrs. Chapman had for +this great progressive clergyman. His great progressive religion was +just exactly the thing needed in Nyack. He must next attack the +Dominie, and drive him out of his pulpit, for it would not do to have +men preaching in an unknown tongue at this enlightened day. + +In less than two months from the time this teacher of great progressive +ideas landed at Nyack, he had not only got the town by the ears, but so +divided his flock that it was now composed almost exclusively of women. +The men stayed at home and nursed their wrath. And it was good for them +that they did, for the women had things all their own way generally, and +Warren Holbrook, ill-favored and formed, was their idol. The pew rents +ran up, however, and the contributions of a Sunday increased nearly +double. Indeed, the Chapmans felt that they were now on the road to +fortune, and Mrs. Chapman's ambition increased accordingly. + +All great enterprises, however, are liable to sudden checks, and +misfortune too often comes when one least expects it. And so it was with +the Reverend Warren Holbrook, the man of the great progressive ideas. He +was discovered paying what ladies of strict propriety regard as more +than ordinary attentions to a fair young damsel, the daughter of one of +the most active members of the church--a woman who had carried her head +high, and was so much given to wearing more finery than her neighbors +that the few friends she had were always ready to say ill-natured things +of her. The young woman was ready enough to embrace matrimony at any +moment; but the attentions she received from the reverend gentleman +caused great distress among a number of other young women of his church. +It was agreed among them that the reverend gentleman was neither +fascinating nor handsome, but he had mind, and was smart. Smart was the +thing a man most needed in a New England village. + +I have said before that the mother of this damsel carried a high head, +as well in as out of the church. She seemed also to have more rights +than ordinary females, and would give herself a great deal of +unnecessary trouble in asserting them, so much so that many of her less +strong-handed sisters regarded her with fear. The gentleman's attentions +had not progressed far when it was evident to all attentive observers +that there must soon be a split in the female division of his church. +Indeed, the quarrel in the female division of the church of the great +progressive ideas was waged with great fierceness, and had such a number +of nice little scandals mixed up in it as to make it quite interesting +to people of a contemplative turn of mind. + +Every meddlesome old woman in the church must put her finger in the +reverend gentleman's love pie, and would speak her mind plainly enough, +especially if she had daughters of her own. To use the poor man's own +language, he found himself spiked on all sides; and all for love, a +thing which has brought no end of mischief on the world. In short, from +being an idol he found himself between fires that threatened to consume +him, so fiercely did they burn. + +The gentleman's position was indeed becoming perilous, when an +unforeseen circumstance afforded him the means of relief. There arrived +in Nyack late one Saturday night, a man of tall, slender figure, dressed +in a suit of plain black, and having the appearance of a young clergyman +just from the country. He put up at Titus Bright's inn, gave out that he +was from Dogtown, Massachusetts, and after partaking of supper, enquired +of the landlord where he could find the Reverend, so to speak, Warren +Holbrook. There was something serious in the man's manner, like one who +had been grievously wronged. Being told where he could find the object +of his search, he paced the room thoughtfully for a few minutes, then +muttered to himself, "I must see him to-night. The sooner settled the +better. It will not do to wait until morning." + +Half an hour later, and the two reverend gentlemen (the stranger and +Holbrook) might have been seen seated at a table in a room of Chapman's +house. Their conversation had evidently not been of a very pleasant +nature, for the stranger, rising to take his departure, said: "You have +only to do her justice, and show to the world that you are an honorable +man. She is my sister; and unless you keep your promise, solemnly made +to her, I will follow you to the end of the earth, and make you the +scorned of men. Mark this well: it is the haunted soul of the hypocrite +that burns him through life; that makes him a very torment to himself." +The stranger returned to the inn, where he paced the room for nearly an +hour, and then retired for the night. + +The bells rang on the following morning, and the good women of Nyack +wended their way to and had nearly filled every pew in the church of +great progressive ideas. The choir sung one hymn, and then sung another. +But no pastor came. There was something wrong, evidently. Hope and faith +were enjoined by a few. Some watched the door, others the pulpit. +Whispers succeeded wonder, and murmurs took the place of curiosity. The +church was clearly without a pastor; and what was a church to do under +such circumstances? At length the whole congregation got into a state of +profound agitation. What was the matter? where was the pastor? would'nt +somebody speak? These and similar questions were on every tongue. It +was suddenly discovered that the Chapmans were also absent. + +An indignant female got up and proposed that some one "go for" the +Chapmans, and make them explain what it all meant. Another, equally +indignant, took a more sensible view of things. "If there's to be no +service," said she, "I'm going home to read my Bible in quiet." And she +left the church, followed by the rest of the congregation. And as nobody +explained, of course every one had his or her own reason for this +singular turn in the spiritual affairs of the new church. There was no +getting over the fact that the new church had been brought to a stand +still. To be plain about the matter, the Reverend Warren Holbrook had +put his great progressive ideas into practice during the night by +leaving the town, and also by taking with him the young woman to whom he +had been paying such marked attentions. The Tappan Zee had never been +more troubled in a storm than was the moral sensibilities of Nyack at +this news. The very atmosphere was rank with scandal. The men laughed +and jeered, and the women shook their heads and talked of nothing else. +"After that," said the women, "who can we trust." + +"Served you right," replied the men, "for making much of such a fellow. +Women never take such men into their confidence without bringing dirty +water to their own doors." It was fortunate for Holbrook that he left +during the night, for, seeing the temper Nyack was in during that day, +there would have been some stones thrown had he remained. + +The Chapmans took the matter very cool, however, counted the profits, +and put up the church shutters. Such things had happened before, Chapman +said. It was a weakness that had marked the history of the world; and +it had been a failing with the greatest of intellects. They would yet +show to the people of Nyack what could be done with the right sort of +enterprise. The honest old Dutchmen were in high glee over the turn +affairs at the new church had taken. They got together in Hanz +Toodleburg's veranda, drank their beer, and smoked their pipes, and +wished the devil might get the new preacher, "what comes t'down to raise +t'tevil mit de peoples, and raises t'tevil mit he self." + +The stranger, of whom mention has been made, was more seriously +troubled. He heard the news of Holbrook's departure with a sad heart, +for he was the kind brother of a young woman to whom the delinquent had +made a solemn vow to marry. But that solemn vow he had recently broken +in the most heartless manner, and left her hopes blighted and her heart +sad. He declared, however, that he would follow Holbrook if he went to +the end of the earth, and bring him to justice before God and man. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +TITE TAKES HIS DEPARTURE FOR THE SOUTH SEA. + + +High above all this hypocrisy, this intrigue, this selfishness and +dissimulation, there was something more pure and good. It was love, pure +and simple, binding the thoughts and hearts of Mattie Chapman and young +Tite. That love which forgets everything else in its truth and purity, +had been gently binding their young affections together. And now nothing +could separate them. + +What sweet joys and touching sorrows are mingled with the wonderful +history of love. How surely it marks its objects. It seeks its most +precious captive in the strongest and bravest of hearts. Love has +dethroned kings, built up empires, set great nations at war, and made +statesmen weep with sorrow. Yea, it has made the mightiest to unbend, +and brought them bowing before its altar. It holds its capricious empire +in every heart, prompts our ambition, guides and governs our actions, +makes us heroes or cowards, and carries us hoping through the world. + +It was love, then, that was holding its court on the occasion I am about +to describe. It was one of those bright and breezy spring mornings, when +Nature seems to have decked herself in her brightest colors, giving such +a charm to the banks of the Hudson. The young, fresh leaves were out, +and looking so green and crisp. The leak and the moss were creeping +afresh over the rocks; wild flowers were budding and blossoming, and +giving their sweet odors to the wind; birds were singing their touching +songs; brooks rippled and murmured their mysterious music; and all +Nature was indeed putting forth her beauties in one grand, sweet, +soul-stirring harmony. + +How I envy the being who, free from the cares of the world, can elevate +his soul by holding sweet communion with nature, at spring time. Earth +has nothing so pure as the thoughts inspired by such sweet communion +with the buds, the blossoms, and the flowers of spring. + +It was one of these soft, breezy mornings in early spring, I have said, +that Mattie and Tite sat together in a little clump of woods, where the +branches formed a sort of bower overhead, and overlooking the Tappan +Zee. Every few minutes Tite would get up, advance to a point commanding +a view of the river above, and gaze intently in that direction, as if +expecting some object of interest. + +"She is not in sight yet, Mattie," he said, as he returned after one of +these intervals. "But she will be down to-day, I know she will, and then +we must part. Think of me when I am away, and I will think of you. Yes, +Mattie, I am only a sailor now, but I shall see the world, and that's +what I want, because it will make me something better. It will be three +years before we meet again; three long, long years. But I will think of +you and dream of you through all that time. And I will be so happy when +the day of our meeting comes. Be good to my mother and father while I am +gone. Be good to them for my sake. You will, won't you, Mattie?" + +Mattie's blue eyes filled with tears, the wind tossed her golden curls +over her fair neck and shoulders, and there was something so tender and +touching in the picture of these young lovers. "I have made you a +solemn promise, Tite," she replied, in broken accents. "That promise +shall be kept sacred. I shall think of you, and pray for you. Your +parents shall be my parents. I will count the days until you return." +She paused for a moment and wiped her eyes. "Neither storm nor tempest +shall trouble you, Tite, for I will follow you with my prayers that God +may carry you safe through all dangers, and bring you safe back to us. +But, Tite, take this advice from me. Do all you can for yourself. Rise +as high as you can; make all the money you can; and don't forget what we +may come to be. People who get money, and take care of it, are sure to +rise in the world. People that don't get money never do. But, God bless +you, Tite; think of me and I'll think of you." This advice to the young +sailor to make all the money he could, and given on the eve of +departure, may seem out of place to some of my romantic readers; but it +was, perhaps, the best Mattie could have given him. She was a girl of +strong affections, and it was only natural that she should have +something of the propensity so strong in both her parents. But beyond +and above this there was something frank and generous, something of real +good in her nature. Young as she was, she saw in Tite's courage and +ambition traits of character that promised well for the future. This +made her forget that which was so objectionable to her mother--that he +was only the son of common Dutch people. + +Tite had been looking for the object of his anxiety several minutes, +when, turning toward Mattie, he exclaimed: "Here she comes! here she +comes!" and they kissed and took an affectionate farewell, each +hastening to their homes. The object he had watched for so intently was +the ship Pacific, belonging to the Hudson Company's fleet of whale +ships, and bound on a voyage to the South Sea, as it was called in those +days. There was something grand and imposing about this fine old ship as +she moved majestically down the stream, her starboard tacks aboard, the +breeze filling her sails so nicely, for she had her royals set. Then her +new, white canvas contrasted so strikingly with the green hills that yet +shut her hull from view. Who could tell what might befall her in the +eventful voyage she was bound on? + +A few minutes more and she braced her yards sharp and rounded the point, +and stood on her way down the Tappan Zee. Every outline of her hull now +came clearer and clearer. There were her heavy quarter-davits, her +hoisting gear, and whale-killing gear; her long, sharp boats, lashed so +carefully, some to her davits, others athwart her quarter-deck frames; +and about all of which there was a mysterious interest. These whale +ships were at that day an object of distrust in the minds of the honest +Dutchmen along the banks of the Hudson, who never saw them go to sea +without shaking their heads and predicting all sorts of disasters, such +as would be sure to bring ruin on the men unwise enough to risk their +money in such enterprises. + +As the ship neared Nyack a group of ten or a dozen persons were seen +near the landing, with a boat and two men to take Tite off. There was +Hanz, old and grey; and Angeline, her eyes filled with tears, but her +face as full of sweetness and tenderness as it was twenty years ago. +Tite had been the joy and hope of her life. And now he was going to +leave home and sail to the other side of the world, among strange +people, and would have to brave dangers of the worst kind. + +[Illustration: Who could tell what might befall her in the eventful +voyage she was bound on? Page 60] + +There, too, was Doctor Critchel, and the good Dominie, and Titus Bright, +the inn-keeper; the first wearing his old brown coat, and looking as +snuffy as on the stormy night when he assisted in bringing Tite into the +world. They had all come to see Tite off, to say God speed, and to give +him some little token of their affection to carry with him on his voyage +after whales. + +And now that time which so tries a mother's heart had come. "Good bye, +mother, good bye, and may God be with you and protect you," said Tite, +throwing his arms around his mother's neck, and kissing her wet cheek. +"I will come back safe, and never go to sea again." Then he took leave +of his father, and each of his friends in turn. In another minute the +boat in which he stood waving his handkerchief was pulling swiftly +toward the ship. There was not a dry eye in that little group as each +figure in it stood gazing out upon the calm waters, and watching the +object so dear to the hearts of all in it. And now the boat has reached +the ship, men are seen in the gangway, a line was thrown to the men in +the boat, the ship luffed a little, and in another moment Tite mounted +the ladder and was on deck. The first officer welcomed him, for there +was something in his appearance that indicated respectability and true +character; and his ship-mates gathered about him, each giving him a warm +shake of the hand and a friendly word. Then the good ship moved +gallantly down the stream, and Tite appeared on the forecastle, and +waved adieus until she disappeared among the green hills of the +Palisades. + +There was a heart that fluttered, and a hand that waved signals, from a +point on the shore recognized by Tite, and responded to, but not seen by +the little sorrowing group waiting the return of the boat. It was +Mattie's heart that fluttered, and it was her hand that waved the last +adieu as the ship passed out of sight. There she stood, a touching +picture of truth and love, shedding her tears and waving a last farewell +to the object of her heart, and whom she might never see again. + +Such are the transmutations of commerce that it would be a curious sight +at this day to see a whaleship, under full sail, proceeding up or down +the Hudson river. It was no uncommon sight then. The enterprising people +of Hudson shared the whale-fishery business with New Bedford and +Nantucket; their fleet of ships were fitted out in the very best manner, +and some of the most famous whaling captains sailed from that port. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MR. AND MRS. CHAPMAN DISAGREE FOR THE FIRST TIME. + + +A bright light burned in Chapman's parlor that night, and the ponderous +Mrs. Chapman sat nursing her dignity in a great new rocking-chair. Her +little pale-faced husband, with keen eyes, and his hair somewhat longer +than usual, sat beside the lamp on the round table pouring over a book. +There was an air of improvement about the parlor, an evidence, indeed, +that the Chapmans had renounced their Dogtown habits, and were bent on +getting up in the world. New carpets, new mirrors, new furniture, and +window-curtains such as had not been seen in Nyack before, had been got +from New York. You must make your style of living, Mrs. Chapman said, +keep pace with the progress of the family. And it would not do to let +those new, rich, and stylish people who were coming up from New York get +ahead of you in the way of elegance. + +Mrs. Chapman no longer condescended to prepare the sausage meat and +pumpkin pies; in a word, to do the work of her own kitchen. She could +afford, she said, to keep two "helps," a cook and a chambermaid, to take +it easy and put on the lady, and to give evening parties that quite +outdid in the way of nice little suppers anything their neighbors could +give. There was, however, a number of people in Nyack who shook their +heads at the pretensions of the Chapmans; said they were putting on too +many airs, and made no response to Mrs. Chapman's invitations. Others, +when a little scandal was necessary to keep up the interest of an +evening, would insinuate that they had "originally" been very common and +vulgar people. But now, like most New England people of that class, they +were not only trying to force their opinions down other and honester +people's throats, but had a way of meddling with business that did'nt +concern them, and making themselves disagreeable generally. When +Holbrook disappeared in disgrace, there were persons malicious enough to +say that the Chapmans had better mend their own morals before they went +to patching other people's up. + +Mrs. Chapman could dress of an evening in silk, wear kid gloves that +came from France, and had plenty of real French lace on her caps. Few +persons in Nyack at that day could do such things and pass for honest +people. + +"My dear," said Mrs. Chapman, addressing herself to her small, but +intellectually great, Mr. Chapman; "my dear." She paused for a moment, +as her face assumed an air of seriousness. "We must turn our backs +entirely on Dogtown. Dogtown won't do to elevate the family on. We never +can rise in the world with Dogtown on our shoulders. And if we would +live down that scandal brought on us by Holbrook, (an indiscretion, I +think you called it,) we must keep our heads up." She paused, shook her +head in pity, and raised her fat, waxy hands. "I can't sleep of nights, +thinking of it. Lays a body's feelings out terribly. But he was so +wonderfully clever." Her face brightened up as she said this. +"Wonderfully clever," she interpolated. "It was his mental greatness I +always subsided to and admired. Clever people have their weaknesses as +well as people what are not as clever. I sometimes thought you had +yours, my dear--" + +"My dear!" interrupted Chapman, with an air of surprise, "what do you +mean? Hav'nt I been a finished husband, and a loving father?" + +"You are just as good, my dear, as husbands can be made." Mrs. Chapman +said this condescendingly, and with an air of admiration truly grand. +"But then, you know," she said, more mildly, "there was that handsome +widow you used to be so polite to, my dear. You know I detected her +waving a handkerchief once. Then you said it was one you left at the +house; and so I never thought of it again." + +"I never let the past trouble me, my dear, never. A man of forethought, +of progressive ideas, looks always ahead, and by his acts proves that he +is up square with the spirit of the age. I have a new conception. Yes, +my dear, a new conception. Nothing figurative about it, my dear. I have +a new and grand conception, which I have been evolving in my mind for +some time, and now I am getting it into a scheme which I am sure will be +profitable." + +"My dear husband," said Mrs. Chapman, in a strain of intense excitement, +"do let us know what it is." + +"Of great importance to us both," he replied, with great seriousness, as +he brushed his long black hair back over his parchment-like forehead. + +"I'll be bound it refers to what took place to-day between our Mattie +and that young sailor. I saw it all; and you saw it all, too, my dear, +and you never said a word. We never can agree on that matter, my dear, +never. On everything else we can. You can't mistake what two young +people mean when they go to waving handkerchiefs, and picking wild +flowers in the woods. This little love matter must be stopped before it +gets into a big one. Yes, it must, my dear. So fine a young woman as +our daughter condescending to marry a sailor! As I said before, my dear, +you know I have had experience in these matters--" + +"In other matters, you know, Mrs. Chapman, I have always yielded to +you--" + +"And I have always yielded to you," resumed the anxious woman, "and +never considered it a condescension. But in this I must have my own +way." And Mrs. Chapman got up and walked to a window overlooking the +Tappan Zee. The night was bright and starlight, and shadows were +flitting and dancing over the smooth waters. The picture of the ship, +with Tite waving Mattie an adieu from the forecastle, haunted her mind. + +"If that ship goes to the bottom of the sea, not a tear shall I +shed--not a tear!" resumed the speaker, in an agitated tone. "And I have +as tender a heart as anybody. But we must elevate the family. That's +laudable, you know. Nice people are very particular about these things. +And you know how much there is in names. Think of elevating the family +by taking a man by the name of Toodlebug into it! Think of our going to +live in New York with such a name. Everybody would say Toodlebug! +Toodlebug! and nobody would come to our daughter's parties." The good +woman ran on in this way for several minutes, compelling her dear +Chapman to keep the peace. At length she settled back into her rocking +chair, and there was a pause. + +"My dear," said Chapman, meekly, "I have always held that a man could +commit no greater folly than that of quarrelling with a woman on a +question of family pride. In such a contest the man is sure to get the +worst of it. I say this understandingly, my dear." And Chapman shut up +his book, and looked up into his wife's face, as if to watch the changes +of her countenance. + +"We may agree on that matter yet, my dear. A man is never so low by +birth (I mean in this country, at least,) but that he may rise to the +highest office of honor and trust--" + +"Not with such a name as Toodlebug--never!" Mrs. Chapman interrupted, +curtly. + +"That's a mistake, my dear. Names never distinguished people. A man's +merit and money are the things that do it. This is a free country. A +woman may have as many quarrels as she pleases, and have her own way in +things generally. Nothing personal, my dear. + +"But to go back to what I was pondering over when you interrupted me. A +family never gets through the world easy without a solid basis; and I +was thinking how to give a solid basis to our little family. Marrying is +all well enough in its way; but the woman who marries a man without a +solid basis, either in money or character, marries into misery. That's +my philosophy--" + +"Exactly!" interrupted Mrs. Chapman, with a stately nod of the head, and +rubbing her fat hands. "Now you talk as I like to hear you. There's no +getting up in the world without money." + +"I intended to make that point in my logic, and was coming to it, my +dear. You see, we have got the building and everything in it, all our +own. And we have got two or three thousand dollars, all put away for a +wet day. Property all honorably made. Heaven knows I would not have a +dollar that was not. That, my dear, is a good beginning for a good +basis. We must keep adding to it; keep the tide flowing in the channel +of success. I was thinking, my dear, of inventing a new religion." + +"My dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Chapman, with an air of astonishment, "what an +inventive head you have got. But you have said so often that there was +too much religion in the world, and not enough of true goodness." + +"Of the old kind, I meant, my dear;" resumed the little man. "What I +mean is to invent a religion that is new and novel, has something broad +and attractive in it, and that people of a curious turn of mind would +pay for enjoying. That's the kind of religion that pays, you see. And if +we could put the church on its feet again with something of that kind. +It's the propensity people have to go galloping after new things in +religion that we must study and turn to our advantage if we would be +prosperous." The little man fretted his fingers nervously through his +unkept hair, and his face assumed an air of great seriousness. + +"How, my dear," enquired Mrs. Chapman, "could you put the church on its +feet with such a load of scandal on its back? Could'nt you invent +something else that would be novel and profitable?" + +"There's where my new conception was coming in. That's the point I was +considering when you interrupted me with Mattie's love affair," Chapman +replied, looking more serious than ever. + +"It struck me that we might do something profitable by getting up a +company for the discovery of Kidd's treasure. 'The Great Kidd Discovery +Company' would be a good name, my dear. You must always give a company a +good name. Then you must manage it with tact and prudence. A prodigious +enterprise, my dear. These simple-minded and honest Dutch people would +fall into it like a flock of sheep. They honestly believe Kidd was a +bold pirate, who amassed a great fortune by plundering towns on the +Spanish Main. That, having more gold and silver than he could invest to +advantage, he buried it on the bank of the river, a few leagues above +this place, where he entered into an agreement with the devil to stand +guard over it until he returned. They believe, also, that Hanz +Toodleburg, whose father knew Kidd well, and perhaps had something to do +with his adventures, is the only man now living who possesses the secret +of where that treasure is buried." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +MRS. CHAPMAN CULTIVATES NEW ACQUAINTANCES. + + +It was spring-time of the year 1824. A new era in the history of the +nation's wealth and progress seemed to have fairly begun. Strong and +vigorous intellects ruled in the councils of the nation and inspired +confidence in the people. Science was breathing new life into our +enterprise, and leading us rapidly into new fields and richer prospects. +It was also brushing away the prejudices that had narrowed our thoughts +and confined our action to things of a past age. Steam was an adjustable +power now, a reality; still there were sensible men who shook their +heads in doubt; and the men who declared it would soon revolutionize the +commerce of the world were set down as not safe to do business with. + +Steamboats of improved model and of increased size seemed to spring up +every day, and might be seen passing up and down the Hudson night and +morning. Now a company of reckless New Yorkers proposed to build a +steamboat two hundred feet long, and with an engine of one hundred and +fifty horse power, to navigate the Hudson to Albany at the rate of +thirteen miles an hour. This great experiment, regarded so hazardous at +that time, sent the honest and peace-loving Dutchmen along the banks of +the river into such a state of alarm that they called meetings, and in +the most solemn manner declared that no man's life would be safe while +sailing at such a dangerous rate of speed. And they further declared +that all these new-fashioned methods of putting an end to the lives of +honest people must be stopped. In fine, they predicted nothing but +distress and ruin on all who had anything to do with them. + +It was at one of these meetings, held in Nyack about this time, and +presided over by the school-master, that a number of these honest and +peace-loving old settlers resolved, after much grave deliberation, that +a man who paid his debts and was contented with what he had was the only +true Christian. And it was further resolved, that the world was getting +to be very wicked and very full of foolish people, who were in such a +hurry to get to the devil before their time that they had devised these +steamboats to carry them. And seeing that it was neither wisdom nor +prudence for honest people to travel on such craft, they would also not +send their vegetables to market on them. + +This resolution was kept good for a number of years, the honest people +who made it firmly believing that all good and prudent persons would +follow their example, and in that way drive the steamboats from the +river. Alarming as these things were, there were others which fairly +frightened these honest people out of all their courage. The gossips had +gathered in force at Titus Bright's inn one night, to enjoy a pipe and a +mug of his new ale. There was the school-master, and Doctor Critchel, +and Hanz Toodleburg, and other choice spirits, who knew all about the +affairs of the nation. When they had discussed all manner of subjects, +Titus drew from his pocket a newspaper and read, to the astonishment and +evident alarm of his guests, that a man in England had invented a +machine to do away with horses. The doctor set down his ale and adjusted +his spectacles, and gazed at the speaker with an air of surprise and +astonishment, while Hanz and the school-master suddenly ceased smoking. + +"Now don't get alarmed, my friends," said Titus, watching with evident +delight the increasing alarm of his guests. "It is all here, and true. +He has invented a steam-horse, with an iron stomach and wheels; and the +animal can, with good management, be made to run over a road at the rate +of twenty miles an hour. Yes," added Titus, with a look of great +seriousness, "people are already risking their lives by riding in this +way." + +The doctor heaved a sigh, and, half raising his pipe, gave it as his +opinion that a man who would invent such dangerous machines must be in +league with the devil. This profound opinion was endorsed by both Hanz +and the school-master. The latter, in short, suggested that such men +were generally vagabonds, whom it were well to throw into the Tappan +Zee, with stones around their necks. + +"If the world was going to the devil in this way, what was the use of +living in it," inquired the school-master, finishing his ale, and +passing his mug for a fresh draught. + +"Sure enough, sure enough!" a number of voices ejaculated +simultaneously. + +"Truly, the dragons are to be let loose upon us," resumed Bright, +passing the schoolmaster his mug of ale. "An' here's now in New York, +that's got to be so wicked honest folks can't live in it, a lot o' crazy +men talking about building one of these here steamboats big enough to +cross the Atlantic." + +"Der won't be much heerd of de mans nir de vomans vat goes in um," +interrupted Hanz. + +"Peoples is not sho crazy as t'too any un de sort. 'Tis all hombug;" +joined the doctor. + +"So I say, doctor!" interposed the school-master. + +"Here it is, gentlemen," resumed Bright; "all down in the newspaper. No +getting over that." Thus was this important subject discussed until a +late hour, the gossips going to their homes with serious faces and heavy +hearts. + +It is a very well established fact that the question of building +steamships large enough and strong enough to cross the ocean was +discussed by a number of New York merchants who were ready to embark +capital in the project, several years before the keels of the Royal +William, the Savannah, the Sirius, or the Great Western were laid. But +we must leave this subject for the present, and return to our friends, +the Chapmans. + +These people professed to be plain and practical, brought up according +to the creed of New England. They also affected to despise the small +vanities of the world. The effect of prosperity, however, on their +natures was singularly instructive, since it entirely changed their +manners. No sooner did fortune favor them than Mrs. Chapman began to +display an ambition for vulgar show, such as well-bred people never +indulge in. She never failed to remind her friends that she was brought +up in Boston, where everything was very refined. She regarded it as a +compliment to herself that she had an intellectual husband. He had a big +head, if he was small, and could carry any number of books in it. That +was what Boston people liked. Her thoughts seemed continually navigating +between religion and the fashions. She had no deep affection or love for +any one, not even for her daughter Mattie, whom she viewed in the light +of a rather valuable ornament, in the disposal of which she must make +the best bargain she could, not so much for the girl's sake as her own. +She could toss her head as disdainfully as any of your fine dames; and +she could discourse as glibly about genteel society as a successful +milliner just set up for a lady. She had plain Mrs. Jones for a +neighbor, and would drop that honest woman a nod now and then, out of +mere politeness. But she never condescended to associate on terms of +equality with the Jones family. Mrs. Jones's husband was a common, +unintellectual sort of person, who retailed groceries for a living. + +A singular and mysterious change had now taken place. Chapman no longer +got up quarrels with his neighbors. Indeed, he had a good word to say +whenever he met Titus Bright. He could shake hands with Doctor Critchel, +and agree with the Dominie on matters of religion. In fine, if he was +everybody's enemy before, he was now everybody's friend. He admired the +Dutch for their honesty and true-heartedness. This singular change gave +the gossips of the town something to talk about for a week. The Chapmans +and the Toodleburgs were now the very best of friends. Chapman could be +seen of an evening sitting in Hanz's little ivy-covered porch, enjoying +a pot of ale. And Hanz had been seen smoking his pipe in Chapman's +garden. All this meant something, the gossips said, and something of +great importance. Where two such men got their heads together, and pipes +and ale were called in, there was sure to be something deep going on. +Hanz Toodleburg, they said, never smoked his pipe with a man like +Chapman but that there was something in the wind. Then Mrs. Chapman and +her gushing, blue-eyed daughter had condescended to visit at +Toodleburg's, and could make themselves quite agreeable at Angeline's +tea-table. And then Angeline, good, kind Angeline, with her face still +bright with gentleness and love, was always so happy When Mattie called. +Then there was something so simple, so frank and straightforward in +Mattie's nature. Angeline could not help loving her. And the affection +she cherished for Tite, who was the idol of her thoughts, strengthened +the ties of their love. + +"We have not forgot you, you see," said Mrs. Chapman, as she bowed +herself into Toodleburg's little house one evening. "We expected company +at home to-night, but says I to my dear husband, 'you know, my dear +husband,' (here Mrs. Chapman bowed to her dear husband, who had followed +her,) 'we have been promising so long to visit Mr. and Mrs. +Toodleburg.'" + +Angeline bowed and invited her visitors to be seated, while Hanz gave +Chapman a hearty shake of the hand, and an assurance that no man was +more welcome under his roof. "Always glad to see mine friends," said +Hanz. "You shall take seats, and be shust so much at home as you is in +your own house." And he drew one big chair up for Chapman, and another +for Mrs. Chapman. "Peoples always makes themselves at home in mine +house." + +"You must excuse our humble little place," Angeline said; "we are plain, +every-day people." And she made Mrs. Chapman a low courtesy, as that +stout, bustling woman, apparently overcome with the heat, settled her +solid circumference into a chair. + +"Dear a me," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, "what happy people you ought to be. +Everything so comfortable round you, you know, and all your own. What a +blessing to have things all your own." Here Mrs. Chapman raised her +bonnet carefully and used it as a fan. + +"Yes, we are quite unpretending people," Angeline repeated. "What we +have got is our own. We are getting old now, and if we die owing nobody +a shilling we shall die in peace." And her sweet face lighted up with a +smile, the true reflex of that goodness her heart was so full of. + +"It's so warm--I'm about melted," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, not appearing +to notice what Angeline had said. "And this is my new bonnet, you see. +Bonnets cost so much money now. People are getting so fashionable, and +to be anybody you must keep up appearances." She held her bonnet up +admiringly. "And my dear, good husband there--he's such a good +husband--says I'm a very expensive wife. Always buys me what I want, +though." Here she raised her waxy, fat hand, and dropped a bow of +approval to the little husband, who was quietly surveying the scene from +Hanz's big chair. "My husband is so intellectual, and does so much for +other people. He's always doing for other people. But he's a treasure to +me, for all that--" + +"My dear, my dear," interrupted Chapman; "what a kind way you have of +paying compliments. Mrs. Toodleburg will not understand you, my dear. +What more than any one else have I done for other people?" + +"You have been a perfect Christian, my dear, so you have," resumed Mrs. +Chapman, giving her head a toss and pressing the fore-finger of her +right hand on the arm of the chair. "Why, Mrs. Toodlebug--pardon me; I +never did pronounce names correct." She turned condescendingly to +Angeline. "You must know that my dear husband created a whole town once. +Then he built a great and flourishing church, founded on advanced moral +ideas. And he intended to have sold it for the good of others, and would +have sold it, but for an unforeseen circumstance." + +"A very unforeseen circumstance, my dear," rejoined Chapman, shaking his +head admonishingly. "You see, I have got one of the very best wives in +the world. She has a philosophy of her own, and we agree in everything." + +"Shust like me and mine vife," said Hanz. "We agrees in everything. +Lived dese forty nor more years togeder, mitout a quarrel." Hanz had +been sitting where a pale shadow of the dim light played over his broad, +kindly face, and, with his long, white hair curling down his neck, gave +a clearer outline to the picture. + +"Never had even a little quarrel?" resumed Mrs. Chapman, inquiringly. "I +have heard married people say it was so nice to have a little quarrel +now and then. But my dear husband is such a good husband, Mrs. +Toodleburg. Just like yours." Here she turned toward and dropped +Angeline a bow. "I never want to live to see the day when I shall have +to marry a second husband." Here she turned and dropped a bow to her +dear Chapman. "I should be always praising you, my dear. And unless my +dear second husband was a saint there would be trouble in the house, you +know. My dear, let us drop this subject. It is not pleasant to look to +far into the future." Here she turned to Angeline, who had proceeded to +get some strawberries and cream for her guests. + +"You are so nice and comfortable here," she resumed; "it takes one back +to the good old times, when everything was true and simple." Mrs. +Chapman gave quicker motion to her tongue. "You have your loom, and your +spinning-wheel, and homespun made by your own hands. How delightful." + +"My dear, my dear," interrupted Chapman; "what a homily on the beauties +of economy you are reading our friends--" + +"Don't interrupt me, my dear," resumed Mrs. Chapman, and she again +turned to Angeline. "Do you know, Mrs. Toodlebug, that I have always +felt that we ought to be the best of friends?" + +"You are very kind," said Angeline, "very kind. We are very plain +people." + +"That's why I like you all the better," Mrs. Chapman resumed, with an +air of condescension. "My husband and your husband must also be the best +of friends. They can make a fortune by it, you know. You see, my husband +proposes to make your husband's fortune. He is the greatest man to make +other people's fortunes. Yes, he is. My husband's head is full of great +progressive ideas. And he has made the fortunes of so many men." Here +Mrs. Chapman lowered her voice to a whisper, and drew her chair a little +nearer to Angeline. "There is another little matter that should make us +firm friends. I would not mention it, you know; but I feel that it is no +secret." Here she dropped one of her most significant bows. "I have +taken such a liking to your son. Such a promising young man, he is. That +voyage will make a man of him; who knows but he may come home with a +large fortune. I have known stranger things than that. I have been +encouraging a little love affair between him and my daughter Mattie. You +have seen my Mattie? She is clever, wonderfully smart, handsome, too; +and if she gets the right kind of a husband, will shine in society." + +"My poor boy, my poor boy!" exclaimed Angeline, her eyes filling with +tears at the mention of his name. "How, how, how I should like to see +him to-night. There is where he used to sit, (here her voice yielded to +her emotions,) and here is the chair we always kept for him. Perhaps we +shall never see him again. He was so good and so kind to us. I hope God +will be good to him, and will watch over him, and carry him safe through +dangers, and bring him back to us. Oh, I know God will be good to him. +We are both old now, and have nothing to live for but him." Again she +gave way to her grief, and as the tears flowed buried her face in her +hands. + +"My dear, good friend," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, rising from her chair, +and placing her hand consolingly on Angeline's shoulder; "there is +nothing in the world to weep for. Nothing in the world. I would be proud +of a son who had courage and ambition enough to go on one of these +voyages. It is proof, my good woman, that he has something in him. And +if he should bring home a fortune, you know. Oh, he'd have so many +friends. Don't weep, my good woman, don't weep. He'll be such a joy to +you when he comes home. And I will encourage Mattie to think of nobody +else." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A STRANGE GENTLEMAN. + + +Angeline had just recovered from her grief, and was setting strawberries +and cream before her visitors, when a loud knock was heard at the door, +which Hanz proceeded to open; when a tall, well-dressed man, with dark, +well kept hair, piercing black eyes, features of great regularity, and +having the manners of a gentleman, entered and introduced himself as Mr. +Luke Topman, just from New York. "I am a stranger to you all here," he +said, in a deep, clear voice, "and I owe you an apology for calling at +this seemingly late hour. I said I was a stranger," he repeated, "but +the business I am on may make us acquaintances." The stranger stood for +a moment, with his eyes fixed on Chapman. Still no recognition passed, +and their manner was that of strangers who had never met before. + +The figures here grouped together were of the most opposite kind, and +presented a picture at once striking and effective. A table stood in the +centre of the little room, and on it burned a candle, casting a pale and +shadowy light over and giving clearer outline to each figure. There was +the old loom, with its harnesses, its reed, and its shuttles; the +flax-wheel and the distaff, forming a quaint setting, but representing a +past age and the primitive habits of the people who used them. + +There was Hanz and Angeline on one side. Time was writing its record in +deep lines on their faces, and whitening their gray hairs. Frank, +simple-minded, honest, and contented, they had enough to carry them +through life comfortably; and why should they, Hanz said, trouble +themselves about anything more? They represented an age and a people +perfectly happy with what it had pleased God to give them. On the other +side there was Chapman and Mrs. Chapman, exact types of the people they +represented. Ambitious of making a show in the world, grasping, +restless, selfish, intriguing, seeking always for means to advance +themselves, studying the future for their own advancement, and ready to +use even religion as an assistant to gaining their objects. Such was the +contrast presented in the picture before us. + +Again apologizing for calling at what seemed a late hour, the stranger +proceeded. "I am in great haste, madam. I came all the way from New York +to-day. Crossed the ferry only an hour ago, and am somewhat fatigued. My +business is of great importance, and with Mr. Toodleburg. I was directed +here, and am glad to find him so comfortably situated." + +"Very well, very well," rejoined Hanz, his face lighted up with a smile, +and his white hair flowing; "dat's me, mine friend. You be's welcome to +my little home. Yees, mine friend, you shall be so welcome as I can make +you." Hanz shook him heartily by the hand, and invited him to sit down. +"You be's had no shupper, eh?" he resumed. "Der's no man what comes nor +goes hungry to my house." + +The stranger bowed and said, "Thank you--you are very kind; but I supped +on the other side of the sea, and have no need for any more." + +"Mine gracious!" exclaimed Hanz. "You comes all de way from New York to +she me. You eats anoder shupper, shure." + +The stranger persisted that he would eat no more that night. The +appearance of the man at so late an hour excited serious apprehensions +in the mind of Angeline lest he should bring news of some disaster to +the good ship Pacific. + +Then turning to Mrs. Chapman, he said, "I hope, madam, I have not +intruded on your privacy here to-night?" + +That lady, having dropped him one of her best bows, assured him there +was nothing private so far as she was concerned. "We are friends and +neighbors of these good people," she replied with a forced smile and an +air of condescension. "We like to be neighborly, and just dropped in to +make a friendly call. That's all, sir." + +"I am very glad to meet Mr. Toodleburg. Very glad to find him such an +excellent person," the stranger repeated, turning to Hanz, and again +taking him by the hand. "Topman, I said my name was; Luke Topman, senior +partner of the enterprising house of Topman and Gusher, doing a large +miscellaneous business in Pearl, near Wall street. You are, doubtless, +well acquainted with the reputation of the firm." Here Mr. Topman +compressed his lips, brushed his fingers through his hair, and addressed +himself to Chapman, who up to this time had maintained an air of +indifference to what was going on. + +"Perfectly well," replied Chapman, with an air of surprise. "Highly +respectable and equally responsible house, that. Why, sir, it is +somewhat curious that we should meet here. A relative of mine did +business with that house a long time. Highly satisfactory--highly." + +"We endeavor to make everything satisfactory with our customers," +resumed Mr. Topman. "Happy to have met a gentleman so familiar with the +reputation of our house. Pray, may I enquire to the name?" + +"Chapman--Bigelow Chapman. My wife, Mr. Topman; my enlarged and better +half. Mr. Topman, my dear, of the firm of Topman and Gusher. Doing a +large miscellaneous business, and highly respectable." + +"What a strange meeting this is. You used to know each other? How +curious!" interposed Mrs. Chapman, rising from her seat and dropping Mr. +Topman one of her most stately bows. + +"By reputation. Perhaps I should have said general reputation, my dear," +returned Chapman. During all this time Hanz was kept in ignorance of the +object of the stranger's visit. Yet the whole scene was such as could +not fail to excite his curiosity to the very highest pitch. + +"And now," said the stranger, "as the night is warm, and ladies never +care to hear anything about business, I propose, Mr. Toodleburg, that we +retire to the porch. You can enjoy your pipe, there; and, if you will +permit me, I will enjoy a cigar. Our friend, here--he will permit me to +call him so--will join us." + +The three now proceeded to the porch; where, when they had become +seated, the stranger discovered the object of his visit. "I have been +informed on good authority," said Mr. Topman, "that you possess the +secret of where Kidd's treasure is buried--" + +"Vel, vel, vel!" exclaimed Hanz, raising his hands in astonishment; "if +dat ish'nt so pig a lie as ever vas told. No, mine friend, I knows +nothin' apout dis Mr. Kidd, nor his money. Dis one big lie de peoples +pout here gits up, as has nothin' petter to do." + +"It's somewhat singular," said Chapman, fixing his keen black eyes on +the stranger, "it was that that brought me here to-night. Mr. +Toodleburg may be innocent of all knowledge of Mr. Kidd, as he says. But +the people sincerely believe that he does, and that he possesses the +secret of where his treasure is buried. The belief is just as good as +the reality, and may be made equally profitable." + +"Exactly," interposed Mr. Topman, "exactly! Just what I was going to +suggest." Here Mr. Topman put his thumbs in the arms of his waistcoat, +and drummed on the front with his fingers. "If these honest people +believe Mr. Toodleburg knows where the money is buried, why, sir, +there's your solid basis for a grand joint stock company, dividends +twenty per cent., payable quarterly. That's what takes. God bless me, +Mr. Toodleburg, here's a fortune in your fingers. Capable heads, sir, +and capable hands. There's all, sir, that is required to give the thing +popularity and insure its success." Mr. Topman paused for a moment, +threw himself back in his chair, and cast a patronizing glance at Hanz. +"Progressive idea, sir. Grand Kidd Discovery Company. Capital one +hundred thousand dollars, all paid in. The man fortunate enough to get +twenty shares is sure to make a fortune." + +"Den if he pe so grand, why you don't make all de fortune, and keep him +yourshelf?" said Hanz, rubbing his head and dropping his pipe. + +"Having the secret," resumed Mr. Topman, blandly, "of course you are +indispensable to the success of the enterprise. Think of it, sleep over +it, and I am sure, sir, you will wake up in the morning resolved to +place yourself in the hands of Topman and Gusher." Mr. Topman made +another pause, and threw his hands over his head. "No matter whether you +have the secret or not. Stick to it that you have; and refer your men +to Topman and Gusher." + +Again Hanz shook his head, and smoked his pipe thoughtfully. The whole +thing was new and strange to him. Never in his life before had anything +taken him by such surprise. He had enough to carry him through the world +comfortably, and something to give his poor neighbors when they stood in +need. Why should he trouble his head about Mr. Kidd. He did not know +where a dollar of his money was buried. + +"Mine friends," said Hanz, "I likes you poth. And I thanks you, and ish +much opliged to you for dis offer to makes my fortune. But, what I do +mit sho much moneys, eh? My neighbors all say 'Hanz Toodleburg steals +him,' Maybe I gits prout mit him. Den everypody says Hanz Toodleburg +gits apove his pisness. Mit a fortune perhaps t'tivel gits into mine +head. Der ish nopody now put me und mine Angeline--" + +"There's your son, Mr. Toodleburg," interposed Chapman, who until now +had remained almost passive. "You ought to regard him above everything +else, you ought. I feel a deep interest in that young man, you know. If +you could have a fortune for him when he comes home--well, that would be +the making of him." + +"Shure enough, dere ish mine poor poy, Tite. He ish such a goot poy. It +most preaks his muder's heart to have him go dis long voyages," said +Hanz, taking the pipe from his lips, as his eyes filled with tears. "If +I only could have a fortune und de little farm for mine poor Tite when +he gits home." + +"Give us your hand, sir," said Mr. Topman. "You talk now like a man, and +a father. I'm a father, sir, and know how to feel for you. Had a son at +sea four years. Gave him a fortune when he came home. A most +enterprising and highly respected merchant now. Has ships at sea, rides +in his carriage, and a balance in his bank." The thought of providing a +future for Tite was more than Hanz could resist, and his unsuspecting +nature yielded to the temptation. + +"And now," said Mr. Topman, rising from his chair, "if Mr. Toodleburg +will sign these papers--they merely set forth that he possesses and will +confide to the house of Topman and Gusher, their heirs or assigns, the +secret of where Kidd's treasure is buried, and that he shall have a +tenth interest in all the profits. A sure gain and no risk, you know." + +The three gentlemen now returned to the little room. Topman handed +Chapman the paper, and requested that he would read it, which that +gentleman affected to do. + +"Perfectly straightforward and correct," said Chapman; "perfectly! I am +sure you are very kind to these people, and I wish the great Kidd +Discovery Company every success." + +Angeline brought the little old ink-bottle, and Hanz, with feelings of +hesitation, it must be confessed, signed the papers, when the visitors +retired for the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +CAPTAIN BOTTOM, THE WHALE-KILLER. + + +On the morning of the 24th of June, the good ship Pacific was sailing +gallantly down the coast of Brazil, all her canvass spread to a light +breeze, her port tacks aboard, and heading for Bahia. + +The air was hot with the breath of tropic winds, and the horizon to the +west and south was festooned with fierce red clouds. The sun was just +setting, and spreading the broad ocean with a crimson light, giving a +weird and curious outline to every feature of the ship. There was +something grand, even enchanting and sublime, in the picture here spread +out, presenting as it did the highest example of God's goodness and +reality. + +The scene changed suddenly, as the sun disappeared. The fierce, red +clouds melted into softness and tenderness. A pale, yellow light spread +along the heavens and over the sea; and the ship that a few minutes +before had looked like a white-winged phantom floating over a sea of +fire, now assumed the appearance of a maiden decked in her bridal robes. + +A man of short, stout figure, a sort of compromise between an alderman +and a dwarf, with very short legs, a broad red face, wide mouth, crispy +grey hair that stood nearly erect on his head, a red, punky nose, and +keen, grey eyes, paced watchfully up and down the quarter-deck. He was +dressed in white pantaloons and jacket, both fitting tight to his skin, +and wore a Panama hat, with a long black ribbon streaming behind. + +He would pause at the hand-rail every few minutes, scan eagerly along +the sky from north to south, as if studying the strange and sudden +changes that were going on in the heavens. Then he would exchange a few +words with the officer of the watch, and resume his walk. Eight bells +had just struck, the wind began to freshen and veer to the southwest, +and the sky became overcast and filled with white, fleecy clouds. + +An order was given to take in studding-sails and get the ship "snug" for +the night, and quickly obeyed. Order and regularity prevailed on board +the good ship Pacific; and the promptness and cheerfulness with which +both officers and men performed their duties showed that they had a more +than ordinary interest in the ship and her voyage. Fashion had not then +made slaves and idlers of our young men of wealthy parents, and it was, +indeed, thought no disgrace for a gentleman of position to send his sons +on one of these voyages, to do duty before the mast. It taught them how +to face danger and endure hardships. It developed their manliness, and +made them more self-reliant. It gave them a knowledge of the world they +could not get elsewhere, and laid a good foundation for a fixed and +lasting character. Indeed, some of our richest and most enterprising +merchants have dated their prosperity from one of these voyages. + +The short, bluff-looking man pacing the quarter-deck was Captain Price +Bottom; and a more honest-hearted old salt never sailed the sea. His +great skill in killing whales had made him famous among whalemen +throughout the Pacific. He had made three successful voyages, bringing +home cargoes that had enriched his owners, put money in his own pocket, +and secured him a reputation he esteemed of more value than a fortune. +In truth, he regarded whales just as a terrier does rats, and found his +highest enjoyment in killing them. And yet nothing pleased him better +than when a whale showed pluck, as he called it, and made a square, +fierce fight for his life. A man had a chance then to show his skill and +power over the brute, he said. He held, too, that man's highest object +in life was to know how to kill a whale skilfully; and he heartily +despised the whale "as would submit quietly to the harpoon, and die like +a lubber." He also affected great contempt for the landsman who had +lived like a gentleman, and never killed a whale in his life. + +"There's no lunar to-night," said Captain Bottom, pausing at the +quarter-deck rail, and addressing himself to the officer of the watch. +"There's a goin' to be dirt, sir, there is; and them royals and +topgallant-sails is got to cum in. Would'nt surprise me if we had to +double-reef topsails afore mornin'. Tell you what it is, Mr. Higgins, +there's that ar north star with a towel over her face again. Sink me if +there'll be any lunar took to-night." The captain shook his head, gave +his Panama a tip, and walking aft, stood beside the binnacle watching +the compasses for several minutes. Then returning to where the officer +of the watch stood, he resumed: + +"Never made a bad landfall in my life, Mr. Higgins. Never shall be said +of Captain Price Bottom that he lost his reckonin'. It's judgment; yes, +Mr. Higgins, it's good judgment and sound sense what makes a good +sailor. A man may cram his skull till it hurts with Bowditch, but if he +hain't sense he'll never be a sailor. Same in killin' whales. If a man +hain't got sense, the whale is sure to get the advantage of him." Again +he paused, as if courting a reply; but Mr. Higgins merely bowed assent +to everything the captain said, every few minutes keeping an eye aloft +at the sails. + +"Man what gets his navigation aboard ship knows his business. Got mine +there; yes, sir! Did'nt know a Bowditch from a Bible when I went aboard +ship. Can do my amplitude and variations now without looking at a +nautical almanac. Can, sir, by Jove!" + +The ship bounded gallantly over the sea, leaving in her wake a long +silvery train of phosphoric light. Drawing no response from Mr. Higgins, +the captain raised his night-glass and scanned along the heavens to the +west. "We'll get somethin' out o' that quarter, butt end foremost," said +the captain, lowering his glass. + +Mr. Higgins was first officer of the ship, a position secured to him, +not because he had worked his way up to it, but through the influence of +a rich father, who was a large owner in the ship and her venture. He was +a tall, well-formed, fine-looking young man, with delicate and well-cut +features, and black hair. He was also a fine scholar and a perfect +master of the theory of navigation, and a voyage or two to Europe had +given him a slight knowledge of the practical part of it. Yet he was +more an ornamental than a practical sailor; and it was this that made +Captain Bottom, the whale-killer, hold him in no very high respect. +Indeed, he had several times said, in the presence of Mr. Higgins, that +it was all very well for a young gentleman to be a scholar; but a sailor +what had his head full of books never made a fortune for his owners. + +"Eight and forty hours more, Mr. Higgins! Yes, sir, eight and forty +hours more--keepin' her as she's going--and we have the land off Bahia." +Captain Bottom gave his head a significant shake as he spoke. "Using +judgment, you see; not books, Mr. Higgins. Captain Price Bottom has +sailed seventeen years, and never was deceived by that chart. Don't make +charts now as they used to make 'em, Mr. Higgins," he concluded, +shrugging his shoulders. + +The wind now came over the sea roaring like a fierce lion, indicating +the rapid approach of the gale. + +"If we make land off Bahia in forty-eight hours, then I'm mistaken," +rejoined the first officer, satirically. "There's something coming that +will give us enough to do before morning." + +The words had hardly escaped his lips when the full force of the gale +struck the ship, roaring and shrieking through her shrouds, and nearly +throwing her on her beam ends. The sea was soon lashed into a tempest, +and made a clean sweep over her decks. The canvas was carried clean from +the bolt-ropes, the sheets were let go, and the lighter sails clewed up, +and an attempt made to get the ship's head to the wind and lay her to. +But the mizzen-sails were all gone, and she fell off, and refused to +obey her helm. The lashings had given way, and the larboard, waist, and +quarter boats were all swept from the davits, the frames sprung, and +every timber in the good ship's hull worked, and strained, and +complained, like a frail thing that must soon go to pieces. Every order, +however, was obeyed promptly and cheerfully, for both officers and crew +felt that their lives, as well as the saving of the ship, depended on +the way in which each man performed his duty. + +Just before the gale came up five young men, including Tite, might have +been seen grouped together in the waist of the ship, pondering over a +chart. Several books and nautical instruments were lying around. They +were all, except Tite, young men of wealthy parents, who had joined the +ship to enjoy the excitements of a whaling voyage. These young men, with +Tite, had formed a school of instruction, and every evening got together +in the same place to improve their knowledge in practical navigation. +One of them, a young man who had endeared himself to all on board by his +courage and the gentleness of his manners, was third mate, and took a +leading part in instructing the others. It would, indeed, have been +difficult to find two young men whose characters bore a stronger +resemblance than his and Tite's. Between them there grew up the +strongest friendship. + +The ship was now laboring in the trough of the sea, when a loud crash +was heard aloft. The fore, main, and mizzen top-gallant masts had gone +in rapid succession, and the swaying mass of wreck was threatening the +destruction of the ship. Death now stared every one in the face. There +was no hope of saving the ship and the lives of those on board, except +in the strength and courage of those willing to go aloft and clear away +the wreck. But who was there to do this perilous work? + +Amidst the confusion caused by the excited elements there was the sturdy +little captain, calm and cool, and giving his orders with that clearness +and decision which had always characterized him. Men were called for to +go aloft and cut away the swaying wreck, and save the ship. The first to +obey this summons was young Tite Toodleburg, whose example was followed +by the young man I have described as third mate, and one of his +companions. They mounted the fore, main, and mizzen rigging, and working +with all their strength and skill soon had the swaying wreck cut away, +and the ship relieved of her strain. But in descending, the third mate, +who had so gallantly performed his duty, lost his hold, and the ship +giving a terrible lurch, he was plunged into the sea, and seen no more. + +The ship now gradually righted, and with the aid of a storm-sail in her +mizzen rigging, for her top-sail had been torn into shreds, her head was +got to the wind. + +In that latitude gales of this kind are of short duration, generally; +and in half an hour from the time it struck the ship there was a calm, +smooth sea, and all hands were engaged repairing damages. + +On the following morning the ship was proceeding on her course, with a +light breeze from the north and a clear sky. Captain Bottom was there on +the quarter-deck, directing affairs, and in a talkative mood. + +"She's a good ship, sir, this old Pacific is, Mr. Higgins;" said he, +again addressing that officer. "Never knew her get off her feet before." +He always spoke of the ship as if she were a thing of life. "Bless her +staunch old soul! Made her timbers talk, eh? Wants a man as has got +confidence in the craft what's under him. Then if she goes down, why he +feels like being a hero and keeping her company. + +"But it makes me feel bad, Mr. Higgins, that we have lost our third +mate, poor fellow! He was a good sailor, and a brave young man, and had +such good friends at home, who thought so much of him." And as he said +this tears glistened in his eyes, and ran down his cheeks. "I'm sorry +for that young man, I am, so I am, Mr. Higgins," said the old sailor, +wiping the tears from his bronzed cheeks. "I do hope his soul will sail +in peace in a better world." Again he shook his head sorrowfully, and +then paused for a minute as if to regain control of his feelings. "God +forgive me," he resumed, "for making a woman of myself. Don't do it +often, Mr. Higgins." + +"Shows that you have a kind heart, sir, and can shed a tear when it is +touched. I appreciate you for it. There is something manly in the tear +of a brave sailor," returned the officer, coldly, but politely. "We +shall get a good observation to-day, and if the men work hearty all the +spare spars and sails will be up by nightfall." Mr. Higgins's mind was +evidently on his duty, and not being inclined to enjoy the captain's +conversation, he took every opportunity to change the subject. + +"Give us your hand, Mr. Higgins," said he, rather unannoyed than +otherwise by what that officer had said. "But look you here!" He lowered +his voice as he took the officer's hand, "There'll be no whales to kill +where that poor fellow has gone. Not a whale. I promised his poor old +father--a good old red coat killer he was, too, in the Revolution--that +this here son of his should kill the first whale. Yes, I did, Mr. +Higgins. And that's what mortifies me. He's dead, you see, poor fellow. +T'was'nt my fault that I did'nt keep my promise. There'll be no whales +to kill where he's gone, poor fellow!" Again he shook his head +feelingly, then raising his hat, wiped the sweat from his bronzed brow. + +He now sent for Tite, who came upon the quarter-deck nervously, and +saluted his superior. "Well, my hearty," said Captain Bottom, "here's my +hand. You're a sailor, every inch on you. And a brave man, too, if +Captain Bottom does say it." Tite was not a little surprised at this +familiarity on the part of his captain, for he had before coming on +board been led to believe that the most severe discipline ruled on board +a whale ship. + +"There's the true sailor in you, my hearty," continued the captain, +again shaking Tite warmly by the hand. "You saved the ship, my hearty. +There'd a bin no more of the good old Pacific--God bless her! nor none +of us standin' here, but for you, my hearty." + +"I only done my duty, sir," rejoined Tite, modestly, as the color came +into his face. "I hope, captain, to merit your praise to the end of the +voyage." The young sailor made a bow, and was about returning to his +duty. + +"Avast, a bit," interrupted the captain. "Your name's Toodlebug, is'nt +it, my hearty?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Tite. "Titus Bright Toodleburg; usually called Tite. +Hope, sir, to improve myself in navigation and seamanship under your +command. I shall always feel proud, sir, that I sailed with you. Some +one may trust me with a ship some day." + +"That's the talk, my hearty; keep a sharp look ahead," rejoined the +captain, his face lighting up with a smile. "Cram Bowditch into yer +head, and keep a sharp look ahead. Have ye so ye can bring the sun down +to dinner and put the north star in yer pocket afore ye get round Cape +Horn. You'll be a sailor yet, my hearty." Again Captain Bottom shook +Tite by the hand warmly. + +"Git yer head full of navigation; and with good judgment to help ye out, +ye can look an owner in the eye without winking, and tell him ye want a +ship. And if that recommendation don't do, tell him you have killed +whales with Captain Bottom, a man what never let a whale git the better +of him. And if he has never heard of Captain Price Bottom, of the good +old ship Pacific, then he never should own a ship, and don't sail for +him. That's my advice, my hearty. So keep a sharp look out ahead." Here +he tapped Tite on the shoulder, exultingly. + +"It's very kind of you," returned Tite, modestly, "to take this interest +in me, a stranger to you. I shall do my best to merit your confidence +and respect." + +"A stranger, eh? Not a bit of it!" resumed the captain, quickly. "Look +ye here, my hearty. Your good old father and me was old friends. That +was years ago, you know. Meeting you brings an old love affair of thirty +years right back to my heart again. Yes, my hearty, that old feelin's +just as good as new this minute. God bless yer father; and God bless yer +mother, too! Here's a hand what'll always give a warm welcome to the son +of old Hanz Toodlebug--" + +"Then you knew my father? I hope, sir, I may never do anything to lessen +your respect for him." + +"Know'd him?" resumed the captain. "Yes, sir, and yer mother, too. And +when Captain Price Bottom says he know'd a man, he means it. Your father +and me was rivals!" Here he touched Tite on the elbow, and winked +significantly. "That is--well, it's rather a delicate subject--he +courted yer mother, and so did I! There, sir, there's just what it is. +She was as trim a young craft then as ever spread sails, and as full of +goodness and good looks." Captain Bottom again paused for a moment, +shook his head despondingly, and placed his hand on his heart. "A number +of young bloods like me trimmed their sails, but did'nt overhaul her. +Many a heart-flutter she caused me in them days. And just when I +thought, says I to myself, 'I'm to wind'rd,' and had got ready to make +fast to her--" Here he paused for a moment, and then lowering his voice, +continued: "Well, what does she go and do? Blow me, my hearty, if she +did'nt go off and marry your father. That's what dismasted me. Never +bore him nor her any ill-will. 'God bless ye both,' says I; 'may ye be +happy and have a large family!' And it does me good to know that they +was prosperous. Your father had a home to take a woman to, and that is +what a woman should look to. Price Bottom was poor then, and without a +shillin' in his pocket. It was disappointment that made me take to the +sea, though. Went from the fo'castle t'where you see me now--Captain +Price Bottom, sir, of the good ship Pacific. It's a man's own exertion +that lifts him up in the world. There's my poor old woman at home +to-night--God bless her and the two little ones! thinking of me, and +praying for me, and wondering where we are. Laid her up a nice little +fortune; wolf can't bark at her door. That's a gratification, my hearty. +Made three successful voyages, you see. This, our fourth one, is to be +the last. Keep a sharp look ahead, and there's a future for you, too. +Ah, there'll be a heap of happiness a'tween me and my old woman when +this voyage is ended. A true wife at home, and a lovin' husband at +sea--ah, my hearty, them's jewels!" + +Tite listened with surprise to the story of this strange and eccentric +man. He had never heard either of his parents mention his name. He, +however, regarded it as very fortunate that he should be on board a ship +commanded by a captain who held his humble parents in such high regard. +The jolly old sailor finished his story by enjoining Tite to keep what +he had said a matter of confidence. He also made him third mate, to fill +the place of the young man who fell from the fore-mast into the sea +during the gale. + +"You shall take a hand at killing the first whale; shall command the +larboard boat. And you shall never want a friend while Captain Price +Bottom treads this quarter-deck," he concluded. + +Tite bowed, and thanked his benefactor again. He then proceeded to his +duty, as the ship headed for Bahia, with a fair wind. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE COMING WINTER, AND A MERRY-MAKING. + + +November was come now. The day I write of was damp and cheerless. Grey, +vapory clouds swept over the Tappan Zee, and a sad, sighing wind tossed +it into crests. A drizzling rain fell over Nyack, and the little town +looked as if it had just taken a bath and gone to sleep for the night. +The hills wore a cold and bleak look, the foliage had lost its bright, +golden tints, and now looked faded and colorless. The leaves, too, were +falling, and the naked trees seemed weeping and cold. Sheep browsed on +the hill-sides, or nibbled coldly under the branches of sheltering +trees. In the wet, dripping barn-yard cattle were seen huddled together +under a lee, now seeking warmth in the fresh shocks, now proclaiming +their troubles in subdued lowing. + +The very landscape seemed weeping and melancholy. Even the summer birds, +whose songs give such a charm to the woods, were gone. And there was the +loon upon the lake gabbling his welcome to the approaching winter. The +rain, too, had filled the brooks, and their waters were gurgling down +deep, shadowy dells, mingling their touching music with the sad, sighing +wind. There were pleasant memories entwined in that departing summer; +and it now seemed as if all nature was joining in a requiem to its +fading beauties. + +The settlers had gathered their winter fruit, and the cider-presses had +finished their work for the season. Squashes were hung up in the cellar, +the corn was shucked and in the bins, and heaps of ripe, lusty pumpkins +stood in the fields. In the houses fresh flitches of bacon hung by the +fireside, while festoons of dried apples decorated the beams overhead. +There, too, were the young nut-gatherers, coming home of an evening with +their well-filled satchels. There was to be peace and plenty at the +settlers' fireside this winter, for an all-wise Providence had so +ordained it in an abundant harvest. + +It was a custom with Hanz Toodleburg, as it was also with many other of +the settlers, to entertain his friends and neighbors with a merry-making +when the harvest was gathered. Hanz had invited his neighbors on the +evening of the day I have described, and notwithstanding the cold and +cheerless character of the night, the little house was full ere it was +dark. The bright, happy faces of the women, and the jolly, ringing laugh +of the men, all dressed in their neat new homespun, presented a pleasant +picture of rustic life. Each man came armed with a long pipe, while his +good vrow had some little present for Angeline. Hanz had a warm, hearty +shake of the hand for each of his guests. Indeed, he welcomed each of +the good vrows with a kiss and an admonition to be happy while they were +under his roof. And these good vrows put their hands to the wheel, and +assisted Angeline in preparing the feast. Indeed, she soon had her table +spread with as good and well-cooked fare as could be found in the +county. + +There was the cold boar's head, decorated with flowers; the fattest +turkey, roasted before the great fire; boiled beef, bathed in odorous +krout, and declared delicacies by every sturdy Dutchman; a spiced ham, +decorated with vegetables. Then there were apple and pumpkin pies just +baked, cuddled apples, and jam, and fresh cranberry sauce. And these +were backed up with new cider and home-brewed ale, and coffee. Such was +the supper Hanz had prepared for his friends, and which he invited them +to eat and be happy. + +The good-natured Dominie was there, and so was Doctor Critchel and the +school-master. Nor was Titus Bright, the inn-keeper, forgotten. They +were equally important characters in the settlement, and no honest +Dutchman, who had any regard for his reputation for hospitality, would +think of giving a merry-making without them. The good Dominie was fond +of puddings and pies, and preached that the three highest objects a man +had to live for were peace, contentment, and a good dinner. The Dutch +regarded this as good enough religion for them--better, perhaps, than +that preached by the man of the church of progressive ideas. The +school-master could sing a good song, and, although an idle, shiftless +fellow, got more invitations to supper than any other man in the +settlement. As for the inn-keeper, he was a merry little man, who made +everybody laugh, and was held in high esteem by all the good vrows +around Nyack. + +Now that the supper was ready, there was a general exchange of vrows, +for it was not considered etiquette to sit at table with your own wife +during one of these feasts. Then the Dominie invoked God's blessing on +the bounties He had spread before them, thanked Him for the bountiful +harvest, and for the love He had shown these happy people. He then +proceeded to carve the boar's head, while every man and woman present +went to enjoying the feast. + +When supper was over and the table cleared away the men took to their +pipes and discussed their crops, and the women discoursed of carding, +and spinning, and housewifery in general. Then there was a dance around +the apple-basket, and a dance in which every man kissed every other +man's vrow, and in which the Dominie joined, and was as jolly as any of +his flock. And they danced to the music of a fiddle, played by Lame +George, who lived up in the mountain. Then the Dominie told a number of +amusing stories, and the school-master sang them several of his best +songs, and cider and ale was drank. + +And while the pleasantry was at its highest, a loud knock was heard at +the door. The revelry ceased for a moment. There was the postmaster's +boy, bearing a letter with several curious stamps on it. Hanz was +overjoyed. He shook the boy's hand, and then scanned over the letter. +"God pless mine poor poy, Titus!" he exclaimed. "He wrotes dat ledder. +Yes, he does; mine poor poy Titus does;" and he struck his hands on his +knees, and laughed with joy. "He ton't forgets his old fadder. He be's a +goot poy, mine Titus." And he shook hands with the Dominie and the +inn-keeper. Indeed, he seemed so completely unmanned that he was +powerless to open the letter. Then he took a candle in his right hand, +and again scanned and scanned the superscription. "Sumthin' goot in dat +ledder. Mine poor poy Titus writes him!" he ejaculated, in a subdued +tone. + +[Illustration: Then tears gushed into her eyes and moistened her pale +cheeks. Page 102.] + +During all this time, for it seemed long to Angeline, she became pale +with anxiety. Then tears gushed into her eyes and moistened her pale +cheeks. But they were tears of joy, not sorrow--the wealth of that pure, +honest heart now beating so violently in anticipation of the good +tidings. When Hanz had somewhat controlled his feelings he sat down in +the big chair, and with Angeline looking anxiously over his shoulder +and holding the candle, opened and began reading the letter "Yesh, t'is +mine poor poy Titus as writes him," he said, pausing for a moment. "Hish +name shust as he wrotes him when a poy." The rest of the company looked +on and listened in silence. Then he resumed the reading. "Vell, dere +wash a pig sthorm, and t' ship most goes down to t' pottom. Den she +does'nt go to t' pottom. No, she no goes to t' pottom. Den mine poy, he +shaves t' ship." Hanz went over the letter in this incoherent manner, +and then handed it to the Dominie to read for the entertainment of the +company. The letter was dated at Bahia, where the ship had put in for +fresh supplies, as was the custom with whalers. He gave a glowing +account of the voyage, and the storm, and the persons he found on board. +The good Dominie was several times interrupted by some one of the +company invoking a blessing on Tite's head. And when it was announced +that he had been made third mate of the ship, an expression of joy broke +on every lip. The school-master shook Hanz warmly by the hand, and the +inn-keeper declared it would not surprise him if Tite came home captain +of the ship. + +"High, high!" exclaimed the Dominie, re-adjusting his spectacles; +"here's news. An old acquaintance has turned up." Then turning to +Critchel, he touched that odd old gentleman on the elbow, saying: "You +remember the old grave-digger of thirty years ago, oh, Critchel?" + +"Well, very well," replied Critchel; "he was a clever old man, and did +his business well. He used to say I brought people into the world, and +he sent them out." + +"Bless me!" resumed the Dominie; "if here is'nt his son come to life +again. The poor fellow! we all knew him well. Tite says here that he has +found a good friend in the captain, an old acquaintance of his mother. +And who do you think it is?" + +Not one in the company could answer, although Angeline blushed, and +looked confused. "Price Bottom, son of that clever old man, the +grave-digger," concluded the Dominie. + +"How strange," said the inn-keeper. "Old Bottom had many a glass of ale +at my house, and never troubled anybody, except to dig their graves." + +"He was very poor," rejoined Critchel, in a subdued voice, "and died +leaving my bill unpaid. But he was an honest man, and paid when he had +it." + +"The son was a queer young man," resumed the Dominie. "Nobody seemed to +care anything about him. And when he left the settlement it was thought +he had got into the city and became a worthless. But here he is, made a +man of himself and has not forgot his old friends." + +This was good news to Angeline and Hanz. Still the name of Price Bottom, +the grave-digger's son, revived old if not pleasant memories. The odd +old captain had not forgotten his first love. The flame of that love +always burns, but never dies out. Disappointment may cross it, may for a +time veil its charm, but never can quench it. How strange, Angeline +thought, that her darling boy, the consolation of her heart, should have +met this once discarded lover, and under such circumstances. And that he +should be such a friend and protector to her boy only showed how good a +heart he had. + +The good news gave an additional charm to the evening's entertainment. +One after another shook Hanz and Angeline by the hand, and congratulated +them on the happy prospect. Indeed, they seemed the happiest people on +earth. Mugs of fresh cider were filled and drank to the health of +Captain Price Bottom, of the good ship Pacific--the poor fellow who had +only a grave-digger for a father, and left the settlement friendless and +without a shilling. + +And now these sturdy settlers again took to their pipes, and having +smoked in silence for at least five minutes, embraced and kissed their +hosts, and parted for the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +MRS. CHAPMAN AND THE UPPER CIRCLES. + + +Let us go back, gentle reader, into the village of Nyack on that same +damp, stormy night, and into the house of Bigelow Chapman, the reformer. +A very different picture was presented there. The reformer was up +stairs, studying plans for the future. His spacious parlor was furnished +with a profusion of furniture, of the most approved style, and such as +was not common in the country at that day. They have got a new piano, +too; and a nice young gentleman in reduced circumstances, a foreigner, +is expected up from New York to give their daughter lessons on it. This +little affair of the piano and the foreigner has set the whole town to +talking, and people are putting on grave faces, and inquiring how they +can afford it. But it seems they do afford it, and also to have the best +of carpets on their parlor floor. And they have shown a taste for art in +several engravings hung on the walls. + +The Chapmans expected company from the city that night. A bright coal +fire and a globe lamp on the centre-table are shedding a soft, mellow +light, and adding an air of comfort and cheerfulness to everything in +the room. + +Mattie was sitting alone in the parlor reading a letter by the light on +the centre-table. Her dress was a plain black silk, made high at the +neck, and with an open stomacher, disclosing an aggravating bit of white +lace. There was always something neat and becoming in Mattie's dress, +and the white ruffles that now encircled her neck and wrists added the +charm of simplicity to her appearance. Her hair, too, was almost +golden, and hung in long, careless curls down her shoulders. + +There was something of deep interest to her in that letter, for she read +and re-read it, as her soft, blue eyes, so full of love and tenderness, +almost filled with tears. Then she kissed it, and kissed it, and pressed +it to her bosom. "Oh, how I wish he was here to-night, that I could tell +him how much I love him;" she said, resting her head on her hand +thoughtfully. "I would tell him all my thoughts and feelings, just as he +has told me his. He is so true to me, and it never shall be said that I +am not true to him, poor fellow!" she mused, and putting the letter to +her lips again she kissed and kissed it. "They never can get me to love +any one else, never!" she resumed, when the door opened and Mrs. Chapman +entered, arrayed in her best millinery, and her front hair screwed into +the tightest of curls. The good woman had evidently resolved to put on +her very best appearance. + +"These disappointments are very annoying, my daughter, very," she spoke, +advancing and fretting her hand nervously. "If our company does not come +then--well, all our dressing will be for nothing. I wanted you so much +to see Mr. Gusher, my daughter. He's such a nice young gentleman, so +clever and agreeable--and has such a distinguished look, my daughter." +Mrs. Chapman expanded herself, while emphasizing the word distinguished. +She then filled the great arm-chair with her weighty person. "To get +prepared for company, and city company at that, and then have company +not come!" she resumed, casting a glance at Mattie, to see if she could +discern in her countenance what impression she had made. But Mattie +remained silent and thoughtful. + +"It's not Mr. Gusher's fault, though. We must charge it all to the +storm, I suppose. Then I did want you to see Mr. Gusher so much, my +daughter. He is such a nice young man--and has such prospects. And +prospects is what a young woman should look to when gentlemen come +seriously inclined to matrimony--" + +"Mother," said Mattie, interrupting, "I have got such a nice letter. It +has made me so happy. I know you would like to read it. You always like +to read my letters, you know." And Mattie looked playfully in her +mother's face, and handed her the letter. "You will be delighted to hear +from him. He says so many kind, good things." + +Mrs. Chapman took the letter and scanned over it hastily. "And so it has +come to this, has it?" she said, looking admonishingly at Mattie. "A +letter from that sailor-boy, the son of them common Dutch people. Your +father shall see this. Our daughter has stooped so low as to pledge +herself to such a common man!" + +"I love you, mother," said Mattie, "and I don't want to be disobedient; +but I love him, and I know he loves me. Yes, mother, I love Tite just as +much as if he was a rich man's son. I dreamed last night that he came +home a rich man, and brought me so many nice things; and that we were +married, and were so happy." And she threw her arms around her mother's +neck and kissed her so affectionately. "Who knows, mother, but that he +may come home rich? But even if he comes home poor, I know he will be +good and true to me," she concluded. + +"How very sentimental you are, my daughter," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, the +little curls about her brow seeming to get tighter as her broad face +grew redder. "Sentimental people never prosper, though--never knew one +yet that did. Was silly and sentimental once myself. That was before I +married your father." + +"Oh," rejoined Mattie, playfully, "I am real glad that you remember +those things, mother. Was father rich when you were married?" + +Mrs. Chapman shook her head, and looked confused for a moment. "He was +not rich, my daughter. But then he was so clever--and had such +intellectual prospects. Brought up as you have been, my daughter, and +with such accomplishments, and such prospects!--to throw yourself away +on a sentiment. Just think of it! What would my mother have said if I +had gone off and married a man just for sentiment's sake? I brought you +up in strict regard to all the proprieties, and now you insist that you +won't be a lady." + +"Don't fret so, mother," said Mattie, again putting her arms around her +mother's neck, and kissing her. "I will be a real good, obedient girl, +and do anything you bid me. But then--" Here Mattie paused for a moment, +and looked roguishly up into her mother's face. + +"But then--what?" + +"Well, I don't think we shall agree about Mr. Gusher. The truth is, +mother--I don't know why--but then I don't think I ever can love him. +But then, you know, mother, I have not seen him yet; and you would'nt +have me love a man before I saw him?" + +"Perhaps not, my daughter; but I would have you look up, remember your +quality, and consider what you may be. If you condescend to look down on +that sailor-boy, there's no hope of the family ever moving in the upper +circles. But he'll never come back. That ship'll go to the bottom as +sure as the world. Something tells me she will go down, and I know she +will." + +At this Mattie's eyes filled with tears, and she buried her face in her +hands and gave vent to her emotions in sobs. "Mother, mother," she +rejoined, after a short pause, "how cruel of you to say so, even if you +thought so. He was so manly, and so kind to me." + +At this Mrs. Chapman rose from her chair with an air of injured dignity, +and walked in silence up and down the room for several minutes. Then she +heaved a sigh, extended her hand, and resumed: "Your tears, my daughter, +are what tear down my pride. No use, I see; my advice is all thrown +away--all thrown away! Oh, what a thing it is to have a daughter, and +yet not have a daughter. I mean to have a daughter that will have her +own way." Again Mrs. Chapman resumed her chair, and became thoughtful +and silent. + +"You know I love to please you, mother, for you are such a good mother +to me in everything else," rejoined Mattie, kneeling beside her mother, +placing her arms on her knees, and looking up lovingly in her face. "You +know I like to please you, mother," she repeated; "and I won't marry +anybody until Tite comes home. But then you must not say anything more +to me about Mr. Gusher." + +"That's poor consolation--very poor consolation, my daughter," replied +Mrs. Chapman, rebukingly. "Exactly what I did'nt want you to promise. +Then you have promised yourself to the young man? I'd never have got +your father if I'd made such a promise to such a young man. I have +always looked forward to the time when we should have a fine house on +the Battery, and move in the higher circles." + +Chapman now entered the room, which put an end to the conversation +between Mattie and her mother. Chapman smiled for once, and was +evidently in a pleasant mood. After rubbing his hands and taking a seat +by the fire, and looking first at Mattie and then at her mother, he +said: "I have good news to tell you. The storm has prevented Gusher from +getting here to-night. But the Kidd Discovery Company matter is settled, +and will be a great success. No need of inventing a new religion now. +Hanz has got his head full of the project. Has made all his Dutch +neighbors believe there is a fortune in it for them all. We go on an +expedition up the river to-morrow night, in search of the d----l's +sounding-rock. That's the place where Kidd buried his treasure, you see. +These honest old Dutchmen firmly believe that Kidd had an understanding +with the devil when he buried it there. Just show them how to start an +enterprise and make money, and they are as ready to make it as +anybody." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A NIGHT EXPEDITION. + + +The wind and the cold had moderated, and a heavy grey mist hung over the +Tappan Zee on the following night. Hollow, echoing sounds came over and +through the mist clouds, and re-echoed up the mountain. The scene was +one common at that season of the year; still there was something strange +and mysterious in the very atmosphere that composed it. Gloom hung over +everything, and touched a melancholy chord in one's feelings. Curious +figures, dim and indistinct, seemed to move and dance up and down, and +thread their way through the curtain of mist, like phantoms in winding +sheets. They were but delusions, betraying the eye. But there is a +reality now; a steamer is seen cutting her way through the deep gloom, +and throwing a long trail of light high up over the grey mist and +reflecting curiously in the heavens. + +Two stalworth men were seen walking down the road that night about eight +o'clock, dressed in a style common to boatmen. One carried a pair of +oars over his shoulder; the other had a well-filled haversack slung +across his, and a crowbar in his right hand. They halted on reaching +Bright's inn, and having stacked the oars and the bar against the little +porch, entered, and were greeted by a number of friends already +refreshing themselves at the counter. The appearance of these men--for +they were known to be the best boatmen on the Tappan Zee--greatly +surprised Bright and the gossips who were enjoying his ale around a +little table. One and then another invited them to drink, but they +refused, saying they had merely dropped in to light their pipes and look +for the men who were to join them. Various questions were now put to +them concerning their mission and its object. But the boatmen affected a +mysterious air; and all that could be got from them was that when they +returned it would be with money enough to buy all Nyack. They seemed +somewhat disappointed at not meeting some one, whose name they would not +disclose, at the inn. + +Bright now mixed warm punches and set them before the boatmen, saying +that on such a night they were just what were needed to prop a man's +courage up. The men, however, steadily refused all invitations to drink, +and when they had lighted their pipes, and bid the host and his +customers good night, left the inn and proceeded to a landing at the +bank of the river, where a boat with two men in it was waiting them. + +The manners of the boatmen had so excited the curiosity of the +inn-keeper and his guests, that no sooner had they left the inn than +Bright and several others put on their hats and followed, resolved to +see for themselves what was going on. Imagine, then, what must have been +their surprise to find the men in the boat Bigelow Chapman and Hanz +Toodleburg--both with heavy overcoats on. The boatmen were welcomed by +the men in the boat, whose voices were plainly heard, and after +exchanging a few words they threw in their oars carelessly and followed +themselves. In another minute the little craft was heading up the +stream, and disappeared in the thick mist. + +"I have it all!" said Bright, turning to his companions with an assuring +nod of the head, and lowering his voice. "Toodleburg--Chapman--a +Dutchman and a Yankee--pick-axes, crowbars, and big ropes. Put them all +together; add going off at night to it--dark and misty night at +that--and there's something we'll all hear from in the wind. If Hanz and +that quarrelsome Yankee have got their heads together, then the devil +will get cheated out of Kidd's money. Sarves him right, too. Now them +two is after Kidd's money. Always knew old Hanz could tell where it +was." + +The inn-keeper and his friends now returned to the inn and discussed the +matter over warm punch until nearly midnight, or until their wits became +so confused that the four men in the boat increased to forty. In short, +Nyack waked up on the following morning to find herself filled with the +wildest reports concerning this midnight expedition and its object. + +The little boat moved on steadily up the stream, her sturdy oarsmen +pulling at a measured stroke through the bewildering fog. In this way +the boat was kept on up the river until past midnight, a glimpse of the +land being caught here and there, an assurance to Hanz that they were +not far out at sea. Indeed, Hanz began to get somewhat uneasy, and to +wish himself back with Angeline in the little house. As this expedition, +however, was to establish a solid basis for the great Kidd Discovery +Company, out of which a fortune for Tite was to come, he was willing to +run the risk of being lost in the fog for a night or two. + +Towards morning the men became uneasy and hungry, and began cursing Kidd +and all connected with him, and enquired of Chapman if he knew where he +was going. Indeed, one of them declared it his belief that they had been +brought on a fool's errand. Chapman, however, assured them that he knew +exactly where Kidd had buried his treasure--that it was on a point not +many miles below the Highlands, and under a big rock called the d----l's +sounding stone. That if they kept on they would reach the place before +daybreak. Hanz assured the men that every word Chapman said concerning +Kidd was true, and this inspired their confidence, for they honestly +believed his father to be an intimate friend of the pirate, and of +course ought to know all about his money. + +The boatmen now rested their oars and proceeded to refresh themselves. +And while they were doing this, and wondering what this night expedition +really meant, Hanz smoked his pipe and nursed his courage. In his heart, +however, he wished himself out of the affair and in a more honest +occupation. As for Chapman, he told a number of stories tended to excite +the cupidity of the boatmen. After resting an hour or two the party +proceeded about five miles further up the river, and landed just at +daybreak on a point jutting into the west side of the river, and just +above which there was a dilapidated little cabin, inhabited by a +laboring man and his wife. + +It would not do to disturb these poor people at so early an hour, +Chapman said, nor to tell them what sort of a mission we were on. +Thereupon Hanz and he proceeded up the bank of the river, to make, as he +said, a discovery. So the boatmen were left to take care of themselves. +The boatmen waited for nearly two hours, still neither Chapman nor Hanz +returned. Where they had gone was fast becoming a mystery. The men at +length became alarmed and disappointed, and proceeded towards the little +house to enquire the name of the place, and see what they could do to +get breakfast. Before they reached the house, however, the door opened +and two half-naked, tow-headed urchins came toddling out, and as soon +as they saw the strangers scampered back in a state of great alarm. A +lusty dame, ragged and shoeless, and with her hair hanging loose about +her neck, now came to the door, with a broom in one hand and a +frying-pan in the other. + +"Where on arth are you two come from?" enquired the woman, in a surly +tone, as she raised her broom. "Another lot o' fools com'd to look for +Mr. Kidd's money," she continued, without waiting for a reply. "Seems as +if all the folks atween this and Yonkers had got crazy about Mr. Kidd, +and was a comin' up here to dig for his money." + +The men confessed that she was right in regard to their mission, and +begged that she would get them some breakfast, for which they would pay +her liberally. + +"Yes!" rejoined the woman, angrily, "I know'd what you'd cum fur. Thar +ain't nothin' in this house to get breakfast on--nothin' fur my poor old +man and the two little children. Work's hard to get up here. And them +fools what comes up here to dig for Mr. Kidd's money eat up what little +we had, and did'nt pay fur it, nither. Go home, like honest men, and get +some honester work than comin' up here thinkin' you kin find Mr. Kidd's +money. Don't believe in Mr. Kidd--I don't!" The woman kept swinging her +broom as she spoke. Then the two children ventured back and peered from +behind her skirts at the strangers. "Don't believe he had any money, +anyhow. If he had he was a mighty fool to come up here and bury it. +People round here would 'a stole every dollar on it long ago. There's a +Yankee and a Dutchman diggin' a big hole a piece above here--expectin' +to find Mr. Kidd's money." + +Such was the reception these boatmen met with at the hands of Mrs. +Brophy, whose husband, a short, thick-shouldered, bullet-headed son of +the Emerald Isle, with a short, black pipe in his wide mouth, and in his +shirt and trousers, came to the door and seated himself on the sill. + +"Is it Misther Kidd's money ye's is afther?" he enquired, querulously, +putting his elbows on his knees and resting his head in his hands. "Much +luck may ye's have finding it. Divel a cint meself iver saw uv Misther +Kidd's money, an' we've liv'd here this two years an' more. It's mighty +little uv any other man's money--not enough, troth, to get bread for the +childher--have we seen." + +The boatmen enquired of Mr. Brophy if he could tell them where the +devil's sounding-stone was. There was indeed a superstition amongst +these poor people that Kidd had buried his money under a rock he gave +that name to; and that there was an agreement with his satanic majesty, +who was to stand guard over it, and allow only those who had the +talisman to lay hands on it. This talisman, it was also believed, would +open the devil's conscience, and cause him to lift the stone and unlock +the great iron chest containing the gold and silver. Loud noises, it was +said, were heard under the stone, which was the voice of the devil +rebuking the follies of the men who came in search of this treasure. +These poor people also believed that Kidd had murdered a woman in cold +blood, and buried her under the same stone; that she would come to life +when it was lifted; and that her ghost haunted the spot every night, and +not less than a score of Dutchmen had seen it. The more religious of +them declared that the ghost would hold communion only with a certain +priest, who came once a year, at midnight, to invoke in an unknown +tongue a blessing on her troubled spirit. + +"The divel's soundin'-stone is it ye's wants?" ejaculated Mr. Brophy. +"Shure, it's beyant--a mile, about--perhaps two--perhaps not so +many--perhaps more. Much good may it do ye's when ye's finds it. An', +an', an', the ghost standin' there ivery night." Mr. Brophy resumed his +pipe, and after two or three whiffs resumed: "Ye's may dig holes till +yer childhers wears rags, as mine does, an' not a mouthfull uv bread in +the house, an' not a cint of Misther Kidd's money ye'd git. An' the +ghost standin' there, too!" + +Being satisfied that these poor people had nothing to give them to eat, +the boatmen presented the woman with two dollars and what liquor there +was in their flask, telling her to spend the money in bread for the +children. This little act of kindness so softened the poor woman's +feelings that she invoked numerous blessings on their heads; adding at +the same time that it was more money than she had seen for a month, +though persons in search of Kidd's gold and silver had beset her house. + +The men now returned to their boat, and breakfasted on what they had in +their haversack. And when it was nearly noon, and they were beginning to +get alarmed, Chapman returned, apparently in the best of spirits, and +accompanied them to a comfortable farm-house, about a mile up the bank. +Here they found Hanz, very contentedly smoking his pipe, in the company +of two others, who at first affected to be strangers. It soon became +apparent, however, that these men had met Hanz and Chapman here by +appointment. And it was also apparent that they were engaged in the same +business of searching for Kidd's treasure. One was an ill-favored, +talkative little man, who wore spectacles and the shabbiest of clothing, +and seemed to pride himself in a bushy red beard and hair. In short, he +was about as dilapidated a specimen of rejected humanity as Nature in +one of her wildest freaks could have produced. Indeed, I may as well +inform the reader that this person was Warren Holbrook, who, since his +departure from Nyack, had been enlightening the people of this +neighborhood by preaching the gospel of the "great advanced ideas," and +in that way picking up enough to keep the wolf from the door, though it +would not put clothes on his back. + +Holbrook declared that the world had not used him well generally; but he +never thought of looking into himself for the cause. He was willing, +however, to relinquish the gospel of the advanced ideas for a business +that would put money in his pocket and clothes on his back. Here he was, +then, engaged in the business of getting up the great Kidd Discovery +Company, by which every man who invested in it was to make a fortune. + +The other was a slender, well-formed young man, perhaps twenty-five or +six years old, of dark olive complexion, and black, oily hair that +curled all over his head. His large black eyes were full of softness and +were well set under beautifully arched-brows. There was, indeed, a +moorish cast about his features, which were prominent and well lined; +and when he spoke, which he did with a foreign accentation, he disclosed +a row of white, polished teeth, every one set with perfect regularity. +His hands, too, were soft and delicate, and on each of his little +fingers he wore a large seal ring. He wore, also, a heavy gold +neck-chain, and his dress was of plain black, made in the latest style +and in great good taste. Romantic young girls just out in society might +have been excused for selecting just such a man as a model lover. + +The young man I have described above so neatly dressed, was Philo +Gusher, of the great accommodating house of Topman and Gusher, +extensively engaged in making discoveries and fortunes for all persons +kind enough to honor them with their investments. + +The boatmen found these men in a room at the farm-house, seated around a +table on which stood a bucket half filled with what appeared to be ugly +black sand. Just as they entered Mr. Gusher rose from his seat and +exclaimed: + +"Greatest discovery what was ever made. There is nothing like it in +history. I tell you it is a great thing, gen-tle-men!" Here he raised +his right hand, and then lowering it ran his fingers into the dark sand, +and drew out a number of discolored Mexican and Spanish dollars. "Wis +zat--what is in zat bucket, gen-tle-mens--and ze ouse of Topman and +Gusher (me) is on a solid basis, as you shall see." Here he rang a dozen +or two of the discolored dollars on the table, adding, "Zis Kidd +Discovery Company is one zing so great as you ever did see, +gen-tle-men." + +"And we are indebted to this good, honest old man for all of it--I +should say," rejoined Chapman, checking himself, "for selling us the +secret." Hanz had been smoking his pipe quietly, and seeming to take but +little interest in what was going on. Chapman now slapped him on the +shoulder violently, and shook his hand. "We are indebted to you for this +great and successful enterprise, eh? See the fortune now, don't you?" + +"Perhaps I toes, und maybe I ton't," replied Hanz, relieving his mouth +of the pipe. "I shees t' shand, und I shees t' tirty tollars--how I know +where he comes from, eh?" Hanz began to have his suspicion aroused, and +to feel that he had got into queer company. "T' tollar might get back to +t' tivel when you gets him, if I vas only back mit mine Angeline!" said +he, shaking his head doubtingly. + +"It is very generous of our friend here," interposed Holbrook, running +his fingers through his tufty red hair, and looking askance through his +spectacles at Hanz, "to affect that he cares nothing about our +discovery. Very kind of him. But we found the treasure exactly where he +said it was buried." + +Hanz shook his head, and looked with an air of surprise at the speaker. +"If I tells you where dat gold und dat tirty shilver be's buried, und +you goes dar und finds him, ten I be's asleep, und ton't know what I +tells you." + +"Te gen-tle-man," interposed Gusher, going off into a rhapsody of +delight, "is very modest. It is very good of him to be so modest. But +he, I am sure, will accept ze thanks of Topman and Gusher. Tis Kidd, +gen-tle-men--he must be one jolly, generous fellow. I loves tis +gen-tle-man Kidd. He bury his dollars here in bushel baskets full. We +find him, eh?" Here he again ran his hand into the sand, and drawing out +several more discolored dollars threw them on the table. "Te great big +Kidd Discovery Company is one great fixed fact--one grand success, +gen-tle-men. When ze customer come wiz his money, we shall say here is +ze zing what makes you one grand fortune; invest your money and put your +trust in Topman and Gusher." + +Here, indeed, was the capital stock on which the enterprising firm of +Topman and Gusher had started a great and flourishing joint-stock +company. The boatmen listened to what they had heard with surprise and +astonishment. They, in short, firmly believed that what they had seen in +the bucket was treasure taken from the place in which it had been buried +by Kidd. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +MR. GUSHER IS INTRODUCED TO MATTIE. + + +The Reverend Warren Holbrook was left in the farm-house to further +develop the discovery, and lift the great enterprise into popularity +among the confiding people in that portion of the country. The rest of +the party, including Gusher, returned to the boat near sundown and set +off for Nyack, the sturdy oarsmen singing a merry song. There in the +bottom of the boat was the bucket containing the black sand and +discolored dollars--the capital stock of the great Kidd Discovery +Company--which Chapman and Gusher affected to guard with particular +care. + +They reached Nyack the next day about noon, looking fatigued and +careworn, for they had enjoyed but little sleep since leaving. During +their absence all sorts of wild rumors had been circulated concerning +the object of the expedition. Imagination had made some of its highest +flights, and even found a relative of Kidd, who was to join the +expedition a few miles up the river, and who possessed the power to make +the devil surrender sounding-rock--in case he proved obstinate and +refused to acknowledge Hanz's authority. Titus Bright's inn was the +place where all the wisdom of the settlement concentrated of a night. +And it was here that all the various features of the great expedition +were discussed over ale and cider. Sundry honest Dutchmen shook their +heads suspiciously, and declared no good would come of it if Chapman got +his finger in. Others said it was all clear enough now where Hanz +Toodleburg got his dollars and his doubloons. It was no wonder that he +was so much better off than his neighbors. Another declared that he had +more than once told Hanz he would never get to heaven, and that secret +on his mind. + +When the boat reached the landing a number of persons were gathered +there, all anxious to know what success had attended the expedition, and +what discoveries had been made concerning Kidd's money. News that the +expedition had returned soon spread over Nyack, and the town was greatly +agitated. The arrival of Gusher, a gentleman of such distinguished +personal appearance, tended still further to increase the agitation, and +to give wing to wilder rumors. Hanz was received with salutations of +welcome, for every one seemed glad to see him back. But where this +foreign-looking gentleman came from, and what was his history, were +questions they confounded their wits over without finding a satisfactory +solution. + +Considerable ado was now made in getting the bucket and its contents on +shore, which was done with as much care and ceremony as if every grain +of black sand it contained had been gold. And when a number of the coins +had been exhibited to the bystanders, and the genuineness of the metal +they were made of shown to be beyond doubt, the boatmen ran a pole +through the handle and carried it on their shoulders up the road, +creating such a sensation in turn that they were followed by a curious +and astonished crowd, which seemed to increase at every step. + +The effect was exactly what Chapman wanted. He had the precious treasure +carried to his house and deposited, while Hanz and the boatmen proceeded +to their homes, stopping at Bright's inn on the way, where they gave a +marvellous account of their expedition and what they had discovered. + +The portly figure of Mrs. Chapman, arrayed in her best millinery, stood +in the door ready to welcome her dear husband and Mr. Gusher, who had +proceeded in advance of the crowd. + +"Allow me to welcome you to my house--such as it is, Mr. Gusher," said +she, making a low courtesy, and then extending her fat, waxy hand. Mr. +Gusher bowed in return, and received the hand formally. + +"Madam, I am so very happy to have ze pleazure to zee you in your own +house," replied Mr. Gusher, raising his hand to his heart, then lifting +his hat and making another formal bow. + +"I am sure you will forego all ceremony, Mr. Gusher, and make yourself +at home. We are plain, unpretending people, and like to receive our +friends in a plain, unpretending manner," resumed Mrs. Chapman, +escorting her guest into the parlor, and begging him to be seated. "It +seems so very long since we met in New York, Mr. Gusher. I never shall +forget that visit, made so pleasant by your kindness. I have spoken of +you so often, Mr. Gusher, to my daughter, that we both feel as if we +were well acquainted with you--" + +"Madam," interrupted Mr. Gusher, again putting his hand to his heart and +making a formal bow, "you do me so many compliments as I don't deserve. +I have anticipated ze pleazure and ze honor so much to zee your +daughter. I am zure I shall be delight wiz her. If I shall speak Englis +so well as you, then I shall be so happy. Then I makes myself agreeable +to your daughter, I am so sure." Mr. Gusher was indeed quite embarrassed +at the number of compliments Mrs. Chapman seemed inclined to bestow on +him. + +"Nyack is so dull and stupid--so very dull, Mr. Gusher. We only endure +it, you know. And there are so few nice people in it--so very few we +care about associating with," resumed this fat, fussy woman, giving her +head a toss and extending her hands. "A few, a very few nice people have +come up from the city--we find them very agreeable society, quite a +relief. We intend to set up a residence in the city. How delightful to +look forward to the day. We can then live in a style more agreeable to +our taste." + +"Oh! madam," rejoined Mr. Gusher, "I am sure you must be very happy. +Your house is so very elegant. I should be so happy in zis house. +(Pardon, madam, I cannot speak Englis so well.) And zen, wiz your +beautiful daughter." Mr. Gusher placed his hand to his heart again, +bowed his head gracefully, and assumed a sentimental air. "Oh, I shall +be so happy to have my home like zis. And your beautiful daughter--she +would sing to me, and she would play me sweet music, and read to me some +poetry. You shall zee I am so proud of ze poetry--" + +"How very kind of you," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, bowing +condescendingly; "how very kind of you, to pay my daughter this high +compliment. And, then, coming from so distinguished a foreigner. Indeed, +Mr. Gusher, I have had a mother's responsibility in educating my +daughter up to the highest requisitions of society. Then she's only a +young, thoughtless girl yet, you know. Indeed, Mr. Gusher, if it was not +that she is so intellectual--I say this out of respect to her father, +whose intellectual qualities she inherits--I should feel alarmed about +her. Indeed I should. She is so much admired. And there is nothing +spoils a young, ardent girl so much as admiration." + +Chapman now entered the room and suggested that Mr. Gusher, their guest, +must be very much fatigued after so arduous an expedition. Mr. Gusher +was thereupon shown to his room, and left to his own contemplations. In +truth, he was glad enough to escape in this way from a continuation of +this fussy woman's compliments. He had, however, created in his mind a +beautiful picture of Mattie, with oval face, fair complexion, soft blue +eyes, flowing golden hair, and a form that Diana might have envied, and +a voice so sweet in song. As to her parents, they knew nothing of him, +(perhaps it was well they did not); and he knew nothing of them. There +was a mystery overhanging the means by which he had been brought in +contact with these peculiar people. But the more he revolved the +beautiful picture of Mattie over in his mind the more his anxiety to see +her increased. + +Mr. Gusher rested for two hours, and then re-appeared in the parlor, so +exquisitely dressed and made up. Every hair on his head seemed to have +been curled so exactly. The gentleman had evidently taken great pains to +get himself up in a style that should be faultless. I may mention, also, +that Mr. Gusher regarded himself as a very valuable ornament in the +atmosphere of fashionable society--just such a nice young man as an +ambitious woman just setting up in society would require at least a +dozen of to make her first reception a success. + +Mrs. Chapman and Mattie were already in the parlor, waiting to receive +Mr. Gusher, "My dear sir!" exclaimed Mrs. Chapman; "you are looking so +much improved. I hope you are rested? And now, sir, allow me to present +you to my daughter--Miss Mattie, my only daughter. This is Mr. Gusher, +my daughter. You have heard me speak of Mr. Gusher so often." Mattie +blushed and looked confused, then courtesied in a cold and formal +manner. + +"I am so glad to make you my compliments," said Mr. Gusher, making one +of his best bows, and moving backward with a shuffling motion, "I am so +glad to make you my friend," he continued, bowing and placing his right +hand on his heart. Mattie's beauty was quite up to the picture Mr. +Gusher had drawn of it in his imagination. But her manner was so cold +and formal that it not only disappointed but annoyed him. Instead of an +ardent, impressible, romantic and even demonstrative girl, bubbling over +with warmth and vivacity, here she was, as cold and formal as a charity +school matron of forty summers. + +"I hope, sir, that you will find your visit to Nyack pleasant," she +replied, tossing her long, golden curls bewitchingly over her fair, full +shoulders with her right hand, then motioning Mr. Gusher to be seated +"Nyack is a very dull place, though. I am sure you will not find much in +it to interest you. My mother tells me you are to make but a very short +stay. I don't wonder you are anxious to get back, sir--" + +Mrs. Chapman was at this time in a state of great alarm lest Mattie +should say something not strictly within the rules of propriety. She +shook her head and cast a significant glance at Mattie, then raised the +fore-finger of her right hand to her lips, admonishingly. + +"My daughter has not heard of the great enterprise yourself and my dear +husband are engaged in--" + +[Illustration: "I am so glad to make you my compliments!" said Mr. +Gusher, making one of his best bows. Page 128.] + +"Why, yes, mother, I have," interrupted Mattie; "did'nt Mr. Toodleburg +and father go up the river to buy up all the vegetables for the New York +market?" + +"Oh, horrors! horrors! Why, my daughter, what put such a strange thought +in your head? Think of it. Your intellectual father going into the +vegetable business--and with a common old Dutchman! Oh, horrors, my +daughter! What could have put such a thought in your head?" The fat, +fussy woman affected to be overcome, and raised her hands in the very +agony of distress. + +"My daughter, Mr. Gusher, has a way of talking so at times. A little +satirical, you know--inherits it from her father." + +"My mother has spoken of you frequently, Mr. Gusher. I almost felt +acquainted with you before you arrived. You do business in the city, she +says. The weather is so very bad, I am sure you will not enjoy such a +dull place as this," said Mattie, turning to Mr. Gusher and resuming the +conversation, cold and emotionless. + +"No, no, miss," rejoined Mr. Gusher, smiling; "I am zure I shall be so +happy wiz you. Wiz you to zay so many good zings to me, my heart shall +be in ze paradise." Here Mr. Gusher made a bow, and pressed his hand to +his heart. "Wiz you for ze bird of zat paradise, oh, I shall be so +happy." + +"Then you and father are going into business, Mr. Gusher? I do hope you +will be successful. If you can only get father to stick to business," +resumed Mattie. "He is smart at inventing new religions, and other +things. Mother, (here she turned to her mother, who was in a state of +great alarm,) how many new religions has father invented? I know how +many churches he has built--" + +"My daughter, my daughter!" exclaimed the impatient and perplexed woman. +"Such things as churches don't interest Mr. Gusher. Mr. Gusher moves in +distinguished society, and goes to a fashionable church." + +"Oh, yes, madam, I go to ze very fazionable church. I go to zee ze +ladies, and to enjoy ze sentiment of ze music. Zen I shall enjoy myself +wiz your daughter more as well in your house. I shall do zat. Your +daughter, she shall zing to me, and she shall play to me, and she shall +read to me some poetry. I am so much love ze poetry." + +"Truly, Mr. Gusher, I should make but very poor work in entertaining you +by singing or playing," replied Mattie; "and as for poetry, I never had +any taste for it. Father made me read Pilgrim's Progress until it has +got to be a favorite book with me. Did you ever read it, Mr. Gusher? It +is very interesting." + +"Nevare, nevare!" returned Mr. Gusher, shaking his head and extending +his hands. "I nevare read ze book of ze Progress Pilgrim. I read ze book +what describe to me ze paradise of ze heart--love." How very +aggravating, thought Mr. Gusher. Instead of a girl with a whole volume +of poetry in her soft blue eyes, here was one whose very nature seemed +devoid of sentiment. Still there was something in this cold and reserve +manner, this indifference to Mr. Gusher's attractions, that tended to +excite his ambition, for he was excessively vain. + +"Your dear mother say I go to ze fazionable church. Yes, I go to ze +fazionable church. I zee so many nice ladies, so many beautiful ladies, +all my friends; and za make me so many compliments. Oh, yes, Miss +Chapman, I have so many beautiful young ladies for my friend in ze +church." + +"I don't see how it can be otherwise, Mr. Gusher," returned Mattie, +bestowing a look of admiration on him. "I am sure you would have a +great many admirers if you lived in Nyack. But, then, you would not +think of living in such a dull place." + +"You do me so much honor, miss," rejoined Mr. Gusher, rising and making +a bow. "I hope it shall be my honor to count Miss Chapman--what shall I +say?--well, I will say as one of my so good friends." + +"Indeed, Mr. Gusher, I have no such ambition. You have so many beautiful +friends now. You would not, I am sure, condescend to include a simple +country girl like me among them. I assure you, Mr. Gusher, I am not +ambitious." + +"You will have discovered by this time," said Mrs. Chapman, rising and +making a low courtesy, "that my daughter delights in being eccentric. +Oh, sir, she says a great many things she never means. She has got +ambition enough. She would'nt be a Chapman if she had'nt." + +Dinner was now announced. "I shall be so happy to escort you," said Mr. +Gusher, nearly doubling himself in a bow, and extending his arm. + +Mattie hesitated for a moment, blushed, and seemed confused. "Please, +Mr. Gusher," she said, bowing and extending her right hand, "escort my +dear mother." Here was an awkward situation. Mr. Gusher's knowledge of +etiquette was for once put on trial by a plain, simple-hearted country +girl. But his offer was intended only as a compliment, and surely, he +thought, the girl would accept it in that light. + +Turning nervously to Mrs. Chapman he extended his arm, saying: "Pardon, +madam, pardon. You will understand?" + +"Oh, certainly, Mr. Gusher," returned the ponderous woman. "You are so +very kind--so very kind, Mr. Gusher." + +Never before had Mr. Gusher escorted a woman of such ponderous +circumference. Mattie followed, her roguish smiles indicating that she +enjoyed what she considered a joke played at Mr. Gusher's expense. The +picture presented by the meeting of such extremes was indeed a ludicrous +one. + +I will not weary the reader with a description of or explain a family +dinner such as that generally spread by the Chapmans, nor with the many +apologies made by Mrs. Chapman that they had not something better to set +before so distinguished a guest as Mr. Philo Gusher. Chapman was already +seated at the table, busy with a huge fork and carving-knife. + +"We don't stand on ceremony here," said he. "Our visitors are always +welcome, and expected to make themselves at home. (Pointing with the +carving-knife to opposite sides of the table.) Take seats, take seats, +now," he concluded. + +Mrs. Chapman made a motion to seat Mattie on Mr. Gusher's left, an honor +she did not seem to appreciate, for she insisted on taking a seat +opposite--her proper place. + +When dinner was over Mr. Gusher escorted Mattie back into the parlor. +"You shall understand me better, miz, I am sure you shall, as we get +better acquainted. And now you shall zing to me, and play me some +music," said he, opening the piano and arranging the stool and music. +"You will zee I shall make myself agreeable," he repeated two or three +times, then extending his hand. But instead of accepting it Mattie +returned a cold, formal bow, and proceeded to the piano unaided. + +"The truth is, Mr. Gusher," said Mattie, running her fingers up and down +the keys, and looking up archly in Mr. Gusher's face, "I am only taking +lessons, and can't play or sing so as to interest you." + +"Excuse, miz. You want I pay you ze compliment. Well, I shall do zat +when I hear ze music." + +The fair girl now tossed her golden curls back over her shoulders, and +began singing one of the most solemn and melancholy of pieces, to her +own accompaniment. Her voice was indeed full of sweetness, and she could +sing with some skill and effect; but she was just at this time more +inclined to play on Mr. Gusher's feelings than to do justice to her +musical talent. + +"There's something sweet and touching in this melancholy music, I like +it, Mr. Gusher," she said, pausing and looking up in his face +tantalizingly; "don't you?" + +Mr. Gusher shook his head disapprovingly, and shrugged his shoulders. +"No, no, miz; I nevare like ze funeral music. I go to ze funeral of my +friend wiz music like zat." + +"I am very sorry to hear you say so, Mr. Gusher. I play it whenever +mother will let me. And I enjoy it so much. Reminds me of a dear young +friend now far away." + +"Now, miz, I makes my discovery," returned Mr. Gusher, turning over a +leaf of the music, and looking enquiringly into Mattie's face. "Zat +young friend, so far away, wiz his memory so near ze heart. Well, I +shall think no more of zat. You shall zee I shall make my compliments, +and shall cut out zat one young friend what is so far away. You shall +zing me some grand music, so full of ze love, and ze poetry, so as my +heart shall lift up wiz joy." Here Mr. Gusher flourished his hands and +executed several waltzing steps, as an expression of how his feelings +were excited by music. + +Mattie turned suddenly around to witness this peculiar exhibition, when +Tite's letter fell from her bosom to the floor. + +"Ze revelation! Ze re-ve-la--what shall I say? If I only speak ze Englis +so good as you, now!" exclaimed Gusher, affecting a loud laugh. And +stooping down quickly, he attempted to seize the missive. Mattie was too +quick for him. Regaining possession of it she restored it carefully to +her bosom, an expression of joy and triumph lighting up her countenance. + +Disappointment now took possession of Mr. Gusher's feelings. His manner +indicated what his heart felt. Never before had his expectations and his +ambition been so lowered, or his vanity so exposed. He had expected to +find a beautiful, simple-minded country girl, ready with hand and heart +to become a willing captive to his charms. And yet he had failed to make +the slightest impression on her. Nor was that all. Her heart and her +thoughts were evidently engaged in another direction. What, he enquired +of himself, could her mother have meant by the encouragement she gave +him to visit her home and see her daughter? His curiosity to find out +who it was that held such possession of this beautiful girl's affections +was now excited to the highest pitch. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +ROUNDING CAPE HORN. + + +Mr. Gusher, with his pride wounded, and a heavy heart, took leave of the +Chapmans early on the following morning, and crossed the ferry on his +way back to New York. The black bucket containing the capital stock of +the great Kidd Discovery Company, in which his fancy pictured a dozen or +more fortunes, and which he bore with him, afforded no relief for his +disappointment. It might be the means of his owning a fine house, riding +in his own carriage, and being considered a rich man by society. But, +after all, riches only embodied the hard features of dollars and cents. +Who could find romance in the pursuit of dollars and cents? he thought. +You could carry fame into the grave with you. Dollars and cents might +buy you a fine coffin, and bring rich friends to your funeral; but they +left you at the tomb door. + +Had Mr. Gusher gone back to New York in the belief that he had made an +impression on the affections of that pretty, simple-hearted country +girl, Mattie Chapman, what a happy man he would have been. He resolved, +however, not to be vanquished in this way--not to give it up--but to +continue his attentions, and if possible gain a victory over her +affections. + +And now, gentle reader, you must accompany me to a very different part +of the globe, and see what is going on there. + +The ship Pacific had been refitted and put in sailing order at Bahia, +and was now on her course for the Straits of Magellan. On reaching the +latitude of the straits strong adverse winds set in, and gale succeeded +gale until the sea became lashed into a tempest. The weather, too, was +biting cold, and the crew suffered intensely. Not a gleam of sun had +been seen for three weeks, and the ship's progress had to be worked by +dead reckoning. + +Morning after morning the sturdy old captain would come on deck, thrust +his hands deep into the pockets of his pea-jacket, and look intently +over the wild watery scene. Then he would shake his head despondingly. +"Never caught it this way afore," he would say, addressing the officer +of the watch. "Never caught it this way afore. Somebody's brought bad +luck aboard, or we should'nt have such weather as this." Then he would +disappear into the cabin and ponder over his chart, trying to work out +the ship's position. But a strong current and the high wind, both +setting in one direction, had carried him far beyond his reckoning, and +into the vicinity of the Faulkland Islands. + +All the light spars had been sent down, and for fifteen days the ship +had labored in the sea under close-reefed topsails and jib, trying to +make weather, but without gaining a mile. + +On the sixteenth day the weather cleared up a little and the sun came +out, and an observation was got, which showed that the ship had been +carried into the vicinity before described. For once the sturdy old +whale-killer had got drifted away from his course. But he declared it +was all owing to the sea getting tipsy, the compasses getting tipsy, the +chronometers getting tipsy, and the sun keeping himself rolled up in a +blanket. You could'nt, he said, get a ship to look the wind in the eye +when all the elements were tipsy. He was a lucky mariner who could get +round Cape Horn without being tossed off his feet for a +month--everything seemed to stagger so. + +The wind now changed suddenly and blew as fiercely from the opposite +direction, and the cold increased. The ship was at once got on her +course for the straits, her reefs were shook out, and she bowled over +the sea at the rate of nine knots. Still the sky continued black and +cloudy, and the horizon misty and dim. The sea ran high, and broke and +surged, filling the air with a cold, cutting spray, while the ship +labored and strained in every timber. + +Have you, my gentle reader, ever seen the broad ocean in an angry mood +on a cold, pitiless winter day, when the horizon was hung with cold, +penetrating mist, when all overhead was black with fleeting clouds, when +the seas broke in their fury and threatened to destroy the frail bark +under your feet, and when rain, hail, and snow alternately swept through +the atmosphere, like showers of keen-pointed arrows--have you, I say, +ever contemplated this sublime and impressive scene without +acknowledging within yourself how omnipotent was God, and how feeble and +insignificant a thing was man? + +There is, perhaps, no other place in the world where Nature so combines +all her elements to give an emphatic expression to the power and reality +of the Divinity, as in the vicinity of this famous old Cape. + +The bold, rugged headlands of Patagonia were sighted on the morning of +the 4th of December. The wind had subsided a little, but a strong +current was setting through the straits, and short, sharp seas, such as +are experienced in the Bay of Fundy, indicated the ship's position as +clearly as if a good observation had been got. Snow and ice nearly +covered the ship, and the men continued to suffer from the cold. There +was a feeling of encouragement now that the ship would round the Cape +without any further trouble. But before noon a violent snow storm set +in, and the bold, bleak hills of Patagonia disappeared from sight. The +wind, too, veered ahead again and increased, and the ship had to be +headed for the coast of Terra del Fuego, on the other tack. + +Early on the following morning the look-out's attention was attracted by +large spots of white light--now opening, now shutting--high up in the +heavens ahead. It was Tite's watch on deck, and the look-out pointed him +to the curious phenomena, which had not before attracted his attention. +At the same time a painful and piercing chill seemed to pervade the +atmosphere, and to seriously affect the feelings of the men on deck. + +Tite watched these curious phenomena for several minutes, without +comprehending what they meant. He thereupon called the captain, who came +quickly on deck. As soon as his eye caught the gleam of light, he walked +aft to the binnacle, and stood watching the compasses for a minute or +two. + +"There's trouble ahead," he said. "Call Mr. Higgins, and all hands--call +them quickly. We are close upon an iceberg." + +The first officer and all hands were quickly on deck, ready to obey +orders. Every eye on board was now watching in the direction of the +light. + +"It's an iceberg, and a big one, too, Mr. Higgins. If she strikes it, +there's an end of us!" said Captain Bottom, addressing the first +officer, who seemed indifferent to the danger that threatened the ship. +A rustling noise, as of strong tide-rips breaking ahead, was heard, the +sound increasing every minute. The braces were now manned, the order to +"go about" given, and the helm put down. But the ship had hardly begun +to gather headway on the other tack, when she refused to obey her helm. +It seemed, indeed, as if she was under the influence of a powerful +attraction, drawing her to destruction. + +Another minute and she struck with a deep, crashing sound, that made +every timber in her frame vibrate, so great was the shock. A gleam of +grey light now began to spread over the fearful scene. It was daylight, +that friend which so often comes to the mariner's relief. The ship had +struck broad on, and the berg seemed to have grasped her in its arms of +death and refused to let her go. Each succeeding sea lifted the helpless +ship, and then tossed her with increasing violence against the jagged +ice-cliff. And as her yards raked the boulders, huge blocks fell with +crushing force on her deck. Stanchions were started, the bulwarks +crushed away from the knight-heads to the quarter-deck, on the port +side, and the deck stove in several places. It seemed as if there was +but a minute between those on board and death. Still the staunch old +ship forged ahead, lifting and surging with every sea, and seeming to +struggle to free herself from the grasp of the berg. All hope of saving +the ship seemed gone now. Both officers and men waited in suspense, +expecting, every lurch the ship made, to see her go to pieces. + +It was one of those moments when presence of mind and seamanship seem of +no avail to save a ship. On sounding the pumps it was found that the +ship's hull was still tight, and that she had made but little water. +Still she forged ahead, and great blocks of ice continued to fall on her +deck. + +When all eyes were turned towards the captain, and each waited with +breathless anxiety, in the hope that he would give some order that would +at least be a relief to their feelings, even though it were folly to +execute it, Tite mounted the fore-rigging to the top-mast trees, the +surging ship threatening to dash him against the ice wall every minute. +In that fearful position he remained for several minutes, scanning over +the scene ahead, and hoping for some gleam of hope. + +There was still a hope of saving the ship. He waved a signal of +encouragement to those below, and quickly descended to the deck. About +half or three-quarters of a mile ahead there was a point indicating the +termination of the berg. If the ship could be kept forging ahead she +might possibly round the point and clear the berg in safety. + +Tite communicated to the captain what he had seen, and his belief that +the ship could be saved. All hands now went to work cheerfully, clearing +the deck forward of the ice that had accumulated there. Then the +fore-top-sail was clewed up, the spanker set, the yards braced up sharp, +and the ship continued forging ahead with increased motion. Every yard +of distance gained was measured with a watchful eye, and increased the +confidence of those on board. + +"We shall save her yet, captain," said Tite, a smile of satisfaction +playing over his face. "We won't give up the good old ship!" + +"God bless you, my hearty, God bless you!" returned the old captain, +grasping Tite's hand warmly. "It's you shall have the credit of it if +she weathers the point. Yes, sir, you. Killin' a whale is killin' a +whale. Gives a sailor fair play in a square fight. But this being run +down by an iceberg, and ship and all hands crushed to powder, gives a +sailor no chance to show what there is in him. When a man gets killed +according to his liking, why, then he's satisfied. But there's no way +you could get satisfaction in being killed by an iceberg. It was'nt my +own life I was thinking about, Mr. Toodlebug. Not a bit of it." Here he +again grasped Tite firmly by the hand, and lowered his voice to a +whisper. "It was my good old woman, sir, and the two little ones. Heaven +bless them and keep them from harm!" + +The ship still made fearful surges, and the ice grated and cut her +planking; but she neared the point gradually, and this brought a feeling +of relief to all on board. Open water beyond, and the bold, sharp lines +of the point, made it almost certain that the berg terminated there. The +point was reached at last. The ship seemed to give a leap ahead, and, as +if by mutual consent, payed off and parted from the icy grasp of the +monster. Cheer after cheer went up as the old ship, in her distressed +condition, swung away and was out of danger. + +The ship was now headed for Puntas Arenas, where many years ago the +Spaniards founded a penal settlement. Intermarrying has, however, +reduced the people to mere dwarfs in stature; and they have so +retrograded in civilization that they are the greatest thieves and the +worst savages to be found along the coast. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MAKING A FORTUNE + + +Kidd Company stock was a feature in Wall street. The firm of Topman and +Gusher, having luminated the great Kidd Discovery Company, had got it +fairly on its feet in that mart of the money-changers. The firm was +considered highly respectable now, and had counting-rooms in Pearl +street, near Wall, second floor, furnished in a style of elegance it +would be difficult to surpass, even at this day. If you would fortify +the standing of a great and enterprising firm, Topman said, in his +polite way, you must do it with elegant and elaborate furniture in your +counting-room. Show is the thing two-thirds of the people in the world +are attracted and deluded by. + +The newspapers, too, were telling curious stories as to how Kidd's +treasure was discovered, and also making statements of a very unreliable +nature, setting forth that already several million dollars had been +recovered, and that any man engaged in it would surely make a fortune +for his heirs, no matter how numerous. The more unreasonable these +statements were, the more readily did people invest in the stock. Not a +solid man in Wall street had heard of the firm of Topman and Gusher +eight months ago. The great beacon lights of the street now condescended +to bow and shake hands with Topman, to take more than a glance at the +firm's name when it was brought to their notice on certain bits of paper +which the enterprising firm, for mere convenience sake, gave now and +then as "equivalents". In short, Mr. Topman was a man of such +impressive manners that he quite captivated Wall street, and to have +those solid-pocketed old gentlemen speak encouragingly of the house, +was, he considered, gaining a great financial victory. In addition to +this Topman lived in a fine house, sumptuously furnished, on the west +side of Bowling Green, had a servant in livery to open the door, and +rode in his own carriage. + +Mrs. Topman was a showy, dashing woman of thirty-five, or thereabouts, +tall and slender, and somewhat graceful of figure, and might have passed +for a beauty at twenty. But there was a faded look about her now, and +she had a weakness for loud talking and overdressing. She was evidently +a woman of doubtful blood, and "no family," as society would say in +these days. Indeed, first-rate society, such as Bowling Green boasted of +in those days, considered itself very select, and dealt out its favors +to new-comers with a cautious reserve. + +As little or nothing was known of Mrs. Topman's antecedents, first-rate +society cut her--did'nt even condescend to drop her a sidewalk +recognition. But, as pushing one's self into society was quite as much +practised then as now, and as Mrs. Topman was a pushing, vigorous woman, +she resolved that if she could not carry the outworks and compel a +surrender on the part of first-rate society, she would at least have a +circle of her own. And she had just as good a right, she said, to call +her circle of society first-rate, as her neighbors who kept their doors +shut had to "consider" themselves such. It was only an assumption at +best. So the aspiring lady received what she called select company on a +Tuesday, and entertained generally on Thursday evenings. But her +neighbors tossed their heads, and said they were only third-rate people +who went there. + +Gusher, however, flourished in what might at this day be considered +elegant hotel society. He was such a nice young man, dressed in such +good taste, and had such unexceptionable manners. And there was such a +distinguished air about Gusher, that Bowling Green was half inclined to +look on him with favor. Mr. Gusher was a stock beau as well as a stock +boarder at the City Hotel, where he was an object of admiration with all +the languishing young ladies of the house. Indeed, the landlord of the +City Hotel regarded Mr. Gusher as a valuable parlor ornament for the +entertainment of his female guests of an evening, for he was an +exquisite dancer, could sing, and make such gracious bows. Now and then +a sensible girl had been heard to say she thought him a little soft; but +her companions usually set that down to envy. Then it got whispered +about that he was an unfortunate foreigner of a very distinguished +family, and had been exiled from his native Spain for engaging in a +revolution. Such were the prospects of this distinguished firm, socially +and financially. + +Nyack, too, had been kept in a state of agitation all winter over the +discovery of Kidd's treasure, and wonderful stories were circulated of +the fabulous amounts that were recovered every day. + +Spring had come again, and the hills around Nyack looked so fresh, and +green, and beautiful. Chapman had got Kidd stock into high favor with +all the honest old Dutchmen in the county. And it was curious to see how +these heretofore cautious people parted with their money for what +Chapman called a "profitable equivalent." + +Mrs. Chapman seemed to have increased in circumference and loftiness. +She could get new and expensive dresses, and silk ones at that, every +time she went to New York, and she went quite often now. And none of her +neighbors could wear such fine lace on their caps. It was surprising to +see how this fat, fussy woman could toss her head and talk of common +people now. It was very annoying, she said, to have to live in a little +country town like Nyack, and mix with everybody. Then her dear little +intellectually great Chapman was such a jewel of a husband, and was so +clever at inventing the means of making a fortune for other people. + +The brain of Nyack was terribly disordered over the fortunes that were +to be made in a month for all who invested in Kidd Discovery stock. Even +the good Dominie, led away by the temptation, had invested all his +savings, and had his pockets full of Chapman's "equivalents," from which +he looked for a fortune in a very short time. Finally the innocent +settlers began to regard Chapman as a great genius, who had invented +this new way of making their fortunes out of sheer goodness. "I want to +tell you, my good friends," he would say to them, patronizingly, "you +will appreciate me better as we become better acquainted. Invest your +money, and there's a fortune for you all." And they took his word, and +invested their money, and, many of them, everything they had. + +We must go back into the city now. It was a morning in early May. Knots +of men were standing on the corners of Wall and Pearl streets, each +discussing in animated tones some question of finance or trade. Men with +hurried steps and curious faces passed to and fro, threading their way +through the pressing throng, as if the nation was in peril and they were +on a mission to save it. And yet it was only an expression of that +eagerness which our people display in their haste to despatch some +object in the ordinary business routine of the day. + +It was on this morning that a woman of small and compact figure, dressed +in plain green silk, a red India shawl, and a large, odd-shaped straw +bonnet, called a "poke" in those days, on her head, and trimmed inside +with a profusion of artificial flowers, the whole giving her an air of +extreme quaintness, was seen looking up doubtingly at the door opening +to the stairs at the top of which Topman and Gusher had their +counting-rooms. She had the appearance of a woman in good circumstances, +just from the country, where her style of dress might have been in +fashion at that day. Her age, perhaps, was in the vicinity of forty, for +her hair was changing to grey, and hung in neat braids down the sides of +her face, which was round and ruddy, and still gleamed with the +freshness of youth. Her shawl-pin was a heavy gold anchor and chain, and +her wrists were clasped with heavy gold bracelets, bearing a shield, on +which was inscribed a sailor with his quadrant poised, in the act of +taking the sun. I ought also to add that she carried a big umbrella in +her left hand, and a small leathern satchel in her right. + +This quaint little woman's manner was exceedingly nervous and +hesitating. Twice or thrice she advanced up the passage to the foot of +the stairs, hesitated, returned to the door, and looked up at the +number, as if still uncertain about some project on trial in her mind. + +Men were passing in and out, and up and down the stairs hurriedly, as if +some important business required all their attention. The little woman +took no heed of any of them, and indeed seemed confused in her own +thoughts. Drawing a newspaper from her leathern bag she read in a +whisper, at the same time tracing the lines with her finger, "Great Kidd +Discovery Company. Capital $150,000. All paid in. President, Luke +Topman. Corresponding Secretary, Philo Gusher. No. ---- Pearl street." +The little woman nodded her head, and looked up with an air of +satisfaction. "I'm right. This is the place," she muttered to herself. +Then putting the paper carefully into her pocket, and hugging the big +umbrella close to her side, she advanced with a more resolute step up +the passage, and was soon at the top of the stairs. + +Again the little woman paused, for the number of names over doors seemed +to confuse her. Just across the passage in front of her, however, she +read over a half-glass door, and in large gilt letters, "Topman and +Gusher, General Commission Business." And just below, and across the +panes of ground glass, were the significant and attractive words: "Kidd +Discovery Company. Capital $150,000. Luke Topman, President. Philo +Gusher, Corresponding Secretary." + +The little woman advanced and knocked timidly at the door, which was +opened by a nicely-clad and polite youth, whose business seemed to be to +admit customers. The little woman bowed and returned the young man's +salutation. + +"A lady visitor, Mr. Gusher!" said the young man, motioning the lady to +enter. "That is Mr. Gusher, madam; junior partner of the firm." + +A polished mahogany railing separated the vulgar customer from the +highly dignified looking clerks inside. Indeed, there was an air of +elegance about the establishment that somewhat surprised the little +woman at first, and caused her some embarrassment. + +"Ah, madam; pardon! pardon!" said Mr. Gusher, rising from his desk at +the announcement and advancing to the railing. "I shall do myself ze +pleazure, and ze honor of receiving such commands as you shall confide +to ze firm," he continued, smiling and bowing gracefully. + +"A little investment," returned the visitor, nervously. "I have a little +money, left by my husband, who is at sea. I have no immediate use for +it; but want to put it where it will be entirely safe. Entirely safe, +above all things; a good dividend will not be objectionable. I am sure, +sir, you understand that--" + +"Ah, madam, you shall zee. Pardon! you will enter and take one seat." +Mr. Gusher now condescended to open the gate, as he called it, bring the +little woman inside, and bid her be seated. "Ze Kidd Discovery Company, +madam, is one grand enterprise. You shall zee. And ze profit shall be so +great you will not know where to put him. For ze safety of ze +investment, (pardon, madam,) you shall accept ze honor of zis firm. O, +madam, I cannot speak ze Englis so well. If my partner is here you shall +zee he will satisfy you as ze reputation and ze honor of zis firm will +be so great. You shall invest your money, and you shall zee zat ze honor +and ze reputation of zis firm shall makes him safe." Mr. Gusher made a +low bow, and pressed his hand to his heart in confirmation of what he +had said. + +A number of suspicious-looking men now entered the office and advanced +to the railing, all affecting great eagerness to purchase and pay their +money for Kidd Discovery stock. "You shall zee, mad-am," said Mr. +Gusher, extending his right hand and shrugging his shoulders, "how much +ze demand for ze stock in zat grand enterprise is. Ze rush for him is +so great ze price will be double very soon--as you shall zee." + +"Don't know how my husband would like it if he was here," replied the +little woman, who had been nervously twitching and working her fingers, +now opening the satchel, then shutting it. "Leaves me money enough to +keep me comfortable when he goes away. Good provider, my husband is. +Commands a ship, he does. Says 'look ahead, my darling,' when he goes +away. 'Take good care of the coppers, darlin', don't let rogues and +thieves get them; and remember that one-half the world is hard at work +slanderin' t'other. Keep an eye t' wind'rd, darlin'. We've sailed along +smoothly enough through life together, but there may be a dismal storm +ahead. Life storms are dangerous. Here's a kiss, good little woman--good +bye.' Then he goes away, and I sees no more of him for three years. +That's a long time, sir. But he is so fond of the children, and such a +dear, good husband to me." + +"Mad-am," said Gusher, again bowing and pressing his hand to his heart, +"wiz so good a lady for his wife, I am sure he shall be so happy and so +proud." Detecting the small vein of eccentricity in the little woman's +character, Mr. Gusher was evidently inclined to encourage it, hoping +that it would still further develop her generosity. + +"You are sure my investment will be perfectly safe?" enquired the little +woman, looking up anxiously in Mr. Gusher's face. + +"Oh, madam!" rejoined Mr. Gusher. "Oh, mad-am! Perfectly, as you shall +zee. Ze honor of ze firm is pledged to zat." + +The little woman now drew two thousand dollars from her satchel, and +after counting it on her knee, passed it to Mr. Gusher. "I will invest +this," she said, again looking up anxiously at Mr. Gusher, and then +fumbling over the contents of her satchel, as if it still contained +something she was in doubt how to dispose of. "I will take your word," +she resumed, as if some sudden change had come over her mind. "Life's +short, and speculation uncertain. I am from Yonkers. You have heard of +Yonkers, sir? Yonkers on the Hudson. People of Yonkers are boiling over +with excitement about the great discovery. Thank you for your kindness, +sir. I hope the shares will go up. If I should double my money, as you +say I will, how father would laugh when he comes home. I call my good +husband father, you know." The little woman ran on in this strange and +confused manner until Gusher began to think she was never going to stop. + +"Invested my money--independent--don't want nobody to know it. Will +invest another thousand dollars if it turns out right. Yonkers people +expect to get rich soon by Kidd shares. Nobody'll know it, you know. +Don't want nobody to know it, you know. Come down here to invest so +nobody would know it, you know--" + +"I am so glad," interrupted Mr. Gusher, receiving the money, "you put +your confidence in ze house. You shall zee zat ze honor of ze firm shall +be your protection." As he proceeded to arrange the little equivalents +with the picture of the big spread eagle at the top and the coffer dam +at the bottom, the little woman fixed her gaze on the counting-room +furniture, which seemed to attract her attention to an uncommon degree. +Elaborately-finished and highly-polished mahogany desks were arranged +around the room, the floor was covered with a soft carpet, and there +were carved oak chairs, upholstered in green plush. The walls were hung +with engravings and paintings representing favorite ships and +steamboats, and a huge safe stood wide open, displaying shelves and +drawers filed with books and papers. It was, indeed, a part of the +firm's philosophy that what you lacked in substance you must make up in +show. + +There, too, was a door leading into Topman's private office, furnished +with exquisite good taste. Topman was the great financial monument of +the firm. Gusher did the elegant and ornamental. + +George Peabody, the great philanthropist, made his fortune and his fame +in a little dark, dingy office in Warnford Court, London. The +pretensions of the great firm of Topman and Gusher were not to be +confined by any such examples of economy. + +A very clerical-looking man, with a round, smooth face, a somewhat +portly figure, a high forehead, and a very bald, bright head, fringed +with grey hair, and nicely trimmed grey side whiskers, stood at a desk, +turning and re-turning the leaves of a big ledger. He was dressed in a +neat black suit, and wore a white neckerchief. There was ledger No. 1, +and ledger No. 2, and ledger No. 3, all so elegantly bound, and +expressive of the business relations of the great firm of Topman and +Gusher. It looked very much, however, as if the portly gentleman was +only a part of the ornamental department of the great firm, for, having +turned and re-turned the pages of No. 1, he would take up No. 2, and +continue the occupation. It is true, he would pause now and then, and +exchange a smile and a bow with some one of the customers waiting for +stock. + +There was also a slender, mild-mannered, and precisely-dressed young +man, standing at another desk, and looking through a pair of +gold-framed spectacles into a ledger. This was Mr. Foblins, registry +clerk to the great firm. Mr. Foblins had a brigade of figures in column, +and seemed continually busy putting them through a course of tactics +known only to the firm. Mr. Foblins had his customers in column, with +the number of shares and the amount invested, in front and rear ranks. + +The word "Cashier" was painted over a third desk. And here a rollicking, +talkative little man, with a round fat face, and a round bald head--a +sort of fat boy that had been overtaken on the road of life by +maturity--and who seemed to have a joke and a pleasant word for +everybody, and was in the best of humor with himself, stood counting and +re-counting, and passing out and receiving in money. This was Mr. Books, +the merry little man of the establishment. Books entertained an +excellent opinion of himself, and was in high favor with the customers, +for he was witty, musical, and talkative. More than that, he was a +stately little man, and well informed in all the great political +movements of the day, and would entertain customers on the condition of +the nation while counting their money. It was evident that Mr. Books was +not in sympathy with the great enterprise his employers were developing, +for he was continually saying witty but malicious things about Gusher, +and would even point significantly with his thumb over his right +shoulder. When a more than ordinarily verdant customer would come with +his money, Mr. Books would shrug his shoulders, drum with his fingers on +the desk, and hum a tune to the words-- + + "Fortunes made, and fortunes lost; + Fools seek the phantom here at last," &c., &c. + +Books had several times intimated an intention to set up a great +enterprising banking and miscellaneous firm of his own. Indeed, his +popularity with the patrons of the house was doing Mr. Books no good, +especially as it entailed the necessity of his taking so great a number +of drinks during the day that he would offer to bet the reputation of +the firm that he was the tallest man in the establishment, and a politer +man than Gusher. So good an opinion had Mr. Books of himself when under +these little delusions, occasioned accidentally, as he would say, that +it became a serious question with him whether his proud position was due +to Topman and Gusher or his own great merits. In fine, it had more than +once occurred to him that the firm was indebted to his personal +popularity for its great reputation. + +Mr. Gusher consulted Mr. Books, and entrusted him with the little +woman's money. Then he proceeded to Mr. Foblin's desk, that gentleman +turning over the pages of his big ledger preparatory to making an entry. + +"What name did you say? I have the amount," enquired that gentleman, +looking up earnestly over his spectacles. + +"If you please, madam," said he, approaching the little woman with a +bow, "you shall have no objection to give me your name. It is necessary +as we shall keep ze book so correct." + +The little woman hesitated for a moment, fingered the handle of her +satchel nervously, then looked up inquiringly in Mr. Gusher's face. Then +touching him timidly on the right arm with the fore-finger of her left +hand she whispered, "Nautical, nautical, my nautical name?" Then her +lips motioned and her finger pressed on Mr. Gusher's arm. Mr. Gusher +looked at the little woman with an air of surprise and astonishment. + +"Nau-tick-el? I do not understand zat, madam." + +"Elizabeth Judson Bottom. That's my name," resumed the woman, raising +her voice, and seeming to speak with a feeling of relief. "Bottom is my +husband's name." Here she lowered her voice again. "Nautical. Commands a +ship. Is away off in the South Sea, my husband is. There's nobody got a +better husband than I have." The little woman said this with an emphasis +and a smile of satisfaction lighting up her face. "You may have heard of +my husband, sir? He is well known among nautical people. My husband +sails the celebrated ship Pacific, and has made three successful +voyages. You hav'nt had much to do with ships if you hav'nt heard of my +husband. There, there, that looks just like the ship he sails in." The +little woman pointed to the picture of a ship under full sail hanging on +the wall. + +"Madam, I am sure I shall know your husband," said Mr. Gusher, returning +with the paper representing the number of shares the little woman had +paid her money for. "I shall be so happy to zee him when he shall come +home." Mr. Gusher handed her the paper, saying: "Now, madam, you shall +take good care of zis. Your money, it shall be perfectly safe." + +While this interesting little episode was being performed up stairs, an +open carriage, showily caparisoned and drawn by a stylish pair of +well-groomed bays, drew up at the door. A desperate effort had evidently +been made to get the coachman into some sort of livery, for he wore a +tall black hat, with a broad velvet band, and a buckle in front as big +as an ordinary sized horse shoe. His coat, too, was of green cloth, +covered all over with large brass buttons, and he seemed proud of his +white gloves and tight-fitting breeches, which he kept looking down at +every few minutes. + +This was Mrs. Topman's new "turnout," which she had recently set up in +opposition to one indulged in by a circumspect and very aristocratic +neighbor. Topman alighted from the carriage, received and returned the +bows of several persons on the sidewalk, and soon came hurrying into the +counting-room, where he was received with great respect by the combined +dignity of the firm. + +"Madam," said Mr. Gusher, again addressing the little woman, "allow me +to have ze pleazure as I shall present to you zis gentleman." Here Mr. +Gusher introduced Topman, his partner, and gave him a short account of +the business she was on. + +"Why, my dear, good lady!" said Topman, grasping her hand with a freedom +indicating that they had been old friends. "Your husband and me--why, we +were old friends. If there is any man in the world I respect and admire, +that man is Captain Price Bottom. If there is any man living I would +rather make a fortune for than do anything else, that man is Captain +Price Bottom. Yes, madam, not many years ago I used to swear by Captain +Price Bottom; and if Captain Price Bottom was here to-day, I will +venture to assert, on the word of a gentleman, there is no man who would +sooner swear by your humble servant--" + +"I am so real glad! My husband made friends wherever he went," +interrupted the little woman. + +"Glad! glad!" resumed Topman, "so am I. God bless him, wherever he goes! +Go back, madam, and get all your neighbors interested in this great +enterprise. Tell them the managers are old friends of your husband. Get +them to bring in their money, madam, and secure a fortune!" Mr. Topman +now showed the little woman the discolored dollars, a matter of great +importance, which Mr. Gusher had omitted. + +"Our motto is, madam, 'Never invest your money until you have seen your +basis.' If you see your basis, and it is satisfactory, then come down +with your money and await your fortune. You see the basis, now put your +faith in the firm!" concluded Mr. Topman, politely bowing the little +woman out. She took her departure for home, fully satisfied that she had +a good friend in Mr. Topman, and that she had made a permanent +investment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS. + + +The Great Discovery Company had run its race of prosperity. A few months +passed, and the prospects of those connected with it began to change. +Chapman went about Nyack shaking his head despondingly, and saying that +he had been deceived by Hanz Toodleburg, who had deceived them all with +his story about Kidd's treasure, and would be the cause of their losing +a large amount of money. + +"I never would have been caught in such a trap, but I believed Hanz +Toodleburg to be an honest man, a very honest man, and I put faith in +his word. But I have been deceived. Well, it is not the first time my +confidence has been abused in this way," Chapman would say, holding up +his hands, while his face assumed an expression of injured innocence. + +Hanz, on the other hand, protested his innocence. Never in all his life, +he said, had he taken a dollar of money not his own, and honestly made. +He was persuaded to do what he had done by the gentlemen whom he +supposed engaged in an honest enterprise. In truth, he had never +suspected them of a design to get honest people's money in a dishonest +way. + +"If I toos t' shentlemens a favors, und ta makes t' money, und I makes +no money, und t' peoples don't get no money pack, what I cot t' do mit +him?" Hanz would say, when accused by the settlers of aiding designing +men to get their hard earnings. But all he could say and protest did not +relieve him of the suspicion that he was a participant in getting up +the enterprise. In short, there was the old story of his knowledge of +where Kidd's treasure was buried lending color of truth to the +statements made to his injury by Chapman. + +The innocent Dutch settlers would gather at Bright's inn of an evening, +smoke their pipes, mutter their discontent at the way things had turned, +compare their "equivalents," and relate how much saving it had cost them +to get the money thrown away on them. If it had not been for Hanz +Toodleburg, they said, not a man of them would have believed a word of +the story about Mr. Kidd and his money. Indeed, they would insist on +laying all their sorrows at Hanz's door. + +Chapman had also circulated a report, which had gained belief among the +settlers, that the trouble was caused by the devil refusing to surrender +the key of the big iron chest; that he had been heard under +sounding-rock, making terrible noises, and threatening to destroy every +man working in the shaft. Then it was said that the ghost had reappeared +and so frightened the men that they had refused to work. Another story +was set afloat that the bottom had fallen out of the pit, and the iron +chest containing the treasure had sunk beyond recovery. The simple fact +was that the cunning fellows never expected to find a dollar. + +These strange stories agitated Nyack for several weeks, and under their +influence Chapman so managed to divide opinion that Hanz had to bear the +greater share of blame for bringing distress on the poor people. One and +then another of his neighbors would chide him, and say it was all his +fault that they had lost their money and had nothing to show for it but +these worthless bits of paper. + +To add to Hanz's troubles, Chapman entered his house one day, and openly +reproached him for bringing distress on his friends. "You know you have +done wrong, old man," said he, assuming the air of an injured man. "You +would not have deceived me--no man would--but that I took you for a +Christian. And when I take a man for a Christian I put faith in him. +That's why I put faith in you. I believed you honest, you see." + +Chapman's familiar and even rude manner surprised and confounded Hanz. +In vain he protested his innocence, and offered to call the Dominie and +Doctor Critchel to testify that he had never in his life wronged any man +out of a shilling. + +"You sold us something you had not got," continued Chapman, in an angry +tone, "and in that you committed a fraud. Honest men don't do such +things--never! Mr. Toodlebug. I thought you were a friend; but you have +deceived me--have deceived us all!" + +The plot was now beginning to develop itself, and Hanz for the first +time began to see what a singular chain of adverse circumstances Chapman +had drawn around him. Never before in his life had a man openly charged +him with doing wrong. Angeline was even more troubled than Hanz, and +listened with fear and trembling to the words as they fell from +Chapman's lips. What could have worked this change in a person who had +so recently expressed such friendship for them? Her pure, unsuspecting +soul would not permit her to entertain the belief that her husband could +do wrong. She attempted to speak and enquire what this strange and +unaccountable scene meant; but her eyes filled with tears, her face +became as pale as marble, and her resolution failed her. Her little, +happy home had been rudely invaded, and a grasping, avaricious enemy +had shown himself where she expected to find a friend. + +"I don't want to distress you, Mr. Toodlebug, I don't," said Chapman, +keeping his keen eyes fixed on Hanz. "I don't want to distress you, I +don't. But you must show that you are an honest man. Honesty is the best +policy. I've always found it so, at least. You must make this thing all +right, if it takes all you have to do it." When he had said this he put +on his hat and rudely took his departure. + +"Angeline, mine Angeline," said Hanz, "if dish bat man should make me +loose mine goot name, den mine life it pees very misherable. What I toes +I toes t' oplige t' gentleman. How I toes wish mine Tite, mine poor poy +Tite, vas here." He sat thoughtfully in his chair for several minutes, +then sought consolation for his wounded feelings in a pipe. + +Chapman had not been long gone when Mattie came rolicking into the +house, as if to form a bright and sunny contrast with the scene that had +just ended. She carried a little basket in her hand, was dressed in a +flowing white skirt and sack, wore a broad sun hat encircled with a blue +ribbon, and her golden hair was decorated with wild flowers. There was +something so fascinating in that merry, laughing voice, something so +pure, innocent, and girlish in that simple dress and that sweet, smiling +face, that it seemed as if Heaven had ordained her to represent truth +and goodness. Setting the basket down on the table she ran to Angeline, +embraced and kissed her, not perceiving that trouble had depressed that +good woman's spirits. + +"And you, too, good Father Hanz," she said, turning to him, and saluting +him in her free, frank manner; "you shall have a kiss, too." And she +took his hand and imprinted a kiss on his cheek. + +She suddenly discovered that something was the matter, paused, and +looked at Angeline with an air of surprise. Her first thought was that +they had received bad news from Tite, which they were trying to conceal +from her. Almost unconsciously her gentle nature began to beat in +sympathy with Angeline's, and a tear stole slowly down her cheek. "You +have heard from Tite; is he sick? have you heard bad news?" she +inquired, in rapid succession, as she watched every change in Angeline's +features. + +Angeline shook her head, and looked up sweetly but sorrowfully in +Mattie's face. "Nothing, nothing, my good child," she replied, kissing +Mattie's hand. But there was the tear of sorrow writing its tale on her +cheek. "God will bless and protect our Tite," she resumed; "but we have +heard nothing from him since the letter you saw." + +"I am so glad," rejoined Mattie, her face lighting up with a sweet +smile. "I think about him every day, and I know he thinks about me. So, +now, mother Angeline, you must cheer up. You will, won't you? It won't +do to be sad when Tite is away." And, after patting Angeline on the +shoulder and kissing her cheek, "you shall see, now," she resumed, +bringing forward the basket, "what nice presents I have brought for you, +Mother Angeline. Made these all with my own hands." + +Here the happy, smiling girl drew from her basket a number of frills and +wristlets, a worsted-worked candle mat, and a cambric handkerchief, in +one corner of which she had ingeniously worked Angeline's name. "They +are all for you, Mother Angeline, all for you," she said, tossing them +one after another into her lap. "You are so good. Keep them all until +Tite comes home. Then you can show them to him as a proof of what a true +and good girl I have been." + +Hanz viewed this act of kindness on the part of Mattie with an air of +surprise and astonishment. It was in such beautiful contrast to her +father's rudeness and severity that he was at a loss how to account for +it. + +"Vel, vel!" exclaimed Hanz, raising his hands, "you pees sho goot a gal +as I ever did she. Yes, mine shild, I never shees no petter gals as you +pees." And he rose from his chair, and approaching Mattie, patted her on +the shoulder encouragingly. "You pees such a goot girl," he repeated, +"and you will pe mine goot friend, eh?" + +"Certainly I will. Why should I be anything else?" replied Mattie, +looking up smilingly in his face. + +Hanz shook his head. "It pees sho now as nopody can shay who pees his +friend, and who pees not his friend. I pees sho glad you pees mine +friend." + +"I should like to know, Father Hanz, what troubles you?" resumed Mattie, +whose quick eye read in his face the trouble that was making his heart +sad. "Tell me what troubles you, Father Hanz, and I will be a friend to +you, no matter who it is." + +"Mine shilds," replied the old man, drooping his head, "dar vas un man, +he shay as he pees mine goot friend. Dat friend he pees mine enemy. He +prings shorrow into mine house. Unt he prings dat shorrow when mine poor +Tite he pees sho far away as I ton't know where he is." + +Tears again filled the old man's eyes as he spoke, and he paused, shook +his head, and buried his face in his hands. There was something in the +old man's unwillingness to disclose who it was that had caused him this +trouble that excited Mattie's suspicions. + +"You must tell me, Father Hanz," said she, encircling his neck with her +right arm and patting him on the cheek encouragingly and affectionately +with her left hand, "who has caused you all this trouble." + +Hanz looked up earnestly and enquiringly into her face. Still there was +a doubt in that look it was impossible to mistake. + +"You ton't know, eh? you ton't know, eh? Maype as he is petter as you +ton't know, mine shild. T' man what prings shorrow into mine house; t' +man what shays I pees one tief t' mine neighpors--dat man he pees no +friend of mine." Again the old man paused, and looked up inquiringly +into Mattie's sweet face, as if anxious to trace the secret of her +thoughts. And as he did so the breeze tossed the grey hairs over his +forehead, as if to cover up the wrinkles age had written on it. + +"Mine taughter, mine taughter," he resumed, grasping Mattie's hand +firmly, "I'se gettin' old now. Tare von't pe no more of old Hanz +Toodleburg shoon. You never know'd nothin' pad of old Hanz +Toodleburg--does you, mine taughter?" + +"Never, never! Why, Father Hanz, nobody has been saying anything against +you," replied Mattie, smiling. + +"Dar has, too," resumed Hanz. "What I lives for now is mine goot name, +and mine poor Tite. I pees a friend to everypody what needs a friend, +and now what I needs mineshelf is one goot friend. You she, mine +taughter, if mine little farm he pees gone, and if mine sheep, and mine +cows, and mine everything pees gone, den der is nothin' for mine Tite +when he comes home." + +The old man paused for a moment. It was impossible for him to keep the +secret of his trouble from Mattie any longer. He opened his heart to her +and disclosed the fact that it was her own father who had brought sorrow +into his home. Yes, it was her father who had led him like a child into +trouble, and then thrown around his acts such a chain of suspicious +circumstances that you could scarcely find a man in the village, where +but a short time ago Hanz was so great a favorite, who did not believe +him guilty of inventing the Kidd Discovery Company, and bringing ruin +and distress on his neighbors. There was the paper Hanz had signed, +setting forth that he possessed the secret of where Kidd's treasure was +buried, and bearing the proof that he had sold it for a consideration. +Chapman understood the value of this, and went about the village showing +it as a proof that there was at least one man innocent, and that man was +himself. There, too, was the old story that had clung to him through +life--that he knew all about Kidd, his father having sailed with him on +the Spanish Main. And there was the expedition up the river, in which he +had played so prominent a part. + +Chapman well understood the effect these things would have on the minds +of the ignorant and superstitious, and he turned them against Hanz with +such skill as to completely get the better of him. In short, he would +assert his innocence with so much plausibility that the simple-minded +settlers began to believe him the saint he set himself up for, and Hanz +the sinner who had got all their money. + +Mattie heard this strange declaration made by Hanz against her father +with feelings of sorrow and surprise. She hung down her head and +remained silent for some time, for her mind was bewildered with strange +and exciting thoughts. Then, looking up, she said: + +"Cheer up, don't be sad, Father Hanz. You will always find a friend in +me. My father shall also be your friend. We are going to leave Nyack, +but I will come and see you, and be your friend. Don't think bad of my +father, and he shall yet be your friend." And she kissed Angeline and +Hanz and bid them good bye. + +Mattie had never for a moment entertained the thought that her father +would knowingly wrong these old people. Her heart was too pure, her +nature too trusting, to entertain a suspicion of wrong. She had seen him +engaged in transactions she did not understand; she had seen him +associate with men she did not like, but she never enquired what his +motive for so doing was. How he became acquainted with, and what his +business with Topman and Gusher was, had been a mystery to her. The +object was clear enough to her now. The conversation she had overheard +one night between her father and Topman, relative to a meeting at Hanz's +house, and getting him to sign a paper purporting to sell them a secret, +was all explained. This conversation put a powerful weapon in her hand, +and if used skilfully she could save her father from trouble and also +protect old Hanz. Indeed, her mind ran back over a train of curious +circumstances, which now became clearer and clearer, and when linked +together discovered the object they were intended to effect. There was +no mistaking the motive. Still, like a true and loving daughter, she saw +her father only in the light of innocence and truth. The more she +contemplated the matter the more sincerely did she believe him an +instrument in the hands of Topman and Gusher, of whose designs she had +heard others speak. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE CHAPMANS MOVE INTO THE CITY + + +Chapman had developed Nyack pretty thoroughly, had made money enough to +feel independent, and attributed it all to his own virtues. He had got +up no end of quarrels, invented new religions, established a hotel on +principles of high moral economy, advocated broad and advanced ideas in +everything, and kept the settlement in a state of excitement generally. +Chapman was indeed a great human accident. There was no confining him to +any one thing, either in religion, politics, or finance. He had a +morality of his own, which he said belonged to the world's advanced +ideas, and it was not his fault if there were so few persons enlightened +enough to understand and appreciate it in its true sense. + +Chapman was indeed not one of those men who carry blessings into a +community with them, but rather one of those who seem to delight in +planting curses wherever they go, and leaving their victims to reap the +bitter fruit in poverty and ruin. Himself a mental deformity, none of +his enterprises had been of any real benefit to the community, while his +last and most reprehensible one had resulted in emptying the pockets of +the old Dutch settlers, and leaving them bits of worthless paper to +remember him by. + +And yet this man could talk of himself like a very saint. He had the +power, too, of making many of those who had suffered by his acts believe +him honest. Indeed, while one portion of the community was cursing him +for a knave, another was defending him as a really useful man--an +opinion Mrs. Chapman was always ready to endorse. In short, Chapman had +supporters in Nyack who would have sent him to Congress out of sheer +love for his talents, which they were sure would have found a happy +field for their development. Mrs. Chapman always sought to conciliate +these friends, and would invite them to tea. On these little occasions, +after discussing the merits of cider-vinegar and homemade pumpkin pies, +and the care respectable people should exercise over the company they +kept, for there was pure New England "grit" in the lady, she would recur +to her dear husband. + +"All Nyack will confess how intellectually great he is," she would say; +"and show me the person who has done more to elevate the moral +respectability of Nyack. Nyack was such a dull, sleepy place when--when +we first honored it with our company. See what it now is. My dear +husband worked up these low Dutch people so; yes, and he improved their +morals. And I flatter myself I have elevated its society--a little." + +Chapman had now thoroughly developed Nyack, financially and religiously. +He had saved up a nice little fortune, enough with care and good +management to keep him comfortable and give Mrs. Chapman a wider field +for the exercise of her love of display. There was now little chance of +making any more money out of Nyack, either by getting up quarrels +between neighbors or inventing new religions. So the Chapmans resolved +to go into the city and set up for very respectable people. As nobody +wanted the big house for a church Chapman rented it to Titus Bright for +an inn, and as nothing was said about moral restrictions, that worthy +friend of the thirsty and weary traveller kept it in the good +old-fashioned way of giving customers what they wanted and asking no +questions. He would much rather, Chapman said, have seen it put to a +less profane use, but as Bright was a responsible tenant, and could pay +more rent than any one else, the morality had to sink in the necessity. + +A few months passed and the Chapmans were set up in New York, in a +spacious and well-furnished house on the east side of Bowling Green. +Chapman was soon busy looking after the affairs of the great firm of +Topman and Gusher, which I need scarcely tell the reader was a creation +of his. Mrs. Chapman soon had enough to do at pushing her way into +society. But the more she pushed the more did little social obstructions +seem to rise up and defeat her efforts. She would associate with +first-rate society, she said, or none; and Mattie should be introduced +and shine in the "upper circles." + +Bowling Green stood on its dignity in those days. There were very nice +and very old families living there then, and they kept themselves rolled +up in their wealth and comfort, and looked coldly down on all new and +pretentious people. West Bowling Green, too, put on airs of superiority +over East Bowling Green, which it affected to designate with the term +"rather vulgar." They were quiet, well brought up people on the West +side, people who had made a family name and were proud of it, whose +superior enterprise and genius had raised them above ordinary people, +and who had acquired wealth by honorable means. + +There was, indeed, a charm about these families, made more attractive by +the simplicity and gentleness of their manners, for they were refined, +and entertained their friends generously. In short, West Bowling Green +and a portion of the Battery had at that day a social empire of its +own, which had a flavor of rich old wine about it, and was as distinct +as distinguished in all its surroundings. It rode in its own carriage, +had orderly and well-dressed coachmen, wore an air of great +circumspection, dined at five o'clock, and lived like a well-bred +gentleman. + +East Bowling Green had begun to lose cast, and, indeed, was under a +cloud socially. Its society was made up of new, fast, and somewhat showy +people, whose antecedents it was difficult to get at, (at least West +Bowling Green said so,) and who, for want of a family reputation, put on +the airs of a vulgarian. These people spent their money freely, and +seemed to have enough of it, but they aspired to make a show rather than +secure real enjoyment. They associated with third-rate people, and vied +with each other in giving parties and balls to which all the young +swells in town were invited. In fine, East Bowling Green had a cheap, +retail flavor about it which all its show and extravagance failed either +to conceal or atone for. + +Mrs. Chapman had resided three months in Bowling Green, and yet +first-class society had kept its doors closed--did not even condescend a +smile. This was very mortifying to a lady whose pretentions were quite +equal to her dimensions. A few second and third-rate people had made a +formal call, or left a card. But it was merely as a matter of ceremony. +Mr. Pinks, the elegant old beau of the Green, who was looked up to by +first-rate society everywhere, and considered himself born to stand +guard over it and protect it from vulgar contact, and who was accepted +as authority in all matters of etiquette, and had standing invitations +to dinner with all the best families, had called to pay his respects and +congratulate the lady. But Pinks considered this strictly a matter of +duty--to make an observation. + +When Beau Pinks reported the result of his call to the Warburton family, +who were first-rate people, and the Warburton family spread it through +West Bowling Green, there was great amusement in the neighborhood. + +"Won't do, the lady won't," said Pinks, lowering his voice to a whisper, +and shaking his head. "Lady weighs two hundred pounds and more. A dead +weight on the back of any society. Very pretentious, but makes shocking +work of the King's English, and discovers low origin in her conversation +generally. Puts on finery without regard to color or complexion, told me +how many new dresses she had making, has big, fat hands, and wears +common gold rings. Worse than all," continued Pinks, raising his hands, +"the lady wanted to know if I could tell her how to reform servants, and +if I liked rhubarb pies for breakfast." + +With such a report from Pinks it was no wonder first-rate society did +not take kindly to the lady. The rhubarb pies for breakfast settled the +question in Pinks' mind, and he never called again, though he kept up a +bowing acquaintance with the lady. Mrs. Chapman now fell back on a +reception. A reception would be the thing to make Bowling Green +surrender. The day was set and cards sent out, and notwithstanding Mr. +Gusher, who was her standing ornament and idol, assisted her in drumming +up recruits, the affair turned out to be very unsatisfactory. The nice +people she invited sent regrets; and those who did come were second and +third-rate people, who never miss a reception on any account, seeing +that it affords them the cheapest means of showing themselves. There +were cheap people then, just as there are cheap people now, ready +enough to put in an appearance at a lady's reception, especially if she +gave nice suppers and had daughters to be admired. Nor was it an +uncommon thing, even at that day, for a pretentious woman who had just +set up in society, and taken to the business of reception-giving, to +find herself made the target of a little innocent satire by the nice +young gentlemen she had invited to pay her homage. + +Chapman differed from his wife, inasmuch as he regarded society as a +great bore. Mrs. Chapman, however, was not a little disappointed at the +way things had turned. They were flashy and rather fast people who came +to her reception; people whom nobody of established respectability knew +or cared to know--thoughtless young men, overdressed young women with +matrimonial expectations, and a few needy foreigners with small titles. +To make the matter worse, some of the lady's guests wore eye-glasses, +through which they persisted in gazing at her, and conducted themselves +very unbecomingly. Indeed, they eat up all her supper, spoiled her +carpet, insulted her servants, and paid her certain left-handed +compliments because she had neither coffee nor wine on her side-board. +The foreigners, too, were inclined to be merry at the lady's +circumference, and at the awkwardness of her movements, as well as to be +severe on the style of her dress and the way she wore her hair. + +"Who are these people?" enquired a young man, adjusting his eye-glass. + +"Very new people," whispered another in reply. + +"Vulgar, evidently--just set up to be somebody--don't understand it," +rejoined a third, shrugging his shoulders. + +Mr. Gusher, who had assisted the lady in beating up her recruits, had +assured them that the Chapmans were very distinguished people. + +Mrs. Chapman was not more successful in setting up a carriage of her +own. She had done a great deal of pushing without affecting a lodgment +in the society she had set her heart on. With a carriage of her own she +felt that she would be just as good as any of those high old Bowling +Green people. She had read of a lady in her carriage driving right into +society and forcing a surrender. + +Unfortunately the fools were not so plenty as formerly, the demand for +Kidd Discovery stock had greatly diminished, and the expense of keeping +up appearances in the city had far exceeded Chapman's calculations. +Indeed, he had already begun to talk of the necessity of economy. Topman +was already drawing heavily on the income of the firm to keep up +appearances, and the future must not be overlooked. The lady had, +therefore, to content herself with a one-horse turn-out, an +establishment not very popular in Bowling Green even at that day. +Although the lady had to accept the necessity, there was no getting +along without a coachman, and Mr. Napoleon Bowles was engaged to wear a +livery and wait on the lady in that capacity. Now Bowles stood about +five feet four inches in his boots, was very fat and very short-legged, +and very black, for he was a person of African descent and established +color. Bowles weighed at least two hundred and fifty solid, so that when +he drove his mistress out for an airing of an afternoon the whole +establishment made so shabby and yet so comical an appearance as to +afford the whole neighborhood a subject for amusement. Nor was there a +more self-important person in all Bowling Green than Bowles--except, +perhaps, it might be his mistress. But it was only when he got himself +into those tight-fitting drab trousers, and that bright blue coat with +double rows of brass buttons, and mounted that small, tall hat with the +huge buckle in front, that he fancied himself seen to advantage. + +Bowles not only became a feature in Bowling Green society, but indeed +considered himself necessary to the dignity of the family he was +serving, and in duty bound to fight any coachman who would make the +slightest insinuations against it. This got him into numerous +difficulties, for there was not a coachman in the neighborhood that did +not set him down as a fair subject for unpleasant remarks. One called +him a dumpling-stomached darkey; while another said he must have been +brought up in the family and fed on puddings. + +"Can't be much of a family," a third would say, "to have such a +short-legged shadow as you for coachman, and only one horse. And such a +livery as that! Why don't your mistress dress you like a man?" + +Mr. Bowles had several times found himself measuring the pavement and +his hat in the gutter, as a reward for his attempts to resent such +indignities, which he considered were offered to the family rather than +himself. There was so close a resemblance between the circumference of +the lady and her coachman as to seriously damage the pretensions of the +family, and bring down upon it no end of ridicule. + +There was another serious impediment to the lady's pretentions, and that +was no less a person than Mrs. Topman. No sooner had the Chapmans set up +in Bowling Green than that lady took them into her keeping, promising +them no end of introductions to nice people. Now, Mrs. Topman was one +of those social afflictions which are found everywhere, whose touch is +like contagion, and who take strangers into their keeping only to do +them more harm than good. I have called them social afflictions for want +of a better term. Mrs. Topman was the highest example of the species. +She had been beating about on the outskirts of society without gaining +an entrance into it until she was like a faded bouquet that had lost its +freshness and perfume. In short, she was a tall, rakish looking craft, +with ingeniously painted head-gear, carrying an immense amount of sail, +and flying colors not recognized by good society in Bowling Green--at +least not on the West side. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +MRS. CHAPMAN GIVES A BALL. + + +It was a cold, dark night in December. The wind was blowing fresh from +the northeast, the tall trees on the Battery were in commotion, and the +ships in the harbor, seen through a pale mist, were straining at their +anchors. A thin, pale mist hung over the sombre old fort on the Battery, +over the trees, over the ships, over everything within the eye's reach. +And the mist and the solemn beating sound of the sea-wail, in which the +sailor fancies he can read all his sorrows, gave a weird and mysterious +appearance to the scene. The Battery was nearly deserted that night, for +at the time we write of only two old men could be seen, leaning over the +railing on the sea-wall and watching in the direction of a ship at +anchor in the stream, and looking as if she was just in from sea. + +Mrs. Chapman was to give her ball that night. The lady had for several +weeks given all her mind and energy to the preliminaries of this grand +affair. Who was to be invited, what sort of new dresses she and Mattie +would appear best in, who was to provide the supper, and what the whole +would cost, were subjects which so engaged the lady's attention that she +could think of nothing else. In vain did Chapman demur to the great +expense and the folly of keeping up appearances under such +circumstances. In vain did he insinuate the probable necessity of +inventing a new religion as a means of bringing his revenues up to his +necessities. A necklace of pearls and a diamond ring had been got for +Mattie, and now a demand was made for a new and expensive dress. If +there was anything in the world Chapman admired and submitted to it was +his wife. In his thoughts she was above everything else, and he would +surrender to her demands, no matter at what sacrifice. As for Mattie, he +never seemed to care much about her, nor indeed to regard her with +anything more than ordinary affection. + +There was no getting along without the ball, Mrs. Chapman said. West +Bowling Green had given two or three balls, and had not condescended to +send her an invitation. It was very mortifying to get the cut direct in +this way. She must bring West Bowling Green down by showing that she +could give a ball of her own. And then it would be such a relief to her +pride. And, too, it would be just the thing to show Mattie off to the +best advantage. Mr. Gusher would shine brilliantly in a ball room, and +so would Mattie, and if the young people could be reconciled in that +way, why it would be money well spent. + +Mrs. Topman was delighted at the prospect, and so was Gusher. And both +had been going about among their friends for a week sounding the trumpet +of Mrs. Chapman's ball, as well as telling their friends that the +Chapmans were rich and very distinguished people. Bowling Green, then, +was in a flutter that night. Chapman's house was brilliantly lighted, +and carriages began to arrive and set down their gaily-attired occupants +ere St. Paul's clock had struck nine. Then there was such a tripping of +delicately turned little feet, such a flashing of underskirts, such a +witching of perfumed silks and satins, such a display of white arms and +white shoulders, as each bevy of beauties vaulted up the steps and were +bowed into the house by the polite Mr. Bowles. Bowles felt himself an +important element in the dignity of the family that night. His mistress +had got him a new blue coat with large brass buttons, and a white +waistcoat that reached nearly to his knees, and gave him the appearance +of a huge ball of snow surmounted by an illuminated globe painted black. +Bowles had delivered most of the invitations, and firmly believed that +his mistress was indebted to him for the success of her ball, inasmuch +as he had solicited guests worthy of her favor. Nor was he sure that the +ball was not given by his mistress to show him off in his new clothes. +Bowles had a bow and a smile for each of the guests. "My missus is right +glad to sees you--she is. Be a heap o' dancin' did to-night," he would +say, as he bowed the guests into the hall. + +At ten o'clock the brilliantly-lighted parlors were filled, and +presented the appearance of a garden of flowers variously colored. There +were merry, laughing voices, graceful forms, young and happy faces, +forming the light and shade of the picture presented to the eye. The +ponderous figure of Mrs. Chapman formed a sort of central object. The +lady was indeed got up in a gorgeous style of dress, for she wore all +the colors of the rainbow, without their blending, had flounces nearly +to her waist, giving her the appearance of an half-inflated balloon; and +she had made a very flower-basket of her head. In short, the lady had +made a bold attempt to improve on all known styles of dress, and at the +same time to show her contempt for what other people might call taste in +such matters. Thus elaborately arrayed she fancied herself as much a +lady of quality as any of your fine old West Bowling Green people. + +A number of exquisitely dressed young men had gathered about the lady, +and although they paid her all manner of compliments, and said various +pretty things in admiration of her charming daughter, it was evident +that they regarded her as a rare curiosity, whose mental defects were +affording them a subject for amusement. There the lady stood, receiving +the congratulations of her friends and introducing her daughter Mattie, +who was dressed in a plain blue silk with white trimmings, a wreath of +orange blossoms on her head, and her golden hair hanging in simple curls +down her shoulders. Indeed, the lady suffered by comparison with her +daughter, whose charms were made more fascinating by the simplicity of +her dress and the quietness of her manners. + +In truth, Mattie had no taste for the show and extravagance her mother +was so fond of indulging in. Nor could she see what object her mother +had, or what really was to be gained by giving this ball. She felt in +her heart that it was a piece of extravagance her father could not +afford as an honest man, and she saw prominent among the guests persons +she had long mistrusted of being his enemies. Gay as the scene was it +had nothing in it to interest her. Her thoughts were engaged in +something more real and true. They were wandering just then into a +distant ocean in search of the object dearest in her affections, +wondering how it fared with him. Then the picture of Hanz and Angeline, +in their humble little home, revealed itself to her, and her mind filled +with strange fancies as to the part she might have to perform in saving +them from the trouble she saw foreshadowed in her father's conversation +with Topman and Gusher. She little knew what sorrow had been brought +into Hanz's home since she left Nyack; nor did it occur to her that old +Father Hanz, as she playfully called him, might even then be within the +sound of her voice. + +The company had all assembled, the musicians were beginning to tune +their instruments, and the time for dancing was drawing near. Mrs. +Chapman flattered herself that Bowling Green would wake up in the +morning to find that she had carried its outworks. But notwithstanding +all the pushing she had done, and all the pushing her friends had done +for her, she had not succeeded in catching the sort of people she had +thrown her net for. There was Topman and Mrs. Topman, moving here and +there in all the elegance of full dress. There were a number of others, +who were always ready to accept an invitation where there was dancing to +be done, or an opportunity afforded to show themselves in their best +clothes. They were second and third-rate people, after all--people who +get a cheap position in society through their proficiency in dancing, +which they accept as the highest object a man or woman has to live for. + +Poor Chapman moved about here and there like a raven among birds of +brilliant plumage; and never did man look meeker or more submissive. +There had been a curious change in his worldly affairs since the time +when he preached humility and economy at Dogtown, and was ready to +quarrel with any man who did not agree with him that show and +extravagance were carrying the country to the devil. + +"My wife, my dear wife, gives this ball," he would say, referring +timidly to the subject. "My dear wife enjoys these things. Mrs. Chapman +is very fond of young society, you see. I hope you are enjoying +yourselves. There will be dancing soon--I never dance--and supper at +twelve." + +There was no man more elaborately got up that night than Gusher. Every +hair on his head was trained into exact position, and his tailoring was +faultless. In short, Gusher had got himself up with a view to making the +greatest destruction on the female heart. He whisked about here and +there, making himself useful as well as ornamental, for he felt that he +had got the Chapman family on his shoulders, and was responsible for its +reputation as very distinguished. + +"Miz, you shall permit me ze pleazure, and ze 'onar, to open ze dance +wiz you," said Gusher, approaching Mattie with his right hand on his +heart, and making one of his extensive bows, "You shall do me ze 'onar, +I am sure," he continued, and as he raised his head with an air of +confidence, expecting to see her extend her hand, his eye fell on the +familiar face of a young man standing at her side, engaging her in +conversation. He paused suddenly, his face changed color from pale to +crimson, and his manner became nervous and agitated. His whole system, +mental and physical, seemed to have received a sudden and unexpected +shock. + +"Yes, my daughter, you must open the ball with Mr. Gusher. How very kind +of you, Mr. Gusher," said Mrs. Chapman, with a courtesy. "It will be so +very appropriate, my daughter, for you and Mr. Gusher to lead off." Mrs. +Chapman had not noticed the singular change in Mr. Gusher's manner. He, +however, recovered himself in a minute, and affecting not to notice the +young man at Mattie's side, who still kept his eyes fixed on him, he +resumed: + +"Do me ze 'onar, Miz, and you shall make me so happy." + +"I am sure, mamma," returned Mattie, "Mr. Gusher will excuse me. It was +very kind of you to remember me," (turning to Mr. Gusher.) "But really I +should appear very awkward dancing with you, who are so good a dancer. I +am sure you will excuse me for the opening dance, Mr. Gusher, and I +shall have the pleasure, if you will condescend to honor me, of dancing +with you during the evening." + +"My daughter, my daughter!" interrupted Mrs. Chapman, motioning with her +fan, "pray don't be eccentric to-night. Accept the honor Mr. Gusher +intended and please me--if only for once." + +"I am sure, mamma, I always try to please you," returned Mattie, "and I +appreciate the honor Mr. Gusher would do me, knowing how much my dear +mamma admires him." Here Mattie paused for a moment and tapped her +fingers with her fan, as the young man who had stood by her side turned +and walked away for a moment. "It was very thoughtless of me, mother," +resumed Mattie, ("you know I am only a thoughtless girl, after all)--but +the truth is I am already engaged for the first dance." + +"Engaged, my daughter, engaged?" Mrs. Chapman rejoined. "Pray, who to? +It was very strange of you!" Here the young man returned to Mattie's +side. + +"Allow me to introduce you to my mother, Mr. Romer," said Mattie. "Mr. +Romer, Mr. Gusher,--a friend of our family." Mrs. Chapman made a +courtesy, and the two gentlemen bowed formally and coldly. + +"If I mistake not," said Mr. Romer, who was a young man of polished +manners, slender of form, with a frank, open countenance, and evidently +a gentleman, "we have met before." He kept his eyes fixed on Gusher, as +if resolved to read his thoughts in the changes that were going on in +his countenance. + +"Pardon, pardon, monsieur," returned Mr. Gusher, affecting an air of +self-confidence supported by innocence. "I ne-var re-mem-bar as we has +meets before. You shall zee I shall make you my respects. We shall meet +again, I am sure of zat, zen we shall be such good friends. But I ne-var +re-mem-bar zat we meets before." + +"You were living in a castle then," returned the young man, coolly, "and +I was only an outsider. People who live in castles at times don't +remember common people." + +It was a strange and curious meeting. Mattie saw there was something +embarrassing between the two gentlemen, and came quickly to their +relief. + +"I am Mr. Romer's partner for the first dance," she said, addressing Mr. +Gusher, with a bow. "It was very thoughtless of me. You were so very +kind. But I am sure you are too generous not to excuse me." + +"It is my great misfortune, miz. But you shall zee as I ne-var intrude +myself. I shall have ze pleazure during ze evening." Gusher blushed and +withdrew to another part of the ball room, where he captured Mrs. +Topman, who was delighted at having such a partner for the first dance. +Mrs. Topman was indeed popular as a dancing lady, and nothing pleased +her better than to show her skill in the art in company with Gusher, +whom all the pretty young girls said moved so nice on his feet. + +The music now struck up and fell softly and sweetly on the ear, and the +dancing began, and each figure seemed floating in the very poetry of +motion, until the bewitching scene carried the mind away captive in its +gyrations. + +Mattie had never seen Mr. Romer, nor indeed heard of him before that +night. She knew nothing of the relations existing between him and +Gusher. She was equally a stranger to Mr. Gusher's antecedents. Her mind +had, however, for some time been engaged trying to solve the mysterious +agency that had brought him into business relations with her father. +Being a girl of fixed character and good common sense, it was only +natural that she should entertain an instinctive dislike for Gusher, in +whom she saw a nature, if not really bad, at least frivolous and +artificial. + +The unexpected meeting between Romer and Gusher threw a shadow over the +entertainment, so far as it affected the latter. Here he had been for +weeks sounding the trumpet of Mrs. Chapman's ball, and looking forward +to it as the means of making a temple of triumph of himself, and +captivating no end of female hearts, Mattie's included; but how sadly he +was disappointed. It had suddenly thrown around him a chain of +difficulties that might blast his ambition, destroy all his hopes, and +cause the veil he supposed was forever drawn over his past life to be +lifted. The only way he saw of extricating himself from these +difficulties, of cutting through them as it were, was by the force and +skilful exercise of great coolness and impudence, and these he resolved +to use, and use quickly. + +And while the dancing was progressing a number of young fellows, who +found more congenial enjoyment in their glasses and cigars, were seated +at a table in a room down stairs, which Mrs. Chapman had provided as a +sort of free-and-easy for such of her guests as were inclined to enjoy +themselves in their own way. Chapman had provided generously, both of +wines and cigars, which might have seemed strange to one of his Dogtown +acquaintances. He had, however, so modified his ideas as to what +constituted strict morality as to believe it would be nothing against a +man in the other world that he had drank a glass of wine and smoked a +cigar in this. + +The young gentlemen were conducting themselves in a manner not +recognized in the rules of propriety. Indeed, they had smoked so many of +Chapman's cigars, and uncorked so many bottles of his wine, and drank +the health of the family such a number of times, that they were fast +losing their wits. When, then, Bowles made his appearance in the room, +to see if there was anything he could do for the gentlemen, he found +them talking so strangely of his mistress, and making so free with her +personal appearance, that he considered it an indignity he was bound to +defend by putting on the severest look he was capable of. + +"Say, Charles," said one of the young men, addressing a comrade as he +raised his glass, "who did you get your card through? What sort of a +family is it, anyhow?" + +"Got mine through Gusher. He's a kind of a spoon, you know. Don't know +anything of the fellow, particularly--met him outside, you know. He's +mighty sweet on the filly. She's pretty. Would'nt mind being sweet on +her myself. I'd be a little afraid the old one would want to throw +herself into the bargain. What a crusher of a mother-in-law she'd make," +returned the young man. + +"An odd-sized lot, anyhow," interrupted a third. "How frightfully the +old lady's got herself up, eh? What a melancholy little specimen of +humanity she's got for a husband, eh? Who are the Chapmans, anyhow?" + +"Devilish new, devilish new," rejoined a fourth. "What a mixed lot they +have got for company." + +"Fill up! fill up! gentlemen. Here's a bumper to the beautiful daughter. +Beauty and modesty carry us all captive in their charms. Let us drink to +the daughter." And they filled their glasses and drank Mattie's health. + +"When my missus inwites pussons to de ball, my missus 'specs dem ar +gemmens what is inwited to presarve dar qualifications. If gemmen am +gemmen den dey don't cum'd to my missus's ball to suffocate her!" said +Bowles, expressing himself, and assuming an air of injured dignity. + +Bowles had to pay dear for his speech in defence of the family, for the +young gentlemen surrounded him, and, getting him into a high chair at +the head of the table, compelled him to perform all sorts of antics for +their amusement, such as making speeches and singing songs. They also +made Bowles drink so many times to the lady whose livery he had the +honor to wear, that he lost his senses, and fancied himself fighting any +man who had said a word against the family. Indeed, it soon became +necessary to extinguish Mr. Bowles, and to that end the young gentlemen +rolled him up in the table-cover, and put him carefully away in a +corner, where he soon went into a sound sleep, and remained until his +master woke him up on the following morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +VERY PERPLEXING. + + +While these young gentlemen were thus enjoying themselves, and taking +such liberties with Mrs. Chapman's favorite servant, Romer entered the +room, and was followed in a few minutes by Gusher. They had again met +unexpectedly, for there was something nervous and hesitating in Gusher's +manner. Romer seemed to be a general favorite with the young men, and +they insisted that he fill his glass and join them in drinking the +health of the family. + +"You will pardon me," said Romer, turning to Gusher when they had set +down their glasses; "I took the liberty I did up stairs through +mistake." + +"It is no matter, mine friend," returned Gusher, patting Romer on the +shoulder familiarly. "I ac-cept ze ap-pology. You are one gentleman, I +am sure. We shall be very good friends." It was curious to see how quick +Gusher regained his confidence and coolness. + +"I mistook you for a gentleman I once met in Havana. I understand you +have been there," resumed Romer, keeping his eyes steadily fixed on +Gusher. + +"My farer, he has very large estates in ze Havana. Mine friend, I love +ze Havana." Here Gusher put his hand to his heart, and became exuberant. +"It make me so much joy to zink of ze day when I shall be back in mine +own Havana." + +"Knew I had seen you there. You would'nt be likely to remember me, +however. Let us fill our glasses, and drink to the pleasant days we have +spent there--" + +"Oh, it is so many years since I was so happy zare," interrupted Gusher, +coolly. + +They filled their glasses and drank to the happy days they had spent in +Havana. "At least the wine may quicken your memory as to the time we +met. About the time I refer to," continued Romer, still watching +Gusher's manner carefully, "which was about the time we met, a fellow of +wonderful audacity was flourishing, and so attracting public attention +by his skill in rascality that little else was talked of. Louis Pinto +was his real name; but he regarded names as a matter of no consequence, +and used the names of rich and respectable gentlemen whenever a +necessity demanded." + +"You shall give me zat hand," replied Gusher, extending his hand and +taking Romer's, with an air of refreshing coolness. "You bring ze +gentleman to my mind. When I shall speak ze truth I shall say he was one +grand rascal, I remember him just so well as you shall see." + +"I am glad," resumed Romer, "that you know him for a grand rascal. +Rascal as he was, I had great admiration for him. He had three +remarkable virtues--impudence, coolness, and audacity. I call these +virtues because a man possessing them may go through the world and have +a history of his own. It was Louis's ambition to do the State some +service one day and ornament society with his presence the next. One day +he relieved a rich old gentleman of his pretty daughter and twelve +thousand ounces, and did both so cleverly that his skill was more +admired than condemned. Carrying off the daughter did not seem to offend +the old gentleman so much; but his grief was so great over the loss of +his ounces that he employed means of recovering them, and with them the +thief, whom he had sent to prison to repent of the sin. Louis was rather +fond of a change, and accepted prison life as a relief from the labor +society required of him, and as a necessary benefit to his health rather +than a punishment. He once relieved me of some diamonds, and in such a +manner as to make me remember him for his skill." + +"I tells you, mine friend," interrupted Gusher, "zat grand rascal 'onar +me in ze same way. He gets ze diamond. And I ne-var gets zat diamond +back. He make me so much trouble. I am mistake for him so many times." +Gusher now proposed that they should fill their glasses again, which +they did, the rest of the company joining and drinking to the health of +the family. + +"That he is taken for you," resumed Romer, "might be considered a +compliment, as far as looks go. If I remember right the fellow was +exceedingly handsome." + +This seemed to excite Gusher's vanity. Laying his hand patronizingly on +Romer's arm, he looked up in his face with a smile of injured innocence. +"I care nosin for myself; it is wiz mine friend he make me so much +trouble." + +"You're to be pitied, sir, very much to be pitied. Of course you are not +Pinto, and yet the dashing, handsome fellow will insist in trafficking +on your reputation. How very aggravating to a gentleman of your +position. It requires a genius to do that well. That's what I admired +Pinto for. The fellow had such a number of family histories at his +tongue's end, and could apply any one of them so cleverly to his own +case. In short, he knew exactly how to suit his customer. But you will +remember, Mr. Gusher, the most amusing thing of all was the number of +fathers he had. To-day he had a Spanish father, who had been through all +the wars of Spain; to-morrow his father was a Frenchman who had smelled +powder in all the battles fought by Napoleon. They were generals, too. +There was one bad feature about Louis's fathers. They were all +unfortunate gentlemen, who managed to fight on the wrong side, and got +their estates confiscated and their families left destitute." + +Romer paused for a moment, but kept his eyes fixed on Gusher. Still +there was no change in his countenance. The young gentlemen who had been +so merry but a few minutes before, now put down their glasses and +listened with intense interest to the conversation. + +"You shall zee, mine friend, (wiz your permizion I shall call you mine +friend,") replied Gusher, still cool and nonchalant, and again giving +Romer's hand a decided shake, "I have hear zat grand rascal tell ze same +story so many times. You shall know zat I meets ze grand rascal on +Broadway--a few days ago--" + +"You met him in New York, eh?" resumed Romer, affecting great surprise. +"Looking just as fresh and rosy as ever, I suppose, and as ready to give +himself up to the business of ornamenting society." Romer patted Gusher +on the shoulder familiarly, and smiled. + +"If you should meet him again," he resumed, playfully, "and it is more +than likely you will--stop him. He does'nt take offence easily. Keep +your eye on him. Tell him you are a friend of his, and have a lady with +a fortune you would like to introduce him to. That will gain his +confidence. Then slip this card into his hand. It contains my address. +Tell him I am an old friend of his, and have some old and important +business I would like to settle. Don't let your modesty interfere with +your intentions, you know." + +Gusher took the card, and after affecting to read the name placed it in +his pocket, without exhibiting the slightest change of countenance. "You +shall zee I shall do myself ze 'onar of being your diplomat," said he, +bowing himself formally out of the room. + +"Romer, old fellow, what's up?" enquired one of the young men. "A spoon, +ain't he, Romer?" + +"Not so much of a spoon, I take it," said another. "Considers himself a +planet illuminating the social hemisphere of the Chapman family." + +"You must pardon me, gentlemen," said Romer, "for introducing a +conversation so strange to you. It refers to a matter which concerns the +gentleman and myself, which he perfectly understands, and you may hear +more of soon--not now." + +Another, and very different scene from that described above, but which +forms an essential part of this history, was being enacted just outside. +While the sound of the music was reverberating over Bowling Green, and +mingling curiously with the sea-wail; while the dance went on, and all +seemed gay and festive within, two old men, bent with age and poorly +clad, were seen in front of Chapman's house, one of them leaning on a +staff. They were the two shadowy figures seen on the Battery in the +early part of the evening, looking anxiously out in the direction of a +ship at anchor in the stream. + +Their manner indicated that they were strangers in the city, uncertain +of the location they were in. They would move slowly up and down in +front of the house, then pause and listen to the music, the tripping of +feet, and the sound of merry voices. The shadowy figures seen flitting +through the curtains seemed to bewilder them. Then, after consulting +together for a few minutes, and as if armed with some new resolution, +they would ascend two or three steps, as if intent on seeking admission +to the house. Then their resolution would seem to fail them, they would +hesitate, and return slowly and reluctantly to the sidewalk. + +Then he of the staff stood in the shadow of the street lamp, and as he +did so his kindly but wrinkled face, his white, flowing beard and hair, +reflected in the dim light, formed a striking picture of age made +touching by sorrow. Then his eyes brightened and his lips quivered, and +after looking sorrowfully up at the scene before him for several +minutes, he motioned his companion to him, laid his trembling hand on +his arm, and said: + +"Tar pees no shustice in dis. He prings shorrow hinto mine house, unt +shust now his house pees full of peeples what rejoices. I gits mine +preat mit t' sweet of mine prow, so ven I ties I ties mit mine +conscience so clear as I shays t' mine Got, ven I meets mine Got, dar +pees no tirt on mine hands. If I only gits some news from mine poor +Tite, Critchel, some shoy comes t' mine poor heart." And he shook his +head as he said this, and leaned on his staff, and tears coursed down +his wrinkled face. + +The old man was overcome, and had no power to restrain his emotions. It +was several minutes before he regained control of his feelings. Then he +raised his head, and wiping his wet, dripping beard, he pointed with the +fore-finger of his right hand upward, and resumed: "Critchel!" said he, +in a tone as decided as it was touching, "Critchel! if tar pees un shust +Got, un I knows in mine heart as tar pees un shust Got, He come to mine +aid, unt He shows he pees angry mit t' man vat shays he pees mine +friend t'tay un prings shorrow into mine house to-morrow." + +"God will make a just reckoning with us all--depend on that, Hanz," +replied the other. "But it will do no good to stand here. We must wait +until to-morrow." And the two old men proceeded up Broadway and were +shut from sight in the mist. It will hardly be necessary to tell the +reader that one was Hanz Toodleburg, the other Doctor Critchel. + +Two days before the sheriff of the county had seriously disturbed the +peace of Hanz's little house by walking in and making service of a legal +document of immense length--Topman and Gusher vs. Hanz Toodleburg--and +in which the names were recapitulated so many times, and in so many +different ways, as to bewilder Hanz's mind and send him into a state of +deep distress. In short, Topman and Gusher, (Chapman's name was not +mentioned, and for reasons which any sharp gentleman of the legal +profession will understand,) had entered suit against Hanz, charging him +with having made certain contracts he had not fulfilled, of procuring +money and certain other property for the sale of secrets he did not +possess, and indeed of having deceived and defrauded the plaintiffs, and +of committing crimes enough to have sent at least a dozen men to the +penitentiary. And all this to the serious damage, as well in reputation +as pocket, of the highly enterprising and rapidly advancing firm of +Topman and Gusher. And the plaintiffs prayed, as virtuous gentlemen are +known to pray in such cases, that the defendant's property might be +attached, and such damages decreed as in the discretion of the court +justice demanded. + +The great Kidd Discovery Company was bearing bitter fruit for Hanz. +Never before had a sheriff darkened his door, for it had been the aim +of his life to owe no man a shilling, and never to quarrel with a +neighbor. But here he was with law enough for a life-time, and all for +doing a kindness for people he thought honest. He saw Chapman's finger +at the bottom of the transaction, but the more he pondered over his +troubles the more his mind got bewildered. He knew that before a court +his simple story would weigh as nothing against the proof they could +bring that he had been associated in some suspicious way with all the +circumstances which led to the formation of the great Kidd Discovery +Company. There, too, was a paper, bearing his own signature, and indeed +a confession of guilt. + +In the midst of his grief it occurred to Hanz that a man who had +invented so many religions must be something of a Christian, so he +resolved to see him face to face, and have an honest talk with him. To +that end he persuaded Critchel, who was his friend and adviser always, +to bear him company into the city. He forgot that there were religions, +based on what are called advanced ideas, and invented so plentifully in +certain portions of New England, having little of either heart or soul +in them, and which are in truth a cheap commodity, used more to advance +commercial than spiritual purposes. + +There was still another reason why these two old men were found in the +city on that night. Nothing had been heard from Tite, or indeed the ship +on which he sailed, for more than a year, and great anxiety was felt for +her safety. A report, however, had reached Nyack that day that one of +the Hudson Company's ships had arrived at New York, and the hope that +she might bring some tidings of the ship Pacific quickened his actions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +AN UNLUCKY VOYAGE. + + +Let us go a little back, reader, and trace the course of the ship +Pacific and those on board of her. The iceberg had rendered her almost +helpless, and we left her bearing up for Punta Arenas. Having made +temporary repairs there she sailed for Coquimbo, where she was +thoroughly refitted and provided with new anchors and chains. The great +expense and delay incident to this had seriously interfered with the +prospects of the voyage, and to such of the crew and officers as were on +shares left but little hope of returns. This naturally produced a +feeling of discouragement and despondency. + +And when the ship was about to proceed on her voyage to cruise among the +islands of the Pacific, the second officer disappeared mysteriously, and +Coquimbo was searched in vain for him. Tite was accordingly promoted to +fill his place. The crew had great confidence in him, for he had shown +himself not only the best sailor on board, but had exhibited in cases of +great peril such quickness and courage as are necessary to the highest +standard of seamanship. Hence it was that the change, while it did not +dispel the gloom occasioned by the second officer's mysterious +disappearance, gave satisfaction to all on board, except, perhaps, Mr. +Higgins, the first officer, who had almost from the day of leaving New +York regarded Tite with a feeling of undisguised jealousy. + +The lucky old ship Pacific, with her famous old whale-killing captain, +had made a bad voyage of it this time. + +Fifteen months had passed since she took her departure off the Highlands +of New York, and now she had just weighed anchor, and with her canvas +spread once more was bidding good bye to Coquimbo, and proceeding to +cruise among the islands of the South Sea. + +Weeks passed and still the old ship tumbled and rolled about on the +placid waters of the Pacific, now touching at a port to get news of the +whaling fleet, now anchoring off some island to have a talk or trade +with the natives. But all the news the sturdy old captain could get was +bad. + +Bad luck had followed the whaling fleet through the Pacific that year. +The habits of the whale in changing his locality at certain periods are +somewhat curious, and afford old sailors a subject for the most wild and +unreasonable stories. The sailors, yielding to their superstitions, +attributed the scarcity of whales to the appearance of a number of +mermaids, whom the natives on various islands had reported, and the +sailors sincerely believed, had been seen and heard singing in various +parts of the Pacific that year, and under very suspicious circumstances. +The sailors had also a superstition that whales entertain so great a +dislike for mermaids as to proceed to visit their friends and relatives +in another sea as soon as they made their appearance. + +Captain Price Bottom declared he was too old a whale-killer to put any +faith in the story of the mermaids. Whales, he said, had sense and +pluck, and were not to be frightened away by such fish as mermaids. He +had his deck cleared, his gear put in order, his boats' crews told off, +and officers and men kept practising and made familiar with their +duties. Still not a whale showed his head, or blew a challenge to put +their skill in practice. The bluff old captain began to feel at last +that luck had left him. Morning after morning he would loom up in the +companion way before the crew was up, gaze up at the lookout aloft, ask +the usual questions concerning the night's sailing, then shake his head +despondingly. + +"Fifteen months out--sixteen months out--and not a whale killed!" he +would say. Then taking the glass he would make a turn or two of the +quarter-deck, looking here and looking there, as if to satisfy himself +that there was nothing between his ship and the horizon. Then lowering +his glass he would nod his head affirmatively, and say: "Mermaids ain't +got nothin' at all to do with it. Somebody's been a tellin' them whales +I was comin'. Whales has got more sense some years than other years. +Know when there's harpoons about as well as any of us, and keeps at a +comfortable distance." + +One morning he appeared on deck in a more serious mood than usual. Tite +was officer of the watch that morning, and the old captain, after pacing +up and down the deck several times, apparently in deep study, approached +him with his hand extended. + +"When I give a young man like you my hand, I gives him my heart, too. If +there's a man aboard of this ship what I respect, it's you, Mr. +Toodleburg. Yes, sir, I respect you for your mother's sake, as well as +for your worth as a sailor and a man." And he shook Tite cordially by +the hand, and spoke with such an emphasis. + +Then setting his glass down on the binnacle, he took Tite by the arm, +and, whispering something in his ear, led him to the taffrail, as if he +had something of importance to communicate in private. + +"You have a sweetheart at home, I take it, Mr. Toodleburg?" he said, +inquiringly, and assuming a very serious manner. "Every young man like +you should have a sweetheart at home. Somebody to think about. Somebody +to cheer one up. Them we leaves at home is all men like you and me go +through these hardships and disappointments for." + +Tite blushed and smiled, and made an evasive reply. + +"No use denying it, my hearty," he resumed. "Knew ye had a sweetheart +thinkin' of ye at home. Show her by yer conduct while yer away that yer +worthy of her when yer get home. My sweetheart, God bless her! is all +the sunlight I have in a voyage of this kind. My little wife is my +sweetheart, she is, Mr. Toodleburg. She an' the two little angels are +the sunlight of my heart. There ain't nobody sails the sea has a trimmer +little craft of a sweetheart nor I have." He paused for a minute, as if +to collect his distracted thoughts. "The man that would bring trouble to +her door while I'm away--he would'nt be a man, Mr. Toodleburg," he +resumed, still preserving a serious countenance. "Had an ugly dream last +night. That's what troubles me. Anything happens to me, Mr. Toodleburg, +you're the man I looks to as a friend to my little sweetheart and them +two angels at home." + +Tite assured him that he would do as he desired, and at the same time +tried to dispel from his mind the gloomy forebodings impressed on it by +the dream. + +"Never had an ugly dream of that kind that it did'nt foretell somethin' +bad, Mr. Toodleburg," he replied to a remark made by Tite, that it was +not wise to give one's self uneasiness concerning dreams. "There's +sharks a' land as well as sharks a' sea. Keep that in your mind, my +hearty. And I dreamed that my time had come, and my poor little +sweetheart at home was surrounded by sharks ready to devour her. Made my +blood boil, it did. Waked up feelin' for a harpoon to throw among 'em. +My ghost'll haunt the man that wrongs my little sweetheart. + +"That's not all, my hearty. Somebody's brought bad luck aboard--that's +certain. A voyage begun in bad luck, as this ere voyage has been, never +ends in good luck. But you're young, and so cheer up. Look ahead, and +never let present misfortunes discourage you. + +"England honors Scoresby to this day. And Scoresby was successful after +two voyages that ruined his owners. As to them mermaids frightening away +the whales, it's all a superstition. The natives on Queen Charlotte's +island have a superstition that there is an island down north of them, +called No Man's island--for no man, as they say, was ever seen on +it--where there is a subterranean sea peopled by these mermaids; and +that these mermaids have built them a palace, where they hold their +revels and do all sorts of strange things, even to decoying navigators +into it. That story won't do. Don't believe a word of it, Mr. +Toodleburg." + +That morning about ten o'clock the lookout aloft called, "Whale, O!" The +glad announcement sent a thrill of joy over every one on board. The crew +turned out with cheerful faces, and every one looked eagerly in the +direction pointed to by the man aloft. + +"Where away?" was the quick enquiry from the deck. + +"Off the larboard bow--three miles. There he blows!" was the response. + +A light breeze was blowing, and the ship was bowling off four knots, +with her port tacks aboard. There was no one on board more elated at the +prospect than the sturdy old captain. Seizing his glass he looked for a +moment in the direction indicated. + +"There he is!" he exclaimed, lowering his glass. "Clear away the boats +and bear away for him, my hearties." + +The lashings were cast away, the davit-tackle falls overhauled, and a +larboard and starboard boat was launched and manned, and in a few +minutes they were dashing over the waves, the men pulling that steady, +strong, and even stroke which gives such propelling force to the +whaleman's oar. The men on board cheered, and their cheers seemed to +quicken the action of the boatmen. The sturdy old captain watched their +progress through his glass, every few minutes giving expression to his +feelings in words of hope and encouragement. + +"An old coaster, that whale is--thirty, yes, nearly forty barrels there. +Got pluck, too, that whale has. Can always tell when a whale's got +pluck. Them old ones are ugly customers when they gets their pluck up," +he would say, nodding his head decidedly and encouragingly. + +The ship was now kept away a point or two, and proceeded under easy +sail. There was something thrilling in the scene, and every heart on +board beat with excitement as the boats went swiftly on, one commanded +by the first officer, the other by Tite. Neither of these two young men +had seen a whale killed; but there were in the boats old whalemen, who +had successfully thrown both harpoon and lance. + +The huge monster could now be seen clearly with the naked eye by those +on the ship's deck, sporting lazily on the surface, his bright black +sides now falling, now rising, like the hull of some water-logged ship, +and throwing up thin white volumes of spray, over which the sun's rays +reflected with singular brilliancy. Nearer and nearer the boats +approached the monster, the first officer's boat being a little ahead. +Now the stern boat ceased pulling, and the men laid on their oars. Then +the other slackened her speed, and began pulling with cautious and quiet +stroke. The lookout announced that the head boat had made the whale, and +the men climbed the ship's rigging to witness the struggle. They were +doomed to temporary disappointment, however, for the whale, suddenly +discovering his pursuers, made a vault and a plunge, tossed the sea into +commotion, and disappeared. + +"That's what comes of sendin' an amateur after an old whale," said the +captain, thrusting his hands deep into his nether pockets, shrugging his +shoulders, and pacing nervously up and down the deck. + +A signal was now made from the ship directing the boats what course to +keep, for experience had taught the old captain what course the whale +would take, and where he would be most likely to appear again. It was +nearly half an hour before the monster lifted his huge, dripping sides +above the surface again, but so near the first officer's boat that a +harpoon was let go. They had fastened to him, and the scene became more +exciting. + +"Bad strike," said the captain, shaking his head and stamping his feet. +"That whale's going to die hard." The harpoon, in short, had fallen +weak, had failed to touch a vital part, and had made one of those wounds +which excite a whale to attack his pursuers. + +The word "astern" was given as soon as the harpoon was thrown. The +monster threw up a thin wreath of slightly discolored spray, and set off +at a velocity of speed almost incredible. Away he went, the boat +following in his wake and cutting the water like a thing of life--the +boat-steerer and line-tender carefully watching every movement, for the +lives of all on board depended on their vigilance. The whale struck his +course directly across the ship's bow, less than a mile away. The boat +Tite commanded followed, with all the strength her crew could put on +their oars. + +It was easy to read in the captain's manner, however, that all was not +going well with the boats. He quickly ordered a third boat launched, +supplied with gear, and the best oarsmen on board to hold themselves +ready to man it. + +"Thar'll be a fight when that ar whale rises," he muttered, rather than +spoke. "Wants a lance in the right place, and a man to put it there. Mr. +Higgins ain't the man for that work." + +The boat's speed began to slacken. The sharp, whizzing sound, caused by +the rapid paying-out of the line and its great tension, gradually +subsided. It was evident the whale was coming up to blow, perhaps change +his course, perhaps attack his assailants. He had crossed the ship's +course, and the head boat was nearly two miles off the starboard bow, +the stern boat rapidly coming up. + +The water just ahead of the boat began to quiver and curl into eddies, +then the huge monster lifted himself, as it were, high above the +surface, struck his flukes, and lashed the sea into a foam. This lasted +for several minutes, the boat pulling for him with all the strength of +her oarsmen. But when nearly alongside of the whale she suddenly +slackened her speed, then stopped, then went "astern hard." It was +evident to those on board the ship that something was wrong, for the +boat seemed to be manoeuvring more for her own safety than to gain a +position from which a lance could be hurled with effect. + +"Too many landsmen in that boat!" said the old captain, who had been +carefully watching every movement through his glass; now hoping, now +fearing. He shook his head doubtingly, and paced the deck nervously for +several minutes. Then, as if there was something it was necessary for +him to set right, he turned to the officer of the watch, and ordered him +to have the third boat manned. In another minute he was standing in the +bow, lance in hand. + +"Pull away for him, my hearty bullies," he said; and the men plied their +oars, and away the boat went, skimming over the water like a sea-bird. +There was resolution and courage depicted in every feature of that +bronzed face. + +The whale had now turned and was proceeding with open jaws to attack the +first officer's boat. Another minute and he would have destroyed it, and +perhaps all on board. Just at that moment Tite's boat came up, and with +a quick, bold, and dexterous movement, rounded close under the whale's +off side, and with a strong arm sent a lance home. That lance made a +deep and fatal wound. The enraged monster forgot in a moment the object +he was in pursuit of, threw up a volume of deep red spray, then making a +desperate plunge, disappeared. He had no intention of giving up the +battle, however. He merely sought relief for his wounds in deep water. +The boats now waited and watched for the result. After waiting nearly +twenty minutes the monster rose again, directly ahead of the captain's +boat, and so near as to dash the spray into it. + +"Take that!" said the old captain; "that iron'll stop your fightin'." +And he hurled his lance, with quick and deadly aim, giving an order at +the same time to "astern hard." But before sternway could be got on the +boat, the infuriated monster made a sudden turn, dashed upon and stove +it into fragments. + +The famous old whale-killer had hurled his last lance, had killed his +last whale. The dying monster, in making a last struggle with his +enemies, had struck the captain with his fluke, and he sunk never to +rise again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +DUNMAN'S CAVE. + + +Flags hung at half mast the rest of that day, and minute guns were fired +at sunset. And there was something sad and solemn in the dull, booming +sound as it echoed and reechoed over that broad and mysterious sea. And +when night came, and drew a dark curtain around the ship, and her +timbers murmured and complained, and every sail stood out in shadow +against the clear sky, and the surface of the water seemed alive with +sprites, flitting and dancing here and there, groups of sorrowing men +were seen gathered about the decks, giving expression to their grief at +the loss of their old captain. + +"God bless him! He was good to us all. There'll be no more whales to +kill where he has gone." These were the words of regret that fell from +lips that rarely invoked a prayer. + +At midnight, when the bells had struck, the crew gathered together on +the forward deck, and while one held a lamp another read the Episcopal +service for the burial of the dead. And as the light at times reflected +each figure of the group, giving it a phantom-like appearance, the +picture presented was sad and impressive--such as can only be seen at +sea, where each sound calls up some memory, and the sailor fancies he +can see the spirit of some departed friend in every flitting shadow. + +Officers and men alike began to feel how great was their loss. They were +alone, as it were, on this broad and mysterious ocean, and they had +lost that odd old man who was their guiding spirit, and who never failed +them as friend and protector. All through that night the men watched and +strained their eyes in every direction, expecting to see the old sailor +rise on some crest; and more than one sailor that night cheered his +drooping feelings with the firm belief that some mysterious agency would +give them back the old captain before morning. + +There was no one on that ship, however, who felt the loss more seriously +than Tite. It seemed to change all his prospects, to throw a shadow over +his future. He paced the deck, silent and thoughtful, until long after +midnight. To him the captain had been not only a friend, but a father. +Between them there had grown up the strongest of attachments. Tite had +looked forward to the time when this odd old man would have lifted him +into the confidence of his owners, and perhaps secured his future +prosperity. + +All his hopes and joys seemed blasted now. Love, too, had been playing +its bewitching part; amidst all these drawbacks and disappointments, +love had been prompting his ambition with her dreams of a happy future. +Mattie's image, so bright, so beautiful, had been with him everywhere, +prompting his thoughts and actions as only the woman you love can, and +making him more ambitious to secure that golden future his fancy had +pictured. Never before had his courage failed him. No matter what the +danger, he had felt that she was at his side, encouraging him. Now the +gloomy thought of returning home penniless, with, indeed, nothing but +his adventures and misfortunes to offer her and his aged parents, began +to prey upon his mind, to make him sad and despondent. Then the advice +so often given him by the old captain, never to get discouraged, not +even under the most adverse circumstances, and that the brightest day +was sure to follow the darkest night, would cheer him up. + +When the whale had been taken aboard, the ship, under her new commander, +Mr. Higgins, stood away into the North Pacific, where she cruised along +the land, in the direction of Behring's Straits, for several weeks. The +prospect not seeming to brighten much, Mr. Higgins thought he would try +an experiment in what he called "high latitudes," and to that end headed +the ship for the Auckland Islands. Now the crew had but little respect +for their new commander, and no confidence whatever in his skill as a +navigator. + +After proceeding in this direction for ten days, one morning about four +o'clock the lookout called the attention of the officer of the watch to +strange sounds heard close ahead. It resembled the dull, sluggish sound +of breakers on shore during a calm. The sounds became louder and seemed +to be approaching the ship, but as her reckoning gave no land anywhere +near, the cause of the sounds began to excite great alarm. The captain +was called and the crew turned out, and an effort made to put the ship +on the other tack, but it was of no avail. An almost dead calm +prevailed, and the ship refused to obey her helm. In short, the ship was +being carried rapidly forward in the grasp of a strong under-current. A +heavy fog hung like a pall overhead, enveloping the ship's royals and +top-gallant sails; and as the noise increased a strange feeling of awe +and fear came over the crew, exciting their superstitions to the highest +pitch. + +As the ship went on the sounds began to resemble the dashing and surging +of a heavy body of water forced by a strong tide through a narrow +gorge. Still nothing could be seen of land, which increased the strange +sensations produced by so singular a phenomenon. Nothing either crew or +officers could do would improve the situation, for in the ship's +condition they were as helpless as children. The lead was cast, and +sixty fathoms called. It was now evident that there was land close by. +But the trail of the line only showed the more clearly that the ship was +at the mercy of some rapid and dangerous current, perhaps being drawn +into some whirlpool. Now the fog seemed to lift, and long lines of light +were seen ahead, but it was only to be succeeded by greater darkness. +Then the sounds began to change and vary; and while what seemed voices +were heard singing and sighing overhead, the deep rush and roll of +waters below had a strange and bewildering effect on the feelings. Now +the moon seemed to be rising through the fog ahead, and a pale, white +light gleamed for a few seconds, then disappeared, and all was dark +again. And as the ship advanced, the bold outline of a high and nearly +perpendicular bluff revealed itself above the fog, and had the +appearance of hanging directly over the ship. There was no mistaking the +danger now. In a few minutes more the ship was between walls of rock +three hundred feet high, drifting swiftly through a narrow channel of +deep and agitated water into a dark and dangerous cavern. + +The ship passed in under full sail; the atmosphere changed and became +singularly oppressive; the very blood chilled; fear seized on all on +board, and men who a short time before were full of courage and strength +now became as helpless as children. The current was less rapid inside, +but the noise increased and became even more bewildering; while the +barometer would rise and fall quickly, and the compasses became +agitated under the influence of some strong magnetic disorder. Every few +minutes deep and rumbling sounds would break in the distance, roll along +the cavern, and echo and reëcho through the great arches overhead. And +these would be succeeded by soft, flute-like voices, mingling in chorus. +The effect of this, in so dark and dungeon-like a place, where the +mighty hand of Nature had performed one of her wildest freaks, was +bewildering in the extreme, and gave wing to the strangest fancies. +Hardly a word was spoken; not a brace manned, nor a sheet touched. The +ship moved along as if directed by some unseen hand, for there was no +wind in that deep, dark cavern. Then the water became broken, and the +surface checkered with phosphoric lights, flitting and dancing, like so +many sprites on a revel. The arch overhead became covered with a pale +light, which seemed to struggle against the darkness; then stars, or +what appeared to be stars, were seen, as through a mist. Then they would +suddenly change into every variety of color, and reveal the existence of +massive columns of basaltic rock supporting the arch. Still the +distracting sounds were heard, but no order was given concerning the +ship, scarcely a word exchanged between the men. They felt that they +were drifting into some unknown sea, perhaps some place of enchantment, +where death was certain, and from whence nothing more would ever be +heard of them. + +Could this be the mermaid's retreat of which the old captain had spoken, +and of which the natives on Queen Charlotte's Island had such a strange +superstition? Tite thought to himself. All the pleasant associations of +home, all that he loved there, and all that he had hoped for, now rose +up in his mind like a sweet and beautiful dream, only to be overshadowed +by the terrible thoughts this strange and gloomy place had impressed +upon him. There was no hope for him now; he felt that he should never +enjoy those scenes again. But what was that to the anguish of his poor +old parents, who would linger on week after week, month after month, and +year after year, wondering and waiting in vain for some news of him, and +dying of hope deferred. + +While he was thus musing a pale, aurora-like light broke in the +distance, directly ahead of the ship. Now it opened gently, now shut +again. Again it glimmered and gradually expanded until the whole cavern +became aglow with light, and presented a scene of such enchanting beauty +that all on board were spell-bound with admiration. Massive columns, +grand and impressive, rose on every side to the very roof, and reflected +all the colors of the rainbow. And through them the gallant old ship +continued to sail, like a phantom. + +This bright, bewitching scene continued for about fifteen minutes, when +the light gradually died away, and all became dark and solemn. Then +deep, plunging sounds of falling water indicated with startling effect +that the ship was approaching a mighty cataract, down which she must +soon plunge to her destruction. These sounds, made more terrible by the +darkness, were like death-knells, calling the men to prepare to meet +their doom. + +And while all on board were contemplating these sounds, the ship +suddenly careened a-starboard, a harsh, grating noise was heard +overhead, and quantities of broken crystallites began falling on deck. +This was followed by a crashing sound, and the ship righted. The +topmasts had fouled, and one after another were carried away and now +hung, a dangerous wreck. Then her gib-boom came in contact with one of +the columns, and met the same fate. The ship now swung round and struck +with a violent shock on a sunken rock, and almost simultaneously her +mainmast went by the board, she began to fill and settle down, and soon +became a forlorn wreck. A short consultation was held between the +officers and men as to what was best to be done. There was, however, no +alternative but to take to the boats, and make the best effort possible +to save life. There was no time to lose. Five boats were quickly +launched, and manned, and supplied with such provisions and water as +could be procured in the hurry of the moment. An officer took command of +each boat, and Tite managed to secure six of the best oarsmen on board. +There was no excitement, no disorder. Everything was done with as much +order and regularity as if nothing had occurred to interrupt discipline. + +And now when the five boats were ready, and the order given to "pull +away," each man seemed to pause and take a last fond look at the old +ship, as if a lingering affection caused him to part from her with +reluctance. And as they stood taking this last look, the light again +broke forth, giving to the strange scene a weird and bewildering effect. + +The boats now pulled away, Tite's boat taking the lead. They had agreed +to keep together as much as possible, (and to that end made signals at +short intervals,) gain the ocean and seek relief along the shore. +Darkness soon shut in again, however, and the noises were so bewildering +that the signals from the boats could not be understood, and they +separated never to meet again. + +We must now follow the fortunes of the boat commanded by Tite. He had +been fortunate enough to secure a compass, which, though it did him +little good while in the cave, would be of great assistance to him +outside. The question as to how the entrance of the cave bore, and the +surest way of gaining it, was of most importance now. Tite estimated +that they were at least ten miles from it, and that by steering directly +against the current, they could not fail to make it. After pulling +steadily for four hours, stopping only once to refresh themselves, they +came in sight of the entrance, and saw daylight beyond. A feeling of joy +now came over the men, and three hearty cheers were given that echoed +curiously through the arches overhead. Still there was another and +serious obstacle to contend with. A boar, or tidal wave, had made at the +entrance, and was rushing in with a roaring noise and such force that +the boat could not have stemmed it for a minute. It was therefore, +necessary to seek safety behind some high rocks on one side of the +entrance, and wait a change in the tide. After waiting in this position +for nearly an hour they again put out, and headed for the entrance. A +rapid current was still setting in, and the men had to pull with all +their strength to stem it and gain the ocean. + +When they had gained the ocean they felt as if they had been suddenly +transferred to another world. After waiting several hours, and none of +the other boats making their appearance, Tite headed his boat west and +stood down the coast, close in shore, in the hope of finding a safe +landing place, perhaps a friendly settlement. An almost perpendicular +bluff of rocks, more than two hundred feet high, forming a walled coast, +such as is seen in the Bay of Fundy, and at the foot of which the sea +dashed and broke, rendering it impossible to make a landing, extended as +far as the eye could reach. Along this frowning coast the boat swept +until nightfall; but not a human being was seen, nor a place where they +could land safely discovered. + +Three days and three nights they coasted along this bold sea-wall, and +now their provisions and water had given out, and such was their +suffering from thirst, hunger, and cold, that two of the crew died from +sheer exhaustion. Indeed, it was only extraordinary exertion on the part +of Tite, and his manner of encouraging the others, that kept them from +giving up in despair. Early on the morning of the fourth day an +indentation in the land was discovered, sloping into a quiet little +valley, a place of welcome to the weary, through which a stream of water +winded down into the sea. Each heart now beat high with joy. Deliverance +had come at last. The boat's head was directed toward the beach, but the +wind had freshened, and a heavy surf was beating on shore, and unless +the boat was skilfully handled there was great danger of swamping. Still +the boat was kept on, and in less than half an hour from the time the +beach was discovered the boat was plunging through the breakers. + +On entering the surf an immense roller overtook the boat, lifted her +high up on its crest, and, owing to some unskilful management, she was +capsized. The crew were tossed into the boiling surf, and left to +struggle with the receding waves for their lives. Tite's first thought +was to secure the boat, and seizing hold of the line he made a desperate +effort to gain the beach, and was successful, as were two of the men. +The others were too weak to make much of a resistance, and were carried +away by the undercurrent, and nothing more was seen of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +OLD DUNMAN AND THE PIRATE'S TREASURE. + + +With only the drenched clothes they stood in, no means of lighting a +fire, and death from starvation staring them in the face, these three +shipwrecked men stood upon the beach of this strange island, still +hoping and wondering what was to be the next change in their condition. +Was the island inhabited? By whom? What was the character of the +natives, and what sort of reception would they meet when found? These +were the questions which engaged their thoughts as they stood on that +lonely beach, hoping against hope, and every minute fancying some +friendly sail heaving in sight to relieve them from their perilous +position. After the darkest night comes the brightest day. This was ever +uppermost in Tite's mind, and he endeavored to impress its teachings on +the minds of his companions, who were fast yielding to their fears, and +would have given up in despair had not his stronger resolution +encouraged them still to hope for deliverance. + +There was an abundance of small shell-fish along the coast, and on these +they subsisted. It was agreed to remain near the boat during the day, as +a precaution against an attack from the natives, who might have seen +them approach the coast, and perhaps be watching their movements near +by. But the day passed and not a human being was seen. At nightfall a +couple of goats and a pig, and some fowl that appeared to be keeping +them company, emerged from a thicket on a hillside, descended into a +valley or ravine, and drank in the brook. The sight of these animals +filled the hearts of the shipwrecked men with joy. It was to them a +proof of civilization. New hopes, new joys, new strength came with the +sight of these animals; and they advanced cautiously toward them. But +the animals were shy, and scampered away up the hill at the first sight +of the strangers. + +There was a high hill near by, and, encouraged by the sight of these +animals, Tite started off just at dusk to ascend it and survey the +surrounding country, leaving his comrades on the beach to guard the +boat. It was quite dark when Tite reached the top, but the stars were +out, and the atmosphere was clear. Not a habitation was to be seen, +nothing but a wild, unbroken forest as far as the eye could reach. He +watched there for an hour or more, his eyes quickened by anxiety, and +his mind becoming more and more excited, until his fancy pictured in +every shadow some moving object. Then, as his eye traced along down the +deep ravine, he discovered, or rather thought he discovered, a pale +wreath of smoke curling lazily upward, not more than a mile from where +his comrades lay. What at first seemed only a fancy, now became a +reality, for the smoke increased in volume, and indicated with certainty +a habitation of some kind. + +Descending the hill as quickly as he could, he found the two men fast +asleep, overcome with fatigue and excitement, and it was with great +difficulty that he could awake them. When, however, he told them what he +had discovered, their hearts filled with joy, and they sprang to their +feet ready to follow him. Still they entertained a lurking fear that the +smoke might mark the bivouac of some savages who had watched their +movements during the day, and lighted this fire to cook the evening +meal. + +They followed the stream about two miles up the ravine, picking their +way over rocks and through a thick wood, until they came to a little +gurgling brook, cutting its way through a deep dell running at right +angles with the ravine. Here they rested for a short time, and carefully +surveyed the scene, excited by strange thoughts. A light suddenly +flashed from the opposite bank, not more than forty yards ahead. This +evidently marked the object of their search. Then those familiar sounds +made by goats, fowls, and pigs were heard. Crossing the dell they +advanced cautiously in the direction of the light. They had not gone +far, however, when an opening in the woods was discovered, in the centre +of which a small, rude cabin, built of stones and mud, stood. A bright +fire was burning inside, smoke was issuing from the rude chimney, and +the light shining through two square openings in the sides, was +reflecting curiously over the scene outside. + +Again the three men halted, and stood viewing the scene in silence, now +hoping, now fearing, now wondering what sort of beings inhabited this +strange place. Still the domestic animals kept up those noises, so +familiar to Tite's ear when at home. And these were broken at intervals +by what seemed the barking of a wolf. Now a strange and shadowy figure +passed and repassed in the cabin, its uncouth form reflecting every few +seconds in the light. Should they advance, enter the cabin, and see who +this strange being was, or return to the beach and wait until morning? +This was the question which occupied their thoughts now. Impelled as +well, perhaps, by anxiety as necessity, Tite resolved to push on to the +very door. Leaving the men with orders to follow him at a short +distance, he proceeded on cautiously until he reached the edge of the +opening in which the cabin stood. + +He was now within a few paces of the door, when the fowls, which seemed +to abound in the vicinity, discovering him, sounded the alarm. The cabin +door now opened, and there stood, in the shadow of the light, the figure +of an old man bent with age, and dressed in the skin of a wolf, the long +fur of which gave him more the appearance of an animal than a human +being. His face was like colored parchment, his mouth and cheeks +wrinkled and sunken, his eyes small, black and bright, his long, white +hair and flowing beard, his bony hands, which he raised every few +moments and held over his long white eyelashes, as a shield to his +sight, gave him a strange and witch-like appearance. + +There the two men, the figure in the door and Tite, stood for several +minutes gazing in silence, but with a look of astonishment, at each +other. The animals and fowls had gathered in a group about the old man, +alarmed at the sight of a stranger. At length a thin, shrill voice broke +the silence by enquiring: "Who is it that comes here to disturb my +peace?" + +"We are friends," replied Tite, "shipwrecked sailors, in search of +shelter and food." + +[Illustration: The cabin door now opened, and there stood, in the shadow +of the light, the figure of an old man bent with age, and dressed in the +skin of a wolf. Page 216.] + +"Heaven pity you, and forgive me," returned the old man, his eyes +beaming brighter and his whole manner becoming more earnest. "Heaven +forgive me, you shall have both, and be welcome in my palace. Heaven +forgive me, for this is my palace and I am king of this island. Come in, +and such as I have you shall share with me." And he advanced, took Tite +by the hand, and led him into his cabin, the two men following. +Spreading seal and wolf skins on the floor, he bid them be seated, while +he prepared food for their supper. His motion was a shuffle rather than +a walk, and he moved about the cabin more like an animal than a human +being. He seemed to have an abundant supply of dried fish, fowl, and +fruit; of vegetables and roots, from which he made a beverage that +filled the place of coffee. And with these and some goat's milk he soon +set before them a supper, saying as he invited them to partake, "Heaven +forgive me for all my sins, and they are many. Your are countrymen of my +own, and speak the same language. Ah, I had almost forgotten it, as the +world has forgotten me. Now it all comes back, and makes me feel happy. +I am old, very old now. Heaven forgive me. There will be no more of poor +old George Dunman soon. When he dies he will die with great sins on his +head. If sin can be washed out with sorrow, Heaven knows I have had +sorrow enough." He advanced towards Tite, and laying his hand gently on +his shoulder, looked earnestly and intently into his face: "you are +young, very young," he said, "crime has made no wrinkles in your face +yet. Mine is full of age and crime, and a heart filled with remorse, +have burned their deep seals into mine. Look you, young man," and he +pointed to his eyes, "these eyes were not made to weep. But this poor +heart of mine is crushed with its crimes." Here he pressed his right +hand to his heart, and raised his eyes upwards, as if imploring Heaven's +forgiveness in silence. + +This continued invoking Heaven's forgiveness excited Tite's curiosity to +know something of the old man's strange and wonderful history, for he +already began to feel that there was a terrible crime at the bottom of +it. When they had partaken of supper and were all seated around the fire +on their skins, and nothing but the music of the brook was heard +outside, the old man requested Tite to give him an account of his +voyage, together with the place and manner of their shipwreck. Tite was +glad to comply with the old man's request, for it afforded him an +excellent excuse for making a similar one. + +The reader has already been made familiar with Tite's unfortunate +voyage, hence it will not be necessary to repeat it. The recital +interested the old man deeply, and when he had reached that part which +described their troubles in the cave, the old man's eyes sparkled, and +his whole nature seemed to warm into enthusiasm. + +"There's where my ship lays, guns and all," he said, pressing his hands +on his knees. "My men used to call this island 'No Man's Island,' and +they named that place 'The Cave of Enchantment.' Then they named it +after me. The natives on an island ten leagues from this have a queer +superstition concerning it. They call it the devil's last resting place, +and assert that it is peopled by mermaids, who get honest navigators +into it, and then destroy them. My ship lays there, guns and all," he +repeated. + +When Tite had finished his story, the old man began his by saying: +"Heaven forgive me, for I am a great sinner, and have much to answer for +in the next world. I was born in Bristol, England. My father was a +clergyman of the established church. I have no remembrance of my mother, +for she died when I was an infant. When I was fifteen years old I was +sent to sea as a means of bettering my morals. I served first on board +an Indiaman, made two voyages to China, and was wrecked on the coast of +Malabar; and when I got home my father or friends procured me the +position of midshipman on board a man-of-war. I served on board the +frigate Winchester, and other of His Majesty's ships, I did, for fifteen +years, and was only a midshipman at the end. Heaven forgive me for my +sins. It seemed there was no promotion for me. I was then transferred to +His Majesty's packet service, and assigned to the brig Storm, carrying +six guns, and the mails between Plymouth and the North American +provinces. She was a beauty of a craft, that Storm was. She used to +carry a crowd of canvas, and jump the seas like a sea-bird. I was four +years first officer of that craft, was proud of what she could do, and +the devil took advantage of my ambition, and created within me a longing +to be in command of her, and make myself heroic by roaming unrestrained +on the free sea. That feeling kept increasing until it become a passion +with me. Then it was my misfortune to fall in love. Yes, love was a +misfortune to me. I had courted and was engaged to the daughter of a +rich old man who had made all his money in the West Indies, and still +had plantations there. + +"We were to be married on my return, after a voyage to North America. +But I returned to find her married to a young officer who had sailed +companion with me on board man-a-war, and who had professed great +friendship for me only to deceive me. He had professed to be my friend +and confident; and it was this that carried the knife of disappointment +to my very heart. I was denied an interview with the woman I had loved, +even worshipped. The man who had professed to be my friend now turned +his back on me, and denied me even an explanation." All the fire there +was left in the old man now seemed to kindle into a blaze, and the +fiercer elements of his nature took possession of him. + +"To make the matter worse," he continued, "our good, kind, and brave +captain was relieved, transferred back to the navy, and this man, who +had outraged my confidence and made my life wretched, appointed to fill +his place. I resolved to be revenged. But how could it be got? How could +I punish the man who had so wronged me without rebelling against my +country, against God's laws, and against society? The devil told me it +could be done. + +"As it was not a question of conscience with me, in the frame of mind I +was then in, there was no trouble in following the devil's advice. I +conceived a plan for sending this captain out of the world by the +shortest road, seizing the ship, and roving unrestrained upon the free +sea. It was soon found that there was enough on board to join the +enterprise and share the spoils, and the plan was carried out when we +were half voyage over. That was fifty years ago. I shall never forget +the terrible struggle of that night, nor the bloody work that was done. +Heaven forgive me. When I had got command I ran the Storm into the +Caribbean Sea, landed all who were suspected, as well as such as more +openly opposed the enterprise, on an island, and then put away for the +Pacific via Cape Horn. When we got into the Pacific, we hoisted--." The +old man paused suddenly and hung down, his head. "Heaven forgive me for +my crimes," he resumed, evidently in doubt about acknowledging the full +force of his crimes. + +"I may as well tell you it all--shake the load free from my conscience, +and ask you to join me in invoking Heaven's forgiveness. We hoisted the +flag that sees an enemy in every other flag, and for three years the +Storm scourged these seas from Cape Horn to Sands' Head. When ships, +sent in pursuit of us, were searching along the west coast, we were +making war on commerce on the coast of China. We had a name for every +sea we entered, so as to make our pursuers think there was more than one +vessel, and so divide their attention. + +"Yes, for three years we scourged these seas, and made war on land as +well as sea--capturing, plundering, murdering--yes, committing crimes +that shame manhood, and make me fear the vengeance of a just God. And +all for gold, gold, gold. And what good can gold do a man with a +conscience haunted by crimes committed in getting it? Gold can do me no +good; but man is a mean animal at best; and you can so teach him in +crime that he will commit the most revolting out of sheer wantonness. + +"We soon had more gold and jewels than we knew what to do with. Some of +our men left us and went home with enough to make them rich for the rest +of their lives. And we have buried enough on these islands to buy a +city. Gold lost its charms with us, and crime became an excitement and +an entertainment. + +"We discovered this island while cruising from one ocean to the other, +and found on it some sailors, whose vessel had been wrecked near where +you landed. They had been seven years here, and it is to them we are +indebted for these animals and fowls. They lived contented, for they had +given up all hope of getting away, and are all dead now. We made this +place a retreat, had a settlement here, after the wreck of the Storm in +the cave, of forty men. They are all dead but me. I have been here forty +years--nine of them passed alone; and now my time has almost come. I +took the name of George Dunman because I had disgraced that of my +parents, and because I am an outlaw, and I want to die here and be +forgotten." + +It was after midnight when the old man finished his story. His manner +became nervous and restless, and it was evident there was something more +he wanted to disclose, but hesitated to do. + +The strangers accepted the old man's invitation, and took up their abode +under his roof, finding plenty of food and kind treatment. But they soon +became weary of so monotonous a life, and longing for some means of +reaching their homes and civilization, would visit the coast nearly +every day, in the hope of seeing some friendly sail and effecting their +deliverance. This anxiety to get away on the part of his new friends so +preyed on the old man's mind that his strength began to fail fast, and +at the end of two months it became evident that his sands of life had +but a few more days to run. + +Two months passed, and the weather was becoming cold. The old man was up +earlier than usual one morning; still he seemed more feeble. He tottered +about the cabin, his frame shook and trembled, and his whole system +seemed to be under some new excitement. He had formed a strong +attachment for Tite, whom he now approached with his hands extended. +"Like you," he said, grasping his hand firmly and looking up imploringly +into his face, "I was young and handsome once. I am old and ugly now. +Crime has written its ugly finger all over my face; has thrust its +poison into this poor heart of mine. Never let it lay one ugly finger on +your face. Make yours a life of joy, so that you may die happy. Oh, +these poor old gray hairs of mine, this head that has sinned so much." +And he raised his hard, bony hand to his head, and tossed the long white +hair back over his shoulders. + +"Come with me, come with me, young man," he resumed, grasping Tite by +the arm nervously and tottering to the door. When they got outside he +whispered in his ear: "You shall see where it is buried before I die. It +has made my life wretched; it may make yours happy." He paused for a few +seconds, and looking back, saw the two men standing watch at the door. +"Come," said he, beckoning to them, "you may as well come, too." + +The men joined them, and when they had reached a spot about twenty rods +from the cabin, they came to a square pile of stones, in a dark wood on +the side of a hill. The old man sat down, and resting his arms on the +stones, continued: "Here, buried three feet below these stones, is gold +and silver enough to make you all rich for life, and perhaps happy. +Churches, convents, ships, and even life itself have contributed to it. +All I now seek is peace in Heaven; and yet I cannot get that with this +gold, for it is the price of crime and death. Take it, take it; and when +my life of sorrow is ended, and these poor old bones shall move no more, +divide it among yourselves; and if Heaven sends you a deliverance from +this lonely island, so live that it may bring you blessings, not curses, +as it has done me." + +Three days after what I have described in the above paragraph took +place, Tite and the two sailors returned from the coast and were alarmed +to find the cabin deserted. They waited for a short time, and then +searched the woods in the vicinity, but could find nothing of the old +man. The compasses were there, and his nautical instruments were still +hanging on the wall, and the fire was nearly burned out. It had been his +custom to have supper ready punctually when they returned. There was now +a strange and mysterious stillness about the place. Even the fowls and +the animals seemed silent. + +On proceeding to the spot where the treasure was buried, they found the +lifeless body of the old pirate. Old Dunman was dead, and lay there, +with two of his pet goats nestling at his side. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +MR. GUSHER SUSTAINS HIS CHARACTER. + + +"Husband, dear; husband, dear," said Mrs. Chapman, for I must again +return to that lady, as she addressed her meek-looking little husband, +"how distressing it would be if Mr. Gusher should turn out not to be Mr. +Gusher. He is such a nice young gentleman, and so popular in society. If +he should turn out to be somebody else? He has been such a favorite at +our house, you know. I am sure I should never survive such a scandal as +that. I am sure it would kill me--at least I should faint; I feel as if +I should faint now!" "Pray don't faint, pay dear," interrupted Chapman, +submissively, as she handed him a letter she had received that day from +Mr. Romer. And as she did so, she got up and paced the room in a state +of great agitation. + +"Never faint, my dear," resumed Chapman, "until you know what you are +fainting for. There is nothing to be made by fainting or borrowing +trouble." This conversation took place in the parlor one evening about +three weeks after the ball. Chapman read and reread the letter, and then +remained silent for several minutes. "Very strange, if true, my dear. +But there may be a personal difficulty at the bottom of it, and the +young man has taken this method of damaging Mr. Gusher's character." + +Mr. Romer presented his compliments to Mrs. Chapman, and, seeing the +intimacy there was between her family and a person calling himself Philo +Gusher, begged to inform her that the name of that individual was Louis +Pinto, a notorious and well-known impostor, who had fled from Havana, +where he had been several times imprisoned, to escape punishment for his +crimes. + +"Anything but that, my dear husband. I am sure my pride would never +survive it. And to happen just when society--yes, my dear, the very best +of your Bowling Green people were beginning to leave cards. Another ball +and we should have brought the best of them down." + +"Another ball, my dear?" returned Chapman, with a sigh. "A ball a year +ought to satisfy any respectable family." Chapman was indeed becoming +alarmed at his wife's extravagance and weakness for society. Her +worldliness he feared would bring him to grief ere long. The last ball +had entailed the expense of new carpets; and the young gentlemen had +quite taken possession of the house, which they held until after +daylight, and then went home in a very unsteady condition of the limbs. +To make the matter worse, Bowles had been very much demoralized ever +since, and now demanded another horse or his discharge. He had no +complaint to make either about his pay or livery; but to have it thrown +up to him every day, and by all the coachmen in the neighborhood, that +he was in the service of a one horse family, was more than his proud +spirit could bear. + +Chapman held that dancing was not the profession of a gentleman, and +that balls had done nothing for the great moral progress of the world. +In fine, his mind had been engaged for some time back on something more +serious; and he delighted his wife by telling her that he had been +working up a great scheme for freeing and vitalizing all mankind. + +The door bell rang, and in another minute Mr. Gusher, all serene and +elegant, was ushered into the lady's presence. Never was young gentleman +more exquisitely upholstered. + +The lady extended her hand and received him cordially, saying she had +been looking for him with unusual anxiety. + +"I am very glad you have come, Mr. Gusher," interposed Chapman. "My dear +wife is oppressed with a little matter I am sure you can relieve." + +Mr. Gusher turned and thanked them for the high compliment thus paid +him. "You shall ze as I shall be so grateful for dis 'onar. And your +daughter--she is well?" + +"Very well--she was speaking of you kindly to-day. Here is something +that reached me to-day, Mr. Gusher," she resumed, rising from her chair +and handing him the letter, with a dignity of manner quite uncommon to +her: "I am sure you will pardon me, sir, but it contains matter which, +as a friend of yours, I have taken the liberty to submit. I make it a +rule to stand by a friend, you know." + +Gusher took the letter and began reading it with an air of unconcern. +Then breaking out into a hearty laugh, he replied: "Zis grand rascal as +write dis let-tar is one par-tick-lar friend of mine--" + +"I am sure, sir," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, "he is an enemy of yours, and +no friend. That you can explain it all satisfactorily, I have no doubt." + +"Pardon, madam, pardon; this grand rascal I call him one friend. Ze +'onar, madam, he is so much dear to me as my life. Oh yes, you shall zee +as my 'onar and mine country is more dear to me zan my life. Zis grand +rascal, he is my friend be-cause he do me zis injury so many times, and +in ze end he do me so much good. You shall zee zar was a lady. Zat lady, +ze grand rascal as writes zis letter--it is so many years ago, as I +almost forget--pays to her his compliment. Pardon, madam, zat lady +prefar me to ze gentleman. Zen zat gentleman he pays to me his +compliment like one grand rascal. He persecute my 'onar, and he make me +so many friends--" + +"Really, Mr. Gusher," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, encouragingly, "then it +is all the result of jealousy? I had a suspicion that there was +something of the kind at the bottom of it." + +"You shall zee, madam, it was be-cause ze lady prefar me. Zen I give ze +grand rascal one pistol." Here Mr. Gusher flourished his right hand. +"You shall give me ze satisfaction as one gentleman he give to ze oser, +I say. I gives to ze grand rascal one small sword. I say I shall have ze +satisfaction one gentleman he will give to ze oser. No, madam, ze grand +rascal, he is one small coward. He will not give me ze satisfaction. I +shall show you as this grand rascal tells not one word of ze truth." + +"I told you, my dear," said Chapman, "that Mr. Gusher was a gentleman, +and would explain it all to your satisfaction." + +Mrs. Chapman expressed herself highly gratified at what she had heard. +But in order to put the matter beyond question, and to prove to her +entire satisfaction that he was not only an innocent, but a much injured +gentleman, Gusher returned on the following day armed with a large +number of letters, some of them sealed with great seals, the writers +setting forth that they had known the young gentleman from his birth +up, that he was of irreproachable character, and his parents very +distinguished people. + +Of course the Chapmans were entirely satisfied. Indeed Mr. Gusher so +turned his guns on Mr. Romer as to make his position extremely +uncomfortable. Both were guests at the old City Hotel, where Gusher was +a great favorite with all the young ladies, and to whom he related his +difficulty with Romer. In short, he so enlisted their sympathies in his +behalf that they were ready to join him in ejecting Romer from the house +as a slanderer. One said what a mean thing he must be to slander the +handsome young foreigner in that way. A second tossed and turned her +head aside when she met him, and pouted her pretty lips to let him know +what she meant. A third refused to return his bow, while a fourth gave +him the cut direct. There was no standing up against such a storm of +female indignation as he now found blowing about his ears. He saw, also, +that to have attempted to sustain his charges with proof would only be +sheer folly. In short, there was nothing for the plain young outspoken +American to do but surrender the field to the handsome young foreigner +and his female admirers, seek respectful treatment beyond the sound of +their voices--and wait. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES. + + +Oh, what a sweet charm there is in hope. How it beguiles the ambitious +lover, causes him to build castles he finds crushed at last under his +disappointments. How gently it lifts the drooping heart into an higher +realm of cheerfulness, still gilding and brightening the future. Day +after day and week after week it carries the timid, desponding soul over +its sea of trouble and disappointment, and pictures its love-dream in +colors more and more beautiful. How it ensnares us, and then betrays us +with its false visions of future bliss. It beguiles both you and me with +its featly spun tales of fame and riches, which it weaves so ingeniously +into its fascinating web. + +Such were the thoughts invading Mattie's mind as she sat at the parlor +window one morning, looking out over Bowling Green, contemplating the +strange influences by which she was surrounded, and wondering what the +future would bring her. There was something so earnest and yet so kindly +in that pale, expressive face, and those soft blue eyes. + +She had counted the days since Tite sailed. It was nearly three years +ago, and only one letter had been received from him. There was a report +in circulation now that the ship, with all on board, was lost. And +although this report could not be traced to any reliable source, it was +credited by the owners, who had heard nothing of the ship since she left +Coquimbo. + +The love Mattie bore Tite burned as brightly now as on the day when +first it was kindled. She had thought of him always, dreamed of him, +prayed for him, for she had the heart of a good and true woman. Yes, she +had followed Tite in her love-dream through all the strange depths of +that mysterious ocean. But the more she traced for him the more it +seemed to deepen her disappointment. Still hope flattered her lingering +love, cheered her, and brightened the star of her future. Hope came to +cheer the heart that had longed for relief so lovingly, that had begun +to yield to the stormy forebodings which hope deferred oppresses the +soul with. + +Notwithstanding all this, fear at times seemed to get the better of her +resolution. How she had watched and waited, and yet there was no tidings +of his coming. + +Was Tite lost? If so, how, and where was he lost? Must she give him up +as gone forever? Must she give him up, and see him, and hold sweet +communion with him, only in her love-dream, among the flowers fancy +pictures in the garden of our hopes? Must she forget the idol of her +love, transport her affections, yield to her mother's wishes, which were +daily becoming more pressing, and marry Mr. Gusher, a man she did not +even respect, much less love? In gratifying a mother's ambition she +might, perhaps, make her own life wretched. If Tite was lost, what was +to become of his aged parents, Hanz and Angeline? Their welfare seemed +to concern her even more deeply than that of her own parents. Hanz had +found means of communicating with her, had made her acquainted with all +his troubles, and now the day set for a hearing of his case was near at +hand. + +Mattie knew nothing really bad of Mr. Gusher. He had seemed to her one +of those uncertain characters who float about on the surface of society +without having any fixed position in it, who have no legitimate +occupation, depend on chance for everything, and lead an artificial life +generally. Such men, it had seemed to her, were poor companions to sail +down the stormy sea of life with. In Tite she saw something real, good, +substantial; one of those young men who prosper and build up their own +fortunes and future, because they apply themselves steadily and +energetically to the legitimate pursuits of life. + +The door opened suddenly, and Mattie's reverie was interrupted by her +mother, whose portly figure quite filled the space, for, in truth, the +lady had enlarged her hip circumference with an unpardonable amount of +padding. Mrs. Chapman expected distinguished company that day, and had +arrayed herself in a tantalizing amount of finery. For the first time, +too, she had put her hair up in puffs, which was the fashion of the day +in Bowling Green. Indeed the lady flattered herself that there was +nothing in Bowling Green that could excel her in the magnificence of her +upholstery. + +"Expecting company to-day, very distinguished company, too," said Mrs. +Chapman, advancing and bowing her head oppressively, "and how very +annoying not to be dressed as one wants to be." After viewing herself in +the glass for several minutes, turning first one side and then the +other, viewing and reviewing her skirts, and training her puffs into +more exact platoon, she turned to Mattie, and resumed, "Now tell me, my +daughter, how do my skirts hang? Does my dress become me? Do puffs +become me? You see my face is a little broad--puffs will, I am afraid, +make it look disadvantageously broad. Tell me now, my daughter, am I +presentable?" Mrs. Chapman waited with an air of self-admiration for a +reply. "You have such good taste in such matters, my daughter;" she +concluded. + +"Why, mother," replied Mattie, smiling and viewing her mother from head +to foot, "how very worldly you are getting, and so vain. Never saw you +look better--and so young." + +"I appreciate the compliment, my daughter," returned Mrs. Chapman, +dropping a bow and a courtesy. "A woman of my complexion may be excused +for refusing to get old." + +"I was only joking," resumed Mattie, laughing heartily. "My dear mother +takes everything so serious--" + +"Come, come," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, her face coloring, "does my +dress become me? Am I presentable?" + +"You are elegance itself, my dear mother, and would be presentable +anywhere," returned Mattie, with a merry twinkle of the eye. + +"That's what I wanted to know," said Mrs. Chapman with a bow, and a +slight motion backward. "And now, my daughter," she resumed quickly, +"this is a good time for having a very serious talk on a very important, +but very different matter. What we were talking about yesterday, you +know. I hope you have made up your mind to banish Toodleburg." Mrs. +Chapman drew herself up into a stately attitude, and assumed a look of +uncommon severity. "You know how much your parents dote on you, my +daughter, and how much depends on you to give the family a firm +standing." The lady tossed her head haughtily and pretentiously. Mattie +remained silent and thoughtful. + +"Toodleburg's at the bottom of the sea--that's my opinion. And if he +stays there it wouldn't distress me--it wouldn't," resumed Mrs. Chapman, +giving way to her temper and becoming more earnest. Just then tears +gushed into Mattie's eyes, and as they coursed down her cheeks told the +tale of her sorrow. + +"What I said was intended for good advice, my daughter, not to wound +your feelings," continued Mrs. Chapman. "Even if the young man should +not be at the bottom of the sea, we should never be presentable with him +attached to the family--never in the world. Such a name, and such common +people for parents! What would Bowling Green say, my daughter? We must +all yield to the force of circumstances; and the circumstances are all +against this Mr. Toodleburg tumbling himself into our family." She +paused suddenly, and again viewed her ponderous figure in the glass, now +adjusting one side of her skirts and then the other. "I wonder if this +dress really does become me? Green and orange are in harmony with a +complexion like mine," she said, turning to Mattie, and waiting for a +reply. But Mattie was trying to relieve her feelings of the grief that +was filling her eyes with tears. + +"To return to what I was saying, my daughter, sentimental marriages, I +was going to say, (well, I will say it,) are fools' marriages. Yes, they +are. Your father understands that. Never would have got him--never in +this world--if I had been given to sentimental love. Toodleburg's a good +enough young man in his place--but he's never, never coming back, my +daughter. But even if he was to come back, there's no place for him in +our family. View these things, always do, through the eye of +philosophy--I do." Mrs. Chapman again paused, bowed her head +admonishingly, and extended her fat, waxy hands. Mattie still remained +silent. + +"After all the polishing you have had, my daughter, to let your mind run +to such an unpolished young man. Drag a family down when a family is +going up, and there's the end of that family--with society I mean." Mrs. +Chapman tossed her head, and again returned to the mirror, saying as she +viewed herself in it: "Drag a low bred fellow into a well bred family, I +repeat, and down that family goes." + +"Well, well, my dear mother shall have it all her own way," replied +Mattie, cheering up and assuming an air of indifference. "Anything to +relieve your anxiety, my dear mother. How nice it would be to have a +husband you admire so much, and to think that I obeyed your wishes in +everything. The fact is I had a very serious talk with Mr. Gusher +yesterday--" + +"You didn't offend him with your eccentricities, I hope?" Mrs. Chapman +interrupted, enquiringly. "Mr. Gusher is such a polished gentleman, and +so very sensitive." + +"I don't know how sensitive he may be, mother; but I told him just +exactly what I thought, as I would have told any one else. I told him +how much you admired him, and what a favorite he was generally; and that +if I consented to accept him for a husband, it would be solely to +accommodate my dear mother--" + +"How very obstinate my daughter is," interposed Mrs. Chapman. "How very +distressing to have a daughter always in rebellion." + +"I am sure you would not have me flatter Mr. Gusher with a falsehood, +mother," resumed Mattie. "I tried to impress him with the fact that I +was not good enough for so accomplished a gentleman; but he insisted +that I was, adding that he cared nothing for riches or station. As for +loving him, I told him plainly I didn't think I ever could, though there +was no knowing what changes time might work in my feelings. I gave him +my hand, nevertheless, and told him if he took me it must be with the +consequences." + +Mr. Napoleon Bowles announced visitors, and this put an end to the +conversation. The reader must know that this was not a voluntary +yielding on the part of Mattie to the wishes of her mother. She only +adopted this course as part of a plan by which she hoped to gain time, +during which Tite might return, and thus afford her the means of +averting a dilemma into which her mother was forcing her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +A TERRIBLE CALAMITY OVERTAKES THE FAMILY. + + +It was not to be expected that so pushing a woman as Mrs. Chapman would +be turned from the object she had set her heart on by the interposition +of ordinary obstacles. She had taken good care to have the engagement +pretty well trumpeted over Bowling Green; and in less than three months +from the time what is described in the foregoing chapter occurred, the +lady had a day fixed for the wedding ceremony, which, she declared +should be on such a scale of magnificence as would astonish all New +York, to say nothing of West Bowling Green. And now she was distracting +her wits, and the wits of her friends, over what she called the +preliminaries extraordinary. Weddings, the lady said, must be +illuminated according to the position of the family. And to that end an +additional amount of elegant furniture was got for the house, a new +carriage was ordered, and Mr. Napoleon Bowles was to appear in a new +livery, with top boots. Nor was the family finery to be neglected, for +at least a dozen dressmakers had been employed for a month plying their +needles. In short, this great coming event in the history of the Chapman +family had afforded Bowling Green enough to talk about for a month. + +The lady's meek looking little husband pleaded in vain for economy; +suggested in vain his almost empty pocket. "A quiet family wedding, my +dear, with a few honest-hearted friends invited, will be so much better, +you know;" he would say, submissively. "You know what nice quiet +weddings we used to have at Dogtown, and how cheap they were." + +"Don't mention Dogtown, my dear; pray don't, my darling," the lady would +reply, a curl of contempt on her lips. "We live in New York, now. I wish +we had never known Dogtown--only common people marry in that way in New +York. Never bring Dogtown into the house again, my darling." + +"Have it all your own way, my dear," Chapman would conclude, knowing +there was nothing for him to do but surrender submissively. + +St. Paul's Church was to be decorated with flowers, for the young people +were to be married there, surrounded by gay and admiring friends, who +were to make the picture bright and sunny with their smiles and +congratulations. And there was to be a grand reception and a sumptuous +supper at the house; and the happiness of bride and bridegroom was to be +drunk in sparkling wine; and music and dancing was to animate the soul +and add charms to their joy-dream. + +Mrs. Chapman, I may add here, had a great weakness for distinctions. She +had cards printed in gold, in blue, and in red. Such as received cards +printed in gold were to consider themselves particularly honored. In +short, she divided her guests into three classes--select friends, +friends, and acquaintances, and sent them cards accordingly. This manner +of distinguishing between guests got the lady into a deal of trouble, +and gave rise to much ill-feeling between those who held cards printed +in gold and those holding ordinary red ones. Beau Pinks had been honored +with a card printed in gold, which he said was a proof of the high +esteem he was held in by the lady. In truth, the Beau took great pride +in showing this card to the best Bowling Green society, and, with a +suggestive nod of the head, saying he had got his best clothes ready, +and was waiting to put in an appearance. Mrs. Chapman had always +regarded Pinks as a valuable capture, and if he came to the wedding, +why, that would in part be gaining the advantage she desired, and in a +measure pay off the old score she had against a few of these nice old +Bowling Green people. + +It must be said to Pinks' credit that he never declined an invitation to +a wedding, and rarely missed a chance to mourn at a friend's funeral. + +And while Mrs. Chapman seemed to think of nothing else, and talk of +nothing else but this great coming event, Chapman had been noticed to +wear a more serious look than usual, and indeed to be in a more +thoughtful mood. Indeed it was evident there was something on his mind +causing him deep anxiety, even distress. It was noticed, too, that he +had for several days gone to business earlier than usual and returned +later. And when Mrs. Chapman requested an explanation, he would reply by +saying: "Matters at the counting-house require examining into, my dear." +In truth, the financial affairs of the great Kidd Discovery Company had +begun to exhibit those infirmities which are a sure sign of speedy +wreck. + +And now the day was come when Mattie was to be married to Mr. Gusher. It +was three years to-day since Tite bid her good-bye and sailed on his +voyage, and it was to be her wedding-day. How strange the changed scene +seemed to her. + +It was one of those soft and balmy mornings in May, when nature seems to +enchant us, and hold sweet communion with us through all her beauties. +There was not a ripple on the water; white sails dotted the calm +surface of the bay, which seemed like a silvery lake quietly sleeping in +the embrace of pretty green hills, softened by the golden gleams of the +rising sun. The trees were in blossom; birds were filling the air with +delicious melody, but not a leaf stirred. + +The Chapman family were up before the sun that morning, and the whole +house was astir ere Bowling Green had fairly waked up, or the din of +Broadway had broken the stillness. Chapman had spent a restless night, +and seemed sad and downcast, as if some trouble he would fain conceal +was weighing on his mind. He breakfasted alone that morning, and went to +business an hour earlier than usual, promising to return at one o'clock. +He returned, however, at twelve, and in such a state of distress as to +alarm the whole house. Indeed he entered the house more like a madman +than a philosopher, and so alarmed Bowles by the wildness of his manner +and appearance, that he proceeded in a state of great excitement to +inform his mistress. When, then, that lady entered the parlor she found +her husband stretched on the sofa, with his right hand pressing his +forehead, and apparently in a state of great distress. To her repeated +enquiries as to what produced this great distress, he would only answer +by shaking his head and giving vent to the most pitiful groans. + +The lady could not fail to see that some great misfortune had overtaken +her husband--something that might blast the dream of her golden future. + +"I hope, my dear, it is nothing that will interfere with the wedding +to-day?" she enquired, her face already beginning to give out signs of +alarm. + +Chapman made no reply, but got quickly up from the sofa and paced the +room hurriedly, his hair tossed in to disorder, and in a state of +frenzy. + +After pacing up and down the room in this manner for two or three +minutes, which seemed like hours to Mrs. Chapman, who had kept her eyes +fixed on his every movement, he approached the lady, and with a wild +stare, muttered rather than spoke: "A funeral, funeral, my dear--not a +wedding to-day." Chapman pressed his hands to his head again, and wept +like a child. "Boundless iniquity," he resumed, "fraud--deception--crime-- +disgrace--folly--extravagance--disappointment--poverty. What a sham the +world is! All, all is gone! No need for a clergyman here to-day. The +sheriff will be here in an hour." + +"My dear, my dear, do explain yourself, so that I may understand our +position;" Mrs. Chapman interposed, her whole system yielding to the +force of excitement. "If the trouble is only of a transient nature, we +may still give the wedding--" + +"Wedding! my dear," interrupted Chapman, wiping the tears from his eyes. +"There can be no wedding in this house to-day, for Gusher has turned out +an impostor, and is in prison--." Before he had time to say any more, +the lady threw up her arms with an exclamation, shrieked and swooned. +Chapman attempted to catch her in his arms as she was falling, but she +carried him to the floor under her great weight, and indeed caused him +to feel alarmed for his own safety. Fortunately, Bowles entered the +parlor just as his mistress fell, and seeing the danger his master was +in, ran to his relief, and after extracting him from his perilous +position, assisted in getting his mistress safely on the sofa, where +restoratives, such as are common where ladies are given to such ills, +were applied. + +Chapman was indeed a man to be pitied. He had now more than his head and +hands full of trouble. The care it was now necessary to bestow on his +wife (for she was above all else in his mind) in a great measure +relieved him of the excitement caused by his great financial +misfortunes. When, then, Mattie entered the parlor and found him +comparatively calm, she fancied her mother had swooned from +over-exertion on her behalf. Taking a seat beside her mother, she kissed +and kissed her cheek, and proceeded to bestow upon her those attentions +her case demanded, and in so kind and gentle a manner as to show how +deep and true was the love she bore her. + +Chapman soon relieved Mattie's mind, by telling her all that had +happened. As he concluded she grasped his hand firmly and imprinted a +kiss on his cheek. "Heaven be thanked, father," she said, "it is a kind +Providence that directs all our destinies. I am free now. You are +free--free in your intentions--free in your conscience. I am happy +now--happy because I shall not have to interpose my oath against yours. +You shall know what I mean by that hereafter." + +While this was going on up stairs Bowles, his eyes protruding, and in a +state of great alarm, entered the kitchen, where Bridget, the cook, and +Kitty, the chambermaid were at work, and stammered out: "Der don't be no +weddin' in dis house to-day--peers to me--no how. Quid mortibus, +portendibus--my missus am most dead." + +"To the pots wid yeer latin, ye nager," said Bridget, seizing the tongs +and holding them threatingly over his head. "To the pots wid yeer latin, +ye nager. Spake so a dacent woman can understand what ye mane." To +appease Bridget's wrath and save his head, Bowles condescended to use +plain English in describing what had happened up stairs. + +"Much good may the faint do the big, auld woman," said Bridget, with an +air of indifference. "The divel takes a mighty good care of his own." + +"Quid--mortibus--portendibus," repeated Bowles, as Bridget ran to the +door with the tongs upraised, causing him to beat a hasty retreat. + +"Bad luck to such a nager!" exclaimed Bridget, as Bowles shut the door. +"Shure he thinks more about his latin and his livery an he do about his +priest." + +"Chapman, my dear Chapman, how crushing this all is," the lady +whispered, as she began to recover her consciousness. "I feel more dead +than alive--I do. Send Bowles out. Do what you can to soften the +disappointment. Tell those who come it was all owing to unforeseen +circumstances. Oh, my dear daughter," she put her arm around Mattie's +neck, drew her to her and kissed her, "how can we look Bowling Green in +the face after this? We never shall, and yet your father is a scholar +and a gentleman." + +Chapman's excitement began to return with his wife's recovery; indeed it +soon became her turn to soothe his troubled mind. + +"Gusher--the handsome young gentleman--is in prison, eh, and turns out +to be--" + +"My dear wife," interrupted Chapman, again giving way to his feelings, +"he turns out to be Louis Pinto, an impostor. That's the whole of +it--except what there may be in this paper." He drew a newspaper from +his pocket, and pointing to an article headed: "A Notorious Impostor +caught at Last," said: "There, my dear, read that." It gave a very long +account, or rather history of the prisoner's exploits in Havana and New +Orleans, his operations in New York, financially as well as socially, +and indeed all the circumstances attending his career since he arrived +in the city, his connection with the great Kidd Discovery Company, and +not forgetting to mention that he was to have been married this day to a +lovely and interesting young lady--the daughter of a highly respectable +family. + +"Have read enough, my dear," said Mrs. Chapman, putting the paper aside +quietly. "Smelling salts, the ammonia, my daughter," she whispered to +Mattie, and motioned her hand to bring them quickly. "I shall faint +again, I am sure I shall." + +"Don't let it worry you so much, mother," replied Mattie, as she handed +her the phial. "We ought all to be thankful that we have escaped with no +worse disgrace. I at least am thankful." + +Mrs. Chapman shook her head, but made no reply for several minutes. Then +turning to her husband, she pressed her hands to her head and resumed: +"My pride is crushed, and my courage all gone, gone, gone. Bigelow +Chapman, my dear, when I married you I knew you were intellectually +great, and I looked forward to a brilliant future. The house is all dark +now." + +"Extravagance, my dear, extravagance," said Chapman, shaking his head +suggestively. "It is a master that will break down the best of us." +Topman and Mrs. Topman have been indulging in extravagance; Gusher has +been spending all the money he could get, and all the young men in the +office went to doing the same. "And you, my darling--you know you havn't +lived--." Chapman was going to say, "so economical." + +"But, my dear," rejoined Mrs. Chapman quickly, and evidently inclined to +change the conversation: "It was not me who introduced the handsome +young gentleman into the house." + +"No, my dear--you only encouraged him when he was in," replied Chapman, +submissively. "I didn't tell you all, my dear, Topman is a forger, and +is not to be found. And, and the worst of it is--and that is what has +caused all the trouble--the great Kidd Discovery Company is dead! That's +where it is!" + +"Dead, my dear, dead!" reiterated the astonished woman. "We call it gone +up in Wall Street--" + +"Couldn't you contrive some way, my dear, to lighten the disgrace?" + +"Wall Street is in a state of excitement, the sheriff is in possession +of everything, and beggary stares me in the face--" + +This conversation was interrupted by loud ringing of the hall bell, and +in another minute Bowles opened the parlor door and the sheriff and one +of his deputies entered, and commenced their business. "Beg your +pardon," said the sheriff, bowing politely, while his deputy +deliberately took a seat and began a survey of everything within sight. +"You must excuse any lack of ceremony on our part. It is a part of our +duty to do these things, and we try to relieve them as much as possible +of their painful features." Then taking Chapman aside, he suggested that +the ladies better be got up stairs. And while this was being done the +deputy entered the back parlor, and placing his hat on the pier table, +began taking an inventory of all the furniture. + +"You will find my deputy a gentleman," said the sheriff, addressing +Chapman when the ladies had left the parlor, "and if not such a +companion as you would prefer, I am compelled to leave him with you, and +hope your esteem for him will improve on acquaintance. He will take a +schedule of everything, and anything missing thereafter you will be held +responsible for." Thus saying, the gentleman bid Chapman a polite good +morning, and hurried himself out of the house. + +Again the hall bell rang. This time Bowles brought in an unsealed note, +grimy and discolored. Chapman immediately recognized it as from Gusher. +He carried it up stairs to his dear wife, who read it aloud, for it was +addressed to her, and read thus: + + "Pardon, madam, pardon. Zis one circumstance, he is so very + disagreeable. My compliment to ze family, an Mr. Gusher, he beg + to say as he shall be compel to forego ze pleasure of is + marriage zis day wiz your daughter. He is one grand rascal what + make me so much trouble. So many friend come to see me to-day. + But ze suberscribed condition of my accommodation shall prevent + ze carry out of my obligation wiz your lovely daughter. You + shall zee, madam, as I am a man--yes, madam, a gentleman of + 'onar. I shall get all my enemies undar my feet. Zen I shall do + myself ze 'onar to marry your lovely daughter. Allow me, madam. + I shall subscribe myself your friend. + + "PHILO GUSHER." + +"Impudence to the very last," said Mrs. Chapman; "he has brought this +disgrace upon us, and now insults us in this way." When Chapman returned +he found the parlor doors locked, and was informed by the sheriff's +deputy that he must confine himself to the kitchen and one room up +stairs. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +A VERY PERPLEXING SITUATION. + + +Wall Street was in a great flutter that day. A forgery, a defalcation +that to-day would cause but a ripple on the surface, would have at that +day sent the street into a tempest of excitement. A sheriff's deputy +stood at the door of the office of the great Kidd Discovery Company, and +a crowd of anxious and excited people, who had invested their money and +now found they had lost it all, and had been made the victims of an +aggravating fraud, surrounded the building. Threats and imprecations, +enough to have sent a much more respectable house to the bottom of the +sea, were heaped on the firm of Topman & Gusher. Nor indeed would it +have been safe for any one connected with that enterprising firm to have +shown his head in that assembly just at that time. + +"Gentlemen will understand that this consolidated establishment is in a +very unconsolidated condition. No further business will be done until +its affairs are compromised;" the sheriff's deputy would announce, in a +loud voice, as he endeavored to keep the crowd back. "There's only an +empty safe, gentlemen, and some handsome office furniture," he would +ejaculate. "You can't have them, you know." + +Extravagance had indeed swallowed up all the substance and left only +these insignificant things for the crowd of anxious creditors to feast +their eyes on. + +Rumor after rumor rang through Wall Street, each in turn increasing the +amount of Topman's forgeries, and adding new names to the list of his +victims. Bank ledgers were examined to see if the name of the firm +appeared on them, and portly old directors put on their spectacles and +congratulated themselves that the concern did not owe them a shilling. +Groups of excited men stood at street corners discussing in animated +tones the great event of the street. Everybody knew it must come. Nobody +expected it would come so soon. + +The strangest thing of all was that no one knew anything of the +antecedents of either member of the firm, or what the great Kidd +Discovery Company was really based upon. Enterprising gentlemen had +bought and sold the stock, and made and lost money by it. That was all +they knew of it. The morning papers had given them an interesting +account about Gusher; now some one was needed to tell them all about +Topman--where he came from, who he was, and where he was to be found. +There was enough to call him rascal now. Even those who had ridden in +his carriage, and enjoyed his dinners, and indeed thought him the best +of fellows a few weeks before, were now ready to give him the hardest of +kicks. + +In truth, the firm was a mystery in Wall Street, and its largest +creditors were in the greatest darkness concerning it. Some one has +truly said that in a great commercial city men are known only by their +enterprises and their successes; that their antecedents become lost in +the magnitude and rapidity with which events revolve. This is +particularly so with us. The firm of Topman & Gusher had fixed itself in +Pearl Street, and gone quietly into business without friends, +acquaintances, or endorsers; and in a single year had secured both +credit and respectability. And it had done this on what is too +frequently mistaken for energy and enterprise--show and pretension. + +Upon Chapman's shoulders, however, the crushing effect of this great +disaster fell heaviest. Stripped of all he had, ruined, disgraced, he +stood like one amazed at the suddenness of his own fall. He had built +his castles on sand, and now found them tumbling down, and crushing him +under the ruin. His avaricious nature had led him, not only to wrong, +but to bring distress and ruin on the unsuspecting and simple-minded +Dutch settlers. The wheel of fortune was turned now. He had himself been +ruined, betrayed, and disgraced by the very men he had put confidence in +and made partners of his guilt. He also had set a snare and invented a +plot by which he expected to strip honest old Hanz Toodleburg of his +property, and now he had been caught in it himself. + +His daughter, Mattie, had already disclosed to him the fact that she had +overheard the conversation between him and Topman, relative to the +manner of entrapping Hanz, and knew the secret of their plot. And she +had appealed to him to save her the pain of bearing testimony that would +conflict with his, to save an honest old man from poverty. The man of +great progressive ideas now found it necessary to invent some way of +escaping from what he saw would be worse than ruin and disgrace--a +criminal's doom. His name had not appeared in the suit Topman & Gusher +brought against Hanz Toodleburg. Oh, no. Chapman was needed as a witness +to prove the signing of the papers, and all the circumstances relating +to the sale of the secret of Kidd's treasure. Poverty and misfortune had +now stepped in to purify and direct a smitten conscience. + +He could not see his daughter further disgraced. Nor could he meet her +in a court, giving testimony in conflict with his, and exposing his +crime. He could only escape by coming out boldly, and doing justice to +the old man he had tried so hard to wrong. It would also be to his +advantage to assume this virtue, for if the case were decided against +Hanz he would gain nothing. The creditors would in that case get all the +property, whereas, if he confessed his partnership in, and exposed the +plot, and defeated the creditors, some benefit might result from it--at +some time. The son might still be alive, Chapman said to himself, and if +he should form a connection with the family at some future day, (and +there was no knowing what might happen,) why it was better to protect +Hanz and the property now. He well knew that Mattie had fixed her +affection on the young gentleman, and if he should ever return, nothing +her mother could say hereafter would prevent their marriage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +HARVEST SUNDAY. + + +October was come again, the poetry of summer had almost departed, and it +was a quiet Sunday morning in the country. The bell on the little old +church by the hillside, at Nyack, was calling the plodding Dutch +settlers to morning service. The hard, hollow sounds of the old bell +echoed harshly over the hills, and yet there was something in its +familiar sounds, and the quiet pastoral scenes it was associated with, +that always moved our feelings, and prompted us to give them a pleasant +resting place in our love. + +Cattle were resting in the fields, and their yokes hung on the gate +posts that day. A soft, Indian-summer glow hung with transparent effect +over the landscape; and a gentle wind whispered lovingly over the Tappan +Zee. Autumn, too, had hung the trees in her brightest colors. + +It was Harvest Sunday, a sort of festive resting-day with the Dutch +settlers, who had gathered about the little church in great numbers, +young and old, all dressed in their simple but neat attire. Others were +quietly wending their way thitherward, along the lanes and through the +fields. There they gathered about the little old church, a smiling, +happy, and contented people, and waited for the Dominie, for it was +their custom to meet him at the church door, and after exchanging +greetings, follow him like a loving flock into their seats. + +The Dominie was to preach his harvest sermon, and his flock was to join +him in giving thanks to God for the bounties He had bestowed upon them. +He had, indeed, blessed them with an abundant harvest that year; and now +they had come to thank Him and be joyful. Conspicuous in the group was +the little snuffy doctor, Critchel, looking happy among the people whose +ills he had administered to for half a century. On Harvest-Sunday he +could kiss and caress the bright faced little children he had helped +bring into the world as fondly as a young mother. There, too, was the +schoolmaster, with his ruddy face and his seedy clothes, ready to do his +part in making Harvest-Sunday pass pleasantly, for indeed the crop was a +matter of importance with him. And there was Titus Bright, for the merry +little inn-keeper would have considered such a gathering incomplete +without him. Titus was not so well thought of by the Dutch settlers +since he gave up his little tavern for a big one, and had taken to +boarding fine folks from the city. + +And now the appearance of Hanz and Angeline, advancing slowly up the +road, for Hanz walked with a staff, created a pleasant diversion. +Several of the young people ran to meet them, and greeted them with such +expressions of welcome as must have filled their hearts with joy. + +When they had nearly reached the church, Critchel proceeded to meet them +with his hand extended. "Verily, good neighbor Hanz," said he, after +greeting the old people with a hearty shake of the hand, "the people +have had strange news to talk about for a week past." Critchel shook his +head, looked serious, and taking Hanz by the arm, drew him aside. "This +Chapman has fallen to the ground, they say." + +"Mine friend Critchel," returned Hanz, leaning on his staff, and casting +a look upward. "I tolds you tar pees un shust Got; and now you shees how +dat shust Got he pees mine friend." + +"Aye, verily," rejoined Critchel, "and he lets them what builds castles +and lives like lords suffer their disappointments. Poor people like us, +who work with their hands, stick to their lands, and pay their debts, +have their castles in peace and contentment." + +"Tar pees shust so much wisdom in vat you shays, mine friend Critchel. +In dis world tar pees nothin' sartin. Dis Chapman, he puts his money in +his pocket, and ven he gets his money in his pocket he gets rich and +prout. Zen he goes to t' city so pig and prout as he can pe. Now he +comes pack from t' city, mit his pig vrow, and tar pees nobody as makes +one pow to his pig vrow. Above tar pees one shust Got, Critchel." + +The misfortunes of the Chapman family, my reader must know, had been +furnishing Nyack something to talk about for several months. But it was +only with their return to town, which important event took place one +morning during the last week, that the quiet of Nyack was disturbed and +the gossips sent into a state of excitement. The family, indeed, +returned as quietly as a family in misfortune could be expected to do, +and put up at Bright's Inn, where, it was given out, they would live on +the wreck of their fortune until Chapman could see his way clear for a +new start in the world. But little was seen of Mrs. Chapman, of whom it +was reported that she desired to live in retirement, and did not see +visitors. + +The lady, however, had resolved that Nyack should not turn up its nose +without being kept in mind of the high social position the family had +held in the city. And as a means of making the desired impression, and +also of finding relief for her injured feelings, she had brought +Napoleon Bowles into "retirement" with the family. And that faithful +domestic accommodated his pride of a Sunday by dressing in his livery +and top-boots, and walking out, to the astonishment and amusement of a +crowd of curious urchins, who were sure to gather about him. + +As for Chapman, he went about the town as if nothing had happened, +renewing acquaintances, and declaring there was no honester man in the +settlement than Hanz Toodleburg; that the charges against his honesty, +and his connection with the Kidd Discovery Company, were all scandals, +got up by bad men; and that he had been deceived by them himself. + +During the few days Chapman had been in Nyack, he had made himself +appear so good a friend of Hanz that the honest settlers not only began +to express sympathy for him in his misfortunes, but to enquire what they +could do to put him on his feet again. When, however, he told them it +was not their sympathy he wanted, but their money to assist him in +building a steamboat two hundred feet long, and that he had matured a +plan for a railroad, so that they might ride from Nyack to New York in +an hour, they became alarmed, put their heads together wisely, and +declared the man mad beyond cure. + +Here I must leave Chapman waiting to see his way clear. He came of that +old round-head stock which, wanting its way always, ready to meddle with +everything, never contented, ready to play the sycophant to gain power, +selfish and arrogant in the use of it, is, nevertheless, found giving +shape, action, and momentum to all our great enterprises. Out of all the +trouble Chapman had caused Nyack, there had come some good that would +be turned to account in the future. Misfortune had bowed, not broken his +spirit. He was again prepared to invent a new religion, to build a +church, to keep a boarding-house, to start a bank or run a +steamboat--and all with modern improvements. + +The little church bell was still ringing, and the crowd still kept +increasing in numbers and cheerfulness. "The Dominie's coming! the +Dominie's coming! The Dominie's coming!" was lisped by a score of lips, +as the attention of the people was attracted down the road. There the +old Dominie came, mounted on a clumsy-footed, big-headed, bay cob--a +little bright-eyed girl, whose face was full of sweetness and love, and +dressed in blue and white, riding behind him. His broad, kindly face, +shadowed by a wide-brimmed hat, his flowing white hair, his quaintly cut +coat, with the ample side pocket, and his long, white necktie, presented +a picture so full of truth and simplicity as to be worthy of being +preserved on canvas. He was, in truth, a figure belonging to an order of +things that was fast passing way--at least along the banks of the +Hudson. + +Children clapped their hands and ran to meet him; girls greeted him with +offerings of flowers; and when he had dismounted, both old and young +gathered about him, lisping him a welcome and shaking him by the hand. +There was nobody like Dominie Payson, and the love these people bore +him, and now gave him so many expressions of, was true and heartfelt. +And when he had kissed the children, and exchanged greetings and kind +words with their parents, he proceeded into the church, followed by his +flock. His sermon was, perhaps, one of the oddest ever listened to, for +after returning thanks for the bountiful harvest, and extending on the +goodness of God, and advising his flock to stick firmly to their farms +and their religion, that being the only true way of getting to Heaven, +he turned his guns against Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, though he never once +mentioned their names. He urged his flock to keep in mind always how +much better off they were, how much more happy they were than those men +who came to town with the devil and a number of strange religions in +their heads. Such people, he added, always had the devil for a friend; +and it was the devil who assisted them to get poor people's money. And +with this money they dressed their wives in silks and satins, built big +houses, and lived like people who were very proud and never paid their +debts, nor did a day's work on the roads. It was all well enough for +these men to talk of Heaven and put on pious faces, but Heaven would +take no notice of them while they gave themselves up to the temptations +of the devil and built steamboats and founded railroads, to kill honest +people with, and ruin the country. + +"My friends," said the Dominie, resting for a moment, and then charging +his guns for another fire at Chapman, "you have seen a man ready to sell +his soul for money enough to build a steamboat. Now he wants to build a +railroad to get you out of the world quicker." The Dominie shook his +head, wiped his brow, and again paused for a few seconds. "Let them +dress their wives in satins and silks, let them ruin their country with +their steamboats and railroads, let them build their big houses, go to +the city, get proud, waste all their money in folly and vice, and return +among honest people with a sheriff at their heels, because they don't +pay nobody--but don't you go and do it. My friends--there will be an +account to settle with these people who swell themselves up so big, when +roasting-day comes. You that have wives--look to them. Keep their hearts +pure and simple. Don't let them spend your money in silks and satins. If +you do, the sheriff locks up your door and puts the key in his pocket." +Thus the Dominie concluded, reminding his hearers that, as it was +Harvest-Sunday, they must not forget to be liberal with their sixpences +when the box came round. + +His hearers were greatly delighted, and declared they had not heard him +preach so good a sermon for many a day. And when he came down from the +pulpit they congratulated him, and sundry extra pecks of wheat were +promised as a reward for the light he had favored them with. + +The day wore away pleasantly, and when evening came, when the gleams of +the setting sun tipped the surrounding hills with golden light, and +dusky shadows were creeping up the valley, the reader, if he had looked +in at Hanz Toodleburg's little house, might have seen one of those +quaint but pleasant pictures which are a fit ending of such a day. + +There, grouped around his table, sat the Dominie, Doctor Critchel, +Bright the inn-keeper, and the schoolmaster, for Hanz had invited them +to sup with him, and Angeline had prepared the best she had to set +before them. There, too, was Tite's empty chair. There it stood, silent +and touching, all the pleasant memories it once contained made sad now +by the mystery that enshrouded his long absence. There was his plate, +and his knife and fork, all so bright and clean, set as regularly as if +he were home, and guarded so tenderly. The eloquence of that vacant +chair, appealing so directly to the finer sensibilities of every one +present, left a deep and sad impression. Supper was nearly over before +any of the guests had courage to refer to it. The Dominie at length +raised his spectacles and addressing Angeline, said: "Heaven gives to +every house its idol. We have been blessed to-day, and made happy. It +will yet please Heaven to bring back the idol of this house, and fill +that empty chair. I am sure we shall all be glad when the boy gets +home." + +"When he does, there will be such a time at my house," interposed the +inn-keeper, nodding his head approvingly. "There's the parlor for him to +do his courting in. And one of the prettiest little sweethearts is +waiting to give him such a welcome. God bless her--she isn't a bit like +the rest of them Chapmans--she isn't." + +"My school don't keep the day he comes home," rejoined the schoolmaster, +helping himself to another piece of pumpkin pie. + +The mention of Tite's name filled old Hanz's eyes with tears. He buried +his face in his hands, and remained silent for several minutes, overcome +by his feelings. As soon as he had recovered control of them, he wiped +the tears from his eyes, and replied in broken sentences: "I vas sho +happy ven mine Tite, mine poor poy Tite vas home. Peers as if now, mine +poor poy he never comes home no more, he never prings shoy into mine +house no more." + +"Always look on the best side of things, neighbor Hanz," replied the +Dominie. + +"Yah, put I gets sho old now." + +"It would not astonish me," continued the Dominie, playfully, "if the +young gentleman surprised us all to-night. Stranger things have +happened." These remarks excited a feeling of anxiety. + +"I was on the other side of the river last night," continued the +Dominie, "and the people there had a report from the city that the +vessel he sailed in had been heard from." Angeline quietly left the +table, for the wells of her heart were overflowing. + +"Tar shall come news as t' wessel mine Tite shails in comed pack, eh?" +enquired Hanz, fixing his eyes steadily on the Dominie. + +"Not that she has arrived," returned the Dominie, "but that there is +news of her--" + +"Tar pees news," muttered Hanz, his eyes glistening with anxiety. "An +nopody tells me t' news before, eh? Tar pees shum news of t'at wessel, +eh? Tar don't pee no news of mine poor Tite, eh?" The old man extended +his trembling hand and grasped the Dominie's arm nervously, his face +became as pale as marble, and his whole system shook with excitement. + +"Tar shall come news as t' wessel mine Tite shails in comes pack," he +ejaculated, "an tar pees no news of mine poor poy, eh?" And he threw up +his arms, rested his head on the Dominie's shoulder and wept like a +child. "No, mine Tite he ton't comes home no more," he sobbed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +RETURNED HOME. + + +While the scene just closed was being enacted, a glance across the river +and down the road that skirts along the Hudson from Yonkers to +Tarrytown, would have discovered a light country wagon, drawn by a +single horse, and containing two men, advancing at a brisk pace. They +had nearly reached Dobbs' Ferry as the sun disappeared in the west. + +He who sat beside the driver, with his arms folded, and thoughtful, was +a tall, well-formed young man, with light hair that curled into his +neck, side whiskers, deep and intelligent blue eyes, a face that lighted +up with a smile when he spoke, and which had been fair and handsome, but +was now scorched and sun-burnt. His hands, too, were small, but hard and +weather-burnt, indicating that he had been accustomed to use them at +hard work. His dress was of blue petersham, looking neat and new, the +short coat buttoning square across his breast; and a tall hat set oddly +enough on a head evidently not accustomed to the fashion that dictated +such a covering. A broad, white shirt collar, turned carelessly down, +was tied with a black silk handkerchief, the long ends of which hung +outside his coat. + +There was something mature and thoughtful in his manner, even beyond his +years. The driver, an inquisitive fellow, had several times tried to +draw him into conversation, that he might find out something concerning +him, for he seemed familiar with the names of places along the river, +and yet kept up the disguise of a stranger. But on nothing, except the +vessels passing up and down the river, did he seem inclined to be +communicative. On these he would make such remarks as showed familiarity +with the sea. Indeed his mind seemed absorbed in something of deep and +painful interest. + +They drew up at the little inn with the swinging sign near Dobbs' Ferry, +for the driver said his horse was jaded, and needed feed and rest before +they proceeded further, and were met by the short, corpulent landlord, +who, after ordering the animal cared for, invited them into the house, +saying there was a good supper ready. + +"It is sundown now," said the passenger, in a tone of impatience, as he +alighted from the wagon, and received the landlord's extended hand, "and +we are still six miles away. You have forfeited the inducement I offered +to quicken your speed; but it is no offset to my disappointment." This +was addressed to the driver, who muttered something, about the heavy +roads, in reply, tossed his hat into a chair on the porch, and with an +independent and half-defiant air, walked into the house and took his +seat at the supper table. + +"'Tisn't the first time Sam's supped at my house," said the landlord, +bowing and inviting the stranger to walk in. "You'll walk in, sir, won't +you? There's always a good supper at this house--kept it when King +George's troops were about--only four shillin', sir," the landlord +continued, bowing and motioning his hand. But the stranger shook his +head negatively, drew a cigar from his pocket and politely requested the +landlord to give him a light. And when he had lighted his cigar, he drew +a Spanish dollar from his pocket, and slipped it into the man's hand, +saying it would pay for both their suppers, and he would take his when +they returned. He, at the same time, begged the landlord to give himself +no concern about him, but to proceed to his supper, which he knew from +his appearance he would enjoy. + +"Seein' how you're a gentleman," said the landlord, bowing obsequiously, +"there's three shillin' more for the horse--that squares it." + +"Certainly--I forgot the horse," replied the stranger, drawing a +half-dollar piece from his pocket and giving it to the landlord. + +"There's a shillin' comin' to you," returned the landlord, putting the +money into one pocket, and feeling in the other, "Never mind the +shilling," said the stranger, "we will settle that another time." + +"Travellers always find a good bed at my house, and enough on the table. +That's more than the fellow who keeps the house further on can say," +continued the landlord, again bowing and proceeding to his supper. + +The stranger now paced quickly and impatiently up and down the little +veranda, pausing every few minutes and looking out in the direction of +the wagon, as if it contained something he was guarding with scrupulous +care. In short, the object of his solicitude was a stout, leathern +valise, in the wagon, and which was so heavy that it required the +strength of two ordinary men to handle it easily. + +Twenty minutes passed and the driver again made his appearance, wiping +his lips and buttoning up his coat unconcernedly. "Sorry to have +detained you," he said, flapping his hat on. "Landlord says you've +settled the shot--won't be long getting there now." In another minute +they were in their seats and on the road to Tarrytown. + +It was nearly eight o'clock when they reached the old ferry, and found +it deserted for the night. The boatmen had ceased their regular +crossings nearly an hour before, and were quietly smoking their pipes at +home. The moon was up, stars shone brightly in the serene sky, and not a +sail specked the unruffled surface of the Tappan Zee. Lights twinkled on +the opposite shore, and the little old town of Nyack was dimly seen. + +They waited a few minutes, and as no one appeared, the driver went in +search of the boatmen, saying a few extra shillings would make it all +right with them. And while he was gone the stranger paced nervously and +with rapid steps up and down, every few seconds pausing at the pier-head +and looking intently in the direction of Nyack. Was it joy he +anticipated, or disappointment he feared? Something was agitating his +heart and filling his eyes with tears, for he several times turned his +head and wiped them away. And yet the more he watched in the direction +of Nyack, the more restless and impatient he became. + +The driver returned after an absence of ten minutes, accompanied by two +sturdy fellows, both of whom affected to be in bad humor at being called +on to ferry a traveller at that hour. With their hands thrust deep into +their nether pockets, they moved reluctantly about, scanning the +stranger from head to foot. "Couldn't stop this side till morning?" +enquired one of them, in a grumbling tone. "I must cross to-night," +replied the stranger, in a decided voice. "Cross to-night, eh? Well, +it's a long pull across there now," muttered the man, blowing the ashes +from his pipe and still affecting an air of indifference. Then raising +his eyes and breaking a piece of tobacco between his fingers, he +resumed: "Worth a matter of twelve shillin' extra--isn't it? Wouldn't +mind a trifle like that--I take it." + +"I must yield to your demands--of course. It is a necessity with me to +get across as quick as possible," replied the stranger, and drawing from +his pocket two Spanish dollars, he gave them to the boatman, saying: "We +will settle the matter now. Here is your pay in advance." + +The man took the money and at once became active and civil. "We must set +the gentleman across, Tom," said he, addressing his comrade, and +exposing the silver, "this makes it all right." + +The stranger now dismissed the driver with an extra dollar, for which he +considered himself lucky, for he had not kept his promise to reach the +ferry by sundown. + +The boatman who acted as spokesman, in attempting to lift the valise +from the wagon, let it fall to the ground, such was its great weight. +"There's somethin' more nor clothes in that," said the man, shaking his +head and raising his hands in an attitude of alarm. Then, with an +inquisitive look at the stranger, he continued: "Hadn't no connection +with them are Kidd Discovery Company folks? They was swindlers, they +was." + +"Never heard of such a company before. Get my things aboard, and let us +be away," replied the stranger, in a tone of command. + +It required the strength of both boatmen to carry the valise +comfortably; and when they had got it aboard and the stranger seated in +the stern, for he said he could steer, they pulled away for the opposite +shore. Not a word was spoken for several minutes. At length the stranger +broke the silence. "How pleasant it seems," he said, "to get back on the +old Tappan Zee. Everything looks so familiar--" + +"You have been here before, then?" enquired the man pulling the stern +oar, and who had acted as spokesman. + +"Yes," returned the stranger. "My home was just out of Nyack not many +years ago. I may find things changed there now. Do you know many people +over there?" + +"Why yes--nearly everybody--" + +"Dominie Payson--is he living?" + +"If he didn't die since yesterday. He was over here yesterday." + +"And Doctor Critchel--you know him, I suppose? Is he alive?" + +"Why, help you--he never intends to die." + +"And you know, I suppose;" here the stranger hesitated, and his voice +thickened; "you know, I suppose, Hanz Toodleburg--and his--. Are they +living?" + +"Living! That they are--and right hearty, too. They tried to get the old +man mixed up in the Kidd Discovery affair--but they didn't." The boatman +bent his head approvingly. + +"There was a Chapman family--are they still in Nyack?" + +"They're there--but its not sayin' much for Nyack. They went to New York +proud, and as folks thought rich, for Chapman had his finger in schemes +enough to get other people's money; but he com'd back poor as a crow, +they say." + +The stranger's mind seemed to have been relieved of some great anxiety +by these answers, and he at once became more cheerful and talkative. He +at the same time avoided saying anything that might discover who he +was. + +This caution excited the boatman's curiosity to such a pitch that he +resolved to make a bold push to uncover the stranger. + +"Wouldn't take it amiss, would you?" said he, "if a man like me was to +ask what your name was? Needn't mind if there's any cause o' keepin' it +a secret." + +The stranger smiled, hesitated, and stammered in reply: "Hanz Toodleburg +is my father." + +"Well, well! Just what I expected. Didn't say nothin' you see; but I +thought as how you was him," exclaimed the boatman. + +"I have been over three years away from home," interrupted the stranger. + +"Then you are Tite--the old man's son," resumed the boatman, "well, +well!" Turning to him who pulled the bow-oar: "Stop pullin' a bit, Tom," +said he, "stop pullin'." + +The man now rested his oar, and rising from his seat, extended his hand +to the stranger, saying: "There's a hard old honest hand that welcomes +you safe back. John Flint is my name--called old Jack Flint generally." +And he shook Tite's hand again and again. "A heap o' people round here +reckoned how you was dead--they did. I can't tell you how glad I am to +see you, my boy. Its fifteen years since you and me sailed comrades on +the sloop. Bin all round the world an' aint above shakin' the hand of an +old fellow like me. That's what I like." Again and again the old boatman +shook Tite's hand, and gave expression to such sentiments of joy as +showed how true and honest was his heart. + +"Yes, this is me, Jack, and I am as glad to see you as you are to see +me. But I wanted to get across without being recognized." + +[Illustration: "Wouldn't take it amiss, would you," said he, "if a man +like me was to ask what your name was?" Page 266.] + +The old boatman felt in his pocket, and drawing forth the two Spanish +dollars, insisted on returning them. "Them goes back into your pocket," +he said, shaking his head, "Never shall be said Jack Flint charged an +old comrade a sixpence for settin' him across stream." + +"Keep it, keep it, Jack. I have enough for both of us," replied Tite, +motioning his hand for the boatman to return the money to his pocket. + +"Well, if you insist--an' I have to accept it, you see, it'll be out of +respect and to please you." And he looked at the money doubtingly, shook +his head, and reluctantly returned it to his pocket. + +The man now resumed his oar, and they proceeded on with increased speed. +In less than half an hour from that time, they had landed at Nyack, and +proceeding up the road had reached Bright's Inn, the two boatmen +carrying the valise. Here they came to a halt, the men setting the +valise down, while Tite seemed in doubt what to do next. Bewildered with +the position he found himself in, hesitating and nervous, almost +overcome by anxiety, his throbbing heart beat quicker and quicker the +nearer he reached his home. But there was now a more violent struggle +going on in his feelings. It was a struggle to decide between love and +duty. Now he looked up the road in the direction of his home, and +advanced a few steps. Again he paused and looked up enquiringly at the +house. The old boatman had told him that Chapman lived there, when all +the embers of that love he had so long cherished for Mattie seemed to +kindle again into a living fire. And yet what changes might have taken +place since he left? If, however, she still loved him, and was true to +him, how could he pass the house, even at that late hour, without at +least letting her know he was in Nyack? + +It was indeed late, and there was still a mile before he reached the +home of his parents. He could have more time in the morning to meet +Mattie, to unfold his heart to her, and to give her an account of the +many strange things that had happened to him since he left. + +There was a bright light in two of the upper windows, but below the +house was nearly dark, and Bright was in his bar-room, settling up the +business of the day. Suddenly the light in the windows became brighter, +then the shadow of a female figure was seen crossing and recrossing the +room every few seconds. Tite watched and watched that flitting shadow, +for he read in it the object of his heart's love, read in it the joy +that was in store for him, perhaps--perhaps the sorrow. The figure was +Mattie's, and it was her shadow that was causing him all this +heart-aching. Now the figure took the place of the shadow, and stood +looking out at the window, as if contemplating the moon and the stars, +for nearly a minute. Yes, there was Mattie, watching and wondering what +had become of the man who was at that moment contemplating her +movements. Then the figure and the shadow disappeared, but it was only +to increase Tite's impatience to see her. + +The three men now proceeded to the door and the bell was rung. A moving +of chairs and unlocking of doors indicated that the house had not gone +to bed. The door was soon opened by Titus Bright, in his shirt sleeves +and slippers, and holding a candle in his hand. "What's up, Flint?" he +enquired, for he saw only the boatmen; "what brings you over at this +time of night?" + +"There was a shillin' to be made, you see, Bright, and a passenger what +wanted settin' over, you see," said the ferryman, his face beaming with +good nature. "Know you'd like to see him, you know, Bright, and to make +him as comfortable as you could for a night or so. Tom and me pulled him +across." Tite now advanced towards the inn-keeper, who gazed at him with +an air of astonishment, and held the candle above his head to avoid the +shadow. + +"Come in, come in," said Bright. "We will make the gentleman as +comfortable as we can." + +"You have forgotten me, I see," said Tite, smiling and extending his +hand. + +"God bless me!" exclaimed Bright, grasping his hand in a paroxysm of +delight; "if here isn't Tite Toodleburg cum home. Come in, come in. +Welcome home." After shaking him warmly by the hand and leading him into +the parlor, the inn-keeper ran and brought his wife, who welcomed the +young man with the tenderness of a mother. The good woman would have had +a fire made and supper prepared, and indeed entertained him for the rest +of the night, expressing her joy over his return, had he not told her +how great was his anxiety to see his parents. + +"I know who it is the young man wants to see," said Bright, touching him +on the elbow and nodding his head suggestively. "And there'll be a +flutter up stairs when it's told her you're cum home." + +The boatmen had remained in the hall. Bright now invited them into his +bar and filled mugs of ale for them, and joined them in drinking the +health of the young man who had been round the world. He then dismissed +them, saying he would take care of the young gentleman's baggage; and +stepping up stairs, tapped gently at Chapman's door. "We were all +retiring for the night," said Mrs. Chapman, opening the door slightly, +and looking alarmed, for Bright was in a flutter of excitement, and it +was nearly a minute before he could tell what he wanted. At length he +stammered out: "There, there, there--there's a strange gentleman down +stairs, mam--and he would like to see Miss Mattie, I am sure he would." + +"Mr. Bright," replied Mrs. Chapman, tossing her head and compressing her +lips, "he can't be much of a gentleman to come at this hour of night. My +daughter has no acquaintance who would presume to take such a liberty. +Etiquette forbids it." + +Mattie now made her appearance, with a book half open in her left hand, +and looking anxious and agitated. Then resting her right hand on her +mother's shoulder, "Mr. Bright," she enquired, in a hesitating voice, +"what does the gentleman look like?" + +"A nice gentleman enough, Miss--" + +"Is it any one you know?" + +"Why, Miss," resumed Bright, with an air of reluctance, "wouldn't +intrude at this house, but I know you'd like to see the gentleman; and +wouldn't be particular about the time." + +Mattie fixed her eyes on Bright with a steady gaze, her agitation +increased, her face changed color rapidly, her heart seemed to beat anew +with some sudden transport of joy. "Oh, mother! oh, mother!" she +exclaimed, tossing the book on the floor, "I know who Mr. Bright means. +It's him! I know it's him! He has come back!" She rushed past her +mother, vaulted as it were down the stairs and into the parlor. The +young man stood motionless. He was so changed in dress and appearance +that she suddenly hesitated, and for a moment drew back, as if in doubt. + +"It is me, Mattie," said Tite, smiling and advancing with his hand +extended. The thought suddenly flashed through his mind that she might +have expected some one else. He was mistaken, for she met his advance +like one whose heart was filled with joy. In short, the words had hardly +fallen from his lips when they were in each other's arms, and giving +such proofs of their affection as only hearts bound together by the +truest and purest of love can give. + +"I knew you would come back to me--yes, I knew you would. There was an +angel guarding you while absent," she whispered, looking up as he kissed +her and kissed her. And as her eyes met his her face brightened with a +smile so full of sweetness and gentleness. + +"I knew what would happen," said Bright, opening the door apace and +looking in. "Knew there would be just such a scene." Just at that moment +Mrs. Chapman brushed past the exuberant inn-keeper, and stood like a +massive statue, looking at the scene before her with an air of surprise +and astonishment, for Mattie was still clasped in the young man's arms. + +"My daughter! my daughter!" she exclaimed, raising her fat hands, +"enough to make a mother faint to see a well-brought-up daughter so +familiar? It shocks me, my daughter. I am sure I am glad to see the +young man home. But familiarity of that kind's not becoming. Your father +never would have married me if I had allowed familiarity of that kind." + +"You must blame me; it was all my fault," said Tite, handing Mattie to a +chair, and advancing toward Mrs. Chapman. + +"You have been away a long time, haven't you," said the lady, receiving +his hand in a cold and formal manner. "You are very much changed--the +effect of the sea-air on the complexion, I suppose? We shall be very +glad to see you at any time, Mr. Toodleburg. It was so late we didn't +expect visitors, and were not prepared for them. You said you had not +seen your aged parents?" + +"Not yet," replied Tite, "but I shall proceed there soon." + +"It was very kind of you," resumed the lady, "to pay us this compliment. +How very anxious they must be to see you." + +"And I am equally anxious to see them," he replied; "but I could not +pass without seeing you--just for a few minutes." Then turning to +Mattie, he exchanged kisses with her, kissed her good-night, to the +great distress of her mother, who was compelled to look on. He also +promised to call early in the morning, spend most of the day, and give +an account of his voyage. + +A minute more and he was seated in a wagon beside Bright, and proceeding +over the road toward Hanz's little house. + +When he was gone, and the Chapmans had retired to their room, "Ma," said +Mattie, her face coloring with feeling, "it was very unkind, even cruel +of you to treat the young gentleman so coldly." + +"Done to balance the familiarity, my daughter--the familiarity! Needed +something to balance that," interrupted the lady, bowing her head +formally. "Young man looks respectable enough. He may have come home and +not a sixpence in his pocket--who knows? In these matters, my daughter, +it's always best to know where the line is drawn before building your +house." + +"He might have come home penniless; it would not have made a bit of +difference to me, mother, I would love him just as much," replied +Mattie. "But I can forgive you, ma, for I know you did not mean what you +said." And she kissed her mother, and retired for the night, the +happiest woman in all Nyack. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +HE BRINGS JOY INTO THE HOUSE. + + +All was silent and dark in the little house where Hanz Toodleburg lived, +when the wagon containing Tite and the inn-keeper drew up at the gate. A +dull, dreamy stillness seemed to hang over the place, and the little, +old house was in the full enjoyment of a deep sleep. The two men +alighted, and Tite stood for a few minutes viewing the scene around him. +How strange and yet how familiar everything seemed. He was at the +opposite side of the world only a few months ago, and time had sped on +so swiftly that it seemed as if he had gone to bed at night on one side +of the globe, and waked up in the morning at the other. Then he was on +an island almost unknown to the rest of the world, surrounded by scenes +so wild, so strange and romantic, that the reader would not believe them +real. + +Here now was the old lattice gate, the vine-covered arbor leading +through the garden to the cracked and blistered-faced front door, the +stack of hop-vines in the garden-corner, and the rickety veranda where, +when a boy, he used to sit beside his father of a summer evening, for it +was here Hanz welcomed his friends and smoked his pipe. It was here, +too, that Angeline, the spirit of whose sweet face had been with him in +his wanderings, used to sit at her flax-wheel, spinning thread that was +famous in Fly Market. + +Could this be a sweet dream, a beautiful delusion, a spirit-spell that +moves the soul with pictures of love and enchantment, and from which +some stern reality would soon awake him and dispel the charm? No, it +was reality, appealing more forcibly to all that was true and kindly in +his nature, and filling his eyes with tears. + +The inn-keeper noticed the effect it was having on his feelings, and +made an effort to divert his attention. "Looks kind o' natural after +bein' round the world doesn't it, Tite?" he enquired. + +"Yes--seems like home again," was the quiet reply. + +"Zounds!" exclaimed the inn-keeper, suddenly; "but there's somethin' +heavy in it." In attempting to lift the valise from the wagon it had +fallen to the ground under its great weight. The inn-keeper shook his +head and rubbed his hands. "Had a lucky voyage, I reckon," he concluded. + +"More than eighty pounds of solid gold in that," returned Tite, coolly. +The mention of so much gold astonished and delighted the inn-keeper. + +"There'll be such a time when the town hears that!" said he. "There'll +be enough o' them that'll call you their friend." + +"Left three times as much more in the city," resumed Tite. "And there's +enough on an island in the Pacific to buy a town as big as Nyack. And I +know where it is." + +"Eighty pounds of solid gold!" said the inn-keeper, looking enquiringly +at Tite, then stooping down and testing the weight of the valise with +his hands. "It's so. I always did know you'd come home a rich man." + +They now carried the valise into the veranda, knocked at the door, and +listened for footsteps within. The big old dog had been growling and +barking fiercely for several minutes. Now he recognized the friendly +voice of the inn-keeper, and barked them a welcome. He then ran to the +little room where Hanz was sleeping, and only ceased barking when he got +up. + +Soft footsteps were heard inside, a dim light shone through the little +window opening into the veranda, and a voice inside enquired: "Who comes +t' mine house sho late?" + +"Open the door, friend Toodleburg," replied the inn-keeper. "Shouldn't +have disturbed you at this hour; but there's a gentleman here would like +to see you--an' I'm sure you'd like to see him." + +The old man opened the door at the sound of Bright's voice, and stood +gazing at the visitors with an air of bewilderment. "You prings me goot +news, eh, Bright?" he enquired. "Yes, I am shure you prings me shome +news ash ish goot." + +"Father, father," said Tite, advancing with his right hand extended, +"you don't know me?" + +"Ton't know mine own Tite? Mine poor poy Tite!" exclaimed the old man in +a paroxysm of joy. "Yes I does." And he raised his hands, and threw his +arms around Tite's neck, and wept for joy. "Ton't know mine own Tite," +he repeated, raising his head and looking up in Tite's face, "yes I +does. Yes, I shay mine Tite will cum home; an' he cums home--and mine +poor old heart he pees sho glat. Yes, he pees you, mine Tite. You prings +shoy into mine house. Mine poor Tite--he com'd home t' mine house. Tar +pees no more shorrow now in mine house." The old man was overcome with +joy. The idol of the house was home again, and true happiness reigned +under that little roof. + +"You ton't go away no more, mine Tite," he continued, patting him on the +shoulder and pressing his hand. + +Angeline heard Tite's voice and came rushing into the room frantic with +joy. "Thank God! thank God!" she exclaimed. "He has brought our boy safe +back to us." And she embraced him, threw her arms around his neck, and +kissed him again and again. + +"And I am so glad to get back to you, mother," he replied, returning her +affection, and pressing her to his breast fondly. "It is so good to be +in my old home, where I can receive your blessings, and be good to you." + +And Angeline looked up in his face with such a sweet smile, as she +patted him on the shoulder, and their tears mingled in the sweetest of +joy as she invoked God's blessing on his head. Truly, God had heard +their prayer, had blessed them, and had again made their little home +bright with joy. + +"I wish Chapman could look in here now," said Bright, "there'd be a +lesson for him on what happiness is worth." And he shook Tite by the +hand, told him to remember that his house was always open to him, and +left for the night. + +Even the old dog seemed anxious to join in welcoming the young gentleman +back, for he would look up affectionately in his face, draw his body +close to his feet, and lay his huge paw on his knee. + +And now a fire was lighted, and Angeline prepared supper for Tite, for +he had eaten nothing since morning. The chair that had stood empty so +long was filled now, and the happiness that reigned under that little +roof was such as gold could not purchase. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +HOW HE GOT AWAY FROM THE ISLAND. + + +When supper was over, Tite proceeded to give his parents an account of +the voyage, and the manner of escaping from the island with the +treasure. The reader has already heard that portion which carries the +story up to the death of old Dunman, the pirate. It will be only +necessary then to give that part of it which relates to what took place +afterward. + +"Poor old Dunman," said Tite, "he was so kind to us all, and tried so +much to relieve our sufferings and make us feel contented that we all +liked him, and felt his death was a severe loss to us. There was +something so terrible in the story of his life that we used to talk +about it at night, and fancy all sorts of strange spirits haunting the +place where his money was buried. It was this that made us all impatient +to get away from the dreary place. Three or four days after we had +buried him, we removed the stones he said the gold was buried under, and +there found, as he had told us, bags and boxes of gold and silver, in +bars and coin of various kinds, heavy silver and gold ornaments that had +been plundered from churches and convents, with pearls and diamonds and +other precious stones, enough to fill two iron chests two feet square +and two feet deep. There was the thought that it was the price of so +much crime. And what good after all was this gold and silver to do us, +if we were to die on the island, like old Dunman? We divided it among +us, just as we would something of little value, not caring which got +the biggest portion. Then, after keeping out what we thought we might +want, each buried his part in separate spots, and marked the places with +piles of big stones. + +"I always had a presentment that some vessel would come along, and +afford us the means of getting away; but after several months of +disappointment my companions began to despair, and saying they might as +well die one way as another, fitted up the boat, and with sails made of +prepared seal skins, and such scanty provisions as they could obtain, +set sail in search of an island described by old Dunman to be two +leagues distant, inhabited, and a place where whalers had been known to +touch. Each took two bags of gold with him, promising that if they were +successful they would return and rescue me. + +"I felt, and told them they were undertaking what was sure death, and +bid them good-bye, never expecting to see them again. Week after week +and month after month passed, and nothing was heard of them. I was +alone, and nothing but the animals old Dunman had domesticated to keep +me company. As a means of attracting the attention of any vessel that +might be passing, I built a hut on a high hill near the coast, and used +to go there at night and build a fire as a signal. There wasn't a sail +came near. I had never feared death before; but to have to die on this +unknown island, with everything so strange and mysterious around me, and +never be heard of again by my parents and friends, excited all sorts of +curious fears in me. And the more I thought of it the more I wanted to +get away. + +"Well, it was five months since my companions set sail. Poor Ryder, poor +Doane; these were their names. They were both young men from Cape Cod; +and as brave and true-hearted as ever lived. I got up one morning to +renew my signal-fire, and was wondering what had become of the poor +fellows, and saying to myself how foolish they were to anticipate death. +It was just in the grey of daylight. Happening to cast my eye down the +coast, I espied the dim figure of a sail advancing quietly up the coast. +I shouted for joy at the sight, not thinking or caring whether it might +bring friends or foes. The wind was light, but fair, and the little +craft, which turned out to be a taunt-rigged schooner of about a hundred +and twenty tons, came gliding along like some white-winged thing of +life, for she had a square sail and fore and main gaff-topsails set. + +"Just before reaching the cove she furled her square sail and took in +the gaff-topsails--a proof that she was making port. I hastened down to +the coast, for it was broad daylight now, and watched her every +movement. She stood into the cove, rounded to, hauled down her jibs, and +dropped her anchor. The men in charge of that vessel handled her as if +they were familiar with the place. An hour passed, and no attempt was +made to land. Men appeared on deck, moving about in the quiet discharge +of their duty, but no attention was directed to the shore. Then a man +stood on the quarter with his glass raised, and scanned the shore from +point to point. Then there was an aggravating pause, and the rest of the +men seemed to disappear below. Then an increased number appeared on +deck, and began clearing the lashings from the stern boat. That was a +joyful moment, for it was a proof of their intention to land. Then the +boat was lowered away and pulled alongside, when two oarsmen got in, and +were followed by two men who sat in the stern sheets, and who turned +out to be my old companions, Doane and Ryder. Deliverance had come at +last. + +"After being at sea three days and nights in the boat, they were picked +up by a New Bedford whaleship, and landed at Honolulu, where they +chartered the schooner Lapwing and returned for me. Thinking it +necessary to keep our discovery a secret, lest it might excite the +cupidity of the crew, who were all natives, we had to proceed +cautiously, and disguise our movements as much as we could. It was +decided to leave at least half of the treasure until we could find a +more secure means of removing it, as well as one less liable to excite +suspicion at the points we would be compelled to land at on our way +home. + +"We got what we agreed to take away quietly on board during the night, +having filled Dunman's big old chest with shells and buried it among +them. Then each swore on oath that he would be true to the other, and +that he wouldn't make an effort to remove what remained except by mutual +agreement, and for the benefit of all equally. We disguised all our +movements so well that not even the captain of the schooner, who was an +old Spanish coaster, accustomed to suspicious transactions, mistrusted +what we were doing. + +"When we got all ready, we bid adieu to No Man's Island, and set sail +for Honolulu, feeling as if we had been set free from a prison. We were +on the way home now, and that was enough to lighten our hearts. We were +three weeks getting to Honolulu; and had to remain there two months. We +wanted an American ship homeward bound, to take passage on. But as none +came, we shipped on board the British whaleship Rose, of Halifax, Nova +Scotia, with a full cargo homeward bound. We got there after a long and +stormy voyage, working our way as sailors before the mast. We were +looked on as poor, shipwrecked whalemen; and no one on board thought we +had an extra dollar in our pockets. At Halifax we found a vessel ready +to sail for New York, and took passage on her, and here I am now, home +again, and glad to get home." It was long after midnight when Tite +concluded his story; and having received once more the caresses of his +parents, he retired to the little room he had occupied when a boy, to +sleep and dream of joys that were in store for him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +AN INTERESTING CEREMONY. + + +The little sleepy town of Nyack had hardly waked up on the following +morning, when the news of Tite's arrival was rung in it's ears. +Marvelous stories, too, were told concerning the amount of money he had +brought home, and the different countries he had visited. The inn-keeper +declared at the breakfast table, intending that Mrs. Chapman should hear +it, that he could say of his own knowledge, that the young gentleman had +brought gold enough home to build a castle, have a coach of his own, and +live like a gentleman in the city all the rest of his life. + +"Has he really brought home so much money?" enquired Mrs. Chapman, +raising her eyes and looking at Bright with an air of astonishment. "The +young gentleman never mentioned it last night. Well, after all, there's +nothing like young gentlemen of his class seeking their fortunes away +from home. To say the least, it will give the young gentleman a fixed +position in society." + +"Yes, my dear," rejoined Chapman, "I always had a good opinion of the +young gentleman. I always knew he would distinguish himself if he had a +chance--" + +"Good opinions are always plenty enough," interrupted the schoolmaster, +who was a boarder at Bright's that week, "when a man has money and don't +need good opinions." + +Chapman made no reply. Indeed he was not prepared for such a thrust from +so poor a fellow as the schoolmaster. He understood, however, what was +meant by it, for he had gone into court only a few weeks before and +given such testimony as showed himself a knave and a hypocrite, though +it saved Hanz Toodleburg from ruin. + +Mattie noticed the impression made on her mother by what Bright had +said, but preserved a dignified silence. She felt that she had gained +the price due to her constancy, had risen above the vanities and +temptations designed to distract and mislead her, and by following the +dictates of her own clear judgment would soon secure both happiness and +fortune. + +Breakfast was scarcely over at Hanz Toodleburg's before the neighbors, +one after another, began to drop in to shake Tite by the hand, and +welcome him home, and say "God bless you." Many of them brought little +presents, to show how true and heart-felt was the friendship they bore +him. And when he went down into the village he found himself surrounded +by friends, all anxious to shake his hand, and to welcome him back, and +to hear something concerning his voyage. In short, he was an object of +curiosity as well as respect, for at that day there was a mysterious +interest attached to a young man who had been a voyage round the world, +it being associated with spirit and daring of a remarkable kind. + +But it was not these friends Tite stole away and went down into the +village to see. It was Mattie, at the mention of whose name a blush +always colored his cheek. The two lovers had arranged for a morning +walk, and were soon seen coming from the house together, smiling and +happy. Mrs. Chapman had condescended to see them to the door, and her +ponderous figure quite filled the space. "Don't forget, my daughter," +she said, as they were leaving, "don't forget to bring the young +gentleman back to dine with us. We can't promise him anything very nice; +but he is welcome, you know, and must try and accommodate himself to our +changed circumstances." + +There is to me nothing more beautiful to contemplate than the picture of +two young lovers brought happily together after years of trial and +disappointment, themselves representing what there is good and pure in +the human heart. It is then we seem to see the heart liberate itself +from guile, and truth and right rejoice in their triumph over wrong. +There was just such a picture presented by Mattie Chapman, the +true-hearted American girl, and the active, earnest, persevering, and +modest, American boy, just at this moment. + +The day was bright and breezy, and there, high up on that hill +overlooking the Tappan Zee, under that clump of trees, with their +embracing branches forming a bower, in the very spot where they had +liberated their hearts and pledged their love, and bid each other a sad +adieu on the morning Tite sailed on his voyage, the young lovers were +seated again. Hour after hour passed, and still they sat there, for Tite +was recounting his adventures; telling Mattie the story of his strange +voyage, and listening in return to her recital of what had taken place +during his absence. Indeed, so earnestly were they engaged relating what +had happened since they had been separated that they quite forgot +dinner; and on returning to the house, found Mrs. Chapman in a state of +great anxiety. It was not that they had been absent so long; but the +young gentleman would find things cold and unsatisfactory. The truth +was, Mrs. Chapman had dressed herself with a view to a little display, +and was a little disappointed at not having the opportunity to make it +before a full table. Mr. Bowles, too, had been ordered to appear bright +and nice, in his new livery and top-boots, to wait on the family at +dinner, and show, by his attentions to the young gentleman, that he was +a well-brought-up servant. In fine, the lady so embarrassed the young +gentleman with her attentions, that he was glad when dinner was over. I +ought not to forget to mention that Chapman, though he was less +demonstrative, took several occasions to assure the young gentleman of +the high respect he had always held him in--especially on account of his +father and mother. + +Tite went home when dinner was over; but returned again in the evening, +for there was an attraction there he could not resist. And it was then +that Mrs. Chapman joined their hands, invoked a blessing on their heads +and called them her children. + +"I always did like the young gentleman--I am sure I always did," she +added, with an air of condescension. "My daughter knows I always did. It +was not on the young gentleman's account that I entertained a little +misgiving (just a little) in reconciling the family connection." Pausing +suddenly, the lady turned to Mattie in a somewhat confused manner: "My +daughter, my daughter," she returned, "you must overlook a number of +little things. You will--won't you? Now, don't say I am vain. But it was +such a queer--yes, such a vulgar and very common name to carry into +society." + +"There's just one favor I have to ask, my daughter. I am sure the young +gentleman won't object to it--I am sure he won't." Again Mrs. Chapman +paused, and seemed a little confused. + +"Certainly, ma, certainly," replied Mattie, with a pleasant smile, +"anything to please my dear mother." + +"Well, then," resumed Mrs. Chapman, mildly: "There'll be no harm in +changing the name a little--just a little, for the sake of the effect it +will have on society. The young gentleman, I am sure he will (he has got +the means to do it, you see) set up a nice establishment in the city, +and (looking forward a little, you know) you will have a set of society +of your own. Things change so, you see. You wouldn't mind changing the +name so that it will read Von Toodleburg? T.B. Von Toodleburg would be +so much nicer." + +I may mention here that such was the name the family took and flourished +under at a subsequent period, as will appear in the second series of +this work. + +"Fix things, name and all, to your liking, my dear mother," replied +Mattie, laughing heartily. "I don't believe Tite cares anything about +it." + +"Never was ashamed of my name," replied Tite, with an air of +indifference, "never was. But it doesn't matter much what a man's name +is. They used to call me all sorts of names at sea." + +"Another little harmless request," resumed Mrs. Chapman, with a +condescending bow. "You see there is Bowles. Bowles is such an excellent +servant, and so very respectable. He has such a presentable appearance +when in his livery. I have great respect for Bowles--he understands me +so well. You won't have any objection to his having a fixed position in +the family, will you?" + +Mattie blushed, and drawing her mother aside, whispered in her ear: "We +can settle such matters, my dear mother, when others of more importance +are disposed of." + +"But you know, my daughter," she returned, with an air of great +seriousness, "he has done so much to make these common country people +understand what our position was in the city." + + * * * * * + +Two weeks were passed in making preparations for the wedding. And now +the day was come, and that ceremony that was to unite two loving hearts +for weal or woe, which was to seal their fortunes in one bond, was to be +performed in the little old church, quietly and unostentatiously, by +Dominie Payson, for it had been settled after some reluctance on the +part of Mrs. Chapman, that the job could be done by that worthy divine, +and the world think none the less of the young people. + +Nyack, my reader must know, was in the best of humor that day, and when +it was four o'clock, appeared in a smiling face, and dressed in it's +best clothes. Chapman, I may also mention, forgot his misfortunes, and +for once appeared neat and tidy, and in a happy mood. Indeed he had +kissed and congratulated his daughter several times during the day. He +had also unburdened his heart by telling her how happy he felt that the +family had escaped disgrace in the city. He had, indeed, something to be +thankful for, since Gusher had been taken back to New Orleans, tried, +convicted of his crimes, and sent for two years at hard labor in the +penitentiary. + +Mrs. Chapman, remembering that such events did not occur every day, +resolved not to be outdone by any of them. She was sure a little display +would not be wasted; and had spent four hours "getting herself elegant." +She had more than half a suspicion that there would be some New York +people present, and it would not do to be outshone by them in +magnificence of toilet. Nor must I forget Bowles, who appeared shortly +after breakfast in his new livery, with a tall hat half covered with a +band and buckle, white gloves, and bright new boots and breeches. Bowles +was a figure of immense importance, and contemplated himself with an air +of amusing gravity, as he moved up and down in front of the house, much +to the amusement of the visitors at Bright's Inn. A bunch of flowers had +been provided for his button hole; and he was to drive the happy couple +to and from church, an honor he seemed to appreciate fully. + +There was an interesting scene, too, at Hanz Toodleburg's little house. +Instead of making bridal presents of costly jewelry and works of art, as +is now done, the worthy settlers sent the groom's father presents of a +very different character. Hanz had found enough to do during the morning +in receiving these presents and thanking the donors. There was a pig +from farmer Tromp, a barrel of apples from neighbor Steuben, a big +cheese from farmer Van Beuskirk, a ham from the widow Welcker, a pan of +new-made sausages from farmer Deitman, and a bushel of dried apples from +Dominie Payson. In fine, one sent a cow, another a sack of wheat, +another a barrel of cider; and in that way they had well neigh stocked +Hanz's larder for the winter. + +It was now nearly time for the ceremony. Neatly, but plainly dressed +people were seen treading their way toward the little church, while +around its door a number of bright-faced children, all dressed so neatly +in white, and with their hands full of flowers, stood ready to greet the +bride and bridegroom. In short, the worthy settlers had come from all +directions to witness the ceremony. There were rustics, in their simple +attire, sauntering through the old church yard, or leaning listlessly +over the paling. And there in the old belfry sat Jonas, the ringer, with +his bald head and his weeping eyes, ready to ring out a merry peal as +soon as the bride and bridegroom came in sight. + +A laughing, happy throng of people filled the little church as soon as +the door was opened. Then Dominie Payson took his place at the altar; +and Hanz and Angeline, representing age beautified by simplicity, walked +slowly up the aisle, and took their place on one side, followed by +Critchel, the inn-keeper and the schoolmaster, who stood just behind +them. A few minutes later and Mrs. Chapman, arrayed in all the majesty +of her best wardrobe entered, accompanied by her meek little husband, +and took their places on the opposite side, presenting such a contrast +of characters. The picture only wanted the central figures now. + +A few minutes more, and there was a sudden, anxious movement on the part +of those inside. All eyes were turned towards the door. The bridal party +had arrived. Old Jonas was ringing his bell. The children at the door +were tossing flowers at their feet; and their voices were heard singing +a sweet and touching song. Then the bridal party advanced up the aisle, +the bride dressed in simple white, and with flowers in her golden hair, +and looking so sweetly. And as they took their place before the altar, +there was something so full of love and gentleness, of truth and purity, +in that sweet face as Mattie looked up and calmly surveyed the scene, +that it seemed as if earth had nothing to compare with it. + +And as the simple, but impressive ceremony proceeded, and the young +lovers once more pledged their love, and made that solemn vow never to +separate until death comes, and knelt in prayer to sanctify it; and as +the Dominie blessed them, and pronounced a benediction, and as the soft +rays of the setting sun played over and lighted up that beautiful face, +it seemed as if some gentle spirit, sent from on high, was hovering over +the scene and whispering Amen. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Von Toodleburgs, by F. 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Colburn Adams + </title> + <style type="text/css"> +/*<![CDATA[ XML blockout */ +<!-- + p { margin-top: .75em; + text-align: justify; + margin-bottom: .75em; + } + h1,h2,h3,h4,h5,h6 { + text-align: center; /* all headings centered */ + clear: both; + } + hr { width: 33%; + margin-top: 2em; + margin-bottom: 2em; + margin-left: auto; + margin-right: auto; + clear: both; + } + + table {margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;} + + body{margin-left: 10%; + margin-right: 10%; + } + + .pagenum { /* uncomment the next line for invisible page numbers */ + /* visibility: hidden; */ + position: absolute; + left: 92%; + font-size: smaller; + text-align: right; + } /* page numbers */ + + .linenum {position: absolute; top: auto; left: 4%;} /* poetry number */ + .blockquot{margin-left: 5%; margin-right: 10%;} + .sidenote {width: 20%; padding-bottom: .5em; padding-top: .5em; + padding-left: .5em; padding-right: .5em; margin-left: 1em; + float: right; clear: right; margin-top: 1em; + font-size: smaller; color: black; background: #eeeeee; border: dashed 1px;} + + .bb {border-bottom: solid 2px;} + .bl {border-left: solid 2px;} + .bt {border-top: solid 2px;} + .br {border-right: solid 2px;} + .bbox {border: solid 2px;} + + .center {text-align: center;} + .smcap {font-variant: small-caps;} + .u {text-decoration: underline;} + + .caption {font-weight: bold;} + + .figcenter {margin: auto; text-align: center;} + + .figleft {float: left; clear: left; margin-left: 0; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-top: + 1em; margin-right: 1em; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .figright {float: right; clear: right; margin-left: 1em; margin-bottom: 1em; + margin-top: 1em; margin-right: 0; padding: 0; text-align: center;} + + .footnotes {border: dashed 1px;} + .footnote {margin-left: 10%; margin-right: 10%; font-size: 0.9em;} + .footnote .label {position: absolute; right: 84%; text-align: right;} + .fnanchor {vertical-align: super; font-size: .8em; text-decoration: none;} + + .poem {margin-left:10%; margin-right:10%; text-align: left;} + .poem br {display: none;} + .poem .stanza {margin: 1em 0em 1em 0em;} + .poem span.i0 {display: block; margin-left: 0em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i2 {display: block; margin-left: 2em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + .poem span.i4 {display: block; margin-left: 4em; padding-left: 3em; text-indent: -3em;} + // --> + /* XML end ]]>*/ + </style> + </head> +<body> + + +<pre> + +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Von Toodleburgs, by F. Colburn Adams + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Von Toodleburgs + Or, The History of a Very Distinguished Family + +Author: F. Colburn Adams + +Illustrator: A. R. Waud + +Release Date: June 10, 2006 [EBook #18549] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VON TOODLEBURGS *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images produced by the Wright +American Fiction Project) + + + + + + +</pre> + + + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 425px;"> +<img src="images/toodle1.jpg" width="425" height="286" alt="There was no happier couple in all the settlement than +Hanz and Angeline Toodleburg. Page 13." title="" /> +<span class="caption">There was no happier couple in all the settlement than +Hanz and Angeline Toodleburg. <a href="#Page_13">Page 13</a>.</span> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h3>THE</h3> + +<h1>VON TOODLEBURGS;</h1> + +<h3>OR,</h3> + +<h2>THE HISTORY OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED FAMILY.</h2> + +<h3>BY</h3> + +<h2>F. COLBURN ADAMS,</h2> + +<p class="center">AUTHOR OF "MANUEL PERIERE, OR THE SOVEREIGN RULE OF SOUTH CAROLINA;" +"OUR WORLD;" "CHRONICLES OF THE BASTILE;" "AN OUTCAST;" "ADVENTURES OF +MAJOR RODGER SHERMAN PORTER;" "THE STORY OF A TROOPER;" "THE SIEGE OF +WASHINGTON," ETC.</p> + + +<h4>ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY A.R. WAUD.</h4> + +<p class="center">PHILADELPHIA:<br /> + +CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER,<br /> + +819 <span class="smcap">and</span> 821 <span class="smcap">Market Street</span><br /> + +1868.</p> + +<p>Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by</p> + +<p class="center">F. COLBURN ADAMS,</p> + +<p>in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the +Eastern District of Pennsylvania.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iii" id="Page_iii">[Pg iii]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="PREFACE" id="PREFACE"></a>PREFACE.</h2> + + +<p>I never could see what real usefulness there was in a preface to a work +of this kind, and never wrote one without a misgiving that it would do +more to confuse than enlighten the reader.</p> + +<p>The good people of Nyack will pardon me, I know they will, for taking +such an unwarrantable liberty as to locate many of my scenes and +characters in and around their flourishing little town. I have no doubt +there are persons yet living there who will readily recognize some of my +characters, especially those of Hanz and Angeline Toodleburg. That the +very distinguished family of Von Toodleburgs, which flourished so +extensively in New York at a later period, as described in the second +series of this work, will also be recognized by many of my readers I +have not a doubt. Nyack should not be held responsible for all the sins +of the great Kidd Discovery Company, since some of the leading men +engaged in that remarkable enterprise lived on the opposite side of the +river, many miles away.</p> + +<p>The reader must not think I have drawn too extensively on my imagination +for material to create "No Man's Island" and build "Dunman's Cave" with. +About eighteen years ago I chanced to have for fellow traveller an odd +little man, of the name of Price, (better known as Button Price,) who +had been captain of a New Bedford or Nantucket whaleship. He was an +earnest, warm-hearted, talkative little man, and one of the strangest +bits of humanity it had ever been my good fortune to fall in with. He +had lost his ship on what he was pleased to call an unknown island in +the Pacific. He applied the word "unknown" for the only reason that I +could understand, that he did not know it was there until his ship +struck on it. He regarded killing a whale as the highest object a man +had to live for, and had no very high respect for the mariner who had +never "looked round<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_iv" id="Page_iv">[Pg iv]</a></span> Cape Horn," or engaged a whale in mortal combat. He +was on his way home to report the loss of his ship to his owners. An act +of kindness, and finding that I knew something of the sea, and could +sympathize with a sailor in misfortune, made us firm friends to the end +of our journey.</p> + +<p>To this odd little man, then, I am indebted for the story of the old +pirate of "No Man's Island," and what took place in "Dunman's Cave;" for +it was in just such a place, according to his own account, that he lost +his ship. Much of his story, as told to me then, seemed strange and +incredible—in truth, the offspring of a brain not well balanced.</p> + +<p>Time has shown, however, that there was much more truth in this old +whaleman's story than I had given him credit for. "No Man's Island" is +somewhat better known to navigators now, though still uninhabited and +bearing a different name. "Dunman's Cave," too, has been the scene of +more than one shipwreck within six years.</p> + +<p>Those who have carefully studied the causes producing "boars," or "tidal +waves," as they appear in different parts of the world, and the singular +atmospheric phenomena which at times accompany them, will not find it +difficult to understand the startling changes which took place in +"Dunman's Cave" when the "<i>Pacific</i>" was wrecked. They will understand, +also, why the "<i>set</i>" was so strong at so great a distance from the +entrance, and why the "boar" rose to such a height in a narrow gate, or +entrance formed by steep rocks, before it broke, and went rushing and +roaring onward with irresistible force. They will also understand what +produced the noise resembling the sound of a mighty waterfall.</p> + +<p> +F.C.A.<br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Washington, D.C.</span>, <i>January</i>, 1868.<br /> +</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_v" id="Page_v">[Pg v]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CONTENTS" id="CONTENTS"></a>CONTENTS.</h2> + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="4" cellspacing="0" summary=""> +<tr><td align='left'>BOOK I.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>Chapter.</td><td align='left'>Page.</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>I. Ancient Heads of the Family,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_9">9</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>II. Coming into the World,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_16">16</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>III. The New Comer,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_21">21</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>IV. Changed Prospects,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_25">25</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>V. Tite Toodleburg and a Modern Reformer,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_30">30</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>VI. A Little Family Affair,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_39">39</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>VII. The Town moved with Indignation,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_46">46</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>[Transcriber's note: Chapter VIII is missing in book.]</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>IX. Tite takes his Departure for the South Sea,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_57">57</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>X. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman disagree,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_63">63</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XI. Mr. Chapman cultivates New Acquaintances,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_70">70</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XII. Strange Gentleman,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_81">81</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XIII. Captain Bottom, the Whale-Killer,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_88">88</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XIV. The Coming Winter and a Merry-Making,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_100">100</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XV. Mrs. Chapman and the Upper Circles,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_109">109</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XVI. A Night Expedition,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_113">113</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XVII. Mr. Gusher is introduced to Mattie,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_123">123</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XVIII. Rounding Cape Horn,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_135">135</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XIX. Making a Fortune,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>[Transcriber's note: Chapter XX is missing in book.]</td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXI. Coming Events cast their Shadows,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_158">158</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXII. The Chapmans move into the City,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_166">166</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXIII. Mrs. Chapman gives a Ball,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_176">176</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXIV. Very Perplexing,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_186">186</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXV. An Unlucky Voyage,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_196">196</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXVI. Dunman's Cave,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXVII. Old Dunman and the Pirate's Treasure,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_213">213</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXVIII. Mr. Gusher sustains his Character,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_225">225</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXIX. Changed Circumstances,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_230">230</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXX. A Terrible Calamity overtakes the Family,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_237">237</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXXI. A Very Perplexing Situation,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_247">247</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXXII. Harvest-Sunday,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_251">251</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXXIII. Returned Home,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_260">260</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXXIV. He brings Joy into the House,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_273">273</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXXV. How He got away from the Island,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_277">277</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'>XXXVI. An Interesting Ceremony,</td><td align='left'><a href="#Page_282">282</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[Pg 9]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="THE_VON_TOODLEBURGS" id="THE_VON_TOODLEBURGS"></a>THE VON TOODLEBURGS,</h2> + +<h4>OR THE</h4> + +<h3>History of a very Distinguished Family.</h3> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_I" id="CHAPTER_I"></a>CHAPTER I.</h2> + +<h3>ANCIENT HEADS OF THE FAMILY.</h3> + + +<p>Not more than a mile from the brisk little town of Nyack, on the Hudson +river, and near where the road makes a sharp turn and winds up into the +mountain, there lived, in the year 1803, an honest old farmer of the +name of Hanz Toodleburg. Hanz was held in high esteem by his neighbors, +many of whom persisted in pronouncing his name Toodlebug, and also +electing him hog-reef every year, an honor he would invariably decline. +He did this, he said, out of respect to the rights of the man last +married in the neighborhood. It mattered not to Hanz how his name was +pronounced; nor did it ever occur to him that some of his more ambitious +descendants might be called on in a court of law to explain the +circumstances under which their name was changed. I speak now of things +as they were when the old settlers around Nyack were honest and +unsuspecting, before Fulton had astonished them with his steamboat, or +those extravagant New Yorkers had invaded the town, building castles +overlooking the Tappan Zee, and school-houses where the heads of honest +Dutch children were filled with wicked thoughts.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[Pg 10]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hanz Toodleburg was short and stout of figure, had a full, round face, a +large blunt nose, and a small gray eye. Indeed, there was no mistaking +his ancestors, in whose language he spoke whenever the Dominie paid him +a visit, which he did quite often, for Hanz had always good cheer in the +house; and a bed for a stranger. In short, it was a boast of Hanz that +no traveller ever passed his house hungry, if he knew it. And it +increased his importance with his neighbors that he raised more bushels +to the acre than any of them, and sent better vegetables to the New York +market. More than that, he would tell all the big folks in the village, +with a nod of his head, that he owed no man a stiver he could not pay +before the sun set, and in such a way as to convey a sly hint that it +was more than they could do. The neighbors consulted Hanz concerning +their worldly affairs, and, indeed, received his opinions as good +authority. In fine, Hanz and the Dominie were called in to settle nearly +all the disputes arising between the country folks for miles around. And +it was said by these simple minded people that they got their rights +quicker and less expensively in this way than when they went to law in +the village and trusted to the magistrate and the lawyers for justice.</p> + +<p>As, however, there always will be idle and gossiping people everywhere +to say unkind things of their neighbors, especially when they are more +prosperous than themselves, so there were gossips and mischievous people +in the settlement who, when engaged over their cups, would hint at +suspicious enterprises in which Hanz's ancestors were engaged on the +Spanish Main. Indeed, they would hint at times that it was not saying +much for his family that his father had sailed with Captain Kidd, which +would account for the doubloons<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[Pg 11]</a></span> and Mexican dollars Hanz could always +bring out of a "rainy day." That Hanz had a stock of these coins put +safely away there could not be a doubt, for he would bring them out at +times and part with them, declaring in each case that they were the +last. But how he came by them was a mystery not all the wisdom of the +settlement could penetrate. It was conceded that if there was any man in +the settlement who knew more than Jacques, the schoolmaster, it was +Titus Bright, who kept the little inn near the big oak; and these two +worthies would discuss for hours over their toddy the question of how +Hanz came by his dollars and doubloons. But they never came to a +decision; and generally ended by sending their listeners home with their +wits worse perplexed than ever. It was all well enough for old Jacques +and the inn-keeper to show their knowledge of history; but the gossips +would have it that if Hanz's father had sailed with Captain Kidd he, of +course, knew where that bold pirate had buried his treasure, and had +imparted the secret to his son. Here was the way Hanz came possessed of +the doubloons and dollars. Indeed, it was more than hinted that Hanz had +been seen of dark and stormy nights navigating the Tappan Zee, alone in +his boat, and no one knew where he went. Another had it that he was sure +to part with a doubloon or two shortly after one of these excursions, +which told the tale. There were others who said it did not matter a fig +if Hanz Toodlebug's doubloons were a part of Kidd's hidden treasure; but +it was selfish of him not to disclose the secret, and by so doing give +his neighbors a chance to keep as good cows and sheep as he did. Hanz +was not the man to notice small scandal, and continued to smoke his pipe +and make his friends welcome whenever they looked in. Once or twice he +had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[Pg 12]</a></span> heard to say, that if anybody was particular to know how he +came by his doubloons and dollars he would tell them. There was a place +up in the mountain where he made them.</p> + +<p>I will say here, for the benefit of my readers, that the little old +house where Hanz Toodleburg lived, and about which there clustered so +many pleasant memories, still stands by the roadside, and is an object +of considerable curiosity. It is much gone to decay now, and a very +different person occupies it. There are persons still living in the +village who knew Hanz, and never pass the place without recurring to the +many happy hours spent under his roof. That was in the good old days, +before Nyack began to put on the airs of a big town. There is the +latticed arch leading from the gate to the door; the little veranda, +where the vines used to creep and flower in spring; the moss-covered +roof, and the big arm chair, made of cedar branches, where Hanz used to +sit of a summer evening contemplating the beauties of the Tappan Zee, +while drinking his cider and smoking his pipe. It was in this little +veranda that business of great importance to the settlers would at times +be discussed. The good sloop Heinrich was at that time the only regular +New York packet, making the round voyage every week. Her captain, one +Jonah Balchen, was much esteemed by the people of Nyack for his skill in +navigation; and it was said of him that he knew every rock and shoal in +the Tappan Zee, and no man ever lost his life who sailed with him. The +arrival of the good sloop Heinrich then was quite an event, and whenever +it occurred the neighbors round about would gather into Hanz's little +veranda to hear what news she brought from the city, and arrange with +Captain Balchen for the next freight. Indeed, these honest old<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[Pg 13]</a></span> Dutchmen +used to laugh at the idea of a man who would think of navigating the +Tappan Zee in a boat with a big tea-kettle in her bottom, and making the +voyage to New York quicker than the good sloop Heinrich.</p> + +<p>I have been thus particular in describing Hanz Toodleburg's little home, +since it was the birth-place of Titus Bright Von Toodleburg, who +flourished at a more recent date as the head of a very distinguished +family in New York, and whose fortunes and misfortunes it is my object +to chronicle.</p> + +<p>Having spoken only of one side of the family, I will proceed now to +enlighten the reader with a short account of the other, "Mine vrow, +Angeline," for such was the name by which Hanz referred to his good +wife, was a woman of medium size and height, and endowed with remarkable +good sense and energy. Heaven had also blessed her with that gentleness +of temper so necessary to make a home happy. They had, indeed, been +married nearly twenty years, and although nothing had come of it in the +way of an offspring, not a cross word had passed between them. It was +said to her credit that no housewife this side of the Tappan Zee could +beat her at making bread, brewing beer, or keeping her house in good +order. The frosts of nearly forty winters had whitened over her brows, +yet she had the manner and elasticity of a girl of eighteen, and a face +so full of sweetness and gentleness that it seemed as if God had +ordained it for man's love. Angeline's dress was usually of plain blue +homespun, woven by her own hands, and with her cap and apron of snowy +whiteness she presented a picture of neatness and comeliness not seen in +every house.</p> + +<p>There was a big, square room on the first floor, with a little bed room +adjoining, and an old-fashioned bed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[Pg 14]</a></span> with white dimity curtains, fringe, +and tassels made by Angeline's own hand. Snow white curtains also draped +the windows; and there was a tidy and cosy air about the little bed room +that told you how good a housewife Angeline was. An old-fashioned +hand-loom stood in one corner of the big, square room; and a flax and a +spinning-wheel had their places in another. A farm-house was not +considered well furnished in those days without these useful implements, +nor was a housewife considered accomplished who could not card, spin, +and weave. Angeline carded her own wool, spun her own yarn, and weaved +the best homespun made in the settlement; and had enough for their own +use and some to sell at the store. In addition to that there was no +housewife more expert at the flax-wheel, and her homemade linen was +famous from one end to the other of the Tappan Zee. Hanz was, indeed, so +skilful in the art of raising, hetcheling, and dressing flax, that all +the neighbors wanted to borrow his hetchel. And if needs be he could +make reeds and shuttles for the loom, while Angeline always used +harnesses of her own make. And so industrious was this good wife that +you could rarely pass the house of a night without hearing the hum of +the wheel or the clink of the loom.</p> + +<p>The good people about Nyack were honest in those days, paid their debts, +were happy in their very simplicity, and had no thought of sending to +Paris either for their fabrics or their fashions.</p> + +<p>Now Angeline's father was a worthy blacksmith, an honest and upright +man, who lived hard by, had a house of his own, and owed no man a +shilling. This worthy blacksmith had two daughters, Angeline and +Margaret, both remarkable for their good looks, and both blessed with +loving natures. And it was said by the neighbors<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[Pg 15]</a></span> that the only flaw in +the character of this good man's family was made by pretty Margaret, who +went away with and married one Gosler, a travelling mountebank. This +man, it is true, asserted that he was a Count in his own country, and +that misfortune had brought him to what he was. His manners were, +indeed, those of a gentleman; and there were people enough who believed +him nothing more than a spy sent by the British to find out what he +could.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[Pg 16]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_II" id="CHAPTER_II"></a>CHAPTER II.</h2> + +<h3>COMING INTO THE WORLD.</h3> + + +<p>It was mentioned in the last chapter that Hanz Toodleburg had seen +twenty years of the happiest of wedded life; and yet that Angeline had +not increased his joys with an offspring. Thoughtless people made much +ado about this, and there were enough of them in the settlement to get +their heads together and say all sorts of unkind things to Hanz +concerning this family failing. I verily believe that the time of +one-half of the human family is engaged seeking scandal in the +misfortunes of the other. And I have always found that you got the +ripest scandal in the smallest villages; and Nyack was not an exception. +No wonder, then, that Hanz had to bear his share of that slander which +one-half the world puts on the other. Not an idle fellow at the inn, +where Hanz would look in of an evening, but would have his sly joke. +Many a time he had to "stand" cider and ale for the company, and +considered he got off cheap at that. And when they drank his health, it +was with insinuating winks and nods; one saying:</p> + +<p>"What a pity. He ought to have somebody to leave his little farm to."</p> + +<p>"Yes," another would interrupt; "if he had a son he'd be sure to leave +him the secret of Kidd's treasure."</p> + +<p>The gossips of the village were to change their tune soon. Dame rumor +had been whispering it around for a month that there was something in +the wind at Toodleburg's. And, to put it more plainly, it was added<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[Pg 17]</a></span> +that Hanz was soon to be made a happy man by the appearance of a little +Toodleburg. This change, or rather apparent change, in the prospects of +the family did not relieve Hanz from the tax for ale and cider levied on +him by the idle fellows at the inn. Indeed, he had to stand just twice +the number of treats in return for the compliments paid him as a man and +a Christian. It was noticed, also, that the Dominie took tea more +frequently at Hanz's table; and that Critchel, the little snuffy doctor, +who had practised in the settlement for a quarter of a century, and, +indeed, assisted in bringing at least one-half of its inhabitants into +the world, and of course was considered very safe in such cases, had +increased his visits at the house.</p> + +<p>Now these honest old burghers had almanacs made with strict regard to +truth, and if they prognosticated a storm it was sure to come. They +would not consider it safe to navigate the Tappan Zee on a day fixed by +the almanac for a storm. On the 5th day of January, 1805, in the almanac +that never failed Hanz, there was this: "Look out for a snow storm." +This time, however, the snow, if not the storm, was ahead of the +almanac. Indeed, it had been falling slowly and gently for two days; and +a white sheet of it, at least three inches deep, covered the ground on +the morning of the 5th. The weather had changed during the night, and +now the air was sharp and cold. Dark, bleak clouds hung along the +horizon in the northeast, the distant hills stood out sharp and cold, +and a chilling wind whispered and sighed through the leafless trees. +Then the wind grew stronger and stronger, the snow fell thicker and +faster, making fantastic figures in the air, then dancing and scudding +to the force of the gale, and shutting the opposite shore from sight. +Nyack lay buried in a storm,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[Pg 18]</a></span> and the Tappan Zee was in a tempest. Snow +drifted through the streets, up the lanes, over the houses, and put +night-caps on the mountain tops. Snow danced into rifts in the roads and +across fields, and sent the traveller to the inn for shelter. Lowing +cattle sought the barn-yard for shelter, or huddled together under the +lee of some hay-stack, covered with snow. Night came, and still the snow +fell, and the wind blew in all its fury.</p> + +<p>It was on that cold, stormy night that a bright light might have been +seen burning in the little house where Hanz Toodleburg lived. The storm +had shook its frame from early morning; and now the windows rattled, +discordant sounds were heard on the veranda, wind sighed through the +crevices, and fine snow rifted in under the door and through the +latch-hole, and tossed itself into little drifts on the floor. Nyack was +buried in a storm that night. There was an old clock on the +mantle-piece, and it kept on ticking, and its ticks could be heard above +the storm. And the bright oak fire in the great fireplace threw out +shadows that flitted over the great loom, and the wheels, and the +festoons of dried apples, and the pumpkins that hung from the beams +overhead. And old Deacon, the faithful watch-dog, lay coiled up on the +flag hearth-stone.</p> + +<p>The old clock had nearly marked the hour of midnight as Hanz came out of +the little room in an apparently agitated state of mind. The dog raised +his head and moved his tail as Hanz approached the fire and threw some +sticks on. "Dere's no postponin' it; and it sthorms so," muttered Hanz, +shaking his head. Then he put on his big coat and boots, drew his cap +over his ears, and went out into the storm, leaving the big dog on +guard. How he struggled through the snow that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[Pg 19]</a></span> night, what difficulty he +had in waking up his two nearest neighbors, and getting one of them to +send his son for Doctor Critchel, and what was said about such things +always happening of such a night, I will leave to the imagination of my +reader.</p> + +<p>It was nearly an hour before Hanz returned, bringing with him two stout, +motherly-looking dames. The storm had handled their garments somewhat +roughly, and they were well covered with snow. The old dog was pleased +to see them, and wagged them a welcome, and made sundry other signs of +his affection. And when they had shaken the snow from their garments, +and taken seats by the fire, Hanz gave them fresh pipes, which they +lighted and proceeded to enjoy while he went to preparing something warm +for their stomachs, and doing various other little things regarded as +indispensable on such an occasion.</p> + +<p>The storm had caught the little house by the shoulders, and was giving +it one of its most violent shakes, when the dog suddenly started up, +gave a growl, then walked solemnly to the door and listened. A footstep +in the old veranda, then the stamping of feet, and a knock at the door +came. It was Critchel, the little snuffy doctor, who entered, looking +for all the world like an enlarged snow-ball. These were the occasions +in which the doctor rose into the most importance, and as his coming had +been waited with great anxiety, great efforts were made by those present +to assure him of the esteem in which he was held. Even the dog would not +go to his accustomed place on the hearth until he had caressed the +doctor at least a dozen times. Although held in great respect by the +settlers, Critchel was what might be called a shabby-looking little man, +for his raiment consisted of a brown coat, which he had worn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[Pg 20]</a></span> +threadbare, a pair of greasy pantaloons that were in shreds at the +bottom, a spotted vest, and a Spitlesfield neckerchief. Indeed, he was +as antique in his dress as in his ideas of the science of medicine. He +had a round, red face, a short, upturned red nose, and a very bald head, +which Hanz always declared held more sense than people were willing to +give him credit for. There was no quainter figure than this familiar old +doctor as seen mounted on his big-headed and clumsy-footed Canadian +pony, his saddle-bags well filled with pills and powders, and ready to +bleed or blister at call. He was considered marvelously skilful, too, at +drawing teeth and curing the itch, with which the honest Dutch settlers +were occasionally afflicted. I must mention, also, that an additional +cause of the great respect shown him by the settlers was that he took +his pay in such things as they raised on their little farms and could +best spare.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[Pg 21]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_III" id="CHAPTER_III"></a>CHAPTER III.</h2> + +<h3>THE NEW COMER.</h3> + + +<p>The storm ceased its fury at four o'clock, and a cold, bright, and calm +morning succeeded. The hills stood out in sharp, clear outlines, mother +earth had put on her cleanest cap, and there was not a ripple on all the +Tappan Zee. Hanz Toodleburg was now the happiest man in Nyack, for +Heaven had blessed his house and heart during the morning with as plump +and healthy a boy as ever was seen. There was a fond mother and a happy +father in the little house now; and the sweet innocent babe, their first +born, was like flowers strewn along their road of life. It was something +to live for, something to hope for, something to brighten their hopes of +the future, and to sweeten their love-dream.</p> + +<p>In spite of the snow drifts, news of this important event ran from one +end to the other of the settlement before the sun was an hour up, and +set it all aglow. The roadmaster was early at the door to warn Hanz out +to break roads, but excused him when he heard how happy a man he had +been made during the night. And when the merry men came along with their +oxen, and their sledges, and their drag-logs, ploughing through and +tossing the snow aside, and making a way for the traveller, there were +cheers given for honest Hanz and the little gentleman who had just come +to town. And as they ploughed along through the drifts, they struck up a +merry song, which so excited Hanz's emotions that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[Pg 22]</a></span> he could not resist +the temptation to put on his coat and follow them. And when they reached +Titus Bright's inn that ruddy-faced host met them at the door and bade +them welcome under his roof, and invited them to drink flip at his +expense. Hanz was treated and complimented in steaming mugs, and the +health and happiness of mother and son were not forgotten. Even the +Dominie was sent for, and made to drink flip and tell a story, which he +did with infinite good humor. Then the school-master, who was not to be +behind any of them when there was flip in the wind, looked in to pay his +compliments to Hanz, for the snow had closed up his little school-house +for the day. But, in truth, the pedagogue had a weakness he could not +overcome, and when invited to take flip tossed off so many mugs as +completely to loose his wits, though his tongue ran so nimbly that he +was more than a match for the Dominie, who declined discussing a +question of religion with him, but offered to tell a story for every +song he would sing. Four mugs of flip and two songs and the +school-master went into a deep sleep in his chair, where he remained for +the rest of the day.</p> + +<p>The question as to who should name the young gentleman at Hanz's house +was now discussed. The names of various great men were suggested, such +as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Hanz shook his head +negatively at the mention of these. "It vas not goot to give a poy too +pig a name; t-makes um prout ven da grows up," he said. It was finally +agreed that the young gentleman should be called Titus Bright, after the +little ruddy-faced inn-keeper. And the little man was so pleased with +the idea of having his name engrafted on that of the Toodleburg family, +that he promised a fat turkey and the best pig of the litter for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[Pg 23]</a></span> the +christening dinner. More flip was now drank, and the merry party shook +hands and parted in the best of temper.</p> + +<p>Hanz felt that as Heaven had blessed him and Angeline with this fine +boy, and so increased their joys, he must do something generous for his +friends. So, on the morning following he sent the Dominie a pig and a +peck of fine flour, for which that quaint divine thanked him and prayed +Heaven that he might send more. He gave the school-master a big pipe and +tobacco enough to last him a month. He also ordered the tailor to make +the pedagogue a new suit of homespun, something the poor man had not had +for many a day. School-mastering was not a business men got rich at in +those days, and poor Wiggins, for such was his name, had a hard time to +keep the wolf from his door. Indeed, he thought himself well paid with +four dollars a week and his victuals, which he got around among the +parents of his scholars. His worldly goods consisted of little else than +his birch and pipe, and the shabby clothes on his back. And as the +length of his engagements depended on his good behavior, which was none +of the best, he was frequently seen tramping from village to village in +search of a job.</p> + +<p>As for Doctor Critchel, Hanz felt that he owed him a debt of gratitude +he could never pay, even were he to give him the farm. It was no use +offering the doctor a new suit of clothes, as he was never known to wear +such things. As for snuff-boxes, he had at least a dozen. Hanz sent him +a goose to roast for his dinner, a fat sheep, and a bag of extra flour, +just from the mill.</p> + +<p>I may have been too particular in describing how and when this young +gentleman came into the world, but<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[Pg 24]</a></span> my reason for it is that there may +be those among my readers who will recognize the great and very +distinguished family of Von Toodleburg, which not many years ago amazed +New York with its brilliancy, and be anxious to know some of the ups and +downs of its early history.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[Pg 25]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IV" id="CHAPTER_IV"></a>CHAPTER IV.</h2> + +<h3>CHANGED PROSPECTS.</h3> + + +<p>Twelve years have passed since that stormy night when Titus Bright +Toodleburg—for the young gentleman as I have said before, was named +after the inn-keeper, came into the world. Great changes have taken +place since then. Tite, as the neighbors all call him, is now a bright, +intelligent boy, and a great favorite in the village. Hanz and Angeline +are proud of him, and he promises to be the joy of their declining +years. Hanz had always held to the opinion that men with too much +learning were dangerous to the peace of a neighborhood, inasmuch as it +caused them to neglect their farms and take to pursuits in which the +devil was served and honest people made beggars. He had, however, sent +Tite to school, and now the young gentleman could read, write, and +cypher; and this, he declared, was learning enough to get a man safe +through the world if he but followed an honest occupation and saved his +money. In addition to so much learning, the young gentleman had early +discovered an enterprising spirit, and a remarkable taste for +navigation. When only six years old he had his tiny sloops and +schooners, rigged by himself, on every duck-pond in the neighborhood. +And he could sail them with a skill remarkable in one so young. Indeed, +these duck-ponds were a source of great annoyance to Angeline, for +whenever one of Tite's crafts met with an accident he would wade to its +relief, no matter what the condition or color of the water.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[Pg 26]</a></span></p> + +<p>Hanz shook his head, and felt that no good would come of this taste for +the sea on the part of Tite. He intended to bequeath him the farm, so +that he could spend his life like an honest man in raising good +vegetables for the New York market. Following the sea, Hanz urged, was a +very dangerous occupation, and where one man made any money by it, more +than a dozen lost their lives by storms. But Tite was not to be put off +by such arguments. The spirit of adventure was in the boy, and all other +objects had to yield to his natural inclinations. And now, at the age of +twelve, we find Tite a smart, sprightly cabin-boy, on board the good +sloop Heinrich, making the voyage to New York and back once a week, and +taking his first lessons in practical seamanship.</p> + +<p>Wonderful changes had been developed along the beautiful Hudson during +these twelve years. People in the country said New York was getting to +be a very big, and a very wicked city. Already her skirmishers, in a +line of little houses, were pushed beyond the canal, and were +obliterating the cow-paths. The honest old Dutch settlers shrugged their +shoulders, and said it was not a good sign to see people get rich so +fast. Indeed, they declared that these fast and extravagant New Yorkers, +who were building great houses and sending big ships to all parts of the +world, would bring ruin on the country.</p> + +<p>A ship of five hundred tons had been added to the old London line, and +her great size was an object of curiosity. But the man who projected her +was regarded by careful merchants as very reckless, and not a safe man +to trust.</p> + +<p>That which troubled the minds of these peaceable old settlers most was +Mr. Fulton and his steamboat. Steam<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[Pg 27]</a></span> they declared to be a very +dangerous thing. And, as for this Mr. Fulton, he should be sent to an +insane asylum, before he destroyed all his friends, and lost all his +money in this dangerous undertaking. He might navigate the river with a +big tea-kettle in the bottom of his boat, but he would be sure to set +all the houses along the river on fire. And who was to pay the damages? +Steam was, however, a reality, and the little Fire Fly went puffing and +splashing up and down the river, alarming and astonishing the people +along its banks. She could make the voyage from the upper end of the +Tappan Zee to New York in a day, no matter how the wind blew. Hanz +Toodleburg called the Fire Fly an invention of the devil, and nobody +else. The bright blaze of her furnaces, and the long trail of fire and +sparks issuing from her funnel of a dark night, gave a spectre-like +appearance to her movements, that rather increased a belief amongst the +superstitious that she was really an invention of the evil one, sent for +some bad purpose.</p> + +<p>A meeting was called at Hanz Toodleburg's house to consider the +dangerous look of things along the river. The Dominie and the +schoolmaster, and all the wise men in the settlement, were present, and +gave their opinions with the greatest gravity. If this Mr. Fulton, it +was argued, could, with the aid of the evil one, build these steamboats +to go to New York and back in a day, why there was an end to the +business of sloops and barges. And if the honest men who owned these +vessels were thrown out of business, how were they to get bread for +their families? These new inventions, Hanz argued, would be the ruin of +no end of honest people.</p> + +<p>The schoolmaster, who assumed great wisdom on all such occasions, and +who had tossed off several pots of beer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[Pg 28]</a></span> during the evening, put the +whole matter in a much more encouraging light. He had read something +about steam, he said, and knew that it was a very dangerous thing for a +man to trifle with. Mr. Fulton had built his steamboat one hundred and +nine feet long; and he could get to New York and back in a day, if +nothing happened to his boiler, which was all the time in danger of +bursting. Then if the boiler bursted, very likely the boat and all in +her would go to the bottom. Just let that happen once in the Tappan Zee, +and there would be an end to Mr. Fulton and his invention for getting +people to New York quick. Just let him set the Tappan Zee afire once, +and people would make such a storm that nothing more would be heard of +his inventions. When there was such danger of losing one's life +travelling in this way, what careful farmer, who had a family depending +on him, would think of either going himself or sending his produce to +market in such a way? There was no wisdom in the thing. The people would +stick to the sloops. That was the only safe way for sensible people to +get to market. Let them stick to the sloops, and Mr. Fulton would not +build a castle of what he got by his inventions.</p> + +<p>The meeting was highly gratified at what the schoolmaster had said, and, +indeed, felt so much relieved that Hanz ordered a keg of fresh beer to +be tapped. These noisy, splashing steamboats would frighten people, and +by that means the good old-fashioned way of getting to market would not +be interfered with. It was also a source of great relief to these honest +people, that when those extravagant New Yorkers had spent all their +money on such wild and dangerous experiments, they would be content to +stay at home and mind their own business. Another source of great alarm +to these honest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[Pg 29]</a></span> people was that several New Yorkers had come to Nyack, +and were building large houses, and otherwise setting examples of +extravagance to their children, when it was reported that they did not +pay their honest debts in town. The people of Hudson, too, were going +wild over a project for establishing a South-sea Company, and sending +ships to the far off Pacific ocean—where the people were, it had been +said, in the habit of eating their friends—to catch whales. Now, as the +people of Hudson had no more money than was needed at home, this +dangerous way of spending all they had was not to be justified.</p> + +<p>Satisfied that they had settled a question of grave importance, and in +which the great interests of the country were involved, these honest +Dutchmen smoked another pipe and drank another mug of beer, and then +went quietly to their homes, feeling sure that the world and all Nyack +would be a gainer by what they had done.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[Pg 30]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_V" id="CHAPTER_V"></a>CHAPTER V.</h2> + +<h3>TITE TOODLEBURG AND A MODERN REFORMER.</h3> + + +<p>Young Tite Toodleburg has grown up to be a boy of sixteen. A bright, +handsome fellow he is, every inch a sailor, and full of the spirit of +adventure. There is something more than Dutch blood in Tite, and it +begins to show itself. His figure is erect and slender, his hair soft +and flaxen, and his blue eyes and fresh, smiling face, almost girlish in +its expression, gave to his regular features a softness almost feminine. +And yet there was something manly, resolute, and even daring in his +actions. There was no such thing as fear in his nature. He had acquired +such a knowledge of seamanship that he could handle the good sloop +Heinrich quite as skilfully as the skipper, and, indeed, make the voyage +to New York as promptly as the greatest navigator on the Tappan Zee. He +was expert, too, at taking in and delivering out cargo, could keep the +sloop's account, and drive as good a trade as any of them with the +merchants in Fly Market. In this way Tite made a host of friends, who +began to look forward to the time when he would have a sloop of his own, +and be in a way to do friendly acts for them, perhaps to make a fortune +for himself.</p> + +<p>Tite thought very differently. Navigating the river in a sloop, to be +passed by one of Mr. Fulton's steamboats, was not the sort of sea-faring +that suited his ambition. He had seen big ships come home, after long +voyages, and the majesty of their appearance excited his spirit of +adventure. He had also spent his evenings<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[Pg 31]</a></span> reading the works of +celebrated navigators and travellers; and these very naturally increased +his curiosity to know more of the world and see the things they had +seen. He had also looked out through the Narrows of New York harbor, and +his young heart had yearned to be on the broad ocean beyond. If he could +only master all the mysteries of Bowditch, be a skilful navigator, and +capable of sailing a ship to any part of the world, and see strange +things and people—that day might come, he thought to himself. He had +listened, too, for hours at a time, to the stories of old sailors who +had come on board the sloop while in port. One had been to India, and +another to Ceylon; and both told wonderful stories concerning the +voyages they had made and the people they had met. Another had seen +every port in the North Pacific, had been wrecked on Queen Charlotte's +Island, and told wonderful stories of his adventures in rounding Cape +Horn. His adventures among the South Sea Islands were of the most +romantic kind, and colored so as to incite the ambition of a venturesome +young lad like Tite to the highest pitch. There was another old sailor +who had sailed the South and North Pacific, had killed his score of +whales, and been as many times within an inch of losing his own life.</p> + +<p>These stories so fired the young gentleman's imagination that he +resolved to try his fortune at a whaling voyage as soon as the people of +Hudson sent their first ship out. There was the wide world before him, +and perhaps he might find the means of making a fortune in some distant +land. But how was he to break this resolution to his kind parents, whom +he loved so dearly? What effect would it have on his mother, who doted +on him, and for whom he had the truest affection? His mind hung between +hope for the future and duty to his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[Pg 32]</a></span> parents. Regularly every Saturday +afternoon Tite had come home, received his mother's blessing, and put +his earnings into her hands for safe-keeping. There would be an end of +this if he went to the South Sea. Then his parents were both getting +old, and would soon need a protector, and if anything serious happened +to them during his absence how could he ever forgive himself. Week after +week and month after month did Tite ponder these questions in his mind, +and still his resolution to see the world grew stronger and stronger.</p> + +<p>It was about this time that there settled in Nyack a queer and very +inquisitive sort of man of the name of Bigelow Chapman. He was a +restless, discontented sort of man, very slender of figure, with sharp, +well-defined features, keen gray eye, and wore his dark hair long and +unkept. His manner was that of a man discontented with the world, which, +he said, needed a great deal of reforming; indeed, that it could be +reformed, ought to be reformed, and that he was the man to do it. He had +been the founder of Dogtown, Massachusetts, where he had built up a very +select community of keen-witted men and women—just to set an example to +the world of how people ought to live. Dolly Chapman, his wife, (for +what would a reformer be without a wife,) was a ponderous woman, +weighing more than two hundred pounds, and a proof that even in +matrimony the opposites meet. She was a fussy, ill-bred woman, spoke +with a strong nasal twang, and a sincere believer in all the reforms +advocated by her husband, though she differed with him on one or two +points of religion. And there was Mattie Chapman, a bright, bouncing +girl of fifteen, with rosy cheeks and fair hair, ambitious for one of +her age, and evidently inclined to make a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[Pg 33]</a></span> show in the world. These +constituted the Chapman family.</p> + +<p>Dogtown, of which I made mention, was a creation of Chapman's. With it +he was to demonstrate how the world could be reformed, and how the +prejudices were to be driven from other people's minds. Strong-minded +people from various towns in Massachusetts came and settled in Dogtown, +invested their money, were to do an equal share of work, and receive an +equal share of profits, and live together as happily as lambs. But +Dogtown did not long continue a paradise. Indeed, it soon became famous +for two things: for the name of Bigelow Chapman, and for having more +crazy and quarrelsome people in it than could be found in any other town +in Massachusetts, which was saying a good deal. The brothers and +sisters, for such they called themselves, got to quarrelling among +themselves on matters of politics and religion, though charity was a +thing they made no account of. In truth, there was more politics than +religion in their preaching.</p> + +<p>Chapman constituted himself treasurer of the community, and some little +private speculations of his led to a belief among the brothers and +sisters that his mind was not solely occupied with schemes for reforming +the world. To tell the truth, Bigelow Chapman was not so great a fool as +his followers. He had intended, when Dogtown got thoroughly under way, +to sell out, put the money in his pocket, and employ his genius +somewhere else. He, however, undertook the enterprise of building a +church on speculation, being persuaded to do so by an outside Christian.</p> + +<p>The church was to be a large, handsome building, with a butcher's shop +and a grocery, a shoe store and a confectionery in the basement, and a +school and a dancing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[Pg 34]</a></span> academy up stairs; so that the brothers and +sisters could get everything they wanted, religion included, in one +locality. But the enterprise failed for want of funds to finish it, and +Dogtown went to the dogs, and the Chapman family to Nyack. Report has it +that the church was afterwards finished and converted into an insane +asylum, where several of the brothers and sisters lived for the rest of +their lives.</p> + +<p>It was hinted that Chapman had brought some money to Nyack with him, but +exactly how much no one knew. The only thing positively known about him +at that time was that he had a great number of new ideas, all of which +he was in great haste to develope. Indeed, he soon had Nyack in a state +of continual agitation. He declared it his first duty to open the eyes +of the Dutch settlers to truth and right; then to get them to thinking; +and finally to make fortunes for all of them. He begun business, +however, by quarrelling with nearly everybody in the village, and +asserting that he knew more than all of them.</p> + +<p>Twice he had Titus Bright, the inn-keeper, up before the magistrate and +fined for selling liquor in opposition to law. He proclaimed it highly +immoral to sell liquor at all, and told Bright to his teeth that no +honest man would do it. For this he had been twice kicked out of the inn +by Bright, who damned him as a meddling varlet, not to be tolerated in a +peaceable village. Again he had Bright up before the magistrate, who +justified the aggression, but fined the aggressor ten dollars a kick, +which Bright considered cheap enough considering what was got for his +money. Bright declared it a principle with him to give his customers +what they wanted, and let them be the judge of their own necessities. +Bigelow Chapman held that mankind was a big beast, to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[Pg 35]</a></span> be subdued and +governed by laws made for his subjection. It never occurred to him, +however, that there might be reason in the opinions of others. Finding, +however, that he could not get the better of Bright in any other way, he +organized a company and set up an opposition tavern, where a traveller +could feel at home and have none of the annoyances of beer. The new inn +was to be conducted on strictly temperance principles, and the price of +board was to be reduced a dollar a week. But the principle of temperance +was carried out so rigidly in the fare that travellers, although treated +politely enough, found it difficult to get anything to eat, to say +nothing of drink.</p> + +<p>While this was going on Mrs. Bigelow Chapman was busying herself getting +up an anti-tea-and-coffee-drinking society. She declared that this +coffee and tea-drinking was nothing less than an oppression, breaking +down people's health and making them poor, while the grocers who sold +the stuff were getting rich. It was evident, also, that she was carrying +her principles out on the table of the new inn. However commendable +these reforms might be in the eyes of a true reformer, they were not +exactly the thing to satisfy the wants of hungry travellers. The new inn +soon got up an excellent reputation for giving its customers nothing but +politeness and clean linen. This not being satisfactory to the +travelling public generally, the establishment had to close its doors +for want of customers. Chapman was surprised at this. He could not +understand why reformers were not better appreciated about Nyack. The +stock-holders, however, had lost all their money, and were glad to sell +out to Chapman, which they did for a trifle, and that was all he +wanted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[Pg 36]</a></span></p> + +<p>People began to inquire what the big building would next be turned into. +Mrs. Chapman and her dear husband, as she called him, were always +projecting something new. Indeed, she saw two fortunes in the future +where Chapman only saw one. The thought invaded her mind that there was +a fortune to be made by turning the big house into a great moral +progress boarding-school for young ladies, where "all the proprieties" +would be strictly attended to. Yes, "the proprieties" would take with +steady-minded people. She could attend to the proprieties, and dear +Chapman could look after the little money affairs. She did not want to +trouble herself with the sordid things of this world; she only wanted to +reform it. And to do that you must begin at the bottom. You must teach +young people, and especially young ladies, the value of reforms. In that +way you enable them to reform their husbands when they get them, and +also make them comprehend the value of new ideas. As for old people, she +declared it time wasted to try to get new ideas into their heads.</p> + +<p>Chapman congratulated his dear wife on this new and grand idea. He +agreed with her that a woman was just the thing to straighten up a +husband in need of mental and physical reformation. But it would not do +to start the enterprise until you could get people to take stock enough +to insure a sound basis. He did not care about money himself, still it +was necessary to the success of all great enterprises. And seeing that +the inn had failed, though based on great moral principles, he was not +quite sure that the people would hasten to take stock in the new +enterprise.</p> + +<p>It was also an objection with Chapman that with such an institution +there would be nothing to run opposition to except a few beer-drinking +school-masters, who got their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[Pg 37]</a></span> victuals and fifteen dollars a month for +driving a knowledge of the rule of three into the heads of little Dutch +children. How different it would be with a church. And then the big inn +could be made such an excellent church, at such a small expense. A man +owning a church could feel himself strong in both politics and religion, +and have all the quarrels he wanted. Chapman was delighted with this new +idea of his; and his good wife supposed it was infinitely superior to +her own. It was another proof to her that there was no greater man in +the world than her dear Chapman. Once get the church going, and with a +preacher of the Dogtown school, to preach out and out transcendentalism, +and another ism or two, and they could get up an opposition that would +be popular with the people. In that way the thing would be sure to go.</p> + +<p>Chapman declared this a golden opportunity. He had felt for some time +like getting up something that would drive the devil and all the +Dutchmen out of Nyack and into the Tappan Zee, and establish an entire +new order of things.</p> + +<p>It was agreed between Chapman and his good wife that the church should +be put on its legs without delay; that the work of reforming Nyack and +the rest of the world should begin at once. As funds were necessary to +all great enterprises, and Chapman was inclined at all times to husband +his own, the good woman got up a regular season of religious +tea-parties, exclusively "for ladies." Mrs. Chapman was intent on +popularizing the enterprise, and to that end had inserted on her cards +of invitation, "exclusively for ladies." There was nothing like tea when +you wanted to make a great reform movement popular. Chapman had more +than once said that woman, under the inspiration of tea, made<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[Pg 38]</a></span> a mighty +engine in moving the world. Under its influence they gave enlargement +and development to progressive ideas. It had been charged that great +generals won their most celebrated battles under the influence of strong +drink. He had known great generals to win great battles under the +inspiration of tea alone. Tea and women were prodigious in their way.</p> + +<p>The tea parties were not only got on their legs, but soon became very +popular. There were women enough in Nyack to give them, and neither rain +nor hail would keep them home of a Thursday evening. The great value of +progressive ideas was thoroughly discussed over these cups; and the fact +that their husbands were to be brought into a line of subjugation not +before anticipated had an inspiring effect. In short, female Nyack began +to carry a high head, and to make male Nyack feel that he was no longer +master in its own house. Dolly Chapman presided at these tea-parties +with that smartness peculiar to women of her class, taking particular +pains to explain how much could be done for Nyack and the world—if only +the women could get the direction of things into their own hands. A +church as the means of carrying out these new and grand ideas was +exactly what was wanted. The tea-party women all took up the idea, and +the enterprise was made so popular that each resolved herself into a +begging committee, and soon had collected the sum of seven hundred +dollars, an amount sufficient to put the thing on its legs.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[Pg 39]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VI" id="CHAPTER_VI"></a>CHAPTER VI.</h2> + +<h3>A LITTLE FAMILY AFFAIR.</h3> + + +<p>While the heads of the Chapman family were engaged in their great work +of reform, and Hanz Toodleburg, as the head of the Dutch settlers, was +preparing to resist all their efforts, Mattie Chapman and young Tite +were engaging in a matter of a very different nature. A little flame of +love had begun to burn in their youthful hearts, and was giving out such +manifestations of tenderness. I have noticed that when once the little +under-current of love begins to ebb and flow in young and innocent +hearts, it will break over whatever obstacles you put in its way, and +rarely stops until it has reached that haven of happiness called +matrimony. The parents of these young people seemed to have been cast in +opposite moulds, mentally and physically. Their modes of thought, their +expectations, and their manner of living differed entirely. Hanz +Toodleburg was simple-minded, honest, contented with his lot in the +world, smoked his pipe, and lived in peace with his neighbors. And these +he esteemed the greatest blessings a man could enjoy. Chapman was +restless, designing, ambitious of wealth, and ready always to quarrel +with those who did not fall in with his opinions. Indeed, he never +seemed happier than when he had a quarrel on hand; and he had the rare +tact of turning a quarrel into profit.</p> + +<p>It was very different with the young people. In their innocent hearts +the fires of love had been kindled, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[Pg 40]</a></span> they were burning brighter and +brighter every day. The thought that they should incur opposition from +their parents never entered their minds. They would meet together of a +Sunday afternoon, and walk by the river side. They would meet and talk +over the gate as Tite passed and re-passed Chapman's house. And Mattie +was sure to meet him at the gate as he passed on his way to New York. +And then there would be an affectionate good-bye, and Mattie would watch +him until he had disappeared beyond the hill. The ordinary observer +would have seen in Tite's blushes and confused manner, whenever he met +Mattie, how the current of his love was setting. And when he returned at +the end of the week there was something for Mattie, some little token of +his affection; a proof that he had cherished her in his thoughts while +absent.</p> + +<p>This little love affair did not fail to attract the attention of the +Chapman family. Nor was honest Hanz Toodleburg indifferent to what was +going on. Indeed, the gossips at the inn had joked Hanz about it, +hinting at a future connection of the two families. To all of which Hanz +would reply that Tite was only a boy yet, and had a good deal of other +kinds of business to do before thinking of what sort of a wife he +wanted. "If ta torter ish like ta fader, sho quarrelsome, t'man what +gets her for a vife don't lives in t'house mit her," Hanz would always +conclude.</p> + +<p>Young as Tite was, he began to look on the matter seriously. The whaling +voyage was still exciting his ambition, however, and he began to enquire +of every one he thought likely to know, when the people of Hudson would +send their first ship to the South Sea. Then the thought of leaving +Mattie would depress his spirits, and for a time shake his resolution. +The trouble with him<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[Pg 41]</a></span> at first was how he could separate from his +parents; now his love for Mattie was added to his obstacles.</p> + +<p>Chapman had not failed to notice this little affair of the affections +between the young people. He had noticed, also, that it had attracted +the attention of his wife. But neither had spoken of it. In short, +Chapman was anxious to have his wife refer to it first, to see in what +light she viewed it. And Mrs. Chapman was equally anxious to have her +dear husband, as she called him, express an opinion on the subject +before she gave one. He had once or twice noticed that when the young +people were at the gate she would call Mattie and tell her it was time +to come in; that she ought not to stay there so long talking to a +sailor-boy. Mattie would yield obedience with blushes and an air of +reluctance, the meaning of which her mother properly understood.</p> + +<p>The truth of the matter was that the affair had engaged Chapman's +thoughts for some time; and it suddenly occurred to him that the whole +thing might be turned to profit. Toodleburg was a man of some +consequence among the people; they had great confidence in his +integrity, and implicitly believed him possessed of a secret that would +make the fortune of every man in Nyack. He had been evolving that secret +in his mind for some time, and if he could in any way get the confidence +of Hanz, and obtain the secret, or allow himself to be used in +connection with it, he could make money enough to live like a lord in +New York. And that was exactly what Mrs. Chapman wanted. The good woman, +however, had been so much engaged of late getting the new church on its +legs, and negotiating for the services of the Reverend Warren Holbrook, +of Dogtown, Massachusetts, who was to spread the doctrines of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[Pg 42]</a></span> +transcendentalism, and a variety of other isms, before the people, and +turn Nyack out of doors, religiously speaking, that she felt that she +had not performed her whole duty towards Mattie.</p> + +<p>There had been a religious tea-party at Chapman's house, where the +affair of the new church had been talked over, and the opening day +arranged. Mrs. Chapman was in her best dress, with a profusion of +ribbons streaming down her back, and a puffy cap on her head. She had +received a letter from the Reverend Warren Holbrook, accepting the offer +of three hundred dollars a year and board and washing, and saying, that +in addition to transcendentalism, he would advocate the equality of the +great human family. If these poor, benighted Dutch people who lived +about Nyack would only be regenerated and made progressive. Mrs. Chapman +found great consolation in this letter, and sat down to read it to her +dear husband, who had moved up nearer to the lamp and opened the last +great-work on the new doctrine.</p> + +<p>When she had finished reading it she paused for a moment, and then +spoke. "Have you noticed, my dear," she enquired, and again hesitating, +"what has been going on between our Mattie—?" Again she hesitated.</p> + +<p>Expecting what was coming, Chapman interposed by saying, "Don't be +afraid to speak, my darling; I know what you mean."</p> + +<p>"I meant," resumed Mrs. Chapman, blushing and looking very serious, "I +meant, have you noticed the attention that sailor-boy—(young Toodlebug +did you call him?) horrors! what a name—was paying to our Mattie?"</p> + +<p>"Burg, my dear, not bug," rejoined Chapman.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[Pg 43]</a></span></p> + +<p>"People are beginning to talk about it, and they say such things!" The +good woman blushed, and assumed an air of great seriousness. "The young +man may be well enough, but then the Toodlebugs are only a common Dutch +family."</p> + +<p>"Toodleburgs, my dear, not bugs. The name makes a great difference with +some people," rejoined Chapman, correctively. "Very natural, my dear, +very natural. The most natural thing in the world for young people to +make love. And the most natural thing in the world is that people should +talk about it. It is according to the principles of true philosophy. You +must not be alarmed, my dear, when you see young people make love. Harm +rarely comes of it, and it generally ends in a very small affair."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear," replied the good woman, "and experience has proved to me +that it sometimes ends in a very large affair. A little flirtation +between young people—"</p> + +<p>"Should be encouraged, my darling," interrupted Chapman.</p> + +<p>"I was going to say," she continued, "was not objectionable. But when +looks come to be serious, the equality of things should be enquired +into. Time's a coming when we may be rich, and live in New York, and be +somebody, and move with the best of people. I looks forward to it, my +dear; and I am sure the enterprises we have on hand will be a success. +It will never do to marry our daughter to a sailor-boy, to say nothing +of connecting ourselves to a common Dutch family—"</p> + +<p>"You talk like a philosopher, my darling; but I have known worse things +done, and great results flow from them. That young man promises well, +and as for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[Pg 44]</a></span> old Hanz, he is a man of more importance than you think. +Some of these Dutch people are slow, but solid," rejoined Chapman, +shutting up the book. "I have an object in view, and this little, +innocent flirtation may help to improve it. At least, it can do no +harm."</p> + +<p>"It is not good to let anything go on that might lead to harm," resumed +the good woman. "Mattie has good looks, and I intend that she shall have +a polished education, and shine in society some day. You have always +agreed with me, my dear, that it was good to look forward. How could +Mattie shine in society with such a husband, and such a name? The very +name of Toodlebug would sink us. Yes, my dear, sink us right down—"</p> + +<p>"Wrong again, my dear; Tutle-burg. You may put an <i>e</i> in it instead of +an <i>r</i>, if you please. That's where the difference is," interrupted +Chapman.</p> + +<p>"I don't care, my dear; these polite people would turn up their noses, +and get it Too-dle-bug. They are very nice on names. If the young man +should get up in the world and keep a carriage, people would say 'there +goes Too-dle-bug's carriage—oh! what a name. What low people they must +have been.' If they should own a house in the fashionable part of the +city. We should both look forward to that, you know. Would'nt it be a +horrid name to read on the door? Toodlebug!"</p> + +<p>"Tutle-burg, my dear; there's a big difference," interposed Mr. Chapman.</p> + +<p>"As you says; but nice people would not pronounce it except with a bug," +continued the good woman, looking discomfitted. "You have given so much +time to progress and reforming the world, that you don't understand +these matters as well as I do. I am sure there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[Pg 45]</a></span> would be blushes and +smiles enough over such a name. Think of our daughter being Mrs. +Toodlebug, (I pronounce it with a b-u-g, you see,) and inviting nice +people to her reception. There would be people enough at that reception +to make light of the name. Yes, Mr. Chapman, you might as well have her +married to a Mr. Straddlebug. It's so very vulgar, my dear."</p> + +<p>"As to that," replied Chapman, "the world is a great vulgarity, and only +puts on politeness for appearance sake. The young man might have his +name changed, or he might add something to it to soften it. How would +you like Von Toodleburg, my dear?"</p> + +<p>"Never can be softened; never! The Von would do something to lift a +family up into respectability. And then, socially speaking, there was +such a wide difference between them distinguished Dutch families and +them common Dutch families."</p> + +<p>"What would you have me do about it, darling?" enquired Chapman, +submissively.</p> + +<p>"Oppose it, my dear!" replied Mrs. Chapman, bowing, and becoming +earnest. "Oppose it. You know how to oppose everything, and surely you +can oppose this."</p> + +<p>This reply troubled Chapman considerably. He had for once found +something he would rather encourage than oppose. But he had a motive for +his action, as will be seen hereafter.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[Pg 46]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_VII" id="CHAPTER_VII"></a>CHAPTER VII.</h2> + +<h3>THE TOWN MOVED WITH INDIGNATION.</h3> + + +<p>It was less than a week after the scenes we have described in the +foregoing chapter took place, that the good sloop Heinrich arrived, +having made her weekly voyage to New York and back. A small, ill-favored +man, with a very long red beard, and very long red hair, might have been +seen stepping ashore, with a book and an umbrella under his arm, and +wending his way up the lane, followed by Tite, carrying a corpulent +carpet-bag. There was a combative air about the little man, who stared +with a pair of small, fierce eyes, through a pair of glaring spectacles +at every one he met. He was dressed in a shabby black suit, that hung +loosely on his lean figure. This, with a broad, rolling collar, a pair +of russet brogans, and a common straw hat, turned up at one side, +completed his wardrobe, and gave an odd appearance to the man. Indeed, +the gentleman had no taste for the vanities of the world, and parted his +hair in the middle to save trouble. The ordinary observer might easily +have mistaken him for a school-master out of employment and in distress. +That such a man was to upset the settled opinions of a big town, few +persons would have believed. Such, however, was this odd-looking little +man's mission, and there was no end of new ideas contained in that +little bumpy forehead of his.</p> + +<p>The new arrival was the much-expected Reverend Warren Holbrook, from +Dogtown last. As I have said before, he looked askance and inquisitively +at every one he met as he walked up the lane. He bowed, too, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[Pg 47]</a></span> had a +smile for all the females; then he enquired the name and condition of +those who lived in each house he came to—how many children they had, +and whether they were boys or girls. Now he paused and rested on his +umbrella when he had reached a bit of high ground, and gazed over Nyack +generally, and then over the Tappan Zee. Here was the new field of the +great labors before him. How often he had taken Dogtown by the neck and +shaken her up severely. The day might come when he would have to take +Nyack by the neck and give her a good shaking up, morally and +religiously. Mrs. Chapman had written him to say that Nyack was a bad +place, secularly and otherwise.</p> + +<p>The whole Chapman family (including the big dog) was out at the door to +welcome the stranger; and such a warm greeting as he got. Mrs. Chapman +assured him that the best in the house had been prepared for him, and +that she had got the town in a state of great anxiety to see him. To +tell the truth, this busy, bustling woman had been blowing a noisy +trumpet for him in advance, and enlisting a large amount of female +sympathy by stating that he was preeminent as an advocate of woman's +rights in all things.</p> + +<p>Of course the Reverend Warren Holbrook's arrival soon got noised over +Nyack, and the female mind was in a state of great agitation. Before +bed-time a number of curious and somewhat aged women dropped in to pay +their respects to the gentleman, and see for themselves what this man of +great natural gifts, who was to reform all Nyack and the world +generally, was like.</p> + +<p>There was one member of the Chapman family, however, not pleased with +the way things were going, and that was Mattie. When the older Chapmans +had taken their guest into the house, she embraced the opportunity<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[Pg 48]</a></span> to +have a talk with Tite, and reproached him for what she had seen him do.</p> + +<p>"Now, Tite," said she, looking earnestly into his face, "if you have any +respect for me, never walk behind a man, carrying his carpet-bag—never! +And such a looking man as that! You are as good as he, or anybody else, +and if you don't think yourself so, other people wont think so for you. +Never think you are not as good as somebody. Don't act as a help for +anybody, for if you do you will be set down for nobody all your life."</p> + +<p>At first Tite hardly knew what to say in reply. The nature of the rebuke +showed the deep interest Mattie felt in him. "If I had taken pay," said +Tite, hesitating, "'twould have been different. I carried his +carpet-bag, I know, but then I did it as a favor; and, as you saw, +declined to take the sixpence he offered me. But I'll do as you say, +Mattie, and won't do so again; for I want to please you, you know." The +words fell nervously from Tite's lips, and there was a throbbing at the +heart he could not suppress.</p> + +<p>"My mother," resumed Mattie, in a frank, girlish manner, "brought this +man Warren Holbrook into the house at Dogtown, and he got father into +such a deal of trouble. He was always quarrelling with somebody. He got +up a disturbance in the church. And then the church all went to pieces. +Oh, what a church it was! And mother thinks he's such a nice man. I +don't. Don't carry his carpet-bag again, Tite. Don't make a menial of +yourself for anybody." After saying this she walked part of the way home +with Tite, and then they parted with a sweet good-night.</p> + +<p>The following day being Sunday, and the Reverend Warren Holbrook having +brought several prepared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[Pg 49]</a></span> sermons with him, service was held in the new +church at the regular morning hour. The women gathered in great numbers, +and nearly filled the church; and the odd appearance of the little man, +as he took his place in the pulpit, was a subject of general remark.</p> + +<p>His sermon, I may here state, was one of the most singular and +pyrotechnical ever preached in Nyack. He began by saying that Christ had +risen, and was with them in person. He had come to Nyack, he added, to +tell the truth and preach to sinners, for he understood the devil had +had things his own way for a long time in the town; and he understood +also there were sinners enough in Nyack to sink it. The world had +reached a stage of wickedness when it needed reforming. It must be +reformed, or it would sink under the weight of its wickedness. People +were getting rich, and with great riches there always came pride and +wickedness. He continued in this strain for nearly an hour, mixing up +transcendentalism, rationalism, unitarianism, and a number of other +isms, so unartistically as to astonish and confound his audience, and +give his hearers something to talk about for a week.</p> + +<p>Then he suddenly broke away from his disputed points, as he called them, +and took up the subject of woman's wrongs. "My hearers," said he, +pausing and pointing upward with the fore-finger of his right hand, +"What would the world be without woman? From the very beginning of the +world she has been the victim of wrong, great wrong. Man has sinned +against her by making her his inferior. God never intended that she +should be the inferior of man. He never would have created her with a +form so beautiful, and a voice so soft and musical, if he had not +intended her for man's superior. And the day will come, and come soon, +too,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[Pg 50]</a></span> when she will have her rights, and her voice will be heard in the +government of the nation. The angel that she is! Woman is a great power. +She has made kings and conquerors, and she can unmake them. She has +influenced the acts of statesmen, and made children of grave Senators. +Yes, my hearers, her power can be made greater than the throne. And yet +how few husbands appreciate their wives as they should do." Here the +reverend gentleman paused for a few seconds, and cast meaning glances at +several of his male hearers, who were evidently not inclined to receive +his remarks with favor. Indeed, Mr. Holbrook, while making a high bid +for popularity with the female portion of his audience, was throwing an +immense fire-brand into the family circle of a number of his hearers.</p> + +<p>"My hearers, remember this," resumed this odd little man: "Manage a +woman right, and you have a mighty power to carry out the greatest +project the world ever saw."</p> + +<p>Disjointed and illogical as this sermon was, it was just what Chapman +and Mrs. Chapman wanted to put the church of the new ideas firm on its +legs. It was popular with the women; and with their favor Holbrook could +ride triumphantly over any number of quarrels.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman intimated to another admiring female that the little man +they had just listened to was very like an oyster—looked better when +opened. In short, it was the general opinion of the women that Mr. +Holbrook had preached a very sensible sermon; and they were delighted, +notwithstanding what their husbands said to the contrary. "We have got a +preacher now," said the women, "who will stick up for our rights. You +men have had it all your own way long enough."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[Pg 51]</a></span> Some of the men, +however, were not inclined to let these taunts pass quietly, declaring +that they had never listened to such nonsense before. One shook his +head, and declared that no good could come of such preaching, since +there was no true religion in it. Another snapped his fingers, saying +the man was not only a fool, but a mischief-maker. A third said all the +trouble in the world had been made by just such meddlesome men. The +church of great moral ideas might be a good enough church for some +people; but such a preacher as this made more infidels than honest men.</p> + +<p>The whole town soon got into a dispute as to whether the Reverend Warren +Holbrook was a wise and good man, or simply a mischief-making egotist. +The women took the side of Holbrook, and stuck to it, like true women. +He preached the right sort of religion, they said, and was a wise and +good man, or he could not preach as he did. The men did not believe a +word of it, but seeing that their wives were inclined to have it all +their own way, and would not hear a word against the new preacher, +quietly submitted, as men generally do. That is to say, they surrendered +their authority.</p> + +<p>Chapman was delighted at the nice little turn his preacher had made in +the affairs of the town. Nothing pleased him better than to have a dozen +disputes on hand at a time. If only well nursed they could be all made +profitable. Woman was the great pillar of Chapman's hopes. He had always +regarded her as the great foundation of any church. She could make it +popular if she pleased, and she could make it profitable, too. This, in +a measure, accounted for the unlimited admiration Mrs. Chapman had for +this great progressive clergyman. His great progressive religion was +just exactly the thing needed in Nyack. He must next<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[Pg 52]</a></span> attack the +Dominie, and drive him out of his pulpit, for it would not do to have +men preaching in an unknown tongue at this enlightened day.</p> + +<p>In less than two months from the time this teacher of great progressive +ideas landed at Nyack, he had not only got the town by the ears, but so +divided his flock that it was now composed almost exclusively of women. +The men stayed at home and nursed their wrath. And it was good for them +that they did, for the women had things all their own way generally, and +Warren Holbrook, ill-favored and formed, was their idol. The pew rents +ran up, however, and the contributions of a Sunday increased nearly +double. Indeed, the Chapmans felt that they were now on the road to +fortune, and Mrs. Chapman's ambition increased accordingly.</p> + +<p>All great enterprises, however, are liable to sudden checks, and +misfortune too often comes when one least expects it. And so it was with +the Reverend Warren Holbrook, the man of the great progressive ideas. He +was discovered paying what ladies of strict propriety regard as more +than ordinary attentions to a fair young damsel, the daughter of one of +the most active members of the church—a woman who had carried her head +high, and was so much given to wearing more finery than her neighbors +that the few friends she had were always ready to say ill-natured things +of her. The young woman was ready enough to embrace matrimony at any +moment; but the attentions she received from the reverend gentleman +caused great distress among a number of other young women of his church. +It was agreed among them that the reverend gentleman was neither +fascinating nor handsome, but he had mind, and was smart. Smart was the +thing a man most needed in a New England village.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[Pg 53]</a></span></p> + +<p>I have said before that the mother of this damsel carried a high head, +as well in as out of the church. She seemed also to have more rights +than ordinary females, and would give herself a great deal of +unnecessary trouble in asserting them, so much so that many of her less +strong-handed sisters regarded her with fear. The gentleman's attentions +had not progressed far when it was evident to all attentive observers +that there must soon be a split in the female division of his church. +Indeed, the quarrel in the female division of the church of the great +progressive ideas was waged with great fierceness, and had such a number +of nice little scandals mixed up in it as to make it quite interesting +to people of a contemplative turn of mind.</p> + +<p>Every meddlesome old woman in the church must put her finger in the +reverend gentleman's love pie, and would speak her mind plainly enough, +especially if she had daughters of her own. To use the poor man's own +language, he found himself spiked on all sides; and all for love, a +thing which has brought no end of mischief on the world. In short, from +being an idol he found himself between fires that threatened to consume +him, so fiercely did they burn.</p> + +<p>The gentleman's position was indeed becoming perilous, when an +unforeseen circumstance afforded him the means of relief. There arrived +in Nyack late one Saturday night, a man of tall, slender figure, dressed +in a suit of plain black, and having the appearance of a young clergyman +just from the country. He put up at Titus Bright's inn, gave out that he +was from Dogtown, Massachusetts, and after partaking of supper, enquired +of the landlord where he could find the Reverend, so to speak, Warren +Holbrook. There was something serious in the man's manner, like one who +had been grievously<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[Pg 54]</a></span> wronged. Being told where he could find the object +of his search, he paced the room thoughtfully for a few minutes, then +muttered to himself, "I must see him to-night. The sooner settled the +better. It will not do to wait until morning."</p> + +<p>Half an hour later, and the two reverend gentlemen (the stranger and +Holbrook) might have been seen seated at a table in a room of Chapman's +house. Their conversation had evidently not been of a very pleasant +nature, for the stranger, rising to take his departure, said: "You have +only to do her justice, and show to the world that you are an honorable +man. She is my sister; and unless you keep your promise, solemnly made +to her, I will follow you to the end of the earth, and make you the +scorned of men. Mark this well: it is the haunted soul of the hypocrite +that burns him through life; that makes him a very torment to himself." +The stranger returned to the inn, where he paced the room for nearly an +hour, and then retired for the night.</p> + +<p>The bells rang on the following morning, and the good women of Nyack +wended their way to and had nearly filled every pew in the church of +great progressive ideas. The choir sung one hymn, and then sung another. +But no pastor came. There was something wrong, evidently. Hope and faith +were enjoined by a few. Some watched the door, others the pulpit. +Whispers succeeded wonder, and murmurs took the place of curiosity. The +church was clearly without a pastor; and what was a church to do under +such circumstances? At length the whole congregation got into a state of +profound agitation. What was the matter? where was the pastor? would'nt +somebody speak? These and similar questions were on every<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[Pg 55]</a></span> tongue. It +was suddenly discovered that the Chapmans were also absent.</p> + +<p>An indignant female got up and proposed that some one "go for" the +Chapmans, and make them explain what it all meant. Another, equally +indignant, took a more sensible view of things. "If there's to be no +service," said she, "I'm going home to read my Bible in quiet." And she +left the church, followed by the rest of the congregation. And as nobody +explained, of course every one had his or her own reason for this +singular turn in the spiritual affairs of the new church. There was no +getting over the fact that the new church had been brought to a stand +still. To be plain about the matter, the Reverend Warren Holbrook had +put his great progressive ideas into practice during the night by +leaving the town, and also by taking with him the young woman to whom he +had been paying such marked attentions. The Tappan Zee had never been +more troubled in a storm than was the moral sensibilities of Nyack at +this news. The very atmosphere was rank with scandal. The men laughed +and jeered, and the women shook their heads and talked of nothing else. +"After that," said the women, "who can we trust."</p> + +<p>"Served you right," replied the men, "for making much of such a fellow. +Women never take such men into their confidence without bringing dirty +water to their own doors." It was fortunate for Holbrook that he left +during the night, for, seeing the temper Nyack was in during that day, +there would have been some stones thrown had he remained.</p> + +<p>The Chapmans took the matter very cool, however, counted the profits, +and put up the church shutters. Such things had happened before, Chapman +said. It was a weakness that had marked the history of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[Pg 56]</a></span> world; and +it had been a failing with the greatest of intellects. They would yet +show to the people of Nyack what could be done with the right sort of +enterprise. The honest old Dutchmen were in high glee over the turn +affairs at the new church had taken. They got together in Hanz +Toodleburg's veranda, drank their beer, and smoked their pipes, and +wished the devil might get the new preacher, "what comes t'down to raise +t'tevil mit de peoples, and raises t'tevil mit he self."</p> + +<p>The stranger, of whom mention has been made, was more seriously +troubled. He heard the news of Holbrook's departure with a sad heart, +for he was the kind brother of a young woman to whom the delinquent had +made a solemn vow to marry. But that solemn vow he had recently broken +in the most heartless manner, and left her hopes blighted and her heart +sad. He declared, however, that he would follow Holbrook if he went to +the end of the earth, and bring him to justice before God and man.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[Pg 57]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_IX" id="CHAPTER_IX"></a>CHAPTER IX.</h2> + +<h3>TITE TAKES HIS DEPARTURE FOR THE SOUTH SEA.</h3> + + +<p>High above all this hypocrisy, this intrigue, this selfishness and +dissimulation, there was something more pure and good. It was love, pure +and simple, binding the thoughts and hearts of Mattie Chapman and young +Tite. That love which forgets everything else in its truth and purity, +had been gently binding their young affections together. And now nothing +could separate them.</p> + +<p>What sweet joys and touching sorrows are mingled with the wonderful +history of love. How surely it marks its objects. It seeks its most +precious captive in the strongest and bravest of hearts. Love has +dethroned kings, built up empires, set great nations at war, and made +statesmen weep with sorrow. Yea, it has made the mightiest to unbend, +and brought them bowing before its altar. It holds its capricious empire +in every heart, prompts our ambition, guides and governs our actions, +makes us heroes or cowards, and carries us hoping through the world.</p> + +<p>It was love, then, that was holding its court on the occasion I am about +to describe. It was one of those bright and breezy spring mornings, when +Nature seems to have decked herself in her brightest colors, giving such +a charm to the banks of the Hudson. The young, fresh leaves were out, +and looking so green and crisp. The leak and the moss were creeping +afresh over the rocks; wild flowers were budding and blossoming, and +giving their sweet odors to the wind; birds were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[Pg 58]</a></span> singing their touching +songs; brooks rippled and murmured their mysterious music; and all +Nature was indeed putting forth her beauties in one grand, sweet, +soul-stirring harmony.</p> + +<p>How I envy the being who, free from the cares of the world, can elevate +his soul by holding sweet communion with nature, at spring time. Earth +has nothing so pure as the thoughts inspired by such sweet communion +with the buds, the blossoms, and the flowers of spring.</p> + +<p>It was one of these soft, breezy mornings in early spring, I have said, +that Mattie and Tite sat together in a little clump of woods, where the +branches formed a sort of bower overhead, and overlooking the Tappan +Zee. Every few minutes Tite would get up, advance to a point commanding +a view of the river above, and gaze intently in that direction, as if +expecting some object of interest.</p> + +<p>"She is not in sight yet, Mattie," he said, as he returned after one of +these intervals. "But she will be down to-day, I know she will, and then +we must part. Think of me when I am away, and I will think of you. Yes, +Mattie, I am only a sailor now, but I shall see the world, and that's +what I want, because it will make me something better. It will be three +years before we meet again; three long, long years. But I will think of +you and dream of you through all that time. And I will be so happy when +the day of our meeting comes. Be good to my mother and father while I am +gone. Be good to them for my sake. You will, won't you, Mattie?"</p> + +<p>Mattie's blue eyes filled with tears, the wind tossed her golden curls +over her fair neck and shoulders, and there was something so tender and +touching in the picture of these young lovers. "I have made you a +solemn<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[Pg 59]</a></span> promise, Tite," she replied, in broken accents. "That promise +shall be kept sacred. I shall think of you, and pray for you. Your +parents shall be my parents. I will count the days until you return." +She paused for a moment and wiped her eyes. "Neither storm nor tempest +shall trouble you, Tite, for I will follow you with my prayers that God +may carry you safe through all dangers, and bring you safe back to us. +But, Tite, take this advice from me. Do all you can for yourself. Rise +as high as you can; make all the money you can; and don't forget what we +may come to be. People who get money, and take care of it, are sure to +rise in the world. People that don't get money never do. But, God bless +you, Tite; think of me and I'll think of you." This advice to the young +sailor to make all the money he could, and given on the eve of +departure, may seem out of place to some of my romantic readers; but it +was, perhaps, the best Mattie could have given him. She was a girl of +strong affections, and it was only natural that she should have +something of the propensity so strong in both her parents. But beyond +and above this there was something frank and generous, something of real +good in her nature. Young as she was, she saw in Tite's courage and +ambition traits of character that promised well for the future. This +made her forget that which was so objectionable to her mother—that he +was only the son of common Dutch people.</p> + +<p>Tite had been looking for the object of his anxiety several minutes, +when, turning toward Mattie, he exclaimed: "Here she comes! here she +comes!" and they kissed and took an affectionate farewell, each +hastening to their homes. The object he had watched for so intently was +the ship Pacific, belonging to the Hudson<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[Pg 60]</a></span> Company's fleet of whale +ships, and bound on a voyage to the South Sea, as it was called in those +days. There was something grand and imposing about this fine old ship as +she moved majestically down the stream, her starboard tacks aboard, the +breeze filling her sails so nicely, for she had her royals set. Then her +new, white canvas contrasted so strikingly with the green hills that yet +shut her hull from view. Who could tell what might befall her in the +eventful voyage she was bound on?</p> + +<p>A few minutes more and she braced her yards sharp and rounded the point, +and stood on her way down the Tappan Zee. Every outline of her hull now +came clearer and clearer. There were her heavy quarter-davits, her +hoisting gear, and whale-killing gear; her long, sharp boats, lashed so +carefully, some to her davits, others athwart her quarter-deck frames; +and about all of which there was a mysterious interest. These whale +ships were at that day an object of distrust in the minds of the honest +Dutchmen along the banks of the Hudson, who never saw them go to sea +without shaking their heads and predicting all sorts of disasters, such +as would be sure to bring ruin on the men unwise enough to risk their +money in such enterprises.</p> + +<p>As the ship neared Nyack a group of ten or a dozen persons were seen +near the landing, with a boat and two men to take Tite off. There was +Hanz, old and grey; and Angeline, her eyes filled with tears, but her +face as full of sweetness and tenderness as it was twenty years ago. +Tite had been the joy and hope of her life. And now he was going to +leave home and sail to the other side of the world, among strange +people, and would have to brave dangers of the worst kind.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 435px;"> +<img src="images/toodle60.jpg" width="435" height="287" alt="Who could tell what might befall her in the eventful +voyage she was bound on? Page 60" title="" /> +<span class="caption">Who could tell what might befall her in the eventful +voyage she was bound on? <a href="#Page_60">Page 60</a></span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[Pg 61]</a></span></p> + +<p>There, too, was Doctor Critchel, and the good Dominie, and Titus Bright, +the inn-keeper; the first wearing his old brown coat, and looking as +snuffy as on the stormy night when he assisted in bringing Tite into the +world. They had all come to see Tite off, to say God speed, and to give +him some little token of their affection to carry with him on his voyage +after whales.</p> + +<p>And now that time which so tries a mother's heart had come. "Good bye, +mother, good bye, and may God be with you and protect you," said Tite, +throwing his arms around his mother's neck, and kissing her wet cheek. +"I will come back safe, and never go to sea again." Then he took leave +of his father, and each of his friends in turn. In another minute the +boat in which he stood waving his handkerchief was pulling swiftly +toward the ship. There was not a dry eye in that little group as each +figure in it stood gazing out upon the calm waters, and watching the +object so dear to the hearts of all in it. And now the boat has reached +the ship, men are seen in the gangway, a line was thrown to the men in +the boat, the ship luffed a little, and in another moment Tite mounted +the ladder and was on deck. The first officer welcomed him, for there +was something in his appearance that indicated respectability and true +character; and his ship-mates gathered about him, each giving him a warm +shake of the hand and a friendly word. Then the good ship moved +gallantly down the stream, and Tite appeared on the forecastle, and +waved adieus until she disappeared among the green hills of the +Palisades.</p> + +<p>There was a heart that fluttered, and a hand that waved signals, from a +point on the shore recognized by Tite, and responded to, but not seen by +the little sorrowing group waiting the return of the boat. It was +Mattie's heart that fluttered, and it was her hand that waved the last +adieu as the ship passed out of sight.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[Pg 62]</a></span> There she stood, a touching +picture of truth and love, shedding her tears and waving a last farewell +to the object of her heart, and whom she might never see again.</p> + +<p>Such are the transmutations of commerce that it would be a curious sight +at this day to see a whaleship, under full sail, proceeding up or down +the Hudson river. It was no uncommon sight then. The enterprising people +of Hudson shared the whale-fishery business with New Bedford and +Nantucket; their fleet of ships were fitted out in the very best manner, +and some of the most famous whaling captains sailed from that port.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[Pg 63]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_X" id="CHAPTER_X"></a>CHAPTER X.</h2> + +<h3>MR. AND MRS. CHAPMAN DISAGREE FOR THE FIRST TIME.</h3> + + +<p>A bright light burned in Chapman's parlor that night, and the ponderous +Mrs. Chapman sat nursing her dignity in a great new rocking-chair. Her +little pale-faced husband, with keen eyes, and his hair somewhat longer +than usual, sat beside the lamp on the round table pouring over a book. +There was an air of improvement about the parlor, an evidence, indeed, +that the Chapmans had renounced their Dogtown habits, and were bent on +getting up in the world. New carpets, new mirrors, new furniture, and +window-curtains such as had not been seen in Nyack before, had been got +from New York. You must make your style of living, Mrs. Chapman said, +keep pace with the progress of the family. And it would not do to let +those new, rich, and stylish people who were coming up from New York get +ahead of you in the way of elegance.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman no longer condescended to prepare the sausage meat and +pumpkin pies; in a word, to do the work of her own kitchen. She could +afford, she said, to keep two "helps," a cook and a chambermaid, to take +it easy and put on the lady, and to give evening parties that quite +outdid in the way of nice little suppers anything their neighbors could +give. There was, however, a number of people in Nyack who shook their +heads at the pretensions of the Chapmans; said they were putting on too +many airs, and made no response to Mrs. Chapman's invitations. Others, +when a little scandal was necessary to keep up the interest of an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[Pg 64]</a></span> +evening, would insinuate that they had "originally" been very common and +vulgar people. But now, like most New England people of that class, they +were not only trying to force their opinions down other and honester +people's throats, but had a way of meddling with business that did'nt +concern them, and making themselves disagreeable generally. When +Holbrook disappeared in disgrace, there were persons malicious enough to +say that the Chapmans had better mend their own morals before they went +to patching other people's up.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman could dress of an evening in silk, wear kid gloves that +came from France, and had plenty of real French lace on her caps. Few +persons in Nyack at that day could do such things and pass for honest +people.</p> + +<p>"My dear," said Mrs. Chapman, addressing herself to her small, but +intellectually great, Mr. Chapman; "my dear." She paused for a moment, +as her face assumed an air of seriousness. "We must turn our backs +entirely on Dogtown. Dogtown won't do to elevate the family on. We never +can rise in the world with Dogtown on our shoulders. And if we would +live down that scandal brought on us by Holbrook, (an indiscretion, I +think you called it,) we must keep our heads up." She paused, shook her +head in pity, and raised her fat, waxy hands. "I can't sleep of nights, +thinking of it. Lays a body's feelings out terribly. But he was so +wonderfully clever." Her face brightened up as she said this. +"Wonderfully clever," she interpolated. "It was his mental greatness I +always subsided to and admired. Clever people have their weaknesses as +well as people what are not as clever. I sometimes thought you had +yours, my dear—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[Pg 65]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My dear!" interrupted Chapman, with an air of surprise, "what do you +mean? Hav'nt I been a finished husband, and a loving father?"</p> + +<p>"You are just as good, my dear, as husbands can be made." Mrs. Chapman +said this condescendingly, and with an air of admiration truly grand. +"But then, you know," she said, more mildly, "there was that handsome +widow you used to be so polite to, my dear. You know I detected her +waving a handkerchief once. Then you said it was one you left at the +house; and so I never thought of it again."</p> + +<p>"I never let the past trouble me, my dear, never. A man of forethought, +of progressive ideas, looks always ahead, and by his acts proves that he +is up square with the spirit of the age. I have a new conception. Yes, +my dear, a new conception. Nothing figurative about it, my dear. I have +a new and grand conception, which I have been evolving in my mind for +some time, and now I am getting it into a scheme which I am sure will be +profitable."</p> + +<p>"My dear husband," said Mrs. Chapman, in a strain of intense excitement, +"do let us know what it is."</p> + +<p>"Of great importance to us both," he replied, with great seriousness, as +he brushed his long black hair back over his parchment-like forehead.</p> + +<p>"I'll be bound it refers to what took place to-day between our Mattie +and that young sailor. I saw it all; and you saw it all, too, my dear, +and you never said a word. We never can agree on that matter, my dear, +never. On everything else we can. You can't mistake what two young +people mean when they go to waving handkerchiefs, and picking wild +flowers in the woods. This little love matter must be stopped before it +gets into a big one. Yes, it must, my dear. So fine a young<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[Pg 66]</a></span> woman as +our daughter condescending to marry a sailor! As I said before, my dear, +you know I have had experience in these matters—"</p> + +<p>"In other matters, you know, Mrs. Chapman, I have always yielded to +you—"</p> + +<p>"And I have always yielded to you," resumed the anxious woman, "and +never considered it a condescension. But in this I must have my own +way." And Mrs. Chapman got up and walked to a window overlooking the +Tappan Zee. The night was bright and starlight, and shadows were +flitting and dancing over the smooth waters. The picture of the ship, +with Tite waving Mattie an adieu from the forecastle, haunted her mind.</p> + +<p>"If that ship goes to the bottom of the sea, not a tear shall I +shed—not a tear!" resumed the speaker, in an agitated tone. "And I have +as tender a heart as anybody. But we must elevate the family. That's +laudable, you know. Nice people are very particular about these things. +And you know how much there is in names. Think of elevating the family +by taking a man by the name of Toodlebug into it! Think of our going to +live in New York with such a name. Everybody would say Toodlebug! +Toodlebug! and nobody would come to our daughter's parties." The good +woman ran on in this way for several minutes, compelling her dear +Chapman to keep the peace. At length she settled back into her rocking +chair, and there was a pause.</p> + +<p>"My dear," said Chapman, meekly, "I have always held that a man could +commit no greater folly than that of quarrelling with a woman on a +question of family pride. In such a contest the man is sure to get the +worst of it. I say this understandingly, my dear."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[Pg 67]</a></span> And Chapman shut up +his book, and looked up into his wife's face, as if to watch the changes +of her countenance.</p> + +<p>"We may agree on that matter yet, my dear. A man is never so low by +birth (I mean in this country, at least,) but that he may rise to the +highest office of honor and trust—"</p> + +<p>"Not with such a name as Toodlebug—never!" Mrs. Chapman interrupted, +curtly.</p> + +<p>"That's a mistake, my dear. Names never distinguished people. A man's +merit and money are the things that do it. This is a free country. A +woman may have as many quarrels as she pleases, and have her own way in +things generally. Nothing personal, my dear.</p> + +<p>"But to go back to what I was pondering over when you interrupted me. A +family never gets through the world easy without a solid basis; and I +was thinking how to give a solid basis to our little family. Marrying is +all well enough in its way; but the woman who marries a man without a +solid basis, either in money or character, marries into misery. That's +my philosophy—"</p> + +<p>"Exactly!" interrupted Mrs. Chapman, with a stately nod of the head, and +rubbing her fat hands. "Now you talk as I like to hear you. There's no +getting up in the world without money."</p> + +<p>"I intended to make that point in my logic, and was coming to it, my +dear. You see, we have got the building and everything in it, all our +own. And we have got two or three thousand dollars, all put away for a +wet day. Property all honorably made. Heaven knows I would not have a +dollar that was not. That, my dear, is a good beginning for a good +basis. We<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[Pg 68]</a></span> must keep adding to it; keep the tide flowing in the channel +of success. I was thinking, my dear, of inventing a new religion."</p> + +<p>"My dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Chapman, with an air of astonishment, "what an +inventive head you have got. But you have said so often that there was +too much religion in the world, and not enough of true goodness."</p> + +<p>"Of the old kind, I meant, my dear;" resumed the little man. "What I +mean is to invent a religion that is new and novel, has something broad +and attractive in it, and that people of a curious turn of mind would +pay for enjoying. That's the kind of religion that pays, you see. And if +we could put the church on its feet again with something of that kind. +It's the propensity people have to go galloping after new things in +religion that we must study and turn to our advantage if we would be +prosperous." The little man fretted his fingers nervously through his +unkept hair, and his face assumed an air of great seriousness.</p> + +<p>"How, my dear," enquired Mrs. Chapman, "could you put the church on its +feet with such a load of scandal on its back? Could'nt you invent +something else that would be novel and profitable?"</p> + +<p>"There's where my new conception was coming in. That's the point I was +considering when you interrupted me with Mattie's love affair," Chapman +replied, looking more serious than ever.</p> + +<p>"It struck me that we might do something profitable by getting up a +company for the discovery of Kidd's treasure. 'The Great Kidd Discovery +Company' would be a good name, my dear. You must always give a company a +good name. Then you must manage it with tact and prudence. A prodigious +enterprise, my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[Pg 69]</a></span> dear. These simple-minded and honest Dutch people would +fall into it like a flock of sheep. They honestly believe Kidd was a +bold pirate, who amassed a great fortune by plundering towns on the +Spanish Main. That, having more gold and silver than he could invest to +advantage, he buried it on the bank of the river, a few leagues above +this place, where he entered into an agreement with the devil to stand +guard over it until he returned. They believe, also, that Hanz +Toodleburg, whose father knew Kidd well, and perhaps had something to do +with his adventures, is the only man now living who possesses the secret +of where that treasure is buried."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[Pg 70]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XI" id="CHAPTER_XI"></a>CHAPTER XI.</h2> + +<h3>MRS. CHAPMAN CULTIVATES NEW ACQUAINTANCES.</h3> + + +<p>It was spring-time of the year 1824. A new era in the history of the +nation's wealth and progress seemed to have fairly begun. Strong and +vigorous intellects ruled in the councils of the nation and inspired +confidence in the people. Science was breathing new life into our +enterprise, and leading us rapidly into new fields and richer prospects. +It was also brushing away the prejudices that had narrowed our thoughts +and confined our action to things of a past age. Steam was an adjustable +power now, a reality; still there were sensible men who shook their +heads in doubt; and the men who declared it would soon revolutionize the +commerce of the world were set down as not safe to do business with.</p> + +<p>Steamboats of improved model and of increased size seemed to spring up +every day, and might be seen passing up and down the Hudson night and +morning. Now a company of reckless New Yorkers proposed to build a +steamboat two hundred feet long, and with an engine of one hundred and +fifty horse power, to navigate the Hudson to Albany at the rate of +thirteen miles an hour. This great experiment, regarded so hazardous at +that time, sent the honest and peace-loving Dutchmen along the banks of +the river into such a state of alarm that they called meetings, and in +the most solemn manner declared that no man's life would be safe while +sailing at such a dangerous rate of speed. And they further declared +that all these new-fashioned methods of putting an end to the lives of +honest people must be stopped.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[Pg 71]</a></span> In fine, they predicted nothing but +distress and ruin on all who had anything to do with them.</p> + +<p>It was at one of these meetings, held in Nyack about this time, and +presided over by the school-master, that a number of these honest and +peace-loving old settlers resolved, after much grave deliberation, that +a man who paid his debts and was contented with what he had was the only +true Christian. And it was further resolved, that the world was getting +to be very wicked and very full of foolish people, who were in such a +hurry to get to the devil before their time that they had devised these +steamboats to carry them. And seeing that it was neither wisdom nor +prudence for honest people to travel on such craft, they would also not +send their vegetables to market on them.</p> + +<p>This resolution was kept good for a number of years, the honest people +who made it firmly believing that all good and prudent persons would +follow their example, and in that way drive the steamboats from the +river. Alarming as these things were, there were others which fairly +frightened these honest people out of all their courage. The gossips had +gathered in force at Titus Bright's inn one night, to enjoy a pipe and a +mug of his new ale. There was the school-master, and Doctor Critchel, +and Hanz Toodleburg, and other choice spirits, who knew all about the +affairs of the nation. When they had discussed all manner of subjects, +Titus drew from his pocket a newspaper and read, to the astonishment and +evident alarm of his guests, that a man in England had invented a +machine to do away with horses. The doctor set down his ale and adjusted +his spectacles, and gazed at the speaker with an air of surprise and +astonishment, while Hanz and the school-master suddenly ceased smoking.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[Pg 72]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now don't get alarmed, my friends," said Titus, watching with evident +delight the increasing alarm of his guests. "It is all here, and true. +He has invented a steam-horse, with an iron stomach and wheels; and the +animal can, with good management, be made to run over a road at the rate +of twenty miles an hour. Yes," added Titus, with a look of great +seriousness, "people are already risking their lives by riding in this +way."</p> + +<p>The doctor heaved a sigh, and, half raising his pipe, gave it as his +opinion that a man who would invent such dangerous machines must be in +league with the devil. This profound opinion was endorsed by both Hanz +and the school-master. The latter, in short, suggested that such men +were generally vagabonds, whom it were well to throw into the Tappan +Zee, with stones around their necks.</p> + +<p>"If the world was going to the devil in this way, what was the use of +living in it," inquired the school-master, finishing his ale, and +passing his mug for a fresh draught.</p> + +<p>"Sure enough, sure enough!" a number of voices ejaculated +simultaneously.</p> + +<p>"Truly, the dragons are to be let loose upon us," resumed Bright, +passing the schoolmaster his mug of ale. "An' here's now in New York, +that's got to be so wicked honest folks can't live in it, a lot o' crazy +men talking about building one of these here steamboats big enough to +cross the Atlantic."</p> + +<p>"Der won't be much heerd of de mans nir de vomans vat goes in um," +interrupted Hanz.</p> + +<p>"Peoples is not sho crazy as t'too any un de sort. 'Tis all hombug;" +joined the doctor.</p> + +<p>"So I say, doctor!" interposed the school-master.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[Pg 73]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Here it is, gentlemen," resumed Bright; "all down in the newspaper. No +getting over that." Thus was this important subject discussed until a +late hour, the gossips going to their homes with serious faces and heavy +hearts.</p> + +<p>It is a very well established fact that the question of building +steamships large enough and strong enough to cross the ocean was +discussed by a number of New York merchants who were ready to embark +capital in the project, several years before the keels of the Royal +William, the Savannah, the Sirius, or the Great Western were laid. But +we must leave this subject for the present, and return to our friends, +the Chapmans.</p> + +<p>These people professed to be plain and practical, brought up according +to the creed of New England. They also affected to despise the small +vanities of the world. The effect of prosperity, however, on their +natures was singularly instructive, since it entirely changed their +manners. No sooner did fortune favor them than Mrs. Chapman began to +display an ambition for vulgar show, such as well-bred people never +indulge in. She never failed to remind her friends that she was brought +up in Boston, where everything was very refined. She regarded it as a +compliment to herself that she had an intellectual husband. He had a big +head, if he was small, and could carry any number of books in it. That +was what Boston people liked. Her thoughts seemed continually navigating +between religion and the fashions. She had no deep affection or love for +any one, not even for her daughter Mattie, whom she viewed in the light +of a rather valuable ornament, in the disposal of which she must make +the best bargain she could, not so much for the girl's sake as her own. +She could toss her head as disdainfully as any of your fine dames; and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[Pg 74]</a></span> +she could discourse as glibly about genteel society as a successful +milliner just set up for a lady. She had plain Mrs. Jones for a +neighbor, and would drop that honest woman a nod now and then, out of +mere politeness. But she never condescended to associate on terms of +equality with the Jones family. Mrs. Jones's husband was a common, +unintellectual sort of person, who retailed groceries for a living.</p> + +<p>A singular and mysterious change had now taken place. Chapman no longer +got up quarrels with his neighbors. Indeed, he had a good word to say +whenever he met Titus Bright. He could shake hands with Doctor Critchel, +and agree with the Dominie on matters of religion. In fine, if he was +everybody's enemy before, he was now everybody's friend. He admired the +Dutch for their honesty and true-heartedness. This singular change gave +the gossips of the town something to talk about for a week. The Chapmans +and the Toodleburgs were now the very best of friends. Chapman could be +seen of an evening sitting in Hanz's little ivy-covered porch, enjoying +a pot of ale. And Hanz had been seen smoking his pipe in Chapman's +garden. All this meant something, the gossips said, and something of +great importance. Where two such men got their heads together, and pipes +and ale were called in, there was sure to be something deep going on. +Hanz Toodleburg, they said, never smoked his pipe with a man like +Chapman but that there was something in the wind. Then Mrs. Chapman and +her gushing, blue-eyed daughter had condescended to visit at +Toodleburg's, and could make themselves quite agreeable at Angeline's +tea-table. And then Angeline, good, kind Angeline, with her face still +bright with gentleness and love, was always so happy When Mattie called. +Then there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[Pg 75]</a></span> was something so simple, so frank and straightforward in +Mattie's nature. Angeline could not help loving her. And the affection +she cherished for Tite, who was the idol of her thoughts, strengthened +the ties of their love.</p> + +<p>"We have not forgot you, you see," said Mrs. Chapman, as she bowed +herself into Toodleburg's little house one evening. "We expected company +at home to-night, but says I to my dear husband, 'you know, my dear +husband,' (here Mrs. Chapman bowed to her dear husband, who had followed +her,) 'we have been promising so long to visit Mr. and Mrs. +Toodleburg.'"</p> + +<p>Angeline bowed and invited her visitors to be seated, while Hanz gave +Chapman a hearty shake of the hand, and an assurance that no man was +more welcome under his roof. "Always glad to see mine friends," said +Hanz. "You shall take seats, and be shust so much at home as you is in +your own house." And he drew one big chair up for Chapman, and another +for Mrs. Chapman. "Peoples always makes themselves at home in mine +house."</p> + +<p>"You must excuse our humble little place," Angeline said; "we are plain, +every-day people." And she made Mrs. Chapman a low courtesy, as that +stout, bustling woman, apparently overcome with the heat, settled her +solid circumference into a chair.</p> + +<p>"Dear a me," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, "what happy people you ought to be. +Everything so comfortable round you, you know, and all your own. What a +blessing to have things all your own." Here Mrs. Chapman raised her +bonnet carefully and used it as a fan.</p> + +<p>"Yes, we are quite unpretending people," Angeline repeated. "What we +have got is our own. We are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[Pg 76]</a></span> getting old now, and if we die owing nobody +a shilling we shall die in peace." And her sweet face lighted up with a +smile, the true reflex of that goodness her heart was so full of.</p> + +<p>"It's so warm—I'm about melted," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, not appearing +to notice what Angeline had said. "And this is my new bonnet, you see. +Bonnets cost so much money now. People are getting so fashionable, and +to be anybody you must keep up appearances." She held her bonnet up +admiringly. "And my dear, good husband there—he's such a good +husband—says I'm a very expensive wife. Always buys me what I want, +though." Here she raised her waxy, fat hand, and dropped a bow of +approval to the little husband, who was quietly surveying the scene from +Hanz's big chair. "My husband is so intellectual, and does so much for +other people. He's always doing for other people. But he's a treasure to +me, for all that—"</p> + +<p>"My dear, my dear," interrupted Chapman; "what a kind way you have of +paying compliments. Mrs. Toodleburg will not understand you, my dear. +What more than any one else have I done for other people?"</p> + +<p>"You have been a perfect Christian, my dear, so you have," resumed Mrs. +Chapman, giving her head a toss and pressing the fore-finger of her +right hand on the arm of the chair. "Why, Mrs. Toodlebug—pardon me; I +never did pronounce names correct." She turned condescendingly to +Angeline. "You must know that my dear husband created a whole town once. +Then he built a great and flourishing church, founded on advanced moral +ideas. And he intended to have sold it for the good of others, and would +have sold it, but for an unforeseen circumstance."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[Pg 77]</a></span></p> + +<p>"A very unforeseen circumstance, my dear," rejoined Chapman, shaking his +head admonishingly. "You see, I have got one of the very best wives in +the world. She has a philosophy of her own, and we agree in everything."</p> + +<p>"Shust like me and mine vife," said Hanz. "We agrees in everything. +Lived dese forty nor more years togeder, mitout a quarrel." Hanz had +been sitting where a pale shadow of the dim light played over his broad, +kindly face, and, with his long, white hair curling down his neck, gave +a clearer outline to the picture.</p> + +<p>"Never had even a little quarrel?" resumed Mrs. Chapman, inquiringly. "I +have heard married people say it was so nice to have a little quarrel +now and then. But my dear husband is such a good husband, Mrs. +Toodleburg. Just like yours." Here she turned toward and dropped +Angeline a bow. "I never want to live to see the day when I shall have +to marry a second husband." Here she turned and dropped a bow to her +dear Chapman. "I should be always praising you, my dear. And unless my +dear second husband was a saint there would be trouble in the house, you +know. My dear, let us drop this subject. It is not pleasant to look to +far into the future." Here she turned to Angeline, who had proceeded to +get some strawberries and cream for her guests.</p> + +<p>"You are so nice and comfortable here," she resumed; "it takes one back +to the good old times, when everything was true and simple." Mrs. +Chapman gave quicker motion to her tongue. "You have your loom, and your +spinning-wheel, and homespun made by your own hands. How delightful."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[Pg 78]</a></span></p> + +<p>"My dear, my dear," interrupted Chapman; "what a homily on the beauties +of economy you are reading our friends—"</p> + +<p>"Don't interrupt me, my dear," resumed Mrs. Chapman, and she again +turned to Angeline. "Do you know, Mrs. Toodlebug, that I have always +felt that we ought to be the best of friends?"</p> + +<p>"You are very kind," said Angeline, "very kind. We are very plain +people."</p> + +<p>"That's why I like you all the better," Mrs. Chapman resumed, with an +air of condescension. "My husband and your husband must also be the best +of friends. They can make a fortune by it, you know. You see, my husband +proposes to make your husband's fortune. He is the greatest man to make +other people's fortunes. Yes, he is. My husband's head is full of great +progressive ideas. And he has made the fortunes of so many men." Here +Mrs. Chapman lowered her voice to a whisper, and drew her chair a little +nearer to Angeline. "There is another little matter that should make us +firm friends. I would not mention it, you know; but I feel that it is no +secret." Here she dropped one of her most significant bows. "I have +taken such a liking to your son. Such a promising young man, he is. That +voyage will make a man of him; who knows but he may come home with a +large fortune. I have known stranger things than that. I have been +encouraging a little love affair between him and my daughter Mattie. You +have seen my Mattie? She is clever, wonderfully smart, handsome, too; +and if she gets the right kind of a husband, will shine in society."</p> + +<p>"My poor boy, my poor boy!" exclaimed Angeline, her eyes filling with +tears at the mention of his name.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[Pg 79]</a></span> "How, how, how I should like to see +him to-night. There is where he used to sit, (here her voice yielded to +her emotions,) and here is the chair we always kept for him. Perhaps we +shall never see him again. He was so good and so kind to us. I hope God +will be good to him, and will watch over him, and carry him safe through +dangers, and bring him back to us. Oh, I know God will be good to him. +We are both old now, and have nothing to live for but him." Again she +gave way to her grief, and as the tears flowed buried her face in her +hands.</p> + +<p>"My dear, good friend," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, rising from her chair, +and placing her hand consolingly on Angeline's shoulder; "there is +nothing in the world to weep for. Nothing in the world. I would be proud +of a son who had courage and ambition enough to go on one of these +voyages. It is proof, my good woman, that he has something in him. And +if he should bring home a fortune, you know. Oh, he'd have so many +friends. Don't weep, my good woman, don't weep. He'll be such a joy to +you when he comes home. And I will encourage Mattie to think of nobody +else."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[Pg 80]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XII" id="CHAPTER_XII"></a>CHAPTER XII.</h2> + +<h3>A STRANGE GENTLEMAN.</h3> + + +<p>Angeline had just recovered from her grief, and was setting strawberries +and cream before her visitors, when a loud knock was heard at the door, +which Hanz proceeded to open; when a tall, well-dressed man, with dark, +well kept hair, piercing black eyes, features of great regularity, and +having the manners of a gentleman, entered and introduced himself as Mr. +Luke Topman, just from New York. "I am a stranger to you all here," he +said, in a deep, clear voice, "and I owe you an apology for calling at +this seemingly late hour. I said I was a stranger," he repeated, "but +the business I am on may make us acquaintances." The stranger stood for +a moment, with his eyes fixed on Chapman. Still no recognition passed, +and their manner was that of strangers who had never met before.</p> + +<p>The figures here grouped together were of the most opposite kind, and +presented a picture at once striking and effective. A table stood in the +centre of the little room, and on it burned a candle, casting a pale and +shadowy light over and giving clearer outline to each figure. There was +the old loom, with its harnesses, its reed, and its shuttles; the +flax-wheel and the distaff, forming a quaint setting, but representing a +past age and the primitive habits of the people who used them.</p> + +<p>There was Hanz and Angeline on one side. Time was writing its record in +deep lines on their faces, and whitening their gray hairs. Frank, +simple-minded, honest, and contented, they had enough to carry them<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[Pg 81]</a></span> +through life comfortably; and why should they, Hanz said, trouble +themselves about anything more? They represented an age and a people +perfectly happy with what it had pleased God to give them. On the other +side there was Chapman and Mrs. Chapman, exact types of the people they +represented. Ambitious of making a show in the world, grasping, +restless, selfish, intriguing, seeking always for means to advance +themselves, studying the future for their own advancement, and ready to +use even religion as an assistant to gaining their objects. Such was the +contrast presented in the picture before us.</p> + +<p>Again apologizing for calling at what seemed a late hour, the stranger +proceeded. "I am in great haste, madam. I came all the way from New York +to-day. Crossed the ferry only an hour ago, and am somewhat fatigued. My +business is of great importance, and with Mr. Toodleburg. I was directed +here, and am glad to find him so comfortably situated."</p> + +<p>"Very well, very well," rejoined Hanz, his face lighted up with a smile, +and his white hair flowing; "dat's me, mine friend. You be's welcome to +my little home. Yees, mine friend, you shall be so welcome as I can make +you." Hanz shook him heartily by the hand, and invited him to sit down. +"You be's had no shupper, eh?" he resumed. "Der's no man what comes nor +goes hungry to my house."</p> + +<p>The stranger bowed and said, "Thank you—you are very kind; but I supped +on the other side of the sea, and have no need for any more."</p> + +<p>"Mine gracious!" exclaimed Hanz. "You comes all de way from New York to +she me. You eats anoder shupper, shure."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[Pg 82]</a></span></p> + +<p>The stranger persisted that he would eat no more that night. The +appearance of the man at so late an hour excited serious apprehensions +in the mind of Angeline lest he should bring news of some disaster to +the good ship Pacific.</p> + +<p>Then turning to Mrs. Chapman, he said, "I hope, madam, I have not +intruded on your privacy here to-night?"</p> + +<p>That lady, having dropped him one of her best bows, assured him there +was nothing private so far as she was concerned. "We are friends and +neighbors of these good people," she replied with a forced smile and an +air of condescension. "We like to be neighborly, and just dropped in to +make a friendly call. That's all, sir."</p> + +<p>"I am very glad to meet Mr. Toodleburg. Very glad to find him such an +excellent person," the stranger repeated, turning to Hanz, and again +taking him by the hand. "Topman, I said my name was; Luke Topman, senior +partner of the enterprising house of Topman and Gusher, doing a large +miscellaneous business in Pearl, near Wall street. You are, doubtless, +well acquainted with the reputation of the firm." Here Mr. Topman +compressed his lips, brushed his fingers through his hair, and addressed +himself to Chapman, who up to this time had maintained an air of +indifference to what was going on.</p> + +<p>"Perfectly well," replied Chapman, with an air of surprise. "Highly +respectable and equally responsible house, that. Why, sir, it is +somewhat curious that we should meet here. A relative of mine did +business with that house a long time. Highly satisfactory—highly."</p> + +<p>"We endeavor to make everything satisfactory with our customers," +resumed Mr. Topman. "Happy to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[Pg 83]</a></span> have met a gentleman so familiar with the +reputation of our house. Pray, may I enquire to the name?"</p> + +<p>"Chapman—Bigelow Chapman. My wife, Mr. Topman; my enlarged and better +half. Mr. Topman, my dear, of the firm of Topman and Gusher. Doing a +large miscellaneous business, and highly respectable."</p> + +<p>"What a strange meeting this is. You used to know each other? How +curious!" interposed Mrs. Chapman, rising from her seat and dropping Mr. +Topman one of her most stately bows.</p> + +<p>"By reputation. Perhaps I should have said general reputation, my dear," +returned Chapman. During all this time Hanz was kept in ignorance of the +object of the stranger's visit. Yet the whole scene was such as could +not fail to excite his curiosity to the very highest pitch.</p> + +<p>"And now," said the stranger, "as the night is warm, and ladies never +care to hear anything about business, I propose, Mr. Toodleburg, that we +retire to the porch. You can enjoy your pipe, there; and, if you will +permit me, I will enjoy a cigar. Our friend, here—he will permit me to +call him so—will join us."</p> + +<p>The three now proceeded to the porch; where, when they had become +seated, the stranger discovered the object of his visit. "I have been +informed on good authority," said Mr. Topman, "that you possess the +secret of where Kidd's treasure is buried—"</p> + +<p>"Vel, vel, vel!" exclaimed Hanz, raising his hands in astonishment; "if +dat ish'nt so pig a lie as ever vas told. No, mine friend, I knows +nothin' apout dis Mr. Kidd, nor his money. Dis one big lie de peoples +pout here gits up, as has nothin' petter to do."</p> + +<p>"It's somewhat singular," said Chapman, fixing his keen black eyes on +the stranger, "it was that that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[Pg 84]</a></span> brought me here to-night. Mr. +Toodleburg may be innocent of all knowledge of Mr. Kidd, as he says. But +the people sincerely believe that he does, and that he possesses the +secret of where his treasure is buried. The belief is just as good as +the reality, and may be made equally profitable."</p> + +<p>"Exactly," interposed Mr. Topman, "exactly! Just what I was going to +suggest." Here Mr. Topman put his thumbs in the arms of his waistcoat, +and drummed on the front with his fingers. "If these honest people +believe Mr. Toodleburg knows where the money is buried, why, sir, +there's your solid basis for a grand joint stock company, dividends +twenty per cent., payable quarterly. That's what takes. God bless me, +Mr. Toodleburg, here's a fortune in your fingers. Capable heads, sir, +and capable hands. There's all, sir, that is required to give the thing +popularity and insure its success." Mr. Topman paused for a moment, +threw himself back in his chair, and cast a patronizing glance at Hanz. +"Progressive idea, sir. Grand Kidd Discovery Company. Capital one +hundred thousand dollars, all paid in. The man fortunate enough to get +twenty shares is sure to make a fortune."</p> + +<p>"Den if he pe so grand, why you don't make all de fortune, and keep him +yourshelf?" said Hanz, rubbing his head and dropping his pipe.</p> + +<p>"Having the secret," resumed Mr. Topman, blandly, "of course you are +indispensable to the success of the enterprise. Think of it, sleep over +it, and I am sure, sir, you will wake up in the morning resolved to +place yourself in the hands of Topman and Gusher." Mr. Topman made +another pause, and threw his hands over his head. "No matter whether you +have the secret or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[Pg 85]</a></span> not. Stick to it that you have; and refer your men +to Topman and Gusher."</p> + +<p>Again Hanz shook his head, and smoked his pipe thoughtfully. The whole +thing was new and strange to him. Never in his life before had anything +taken him by such surprise. He had enough to carry him through the world +comfortably, and something to give his poor neighbors when they stood in +need. Why should he trouble his head about Mr. Kidd. He did not know +where a dollar of his money was buried.</p> + +<p>"Mine friends," said Hanz, "I likes you poth. And I thanks you, and ish +much opliged to you for dis offer to makes my fortune. But, what I do +mit sho much moneys, eh? My neighbors all say 'Hanz Toodleburg steals +him,' Maybe I gits prout mit him. Den everypody says Hanz Toodleburg +gits apove his pisness. Mit a fortune perhaps t'tivel gits into mine +head. Der ish nopody now put me und mine Angeline—"</p> + +<p>"There's your son, Mr. Toodleburg," interposed Chapman, who until now +had remained almost passive. "You ought to regard him above everything +else, you ought. I feel a deep interest in that young man, you know. If +you could have a fortune for him when he comes home—well, that would be +the making of him."</p> + +<p>"Shure enough, dere ish mine poor poy, Tite. He ish such a goot poy. It +most preaks his muder's heart to have him go dis long voyages," said +Hanz, taking the pipe from his lips, as his eyes filled with tears. "If +I only could have a fortune und de little farm for mine poor Tite when +he gits home."</p> + +<p>"Give us your hand, sir," said Mr. Topman. "You talk now like a man, and +a father. I'm a father, sir, and know how to feel for you. Had a son at +sea four years. Gave him a fortune when he came home. A<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[Pg 86]</a></span> most +enterprising and highly respected merchant now. Has ships at sea, rides +in his carriage, and a balance in his bank." The thought of providing a +future for Tite was more than Hanz could resist, and his unsuspecting +nature yielded to the temptation.</p> + +<p>"And now," said Mr. Topman, rising from his chair, "if Mr. Toodleburg +will sign these papers—they merely set forth that he possesses and will +confide to the house of Topman and Gusher, their heirs or assigns, the +secret of where Kidd's treasure is buried, and that he shall have a +tenth interest in all the profits. A sure gain and no risk, you know."</p> + +<p>The three gentlemen now returned to the little room. Topman handed +Chapman the paper, and requested that he would read it, which that +gentleman affected to do.</p> + +<p>"Perfectly straightforward and correct," said Chapman; "perfectly! I am +sure you are very kind to these people, and I wish the great Kidd +Discovery Company every success."</p> + +<p>Angeline brought the little old ink-bottle, and Hanz, with feelings of +hesitation, it must be confessed, signed the papers, when the visitors +retired for the night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[Pg 87]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIII" id="CHAPTER_XIII"></a>CHAPTER XIII.</h2> + +<h3>CAPTAIN BOTTOM, THE WHALE-KILLER.</h3> + + +<p>On the morning of the 24th of June, the good ship Pacific was sailing +gallantly down the coast of Brazil, all her canvass spread to a light +breeze, her port tacks aboard, and heading for Bahia.</p> + +<p>The air was hot with the breath of tropic winds, and the horizon to the +west and south was festooned with fierce red clouds. The sun was just +setting, and spreading the broad ocean with a crimson light, giving a +weird and curious outline to every feature of the ship. There was +something grand, even enchanting and sublime, in the picture here spread +out, presenting as it did the highest example of God's goodness and +reality.</p> + +<p>The scene changed suddenly, as the sun disappeared. The fierce, red +clouds melted into softness and tenderness. A pale, yellow light spread +along the heavens and over the sea; and the ship that a few minutes +before had looked like a white-winged phantom floating over a sea of +fire, now assumed the appearance of a maiden decked in her bridal robes.</p> + +<p>A man of short, stout figure, a sort of compromise between an alderman +and a dwarf, with very short legs, a broad red face, wide mouth, crispy +grey hair that stood nearly erect on his head, a red, punky nose, and +keen, grey eyes, paced watchfully up and down the quarter-deck. He was +dressed in white pantaloons and jacket, both fitting tight to his skin, +and wore a Panama hat, with a long black ribbon streaming behind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[Pg 88]</a></span></p> + +<p>He would pause at the hand-rail every few minutes, scan eagerly along +the sky from north to south, as if studying the strange and sudden +changes that were going on in the heavens. Then he would exchange a few +words with the officer of the watch, and resume his walk. Eight bells +had just struck, the wind began to freshen and veer to the southwest, +and the sky became overcast and filled with white, fleecy clouds.</p> + +<p>An order was given to take in studding-sails and get the ship "snug" for +the night, and quickly obeyed. Order and regularity prevailed on board +the good ship Pacific; and the promptness and cheerfulness with which +both officers and men performed their duties showed that they had a more +than ordinary interest in the ship and her voyage. Fashion had not then +made slaves and idlers of our young men of wealthy parents, and it was, +indeed, thought no disgrace for a gentleman of position to send his sons +on one of these voyages, to do duty before the mast. It taught them how +to face danger and endure hardships. It developed their manliness, and +made them more self-reliant. It gave them a knowledge of the world they +could not get elsewhere, and laid a good foundation for a fixed and +lasting character. Indeed, some of our richest and most enterprising +merchants have dated their prosperity from one of these voyages.</p> + +<p>The short, bluff-looking man pacing the quarter-deck was Captain Price +Bottom; and a more honest-hearted old salt never sailed the sea. His +great skill in killing whales had made him famous among whalemen +throughout the Pacific. He had made three successful voyages, bringing +home cargoes that had enriched his owners, put money in his own pocket, +and secured him a reputation he esteemed of more value than a fortune. +In<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[Pg 89]</a></span> truth, he regarded whales just as a terrier does rats, and found his +highest enjoyment in killing them. And yet nothing pleased him better +than when a whale showed pluck, as he called it, and made a square, +fierce fight for his life. A man had a chance then to show his skill and +power over the brute, he said. He held, too, that man's highest object +in life was to know how to kill a whale skilfully; and he heartily +despised the whale "as would submit quietly to the harpoon, and die like +a lubber." He also affected great contempt for the landsman who had +lived like a gentleman, and never killed a whale in his life.</p> + +<p>"There's no lunar to-night," said Captain Bottom, pausing at the +quarter-deck rail, and addressing himself to the officer of the watch. +"There's a goin' to be dirt, sir, there is; and them royals and +topgallant-sails is got to cum in. Would'nt surprise me if we had to +double-reef topsails afore mornin'. Tell you what it is, Mr. Higgins, +there's that ar north star with a towel over her face again. Sink me if +there'll be any lunar took to-night." The captain shook his head, gave +his Panama a tip, and walking aft, stood beside the binnacle watching +the compasses for several minutes. Then returning to where the officer +of the watch stood, he resumed:</p> + +<p>"Never made a bad landfall in my life, Mr. Higgins. Never shall be said +of Captain Price Bottom that he lost his reckonin'. It's judgment; yes, +Mr. Higgins, it's good judgment and sound sense what makes a good +sailor. A man may cram his skull till it hurts with Bowditch, but if he +hain't sense he'll never be a sailor. Same in killin' whales. If a man +hain't got sense, the whale is sure to get the advantage of him." Again +he paused, as if courting a reply; but Mr. Higgins<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[Pg 90]</a></span> merely bowed assent +to everything the captain said, every few minutes keeping an eye aloft +at the sails.</p> + +<p>"Man what gets his navigation aboard ship knows his business. Got mine +there; yes, sir! Did'nt know a Bowditch from a Bible when I went aboard +ship. Can do my amplitude and variations now without looking at a +nautical almanac. Can, sir, by Jove!"</p> + +<p>The ship bounded gallantly over the sea, leaving in her wake a long +silvery train of phosphoric light. Drawing no response from Mr. Higgins, +the captain raised his night-glass and scanned along the heavens to the +west. "We'll get somethin' out o' that quarter, butt end foremost," said +the captain, lowering his glass.</p> + +<p>Mr. Higgins was first officer of the ship, a position secured to him, +not because he had worked his way up to it, but through the influence of +a rich father, who was a large owner in the ship and her venture. He was +a tall, well-formed, fine-looking young man, with delicate and well-cut +features, and black hair. He was also a fine scholar and a perfect +master of the theory of navigation, and a voyage or two to Europe had +given him a slight knowledge of the practical part of it. Yet he was +more an ornamental than a practical sailor; and it was this that made +Captain Bottom, the whale-killer, hold him in no very high respect. +Indeed, he had several times said, in the presence of Mr. Higgins, that +it was all very well for a young gentleman to be a scholar; but a sailor +what had his head full of books never made a fortune for his owners.</p> + +<p>"Eight and forty hours more, Mr. Higgins! Yes, sir, eight and forty +hours more—keepin' her as she's going—and we have the land off Bahia." +Captain Bottom gave his head a significant shake as he spoke.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[Pg 91]</a></span> "Using +judgment, you see; not books, Mr. Higgins. Captain Price Bottom has +sailed seventeen years, and never was deceived by that chart. Don't make +charts now as they used to make 'em, Mr. Higgins," he concluded, +shrugging his shoulders.</p> + +<p>The wind now came over the sea roaring like a fierce lion, indicating +the rapid approach of the gale.</p> + +<p>"If we make land off Bahia in forty-eight hours, then I'm mistaken," +rejoined the first officer, satirically. "There's something coming that +will give us enough to do before morning."</p> + +<p>The words had hardly escaped his lips when the full force of the gale +struck the ship, roaring and shrieking through her shrouds, and nearly +throwing her on her beam ends. The sea was soon lashed into a tempest, +and made a clean sweep over her decks. The canvas was carried clean from +the bolt-ropes, the sheets were let go, and the lighter sails clewed up, +and an attempt made to get the ship's head to the wind and lay her to. +But the mizzen-sails were all gone, and she fell off, and refused to +obey her helm. The lashings had given way, and the larboard, waist, and +quarter boats were all swept from the davits, the frames sprung, and +every timber in the good ship's hull worked, and strained, and +complained, like a frail thing that must soon go to pieces. Every order, +however, was obeyed promptly and cheerfully, for both officers and crew +felt that their lives, as well as the saving of the ship, depended on +the way in which each man performed his duty.</p> + +<p>Just before the gale came up five young men, including Tite, might have +been seen grouped together in the waist of the ship, pondering over a +chart. Several books and nautical instruments were lying around. They +were all, except Tite, young men of wealthy<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[Pg 92]</a></span> parents, who had joined the +ship to enjoy the excitements of a whaling voyage. These young men, with +Tite, had formed a school of instruction, and every evening got together +in the same place to improve their knowledge in practical navigation. +One of them, a young man who had endeared himself to all on board by his +courage and the gentleness of his manners, was third mate, and took a +leading part in instructing the others. It would, indeed, have been +difficult to find two young men whose characters bore a stronger +resemblance than his and Tite's. Between them there grew up the +strongest friendship.</p> + +<p>The ship was now laboring in the trough of the sea, when a loud crash +was heard aloft. The fore, main, and mizzen top-gallant masts had gone +in rapid succession, and the swaying mass of wreck was threatening the +destruction of the ship. Death now stared every one in the face. There +was no hope of saving the ship and the lives of those on board, except +in the strength and courage of those willing to go aloft and clear away +the wreck. But who was there to do this perilous work?</p> + +<p>Amidst the confusion caused by the excited elements there was the sturdy +little captain, calm and cool, and giving his orders with that clearness +and decision which had always characterized him. Men were called for to +go aloft and cut away the swaying wreck, and save the ship. The first to +obey this summons was young Tite Toodleburg, whose example was followed +by the young man I have described as third mate, and one of his +companions. They mounted the fore, main, and mizzen rigging, and working +with all their strength and skill soon had the swaying wreck cut away, +and the ship relieved of her strain. But in descending, the third<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[Pg 93]</a></span> mate, +who had so gallantly performed his duty, lost his hold, and the ship +giving a terrible lurch, he was plunged into the sea, and seen no more.</p> + +<p>The ship now gradually righted, and with the aid of a storm-sail in her +mizzen rigging, for her top-sail had been torn into shreds, her head was +got to the wind.</p> + +<p>In that latitude gales of this kind are of short duration, generally; +and in half an hour from the time it struck the ship there was a calm, +smooth sea, and all hands were engaged repairing damages.</p> + +<p>On the following morning the ship was proceeding on her course, with a +light breeze from the north and a clear sky. Captain Bottom was there on +the quarter-deck, directing affairs, and in a talkative mood.</p> + +<p>"She's a good ship, sir, this old Pacific is, Mr. Higgins;" said he, +again addressing that officer. "Never knew her get off her feet before." +He always spoke of the ship as if she were a thing of life. "Bless her +staunch old soul! Made her timbers talk, eh? Wants a man as has got +confidence in the craft what's under him. Then if she goes down, why he +feels like being a hero and keeping her company.</p> + +<p>"But it makes me feel bad, Mr. Higgins, that we have lost our third +mate, poor fellow! He was a good sailor, and a brave young man, and had +such good friends at home, who thought so much of him." And as he said +this tears glistened in his eyes, and ran down his cheeks. "I'm sorry +for that young man, I am, so I am, Mr. Higgins," said the old sailor, +wiping the tears from his bronzed cheeks. "I do hope his soul will sail +in peace in a better world." Again he shook his head sorrowfully, and +then paused for a minute as if to regain control of his feelings. "God +forgive me," he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[Pg 94]</a></span> resumed, "for making a woman of myself. Don't do it +often, Mr. Higgins."</p> + +<p>"Shows that you have a kind heart, sir, and can shed a tear when it is +touched. I appreciate you for it. There is something manly in the tear +of a brave sailor," returned the officer, coldly, but politely. "We +shall get a good observation to-day, and if the men work hearty all the +spare spars and sails will be up by nightfall." Mr. Higgins's mind was +evidently on his duty, and not being inclined to enjoy the captain's +conversation, he took every opportunity to change the subject.</p> + +<p>"Give us your hand, Mr. Higgins," said he, rather unannoyed than +otherwise by what that officer had said. "But look you here!" He lowered +his voice as he took the officer's hand, "There'll be no whales to kill +where that poor fellow has gone. Not a whale. I promised his poor old +father—a good old red coat killer he was, too, in the Revolution—that +this here son of his should kill the first whale. Yes, I did, Mr. +Higgins. And that's what mortifies me. He's dead, you see, poor fellow. +T'was'nt my fault that I did'nt keep my promise. There'll be no whales +to kill where he's gone, poor fellow!" Again he shook his head +feelingly, then raising his hat, wiped the sweat from his bronzed brow.</p> + +<p>He now sent for Tite, who came upon the quarter-deck nervously, and +saluted his superior. "Well, my hearty," said Captain Bottom, "here's my +hand. You're a sailor, every inch on you. And a brave man, too, if +Captain Bottom does say it." Tite was not a little surprised at this +familiarity on the part of his captain, for he had before coming on +board been led to believe that the most severe discipline ruled on board +a whale ship.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[Pg 95]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There's the true sailor in you, my hearty," continued the captain, +again shaking Tite warmly by the hand. "You saved the ship, my hearty. +There'd a bin no more of the good old Pacific—God bless her! nor none +of us standin' here, but for you, my hearty."</p> + +<p>"I only done my duty, sir," rejoined Tite, modestly, as the color came +into his face. "I hope, captain, to merit your praise to the end of the +voyage." The young sailor made a bow, and was about returning to his +duty.</p> + +<p>"Avast, a bit," interrupted the captain. "Your name's Toodlebug, is'nt +it, my hearty?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," replied Tite. "Titus Bright Toodleburg; usually called Tite. +Hope, sir, to improve myself in navigation and seamanship under your +command. I shall always feel proud, sir, that I sailed with you. Some +one may trust me with a ship some day."</p> + +<p>"That's the talk, my hearty; keep a sharp look ahead," rejoined the +captain, his face lighting up with a smile. "Cram Bowditch into yer +head, and keep a sharp look ahead. Have ye so ye can bring the sun down +to dinner and put the north star in yer pocket afore ye get round Cape +Horn. You'll be a sailor yet, my hearty." Again Captain Bottom shook +Tite by the hand warmly.</p> + +<p>"Git yer head full of navigation; and with good judgment to help ye out, +ye can look an owner in the eye without winking, and tell him ye want a +ship. And if that recommendation don't do, tell him you have killed +whales with Captain Bottom, a man what never let a whale git the better +of him. And if he has never heard of Captain Price Bottom, of the good +old ship Pacific, then he never should own a ship, and don't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[Pg 96]</a></span> sail for +him. That's my advice, my hearty. So keep a sharp look out ahead." Here +he tapped Tite on the shoulder, exultingly.</p> + +<p>"It's very kind of you," returned Tite, modestly, "to take this interest +in me, a stranger to you. I shall do my best to merit your confidence +and respect."</p> + +<p>"A stranger, eh? Not a bit of it!" resumed the captain, quickly. "Look +ye here, my hearty. Your good old father and me was old friends. That +was years ago, you know. Meeting you brings an old love affair of thirty +years right back to my heart again. Yes, my hearty, that old feelin's +just as good as new this minute. God bless yer father; and God bless yer +mother, too! Here's a hand what'll always give a warm welcome to the son +of old Hanz Toodlebug—"</p> + +<p>"Then you knew my father? I hope, sir, I may never do anything to lessen +your respect for him."</p> + +<p>"Know'd him?" resumed the captain. "Yes, sir, and yer mother, too. And +when Captain Price Bottom says he know'd a man, he means it. Your father +and me was rivals!" Here he touched Tite on the elbow, and winked +significantly. "That is—well, it's rather a delicate subject—he +courted yer mother, and so did I! There, sir, there's just what it is. +She was as trim a young craft then as ever spread sails, and as full of +goodness and good looks." Captain Bottom again paused for a moment, +shook his head despondingly, and placed his hand on his heart. "A number +of young bloods like me trimmed their sails, but did'nt overhaul her. +Many a heart-flutter she caused me in them days. And just when I +thought, says I to myself, 'I'm to wind'rd,' and had got ready to make +fast to her—" Here he paused for a moment, and then lowering his voice, +continued: "Well, what does she go and do?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[Pg 97]</a></span> Blow me, my hearty, if she +did'nt go off and marry your father. That's what dismasted me. Never +bore him nor her any ill-will. 'God bless ye both,' says I; 'may ye be +happy and have a large family!' And it does me good to know that they +was prosperous. Your father had a home to take a woman to, and that is +what a woman should look to. Price Bottom was poor then, and without a +shillin' in his pocket. It was disappointment that made me take to the +sea, though. Went from the fo'castle t'where you see me now—Captain +Price Bottom, sir, of the good ship Pacific. It's a man's own exertion +that lifts him up in the world. There's my poor old woman at home +to-night—God bless her and the two little ones! thinking of me, and +praying for me, and wondering where we are. Laid her up a nice little +fortune; wolf can't bark at her door. That's a gratification, my hearty. +Made three successful voyages, you see. This, our fourth one, is to be +the last. Keep a sharp look ahead, and there's a future for you, too. +Ah, there'll be a heap of happiness a'tween me and my old woman when +this voyage is ended. A true wife at home, and a lovin' husband at +sea—ah, my hearty, them's jewels!"</p> + +<p>Tite listened with surprise to the story of this strange and eccentric +man. He had never heard either of his parents mention his name. He, +however, regarded it as very fortunate that he should be on board a ship +commanded by a captain who held his humble parents in such high regard. +The jolly old sailor finished his story by enjoining Tite to keep what +he had said a matter of confidence. He also made him third mate, to fill +the place of the young man who fell from the fore-mast into the sea +during the gale.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[Pg 98]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You shall take a hand at killing the first whale; shall command the +larboard boat. And you shall never want a friend while Captain Price +Bottom treads this quarter-deck," he concluded.</p> + +<p>Tite bowed, and thanked his benefactor again. He then proceeded to his +duty, as the ship headed for Bahia, with a fair wind.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[Pg 99]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIV" id="CHAPTER_XIV"></a>CHAPTER XIV.</h2> + +<h3>THE COMING WINTER, AND A MERRY-MAKING.</h3> + + +<p>November was come now. The day I write of was damp and cheerless. Grey, +vapory clouds swept over the Tappan Zee, and a sad, sighing wind tossed +it into crests. A drizzling rain fell over Nyack, and the little town +looked as if it had just taken a bath and gone to sleep for the night. +The hills wore a cold and bleak look, the foliage had lost its bright, +golden tints, and now looked faded and colorless. The leaves, too, were +falling, and the naked trees seemed weeping and cold. Sheep browsed on +the hill-sides, or nibbled coldly under the branches of sheltering +trees. In the wet, dripping barn-yard cattle were seen huddled together +under a lee, now seeking warmth in the fresh shocks, now proclaiming +their troubles in subdued lowing.</p> + +<p>The very landscape seemed weeping and melancholy. Even the summer birds, +whose songs give such a charm to the woods, were gone. And there was the +loon upon the lake gabbling his welcome to the approaching winter. The +rain, too, had filled the brooks, and their waters were gurgling down +deep, shadowy dells, mingling their touching music with the sad, sighing +wind. There were pleasant memories entwined in that departing summer; +and it now seemed as if all nature was joining in a requiem to its +fading beauties.</p> + +<p>The settlers had gathered their winter fruit, and the cider-presses had +finished their work for the season. Squashes were hung up in the cellar, +the corn was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[Pg 100]</a></span> shucked and in the bins, and heaps of ripe, lusty pumpkins +stood in the fields. In the houses fresh flitches of bacon hung by the +fireside, while festoons of dried apples decorated the beams overhead. +There, too, were the young nut-gatherers, coming home of an evening with +their well-filled satchels. There was to be peace and plenty at the +settlers' fireside this winter, for an all-wise Providence had so +ordained it in an abundant harvest.</p> + +<p>It was a custom with Hanz Toodleburg, as it was also with many other of +the settlers, to entertain his friends and neighbors with a merry-making +when the harvest was gathered. Hanz had invited his neighbors on the +evening of the day I have described, and notwithstanding the cold and +cheerless character of the night, the little house was full ere it was +dark. The bright, happy faces of the women, and the jolly, ringing laugh +of the men, all dressed in their neat new homespun, presented a pleasant +picture of rustic life. Each man came armed with a long pipe, while his +good vrow had some little present for Angeline. Hanz had a warm, hearty +shake of the hand for each of his guests. Indeed, he welcomed each of +the good vrows with a kiss and an admonition to be happy while they were +under his roof. And these good vrows put their hands to the wheel, and +assisted Angeline in preparing the feast. Indeed, she soon had her table +spread with as good and well-cooked fare as could be found in the +county.</p> + +<p>There was the cold boar's head, decorated with flowers; the fattest +turkey, roasted before the great fire; boiled beef, bathed in odorous +krout, and declared delicacies by every sturdy Dutchman; a spiced ham, +decorated with vegetables. Then there were apple and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[Pg 101]</a></span> pumpkin pies just +baked, cuddled apples, and jam, and fresh cranberry sauce. And these +were backed up with new cider and home-brewed ale, and coffee. Such was +the supper Hanz had prepared for his friends, and which he invited them +to eat and be happy.</p> + +<p>The good-natured Dominie was there, and so was Doctor Critchel and the +school-master. Nor was Titus Bright, the inn-keeper, forgotten. They +were equally important characters in the settlement, and no honest +Dutchman, who had any regard for his reputation for hospitality, would +think of giving a merry-making without them. The good Dominie was fond +of puddings and pies, and preached that the three highest objects a man +had to live for were peace, contentment, and a good dinner. The Dutch +regarded this as good enough religion for them—better, perhaps, than +that preached by the man of the church of progressive ideas. The +school-master could sing a good song, and, although an idle, shiftless +fellow, got more invitations to supper than any other man in the +settlement. As for the inn-keeper, he was a merry little man, who made +everybody laugh, and was held in high esteem by all the good vrows +around Nyack.</p> + +<p>Now that the supper was ready, there was a general exchange of vrows, +for it was not considered etiquette to sit at table with your own wife +during one of these feasts. Then the Dominie invoked God's blessing on +the bounties He had spread before them, thanked Him for the bountiful +harvest, and for the love He had shown these happy people. He then +proceeded to carve the boar's head, while every man and woman present +went to enjoying the feast.</p> + +<p>When supper was over and the table cleared away the men took to their +pipes and discussed their crops,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[Pg 102]</a></span> and the women discoursed of carding, +and spinning, and housewifery in general. Then there was a dance around +the apple-basket, and a dance in which every man kissed every other +man's vrow, and in which the Dominie joined, and was as jolly as any of +his flock. And they danced to the music of a fiddle, played by Lame +George, who lived up in the mountain. Then the Dominie told a number of +amusing stories, and the school-master sang them several of his best +songs, and cider and ale was drank.</p> + +<p>And while the pleasantry was at its highest, a loud knock was heard at +the door. The revelry ceased for a moment. There was the postmaster's +boy, bearing a letter with several curious stamps on it. Hanz was +overjoyed. He shook the boy's hand, and then scanned over the letter. +"God pless mine poor poy, Titus!" he exclaimed. "He wrotes dat ledder. +Yes, he does; mine poor poy Titus does;" and he struck his hands on his +knees, and laughed with joy. "He ton't forgets his old fadder. He be's a +goot poy, mine Titus." And he shook hands with the Dominie and the +inn-keeper. Indeed, he seemed so completely unmanned that he was +powerless to open the letter. Then he took a candle in his right hand, +and again scanned and scanned the superscription. "Sumthin' goot in dat +ledder. Mine poor poy Titus writes him!" he ejaculated, in a subdued +tone.</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 418px;"> +<img src="images/toodle102.jpg" width="418" height="277" alt="Then tears gushed into her eyes and moistened her pale +cheeks. Page 102." title="" /> +<span class="caption">Then tears gushed into her eyes and moistened her pale +cheeks. <a href="#Page_102">Page 102</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p>During all this time, for it seemed long to Angeline, she became pale +with anxiety. Then tears gushed into her eyes and moistened her pale +cheeks. But they were tears of joy, not sorrow—the wealth of that pure, +honest heart now beating so violently in anticipation of the good +tidings. When Hanz had somewhat controlled his feelings he sat down in +the big chair, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[Pg 103]</a></span> with Angeline looking anxiously over his shoulder +and holding the candle, opened and began reading the letter "Yesh, t'is +mine poor poy Titus as writes him," he said, pausing for a moment. "Hish +name shust as he wrotes him when a poy." The rest of the company looked +on and listened in silence. Then he resumed the reading. "Vell, dere +wash a pig sthorm, and t' ship most goes down to t' pottom. Den she +does'nt go to t' pottom. No, she no goes to t' pottom. Den mine poy, he +shaves t' ship." Hanz went over the letter in this incoherent manner, +and then handed it to the Dominie to read for the entertainment of the +company. The letter was dated at Bahia, where the ship had put in for +fresh supplies, as was the custom with whalers. He gave a glowing +account of the voyage, and the storm, and the persons he found on board. +The good Dominie was several times interrupted by some one of the +company invoking a blessing on Tite's head. And when it was announced +that he had been made third mate of the ship, an expression of joy broke +on every lip. The school-master shook Hanz warmly by the hand, and the +inn-keeper declared it would not surprise him if Tite came home captain +of the ship.</p> + +<p>"High, high!" exclaimed the Dominie, re-adjusting his spectacles; +"here's news. An old acquaintance has turned up." Then turning to +Critchel, he touched that odd old gentleman on the elbow, saying: "You +remember the old grave-digger of thirty years ago, oh, Critchel?"</p> + +<p>"Well, very well," replied Critchel; "he was a clever old man, and did +his business well. He used to say I brought people into the world, and +he sent them out."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[Pg 104]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bless me!" resumed the Dominie; "if here is'nt his son come to life +again. The poor fellow! we all knew him well. Tite says here that he has +found a good friend in the captain, an old acquaintance of his mother. +And who do you think it is?"</p> + +<p>Not one in the company could answer, although Angeline blushed, and +looked confused. "Price Bottom, son of that clever old man, the +grave-digger," concluded the Dominie.</p> + +<p>"How strange," said the inn-keeper. "Old Bottom had many a glass of ale +at my house, and never troubled anybody, except to dig their graves."</p> + +<p>"He was very poor," rejoined Critchel, in a subdued voice, "and died +leaving my bill unpaid. But he was an honest man, and paid when he had +it."</p> + +<p>"The son was a queer young man," resumed the Dominie. "Nobody seemed to +care anything about him. And when he left the settlement it was thought +he had got into the city and became a worthless. But here he is, made a +man of himself and has not forgot his old friends."</p> + +<p>This was good news to Angeline and Hanz. Still the name of Price Bottom, +the grave-digger's son, revived old if not pleasant memories. The odd +old captain had not forgotten his first love. The flame of that love +always burns, but never dies out. Disappointment may cross it, may for a +time veil its charm, but never can quench it. How strange, Angeline +thought, that her darling boy, the consolation of her heart, should have +met this once discarded lover, and under such circumstances. And that he +should be such a friend and protector to her boy only showed how good a +heart he had.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[Pg 105]</a></span></p> + +<p>The good news gave an additional charm to the evening's entertainment. +One after another shook Hanz and Angeline by the hand, and congratulated +them on the happy prospect. Indeed, they seemed the happiest people on +earth. Mugs of fresh cider were filled and drank to the health of +Captain Price Bottom, of the good ship Pacific—the poor fellow who had +only a grave-digger for a father, and left the settlement friendless and +without a shilling.</p> + +<p>And now these sturdy settlers again took to their pipes, and having +smoked in silence for at least five minutes, embraced and kissed their +hosts, and parted for the night.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[Pg 106]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XV" id="CHAPTER_XV"></a>CHAPTER XV.</h2> + +<h3>MRS. CHAPMAN AND THE UPPER CIRCLES.</h3> + + +<p>Let us go back, gentle reader, into the village of Nyack on that same +damp, stormy night, and into the house of Bigelow Chapman, the reformer. +A very different picture was presented there. The reformer was up +stairs, studying plans for the future. His spacious parlor was furnished +with a profusion of furniture, of the most approved style, and such as +was not common in the country at that day. They have got a new piano, +too; and a nice young gentleman in reduced circumstances, a foreigner, +is expected up from New York to give their daughter lessons on it. This +little affair of the piano and the foreigner has set the whole town to +talking, and people are putting on grave faces, and inquiring how they +can afford it. But it seems they do afford it, and also to have the best +of carpets on their parlor floor. And they have shown a taste for art in +several engravings hung on the walls.</p> + +<p>The Chapmans expected company from the city that night. A bright coal +fire and a globe lamp on the centre-table are shedding a soft, mellow +light, and adding an air of comfort and cheerfulness to everything in +the room.</p> + +<p>Mattie was sitting alone in the parlor reading a letter by the light on +the centre-table. Her dress was a plain black silk, made high at the +neck, and with an open stomacher, disclosing an aggravating bit of white +lace. There was always something neat and becoming in Mattie's dress, +and the white ruffles that now encircled her neck and wrists added the +charm of simplicity to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[Pg 107]</a></span> her appearance. Her hair, too, was almost +golden, and hung in long, careless curls down her shoulders.</p> + +<p>There was something of deep interest to her in that letter, for she read +and re-read it, as her soft, blue eyes, so full of love and tenderness, +almost filled with tears. Then she kissed it, and kissed it, and pressed +it to her bosom. "Oh, how I wish he was here to-night, that I could tell +him how much I love him;" she said, resting her head on her hand +thoughtfully. "I would tell him all my thoughts and feelings, just as he +has told me his. He is so true to me, and it never shall be said that I +am not true to him, poor fellow!" she mused, and putting the letter to +her lips again she kissed and kissed it. "They never can get me to love +any one else, never!" she resumed, when the door opened and Mrs. Chapman +entered, arrayed in her best millinery, and her front hair screwed into +the tightest of curls. The good woman had evidently resolved to put on +her very best appearance.</p> + +<p>"These disappointments are very annoying, my daughter, very," she spoke, +advancing and fretting her hand nervously. "If our company does not come +then—well, all our dressing will be for nothing. I wanted you so much +to see Mr. Gusher, my daughter. He's such a nice young gentleman, so +clever and agreeable—and has such a distinguished look, my daughter." +Mrs. Chapman expanded herself, while emphasizing the word distinguished. +She then filled the great arm-chair with her weighty person. "To get +prepared for company, and city company at that, and then have company +not come!" she resumed, casting a glance at Mattie, to see if she could +discern in her countenance what impression she had made. But Mattie +remained silent and thoughtful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[Pg 108]</a></span></p> + +<p>"It's not Mr. Gusher's fault, though. We must charge it all to the +storm, I suppose. Then I did want you to see Mr. Gusher so much, my +daughter. He is such a nice young man—and has such prospects. And +prospects is what a young woman should look to when gentlemen come +seriously inclined to matrimony—"</p> + +<p>"Mother," said Mattie, interrupting, "I have got such a nice letter. It +has made me so happy. I know you would like to read it. You always like +to read my letters, you know." And Mattie looked playfully in her +mother's face, and handed her the letter. "You will be delighted to hear +from him. He says so many kind, good things."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman took the letter and scanned over it hastily. "And so it has +come to this, has it?" she said, looking admonishingly at Mattie. "A +letter from that sailor-boy, the son of them common Dutch people. Your +father shall see this. Our daughter has stooped so low as to pledge +herself to such a common man!"</p> + +<p>"I love you, mother," said Mattie, "and I don't want to be disobedient; +but I love him, and I know he loves me. Yes, mother, I love Tite just as +much as if he was a rich man's son. I dreamed last night that he came +home a rich man, and brought me so many nice things; and that we were +married, and were so happy." And she threw her arms around her mother's +neck and kissed her so affectionately. "Who knows, mother, but that he +may come home rich? But even if he comes home poor, I know he will be +good and true to me," she concluded.</p> + +<p>"How very sentimental you are, my daughter," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, the +little curls about her brow seeming to get tighter as her broad face +grew redder. "Sentimental people never prosper, though—never<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[Pg 109]</a></span> knew one +yet that did. Was silly and sentimental once myself. That was before I +married your father."</p> + +<p>"Oh," rejoined Mattie, playfully, "I am real glad that you remember +those things, mother. Was father rich when you were married?"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman shook her head, and looked confused for a moment. "He was +not rich, my daughter. But then he was so clever—and had such +intellectual prospects. Brought up as you have been, my daughter, and +with such accomplishments, and such prospects!—to throw yourself away +on a sentiment. Just think of it! What would my mother have said if I +had gone off and married a man just for sentiment's sake? I brought you +up in strict regard to all the proprieties, and now you insist that you +won't be a lady."</p> + +<p>"Don't fret so, mother," said Mattie, again putting her arms around her +mother's neck, and kissing her. "I will be a real good, obedient girl, +and do anything you bid me. But then—" Here Mattie paused for a moment, +and looked roguishly up into her mother's face.</p> + +<p>"But then—what?"</p> + +<p>"Well, I don't think we shall agree about Mr. Gusher. The truth is, +mother—I don't know why—but then I don't think I ever can love him. +But then, you know, mother, I have not seen him yet; and you would'nt +have me love a man before I saw him?"</p> + +<p>"Perhaps not, my daughter; but I would have you look up, remember your +quality, and consider what you may be. If you condescend to look down on +that sailor-boy, there's no hope of the family ever moving in the upper +circles. But he'll never come back. That ship'll go to the bottom as +sure as the world. Something tells me she will go down, and I know she +will."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[Pg 110]</a></span></p> + +<p>At this Mattie's eyes filled with tears, and she buried her face in her +hands and gave vent to her emotions in sobs. "Mother, mother," she +rejoined, after a short pause, "how cruel of you to say so, even if you +thought so. He was so manly, and so kind to me."</p> + +<p>At this Mrs. Chapman rose from her chair with an air of injured dignity, +and walked in silence up and down the room for several minutes. Then she +heaved a sigh, extended her hand, and resumed: "Your tears, my daughter, +are what tear down my pride. No use, I see; my advice is all thrown +away—all thrown away! Oh, what a thing it is to have a daughter, and +yet not have a daughter. I mean to have a daughter that will have her +own way." Again Mrs. Chapman resumed her chair, and became thoughtful +and silent.</p> + +<p>"You know I love to please you, mother, for you are such a good mother +to me in everything else," rejoined Mattie, kneeling beside her mother, +placing her arms on her knees, and looking up lovingly in her face. "You +know I like to please you, mother," she repeated; "and I won't marry +anybody until Tite comes home. But then you must not say anything more +to me about Mr. Gusher."</p> + +<p>"That's poor consolation—very poor consolation, my daughter," replied +Mrs. Chapman, rebukingly. "Exactly what I did'nt want you to promise. +Then you have promised yourself to the young man? I'd never have got +your father if I'd made such a promise to such a young man. I have +always looked forward to the time when we should have a fine house on +the Battery, and move in the higher circles."</p> + +<p>Chapman now entered the room, which put an end to the conversation +between Mattie and her mother. Chapman smiled for once, and was +evidently in a pleasant<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[Pg 111]</a></span> mood. After rubbing his hands and taking a seat +by the fire, and looking first at Mattie and then at her mother, he +said: "I have good news to tell you. The storm has prevented Gusher from +getting here to-night. But the Kidd Discovery Company matter is settled, +and will be a great success. No need of inventing a new religion now. +Hanz has got his head full of the project. Has made all his Dutch +neighbors believe there is a fortune in it for them all. We go on an +expedition up the river to-morrow night, in search of the d——l's +sounding-rock. That's the place where Kidd buried his treasure, you see. +These honest old Dutchmen firmly believe that Kidd had an understanding +with the devil when he buried it there. Just show them how to start an +enterprise and make money, and they are as ready to make it as +anybody."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[Pg 112]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVI" id="CHAPTER_XVI"></a>CHAPTER XVI.</h2> + +<h3>A NIGHT EXPEDITION.</h3> + + +<p>The wind and the cold had moderated, and a heavy grey mist hung over the +Tappan Zee on the following night. Hollow, echoing sounds came over and +through the mist clouds, and re-echoed up the mountain. The scene was +one common at that season of the year; still there was something strange +and mysterious in the very atmosphere that composed it. Gloom hung over +everything, and touched a melancholy chord in one's feelings. Curious +figures, dim and indistinct, seemed to move and dance up and down, and +thread their way through the curtain of mist, like phantoms in winding +sheets. They were but delusions, betraying the eye. But there is a +reality now; a steamer is seen cutting her way through the deep gloom, +and throwing a long trail of light high up over the grey mist and +reflecting curiously in the heavens.</p> + +<p>Two stalworth men were seen walking down the road that night about eight +o'clock, dressed in a style common to boatmen. One carried a pair of +oars over his shoulder; the other had a well-filled haversack slung +across his, and a crowbar in his right hand. They halted on reaching +Bright's inn, and having stacked the oars and the bar against the little +porch, entered, and were greeted by a number of friends already +refreshing themselves at the counter. The appearance of these men—for +they were known to be the best boatmen on the Tappan Zee—greatly +surprised Bright and the gossips who were enjoying his ale around a +little<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[Pg 113]</a></span> table. One and then another invited them to drink, but they +refused, saying they had merely dropped in to light their pipes and look +for the men who were to join them. Various questions were now put to +them concerning their mission and its object. But the boatmen affected a +mysterious air; and all that could be got from them was that when they +returned it would be with money enough to buy all Nyack. They seemed +somewhat disappointed at not meeting some one, whose name they would not +disclose, at the inn.</p> + +<p>Bright now mixed warm punches and set them before the boatmen, saying +that on such a night they were just what were needed to prop a man's +courage up. The men, however, steadily refused all invitations to drink, +and when they had lighted their pipes, and bid the host and his +customers good night, left the inn and proceeded to a landing at the +bank of the river, where a boat with two men in it was waiting them.</p> + +<p>The manners of the boatmen had so excited the curiosity of the +inn-keeper and his guests, that no sooner had they left the inn than +Bright and several others put on their hats and followed, resolved to +see for themselves what was going on. Imagine, then, what must have been +their surprise to find the men in the boat Bigelow Chapman and Hanz +Toodleburg—both with heavy overcoats on. The boatmen were welcomed by +the men in the boat, whose voices were plainly heard, and after +exchanging a few words they threw in their oars carelessly and followed +themselves. In another minute the little craft was heading up the +stream, and disappeared in the thick mist.</p> + +<p>"I have it all!" said Bright, turning to his companions with an assuring +nod of the head, and lowering his voice. "Toodleburg—Chapman—a +Dutchman and a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[Pg 114]</a></span> Yankee—pick-axes, crowbars, and big ropes. Put them all +together; add going off at night to it—dark and misty night at +that—and there's something we'll all hear from in the wind. If Hanz and +that quarrelsome Yankee have got their heads together, then the devil +will get cheated out of Kidd's money. Sarves him right, too. Now them +two is after Kidd's money. Always knew old Hanz could tell where it +was."</p> + +<p>The inn-keeper and his friends now returned to the inn and discussed the +matter over warm punch until nearly midnight, or until their wits became +so confused that the four men in the boat increased to forty. In short, +Nyack waked up on the following morning to find herself filled with the +wildest reports concerning this midnight expedition and its object.</p> + +<p>The little boat moved on steadily up the stream, her sturdy oarsmen +pulling at a measured stroke through the bewildering fog. In this way +the boat was kept on up the river until past midnight, a glimpse of the +land being caught here and there, an assurance to Hanz that they were +not far out at sea. Indeed, Hanz began to get somewhat uneasy, and to +wish himself back with Angeline in the little house. As this expedition, +however, was to establish a solid basis for the great Kidd Discovery +Company, out of which a fortune for Tite was to come, he was willing to +run the risk of being lost in the fog for a night or two.</p> + +<p>Towards morning the men became uneasy and hungry, and began cursing Kidd +and all connected with him, and enquired of Chapman if he knew where he +was going. Indeed, one of them declared it his belief that they had been +brought on a fool's errand. Chapman, however, assured them that he knew +exactly where Kidd had buried his treasure—that it was on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[Pg 115]</a></span> point not +many miles below the Highlands, and under a big rock called the d——l's +sounding stone. That if they kept on they would reach the place before +daybreak. Hanz assured the men that every word Chapman said concerning +Kidd was true, and this inspired their confidence, for they honestly +believed his father to be an intimate friend of the pirate, and of +course ought to know all about his money.</p> + +<p>The boatmen now rested their oars and proceeded to refresh themselves. +And while they were doing this, and wondering what this night expedition +really meant, Hanz smoked his pipe and nursed his courage. In his heart, +however, he wished himself out of the affair and in a more honest +occupation. As for Chapman, he told a number of stories tended to excite +the cupidity of the boatmen. After resting an hour or two the party +proceeded about five miles further up the river, and landed just at +daybreak on a point jutting into the west side of the river, and just +above which there was a dilapidated little cabin, inhabited by a +laboring man and his wife.</p> + +<p>It would not do to disturb these poor people at so early an hour, +Chapman said, nor to tell them what sort of a mission we were on. +Thereupon Hanz and he proceeded up the bank of the river, to make, as he +said, a discovery. So the boatmen were left to take care of themselves. +The boatmen waited for nearly two hours, still neither Chapman nor Hanz +returned. Where they had gone was fast becoming a mystery. The men at +length became alarmed and disappointed, and proceeded towards the little +house to enquire the name of the place, and see what they could do to +get breakfast. Before they reached the house, however, the door opened +and two half-naked, tow-headed urchins came toddling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[Pg 116]</a></span> out, and as soon +as they saw the strangers scampered back in a state of great alarm. A +lusty dame, ragged and shoeless, and with her hair hanging loose about +her neck, now came to the door, with a broom in one hand and a +frying-pan in the other.</p> + +<p>"Where on arth are you two come from?" enquired the woman, in a surly +tone, as she raised her broom. "Another lot o' fools com'd to look for +Mr. Kidd's money," she continued, without waiting for a reply. "Seems as +if all the folks atween this and Yonkers had got crazy about Mr. Kidd, +and was a comin' up here to dig for his money."</p> + +<p>The men confessed that she was right in regard to their mission, and +begged that she would get them some breakfast, for which they would pay +her liberally.</p> + +<p>"Yes!" rejoined the woman, angrily, "I know'd what you'd cum fur. Thar +ain't nothin' in this house to get breakfast on—nothin' fur my poor old +man and the two little children. Work's hard to get up here. And them +fools what comes up here to dig for Mr. Kidd's money eat up what little +we had, and did'nt pay fur it, nither. Go home, like honest men, and get +some honester work than comin' up here thinkin' you kin find Mr. Kidd's +money. Don't believe in Mr. Kidd—I don't!" The woman kept swinging her +broom as she spoke. Then the two children ventured back and peered from +behind her skirts at the strangers. "Don't believe he had any money, +anyhow. If he had he was a mighty fool to come up here and bury it. +People round here would 'a stole every dollar on it long ago. There's a +Yankee and a Dutchman diggin' a big hole a piece above here—expectin' +to find Mr. Kidd's money."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[Pg 117]</a></span></p> + +<p>Such was the reception these boatmen met with at the hands of Mrs. +Brophy, whose husband, a short, thick-shouldered, bullet-headed son of +the Emerald Isle, with a short, black pipe in his wide mouth, and in his +shirt and trousers, came to the door and seated himself on the sill.</p> + +<p>"Is it Misther Kidd's money ye's is afther?" he enquired, querulously, +putting his elbows on his knees and resting his head in his hands. "Much +luck may ye's have finding it. Divel a cint meself iver saw uv Misther +Kidd's money, an' we've liv'd here this two years an' more. It's mighty +little uv any other man's money—not enough, troth, to get bread for the +childher—have we seen."</p> + +<p>The boatmen enquired of Mr. Brophy if he could tell them where the +devil's sounding-stone was. There was indeed a superstition amongst +these poor people that Kidd had buried his money under a rock he gave +that name to; and that there was an agreement with his satanic majesty, +who was to stand guard over it, and allow only those who had the +talisman to lay hands on it. This talisman, it was also believed, would +open the devil's conscience, and cause him to lift the stone and unlock +the great iron chest containing the gold and silver. Loud noises, it was +said, were heard under the stone, which was the voice of the devil +rebuking the follies of the men who came in search of this treasure. +These poor people also believed that Kidd had murdered a woman in cold +blood, and buried her under the same stone; that she would come to life +when it was lifted; and that her ghost haunted the spot every night, and +not less than a score of Dutchmen had seen it. The more religious of +them declared that the ghost would hold communion only with a certain +priest, who came<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[Pg 118]</a></span> once a year, at midnight, to invoke in an unknown +tongue a blessing on her troubled spirit.</p> + +<p>"The divel's soundin'-stone is it ye's wants?" ejaculated Mr. Brophy. +"Shure, it's beyant—a mile, about—perhaps two—perhaps not so +many—perhaps more. Much good may it do ye's when ye's finds it. An', +an', an', the ghost standin' there ivery night." Mr. Brophy resumed his +pipe, and after two or three whiffs resumed: "Ye's may dig holes till +yer childhers wears rags, as mine does, an' not a mouthfull uv bread in +the house, an' not a cint of Misther Kidd's money ye'd git. An' the +ghost standin' there, too!"</p> + +<p>Being satisfied that these poor people had nothing to give them to eat, +the boatmen presented the woman with two dollars and what liquor there +was in their flask, telling her to spend the money in bread for the +children. This little act of kindness so softened the poor woman's +feelings that she invoked numerous blessings on their heads; adding at +the same time that it was more money than she had seen for a month, +though persons in search of Kidd's gold and silver had beset her house.</p> + +<p>The men now returned to their boat, and breakfasted on what they had in +their haversack. And when it was nearly noon, and they were beginning to +get alarmed, Chapman returned, apparently in the best of spirits, and +accompanied them to a comfortable farm-house, about a mile up the bank. +Here they found Hanz, very contentedly smoking his pipe, in the company +of two others, who at first affected to be strangers. It soon became +apparent, however, that these men had met Hanz and Chapman here by +appointment. And it was also apparent that they were engaged in the same +business of searching for Kidd's treasure. One was an<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_119" id="Page_119">[Pg 119]</a></span> ill-favored, +talkative little man, who wore spectacles and the shabbiest of clothing, +and seemed to pride himself in a bushy red beard and hair. In short, he +was about as dilapidated a specimen of rejected humanity as Nature in +one of her wildest freaks could have produced. Indeed, I may as well +inform the reader that this person was Warren Holbrook, who, since his +departure from Nyack, had been enlightening the people of this +neighborhood by preaching the gospel of the "great advanced ideas," and +in that way picking up enough to keep the wolf from the door, though it +would not put clothes on his back.</p> + +<p>Holbrook declared that the world had not used him well generally; but he +never thought of looking into himself for the cause. He was willing, +however, to relinquish the gospel of the advanced ideas for a business +that would put money in his pocket and clothes on his back. Here he was, +then, engaged in the business of getting up the great Kidd Discovery +Company, by which every man who invested in it was to make a fortune.</p> + +<p>The other was a slender, well-formed young man, perhaps twenty-five or +six years old, of dark olive complexion, and black, oily hair that +curled all over his head. His large black eyes were full of softness and +were well set under beautifully arched-brows. There was, indeed, a +moorish cast about his features, which were prominent and well lined; +and when he spoke, which he did with a foreign accentation, he disclosed +a row of white, polished teeth, every one set with perfect regularity. +His hands, too, were soft and delicate, and on each of his little +fingers he wore a large seal ring. He wore, also, a heavy gold +neck-chain, and his dress was of plain black, made in the latest style +and in great<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_120" id="Page_120">[Pg 120]</a></span> good taste. Romantic young girls just out in society might +have been excused for selecting just such a man as a model lover.</p> + +<p>The young man I have described above so neatly dressed, was Philo +Gusher, of the great accommodating house of Topman and Gusher, +extensively engaged in making discoveries and fortunes for all persons +kind enough to honor them with their investments.</p> + +<p>The boatmen found these men in a room at the farm-house, seated around a +table on which stood a bucket half filled with what appeared to be ugly +black sand. Just as they entered Mr. Gusher rose from his seat and +exclaimed:</p> + +<p>"Greatest discovery what was ever made. There is nothing like it in +history. I tell you it is a great thing, gen-tle-men!" Here he raised +his right hand, and then lowering it ran his fingers into the dark sand, +and drew out a number of discolored Mexican and Spanish dollars. "Wis +zat—what is in zat bucket, gen-tle-mens—and ze ouse of Topman and +Gusher (me) is on a solid basis, as you shall see." Here he rang a dozen +or two of the discolored dollars on the table, adding, "Zis Kidd +Discovery Company is one zing so great as you ever did see, +gen-tle-men."</p> + +<p>"And we are indebted to this good, honest old man for all of it—I +should say," rejoined Chapman, checking himself, "for selling us the +secret." Hanz had been smoking his pipe quietly, and seeming to take but +little interest in what was going on. Chapman now slapped him on the +shoulder violently, and shook his hand. "We are indebted to you for this +great and successful enterprise, eh? See the fortune now, don't you?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[Pg 121]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Perhaps I toes, und maybe I ton't," replied Hanz, relieving his mouth +of the pipe. "I shees t' shand, und I shees t' tirty tollars—how I know +where he comes from, eh?" Hanz began to have his suspicion aroused, and +to feel that he had got into queer company. "T' tollar might get back to +t' tivel when you gets him, if I vas only back mit mine Angeline!" said +he, shaking his head doubtingly.</p> + +<p>"It is very generous of our friend here," interposed Holbrook, running +his fingers through his tufty red hair, and looking askance through his +spectacles at Hanz, "to affect that he cares nothing about our +discovery. Very kind of him. But we found the treasure exactly where he +said it was buried."</p> + +<p>Hanz shook his head, and looked with an air of surprise at the speaker. +"If I tells you where dat gold und dat tirty shilver be's buried, und +you goes dar und finds him, ten I be's asleep, und ton't know what I +tells you."</p> + +<p>"Te gen-tle-man," interposed Gusher, going off into a rhapsody of +delight, "is very modest. It is very good of him to be so modest. But +he, I am sure, will accept ze thanks of Topman and Gusher. Tis Kidd, +gen-tle-men—he must be one jolly, generous fellow. I loves tis +gen-tle-man Kidd. He bury his dollars here in bushel baskets full. We +find him, eh?" Here he again ran his hand into the sand, and drawing out +several more discolored dollars threw them on the table. "Te great big +Kidd Discovery Company is one great fixed fact—one grand success, +gen-tle-men. When ze customer come wiz his money, we shall say here is +ze zing what makes you one grand fortune; invest your money and put your +trust in Topman and Gusher."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[Pg 122]</a></span></p> + +<p>Here, indeed, was the capital stock on which the enterprising firm of +Topman and Gusher had started a great and flourishing joint-stock +company. The boatmen listened to what they had heard with surprise and +astonishment. They, in short, firmly believed that what they had seen in +the bucket was treasure taken from the place in which it had been buried +by Kidd.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[Pg 123]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVII" id="CHAPTER_XVII"></a>CHAPTER XVII.</h2> + +<h3>MR. GUSHER IS INTRODUCED TO MATTIE.</h3> + + +<p>The Reverend Warren Holbrook was left in the farm-house to further +develop the discovery, and lift the great enterprise into popularity +among the confiding people in that portion of the country. The rest of +the party, including Gusher, returned to the boat near sundown and set +off for Nyack, the sturdy oarsmen singing a merry song. There in the +bottom of the boat was the bucket containing the black sand and +discolored dollars—the capital stock of the great Kidd Discovery +Company—which Chapman and Gusher affected to guard with particular +care.</p> + +<p>They reached Nyack the next day about noon, looking fatigued and +careworn, for they had enjoyed but little sleep since leaving. During +their absence all sorts of wild rumors had been circulated concerning +the object of the expedition. Imagination had made some of its highest +flights, and even found a relative of Kidd, who was to join the +expedition a few miles up the river, and who possessed the power to make +the devil surrender sounding-rock—in case he proved obstinate and +refused to acknowledge Hanz's authority. Titus Bright's inn was the +place where all the wisdom of the settlement concentrated of a night. +And it was here that all the various features of the great expedition +were discussed over ale and cider. Sundry honest Dutchmen shook their +heads suspiciously, and declared no good would come of it if Chapman got +his finger in. Others said it was all clear enough now where Hanz<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[Pg 124]</a></span> +Toodleburg got his dollars and his doubloons. It was no wonder that he +was so much better off than his neighbors. Another declared that he had +more than once told Hanz he would never get to heaven, and that secret +on his mind.</p> + +<p>When the boat reached the landing a number of persons were gathered +there, all anxious to know what success had attended the expedition, and +what discoveries had been made concerning Kidd's money. News that the +expedition had returned soon spread over Nyack, and the town was greatly +agitated. The arrival of Gusher, a gentleman of such distinguished +personal appearance, tended still further to increase the agitation, and +to give wing to wilder rumors. Hanz was received with salutations of +welcome, for every one seemed glad to see him back. But where this +foreign-looking gentleman came from, and what was his history, were +questions they confounded their wits over without finding a satisfactory +solution.</p> + +<p>Considerable ado was now made in getting the bucket and its contents on +shore, which was done with as much care and ceremony as if every grain +of black sand it contained had been gold. And when a number of the coins +had been exhibited to the bystanders, and the genuineness of the metal +they were made of shown to be beyond doubt, the boatmen ran a pole +through the handle and carried it on their shoulders up the road, +creating such a sensation in turn that they were followed by a curious +and astonished crowd, which seemed to increase at every step.</p> + +<p>The effect was exactly what Chapman wanted. He had the precious treasure +carried to his house and deposited, while Hanz and the boatmen proceeded +to their homes, stopping at Bright's inn on the way, where they<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[Pg 125]</a></span> gave a +marvellous account of their expedition and what they had discovered.</p> + +<p>The portly figure of Mrs. Chapman, arrayed in her best millinery, stood +in the door ready to welcome her dear husband and Mr. Gusher, who had +proceeded in advance of the crowd.</p> + +<p>"Allow me to welcome you to my house—such as it is, Mr. Gusher," said +she, making a low courtesy, and then extending her fat, waxy hand. Mr. +Gusher bowed in return, and received the hand formally.</p> + +<p>"Madam, I am so very happy to have ze pleazure to zee you in your own +house," replied Mr. Gusher, raising his hand to his heart, then lifting +his hat and making another formal bow.</p> + +<p>"I am sure you will forego all ceremony, Mr. Gusher, and make yourself +at home. We are plain, unpretending people, and like to receive our +friends in a plain, unpretending manner," resumed Mrs. Chapman, +escorting her guest into the parlor, and begging him to be seated. "It +seems so very long since we met in New York, Mr. Gusher. I never shall +forget that visit, made so pleasant by your kindness. I have spoken of +you so often, Mr. Gusher, to my daughter, that we both feel as if we +were well acquainted with you—"</p> + +<p>"Madam," interrupted Mr. Gusher, again putting his hand to his heart and +making a formal bow, "you do me so many compliments as I don't deserve. +I have anticipated ze pleazure and ze honor so much to zee your +daughter. I am zure I shall be delight wiz her. If I shall speak Englis +so well as you, then I shall be so happy. Then I makes myself agreeable +to your daughter, I am so sure." Mr. Gusher was indeed quite embarrassed +at the number of compliments Mrs. Chapman seemed inclined to bestow on +him.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[Pg 126]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Nyack is so dull and stupid—so very dull, Mr. Gusher. We only endure +it, you know. And there are so few nice people in it—so very few we +care about associating with," resumed this fat, fussy woman, giving her +head a toss and extending her hands. "A few, a very few nice people have +come up from the city—we find them very agreeable society, quite a +relief. We intend to set up a residence in the city. How delightful to +look forward to the day. We can then live in a style more agreeable to +our taste."</p> + +<p>"Oh! madam," rejoined Mr. Gusher, "I am sure you must be very happy. +Your house is so very elegant. I should be so happy in zis house. +(Pardon, madam, I cannot speak Englis so well.) And zen, wiz your +beautiful daughter." Mr. Gusher placed his hand to his heart again, +bowed his head gracefully, and assumed a sentimental air. "Oh, I shall +be so happy to have my home like zis. And your beautiful daughter—she +would sing to me, and she would play me sweet music, and read to me some +poetry. You shall zee I am so proud of ze poetry—"</p> + +<p>"How very kind of you," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, bowing +condescendingly; "how very kind of you, to pay my daughter this high +compliment. And, then, coming from so distinguished a foreigner. Indeed, +Mr. Gusher, I have had a mother's responsibility in educating my +daughter up to the highest requisitions of society. Then she's only a +young, thoughtless girl yet, you know. Indeed, Mr. Gusher, if it was not +that she is so intellectual—I say this out of respect to her father, +whose intellectual qualities she inherits—I should feel alarmed about +her. Indeed I should. She is so much admired. And there is nothing +spoils a young, ardent girl so much as admiration."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[Pg 127]</a></span></p> + +<p>Chapman now entered the room and suggested that Mr. Gusher, their guest, +must be very much fatigued after so arduous an expedition. Mr. Gusher +was thereupon shown to his room, and left to his own contemplations. In +truth, he was glad enough to escape in this way from a continuation of +this fussy woman's compliments. He had, however, created in his mind a +beautiful picture of Mattie, with oval face, fair complexion, soft blue +eyes, flowing golden hair, and a form that Diana might have envied, and +a voice so sweet in song. As to her parents, they knew nothing of him, +(perhaps it was well they did not); and he knew nothing of them. There +was a mystery overhanging the means by which he had been brought in +contact with these peculiar people. But the more he revolved the +beautiful picture of Mattie over in his mind the more his anxiety to see +her increased.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gusher rested for two hours, and then re-appeared in the parlor, so +exquisitely dressed and made up. Every hair on his head seemed to have +been curled so exactly. The gentleman had evidently taken great pains to +get himself up in a style that should be faultless. I may mention, also, +that Mr. Gusher regarded himself as a very valuable ornament in the +atmosphere of fashionable society—just such a nice young man as an +ambitious woman just setting up in society would require at least a +dozen of to make her first reception a success.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman and Mattie were already in the parlor, waiting to receive +Mr. Gusher, "My dear sir!" exclaimed Mrs. Chapman; "you are looking so +much improved. I hope you are rested? And now, sir, allow me to present +you to my daughter—Miss Mattie, my only daughter. This is Mr. Gusher, +my daughter.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[Pg 128]</a></span> You have heard me speak of Mr. Gusher so often." Mattie +blushed and looked confused, then courtesied in a cold and formal +manner.</p> + +<p>"I am so glad to make you my compliments," said Mr. Gusher, making one +of his best bows, and moving backward with a shuffling motion, "I am so +glad to make you my friend," he continued, bowing and placing his right +hand on his heart. Mattie's beauty was quite up to the picture Mr. +Gusher had drawn of it in his imagination. But her manner was so cold +and formal that it not only disappointed but annoyed him. Instead of an +ardent, impressible, romantic and even demonstrative girl, bubbling over +with warmth and vivacity, here she was, as cold and formal as a charity +school matron of forty summers.</p> + +<p>"I hope, sir, that you will find your visit to Nyack pleasant," she +replied, tossing her long, golden curls bewitchingly over her fair, full +shoulders with her right hand, then motioning Mr. Gusher to be seated +"Nyack is a very dull place, though. I am sure you will not find much in +it to interest you. My mother tells me you are to make but a very short +stay. I don't wonder you are anxious to get back, sir—"</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman was at this time in a state of great alarm lest Mattie +should say something not strictly within the rules of propriety. She +shook her head and cast a significant glance at Mattie, then raised the +fore-finger of her right hand to her lips, admonishingly.</p> + +<p>"My daughter has not heard of the great enterprise yourself and my dear +husband are engaged in—"</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 407px;"> +<img src="images/toodle128.jpg" width="407" height="266" alt=""I am so glad to make you my compliments!" said Mr. +Gusher, making one of his best bows. Page 128." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I am so glad to make you my compliments!" said Mr. +Gusher, making one of his best bows. <a href="#Page_128">Page 128</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[Pg 129]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Why, yes, mother, I have," interrupted Mattie; "did'nt Mr. Toodleburg +and father go up the river to buy up all the vegetables for the New York +market?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, horrors! horrors! Why, my daughter, what put such a strange thought +in your head? Think of it. Your intellectual father going into the +vegetable business—and with a common old Dutchman! Oh, horrors, my +daughter! What could have put such a thought in your head?" The fat, +fussy woman affected to be overcome, and raised her hands in the very +agony of distress.</p> + +<p>"My daughter, Mr. Gusher, has a way of talking so at times. A little +satirical, you know—inherits it from her father."</p> + +<p>"My mother has spoken of you frequently, Mr. Gusher. I almost felt +acquainted with you before you arrived. You do business in the city, she +says. The weather is so very bad, I am sure you will not enjoy such a +dull place as this," said Mattie, turning to Mr. Gusher and resuming the +conversation, cold and emotionless.</p> + +<p>"No, no, miss," rejoined Mr. Gusher, smiling; "I am zure I shall be so +happy wiz you. Wiz you to zay so many good zings to me, my heart shall +be in ze paradise." Here Mr. Gusher made a bow, and pressed his hand to +his heart. "Wiz you for ze bird of zat paradise, oh, I shall be so +happy."</p> + +<p>"Then you and father are going into business, Mr. Gusher? I do hope you +will be successful. If you can only get father to stick to business," +resumed Mattie. "He is smart at inventing new religions, and other +things. Mother, (here she turned to her mother, who was in a state of +great alarm,) how many new religions has father invented? I know how +many churches he has built—"</p> + +<p>"My daughter, my daughter!" exclaimed the impatient and perplexed woman. +"Such things as churches<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[Pg 130]</a></span> don't interest Mr. Gusher. Mr. Gusher moves in +distinguished society, and goes to a fashionable church."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes, madam, I go to ze very fazionable church. I go to zee ze +ladies, and to enjoy ze sentiment of ze music. Zen I shall enjoy myself +wiz your daughter more as well in your house. I shall do zat. Your +daughter, she shall zing to me, and she shall play to me, and she shall +read to me some poetry. I am so much love ze poetry."</p> + +<p>"Truly, Mr. Gusher, I should make but very poor work in entertaining you +by singing or playing," replied Mattie; "and as for poetry, I never had +any taste for it. Father made me read Pilgrim's Progress until it has +got to be a favorite book with me. Did you ever read it, Mr. Gusher? It +is very interesting."</p> + +<p>"Nevare, nevare!" returned Mr. Gusher, shaking his head and extending +his hands. "I nevare read ze book of ze Progress Pilgrim. I read ze book +what describe to me ze paradise of ze heart—love." How very +aggravating, thought Mr. Gusher. Instead of a girl with a whole volume +of poetry in her soft blue eyes, here was one whose very nature seemed +devoid of sentiment. Still there was something in this cold and reserve +manner, this indifference to Mr. Gusher's attractions, that tended to +excite his ambition, for he was excessively vain.</p> + +<p>"Your dear mother say I go to ze fazionable church. Yes, I go to ze +fazionable church. I zee so many nice ladies, so many beautiful ladies, +all my friends; and za make me so many compliments. Oh, yes, Miss +Chapman, I have so many beautiful young ladies for my friend in ze +church."</p> + +<p>"I don't see how it can be otherwise, Mr. Gusher," returned Mattie, +bestowing a look of admiration on<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[Pg 131]</a></span> him. "I am sure you would have a +great many admirers if you lived in Nyack. But, then, you would not +think of living in such a dull place."</p> + +<p>"You do me so much honor, miss," rejoined Mr. Gusher, rising and making +a bow. "I hope it shall be my honor to count Miss Chapman—what shall I +say?—well, I will say as one of my so good friends."</p> + +<p>"Indeed, Mr. Gusher, I have no such ambition. You have so many beautiful +friends now. You would not, I am sure, condescend to include a simple +country girl like me among them. I assure you, Mr. Gusher, I am not +ambitious."</p> + +<p>"You will have discovered by this time," said Mrs. Chapman, rising and +making a low courtesy, "that my daughter delights in being eccentric. +Oh, sir, she says a great many things she never means. She has got +ambition enough. She would'nt be a Chapman if she had'nt."</p> + +<p>Dinner was now announced. "I shall be so happy to escort you," said Mr. +Gusher, nearly doubling himself in a bow, and extending his arm.</p> + +<p>Mattie hesitated for a moment, blushed, and seemed confused. "Please, +Mr. Gusher," she said, bowing and extending her right hand, "escort my +dear mother." Here was an awkward situation. Mr. Gusher's knowledge of +etiquette was for once put on trial by a plain, simple-hearted country +girl. But his offer was intended only as a compliment, and surely, he +thought, the girl would accept it in that light.</p> + +<p>Turning nervously to Mrs. Chapman he extended his arm, saying: "Pardon, +madam, pardon. You will understand?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[Pg 132]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, certainly, Mr. Gusher," returned the ponderous woman. "You are so +very kind—so very kind, Mr. Gusher."</p> + +<p>Never before had Mr. Gusher escorted a woman of such ponderous +circumference. Mattie followed, her roguish smiles indicating that she +enjoyed what she considered a joke played at Mr. Gusher's expense. The +picture presented by the meeting of such extremes was indeed a ludicrous +one.</p> + +<p>I will not weary the reader with a description of or explain a family +dinner such as that generally spread by the Chapmans, nor with the many +apologies made by Mrs. Chapman that they had not something better to set +before so distinguished a guest as Mr. Philo Gusher. Chapman was already +seated at the table, busy with a huge fork and carving-knife.</p> + +<p>"We don't stand on ceremony here," said he. "Our visitors are always +welcome, and expected to make themselves at home. (Pointing with the +carving-knife to opposite sides of the table.) Take seats, take seats, +now," he concluded.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman made a motion to seat Mattie on Mr. Gusher's left, an honor +she did not seem to appreciate, for she insisted on taking a seat +opposite—her proper place.</p> + +<p>When dinner was over Mr. Gusher escorted Mattie back into the parlor. +"You shall understand me better, miz, I am sure you shall, as we get +better acquainted. And now you shall zing to me, and play me some +music," said he, opening the piano and arranging the stool and music. +"You will zee I shall make myself agreeable," he repeated two or three +times, then extending his hand. But instead of accepting it Mattie +returned a cold, formal bow, and proceeded to the piano unaided.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[Pg 133]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The truth is, Mr. Gusher," said Mattie, running her fingers up and down +the keys, and looking up archly in Mr. Gusher's face, "I am only taking +lessons, and can't play or sing so as to interest you."</p> + +<p>"Excuse, miz. You want I pay you ze compliment. Well, I shall do zat +when I hear ze music."</p> + +<p>The fair girl now tossed her golden curls back over her shoulders, and +began singing one of the most solemn and melancholy of pieces, to her +own accompaniment. Her voice was indeed full of sweetness, and she could +sing with some skill and effect; but she was just at this time more +inclined to play on Mr. Gusher's feelings than to do justice to her +musical talent.</p> + +<p>"There's something sweet and touching in this melancholy music, I like +it, Mr. Gusher," she said, pausing and looking up in his face +tantalizingly; "don't you?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Gusher shook his head disapprovingly, and shrugged his shoulders. +"No, no, miz; I nevare like ze funeral music. I go to ze funeral of my +friend wiz music like zat."</p> + +<p>"I am very sorry to hear you say so, Mr. Gusher. I play it whenever +mother will let me. And I enjoy it so much. Reminds me of a dear young +friend now far away."</p> + +<p>"Now, miz, I makes my discovery," returned Mr. Gusher, turning over a +leaf of the music, and looking enquiringly into Mattie's face. "Zat +young friend, so far away, wiz his memory so near ze heart. Well, I +shall think no more of zat. You shall zee I shall make my compliments, +and shall cut out zat one young friend what is so far away. You shall +zing me some grand music, so full of ze love, and ze poetry, so as my +heart shall lift up wiz joy." Here Mr. Gusher flourished his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[Pg 134]</a></span> hands and +executed several waltzing steps, as an expression of how his feelings +were excited by music.</p> + +<p>Mattie turned suddenly around to witness this peculiar exhibition, when +Tite's letter fell from her bosom to the floor.</p> + +<p>"Ze revelation! Ze re-ve-la—what shall I say? If I only speak ze Englis +so good as you, now!" exclaimed Gusher, affecting a loud laugh. And +stooping down quickly, he attempted to seize the missive. Mattie was too +quick for him. Regaining possession of it she restored it carefully to +her bosom, an expression of joy and triumph lighting up her countenance.</p> + +<p>Disappointment now took possession of Mr. Gusher's feelings. His manner +indicated what his heart felt. Never before had his expectations and his +ambition been so lowered, or his vanity so exposed. He had expected to +find a beautiful, simple-minded country girl, ready with hand and heart +to become a willing captive to his charms. And yet he had failed to make +the slightest impression on her. Nor was that all. Her heart and her +thoughts were evidently engaged in another direction. What, he enquired +of himself, could her mother have meant by the encouragement she gave +him to visit her home and see her daughter? His curiosity to find out +who it was that held such possession of this beautiful girl's affections +was now excited to the highest pitch.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[Pg 135]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XVIII" id="CHAPTER_XVIII"></a>CHAPTER XVIII.</h2> + +<h3>ROUNDING CAPE HORN.</h3> + + +<p>Mr. Gusher, with his pride wounded, and a heavy heart, took leave of the +Chapmans early on the following morning, and crossed the ferry on his +way back to New York. The black bucket containing the capital stock of +the great Kidd Discovery Company, in which his fancy pictured a dozen or +more fortunes, and which he bore with him, afforded no relief for his +disappointment. It might be the means of his owning a fine house, riding +in his own carriage, and being considered a rich man by society. But, +after all, riches only embodied the hard features of dollars and cents. +Who could find romance in the pursuit of dollars and cents? he thought. +You could carry fame into the grave with you. Dollars and cents might +buy you a fine coffin, and bring rich friends to your funeral; but they +left you at the tomb door.</p> + +<p>Had Mr. Gusher gone back to New York in the belief that he had made an +impression on the affections of that pretty, simple-hearted country +girl, Mattie Chapman, what a happy man he would have been. He resolved, +however, not to be vanquished in this way—not to give it up—but to +continue his attentions, and if possible gain a victory over her +affections.</p> + +<p>And now, gentle reader, you must accompany me to a very different part +of the globe, and see what is going on there.</p> + +<p>The ship Pacific had been refitted and put in sailing order at Bahia, +and was now on her course for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[Pg 136]</a></span> Straits of Magellan. On reaching the +latitude of the straits strong adverse winds set in, and gale succeeded +gale until the sea became lashed into a tempest. The weather, too, was +biting cold, and the crew suffered intensely. Not a gleam of sun had +been seen for three weeks, and the ship's progress had to be worked by +dead reckoning.</p> + +<p>Morning after morning the sturdy old captain would come on deck, thrust +his hands deep into the pockets of his pea-jacket, and look intently +over the wild watery scene. Then he would shake his head despondingly. +"Never caught it this way afore," he would say, addressing the officer +of the watch. "Never caught it this way afore. Somebody's brought bad +luck aboard, or we should'nt have such weather as this." Then he would +disappear into the cabin and ponder over his chart, trying to work out +the ship's position. But a strong current and the high wind, both +setting in one direction, had carried him far beyond his reckoning, and +into the vicinity of the Faulkland Islands.</p> + +<p>All the light spars had been sent down, and for fifteen days the ship +had labored in the sea under close-reefed topsails and jib, trying to +make weather, but without gaining a mile.</p> + +<p>On the sixteenth day the weather cleared up a little and the sun came +out, and an observation was got, which showed that the ship had been +carried into the vicinity before described. For once the sturdy old +whale-killer had got drifted away from his course. But he declared it +was all owing to the sea getting tipsy, the compasses getting tipsy, the +chronometers getting tipsy, and the sun keeping himself rolled up in a +blanket. You could'nt, he said, get a ship to look the wind in the eye +when all the elements were tipsy. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[Pg 137]</a></span> was a lucky mariner who could get +round Cape Horn without being tossed off his feet for a +month—everything seemed to stagger so.</p> + +<p>The wind now changed suddenly and blew as fiercely from the opposite +direction, and the cold increased. The ship was at once got on her +course for the straits, her reefs were shook out, and she bowled over +the sea at the rate of nine knots. Still the sky continued black and +cloudy, and the horizon misty and dim. The sea ran high, and broke and +surged, filling the air with a cold, cutting spray, while the ship +labored and strained in every timber.</p> + +<p>Have you, my gentle reader, ever seen the broad ocean in an angry mood +on a cold, pitiless winter day, when the horizon was hung with cold, +penetrating mist, when all overhead was black with fleeting clouds, when +the seas broke in their fury and threatened to destroy the frail bark +under your feet, and when rain, hail, and snow alternately swept through +the atmosphere, like showers of keen-pointed arrows—have you, I say, +ever contemplated this sublime and impressive scene without +acknowledging within yourself how omnipotent was God, and how feeble and +insignificant a thing was man?</p> + +<p>There is, perhaps, no other place in the world where Nature so combines +all her elements to give an emphatic expression to the power and reality +of the Divinity, as in the vicinity of this famous old Cape.</p> + +<p>The bold, rugged headlands of Patagonia were sighted on the morning of +the 4th of December. The wind had subsided a little, but a strong +current was setting through the straits, and short, sharp seas, such as +are experienced in the Bay of Fundy, indicated the ship's position as +clearly as if a good observation had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[Pg 138]</a></span> been got. Snow and ice nearly +covered the ship, and the men continued to suffer from the cold. There +was a feeling of encouragement now that the ship would round the Cape +without any further trouble. But before noon a violent snow storm set +in, and the bold, bleak hills of Patagonia disappeared from sight. The +wind, too, veered ahead again and increased, and the ship had to be +headed for the coast of Terra del Fuego, on the other tack.</p> + +<p>Early on the following morning the look-out's attention was attracted by +large spots of white light—now opening, now shutting—high up in the +heavens ahead. It was Tite's watch on deck, and the look-out pointed him +to the curious phenomena, which had not before attracted his attention. +At the same time a painful and piercing chill seemed to pervade the +atmosphere, and to seriously affect the feelings of the men on deck.</p> + +<p>Tite watched these curious phenomena for several minutes, without +comprehending what they meant. He thereupon called the captain, who came +quickly on deck. As soon as his eye caught the gleam of light, he walked +aft to the binnacle, and stood watching the compasses for a minute or +two.</p> + +<p>"There's trouble ahead," he said. "Call Mr. Higgins, and all hands—call +them quickly. We are close upon an iceberg."</p> + +<p>The first officer and all hands were quickly on deck, ready to obey +orders. Every eye on board was now watching in the direction of the +light.</p> + +<p>"It's an iceberg, and a big one, too, Mr. Higgins. If she strikes it, +there's an end of us!" said Captain Bottom, addressing the first +officer, who seemed indifferent to the danger that threatened the ship. +A rustling noise, as of strong tide-rips breaking ahead, was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[Pg 139]</a></span> heard, the +sound increasing every minute. The braces were now manned, the order to +"go about" given, and the helm put down. But the ship had hardly begun +to gather headway on the other tack, when she refused to obey her helm. +It seemed, indeed, as if she was under the influence of a powerful +attraction, drawing her to destruction.</p> + +<p>Another minute and she struck with a deep, crashing sound, that made +every timber in her frame vibrate, so great was the shock. A gleam of +grey light now began to spread over the fearful scene. It was daylight, +that friend which so often comes to the mariner's relief. The ship had +struck broad on, and the berg seemed to have grasped her in its arms of +death and refused to let her go. Each succeeding sea lifted the helpless +ship, and then tossed her with increasing violence against the jagged +ice-cliff. And as her yards raked the boulders, huge blocks fell with +crushing force on her deck. Stanchions were started, the bulwarks +crushed away from the knight-heads to the quarter-deck, on the port +side, and the deck stove in several places. It seemed as if there was +but a minute between those on board and death. Still the staunch old +ship forged ahead, lifting and surging with every sea, and seeming to +struggle to free herself from the grasp of the berg. All hope of saving +the ship seemed gone now. Both officers and men waited in suspense, +expecting, every lurch the ship made, to see her go to pieces.</p> + +<p>It was one of those moments when presence of mind and seamanship seem of +no avail to save a ship. On sounding the pumps it was found that the +ship's hull was still tight, and that she had made but little water. +Still she forged ahead, and great blocks of ice continued to fall on her +deck.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[Pg 140]</a></span></p> + +<p>When all eyes were turned towards the captain, and each waited with +breathless anxiety, in the hope that he would give some order that would +at least be a relief to their feelings, even though it were folly to +execute it, Tite mounted the fore-rigging to the top-mast trees, the +surging ship threatening to dash him against the ice wall every minute. +In that fearful position he remained for several minutes, scanning over +the scene ahead, and hoping for some gleam of hope.</p> + +<p>There was still a hope of saving the ship. He waved a signal of +encouragement to those below, and quickly descended to the deck. About +half or three-quarters of a mile ahead there was a point indicating the +termination of the berg. If the ship could be kept forging ahead she +might possibly round the point and clear the berg in safety.</p> + +<p>Tite communicated to the captain what he had seen, and his belief that +the ship could be saved. All hands now went to work cheerfully, clearing +the deck forward of the ice that had accumulated there. Then the +fore-top-sail was clewed up, the spanker set, the yards braced up sharp, +and the ship continued forging ahead with increased motion. Every yard +of distance gained was measured with a watchful eye, and increased the +confidence of those on board.</p> + +<p>"We shall save her yet, captain," said Tite, a smile of satisfaction +playing over his face. "We won't give up the good old ship!"</p> + +<p>"God bless you, my hearty, God bless you!" returned the old captain, +grasping Tite's hand warmly. "It's you shall have the credit of it if +she weathers the point. Yes, sir, you. Killin' a whale is killin' a +whale. Gives a sailor fair play in a square fight. But this being run +down by an iceberg, and ship and all hands crushed to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[Pg 141]</a></span> powder, gives a +sailor no chance to show what there is in him. When a man gets killed +according to his liking, why, then he's satisfied. But there's no way +you could get satisfaction in being killed by an iceberg. It was'nt my +own life I was thinking about, Mr. Toodlebug. Not a bit of it." Here he +again grasped Tite firmly by the hand, and lowered his voice to a +whisper. "It was my good old woman, sir, and the two little ones. Heaven +bless them and keep them from harm!"</p> + +<p>The ship still made fearful surges, and the ice grated and cut her +planking; but she neared the point gradually, and this brought a feeling +of relief to all on board. Open water beyond, and the bold, sharp lines +of the point, made it almost certain that the berg terminated there. The +point was reached at last. The ship seemed to give a leap ahead, and, as +if by mutual consent, payed off and parted from the icy grasp of the +monster. Cheer after cheer went up as the old ship, in her distressed +condition, swung away and was out of danger.</p> + +<p>The ship was now headed for Puntas Arenas, where many years ago the +Spaniards founded a penal settlement. Intermarrying has, however, +reduced the people to mere dwarfs in stature; and they have so +retrograded in civilization that they are the greatest thieves and the +worst savages to be found along the coast.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[Pg 142]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XIX" id="CHAPTER_XIX"></a>CHAPTER XIX.</h2> + +<h3>MAKING A FORTUNE</h3> + + +<p>Kidd Company stock was a feature in Wall street. The firm of Topman and +Gusher, having luminated the great Kidd Discovery Company, had got it +fairly on its feet in that mart of the money-changers. The firm was +considered highly respectable now, and had counting-rooms in Pearl +street, near Wall, second floor, furnished in a style of elegance it +would be difficult to surpass, even at this day. If you would fortify +the standing of a great and enterprising firm, Topman said, in his +polite way, you must do it with elegant and elaborate furniture in your +counting-room. Show is the thing two-thirds of the people in the world +are attracted and deluded by.</p> + +<p>The newspapers, too, were telling curious stories as to how Kidd's +treasure was discovered, and also making statements of a very unreliable +nature, setting forth that already several million dollars had been +recovered, and that any man engaged in it would surely make a fortune +for his heirs, no matter how numerous. The more unreasonable these +statements were, the more readily did people invest in the stock. Not a +solid man in Wall street had heard of the firm of Topman and Gusher +eight months ago. The great beacon lights of the street now condescended +to bow and shake hands with Topman, to take more than a glance at the +firm's name when it was brought to their notice on certain bits of paper +which the enterprising firm, for mere convenience sake, gave now and +then as "equivalents".<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[Pg 143]</a></span> In short, Mr. Topman was a man of such +impressive manners that he quite captivated Wall street, and to have +those solid-pocketed old gentlemen speak encouragingly of the house, +was, he considered, gaining a great financial victory. In addition to +this Topman lived in a fine house, sumptuously furnished, on the west +side of Bowling Green, had a servant in livery to open the door, and +rode in his own carriage.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Topman was a showy, dashing woman of thirty-five, or thereabouts, +tall and slender, and somewhat graceful of figure, and might have passed +for a beauty at twenty. But there was a faded look about her now, and +she had a weakness for loud talking and overdressing. She was evidently +a woman of doubtful blood, and "no family," as society would say in +these days. Indeed, first-rate society, such as Bowling Green boasted of +in those days, considered itself very select, and dealt out its favors +to new-comers with a cautious reserve.</p> + +<p>As little or nothing was known of Mrs. Topman's antecedents, first-rate +society cut her—did'nt even condescend to drop her a sidewalk +recognition. But, as pushing one's self into society was quite as much +practised then as now, and as Mrs. Topman was a pushing, vigorous woman, +she resolved that if she could not carry the outworks and compel a +surrender on the part of first-rate society, she would at least have a +circle of her own. And she had just as good a right, she said, to call +her circle of society first-rate, as her neighbors who kept their doors +shut had to "consider" themselves such. It was only an assumption at +best. So the aspiring lady received what she called select company on a +Tuesday, and entertained generally on Thursday evenings. But her +neighbors tossed their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[Pg 144]</a></span> heads, and said they were only third-rate people +who went there.</p> + +<p>Gusher, however, flourished in what might at this day be considered +elegant hotel society. He was such a nice young man, dressed in such +good taste, and had such unexceptionable manners. And there was such a +distinguished air about Gusher, that Bowling Green was half inclined to +look on him with favor. Mr. Gusher was a stock beau as well as a stock +boarder at the City Hotel, where he was an object of admiration with all +the languishing young ladies of the house. Indeed, the landlord of the +City Hotel regarded Mr. Gusher as a valuable parlor ornament for the +entertainment of his female guests of an evening, for he was an +exquisite dancer, could sing, and make such gracious bows. Now and then +a sensible girl had been heard to say she thought him a little soft; but +her companions usually set that down to envy. Then it got whispered +about that he was an unfortunate foreigner of a very distinguished +family, and had been exiled from his native Spain for engaging in a +revolution. Such were the prospects of this distinguished firm, socially +and financially.</p> + +<p>Nyack, too, had been kept in a state of agitation all winter over the +discovery of Kidd's treasure, and wonderful stories were circulated of +the fabulous amounts that were recovered every day.</p> + +<p>Spring had come again, and the hills around Nyack looked so fresh, and +green, and beautiful. Chapman had got Kidd stock into high favor with +all the honest old Dutchmen in the county. And it was curious to see how +these heretofore cautious people parted with their money for what +Chapman called a "profitable equivalent."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[Pg 145]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman seemed to have increased in circumference and loftiness. +She could get new and expensive dresses, and silk ones at that, every +time she went to New York, and she went quite often now. And none of her +neighbors could wear such fine lace on their caps. It was surprising to +see how this fat, fussy woman could toss her head and talk of common +people now. It was very annoying, she said, to have to live in a little +country town like Nyack, and mix with everybody. Then her dear little +intellectually great Chapman was such a jewel of a husband, and was so +clever at inventing the means of making a fortune for other people.</p> + +<p>The brain of Nyack was terribly disordered over the fortunes that were +to be made in a month for all who invested in Kidd Discovery stock. Even +the good Dominie, led away by the temptation, had invested all his +savings, and had his pockets full of Chapman's "equivalents," from which +he looked for a fortune in a very short time. Finally the innocent +settlers began to regard Chapman as a great genius, who had invented +this new way of making their fortunes out of sheer goodness. "I want to +tell you, my good friends," he would say to them, patronizingly, "you +will appreciate me better as we become better acquainted. Invest your +money, and there's a fortune for you all." And they took his word, and +invested their money, and, many of them, everything they had.</p> + +<p>We must go back into the city now. It was a morning in early May. Knots +of men were standing on the corners of Wall and Pearl streets, each +discussing in animated tones some question of finance or trade. Men with +hurried steps and curious faces passed to and fro, threading their way +through the pressing throng, as if the nation was in peril and they were +on a mission to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[Pg 146]</a></span> save it. And yet it was only an expression of that +eagerness which our people display in their haste to despatch some +object in the ordinary business routine of the day.</p> + +<p>It was on this morning that a woman of small and compact figure, dressed +in plain green silk, a red India shawl, and a large, odd-shaped straw +bonnet, called a "poke" in those days, on her head, and trimmed inside +with a profusion of artificial flowers, the whole giving her an air of +extreme quaintness, was seen looking up doubtingly at the door opening +to the stairs at the top of which Topman and Gusher had their +counting-rooms. She had the appearance of a woman in good circumstances, +just from the country, where her style of dress might have been in +fashion at that day. Her age, perhaps, was in the vicinity of forty, for +her hair was changing to grey, and hung in neat braids down the sides of +her face, which was round and ruddy, and still gleamed with the +freshness of youth. Her shawl-pin was a heavy gold anchor and chain, and +her wrists were clasped with heavy gold bracelets, bearing a shield, on +which was inscribed a sailor with his quadrant poised, in the act of +taking the sun. I ought also to add that she carried a big umbrella in +her left hand, and a small leathern satchel in her right.</p> + +<p>This quaint little woman's manner was exceedingly nervous and +hesitating. Twice or thrice she advanced up the passage to the foot of +the stairs, hesitated, returned to the door, and looked up at the +number, as if still uncertain about some project on trial in her mind.</p> + +<p>Men were passing in and out, and up and down the stairs hurriedly, as if +some important business required all their attention. The little woman +took no heed of any of them, and indeed seemed confused in her own<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[Pg 147]</a></span> +thoughts. Drawing a newspaper from her leathern bag she read in a +whisper, at the same time tracing the lines with her finger, "Great Kidd +Discovery Company. Capital $150,000. All paid in. President, Luke +Topman. Corresponding Secretary, Philo Gusher. No. —— Pearl street." +The little woman nodded her head, and looked up with an air of +satisfaction. "I'm right. This is the place," she muttered to herself. +Then putting the paper carefully into her pocket, and hugging the big +umbrella close to her side, she advanced with a more resolute step up +the passage, and was soon at the top of the stairs.</p> + +<p>Again the little woman paused, for the number of names over doors seemed +to confuse her. Just across the passage in front of her, however, she +read over a half-glass door, and in large gilt letters, "Topman and +Gusher, General Commission Business." And just below, and across the +panes of ground glass, were the significant and attractive words: "Kidd +Discovery Company. Capital $150,000. Luke Topman, President. Philo +Gusher, Corresponding Secretary."</p> + +<p>The little woman advanced and knocked timidly at the door, which was +opened by a nicely-clad and polite youth, whose business seemed to be to +admit customers. The little woman bowed and returned the young man's +salutation.</p> + +<p>"A lady visitor, Mr. Gusher!" said the young man, motioning the lady to +enter. "That is Mr. Gusher, madam; junior partner of the firm."</p> + +<p>A polished mahogany railing separated the vulgar customer from the +highly dignified looking clerks inside. Indeed, there was an air of +elegance about the establishment that somewhat surprised the little +woman at first, and caused her some embarrassment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[Pg 148]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ah, madam; pardon! pardon!" said Mr. Gusher, rising from his desk at +the announcement and advancing to the railing. "I shall do myself ze +pleazure, and ze honor of receiving such commands as you shall confide +to ze firm," he continued, smiling and bowing gracefully.</p> + +<p>"A little investment," returned the visitor, nervously. "I have a little +money, left by my husband, who is at sea. I have no immediate use for +it; but want to put it where it will be entirely safe. Entirely safe, +above all things; a good dividend will not be objectionable. I am sure, +sir, you understand that—"</p> + +<p>"Ah, madam, you shall zee. Pardon! you will enter and take one seat." +Mr. Gusher now condescended to open the gate, as he called it, bring the +little woman inside, and bid her be seated. "Ze Kidd Discovery Company, +madam, is one grand enterprise. You shall zee. And ze profit shall be so +great you will not know where to put him. For ze safety of ze +investment, (pardon, madam,) you shall accept ze honor of zis firm. O, +madam, I cannot speak ze Englis so well. If my partner is here you shall +zee he will satisfy you as ze reputation and ze honor of zis firm will +be so great. You shall invest your money, and you shall zee zat ze honor +and ze reputation of zis firm shall makes him safe." Mr. Gusher made a +low bow, and pressed his hand to his heart in confirmation of what he +had said.</p> + +<p>A number of suspicious-looking men now entered the office and advanced +to the railing, all affecting great eagerness to purchase and pay their +money for Kidd Discovery stock. "You shall zee, mad-am," said Mr. +Gusher, extending his right hand and shrugging his shoulders, "how much +ze demand for ze stock in zat<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[Pg 149]</a></span> grand enterprise is. Ze rush for him is +so great ze price will be double very soon—as you shall zee."</p> + +<p>"Don't know how my husband would like it if he was here," replied the +little woman, who had been nervously twitching and working her fingers, +now opening the satchel, then shutting it. "Leaves me money enough to +keep me comfortable when he goes away. Good provider, my husband is. +Commands a ship, he does. Says 'look ahead, my darling,' when he goes +away. 'Take good care of the coppers, darlin', don't let rogues and +thieves get them; and remember that one-half the world is hard at work +slanderin' t'other. Keep an eye t' wind'rd, darlin'. We've sailed along +smoothly enough through life together, but there may be a dismal storm +ahead. Life storms are dangerous. Here's a kiss, good little woman—good +bye.' Then he goes away, and I sees no more of him for three years. +That's a long time, sir. But he is so fond of the children, and such a +dear, good husband to me."</p> + +<p>"Mad-am," said Gusher, again bowing and pressing his hand to his heart, +"wiz so good a lady for his wife, I am sure he shall be so happy and so +proud." Detecting the small vein of eccentricity in the little woman's +character, Mr. Gusher was evidently inclined to encourage it, hoping +that it would still further develop her generosity.</p> + +<p>"You are sure my investment will be perfectly safe?" enquired the little +woman, looking up anxiously in Mr. Gusher's face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, madam!" rejoined Mr. Gusher. "Oh, mad-am! Perfectly, as you shall +zee. Ze honor of ze firm is pledged to zat."</p> + +<p>The little woman now drew two thousand dollars from her satchel, and +after counting it on her knee,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[Pg 150]</a></span> passed it to Mr. Gusher. "I will invest +this," she said, again looking up anxiously at Mr. Gusher, and then +fumbling over the contents of her satchel, as if it still contained +something she was in doubt how to dispose of. "I will take your word," +she resumed, as if some sudden change had come over her mind. "Life's +short, and speculation uncertain. I am from Yonkers. You have heard of +Yonkers, sir? Yonkers on the Hudson. People of Yonkers are boiling over +with excitement about the great discovery. Thank you for your kindness, +sir. I hope the shares will go up. If I should double my money, as you +say I will, how father would laugh when he comes home. I call my good +husband father, you know." The little woman ran on in this strange and +confused manner until Gusher began to think she was never going to stop.</p> + +<p>"Invested my money—independent—don't want nobody to know it. Will +invest another thousand dollars if it turns out right. Yonkers people +expect to get rich soon by Kidd shares. Nobody'll know it, you know. +Don't want nobody to know it, you know. Come down here to invest so +nobody would know it, you know—"</p> + +<p>"I am so glad," interrupted Mr. Gusher, receiving the money, "you put +your confidence in ze house. You shall zee zat ze honor of ze firm shall +be your protection." As he proceeded to arrange the little equivalents +with the picture of the big spread eagle at the top and the coffer dam +at the bottom, the little woman fixed her gaze on the counting-room +furniture, which seemed to attract her attention to an uncommon degree. +Elaborately-finished and highly-polished mahogany desks were arranged +around the room, the floor was covered with a soft carpet, and there +were carved oak chairs,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[Pg 151]</a></span> upholstered in green plush. The walls were hung +with engravings and paintings representing favorite ships and +steamboats, and a huge safe stood wide open, displaying shelves and +drawers filed with books and papers. It was, indeed, a part of the +firm's philosophy that what you lacked in substance you must make up in +show.</p> + +<p>There, too, was a door leading into Topman's private office, furnished +with exquisite good taste. Topman was the great financial monument of +the firm. Gusher did the elegant and ornamental.</p> + +<p>George Peabody, the great philanthropist, made his fortune and his fame +in a little dark, dingy office in Warnford Court, London. The +pretensions of the great firm of Topman and Gusher were not to be +confined by any such examples of economy.</p> + +<p>A very clerical-looking man, with a round, smooth face, a somewhat +portly figure, a high forehead, and a very bald, bright head, fringed +with grey hair, and nicely trimmed grey side whiskers, stood at a desk, +turning and re-turning the leaves of a big ledger. He was dressed in a +neat black suit, and wore a white neckerchief. There was ledger No. 1, +and ledger No. 2, and ledger No. 3, all so elegantly bound, and +expressive of the business relations of the great firm of Topman and +Gusher. It looked very much, however, as if the portly gentleman was +only a part of the ornamental department of the great firm, for, having +turned and re-turned the pages of No. 1, he would take up No. 2, and +continue the occupation. It is true, he would pause now and then, and +exchange a smile and a bow with some one of the customers waiting for +stock.</p> + +<p>There was also a slender, mild-mannered, and precisely-dressed young +man, standing at another desk,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[Pg 152]</a></span> and looking through a pair of +gold-framed spectacles into a ledger. This was Mr. Foblins, registry +clerk to the great firm. Mr. Foblins had a brigade of figures in column, +and seemed continually busy putting them through a course of tactics +known only to the firm. Mr. Foblins had his customers in column, with +the number of shares and the amount invested, in front and rear ranks.</p> + +<p>The word "Cashier" was painted over a third desk. And here a rollicking, +talkative little man, with a round fat face, and a round bald head—a +sort of fat boy that had been overtaken on the road of life by +maturity—and who seemed to have a joke and a pleasant word for +everybody, and was in the best of humor with himself, stood counting and +re-counting, and passing out and receiving in money. This was Mr. Books, +the merry little man of the establishment. Books entertained an +excellent opinion of himself, and was in high favor with the customers, +for he was witty, musical, and talkative. More than that, he was a +stately little man, and well informed in all the great political +movements of the day, and would entertain customers on the condition of +the nation while counting their money. It was evident that Mr. Books was +not in sympathy with the great enterprise his employers were developing, +for he was continually saying witty but malicious things about Gusher, +and would even point significantly with his thumb over his right +shoulder. When a more than ordinarily verdant customer would come with +his money, Mr. Books would shrug his shoulders, drum with his fingers on +the desk, and hum a tune to the words—</p> + +<div class="poem"><div class="stanza"> +<span class="i0">"Fortunes made, and fortunes lost;<br /></span> +<span class="i0">Fools seek the phantom here at last," &c., &c.<br /></span> +<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[Pg 153]</a></span></div></div> + +<p>Books had several times intimated an intention to set up a great +enterprising banking and miscellaneous firm of his own. Indeed, his +popularity with the patrons of the house was doing Mr. Books no good, +especially as it entailed the necessity of his taking so great a number +of drinks during the day that he would offer to bet the reputation of +the firm that he was the tallest man in the establishment, and a politer +man than Gusher. So good an opinion had Mr. Books of himself when under +these little delusions, occasioned accidentally, as he would say, that +it became a serious question with him whether his proud position was due +to Topman and Gusher or his own great merits. In fine, it had more than +once occurred to him that the firm was indebted to his personal +popularity for its great reputation.</p> + +<p>Mr. Gusher consulted Mr. Books, and entrusted him with the little +woman's money. Then he proceeded to Mr. Foblin's desk, that gentleman +turning over the pages of his big ledger preparatory to making an entry.</p> + +<p>"What name did you say? I have the amount," enquired that gentleman, +looking up earnestly over his spectacles.</p> + +<p>"If you please, madam," said he, approaching the little woman with a +bow, "you shall have no objection to give me your name. It is necessary +as we shall keep ze book so correct."</p> + +<p>The little woman hesitated for a moment, fingered the handle of her +satchel nervously, then looked up inquiringly in Mr. Gusher's face. Then +touching him timidly on the right arm with the fore-finger of her left +hand she whispered, "Nautical, nautical, my nautical name?" Then her +lips motioned and her finger pressed on Mr. Gusher's arm. Mr. Gusher +looked at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[Pg 154]</a></span> the little woman with an air of surprise and astonishment.</p> + +<p>"Nau-tick-el? I do not understand zat, madam."</p> + +<p>"Elizabeth Judson Bottom. That's my name," resumed the woman, raising +her voice, and seeming to speak with a feeling of relief. "Bottom is my +husband's name." Here she lowered her voice again. "Nautical. Commands a +ship. Is away off in the South Sea, my husband is. There's nobody got a +better husband than I have." The little woman said this with an emphasis +and a smile of satisfaction lighting up her face. "You may have heard of +my husband, sir? He is well known among nautical people. My husband +sails the celebrated ship Pacific, and has made three successful +voyages. You hav'nt had much to do with ships if you hav'nt heard of my +husband. There, there, that looks just like the ship he sails in." The +little woman pointed to the picture of a ship under full sail hanging on +the wall.</p> + +<p>"Madam, I am sure I shall know your husband," said Mr. Gusher, returning +with the paper representing the number of shares the little woman had +paid her money for. "I shall be so happy to zee him when he shall come +home." Mr. Gusher handed her the paper, saying: "Now, madam, you shall +take good care of zis. Your money, it shall be perfectly safe."</p> + +<p>While this interesting little episode was being performed up stairs, an +open carriage, showily caparisoned and drawn by a stylish pair of +well-groomed bays, drew up at the door. A desperate effort had evidently +been made to get the coachman into some sort of livery, for he wore a +tall black hat, with a broad velvet band, and a buckle in front as big +as an ordinary sized horse shoe. His coat, too, was of green cloth, +covered all<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[Pg 155]</a></span> over with large brass buttons, and he seemed proud of his +white gloves and tight-fitting breeches, which he kept looking down at +every few minutes.</p> + +<p>This was Mrs. Topman's new "turnout," which she had recently set up in +opposition to one indulged in by a circumspect and very aristocratic +neighbor. Topman alighted from the carriage, received and returned the +bows of several persons on the sidewalk, and soon came hurrying into the +counting-room, where he was received with great respect by the combined +dignity of the firm.</p> + +<p>"Madam," said Mr. Gusher, again addressing the little woman, "allow me +to have ze pleazure as I shall present to you zis gentleman." Here Mr. +Gusher introduced Topman, his partner, and gave him a short account of +the business she was on.</p> + +<p>"Why, my dear, good lady!" said Topman, grasping her hand with a freedom +indicating that they had been old friends. "Your husband and me—why, we +were old friends. If there is any man in the world I respect and admire, +that man is Captain Price Bottom. If there is any man living I would +rather make a fortune for than do anything else, that man is Captain +Price Bottom. Yes, madam, not many years ago I used to swear by Captain +Price Bottom; and if Captain Price Bottom was here to-day, I will +venture to assert, on the word of a gentleman, there is no man who would +sooner swear by your humble servant—"</p> + +<p>"I am so real glad! My husband made friends wherever he went," +interrupted the little woman.</p> + +<p>"Glad! glad!" resumed Topman, "so am I. God bless him, wherever he goes! +Go back, madam, and get all your neighbors interested in this great +enterprise. Tell them the managers are old friends of your<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[Pg 156]</a></span> husband. Get +them to bring in their money, madam, and secure a fortune!" Mr. Topman +now showed the little woman the discolored dollars, a matter of great +importance, which Mr. Gusher had omitted.</p> + +<p>"Our motto is, madam, 'Never invest your money until you have seen your +basis.' If you see your basis, and it is satisfactory, then come down +with your money and await your fortune. You see the basis, now put your +faith in the firm!" concluded Mr. Topman, politely bowing the little +woman out. She took her departure for home, fully satisfied that she had +a good friend in Mr. Topman, and that she had made a permanent +investment.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[Pg 157]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXI" id="CHAPTER_XXI"></a>CHAPTER XXI.</h2> + +<h3>COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS.</h3> + + +<p>The Great Discovery Company had run its race of prosperity. A few months +passed, and the prospects of those connected with it began to change. +Chapman went about Nyack shaking his head despondingly, and saying that +he had been deceived by Hanz Toodleburg, who had deceived them all with +his story about Kidd's treasure, and would be the cause of their losing +a large amount of money.</p> + +<p>"I never would have been caught in such a trap, but I believed Hanz +Toodleburg to be an honest man, a very honest man, and I put faith in +his word. But I have been deceived. Well, it is not the first time my +confidence has been abused in this way," Chapman would say, holding up +his hands, while his face assumed an expression of injured innocence.</p> + +<p>Hanz, on the other hand, protested his innocence. Never in all his life, +he said, had he taken a dollar of money not his own, and honestly made. +He was persuaded to do what he had done by the gentlemen whom he +supposed engaged in an honest enterprise. In truth, he had never +suspected them of a design to get honest people's money in a dishonest +way.</p> + +<p>"If I toos t' shentlemens a favors, und ta makes t' money, und I makes +no money, und t' peoples don't get no money pack, what I cot t' do mit +him?" Hanz would say, when accused by the settlers of aiding designing +men to get their hard earnings. But all he could say and protest did not +relieve him of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[Pg 158]</a></span> suspicion that he was a participant in getting up +the enterprise. In short, there was the old story of his knowledge of +where Kidd's treasure was buried lending color of truth to the +statements made to his injury by Chapman.</p> + +<p>The innocent Dutch settlers would gather at Bright's inn of an evening, +smoke their pipes, mutter their discontent at the way things had turned, +compare their "equivalents," and relate how much saving it had cost them +to get the money thrown away on them. If it had not been for Hanz +Toodleburg, they said, not a man of them would have believed a word of +the story about Mr. Kidd and his money. Indeed, they would insist on +laying all their sorrows at Hanz's door.</p> + +<p>Chapman had also circulated a report, which had gained belief among the +settlers, that the trouble was caused by the devil refusing to surrender +the key of the big iron chest; that he had been heard under +sounding-rock, making terrible noises, and threatening to destroy every +man working in the shaft. Then it was said that the ghost had reappeared +and so frightened the men that they had refused to work. Another story +was set afloat that the bottom had fallen out of the pit, and the iron +chest containing the treasure had sunk beyond recovery. The simple fact +was that the cunning fellows never expected to find a dollar.</p> + +<p>These strange stories agitated Nyack for several weeks, and under their +influence Chapman so managed to divide opinion that Hanz had to bear the +greater share of blame for bringing distress on the poor people. One and +then another of his neighbors would chide him, and say it was all his +fault that they had lost their money and had nothing to show for it but +these worthless bits of paper.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[Pg 159]</a></span></p> + +<p>To add to Hanz's troubles, Chapman entered his house one day, and openly +reproached him for bringing distress on his friends. "You know you have +done wrong, old man," said he, assuming the air of an injured man. "You +would not have deceived me—no man would—but that I took you for a +Christian. And when I take a man for a Christian I put faith in him. +That's why I put faith in you. I believed you honest, you see."</p> + +<p>Chapman's familiar and even rude manner surprised and confounded Hanz. +In vain he protested his innocence, and offered to call the Dominie and +Doctor Critchel to testify that he had never in his life wronged any man +out of a shilling.</p> + +<p>"You sold us something you had not got," continued Chapman, in an angry +tone, "and in that you committed a fraud. Honest men don't do such +things—never! Mr. Toodlebug. I thought you were a friend; but you have +deceived me—have deceived us all!"</p> + +<p>The plot was now beginning to develop itself, and Hanz for the first +time began to see what a singular chain of adverse circumstances Chapman +had drawn around him. Never before in his life had a man openly charged +him with doing wrong. Angeline was even more troubled than Hanz, and +listened with fear and trembling to the words as they fell from +Chapman's lips. What could have worked this change in a person who had +so recently expressed such friendship for them? Her pure, unsuspecting +soul would not permit her to entertain the belief that her husband could +do wrong. She attempted to speak and enquire what this strange and +unaccountable scene meant; but her eyes filled with tears, her face +became as pale as marble, and her resolution failed her. Her little, +happy home had been<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[Pg 160]</a></span> rudely invaded, and a grasping, avaricious enemy +had shown himself where she expected to find a friend.</p> + +<p>"I don't want to distress you, Mr. Toodlebug, I don't," said Chapman, +keeping his keen eyes fixed on Hanz. "I don't want to distress you, I +don't. But you must show that you are an honest man. Honesty is the best +policy. I've always found it so, at least. You must make this thing all +right, if it takes all you have to do it." When he had said this he put +on his hat and rudely took his departure.</p> + +<p>"Angeline, mine Angeline," said Hanz, "if dish bat man should make me +loose mine goot name, den mine life it pees very misherable. What I toes +I toes t' oplige t' gentleman. How I toes wish mine Tite, mine poor poy +Tite, vas here." He sat thoughtfully in his chair for several minutes, +then sought consolation for his wounded feelings in a pipe.</p> + +<p>Chapman had not been long gone when Mattie came rolicking into the +house, as if to form a bright and sunny contrast with the scene that had +just ended. She carried a little basket in her hand, was dressed in a +flowing white skirt and sack, wore a broad sun hat encircled with a blue +ribbon, and her golden hair was decorated with wild flowers. There was +something so fascinating in that merry, laughing voice, something so +pure, innocent, and girlish in that simple dress and that sweet, smiling +face, that it seemed as if Heaven had ordained her to represent truth +and goodness. Setting the basket down on the table she ran to Angeline, +embraced and kissed her, not perceiving that trouble had depressed that +good woman's spirits.</p> + +<p>"And you, too, good Father Hanz," she said, turning to him, and saluting +him in her free, frank<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[Pg 161]</a></span> manner; "you shall have a kiss, too." And she +took his hand and imprinted a kiss on his cheek.</p> + +<p>She suddenly discovered that something was the matter, paused, and +looked at Angeline with an air of surprise. Her first thought was that +they had received bad news from Tite, which they were trying to conceal +from her. Almost unconsciously her gentle nature began to beat in +sympathy with Angeline's, and a tear stole slowly down her cheek. "You +have heard from Tite; is he sick? have you heard bad news?" she +inquired, in rapid succession, as she watched every change in Angeline's +features.</p> + +<p>Angeline shook her head, and looked up sweetly but sorrowfully in +Mattie's face. "Nothing, nothing, my good child," she replied, kissing +Mattie's hand. But there was the tear of sorrow writing its tale on her +cheek. "God will bless and protect our Tite," she resumed; "but we have +heard nothing from him since the letter you saw."</p> + +<p>"I am so glad," rejoined Mattie, her face lighting up with a sweet +smile. "I think about him every day, and I know he thinks about me. So, +now, mother Angeline, you must cheer up. You will, won't you? It won't +do to be sad when Tite is away." And, after patting Angeline on the +shoulder and kissing her cheek, "you shall see, now," she resumed, +bringing forward the basket, "what nice presents I have brought for you, +Mother Angeline. Made these all with my own hands."</p> + +<p>Here the happy, smiling girl drew from her basket a number of frills and +wristlets, a worsted-worked candle mat, and a cambric handkerchief, in +one corner of which she had ingeniously worked Angeline's name. "They +are all for you, Mother Angeline, all for you,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[Pg 162]</a></span> she said, tossing them +one after another into her lap. "You are so good. Keep them all until +Tite comes home. Then you can show them to him as a proof of what a true +and good girl I have been."</p> + +<p>Hanz viewed this act of kindness on the part of Mattie with an air of +surprise and astonishment. It was in such beautiful contrast to her +father's rudeness and severity that he was at a loss how to account for +it.</p> + +<p>"Vel, vel!" exclaimed Hanz, raising his hands, "you pees sho goot a gal +as I ever did she. Yes, mine shild, I never shees no petter gals as you +pees." And he rose from his chair, and approaching Mattie, patted her on +the shoulder encouragingly. "You pees such a goot girl," he repeated, +"and you will pe mine goot friend, eh?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly I will. Why should I be anything else?" replied Mattie, +looking up smilingly in his face.</p> + +<p>Hanz shook his head. "It pees sho now as nopody can shay who pees his +friend, and who pees not his friend. I pees sho glad you pees mine +friend."</p> + +<p>"I should like to know, Father Hanz, what troubles you?" resumed Mattie, +whose quick eye read in his face the trouble that was making his heart +sad. "Tell me what troubles you, Father Hanz, and I will be a friend to +you, no matter who it is."</p> + +<p>"Mine shilds," replied the old man, drooping his head, "dar vas un man, +he shay as he pees mine goot friend. Dat friend he pees mine enemy. He +prings shorrow into mine house. Unt he prings dat shorrow when mine poor +Tite he pees sho far away as I ton't know where he is."</p> + +<p>Tears again filled the old man's eyes as he spoke, and he paused, shook +his head, and buried his face in his<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[Pg 163]</a></span> hands. There was something in the +old man's unwillingness to disclose who it was that had caused him this +trouble that excited Mattie's suspicions.</p> + +<p>"You must tell me, Father Hanz," said she, encircling his neck with her +right arm and patting him on the cheek encouragingly and affectionately +with her left hand, "who has caused you all this trouble."</p> + +<p>Hanz looked up earnestly and enquiringly into her face. Still there was +a doubt in that look it was impossible to mistake.</p> + +<p>"You ton't know, eh? you ton't know, eh? Maype as he is petter as you +ton't know, mine shild. T' man what prings shorrow into mine house; t' +man what shays I pees one tief t' mine neighpors—dat man he pees no +friend of mine." Again the old man paused, and looked up inquiringly +into Mattie's sweet face, as if anxious to trace the secret of her +thoughts. And as he did so the breeze tossed the grey hairs over his +forehead, as if to cover up the wrinkles age had written on it.</p> + +<p>"Mine taughter, mine taughter," he resumed, grasping Mattie's hand +firmly, "I'se gettin' old now. Tare von't pe no more of old Hanz +Toodleburg shoon. You never know'd nothin' pad of old Hanz +Toodleburg—does you, mine taughter?"</p> + +<p>"Never, never! Why, Father Hanz, nobody has been saying anything against +you," replied Mattie, smiling.</p> + +<p>"Dar has, too," resumed Hanz. "What I lives for now is mine goot name, +and mine poor Tite. I pees a friend to everypody what needs a friend, +and now what I needs mineshelf is one goot friend. You she, mine +taughter, if mine little farm he pees gone, and if mine sheep, and mine +cows, and mine everything pees gone, den der is nothin' for mine Tite +when he comes home."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[Pg 164]</a></span></p> + +<p>The old man paused for a moment. It was impossible for him to keep the +secret of his trouble from Mattie any longer. He opened his heart to her +and disclosed the fact that it was her own father who had brought sorrow +into his home. Yes, it was her father who had led him like a child into +trouble, and then thrown around his acts such a chain of suspicious +circumstances that you could scarcely find a man in the village, where +but a short time ago Hanz was so great a favorite, who did not believe +him guilty of inventing the Kidd Discovery Company, and bringing ruin +and distress on his neighbors. There was the paper Hanz had signed, +setting forth that he possessed the secret of where Kidd's treasure was +buried, and bearing the proof that he had sold it for a consideration. +Chapman understood the value of this, and went about the village showing +it as a proof that there was at least one man innocent, and that man was +himself. There, too, was the old story that had clung to him through +life—that he knew all about Kidd, his father having sailed with him on +the Spanish Main. And there was the expedition up the river, in which he +had played so prominent a part.</p> + +<p>Chapman well understood the effect these things would have on the minds +of the ignorant and superstitious, and he turned them against Hanz with +such skill as to completely get the better of him. In short, he would +assert his innocence with so much plausibility that the simple-minded +settlers began to believe him the saint he set himself up for, and Hanz +the sinner who had got all their money.</p> + +<p>Mattie heard this strange declaration made by Hanz against her father +with feelings of sorrow and surprise. She hung down her head and +remained silent for some<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[Pg 165]</a></span> time, for her mind was bewildered with strange +and exciting thoughts. Then, looking up, she said:</p> + +<p>"Cheer up, don't be sad, Father Hanz. You will always find a friend in +me. My father shall also be your friend. We are going to leave Nyack, +but I will come and see you, and be your friend. Don't think bad of my +father, and he shall yet be your friend." And she kissed Angeline and +Hanz and bid them good bye.</p> + +<p>Mattie had never for a moment entertained the thought that her father +would knowingly wrong these old people. Her heart was too pure, her +nature too trusting, to entertain a suspicion of wrong. She had seen him +engaged in transactions she did not understand; she had seen him +associate with men she did not like, but she never enquired what his +motive for so doing was. How he became acquainted with, and what his +business with Topman and Gusher was, had been a mystery to her. The +object was clear enough to her now. The conversation she had overheard +one night between her father and Topman, relative to a meeting at Hanz's +house, and getting him to sign a paper purporting to sell them a secret, +was all explained. This conversation put a powerful weapon in her hand, +and if used skilfully she could save her father from trouble and also +protect old Hanz. Indeed, her mind ran back over a train of curious +circumstances, which now became clearer and clearer, and when linked +together discovered the object they were intended to effect. There was +no mistaking the motive. Still, like a true and loving daughter, she saw +her father only in the light of innocence and truth. The more she +contemplated the matter the more sincerely did she believe him an +instrument in the hands of Topman and Gusher, of whose designs she had +heard others speak.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[Pg 166]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXII" id="CHAPTER_XXII"></a>CHAPTER XXII.</h2> + +<h3>THE CHAPMANS MOVE INTO THE CITY</h3> + + +<p>Chapman had developed Nyack pretty thoroughly, had made money enough to +feel independent, and attributed it all to his own virtues. He had got +up no end of quarrels, invented new religions, established a hotel on +principles of high moral economy, advocated broad and advanced ideas in +everything, and kept the settlement in a state of excitement generally. +Chapman was indeed a great human accident. There was no confining him to +any one thing, either in religion, politics, or finance. He had a +morality of his own, which he said belonged to the world's advanced +ideas, and it was not his fault if there were so few persons enlightened +enough to understand and appreciate it in its true sense.</p> + +<p>Chapman was indeed not one of those men who carry blessings into a +community with them, but rather one of those who seem to delight in +planting curses wherever they go, and leaving their victims to reap the +bitter fruit in poverty and ruin. Himself a mental deformity, none of +his enterprises had been of any real benefit to the community, while his +last and most reprehensible one had resulted in emptying the pockets of +the old Dutch settlers, and leaving them bits of worthless paper to +remember him by.</p> + +<p>And yet this man could talk of himself like a very saint. He had the +power, too, of making many of those who had suffered by his acts believe +him honest. Indeed, while one portion of the community was cursing him +for a knave, another was defending him as a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[Pg 167]</a></span> really useful man—an +opinion Mrs. Chapman was always ready to endorse. In short, Chapman had +supporters in Nyack who would have sent him to Congress out of sheer +love for his talents, which they were sure would have found a happy +field for their development. Mrs. Chapman always sought to conciliate +these friends, and would invite them to tea. On these little occasions, +after discussing the merits of cider-vinegar and homemade pumpkin pies, +and the care respectable people should exercise over the company they +kept, for there was pure New England "grit" in the lady, she would recur +to her dear husband.</p> + +<p>"All Nyack will confess how intellectually great he is," she would say; +"and show me the person who has done more to elevate the moral +respectability of Nyack. Nyack was such a dull, sleepy place when—when +we first honored it with our company. See what it now is. My dear +husband worked up these low Dutch people so; yes, and he improved their +morals. And I flatter myself I have elevated its society—a little."</p> + +<p>Chapman had now thoroughly developed Nyack, financially and religiously. +He had saved up a nice little fortune, enough with care and good +management to keep him comfortable and give Mrs. Chapman a wider field +for the exercise of her love of display. There was now little chance of +making any more money out of Nyack, either by getting up quarrels +between neighbors or inventing new religions. So the Chapmans resolved +to go into the city and set up for very respectable people. As nobody +wanted the big house for a church Chapman rented it to Titus Bright for +an inn, and as nothing was said about moral restrictions, that worthy +friend of the thirsty and weary traveller kept it in the good +old-fashioned way of giving<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[Pg 168]</a></span> customers what they wanted and asking no +questions. He would much rather, Chapman said, have seen it put to a +less profane use, but as Bright was a responsible tenant, and could pay +more rent than any one else, the morality had to sink in the necessity.</p> + +<p>A few months passed and the Chapmans were set up in New York, in a +spacious and well-furnished house on the east side of Bowling Green. +Chapman was soon busy looking after the affairs of the great firm of +Topman and Gusher, which I need scarcely tell the reader was a creation +of his. Mrs. Chapman soon had enough to do at pushing her way into +society. But the more she pushed the more did little social obstructions +seem to rise up and defeat her efforts. She would associate with +first-rate society, she said, or none; and Mattie should be introduced +and shine in the "upper circles."</p> + +<p>Bowling Green stood on its dignity in those days. There were very nice +and very old families living there then, and they kept themselves rolled +up in their wealth and comfort, and looked coldly down on all new and +pretentious people. West Bowling Green, too, put on airs of superiority +over East Bowling Green, which it affected to designate with the term +"rather vulgar." They were quiet, well brought up people on the West +side, people who had made a family name and were proud of it, whose +superior enterprise and genius had raised them above ordinary people, +and who had acquired wealth by honorable means.</p> + +<p>There was, indeed, a charm about these families, made more attractive by +the simplicity and gentleness of their manners, for they were refined, +and entertained their friends generously. In short, West Bowling Green +and a portion of the Battery had at that day a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_169" id="Page_169">[Pg 169]</a></span> social empire of its +own, which had a flavor of rich old wine about it, and was as distinct +as distinguished in all its surroundings. It rode in its own carriage, +had orderly and well-dressed coachmen, wore an air of great +circumspection, dined at five o'clock, and lived like a well-bred +gentleman.</p> + +<p>East Bowling Green had begun to lose cast, and, indeed, was under a +cloud socially. Its society was made up of new, fast, and somewhat showy +people, whose antecedents it was difficult to get at, (at least West +Bowling Green said so,) and who, for want of a family reputation, put on +the airs of a vulgarian. These people spent their money freely, and +seemed to have enough of it, but they aspired to make a show rather than +secure real enjoyment. They associated with third-rate people, and vied +with each other in giving parties and balls to which all the young +swells in town were invited. In fine, East Bowling Green had a cheap, +retail flavor about it which all its show and extravagance failed either +to conceal or atone for.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman had resided three months in Bowling Green, and yet +first-class society had kept its doors closed—did not even condescend a +smile. This was very mortifying to a lady whose pretentions were quite +equal to her dimensions. A few second and third-rate people had made a +formal call, or left a card. But it was merely as a matter of ceremony. +Mr. Pinks, the elegant old beau of the Green, who was looked up to by +first-rate society everywhere, and considered himself born to stand +guard over it and protect it from vulgar contact, and who was accepted +as authority in all matters of etiquette, and had standing invitations +to dinner with all the best families, had called to pay his respects and +congratulate the lady. But Pinks<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_170" id="Page_170">[Pg 170]</a></span> considered this strictly a matter of +duty—to make an observation.</p> + +<p>When Beau Pinks reported the result of his call to the Warburton family, +who were first-rate people, and the Warburton family spread it through +West Bowling Green, there was great amusement in the neighborhood.</p> + +<p>"Won't do, the lady won't," said Pinks, lowering his voice to a whisper, +and shaking his head. "Lady weighs two hundred pounds and more. A dead +weight on the back of any society. Very pretentious, but makes shocking +work of the King's English, and discovers low origin in her conversation +generally. Puts on finery without regard to color or complexion, told me +how many new dresses she had making, has big, fat hands, and wears +common gold rings. Worse than all," continued Pinks, raising his hands, +"the lady wanted to know if I could tell her how to reform servants, and +if I liked rhubarb pies for breakfast."</p> + +<p>With such a report from Pinks it was no wonder first-rate society did +not take kindly to the lady. The rhubarb pies for breakfast settled the +question in Pinks' mind, and he never called again, though he kept up a +bowing acquaintance with the lady. Mrs. Chapman now fell back on a +reception. A reception would be the thing to make Bowling Green +surrender. The day was set and cards sent out, and notwithstanding Mr. +Gusher, who was her standing ornament and idol, assisted her in drumming +up recruits, the affair turned out to be very unsatisfactory. The nice +people she invited sent regrets; and those who did come were second and +third-rate people, who never miss a reception on any account, seeing +that it affords them the cheapest means of showing themselves. There +were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[Pg 171]</a></span> cheap people then, just as there are cheap people now, ready +enough to put in an appearance at a lady's reception, especially if she +gave nice suppers and had daughters to be admired. Nor was it an +uncommon thing, even at that day, for a pretentious woman who had just +set up in society, and taken to the business of reception-giving, to +find herself made the target of a little innocent satire by the nice +young gentlemen she had invited to pay her homage.</p> + +<p>Chapman differed from his wife, inasmuch as he regarded society as a +great bore. Mrs. Chapman, however, was not a little disappointed at the +way things had turned. They were flashy and rather fast people who came +to her reception; people whom nobody of established respectability knew +or cared to know—thoughtless young men, overdressed young women with +matrimonial expectations, and a few needy foreigners with small titles. +To make the matter worse, some of the lady's guests wore eye-glasses, +through which they persisted in gazing at her, and conducted themselves +very unbecomingly. Indeed, they eat up all her supper, spoiled her +carpet, insulted her servants, and paid her certain left-handed +compliments because she had neither coffee nor wine on her side-board. +The foreigners, too, were inclined to be merry at the lady's +circumference, and at the awkwardness of her movements, as well as to be +severe on the style of her dress and the way she wore her hair.</p> + +<p>"Who are these people?" enquired a young man, adjusting his eye-glass.</p> + +<p>"Very new people," whispered another in reply.</p> + +<p>"Vulgar, evidently—just set up to be somebody—don't understand it," +rejoined a third, shrugging his shoulders.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[Pg 172]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Gusher, who had assisted the lady in beating up her recruits, had +assured them that the Chapmans were very distinguished people.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman was not more successful in setting up a carriage of her +own. She had done a great deal of pushing without affecting a lodgment +in the society she had set her heart on. With a carriage of her own she +felt that she would be just as good as any of those high old Bowling +Green people. She had read of a lady in her carriage driving right into +society and forcing a surrender.</p> + +<p>Unfortunately the fools were not so plenty as formerly, the demand for +Kidd Discovery stock had greatly diminished, and the expense of keeping +up appearances in the city had far exceeded Chapman's calculations. +Indeed, he had already begun to talk of the necessity of economy. Topman +was already drawing heavily on the income of the firm to keep up +appearances, and the future must not be overlooked. The lady had, +therefore, to content herself with a one-horse turn-out, an +establishment not very popular in Bowling Green even at that day. +Although the lady had to accept the necessity, there was no getting +along without a coachman, and Mr. Napoleon Bowles was engaged to wear a +livery and wait on the lady in that capacity. Now Bowles stood about +five feet four inches in his boots, was very fat and very short-legged, +and very black, for he was a person of African descent and established +color. Bowles weighed at least two hundred and fifty solid, so that when +he drove his mistress out for an airing of an afternoon the whole +establishment made so shabby and yet so comical an appearance as to +afford the whole neighborhood a subject for amusement. Nor was there a +more self-important<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[Pg 173]</a></span> person in all Bowling Green than Bowles—except, +perhaps, it might be his mistress. But it was only when he got himself +into those tight-fitting drab trousers, and that bright blue coat with +double rows of brass buttons, and mounted that small, tall hat with the +huge buckle in front, that he fancied himself seen to advantage.</p> + +<p>Bowles not only became a feature in Bowling Green society, but indeed +considered himself necessary to the dignity of the family he was +serving, and in duty bound to fight any coachman who would make the +slightest insinuations against it. This got him into numerous +difficulties, for there was not a coachman in the neighborhood that did +not set him down as a fair subject for unpleasant remarks. One called +him a dumpling-stomached darkey; while another said he must have been +brought up in the family and fed on puddings.</p> + +<p>"Can't be much of a family," a third would say, "to have such a +short-legged shadow as you for coachman, and only one horse. And such a +livery as that! Why don't your mistress dress you like a man?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Bowles had several times found himself measuring the pavement and +his hat in the gutter, as a reward for his attempts to resent such +indignities, which he considered were offered to the family rather than +himself. There was so close a resemblance between the circumference of +the lady and her coachman as to seriously damage the pretensions of the +family, and bring down upon it no end of ridicule.</p> + +<p>There was another serious impediment to the lady's pretentions, and that +was no less a person than Mrs. Topman. No sooner had the Chapmans set up +in Bowling Green than that lady took them into her keeping, promising +them no end of introductions to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[Pg 174]</a></span> nice people. Now, Mrs. Topman was one +of those social afflictions which are found everywhere, whose touch is +like contagion, and who take strangers into their keeping only to do +them more harm than good. I have called them social afflictions for want +of a better term. Mrs. Topman was the highest example of the species. +She had been beating about on the outskirts of society without gaining +an entrance into it until she was like a faded bouquet that had lost its +freshness and perfume. In short, she was a tall, rakish looking craft, +with ingeniously painted head-gear, carrying an immense amount of sail, +and flying colors not recognized by good society in Bowling Green—at +least not on the West side.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[Pg 175]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXIII.</h2> + +<h3>MRS. CHAPMAN GIVES A BALL.</h3> + + +<p>It was a cold, dark night in December. The wind was blowing fresh from +the northeast, the tall trees on the Battery were in commotion, and the +ships in the harbor, seen through a pale mist, were straining at their +anchors. A thin, pale mist hung over the sombre old fort on the Battery, +over the trees, over the ships, over everything within the eye's reach. +And the mist and the solemn beating sound of the sea-wail, in which the +sailor fancies he can read all his sorrows, gave a weird and mysterious +appearance to the scene. The Battery was nearly deserted that night, for +at the time we write of only two old men could be seen, leaning over the +railing on the sea-wall and watching in the direction of a ship at +anchor in the stream, and looking as if she was just in from sea.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman was to give her ball that night. The lady had for several +weeks given all her mind and energy to the preliminaries of this grand +affair. Who was to be invited, what sort of new dresses she and Mattie +would appear best in, who was to provide the supper, and what the whole +would cost, were subjects which so engaged the lady's attention that she +could think of nothing else. In vain did Chapman demur to the great +expense and the folly of keeping up appearances under such +circumstances. In vain did he insinuate the probable necessity of +inventing a new religion as a means of bringing his revenues up to his +necessities. A necklace of pearls and a diamond ring had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[Pg 176]</a></span> been got for +Mattie, and now a demand was made for a new and expensive dress. If +there was anything in the world Chapman admired and submitted to it was +his wife. In his thoughts she was above everything else, and he would +surrender to her demands, no matter at what sacrifice. As for Mattie, he +never seemed to care much about her, nor indeed to regard her with +anything more than ordinary affection.</p> + +<p>There was no getting along without the ball, Mrs. Chapman said. West +Bowling Green had given two or three balls, and had not condescended to +send her an invitation. It was very mortifying to get the cut direct in +this way. She must bring West Bowling Green down by showing that she +could give a ball of her own. And then it would be such a relief to her +pride. And, too, it would be just the thing to show Mattie off to the +best advantage. Mr. Gusher would shine brilliantly in a ball room, and +so would Mattie, and if the young people could be reconciled in that +way, why it would be money well spent.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Topman was delighted at the prospect, and so was Gusher. And both +had been going about among their friends for a week sounding the trumpet +of Mrs. Chapman's ball, as well as telling their friends that the +Chapmans were rich and very distinguished people. Bowling Green, then, +was in a flutter that night. Chapman's house was brilliantly lighted, +and carriages began to arrive and set down their gaily-attired occupants +ere St. Paul's clock had struck nine. Then there was such a tripping of +delicately turned little feet, such a flashing of underskirts, such a +witching of perfumed silks and satins, such a display of white arms and +white shoulders, as each bevy of beauties vaulted up the steps and were +bowed into the house by the polite<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[Pg 177]</a></span> Mr. Bowles. Bowles felt himself an +important element in the dignity of the family that night. His mistress +had got him a new blue coat with large brass buttons, and a white +waistcoat that reached nearly to his knees, and gave him the appearance +of a huge ball of snow surmounted by an illuminated globe painted black. +Bowles had delivered most of the invitations, and firmly believed that +his mistress was indebted to him for the success of her ball, inasmuch +as he had solicited guests worthy of her favor. Nor was he sure that the +ball was not given by his mistress to show him off in his new clothes. +Bowles had a bow and a smile for each of the guests. "My missus is right +glad to sees you—she is. Be a heap o' dancin' did to-night," he would +say, as he bowed the guests into the hall.</p> + +<p>At ten o'clock the brilliantly-lighted parlors were filled, and +presented the appearance of a garden of flowers variously colored. There +were merry, laughing voices, graceful forms, young and happy faces, +forming the light and shade of the picture presented to the eye. The +ponderous figure of Mrs. Chapman formed a sort of central object. The +lady was indeed got up in a gorgeous style of dress, for she wore all +the colors of the rainbow, without their blending, had flounces nearly +to her waist, giving her the appearance of an half-inflated balloon; and +she had made a very flower-basket of her head. In short, the lady had +made a bold attempt to improve on all known styles of dress, and at the +same time to show her contempt for what other people might call taste in +such matters. Thus elaborately arrayed she fancied herself as much a +lady of quality as any of your fine old West Bowling Green people.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[Pg 178]</a></span></p> + +<p>A number of exquisitely dressed young men had gathered about the lady, +and although they paid her all manner of compliments, and said various +pretty things in admiration of her charming daughter, it was evident +that they regarded her as a rare curiosity, whose mental defects were +affording them a subject for amusement. There the lady stood, receiving +the congratulations of her friends and introducing her daughter Mattie, +who was dressed in a plain blue silk with white trimmings, a wreath of +orange blossoms on her head, and her golden hair hanging in simple curls +down her shoulders. Indeed, the lady suffered by comparison with her +daughter, whose charms were made more fascinating by the simplicity of +her dress and the quietness of her manners.</p> + +<p>In truth, Mattie had no taste for the show and extravagance her mother +was so fond of indulging in. Nor could she see what object her mother +had, or what really was to be gained by giving this ball. She felt in +her heart that it was a piece of extravagance her father could not +afford as an honest man, and she saw prominent among the guests persons +she had long mistrusted of being his enemies. Gay as the scene was it +had nothing in it to interest her. Her thoughts were engaged in +something more real and true. They were wandering just then into a +distant ocean in search of the object dearest in her affections, +wondering how it fared with him. Then the picture of Hanz and Angeline, +in their humble little home, revealed itself to her, and her mind filled +with strange fancies as to the part she might have to perform in saving +them from the trouble she saw foreshadowed in her father's conversation +with Topman and Gusher. She little knew what sorrow had been brought +into Hanz's home<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[Pg 179]</a></span> since she left Nyack; nor did it occur to her that old +Father Hanz, as she playfully called him, might even then be within the +sound of her voice.</p> + +<p>The company had all assembled, the musicians were beginning to tune +their instruments, and the time for dancing was drawing near. Mrs. +Chapman flattered herself that Bowling Green would wake up in the +morning to find that she had carried its outworks. But notwithstanding +all the pushing she had done, and all the pushing her friends had done +for her, she had not succeeded in catching the sort of people she had +thrown her net for. There was Topman and Mrs. Topman, moving here and +there in all the elegance of full dress. There were a number of others, +who were always ready to accept an invitation where there was dancing to +be done, or an opportunity afforded to show themselves in their best +clothes. They were second and third-rate people, after all—people who +get a cheap position in society through their proficiency in dancing, +which they accept as the highest object a man or woman has to live for.</p> + +<p>Poor Chapman moved about here and there like a raven among birds of +brilliant plumage; and never did man look meeker or more submissive. +There had been a curious change in his worldly affairs since the time +when he preached humility and economy at Dogtown, and was ready to +quarrel with any man who did not agree with him that show and +extravagance were carrying the country to the devil.</p> + +<p>"My wife, my dear wife, gives this ball," he would say, referring +timidly to the subject. "My dear wife enjoys these things. Mrs. Chapman +is very fond of young society, you see. I hope you are enjoying<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[Pg 180]</a></span> +yourselves. There will be dancing soon—I never dance—and supper at +twelve."</p> + +<p>There was no man more elaborately got up that night than Gusher. Every +hair on his head was trained into exact position, and his tailoring was +faultless. In short, Gusher had got himself up with a view to making the +greatest destruction on the female heart. He whisked about here and +there, making himself useful as well as ornamental, for he felt that he +had got the Chapman family on his shoulders, and was responsible for its +reputation as very distinguished.</p> + +<p>"Miz, you shall permit me ze pleazure, and ze 'onar, to open ze dance +wiz you," said Gusher, approaching Mattie with his right hand on his +heart, and making one of his extensive bows, "You shall do me ze 'onar, +I am sure," he continued, and as he raised his head with an air of +confidence, expecting to see her extend her hand, his eye fell on the +familiar face of a young man standing at her side, engaging her in +conversation. He paused suddenly, his face changed color from pale to +crimson, and his manner became nervous and agitated. His whole system, +mental and physical, seemed to have received a sudden and unexpected +shock.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my daughter, you must open the ball with Mr. Gusher. How very kind +of you, Mr. Gusher," said Mrs. Chapman, with a courtesy. "It will be so +very appropriate, my daughter, for you and Mr. Gusher to lead off." Mrs. +Chapman had not noticed the singular change in Mr. Gusher's manner. He, +however, recovered himself in a minute, and affecting not to notice the +young man at Mattie's side, who still kept his eyes fixed on him, he +resumed:</p> + +<p>"Do me ze 'onar, Miz, and you shall make me so happy."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[Pg 181]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I am sure, mamma," returned Mattie, "Mr. Gusher will excuse me. It was +very kind of you to remember me," (turning to Mr. Gusher.) "But really I +should appear very awkward dancing with you, who are so good a dancer. I +am sure you will excuse me for the opening dance, Mr. Gusher, and I +shall have the pleasure, if you will condescend to honor me, of dancing +with you during the evening."</p> + +<p>"My daughter, my daughter!" interrupted Mrs. Chapman, motioning with her +fan, "pray don't be eccentric to-night. Accept the honor Mr. Gusher +intended and please me—if only for once."</p> + +<p>"I am sure, mamma, I always try to please you," returned Mattie, "and I +appreciate the honor Mr. Gusher would do me, knowing how much my dear +mamma admires him." Here Mattie paused for a moment and tapped her +fingers with her fan, as the young man who had stood by her side turned +and walked away for a moment. "It was very thoughtless of me, mother," +resumed Mattie, ("you know I am only a thoughtless girl, after all)—but +the truth is I am already engaged for the first dance."</p> + +<p>"Engaged, my daughter, engaged?" Mrs. Chapman rejoined. "Pray, who to? +It was very strange of you!" Here the young man returned to Mattie's +side.</p> + +<p>"Allow me to introduce you to my mother, Mr. Romer," said Mattie. "Mr. +Romer, Mr. Gusher,—a friend of our family." Mrs. Chapman made a +courtesy, and the two gentlemen bowed formally and coldly.</p> + +<p>"If I mistake not," said Mr. Romer, who was a young man of polished +manners, slender of form, with a frank, open countenance, and evidently +a gentleman,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[Pg 182]</a></span> "we have met before." He kept his eyes fixed on Gusher, as +if resolved to read his thoughts in the changes that were going on in +his countenance.</p> + +<p>"Pardon, pardon, monsieur," returned Mr. Gusher, affecting an air of +self-confidence supported by innocence. "I ne-var re-mem-bar as we has +meets before. You shall zee I shall make you my respects. We shall meet +again, I am sure of zat, zen we shall be such good friends. But I ne-var +re-mem-bar zat we meets before."</p> + +<p>"You were living in a castle then," returned the young man, coolly, "and +I was only an outsider. People who live in castles at times don't +remember common people."</p> + +<p>It was a strange and curious meeting. Mattie saw there was something +embarrassing between the two gentlemen, and came quickly to their +relief.</p> + +<p>"I am Mr. Romer's partner for the first dance," she said, addressing Mr. +Gusher, with a bow. "It was very thoughtless of me. You were so very +kind. But I am sure you are too generous not to excuse me."</p> + +<p>"It is my great misfortune, miz. But you shall zee as I ne-var intrude +myself. I shall have ze pleazure during ze evening." Gusher blushed and +withdrew to another part of the ball room, where he captured Mrs. +Topman, who was delighted at having such a partner for the first dance. +Mrs. Topman was indeed popular as a dancing lady, and nothing pleased +her better than to show her skill in the art in company with Gusher, +whom all the pretty young girls said moved so nice on his feet.</p> + +<p>The music now struck up and fell softly and sweetly on the ear, and the +dancing began, and each figure seemed floating in the very poetry of +motion, until the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[Pg 183]</a></span> bewitching scene carried the mind away captive in its +gyrations.</p> + +<p>Mattie had never seen Mr. Romer, nor indeed heard of him before that +night. She knew nothing of the relations existing between him and +Gusher. She was equally a stranger to Mr. Gusher's antecedents. Her mind +had, however, for some time been engaged trying to solve the mysterious +agency that had brought him into business relations with her father. +Being a girl of fixed character and good common sense, it was only +natural that she should entertain an instinctive dislike for Gusher, in +whom she saw a nature, if not really bad, at least frivolous and +artificial.</p> + +<p>The unexpected meeting between Romer and Gusher threw a shadow over the +entertainment, so far as it affected the latter. Here he had been for +weeks sounding the trumpet of Mrs. Chapman's ball, and looking forward +to it as the means of making a temple of triumph of himself, and +captivating no end of female hearts, Mattie's included; but how sadly he +was disappointed. It had suddenly thrown around him a chain of +difficulties that might blast his ambition, destroy all his hopes, and +cause the veil he supposed was forever drawn over his past life to be +lifted. The only way he saw of extricating himself from these +difficulties, of cutting through them as it were, was by the force and +skilful exercise of great coolness and impudence, and these he resolved +to use, and use quickly.</p> + +<p>And while the dancing was progressing a number of young fellows, who +found more congenial enjoyment in their glasses and cigars, were seated +at a table in a room down stairs, which Mrs. Chapman had provided as a +sort of free-and-easy for such of her guests as were<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[Pg 184]</a></span> inclined to enjoy +themselves in their own way. Chapman had provided generously, both of +wines and cigars, which might have seemed strange to one of his Dogtown +acquaintances. He had, however, so modified his ideas as to what +constituted strict morality as to believe it would be nothing against a +man in the other world that he had drank a glass of wine and smoked a +cigar in this.</p> + +<p>The young gentlemen were conducting themselves in a manner not +recognized in the rules of propriety. Indeed, they had smoked so many of +Chapman's cigars, and uncorked so many bottles of his wine, and drank +the health of the family such a number of times, that they were fast +losing their wits. When, then, Bowles made his appearance in the room, +to see if there was anything he could do for the gentlemen, he found +them talking so strangely of his mistress, and making so free with her +personal appearance, that he considered it an indignity he was bound to +defend by putting on the severest look he was capable of.</p> + +<p>"Say, Charles," said one of the young men, addressing a comrade as he +raised his glass, "who did you get your card through? What sort of a +family is it, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"Got mine through Gusher. He's a kind of a spoon, you know. Don't know +anything of the fellow, particularly—met him outside, you know. He's +mighty sweet on the filly. She's pretty. Would'nt mind being sweet on +her myself. I'd be a little afraid the old one would want to throw +herself into the bargain. What a crusher of a mother-in-law she'd make," +returned the young man.</p> + +<p>"An odd-sized lot, anyhow," interrupted a third. "How frightfully the +old lady's got herself up, eh?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[Pg 185]</a></span> What a melancholy little specimen of +humanity she's got for a husband, eh? Who are the Chapmans, anyhow?"</p> + +<p>"Devilish new, devilish new," rejoined a fourth. "What a mixed lot they +have got for company."</p> + +<p>"Fill up! fill up! gentlemen. Here's a bumper to the beautiful daughter. +Beauty and modesty carry us all captive in their charms. Let us drink to +the daughter." And they filled their glasses and drank Mattie's health.</p> + +<p>"When my missus inwites pussons to de ball, my missus 'specs dem ar +gemmens what is inwited to presarve dar qualifications. If gemmen am +gemmen den dey don't cum'd to my missus's ball to suffocate her!" said +Bowles, expressing himself, and assuming an air of injured dignity.</p> + +<p>Bowles had to pay dear for his speech in defence of the family, for the +young gentlemen surrounded him, and, getting him into a high chair at +the head of the table, compelled him to perform all sorts of antics for +their amusement, such as making speeches and singing songs. They also +made Bowles drink so many times to the lady whose livery he had the +honor to wear, that he lost his senses, and fancied himself fighting any +man who had said a word against the family. Indeed, it soon became +necessary to extinguish Mr. Bowles, and to that end the young gentlemen +rolled him up in the table-cover, and put him carefully away in a +corner, where he soon went into a sound sleep, and remained until his +master woke him up on the following morning.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[Pg 186]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXIV.</h2> + +<h3>VERY PERPLEXING.</h3> + + +<p>While these young gentlemen were thus enjoying themselves, and taking +such liberties with Mrs. Chapman's favorite servant, Romer entered the +room, and was followed in a few minutes by Gusher. They had again met +unexpectedly, for there was something nervous and hesitating in Gusher's +manner. Romer seemed to be a general favorite with the young men, and +they insisted that he fill his glass and join them in drinking the +health of the family.</p> + +<p>"You will pardon me," said Romer, turning to Gusher when they had set +down their glasses; "I took the liberty I did up stairs through +mistake."</p> + +<p>"It is no matter, mine friend," returned Gusher, patting Romer on the +shoulder familiarly. "I ac-cept ze ap-pology. You are one gentleman, I +am sure. We shall be very good friends." It was curious to see how quick +Gusher regained his confidence and coolness.</p> + +<p>"I mistook you for a gentleman I once met in Havana. I understand you +have been there," resumed Romer, keeping his eyes steadily fixed on +Gusher.</p> + +<p>"My farer, he has very large estates in ze Havana. Mine friend, I love +ze Havana." Here Gusher put his hand to his heart, and became exuberant. +"It make me so much joy to zink of ze day when I shall be back in mine +own Havana."</p> + +<p>"Knew I had seen you there. You would'nt be likely to remember me, +however. Let us fill our glasses, and drink to the pleasant days we have +spent there—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[Pg 187]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, it is so many years since I was so happy zare," interrupted Gusher, +coolly.</p> + +<p>They filled their glasses and drank to the happy days they had spent in +Havana. "At least the wine may quicken your memory as to the time we +met. About the time I refer to," continued Romer, still watching +Gusher's manner carefully, "which was about the time we met, a fellow of +wonderful audacity was flourishing, and so attracting public attention +by his skill in rascality that little else was talked of. Louis Pinto +was his real name; but he regarded names as a matter of no consequence, +and used the names of rich and respectable gentlemen whenever a +necessity demanded."</p> + +<p>"You shall give me zat hand," replied Gusher, extending his hand and +taking Romer's, with an air of refreshing coolness. "You bring ze +gentleman to my mind. When I shall speak ze truth I shall say he was one +grand rascal, I remember him just so well as you shall see."</p> + +<p>"I am glad," resumed Romer, "that you know him for a grand rascal. +Rascal as he was, I had great admiration for him. He had three +remarkable virtues—impudence, coolness, and audacity. I call these +virtues because a man possessing them may go through the world and have +a history of his own. It was Louis's ambition to do the State some +service one day and ornament society with his presence the next. One day +he relieved a rich old gentleman of his pretty daughter and twelve +thousand ounces, and did both so cleverly that his skill was more +admired than condemned. Carrying off the daughter did not seem to offend +the old gentleman so much; but his grief was so great over the loss of +his ounces that he employed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[Pg 188]</a></span> means of recovering them, and with them the +thief, whom he had sent to prison to repent of the sin. Louis was rather +fond of a change, and accepted prison life as a relief from the labor +society required of him, and as a necessary benefit to his health rather +than a punishment. He once relieved me of some diamonds, and in such a +manner as to make me remember him for his skill."</p> + +<p>"I tells you, mine friend," interrupted Gusher, "zat grand rascal 'onar +me in ze same way. He gets ze diamond. And I ne-var gets zat diamond +back. He make me so much trouble. I am mistake for him so many times." +Gusher now proposed that they should fill their glasses again, which +they did, the rest of the company joining and drinking to the health of +the family.</p> + +<p>"That he is taken for you," resumed Romer, "might be considered a +compliment, as far as looks go. If I remember right the fellow was +exceedingly handsome."</p> + +<p>This seemed to excite Gusher's vanity. Laying his hand patronizingly on +Romer's arm, he looked up in his face with a smile of injured innocence. +"I care nosin for myself; it is wiz mine friend he make me so much +trouble."</p> + +<p>"You're to be pitied, sir, very much to be pitied. Of course you are not +Pinto, and yet the dashing, handsome fellow will insist in trafficking +on your reputation. How very aggravating to a gentleman of your +position. It requires a genius to do that well. That's what I admired +Pinto for. The fellow had such a number of family histories at his +tongue's end, and could apply any one of them so cleverly to his own +case. In short, he knew exactly how to suit his customer. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[Pg 189]</a></span> you will +remember, Mr. Gusher, the most amusing thing of all was the number of +fathers he had. To-day he had a Spanish father, who had been through all +the wars of Spain; to-morrow his father was a Frenchman who had smelled +powder in all the battles fought by Napoleon. They were generals, too. +There was one bad feature about Louis's fathers. They were all +unfortunate gentlemen, who managed to fight on the wrong side, and got +their estates confiscated and their families left destitute."</p> + +<p>Romer paused for a moment, but kept his eyes fixed on Gusher. Still +there was no change in his countenance. The young gentlemen who had been +so merry but a few minutes before, now put down their glasses and +listened with intense interest to the conversation.</p> + +<p>"You shall zee, mine friend, (wiz your permizion I shall call you mine +friend,") replied Gusher, still cool and nonchalant, and again giving +Romer's hand a decided shake, "I have hear zat grand rascal tell ze same +story so many times. You shall know zat I meets ze grand rascal on +Broadway—a few days ago—"</p> + +<p>"You met him in New York, eh?" resumed Romer, affecting great surprise. +"Looking just as fresh and rosy as ever, I suppose, and as ready to give +himself up to the business of ornamenting society." Romer patted Gusher +on the shoulder familiarly, and smiled.</p> + +<p>"If you should meet him again," he resumed, playfully, "and it is more +than likely you will—stop him. He does'nt take offence easily. Keep +your eye on him. Tell him you are a friend of his, and have a lady with +a fortune you would like to introduce him to. That will gain his +confidence. Then slip this card into his hand. It contains my address. +Tell him I am an old friend of his, and have some old and important +business<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[Pg 190]</a></span> I would like to settle. Don't let your modesty interfere with +your intentions, you know."</p> + +<p>Gusher took the card, and after affecting to read the name placed it in +his pocket, without exhibiting the slightest change of countenance. "You +shall zee I shall do myself ze 'onar of being your diplomat," said he, +bowing himself formally out of the room.</p> + +<p>"Romer, old fellow, what's up?" enquired one of the young men. "A spoon, +ain't he, Romer?"</p> + +<p>"Not so much of a spoon, I take it," said another. "Considers himself a +planet illuminating the social hemisphere of the Chapman family."</p> + +<p>"You must pardon me, gentlemen," said Romer, "for introducing a +conversation so strange to you. It refers to a matter which concerns the +gentleman and myself, which he perfectly understands, and you may hear +more of soon—not now."</p> + +<p>Another, and very different scene from that described above, but which +forms an essential part of this history, was being enacted just outside. +While the sound of the music was reverberating over Bowling Green, and +mingling curiously with the sea-wail; while the dance went on, and all +seemed gay and festive within, two old men, bent with age and poorly +clad, were seen in front of Chapman's house, one of them leaning on a +staff. They were the two shadowy figures seen on the Battery in the +early part of the evening, looking anxiously out in the direction of a +ship at anchor in the stream.</p> + +<p>Their manner indicated that they were strangers in the city, uncertain +of the location they were in. They would move slowly up and down in +front of the house, then pause and listen to the music, the tripping of +feet, and the sound of merry voices. The shadowy figures<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[Pg 191]</a></span> seen flitting +through the curtains seemed to bewilder them. Then, after consulting +together for a few minutes, and as if armed with some new resolution, +they would ascend two or three steps, as if intent on seeking admission +to the house. Then their resolution would seem to fail them, they would +hesitate, and return slowly and reluctantly to the sidewalk.</p> + +<p>Then he of the staff stood in the shadow of the street lamp, and as he +did so his kindly but wrinkled face, his white, flowing beard and hair, +reflected in the dim light, formed a striking picture of age made +touching by sorrow. Then his eyes brightened and his lips quivered, and +after looking sorrowfully up at the scene before him for several +minutes, he motioned his companion to him, laid his trembling hand on +his arm, and said:</p> + +<p>"Tar pees no shustice in dis. He prings shorrow hinto mine house, unt +shust now his house pees full of peeples what rejoices. I gits mine +preat mit t' sweet of mine prow, so ven I ties I ties mit mine +conscience so clear as I shays t' mine Got, ven I meets mine Got, dar +pees no tirt on mine hands. If I only gits some news from mine poor +Tite, Critchel, some shoy comes t' mine poor heart." And he shook his +head as he said this, and leaned on his staff, and tears coursed down +his wrinkled face.</p> + +<p>The old man was overcome, and had no power to restrain his emotions. It +was several minutes before he regained control of his feelings. Then he +raised his head, and wiping his wet, dripping beard, he pointed with the +fore-finger of his right hand upward, and resumed: "Critchel!" said he, +in a tone as decided as it was touching, "Critchel! if tar pees un shust +Got, un I knows in mine heart as tar pees un shust Got, He come to mine +aid, unt He shows he pees angry mit t'<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[Pg 192]</a></span> man vat shays he pees mine +friend t'tay un prings shorrow into mine house to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"God will make a just reckoning with us all—depend on that, Hanz," +replied the other. "But it will do no good to stand here. We must wait +until to-morrow." And the two old men proceeded up Broadway and were +shut from sight in the mist. It will hardly be necessary to tell the +reader that one was Hanz Toodleburg, the other Doctor Critchel.</p> + +<p>Two days before the sheriff of the county had seriously disturbed the +peace of Hanz's little house by walking in and making service of a legal +document of immense length—Topman and Gusher vs. Hanz Toodleburg—and +in which the names were recapitulated so many times, and in so many +different ways, as to bewilder Hanz's mind and send him into a state of +deep distress. In short, Topman and Gusher, (Chapman's name was not +mentioned, and for reasons which any sharp gentleman of the legal +profession will understand,) had entered suit against Hanz, charging him +with having made certain contracts he had not fulfilled, of procuring +money and certain other property for the sale of secrets he did not +possess, and indeed of having deceived and defrauded the plaintiffs, and +of committing crimes enough to have sent at least a dozen men to the +penitentiary. And all this to the serious damage, as well in reputation +as pocket, of the highly enterprising and rapidly advancing firm of +Topman and Gusher. And the plaintiffs prayed, as virtuous gentlemen are +known to pray in such cases, that the defendant's property might be +attached, and such damages decreed as in the discretion of the court +justice demanded.</p> + +<p>The great Kidd Discovery Company was bearing bitter fruit for Hanz. +Never before had a sheriff darkened<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[Pg 193]</a></span> his door, for it had been the aim +of his life to owe no man a shilling, and never to quarrel with a +neighbor. But here he was with law enough for a life-time, and all for +doing a kindness for people he thought honest. He saw Chapman's finger +at the bottom of the transaction, but the more he pondered over his +troubles the more his mind got bewildered. He knew that before a court +his simple story would weigh as nothing against the proof they could +bring that he had been associated in some suspicious way with all the +circumstances which led to the formation of the great Kidd Discovery +Company. There, too, was a paper, bearing his own signature, and indeed +a confession of guilt.</p> + +<p>In the midst of his grief it occurred to Hanz that a man who had +invented so many religions must be something of a Christian, so he +resolved to see him face to face, and have an honest talk with him. To +that end he persuaded Critchel, who was his friend and adviser always, +to bear him company into the city. He forgot that there were religions, +based on what are called advanced ideas, and invented so plentifully in +certain portions of New England, having little of either heart or soul +in them, and which are in truth a cheap commodity, used more to advance +commercial than spiritual purposes.</p> + +<p>There was still another reason why these two old men were found in the +city on that night. Nothing had been heard from Tite, or indeed the ship +on which he sailed, for more than a year, and great anxiety was felt for +her safety. A report, however, had reached Nyack that day that one of +the Hudson Company's ships had arrived at New York, and the hope that +she might bring some tidings of the ship Pacific quickened his actions.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[Pg 194]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXV" id="CHAPTER_XXV"></a>CHAPTER XXV.</h2> + +<h3>AN UNLUCKY VOYAGE.</h3> + + +<p>Let us go a little back, reader, and trace the course of the ship +Pacific and those on board of her. The iceberg had rendered her almost +helpless, and we left her bearing up for Punta Arenas. Having made +temporary repairs there she sailed for Coquimbo, where she was +thoroughly refitted and provided with new anchors and chains. The great +expense and delay incident to this had seriously interfered with the +prospects of the voyage, and to such of the crew and officers as were on +shares left but little hope of returns. This naturally produced a +feeling of discouragement and despondency.</p> + +<p>And when the ship was about to proceed on her voyage to cruise among the +islands of the Pacific, the second officer disappeared mysteriously, and +Coquimbo was searched in vain for him. Tite was accordingly promoted to +fill his place. The crew had great confidence in him, for he had shown +himself not only the best sailor on board, but had exhibited in cases of +great peril such quickness and courage as are necessary to the highest +standard of seamanship. Hence it was that the change, while it did not +dispel the gloom occasioned by the second officer's mysterious +disappearance, gave satisfaction to all on board, except, perhaps, Mr. +Higgins, the first officer, who had almost from the day of leaving New +York regarded Tite with a feeling of undisguised jealousy.</p> + +<p>The lucky old ship Pacific, with her famous old whale-killing captain, +had made a bad voyage of it this time.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[Pg 195]</a></span></p> + +<p>Fifteen months had passed since she took her departure off the Highlands +of New York, and now she had just weighed anchor, and with her canvas +spread once more was bidding good bye to Coquimbo, and proceeding to +cruise among the islands of the South Sea.</p> + +<p>Weeks passed and still the old ship tumbled and rolled about on the +placid waters of the Pacific, now touching at a port to get news of the +whaling fleet, now anchoring off some island to have a talk or trade +with the natives. But all the news the sturdy old captain could get was +bad.</p> + +<p>Bad luck had followed the whaling fleet through the Pacific that year. +The habits of the whale in changing his locality at certain periods are +somewhat curious, and afford old sailors a subject for the most wild and +unreasonable stories. The sailors, yielding to their superstitions, +attributed the scarcity of whales to the appearance of a number of +mermaids, whom the natives on various islands had reported, and the +sailors sincerely believed, had been seen and heard singing in various +parts of the Pacific that year, and under very suspicious circumstances. +The sailors had also a superstition that whales entertain so great a +dislike for mermaids as to proceed to visit their friends and relatives +in another sea as soon as they made their appearance.</p> + +<p>Captain Price Bottom declared he was too old a whale-killer to put any +faith in the story of the mermaids. Whales, he said, had sense and +pluck, and were not to be frightened away by such fish as mermaids. He +had his deck cleared, his gear put in order, his boats' crews told off, +and officers and men kept practising and made familiar with their +duties. Still not a whale showed his head, or blew a challenge to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[Pg 196]</a></span> put +their skill in practice. The bluff old captain began to feel at last +that luck had left him. Morning after morning he would loom up in the +companion way before the crew was up, gaze up at the lookout aloft, ask +the usual questions concerning the night's sailing, then shake his head +despondingly.</p> + +<p>"Fifteen months out—sixteen months out—and not a whale killed!" he +would say. Then taking the glass he would make a turn or two of the +quarter-deck, looking here and looking there, as if to satisfy himself +that there was nothing between his ship and the horizon. Then lowering +his glass he would nod his head affirmatively, and say: "Mermaids ain't +got nothin' at all to do with it. Somebody's been a tellin' them whales +I was comin'. Whales has got more sense some years than other years. +Know when there's harpoons about as well as any of us, and keeps at a +comfortable distance."</p> + +<p>One morning he appeared on deck in a more serious mood than usual. Tite +was officer of the watch that morning, and the old captain, after pacing +up and down the deck several times, apparently in deep study, approached +him with his hand extended.</p> + +<p>"When I give a young man like you my hand, I gives him my heart, too. If +there's a man aboard of this ship what I respect, it's you, Mr. +Toodleburg. Yes, sir, I respect you for your mother's sake, as well as +for your worth as a sailor and a man." And he shook Tite cordially by +the hand, and spoke with such an emphasis.</p> + +<p>Then setting his glass down on the binnacle, he took Tite by the arm, +and, whispering something in his ear, led him to the taffrail, as if he +had something of importance to communicate in private.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[Pg 197]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You have a sweetheart at home, I take it, Mr. Toodleburg?" he said, +inquiringly, and assuming a very serious manner. "Every young man like +you should have a sweetheart at home. Somebody to think about. Somebody +to cheer one up. Them we leaves at home is all men like you and me go +through these hardships and disappointments for."</p> + +<p>Tite blushed and smiled, and made an evasive reply.</p> + +<p>"No use denying it, my hearty," he resumed. "Knew ye had a sweetheart +thinkin' of ye at home. Show her by yer conduct while yer away that yer +worthy of her when yer get home. My sweetheart, God bless her! is all +the sunlight I have in a voyage of this kind. My little wife is my +sweetheart, she is, Mr. Toodleburg. She an' the two little angels are +the sunlight of my heart. There ain't nobody sails the sea has a trimmer +little craft of a sweetheart nor I have." He paused for a minute, as if +to collect his distracted thoughts. "The man that would bring trouble to +her door while I'm away—he would'nt be a man, Mr. Toodleburg," he +resumed, still preserving a serious countenance. "Had an ugly dream last +night. That's what troubles me. Anything happens to me, Mr. Toodleburg, +you're the man I looks to as a friend to my little sweetheart and them +two angels at home."</p> + +<p>Tite assured him that he would do as he desired, and at the same time +tried to dispel from his mind the gloomy forebodings impressed on it by +the dream.</p> + +<p>"Never had an ugly dream of that kind that it did'nt foretell somethin' +bad, Mr. Toodleburg," he replied to a remark made by Tite, that it was +not wise to give one's self uneasiness concerning dreams. "There's +sharks a' land as well as sharks a' sea. Keep that in your mind, my +hearty. And I dreamed that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[Pg 198]</a></span> my time had come, and my poor little +sweetheart at home was surrounded by sharks ready to devour her. Made my +blood boil, it did. Waked up feelin' for a harpoon to throw among 'em. +My ghost'll haunt the man that wrongs my little sweetheart.</p> + +<p>"That's not all, my hearty. Somebody's brought bad luck aboard—that's +certain. A voyage begun in bad luck, as this ere voyage has been, never +ends in good luck. But you're young, and so cheer up. Look ahead, and +never let present misfortunes discourage you.</p> + +<p>"England honors Scoresby to this day. And Scoresby was successful after +two voyages that ruined his owners. As to them mermaids frightening away +the whales, it's all a superstition. The natives on Queen Charlotte's +island have a superstition that there is an island down north of them, +called No Man's island—for no man, as they say, was ever seen on +it—where there is a subterranean sea peopled by these mermaids; and +that these mermaids have built them a palace, where they hold their +revels and do all sorts of strange things, even to decoying navigators +into it. That story won't do. Don't believe a word of it, Mr. +Toodleburg."</p> + +<p>That morning about ten o'clock the lookout aloft called, "Whale, O!" The +glad announcement sent a thrill of joy over every one on board. The crew +turned out with cheerful faces, and every one looked eagerly in the +direction pointed to by the man aloft.</p> + +<p>"Where away?" was the quick enquiry from the deck.</p> + +<p>"Off the larboard bow—three miles. There he blows!" was the response.</p> + +<p>A light breeze was blowing, and the ship was bowling off four knots, +with her port tacks aboard. There was no one on board more elated at the +prospect than<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[Pg 199]</a></span> the sturdy old captain. Seizing his glass he looked for a +moment in the direction indicated.</p> + +<p>"There he is!" he exclaimed, lowering his glass. "Clear away the boats +and bear away for him, my hearties."</p> + +<p>The lashings were cast away, the davit-tackle falls overhauled, and a +larboard and starboard boat was launched and manned, and in a few +minutes they were dashing over the waves, the men pulling that steady, +strong, and even stroke which gives such propelling force to the +whaleman's oar. The men on board cheered, and their cheers seemed to +quicken the action of the boatmen. The sturdy old captain watched their +progress through his glass, every few minutes giving expression to his +feelings in words of hope and encouragement.</p> + +<p>"An old coaster, that whale is—thirty, yes, nearly forty barrels there. +Got pluck, too, that whale has. Can always tell when a whale's got +pluck. Them old ones are ugly customers when they gets their pluck up," +he would say, nodding his head decidedly and encouragingly.</p> + +<p>The ship was now kept away a point or two, and proceeded under easy +sail. There was something thrilling in the scene, and every heart on +board beat with excitement as the boats went swiftly on, one commanded +by the first officer, the other by Tite. Neither of these two young men +had seen a whale killed; but there were in the boats old whalemen, who +had successfully thrown both harpoon and lance.</p> + +<p>The huge monster could now be seen clearly with the naked eye by those +on the ship's deck, sporting lazily on the surface, his bright black +sides now falling, now rising, like the hull of some water-logged ship,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[Pg 200]</a></span> +and throwing up thin white volumes of spray, over which the sun's rays +reflected with singular brilliancy. Nearer and nearer the boats +approached the monster, the first officer's boat being a little ahead. +Now the stern boat ceased pulling, and the men laid on their oars. Then +the other slackened her speed, and began pulling with cautious and quiet +stroke. The lookout announced that the head boat had made the whale, and +the men climbed the ship's rigging to witness the struggle. They were +doomed to temporary disappointment, however, for the whale, suddenly +discovering his pursuers, made a vault and a plunge, tossed the sea into +commotion, and disappeared.</p> + +<p>"That's what comes of sendin' an amateur after an old whale," said the +captain, thrusting his hands deep into his nether pockets, shrugging his +shoulders, and pacing nervously up and down the deck.</p> + +<p>A signal was now made from the ship directing the boats what course to +keep, for experience had taught the old captain what course the whale +would take, and where he would be most likely to appear again. It was +nearly half an hour before the monster lifted his huge, dripping sides +above the surface again, but so near the first officer's boat that a +harpoon was let go. They had fastened to him, and the scene became more +exciting.</p> + +<p>"Bad strike," said the captain, shaking his head and stamping his feet. +"That whale's going to die hard." The harpoon, in short, had fallen +weak, had failed to touch a vital part, and had made one of those wounds +which excite a whale to attack his pursuers.</p> + +<p>The word "astern" was given as soon as the harpoon was thrown. The +monster threw up a thin wreath of slightly discolored spray, and set off +at a velocity of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[Pg 201]</a></span> speed almost incredible. Away he went, the boat +following in his wake and cutting the water like a thing of life—the +boat-steerer and line-tender carefully watching every movement, for the +lives of all on board depended on their vigilance. The whale struck his +course directly across the ship's bow, less than a mile away. The boat +Tite commanded followed, with all the strength her crew could put on +their oars.</p> + +<p>It was easy to read in the captain's manner, however, that all was not +going well with the boats. He quickly ordered a third boat launched, +supplied with gear, and the best oarsmen on board to hold themselves +ready to man it.</p> + +<p>"Thar'll be a fight when that ar whale rises," he muttered, rather than +spoke. "Wants a lance in the right place, and a man to put it there. Mr. +Higgins ain't the man for that work."</p> + +<p>The boat's speed began to slacken. The sharp, whizzing sound, caused by +the rapid paying-out of the line and its great tension, gradually +subsided. It was evident the whale was coming up to blow, perhaps change +his course, perhaps attack his assailants. He had crossed the ship's +course, and the head boat was nearly two miles off the starboard bow, +the stern boat rapidly coming up.</p> + +<p>The water just ahead of the boat began to quiver and curl into eddies, +then the huge monster lifted himself, as it were, high above the +surface, struck his flukes, and lashed the sea into a foam. This lasted +for several minutes, the boat pulling for him with all the strength of +her oarsmen. But when nearly alongside of the whale she suddenly +slackened her speed, then stopped, then went "astern hard." It was +evident to those on board the ship that something was wrong, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[Pg 202]</a></span> the +boat seemed to be manœuvring more for her own safety than to gain a +position from which a lance could be hurled with effect.</p> + +<p>"Too many landsmen in that boat!" said the old captain, who had been +carefully watching every movement through his glass; now hoping, now +fearing. He shook his head doubtingly, and paced the deck nervously for +several minutes. Then, as if there was something it was necessary for +him to set right, he turned to the officer of the watch, and ordered him +to have the third boat manned. In another minute he was standing in the +bow, lance in hand.</p> + +<p>"Pull away for him, my hearty bullies," he said; and the men plied their +oars, and away the boat went, skimming over the water like a sea-bird. +There was resolution and courage depicted in every feature of that +bronzed face.</p> + +<p>The whale had now turned and was proceeding with open jaws to attack the +first officer's boat. Another minute and he would have destroyed it, and +perhaps all on board. Just at that moment Tite's boat came up, and with +a quick, bold, and dexterous movement, rounded close under the whale's +off side, and with a strong arm sent a lance home. That lance made a +deep and fatal wound. The enraged monster forgot in a moment the object +he was in pursuit of, threw up a volume of deep red spray, then making a +desperate plunge, disappeared. He had no intention of giving up the +battle, however. He merely sought relief for his wounds in deep water. +The boats now waited and watched for the result. After waiting nearly +twenty minutes the monster rose again, directly ahead of the captain's +boat, and so near as to dash the spray into it.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[Pg 203]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Take that!" said the old captain; "that iron'll stop your fightin'." +And he hurled his lance, with quick and deadly aim, giving an order at +the same time to "astern hard." But before sternway could be got on the +boat, the infuriated monster made a sudden turn, dashed upon and stove +it into fragments.</p> + +<p>The famous old whale-killer had hurled his last lance, had killed his +last whale. The dying monster, in making a last struggle with his +enemies, had struck the captain with his fluke, and he sunk never to +rise again.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[Pg 204]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXVI.</h2> + +<h3>DUNMAN'S CAVE.</h3> + + +<p>Flags hung at half mast the rest of that day, and minute guns were fired +at sunset. And there was something sad and solemn in the dull, booming +sound as it echoed and reechoed over that broad and mysterious sea. And +when night came, and drew a dark curtain around the ship, and her +timbers murmured and complained, and every sail stood out in shadow +against the clear sky, and the surface of the water seemed alive with +sprites, flitting and dancing here and there, groups of sorrowing men +were seen gathered about the decks, giving expression to their grief at +the loss of their old captain.</p> + +<p>"God bless him! He was good to us all. There'll be no more whales to +kill where he has gone." These were the words of regret that fell from +lips that rarely invoked a prayer.</p> + +<p>At midnight, when the bells had struck, the crew gathered together on +the forward deck, and while one held a lamp another read the Episcopal +service for the burial of the dead. And as the light at times reflected +each figure of the group, giving it a phantom-like appearance, the +picture presented was sad and impressive—such as can only be seen at +sea, where each sound calls up some memory, and the sailor fancies he +can see the spirit of some departed friend in every flitting shadow.</p> + +<p>Officers and men alike began to feel how great was their loss. They were +alone, as it were, on this broad<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[Pg 205]</a></span> and mysterious ocean, and they had +lost that odd old man who was their guiding spirit, and who never failed +them as friend and protector. All through that night the men watched and +strained their eyes in every direction, expecting to see the old sailor +rise on some crest; and more than one sailor that night cheered his +drooping feelings with the firm belief that some mysterious agency would +give them back the old captain before morning.</p> + +<p>There was no one on that ship, however, who felt the loss more seriously +than Tite. It seemed to change all his prospects, to throw a shadow over +his future. He paced the deck, silent and thoughtful, until long after +midnight. To him the captain had been not only a friend, but a father. +Between them there had grown up the strongest of attachments. Tite had +looked forward to the time when this odd old man would have lifted him +into the confidence of his owners, and perhaps secured his future +prosperity.</p> + +<p>All his hopes and joys seemed blasted now. Love, too, had been playing +its bewitching part; amidst all these drawbacks and disappointments, +love had been prompting his ambition with her dreams of a happy future. +Mattie's image, so bright, so beautiful, had been with him everywhere, +prompting his thoughts and actions as only the woman you love can, and +making him more ambitious to secure that golden future his fancy had +pictured. Never before had his courage failed him. No matter what the +danger, he had felt that she was at his side, encouraging him. Now the +gloomy thought of returning home penniless, with, indeed, nothing but +his adventures and misfortunes to offer her and his aged parents, began +to prey upon his mind, to make him sad and despondent. Then the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[Pg 206]</a></span> advice +so often given him by the old captain, never to get discouraged, not +even under the most adverse circumstances, and that the brightest day +was sure to follow the darkest night, would cheer him up.</p> + +<p>When the whale had been taken aboard, the ship, under her new commander, +Mr. Higgins, stood away into the North Pacific, where she cruised along +the land, in the direction of Behring's Straits, for several weeks. The +prospect not seeming to brighten much, Mr. Higgins thought he would try +an experiment in what he called "high latitudes," and to that end headed +the ship for the Auckland Islands. Now the crew had but little respect +for their new commander, and no confidence whatever in his skill as a +navigator.</p> + +<p>After proceeding in this direction for ten days, one morning about four +o'clock the lookout called the attention of the officer of the watch to +strange sounds heard close ahead. It resembled the dull, sluggish sound +of breakers on shore during a calm. The sounds became louder and seemed +to be approaching the ship, but as her reckoning gave no land anywhere +near, the cause of the sounds began to excite great alarm. The captain +was called and the crew turned out, and an effort made to put the ship +on the other tack, but it was of no avail. An almost dead calm +prevailed, and the ship refused to obey her helm. In short, the ship was +being carried rapidly forward in the grasp of a strong under-current. A +heavy fog hung like a pall overhead, enveloping the ship's royals and +top-gallant sails; and as the noise increased a strange feeling of awe +and fear came over the crew, exciting their superstitions to the highest +pitch.</p> + +<p>As the ship went on the sounds began to resemble the dashing and surging +of a heavy body of water<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[Pg 207]</a></span> forced by a strong tide through a narrow +gorge. Still nothing could be seen of land, which increased the strange +sensations produced by so singular a phenomenon. Nothing either crew or +officers could do would improve the situation, for in the ship's +condition they were as helpless as children. The lead was cast, and +sixty fathoms called. It was now evident that there was land close by. +But the trail of the line only showed the more clearly that the ship was +at the mercy of some rapid and dangerous current, perhaps being drawn +into some whirlpool. Now the fog seemed to lift, and long lines of light +were seen ahead, but it was only to be succeeded by greater darkness. +Then the sounds began to change and vary; and while what seemed voices +were heard singing and sighing overhead, the deep rush and roll of +waters below had a strange and bewildering effect on the feelings. Now +the moon seemed to be rising through the fog ahead, and a pale, white +light gleamed for a few seconds, then disappeared, and all was dark +again. And as the ship advanced, the bold outline of a high and nearly +perpendicular bluff revealed itself above the fog, and had the +appearance of hanging directly over the ship. There was no mistaking the +danger now. In a few minutes more the ship was between walls of rock +three hundred feet high, drifting swiftly through a narrow channel of +deep and agitated water into a dark and dangerous cavern.</p> + +<p>The ship passed in under full sail; the atmosphere changed and became +singularly oppressive; the very blood chilled; fear seized on all on +board, and men who a short time before were full of courage and strength +now became as helpless as children. The current was less rapid inside, +but the noise increased and became even more bewildering; while the +barometer<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[Pg 208]</a></span> would rise and fall quickly, and the compasses became +agitated under the influence of some strong magnetic disorder. Every few +minutes deep and rumbling sounds would break in the distance, roll along +the cavern, and echo and reëcho through the great arches overhead. And +these would be succeeded by soft, flute-like voices, mingling in chorus. +The effect of this, in so dark and dungeon-like a place, where the +mighty hand of Nature had performed one of her wildest freaks, was +bewildering in the extreme, and gave wing to the strangest fancies. +Hardly a word was spoken; not a brace manned, nor a sheet touched. The +ship moved along as if directed by some unseen hand, for there was no +wind in that deep, dark cavern. Then the water became broken, and the +surface checkered with phosphoric lights, flitting and dancing, like so +many sprites on a revel. The arch overhead became covered with a pale +light, which seemed to struggle against the darkness; then stars, or +what appeared to be stars, were seen, as through a mist. Then they would +suddenly change into every variety of color, and reveal the existence of +massive columns of basaltic rock supporting the arch. Still the +distracting sounds were heard, but no order was given concerning the +ship, scarcely a word exchanged between the men. They felt that they +were drifting into some unknown sea, perhaps some place of enchantment, +where death was certain, and from whence nothing more would ever be +heard of them.</p> + +<p>Could this be the mermaid's retreat of which the old captain had spoken, +and of which the natives on Queen Charlotte's Island had such a strange +superstition? Tite thought to himself. All the pleasant associations of +home, all that he loved there, and all that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[Pg 209]</a></span> he had hoped for, now rose +up in his mind like a sweet and beautiful dream, only to be overshadowed +by the terrible thoughts this strange and gloomy place had impressed +upon him. There was no hope for him now; he felt that he should never +enjoy those scenes again. But what was that to the anguish of his poor +old parents, who would linger on week after week, month after month, and +year after year, wondering and waiting in vain for some news of him, and +dying of hope deferred.</p> + +<p>While he was thus musing a pale, aurora-like light broke in the +distance, directly ahead of the ship. Now it opened gently, now shut +again. Again it glimmered and gradually expanded until the whole cavern +became aglow with light, and presented a scene of such enchanting beauty +that all on board were spell-bound with admiration. Massive columns, +grand and impressive, rose on every side to the very roof, and reflected +all the colors of the rainbow. And through them the gallant old ship +continued to sail, like a phantom.</p> + +<p>This bright, bewitching scene continued for about fifteen minutes, when +the light gradually died away, and all became dark and solemn. Then +deep, plunging sounds of falling water indicated with startling effect +that the ship was approaching a mighty cataract, down which she must +soon plunge to her destruction. These sounds, made more terrible by the +darkness, were like death-knells, calling the men to prepare to meet +their doom.</p> + +<p>And while all on board were contemplating these sounds, the ship +suddenly careened a-starboard, a harsh, grating noise was heard +overhead, and quantities of broken crystallites began falling on deck. +This was followed by a crashing sound, and the ship righted.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[Pg 210]</a></span> The +topmasts had fouled, and one after another were carried away and now +hung, a dangerous wreck. Then her gib-boom came in contact with one of +the columns, and met the same fate. The ship now swung round and struck +with a violent shock on a sunken rock, and almost simultaneously her +mainmast went by the board, she began to fill and settle down, and soon +became a forlorn wreck. A short consultation was held between the +officers and men as to what was best to be done. There was, however, no +alternative but to take to the boats, and make the best effort possible +to save life. There was no time to lose. Five boats were quickly +launched, and manned, and supplied with such provisions and water as +could be procured in the hurry of the moment. An officer took command of +each boat, and Tite managed to secure six of the best oarsmen on board. +There was no excitement, no disorder. Everything was done with as much +order and regularity as if nothing had occurred to interrupt discipline.</p> + +<p>And now when the five boats were ready, and the order given to "pull +away," each man seemed to pause and take a last fond look at the old +ship, as if a lingering affection caused him to part from her with +reluctance. And as they stood taking this last look, the light again +broke forth, giving to the strange scene a weird and bewildering effect.</p> + +<p>The boats now pulled away, Tite's boat taking the lead. They had agreed +to keep together as much as possible, (and to that end made signals at +short intervals,) gain the ocean and seek relief along the shore. +Darkness soon shut in again, however, and the noises were so bewildering +that the signals from the boats could not be understood, and they +separated never to meet again.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[Pg 211]</a></span></p> + +<p>We must now follow the fortunes of the boat commanded by Tite. He had +been fortunate enough to secure a compass, which, though it did him +little good while in the cave, would be of great assistance to him +outside. The question as to how the entrance of the cave bore, and the +surest way of gaining it, was of most importance now. Tite estimated +that they were at least ten miles from it, and that by steering directly +against the current, they could not fail to make it. After pulling +steadily for four hours, stopping only once to refresh themselves, they +came in sight of the entrance, and saw daylight beyond. A feeling of joy +now came over the men, and three hearty cheers were given that echoed +curiously through the arches overhead. Still there was another and +serious obstacle to contend with. A boar, or tidal wave, had made at the +entrance, and was rushing in with a roaring noise and such force that +the boat could not have stemmed it for a minute. It was therefore, +necessary to seek safety behind some high rocks on one side of the +entrance, and wait a change in the tide. After waiting in this position +for nearly an hour they again put out, and headed for the entrance. A +rapid current was still setting in, and the men had to pull with all +their strength to stem it and gain the ocean.</p> + +<p>When they had gained the ocean they felt as if they had been suddenly +transferred to another world. After waiting several hours, and none of +the other boats making their appearance, Tite headed his boat west and +stood down the coast, close in shore, in the hope of finding a safe +landing place, perhaps a friendly settlement. An almost perpendicular +bluff of rocks, more than two hundred feet high, forming a walled coast, +such as is seen in the Bay of Fundy, and at the foot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[Pg 212]</a></span> of which the sea +dashed and broke, rendering it impossible to make a landing, extended as +far as the eye could reach. Along this frowning coast the boat swept +until nightfall; but not a human being was seen, nor a place where they +could land safely discovered.</p> + +<p>Three days and three nights they coasted along this bold sea-wall, and +now their provisions and water had given out, and such was their +suffering from thirst, hunger, and cold, that two of the crew died from +sheer exhaustion. Indeed, it was only extraordinary exertion on the part +of Tite, and his manner of encouraging the others, that kept them from +giving up in despair. Early on the morning of the fourth day an +indentation in the land was discovered, sloping into a quiet little +valley, a place of welcome to the weary, through which a stream of water +winded down into the sea. Each heart now beat high with joy. Deliverance +had come at last. The boat's head was directed toward the beach, but the +wind had freshened, and a heavy surf was beating on shore, and unless +the boat was skilfully handled there was great danger of swamping. Still +the boat was kept on, and in less than half an hour from the time the +beach was discovered the boat was plunging through the breakers.</p> + +<p>On entering the surf an immense roller overtook the boat, lifted her +high up on its crest, and, owing to some unskilful management, she was +capsized. The crew were tossed into the boiling surf, and left to +struggle with the receding waves for their lives. Tite's first thought +was to secure the boat, and seizing hold of the line he made a desperate +effort to gain the beach, and was successful, as were two of the men. +The others were too weak to make much of a resistance, and were carried +away by the undercurrent, and nothing more was seen of them.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[Pg 213]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVII" id="CHAPTER_XXVII"></a>CHAPTER XXVII.</h2> + +<h3>OLD DUNMAN AND THE PIRATE'S TREASURE.</h3> + + +<p>With only the drenched clothes they stood in, no means of lighting a +fire, and death from starvation staring them in the face, these three +shipwrecked men stood upon the beach of this strange island, still +hoping and wondering what was to be the next change in their condition. +Was the island inhabited? By whom? What was the character of the +natives, and what sort of reception would they meet when found? These +were the questions which engaged their thoughts as they stood on that +lonely beach, hoping against hope, and every minute fancying some +friendly sail heaving in sight to relieve them from their perilous +position. After the darkest night comes the brightest day. This was ever +uppermost in Tite's mind, and he endeavored to impress its teachings on +the minds of his companions, who were fast yielding to their fears, and +would have given up in despair had not his stronger resolution +encouraged them still to hope for deliverance.</p> + +<p>There was an abundance of small shell-fish along the coast, and on these +they subsisted. It was agreed to remain near the boat during the day, as +a precaution against an attack from the natives, who might have seen +them approach the coast, and perhaps be watching their movements near +by. But the day passed and not a human being was seen. At nightfall a +couple of goats and a pig, and some fowl that appeared to be keeping +them company, emerged from a thicket on a hillside,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[Pg 214]</a></span> descended into a +valley or ravine, and drank in the brook. The sight of these animals +filled the hearts of the shipwrecked men with joy. It was to them a +proof of civilization. New hopes, new joys, new strength came with the +sight of these animals; and they advanced cautiously toward them. But +the animals were shy, and scampered away up the hill at the first sight +of the strangers.</p> + +<p>There was a high hill near by, and, encouraged by the sight of these +animals, Tite started off just at dusk to ascend it and survey the +surrounding country, leaving his comrades on the beach to guard the +boat. It was quite dark when Tite reached the top, but the stars were +out, and the atmosphere was clear. Not a habitation was to be seen, +nothing but a wild, unbroken forest as far as the eye could reach. He +watched there for an hour or more, his eyes quickened by anxiety, and +his mind becoming more and more excited, until his fancy pictured in +every shadow some moving object. Then, as his eye traced along down the +deep ravine, he discovered, or rather thought he discovered, a pale +wreath of smoke curling lazily upward, not more than a mile from where +his comrades lay. What at first seemed only a fancy, now became a +reality, for the smoke increased in volume, and indicated with certainty +a habitation of some kind.</p> + +<p>Descending the hill as quickly as he could, he found the two men fast +asleep, overcome with fatigue and excitement, and it was with great +difficulty that he could awake them. When, however, he told them what he +had discovered, their hearts filled with joy, and they sprang to their +feet ready to follow him. Still they entertained a lurking fear that the +smoke might mark the bivouac of some savages who had watched their<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[Pg 215]</a></span> +movements during the day, and lighted this fire to cook the evening +meal.</p> + +<p>They followed the stream about two miles up the ravine, picking their +way over rocks and through a thick wood, until they came to a little +gurgling brook, cutting its way through a deep dell running at right +angles with the ravine. Here they rested for a short time, and carefully +surveyed the scene, excited by strange thoughts. A light suddenly +flashed from the opposite bank, not more than forty yards ahead. This +evidently marked the object of their search. Then those familiar sounds +made by goats, fowls, and pigs were heard. Crossing the dell they +advanced cautiously in the direction of the light. They had not gone +far, however, when an opening in the woods was discovered, in the centre +of which a small, rude cabin, built of stones and mud, stood. A bright +fire was burning inside, smoke was issuing from the rude chimney, and +the light shining through two square openings in the sides, was +reflecting curiously over the scene outside.</p> + +<p>Again the three men halted, and stood viewing the scene in silence, now +hoping, now fearing, now wondering what sort of beings inhabited this +strange place. Still the domestic animals kept up those noises, so +familiar to Tite's ear when at home. And these were broken at intervals +by what seemed the barking of a wolf. Now a strange and shadowy figure +passed and repassed in the cabin, its uncouth form reflecting every few +seconds in the light. Should they advance, enter the cabin, and see who +this strange being was, or return to the beach and wait until morning? +This was the question which occupied their thoughts now. Impelled as +well, perhaps, by anxiety as necessity, Tite resolved to push on to the +very door. Leaving the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[Pg 216]</a></span> men with orders to follow him at a short +distance, he proceeded on cautiously until he reached the edge of the +opening in which the cabin stood.</p> + +<p>He was now within a few paces of the door, when the fowls, which seemed +to abound in the vicinity, discovering him, sounded the alarm. The cabin +door now opened, and there stood, in the shadow of the light, the figure +of an old man bent with age, and dressed in the skin of a wolf, the long +fur of which gave him more the appearance of an animal than a human +being. His face was like colored parchment, his mouth and cheeks +wrinkled and sunken, his eyes small, black and bright, his long, white +hair and flowing beard, his bony hands, which he raised every few +moments and held over his long white eyelashes, as a shield to his +sight, gave him a strange and witch-like appearance.</p> + +<p>There the two men, the figure in the door and Tite, stood for several +minutes gazing in silence, but with a look of astonishment, at each +other. The animals and fowls had gathered in a group about the old man, +alarmed at the sight of a stranger. At length a thin, shrill voice broke +the silence by enquiring: "Who is it that comes here to disturb my +peace?"</p> + +<p>"We are friends," replied Tite, "shipwrecked sailors, in search of +shelter and food."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 413px;"> +<img src="images/toodle216.jpg" width="413" height="279" alt="The cabin door now opened, and there stood, in the shadow +of the light, the figure of an old man bent with age, and dressed in the +skin of a wolf. Page 216." title="" /> +<span class="caption">The cabin door now opened, and there stood, in the shadow +of the light, the figure of an old man bent with age, and dressed in the +skin of a wolf. <a href="#Page_216">Page 216</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_217" id="Page_217">[Pg 217]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Heaven pity you, and forgive me," returned the old man, his eyes +beaming brighter and his whole manner becoming more earnest. "Heaven +forgive me, you shall have both, and be welcome in my palace. Heaven +forgive me, for this is my palace and I am king of this island. Come in, +and such as I have you shall share with me." And he advanced, took Tite +by the hand, and led him into his cabin, the two men following. +Spreading seal and wolf skins on the floor, he bid them be seated, while +he prepared food for their supper. His motion was a shuffle rather than +a walk, and he moved about the cabin more like an animal than a human +being. He seemed to have an abundant supply of dried fish, fowl, and +fruit; of vegetables and roots, from which he made a beverage that +filled the place of coffee. And with these and some goat's milk he soon +set before them a supper, saying as he invited them to partake, "Heaven +forgive me for all my sins, and they are many. Your are countrymen of my +own, and speak the same language. Ah, I had almost forgotten it, as the +world has forgotten me. Now it all comes back, and makes me feel happy. +I am old, very old now. Heaven forgive me. There will be no more of poor +old George Dunman soon. When he dies he will die with great sins on his +head. If sin can be washed out with sorrow, Heaven knows I have had +sorrow enough." He advanced towards Tite, and laying his hand gently on +his shoulder, looked earnestly and intently into his face: "you are +young, very young," he said, "crime has made no wrinkles in your face +yet. Mine is full of age and crime, and a heart filled with remorse, +have burned their deep seals into mine. Look you, young man," and he +pointed to his eyes, "these eyes were not made to weep. But this poor +heart of mine is crushed with its crimes." Here he pressed his right +hand to his heart, and raised his eyes upwards, as if imploring Heaven's +forgiveness in silence.</p> + +<p>This continued invoking Heaven's forgiveness excited Tite's curiosity to +know something of the old man's strange and wonderful history, for he +already began to feel that there was a terrible crime at the bottom of +it. When they had partaken of supper and were all seated around the fire +on their skins, and nothing but the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_218" id="Page_218">[Pg 218]</a></span> music of the brook was heard +outside, the old man requested Tite to give him an account of his +voyage, together with the place and manner of their shipwreck. Tite was +glad to comply with the old man's request, for it afforded him an +excellent excuse for making a similar one.</p> + +<p>The reader has already been made familiar with Tite's unfortunate +voyage, hence it will not be necessary to repeat it. The recital +interested the old man deeply, and when he had reached that part which +described their troubles in the cave, the old man's eyes sparkled, and +his whole nature seemed to warm into enthusiasm.</p> + +<p>"There's where my ship lays, guns and all," he said, pressing his hands +on his knees. "My men used to call this island 'No Man's Island,' and +they named that place 'The Cave of Enchantment.' Then they named it +after me. The natives on an island ten leagues from this have a queer +superstition concerning it. They call it the devil's last resting place, +and assert that it is peopled by mermaids, who get honest navigators +into it, and then destroy them. My ship lays there, guns and all," he +repeated.</p> + +<p>When Tite had finished his story, the old man began his by saying: +"Heaven forgive me, for I am a great sinner, and have much to answer for +in the next world. I was born in Bristol, England. My father was a +clergyman of the established church. I have no remembrance of my mother, +for she died when I was an infant. When I was fifteen years old I was +sent to sea as a means of bettering my morals. I served first on board +an Indiaman, made two voyages to China, and was wrecked on the coast of +Malabar; and when I got home my father or friends procured me the +position of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_219" id="Page_219">[Pg 219]</a></span> midshipman on board a man-of-war. I served on board the +frigate Winchester, and other of His Majesty's ships, I did, for fifteen +years, and was only a midshipman at the end. Heaven forgive me for my +sins. It seemed there was no promotion for me. I was then transferred to +His Majesty's packet service, and assigned to the brig Storm, carrying +six guns, and the mails between Plymouth and the North American +provinces. She was a beauty of a craft, that Storm was. She used to +carry a crowd of canvas, and jump the seas like a sea-bird. I was four +years first officer of that craft, was proud of what she could do, and +the devil took advantage of my ambition, and created within me a longing +to be in command of her, and make myself heroic by roaming unrestrained +on the free sea. That feeling kept increasing until it become a passion +with me. Then it was my misfortune to fall in love. Yes, love was a +misfortune to me. I had courted and was engaged to the daughter of a +rich old man who had made all his money in the West Indies, and still +had plantations there.</p> + +<p>"We were to be married on my return, after a voyage to North America. +But I returned to find her married to a young officer who had sailed +companion with me on board man-a-war, and who had professed great +friendship for me only to deceive me. He had professed to be my friend +and confident; and it was this that carried the knife of disappointment +to my very heart. I was denied an interview with the woman I had loved, +even worshipped. The man who had professed to be my friend now turned +his back on me, and denied me even an explanation." All the fire there +was left in the old man now seemed to kindle into a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_220" id="Page_220">[Pg 220]</a></span> blaze, and the +fiercer elements of his nature took possession of him.</p> + +<p>"To make the matter worse," he continued, "our good, kind, and brave +captain was relieved, transferred back to the navy, and this man, who +had outraged my confidence and made my life wretched, appointed to fill +his place. I resolved to be revenged. But how could it be got? How could +I punish the man who had so wronged me without rebelling against my +country, against God's laws, and against society? The devil told me it +could be done.</p> + +<p>"As it was not a question of conscience with me, in the frame of mind I +was then in, there was no trouble in following the devil's advice. I +conceived a plan for sending this captain out of the world by the +shortest road, seizing the ship, and roving unrestrained upon the free +sea. It was soon found that there was enough on board to join the +enterprise and share the spoils, and the plan was carried out when we +were half voyage over. That was fifty years ago. I shall never forget +the terrible struggle of that night, nor the bloody work that was done. +Heaven forgive me. When I had got command I ran the Storm into the +Caribbean Sea, landed all who were suspected, as well as such as more +openly opposed the enterprise, on an island, and then put away for the +Pacific via Cape Horn. When we got into the Pacific, we hoisted—." The +old man paused suddenly and hung down, his head. "Heaven forgive me for +my crimes," he resumed, evidently in doubt about acknowledging the full +force of his crimes.</p> + +<p>"I may as well tell you it all—shake the load free from my conscience, +and ask you to join me in invoking Heaven's forgiveness. We hoisted the +flag that sees an enemy in every other flag, and for three years the +Storm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_221" id="Page_221">[Pg 221]</a></span> scourged these seas from Cape Horn to Sands' Head. When ships, +sent in pursuit of us, were searching along the west coast, we were +making war on commerce on the coast of China. We had a name for every +sea we entered, so as to make our pursuers think there was more than one +vessel, and so divide their attention.</p> + +<p>"Yes, for three years we scourged these seas, and made war on land as +well as sea—capturing, plundering, murdering—yes, committing crimes +that shame manhood, and make me fear the vengeance of a just God. And +all for gold, gold, gold. And what good can gold do a man with a +conscience haunted by crimes committed in getting it? Gold can do me no +good; but man is a mean animal at best; and you can so teach him in +crime that he will commit the most revolting out of sheer wantonness.</p> + +<p>"We soon had more gold and jewels than we knew what to do with. Some of +our men left us and went home with enough to make them rich for the rest +of their lives. And we have buried enough on these islands to buy a +city. Gold lost its charms with us, and crime became an excitement and +an entertainment.</p> + +<p>"We discovered this island while cruising from one ocean to the other, +and found on it some sailors, whose vessel had been wrecked near where +you landed. They had been seven years here, and it is to them we are +indebted for these animals and fowls. They lived contented, for they had +given up all hope of getting away, and are all dead now. We made this +place a retreat, had a settlement here, after the wreck of the Storm in +the cave, of forty men. They are all dead but me. I have been here forty +years—nine of them passed alone;<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_222" id="Page_222">[Pg 222]</a></span> and now my time has almost come. I +took the name of George Dunman because I had disgraced that of my +parents, and because I am an outlaw, and I want to die here and be +forgotten."</p> + +<p>It was after midnight when the old man finished his story. His manner +became nervous and restless, and it was evident there was something more +he wanted to disclose, but hesitated to do.</p> + +<p>The strangers accepted the old man's invitation, and took up their abode +under his roof, finding plenty of food and kind treatment. But they soon +became weary of so monotonous a life, and longing for some means of +reaching their homes and civilization, would visit the coast nearly +every day, in the hope of seeing some friendly sail and effecting their +deliverance. This anxiety to get away on the part of his new friends so +preyed on the old man's mind that his strength began to fail fast, and +at the end of two months it became evident that his sands of life had +but a few more days to run.</p> + +<p>Two months passed, and the weather was becoming cold. The old man was up +earlier than usual one morning; still he seemed more feeble. He tottered +about the cabin, his frame shook and trembled, and his whole system +seemed to be under some new excitement. He had formed a strong +attachment for Tite, whom he now approached with his hands extended. +"Like you," he said, grasping his hand firmly and looking up imploringly +into his face, "I was young and handsome once. I am old and ugly now. +Crime has written its ugly finger all over my face; has thrust its +poison into this poor heart of mine. Never let it lay one ugly finger on +your face. Make yours a life of joy, so that you may die happy. Oh, +these<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_223" id="Page_223">[Pg 223]</a></span> poor old gray hairs of mine, this head that has sinned so much." +And he raised his hard, bony hand to his head, and tossed the long white +hair back over his shoulders.</p> + +<p>"Come with me, come with me, young man," he resumed, grasping Tite by +the arm nervously and tottering to the door. When they got outside he +whispered in his ear: "You shall see where it is buried before I die. It +has made my life wretched; it may make yours happy." He paused for a few +seconds, and looking back, saw the two men standing watch at the door. +"Come," said he, beckoning to them, "you may as well come, too."</p> + +<p>The men joined them, and when they had reached a spot about twenty rods +from the cabin, they came to a square pile of stones, in a dark wood on +the side of a hill. The old man sat down, and resting his arms on the +stones, continued: "Here, buried three feet below these stones, is gold +and silver enough to make you all rich for life, and perhaps happy. +Churches, convents, ships, and even life itself have contributed to it. +All I now seek is peace in Heaven; and yet I cannot get that with this +gold, for it is the price of crime and death. Take it, take it; and when +my life of sorrow is ended, and these poor old bones shall move no more, +divide it among yourselves; and if Heaven sends you a deliverance from +this lonely island, so live that it may bring you blessings, not curses, +as it has done me."</p> + +<p>Three days after what I have described in the above paragraph took +place, Tite and the two sailors returned from the coast and were alarmed +to find the cabin deserted. They waited for a short time, and then +searched the woods in the vicinity, but could find<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_224" id="Page_224">[Pg 224]</a></span> nothing of the old +man. The compasses were there, and his nautical instruments were still +hanging on the wall, and the fire was nearly burned out. It had been his +custom to have supper ready punctually when they returned. There was now +a strange and mysterious stillness about the place. Even the fowls and +the animals seemed silent.</p> + +<p>On proceeding to the spot where the treasure was buried, they found the +lifeless body of the old pirate. Old Dunman was dead, and lay there, +with two of his pet goats nestling at his side.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_225" id="Page_225">[Pg 225]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXVIII" id="CHAPTER_XXVIII"></a>CHAPTER XXVIII.</h2> + +<h3>MR. GUSHER SUSTAINS HIS CHARACTER.</h3> + + +<p>"Husband, dear; husband, dear," said Mrs. Chapman, for I must again +return to that lady, as she addressed her meek-looking little husband, +"how distressing it would be if Mr. Gusher should turn out not to be Mr. +Gusher. He is such a nice young gentleman, and so popular in society. If +he should turn out to be somebody else? He has been such a favorite at +our house, you know. I am sure I should never survive such a scandal as +that. I am sure it would kill me—at least I should faint; I feel as if +I should faint now!" "Pray don't faint, pay dear," interrupted Chapman, +submissively, as she handed him a letter she had received that day from +Mr. Romer. And as she did so, she got up and paced the room in a state +of great agitation.</p> + +<p>"Never faint, my dear," resumed Chapman, "until you know what you are +fainting for. There is nothing to be made by fainting or borrowing +trouble." This conversation took place in the parlor one evening about +three weeks after the ball. Chapman read and reread the letter, and then +remained silent for several minutes. "Very strange, if true, my dear. +But there may be a personal difficulty at the bottom of it, and the +young man has taken this method of damaging Mr. Gusher's character."</p> + +<p>Mr. Romer presented his compliments to Mrs. Chapman, and, seeing the +intimacy there was between her family and a person calling himself Philo +Gusher,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_226" id="Page_226">[Pg 226]</a></span> begged to inform her that the name of that individual was Louis +Pinto, a notorious and well-known impostor, who had fled from Havana, +where he had been several times imprisoned, to escape punishment for his +crimes.</p> + +<p>"Anything but that, my dear husband. I am sure my pride would never +survive it. And to happen just when society—yes, my dear, the very best +of your Bowling Green people were beginning to leave cards. Another ball +and we should have brought the best of them down."</p> + +<p>"Another ball, my dear?" returned Chapman, with a sigh. "A ball a year +ought to satisfy any respectable family." Chapman was indeed becoming +alarmed at his wife's extravagance and weakness for society. Her +worldliness he feared would bring him to grief ere long. The last ball +had entailed the expense of new carpets; and the young gentlemen had +quite taken possession of the house, which they held until after +daylight, and then went home in a very unsteady condition of the limbs. +To make the matter worse, Bowles had been very much demoralized ever +since, and now demanded another horse or his discharge. He had no +complaint to make either about his pay or livery; but to have it thrown +up to him every day, and by all the coachmen in the neighborhood, that +he was in the service of a one horse family, was more than his proud +spirit could bear.</p> + +<p>Chapman held that dancing was not the profession of a gentleman, and +that balls had done nothing for the great moral progress of the world. +In fine, his mind had been engaged for some time back on something more +serious; and he delighted his wife by telling her that he had been +working up a great scheme for freeing and vitalizing all mankind.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_227" id="Page_227">[Pg 227]</a></span></p> + +<p>The door bell rang, and in another minute Mr. Gusher, all serene and +elegant, was ushered into the lady's presence. Never was young gentleman +more exquisitely upholstered.</p> + +<p>The lady extended her hand and received him cordially, saying she had +been looking for him with unusual anxiety.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad you have come, Mr. Gusher," interposed Chapman. "My dear +wife is oppressed with a little matter I am sure you can relieve."</p> + +<p>Mr. Gusher turned and thanked them for the high compliment thus paid +him. "You shall ze as I shall be so grateful for dis 'onar. And your +daughter—she is well?"</p> + +<p>"Very well—she was speaking of you kindly to-day. Here is something +that reached me to-day, Mr. Gusher," she resumed, rising from her chair +and handing him the letter, with a dignity of manner quite uncommon to +her: "I am sure you will pardon me, sir, but it contains matter which, +as a friend of yours, I have taken the liberty to submit. I make it a +rule to stand by a friend, you know."</p> + +<p>Gusher took the letter and began reading it with an air of unconcern. +Then breaking out into a hearty laugh, he replied: "Zis grand rascal as +write dis let-tar is one par-tick-lar friend of mine—"</p> + +<p>"I am sure, sir," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, "he is an enemy of yours, and +no friend. That you can explain it all satisfactorily, I have no doubt."</p> + +<p>"Pardon, madam, pardon; this grand rascal I call him one friend. Ze +'onar, madam, he is so much dear to me as my life. Oh yes, you shall zee +as my 'onar and mine country is more dear to me zan my life. Zis grand +rascal, he is my friend be-cause he do me zis<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_228" id="Page_228">[Pg 228]</a></span> injury so many times, and +in ze end he do me so much good. You shall zee zar was a lady. Zat lady, +ze grand rascal as writes zis letter—it is so many years ago, as I +almost forget—pays to her his compliment. Pardon, madam, zat lady +prefar me to ze gentleman. Zen zat gentleman he pays to me his +compliment like one grand rascal. He persecute my 'onar, and he make me +so many friends—"</p> + +<p>"Really, Mr. Gusher," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, encouragingly, "then it +is all the result of jealousy? I had a suspicion that there was +something of the kind at the bottom of it."</p> + +<p>"You shall zee, madam, it was be-cause ze lady prefar me. Zen I give ze +grand rascal one pistol." Here Mr. Gusher flourished his right hand. +"You shall give me ze satisfaction as one gentleman he give to ze oser, +I say. I gives to ze grand rascal one small sword. I say I shall have ze +satisfaction one gentleman he will give to ze oser. No, madam, ze grand +rascal, he is one small coward. He will not give me ze satisfaction. I +shall show you as this grand rascal tells not one word of ze truth."</p> + +<p>"I told you, my dear," said Chapman, "that Mr. Gusher was a gentleman, +and would explain it all to your satisfaction."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman expressed herself highly gratified at what she had heard. +But in order to put the matter beyond question, and to prove to her +entire satisfaction that he was not only an innocent, but a much injured +gentleman, Gusher returned on the following day armed with a large +number of letters, some of them sealed with great seals, the writers +setting forth that they had known the young gentleman from his birth<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_229" id="Page_229">[Pg 229]</a></span> +up, that he was of irreproachable character, and his parents very +distinguished people.</p> + +<p>Of course the Chapmans were entirely satisfied. Indeed Mr. Gusher so +turned his guns on Mr. Romer as to make his position extremely +uncomfortable. Both were guests at the old City Hotel, where Gusher was +a great favorite with all the young ladies, and to whom he related his +difficulty with Romer. In short, he so enlisted their sympathies in his +behalf that they were ready to join him in ejecting Romer from the house +as a slanderer. One said what a mean thing he must be to slander the +handsome young foreigner in that way. A second tossed and turned her +head aside when she met him, and pouted her pretty lips to let him know +what she meant. A third refused to return his bow, while a fourth gave +him the cut direct. There was no standing up against such a storm of +female indignation as he now found blowing about his ears. He saw, also, +that to have attempted to sustain his charges with proof would only be +sheer folly. In short, there was nothing for the plain young outspoken +American to do but surrender the field to the handsome young foreigner +and his female admirers, seek respectful treatment beyond the sound of +their voices—and wait.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_230" id="Page_230">[Pg 230]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXIX" id="CHAPTER_XXIX"></a>CHAPTER XXIX.</h2> + +<h3>CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES.</h3> + + +<p>Oh, what a sweet charm there is in hope. How it beguiles the ambitious +lover, causes him to build castles he finds crushed at last under his +disappointments. How gently it lifts the drooping heart into an higher +realm of cheerfulness, still gilding and brightening the future. Day +after day and week after week it carries the timid, desponding soul over +its sea of trouble and disappointment, and pictures its love-dream in +colors more and more beautiful. How it ensnares us, and then betrays us +with its false visions of future bliss. It beguiles both you and me with +its featly spun tales of fame and riches, which it weaves so ingeniously +into its fascinating web.</p> + +<p>Such were the thoughts invading Mattie's mind as she sat at the parlor +window one morning, looking out over Bowling Green, contemplating the +strange influences by which she was surrounded, and wondering what the +future would bring her. There was something so earnest and yet so kindly +in that pale, expressive face, and those soft blue eyes.</p> + +<p>She had counted the days since Tite sailed. It was nearly three years +ago, and only one letter had been received from him. There was a report +in circulation now that the ship, with all on board, was lost. And +although this report could not be traced to any reliable source, it was +credited by the owners, who had heard nothing of the ship since she left +Coquimbo.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_231" id="Page_231">[Pg 231]</a></span></p> + +<p>The love Mattie bore Tite burned as brightly now as on the day when +first it was kindled. She had thought of him always, dreamed of him, +prayed for him, for she had the heart of a good and true woman. Yes, she +had followed Tite in her love-dream through all the strange depths of +that mysterious ocean. But the more she traced for him the more it +seemed to deepen her disappointment. Still hope flattered her lingering +love, cheered her, and brightened the star of her future. Hope came to +cheer the heart that had longed for relief so lovingly, that had begun +to yield to the stormy forebodings which hope deferred oppresses the +soul with.</p> + +<p>Notwithstanding all this, fear at times seemed to get the better of her +resolution. How she had watched and waited, and yet there was no tidings +of his coming.</p> + +<p>Was Tite lost? If so, how, and where was he lost? Must she give him up +as gone forever? Must she give him up, and see him, and hold sweet +communion with him, only in her love-dream, among the flowers fancy +pictures in the garden of our hopes? Must she forget the idol of her +love, transport her affections, yield to her mother's wishes, which were +daily becoming more pressing, and marry Mr. Gusher, a man she did not +even respect, much less love? In gratifying a mother's ambition she +might, perhaps, make her own life wretched. If Tite was lost, what was +to become of his aged parents, Hanz and Angeline? Their welfare seemed +to concern her even more deeply than that of her own parents. Hanz had +found means of communicating with her, had made her acquainted with all +his troubles, and now the day set for a hearing of his case was near at +hand.</p> + +<p>Mattie knew nothing really bad of Mr. Gusher. He had seemed to her one +of those uncertain characters who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_232" id="Page_232">[Pg 232]</a></span> float about on the surface of society +without having any fixed position in it, who have no legitimate +occupation, depend on chance for everything, and lead an artificial life +generally. Such men, it had seemed to her, were poor companions to sail +down the stormy sea of life with. In Tite she saw something real, good, +substantial; one of those young men who prosper and build up their own +fortunes and future, because they apply themselves steadily and +energetically to the legitimate pursuits of life.</p> + +<p>The door opened suddenly, and Mattie's reverie was interrupted by her +mother, whose portly figure quite filled the space, for, in truth, the +lady had enlarged her hip circumference with an unpardonable amount of +padding. Mrs. Chapman expected distinguished company that day, and had +arrayed herself in a tantalizing amount of finery. For the first time, +too, she had put her hair up in puffs, which was the fashion of the day +in Bowling Green. Indeed the lady flattered herself that there was +nothing in Bowling Green that could excel her in the magnificence of her +upholstery.</p> + +<p>"Expecting company to-day, very distinguished company, too," said Mrs. +Chapman, advancing and bowing her head oppressively, "and how very +annoying not to be dressed as one wants to be." After viewing herself in +the glass for several minutes, turning first one side and then the +other, viewing and reviewing her skirts, and training her puffs into +more exact platoon, she turned to Mattie, and resumed, "Now tell me, my +daughter, how do my skirts hang? Does my dress become me? Do puffs +become me? You see my face is a little broad—puffs will, I am afraid, +make it look disadvantageously broad. Tell me now, my daughter, am I +presentable?" Mrs. Chapman waited<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_233" id="Page_233">[Pg 233]</a></span> with an air of self-admiration for a +reply. "You have such good taste in such matters, my daughter;" she +concluded.</p> + +<p>"Why, mother," replied Mattie, smiling and viewing her mother from head +to foot, "how very worldly you are getting, and so vain. Never saw you +look better—and so young."</p> + +<p>"I appreciate the compliment, my daughter," returned Mrs. Chapman, +dropping a bow and a courtesy. "A woman of my complexion may be excused +for refusing to get old."</p> + +<p>"I was only joking," resumed Mattie, laughing heartily. "My dear mother +takes everything so serious—"</p> + +<p>"Come, come," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, her face coloring, "does my +dress become me? Am I presentable?"</p> + +<p>"You are elegance itself, my dear mother, and would be presentable +anywhere," returned Mattie, with a merry twinkle of the eye.</p> + +<p>"That's what I wanted to know," said Mrs. Chapman with a bow, and a +slight motion backward. "And now, my daughter," she resumed quickly, +"this is a good time for having a very serious talk on a very important, +but very different matter. What we were talking about yesterday, you +know. I hope you have made up your mind to banish Toodleburg." Mrs. +Chapman drew herself up into a stately attitude, and assumed a look of +uncommon severity. "You know how much your parents dote on you, my +daughter, and how much depends on you to give the family a firm +standing." The lady tossed her head haughtily and pretentiously. Mattie +remained silent and thoughtful.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_234" id="Page_234">[Pg 234]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Toodleburg's at the bottom of the sea—that's my opinion. And if he +stays there it wouldn't distress me—it wouldn't," resumed Mrs. Chapman, +giving way to her temper and becoming more earnest. Just then tears +gushed into Mattie's eyes, and as they coursed down her cheeks told the +tale of her sorrow.</p> + +<p>"What I said was intended for good advice, my daughter, not to wound +your feelings," continued Mrs. Chapman. "Even if the young man should +not be at the bottom of the sea, we should never be presentable with him +attached to the family—never in the world. Such a name, and such common +people for parents! What would Bowling Green say, my daughter? We must +all yield to the force of circumstances; and the circumstances are all +against this Mr. Toodleburg tumbling himself into our family." She +paused suddenly, and again viewed her ponderous figure in the glass, now +adjusting one side of her skirts and then the other. "I wonder if this +dress really does become me? Green and orange are in harmony with a +complexion like mine," she said, turning to Mattie, and waiting for a +reply. But Mattie was trying to relieve her feelings of the grief that +was filling her eyes with tears.</p> + +<p>"To return to what I was saying, my daughter, sentimental marriages, I +was going to say, (well, I will say it,) are fools' marriages. Yes, they +are. Your father understands that. Never would have got him—never in +this world—if I had been given to sentimental love. Toodleburg's a good +enough young man in his place—but he's never, never coming back, my +daughter. But even if he was to come back, there's no place for him in +our family. View these things, always do, through the eye of +philosophy—I do." Mrs. Chapman again<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_235" id="Page_235">[Pg 235]</a></span> paused, bowed her head +admonishingly, and extended her fat, waxy hands. Mattie still remained +silent.</p> + +<p>"After all the polishing you have had, my daughter, to let your mind run +to such an unpolished young man. Drag a family down when a family is +going up, and there's the end of that family—with society I mean." Mrs. +Chapman tossed her head, and again returned to the mirror, saying as she +viewed herself in it: "Drag a low bred fellow into a well bred family, I +repeat, and down that family goes."</p> + +<p>"Well, well, my dear mother shall have it all her own way," replied +Mattie, cheering up and assuming an air of indifference. "Anything to +relieve your anxiety, my dear mother. How nice it would be to have a +husband you admire so much, and to think that I obeyed your wishes in +everything. The fact is I had a very serious talk with Mr. Gusher +yesterday—"</p> + +<p>"You didn't offend him with your eccentricities, I hope?" Mrs. Chapman +interrupted, enquiringly. "Mr. Gusher is such a polished gentleman, and +so very sensitive."</p> + +<p>"I don't know how sensitive he may be, mother; but I told him just +exactly what I thought, as I would have told any one else. I told him +how much you admired him, and what a favorite he was generally; and that +if I consented to accept him for a husband, it would be solely to +accommodate my dear mother—"</p> + +<p>"How very obstinate my daughter is," interposed Mrs. Chapman. "How very +distressing to have a daughter always in rebellion."</p> + +<p>"I am sure you would not have me flatter Mr. Gusher with a falsehood, +mother," resumed Mattie. "I tried to impress him with the fact that I +was not good enough for so accomplished a gentleman; but he insisted +that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_236" id="Page_236">[Pg 236]</a></span> I was, adding that he cared nothing for riches or station. As for +loving him, I told him plainly I didn't think I ever could, though there +was no knowing what changes time might work in my feelings. I gave him +my hand, nevertheless, and told him if he took me it must be with the +consequences."</p> + +<p>Mr. Napoleon Bowles announced visitors, and this put an end to the +conversation. The reader must know that this was not a voluntary +yielding on the part of Mattie to the wishes of her mother. She only +adopted this course as part of a plan by which she hoped to gain time, +during which Tite might return, and thus afford her the means of +averting a dilemma into which her mother was forcing her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_237" id="Page_237">[Pg 237]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXX" id="CHAPTER_XXX"></a>CHAPTER XXX.</h2> + +<h3>A TERRIBLE CALAMITY OVERTAKES THE FAMILY.</h3> + + +<p>It was not to be expected that so pushing a woman as Mrs. Chapman would +be turned from the object she had set her heart on by the interposition +of ordinary obstacles. She had taken good care to have the engagement +pretty well trumpeted over Bowling Green; and in less than three months +from the time what is described in the foregoing chapter occurred, the +lady had a day fixed for the wedding ceremony, which, she declared +should be on such a scale of magnificence as would astonish all New +York, to say nothing of West Bowling Green. And now she was distracting +her wits, and the wits of her friends, over what she called the +preliminaries extraordinary. Weddings, the lady said, must be +illuminated according to the position of the family. And to that end an +additional amount of elegant furniture was got for the house, a new +carriage was ordered, and Mr. Napoleon Bowles was to appear in a new +livery, with top boots. Nor was the family finery to be neglected, for +at least a dozen dressmakers had been employed for a month plying their +needles. In short, this great coming event in the history of the Chapman +family had afforded Bowling Green enough to talk about for a month.</p> + +<p>The lady's meek looking little husband pleaded in vain for economy; +suggested in vain his almost empty pocket. "A quiet family wedding, my +dear, with a few honest-hearted friends invited, will be so much better, +you know;" he would say, submissively. "You<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_238" id="Page_238">[Pg 238]</a></span> know what nice quiet +weddings we used to have at Dogtown, and how cheap they were."</p> + +<p>"Don't mention Dogtown, my dear; pray don't, my darling," the lady would +reply, a curl of contempt on her lips. "We live in New York, now. I wish +we had never known Dogtown—only common people marry in that way in New +York. Never bring Dogtown into the house again, my darling."</p> + +<p>"Have it all your own way, my dear," Chapman would conclude, knowing +there was nothing for him to do but surrender submissively.</p> + +<p>St. Paul's Church was to be decorated with flowers, for the young people +were to be married there, surrounded by gay and admiring friends, who +were to make the picture bright and sunny with their smiles and +congratulations. And there was to be a grand reception and a sumptuous +supper at the house; and the happiness of bride and bridegroom was to be +drunk in sparkling wine; and music and dancing was to animate the soul +and add charms to their joy-dream.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman, I may add here, had a great weakness for distinctions. She +had cards printed in gold, in blue, and in red. Such as received cards +printed in gold were to consider themselves particularly honored. In +short, she divided her guests into three classes—select friends, +friends, and acquaintances, and sent them cards accordingly. This manner +of distinguishing between guests got the lady into a deal of trouble, +and gave rise to much ill-feeling between those who held cards printed +in gold and those holding ordinary red ones. Beau Pinks had been honored +with a card printed in gold, which he said was a proof of the high +esteem he was held in by the lady. In truth, the Beau took great pride +in showing this card to the best Bowling<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_239" id="Page_239">[Pg 239]</a></span> Green society, and, with a +suggestive nod of the head, saying he had got his best clothes ready, +and was waiting to put in an appearance. Mrs. Chapman had always +regarded Pinks as a valuable capture, and if he came to the wedding, +why, that would in part be gaining the advantage she desired, and in a +measure pay off the old score she had against a few of these nice old +Bowling Green people.</p> + +<p>It must be said to Pinks' credit that he never declined an invitation to +a wedding, and rarely missed a chance to mourn at a friend's funeral.</p> + +<p>And while Mrs. Chapman seemed to think of nothing else, and talk of +nothing else but this great coming event, Chapman had been noticed to +wear a more serious look than usual, and indeed to be in a more +thoughtful mood. Indeed it was evident there was something on his mind +causing him deep anxiety, even distress. It was noticed, too, that he +had for several days gone to business earlier than usual and returned +later. And when Mrs. Chapman requested an explanation, he would reply by +saying: "Matters at the counting-house require examining into, my dear." +In truth, the financial affairs of the great Kidd Discovery Company had +begun to exhibit those infirmities which are a sure sign of speedy +wreck.</p> + +<p>And now the day was come when Mattie was to be married to Mr. Gusher. It +was three years to-day since Tite bid her good-bye and sailed on his +voyage, and it was to be her wedding-day. How strange the changed scene +seemed to her.</p> + +<p>It was one of those soft and balmy mornings in May, when nature seems to +enchant us, and hold sweet communion with us through all her beauties. +There was not a ripple on the water; white sails dotted the calm<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_240" id="Page_240">[Pg 240]</a></span> +surface of the bay, which seemed like a silvery lake quietly sleeping in +the embrace of pretty green hills, softened by the golden gleams of the +rising sun. The trees were in blossom; birds were filling the air with +delicious melody, but not a leaf stirred.</p> + +<p>The Chapman family were up before the sun that morning, and the whole +house was astir ere Bowling Green had fairly waked up, or the din of +Broadway had broken the stillness. Chapman had spent a restless night, +and seemed sad and downcast, as if some trouble he would fain conceal +was weighing on his mind. He breakfasted alone that morning, and went to +business an hour earlier than usual, promising to return at one o'clock. +He returned, however, at twelve, and in such a state of distress as to +alarm the whole house. Indeed he entered the house more like a madman +than a philosopher, and so alarmed Bowles by the wildness of his manner +and appearance, that he proceeded in a state of great excitement to +inform his mistress. When, then, that lady entered the parlor she found +her husband stretched on the sofa, with his right hand pressing his +forehead, and apparently in a state of great distress. To her repeated +enquiries as to what produced this great distress, he would only answer +by shaking his head and giving vent to the most pitiful groans.</p> + +<p>The lady could not fail to see that some great misfortune had overtaken +her husband—something that might blast the dream of her golden future.</p> + +<p>"I hope, my dear, it is nothing that will interfere with the wedding +to-day?" she enquired, her face already beginning to give out signs of +alarm.</p> + +<p>Chapman made no reply, but got quickly up from the sofa and paced the +room hurriedly, his hair tossed in to disorder, and in a state of +frenzy.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_241" id="Page_241">[Pg 241]</a></span></p> + +<p>After pacing up and down the room in this manner for two or three +minutes, which seemed like hours to Mrs. Chapman, who had kept her eyes +fixed on his every movement, he approached the lady, and with a wild +stare, muttered rather than spoke: "A funeral, funeral, my dear—not a +wedding to-day." Chapman pressed his hands to his head again, and wept +like a child. "Boundless iniquity," he resumed, "fraud—deception—crime— +disgrace—folly—extravagance—disappointment—poverty. What a sham the +world is! All, all is gone! No need for a clergyman here to-day. The +sheriff will be here in an hour."</p> + +<p>"My dear, my dear, do explain yourself, so that I may understand our +position;" Mrs. Chapman interposed, her whole system yielding to the +force of excitement. "If the trouble is only of a transient nature, we +may still give the wedding—"</p> + +<p>"Wedding! my dear," interrupted Chapman, wiping the tears from his eyes. +"There can be no wedding in this house to-day, for Gusher has turned out +an impostor, and is in prison—." Before he had time to say any more, +the lady threw up her arms with an exclamation, shrieked and swooned. +Chapman attempted to catch her in his arms as she was falling, but she +carried him to the floor under her great weight, and indeed caused him +to feel alarmed for his own safety. Fortunately, Bowles entered the +parlor just as his mistress fell, and seeing the danger his master was +in, ran to his relief, and after extracting him from his perilous +position, assisted in getting his mistress safely on the sofa, where +restoratives, such as are common where ladies are given to such ills, +were applied.</p> + +<p>Chapman was indeed a man to be pitied. He had now more than his head and +hands full of trouble. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_242" id="Page_242">[Pg 242]</a></span> care it was now necessary to bestow on his +wife (for she was above all else in his mind) in a great measure +relieved him of the excitement caused by his great financial +misfortunes. When, then, Mattie entered the parlor and found him +comparatively calm, she fancied her mother had swooned from +over-exertion on her behalf. Taking a seat beside her mother, she kissed +and kissed her cheek, and proceeded to bestow upon her those attentions +her case demanded, and in so kind and gentle a manner as to show how +deep and true was the love she bore her.</p> + +<p>Chapman soon relieved Mattie's mind, by telling her all that had +happened. As he concluded she grasped his hand firmly and imprinted a +kiss on his cheek. "Heaven be thanked, father," she said, "it is a kind +Providence that directs all our destinies. I am free now. You are +free—free in your intentions—free in your conscience. I am happy +now—happy because I shall not have to interpose my oath against yours. +You shall know what I mean by that hereafter."</p> + +<p>While this was going on up stairs Bowles, his eyes protruding, and in a +state of great alarm, entered the kitchen, where Bridget, the cook, and +Kitty, the chambermaid were at work, and stammered out: "Der don't be no +weddin' in dis house to-day—peers to me—no how. Quid mortibus, +portendibus—my missus am most dead."</p> + +<p>"To the pots wid yeer latin, ye nager," said Bridget, seizing the tongs +and holding them threatingly over his head. "To the pots wid yeer latin, +ye nager. Spake so a dacent woman can understand what ye mane." To +appease Bridget's wrath and save his head, Bowles condescended to use +plain English in describing what had happened up stairs.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_243" id="Page_243">[Pg 243]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Much good may the faint do the big, auld woman," said Bridget, with an +air of indifference. "The divel takes a mighty good care of his own."</p> + +<p>"Quid—mortibus—portendibus," repeated Bowles, as Bridget ran to the +door with the tongs upraised, causing him to beat a hasty retreat.</p> + +<p>"Bad luck to such a nager!" exclaimed Bridget, as Bowles shut the door. +"Shure he thinks more about his latin and his livery an he do about his +priest."</p> + +<p>"Chapman, my dear Chapman, how crushing this all is," the lady +whispered, as she began to recover her consciousness. "I feel more dead +than alive—I do. Send Bowles out. Do what you can to soften the +disappointment. Tell those who come it was all owing to unforeseen +circumstances. Oh, my dear daughter," she put her arm around Mattie's +neck, drew her to her and kissed her, "how can we look Bowling Green in +the face after this? We never shall, and yet your father is a scholar +and a gentleman."</p> + +<p>Chapman's excitement began to return with his wife's recovery; indeed it +soon became her turn to soothe his troubled mind.</p> + +<p>"Gusher—the handsome young gentleman—is in prison, eh, and turns out +to be—"</p> + +<p>"My dear wife," interrupted Chapman, again giving way to his feelings, +"he turns out to be Louis Pinto, an impostor. That's the whole of +it—except what there may be in this paper." He drew a newspaper from +his pocket, and pointing to an article headed: "A Notorious Impostor +caught at Last," said: "There, my dear, read that." It gave a very long +account, or rather history of the prisoner's exploits in Havana and New +Orleans, his operations in New York, financially as well as socially, +and indeed all the circumstances<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_244" id="Page_244">[Pg 244]</a></span> attending his career since he arrived +in the city, his connection with the great Kidd Discovery Company, and +not forgetting to mention that he was to have been married this day to a +lovely and interesting young lady—the daughter of a highly respectable +family.</p> + +<p>"Have read enough, my dear," said Mrs. Chapman, putting the paper aside +quietly. "Smelling salts, the ammonia, my daughter," she whispered to +Mattie, and motioned her hand to bring them quickly. "I shall faint +again, I am sure I shall."</p> + +<p>"Don't let it worry you so much, mother," replied Mattie, as she handed +her the phial. "We ought all to be thankful that we have escaped with no +worse disgrace. I at least am thankful."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman shook her head, but made no reply for several minutes. Then +turning to her husband, she pressed her hands to her head and resumed: +"My pride is crushed, and my courage all gone, gone, gone. Bigelow +Chapman, my dear, when I married you I knew you were intellectually +great, and I looked forward to a brilliant future. The house is all dark +now."</p> + +<p>"Extravagance, my dear, extravagance," said Chapman, shaking his head +suggestively. "It is a master that will break down the best of us." +Topman and Mrs. Topman have been indulging in extravagance; Gusher has +been spending all the money he could get, and all the young men in the +office went to doing the same. "And you, my darling—you know you havn't +lived—." Chapman was going to say, "so economical."</p> + +<p>"But, my dear," rejoined Mrs. Chapman quickly, and evidently inclined to +change the conversation: "It was not me who introduced the handsome +young gentleman into the house."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_245" id="Page_245">[Pg 245]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No, my dear—you only encouraged him when he was in," replied Chapman, +submissively. "I didn't tell you all, my dear, Topman is a forger, and +is not to be found. And, and the worst of it is—and that is what has +caused all the trouble—the great Kidd Discovery Company is dead! That's +where it is!"</p> + +<p>"Dead, my dear, dead!" reiterated the astonished woman. "We call it gone +up in Wall Street—"</p> + +<p>"Couldn't you contrive some way, my dear, to lighten the disgrace?"</p> + +<p>"Wall Street is in a state of excitement, the sheriff is in possession +of everything, and beggary stares me in the face—"</p> + +<p>This conversation was interrupted by loud ringing of the hall bell, and +in another minute Bowles opened the parlor door and the sheriff and one +of his deputies entered, and commenced their business. "Beg your +pardon," said the sheriff, bowing politely, while his deputy +deliberately took a seat and began a survey of everything within sight. +"You must excuse any lack of ceremony on our part. It is a part of our +duty to do these things, and we try to relieve them as much as possible +of their painful features." Then taking Chapman aside, he suggested that +the ladies better be got up stairs. And while this was being done the +deputy entered the back parlor, and placing his hat on the pier table, +began taking an inventory of all the furniture.</p> + +<p>"You will find my deputy a gentleman," said the sheriff, addressing +Chapman when the ladies had left the parlor, "and if not such a +companion as you would prefer, I am compelled to leave him with you, and +hope your esteem for him will improve on acquaintance. He will take a +schedule of everything, and anything missing thereafter you will be held +responsible for." Thus<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_246" id="Page_246">[Pg 246]</a></span> saying, the gentleman bid Chapman a polite good +morning, and hurried himself out of the house.</p> + +<p>Again the hall bell rang. This time Bowles brought in an unsealed note, +grimy and discolored. Chapman immediately recognized it as from Gusher. +He carried it up stairs to his dear wife, who read it aloud, for it was +addressed to her, and read thus:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Pardon, madam, pardon. Zis one circumstance, he is so very +disagreeable. My compliment to ze family, an Mr. Gusher, he beg +to say as he shall be compel to forego ze pleasure of is +marriage zis day wiz your daughter. He is one grand rascal what +make me so much trouble. So many friend come to see me to-day. +But ze suberscribed condition of my accommodation shall prevent +ze carry out of my obligation wiz your lovely daughter. You +shall zee, madam, as I am a man—yes, madam, a gentleman of +'onar. I shall get all my enemies undar my feet. Zen I shall do +myself ze 'onar to marry your lovely daughter. Allow me, madam. +I shall subscribe myself your friend.</p> + +<p>"PHILO GUSHER."</p></div> + +<p>"Impudence to the very last," said Mrs. Chapman; "he has brought this +disgrace upon us, and now insults us in this way." When Chapman returned +he found the parlor doors locked, and was informed by the sheriff's +deputy that he must confine himself to the kitchen and one room up +stairs.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_247" id="Page_247">[Pg 247]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXI" id="CHAPTER_XXXI"></a>CHAPTER XXXI.</h2> + +<h3>A VERY PERPLEXING SITUATION.</h3> + + +<p>Wall Street was in a great flutter that day. A forgery, a defalcation +that to-day would cause but a ripple on the surface, would have at that +day sent the street into a tempest of excitement. A sheriff's deputy +stood at the door of the office of the great Kidd Discovery Company, and +a crowd of anxious and excited people, who had invested their money and +now found they had lost it all, and had been made the victims of an +aggravating fraud, surrounded the building. Threats and imprecations, +enough to have sent a much more respectable house to the bottom of the +sea, were heaped on the firm of Topman & Gusher. Nor indeed would it +have been safe for any one connected with that enterprising firm to have +shown his head in that assembly just at that time.</p> + +<p>"Gentlemen will understand that this consolidated establishment is in a +very unconsolidated condition. No further business will be done until +its affairs are compromised;" the sheriff's deputy would announce, in a +loud voice, as he endeavored to keep the crowd back. "There's only an +empty safe, gentlemen, and some handsome office furniture," he would +ejaculate. "You can't have them, you know."</p> + +<p>Extravagance had indeed swallowed up all the substance and left only +these insignificant things for the crowd of anxious creditors to feast +their eyes on.</p> + +<p>Rumor after rumor rang through Wall Street, each in turn increasing the +amount of Topman's forgeries,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_248" id="Page_248">[Pg 248]</a></span> and adding new names to the list of his +victims. Bank ledgers were examined to see if the name of the firm +appeared on them, and portly old directors put on their spectacles and +congratulated themselves that the concern did not owe them a shilling. +Groups of excited men stood at street corners discussing in animated +tones the great event of the street. Everybody knew it must come. Nobody +expected it would come so soon.</p> + +<p>The strangest thing of all was that no one knew anything of the +antecedents of either member of the firm, or what the great Kidd +Discovery Company was really based upon. Enterprising gentlemen had +bought and sold the stock, and made and lost money by it. That was all +they knew of it. The morning papers had given them an interesting +account about Gusher; now some one was needed to tell them all about +Topman—where he came from, who he was, and where he was to be found. +There was enough to call him rascal now. Even those who had ridden in +his carriage, and enjoyed his dinners, and indeed thought him the best +of fellows a few weeks before, were now ready to give him the hardest of +kicks.</p> + +<p>In truth, the firm was a mystery in Wall Street, and its largest +creditors were in the greatest darkness concerning it. Some one has +truly said that in a great commercial city men are known only by their +enterprises and their successes; that their antecedents become lost in +the magnitude and rapidity with which events revolve. This is +particularly so with us. The firm of Topman & Gusher had fixed itself in +Pearl Street, and gone quietly into business without friends, +acquaintances, or endorsers; and in a single year had secured both +credit and respectability. And it had done this<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_249" id="Page_249">[Pg 249]</a></span> on what is too +frequently mistaken for energy and enterprise—show and pretension.</p> + +<p>Upon Chapman's shoulders, however, the crushing effect of this great +disaster fell heaviest. Stripped of all he had, ruined, disgraced, he +stood like one amazed at the suddenness of his own fall. He had built +his castles on sand, and now found them tumbling down, and crushing him +under the ruin. His avaricious nature had led him, not only to wrong, +but to bring distress and ruin on the unsuspecting and simple-minded +Dutch settlers. The wheel of fortune was turned now. He had himself been +ruined, betrayed, and disgraced by the very men he had put confidence in +and made partners of his guilt. He also had set a snare and invented a +plot by which he expected to strip honest old Hanz Toodleburg of his +property, and now he had been caught in it himself.</p> + +<p>His daughter, Mattie, had already disclosed to him the fact that she had +overheard the conversation between him and Topman, relative to the +manner of entrapping Hanz, and knew the secret of their plot. And she +had appealed to him to save her the pain of bearing testimony that would +conflict with his, to save an honest old man from poverty. The man of +great progressive ideas now found it necessary to invent some way of +escaping from what he saw would be worse than ruin and disgrace—a +criminal's doom. His name had not appeared in the suit Topman & Gusher +brought against Hanz Toodleburg. Oh, no. Chapman was needed as a witness +to prove the signing of the papers, and all the circumstances relating +to the sale of the secret of Kidd's treasure. Poverty and misfortune had +now stepped in to purify and direct a smitten conscience.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_250" id="Page_250">[Pg 250]</a></span></p> + +<p>He could not see his daughter further disgraced. Nor could he meet her +in a court, giving testimony in conflict with his, and exposing his +crime. He could only escape by coming out boldly, and doing justice to +the old man he had tried so hard to wrong. It would also be to his +advantage to assume this virtue, for if the case were decided against +Hanz he would gain nothing. The creditors would in that case get all the +property, whereas, if he confessed his partnership in, and exposed the +plot, and defeated the creditors, some benefit might result from it—at +some time. The son might still be alive, Chapman said to himself, and if +he should form a connection with the family at some future day, (and +there was no knowing what might happen,) why it was better to protect +Hanz and the property now. He well knew that Mattie had fixed her +affection on the young gentleman, and if he should ever return, nothing +her mother could say hereafter would prevent their marriage.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_251" id="Page_251">[Pg 251]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXII" id="CHAPTER_XXXII"></a>CHAPTER XXXII.</h2> + +<h3>HARVEST SUNDAY.</h3> + + +<p>October was come again, the poetry of summer had almost departed, and it +was a quiet Sunday morning in the country. The bell on the little old +church by the hillside, at Nyack, was calling the plodding Dutch +settlers to morning service. The hard, hollow sounds of the old bell +echoed harshly over the hills, and yet there was something in its +familiar sounds, and the quiet pastoral scenes it was associated with, +that always moved our feelings, and prompted us to give them a pleasant +resting place in our love.</p> + +<p>Cattle were resting in the fields, and their yokes hung on the gate +posts that day. A soft, Indian-summer glow hung with transparent effect +over the landscape; and a gentle wind whispered lovingly over the Tappan +Zee. Autumn, too, had hung the trees in her brightest colors.</p> + +<p>It was Harvest Sunday, a sort of festive resting-day with the Dutch +settlers, who had gathered about the little church in great numbers, +young and old, all dressed in their simple but neat attire. Others were +quietly wending their way thitherward, along the lanes and through the +fields. There they gathered about the little old church, a smiling, +happy, and contented people, and waited for the Dominie, for it was +their custom to meet him at the church door, and after exchanging +greetings, follow him like a loving flock into their seats.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_252" id="Page_252">[Pg 252]</a></span></p> + +<p>The Dominie was to preach his harvest sermon, and his flock was to join +him in giving thanks to God for the bounties He had bestowed upon them. +He had, indeed, blessed them with an abundant harvest that year; and now +they had come to thank Him and be joyful. Conspicuous in the group was +the little snuffy doctor, Critchel, looking happy among the people whose +ills he had administered to for half a century. On Harvest-Sunday he +could kiss and caress the bright faced little children he had helped +bring into the world as fondly as a young mother. There, too, was the +schoolmaster, with his ruddy face and his seedy clothes, ready to do his +part in making Harvest-Sunday pass pleasantly, for indeed the crop was a +matter of importance with him. And there was Titus Bright, for the merry +little inn-keeper would have considered such a gathering incomplete +without him. Titus was not so well thought of by the Dutch settlers +since he gave up his little tavern for a big one, and had taken to +boarding fine folks from the city.</p> + +<p>And now the appearance of Hanz and Angeline, advancing slowly up the +road, for Hanz walked with a staff, created a pleasant diversion. +Several of the young people ran to meet them, and greeted them with such +expressions of welcome as must have filled their hearts with joy.</p> + +<p>When they had nearly reached the church, Critchel proceeded to meet them +with his hand extended. "Verily, good neighbor Hanz," said he, after +greeting the old people with a hearty shake of the hand, "the people +have had strange news to talk about for a week past." Critchel shook his +head, looked serious, and taking Hanz by the arm, drew him aside. "This +Chapman has fallen to the ground, they say."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_253" id="Page_253">[Pg 253]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Mine friend Critchel," returned Hanz, leaning on his staff, and casting +a look upward. "I tolds you tar pees un shust Got; and now you shees how +dat shust Got he pees mine friend."</p> + +<p>"Aye, verily," rejoined Critchel, "and he lets them what builds castles +and lives like lords suffer their disappointments. Poor people like us, +who work with their hands, stick to their lands, and pay their debts, +have their castles in peace and contentment."</p> + +<p>"Tar pees shust so much wisdom in vat you shays, mine friend Critchel. +In dis world tar pees nothin' sartin. Dis Chapman, he puts his money in +his pocket, and ven he gets his money in his pocket he gets rich and +prout. Zen he goes to t' city so pig and prout as he can pe. Now he +comes pack from t' city, mit his pig vrow, and tar pees nobody as makes +one pow to his pig vrow. Above tar pees one shust Got, Critchel."</p> + +<p>The misfortunes of the Chapman family, my reader must know, had been +furnishing Nyack something to talk about for several months. But it was +only with their return to town, which important event took place one +morning during the last week, that the quiet of Nyack was disturbed and +the gossips sent into a state of excitement. The family, indeed, +returned as quietly as a family in misfortune could be expected to do, +and put up at Bright's Inn, where, it was given out, they would live on +the wreck of their fortune until Chapman could see his way clear for a +new start in the world. But little was seen of Mrs. Chapman, of whom it +was reported that she desired to live in retirement, and did not see +visitors.</p> + +<p>The lady, however, had resolved that Nyack should not turn up its nose +without being kept in mind of the high social position the family had +held in the city.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_254" id="Page_254">[Pg 254]</a></span> And as a means of making the desired impression, and +also of finding relief for her injured feelings, she had brought +Napoleon Bowles into "retirement" with the family. And that faithful +domestic accommodated his pride of a Sunday by dressing in his livery +and top-boots, and walking out, to the astonishment and amusement of a +crowd of curious urchins, who were sure to gather about him.</p> + +<p>As for Chapman, he went about the town as if nothing had happened, +renewing acquaintances, and declaring there was no honester man in the +settlement than Hanz Toodleburg; that the charges against his honesty, +and his connection with the Kidd Discovery Company, were all scandals, +got up by bad men; and that he had been deceived by them himself.</p> + +<p>During the few days Chapman had been in Nyack, he had made himself +appear so good a friend of Hanz that the honest settlers not only began +to express sympathy for him in his misfortunes, but to enquire what they +could do to put him on his feet again. When, however, he told them it +was not their sympathy he wanted, but their money to assist him in +building a steamboat two hundred feet long, and that he had matured a +plan for a railroad, so that they might ride from Nyack to New York in +an hour, they became alarmed, put their heads together wisely, and +declared the man mad beyond cure.</p> + +<p>Here I must leave Chapman waiting to see his way clear. He came of that +old round-head stock which, wanting its way always, ready to meddle with +everything, never contented, ready to play the sycophant to gain power, +selfish and arrogant in the use of it, is, nevertheless, found giving +shape, action, and momentum to all our great enterprises. Out of all the +trouble<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_255" id="Page_255">[Pg 255]</a></span> Chapman had caused Nyack, there had come some good that would +be turned to account in the future. Misfortune had bowed, not broken his +spirit. He was again prepared to invent a new religion, to build a +church, to keep a boarding-house, to start a bank or run a +steamboat—and all with modern improvements.</p> + +<p>The little church bell was still ringing, and the crowd still kept +increasing in numbers and cheerfulness. "The Dominie's coming! the +Dominie's coming! The Dominie's coming!" was lisped by a score of lips, +as the attention of the people was attracted down the road. There the +old Dominie came, mounted on a clumsy-footed, big-headed, bay cob—a +little bright-eyed girl, whose face was full of sweetness and love, and +dressed in blue and white, riding behind him. His broad, kindly face, +shadowed by a wide-brimmed hat, his flowing white hair, his quaintly cut +coat, with the ample side pocket, and his long, white necktie, presented +a picture so full of truth and simplicity as to be worthy of being +preserved on canvas. He was, in truth, a figure belonging to an order of +things that was fast passing way—at least along the banks of the +Hudson.</p> + +<p>Children clapped their hands and ran to meet him; girls greeted him with +offerings of flowers; and when he had dismounted, both old and young +gathered about him, lisping him a welcome and shaking him by the hand. +There was nobody like Dominie Payson, and the love these people bore +him, and now gave him so many expressions of, was true and heartfelt. +And when he had kissed the children, and exchanged greetings and kind +words with their parents, he proceeded into the church, followed by his +flock. His sermon was, perhaps, one of the oddest ever listened to, for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_256" id="Page_256">[Pg 256]</a></span> +after returning thanks for the bountiful harvest, and extending on the +goodness of God, and advising his flock to stick firmly to their farms +and their religion, that being the only true way of getting to Heaven, +he turned his guns against Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, though he never once +mentioned their names. He urged his flock to keep in mind always how +much better off they were, how much more happy they were than those men +who came to town with the devil and a number of strange religions in +their heads. Such people, he added, always had the devil for a friend; +and it was the devil who assisted them to get poor people's money. And +with this money they dressed their wives in silks and satins, built big +houses, and lived like people who were very proud and never paid their +debts, nor did a day's work on the roads. It was all well enough for +these men to talk of Heaven and put on pious faces, but Heaven would +take no notice of them while they gave themselves up to the temptations +of the devil and built steamboats and founded railroads, to kill honest +people with, and ruin the country.</p> + +<p>"My friends," said the Dominie, resting for a moment, and then charging +his guns for another fire at Chapman, "you have seen a man ready to sell +his soul for money enough to build a steamboat. Now he wants to build a +railroad to get you out of the world quicker." The Dominie shook his +head, wiped his brow, and again paused for a few seconds. "Let them +dress their wives in satins and silks, let them ruin their country with +their steamboats and railroads, let them build their big houses, go to +the city, get proud, waste all their money in folly and vice, and return +among honest people with a sheriff at their heels, because they don't +pay nobody—but don't you go and do it. My<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_257" id="Page_257">[Pg 257]</a></span> friends—there will be an +account to settle with these people who swell themselves up so big, when +roasting-day comes. You that have wives—look to them. Keep their hearts +pure and simple. Don't let them spend your money in silks and satins. If +you do, the sheriff locks up your door and puts the key in his pocket." +Thus the Dominie concluded, reminding his hearers that, as it was +Harvest-Sunday, they must not forget to be liberal with their sixpences +when the box came round.</p> + +<p>His hearers were greatly delighted, and declared they had not heard him +preach so good a sermon for many a day. And when he came down from the +pulpit they congratulated him, and sundry extra pecks of wheat were +promised as a reward for the light he had favored them with.</p> + +<p>The day wore away pleasantly, and when evening came, when the gleams of +the setting sun tipped the surrounding hills with golden light, and +dusky shadows were creeping up the valley, the reader, if he had looked +in at Hanz Toodleburg's little house, might have seen one of those +quaint but pleasant pictures which are a fit ending of such a day.</p> + +<p>There, grouped around his table, sat the Dominie, Doctor Critchel, +Bright the inn-keeper, and the schoolmaster, for Hanz had invited them +to sup with him, and Angeline had prepared the best she had to set +before them. There, too, was Tite's empty chair. There it stood, silent +and touching, all the pleasant memories it once contained made sad now +by the mystery that enshrouded his long absence. There was his plate, +and his knife and fork, all so bright and clean, set as regularly as if +he were home, and guarded so tenderly. The eloquence of that vacant +chair, appealing so directly to the finer sensibilities of every one<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_258" id="Page_258">[Pg 258]</a></span> +present, left a deep and sad impression. Supper was nearly over before +any of the guests had courage to refer to it. The Dominie at length +raised his spectacles and addressing Angeline, said: "Heaven gives to +every house its idol. We have been blessed to-day, and made happy. It +will yet please Heaven to bring back the idol of this house, and fill +that empty chair. I am sure we shall all be glad when the boy gets +home."</p> + +<p>"When he does, there will be such a time at my house," interposed the +inn-keeper, nodding his head approvingly. "There's the parlor for him to +do his courting in. And one of the prettiest little sweethearts is +waiting to give him such a welcome. God bless her—she isn't a bit like +the rest of them Chapmans—she isn't."</p> + +<p>"My school don't keep the day he comes home," rejoined the schoolmaster, +helping himself to another piece of pumpkin pie.</p> + +<p>The mention of Tite's name filled old Hanz's eyes with tears. He buried +his face in his hands, and remained silent for several minutes, overcome +by his feelings. As soon as he had recovered control of them, he wiped +the tears from his eyes, and replied in broken sentences: "I vas sho +happy ven mine Tite, mine poor poy Tite vas home. Peers as if now, mine +poor poy he never comes home no more, he never prings shoy into mine +house no more."</p> + +<p>"Always look on the best side of things, neighbor Hanz," replied the +Dominie.</p> + +<p>"Yah, put I gets sho old now."</p> + +<p>"It would not astonish me," continued the Dominie, playfully, "if the +young gentleman surprised us all to-night. Stranger things have +happened." These remarks excited a feeling of anxiety.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_259" id="Page_259">[Pg 259]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I was on the other side of the river last night," continued the +Dominie, "and the people there had a report from the city that the +vessel he sailed in had been heard from." Angeline quietly left the +table, for the wells of her heart were overflowing.</p> + +<p>"Tar shall come news as t' wessel mine Tite shails in comed pack, eh?" +enquired Hanz, fixing his eyes steadily on the Dominie.</p> + +<p>"Not that she has arrived," returned the Dominie, "but that there is +news of her—"</p> + +<p>"Tar pees news," muttered Hanz, his eyes glistening with anxiety. "An +nopody tells me t' news before, eh? Tar pees shum news of t'at wessel, +eh? Tar don't pee no news of mine poor Tite, eh?" The old man extended +his trembling hand and grasped the Dominie's arm nervously, his face +became as pale as marble, and his whole system shook with excitement.</p> + +<p>"Tar shall come news as t' wessel mine Tite shails in comes pack," he +ejaculated, "an tar pees no news of mine poor poy, eh?" And he threw up +his arms, rested his head on the Dominie's shoulder and wept like a +child. "No, mine Tite he ton't comes home no more," he sobbed.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_260" id="Page_260">[Pg 260]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIII" id="CHAPTER_XXXIII"></a>CHAPTER XXXIII.</h2> + +<h3>RETURNED HOME.</h3> + + +<p>While the scene just closed was being enacted, a glance across the river +and down the road that skirts along the Hudson from Yonkers to +Tarrytown, would have discovered a light country wagon, drawn by a +single horse, and containing two men, advancing at a brisk pace. They +had nearly reached Dobbs' Ferry as the sun disappeared in the west.</p> + +<p>He who sat beside the driver, with his arms folded, and thoughtful, was +a tall, well-formed young man, with light hair that curled into his +neck, side whiskers, deep and intelligent blue eyes, a face that lighted +up with a smile when he spoke, and which had been fair and handsome, but +was now scorched and sun-burnt. His hands, too, were small, but hard and +weather-burnt, indicating that he had been accustomed to use them at +hard work. His dress was of blue petersham, looking neat and new, the +short coat buttoning square across his breast; and a tall hat set oddly +enough on a head evidently not accustomed to the fashion that dictated +such a covering. A broad, white shirt collar, turned carelessly down, +was tied with a black silk handkerchief, the long ends of which hung +outside his coat.</p> + +<p>There was something mature and thoughtful in his manner, even beyond his +years. The driver, an inquisitive fellow, had several times tried to +draw him into conversation, that he might find out something concerning +him, for he seemed familiar with the names of places along the river, +and yet kept up the disguise of a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_261" id="Page_261">[Pg 261]</a></span> stranger. But on nothing, except the +vessels passing up and down the river, did he seem inclined to be +communicative. On these he would make such remarks as showed familiarity +with the sea. Indeed his mind seemed absorbed in something of deep and +painful interest.</p> + +<p>They drew up at the little inn with the swinging sign near Dobbs' Ferry, +for the driver said his horse was jaded, and needed feed and rest before +they proceeded further, and were met by the short, corpulent landlord, +who, after ordering the animal cared for, invited them into the house, +saying there was a good supper ready.</p> + +<p>"It is sundown now," said the passenger, in a tone of impatience, as he +alighted from the wagon, and received the landlord's extended hand, "and +we are still six miles away. You have forfeited the inducement I offered +to quicken your speed; but it is no offset to my disappointment." This +was addressed to the driver, who muttered something, about the heavy +roads, in reply, tossed his hat into a chair on the porch, and with an +independent and half-defiant air, walked into the house and took his +seat at the supper table.</p> + +<p>"'Tisn't the first time Sam's supped at my house," said the landlord, +bowing and inviting the stranger to walk in. "You'll walk in, sir, won't +you? There's always a good supper at this house—kept it when King +George's troops were about—only four shillin', sir," the landlord +continued, bowing and motioning his hand. But the stranger shook his +head negatively, drew a cigar from his pocket and politely requested the +landlord to give him a light. And when he had lighted his cigar, he drew +a Spanish dollar from his pocket, and slipped it into the man's hand, +saying it would pay for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_262" id="Page_262">[Pg 262]</a></span> both their suppers, and he would take his when +they returned. He, at the same time, begged the landlord to give himself +no concern about him, but to proceed to his supper, which he knew from +his appearance he would enjoy.</p> + +<p>"Seein' how you're a gentleman," said the landlord, bowing obsequiously, +"there's three shillin' more for the horse—that squares it."</p> + +<p>"Certainly—I forgot the horse," replied the stranger, drawing a +half-dollar piece from his pocket and giving it to the landlord.</p> + +<p>"There's a shillin' comin' to you," returned the landlord, putting the +money into one pocket, and feeling in the other, "Never mind the +shilling," said the stranger, "we will settle that another time."</p> + +<p>"Travellers always find a good bed at my house, and enough on the table. +That's more than the fellow who keeps the house further on can say," +continued the landlord, again bowing and proceeding to his supper.</p> + +<p>The stranger now paced quickly and impatiently up and down the little +veranda, pausing every few minutes and looking out in the direction of +the wagon, as if it contained something he was guarding with scrupulous +care. In short, the object of his solicitude was a stout, leathern +valise, in the wagon, and which was so heavy that it required the +strength of two ordinary men to handle it easily.</p> + +<p>Twenty minutes passed and the driver again made his appearance, wiping +his lips and buttoning up his coat unconcernedly. "Sorry to have +detained you," he said, flapping his hat on. "Landlord says you've +settled the shot—won't be long getting there now." In another minute +they were in their seats and on the road to Tarrytown.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_263" id="Page_263">[Pg 263]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was nearly eight o'clock when they reached the old ferry, and found +it deserted for the night. The boatmen had ceased their regular +crossings nearly an hour before, and were quietly smoking their pipes at +home. The moon was up, stars shone brightly in the serene sky, and not a +sail specked the unruffled surface of the Tappan Zee. Lights twinkled on +the opposite shore, and the little old town of Nyack was dimly seen.</p> + +<p>They waited a few minutes, and as no one appeared, the driver went in +search of the boatmen, saying a few extra shillings would make it all +right with them. And while he was gone the stranger paced nervously and +with rapid steps up and down, every few seconds pausing at the pier-head +and looking intently in the direction of Nyack. Was it joy he +anticipated, or disappointment he feared? Something was agitating his +heart and filling his eyes with tears, for he several times turned his +head and wiped them away. And yet the more he watched in the direction +of Nyack, the more restless and impatient he became.</p> + +<p>The driver returned after an absence of ten minutes, accompanied by two +sturdy fellows, both of whom affected to be in bad humor at being called +on to ferry a traveller at that hour. With their hands thrust deep into +their nether pockets, they moved reluctantly about, scanning the +stranger from head to foot. "Couldn't stop this side till morning?" +enquired one of them, in a grumbling tone. "I must cross to-night," +replied the stranger, in a decided voice. "Cross to-night, eh? Well, +it's a long pull across there now," muttered the man, blowing the ashes +from his pipe and still affecting an air of indifference. Then raising +his eyes and breaking a piece of tobacco between his fingers, he +resumed: "Worth a matter of twelve shillin' extra—isn't<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_264" id="Page_264">[Pg 264]</a></span> it? Wouldn't +mind a trifle like that—I take it."</p> + +<p>"I must yield to your demands—of course. It is a necessity with me to +get across as quick as possible," replied the stranger, and drawing from +his pocket two Spanish dollars, he gave them to the boatman, saying: "We +will settle the matter now. Here is your pay in advance."</p> + +<p>The man took the money and at once became active and civil. "We must set +the gentleman across, Tom," said he, addressing his comrade, and +exposing the silver, "this makes it all right."</p> + +<p>The stranger now dismissed the driver with an extra dollar, for which he +considered himself lucky, for he had not kept his promise to reach the +ferry by sundown.</p> + +<p>The boatman who acted as spokesman, in attempting to lift the valise +from the wagon, let it fall to the ground, such was its great weight. +"There's somethin' more nor clothes in that," said the man, shaking his +head and raising his hands in an attitude of alarm. Then, with an +inquisitive look at the stranger, he continued: "Hadn't no connection +with them are Kidd Discovery Company folks? They was swindlers, they +was."</p> + +<p>"Never heard of such a company before. Get my things aboard, and let us +be away," replied the stranger, in a tone of command.</p> + +<p>It required the strength of both boatmen to carry the valise +comfortably; and when they had got it aboard and the stranger seated in +the stern, for he said he could steer, they pulled away for the opposite +shore. Not a word was spoken for several minutes. At length the stranger +broke the silence. "How pleasant it seems," he said, "to get back on the +old Tappan Zee. Everything looks so familiar—"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_265" id="Page_265">[Pg 265]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You have been here before, then?" enquired the man pulling the stern +oar, and who had acted as spokesman.</p> + +<p>"Yes," returned the stranger. "My home was just out of Nyack not many +years ago. I may find things changed there now. Do you know many people +over there?"</p> + +<p>"Why yes—nearly everybody—"</p> + +<p>"Dominie Payson—is he living?"</p> + +<p>"If he didn't die since yesterday. He was over here yesterday."</p> + +<p>"And Doctor Critchel—you know him, I suppose? Is he alive?"</p> + +<p>"Why, help you—he never intends to die."</p> + +<p>"And you know, I suppose;" here the stranger hesitated, and his voice +thickened; "you know, I suppose, Hanz Toodleburg—and his—. Are they +living?"</p> + +<p>"Living! That they are—and right hearty, too. They tried to get the old +man mixed up in the Kidd Discovery affair—but they didn't." The boatman +bent his head approvingly.</p> + +<p>"There was a Chapman family—are they still in Nyack?"</p> + +<p>"They're there—but its not sayin' much for Nyack. They went to New York +proud, and as folks thought rich, for Chapman had his finger in schemes +enough to get other people's money; but he com'd back poor as a crow, +they say."</p> + +<p>The stranger's mind seemed to have been relieved of some great anxiety +by these answers, and he at once became more cheerful and talkative. He +at the same time avoided saying anything that might discover who he +was.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_266" id="Page_266">[Pg 266]</a></span></p> + +<p>This caution excited the boatman's curiosity to such a pitch that he +resolved to make a bold push to uncover the stranger.</p> + +<p>"Wouldn't take it amiss, would you?" said he, "if a man like me was to +ask what your name was? Needn't mind if there's any cause o' keepin' it +a secret."</p> + +<p>The stranger smiled, hesitated, and stammered in reply: "Hanz Toodleburg +is my father."</p> + +<p>"Well, well! Just what I expected. Didn't say nothin' you see; but I +thought as how you was him," exclaimed the boatman.</p> + +<p>"I have been over three years away from home," interrupted the stranger.</p> + +<p>"Then you are Tite—the old man's son," resumed the boatman, "well, +well!" Turning to him who pulled the bow-oar: "Stop pullin' a bit, Tom," +said he, "stop pullin'."</p> + +<p>The man now rested his oar, and rising from his seat, extended his hand +to the stranger, saying: "There's a hard old honest hand that welcomes +you safe back. John Flint is my name—called old Jack Flint generally." +And he shook Tite's hand again and again. "A heap o' people round here +reckoned how you was dead—they did. I can't tell you how glad I am to +see you, my boy. Its fifteen years since you and me sailed comrades on +the sloop. Bin all round the world an' aint above shakin' the hand of an +old fellow like me. That's what I like." Again and again the old boatman +shook Tite's hand, and gave expression to such sentiments of joy as +showed how true and honest was his heart.</p> + +<p>"Yes, this is me, Jack, and I am as glad to see you as you are to see +me. But I wanted to get across without being recognized."</p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 425px;"> +<img src="images/toodle266.jpg" width="425" height="278" alt=""Wouldn't take it amiss, would you," said he, "if a man +like me was to ask what your name was?" Page 266." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"Wouldn't take it amiss, would you," said he, "if a man +like me was to ask what your name was?" <a href="#Page_266">Page 266</a>.</span> +</div> + +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_267" id="Page_267">[Pg 267]</a></span></p> + +<p>The old boatman felt in his pocket, and drawing forth the two Spanish +dollars, insisted on returning them. "Them goes back into your pocket," +he said, shaking his head, "Never shall be said Jack Flint charged an +old comrade a sixpence for settin' him across stream."</p> + +<p>"Keep it, keep it, Jack. I have enough for both of us," replied Tite, +motioning his hand for the boatman to return the money to his pocket.</p> + +<p>"Well, if you insist—an' I have to accept it, you see, it'll be out of +respect and to please you." And he looked at the money doubtingly, shook +his head, and reluctantly returned it to his pocket.</p> + +<p>The man now resumed his oar, and they proceeded on with increased speed. +In less than half an hour from that time, they had landed at Nyack, and +proceeding up the road had reached Bright's Inn, the two boatmen +carrying the valise. Here they came to a halt, the men setting the +valise down, while Tite seemed in doubt what to do next. Bewildered with +the position he found himself in, hesitating and nervous, almost +overcome by anxiety, his throbbing heart beat quicker and quicker the +nearer he reached his home. But there was now a more violent struggle +going on in his feelings. It was a struggle to decide between love and +duty. Now he looked up the road in the direction of his home, and +advanced a few steps. Again he paused and looked up enquiringly at the +house. The old boatman had told him that Chapman lived there, when all +the embers of that love he had so long cherished for Mattie seemed to +kindle again into a living fire. And yet what changes might have taken +place since he left? If, however, she still loved him, and was true to +him, how could he pass the house, even at that late hour, without at +least letting her know he was in Nyack?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_268" id="Page_268">[Pg 268]</a></span></p> + +<p>It was indeed late, and there was still a mile before he reached the +home of his parents. He could have more time in the morning to meet +Mattie, to unfold his heart to her, and to give her an account of the +many strange things that had happened to him since he left.</p> + +<p>There was a bright light in two of the upper windows, but below the +house was nearly dark, and Bright was in his bar-room, settling up the +business of the day. Suddenly the light in the windows became brighter, +then the shadow of a female figure was seen crossing and recrossing the +room every few seconds. Tite watched and watched that flitting shadow, +for he read in it the object of his heart's love, read in it the joy +that was in store for him, perhaps—perhaps the sorrow. The figure was +Mattie's, and it was her shadow that was causing him all this +heart-aching. Now the figure took the place of the shadow, and stood +looking out at the window, as if contemplating the moon and the stars, +for nearly a minute. Yes, there was Mattie, watching and wondering what +had become of the man who was at that moment contemplating her +movements. Then the figure and the shadow disappeared, but it was only +to increase Tite's impatience to see her.</p> + +<p>The three men now proceeded to the door and the bell was rung. A moving +of chairs and unlocking of doors indicated that the house had not gone +to bed. The door was soon opened by Titus Bright, in his shirt sleeves +and slippers, and holding a candle in his hand. "What's up, Flint?" he +enquired, for he saw only the boatmen; "what brings you over at this +time of night?"</p> + +<p>"There was a shillin' to be made, you see, Bright, and a passenger what +wanted settin' over, you see," said the ferryman, his face beaming with +good nature. "Know you'd like to see him, you know, Bright, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_269" id="Page_269">[Pg 269]</a></span> to make +him as comfortable as you could for a night or so. Tom and me pulled him +across." Tite now advanced towards the inn-keeper, who gazed at him with +an air of astonishment, and held the candle above his head to avoid the +shadow.</p> + +<p>"Come in, come in," said Bright. "We will make the gentleman as +comfortable as we can."</p> + +<p>"You have forgotten me, I see," said Tite, smiling and extending his +hand.</p> + +<p>"God bless me!" exclaimed Bright, grasping his hand in a paroxysm of +delight; "if here isn't Tite Toodleburg cum home. Come in, come in. +Welcome home." After shaking him warmly by the hand and leading him into +the parlor, the inn-keeper ran and brought his wife, who welcomed the +young man with the tenderness of a mother. The good woman would have had +a fire made and supper prepared, and indeed entertained him for the rest +of the night, expressing her joy over his return, had he not told her +how great was his anxiety to see his parents.</p> + +<p>"I know who it is the young man wants to see," said Bright, touching him +on the elbow and nodding his head suggestively. "And there'll be a +flutter up stairs when it's told her you're cum home."</p> + +<p>The boatmen had remained in the hall. Bright now invited them into his +bar and filled mugs of ale for them, and joined them in drinking the +health of the young man who had been round the world. He then dismissed +them, saying he would take care of the young gentleman's baggage; and +stepping up stairs, tapped gently at Chapman's door. "We were all +retiring for the night," said Mrs. Chapman, opening the door slightly, +and looking alarmed, for Bright was in a flutter of excitement, and it +was nearly a minute before he<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_270" id="Page_270">[Pg 270]</a></span> could tell what he wanted. At length he +stammered out: "There, there, there—there's a strange gentleman down +stairs, mam—and he would like to see Miss Mattie, I am sure he would."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Bright," replied Mrs. Chapman, tossing her head and compressing her +lips, "he can't be much of a gentleman to come at this hour of night. My +daughter has no acquaintance who would presume to take such a liberty. +Etiquette forbids it."</p> + +<p>Mattie now made her appearance, with a book half open in her left hand, +and looking anxious and agitated. Then resting her right hand on her +mother's shoulder, "Mr. Bright," she enquired, in a hesitating voice, +"what does the gentleman look like?"</p> + +<p>"A nice gentleman enough, Miss—"</p> + +<p>"Is it any one you know?"</p> + +<p>"Why, Miss," resumed Bright, with an air of reluctance, "wouldn't +intrude at this house, but I know you'd like to see the gentleman; and +wouldn't be particular about the time."</p> + +<p>Mattie fixed her eyes on Bright with a steady gaze, her agitation +increased, her face changed color rapidly, her heart seemed to beat anew +with some sudden transport of joy. "Oh, mother! oh, mother!" she +exclaimed, tossing the book on the floor, "I know who Mr. Bright means. +It's him! I know it's him! He has come back!" She rushed past her +mother, vaulted as it were down the stairs and into the parlor. The +young man stood motionless. He was so changed in dress and appearance +that she suddenly hesitated, and for a moment drew back, as if in doubt.</p> + +<p>"It is me, Mattie," said Tite, smiling and advancing with his hand +extended. The thought suddenly flashed through his mind that she might +have expected<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_271" id="Page_271">[Pg 271]</a></span> some one else. He was mistaken, for she met his advance +like one whose heart was filled with joy. In short, the words had hardly +fallen from his lips when they were in each other's arms, and giving +such proofs of their affection as only hearts bound together by the +truest and purest of love can give.</p> + +<p>"I knew you would come back to me—yes, I knew you would. There was an +angel guarding you while absent," she whispered, looking up as he kissed +her and kissed her. And as her eyes met his her face brightened with a +smile so full of sweetness and gentleness.</p> + +<p>"I knew what would happen," said Bright, opening the door apace and +looking in. "Knew there would be just such a scene." Just at that moment +Mrs. Chapman brushed past the exuberant inn-keeper, and stood like a +massive statue, looking at the scene before her with an air of surprise +and astonishment, for Mattie was still clasped in the young man's arms.</p> + +<p>"My daughter! my daughter!" she exclaimed, raising her fat hands, +"enough to make a mother faint to see a well-brought-up daughter so +familiar? It shocks me, my daughter. I am sure I am glad to see the +young man home. But familiarity of that kind's not becoming. Your father +never would have married me if I had allowed familiarity of that kind."</p> + +<p>"You must blame me; it was all my fault," said Tite, handing Mattie to a +chair, and advancing toward Mrs. Chapman.</p> + +<p>"You have been away a long time, haven't you," said the lady, receiving +his hand in a cold and formal manner. "You are very much changed—the +effect of the sea-air on the complexion, I suppose? We shall be very +glad to see you at any time, Mr. Toodleburg. It was so late we didn't +expect visitors, and were not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_272" id="Page_272">[Pg 272]</a></span> prepared for them. You said you had not +seen your aged parents?"</p> + +<p>"Not yet," replied Tite, "but I shall proceed there soon."</p> + +<p>"It was very kind of you," resumed the lady, "to pay us this compliment. +How very anxious they must be to see you."</p> + +<p>"And I am equally anxious to see them," he replied; "but I could not +pass without seeing you—just for a few minutes." Then turning to +Mattie, he exchanged kisses with her, kissed her good-night, to the +great distress of her mother, who was compelled to look on. He also +promised to call early in the morning, spend most of the day, and give +an account of his voyage.</p> + +<p>A minute more and he was seated in a wagon beside Bright, and proceeding +over the road toward Hanz's little house.</p> + +<p>When he was gone, and the Chapmans had retired to their room, "Ma," said +Mattie, her face coloring with feeling, "it was very unkind, even cruel +of you to treat the young gentleman so coldly."</p> + +<p>"Done to balance the familiarity, my daughter—the familiarity! Needed +something to balance that," interrupted the lady, bowing her head +formally. "Young man looks respectable enough. He may have come home and +not a sixpence in his pocket—who knows? In these matters, my daughter, +it's always best to know where the line is drawn before building your +house."</p> + +<p>"He might have come home penniless; it would not have made a bit of +difference to me, mother, I would love him just as much," replied +Mattie. "But I can forgive you, ma, for I know you did not mean what you +said." And she kissed her mother, and retired for the night, the +happiest woman in all Nyack.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_273" id="Page_273">[Pg 273]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXIV" id="CHAPTER_XXXIV"></a>CHAPTER XXXIV.</h2> + +<h3>HE BRINGS JOY INTO THE HOUSE.</h3> + + +<p>All was silent and dark in the little house where Hanz Toodleburg lived, +when the wagon containing Tite and the inn-keeper drew up at the gate. A +dull, dreamy stillness seemed to hang over the place, and the little, +old house was in the full enjoyment of a deep sleep. The two men +alighted, and Tite stood for a few minutes viewing the scene around him. +How strange and yet how familiar everything seemed. He was at the +opposite side of the world only a few months ago, and time had sped on +so swiftly that it seemed as if he had gone to bed at night on one side +of the globe, and waked up in the morning at the other. Then he was on +an island almost unknown to the rest of the world, surrounded by scenes +so wild, so strange and romantic, that the reader would not believe them +real.</p> + +<p>Here now was the old lattice gate, the vine-covered arbor leading +through the garden to the cracked and blistered-faced front door, the +stack of hop-vines in the garden-corner, and the rickety veranda where, +when a boy, he used to sit beside his father of a summer evening, for it +was here Hanz welcomed his friends and smoked his pipe. It was here, +too, that Angeline, the spirit of whose sweet face had been with him in +his wanderings, used to sit at her flax-wheel, spinning thread that was +famous in Fly Market.</p> + +<p>Could this be a sweet dream, a beautiful delusion, a spirit-spell that +moves the soul with pictures of love and enchantment, and from which +some stern reality<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_274" id="Page_274">[Pg 274]</a></span> would soon awake him and dispel the charm? No, it +was reality, appealing more forcibly to all that was true and kindly in +his nature, and filling his eyes with tears.</p> + +<p>The inn-keeper noticed the effect it was having on his feelings, and +made an effort to divert his attention. "Looks kind o' natural after +bein' round the world doesn't it, Tite?" he enquired.</p> + +<p>"Yes—seems like home again," was the quiet reply.</p> + +<p>"Zounds!" exclaimed the inn-keeper, suddenly; "but there's somethin' +heavy in it." In attempting to lift the valise from the wagon it had +fallen to the ground under its great weight. The inn-keeper shook his +head and rubbed his hands. "Had a lucky voyage, I reckon," he concluded.</p> + +<p>"More than eighty pounds of solid gold in that," returned Tite, coolly. +The mention of so much gold astonished and delighted the inn-keeper.</p> + +<p>"There'll be such a time when the town hears that!" said he. "There'll +be enough o' them that'll call you their friend."</p> + +<p>"Left three times as much more in the city," resumed Tite. "And there's +enough on an island in the Pacific to buy a town as big as Nyack. And I +know where it is."</p> + +<p>"Eighty pounds of solid gold!" said the inn-keeper, looking enquiringly +at Tite, then stooping down and testing the weight of the valise with +his hands. "It's so. I always did know you'd come home a rich man."</p> + +<p>They now carried the valise into the veranda, knocked at the door, and +listened for footsteps within. The big old dog had been growling and +barking fiercely for several minutes. Now he recognized the friendly +voice of the inn-keeper, and barked them a welcome. He<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_275" id="Page_275">[Pg 275]</a></span> then ran to the +little room where Hanz was sleeping, and only ceased barking when he got +up.</p> + +<p>Soft footsteps were heard inside, a dim light shone through the little +window opening into the veranda, and a voice inside enquired: "Who comes +t' mine house sho late?"</p> + +<p>"Open the door, friend Toodleburg," replied the inn-keeper. "Shouldn't +have disturbed you at this hour; but there's a gentleman here would like +to see you—an' I'm sure you'd like to see him."</p> + +<p>The old man opened the door at the sound of Bright's voice, and stood +gazing at the visitors with an air of bewilderment. "You prings me goot +news, eh, Bright?" he enquired. "Yes, I am shure you prings me shome +news ash ish goot."</p> + +<p>"Father, father," said Tite, advancing with his right hand extended, +"you don't know me?"</p> + +<p>"Ton't know mine own Tite? Mine poor poy Tite!" exclaimed the old man in +a paroxysm of joy. "Yes I does." And he raised his hands, and threw his +arms around Tite's neck, and wept for joy. "Ton't know mine own Tite," +he repeated, raising his head and looking up in Tite's face, "yes I +does. Yes, I shay mine Tite will cum home; an' he cums home—and mine +poor old heart he pees sho glat. Yes, he pees you, mine Tite. You prings +shoy into mine house. Mine poor Tite—he com'd home t' mine house. Tar +pees no more shorrow now in mine house." The old man was overcome with +joy. The idol of the house was home again, and true happiness reigned +under that little roof.</p> + +<p>"You ton't go away no more, mine Tite," he continued, patting him on the +shoulder and pressing his hand.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_276" id="Page_276">[Pg 276]</a></span></p> + +<p>Angeline heard Tite's voice and came rushing into the room frantic with +joy. "Thank God! thank God!" she exclaimed. "He has brought our boy safe +back to us." And she embraced him, threw her arms around his neck, and +kissed him again and again.</p> + +<p>"And I am so glad to get back to you, mother," he replied, returning her +affection, and pressing her to his breast fondly. "It is so good to be +in my old home, where I can receive your blessings, and be good to you."</p> + +<p>And Angeline looked up in his face with such a sweet smile, as she +patted him on the shoulder, and their tears mingled in the sweetest of +joy as she invoked God's blessing on his head. Truly, God had heard +their prayer, had blessed them, and had again made their little home +bright with joy.</p> + +<p>"I wish Chapman could look in here now," said Bright, "there'd be a +lesson for him on what happiness is worth." And he shook Tite by the +hand, told him to remember that his house was always open to him, and +left for the night.</p> + +<p>Even the old dog seemed anxious to join in welcoming the young gentleman +back, for he would look up affectionately in his face, draw his body +close to his feet, and lay his huge paw on his knee.</p> + +<p>And now a fire was lighted, and Angeline prepared supper for Tite, for +he had eaten nothing since morning. The chair that had stood empty so +long was filled now, and the happiness that reigned under that little +roof was such as gold could not purchase.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_277" id="Page_277">[Pg 277]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXV" id="CHAPTER_XXXV"></a>CHAPTER XXXV.</h2> + +<h3>HOW HE GOT AWAY FROM THE ISLAND.</h3> + + +<p>When supper was over, Tite proceeded to give his parents an account of +the voyage, and the manner of escaping from the island with the +treasure. The reader has already heard that portion which carries the +story up to the death of old Dunman, the pirate. It will be only +necessary then to give that part of it which relates to what took place +afterward.</p> + +<p>"Poor old Dunman," said Tite, "he was so kind to us all, and tried so +much to relieve our sufferings and make us feel contented that we all +liked him, and felt his death was a severe loss to us. There was +something so terrible in the story of his life that we used to talk +about it at night, and fancy all sorts of strange spirits haunting the +place where his money was buried. It was this that made us all impatient +to get away from the dreary place. Three or four days after we had +buried him, we removed the stones he said the gold was buried under, and +there found, as he had told us, bags and boxes of gold and silver, in +bars and coin of various kinds, heavy silver and gold ornaments that had +been plundered from churches and convents, with pearls and diamonds and +other precious stones, enough to fill two iron chests two feet square +and two feet deep. There was the thought that it was the price of so +much crime. And what good after all was this gold and silver to do us, +if we were to die on the island, like old Dunman? We divided it among +us, just as we would something<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_278" id="Page_278">[Pg 278]</a></span> of little value, not caring which got +the biggest portion. Then, after keeping out what we thought we might +want, each buried his part in separate spots, and marked the places with +piles of big stones.</p> + +<p>"I always had a presentment that some vessel would come along, and +afford us the means of getting away; but after several months of +disappointment my companions began to despair, and saying they might as +well die one way as another, fitted up the boat, and with sails made of +prepared seal skins, and such scanty provisions as they could obtain, +set sail in search of an island described by old Dunman to be two +leagues distant, inhabited, and a place where whalers had been known to +touch. Each took two bags of gold with him, promising that if they were +successful they would return and rescue me.</p> + +<p>"I felt, and told them they were undertaking what was sure death, and +bid them good-bye, never expecting to see them again. Week after week +and month after month passed, and nothing was heard of them. I was +alone, and nothing but the animals old Dunman had domesticated to keep +me company. As a means of attracting the attention of any vessel that +might be passing, I built a hut on a high hill near the coast, and used +to go there at night and build a fire as a signal. There wasn't a sail +came near. I had never feared death before; but to have to die on this +unknown island, with everything so strange and mysterious around me, and +never be heard of again by my parents and friends, excited all sorts of +curious fears in me. And the more I thought of it the more I wanted to +get away.</p> + +<p>"Well, it was five months since my companions set sail. Poor Ryder, poor +Doane; these were their names. They were both young men from Cape Cod; +and as<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_279" id="Page_279">[Pg 279]</a></span> brave and true-hearted as ever lived. I got up one morning to +renew my signal-fire, and was wondering what had become of the poor +fellows, and saying to myself how foolish they were to anticipate death. +It was just in the grey of daylight. Happening to cast my eye down the +coast, I espied the dim figure of a sail advancing quietly up the coast. +I shouted for joy at the sight, not thinking or caring whether it might +bring friends or foes. The wind was light, but fair, and the little +craft, which turned out to be a taunt-rigged schooner of about a hundred +and twenty tons, came gliding along like some white-winged thing of +life, for she had a square sail and fore and main gaff-topsails set.</p> + +<p>"Just before reaching the cove she furled her square sail and took in +the gaff-topsails—a proof that she was making port. I hastened down to +the coast, for it was broad daylight now, and watched her every +movement. She stood into the cove, rounded to, hauled down her jibs, and +dropped her anchor. The men in charge of that vessel handled her as if +they were familiar with the place. An hour passed, and no attempt was +made to land. Men appeared on deck, moving about in the quiet discharge +of their duty, but no attention was directed to the shore. Then a man +stood on the quarter with his glass raised, and scanned the shore from +point to point. Then there was an aggravating pause, and the rest of the +men seemed to disappear below. Then an increased number appeared on +deck, and began clearing the lashings from the stern boat. That was a +joyful moment, for it was a proof of their intention to land. Then the +boat was lowered away and pulled alongside, when two oarsmen got in, and +were followed by two men who sat in the stern sheets, and who turned<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_280" id="Page_280">[Pg 280]</a></span> +out to be my old companions, Doane and Ryder. Deliverance had come at +last.</p> + +<p>"After being at sea three days and nights in the boat, they were picked +up by a New Bedford whaleship, and landed at Honolulu, where they +chartered the schooner Lapwing and returned for me. Thinking it +necessary to keep our discovery a secret, lest it might excite the +cupidity of the crew, who were all natives, we had to proceed +cautiously, and disguise our movements as much as we could. It was +decided to leave at least half of the treasure until we could find a +more secure means of removing it, as well as one less liable to excite +suspicion at the points we would be compelled to land at on our way +home.</p> + +<p>"We got what we agreed to take away quietly on board during the night, +having filled Dunman's big old chest with shells and buried it among +them. Then each swore on oath that he would be true to the other, and +that he wouldn't make an effort to remove what remained except by mutual +agreement, and for the benefit of all equally. We disguised all our +movements so well that not even the captain of the schooner, who was an +old Spanish coaster, accustomed to suspicious transactions, mistrusted +what we were doing.</p> + +<p>"When we got all ready, we bid adieu to No Man's Island, and set sail +for Honolulu, feeling as if we had been set free from a prison. We were +on the way home now, and that was enough to lighten our hearts. We were +three weeks getting to Honolulu; and had to remain there two months. We +wanted an American ship homeward bound, to take passage on. But as none +came, we shipped on board the British whaleship Rose, of Halifax, Nova +Scotia, with a full cargo homeward bound. We got there after a long and +stormy voyage,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_281" id="Page_281">[Pg 281]</a></span> working our way as sailors before the mast. We were +looked on as poor, shipwrecked whalemen; and no one on board thought we +had an extra dollar in our pockets. At Halifax we found a vessel ready +to sail for New York, and took passage on her, and here I am now, home +again, and glad to get home." It was long after midnight when Tite +concluded his story; and having received once more the caresses of his +parents, he retired to the little room he had occupied when a boy, to +sleep and dream of joys that were in store for him.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_282" id="Page_282">[Pg 282]</a></span></p> +<h2><a name="CHAPTER_XXXVI" id="CHAPTER_XXXVI"></a>CHAPTER XXXVI.</h2> + +<h3>AN INTERESTING CEREMONY.</h3> + + +<p>The little sleepy town of Nyack had hardly waked up on the following +morning, when the news of Tite's arrival was rung in it's ears. +Marvelous stories, too, were told concerning the amount of money he had +brought home, and the different countries he had visited. The inn-keeper +declared at the breakfast table, intending that Mrs. Chapman should hear +it, that he could say of his own knowledge, that the young gentleman had +brought gold enough home to build a castle, have a coach of his own, and +live like a gentleman in the city all the rest of his life.</p> + +<p>"Has he really brought home so much money?" enquired Mrs. Chapman, +raising her eyes and looking at Bright with an air of astonishment. "The +young gentleman never mentioned it last night. Well, after all, there's +nothing like young gentlemen of his class seeking their fortunes away +from home. To say the least, it will give the young gentleman a fixed +position in society."</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear," rejoined Chapman, "I always had a good opinion of the +young gentleman. I always knew he would distinguish himself if he had a +chance—"</p> + +<p>"Good opinions are always plenty enough," interrupted the schoolmaster, +who was a boarder at Bright's that week, "when a man has money and don't +need good opinions."</p> + +<p>Chapman made no reply. Indeed he was not prepared for such a thrust from +so poor a fellow as the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_283" id="Page_283">[Pg 283]</a></span> schoolmaster. He understood, however, what was +meant by it, for he had gone into court only a few weeks before and +given such testimony as showed himself a knave and a hypocrite, though +it saved Hanz Toodleburg from ruin.</p> + +<p>Mattie noticed the impression made on her mother by what Bright had +said, but preserved a dignified silence. She felt that she had gained +the price due to her constancy, had risen above the vanities and +temptations designed to distract and mislead her, and by following the +dictates of her own clear judgment would soon secure both happiness and +fortune.</p> + +<p>Breakfast was scarcely over at Hanz Toodleburg's before the neighbors, +one after another, began to drop in to shake Tite by the hand, and +welcome him home, and say "God bless you." Many of them brought little +presents, to show how true and heart-felt was the friendship they bore +him. And when he went down into the village he found himself surrounded +by friends, all anxious to shake his hand, and to welcome him back, and +to hear something concerning his voyage. In short, he was an object of +curiosity as well as respect, for at that day there was a mysterious +interest attached to a young man who had been a voyage round the world, +it being associated with spirit and daring of a remarkable kind.</p> + +<p>But it was not these friends Tite stole away and went down into the +village to see. It was Mattie, at the mention of whose name a blush +always colored his cheek. The two lovers had arranged for a morning +walk, and were soon seen coming from the house together, smiling and +happy. Mrs. Chapman had condescended to see them to the door, and her +ponderous figure quite filled the space. "Don't forget, my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_284" id="Page_284">[Pg 284]</a></span> daughter," +she said, as they were leaving, "don't forget to bring the young +gentleman back to dine with us. We can't promise him anything very nice; +but he is welcome, you know, and must try and accommodate himself to our +changed circumstances."</p> + +<p>There is to me nothing more beautiful to contemplate than the picture of +two young lovers brought happily together after years of trial and +disappointment, themselves representing what there is good and pure in +the human heart. It is then we seem to see the heart liberate itself +from guile, and truth and right rejoice in their triumph over wrong. +There was just such a picture presented by Mattie Chapman, the +true-hearted American girl, and the active, earnest, persevering, and +modest, American boy, just at this moment.</p> + +<p>The day was bright and breezy, and there, high up on that hill +overlooking the Tappan Zee, under that clump of trees, with their +embracing branches forming a bower, in the very spot where they had +liberated their hearts and pledged their love, and bid each other a sad +adieu on the morning Tite sailed on his voyage, the young lovers were +seated again. Hour after hour passed, and still they sat there, for Tite +was recounting his adventures; telling Mattie the story of his strange +voyage, and listening in return to her recital of what had taken place +during his absence. Indeed, so earnestly were they engaged relating what +had happened since they had been separated that they quite forgot +dinner; and on returning to the house, found Mrs. Chapman in a state of +great anxiety. It was not that they had been absent so long; but the +young gentleman would find things cold and unsatisfactory. The truth +was, Mrs. Chapman had dressed herself with a view to a little display, +and was a little disappointed at not having the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_285" id="Page_285">[Pg 285]</a></span> opportunity to make it +before a full table. Mr. Bowles, too, had been ordered to appear bright +and nice, in his new livery and top-boots, to wait on the family at +dinner, and show, by his attentions to the young gentleman, that he was +a well-brought-up servant. In fine, the lady so embarrassed the young +gentleman with her attentions, that he was glad when dinner was over. I +ought not to forget to mention that Chapman, though he was less +demonstrative, took several occasions to assure the young gentleman of +the high respect he had always held him in—especially on account of his +father and mother.</p> + +<p>Tite went home when dinner was over; but returned again in the evening, +for there was an attraction there he could not resist. And it was then +that Mrs. Chapman joined their hands, invoked a blessing on their heads +and called them her children.</p> + +<p>"I always did like the young gentleman—I am sure I always did," she +added, with an air of condescension. "My daughter knows I always did. It +was not on the young gentleman's account that I entertained a little +misgiving (just a little) in reconciling the family connection." Pausing +suddenly, the lady turned to Mattie in a somewhat confused manner: "My +daughter, my daughter," she returned, "you must overlook a number of +little things. You will—won't you? Now, don't say I am vain. But it was +such a queer—yes, such a vulgar and very common name to carry into +society."</p> + +<p>"There's just one favor I have to ask, my daughter. I am sure the young +gentleman won't object to it—I am sure he won't." Again Mrs. Chapman +paused, and seemed a little confused.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_286" id="Page_286">[Pg 286]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Certainly, ma, certainly," replied Mattie, with a pleasant smile, +"anything to please my dear mother."</p> + +<p>"Well, then," resumed Mrs. Chapman, mildly: "There'll be no harm in +changing the name a little—just a little, for the sake of the effect it +will have on society. The young gentleman, I am sure he will (he has got +the means to do it, you see) set up a nice establishment in the city, +and (looking forward a little, you know) you will have a set of society +of your own. Things change so, you see. You wouldn't mind changing the +name so that it will read Von Toodleburg? T.B. Von Toodleburg would be +so much nicer."</p> + +<p>I may mention here that such was the name the family took and flourished +under at a subsequent period, as will appear in the second series of +this work.</p> + +<p>"Fix things, name and all, to your liking, my dear mother," replied +Mattie, laughing heartily. "I don't believe Tite cares anything about +it."</p> + +<p>"Never was ashamed of my name," replied Tite, with an air of +indifference, "never was. But it doesn't matter much what a man's name +is. They used to call me all sorts of names at sea."</p> + +<p>"Another little harmless request," resumed Mrs. Chapman, with a +condescending bow. "You see there is Bowles. Bowles is such an excellent +servant, and so very respectable. He has such a presentable appearance +when in his livery. I have great respect for Bowles—he understands me +so well. You won't have any objection to his having a fixed position in +the family, will you?"</p> + +<p>Mattie blushed, and drawing her mother aside, whispered in her ear: "We +can settle such matters, my dear mother, when others of more importance +are disposed of."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_287" id="Page_287">[Pg 287]</a></span></p> + +<p>"But you know, my daughter," she returned, with an air of great +seriousness, "he has done so much to make these common country people +understand what our position was in the city."</p> + +<hr style='width: 45%;' /> + +<p>Two weeks were passed in making preparations for the wedding. And now +the day was come, and that ceremony that was to unite two loving hearts +for weal or woe, which was to seal their fortunes in one bond, was to be +performed in the little old church, quietly and unostentatiously, by +Dominie Payson, for it had been settled after some reluctance on the +part of Mrs. Chapman, that the job could be done by that worthy divine, +and the world think none the less of the young people.</p> + +<p>Nyack, my reader must know, was in the best of humor that day, and when +it was four o'clock, appeared in a smiling face, and dressed in it's +best clothes. Chapman, I may also mention, forgot his misfortunes, and +for once appeared neat and tidy, and in a happy mood. Indeed he had +kissed and congratulated his daughter several times during the day. He +had also unburdened his heart by telling her how happy he felt that the +family had escaped disgrace in the city. He had, indeed, something to be +thankful for, since Gusher had been taken back to New Orleans, tried, +convicted of his crimes, and sent for two years at hard labor in the +penitentiary.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Chapman, remembering that such events did not occur every day, +resolved not to be outdone by any of them. She was sure a little display +would not be wasted; and had spent four hours "getting herself elegant." +She had more than half a suspicion that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_288" id="Page_288">[Pg 288]</a></span> there would be some New York +people present, and it would not do to be outshone by them in +magnificence of toilet. Nor must I forget Bowles, who appeared shortly +after breakfast in his new livery, with a tall hat half covered with a +band and buckle, white gloves, and bright new boots and breeches. Bowles +was a figure of immense importance, and contemplated himself with an air +of amusing gravity, as he moved up and down in front of the house, much +to the amusement of the visitors at Bright's Inn. A bunch of flowers had +been provided for his button hole; and he was to drive the happy couple +to and from church, an honor he seemed to appreciate fully.</p> + +<p>There was an interesting scene, too, at Hanz Toodleburg's little house. +Instead of making bridal presents of costly jewelry and works of art, as +is now done, the worthy settlers sent the groom's father presents of a +very different character. Hanz had found enough to do during the morning +in receiving these presents and thanking the donors. There was a pig +from farmer Tromp, a barrel of apples from neighbor Steuben, a big +cheese from farmer Van Beuskirk, a ham from the widow Welcker, a pan of +new-made sausages from farmer Deitman, and a bushel of dried apples from +Dominie Payson. In fine, one sent a cow, another a sack of wheat, +another a barrel of cider; and in that way they had well neigh stocked +Hanz's larder for the winter.</p> + +<p>It was now nearly time for the ceremony. Neatly, but plainly dressed +people were seen treading their way toward the little church, while +around its door a number of bright-faced children, all dressed so neatly +in white, and with their hands full of flowers, stood ready to greet the +bride and bridegroom. In short, the worthy settlers had come from all +directions to witness the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_289" id="Page_289">[Pg 289]</a></span> ceremony. There were rustics, in their simple +attire, sauntering through the old church yard, or leaning listlessly +over the paling. And there in the old belfry sat Jonas, the ringer, with +his bald head and his weeping eyes, ready to ring out a merry peal as +soon as the bride and bridegroom came in sight.</p> + +<p>A laughing, happy throng of people filled the little church as soon as +the door was opened. Then Dominie Payson took his place at the altar; +and Hanz and Angeline, representing age beautified by simplicity, walked +slowly up the aisle, and took their place on one side, followed by +Critchel, the inn-keeper and the schoolmaster, who stood just behind +them. A few minutes later and Mrs. Chapman, arrayed in all the majesty +of her best wardrobe entered, accompanied by her meek little husband, +and took their places on the opposite side, presenting such a contrast +of characters. The picture only wanted the central figures now.</p> + +<p>A few minutes more, and there was a sudden, anxious movement on the part +of those inside. All eyes were turned towards the door. The bridal party +had arrived. Old Jonas was ringing his bell. The children at the door +were tossing flowers at their feet; and their voices were heard singing +a sweet and touching song. Then the bridal party advanced up the aisle, +the bride dressed in simple white, and with flowers in her golden hair, +and looking so sweetly. And as they took their place before the altar, +there was something so full of love and gentleness, of truth and purity, +in that sweet face as Mattie looked up and calmly surveyed the scene, +that it seemed as if earth had nothing to compare with it.</p> + +<p>And as the simple, but impressive ceremony proceeded, and the young +lovers once more pledged their love, and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_290" id="Page_290">[Pg 290]</a></span> made that solemn vow never to +separate until death comes, and knelt in prayer to sanctify it; and as +the Dominie blessed them, and pronounced a benediction, and as the soft +rays of the setting sun played over and lighted up that beautiful face, +it seemed as if some gentle spirit, sent from on high, was hovering over +the scene and whispering Amen.</p> + + + + + + + + +<pre> + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Von Toodleburgs, by F. 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Colburn Adams + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: The Von Toodleburgs + Or, The History of a Very Distinguished Family + +Author: F. Colburn Adams + +Illustrator: A. R. Waud + +Release Date: June 10, 2006 [EBook #18549] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE VON TOODLEBURGS *** + + + + +Produced by Curtis Weyant, Josephine Paolucci and the +Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net +(This file was produced from images produced by the Wright +American Fiction Project) + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: There was no happier couple in all the settlement than +Hanz and Angeline Toodleburg. Page 13.] + + + + +THE + +VON TOODLEBURGS; + +OR, + +THE HISTORY OF A VERY DISTINGUISHED FAMILY. + +BY + +F. COLBURN ADAMS, + +AUTHOR OF "MANUEL PERIERE, OR THE SOVEREIGN RULE OF SOUTH CAROLINA;" +"OUR WORLD;" "CHRONICLES OF THE BASTILE;" "AN OUTCAST;" "ADVENTURES OF +MAJOR RODGER SHERMAN PORTER;" "THE STORY OF A TROOPER;" "THE SIEGE OF +WASHINGTON," ETC. + + +ILLUSTRATED FROM ORIGINAL DRAWINGS BY A.R. WAUD. + +PHILADELPHIA: + +CLAXTON, REMSEN & HAFFELFINGER, + +819 AND 821 MARKET STREET + +1868. + +Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by + +F. COLBURN ADAMS, + +in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the United States for the +Eastern District of Pennsylvania. + + + + +PREFACE. + + +I never could see what real usefulness there was in a preface to a work +of this kind, and never wrote one without a misgiving that it would do +more to confuse than enlighten the reader. + +The good people of Nyack will pardon me, I know they will, for taking +such an unwarrantable liberty as to locate many of my scenes and +characters in and around their flourishing little town. I have no doubt +there are persons yet living there who will readily recognize some of my +characters, especially those of Hanz and Angeline Toodleburg. That the +very distinguished family of Von Toodleburgs, which flourished so +extensively in New York at a later period, as described in the second +series of this work, will also be recognized by many of my readers I +have not a doubt. Nyack should not be held responsible for all the sins +of the great Kidd Discovery Company, since some of the leading men +engaged in that remarkable enterprise lived on the opposite side of the +river, many miles away. + +The reader must not think I have drawn too extensively on my imagination +for material to create "No Man's Island" and build "Dunman's Cave" with. +About eighteen years ago I chanced to have for fellow traveller an odd +little man, of the name of Price, (better known as Button Price,) who +had been captain of a New Bedford or Nantucket whaleship. He was an +earnest, warm-hearted, talkative little man, and one of the strangest +bits of humanity it had ever been my good fortune to fall in with. He +had lost his ship on what he was pleased to call an unknown island in +the Pacific. He applied the word "unknown" for the only reason that I +could understand, that he did not know it was there until his ship +struck on it. He regarded killing a whale as the highest object a man +had to live for, and had no very high respect for the mariner who had +never "looked round Cape Horn," or engaged a whale in mortal combat. He +was on his way home to report the loss of his ship to his owners. An act +of kindness, and finding that I knew something of the sea, and could +sympathize with a sailor in misfortune, made us firm friends to the end +of our journey. + +To this odd little man, then, I am indebted for the story of the old +pirate of "No Man's Island," and what took place in "Dunman's Cave;" for +it was in just such a place, according to his own account, that he lost +his ship. Much of his story, as told to me then, seemed strange and +incredible--in truth, the offspring of a brain not well balanced. + +Time has shown, however, that there was much more truth in this old +whaleman's story than I had given him credit for. "No Man's Island" is +somewhat better known to navigators now, though still uninhabited and +bearing a different name. "Dunman's Cave," too, has been the scene of +more than one shipwreck within six years. + +Those who have carefully studied the causes producing "boars," or "tidal +waves," as they appear in different parts of the world, and the singular +atmospheric phenomena which at times accompany them, will not find it +difficult to understand the startling changes which took place in +"Dunman's Cave" when the "_Pacific_" was wrecked. They will understand, +also, why the "_set_" was so strong at so great a distance from the +entrance, and why the "boar" rose to such a height in a narrow gate, or +entrance formed by steep rocks, before it broke, and went rushing and +roaring onward with irresistible force. They will also understand what +produced the noise resembling the sound of a mighty waterfall. + + F.C.A. + + WASHINGTON, D.C., _January_, 1868. + + + + +CONTENTS. + + +BOOK I. + +Chapter. Page. + +I. Ancient Heads of the Family, 9 + +II. Coming into the World, 16 + +III. The New Comer, 21 + +IV. Changed Prospects, 25 + +V. Tite Toodleburg and a Modern Reformer, 30 + +VI. A Little Family Affair, 39 + +VII. The Town moved with Indignation, 46 + +[Transcriber's note: Chapter VIII is missing in book.] + +IX. Tite takes his Departure for the South Sea, 57 + +X. Mr. and Mrs. Chapman disagree, 63 + +XI. Mr. Chapman cultivates New Acquaintances, 70 + +XII. Strange Gentleman, 81 + +XIII. Captain Bottom, the Whale-Killer, 88 + +XIV. The Coming Winter and a Merry-Making, 100 + +XV. Mrs. Chapman and the Upper Circles, 109 + +XVI. A Night Expedition, 113 + +XVII. Mr. Gusher is introduced to Mattie, 123 + +XVIII. Rounding Cape Horn, 135 + +XIX. Making a Fortune, 143 + +[Transcriber's note: Chapter XX is missing in book.] + +XXI. Coming Events cast their Shadows, 158 + +XXII. The Chapmans move into the City, 166 + +XXIII. Mrs. Chapman gives a Ball, 176 + +XXIV. Very Perplexing, 186 + +XXV. An Unlucky Voyage, 196 + +XXVI. Dunman's Cave, 204 + +XXVII. Old Dunman and the Pirate's Treasure, 213 + +XXVIII. Mr. Gusher sustains his Character, 225 + +XXIX. Changed Circumstances, 230 + +XXX. A Terrible Calamity overtakes the Family, 237 + +XXXI. A Very Perplexing Situation, 247 + +XXXII. Harvest-Sunday, 251 + +XXXIII. Returned Home, 260 + +XXXIV. He brings Joy into the House, 273 + +XXXV. How He got away from the Island, 277 + +XXXVI. An Interesting Ceremony, 282 + + + + +THE VON TOODLEBURGS, + +OR THE + +History of a very Distinguished Family. + + + + +CHAPTER I. + +ANCIENT HEADS OF THE FAMILY. + + +Not more than a mile from the brisk little town of Nyack, on the Hudson +river, and near where the road makes a sharp turn and winds up into the +mountain, there lived, in the year 1803, an honest old farmer of the +name of Hanz Toodleburg. Hanz was held in high esteem by his neighbors, +many of whom persisted in pronouncing his name Toodlebug, and also +electing him hog-reef every year, an honor he would invariably decline. +He did this, he said, out of respect to the rights of the man last +married in the neighborhood. It mattered not to Hanz how his name was +pronounced; nor did it ever occur to him that some of his more ambitious +descendants might be called on in a court of law to explain the +circumstances under which their name was changed. I speak now of things +as they were when the old settlers around Nyack were honest and +unsuspecting, before Fulton had astonished them with his steamboat, or +those extravagant New Yorkers had invaded the town, building castles +overlooking the Tappan Zee, and school-houses where the heads of honest +Dutch children were filled with wicked thoughts. + +Hanz Toodleburg was short and stout of figure, had a full, round face, a +large blunt nose, and a small gray eye. Indeed, there was no mistaking +his ancestors, in whose language he spoke whenever the Dominie paid him +a visit, which he did quite often, for Hanz had always good cheer in the +house; and a bed for a stranger. In short, it was a boast of Hanz that +no traveller ever passed his house hungry, if he knew it. And it +increased his importance with his neighbors that he raised more bushels +to the acre than any of them, and sent better vegetables to the New York +market. More than that, he would tell all the big folks in the village, +with a nod of his head, that he owed no man a stiver he could not pay +before the sun set, and in such a way as to convey a sly hint that it +was more than they could do. The neighbors consulted Hanz concerning +their worldly affairs, and, indeed, received his opinions as good +authority. In fine, Hanz and the Dominie were called in to settle nearly +all the disputes arising between the country folks for miles around. And +it was said by these simple minded people that they got their rights +quicker and less expensively in this way than when they went to law in +the village and trusted to the magistrate and the lawyers for justice. + +As, however, there always will be idle and gossiping people everywhere +to say unkind things of their neighbors, especially when they are more +prosperous than themselves, so there were gossips and mischievous people +in the settlement who, when engaged over their cups, would hint at +suspicious enterprises in which Hanz's ancestors were engaged on the +Spanish Main. Indeed, they would hint at times that it was not saying +much for his family that his father had sailed with Captain Kidd, which +would account for the doubloons and Mexican dollars Hanz could always +bring out of a "rainy day." That Hanz had a stock of these coins put +safely away there could not be a doubt, for he would bring them out at +times and part with them, declaring in each case that they were the +last. But how he came by them was a mystery not all the wisdom of the +settlement could penetrate. It was conceded that if there was any man in +the settlement who knew more than Jacques, the schoolmaster, it was +Titus Bright, who kept the little inn near the big oak; and these two +worthies would discuss for hours over their toddy the question of how +Hanz came by his dollars and doubloons. But they never came to a +decision; and generally ended by sending their listeners home with their +wits worse perplexed than ever. It was all well enough for old Jacques +and the inn-keeper to show their knowledge of history; but the gossips +would have it that if Hanz's father had sailed with Captain Kidd he, of +course, knew where that bold pirate had buried his treasure, and had +imparted the secret to his son. Here was the way Hanz came possessed of +the doubloons and dollars. Indeed, it was more than hinted that Hanz had +been seen of dark and stormy nights navigating the Tappan Zee, alone in +his boat, and no one knew where he went. Another had it that he was sure +to part with a doubloon or two shortly after one of these excursions, +which told the tale. There were others who said it did not matter a fig +if Hanz Toodlebug's doubloons were a part of Kidd's hidden treasure; but +it was selfish of him not to disclose the secret, and by so doing give +his neighbors a chance to keep as good cows and sheep as he did. Hanz +was not the man to notice small scandal, and continued to smoke his pipe +and make his friends welcome whenever they looked in. Once or twice he +had been heard to say, that if anybody was particular to know how he +came by his doubloons and dollars he would tell them. There was a place +up in the mountain where he made them. + +I will say here, for the benefit of my readers, that the little old +house where Hanz Toodleburg lived, and about which there clustered so +many pleasant memories, still stands by the roadside, and is an object +of considerable curiosity. It is much gone to decay now, and a very +different person occupies it. There are persons still living in the +village who knew Hanz, and never pass the place without recurring to the +many happy hours spent under his roof. That was in the good old days, +before Nyack began to put on the airs of a big town. There is the +latticed arch leading from the gate to the door; the little veranda, +where the vines used to creep and flower in spring; the moss-covered +roof, and the big arm chair, made of cedar branches, where Hanz used to +sit of a summer evening contemplating the beauties of the Tappan Zee, +while drinking his cider and smoking his pipe. It was in this little +veranda that business of great importance to the settlers would at times +be discussed. The good sloop Heinrich was at that time the only regular +New York packet, making the round voyage every week. Her captain, one +Jonah Balchen, was much esteemed by the people of Nyack for his skill in +navigation; and it was said of him that he knew every rock and shoal in +the Tappan Zee, and no man ever lost his life who sailed with him. The +arrival of the good sloop Heinrich then was quite an event, and whenever +it occurred the neighbors round about would gather into Hanz's little +veranda to hear what news she brought from the city, and arrange with +Captain Balchen for the next freight. Indeed, these honest old Dutchmen +used to laugh at the idea of a man who would think of navigating the +Tappan Zee in a boat with a big tea-kettle in her bottom, and making the +voyage to New York quicker than the good sloop Heinrich. + +I have been thus particular in describing Hanz Toodleburg's little home, +since it was the birth-place of Titus Bright Von Toodleburg, who +flourished at a more recent date as the head of a very distinguished +family in New York, and whose fortunes and misfortunes it is my object +to chronicle. + +Having spoken only of one side of the family, I will proceed now to +enlighten the reader with a short account of the other, "Mine vrow, +Angeline," for such was the name by which Hanz referred to his good +wife, was a woman of medium size and height, and endowed with remarkable +good sense and energy. Heaven had also blessed her with that gentleness +of temper so necessary to make a home happy. They had, indeed, been +married nearly twenty years, and although nothing had come of it in the +way of an offspring, not a cross word had passed between them. It was +said to her credit that no housewife this side of the Tappan Zee could +beat her at making bread, brewing beer, or keeping her house in good +order. The frosts of nearly forty winters had whitened over her brows, +yet she had the manner and elasticity of a girl of eighteen, and a face +so full of sweetness and gentleness that it seemed as if God had +ordained it for man's love. Angeline's dress was usually of plain blue +homespun, woven by her own hands, and with her cap and apron of snowy +whiteness she presented a picture of neatness and comeliness not seen in +every house. + +There was a big, square room on the first floor, with a little bed room +adjoining, and an old-fashioned bed with white dimity curtains, fringe, +and tassels made by Angeline's own hand. Snow white curtains also draped +the windows; and there was a tidy and cosy air about the little bed room +that told you how good a housewife Angeline was. An old-fashioned +hand-loom stood in one corner of the big, square room; and a flax and a +spinning-wheel had their places in another. A farm-house was not +considered well furnished in those days without these useful implements, +nor was a housewife considered accomplished who could not card, spin, +and weave. Angeline carded her own wool, spun her own yarn, and weaved +the best homespun made in the settlement; and had enough for their own +use and some to sell at the store. In addition to that there was no +housewife more expert at the flax-wheel, and her homemade linen was +famous from one end to the other of the Tappan Zee. Hanz was, indeed, so +skilful in the art of raising, hetcheling, and dressing flax, that all +the neighbors wanted to borrow his hetchel. And if needs be he could +make reeds and shuttles for the loom, while Angeline always used +harnesses of her own make. And so industrious was this good wife that +you could rarely pass the house of a night without hearing the hum of +the wheel or the clink of the loom. + +The good people about Nyack were honest in those days, paid their debts, +were happy in their very simplicity, and had no thought of sending to +Paris either for their fabrics or their fashions. + +Now Angeline's father was a worthy blacksmith, an honest and upright +man, who lived hard by, had a house of his own, and owed no man a +shilling. This worthy blacksmith had two daughters, Angeline and +Margaret, both remarkable for their good looks, and both blessed with +loving natures. And it was said by the neighbors that the only flaw in +the character of this good man's family was made by pretty Margaret, who +went away with and married one Gosler, a travelling mountebank. This +man, it is true, asserted that he was a Count in his own country, and +that misfortune had brought him to what he was. His manners were, +indeed, those of a gentleman; and there were people enough who believed +him nothing more than a spy sent by the British to find out what he +could. + + + + +CHAPTER II. + +COMING INTO THE WORLD. + + +It was mentioned in the last chapter that Hanz Toodleburg had seen +twenty years of the happiest of wedded life; and yet that Angeline had +not increased his joys with an offspring. Thoughtless people made much +ado about this, and there were enough of them in the settlement to get +their heads together and say all sorts of unkind things to Hanz +concerning this family failing. I verily believe that the time of +one-half of the human family is engaged seeking scandal in the +misfortunes of the other. And I have always found that you got the +ripest scandal in the smallest villages; and Nyack was not an exception. +No wonder, then, that Hanz had to bear his share of that slander which +one-half the world puts on the other. Not an idle fellow at the inn, +where Hanz would look in of an evening, but would have his sly joke. +Many a time he had to "stand" cider and ale for the company, and +considered he got off cheap at that. And when they drank his health, it +was with insinuating winks and nods; one saying: + +"What a pity. He ought to have somebody to leave his little farm to." + +"Yes," another would interrupt; "if he had a son he'd be sure to leave +him the secret of Kidd's treasure." + +The gossips of the village were to change their tune soon. Dame rumor +had been whispering it around for a month that there was something in +the wind at Toodleburg's. And, to put it more plainly, it was added +that Hanz was soon to be made a happy man by the appearance of a little +Toodleburg. This change, or rather apparent change, in the prospects of +the family did not relieve Hanz from the tax for ale and cider levied on +him by the idle fellows at the inn. Indeed, he had to stand just twice +the number of treats in return for the compliments paid him as a man and +a Christian. It was noticed, also, that the Dominie took tea more +frequently at Hanz's table; and that Critchel, the little snuffy doctor, +who had practised in the settlement for a quarter of a century, and, +indeed, assisted in bringing at least one-half of its inhabitants into +the world, and of course was considered very safe in such cases, had +increased his visits at the house. + +Now these honest old burghers had almanacs made with strict regard to +truth, and if they prognosticated a storm it was sure to come. They +would not consider it safe to navigate the Tappan Zee on a day fixed by +the almanac for a storm. On the 5th day of January, 1805, in the almanac +that never failed Hanz, there was this: "Look out for a snow storm." +This time, however, the snow, if not the storm, was ahead of the +almanac. Indeed, it had been falling slowly and gently for two days; and +a white sheet of it, at least three inches deep, covered the ground on +the morning of the 5th. The weather had changed during the night, and +now the air was sharp and cold. Dark, bleak clouds hung along the +horizon in the northeast, the distant hills stood out sharp and cold, +and a chilling wind whispered and sighed through the leafless trees. +Then the wind grew stronger and stronger, the snow fell thicker and +faster, making fantastic figures in the air, then dancing and scudding +to the force of the gale, and shutting the opposite shore from sight. +Nyack lay buried in a storm, and the Tappan Zee was in a tempest. Snow +drifted through the streets, up the lanes, over the houses, and put +night-caps on the mountain tops. Snow danced into rifts in the roads and +across fields, and sent the traveller to the inn for shelter. Lowing +cattle sought the barn-yard for shelter, or huddled together under the +lee of some hay-stack, covered with snow. Night came, and still the snow +fell, and the wind blew in all its fury. + +It was on that cold, stormy night that a bright light might have been +seen burning in the little house where Hanz Toodleburg lived. The storm +had shook its frame from early morning; and now the windows rattled, +discordant sounds were heard on the veranda, wind sighed through the +crevices, and fine snow rifted in under the door and through the +latch-hole, and tossed itself into little drifts on the floor. Nyack was +buried in a storm that night. There was an old clock on the +mantle-piece, and it kept on ticking, and its ticks could be heard above +the storm. And the bright oak fire in the great fireplace threw out +shadows that flitted over the great loom, and the wheels, and the +festoons of dried apples, and the pumpkins that hung from the beams +overhead. And old Deacon, the faithful watch-dog, lay coiled up on the +flag hearth-stone. + +The old clock had nearly marked the hour of midnight as Hanz came out of +the little room in an apparently agitated state of mind. The dog raised +his head and moved his tail as Hanz approached the fire and threw some +sticks on. "Dere's no postponin' it; and it sthorms so," muttered Hanz, +shaking his head. Then he put on his big coat and boots, drew his cap +over his ears, and went out into the storm, leaving the big dog on +guard. How he struggled through the snow that night, what difficulty he +had in waking up his two nearest neighbors, and getting one of them to +send his son for Doctor Critchel, and what was said about such things +always happening of such a night, I will leave to the imagination of my +reader. + +It was nearly an hour before Hanz returned, bringing with him two stout, +motherly-looking dames. The storm had handled their garments somewhat +roughly, and they were well covered with snow. The old dog was pleased +to see them, and wagged them a welcome, and made sundry other signs of +his affection. And when they had shaken the snow from their garments, +and taken seats by the fire, Hanz gave them fresh pipes, which they +lighted and proceeded to enjoy while he went to preparing something warm +for their stomachs, and doing various other little things regarded as +indispensable on such an occasion. + +The storm had caught the little house by the shoulders, and was giving +it one of its most violent shakes, when the dog suddenly started up, +gave a growl, then walked solemnly to the door and listened. A footstep +in the old veranda, then the stamping of feet, and a knock at the door +came. It was Critchel, the little snuffy doctor, who entered, looking +for all the world like an enlarged snow-ball. These were the occasions +in which the doctor rose into the most importance, and as his coming had +been waited with great anxiety, great efforts were made by those present +to assure him of the esteem in which he was held. Even the dog would not +go to his accustomed place on the hearth until he had caressed the +doctor at least a dozen times. Although held in great respect by the +settlers, Critchel was what might be called a shabby-looking little man, +for his raiment consisted of a brown coat, which he had worn +threadbare, a pair of greasy pantaloons that were in shreds at the +bottom, a spotted vest, and a Spitlesfield neckerchief. Indeed, he was +as antique in his dress as in his ideas of the science of medicine. He +had a round, red face, a short, upturned red nose, and a very bald head, +which Hanz always declared held more sense than people were willing to +give him credit for. There was no quainter figure than this familiar old +doctor as seen mounted on his big-headed and clumsy-footed Canadian +pony, his saddle-bags well filled with pills and powders, and ready to +bleed or blister at call. He was considered marvelously skilful, too, at +drawing teeth and curing the itch, with which the honest Dutch settlers +were occasionally afflicted. I must mention, also, that an additional +cause of the great respect shown him by the settlers was that he took +his pay in such things as they raised on their little farms and could +best spare. + + + + +CHAPTER III. + +THE NEW COMER. + + +The storm ceased its fury at four o'clock, and a cold, bright, and calm +morning succeeded. The hills stood out in sharp, clear outlines, mother +earth had put on her cleanest cap, and there was not a ripple on all the +Tappan Zee. Hanz Toodleburg was now the happiest man in Nyack, for +Heaven had blessed his house and heart during the morning with as plump +and healthy a boy as ever was seen. There was a fond mother and a happy +father in the little house now; and the sweet innocent babe, their first +born, was like flowers strewn along their road of life. It was something +to live for, something to hope for, something to brighten their hopes of +the future, and to sweeten their love-dream. + +In spite of the snow drifts, news of this important event ran from one +end to the other of the settlement before the sun was an hour up, and +set it all aglow. The roadmaster was early at the door to warn Hanz out +to break roads, but excused him when he heard how happy a man he had +been made during the night. And when the merry men came along with their +oxen, and their sledges, and their drag-logs, ploughing through and +tossing the snow aside, and making a way for the traveller, there were +cheers given for honest Hanz and the little gentleman who had just come +to town. And as they ploughed along through the drifts, they struck up a +merry song, which so excited Hanz's emotions that he could not resist +the temptation to put on his coat and follow them. And when they reached +Titus Bright's inn that ruddy-faced host met them at the door and bade +them welcome under his roof, and invited them to drink flip at his +expense. Hanz was treated and complimented in steaming mugs, and the +health and happiness of mother and son were not forgotten. Even the +Dominie was sent for, and made to drink flip and tell a story, which he +did with infinite good humor. Then the school-master, who was not to be +behind any of them when there was flip in the wind, looked in to pay his +compliments to Hanz, for the snow had closed up his little school-house +for the day. But, in truth, the pedagogue had a weakness he could not +overcome, and when invited to take flip tossed off so many mugs as +completely to loose his wits, though his tongue ran so nimbly that he +was more than a match for the Dominie, who declined discussing a +question of religion with him, but offered to tell a story for every +song he would sing. Four mugs of flip and two songs and the +school-master went into a deep sleep in his chair, where he remained for +the rest of the day. + +The question as to who should name the young gentleman at Hanz's house +was now discussed. The names of various great men were suggested, such +as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Hanz shook his head +negatively at the mention of these. "It vas not goot to give a poy too +pig a name; t-makes um prout ven da grows up," he said. It was finally +agreed that the young gentleman should be called Titus Bright, after the +little ruddy-faced inn-keeper. And the little man was so pleased with +the idea of having his name engrafted on that of the Toodleburg family, +that he promised a fat turkey and the best pig of the litter for the +christening dinner. More flip was now drank, and the merry party shook +hands and parted in the best of temper. + +Hanz felt that as Heaven had blessed him and Angeline with this fine +boy, and so increased their joys, he must do something generous for his +friends. So, on the morning following he sent the Dominie a pig and a +peck of fine flour, for which that quaint divine thanked him and prayed +Heaven that he might send more. He gave the school-master a big pipe and +tobacco enough to last him a month. He also ordered the tailor to make +the pedagogue a new suit of homespun, something the poor man had not had +for many a day. School-mastering was not a business men got rich at in +those days, and poor Wiggins, for such was his name, had a hard time to +keep the wolf from his door. Indeed, he thought himself well paid with +four dollars a week and his victuals, which he got around among the +parents of his scholars. His worldly goods consisted of little else than +his birch and pipe, and the shabby clothes on his back. And as the +length of his engagements depended on his good behavior, which was none +of the best, he was frequently seen tramping from village to village in +search of a job. + +As for Doctor Critchel, Hanz felt that he owed him a debt of gratitude +he could never pay, even were he to give him the farm. It was no use +offering the doctor a new suit of clothes, as he was never known to wear +such things. As for snuff-boxes, he had at least a dozen. Hanz sent him +a goose to roast for his dinner, a fat sheep, and a bag of extra flour, +just from the mill. + +I may have been too particular in describing how and when this young +gentleman came into the world, but my reason for it is that there may +be those among my readers who will recognize the great and very +distinguished family of Von Toodleburg, which not many years ago amazed +New York with its brilliancy, and be anxious to know some of the ups and +downs of its early history. + + + + +CHAPTER IV. + +CHANGED PROSPECTS. + + +Twelve years have passed since that stormy night when Titus Bright +Toodleburg--for the young gentleman as I have said before, was named +after the inn-keeper, came into the world. Great changes have taken +place since then. Tite, as the neighbors all call him, is now a bright, +intelligent boy, and a great favorite in the village. Hanz and Angeline +are proud of him, and he promises to be the joy of their declining +years. Hanz had always held to the opinion that men with too much +learning were dangerous to the peace of a neighborhood, inasmuch as it +caused them to neglect their farms and take to pursuits in which the +devil was served and honest people made beggars. He had, however, sent +Tite to school, and now the young gentleman could read, write, and +cypher; and this, he declared, was learning enough to get a man safe +through the world if he but followed an honest occupation and saved his +money. In addition to so much learning, the young gentleman had early +discovered an enterprising spirit, and a remarkable taste for +navigation. When only six years old he had his tiny sloops and +schooners, rigged by himself, on every duck-pond in the neighborhood. +And he could sail them with a skill remarkable in one so young. Indeed, +these duck-ponds were a source of great annoyance to Angeline, for +whenever one of Tite's crafts met with an accident he would wade to its +relief, no matter what the condition or color of the water. + +Hanz shook his head, and felt that no good would come of this taste for +the sea on the part of Tite. He intended to bequeath him the farm, so +that he could spend his life like an honest man in raising good +vegetables for the New York market. Following the sea, Hanz urged, was a +very dangerous occupation, and where one man made any money by it, more +than a dozen lost their lives by storms. But Tite was not to be put off +by such arguments. The spirit of adventure was in the boy, and all other +objects had to yield to his natural inclinations. And now, at the age of +twelve, we find Tite a smart, sprightly cabin-boy, on board the good +sloop Heinrich, making the voyage to New York and back once a week, and +taking his first lessons in practical seamanship. + +Wonderful changes had been developed along the beautiful Hudson during +these twelve years. People in the country said New York was getting to +be a very big, and a very wicked city. Already her skirmishers, in a +line of little houses, were pushed beyond the canal, and were +obliterating the cow-paths. The honest old Dutch settlers shrugged their +shoulders, and said it was not a good sign to see people get rich so +fast. Indeed, they declared that these fast and extravagant New Yorkers, +who were building great houses and sending big ships to all parts of the +world, would bring ruin on the country. + +A ship of five hundred tons had been added to the old London line, and +her great size was an object of curiosity. But the man who projected her +was regarded by careful merchants as very reckless, and not a safe man +to trust. + +That which troubled the minds of these peaceable old settlers most was +Mr. Fulton and his steamboat. Steam they declared to be a very +dangerous thing. And, as for this Mr. Fulton, he should be sent to an +insane asylum, before he destroyed all his friends, and lost all his +money in this dangerous undertaking. He might navigate the river with a +big tea-kettle in the bottom of his boat, but he would be sure to set +all the houses along the river on fire. And who was to pay the damages? +Steam was, however, a reality, and the little Fire Fly went puffing and +splashing up and down the river, alarming and astonishing the people +along its banks. She could make the voyage from the upper end of the +Tappan Zee to New York in a day, no matter how the wind blew. Hanz +Toodleburg called the Fire Fly an invention of the devil, and nobody +else. The bright blaze of her furnaces, and the long trail of fire and +sparks issuing from her funnel of a dark night, gave a spectre-like +appearance to her movements, that rather increased a belief amongst the +superstitious that she was really an invention of the evil one, sent for +some bad purpose. + +A meeting was called at Hanz Toodleburg's house to consider the +dangerous look of things along the river. The Dominie and the +schoolmaster, and all the wise men in the settlement, were present, and +gave their opinions with the greatest gravity. If this Mr. Fulton, it +was argued, could, with the aid of the evil one, build these steamboats +to go to New York and back in a day, why there was an end to the +business of sloops and barges. And if the honest men who owned these +vessels were thrown out of business, how were they to get bread for +their families? These new inventions, Hanz argued, would be the ruin of +no end of honest people. + +The schoolmaster, who assumed great wisdom on all such occasions, and +who had tossed off several pots of beer during the evening, put the +whole matter in a much more encouraging light. He had read something +about steam, he said, and knew that it was a very dangerous thing for a +man to trifle with. Mr. Fulton had built his steamboat one hundred and +nine feet long; and he could get to New York and back in a day, if +nothing happened to his boiler, which was all the time in danger of +bursting. Then if the boiler bursted, very likely the boat and all in +her would go to the bottom. Just let that happen once in the Tappan Zee, +and there would be an end to Mr. Fulton and his invention for getting +people to New York quick. Just let him set the Tappan Zee afire once, +and people would make such a storm that nothing more would be heard of +his inventions. When there was such danger of losing one's life +travelling in this way, what careful farmer, who had a family depending +on him, would think of either going himself or sending his produce to +market in such a way? There was no wisdom in the thing. The people would +stick to the sloops. That was the only safe way for sensible people to +get to market. Let them stick to the sloops, and Mr. Fulton would not +build a castle of what he got by his inventions. + +The meeting was highly gratified at what the schoolmaster had said, and, +indeed, felt so much relieved that Hanz ordered a keg of fresh beer to +be tapped. These noisy, splashing steamboats would frighten people, and +by that means the good old-fashioned way of getting to market would not +be interfered with. It was also a source of great relief to these honest +people, that when those extravagant New Yorkers had spent all their +money on such wild and dangerous experiments, they would be content to +stay at home and mind their own business. Another source of great alarm +to these honest people was that several New Yorkers had come to Nyack, +and were building large houses, and otherwise setting examples of +extravagance to their children, when it was reported that they did not +pay their honest debts in town. The people of Hudson, too, were going +wild over a project for establishing a South-sea Company, and sending +ships to the far off Pacific ocean--where the people were, it had been +said, in the habit of eating their friends--to catch whales. Now, as the +people of Hudson had no more money than was needed at home, this +dangerous way of spending all they had was not to be justified. + +Satisfied that they had settled a question of grave importance, and in +which the great interests of the country were involved, these honest +Dutchmen smoked another pipe and drank another mug of beer, and then +went quietly to their homes, feeling sure that the world and all Nyack +would be a gainer by what they had done. + + + + +CHAPTER V. + +TITE TOODLEBURG AND A MODERN REFORMER. + + +Young Tite Toodleburg has grown up to be a boy of sixteen. A bright, +handsome fellow he is, every inch a sailor, and full of the spirit of +adventure. There is something more than Dutch blood in Tite, and it +begins to show itself. His figure is erect and slender, his hair soft +and flaxen, and his blue eyes and fresh, smiling face, almost girlish in +its expression, gave to his regular features a softness almost feminine. +And yet there was something manly, resolute, and even daring in his +actions. There was no such thing as fear in his nature. He had acquired +such a knowledge of seamanship that he could handle the good sloop +Heinrich quite as skilfully as the skipper, and, indeed, make the voyage +to New York as promptly as the greatest navigator on the Tappan Zee. He +was expert, too, at taking in and delivering out cargo, could keep the +sloop's account, and drive as good a trade as any of them with the +merchants in Fly Market. In this way Tite made a host of friends, who +began to look forward to the time when he would have a sloop of his own, +and be in a way to do friendly acts for them, perhaps to make a fortune +for himself. + +Tite thought very differently. Navigating the river in a sloop, to be +passed by one of Mr. Fulton's steamboats, was not the sort of sea-faring +that suited his ambition. He had seen big ships come home, after long +voyages, and the majesty of their appearance excited his spirit of +adventure. He had also spent his evenings reading the works of +celebrated navigators and travellers; and these very naturally increased +his curiosity to know more of the world and see the things they had +seen. He had also looked out through the Narrows of New York harbor, and +his young heart had yearned to be on the broad ocean beyond. If he could +only master all the mysteries of Bowditch, be a skilful navigator, and +capable of sailing a ship to any part of the world, and see strange +things and people--that day might come, he thought to himself. He had +listened, too, for hours at a time, to the stories of old sailors who +had come on board the sloop while in port. One had been to India, and +another to Ceylon; and both told wonderful stories concerning the +voyages they had made and the people they had met. Another had seen +every port in the North Pacific, had been wrecked on Queen Charlotte's +Island, and told wonderful stories of his adventures in rounding Cape +Horn. His adventures among the South Sea Islands were of the most +romantic kind, and colored so as to incite the ambition of a venturesome +young lad like Tite to the highest pitch. There was another old sailor +who had sailed the South and North Pacific, had killed his score of +whales, and been as many times within an inch of losing his own life. + +These stories so fired the young gentleman's imagination that he +resolved to try his fortune at a whaling voyage as soon as the people of +Hudson sent their first ship out. There was the wide world before him, +and perhaps he might find the means of making a fortune in some distant +land. But how was he to break this resolution to his kind parents, whom +he loved so dearly? What effect would it have on his mother, who doted +on him, and for whom he had the truest affection? His mind hung between +hope for the future and duty to his parents. Regularly every Saturday +afternoon Tite had come home, received his mother's blessing, and put +his earnings into her hands for safe-keeping. There would be an end of +this if he went to the South Sea. Then his parents were both getting +old, and would soon need a protector, and if anything serious happened +to them during his absence how could he ever forgive himself. Week after +week and month after month did Tite ponder these questions in his mind, +and still his resolution to see the world grew stronger and stronger. + +It was about this time that there settled in Nyack a queer and very +inquisitive sort of man of the name of Bigelow Chapman. He was a +restless, discontented sort of man, very slender of figure, with sharp, +well-defined features, keen gray eye, and wore his dark hair long and +unkept. His manner was that of a man discontented with the world, which, +he said, needed a great deal of reforming; indeed, that it could be +reformed, ought to be reformed, and that he was the man to do it. He had +been the founder of Dogtown, Massachusetts, where he had built up a very +select community of keen-witted men and women--just to set an example to +the world of how people ought to live. Dolly Chapman, his wife, (for +what would a reformer be without a wife,) was a ponderous woman, +weighing more than two hundred pounds, and a proof that even in +matrimony the opposites meet. She was a fussy, ill-bred woman, spoke +with a strong nasal twang, and a sincere believer in all the reforms +advocated by her husband, though she differed with him on one or two +points of religion. And there was Mattie Chapman, a bright, bouncing +girl of fifteen, with rosy cheeks and fair hair, ambitious for one of +her age, and evidently inclined to make a show in the world. These +constituted the Chapman family. + +Dogtown, of which I made mention, was a creation of Chapman's. With it +he was to demonstrate how the world could be reformed, and how the +prejudices were to be driven from other people's minds. Strong-minded +people from various towns in Massachusetts came and settled in Dogtown, +invested their money, were to do an equal share of work, and receive an +equal share of profits, and live together as happily as lambs. But +Dogtown did not long continue a paradise. Indeed, it soon became famous +for two things: for the name of Bigelow Chapman, and for having more +crazy and quarrelsome people in it than could be found in any other town +in Massachusetts, which was saying a good deal. The brothers and +sisters, for such they called themselves, got to quarrelling among +themselves on matters of politics and religion, though charity was a +thing they made no account of. In truth, there was more politics than +religion in their preaching. + +Chapman constituted himself treasurer of the community, and some little +private speculations of his led to a belief among the brothers and +sisters that his mind was not solely occupied with schemes for reforming +the world. To tell the truth, Bigelow Chapman was not so great a fool as +his followers. He had intended, when Dogtown got thoroughly under way, +to sell out, put the money in his pocket, and employ his genius +somewhere else. He, however, undertook the enterprise of building a +church on speculation, being persuaded to do so by an outside Christian. + +The church was to be a large, handsome building, with a butcher's shop +and a grocery, a shoe store and a confectionery in the basement, and a +school and a dancing academy up stairs; so that the brothers and +sisters could get everything they wanted, religion included, in one +locality. But the enterprise failed for want of funds to finish it, and +Dogtown went to the dogs, and the Chapman family to Nyack. Report has it +that the church was afterwards finished and converted into an insane +asylum, where several of the brothers and sisters lived for the rest of +their lives. + +It was hinted that Chapman had brought some money to Nyack with him, but +exactly how much no one knew. The only thing positively known about him +at that time was that he had a great number of new ideas, all of which +he was in great haste to develope. Indeed, he soon had Nyack in a state +of continual agitation. He declared it his first duty to open the eyes +of the Dutch settlers to truth and right; then to get them to thinking; +and finally to make fortunes for all of them. He begun business, +however, by quarrelling with nearly everybody in the village, and +asserting that he knew more than all of them. + +Twice he had Titus Bright, the inn-keeper, up before the magistrate and +fined for selling liquor in opposition to law. He proclaimed it highly +immoral to sell liquor at all, and told Bright to his teeth that no +honest man would do it. For this he had been twice kicked out of the inn +by Bright, who damned him as a meddling varlet, not to be tolerated in a +peaceable village. Again he had Bright up before the magistrate, who +justified the aggression, but fined the aggressor ten dollars a kick, +which Bright considered cheap enough considering what was got for his +money. Bright declared it a principle with him to give his customers +what they wanted, and let them be the judge of their own necessities. +Bigelow Chapman held that mankind was a big beast, to be subdued and +governed by laws made for his subjection. It never occurred to him, +however, that there might be reason in the opinions of others. Finding, +however, that he could not get the better of Bright in any other way, he +organized a company and set up an opposition tavern, where a traveller +could feel at home and have none of the annoyances of beer. The new inn +was to be conducted on strictly temperance principles, and the price of +board was to be reduced a dollar a week. But the principle of temperance +was carried out so rigidly in the fare that travellers, although treated +politely enough, found it difficult to get anything to eat, to say +nothing of drink. + +While this was going on Mrs. Bigelow Chapman was busying herself getting +up an anti-tea-and-coffee-drinking society. She declared that this +coffee and tea-drinking was nothing less than an oppression, breaking +down people's health and making them poor, while the grocers who sold +the stuff were getting rich. It was evident, also, that she was carrying +her principles out on the table of the new inn. However commendable +these reforms might be in the eyes of a true reformer, they were not +exactly the thing to satisfy the wants of hungry travellers. The new inn +soon got up an excellent reputation for giving its customers nothing but +politeness and clean linen. This not being satisfactory to the +travelling public generally, the establishment had to close its doors +for want of customers. Chapman was surprised at this. He could not +understand why reformers were not better appreciated about Nyack. The +stock-holders, however, had lost all their money, and were glad to sell +out to Chapman, which they did for a trifle, and that was all he +wanted. + +People began to inquire what the big building would next be turned into. +Mrs. Chapman and her dear husband, as she called him, were always +projecting something new. Indeed, she saw two fortunes in the future +where Chapman only saw one. The thought invaded her mind that there was +a fortune to be made by turning the big house into a great moral +progress boarding-school for young ladies, where "all the proprieties" +would be strictly attended to. Yes, "the proprieties" would take with +steady-minded people. She could attend to the proprieties, and dear +Chapman could look after the little money affairs. She did not want to +trouble herself with the sordid things of this world; she only wanted to +reform it. And to do that you must begin at the bottom. You must teach +young people, and especially young ladies, the value of reforms. In that +way you enable them to reform their husbands when they get them, and +also make them comprehend the value of new ideas. As for old people, she +declared it time wasted to try to get new ideas into their heads. + +Chapman congratulated his dear wife on this new and grand idea. He +agreed with her that a woman was just the thing to straighten up a +husband in need of mental and physical reformation. But it would not do +to start the enterprise until you could get people to take stock enough +to insure a sound basis. He did not care about money himself, still it +was necessary to the success of all great enterprises. And seeing that +the inn had failed, though based on great moral principles, he was not +quite sure that the people would hasten to take stock in the new +enterprise. + +It was also an objection with Chapman that with such an institution +there would be nothing to run opposition to except a few beer-drinking +school-masters, who got their victuals and fifteen dollars a month for +driving a knowledge of the rule of three into the heads of little Dutch +children. How different it would be with a church. And then the big inn +could be made such an excellent church, at such a small expense. A man +owning a church could feel himself strong in both politics and religion, +and have all the quarrels he wanted. Chapman was delighted with this new +idea of his; and his good wife supposed it was infinitely superior to +her own. It was another proof to her that there was no greater man in +the world than her dear Chapman. Once get the church going, and with a +preacher of the Dogtown school, to preach out and out transcendentalism, +and another ism or two, and they could get up an opposition that would +be popular with the people. In that way the thing would be sure to go. + +Chapman declared this a golden opportunity. He had felt for some time +like getting up something that would drive the devil and all the +Dutchmen out of Nyack and into the Tappan Zee, and establish an entire +new order of things. + +It was agreed between Chapman and his good wife that the church should +be put on its legs without delay; that the work of reforming Nyack and +the rest of the world should begin at once. As funds were necessary to +all great enterprises, and Chapman was inclined at all times to husband +his own, the good woman got up a regular season of religious +tea-parties, exclusively "for ladies." Mrs. Chapman was intent on +popularizing the enterprise, and to that end had inserted on her cards +of invitation, "exclusively for ladies." There was nothing like tea when +you wanted to make a great reform movement popular. Chapman had more +than once said that woman, under the inspiration of tea, made a mighty +engine in moving the world. Under its influence they gave enlargement +and development to progressive ideas. It had been charged that great +generals won their most celebrated battles under the influence of strong +drink. He had known great generals to win great battles under the +inspiration of tea alone. Tea and women were prodigious in their way. + +The tea parties were not only got on their legs, but soon became very +popular. There were women enough in Nyack to give them, and neither rain +nor hail would keep them home of a Thursday evening. The great value of +progressive ideas was thoroughly discussed over these cups; and the fact +that their husbands were to be brought into a line of subjugation not +before anticipated had an inspiring effect. In short, female Nyack began +to carry a high head, and to make male Nyack feel that he was no longer +master in its own house. Dolly Chapman presided at these tea-parties +with that smartness peculiar to women of her class, taking particular +pains to explain how much could be done for Nyack and the world--if only +the women could get the direction of things into their own hands. A +church as the means of carrying out these new and grand ideas was +exactly what was wanted. The tea-party women all took up the idea, and +the enterprise was made so popular that each resolved herself into a +begging committee, and soon had collected the sum of seven hundred +dollars, an amount sufficient to put the thing on its legs. + + + + +CHAPTER VI. + +A LITTLE FAMILY AFFAIR. + + +While the heads of the Chapman family were engaged in their great work +of reform, and Hanz Toodleburg, as the head of the Dutch settlers, was +preparing to resist all their efforts, Mattie Chapman and young Tite +were engaging in a matter of a very different nature. A little flame of +love had begun to burn in their youthful hearts, and was giving out such +manifestations of tenderness. I have noticed that when once the little +under-current of love begins to ebb and flow in young and innocent +hearts, it will break over whatever obstacles you put in its way, and +rarely stops until it has reached that haven of happiness called +matrimony. The parents of these young people seemed to have been cast in +opposite moulds, mentally and physically. Their modes of thought, their +expectations, and their manner of living differed entirely. Hanz +Toodleburg was simple-minded, honest, contented with his lot in the +world, smoked his pipe, and lived in peace with his neighbors. And these +he esteemed the greatest blessings a man could enjoy. Chapman was +restless, designing, ambitious of wealth, and ready always to quarrel +with those who did not fall in with his opinions. Indeed, he never +seemed happier than when he had a quarrel on hand; and he had the rare +tact of turning a quarrel into profit. + +It was very different with the young people. In their innocent hearts +the fires of love had been kindled, and they were burning brighter and +brighter every day. The thought that they should incur opposition from +their parents never entered their minds. They would meet together of a +Sunday afternoon, and walk by the river side. They would meet and talk +over the gate as Tite passed and re-passed Chapman's house. And Mattie +was sure to meet him at the gate as he passed on his way to New York. +And then there would be an affectionate good-bye, and Mattie would watch +him until he had disappeared beyond the hill. The ordinary observer +would have seen in Tite's blushes and confused manner, whenever he met +Mattie, how the current of his love was setting. And when he returned at +the end of the week there was something for Mattie, some little token of +his affection; a proof that he had cherished her in his thoughts while +absent. + +This little love affair did not fail to attract the attention of the +Chapman family. Nor was honest Hanz Toodleburg indifferent to what was +going on. Indeed, the gossips at the inn had joked Hanz about it, +hinting at a future connection of the two families. To all of which Hanz +would reply that Tite was only a boy yet, and had a good deal of other +kinds of business to do before thinking of what sort of a wife he +wanted. "If ta torter ish like ta fader, sho quarrelsome, t'man what +gets her for a vife don't lives in t'house mit her," Hanz would always +conclude. + +Young as Tite was, he began to look on the matter seriously. The whaling +voyage was still exciting his ambition, however, and he began to enquire +of every one he thought likely to know, when the people of Hudson would +send their first ship to the South Sea. Then the thought of leaving +Mattie would depress his spirits, and for a time shake his resolution. +The trouble with him at first was how he could separate from his +parents; now his love for Mattie was added to his obstacles. + +Chapman had not failed to notice this little affair of the affections +between the young people. He had noticed, also, that it had attracted +the attention of his wife. But neither had spoken of it. In short, +Chapman was anxious to have his wife refer to it first, to see in what +light she viewed it. And Mrs. Chapman was equally anxious to have her +dear husband, as she called him, express an opinion on the subject +before she gave one. He had once or twice noticed that when the young +people were at the gate she would call Mattie and tell her it was time +to come in; that she ought not to stay there so long talking to a +sailor-boy. Mattie would yield obedience with blushes and an air of +reluctance, the meaning of which her mother properly understood. + +The truth of the matter was that the affair had engaged Chapman's +thoughts for some time; and it suddenly occurred to him that the whole +thing might be turned to profit. Toodleburg was a man of some +consequence among the people; they had great confidence in his +integrity, and implicitly believed him possessed of a secret that would +make the fortune of every man in Nyack. He had been evolving that secret +in his mind for some time, and if he could in any way get the confidence +of Hanz, and obtain the secret, or allow himself to be used in +connection with it, he could make money enough to live like a lord in +New York. And that was exactly what Mrs. Chapman wanted. The good woman, +however, had been so much engaged of late getting the new church on its +legs, and negotiating for the services of the Reverend Warren Holbrook, +of Dogtown, Massachusetts, who was to spread the doctrines of +transcendentalism, and a variety of other isms, before the people, and +turn Nyack out of doors, religiously speaking, that she felt that she +had not performed her whole duty towards Mattie. + +There had been a religious tea-party at Chapman's house, where the +affair of the new church had been talked over, and the opening day +arranged. Mrs. Chapman was in her best dress, with a profusion of +ribbons streaming down her back, and a puffy cap on her head. She had +received a letter from the Reverend Warren Holbrook, accepting the offer +of three hundred dollars a year and board and washing, and saying, that +in addition to transcendentalism, he would advocate the equality of the +great human family. If these poor, benighted Dutch people who lived +about Nyack would only be regenerated and made progressive. Mrs. Chapman +found great consolation in this letter, and sat down to read it to her +dear husband, who had moved up nearer to the lamp and opened the last +great-work on the new doctrine. + +When she had finished reading it she paused for a moment, and then +spoke. "Have you noticed, my dear," she enquired, and again hesitating, +"what has been going on between our Mattie--?" Again she hesitated. + +Expecting what was coming, Chapman interposed by saying, "Don't be +afraid to speak, my darling; I know what you mean." + +"I meant," resumed Mrs. Chapman, blushing and looking very serious, "I +meant, have you noticed the attention that sailor-boy--(young Toodlebug +did you call him?) horrors! what a name--was paying to our Mattie?" + +"Burg, my dear, not bug," rejoined Chapman. + +"People are beginning to talk about it, and they say such things!" The +good woman blushed, and assumed an air of great seriousness. "The young +man may be well enough, but then the Toodlebugs are only a common Dutch +family." + +"Toodleburgs, my dear, not bugs. The name makes a great difference with +some people," rejoined Chapman, correctively. "Very natural, my dear, +very natural. The most natural thing in the world for young people to +make love. And the most natural thing in the world is that people should +talk about it. It is according to the principles of true philosophy. You +must not be alarmed, my dear, when you see young people make love. Harm +rarely comes of it, and it generally ends in a very small affair." + +"Yes, my dear," replied the good woman, "and experience has proved to me +that it sometimes ends in a very large affair. A little flirtation +between young people--" + +"Should be encouraged, my darling," interrupted Chapman. + +"I was going to say," she continued, "was not objectionable. But when +looks come to be serious, the equality of things should be enquired +into. Time's a coming when we may be rich, and live in New York, and be +somebody, and move with the best of people. I looks forward to it, my +dear; and I am sure the enterprises we have on hand will be a success. +It will never do to marry our daughter to a sailor-boy, to say nothing +of connecting ourselves to a common Dutch family--" + +"You talk like a philosopher, my darling; but I have known worse things +done, and great results flow from them. That young man promises well, +and as for old Hanz, he is a man of more importance than you think. +Some of these Dutch people are slow, but solid," rejoined Chapman, +shutting up the book. "I have an object in view, and this little, +innocent flirtation may help to improve it. At least, it can do no +harm." + +"It is not good to let anything go on that might lead to harm," resumed +the good woman. "Mattie has good looks, and I intend that she shall have +a polished education, and shine in society some day. You have always +agreed with me, my dear, that it was good to look forward. How could +Mattie shine in society with such a husband, and such a name? The very +name of Toodlebug would sink us. Yes, my dear, sink us right down--" + +"Wrong again, my dear; Tutle-burg. You may put an _e_ in it instead of +an _r_, if you please. That's where the difference is," interrupted +Chapman. + +"I don't care, my dear; these polite people would turn up their noses, +and get it Too-dle-bug. They are very nice on names. If the young man +should get up in the world and keep a carriage, people would say 'there +goes Too-dle-bug's carriage--oh! what a name. What low people they must +have been.' If they should own a house in the fashionable part of the +city. We should both look forward to that, you know. Would'nt it be a +horrid name to read on the door? Toodlebug!" + +"Tutle-burg, my dear; there's a big difference," interposed Mr. Chapman. + +"As you says; but nice people would not pronounce it except with a bug," +continued the good woman, looking discomfitted. "You have given so much +time to progress and reforming the world, that you don't understand +these matters as well as I do. I am sure there would be blushes and +smiles enough over such a name. Think of our daughter being Mrs. +Toodlebug, (I pronounce it with a b-u-g, you see,) and inviting nice +people to her reception. There would be people enough at that reception +to make light of the name. Yes, Mr. Chapman, you might as well have her +married to a Mr. Straddlebug. It's so very vulgar, my dear." + +"As to that," replied Chapman, "the world is a great vulgarity, and only +puts on politeness for appearance sake. The young man might have his +name changed, or he might add something to it to soften it. How would +you like Von Toodleburg, my dear?" + +"Never can be softened; never! The Von would do something to lift a +family up into respectability. And then, socially speaking, there was +such a wide difference between them distinguished Dutch families and +them common Dutch families." + +"What would you have me do about it, darling?" enquired Chapman, +submissively. + +"Oppose it, my dear!" replied Mrs. Chapman, bowing, and becoming +earnest. "Oppose it. You know how to oppose everything, and surely you +can oppose this." + +This reply troubled Chapman considerably. He had for once found +something he would rather encourage than oppose. But he had a motive for +his action, as will be seen hereafter. + + + + +CHAPTER VII. + +THE TOWN MOVED WITH INDIGNATION. + + +It was less than a week after the scenes we have described in the +foregoing chapter took place, that the good sloop Heinrich arrived, +having made her weekly voyage to New York and back. A small, ill-favored +man, with a very long red beard, and very long red hair, might have been +seen stepping ashore, with a book and an umbrella under his arm, and +wending his way up the lane, followed by Tite, carrying a corpulent +carpet-bag. There was a combative air about the little man, who stared +with a pair of small, fierce eyes, through a pair of glaring spectacles +at every one he met. He was dressed in a shabby black suit, that hung +loosely on his lean figure. This, with a broad, rolling collar, a pair +of russet brogans, and a common straw hat, turned up at one side, +completed his wardrobe, and gave an odd appearance to the man. Indeed, +the gentleman had no taste for the vanities of the world, and parted his +hair in the middle to save trouble. The ordinary observer might easily +have mistaken him for a school-master out of employment and in distress. +That such a man was to upset the settled opinions of a big town, few +persons would have believed. Such, however, was this odd-looking little +man's mission, and there was no end of new ideas contained in that +little bumpy forehead of his. + +The new arrival was the much-expected Reverend Warren Holbrook, from +Dogtown last. As I have said before, he looked askance and inquisitively +at every one he met as he walked up the lane. He bowed, too, and had a +smile for all the females; then he enquired the name and condition of +those who lived in each house he came to--how many children they had, +and whether they were boys or girls. Now he paused and rested on his +umbrella when he had reached a bit of high ground, and gazed over Nyack +generally, and then over the Tappan Zee. Here was the new field of the +great labors before him. How often he had taken Dogtown by the neck and +shaken her up severely. The day might come when he would have to take +Nyack by the neck and give her a good shaking up, morally and +religiously. Mrs. Chapman had written him to say that Nyack was a bad +place, secularly and otherwise. + +The whole Chapman family (including the big dog) was out at the door to +welcome the stranger; and such a warm greeting as he got. Mrs. Chapman +assured him that the best in the house had been prepared for him, and +that she had got the town in a state of great anxiety to see him. To +tell the truth, this busy, bustling woman had been blowing a noisy +trumpet for him in advance, and enlisting a large amount of female +sympathy by stating that he was preeminent as an advocate of woman's +rights in all things. + +Of course the Reverend Warren Holbrook's arrival soon got noised over +Nyack, and the female mind was in a state of great agitation. Before +bed-time a number of curious and somewhat aged women dropped in to pay +their respects to the gentleman, and see for themselves what this man of +great natural gifts, who was to reform all Nyack and the world +generally, was like. + +There was one member of the Chapman family, however, not pleased with +the way things were going, and that was Mattie. When the older Chapmans +had taken their guest into the house, she embraced the opportunity to +have a talk with Tite, and reproached him for what she had seen him do. + +"Now, Tite," said she, looking earnestly into his face, "if you have any +respect for me, never walk behind a man, carrying his carpet-bag--never! +And such a looking man as that! You are as good as he, or anybody else, +and if you don't think yourself so, other people wont think so for you. +Never think you are not as good as somebody. Don't act as a help for +anybody, for if you do you will be set down for nobody all your life." + +At first Tite hardly knew what to say in reply. The nature of the rebuke +showed the deep interest Mattie felt in him. "If I had taken pay," said +Tite, hesitating, "'twould have been different. I carried his +carpet-bag, I know, but then I did it as a favor; and, as you saw, +declined to take the sixpence he offered me. But I'll do as you say, +Mattie, and won't do so again; for I want to please you, you know." The +words fell nervously from Tite's lips, and there was a throbbing at the +heart he could not suppress. + +"My mother," resumed Mattie, in a frank, girlish manner, "brought this +man Warren Holbrook into the house at Dogtown, and he got father into +such a deal of trouble. He was always quarrelling with somebody. He got +up a disturbance in the church. And then the church all went to pieces. +Oh, what a church it was! And mother thinks he's such a nice man. I +don't. Don't carry his carpet-bag again, Tite. Don't make a menial of +yourself for anybody." After saying this she walked part of the way home +with Tite, and then they parted with a sweet good-night. + +The following day being Sunday, and the Reverend Warren Holbrook having +brought several prepared sermons with him, service was held in the new +church at the regular morning hour. The women gathered in great numbers, +and nearly filled the church; and the odd appearance of the little man, +as he took his place in the pulpit, was a subject of general remark. + +His sermon, I may here state, was one of the most singular and +pyrotechnical ever preached in Nyack. He began by saying that Christ had +risen, and was with them in person. He had come to Nyack, he added, to +tell the truth and preach to sinners, for he understood the devil had +had things his own way for a long time in the town; and he understood +also there were sinners enough in Nyack to sink it. The world had +reached a stage of wickedness when it needed reforming. It must be +reformed, or it would sink under the weight of its wickedness. People +were getting rich, and with great riches there always came pride and +wickedness. He continued in this strain for nearly an hour, mixing up +transcendentalism, rationalism, unitarianism, and a number of other +isms, so unartistically as to astonish and confound his audience, and +give his hearers something to talk about for a week. + +Then he suddenly broke away from his disputed points, as he called them, +and took up the subject of woman's wrongs. "My hearers," said he, +pausing and pointing upward with the fore-finger of his right hand, +"What would the world be without woman? From the very beginning of the +world she has been the victim of wrong, great wrong. Man has sinned +against her by making her his inferior. God never intended that she +should be the inferior of man. He never would have created her with a +form so beautiful, and a voice so soft and musical, if he had not +intended her for man's superior. And the day will come, and come soon, +too, when she will have her rights, and her voice will be heard in the +government of the nation. The angel that she is! Woman is a great power. +She has made kings and conquerors, and she can unmake them. She has +influenced the acts of statesmen, and made children of grave Senators. +Yes, my hearers, her power can be made greater than the throne. And yet +how few husbands appreciate their wives as they should do." Here the +reverend gentleman paused for a few seconds, and cast meaning glances at +several of his male hearers, who were evidently not inclined to receive +his remarks with favor. Indeed, Mr. Holbrook, while making a high bid +for popularity with the female portion of his audience, was throwing an +immense fire-brand into the family circle of a number of his hearers. + +"My hearers, remember this," resumed this odd little man: "Manage a +woman right, and you have a mighty power to carry out the greatest +project the world ever saw." + +Disjointed and illogical as this sermon was, it was just what Chapman +and Mrs. Chapman wanted to put the church of the new ideas firm on its +legs. It was popular with the women; and with their favor Holbrook could +ride triumphantly over any number of quarrels. + +Mrs. Chapman intimated to another admiring female that the little man +they had just listened to was very like an oyster--looked better when +opened. In short, it was the general opinion of the women that Mr. +Holbrook had preached a very sensible sermon; and they were delighted, +notwithstanding what their husbands said to the contrary. "We have got a +preacher now," said the women, "who will stick up for our rights. You +men have had it all your own way long enough." Some of the men, +however, were not inclined to let these taunts pass quietly, declaring +that they had never listened to such nonsense before. One shook his +head, and declared that no good could come of such preaching, since +there was no true religion in it. Another snapped his fingers, saying +the man was not only a fool, but a mischief-maker. A third said all the +trouble in the world had been made by just such meddlesome men. The +church of great moral ideas might be a good enough church for some +people; but such a preacher as this made more infidels than honest men. + +The whole town soon got into a dispute as to whether the Reverend Warren +Holbrook was a wise and good man, or simply a mischief-making egotist. +The women took the side of Holbrook, and stuck to it, like true women. +He preached the right sort of religion, they said, and was a wise and +good man, or he could not preach as he did. The men did not believe a +word of it, but seeing that their wives were inclined to have it all +their own way, and would not hear a word against the new preacher, +quietly submitted, as men generally do. That is to say, they surrendered +their authority. + +Chapman was delighted at the nice little turn his preacher had made in +the affairs of the town. Nothing pleased him better than to have a dozen +disputes on hand at a time. If only well nursed they could be all made +profitable. Woman was the great pillar of Chapman's hopes. He had always +regarded her as the great foundation of any church. She could make it +popular if she pleased, and she could make it profitable, too. This, in +a measure, accounted for the unlimited admiration Mrs. Chapman had for +this great progressive clergyman. His great progressive religion was +just exactly the thing needed in Nyack. He must next attack the +Dominie, and drive him out of his pulpit, for it would not do to have +men preaching in an unknown tongue at this enlightened day. + +In less than two months from the time this teacher of great progressive +ideas landed at Nyack, he had not only got the town by the ears, but so +divided his flock that it was now composed almost exclusively of women. +The men stayed at home and nursed their wrath. And it was good for them +that they did, for the women had things all their own way generally, and +Warren Holbrook, ill-favored and formed, was their idol. The pew rents +ran up, however, and the contributions of a Sunday increased nearly +double. Indeed, the Chapmans felt that they were now on the road to +fortune, and Mrs. Chapman's ambition increased accordingly. + +All great enterprises, however, are liable to sudden checks, and +misfortune too often comes when one least expects it. And so it was with +the Reverend Warren Holbrook, the man of the great progressive ideas. He +was discovered paying what ladies of strict propriety regard as more +than ordinary attentions to a fair young damsel, the daughter of one of +the most active members of the church--a woman who had carried her head +high, and was so much given to wearing more finery than her neighbors +that the few friends she had were always ready to say ill-natured things +of her. The young woman was ready enough to embrace matrimony at any +moment; but the attentions she received from the reverend gentleman +caused great distress among a number of other young women of his church. +It was agreed among them that the reverend gentleman was neither +fascinating nor handsome, but he had mind, and was smart. Smart was the +thing a man most needed in a New England village. + +I have said before that the mother of this damsel carried a high head, +as well in as out of the church. She seemed also to have more rights +than ordinary females, and would give herself a great deal of +unnecessary trouble in asserting them, so much so that many of her less +strong-handed sisters regarded her with fear. The gentleman's attentions +had not progressed far when it was evident to all attentive observers +that there must soon be a split in the female division of his church. +Indeed, the quarrel in the female division of the church of the great +progressive ideas was waged with great fierceness, and had such a number +of nice little scandals mixed up in it as to make it quite interesting +to people of a contemplative turn of mind. + +Every meddlesome old woman in the church must put her finger in the +reverend gentleman's love pie, and would speak her mind plainly enough, +especially if she had daughters of her own. To use the poor man's own +language, he found himself spiked on all sides; and all for love, a +thing which has brought no end of mischief on the world. In short, from +being an idol he found himself between fires that threatened to consume +him, so fiercely did they burn. + +The gentleman's position was indeed becoming perilous, when an +unforeseen circumstance afforded him the means of relief. There arrived +in Nyack late one Saturday night, a man of tall, slender figure, dressed +in a suit of plain black, and having the appearance of a young clergyman +just from the country. He put up at Titus Bright's inn, gave out that he +was from Dogtown, Massachusetts, and after partaking of supper, enquired +of the landlord where he could find the Reverend, so to speak, Warren +Holbrook. There was something serious in the man's manner, like one who +had been grievously wronged. Being told where he could find the object +of his search, he paced the room thoughtfully for a few minutes, then +muttered to himself, "I must see him to-night. The sooner settled the +better. It will not do to wait until morning." + +Half an hour later, and the two reverend gentlemen (the stranger and +Holbrook) might have been seen seated at a table in a room of Chapman's +house. Their conversation had evidently not been of a very pleasant +nature, for the stranger, rising to take his departure, said: "You have +only to do her justice, and show to the world that you are an honorable +man. She is my sister; and unless you keep your promise, solemnly made +to her, I will follow you to the end of the earth, and make you the +scorned of men. Mark this well: it is the haunted soul of the hypocrite +that burns him through life; that makes him a very torment to himself." +The stranger returned to the inn, where he paced the room for nearly an +hour, and then retired for the night. + +The bells rang on the following morning, and the good women of Nyack +wended their way to and had nearly filled every pew in the church of +great progressive ideas. The choir sung one hymn, and then sung another. +But no pastor came. There was something wrong, evidently. Hope and faith +were enjoined by a few. Some watched the door, others the pulpit. +Whispers succeeded wonder, and murmurs took the place of curiosity. The +church was clearly without a pastor; and what was a church to do under +such circumstances? At length the whole congregation got into a state of +profound agitation. What was the matter? where was the pastor? would'nt +somebody speak? These and similar questions were on every tongue. It +was suddenly discovered that the Chapmans were also absent. + +An indignant female got up and proposed that some one "go for" the +Chapmans, and make them explain what it all meant. Another, equally +indignant, took a more sensible view of things. "If there's to be no +service," said she, "I'm going home to read my Bible in quiet." And she +left the church, followed by the rest of the congregation. And as nobody +explained, of course every one had his or her own reason for this +singular turn in the spiritual affairs of the new church. There was no +getting over the fact that the new church had been brought to a stand +still. To be plain about the matter, the Reverend Warren Holbrook had +put his great progressive ideas into practice during the night by +leaving the town, and also by taking with him the young woman to whom he +had been paying such marked attentions. The Tappan Zee had never been +more troubled in a storm than was the moral sensibilities of Nyack at +this news. The very atmosphere was rank with scandal. The men laughed +and jeered, and the women shook their heads and talked of nothing else. +"After that," said the women, "who can we trust." + +"Served you right," replied the men, "for making much of such a fellow. +Women never take such men into their confidence without bringing dirty +water to their own doors." It was fortunate for Holbrook that he left +during the night, for, seeing the temper Nyack was in during that day, +there would have been some stones thrown had he remained. + +The Chapmans took the matter very cool, however, counted the profits, +and put up the church shutters. Such things had happened before, Chapman +said. It was a weakness that had marked the history of the world; and +it had been a failing with the greatest of intellects. They would yet +show to the people of Nyack what could be done with the right sort of +enterprise. The honest old Dutchmen were in high glee over the turn +affairs at the new church had taken. They got together in Hanz +Toodleburg's veranda, drank their beer, and smoked their pipes, and +wished the devil might get the new preacher, "what comes t'down to raise +t'tevil mit de peoples, and raises t'tevil mit he self." + +The stranger, of whom mention has been made, was more seriously +troubled. He heard the news of Holbrook's departure with a sad heart, +for he was the kind brother of a young woman to whom the delinquent had +made a solemn vow to marry. But that solemn vow he had recently broken +in the most heartless manner, and left her hopes blighted and her heart +sad. He declared, however, that he would follow Holbrook if he went to +the end of the earth, and bring him to justice before God and man. + + + + +CHAPTER IX. + +TITE TAKES HIS DEPARTURE FOR THE SOUTH SEA. + + +High above all this hypocrisy, this intrigue, this selfishness and +dissimulation, there was something more pure and good. It was love, pure +and simple, binding the thoughts and hearts of Mattie Chapman and young +Tite. That love which forgets everything else in its truth and purity, +had been gently binding their young affections together. And now nothing +could separate them. + +What sweet joys and touching sorrows are mingled with the wonderful +history of love. How surely it marks its objects. It seeks its most +precious captive in the strongest and bravest of hearts. Love has +dethroned kings, built up empires, set great nations at war, and made +statesmen weep with sorrow. Yea, it has made the mightiest to unbend, +and brought them bowing before its altar. It holds its capricious empire +in every heart, prompts our ambition, guides and governs our actions, +makes us heroes or cowards, and carries us hoping through the world. + +It was love, then, that was holding its court on the occasion I am about +to describe. It was one of those bright and breezy spring mornings, when +Nature seems to have decked herself in her brightest colors, giving such +a charm to the banks of the Hudson. The young, fresh leaves were out, +and looking so green and crisp. The leak and the moss were creeping +afresh over the rocks; wild flowers were budding and blossoming, and +giving their sweet odors to the wind; birds were singing their touching +songs; brooks rippled and murmured their mysterious music; and all +Nature was indeed putting forth her beauties in one grand, sweet, +soul-stirring harmony. + +How I envy the being who, free from the cares of the world, can elevate +his soul by holding sweet communion with nature, at spring time. Earth +has nothing so pure as the thoughts inspired by such sweet communion +with the buds, the blossoms, and the flowers of spring. + +It was one of these soft, breezy mornings in early spring, I have said, +that Mattie and Tite sat together in a little clump of woods, where the +branches formed a sort of bower overhead, and overlooking the Tappan +Zee. Every few minutes Tite would get up, advance to a point commanding +a view of the river above, and gaze intently in that direction, as if +expecting some object of interest. + +"She is not in sight yet, Mattie," he said, as he returned after one of +these intervals. "But she will be down to-day, I know she will, and then +we must part. Think of me when I am away, and I will think of you. Yes, +Mattie, I am only a sailor now, but I shall see the world, and that's +what I want, because it will make me something better. It will be three +years before we meet again; three long, long years. But I will think of +you and dream of you through all that time. And I will be so happy when +the day of our meeting comes. Be good to my mother and father while I am +gone. Be good to them for my sake. You will, won't you, Mattie?" + +Mattie's blue eyes filled with tears, the wind tossed her golden curls +over her fair neck and shoulders, and there was something so tender and +touching in the picture of these young lovers. "I have made you a +solemn promise, Tite," she replied, in broken accents. "That promise +shall be kept sacred. I shall think of you, and pray for you. Your +parents shall be my parents. I will count the days until you return." +She paused for a moment and wiped her eyes. "Neither storm nor tempest +shall trouble you, Tite, for I will follow you with my prayers that God +may carry you safe through all dangers, and bring you safe back to us. +But, Tite, take this advice from me. Do all you can for yourself. Rise +as high as you can; make all the money you can; and don't forget what we +may come to be. People who get money, and take care of it, are sure to +rise in the world. People that don't get money never do. But, God bless +you, Tite; think of me and I'll think of you." This advice to the young +sailor to make all the money he could, and given on the eve of +departure, may seem out of place to some of my romantic readers; but it +was, perhaps, the best Mattie could have given him. She was a girl of +strong affections, and it was only natural that she should have +something of the propensity so strong in both her parents. But beyond +and above this there was something frank and generous, something of real +good in her nature. Young as she was, she saw in Tite's courage and +ambition traits of character that promised well for the future. This +made her forget that which was so objectionable to her mother--that he +was only the son of common Dutch people. + +Tite had been looking for the object of his anxiety several minutes, +when, turning toward Mattie, he exclaimed: "Here she comes! here she +comes!" and they kissed and took an affectionate farewell, each +hastening to their homes. The object he had watched for so intently was +the ship Pacific, belonging to the Hudson Company's fleet of whale +ships, and bound on a voyage to the South Sea, as it was called in those +days. There was something grand and imposing about this fine old ship as +she moved majestically down the stream, her starboard tacks aboard, the +breeze filling her sails so nicely, for she had her royals set. Then her +new, white canvas contrasted so strikingly with the green hills that yet +shut her hull from view. Who could tell what might befall her in the +eventful voyage she was bound on? + +A few minutes more and she braced her yards sharp and rounded the point, +and stood on her way down the Tappan Zee. Every outline of her hull now +came clearer and clearer. There were her heavy quarter-davits, her +hoisting gear, and whale-killing gear; her long, sharp boats, lashed so +carefully, some to her davits, others athwart her quarter-deck frames; +and about all of which there was a mysterious interest. These whale +ships were at that day an object of distrust in the minds of the honest +Dutchmen along the banks of the Hudson, who never saw them go to sea +without shaking their heads and predicting all sorts of disasters, such +as would be sure to bring ruin on the men unwise enough to risk their +money in such enterprises. + +As the ship neared Nyack a group of ten or a dozen persons were seen +near the landing, with a boat and two men to take Tite off. There was +Hanz, old and grey; and Angeline, her eyes filled with tears, but her +face as full of sweetness and tenderness as it was twenty years ago. +Tite had been the joy and hope of her life. And now he was going to +leave home and sail to the other side of the world, among strange +people, and would have to brave dangers of the worst kind. + +[Illustration: Who could tell what might befall her in the eventful +voyage she was bound on? Page 60] + +There, too, was Doctor Critchel, and the good Dominie, and Titus Bright, +the inn-keeper; the first wearing his old brown coat, and looking as +snuffy as on the stormy night when he assisted in bringing Tite into the +world. They had all come to see Tite off, to say God speed, and to give +him some little token of their affection to carry with him on his voyage +after whales. + +And now that time which so tries a mother's heart had come. "Good bye, +mother, good bye, and may God be with you and protect you," said Tite, +throwing his arms around his mother's neck, and kissing her wet cheek. +"I will come back safe, and never go to sea again." Then he took leave +of his father, and each of his friends in turn. In another minute the +boat in which he stood waving his handkerchief was pulling swiftly +toward the ship. There was not a dry eye in that little group as each +figure in it stood gazing out upon the calm waters, and watching the +object so dear to the hearts of all in it. And now the boat has reached +the ship, men are seen in the gangway, a line was thrown to the men in +the boat, the ship luffed a little, and in another moment Tite mounted +the ladder and was on deck. The first officer welcomed him, for there +was something in his appearance that indicated respectability and true +character; and his ship-mates gathered about him, each giving him a warm +shake of the hand and a friendly word. Then the good ship moved +gallantly down the stream, and Tite appeared on the forecastle, and +waved adieus until she disappeared among the green hills of the +Palisades. + +There was a heart that fluttered, and a hand that waved signals, from a +point on the shore recognized by Tite, and responded to, but not seen by +the little sorrowing group waiting the return of the boat. It was +Mattie's heart that fluttered, and it was her hand that waved the last +adieu as the ship passed out of sight. There she stood, a touching +picture of truth and love, shedding her tears and waving a last farewell +to the object of her heart, and whom she might never see again. + +Such are the transmutations of commerce that it would be a curious sight +at this day to see a whaleship, under full sail, proceeding up or down +the Hudson river. It was no uncommon sight then. The enterprising people +of Hudson shared the whale-fishery business with New Bedford and +Nantucket; their fleet of ships were fitted out in the very best manner, +and some of the most famous whaling captains sailed from that port. + + + + +CHAPTER X. + +MR. AND MRS. CHAPMAN DISAGREE FOR THE FIRST TIME. + + +A bright light burned in Chapman's parlor that night, and the ponderous +Mrs. Chapman sat nursing her dignity in a great new rocking-chair. Her +little pale-faced husband, with keen eyes, and his hair somewhat longer +than usual, sat beside the lamp on the round table pouring over a book. +There was an air of improvement about the parlor, an evidence, indeed, +that the Chapmans had renounced their Dogtown habits, and were bent on +getting up in the world. New carpets, new mirrors, new furniture, and +window-curtains such as had not been seen in Nyack before, had been got +from New York. You must make your style of living, Mrs. Chapman said, +keep pace with the progress of the family. And it would not do to let +those new, rich, and stylish people who were coming up from New York get +ahead of you in the way of elegance. + +Mrs. Chapman no longer condescended to prepare the sausage meat and +pumpkin pies; in a word, to do the work of her own kitchen. She could +afford, she said, to keep two "helps," a cook and a chambermaid, to take +it easy and put on the lady, and to give evening parties that quite +outdid in the way of nice little suppers anything their neighbors could +give. There was, however, a number of people in Nyack who shook their +heads at the pretensions of the Chapmans; said they were putting on too +many airs, and made no response to Mrs. Chapman's invitations. Others, +when a little scandal was necessary to keep up the interest of an +evening, would insinuate that they had "originally" been very common and +vulgar people. But now, like most New England people of that class, they +were not only trying to force their opinions down other and honester +people's throats, but had a way of meddling with business that did'nt +concern them, and making themselves disagreeable generally. When +Holbrook disappeared in disgrace, there were persons malicious enough to +say that the Chapmans had better mend their own morals before they went +to patching other people's up. + +Mrs. Chapman could dress of an evening in silk, wear kid gloves that +came from France, and had plenty of real French lace on her caps. Few +persons in Nyack at that day could do such things and pass for honest +people. + +"My dear," said Mrs. Chapman, addressing herself to her small, but +intellectually great, Mr. Chapman; "my dear." She paused for a moment, +as her face assumed an air of seriousness. "We must turn our backs +entirely on Dogtown. Dogtown won't do to elevate the family on. We never +can rise in the world with Dogtown on our shoulders. And if we would +live down that scandal brought on us by Holbrook, (an indiscretion, I +think you called it,) we must keep our heads up." She paused, shook her +head in pity, and raised her fat, waxy hands. "I can't sleep of nights, +thinking of it. Lays a body's feelings out terribly. But he was so +wonderfully clever." Her face brightened up as she said this. +"Wonderfully clever," she interpolated. "It was his mental greatness I +always subsided to and admired. Clever people have their weaknesses as +well as people what are not as clever. I sometimes thought you had +yours, my dear--" + +"My dear!" interrupted Chapman, with an air of surprise, "what do you +mean? Hav'nt I been a finished husband, and a loving father?" + +"You are just as good, my dear, as husbands can be made." Mrs. Chapman +said this condescendingly, and with an air of admiration truly grand. +"But then, you know," she said, more mildly, "there was that handsome +widow you used to be so polite to, my dear. You know I detected her +waving a handkerchief once. Then you said it was one you left at the +house; and so I never thought of it again." + +"I never let the past trouble me, my dear, never. A man of forethought, +of progressive ideas, looks always ahead, and by his acts proves that he +is up square with the spirit of the age. I have a new conception. Yes, +my dear, a new conception. Nothing figurative about it, my dear. I have +a new and grand conception, which I have been evolving in my mind for +some time, and now I am getting it into a scheme which I am sure will be +profitable." + +"My dear husband," said Mrs. Chapman, in a strain of intense excitement, +"do let us know what it is." + +"Of great importance to us both," he replied, with great seriousness, as +he brushed his long black hair back over his parchment-like forehead. + +"I'll be bound it refers to what took place to-day between our Mattie +and that young sailor. I saw it all; and you saw it all, too, my dear, +and you never said a word. We never can agree on that matter, my dear, +never. On everything else we can. You can't mistake what two young +people mean when they go to waving handkerchiefs, and picking wild +flowers in the woods. This little love matter must be stopped before it +gets into a big one. Yes, it must, my dear. So fine a young woman as +our daughter condescending to marry a sailor! As I said before, my dear, +you know I have had experience in these matters--" + +"In other matters, you know, Mrs. Chapman, I have always yielded to +you--" + +"And I have always yielded to you," resumed the anxious woman, "and +never considered it a condescension. But in this I must have my own +way." And Mrs. Chapman got up and walked to a window overlooking the +Tappan Zee. The night was bright and starlight, and shadows were +flitting and dancing over the smooth waters. The picture of the ship, +with Tite waving Mattie an adieu from the forecastle, haunted her mind. + +"If that ship goes to the bottom of the sea, not a tear shall I +shed--not a tear!" resumed the speaker, in an agitated tone. "And I have +as tender a heart as anybody. But we must elevate the family. That's +laudable, you know. Nice people are very particular about these things. +And you know how much there is in names. Think of elevating the family +by taking a man by the name of Toodlebug into it! Think of our going to +live in New York with such a name. Everybody would say Toodlebug! +Toodlebug! and nobody would come to our daughter's parties." The good +woman ran on in this way for several minutes, compelling her dear +Chapman to keep the peace. At length she settled back into her rocking +chair, and there was a pause. + +"My dear," said Chapman, meekly, "I have always held that a man could +commit no greater folly than that of quarrelling with a woman on a +question of family pride. In such a contest the man is sure to get the +worst of it. I say this understandingly, my dear." And Chapman shut up +his book, and looked up into his wife's face, as if to watch the changes +of her countenance. + +"We may agree on that matter yet, my dear. A man is never so low by +birth (I mean in this country, at least,) but that he may rise to the +highest office of honor and trust--" + +"Not with such a name as Toodlebug--never!" Mrs. Chapman interrupted, +curtly. + +"That's a mistake, my dear. Names never distinguished people. A man's +merit and money are the things that do it. This is a free country. A +woman may have as many quarrels as she pleases, and have her own way in +things generally. Nothing personal, my dear. + +"But to go back to what I was pondering over when you interrupted me. A +family never gets through the world easy without a solid basis; and I +was thinking how to give a solid basis to our little family. Marrying is +all well enough in its way; but the woman who marries a man without a +solid basis, either in money or character, marries into misery. That's +my philosophy--" + +"Exactly!" interrupted Mrs. Chapman, with a stately nod of the head, and +rubbing her fat hands. "Now you talk as I like to hear you. There's no +getting up in the world without money." + +"I intended to make that point in my logic, and was coming to it, my +dear. You see, we have got the building and everything in it, all our +own. And we have got two or three thousand dollars, all put away for a +wet day. Property all honorably made. Heaven knows I would not have a +dollar that was not. That, my dear, is a good beginning for a good +basis. We must keep adding to it; keep the tide flowing in the channel +of success. I was thinking, my dear, of inventing a new religion." + +"My dear!" exclaimed Mrs. Chapman, with an air of astonishment, "what an +inventive head you have got. But you have said so often that there was +too much religion in the world, and not enough of true goodness." + +"Of the old kind, I meant, my dear;" resumed the little man. "What I +mean is to invent a religion that is new and novel, has something broad +and attractive in it, and that people of a curious turn of mind would +pay for enjoying. That's the kind of religion that pays, you see. And if +we could put the church on its feet again with something of that kind. +It's the propensity people have to go galloping after new things in +religion that we must study and turn to our advantage if we would be +prosperous." The little man fretted his fingers nervously through his +unkept hair, and his face assumed an air of great seriousness. + +"How, my dear," enquired Mrs. Chapman, "could you put the church on its +feet with such a load of scandal on its back? Could'nt you invent +something else that would be novel and profitable?" + +"There's where my new conception was coming in. That's the point I was +considering when you interrupted me with Mattie's love affair," Chapman +replied, looking more serious than ever. + +"It struck me that we might do something profitable by getting up a +company for the discovery of Kidd's treasure. 'The Great Kidd Discovery +Company' would be a good name, my dear. You must always give a company a +good name. Then you must manage it with tact and prudence. A prodigious +enterprise, my dear. These simple-minded and honest Dutch people would +fall into it like a flock of sheep. They honestly believe Kidd was a +bold pirate, who amassed a great fortune by plundering towns on the +Spanish Main. That, having more gold and silver than he could invest to +advantage, he buried it on the bank of the river, a few leagues above +this place, where he entered into an agreement with the devil to stand +guard over it until he returned. They believe, also, that Hanz +Toodleburg, whose father knew Kidd well, and perhaps had something to do +with his adventures, is the only man now living who possesses the secret +of where that treasure is buried." + + + + +CHAPTER XI. + +MRS. CHAPMAN CULTIVATES NEW ACQUAINTANCES. + + +It was spring-time of the year 1824. A new era in the history of the +nation's wealth and progress seemed to have fairly begun. Strong and +vigorous intellects ruled in the councils of the nation and inspired +confidence in the people. Science was breathing new life into our +enterprise, and leading us rapidly into new fields and richer prospects. +It was also brushing away the prejudices that had narrowed our thoughts +and confined our action to things of a past age. Steam was an adjustable +power now, a reality; still there were sensible men who shook their +heads in doubt; and the men who declared it would soon revolutionize the +commerce of the world were set down as not safe to do business with. + +Steamboats of improved model and of increased size seemed to spring up +every day, and might be seen passing up and down the Hudson night and +morning. Now a company of reckless New Yorkers proposed to build a +steamboat two hundred feet long, and with an engine of one hundred and +fifty horse power, to navigate the Hudson to Albany at the rate of +thirteen miles an hour. This great experiment, regarded so hazardous at +that time, sent the honest and peace-loving Dutchmen along the banks of +the river into such a state of alarm that they called meetings, and in +the most solemn manner declared that no man's life would be safe while +sailing at such a dangerous rate of speed. And they further declared +that all these new-fashioned methods of putting an end to the lives of +honest people must be stopped. In fine, they predicted nothing but +distress and ruin on all who had anything to do with them. + +It was at one of these meetings, held in Nyack about this time, and +presided over by the school-master, that a number of these honest and +peace-loving old settlers resolved, after much grave deliberation, that +a man who paid his debts and was contented with what he had was the only +true Christian. And it was further resolved, that the world was getting +to be very wicked and very full of foolish people, who were in such a +hurry to get to the devil before their time that they had devised these +steamboats to carry them. And seeing that it was neither wisdom nor +prudence for honest people to travel on such craft, they would also not +send their vegetables to market on them. + +This resolution was kept good for a number of years, the honest people +who made it firmly believing that all good and prudent persons would +follow their example, and in that way drive the steamboats from the +river. Alarming as these things were, there were others which fairly +frightened these honest people out of all their courage. The gossips had +gathered in force at Titus Bright's inn one night, to enjoy a pipe and a +mug of his new ale. There was the school-master, and Doctor Critchel, +and Hanz Toodleburg, and other choice spirits, who knew all about the +affairs of the nation. When they had discussed all manner of subjects, +Titus drew from his pocket a newspaper and read, to the astonishment and +evident alarm of his guests, that a man in England had invented a +machine to do away with horses. The doctor set down his ale and adjusted +his spectacles, and gazed at the speaker with an air of surprise and +astonishment, while Hanz and the school-master suddenly ceased smoking. + +"Now don't get alarmed, my friends," said Titus, watching with evident +delight the increasing alarm of his guests. "It is all here, and true. +He has invented a steam-horse, with an iron stomach and wheels; and the +animal can, with good management, be made to run over a road at the rate +of twenty miles an hour. Yes," added Titus, with a look of great +seriousness, "people are already risking their lives by riding in this +way." + +The doctor heaved a sigh, and, half raising his pipe, gave it as his +opinion that a man who would invent such dangerous machines must be in +league with the devil. This profound opinion was endorsed by both Hanz +and the school-master. The latter, in short, suggested that such men +were generally vagabonds, whom it were well to throw into the Tappan +Zee, with stones around their necks. + +"If the world was going to the devil in this way, what was the use of +living in it," inquired the school-master, finishing his ale, and +passing his mug for a fresh draught. + +"Sure enough, sure enough!" a number of voices ejaculated +simultaneously. + +"Truly, the dragons are to be let loose upon us," resumed Bright, +passing the schoolmaster his mug of ale. "An' here's now in New York, +that's got to be so wicked honest folks can't live in it, a lot o' crazy +men talking about building one of these here steamboats big enough to +cross the Atlantic." + +"Der won't be much heerd of de mans nir de vomans vat goes in um," +interrupted Hanz. + +"Peoples is not sho crazy as t'too any un de sort. 'Tis all hombug;" +joined the doctor. + +"So I say, doctor!" interposed the school-master. + +"Here it is, gentlemen," resumed Bright; "all down in the newspaper. No +getting over that." Thus was this important subject discussed until a +late hour, the gossips going to their homes with serious faces and heavy +hearts. + +It is a very well established fact that the question of building +steamships large enough and strong enough to cross the ocean was +discussed by a number of New York merchants who were ready to embark +capital in the project, several years before the keels of the Royal +William, the Savannah, the Sirius, or the Great Western were laid. But +we must leave this subject for the present, and return to our friends, +the Chapmans. + +These people professed to be plain and practical, brought up according +to the creed of New England. They also affected to despise the small +vanities of the world. The effect of prosperity, however, on their +natures was singularly instructive, since it entirely changed their +manners. No sooner did fortune favor them than Mrs. Chapman began to +display an ambition for vulgar show, such as well-bred people never +indulge in. She never failed to remind her friends that she was brought +up in Boston, where everything was very refined. She regarded it as a +compliment to herself that she had an intellectual husband. He had a big +head, if he was small, and could carry any number of books in it. That +was what Boston people liked. Her thoughts seemed continually navigating +between religion and the fashions. She had no deep affection or love for +any one, not even for her daughter Mattie, whom she viewed in the light +of a rather valuable ornament, in the disposal of which she must make +the best bargain she could, not so much for the girl's sake as her own. +She could toss her head as disdainfully as any of your fine dames; and +she could discourse as glibly about genteel society as a successful +milliner just set up for a lady. She had plain Mrs. Jones for a +neighbor, and would drop that honest woman a nod now and then, out of +mere politeness. But she never condescended to associate on terms of +equality with the Jones family. Mrs. Jones's husband was a common, +unintellectual sort of person, who retailed groceries for a living. + +A singular and mysterious change had now taken place. Chapman no longer +got up quarrels with his neighbors. Indeed, he had a good word to say +whenever he met Titus Bright. He could shake hands with Doctor Critchel, +and agree with the Dominie on matters of religion. In fine, if he was +everybody's enemy before, he was now everybody's friend. He admired the +Dutch for their honesty and true-heartedness. This singular change gave +the gossips of the town something to talk about for a week. The Chapmans +and the Toodleburgs were now the very best of friends. Chapman could be +seen of an evening sitting in Hanz's little ivy-covered porch, enjoying +a pot of ale. And Hanz had been seen smoking his pipe in Chapman's +garden. All this meant something, the gossips said, and something of +great importance. Where two such men got their heads together, and pipes +and ale were called in, there was sure to be something deep going on. +Hanz Toodleburg, they said, never smoked his pipe with a man like +Chapman but that there was something in the wind. Then Mrs. Chapman and +her gushing, blue-eyed daughter had condescended to visit at +Toodleburg's, and could make themselves quite agreeable at Angeline's +tea-table. And then Angeline, good, kind Angeline, with her face still +bright with gentleness and love, was always so happy When Mattie called. +Then there was something so simple, so frank and straightforward in +Mattie's nature. Angeline could not help loving her. And the affection +she cherished for Tite, who was the idol of her thoughts, strengthened +the ties of their love. + +"We have not forgot you, you see," said Mrs. Chapman, as she bowed +herself into Toodleburg's little house one evening. "We expected company +at home to-night, but says I to my dear husband, 'you know, my dear +husband,' (here Mrs. Chapman bowed to her dear husband, who had followed +her,) 'we have been promising so long to visit Mr. and Mrs. +Toodleburg.'" + +Angeline bowed and invited her visitors to be seated, while Hanz gave +Chapman a hearty shake of the hand, and an assurance that no man was +more welcome under his roof. "Always glad to see mine friends," said +Hanz. "You shall take seats, and be shust so much at home as you is in +your own house." And he drew one big chair up for Chapman, and another +for Mrs. Chapman. "Peoples always makes themselves at home in mine +house." + +"You must excuse our humble little place," Angeline said; "we are plain, +every-day people." And she made Mrs. Chapman a low courtesy, as that +stout, bustling woman, apparently overcome with the heat, settled her +solid circumference into a chair. + +"Dear a me," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, "what happy people you ought to be. +Everything so comfortable round you, you know, and all your own. What a +blessing to have things all your own." Here Mrs. Chapman raised her +bonnet carefully and used it as a fan. + +"Yes, we are quite unpretending people," Angeline repeated. "What we +have got is our own. We are getting old now, and if we die owing nobody +a shilling we shall die in peace." And her sweet face lighted up with a +smile, the true reflex of that goodness her heart was so full of. + +"It's so warm--I'm about melted," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, not appearing +to notice what Angeline had said. "And this is my new bonnet, you see. +Bonnets cost so much money now. People are getting so fashionable, and +to be anybody you must keep up appearances." She held her bonnet up +admiringly. "And my dear, good husband there--he's such a good +husband--says I'm a very expensive wife. Always buys me what I want, +though." Here she raised her waxy, fat hand, and dropped a bow of +approval to the little husband, who was quietly surveying the scene from +Hanz's big chair. "My husband is so intellectual, and does so much for +other people. He's always doing for other people. But he's a treasure to +me, for all that--" + +"My dear, my dear," interrupted Chapman; "what a kind way you have of +paying compliments. Mrs. Toodleburg will not understand you, my dear. +What more than any one else have I done for other people?" + +"You have been a perfect Christian, my dear, so you have," resumed Mrs. +Chapman, giving her head a toss and pressing the fore-finger of her +right hand on the arm of the chair. "Why, Mrs. Toodlebug--pardon me; I +never did pronounce names correct." She turned condescendingly to +Angeline. "You must know that my dear husband created a whole town once. +Then he built a great and flourishing church, founded on advanced moral +ideas. And he intended to have sold it for the good of others, and would +have sold it, but for an unforeseen circumstance." + +"A very unforeseen circumstance, my dear," rejoined Chapman, shaking his +head admonishingly. "You see, I have got one of the very best wives in +the world. She has a philosophy of her own, and we agree in everything." + +"Shust like me and mine vife," said Hanz. "We agrees in everything. +Lived dese forty nor more years togeder, mitout a quarrel." Hanz had +been sitting where a pale shadow of the dim light played over his broad, +kindly face, and, with his long, white hair curling down his neck, gave +a clearer outline to the picture. + +"Never had even a little quarrel?" resumed Mrs. Chapman, inquiringly. "I +have heard married people say it was so nice to have a little quarrel +now and then. But my dear husband is such a good husband, Mrs. +Toodleburg. Just like yours." Here she turned toward and dropped +Angeline a bow. "I never want to live to see the day when I shall have +to marry a second husband." Here she turned and dropped a bow to her +dear Chapman. "I should be always praising you, my dear. And unless my +dear second husband was a saint there would be trouble in the house, you +know. My dear, let us drop this subject. It is not pleasant to look to +far into the future." Here she turned to Angeline, who had proceeded to +get some strawberries and cream for her guests. + +"You are so nice and comfortable here," she resumed; "it takes one back +to the good old times, when everything was true and simple." Mrs. +Chapman gave quicker motion to her tongue. "You have your loom, and your +spinning-wheel, and homespun made by your own hands. How delightful." + +"My dear, my dear," interrupted Chapman; "what a homily on the beauties +of economy you are reading our friends--" + +"Don't interrupt me, my dear," resumed Mrs. Chapman, and she again +turned to Angeline. "Do you know, Mrs. Toodlebug, that I have always +felt that we ought to be the best of friends?" + +"You are very kind," said Angeline, "very kind. We are very plain +people." + +"That's why I like you all the better," Mrs. Chapman resumed, with an +air of condescension. "My husband and your husband must also be the best +of friends. They can make a fortune by it, you know. You see, my husband +proposes to make your husband's fortune. He is the greatest man to make +other people's fortunes. Yes, he is. My husband's head is full of great +progressive ideas. And he has made the fortunes of so many men." Here +Mrs. Chapman lowered her voice to a whisper, and drew her chair a little +nearer to Angeline. "There is another little matter that should make us +firm friends. I would not mention it, you know; but I feel that it is no +secret." Here she dropped one of her most significant bows. "I have +taken such a liking to your son. Such a promising young man, he is. That +voyage will make a man of him; who knows but he may come home with a +large fortune. I have known stranger things than that. I have been +encouraging a little love affair between him and my daughter Mattie. You +have seen my Mattie? She is clever, wonderfully smart, handsome, too; +and if she gets the right kind of a husband, will shine in society." + +"My poor boy, my poor boy!" exclaimed Angeline, her eyes filling with +tears at the mention of his name. "How, how, how I should like to see +him to-night. There is where he used to sit, (here her voice yielded to +her emotions,) and here is the chair we always kept for him. Perhaps we +shall never see him again. He was so good and so kind to us. I hope God +will be good to him, and will watch over him, and carry him safe through +dangers, and bring him back to us. Oh, I know God will be good to him. +We are both old now, and have nothing to live for but him." Again she +gave way to her grief, and as the tears flowed buried her face in her +hands. + +"My dear, good friend," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, rising from her chair, +and placing her hand consolingly on Angeline's shoulder; "there is +nothing in the world to weep for. Nothing in the world. I would be proud +of a son who had courage and ambition enough to go on one of these +voyages. It is proof, my good woman, that he has something in him. And +if he should bring home a fortune, you know. Oh, he'd have so many +friends. Don't weep, my good woman, don't weep. He'll be such a joy to +you when he comes home. And I will encourage Mattie to think of nobody +else." + + + + +CHAPTER XII. + +A STRANGE GENTLEMAN. + + +Angeline had just recovered from her grief, and was setting strawberries +and cream before her visitors, when a loud knock was heard at the door, +which Hanz proceeded to open; when a tall, well-dressed man, with dark, +well kept hair, piercing black eyes, features of great regularity, and +having the manners of a gentleman, entered and introduced himself as Mr. +Luke Topman, just from New York. "I am a stranger to you all here," he +said, in a deep, clear voice, "and I owe you an apology for calling at +this seemingly late hour. I said I was a stranger," he repeated, "but +the business I am on may make us acquaintances." The stranger stood for +a moment, with his eyes fixed on Chapman. Still no recognition passed, +and their manner was that of strangers who had never met before. + +The figures here grouped together were of the most opposite kind, and +presented a picture at once striking and effective. A table stood in the +centre of the little room, and on it burned a candle, casting a pale and +shadowy light over and giving clearer outline to each figure. There was +the old loom, with its harnesses, its reed, and its shuttles; the +flax-wheel and the distaff, forming a quaint setting, but representing a +past age and the primitive habits of the people who used them. + +There was Hanz and Angeline on one side. Time was writing its record in +deep lines on their faces, and whitening their gray hairs. Frank, +simple-minded, honest, and contented, they had enough to carry them +through life comfortably; and why should they, Hanz said, trouble +themselves about anything more? They represented an age and a people +perfectly happy with what it had pleased God to give them. On the other +side there was Chapman and Mrs. Chapman, exact types of the people they +represented. Ambitious of making a show in the world, grasping, +restless, selfish, intriguing, seeking always for means to advance +themselves, studying the future for their own advancement, and ready to +use even religion as an assistant to gaining their objects. Such was the +contrast presented in the picture before us. + +Again apologizing for calling at what seemed a late hour, the stranger +proceeded. "I am in great haste, madam. I came all the way from New York +to-day. Crossed the ferry only an hour ago, and am somewhat fatigued. My +business is of great importance, and with Mr. Toodleburg. I was directed +here, and am glad to find him so comfortably situated." + +"Very well, very well," rejoined Hanz, his face lighted up with a smile, +and his white hair flowing; "dat's me, mine friend. You be's welcome to +my little home. Yees, mine friend, you shall be so welcome as I can make +you." Hanz shook him heartily by the hand, and invited him to sit down. +"You be's had no shupper, eh?" he resumed. "Der's no man what comes nor +goes hungry to my house." + +The stranger bowed and said, "Thank you--you are very kind; but I supped +on the other side of the sea, and have no need for any more." + +"Mine gracious!" exclaimed Hanz. "You comes all de way from New York to +she me. You eats anoder shupper, shure." + +The stranger persisted that he would eat no more that night. The +appearance of the man at so late an hour excited serious apprehensions +in the mind of Angeline lest he should bring news of some disaster to +the good ship Pacific. + +Then turning to Mrs. Chapman, he said, "I hope, madam, I have not +intruded on your privacy here to-night?" + +That lady, having dropped him one of her best bows, assured him there +was nothing private so far as she was concerned. "We are friends and +neighbors of these good people," she replied with a forced smile and an +air of condescension. "We like to be neighborly, and just dropped in to +make a friendly call. That's all, sir." + +"I am very glad to meet Mr. Toodleburg. Very glad to find him such an +excellent person," the stranger repeated, turning to Hanz, and again +taking him by the hand. "Topman, I said my name was; Luke Topman, senior +partner of the enterprising house of Topman and Gusher, doing a large +miscellaneous business in Pearl, near Wall street. You are, doubtless, +well acquainted with the reputation of the firm." Here Mr. Topman +compressed his lips, brushed his fingers through his hair, and addressed +himself to Chapman, who up to this time had maintained an air of +indifference to what was going on. + +"Perfectly well," replied Chapman, with an air of surprise. "Highly +respectable and equally responsible house, that. Why, sir, it is +somewhat curious that we should meet here. A relative of mine did +business with that house a long time. Highly satisfactory--highly." + +"We endeavor to make everything satisfactory with our customers," +resumed Mr. Topman. "Happy to have met a gentleman so familiar with the +reputation of our house. Pray, may I enquire to the name?" + +"Chapman--Bigelow Chapman. My wife, Mr. Topman; my enlarged and better +half. Mr. Topman, my dear, of the firm of Topman and Gusher. Doing a +large miscellaneous business, and highly respectable." + +"What a strange meeting this is. You used to know each other? How +curious!" interposed Mrs. Chapman, rising from her seat and dropping Mr. +Topman one of her most stately bows. + +"By reputation. Perhaps I should have said general reputation, my dear," +returned Chapman. During all this time Hanz was kept in ignorance of the +object of the stranger's visit. Yet the whole scene was such as could +not fail to excite his curiosity to the very highest pitch. + +"And now," said the stranger, "as the night is warm, and ladies never +care to hear anything about business, I propose, Mr. Toodleburg, that we +retire to the porch. You can enjoy your pipe, there; and, if you will +permit me, I will enjoy a cigar. Our friend, here--he will permit me to +call him so--will join us." + +The three now proceeded to the porch; where, when they had become +seated, the stranger discovered the object of his visit. "I have been +informed on good authority," said Mr. Topman, "that you possess the +secret of where Kidd's treasure is buried--" + +"Vel, vel, vel!" exclaimed Hanz, raising his hands in astonishment; "if +dat ish'nt so pig a lie as ever vas told. No, mine friend, I knows +nothin' apout dis Mr. Kidd, nor his money. Dis one big lie de peoples +pout here gits up, as has nothin' petter to do." + +"It's somewhat singular," said Chapman, fixing his keen black eyes on +the stranger, "it was that that brought me here to-night. Mr. +Toodleburg may be innocent of all knowledge of Mr. Kidd, as he says. But +the people sincerely believe that he does, and that he possesses the +secret of where his treasure is buried. The belief is just as good as +the reality, and may be made equally profitable." + +"Exactly," interposed Mr. Topman, "exactly! Just what I was going to +suggest." Here Mr. Topman put his thumbs in the arms of his waistcoat, +and drummed on the front with his fingers. "If these honest people +believe Mr. Toodleburg knows where the money is buried, why, sir, +there's your solid basis for a grand joint stock company, dividends +twenty per cent., payable quarterly. That's what takes. God bless me, +Mr. Toodleburg, here's a fortune in your fingers. Capable heads, sir, +and capable hands. There's all, sir, that is required to give the thing +popularity and insure its success." Mr. Topman paused for a moment, +threw himself back in his chair, and cast a patronizing glance at Hanz. +"Progressive idea, sir. Grand Kidd Discovery Company. Capital one +hundred thousand dollars, all paid in. The man fortunate enough to get +twenty shares is sure to make a fortune." + +"Den if he pe so grand, why you don't make all de fortune, and keep him +yourshelf?" said Hanz, rubbing his head and dropping his pipe. + +"Having the secret," resumed Mr. Topman, blandly, "of course you are +indispensable to the success of the enterprise. Think of it, sleep over +it, and I am sure, sir, you will wake up in the morning resolved to +place yourself in the hands of Topman and Gusher." Mr. Topman made +another pause, and threw his hands over his head. "No matter whether you +have the secret or not. Stick to it that you have; and refer your men +to Topman and Gusher." + +Again Hanz shook his head, and smoked his pipe thoughtfully. The whole +thing was new and strange to him. Never in his life before had anything +taken him by such surprise. He had enough to carry him through the world +comfortably, and something to give his poor neighbors when they stood in +need. Why should he trouble his head about Mr. Kidd. He did not know +where a dollar of his money was buried. + +"Mine friends," said Hanz, "I likes you poth. And I thanks you, and ish +much opliged to you for dis offer to makes my fortune. But, what I do +mit sho much moneys, eh? My neighbors all say 'Hanz Toodleburg steals +him,' Maybe I gits prout mit him. Den everypody says Hanz Toodleburg +gits apove his pisness. Mit a fortune perhaps t'tivel gits into mine +head. Der ish nopody now put me und mine Angeline--" + +"There's your son, Mr. Toodleburg," interposed Chapman, who until now +had remained almost passive. "You ought to regard him above everything +else, you ought. I feel a deep interest in that young man, you know. If +you could have a fortune for him when he comes home--well, that would be +the making of him." + +"Shure enough, dere ish mine poor poy, Tite. He ish such a goot poy. It +most preaks his muder's heart to have him go dis long voyages," said +Hanz, taking the pipe from his lips, as his eyes filled with tears. "If +I only could have a fortune und de little farm for mine poor Tite when +he gits home." + +"Give us your hand, sir," said Mr. Topman. "You talk now like a man, and +a father. I'm a father, sir, and know how to feel for you. Had a son at +sea four years. Gave him a fortune when he came home. A most +enterprising and highly respected merchant now. Has ships at sea, rides +in his carriage, and a balance in his bank." The thought of providing a +future for Tite was more than Hanz could resist, and his unsuspecting +nature yielded to the temptation. + +"And now," said Mr. Topman, rising from his chair, "if Mr. Toodleburg +will sign these papers--they merely set forth that he possesses and will +confide to the house of Topman and Gusher, their heirs or assigns, the +secret of where Kidd's treasure is buried, and that he shall have a +tenth interest in all the profits. A sure gain and no risk, you know." + +The three gentlemen now returned to the little room. Topman handed +Chapman the paper, and requested that he would read it, which that +gentleman affected to do. + +"Perfectly straightforward and correct," said Chapman; "perfectly! I am +sure you are very kind to these people, and I wish the great Kidd +Discovery Company every success." + +Angeline brought the little old ink-bottle, and Hanz, with feelings of +hesitation, it must be confessed, signed the papers, when the visitors +retired for the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII. + +CAPTAIN BOTTOM, THE WHALE-KILLER. + + +On the morning of the 24th of June, the good ship Pacific was sailing +gallantly down the coast of Brazil, all her canvass spread to a light +breeze, her port tacks aboard, and heading for Bahia. + +The air was hot with the breath of tropic winds, and the horizon to the +west and south was festooned with fierce red clouds. The sun was just +setting, and spreading the broad ocean with a crimson light, giving a +weird and curious outline to every feature of the ship. There was +something grand, even enchanting and sublime, in the picture here spread +out, presenting as it did the highest example of God's goodness and +reality. + +The scene changed suddenly, as the sun disappeared. The fierce, red +clouds melted into softness and tenderness. A pale, yellow light spread +along the heavens and over the sea; and the ship that a few minutes +before had looked like a white-winged phantom floating over a sea of +fire, now assumed the appearance of a maiden decked in her bridal robes. + +A man of short, stout figure, a sort of compromise between an alderman +and a dwarf, with very short legs, a broad red face, wide mouth, crispy +grey hair that stood nearly erect on his head, a red, punky nose, and +keen, grey eyes, paced watchfully up and down the quarter-deck. He was +dressed in white pantaloons and jacket, both fitting tight to his skin, +and wore a Panama hat, with a long black ribbon streaming behind. + +He would pause at the hand-rail every few minutes, scan eagerly along +the sky from north to south, as if studying the strange and sudden +changes that were going on in the heavens. Then he would exchange a few +words with the officer of the watch, and resume his walk. Eight bells +had just struck, the wind began to freshen and veer to the southwest, +and the sky became overcast and filled with white, fleecy clouds. + +An order was given to take in studding-sails and get the ship "snug" for +the night, and quickly obeyed. Order and regularity prevailed on board +the good ship Pacific; and the promptness and cheerfulness with which +both officers and men performed their duties showed that they had a more +than ordinary interest in the ship and her voyage. Fashion had not then +made slaves and idlers of our young men of wealthy parents, and it was, +indeed, thought no disgrace for a gentleman of position to send his sons +on one of these voyages, to do duty before the mast. It taught them how +to face danger and endure hardships. It developed their manliness, and +made them more self-reliant. It gave them a knowledge of the world they +could not get elsewhere, and laid a good foundation for a fixed and +lasting character. Indeed, some of our richest and most enterprising +merchants have dated their prosperity from one of these voyages. + +The short, bluff-looking man pacing the quarter-deck was Captain Price +Bottom; and a more honest-hearted old salt never sailed the sea. His +great skill in killing whales had made him famous among whalemen +throughout the Pacific. He had made three successful voyages, bringing +home cargoes that had enriched his owners, put money in his own pocket, +and secured him a reputation he esteemed of more value than a fortune. +In truth, he regarded whales just as a terrier does rats, and found his +highest enjoyment in killing them. And yet nothing pleased him better +than when a whale showed pluck, as he called it, and made a square, +fierce fight for his life. A man had a chance then to show his skill and +power over the brute, he said. He held, too, that man's highest object +in life was to know how to kill a whale skilfully; and he heartily +despised the whale "as would submit quietly to the harpoon, and die like +a lubber." He also affected great contempt for the landsman who had +lived like a gentleman, and never killed a whale in his life. + +"There's no lunar to-night," said Captain Bottom, pausing at the +quarter-deck rail, and addressing himself to the officer of the watch. +"There's a goin' to be dirt, sir, there is; and them royals and +topgallant-sails is got to cum in. Would'nt surprise me if we had to +double-reef topsails afore mornin'. Tell you what it is, Mr. Higgins, +there's that ar north star with a towel over her face again. Sink me if +there'll be any lunar took to-night." The captain shook his head, gave +his Panama a tip, and walking aft, stood beside the binnacle watching +the compasses for several minutes. Then returning to where the officer +of the watch stood, he resumed: + +"Never made a bad landfall in my life, Mr. Higgins. Never shall be said +of Captain Price Bottom that he lost his reckonin'. It's judgment; yes, +Mr. Higgins, it's good judgment and sound sense what makes a good +sailor. A man may cram his skull till it hurts with Bowditch, but if he +hain't sense he'll never be a sailor. Same in killin' whales. If a man +hain't got sense, the whale is sure to get the advantage of him." Again +he paused, as if courting a reply; but Mr. Higgins merely bowed assent +to everything the captain said, every few minutes keeping an eye aloft +at the sails. + +"Man what gets his navigation aboard ship knows his business. Got mine +there; yes, sir! Did'nt know a Bowditch from a Bible when I went aboard +ship. Can do my amplitude and variations now without looking at a +nautical almanac. Can, sir, by Jove!" + +The ship bounded gallantly over the sea, leaving in her wake a long +silvery train of phosphoric light. Drawing no response from Mr. Higgins, +the captain raised his night-glass and scanned along the heavens to the +west. "We'll get somethin' out o' that quarter, butt end foremost," said +the captain, lowering his glass. + +Mr. Higgins was first officer of the ship, a position secured to him, +not because he had worked his way up to it, but through the influence of +a rich father, who was a large owner in the ship and her venture. He was +a tall, well-formed, fine-looking young man, with delicate and well-cut +features, and black hair. He was also a fine scholar and a perfect +master of the theory of navigation, and a voyage or two to Europe had +given him a slight knowledge of the practical part of it. Yet he was +more an ornamental than a practical sailor; and it was this that made +Captain Bottom, the whale-killer, hold him in no very high respect. +Indeed, he had several times said, in the presence of Mr. Higgins, that +it was all very well for a young gentleman to be a scholar; but a sailor +what had his head full of books never made a fortune for his owners. + +"Eight and forty hours more, Mr. Higgins! Yes, sir, eight and forty +hours more--keepin' her as she's going--and we have the land off Bahia." +Captain Bottom gave his head a significant shake as he spoke. "Using +judgment, you see; not books, Mr. Higgins. Captain Price Bottom has +sailed seventeen years, and never was deceived by that chart. Don't make +charts now as they used to make 'em, Mr. Higgins," he concluded, +shrugging his shoulders. + +The wind now came over the sea roaring like a fierce lion, indicating +the rapid approach of the gale. + +"If we make land off Bahia in forty-eight hours, then I'm mistaken," +rejoined the first officer, satirically. "There's something coming that +will give us enough to do before morning." + +The words had hardly escaped his lips when the full force of the gale +struck the ship, roaring and shrieking through her shrouds, and nearly +throwing her on her beam ends. The sea was soon lashed into a tempest, +and made a clean sweep over her decks. The canvas was carried clean from +the bolt-ropes, the sheets were let go, and the lighter sails clewed up, +and an attempt made to get the ship's head to the wind and lay her to. +But the mizzen-sails were all gone, and she fell off, and refused to +obey her helm. The lashings had given way, and the larboard, waist, and +quarter boats were all swept from the davits, the frames sprung, and +every timber in the good ship's hull worked, and strained, and +complained, like a frail thing that must soon go to pieces. Every order, +however, was obeyed promptly and cheerfully, for both officers and crew +felt that their lives, as well as the saving of the ship, depended on +the way in which each man performed his duty. + +Just before the gale came up five young men, including Tite, might have +been seen grouped together in the waist of the ship, pondering over a +chart. Several books and nautical instruments were lying around. They +were all, except Tite, young men of wealthy parents, who had joined the +ship to enjoy the excitements of a whaling voyage. These young men, with +Tite, had formed a school of instruction, and every evening got together +in the same place to improve their knowledge in practical navigation. +One of them, a young man who had endeared himself to all on board by his +courage and the gentleness of his manners, was third mate, and took a +leading part in instructing the others. It would, indeed, have been +difficult to find two young men whose characters bore a stronger +resemblance than his and Tite's. Between them there grew up the +strongest friendship. + +The ship was now laboring in the trough of the sea, when a loud crash +was heard aloft. The fore, main, and mizzen top-gallant masts had gone +in rapid succession, and the swaying mass of wreck was threatening the +destruction of the ship. Death now stared every one in the face. There +was no hope of saving the ship and the lives of those on board, except +in the strength and courage of those willing to go aloft and clear away +the wreck. But who was there to do this perilous work? + +Amidst the confusion caused by the excited elements there was the sturdy +little captain, calm and cool, and giving his orders with that clearness +and decision which had always characterized him. Men were called for to +go aloft and cut away the swaying wreck, and save the ship. The first to +obey this summons was young Tite Toodleburg, whose example was followed +by the young man I have described as third mate, and one of his +companions. They mounted the fore, main, and mizzen rigging, and working +with all their strength and skill soon had the swaying wreck cut away, +and the ship relieved of her strain. But in descending, the third mate, +who had so gallantly performed his duty, lost his hold, and the ship +giving a terrible lurch, he was plunged into the sea, and seen no more. + +The ship now gradually righted, and with the aid of a storm-sail in her +mizzen rigging, for her top-sail had been torn into shreds, her head was +got to the wind. + +In that latitude gales of this kind are of short duration, generally; +and in half an hour from the time it struck the ship there was a calm, +smooth sea, and all hands were engaged repairing damages. + +On the following morning the ship was proceeding on her course, with a +light breeze from the north and a clear sky. Captain Bottom was there on +the quarter-deck, directing affairs, and in a talkative mood. + +"She's a good ship, sir, this old Pacific is, Mr. Higgins;" said he, +again addressing that officer. "Never knew her get off her feet before." +He always spoke of the ship as if she were a thing of life. "Bless her +staunch old soul! Made her timbers talk, eh? Wants a man as has got +confidence in the craft what's under him. Then if she goes down, why he +feels like being a hero and keeping her company. + +"But it makes me feel bad, Mr. Higgins, that we have lost our third +mate, poor fellow! He was a good sailor, and a brave young man, and had +such good friends at home, who thought so much of him." And as he said +this tears glistened in his eyes, and ran down his cheeks. "I'm sorry +for that young man, I am, so I am, Mr. Higgins," said the old sailor, +wiping the tears from his bronzed cheeks. "I do hope his soul will sail +in peace in a better world." Again he shook his head sorrowfully, and +then paused for a minute as if to regain control of his feelings. "God +forgive me," he resumed, "for making a woman of myself. Don't do it +often, Mr. Higgins." + +"Shows that you have a kind heart, sir, and can shed a tear when it is +touched. I appreciate you for it. There is something manly in the tear +of a brave sailor," returned the officer, coldly, but politely. "We +shall get a good observation to-day, and if the men work hearty all the +spare spars and sails will be up by nightfall." Mr. Higgins's mind was +evidently on his duty, and not being inclined to enjoy the captain's +conversation, he took every opportunity to change the subject. + +"Give us your hand, Mr. Higgins," said he, rather unannoyed than +otherwise by what that officer had said. "But look you here!" He lowered +his voice as he took the officer's hand, "There'll be no whales to kill +where that poor fellow has gone. Not a whale. I promised his poor old +father--a good old red coat killer he was, too, in the Revolution--that +this here son of his should kill the first whale. Yes, I did, Mr. +Higgins. And that's what mortifies me. He's dead, you see, poor fellow. +T'was'nt my fault that I did'nt keep my promise. There'll be no whales +to kill where he's gone, poor fellow!" Again he shook his head +feelingly, then raising his hat, wiped the sweat from his bronzed brow. + +He now sent for Tite, who came upon the quarter-deck nervously, and +saluted his superior. "Well, my hearty," said Captain Bottom, "here's my +hand. You're a sailor, every inch on you. And a brave man, too, if +Captain Bottom does say it." Tite was not a little surprised at this +familiarity on the part of his captain, for he had before coming on +board been led to believe that the most severe discipline ruled on board +a whale ship. + +"There's the true sailor in you, my hearty," continued the captain, +again shaking Tite warmly by the hand. "You saved the ship, my hearty. +There'd a bin no more of the good old Pacific--God bless her! nor none +of us standin' here, but for you, my hearty." + +"I only done my duty, sir," rejoined Tite, modestly, as the color came +into his face. "I hope, captain, to merit your praise to the end of the +voyage." The young sailor made a bow, and was about returning to his +duty. + +"Avast, a bit," interrupted the captain. "Your name's Toodlebug, is'nt +it, my hearty?" + +"Yes, sir," replied Tite. "Titus Bright Toodleburg; usually called Tite. +Hope, sir, to improve myself in navigation and seamanship under your +command. I shall always feel proud, sir, that I sailed with you. Some +one may trust me with a ship some day." + +"That's the talk, my hearty; keep a sharp look ahead," rejoined the +captain, his face lighting up with a smile. "Cram Bowditch into yer +head, and keep a sharp look ahead. Have ye so ye can bring the sun down +to dinner and put the north star in yer pocket afore ye get round Cape +Horn. You'll be a sailor yet, my hearty." Again Captain Bottom shook +Tite by the hand warmly. + +"Git yer head full of navigation; and with good judgment to help ye out, +ye can look an owner in the eye without winking, and tell him ye want a +ship. And if that recommendation don't do, tell him you have killed +whales with Captain Bottom, a man what never let a whale git the better +of him. And if he has never heard of Captain Price Bottom, of the good +old ship Pacific, then he never should own a ship, and don't sail for +him. That's my advice, my hearty. So keep a sharp look out ahead." Here +he tapped Tite on the shoulder, exultingly. + +"It's very kind of you," returned Tite, modestly, "to take this interest +in me, a stranger to you. I shall do my best to merit your confidence +and respect." + +"A stranger, eh? Not a bit of it!" resumed the captain, quickly. "Look +ye here, my hearty. Your good old father and me was old friends. That +was years ago, you know. Meeting you brings an old love affair of thirty +years right back to my heart again. Yes, my hearty, that old feelin's +just as good as new this minute. God bless yer father; and God bless yer +mother, too! Here's a hand what'll always give a warm welcome to the son +of old Hanz Toodlebug--" + +"Then you knew my father? I hope, sir, I may never do anything to lessen +your respect for him." + +"Know'd him?" resumed the captain. "Yes, sir, and yer mother, too. And +when Captain Price Bottom says he know'd a man, he means it. Your father +and me was rivals!" Here he touched Tite on the elbow, and winked +significantly. "That is--well, it's rather a delicate subject--he +courted yer mother, and so did I! There, sir, there's just what it is. +She was as trim a young craft then as ever spread sails, and as full of +goodness and good looks." Captain Bottom again paused for a moment, +shook his head despondingly, and placed his hand on his heart. "A number +of young bloods like me trimmed their sails, but did'nt overhaul her. +Many a heart-flutter she caused me in them days. And just when I +thought, says I to myself, 'I'm to wind'rd,' and had got ready to make +fast to her--" Here he paused for a moment, and then lowering his voice, +continued: "Well, what does she go and do? Blow me, my hearty, if she +did'nt go off and marry your father. That's what dismasted me. Never +bore him nor her any ill-will. 'God bless ye both,' says I; 'may ye be +happy and have a large family!' And it does me good to know that they +was prosperous. Your father had a home to take a woman to, and that is +what a woman should look to. Price Bottom was poor then, and without a +shillin' in his pocket. It was disappointment that made me take to the +sea, though. Went from the fo'castle t'where you see me now--Captain +Price Bottom, sir, of the good ship Pacific. It's a man's own exertion +that lifts him up in the world. There's my poor old woman at home +to-night--God bless her and the two little ones! thinking of me, and +praying for me, and wondering where we are. Laid her up a nice little +fortune; wolf can't bark at her door. That's a gratification, my hearty. +Made three successful voyages, you see. This, our fourth one, is to be +the last. Keep a sharp look ahead, and there's a future for you, too. +Ah, there'll be a heap of happiness a'tween me and my old woman when +this voyage is ended. A true wife at home, and a lovin' husband at +sea--ah, my hearty, them's jewels!" + +Tite listened with surprise to the story of this strange and eccentric +man. He had never heard either of his parents mention his name. He, +however, regarded it as very fortunate that he should be on board a ship +commanded by a captain who held his humble parents in such high regard. +The jolly old sailor finished his story by enjoining Tite to keep what +he had said a matter of confidence. He also made him third mate, to fill +the place of the young man who fell from the fore-mast into the sea +during the gale. + +"You shall take a hand at killing the first whale; shall command the +larboard boat. And you shall never want a friend while Captain Price +Bottom treads this quarter-deck," he concluded. + +Tite bowed, and thanked his benefactor again. He then proceeded to his +duty, as the ship headed for Bahia, with a fair wind. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV. + +THE COMING WINTER, AND A MERRY-MAKING. + + +November was come now. The day I write of was damp and cheerless. Grey, +vapory clouds swept over the Tappan Zee, and a sad, sighing wind tossed +it into crests. A drizzling rain fell over Nyack, and the little town +looked as if it had just taken a bath and gone to sleep for the night. +The hills wore a cold and bleak look, the foliage had lost its bright, +golden tints, and now looked faded and colorless. The leaves, too, were +falling, and the naked trees seemed weeping and cold. Sheep browsed on +the hill-sides, or nibbled coldly under the branches of sheltering +trees. In the wet, dripping barn-yard cattle were seen huddled together +under a lee, now seeking warmth in the fresh shocks, now proclaiming +their troubles in subdued lowing. + +The very landscape seemed weeping and melancholy. Even the summer birds, +whose songs give such a charm to the woods, were gone. And there was the +loon upon the lake gabbling his welcome to the approaching winter. The +rain, too, had filled the brooks, and their waters were gurgling down +deep, shadowy dells, mingling their touching music with the sad, sighing +wind. There were pleasant memories entwined in that departing summer; +and it now seemed as if all nature was joining in a requiem to its +fading beauties. + +The settlers had gathered their winter fruit, and the cider-presses had +finished their work for the season. Squashes were hung up in the cellar, +the corn was shucked and in the bins, and heaps of ripe, lusty pumpkins +stood in the fields. In the houses fresh flitches of bacon hung by the +fireside, while festoons of dried apples decorated the beams overhead. +There, too, were the young nut-gatherers, coming home of an evening with +their well-filled satchels. There was to be peace and plenty at the +settlers' fireside this winter, for an all-wise Providence had so +ordained it in an abundant harvest. + +It was a custom with Hanz Toodleburg, as it was also with many other of +the settlers, to entertain his friends and neighbors with a merry-making +when the harvest was gathered. Hanz had invited his neighbors on the +evening of the day I have described, and notwithstanding the cold and +cheerless character of the night, the little house was full ere it was +dark. The bright, happy faces of the women, and the jolly, ringing laugh +of the men, all dressed in their neat new homespun, presented a pleasant +picture of rustic life. Each man came armed with a long pipe, while his +good vrow had some little present for Angeline. Hanz had a warm, hearty +shake of the hand for each of his guests. Indeed, he welcomed each of +the good vrows with a kiss and an admonition to be happy while they were +under his roof. And these good vrows put their hands to the wheel, and +assisted Angeline in preparing the feast. Indeed, she soon had her table +spread with as good and well-cooked fare as could be found in the +county. + +There was the cold boar's head, decorated with flowers; the fattest +turkey, roasted before the great fire; boiled beef, bathed in odorous +krout, and declared delicacies by every sturdy Dutchman; a spiced ham, +decorated with vegetables. Then there were apple and pumpkin pies just +baked, cuddled apples, and jam, and fresh cranberry sauce. And these +were backed up with new cider and home-brewed ale, and coffee. Such was +the supper Hanz had prepared for his friends, and which he invited them +to eat and be happy. + +The good-natured Dominie was there, and so was Doctor Critchel and the +school-master. Nor was Titus Bright, the inn-keeper, forgotten. They +were equally important characters in the settlement, and no honest +Dutchman, who had any regard for his reputation for hospitality, would +think of giving a merry-making without them. The good Dominie was fond +of puddings and pies, and preached that the three highest objects a man +had to live for were peace, contentment, and a good dinner. The Dutch +regarded this as good enough religion for them--better, perhaps, than +that preached by the man of the church of progressive ideas. The +school-master could sing a good song, and, although an idle, shiftless +fellow, got more invitations to supper than any other man in the +settlement. As for the inn-keeper, he was a merry little man, who made +everybody laugh, and was held in high esteem by all the good vrows +around Nyack. + +Now that the supper was ready, there was a general exchange of vrows, +for it was not considered etiquette to sit at table with your own wife +during one of these feasts. Then the Dominie invoked God's blessing on +the bounties He had spread before them, thanked Him for the bountiful +harvest, and for the love He had shown these happy people. He then +proceeded to carve the boar's head, while every man and woman present +went to enjoying the feast. + +When supper was over and the table cleared away the men took to their +pipes and discussed their crops, and the women discoursed of carding, +and spinning, and housewifery in general. Then there was a dance around +the apple-basket, and a dance in which every man kissed every other +man's vrow, and in which the Dominie joined, and was as jolly as any of +his flock. And they danced to the music of a fiddle, played by Lame +George, who lived up in the mountain. Then the Dominie told a number of +amusing stories, and the school-master sang them several of his best +songs, and cider and ale was drank. + +And while the pleasantry was at its highest, a loud knock was heard at +the door. The revelry ceased for a moment. There was the postmaster's +boy, bearing a letter with several curious stamps on it. Hanz was +overjoyed. He shook the boy's hand, and then scanned over the letter. +"God pless mine poor poy, Titus!" he exclaimed. "He wrotes dat ledder. +Yes, he does; mine poor poy Titus does;" and he struck his hands on his +knees, and laughed with joy. "He ton't forgets his old fadder. He be's a +goot poy, mine Titus." And he shook hands with the Dominie and the +inn-keeper. Indeed, he seemed so completely unmanned that he was +powerless to open the letter. Then he took a candle in his right hand, +and again scanned and scanned the superscription. "Sumthin' goot in dat +ledder. Mine poor poy Titus writes him!" he ejaculated, in a subdued +tone. + +[Illustration: Then tears gushed into her eyes and moistened her pale +cheeks. Page 102.] + +During all this time, for it seemed long to Angeline, she became pale +with anxiety. Then tears gushed into her eyes and moistened her pale +cheeks. But they were tears of joy, not sorrow--the wealth of that pure, +honest heart now beating so violently in anticipation of the good +tidings. When Hanz had somewhat controlled his feelings he sat down in +the big chair, and with Angeline looking anxiously over his shoulder +and holding the candle, opened and began reading the letter "Yesh, t'is +mine poor poy Titus as writes him," he said, pausing for a moment. "Hish +name shust as he wrotes him when a poy." The rest of the company looked +on and listened in silence. Then he resumed the reading. "Vell, dere +wash a pig sthorm, and t' ship most goes down to t' pottom. Den she +does'nt go to t' pottom. No, she no goes to t' pottom. Den mine poy, he +shaves t' ship." Hanz went over the letter in this incoherent manner, +and then handed it to the Dominie to read for the entertainment of the +company. The letter was dated at Bahia, where the ship had put in for +fresh supplies, as was the custom with whalers. He gave a glowing +account of the voyage, and the storm, and the persons he found on board. +The good Dominie was several times interrupted by some one of the +company invoking a blessing on Tite's head. And when it was announced +that he had been made third mate of the ship, an expression of joy broke +on every lip. The school-master shook Hanz warmly by the hand, and the +inn-keeper declared it would not surprise him if Tite came home captain +of the ship. + +"High, high!" exclaimed the Dominie, re-adjusting his spectacles; +"here's news. An old acquaintance has turned up." Then turning to +Critchel, he touched that odd old gentleman on the elbow, saying: "You +remember the old grave-digger of thirty years ago, oh, Critchel?" + +"Well, very well," replied Critchel; "he was a clever old man, and did +his business well. He used to say I brought people into the world, and +he sent them out." + +"Bless me!" resumed the Dominie; "if here is'nt his son come to life +again. The poor fellow! we all knew him well. Tite says here that he has +found a good friend in the captain, an old acquaintance of his mother. +And who do you think it is?" + +Not one in the company could answer, although Angeline blushed, and +looked confused. "Price Bottom, son of that clever old man, the +grave-digger," concluded the Dominie. + +"How strange," said the inn-keeper. "Old Bottom had many a glass of ale +at my house, and never troubled anybody, except to dig their graves." + +"He was very poor," rejoined Critchel, in a subdued voice, "and died +leaving my bill unpaid. But he was an honest man, and paid when he had +it." + +"The son was a queer young man," resumed the Dominie. "Nobody seemed to +care anything about him. And when he left the settlement it was thought +he had got into the city and became a worthless. But here he is, made a +man of himself and has not forgot his old friends." + +This was good news to Angeline and Hanz. Still the name of Price Bottom, +the grave-digger's son, revived old if not pleasant memories. The odd +old captain had not forgotten his first love. The flame of that love +always burns, but never dies out. Disappointment may cross it, may for a +time veil its charm, but never can quench it. How strange, Angeline +thought, that her darling boy, the consolation of her heart, should have +met this once discarded lover, and under such circumstances. And that he +should be such a friend and protector to her boy only showed how good a +heart he had. + +The good news gave an additional charm to the evening's entertainment. +One after another shook Hanz and Angeline by the hand, and congratulated +them on the happy prospect. Indeed, they seemed the happiest people on +earth. Mugs of fresh cider were filled and drank to the health of +Captain Price Bottom, of the good ship Pacific--the poor fellow who had +only a grave-digger for a father, and left the settlement friendless and +without a shilling. + +And now these sturdy settlers again took to their pipes, and having +smoked in silence for at least five minutes, embraced and kissed their +hosts, and parted for the night. + + + + +CHAPTER XV. + +MRS. CHAPMAN AND THE UPPER CIRCLES. + + +Let us go back, gentle reader, into the village of Nyack on that same +damp, stormy night, and into the house of Bigelow Chapman, the reformer. +A very different picture was presented there. The reformer was up +stairs, studying plans for the future. His spacious parlor was furnished +with a profusion of furniture, of the most approved style, and such as +was not common in the country at that day. They have got a new piano, +too; and a nice young gentleman in reduced circumstances, a foreigner, +is expected up from New York to give their daughter lessons on it. This +little affair of the piano and the foreigner has set the whole town to +talking, and people are putting on grave faces, and inquiring how they +can afford it. But it seems they do afford it, and also to have the best +of carpets on their parlor floor. And they have shown a taste for art in +several engravings hung on the walls. + +The Chapmans expected company from the city that night. A bright coal +fire and a globe lamp on the centre-table are shedding a soft, mellow +light, and adding an air of comfort and cheerfulness to everything in +the room. + +Mattie was sitting alone in the parlor reading a letter by the light on +the centre-table. Her dress was a plain black silk, made high at the +neck, and with an open stomacher, disclosing an aggravating bit of white +lace. There was always something neat and becoming in Mattie's dress, +and the white ruffles that now encircled her neck and wrists added the +charm of simplicity to her appearance. Her hair, too, was almost +golden, and hung in long, careless curls down her shoulders. + +There was something of deep interest to her in that letter, for she read +and re-read it, as her soft, blue eyes, so full of love and tenderness, +almost filled with tears. Then she kissed it, and kissed it, and pressed +it to her bosom. "Oh, how I wish he was here to-night, that I could tell +him how much I love him;" she said, resting her head on her hand +thoughtfully. "I would tell him all my thoughts and feelings, just as he +has told me his. He is so true to me, and it never shall be said that I +am not true to him, poor fellow!" she mused, and putting the letter to +her lips again she kissed and kissed it. "They never can get me to love +any one else, never!" she resumed, when the door opened and Mrs. Chapman +entered, arrayed in her best millinery, and her front hair screwed into +the tightest of curls. The good woman had evidently resolved to put on +her very best appearance. + +"These disappointments are very annoying, my daughter, very," she spoke, +advancing and fretting her hand nervously. "If our company does not come +then--well, all our dressing will be for nothing. I wanted you so much +to see Mr. Gusher, my daughter. He's such a nice young gentleman, so +clever and agreeable--and has such a distinguished look, my daughter." +Mrs. Chapman expanded herself, while emphasizing the word distinguished. +She then filled the great arm-chair with her weighty person. "To get +prepared for company, and city company at that, and then have company +not come!" she resumed, casting a glance at Mattie, to see if she could +discern in her countenance what impression she had made. But Mattie +remained silent and thoughtful. + +"It's not Mr. Gusher's fault, though. We must charge it all to the +storm, I suppose. Then I did want you to see Mr. Gusher so much, my +daughter. He is such a nice young man--and has such prospects. And +prospects is what a young woman should look to when gentlemen come +seriously inclined to matrimony--" + +"Mother," said Mattie, interrupting, "I have got such a nice letter. It +has made me so happy. I know you would like to read it. You always like +to read my letters, you know." And Mattie looked playfully in her +mother's face, and handed her the letter. "You will be delighted to hear +from him. He says so many kind, good things." + +Mrs. Chapman took the letter and scanned over it hastily. "And so it has +come to this, has it?" she said, looking admonishingly at Mattie. "A +letter from that sailor-boy, the son of them common Dutch people. Your +father shall see this. Our daughter has stooped so low as to pledge +herself to such a common man!" + +"I love you, mother," said Mattie, "and I don't want to be disobedient; +but I love him, and I know he loves me. Yes, mother, I love Tite just as +much as if he was a rich man's son. I dreamed last night that he came +home a rich man, and brought me so many nice things; and that we were +married, and were so happy." And she threw her arms around her mother's +neck and kissed her so affectionately. "Who knows, mother, but that he +may come home rich? But even if he comes home poor, I know he will be +good and true to me," she concluded. + +"How very sentimental you are, my daughter," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, the +little curls about her brow seeming to get tighter as her broad face +grew redder. "Sentimental people never prosper, though--never knew one +yet that did. Was silly and sentimental once myself. That was before I +married your father." + +"Oh," rejoined Mattie, playfully, "I am real glad that you remember +those things, mother. Was father rich when you were married?" + +Mrs. Chapman shook her head, and looked confused for a moment. "He was +not rich, my daughter. But then he was so clever--and had such +intellectual prospects. Brought up as you have been, my daughter, and +with such accomplishments, and such prospects!--to throw yourself away +on a sentiment. Just think of it! What would my mother have said if I +had gone off and married a man just for sentiment's sake? I brought you +up in strict regard to all the proprieties, and now you insist that you +won't be a lady." + +"Don't fret so, mother," said Mattie, again putting her arms around her +mother's neck, and kissing her. "I will be a real good, obedient girl, +and do anything you bid me. But then--" Here Mattie paused for a moment, +and looked roguishly up into her mother's face. + +"But then--what?" + +"Well, I don't think we shall agree about Mr. Gusher. The truth is, +mother--I don't know why--but then I don't think I ever can love him. +But then, you know, mother, I have not seen him yet; and you would'nt +have me love a man before I saw him?" + +"Perhaps not, my daughter; but I would have you look up, remember your +quality, and consider what you may be. If you condescend to look down on +that sailor-boy, there's no hope of the family ever moving in the upper +circles. But he'll never come back. That ship'll go to the bottom as +sure as the world. Something tells me she will go down, and I know she +will." + +At this Mattie's eyes filled with tears, and she buried her face in her +hands and gave vent to her emotions in sobs. "Mother, mother," she +rejoined, after a short pause, "how cruel of you to say so, even if you +thought so. He was so manly, and so kind to me." + +At this Mrs. Chapman rose from her chair with an air of injured dignity, +and walked in silence up and down the room for several minutes. Then she +heaved a sigh, extended her hand, and resumed: "Your tears, my daughter, +are what tear down my pride. No use, I see; my advice is all thrown +away--all thrown away! Oh, what a thing it is to have a daughter, and +yet not have a daughter. I mean to have a daughter that will have her +own way." Again Mrs. Chapman resumed her chair, and became thoughtful +and silent. + +"You know I love to please you, mother, for you are such a good mother +to me in everything else," rejoined Mattie, kneeling beside her mother, +placing her arms on her knees, and looking up lovingly in her face. "You +know I like to please you, mother," she repeated; "and I won't marry +anybody until Tite comes home. But then you must not say anything more +to me about Mr. Gusher." + +"That's poor consolation--very poor consolation, my daughter," replied +Mrs. Chapman, rebukingly. "Exactly what I did'nt want you to promise. +Then you have promised yourself to the young man? I'd never have got +your father if I'd made such a promise to such a young man. I have +always looked forward to the time when we should have a fine house on +the Battery, and move in the higher circles." + +Chapman now entered the room, which put an end to the conversation +between Mattie and her mother. Chapman smiled for once, and was +evidently in a pleasant mood. After rubbing his hands and taking a seat +by the fire, and looking first at Mattie and then at her mother, he +said: "I have good news to tell you. The storm has prevented Gusher from +getting here to-night. But the Kidd Discovery Company matter is settled, +and will be a great success. No need of inventing a new religion now. +Hanz has got his head full of the project. Has made all his Dutch +neighbors believe there is a fortune in it for them all. We go on an +expedition up the river to-morrow night, in search of the d----l's +sounding-rock. That's the place where Kidd buried his treasure, you see. +These honest old Dutchmen firmly believe that Kidd had an understanding +with the devil when he buried it there. Just show them how to start an +enterprise and make money, and they are as ready to make it as +anybody." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI. + +A NIGHT EXPEDITION. + + +The wind and the cold had moderated, and a heavy grey mist hung over the +Tappan Zee on the following night. Hollow, echoing sounds came over and +through the mist clouds, and re-echoed up the mountain. The scene was +one common at that season of the year; still there was something strange +and mysterious in the very atmosphere that composed it. Gloom hung over +everything, and touched a melancholy chord in one's feelings. Curious +figures, dim and indistinct, seemed to move and dance up and down, and +thread their way through the curtain of mist, like phantoms in winding +sheets. They were but delusions, betraying the eye. But there is a +reality now; a steamer is seen cutting her way through the deep gloom, +and throwing a long trail of light high up over the grey mist and +reflecting curiously in the heavens. + +Two stalworth men were seen walking down the road that night about eight +o'clock, dressed in a style common to boatmen. One carried a pair of +oars over his shoulder; the other had a well-filled haversack slung +across his, and a crowbar in his right hand. They halted on reaching +Bright's inn, and having stacked the oars and the bar against the little +porch, entered, and were greeted by a number of friends already +refreshing themselves at the counter. The appearance of these men--for +they were known to be the best boatmen on the Tappan Zee--greatly +surprised Bright and the gossips who were enjoying his ale around a +little table. One and then another invited them to drink, but they +refused, saying they had merely dropped in to light their pipes and look +for the men who were to join them. Various questions were now put to +them concerning their mission and its object. But the boatmen affected a +mysterious air; and all that could be got from them was that when they +returned it would be with money enough to buy all Nyack. They seemed +somewhat disappointed at not meeting some one, whose name they would not +disclose, at the inn. + +Bright now mixed warm punches and set them before the boatmen, saying +that on such a night they were just what were needed to prop a man's +courage up. The men, however, steadily refused all invitations to drink, +and when they had lighted their pipes, and bid the host and his +customers good night, left the inn and proceeded to a landing at the +bank of the river, where a boat with two men in it was waiting them. + +The manners of the boatmen had so excited the curiosity of the +inn-keeper and his guests, that no sooner had they left the inn than +Bright and several others put on their hats and followed, resolved to +see for themselves what was going on. Imagine, then, what must have been +their surprise to find the men in the boat Bigelow Chapman and Hanz +Toodleburg--both with heavy overcoats on. The boatmen were welcomed by +the men in the boat, whose voices were plainly heard, and after +exchanging a few words they threw in their oars carelessly and followed +themselves. In another minute the little craft was heading up the +stream, and disappeared in the thick mist. + +"I have it all!" said Bright, turning to his companions with an assuring +nod of the head, and lowering his voice. "Toodleburg--Chapman--a +Dutchman and a Yankee--pick-axes, crowbars, and big ropes. Put them all +together; add going off at night to it--dark and misty night at +that--and there's something we'll all hear from in the wind. If Hanz and +that quarrelsome Yankee have got their heads together, then the devil +will get cheated out of Kidd's money. Sarves him right, too. Now them +two is after Kidd's money. Always knew old Hanz could tell where it +was." + +The inn-keeper and his friends now returned to the inn and discussed the +matter over warm punch until nearly midnight, or until their wits became +so confused that the four men in the boat increased to forty. In short, +Nyack waked up on the following morning to find herself filled with the +wildest reports concerning this midnight expedition and its object. + +The little boat moved on steadily up the stream, her sturdy oarsmen +pulling at a measured stroke through the bewildering fog. In this way +the boat was kept on up the river until past midnight, a glimpse of the +land being caught here and there, an assurance to Hanz that they were +not far out at sea. Indeed, Hanz began to get somewhat uneasy, and to +wish himself back with Angeline in the little house. As this expedition, +however, was to establish a solid basis for the great Kidd Discovery +Company, out of which a fortune for Tite was to come, he was willing to +run the risk of being lost in the fog for a night or two. + +Towards morning the men became uneasy and hungry, and began cursing Kidd +and all connected with him, and enquired of Chapman if he knew where he +was going. Indeed, one of them declared it his belief that they had been +brought on a fool's errand. Chapman, however, assured them that he knew +exactly where Kidd had buried his treasure--that it was on a point not +many miles below the Highlands, and under a big rock called the d----l's +sounding stone. That if they kept on they would reach the place before +daybreak. Hanz assured the men that every word Chapman said concerning +Kidd was true, and this inspired their confidence, for they honestly +believed his father to be an intimate friend of the pirate, and of +course ought to know all about his money. + +The boatmen now rested their oars and proceeded to refresh themselves. +And while they were doing this, and wondering what this night expedition +really meant, Hanz smoked his pipe and nursed his courage. In his heart, +however, he wished himself out of the affair and in a more honest +occupation. As for Chapman, he told a number of stories tended to excite +the cupidity of the boatmen. After resting an hour or two the party +proceeded about five miles further up the river, and landed just at +daybreak on a point jutting into the west side of the river, and just +above which there was a dilapidated little cabin, inhabited by a +laboring man and his wife. + +It would not do to disturb these poor people at so early an hour, +Chapman said, nor to tell them what sort of a mission we were on. +Thereupon Hanz and he proceeded up the bank of the river, to make, as he +said, a discovery. So the boatmen were left to take care of themselves. +The boatmen waited for nearly two hours, still neither Chapman nor Hanz +returned. Where they had gone was fast becoming a mystery. The men at +length became alarmed and disappointed, and proceeded towards the little +house to enquire the name of the place, and see what they could do to +get breakfast. Before they reached the house, however, the door opened +and two half-naked, tow-headed urchins came toddling out, and as soon +as they saw the strangers scampered back in a state of great alarm. A +lusty dame, ragged and shoeless, and with her hair hanging loose about +her neck, now came to the door, with a broom in one hand and a +frying-pan in the other. + +"Where on arth are you two come from?" enquired the woman, in a surly +tone, as she raised her broom. "Another lot o' fools com'd to look for +Mr. Kidd's money," she continued, without waiting for a reply. "Seems as +if all the folks atween this and Yonkers had got crazy about Mr. Kidd, +and was a comin' up here to dig for his money." + +The men confessed that she was right in regard to their mission, and +begged that she would get them some breakfast, for which they would pay +her liberally. + +"Yes!" rejoined the woman, angrily, "I know'd what you'd cum fur. Thar +ain't nothin' in this house to get breakfast on--nothin' fur my poor old +man and the two little children. Work's hard to get up here. And them +fools what comes up here to dig for Mr. Kidd's money eat up what little +we had, and did'nt pay fur it, nither. Go home, like honest men, and get +some honester work than comin' up here thinkin' you kin find Mr. Kidd's +money. Don't believe in Mr. Kidd--I don't!" The woman kept swinging her +broom as she spoke. Then the two children ventured back and peered from +behind her skirts at the strangers. "Don't believe he had any money, +anyhow. If he had he was a mighty fool to come up here and bury it. +People round here would 'a stole every dollar on it long ago. There's a +Yankee and a Dutchman diggin' a big hole a piece above here--expectin' +to find Mr. Kidd's money." + +Such was the reception these boatmen met with at the hands of Mrs. +Brophy, whose husband, a short, thick-shouldered, bullet-headed son of +the Emerald Isle, with a short, black pipe in his wide mouth, and in his +shirt and trousers, came to the door and seated himself on the sill. + +"Is it Misther Kidd's money ye's is afther?" he enquired, querulously, +putting his elbows on his knees and resting his head in his hands. "Much +luck may ye's have finding it. Divel a cint meself iver saw uv Misther +Kidd's money, an' we've liv'd here this two years an' more. It's mighty +little uv any other man's money--not enough, troth, to get bread for the +childher--have we seen." + +The boatmen enquired of Mr. Brophy if he could tell them where the +devil's sounding-stone was. There was indeed a superstition amongst +these poor people that Kidd had buried his money under a rock he gave +that name to; and that there was an agreement with his satanic majesty, +who was to stand guard over it, and allow only those who had the +talisman to lay hands on it. This talisman, it was also believed, would +open the devil's conscience, and cause him to lift the stone and unlock +the great iron chest containing the gold and silver. Loud noises, it was +said, were heard under the stone, which was the voice of the devil +rebuking the follies of the men who came in search of this treasure. +These poor people also believed that Kidd had murdered a woman in cold +blood, and buried her under the same stone; that she would come to life +when it was lifted; and that her ghost haunted the spot every night, and +not less than a score of Dutchmen had seen it. The more religious of +them declared that the ghost would hold communion only with a certain +priest, who came once a year, at midnight, to invoke in an unknown +tongue a blessing on her troubled spirit. + +"The divel's soundin'-stone is it ye's wants?" ejaculated Mr. Brophy. +"Shure, it's beyant--a mile, about--perhaps two--perhaps not so +many--perhaps more. Much good may it do ye's when ye's finds it. An', +an', an', the ghost standin' there ivery night." Mr. Brophy resumed his +pipe, and after two or three whiffs resumed: "Ye's may dig holes till +yer childhers wears rags, as mine does, an' not a mouthfull uv bread in +the house, an' not a cint of Misther Kidd's money ye'd git. An' the +ghost standin' there, too!" + +Being satisfied that these poor people had nothing to give them to eat, +the boatmen presented the woman with two dollars and what liquor there +was in their flask, telling her to spend the money in bread for the +children. This little act of kindness so softened the poor woman's +feelings that she invoked numerous blessings on their heads; adding at +the same time that it was more money than she had seen for a month, +though persons in search of Kidd's gold and silver had beset her house. + +The men now returned to their boat, and breakfasted on what they had in +their haversack. And when it was nearly noon, and they were beginning to +get alarmed, Chapman returned, apparently in the best of spirits, and +accompanied them to a comfortable farm-house, about a mile up the bank. +Here they found Hanz, very contentedly smoking his pipe, in the company +of two others, who at first affected to be strangers. It soon became +apparent, however, that these men had met Hanz and Chapman here by +appointment. And it was also apparent that they were engaged in the same +business of searching for Kidd's treasure. One was an ill-favored, +talkative little man, who wore spectacles and the shabbiest of clothing, +and seemed to pride himself in a bushy red beard and hair. In short, he +was about as dilapidated a specimen of rejected humanity as Nature in +one of her wildest freaks could have produced. Indeed, I may as well +inform the reader that this person was Warren Holbrook, who, since his +departure from Nyack, had been enlightening the people of this +neighborhood by preaching the gospel of the "great advanced ideas," and +in that way picking up enough to keep the wolf from the door, though it +would not put clothes on his back. + +Holbrook declared that the world had not used him well generally; but he +never thought of looking into himself for the cause. He was willing, +however, to relinquish the gospel of the advanced ideas for a business +that would put money in his pocket and clothes on his back. Here he was, +then, engaged in the business of getting up the great Kidd Discovery +Company, by which every man who invested in it was to make a fortune. + +The other was a slender, well-formed young man, perhaps twenty-five or +six years old, of dark olive complexion, and black, oily hair that +curled all over his head. His large black eyes were full of softness and +were well set under beautifully arched-brows. There was, indeed, a +moorish cast about his features, which were prominent and well lined; +and when he spoke, which he did with a foreign accentation, he disclosed +a row of white, polished teeth, every one set with perfect regularity. +His hands, too, were soft and delicate, and on each of his little +fingers he wore a large seal ring. He wore, also, a heavy gold +neck-chain, and his dress was of plain black, made in the latest style +and in great good taste. Romantic young girls just out in society might +have been excused for selecting just such a man as a model lover. + +The young man I have described above so neatly dressed, was Philo +Gusher, of the great accommodating house of Topman and Gusher, +extensively engaged in making discoveries and fortunes for all persons +kind enough to honor them with their investments. + +The boatmen found these men in a room at the farm-house, seated around a +table on which stood a bucket half filled with what appeared to be ugly +black sand. Just as they entered Mr. Gusher rose from his seat and +exclaimed: + +"Greatest discovery what was ever made. There is nothing like it in +history. I tell you it is a great thing, gen-tle-men!" Here he raised +his right hand, and then lowering it ran his fingers into the dark sand, +and drew out a number of discolored Mexican and Spanish dollars. "Wis +zat--what is in zat bucket, gen-tle-mens--and ze ouse of Topman and +Gusher (me) is on a solid basis, as you shall see." Here he rang a dozen +or two of the discolored dollars on the table, adding, "Zis Kidd +Discovery Company is one zing so great as you ever did see, +gen-tle-men." + +"And we are indebted to this good, honest old man for all of it--I +should say," rejoined Chapman, checking himself, "for selling us the +secret." Hanz had been smoking his pipe quietly, and seeming to take but +little interest in what was going on. Chapman now slapped him on the +shoulder violently, and shook his hand. "We are indebted to you for this +great and successful enterprise, eh? See the fortune now, don't you?" + +"Perhaps I toes, und maybe I ton't," replied Hanz, relieving his mouth +of the pipe. "I shees t' shand, und I shees t' tirty tollars--how I know +where he comes from, eh?" Hanz began to have his suspicion aroused, and +to feel that he had got into queer company. "T' tollar might get back to +t' tivel when you gets him, if I vas only back mit mine Angeline!" said +he, shaking his head doubtingly. + +"It is very generous of our friend here," interposed Holbrook, running +his fingers through his tufty red hair, and looking askance through his +spectacles at Hanz, "to affect that he cares nothing about our +discovery. Very kind of him. But we found the treasure exactly where he +said it was buried." + +Hanz shook his head, and looked with an air of surprise at the speaker. +"If I tells you where dat gold und dat tirty shilver be's buried, und +you goes dar und finds him, ten I be's asleep, und ton't know what I +tells you." + +"Te gen-tle-man," interposed Gusher, going off into a rhapsody of +delight, "is very modest. It is very good of him to be so modest. But +he, I am sure, will accept ze thanks of Topman and Gusher. Tis Kidd, +gen-tle-men--he must be one jolly, generous fellow. I loves tis +gen-tle-man Kidd. He bury his dollars here in bushel baskets full. We +find him, eh?" Here he again ran his hand into the sand, and drawing out +several more discolored dollars threw them on the table. "Te great big +Kidd Discovery Company is one great fixed fact--one grand success, +gen-tle-men. When ze customer come wiz his money, we shall say here is +ze zing what makes you one grand fortune; invest your money and put your +trust in Topman and Gusher." + +Here, indeed, was the capital stock on which the enterprising firm of +Topman and Gusher had started a great and flourishing joint-stock +company. The boatmen listened to what they had heard with surprise and +astonishment. They, in short, firmly believed that what they had seen in +the bucket was treasure taken from the place in which it had been buried +by Kidd. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII. + +MR. GUSHER IS INTRODUCED TO MATTIE. + + +The Reverend Warren Holbrook was left in the farm-house to further +develop the discovery, and lift the great enterprise into popularity +among the confiding people in that portion of the country. The rest of +the party, including Gusher, returned to the boat near sundown and set +off for Nyack, the sturdy oarsmen singing a merry song. There in the +bottom of the boat was the bucket containing the black sand and +discolored dollars--the capital stock of the great Kidd Discovery +Company--which Chapman and Gusher affected to guard with particular +care. + +They reached Nyack the next day about noon, looking fatigued and +careworn, for they had enjoyed but little sleep since leaving. During +their absence all sorts of wild rumors had been circulated concerning +the object of the expedition. Imagination had made some of its highest +flights, and even found a relative of Kidd, who was to join the +expedition a few miles up the river, and who possessed the power to make +the devil surrender sounding-rock--in case he proved obstinate and +refused to acknowledge Hanz's authority. Titus Bright's inn was the +place where all the wisdom of the settlement concentrated of a night. +And it was here that all the various features of the great expedition +were discussed over ale and cider. Sundry honest Dutchmen shook their +heads suspiciously, and declared no good would come of it if Chapman got +his finger in. Others said it was all clear enough now where Hanz +Toodleburg got his dollars and his doubloons. It was no wonder that he +was so much better off than his neighbors. Another declared that he had +more than once told Hanz he would never get to heaven, and that secret +on his mind. + +When the boat reached the landing a number of persons were gathered +there, all anxious to know what success had attended the expedition, and +what discoveries had been made concerning Kidd's money. News that the +expedition had returned soon spread over Nyack, and the town was greatly +agitated. The arrival of Gusher, a gentleman of such distinguished +personal appearance, tended still further to increase the agitation, and +to give wing to wilder rumors. Hanz was received with salutations of +welcome, for every one seemed glad to see him back. But where this +foreign-looking gentleman came from, and what was his history, were +questions they confounded their wits over without finding a satisfactory +solution. + +Considerable ado was now made in getting the bucket and its contents on +shore, which was done with as much care and ceremony as if every grain +of black sand it contained had been gold. And when a number of the coins +had been exhibited to the bystanders, and the genuineness of the metal +they were made of shown to be beyond doubt, the boatmen ran a pole +through the handle and carried it on their shoulders up the road, +creating such a sensation in turn that they were followed by a curious +and astonished crowd, which seemed to increase at every step. + +The effect was exactly what Chapman wanted. He had the precious treasure +carried to his house and deposited, while Hanz and the boatmen proceeded +to their homes, stopping at Bright's inn on the way, where they gave a +marvellous account of their expedition and what they had discovered. + +The portly figure of Mrs. Chapman, arrayed in her best millinery, stood +in the door ready to welcome her dear husband and Mr. Gusher, who had +proceeded in advance of the crowd. + +"Allow me to welcome you to my house--such as it is, Mr. Gusher," said +she, making a low courtesy, and then extending her fat, waxy hand. Mr. +Gusher bowed in return, and received the hand formally. + +"Madam, I am so very happy to have ze pleazure to zee you in your own +house," replied Mr. Gusher, raising his hand to his heart, then lifting +his hat and making another formal bow. + +"I am sure you will forego all ceremony, Mr. Gusher, and make yourself +at home. We are plain, unpretending people, and like to receive our +friends in a plain, unpretending manner," resumed Mrs. Chapman, +escorting her guest into the parlor, and begging him to be seated. "It +seems so very long since we met in New York, Mr. Gusher. I never shall +forget that visit, made so pleasant by your kindness. I have spoken of +you so often, Mr. Gusher, to my daughter, that we both feel as if we +were well acquainted with you--" + +"Madam," interrupted Mr. Gusher, again putting his hand to his heart and +making a formal bow, "you do me so many compliments as I don't deserve. +I have anticipated ze pleazure and ze honor so much to zee your +daughter. I am zure I shall be delight wiz her. If I shall speak Englis +so well as you, then I shall be so happy. Then I makes myself agreeable +to your daughter, I am so sure." Mr. Gusher was indeed quite embarrassed +at the number of compliments Mrs. Chapman seemed inclined to bestow on +him. + +"Nyack is so dull and stupid--so very dull, Mr. Gusher. We only endure +it, you know. And there are so few nice people in it--so very few we +care about associating with," resumed this fat, fussy woman, giving her +head a toss and extending her hands. "A few, a very few nice people have +come up from the city--we find them very agreeable society, quite a +relief. We intend to set up a residence in the city. How delightful to +look forward to the day. We can then live in a style more agreeable to +our taste." + +"Oh! madam," rejoined Mr. Gusher, "I am sure you must be very happy. +Your house is so very elegant. I should be so happy in zis house. +(Pardon, madam, I cannot speak Englis so well.) And zen, wiz your +beautiful daughter." Mr. Gusher placed his hand to his heart again, +bowed his head gracefully, and assumed a sentimental air. "Oh, I shall +be so happy to have my home like zis. And your beautiful daughter--she +would sing to me, and she would play me sweet music, and read to me some +poetry. You shall zee I am so proud of ze poetry--" + +"How very kind of you," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, bowing +condescendingly; "how very kind of you, to pay my daughter this high +compliment. And, then, coming from so distinguished a foreigner. Indeed, +Mr. Gusher, I have had a mother's responsibility in educating my +daughter up to the highest requisitions of society. Then she's only a +young, thoughtless girl yet, you know. Indeed, Mr. Gusher, if it was not +that she is so intellectual--I say this out of respect to her father, +whose intellectual qualities she inherits--I should feel alarmed about +her. Indeed I should. She is so much admired. And there is nothing +spoils a young, ardent girl so much as admiration." + +Chapman now entered the room and suggested that Mr. Gusher, their guest, +must be very much fatigued after so arduous an expedition. Mr. Gusher +was thereupon shown to his room, and left to his own contemplations. In +truth, he was glad enough to escape in this way from a continuation of +this fussy woman's compliments. He had, however, created in his mind a +beautiful picture of Mattie, with oval face, fair complexion, soft blue +eyes, flowing golden hair, and a form that Diana might have envied, and +a voice so sweet in song. As to her parents, they knew nothing of him, +(perhaps it was well they did not); and he knew nothing of them. There +was a mystery overhanging the means by which he had been brought in +contact with these peculiar people. But the more he revolved the +beautiful picture of Mattie over in his mind the more his anxiety to see +her increased. + +Mr. Gusher rested for two hours, and then re-appeared in the parlor, so +exquisitely dressed and made up. Every hair on his head seemed to have +been curled so exactly. The gentleman had evidently taken great pains to +get himself up in a style that should be faultless. I may mention, also, +that Mr. Gusher regarded himself as a very valuable ornament in the +atmosphere of fashionable society--just such a nice young man as an +ambitious woman just setting up in society would require at least a +dozen of to make her first reception a success. + +Mrs. Chapman and Mattie were already in the parlor, waiting to receive +Mr. Gusher, "My dear sir!" exclaimed Mrs. Chapman; "you are looking so +much improved. I hope you are rested? And now, sir, allow me to present +you to my daughter--Miss Mattie, my only daughter. This is Mr. Gusher, +my daughter. You have heard me speak of Mr. Gusher so often." Mattie +blushed and looked confused, then courtesied in a cold and formal +manner. + +"I am so glad to make you my compliments," said Mr. Gusher, making one +of his best bows, and moving backward with a shuffling motion, "I am so +glad to make you my friend," he continued, bowing and placing his right +hand on his heart. Mattie's beauty was quite up to the picture Mr. +Gusher had drawn of it in his imagination. But her manner was so cold +and formal that it not only disappointed but annoyed him. Instead of an +ardent, impressible, romantic and even demonstrative girl, bubbling over +with warmth and vivacity, here she was, as cold and formal as a charity +school matron of forty summers. + +"I hope, sir, that you will find your visit to Nyack pleasant," she +replied, tossing her long, golden curls bewitchingly over her fair, full +shoulders with her right hand, then motioning Mr. Gusher to be seated +"Nyack is a very dull place, though. I am sure you will not find much in +it to interest you. My mother tells me you are to make but a very short +stay. I don't wonder you are anxious to get back, sir--" + +Mrs. Chapman was at this time in a state of great alarm lest Mattie +should say something not strictly within the rules of propriety. She +shook her head and cast a significant glance at Mattie, then raised the +fore-finger of her right hand to her lips, admonishingly. + +"My daughter has not heard of the great enterprise yourself and my dear +husband are engaged in--" + +[Illustration: "I am so glad to make you my compliments!" said Mr. +Gusher, making one of his best bows. Page 128.] + +"Why, yes, mother, I have," interrupted Mattie; "did'nt Mr. Toodleburg +and father go up the river to buy up all the vegetables for the New York +market?" + +"Oh, horrors! horrors! Why, my daughter, what put such a strange thought +in your head? Think of it. Your intellectual father going into the +vegetable business--and with a common old Dutchman! Oh, horrors, my +daughter! What could have put such a thought in your head?" The fat, +fussy woman affected to be overcome, and raised her hands in the very +agony of distress. + +"My daughter, Mr. Gusher, has a way of talking so at times. A little +satirical, you know--inherits it from her father." + +"My mother has spoken of you frequently, Mr. Gusher. I almost felt +acquainted with you before you arrived. You do business in the city, she +says. The weather is so very bad, I am sure you will not enjoy such a +dull place as this," said Mattie, turning to Mr. Gusher and resuming the +conversation, cold and emotionless. + +"No, no, miss," rejoined Mr. Gusher, smiling; "I am zure I shall be so +happy wiz you. Wiz you to zay so many good zings to me, my heart shall +be in ze paradise." Here Mr. Gusher made a bow, and pressed his hand to +his heart. "Wiz you for ze bird of zat paradise, oh, I shall be so +happy." + +"Then you and father are going into business, Mr. Gusher? I do hope you +will be successful. If you can only get father to stick to business," +resumed Mattie. "He is smart at inventing new religions, and other +things. Mother, (here she turned to her mother, who was in a state of +great alarm,) how many new religions has father invented? I know how +many churches he has built--" + +"My daughter, my daughter!" exclaimed the impatient and perplexed woman. +"Such things as churches don't interest Mr. Gusher. Mr. Gusher moves in +distinguished society, and goes to a fashionable church." + +"Oh, yes, madam, I go to ze very fazionable church. I go to zee ze +ladies, and to enjoy ze sentiment of ze music. Zen I shall enjoy myself +wiz your daughter more as well in your house. I shall do zat. Your +daughter, she shall zing to me, and she shall play to me, and she shall +read to me some poetry. I am so much love ze poetry." + +"Truly, Mr. Gusher, I should make but very poor work in entertaining you +by singing or playing," replied Mattie; "and as for poetry, I never had +any taste for it. Father made me read Pilgrim's Progress until it has +got to be a favorite book with me. Did you ever read it, Mr. Gusher? It +is very interesting." + +"Nevare, nevare!" returned Mr. Gusher, shaking his head and extending +his hands. "I nevare read ze book of ze Progress Pilgrim. I read ze book +what describe to me ze paradise of ze heart--love." How very +aggravating, thought Mr. Gusher. Instead of a girl with a whole volume +of poetry in her soft blue eyes, here was one whose very nature seemed +devoid of sentiment. Still there was something in this cold and reserve +manner, this indifference to Mr. Gusher's attractions, that tended to +excite his ambition, for he was excessively vain. + +"Your dear mother say I go to ze fazionable church. Yes, I go to ze +fazionable church. I zee so many nice ladies, so many beautiful ladies, +all my friends; and za make me so many compliments. Oh, yes, Miss +Chapman, I have so many beautiful young ladies for my friend in ze +church." + +"I don't see how it can be otherwise, Mr. Gusher," returned Mattie, +bestowing a look of admiration on him. "I am sure you would have a +great many admirers if you lived in Nyack. But, then, you would not +think of living in such a dull place." + +"You do me so much honor, miss," rejoined Mr. Gusher, rising and making +a bow. "I hope it shall be my honor to count Miss Chapman--what shall I +say?--well, I will say as one of my so good friends." + +"Indeed, Mr. Gusher, I have no such ambition. You have so many beautiful +friends now. You would not, I am sure, condescend to include a simple +country girl like me among them. I assure you, Mr. Gusher, I am not +ambitious." + +"You will have discovered by this time," said Mrs. Chapman, rising and +making a low courtesy, "that my daughter delights in being eccentric. +Oh, sir, she says a great many things she never means. She has got +ambition enough. She would'nt be a Chapman if she had'nt." + +Dinner was now announced. "I shall be so happy to escort you," said Mr. +Gusher, nearly doubling himself in a bow, and extending his arm. + +Mattie hesitated for a moment, blushed, and seemed confused. "Please, +Mr. Gusher," she said, bowing and extending her right hand, "escort my +dear mother." Here was an awkward situation. Mr. Gusher's knowledge of +etiquette was for once put on trial by a plain, simple-hearted country +girl. But his offer was intended only as a compliment, and surely, he +thought, the girl would accept it in that light. + +Turning nervously to Mrs. Chapman he extended his arm, saying: "Pardon, +madam, pardon. You will understand?" + +"Oh, certainly, Mr. Gusher," returned the ponderous woman. "You are so +very kind--so very kind, Mr. Gusher." + +Never before had Mr. Gusher escorted a woman of such ponderous +circumference. Mattie followed, her roguish smiles indicating that she +enjoyed what she considered a joke played at Mr. Gusher's expense. The +picture presented by the meeting of such extremes was indeed a ludicrous +one. + +I will not weary the reader with a description of or explain a family +dinner such as that generally spread by the Chapmans, nor with the many +apologies made by Mrs. Chapman that they had not something better to set +before so distinguished a guest as Mr. Philo Gusher. Chapman was already +seated at the table, busy with a huge fork and carving-knife. + +"We don't stand on ceremony here," said he. "Our visitors are always +welcome, and expected to make themselves at home. (Pointing with the +carving-knife to opposite sides of the table.) Take seats, take seats, +now," he concluded. + +Mrs. Chapman made a motion to seat Mattie on Mr. Gusher's left, an honor +she did not seem to appreciate, for she insisted on taking a seat +opposite--her proper place. + +When dinner was over Mr. Gusher escorted Mattie back into the parlor. +"You shall understand me better, miz, I am sure you shall, as we get +better acquainted. And now you shall zing to me, and play me some +music," said he, opening the piano and arranging the stool and music. +"You will zee I shall make myself agreeable," he repeated two or three +times, then extending his hand. But instead of accepting it Mattie +returned a cold, formal bow, and proceeded to the piano unaided. + +"The truth is, Mr. Gusher," said Mattie, running her fingers up and down +the keys, and looking up archly in Mr. Gusher's face, "I am only taking +lessons, and can't play or sing so as to interest you." + +"Excuse, miz. You want I pay you ze compliment. Well, I shall do zat +when I hear ze music." + +The fair girl now tossed her golden curls back over her shoulders, and +began singing one of the most solemn and melancholy of pieces, to her +own accompaniment. Her voice was indeed full of sweetness, and she could +sing with some skill and effect; but she was just at this time more +inclined to play on Mr. Gusher's feelings than to do justice to her +musical talent. + +"There's something sweet and touching in this melancholy music, I like +it, Mr. Gusher," she said, pausing and looking up in his face +tantalizingly; "don't you?" + +Mr. Gusher shook his head disapprovingly, and shrugged his shoulders. +"No, no, miz; I nevare like ze funeral music. I go to ze funeral of my +friend wiz music like zat." + +"I am very sorry to hear you say so, Mr. Gusher. I play it whenever +mother will let me. And I enjoy it so much. Reminds me of a dear young +friend now far away." + +"Now, miz, I makes my discovery," returned Mr. Gusher, turning over a +leaf of the music, and looking enquiringly into Mattie's face. "Zat +young friend, so far away, wiz his memory so near ze heart. Well, I +shall think no more of zat. You shall zee I shall make my compliments, +and shall cut out zat one young friend what is so far away. You shall +zing me some grand music, so full of ze love, and ze poetry, so as my +heart shall lift up wiz joy." Here Mr. Gusher flourished his hands and +executed several waltzing steps, as an expression of how his feelings +were excited by music. + +Mattie turned suddenly around to witness this peculiar exhibition, when +Tite's letter fell from her bosom to the floor. + +"Ze revelation! Ze re-ve-la--what shall I say? If I only speak ze Englis +so good as you, now!" exclaimed Gusher, affecting a loud laugh. And +stooping down quickly, he attempted to seize the missive. Mattie was too +quick for him. Regaining possession of it she restored it carefully to +her bosom, an expression of joy and triumph lighting up her countenance. + +Disappointment now took possession of Mr. Gusher's feelings. His manner +indicated what his heart felt. Never before had his expectations and his +ambition been so lowered, or his vanity so exposed. He had expected to +find a beautiful, simple-minded country girl, ready with hand and heart +to become a willing captive to his charms. And yet he had failed to make +the slightest impression on her. Nor was that all. Her heart and her +thoughts were evidently engaged in another direction. What, he enquired +of himself, could her mother have meant by the encouragement she gave +him to visit her home and see her daughter? His curiosity to find out +who it was that held such possession of this beautiful girl's affections +was now excited to the highest pitch. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII. + +ROUNDING CAPE HORN. + + +Mr. Gusher, with his pride wounded, and a heavy heart, took leave of the +Chapmans early on the following morning, and crossed the ferry on his +way back to New York. The black bucket containing the capital stock of +the great Kidd Discovery Company, in which his fancy pictured a dozen or +more fortunes, and which he bore with him, afforded no relief for his +disappointment. It might be the means of his owning a fine house, riding +in his own carriage, and being considered a rich man by society. But, +after all, riches only embodied the hard features of dollars and cents. +Who could find romance in the pursuit of dollars and cents? he thought. +You could carry fame into the grave with you. Dollars and cents might +buy you a fine coffin, and bring rich friends to your funeral; but they +left you at the tomb door. + +Had Mr. Gusher gone back to New York in the belief that he had made an +impression on the affections of that pretty, simple-hearted country +girl, Mattie Chapman, what a happy man he would have been. He resolved, +however, not to be vanquished in this way--not to give it up--but to +continue his attentions, and if possible gain a victory over her +affections. + +And now, gentle reader, you must accompany me to a very different part +of the globe, and see what is going on there. + +The ship Pacific had been refitted and put in sailing order at Bahia, +and was now on her course for the Straits of Magellan. On reaching the +latitude of the straits strong adverse winds set in, and gale succeeded +gale until the sea became lashed into a tempest. The weather, too, was +biting cold, and the crew suffered intensely. Not a gleam of sun had +been seen for three weeks, and the ship's progress had to be worked by +dead reckoning. + +Morning after morning the sturdy old captain would come on deck, thrust +his hands deep into the pockets of his pea-jacket, and look intently +over the wild watery scene. Then he would shake his head despondingly. +"Never caught it this way afore," he would say, addressing the officer +of the watch. "Never caught it this way afore. Somebody's brought bad +luck aboard, or we should'nt have such weather as this." Then he would +disappear into the cabin and ponder over his chart, trying to work out +the ship's position. But a strong current and the high wind, both +setting in one direction, had carried him far beyond his reckoning, and +into the vicinity of the Faulkland Islands. + +All the light spars had been sent down, and for fifteen days the ship +had labored in the sea under close-reefed topsails and jib, trying to +make weather, but without gaining a mile. + +On the sixteenth day the weather cleared up a little and the sun came +out, and an observation was got, which showed that the ship had been +carried into the vicinity before described. For once the sturdy old +whale-killer had got drifted away from his course. But he declared it +was all owing to the sea getting tipsy, the compasses getting tipsy, the +chronometers getting tipsy, and the sun keeping himself rolled up in a +blanket. You could'nt, he said, get a ship to look the wind in the eye +when all the elements were tipsy. He was a lucky mariner who could get +round Cape Horn without being tossed off his feet for a +month--everything seemed to stagger so. + +The wind now changed suddenly and blew as fiercely from the opposite +direction, and the cold increased. The ship was at once got on her +course for the straits, her reefs were shook out, and she bowled over +the sea at the rate of nine knots. Still the sky continued black and +cloudy, and the horizon misty and dim. The sea ran high, and broke and +surged, filling the air with a cold, cutting spray, while the ship +labored and strained in every timber. + +Have you, my gentle reader, ever seen the broad ocean in an angry mood +on a cold, pitiless winter day, when the horizon was hung with cold, +penetrating mist, when all overhead was black with fleeting clouds, when +the seas broke in their fury and threatened to destroy the frail bark +under your feet, and when rain, hail, and snow alternately swept through +the atmosphere, like showers of keen-pointed arrows--have you, I say, +ever contemplated this sublime and impressive scene without +acknowledging within yourself how omnipotent was God, and how feeble and +insignificant a thing was man? + +There is, perhaps, no other place in the world where Nature so combines +all her elements to give an emphatic expression to the power and reality +of the Divinity, as in the vicinity of this famous old Cape. + +The bold, rugged headlands of Patagonia were sighted on the morning of +the 4th of December. The wind had subsided a little, but a strong +current was setting through the straits, and short, sharp seas, such as +are experienced in the Bay of Fundy, indicated the ship's position as +clearly as if a good observation had been got. Snow and ice nearly +covered the ship, and the men continued to suffer from the cold. There +was a feeling of encouragement now that the ship would round the Cape +without any further trouble. But before noon a violent snow storm set +in, and the bold, bleak hills of Patagonia disappeared from sight. The +wind, too, veered ahead again and increased, and the ship had to be +headed for the coast of Terra del Fuego, on the other tack. + +Early on the following morning the look-out's attention was attracted by +large spots of white light--now opening, now shutting--high up in the +heavens ahead. It was Tite's watch on deck, and the look-out pointed him +to the curious phenomena, which had not before attracted his attention. +At the same time a painful and piercing chill seemed to pervade the +atmosphere, and to seriously affect the feelings of the men on deck. + +Tite watched these curious phenomena for several minutes, without +comprehending what they meant. He thereupon called the captain, who came +quickly on deck. As soon as his eye caught the gleam of light, he walked +aft to the binnacle, and stood watching the compasses for a minute or +two. + +"There's trouble ahead," he said. "Call Mr. Higgins, and all hands--call +them quickly. We are close upon an iceberg." + +The first officer and all hands were quickly on deck, ready to obey +orders. Every eye on board was now watching in the direction of the +light. + +"It's an iceberg, and a big one, too, Mr. Higgins. If she strikes it, +there's an end of us!" said Captain Bottom, addressing the first +officer, who seemed indifferent to the danger that threatened the ship. +A rustling noise, as of strong tide-rips breaking ahead, was heard, the +sound increasing every minute. The braces were now manned, the order to +"go about" given, and the helm put down. But the ship had hardly begun +to gather headway on the other tack, when she refused to obey her helm. +It seemed, indeed, as if she was under the influence of a powerful +attraction, drawing her to destruction. + +Another minute and she struck with a deep, crashing sound, that made +every timber in her frame vibrate, so great was the shock. A gleam of +grey light now began to spread over the fearful scene. It was daylight, +that friend which so often comes to the mariner's relief. The ship had +struck broad on, and the berg seemed to have grasped her in its arms of +death and refused to let her go. Each succeeding sea lifted the helpless +ship, and then tossed her with increasing violence against the jagged +ice-cliff. And as her yards raked the boulders, huge blocks fell with +crushing force on her deck. Stanchions were started, the bulwarks +crushed away from the knight-heads to the quarter-deck, on the port +side, and the deck stove in several places. It seemed as if there was +but a minute between those on board and death. Still the staunch old +ship forged ahead, lifting and surging with every sea, and seeming to +struggle to free herself from the grasp of the berg. All hope of saving +the ship seemed gone now. Both officers and men waited in suspense, +expecting, every lurch the ship made, to see her go to pieces. + +It was one of those moments when presence of mind and seamanship seem of +no avail to save a ship. On sounding the pumps it was found that the +ship's hull was still tight, and that she had made but little water. +Still she forged ahead, and great blocks of ice continued to fall on her +deck. + +When all eyes were turned towards the captain, and each waited with +breathless anxiety, in the hope that he would give some order that would +at least be a relief to their feelings, even though it were folly to +execute it, Tite mounted the fore-rigging to the top-mast trees, the +surging ship threatening to dash him against the ice wall every minute. +In that fearful position he remained for several minutes, scanning over +the scene ahead, and hoping for some gleam of hope. + +There was still a hope of saving the ship. He waved a signal of +encouragement to those below, and quickly descended to the deck. About +half or three-quarters of a mile ahead there was a point indicating the +termination of the berg. If the ship could be kept forging ahead she +might possibly round the point and clear the berg in safety. + +Tite communicated to the captain what he had seen, and his belief that +the ship could be saved. All hands now went to work cheerfully, clearing +the deck forward of the ice that had accumulated there. Then the +fore-top-sail was clewed up, the spanker set, the yards braced up sharp, +and the ship continued forging ahead with increased motion. Every yard +of distance gained was measured with a watchful eye, and increased the +confidence of those on board. + +"We shall save her yet, captain," said Tite, a smile of satisfaction +playing over his face. "We won't give up the good old ship!" + +"God bless you, my hearty, God bless you!" returned the old captain, +grasping Tite's hand warmly. "It's you shall have the credit of it if +she weathers the point. Yes, sir, you. Killin' a whale is killin' a +whale. Gives a sailor fair play in a square fight. But this being run +down by an iceberg, and ship and all hands crushed to powder, gives a +sailor no chance to show what there is in him. When a man gets killed +according to his liking, why, then he's satisfied. But there's no way +you could get satisfaction in being killed by an iceberg. It was'nt my +own life I was thinking about, Mr. Toodlebug. Not a bit of it." Here he +again grasped Tite firmly by the hand, and lowered his voice to a +whisper. "It was my good old woman, sir, and the two little ones. Heaven +bless them and keep them from harm!" + +The ship still made fearful surges, and the ice grated and cut her +planking; but she neared the point gradually, and this brought a feeling +of relief to all on board. Open water beyond, and the bold, sharp lines +of the point, made it almost certain that the berg terminated there. The +point was reached at last. The ship seemed to give a leap ahead, and, as +if by mutual consent, payed off and parted from the icy grasp of the +monster. Cheer after cheer went up as the old ship, in her distressed +condition, swung away and was out of danger. + +The ship was now headed for Puntas Arenas, where many years ago the +Spaniards founded a penal settlement. Intermarrying has, however, +reduced the people to mere dwarfs in stature; and they have so +retrograded in civilization that they are the greatest thieves and the +worst savages to be found along the coast. + + + + +CHAPTER XIX. + +MAKING A FORTUNE + + +Kidd Company stock was a feature in Wall street. The firm of Topman and +Gusher, having luminated the great Kidd Discovery Company, had got it +fairly on its feet in that mart of the money-changers. The firm was +considered highly respectable now, and had counting-rooms in Pearl +street, near Wall, second floor, furnished in a style of elegance it +would be difficult to surpass, even at this day. If you would fortify +the standing of a great and enterprising firm, Topman said, in his +polite way, you must do it with elegant and elaborate furniture in your +counting-room. Show is the thing two-thirds of the people in the world +are attracted and deluded by. + +The newspapers, too, were telling curious stories as to how Kidd's +treasure was discovered, and also making statements of a very unreliable +nature, setting forth that already several million dollars had been +recovered, and that any man engaged in it would surely make a fortune +for his heirs, no matter how numerous. The more unreasonable these +statements were, the more readily did people invest in the stock. Not a +solid man in Wall street had heard of the firm of Topman and Gusher +eight months ago. The great beacon lights of the street now condescended +to bow and shake hands with Topman, to take more than a glance at the +firm's name when it was brought to their notice on certain bits of paper +which the enterprising firm, for mere convenience sake, gave now and +then as "equivalents". In short, Mr. Topman was a man of such +impressive manners that he quite captivated Wall street, and to have +those solid-pocketed old gentlemen speak encouragingly of the house, +was, he considered, gaining a great financial victory. In addition to +this Topman lived in a fine house, sumptuously furnished, on the west +side of Bowling Green, had a servant in livery to open the door, and +rode in his own carriage. + +Mrs. Topman was a showy, dashing woman of thirty-five, or thereabouts, +tall and slender, and somewhat graceful of figure, and might have passed +for a beauty at twenty. But there was a faded look about her now, and +she had a weakness for loud talking and overdressing. She was evidently +a woman of doubtful blood, and "no family," as society would say in +these days. Indeed, first-rate society, such as Bowling Green boasted of +in those days, considered itself very select, and dealt out its favors +to new-comers with a cautious reserve. + +As little or nothing was known of Mrs. Topman's antecedents, first-rate +society cut her--did'nt even condescend to drop her a sidewalk +recognition. But, as pushing one's self into society was quite as much +practised then as now, and as Mrs. Topman was a pushing, vigorous woman, +she resolved that if she could not carry the outworks and compel a +surrender on the part of first-rate society, she would at least have a +circle of her own. And she had just as good a right, she said, to call +her circle of society first-rate, as her neighbors who kept their doors +shut had to "consider" themselves such. It was only an assumption at +best. So the aspiring lady received what she called select company on a +Tuesday, and entertained generally on Thursday evenings. But her +neighbors tossed their heads, and said they were only third-rate people +who went there. + +Gusher, however, flourished in what might at this day be considered +elegant hotel society. He was such a nice young man, dressed in such +good taste, and had such unexceptionable manners. And there was such a +distinguished air about Gusher, that Bowling Green was half inclined to +look on him with favor. Mr. Gusher was a stock beau as well as a stock +boarder at the City Hotel, where he was an object of admiration with all +the languishing young ladies of the house. Indeed, the landlord of the +City Hotel regarded Mr. Gusher as a valuable parlor ornament for the +entertainment of his female guests of an evening, for he was an +exquisite dancer, could sing, and make such gracious bows. Now and then +a sensible girl had been heard to say she thought him a little soft; but +her companions usually set that down to envy. Then it got whispered +about that he was an unfortunate foreigner of a very distinguished +family, and had been exiled from his native Spain for engaging in a +revolution. Such were the prospects of this distinguished firm, socially +and financially. + +Nyack, too, had been kept in a state of agitation all winter over the +discovery of Kidd's treasure, and wonderful stories were circulated of +the fabulous amounts that were recovered every day. + +Spring had come again, and the hills around Nyack looked so fresh, and +green, and beautiful. Chapman had got Kidd stock into high favor with +all the honest old Dutchmen in the county. And it was curious to see how +these heretofore cautious people parted with their money for what +Chapman called a "profitable equivalent." + +Mrs. Chapman seemed to have increased in circumference and loftiness. +She could get new and expensive dresses, and silk ones at that, every +time she went to New York, and she went quite often now. And none of her +neighbors could wear such fine lace on their caps. It was surprising to +see how this fat, fussy woman could toss her head and talk of common +people now. It was very annoying, she said, to have to live in a little +country town like Nyack, and mix with everybody. Then her dear little +intellectually great Chapman was such a jewel of a husband, and was so +clever at inventing the means of making a fortune for other people. + +The brain of Nyack was terribly disordered over the fortunes that were +to be made in a month for all who invested in Kidd Discovery stock. Even +the good Dominie, led away by the temptation, had invested all his +savings, and had his pockets full of Chapman's "equivalents," from which +he looked for a fortune in a very short time. Finally the innocent +settlers began to regard Chapman as a great genius, who had invented +this new way of making their fortunes out of sheer goodness. "I want to +tell you, my good friends," he would say to them, patronizingly, "you +will appreciate me better as we become better acquainted. Invest your +money, and there's a fortune for you all." And they took his word, and +invested their money, and, many of them, everything they had. + +We must go back into the city now. It was a morning in early May. Knots +of men were standing on the corners of Wall and Pearl streets, each +discussing in animated tones some question of finance or trade. Men with +hurried steps and curious faces passed to and fro, threading their way +through the pressing throng, as if the nation was in peril and they were +on a mission to save it. And yet it was only an expression of that +eagerness which our people display in their haste to despatch some +object in the ordinary business routine of the day. + +It was on this morning that a woman of small and compact figure, dressed +in plain green silk, a red India shawl, and a large, odd-shaped straw +bonnet, called a "poke" in those days, on her head, and trimmed inside +with a profusion of artificial flowers, the whole giving her an air of +extreme quaintness, was seen looking up doubtingly at the door opening +to the stairs at the top of which Topman and Gusher had their +counting-rooms. She had the appearance of a woman in good circumstances, +just from the country, where her style of dress might have been in +fashion at that day. Her age, perhaps, was in the vicinity of forty, for +her hair was changing to grey, and hung in neat braids down the sides of +her face, which was round and ruddy, and still gleamed with the +freshness of youth. Her shawl-pin was a heavy gold anchor and chain, and +her wrists were clasped with heavy gold bracelets, bearing a shield, on +which was inscribed a sailor with his quadrant poised, in the act of +taking the sun. I ought also to add that she carried a big umbrella in +her left hand, and a small leathern satchel in her right. + +This quaint little woman's manner was exceedingly nervous and +hesitating. Twice or thrice she advanced up the passage to the foot of +the stairs, hesitated, returned to the door, and looked up at the +number, as if still uncertain about some project on trial in her mind. + +Men were passing in and out, and up and down the stairs hurriedly, as if +some important business required all their attention. The little woman +took no heed of any of them, and indeed seemed confused in her own +thoughts. Drawing a newspaper from her leathern bag she read in a +whisper, at the same time tracing the lines with her finger, "Great Kidd +Discovery Company. Capital $150,000. All paid in. President, Luke +Topman. Corresponding Secretary, Philo Gusher. No. ---- Pearl street." +The little woman nodded her head, and looked up with an air of +satisfaction. "I'm right. This is the place," she muttered to herself. +Then putting the paper carefully into her pocket, and hugging the big +umbrella close to her side, she advanced with a more resolute step up +the passage, and was soon at the top of the stairs. + +Again the little woman paused, for the number of names over doors seemed +to confuse her. Just across the passage in front of her, however, she +read over a half-glass door, and in large gilt letters, "Topman and +Gusher, General Commission Business." And just below, and across the +panes of ground glass, were the significant and attractive words: "Kidd +Discovery Company. Capital $150,000. Luke Topman, President. Philo +Gusher, Corresponding Secretary." + +The little woman advanced and knocked timidly at the door, which was +opened by a nicely-clad and polite youth, whose business seemed to be to +admit customers. The little woman bowed and returned the young man's +salutation. + +"A lady visitor, Mr. Gusher!" said the young man, motioning the lady to +enter. "That is Mr. Gusher, madam; junior partner of the firm." + +A polished mahogany railing separated the vulgar customer from the +highly dignified looking clerks inside. Indeed, there was an air of +elegance about the establishment that somewhat surprised the little +woman at first, and caused her some embarrassment. + +"Ah, madam; pardon! pardon!" said Mr. Gusher, rising from his desk at +the announcement and advancing to the railing. "I shall do myself ze +pleazure, and ze honor of receiving such commands as you shall confide +to ze firm," he continued, smiling and bowing gracefully. + +"A little investment," returned the visitor, nervously. "I have a little +money, left by my husband, who is at sea. I have no immediate use for +it; but want to put it where it will be entirely safe. Entirely safe, +above all things; a good dividend will not be objectionable. I am sure, +sir, you understand that--" + +"Ah, madam, you shall zee. Pardon! you will enter and take one seat." +Mr. Gusher now condescended to open the gate, as he called it, bring the +little woman inside, and bid her be seated. "Ze Kidd Discovery Company, +madam, is one grand enterprise. You shall zee. And ze profit shall be so +great you will not know where to put him. For ze safety of ze +investment, (pardon, madam,) you shall accept ze honor of zis firm. O, +madam, I cannot speak ze Englis so well. If my partner is here you shall +zee he will satisfy you as ze reputation and ze honor of zis firm will +be so great. You shall invest your money, and you shall zee zat ze honor +and ze reputation of zis firm shall makes him safe." Mr. Gusher made a +low bow, and pressed his hand to his heart in confirmation of what he +had said. + +A number of suspicious-looking men now entered the office and advanced +to the railing, all affecting great eagerness to purchase and pay their +money for Kidd Discovery stock. "You shall zee, mad-am," said Mr. +Gusher, extending his right hand and shrugging his shoulders, "how much +ze demand for ze stock in zat grand enterprise is. Ze rush for him is +so great ze price will be double very soon--as you shall zee." + +"Don't know how my husband would like it if he was here," replied the +little woman, who had been nervously twitching and working her fingers, +now opening the satchel, then shutting it. "Leaves me money enough to +keep me comfortable when he goes away. Good provider, my husband is. +Commands a ship, he does. Says 'look ahead, my darling,' when he goes +away. 'Take good care of the coppers, darlin', don't let rogues and +thieves get them; and remember that one-half the world is hard at work +slanderin' t'other. Keep an eye t' wind'rd, darlin'. We've sailed along +smoothly enough through life together, but there may be a dismal storm +ahead. Life storms are dangerous. Here's a kiss, good little woman--good +bye.' Then he goes away, and I sees no more of him for three years. +That's a long time, sir. But he is so fond of the children, and such a +dear, good husband to me." + +"Mad-am," said Gusher, again bowing and pressing his hand to his heart, +"wiz so good a lady for his wife, I am sure he shall be so happy and so +proud." Detecting the small vein of eccentricity in the little woman's +character, Mr. Gusher was evidently inclined to encourage it, hoping +that it would still further develop her generosity. + +"You are sure my investment will be perfectly safe?" enquired the little +woman, looking up anxiously in Mr. Gusher's face. + +"Oh, madam!" rejoined Mr. Gusher. "Oh, mad-am! Perfectly, as you shall +zee. Ze honor of ze firm is pledged to zat." + +The little woman now drew two thousand dollars from her satchel, and +after counting it on her knee, passed it to Mr. Gusher. "I will invest +this," she said, again looking up anxiously at Mr. Gusher, and then +fumbling over the contents of her satchel, as if it still contained +something she was in doubt how to dispose of. "I will take your word," +she resumed, as if some sudden change had come over her mind. "Life's +short, and speculation uncertain. I am from Yonkers. You have heard of +Yonkers, sir? Yonkers on the Hudson. People of Yonkers are boiling over +with excitement about the great discovery. Thank you for your kindness, +sir. I hope the shares will go up. If I should double my money, as you +say I will, how father would laugh when he comes home. I call my good +husband father, you know." The little woman ran on in this strange and +confused manner until Gusher began to think she was never going to stop. + +"Invested my money--independent--don't want nobody to know it. Will +invest another thousand dollars if it turns out right. Yonkers people +expect to get rich soon by Kidd shares. Nobody'll know it, you know. +Don't want nobody to know it, you know. Come down here to invest so +nobody would know it, you know--" + +"I am so glad," interrupted Mr. Gusher, receiving the money, "you put +your confidence in ze house. You shall zee zat ze honor of ze firm shall +be your protection." As he proceeded to arrange the little equivalents +with the picture of the big spread eagle at the top and the coffer dam +at the bottom, the little woman fixed her gaze on the counting-room +furniture, which seemed to attract her attention to an uncommon degree. +Elaborately-finished and highly-polished mahogany desks were arranged +around the room, the floor was covered with a soft carpet, and there +were carved oak chairs, upholstered in green plush. The walls were hung +with engravings and paintings representing favorite ships and +steamboats, and a huge safe stood wide open, displaying shelves and +drawers filed with books and papers. It was, indeed, a part of the +firm's philosophy that what you lacked in substance you must make up in +show. + +There, too, was a door leading into Topman's private office, furnished +with exquisite good taste. Topman was the great financial monument of +the firm. Gusher did the elegant and ornamental. + +George Peabody, the great philanthropist, made his fortune and his fame +in a little dark, dingy office in Warnford Court, London. The +pretensions of the great firm of Topman and Gusher were not to be +confined by any such examples of economy. + +A very clerical-looking man, with a round, smooth face, a somewhat +portly figure, a high forehead, and a very bald, bright head, fringed +with grey hair, and nicely trimmed grey side whiskers, stood at a desk, +turning and re-turning the leaves of a big ledger. He was dressed in a +neat black suit, and wore a white neckerchief. There was ledger No. 1, +and ledger No. 2, and ledger No. 3, all so elegantly bound, and +expressive of the business relations of the great firm of Topman and +Gusher. It looked very much, however, as if the portly gentleman was +only a part of the ornamental department of the great firm, for, having +turned and re-turned the pages of No. 1, he would take up No. 2, and +continue the occupation. It is true, he would pause now and then, and +exchange a smile and a bow with some one of the customers waiting for +stock. + +There was also a slender, mild-mannered, and precisely-dressed young +man, standing at another desk, and looking through a pair of +gold-framed spectacles into a ledger. This was Mr. Foblins, registry +clerk to the great firm. Mr. Foblins had a brigade of figures in column, +and seemed continually busy putting them through a course of tactics +known only to the firm. Mr. Foblins had his customers in column, with +the number of shares and the amount invested, in front and rear ranks. + +The word "Cashier" was painted over a third desk. And here a rollicking, +talkative little man, with a round fat face, and a round bald head--a +sort of fat boy that had been overtaken on the road of life by +maturity--and who seemed to have a joke and a pleasant word for +everybody, and was in the best of humor with himself, stood counting and +re-counting, and passing out and receiving in money. This was Mr. Books, +the merry little man of the establishment. Books entertained an +excellent opinion of himself, and was in high favor with the customers, +for he was witty, musical, and talkative. More than that, he was a +stately little man, and well informed in all the great political +movements of the day, and would entertain customers on the condition of +the nation while counting their money. It was evident that Mr. Books was +not in sympathy with the great enterprise his employers were developing, +for he was continually saying witty but malicious things about Gusher, +and would even point significantly with his thumb over his right +shoulder. When a more than ordinarily verdant customer would come with +his money, Mr. Books would shrug his shoulders, drum with his fingers on +the desk, and hum a tune to the words-- + + "Fortunes made, and fortunes lost; + Fools seek the phantom here at last," &c., &c. + +Books had several times intimated an intention to set up a great +enterprising banking and miscellaneous firm of his own. Indeed, his +popularity with the patrons of the house was doing Mr. Books no good, +especially as it entailed the necessity of his taking so great a number +of drinks during the day that he would offer to bet the reputation of +the firm that he was the tallest man in the establishment, and a politer +man than Gusher. So good an opinion had Mr. Books of himself when under +these little delusions, occasioned accidentally, as he would say, that +it became a serious question with him whether his proud position was due +to Topman and Gusher or his own great merits. In fine, it had more than +once occurred to him that the firm was indebted to his personal +popularity for its great reputation. + +Mr. Gusher consulted Mr. Books, and entrusted him with the little +woman's money. Then he proceeded to Mr. Foblin's desk, that gentleman +turning over the pages of his big ledger preparatory to making an entry. + +"What name did you say? I have the amount," enquired that gentleman, +looking up earnestly over his spectacles. + +"If you please, madam," said he, approaching the little woman with a +bow, "you shall have no objection to give me your name. It is necessary +as we shall keep ze book so correct." + +The little woman hesitated for a moment, fingered the handle of her +satchel nervously, then looked up inquiringly in Mr. Gusher's face. Then +touching him timidly on the right arm with the fore-finger of her left +hand she whispered, "Nautical, nautical, my nautical name?" Then her +lips motioned and her finger pressed on Mr. Gusher's arm. Mr. Gusher +looked at the little woman with an air of surprise and astonishment. + +"Nau-tick-el? I do not understand zat, madam." + +"Elizabeth Judson Bottom. That's my name," resumed the woman, raising +her voice, and seeming to speak with a feeling of relief. "Bottom is my +husband's name." Here she lowered her voice again. "Nautical. Commands a +ship. Is away off in the South Sea, my husband is. There's nobody got a +better husband than I have." The little woman said this with an emphasis +and a smile of satisfaction lighting up her face. "You may have heard of +my husband, sir? He is well known among nautical people. My husband +sails the celebrated ship Pacific, and has made three successful +voyages. You hav'nt had much to do with ships if you hav'nt heard of my +husband. There, there, that looks just like the ship he sails in." The +little woman pointed to the picture of a ship under full sail hanging on +the wall. + +"Madam, I am sure I shall know your husband," said Mr. Gusher, returning +with the paper representing the number of shares the little woman had +paid her money for. "I shall be so happy to zee him when he shall come +home." Mr. Gusher handed her the paper, saying: "Now, madam, you shall +take good care of zis. Your money, it shall be perfectly safe." + +While this interesting little episode was being performed up stairs, an +open carriage, showily caparisoned and drawn by a stylish pair of +well-groomed bays, drew up at the door. A desperate effort had evidently +been made to get the coachman into some sort of livery, for he wore a +tall black hat, with a broad velvet band, and a buckle in front as big +as an ordinary sized horse shoe. His coat, too, was of green cloth, +covered all over with large brass buttons, and he seemed proud of his +white gloves and tight-fitting breeches, which he kept looking down at +every few minutes. + +This was Mrs. Topman's new "turnout," which she had recently set up in +opposition to one indulged in by a circumspect and very aristocratic +neighbor. Topman alighted from the carriage, received and returned the +bows of several persons on the sidewalk, and soon came hurrying into the +counting-room, where he was received with great respect by the combined +dignity of the firm. + +"Madam," said Mr. Gusher, again addressing the little woman, "allow me +to have ze pleazure as I shall present to you zis gentleman." Here Mr. +Gusher introduced Topman, his partner, and gave him a short account of +the business she was on. + +"Why, my dear, good lady!" said Topman, grasping her hand with a freedom +indicating that they had been old friends. "Your husband and me--why, we +were old friends. If there is any man in the world I respect and admire, +that man is Captain Price Bottom. If there is any man living I would +rather make a fortune for than do anything else, that man is Captain +Price Bottom. Yes, madam, not many years ago I used to swear by Captain +Price Bottom; and if Captain Price Bottom was here to-day, I will +venture to assert, on the word of a gentleman, there is no man who would +sooner swear by your humble servant--" + +"I am so real glad! My husband made friends wherever he went," +interrupted the little woman. + +"Glad! glad!" resumed Topman, "so am I. God bless him, wherever he goes! +Go back, madam, and get all your neighbors interested in this great +enterprise. Tell them the managers are old friends of your husband. Get +them to bring in their money, madam, and secure a fortune!" Mr. Topman +now showed the little woman the discolored dollars, a matter of great +importance, which Mr. Gusher had omitted. + +"Our motto is, madam, 'Never invest your money until you have seen your +basis.' If you see your basis, and it is satisfactory, then come down +with your money and await your fortune. You see the basis, now put your +faith in the firm!" concluded Mr. Topman, politely bowing the little +woman out. She took her departure for home, fully satisfied that she had +a good friend in Mr. Topman, and that she had made a permanent +investment. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI. + +COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS. + + +The Great Discovery Company had run its race of prosperity. A few months +passed, and the prospects of those connected with it began to change. +Chapman went about Nyack shaking his head despondingly, and saying that +he had been deceived by Hanz Toodleburg, who had deceived them all with +his story about Kidd's treasure, and would be the cause of their losing +a large amount of money. + +"I never would have been caught in such a trap, but I believed Hanz +Toodleburg to be an honest man, a very honest man, and I put faith in +his word. But I have been deceived. Well, it is not the first time my +confidence has been abused in this way," Chapman would say, holding up +his hands, while his face assumed an expression of injured innocence. + +Hanz, on the other hand, protested his innocence. Never in all his life, +he said, had he taken a dollar of money not his own, and honestly made. +He was persuaded to do what he had done by the gentlemen whom he +supposed engaged in an honest enterprise. In truth, he had never +suspected them of a design to get honest people's money in a dishonest +way. + +"If I toos t' shentlemens a favors, und ta makes t' money, und I makes +no money, und t' peoples don't get no money pack, what I cot t' do mit +him?" Hanz would say, when accused by the settlers of aiding designing +men to get their hard earnings. But all he could say and protest did not +relieve him of the suspicion that he was a participant in getting up +the enterprise. In short, there was the old story of his knowledge of +where Kidd's treasure was buried lending color of truth to the +statements made to his injury by Chapman. + +The innocent Dutch settlers would gather at Bright's inn of an evening, +smoke their pipes, mutter their discontent at the way things had turned, +compare their "equivalents," and relate how much saving it had cost them +to get the money thrown away on them. If it had not been for Hanz +Toodleburg, they said, not a man of them would have believed a word of +the story about Mr. Kidd and his money. Indeed, they would insist on +laying all their sorrows at Hanz's door. + +Chapman had also circulated a report, which had gained belief among the +settlers, that the trouble was caused by the devil refusing to surrender +the key of the big iron chest; that he had been heard under +sounding-rock, making terrible noises, and threatening to destroy every +man working in the shaft. Then it was said that the ghost had reappeared +and so frightened the men that they had refused to work. Another story +was set afloat that the bottom had fallen out of the pit, and the iron +chest containing the treasure had sunk beyond recovery. The simple fact +was that the cunning fellows never expected to find a dollar. + +These strange stories agitated Nyack for several weeks, and under their +influence Chapman so managed to divide opinion that Hanz had to bear the +greater share of blame for bringing distress on the poor people. One and +then another of his neighbors would chide him, and say it was all his +fault that they had lost their money and had nothing to show for it but +these worthless bits of paper. + +To add to Hanz's troubles, Chapman entered his house one day, and openly +reproached him for bringing distress on his friends. "You know you have +done wrong, old man," said he, assuming the air of an injured man. "You +would not have deceived me--no man would--but that I took you for a +Christian. And when I take a man for a Christian I put faith in him. +That's why I put faith in you. I believed you honest, you see." + +Chapman's familiar and even rude manner surprised and confounded Hanz. +In vain he protested his innocence, and offered to call the Dominie and +Doctor Critchel to testify that he had never in his life wronged any man +out of a shilling. + +"You sold us something you had not got," continued Chapman, in an angry +tone, "and in that you committed a fraud. Honest men don't do such +things--never! Mr. Toodlebug. I thought you were a friend; but you have +deceived me--have deceived us all!" + +The plot was now beginning to develop itself, and Hanz for the first +time began to see what a singular chain of adverse circumstances Chapman +had drawn around him. Never before in his life had a man openly charged +him with doing wrong. Angeline was even more troubled than Hanz, and +listened with fear and trembling to the words as they fell from +Chapman's lips. What could have worked this change in a person who had +so recently expressed such friendship for them? Her pure, unsuspecting +soul would not permit her to entertain the belief that her husband could +do wrong. She attempted to speak and enquire what this strange and +unaccountable scene meant; but her eyes filled with tears, her face +became as pale as marble, and her resolution failed her. Her little, +happy home had been rudely invaded, and a grasping, avaricious enemy +had shown himself where she expected to find a friend. + +"I don't want to distress you, Mr. Toodlebug, I don't," said Chapman, +keeping his keen eyes fixed on Hanz. "I don't want to distress you, I +don't. But you must show that you are an honest man. Honesty is the best +policy. I've always found it so, at least. You must make this thing all +right, if it takes all you have to do it." When he had said this he put +on his hat and rudely took his departure. + +"Angeline, mine Angeline," said Hanz, "if dish bat man should make me +loose mine goot name, den mine life it pees very misherable. What I toes +I toes t' oplige t' gentleman. How I toes wish mine Tite, mine poor poy +Tite, vas here." He sat thoughtfully in his chair for several minutes, +then sought consolation for his wounded feelings in a pipe. + +Chapman had not been long gone when Mattie came rolicking into the +house, as if to form a bright and sunny contrast with the scene that had +just ended. She carried a little basket in her hand, was dressed in a +flowing white skirt and sack, wore a broad sun hat encircled with a blue +ribbon, and her golden hair was decorated with wild flowers. There was +something so fascinating in that merry, laughing voice, something so +pure, innocent, and girlish in that simple dress and that sweet, smiling +face, that it seemed as if Heaven had ordained her to represent truth +and goodness. Setting the basket down on the table she ran to Angeline, +embraced and kissed her, not perceiving that trouble had depressed that +good woman's spirits. + +"And you, too, good Father Hanz," she said, turning to him, and saluting +him in her free, frank manner; "you shall have a kiss, too." And she +took his hand and imprinted a kiss on his cheek. + +She suddenly discovered that something was the matter, paused, and +looked at Angeline with an air of surprise. Her first thought was that +they had received bad news from Tite, which they were trying to conceal +from her. Almost unconsciously her gentle nature began to beat in +sympathy with Angeline's, and a tear stole slowly down her cheek. "You +have heard from Tite; is he sick? have you heard bad news?" she +inquired, in rapid succession, as she watched every change in Angeline's +features. + +Angeline shook her head, and looked up sweetly but sorrowfully in +Mattie's face. "Nothing, nothing, my good child," she replied, kissing +Mattie's hand. But there was the tear of sorrow writing its tale on her +cheek. "God will bless and protect our Tite," she resumed; "but we have +heard nothing from him since the letter you saw." + +"I am so glad," rejoined Mattie, her face lighting up with a sweet +smile. "I think about him every day, and I know he thinks about me. So, +now, mother Angeline, you must cheer up. You will, won't you? It won't +do to be sad when Tite is away." And, after patting Angeline on the +shoulder and kissing her cheek, "you shall see, now," she resumed, +bringing forward the basket, "what nice presents I have brought for you, +Mother Angeline. Made these all with my own hands." + +Here the happy, smiling girl drew from her basket a number of frills and +wristlets, a worsted-worked candle mat, and a cambric handkerchief, in +one corner of which she had ingeniously worked Angeline's name. "They +are all for you, Mother Angeline, all for you," she said, tossing them +one after another into her lap. "You are so good. Keep them all until +Tite comes home. Then you can show them to him as a proof of what a true +and good girl I have been." + +Hanz viewed this act of kindness on the part of Mattie with an air of +surprise and astonishment. It was in such beautiful contrast to her +father's rudeness and severity that he was at a loss how to account for +it. + +"Vel, vel!" exclaimed Hanz, raising his hands, "you pees sho goot a gal +as I ever did she. Yes, mine shild, I never shees no petter gals as you +pees." And he rose from his chair, and approaching Mattie, patted her on +the shoulder encouragingly. "You pees such a goot girl," he repeated, +"and you will pe mine goot friend, eh?" + +"Certainly I will. Why should I be anything else?" replied Mattie, +looking up smilingly in his face. + +Hanz shook his head. "It pees sho now as nopody can shay who pees his +friend, and who pees not his friend. I pees sho glad you pees mine +friend." + +"I should like to know, Father Hanz, what troubles you?" resumed Mattie, +whose quick eye read in his face the trouble that was making his heart +sad. "Tell me what troubles you, Father Hanz, and I will be a friend to +you, no matter who it is." + +"Mine shilds," replied the old man, drooping his head, "dar vas un man, +he shay as he pees mine goot friend. Dat friend he pees mine enemy. He +prings shorrow into mine house. Unt he prings dat shorrow when mine poor +Tite he pees sho far away as I ton't know where he is." + +Tears again filled the old man's eyes as he spoke, and he paused, shook +his head, and buried his face in his hands. There was something in the +old man's unwillingness to disclose who it was that had caused him this +trouble that excited Mattie's suspicions. + +"You must tell me, Father Hanz," said she, encircling his neck with her +right arm and patting him on the cheek encouragingly and affectionately +with her left hand, "who has caused you all this trouble." + +Hanz looked up earnestly and enquiringly into her face. Still there was +a doubt in that look it was impossible to mistake. + +"You ton't know, eh? you ton't know, eh? Maype as he is petter as you +ton't know, mine shild. T' man what prings shorrow into mine house; t' +man what shays I pees one tief t' mine neighpors--dat man he pees no +friend of mine." Again the old man paused, and looked up inquiringly +into Mattie's sweet face, as if anxious to trace the secret of her +thoughts. And as he did so the breeze tossed the grey hairs over his +forehead, as if to cover up the wrinkles age had written on it. + +"Mine taughter, mine taughter," he resumed, grasping Mattie's hand +firmly, "I'se gettin' old now. Tare von't pe no more of old Hanz +Toodleburg shoon. You never know'd nothin' pad of old Hanz +Toodleburg--does you, mine taughter?" + +"Never, never! Why, Father Hanz, nobody has been saying anything against +you," replied Mattie, smiling. + +"Dar has, too," resumed Hanz. "What I lives for now is mine goot name, +and mine poor Tite. I pees a friend to everypody what needs a friend, +and now what I needs mineshelf is one goot friend. You she, mine +taughter, if mine little farm he pees gone, and if mine sheep, and mine +cows, and mine everything pees gone, den der is nothin' for mine Tite +when he comes home." + +The old man paused for a moment. It was impossible for him to keep the +secret of his trouble from Mattie any longer. He opened his heart to her +and disclosed the fact that it was her own father who had brought sorrow +into his home. Yes, it was her father who had led him like a child into +trouble, and then thrown around his acts such a chain of suspicious +circumstances that you could scarcely find a man in the village, where +but a short time ago Hanz was so great a favorite, who did not believe +him guilty of inventing the Kidd Discovery Company, and bringing ruin +and distress on his neighbors. There was the paper Hanz had signed, +setting forth that he possessed the secret of where Kidd's treasure was +buried, and bearing the proof that he had sold it for a consideration. +Chapman understood the value of this, and went about the village showing +it as a proof that there was at least one man innocent, and that man was +himself. There, too, was the old story that had clung to him through +life--that he knew all about Kidd, his father having sailed with him on +the Spanish Main. And there was the expedition up the river, in which he +had played so prominent a part. + +Chapman well understood the effect these things would have on the minds +of the ignorant and superstitious, and he turned them against Hanz with +such skill as to completely get the better of him. In short, he would +assert his innocence with so much plausibility that the simple-minded +settlers began to believe him the saint he set himself up for, and Hanz +the sinner who had got all their money. + +Mattie heard this strange declaration made by Hanz against her father +with feelings of sorrow and surprise. She hung down her head and +remained silent for some time, for her mind was bewildered with strange +and exciting thoughts. Then, looking up, she said: + +"Cheer up, don't be sad, Father Hanz. You will always find a friend in +me. My father shall also be your friend. We are going to leave Nyack, +but I will come and see you, and be your friend. Don't think bad of my +father, and he shall yet be your friend." And she kissed Angeline and +Hanz and bid them good bye. + +Mattie had never for a moment entertained the thought that her father +would knowingly wrong these old people. Her heart was too pure, her +nature too trusting, to entertain a suspicion of wrong. She had seen him +engaged in transactions she did not understand; she had seen him +associate with men she did not like, but she never enquired what his +motive for so doing was. How he became acquainted with, and what his +business with Topman and Gusher was, had been a mystery to her. The +object was clear enough to her now. The conversation she had overheard +one night between her father and Topman, relative to a meeting at Hanz's +house, and getting him to sign a paper purporting to sell them a secret, +was all explained. This conversation put a powerful weapon in her hand, +and if used skilfully she could save her father from trouble and also +protect old Hanz. Indeed, her mind ran back over a train of curious +circumstances, which now became clearer and clearer, and when linked +together discovered the object they were intended to effect. There was +no mistaking the motive. Still, like a true and loving daughter, she saw +her father only in the light of innocence and truth. The more she +contemplated the matter the more sincerely did she believe him an +instrument in the hands of Topman and Gusher, of whose designs she had +heard others speak. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII. + +THE CHAPMANS MOVE INTO THE CITY + + +Chapman had developed Nyack pretty thoroughly, had made money enough to +feel independent, and attributed it all to his own virtues. He had got +up no end of quarrels, invented new religions, established a hotel on +principles of high moral economy, advocated broad and advanced ideas in +everything, and kept the settlement in a state of excitement generally. +Chapman was indeed a great human accident. There was no confining him to +any one thing, either in religion, politics, or finance. He had a +morality of his own, which he said belonged to the world's advanced +ideas, and it was not his fault if there were so few persons enlightened +enough to understand and appreciate it in its true sense. + +Chapman was indeed not one of those men who carry blessings into a +community with them, but rather one of those who seem to delight in +planting curses wherever they go, and leaving their victims to reap the +bitter fruit in poverty and ruin. Himself a mental deformity, none of +his enterprises had been of any real benefit to the community, while his +last and most reprehensible one had resulted in emptying the pockets of +the old Dutch settlers, and leaving them bits of worthless paper to +remember him by. + +And yet this man could talk of himself like a very saint. He had the +power, too, of making many of those who had suffered by his acts believe +him honest. Indeed, while one portion of the community was cursing him +for a knave, another was defending him as a really useful man--an +opinion Mrs. Chapman was always ready to endorse. In short, Chapman had +supporters in Nyack who would have sent him to Congress out of sheer +love for his talents, which they were sure would have found a happy +field for their development. Mrs. Chapman always sought to conciliate +these friends, and would invite them to tea. On these little occasions, +after discussing the merits of cider-vinegar and homemade pumpkin pies, +and the care respectable people should exercise over the company they +kept, for there was pure New England "grit" in the lady, she would recur +to her dear husband. + +"All Nyack will confess how intellectually great he is," she would say; +"and show me the person who has done more to elevate the moral +respectability of Nyack. Nyack was such a dull, sleepy place when--when +we first honored it with our company. See what it now is. My dear +husband worked up these low Dutch people so; yes, and he improved their +morals. And I flatter myself I have elevated its society--a little." + +Chapman had now thoroughly developed Nyack, financially and religiously. +He had saved up a nice little fortune, enough with care and good +management to keep him comfortable and give Mrs. Chapman a wider field +for the exercise of her love of display. There was now little chance of +making any more money out of Nyack, either by getting up quarrels +between neighbors or inventing new religions. So the Chapmans resolved +to go into the city and set up for very respectable people. As nobody +wanted the big house for a church Chapman rented it to Titus Bright for +an inn, and as nothing was said about moral restrictions, that worthy +friend of the thirsty and weary traveller kept it in the good +old-fashioned way of giving customers what they wanted and asking no +questions. He would much rather, Chapman said, have seen it put to a +less profane use, but as Bright was a responsible tenant, and could pay +more rent than any one else, the morality had to sink in the necessity. + +A few months passed and the Chapmans were set up in New York, in a +spacious and well-furnished house on the east side of Bowling Green. +Chapman was soon busy looking after the affairs of the great firm of +Topman and Gusher, which I need scarcely tell the reader was a creation +of his. Mrs. Chapman soon had enough to do at pushing her way into +society. But the more she pushed the more did little social obstructions +seem to rise up and defeat her efforts. She would associate with +first-rate society, she said, or none; and Mattie should be introduced +and shine in the "upper circles." + +Bowling Green stood on its dignity in those days. There were very nice +and very old families living there then, and they kept themselves rolled +up in their wealth and comfort, and looked coldly down on all new and +pretentious people. West Bowling Green, too, put on airs of superiority +over East Bowling Green, which it affected to designate with the term +"rather vulgar." They were quiet, well brought up people on the West +side, people who had made a family name and were proud of it, whose +superior enterprise and genius had raised them above ordinary people, +and who had acquired wealth by honorable means. + +There was, indeed, a charm about these families, made more attractive by +the simplicity and gentleness of their manners, for they were refined, +and entertained their friends generously. In short, West Bowling Green +and a portion of the Battery had at that day a social empire of its +own, which had a flavor of rich old wine about it, and was as distinct +as distinguished in all its surroundings. It rode in its own carriage, +had orderly and well-dressed coachmen, wore an air of great +circumspection, dined at five o'clock, and lived like a well-bred +gentleman. + +East Bowling Green had begun to lose cast, and, indeed, was under a +cloud socially. Its society was made up of new, fast, and somewhat showy +people, whose antecedents it was difficult to get at, (at least West +Bowling Green said so,) and who, for want of a family reputation, put on +the airs of a vulgarian. These people spent their money freely, and +seemed to have enough of it, but they aspired to make a show rather than +secure real enjoyment. They associated with third-rate people, and vied +with each other in giving parties and balls to which all the young +swells in town were invited. In fine, East Bowling Green had a cheap, +retail flavor about it which all its show and extravagance failed either +to conceal or atone for. + +Mrs. Chapman had resided three months in Bowling Green, and yet +first-class society had kept its doors closed--did not even condescend a +smile. This was very mortifying to a lady whose pretentions were quite +equal to her dimensions. A few second and third-rate people had made a +formal call, or left a card. But it was merely as a matter of ceremony. +Mr. Pinks, the elegant old beau of the Green, who was looked up to by +first-rate society everywhere, and considered himself born to stand +guard over it and protect it from vulgar contact, and who was accepted +as authority in all matters of etiquette, and had standing invitations +to dinner with all the best families, had called to pay his respects and +congratulate the lady. But Pinks considered this strictly a matter of +duty--to make an observation. + +When Beau Pinks reported the result of his call to the Warburton family, +who were first-rate people, and the Warburton family spread it through +West Bowling Green, there was great amusement in the neighborhood. + +"Won't do, the lady won't," said Pinks, lowering his voice to a whisper, +and shaking his head. "Lady weighs two hundred pounds and more. A dead +weight on the back of any society. Very pretentious, but makes shocking +work of the King's English, and discovers low origin in her conversation +generally. Puts on finery without regard to color or complexion, told me +how many new dresses she had making, has big, fat hands, and wears +common gold rings. Worse than all," continued Pinks, raising his hands, +"the lady wanted to know if I could tell her how to reform servants, and +if I liked rhubarb pies for breakfast." + +With such a report from Pinks it was no wonder first-rate society did +not take kindly to the lady. The rhubarb pies for breakfast settled the +question in Pinks' mind, and he never called again, though he kept up a +bowing acquaintance with the lady. Mrs. Chapman now fell back on a +reception. A reception would be the thing to make Bowling Green +surrender. The day was set and cards sent out, and notwithstanding Mr. +Gusher, who was her standing ornament and idol, assisted her in drumming +up recruits, the affair turned out to be very unsatisfactory. The nice +people she invited sent regrets; and those who did come were second and +third-rate people, who never miss a reception on any account, seeing +that it affords them the cheapest means of showing themselves. There +were cheap people then, just as there are cheap people now, ready +enough to put in an appearance at a lady's reception, especially if she +gave nice suppers and had daughters to be admired. Nor was it an +uncommon thing, even at that day, for a pretentious woman who had just +set up in society, and taken to the business of reception-giving, to +find herself made the target of a little innocent satire by the nice +young gentlemen she had invited to pay her homage. + +Chapman differed from his wife, inasmuch as he regarded society as a +great bore. Mrs. Chapman, however, was not a little disappointed at the +way things had turned. They were flashy and rather fast people who came +to her reception; people whom nobody of established respectability knew +or cared to know--thoughtless young men, overdressed young women with +matrimonial expectations, and a few needy foreigners with small titles. +To make the matter worse, some of the lady's guests wore eye-glasses, +through which they persisted in gazing at her, and conducted themselves +very unbecomingly. Indeed, they eat up all her supper, spoiled her +carpet, insulted her servants, and paid her certain left-handed +compliments because she had neither coffee nor wine on her side-board. +The foreigners, too, were inclined to be merry at the lady's +circumference, and at the awkwardness of her movements, as well as to be +severe on the style of her dress and the way she wore her hair. + +"Who are these people?" enquired a young man, adjusting his eye-glass. + +"Very new people," whispered another in reply. + +"Vulgar, evidently--just set up to be somebody--don't understand it," +rejoined a third, shrugging his shoulders. + +Mr. Gusher, who had assisted the lady in beating up her recruits, had +assured them that the Chapmans were very distinguished people. + +Mrs. Chapman was not more successful in setting up a carriage of her +own. She had done a great deal of pushing without affecting a lodgment +in the society she had set her heart on. With a carriage of her own she +felt that she would be just as good as any of those high old Bowling +Green people. She had read of a lady in her carriage driving right into +society and forcing a surrender. + +Unfortunately the fools were not so plenty as formerly, the demand for +Kidd Discovery stock had greatly diminished, and the expense of keeping +up appearances in the city had far exceeded Chapman's calculations. +Indeed, he had already begun to talk of the necessity of economy. Topman +was already drawing heavily on the income of the firm to keep up +appearances, and the future must not be overlooked. The lady had, +therefore, to content herself with a one-horse turn-out, an +establishment not very popular in Bowling Green even at that day. +Although the lady had to accept the necessity, there was no getting +along without a coachman, and Mr. Napoleon Bowles was engaged to wear a +livery and wait on the lady in that capacity. Now Bowles stood about +five feet four inches in his boots, was very fat and very short-legged, +and very black, for he was a person of African descent and established +color. Bowles weighed at least two hundred and fifty solid, so that when +he drove his mistress out for an airing of an afternoon the whole +establishment made so shabby and yet so comical an appearance as to +afford the whole neighborhood a subject for amusement. Nor was there a +more self-important person in all Bowling Green than Bowles--except, +perhaps, it might be his mistress. But it was only when he got himself +into those tight-fitting drab trousers, and that bright blue coat with +double rows of brass buttons, and mounted that small, tall hat with the +huge buckle in front, that he fancied himself seen to advantage. + +Bowles not only became a feature in Bowling Green society, but indeed +considered himself necessary to the dignity of the family he was +serving, and in duty bound to fight any coachman who would make the +slightest insinuations against it. This got him into numerous +difficulties, for there was not a coachman in the neighborhood that did +not set him down as a fair subject for unpleasant remarks. One called +him a dumpling-stomached darkey; while another said he must have been +brought up in the family and fed on puddings. + +"Can't be much of a family," a third would say, "to have such a +short-legged shadow as you for coachman, and only one horse. And such a +livery as that! Why don't your mistress dress you like a man?" + +Mr. Bowles had several times found himself measuring the pavement and +his hat in the gutter, as a reward for his attempts to resent such +indignities, which he considered were offered to the family rather than +himself. There was so close a resemblance between the circumference of +the lady and her coachman as to seriously damage the pretensions of the +family, and bring down upon it no end of ridicule. + +There was another serious impediment to the lady's pretentions, and that +was no less a person than Mrs. Topman. No sooner had the Chapmans set up +in Bowling Green than that lady took them into her keeping, promising +them no end of introductions to nice people. Now, Mrs. Topman was one +of those social afflictions which are found everywhere, whose touch is +like contagion, and who take strangers into their keeping only to do +them more harm than good. I have called them social afflictions for want +of a better term. Mrs. Topman was the highest example of the species. +She had been beating about on the outskirts of society without gaining +an entrance into it until she was like a faded bouquet that had lost its +freshness and perfume. In short, she was a tall, rakish looking craft, +with ingeniously painted head-gear, carrying an immense amount of sail, +and flying colors not recognized by good society in Bowling Green--at +least not on the West side. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII. + +MRS. CHAPMAN GIVES A BALL. + + +It was a cold, dark night in December. The wind was blowing fresh from +the northeast, the tall trees on the Battery were in commotion, and the +ships in the harbor, seen through a pale mist, were straining at their +anchors. A thin, pale mist hung over the sombre old fort on the Battery, +over the trees, over the ships, over everything within the eye's reach. +And the mist and the solemn beating sound of the sea-wail, in which the +sailor fancies he can read all his sorrows, gave a weird and mysterious +appearance to the scene. The Battery was nearly deserted that night, for +at the time we write of only two old men could be seen, leaning over the +railing on the sea-wall and watching in the direction of a ship at +anchor in the stream, and looking as if she was just in from sea. + +Mrs. Chapman was to give her ball that night. The lady had for several +weeks given all her mind and energy to the preliminaries of this grand +affair. Who was to be invited, what sort of new dresses she and Mattie +would appear best in, who was to provide the supper, and what the whole +would cost, were subjects which so engaged the lady's attention that she +could think of nothing else. In vain did Chapman demur to the great +expense and the folly of keeping up appearances under such +circumstances. In vain did he insinuate the probable necessity of +inventing a new religion as a means of bringing his revenues up to his +necessities. A necklace of pearls and a diamond ring had been got for +Mattie, and now a demand was made for a new and expensive dress. If +there was anything in the world Chapman admired and submitted to it was +his wife. In his thoughts she was above everything else, and he would +surrender to her demands, no matter at what sacrifice. As for Mattie, he +never seemed to care much about her, nor indeed to regard her with +anything more than ordinary affection. + +There was no getting along without the ball, Mrs. Chapman said. West +Bowling Green had given two or three balls, and had not condescended to +send her an invitation. It was very mortifying to get the cut direct in +this way. She must bring West Bowling Green down by showing that she +could give a ball of her own. And then it would be such a relief to her +pride. And, too, it would be just the thing to show Mattie off to the +best advantage. Mr. Gusher would shine brilliantly in a ball room, and +so would Mattie, and if the young people could be reconciled in that +way, why it would be money well spent. + +Mrs. Topman was delighted at the prospect, and so was Gusher. And both +had been going about among their friends for a week sounding the trumpet +of Mrs. Chapman's ball, as well as telling their friends that the +Chapmans were rich and very distinguished people. Bowling Green, then, +was in a flutter that night. Chapman's house was brilliantly lighted, +and carriages began to arrive and set down their gaily-attired occupants +ere St. Paul's clock had struck nine. Then there was such a tripping of +delicately turned little feet, such a flashing of underskirts, such a +witching of perfumed silks and satins, such a display of white arms and +white shoulders, as each bevy of beauties vaulted up the steps and were +bowed into the house by the polite Mr. Bowles. Bowles felt himself an +important element in the dignity of the family that night. His mistress +had got him a new blue coat with large brass buttons, and a white +waistcoat that reached nearly to his knees, and gave him the appearance +of a huge ball of snow surmounted by an illuminated globe painted black. +Bowles had delivered most of the invitations, and firmly believed that +his mistress was indebted to him for the success of her ball, inasmuch +as he had solicited guests worthy of her favor. Nor was he sure that the +ball was not given by his mistress to show him off in his new clothes. +Bowles had a bow and a smile for each of the guests. "My missus is right +glad to sees you--she is. Be a heap o' dancin' did to-night," he would +say, as he bowed the guests into the hall. + +At ten o'clock the brilliantly-lighted parlors were filled, and +presented the appearance of a garden of flowers variously colored. There +were merry, laughing voices, graceful forms, young and happy faces, +forming the light and shade of the picture presented to the eye. The +ponderous figure of Mrs. Chapman formed a sort of central object. The +lady was indeed got up in a gorgeous style of dress, for she wore all +the colors of the rainbow, without their blending, had flounces nearly +to her waist, giving her the appearance of an half-inflated balloon; and +she had made a very flower-basket of her head. In short, the lady had +made a bold attempt to improve on all known styles of dress, and at the +same time to show her contempt for what other people might call taste in +such matters. Thus elaborately arrayed she fancied herself as much a +lady of quality as any of your fine old West Bowling Green people. + +A number of exquisitely dressed young men had gathered about the lady, +and although they paid her all manner of compliments, and said various +pretty things in admiration of her charming daughter, it was evident +that they regarded her as a rare curiosity, whose mental defects were +affording them a subject for amusement. There the lady stood, receiving +the congratulations of her friends and introducing her daughter Mattie, +who was dressed in a plain blue silk with white trimmings, a wreath of +orange blossoms on her head, and her golden hair hanging in simple curls +down her shoulders. Indeed, the lady suffered by comparison with her +daughter, whose charms were made more fascinating by the simplicity of +her dress and the quietness of her manners. + +In truth, Mattie had no taste for the show and extravagance her mother +was so fond of indulging in. Nor could she see what object her mother +had, or what really was to be gained by giving this ball. She felt in +her heart that it was a piece of extravagance her father could not +afford as an honest man, and she saw prominent among the guests persons +she had long mistrusted of being his enemies. Gay as the scene was it +had nothing in it to interest her. Her thoughts were engaged in +something more real and true. They were wandering just then into a +distant ocean in search of the object dearest in her affections, +wondering how it fared with him. Then the picture of Hanz and Angeline, +in their humble little home, revealed itself to her, and her mind filled +with strange fancies as to the part she might have to perform in saving +them from the trouble she saw foreshadowed in her father's conversation +with Topman and Gusher. She little knew what sorrow had been brought +into Hanz's home since she left Nyack; nor did it occur to her that old +Father Hanz, as she playfully called him, might even then be within the +sound of her voice. + +The company had all assembled, the musicians were beginning to tune +their instruments, and the time for dancing was drawing near. Mrs. +Chapman flattered herself that Bowling Green would wake up in the +morning to find that she had carried its outworks. But notwithstanding +all the pushing she had done, and all the pushing her friends had done +for her, she had not succeeded in catching the sort of people she had +thrown her net for. There was Topman and Mrs. Topman, moving here and +there in all the elegance of full dress. There were a number of others, +who were always ready to accept an invitation where there was dancing to +be done, or an opportunity afforded to show themselves in their best +clothes. They were second and third-rate people, after all--people who +get a cheap position in society through their proficiency in dancing, +which they accept as the highest object a man or woman has to live for. + +Poor Chapman moved about here and there like a raven among birds of +brilliant plumage; and never did man look meeker or more submissive. +There had been a curious change in his worldly affairs since the time +when he preached humility and economy at Dogtown, and was ready to +quarrel with any man who did not agree with him that show and +extravagance were carrying the country to the devil. + +"My wife, my dear wife, gives this ball," he would say, referring +timidly to the subject. "My dear wife enjoys these things. Mrs. Chapman +is very fond of young society, you see. I hope you are enjoying +yourselves. There will be dancing soon--I never dance--and supper at +twelve." + +There was no man more elaborately got up that night than Gusher. Every +hair on his head was trained into exact position, and his tailoring was +faultless. In short, Gusher had got himself up with a view to making the +greatest destruction on the female heart. He whisked about here and +there, making himself useful as well as ornamental, for he felt that he +had got the Chapman family on his shoulders, and was responsible for its +reputation as very distinguished. + +"Miz, you shall permit me ze pleazure, and ze 'onar, to open ze dance +wiz you," said Gusher, approaching Mattie with his right hand on his +heart, and making one of his extensive bows, "You shall do me ze 'onar, +I am sure," he continued, and as he raised his head with an air of +confidence, expecting to see her extend her hand, his eye fell on the +familiar face of a young man standing at her side, engaging her in +conversation. He paused suddenly, his face changed color from pale to +crimson, and his manner became nervous and agitated. His whole system, +mental and physical, seemed to have received a sudden and unexpected +shock. + +"Yes, my daughter, you must open the ball with Mr. Gusher. How very kind +of you, Mr. Gusher," said Mrs. Chapman, with a courtesy. "It will be so +very appropriate, my daughter, for you and Mr. Gusher to lead off." Mrs. +Chapman had not noticed the singular change in Mr. Gusher's manner. He, +however, recovered himself in a minute, and affecting not to notice the +young man at Mattie's side, who still kept his eyes fixed on him, he +resumed: + +"Do me ze 'onar, Miz, and you shall make me so happy." + +"I am sure, mamma," returned Mattie, "Mr. Gusher will excuse me. It was +very kind of you to remember me," (turning to Mr. Gusher.) "But really I +should appear very awkward dancing with you, who are so good a dancer. I +am sure you will excuse me for the opening dance, Mr. Gusher, and I +shall have the pleasure, if you will condescend to honor me, of dancing +with you during the evening." + +"My daughter, my daughter!" interrupted Mrs. Chapman, motioning with her +fan, "pray don't be eccentric to-night. Accept the honor Mr. Gusher +intended and please me--if only for once." + +"I am sure, mamma, I always try to please you," returned Mattie, "and I +appreciate the honor Mr. Gusher would do me, knowing how much my dear +mamma admires him." Here Mattie paused for a moment and tapped her +fingers with her fan, as the young man who had stood by her side turned +and walked away for a moment. "It was very thoughtless of me, mother," +resumed Mattie, ("you know I am only a thoughtless girl, after all)--but +the truth is I am already engaged for the first dance." + +"Engaged, my daughter, engaged?" Mrs. Chapman rejoined. "Pray, who to? +It was very strange of you!" Here the young man returned to Mattie's +side. + +"Allow me to introduce you to my mother, Mr. Romer," said Mattie. "Mr. +Romer, Mr. Gusher,--a friend of our family." Mrs. Chapman made a +courtesy, and the two gentlemen bowed formally and coldly. + +"If I mistake not," said Mr. Romer, who was a young man of polished +manners, slender of form, with a frank, open countenance, and evidently +a gentleman, "we have met before." He kept his eyes fixed on Gusher, as +if resolved to read his thoughts in the changes that were going on in +his countenance. + +"Pardon, pardon, monsieur," returned Mr. Gusher, affecting an air of +self-confidence supported by innocence. "I ne-var re-mem-bar as we has +meets before. You shall zee I shall make you my respects. We shall meet +again, I am sure of zat, zen we shall be such good friends. But I ne-var +re-mem-bar zat we meets before." + +"You were living in a castle then," returned the young man, coolly, "and +I was only an outsider. People who live in castles at times don't +remember common people." + +It was a strange and curious meeting. Mattie saw there was something +embarrassing between the two gentlemen, and came quickly to their +relief. + +"I am Mr. Romer's partner for the first dance," she said, addressing Mr. +Gusher, with a bow. "It was very thoughtless of me. You were so very +kind. But I am sure you are too generous not to excuse me." + +"It is my great misfortune, miz. But you shall zee as I ne-var intrude +myself. I shall have ze pleazure during ze evening." Gusher blushed and +withdrew to another part of the ball room, where he captured Mrs. +Topman, who was delighted at having such a partner for the first dance. +Mrs. Topman was indeed popular as a dancing lady, and nothing pleased +her better than to show her skill in the art in company with Gusher, +whom all the pretty young girls said moved so nice on his feet. + +The music now struck up and fell softly and sweetly on the ear, and the +dancing began, and each figure seemed floating in the very poetry of +motion, until the bewitching scene carried the mind away captive in its +gyrations. + +Mattie had never seen Mr. Romer, nor indeed heard of him before that +night. She knew nothing of the relations existing between him and +Gusher. She was equally a stranger to Mr. Gusher's antecedents. Her mind +had, however, for some time been engaged trying to solve the mysterious +agency that had brought him into business relations with her father. +Being a girl of fixed character and good common sense, it was only +natural that she should entertain an instinctive dislike for Gusher, in +whom she saw a nature, if not really bad, at least frivolous and +artificial. + +The unexpected meeting between Romer and Gusher threw a shadow over the +entertainment, so far as it affected the latter. Here he had been for +weeks sounding the trumpet of Mrs. Chapman's ball, and looking forward +to it as the means of making a temple of triumph of himself, and +captivating no end of female hearts, Mattie's included; but how sadly he +was disappointed. It had suddenly thrown around him a chain of +difficulties that might blast his ambition, destroy all his hopes, and +cause the veil he supposed was forever drawn over his past life to be +lifted. The only way he saw of extricating himself from these +difficulties, of cutting through them as it were, was by the force and +skilful exercise of great coolness and impudence, and these he resolved +to use, and use quickly. + +And while the dancing was progressing a number of young fellows, who +found more congenial enjoyment in their glasses and cigars, were seated +at a table in a room down stairs, which Mrs. Chapman had provided as a +sort of free-and-easy for such of her guests as were inclined to enjoy +themselves in their own way. Chapman had provided generously, both of +wines and cigars, which might have seemed strange to one of his Dogtown +acquaintances. He had, however, so modified his ideas as to what +constituted strict morality as to believe it would be nothing against a +man in the other world that he had drank a glass of wine and smoked a +cigar in this. + +The young gentlemen were conducting themselves in a manner not +recognized in the rules of propriety. Indeed, they had smoked so many of +Chapman's cigars, and uncorked so many bottles of his wine, and drank +the health of the family such a number of times, that they were fast +losing their wits. When, then, Bowles made his appearance in the room, +to see if there was anything he could do for the gentlemen, he found +them talking so strangely of his mistress, and making so free with her +personal appearance, that he considered it an indignity he was bound to +defend by putting on the severest look he was capable of. + +"Say, Charles," said one of the young men, addressing a comrade as he +raised his glass, "who did you get your card through? What sort of a +family is it, anyhow?" + +"Got mine through Gusher. He's a kind of a spoon, you know. Don't know +anything of the fellow, particularly--met him outside, you know. He's +mighty sweet on the filly. She's pretty. Would'nt mind being sweet on +her myself. I'd be a little afraid the old one would want to throw +herself into the bargain. What a crusher of a mother-in-law she'd make," +returned the young man. + +"An odd-sized lot, anyhow," interrupted a third. "How frightfully the +old lady's got herself up, eh? What a melancholy little specimen of +humanity she's got for a husband, eh? Who are the Chapmans, anyhow?" + +"Devilish new, devilish new," rejoined a fourth. "What a mixed lot they +have got for company." + +"Fill up! fill up! gentlemen. Here's a bumper to the beautiful daughter. +Beauty and modesty carry us all captive in their charms. Let us drink to +the daughter." And they filled their glasses and drank Mattie's health. + +"When my missus inwites pussons to de ball, my missus 'specs dem ar +gemmens what is inwited to presarve dar qualifications. If gemmen am +gemmen den dey don't cum'd to my missus's ball to suffocate her!" said +Bowles, expressing himself, and assuming an air of injured dignity. + +Bowles had to pay dear for his speech in defence of the family, for the +young gentlemen surrounded him, and, getting him into a high chair at +the head of the table, compelled him to perform all sorts of antics for +their amusement, such as making speeches and singing songs. They also +made Bowles drink so many times to the lady whose livery he had the +honor to wear, that he lost his senses, and fancied himself fighting any +man who had said a word against the family. Indeed, it soon became +necessary to extinguish Mr. Bowles, and to that end the young gentlemen +rolled him up in the table-cover, and put him carefully away in a +corner, where he soon went into a sound sleep, and remained until his +master woke him up on the following morning. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV. + +VERY PERPLEXING. + + +While these young gentlemen were thus enjoying themselves, and taking +such liberties with Mrs. Chapman's favorite servant, Romer entered the +room, and was followed in a few minutes by Gusher. They had again met +unexpectedly, for there was something nervous and hesitating in Gusher's +manner. Romer seemed to be a general favorite with the young men, and +they insisted that he fill his glass and join them in drinking the +health of the family. + +"You will pardon me," said Romer, turning to Gusher when they had set +down their glasses; "I took the liberty I did up stairs through +mistake." + +"It is no matter, mine friend," returned Gusher, patting Romer on the +shoulder familiarly. "I ac-cept ze ap-pology. You are one gentleman, I +am sure. We shall be very good friends." It was curious to see how quick +Gusher regained his confidence and coolness. + +"I mistook you for a gentleman I once met in Havana. I understand you +have been there," resumed Romer, keeping his eyes steadily fixed on +Gusher. + +"My farer, he has very large estates in ze Havana. Mine friend, I love +ze Havana." Here Gusher put his hand to his heart, and became exuberant. +"It make me so much joy to zink of ze day when I shall be back in mine +own Havana." + +"Knew I had seen you there. You would'nt be likely to remember me, +however. Let us fill our glasses, and drink to the pleasant days we have +spent there--" + +"Oh, it is so many years since I was so happy zare," interrupted Gusher, +coolly. + +They filled their glasses and drank to the happy days they had spent in +Havana. "At least the wine may quicken your memory as to the time we +met. About the time I refer to," continued Romer, still watching +Gusher's manner carefully, "which was about the time we met, a fellow of +wonderful audacity was flourishing, and so attracting public attention +by his skill in rascality that little else was talked of. Louis Pinto +was his real name; but he regarded names as a matter of no consequence, +and used the names of rich and respectable gentlemen whenever a +necessity demanded." + +"You shall give me zat hand," replied Gusher, extending his hand and +taking Romer's, with an air of refreshing coolness. "You bring ze +gentleman to my mind. When I shall speak ze truth I shall say he was one +grand rascal, I remember him just so well as you shall see." + +"I am glad," resumed Romer, "that you know him for a grand rascal. +Rascal as he was, I had great admiration for him. He had three +remarkable virtues--impudence, coolness, and audacity. I call these +virtues because a man possessing them may go through the world and have +a history of his own. It was Louis's ambition to do the State some +service one day and ornament society with his presence the next. One day +he relieved a rich old gentleman of his pretty daughter and twelve +thousand ounces, and did both so cleverly that his skill was more +admired than condemned. Carrying off the daughter did not seem to offend +the old gentleman so much; but his grief was so great over the loss of +his ounces that he employed means of recovering them, and with them the +thief, whom he had sent to prison to repent of the sin. Louis was rather +fond of a change, and accepted prison life as a relief from the labor +society required of him, and as a necessary benefit to his health rather +than a punishment. He once relieved me of some diamonds, and in such a +manner as to make me remember him for his skill." + +"I tells you, mine friend," interrupted Gusher, "zat grand rascal 'onar +me in ze same way. He gets ze diamond. And I ne-var gets zat diamond +back. He make me so much trouble. I am mistake for him so many times." +Gusher now proposed that they should fill their glasses again, which +they did, the rest of the company joining and drinking to the health of +the family. + +"That he is taken for you," resumed Romer, "might be considered a +compliment, as far as looks go. If I remember right the fellow was +exceedingly handsome." + +This seemed to excite Gusher's vanity. Laying his hand patronizingly on +Romer's arm, he looked up in his face with a smile of injured innocence. +"I care nosin for myself; it is wiz mine friend he make me so much +trouble." + +"You're to be pitied, sir, very much to be pitied. Of course you are not +Pinto, and yet the dashing, handsome fellow will insist in trafficking +on your reputation. How very aggravating to a gentleman of your +position. It requires a genius to do that well. That's what I admired +Pinto for. The fellow had such a number of family histories at his +tongue's end, and could apply any one of them so cleverly to his own +case. In short, he knew exactly how to suit his customer. But you will +remember, Mr. Gusher, the most amusing thing of all was the number of +fathers he had. To-day he had a Spanish father, who had been through all +the wars of Spain; to-morrow his father was a Frenchman who had smelled +powder in all the battles fought by Napoleon. They were generals, too. +There was one bad feature about Louis's fathers. They were all +unfortunate gentlemen, who managed to fight on the wrong side, and got +their estates confiscated and their families left destitute." + +Romer paused for a moment, but kept his eyes fixed on Gusher. Still +there was no change in his countenance. The young gentlemen who had been +so merry but a few minutes before, now put down their glasses and +listened with intense interest to the conversation. + +"You shall zee, mine friend, (wiz your permizion I shall call you mine +friend,") replied Gusher, still cool and nonchalant, and again giving +Romer's hand a decided shake, "I have hear zat grand rascal tell ze same +story so many times. You shall know zat I meets ze grand rascal on +Broadway--a few days ago--" + +"You met him in New York, eh?" resumed Romer, affecting great surprise. +"Looking just as fresh and rosy as ever, I suppose, and as ready to give +himself up to the business of ornamenting society." Romer patted Gusher +on the shoulder familiarly, and smiled. + +"If you should meet him again," he resumed, playfully, "and it is more +than likely you will--stop him. He does'nt take offence easily. Keep +your eye on him. Tell him you are a friend of his, and have a lady with +a fortune you would like to introduce him to. That will gain his +confidence. Then slip this card into his hand. It contains my address. +Tell him I am an old friend of his, and have some old and important +business I would like to settle. Don't let your modesty interfere with +your intentions, you know." + +Gusher took the card, and after affecting to read the name placed it in +his pocket, without exhibiting the slightest change of countenance. "You +shall zee I shall do myself ze 'onar of being your diplomat," said he, +bowing himself formally out of the room. + +"Romer, old fellow, what's up?" enquired one of the young men. "A spoon, +ain't he, Romer?" + +"Not so much of a spoon, I take it," said another. "Considers himself a +planet illuminating the social hemisphere of the Chapman family." + +"You must pardon me, gentlemen," said Romer, "for introducing a +conversation so strange to you. It refers to a matter which concerns the +gentleman and myself, which he perfectly understands, and you may hear +more of soon--not now." + +Another, and very different scene from that described above, but which +forms an essential part of this history, was being enacted just outside. +While the sound of the music was reverberating over Bowling Green, and +mingling curiously with the sea-wail; while the dance went on, and all +seemed gay and festive within, two old men, bent with age and poorly +clad, were seen in front of Chapman's house, one of them leaning on a +staff. They were the two shadowy figures seen on the Battery in the +early part of the evening, looking anxiously out in the direction of a +ship at anchor in the stream. + +Their manner indicated that they were strangers in the city, uncertain +of the location they were in. They would move slowly up and down in +front of the house, then pause and listen to the music, the tripping of +feet, and the sound of merry voices. The shadowy figures seen flitting +through the curtains seemed to bewilder them. Then, after consulting +together for a few minutes, and as if armed with some new resolution, +they would ascend two or three steps, as if intent on seeking admission +to the house. Then their resolution would seem to fail them, they would +hesitate, and return slowly and reluctantly to the sidewalk. + +Then he of the staff stood in the shadow of the street lamp, and as he +did so his kindly but wrinkled face, his white, flowing beard and hair, +reflected in the dim light, formed a striking picture of age made +touching by sorrow. Then his eyes brightened and his lips quivered, and +after looking sorrowfully up at the scene before him for several +minutes, he motioned his companion to him, laid his trembling hand on +his arm, and said: + +"Tar pees no shustice in dis. He prings shorrow hinto mine house, unt +shust now his house pees full of peeples what rejoices. I gits mine +preat mit t' sweet of mine prow, so ven I ties I ties mit mine +conscience so clear as I shays t' mine Got, ven I meets mine Got, dar +pees no tirt on mine hands. If I only gits some news from mine poor +Tite, Critchel, some shoy comes t' mine poor heart." And he shook his +head as he said this, and leaned on his staff, and tears coursed down +his wrinkled face. + +The old man was overcome, and had no power to restrain his emotions. It +was several minutes before he regained control of his feelings. Then he +raised his head, and wiping his wet, dripping beard, he pointed with the +fore-finger of his right hand upward, and resumed: "Critchel!" said he, +in a tone as decided as it was touching, "Critchel! if tar pees un shust +Got, un I knows in mine heart as tar pees un shust Got, He come to mine +aid, unt He shows he pees angry mit t' man vat shays he pees mine +friend t'tay un prings shorrow into mine house to-morrow." + +"God will make a just reckoning with us all--depend on that, Hanz," +replied the other. "But it will do no good to stand here. We must wait +until to-morrow." And the two old men proceeded up Broadway and were +shut from sight in the mist. It will hardly be necessary to tell the +reader that one was Hanz Toodleburg, the other Doctor Critchel. + +Two days before the sheriff of the county had seriously disturbed the +peace of Hanz's little house by walking in and making service of a legal +document of immense length--Topman and Gusher vs. Hanz Toodleburg--and +in which the names were recapitulated so many times, and in so many +different ways, as to bewilder Hanz's mind and send him into a state of +deep distress. In short, Topman and Gusher, (Chapman's name was not +mentioned, and for reasons which any sharp gentleman of the legal +profession will understand,) had entered suit against Hanz, charging him +with having made certain contracts he had not fulfilled, of procuring +money and certain other property for the sale of secrets he did not +possess, and indeed of having deceived and defrauded the plaintiffs, and +of committing crimes enough to have sent at least a dozen men to the +penitentiary. And all this to the serious damage, as well in reputation +as pocket, of the highly enterprising and rapidly advancing firm of +Topman and Gusher. And the plaintiffs prayed, as virtuous gentlemen are +known to pray in such cases, that the defendant's property might be +attached, and such damages decreed as in the discretion of the court +justice demanded. + +The great Kidd Discovery Company was bearing bitter fruit for Hanz. +Never before had a sheriff darkened his door, for it had been the aim +of his life to owe no man a shilling, and never to quarrel with a +neighbor. But here he was with law enough for a life-time, and all for +doing a kindness for people he thought honest. He saw Chapman's finger +at the bottom of the transaction, but the more he pondered over his +troubles the more his mind got bewildered. He knew that before a court +his simple story would weigh as nothing against the proof they could +bring that he had been associated in some suspicious way with all the +circumstances which led to the formation of the great Kidd Discovery +Company. There, too, was a paper, bearing his own signature, and indeed +a confession of guilt. + +In the midst of his grief it occurred to Hanz that a man who had +invented so many religions must be something of a Christian, so he +resolved to see him face to face, and have an honest talk with him. To +that end he persuaded Critchel, who was his friend and adviser always, +to bear him company into the city. He forgot that there were religions, +based on what are called advanced ideas, and invented so plentifully in +certain portions of New England, having little of either heart or soul +in them, and which are in truth a cheap commodity, used more to advance +commercial than spiritual purposes. + +There was still another reason why these two old men were found in the +city on that night. Nothing had been heard from Tite, or indeed the ship +on which he sailed, for more than a year, and great anxiety was felt for +her safety. A report, however, had reached Nyack that day that one of +the Hudson Company's ships had arrived at New York, and the hope that +she might bring some tidings of the ship Pacific quickened his actions. + + + + +CHAPTER XXV. + +AN UNLUCKY VOYAGE. + + +Let us go a little back, reader, and trace the course of the ship +Pacific and those on board of her. The iceberg had rendered her almost +helpless, and we left her bearing up for Punta Arenas. Having made +temporary repairs there she sailed for Coquimbo, where she was +thoroughly refitted and provided with new anchors and chains. The great +expense and delay incident to this had seriously interfered with the +prospects of the voyage, and to such of the crew and officers as were on +shares left but little hope of returns. This naturally produced a +feeling of discouragement and despondency. + +And when the ship was about to proceed on her voyage to cruise among the +islands of the Pacific, the second officer disappeared mysteriously, and +Coquimbo was searched in vain for him. Tite was accordingly promoted to +fill his place. The crew had great confidence in him, for he had shown +himself not only the best sailor on board, but had exhibited in cases of +great peril such quickness and courage as are necessary to the highest +standard of seamanship. Hence it was that the change, while it did not +dispel the gloom occasioned by the second officer's mysterious +disappearance, gave satisfaction to all on board, except, perhaps, Mr. +Higgins, the first officer, who had almost from the day of leaving New +York regarded Tite with a feeling of undisguised jealousy. + +The lucky old ship Pacific, with her famous old whale-killing captain, +had made a bad voyage of it this time. + +Fifteen months had passed since she took her departure off the Highlands +of New York, and now she had just weighed anchor, and with her canvas +spread once more was bidding good bye to Coquimbo, and proceeding to +cruise among the islands of the South Sea. + +Weeks passed and still the old ship tumbled and rolled about on the +placid waters of the Pacific, now touching at a port to get news of the +whaling fleet, now anchoring off some island to have a talk or trade +with the natives. But all the news the sturdy old captain could get was +bad. + +Bad luck had followed the whaling fleet through the Pacific that year. +The habits of the whale in changing his locality at certain periods are +somewhat curious, and afford old sailors a subject for the most wild and +unreasonable stories. The sailors, yielding to their superstitions, +attributed the scarcity of whales to the appearance of a number of +mermaids, whom the natives on various islands had reported, and the +sailors sincerely believed, had been seen and heard singing in various +parts of the Pacific that year, and under very suspicious circumstances. +The sailors had also a superstition that whales entertain so great a +dislike for mermaids as to proceed to visit their friends and relatives +in another sea as soon as they made their appearance. + +Captain Price Bottom declared he was too old a whale-killer to put any +faith in the story of the mermaids. Whales, he said, had sense and +pluck, and were not to be frightened away by such fish as mermaids. He +had his deck cleared, his gear put in order, his boats' crews told off, +and officers and men kept practising and made familiar with their +duties. Still not a whale showed his head, or blew a challenge to put +their skill in practice. The bluff old captain began to feel at last +that luck had left him. Morning after morning he would loom up in the +companion way before the crew was up, gaze up at the lookout aloft, ask +the usual questions concerning the night's sailing, then shake his head +despondingly. + +"Fifteen months out--sixteen months out--and not a whale killed!" he +would say. Then taking the glass he would make a turn or two of the +quarter-deck, looking here and looking there, as if to satisfy himself +that there was nothing between his ship and the horizon. Then lowering +his glass he would nod his head affirmatively, and say: "Mermaids ain't +got nothin' at all to do with it. Somebody's been a tellin' them whales +I was comin'. Whales has got more sense some years than other years. +Know when there's harpoons about as well as any of us, and keeps at a +comfortable distance." + +One morning he appeared on deck in a more serious mood than usual. Tite +was officer of the watch that morning, and the old captain, after pacing +up and down the deck several times, apparently in deep study, approached +him with his hand extended. + +"When I give a young man like you my hand, I gives him my heart, too. If +there's a man aboard of this ship what I respect, it's you, Mr. +Toodleburg. Yes, sir, I respect you for your mother's sake, as well as +for your worth as a sailor and a man." And he shook Tite cordially by +the hand, and spoke with such an emphasis. + +Then setting his glass down on the binnacle, he took Tite by the arm, +and, whispering something in his ear, led him to the taffrail, as if he +had something of importance to communicate in private. + +"You have a sweetheart at home, I take it, Mr. Toodleburg?" he said, +inquiringly, and assuming a very serious manner. "Every young man like +you should have a sweetheart at home. Somebody to think about. Somebody +to cheer one up. Them we leaves at home is all men like you and me go +through these hardships and disappointments for." + +Tite blushed and smiled, and made an evasive reply. + +"No use denying it, my hearty," he resumed. "Knew ye had a sweetheart +thinkin' of ye at home. Show her by yer conduct while yer away that yer +worthy of her when yer get home. My sweetheart, God bless her! is all +the sunlight I have in a voyage of this kind. My little wife is my +sweetheart, she is, Mr. Toodleburg. She an' the two little angels are +the sunlight of my heart. There ain't nobody sails the sea has a trimmer +little craft of a sweetheart nor I have." He paused for a minute, as if +to collect his distracted thoughts. "The man that would bring trouble to +her door while I'm away--he would'nt be a man, Mr. Toodleburg," he +resumed, still preserving a serious countenance. "Had an ugly dream last +night. That's what troubles me. Anything happens to me, Mr. Toodleburg, +you're the man I looks to as a friend to my little sweetheart and them +two angels at home." + +Tite assured him that he would do as he desired, and at the same time +tried to dispel from his mind the gloomy forebodings impressed on it by +the dream. + +"Never had an ugly dream of that kind that it did'nt foretell somethin' +bad, Mr. Toodleburg," he replied to a remark made by Tite, that it was +not wise to give one's self uneasiness concerning dreams. "There's +sharks a' land as well as sharks a' sea. Keep that in your mind, my +hearty. And I dreamed that my time had come, and my poor little +sweetheart at home was surrounded by sharks ready to devour her. Made my +blood boil, it did. Waked up feelin' for a harpoon to throw among 'em. +My ghost'll haunt the man that wrongs my little sweetheart. + +"That's not all, my hearty. Somebody's brought bad luck aboard--that's +certain. A voyage begun in bad luck, as this ere voyage has been, never +ends in good luck. But you're young, and so cheer up. Look ahead, and +never let present misfortunes discourage you. + +"England honors Scoresby to this day. And Scoresby was successful after +two voyages that ruined his owners. As to them mermaids frightening away +the whales, it's all a superstition. The natives on Queen Charlotte's +island have a superstition that there is an island down north of them, +called No Man's island--for no man, as they say, was ever seen on +it--where there is a subterranean sea peopled by these mermaids; and +that these mermaids have built them a palace, where they hold their +revels and do all sorts of strange things, even to decoying navigators +into it. That story won't do. Don't believe a word of it, Mr. +Toodleburg." + +That morning about ten o'clock the lookout aloft called, "Whale, O!" The +glad announcement sent a thrill of joy over every one on board. The crew +turned out with cheerful faces, and every one looked eagerly in the +direction pointed to by the man aloft. + +"Where away?" was the quick enquiry from the deck. + +"Off the larboard bow--three miles. There he blows!" was the response. + +A light breeze was blowing, and the ship was bowling off four knots, +with her port tacks aboard. There was no one on board more elated at the +prospect than the sturdy old captain. Seizing his glass he looked for a +moment in the direction indicated. + +"There he is!" he exclaimed, lowering his glass. "Clear away the boats +and bear away for him, my hearties." + +The lashings were cast away, the davit-tackle falls overhauled, and a +larboard and starboard boat was launched and manned, and in a few +minutes they were dashing over the waves, the men pulling that steady, +strong, and even stroke which gives such propelling force to the +whaleman's oar. The men on board cheered, and their cheers seemed to +quicken the action of the boatmen. The sturdy old captain watched their +progress through his glass, every few minutes giving expression to his +feelings in words of hope and encouragement. + +"An old coaster, that whale is--thirty, yes, nearly forty barrels there. +Got pluck, too, that whale has. Can always tell when a whale's got +pluck. Them old ones are ugly customers when they gets their pluck up," +he would say, nodding his head decidedly and encouragingly. + +The ship was now kept away a point or two, and proceeded under easy +sail. There was something thrilling in the scene, and every heart on +board beat with excitement as the boats went swiftly on, one commanded +by the first officer, the other by Tite. Neither of these two young men +had seen a whale killed; but there were in the boats old whalemen, who +had successfully thrown both harpoon and lance. + +The huge monster could now be seen clearly with the naked eye by those +on the ship's deck, sporting lazily on the surface, his bright black +sides now falling, now rising, like the hull of some water-logged ship, +and throwing up thin white volumes of spray, over which the sun's rays +reflected with singular brilliancy. Nearer and nearer the boats +approached the monster, the first officer's boat being a little ahead. +Now the stern boat ceased pulling, and the men laid on their oars. Then +the other slackened her speed, and began pulling with cautious and quiet +stroke. The lookout announced that the head boat had made the whale, and +the men climbed the ship's rigging to witness the struggle. They were +doomed to temporary disappointment, however, for the whale, suddenly +discovering his pursuers, made a vault and a plunge, tossed the sea into +commotion, and disappeared. + +"That's what comes of sendin' an amateur after an old whale," said the +captain, thrusting his hands deep into his nether pockets, shrugging his +shoulders, and pacing nervously up and down the deck. + +A signal was now made from the ship directing the boats what course to +keep, for experience had taught the old captain what course the whale +would take, and where he would be most likely to appear again. It was +nearly half an hour before the monster lifted his huge, dripping sides +above the surface again, but so near the first officer's boat that a +harpoon was let go. They had fastened to him, and the scene became more +exciting. + +"Bad strike," said the captain, shaking his head and stamping his feet. +"That whale's going to die hard." The harpoon, in short, had fallen +weak, had failed to touch a vital part, and had made one of those wounds +which excite a whale to attack his pursuers. + +The word "astern" was given as soon as the harpoon was thrown. The +monster threw up a thin wreath of slightly discolored spray, and set off +at a velocity of speed almost incredible. Away he went, the boat +following in his wake and cutting the water like a thing of life--the +boat-steerer and line-tender carefully watching every movement, for the +lives of all on board depended on their vigilance. The whale struck his +course directly across the ship's bow, less than a mile away. The boat +Tite commanded followed, with all the strength her crew could put on +their oars. + +It was easy to read in the captain's manner, however, that all was not +going well with the boats. He quickly ordered a third boat launched, +supplied with gear, and the best oarsmen on board to hold themselves +ready to man it. + +"Thar'll be a fight when that ar whale rises," he muttered, rather than +spoke. "Wants a lance in the right place, and a man to put it there. Mr. +Higgins ain't the man for that work." + +The boat's speed began to slacken. The sharp, whizzing sound, caused by +the rapid paying-out of the line and its great tension, gradually +subsided. It was evident the whale was coming up to blow, perhaps change +his course, perhaps attack his assailants. He had crossed the ship's +course, and the head boat was nearly two miles off the starboard bow, +the stern boat rapidly coming up. + +The water just ahead of the boat began to quiver and curl into eddies, +then the huge monster lifted himself, as it were, high above the +surface, struck his flukes, and lashed the sea into a foam. This lasted +for several minutes, the boat pulling for him with all the strength of +her oarsmen. But when nearly alongside of the whale she suddenly +slackened her speed, then stopped, then went "astern hard." It was +evident to those on board the ship that something was wrong, for the +boat seemed to be manoeuvring more for her own safety than to gain a +position from which a lance could be hurled with effect. + +"Too many landsmen in that boat!" said the old captain, who had been +carefully watching every movement through his glass; now hoping, now +fearing. He shook his head doubtingly, and paced the deck nervously for +several minutes. Then, as if there was something it was necessary for +him to set right, he turned to the officer of the watch, and ordered him +to have the third boat manned. In another minute he was standing in the +bow, lance in hand. + +"Pull away for him, my hearty bullies," he said; and the men plied their +oars, and away the boat went, skimming over the water like a sea-bird. +There was resolution and courage depicted in every feature of that +bronzed face. + +The whale had now turned and was proceeding with open jaws to attack the +first officer's boat. Another minute and he would have destroyed it, and +perhaps all on board. Just at that moment Tite's boat came up, and with +a quick, bold, and dexterous movement, rounded close under the whale's +off side, and with a strong arm sent a lance home. That lance made a +deep and fatal wound. The enraged monster forgot in a moment the object +he was in pursuit of, threw up a volume of deep red spray, then making a +desperate plunge, disappeared. He had no intention of giving up the +battle, however. He merely sought relief for his wounds in deep water. +The boats now waited and watched for the result. After waiting nearly +twenty minutes the monster rose again, directly ahead of the captain's +boat, and so near as to dash the spray into it. + +"Take that!" said the old captain; "that iron'll stop your fightin'." +And he hurled his lance, with quick and deadly aim, giving an order at +the same time to "astern hard." But before sternway could be got on the +boat, the infuriated monster made a sudden turn, dashed upon and stove +it into fragments. + +The famous old whale-killer had hurled his last lance, had killed his +last whale. The dying monster, in making a last struggle with his +enemies, had struck the captain with his fluke, and he sunk never to +rise again. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVI. + +DUNMAN'S CAVE. + + +Flags hung at half mast the rest of that day, and minute guns were fired +at sunset. And there was something sad and solemn in the dull, booming +sound as it echoed and reechoed over that broad and mysterious sea. And +when night came, and drew a dark curtain around the ship, and her +timbers murmured and complained, and every sail stood out in shadow +against the clear sky, and the surface of the water seemed alive with +sprites, flitting and dancing here and there, groups of sorrowing men +were seen gathered about the decks, giving expression to their grief at +the loss of their old captain. + +"God bless him! He was good to us all. There'll be no more whales to +kill where he has gone." These were the words of regret that fell from +lips that rarely invoked a prayer. + +At midnight, when the bells had struck, the crew gathered together on +the forward deck, and while one held a lamp another read the Episcopal +service for the burial of the dead. And as the light at times reflected +each figure of the group, giving it a phantom-like appearance, the +picture presented was sad and impressive--such as can only be seen at +sea, where each sound calls up some memory, and the sailor fancies he +can see the spirit of some departed friend in every flitting shadow. + +Officers and men alike began to feel how great was their loss. They were +alone, as it were, on this broad and mysterious ocean, and they had +lost that odd old man who was their guiding spirit, and who never failed +them as friend and protector. All through that night the men watched and +strained their eyes in every direction, expecting to see the old sailor +rise on some crest; and more than one sailor that night cheered his +drooping feelings with the firm belief that some mysterious agency would +give them back the old captain before morning. + +There was no one on that ship, however, who felt the loss more seriously +than Tite. It seemed to change all his prospects, to throw a shadow over +his future. He paced the deck, silent and thoughtful, until long after +midnight. To him the captain had been not only a friend, but a father. +Between them there had grown up the strongest of attachments. Tite had +looked forward to the time when this odd old man would have lifted him +into the confidence of his owners, and perhaps secured his future +prosperity. + +All his hopes and joys seemed blasted now. Love, too, had been playing +its bewitching part; amidst all these drawbacks and disappointments, +love had been prompting his ambition with her dreams of a happy future. +Mattie's image, so bright, so beautiful, had been with him everywhere, +prompting his thoughts and actions as only the woman you love can, and +making him more ambitious to secure that golden future his fancy had +pictured. Never before had his courage failed him. No matter what the +danger, he had felt that she was at his side, encouraging him. Now the +gloomy thought of returning home penniless, with, indeed, nothing but +his adventures and misfortunes to offer her and his aged parents, began +to prey upon his mind, to make him sad and despondent. Then the advice +so often given him by the old captain, never to get discouraged, not +even under the most adverse circumstances, and that the brightest day +was sure to follow the darkest night, would cheer him up. + +When the whale had been taken aboard, the ship, under her new commander, +Mr. Higgins, stood away into the North Pacific, where she cruised along +the land, in the direction of Behring's Straits, for several weeks. The +prospect not seeming to brighten much, Mr. Higgins thought he would try +an experiment in what he called "high latitudes," and to that end headed +the ship for the Auckland Islands. Now the crew had but little respect +for their new commander, and no confidence whatever in his skill as a +navigator. + +After proceeding in this direction for ten days, one morning about four +o'clock the lookout called the attention of the officer of the watch to +strange sounds heard close ahead. It resembled the dull, sluggish sound +of breakers on shore during a calm. The sounds became louder and seemed +to be approaching the ship, but as her reckoning gave no land anywhere +near, the cause of the sounds began to excite great alarm. The captain +was called and the crew turned out, and an effort made to put the ship +on the other tack, but it was of no avail. An almost dead calm +prevailed, and the ship refused to obey her helm. In short, the ship was +being carried rapidly forward in the grasp of a strong under-current. A +heavy fog hung like a pall overhead, enveloping the ship's royals and +top-gallant sails; and as the noise increased a strange feeling of awe +and fear came over the crew, exciting their superstitions to the highest +pitch. + +As the ship went on the sounds began to resemble the dashing and surging +of a heavy body of water forced by a strong tide through a narrow +gorge. Still nothing could be seen of land, which increased the strange +sensations produced by so singular a phenomenon. Nothing either crew or +officers could do would improve the situation, for in the ship's +condition they were as helpless as children. The lead was cast, and +sixty fathoms called. It was now evident that there was land close by. +But the trail of the line only showed the more clearly that the ship was +at the mercy of some rapid and dangerous current, perhaps being drawn +into some whirlpool. Now the fog seemed to lift, and long lines of light +were seen ahead, but it was only to be succeeded by greater darkness. +Then the sounds began to change and vary; and while what seemed voices +were heard singing and sighing overhead, the deep rush and roll of +waters below had a strange and bewildering effect on the feelings. Now +the moon seemed to be rising through the fog ahead, and a pale, white +light gleamed for a few seconds, then disappeared, and all was dark +again. And as the ship advanced, the bold outline of a high and nearly +perpendicular bluff revealed itself above the fog, and had the +appearance of hanging directly over the ship. There was no mistaking the +danger now. In a few minutes more the ship was between walls of rock +three hundred feet high, drifting swiftly through a narrow channel of +deep and agitated water into a dark and dangerous cavern. + +The ship passed in under full sail; the atmosphere changed and became +singularly oppressive; the very blood chilled; fear seized on all on +board, and men who a short time before were full of courage and strength +now became as helpless as children. The current was less rapid inside, +but the noise increased and became even more bewildering; while the +barometer would rise and fall quickly, and the compasses became +agitated under the influence of some strong magnetic disorder. Every few +minutes deep and rumbling sounds would break in the distance, roll along +the cavern, and echo and reecho through the great arches overhead. And +these would be succeeded by soft, flute-like voices, mingling in chorus. +The effect of this, in so dark and dungeon-like a place, where the +mighty hand of Nature had performed one of her wildest freaks, was +bewildering in the extreme, and gave wing to the strangest fancies. +Hardly a word was spoken; not a brace manned, nor a sheet touched. The +ship moved along as if directed by some unseen hand, for there was no +wind in that deep, dark cavern. Then the water became broken, and the +surface checkered with phosphoric lights, flitting and dancing, like so +many sprites on a revel. The arch overhead became covered with a pale +light, which seemed to struggle against the darkness; then stars, or +what appeared to be stars, were seen, as through a mist. Then they would +suddenly change into every variety of color, and reveal the existence of +massive columns of basaltic rock supporting the arch. Still the +distracting sounds were heard, but no order was given concerning the +ship, scarcely a word exchanged between the men. They felt that they +were drifting into some unknown sea, perhaps some place of enchantment, +where death was certain, and from whence nothing more would ever be +heard of them. + +Could this be the mermaid's retreat of which the old captain had spoken, +and of which the natives on Queen Charlotte's Island had such a strange +superstition? Tite thought to himself. All the pleasant associations of +home, all that he loved there, and all that he had hoped for, now rose +up in his mind like a sweet and beautiful dream, only to be overshadowed +by the terrible thoughts this strange and gloomy place had impressed +upon him. There was no hope for him now; he felt that he should never +enjoy those scenes again. But what was that to the anguish of his poor +old parents, who would linger on week after week, month after month, and +year after year, wondering and waiting in vain for some news of him, and +dying of hope deferred. + +While he was thus musing a pale, aurora-like light broke in the +distance, directly ahead of the ship. Now it opened gently, now shut +again. Again it glimmered and gradually expanded until the whole cavern +became aglow with light, and presented a scene of such enchanting beauty +that all on board were spell-bound with admiration. Massive columns, +grand and impressive, rose on every side to the very roof, and reflected +all the colors of the rainbow. And through them the gallant old ship +continued to sail, like a phantom. + +This bright, bewitching scene continued for about fifteen minutes, when +the light gradually died away, and all became dark and solemn. Then +deep, plunging sounds of falling water indicated with startling effect +that the ship was approaching a mighty cataract, down which she must +soon plunge to her destruction. These sounds, made more terrible by the +darkness, were like death-knells, calling the men to prepare to meet +their doom. + +And while all on board were contemplating these sounds, the ship +suddenly careened a-starboard, a harsh, grating noise was heard +overhead, and quantities of broken crystallites began falling on deck. +This was followed by a crashing sound, and the ship righted. The +topmasts had fouled, and one after another were carried away and now +hung, a dangerous wreck. Then her gib-boom came in contact with one of +the columns, and met the same fate. The ship now swung round and struck +with a violent shock on a sunken rock, and almost simultaneously her +mainmast went by the board, she began to fill and settle down, and soon +became a forlorn wreck. A short consultation was held between the +officers and men as to what was best to be done. There was, however, no +alternative but to take to the boats, and make the best effort possible +to save life. There was no time to lose. Five boats were quickly +launched, and manned, and supplied with such provisions and water as +could be procured in the hurry of the moment. An officer took command of +each boat, and Tite managed to secure six of the best oarsmen on board. +There was no excitement, no disorder. Everything was done with as much +order and regularity as if nothing had occurred to interrupt discipline. + +And now when the five boats were ready, and the order given to "pull +away," each man seemed to pause and take a last fond look at the old +ship, as if a lingering affection caused him to part from her with +reluctance. And as they stood taking this last look, the light again +broke forth, giving to the strange scene a weird and bewildering effect. + +The boats now pulled away, Tite's boat taking the lead. They had agreed +to keep together as much as possible, (and to that end made signals at +short intervals,) gain the ocean and seek relief along the shore. +Darkness soon shut in again, however, and the noises were so bewildering +that the signals from the boats could not be understood, and they +separated never to meet again. + +We must now follow the fortunes of the boat commanded by Tite. He had +been fortunate enough to secure a compass, which, though it did him +little good while in the cave, would be of great assistance to him +outside. The question as to how the entrance of the cave bore, and the +surest way of gaining it, was of most importance now. Tite estimated +that they were at least ten miles from it, and that by steering directly +against the current, they could not fail to make it. After pulling +steadily for four hours, stopping only once to refresh themselves, they +came in sight of the entrance, and saw daylight beyond. A feeling of joy +now came over the men, and three hearty cheers were given that echoed +curiously through the arches overhead. Still there was another and +serious obstacle to contend with. A boar, or tidal wave, had made at the +entrance, and was rushing in with a roaring noise and such force that +the boat could not have stemmed it for a minute. It was therefore, +necessary to seek safety behind some high rocks on one side of the +entrance, and wait a change in the tide. After waiting in this position +for nearly an hour they again put out, and headed for the entrance. A +rapid current was still setting in, and the men had to pull with all +their strength to stem it and gain the ocean. + +When they had gained the ocean they felt as if they had been suddenly +transferred to another world. After waiting several hours, and none of +the other boats making their appearance, Tite headed his boat west and +stood down the coast, close in shore, in the hope of finding a safe +landing place, perhaps a friendly settlement. An almost perpendicular +bluff of rocks, more than two hundred feet high, forming a walled coast, +such as is seen in the Bay of Fundy, and at the foot of which the sea +dashed and broke, rendering it impossible to make a landing, extended as +far as the eye could reach. Along this frowning coast the boat swept +until nightfall; but not a human being was seen, nor a place where they +could land safely discovered. + +Three days and three nights they coasted along this bold sea-wall, and +now their provisions and water had given out, and such was their +suffering from thirst, hunger, and cold, that two of the crew died from +sheer exhaustion. Indeed, it was only extraordinary exertion on the part +of Tite, and his manner of encouraging the others, that kept them from +giving up in despair. Early on the morning of the fourth day an +indentation in the land was discovered, sloping into a quiet little +valley, a place of welcome to the weary, through which a stream of water +winded down into the sea. Each heart now beat high with joy. Deliverance +had come at last. The boat's head was directed toward the beach, but the +wind had freshened, and a heavy surf was beating on shore, and unless +the boat was skilfully handled there was great danger of swamping. Still +the boat was kept on, and in less than half an hour from the time the +beach was discovered the boat was plunging through the breakers. + +On entering the surf an immense roller overtook the boat, lifted her +high up on its crest, and, owing to some unskilful management, she was +capsized. The crew were tossed into the boiling surf, and left to +struggle with the receding waves for their lives. Tite's first thought +was to secure the boat, and seizing hold of the line he made a desperate +effort to gain the beach, and was successful, as were two of the men. +The others were too weak to make much of a resistance, and were carried +away by the undercurrent, and nothing more was seen of them. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVII. + +OLD DUNMAN AND THE PIRATE'S TREASURE. + + +With only the drenched clothes they stood in, no means of lighting a +fire, and death from starvation staring them in the face, these three +shipwrecked men stood upon the beach of this strange island, still +hoping and wondering what was to be the next change in their condition. +Was the island inhabited? By whom? What was the character of the +natives, and what sort of reception would they meet when found? These +were the questions which engaged their thoughts as they stood on that +lonely beach, hoping against hope, and every minute fancying some +friendly sail heaving in sight to relieve them from their perilous +position. After the darkest night comes the brightest day. This was ever +uppermost in Tite's mind, and he endeavored to impress its teachings on +the minds of his companions, who were fast yielding to their fears, and +would have given up in despair had not his stronger resolution +encouraged them still to hope for deliverance. + +There was an abundance of small shell-fish along the coast, and on these +they subsisted. It was agreed to remain near the boat during the day, as +a precaution against an attack from the natives, who might have seen +them approach the coast, and perhaps be watching their movements near +by. But the day passed and not a human being was seen. At nightfall a +couple of goats and a pig, and some fowl that appeared to be keeping +them company, emerged from a thicket on a hillside, descended into a +valley or ravine, and drank in the brook. The sight of these animals +filled the hearts of the shipwrecked men with joy. It was to them a +proof of civilization. New hopes, new joys, new strength came with the +sight of these animals; and they advanced cautiously toward them. But +the animals were shy, and scampered away up the hill at the first sight +of the strangers. + +There was a high hill near by, and, encouraged by the sight of these +animals, Tite started off just at dusk to ascend it and survey the +surrounding country, leaving his comrades on the beach to guard the +boat. It was quite dark when Tite reached the top, but the stars were +out, and the atmosphere was clear. Not a habitation was to be seen, +nothing but a wild, unbroken forest as far as the eye could reach. He +watched there for an hour or more, his eyes quickened by anxiety, and +his mind becoming more and more excited, until his fancy pictured in +every shadow some moving object. Then, as his eye traced along down the +deep ravine, he discovered, or rather thought he discovered, a pale +wreath of smoke curling lazily upward, not more than a mile from where +his comrades lay. What at first seemed only a fancy, now became a +reality, for the smoke increased in volume, and indicated with certainty +a habitation of some kind. + +Descending the hill as quickly as he could, he found the two men fast +asleep, overcome with fatigue and excitement, and it was with great +difficulty that he could awake them. When, however, he told them what he +had discovered, their hearts filled with joy, and they sprang to their +feet ready to follow him. Still they entertained a lurking fear that the +smoke might mark the bivouac of some savages who had watched their +movements during the day, and lighted this fire to cook the evening +meal. + +They followed the stream about two miles up the ravine, picking their +way over rocks and through a thick wood, until they came to a little +gurgling brook, cutting its way through a deep dell running at right +angles with the ravine. Here they rested for a short time, and carefully +surveyed the scene, excited by strange thoughts. A light suddenly +flashed from the opposite bank, not more than forty yards ahead. This +evidently marked the object of their search. Then those familiar sounds +made by goats, fowls, and pigs were heard. Crossing the dell they +advanced cautiously in the direction of the light. They had not gone +far, however, when an opening in the woods was discovered, in the centre +of which a small, rude cabin, built of stones and mud, stood. A bright +fire was burning inside, smoke was issuing from the rude chimney, and +the light shining through two square openings in the sides, was +reflecting curiously over the scene outside. + +Again the three men halted, and stood viewing the scene in silence, now +hoping, now fearing, now wondering what sort of beings inhabited this +strange place. Still the domestic animals kept up those noises, so +familiar to Tite's ear when at home. And these were broken at intervals +by what seemed the barking of a wolf. Now a strange and shadowy figure +passed and repassed in the cabin, its uncouth form reflecting every few +seconds in the light. Should they advance, enter the cabin, and see who +this strange being was, or return to the beach and wait until morning? +This was the question which occupied their thoughts now. Impelled as +well, perhaps, by anxiety as necessity, Tite resolved to push on to the +very door. Leaving the men with orders to follow him at a short +distance, he proceeded on cautiously until he reached the edge of the +opening in which the cabin stood. + +He was now within a few paces of the door, when the fowls, which seemed +to abound in the vicinity, discovering him, sounded the alarm. The cabin +door now opened, and there stood, in the shadow of the light, the figure +of an old man bent with age, and dressed in the skin of a wolf, the long +fur of which gave him more the appearance of an animal than a human +being. His face was like colored parchment, his mouth and cheeks +wrinkled and sunken, his eyes small, black and bright, his long, white +hair and flowing beard, his bony hands, which he raised every few +moments and held over his long white eyelashes, as a shield to his +sight, gave him a strange and witch-like appearance. + +There the two men, the figure in the door and Tite, stood for several +minutes gazing in silence, but with a look of astonishment, at each +other. The animals and fowls had gathered in a group about the old man, +alarmed at the sight of a stranger. At length a thin, shrill voice broke +the silence by enquiring: "Who is it that comes here to disturb my +peace?" + +"We are friends," replied Tite, "shipwrecked sailors, in search of +shelter and food." + +[Illustration: The cabin door now opened, and there stood, in the shadow +of the light, the figure of an old man bent with age, and dressed in the +skin of a wolf. Page 216.] + +"Heaven pity you, and forgive me," returned the old man, his eyes +beaming brighter and his whole manner becoming more earnest. "Heaven +forgive me, you shall have both, and be welcome in my palace. Heaven +forgive me, for this is my palace and I am king of this island. Come in, +and such as I have you shall share with me." And he advanced, took Tite +by the hand, and led him into his cabin, the two men following. +Spreading seal and wolf skins on the floor, he bid them be seated, while +he prepared food for their supper. His motion was a shuffle rather than +a walk, and he moved about the cabin more like an animal than a human +being. He seemed to have an abundant supply of dried fish, fowl, and +fruit; of vegetables and roots, from which he made a beverage that +filled the place of coffee. And with these and some goat's milk he soon +set before them a supper, saying as he invited them to partake, "Heaven +forgive me for all my sins, and they are many. Your are countrymen of my +own, and speak the same language. Ah, I had almost forgotten it, as the +world has forgotten me. Now it all comes back, and makes me feel happy. +I am old, very old now. Heaven forgive me. There will be no more of poor +old George Dunman soon. When he dies he will die with great sins on his +head. If sin can be washed out with sorrow, Heaven knows I have had +sorrow enough." He advanced towards Tite, and laying his hand gently on +his shoulder, looked earnestly and intently into his face: "you are +young, very young," he said, "crime has made no wrinkles in your face +yet. Mine is full of age and crime, and a heart filled with remorse, +have burned their deep seals into mine. Look you, young man," and he +pointed to his eyes, "these eyes were not made to weep. But this poor +heart of mine is crushed with its crimes." Here he pressed his right +hand to his heart, and raised his eyes upwards, as if imploring Heaven's +forgiveness in silence. + +This continued invoking Heaven's forgiveness excited Tite's curiosity to +know something of the old man's strange and wonderful history, for he +already began to feel that there was a terrible crime at the bottom of +it. When they had partaken of supper and were all seated around the fire +on their skins, and nothing but the music of the brook was heard +outside, the old man requested Tite to give him an account of his +voyage, together with the place and manner of their shipwreck. Tite was +glad to comply with the old man's request, for it afforded him an +excellent excuse for making a similar one. + +The reader has already been made familiar with Tite's unfortunate +voyage, hence it will not be necessary to repeat it. The recital +interested the old man deeply, and when he had reached that part which +described their troubles in the cave, the old man's eyes sparkled, and +his whole nature seemed to warm into enthusiasm. + +"There's where my ship lays, guns and all," he said, pressing his hands +on his knees. "My men used to call this island 'No Man's Island,' and +they named that place 'The Cave of Enchantment.' Then they named it +after me. The natives on an island ten leagues from this have a queer +superstition concerning it. They call it the devil's last resting place, +and assert that it is peopled by mermaids, who get honest navigators +into it, and then destroy them. My ship lays there, guns and all," he +repeated. + +When Tite had finished his story, the old man began his by saying: +"Heaven forgive me, for I am a great sinner, and have much to answer for +in the next world. I was born in Bristol, England. My father was a +clergyman of the established church. I have no remembrance of my mother, +for she died when I was an infant. When I was fifteen years old I was +sent to sea as a means of bettering my morals. I served first on board +an Indiaman, made two voyages to China, and was wrecked on the coast of +Malabar; and when I got home my father or friends procured me the +position of midshipman on board a man-of-war. I served on board the +frigate Winchester, and other of His Majesty's ships, I did, for fifteen +years, and was only a midshipman at the end. Heaven forgive me for my +sins. It seemed there was no promotion for me. I was then transferred to +His Majesty's packet service, and assigned to the brig Storm, carrying +six guns, and the mails between Plymouth and the North American +provinces. She was a beauty of a craft, that Storm was. She used to +carry a crowd of canvas, and jump the seas like a sea-bird. I was four +years first officer of that craft, was proud of what she could do, and +the devil took advantage of my ambition, and created within me a longing +to be in command of her, and make myself heroic by roaming unrestrained +on the free sea. That feeling kept increasing until it become a passion +with me. Then it was my misfortune to fall in love. Yes, love was a +misfortune to me. I had courted and was engaged to the daughter of a +rich old man who had made all his money in the West Indies, and still +had plantations there. + +"We were to be married on my return, after a voyage to North America. +But I returned to find her married to a young officer who had sailed +companion with me on board man-a-war, and who had professed great +friendship for me only to deceive me. He had professed to be my friend +and confident; and it was this that carried the knife of disappointment +to my very heart. I was denied an interview with the woman I had loved, +even worshipped. The man who had professed to be my friend now turned +his back on me, and denied me even an explanation." All the fire there +was left in the old man now seemed to kindle into a blaze, and the +fiercer elements of his nature took possession of him. + +"To make the matter worse," he continued, "our good, kind, and brave +captain was relieved, transferred back to the navy, and this man, who +had outraged my confidence and made my life wretched, appointed to fill +his place. I resolved to be revenged. But how could it be got? How could +I punish the man who had so wronged me without rebelling against my +country, against God's laws, and against society? The devil told me it +could be done. + +"As it was not a question of conscience with me, in the frame of mind I +was then in, there was no trouble in following the devil's advice. I +conceived a plan for sending this captain out of the world by the +shortest road, seizing the ship, and roving unrestrained upon the free +sea. It was soon found that there was enough on board to join the +enterprise and share the spoils, and the plan was carried out when we +were half voyage over. That was fifty years ago. I shall never forget +the terrible struggle of that night, nor the bloody work that was done. +Heaven forgive me. When I had got command I ran the Storm into the +Caribbean Sea, landed all who were suspected, as well as such as more +openly opposed the enterprise, on an island, and then put away for the +Pacific via Cape Horn. When we got into the Pacific, we hoisted--." The +old man paused suddenly and hung down, his head. "Heaven forgive me for +my crimes," he resumed, evidently in doubt about acknowledging the full +force of his crimes. + +"I may as well tell you it all--shake the load free from my conscience, +and ask you to join me in invoking Heaven's forgiveness. We hoisted the +flag that sees an enemy in every other flag, and for three years the +Storm scourged these seas from Cape Horn to Sands' Head. When ships, +sent in pursuit of us, were searching along the west coast, we were +making war on commerce on the coast of China. We had a name for every +sea we entered, so as to make our pursuers think there was more than one +vessel, and so divide their attention. + +"Yes, for three years we scourged these seas, and made war on land as +well as sea--capturing, plundering, murdering--yes, committing crimes +that shame manhood, and make me fear the vengeance of a just God. And +all for gold, gold, gold. And what good can gold do a man with a +conscience haunted by crimes committed in getting it? Gold can do me no +good; but man is a mean animal at best; and you can so teach him in +crime that he will commit the most revolting out of sheer wantonness. + +"We soon had more gold and jewels than we knew what to do with. Some of +our men left us and went home with enough to make them rich for the rest +of their lives. And we have buried enough on these islands to buy a +city. Gold lost its charms with us, and crime became an excitement and +an entertainment. + +"We discovered this island while cruising from one ocean to the other, +and found on it some sailors, whose vessel had been wrecked near where +you landed. They had been seven years here, and it is to them we are +indebted for these animals and fowls. They lived contented, for they had +given up all hope of getting away, and are all dead now. We made this +place a retreat, had a settlement here, after the wreck of the Storm in +the cave, of forty men. They are all dead but me. I have been here forty +years--nine of them passed alone; and now my time has almost come. I +took the name of George Dunman because I had disgraced that of my +parents, and because I am an outlaw, and I want to die here and be +forgotten." + +It was after midnight when the old man finished his story. His manner +became nervous and restless, and it was evident there was something more +he wanted to disclose, but hesitated to do. + +The strangers accepted the old man's invitation, and took up their abode +under his roof, finding plenty of food and kind treatment. But they soon +became weary of so monotonous a life, and longing for some means of +reaching their homes and civilization, would visit the coast nearly +every day, in the hope of seeing some friendly sail and effecting their +deliverance. This anxiety to get away on the part of his new friends so +preyed on the old man's mind that his strength began to fail fast, and +at the end of two months it became evident that his sands of life had +but a few more days to run. + +Two months passed, and the weather was becoming cold. The old man was up +earlier than usual one morning; still he seemed more feeble. He tottered +about the cabin, his frame shook and trembled, and his whole system +seemed to be under some new excitement. He had formed a strong +attachment for Tite, whom he now approached with his hands extended. +"Like you," he said, grasping his hand firmly and looking up imploringly +into his face, "I was young and handsome once. I am old and ugly now. +Crime has written its ugly finger all over my face; has thrust its +poison into this poor heart of mine. Never let it lay one ugly finger on +your face. Make yours a life of joy, so that you may die happy. Oh, +these poor old gray hairs of mine, this head that has sinned so much." +And he raised his hard, bony hand to his head, and tossed the long white +hair back over his shoulders. + +"Come with me, come with me, young man," he resumed, grasping Tite by +the arm nervously and tottering to the door. When they got outside he +whispered in his ear: "You shall see where it is buried before I die. It +has made my life wretched; it may make yours happy." He paused for a few +seconds, and looking back, saw the two men standing watch at the door. +"Come," said he, beckoning to them, "you may as well come, too." + +The men joined them, and when they had reached a spot about twenty rods +from the cabin, they came to a square pile of stones, in a dark wood on +the side of a hill. The old man sat down, and resting his arms on the +stones, continued: "Here, buried three feet below these stones, is gold +and silver enough to make you all rich for life, and perhaps happy. +Churches, convents, ships, and even life itself have contributed to it. +All I now seek is peace in Heaven; and yet I cannot get that with this +gold, for it is the price of crime and death. Take it, take it; and when +my life of sorrow is ended, and these poor old bones shall move no more, +divide it among yourselves; and if Heaven sends you a deliverance from +this lonely island, so live that it may bring you blessings, not curses, +as it has done me." + +Three days after what I have described in the above paragraph took +place, Tite and the two sailors returned from the coast and were alarmed +to find the cabin deserted. They waited for a short time, and then +searched the woods in the vicinity, but could find nothing of the old +man. The compasses were there, and his nautical instruments were still +hanging on the wall, and the fire was nearly burned out. It had been his +custom to have supper ready punctually when they returned. There was now +a strange and mysterious stillness about the place. Even the fowls and +the animals seemed silent. + +On proceeding to the spot where the treasure was buried, they found the +lifeless body of the old pirate. Old Dunman was dead, and lay there, +with two of his pet goats nestling at his side. + + + + +CHAPTER XXVIII. + +MR. GUSHER SUSTAINS HIS CHARACTER. + + +"Husband, dear; husband, dear," said Mrs. Chapman, for I must again +return to that lady, as she addressed her meek-looking little husband, +"how distressing it would be if Mr. Gusher should turn out not to be Mr. +Gusher. He is such a nice young gentleman, and so popular in society. If +he should turn out to be somebody else? He has been such a favorite at +our house, you know. I am sure I should never survive such a scandal as +that. I am sure it would kill me--at least I should faint; I feel as if +I should faint now!" "Pray don't faint, pay dear," interrupted Chapman, +submissively, as she handed him a letter she had received that day from +Mr. Romer. And as she did so, she got up and paced the room in a state +of great agitation. + +"Never faint, my dear," resumed Chapman, "until you know what you are +fainting for. There is nothing to be made by fainting or borrowing +trouble." This conversation took place in the parlor one evening about +three weeks after the ball. Chapman read and reread the letter, and then +remained silent for several minutes. "Very strange, if true, my dear. +But there may be a personal difficulty at the bottom of it, and the +young man has taken this method of damaging Mr. Gusher's character." + +Mr. Romer presented his compliments to Mrs. Chapman, and, seeing the +intimacy there was between her family and a person calling himself Philo +Gusher, begged to inform her that the name of that individual was Louis +Pinto, a notorious and well-known impostor, who had fled from Havana, +where he had been several times imprisoned, to escape punishment for his +crimes. + +"Anything but that, my dear husband. I am sure my pride would never +survive it. And to happen just when society--yes, my dear, the very best +of your Bowling Green people were beginning to leave cards. Another ball +and we should have brought the best of them down." + +"Another ball, my dear?" returned Chapman, with a sigh. "A ball a year +ought to satisfy any respectable family." Chapman was indeed becoming +alarmed at his wife's extravagance and weakness for society. Her +worldliness he feared would bring him to grief ere long. The last ball +had entailed the expense of new carpets; and the young gentlemen had +quite taken possession of the house, which they held until after +daylight, and then went home in a very unsteady condition of the limbs. +To make the matter worse, Bowles had been very much demoralized ever +since, and now demanded another horse or his discharge. He had no +complaint to make either about his pay or livery; but to have it thrown +up to him every day, and by all the coachmen in the neighborhood, that +he was in the service of a one horse family, was more than his proud +spirit could bear. + +Chapman held that dancing was not the profession of a gentleman, and +that balls had done nothing for the great moral progress of the world. +In fine, his mind had been engaged for some time back on something more +serious; and he delighted his wife by telling her that he had been +working up a great scheme for freeing and vitalizing all mankind. + +The door bell rang, and in another minute Mr. Gusher, all serene and +elegant, was ushered into the lady's presence. Never was young gentleman +more exquisitely upholstered. + +The lady extended her hand and received him cordially, saying she had +been looking for him with unusual anxiety. + +"I am very glad you have come, Mr. Gusher," interposed Chapman. "My dear +wife is oppressed with a little matter I am sure you can relieve." + +Mr. Gusher turned and thanked them for the high compliment thus paid +him. "You shall ze as I shall be so grateful for dis 'onar. And your +daughter--she is well?" + +"Very well--she was speaking of you kindly to-day. Here is something +that reached me to-day, Mr. Gusher," she resumed, rising from her chair +and handing him the letter, with a dignity of manner quite uncommon to +her: "I am sure you will pardon me, sir, but it contains matter which, +as a friend of yours, I have taken the liberty to submit. I make it a +rule to stand by a friend, you know." + +Gusher took the letter and began reading it with an air of unconcern. +Then breaking out into a hearty laugh, he replied: "Zis grand rascal as +write dis let-tar is one par-tick-lar friend of mine--" + +"I am sure, sir," rejoined Mrs. Chapman, "he is an enemy of yours, and +no friend. That you can explain it all satisfactorily, I have no doubt." + +"Pardon, madam, pardon; this grand rascal I call him one friend. Ze +'onar, madam, he is so much dear to me as my life. Oh yes, you shall zee +as my 'onar and mine country is more dear to me zan my life. Zis grand +rascal, he is my friend be-cause he do me zis injury so many times, and +in ze end he do me so much good. You shall zee zar was a lady. Zat lady, +ze grand rascal as writes zis letter--it is so many years ago, as I +almost forget--pays to her his compliment. Pardon, madam, zat lady +prefar me to ze gentleman. Zen zat gentleman he pays to me his +compliment like one grand rascal. He persecute my 'onar, and he make me +so many friends--" + +"Really, Mr. Gusher," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, encouragingly, "then it +is all the result of jealousy? I had a suspicion that there was +something of the kind at the bottom of it." + +"You shall zee, madam, it was be-cause ze lady prefar me. Zen I give ze +grand rascal one pistol." Here Mr. Gusher flourished his right hand. +"You shall give me ze satisfaction as one gentleman he give to ze oser, +I say. I gives to ze grand rascal one small sword. I say I shall have ze +satisfaction one gentleman he will give to ze oser. No, madam, ze grand +rascal, he is one small coward. He will not give me ze satisfaction. I +shall show you as this grand rascal tells not one word of ze truth." + +"I told you, my dear," said Chapman, "that Mr. Gusher was a gentleman, +and would explain it all to your satisfaction." + +Mrs. Chapman expressed herself highly gratified at what she had heard. +But in order to put the matter beyond question, and to prove to her +entire satisfaction that he was not only an innocent, but a much injured +gentleman, Gusher returned on the following day armed with a large +number of letters, some of them sealed with great seals, the writers +setting forth that they had known the young gentleman from his birth +up, that he was of irreproachable character, and his parents very +distinguished people. + +Of course the Chapmans were entirely satisfied. Indeed Mr. Gusher so +turned his guns on Mr. Romer as to make his position extremely +uncomfortable. Both were guests at the old City Hotel, where Gusher was +a great favorite with all the young ladies, and to whom he related his +difficulty with Romer. In short, he so enlisted their sympathies in his +behalf that they were ready to join him in ejecting Romer from the house +as a slanderer. One said what a mean thing he must be to slander the +handsome young foreigner in that way. A second tossed and turned her +head aside when she met him, and pouted her pretty lips to let him know +what she meant. A third refused to return his bow, while a fourth gave +him the cut direct. There was no standing up against such a storm of +female indignation as he now found blowing about his ears. He saw, also, +that to have attempted to sustain his charges with proof would only be +sheer folly. In short, there was nothing for the plain young outspoken +American to do but surrender the field to the handsome young foreigner +and his female admirers, seek respectful treatment beyond the sound of +their voices--and wait. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIX. + +CHANGED CIRCUMSTANCES. + + +Oh, what a sweet charm there is in hope. How it beguiles the ambitious +lover, causes him to build castles he finds crushed at last under his +disappointments. How gently it lifts the drooping heart into an higher +realm of cheerfulness, still gilding and brightening the future. Day +after day and week after week it carries the timid, desponding soul over +its sea of trouble and disappointment, and pictures its love-dream in +colors more and more beautiful. How it ensnares us, and then betrays us +with its false visions of future bliss. It beguiles both you and me with +its featly spun tales of fame and riches, which it weaves so ingeniously +into its fascinating web. + +Such were the thoughts invading Mattie's mind as she sat at the parlor +window one morning, looking out over Bowling Green, contemplating the +strange influences by which she was surrounded, and wondering what the +future would bring her. There was something so earnest and yet so kindly +in that pale, expressive face, and those soft blue eyes. + +She had counted the days since Tite sailed. It was nearly three years +ago, and only one letter had been received from him. There was a report +in circulation now that the ship, with all on board, was lost. And +although this report could not be traced to any reliable source, it was +credited by the owners, who had heard nothing of the ship since she left +Coquimbo. + +The love Mattie bore Tite burned as brightly now as on the day when +first it was kindled. She had thought of him always, dreamed of him, +prayed for him, for she had the heart of a good and true woman. Yes, she +had followed Tite in her love-dream through all the strange depths of +that mysterious ocean. But the more she traced for him the more it +seemed to deepen her disappointment. Still hope flattered her lingering +love, cheered her, and brightened the star of her future. Hope came to +cheer the heart that had longed for relief so lovingly, that had begun +to yield to the stormy forebodings which hope deferred oppresses the +soul with. + +Notwithstanding all this, fear at times seemed to get the better of her +resolution. How she had watched and waited, and yet there was no tidings +of his coming. + +Was Tite lost? If so, how, and where was he lost? Must she give him up +as gone forever? Must she give him up, and see him, and hold sweet +communion with him, only in her love-dream, among the flowers fancy +pictures in the garden of our hopes? Must she forget the idol of her +love, transport her affections, yield to her mother's wishes, which were +daily becoming more pressing, and marry Mr. Gusher, a man she did not +even respect, much less love? In gratifying a mother's ambition she +might, perhaps, make her own life wretched. If Tite was lost, what was +to become of his aged parents, Hanz and Angeline? Their welfare seemed +to concern her even more deeply than that of her own parents. Hanz had +found means of communicating with her, had made her acquainted with all +his troubles, and now the day set for a hearing of his case was near at +hand. + +Mattie knew nothing really bad of Mr. Gusher. He had seemed to her one +of those uncertain characters who float about on the surface of society +without having any fixed position in it, who have no legitimate +occupation, depend on chance for everything, and lead an artificial life +generally. Such men, it had seemed to her, were poor companions to sail +down the stormy sea of life with. In Tite she saw something real, good, +substantial; one of those young men who prosper and build up their own +fortunes and future, because they apply themselves steadily and +energetically to the legitimate pursuits of life. + +The door opened suddenly, and Mattie's reverie was interrupted by her +mother, whose portly figure quite filled the space, for, in truth, the +lady had enlarged her hip circumference with an unpardonable amount of +padding. Mrs. Chapman expected distinguished company that day, and had +arrayed herself in a tantalizing amount of finery. For the first time, +too, she had put her hair up in puffs, which was the fashion of the day +in Bowling Green. Indeed the lady flattered herself that there was +nothing in Bowling Green that could excel her in the magnificence of her +upholstery. + +"Expecting company to-day, very distinguished company, too," said Mrs. +Chapman, advancing and bowing her head oppressively, "and how very +annoying not to be dressed as one wants to be." After viewing herself in +the glass for several minutes, turning first one side and then the +other, viewing and reviewing her skirts, and training her puffs into +more exact platoon, she turned to Mattie, and resumed, "Now tell me, my +daughter, how do my skirts hang? Does my dress become me? Do puffs +become me? You see my face is a little broad--puffs will, I am afraid, +make it look disadvantageously broad. Tell me now, my daughter, am I +presentable?" Mrs. Chapman waited with an air of self-admiration for a +reply. "You have such good taste in such matters, my daughter;" she +concluded. + +"Why, mother," replied Mattie, smiling and viewing her mother from head +to foot, "how very worldly you are getting, and so vain. Never saw you +look better--and so young." + +"I appreciate the compliment, my daughter," returned Mrs. Chapman, +dropping a bow and a courtesy. "A woman of my complexion may be excused +for refusing to get old." + +"I was only joking," resumed Mattie, laughing heartily. "My dear mother +takes everything so serious--" + +"Come, come," interrupted Mrs. Chapman, her face coloring, "does my +dress become me? Am I presentable?" + +"You are elegance itself, my dear mother, and would be presentable +anywhere," returned Mattie, with a merry twinkle of the eye. + +"That's what I wanted to know," said Mrs. Chapman with a bow, and a +slight motion backward. "And now, my daughter," she resumed quickly, +"this is a good time for having a very serious talk on a very important, +but very different matter. What we were talking about yesterday, you +know. I hope you have made up your mind to banish Toodleburg." Mrs. +Chapman drew herself up into a stately attitude, and assumed a look of +uncommon severity. "You know how much your parents dote on you, my +daughter, and how much depends on you to give the family a firm +standing." The lady tossed her head haughtily and pretentiously. Mattie +remained silent and thoughtful. + +"Toodleburg's at the bottom of the sea--that's my opinion. And if he +stays there it wouldn't distress me--it wouldn't," resumed Mrs. Chapman, +giving way to her temper and becoming more earnest. Just then tears +gushed into Mattie's eyes, and as they coursed down her cheeks told the +tale of her sorrow. + +"What I said was intended for good advice, my daughter, not to wound +your feelings," continued Mrs. Chapman. "Even if the young man should +not be at the bottom of the sea, we should never be presentable with him +attached to the family--never in the world. Such a name, and such common +people for parents! What would Bowling Green say, my daughter? We must +all yield to the force of circumstances; and the circumstances are all +against this Mr. Toodleburg tumbling himself into our family." She +paused suddenly, and again viewed her ponderous figure in the glass, now +adjusting one side of her skirts and then the other. "I wonder if this +dress really does become me? Green and orange are in harmony with a +complexion like mine," she said, turning to Mattie, and waiting for a +reply. But Mattie was trying to relieve her feelings of the grief that +was filling her eyes with tears. + +"To return to what I was saying, my daughter, sentimental marriages, I +was going to say, (well, I will say it,) are fools' marriages. Yes, they +are. Your father understands that. Never would have got him--never in +this world--if I had been given to sentimental love. Toodleburg's a good +enough young man in his place--but he's never, never coming back, my +daughter. But even if he was to come back, there's no place for him in +our family. View these things, always do, through the eye of +philosophy--I do." Mrs. Chapman again paused, bowed her head +admonishingly, and extended her fat, waxy hands. Mattie still remained +silent. + +"After all the polishing you have had, my daughter, to let your mind run +to such an unpolished young man. Drag a family down when a family is +going up, and there's the end of that family--with society I mean." Mrs. +Chapman tossed her head, and again returned to the mirror, saying as she +viewed herself in it: "Drag a low bred fellow into a well bred family, I +repeat, and down that family goes." + +"Well, well, my dear mother shall have it all her own way," replied +Mattie, cheering up and assuming an air of indifference. "Anything to +relieve your anxiety, my dear mother. How nice it would be to have a +husband you admire so much, and to think that I obeyed your wishes in +everything. The fact is I had a very serious talk with Mr. Gusher +yesterday--" + +"You didn't offend him with your eccentricities, I hope?" Mrs. Chapman +interrupted, enquiringly. "Mr. Gusher is such a polished gentleman, and +so very sensitive." + +"I don't know how sensitive he may be, mother; but I told him just +exactly what I thought, as I would have told any one else. I told him +how much you admired him, and what a favorite he was generally; and that +if I consented to accept him for a husband, it would be solely to +accommodate my dear mother--" + +"How very obstinate my daughter is," interposed Mrs. Chapman. "How very +distressing to have a daughter always in rebellion." + +"I am sure you would not have me flatter Mr. Gusher with a falsehood, +mother," resumed Mattie. "I tried to impress him with the fact that I +was not good enough for so accomplished a gentleman; but he insisted +that I was, adding that he cared nothing for riches or station. As for +loving him, I told him plainly I didn't think I ever could, though there +was no knowing what changes time might work in my feelings. I gave him +my hand, nevertheless, and told him if he took me it must be with the +consequences." + +Mr. Napoleon Bowles announced visitors, and this put an end to the +conversation. The reader must know that this was not a voluntary +yielding on the part of Mattie to the wishes of her mother. She only +adopted this course as part of a plan by which she hoped to gain time, +during which Tite might return, and thus afford her the means of +averting a dilemma into which her mother was forcing her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXX. + +A TERRIBLE CALAMITY OVERTAKES THE FAMILY. + + +It was not to be expected that so pushing a woman as Mrs. Chapman would +be turned from the object she had set her heart on by the interposition +of ordinary obstacles. She had taken good care to have the engagement +pretty well trumpeted over Bowling Green; and in less than three months +from the time what is described in the foregoing chapter occurred, the +lady had a day fixed for the wedding ceremony, which, she declared +should be on such a scale of magnificence as would astonish all New +York, to say nothing of West Bowling Green. And now she was distracting +her wits, and the wits of her friends, over what she called the +preliminaries extraordinary. Weddings, the lady said, must be +illuminated according to the position of the family. And to that end an +additional amount of elegant furniture was got for the house, a new +carriage was ordered, and Mr. Napoleon Bowles was to appear in a new +livery, with top boots. Nor was the family finery to be neglected, for +at least a dozen dressmakers had been employed for a month plying their +needles. In short, this great coming event in the history of the Chapman +family had afforded Bowling Green enough to talk about for a month. + +The lady's meek looking little husband pleaded in vain for economy; +suggested in vain his almost empty pocket. "A quiet family wedding, my +dear, with a few honest-hearted friends invited, will be so much better, +you know;" he would say, submissively. "You know what nice quiet +weddings we used to have at Dogtown, and how cheap they were." + +"Don't mention Dogtown, my dear; pray don't, my darling," the lady would +reply, a curl of contempt on her lips. "We live in New York, now. I wish +we had never known Dogtown--only common people marry in that way in New +York. Never bring Dogtown into the house again, my darling." + +"Have it all your own way, my dear," Chapman would conclude, knowing +there was nothing for him to do but surrender submissively. + +St. Paul's Church was to be decorated with flowers, for the young people +were to be married there, surrounded by gay and admiring friends, who +were to make the picture bright and sunny with their smiles and +congratulations. And there was to be a grand reception and a sumptuous +supper at the house; and the happiness of bride and bridegroom was to be +drunk in sparkling wine; and music and dancing was to animate the soul +and add charms to their joy-dream. + +Mrs. Chapman, I may add here, had a great weakness for distinctions. She +had cards printed in gold, in blue, and in red. Such as received cards +printed in gold were to consider themselves particularly honored. In +short, she divided her guests into three classes--select friends, +friends, and acquaintances, and sent them cards accordingly. This manner +of distinguishing between guests got the lady into a deal of trouble, +and gave rise to much ill-feeling between those who held cards printed +in gold and those holding ordinary red ones. Beau Pinks had been honored +with a card printed in gold, which he said was a proof of the high +esteem he was held in by the lady. In truth, the Beau took great pride +in showing this card to the best Bowling Green society, and, with a +suggestive nod of the head, saying he had got his best clothes ready, +and was waiting to put in an appearance. Mrs. Chapman had always +regarded Pinks as a valuable capture, and if he came to the wedding, +why, that would in part be gaining the advantage she desired, and in a +measure pay off the old score she had against a few of these nice old +Bowling Green people. + +It must be said to Pinks' credit that he never declined an invitation to +a wedding, and rarely missed a chance to mourn at a friend's funeral. + +And while Mrs. Chapman seemed to think of nothing else, and talk of +nothing else but this great coming event, Chapman had been noticed to +wear a more serious look than usual, and indeed to be in a more +thoughtful mood. Indeed it was evident there was something on his mind +causing him deep anxiety, even distress. It was noticed, too, that he +had for several days gone to business earlier than usual and returned +later. And when Mrs. Chapman requested an explanation, he would reply by +saying: "Matters at the counting-house require examining into, my dear." +In truth, the financial affairs of the great Kidd Discovery Company had +begun to exhibit those infirmities which are a sure sign of speedy +wreck. + +And now the day was come when Mattie was to be married to Mr. Gusher. It +was three years to-day since Tite bid her good-bye and sailed on his +voyage, and it was to be her wedding-day. How strange the changed scene +seemed to her. + +It was one of those soft and balmy mornings in May, when nature seems to +enchant us, and hold sweet communion with us through all her beauties. +There was not a ripple on the water; white sails dotted the calm +surface of the bay, which seemed like a silvery lake quietly sleeping in +the embrace of pretty green hills, softened by the golden gleams of the +rising sun. The trees were in blossom; birds were filling the air with +delicious melody, but not a leaf stirred. + +The Chapman family were up before the sun that morning, and the whole +house was astir ere Bowling Green had fairly waked up, or the din of +Broadway had broken the stillness. Chapman had spent a restless night, +and seemed sad and downcast, as if some trouble he would fain conceal +was weighing on his mind. He breakfasted alone that morning, and went to +business an hour earlier than usual, promising to return at one o'clock. +He returned, however, at twelve, and in such a state of distress as to +alarm the whole house. Indeed he entered the house more like a madman +than a philosopher, and so alarmed Bowles by the wildness of his manner +and appearance, that he proceeded in a state of great excitement to +inform his mistress. When, then, that lady entered the parlor she found +her husband stretched on the sofa, with his right hand pressing his +forehead, and apparently in a state of great distress. To her repeated +enquiries as to what produced this great distress, he would only answer +by shaking his head and giving vent to the most pitiful groans. + +The lady could not fail to see that some great misfortune had overtaken +her husband--something that might blast the dream of her golden future. + +"I hope, my dear, it is nothing that will interfere with the wedding +to-day?" she enquired, her face already beginning to give out signs of +alarm. + +Chapman made no reply, but got quickly up from the sofa and paced the +room hurriedly, his hair tossed in to disorder, and in a state of +frenzy. + +After pacing up and down the room in this manner for two or three +minutes, which seemed like hours to Mrs. Chapman, who had kept her eyes +fixed on his every movement, he approached the lady, and with a wild +stare, muttered rather than spoke: "A funeral, funeral, my dear--not a +wedding to-day." Chapman pressed his hands to his head again, and wept +like a child. "Boundless iniquity," he resumed, "fraud--deception--crime-- +disgrace--folly--extravagance--disappointment--poverty. What a sham the +world is! All, all is gone! No need for a clergyman here to-day. The +sheriff will be here in an hour." + +"My dear, my dear, do explain yourself, so that I may understand our +position;" Mrs. Chapman interposed, her whole system yielding to the +force of excitement. "If the trouble is only of a transient nature, we +may still give the wedding--" + +"Wedding! my dear," interrupted Chapman, wiping the tears from his eyes. +"There can be no wedding in this house to-day, for Gusher has turned out +an impostor, and is in prison--." Before he had time to say any more, +the lady threw up her arms with an exclamation, shrieked and swooned. +Chapman attempted to catch her in his arms as she was falling, but she +carried him to the floor under her great weight, and indeed caused him +to feel alarmed for his own safety. Fortunately, Bowles entered the +parlor just as his mistress fell, and seeing the danger his master was +in, ran to his relief, and after extracting him from his perilous +position, assisted in getting his mistress safely on the sofa, where +restoratives, such as are common where ladies are given to such ills, +were applied. + +Chapman was indeed a man to be pitied. He had now more than his head and +hands full of trouble. The care it was now necessary to bestow on his +wife (for she was above all else in his mind) in a great measure +relieved him of the excitement caused by his great financial +misfortunes. When, then, Mattie entered the parlor and found him +comparatively calm, she fancied her mother had swooned from +over-exertion on her behalf. Taking a seat beside her mother, she kissed +and kissed her cheek, and proceeded to bestow upon her those attentions +her case demanded, and in so kind and gentle a manner as to show how +deep and true was the love she bore her. + +Chapman soon relieved Mattie's mind, by telling her all that had +happened. As he concluded she grasped his hand firmly and imprinted a +kiss on his cheek. "Heaven be thanked, father," she said, "it is a kind +Providence that directs all our destinies. I am free now. You are +free--free in your intentions--free in your conscience. I am happy +now--happy because I shall not have to interpose my oath against yours. +You shall know what I mean by that hereafter." + +While this was going on up stairs Bowles, his eyes protruding, and in a +state of great alarm, entered the kitchen, where Bridget, the cook, and +Kitty, the chambermaid were at work, and stammered out: "Der don't be no +weddin' in dis house to-day--peers to me--no how. Quid mortibus, +portendibus--my missus am most dead." + +"To the pots wid yeer latin, ye nager," said Bridget, seizing the tongs +and holding them threatingly over his head. "To the pots wid yeer latin, +ye nager. Spake so a dacent woman can understand what ye mane." To +appease Bridget's wrath and save his head, Bowles condescended to use +plain English in describing what had happened up stairs. + +"Much good may the faint do the big, auld woman," said Bridget, with an +air of indifference. "The divel takes a mighty good care of his own." + +"Quid--mortibus--portendibus," repeated Bowles, as Bridget ran to the +door with the tongs upraised, causing him to beat a hasty retreat. + +"Bad luck to such a nager!" exclaimed Bridget, as Bowles shut the door. +"Shure he thinks more about his latin and his livery an he do about his +priest." + +"Chapman, my dear Chapman, how crushing this all is," the lady +whispered, as she began to recover her consciousness. "I feel more dead +than alive--I do. Send Bowles out. Do what you can to soften the +disappointment. Tell those who come it was all owing to unforeseen +circumstances. Oh, my dear daughter," she put her arm around Mattie's +neck, drew her to her and kissed her, "how can we look Bowling Green in +the face after this? We never shall, and yet your father is a scholar +and a gentleman." + +Chapman's excitement began to return with his wife's recovery; indeed it +soon became her turn to soothe his troubled mind. + +"Gusher--the handsome young gentleman--is in prison, eh, and turns out +to be--" + +"My dear wife," interrupted Chapman, again giving way to his feelings, +"he turns out to be Louis Pinto, an impostor. That's the whole of +it--except what there may be in this paper." He drew a newspaper from +his pocket, and pointing to an article headed: "A Notorious Impostor +caught at Last," said: "There, my dear, read that." It gave a very long +account, or rather history of the prisoner's exploits in Havana and New +Orleans, his operations in New York, financially as well as socially, +and indeed all the circumstances attending his career since he arrived +in the city, his connection with the great Kidd Discovery Company, and +not forgetting to mention that he was to have been married this day to a +lovely and interesting young lady--the daughter of a highly respectable +family. + +"Have read enough, my dear," said Mrs. Chapman, putting the paper aside +quietly. "Smelling salts, the ammonia, my daughter," she whispered to +Mattie, and motioned her hand to bring them quickly. "I shall faint +again, I am sure I shall." + +"Don't let it worry you so much, mother," replied Mattie, as she handed +her the phial. "We ought all to be thankful that we have escaped with no +worse disgrace. I at least am thankful." + +Mrs. Chapman shook her head, but made no reply for several minutes. Then +turning to her husband, she pressed her hands to her head and resumed: +"My pride is crushed, and my courage all gone, gone, gone. Bigelow +Chapman, my dear, when I married you I knew you were intellectually +great, and I looked forward to a brilliant future. The house is all dark +now." + +"Extravagance, my dear, extravagance," said Chapman, shaking his head +suggestively. "It is a master that will break down the best of us." +Topman and Mrs. Topman have been indulging in extravagance; Gusher has +been spending all the money he could get, and all the young men in the +office went to doing the same. "And you, my darling--you know you havn't +lived--." Chapman was going to say, "so economical." + +"But, my dear," rejoined Mrs. Chapman quickly, and evidently inclined to +change the conversation: "It was not me who introduced the handsome +young gentleman into the house." + +"No, my dear--you only encouraged him when he was in," replied Chapman, +submissively. "I didn't tell you all, my dear, Topman is a forger, and +is not to be found. And, and the worst of it is--and that is what has +caused all the trouble--the great Kidd Discovery Company is dead! That's +where it is!" + +"Dead, my dear, dead!" reiterated the astonished woman. "We call it gone +up in Wall Street--" + +"Couldn't you contrive some way, my dear, to lighten the disgrace?" + +"Wall Street is in a state of excitement, the sheriff is in possession +of everything, and beggary stares me in the face--" + +This conversation was interrupted by loud ringing of the hall bell, and +in another minute Bowles opened the parlor door and the sheriff and one +of his deputies entered, and commenced their business. "Beg your +pardon," said the sheriff, bowing politely, while his deputy +deliberately took a seat and began a survey of everything within sight. +"You must excuse any lack of ceremony on our part. It is a part of our +duty to do these things, and we try to relieve them as much as possible +of their painful features." Then taking Chapman aside, he suggested that +the ladies better be got up stairs. And while this was being done the +deputy entered the back parlor, and placing his hat on the pier table, +began taking an inventory of all the furniture. + +"You will find my deputy a gentleman," said the sheriff, addressing +Chapman when the ladies had left the parlor, "and if not such a +companion as you would prefer, I am compelled to leave him with you, and +hope your esteem for him will improve on acquaintance. He will take a +schedule of everything, and anything missing thereafter you will be held +responsible for." Thus saying, the gentleman bid Chapman a polite good +morning, and hurried himself out of the house. + +Again the hall bell rang. This time Bowles brought in an unsealed note, +grimy and discolored. Chapman immediately recognized it as from Gusher. +He carried it up stairs to his dear wife, who read it aloud, for it was +addressed to her, and read thus: + + "Pardon, madam, pardon. Zis one circumstance, he is so very + disagreeable. My compliment to ze family, an Mr. Gusher, he beg + to say as he shall be compel to forego ze pleasure of is + marriage zis day wiz your daughter. He is one grand rascal what + make me so much trouble. So many friend come to see me to-day. + But ze suberscribed condition of my accommodation shall prevent + ze carry out of my obligation wiz your lovely daughter. You + shall zee, madam, as I am a man--yes, madam, a gentleman of + 'onar. I shall get all my enemies undar my feet. Zen I shall do + myself ze 'onar to marry your lovely daughter. Allow me, madam. + I shall subscribe myself your friend. + + "PHILO GUSHER." + +"Impudence to the very last," said Mrs. Chapman; "he has brought this +disgrace upon us, and now insults us in this way." When Chapman returned +he found the parlor doors locked, and was informed by the sheriff's +deputy that he must confine himself to the kitchen and one room up +stairs. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXI. + +A VERY PERPLEXING SITUATION. + + +Wall Street was in a great flutter that day. A forgery, a defalcation +that to-day would cause but a ripple on the surface, would have at that +day sent the street into a tempest of excitement. A sheriff's deputy +stood at the door of the office of the great Kidd Discovery Company, and +a crowd of anxious and excited people, who had invested their money and +now found they had lost it all, and had been made the victims of an +aggravating fraud, surrounded the building. Threats and imprecations, +enough to have sent a much more respectable house to the bottom of the +sea, were heaped on the firm of Topman & Gusher. Nor indeed would it +have been safe for any one connected with that enterprising firm to have +shown his head in that assembly just at that time. + +"Gentlemen will understand that this consolidated establishment is in a +very unconsolidated condition. No further business will be done until +its affairs are compromised;" the sheriff's deputy would announce, in a +loud voice, as he endeavored to keep the crowd back. "There's only an +empty safe, gentlemen, and some handsome office furniture," he would +ejaculate. "You can't have them, you know." + +Extravagance had indeed swallowed up all the substance and left only +these insignificant things for the crowd of anxious creditors to feast +their eyes on. + +Rumor after rumor rang through Wall Street, each in turn increasing the +amount of Topman's forgeries, and adding new names to the list of his +victims. Bank ledgers were examined to see if the name of the firm +appeared on them, and portly old directors put on their spectacles and +congratulated themselves that the concern did not owe them a shilling. +Groups of excited men stood at street corners discussing in animated +tones the great event of the street. Everybody knew it must come. Nobody +expected it would come so soon. + +The strangest thing of all was that no one knew anything of the +antecedents of either member of the firm, or what the great Kidd +Discovery Company was really based upon. Enterprising gentlemen had +bought and sold the stock, and made and lost money by it. That was all +they knew of it. The morning papers had given them an interesting +account about Gusher; now some one was needed to tell them all about +Topman--where he came from, who he was, and where he was to be found. +There was enough to call him rascal now. Even those who had ridden in +his carriage, and enjoyed his dinners, and indeed thought him the best +of fellows a few weeks before, were now ready to give him the hardest of +kicks. + +In truth, the firm was a mystery in Wall Street, and its largest +creditors were in the greatest darkness concerning it. Some one has +truly said that in a great commercial city men are known only by their +enterprises and their successes; that their antecedents become lost in +the magnitude and rapidity with which events revolve. This is +particularly so with us. The firm of Topman & Gusher had fixed itself in +Pearl Street, and gone quietly into business without friends, +acquaintances, or endorsers; and in a single year had secured both +credit and respectability. And it had done this on what is too +frequently mistaken for energy and enterprise--show and pretension. + +Upon Chapman's shoulders, however, the crushing effect of this great +disaster fell heaviest. Stripped of all he had, ruined, disgraced, he +stood like one amazed at the suddenness of his own fall. He had built +his castles on sand, and now found them tumbling down, and crushing him +under the ruin. His avaricious nature had led him, not only to wrong, +but to bring distress and ruin on the unsuspecting and simple-minded +Dutch settlers. The wheel of fortune was turned now. He had himself been +ruined, betrayed, and disgraced by the very men he had put confidence in +and made partners of his guilt. He also had set a snare and invented a +plot by which he expected to strip honest old Hanz Toodleburg of his +property, and now he had been caught in it himself. + +His daughter, Mattie, had already disclosed to him the fact that she had +overheard the conversation between him and Topman, relative to the +manner of entrapping Hanz, and knew the secret of their plot. And she +had appealed to him to save her the pain of bearing testimony that would +conflict with his, to save an honest old man from poverty. The man of +great progressive ideas now found it necessary to invent some way of +escaping from what he saw would be worse than ruin and disgrace--a +criminal's doom. His name had not appeared in the suit Topman & Gusher +brought against Hanz Toodleburg. Oh, no. Chapman was needed as a witness +to prove the signing of the papers, and all the circumstances relating +to the sale of the secret of Kidd's treasure. Poverty and misfortune had +now stepped in to purify and direct a smitten conscience. + +He could not see his daughter further disgraced. Nor could he meet her +in a court, giving testimony in conflict with his, and exposing his +crime. He could only escape by coming out boldly, and doing justice to +the old man he had tried so hard to wrong. It would also be to his +advantage to assume this virtue, for if the case were decided against +Hanz he would gain nothing. The creditors would in that case get all the +property, whereas, if he confessed his partnership in, and exposed the +plot, and defeated the creditors, some benefit might result from it--at +some time. The son might still be alive, Chapman said to himself, and if +he should form a connection with the family at some future day, (and +there was no knowing what might happen,) why it was better to protect +Hanz and the property now. He well knew that Mattie had fixed her +affection on the young gentleman, and if he should ever return, nothing +her mother could say hereafter would prevent their marriage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXII. + +HARVEST SUNDAY. + + +October was come again, the poetry of summer had almost departed, and it +was a quiet Sunday morning in the country. The bell on the little old +church by the hillside, at Nyack, was calling the plodding Dutch +settlers to morning service. The hard, hollow sounds of the old bell +echoed harshly over the hills, and yet there was something in its +familiar sounds, and the quiet pastoral scenes it was associated with, +that always moved our feelings, and prompted us to give them a pleasant +resting place in our love. + +Cattle were resting in the fields, and their yokes hung on the gate +posts that day. A soft, Indian-summer glow hung with transparent effect +over the landscape; and a gentle wind whispered lovingly over the Tappan +Zee. Autumn, too, had hung the trees in her brightest colors. + +It was Harvest Sunday, a sort of festive resting-day with the Dutch +settlers, who had gathered about the little church in great numbers, +young and old, all dressed in their simple but neat attire. Others were +quietly wending their way thitherward, along the lanes and through the +fields. There they gathered about the little old church, a smiling, +happy, and contented people, and waited for the Dominie, for it was +their custom to meet him at the church door, and after exchanging +greetings, follow him like a loving flock into their seats. + +The Dominie was to preach his harvest sermon, and his flock was to join +him in giving thanks to God for the bounties He had bestowed upon them. +He had, indeed, blessed them with an abundant harvest that year; and now +they had come to thank Him and be joyful. Conspicuous in the group was +the little snuffy doctor, Critchel, looking happy among the people whose +ills he had administered to for half a century. On Harvest-Sunday he +could kiss and caress the bright faced little children he had helped +bring into the world as fondly as a young mother. There, too, was the +schoolmaster, with his ruddy face and his seedy clothes, ready to do his +part in making Harvest-Sunday pass pleasantly, for indeed the crop was a +matter of importance with him. And there was Titus Bright, for the merry +little inn-keeper would have considered such a gathering incomplete +without him. Titus was not so well thought of by the Dutch settlers +since he gave up his little tavern for a big one, and had taken to +boarding fine folks from the city. + +And now the appearance of Hanz and Angeline, advancing slowly up the +road, for Hanz walked with a staff, created a pleasant diversion. +Several of the young people ran to meet them, and greeted them with such +expressions of welcome as must have filled their hearts with joy. + +When they had nearly reached the church, Critchel proceeded to meet them +with his hand extended. "Verily, good neighbor Hanz," said he, after +greeting the old people with a hearty shake of the hand, "the people +have had strange news to talk about for a week past." Critchel shook his +head, looked serious, and taking Hanz by the arm, drew him aside. "This +Chapman has fallen to the ground, they say." + +"Mine friend Critchel," returned Hanz, leaning on his staff, and casting +a look upward. "I tolds you tar pees un shust Got; and now you shees how +dat shust Got he pees mine friend." + +"Aye, verily," rejoined Critchel, "and he lets them what builds castles +and lives like lords suffer their disappointments. Poor people like us, +who work with their hands, stick to their lands, and pay their debts, +have their castles in peace and contentment." + +"Tar pees shust so much wisdom in vat you shays, mine friend Critchel. +In dis world tar pees nothin' sartin. Dis Chapman, he puts his money in +his pocket, and ven he gets his money in his pocket he gets rich and +prout. Zen he goes to t' city so pig and prout as he can pe. Now he +comes pack from t' city, mit his pig vrow, and tar pees nobody as makes +one pow to his pig vrow. Above tar pees one shust Got, Critchel." + +The misfortunes of the Chapman family, my reader must know, had been +furnishing Nyack something to talk about for several months. But it was +only with their return to town, which important event took place one +morning during the last week, that the quiet of Nyack was disturbed and +the gossips sent into a state of excitement. The family, indeed, +returned as quietly as a family in misfortune could be expected to do, +and put up at Bright's Inn, where, it was given out, they would live on +the wreck of their fortune until Chapman could see his way clear for a +new start in the world. But little was seen of Mrs. Chapman, of whom it +was reported that she desired to live in retirement, and did not see +visitors. + +The lady, however, had resolved that Nyack should not turn up its nose +without being kept in mind of the high social position the family had +held in the city. And as a means of making the desired impression, and +also of finding relief for her injured feelings, she had brought +Napoleon Bowles into "retirement" with the family. And that faithful +domestic accommodated his pride of a Sunday by dressing in his livery +and top-boots, and walking out, to the astonishment and amusement of a +crowd of curious urchins, who were sure to gather about him. + +As for Chapman, he went about the town as if nothing had happened, +renewing acquaintances, and declaring there was no honester man in the +settlement than Hanz Toodleburg; that the charges against his honesty, +and his connection with the Kidd Discovery Company, were all scandals, +got up by bad men; and that he had been deceived by them himself. + +During the few days Chapman had been in Nyack, he had made himself +appear so good a friend of Hanz that the honest settlers not only began +to express sympathy for him in his misfortunes, but to enquire what they +could do to put him on his feet again. When, however, he told them it +was not their sympathy he wanted, but their money to assist him in +building a steamboat two hundred feet long, and that he had matured a +plan for a railroad, so that they might ride from Nyack to New York in +an hour, they became alarmed, put their heads together wisely, and +declared the man mad beyond cure. + +Here I must leave Chapman waiting to see his way clear. He came of that +old round-head stock which, wanting its way always, ready to meddle with +everything, never contented, ready to play the sycophant to gain power, +selfish and arrogant in the use of it, is, nevertheless, found giving +shape, action, and momentum to all our great enterprises. Out of all the +trouble Chapman had caused Nyack, there had come some good that would +be turned to account in the future. Misfortune had bowed, not broken his +spirit. He was again prepared to invent a new religion, to build a +church, to keep a boarding-house, to start a bank or run a +steamboat--and all with modern improvements. + +The little church bell was still ringing, and the crowd still kept +increasing in numbers and cheerfulness. "The Dominie's coming! the +Dominie's coming! The Dominie's coming!" was lisped by a score of lips, +as the attention of the people was attracted down the road. There the +old Dominie came, mounted on a clumsy-footed, big-headed, bay cob--a +little bright-eyed girl, whose face was full of sweetness and love, and +dressed in blue and white, riding behind him. His broad, kindly face, +shadowed by a wide-brimmed hat, his flowing white hair, his quaintly cut +coat, with the ample side pocket, and his long, white necktie, presented +a picture so full of truth and simplicity as to be worthy of being +preserved on canvas. He was, in truth, a figure belonging to an order of +things that was fast passing way--at least along the banks of the +Hudson. + +Children clapped their hands and ran to meet him; girls greeted him with +offerings of flowers; and when he had dismounted, both old and young +gathered about him, lisping him a welcome and shaking him by the hand. +There was nobody like Dominie Payson, and the love these people bore +him, and now gave him so many expressions of, was true and heartfelt. +And when he had kissed the children, and exchanged greetings and kind +words with their parents, he proceeded into the church, followed by his +flock. His sermon was, perhaps, one of the oddest ever listened to, for +after returning thanks for the bountiful harvest, and extending on the +goodness of God, and advising his flock to stick firmly to their farms +and their religion, that being the only true way of getting to Heaven, +he turned his guns against Mr. and Mrs. Chapman, though he never once +mentioned their names. He urged his flock to keep in mind always how +much better off they were, how much more happy they were than those men +who came to town with the devil and a number of strange religions in +their heads. Such people, he added, always had the devil for a friend; +and it was the devil who assisted them to get poor people's money. And +with this money they dressed their wives in silks and satins, built big +houses, and lived like people who were very proud and never paid their +debts, nor did a day's work on the roads. It was all well enough for +these men to talk of Heaven and put on pious faces, but Heaven would +take no notice of them while they gave themselves up to the temptations +of the devil and built steamboats and founded railroads, to kill honest +people with, and ruin the country. + +"My friends," said the Dominie, resting for a moment, and then charging +his guns for another fire at Chapman, "you have seen a man ready to sell +his soul for money enough to build a steamboat. Now he wants to build a +railroad to get you out of the world quicker." The Dominie shook his +head, wiped his brow, and again paused for a few seconds. "Let them +dress their wives in satins and silks, let them ruin their country with +their steamboats and railroads, let them build their big houses, go to +the city, get proud, waste all their money in folly and vice, and return +among honest people with a sheriff at their heels, because they don't +pay nobody--but don't you go and do it. My friends--there will be an +account to settle with these people who swell themselves up so big, when +roasting-day comes. You that have wives--look to them. Keep their hearts +pure and simple. Don't let them spend your money in silks and satins. If +you do, the sheriff locks up your door and puts the key in his pocket." +Thus the Dominie concluded, reminding his hearers that, as it was +Harvest-Sunday, they must not forget to be liberal with their sixpences +when the box came round. + +His hearers were greatly delighted, and declared they had not heard him +preach so good a sermon for many a day. And when he came down from the +pulpit they congratulated him, and sundry extra pecks of wheat were +promised as a reward for the light he had favored them with. + +The day wore away pleasantly, and when evening came, when the gleams of +the setting sun tipped the surrounding hills with golden light, and +dusky shadows were creeping up the valley, the reader, if he had looked +in at Hanz Toodleburg's little house, might have seen one of those +quaint but pleasant pictures which are a fit ending of such a day. + +There, grouped around his table, sat the Dominie, Doctor Critchel, +Bright the inn-keeper, and the schoolmaster, for Hanz had invited them +to sup with him, and Angeline had prepared the best she had to set +before them. There, too, was Tite's empty chair. There it stood, silent +and touching, all the pleasant memories it once contained made sad now +by the mystery that enshrouded his long absence. There was his plate, +and his knife and fork, all so bright and clean, set as regularly as if +he were home, and guarded so tenderly. The eloquence of that vacant +chair, appealing so directly to the finer sensibilities of every one +present, left a deep and sad impression. Supper was nearly over before +any of the guests had courage to refer to it. The Dominie at length +raised his spectacles and addressing Angeline, said: "Heaven gives to +every house its idol. We have been blessed to-day, and made happy. It +will yet please Heaven to bring back the idol of this house, and fill +that empty chair. I am sure we shall all be glad when the boy gets +home." + +"When he does, there will be such a time at my house," interposed the +inn-keeper, nodding his head approvingly. "There's the parlor for him to +do his courting in. And one of the prettiest little sweethearts is +waiting to give him such a welcome. God bless her--she isn't a bit like +the rest of them Chapmans--she isn't." + +"My school don't keep the day he comes home," rejoined the schoolmaster, +helping himself to another piece of pumpkin pie. + +The mention of Tite's name filled old Hanz's eyes with tears. He buried +his face in his hands, and remained silent for several minutes, overcome +by his feelings. As soon as he had recovered control of them, he wiped +the tears from his eyes, and replied in broken sentences: "I vas sho +happy ven mine Tite, mine poor poy Tite vas home. Peers as if now, mine +poor poy he never comes home no more, he never prings shoy into mine +house no more." + +"Always look on the best side of things, neighbor Hanz," replied the +Dominie. + +"Yah, put I gets sho old now." + +"It would not astonish me," continued the Dominie, playfully, "if the +young gentleman surprised us all to-night. Stranger things have +happened." These remarks excited a feeling of anxiety. + +"I was on the other side of the river last night," continued the +Dominie, "and the people there had a report from the city that the +vessel he sailed in had been heard from." Angeline quietly left the +table, for the wells of her heart were overflowing. + +"Tar shall come news as t' wessel mine Tite shails in comed pack, eh?" +enquired Hanz, fixing his eyes steadily on the Dominie. + +"Not that she has arrived," returned the Dominie, "but that there is +news of her--" + +"Tar pees news," muttered Hanz, his eyes glistening with anxiety. "An +nopody tells me t' news before, eh? Tar pees shum news of t'at wessel, +eh? Tar don't pee no news of mine poor Tite, eh?" The old man extended +his trembling hand and grasped the Dominie's arm nervously, his face +became as pale as marble, and his whole system shook with excitement. + +"Tar shall come news as t' wessel mine Tite shails in comes pack," he +ejaculated, "an tar pees no news of mine poor poy, eh?" And he threw up +his arms, rested his head on the Dominie's shoulder and wept like a +child. "No, mine Tite he ton't comes home no more," he sobbed. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIII. + +RETURNED HOME. + + +While the scene just closed was being enacted, a glance across the river +and down the road that skirts along the Hudson from Yonkers to +Tarrytown, would have discovered a light country wagon, drawn by a +single horse, and containing two men, advancing at a brisk pace. They +had nearly reached Dobbs' Ferry as the sun disappeared in the west. + +He who sat beside the driver, with his arms folded, and thoughtful, was +a tall, well-formed young man, with light hair that curled into his +neck, side whiskers, deep and intelligent blue eyes, a face that lighted +up with a smile when he spoke, and which had been fair and handsome, but +was now scorched and sun-burnt. His hands, too, were small, but hard and +weather-burnt, indicating that he had been accustomed to use them at +hard work. His dress was of blue petersham, looking neat and new, the +short coat buttoning square across his breast; and a tall hat set oddly +enough on a head evidently not accustomed to the fashion that dictated +such a covering. A broad, white shirt collar, turned carelessly down, +was tied with a black silk handkerchief, the long ends of which hung +outside his coat. + +There was something mature and thoughtful in his manner, even beyond his +years. The driver, an inquisitive fellow, had several times tried to +draw him into conversation, that he might find out something concerning +him, for he seemed familiar with the names of places along the river, +and yet kept up the disguise of a stranger. But on nothing, except the +vessels passing up and down the river, did he seem inclined to be +communicative. On these he would make such remarks as showed familiarity +with the sea. Indeed his mind seemed absorbed in something of deep and +painful interest. + +They drew up at the little inn with the swinging sign near Dobbs' Ferry, +for the driver said his horse was jaded, and needed feed and rest before +they proceeded further, and were met by the short, corpulent landlord, +who, after ordering the animal cared for, invited them into the house, +saying there was a good supper ready. + +"It is sundown now," said the passenger, in a tone of impatience, as he +alighted from the wagon, and received the landlord's extended hand, "and +we are still six miles away. You have forfeited the inducement I offered +to quicken your speed; but it is no offset to my disappointment." This +was addressed to the driver, who muttered something, about the heavy +roads, in reply, tossed his hat into a chair on the porch, and with an +independent and half-defiant air, walked into the house and took his +seat at the supper table. + +"'Tisn't the first time Sam's supped at my house," said the landlord, +bowing and inviting the stranger to walk in. "You'll walk in, sir, won't +you? There's always a good supper at this house--kept it when King +George's troops were about--only four shillin', sir," the landlord +continued, bowing and motioning his hand. But the stranger shook his +head negatively, drew a cigar from his pocket and politely requested the +landlord to give him a light. And when he had lighted his cigar, he drew +a Spanish dollar from his pocket, and slipped it into the man's hand, +saying it would pay for both their suppers, and he would take his when +they returned. He, at the same time, begged the landlord to give himself +no concern about him, but to proceed to his supper, which he knew from +his appearance he would enjoy. + +"Seein' how you're a gentleman," said the landlord, bowing obsequiously, +"there's three shillin' more for the horse--that squares it." + +"Certainly--I forgot the horse," replied the stranger, drawing a +half-dollar piece from his pocket and giving it to the landlord. + +"There's a shillin' comin' to you," returned the landlord, putting the +money into one pocket, and feeling in the other, "Never mind the +shilling," said the stranger, "we will settle that another time." + +"Travellers always find a good bed at my house, and enough on the table. +That's more than the fellow who keeps the house further on can say," +continued the landlord, again bowing and proceeding to his supper. + +The stranger now paced quickly and impatiently up and down the little +veranda, pausing every few minutes and looking out in the direction of +the wagon, as if it contained something he was guarding with scrupulous +care. In short, the object of his solicitude was a stout, leathern +valise, in the wagon, and which was so heavy that it required the +strength of two ordinary men to handle it easily. + +Twenty minutes passed and the driver again made his appearance, wiping +his lips and buttoning up his coat unconcernedly. "Sorry to have +detained you," he said, flapping his hat on. "Landlord says you've +settled the shot--won't be long getting there now." In another minute +they were in their seats and on the road to Tarrytown. + +It was nearly eight o'clock when they reached the old ferry, and found +it deserted for the night. The boatmen had ceased their regular +crossings nearly an hour before, and were quietly smoking their pipes at +home. The moon was up, stars shone brightly in the serene sky, and not a +sail specked the unruffled surface of the Tappan Zee. Lights twinkled on +the opposite shore, and the little old town of Nyack was dimly seen. + +They waited a few minutes, and as no one appeared, the driver went in +search of the boatmen, saying a few extra shillings would make it all +right with them. And while he was gone the stranger paced nervously and +with rapid steps up and down, every few seconds pausing at the pier-head +and looking intently in the direction of Nyack. Was it joy he +anticipated, or disappointment he feared? Something was agitating his +heart and filling his eyes with tears, for he several times turned his +head and wiped them away. And yet the more he watched in the direction +of Nyack, the more restless and impatient he became. + +The driver returned after an absence of ten minutes, accompanied by two +sturdy fellows, both of whom affected to be in bad humor at being called +on to ferry a traveller at that hour. With their hands thrust deep into +their nether pockets, they moved reluctantly about, scanning the +stranger from head to foot. "Couldn't stop this side till morning?" +enquired one of them, in a grumbling tone. "I must cross to-night," +replied the stranger, in a decided voice. "Cross to-night, eh? Well, +it's a long pull across there now," muttered the man, blowing the ashes +from his pipe and still affecting an air of indifference. Then raising +his eyes and breaking a piece of tobacco between his fingers, he +resumed: "Worth a matter of twelve shillin' extra--isn't it? Wouldn't +mind a trifle like that--I take it." + +"I must yield to your demands--of course. It is a necessity with me to +get across as quick as possible," replied the stranger, and drawing from +his pocket two Spanish dollars, he gave them to the boatman, saying: "We +will settle the matter now. Here is your pay in advance." + +The man took the money and at once became active and civil. "We must set +the gentleman across, Tom," said he, addressing his comrade, and +exposing the silver, "this makes it all right." + +The stranger now dismissed the driver with an extra dollar, for which he +considered himself lucky, for he had not kept his promise to reach the +ferry by sundown. + +The boatman who acted as spokesman, in attempting to lift the valise +from the wagon, let it fall to the ground, such was its great weight. +"There's somethin' more nor clothes in that," said the man, shaking his +head and raising his hands in an attitude of alarm. Then, with an +inquisitive look at the stranger, he continued: "Hadn't no connection +with them are Kidd Discovery Company folks? They was swindlers, they +was." + +"Never heard of such a company before. Get my things aboard, and let us +be away," replied the stranger, in a tone of command. + +It required the strength of both boatmen to carry the valise +comfortably; and when they had got it aboard and the stranger seated in +the stern, for he said he could steer, they pulled away for the opposite +shore. Not a word was spoken for several minutes. At length the stranger +broke the silence. "How pleasant it seems," he said, "to get back on the +old Tappan Zee. Everything looks so familiar--" + +"You have been here before, then?" enquired the man pulling the stern +oar, and who had acted as spokesman. + +"Yes," returned the stranger. "My home was just out of Nyack not many +years ago. I may find things changed there now. Do you know many people +over there?" + +"Why yes--nearly everybody--" + +"Dominie Payson--is he living?" + +"If he didn't die since yesterday. He was over here yesterday." + +"And Doctor Critchel--you know him, I suppose? Is he alive?" + +"Why, help you--he never intends to die." + +"And you know, I suppose;" here the stranger hesitated, and his voice +thickened; "you know, I suppose, Hanz Toodleburg--and his--. Are they +living?" + +"Living! That they are--and right hearty, too. They tried to get the old +man mixed up in the Kidd Discovery affair--but they didn't." The boatman +bent his head approvingly. + +"There was a Chapman family--are they still in Nyack?" + +"They're there--but its not sayin' much for Nyack. They went to New York +proud, and as folks thought rich, for Chapman had his finger in schemes +enough to get other people's money; but he com'd back poor as a crow, +they say." + +The stranger's mind seemed to have been relieved of some great anxiety +by these answers, and he at once became more cheerful and talkative. He +at the same time avoided saying anything that might discover who he +was. + +This caution excited the boatman's curiosity to such a pitch that he +resolved to make a bold push to uncover the stranger. + +"Wouldn't take it amiss, would you?" said he, "if a man like me was to +ask what your name was? Needn't mind if there's any cause o' keepin' it +a secret." + +The stranger smiled, hesitated, and stammered in reply: "Hanz Toodleburg +is my father." + +"Well, well! Just what I expected. Didn't say nothin' you see; but I +thought as how you was him," exclaimed the boatman. + +"I have been over three years away from home," interrupted the stranger. + +"Then you are Tite--the old man's son," resumed the boatman, "well, +well!" Turning to him who pulled the bow-oar: "Stop pullin' a bit, Tom," +said he, "stop pullin'." + +The man now rested his oar, and rising from his seat, extended his hand +to the stranger, saying: "There's a hard old honest hand that welcomes +you safe back. John Flint is my name--called old Jack Flint generally." +And he shook Tite's hand again and again. "A heap o' people round here +reckoned how you was dead--they did. I can't tell you how glad I am to +see you, my boy. Its fifteen years since you and me sailed comrades on +the sloop. Bin all round the world an' aint above shakin' the hand of an +old fellow like me. That's what I like." Again and again the old boatman +shook Tite's hand, and gave expression to such sentiments of joy as +showed how true and honest was his heart. + +"Yes, this is me, Jack, and I am as glad to see you as you are to see +me. But I wanted to get across without being recognized." + +[Illustration: "Wouldn't take it amiss, would you," said he, "if a man +like me was to ask what your name was?" Page 266.] + +The old boatman felt in his pocket, and drawing forth the two Spanish +dollars, insisted on returning them. "Them goes back into your pocket," +he said, shaking his head, "Never shall be said Jack Flint charged an +old comrade a sixpence for settin' him across stream." + +"Keep it, keep it, Jack. I have enough for both of us," replied Tite, +motioning his hand for the boatman to return the money to his pocket. + +"Well, if you insist--an' I have to accept it, you see, it'll be out of +respect and to please you." And he looked at the money doubtingly, shook +his head, and reluctantly returned it to his pocket. + +The man now resumed his oar, and they proceeded on with increased speed. +In less than half an hour from that time, they had landed at Nyack, and +proceeding up the road had reached Bright's Inn, the two boatmen +carrying the valise. Here they came to a halt, the men setting the +valise down, while Tite seemed in doubt what to do next. Bewildered with +the position he found himself in, hesitating and nervous, almost +overcome by anxiety, his throbbing heart beat quicker and quicker the +nearer he reached his home. But there was now a more violent struggle +going on in his feelings. It was a struggle to decide between love and +duty. Now he looked up the road in the direction of his home, and +advanced a few steps. Again he paused and looked up enquiringly at the +house. The old boatman had told him that Chapman lived there, when all +the embers of that love he had so long cherished for Mattie seemed to +kindle again into a living fire. And yet what changes might have taken +place since he left? If, however, she still loved him, and was true to +him, how could he pass the house, even at that late hour, without at +least letting her know he was in Nyack? + +It was indeed late, and there was still a mile before he reached the +home of his parents. He could have more time in the morning to meet +Mattie, to unfold his heart to her, and to give her an account of the +many strange things that had happened to him since he left. + +There was a bright light in two of the upper windows, but below the +house was nearly dark, and Bright was in his bar-room, settling up the +business of the day. Suddenly the light in the windows became brighter, +then the shadow of a female figure was seen crossing and recrossing the +room every few seconds. Tite watched and watched that flitting shadow, +for he read in it the object of his heart's love, read in it the joy +that was in store for him, perhaps--perhaps the sorrow. The figure was +Mattie's, and it was her shadow that was causing him all this +heart-aching. Now the figure took the place of the shadow, and stood +looking out at the window, as if contemplating the moon and the stars, +for nearly a minute. Yes, there was Mattie, watching and wondering what +had become of the man who was at that moment contemplating her +movements. Then the figure and the shadow disappeared, but it was only +to increase Tite's impatience to see her. + +The three men now proceeded to the door and the bell was rung. A moving +of chairs and unlocking of doors indicated that the house had not gone +to bed. The door was soon opened by Titus Bright, in his shirt sleeves +and slippers, and holding a candle in his hand. "What's up, Flint?" he +enquired, for he saw only the boatmen; "what brings you over at this +time of night?" + +"There was a shillin' to be made, you see, Bright, and a passenger what +wanted settin' over, you see," said the ferryman, his face beaming with +good nature. "Know you'd like to see him, you know, Bright, and to make +him as comfortable as you could for a night or so. Tom and me pulled him +across." Tite now advanced towards the inn-keeper, who gazed at him with +an air of astonishment, and held the candle above his head to avoid the +shadow. + +"Come in, come in," said Bright. "We will make the gentleman as +comfortable as we can." + +"You have forgotten me, I see," said Tite, smiling and extending his +hand. + +"God bless me!" exclaimed Bright, grasping his hand in a paroxysm of +delight; "if here isn't Tite Toodleburg cum home. Come in, come in. +Welcome home." After shaking him warmly by the hand and leading him into +the parlor, the inn-keeper ran and brought his wife, who welcomed the +young man with the tenderness of a mother. The good woman would have had +a fire made and supper prepared, and indeed entertained him for the rest +of the night, expressing her joy over his return, had he not told her +how great was his anxiety to see his parents. + +"I know who it is the young man wants to see," said Bright, touching him +on the elbow and nodding his head suggestively. "And there'll be a +flutter up stairs when it's told her you're cum home." + +The boatmen had remained in the hall. Bright now invited them into his +bar and filled mugs of ale for them, and joined them in drinking the +health of the young man who had been round the world. He then dismissed +them, saying he would take care of the young gentleman's baggage; and +stepping up stairs, tapped gently at Chapman's door. "We were all +retiring for the night," said Mrs. Chapman, opening the door slightly, +and looking alarmed, for Bright was in a flutter of excitement, and it +was nearly a minute before he could tell what he wanted. At length he +stammered out: "There, there, there--there's a strange gentleman down +stairs, mam--and he would like to see Miss Mattie, I am sure he would." + +"Mr. Bright," replied Mrs. Chapman, tossing her head and compressing her +lips, "he can't be much of a gentleman to come at this hour of night. My +daughter has no acquaintance who would presume to take such a liberty. +Etiquette forbids it." + +Mattie now made her appearance, with a book half open in her left hand, +and looking anxious and agitated. Then resting her right hand on her +mother's shoulder, "Mr. Bright," she enquired, in a hesitating voice, +"what does the gentleman look like?" + +"A nice gentleman enough, Miss--" + +"Is it any one you know?" + +"Why, Miss," resumed Bright, with an air of reluctance, "wouldn't +intrude at this house, but I know you'd like to see the gentleman; and +wouldn't be particular about the time." + +Mattie fixed her eyes on Bright with a steady gaze, her agitation +increased, her face changed color rapidly, her heart seemed to beat anew +with some sudden transport of joy. "Oh, mother! oh, mother!" she +exclaimed, tossing the book on the floor, "I know who Mr. Bright means. +It's him! I know it's him! He has come back!" She rushed past her +mother, vaulted as it were down the stairs and into the parlor. The +young man stood motionless. He was so changed in dress and appearance +that she suddenly hesitated, and for a moment drew back, as if in doubt. + +"It is me, Mattie," said Tite, smiling and advancing with his hand +extended. The thought suddenly flashed through his mind that she might +have expected some one else. He was mistaken, for she met his advance +like one whose heart was filled with joy. In short, the words had hardly +fallen from his lips when they were in each other's arms, and giving +such proofs of their affection as only hearts bound together by the +truest and purest of love can give. + +"I knew you would come back to me--yes, I knew you would. There was an +angel guarding you while absent," she whispered, looking up as he kissed +her and kissed her. And as her eyes met his her face brightened with a +smile so full of sweetness and gentleness. + +"I knew what would happen," said Bright, opening the door apace and +looking in. "Knew there would be just such a scene." Just at that moment +Mrs. Chapman brushed past the exuberant inn-keeper, and stood like a +massive statue, looking at the scene before her with an air of surprise +and astonishment, for Mattie was still clasped in the young man's arms. + +"My daughter! my daughter!" she exclaimed, raising her fat hands, +"enough to make a mother faint to see a well-brought-up daughter so +familiar? It shocks me, my daughter. I am sure I am glad to see the +young man home. But familiarity of that kind's not becoming. Your father +never would have married me if I had allowed familiarity of that kind." + +"You must blame me; it was all my fault," said Tite, handing Mattie to a +chair, and advancing toward Mrs. Chapman. + +"You have been away a long time, haven't you," said the lady, receiving +his hand in a cold and formal manner. "You are very much changed--the +effect of the sea-air on the complexion, I suppose? We shall be very +glad to see you at any time, Mr. Toodleburg. It was so late we didn't +expect visitors, and were not prepared for them. You said you had not +seen your aged parents?" + +"Not yet," replied Tite, "but I shall proceed there soon." + +"It was very kind of you," resumed the lady, "to pay us this compliment. +How very anxious they must be to see you." + +"And I am equally anxious to see them," he replied; "but I could not +pass without seeing you--just for a few minutes." Then turning to +Mattie, he exchanged kisses with her, kissed her good-night, to the +great distress of her mother, who was compelled to look on. He also +promised to call early in the morning, spend most of the day, and give +an account of his voyage. + +A minute more and he was seated in a wagon beside Bright, and proceeding +over the road toward Hanz's little house. + +When he was gone, and the Chapmans had retired to their room, "Ma," said +Mattie, her face coloring with feeling, "it was very unkind, even cruel +of you to treat the young gentleman so coldly." + +"Done to balance the familiarity, my daughter--the familiarity! Needed +something to balance that," interrupted the lady, bowing her head +formally. "Young man looks respectable enough. He may have come home and +not a sixpence in his pocket--who knows? In these matters, my daughter, +it's always best to know where the line is drawn before building your +house." + +"He might have come home penniless; it would not have made a bit of +difference to me, mother, I would love him just as much," replied +Mattie. "But I can forgive you, ma, for I know you did not mean what you +said." And she kissed her mother, and retired for the night, the +happiest woman in all Nyack. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXIV. + +HE BRINGS JOY INTO THE HOUSE. + + +All was silent and dark in the little house where Hanz Toodleburg lived, +when the wagon containing Tite and the inn-keeper drew up at the gate. A +dull, dreamy stillness seemed to hang over the place, and the little, +old house was in the full enjoyment of a deep sleep. The two men +alighted, and Tite stood for a few minutes viewing the scene around him. +How strange and yet how familiar everything seemed. He was at the +opposite side of the world only a few months ago, and time had sped on +so swiftly that it seemed as if he had gone to bed at night on one side +of the globe, and waked up in the morning at the other. Then he was on +an island almost unknown to the rest of the world, surrounded by scenes +so wild, so strange and romantic, that the reader would not believe them +real. + +Here now was the old lattice gate, the vine-covered arbor leading +through the garden to the cracked and blistered-faced front door, the +stack of hop-vines in the garden-corner, and the rickety veranda where, +when a boy, he used to sit beside his father of a summer evening, for it +was here Hanz welcomed his friends and smoked his pipe. It was here, +too, that Angeline, the spirit of whose sweet face had been with him in +his wanderings, used to sit at her flax-wheel, spinning thread that was +famous in Fly Market. + +Could this be a sweet dream, a beautiful delusion, a spirit-spell that +moves the soul with pictures of love and enchantment, and from which +some stern reality would soon awake him and dispel the charm? No, it +was reality, appealing more forcibly to all that was true and kindly in +his nature, and filling his eyes with tears. + +The inn-keeper noticed the effect it was having on his feelings, and +made an effort to divert his attention. "Looks kind o' natural after +bein' round the world doesn't it, Tite?" he enquired. + +"Yes--seems like home again," was the quiet reply. + +"Zounds!" exclaimed the inn-keeper, suddenly; "but there's somethin' +heavy in it." In attempting to lift the valise from the wagon it had +fallen to the ground under its great weight. The inn-keeper shook his +head and rubbed his hands. "Had a lucky voyage, I reckon," he concluded. + +"More than eighty pounds of solid gold in that," returned Tite, coolly. +The mention of so much gold astonished and delighted the inn-keeper. + +"There'll be such a time when the town hears that!" said he. "There'll +be enough o' them that'll call you their friend." + +"Left three times as much more in the city," resumed Tite. "And there's +enough on an island in the Pacific to buy a town as big as Nyack. And I +know where it is." + +"Eighty pounds of solid gold!" said the inn-keeper, looking enquiringly +at Tite, then stooping down and testing the weight of the valise with +his hands. "It's so. I always did know you'd come home a rich man." + +They now carried the valise into the veranda, knocked at the door, and +listened for footsteps within. The big old dog had been growling and +barking fiercely for several minutes. Now he recognized the friendly +voice of the inn-keeper, and barked them a welcome. He then ran to the +little room where Hanz was sleeping, and only ceased barking when he got +up. + +Soft footsteps were heard inside, a dim light shone through the little +window opening into the veranda, and a voice inside enquired: "Who comes +t' mine house sho late?" + +"Open the door, friend Toodleburg," replied the inn-keeper. "Shouldn't +have disturbed you at this hour; but there's a gentleman here would like +to see you--an' I'm sure you'd like to see him." + +The old man opened the door at the sound of Bright's voice, and stood +gazing at the visitors with an air of bewilderment. "You prings me goot +news, eh, Bright?" he enquired. "Yes, I am shure you prings me shome +news ash ish goot." + +"Father, father," said Tite, advancing with his right hand extended, +"you don't know me?" + +"Ton't know mine own Tite? Mine poor poy Tite!" exclaimed the old man in +a paroxysm of joy. "Yes I does." And he raised his hands, and threw his +arms around Tite's neck, and wept for joy. "Ton't know mine own Tite," +he repeated, raising his head and looking up in Tite's face, "yes I +does. Yes, I shay mine Tite will cum home; an' he cums home--and mine +poor old heart he pees sho glat. Yes, he pees you, mine Tite. You prings +shoy into mine house. Mine poor Tite--he com'd home t' mine house. Tar +pees no more shorrow now in mine house." The old man was overcome with +joy. The idol of the house was home again, and true happiness reigned +under that little roof. + +"You ton't go away no more, mine Tite," he continued, patting him on the +shoulder and pressing his hand. + +Angeline heard Tite's voice and came rushing into the room frantic with +joy. "Thank God! thank God!" she exclaimed. "He has brought our boy safe +back to us." And she embraced him, threw her arms around his neck, and +kissed him again and again. + +"And I am so glad to get back to you, mother," he replied, returning her +affection, and pressing her to his breast fondly. "It is so good to be +in my old home, where I can receive your blessings, and be good to you." + +And Angeline looked up in his face with such a sweet smile, as she +patted him on the shoulder, and their tears mingled in the sweetest of +joy as she invoked God's blessing on his head. Truly, God had heard +their prayer, had blessed them, and had again made their little home +bright with joy. + +"I wish Chapman could look in here now," said Bright, "there'd be a +lesson for him on what happiness is worth." And he shook Tite by the +hand, told him to remember that his house was always open to him, and +left for the night. + +Even the old dog seemed anxious to join in welcoming the young gentleman +back, for he would look up affectionately in his face, draw his body +close to his feet, and lay his huge paw on his knee. + +And now a fire was lighted, and Angeline prepared supper for Tite, for +he had eaten nothing since morning. The chair that had stood empty so +long was filled now, and the happiness that reigned under that little +roof was such as gold could not purchase. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXV. + +HOW HE GOT AWAY FROM THE ISLAND. + + +When supper was over, Tite proceeded to give his parents an account of +the voyage, and the manner of escaping from the island with the +treasure. The reader has already heard that portion which carries the +story up to the death of old Dunman, the pirate. It will be only +necessary then to give that part of it which relates to what took place +afterward. + +"Poor old Dunman," said Tite, "he was so kind to us all, and tried so +much to relieve our sufferings and make us feel contented that we all +liked him, and felt his death was a severe loss to us. There was +something so terrible in the story of his life that we used to talk +about it at night, and fancy all sorts of strange spirits haunting the +place where his money was buried. It was this that made us all impatient +to get away from the dreary place. Three or four days after we had +buried him, we removed the stones he said the gold was buried under, and +there found, as he had told us, bags and boxes of gold and silver, in +bars and coin of various kinds, heavy silver and gold ornaments that had +been plundered from churches and convents, with pearls and diamonds and +other precious stones, enough to fill two iron chests two feet square +and two feet deep. There was the thought that it was the price of so +much crime. And what good after all was this gold and silver to do us, +if we were to die on the island, like old Dunman? We divided it among +us, just as we would something of little value, not caring which got +the biggest portion. Then, after keeping out what we thought we might +want, each buried his part in separate spots, and marked the places with +piles of big stones. + +"I always had a presentment that some vessel would come along, and +afford us the means of getting away; but after several months of +disappointment my companions began to despair, and saying they might as +well die one way as another, fitted up the boat, and with sails made of +prepared seal skins, and such scanty provisions as they could obtain, +set sail in search of an island described by old Dunman to be two +leagues distant, inhabited, and a place where whalers had been known to +touch. Each took two bags of gold with him, promising that if they were +successful they would return and rescue me. + +"I felt, and told them they were undertaking what was sure death, and +bid them good-bye, never expecting to see them again. Week after week +and month after month passed, and nothing was heard of them. I was +alone, and nothing but the animals old Dunman had domesticated to keep +me company. As a means of attracting the attention of any vessel that +might be passing, I built a hut on a high hill near the coast, and used +to go there at night and build a fire as a signal. There wasn't a sail +came near. I had never feared death before; but to have to die on this +unknown island, with everything so strange and mysterious around me, and +never be heard of again by my parents and friends, excited all sorts of +curious fears in me. And the more I thought of it the more I wanted to +get away. + +"Well, it was five months since my companions set sail. Poor Ryder, poor +Doane; these were their names. They were both young men from Cape Cod; +and as brave and true-hearted as ever lived. I got up one morning to +renew my signal-fire, and was wondering what had become of the poor +fellows, and saying to myself how foolish they were to anticipate death. +It was just in the grey of daylight. Happening to cast my eye down the +coast, I espied the dim figure of a sail advancing quietly up the coast. +I shouted for joy at the sight, not thinking or caring whether it might +bring friends or foes. The wind was light, but fair, and the little +craft, which turned out to be a taunt-rigged schooner of about a hundred +and twenty tons, came gliding along like some white-winged thing of +life, for she had a square sail and fore and main gaff-topsails set. + +"Just before reaching the cove she furled her square sail and took in +the gaff-topsails--a proof that she was making port. I hastened down to +the coast, for it was broad daylight now, and watched her every +movement. She stood into the cove, rounded to, hauled down her jibs, and +dropped her anchor. The men in charge of that vessel handled her as if +they were familiar with the place. An hour passed, and no attempt was +made to land. Men appeared on deck, moving about in the quiet discharge +of their duty, but no attention was directed to the shore. Then a man +stood on the quarter with his glass raised, and scanned the shore from +point to point. Then there was an aggravating pause, and the rest of the +men seemed to disappear below. Then an increased number appeared on +deck, and began clearing the lashings from the stern boat. That was a +joyful moment, for it was a proof of their intention to land. Then the +boat was lowered away and pulled alongside, when two oarsmen got in, and +were followed by two men who sat in the stern sheets, and who turned +out to be my old companions, Doane and Ryder. Deliverance had come at +last. + +"After being at sea three days and nights in the boat, they were picked +up by a New Bedford whaleship, and landed at Honolulu, where they +chartered the schooner Lapwing and returned for me. Thinking it +necessary to keep our discovery a secret, lest it might excite the +cupidity of the crew, who were all natives, we had to proceed +cautiously, and disguise our movements as much as we could. It was +decided to leave at least half of the treasure until we could find a +more secure means of removing it, as well as one less liable to excite +suspicion at the points we would be compelled to land at on our way +home. + +"We got what we agreed to take away quietly on board during the night, +having filled Dunman's big old chest with shells and buried it among +them. Then each swore on oath that he would be true to the other, and +that he wouldn't make an effort to remove what remained except by mutual +agreement, and for the benefit of all equally. We disguised all our +movements so well that not even the captain of the schooner, who was an +old Spanish coaster, accustomed to suspicious transactions, mistrusted +what we were doing. + +"When we got all ready, we bid adieu to No Man's Island, and set sail +for Honolulu, feeling as if we had been set free from a prison. We were +on the way home now, and that was enough to lighten our hearts. We were +three weeks getting to Honolulu; and had to remain there two months. We +wanted an American ship homeward bound, to take passage on. But as none +came, we shipped on board the British whaleship Rose, of Halifax, Nova +Scotia, with a full cargo homeward bound. We got there after a long and +stormy voyage, working our way as sailors before the mast. We were +looked on as poor, shipwrecked whalemen; and no one on board thought we +had an extra dollar in our pockets. At Halifax we found a vessel ready +to sail for New York, and took passage on her, and here I am now, home +again, and glad to get home." It was long after midnight when Tite +concluded his story; and having received once more the caresses of his +parents, he retired to the little room he had occupied when a boy, to +sleep and dream of joys that were in store for him. + + + + +CHAPTER XXXVI. + +AN INTERESTING CEREMONY. + + +The little sleepy town of Nyack had hardly waked up on the following +morning, when the news of Tite's arrival was rung in it's ears. +Marvelous stories, too, were told concerning the amount of money he had +brought home, and the different countries he had visited. The inn-keeper +declared at the breakfast table, intending that Mrs. Chapman should hear +it, that he could say of his own knowledge, that the young gentleman had +brought gold enough home to build a castle, have a coach of his own, and +live like a gentleman in the city all the rest of his life. + +"Has he really brought home so much money?" enquired Mrs. Chapman, +raising her eyes and looking at Bright with an air of astonishment. "The +young gentleman never mentioned it last night. Well, after all, there's +nothing like young gentlemen of his class seeking their fortunes away +from home. To say the least, it will give the young gentleman a fixed +position in society." + +"Yes, my dear," rejoined Chapman, "I always had a good opinion of the +young gentleman. I always knew he would distinguish himself if he had a +chance--" + +"Good opinions are always plenty enough," interrupted the schoolmaster, +who was a boarder at Bright's that week, "when a man has money and don't +need good opinions." + +Chapman made no reply. Indeed he was not prepared for such a thrust from +so poor a fellow as the schoolmaster. He understood, however, what was +meant by it, for he had gone into court only a few weeks before and +given such testimony as showed himself a knave and a hypocrite, though +it saved Hanz Toodleburg from ruin. + +Mattie noticed the impression made on her mother by what Bright had +said, but preserved a dignified silence. She felt that she had gained +the price due to her constancy, had risen above the vanities and +temptations designed to distract and mislead her, and by following the +dictates of her own clear judgment would soon secure both happiness and +fortune. + +Breakfast was scarcely over at Hanz Toodleburg's before the neighbors, +one after another, began to drop in to shake Tite by the hand, and +welcome him home, and say "God bless you." Many of them brought little +presents, to show how true and heart-felt was the friendship they bore +him. And when he went down into the village he found himself surrounded +by friends, all anxious to shake his hand, and to welcome him back, and +to hear something concerning his voyage. In short, he was an object of +curiosity as well as respect, for at that day there was a mysterious +interest attached to a young man who had been a voyage round the world, +it being associated with spirit and daring of a remarkable kind. + +But it was not these friends Tite stole away and went down into the +village to see. It was Mattie, at the mention of whose name a blush +always colored his cheek. The two lovers had arranged for a morning +walk, and were soon seen coming from the house together, smiling and +happy. Mrs. Chapman had condescended to see them to the door, and her +ponderous figure quite filled the space. "Don't forget, my daughter," +she said, as they were leaving, "don't forget to bring the young +gentleman back to dine with us. We can't promise him anything very nice; +but he is welcome, you know, and must try and accommodate himself to our +changed circumstances." + +There is to me nothing more beautiful to contemplate than the picture of +two young lovers brought happily together after years of trial and +disappointment, themselves representing what there is good and pure in +the human heart. It is then we seem to see the heart liberate itself +from guile, and truth and right rejoice in their triumph over wrong. +There was just such a picture presented by Mattie Chapman, the +true-hearted American girl, and the active, earnest, persevering, and +modest, American boy, just at this moment. + +The day was bright and breezy, and there, high up on that hill +overlooking the Tappan Zee, under that clump of trees, with their +embracing branches forming a bower, in the very spot where they had +liberated their hearts and pledged their love, and bid each other a sad +adieu on the morning Tite sailed on his voyage, the young lovers were +seated again. Hour after hour passed, and still they sat there, for Tite +was recounting his adventures; telling Mattie the story of his strange +voyage, and listening in return to her recital of what had taken place +during his absence. Indeed, so earnestly were they engaged relating what +had happened since they had been separated that they quite forgot +dinner; and on returning to the house, found Mrs. Chapman in a state of +great anxiety. It was not that they had been absent so long; but the +young gentleman would find things cold and unsatisfactory. The truth +was, Mrs. Chapman had dressed herself with a view to a little display, +and was a little disappointed at not having the opportunity to make it +before a full table. Mr. Bowles, too, had been ordered to appear bright +and nice, in his new livery and top-boots, to wait on the family at +dinner, and show, by his attentions to the young gentleman, that he was +a well-brought-up servant. In fine, the lady so embarrassed the young +gentleman with her attentions, that he was glad when dinner was over. I +ought not to forget to mention that Chapman, though he was less +demonstrative, took several occasions to assure the young gentleman of +the high respect he had always held him in--especially on account of his +father and mother. + +Tite went home when dinner was over; but returned again in the evening, +for there was an attraction there he could not resist. And it was then +that Mrs. Chapman joined their hands, invoked a blessing on their heads +and called them her children. + +"I always did like the young gentleman--I am sure I always did," she +added, with an air of condescension. "My daughter knows I always did. It +was not on the young gentleman's account that I entertained a little +misgiving (just a little) in reconciling the family connection." Pausing +suddenly, the lady turned to Mattie in a somewhat confused manner: "My +daughter, my daughter," she returned, "you must overlook a number of +little things. You will--won't you? Now, don't say I am vain. But it was +such a queer--yes, such a vulgar and very common name to carry into +society." + +"There's just one favor I have to ask, my daughter. I am sure the young +gentleman won't object to it--I am sure he won't." Again Mrs. Chapman +paused, and seemed a little confused. + +"Certainly, ma, certainly," replied Mattie, with a pleasant smile, +"anything to please my dear mother." + +"Well, then," resumed Mrs. Chapman, mildly: "There'll be no harm in +changing the name a little--just a little, for the sake of the effect it +will have on society. The young gentleman, I am sure he will (he has got +the means to do it, you see) set up a nice establishment in the city, +and (looking forward a little, you know) you will have a set of society +of your own. Things change so, you see. You wouldn't mind changing the +name so that it will read Von Toodleburg? T.B. Von Toodleburg would be +so much nicer." + +I may mention here that such was the name the family took and flourished +under at a subsequent period, as will appear in the second series of +this work. + +"Fix things, name and all, to your liking, my dear mother," replied +Mattie, laughing heartily. "I don't believe Tite cares anything about +it." + +"Never was ashamed of my name," replied Tite, with an air of +indifference, "never was. But it doesn't matter much what a man's name +is. They used to call me all sorts of names at sea." + +"Another little harmless request," resumed Mrs. Chapman, with a +condescending bow. "You see there is Bowles. Bowles is such an excellent +servant, and so very respectable. He has such a presentable appearance +when in his livery. I have great respect for Bowles--he understands me +so well. You won't have any objection to his having a fixed position in +the family, will you?" + +Mattie blushed, and drawing her mother aside, whispered in her ear: "We +can settle such matters, my dear mother, when others of more importance +are disposed of." + +"But you know, my daughter," she returned, with an air of great +seriousness, "he has done so much to make these common country people +understand what our position was in the city." + + * * * * * + +Two weeks were passed in making preparations for the wedding. And now +the day was come, and that ceremony that was to unite two loving hearts +for weal or woe, which was to seal their fortunes in one bond, was to be +performed in the little old church, quietly and unostentatiously, by +Dominie Payson, for it had been settled after some reluctance on the +part of Mrs. Chapman, that the job could be done by that worthy divine, +and the world think none the less of the young people. + +Nyack, my reader must know, was in the best of humor that day, and when +it was four o'clock, appeared in a smiling face, and dressed in it's +best clothes. Chapman, I may also mention, forgot his misfortunes, and +for once appeared neat and tidy, and in a happy mood. Indeed he had +kissed and congratulated his daughter several times during the day. He +had also unburdened his heart by telling her how happy he felt that the +family had escaped disgrace in the city. He had, indeed, something to be +thankful for, since Gusher had been taken back to New Orleans, tried, +convicted of his crimes, and sent for two years at hard labor in the +penitentiary. + +Mrs. Chapman, remembering that such events did not occur every day, +resolved not to be outdone by any of them. She was sure a little display +would not be wasted; and had spent four hours "getting herself elegant." +She had more than half a suspicion that there would be some New York +people present, and it would not do to be outshone by them in +magnificence of toilet. Nor must I forget Bowles, who appeared shortly +after breakfast in his new livery, with a tall hat half covered with a +band and buckle, white gloves, and bright new boots and breeches. Bowles +was a figure of immense importance, and contemplated himself with an air +of amusing gravity, as he moved up and down in front of the house, much +to the amusement of the visitors at Bright's Inn. A bunch of flowers had +been provided for his button hole; and he was to drive the happy couple +to and from church, an honor he seemed to appreciate fully. + +There was an interesting scene, too, at Hanz Toodleburg's little house. +Instead of making bridal presents of costly jewelry and works of art, as +is now done, the worthy settlers sent the groom's father presents of a +very different character. Hanz had found enough to do during the morning +in receiving these presents and thanking the donors. There was a pig +from farmer Tromp, a barrel of apples from neighbor Steuben, a big +cheese from farmer Van Beuskirk, a ham from the widow Welcker, a pan of +new-made sausages from farmer Deitman, and a bushel of dried apples from +Dominie Payson. In fine, one sent a cow, another a sack of wheat, +another a barrel of cider; and in that way they had well neigh stocked +Hanz's larder for the winter. + +It was now nearly time for the ceremony. Neatly, but plainly dressed +people were seen treading their way toward the little church, while +around its door a number of bright-faced children, all dressed so neatly +in white, and with their hands full of flowers, stood ready to greet the +bride and bridegroom. In short, the worthy settlers had come from all +directions to witness the ceremony. There were rustics, in their simple +attire, sauntering through the old church yard, or leaning listlessly +over the paling. And there in the old belfry sat Jonas, the ringer, with +his bald head and his weeping eyes, ready to ring out a merry peal as +soon as the bride and bridegroom came in sight. + +A laughing, happy throng of people filled the little church as soon as +the door was opened. Then Dominie Payson took his place at the altar; +and Hanz and Angeline, representing age beautified by simplicity, walked +slowly up the aisle, and took their place on one side, followed by +Critchel, the inn-keeper and the schoolmaster, who stood just behind +them. A few minutes later and Mrs. Chapman, arrayed in all the majesty +of her best wardrobe entered, accompanied by her meek little husband, +and took their places on the opposite side, presenting such a contrast +of characters. The picture only wanted the central figures now. + +A few minutes more, and there was a sudden, anxious movement on the part +of those inside. All eyes were turned towards the door. The bridal party +had arrived. Old Jonas was ringing his bell. The children at the door +were tossing flowers at their feet; and their voices were heard singing +a sweet and touching song. Then the bridal party advanced up the aisle, +the bride dressed in simple white, and with flowers in her golden hair, +and looking so sweetly. And as they took their place before the altar, +there was something so full of love and gentleness, of truth and purity, +in that sweet face as Mattie looked up and calmly surveyed the scene, +that it seemed as if earth had nothing to compare with it. + +And as the simple, but impressive ceremony proceeded, and the young +lovers once more pledged their love, and made that solemn vow never to +separate until death comes, and knelt in prayer to sanctify it; and as +the Dominie blessed them, and pronounced a benediction, and as the soft +rays of the setting sun played over and lighted up that beautiful face, +it seemed as if some gentle spirit, sent from on high, was hovering over +the scene and whispering Amen. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Von Toodleburgs, by F. 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