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diff --git a/old/8hmbd10.txt b/old/8hmbd10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..8a19853 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8hmbd10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,18754 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of Homeward Bound, by James Fenimore Cooper + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: Homeward Bound + or, The Chase + +Author: James Fenimore Cooper + +Release Date: February, 2006 [EBook #9826] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on October 22, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOMEWARD BOUND *** + + + + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + + + + +Homeward Bound; +or, The Chase. + +A Tale of the Sea. + +By J. Fenimore Cooper. + + + "Is 't not strange, Canidius. + That from Tarentum and Brundusium + He could so quickly cut the Ionian Sea, + and take in Toryne."--SHAKSPEARE. + + +Complete in One Volume. + +New Edition. + +NEW YORK: +Published by Hurd and Houghton, +Cambridge: Riverside Press. +1871 + + + + +Homeward Bound. + + + + +Preface. + + + +In one respect, this book is a parallel to Franklin's well-known apologue +of the hatter and his sign. It was commenced with a sole view to exhibit +the present state of society in the United States, through the agency, in +part, of a set of characters with different peculiarities, who had freshly +arrived from Europe, and to whom the distinctive features of the country +would be apt to present themselves with greater force, than to those who +had never lived beyond the influence of the things portrayed. By the +original plan, the work was to open at the threshold of the country, or +with the arrival of the travellers at Sandy Hook, from which point the +tale was to have been carried regularly forward to its conclusion. But a +consultation with others has left little more of this plan than the +hatter's friends left of his sign. As a vessel was introduced in the first +chapter, the cry was for "more ship," until the work has become "all +ship;" it actually closing at, or near, the spot where it was originally +intended it should commence. Owing to this diversion from the author's +design--a design that lay at the bottom of all his projects--a necessity +has been created of running the tale through two separate works, or of +making a hurried and insufficient conclusion. The former scheme has, +consequently, been adopted. + +It is hoped that the interest of the narrative will not be essentially +diminished by this arrangement. + +There will be, very likely, certain imaginative persons, who will feel +disposed to deny that every minute event mentioned in these volumes ever +befell one and the same ship, though ready enough to admit that they may +very well have occurred to several different ships: a mode of commenting +that is much in favour with your small critic. To this objection, we shall +make but a single answer. The caviller, if any there should prove to be, +is challenged to produce the log-book of the Montauk, London packet, and +if it should be found to contain a single sentence to controvert any one +of our statements or facts, a frank recantation shall be made. Captain +Truck is quite as well known in New York as in London or Portsmouth, and +to him also we refer with confidence, for a confirmation of all we have +said, with the exception, perhaps, of the little occasional touches of +character that may allude directly to himself. In relation to the latter, +Mr. Leach, and particularly Mr. Saunders, are both invoked as +unimpeachable witnesses. + +Most of our readers will probably know that all which appears in a New +York journal is not necessarily as true as the Gospel. As some slight +deviations from the facts accidentally occur, though doubtless at very +long intervals, it should not be surprising that they sometimes omit +circumstances that are quite as veracious as anything they do actually +utter to the world. No argument, therefore, can justly be urged against +the incidents of this story, on account of the circumstance of their not +being embodied in the regular marine news of the day. + +Another serious objection on the part of the American reader to this work +is foreseen. The author has endeavoured to interest his readers in +occurrences of a date as antiquated as two years can make them, when he is +quite aware, that, in order to keep pace with a state of society in which +there was no yesterday, it would have been much safer to anticipate +things, by laying his scene two years in advance. It is hoped, however, +that the public sentiment will not be outraged by this glimpse at +antiquity, and this the more so, as the sequel of the tale will bring down +events within a year of the present moment. + +Previously to the appearance of that sequel, however, it may be well to +say a few words concerning the fortunes of some of our _characters_, as it +might be _en attendant_. + +To commence with the most important: the Montauk herself, once deemed so +"splendid" and convenient, is already supplanted in the public favour by a +new ship; the reign of a popular packet, a popular preacher, or a popular +anything-else, in America, being limited by a national _esprit de corps_, +to a time materially shorter than that of a lustre. This, however, is no +more than just; rotation in favour being as evidently a matter of +constitutional necessity, as rotation in office. + +Captain Truck, for a novelty, continues popular, a circumstance that he +himself ascribes to the fact of his being still a bachelor. + +Toast is promoted, figuring at the head of a pantry quite equal to that of +his great master, who regards his improvement with some such eyes as +Charles the Twelfth of Sweden regarded that of his great rival Peter, +after the affair of Pultowa. + +Mr. Leach now smokes his own cigar, and issues his own orders from a +monkey rail, his place in the line being supplied by his former "Dickey." +He already speaks of his great model, as of one a little antiquated it is +true, but as a man who had merit in his time, though it was not the +particular merit that is in fashion to-day. + +Notwithstanding these little changes, which are perhaps inseparable from +the events of a period so long as two years in a country as energetic as +America, and in which nothing seems to be stationary but the ages of +Tontine nominees and three-life leases, a cordial esteem was created among +the principal actors in the events of this book, which is likely to +outlast the passage, and which will not fail to bring most of them +together again in the sequel. + +_April_ 1838. + + + + +Chapter I. + + + + An inner room I have, + Where thou shalt rest and some refreshment take, + And then we will more fully talk of this + + ORRA. + + +The coast of England, though infinitely finer than our own, is more +remarkable for its verdure, and for a general appearance of civilisation, +than for its natural beauties. The chalky cliffs may seem bold and noble +to the American, though compared to the granite piles that buttress the +Mediterranean they are but mole-hills; and the travelled eye seeks +beauties instead, in the retiring vales, the leafy hedges, and the +clustering towns that dot the teeming island. Neither is Portsmouth a very +favourable specimen of a British port, considered solely in reference to +the picturesque. A town situated on a humble point, and fortified after +the manner of the Low Countries, with an excellent haven, suggests more +images of the useful than of the pleasing; while a background of modest +receding hills offers little beyond the verdant swales of the country. In +this respect England itself has the fresh beauty of youth, rather than the +mellowed hues of a more advanced period of life; or it might be better to +say, it has the young freshness and retiring sweetness that distinguish +her females, as compared with the warmer tints of Spain and Italy, and +which, women and landscape alike, need the near view to be appreciated. + +Some such thoughts as these passed through the mind of the traveller who +stood on the deck of the packet Montauk, resting an elbow on the +quarter-deck rail, as he contemplated the view of the coast that stretched +before him east and west for leagues. The manner in which this gentleman, +whose temples were sprinkled with grey hairs, regarded the scene, denoted +more of the thoughtfulness of experience, and of tastes improved by +observation, than it is usual to meet amid the bustling and common-place +characters that compose the majority in almost every situation of life. +The calmness of his exterior, an air removed equally from the admiration +of the novice and the superciliousness of the tyro, had, indeed, so +strongly distinguished him from the moment he embarked in London to that +in which he was now seen in the position mentioned, that several of the +seamen swore he was a man-of-war's-man in disguise. The fair-haired, +lovely, blue-eyed girl at his side, too seemed a softened reflection of +all his sentiment, intelligence, knowledge, tastes, and cultivation, +united to the artlessness and simplicity that became her sex and years. + +"We have seen nobler coasts, Eve," said the gentleman, pressing the arm +that leaned on his own; "but, after all England will always be fair to +American eyes." + +"More particularly so if those eyes first opened to the light in the +eighteenth century, father." + +"You, at least, my child, have been educated beyond the reach of national +foibles, whatever may have been my own evil fortune; and still, I think +even you have seen a great deal to admire in this country, as well as in +this coast." + +Eve Effingham glanced a moment towards the eye of her father, and +perceiving that he spoke in playfulness, without suffering a cloud to +shadow a countenance that usually varied with her emotions, she continued +the discourse, which had, in fact, only been resumed by the remark first +mentioned. + +"I have been educated, as it is termed, in so many different places and +countries," returned Eve, smiling, "that I sometimes fancy I was born a +woman, like my great predecessor and namesake, the mother of Abel. If a +congress of nations, in the way of masters, can make one independent of +prejudice, I may claim to possess the advantage. My greatest fear is, +that in acquiring liberality, I have acquired nothing else." + +Mr. Effingham turned a look of parental fondness, in which parental pride +was clearly mingled, on the face of his daughter, and said with his eyes, +though his tongue did not second the expression, "This is a fear, sweet +one, that none besides thyself would feel." + +"A congress of nations, truly!" muttered another male voice near the +father and daughter. "You have been taught music in general, by seven +masters of as many different states, besides the touch of the guitar by a +Spaniard; Greek by a German; the living tongues by the European powers, +and philosophy by seeing the world; and now with a brain full of learning, +fingers full of touches, eyes full of tints, and a person full of grace, +your father is taking you back to America, to 'waste your sweetness on the +desert air.'" + +"Poetically expressed, if not justly imagined, cousin Jack," returned the +laughing Eve; "but you have forgot to add, and a heart full of feeling for +the land of my birth." + +"We shall see, in the end." + +"In the end, as in the beginning, now and for evermore." + +"All love is eternal in the commencement." + +"Do you make no allowance for the constancy of woman? Think you that a +girl of twenty can forget the country of her birth, the land of her +forefathers--or, as you call it yourself when in a good humour, the land +of liberty?" + +"A pretty specimen _you_ will have of its liberty!" returned the cousin +sarcastically. "After having passed a girlhood of wholesome restraint in +the rational society of Europe, you are about to return home to the +slavery of American female life, just as you are about to be married!" + +"Married! Mr. Effingham?" + +"I suppose the catastrophe will arrive, sooner or later, and it is more +likely to occur to a girl of twenty than to a girl of ten." + +"Mr. John Effingham never lost an argument for the want of a convenient +fact, my love," the father observed by way of bringing the brief +discussion to a close. "But here are the boats approaching; let us +withdraw a little, and examine the chance medley of faces with which we +are to become familiar by the intercourse of a month." + +"You will be much more likely to agree on a verdict of murder," muttered +the kinsman. + +Mr. Effingham led his daughter into the hurricane-house--or, as the +packet-men quaintly term it, the _coach_-house, where they stood watching +the movements on the quarter-deck for the next half-hour; an interval of +which we shall take advantage to touch in a few of the stronger lights of +our picture, leaving the softer tints and the shadows to be discovered by +the manner in which the artist "tells the story." + +Edward and John Effingham were brothers' children; were born on the same +day; had passionately loved the same woman, who had preferred the +first-named, and died soon after Eve was born; had, notwithstanding this +collision in feeling, remained sincere friends, and this the more so, +probably, from a mutual and natural sympathy in their common loss; had +lived much together at home, and travelled much together abroad, and were +now about to return in company to the land of their birth, after what +might be termed an absence of twelve years; though both had visited +America for short periods in the intervals,--John not less than +five times. + +There was a strong family likeness between the cousins, their persons and +even features being almost identical; though it was scarcely possible for +two human beings to leave more opposite impressions on mere casual +spectators when seen separately. Both were tall, of commanding presence, +and handsome; while one was winning in appearance, and the other, if not +positively forbidding, at least distant and repulsive. The noble outline +of face in Edward Effingham had got to be cold severity in that of John; +the aquiline nose of the latter, seeming to possess an eagle-like and +hostile curvature,--his compressed lip, sarcastic and cold expression, and +the fine classical chin, a feature in which so many of the Saxon race +fail, a haughty scorn that caused strangers usually to avoid him. Eve drew +with great facility and truth, and she had an eye, as her cousin had +rightly said, "full of tints." Often and often had she sketched both of +these loved faces, and never without wondering wherein that strong +difference existed in nature which she had never been able to impart to +her drawings. The truth is, that the subtle character of John Effingham's +face would have puzzled the skill of one who had made the art his study +for a life, and it utterly set the graceful but scarcely profound +knowledge of the beautiful young painter at defiance. All the points of +character that rendered her father so amiable and so winning, and which +were rather felt than perceived, in his cousin were salient and bold, and +if it may be thus expressed, had become indurated by mental suffering and +disappointment. + +The cousins were both rich, though in ways as opposite as their +dispositions and habits of thought. Edward Effingham possessed a large +hereditary property, that brought a good income, and which attached him to +this world of ours by kindly feelings towards its land and water; while +John, much the wealthier of the two, having inherited a large commercial +fortune, did not own ground enough to bury him. As he sometimes deridingly +said, he "kept his gold in corporations, that were as soulless +as himself." + +Still, John Effingham was a man of cultivated mind, of extensive +intercourse with the world, and of manners that varied with the occasion; +or perhaps it were better to say, with his humours. In all these +particulars but the latter the cousins were alike; Edward Effingham's +deportment being as equal as his temper, though also distinguished for a +knowledge of society. + +These gentlemen had embarked at London, on their fiftieth birthday, in the +packet of the 1st of October, bound to New York; the lands and family +residence of the proprietor lying in the state of that name, of which all +of the parties were natives. It is not usual for the cabin passengers of +the London packets to embark in the docks; but Mr. Effingham,--as we shall +call the father in general, to distinguish him from the bachelor, +John,--as an old and experienced traveller, had determined to make his +daughter familiar with the peculiar odours of the vessel in smooth water, +as a protection against sea-sickness; a malady, however, from which she +proved to be singularly exempt in the end. They had, accordingly, been on +board three days, when the ship came to an anchor off Portsmouth, the point +where the remainder of the passengers were to join her on that particular +day when the scene of this tale commences. + +At this precise moment, then, the Montauk was lying at a single anchor, +not less than a league from the land, in a flat calm, with her three +topsails loose, the courses in the brails, and with all those signs of +preparation about her that are so bewildering to landsmen, but which +seamen comprehend as clearly as words. The captain had no other business +there than to take on board the wayfarers, and to renew his supply of +fresh meat and vegetables; things of so familiar import on shore as to be +seldom thought of until missed, but which swell into importance during a +passage of a month's duration. Eve had employed her three days of +probation quite usefully, having, with the exception of the two gentlemen, +the officers of the vessel, and one other person, been in quiet possession +of all the ample, not to say luxurious cabins. It is true, she had a +female attendant; but to her she had been accustomed from childhood, and +Nanny Sidley, as her quondam nurse and actual lady's-maid was termed, +appeared so much a part of herself, that, while her absence would be +missed almost as greatly as that of a limb, her presence was as much a +matter of course as a hand or foot. Nor will a passing word concerning +this excellent and faithful domestic be thrown away, in the brief +preliminary explanations we are making. + +Ann Sidley was one of those excellent creatures who, it is the custom with +the European travellers to say, do not exist at all in America, and who, +while they are certainly less numerous than could be wished, have no +superiors in the world, in their way. She had been born a servant, lived a +servant, and was quite content to die a servant,--and this, too, in one +and the same family. We shall not enter into a philosophical examination +of the reasons that had induced old Ann to feel certain she was in the +precise situation to render her more happy than any other that to her was +attainable; but feel it she did, as John Effingham used to express it, +"from the crown of her head to the sole of her foot." She had passed +through infancy, childhood, girlhood, up to womanhood, _pari passu_, with +the mother of Eve, having been the daughter of a gardener, who died in the +service of the family, and had heart enough to feel that the mixed +relations of civilised society, when properly understood and appreciated, +are more pregnant of happiness than the vulgar scramble and +heart-burnings, that, in the _mêlée_ of a migrating and unsettled +population, are so injurious to the grace and principles of American life. +At the death of Eve's mother, she had transferred her affections to the +child; and twenty years of assiduity and care had brought her to feel as +much tenderness for her lovely young charge as if she had been her natural +parent. But Nanny Sidley was better fitted to care for the body than the +mind of Eve; and when, at the age of ten, the latter was placed under the +control of an accomplished governess, the good woman had meekly and +quietly sunk the duties of the nurse in those of the maid. + +One of the severest trials--or "crosses," as she herself termed it--that +poor Nanny had ever experienced, was endured when Eve began to speak in a +language she could not herself comprehend; for, in despite of the best +intentions in the world, and twelve years of use, the good woman could +never make anything of the foreign tongues her young charge was so rapidly +acquiring. One day, when Eve had been maintaining an animated and laughing +discourse in Italian with her instructress, Nanny, unable to command +herself, had actually caught the child to her bosom, and, bursting into +tears, implored her not to estrange herself entirely from her poor old +nurse. The caresses and solicitations of Eve soon brought the good woman +to a sense of her weakness; but the natural feeling was so strong, that it +required years of close observation to reconcile her to the thousand +excellent qualities of Mademoiselle Viefville, the lady to whose +superintendence the education of Miss Effingham had been finally confided. + +This Mademoiselle Viefville was also among the passengers, and was the one +other person who now occupied the cabins in common with Eve and her +friends. She was the daughter of a French officer who had fallen in +Napoleon's campaigns, had been educated at one of those admirable +establishments which form points of relief in the ruthless history of the +conqueror, and had now lived long enough to have educated two young +persons, the last of whom was Eve Effingham. Twelve years of close +communion with her _élève_ had created sufficient attachment to cause her +to yield to the solicitations of the father to accompany his daughter to +America, and to continue with her during the first year of her probation, +in a state of society that the latter felt must be altogether novel to a +young woman educated as his own child had been. + +So much has been written and said of French governesses, that we shall not +anticipate the subject, but leave this lady to speak and act for herself +in the course of the narrative. Neither is it our intention to be very +minute in these introductory remarks concerning any of our characters; but +having thus traced their outlines, we shall return again to the incidents +as they occurred, trusting to make the reader better acquainted with all +the parties as we proceed. + + + + +Chapter II. + + + + Lord Cram and Lord Vultur. + Sir Brandish O'Cultur, + With Marshal Carouzer, + And old Lady Mouser. + + BATH GUIDE. + + +The assembling of the passengers of a packet-ship is at all times a matter +of interest to the parties concerned. During the western passage in +particular, which can never safely be set down at less than a month, there +is the prospect of being shut up for the whole of that period, within the +narrow compass of a ship, with those whom chance has brought together, +influenced by all the accidents and caprices of personal character, and a +difference of nations, conditions in life, and education. The +quarter-deck, it is true, forms a sort of local distinction, and the poor +creatures in the steerage seem the rejected of Providence for the time +being; but all who know life will readily comprehend that the _pêle-mêle_ +of the cabins can seldom offer anything very enticing to people of +refinement and taste. Against this evil, however, there is one particular +source of relief; most persons feeling a disposition to yield to the +circumstances in which they are placed, with the laudable and convenient +desire to render others comfortable, in order that they may be made +comfortable themselves. + +A man of the world and a gentleman, Mr. Effingham had looked forward to +this passage with a good deal of concern, on account of his daughter, +while he shrank with the sensitiveness of his habits from the necessity of +exposing one of her delicacy and plastic simplicity to the intercourse of +a ship. Accompanied by Mademoiselle Viefville, watched over by Nanny, and +guarded by himself and his kinsman, he had lost some of his apprehensions +on the subject during the three probationary days, and now took his stand +in the centre of his own party to observe the new arrivals, with something +of the security of a man who is entrenched in his own door-way. + +The place they occupied, at a window of the hurricane-house, did not admit +of a view of the water; but it was sufficiently evident from the +preparations in the gangway next the land, that boats were so near as to +render that unnecessary. + +"_Genus_ cockney; _species_, bagman," muttered John Effingham, as the +first arrival touched the deck. "That worthy has merely exchanged the +basket of a coach for the deck of a packet; we may now learn the price +of buttons." + +It did not require a naturalist to detect the species of the stranger, in +truth; though John Effingham had been a little more minute in his +description than was warranted by the fact. The person in question was one +of those mercantile agents that England scatters so profusely over the +world, some of whom have all the most sterling qualities of their nation, +though a majority, perhaps, are a little disposed to mistake the value of +other people as well as their own. This was the _genus_, as John Effingham +had expressed it; but the _species_ will best appear on dissection. The +master of the ship saluted this person cordially, and as an old +acquaintance, by the name of Monday. + +"A _mousquetaire_ resuscitated," said Mademoiselle Viefville, in her +broken English, as one who had come in the same boat as the first-named, +thrust his whiskered and mustachoed visage above the rail of the gangway. + +"More probably a barber, who has converted his own head into a wig-block," +growled John Effingham. + +"It cannot, surely, be Wellington in disguise!" added Mr. Effingham, with +a sarcasm of manner that was quite unusual for him. + +"Or a peer of the realm in his robes!" whispered Eve, who was much amused +with the elaborate toilet of the subject of their remarks, who descended +the ladder supported by a sailor, and, after speaking to the master, was +formally presented to his late boat-companion, as Sir George Templemore. +The two bustled together about the quarter-deck for a few minutes, using +eye-glasses, which led them into several scrapes, by causing them to hit +their legs against sundry objects they might otherwise have avoided, +though both were much too high-bred to betray feelings--or fancied they +were, which answered the same purpose. + +After these flourishes, the new comers descended to the cabin in company, +not without pausing to survey the party in the hurricane-house, more +especially Eve, who, to old Ann's great scandal, was the subject of their +manifest and almost avowed admiration and observation. + +"One is rather glad to have such a relief against the tediousness of a +sea-passage," said Sir George as they went down the ladder. "No doubt you +are used to this sort of thing, Mr. Monday; but with me, it is voyage the +first,--that is, if I except the Channel and the seas one encounters in +making the usual run on the Continent." + +"Oh, dear me! I go and come as regularly as the equinoxes, Sir George, +which you know is quite, in rule, once a year. I call my passages the +equinoxes, too, for I religiously make it a practice to pass just twelve +hours out of the twenty-four in my berth." + +This was the last the party on deck heard of the opinions of the two +worthies, for the time being; nor would they have been favoured with all +this, had not Mr. Monday what he thought a rattling way with him, which +caused him usually to speak in an octave above every one else. Although +their voices were nearly mute, or rather lost to those above, they were +heard knocking about in their state-rooms; and Sir George, in particular, +as frequently called out for the steward, by the name of "Saunders," as +Mr. Monday made similar appeals to the steward's assistant for succour, by +the appropriate appellation of "Toast." + +"I think we may safely claim this person, at least, for a countryman," +said John Effingham: "he is what I have heard termed an American in a +European mask." + +"The character is more ambitiously conceived than skilfully maintained," +replied Eve, who had need of all her _retenue_ of manner to abstain from +laughing outright. "Were I to hazard a conjecture, it would be to describe +the gentleman as a collector of costumes, who had taken a fancy to exhibit +an assortment of his riches on his own person. Mademoiselle Viefville, +you, who so well understand costumes, may tell us from what countries the +separate parts of that attire have been collected?" + +"I can answer for the shop in Berlin where the travelling cap was +purchased," returned the amused governess; "in no other part of the world +can a parallel be found." + +"I should think, ma'am," put in Nanny, with the quiet simplicity of her +nature as well as of her habits, "that the gentleman must have bought his +boots in Paris, for they seem to pinch his feet, and all the Paris boots +and shoes pinch one's feet,--at least, all mine did." + +"The watch-guard is stamped 'Geneva,'" continued Eve. + +"The coat comes from Frankfort: _c'est une équivoque_." + +"And the pipe from Dresden, Mademoiselle Viefville." + +"The _conchiglia_ savours of Rome, and the little chain annexed bespeaks +the Rialto; while the _moustaches_ are anything but _indigènes_, and the +_tout ensemble_ the world: the man is travelled, at least." + +Eve's eyes sparkled with humour as she said this: while the new passenger, +who had been addressed as Mr. Dodge, and as an old acquaintance also, by +the captain, came so near them as to admit of no further comments. A short +conversation between the two soon let the listeners into the secret that +the traveller had come from America in the spring, whither, after having +made the tour of Europe, he was about to return in the autumn. + +"Seen enough, ha!" added the captain, with a friendly nod of the head, +when the other had finished a brief summary of his proceedings in the +eastern hemisphere. "All eyes, and no leisure or inclination for more?" + +"I've seen as much as I _warnt_ to see," returned the traveller, with an +emphasis _on_, and a pronunciation _of_, the word we have italicised, that +cannot be committed to paper, but which were eloquence itself on the +subject of self-satisfaction and self-knowledge. + +"Well, that is the main point. When a man has got all he wants of a thing, +any addition is like over-ballast. Whenever I can get fifteen knots out of +the ship, I make it a point to be satisfied, especially under close-reefed +topsails and on a taut bowline." + +The traveller and the master nodded their heads at each other, like men +who understood more than they expressed; when the former, after inquiring +with marked interest if his room-mate, Sir George Templemore, had arrived, +went below. An intercourse of three days had established something like an +acquaintance between the latter and the passengers she had brought from +the River, and turning his red quizzical face towards the ladies, he +observed with inimitable gravity, + +"There is nothing like understanding when one has enough, even if it be of +knowledge. I never yet met with the navigator who found two 'noons' in the +same day, that he was not in danger of shipwreck. Now I dare say, Mr. +Dodge there, who has just gone below, has, as he says, seen all he +_warnts_ to see, and it is quite likely he knows more already than he can +cleverly get along with.--Let the people be getting the booms on the +yards, Mr. Leach; we shall be _warnting_ to spread our wings before the +end of the passage." + +As Captain Truck, though he often swore, seldom laughed, his mate gave the +necessary order with a gravity equal to that with which it had been +delivered to him; and even the sailors went aloft to execute it with +greater alacrity for an indulgence of humour that was peculiar to their +trade, and which, as few understood it so well, none enjoyed so much as +themselves. As the homeward-bound crew was the same as the outward-bound, +and Mr. Dodge had come abroad quite as green as he was now going home +ripe, this traveller of six months' finish did not escape diver +commentaries that literally cut him up "from clew to ear-ring," and which +flew about in the rigging much as active birds flutter from branch to +branch in a tree. The subject of all this wit, however, remained +profoundly, not to say happily, ignorant of the sensation he had produced, +being occupied in disposing of the Dresden pipe, the Venetian chain, and +the Roman _conchiglia_ in his state-room, and in "instituting an +acquaintance," as he expressed it, with his room-mate, Sir George +Templemore. + +"We must surely have something better than this," observed Mr. Effingham, +"for I observed that two of the state-rooms in the main cabin are +taken singly." + +In order that the general reader may understand this, it may be well to +explain that the packet-ships have usually two berths in each state-room, +but they who can afford to pay an extra charge are permitted to occupy the +little apartment singly. It is scarcely necessary to add, that persons of +gentlemanly feeling, when circumstances will at all permit, prefer +economising in other things in order to live by themselves for the month +usually consumed in the passage, since in nothing is refinement more +plainly exhibited than in the reserve of personal habits. + +"There is no lack of vulgar fools stirring with full pockets," rejoined +John Effingham; "the two rooms you mention may have been taken by some +'yearling' travellers, who are little better than the semi-annual _savant_ +who has just passed us." + +"It is at least _something_, cousin Jack, to have the wishes of a +gentleman." + +"It _is something_, Eve, though it end in wishes, or even in caricature." + +"What are the names?" pleasantly asked Mademoiselle Viefville; "the +_names_ may be a clue to the characters." + +"The papers pinned to the bed-curtains bear the antithetical titles of Mr. +Sharp and Mr. Blunt; though it is quite probable the first is wanting of a +letter or two by accident, and the last is merely a synonyme of the old +_nom de guerre_ 'Cash.'" + +"Do persons, then, actually travel with borrowed names, in our days?" +asked Eve, with a little of the curiosity of the common mother whose +name she bore. + +"That do they, and with borrowed money too, as well as in other days. I +dare say, however, these two co-voyagers of ours will come just as they +are, in truth, Sharp enough, and Blunt enough." + +"Are they Americans, think you?" + +"They ought to be; both the qualities being thoroughly _indigènes_, as +Mademoiselle Viefville would say." + +"Nay, cousin John, I will bandy words with you no longer; for the last +twelve months you have done little else than try to lessen the joyful +anticipations with which I return to the home of my childhood." + +"Sweet one, I would not willingly lessen one of thy young and generous +pleasures by any of the alloy of my own bitterness; but what wilt thou? A +little preparation for that which is as certain to follow as that the sun +succeeds the dawn, will rather soften the disappointment thou art +doomed to feel." + +Eve had only time to cast a look of affectionate gratitude towards +him,--for whilst he spoke tauntingly, he spoke with a feeling that her +experience from childhood had taught her to appreciate,--ere the arrival +of another boat drew the common attention to the gangway. A call from the +officer in attendance had brought the captain to the rail; and his order +"to pass in the luggage of Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt," was heard by +all near. + +"Now for _les indigènes_," whispered Mademoiselle Viefville, with the +nervous excitement that is a little apt to betray a lively expectation in +the gentler sex. + +Eve smiled, for there are situations in which trifles help to awaken +interest, and the little that had just passed served to excite curiosity +in the whole party. Mr. Effingham thought it a favourable symptom that the +master, who had had interviews with all his passengers in London, walked +to the gangway to receive the new-comers; for a boat-load of the +quarter-deck _oi polloi_ had come on board a moment before without any +other notice on his part than a general bow, with the usual order to +receive their effects. + +"The delay denotes Englishmen," the caustic John had time to throw in, +before the silent arrangement at the gangway was interrupted by the +appearance of the passengers. + +The quiet smile of Mademoiselle Viefville, as the two travellers appeared +on deck, denoted approbation, for her practised eye detected at a glance, +that both were certainly gentlemen. Women are more purely creatures of +convention in their way than men, their education inculcating nicer +distinctions and discriminations than that of the other sex; and Eve, who +would have studied Sir George Templemore and Mr. Dodge as she would have +studied the animals of a caravan, or as creatures with whom she had no +affinities, after casting a sly look of curiosity at the two who now +appeared on deck, unconsciously averted her eyes like a well-bred young +person in a drawing-room. + +"They are indeed English," quietly remarked Mr. Effingham; "but, out of +question English gentlemen." + +"The one nearest appears to me to be Continental," answered Mademoiselle +Viefville who had not felt the same impulse to avert her look as Eve; "he +is _jamais Anglais_!" + +Eve stole a glance in spite of herself, and, with the intuitive +penetration of a woman, intimated that she had come to the same +conclusion. The two strangers were both tall, and decidedly gentleman-like +young men, whose personal appearance would cause either to be remarked. +The one whom the captain addressed as Mr. Sharp had the most youthful +look, his complexion being florid, and his hair light; though the other +was altogether superior in outline of features as well as in expression; +indeed, Mademoiselle Viefville fancied she never saw a sweeter smile than +that he gave on returning the salute of the deck; there was more than the +common expression of suavity and of the usual play of features in it, for +it struck her as being thoughtful and as almost melancholy. His companion +was gracious in his manner, and perfectly well toned; but his demeanour +had less of the soul of the man about it, partaking more of the training +of the social caste to which it belonged. These may seem to be nice +distinctions for the circumstances; but Mademoiselle Viefville had passed +her life in good company, and under responsibilities that had rendered +observation and judgment highly necessary, and particularly observations +of the other sex. + +Each of the strangers had a servant; and while their luggage was passed +up from the boat, they walked aft nearer to the hurricane-house, +accompanied by the captain. Every American, who is not very familiar with +the world appears to possess the mania of introducing. Captain Truck was +no exception to the rule; for, while he was perfectly acquainted with a +ship, and knew the etiquette of the quarter-deck to a hair, he got into +blue water the moment he approached the finesse of deportment. He was +exactly of that school of _élégants_ who fancy drinking a glass of wine +with another, and introducing, are touches of breeding; it being +altogether beyond his comprehension that both have especial uses, and are +only to be resorted to on especial occasions. Still, the worthy master, +who had begun life on the forecastle, without any previous knowledge of +usages, and who had imbibed the notion that "manners make the man," taken +in the narrow sense of the axiom, was a devotee of what he fancied to be +good breeding, and one of his especial duties, as he imagined, in order to +put his passengers at their ease, was to introduce them to each other; a +proceeding which, it is hardly necessary to say, had just a contrary +effect with the better class of them. + +"You are acquainted, gentlemen?" he said, as the three approached the +party in the hurricane-house. + +The two travellers endeavoured to look interested, while Mr. Sharp +carelessly observed that they had met for the first time in the boat. This +was delightful intelligence to Captain Truck, who did not lose a moment in +turning it to account. Stopping short, he faced his companions, and, with +a solemn wave of the hand, he went through the ceremonial in which he most +delighted, and in which he piqued himself at being an adept. + +"Mr. Sharp, permit me to introduce you to Mr. Blunt--Mr. Blunt, let me +make you acquainted with Mr. Sharp." + +The gentlemen, though taken a little by surprise at the dignity and +formality of the captain, touched their hands civilly to each other, and +smiled. Eve, not a little amused at the scene, watched the whole +procedure; and then she too detected the sweet melancholy of the one +expression and the marble-like irony of the other. It may have been this +that caused her to start, though almost imperceptibly, and to colour. + +"Our turn will come next," muttered John Effingham: "get the grimaces +ready." + +His conjecture was right; for, hearing his voice without understanding the +words, the captain followed up his advantage to his own infinite +gratification. + +"Gentlemen,--Mr. Effingham, Mr. John Effingham"--(every one soon came to +make this distinction in addressing the cousins)--"Miss Effingham, +Mademoiselle Viefville:--Mr. Sharp, Mr. Blunt,--ladies;--gentlemen, Mr. +Blunt, Mr. Sharp." + +The dignified bow of Mr. Effingham, as well as the faint and distant smile +of Eve, would have repelled any undue familiarity in men of less tone than +either of the strangers, both of whom received the unexpected honour like +those who felt themselves to be intruders. As Mr. Sharp raised his hat to +Eve, however, he held it suspended a moment above his head, and then +dropping his arm to its full length, he bowed with profound respect, +though distantly. Mr. Blunt was less elaborate in his salute, but as +pointed as the circumstances at all required. Both gentlemen were a little +struck with the distant hauteur of John Effingham, whose bow, while it +fulfilled all the outward forms, was what Eve used laughingly to term +"imperial." The bustle of preparation, and the certainty that there would +be no want of opportunities to renew the intercourse, prevented more than +the general salutations, and the new-comers descended to their +state-rooms. + +"Did you remark the manner in which those people took my introduction?" +asked Captain Truck of his chief mate, whom he was training up in the ways +of packet-politeness, as one in the road of preferment. "Now, to my +notion, they might have shook hands at least. That's what I call +_Vattel_." + +"One sometimes falls in with what are _rum_ chaps," returned the other, +who, from following the London trade, had caught a few cockneyisms. "If a +man chooses to keep his hands in the beckets, why let him, say I; but I +take it as a slight to the company to sheer out of the usual track in +such matters." + +"I was thinking as much myself; but after all, what can packet-masters do +in such a case? We can set luncheon and dinner before the passengers, but +we can't make them eat. Now, my rule is, when a gentleman introduces me, +to do the thing handsomely, and to return shake for shake, if it is three +times three; but as for a touch of the beaver, it is like setting a +top-gallant sail in passing a ship at sea, and means just nothing at all. +Who would know a vessel because he has let run his halyards and swayed the +yard up again? One would do as much to a Turk for manners' sake. No, no! +there is something in this, and, d--- me, just to make sure of it, the +first good opportunity that offers, I'll--ay, I'll just introduce them all +over again!--Let the people ship their hand-spikes, Mr. Leach, and heave in +the slack of the chain.--Ay, ay! I'll take an opportunity when all hands +are on deck, and introduce them, ship-shape, one by one, as your +greenhorns go through a lubber's-hole, or we shall have no friendship +during the passage." + +The mate nodded approbation, as if the other had hit upon the right +expedient, and then he proceeded to obey the orders, while the cares of +his vessel soon drove the subject temporarily from the mind of his +commander. + + + + +Chapter III. + + + + By all description, this should be the place. + Who's here?--Speak, ho!--No answer!--What is this? + + TIMON OF ATHENS + + +A ship with her sails loosened and her ensign abroad is always a beautiful +object; and the Montauk, a noble New-York-built vessel of seven hundred +tons burthen, was a first-class specimen of the "kettle-bottom" school of +naval architecture, wanting in nothing that the taste and experience of +the day can supply. The scene that was now acting before their eyes +therefore soon diverted the thoughts of Mademoiselle Viefville and Eve +from the introductions of the captain, both watching with intense +interest the various movements of the crew and passengers as they passed +in review. + +A crowd of well-dressed, but of an evidently humbler class of persons than +those farther aft, were thronging the gangways, little dreaming of the +physical suffering they were to endure before they reached the land of +promise,--that distant America, towards which the poor and oppressed of +nearly all nations turn longing eyes in quest of a shelter. Eve saw with +wonder aged men and women among them; beings who were about to sever most +of the ties of the world in order to obtain relief from the physical pains +and privations that had borne hard on them for more than threescore years. +A few had made sacrifices of themselves in obedience to that mysterious +instinct which man feels in his offspring; while others, again, went +rejoicing, flushed with the hope of their vigour and youth. Some, the +victims of their vices, had embarked in the idle expectation that a change +of scene, with increased means of indulgence, could produce a healthful +change of character. All had views that the truth would have dimmed, and, +perhaps, no single adventurer among the emigrants collected in that ship +entertained either sound or reasonable notions of the mode in which his +step was to be rewarded, though many may meet with a success that will +surpass their brightest picture of the future. More, no doubt, were to be +disappointed. + +Reflections something like these passed through the mind of Eve Effingham, +as she examined the mixed crowd, in which some were busy in receiving +stores from boats; others in holding party conferences with friends, in +which a few were weeping; here and there a group was drowning reflection +in the parting cup; while wondering children looked up with anxiety into +the well-known faces, as if fearful they might lose the countenances they +loved, and the charities on which they habitually relied, in such +a _mêlée._ + +Although the stern discipline which separates the cabin and steerage +passengers into castes as distinct as those of the Hindoos had not yet +been established, Captain Truck had too profound a sense of his duty to +permit the quarterdeck to be unceremoniously invaded. This part of the +ship, then, had partially escaped the confusion of the moment; though +trunks, boxes, hampers, and other similar appliances of travelling, were +scattered about in tolerable affluence. Profiting by the space, of which +there was still sufficient for the purpose, most of the party left the +hurricane-house to enjoy the short walk that a ship affords. At that +instant, another boat from the land reached the vessel's side, and a +grave-looking personage, who was not disposed to lessen his dignity by +levity or an omission of forms, appeared on deck, where he demanded to be +shown the master. An introduction was unnecessary in this instance; for +Captain Truck no sooner saw his visitor than he recognized the well-known +features and solemn pomposity of a civil officer of Portsmouth, who was +often employed to search the American packets, in pursuit of delinquents +of all degrees of crime and folly. + +"I had just come to the opinion I was not to have the pleasure of seeing +you this passage, Mr. Grab," said the captain, shaking hands familiarly +with the myrmidon of the law; "but the turn of the tide is not more +regular than you gentlemen who come in the name of the king.--Mr. Grab, +Mr. Dodge; Mr. Dodge, Mr. Grab. And now, to what forgery, or bigamy, or +elopement, or _scandalum magnatum,_ do I owe the honor of your company +this time?--Sir George Templemore, Mr. Grab; Mr. Grab, Sir George +Templemore." + +Sir George bowed with the dignified aversion an honest man might be +supposed to feel for one of the other's employment; while Mr. Grab looked +gravely and with a counter dignity at Sir George. The business of the +officer, however, was with none in the cabin; but he had come in quest of +a young woman who had married a suitor rejected by her uncle,--an +arrangement that was likely to subject the latter to a settlement of +accounts which he found inconvenient, and which he had thought it prudent +to anticipate by bringing an action of debt against the bridegroom for +advances, real or pretended, made to the wife during her nonage. A dozen +eager ears caught an outline of this tale as it was communicated to the +captain, and in an incredibly short space of time it was known throughout +the ship, with not a few embellishments. + +"I do not know the person of the husband," continued the officer, "nor +indeed does the attorney who is with me in the boat; but his name is +Robert Davis, and you can have no difficulty in pointing him out. We know +him to be in the ship." + +"I never introduce any steerage passengers, my dear sir; and there is no +such person in the cabin, I give you my honour,--and that is a pledge that +must pass between gentlemen like us. You are welcome to search, but the +duty of the vessel must go on. Take your man--but do not detain the +ship.--Mr. Sharp, Mr. Grab; Mr. Grab, Mr. Sharp.--Bear a hand there, Mr. +Leach, and let us have the slack of the chain as soon as possible." + +There appeared to be what the philosophers call the attraction of +repulsion between the parties last introduced, for the tall +gentlemanly-looking Mr. Sharp eyed the officer with a supercilious +coldness, neither party deeming much ceremony on the occasion necessary. +Mr. Grab now summoned his assistant, the attorney, from the boat, and +there was a consultation between them as to their further proceedings. +Fifty heads were grouped around them, and curious eyes watched their +smallest movements, one of the crowd occasionally disappearing to report +proceedings. + +Man is certainly a clannish animal; for without knowing any thing of the +merits of the case, without pausing to inquire into the right or the wrong +of the matter, in the pure spirit of partisanship, every man, woman, and +child of the steerage, which contained fully a hundred souls, took sides +against the law, and enlisted in the cause of the defendant. All this was +done quietly, however, for no one menaced or dreamed of violence, crew and +passengers usually taking their cues from the officers of the vessel on +such occasions, and those of the Montauk understood too well the rights of +the public agents to commit themselves in the matter. + +"Call Robert Davis," said the officer, resorting to a _ruse_, by affecting +an authority he had no right to assume. "Robert Davis!" echoed twenty +voices, among which was that of the bridegroom himself, who was nigh to +discover his secret by an excess of zeal. It was easy to call, but no +one answered. + +"Can you tell me which is Robert Davis, my little fellow?" the officer +asked coaxingly, of a fine flaxen-headed boy, whose age did not exceed +ten, and who was a curious spectator of what passed. "Tell me which is +Robert Davis, and I will give you a sixpence." + +The child knew, but professed ignorance. + +"_C'est un esprit de corps admirable_!" exclaimed Mademoiselle Viefville; +for the interest of the scene had brought nearly all on board, with the +exception of those employed in the duty of the vessel, near the gangway. +"_Ceci est délicieux,_ and I could devour that boy--!" + +What rendered this more, odd, or indeed absolutely ludicrous, was the +circumstance that, by a species of legerdemain, a whisper had passed among +the spectators so stealthily, and yet so soon, that the attorney and his +companion were the only two on deck who remained ignorant of the person of +the man they sought. Even the children caught the clue, though they had +the art to indulge their natural curiosity by glances so sly as to escape +detection. + +Unfortunately, the attorney had sufficient knowledge of the family of the +bride to recognize her by a general resemblance, rendered conspicuous as +it was by a pallid face and an almost ungovernable nervous excitement. He +pointed her out to the officer, who ordered her to approach him,--a +command that caused her to burst into tears. The agitation and distress of +his wife were near proving too much for the prudence of the young husband, +who was making an impetuous movement towards her, when the strong grasp of +a fellow-passenger checked him in time to prevent discovery. It is +singular how much is understood by trifles when the mind has a clue to the +subject, and how often signs, that are palpable as day, are overlooked +when suspicion is not awakened, or when the thoughts have obtained a false +direction. The attorney and the officer were the only two present who had +not seen the indiscretion of the young man, and who did not believe him +betrayed. His wife trembled to a degree that almost destroyed the ability +to stand; but, casting an imploring look for self-command on her +indiscreet partner, she controlled her own distress, and advanced towards +the officer, in obedience to his order, with a power of endurance that the +strong affections of a woman could alone enable her to assume. + +"If the husband will not deliver himself up, I shall be compelled to order +the wife to be carried ashore in his stead!" the attorney coldly remarked, +while he applied a pinch of snuff to a nose that was already +saffron-coloured from the constant use of the weed. + +A pause succeeded this ominous declaration, and the crowd of passengers +betrayed dismay, for all believed there was now no hope for the pursued. +The wife bowed her head to her knees, for she had sunk on a box as if to +hide the sight of her husband's arrest. At this moment a voice spoke from +among the group on the quarter-deck. + +"Is this an arrest for crime, or a demand for debt?" asked the young man +who has been announced as Mr. Blunt. + +There was a quiet authority in the speaker's manner that reassured the +failing hopes of the passengers, while it caused the attorney and his +companion to look round in surprise, and perhaps a little in resentment. A +dozen eager voices assured "the gentleman" there was no crime in the +matter at all--there was even no just debt, but it was a villanous scheme +to compel a wronged ward to release a fraudulent guardian from his +liabilities. Though all this was not very clearly explained, it was +affirmed with so much zeal and energy as to awaken suspicion, and to +increase the interest of the more intelligent portion of the spectators. +The attorney surveyed the travelling dress, the appearance of fashion, and +the youth of his interrogator, whose years could not exceed +five-and-twenty, and his answer was given with an air of superiority. + +"Debt or crime, it can matter nothing in the eye of the law." + +"It matters much in the view of an honest man," returned the youth with +spirit. "One might hesitate about interfering in behalf of a rogue, +however ready to exert himself in favour of one who is innocent, perhaps, +of every thing but misfortune." + +"This looks a little like an attempt at a rescue! I hope we are still in +England, and under the protection of English laws?" + +"No doubt at all of that, Mr. Seal," put in the captain, who having kept +an eye on the officer from a distance, now thought it time to interfere, +in order to protect the interests of his owners. "Yonder is England, and +that is the Isle of Wight, and the Montauk has hold of an English bottom, +and good anchorage it is; no one means to dispute your authority, Mr. +Attorney, nor to call in question that of the king. Mr. Blunt merely +throws out a suggestion, sir; or rather, a distinction between rogues and +honest men; nothing more, depend on it, sir.--Mr. Seal, Mr. Blunt; Mr. +Blunt, Mr. Seal. And a thousand pities it is, that a distinction is not +more commonly made." + +The young man bowed slightly, and with a face flushed, partly with +feeling, and partly at finding himself unexpectedly conspicuous among so +many strangers, he advanced a little from the quarter-deck group, like one +who feels he is required to maintain the ground he has assumed. + +"No one can be disposed to question the supremacy of the English laws in +this roadstead," he said, "and least of all myself; but you will permit me +to doubt the legality of arresting, or in any manner detaining, a wife in +virtue of a process issued against the husband." + +"A briefless barrister!" muttered Seal to Grab. "I dare say a timely +guinea would have silenced the fellow. What is now to be done?" + +"The lady must go ashore, and all these matters can be arranged before a +magistrate." + +"Ay, ay! let her sue out a _habeas corpus_ if she please," added the ready +attorney, whom a second survey caused to distrust his first inference. +"Justice is blind in England as well as in other countries, and is liable +to mistakes; but still she is just. If she does mistake sometimes, she is +always ready to repair the wrong." + +"Cannot _you_ do something here?" Eve involuntarily half-whispered to Mr. +Sharp, who stood at her elbow. + +This person started on hearing her voice making this sudden appeal, and +glancing a look of intelligence at her, he smiled and moved nearer to the +principal parties. + +"Really, Mr. Attorney," he commenced, "this appears to be rather +irregular, I must confess,--quite out of the ordinary way, and it may lead +to unpleasant consequences." + +"In what manner, sir?" interrupted Seal, measuring the other's ignorance +at a glance. + +"Why, irregular in form, if not in principle. I am aware that the _habeas +corpus_ is all-essential, and that the law must have its way; but really +this does seem a little irregular, not to describe it by any +harsher term." + +Mr. Seal treated this new appeal respectfully, in appearance at least, for +he saw it was made by one greatly his superior, while he felt an utter +contempt for it in essentials, as he perceived intuitively that this new +intercession was made in a profound ignorance of the subject. As respects +Mr. Blunt, however, he had an unpleasant distrust of the result, the quiet +manner of that gentleman denoting more confidence in himself, and a +greater practical knowledge of the laws. Still, to try the extent of the +other's information, and the strength of his nerves, he rejoined in a +magisterial and menacing tone-- + +"Yes, let the lady sue out a writ of _habeas corpus_ if wrongfully +arrested; and I should be glad to discover the foreigner who will dare to +attempt a rescue in old England, and in defiance of English laws." + +It is probable Paul Blunt would have relinquished his interference, from +an apprehension that he might be ignorantly aiding the evil-doer, but for +this threat; and even the threat might not have overcome his prudence, had +not he caught the imploring look of the fine blue eyes of Eve. + +"All are not necessarily foreigners who embark on board an American ship +at an English port," he said steadily, "nor is justice denied those that +are. The _habeas corpus_ is as well understood in other countries as in +this, for happily we live in an age when neither liberty nor knowledge is +exclusive. If an attorney, you must know yourself that you cannot legally +arrest a wife for a husband, and that what you say of the _habeas corpus_ +is little worthy of attention." + +"We arrest, and whoever interferes with an officer in charge of a prisoner +is guilty of a rescue. Mistakes must be rectified by the magistrates." + +"True, provided the officer has warranty for what he does." + +"Writs and warrants may contain errors, but an arrest is an arrest," +growled Grab. + +"Not the arrest of a woman for a man. In such a case there is design, and +not a mistake. If this frightened wife will take counsel from me, she will +refuse to accompany you." + +"At her peril, let her dare do so!" + +"At _your_ peril do you dare to attempt forcing her from the ship!" + +"Gentlemen, gentlemen!--let there be no misunderstanding, I pray you," +interposed the captain. "Mr. Blunt, Mr. Grab; Mr. Grab, Mr. Blunt. No +warm words, gentlemen, I beg of you. But the tide is beginning to serve, +Mr. Attorney, and 'time and tide,' you know--If we stay here much +longer, the Montauk may be forced to sail on the 2d, instead of the 1st, +as has been advertised in both hemispheres. I should be sorry to carry you +to sea, gentlemen, without your small stores; and as for the cabin, it is +as full as a lawyer's conscience. No remedy but the steerage in such a +case.--Lay forward, men, and heave away. Some of you, man the +fore-top-sail halyards.--We are as regular as our chronometers; the 1st, +10th, and 20th, without fail." + +There was some truth, blended with a little poetry, in Captain Truck's +account of the matter. The tide had indeed made in his favour, but the +little wind there was blew directly into the roadstead, and had not his +feelings become warmed by the distress of a pretty and interesting young +woman, it is more than probable the line would have incurred the disgrace +of having a ship sail on a later day than had been advertised. As it was, +however, he had the matter up in earnest, and he privately assured Sir +George and Mr. Dodge, if the affair were not immediately disposed of, he +should carry both the attorney and officer to sea with him, and that he +did not feel himself bound to furnish either with water. "They may catch a +little rain, by wringing their jackets," he added, with a wink; "though +October is a dryish month in the American seas." + +The decision of Paul Blunt would have induced the attorney and his +companion to relinquish their pursuit but for two circumstances. They had +both undertaken the job as a speculation, or on the principle of "no +play, no pay," and all their trouble would be lost without success. Then +the very difficulty that occurred had been foreseen, and while the officer +proceeded to the ship, the uncle had been busily searching for a son on +shore, to send off to identify the husband,--a step that would have been +earlier resorted to could the young man have been found. This son was a +rejected suitor, and he was now seen, by the aid of a glass that Mr. Grab +always carried, pulling towards the Montauk, in a two-oared boat, with as +much zeal as malignancy and disappointment could impart. His distance from +the ship was still considerable; but a peculiar hat, with the aid of the +glass, left no doubt of his identity. The attorney pointed out the boat to +the officer, and the latter, after a look through the glass, gave a nod of +approbation. Exultation overcame the usual wariness of the attorney, for +his pride, too, had got to be enlisted in the success of his +speculation,--men being so strangely constituted as often to feel as much +joy in the accomplishment of schemes that are unjustifiable, as in the +accomplishment of those of which they may have reason to be proud. + +On the other hand, the passengers and people of the packet seized +something near the truth, with that sort of instinctive readiness which +seems to characterize bodies of men in moments of excitement. That the +solitary boat which was pulling towards them in the dusk of the evening +contained some one who might aid the attorney and his myrmidon, all +believed, though in what manner none could tell. + +Between all seamen and the ministers of the law there is a long-standing +antipathy, for the visits of the latter are usually so timed as to leave +nothing between the alternatives of paying or of losing a voyage. It was +soon apparent, then, that Mr. Seal had little to expect from the apathy of +the crew, for never did men work with better will to get a ship loosened +from the bottom. + +All this feeling manifested itself in a silent and intelligent activity +rather than in noise or bustle, for every man on board exercised his best +faculties, as well as his best good will and strength; the clock-work +ticks of the palls of the windlass resembling those of a watch that had +got the start of time, while the chain came in with surges of half a +fathom at each heave. + +"Lay hold of this rope, men," cried Mr. Leach, placing the end of the +main-topsail halyards in the hands of half-a-dozen athletic steerage +passengers, who had all the inclination in the world to be doing, though +uncertain where to lay their hands; "lay hold, and run away with it." + +The second mate performed the same feat forward, and as the sheets had +never been started, the broad folds of the Montauk's canvas began to open, +even while the men were heaving at the anchor. These exertions quickened +the blood in the veins of those who were not employed, until even the +quarter-deck passengers began to experience the excitement of a chase, in +addition to the feelings of compassion. Captain Truck, was silent, but +very active in preparations. Springing to the wheel, he made its spokes +fly until he had forced the helm hard up, when he unceremoniously gave it +to John Effingham to keep there. His next leap was to the foot of the +mizen-mast, where, after a few energetic efforts alone, he looked over his +shoulder and beckoned for aid. + +"Sir George Templemore, mizen-topsail-halyards; mizen-topsail-halyards, +Sir George Templemore," muttered the eager master, scarce knowing what he +said. "Mr. Dodge, now is the time to show that your name and nature are +not identical." + +In short, nearly all on board were busy, and, thanks to the hearty good +will of the officers, stewards, cooks, and a few of the hands that could +be spared from the windlass, busy in a way to spread sail after sail with +a rapidity little short of that seen on board of a vessel of war. The +rattling of the clew-garnet blocks, as twenty lusty fellows ran forward +with the tack of the mainsail, and the hauling forward of braces, was the +signal that the ship was clear of ground, and coming under command. + +A cross current had superseded the necessity of casting the vessel, but +her sails took the light air nearly abeam; the captain understanding that +motion was of much more importance just then than direction. No sooner did +he perceive by the bubbles that floated past, or rather appeared to float +past, that his ship was dividing the water forward, than he called a +trusty man to the wheel, relieving John Effingham from his watch. The next +instant, Mr. Leach reported the anchor catted and fished. + +"Pilot, you will be responsible for this if my prisoners escape," said Mr. +Grab menacingly. "You know my errand, and it is your duty to aid the +ministers of the law." + +"Harkee, Mr. Grab," put in the master, who had warmed himself with the +exercise; "we all know, and we all do our duties, on board the Montauk. It +is your duty to take Robert Davis on shore if you can find him; and it is +my duty to take the Montauk to America: now, if you will receive counsel +from a well-wisher, I would advise you to see that you do not go in her. +No one offers any impediment to your performing your office, and I'll +thank you to offer me none in performing mine.--Brace the yards further +forward, boys, and let the ship come up to the wind." + +As there were logic, useful information, law, and seamanship united in +this reply, the attorney began to betray uneasiness; for by this time the +ship had gathered so much way as to render it exceedingly doubtful whether +a two-oared boat would be able to come up with her, without the consent of +those on board. It is probable, as evening had already closed, and the +rays of the moon were beginning to quiver on the ripple of the water, that +he would have abandoned his object, though with infinite reluctance, had +not Sir George Templemore pointed out to the captain a six-oared boat, +that was pulling towards them from a quarter that permitted it to be seen +in the moonlight. + +"That appears to be a man-of-war's cutter," observed the baronet uneasily, +for by this time all on board felt a sort of personal interest in +their escape. + +"It does indeed, Captain Truck," added the pilot; "and if _she_ make a +signal, it will become my duty to heave-to the Montauk." + +"Then bundle out of her, my fine fellow, as fast as you can for not a +brace or a bowline shall be touched here, with my consent, for any such +purpose. The ship is cleared--my hour is come--my passengers are on +board--and America is my haven.--Let them that want me, catch me. That is +what I call _Vattel_." + +The pilot and the master of the Montauk were excellent friends, and +understood each other perfectly, even while the former was making the most +serious professions of duty. The beat was hauled up, and, first whispering +a few cautions about the shoals and the currents, the worthy marine guide +leaped into it, and was soon seen floating astern--a cheering proof that +the ship had got fairly in motion. As he fell out of hearing in the wake +of the vessel, the honest fellow kept calling out "to tack in season." + +"If you wish to try the speed of your boat against that of the pilot, Mr. +Grab," called out the captain, "you will never have a better opportunity. +It is a fine night for a regatta, and I will stand you a pound on Mr. +Handlead's heels. For that matter, I would as soon trust his head, or his +hands, in the bargain." + +The officer continued obstinately on board, for he saw that the six-oared +boat was coming up with the ship, and, as he well knew the importance to +his client of compelling a settlement of the accounts, he fancied some +succour might be expected in that quarter. In the mean time, this new +movement on the part of their pursuers attracted general attention, and, +as might be expected, the interest of this little incident increased the +excitement that usually accompanies a departure for a long sea-voyage, +fourfold. Men and women forgot their griefs and leave-takings in anxiety, +and in that pleasure which usually attends agitation of the mind that does +not proceed from actual misery of our own. + + + + +Chapter IV. + + + + Whither away so fast? + O God save you! + Even to the hall to hear what shall become + Of the great Duke of Buckingham. + + HENRY VIII. + + +The assembling of the passengers of the large packet-ship is necessarily +an affair of coldness and distrust, especially with those who know the +world, and more particularly still when the passage is from Europe to +America. The greater sophistication of the old than of the new hemisphere, +with its consequent shifts and vices, the knowledge that the tide of +emigration sets westward, and that few abandon the home of their youth +unless impelled by misfortune at least, with other obvious causes, unite +to produce this distinction. Then come the fastidiousness of habits, the +sentiments of social castes, the refinements of breeding, and the reserves +of dignity of character, to be put in close collision with bustling +egotism, ignorance of usages, an absence of training, and downright +vulgarity of thought and practices. Although necessity soon brings these +chaotic elements into something like order, the first week commonly passes +in reconnoitring, cool civilities, and cautious concessions, to yield at +length to the never-dying charities; unless, indeed, the latter may happen +to be kept in abeyance by a downright quarrel, about midnight carousals, a +squeaking fiddle, or some incorrigible snorer. + +Happily, the party collected in the Montauk had the good fortune to +abridge the usual probation in courtesies, by the stirring events of the +night on which they sailed. Two hours had scarcely elapsed since the last +passenger crossed the gangway, and yet the respective circles of the +quarter-deck and steerage felt more sympathy with each other than the +boasted human charities ordinarily quicken in days of common-place +intercourse. They had already found out each other's names, thanks to the +assiduity of Captain Truck, who had stolen time, in the midst of all his +activity, to make half-a-dozen more introductions, and the Americans of +the less trained class were already using them as freely as if they were +old acquaintances. We say Americans, for the cabins of these ships usually +contain a congress of nations, though the people of England, and of her +ci-devant colonies, of course predominate in those of the London lines. On +the present occasion, the last two were nearly balanced in numbers, so far +as national character could be made out; opinion (which, as might be +expected, had been busy the while,) being suspended in reference to Mr. +Blunt, and one or two others whom the captain called "foreigners," to +distinguish them from the Anglo-Saxon stock. + +This equal distribution of forces might, under other circumstances, have +led to a division in feeling; for the conflicts between American and +British opinions, coupled with a difference in habits, are a prolific +source of discontent in the cabins of packets. The American is apt to +fancy himself at home, under the flag of his country; while his +Transatlantic kinsman is strongly addicted to fancying that when he has +fairly paid his money, he has a right to embark all his prejudices with +his other luggage. + +The affair of the attorney and the newly-married couple, however, was kept +quite distinct from all feelings of nationality; the English apparently +entertaining quite as lively a wish that the latter might escape from the +fangs of the law, as any other portion of the passengers. The parties +themselves were British, and although the authority evaded was of the same +origin, right or wrong, all on board had taken up the impression that it +was improperly exercised. Sir George Templemore, the Englishman of highest +rank, was decidedly of this way of thinking,--an opinion he was rather +warm in expressing,--and the example of a baronet had its weight, not only +with most of his own countrymen, but with not a few of the Americans also. +The Effingham party, together with Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt, were, indeed, +all who seemed to be entirely indifferent to Sir George's sentiments; and, +as men are intuitively quick in discovering who do and who do not defer to +their suggestions, their accidental independence might have been favoured +by this fact, for the discourse of this gentleman was addressed in the +main to those who lent the most willing ears. Mr. Dodge, in particular, +was his constant and respectful listener, and profound admirer:--But then +he was his room-mate, and a democrat of a water so pure, that he was +disposed to maintain no man had a right to any one of his senses, unless +by popular sufferance. + +In the mean while, the night advanced, and the soft light of the moon was +playing on the waters, adding a semi-mysterious obscurity to the +excitement of the scene. The two-oared boat had evidently been overtaken +by that carrying six oars, and, after a short conference, the first had +returned reluctantly towards the land, while the latter profiting by its +position, had set two lug-sails, and was standing out into the offing, on +a course that would compel the Montauk to come under its lee, when the +shoals, as would soon be the case, should force the ship to tack. + +"England is most inconveniently placed," Captain Truck dryly remarked as +he witnessed this manoeuvre. "Were this island only out of the way, now, +we might stand on as we head, and leave those man-of-war's men to amuse +themselves all night with backing and filling in the roads of Portsmouth." + +"I hope there is no danger of that little boat's overtaking this large +ship!" exclaimed Sir George, with a vivacity that did great credit to his +philanthropy, according to the opinion of Mr. Dodge at least; the latter +having imbibed a singular bias in favour of persons of condition, from +having travelled in an _eilwagen_ with a German baron, from whom he had +taken a model of the pipe he carried but never smoked, and from having +been thrown for two days and nights into the society of a "Polish +countess," as he uniformly termed her, in the _gondole_ of a _diligence_, +between Lyons and Marseilles. In addition, Mr. Dodge, as has just been +hinted, was an ultra-freeman at home--a circumstance that seems always to +react, when the subject of the feeling gets into foreign countries. + +"A feather running before a lady's sigh would outsail either of us in this +air, which breathes on us in some such fashion as a whale snores, Sir +George, by sudden puffs. I would give the price of a steerage passage, if +Great Britain lay off the Cape of Good Hope for a week or ten days." + +"Or Cape Hatteras!" rejoined the mate. + +"Not I; I wish the old island no harm, nor a worse climate than it has got +already; though it lies as much in our way just at this moment, as the +moon in an eclipse of the sun. I bear the old creature a great-grandson's +love--or a step or two farther off, if you will,--and come and go too +often to forget the relationship. But, much as I love her, the affection +is not strong enough to go ashore on her shoals, and so we will go about, +Mr. Leach; at the same time, I wish from my heart that two-lugged rascal +would go about his business." + +The ship tacked slowly but gracefully, for she was in what her master +termed "racing trim;" and as her bows fell off to the eastward, it became +pretty evident to all who understood the subject, that the two little +lug-sails that were "eating into the wind," as the sailors express it, +would weather upon her track ere she could stretch over to the other +shoal. Even the landsmen had some feverish suspicions of the truth, and +the steerage passengers were already holding a secret conference on the +possibility of hiding the pursued in some of the recesses of the ship. +"Such things were often done," one whispered to another, "and it was as +easy to perform it now as at any other time." + +But Captain Truck viewed the matter differently: his vocation called him +three times a year into the roads at Portsmouth, and he felt little +disposition to embarrass his future intercourse with the place by setting +its authorities at a too open defiance. He deliberated a good deal on the +propriety of throwing his ship up into the wind, as she slowly advanced +towards the boat, and of inviting those in the latter to board him. +Opposed to this was the pride of profession, and Jack Truck was not a man +to overlook or to forget the "yarns" that were spun among his fellows at +the New England Coffee-house, or among those farming hamlets on the banks +of the Connecticut, whence all the packet-men are derived, and whither +they repair for a shelter when their careers are run, as regularly as the +fruit decays where it falleth, or the grass that has not been harvested or +cropped withers on its native stalk. + +"There is no question, Sir George, that this fellow is a man-of-war's +man," said the master to the baronet, who stuck close to his side. "Take a +peep at the creeping rogue through this night-glass, and you will see his +crew seated at their thwarts with their arms folded, like men who eat the +king's beef. None but your regular public servant ever gets that impudent +air of idleness about him, either in England or America. In this respect, +human nature is the same in both hemispheres, a man never falling in with +luck, but he fancies it is no more than his deserts." + +"There seems to be a great many of them! Can it be their intention to +carry the vessel by boarding?" + +"If it is, they must take the will for the deed," returned Mr. Truck a +little coldly. "I very much question if the Montauk, with three cabin +officers, as many stewards, two cooks, and eighteen foremast-men, would +exactly like the notion of being 'carried,' as you style it, Sir, George, +by a six-oared cutter's crew. We are not as heavy as the planet Jupiter, +but have somewhat too much gravity to be 'carried' as lightly as all +that, too." + +"You intend, then, to resist?" asked Sir George, whose generous zeal in +behalf of the pursued apparently led him to take a stronger interest in +their escape than any other person on board. + +Captain Truck, who had never an objection to sport, pondered with himself +a little, smiled, and then loudly expressed a wish that he had a member of +congress or a member of parliament on board. + +"Your desire is a little extraordinary for the circumstances," observed +Mr. Sharp; will you have the goodness to explain why?" + +"This matter touches on international law, gentlemen." continued the +master, rubbing his hands; for, in addition to having caught the art of +introduction, the honest mariner had taken it into his head he had become +an adept in the principles of Vattel, of whom he possessed a well-thumbed +copy, and for whose dogmas he entertained the deference that they who +begin to learn late usually feel for the particular master into whose +hands they have accidentally fallen. "Under what circumstances, or in what +category, can a public armed ship compel a neutral to submit to being +boarded--not 'carried,' Sir George, you will please to remark; for d---- +me, if any man 'carries' the Montauk that is not strong enough to 'carry' +her crew and cargo along with her!--but in what category, now, is a packet +like this I have the honour to command obliged, in comity, to heave-to and +to submit to an examination at all? The ship is a-weigh, and has +handsomely tacked under her canvas; and, gentlemen, I should be pleased to +have your sentiments on the occasion. Just have the condescension to point +out the category." + +Mr. Dodge came from a part of the country in which men were accustomed to +think, act, almost to eat and drink and sleep, in common; or, in other +words, from one of those regions in America, in which there was so much +community, that few had the moral courage, even when they possessed the +knowledge, and all the other necessary means, to cause their individuality +to be respected. When the usual process of conventions, sub-conventions, +caucusses, and public meetings did not supply the means of a "concentrated +action," he and his neighbours had long been in the habit of having +recourse to societies, by way of obtaining "energetic means," as it was +termed; and from his tenth year up to his twenty-fifth, this gentleman had +been either a president, vice-president, manager, or committee-man, of +some philosophical, political, or religious expedient to fortify human +wisdom, make men better, and resist error and despotism. His experience +had rendered him expert in what may well enough be termed the language of +association. No man of his years, in the twenty-six states, could more +readily apply the terms of "taking up"--"excitement"--"unqualified +hostility"--"public opinion"--"spreading before the public," or any other +of those generic phrases that imply the privileges of all, and the rights +of none. Unfortunately, the pronunciation of this person was not as pure +as his motives, and he misunderstood the captain when he spoke of comity, +as meaning a "committee;" and although it was not quite obvious what the +worthy mariner could intend by "obliged in committee (comity) to +heave-to," yet, as he had known these bodies to do so many "energetic +things," he did not see why they might not perform this evolution as well +as another. + +"It really does appear, Captain Truck," he remarked accordingly, "that our +situation approaches a crisis, and the suggestion of a comity (committee) +strikes me as being peculiarly proper and suitable to the circumstances, +and in strict conformity with republican usages. In order to save time, +and that the gentlemen who shall be appointed to serve may have +opportunity to report, therefore, I will at once nominate Sir George +Templemore as chairman, leaving it for any other gentleman present to +suggest the name of any candidate he may deem proper. I will only add, +that in my poor judgment this comity (committee) ought to consist of at +least three and that it have power to send for persons and papers." + +"I would propose five, Captain Truck, by way of amendment," added +another passenger of the same kidney as the last speaker, gentlemen of +their school making it a point to differ a little from every proposition +by way of showing their independence. + +It was fortunate for both the mover of the original motion, and for the +proposer of the amendment, that the master was acquainted with the +character of Mr. Dodge, or a proposition that his ship was to be worked by +a committee, (or indeed by comity,) would have been very likely to meet +with but an indifferent reception; but, catching a glimpse of the laughing +eyes of Eve, as well as of the amused faces of Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt, by +the light of the moon, he very gravely signified his entire approbation of +the chairman named, and his perfect readiness to listen to the report of +the aforesaid committee as soon as it might be prepared to make it. + +"And if your committee, or comity, gentlemen," he added, "can tell me what +Vattel would say about the obligation to heave-to in a time of profound +peace, and when the ship, or boat, in chase, can have no belligerent +rights, I shall be grateful to my dying day; for I have looked him through +as closely as old women usually examine almanacks to tell which way the +wind is about to blow, and I fear he has overlooked the subject +altogether." + +Mr. Dodge, and three or four more of the same community-propensity as +himself, soon settled the names of the rest of the committee, when the +nominees retired to another part of the deck to consult together; Sir +George Templemore, to the surprise of all the Effingham party, consenting +to serve with a willingness that rather disregarded forms. + +"It might be convenient to refer other matters to this committee, +captain," said Mr. Sharp, who had tact enough to see that nothing but her +habitual _retenue_ of deportment kept Eve, whose bright eyes were dancing +with humour from downright laughter: "these are the important points of +reefing and furling, the courses to be steered, the sail to be carried, +the times and seasons of calling all hands together, with sundry other +customary duties, that no doubt would be well treated on in this +forthcoming report." + +"No doubt, sir; I perceive you have been at sea before, and I am sorry you +were overlooked in naming the members of the comity: take my word for +it, all that you have mentioned can be done on board the Montauk by a +comity, as well as settling the question of heaving-to, or not, for yonder +boat.--By the way, Mr. Leach, the fellows have tacked, and are standing in +this direction, thinking to cross our bows and speak us.--Mr. Attorney, +the tide is setting us off the land, and you may make it morning before +you get into your nests, if you hold on much longer. I fear Mrs. Seal and +Mrs. Grab will be unhappy women." + +The bloodhounds of the law heard this warning with indifference, for they +expected succour of some sort, though they hardly knew of what sort, from +the man-of-war's boat which, it was now plain enough, must weather on the +ship. After putting their heads together, Mr. Seal offered his companion a +pinch of snuff, helping himself afterwards, like a man indifferent to the +result, and one patient in time of duty. The sun-burnt face of the +captain, whose standing colour was that which cooks get when the fire +burns the brightest, but whose hues no fire or cold ever varied, was +turned fully on the two, and it is probable they would have received some +decided manifestation of his will, had not Sir George Templemore, with the +four other committee-men, approached to give in the result of their +conference. + +"We are of opinion, Captain Truck," said the baronet, "that as the ship is +under way, and your voyage may be fairly said to have commenced, it is +quite inexpedient and altogether unnecessary for you to anchor again; but +that it is your duty----" + +"I have no occasion for advice as to my duty, gentlemen. If you can let me +know what Vattel says, or ought to have said, on the subject, or touching +the category of the right of search, except as a belligerent right, I will +thank you; if not, we must e'en guess at it. I have not sailed a ship in. +this trade these ten years to need any jogging of the memory about +port-jurisdiction either, for these are matters in which one gets to be +expert by dint of use, as my old master used to say when he called us from +table with half a dinner. Now, there was the case of the blacks in +Charleston, in which our government showed clearly it had not studied +Vattel, or it never would have given the answer it did. Perhaps you never +heard that case, Sir George, and as it touches a delicate principle, I +will just run over the category lightly; for it has its points, as well +as a coast." + +"Does not this matter press,--may not the boat--" + +"The boat will do nothing, gentlemen, without the permission of Jack +Truck. You must know, the Carolinians have a law that all niggers brought +into their state by ships, must be caged until the vessel sails again. +This is to prevent emancipation, as they call it, or abolition, I know not +which. An Englishman comes in from the islands with a crew of blacks, and, +according to law, the authorities of Charleston house them all before +night. John Bull complains to his minister, and his minister sends a note +to our secretary, and our secretary writes to the Governor of Carolina, +calling on him to respect the treaty, and so on. Gentlemen, I need not +tell you what a treaty is--it is a thing in itself to be obeyed; but it is +all important to know what it commands. Well, what was this said treaty? +That John should come in and out of the ports, on the footing of the most +favoured nation; on the _statu quo ante bellum_ principle, as Vattel has +it. Now, the Carolinians treated John just as they treated Jonathan, and +there was no more to be said. All parties were bound to enter the port, +subject to the municipals, as is set forth in Vattel. That was a case soon +settled, you perceive, though depending on a nicety." + +Sir George had listened with extreme impatience, but, fearful of +offending, he listened to the end; then, seizing the first pause in the +captain's discourse, he resumed his remonstrances with an interest that +did infinite credit to his humanity, at the same time that he overlooked +none of the obligations of politeness. + +"An exceedingly clear case, I protest," he answered, "and capitally put--I +question if Lord Stowell could do it better--and exceedingly apt, that +about the _ante bellum_; but I confess my feelings have not been so much +roused for a long time as they have been on account of these poor people. +There is something inexpressibly painful in being disappointed as one is +setting out in the morning of life, as it were, in this cruel manner; and +rather than see this state of things protracted, I would prefer paying a +trifle out of my own pocket. If this wretched attorney will consent, now +to take a hundred pounds and quit us, and carry back with him that +annoying cutter with the lug-sails, I will give him the money most +cheerfully,--most cheerfully, I protest." + +There is something so essentially respectable in practical generosity, +that, though Eve and all the curious auditors of what was massing; felt an +inclination to laugh at the whole procedure up to this declaration, eye +met eye in commendation of the liberality of the baronet. He had shown he +had a heart, in the opinion of most of those who heard him though his +previous conversation had led several of the observers to distrust his +having the usual quantum of head. + +"Give yourself no trouble about the attorney, Sir George," returned the +captain, shaking the other cordially by the hand: "he shall not touch a +pound of your money, nor do I think he is likely to touch Robert Davis. We +have caught the tide on our lee bow, and the current is wheeling us up to +windward, like an opposition coach flying over Blackheath. In a few +minutes we shall be in blue water; and then I'll give the rascal a touch +of Vattel that will throw him all aback, if it don't throw him overboard." + +"But the cutter?" + +"Why, if we drive the attorney and Grab out of the ship, there will be no +process in the hands of the others, by which they can carry off the man, +even admitting the jurisdiction. I know the scoundrels, and not a shilling +shall either of the knaves take from this vessel with my consent Harkee, +Sir George, a word in your ear: two of as d----d cockroaches as ever +rummaged a ship's bread-room; I'll see that they soon heave about, or I'll +heave them both into their boat, with my own fair hands." + +The captain was about to turn away to examine the position of the cutter, +when Mr. Dodge asked permission to make a short report in behalf of the +minority of the comity (committee), the amount of which was, that they +agreed in all things with the majority, except on the point that, as it +might become expedient for the ship to anchor again in some of the ports +lower down the Channel, it would be wise to keep that material +circumstance in view, in making up a final decision in the affair. This +report, on the part of the minority, which, Mr. Dodge explained to the +baronet, partook rather of the character of a caution than of a protest, +had quite as little influence on Captain Truck as the opinion of the +majority, for he was just one of those persons who seldom took advice that +did not conform with his own previous decision; but he coolly continued to +examine the cutter, which by this time was standing on the same course as +the ship, a short distance to windward of her, and edging a little off the +wind, so as to bring the two nearer to each other, every yard +they advanced. + +The wind had freshened to a little breeze, and the captain nodded his head +with satisfaction when he heard even where he stood on the quarter-deck, +the slapping of the sluggish swell, as the huge bows of the ship parted +the water. At this moment those in the cutter saw the bubbles glide +swiftly past them, while to those in the Montauk the motion was still slow +and heavy; and yet, of the two, the actual velocity was rather in favour +of the latter, both having about what is technically termed "four-knot +way" on them. The officer of the boat was quick to detect the change that +was acting against him, and by easing the sheets of his lug-sails, and +keeping the cutter as much off the wind as he could, he was soon within a +hundred feet of the ship, running along on her weather-beam. The bright +soft moonlight permitted the face of a young man in a man-of-war cap, who +wore the undress uniform of a sea lieutenant, to be distinctly seen, as he +rose in the stern-sheets, which contained also two other persons. + +"I will thank you to heave-to the Montauk," said the lieutenant civilly, +while he raised his cap, apparently in compliment to the passengers who +crowded the rail to see and hear what passed. "I am sent on the duty of +the king, sir." + +"I know your errand, sir," returned Captain Truck, whose resolution to +refuse to comply was a good deal shaken by the gentleman-like manner in +which the request was made; "and I wish you to bear witness, that if I do +consent to your request, it is voluntarily; for, on the principles laid +down by Vattel and the other writers on international law, the right of +search is a belligerent right, and England being at peace, no ship +belonging to one nation can have a right to stop a vessel belonging +to another." + +"I cannot enter into these niceties, sir," returned the lieutenant, +sharply: "I have my orders, and you will excuse me if I say, I intend to +execute them." + +"Execute them, with all my heart, sir: if you are ordered to heave-to my +ship, all you have to do is to get on board if you can, and let us see the +style in which you handle yards. As to the people now stationed at the +braces, the trumpet that will make them stir is not to be spoken through +at the Admiralty. The fellow has spirit in him, and I like his principles +as an officer, but I cannot admit his conclusions as a jurist. If he +flatters himself with being able to frighten us into a new category, now, +that is likely to impair national rights, the lad has just got himself +into a problem that will need all his logic, and a good deal of his +spirit, to get out of again." + +"You will scarcely think of resisting a king's officer in British waters!" +said the young man with that haughtiness that the meekest tempers soon +learn to acquire under a pennant. + +"Resisting, my dear sir! I resist nothing. The misconception is in +supposing that you sail this ship instead of John Truck. That is my name, +sir; John Truck. Do your errand in welcome, but do not ask me to help you. +Come aboard, with all my heart; nothing would give me more pleasure than +to take wine with you; but I see no necessity of stopping a packet, that +is busy on a long road, without an object, as we say on the other side of +the big waters." + +There was a pause, and then the lieutenant, with the sort of hesitation +that a gentleman is apt to feel when he makes a proposal that he knows +ought not to be accepted, called out that those in the boat with him would +pay for the detention of the ship. A more unfortunate proposition could +not be made to Captain Truck, who would have hove-to his ship in a moment +had the lieutenant proposed to discuss Vattel with him on the +quarter-deck, and who was only holding out as a sort of salve to his +rights, with that disposition to resist aggression that the experience of +the last forty years has so deeply implanted in the bosom of every +American sailor, in cases connected with English naval officers, and who +had just made up his mind to let Robert Davis take his chance, and to +crack a bottle with the handsome young man who was still standing up in +the boat. But Mr. Truck had been too often to London not to understand +exactly the manner in which Englishmen appreciate American character; and, +among other things, he knew it was the general opinion in the island that +money could do any thing with Jonathan; or, as Christophe is said once to +have sententiously expressed the same sentiment, "if there were a bag of +coffee in h---, a Yankee could be found to go and bring it out." + +The master of the Montauk had a proper relish for his lawful gains as well +as another, but he was vain-glorious on the subject of his countrymen, +principally because he found that the packets outsailed all other +merchant-ships, and fiercely proud of any quality that others were +disposed to deny them. + +At hearing this proposal, or intimation, therefore, instead of accepting +it, Captain Truck raised his hat with formal civility, and coolly wished +the other "good night." This was bringing the affair to a crisis at once; +for the helm of the cutter was borne up, and an attempt was made to run +the boat alongside of the ship. But the breeze had been steadily +increasing, the air had grown heavier as the night advanced, and the +dampness of evening was thickening the canvas of the coarser sails in a +way sensibly to increase the speed of the ship. When the conversation +commenced, the boat was abreast of the fore-rigging; and by the time it +ended, it was barely up with the mizzen. The lieutenant was quick to see +the disadvantage he laboured under, and he called out "Heave!" as he found +the cutter was falling close under the counter of the ship, and would be +in her wake in another minute. The bowman of the boat cast a light grapnel +with so much precision that it hooked in the mizzen rigging, and the line +instantly tightened so as to tow the cutter. A seaman was passing along +the outer edge of the hurricane-house at the moment, coming from the +wheel, and with the decision of an old salt, he quietly passed his knife +across the stretched cordage, and it snapped like pack-thread. The grapnel +fell into the sea, and the boat was lossing in the wake of the ship, all +as it might be while one could draw a breath. To furl the sails and ship +the oars consumed but an instant, and then the cutter was ploughing the +water under the vigorous strokes of her crew. + +"Spirited! spirited and nimble!" observed Captain Truck, who stood coolly +leaning against a shroud, in a position where he could command a view of +all that was passing, improving the opportunity to shake the ashes from +his cigar while he spoke; "a fine young fellow, and one who will make an +admiral, or something better, I dare say, if he live;--perhaps a cherub, +in time. Now, if he pull much longer in the back-water of our wake, I +shall have to give him up, Leach, as a little marin-_ish:_ ah! there he +sheers out of it, like a sensible youth as he is! Well, there is something +pleasant in the conceit of a six-oared boat's carrying a London liner by +boarding, even admitting the lad could have got alongside." + +So, it would seem, thought Mr. Leach and the crew of the Montauk; for they +were clearing the decks with as much philosophy as men ever discover when +employed in an unthankful office. This _sang-froid_ of seamen is always +matter of surprise to landsmen; but adventurers who have been rocked in +the tempest for years, whose utmost security is a great hazard, and whose +safety constantly depends on the command of the faculties, come in time to +experience an apathy on the subject of all the minor terrors and +excitements of life, that none can acquire unless by habit and similar +risks. There was a low laugh among the people, and now and then a curious +glance of the eye over the quarter to ascertain the position of the +struggling boat; but there the effect of the little incident ceased, so +far as the seamen were concerned. + +Not so with the passengers. The Americans exulted at the failure of the +man-of-war's man, and the English doubted. To them, deference to the crown +was habitual, and they were displeased at seeing a stranger play a king's +boat such a trick, in what they justly enough thought to be British +waters. Although the law may not give a man any more right than another to +the road before his own door, he comes in time to fancy it, in a certain +degree, his particular road. Strictly speaking, the Montauk was perhaps +still under the dominion of the English laws, though she had been a +league from the land when laying at her anchor, and by this time the tide +and her own velocity had swept her broad off into the offing quite as far +again; indeed she had now got to such a distance from the land, that +Captain Truck thought it his "duty" to bring matters to a conclusion with +the attorney. + +"Well, Mr. Seal," he said, "I am grateful for the pleasure of your company +thus far; but you will excuse me if I decline taking you and Mr. Grab +quite to America. Half an hour hence you will hardly be able to find the +island; for as soon as we have got to a proper distance from the cutter, I +shall tack to the south-west, and you ought, moreover, to remember the +anxiety of the ladies at home." + +"This may turn out a serious matter, Captain Truck, on your return +passage! The laws of England are not to be trifled with. Will you oblige +me by ordering the steward to hand me a glass of water? Waiting for +justice is dry duty, I find." + +"Extremely sorry I cannot comply, gentlemen. Vattel has nothing on the +subject of watering belligerents, or neutrals, and the laws of Congress +compel me to carry so many gallons to the man. If you will take it in the +way of a nightcap, however, and drink success to our run to America, and +your own to the shore, it shall be in champagne, if you happen to like +that agreeable fluid." + +The attorney was about to express his readiness to compromise on these +terms, when a glass of the beverage for which he had first asked was put +into his hand by the wife of Robert Davis. He took the water, drank it, +and turned from the woman with the obduracy of one who never suffered +feeling to divert him from the pursuit of gain. The wine was brought, and +the captain filled the glasses with a seaman's heartiness. + +"I drink to your safe return to Mrs. Seal, and the little gods and +goddesses of justice,--Pan or Mercury, which is it? And as for you, Grab, +look out for sharks as you pull in. If they hear of your being afloat, the +souls of persecuted sailors will set them on you, as the devil chases male +coquettes. Well, gentlemen, you are balked this time; but what matters it? +It is but another man got safe out of a country that has too many in it; +and I trust we shall meet good friends again this day four months. Even +man and wife must part, when the hour arrives." + +"That will depend on how my client views your conduct on this occasion, +Captain Truck; for he is not a man that it is always safe to thwart." + +"That for your client, Mr. Seal!" returned the captain, snapping his +fingers. "I am not to be frightened with an attorney's growl, or a +bailiff's nod. You come off with a writ or a warrant, I care not which; I +offer no resistance; you hunt for your man, like a terrier looking for a +rat, and can't find him; I see the fine fellow, at this moment, on +deck,--but I feel no obligation to tell you who or where he is; my ship is +cleared and I sail, and you have no power to stop me; we are outside of +all the head-lands, good two leagues and a half off, and some writers say +that a gun-shot is the extent of your jurisdiction, once out of which, +your authority is not worth half as much as that of my chief cook, who has +power to make his mate clean the coppers. Well, sir, you stay here ten +minutes longer and we shall be fully three leagues from your nearest land, +and then you are in America, according to law, and a quick passage you +will have made of it. Now, that is what I call a category." + +As the captain made this last remark, his quick eye saw that the wind had +hauled so far round to the westward, as to supersede the necessity of +tacking, and that they were actually going eight knots in a direct line +from Portsmouth. Casting an eye behind him, he perceived that the cutter +had given up the chase, and was returning towards the distant roads. Under +circumstances so discouraging, the attorney, who began to be alarmed for +his boat, which was flying along on the water, towed by the ship, prepared +to take his leave; for he was fully aware that he had no power to compel +the other to heave-to his ship, to enable him to get out of her. Luckily +the water was still tolerably smooth, and with fear and trembling, Mr. +Seal succeeded in blundering into the boat; not, however, until the +watermen had warned him of their intention to hold on no longer. Mr. Grab +followed, with a good deal of difficulty, and just as a hand was about to +let go the painter, the captain appeared at the gangway with the man they +were in quest of, and said in his most winning manner-- + +"Mr. Grab, Mr. Davis; Mr. Davis, Mr Grab; I seldom introduce steerage +passengers, but to oblige two old friends I break the rule. That's what I +call a category. My compliments to Mrs. Grab. Let go the painter" + +The words were no sooner uttered than the boat was tossing and whirling in +the caldron left by the passing ship. + + + + +Chapter V. + + + + What country, Mends, is this? + Illyria, lady. + + TWELFTH NIGHT. + + +Captain Truck cast an eye aloft to see if everything drew, as coolly as if +nothing out of the usual course had happened; he and his crew having, +seemingly, regarded the attempt to board them as men regard the natural +phenomena of the planets, or in other words, as if the ship, of which they +were merely parts, had escaped by her own instinct or volition. This habit +of considering the machine as the governing principle is rather general +among seamen, who, while they ease a brace, or drag a bowline, as the +coachman checks a rein, appear to think it is only permitting the creature +to work her own will a little more freely. It is true all _know_ better, +but none talk, or indeed would seem to _feel_, as if they thought +otherwise. + +"Did you observe how the old barky jumped out of the way of those rovers +in the cutter?" said the captain complacently to the quarter-deck group, +when his survey aloft had taken sufficient heed that his own nautical +skill should correct the instinct of the ship. "A skittish horse, or a +whale with the irons in him, or, for that matter, one of the funniest of +your theatricals, would not have given a prettier aside than this poor old +hulk, which is certainly just the clumsiest craft that sails the ocean. I +wish King William would take it into his royal head, now, to send one of +his light-heeled cruisers out to prove it, by way of resenting the +cantaverous trick the Montauk played his boat!" + +The dull report of a gun, as the sound came short and deadened up against +the breeze, checked the raillery of Mr. Truck. On looking to leeward, +there was sufficient light to see the symmetrical sails of the corvette +they had left at anchor, trimmed close by the wind, and the vessel itself +standing out under a press of canvas, apparently in chase. The gun had +evidently been fired as a signal of recall to the cutter, blue lights +being burnt on board of both the ship and its boat, in proof that they +were communicating. + +The passengers now looked gravely at each other, for the matter, in their +eyes, began to be serious. Some suggested the possibility that the offence +of Davis might be other than debt, but this was disproved by the process +and the account of the bailiff himself; while most concluded that a +determination to resent the slight done the authorities had caused the +cruiser to follow them out, with the intention of carrying them back +again. The English passengers in particular began now to reason in favour +of the authority of the crown, while those who were known to be Americans +grew warm in maintaining the rights of their flag. Both the Effinghams, +however, were moderate in the expression of their opinions; for education, +years, and experience, had taught them to discriminate justly. + +"As respects the course of Captain Truck, in refusing to permit the cutter +to board him, he is probably a better judge than any of us," Mr. Effingham +observed with gentlemanly reserve--"for he must better understand the +precise position of his ship at the time; but concerning the want of right +in a foreign vessel of war to carry this ship into port in a time of +profound peace, when sailing on the high seas, as will soon be the case +with the Montauk,--admitting that she is not there at present,--I should +think there can be no reasonable doubt. The dispute, if there is to be +any, has now to become matter of negotiation; or redress must be sought +through the general agents of the two nations, and not taken by the +inferior officers of either party. The instant Montauk reaches the public +highway of nations, she is, within the exclusive jurisdiction of the +country under whose flag she legally sails." + +"Vattel, to the back-bone!" said the captain, giving a nod of approbation, +again clearing the end of his cigar. + +Now, John Effingham was a man of strong feelings, which is often but +another word for a man of strong prejudices; and he had been educated +between thirty or forty years before, which is saying virtually, that he +was educated under the influence of the British opinions, that then +weighed (and many of which still weigh) like an incubus on the national +interests of America. It is true, Mr. Effingham was in all senses the +contemporary, as he had been the school-fellow, of his cousin; that they +loved each other as brothers, had the utmost reliance on each other's +principles in the main, thought alike in a thousand things, and yet, in +the particular of English domination, it was scarcely possible for one man +to resemble another less than the widowed kinsman resembled the bachelor. + +Edward Effingham was a singularly just-minded man, and having succeeded at +an early age to his estate, he had lived many years in that intellectual +retirement which, by withdrawing him from the strifes of the world, had +left a cultivated sagacity to act freely on a natural disposition. At the +period when the entire republic was, in substance, exhibiting the +disgraceful picture of a nation torn by adverse factions, that had their +origin in interests alien to its own; when most were either Englishmen or +Frenchmen, he had remained what nature, the laws and reason intended him +to be, an American. Enjoying the _otium cum dignitate_ on his hereditary +estate, and in his hereditary abode, Edward Effingham, with little +pretensions to greatness, and with many claims to goodness, had hit the +line of truth which so many of the "god-likes" of the republic, under the +influence of their passions, and stimulated by the transient and +fluctuating interests of the day, entirely overlooked, or which, if +seeing, they recklessly disregarded. A less impracticable subject for +excitement,--the _primum mobile_ of all American patriotism and activity, +if we are to believe the theories of the times,--could not be found, than +this gentleman. Independence of situation had induced independence of +thought; study and investigation rendered him original and just, by +simply exempting him from the influence of the passions; and while +hundreds were keener, abler in the exposition of subtleties, or more +imposing with the mass, few were as often right, and none of less +selfishness, than this simple-minded and upright gentleman. He loved his +native land, while he saw and regretted its weaknesses; was its firm and +consistent advocate abroad, without becoming its interested or mawkish +flatterer at home, and at all times, and in all situations, manifested +that his heart was where it ought to be. + +In many essentials, John Effingham was the converse of all this. Of an +intellect much more acute and vigorous than that of his cousin, he also +possessed passions less under control, a will more stubborn, and +prejudices that often neutralized his reason. His father had inherited +most of the personal property of the family, and with this he had plunged +into the vortex of monied speculation that succeeded the adoption of the +new constitution, and verifying the truth of the sacred saying, that +"where treasure is, there will the heart be also," he had entered warmly +and blindly into all the factious and irreconcilable principles of party, +if such a word can properly be applied to rules of conduct that Bary with +the interests of the day, and had adopted the current errors with which +faction unavoidably poisons the mind. + +America was then much too young in her independence, and too insignificant +in all eyes but her own, to reason and act for herself, except on points +that pressed too obviously on her immediate concerns to be overlooked; but +the great social principles,--or it might be better to say, the great +social interests,--that then distracted Europe, produced quite as much +sensation in that distant country, as at all comported with a state of +things that had so little practical connexion with the result, The +Effingham family had started Federalists, in the true meaning of the term; +for their education, native sense and principles, had a leaning to order, +good government, and the dignity of the country; but as factions became +fiercer, and names got to be confounded and contradictory, the landed +branch settled down into what they thought were American, and the +commercial branch into what might properly be termed English Federalists. +We do not mean that the father of John intended to be untrue to his native +land; but by following up the dogmas of party he had reasoned himself into +a set of maxims which, if they meant anything, meant everything but that +which had been solemnly adopted as the governing principles of his own +country, and many of which were diametrically opposed to both its +interests and its honour. + +John Effingham had insensibly imbibed the sentiments of his particular +sect, though the large fortune inherited from his father had left him too +independent to pursue the sinuous policy of trade. He had permitted +temperament to act on prejudice to such an extent that he vindicated the +right of England to force men from under the American flag, a doctrine +that his cousin was too simple-minded and clear-headed ever to entertain +for an instant: and he was singularly ingenious in discovering blunders in +all the acts of the republic, when they conflicted with the policy of +Great Britain. In short, his talents were necessary, perhaps, to reconcile +so much sophistry, or to render that reasonably plausible that was so +fundamentally false. After the peace of 1815, John Effingham went abroad +for the second time, and he hurried through England with the eagerness of +strong affection; an affection that owed its existence even more to +opposition than to settled notions of truth, or to natural ties. The +result was disappointment, as happens nineteen times in twenty, and this +solely because, in the zeal of a partisan he had fancied theories, and +imagined results. Like the English radical, who rushes into America with a +mind unsettled by impracticable dogmas, he experienced a reaction, and +this chiefly because he found that men were not superior to nature, and +discovered so late in the day, what he might have known at starting, that +particular causes must produce particular effects. From this time, John +Effingham became a wiser and a more moderate man; though, as the shock had +not been sufficiently violent to throw him backward on truth, or rather +upon the opposing prejudices of another sect, the remains of the old +notions were still to be discovered lingering in his opinions, and +throwing a species of twilight shading over his mind; as, in nature, the +hues of evening and the shadows of the morning follow, or precede, the +light of the sun. + +Under the influence of these latent prejudices, then, John Effingham +replied to the remarks of his cousin, and the discourse soon partook of +the discursive character of all arguments, in which the parties are not +singularly clear-headed, and free from any other bias than that of truth, +Nearly all joined in it, and half an hour was soon passed in settling the +law of nations, and the particular merits or demerits of the instance +before them. + +It was a lovely night, and Mademoiselle Viefville and Eve walked the deck +for exercise, the smoothness of the water rendering the moment every way +favourable. As has been already said, the common feeling in the escape of +the new-married couple had broken the ice, and less restraint existed +between the passengers, at the moment when Mr. Grab left the ship, than +would have been the case at the end of a week, under ordinary +circumstances. Eve Effingham had passed her time since her eleventh year +principally on the continent of Europe, and in the mixed intercourse that +is common to strangers in that part of the world; or, in other words, +equally without the severe restraint that is usually imposed there on the +young of her own sex, or without the extreme license that is granted to +them at home. She came of a family too well toned to run into the +extravagant freedoms that sometimes pass for easy manners in America, had +she never quitted her father's house even: but her associations abroad had +unavoidably imparted greater reserve to her ordinary deportment than the +simplicity of cis-Atlantic usages would have rendered indispensable in the +most, fastidious circles. With the usual womanly reserves, she was natural +and unembarrassed in her intercourse with the world, and she had been +allowed to see so many different nations, that she had obtained a +self-confidence that did her no injury, under the influence of an +exemplary education, and great natural dignity of mind. Still, +Mademoiselle Viefville, notwithstanding she had lost some of her own +peculiar notions on the subject, by having passed so many years in an +American family, was a little surprised at observing that Eve received the +respectful advances of Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt with less reserve than it +was usual to her to manifest to entire strangers. Instead of remaining a +mere listener, she answered several remarks of the first, and once or +twice she even laughed with him openly at some absurdity of the committee +of five. The cautious governess wondered, but half disposed to fancy that +there was no more than the necessary freedom of a ship in it all,--for, +like a true Frenchwoman, Mademoiselle Viefville had very vague notions of +the secrets of the mighty deep--she permitted it to pass, confiding in the +long-tried taste and discretion of her charge. While Mr. Sharp discoursed +with Eve, who held her arm the while, she herself had fallen into an +animated conversation with Mr. Blunt, who walked at her side, and who +spoke her own language so well, that she at first set him down as a +countryman, travelling under an English appellation, as _a nom de guerre_. +While this dialogue was at its height of interest--for Paul Blunt +discoursed with his companion of Paris and its excellencies with a skill +that soon absorbed all her attention, "_Paris, ce magnifique Paris,_" +having almost as much influence on the happiness of the governess, as it +was said to have had on that of Madame de Stael, Eve's companion dropped +his voice to a tone that was rather confidential for a stranger, although +it was perfectly respectful, and said,-- + +"I have flattered myself, perhaps through the influence of self-love +alone, that Miss Effingham has not so far forgotten all whom she has met +in her travels, as to think me an utter stranger." + +"Certainly not," returned Eve, with perfect simplicity and composure; +"else would one of my faculties, that of memory, be perfectly useless. I +knew you at a glance, and consider the worthy captain's introduction as so +much finesse of breeding utterly thrown away." + +"I am equally gratified and vexed at all this; gratified and infinitely +flattered to find that I have not passed before your eyes like the common +herd, who leave no traces of even their features behind them; and vexed at +finding myself in a situation that, I fear, you fancy excessively +ridiculous?" + +"Oh, one hardly dare to attach such consequences to acts of young men, or +young women either, in an age as original as our own. I saw nothing +particularly absurd but the introduction;--and so many absurder have since +passed, that this is almost forgotten." + +"And the name--?" + +"--Is certainly a keen one. If I am not mistaken, when we were in Italy +you were content to let your servant bear it; but, venturing among a +people so noted for sagacity as the Yankees, I suppose you have fancied it +was necessary to go armed _cap-á-pié_." + +Both laughed lightly, as if they equally enjoyed the pleasantry, and then +he resumed: + +"But I sincerely hope you do not impute improper motives to the +incognito?" + +"I impute it to that which makes many young men run from Rome to Vienna, +or from Vienna to Paris; which causes you to sell the _vis-a-vis_ to buy a +_dormeuse_; to know your friends to-day, and to forget them to-morrow; or, +in short, to do a hundred other things that can be accounted for on no +other motive." + +"And this motive--?" + +"--Is simply caprice." + +"I wish I could persuade you to ascribe some better reason to all my +conduct. Can you think of nothing, in the present instance, less +discreditable?" + +"Perhaps I can," Eve answered, after a moment of thought; then laughing +lightly again, she added, quickly; "But I fear, in exonerating you from +the charge of unmitigated caprice, I shall ascribe a reason that does +little less credit to your knowledge." + +"This will appear in the end. Does Mademoiselle Viefville remember me, do +you fancy?" + +"It is impossible; she was ill, you will remember, the three months we saw +so much of you." + +"And your father, Miss Effingham;--am I really forgotten by him?" + +"I am quite certain you are not. He never forgets a face, whatever in this +instance may have befallen the name." + +"He received me so coldly, and so much like a total stranger!" + +"He is too well-bred to recognise a man who wishes to be unknown, or to +indulge in exclamations of surprise, or in dramatic starts. He is more +stable than a girl, moreover, and may feel less indulgence to caprice." + +"I feel obliged to his reserve; for exposure would be ridiculous, and so +long as you and he alone know me, I shall feel less awkward in the ship. I +am certain neither will betray me." + +"Betray!" + +"Betray, discover, annihilate me if you will. Anything is preferable to +ridicule." + +"This touches a little on the caprice; but you flatter yourself with too +much security; you are known to one more besides my father, myself, and +the honest man whom you have robbed of all his astuteness, which I believe +was in his name." + +"For pity's sake, who can it be?" + +"The worthy Nanny Sidley, my whilom nurse, and actual _femme de chambre_. +No ogre was ever more vigilant on his ward than the faithful Nanny, and it +is vain to suppose she does not recall your features." + +"But ogres sometimes sleep; recollect how many have been overcome in that +situation." + +Eve smiled, but shook her head. She was about to assure Mr. Sharp of the +vanity of his belief, when an exclamation from her governess diverted the +attention of both, and before either had time to speak again, Mademoiselle +turned to them, and said rapidly in French-- + +"I assure you, _ma chère_, I should have mistaken monsieur for a +_compatriote_ by his language, were it not for a single heinous fault that +he has just committed." + +"Which fault you will suffer me to inquire into, that I may hasten to +correct it?" asked Mr. Blunt. + +"Mais, monsieur, you speak _too_ perfectly, too grammatically, for a +native. You do not take the liberties with the language that one who feels +he owns it thinks he has a right to do. It is the fault of too much +correctness." + +"And a fault it easily becomes. I thank you for the hint, mademoiselle; +but as I am now going where little French will be heard, it is probable it +will soon be lost in greater mistakes." + +The two then turned away again, and continued the dialogue that had been +interrupted by this trifling. + +"There may also be one more to whom you are known," continued Eve, as +soon as the vivacity of the discourse of the others satisfied her the +remark would not he heard. + +"Surely, you cannot mean _him_?" + +"Surely, I do mean _him_. Are you quite certain that 'Mr. Sharp, Mr. +Blunt; Mr. Blunt, Mr. Sharp,' never saw each other before?" + +"I think not until the moment we entered the boat in company. He is a +gentlemanly young man; he seems even to be more, and one would not be apt +to forget him. He is altogether superior to the rest of the set: do you +not agree with me?" + +Eve made no answer, probably because she thought her companion was not +sufficiently intimate to interrogate her on the subject of her opinions of +others. Mr. Sharp had too much knowledge of the world not to perceive the +little mistake he had made, and after begging the young lady, with a +ludicrous deprecation of her mercy, not to betray him, he changed the +conversation with the tact of a man who saw that the discourse could not +be continued without assuming a confidential character that Eve was +indisposed to permit. Luckily, a pause in the discourse between the +governess and her colloquist permitted a happy turn to the conversation. + +"I believe you are an American, Mr. Blunt," he remarked; "and as I am an +Englishman, we may be fairly pitted against each other on this important +question of international law, and about which I hear our worthy captain +flourishing extracts from Vattel as familiarly as household terms. I hope, +at least, you agree with me in thinking that when the sloop-of-war comes +up with us, it will be very silly on our part to make any objections to +being boarded by her?" + +"I do not know that it is at all necessary I should be an American to give +an opinion on such a point," returned the young man he addressed, +courteously, though he smiled to himself as he answered--"For what is +right, is right, quite independent of nationality. It really does appear +to me that a public-armed vessel ought, in war or peace, to have a right +to ascertain the character of all merchant-ships, at least on the coast of +the country to which the cruisers belong. Without this power, it is not +easy to see in what manner they can seize smugglers, capture pirates, or +other wise enforce the objects for which such vessels are usually sent to +sea, in the absence of positive hostilities." + +"I am happy to find you agreeing with me, then, in the legality of the +doctrine of the right of search." + +Paul Blunt again smiled, and Eve, as she caught a glimpse of his fine +countenance in turning in their short walk, fancied there was a concealed +pride of reason in the expression. Still he answered as mildly and quietly +as before. + +"The right of search, certainly, to attain these ends, but to attain no +more. If nations denounce piracy, for instance, and employ especial agents +to detect and overcome the free-booters, there is reason in according to +these agents all the rights that are requisite to the discharge of the +duties: but, in conceding this much, I do not see that any authority is +acquired beyond that which immediately belongs to the particular service +to be performed. If we give a man permission to enter our house to look +for thieves, it does not follow that, because so admitted, he has a right +to exercise any other function. I do believe that the ship in chase of us, +as a public cruiser, ought to be allowed to board this vessel; but finding +nothing contrary to the laws of nations about her, that she will have no +power to detain or otherwise molest her. Even the right I concede ought to +be exercised in good faith, and without vexatious abuses." + +"But, surely, you must think that in carrying off a refugee from justice +we have placed ourselves in the wrong, and cannot object, as a principle, +to the poor man's being taken back again into the country from which he +has escaped, however much we may pity the hardships of the +particular case?" + +"I much question if Captain Truck will be disposed to reason so vaguely. +In the first place, he will be apt to say that his ship was regularly +cleared, and that he had authority to sail; that in permitting the officer +to search his vessel, while in British waters, he did all that could be +required of him, the law not compelling him to be either a bailiff or an +informer; that the process issued was to take Davis, and not to detain the +Montauk; that, once out of British waters, American law governs, and the +English functionary became an intruder of whom he had every right to rid +himself, and that the process by which he got his power to act at all +became impotent the instant it was without the jurisdiction under which it +was granted." + +"I think you will find the captain of yonder cruiser indisposed to admit +this doctrine." + +"That is not impossible; men often preferring abuses to being thwarted in +their wishes. But the captain of yonder cruiser might as well go on board +a foreign vessel of war, and pretend to a right to command her, in virtue +of the commission by which he commands his own ship, as to pretend to find +reason or law in doing what you seem to predict." + +"I rejoice to hear that the poor man cannot now be torn from his wife!" +exclaimed Eve. + +"You then incline to the doctrine of Mr. Blunt, Miss Effingham?" observed +the other controversialist a little reproachfully. "I fear you make it a +national question." + +"Perhaps I have done what all seem to have done, permitted sympathy to get +the better of reason. And yet it would require strong proof to persuade me +that villanous-looking attorney was engaged in a good cause, and that meek +and warm-hearted wife in a bad one!" + +Both the gentlemen smiled, and both turned to the fair speaker, as if +inviting her to proceed. But Eve checked herself, having already said more +than became her, in her own opinion. + +"I had hoped to find an ally in you, Mr. Blunt, to sustain the claim of +England to seize her own seamen when found on board of vessels of another +nation," resumed Mr. Sharp, when a respectful pause had shown both the +young men that they need expect nothing more 'from their fair companion; +"but I fear I must set you down as belonging to those who wish to see the +power of England reduced, _coúte qui coúte_." + +This was received as it was meant, or as a real opinion veiled under +pleasantry. + +"I certainly do not wish to see her power maintained, _coúte qui coúte_" +returned the other, laughing; "and in this opinion, I believe, I may +claim both these ladies as allies." + +"_Certainement!_" exclaimed Mademoiselle Viefville, who was a living +proof that the feelings created by centuries of animosity are not to be +subdued by a few flourishes of the pen. + +"As for me, Mr. Sharp," added Eve, "you may suppose, being an American +girl, I cannot subscribe to the right of any country to do us injustice; +but I beg you will not include me among those who wish to see the land of +my ancestors wronged, in aught that she may rightfully claim as her due." + +"This is powerful support, and I shall rally to the rescue. Seriously, +then, will you allow me to inquire, sir, if you think the right of England +to the services of her seamen can be denied?" + +"Seriously, then, Mr. Sharp, you must permit me to ask if you mean by +force, or by reason?" + +"By the latter, certainly." + +"I think you have taken the weak side of the English argument; the nature +of the service that the subject, or the citizen, as it is now the fashion +to say at Paris, mademoiselle--" + +"--_Tant pis_," muttered the governess. + +"--Owes his government," continued the young man slightly glancing at Eve, +at the interruption, "is purely a point of internal regulation. In England +there is compulsory service for seamen without restriction, or what is +much the same, without an equal protection; in France, it is compulsory +service on a general plan; in America, as respects seamen, the service is +still voluntary." + +"Your pardon;--will the institutions of America permit impressment at +all?" + +"I should think, not indiscriminate impressment; though I do not see why +laws might not be enacted to compel drafts for the ships of war, as well +as for the army: but this is a point that some of the professional +gentlemen on board, if there be any such, might better answer +than myself." + +"The skill with which you have touched on these subjects to-night, had +made me hope to have found such a one in you; for to a traveller, it is +always desirable to enter a country with a little preparation, and a ship +might offer as much temptation to teach as to learn." + +"If you suppose me an _American lawyer_, you give me credit for more than +I can lay claim to." + +As he hesitated, Eve wondered whether the slight emphasis he had laid on +the two words we have italicised, was heaviest on that which denoted the +country, or on that which denoted the profession. + +"I have been much in America, and have paid a little attention to the +institutions, but should be sorry to mislead you into the belief that I am +at all infallible on such points," Mr. Blunt continued. + +"You were about to touch on impressment." + +"Simply to say that it is a municipal national power, one in no degree +dependent on general principles, and that it can properly be exercised in +no situation in which the exercise of municipal or national powers is +forbidden. I can believe that this power may be exercised on board +American ships in British waters--or at least, that it is a more plausible +right in such situations; but I cannot think it can be rightfully +exercised anywhere else. I do not think England would submit to such a +practice an hour, reversing the case, and admitting her present strength: +and an appeal of this sort is a pretty good test of a principle." + +"Ay, ay, what is sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander, as Vattel +says," interrupted Captain Truck, who had overheard the last speech or +two: "not that he says this in so many words, but then, he has the +sentiment at large scattered throughout his writings. For that matter, +there is little that can be said on a subject that he does not put before +his readers, as plainly as Beachy Head lies before the navigator of the +British Channel. With Bowditch and Vattel, a man might sail round the +globe, and little fear of a bad landfall, or a mistake in principles. My +present object is to tell you, ladies, that the steward has reported the +supper in waiting for the honour of your presence." + +Before quitting the deck, the party inquired into the state of the chase, +and the probable intentions of the sloop-of-war. + +"We are now on the great highway of nations," returned Mr. Truck, "and it +is my intention to travel it without jostling, or being jostled. As for +the sloop, she is standing out under a press of canvas, and we are +standing from her, in nearly a straight line, in like circumstances. She +is some eight or ten miles astern of us, and there is an old saying among +seamen that 'a stern chase is a long chase.' I do not think our case is +about to make an exception to the rule. I shall not pretend to say what +will be the upshot of the matter; but there is not the ship in the British +navy that can gain ten miles on the Montauk, in her present trim, and with +this breeze, in as many hours; so we are quit of her for the present." + +The last words were uttered just as Eve put her foot on the step to +descend into the cabin. + + + + +Chapter VI. + + + + _Trin._ Stephano,-- + _Steph._ Doth thy other mouth call me? Mercy! Mercy! + + TEMPEST. + + +The life of a packet steward is one of incessant mixing and washing, of +interrogations and compoundings, all in a space of about twelve feet +square. These functionaries, usually clever mulattoes who have caught the +civilisation of the kitchen, are busy from morning till night in their +cabins, preparing dishes, issuing orders, regulating courses, starting +corks, and answering questions. Apathy is the great requisite for the +station; for wo betide the wretch who fancies any modicum of zeal, or good +nature, can alone fit him for the occupation. From the moment the ship +sails until that in which a range of the cable is overhauled, or the chain +is rowsed up in readiness to anchor, no smile illumines his face, no tone +issues from his voice while on duty, but that of dogged routine--of +submission to those above, or of snarling authority to those beneath him. +As the hour for the "drink gelt," or "buona mana," approaches, however, he +becomes gracious and smiling. On his first appearance in the pantry of a +morning, he has a regular series of questions to answer, and for which, +like the dutiful Zeluco, who wrote all his letters to his mother on the +same day, varying the dates to suit the progress of time, he not +unfrequently has a regular set of answers out and dried, in his +gastronomical mind. "How's the wind?" "How's the weather?" "How's her +head?" all addressed to this standing almanack, are mere matters of +course, for which he is quite prepared, though it is by no means unusual +to hear him ordering a subordinate to go on deck, after the answer is +given, with a view to ascertain the facts. It is only when the voice of +the captain is heared from his state-room, that he conceives himself bound +to be very particular, though such is the tact of all connected with +ships, that they instinctively detect the "know nothings," who are +uniformly treated with an indifference suited to their culpable ignorance. +Even the "old salt" on the forecastle has an instinct for a brother tar, +though a passenger, and a due respect is paid to Neptune in answering his +inquiries, while half the time the maiden traveller meets with a grave +equivoque, a marvel, or a downright mystification. + +On the first morning out, the steward of the Montauk commenced the +dispensation of his news; for no sooner was he heard rattling the glasses, +and shuffling plates in the pantry, than the attack was begun by Mr. +Dodge, in whom "a laudable thirst after knowledge," as exemplified in +putting questions, was rather a besetting principle. This gentleman had +come out in the ship, as has been mentioned, and unfortunately for the +interest of his propensity, not only the steward, but all on board, had, +as it is expressed in slang language, early taken the measure of his foot. +The result of his present application was the following brief dialogue. + +"Steward," called out Mr. Dodge, through the blinds of his state-room; +"whereabouts are we?" + +"In the British Channel, sir." + +"I might have guessed that, myself." + +"So I s'pose, sir; nobody is better at guessing and divining than Mr. +Dodge." + +"But in what part of the Channel are we, Saunders?" + +"About the middle, sir." + +"How far have we come to night?" + +"From Portsmouth Roads to this place, sir." + +Mr. Dodge was satisfied, and the steward, who would not have dared to be +so explicit with any other cabin-passenger, continued coolly to mix an +omelette. The next attack was made from the same room, by Sir George +Templemore. + +"Steward, my good fellow, do you happen to know whereabouts we are?" + +"Certainly, sir; the land is still werry obwious." + +"Are we getting on cleverly?" + +"_Nicely_, sir;" with a mincing emphasis on the first word, that betrayed +there was a little waggery about the grave-looking mulatto. + +"And the sloop-of-war, steward?" + +"Nicely too, sir." + +There was a shuffling in the state-room, followed by a silence. The door +of Mr. Sharp's room was now opened an inch or two, and the following +questions issued through the crevice: + +"Is the wind favourable, steward?" + +"Just her character, sir." + +"Do you mean that the wind is favourable?" + +"For the Montauk, sir; she's a persuader in this breeze." + +"But is she going in the direction we wish?" + +"If the gentleman wishes to perambulate America, it is probable he will +get there with a little patience." + +Mr. Sharp pulled-to his door, and ten minutes passed without further +questions; the steward beginning to hope the morning catechism was over, +though he grumbled a wish that gentlemen would "turn out" and take a look +for themselves. Now, up to this moment, Saunders knew no more, than those +who had just been questioning him of the particular situation of the ship, +in which he floated as indifferent to the whereabouts and the winds, as +men sail in the earth along its orbit, without bethinking them of +parallaxes, nodes, ecliptics, and solstices. Aware that it was about time +for the captain to be heard, he sent a subordinate on deck, with a view to +be ready to meet the usual questions from his commander. A couple of +minutes were sufficient to put him _au courant_ of the real state of +things. The next door that opened was that of Paul Blunt, however, who +thrust his head into the cabin, with all his dark curls in the confusion +of a night scene. + +"Steward!" + +"Sir. + +"How's the wind?" + +"Quite exhilarating, sir." + +"From what quarter?" + +"About south, sir" + +"Is there much of it?" + +"A prewailing breeze, sir." + +"And the sloop?" + +"She's to leeward, sir, operating along as fast as she can." + +"Steward!" + +"Sir," stepping hurriedly out of his pantry, in order to hear more +distinctly. + +"Under what sail are we?" + +"Topgallant sails, sir." + +"How's her head?" + +"West-south-west, sir." + +"Delicious! Any news of the rover?" + +"Hull down to leeward, sir, and on our quarter. + +"Staggering along, eh?" + +"Quite like a disguised person, sir." + +"Better still. Hurry along that breakfast of yours, sir; I am as hungry as +a Troglodyte." + +The honest captain had caught this word from a recent treatise against +agrarianism, and having an acquired taste for orders in one sense, at +least, he flattered himself with being what is called a Conservative, in +other words, he had a strong relish for that maxim of the Scotch +freebooter, which is rendered into English by the comely aphorism of "keep +what you've got, and get what you can." + +A cessation of the interrogatories took place, and soon after the +passengers began to appear in the cabin, one by one. As the first step is +almost invariably to go on deck, especially in good weather, in a few +minutes nearly all of the last night's party were again assembled in the +open air, a balm that none can appreciate but those who have experienced +the pent atmosphere of a crowded vessel. The steward had rendered a +faithful account of the state of the weather to the captain, who was now +seen standing in the main-rigging, looking at the clouds to windward, and +at the sloop-of-war to leeward, in the knowing manner of one who was +making comparisons materially to the disadvantage of the latter. + +The day was fine, and the Montauk, bearing her canvas nobly, was, to use +the steward's language, also staggering along, under everything that would +draw, from her topgallant-sails down, with the wind near two points +forward of the beam, or on an easy bowline. As there was but little sea, +her rate was quite nine knots, though varying with the force of the wind. +The cruiser had certainly followed them thus far, though doubts began to +be entertained whether she was in chase, or merely bound like themselves +to the westward; a course common to all vessels that wish to clear the +Channel, even when it is intended to go south, as the rocks and tides of +the French coast are inconvenient neighbours in long nights. + +"Who knows, after all, that the cutter which tried to board us," asked the +captain aloud, "belongs to the ship to leeward?" + +"I know the boat, sir," answered the second mate; "and the ship is the +Foam." + +"Let her foam away, then, if she wishes to speak us. Has any one tried her +bearings since daylight?" + +"We set her by the compass at six o'clock, sir, and she has not varied her +bearing, as far as from one belaying pin to another, in three hours; but +her hull rises fast: you can now make out her ports, and at daylight the +bottom of her courses dipped." + +"Ay, ay, she is a light-going Foam, then! If that is the case, she will be +alongside of us by night." + +"In which event, captain, you will be obliged to give him a broadside of +Vattel," threw in John Effingham, in his cool manner. + +"If that will answer his errand, he is welcome to as much as he can carry. +I begin to doubt, gentlemen, whether this fellow be not in earnest: in +which case you may nave an opportunity of witnessing how ships are +handled, when seamen have their management. I have no objection, to +setting the experience of a poor come-and-go sort of a fellow, like +myself, in opposition to the geometry and Hamilton Moore of a young +man-of-war's-man. I dare say, now, yonder chap is a lord, or a lord's +progeny, while poor Jack Truck is just as you see him." + +"Do you not think half-an-hour of compliance on our part might bring the +matter to an amicable conclusion a once?" said Paul Blunt. "Were we to run +down to him, the object of his pursuit could be determined in a +few minutes." + +"What! and abandon poor Davis to the rapacity of that rascally attorney?" +generously exclaimed Sir George Templemore. "I would prefer paying the +port-charges myself, run into the handiest French port, and let the honest +fellow escape!" + +"There is no probability that a cruiser would attempt to take a mere +debtor from a foreign vessel on the open sea." + +"If there were no tobacco in the world, Mr. Blunt, I might feel disposed +to waive the categories, and show the gentleman that courtesy," returned +the captain, who was preparing another cigar. "But while the cruiser might +not feel authorised to take an absconding debtor from this vessel, he +might feel otherwise on the subject of tobacco, provided there has been an +information for smuggling." + +Captain Truck then explained, that the subordinates of the packets +frequently got their ships into trouble, by taking adventures of the +forbidden weed clandestinely into European ports, and that his ship, in +such circumstances, would lose her place in the line, and derange all the +plans of the company to which she belonged. He did the English government +the justice to say, that it had always manifested a liberal disposition +not to punish the innocent for the guilty; but were any such complaints +actually in the wind, he thought he could settle it with much less loss to +himself on his return, than on the day of sailing. While this explanation +was delivered, a group had clustered round the speaker, leaving Eve and +her party on the opposite side of the deck. + +"This last speech of Mr. Blunt's quite unsettles my opinion of his +national character, as Vattel and our worthy captain would say," remarked +Mr. Sharp. "Last night, I set him down as a right loyal American; but I +think it would not be natural for a thorough-going countryman of yours, +Miss Effingham, to propose this act of courtesy to a cruiser of +King William." + +"How far any countrymen of mine, thorough-going or not, have reason to +manifest extreme courtesy to any of your cruisers," Eve laughingly +replied, "I shall leave Captain Truck to say. But, with you, I have long +been at a loss to determine whether Mr. Blunt is an Englishman or an +American, or indeed, whether he be either." + +"Long, Miss Effingham! He then has the honour of being well known to you?" + +Eye answered steadily, though the colour mounted to her brow; but whether +from the impetuous exclamation of her companion, or from any feeling +connected with the subject of their conversation, the young man was at a +loss to discover. + +"Long, as girls of twenty count time--some four or five years; but you may +judge how well, when I tell you I am ignorant of his country even." + +"And may I venture to ask which do you, yourself, give him credit for +being, an American or an Englishman?" + +Eve's bright eyes laughed, as she answered, "You have put the question +with so much finesse, and with a politeness so well managed, that I should +indeed be churlish to refuse an answer:--Nay, do not interrupt me, and +spoil all the good you have done by unnecessary protestations of +sincerity." + +"All I wish to say is, to ask an explanation of a finesse, of which I am +quite as innocent as of any wish to draw down upon myself the visitations +of your displeasure." + +"Do you, then, really conceive it a _credit_ to be an American?" + +"Nobody of less modesty than yourself, Miss Effingham, under all the +circumstances, would dream of asking the question." + +"I thank you for the civility, which must be taken as it is offered, I +presume, quite as a thing _en règle_; but to leave our fine opinions of +each other, as well as our prejudices, out of the question--" + +"You will excuse me if I object to this, for I feel nay good sense +implicated. _You_ can hardly attribute to me opinions so utterly +unreasonable, so unworthy of a gentleman--so unfounded, in short! Am I not +incurring all the risks and hardships of a long sea-voyage, expressly to +visit your great country, and, I trust, to improve by its example +and society?" + +"Since you appear to wish it, Mr. Sharp--" Eve glanced her playful eye up +at him as she pronounced the name--"I will be as credulous as a believer +in animal magnetism: and that, I fancy, is pushing credulity to the verge +of reason. It is now settled between us, that you do conceive it an honour +to be an American, born, educated, and by extraction." + +"All of which being the case with Miss Effingham." + +"All but the second; indeed, they write me fearful things concerning this +European education of mine; some even go so far as to assure me I shall be +quite unfitted to live in the society to which I properly belong!" + +"Europe will be rejoiced to receive you back again, in that case; and no +European more so than myself." + +The beautiful colour deepened a little on the cheek of Eve, but she made +no immediate reply. + +"To return to our subject," she at length said; "Were I required to say, I +should not be able to decide on the country of Mr. Blunt; nor have I ever +met with any one who appeared to know. I saw him first in Germany, where +he circulated in the best company; though no one seemed acquainted with +his history, even there. He made a good figure; was quite at his ease; +speaks several languages almost as well as the natives of the different +countries themselves; and, altogether, was a subject of curiosity with +those who had leisure to think of any thing but their own dissipation +and folly." + +Mr. Sharp listened with obvious gravity to the fair speaker, and had not +her own eyes been fastened on the deck, she might have detected the lively +interest betrayed in his. Perhaps the feeling which was at the bottom of +all this, to a slight degree, influenced his answer. + +"Quite an Admirable Crichton!" + +"I do not say that, though certainly expert in tongues. My own rambling +life has made me acquainted with a few languages, and I do assure you, +this gentleman speaks three or four with almost equal readiness, and with +no perceptible accent. I remember, at Vienna, many even believed him to be +a German." + +"What! with the name of Blunt?" + +Eve smiled, and her companion, who silently watched every expression of +her varying countenance, as if to read her thoughts, noted it. + +"Names signify little in these migratory times," returned the young lady. +"You have but to imagine a _von_ before it, and it would pass at Dresden, +or at Berlin. Von Blunt, _der Edelgeborne Graf Von Blunt, Hofrath_--or +if you like it better, _Geheimer Rath mit Excellenz und eure Gnaden_" + +"Or, _Baw-Berg-Veg-Inspector-Substitut!_" added Mr. Sharp, laughing. "No, +no! this will hardly pass. Blunt is a good old English name; but it has +not finesse enough for Italian, German, Spanish, or anything else but John +Bull and his family." + +"I see no necessity, for my part, for all this Bluntishness; the gentleman +may think frankness a good travelling quality." + +"Surely, he has not concealed his real name!" + +"Mr. Sharp, Mr. Blunt; Mr. Blunt, Mr. Sharp;" rejoined Eve, laughing until +her bright eyes danced with pleasure. "There would be something +ridiculous, indeed, in seeing so much of the finesse of a master of +ceremonies subjected to so profound a mystification! I have been told that +passing introductions amount to little among you men, and this would be a +case in point." + +"I would I dared ask if it be really so." + +"Were I to be guilty of indiscretion in another's case, you would not fail +to distrust me in your own. I am, moreover, a protestant, and abjure +auricular confessions." + +"You will not frown if I inquire whether the rest of your party remember +him?" + +"My father, Mademoiselle Viefville, and the excellent Nanny Sidley, again; +but, I think, none other of the servants, as he never visited us. Mr. John +Effingham was travelling in Egypt at the time, and did not see him at all, +and we only met in general society; Nanny's acquaintance merely that of +seeing him check his horse in the Prater, to speak to us of a morning." + +"Poor fellow, I pity him; he has, at least, never had the happiness of +strolling on the shores of Como and the islands of Laggo Maggiore in your +company, or of studying the wonders of the Pitti and the Vatican." + +"If I must confess all, he journeyed with us on foot and in boats an +entire month, among the wonders of the Oberland, and across the +Wallenstadt. This was at a time when we had no one with us but the regular +guides and the German courier, who was discharged in London." + +"Were it not for the impropriety of tampering with a servant, I would +cross the deck and question your good Nanny, this moment!" said Mr. Sharp +with playful menace. "Of all torture, that of suspense is the hardest to +be borne." + +"I grant you full permission, and acquit you of all sins, whether of +disrespect, meanness, impertinence, ungentle-manlike practices, or any +other vice that may be thought to attend and characterize the act." + +"This formidable array of qualities would check the curiosity of a village +gossip!" + +"It has an effect I did not intend, then; I wish you to put your threat in +execution." + +"Not seriously, surely?" + +"Never more so. Take a favourable moment to speak to the good soul, as an +old acquaintance; she remembers you well, and by a little of that +interrogating management you possess, a favourable opportunity may occur +to bring in the other subject. In the mean time, I will glance over the +pages of this book." + +As Eve began to read, Mr. Sharp perceived she was in earnest, and +hesitating a moment, in doubt of the propriety of the act, he yielded to +her expressed desire, and strolled carelessly towards the faithful old +domestic. He addressed her indifferently at first, until believing he +might go further, he smilingly observed that he believed he had seen her +in Italy. To this Nanny quietly assented, and when he indirectly added +that it was under another name, she smiled, but merely intimated her +consciousness of the fact, by a quick glance of the eye. + +"You know that travellers assume names for the sake of avoiding +curiosity," he added, "and I hope you will not betray me." + +"You need not fear me, sir; I meddle with little besides my own duty, and +so long as Miss Eve appears to think there is no harm in it, I will +venture to say it is no more than a gentleman's caprice." + +"Why, that is the very word she applied to it herself! You have caught the +term from Miss Effingham." + +"Well, sir, and if I have, it is caught from one who deals little harm to +any." + +"I believe I am not the only one on board who travels under a false name, +if the truth were known?" + +Nanny looked first at the deck, then at her interrogator's face, next +towards Mr. Blunt, withdrawing her eye again, as if guilty of an +indiscretion, and finally at the sails. Perceiving her embarrassment, +respecting her discretion, and ashamed of the task he had undertaken, Mr. +Sharp said a few civil things suited to the condition of the woman, and +sauntering about the deck for a short time, to avoid suspicion, soon found +himself once more alongside of Eve. The latter inquired with her eyes, a +little exultingly perhaps, concerning his success. + +"I have failed," he said; "but something must be ascribed to my own +awkward diffidence; for there is so much meanness in tampering with a +servant, that I had not the heart to push my questions, even while I am +devoured by curiosity." + +"Your fastidiousness is not a disease with which all on board are +afflicted, for there is at least one grand inquisitor among us, by what I +can learn; so take heed to your sins, and above all, be very guarded of +old letters, marks, and other tell-tales, that usually expose impostors." + +"To all that, I believe, sufficient care has already been had, by that +other Dromio, my own man." + +"And in what way do you share the name between you? Is it Dromio of +Syracuse, and Dromio of Ephesus? or does John call himself Fitz-Edward, or +Mortimer, or De Courcy?" + +"He has complaisance enough to make the passage with nothing but a +Christian name, I believe. In truth, it was by a mere accident that I +turned usurper in this way. He took the state-room for me, and being +required to give a name, he gave his own, as usual. When I went to the +docks to look at the ship, I was saluted as Mr. Sharp, and then the +conceit took me of trying how it would wear for a month or six weeks. I +would give the world to know if the _Geheimer Rath_ got his cognomen in +the same honest manner." + +"I think not, as his man goes by the pungent title of Pepper. Unless poor +John should have occasion for two names during the passage, you are +reasonably safe. And still, I think," continued Eve, biting her lips, like +one who deliberated, "if it were any longer polite to bet, Mr. John +Effingham would hazard all the French gloves in his trunks, against all +the English finery in yours, that the inquisitor just hinted at gets at +your secret before we arrive. Perhaps I ought rather to say, ascertains +that you are not Mr. Sharp, and that Mr. Blunt is." + +Her companion entreated her to point out the person to whom she had given +the _sobriquet_ she mentioned. + +"Accuse me of giving nicknames to no one. The man has this title from +Mademoiselle Viefville, and his own great deeds. It is a certain Mr. +Steadfast Dodge, who, it seems, knows something of us, from the +circumstance of living in the same county, and who, from knowing a little +in this comprehensive manner, is desirous of knowing a great deal more." + +"The natural result of all useful knowledge." + +"Mr. John Effingham, who is apt to fling sarcasms at all lands, his native +country included, affirms that this gentleman is but a fair specimen of +many more it will be our fortune to meet in America. If so, we shall not +long be strangers; for according to Mademoiselle Viefville and my good +Nanny, he has already communicated to them a thousand interesting +particulars of himself, in exchange for which he asks no more than the +reasonable compensation of having all his questions concerning us truly +answered." + +"This is certainly alarming intelligence, and I shall take heed +accordingly." + +"If he discover that John is without a surname, I am far from certain he +will not prepare to have him arraigned for some high crime or +misdemeanour; for Mr John Effingham maintains that the besetting +propensity of all this class is to divine the worst the moment their +imaginations cease to be fed with fact. All is false with them, and it is +flattery or accusation." + +The approach of Mr. Blunt caused a cessation of the discourse, Eve +betraying a slight degree of sensitiveness about admitting him to share in +these little asides, a circumstance that her companion observed, not +without satisfaction. The discourse now became general, the person who +joined them amusing the others with an account of several proposals +already made by Mr. Dodge, which, as he expressed it, in making the +relation, manifested the strong community-characteristics of an American. +The first proposition was to take a vote to ascertain whether Mr. Van +Buren or Mr. Harrison was the greatest favourite of the passengers; and, +on this being defeated, owing to the total ignorance of so many on board +of both the parties he had named, he had suggested the expediency of +establishing a society to ascertain daily the precise position of the +ship. Captain Truck had thrown cold water on the last proposal, however, +by adding to it what, among legislators, is called a "rider;" he having +drily suggested that one of the duties of the said society should be to +ascertain also the practicability of wading across the Atlantic. + + + + +Chapter VII. + + + + When clouds are seen, wise men put on their cloaks, + When great leaves fall, then winter is at hand; + When the sun sets, who doth not look for night? + Untimely storms make men expect a dearth: + All may be well; but if God sort it so, + 'Tis more than we deserve, or I expect. + + RICHARD III. + + +These conversations, however, were mere episodes of the great business +of the passage. Throughout the morning, the master was busy in rating his +mates, giving sharp reprimands to the stewards and cooks, overhauling the +log line, introducing the passengers, seeing to the stowage of the +anchors, in getting down the signal-pole, throwing in touches of Vattel, +and otherwise superintending duty, and dispensing opinions. All this time, +the cat in the grass does not watch the bird that hops along the ground +with keener vigilance than he kept his eye on the Foam. To an ordinary +observer, the two ships presented the familiar spectacle of vessels +sailing in the same direction, with a very equal rate of speed; and as the +course was that necessary to clear the Channel, most of the passengers, +and, indeed, the greater part of the crew, began to think the cruiser, +like themselves, was merely bound to the westward. Mr. Truck, on the +contrary, judging by signs and movements that more naturally suggested +themselves to one accustomed to direct the evolutions of a ship, and to +reason on their objects, than to the mere subjects of his will, thought +differently. To him, the motive of the smallest change on board the +sloop-of-war was as intelligible as if it had been explained in words, and +he even foresaw many that were about to take place. Before noon, the Foam +had got fairly abeam, and Mr. Leach, pointing out the circumstance, +observed, that if her wish was to overhaul them, she ought then to tack; +it being a rule among seamen, that the pursuing vessel should turn to +windward as often as she found herself nearest to her chase. But the +experience of Captain Truck taught him better; the tide was setting into +the Channel on the flood, and the wind enabled both ships to fake the +current on their lee-bows, a power that forced them up to windward; +whereas, by tacking, the Foam would receive the force of the stream on her +weather broadside, or so nearly so, as to sweep her farther astern than +her difference in speed could easily repair. + +"She has the heels of us, and she weathers on us, as it, is," grumbled the +master; "and that might satisfy a man less modest. I have led the +gentleman such a tramp already that he will be in none of the best humours +when he comes alongside, and we may make up our minds on seeing Portsmouth +again before we see New-York, unless a slant of wind, or the night, serve +us a good turn. I trust, Leach, you have not been destroying your +prospects in life by looking too wistfully at a tobacco-field?" + +"Not I, sir; and if you will give me leave to say it, Captain Truck, I do +not think a plug has been landed from the ship, which did not go ashore in +a _bona-fide_ tobacco-box, that might appear in any court in England. The +people will swear, to a man, that this is true." + +"Ay, ay! and the Barons of the Exchequer would be the greatest fools in +England not to believe them. If there has been no defrauding the revenue, +why does a cruiser follow this ship, a regular packet, to sea?" + +"This affair of the steerage passenger, Davis, sir, is probably the cause. +The man may be heavily in debt, or possibly a defaulter; for these rogues, +when they break down, often fall lower than the 'twixt decks of a ship +like this." + +"This will do to put the quarter-deck and cabin in good humour at sailing, +and give them something to open an acquaintance with; but it is sawdust to +none but your new beginners. I have known that Seal this many a year, and +the rogue never yet had a case that touched the quarter-deck. It is as the +man and his wife say, and I'll not give them up, out here in blue water, +for as much foam as lies on Jersey beach after an easterly blow. It will +not be any of the family of Davis that will satisfy yonder wind-eater; but +he will lay his hand on the whole family of the Montauk, leaving them the +agreeable alternative of going back to Portsmouth in his pleasant society, +or getting out here in mid-channel, and wading ashore as best they can. +D--- me! If I believe, Leach, that Vattel will bear the fellow out in it, +even if there has been a whole hogshead of the leaves trundled into his +island without a permit!" + +To this Mr. Leach had no encouraging answer to make, for, like most of his +class, he held practical force in much greater respect than the +abstractions of books. He deemed it prudent, therefore, to be silent, +though greatly doubting the efficacy of a quotation from any authority on +board, when fairly put in opposition to a written order from the admiral +at Portsmouth, or even to a signal sent down from Admiralty at London. + +The day wore away, making a gradual change in the relative positions of +the two ships, though so slowly, as to give Captain Truck strong hopes of +being able to dodge his pursuer in the coming night, which promised to be +dark and squally. To return to Portsmouth was his full intention, but not +until he had first delivered his freight and passengers in New-York; for, +like all men bound up body and soul in the performance of an especial +duty, he looked on a frustration of his immediate object as a much greater +calamity than even a double amount of more remote evil. Besides, he felt a +strong reliance on the liberality of the English authorities in the end, +and had little doubt of being able to extricate himself and his ship from +any penalties to which the indiscretion or cupidity of his subordinates +might have rendered him liable. + +Just as the sun dipped into the watery track of the Montauk, most of the +cabin passengers again appeared on deck, to take a look at the situation +of the two vessels, and to form their own conjectures as to the probable +result of the adventure. By this time the Foam had tacked twice, once to +weather upon the wake of her chase, and again to resume her line of +pursuit. The packet was too good a ship to be easily overtaken, and the +cruiser was now nearly hull-down astern, but evidently coming up at a rate +that would bring her alongside before morning. The wind blew in squalls, a +circumstance that always aids a vessel of war, as the greater number of +her hands enables them to make and shorten sail with ease and rapidity. + +"This unsettled weather is as much as a mile an hour against us," observed +Captain Truck, who was far from pleased at the fact of his being outsailed +by anything that floated; "and, if truth must be said, I think that fellow +has somewhere about half a knot the best of it, in the way of foot, on a +bowline and with this breeze. But he has no cargo in, and they trim their +boats like steel-yards. Give us more wind, or a freer, and I would leave +him to digest his orders, as a shark digests a marling-spike, or a +ring-bolt, notwithstanding all his advantages; for little good would it +then do him to be trying to run into the wind's eye, like a steam-tug. As +it is, we must submit. We are certainly in a category, and be d---d +to it!" + +It was one of those wild-looking sunsets that are so frequent in the +autumn, in which appearances are worse, perhaps, than the reality. The +ships were now so near the Chops of the Channel that no land was visible, +and the entire horizon presented that chill and wintry aspect that belongs +to gloomy and driving clouds, to which streaks of dull light serve more to +give an appearance of infinite space than any of the relief of brightness. +It was a dreary night-fall to a landsman's eye; though they who better +understood the signs of the heavens, as they are exhibited on the ocean, +saw little more than the promise of obscurity, and the usual hazards of +darkness in a much-frequented sea, + +"This will be a dirty night," observed John Effingham, "and we may have +occasion to bring in some of the flaunting vanity of the ship, ere another +morning returns." + +"The vessel appears to be in good hands," returned Mr. Effingham: "I have +watched them narrowly; for, I know not why, I have felt more anxiety on +the occasion of this passage than on any of the nine I have already made." + +As he spoke, the tender father unconsciously bent his eyes on Eve, who +leaned affectionately on his arm, steadying her light form against the +pitching of the vessel. She understood his feelings better than he did +himself, possibly, since, accustomed to his fondest care from childhood, +she well knew that he seldom thought of others, or even of himself, while +her own wants or safety appealed to his unwearying love. + +"Father," she said, smiling in his wistful face, "we have seen more +troubled waters than these, far, and in a much frailer vessel. Do you not +remember the Wallenstadt and its miserable skiff? where I have heard you +say there was really danger, though we escaped from it all with a +little fright." + +"Perfectly well do I recollect it, love, nor have I forgotten our brave +companion, and his good service, at that critical moment. But for his +stout arm and timely succour we might not, as you say, have been quit for +the fright." + +Although Mr. Effingham looked only at his daughter, while speaking, Mr. +Sharp, who listened with interest, saw the quick, retreating, glance of +Eve at Paul Blunt, and felt something like a chill in his blood as he +perceived that her own cheeks seemed to reflect the glow which appeared on +that of the young man. He alone observed this secret evidence of common +interest in some event in which both had evidently been actors, those +around them being too much occupied in the arrangements of the ship, and +too little suspicious, to heed the trifling circumstance. Captain Truck +had ordered all hands called, to make sail, to the surprise of even the +crew. The vessel, at the moment, was staggering along under as much canvas +as she could apparently bear, and the mates looked aloft with inquiring +eyes as if to ask what more could be done. + +The master soon removed all doubts. With a rapidity that is not common in +merchant ships, but which is usual enough in the packets, the lower +studding-sails, and two topmast-studding-sails were prepared, and made +ready for hoisting. As soon as the words "all ready" were uttered, the +helm was put up, the sails were set, and the Montauk was running with a +free wind towards the narrow passage between the Scilly Islands and the +Land's End. Captain Truck was an expert channel pilot, from long practice, +and keeping the run of the tides in his head, he had loosely calculated +that his vessel had so much offing as, with a free wind, and the great +progress she had made in the last twenty-four hours, would enable him to +lay through the pass. + +"'Tis a ticklish hole to run into in a dirty night, with a staggering +breeze," he said, rubbing his hands as if the hazard increased his +satisfaction, "and we will now see if this Foam has mettle enough +to follow." + +"The chap has a quick eye and good glasses, even though he should want +nerve for the Scilly rocks," cried the mate, who was looking out from the +mizzen rigging. "There go his stun'-sails already, and a plenty of them!" + +Sure enough the cruiser threw out her studding-sails, had them full and +drawing in five minutes, and altered her course so as to follow the +Montauk. There was now no longer any doubt concerning her object; for it +was hardly possible two vessels should adopt so bold a step as this, just +at dark, and on such a night, unless the movements of one were regulated +by the movements of the other. + +In the mean time, anxious faces began to appear on the quarter-deck, and +Mr. Dodge was soon seen moving stealthily about among the passengers, +whispering here, cornering there, and seemingly much occupied in +canvassing opinions on the subject of the propriety of the step that the +master had just taken; though, if the truth must be told, he rather +stimulated opposition than found others prepared to meet his wishes. When +he thought, however, he had collected a sufficient number of suffrages to +venture on an experiment, that nothing but an inherent aversion to +shipwreck and a watery grave could embolden him to make, he politely +invited the captain to a private conference in the state-room occupied by +himself and Sir George Templemore. Changing the _venue_, as the lawyers +term it, to his own little apartment,--no master of a packet willingly +consenting to transact business in any other place--Captain Truck, who was +out of cigars at the moment, very willingly assented. + +When the two were seated, and the door of the room was closed, Mr. Dodge +carefully snuffed the candle, looked about him to make sure there was no +eave's-dropper in a room eight feet by seven, and then commenced his +subject, with what he conceived to be a commendable delicacy and +discretion. + +"Captain Truck," he said, in the sort of low confidential tone that +denotes equally concern and mystery, "I think by this time you must have +set me down as one of your warm and true friends and supporters. I came +out in your ship, and, please God we escape the perils of the sea, it is +my hope and intention to return home in her." + +"If not, friend Dodge," returned the master, observing that the other +paused to note the effect of his peroration, and using a familiarity in +his address that the acquaintance of the former passage had taught him was +not misapplied; "if not, friend Dodge, you have made a capital mistake in +getting on board of her, as it is by no means probable an occasion will +offer to get out of her, until we fall in with a news-boat, or a +pilot-boat, at least somewhere in the latitude and longitude of Sandy +Hook. You smoke, I believe sir?" + +"I ask no better," returned Steadfast, declining the offer; "I have told +every one on the Continent,"--Mr. Dodge had been to Paris, Geneva, along +the Rhine, and through Belgium and Holland, and in his eyes, this was the +Continent,--"that no better ship or captain sails the ocean; and you know +captain, I have a way with me, when I please, that causes what I say to be +remembered. Why, my dear sir, I had an article extolling the whole line in +the most appropriate terms, and this ship in particular, put into the +journal at Rotterdam. It was so well done, that not a soul suspected it +came from a personal friend of yours." + +The captain was rolling the small end of a cigar in his mouth to prepare +it for smoking, the regulations of the ship forbidding any further +indulgence below; but when he received this assurance, he withdrew the +tobacco with the sort of mystifying simplicity that gets to be a second +nature with a regular votary of Neptune, and answered with a coolness of +manner that was in ridiculous contrast to the affected astonishment of +the words:-- + +"The devil you did!--Was it in good Dutch?" + +"I do not understand much of the language," said Mr. Dodge, hesitatingly; +for all he knew, in truth, was _yaw_ and _nein_, and neither of these +particularly well;--"but it looked to be uncommonly well expressed. I +could do no more than pay a man to translate it. But to return to this +affair of running in among the Scilly Islands such a night as this." + +"Return, my good fellow! this is the first syllable you have said about +the matter!" + +"Concern on your account has caused me to forget myself. To be frank with +you, Captain Truck, and if I wer'n't your very best friend I should be +silent, there is considerable excitement getting up about this matter." + +"Excitement! what is that like?--a sort of moral head-sea, do you mean?" + +"Precisely: and I must tell you the truth, though I had rather a thousand +times not; but this change in the ship's course is monstrous unpopular!" + +"That is bad news, with a vengeance, Mr. Dodge; I shall rely on you, as an +old friend, to get up an opposition." + +"My dear captain, I have done all I could in that way already; but I never +met with people so bent on a thing as most of the passengers. The +Effinghams are very decided, though so purse-proud and grand; Sir George +Templemore declares it is quite extraordinary, and even the French lady +is furious. To be as sincere as the crisis demands, public opinion is +setting so strong against you, that I expect an explosion." + +"Well, so long as the tide sets in my favour, I must endeavour to bear it. +Stemming a current, in or out of water, is up-hill work; but with a good +bottom, clean copper, and plenty of wind, it may be done." + +"It would not surprise me were the gentlemen to appeal to the general +sentiment against you when we arrive, and make a handle of it against +your line!" + +"It may be so indeed; but what can be done? If we return, the Englishman +will certainly catch us, and, in that case, my own opinion would be dead +against me!" + +"Well, well, captain; I thought as a friend I would speak my mind. If this +thing should really get into the papers in America, it would spread like +fire in the prairies. You know what the papers are, I trust, +Captain Truck?" + +"I rather think I do, Mr. Dodge, with many thanks for your hints, and I +believe I know what the Scilly Islands are, too. The elections will be +nearly or quite over by the time we get in, and, thank God, they'll not be +apt to make a party question of it, this fall at least. In the mean time +rely on my keeping a good look-out for the shoals of popularity, and the +quicksands of excitement. You smoke sometimes, I know, and I can recommend +this cigar as fit to regale the nose of that chap of Strasbourg----you +read your Bible, I know, Mr. Dodge, and need not be told whom I mean. The +steward will be happy to give you a light on deck, sir." + +In this manner, Captain Truck, with the _sang froid_ of an old tar, and +the tact of a packet-master, got rid of his troublesome visiter, who +departed, half suspecting that he had been quizzed, but still ruminating +on the expediency of getting up a committee, or at least a public meeting +in the cabin, to follow up the blow. By the aid of the latter, could he +but persuade Mr. Effingham to take the chair, and Sir George Templemore to +act as secretary, he thought he might escape a sleepless night, and, what +was of quite as much importance, make a figure in a paragraph on +reaching home. + +Mr. Dodge, whose Christian name, thanks to a pious ancestry, was +Steadfast, partook of the qualities that his two appellations not inaptly +expressed. There was a singular profession of steadiness of purpose, and +of high principle about him, all of which vanished in Dodge at the close. +A great stickler for the rights of the people, he never considered that +this people was composed of many integral parts, but he viewed all things +as gravitating towards the great aggregation. Majorities were his hobbies, +and though singularly timid as an individual, or when in the minority, put +him on the strongest side and he was ready to face the devil. In short, +Mr. Dodge was a people's man, because his strongest desire, his "ambition +and his pride," as he often expressed it, was to be a man of the people. +In his particular neighbourhood, at home, sentiment ran in veins, like +gold in the mines, or in streaks of public opinion; and though there might +be three or four of these public sentiments, so long as each had its +party, no one was afraid to avow it; but as for maintaining a notion that +was not thus upheld, there was a savour of aristocracy about it that would +damn even a mathematical proposition, though regularly solved and proved. +So much and so long had Mr. Dodge respired a moral atmosphere of this +community-character, and gregarious propensity, that he had, in many +things, lost all sense of his individuality; as much so, in fact, as if he +breathed with a pair of county lungs, ate with a common mouth, drank from +the town-pump, and slept in the open air. + +Such a man was not very likely to make an impression on Captain Truck, one +accustomed to rely on himself alone, in the face of warring elements, and +who knew that a ship could not safely have more than a single will, and +that the will of her master. + +The accidents of life could scarcely form extremes of character more +remote than that of Steadfast Dodge and that of John Truck. The first +never did anything beyond acts of the most ordinary kind, without first +weighing its probable effect in the neighbourhood; its popularity or +unpopularity; how it might tally with the different public opinions that +were whiffling through the county; in what manner it would influence the +next election, and whether it would be likely to elevate him or depress +him in the public mind. No Asiatic slave stood more in terror of a +vindictive master than Mr. Dodge stood in fear and trembling before the +reproofs, comments, censures, frowns, cavillings and remarks of every man +in his county, who happened to be long to the political party that just at +that moment was in power. As to the minority, he was as brave as a lion, +could snap his fingers at them, and was foremost in deriding and scoffing +at all they said and did. This, however, was in connexion with politics +only; for, the instant party-drill ceased to be of value, Steadfast's +valour oozed out of his composition, and in all other things he dutifully +consulted every public opinion of the neighbourhood. This estimable man +had his weak points as well as another, and what is more, he was quite +sensible of them, as was proved by a most jealous watchfulness of his +besetting sins, in the way of exposure if not of indulgence. In a word, +Steadfast Dodge was a man that wished to meddle with and control all +things, without possessing precisely the spirit that was necessary to +leave him master of himself; he had a rabid desire for the good opinion of +every thing human, without always taking the means necessary to preserve +his own; was a stout declaimer for the rights of the community, while +forgetting that the community itself is but a means set up for the +accomplishment, of a given end; and felt an inward and profound respect +for everything that was beyond his reach, which manifested itself, not in +manly efforts to attain the forbidden fruit, but rather in a spirit of +opposition and detraction, that only betrayed, through its jealousy, the +existence of the feeling, which jealousy, however, he affected to conceal +under an intense regard for popular rights, since he was apt to aver it +was quite intolerable that any man should possess anything, even to +qualities, in which his neighbours might not properly participate. All +these, moreover, and many similar traits, Mr. Dodge encouraged in the +spirit of liberty! + +On the other hand, John Truck sailed his own ship; was civil to his +passengers from habit as well as policy; knew that every vessel must have +a captain; believed mankind to be little better than asses; took his own +observations, and cared not a straw for those of his mates; was never more +bent on following his own views than when all hands grumbled and opposed +him; was daring by nature, decided from use and long self-reliance, and +was every way a man fitted to steer his bark through the trackless ways of +life, as well as those of the ocean. It was fortunate for one in his +particular position, that nature had made the possessor of so much +self-will and temporary authority, cool and sarcastic rather than +hot-headed and violent; and for this circumstance Mr. Dodge in particular +had frequent occasions for felicitation. + + + + +Chapter VIII. + + + + But then we are in order, when we are + Most out of order. + + JACK CADE. + + +Disappointed in his private appeal to the captain's dread of popular +disapprobation, Mr. Dodge returned to his secret work on deck: for like a +true freeman of the exclusive school, this person never presumed to work +openly, unless sustained by a clear majority; canvassing all around him, +and striving hard to create a public opinion, as he termed it, on his side +of the question, by persuading his hearers that every one was of his +particular way of thinking already; a method of exciting a feeling much +practised by partisans of his school. In the interval, Captain Truck was +working up his day's reckoning by himself, in his own state-room, thinking +little, and caring less, about any thing but the results of his figures, +which soon convinced him, that by standing a few hours longer on his +present course, he should "plump his ship ashore" somewhere between +Falmouth and the Lizard. + +This, discovery annoyed the worthy master so much the more, on account of +the suggestions of his late visiter; for nothing could be less to his +taste than to have the appearance of altering his determination under a +menace. Still something must be done before midnight, for he plainly +perceived that thirty or forty miles, at the farthest, would fetch up the +Montauk on her present course. The passengers had left the deck to escape +the night air, and he heard the Effinghams inviting Mr. Sharp and Mr. +Blunt into the ladies' cabin, which had been taken expressly for their +party, while the others were calling upon the stewards for the usual +allowance of hot drinks, at the dining-table without. The talking and +noise disturbed him; his own state-room became too confined, and he went +on deck to come to his decision, in view of the angry-looking skies and +the watery waste, over which he was called to prevail. Here we shall leave +him, pacing the quarter-deck, in moody silence alone, too much disturbed +to smoke even, while the mate of the watch sat in the mizzen-rigging, like +a monkey, keeping a look-out to windward and ahead. In the mean time, we +will return to the cabin of the Effinghams. + +The Montauk was one of the noblest of those surpassingly beautiful and +yacht-like ships that now ply between the two hemispheres in such numbers, +and which in luxury and the fitting conveniences seem to vie with each +other for the mastery. The cabins were lined with satin-wood and +bird's-eye maple; small marble columns separated the glittering panels of +polished wood, and rich carpets covered the floors. The main cabin had the +great table, as a fixture, in the centre, but that of Eve, somewhat +shorter, but of equal width, was free from all encumbrance of the sort. It +had its sofas, cushions, mirrors, stools, tables, and an upright piano. +The doors of the state-rooms, and other conveniences, opened on its sides +and ends. In short, it presented, at that hour, the resemblance of a +tasteful boudoir, rather than that of an apartment in a cramped and +vulgar ship. + +Here, then, all who properly belonged to the place were assembled, with +Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt as guests, when a tap at the door announced +another visiter. It was Mr. Dodge, begging to be admitted on a matter of +business. Eve smiled, as she bowed assent to old Nanny, who acted as her +groom of the chambers, and hastily expressed a belief that her guest must +have come with a proposal to form a Dorcas society. + +Although Mr. Dodge was as bold as Caesar in expressing his contempt of +anything but popular sway, he never came into the presence of the quiet +and well-bred without a feeling of distrust and uneasiness, that had its +rise in the simple circumstance of his not being used to their company. +Indeed, there is nothing more appalling, in general, to the vulgar and +pretending, than the simplicity and natural ease of the refined. Their own +notions of elegance lie so much on the surface, that they seem at first to +suspect an ambush, and it is probable that, finding so much repose where, +agreeably to their preconceived opinions, all ought to be fuss and +pretension, they imagine themselves to be regarded as intruders. + +Mr. Effingham gave their visitor a polite reception, and one that was +marked with a little more than the usual formality, by way of letting it +be understood that the apartment was private; a precaution that he knew +was very necessary in associating with tempers like those of Steadfast. +All this was thrown away on Mr. Dodge, notwithstanding every other person +present admired the tact with which the host kept his guest at a distance, +by extreme attention, for the latter fancied so much ceremony was but a +homage to his claims. It had the effect to put him on his own good +behaviour, however, and of suspending the brusque manner in which he had +intended to broach his subject. As every body waited in calm silence, as +if expecting an explanation of the cause of his visit, Mr. Dodge soon felt +himself constrained to say something, though it might not be quite as +clearly as he could wish. + +"We have had a considerable pleasant time, Miss Effingham, since we sailed +from Portsmouth," he observed familiarly. + +Eve bowed her assent, determined not to take to herself a visit that did +violence to all her habits and notions of propriety. But Mr. Dodge was too +obtuse to feel the hint conveyed in mere reserve of manner. + +"It would have been more agreeable, I allow, had not this man-of-war taken +it into her head to follow us in this unprecedented manner." Mr. Dodge was +as fond of his dictionary as the steward, though he belonged to the +political, while Saunders merely adorned the polite school of talkers. +"Sir George calls it a most 'uncomfortable pro endure.' You know Sir +George Templemore, without doubt, Miss Effingham?" + +"I am aware there is a person of that name on board, sir," returned Eve, +who recoiled from this familiarity with the sensitiveness with which a +well-educated female distinguishes between one who appreciates her +character and one who does not; "but have never had the honour of his +acquaintance." + +Mr. Dodge thought all this extraordinary, for he had witnessed Captain +Truck's introduction, and did not understand how people who had sailed +twenty-four hours in the same ship, and had been fairly introduced, should +not be intimate. As for himself, he fancied he was, what he termed, "well +acquainted" with the Effinghams, from having talked of them a great deal +ignorantly, and not a little maliciously; a liberty he felt himself fully +entitled to take from the circumstance of residing in the same county, +although he had never spoken to one of the family, until accident placed +him in their company on board the same vessel. + +"Sir George is a gentleman of great accomplishments, Miss Effingham, I +assure you; a man of unqualified merit. We have the same state-room, for I +like company, and prefer chatting a little in my berth to being always +asleep. He is a baronet, I suppose you know,--not that I care anything for +titles, all men being equal in truth, though--though----" + +"--Unequal in reality, sir, you probably meant to add," observed John +Effingham, who was lolling on Eve's work-stand, his eagle-shaped face +fairly curling with the contempt he felt, and which he hardly cared +to conceal. + +"Surely not, sir!" exclaimed the terrified Steadfast, looking furtively +about, lest some active enemy might be at hand to quote this unhappy +remark to his prejudice. "Surely not! men are every way equal, and no one +can pretend to be better than another. No, no,--it is nothing to me that +Sir George is a baronet; though one would prefer having a gentleman in the +same state-room to having a coarse fellow. Sir George thinks, sir, that +the ship is running into great danger by steering for the land in so dark +a night, and in such _dirty_ weather. He _has_ many out-of-the-way +expressions, Sir George, I must admit, for one of his rank; he calls the +weather _dirty_, and the proceedings _uncomfortable_; modes of expression, +gentlemen, to which I give an unqualified disapprobation." + +"Probably Sir George would attach more importance to a _qualified_ +disapprobation," retorted John Effingham. + +"Quite likely," returned Mr. Dodge innocently, though the two other +visiters, Eve and Mademoiselle Viefville, permitted slight muscular +movements about the lips to be seen: "Sir George is quite an original in +his way. We have few originals in our part of the country, you know, Mr. +John Effingham; for to say the truth, it is rather unpopular to differ +from the neighbourhood, in this or any other respect. Yes, sir, the people +will rule, and ought to rule. Still, I think Sir George may get along well +enough as a stranger, for it is not quite as unpopular in a stranger to be +original, as in a native. I think you will agree with me, sir, in +believing it excessively presuming in an American to pretend to be +different from his fellow-citizens." + +"No one, sir, could entertain such presumption, I am persuaded, in your +case." + +"No, sir, I do not speak from personal motives; but of the great general +principles, that are to be maintained for the good of mankind. I do not +know that any man has a right to be peculiar in a free country. It is +aristocratic and has an air of thinking one man is better than another. I +am sure Mr. Effingham cannot approve of it?" + +"Perhaps not. Freedom has many arbitrary laws that it will not do to +violate." + +"Certainly, sir, or where would be its supremacy? If the people cannot +control and look down peculiarity, or anything they dislike, one might as +well live in despotism at once." + +"As I have resided much abroad, of late years, Mr. Dodge," inquired Eve, +who was fearful her kinsman would give some cut that would prove to be +past bearing, as she saw his eye was menacing, and who felt a disposition +to be amused at the other's philosophy, that overcame the attraction of +repulsion she had at first experienced towards him--"will you favour me +with some of those great principles of liberty of which I hear so much, +but which, I fear, have been overlooked by my European instructors?" + +Mademoiselle Viefville looked grave; Messrs. Sharp and Blunt delighted; +Mr. Dodge, himself, mystified. + +"I should feel myself little able to instruct Miss Effingham on such a +subject," the latter modestly replied, "as no doubt she has seen too much +misery in the nations she has visited, not to appreciate justly all the +advantages of that happy country which has the honour of claiming her for +one of its fair daughters." + +Eve was terrified at her own temerity, for she was far from anticipating +so high a flight of eloquence in return for her own simple request, but it +was too late to retreat. + +"None of the many illustrious and god-like men that our own beloved land +has produced can pretend to more zeal in its behalf than myself, but I +fear my abilities to do it justice will fall far short of the subject," he +continued. "Liberty, as you know, Miss Effingham, as you well know, +gentlemen, is a boon that merits our unqualified gratitude, and which +calls for our daily and hourly thanks to the gallant spirits who, in the +days that tried men's souls, were foremost in the tented field, and in the +councils of the nation." + +John Effingham turned a glance at Eve, that seemed to tell her how unequal +she was to the task she had undertaken, and which promised a rescue, with +her consent; a condition that the young lady most gladly complied with in +the same silent but expressive manner. + +"Of all this my young kinswoman is properly sensible, Mr. Dodge," he said +by way of diversion; "but she, and I confess myself, have some little +perplexity on the subject of what this liberty is, about which so much has +been said and written in our time. Permit me to inquire, if you understand +by it a perfect independence of thought, action, and rights?" + +"Equal laws, equal rights, equality in all respects, and pure, abstract, +unqualified liberty, beyond all question, sir." + +"What, a power in the strong man to beat the little man, and to take away +his dinner?" + +"By no means, sir; Heaven forbid that I should maintain any such doctrine! +It means entire liberty: no kings, no aristocrats, no exclusive +privileges; but one man as good as another!" + +"Do you understand, then, that one man is as good as another, under our +system, Mr. Dodge?" + +"Unqualifiedly so, sir; I am amazed that such a question should be put by +a gentleman of your information, in an age like this!" + +"If one man is as good as another," said Mr. Blunt, who perceived that +John Effingham was biting his lips, a sign that something more biting +would follow,--"will you do me the favour to inform me, why the country +puts itself to the trouble and expense of the annual elections?" + +"Elections, sir! In what manner could free institutions flourish or be +maintained, without constantly appealing to the people, the only true +sources of power?" + +"To this I make no objections, Mr. Dodge," returned the young man, +smiling; "but why an election; if one man is as good as another, a lottery +would be cheaper, easier, and sooner settled. Why an election, or even a +lottery at all? why not choose the President as the Persians chose their +king, by the neighing of a horse? + +"This would be indeed an extraordinary mode of proceeding for an +intelligent and virtuous people, Mr. Blunt; and I must take the liberty of +saying that I suspect you of pleasantry. If you wish an answer, I will +say, at once by such a process we might get a knave, or a fool, or +a traitor." + +"How, Mr. Dodge! I did not expect this character of the country from you! +Are the Americans, then, all fools, or knaves, or traitors?" + +"If you intend to travel much in our country, sir, I would advise great +caution in throwing out such an insinuation, for it would be apt to meet +with a very general and unqualified disapprobation. Americans are +enlightened and free, and as far from deserving these epithets as any +people on earth." + +"And yet the fact follows from your own theory. If one man is as good as +another, and any one of them is a fool, or a knave, or a traitor,--all are +knaves, or fools, or traitors! The insinuation is not mine, but it +follows, I think, inevitably, as a consequence of your own proposition." + +In the pause that succeeded, Mr. Sharp said in a low voice to Eve, "He is +an Englishman, after all!" + +"Mr. Dodge does not mean that one man is as good as another in that +particular sense," Mr. Effingham kindly interposed, in his quality of +host; "his views are less general, I fancy, than his words would give us, +at first, reason to suppose." + +"Very true, Mr. Effingham, very true, sir; one man is not as good as +another in that particular sense, or in the sense of elections, but in all +other senses. Yes, sir," turning towards Mr. Blunt again, as one reviews +the attack on an antagonist, who has given a fall, after taking breath; +"in all other senses, one man is unqualifiedly as good as another. One man +has the same rights as another." + +"The slave as the freeman?" + +"The slaves are exceptions, sir. But in the free states except in the case +of elections, one man is as good as another in all things. That is our +meaning, and any other principle would be unqualifiedly unpopular." + +"Can one man make a shoe as well as another?" + +"Of rights, sir,--I stick to the rights, you will remember," + +"Has the minor the same rights as the man of full age; the apprentice as +the master; the vagabond as the resident; the man who cannot pay as the +man who can?" + +"No, sir, not in that sense either. You do not understand me, sir, I fear. +All that I mean is, that in particular things, one man is as good as +another in America. This is American doctrine, though it may not happen to +be English, and I flatter myself it will stand the test of the strictest +investigation." + +"And you will allow me to inquire where this is not the case, in +particular things. If you mean to say that there are fewer privileges +accorded to the accidents of birth, or to fortune and station in America, +than is usual in other countries, we shall agree; but I think it will +hardly do to say there are none!" + +"Privileges accorded to birth in America, sir! The idea would be odious to +her people!" + +"Does not the child inherit the property of the father?" + +"Most assuredly; but this can hardly be termed a privilege. + +"That may depend a good deal on taste. I should account it a greater +privilege than to inherit a title without the fortune." + +"I perceive, gentlemen, that we do not perfectly understand each other, +and I must postpone the discussion to a more favourable opportunity; for I +confess great uneasiness at this decision of the captain's, about steering +in among the rocks of Sylla." (Mr. Dodge was not as clear-headed as +common, in consequence of the controversy that had just occurred.) "I +challenge you to renew the subject another time, gentlemen. I only +happened in" (another peculiarity of diction in this gentleman) "to make a +first call, for I suppose there is no exclusion in an American ship?" + +"None whatever, sir," Mr. John Effingham coldly answered. "All the +state-rooms are in common, and I propose to seize an early occasion to +return this compliment, by making myself at home in the apartment which +has the honour to lodge Mr. Dodge and Sir George Templemore." + +Here Mr. Dodge beat a retreat, without touching at all on his real errand. +Instead of even following up the matter with the other passengers, he got +into a corner, with one or two congenial spirits, who had taken great +offence that the Effinghams should presume to retire into their cabin, and +particularly that they should have the extreme aristocratical audacity to +shut the door, where he continued pouring into the greedy ears of his +companions his own history of the recent dialogue, in which, according to +his own account of the matter, he had completely gotten the better of that +"young upstart, Blunt," a man of whom he knew positively nothing, divers +anecdotes of the Effingham family, that came of the lowest and most idle +gossip of rustic malignancy, and his own vague and confused notions of the +rights of persons and of things. Very different was the conversation that +ensued in the ladies' cabin, after the welcome disappearance of the +uninvited guest. Not a remark of any sort was made on his intrusion, or on +his folly; even John Effingham, little addicted in common to forbearance, +being too proud to waste his breath on so low game, and too well taught to +open upon a man the moment his back was turned. But the subject was +continued, and in a manner better suited to the education, intelligence, +and views of the several speakers. + +Eve said but little, though she ventured to ask a question now and then; +Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt being the principal supporters of the discourse, +with an occasional quiet discreet remark from the young lady's father, and +a sarcasm, now and then, from John Effingham. Mr. Blunt, though advancing +his opinions with diffidence, and with a proper deference for the greater +experience of the two elder gentlemen, soon made his superiority apparent, +the subject proving to be one on which he had evidently thought a great +deal, and that too with a discrimination and originality that are far +from common. + +He pointed out the errors that are usually made on the subject of the +institutions of the American Union, by confounding the effects of the +general government with those of the separate states; and he clearly +demonstrated that the Confederation itself had, in reality, no distinctive +character of its own, even for or against liberty. It was a confederation, +and got its character from the characters of its several parts, which of +themselves were independent in all things, on the important point of +distinctive principles, with the exception of the vague general provision +that they must be republics; a prevision that meant anything, or nothing, +so far as true liberty was concerned, as each state might decide +for itself. + +"The character of the American government is to be sought in the +characters of the state governments," he concluded, "which vary with their +respective policies. It is in this way that communities that hold one half +of their numbers in domestic bondage are found tied up in the same +political _fasces_ with other communities of the most democratic +institutions. The general government assures neither liberty of speech, +liberty of conscience, action, nor of anything else, except as against +itself; a provision that is quite unnecessary, as it is purely a +government of delegated powers, and has no authority to act at all on +those particular interests." + +"This is very different from the general impression in Europe," observed +Mr. Sharp; "and as I perceive I have the good fortune to be thrown into +the society of an American, if not an _American lawyer_, able to enlighten +my ignorance on these interesting topics, I hope to be permitted, during +some of the idle moments, of which we are likely to have many, to +profit by it." + +The other coloured, bowed to the compliment, but appeared to hesitate +before he answered. + +"'Tis not absolutely necessary to be an American by birth," he said, "as I +have already had occasion to observe, in order to understand the +institutions of the country, and I might possibly mislead you were you to +fancy that a native was your instructer. I have often been in the country, +however, if not born in it, and few young men, on this side of the +Atlantic, have had their attention pointed, with so much earnestness, to +all that affects it as myself." + +"I was in hopes we had the honour of including you among our countrymen," +observed John Effingham, with evident disappointment. "So many young men +come abroad disposed to quarrel with foreign excellences, of which they +know nothing, or to concede so many of our own, in the true spirit of +serviles, that I was flattering myself I had at last found an exception." + +Eve also felt regret, though she hardly avowed to herself the reason. + +"He is then, an Englishman, after all!" said Mr. Sharp, in another aside. + +"Why not a German--or a Swiss--or even a Russian?" + +"His English is perfect; no continental could speak so fluently, with such +a choice of words, so totally without an accent, without an effort. As +Mademoiselle Viefville says, he does not speak well enough for a +foreigner." + +Eve was silent, for she was thinking of the singular manner in which a +conversation so oddly commenced, had brought about an explanation on a +point that had often given her many doubts. Twenty times had she decided +in her own mind that this young man, whom she could properly call neither +stranger nor acquaintance, was a countryman, and as often had she been led +to change her opinion. He had now been explicit, she thought, and she felt +compelled to set him down as a European, though not disposed, still, to +believe he was an Englishman. For this latter notion she had reasons it +might not have done to give to a native of the island they had just left, +as she knew to be the fact with Mr. Sharp. + +Music succeeded this conversation, Eve having taken the precaution to have +the piano tuned before quitting port, an expedient we would recommend to +all who have a regard for the instrument that extends beyond its outside, +or even for their own ears. John Effingham executed brilliantly on the +violin; and, as it appeared on inquiry, the two younger gentlemen +performed respectably on the flute, flageolet, and one or two other wind +instruments. We shall leave them doing great justice to Beethoven, +Rossini, and Mayerbeer, whose compositions Mr. Dodge did not fail to sneer +at in the outer cabin, as affected and altogether unworthy of attention, +and return on deck to the company of the anxious master. + +Captain Truck had continued to pace the deck moodily and alone, during the +whole evening, and he only seemed to come to a recollection of himself +when the relief passed him on his way to the wheel, at eight bells. +Inquiring the hour, he got into the mizzen rigging, with a night-glass, +and swept the horizon in search of the Foam. Nothing could be made out, +the darkness having settled upon the water in a way to circumscribe the +visible horizon to very narrow limits. + +"This may do," he muttered to himself, as he swung off by a rope, and +alighted again on the planks of the deck. Mr. Leach was summoned, and an +order was passed for the relieved watch to remain on deck for duty. + +When all was ready, the first mate went through the ship, seeing that all +the candles were extinguished, or that the hoods were drawn over the +sky-lights, in such a way as to conceal any rays that might gleam upwards +from the cabin. At the same time attention was paid to the binnacle lamp. +This precaution observed, the people went to work to reduce the sail, and +in the course of twenty minutes they had got in the studding-sails, and +all the standing canvas to the topsails, the fore-course, and a forward +stay-sail. The three topsails were then reefed, with sundry urgent commands +to the crew to be active, for, "The Englishman was coming up like a horse, +all this time, no doubt." + +This much effected, the hands returned on deck, as much amazed at the +several arrangements as if the order had been to cut away the masts. + +"If we had a few guns, and were a little stronger-handed," growled an old +salt to the second-mate, as he hitched up his trousers and rolled over his +quid, "I should think the hard one, aft, had been stripping for a fight; +but as it is we have nothing to carry on the war with, unless we throw +sea-biscuits into the enemy'!" + +"Stand by to _veer_!" called out the captain from the quarter-deck; or, as +he pronounced it, "_ware_." + +The men sprang to the braces, and the bows of the ship fell off gradually, +as the yards yielded slowly to the drag. In a minute the Montauk was +rolling dead before it, and her broadside came sweeping up to the wind +with the ship's head to the eastward. This new direction in the course had +the double effect of hauling off the land, and of diverging at more than +right angles from the line of sailing of the Foam, if that ship still +continued in pursuit. The seamen nodded their heads at each other in +approbation, for all now as well understood the meaning of the change as +if it had been explained to them verbally. + +The revolution on deck produced as sudden a revolution below. The ship was +no longer running easily on an even keel, but was pitching violently into +a head-beating sea, and the wind, which a few minutes before, was scarcely +felt to blow, was now whistling its hundred strains among the cordage. +Some sought their berths, among whom were Mr. Sharp and Mr. Dodge; some +hurried up the stairs to learn the reason, and all broke up their +avocations for the night. + +Captain Truck had the usual number of questions to answer, which he did in +the following succinct and graphic manner, a reply that we hope will prove +as satisfactory to the reader, as it was made to be, perforce, +satisfactory to the curious on board. + +"Had we stood on an hour longer, gentlemen, we should have been lost on +the coast of Cornwall!" he said, pithily: "had we stopped where we were, +the sloop-of-war would nave been down upon us in twenty minutes: by +changing the course, in the way you have seen, he may get to leeward ward +of us; if he find it out, he may change his own course, in the dark, being +as likely to go wrong as to go right; or he may stand in, and set up the +ribs of his majesty's ship Foam to dry among the rocks of the Lizard, +where I hope all her people will get safely ashore, dry shod." + +After waiting the result anxiously for an hour, the passengers retired to +their rooms one by one; but Captain Truck did not quit the deck until the +middle watch was set. Paul Blunt heard him enter his state-room, which was +next to his own, and putting out his head, he inquired the news above. The +worthy master had discovered something about this young man which created +a respect for his nautical information, for he never misapplied a term, +and he invariably answered all his questions promptly, and with respect. + +"Dirtier, and dirtier," he said, in defiance of Mr. Dodge's opinion of the +phrase, pulling off his pee-jacket, and laying aside his sow-wester; "a +cap-full of wind, with just enough drizzle to take the comfort out of a +man, and lacker him down like a boot." + +"The ship has gone about?" + +"Like a dancing-master with two toes. We have got her head to the +southward and westward again; another reef in the topsails," (which word +Mr. Truck pronounced _tawsails_, with great unction,) "England well under +our lee, and the Atlantic ocean right before us. Six hours on this course, +and we make a fair wind of it." + +"And the sloop?" + + + + +Chapter IX. + + + + The moon was now + Rising full orbed, but broken by a cloud. + The wind was hushed, and the sea mirror-like + + ITALY. + + +Most of the passengers appeared on deck soon after Saunders was again +heard rattling among his glasses. The day was sufficiently advanced to +allow a distinct view of all that was passing, and the wind had shifted. +The change had not occurred more than ten minutes, and as most of the +inmates of the cabin poured up the cabin-stairs nearly in a body, Mr. +Leach had just got through with the necessary operation of bracing the +yards about, for the breeze, which was coming stiff, now blew from the +north-east. No land was visible, and the mate was just giving his opinion +that they were up with Scilly, as Captain Truck appeared in the group. + +One glance aloft, and another at the heavens, sufficed to let the +experienced master into all the secrets of his present situation. His next +step was to jump into the rigging, and to take a look at the sea, in the +direction of the Lizard. There, to his extreme disappointment, appeared a +ship with everything set that would draw, and with a studding-sail +flapping, before it could be drawn down, which he knew in an instant to be +the Foam. At this spectacle Mr. Truck compressed his lips, and made an +inward imprecation, that it would ill comport with our notions of +propriety to repeat. + +"Turn the hands up and shake out the reefs, sir," he said coolly to his +mate, for it was a standing rule of the captain's to seem calmest when he +was in the greatest rage. "Turn them up, sir, and show every rag that will +draw, from the truck to the lower studding-sail boom, and be d----d +to them!" + +On this hint Mr. Leach bestirred himself, and the men were quickly on the +yards, casting loose gaskets and reef-points. Sail opened after sail, and +as the steerage passengers, who could show a force of thirty or forty men, +aided with their strength, the Montauk was soon running dead before the +wind, under every thing that would draw, and with studding-sails on both +sides. The mates looked surprised, the seamen cast inquiring glances aft, +but Mr. Truck lighted a cigar. + +"Gentlemen," said the captain, after a few philosophical whiffs, "to go to +America with yonder fellow on my weather beam is quite out of the +question: he would be up with me, and in possession, before ten o'clock, +and my only play is to bring the wind right over the taffrail, where, +luckily, we have got it. I think we can bother him at this sport, for your +sharp bottoms are not as good as your kettle-bottoms in ploughing a full +furrow. As for bearing her canvas, the Montauk will stand it as long as +any ship in King William's navy, before the gale. And on one thing you may +rely; I'll carry you all into Lisbon, before that tobacco-hating rover +shall carry you back to Portsmouth. This is a category to which I +will stick." + +This characteristic explanation served to let the passengers understand +the real state of the case. No one remonstrated, for all preferred a race +to being taken; and even the Englishmen on board began again to take sides +with the vessel they were in, and this the more readily, as Captain Truck +freely admitted that their cruiser was too much for him on every tack but +the one he was about to try. Mr. Sharp hoped that they might now escape, +and as for Sir George Templemore, he generously repeated his offer to pay, +out of his own pocket, all the port-charges in any French, Spanish, or +Portuguese harbour, the master would enter, rather than see such an +outrage done a foreign vessel in a time of profound peace. + +The expedient of Captain Truck proved his judgment, and his knowledge of +his profession. Within an hour it was apparent that, if there was any +essential difference in the sailing of the two ships under the present +circumstances, it was slightly in favour of the Montauk. The Foam now set +her ensign for the first time, a signal that she wished to speak the ship +in sight. At this Captain Truck chuckled, for he pronounced it a sign +that she was conscious she could not get them within range of her guns. + +"Show him the gridiron," cried the captain, briskly; "it will not do to be +beaten in civility by a man who has beaten us already on so many other +tacks; but keep all fast as a church-door on a week-day." + +This latter comparison was probably owing to the circumstance of the +master's having come from a part of the country where all the religion is +compressed into the twenty-four hours that commence on a Saturday-night at +sunset, and end at sunset the next day: at least, this was his own +explanation of the matter. The effect of success was always to make Mr. +Truck loquacious, and he now began to tell many excellent anecdotes, of +which he had stores, all of events that had happened to him in person, or +of which he had been an eye-witness; and on which his hearers, as Sancho +said, might so certainly depend as true, that, if they chose, they might +safely swear they had seen them themselves. + +"Speaking of churches and doors, Sir George," he said, between the puffs +of the cigar, "were you ever in Rhode Island?" + +"Never, as this is my first visit to America, captain." + +"True; well, you will be likely to go there, if you go to Boston, as it is +the best way; unless you would prefer to run over Nantucket shoals, and a +hundred miles of ditto as Mr. Dodge calls it." + +"_Ditter_, captain, if you please--_ditter_: it is the continental word +for round-about." + +"The d---l it is! it is worth knowing, however. And what may be the +French for pee-jacket?" + +"You mistake me, sir,--_ditter_, a circuit, or the longer way." + +"That is the road we are now travelling, by George!--I say, Leach, do you +happen to know that we are making a ditter to America?" + +"You were speaking of a church, Captain Truck," politely interposed Sir +George, who had become rather intimate with his fellow-occupant of the +state-room. + +"I was travelling through that state, a few years since, on my way from +Providence to New London, at a time when a new road had just been opened. +It was on a Sunday, and the stage--a four-horse power, you must know--had +never yet run through on the Lord's-day. Well, we might be, as it were, +off here at right angles to our course, and there was a short turn in the +road, as one would say, out yonder. As we hove in sight of the turn, I saw +a chap at the mast-head of a tree; down he slid, and away he went right +before it, towards a meeting-house two or three cables length down the +road. We followed at a smart jog, and just before we got the church abeam, +out poured the whole congregation, horse and foot, parson and idlers, +sinners and hypocrites, to see the four-horse power go past. Now this is +what I call keeping the church-door open on a Sunday." + +We might have hesitated about recording this anecdote of the captain's, +had we not received an account of the same occurrence from a quarter that +left no doubt that his version of the affair was substantially correct. +This and a few similar adventures, some of which he invented, and all of +which he swore were literal, enabled the worthy master to keep the +quarter-deck in good humour, while the ship was running at the rate of ten +knots the hour in a line so far diverging from her true course. But the +relief to landsmen is so great, in general, in meeting with a fair wind at +sea, that few are disposed to quarrel with its consequences. A bright day, +a steady ship, the pleasure of motion as they raced with the combing seas, +and the interest of the chase, set every one at ease; and even Steadfast +Dodge was less devoured with envy, a jealousy of his own deservings, and +the desire of management, than usual. Not an introduction occurred, and +yet the little world of the ship got to be better acquainted with each +other in the course of that day, than would have happened in months of the +usual collision on land. + +The Montauk continued to gain on her pursuer until the sun set, when +Captain Truck began once more to cast about him for the chances of the +night. He knew that the ship was running into the mouth of the Bay of +Biscay, or at least was fast approaching it, and he bethought him of the +means of getting to the westward. The night promised to be anything but +dark, for though a good many wild-looking clouds were by this time +scudding athwart the heavens, the moon diffused a sort of twilight gleam +in the air. Waiting patiently, however, until the middle-watch was again +called, he reduced, sail, and hauled the ship off to a south-west course, +hoping by this slight change insensibly to gain an offing before the Foam +was aware of it; a scheme that he thought more likely to be successful, as +by dint of sheer driving throughout the day, he had actually caused the +courses of that vessel to dip before the night shut in. + +Even the most vigilant become weary of watching, and Captain Truck was +unpleasantly disturbed next morning by an alarm that the Foam was just out +of gun-shot, coming up with them fast. On gaining the deck, he found the +fact indisputable. Favoured by the change in the course, the cruiser had +been gradually gaining on the Montauk ever since the first watch was +relieved, and had indeed lessened the distance between the respective +ships by two-thirds. No remedy remained but to try the old expedient of +getting the wind over the taffrail once more, and of showing all the +canvas that could be spread. As like causes are known to produce like +effects, the expedient brought about the old results. The packet had the +best of it, and the sloop-of-war slowly fell astern. Mr. Truck now +declared he would make a "regular business of it," and accordingly he +drove his ship in that direction throughout the day, the following night, +and until near noon of the day which succeeded, varying his course +slightly to suit the wind, which he studiously kept so near aft as to +allow the studding-sails to draw on both sides. At meridian, on the fourth +day out, the captain got a good observation, and ascertained that the ship +was in the latitude of Oporto, with an offing of less than a degree. At +this time the top-gallant sails of the Foam might be discovered from the +deck, resembling a boat clinging to the watery horizon. As he had fully +made up his mind to run into port in preference to being overhauled, the +master had kept so near the land, with an intention of profiting by his +position, in the event of any change favouring his pursuers; but he now +believed that at sunset he should be safe in finally shaping his course +for America. + +"There must be double-fortified eyes aboard that fellow to see what we are +about at this distance, when the night is once shut in," he said to Mr. +Leach, who seconded all his orders with obedient zeal, "and we will watch +our moment to slip out fairly into the great prairie, and then we shall +discover who best knows the trail! You'll be for trotting off to the +prairies, Sir George, as soon as we get in, and for trying your hand at +the buffaloes, like all the rest of them. Ten years since, if an +Englishman came to look at us, he was afraid of being scalped in Broadway +and now he is never satisfied unless he is astraddle of the Rocky +Mountains in the first fortnight. I take over lots of cockney-hunters +every summer, who just get a shot at a grizzly bear or two, or at an +antelope, and come back in time for the opening of Drury Lane." + +"Should we not be more certain of accomplishing your plans, by seeking +refuge in Lisbon for a day or two? I confess now I should like to see +Lisbon, and as for the port-charges, I would rather pay them twice, than +that this poor man should be torn from his wife. On this point I hope, +Captain Truck, I have made myself sufficiently explicit." + +Captain Truck shook the baronet heartily by the hand, as he always did +when this offer was renewed, declaring that his feelings did him honour. + +"Never fear for Davis," he said. "Old Grab shall not have him this tack, +nor the Foam neither. I'll throw him overboard before such a disgrace +befall us or him. Well, this leech has driven us from the old road, and +nothing now remains but to make the southern passage, unless the wind +prevail at south." + +The Montauk, in truth, had not much varied from a course that was once +greatly in favour with the London ships, Lisbon and New York being nearly +in the same parallel of latitude, and the currents, if properly improved, +often favouring the run. It is true, the Montauk had kept closer in with +the continent by a long distance than was usual, even for the passage he +had named; but the peculiar circumstances of the chase had left no +alternative, as the master explained to his listeners. + +"It was a coasting voyage, or a tow back to Portsmouth, Sir George," he +said, "and of the two, I know you like the Montauk too well to wish to be +quit of her so soon." + +To this the baronet gave a willing assent, protesting that his feelings +had got so much enlisted on the side of the vessel he was in, that he +would cheerfully forfeit a thousand pounds rather than be overtaken. The +master assured him that was just what he liked, and swore that he was the +sort of passenger he most delighted in. + +"When a man puts his foot on the deck of a ship, Sir George, he should +look upon her as his home, his church, his wife and children, his uncles +and aunts, and all the other lumber ashore. This is the sentiment to make +seamen. Now, I entertain a greater regard for the shortest ropeyarn aboard +this ship, than for the topsail-sheets or best bower of any other vessel. +It is like a man's loving his own finger, or toe, before another person's. +I have heard it said that one should love his neighbour as well as +himself; but for my part I love my ship better than my neighbour's, or my +neighbour himself; and I fancy, if the truth were known, my neighbour pays +me back in the same coin! For my part, I like a thing because it is mine." + +A little before dark the head of the Montauk was inclined towards Lisbon, +as if her intention was to run in, but the moment the dark spot that +pointed out the position of the Foam was lost in the haze of the horizon, +Captain Truck gave the order to "_ware_" and sail was made to the +west-south-west. + +Most of the passengers felt an intense curiosity to know the state of +things on the following morning, and all the men among them were dressed +and on deck just as the day began to break. The wind had been fresh and +steady all night, and as the ship had been kept with, her yards a little +checked, and topmast studding-sails set, the officers reported her to be +at least a hundred miles to the westward of the spot where she veered. The +reader will imagine the disappointment the latter experienced, then, when +they beheld the Foam a little on their weather-quarter, edging away for +them as assiduously as she had been hauling up for them, the night they +sailed from Portsmouth, distant little more than a league! + +"This is indeed extraordinary perseverance," said Paul Blunt to Eve, at +whose side he was standing at the moment the fact was ascertained, "and I +think our captain might do well to heave-to and ascertain its cause." + +"I hope not," cried his companion with vivacity. I confess to an _esprit +de corps_, and a gallant determination to 'see it out,' as Mr. Leach +styles his own resolution. One does not like to be followed about the +ocean in this manner, unless it be for the interest it gives the voyage. +After all, how much better is this than dull solitude, and what a zest it +gives to the monotony of the ocean!" + +"Do you then find the ocean a scene of monotony?" + +"Such it has oftener appeared to me than anything else, and I give it a +fair trial, having never _le mal de mer_. But I acquit it of this sin now; +for the interest of a chase, in reasonably good weather, is quite equal to +that of a horse-race, which is a thing I delight in. Even Mr. John +Effingham can look radiant under its excitement." + +"And when this is the case, he is singularly handsome; a nobler outline of +face is seldom seen than that of Mr. John Effingham." + +"He has a noble outline of soul, if he did but know it himself," returned +Eve, warmly: "I love no one as much as he, with the exception of my +father, and as Mademoiselle Viefville would say, _pour cause_." + +The young man could have listened all day, but Eve smiled, bowed +graciously, though with a glistening eye, and hastily left the deck, +conscious of having betrayed some of her most cherished feelings to one +who had no claim to share them. + +Captain Truck, while vexed to his heart's core, or, as he expressed it +himself, "struck aback, like an old lady shot off a hand-sled in sliding +down hill," was prompt in applying the old remedy to the evil. The Montauk +was again put before the wind, sail was made, and the fortunes of the +chase were once more cast on the "play of the ship." + +The commander of the Foam certainly deprecated this change, for it was +hardly made before he set his ensign, and fired a gun. But of these +signals no other notice was taken than to show a flag in return, when the +captain and his mates proceeded to get the bearings of the sloop-of-war. +Ten minutes showed they were gaining; twenty did better and in an hour she +was well on the quarter. + +Another day of strife succeeded, or rather of pure sailing, for not a +rope was started on board the Montauk, the wind still standing fresh and +steady. The sloop made many signals, all indicating a desire to speak the +Montauk, but Captain Truck declared himself too experienced a navigator to +be caught by bunting, and in too great a hurry to stop and chat by +the way. + +"Vattel had laid down no law for such a piece of complaisance, in a time +of profound peace. I am not to be caught by that category." + +The result may be anticipated from what has been already related. The two +ships kept before the wind until the Foam was again far astern, and the +observations of Captain Truck told him, he was as far south as the Azores. +In one of these islands he was determined to take refuge, provided he was +not favoured by accident, for going farther south was out of the question, +unless absolutely driven to it. Calculating his distance, on the evening +of the sixth day out, he found that he might reach an anchorage at Pico, +before the sloop-of-war could close with him, even allowing the necessity +of hauling up again by the wind. + +But Providence had ordered differently. Towards midnight, the breeze +almost failed and became baffling, and when the day dawned the officer of +the watch reported that it was ahead. The pursuing ship, though still in +sight, was luckily so far astern and to leeward as to prevent any danger +from a visit by boats, and there was leisure to make the preparations that +might become necessary on the springing up of a new breeze. Of the speedy +occurrence of such a change there was now every symptom, the heavens +lighting up at the north-west, a quarter from which the genius of the +storms mostly delights in making a display of his power. + + + + +Chapter X + + + + I come with mightier things; + Who calls mo silent? I have many tones-- + The dark sky thrills with low mysterious moans, + Borne on my sweeping winds. + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +The awaking of the winds on the ocean is frequently attended with signs +and portents as sublime as any the fancy can conceive. On the present +occasion, the breeze that had prevailed so steadily for a week was +succeeded by light baffling puffs, as if, conscious of the mighty powers +of the air that were assembling in their strength, these inferior blasts +were hurrying to and fro for a refuge. The clouds, too, were whirling +about in uncertain eddies, many of the heaviest and darkest descending so +low along the horizon, that they had an appearance of settling on the +waters in quest of repose. But the waters themselves were unnaturally +agitated. The billows, no longer following each other in long regular +waves, were careering upwards, like fiery coursers suddenly checked in +their mad career. The usual order of the eternally unquiet ocean was lost +in a species of chaotic tossings of the element, the seas heaving +themselves upward, without order, and frequently without visible cause. +This was the reaction of the currents, and of the influence of breezes +still older than the last. Not the least fearful symptom of the hour was +the terrific calmness of the air amid such a scene of menacing wildness. +Even the ship came into the picture to aid the impression of intense +expectation; for with her canvas reduced, she, too, seemed to have lost +that instinct which had so lately guided her along the trackless waste, +and was "wallowing," nearly helpless, among the confused waters. Still she +was a beautiful and a grand object, perhaps more so at that moment than at +any other; for her vast and naked spars, her well-supported masts, and all +the ingenious and complicated hamper of the machine, gave her a +resemblance to some sinewy and gigantic gladiator, pacing the arena, in +waiting for the conflict that was at hand. + +"This is an extraordinary scene," said Eve, who clung to her father's arm, +as she gazed around her equally in admiration and in awe; "a dreadful +exhibition of the sublimity of nature!" + +"Although accustomed to the sea," returned Mr. Blunt, "I have witnessed +these ominous changes but twice before, and I think this the grandest of +them all." + +"Were the others followed by tempests?" inquired the anxious parent. + +"One brought a tremendous gale, while the other passed away like a +misfortune of which we get a near view, but are permitted to escape +the effects." + +"I do not know that I wish such to be entirely our present fortune," +rejoined Eve, "for there is so much sublimity in this view of the ocean +unaroused, that I feel desirous of seeing it when aroused." + +"We are not in the hurricane latitudes, or hurricane months," resumed the +young man, "and it is not probable that there is anything more in reserve +for us than a hearty gale of wind, which may, at least, help us to get rid +of yonder troublesome follower." + +"Even that I do not wish, provided he will let us continue the race on our +proper route. A chase across the Atlantic would be something to enjoy at +the moment, gentlemen, and something to talk of in after life." + +"I wonder if such a thing be possible!" exclaimed Mr. Sharp; "it would +indeed be an incident to recount to another generation!" + +"There is little probability of our witnessing such an exploit," Mr. Blunt +remarked, "for gales of wind on the ocean have the same separating +influence on consorts of the sea, that domestic gales have on consorts of +the land. Nothing is more difficult than to keep ships and fleets in sight +of each other in very heavy weather, unless, indeed, those of the best +qualities are disposed to humour those of the worst." + +"I know not which may be called the best, or which the worst, in this +instance, for our tormentor appears to be as much better than ourselves in +some particulars, as we are better than he in others. If the humouring is +to come from our honest captain, it will be some such humouring as the +spoiled child gets from a capricious parent in moments o anger." + +Mr. Truck passed the group at that instant, and heard his name coupled +with the word honest, in the mouth of Eve, though he lost the rest of +the sentence. + +"Thank you for the compliment, my dear young lady," he said; "and I wish I +could persuade Captain Somebody, of his Britannic Majesty's ship Foam, to +be of the same way of thinking. It is all because he will not fancy me +honest in the article of tobacco, that he has got the Montauk down here, +on the Spanish coast, where the man who built her would not know her; so +unnatural and unseemly is it to catch a London liner so far out of her +track. I shall have to use double care to get the good craft home again." + +"And why this particular difficulty, captain?" Eve, who was amused with +Mr. Truck's modes of speech, pleasantly inquired. "Is it not equally easy +to go from one part of the ocean, as from another?" + +"Equally easy! Bless you, my dear young lady, you never made a more +capital mistake in your life. Do you imagine it is as easy to go from +London to New York, now, as to go from New York to London?" + +"I am so ignorant as to have made this ridiculous mistake, if mistake it +be; nor do I now see why it should be otherwise." + +"Simply because it is up-hill, ma'am. As for our position here to the +eastward of the Azores; the difficulty is soon explained. By dint of +coaxing I had got the good old ship so as to know every inch of the road +on the northern passage, and now I shall be obliged to wheedle her along +on a new route, like a shy horse getting through a new stable-door. One +might as well think of driving a pig from his sty, as to get a ship out of +her track." + +"We trust to you to do all this and much more at need. But to what will +these grand omens lead? Shall we have a gale, or is so much magnificent +menacing to be taken as an empty threat of Nature's?" + +"That we shall know in the coarse of the day, Miss Effingham, though +Nature is no bully, and seldom threatens in vain. There is nothing more +curious to study, or which needs a nicer eye to detect, than your winds." + +"Of the latter I am fully persuaded, captain, for they are called the +'viewless winds,' you will remember, and the greatest authority we +possess, speaks of them as being quite beyond the knowledge of man: 'That +we may hear the sound of the wind, but cannot tell whence it cometh, or +whither it goeth.'" + +"I do not remember the writer you mean, my dear young lady," returned Mr. +Truck, quite innocently; "but he was a sensible fellow, for I believe +Vattel has never yet dared to grapple with the winds. There are people who +fancy the weather is foretold in the almanack; but, according to my +opinion, it is safer to trust a rheumatis' of two or three years' +standing. A good, well-established, old-fashioned rheumatis'--I say +nothing of your new-fangled diseases, like the cholera, and varioloid, and +animal magnitudes--but a good old-fashioned rheumatis', such as people +used to have when I was a boy, is as certain a barometer as that which is +at this moment hanging up in the coach-house here, within two fathoms of +the very spot where we are standing. I once had a rheumatis' that I set +much store by, for it would let me know when to look out for easterly +weather, quite as infallibly as any instrument I ever sailed with. I never +told you the story of the old Connecticut horse-jockey, and the typhoon, I +believe; and as we are doing nothing but waiting for the weather to make +up its mind--" + +"The weather to make up its mind!" exclaimed Eve, looking around her in +awe at the sublime and terrific grandeur of the ocean, of the heavens, and +of the pent and moody air; "is there an uncertainty in this?" + +"Lord bless you! my dear young lady, the weather is often as uncertain, +and as undecided, and as hard to please, too, as an old girl who gets +sudden offers on the same day from a widower with ten children, an +attorney with one leg, and the parson of the parish. Uncertain, indeed! +Why I have known the weather in this grandiloquent condition for a whole +day. Mr. Dodge, there, will tell you it is making up its mind which way it +ought to blow, to be popular; so, as we have nothing better to do, Mr. +Effingham, I will tell you the story about my neighbour, the +horse-jockey. Hauling yards when there is no wind, is like playing on a +Jew's-Harp, at a concert of trombones." + +Mr. Effingham made a complaisant sign of assent, and pressed the arm of +the excited Eve for patience. + +"You must know, gentlemen," the captain commenced, looking round to +collect as many listeners as possible,--for he excessively disliked +lecturing to small audiences, when he had anything to say that he thought +particularly clever,--"you must know that we had formerly many craft +that went between the river and the islands--" + +--"The river?" interrupted the amused Mr. Sharp. + +"Certain; the Connecticut, I mean; we all call it the river down our +way--between the river and the West Indies, with horses, cattle, and +other knick-knacks of that description. Among others was old Joe Bunk, who +had followed the trade in a high-decked brig for some twenty-three years, +he and the brig having grown old in company, like man and wife. About +forty years since, our river ladies began to be tired of their bohea, and +as there was a good deal said in favour of souchong in those days, an +excitement was got up on the subject, as Mr. Dodge calls it, and it was +determined to make an experiment in the new quality, before they dipped +fairly into the trade. Well, what do you suppose was done in the premises, +as Vattel says, my dear young lady?" + +Eve's eyes were still on the grand and portentous aspect of the heavens, +but she civilly answered, + +"No doubt they sent to a shop and purchased a sample." + +"Not they; they knew too much for that, since any rogue of a grocer might +cheat them. When the excitement had got a little headway on it, they +formed a tea society, with the parson's wife for presidentess, and her +oldest daughter for secretary. In this way they went to work, until the +men got into the fever too, and a project was set a-foot to send a craft +to China for a sample of what they wanted." + +"China!" exclaimed Eve, this time looking the captain fairly in the face. + +"China, certain; it lies off hereaway, you know, round on the other side +of the earth. Well, whom should they choose to go on the errand but old +Joe Bunk. The old man had been so often to the islands and back, without +knowing anything of navigation, they thought he was just their man, as +there was no such thing as losing him." + +"One would think he was the very man to get lost," observed Mr. Effingham, +while the captain fitted a fresh cigar; for smoke he would, and did, in +any company, that was out of the cabin, although he always professed a +readiness to cease, if any person disliked the fragrance of tobacco. + +"Not he, sir; he was just as well off in the Indian Ocean as he would be +here, for he knew nothing about, either. Well, Joe fitted up the brig; the +Seven Dollies was her name; for you must, know we had seven ladies in the +town, who were cally Dolly, and they each of them used to send a colt, or +a steer, or some other delicate article to the islands by Joe, whenever he +went; so he fitted up the Seven Dollies, hoisted in his dollars, and made +sail. The last that was seen or heard of the old man for eight months, was +off Montauk, where he was fallen in with, two days out, steering +south-easterly, by compass." + +"I should think," observed John Effingham, who began to arouse himself as +the story proceeded, "that Mrs. Bunk must have been very uneasy all +this time?" + +"Not she; she stuck to the bohea in hopes the souchong would arrive before +the restoration of the Jews. Arrive it did, sure enough, at the end of +eight months, and a capital adventure it proved for all concerned. Old Joe +got a great name in the river for the exploit, though how he got to China +no one could say, or how he got back again; or, for a long time, how he +got the huge heavy silver tea-pot, he brought home with him." + +"A silver tea-pot?" + +"Exactly that article. At last the truth came to be known; for it is not +an easy matter to hide anything of that nature down our way; it is +aristocratic, as Mr. Dodge says, to keep a secret. At first they tried Joe +with all sorts of questions, but he gave them 'guess' for 'guess.' Then +people began to talk, and finally it was fairly whispered that the old man +had stolen the tea-pot. This brought him before the meeting.--Law was out +of the question, you will understand, as there was no evidence; but the +meeting don't stick much at particulars, provided people talk a +good deal." + +"And the result?" asked John Effingham, "I suppose the parish took the +tea-pot and left Joe the grounds." + +"You are as far out of the way as we are here, down on the coast of Spain! +The truth is just this. The Seven Dollies was lying among the rest of +them, at anchor, below Canton, with the weather as fine as young girls +love to see it in May, when Joe began to get down his yards, to house his +masts, and to send out all his spare anchors. He even went so far as to +get two hawsers fastened to a junk that had grounded a little ahead of +him. This made a talk among the captains of the vessels, and some came on +board to ask the reason. Joe told them he was getting ready for the +typhoon; but when they inquired his reasons for believing there was to be +a typhoon at all, Joe looked solemn, shook his head, and said he had +reasons enough, but they were his own. Had he been explicit, he would have +been laughed at, but the sight of an old grey-headed man, who had been at +sea forty years, getting ready in this serious manner, set the others at +work too; for ships follow each other's movements, like sheep running +through a breach in the fence. Well, that night the typhoon came in +earnest, and it blew so hard, that Joe Bunk said he could see the houses +in the moon, all the air having blown out of the atmosphere." + +"But what has this to do with the tea-pot, Captain Truck?" + +"It is the life and soul of it. The captains in port were so delighted +with Joe's foreknowledge, that they clubbed, and presented him this pot as +a testimony of their gratitude and esteem. He'd got to be popular among +them, Mr. Dodge, and that was the way they proved it." + +"But, pray, how did he know the storm was approaching?" asked Eve, whose +curiosity had been awakened in spite of herself. "It could not have been +that his 'foreknowledge' was supernatural." + +"That no one can say, for Joe was presbyterian-built, as we say, +kettle-bottomed, and stowed well. The truth was not discovered until ten +years afterwards, when the old fellow got to be a regular cripple, what +between rheumatis', old age, and steaming. One day he had an attack of +the first complaint, and in one of its most severe paroxysms, when nature +is apt to wince, he roared three times, 'a typhoon! a typhoon! a typhoon!' +and the murder was out. Sure enough, the next day we had a regular +north-easter; but old Joe got no sign of popularity that time. And now, +when you get to America, gentlemen and ladies, you will be able to say you +have heard the story of Joe Bunk and his tea-pot." + +Thereupon Captain Truck took two or three hearty whiffs of the cigar, +turned his face upwards, and permitted the smoke to issue forth in a +continued stream until it was exhausted, but still keeping his head raised +in the inconvenient position it had taken. The eye of the master, fastened +in this manner on something aloft, was certain to draw other eyes in the +same direction, and in a few seconds all around him were gazing in the +same way, though none but himself could tell why. + +"Turn up the watch below, Mr. Leach," Captain Truck at length called out, +and Eve observed that he threw away the cigar, although a fresh one; a +proof, as she fancied, that he was preparing for duty. + +The people were soon at their places, and an effort was made to get the +ship's head round to the southward. Although the frightful stillness of +the atmosphere rendered the manoeuvre difficult, it succeeded in the end, +by profiting by the passing and fitful currents, that resembled so many +sighings of the air. The men were then sent on the yards, to furl all the +canvas, with the exception of the three topsails and the fore-course, most +of it having been merely hauled up to await the result. All those who had +ever been at sea before, saw in these preparations proof that Captain +Truck expected the change would be sudden and severe: still, as he +betrayed no uneasiness, they hoped his measures were merely those of +prudence. Mr. Effingham could not refrain from inquiring, however, if +there existed any immediate motives for the preparations that were so +actively, though not hurriedly, making. + +"This is no affair for the rheumatis'," returned the facetious master, +"for, look you here, my worthy sir, and you, my dear young lady,"--this +was a sort of parental familiarity the honest Jack fancied he had a right +to take with all his unmarried female passengers, in virtue of his office, +and of his being a bachelor drawing hard upon sixty;--"look you here, my +dear young lady, and you, too, ma'amselle, for you can understand the +clouds, I take it, if they are not French clouds; do you not see the +manner in which those black-looking rascals are putting their heads +together? They are plotting something quite in their own way, I'll +warrant you." + +"The clouds are huddling, and rolling over each other, certainly," +returned Eve, who had been struck with the wild beauty of their +evolutions, "and a noble, though fearful picture they present; but I do +not understand the particular meaning of it, if there be any hidden omen +in their airy flights." + +"No rheumatis' about you, young lady," said the captain, jocularly; "too +young, and handsome, and too modern, too, I dare say, for that +old-fashioned complaint. But on one category you may rely, and that is, +that nothing in nature conspires without an object." + +"But I do not think vapour whirling in a current of air is a conspiracy," +answered Eve, laughing, "though it may be a category." + +"Perhaps not,--who knows, however; for it is as easy to suppose that +objects understand each other, as that horses and dogs understand each +other. We know nothing about it, and, therefore, it behooves us to say +nothing. If mankind conversed only of the things they understood, half the +words might be struck out of the dictionaries. But, as I was remarking, +those clouds, you can see, are getting together, and are making ready for +a start, since here they will not be able to stay much longer." + +"And what will compel them to disappear?" + +"Do me the favour to turn your eyes here, to the nor'-west You see an +opening there that looks like a crouching lion; is it not so?" + +"There is certainly a bright clear streak of sky along the margin of the +ocean, that has quite lately made its appearance; does it prove that the +wind will blow from that quarter?" + +"Quite as much, my dear young lady, as when you open your window it +proves that you mean to put your head out of it." + +"An act a well-bred young woman very seldom performs," observed +Mademoiselle Viefville; "and never in a town." + +"No? Well, in our town on the river, the women's heads are half the time +out of the windows. But I do not pretend, ma'amselle, to be expert in +proprieties of this sort, though I can venture to say that I am somewhat +of a judge of what the winds would be about when they open _their_ +shutters. This opening to the nor'-west, then, is a sure sign of something +coming out of the window, well-bred or not." + +"But," added Eve, "the clouds above us, and those farther south, appear to +be hurrying towards your bright opening, captain, instead of from it." + +"Quite in nature, gentlemen; quite in nature, ladies. When a man has fully +made up his mind to retreat, he blusters the most; and one step forward +often promises two backward. You often see the stormy petterel sailing at +a ship as if he meant to come aboard, but he takes good care to put his +helm down before he is fairly in the rigging. So it is with clouds, and +all other things in nature. Vattel says you may make a show of fight when +your necessities require it, but that a neutral cannot fire a gun, unless +against pirates. Now, these clouds are putting the best face on the +matter, but in a few minutes you will see them wheeling as St. Paul did +before them." + +"St. Paul, Captain Truck!" + +"Yes, my dear young lady; to the right about." + +Eve frowned, for she disliked some of these nautical images, though it was +impossible not to smile in secret at the queer associations that so often +led the well-meaning master's discursive discourse. His mind was a strange +jumble of an early religious education,--religious as to externals and +professions, at least,--with subsequent loose observation and much worldly +experience, and he drew on his stock of information, according to his own +account of the matter, "as Saunders, the steward, cut the butter from the +firkins, or as it came first." + +His prediction concerning the clouds proved to be true, for half an hour +did not pass before they were seen "scampering out of the way of the +nor'-wester," to use the captain's figure, "like sheep giving play to the +dogs." The horizon brightened with a rapidity almost supernatural, and, in +a surprisingly short space of time, the whole of that frowning vault that +had been shadowed by murky and menacing vapour, sporting its gambols in +ominous wildness, was cleared of everything like a cloud, with the +exception of a few white, rich, fleecy piles, that were grouped in the +north, like a battery discharging its artillery on some devoted field. + +The ship betrayed the arrival of the wind by a cracking of the spars, as +they settled into their places, and then the huge hull began to push aside +the waters, and to come under control. The first shock was far from +severe, though, as the captain determined to bring his vessel up as near +his course as the direction of the breeze would permit, he soon found he +had as much canvas spread as she could bear. Twenty minutes brought him to +a single reef, and half an hour to a second. + +By this time attention was drawn to the Foam. The old superiority of that +cruiser was now apparent again, and calculations were made concerning the +possibility of avoiding her, if they continued to stand on much longer on +the present course. The captain had hoped the Montauk would have the +advantage from her greater bulk, when the two vessels should be brought +down to close-reefed topsails, as he foresaw would be the case; but he was +soon compelled to abandon even that hope. Further to the southward he was +resolved he would not go, as it would be leading him too far astray, and, +at last, he came to the determination to stand towards the islands, which +were as near as might be in his track, and to anchor in a neutral +roadstead, if too hard pressed. + +"He cannot get up with us before midnight. Leach," he concluded the +conference held with the mate by saying; "and by that time the gale will +be at its height, if we are to have a gale, and then the gentleman will +not be desirous of lowering his boats. In the mean time, we shall be +driving in towards the Azores, and it will be nothing out of the course of +nature, should I find an occasion to play him a trick. As for offering up +the Montauk a sacrifice on the altar of tobacco, as old Deacon Hourglass +used to say in his prayers, it is a category to be averted by any +catastrophe short of condemnation." + + + + +Chapter XI. + + + + I, that shower dewy light + Through slumbering leaves, bring storms!--the tempest birth + Of memory, thought, remorse.--Be holy, Earth! + I am the solemn Night! + + MRS. HEMANS. + + +In this instance, it is not our task to record any of the phenomena of the +ocean, but a regular, though fierce gale of wind. One of the first signs +of its severity was the disappearance of the passengers from the deck, one +shutting himself in his room after another, until none remained visible +but John Effingham and Paul Blunt. Both these gentlemen, as it appeared, +had made so many passages, and had got to be so familiar with ships, that +sea-sickness and alarms were equally impotent as respects their +constitutions and temperaments. + +The poor steerage-passengers were no exception, but they stole for refuge +into their dens, heartily repentant, for the time being, at having braved +the dangers and discomforts of the sea. The gentle wife of Davis would now +willingly have returned to meet the resentment of her uncle; and as for +the bridegroom himself, as Mr. Leach, who passed through this scene of +abominations to see that all was right, described him,--"Mr. Grab would +not wring him for a dish-cloth, if he could see him in his +present pickle." + +Captain Truck chuckled a good deal at this account, for he had much the +same sympathy for ordinary cases of sea-sickness, as a kitten feels in the +agony of the first mouse it has caught, and which it is its sovereign +pleasure to play with, instead of eating. + +"It serves him right, Mr. Leach, for getting married; and mind you don't +fall into the same abuse of your opportunities," he said, with an air of +self-satisfaction, while comparing three or four cigars in the palm of his +hand doubtful which of the fragrant plump rolls to put into his mouth. +"Getting married, Mr. Blunt, commonly makes a man a fit subject for +nausea, and nothing is easier than to set the stomach-pump in motion in +one of your bridegrooms; is not this true as the gospel, Mr. John +Effingham?" + +Mr. John Effingham made no reply,--but the young man who at the moment was +admiring his fine form, and the noble outline of his features, was +singularly struck with the bitterness, not to say anguish, of the smile +with which he bowed a cold assent. All this was lost on Captain Truck who +proceeded _con amore._ + +"One of the first things that I ask concerning my passengers is, is he +married? when the answer is 'no,' I set him down as a good companion in a +gale like this, or as one who can smoke, or crack a joke when a topsail is +flying out of a bolt-rope,--a companion for a category. Now, if either of +you gentlemen had a wife, she would have you under hatches to-day, lest +you should slip through a scupperhole,--or be washed overboard with the +spray,--or have your eye-brows blown away in such a gale, and then I +should lose the honour of your company. Comfort is too precious to be +thrown away in matrimony. A man may gain foreknowledge by a wife, but he +loses free agency. As for you, Mr. John Effingham, you must have coiled +away about half a century of life, and there is not much to fear on your +account; but Mr. Blunt is still young enough to be in danger of a mishap. +I wish Neptune would come aboard of us, hereaway, and swear you to be true +and constant to yourself, young gentleman." + +Paul laughed, coloured slightly, and then rallying, he replied in the same +voice, + +"At the risk of losing your good opinion, captain, and even in the face of +this gale, I shall avow myself an advocate of matrimony," + +"If you will answer me one question, my dear sir, I will tell you whether +the case is or is not hopeless." + +"In order to assent to this, you will of course see the necessity of +letting me know what the question is." + +"Have you made up your mind who the young woman shall be? If that point is +settled, I can only recommend to you some of Joe Bunk's souchong, and +advise you to submit, for there is no resisting one's fate. The reason +your Turks yield so easily to predestination and fate, is the number of +their wives. Many a book is written to show the cause of their submitting +their necks so easily to the sword and the bow-string. I've been in +Turkey, gentlemen, and know something of their ways. The reason of their +submitting so quietly to be beheaded is, that they are always ready to +hang themselves. How is the fact, sir? Have you settled upon the young +lady in your own mind or not?" + +Although there was nothing in all this but the permitted trifling of boon +companions on ship-board, Paul Blunt received it with an awkwardness one +would hardly have expected in a young man of his knowledge of the world. +He reddened, laughed, made an effort to throw the captain to a greater +distance by reserve, and in the end fairly gave up the matter by walking +to another part of the deck. Luckily, the attention of the honest master +was drawn to the ship, at that instant, and Paul flattered himself he was +unperceived; but the shadow of a figure at his elbow startled him, and +turning quickly, he found Mr. John Effingham at his side. + +"Her mother was an angel," said the latter huskily. "I too love her; but +it is as a father." + +"Sir!--Mr. Effingham!--These are sudden and unexpected remarks, and such +as I am not prepared for." + +"Do you think one as jealous of that fair creature as I, could have +overlooked your passion?--She is loved by _both_ of you, and she merits +the warmest affection of a thousand. Persevere, for while I have no voice, +and, I fear, little influence on her decision, some strange sympathy +causes me to wish you success. My own man told me that you have met +before, and with her father's knowledge, and this is all I ask, for my +kinsman is discreet. He probably knows you, though I do not." + +The face of Paul glowed like fire, and he almost gasped for breath. +Pitying his distress, Effingham smiled kindly, and was about to quit him, +when he felt his hand convulsively grasped by those of the young man. + +"Do not quit me, Mr. Effingham, I entreat you," he said rapidly; "it is so +unusual for me to hear words of confidence, or even of kindness, that they +are most precious to me! I have permitted myself to be disturbed by the +random remarks of that well-meaning, but unreflecting man; but in a moment +I shall be more composed--more manly--less unworthy of your attention +and pity." + +"Pity is a word I should never have thought of applying to the person, +character, attainments, or, as I hoped, fortunes of Mr. Blunt; and I +sincerely trust that you will acquit me of impertinence. I have felt an +interest in you, young man, that I have long ceased to feel in most of my +species, and I trust this will be some apology for the liberty I have +taken. Perhaps the suspicion that you were anxious to stand well in the +good opinion of my little cousin was at the bottom of it all." + +"Indeed you have not misconceived my anxiety, sir; for who is there that +could be indifferent to the good opinion of one so simple and yet so +cultivated; with a mind in which nature and knowledge seem to struggle for +the possession. One, Mr. Effingham, so little like the cold sophistication +and heartlessness of Europe on the one hand, and the unformed girlishness +of America, on the other; one, in short, so every way what the fondest +father or the most sensitive brother could wish." + +John Effingham smiled, for to smile at any weakness was with him a habit; +but his eye glistened. After a moment of doubt, he turned to his young +companion, and with a delicacy of expression and a dignity of manner that +none could excel him in, when he chose, he put a question that for several +days had been uppermost in his thoughts, though no fitting occasion had +ever before offered, on which he thought he might venture. + +"This frank confidence emboldens me--one who ought to be ashamed to boast +of his greater experience, when every day shows him to how little profit +it has been turned, to presume to render our acquaintance less formal by +alluding to interests more personal than strangers have a right to touch +on. You speak of the two parts of the world just mentioned, in a way to +show me you are equally acquainted with both." + +"I have often crossed the ocean, and, for so young a man, have seen a full +share of their societies. Perhaps it increases my interest in your lovely +kinswoman, that, like myself, she properly belongs to neither." + +"Be cautious how you whisper that in her ear, my youthful friend; for Eve +Effingham fancies herself as much American in character as in birth. +Single-minded and totally without management,--devoted to her duties,--- +religious without cant,--a warm friend of liberal institutions, without +the slightest approach to the impracticable, in heart and soul a woman, +you will find it hard to persuade her, that with all her practice in the +world, and all her extensive attainments, she is more than a humble copy +of heir own great _beau idéal_." + +Paul smiled, and his eyes met those of John Effingham--the expression of +both satisfied the parties that they thought alike in more things than in +their common admiration of the subject of their discourse. + +"I feel I have not been as explicit as I ought to be with you, Mr. +Effingham," the young, man resumed, after a pause; "but on a more fitting +occasion, I shall presume on your kindness to be less reserved. My lot has +thrown me on the world, almost without friends, quite without relatives, +so far as intercourse with them is concerned; and I have known little of +the language or the acts of the affections." + +John Effingham pressed his hand, and from that time he cautiously +abstained from any allusion to his personal concerns; for a suspicion +crossed his mind that the subject was painful to the young man. He knew +that thousands of well-educated and frequently of affluent people, of both +sexes, were to be found in Europe, to whom, from the circumstance of +having been born out of wedlock, through divorces, or other family +misfortunes, their private histories were painful, and he at once inferred +that some such event, quite probably the first, lay at the bottom of Paul +Blunt's peculiar situation. Notwithstanding his warm attachment to Eve, he +had too much confidence in her own as well as in her father's judgment, to +suppose an acquaintance of any intimacy would be lightly permitted; and +as to the mere prejudices connected with such subjects, he was quite free +from them. Perhaps his masculine independence of character caused him, on +all such points, to lean to the side of the _ultra_ in liberality. + +In this short dialogue, with the exception of the slight though +unequivocal allusion of John Effingham, both bad avoided any farther +allusions to Mr. Sharp, or to his supposed attachment to Eve. Both were +confident of its existence, and this perhaps was one reason why neither +felt any necessity to advert to it: for it was a delicate subject, and +one, under the circumstances, that they would mutually wish to forget in +their cooler moments. The conversation then took a more general character, +and for several hours that day, while the rest of the passengers were kept +below by the state of the weather, these two were together, laying, what +perhaps it was now too late to term, the foundation of a generous and +sincere friendship. Hitherto Paul had regarded John Effingham with +distrust and awe, but he found him a man so different from what report and +his own fancy had pictured, that the reaction in his feelings served to +heighten them, and to aid in increasing his respect. On the other hand, +the young man exhibited so much modest good sense, a fund of information +so much beyond his years, such integrity and justice of sentiment, that +when they separated for the night, the old bachelor was full of regret +that nature had not made him the parent of such a son. + +All this time the business of the ship had gone on. The wind increased +steadily, until, as the sun went down, Captain Truck announced it, in the +cabin, to be a "regular-built gale of wind." Sail after sail had been +reduced or furled until the Montauk was lying-to under her foresail, a +close-reefed main-top-sail, a fore-top-mast stay-sail, and a mizzen +stay-sail. Doubts were even entertained whether the second of these sails +would not have to be handed soon, and the foresail itself reefed. + +The ship's head was to the south-south-west, her drift considerable, and +her way of course barely sufficient to cause her to feel her helm. The +Foam had gained on her several miles during the time sail could be +carried; but she, also, had been obliged to heave-to, at the same +increase of the sea and wind as that which had forced Mr. Truck to lash +his wheel down. This state of things made a considerable change in the +relative positions of the two vessels again; the next morning showing the +sloop-of-war hull down, and well on the weather-beam of the packet. Her +sharper mould and more weatherly qualities had done her this service, as +became a ship intended for war and the chase. + +At all this, however, Captain Truck laughed. He could not be boarded in +such weather, and it was matter of indifference where his pursuer might +be, so long as he had time to escape, when the gale ceased. On the whole, +he was rather glad than otherwise of the present state of things, for it +offered a chance to slip away to leeward as soon as the weather would +permit, if, indeed, his tormentor did not altogether disappear in the +northern board, or to windward. + +The hopes and fears of the worthy master, however, were poured principally +into the ears of his two mates; for few of the passengers were visible +until the afternoon of the second day of the gale; then, indeed, a general +relief to their physical suffering occurred, though it was accompanied by +apprehensions that scarcely permitted the change to be enjoyed. About +noon, on that day, the wind came with such power, and the seas poured down +against the bows of the ship with a violence so tremendous, that it got to +be questionable whether she could any longer remain with safety in her +present condition. Several times in the course of the morning, the waves +had forced her bows off, and before the ship could recover her position, +the succeeding billow would break against her broadside, and throw a flood +of water on her decks. This is a danger peculiar to lying-to in a gale; +for if the vessel get into the trough of the sea, and is met in that +situation by a wave of unusual magnitude, she runs the double risk of +being thrown on her beam-ends, and of having her decks cleared of +everything, by the cataract of water that washes athwart them. Landsmen +entertain little notion of the power of the waters, when driven before a +tempest, and are often surprised, in reading of naval catastrophes, at the +description of the injuries done. But experience shows that boats, +hurricane-houses, guns, anchors of enormous weight, bulwarks and planks, +are even swept off into the ocean, in this manner, or are ripped up from +their fastenings. + +The process of lying-to has a double advantage, so long as it can be +maintained, since it offers the strongest portion of the vessel to the +shock of the seas, and has the merit of keeping her as near as possible to +the desired direction. But it is a middle course, being often adopted as +an expedient of safety when a ship cannot scud; and then, again, it is +abandoned for scudding when the gale is so intensely severe that it +becomes in itself dangerous. In nothing are the high qualities of ships so +thoroughly tried as in their manner of behaving, as it is termed, in these +moments of difficulty; nor is the seamanship of the accomplished officer +so triumphantly established in any other part of his professional +knowledge, as when he has had an opportunity of showing that he knows how +to dispose of the vast weight his vessel is to carry, so as to enable her +mould to exhibit its perfection, and on occasion to turn both to the +best account. + +Nothing will seem easier to a landsman than for a vessel to run before the +wind, let the force of the gale be what it may. But his ignorance +overlooks most of the difficulties, nor shall we anticipate their dangers, +but let them take their places in the regular thread of the narrative. + +Long before noon, or the hour mentioned, Captain Truck foresaw that, in +consequence of the seas that were constantly coming on board of her, he +should be compelled to put his ship before the wind. He delayed the +manoeuvre to the last moment, however, for what he deemed to be sufficient +reasons. The longer he kept the ship lying-to, the less he deviated from +his proper course to New York, and the greater was the probability of his +escaping, stealthily and without observation from the Foam, since the +latter, by maintaining her position better, allowed the Montauk to drift +gradually to leeward, and, of course, to a greater distance. + +But the crisis would no longer admit of delay. All hands were called; the +maintop-sail was hauled up, not without much difficulty, and then Captain +Truck reluctantly gave the order to haul down the mizzen-stay-sail, to put +the helm hard up, and to help the ship round with the yards. This is at +all times a critical change, as has just been mentioned for the vessel is +exposed to the ravages of any sea, larger than common, that may happen to +strike her as she lies nearly motionless, with her broadside exposed to +its force. To accomplish it, therefore, Captain Truck went up a few +ratlines in the fore-rigging, (he was too nice a calculator to offer even +a surface as small as his own body to the wind, in the after shrouds,) +whence he looked out to windward for a lull, and a moment when the ocean +had fewer billows than common of the larger and more dangerous kind. At +the desired instant he signed with his hand, and the wheel was shifted +from hard-down to hard-up. + +This is always a breathless moment in a ship, for as none can foresee the +result, it resembles the entrance of a hostile battery. A dozen men may be +swept away in an instant, or the ship herself hove over on her side. John +Effingham and Paul, who of all the passengers were alone on deck, +understood the hazards, and they watched the slightest change with the +interest of men who had so much at stake. At first the movement of the +ship was sluggish, and such as ill-suited the eagerness of the crew. Then +her pitching ceased, and she settled into the enormous trough bodily, or +the whole fabric sunk, as it were, never to rise again. So low did she +fall, that the foresail gave a tremendous flap; one that shook the hull +and spars from stem to stern. As she rose on the next surge, happily its +foaming crest slid beneath her, and the tall masts rolled heavily to +windward. Recovering her equilibrium, the ship started through the brine, +and as the succeeding roller came on, she was urging ahead fast. Still, +the sea struck her abeam, forcing her bodily to leeward, and heaving the +lower yardarms into the ocean. Tons of water fell on her decks, with the +dull sound of the clod on the coffin. At this grand moment, old Jack +Truck, who was standing in the rigging, dripping with he spray, that had +washed over him, with a naked head, and his grey hair glistening, shouted +like a Stentor, "Haul in your fore-braces, boys! away with the yard, like +a fiddlestick!" Every nerve was strained; the unwilling yards, pressed +upon by an almost irresistible column of air, yielded slowly, and as the +sail met the gale more perpendicularly, or at right angles to its surface, +it dragged the vast hull through the sea with a power equal to that of a +steam-engine. Ere another sea could follow, the Montauk was glancing +through the ocean at a furious rate, and though offering her quarter to +the billows, their force was now so much diminished by her own velocity, +as to deprive them of their principal danger. + +The motion of the ship immediately became easy, though her situation was +still far from being without risk. No longer compelled to buffet the +waves, but sliding along in their company, the motion ceased to disturb +the systems of the passengers, and ten minutes had not elapsed before most +of them were again on deck, seeking the relief of the open air. Among the +others was Eve, leaning on the arm of her father. + +It was a terrific scene, though one might now contemplate it without +personal inconvenience. The gentlemen gathered around the beautiful and +appalled spectatress of this grand sight, anxious to know the effect it +might produce on one of her delicate frame and habits. She expressed +herself as awed, but not alarmed; for the habits of dependence usually +leave females less affected by fear, in such cases, than those who, by +their sex, are supposed to be responsible. + +"Mademoiselle Viefville has promised to follow me," she said, "and as I +have a national claim to be a sailor, you are not to expect hysterics or +even ecstasies from me; but reserve yourselves, gentlemen, for the +_Parisienne_." + +The _Parisienne_, sure enough, soon came out of the hurricane-house, with +elevated hands, and eyes eloquent of admiration, wonder and fear. Her +first exclamations were those of terror, and then turning a wistful look +on Eve, she burst into tears. "_Ah, ceci est décisif!_" she exclaimed. +"When we part, we shall be separated for life." + +"Then we will not part at all, my dear mademoiselle; you have only to +remain in America, to escape all future inconveniences of the ocean. But +forget the danger, and admire the sublimity of this terrific panorama." + +Well might Eve thus term the scene. The hazards now to be avoided were +those of the ship's broaching-to, and of being pooped. Nothing may seem +easier, as has been said, than to "sail before the wind," the words having +passed into a proverb; but there are times when even a favouring gale +becomes prolific of dangers, that we shall now briefly explain. + +The velocity of the water, urged as it is before a tempest, is often as +great as that of the ship, and at such moments the rudder is useless, its +whole power being derived from its action as a moving body against the +element in comparative repose. When ship and water move together, at an +equal rate, in the same direction, of course this power of the helm is +neutralized, and then the hull is driven much at the mercy of the winds +and waves. Nor is this all; the rapidity of the billows often exceeds that +of a ship, and then the action of the rudder becomes momentarily reversed, +producing an effect exactly opposite to that which is desired. It is true, +this last difficulty is never of more than a few moments' continuance, +else indeed would the condition of the mariner be hopeless; but it is of +constant occurrence, and so irregular as to defy calculations and defeat +caution. In the present instance, the Montauk would seem to fly through +the water, so swift was her progress; and then, as a furious surge +overtook her in the chase, she settled heavily into the element, like a +wounded animal, that, despairing of escape, sinks helplessly in the grass, +resigned to fate. At such times the crests of the waves swept past her, +like vapour in the atmosphere, and one unpractised would be apt to think +the ship stationary, though in truth whirling along in company with a +frightful momentum. + +It is scarcely necessary to say, that the process of scudding requires the +nicest attention to the helm, in order that the hull may be brought +speedily back to the right direction, when thrown aside by the power of +the billows; for, besides losing her way in the caldron of water--an +imminent danger of itself--if left exposed to the attack of the succeeding +wave, her decks, at least, would be swept, even should she escape a still +more serious calamity. + +Pooping is a hazard of another nature, and is also peculiar to the process +of scudding. It merely means the ship's being overtaken by the waters +while running from them, when the crest of a sea, broken by the +resistance, is thrown in-board, over the taffrail or quarter. The term is +derived from the name of that particular portion of the ship. In order to +avoid this risk, sail is carried on the vessel as long as possible, it +being deemed one of the greatest securities of scudding, to force the hull +through the water at the greatest attainable rate. In consequence of these +complicated risks, ships that sail the fastest and steer the easiest, scud +the best. There is, however, a species of velocity that becomes of itself +a source of new danger; thus, exceedingly sharp vessels have been known to +force themselves so far into the watery mounds in their front, and to +receive so much of the element on decks, as never to rise again. This is a +fate to which those who attempt to sail the American clipper, without +understanding its properties, are peculiarly liable. On account of this +risk, however, there was now no cause of apprehension, the full-bowed, +kettle-bottomed Montauk being exempt from the danger; though Captain Truck +intimated his doubts whether the corvette would like to brave the course +he had himself adopted. + +In this opinion, the fact would seem to sustain the master of the packet; +for when the night shut in, the spars of the Foam were faintly +discernible, drawn like spiders' webs on the bright streak of the evening +sky. In a few more minutes, even this tracery, which resembled that of a +magic-lantern, vanished from the eyes of those aloft; for it had not been +seen by any on deck for more than an hour. + +The magnificent horrors of the scene increased with the darkness. Eve and +her companions stood supported by the hurricane-house, watching it for +hours, the supernatural-looking light, emitted by the foaming sea, +rendering the spectacle one of attractive terror. Even the consciousness +of the hazards heightened the pleasure; for there was a solemn and grand +enjoyment mingled with it all, and the first watch had been set an hour, +before the party had resolution enough to tear themselves from the sublime +sight of a raging sea. + + + + +Chapter XII. + + + + _Touch._ Wast ever in court, shepherd? + _Cor._ No, truly. + _Touch._ Then thou art damn'd. + _Cor._ Nay, I hope---- + _Touch._ Truly, thou art damn'd, like an ill-roasted egg, all on + one side. + + AS YOU LIKE IT. + + +No one thought of seeking his berth when all the passengers were below. +Some conversed in broken, half intelligible dialogues, a few tried +unavailingly to read, and more sat looking at each other in silent +misgivings, as the gale howled through the cordage and spars, or among the +angles and bulwarks of the ship. Eve was seated on a sofa in her own +apartment, leaning on the breast of her father, gazing silently through +the open doors into the forward cabin; for all idea of retiring within +oneself, unless it might be to secret prayer, was banished from the mind. +Even Mr. Dodge had forgotten the gnawings of envy, his philanthropical and +exclusive democracy, and, what was perhaps more convincing still of his +passing views of this sublunary world, his profound deference for rank, as +betrayed in his strong desire to cultivate an intimacy with Sir George +Templemore. As for the baronet himself, he sat by the cabin-table with his +face buried in his hands, and once he had been heard to express a regret +that he had ever embarked. + +Saunders broke the moody stillness of this characteristic party, with +preparations for a supper. He took but one end of the table for his cloth, +and a single cover showed that Captain Truck was about to dine, a thing he +had not yet done that day. The attentive steward had an eye to his +commander's tastes; for it is not often one sees a better garnished board +than was spread on this occasion, so far at least as quantity was +concerned. Besides the usual solids of ham, corned-beef, and roasted +shoat, there were carcasses of ducks, pickled oysters--a delicacy almost +peculiar to America--and all the minor condiments of olives, anchovies, +dates, figs, almonds, raisins, cold potatoes, and puddings, displayed in a +single course, and arranged on the table solely with regard to the reach +of Captain Truck's arm. Although Saunders was not quite without taste, he +too well knew the propensities of his superior to neglect any of these +important essentials, and great care was had, in particular, so to dispose +of everything as to render the whole so many radii diverging from a common +centre, which centre was the stationary arm-chair that the master of the +packet loved to fill in his hours of ease. + +"You will make many voyages, Mr. Toast,"--the steward affectedly gave his +subordinate, or as he was sometimes facetiously called, the steward's +mate, reason to understand, when they had retired to the pantry to await +the captain's appearance--"before you accumulate all the niceties of a +gentleman's dinner. Every _plat_," (Saunders had been in the Havre line, +where he had caught a few words of this nature,) "every _plat_ should be +within reach of the _convive's_ arm, and particularly if it happen to be +Captain Truck, who has a great awersion to delays at his diet. As for the +_entremets_, they may be scattered miscellaneously with the salt and the +mustard, so that they can come with facility in their proper places." + +"I don't know what an _entremet_ is," returned the subordinate, "and I +exceedingly desire, sir, to receive my orders in such English as a +gentleman can diwine." + +"An _entremet_, Mr. Toast, is a mouthful thrown in promiscuously between +the reliefs of the solids. Now, suppose a gentleman begins on pig; when he +has eaten enough of this, he likes a little brandy and water, or a glass +of porter, before he cuts into the beef; and while I'm mixing the first, +or starting the cork, he refreshes himself with an _entremet_, such as a +wing of a duck, or perhaps a plate of pickled oysters. You must know that +there is great odds in passengers; one set eating and jollifying, from the +hour we sail till the hour we get in, while another takes the ocean as it +might be sentimentally." + +"Sentimentally, sir! I s'pose those be they as uses the basins uncommon?" + +"That depends on the weather. I've known a party not eat as much as would +set one handsome table in a week, and then, when they conwalesced, it was +intimidating how they dewoured. It makes a great difference, too, whether +the passengers acquiesce well together or not, for agreeable feelings give +a fine appetite. Lovers make cheap passengers always." + +"That is extr'or'nary, for I thought such as they was always hard to +please, with every thing but one another." + +"You never were more mistaken. I've seen a lover who couldn't tell a sweet +potato from an onion, or a canvas-back from an old wife. But of all +mortals in the way of passengers, the bagman or go-between is my greatest +animosity. These fellows will sit up all night, if the captain consents, +and lie abed next day, and do nothing but drink in their berths. Now, this +time we have a compliable set, and on the whole, it is quite a +condescension and pleasure to wait on them." + +"Well, I think, Mr. Saunders, they isn't alike as much as they might be +'nother." + +"Not more so than wenison and pig. Perfectly correct, sir; for this cabin +is a lobskous as regards deportment and character. I set all the +Effinghams down as tip-tops, or, A No. 1, as Mr. Leach calls the ship; and +then Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt are quite the gentlemen. Nothing is easier, +Mr. Toast, than to tell a gentleman; and as you have set up a new +profession,--in which I hope, for the credit of the colour, you will be +prosperous,--it is well worth your while to know how this is done, +especially as you need never expect much from a passenger, that is not a +true gentleman, but trouble. There is Mr. John Effingham, in particular; +his man says he never anticipates change, and if a coat confines his arm, +he repudiates it on the spot." + +"Well, it must be a satisfaction to serve such a companion, I think Mr. +Dodge, sir, quite a feller." + +"Your taste, Toast, is getting to be observable, and by cultivating it, +you will soon be remarkable for a knowledge of mankind. Mr. Dodge, as you +werry justly insinuate, is not werry refined, or particularly well suited +to figure in genteel society." + +"And yet he seems attached to it Mr. Saunders, for he has purposed to +establish five or six societies since we sailed." + +"Werry true, sir; but then every society is not genteel. When we get back +to New York, Toast, I must see and get you into a better set than the one +you occupied when we sailed. You will not do yet for our circle, which is +altogether conclusive; but you might be elevated. Mr. Dodge has been +electioneering with me, to see if we cannot inwent a society among the +steerage-passengers for the abstinence of liquors, and another for the +perpetration of the morals and religious principles of our forefathers. As +for the first, Toast, I told him it was sufficiently indurable to be +confined in a hole like the steerage, without being percluded from the +consolation of a little drink; and as for the last, it appeared to me that +such a preposition inwolwed an attack on liberty of conscience." + +"There you give'd him, sir, quite as good as he sent," returned the +steward's mate, chuckling, or perhaps sniggering would be a word better +suited to his habits of cachinnation, "and I should have been glad to +witness his confusion. It seems to me, Mr. Saunders, that Mr. Dodge loves +to get up his societies in support of liberty and religion, that he may +predominate over both by his own inwentions." + +Saunders laid his long yellow finger on the broad flat nose of his mate, +with an air of approbation, as he replied, + +"Toast, you have hit his character as pat as I touch your Roman. He is a +man fit to make proselytes among the wulgar and Irish,"--the Hibernian +peasant and the American negro are sworn enemies--"but quite unfit for +anything respectable or decent. Were it not for Sir George, I would +scarcely descend to clean his state-room." + +"What is your sentiments, Mr. Saunders, respecting Sir George?" + +"Why, Sir George is a titled gentleman, and of course is not to be +strictured too freely. He has complimented me already with a sovereign, +and apprised me of his intention to be more particular when we get in." + +"I feel astonished such a gentleman should neglect to insure a state-room +to his own convenience." + +"Sir George has elucidated all that in a conversation we had in his room, +soon after our acquaintance commenced. He is going to Canada on public +business, and sailed at an hour's interval. He was too late for a single +room, and his own man is to follow with most of his effects by the next +ship. Oh! Sir George may be safely put down as respectable and +liberalized, though thrown into disparagement perhaps by forty +circumstances." + +Mr. Saunders, who had run his vocabulary hard in this conversation, meant +to say "fortuitous;" and Toast thought that so many circumstances might +well reduce a better man to a dilemma. After a moment of thought, or what +in his orbicular shining features he fancied passed for thought, +he said,-- + +"I seem to diwine, Mr. Saunders, that the Effinghams do not much intimate +Sir George." + +Saunders looked out of the pantry-door to reconnoitre, and finding the +sober quiet already described reigning, he opened a drawer, and drew forth +a London newspaper. + +"To treat you with the confidence of a gentleman in a situation as +respectable and responsible as the one you occupy, Mr. Toast," he said, "a +little ewent has transpired in my presence yesterday, that I thought +sufficiently particular to be designated by retaining this paper. Mr. +Sharp and Sir George happened to be in the cabin together, alone, and the +last, as it suggested to me, Toast, was desirous of removing some of the +haughter of the first, for you may have observed that there has been no +conversation between any of the Effinghams, or Mr. Blunt, or Mr. Sharp, +and the baronet; and so to break the ice of his haughter, as it might be, +Sir George says, 'Really, Mr. Sharp, the papers have got to be so +personally particular, that one cannot run into the country for a mouthful +of fresh air that they don't record it. Now, I thought not a soul knew of +my departure for America, and yet here you see they have mentioned it, +with more particulars than are agreeable.' On concluding, Sir George gave +Mr. Sharp this paper, and indicated this here paragraph. Mr. Sharp perused +it, laid down the paper, and retorted coldly, 'It is indeed quite +surprising, sir; but impudence is a general fault of the age.' And then he +left the cabin solus. Sir George was so wexed, he went into his +state-room and forgot the paper, which fell to the steward, you know, on a +principle laid down in Wattel, Toast" + +Here the two worthies indulged in a smothered merriment of their own at +the expense of their commander; for though a dignified man in general, Mr. +Saunders could laugh on occasion, and according to his own opinion of +himself he danced particularly well. + +"Would you like to read the paragraph, Mr. Toast?" + +"Quite unnecessary, sir; your account will be perfectly legible and +satisfactory." + +By this touch of politeness, Mr. Toast, who knew as much of the art of +reading as a monkey commonly knows of mathematics, got rid of the +awkwardness of acknowledging the careless manner in which he had trifled +with his early opportunities. Luckily, Mr. Saunders, who had been educated +as a servant in a gentleman's family, was better off, and as he was vain +of all his advantages, he was particularly pleased to have an opportunity +of exhibiting them. Turning to the paragraph he read the following lines, +in that sort of didactic tone and elaborate style with which gentlemen who +commence the graces after thirty are a little apt to make bows: + +"We understand Sir George Templemore, Bart., the member for Boodleigh, is +about to visit our American colonies, with a view to make himself +intimately acquainted with the merits of the unpleasant questions by which +they are just now agitated, and with the intention of entering into the +debates in the house on that interesting subject on his return. We believe +that Sir George will sail in the packet of the first from Liverpool, and +will return in time to be in his seat after the Easter holidays. His +people and effects left town yesterday by the Liverpool coach. During the +baronet's absence, his country will be hunted by Sir Gervaise de Brush, +though the establishment at Templemore Hall will be kept up." + +"How came Sir George here, then?" Mr. Toast very naturally inquired. + +"Having been kept too late in London, he was obliged to come this way or +to be left. It is sometimes as close work to get the passengers on board, +Mr. Toast, as to get the people. I have often admired how gentlemen and +ladies love procrastinating, when dishes that ought to be taken hot, are +getting to be quite insipid and uneatable." + +"Saunders!" cried the hearty voice of Captain Truck, who had taken +possession of what he called his throne in the cabin. All the steward's +elegant diction and finish of demeanour vanished at the well-known sound, +and thrusting his head out of the pantry-door, he gave the prompt +ship-answer to a call, + +"Ay, ay, sir!" + +"Come, none of your dictionary in the pantry there, but show your +physiognomy in my presence. What the devil do you think Vattel would say +to such a supper as this?" + +"I think, sir, he would call it a werry good supper, for a ship in a hard +gale of wind. That's my honest opinion, Captain Truck, and I never deceive +any gentleman in a matter of food. I think, Mr. Wattel would approve of +that there supper, sir." + +"Perhaps he might, for he has made blunders as well as another man. Go, +mix me a glass of just what I love when I've not had a drop all day. +Gentlemen, will any of you honour me, by sharing in a cut? This beef is +not indigestible, and here is a real Marylander, in the way of a ham. No +want of oakum to fill up the chinks with, either." + +Most of the gentlemen were too full of the gale to wish to eat; besides +they had not fasted like Captain Truck since morning. But Mr. Monday, the +bagman, as John Effingham had termed him, and who had been often enough at +sea to know something of its varieties, consented to take a glass of +brandy and water, as a corrective of the Madeira he had been swallowing. +The appetite of Captain Truck was little affected by the state of the +weather, however; for though too attentive to his duties to quit the deck +until he had ascertained how matters were going on, now that he had fairly +made up his mind to eat, he set about it with a heartiness and simplicity +that proved his total disregard of appearances when his hunger was sharp. +For some time he was too much occupied to talk, making regular attacks +upon the different _plats_, as Mr. Saunders called them, without much +regard to the cookery or the material. The only pauses were to drink, and +this was always done with a steadiness that never left a drop in the +glass. Still Mr. Truck was a temperate man; for he never consumed more +than his physical wants appeared to require, or his physical energies knew +how to dispose of. At length, however, he came to the steward's +_entremets_, or he began to stuff what he, himself, had called "oakum," +into the chinks of his dinner. + +Mr. Sharp had watched the whole process from the ladies' cabin, as indeed +had Eve, and thinking this a favourable occasion to ascertain the state of +things on deck, the former came into the main-cabin, commissioned by the +latter, to make the inquiry. + +"The ladies are desirous of knowing where we are, and what is the state of +the gale, Captain Truck," said the gentleman, when he had seated himself +near the throne. + +"My dear young lady," called out the captain, by way of cutting short the +diplomacy of employing ambassadors between them, "I wish in my heart I +could persuade you and Mademoiselle V.A.V., (for so he called the +governess, in imitation of Eve's pronunciation of her name,) to try a few +of these pickled oysters; they are as delicate as yourselves, and worthy +to be set before a mermaid, if there were any such thing." + +"I thank you for the compliment, Captain Truck, and while I ask leave to +decline it, I beg leave to refer you to the plenipotentiary Mademoiselle +Viefville" (Eve would not say herself) "has intrusted with her wishes." + +"Thus you perceive, sir," interposed Mr. Sharp again, "you will have to +treat with me, by all the principles laid down by Vattel." + +"And treat you, too, my good sir. Let me persuade you to try a slice of +this anti-abolitionist," laying his knife on the ham, which he still +continued to regard himself with a sort of melancholy interest. "No? well, +I hold over-persuasion as the next thing to neglect. I am satisfied, sir, +after all, as Saunders says, that Vattel himself, unless more unreasonable +at his grub than in matters of state, would be a happier man after he had +been at his table twenty minutes, than before he sat down." + +Mr. Sharp perceiving that it was idle to pursue his inquiry while the +other was in one of his discursive humours, determined to let things take +their course, and fell into the captain's own vein. + +"If Vattel would approve of the repast, few men ought to repine at their +fortune in being so well provided." + +"I flatter myself, sir, that I understand a supper, especially in a gale +of wind, as well as Mr. Vattel, or any other man could do." + +"And yet Vattel was one of the most celebrated cooks of his day." + +Captain Truck stared, looked his grave companion steadily in the eye, for +he was too much addicted to mystifying, not to distrust others, and picked +his teeth with redoubled vigilance. + +"Vattel a cook! This is the first I ever heard of it." + +"There was a Vattel, in a former age, who stood at the head of his art as +a cook; this I can assure you, on my honour: he may not have been your +Vattel, however." + +"Sir, there never were two Vattels. This is extraordinary news to me, and +I scarcely know how to receive it." + +"If you doubt my information, you may ask any of the other passengers. +Either of the Mr. Effinghams, or Mr. Blunt, or Miss Effingham, or +Mademoiselle Viefville will confirm what I tell you, I think; especially +the latter, for he was her countryman." + +Hereupon Captain Truck began to stuff in the oakum again, for the calm +countenance of Mr. Sharp produced an effect; and as he was pondering on +the consequences of his oracle's turning out to be a cook, he thought it +not amiss to be eating, as it were, incidentally. After swallowing a dozen +olives, six or eight anchovies, as many pickled oysters, and raisins and +almonds, as the advertisements say _à volonté_, he suddenly struck his +fist on the table, and announced his intention of putting the question to +both the ladies. + +"My dear young lady," he called out, "will you do me the honour to say +whether you ever heard of a cook of the name of Vattel?" + +Eve laughed, and her sweet tones were infectious amid the dull howling of +the gale, which was constantly heard in the cabins, like a bass +accompaniment, or the distant roar of a cataract among the singing +of birds. + +"Certainly, captain," she answered; "Mr. Vattel was not only a cook, but +perhaps the most celebrated on record, for sentiment at least, if not +for skill." + +"I make no doubt the man did his work well, let him be set about what he +might; and, mademoiselle, he was a countryman of yours, they tell me?" + +"_Assurement_, Monsieur Vattel has left more distinguished _souvenirs_ +than any other cook in France." + +Captain Truck turned quickly to the elated and admiring Saunders, who felt +his own glory enhanced by this important discovery, and said in that +short-hand way he had of expressing himself to the chief of the pantry, + +"Do you hear that, sir; see and find out what they are, and dress me a +dish of these _souvenirs_ as soon as we get in. I dare say they are to be +had at the Fulton market, and mind while there to look out for some +tongues and sounds. I've not made half a supper to-night, for the want of +them. I dare say these _souvenirs_ are capital eating, if Monsieur Vattel +thought so highly of them. Pray, mademoiselle, is the gentleman dead?" + +"Hélas, oui! How could he live with a sword run through his body?" + +"Ha! killed in a duel, I declare; died fighting for his principles, if the +truth were known! I shall have a double respect for his opinion, for this +is the touchstone of a man's honesty. Mr. Sharp, let us take a glass of +Geissenheimer to his memory; we might honour a less worthy man." + +As the captain poured out the liquor, a fall of several tons of water on +the deck shook the entire ship, and one of the passengers in the +hurricane-house, opening a door to ascertain the cause, the sound of the +hissing waters and of the roaring winds came fresher and more distinct +into the cabin. Mr. Truck cast an eye at the tell-tale over his head to +ascertain the course of the ship, and paused just an instant, and then +tossed off his wine. + +"This hint reminds me of my mission," Mr. Sharp re joined. "The ladies +desire to know your opinion of the state of the weather?" + +"I owe them an answer, if it were only in gratitude for the hint about +Vattel. Who the devil would have supposed the man ever was a cook! But +these Frenchmen are not like the rest of mankind, and half the nation are +cooks, or live by food, in some way or other." + +"And very good cooks, too, Monsieur le Capitaine," said Mademoiselle +Viefville. "Monsieur Vattel did die for the honour of his art. He fell on +his own sword, because the fish did not arrive in season for the dinner of +the king." + +Captain Truck looked more astonished than ever. Then turning short round +to the steward, he shook his head and exclaimed, + +"Do you hear that, sir? How often would you have died, if a sword had been +run through you every time the fish was forgotten, or was too late'? Once, +to a dead certainty, about these very tongues and sounds." + +"But the weather?" interrupted Mr. Sharp. + +"The weather, my dear sir; the weather, my dear ladies, is very good +weather, with the exception of winds and waves, of which unfortunately +there are, just now, more of both than we want. The ship must scud, and as +we go like a race-horse, without stopping to take breath, we may see the +Canary Islands before the voyage is over. Of danger there is none in this +ship, as long as we can keep clear of the land, and in order that this may +be done, I will just step into my state-room, and find out exactly +where we are." + +On receiving this information, the passengers retired for the night, +Captain Truck setting about his task in good earnest. The result of his +calculations showed that they would run westward of Madeira, which was all +he cared about immediately, intending always to haul up to his course on +the first good occasion. + + + + +Chapter XIII. + + + + There are yet two things in my destiny-- + world to roam o'er, and a home with thee. + + BYRON. + + +Eve Effingham slept little: although the motion of the ship had been much +more severe and uncomfortable while contending with head-winds, on no +other occasion were there so many signs of a fierce contention, of the +elements as in this gale. As she lay in her berth, her ear was within a +foot of the roaring waters without, and her frame trembled as she heard +them gurgling so distinctly, that it seemed as if they had already forced +their way through the seams of the planks, and were filling the ship. +Sleep she could not, for a long time, therefore, and during two hours she +remained with closed eyes an entranced and yet startled listener of the +fearful strife that was raging over the ocean. Night had no stillness, for +the roar of the winds and waters was incessant, though deadened by the +intervening decks and sides; but now and then an open door admitted, as it +might be, the whole scene into the cabins. At such moments every sound was +fresh, and frightfully grand,--even the shout of the officer coming to the +ear like a warning cry from the deep. + +At length Eve, wearied by her apprehensions even, fell into a troubled +sleep, in which her frightened faculties, however, kept so much on the +alert, that at no time was the roar of the tempest entirely lost to her +sense of hearing. About midnight the glare of a candle crossed her eyes, +and she was broad awake in an instant. On rising in her berth she found +Nanny Sidley, who had so often and so long watched over her infant and +childish slumbers, standing at her side, and gazing wistfully in her face. + +"'Tis a dread night, Miss Eve," half whispered the appalled domestic. "I +have not been able to sleep for thinking of you, and of what might happen +on these wide waters!" + +"And why of me particularly, my good Nanny?" returned Eve, smiling in the +face of her old nurse as sweetly as the infant smiles in its moments of +tenderness and recollection. "Why so much of me, my excellent Ann?--are +there not others too, worthy of your care? my beloved father--your own +good self--Mademoiselle Viefville--cousin Jack--and--" the warm colour +deepened on the cheek of the beautiful girl, she scarcely knew why +herself--"and many others in the vessel, that one, kind as you, might +think of, I should hope, when your thoughts become apprehensions, and your +wishes prayers." + +"There are many precious souls in the ship, ma'am, out of all question; +and I'm sure no one wishes them all safe on land again more than myself; +but it seems to me, no one among them all is so much loved as you." + +Eve leaned forward playfully, and drawing her old nurse towards her, +kissed her cheek, while her own eyes glistened, and then she laid her +flushed cheek on that bosom which had so frequently been its pillow +before. After remaining a minute in this affectionate attitude, she rose +and inquired if her nurse had been on deck. + +"I go every half-hour, Miss Eve; for I feel it as much my duty to watch +over you here, as when I had you all to myself in the cradle. I do not +think your father sleeps a great deal to-night, and several of the +gentlemen in the other cabins remain dressed; they ask me how you spend +the time in this tempest, whenever I pass their state-room doors." + +Eve's colour deepened, and Ann Sidley thought she had never seen her child +more beautiful, as the bright luxuriant golden hair, which had strayed +from the confinement of the cap, fell on the warm cheek, and rendered eyes +that were always full of feeling, softer and more brilliant even +than common. + +"They conceal their uneasiness for themselves under an affected concern +for me, my good Nanny," she said hurriedly; "and your own affection makes +you an easy dupe to the artifice." + +"It may be so, ma'am, for I know but little of the ways of the world. It +is fearful, is it not, Miss Eve, to think that we are in a ship, so far +from any land, whirling along over the bottom as fast as a horse +could plunge?" + +"The danger is not exactly of that nature, perhaps, Nanny." + +"There is a bottom to the ocean, is there not? I have heard some maintain +there is no bottom to the sea--and that would make the danger so much +greater. I think, if I felt certain that the bottom was not very deep, and +there was only a rock to be seen now and then, I should not find it so +very dreadful." + +Eve laughed like a child, and the contrast between the sweet simplicity of +her looks, her manners, and her more cultivated intellect, and the +matronly appearance of the less instructed Ann, made one of those pictures +in which the superiority of mind over all other things becomes +most apparent. + +"Your notions of safety, my dear Nanny," she said, "are not precisely +those of a seaman; for I believe there is nothing of which they stand more +in dread than of rocks and the bottom." + +"I fear I'm but a poor sailor, ma'am, for in my judgment we could have no +greater consolation in such a tempest than to see them all around us. Do +you think, Miss Eve, that the bottom of the ocean, if there is truly a +bottom, is whitened with the bones of shipwrecked mariners, as +people say?" + +"I doubt not, my excellent Nanny, that the great deep might give up many +awful secrets; but you ought to think less of these things, and more of +that merciful Providence which has protected us through so many dangers +since we have been wanderers. You are in much less danger now than I have +known you to be, and escape unharmed." + +"I, Miss Eve!--Do you suppose that I fear for myself? What matters it if a +poor old woman like me die a few years sooner or later or where her frail +old body is laid? I have never been of so much account when living as to +make it of consequence where the little which will remain to decay when +dead moulders into dust. Do not, I implore you, Miss Effingham, suppose +me so selfish as to feel any uneasiness to-night on my own account." + +"Is it then, as usual, all for me, my dear, my worthy old nurse, that you +feel this anxiety? Put your heart at ease, for they who know best betray +no alarm; and you may observe that the captain sleeps as tranquilly this +night as on any other." + +"But he is a rude man, and accustomed to danger. He has neither wife nor +children, and I'll engage has never given a thought to the horrors of +having a form precious as this floating in the caverns of the ocean, +amidst ravenous fish and sea-monsters." + +Here her imagination overcame poor Nanny Sidley, and she folded her arms +about the beautiful person of Eve, and sobbed violently. Her young +mistress, accustomed to similar exhibitions of affection, soothed her with +blandishments and assurances that soon restored her self-command, when the +dialogue was resumed with a greater appearance of tranquillity on the part +of the nurse. They conversed a few minutes on the subject of their +reliance on God, Eve returning fourfold, or with the advantages of a +cultivated intellect, many of those simple lessons of faith and humility +that she had received from her companion when a child; the latter +listening, as she always did, to these exhortations, which sounded in her +ears, like the echoes of all her own better thoughts, with a love and +reverence no other could awaken. Eve passed her small white hand over the +wrinkled cheek of Nanny in kind fondling, as it had been passed a thousand +times when a child, an act she well knew her nurse delighted in, and +continued,-- + +"And now, my good old Nanny, you will set your heart at ease, I know; for +though a little too apt to trouble yourself about one who does not deserve +half your care, you are much too sensible and too humble to feel distrust +out of reason. We will talk of something else a few minutes, and then you +will lie down and rest your weary body." + +"Weary! I should never feel weary in watching, when I thought there was a +cause for it." + +Although Nanny made no allusion to herself, Eve understood in whose behalf +this watchfulness was meant. She drew the face of the old woman towards +her, and left a kiss on each cheek ere she continued:-- + +"These ships have other things to talk about, besides their dangers," she +said. "Do you not find it odd, at least, that a vessel of war should be +sent to follow us about the ocean in this extraordinary way?" + +"Quite so, ma'am, and I did intend to speak to you about it, some time +when I saw you had nothing better to think of. At first I fancied, but I +believe it was a silly thought, that some of the great English lords and +admirals that used to be so much about us at Paris, and Rome, and Vienna, +had sent this ship to see you safe to America, Miss Eve; for I never +supposed they would make so much fuss concerning a poor runaway couple, +like these steerage-passengers." + +Eve did not refrain from laughing again, at this conceit of Nanny's, for +her temperament was gay as childhood, though well restrained by +cultivation and manner, and once more she patted the cheek of her +nurse kindly. + +"Those great lords and admirals are not great enough for that, dear Nanny, +even had they the inclination to do so silly a thing. But has no other +reason suggested itself to you, among the many curious circumstances you +may have had occasion to observe in the ship?" + +Nanny looked at Eve, and turned her eyes aside, glanced furtively at the +young lady again, and at last felt compelled to answer. + +"I endeavour, ma'am, to think well of everybody, though strange thoughts +will sometimes arise without our wishing it. I suppose I know to what you +allude; but I don't feel quite certain it becomes me to speak." + +"With me at least, Nanny, you need have no reserves, and I confess a +desire to learn if we have thought alike about some of our +fellow-passengers. Speak freely, then; for you can have no more +apprehension in communicating all your thoughts to me, than in +communicating them to your own child." + +"Not as much, ma'am, not half as much; for you are both child and mistress +to me, and I look quite as much to receiving advice as to giving it. It is +odd, Miss Eve, that gentlemen should not pass under their proper names, +and I have had unpleasant feelings about it, though I did not think it +became me to be the first to speak, while your father was with you, and +mamerzelle," for so Nanny always styled the governess, "and Mr. John, all +of whom love you almost as much as I do, and all of whom are so much +better judges of what is right. But now you encourage me to speak my mind, +Miss Eve, I will say I should like that no one came near you who does not +carry his heart in his open hand, that the youngest child might know his +character and understand his motives." + +Eve smiled as her nurse grew warm, but she blushed in spite of an effort +to seem indifferent. + +"This would be truly a vain wish, dear Nanny, in the mixed company of a +ship," she said. "It is too much to expect that strangers will throw aside +all their reserves, on first finding themselves in close communion. The +well-bred and prudent will only stand more on their guard under such +circumstances." + +"Strangers, ma'am!" + +"I perceive that you recollect the face of one of our shipmates. Why do +you shake your head?" The tell-tale blood of Eve again mantled over her +lovely countenance. "I suppose I ought to have said _two_ of our +shipmates, though I had doubted whether you retained any recollection of +one of them." + +"No gentleman ever speaks to you twice, Miss Eve, that I do not remember +him." + +"Thank you, dearest Nanny, for this and a thousand other proofs of your +never-ceasing interest in my welfare; but I had not believed you so +vigilant as to take heed of every face that happens to approach me." + +"Ah, Miss Eve! neither of these gentlemen would like to be mentioned by +you in this careless manner, I'm sure. They both did a great deal more +than 'happen to approach you;' for as to--" + +"Hist! dear Nanny; we are in a crowded place, and you may be overheard. +You will use no names, therefore, as I believe we understand each other +without going into all these particulars. Now, my dear nurse, would I give +something to know which of these young men has made the most favourable +impression on your upright and conscientious mind I?" + +"Nay, Miss Eve, what is my judgment in comparison with your own, and that +of Mr. John Effingham, and--" + +"--My cousin Jack! In the name of wonder, Nanny, what has he to do with +the matter?" + +"Nothing, ma'am; only I can see he has his favourites as well as another, +and I'll venture to say Mr. Dodge is not the greatest he has in +this ship." + +"I think you might add Sir George Templemore; too," returned Eve, +laughing. + +Ann Sidley looked hard at her young mistress, and smiled before she +answered; and then she continued the discourse naturally, as if there had +been no interruption. + +"Quite likely, ma'am; and Mr. Monday, and all the rest of that set. But +you see how soon he discovers a real gentleman; for he is quite easy and +friendly with Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt, particularly the last." + +Eve was silent, for she did not like the open introduction of these names, +though she scarce knew why herself. + +"My cousin is a man of the world," she resumed, on perceiving that Nanny +watched her countenance with solicitude, as if fearful of having gone too +far; "and there is nothing surprising in his discovering men of his own +class. We know both these persons to be not exactly what they seem, though +I think we know no harm of either, unless it be the silly change of names. +It would have been better had they come on board, bearing their proper +appellations; to us, at least, it would have been more respectful, though +both affirm they were ignorant that my father had taken passage in the +Montauk,--a circumstance that may very well be true, as you know we got +the cabin that was first engaged by another party." + +"I should be sorry, ma'am, if either failed in respect." + +"It is not quite adulatory to make a young woman the involuntary keeper of +the secrets of two unreflecting young men; that is all, my good Nanny. We +cannot well betray them, and we are consequently their confidants _par +force_. The most amusing part of the thing is, that they are masters of +each other's secrets, in part at least, and feel a delightful awkwardness +in a hundred instances. For my own part I pity neither, but think each is +fairly enough punished. They will be fortunate if their servants do not +betray them before we reach New York." + +"No fear of that, ma'am, for they are discreet, cautious men, and if +disposed to blab, Mr. Dodge has given both good opportunities already, as +I believe he has put to them as many questions as there are speeches in +the catechism." + +"Mr. Dodge is a vulgar man." + +"So we all say, ma'am, in the servants' cabin, and everybody is so set +against him there, that there is little chance of his learning much. I +hope, Miss Eve, mamerzelle does not distrust either of the gentlemen?" + +"Surely you cannot suspect Mademoiselle Viefville of indiscretion, Nanny; +a better spirit, or a better tone than hers, does not exist." + +"No, ma'am, 'tis not that: but I should like to have one more secret with +you, all to myself. I honour and respect mamerzelle, who has done a +thousand times more for you than a poor ignorant woman like me could have +done, with all my zeal; but I do believe, Miss Eve, I love your shoe tie +better than she loves your pure and beautiful spirit." + +"Mademoiselle Viefville is an excellent woman, and I believe is sincerely +attached to me." + +"She would be a wretch else. I do not deny her attachment, but I only say +it is nothing, it ought to be nothing, it can be nothing, it shall be +nothing, compared to that of the one who first held you in her arms, and +who has always held you in her heart. Mamerzelle can sleep such a night as +this, which I'm sure she could not do were she as much concerned for +you as I am." + +Eve knew that jealousy of Mademoiselle Viefville was Nanny's greatest +weakness, and drawing the old woman to her, she entwined her arms around +her neck and complained of drowsiness. Accustomed to watching, and really +unable to sleep, the nurse now passed a perfectly happy hour in holding +her child, who literally dropped asleep on her bosom; after which Nanny +slid into the berth beneath, in her clothes, and finally lost the sense of +her apprehensions in perturbed slumbers. + +A cry on dock awoke all in the cabins early on the succeeding morning. It +was scarcely light, but a common excitement seized every passenger, and +ten minutes had not elapsed when Eve and her governess appeared in the +hurricane-house, the last of those who came from below. Few questions had +been asked, but all hurried on deck with their apprehensions awakened by +the gale, increased to the sense of some positive and impending danger. + +Nothing, however, was immediately apparent to justify all this sudden +clamour. The gale continued, if anything with increased power; the ocean +was rolling over its cataracts of combing seas, with which the ship was +still racing, driven under the strain of a reefed fore-course, the only +canvas that was set. Even with this little sail the hull was glancing +through the raging seas, or rather in their company, at a rate a little +short of ten miles in the hour. + +Captain Truck was in the mizzen-rigging, bare-headed, every lock of hair +he had blowing out like a pennant. Occasionally he signed to the man at +the wheel which way to put the helm; for instead of sleeping, as many had +supposed, he had been conning the ship for hours in the same situation, As +Eve appeared, he was directing the attention of several of the gentlemen +to some object astern, but a very few moments put all on deck in +possession of the facts. + +About a cable's length, on one of the quarters of the Montauk, was a ship +careering before the gale like themselves, though carrying more canvas, +and consequently driving faster through the water. The sudden appearance +of this vessel in the sombre light of the morning, when objects were seen +distinctly but without the glare of day; the dark hull, relieved by a +single narrow line of white paint, dotted with ports; the glossy +hammock-cloths, and all those other coverings of dark glistening canvas +which give to a cruiser an air of finish and comfort, like that of a +travelling carriage; the symmetry of the spars, and the gracefulness of +all the lines, whether of the hull or hamper, told all who knew anything +of such subjects, that the stranger was a vessel of war. To this +information Captain Truck added that it was their old pursuer the Foam. + +"She is corvette-built," said the master of the Montauk, "and is obliged +to carry more canvas than we, in order to keep out of the way of the seas; +for, if one of these big fellows should overtake her, and throw its crest +into her waist, she would become like a man who has taken too much +Saturday-night, and with whom a second dose might settle the purser's +books forever." + +Such in fact was the history of the sudden appearance of this ship. She +had lain-to as long as possible, and on being driven to scud, carried a +close-reefed maintop-sail, a show of canvas that urged her through the +water about two knots to the hour faster than the rate of the-packet. +Necessarily following the same coarse, she overtook the latter just as the +day began to dawn. The cry had arisen on her sudden discovery, and the +moment had now arrived when she was about to come up, quite abreast of her +late chase. The passage of the Foam, under such circumstances, was a grand +but thrilling thing. Her captain, too, was seen in the mizzen-rigging of +his ship, rocked by the gigantic billows over which the fabric was +careering. He held a speaking-trumpet in his hand, as if still bent on his +duty, in the midst of that awful warring of the elements. Captain Truck +called for a trumpet in his turn, and fearful of consequences he waved it +to the other to keep more aloof, The injunction was either misunderstood, +the man-of-war's man was too much bent on his object, or the ocean was too +uncontrollable for such a purpose, the corvette driving up on a sea quite +abeam of the packet, and in fearful proximity. The Englishman applied the +trumpet, and words were heard amid the roaring of the winds. At that time +the white field of old Albion, with the St. George's cross, rose over the +bulwarks, and by the time it had reached the gaff-end, the bunting was +whipping in ribbons. + +"Show 'em the gridiron!" growled Captain Truck through his trumpet, with +its mouth turned in board. + +As everything was ready this order was instantly obeyed, and the stripes +of America were soon seen fluttering nearly in separate pieces. The two +ships now ran a short distance in parallel lines, rolling from each other +so heavily that the bright copper of the corvette was seen nearly to her +keel. The Englishman, who seemed a portion of his ship, again tried his +trumpet; the detached words of "lie-by,"--"orders,"--"communicate," were +caught by one or two, but the howling of the gale rendered all connexion +in the meaning impossible. The Englishman ceased his efforts to make +himself heard, for the two ships were now rolling-to, and it appeared as +if their spars would interlock. There was an instant when Mr. Leach had +his hand on the main-brace to let it go; but the Foam started away on a +sea, like a horse that feels the spur, and disobeying her helm, shot +forward, as if about to cross the Montauk's forefoot. + +A breathless instant followed, for all on board the two ships thought they +must now inevitably come foul of each other, and this the more so, because +the Montauk took the impulse of the sea just as it was lost to the Foam, +and seemed on the point of plunging directly into the stern of the latter. +Even the seamen clenched the ropes around them convulsively, and the +boldest held their breaths for a time. The "p-o-r-t, hard a port, and be +d---d to you!" of Captain Truck; and the "S-t-a-r-b-o-a-r-d, starboard +hard!" of the Englishman, were both distinctly audible to all in the two +ships; for this was a moment in which seamen can speak louder than the +tempest. The affrighted vessels seemed to recede together, and they shot +asunder in diverging lines, the Foam leading. All further attempts at a +communication were instantly useless; the corvette being half a mile ahead +in a quarter of an hour, rolling her yardarms nearly to the water. + +Captain Truck said little to his passengers concerning this adventure; but +when he had lighted a cigar, and was discussing the matter with his +chief-mate, he told the latter there was "just one minute when he would +not have given a ship's biscuit for both vessels, nor much more for their +cargoes. A man must have a small regard for human souls, when he puts +them, and their bodies too, in so much jeopardy for a little tobacco." + +Throughout the day it blew furiously, for the ship was running into the +gale, a phenomenon that we shall explain, as most of our readers may not +comprehend it. All gates of wind commence to leeward; or, in other words, +the wind is first felt at some particular point, and later, as we recede +from that point, proceeding in the direction from which the wind blows. +It is always severest near the point where it commences, appearing to +diminish in violence as it recedes. This, therefore, is an additional +motive for mariners to lie-to, instead of scudding, since the latter not +only carries them far from their true coarse, but it carries them also +nearer to the scene of the greatest fury of the elements. + + + + +Chapter XIV. + + + + Good boatswain, have care. + + TEMPEST. + + +At sunset, the speck presented by the reefed top-sail of the corvette had +sunk beneath the horizon, in the southern board, and that ship was seen no +longer. Several islands had been passed, looking tranquil and smiling amid +the fury of the tempest; but it was impossible to haul up for any one +among them. The most that could be done was to keep the ship dead before +it, to prevent her broaching-to, and to have a care that she kept clear of +those rocks and of that bottom, for which Nanny Sidley had so much pined. + +Familiarity with the scene began to lessen the apprehensions of the +passengers, and as scudding is an easy process for those who are liable to +sea-sickness, ere another night shut in, the principal concern was +connected with the course the ship was compelled to steer. The wind had so +far hauled to the westward as to render it certain that the coast of +Africa would lie in their way, if obliged to scud many hours longer; for +Captain Truck's observations actually placed him to the southward and +eastward of the Canary Islands. This was a long distance out of his +course, but the rate of sailing rendered the fact sufficiently clear. + +This, too was the precise time when the Montauk felt the weight of the +tempest, or rather, when she experienced the heaviest portion of that +which it was her fate to feel. Lucky was it for the good ship that she had +not been in this latitude a few hours earlier, when it had blown something +very like a hurricane. The responsibility and danger of his situation now +began seriously to disturb Captain Truck, although he kept his +apprehensions to himself, like a prudent officer. All his calculations +were gone over again with the utmost care, the rate of sailing was +cautiously estimated, and the result showed, that ten or fifteen hours +more would inevitably produce shipwreck of another sort, unless the wind +moderated. + +Fortunately, the gale began to break about midnight. The wind still blew +tremendously, but it was less steadily, and there were intervals of +half-an-hour at a time when the ship might have carried much more canvas, +even on a bowline: of course her speed abated in proportion, and, after +the day had dawned, a long and anxious survey from aloft showed no land to +the eastward. When perfectly assured of this important fact, Captain Truck +rubbed his hands with delight, ordered a coal for his cigar, and began to +abuse Saunders about the quality of the coffee during the blow. + +"Let there be something creditable, this morning, sir," added the captain, +after a sharp rebuke; "and remember we are down here in the neighbourhood +of the country of your forefathers, where a man ought, in reason, to be on +his good behaviour. If I hear any more of your washy compounds, I'll put +you ashore, and let you run naked a summer or two with the monkeys and +ouran-outangs." + +"I endeavour, on all proper occasions, to render myself agreeable to you, +Captain Truck, and to all those with whom I have the happiness to sail," +returned the steward; "but the coffee, sir, cannot be very good, sir, in +such weater, sir. I do diwine that the wind must blow away its flavour, +for I am ready to confess it has not been as odorous as it usually is, +when I have had the honour to prepare it. As for Africa, sir, I flatter +myself, Captain Truck, that you esteem me too highly to believe I am +suited to consort or besort with the ill-formed and inedicated men who +inhabit that wild country. I misremember whether my ancestors came from +this part of the world or not; but if they did, sir, my habits and +profession entirely unqualify me for their company, I hope. I know I am +only a poor steward, sir, but you'll please to recollect that your great +Mr. Vattel was nothing but a cook." + +"D--n the fellow, Leach; I believe it is this conceit that has spoiled +the coffee the last day or two! Do you suppose it can be true that a great +writer like this man could really be no better than a cook, or was that +Englishman roasting me, by way of showing how cooking is done ashore? If +it were not for the testimony of the ladies, I might believe it; but they +would not share in such an indecent trick. What are you lying-by for, sir? +go to your pantry and remember that the gale is broken, and we shall all +sit down to table this morning, as keen-set as a party of your brethren +ashore here, who had a broiled baby for breakfast." + +Saunders, who _ex-officio_ might be said to be trained in similar +lectures, went pouting to his work, taking care to expend a proper part of +his spleen on Mr. Toast, who, quite as a matter of course, suffered in +proportion as his superior was made to feel, in his own person, the weight +of Captain Truck's authority. It is perhaps fortunate that nature points +out this easy and self-evident mode of relief, else would the rude habits +of a ship sometimes render the relations between him who orders and him +whose duty it is to obey, too nearly approaching to the intolerable. + +The captain's squalls, however, were of short duration and on the present +occasion he was soon in even a better humour than common, as every minute +gave the cheering assurance, that the tempest was fast drawing to a close. +He had finished his third cigar, and was actually issuing his orders to +turn the reef out of the foresail, and to set the main-top-sail +close-reefed, when most of the passengers appeared on deck, for the first +time that morning. + +"Here we are, gentlemen!" cried Captain Truck, in the way of salutation, +"nearer to Guinea than I could wish, with every prospect, now, of soon +working our way across the Atlantic, and possibly of making a thirty or +thirty-five days' passage of it yet. We have this sea to quiet; and then I +hope to show you what the Montauk has in her, besides her passengers and +cargo. I think we have now got rid of the Foam, as well as of the gale. I +did believe, at one time, her people might be walking and wading on the +coast of Cornwall; but I now believe they are more likely to try the sands +of the great Desert of Sahara." + +"It is to be hoped they have escaped the latter calamity, as fortunately +as they escaped the first!" observed Mr. Effingham. + +"It may be so; but the wind has got round to nor-west, and has not been +sighing these last twelve hours. Cape Bianco is not a hundred leagues from +us, and, at the rate he was travelling, that gentleman with the +speaking-trumpet may now be philosophizing over the fragments of his ship, +unless he had the good sense to haul off more to the westward than he was +steering when last seen. His ship should have been christened the 'Scud,' +instead of the 'Foam.'" + +Every one expressed the hope that the ship, to which their own situation +was fairly enough to be ascribed, might escape this calamity; and all +faces regained their cheerfulness as they saw the canvas fall, in sign +that their own danger was past. So rapidly, indeed, did the gale now +abate, that the topsails were hardly hoisted before the order was given to +shake out another reef, and within an hour all the heavier canvas that +was proper to carry before the wind was set, solely with a view to keep +the ship steady. The sea was still fearful, and Captain Truck found +himself obliged to keep off from his course, in order to avoid the danger +of having his decks swept. + +The racing with the crest of the waves, however, was quite done, for the +seas soon cease to comb and break, after the force of the wind +is expended. + +At no time is the motion of the vessel more unpleasant, or, indeed, more +dangerous, than in the interval that occurs between the ceasing of a +violent gale, and the springing up of a new wind. The ship is +unmanageable, and falling into the troughs of the sea, the waves break in +upon her decks, often doing serious injury, while the spars and rigging +are put to the severest trial by the sudden and violent surges which they +have to withstand. Of all this Captain Truck was fully aware, and when he +was summoned to breakfast he gave many cautions to Mr. Leach before +quitting the deck. + +"I do not like the new shrouds we got up in London," he said, "for the +rope has stretched in this gale in a way to throw too much strain on the +old rigging; so see all ready for taking a fresh drag on them, as soon as +the people have breakfasted. Mind and keep her out of the trough, sir, and +watch every roller that you find comes tumbling upon us." + +After repeating these injunctions in different ways, looking to windward +some time, and aloft five or six minutes, Captain Truck finally went +below, to pass judgment on Mr. Saunders' coffee. Once in his throne, at +the head of the long table, the worthy master, after a proper attention to +his passengers, set about the duty of restoration, as the steward +affectedly called eating, with a zeal that never failed him on such +occasions. He had just swallowed a cup of the coffee, about which he had +lectured Saunders, when a heavy flap of the sails announced the sudden +failure of the wind. + +"That is bad news," said Captain Truck, listening to the fluttering blows +of the canvas against the masts. "I never like to hear a ship shaking its +wings while there is a heavy sea on; but this is better than the Desert of +Sahara, and so, my dear young lady, let me recommend to you a cup of this +coffee, which is flavoured this morning by a dread of ouran-outangs, as +Mr. Saunders will have the honour to inform you--" + +A jerk of the whole ship was followed by a report like that made by a +musket. Captain Truck rose, and stood leaning on one hand in a bent +attitude, expectation and distrust intensely portrayed in every feature. +Another helpless roil of the ship succeeded, and three or four similar +reports were immediately heard, as if large ropes had parted in quick +succession. A rending of wood followed, and then came a chaotic crash, in +which the impending heavens seemed to fall on the devoted ship. Most of +the passengers shut their eyes, and when they were opened again, or a +moment afterwards, Mr. Truck had vanished It is scarcely necessary to +describe the confusion that followed. Eve was frightened, but she behaved +well, though Mademoiselle Viefville trembled so much as to require the +assistance of Mr. Effingham. + +"We have lost our masts," John Effingham coolly remarked; "an accident +that will not be likely to be very dangerous, though by prolonging the +passage a month or two, it may have the merit of making this good company +more intimately acquainted with each other, a pleasure for which we cannot +express too much gratitude." + +Eve implored his forbearance by a glance, for she saw his eye was +unconsciously directed towards Mr. Monday and Mr. Dodge, for both of whom +she knew her kinsman entertained an incurable dislike. His words, however, +explained the catastrophe, and most of the men hastened on deck to assure +themselves of the fact. + +John Effingham was right. The new rigging which had stretched so much +during the gale, had permitted too much of the strain, in the tremendous +rolls of the ship, to fall upon the other ropes. The shroud most exposed +had parted first; three or four more followed in succession, and before +there was time to secure anything, the remainder had gone together, and +the mainmast had broken at a place where a defect was now seen in its +heart. Falling over the side, the latter had brought down with it the +mizzen-mast and all its hamper, and as much of the fore-mast as stood +above the top. In short, of all the complicated tracery of ropes, the +proud display of spars, and the broad folds of canvas that had so lately +overshadowed the deck of the Montauk, the mutilated fore-mast, the +fore-yard and sail, and the fallen head-gear alone remained. All the rest +either cumbered the deck, or was beating against the side of the ship, in +the water. + +The hard, red, weather-beaten face of Captain Truck was expressive of +mortification and concern, for a single instant, when his eye glanced over +the ruin we have just described. His mind then seemed made up to the +calamity, and he ordered Toast to bring him a coal of fire, with which he +quietly lighted a cigar. + +"Here is a category, and be d---d to it, Mr. Leach," he said, after +taking a single whiff. "You are doing quite right, sir; cut away the wreck +and force the ship free of it, or we shall have some of those sticks +poking themselves through the planks. I always thought the chandler in +London, into whose hands the agent has fallen, was a--rogue, and now I +know it well enough to swear to it. Cut away, carpenter, and get us rid of +all this thumping as soon as possible. A very capital vessel, Mr. Monday, +or she would have rolled the pumps out of her, and capsized the galley." + +No attempt being made to save anything, the wreck was floating astern in +five minutes, and the ship was fortunately extricated from this new +hazard. Mr. Truck, in spite of his acquired coolness, looked piteously at +all that gallant hamper, in which he had so lately rejoiced, as yard-arm, +cross-trees, tressel-trees, and tops rose on the summits of swells or +settled in the troughs, like whales playing their gambols. But habit is a +seaman's philosophy, and in no one feature is his character more +respectable than in that manliness which disinclines him to mourn over a +misfortune that is inevitable. + +The Montauk now resembled a tree stripped of its branches, or a courser +crippled in his sinews; her glory had, in a great degree, departed. The +foremast alone remained, and of this even the head was gone, a +circumstance of which Captain Truck complained more than of any other, as, +to use his own expressions, "it destroyed the symmetry of the spar, which +had proved itself to be a good stick." What, however, was of more real +importance, it rendered it difficult, if not impossible, to get up a spare +topmast forward. As both the main and mizzen-mast had gone quite near the +deck, this was almost the only tolerably easy expedient that remained; +and, within an hour of the accident, Mr. Truck announced his intentions to +stand as far south as he could to strike the trades, and then to make a +fair wind of it across the Atlantic, unless, indeed, he might be able to +fetch into the Cape de Verde Islands, where it would be possible, perhaps, +to get something like a now outfit. + +"All I now ask, my dear young lady," he said to Eve, who ventured on deck +to look at the desolation, as soon the wreck was cut adrift, "all I now +ask, my dear young lady, is an end to westerly winds for two or three +weeks, and I will promise to place you all in America yet, in time to eat +your Christmas dinner. I do not think Sir George will shoot many white +bears among the Rocky Mountains this year, but then there will be so many +more left for another season. The ship is in a category, and he will be an +impudent scoundrel who denies it; but worse categories than this have been +reasoned out of countenance. All head-sail is not a convenient show of +cloth to claw off a lee-shore with; but I still hope to escape the +misfortune of laying eyes on the coast of Africa." + +"Are we far from it?" asked Eve, who sufficiently understood the danger of +being on an uninhabitable shore in their present situation; one in which +it was vain to seek for a port. "I would rather be in the neighbourhood of +any other land, I think, than that of Africa." + +"Especially Africa between the Canaries and Cape Blanco," returned Captain +Truck, with an expressive shrug. "More hospitable regions exist, +certainly; for, if accounts are to be credited, the honest people +along-shore never get a Christian that they do not mount him on a camel, +and trot him through the sands a thousand miles or so, under a hot sun, +with a sort of haggis for food, that would go nigh to take away even a +Scotchman's appetite." + +"And you do not tell us how far we are from this frightful land, Mons. le +Capitaine?" inquired Mademoiselle Viefville. + +"In ten minutes you shall know, ladies, for I am about to observe for the +longitude. It is a little late, but it may yet be done." + +"And we may rely on the fidelity of your information?" + +"On the honour of a sailor and a man." + +The ladies were silent, while Mr. Truck proceeded to get the sun and the +time. As soon as he had run through his calculations, he came to them with +a face in which the eye was roving, though it was still good-humoured +and smiling. + +"And the result?" said Eve. + +"Is not quite as flattering as I could wish. We are materially within a +degree of the coast; but, as the wind is gone, or nearly so, we may hope +to find a shift that will shove us farther from the land. And now I have +dealt frankly with you, let me beg you will keep the secret, for my people +will be dreaming of Turks, instead of working, if they knew the fact." + +It required no great observation to discover that Captain Truck was far +from satisfied with the position of his ship. Without any after-sail, and +almost without the means of making any, it was idle to think of hauling +off from the land, more especially against the heavy sea that was still +rolling in from the north-west; and his present object was to make the +Cape de Verdes, before reaching which he would be certain to meet the +trades, and where, of course, there would be some chance of repairing +damages. His apprehensions would have been much less were the ship a +degree further west, as the prevailing winds in this part of the ocean are +from the northward and eastward; but it was no easy matter to force a ship +that distance under a foresail, the only regular sail that now remained in +its place. It is true, he had some of the usual expedients of seamen at +his command, and the people were immediately set about them; but, in +consequence of the principal spars having gone so near the decks, it +became exceedingly difficult to rig jury-masts. + +Something must be attempted, however, and the spare spars were got out, +and all the necessary preparations were commenced, in order that they +might be put into their places and rigged, as well as circumstances would +allow. As soon as the sea went down, and the steadiness of the ship would +permit, Mr. Leach succeeded in getting up an awkward lower studding-sail, +and a sort of a stay-sail forward, and with these additions to their +canvas, the ship was brought to head south, with the wind light at the +westward. The sea was greatly diminished about noon; but a mile an hour, +for those who had so long a road before them, and who were so near a coast +that was known to be fearfully inhospitable, was a cheerless progress, and +the cry of "sail, ho!" early in the afternoon, diffused a general joy in +the Montauk. + +The stranger was made to the southward and eastward, and was standing on +a course that must bring her quite near to their own track, as the Montauk +then headed. The wind was so light, however, that Captain Truck gave it as +his opinion they could not speak until night had set in. + +"Unless the coast has brought him up, yonder flaunting gentleman, who +seems to have had better luck with his light canvas than ourselves, must +be the Foam," he said. "Tobacco, or no tobacco, bride or bridegroom, the +fellow has us at last, and all the consolation that is left is, that we +shall be much obliged to him, now, if he will carry us to Portsmouth, or +into any other Christian haven. We have shown him what a kettle-bottom can +do before the wind, and now let him give us a tow to windward like a +generous antagonist. That is what I call Vattel, my dear young lady." + +"If he do this, he will indeed prove himself a generous adversary," said +Eve, "and we shall be certain to speak well of his humanity, whatever we +may think of his obstinacy." + +"Are you quite sure the ship in sight is the corvette?" asked Paul Blunt. + +"Who else can it be?--Two vessels are quite sufficient to be jammed down +here on the coast of Africa, and we know that the Englishman must be +somewhere to leeward of us; though, I will confess, I had believed him much +farther, if not plump up among the Mohammedans, beginning to reduce to a +feather-weight, like Captain Riley, who came out with just his skin and +bones, after a journey across the desert." + +"I do not think those top-gallant-sails have the symmetry of the canvas of +a ship-of-war." + +Captain Truck looked steadily at the young man an instant, as one regards +a sound criticism, and then he turned his eye towards the object of which +they were speaking. + +"You are right, sir," he rejoined, after a moment of examination; "and I +have had a lesson in my own trade from one young enough to be my son. The +stranger is clearly no cruiser, and as there is no port in-shore of us +anywhere near this latitude, he is probably some trader who has been +driven down here, like ourselves." + +"And I'm very sure, captain," put in Sir George Templemore, "we ought to +rejoice sincerely that, like ourselves he has escaped shipwreck. For my +part, I pity the poor wretches on board the Foam most sincerely, and could +almost wish myself a Catholic, that one might yet offer up sacrifices in +their behalf." + +"You have shown yourself a Christian throughout all that affair, Sir +George, and I shall not forget your hand some offers to befriend the ship, +rather than let us fall into the jaws of the Philistines. We were in a +category more than once, with that nimble-footed racer in our wake, and +you were the man, Sir George, who manifested the most hearty desire to +get us out." + +"I ever feel an interest in the ship in which I embark," returned the +gratified baronet, who was not displeased at hearing his liberality so +openly commended; "and I would cheerfully have given a thousand pounds in +preference to being taken. I rather think, now, that is the true spirit +for a sportsman!" + +"Or for an admiral, my good sir. To be frank with you, Sir George, when I +first had the honour of your acquaintance, I did not think you had so much +in you. There was a sort of English attention to small wares, a species of +knee-buckleism about your _debutt_, as Mr. Dodge calls it, that made me +distrust your being the whole-souled and one-idea'd man I find you +really are." + +"Oh! I _do_ like my comforts," said Sir George, laughing. + +"That you do, and I am only surprised you don't smoke. Now, Mr. Dodge, +your room-mate, there, tells me you have six-and-thirty pair of breeches!" + +"I have--yes, indeed, I have. One would wish to go abroad decently clad." + +"Well! if it should be our luck to travel in the deserts, your wardrobe +would rig out a whole harem." + +"I wish, captain, you would do me the favour to step into our state-room, +some morning; I have many curious things I should like to show you. A set +of razors, in particular,--and a dressing-case--and a pair of patent +pistols--and that life-preserver that you admire so much, Mr. Dodge. Mr. +Dodge has seen most of my curiosities, I believe, and will tell you some +of them are really worth a moment's examination." + +"Yes, captain, I must say," observed Mr. Dodge,--for this conversation was +held apart between the three, the mate keeping an eye the while on the +duty of the ship, for habit had given Mr. Truck the faculty of driving his +people while he entertained his passengers--"Yes, captain, I must say I +have met no gentleman who is better supplied with necessaries, than _my_ +friend, Sir George. But English gentlemen are curious in such things, and +I admit that I admire their ingenuity." + +"Particularly in breeches, Mr. Dodge. Have you coats to match, Sir +George?" + +"Certainly, sir. One would be a little absurd in his shirt sleeves. I +wish, captain, we could make Mr. Dodge a little less of a republican. I +find him a most agreeable room-mate, but rather annoying on the subject of +kings and princes." + +"You stick up for the people, Mr. Dodge, or to the old category?" + +"On that subject, Sir George and I shall never agree, for he is +obstinately monarchial; but I tell him we shall treat him none the worse +for that, when he gets among us. He has promised me a visit in our part of +the country, and I have pledged myself to his being unqualifiedly well +received; and I think I know the whole meaning of a pledge." + +"I understand Mr. Dodge," pursued the baronet, "that he is the editor of a +public journal, in which he entertains his readers with an account of his +adventures and observations during his travels, 'The Active Inquirer,' is +it not, Mr. Dodge?" + +"That is the name, Sir George. 'The Active Inquirer' is the present name, +though when we supported Mr. Adams it was called 'The Active Enquirer,' +with an E." + +"A distinction without a difference; I like that," interrupted Captain +Truck. "This is the second time I have had the honour to sail with Mr. +Dodge, and a more active inquirer never put foot in a ship, though I did +not know the use he put his information to before. It is all in the way of +trade, I find." + +"Mr. Dodge claims to belong to a profession, captain, and is quite above +trade. He tells me many things have occurred on board this ship, since we +sailed, that will make very eligible paragraphs." + +"The d---- he does!--I should like particularly well, Mr. Dodge, to know +what you will find to say concerning this category in which the Montauk +is placed." + +"Oh! captain, no fear of me, when you are concerned. You know I am a +friend, and you have no cause to apprehend any thing; though I'll not +answer for everybody else on board; for there are passengers in this ship +to whom I have decided antipathies, and whose deportment meets with my +unqualified disapprobation." + +"And you intend to paragraph them?" + +Mr. Dodge was now swelling with the conceit of a vulgar and inflated man, +who not only fancies himself in possession of a power that others dread, +but who was so far blinded to his own qualities as to think his opinion of +importance to those whom he felt, in the minutest fibre of his envious and +malignant system, to be in every essential his superiors. He did not dare +express all his rancour, while he was unequal to suppressing it entirely. + +"These Effinghams, and this Mr. Sharp, and that Mr. Blunt," he muttered, +"think themselves everybody's betters; but we shall see! America is not a +country in which people can shut themselves up in rooms, and fancy they +are lords and ladies." + +"Bless my soul!" said Captain Truck, with his affected simplicity of +manner; "how did you find this out, Mr. Dodge? What a thing it is, Sir +George, to be an active inquirer!" + +"Oh! I know when a man is blown up with notions of his own importance. As +for Mr. John Effingham, he has been so long abroad that he has forgotten +that he is a going home to a country of equal rights!" + +"Very true, Mr. Dodge; a country in which a man cannot shut himself, up in +his room, whenever the notion seizes him. This is the spirit, Sir George, +to make a great nation, and you see that the daughter is likely to prove +worthy of the old lady! But, my dear sir, are you quite sure that Mr. +John Effingham has absolutely so high a sentiment in his own favour. It +would be awkward business to make a blunder in such a serious matter, and +murder a paragraph for nothing. You should remember the mistake of the +Irishman!" + +"What was that?" asked the baronet, who was completely mystified by the +indomitable gravity of Captain Truck, whose character might be said to be +actually formed by the long habit of treating the weaknesses of his +fellow-creatures with cool contempt. "We hear many good things at our +club; but I do not remember the mistake of the Irishman?" + +"He merely mistook the drumming in his own ear, for some unaccountable +noise that disturbed his companions." + +Mr. Dodge felt uncomfortable; but there is no one in whom a vulgar-minded +man stands so much in awe as an immovable quiz, who has no scruple in +using his power. He shook his head, therefore, in a menacing manner, and +affecting to have something to do he went below, leaving the baronet and +captain by themselves. + +"Mr. Dodge is a stubborn friend of liberty," said the former, when his +room-mate was out of hearing. + +"That is he, and you have his own word for it. He has no notion of letting +a man do as he has a mind to! We are full of such active inquirers in +America, and I don't care how many you shoot before you begin upon the +white bears, Sir George." + +"But it would be more gracious in the Effinghams, you must allow, captain, +if they shut themselves up in their cabin less, and admitted us to their +society a little oftener. I am quite of Mr. Dodge's way of thinking, that +exclusion is excessively odious." + +"There is a poor fellow in the steerage, Sir George, to whom I have given +a piece of canvas to repair a damage to his mainsail, who would say the +same thing, did he know of your six-and-thirtys. Take a cigar, my dear +sir, and smoke away sorrow." + +"Thankee, captain: I never smoke. We never smoke at our club, though some +of us go, at times, to the divan to try a chibouk." + +"We can't all have cabins to ourselves, or no one would live forward. If +the Effinghams like their own apartment, I do honestly believe it is for a +reason as simple as that it is the best in the ship. I'll warrant you, if +there were a better, that they would be ready enough to change. I suppose +when we get in, Mr. Dodge will honour you with an article in 'The Active +Inquirer?'" + +"To own the truth, he has intimated some such thing." + +"And why not? A very instructive paragraph might be made about the +six-and-thirty pair of breeches, and the patent razors, and the +dressing-case, to say nothing of the Rocky Mountains, and the +white bears." + +Sir George now began to feel uncomfortable, and making a few unmeaning +remarks about the late accident, he disappeared. + +Captain Truck, who never smiled except at the corner of his left eye, +turned away, and began rattling off his people, and throwing in a hint or +two to Saunders, with as much indifference as if he were a firm believer +in the unfailing orthodoxy of a newspaper, and entertained a profound +respect for the editor of the 'Active Inquirer,' in particular. + +The prognostic of the master concerning the strange ship proved true, for +about nine at night she came within hail, and backed her maintop-sail. +This vessel proved to be an American in ballast, bound from Gibraltar to +New York; a return store-ship from the squadron kept in the Mediterranean. +She had met the gale to the westward of Madeira, and after holding on as +long as possible, had also been compelled to scud. According to the report +of her officers, the Foam had run in much closer to the coast than +herself, and it was their opinion she was lost. Their own escape was owing +entirely to the wind's abating, for they had actually been within sight of +the land, though having received no injury, they had been able to haul off +in season. + +Luckily, this ship was ballasted with fresh water, and Captain Truck +passed the night in negotiating a transfer of his steerage passengers, +under an apprehension that, in the crippled state of his own vessel, his +supplies might be exhausted before he could reach America. In the morning, +the offer of being put on board the store-ship was made to those who +chose to accept it, and all in the steerage, with most from the cabin, +profited by the occasion to exchange a dismasted vessel for one that was, +at least, full rigged. Provisions were transferred accordingly, and by +noon next day the stranger made sail on a wind, the sea being tolerably +smooth, and the breeze still ahead. In three hours she was out of sight to +the northward and westward, the Montauk holding her own dull course to the +southward, with the double view of striking the trades, or of reaching one +of the Cape de Verdes. + + + + +Chapter XV. + + + + _Steph_.--His forward voice now is to speak well of his friend; his + backward voice is to utter foul speeches, and to detract. + + TEMPEST + + +The situation of the Montauk appeared more desolate than ever, after the +departure of so many of her passengers. So long as her decks were thronged +there was an air of life about her, that served to lessen disquietude, but +now that she was left by all in the steerage, and by so many in the +cabins, those who remained began to entertain livelier apprehensions of +the future. When the upper sails of the store-ship sunk as a speck in the +ocean, Mr. Effingham regretted that he, too, had not overcome his +reluctance to a crowded and inconvenient cabin, and gone on board her, +with his own party. Thirty years before he would have thought himself +fortunate in finding so good a ship, and accommodations so comfortable; +but habit and indulgence change all our opinions, and he had now thought +it next to impossible to place Eve and Mademoiselle Viefville in a +situation that was so common to those who travelled by sea at the +commencement of the century. + +Most of the cabin passengers, as has just been stated, decided +differently, none remaining but the Effinghams and their party, Mr. +Sharp, Mr. Blunt, Sir George Templemore, Mr. Dodge, and Mr. Monday. Mr. +Effingham had been influenced by the superior comforts of the packet, and +his hopes that a speedy arrival at the islands would enable the ship to +refit, in time to reach America almost as soon as the dull-sailing vessel +which had just left them. Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt had both expressed a +determination to share his fortunes, which was indirectly saying that they +would share the fortunes of his daughter. John Effingham remained, as a +matter of course, though he had made a proposition to the stranger to tow +them into port, an arrangement that failed in consequence of the two +captains disagreeing as to the course proper to be steered, as well as to +a more serious obstacle in the way of compensation, the stranger throwing +out some pretty plain hints about salvage; and Mr. Monday staying from an +inveterate attachment to the steward's stores, more of which, he rightly +judged, would now fall to his share than formerly. + +Sir George Templemore had gone on board the store-ship, and had given some +very clear demonstrations of an intention to transfer himself and the +thirty-six pair of breeches to that vessel; but on examining her comforts, +and particularly the confined place in which he should be compelled to +stow himself and his numerous curiosities, he was unequal to the +sacrifice. On the other hand, he knew an entire state-room would now fall +to his share, and this self-indulged and feeble-minded young man preferred +his immediate comfort, and the gratification of his besetting weakness, to +his safety. + +As for Mr. Dodge, he had the American mania of hurry, and was one of the +first to propose a general swarming, as soon as it was known the stranger +could receive them. During the night, he had been actively employed in +fomenting a party to "resolve" that prudence required the Montauk should +be altogether abandoned, and even after this scheme failed, he had dwelt +eloquently in corners (Mr. Dodge was too meek, and too purely democratic, +ever to speak aloud, unless under the shadow of public opinion,) on the +propriety of Captain Truck's yielding his own judgment to that of the +majority. He might as well have scolded against the late gale, in the +expectation of out-railing the tempest, as to make such an attempt on the +firm-set notions of the old seaman concerning his duty; for no sooner was +the thing intimated to him than he growled a denial in a tone that he was +little accustomed to use to his passengers, and one that effectually +silenced remonstrance. When these two plans had failed, Mr. Dodge +endeavoured strenuously to show Sir George that his interests and safety +were on the side of a removal; but with all his eloquence, and with the +hold that incessant adulation had actually given him on the mind of the +other, he was unable to overcome his love of ease, and chiefly the passion +for the enjoyment of the hundred articles of comfort and curiosity in +which the baronet so much delighted. The breeches might have been packed +in a trunk, it is true, and so might the razors, and the dressing-case, +and the pistols, and most of the other things; but Sir George loved to +look at them daily, and as many as possible were constantly paraded +before his eyes. + +To the surprise of every one, Mr. Dodge, on finding it impossible to +prevail on Sir George Templemore to leave the packet, suddenly announced +his own intention to remain also. Few stopped to inquire into his motives +in the hurry of such a moment. To his room-mate he affirmed that the +strong friendship he had formed for him, could alone induce him to +relinquish the hope of reaching home previously to the autumn elections. + +Nor did Mr. Dodge greatly colour the truth in making this statement. He +was an American demagogue precisely in obedience to those feelings and +inclinations which would have made him a courtier any where else. It is +true, he had travelled, or thought he had travelled, in a _diligence_ with +a countess or two, but from these he had been obliged to separate early on +account of the force of things; while here he had got a _bonâ-fide_ +English baronet all to himself, in a confined state-room, and his +imagination revelled in the glory and gratification of such an +acquaintance. What were the proud and distant Effinghams to Sir George +Templemore! He even ascribed their reserve with the baronet to envy, a +passion of whose existence he had very lively perceptions, and he found a +secret charm in being shut up in so small an apartment with a man who +could excite envy in an Effingham. Rather than abandon his aristocratical +prize, therefore, whom he intended to exhibit to all his democratic +friends in his own neighbourhood, Mr. Dodge determined to abandon his +beloved hurry, looking for his reward in the future pleasure of talking of +Sir George Templemore and his curiosities, and of his sayings and his +jokes, in the circle at home. Odd, moreover, as it may seem, Mr. Dodge had +an itching desire to remain with the Effinghams; for while he was +permitting jealousy and a consciousness of inferiority to beget hatred, he +was willing at any moment to make peace, provided it could be done by a +frank admission into their intimacy. As to the innocent family that was +rendered of so much account to the happiness of Mr. Dodge, it seldom +thought of that individual at all, little dreaming of its own importance +in his estimation, and merely acted in obedience to its own cultivated +tastes and high principles in disliking his company. It fancied itself, in +this particular, the master of its own acts, and this so much the more, +that with the reserve of good-breeding its members seldom indulged in +censorious personal remarks, and never in gossip. + +As a consequence of these contradictory feelings of Mr. Dodge, and of the +fastidiousness of Sir George Templemore, the interest her two admirers +took in Eve, the devotion of Mr. Monday to sherry and champaigne, and the +decision of Mr. Effingham, these persons therefore remained the sole +occupants of the cabins of the Montauk. Of the _oi polloi_ who had left +them, we have hitherto said nothing, because this separation was to remove +them entirely from the interest of our incidents. + +If we were to say that Captain Truck did not feel melancholy as the +store-ship sunk beneath the horizon, we should represent that +stout-hearted mariner as more stoical than he actually was. In the course +of a long and adventurous professional life, he had encountered calamities +before, but he had never before been compelled to call in assistance to +deliver his passengers at the stipulated port, since he had commanded a +packet. He felt the necessity, in the present instance, as a sort of stain +upon his character as a seaman, though in fact the accident which had +occurred was chiefly to be attributed to a concealed defect in the +mainmast. The honest master sighed often, smoked nearly double the usual +number of cigars in the course of the afternoon, and when the sun went +down gloriously in the distant west, he stood gazing at the sky in +melancholy silence, as long as any of the magnificent glory that +accompanies the decline of day lingered among the vapours of the horizon. +He then summoned Saunders to the quarter-deck, where the following +dialogue took place between them: + +"This is a devil of a category to be in, Master Steward!" + +"Well, he might be better, sir. I only wish the good butter may endure +until we get in." + +"If it fail, I shall go nigh to see you clapt into the State's prison, or +at least into that Gothic cottage on Blackwell's Island." + +"There is an end to all things, Captain Truck, if you please, sir, even to +butter. I presume, sir, Mr. Vattel, if he know anything of cookery, will +admit that." + +"Harkee, Saunders, if you ever insinuate again that Vattel belonged to the +coppers, in my presence, I'll take the liberty to land you on the coast +here, where you may amuse yourself in stewing young monkeys for your own +dinner. I saw you aboard the other ship, sir, overhauling her +arrangements; what sort of a time will the gentlemen be likely to have +in her?" + +"Atrocious, sir! I give you my honour, as a real gentleman, sir. Why, +would you believe it, Captain Truck, the steward is a downright nigger, +and he wears ear-rings, and a red flannel shirt, without the least +edication. As for the cook, sir, he wouldn't pass an examination for Jemmy +Ducks aboard here, and there is but one camboose, and one set of coppers." + +"Well, the steerage-passengers, in that case, will fare as well as the +cabin." + +"Yes, sir, and the cabin as bad as the steerage; and for my part, I +abomernate liberty and equality." + +"You should converse with Mr. Dodge on that subject, Master Saunders, and +let the hardest fend off in the argument. May I inquire, sir, if you +happen to remember the day of the week?" + +"Beyond controversy, sir; to-morrow will be Sunday, Captain Truck, and I +think it a thousand pities we have not an opportunity to solicit the +prayers and praises of the church, sir, in our behalf, sir." + +"If to-morrow will be Sunday, to-day must be Saturday, Mr. Saunders, +unless this last gale has deranged the calendar." + +"Quite naturally, sir, and werry justly remarked. Every body admits there +is no better navigator than Captain Truck, sir." + +"This may be true, my honest fellow," returned the captain moodily, after +making three or four heavy puffs on the cigar; "but I am sadly out of my +road down here in the country of your amiable family, just now. If this be +Saturday, there will be a Saturday night before long, and look to it, that +we have our 'sweethearts and wives.' Though I have neither myself, I feel +the necessity of something cheerful, to raise my thoughts to the future." + +"Depend on my discretion, sir, and I rejoice to hear you say it; for I +think, sir, a ship is never so respectable and genteel as when she +celebrates all the anniwersaries. You will be quite a select and agreeable +party to-night, sir." + +With this remark Mr. Saunders withdrew, to confer with Toast on the +subject, and Captain Truck proceeded to give his orders for the night to +Mr. Leach. The proud ship did indeed present a sight to make a seaman +melancholy; for to the only regular sail that stood, the foresail, by this +time was added a lower studding-sail, imperfectly rigged, and which would +not resist a fresh puff, while a very inartificial jury-topmast supported +a topgallant-sail, that could only be carried in a free wind. Aft, +preparations were making of a more permanent nature, it is true. The upper +part of the mainmast had been cut away, as low as the steerage-deck where +an arrangement had been made to step a spare topmast. The spar itself was +lying on the deck rigged, and a pair of sheers were in readiness to be +hoisted, in order to sway it up; but night approaching, the men had been +broken off, to rig the yards, bend the sails, and to fit the other spars +it was intended to use, postponing the last act, that of sending all up, +until morning. + +"We are likely to have a quiet night of it," said the captain, glancing +his eyes round at the heavens; "and at eight o'clock to-morrow let all +hands be called, when we will turn-to with a will, and make a brig of the +old hussey. This topmast will do to bear the strain of the spare +main-yard, unless there come another gale, and by reefing the new mainsail +we shall be able to make something out of it. The topgallant-mast will fit +of course above, and we may make out, by keeping a little free, to carry +the sail: at need, we may possibly coax the contrivance into carrying a +studding-sail also. We have sticks for no more, though we'll endeavour to +get up something aft, out of the spare spars obtained from the store-ship. +You may knock off at four bells, Mr. Leach, and let the poor fellows have +their Saturday's night in peace. It is a misfortune enough to be +dismasted, without having one's grog stopped." + +The mate of course obeyed, and the evening shut in beautifully and placid, +with all the glory of a mild night, in a latitude as low as that they were +in. They who have never seen the ocean under such circumstances, know +little of its charms in its moments of rest. The term of sleeping is well +applied to its impressive stillness, for the long sluggish swells on which +the ship rose and fell, hardly disturbed its surface. The moon did not +rise until midnight, and Eve, accompanied by Mademoiselle Viefville and +most of her male companions, walked the deck by the bright starlight, +until fatigued with pacing their narrow bounds. + +The song and the laugh rose frequently from the forecastle, where the crew +were occupied with their Saturday night; and occasionally a rude sentiment +in the way of a toast was heard. But weariness soon got the better of +merriment forward, and the hard-worked mariners, who had the watch below, +soon went down to their berths, leaving those whose duty it was to remain +to doze away the long hours in such places as they could find on deck. + +"A white squall," said Captain Truck, looking up at the uncouth sails that +hardly impelled the vessel a mile in the hour through the water, "would +soon furl all our canvas for us, and we are in the very place for such an +interlude." + +"And what would then become of us?" asked Mademoiselle Viefville quickly. + +"You had better ask what would become of that apology for a topsail, +mam'selle, and yonder stun'sail, which looks like an American in London +without straps to his pantaloons. The canvas would play kite, and we +should be left to renew our inventions. A ship could scarcely be in better +plight than we are at this moment, to meet with one of these African +flurries." + +"In which case, captain," observed Mr. Monday, who stood by the skylight +watching the preparations below, "we can go to our Saturday-night without +fear; for I see the steward has everything ready, and the punch looks very +inviting, to say nothing of the champaigne." + +"Gentlemen, we will not forget our duty," returned the captain; "we are +but a small family, and so much the greater need that we should prove a +jolly one. Mr. Effingham, I hope we are to have the honour of your company +at 'sweethearts and wives.'" + +Mr. Effingham had no wife, and the invitation coming under such peculiar +circumstances, produced a pang that Eve, who felt his arm tremble, well +understood. She mildly intimated her intention to go below however; the +whole party followed, and lucky it was for the captain's entertainment +that she quitted the deck, as few would otherwise have been present at it. +By pressing the passengers to favour him with their company, he succeeded +in the course of a few minutes in getting all the gentlemen seated at the +cabin-table, with a glass of delicious punch before each man. + +"Mr. Saunders may not be a conjuror or a mathematician, gentlemen," cried +Captain Truck, as he ladled out the beverage; "but he understands the +philosophy of sweet and sour, strong and weak; and I will venture to +praise his liquor without tasting it. Well, gentlemen, there are +better-rigged ships on the ocean than this of ours; but there are few with +more comfortable cabins, or stouter hulls, or better company. Please God +we can get a few sticks aloft again, now that we are quit of our +troublesome shadow, I think I may flatter myself with a reasonable hope of +landing you, that do me the honour to stand by me, in New York, in less +time than a common drogger would make the passage, with his legs and arms. +Let our first toast be, if you please: A happy end to that which has had +a disastrous beginning.'" + +Captain Truck's hard face twitched a little while he was making this +address, and as he swallowed the punch, his eyes glistened in spite of +himself. Mr. Dodge, Sir George, and Mr. Monday repeated the sentiment +sonorously, word for word, while the other gentlemen bowed, and drank it +in silence. + +The commencement of a regular scene of merriment is usually dull and +formal, and it was some time before Captain Truck could bring any of his +companions up to the point where he wished to see them; for though a +perfectly sober man, he loved a social glass, and particularly at those +times and seasons which conformed to the practice of his calling. Although +Eve and her governess had declined taking their seats at the table, they +consented to place themselves where they might be seen, and where they +might share occasionally in the conversation. + +"Here have I been drinking sweethearts and wives of a Saturday-night, my +dear young lady, these forty years and more," said Captain Truck, after +the party had sipped their liquor for a minute or two, "without ever +falling into luck's latitude, or furnishing myself with either; but, +though so negligent of my own interests and happiness, I make it an +invariable rule to advise all my young friends to get spliced before they +are thirty. Many is the man who has come aboard my ship a determined +bachelor in his notions, who has left it at the end of the passage ready +to marry the first pretty young woman he fell in with." + +As Eve had too much of the self-respect of a lady, and of the true dignity +of her sex, to permit jokes concerning matrimony, or a treatise on love, +to make a part of her conversation, and all the gentlemen of her party +understood her character too well, to say nothing of their own habits, to +second this attempt of the captain's, after a vapid remark or two from the +others, this rally of the honest mariner produced no _suites_. + +"Are we not unusually low, Captain Truck," inquired Paul Blunt, with a +view to change the discourse, "not to have fallen in with the trades? I +have commonly met with those winds on this coast as high as twenty-six or +twenty seven, and I believe you observed to-day, in twenty-four." + +Captain Truck looked hard at the speaker, and when he had done, he nodded +his head in approbation. + +"You have travelled this road before, Mr. Blunt, I perceive. I have +suspected you of being a brother chip, from the moment I saw you first put +your foot on the side-cleets in getting out of the boat. You did not come +aboard parrot-toed, like a country-girl waltzing; but set the ball of the +foot firmly on the wood, and swung off the length of your arms, like a man +who knows how to humour the muscles. Your present remark, too, shows you +understand where a ship ought to be, in order to be in her right place. As +for the trades, they are a little uncertain, like a lady's mind when she +has more than one good offer; for I've known them to blow as high as +thirty, and then again, to fail a vessel as low as twenty-three, or even +lower. It is my private opinion, gentlemen, and I gladly take this +opportunity to make it public, that we are on the edge of the trades, or +in those light baffling winds which prevail along their margin, as eddies +play near the track of strong steady currents in the ocean. If we can +force the ship fairly out of this trimming region--that is the word, I +believe, Mr. Dodge--we shall do well enough; for a north-east, or an east +wind, would soon send us up with the islands, even under the rags we +carry. We are very near the coast, certainly--much nearer than I could +wish; but when we do get the good breeze, it will be all the better for +us, as it will find us well to windward." + +"But these trades, Captain Truck?" asked Eve: "if they always blow in the +same direction, how is it possible that the late gale should drive a ship +into the quarter of the ocean where they prevail?" + +"Always, means sometimes, my dear young lady. Although light winds prevail +near the edge of the trades, gales and tremendous fellows too, sometimes +blow there also, as we have just seen. I think we shall now have settled +weather, and that our chance of a safe arrival, more particularly in some +southern American port, is almost certain, though our chance for a speedy +arrival be not quite as good I hope before twenty-four hours are passed, +to see our decks white with sand. + +"Is that a phenomenon seen here?" asked the father. + +"Often, Mr. Effingham, when ships are close in with Africa, and are fairly +in the steady winds. To say the truth, the country abreast of us, some +twenty or thirty miles distant, is not the most inviting; and though it +may not be easy to say where the garden of Eden is, it is no hazardous to +say it is not there." + +"If we are so very near the coast, why do we not see it?" + +"Perhaps we might from aloft, if we had any aloft just now. We are to the +southward of the mountains, however, and off a part of the country where +the Great Desert makes from the coast. And now, gentlemen, I perceive Mr. +Monday finds all this sand arid, and I ask permission to give you, one and +all, 'Sweethearts and wives.'" + +Most of the company drank the usual toast with spirit, though both the +Effinghams scarce wetted their lips. Eve stole a timid glance at her +father, and her own eyes were filled with tears as she withdrew them; for +she knew that every allusion of this nature revived in him mournful +recollections. As for her cousin Jack, he was so confirmed a bachelor that +she thought nothing of his want of sympathy with such a sentiment. + +"You must have a care for your heart, in America, Sir George Templemore," +cried Mr. Dodge, whose tongue loosened with the liquor he drank. "Our +ladies are celebrated for their beauty, and are immensely popular, I can +assure you." + +Sir George looked pleased, and it is quite probable his thoughts ran on +the one particular vestment of the six-and-thirty, in which he ought to +make his first appearance in such a society. + +"I allow the American ladies to be handsome," said Mr. Monday; "but I +think no Englishman need be in any particular danger of his heart from +such a cause, after having been accustomed to the beauty of his own +island. Captain Truck, I have the honour to drink your health." + +"Fairly said," cried the captain, bowing to the compliment; "and I +ascribe my own hard fortune to the fact that I have been kept sailing +between two countries so much favoured in this particular, that I have +never been able to make up my mind which to prefer. I have wished a +thousand times there was but one handsome woman in the world, when a man +would have nothing to do but fall in love with her; and make up his mind +to get married at once, or to hang himself." + +"That is a cruel wish to us men," returned Sir George, "as we should be +certain to quarrel for the beauty." + +"In such a case," resumed Mr. Monday, "we common men would have to give +way to the claims of the nobility and gentry, and satisfy ourselves with +plainer companions; though an Englishman loves his independence, and might +rebel. I have the honour to drink your health and happiness, Sir George." + +"I protest against your principle, Mr. Monday," said Mr. Dodge, "which is +an invasion on human rights. Perfect freedom of action is to be maintained +in this matter as in all others. I acknowledge that the English ladies are +extremely beautiful, but I shall always maintain the supremacy of the +American fair." + +"We will drink their healths, sir. I am far from denying their beauty, Mr. +Dodge, but I think you must admit that they fade earlier than our British +ladies. God bless them both, however, and I empty this glass to the two +entire nations, with all my heart and soul." + +"Perfectly polite, Mr. Monday; but as to the fading of the ladies, I am +not certain that I can yield an unqualified approbation to your +sentiment." + +"Nay, sir, your climate, you will allow, is none of the best, and it wears +out constitutions almost as fast as your states make them." + +"I hope there is no real danger to be apprehended from the climate," said +Sir George: "I particularly detest bad climates; and for that reason have +always made it a rule never to go into Lincolnshire." + +"In that case, Sir George, you had better have stayed at home. In the way +of climate, a man seldom betters himself by leaving old England. Now this +is the tenth time I've been in America, allowing that I ever reach there, +and although I entertain a profound respect for the country, I find myself +growing older every time I quit it. Mr. Effingham, I do myself the favour +to drink to your health and happiness." + +"You live too well when amongst us, Mr. Monday," said the captain; "there +are too many soft crabs, hard clams, and canvas-backs; too much old +Madeira, and generous Sherry, for a man of your well-known taste to resist +them. Sit less time at table, and go oftener to church this trip, and let +us hear your report of the consequences a twelve-month hence." + +"You quite mistake my habits, Captain Truck, I give you my honour. +Although a judicious eater, I seldom take anything that is compounded, +being a plain roast and boiled man; a true old-fashioned Englishman in +this respect, satisfying my appetite with solid beef and mutton, and +turkey, and pork, and puddings and potatoes, and turnips and carrots, and +similar simple food; and then I _never_ drink.--Ladies, I ask the honour +to be permitted to wish you a happy return to your native countries.--I +ascribe all the difficulty, sir, to the climate, which will not permit a +man to digest properly." + +"Well, Mr. Monday, I subscribe to most of your opinions, and I believe few +men cross the ocean together that are more harmonious in sentiment, in +general, than has proved to be the case between you and Sir George, and +myself," observed Mr. Dodge, glancing obliquely and pointedly at the rest +of the party, as if he thought they were in a decided minority; "but in +this instance, I feel constrained to record my vote in the negative. I +believe America has as good a climate, and as good general digestion as +commonly falls to the lot of mortals: more than this I do not claim for +the country, and less than this I should be reluctant to maintain. I have +travelled a little, gentlemen, not as much, perhaps, as the Messrs. +Effinghams; but then a man can see no more than is to be seen, and I do +affirm, Captain Truck, that in my poor judgment, which I know is good for +nothing--" + +"Why do you use it, then?" abruptly asked the straight-forward captain; +"why not rely on a better?" + +"We must use such as we have, or go without, sir; and I suspect, in my +very poor judgment, which is probably poorer than that of most others on +board, that America is a very good sort of a country. At all events, after +having seen something of other countries, and governments, and people, I +am of opinion that America, as a country, is quite good enough for me." + +"You never said truer words, Mr. Dodge, and I beg you will join Mr. Monday +and myself in a fresh glass of punch, just to help on the digestion. You +have seen more of human nature than your modesty allows you to proclaim, +and I dare say this company would be gratified if you would overcome all +scruples, and let us know your private opinions of the different people +you have visited. Tell us something of that _dittur_ you made on +the Rhine." + +"Mr. Dodge intends to publish, it is to be hoped!" observed Mr. Sharp, +"and it may not be fair to anticipate his matter." + +"I beg, gentlemen, you will have no scruples on that score, for my work +will be rather philosophical and general, than of the particular nature of +private anecdotes. Saunders, hand me the manuscript journal you will find +on the shelf of our state-room, next to Sir George's patent tooth-pick +case. This is the book; and now, gentlemen and ladies, I beg you to +remember that these are merely the ideas as they arose, and not my more +mature reflections." + +"Take a little punch, sir," interrupted the captain, again, whose hard +nor'-west face was set in the most demure attention. "There is nothing +like punch to clear the voice, Mr. Dodge; the acid removes the huskiness, +the sugar softens the tones, the water mellows the tongue, and the Jamaica +braces the muscles. With a plenty of punch, a man soon gets to be +another--I forget the name of that great orator of antiquity,--it wasn't +Vattel, however." + +"You mean Demosthenes, sir; and, gentlemen, I beg you to remark that this +orator was a republican: but there can be no question that liberty is +favourable to the encouragement of all the higher qualities. Would you +prefer a few notes on Paris, ladies, or shall I commence with some +extracts about the Rhine?" + +"_Oh! de grace, Monsieur_, be so very kind as not to overlook _Paris_!" +said Mademoiselle Viefville. + +Mr. Dodge bowed graciously, and turning over the leaves of his private +journal, he alighted in the heart of the great city named. After some +preliminary hemming, he commenced reading in a grave didactic tone, that +sufficiently showed the value he had attached to his own observations. + +"'_Dejjuned_ at ten, as usual, an hour, that I find exceedingly +unreasonable and improper, and one that would meet with general +disapprobation in America. I do not wonder that a people gets to be +immoral and depraved in their practices, who keep such improper hours. The +mind acquires habits of impurity, and all the sensibilities become +blunted, by taking the meals out of the natural seasons. I impute much of +the corruption of France to the periods of the day in which the food +is taken--'" + +"_Voilà une drole d'idée!_" ejaculated Mademoiselle Viefville. + +"'--In which food is taken," repeated Mr. Dodge, who fancied the +involuntary exclamation was in approbation of the justice of his +sentiments. 'Indeed the custom of taking wine at this meal, together with +the immorality of the hour, must be chief reasons why the French ladies +are so much in the practice of drinking to excess'" + +"_Mais, monsieur!_" + +"You perceive, mademoiselle calls in question the accuracy of your facts," +observed Mr. Blunt, who, in common with all the listeners, Sir George and +Mr. Monday excepted, began to enjoy a scene which at first had promised +nothing but _ennui_ and disgust. + +"I have it on the best authority, I give you my honour, or I would not +introduce so grave a charge in a work of his contemplated importance. I +obtained my information from an English gentleman who has resided twelve +years in Paris; and he informs me that a very large portion of the women +of fashion in that capital, let them belong to what country they will, are +dissipated." + +"_A la bonne heure, monsieur!--mais_, to drink, it is very different." + +"Not so much so, mademoiselle, as you imagine," rejoined John Effingham. +"Mr. Dodge is a purist in language as well as in morals, and he uses terms +differently from us less-instructed prattlers. By dissipated, he +understands a drunkard." + +"_Comment!_" + +"Certainly; Mr. John Effingham, I presume, will at least give us the +credit in America in speaking our language better than any other known +people. 'After dejjunying, took a _phyacre_ and rode to the palace, to see +the king and royal family leave for Nully.--'" + +"_Pour où_?" + +"_Pour Neuilly, mademoiselle_," Eve quietly answered. + +"'--For Nully. His majesty went on horseback, preceding his illustrious +family and all the rest of the noble party, dressed in a red coat, laced +with white on the seams, wearing blue breeches and a cocked hat.'" + +"_Ciel!_" + +"'I made the king a suitable republican reverence as he passed, which he +answered with a gracious smile, and a benignant glance of his royal eye. +The Hon. Louis Philippe Orleans, the present sovereign of the French, is a +gentleman of portly and commanding appearance, and in his state attire, +which he wore on this occasion, looks 'every inch a king.' He rides with +grace and dignity, and sets an example of decorum and gravity to his +subjects, by the solemnity of his air, that it is to be hoped will produce +a beneficial and benign influence during this reign, on the manners of the +nation. His dignity was altogether worthy of the schoolmaster of +Haddonfield.'" + +"_Par exemple!_" + +"Yes, mam'selle, in the way of example, it is that I mean. Although a pure +democrat, and every way opposed to exclusion, I was particularly struck +with the royalty of his majesty's demeanour, and the great simplicity of +his whole deportment. I stood in the crowd next to a very accomplished +countess, who spoke English, and she did me the honour to invite me to pay +her a visit at her hotel, in the vicinity of the Bourse." + +"_Mon Dieu--mon Dieu--mon Dieu!_" + +"After promising my fair companion to be punctual, I walked as far as +Notter Dam--" + +"I wish Mr. Dodge would be a little more distinct in his names," said +Mademoiselle Viefville, who had begun to take an interest in the subject, +that even valueless opinions excite in us concerning things that touch the +affections. + +"Mr. Dodge is a little profane, mademoiselle," observed the captain; "but +his journal probably was not intended for the ladies, and you must +overlook it. Well, sir, you went to that naughty place--" + +"To Notter Dam, Captain Truck, if you please, and I flatter myself that is +pretty good French." + +"I think, ladies and gentlemen, we have a right to insist on a +translation; for plain roast and boiled men, like Mr. Monday and myself, +are sometimes weeping when we ought to laugh, so long as the discourse is +in anything but old-fashioned English. Help yourself, Mr. Monday, and +remember, you _never_ drink." + +"_Notter Dam_, I believe, mam'selle, means our Mother, the Church of our +Mother.--Notter, or Noster, our,--Dam, Mother: Notter Dam. 'Here I was +painfully impressed with the irreligion of the structure, and the general +absence of piety in the architecture. Idolatry abounded, and so did holy +water. How often have I occasion to bless Providence for having made me +one of the descendants of those pious ancestors who cast their fortunes in +the wilderness in preference to giving up their hold on faith and charity! +The building is much inferior in comfort and true taste to the commoner +American churches, and met with my unqualified disapprobation.'" + +"_Est il possible que cela soit vrai, ma chère!_" + +"_Je l'espère, bien, mademoiselle_." + +"You may _despair bien_, cousin Eve," said John Effingham, whose fine +curvilinear face curled even more than usual with contempt. + +The ladies whispered a few explanations, and Mr. Dodge, who fancied it was +only necessary to resolve to be perfect to achieve his end, went on with +his comments, with all the self-satisfaction of a provincial critic. + +"'From Notter Dam I proceeded in a _cabrioly_ to the great national +burying-ground, Pere la Chaise, so termed from the circumstance that its +distance from the capital renders chaises necessary for the _convoys_--" + +"How's this, how's this!" interrupted Mr. Truck; "is one obliged to sail +under a convoy about the streets of Paris?" + +"_Monsieur Dodge veut dire, convoi_. Mr. Dodge mean to say, _convoi_" +kindly interposed Mademoiselle Viefville. + +"Mr. Dodge is a profound republican, and is an advocate for rotation in +language, as well as in office: I must accuse you of inconstancy, my dear +friend, if I die for it. You certainly do not pronounce your words always +in the same way, and when I had the honour of carrying you out this time +six months, when you were practising the continentals, as you call them, +you gave very different sounds to many of the words I then had the +pleasure and gratification of hearing you use." + +"We all improve by travelling, sir, and I make no question that my +knowledge of foreign language is considerably enlarged by practice in the +countries in which they are spoken." + +Here the reading of the journal was interrupted by a digression on +language, in which Messrs. Dodge, Monday, Templemore, and Truck were the +principal interlocutors, and during which the pitcher of punch was twice +renewed. We shall not record much of this learned discussion, which was +singularly common-place, though a few of the remarks may be given as a +specimen of the whole. + +"I must be permitted to say," replied Mr. Monday to one of Mr. Dodge's +sweeping claims to superiority in favour of his own nation, "that I think +it quite extraordinary an Englishman should be obliged to go out of his +own country in order to hear his own language spoken in purity; and as one +who has seen your people, Mr. Dodge, I will venture to affirm that nowhere +is English better spoken than in Lancashire. Sir George, I drink +your health!" + +"More patriotic than just, Mr. Monday; every body allows that the American +of the eastern states speaks the best English in the world, and I think +either of these gentlemen will concede that." + +"Under the penalty of being nobody," cried Captain Truck; "for my own +part, I think, if a man wishes to hear the language in perfection, he +ought to pass a week or ten days in the river. I must say, Mr. Dodge, I +object to many of your sounds, particularly that of inyon, which I myself +heard you call onion, no later than yesterday." + +"Mr. Monday is a little peculiar in fancying that the best English is to +be met with in Lancashire," observed Sir George Templemore; "for I do +assure you that, in town, we have difficulty in understanding gentlemen +from your part of the kingdom." + +This was a hard cut from one in whom Mr. Monday expected to find an ally, +and that gentleman was driven to washing down the discontent it +excited, in punch. + +"But all this time we have interrupted the _convoi_, or convoy, captain," +said Mr. Sharp; "and Mr. Dodge, to say nothing of the mourners, has every +right to complain. I beg that gentleman will proceed with his entertaining +extracts." + +Mr. Dodge hemmed, sipped a little more liquor, blew his nose, and +continued: + +"'The celebrated cemetery is, indeed, worthy of its high reputation. The +utmost republican simplicity prevails in the interments, ditches being dug +in which the bodies are laid, side by side, without distinction of rank, +and with regard only to the order in which the convoys arrive.' I think +this sentence, gentlemen, will have great success in America, where the +idea of any exclusiveness is quite odious to the majority." + +"Well, for my part," said the captain, "I should have no particular +objection to being excluded from such a grave: one would be afraid of +catching the cholera in so promiscuous a company." + +Mr. Dodge turned over a few leaves, and gave other extracts. + +"'The last six hours have been devoted to a profound investigation of the +fine arts. My first visit was to the _gullyteen;_ after which I passed an +instructive hour or two in the galleries of the Musy.'--" + +"Où, done?" + +"Le Musée, mademoiselle." + +"--'Where I discovered several very extraordinary things, in the way of +sculpture and painting. I was particularly struck with the manner in which +a plate was portrayed in the celebrated marriage of Cana, which might +very well have been taken for real Delft, and there was one finger on the +hand of a lady that seemed actually fitted to receive and to retain the +hymeneal ring.'" + +"Did you inquire if she were engaged?--Mr. Monday, we will drink her +health." + +"'Saint Michael and the Dragon is a _shefdowory_.'--" + +"Un quoi?" + +"Un chef-d'oeuvre, mademoiselle." + +"--' The manner in which the angel holds the dragon with his feet, looking +exactly like a worm trodden on by the foot of a child, is exquisitely +plaintive and interesting. Indeed these touches of nature abound in the +works of the old masters, and I saw several fruit-pieces that I could have +eaten. One really gets an appetite by looking at many things here, and I +no longer wonder that a Raphael, a Titian, a Correggio, a Guide-o.'--" + +"Un qui?" + +"Un Guido, mademoiselle." + +"Or a Cooley." + +"And pray who may he be?" asked Mr. Monday. + +"A young genius in Dodgetown, who promises one day to render the name of +an American illustrious. He has painted a new sign for the store, that in +its way is quite equal to the marriage of Cana. 'I have stood with tears +over the despair of a Niobe,'" continuing to read, "'and witnessed the +contortions of the snakes in the Laocoon with a convulsive eagerness to +clutch them, that has made me fancy I could hear them hiss." That +sentence, I think, will be likely to be noticed even in the +New-Old-New-Yorker, one of the very best reviews of our days, gentlemen." + +"Take a little more punch, Mr. Dodge," put in the attentive captain; "this +grows affecting, and needs alleviation, as Saunders would say. Mr. Monday, +you will get a bad name for being too sober, if you never empty your +glass. Proceed, in the name of Heaven! Mr. Dodge." + +"'In the evening I went to the Grand Opery.'--" + +"Où, done?" + +"Au grand Hoppery, mademoiselle," replied John Effingham. + +"--'To the _Grand Opery_,'" resumed Mr. Dodge, with emphasis, his eyes +beginning to glisten by this time, for he had often applied to the punch +for inspiration, "'where I listened to music that is altogether inferior +to that which we enjoy in America, especially at the general trainings, +and on the Sabbath. The want of science was conspicuous; and if _this_ be +music, then do I know nothing about it!'" + +"A judicious remark!"'exclaimed the captain.--"Mr. Dodge has great merit +as a writer, for he loses no occasion to illustrate his opinions by the +most unanswerable facts. He has acquired a taste for Zip Coon and Long +Tail Blue, and it is no wonder he feels a contempt for your +inferior artists." + +"'As for the dancing,'" continued the editor of the Active Inquirer, "'it +is my decided impression that nothing can be worse. The movement was more +suited to a funeral than the ball-room, and I affirm, without fear of +contradiction, that there is not an assembly in all America in which a +_cotillion_ would not be danced in one-half the time that one was danced +in the _bally_ to-night.'" + +"Dans le quoi?" + +"I believe I have not given the real Parisian pronunciation to this word, +which the French call bal-_lay_", continued the reader, with +great candour. + +"Belay, or make all fast, as we say on ship-board. Mr. Dodge, as master, +of this vessel, I beg to return you the united, or as Saunders would say, +the condensed thanks of the passengers, for this information; and next +Saturday we look for a renewal of the pleasure. The ladies are getting to +be sleepy, I perceive, and as Mr. Monday _never_ drinks and the other +gentlemen have finished their punch, we may as well retire, to get ready +for a hard day's work to-morrow." + +Captain Truck made this proposal, because he saw that one or two of the +party were _plenum punch_, and that Eve and her companion were becoming +aware of the propriety of retiring. It was also true that he foresaw the +necessity of rest, in order to be ready for the exertions of the morning. + +After the party had broken up, which it did very contrary to the wishes of +Messrs. Dodge and Monday, Mademoiselle Viefville passed an hour in the +state-room of Miss Effingham, during which time she made several +supererogatory complaints of the manner in which the editor of the Active +Inquirer had viewed things in Paris, besides asking a good many questions +concerning his occupation and character. + +"I am not quite certain, my dear mademoiselle, that I can give you a very +learned description of the animal you think worthy of all these questions, +but, by the aid of Mr. John Effingham's information, and a few words that +have fallen from Mr. Blunt, I believe it ought to be something as +follows:--America once produced a very distinguished philosopher, named +Franklin--" + +"Comment, ma chère! Tout le monde le connait!" + +"--This Monsieur Franklin commenced life as a printer; but living to a +great age, and rising to high employments, he became a philosopher in +morals, as his studies had made him one in physics. Now, America is full +of printers, and most of them fancy themselves Franklins, until time and +failures teach them discretion." + +"_Mais_ the world has not seen but _un seul Franklin!_" + +"Nor is it likely to see another very soon. In America the young men are +taught, justly enough, that by merit they may rise to the highest +situations; and, always according to Mr. John Effingham, too many of them +fancy that because they are at liberty to turn any high qualities they may +happen to have to account, they are actually fit for anything. Even he +allows this peculiarity of the country does much good, but he maintains +that it also does much harm, by causing pretenders to start up in all +directions. Of this class he describes Mr. Dodge to be. This person, +instead of working at the mechanical part of a press, to which he was +educated, has the ambition to control its intellectual, and thus edits the +Active Inquirer." + +"It must be a very useful journal!" + +"It answers his purposes, most probably. He is full of provincial +ignorance, and provincial prejudices, you perceive; and, I dare say, he +makes his paper the circulator of all these, in addition to the personal +rancour, envy, and uncharitableness, that usually distinguish a pretension +that mistakes itself for ambition. My cousin Jack affirms that America is +filled with such as he." + +"And, Monsieur Effingham?" + +"Oh! my dear father is all mildness and charity, you snow, mademoiselle, +and he only looks at the bright side of the picture, for he maintains that +a great deal of good results from the activity and elasticity of such a +state of things. While he confesses to a great deal of downright ignorance +that is paraded as knowledge; to much narrow intolerance that is +offensively prominent in the disguise of principle, and a love of liberty; +and to vulgarity and personalities that wound all taste, and every +sentiment of right, he insists on it that the main result is good." + +"In such a case there is need of an umpire. You mentioned the opinion of +Mr. Blunt. Comme ce jeune homme parle bien Français!" + +Eve hesitated, and she changed colour slightly, before she answered. + +"I am not certain that the opinion of Mr. Blunt ought to be mentioned in +opposition to those of my father and cousin Jack, on such a subject," she +said. "He is very young, and it is, now, quite questionable whether he is +even an American at all." + +"Tant mieux, ma chère. He has been much in the country, and it is not the +native that make the best judge, when the stranger has many opportunities +of seeing." + +"On this principle, mademoiselle, you are, then, to give up your own +judgment about France, on all those points in which I have the misfortune +to differ from you," said Eve, laughing. + +"_Pas tout à fait_," returned the governess goodhumouredly. "Age and +experience must pass _pour quelque chose. Et Monsieur Blunt_?--" + +"Monsieur Blunt leans nearer to the side of cousin Jack, I fear, than to +that of my dear, dear father. He says men of Mr. Dodge's character, +propensities, malignancy, intolerance, ignorance, vulgarity, and peculiar +vices abound in and about the American press. He even insists that they do +an incalculable amount of harm, by influencing those who have no better +sources of information; by setting up low jealousies and envy in the place +of principles and the right; by substituting--I use his own words, +mademoiselle," said Eve, blushing with the consciousness of the fidelity +of her memory--"by substituting uninstructed provincial notions for true +taste and liberality; by confounding the real principles of liberty with +personal envies, and the jealousies of station; and by losing sight +entirely of their duties to the public, in the effort to advance their own +interests. He says that the government is in truth a _press-ocracy_, and a +press-ocracy, too, that has not the redeeming merit of either principles, +tastes, talents or knowledge." + +"Ce Monsieur Blunt has been very explicit, and _suffisamment eloquent_," +returned Mademoiselle Viefville, gravely; for the prudent governess did +not fail to observe that Eve used language so very different from that +which was habitual to her, as to make her suspect she quoted literally. +For the first time the suspicion was painfully awakened, that it was her +duty to be more vigilant in relation to the intercourse between her charge +and the two agreeable young men whom accident had given them as +fellow-passengers. After a short but musing pause, she again adverted to +the subject of their previous conversation. + +"Ce Monsieur Dodge, est il ridicule!" + +"On that point at least, my dear mademoiselle, there can be no mistake. +And yet cousin Jack insists that this stuff will be given to his readers, +as views of Europe worthy of their attention." + +"Ce conte du roi!--mais, c'est trop fort!" + +"With the coat laced at the seams, and the cocked hat!" + +"Et l'honorable Louis Philippe d'Orleans!" + +"Orleans, mademoiselle; d'Orleans would be anti-republican." + +Then the two ladies sat looking at each other a few moments in silence, +when both, although of a proper _retenue_ of manner in general, burst into +a hearty and long-continued fit of laughter. Indeed, so long did Eve, in +the buoyancy of her young spirits, and her keen perception of the +ludicrous, indulge herself, that her fair hair fell about her rosy cheeks, +and her bright eyes fairly danced with delight. + + + + +Chapter XVI. + + + + And there he went ashore without delay, + Having no custom-house or quarantine,-- + To ask him awkward questions on the way + About the time and place where he had been. + + BYRON. + + +Captain Truck was in a sound sleep as soon as his head touched the pillow. +With the exception of the ladies, the others soon followed his example; +and as the people were excessively wearied, and the night was so tranquil, +ere long only a single pair of eyes were open on deck: those of the man at +the wheel. The wind died away, and even this worthy was not innocent of +nodding at his post. + +Under such circumstances, it will occasion no great surprise that the +cabin was aroused next morning with the sudden and startling information +that the land was close aboard the ship. Every one hurried on deck, where, +sure enough, the dreaded coast of Africa was seen, with a palpable +distinctness, within two miles of the vessel. It presented a long broken +line of sand-hills, unrelieved by a tree, or by so few as almost to merit +this description, and with a hazy background of remote mountains to the +north-east. The margin of the actual coast nearest to the ship was +indented with bays; and even rocks appeared in places; but the general +character of the scene was that of a fierce and burning sterility. On this +picture of desolation all stood gazing in awe and admiration for some +minutes, as the day gradually brightened, until a cry arose from forward, +of "a ship!" + +"Whereaway?" sternly demanded Captain Truck; for the sudden and unexpected +appearance of this dangerous coast had awakened all that was forbidding +and severe in the temperament of the old master; "whereaway, sir?" + +"On the larboard quarter, sir, and at anchor." + +"She is ashore!" exclaimed half-a-dozen voices at the same instant, just +as the words came from the last speaker. The glass soon settled this +important point. At the distance of about a league astern of them were, +indeed, to be seen the spars of a ship, with the hull looming on the +sands, in a way to leave no doubt of her being a wreck. It was the first +impression of all, that this, at last, was the Foam; but Captain Truck +soon announced the contrary. + +"It is a Swede, or a Dane," he said, "by his rig and his model. A stout, +solid, compact sea-boat, that is high and dry on the sands, looking as if +he had been built there. He does not appear even to have bilged, and most +of his sails, and all of his yards, are in their places. Not a living soul +is to be seen about her! Ha! there are signs of tents made of sails on +shore, and broken bales of goods! Her people have been seized and carried +into the desert, as usual, and this is a fearful hint that we must keep +the Montauk off the bottom. Turn-to the people, Mr. Leach, and get up your +sheers that we may step our jury-masts at once; the smallest breeze on the +land would drive us ashore, without any after-sail." + +While the mates and the crew set about completing the work they had +prepared the previous day, Captain Truck and his passengers passed the +time in ascertaining all they could concerning the wreck, and the reasons +of their being themselves in a position so very different from what they +had previously believed. + +As respects the first, little more could be ascertained; she lay +absolutely high and dry on a hard sandy beach, where she had probably been +cast during the late gale, and sufficient signs were made out by the +captain, to prove to him that she had been partly plundered. More than +this could not be discovered at that distance, and the work of the Montauk +was too urgent to send a boat manned with her own people to examine. Mr. +Blunt, Mr. Sharp, Mr. Monday, and the servants of the two former, however, +volunteering to pull the cutter, it was finally decided to look more +closely into the facts, Captain Truck himself taking charge of the +expedition.--While the latter is getting ready, a word of explanation will +suffice to tell the reader the reason why the Montauk had fallen so much +to leeward. + +The ship being so near the coast, it became now very obvious she was +driven by a current that set along the land, but which, it was probable, +had set towards it more in the offing. The imperceptible drift between the +observation of the previous day and the discovery of the coast, had +sufficed to carry the vessel a great distance; and to this simple cause, +coupled perhaps with some neglect in the steerage during the past night, +was her present situation to be solely attributed. Just at this moment, +the little air there was came from the land, and by keeping her head +off-shore, Captain Truck entertained no doubt of his being able to escape +the calamity that had befallen the other ship in the fury of the gale. A +wreck is always a matter of so much interest with mariners, therefore, +that taking all these things into view, he had come to the determination +we have mentioned, of examining into the history of the one in sight, so +far as circumstances permitted. + +The Montauk carried three boats; the launch, a large, safe, and +well-constructed craft, which stood in the usual chucks between the +foremast and mainmast; a jolly-boat, and a cutter. It was next to +impossible to get the first into the water, deprived as the ship was of +its mainmast; but the other hanging at davits, one on each quarter, were +easily lowered. The packets seldom carry any arms beyond a light gun to +fire signals with, the pistols of the master, and perhaps a fowling-piece +or two. Luckily the passengers were better provided: all the gentlemen had +pistols, Mr. Monday and Mr. Dodge excepted, if indeed they properly +belonged to this category, as Captain Truck would say, and most of them +had also fowling-pieces. Although a careful examination of the coast with +the glasses offered no signs of the presence of any danger from enemies, +these arms were carefully collected, loaded, and deposited in the boats, +in order to be prepared for the worst. Provisions and water were also +provided, and the party were about to proceed. + +Captain Truck and one or two of the adventurers were still on the deck, +when Eve, with that strange love of excitement and adventure that often +visits the most delicate spirits, expressed an idle regret that she could +not make one in the expedition. + +"There is something so strange and wild in landing on an African desert," +she said; "and I think a near view of the wreck would repay us, +Mademoiselle, for the hazard." + +The young men hesitated between their desire to have such a companion, and +their doubts of the prudence of the step; but Captain Truck declared there +could be no risk, and Mr. Effingham consenting, the whole plan was altered +so as to include the ladies; for there was so much pleasure in varying the +monotony of a calm, and escaping the confinement of ship, that everybody +entered into the new arrangement with zeal and spirit. + +A single whip was rigged on the fore-yard, a chair was slung, and in ten +minutes both ladies were floating on the ocean in the cutter. This boat +pulled six oars, which were manned by the servants of the two Messrs. +Effinghams, Mr. Blunt, and Mr. Sharp, together with the two latter +gentlemen in person. Mr. Effingham steered. Captain Truck had the +jolly-boat, of which he pulled an oar himself, aided by Saunders, Mr. +Monday, and Sir George Templemore; the mates and the regular crew being +actively engaged in rigging their jury-mast. Mr. Dodge declined being of +the party, feeding himself with the hope that the present would be a +favourable occasion to peep into the state-rooms, to run his eye over +forgotten letters and papers, and otherwise to increase the general stock +of information of the editor of the Active Inquirer. + +"Look to your chains, and see all clear for a run of the anchors, Mr. +Leach, should you set within a mile of the shore," called out the captain, +as they pulled off from the vessel's side. "The ship is drifting along the +land, but the wind you have will hardly do more than meet the send of the +sea, which is on shore: should any thing go wrong show an ensign at the +head of the jury-stick forward." + +The mate waved his hand, and the adventurers passed without the sound of +the voice. It was a strange sensation to most of those in the boats, to +find themselves in their present situation. Eve and Mademoiselle +Viefville, in particular, could scarcely credit their senses, when they +found the egg-shells that held them heaving and setting like bubbles on +those long sluggish swells, which had seemed of so little consequence +while in the ship, but which now resembled the heavy respirations of a +leviathan. The boats, indeed, though always gliding onward, impelled by +the oars, appeared at moments to be sent helplessly back and forth, like +playthings of the mighty deep, and it was some minutes before either +obtained a sufficient sense of security to enjoy her situation. As they +receded fast from the Montauk, too, their situation seemed still more +critical; and with all her sex's love of excitement, Eve heartily repented +of her undertaking before they had gone a mile. The gentlemen, however, +were all in good spirits, and as the boats kept near each other, Captain +Truck enlivening their way with his peculiar wit, and Mr. Effingham, who +was influenced by a motive of humanity in consenting to come, being +earnest and interested, Eve soon began to entertain other ideas. + +As they drew near the end of their little expedition, entirely new +feelings got the mastery of the whole party. The solitary and gloomy +grandeur of the coasts, the sublime sterility,--for even naked sands may +become sublime by their vastness,--the heavy moanings of the ocean on the +beach, and the entire spectacle of the solitude, blended as it was with +the associations of Africa, time, and the changes of history, united to +produce sensations of a pleasing melancholy. The spectacle of the ship, +bringing with it the images of European civilization, as it lay helpless +and deserted on the sands, too, heightened all. + +This vessel, beyond a question, had been driven up on a sea during the +late gale, at a point where the water was of sufficient depth to float +her, until within a few yards of the very spot where she now lay; Captain +Truck giving the following probable history of the affair: + +"On all sandy coasts," he said, "the return waves that are cast on the +beach form a bar, by washing back with them a portion of the particles. +This bar is usually within thirty or forty fathoms of the shore, and there +is frequently sufficient water within it to float a ship. As this bar, +however, prevents the return of all the water, on what is called the +under-tow, narrow channels make from point to point, through which this +excess of the element escapes. These channels are known by the appearance +of the water over them, the seas breaking less at those particular places +than in the spots where the bottom lies nearer to the surface, and all +experienced mariners are aware of the fact. No doubt, the unfortunate +master of this ship, finding himself reduced to the necessity of running +ashore to save the lives of his crew, has chosen such a place, and has +consequently forced his vessel up to a spot where she has remained dry as +soon as the sea fell. So worthy a fellow deserved a better fate; for this +wreck is not three days old, and yet no signs are to be seen of any who +were in that stout ship." + +These remarks were made as the crew of the two boats lay on their oars, at +a short distance without the line on the water, where the breaking of the +sea pointed out the position of the bar. The channel, also, was plainly +visible directly astern of the ship, the sea merely rising and falling in +it without combing. A short distance to the southward, a few bold black +rocks thrust themselves forward, and formed a sort of bay, in which it was +practicable to land without risk; for they had come on the coast in a +region where the monotony of the sands, as it appeared when close in, was +little relieved by the presence of anything else. + +"If you will keep the cutter just without the breakers, Mr. Effingham," +Captain Truck continued, after standing up a while and examining the +shore, "I will pull into the channel, and land in yonder bay. If you feel +disposed to follow, you may do so by giving the tiller to Mr. Blunt, on +receiving a signal to that effect from me. Be steady, gentlemen, at your +oars, and look well to the arms on landing, for we are in a knavish part +of the world. Should any of the monkeys or ouran-outangs claim kindred +with Mr. Saunders, we may find it no easy matter to persuade them to leave +us the pleasure of his society." + +The captain made a sign, and the jolly-boat entered the channel. Inclining +south, it was seen rising and falling just within the breakers, and then +it was hid by the rocks. In another minute, Mr. Truck, followed by all but +Mr. Monday, who stood sentinel at the boat, was on the rocks, making his +way towards the wreck. On reaching the latter, he ascended swiftly even to +the main cross-trees. Here a long examination of the plain, beyond the +bank that hid it from the view of all beneath, succeeded, and then the +signal to come on was made to those who were still in the boat. + +"Shall we venture?" cried Paul Blunt, soliciting an assent by the very +manner in which he put the question. + +"What say you, dear father?" + +"I hope we may not yet be too late to succour some Christian in distress, +my child. Take the tiller, Mr. Blunt, and in Heaven's good name, and for +humanity's sake, let us proceed!" + +The boat advanced, Paul Blunt standing erect to steer, his ardour to +proceed corrected by apprehensions on account of her precious freight. +There was an instant when the ladies trembled, for it seemed as if the +light boat was about to be cast upon the shore, like the froth of the sea +that shot past them; but the steady hand of him who steered averted the +danger, and in another minute they were floating at the side of the +jolly-boat. The ladies got ashore without much difficulty, and stood on +the summit of the rocks. + +"Nous voici donc, en Afrique," exclaimed Mademoiselle Viefville, with that +sensation of singularity that comes over all when they first find +themselves in situations of extraordinary novelty. + +"The wreck--the wreck," murmured Eve; "let us go to the wreck. There may +be yet a hope of saving some wretched sufferer." + +Toward the wreck they all proceeded, after leaving two of the servants to +relieve Mr. Monday on his watch. + +It was an impressive thing to stand at the side of a ship on the sands of +Africa, a scene in which the desolation of an abandoned vessel was +heightened by the desolation of a desert. The position of the vessel, +which stood nearly erect, imbedded in the sands, rendered it less +difficult than might be supposed for the ladies to ascend to, and to walk +her decks, a rude staging having been made already to facilitate the +passage. Here the scene became thrice exciting, for it was the very type +of a hastily deserted and cherished dwelling. + +Before Eve and Mademoiselle Viefville gained the deck, the other party had +ascertained that no living soul remained. The trunks, chests, furniture, +and other appliances of the cabin, had been rummaged, and many boxes had +been raised from the hold, and plundered, a part of their contents still +lying scattered on the decks. The ship, however, had been lightly +freighted, and the bulk of her cargo, which was salt, was apparently +untouched. A Danish ensign was found bent to the halyards, a proof that +Captain Truck's original conjecture concerning the character of the vessel +was accurate, her name, too, was ascertained to be the Carrier, as +translated into English, and she belonged to Copenhagen. More than this it +was not easy to ascertain. No papers were found, and her cargo, or as much +of it as remained, was so mixed, and miscellaneous, as Saunders called it, +that no plausible guess could be given as to the port where it had been +taken in, if indeed it had all been received on board at the same place. + +Several of the light sails had evidently been carried off, but all the +heavy canvas was left on the yards which remained in their places. The +vessel was large, exceedingly strong, as was proved by the fact that she +had not bilged in beaching, and apparently well found. Nothing was wanting +to launch her into the ocean but machinery and force, and a crew to sail +her, when she might have proceeded on her voyage as if nothing unusual had +occurred. But such a restoration was hopeless, and this admirable machine, +like a man cut off in his youth and vigour, had been cast upon the shores +of this inhospitable region, to moulder where it lay, unless broken up for +the wood and iron by the wanderers of the desert. + +There was no object more likely to awaken melancholy ideas in a mind +resembling that of Captain Truck's, than a spectacle of this nature. A +fine ship, complete in nearly all her parts, virtually uninjured, and yet +beyond the chance of further usefulness, in his eyes was a picture of the +most cruel loss. He cared less for the money it had cost than for the +qualities and properties that were thus destroyed. + +He examined the bottom, which he pronounced capital for stowing, and +excellent as that of a sea-boat; he admired the fastenings: applied his +knife to try the quality of the wood, and pronounced the Norway pine of +the spars to be almost equal to anything that could be found in our own +southern woods. The rigging, too, he regarded as one loves to linger over +the regretted qualities of a deceased friend. + +The tracks of camels and horses were abundant on the sand around the +ship, and especially at the bottom of the rude staging by which the party +had ascended, and which had evidently been hastily made in order to carry +articles from the vessel to the backs of the animals that were to bear +them into the desert. The foot-prints of men were also to be seen, and +there was a startling and mournful certainty in distinguishing the marks +of shoes, as well as those of the naked foot. + +Judging from all these signs, Captain Truck was of opinion the wreck must +have taken place but two or three days before, and that the plunderers had +not left the spot many hours. + +"They probably went off with what they could carry at sunset last evening, +and there can be no doubt that before many days, they, or others in their +places, will be back again. God protect the poor fellows who have fallen +into this miserable bondage! What an occasion would there now be to rescue +one of them, should he happen to be hid near this spot!" + +The idea seized the whole party at once, and all eagerly turned to examine +the high bank, which rose nearly to the summit of the masts, in the hope +of discovering some concealed fugitive. The gentlemen went below again, +and Mr. Sharp and Mr. Blunt called out in German, and English, and French, +to invite any one who might be secreted to come forth. No sound answered +these friendly calls. Again Captain Truck went aloft to look into the +interior, but he beheld nothing more than the broad and unpeopled desert. + +A place where the camels had descended to the beach was at no great +distance, and thither most of the party proceeded, mounting to the level +of the plain beyond. In this little expedition, Paul Blunt led the +advance, and as he rose over the brow of the bank, he cocked both barrels +of his fowling-piece, uncertain what might be encountered. They found, +however, a silent waste, almost without vegetation, and nearly as +trackless as the ocean that lay behind them. At the distance of a hundred +rods, an object was just discernible, lying on the plain half-buried in +sand, and thither the young men expressed a wish to go, first calling to +those in the ship to send a man aloft to give the alarm, in the event of +any party of the Mussulmans being seen. Mr. Effingham, too, on being told +their intention, had the precaution to cause Eve and Mademoiselle +Viefville to get into the cutter, which he manned, and caused to pull out +over the bar, where she lay waiting the issue. + +A camel's path, of which the tracks were nearly obliterated by the sands, +led to the object; and after toiling along it, the adventurers soon +reached the desired spot. It proved to be the body of a man who had died +by violence. His dress and person denoted that of a passenger rather than +that of a seaman, and he had evidently been dead but a very few hours, +probably not twelve. The cut of a sabre had cleft his skull. Agreeing not +to acquaint the ladies with this horrible discovery, the body was hastily +covered with the sand, the pockets of the dead man having been first +examined; for, contrary to usage, his person had not been stripped. A +letter was found, written by a wife to her husband, and nothing more. It +was in German, and its expressions and contents, though simple, were +endearing and natural. It spoke of the traveller's return; for she who +wrote it little thought of the miserable fate that awaited her beloved in +this remote desert. + +As nothing else was visible, the party returned hastily to the beach, +where they found that Captain Truck had ended his investigation, and was +impatient to return. In the interest of the scene the Montauk had +disappeared behind a headland, towards which she had been drifting when +they left her. Her absence created a general sense of loneliness, and the +whole party hastened into the jolly-boat, as if fearful of being left. +When without the bar again, the cutter took in her proper crew, and the +boats pulled away, leaving the Dane standing on the beach in his solitary +desolation--a monument of his own disaster. + +As they got further from the land the Montauk came in sight again, and +Captain Truck announced the agreeable intelligence that the jury mainmast +was up, and that the ship had after-sail set, diminutive and defective as +it might be. Instead of heading to the southward, however, as heretofore, +Mr. Leach was apparently endeavouring to get back again to the northward +of the headland that had shut in the ship, or was trying to retrace his +steps. Mr. Truck rightly judged that this was proof his mate disliked the +appearance of the coast astern of him, and that he was anxious to get an +offing. The captain in consequence urged his men to row, and in little +more than an hour the whole party were on the deck of the Montauk again, +and the boats were hanging at the davits. + + + + +Chapter XVII. + + + + I boarded the king's ship; now on the beak, + Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin, + I flam'd amazement. + + TEMPEST. + + +If Captain Truck distrusted the situation of his own ship when he saw that +the mate had changed her course, he liked it still less after he was on +board, and had an opportunity to form a more correct judgment. The current +had set the vessel not only to the southward, but in-shore, and the send +of the ground-swell was gradually, but inevitably, heaving her in towards +the land. At this point the coast was more broken than at the spot where +the Dane had been wrecked, some signs of trees appearing, and rocks +running off in irregular reefs into the sea. More to the south, these +rocks were seen without the ship, while directly astern they were not half +a mile distant. Still the wind was favourable, though light and baffling, +and Mr. Leach had got up every stitch of canvas that circumstances would +at all allow; the lead, too, had been tried, and the bottom was found to +be a hard sand mixed with rocks, and the depth of the water such as to +admit of anchoring. It was a sign that Captain Truck did not absolutely +despair after ascertaining all these facts, that he caused Mr. Saunders to +be summoned; for as yet, none of those who had been in the boats had +breakfasted. + +"Step this way, Mr. Steward," said the captain; "and report the state of +the coppers. You were rummaging, as usual, among the lockers of yonder +unhappy Dane, and I desire to know what discoveries you have made! You +will please to recollect, that on all public expeditions of this nature, +there must be no peculation or private journal kept. Did you see any +stock-fish?" + +"Sir, I should deem this ship disgraced by the admission into her pantry +of such an article, sir. We have tongues and sounds in plenty, Captain +Truck, and no gentleman that has such diet, need ambition a stock-fish!" + +"I am not quite of your way of thinking; but the earth is not made of +stock-fish. Did you happen to fall in with any butter?" + +"Some, sir, that is scarcely fit to slush a mast with, and I do think, one +of the most atrocious cheeses, sir, it was ever my bad fortune to meet +with. I do not wonder the Africans left the wreck." + +"You followed their example, of course, Mr. Saunders, and left the +cheese." + +"I followed my own judgment, sir, for I would not stay in a ship with such +a cheese, Captain Truck, sir, even to have the honour of serving under so +great a commander as yourself. I think it no wonder that vessel was +wrecked! Even the sharks would abandon her. The very thoughts of her +impurities, sir, make me feel unsettled in the stomach." + +The captain nodded his head in approbation of this sentiment, called for a +coal, and then ordered breakfast. The meal was silent, thoughtful, and +even sad; every one was thinking of the poor Danes and their sad fate, +while they who had been on the plain had the additional subject of the +murdered man for their contemplation. + +"Is it possible to do nothing to redeem these poor people, father, from +captivity?" Eve at length demanded. + +"I have been thinking of this, my child; but I see no other method than to +acquaint their government of their situation." + +"Might we not contribute something from our own means to that effect? +Money, I fancy, is the chief thing necessary." + +The gentlemen looked at each other in approbation, though a reluctance to +be the first to speak kept most of them silent. + +"If a hundred pounds, Miss Effingham, will be useful," Sir George +Templemore said, after the pause had continued an awkward minute, laying a +banknote of that amount on the table, "and you will honour us by becoming +the keeper of the redemption money, I have great pleasure in making +the offer." + +This was handsomely said, and as Captain Truck afterwards declared, +handsomely done too, though it was a little abrupt, and caused Eve to +hesitate and redden. + +"I shall accept your gift, sir," she said; "and with your permission will +transfer it to Mr. Effingham, who will better know what use to put it to, +in order to effect our benevolent purpose. I think I can answer for as +much more from himself." + +"You may, with certainty, my dear--and twice as much, if necessary. John, +this is a proper occasion for your interference." + +"Put me down at what you please," said John Effingham, whose charities in +a pecuniary sense were as unlimited, as in feeling they were apparently +restrained. "One hundred or one thousand, to rescue that poor crew!" + +"I believe, sir, we must all follow so good an example," Mr. Sharp +observed; "and I sincerely hope that this scheme will not prove useless. I +think it may be effected by means of some of the public agents at +Mogadore." + +Mr. Dodge raised many objections, for it really exceeded his means to give +so largely, and his character was formed in a school too envious and +jealous to confess an inferiority on a point even as worthless as that of +money. Indeed, he had so long been accustomed to maintain that "one man +was as good as another," in opposition to his senses, that, like most of +those who belong to this impracticable school, he had tacitly admitted in +his own mind, the general and vulgar ascendency of mere wealth; and, quite +as a matter of course, he was averse to confessing his own inferiority on +a point that he had made to be all in all, while loudest in declaiming +against any inferiority whatever. He walked out of the cabin, therefore, +with strong heart-burnings and jealousies, because others had presumed to +give that which it was not really in his power to bestow. + +On the other hand, both Mademoiselle Viefville and Mr. Monday manifested +the superiority of the opinions in which they had been trained. The first +quietly handed a Napoleon to Mr. Effingham, who took it with as much +attention and politeness as he received any of the larger contributions; +while the latter produced a five-pound note, with a hearty good-will that +redeemed the sin of many a glass of punch in the eyes of his companions. + +Eve did not dare to look towards Paul Blunt, while this collection was +making; but she felt regret that he did not join in it. He was silent and +thoughtful, and even seemed pained, and she wondered if it were possible +that one, who certainly lived in a style to prove that his income was +large, could be so thoughtless as to have deprived himself of the means of +doing that which he so evidently desired to do. But most of the company +was too well-bred to permit the matter to become the subject of +conversation, and they soon rose from table in a body. The mind of Eve, +however, was greatly relieved when her father told her that the young man +had put a hundred sovereigns in gold into his hands as soon as possible, +and that he had seconded this offering with another, of embarking for +Mogadore in person, should they get into the Cape de Verds, or the +Canaries, with a view of carrying out the charitable plan with the +least delay. + +"He is a noble-hearted young man," said the pleased father, as he +communicated this fact to his daughter and cousin; "and I shall not object +to the plan." + +"If he offer to quit this ship one minute sooner than is necessary, he +does, indeed, deserve a statue of gold," said John Effingham; "for it has +all that can attract a young man like him, and all too that can awaken his +jealousy." + +"Cousin Jack!" exclaimed Eve reproachfully, quite thrown off her guard by +the abruptness and plainness of this language. + +The quiet smile of Mr. Effingham proved that he understood both, but he +made no remark. Eve instantly recovered her spirits, and angry at herself +for the girlish exclamation that had escaped her, she turned on her +assailant. "I do not know that I ought to be seen in an aside with Mr. +John Effingham," she said, "even when it is sanctioned with the presence +of my own father." + +"And may I ask why so much sudden reserve, my offended beauty?" + +"Merely that the report is already active, concerning the delicate +relation in which we stand towards each other." + +John Effingham looked surprised, but he suppressed his curiosity from a +long habit of affecting an indifference he did not always feel. The father +was less dignified, for he quietly demanded an explanation. + +"It would seem," returned Eve, assuming a solemnity suited to a matter of +interest, "that our secret is discovered. While we were indulging our +curiosity about this unfortunate ship, Mr. Dodge was gratifying the +laudable industry of the Active Inquirer, by prying into our state-rooms." + +"This meanness is impossible!" exclaimed Mr. Effingham. + +"Nay," said John, "no meanness is impossible to a demagogue,--a pretender +to things of which he has even no just conception,--a man who lives to +envy and traduce; in a word, a _quasi_ gentleman. Let us hear what Eve +has to say." + +"My information is from Ann Sidley, who saw him in the act. Now the kind +letter you wrote my father, cousin Jack, just before we left London, and +which you wrote because you would not trust that honest tongue of yours to +speak the feelings of that honest heart, is the subject of my daily study; +not on account of its promises, you will believe me, but on account of the +strong affection it displays to a girl who is not worthy of one half you +feel and do for her." + +"Pshaw!" + +"Well, let it then be pshaw! I had read that letter this very morning, and +carelessly left it on my table. This letter Mr. Dodge, in his undying +desire to lay everything before the public, as becomes his high vocation, +and as in duty bound, has read; and misconstruing some of the phrases, as +will sometimes happen to a zealous circulator of news, he has drawn the +conclusion that I am to be made a happy woman as soon as we reach America, +by being converted from Miss Eve Effingham into Mrs. John Effingham." + +"Impossible! No man can be such a fool, or quite so great a miscreant!" + +"I should rather think, my child," added the milder father, "that +injustice has been done Mr. Dodge. No person, in the least approximating +to the station of a gentleman, could even think of an act so base as this +you mention." + +"Oh! if this be all your objection to the tale," observed the cousin, "I +am ready to swear to its truth. But Eve has caught a little of Captain +Truck's spirit, of mystifying, and is determined to make a character by a +bold stroke in the beginning. She is clever, and in time may rise to be +a quiz." + +"Thank you for the compliment, cousin Jack, which, however, I am forced to +disclaim, as I never was more serious in my life. That the letter was +read, Nanny, who is truth itself, affirms she saw. That Mr. Dodge has +since been industriously circulating the report of my great good fortune, +she has heard from the mate, who had it from the highest source of +information direct, and that such a man would be likely to come to such a +conclusion, you have only to recall the terms of the letter yourself, +to believe." + +"There is nothing in my letter to justify any notion so silly." + +"An Active Inquirer might make discoveries you little dream of, dear +cousin Jack. You speak of its being time to cease roving, of settling +yourself at last, of never parting, and, prodigal as you are, of making +Eve the future mistress of your fortune. Now to all this, recreant, +confess, or I shall never again put faith in man." + +John Effingham made no answer, but the father warmly expressed his +indignation, that any man of the smallest pretensions to be admitted among +gentlemen, should be guilty of an act so base. + +"We can hardly tolerate his presence. John, and it is almost a matter of +conscience to send him to Coventry." + +"If you entertain such notions of decorum, your wisest way, Edward, will +be to return to the place whence you have come; for, trust me, you will +find scores of such gentlemen where you are going!" + +"I shall not allow you to persuade me I know my own country so little. +Conduct like this will stamp a man with disgrace in America as well as +elsewhere." + +"Conduct like this would, but it will no longer. The pell-mell that rages +has brought honourable men into a sad minority, and even Mr. Dodge will +tell you the majority must rule. Were he to publish my letter, a large +portion of his readers would fancy he was merely asserting the liberty of +the press. Heavens save us! You have been dreaming abroad, Ned Effingham, +while your country has retrograded, in all that is respectable and good, a +century in a dozen years!" + +As this was the usual language of John Effingham, neither of his listeners +thought much of it, though Mr. Effingham more decidedly expressed an +intention to cut off even the slight communication with the offender, he +had permitted himself to keep up, since they had been on board. + +"Think better of it, dear father," said Eve; "for such a man is scarcely +worthy of even your resentment. He is too much your inferior in +principles, manners, character, station, and everything else, to render +him of so much account; and then, were we to clear up this masquerade into +which the chances of a ship have thrown us, we might have our scruples +concerning others, as well as concerning this wolf in sheep's clothing." + +"Say rather an ass, shaved and painted to resemble a zebra," muttered +John. "The fellow has no property as respectable as the basest virtue of +a wolf." + +"He has at least rapacity." + +"And can howl in a pack. This much, then, I will concede to you: but I +agree with Eve, we must either punish him affirmatively, by pulling his +ears, or treat him with contempt, which is always negative or silent. I +wish he had entered the state-room of that fine young fellow, Paul Blunt, +who is of an age and a spirit to give him a lesson that might make a +paragraph for his Active Inquirer, if not a scissors' extract of himself." + +Eve knew that the offender had been there too, but she had too much +prudence to betray him. + +"This will only so much the more oblige him," she said, laughingly; "for +Mr. Blunt, in speaking of the editor of the Active Inquirer, said that he +had the failing to believe that this earth, and all it contained, was +created merely to furnish materials for newspaper paragraphs." + +The gentlemen laughed with the amused Eve, and Mr. Effingham remarked, +that "there did seem to be men so perfectly selfish, so much devoted to +their own interests, and so little sensible of the rights and feelings of +others, as to manifest a desire to render the press superior to all other +power; not," he concluded, "in the way of argument, or as an agent of +reason, but as a master, coarse, corrupt, tyrannical and vile; the +instrument of selfishness, instead of the right, and when not employed as +the promoter of personal interests, to be employed as the tool of personal +passions." + +"Your father will become a convert to my opinions. Miss Effingham," said +John, "and he will not be home a twelve-month before he will make the +discovery that the government is a press-ocracy, and its ministers, +self-chosen and usurpers, composed of those who have the least at stake, +even as to character." + +Mr. Effingham shook his head in dissent, but the conversation changed in +consequence of a stir in the ship. The air from the land had freshened, +and even the heavy canvas on which the Montauk was now compelled +principally to rely, had been asleep, as mariners term it, or had blown +out from the mast, where it stood inflated and steady, a proof at sea, +where the water is always in motion, that the breeze is getting to be +fresh. Aided by this power, the ship had overcome the united action of the +heavy ground-swell and of the current, and was stealing out from under the +land, when the air murmured for an instant, as if about to blow still +fresher, and then all the sails flapped. The wind had passed away like a +bird, and a dark line to sea-ward, denoted the approach of the breeze from +the ocean. The stir in the vessel was occasioned by the preparations to +meet this change. + +The new wind brought little with it beyond the general danger of blowing +on shore. The breeze was light, and not more than sufficient to force the +vessel through the water, in her present condition, a mile and a half in +the hour, and this too in a line nearly parallel with the coast. Captain +Truck saw therefore at a glance, that he should be compelled to anchor. +Previously, however, to doing this, he had a long talk with his mates, and +a boat was lowered. + +The lead was cast, and the bottom was found to be still good, though a +hard sand, which is not the best holding ground. + +"A heavy sea would cause the ship to drag," Captain Truck remarked, +"should it come on to blow, and the lines of dark rocks astern of them +would make chips of the Pennsylvania in an hour, were that great ship to +lie on it." + +He entered the boat, and pulled along the reefs to examine an inlet that +Mr. Leach reported to have been seen, before he got the ship's head to the +northward. Could an entrance be found at this point, the vessel might +possibly be carried within the reef, and a favourite scheme of the +captain's could be put in force, one to which he now attached the highest +importance. A mile brought the boat up to the inlet, where Mr. Truck found +the following appearances: The general formation of the coast in sight was +that of a slight curvature, within which the ship had so far drifted as to +be materially inside a line drawn from headland to headland. There was, +consequently, little hope of urging a vessel, crippled like the Montauk, +against wind, sea and current, out again into the ocean. For about a +league abreast of the ship the coast was rocky, though low, the rocks +running off from the shore quite a mile in places, and every where fully +half that distance. The formation was irregular, but it had the general +character of a reef, the position of which was marked by breakers, as well +as by the black heads of rocks that here and there showed themselves above +the water. The inlet was narrow, crooked, and so far environed by rocks as +to render it questionable whether there was a passage at all, though the +smoothness of the water had raised hopes to that effect in Mr. Leach. + +As soon as captain Truck arrived at the mouth of this passage, he felt so +much encouraged by the appearance of things that he gave the concerted +signal for the ship to veer round and to stand to the southward. This was +losing ground in the way of offing, but tack the Montauk could not with +so little wind, and the captain saw by the drift she had made since he +left her, that promptitude was necessary. The ship might anchor off the +inlet, as well as anywhere else, if reduced to anchoring outside at all, +and then there was always the chance of entering. + +As soon as the ship's head was again to the southward, and Captain Truck +felt certain that she was lying along the reef at a reasonably safe +distance, and in as good a direction as he could hope for, he commenced +his examination. Like a discreet seaman he pulled off from the rocks to a +suitable distance, for should an obstacle occur outside, he well knew any +depth of water further in would be useless. The day was so fine, and in +the absence of rivers, the ocean so limpid in that low latitude, that it +was easy to see the bottom at a considerable depth. But to this sense, of +course, the captain did not trust, for he kept the lead going constantly, +although all eyes were also employed in searching for rocks. + +The first cast of the lead was in five fathoms, and these soundings were +held nearly up to the inlet, where the lead struck a rock in three fathoms +and a half. At this point, then, a more careful examination was made, but +three and a half was the shallowest cast. As the Montauk drew nearly a +fathom less than this, the cautious old master proceeded closer in. +Directly in the mouth of the inlet was a large flat rock, that rose nearly +to the surface of the sea, and which, when the tide was low, was probably +bare. This rock Captain Truck at first believed would defeat his hopes of +success, which by this time were strong; but a closer examination showed +him that on one side of it was a narrow passage, just wide enough to +admit a ship. + +From this spot the channel became crooked, but it was sufficiently marked +by the ripple on the reef; and after a careful investigation, he found it +was possible to carry three fathoms quite within the reef, where a large +space existed that was gradually filling up with sand, but which was +nearly all covered with water when the tide was in, as was now the case, +and which had channels, as usual, between the banks. Following one of +these channels a quarter of a mile, he found a basin of four fathoms of +water, large enough to take a ship in, and, fortunately, it was in close +proximity to a portion of the reef that was always bare, when a heavy sea +was not beating over it. Here he dropped a buoy, for he had come provided +with several fragments of spars for this purpose; and, on his return, the +channel was similarly marked off, at all the critical points. On the flat +rock, in the inlet, one of the men was left, standing up to his waist +in-the water, it being certain that the tide was failing. + +The boat now returned to the ship, which it met at the distance of half a +mile from the inlet. The current setting southwardly, her progress had +been more rapid than when heading north, and her drift had been less +towards the land. Still there was so little wind, so steady a +ground-swell, and it was possible to carry so little after-sail, that +great doubts were entertained of being able to weather the rocks +sufficiently to turn into the inlet. Twenty times in the next half hour +was the order to let go the anchor, on the point of being given, as the +wind baffled, and as often was it countermanded, to take advantage of its +reviving. These were feverish moments, for the ship was now so near the +reef as to render her situation very insecure in the event of the wind's +rising, or of a sea's getting up, the sand of the bottom being too hard to +make good holding-ground. Still, as there was a possibility, in the +present state of the weather, of kedging the ship off a mile into the +offing, if necessary, Captain Truck stood on with a boldness he might not +otherwise have felt. The anchor hung suspended by a single turn of the +stopper, ready to drop at a signal, and Mr. Truck stood between the +knight-heads, watching the slow progress of the vessel, and accurately +noticing every foot of leeward set she made, as compared with the rocks. + +All this time the poor fellow stood in the water, awaiting the arrival of +his friends, who, in their turn, were anxiously watching his features, as +they gradually grew more distinct. + +"I see his eyes," cried the captain cheerily; "take a drag at the +bowlines, and let her head up as much as she will, Mr. Leach, and never +mind those sham topsails Take them in at once, sir; they do us, now, more +harm than good." + +The clewline blocks rattled, and the top-gallant sails, which were made +to do the duty of top-sails, but which would hardly spread to the lower +yards, so as to set on a wind, came rapidly in. Five minutes of intense +doubt followed, when the captain gave the animating order to--"Man the +main-clew garnets, boys, and stand by to make a run of it!" + +This was understood to be a sign that the ship was far enough to windward, +and the command to "in mainsail," which soon succeeded, was received +with a shout. + +"Hard up with the helm, and stand by to lay the fore-yard square," cried +Captain Truck, rubbing his hands. "Look that both bowers are clear for a +run; and you, Toast, bring me the brightest coal in the galley." + +The movements of the Montauk were necessarily slow; but she obeyed her +helm, and fell off until her bows pointed in towards the sailor in the +water. This fine fellow, the moment he saw the ship approaching, waded to +the verge of the rock, where it went off perpendicularly to the bottom, +and waved to them to come on without fear. + +"Come within ten feet of me," he shouted. "There is nothing to spare on +the other side." + +As the captain was prepared for this, the ship was steered accordingly, +and as she hove slowly past on the rising and falling water, a rope was +thrown to the man, who was hauled on board. + +"Port!" cried the captain, as soon as the rock was passed; "port your +helm, sir, and stand for the first buoy." + +In this manner the Montauk drove slowly but steadily on, until she had +reached the basin, where one anchor was let go almost as soon as she +entered. The chain was paid out until the vessel was forced over to some +distance, and then the other bower was dropped. The foresail was hauled +up and handed, and chain was given the ship, which was pronounced to be +securely moored. + +"Now," cried the captain, all his anxiety ceasing with the responsibility, +"I expect to be made a member of the New York Philosophical Society at +least, which is learned company for a man who has never been at college, +for discovering a port on the coast of Africa, which harbour, ladies and +gentlemen, without too much vanity, I hope to be permitted to call Port +Truck. If Mr. Dodge, however should think this too anti-republican, we +will compromise the matter by calling it Port Truck and Dodge; or the town +that no doubt will sooner or later arise on its banks, may be called +Dodgeborough, and I will keep the harbour to myself." + +"Should Mr. Dodge consent to this arrangement, he will render himself +liable to the charge of aristocracy," said Mr. Sharp; for as all felt +relieved by finding themselves in a place of security, so all felt +disposed to join in the pleasantry. "I dare say his modesty would prevent +his consenting to the plan." + +"Why, gentlemen," returned the subject of these remarks, "I do not know +that we are to refuse honours that are fairly imposed on us by the popular +voice; and the practice of naming towns and counties after distinguished +citizens, is by no means uncommon with us. A few of my own neighbours have +been disposed to honour me in this way already, and my paper is issued +from a hamlet that certainly does bear my own unworthy name. So you +perceive there will be no novelty in the appellation." + +"I would have made oath to it," cried the captain, "from your +well-established humility. Is the place as large as London?" + +"It can boast of little more than my own office, a tavern, a store, and a +blacksmith's shop, captain, as yet; but Rome was not built in a day." + +"Your neighbours, sir, must be people of extraordinary discernment; but +the name?" + +"That is not absolutely decided. At first it was called Dodgetown, but +this did not last long, being thought vulgar and common-place. Six or +eight weeks afterwards, we--" + +"We, Mr. Dodge!" + +"I mean the people, sir,--I am so much accustomed to connect myself with +the people, that whatever they do, I think I had a hand in." + +"And very properly, sir," observed John Effingham, "as probably without +you, there would have been no people at all." + +"What may be the population of Dodgetown, sir?" asked the persevering +captain, on this hint. + +"At the census of January, it was seventeen; but by the census of March, +there were eighteen. I have made a calculation that shows, if we go on at +this rate, or by arithmetical progression, it will be a hundred in about +ten years, which will be a very respectable population for a country +place. I beg pardon, sir, the people six or eight weeks afterwards, +altered the name to Dodgeborough; but a new family coming in that summer, +a party was got up to change it to Dodge-ville, a name that was immensely +popular, as ville means city in Latin; but it must be owned the people +like change, or rotation in names, as well as in office, and they called +the place Butterfield Hollow, for a whole month, after the new inhabitant, +whose name is Butterfield. He moved away in the fall; and so, after trying +Belindy, (_Anglice_ Belinda,) Nineveh, Grand Cairo, and Pumpkin Valley, +they made me the offer to restore the ancient name, provided some +_addendum_ more noble and proper could be found than town, or ville, or +borough; it is not yet determined what it shall be, but I believe we shall +finally settle down in Dodgeople, or Dodgeopolis." + +"For the season; and a very good name it will prove for a short cruise, I +make no question. The Butterfield Hollow _was_ a little like rotation in +office, in truth, sir." + +"I didn't like it, captain, so I gave Squire Butterfield to understand, +privately; for as he had a majority with him, I didn't approve of speaking +too strongly on the subject. As soon as I got him out of the tavern, +however, the current set the other way." + +"You fairly uncorked him!" + +"That I did, and no one ever heard of him, or of his hollow, after his +retreat. There are a few discontented and arrogant innovators, who affect +to call the place by its old name of Morton; but these are the mere +vassals of a man who once owned the patent, and who has now been dead +these forty years. We are not the people to keep his old musty name, or to +honour dry bones." + +"Served him right, sir, and like men of spirit! If he wants a place called +after himself, let him live, like other people. A dead man has no occasion +for a name, and there should be a law passed, that when a man slips his +cables, he should bequeath his name to some honest fellow who has a worse +one. It might be well to compel all great men in particular, to leave +their renown to those who cannot get any for themselves." + +"I will venture to suggest an improvement on the name, if Mr. Dodge will +permit me," said Mr. Sharp, who had been an amused listener to the short +dialogue. "Dodgeople is a little short, and may be offensive by its +_brusquerie_. By inserting a single letter, it will become Dodge-people; +or, there is the alternative of Dodge-adrianople, which will be a truly +sonorous and republican title. Adrian was an emperor, and even Mr. Dodge +might not disdain the conjunction." + +By this time, the editor of the Active Inquirer began to be extremely +elevated--for this was assailing him on his weakest side--and he laughed +and rubbed his hands as if he thought the joke particularly pleasant. This +person had also a peculiarity of judgment that was singularly in +opposition to all his open professions, a peculiarity, however, that +belongs rather to his class than to the individual member of it. Ultra as +a democrat and an American, Mr. Dodge had a sneaking predilection in +favour of foreign opinions. Although practice had made him intimately +acquainted with all the frauds, deceptions, and vileness of the ordinary +arts of paragraph-making, he never failed to believe religiously in the +veracity, judgment, good faith, honesty and talents of anything that was +imported in the form of types. He had been weekly, for years, accusing his +nearest brother of the craft, of lying, and he could not be altogether +ignorant of his own propensity in the same way; but, notwithstanding all +this experience in the secrets of the trade, whatever reached him from a +European journal, he implicitely swallowed whole. One, who knew little of +the man, might have supposed he feigned credulity to answer his own +purposes; but this would be doing injustice to his faith, which was +perfect, being based on that provincial admiration, and provincial +ignorance, that caused the countryman, who went to London for the first +time, to express his astonishment at finding the king a man. As was due to +his colonial origin, his secret awe and reverence for an Englishman was +in proportion to his protestations of love for the people, and his +deference for rank was graduated on a scale suited to the heart-burning +and jealousies he entertained for all whom he felt to be his superiors. +Indeed, one was the cause of the other; for they who really are +indifferent to their own social position, are usually equally indifferent +to that of others, so long as they are not made to feel the difference by +direct assumptions of superiority. + +When Mr. Sharp, whom even Mr. Dodge had discovered to be a gentleman,--and +an English gentleman of course,--entered into the trifling of the moment, +therefore, so far from detecting the mystification, the latter was +disposed to believe himself a subject of interest with this person, +against whose exclusiveness and haughty reserve, notwithstanding, he had +been making side-hits ever since the ship had sailed. But the avidity with +which the Americans of Mr. Dodge's temperament are apt to swallow the +crumbs of flattery that fall from the Englishman's table, is matter of +history, and the editor himself was never so happy as when he could lay +hold of a paragraph to republish, in which a few words of comfort were +doled out by the condescending mother to the never-dying faith of the +daughter. So far, therefore, from taking umbrage at what had been said, he +continued the subject long after the captain had gone to his duty, and +with so much perseverance that Paul Blunt, as soon as Mr. Sharp escaped, +took an occasion to compliment that gentleman on his growing intimacy with +the refined and single-minded champion of the people. The other admitted +his indiscretion; and if the affair had no other consequences, it afforded +these two fine young men a moment's merriment, at a time when anxiety had +been fast getting the ascendency over their more cheerful feelings. When +they endeavoured to make Miss Effingham share in the amusement, however, +that young lady heard them with gravity; for the meanness of the act +discovered by Nanny Sidley, had indisposed her to treat the subject of +their comments with the familiarity of even ridicule. Perceiving this, +though unable to account for it, the gentlemen changed the discourse, and +soon became sufficiently grave by Contemplating their own condition. + +The situation of the Montauk was now certainly one to excite uneasiness +in those who were little acquainted with the sea, as well as in those who +were. It was very much like that for which Miss Effingham's nurse had +pined, having many rocks and sands in sight, with the land at no great +distance. In order that the reader may understand it more clearly, we +shall describe it with greater minuteness. + +To the westward of the ship lay the ocean, broad, smooth, glittering, but, +heaving and setting, with its eternal breathings, which always resemble +the respiration of some huge monster. Between the vessel and this waste of +water, and within three hundred feet of the first, stretched an irregular +line of ripple, dotted here and there with the heads of low naked rocks, +marking the presence and direction of the reef. + +This was all that would interpose between the basin and the raging +billows, should another storm occur; but Captain Truck thought this would +suffice so far to break the waves as to render the anchorage sufficiently +secure. Astern of the ship, however, a rounded ridge of sand began to +appear as the tide fell, within forty fathoms of the vessel, and as the +bottom was hard, and difficult to get an anchor into it, there was the +risk of dragging on this bank. We say that the bottom was hard, for the +reader should know that it is not the weight of the anchor that secures +the ship, but the hold its pointed fluke and broad palm get of the ground. +The coast itself was distant less than a mile, and the entire basin within +the reef was fast presenting spits of sand, as the water fell on the ebb. +Still there were many channels, and it would have been possible, for one +who knew their windings, to have sailed a ship several leagues among them, +without passing the inlet; these channels forming a sort of intricate +net-work, in every direction from the vessel. + +When Captain Truck had coolly studied all the peculiarities of his +position, he set about the duty of securing his ship, in good earnest. The +two light boats were brought under the bows, and the stream anchor was +lowered, and fastened to a spar that lay across both. This anchor was +carried to the bank astern, and, by dint of sheer strength, was laid over +its summit with a fluke buried to the shank in the hard sand. By means of +a hawser, and a purchase applied to its end, the men on the banks next +roused the chain out, and shackled it to the ring. The bight was hove-in, +and the ship secured astern, so as to prevent a shift of wind, off the +land, from forcing her on the reef. As no sea could come from this +quarter, the single anchor and chain were deemed sufficient for this +purpose. As soon as the boats were at liberty, and before the chain had +been got ashore, two kedges were carried to the reef, and laid among the +rocks, in such a way that their flukes and stocks equally got hold of the +projections. To these kedges lighter chains were secured; and when all the +bights were hove-in, to as equal a strain as possible. Captain Truck +pronounced his ship in readiness to ride out any gale that would be likely +to blow. So far as the winds and waves might affect her, the Montauk was, +in truth, reasonably safe; for on the side where danger was most to be +apprehended, she had two bowers down, and four parts of smaller chain were +attached to the two kedges. Nor had Captain Truck fallen into the common +error of supposing he had so much additional strength in his fastenings, +by simply running the chains through the rings, but he had caused each to +be separately fastened, both in-board and to the kedges, by which means +each length of the chain formed a distinct and independent fastening +of itself. + +So absolute is the sovereignty of a ship, that no one had presumed to +question the master as to his motives for all this extraordinary +precaution, though it was the common impression that he intended to remain +where they were until the wind became favourable, or at least, until all +danger of being thrown upon the coast, from the currents and the +ground-swell, should have ceased, Paul Blunt observed, that he fancied it +was the intention to take advantage of the smooth water within the reef, +to get up a better and a more efficient set of jury-masts. But Captain +Truck soon removed all doubts by letting the truth be known. While on +board the Danish wreck, he had critically examined her spars, sails, and +rigging, and, though adapted for a ship two hundred tons smaller than the +Montauk, he was of opinion they might be fitted to the latter vessel, and +made to answer all the necessary purposes for crossing the ocean, +provided the Mussulmans and the weather would permit the transfer. + +"We have smooth water and light airs," he said, when concluding his +explanation, "and the current sets southwardly along this coast; by means +of all our force, hard working, a kind Providence, and our own enterprise, +I hope yet to see the Montauk enter the port of New York, with royals set, +and ready to carry sail on a wind. The seaman who cannot rig his ship with +sticks and ropes and blocks enough, might as well stay ashore, Mr. Dodge, +and publish an hebdomadal. And so, my dear young lady, by looking along +the land, the day after to-morrow, in the northern board here, you may +expect to see a raft booming down upon you that will cheer your heart, and +once more raise the hope of a Christmas dinner in New York, in all lovers +of good fare." + + + + +Chapter XVIII + + + + Here, in the sands. Thee I'll rake up-- + + LEAR + + +His mind made up, his intentions announced, and his ship in readiness, +Captain Truck gave his orders to proceed with promptitude and clearness. +The ladies remaining behind, he observed that the two Messrs. Effingham, +as a matter of course, would stay with them as protectors, though little +could harm them where they were. + +"I propose to leave the ship in the care of Mr. Blunt," he said, "for I +perceive something about that gentleman which denotes a nautical instinct. +If Mr. Sharp choose to remain also, your society will be the more +agreeable, and in exchange, gentlemen, I ask the favour of the strong arms +of all your servants. Mr. Monday is my man in fair or foul, and so, I +flatter myself, will be Sir George Templemore; and as for Mr. Dodge, if he +stay behind, why the Active Inquirer will miss a notable paragraph, for +there shall be no historian to the expedition, but one of my own +appointing. Mr. Saunders shall have the honour of cooking for you in the +meanwhile, and I propose taking every one else to the Dane." + +As no serious objections could be made to this arrangement, within an hour +of the time when the ship was fastened, the cutter and jolly-boat +departed, it being the intention of Captain Truck to reach the wreck that +evening, in season to have his sheers ready to raise by daylight in the +morning; or he hoped to be back again in the course of the succeeding +day. No time was to be lost, he knew, the return of the Arabs being hourly +expected, and the tranquillity of the open sea being at all times a matter +of the greatest uncertainty. With the declared view of making quick work, +and with the secret apprehension of a struggle with the owners of the +country, the captain took with him every officer and man in his ship that +could possibly be spared, and as many of the passengers as he thought +might be useful. As numbers might be important in the way of intimidation, +he cared almost as much for appearances as for any thing else, or +certainly he would not have deemed the presence of Mr. Dodge of any great +moment; for to own the truth, he expected the editor of the Active +Inquirer would prove the quality implied by the first word of the title of +his journal, as much in any other way as in fighting. + +Neither provisions nor water, beyond what might be necessary in pulling to +the wreck, nor ropes, nor blocks, nor any thing but arms and ammunition, +were taken in the boats; for the examination of the morning had shown the +captain, that, notwithstanding so much had been plundered, a sufficiency +still remained in the stranded vessel. Indeed, the fact that so much had +been left was one of his reasons for hastening off himself, as he deemed +it certain that they who had taken away what was gone, would soon return +for the remainder. The fowling-pieces and pistols, with all the powder and +ball in the ship, were taken: a light gun that was on board, for the +purpose of awaking sleepy pilots, being left loaded, with the intention of +serving for a signal of alarm, should any material change occur in the +situation of the ship. + +The party included thirty men, and as most had fire-arms of one sort or +another, they pulled out of the inlet with spirit and great confidence in +their eventual success. The boats were crowded, it is true, but there was +room to row, and the launch had been left in its place on deck, because it +was known that two boats were to be found in the wreck, one of which was +large: in short, as Captain Truck had meditated this expedient from the +moment he ascertained the situation of the Dane, he now set about carrying +it into effect with method and discrimination. We shall first accompany +him on his way, leaving the small party in the Montauk for our future +attention in another chapter. + +The distance between the two vessels was about four leagues, and a +headland intervening, those in the boats in less than an hour lost sight +of their own ship, as she lay shorn of her pride anchored within the reef. +At almost the same moment, the wreck came into view, and Captain Truck +applied his glass with great interest, in order to ascertain the state of +things in that direction. All was tranquil--no signs of any one having +visited the spot since morning being visible. This intelligence was given +to the people, who pulled at their oars the more willingly under the +stimulus of probable success, driving the boats ahead with +increasing velocity. + +The sun was still some distance above the horizon, when the cutter and +jolly-boat rowed through the narrow channel astern of the wreck, and +brought up, as before, by the side of the rocks. Leaping ashore, Captain +Truck led the way to the vessel, and, in five minutes, he was seen in the +forward cross-trees, examining the plain with his glass. All was as +solitary and deserted as when before seen, and the order was immediately +given to commence operations without delay. + +A gang of the best seamen got out the spare topmast and lower-yard of the +Dane, and set about fitting a pair of sheers, a job that would be likely +to occupy them several hours. Mr. Leach led a party up forward, and the +second mate went up with another further aft, each proceeding to send down +its respective top-gallant-mast, top-sail-yard, and top-mast; while +Captain Truck, from the deck, superintended the same work on the +mizen-mast. As the men worked with spirit, and a strong party remained +below to give the drags, and to come up the lanyards, spar came down after +spar with rapidity, and just as the sun dipped into the ocean to the +westward, everything but the lower-masts was lying on the sands, alongside +of the ship; nothing having been permitted to touch the decks in +descending. Previously, however, to sending down the lower-yards, the +launch had been lifted from its bed and landed also by the side of +the vessel. + +Ail hands were now mustered on the sands, and the boat was launched, an +operation of some delicacy, as heavy rollers were occasionally coming in. +As soon as it floated, this powerful auxiliary was swept up to the rocks, +and then the men began to load it with the standing rigging and sails, +the latter having been unbent, as fast as each spar came down. Two kedges +were found, and a hawser was bent to one, when the launch was carried +outside of the bar and anchored. Lines being brought in, the yards were +hauled out to the same place, and strongly lashed together for the night. +A great deal of running rigging, many blocks, and divers other small +articles, were put into the boats of the Montauk, and the jolly-boat of +the wreck, which was still hanging at her stern, was also lowered and got +into the water. With these acquisitions, the party had now four boats, one +of which was heavy and capable of carrying a considerable freight. + +By this time it was so late and so dark, that Captain Truck determined to +suspend his labours until morning. In the course of a few hours of active +toil, he had secured all the yards, the sails, the standing and running +rigging, the boats, and many of the minor articles of the Dane; and +nothing of essential importance remained, but the three lower masts. +These, it is true, were all in all to him, for without them he would be +but little better off than he was before, since his own ship had spare +canvas and spare yards enough to make a respectable show above the +foundation. This foundation, however, was the great requisite, and his +principal motive in taking the other things, was to have a better fit than +could be obtained by using spars and sails that were not intended to +go together. + +At eight o'clock, the people got their suppers, and prepared to turn in +for the night. Some conversation passed between Captain Truck and his +mates, concerning the manner of disposing of the men while they slept, +which resulted in the former's keeping a well-armed party of ten with him +in the ship, while the remainder were put in the boats, all of which were +fastened to the launch, as she lay anchored off the bar. Here they made +beds of the sails, and, setting a watch, the greater portion of both gangs +were soon as quietly asleep as if lying in their own berths on board the +Montauk. Not so with Captain Truck and his mates. They walked the deck of +the Dane fully an hour after the men were silent, and for some time after +Mr. Monday had finished the bottle of wine he had taken the precaution to +bring with him from the packet, and had bestowed his person among some +old sails in the cabin. The night was a bright starlight, but the moon was +not to be expected until near morning. The wind came off the sands of the +interior in hot puffs, but so lightly as to sound, that it breathed past +them like the sighings of the desert. + +"It is lucky, Mr. Leach," said the Captain, continuing the discourse he +had been holding with his mate in a low voice, under the sense of the +insecurity of their situation; "it is lucky, Mr. Leach, that we got out +the stream anchor astern, else we should have had the ship rubbing her +copper against the corners of the rocks. This air seems light, but under +all her canvas, the Montauk would soon flap her way out from this coast, +if all were ready." + +"Ay, ay, sir, if all were ready!" repeated Mr. Leach, as if he knew how +much honest labour was to be expended before that happy moment +could arrive. + +"If all were ready. I think we may be able to whip these three sticks out +of this fellow by breakfast-time in the morning, and then a couple of +hours will answer for the raft; after which, a pull of six or eight more +will take us back to our own craft." + +"If all goes well, it may be done, sir." + +"Well or ill, it must be done. We are not in a situation to play at +jack-straws!" + +"I hope if may be done, sir." + +"Mr. Leach!" + +"Captain Truck!" + +"We are in a d----le category, sir, if the truth must be spoken." + +"That is a word I am not much acquainted with, but we have an awkward +berth of it here, if that be what you mean!" + +A long pause, during which these two seamen, one of whom was old, the +other young, paced the deck diligently. + +"Mr. Leach!" + +"Captain Truck!" + +"Do you ever pray?" + +"I have done such a thing in my time, sir; but, since I have sailed with +you, I have been taught to work first and pray afterwards; and when the +difficulty has been gotten over by the work, the prayers have commonly +seemed surplusage." + +"You should take to, your thanksgivings. I think your grandfather was a +parson Leach." + +"Yes, he was, sir, and I have been told your father followed the same +trade." + +"You have been told the truth, Mr. Leach. My father was as meek, and +pious, and humble a Christian as ever thumped a pulpit. A poor man, and, +if truth must be spoken, a poor preacher too; but a zealous one, and +thoroughly devout. I ran away from him at twelve, and never passed a week +at a time under his roof afterwards. He could not do much for me, for he +had little education and no money, and, I believe, carried on the business +pretty much by faith. He was a good man, Leach, notwithstanding there +might be a little of a take-in for such a person to set up as a teacher; +and, as for my mother, if there ever was a pure spirit on earth it was in +her body!" + +"Ay, that is the way commonly with the mothers, sir." + +"She taught me to pray," added the captain, speaking a little thick, "but +since I've been in this London line, to own the truth, I find but little +time for any thing but hard work, until, for want of practice, praying has +got to be among the hardest things I can turn my hand to." + +"That is the way with all of us; it is my opinion, Captain Truck, these +London and Liverpool liners will have a good many lost souls to +answer for." + +"Ay, ay, if we could put it on them, it would do well enough; but my +honest old father always maintained, that every man must stand in the gap +left by his own sins; though he did assert, also, that we were all +fore-ordained to shape our courses starboard or port, even before we were +launched." + +"That doctrine makes an easy tide's-way of life; for I see no great use in +a man's carrying sail and jamming himself up in the wind, to claw off +immoralities, when he knows he is to fetch up upon them after all +his pains." + +"I have worked all sorts of traverses to get hold of this matter, and +never could make any thing of it. It is harder than logarithms. If my +father had been the only one to teach it, I should have thought less about +it, for he was no scholar, and might have been paying it out just in the +way of business; but then my mother believed it, body and soul, and she +was too good a woman to stick long to a course that had not truth to +back it." + +"Why not believe it heartily, sir, and let the wheel fly? One gets to the +end of the v'y'ge on this tack as well as on another." + +"There is no great difficulty in working up to or even through the passage +of death, Leach, but the great point is to know the port we are to moor in +finally. My mother taught me to pray, and when I was ten I had underrun +all the Commandments, knew the Lord's Creed, and the Apostles' Prayer, and +had made a handsome slant into the Catechism; but, dear me, dear me, it +has all oozed out of me, like the warmth from a Greenlander." + +"Folks were better educated in your time, Captain Truck, than they are +now-a-days, by all I can learn." + +"No doubt of that in the world. In my time, younkers were taught respect +for their betters, and for age, and their Catechism, and piety, and the +Apostles' Prayer, and all those sort of things. But America has fallen +astern sadly in manners within the last fifty years. I do not flatter +myself with being as good as I was when under my excellent dear mother's +command, but there are worse men in the world, and out of Newgate, too, +than John Truck. Now, in the way of vices, Leach, I never swear." + +"Not you, sir; and Mr. Monday _never_ drinks." + +As the protestation of sobriety on the part of their passenger had got to +be a joke with the officers and men of the ship, Captain Truck had no +difficulty in understanding his mate, and though nettled at a retort that +was like usurping his own right to the exclusive quizzing of the vessel, +he was in a mood much too sentimental and reflecting to be angry. After a +moment's pause, he resumed the dialogue, as if nothing had been said to +disturb its harmony. + +"No, I _never_ swear; or, if I do, it is in a small gentlemanly way, and +with none of your foul-mouthed oaths, such as are used by the +horse-jockeys that formerly sailed out of the river." + +"Were they hard swearers?" + +"Is a nor'-wester a hard wind? Those fellows, after they have been choked +off and jammed by the religion ashore for a month or two, would break out +like a hurricane when they had made an offing, and were once fairly out of +hearing of the parsons and deacons. It is said that old Joe Bunk began an +oath on the bar that he did not get to the end of until his brig was off +Montauk. I have my doubts, Leach, if any thing be gained by screwing down +religion and morals, like a cotton bale, as is practised in and about +the river!" + +"A good many begin to be of the same way of thinking; for when our people +_do_ break out, it is like the small-pox!" + +"I am an advocate for education; nor do I think I was taught in my own +case more than was reasonable. I think even a prayer is of more use to a +ship-master than Latin, and I often have, even now, recourse to one, +though it may not be exactly in Scripture language. I seldom want a wind +without praying for it, mentally, as it might be; and as for the +rheumatis', I am always praying to be rid of it, when I'm not cursing it +starboard and larboard. Has it never struck you that the world is less +moral since steamboats were introduced than formerly?" + +"The boats date from before my birth, sir." + +"Very true--you are but a boy. Mankind appear to be hurried, and no one +likes to stop to pray, or to foot up his sins, as used to be the case. +Life is like a passage at sea. We feel our way cautiously until off +soundings on our own coast, and then we have an easy time of it in the +deep water; but when we get near the shoals again; we take out the lead, +and mind a little how we steer. It is the going off and coming on the +coast, that gives us all the trouble." + +"You had some object in view, Captain Truck, when you asked me if I ever +prayed!" + +"Certain. If I were to set to work to pray myself just now, it would be +for smooth water to-morrow, that we may have a good time in towing the +raft to the ship--hist! Leach did you hear nothing?" + +"There was a sound different from what is common in the air from the land! +It is probably some savage beast, for Africa is full of them." + +"I think we might manage a lion from this fortress. Unless the fellow +found the stage, he could hardly board us, and a plank or two thrown from +that, would make a draw-bridge of it at once. Look yonder! there is +something moving on the bank, or my eyes are two jewel-blocks." + +Mr. Leach looked in the required direction, and he, too, fancied he saw +something in motion on the margin of the bank. At the point where the +wreck lay, the beach was far from wide, and her flying jib-boom, which was +still out, projected so near the low acclivity, where the coast rose to +the level of the desert, as to come within ten feet of the bushes by which +the latter was fringed. Although the spar had drooped a little in +consequence of having lost the support of the stays, its end was still +sufficiently high to rise above the leaves, and to permit one seated on it +to overlook the plain as well as the starlight would allow. Believing the +duty to be important, Captain Truck, first giving his orders to Mr. Leach, +as to the mode of alarming the men, should it become necessary, went +cautiously out on the bowsprit, and thence by the foot-ropes, to the +farther extremity of the booms. As this was done with the steadiness of a +seaman and with the utmost care to prevent discovery, he was soon +stretched on the spar, balancing his body by his legs beneath, and casting +eager glances about, though prevented by the obscurity from seeing either +far or very distinctly. + +After lying in this position a minute, Captain Truck discovered an object +on the plains, at the distance of a hundred yards from the bushes, that +was evidently in motion. He was now all watchfulness, for, had he not seen +the proofs that the Arabs or Moors had already been at the wreck, he knew +that parties of them were constantly hovering along the coast, especially +after every heavy gale that blew from the westward, in the hope of booty. +As all his own people were asleep, the mates excepted, and the boats could +just be discovered by himself, who knew their position, he was in hopes +that, should any of the barbarians be near, the presence of his own party +could hardly be known. It is true, the alteration in the appearance of the +wreck, by the removal of the spars, must strike any one who had seen it +before, but this change might have been made by another party of +marauders, or those who had now come, if any there were, might see the +vessel for the first time. + +While such thoughts were rapidly glancing through his mind, the reader +will readily imagine that the worthy master was not altogether at his +ease. Still he was cool, and as he was resolved to fight his way off, even +against an army, he clung to the spar with a species of physical +resolution that would have done credit to a tiger. The object on the plain +moved once more, and the clouds opening beyond he plainly made out the +head and neck of a dromedary. There was but one, however; nor could the +most scrupulous examination show him a human being. After remaining a +quarter of an hour on the boom, during all which time the only sounds that +were heard were the sighings of the night-air, and the sullen and steady +wash of the surf, Captain Truck came on deck again, where he found his +mate waiting his report with intense anxiety. The former was fully aware +of the importance of his discovery, but, being a cool man, he had not +magnified the danger to himself. + +"The Moors are down on the coast," he said, in an undertone; "but I do not +think there can be more than two or three of them at the most; probably +spies or scouts; and, could we seize them, we may gain a few hours on +their comrades, which will be all we want; after which they shall be +welcome to the salt and the other dunnage of the poor Dane. Leach, are you +the man to stand by me in this affair?" + +"Have I ever failed you, Captain Truck, that you put the question?" + +"That you have never, my fine fellow; give me a squeeze of your honest +hand, and let there be a pledge of life or death in it." + +The mate met the iron grasp of his commander, and each knew that he +received an assurance on which he might rely. + +"Shall I awake the men, sir?" asked Mr. Leach. + +"Not one of them. Every hour of sleep the people get will be a lower mast +saved. These sticks that still remain are our foundation, and even one of +them is of more account to us, just now, than a fleet of ships might be at +another time. Take your arms and follow me; but first we will give a hint +to the second-mate of what we are about." + +This officer was asleep on the deck, for he had been so much wearied with +his great exertions that afternoon as to catch a little rest as the +sweetest of all gifts. It had been the intention of Captain Truck to +dismiss him to the boats: but, observing him to be overcome with +drowsiness, he had permitted him to catch a nap where he lay. The +look-out, too, was also slumbering under the same indulgence; but both +were now awakened, and made acquainted with the state of things on shore. + +"Keep your eyes open, but keep a dead silence," concluded Captain Truck; +"for it is my wish to deceive these scouts, and to keep them ignorant of +our presence. When I cry out 'Alarm!' you will muster all hands, and clear +away for a brush, but not before. God bless you, my lads! mind and keep +your eyes open. Leach, I am ready." + +The captain and his companion cautiously descended to the sands, and +passing astern of the ship, they first took their way to the jolly-boat, +which lay at the rocks in readiness to carry off the two officers to the +launch. Here they found the two men in charge so soundly asleep, that +nothing would have been easier than to bind them without giving the alarm. +After a little hesitation, it was determined to let them dream away their +sorrows, and to proceed to the spot where the bank was ascended. + +At this place it became necessary to use the greatest precaution, for it +was literally entering the enemy's country. The steepness of the short +ascent requiring them to mount nearly on their hands and feet, this part +of their progress was made without much hazard, and the two adventurers +stood on the plain, sheltered by some bushes. + +"Yonder is the camel," whispered the captain: "you see his crooked neck, +with the head tossing at moments. The fellow is not fifty yards from the +body of the poor German! Now let us follow along this line of bushes, and +keep a sharp look-out for the rider." + +They proceeded in the manner mentioned, until they came to a point where +the bushes ceased, and there was an opening that overlooked the beach +quite near the wreck. + +"Do you see the boats, Leach, here away, in a line with the starboard +davit of the Dane? They look like dark spots on the water, and an ignorant +Arab might be excused for taking them for rocks." + +"Except that they rise and fall with the rollers; he must be doubly a Turk +who could make such a blunder!" + +"Your wanderers of the desert are not so particular. The wreck has +certainly undergone some changes since yesterday, and I should not wonder +if even a Mussulman found them out, but--" + +The gripe of Mr. Leach, whose fingers almost entered the flesh of his arm, +and a hand pointed towards the bushes on the other side of the opening, +silenced the captain's whisper, A human form was seen standing on the +fringe of the bank, directly opposite the jib-boom. It was swaddled in a +sort of cloak, and the long musket that was borne in a hollow of an arm, +was just discernible, diverging from the line of the figure. The Arab, for +such it could only be, was evidently gazing on the wreck, and presently he +ventured out more boldly, and stood on the spot that was clear of bushes. +The death-like stillness on the beach deceived him, and he advanced with +less caution towards the spot where the two officers were in ambush, still +keeping his own eye on the ship. A few steps brought him within reach of +Captain Truck, who drew back his arm until the elbow reached his own hip, +when he darted it forward, and dealt the incautious barbarian a severe +blow between the eyes. The Arab fell like a slaughtered ox, and before his +senses were fairly recovered, he was bound hands and feet, and rolled over +the bank down upon the beach, with little ceremony, his fire-arms remaining +with his captors. + +"That lad is in a category," whispered the captain; "it now remains to be +seen if there is another." + +A long search was not rewarded with success, and it was determined to lead +the camel down the path, with a view to prevent his being seen by any +wanderer in the morning. + +"If we get the lower masts out betimes," continued the captain, "these +land pirates will have no beacons in sight to steer by, and, in a country +in which one grain of sand is so much like another, they might hunt a week +before they made a happy landfall." + +The approach of the two towards the camel was made with less caution than +usual, the success of their enterprise throwing them off their guard, and +exciting their spirits. They believed in short, that their captive was +either a solitary wanderer, or that he had been sent ahead as a scout, by +some party that would be likely to follow in the morning. + +"We must be up and at work before the sun, Mr. Leach," said the captain, +speaking clearly, but in a low tone, as they approached the camel. The +head of the animal was tossed; then it seemed to snuff the air, and it +gave a shriek. In the twinkling of an eye an Arab sprang from the sand, on +which he had been sleeping, and was on the creature's back. He was seen to +look around him, and before the startled mariners had time to decide on +their course, the beast, which was a dromedary trained to speed, was out +of sight in the darkness. Captain Truck had thrown forward his +fowling-piece, but he did not fire. + +"We have no right to shoot the fellow," he said, "and our hope is now in +the distance he will have to ride to join his comrades. If we have got a +chief, as I suspect, we will make a hostage of him, and turn him to as +much account, as he can possibly turn one of his own camels. Depend on it +we shall see no more of them for several hours, and we will seize the +opportunity to get a little sleep. A man must have his watch below, or he +gets to be as dull and as obstinate as a top-maul." + +The captain having made up his mind to this plan was not slow in putting +it in execution. Returning to the beach they liberated the legs of their +prisoner, whom they found lying like a log on the sands, and made him +mount the staging to the deck of the ship. Leading the way into the cabin, +Mr. Truck examined the fellow by a light, turning him round and commenting +on his points very much as he might have done had the captive been any +other animal of the desert. + +The Arab was a swarthy, sinewy man of forty, with all his fibres indurated +and worked down to the whip-cord meagreness and rigidity of a racer, his +frame presenting a perfect picture of the sort of being one would fancy +suited to the exhausting motion of a dromedary, and to the fare of a +desert. He carried a formidable knife, in addition to the long musket of +which he had been deprived, and his principal garment was the coarse +mantle of camel's hair, that served equally for cap, coat and robe. His +wild dark eyes gleamed, as Captain Truck passed the lamp before his face, +and it was sufficiently apparent that he fancied a very serious +misfortune had befallen him. As any verbal communication was out of the +question, some abortive attempts were essayed by the two mariners to make +themselves understood by signs, which, like some men's reasoning, produced +results exactly contrary to what had been expected. + +"Perhaps the poor fellow fancies we mean to eat him, Leach," observed the +captain, after trying his skill in pantomime for some time without +success; "and he has some grounds for the idea, as he was felled like an +ox that is bound to the kitchen. Try and let the miserable wretch +understand, at least, that we are not cannibals." + +Hereupon the mate commenced an expressive pantomime, which described, with +sufficient clearness, the process of skinning, cutting up, cooking, and +eating the carcass of the Arab, with the humane intention of throwing a +negative over the whole proceeding, by a strong sign of dissent at the +close; but there are no proper substitutes for the little monosyllables of +"yes" and "no," and the meaning of the interpreter got to be so confounded +that the captain himself was mystified. + +"D--n it, Leach," he interrupted, "the man fancies that he is not good +eating, you make so many wry and out-of-the-way contortions. A sign is a +jury-mast for the tongue, and every seaman ought to know how to practise +them, in case he should be wrecked on a savage and unknown coast. Old Joe +Bunk had a dictionary of them, and in calm weather he used to go among his +horses and horned cattle, and talk with them by the hour. He made a +diagram of the language, and had it taught to all us younkers who were +exposed to the accidents of the bea. Now, I will try my hand on this Arab, +for I could never go to sleep while the honest black imagined we intended +to breakfast on him." + +The captain now recommenced his own explanations in the language of +nature. He too described the process of cooking and eating the +prisoner--for this he admitted was indispensable by way of preface--and +then, to show his horror of such an act, he gave a very good +representation of a process he had often witnessed among his sea-sick +passengers, by way of showing his loathing of cannibalism in general, and +of eating this Arab in particular. By this time the man was thoroughly +alarmed, and by way of commentary on the captain's eloquence, he began to +utter wailings in his own language, and groans that were not to be +mistaken. To own the truth, Mr. Truck was a good deal mortified with this +failure, which, like all other unsuccessful persons, he was ready to +ascribe to anybody but himself. + +"I begin to think, Mr. Leach," he said, "that this fellow is too stupid +for a spy or a scout, and that, after all, he is no more than a driveller +who has strayed from his tribe, from a want of sense to keep the road in a +desert. A man of the smallest information must have understood me, and yet +you perceive by his lamentations and outcries that he knows no more what I +said than if he were in another parallel of latitude. The chap has quite +mistaken my character; for if I really did intend to make a beast of +myself, and devour my species, no one of the smallest knowledge of human +nature would think I'd begin on a nigger! What is your opinion of the +man's mistake, Mr. Leach?" + +"It is very plain, sir, that he supposes you mean to broil him, and then +to eat so much of his steaks, that you will be compelled to heave up like +a marine two hours out; and, if I must say the truth, I think most people +would have inferred the same thing from your signs, which are as plainly +cannibal as any thing of the sort I ever witnessed." + +"And what the devil did he make of yours, Master Cookery-Book?" cried the +captain with some heat. "Did he fancy you meant to mortify the flesh with +a fortnight's fast? No, no, sir; you are a very respectable first officer, +but are no more acquainted with Joe Bunk's principles of signs, than this +editor here knows of truth and propriety. It is your blundering manner of +soliloquizing that has set the lad on a wrong traverse. He has just +grafted your own idea on my communication, and has got himself into a +category that a book itself would not reason him out of, until his fright +is passed. Logic is thrown away on all 'skeary animals,' said old Joe +Bunk. Hearkee, Leach, I've a mind to set the rascal adrift, condemning the +gun and the knife for the benefit of the captors. I think I should sleep +better for the certainty that he was trudging along the sand, satisfied he +was not to be barbecued in the morning." + +There is no use in detaining him, sir, for his messmate, who went off on +the dromedary, will sail a hundred feet to his one, and if an alarm is +really to be given to their party, it will not come from this chap. He +will be unarmed, and by taking away his pouch we shall get some ammunition +for this gun of his, which will throw a shot as far as Queen Anne's +pocket-piece. For my part, sir, I think there is no great use in keeping +him, for I do not think he would understand us, if he stayed a month, and +went to school the whole time." + +"You are quite right, and as long as he is among us, we shall be liable to +unpleasant misconceptions; so cut his lashings, and set him adrift, and be +d---d to him." + +The mate, who by this time was drowsy, did as desired, and in a moment the +Arab was at liberty. At first the poor creature did not know what to make +of his freedom, but a smart application, _à posteriori_, from the foot of +Captain Truck, whose humanity was of the rough quality of the seas, soon +set him in motion up the cabin-ladder. When the two mariners reached the +deck, their prisoner was already leaping down the staging, and in another +minute his active form was obscurely seen clambering up the bank, on +gaining which he plunged into the desert, and was seen no more. + +None but men indurated in their feelings by long exposure would be likely +to sleep under the circumstances in which these two seamen were placed; +but they were both too cool, and too much accustomed to arouse themselves +on sudden alarms, to lose the precious moments in womanish apprehensions, +when they knew that all their physical energies would be needed on the +morrow, whether the Arabs arrived or not. They accordingly regulated the +look-outs, gave strong admonitions of caution to be passed from one to +another, and then the captain stretched himself in the berth of the poor +Dane who was now a captive in the desert, while Mr. Leach got into the +jolly-boat, and was pulled off to the launch. Both were sound asleep in +less than five minutes after their heads touched their temporary pillows. + + + + +Chapter XIX. + + + + Ay, he does well enough, if he be disposed, + And so do I too; he does it with a better grace, but + I do it more natural. + + TWELFTH NIGHT. + + +The sleep of the weary is sweet. Of all the party that lay thus buried in +sleep, on the verge of the Great Desert, exposed at any moment to an +assault from its ruthless and predatory occupants, but one bethought him +of the danger; though _he_ was, in truth, so little exposed as to have +rendered it of less moment to himself than to most of the others, had he +not been the possessor of a fancy that served oftener to lead him astray +than for any purposes that were useful of pleasing. This person was in one +of the boats, and as they lay at a reasonable distance from the land, and +the barbarians would not probably have known how to use any craft had they +even possessed one, he was consequently safe from everything but a +discharge from their long muskets. But this remote risk sufficed to keep +him awake, it being very different things to foster malice, circulate +gossip, write scurrilous paragraphs, and cant about the people, and to +face a volley of fire-arms. For the one employment, nature, tradition, +education, and habit, had expressly fitted Mr. Dodge; while for the other, +he had not the smallest vocation. Although Mr. Leach, in setting his +look-outs on board the boats, had entirely overlooked the editor of the +Active Inquirer, never before had that vigilant person's inquiries been +more active than they were throughout the whole of that long night, and +twenty times would he have aroused the party on false alarms, but for the +cool indifference of the phlegmatic seamen, to whom the duty more properly +belonged. These brave fellows knew too well the precious qualities of +sleep to allow that of their shipmates to be causelessly disturbed by the +nervous apprehensions of one who carried with him an everlasting stimulant +to fear in the consciousness of demerit. The night passed away +undisturbed, therefore, nor was the order of the regular watch broken +until the look-outs in the wreck, agreeably to their orders, awoke Captain +Truck and his mates. + +It was now precisely at the moment when the first, and as it might be the +fugitive, rays of the sun glide into the atmosphere, and, to use a quaint +expression, "dilute its darkness." One no longer saw by starlight, or by +moonlight, though a little of both were still left; but objects, though +indistinct and dusky, had their true outlines, while every moment rendered +their surfaces more obvious. + +When Captain Truck appeared on deck, his first glance was at the ocean; +for, were its tranquillity seriously disturbed, it would be a death-blow +to all his hopes. Fortunately, in this particular, there was no change. + +"The winds seem to have put themselves out of breath in the last gale, Mr. +Leach," he said, "and we are likely to get the spars round as quietly as +if they were so many saw-logs floating in a mill-pond. Even the +ground-swell has lessened, and the breakers on the bar look like the +ripple of a wash-tub. Turn the people up, sir, and let us have a drag at +these sticks before breakfast, or we may have to broil an Arab yet." + +Mr. Leach hailed the boats, and ordered them to send their gang of +labourers on shore. He then gave the accustomed raps on the deck, and +called "all hands" in the ship. In a minute the men began to appear, +yawning and stretching their arms--for no one had thrown aside his +clothes--most of them launching their sea-jokes right and left, with as +much indifference as if they lay quietly in the port to which they were +bound. After some eight or ten minutes to shake themselves, and to get +"aired," as Mr. Leach expressed it, the whole party was again mustered on +the deck of the Dane, with the exception of a hand or two in the launch, +and Mr. Dodge. The latter had assumed the office of sentinel over the +jolly-boat, which, as usual, lay at the rocks, to carry such articles off +as might be wanted. + +"Send a hand up into the fore-top, Mr. Leach," said the captain, gaping +like a greyhound; "a fellow with sharp eyes; none of your chaps who read +with their noses down in the cloudy weather of an almanack; and let him +take a look at the desert, in search of Arabs." + +Although the lower rigging was down and safe in the launch, a girt-line, +or as Captain Truck in the true Doric of his profession pronounced it, a +"_gunt_-line," was rove at each mast, and a man was accordingly hauled up +forward as soon as possible. As it was still too dusky to distinguish far +with accuracy, the captain hailed him, and bade him stay where he was +until ordered down, and to keep a sharp look-out. + +"We had a visit from one chap in the night," he added, "and as he was a +hungry-looking rascal, he is a greater fool than I think him, or he will +be back before long, after some of the beef and stock-fish of the wreck. +Keep a bright look-out." + +The men, though accustomed to their commander's manner, looked at each +other more seriously, glanced around at their arms, and then the +information produced precisely the effect that had been intended, that of +inducing them to apply to their work with threefold vigour. + +"Let the boys chew upon that, instead of their tobacco," observed the +captain to Mr. Leach, as he hunted for a good coal in the galley to light +his cigar with. "I'll warrant you the sheers go up none the slower for the +information, desperate philosophers as some of these gentry are!" + +This prognostic was true enough, for instead of gaping and stretching +themselves about the deck, as had been the case with most of them a minute +before, the men now commenced their duty in good earnest, calling to each +other to come to the falls and the capstan-bars, and to stand by the heels +of the sheers. + +"Heave away!" cried the mate, smiling to see how quick the captain's hint +had been taken; "heave round with a will, men, and let us set these legs +on end, that they may walk." + +As the order was obeyed to the letter, the day had not fairly opened when +the sheers were in their places and secured. Every man was all activity, +and as their work was directed by those whose knowledge was never at +fault, a landsman would have been surprised at the readiness with which +the crew next raised a spar as heavy as the mainmast, and had it +suspended, top and all, in the air, high enough to be borne over the side. +The lowering was a trifling affair, and the massive stick was soon lying +at its length on the sands. Captain Truck well knew the great importance +of this particular spar, for he might make out with the part of the +foremast that remained in the packet, whereas, without this mast he could +not possibly rig any thing of much available use aft. He called out to the +men therefore, as he sprang upon the staging, to follow him and to launch +the spar into the water before they breakfasted. + +"Let us make sure of this fellow, men," he added, "for it is our main-stay. +With this stick fairly in our raft, we may yet make a passage; no one must +think of his teeth till it is out of all risk. This stick we must have, if +we make war on the Emperor of Morocco for its possession." + +The people knew the necessity for exertion, and they worked accordingly. +The top was knocked off, and carried down to the water; the spar was then +cut round, and rolled after it, not without trouble, however, as the +trestle trees were left on; but the descent of the sands favoured the +labour. When on the margin of the sea, by the aid of hand-spikes, the head +was got afloat, or so nearly so, as to require but little force to move +it, when a line from the boats was fastened to the outer end, and the top +was secured alongside. + +"Now, clap your hand-spikes under it, boys, and heave away!" cried the +captain. "Heave together and keep the stick straight--heave, and his head +is afloat!--Haul, haul away in the boat!--heave all at once, and as if you +were giants!--you gained three feet that tug, my hearties--try him again, +gentlemen, as you are--and move together, like girls in a +_cotillion_--Away with it!--What the devil are you staring at, in the +fore-top there? Have you nothing better to do than to amuse yourself in +seeing us heave our insides out?" + +The intense interest attached to the securing of this spar had extended to +the look-out in the top, and instead of keeping his eye on the desert, as +ordered, he was looking down at the party on the beach, and betraying his +sympathy in their efforts by bending his body, and appearing to heave in +common with his messmates. Admonished of his neglect by this sharp +rebuke, he turned round quickly towards the desert, and gave the fearful +alarm of "The Arabs!" + +Every man ceased his work, and the Whole were on the point of rushing in a +body towards their arms, when the greater steadiness of Captain Truck +prevented it. + +"Whereaway?" he demanded sternly. + +"On the most distant hillock of sand, may be a mile and a half inland." + +"How do they head?" + +"Dead down upon us, sir." + +"How do they travel?" + +"They have camels, and horses: all are mounted, sir." + +"What is their number?". + +The man paused, as if to count, and then he called out, + +"They are strong-handed, sir; quite a hundred I think. They have brought +up, sir, and seem to be sounding about them for an anchorage." + +Captain Truck hesitated, and he looked wistfully at the mast. + +"Boys!" said he, shaking his hand over the bit of massive wood, with +energy, "this spar is of more importance to us than our mother's milk in +infancy. It is our victuals and drink, life and hopes. Let us swear we +will have it in spite of a thousand Arabs. Stoop to your hand-spikes, and +heave at the word--'heave as if you had a world to move,--heave, +men, heave!" + +The people obeyed, and the mast advanced more than half the necessary +distance into the water. But the man now called out that the Arabs wore +advancing swiftly towards the ship. + +"One more effort, men," said Captain Truck, reddening in the face with +anxiety, and throwing down his hat to set the example in person,--"heave!" + +The men hove, and the spar floated. + +"Now to your arms, boys, and you, sir, in the top, keep yourself hid +behind the head of the mast. We must be ready to show these gentry we are +not afraid of them." A sign, of the hand told the men in the launch to +haul away, and the all-important spar floated slowly across the bar, to +join the raft. + +The men now hurried up to the ship, a post that Captain Truck declared he +could maintain against a whole tribe, while Mr. Dodge began incontinently +to scull the jolly-boat, in the best manner he could, off to the launch. +All remonstrance was useless, as he had got as far as the bar before he +was perceived. Both Sir George Templemore and Mr. Monday loudly denounced +him for deserting the party on the shore in this scandalous manner, but +quite without affect. Mr. Dodge's skill, unfortunately for his success, +did not quite equal his zeal; and finding, when he got on the bar, that he +was unable to keep the boat's head to the sea, or indeed to manage it at +all, he fairly jumped into the water and swam lustily towards the launch. +As he was expert at this exercise, he arrived safely, cursing in his heart +all travelling, the desert, the Arabs, and mankind in general, wishing +himself quietly back in Dodgeopolis again, among his beloved people. The +boat drove upon the sands, of course, and was eventually taken care of by +two of the Montauk's crew. + +As soon as Captain Truck found himself on the deck of the Dane, the arms +were distributed among the people. It was clearly his policy not to +commence the war, for he had nothing, in an affirmative sense, to gain by +it, though, without making any professions, his mind was fully made up not +to be taken alive, as long as there was a possibility of averting such a +disaster. The man aloft gave constant notice of the movements of the +Arabs, and he soon announced that they had halted at a pistol's shot from +the bank, where they were securing their camels, and that his first +estimate of their force was true. + +In the mean time, Captain Truck was far from satisfied with his position. +The bank was higher than the deck of the ship, and so near it as to render +the bulwarks of little use, had those of the Dane been of any available +thickness, which they were not. Then, the position of the ship, lying a +little on one side, with her bows towards the land, exposed her to being +swept by a raking fire; a cunning enemy having it in his power, by making +a cover of the bank, to pick off his men, with little or no exposure to +himself. The odds were too great to sally upon the plain, and although +the rocks offered a tolerable cover towards the land, they had none +towards the ship. Divide his force he dared not do,--and by abandoning the +ship, he would allow the Arabs to seize her, thus commanding the other +position, besides the remainder of the stores, which he was desirous +of securing. + +Men think fast in trying circumstances, and although the captain was in a +situation so perfectly novel, his practical knowledge and great coolness +rendered him an invaluable commander to those under his orders. + +"I do not know, gentlemen," he said, addressing his passengers and mates, +"that Vattel has laid down any rule to govern this case. These Arabs, no +doubt, are the lawful owners of the country, in one sense; but it is a +desert--and a desert, like a sea, is common property for the time being, +to all who find themselves in it. There are no wreck-masters in Africa, +and probably no law concerning wrecks, but the law of the strongest. We +have been driven in here, moreover, by stress of weather--and this is a +category on which Vattel has been very explicit. We have a _right_ to the +hospitality of these Arabs, and if it be not freely accorded, d--n me, +gentlemen, but I feel disposed to take just as much of it as I find I +shall have occasion for! Mr. Monday, I should like to hear your sentiments +on this subject." + +"Why, sir," returned Mr. Monday, "I have the greatest confidence in your +knowledge, Captain Truck, and am equally ready for peace or war, although +my calling is for the first. I should try negotiation to begin with, sir, +if it be practicable, and you will allow me to express an opinion, after +which I would offer war." + +"I am quite of the same mind, sir; but in what way are we to negotiate +with a people we cannot make understand a word we say? It is true, if they +were versed in the science of signs, one might do something with them; but +I have reason to know that they are as stupid as boobies on all such +subjects. We shall get ourselves into a category at the first _protocol_, +as the writers say." + +Now, Mr. Monday thought there was a language that any man might +understand, and he was strongly disposed to profit by it. In rummaging the +wreck, he had discovered a case of liquor, besides a cask of Hollands, +and he thought an offering of these might have the effect to put the Arabs +in good humour at least. + +"I have known men, who, treated with dry, in matters of trade, were as +obstinate as mules, become reasonable and pliable, sir, over a bottle," he +said, after explaining where the liquor was to be found; "and I think, if +we offer the Arabs this, after they have been in possession a short time, +we shall find them better disposed towards us. If it should not prove so, +I confess, for one, I should feel less reluctance in shooting them +than before." + +"I have somewhere heard that the Mussulmans never drink," observed Sir +George; "in which case we shall find our offering despised. Then there is +the difficulty of a first possession; for, if these people are the same as +those that were here before, they may not thank us for giving them so +small a part of that, of which they may lay claim to all. I'm very sure, +were any one to offer me my patent pistols, as a motive for letting him +carry away my patent razors, or the East India dressing-case, or any thing +else I own, I should not feel particularly obliged to him." + +"Capitally put, Sir George, and I should be quite of your way of thinking, +if I did not believe these Arabs might really be mollified by a little +drink. If I had a proper ambassador to send with the offering, I would +resort to the plan at once." + +Mr. Monday, after a moment's hesitation, spiritedly offered to be one of +two, to go to the Arabs with the proposal, for he had sufficient +penetration to perceive that there was little danger of his being seized, +while an armed party of so much strength remained to be overcome--and he +had sufficient nerve to encounter the risk. All he asked was a companion, +and Captain Truck was so much struck with the spirit of the volunteer, +that he made up his mind to accompany him himself. To this plan, however, +both the mates and all the crew, stoutly but respectfully objected. They +felt his importance too much to consent to this exposure, and neither of +the mates, even, would be allowed to go on an expedition of so much +hazard, without a sufficient motive. They might fight, if they pleased, +but they should not run into the mouth of the lion unarmed and +unresisting. + +"It is of no moment," said Mr. Monday; "I could have liked a gentlemen +for my companion; but no one of the brave fellows will have any objection +to passing an hour in company with an Arab Sheik over a bottle. What say +you my lads, will any one of you volunteer?" + +"Ay, ay, sir!" cried a dozen in a breath. + +"This will never do," interrupted the captain; "I have need of the men, +for my heart is still set on these two sticks that remain, and we have a +head-sea and a stiff breeze to struggle with in getting back to the ship. +By George, I have it! What do you say to Mr. Dodge for a companion, Mr. +Monday? He is used to committees, and likes the service: and then he has +need of some stimulant, after the ducking he has received. Mr. Leach, take +a couple of hands, and go off in the jolly-boat and bring Mr. Dodge on +shore. My compliments to him, and tell him he has been unanimously chosen +to a most honourable and lucrative--ay, and a popular employment." + +As this was an order, the mate did not scruple about obeying it. He was +soon afloat, and on his way towards the launch. Captain Truck now hailed +the top, and inquired what the Arabs were about. The answer was +satisfactory, as they were still busy with their camels and in pitching +their tents. This did not look much like an immediate war, and bidding the +man aloft to give timely notice of their approach, Mr. Truck fancied he +might still have time to shift his sheers, and to whip out the +mizzen-mast, and he accordingly set about it without further delay. + +As every one worked, as it might be for life, in fifteen minutes this +light spar was suspended in the falls. In ten more its heel was clear of +the bulwarks, and it was lowered on the sands almost by the run. To knock +off the top and roll it down to the water took but a few minutes longer, +and then the people were called to their breakfast; the sentinel aloft +reporting that the Arabs were employed in the same manner, and in milking +their camels. This was a fortunate relief, and every body ate in peace, +and in the full assurance that those whom they so much distrusted were +equally engaged in the same pacific manner. + +Neither the Arabs nor the seamen, however, lost any unnecessary time at +the meal. The former were soon reported to be coming and going in parties +of fifteen or twenty, arriving and departing in an eastern direction. +Occasionally a single runner went or came alone, on a fleet dromedary, as +if communications were held with other bodies which lay deeper in the +desert. All this intelligence rendered Captain Truck very uneasy, and he +thought it time seriously to take some decided measures to bring this +matter to an issue. Still, as time gained was all in his favour if +improved, he first ordered the men to begin to shift the sheers forward, +in hopes of being yet able to carry off the foremast; a spar that would be +exceedingly useful, as it would save the necessity of fishing a new head +to the one which still stood in the packet. He then went aside with his +two ambassadors, with a view to give his instructions. + +Mr. Dodge had no sooner found himself safe in the launch than he felt his +courage revive, and with his courage, his ingenuity, self-love and +assurance. While in the water, a meeker man there was not on earth; he had +even some doubts as to the truth of all his favourite notions of liberty +and equality, for men think fast in danger, and there was an instant when +he might have been easily persuaded to acknowledge himself a demagogue and +a hypocrite in his ordinary practices; one whose chief motive was self, +and whose besetting passions were envy, distrust and malice; or, in other +words, very much the creature he was. Shame came next, and he eagerly +sought an excuse for the want of manliness he had betrayed; but, passing +over the language he had held in the launch, and the means Mr. Leach found +to persuade him to land again, we shall give his apology in his own words, +as he now somewhat hurriedly delivered it, to Captain Truck, in his +own person. + +"I must have misunderstood your arrangement, captain," he said; "for +somehow, though _how_ I do not exactly know--but _somehow_ the alarm of +the Arabs was no sooner given than I felt as if I _ought_ to be in the +launch to be at my post; but I suppose it was because I knew that the +sails and spars that brought us here are mostly there, and that this was +the spot to be most resolutely defended. I _do_ think, if they had waded +off to us, I should have fought like a tiger!" + +"No doubt you would, my dear sir, and like a wild cat too! We all make +mistakes in judgment, in war, and in politics, and no fact is better +known than that the best soldiers in the end are they who give a little +ground at the first attack. But Mr. Leach has explained to you the plan of +Mr. Monday, and I rely on your spirit and zeal, which there is now an +excellent opportunity to prove, as before it was only demonstrated." + +"If it were only an opportunity of meeting the Arabs sword in hand, +captain." + +"Pooh! pooh! my dear friend, take _two_ swords if you choose. One who is +full of fight can never get the battle on his own terms. Fill the Arabs +with the _schnaps_ of the poor Dane, and if they should make the smallest +symptom of moving down towards us, I rely on you to give the alarm, in +order that we may be ready for them. Trust to us for the _overture_ of the +_piece_, as I trust to you for the overtures of peace." + +"In what way can we possibly do this, Mr. Monday? How _can_ we give the +alarm in season? + +"Why," interposed the unmoved captain, "you may just shoot the sheik, and +that will be killing two birds with one stone; you will take your pistols, +of course, and blaze away upon them, starboard and larboard; rely on it, +we shall hear you." + +"Of that I make no doubt, but I rather distrust the prudence of the step. +That is, I declare, Mr. Monday, it looks awfully like tempting Providence! +I begin to have conscientious scruples. I hope you are quite certain, +captain, there is nothing in all this against the laws of Africa? Good +moral and religious influences are not to be overlooked. My mind is quite +exercised in the premises!" + +"You are much too conscientious for a diplomatic man," said Mr. Truck, +between the puffs at a fresh cigar. "You need not shoot any of the women, +and what more does, a man want? Come, no more words, but to the duty +heartily. Every one expects it of you, since no one can do it half so +well; and if you ever get back to Dodgeopolis, there will be matter for a +paragraph every day of the year for the next six months. If any thing +serious happen to you, trust to me to do your memory justice." + +"Captain, captain, this trifling with the future is blasphemous! Men +seldom talk of death with impunity, and it really hurts my feelings to +touch on such awful subjects so lightly. I will go, for I do not well see +how the matter is to be helped; but let us go amicably, and with such +presents as will secure a good reception and a safe return." + +"Mr. Monday takes the liquor-case of the Dane, and you are welcome to any +thing that is left, but the foremast. _That_ I shall fight for, even if +lions come out of the desert to help the Arabs." + +Mr. Dodge had many more objections, some of which he urged openly, and +more of which he felt in his inmost spirit. But for the unfortunate dive +into the water, he certainly would have pleaded his immunities as a +passenger, and plumply refused to be put forward on such an occasion; but +he felt that he was a disgraced man, and that some decided act of spirit +was necessary to redeem his character. The neutrality observed by the +Arabs, moreover, greatly encouraged him; for he leaned to an opinion +Captain Truck had expressed, that so long as a strong-armed party remained +in the wreck, the sheik, if a man of any moderation and policy, would not +proceed to violence. + +"You may tell him, gentlemen," continued Mr. Truck, "that as soon as I +have whipped the foremast out of the Dane, I will evacuate, and leave him +the wreck, and all it contains. The stick can do him no good, and I want +it in my heart's core. Put this matter before him plainly, and there is no +doubt we shall part the best friends in the world. Remember one thing, +however, we shall set about lifting the spar the moment you quit us, and +should there be any signs of an attack, give us notice in season, that we +may take to our arms." + +By this reasoning Mr. Dodge suffered himself to be persuaded to go on the +mission, though his ingenuity and fears supplied an additional motive that +he took very good care not to betray. Should there be a battle, he knew he +would be expected to fight, if he remained with his own party, and if with +the other, he might plausibly secrete himself until the affair was over; +for, with a man of his temperament, eventual slavery had less horrors than +immediate death. + +When Mr. Monday and his co-commissioner ascended the bank, bearing the +case of liquors and a few light offerings, that the latter had found in +the wreck, it was just as the crew, assured that the Arabs still remained +tranquil, had seriously set about pursuing their great object. On the +margin of the plain, Captain Truck took his leave of the ambassadors, +though he remained some time to reconnoitre the appearance of things in +the wild-looking camp, which was placed within two hundred yards of the +spot on which he stood. The number of the Arabs had not certainly been +exaggerated, and what gave him the most uneasiness was the fact that +parties appeared to be constantly communicating with more, who probably +lay behind a ridge of sand that bounded the view less than a mile distant +inland, as they all went and came in that direction. After waiting to see +his two _envoyés_ in the very camp, he stationed a look-out on the bank, +and returned to the wreck, to hurry on the all-important work. + +Mr. Monday was the efficient man of the two commissioners, so soon as they +were fairly embarked in their enterprise. He was strong of nerves, and +without imagination to fancy dangers where they were not very obvious, and +had a great faith in the pacific virtues of the liquor-case. An Arab +advanced to meet them, when near the tents; and although conversation was +quite out of the question, by pure force of gesticulations, aided by the +single word "sheik," they succeeded in obtaining an introduction to that +personage. + +The inhabitants of the desert have been so often described that we shall +assume they are known to our readers, and proceed with our narrative the +same as if we had to do with Christians. Much of what has been written of +the hospitality of the Arabs, if true of any portion of them, is hardly +true of those tribes which frequent the Atlantic coast, where the practice +of wrecking would seem to have produced the same effect, on their habits +and morals that it is known to produce elsewhere. But a ship protected by +a few weather-worn and stranded mariners, and a ship defended by a strong +and an armed party, like that headed by Captain Truck, presented very +different objects to the cupidity of these barbarians. They knew the great +advantage they possessed by being on their own ground, and were content to +await events, in preference to risking a doubtful contest. Several of the +party had been at Mogadore, and other parts, and had acquired tolerably +accurate ideas of the power of vessels; and as they were confident the +men now at work at the wreck had not the means of carrying away the cargo, +their own principal object, curiosity and caution, connected with certain +plans that were already laid among their leaders, kept them quiet, for the +moment at least. + +These people were not so ignorant as to require to be told that some other +vessel was at no great distance, and their scouts had been out in all +directions to ascertain the fact, previously to taking their ultimate +measures; for the sheik himself had some pretty just notions of the force +of a vessel of war, and of the danger of contending with one. The result +of his policy, therefore, will better appear in the course of the +narrative. + +The reception of the two envoys of Captain Truck was masked by that +smiling and courteous politeness which seems to diminish as one travels +west, and to increase as he goes eastward; though it was certainly less +elaborate than would have been found in the palace of an Indian rajah. The +sheik was not properly a sheik, nor was the party composed of genuine +Arabs, though we have thus styled them from usage. The first, however, was +a man in authority, and he and his followers possessed enough of the +origin and characteristics of the tribes east of the Red Sea, to be +sufficiently described by the appellation we have adopted. + +Mr. Monday and Mr. Dodge were invited by signs to be seated, and +refreshments were offered. As the last were not particularly inviting, Mr. +Monday was not slow in producing his own offering, and in recommending its +quality, by setting an example of the way in which it ought to be treated. +Although Mussulmans, the hosts did not scruple about tasting the cup, and +ten minutes of pantomime, potations, and grimaces, brought about a species +of intimacy between the parties. + +The man who had been so unceremoniously captured the previous night by +Captain Truck, was now introduced, and much curiosity was manifested to +know whether his account of the disposition in the strangers to eat their +fellow creatures was true. The inhabitants of the desert, in the course of +ages, had gleaned certain accounts of mariners eating their shipmates, +from their different captives, and vague traditions to that effect +existed among them, which the tale of this man had revived. Had the sheik +kept a journal, like Mr. Dodge, the result of these inquiries would +probably have been some entries concerning the customs and characters of +the Americans, that were quite as original as those of the editor of the +Active Inquirer concerning the different nations he had visited. + +Mr. Monday paid great attention to the pantomime of the Arab, in which +that worthy endeavoured to explain the disposition of Captain Truck to +make a barbecue of him: when it was ended, he gravely informed his +companions that the sheik had invited them to stay for dinner,--a +proposition that he was disposed to accept; but the sensitiveness of Mr. +Dodge viewed the matter otherwise, for, with a conformity of opinion that +really said something in favour of the science of signs, he arrived at the +same conclusion as the poor Arab himself--with the material difference, +that he fancied that the Arabs were disposed to make a meal of himself. +Mr. Monday, who was a hearty beef and brandy personage, scouted the idea, +and thought the matter settled, by pointing to two or three young camels +and asking the editor if he thought any man, Turk or Christian, would +think of eating one so lank, meagre, and uninviting, as himself, when they +had so much capital food of another sort at their elbow. "Take your share +of the liquor while it is passing, man, and set your heart at ease as to +the dinner, which I make no doubt will be substantial and decent. Had I +known of the favour intended us, I should have brought out the sheik a +service of knives and forks from Birmingham; for he really seems a +well-disposed and gentleman-like man. A very capital fellow, I dare say, +we shall find him, after he has had a few camel's steaks, and a proper +allowance of _schnaps_. Mr. Sheik, I drink your health with all my heart." + +The accidents of life could scarcely have brought together, in +circumstances so peculiar, men whose characters were more completely the +converse of each other than Mr. Monday and Mr. Dodge. They were, perfect +epitomes of two large classes in their respective nations, and so +diametrically opposed to each other, that one could hardly recognise in +them scions from a common stock. The first was dull, obstinate, +straight-forward, hearty in his manners, and not without sincerity, though +wily in a bargain, with all his seeming frankness; the last, distrustful, +cunning rather than quick of comprehension, insincere, fawning when he +thought his interests concerned, and jealous and detracting at all other +times, with a coldness of exterior that had at least the merit of +appearing to avoid deception. Both were violently prejudiced, though in +Mr. Monday, it was the prejudice of old dogmas, in religion, politics, and +morals; and in the other, it was the vice of provincialism, and an +education that was not entirely free from the fanaticism of the +seventeenth century. One consequence of this discrepancy of character was +a perfectly opposite manner of viewing matters in this interview. While +Mr. Monday was disposed to take things amicably, Mr. Dodge was all +suspicion; and had they then returned to the wreck, the last would have +called to arms, while the first would have advised Captain Truck to go out +and visit the sheik, in the manner one would visit a respectable and +agreeable neighbour. + + + + +Chapter XX. + + + + 'Tis of more worth than kingdoms! far more precious + 'Than all the crimson treasures of life's fountain! + Oh let it not elude thy grasp! + + COTTON + + +Things were in this state, the sheik and his guests communicating by +signs, in such a way as completely to mystify each other; Mr. Monday +drinking, Mr. Dodge conjecturing, and parties quitting the camp and +arriving every ten minutes, when an Arab pointed eagerly with his finger +in the direction of the wreck. The head of the foremast was slowly rising, +and the look-out in the top was clinging to the spar, which began to cant, +in order to keep himself from falling. The sheik affected to smile; but he +was evidently disturbed, and two or three messengers were sent out into +the camp. In the meanwhile, the spar began to lower, and was soon entirely +concealed beneath the bank. + +It was now apparent that the Arabs thought the moment had arrived when it +was their policy to interfere. The sheik, therefore, left his guests to be +entertained by two or three others who had joined in the potations, and +making the best assurances he could by means of signs, of his continued +amity, he left the tent. Laying aside all his arms, attended by two or +three old men like himself, he went boldly to the plank, and descended +quietly to the sands, where he found Captain Truck busied in endeavouring +to get the spar into the water. The top was already afloat, and the stick +itself was cut round in the right position for rolling, when the foul but +grave-looking barbarians appeared among the workmen. As the latter had +been apprised of their approach, and of the fact of their being unarmed, +no one left his employment to receive them, with the exception of Captain +Truck himself. + +"Bear a hand with the spar, Mr. Leach," he said, "while I entertain these +gentlemen. It is a good sign that they come to us without arms, and it +shall never be said that we are behind them in civility. Half an hour will +settle our affairs, when these gentry are welcome to what will be left of +the Dane.--Your servant, gentlemen; I'm glad to see you, and beg the +honour to shake hands with all of you, from the oldest to the youngest." + +Although the Arabs understood nothing that was said, they permitted +Captain Truck to give each of them a hearty shake of the hand, smiling and +muttering their own compliments with as much apparent good will as was +manifested by the old seaman himself. + +"God help the Danes, if they have fallen into servitude among these +blackguards!" said the captain, aloud, while he was shaking the sheik a +second time most cordially by the hand, "for a fouler set of thieves I +never laid eyes on, Leach. Mr. Monday has tried the virtue of the +_schnaps_ on them, notwithstanding, for the odour of gin is mingled with +that of grease, about the old scoundrel.--Roll away at the spar, boys! +half-a-dozen more such heaves, and you will have him in his native +element, as the newspapers call it.--I'm glad to see you, gentlemen; we +are badly off as to chairs, on this beach, but to such as we have you are +heartily welcome.--Mr. Leach, the Arab sheik;--Arab sheik, Mr. Leach.--On +the bank there!" + +"Sir." + +"Any movement among the Arabs?" + +"About thirty have just ridden back into the desert, mounted on camels, +sir; nothing more." + +"No signs of our passengers?" + +Ay, ay, sir. Here comes Mr. Dodge under full sail, heading for the bank, +as straight as he can lay his course!" + +"Ha!--Is he pursued?" + +The men ceased their work, and glanced aside at their arms. + +"Not at all, sir. Mr. Monday is calling after him, and the Arabs seem to +be laughing. Mr. Monday is just splicing the main-brace with one of +the rascals." + +"Let the Atlantic ocean, then, look out for itself, for Mr. Dodge will be +certain to run over it. Heave away, my hearties, and the stick will be +afloat yet before that gentleman is fairly docked." + +The men worked with good will, but their zeal was far less efficient than +that of the editor of the Active Inquirer, who now broke through the +bushes, and plunged down the bank with a velocity which, if continued, +would have carried him to Dodgeopolis itself within the month. The Arabs +started at this sudden apparition, but perceiving that those around them +laughed, they were disposed to take the interruption in good part. The +look-out now announced the approach of Mr. Monday, followed by fifty +Arabs; the latter, however, being without arms, and the former without his +hat. The moment was critical, but the steadiness of Captain Truck did not +desert him. Issuing a rapid order to the second mate, with a small party +previously selected for that duty, to stand by the arms, he urged the rest +of the people to renewed exertions. Just as this was done, Mr. Monday +appeared on the bank, with a bottle in one hand and a glass in the other, +calling aloud to Mr. Dodge to return and drink with the Arabs. + +"Do not disgrace Christianity in this unmannerly way," he said; "but show +these gentlemen of the desert that we know what propriety is. Captain +Truck, I beg of you to urge Mr. Dodge to return. I was about to sing the +Arabs 'God save the King,' and in a few more minutes we should have had +'Rule Britannia,' when we should have been the best friends and companions +in the world. Captain Truck, I've the honour to drink your health." + +But Captain Truck viewed the matter differently. Both his ambassadors were +now safely back, for Mr. Monday came down upon the beach, followed, it is +true, by all the Arabs, and the mast was afloat, He thought it better, +therefore, that Mr. Dodge should remain, and that the two parties should +be as quietly, but as speedily as possible, separated. He ordered the +hauling line to be fastened to the mast, and as the stick was slowly going +out through the surf, he issued the order for the men to collect their +implements, take their arms, and to assemble in a body at the rocks, where +the jolly-boat still lay. + +"Be quick, men, but be steady; for there are a hundred of these rascals on +the beach already, and all the last-comers are armed. We might pick up a +few more useful things from the wreck, but the wind is coming in from the +westward, and our principal concern now will be to save what we have got. +Lead Mr. Monday along with you, Leach, for he is so full of diplomacy and +_schnaps_ just now that he forgets his safety. As for Mr. Dodge, I see he +is stowed away in the boat already, as snug as the ground-tier in a ship +loaded with molasses. Count the men off, sir, and see that no one +is missing." + +By this time, the state of things on the beach had undergone material +changes. The wreck was full of Arabs, some of whom were armed and some +not; while mauls, crows hand-spikes, purchases, coils of rigging, and +marling-spikes were scattered about on the sands, just where they had been +dropped by the seamen. A party of fifty Arabs had collected around the +rocks, where, by this time, all the mariners were assembled, intermingling +with the latter, and apparently endeavouring to maintain the friendly +relations which had been established by Mr. Monday. As a portion of these +men were also armed, Captain Truck disliked their proceedings; but the +inferiority of his numbers, and the disadvantage under which he was +placed, compelled him to resort to management rather than force, in order +to extricate himself. + +The Arabs now crowded around and intermingled with the seamen, thronged +the ship, and lined the bank, to the number of more than two hundred. It +became evident that their true force had been underrated, and that +additions were constantly making to it, from those who lay behind the +ridges of sand. All those who appeared last, had arms of one kind or +another, and several brought fire-arms, which they gave to the sheik, and +to those who had first descended to the beach. Still, every face seemed +amicable, and the men were scarcely permitted to execute their orders, +from the frequent interruptions to exchange tokens of friendship. + +But Captain Truck fully believed that hostilities were intended, and +although he had suffered himself in some measure to be surprised, he set +about repairing his error with great judgment and admirable steadiness. +His first step was to extricate his own people from those who pressed upon +them, a thing that was effected by causing a few to take a position, that +might be defended, higher among the rocks, as they afforded a good deal of +cover, and which communicated directly with the place where they had +landed; and then ordering the remainder of the men to fall back singly. To +prevent an alarm, each man was called off by name, and in this manner the +whole party had got within the prescribed limits, before the Arabs, who +were vociferating and talking altogether, seemed to be aware of the +movement. When some of the latter attempted to follow, they were gently +repulsed by the sentinels. All this time Captain Truck maintained the +utmost cordiality towards the sheik, keeping near him, and amongst the +Arabs himself. The work of plunder, in the meantime, had begun in earnest +in the wreck, and this he thought a favourable symptom, as men thus +employed would be less likely to make a hostile attack. Still he knew that +prisoners were of great account among these barbarians, and that an +attempt to tow the raft off from the land, in open boats, where his people +would be exposed to every shot from the wreck, would subject them to he +greatest danger of defeat, were the former disposed to prevent it. + +Having reflected a few minutes on his situation. Captain Truck issued his +final orders. The jolly-boat might carry a dozen men at need, though they +would be crowded and much exposed to fire; and he, therefore, caused eight +to get into her, and to pull out to the launch. Mr. Leach went with this +party, for the double purpose of directing its movements, and of being +separated from his commander, in order that one of those who were of so +much importance to the packet, might at least stand a chance of being +saved. This separation also was effected without alarming the Arabs, +though Captain Truck observed that the sheik watched the +proceeding narrowly. + +As soon as Mr. Leach had reached the launch, he caused a light kedge to be +put into the jolly-boat, and coils of the lightest rigging he had were +laid on the top of it, or were made on the bows of the launch. As soon as +this was done, the boat was pulled a long distance off from the land, +paying out the ropes first from the launch, and then from the boat itself, +until no more of the latter remained. The kedge was then dropped, and the +men in the launch began to haul in upon the ropes that were attached to +it. As the jolly-boat returned immediately, and her crew joined in the +work, the line of boats, the kedge by which they had previously ridden +having been first raised, began slowly to recede from the shore. + +Captain Truck had rightly conjectured the effect of this movement. It was +so unusual and so gradual, that the launch and the raft were warped up to +the kedge, before the Arabs fully comprehended its nature. The boats were +now more than a quarter of a mile from the wreck, for Mr. Leach had run +out quite two hundred fathoms of small rope, and of course, so distant as +greatly to diminish the danger from the muskets of the Arabs, though still +within reach of their range. Near an hour was passed in effecting this +point, which, as the sea and wind were both rising, could not probably +have been effected in any other manner, half as soon, if at all. + +The state of the weather, and the increasing turbulence of the barbarians, +now rendered it extremely desirable to all on the rocks to be in their +boats again. A very moderate blow would compel them to abandon their +hard-earned advantages, and it began to be pretty evident, from the +manners of those around them, that amity could not much longer be +maintained. Even the old sheik retired, and, instead of going to the +wreck, he joined the party on the beach, where he was seen in earnest +conversation with several other old men, all of whom gesticulated +vehemently, as they pointed towards the boats and to the party on +the rocks. + +Mr. Leach now pulled in towards the bar, with both the jolly-boats and the +cutter, having only two oars each, half his men being left in the launch. +This was done that the people might not be crowded at the critical moment, +and that, at need, there might be room to fight as well as to row; all +these precautions having been taken in consequence of Captain Truck's +previous orders. When the boats reached the rocks, the people did not +hurry into them; but a quarter of an hour was passed in preparations, as +if they were indifferent about proceeding, and even then the jolly-boat +alone took in a portion, and pulled leisurely without the bar. Here she +lay on her oars, in order to cover the passage of the other boats, if +necessary, with her fire. The cutter imitated this manoeuvre, and the boat +of the wreck went last. Captain Truck quitted the rock after all the +others, though his embarkation was made rapidly by a prompt and +sudden movement. + +Not a shot was fired, however, and, contrary to his own most ardent hopes, +the captain found himself at the launch, with all his people unhurt, and +with all the spars he had so much desired to obtain. The forbearance of +the Arabs was a mystery to him, for he had fully expected hostilities +would commence, every moment, for the last two hours. Nor was he yet +absolutely out of danger, though there was time to pause and look about +him, and to take his succeeding measures more deliberately. The first +report was a scarcity of both food and water. For both these essentials +the men had depended on the wreck, and, in the eagerness to secure the +foremast, and subsequently to take care of themselves, these important +requisites had been overlooked, quite probably, too, as much from a +knowledge that the Montauk was so near, as from hurry. Still both were +extremely desirable, if not indispensable, to men who had the prospect of +many hours' hard work before them; and Captain Truck's first impulse was +to despatch a boat to the ship for supplies. This intention was +reluctantly abandoned, however, on account of the threatening appearance +of the weather. + +There was no danger of a gale, but a smart sea breeze was beginning to set +in, and the surface of the ocean was, as usual, getting to be agitated. +Changing all his plans therefore, the Captain turned his immediate +attention to the safety of the all-important spars. + +"We can eat to-morrow, men," he said; "but if we lose these sticks, our +chance for getting any more will indeed be small. Take a gang on the raft, +Mr. Leach, and double all the lashings, while I see that we get an offing. +If the wind rises any more, we shall need it, and even then be worse off +than we could wish." + +The mate passed upon the raft, and set about securing all the spars by +additional fastenings; for the working, occasioned by the sea, already +rendered them loose, and liable to separate. While this was in train, the +two jolly-boats took in lines and kedges, of which, luckily, they had one +that was brought from the packet, besides two found in the wreck, and +pulled off into the ocean. As soon as one kedge was dropped, that by which +the launch rode was tripped, and the boats were hauled up to it, the other +jolly-boat proceeding on to renew the process. In this manner, in the +course of two more hours, the whole, raft and all, were warped broad off +from the land, and to windward, quite two miles, when the water became so +deep that Captain Truck reluctantly gave the order to cease. + +"I would gladly work our way into the offing in this mode, three or four +leagues," he said, "by which means we might make a fair wind of it. As it +is, we must get all clear, and do as well as we can. Rig the masts in the +launch, Mr. Leach, and we will see what can be done with this dull craft +we have in tow." + +While this order was in course of execution, the glass was used to +ascertain the manner in which the Arabs were occupied. To the surprise of +all in the boats, every soul of them had disappeared. The closest scrutiny +could not detect one near the wreck, on the beach, nor even at the spot +where the tents had so lately stood. + +"They are all off, by George!" cried Captain Truck, when fully satisfied +of the fact. "Camels, tents, and Arabs! The rascals have loaded their +beasts already, and most probably have gone to hide their plunder, that +they may be back and make sure of a second haul, before any of their +precious brother vultures, up in the sands, get a scent of the carrion. +D--n the rogues; I thought at one time they had me in a category! Well, +joy be with them! Mr. Monday, I return you my hearty thanks for the manly, +frank, and diplomatic manner in which you have discharged the duties of +your mission. Without you, we might not have succeeded in getting the +foremast. Mr. Dodge, you have the high consolation of knowing that, +throughout this trying occasion, you have conducted yourself in a way no +other man of the party could have done." + +Mr. Monday was sleeping off the fumes of the _schnaps_, but Mr. Dodge +bowed to the compliment, and foresaw many capital things for the journal, +and for the columns of the Active Inquirer. He even began to meditate +a book. + +Now commenced much the most laborious and critical part of the service +that Captain Truck had undertaken, if we except the collision with the +Arabs--that of towing all the heavy spars of a large ship, in one raft, in +the open sea, near a coast, and with the wind blowing on shore. It is true +he was strong-handed, being able to put ten oars in the launch, and four +in all the other boats; but, after making sail, and pulling steadily for +an hour, it was discovered that all their exertions would not enable them +to reach the ship, if the wind stood, before the succeeding day. The drift +to leeward, or towards the beach, was seriously great, every heave of the +sea setting them bodily down before it; and by the time they were half a +mile to the southward, they were obliged to anchor, in order to keep clear +of the breakers, which by this time extended fully a mile from shore. + +Decision was fortunately Captain Truck's leading quality. He foresaw the +length and severity of the struggle that was before them, and the men had +not been pulling ten minutes, before he ordered Mr. Leach, who was in the +cutter, to cast off his line and to come alongside the launch. + +"Pull back to the wreck, sir," he said, "and bring off all you can lay +hands on, in the way of bread, water, and other comforts. We shall make a +night of it, I see. We will keep a look-out for you, and if any Arabs +heave in sight on the plain, a musket will be fired; if so many as to +render a hint to abscond necessary, two muskets will be fired, and the +mainsail of the launch will be furled for two minutes; more time than that +we cannot spare you." + +Mr. Leach obeyed this order, and with great success. Luckily the cook had +left the coppers full of food, enough to last twenty-four hours, and this +had escaped the Arabs, who were ignorant where to look for it. In +addition, there was plenty of bread and water, and "a bull of Jamaica" had +been discovered, by the instinct of one of the hands, which served +admirably to keep the people in good humour. This timely supply had +arrived just as the launch anchored, and Mr. Truck welcomed it with all +his heart; for without it, he foresaw he should soon be obliged to abandon +his precious prize. + +When the people were refreshed, the long and laborious process of warping +off the land was resumed, and, in the course of two hours more, the raft +was got fully a league into the offing, a shoal permitting the kedges to +be used farther out this time than before. Then sail was again made, and +the oars were once more plied. But the sea still proved their enemy, +though they had struck the current which began to set them south. Had +there been no wind and sea, the progress of the boats would now have been +comparatively easy and quick; but these two adverse powers drove them in +towards the beach so fast, that they had scarcely made two miles from the +wreck when they were compelled a second time to anchor. + +No alternative remained but to keep warping off in this manner, and then +to profit by the offing they had made as well as they could, the result +bringing them at sunset nearly up with the headland that shut out the view +of their own vessel, from which Captain Truck now calculated that he was +distant a little less than two leagues. The wind had freshened, and though +it was not by any means so strong as to render the sea dangerous, it +increased the toil of the men to such a degree, that he reluctantly +determined to seek out a proper anchorage, and to give his wearied people +some rest. + +It was not in the power of the seamen to carry their raft into any haven, +for to the northward of the headland, or on the side on which they were, +there was no reef, nor any bay to afford them shelter. The coast was one +continued waving line of sand-banks, and in most places, when there was a +wind, the water broke at the distance of a mile from the beach; the +precise spot where the Dane had stranded his vessel, having most probably +been chosen for that purpose, with a view to save the lives of the people. +Under these circumstances nothing remained but to warp off again to a safe +distance, and to secure the boats as well as they could for the night. +This was effected by eight o'clock, and Captain Truck gave the order to +let go two additional kedges, being determined not to strike adrift in the +darkness, if it was in his power to prevent it. When this was done, the +people had their suppers, a watch was set, and the remainder went +to sleep. + +As the three passengers had been exempted from the toil, they volunteered +to look out for the safety of the boats until midnight, in order that the +men might obtain as much rest as possible; and half an hour after the crew +were lost in the deep slumber of seamen, Captain Truck and these gentlemen +were seated in the launch, holding a dialogue on the events of the day. + +"You found the Arabs conversable and ready at the cup, Mr. Monday?" +observed the captain, lighting a cigar, which with him was a never-failing +sign for a gossip. "Men that, if they had been sent to school young, +taught to dance, and were otherwise civilized, might make reasonably good +ship mates, in this roving world of ours?" + +"Upon my word, sir, I look upon the sheik as uncommon gentleman-like, and +altogether as a good fellow. He took his glass without any grimaces, +smiled whenever he said any thing, though I could not understand a word he +said, and answered all my remarks quite as civilly as if he spoke English. +I must say, I think Mr. Dodge manifested a want of consideration in +quitting his company with so little ceremony. The gentleman was hurt, I'll +answer for it, and he would say as much if he could only make out to +explain himself on the subject. Sir George, I regret we had not the +honour of your company on the occasion, for I have been told these Arabs +have a proper respect for the nobility and gentry. Mr. Dodge and myself +were but poor substitutes for a gentleman like yourself." + +The trained humility of Mr. Monday was little to the liking of Mr. Dodge, +who by the sheer force of the workings of envy had so long been +endeavouring to persuade others that he was the equal of any and every +other man--a delusion, however, in which he could not succeed in +persuading himself to fall into--and he was not slow in exhibiting the +feeling it awakened. + +"Sir George Templemore has too just a sense of the rights of nations to +make this distinction, Mr. Monday," he said. "If I left the Arab sheik a +little abruptly, it was because I disliked his ways; for I take it Africa +is a free country, and that no man is obliged to remain longer in a tent +than it suits his own convenience. Captain Truck knows that I was merely +running down the beach to inform him that the sheik intended to follow, +and he no doubt appreciates my motive." + +"If not, Mr. Dodge," put in the captain, "like other patriots, you must +trust to posterity to do you justice. The joints and sinews are so +differently constructed in different men, that one never knows exactly how +to calculate on speed; but this much I will make affidavit to, if you wish +it, on reaching home, and that is, that a better messenger could not be +found than Mr. Steadfast Dodge, for a man in a hurry. Sir George +Templemore, we have had but a few of your opinions since you came out on +this expedition, and I should be gratified to hear your sentiments +concerning the Arabs, and any thing else that may suggest itself at +the moment." + +"Oh, captain! I think the wretches odiously dirty, and judging from +appearances, I should say sadly deficient in comforts." + +"In the way of breeches in particular; for I am inclined to think, Sir +George, you are master of more than are to be found in their whole nation. +Well, gentlemen, one must certainly travel who wishes to see the world; +but for this sheer down here upon the coast of Africa, neither of us might +have ever known how an Arab lives, and what a nimble wrecker he makes. For +my own part, if the choice lay between filling the office of Jemmy Ducks, +on board the Montauk, and that of sheik in this tribe, I should, as we say +in America, Mr. Dodge, leave it to the people, and do all in my power to +obtain the first situation. Sir George, I'm afraid all these _county +tongues_, as Mr. Dodge calls them, in the way of wind and weather, will +quite knock the buffalo hunt on the Prairies in the head, for this fall +at least." + +"I beg, Captain Truck, you will not discredit my French in this way. I do +not call a disappointment '_county tongues_,' but '_contra toms_;' the +phrase probably coming from some person of the name of _tom_, who was +_contra_, or opposed to every one else." + +"Perfectly explained, and as clear as bilge-water. Sir George, has Mr. +Dodge mentioned to you the manner in which these Arabs enjoy life? The +gentlemen, by way of saving; dish-water, eat half-a-dozen at a time out of +the same plate. Quite republican, and altogether without pride, Mr. Dodge, +in their notions!" + +"Why, sir, many of their habits struck me as being simple and +praiseworthy, during the short time I remained in their country; and I +dare say, one who had leisure to study them might find materials for +admiration. I can readily imagine situations in which a man has no right +to appropriate a whole dish to himself." + +"No doubt, and he who wishes a thing so unreasonable must be a great hog! +What a thing is sleep! Here are these fine fellows as much lost to their +dangers and toils as if at home, and tucked in by their careful and pious +mothers. Little did the good souls who nursed them, and sung pious songs +over their cradles, fancy the hardships they were bringing them up to! But +we never know our fates, or miserable dogs most of us would be. Is it not +so, Sir George?" + +The baronet started at this appeal, which crossed the quaint mind of the +captain as a cloud darkens a sunny view, and he muttered a hasty +expression of hope that there was now no particular reason to expect any +more serious obstacles to their reaching the ship. + +"It is not an easy thing to tow a heavy raft in light boats like these, +exactly in the direction you wish it to go," returned the captain, gaping. +"He who trusts to the winds and waves, trusts an uncertain friend, and one +who may fail him at the very moment when there is most need of their +services. Fair as things now seem, I would give a thousand dollars of a +small stock, in which no single dollar has been lightly earned, to see +these spars safely on board the Montauk, and snugly fitted to their proper +places. Sticks, gentlemen, are to a ship what limbs are to a man. Without +them she rolls and tumbles about as winds, currents, and seas will; while +with them she walks, and dances, and jumps Jim Crow; ay, almost talks. The +standing rigging are the bones and gristle; the running gear the veins in +which her life circulates; and the blocks the joints." + +"And which is the heart?" asked Sir George. + +"Her heart is the master. With a sufficient commander no stout ship is +ever lost, so long as she has a foot of water beneath her false keel, or a +ropeyarn left to turn to account." + +"And yet the Dane had all these." + +"All but the water. The best craft that was ever launched, is of less use +than a single camel, if laid high and dry on the sands of Africa. These +poor wretches truly! And yet their fate might have been ours, though I +thought little of the risk while we were in the midst of the Arabs. It is +still a mystery to me why they let us escape, especially as they so soon +deserted the wreck. They were strong-handed, too; counting all who came +and went, I think not less than several hundreds." + +The captain now became silent and thoughtful, and, as the wind continued +to rise, he began to feel uneasiness about his ship. Once or twice he +expressed a half-formed determination to pull to her in one of the light +boats, in order to look after her safety in person, and then he abandoned +it, as he witnessed the rising of the sea, and the manner in which the +massive raft caused the cordage by which it was held to strain. At length +he too fell asleep, and we shall leave him and his party for awhile, and +return to the Montauk, to give an account of what occurred on board +that ship. + + + + +Chapter XXI. + + + + Nothing beside remains! Round the decay + Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare, + The lone and level sands stretch far away. + + SHELLEY + + +As Captain Truck was so fully aware of the importance of rapid movements +to the success of his enterprise, it will be remembered that he left in +the ship no seaman, no servant, except Saunders the steward, and, in +short, no men but the two Messrs. Effingham, Mr. Sharp, Mr. Blunt, and the +other person just mentioned. If to these be added, Eve Effingham, +Mademoiselle Viefville, Ann Sidley, and a French _femme de chambre_, the +whole party will be enumerated. At first, it had been the intention of the +master to leave one of his mates behind him, but, encouraged by the secure +berth he had found for his vessel, the great strength of his moorings, the +little hold the winds and waves could get of spars so robbed of their +proportions, and of a hull so protected by the reef, and feeling a certain +confidence in the knowledge of Mr. Blunt, who, several times during the +passage, had betrayed a great familiarity with ships, he came to the +decision named, and had formally placed the last named gentleman in full +charge, _ad interim_, of the Montauk. + +There was a solemn and exciting interest in the situation of those who +remained in the vessel, after the party of bustling seamen had left them. +The night came in bland and tranquil, and although there was no moon, they +walked the deck for hours with strange sensations of enjoyment, mingled +with those of loneliness and desertion. Mr. Effingham and his cousin +retired to their rooms long before the others, who continued their +exercise with a freedom and an absence of restraint, that they had not +before felt, since subjected to the confinement of the ship. + +"Our situation is at least novel," Eve observed, "for a party of +Parisians, Viennois, Romans, or by whatever name we may be +properly styled." + +"Say Swiss, then," returned Mr. Blunt; "for I believe that even the +cosmopolite has a claim to choose his favourite residence." + +Eve understood the allusion, which carried her back to the weeks they had +passed in company, among the grand scenery of the Alps; but she would not +betray the consciousness, for, whatever may be the ingenuousness of a +female, she seldom loses her sensitiveness on the subject of her more +cherished feelings. + +"And do you prefer Switzerland to all the other countries of your +acquaintance?" asked Mr. Sharp: "England I leave out of the question, for, +though we, who belong to the island, see so many charms in it, it must be +conceded that strangers seldom join us very heartily in its praises. I +think most travellers would give the palm to Italy." + +"I am quite of the same opinion," returned the other; "and were I to be +confined to a choice of a residence for life, Italy should be my home. +Still, I think, that we like change in our residence, as well as in the +seasons. Italy is summer, and one, I fear, would weary of even an +eternal June." + +"Is not Italy rather autumn, a country in which the harvest is gathered +and where one begins already to see the fall of the leaf?" + +"To me," said Eve, "it would be an eternal summer; as things are eternal +with young ladies. My ignorance would be always receiving instruction, and +my tastes improvement. But, if Italy be summer, or autumn, what is +poor America?" + +"Spring of course," civilly answered Mr. Sharp. + +"And, do you, Mr. Blunt, who seem to know all parts of the world equally +well, agree in giving _our_ country, _my_ country at least, this +encouraging title?" + +"It is merited in many respects, though there are others in which the term +winter would, perhaps, be better applied. America is a country not easily +understood; for, in some particulars, like Minerva, it has been born +full-grown: while, in others, it is certainly still an infant." + +"In what particulars do you especially class it with the latter?" inquired +Mr. Sharp. + +"In strength, to commence," answered the other, slightly smiling; "in +opinions, too, and in tastes, and perhaps in knowledge. As to the latter +essential, however, and practical things as well as in the commoner +comforts, America may well claim to be in midsummer, when compared with +other nations. I do not think you Americans, Miss Effingham, at the head +of civilisation, certainly, as so many of your own people fancy; nor yet +at the bottom, as so many of those of Mademoiselle Viefville and Mr. Sharp +so piously believe." + +"And what are the notions of the countrymen of Mr. Blunt, on the subject?" + +"As far from the truth, perhaps, as any other. I perceive there exist some +doubts as to the place of my nativity," he added, after a pause that +denoted a hesitation, which all hoped was to end in his setting the matter +at rest, by a simple statement of the fact; "and I believe I shall profit +by the circumstance, to praise and condemn at pleasure, since no one can +impeach my candour, or impute either to partialities or prejudices." + +"That must depend on the justice of your judgments. In one thing, however, +you will have me on your side, and that is in giving the _pas_ to +delicious, dreamy Italy! Though Mademoiselle Viefville will set this down +as _lèse majesté_ against _cher Paris_; and I fear, Mr. Sharp will think +even London injured." + +"Do you really hold London so cheap?" inquired the latter gentleman, with +more interest than he himself was quite aware of betraying. + +"Indeed, no. This would be to discredit my own tastes and knowledge. In a +hundred things, I think London quite the finest town of Christendom. It is +not Rome, certainly, and were it in ruins fifteen centuries, I question if +people would flock to the banks of the Thames to dream away existence +among its crumbling walls; but, in conveniences, beauty of verdure, a +mixture of park-like scenery and architecture, and in magnificence of a +certain sort, one would hardly know where to go to find the equal +of London." + +"You say nothing of its society, Miss Effingham?" + +"It would be presuming, in a girl of my limited experience to speak of +this. I hear so much of the good sense of the nation, that I dare not say +aught against its society, and it would be affectation for me to pretend +to commend it; but as for your females, judging by my own poor means, they +strike me as being singularly well cultivated and accomplished; +and yet---" + +"Go on, I entreat you. Recollect we have solemnly decided in a general +congress of states to be cosmopolites, until safe within Sandy Hook, and +that _la franchise_ is the _mot d'ordre_." + +"Well, then, I should not certainly describe you English as a talking +people," continued Eve, laughing. "In the way of society, you are quite as +agreeable as a people, who never laugh and seldom speak, can possibly make +themselves." + +"_Et les jeunes Americaines_?" said Mademoiselle Viefville, laconically. + +"My dear mademoiselle, your question is terrific! Mr. Blunt has informed +me that _they_ actually giggle!" + +"_Quelle horreur_!" + +"It is bad enough, certainly; but I ascribe the report to calumny. No; if +I must speak, let me have Paris for its society, and Naples for its +nature. As respects New York, Mr. Blunt, I suspend my judgment." + +"Whatever may be the particular merit which shall most attract your +admiration in favour of the great emporium, as the grandiloquent writers +term the capital of your own state, I think I can venture to predict it +will be neither of those just mentioned. Of society, indeed, New York has +positively none: like London, it has plenty of company, which is +disciplined something like a regiment of militia composed of drafts from +different brigades, and which sometimes mistakes the drum-major for +the colonel." + +"I had fancied you a New Yorker, until now," observed Mr. Sharp. + +"And why not now? Is a man to be blind to facts as evident as the noon-day +sun, because he was born here or there? If I have told you an unpleasant +truth, Miss Effingham, you must accuse _la franchise_ of the offence. I +believe _you_ are not a Manhattanese?" + +"I am a mountaineer; having been born at my father's country residence." + +"This gives me courage then, for no one here will have his filial piety +shocked," + +"Not even yourself?" + +"As for myself," returned Paul Blunt, "it is settled I am a cosmopolite in +fact, while you are only a cosmopolite by convention. Indeed, I question +if I might take the same liberties with either Paris or London, that I am +about to take with palmy Manhattan. I should have little confidence in the +forbearance of my auditors: Mademoiselle Viefville would hardly forgive +me: were I to attempt a criticism on the first, for instance." + +"_C'est impossible_! you could not, Monsieur Blunt; _vous parlez trop bien +Français_ not to love _Paris_." + +"I _do_ love _Paris_, mademoiselle; and, what is more, I love _Londres_, +or even _la Nouvelle Yorck_. As a cosmopolite, I claim this privilege, at +least, though I can see defects in all. If you will recollect, Miss +Effingham, that New York is a social bivouac, a place in which families +encamp instead of troops, you will see the impossibility of its possessing +a graceful, well-ordered, and cultivated society. Then the town is +commercial; and no place of mere commerce can well have a reputation for +its society. Such an anomaly, I believe, never existed. Whatever may be +the usefulness of trade, I fancy few will contend that it is very +graceful." + +"Florence of old?" said Eve. + +"Florence and her commerce were peculiar, and the relations of things +change with circumstances. When Florence was great, trade was a monopoly, +in a few hands, and so conducted as to remove the principals from +immediate contact with its affairs. The Medici traded in spices and silks, +as men traded in politics, through agents. They probably never saw their +ships, or had any farther connexion with their commerce, than to direct +its spirit. They were more like the legislator who enacts laws to regulate +trade, than the dealer who fingers a sample, smells at a wine, or nibbles +a grain. The Medici were merchants, a class of men altogether different +from the mere factors, who buy of one to sell to another, at a stated +advance in price, and all of whose enterprise consists in extending the +list of safe customers, and of doing what is called a 'regular business.' +Monopolies do harm on the whole, but they certainly elevate the favoured +few. The Medici and the Strozzi were both princes and merchants, while +those around them were principally dependants. Competition, in our day, +has let in thousands to share in the benefits; and the pursuit, while it +is enlarged as a whole, has suffered in its parts by division." + +"You surely do not complain that a thousand are comfortable and +respectable to-day, for one that was _il magnifico_ three hundred +years since?" + +"Certainly not. I rejoice in the change; but we must not confound names +with things. If we have a thousand mere factors for one merchant, society, +in the general signification of the word, is clearly a gainer; but if we +had one Medici for a thousand factors, society, in its particular +signfication, might also be a gainer. All I mean is, that, in lowering the +pursuit, we have necessarily lowered its qualifications; in other words, +every man in trade in New York, is no more a Lorenzo, than every printer's +devil is a Franklin." + +"Mr. Blunt cannot be an American!" cried Mr. Sharp; "for these opinions +would be heresy." + +"_Jamais, jamais_" joined the governess. + +"You constantly forget the treaty of cosmopolitism. But a capital error is +abroad concerning America on this very subject of commerce. In the way of +merchandise alone, there is not a Christian maritime nation of any extent, +that has a smaller portion of its population engaged in trade of this sort +than the United States of America. The nation, as a nation, is +agricultural, though the state of transition, in which a country in the +course of rapid settlement must always exist, causes more buying and +selling of real property than is usual. Apart from this peculiarity, the +Americans, as a whole people, have not the common European proportions of +ordinary dealers." + +"This is not the prevalent opinion," said Mr. Sharp. + +"It is not, and the reason is, that all American towns, or nearly all that +are at all known in other countries, are purely commercial towns. The +trading portion of a community is always the concentrated portion, too, +and of course, in the absence of a court, of a political, or of a social +capital, it has the greatest power to make itself heard and felt, until +there is a direct appeal to the other classes. The elections commonly +show quite as little sympathy between the majority and the commercial +class as is consistent with the public welfare. In point of fact, America +has but a very small class of real merchants, men who are the cause and +not a consequence of commerce, though she has exceeding activity in the +way of ordinary traffic. The portion of her people who are engaged as +factors,--for this is the true calling of the man who is a regular agent +between the common producer and the common consumer,--are of _a_ high +class as factors, but not of _the_ high class of merchants. The man who +orders a piece of silk to be manufactured at Lyons, at three francs a +yard, to sell it in the regular course of the season to the retailer at +three francs and a half, is no more a true merchant, than the attorney, +who goes through the prescribed forms of the court in his pleadings, is a +barrister." + +"I do not think these sentiments will be very popular at home, as Mr. +Dodge says," Eve laughingly remarked; "but when shall we reach that home! +While we are talking of these things, here are we, in an almost deserted +ship, within a mile of the great Desert of Sahara! How beautiful are the +stars, mademoiselle! we have never before seen a vault so studded with +brilliants." + +"That must be owing to the latitude," Mr. Sharp observed. + +"Certainly. Can any one say in what latitude we are precisely?" As Eve +asked this question, she unconsciously turned towards Mr. Blunt; for the +whole party had silently come to the conclusion that he knew more of ships +and navigation than all of them united. + +"I believe we are not far from twenty-four, which is bringing us near the +tropics, and places us quite sixteen degrees to the southward of our port. +These two affairs of the chase and of the gale have driven us fully twelve +hundred miles from the course we ought to have taken." + +"Fortunately, mademoiselle, there are none to feel apprehensions on our +account, or, none whose interest will be so keen as to create a very +lively distress. I hope, gentlemen, you are equally at ease on +this score?" + +This was the first time Eve had ever trusted herself to out an +interrogatory that might draw from Paul Blunt any communication that +would directly touch upon his connexions. She repented of the speech as +soon as made, but causelessly, as it drew from the young man no answer. +Mr. Sharp observed that his friends in England could scarcely know of +their situation, until his own letters would arrive to relieve their +minds. As for Mademoiselle Viefville, the hard fortune which reduced her +to the office of a governess, had almost left her without natural ties. + +"I believe we are to have watch and ward to-night," resumed Eve, after the +general pause had continued some little time. "Is it not possible for the +elements to put us in the same predicament as that in which we found the +poor Dane?" + +"Possible, certainly, but scarcely probable," returned Mr. Blunt. "The +ship is well moored, and this narrow ledge of rocks, between us and the +ocean, serves admirably for a break-water. One would not like to be +stranded, helpless as we are, at this moment, on a coast like this!" + +"Why so particularly helpless? You allude to the absence of our crew?" + +"To that, and to the fact that, I believe, we could not muster as much as +a pocket-pistol to defend ourselves with, everything in the shape of +fire-arms having been sent with the party in the boats." + +"Might we not lie on the beach, here, for days, even weeks," inquired Mr. +Sharp, "without being discovered by the Arabs?" + +"I fear not. Mariners have told me that the barbarians hover along the +shores, especially after gales, in the hope of meeting with wrecks, and +that it is surprising how soon they gain intelligence of any disaster. It +is seldom there is even an opportunity to escape in a boat." + +"I hope here, at least, we are safe?" cried Eve, in a little terror, and +shuddering, as much in playfulness as in real alarm. + +"I see no grounds of concern where we are, so long as we can keep the ship +off the shore. The Arabs have no boats, and if they had, they would not +dare to attack a vessel that floated, in one, unless aware of her being as +truly helpless as we happen at this moment to be." + +"This is a chilling consolation, but I shall trust in your good care, +gentlemen. Mademoiselle, it is drawing near midnight, I believe." + +Eve and her companion then courteously wished the two young men good +night, and retired to their state-rooms; Mr. Sharp remained an hour longer +with Mr. Blunt, who had undertaken to watch the first few hours, +conversing with a light heart, and gaily; for, though there was a secret +consciousness of rivalry between these two young men on the subject of +Eve's favour, it was a generous and manly competition, in which each did +the other ample justice. They talked of their travels, their views of +customs and nations, their adventures in different countries, and of the +pleasure each had felt in visiting spots renowned by association or the +arts; but not a word was hazarded by either concerning the young creature +who had just left them, and whom each still saw in his mind's eye, long +after her light and graceful form had disappeared. At length Mr. Sharp +went below, his companion insisting on being left alone, under the penalty +of remaining up himself during the second watch. From this time, for +several hours, there was no other noise in the ship than the tread of the +solitary watchman. At the appointed period of the night, a change took +place, and he who had watched, slept; while he who had slept, watched. +Just as day dawned, however, Paul Blunt, who was in a deep sleep, felt a +shake at his shoulder. + +"Pardon me," cautiously whispered Mr. Sharp: "I fear we are about to have +a most unpleasant interruption to our solitude." + +"Heavenly powers!--Not the Arabs?" + +"I fear no less: but it is still too dark to be certain of the fact. If +you will rise, we can consult on the situation in which we are placed. I +beg you to be quick." + +Paui Blunt had hastily risen on an arm, and he now passed a hand over his +brow, as if to make certain that he was awake. He had not undressed +himself, and in another moment he stood on his feet in the middle of the +state-room. + +"This is too serious to allow of mistake. We will not alarm her, then; we +will not give any alarm, sir, until certain of the calamity." + +"In that I entirely agree with you," returned Mr. Sharp who was perfectly +calm, though evidently distressed. "I may be mistaken, and wish your +opinion. All on board but us two are in a profound sleep." + +The other drew on his coat, and in a minute both were on deck. The day had +not yet dawned, and the light was scarce sufficient to distinguish objects +even near as those on the reef, particularly when they were stationary. +The rocks, themselves, however, were visible in places, for the tide was +out, and most of the upper portion of the ledge was bare. The two +gentlemen moved cautiously to the bows of the vessel, and, concealed by +the bulwarks, Mr. Sharp pointed out to his companion the objects that had +given him the alarm. + +"Do you see the pointed rock a little to the right of the spot where the +kedge is placed?" he said, pointing in the direction that he meant. "It is +now naked, and I am quite cenain there was an object on it, when I went +below, that has since moved away." + +"It may have been a sea-bird; for we are so near the day, some of them are +probably in motion. Was it large?" + +"Of the size of a man's head, apparently; but this is by no means all. +Here, farther to the north, I distinguished three objects in motion, +wading in the water, near the point where the rocks are never bare." + +"They may have been herons; the bird is often found in these low +latitudes, I believe. I can discover nothing." + +"I would to God, I may have been mistaken, though I do not think I could +be so much deceived." + +Paul Blunt caught his arm, and held it like one who listened intently. + +"Heard you that?" he whispered hurriedly. + +"It sounded like the clanking of iron." + +Looking around, the other found a handspike, and passing swiftly up the +heel of the bowsprit, he stood between the knight-heads. Here he bent +forward, and looked intently towards the lines of chains which lay over +the bulwarks, as bow-fasts. Of these chains the parts led quite near each +other, in parallel lines, and as the ship's moorings were taut, they were +hanging in merely a slight curve. From the rocks, or the place where the +kedges were laid to a point within thirty feet of the ship, these chains +were dotted with living beings crawling cautiously upward. It was even +easy, at a second look, to perceive that they were men stealthily +advancing on their hands and feet. + +Raising the handspike, Mr. Blunt struck the chains several violent blows. +The effect was to cause the whole of the Arabs--for it could be no +others--suddenly to cease advancing, and to seat themselves astride +the chains. + +"This is fearful," said Mr. Sharp; "but we must die, rather than permit +them to reach the ship." + +"We must. Stand you here, and if they advance, strike the chains. There is +not an instant to lose." + +Paul Blunt spoke hurriedly, and, giving the other the handspike, he ran +down to the bitts, and commenced loosening the chains from their +fastenings. The Arabs heard the clanking of the iron-rings, as he threw +coil after coil on the deck, and they did not advance. Presently two parts +yielded together beneath them, and then two more. These were the signals +for a common retreat, and Mr. Sharp now plainly counted fifteen human +forms as they scrambled back towards the reef, some hanging by their arms, +some half in the water, and others lying along the chains, as best they +might. Mr. Blunt having loosened the chains, so as to let their bights +fall into the sea, the ship slowly drifted astern, and rode by her cables. +When this was done, the two young men stood together in silence on the +forecastle, as if each felt that all which had just occurred was +some illusion. + +"This is indeed terrible," exclaimed Paul Blunt. "We have not even a +pistol left! No means of defence--nothing but this narrow belt of water +between us and these barbarians! No doubt, too, they have fire-arms; and, +as soon as it is light, they will render it unsafe to remain on deck." + +Mr. Sharp took the hand of his companion and pressed it fervently. "God +bless you!" he said in a stifled voice. "God bless you, for even this +brief delay. But for this happy thought of yours, Miss Effingham--the +others--we should _all_ have been, by this time, at the mercy of these +remorseless wretches. This is not a moment for false pride or pitiful +deceptions. I think either of us would willingly die to rescue that +beautiful and innocent creature from a fate like this which threatens her +in common with ourselves?" + +"Cheerfully would I lay down my life to be assured that she was, at this +instant, safe in a civilized and Christian country." + +These generous young men squeezed each other's hands, and at that moment +no feeling of rivalry, or of competition even, entered the heart of +either. Both were influenced by a pure and ardent desire to serve the +woman they loved, and it would be true to say, that scarce a thought of +any but Eve was uppermost in their minds. Indeed so engrossing was their +common care in her behalf, so much more terrible than that of any other +person did her fate appear on being captured, that they forgot, for the +moment, there were others in the ship, and others, too, who might be +serviceable in arresting the very calamity they dreaded. + +"They may not be a strong party," said Paul Blunt, after a little thought, +"in which case, failing of a surprise, they may not be able to muster a +force sufficient to hazard an open attack until the return of the boats. +We have, God be praised! escaped being seized in our sleep, and made +unconscious victims of so cruel a fate. Fifteen or twenty will scarcely +dare attempt a ship of this size, without a perfect knowledge of our +feebleness, and particularly of our want of arms. There is a light gun on +board, and it is loaded; with this, too, we may hold them at bay, by not +betraying our weakness. Let us awake the others, for this is not a moment +for sleep. We are safe, at least, for an hour or two; since, without +boats, they cannot possibly find the means to board us in less than +that time." + +The two young men went below, unconsciously treading lightly, like those +who moved about in the presence of an impending danger. Paul Blunt was in +advance, and to his great surprise he met Eve at the door of the ladies' +cabin, apparently awaiting their approach. She was dressed, for +apprehension, and the novelty of their situation, had caused her to sleep +in most of her clothes, and a few moments had sufficed for a hasty +adjustment of the toilet. Miss Effingham was pale, but a concentration of +all her energies seemed to prevent the exhibition of any womanly terror. + +"Something is wrong!" she said, trembling in spite of herself, and laying +her hand unwittingly on the arm of Paul Blunt: "I heard the heavy fall of +iron on the deck." + +"Compose yourself, dearest Miss Effingham, compose yourself, I entreat +you. I mean, that we have come to awaken the gentlemen." + +"Tell me the worst, Powis, I implore you. I am equal,--I think I am equal, +to hearing it." + +"I fear your imagination has exaggerated the danger." + +"The coast?" + +"Of that there is no cause for apprehension. The sea is calm, and our +fasts are perfectly good." + +"The boats?" + +"Will doubtless be back in good time." + +"Surely--surely," said Eve, recoiling a step, as if she saw a monster, +"not the Arabs?" + +"They cannot enter the ship, though a few of them are hovering about us. +But for the vigilance of Mr. Sharp, indeed, we might have all been +captured in our sleep. As it is, we have warning, and there is now little +doubt of our being able to intimidate the few barbarians who have shown +themselves, until Captain Truck shall return." + +"Then from my soul, I thank you, Sir George Templemore, and for this good +office will you receive the thanks of a father, and the prayers of all +whom you have so signally served." + +"Nay, Miss Effingham, although I find this interest in me so grateful that +I have hardly the heart to lessen your gratitude, truth compels me to give +it a juster direction. But for the promptitude of Mr. Blunt--or as I now +find I ought to address him, Mr. Powis--we should truly have all +been lost." + +"We will not dispute about your merits, gentlemen. You have both deserved +our most heartfelt thanks, and if you will awaken my father and Mr. John +Effingham, I will arouse Mademoiselle Viefville and my own women. Surely, +surely, this is no time to sleep!" + +The summons was given at the state-room doors, and the two young men +returned to the deck, for they felt it was not safe to leave it long at +such a moment. All was quite tranquil above, however, nor could the utmost +scrutiny now detect the presence of any person on the reef. + +"The rocks are cut off from the shore, farther to the southward by deeper +water," said Paul Blunt--for we shall continue to call both gentlemen, +except on particular occasions, by their _noms de guerre_--"and when the +tide is up the place cannot be forded. Of this the Arabs are probably +aware; and having failed in their first attempt, they will probably retire +to the beach as the water is rising, for they might not like to be left on +the riband of rock that will remain in face of the force that would be +likely to be found in such a vessel." + +"May they not be acquainted with the absence of most of our people, and be +bent upon seizing the vessel before they can return?" + +"That indeed is the gloomy side of the conjecture, and it may possibly be +too true; but as the day is beginning to break, we shall soon learn the +worst, and anything is better than vague distrust." + +For some time the two gentlemen paced the quarter-deck together in +silence. Mr. Sharp was the first to speak. + +"The emotions natural to such an alarm," he said, "have caused Miss +Effingham to betray an incognito of mine, that I fear you find +sufficiently absurd. It was quite accidental, I do assure you; as much so, +perhaps, as it was motiveless." + +"Except as you might distrust American democracy," returned Paul, smiling, +"and feel disposed to propitiate it by a temporary sacrifice of rank +and title." + +"I declare you do me injustice. My man, whose name _is_ Sharp, had taken +the state-room, and, finding myself addressed by his appellation, I had +the weakness to adopt it, under the impression it might be convenient in a +packet. Had I anticipated, in the least, meeting with the Effinghams, I +should not have been guilty of the folly, for Mr. and Miss Effingham are +old acquaintances." + +"While you are thus apologising for a venial offence, you forget it is to +a man guilty of the same error. I knew your person, from having seen you +on the Continent; and finding you disposed to go by the homely name of +Sharp, in a moment of thoughtlessness, I took its counterpart, Blunt. A +travelling name is sometimes convenient, though sooner or later I fancy +all deceptions bring with them their own punishments." + +"It is certain that falsehood requires to be supported by falsehood. +Having commenced in untruth, would it not be expedient to persevere until +we reach America? I, at least, cannot now assert a right to my proper +name, without deposing an usurper!" + +"It _will_ be expedient for you, certainly, if it be only to escape the +homage of that double-distilled democrat, Mr. Dodge. As for myself, few +care enough about me to render it a matter of moment how I am styled; +though, on the whole, I should prefer to let things stand as they are, for +reasons I cannot well explain." + +No more was said on the subject, though both understood that the old +appellations were to be temporarily continued. Just as this brief dialogue +ended, the rest of the party appeared on deck. All preserved a forced +calmness, though the paleness of the ladies betrayed the intense anxiety +they felt. Eve struggled with her fears on account of her father, who had +trembled so violently, when the truth was first told him, as to be quite +unmanned, but who now comported himself with dignity, though oppressed +with apprehension almost to anguish. John Effingham was stern, and in the +bitterness of his first sensations he had muttered a few imprecations on +his own folly, in suffering himself to be thus caught without arms. Once +the terrible idea of the necessity of sacrificing Eve, in the last resort, +as an expedient preferable to captivity, had flashed across his mind; but +the real tenderness he felt for her, and his better nature, soon banished +the unnatural thought. Still, when he joined the party on deck, it was +with a general but vague impression, that the moment was at hand when +circumstances had required that they were all to die together. No one was +more seemingly collected than Mademoiselle Viefville. Her life had been +one of sacrifices, and she had now made up her mind that it was to pass +away in a scene of violence; and, with a species of heroism that is +national, her feelings had been aroused to a sort of Roman firmness, and +she was prepared to meet her fate with a composure equal to that of +the men. + +These were the first feelings and impressions of those who had been +awakened from the security of the night, to hear the tale of their danger; +but they lessened as the party collected in the open air, and began to +examine into their situation by means of the steadily increasing light. +As the day advanced, Paul Blunt, in particular, carefully examined the +rocks near the ship, even ascending to the fore-top, from which elevation +he overlooked the whole line of the reef; and something like hope revived +in every bosom, when he proclaimed the joyful intelligence that nothing +having life was visible in that direction. + +"God be praised!" he said with fervour, as his foot touched the deck again +on descending; "we have at least a respite from the attacks of these +barbarians. The tide has risen so high that they dare not stay on the +rocks, lest they might be cut off; for they probably think us stronger +than we are, and armed. The light gun on the forecastle is loaded, +gentlemen, though not shotted; for there are no shot in the vessel, +Saunders tells me; and I would suggest the propriety of firing it, both to +alarm the Arabs, and as a signal to our friends. The distance from the +wreck is not so great but it might be heard, and I think they would at +least send a boat to our relief. Sound flies fast, and a short time may +bring us succour. The water will not be low enough for our enemies to +venture on the reef again, under six or eight hours, and all may yet +be well." + +This proposal was discussed, and it proving, on inquiry, that all the +powder in the ship, after loading the gun for this very purpose of firing +a signal, had been taken in the boats, and that no second discharge could +be made, it was decided to lose no more time, but to let their danger be +known to their friends at once, if it were possible to send the sound so +far. When this decision was come to, Mr. Blunt, aided by Mr. Sharp, made +the necessary preparations without delay. The latter, though doing all he +could to assist, envied the readiness, practical skill and intelligence, +with which his companion, a man of cultivated and polished mind in higher +things, performed every requisite act that was necessary to effect their +purpose. Instead of hastily discharging the piece, an iron four-pound gun, +Mr. Blunt first doubled the wad, which he drove home with all his force, +and then he greased the muzzle, as he said, to increase the report. + +"I shall not attempt to explain the philosophy of this," he added with a +mournful smile, "but all lovers of salutes and salvos will maintain that +it is useful; and be it so or not, too much depends on our making +ourselves heard, to neglect any thing that has even a chance of aiding +that one great object. If you will now assist me, Sir George, we will run +the gun over to starboard, in order that it may be fired on the side next +the wreck." + +"Judging from the readiness you have shown on several occasions, as well +as your familiarity with the terms, I should think you had served," +returned the real baronet, as he helped his companion to place the gun at +a port on the northern side of the vessel. + +"You have not mistaken my trade. I was certainly bred, almost born, a +seaman; and though as a traveller I have now been many years severed from +my early habits, little of what I knew has been lost. Were there five +others here, who had as much familiarity as myself with vessels, I think +we could carry the ship outside the reef, crippled as she is, and set the +Arabs at defiance. Would to God our worthy captain had never brought +her inside." + +"He did all for the best, no doubt?" + +"Beyond a question; and no more than a commendable prudence required. +Still he has left us in a most critical position. This priming is a little +damp, and I distrust it. The coal, if you please." + +"Why do you not fire?" + +"At the last moment, I almost repent of my own expedient. Is it quite +certain no pistols remain among any of our effects?" + +"I fear not. Saunders reports that all, even to those of the smallest +size, were put in requisition for the boats." + +"The charge in this gun might serve for many pistols, or for several +fowling-pieces. I might even sweep the reef, on an emergency, by using old +iron for shot! It appears like parting with a last friend, to part with +this single precious charge of gunpowder." + +"Nay, you certainly know best; though I rather think the Messrs. Effingham +are of your first opinion." + +"It is puerile to waver on such a subject, and I will hesitate no longer. +There are moments when the air seems to float in the direction of our +friends; on the first return of one of those currents, I will fire." + +A minute brought the opportunity, and Paul Blunt, or Paul Powis, as his +real name would now appear to be, applied the coal. The report was sharp +and lively; but as the smoke floated away, he again expressed his doubts +of the wisdom of what had just been done. Had he then known that the +struggling sounds had diffused themselves in their radii, without reaching +the wreck, his regrets would have been increased fourfold. This was a +fact, however, that could not be then ascertained, and those in the packet +were compelled to wait two or three hours before they even got the +certainty of their failure. + +As the light increased a view was obtained of the shore, which seemed as +silent and deserted as the reef. For half an hour the whole party +experienced the revulsion of feeling that accompanies all great changes of +emotion, and the conversation had even got to be again cheerful, and to +turn into its former channels, when suddenly a cry from Saunders renewed +the alarm. The steward was preparing the breakfast in the galley, from +which he gave occasional glances towards the land, and his quick eye had +been the first to detect a new and still more serious danger that now +menaced them. + +A long train of camels was visible, travelling across the desert, and +holding its way towards the part of the reef which touched the shore. At +this point, too, were now to be seen some twenty Arabs, waiting the +arrival, of their friends; among whom it was fair to conclude were those +who had attempted to carry the ship by surprise. As the events which next +followed were closely connected with the policy and forbearance of the +party of barbarians near the wreck, this will be a suitable occasion to +explain the motives of the latter, in not assailing Captain Truck, and the +real state of things among these children of the desert. + +The Dane had been driven ashore, as conjectured, in the last gale, and the +crew had immediately been captured by a small wandering party of the +Arabs, with whom the coast was then lined; as is usually the case +immediately after tempestuous weather. Unable to carry off much of the +cargo, this party had secured the prisoners, and hurried inland to an +oasis, to give the important intelligence to their friends; leaving scouts +on the shore, however, that they might be early apprised of any similar +disaster, or of any change in the situation of their present prize. These +scouts had discovered the Montauk, drifting along the coast, dismasted +and crippled, and they had watched her to her anchorage within the reef. +The departure of her boats had been witnessed, and though unable to +foresee the whole object of this expedition, the direction taken pointed +out the wreck as the point of destination. All this, of course, had been +communicated to the chief men of the different parties on the coast, of +which there were several, who had agreed to unite their forces to secure +the second ship, and then to divide the spoils. + +When the Arabs reached the coast near the wreck, that morning, the elders +among them were not slow in comprehending the motives of the expedition; +and having gained a pretty accurate idea of the number of men employed +about the Dane, they had come to the just conclusion that few were left in +the vessel at anchor. They had carried off the spy-glass of their prize +too, and several among them knew its use, from having seen similar things +in other stranded ships. By means of this glass, they discovered the +number and quality of those on board the Montauk, as soon as there was +sufficient light, and directed their own operations accordingly. The +parties that had appeared and disappeared behind the sandy ridges of the +desert, about the time at which we have now arrived in the narrative, and +those who have been already mentioned in a previous chapter, were those +who came from the interior, and those who went in the direction of the +reef; the first of the latter of which Saunders had just discovered. Owing +to the rounded formation of the coast, and to the intervention of a +headland, the distance by water between the two ships was quite double +that by land between the two encampments, and those who now arrived +abreast of the packet, deliberately pitched their tents, as if they +depended more on a display of their numbers for success than on +concealment and as if they felt no apprehension of the return of the crew. + +When the gentlemen had taken a survey of this strong party, which numbered +more than a hundred, they held a consultation of the course it would be +necessary to pursue. To Paul Blunt, as an avowed seaman, and as one who +had already shown the promptitude and efficiency of his resources, all +eyes were turned in expectation of an opinion. + +"So long as the tide keeps in," this gentleman observed, "I see no cause +for apprehensions. We are beyond the reach of musketry, or at all events, +any fire of the Arabs, at this distance, must be uncertain and harmless; +and we have always the hope of the arrival of the boats. Should this fail +us, and the tide fall this afternoon as low as it fell in the morning, our +situation will indeed become critical. The water around the ship may +possibly serve as a temporary protection, but the distance to the reef is +so small that it might be passed by swimming." + +"Surely we could make good the vessel against men raising themselves out +of the water, and clambering up a vessel's side?" said Mr. Sharp. + +"It is probable we might, if unmolested from the shore. But, imagine +twenty or thirty resolute swimmers to put off together for different parts +of the vessel, protected by the long muskets these Arabs carry, and you +will easily conceive the hopelessness of any defence. The first man among +us, who should show his person to meet the boarders, would be shot down +like a dog." + +"It was a cruel oversight to expose us to this horrible fate!" exclaimed +the appalled father. + +"This is easier seen now than when the mistake was committed," observed +John Effingham. "As a seaman, and with his important object in view, +Captain Truck acted for the best, and we should acquit him of all blame, +let the result be what it may. Regrets are useless, and it remains for us +to devise some means to arrest the danger by which we are menaced, before +it be too late. Mr. Blunt, you must be our leader and counsellor: is it +not possible for us to carry the ship outside of the reef, and to anchor +her beyond the danger of our being boarded?" + +"I have thought of this expedient, and if we had a boat it might possibly +be done, in this mild weather; without a boat, it is impossible." + +"But we have a boat," glancing his eye towards the launch that stood in +the chocks or chucks. + +"One that would be too unwieldy for our purposes, could it be got into the +water; a thing in itself that would be almost impracticable for us +to achieve." + +A long silence succeeded, during which the gentlemen were occupied in the +bootless effort of endeavouring to devise expedients to escape the Arabs; +bootless, because on such occasions, the successful measure is commonly +the result of a sort of sudden inspiration, rather than of continued and +laborious thought. + + + + +Chapter XXII. + + + + With religious awe + Grief heard the voice of Virtue. No complaint + The solemn silence broke. Tears ceased to flow. + + GLOVER. + + +Hope is the most treacherous of all human fancies. So long as there is a +plausible ground to expect relief from any particular quarter, men will +relax their exertions in the face of the most imminent danger, and they +cling to their expectations long after reason has begun to place the +chances of success on the adverse side of the scale. Thus it was with the +party in the Montauk. Two or three precious hours were lost in the idle +belief that the gun would be heard by Captain Truck, and that they might +momentarily look for the appearance of, at least, one of the boats. + +Paul Blunt was the first to relinquish this delusion. He knew that, if it +reached their friends at all, the report must have been heard in a few +seconds, and he knew, also, that it peculiarly belonged to the profession +of a seaman to come to quick decisions. An hour of smart rowing would +bring the cutter from the wreck to the headland, where it would be +visible, by means of a glass, from the fore-top. Two hours had now passed +away and no signs of any boat were to be discovered, and the young man +felt reluctantly compelled to yield all the strong hopes of timely aid +that he had anticipated from this quarter. John Effingham, who had much +more energy of character than his kinsman, though not more personal +fortitude and firmness, was watching the movements of their young leader, +and he read the severe disappointment in his face, as he descended the +last time from the top, where he had often been since the consultation, +to look out for the expected succour. + +"I see it in your countenance," said that gentleman, "we have nothing to +look for from the boats. Our signal has not been heard." + +"There is no hope, and we are now thrown altogether on our own exertions, +aided by the kind providence of God." + +"This calamity is so sudden and so dire, that I can scarcely credit it! +Are we then truly in danger of becoming prisoners to barbarians? Is Eve +Effingham, the beautiful, innocent, good, angelic daughter of my cousin, +to be their victim!--perhaps the inmate of a seraglio!" + +"There is the pang! Had I a thousand bodies, a thousand lives, I could +give all of the first to unmitigated suffering, lay down all the last to +avert so shocking a calamity. Do you think the ladies are sensible of +their real situation?" + +"They are uneasy rather than terrified. In common with us all, they have +strong hopes from the boats, though the continued arrival of the +barbarians, who are constantly coming into their camp, has helped to +render them a little more conscious of the true nature of the danger." + +Here Mr. Sharp, who stood on the hurricane-house, called out for the +glass, in order to ascertain what a party of the Arabs, who were collected +near the in-shore end of the reef, were about. Paul Blunt went up to him, +and made the examination. His countenance fell as he gazed, and an +expression like that of hopelessness was again apparent on his fine +features, when he lowered the glass. + +"Here is some new cause of uneasiness!" + +"The wretches have got a number of spars, and are lashing them together to +form a raft. They are bent on our capture, and I see no means of +preventing it." + +"Were we alone, men only, we might have the bitter consolation of selling +our lives dearly; but it is terrible to have those with us whom we can +neither save nor yet devote to a common destruction with our enemies!" + +"It is indeed terrible, and the helplessness of our situation adds to its +misery." + +"Can we not offer terms?--Might not a promise of ransom, with hostages, do +something? I would cheerfully remain in the hands of the barbarians, in +order to effect the release of the rest of the party." + +Mr. Blunt grasped his hand, and for a moment he envied the other the +generous thought. But smiling bitterly, he shook his head, as if conscious +of the futility of even this desperate self-devotion. + +"Gladly would I be your companion; but the project is, in every sense, +impracticable. Ransom they might consent to receive with us all in their +power, but not on the condition of our being permitted to depart. Indeed, +no means of quitting them would be left; for, once in possession of the +ship, as in a few hours they must be, Captain Truck, though having the +boats, will be obliged to surrender for want of food, or to run the +frightful hazard of attempting to reach the islands, on an allowance +scarcely sufficient to sustain life under the most favourable +circumstances. These flint-hearted monsters are surrounded by the +desolation of their desert, and they are aware of all their appalling +advantages." + +"The real state of things ought to be communicated to our friends, in +order that they may be prepared for the worst." + +To this Mr. Blunt agreed, and they went together to inform John Effingham +of the new discovery. This stern-minded man was, in a manner, prepared for +the worst, and he now agreed on the melancholy propriety of letting his +kinsman know the actual nature of the new danger that threatened them. + +"I will undertake this unpleasant office," he said, "though I could, in my +inmost soul, pray that the necessity for it might pass away. Should the +worst arrive, I have still hopes of effecting something by means of a +ransom; but what will have been the fate of the youthful, and delicate, +and lovely, ere we can make ourselves even comprehended by the barbarians? +A journey in the desert, as these journeys have been described to me, +would be almost certain death to all but the strongest of our party, and +even gold may fail of its usual power, when weighed against the evil +nature of savages." + +"Is there no hope, then, really left us?" demanded Mr. Sharp, when the +last speaker had left them to descend to the cabins. "Is it not possible +to get the boat into the water, and to make our escape in that?" + +"That is an expedient of which I have thought, but it is next to +impracticable. As anything is better than capture, however, I will make +one more close examination of the proceedings of the demons, and look +nearer into our own means." + +Paul Blunt now got a lead and dropped it over the side of the ship, in the +almost forlorn hope that possibly she might lie over some hole on the +bottom. The soundings proved to be, as indeed he expected, but a little +more than three fathoms. + +"I had no reason to expect otherwise," he said, as he drew in the line, +though he spoke like a disappointed man. "Had there been sufficient water +the ship might have been scuttled, and the launch would have floated off +the deck; but as it is, we should lose the vessel without a sufficient +object. It would appear heroic were you and I to contrive to get on the +reef, and to proceed to the shore with a view to make terms with the +Arabs; but there could be no real use in it, as the treachery of their +character is too well established to look for any benefit from such +a step." + +"Might they not be kept in play, until our friends returned? Providence +may befriend us in some unexpected manner in our uttermost peril." + +"We will examine them once more with the glass. By a movement among the +Arabs, there has probably been a new accession to their numbers." + +The two gentlemen now ascended to the top of the hurricane-house again, in +feverish haste, and once more they applied the instrument. A minute of +close study induced Mr. Blunt to drop the glass, with an expression that +denoted increased concern. + +"Can any thing possibly make our prospects worse?" eagerly inquired his +companion. + +"Do you not remember a flag that was on board the Dane--that by which we +identified his nation?" + +"Certainly: it was attached to the halyards, and lay on the quarter-deck." + +"That flag is now flying in the camp of these barbarians! You may see it, +here, among the tents last pitched by the party that arrived while we were +conversing forward." + +"And from this, you infer--" + +"That our people are captives! That flag was in the ship when we left it; +had the Arabs returned before our party got there, the captain would have +been back long ere this; and in order to obtain this ensign they must have +obtained possession of the wreck, after the arrival of the boats; an event +that could scarcely occur without a struggle; I fear the flag is a proof +on which side the victory has fallen." + +"This then would seem to consummate our misfortunes!" + +"It does indeed; for the faint hope that existed, of being relieved by the +boats, must now be entirely abandoned." + +"In the name of God, look again, and see in what condition the wretches +have got their raft!" + +A long examination followed, for on this point did the fate of all in the +ship now truly seem to depend. + +"They work with spirit," said Mr. Blunt, when his examination had +continued a long time; "but it seems less like a raft than before--they +are lashing spars together lengthwise--here is a dawning of hope, or what +would be hope, rather, if the boats had escaped their fangs!" + +"God bless you for the words!--what is there encouraging?" + +"It is not much," returned Paul Blunt, with a mournful smile; "but trifles +become of account in moments of extreme jeopardy. They are making a +floating stage, doubtless with the intention to pass from the reef to the +ship, and by veering on the chains we may possibly drop astern +sufficiently to disappoint them in the length of their bridge. If I saw a +hope of the final return of the boats, this expedient would not be without +its use, particularly if delayed to the last moment, as it might cause the +Arabs to lose another tide, and a reprieve of eight or ten hours is an age +to men in our situation." + +Mr. Sharp caught eagerly at this suggestion and the young men walked the +deck together for half an hour, discussing its chances, and suggesting +various means of turning it to the best account. Still, both felt +convinced that the trifling delay which might thus be obtained, would, in +the end, be perfectly useless, should Captain Truck and his party have +really fallen into the hands of the common enemy. They were thus engaged, +sometimes in deep despondency, and sometimes buoyant with revived +expectations, when Saunders, on the part of Mr. Effingham summoned +them below. + +On reaching the cabin, whither both immediately hastened, the two +gentlemen found the family party in the distress that the circumstances +would naturally create. Mr. Effingham was seated, his daughter's head +resting on a knee, for she had thrown herself on the carpet, by his side. +Mademoiselle Viefville paced the cabin, occasionally stopping to utter a +few words of consolation to her young charge, and then again reverting in +her mind to the true dangers of their situation, with a force that +completely undid all she had said, by betraying the extent of her own +apprehensions. Ann Sidley knelt near her young mistress, sometimes praying +fervently, though in silence, and at other moments folding her beloved in +her arms, as if to protect her from the ruffian grasp of the barbarians. +The _femme de chambre_ was sobbing in a state-room, while John Effingham +leaned, with his arms folded against a bulk-head, a picture of stern +submission rather than of despair. The whole party was now assembled, with +the exception of the steward, whose lamentations throughout the morning +had not been noiseless, but who was left on deck to watch the movements of +the Arabs. + +The moment was not one of idle forms, and Eve Effingham, who would have +recoiled, under other circumstances, at being seen by her fellow +travellers in her present situation, scarce raised her head, in +acknowledgement of their melancholy salute, as they entered. She had been +weeping, and her hair had fallen in profusion around her shoulders. The +tears fell no longer, but a warm flushed look, one which denoted that a +struggle of the mind had gotten the better of womanly emotions, had +succeeded to deadly paleness, and rendered her loveliness of feature and +expression bright and angelic. Both of the young men thought she had never +seemed so beautiful, and both felt a secret pang, as the conviction forced +itself on them, at the same instant, that this surpassing beauty was now +likely to prove her most dangerous enemy. + +"Gentlemen," said Mr. Effingham, with apparent calmness, and a dignity +that no uneasiness could disturb, "my kinsman has acquainted us with the +hopeless nature of our condition, and I have begged the favour of this +visit on your own account. _We_ cannot separate; the ties of blood and +affection unite us, and our fate must be common; but, on _you_ there is no +such obligation. Young, bold, and active, some plan may suggest itself, by +which you may possibly escape the barbarians, and at least save +yourselves, I know that generous temperaments like yours will not be +disposed to listen, at first, to such a suggestion: but reflection will +tell you that it is for the interest of us all. You may let our fate be +known, earlier than it otherwise would be, to those who will take +immediate measures to procure our ransoms." + +"This is impossible!" Mr. Sharp said firmly. "We can never quit you; could +never enjoy a moment's peace under the consciousness of having been guilty +of an act so selfish!" + +"Mr. Blunt is silent," continued Mr. Effingham, after a short pause, in +which he looked from one of the young men to the other. "He thinks better +of my proposition, and will listen to his own best interests." + +Eve raised her head quickly, but without being conscious of the anxiety +she betrayed, and gazed with melancholy intentness at the subject of +this remark. + +"I do credit to the generous feelings of Mr. Sharp," Paul Blunt now +hurriedly answered, "and should be sorry to admit that my own first +impulses were less disinterested; but I confess I have already thought of +this, and have reflected on all the chances of success or failure. It +might be practicable for one who can swim easily to reach the reef; thence +to cross the inlet, and possibly to gain the shore under cover of the +opposite range of rocks, which are higher than those near us; after which, +by following the coast, one might communicate with the boats by signal, or +even go quite to the wreck if necessary. All of this I have deliberated +on, and once I had determined to propose it; but--" + +"But what?" demanded Eve quickly. "Why not execute this plan, and save +yourself? Is it a reason, because case is hopeless, that you should +perish?" Go, then, at once, for the moments are precious; an hour hence, +it may be too late." + +"Were it merely to save myself, Miss Effingham, do you really think me +capable of this baseness?" + +"I do not call it baseness. Why should we draw you down with us in our +misery? You have already served us, Powis, in a situation of terrible +trial, and it is not just that you should always devote yourself in behalf +of those who seem fated never to do you good. My father will tell you he +thinks it your duty now to save yourself if possible." + +"I think it the duty of every man," mildly resumed Mr. Effingham, "when no +imperious obligation requires otherwise, to save the life and liberty +which God has bestowed. These gentlemen have doubtless ties and claims on +them that are independent of us, and why should they inflict a pang on +those who love them, in order to share in our disaster?" + +"This is placing useless speculations before a miserable certainty," +observed John Effingham. "As there can be no hope of reaching the boats, +it is vain to discuss the propriety of the step." + +"Is this true, Powis? Is there truly no chance of your escaping. You will +not deceive us--deceive yourself--on a vain point of empty pride!" + +"I can say with truth, almost with joy, for I thank God I am spared the +conflict of judging between my duty and my feelings, that there can no +longer be any chance of finding the wreck in the possession of our +friends," returned Paul fervently. "There were moments when I thought the +attempt should be made; and it would perhaps have properly fallen to my +lot to be the adventurer; but we have now proof that the Arabs are +masters, and if Captain Truck has escaped at all, it is under +circumstances that scarcely admit the possibility of his being near the +land. The whole coast must be watched and in possession of the barbarians, +and one passing along it could hardly escape being seen." + +"Might you not escape into the interior, notwithstanding?" asked Eve, +impetuously. + +"With what motive? To separate myself from those who have been my fellows +in misfortune, only to die of want, or to fall into the hands of another +set of masters? It is every way our interest to keep together, and to let +those already on the coast become our captors, as the booty of two ships +may dispose them to be less exacting with their prisoners." + +"Slaves!" muttered John Effingham. + +His cousin bowed his head over the delicate form of Eve, which he folded +with his arms, as if to shield it from the blasts and evils of the desert. + +"As we may be separated immediately on being taken," resumed Paul Blunt, +"it will be well to adopt some common mode of acting, and a uniform +account of ourselves, in order that we may impress the barbarians with the +policy of carrying us, as soon as possible, into the vicinity of Mogadore, +with a view to obtaining a speedy ransom." + +"Can any thing be better than the holy truth?" exclaimed Eve. "No, no, no! +Let us not deform this chastening act of God by colouring any thought or +word with deception." + +"Deception in our case will hardly be needed; but by understanding those +facts which will most probably influence the Arabs, we may dwell the most +on them. We cannot do better than by impressing on the minds of our +captors the circumstance that this is no common ship, a fact their own +eyes will corroborate, and that we are not mere mariners, but passengers, +who will be likely to reward their forbearance and moderation." + +"I think, sir," interrupted Ann Sidley, looking up with tearful eyes from +the spot where she still knelt, "that if these people knew how much Miss +Eve is sought and beloved, they might be led to respect her as she +deserves, and this at least would 'temper the wind to the shorn lamb!'" + +"Poor Nanny!" murmured Eve, stretching forth a hand towards her old nurse, +though her face was still buried in her own hair, "thou wilt soon learn +that there is another leveller beside the grave!" + +"Ma'am!" + +"Thou wilt find that Eve, in the hands of barbarians, is not thy Eve. It +will now become my turn to become a handmaiden, and to perform for others +offices a thousand times more humiliating than any thou hast ever +performed for me." + +Such a consummation of their misery had never struck the imagination of +the simple-minded Ann, and she gazed at her child with tender concern, as +if she distrusted her senses. + +"This is too improbable, dear Miss Eve," she said, "and you will distress +your father by talking so wildly. The Arabs are human beings though they +are barbarians, and they will never dream of anything so wicked as this." + +Mademoiselle Viefville made a rapid and fervent ejaculation in her own +language, that was keenly expressive of her own sense of misery, and Ann +Sidley, who always felt uneasiness when anything was said affecting Eve +that she could not understand, looked from one to the other, as if she +demanded an explanation. + +"I'm sure Mamerzelle cannot think any such thing likely to take place," +she continued more positively; "and, sir, you at least will not permit +Miss Eve to torment herself with any notions as unreasonable, as +monstrous as this!" + +"We are in the hands of God, my worthy Ann, and you may live to see all +your fixed ideas of propriety violated," returned Mr. Effingham. "Let us +pray that we may not be separated, for there will at least be a tender +consolation in being permitted to share our misery in company. Should we +be torn asunder, then indeed will the infliction be one of +insupportable agony!" + +"And who will think of such a cruelty, sir? _Me_ they cannot separate from +Miss Eve, for I am her servant, her own long-tried, faithful attendant, +who first held her in arms, and nursed her when a helpless infant; and you +too, sir, you are her father, her own beloved revered parent; and Mr. +John, is he not her kinsman, of her blood and name? And even Mamerzelle +also has claims to remain with Miss Eve, for she has taught her many +things, I dare say, that it is good to know. Oh! no, no, no! no one has a +right to tear us asunder, and no one will have the heart to do it." + +"Nanny, Nanny," murmured Eve, "you do not, cannot know the cruel Arabs!" + +"They cannot be crueller and more unforgiving than our own savages, ma'am, +and they keep the mother with the child; and when they spare life, they +take the prisoners into their huts, and treat them as they treat their +own. God has caused so many of the wicked to perish for their sins, in +these eastern lands, that I do not think a man can be left that is wretch +enough to harm one like Miss Eve. Take courage then, sir, and put your +trust in his Holy Providence. I know the trial is hard to a tender +father's heart, but should their customs require them to keep the men and +women asunder, and to separate you from your daughter, for a short time, +remember that I shall be with her, as I was in her childhood, when, by the +mercy of God, we carried her through so many mortal diseases in safety, +and have got her, in the pride of her youth, without a blemish or a +defect, the perfect creature she is." + +"If the world had no other tenants but such as you, devoted and +simple-hearted woman, there would indeed be little cause for apprehension; +for you are equally unable to imagine wrong yourself, or to conceive it in +others. It would remove a mountain from my heart, could I indeed believe +that even you will be permitted to remain near this dependent and fragile +girl during the months of suffering and anguish that are likely to occur." + +"Father," said Eve, hurriedly drying her eyes, and rising to her feet with +a motion so easy, and an effort so slight, that it appeared like the power +of mere volition,--the superiority of the spirit over her light +frame,--"father, do not let a thought of me distress you at this awful +moment. You have known me only in happiness and prosperity,--an indulged +and indolent girl; but I feel a force which is capable of sustaining me, +even in this blank desert. The Arabs can have no other motive than to +preserve us all, as captives likely to repay their care with a rich +ransom. I know that a journey, according to their habits, will be painful +and arduous, but it may be borne. Trust, then, more to my spirit than to +my feeble body, and you will find that I am not as worthless as I fear +you fancy." + +Mr. Effingham passed his arm round the slender waist of his child, and +folded her almost frantically to his bosom. But Eve was aroused, and +gently extricating herself, with bright tearless eyes, she looked round at +her companions, as if she would reverse the order of their sympathies, +and drive them to their own wants and hazards. + +"I know you think me the most exposed by this dreadful disaster," she +said; "that I may not be able to bear up against the probable suffering, +and that I shall sink first, because I am the feeblest and frailest in +frame; but God permits the reed to bend, when the oak is destroyed. I am +stronger, able to bear more than you imagine, and we shall all live to +meet again, in happier scenes, should it be our present hard fortune to be +separated." + +As Eve spoke, she cast affectionate looks on those dear to her by habit, +and blood, and services; nor did she permit an unnecessary reserve at such +a moment to prevent glances of friendly interest towards the two young +men, whose very souls seemed wrapped in her movements. Words of +encouragement from such a source, however, only served to set the +frightful truth more vividly before the minds of her auditors, and not one +of them heard what she said who did not feel an awful presentiment that a +few weeks of the suffering of which she made so light, did she even escape +a crueller fate, would consign that form, now so winning and lovely, to +the sands. Mr. Effingham now rose, and for the first time the flood of +sensations that had been so long gathering in his bosom, seemed ready to +burst through the restraints of manhood. Struggling to command himself, he +turned to his two young male companions, and spoke with an impressiveness +and dignity that carried with them a double force, from the fact of his +ordinary manners being so tempered and calm. + +"Gentlemen," he said, "we may serve each other, by coming to an +understanding in time; or at least you may confer on me a favour that a +life of gratitude would not repay. You are young and vigorous, bold and +intelligent, qualities that will command the respect of even savages. The +chances that one of you will survive to reach a Christian land are much +greater than those of a man of my years, borne down as I shall be with the +never-dying anxieties of a parent." + +"Father! father!" + +"Hush! darling: let me entreat these gentlemen to bear us in mind, should +they reach a place of safety; for, after all, youth may do that in your +behalf, which time will deny to John and myself. Money will be of no +account, you know, to rescue my child from a fate far worse than death, +and it may be some consolation to you, young men, to recollect, at the +close of your own careers, which I trust will yet be long and happy, that +a parent, in his last moments, found a consolation in the justifiable +hopes he had placed on your generous exertions." + +"Father, I cannot bear this! For you to be the victim of these barbarians +is too much; and I would prefer trusting all to a raft on the terrible +ocean, to incurring the smallest chance of such a calamity. Mademoiselle, +you will join me in the entreaty to the gentlemen to prepare a few planks +to receive us, where we can perish together, and at least have the +consolation of knowing that our eyes will be closed by friends. The +longest survivor will be surrounded and supported by the spirits of those +who have gone before, into a world devoid of care." + +"I have thought this from the first," returned Mademoiselle Viefville in +French, with an energy of manner that betokened a high and resolved +character: "I would not expose gentlewomen to the insults and outrages of +barbarians; but did not wish to make a proposition that the feelings of +others might reject." + +"It is a thousand times preferable to capture, if indeed it be +practicable," said John Effingham, looking inquiringly towards Paul. The +latter, however, shook his head in the negative, for, the wind blowing on +shore, he knew it would be merely meeting captivity without the appearance +of a self-reliance and dignity, that might serve to impress their captors +favourably. + +"It is impossible," said Eve, reading the meaning of the glances, and +dropping on her knees before Mr. Effingham; "well, then, may our trust be +in God! We have yet a few minutes of liberty, and let them not be wasted +idly, in vain regrets. Father, kiss me, and give me once more that holy +and cherished blessing, with which you used to consign me to sleep, in +those days when we scarce dreamed of, never realised, misfortune." + +"Bless you, bless you, my babe; my beloved, my cherished Eve!" said the +father solemnly, but with a quivering lip. "May that dread Being whose +ways, though mysterious, are perfect wisdom and mercy, sustain you in this +trial, and bring you at last, spotless in spirit and person, to his own +mansions of peace. God took from me early thy sainted mother, and I had +impiously trusted in the hope that thou wert left to be my solace in age. +Bless you, my Eve; I shall pray God, without ceasing, that thou mayest +pass away as pure and as worthy of His love, as her to whom thou owest +thy being." + +John Effingham groaned; the effort he made to repress his feelings causing +the out-breaking of his soul to be deep though smothered. + +"Father, let us pray together. Ann, my good Ann, thou who first taught me +to lisp a thanksgiving and a request, kneel here by my side--and you, too, +mademoiselle; though of a different creed, we have a common God! Cousin +John, you pray often, I know, though so little apt to show your emotions; +there is a place for you, too, with those of your blood. I know not +whether these gentlemen are too proud to pray." + +Both the young men knelt with the others, and there was a long pause in +which the whole party put up their supplications, each according to his or +her habits of thought. + +"Father!" resumed Eve, looking up as she still knelt between the knees of +Mr. Effingham, and smiling fondly in the face of him she so piously loved; +"there is one precious hope of which even the barbarians cannot rob us: we +may be separated here, but our final meeting rests only with God!" + +Mademoiselle Viefville passed an arm round the waist of her sweet pupil, +and pressed her against her heart. + +"There is but one abode for the blessed, my dear mademoiselle, and one +expiation for us all." Then rising from her knees, Eve said with the grace +and dignity of a gentlewoman, "Cousin Jack, kiss me; we know not when +another occasion may offer to manifest to each other our mutual regard. +You have been a dear and an indulgent kinsman to me, and should I live +these twenty years a slave, I shall not cease to think of you with +kindness and regret." + +John Effingham folded the beautiful and ardent girl in his arms, with the +freedom and fondness of a parent. + +"Gentlemen," continued Eve, with a deepening colour, but eyes that were +kind and grateful, "I thank you, too, for lending your supplications to +ours. I know that young men in the pride of their security, seldom fancy +such a dependence on God necessary; but the strongest are overturned, and +pride is a poor substitute for the hope of the meek, I believe you have +thought better of me than I merit, and I should never cease to reproach +myself with a want of consideration, did I believe that any thing more +than accident has brought you into this ill-fated vessel. Will you permit +me to add one more obligation to the many I feel to you both?" advancing +nearer to them, and speaking lower; "you are young, and likely to endure +bodily exposure better than my father--that we shall be separated I feel +persuaded--and it might be in your power to solace a heart-broken +parent.--I see, I know, I may depend on your good offices." + +"Eve--my blessed daughter--my only, my beloved child!" exclaimed Mr. +Effingham, who overheard her lowest syllable, so death-like was the +stillness of the cabin--"come to me, dearest; no power on earth shall ever +tear us asunder!" + +Eve turned quickly, and beheld the arms of her parent extended. She threw +herself into them, when the pent and irresistible emotions broke loose in +both, for they wept together, as she lay on his bosom, with a violence +that in a man it was awfully painful to witness. + +Mr. Sharp had advanced to take the offered hand of Eve when she suddenly +left him for the purpose just mentioned, and he now felt the grasp of +Paul's fingers on his arm, as if they were about to penetrate the bone. +Fearful of betraying the extent of their feelings, the two young men +rushed on deck together, where they paced backward and forward for many +minutes, quite unable to exchange a word, or even a look. + + + + +Chapter XXIII. + + + + O Domine Deus! speravi in te, + O care mi Jesu, nune libera me;-- + In durâ catenâ, + In miserâ poenâ, + Desidero te-- + Languendo, gemendo + Et genuflectendo, + Adora, imploro, ut liberes me. + + _Queen Mary._ + + +The sublime consolations of religion were little felt by either of the two +generous-minded and ardent young men who were pacing the deck of the +Montauk. The gentle and the plastic admit the most readily of the divine +influence; and of all on board the devoted vessel at that moment, they who +were the most resigned to their fate were those who by their physical +force were the least able to endure it. + +"This heavenly resignation," said Mr. Sharp, half whispering, "is even +more heart-rending than the out-breakings of despair." + +"It is frightful!" returned his companion. "Any thing is better than +passive submission in such circumstances. I see but little, indeed no hope +of escape; but idleness is torture. If I endeavour to raise this boat, +will you aid me?" + +"Command me like your slave. Would to Heaven there were the faintest +prospects of success!" + +"There is but little; and should we even succeed, there are no means of +getting far from the ship in the launch, as all the oars have been carried +off by the captain, and I can hear of neither masts nor sails. Had we the +latter, with this wind which is beginning to blow, we might indeed prolong +the uncertainty, by getting on some of those more distant spits of sand." + +"Then, in the name of the blessed Maria!" exclaimed one behind them in +French, "delay not an instant, and all on board will join in the labour!" + +The gentlemen turned in surprise, and beheld Mademoiselle Viefville +standing so near them as to have overheard their conversation. Accustomed +to depend on herself; coming of a people among whom woman is more +energetic and useful, perhaps, than in any other Christian nation, and +resolute of spirit naturally, this cultivated and generous female had come +on deck purposely to see if indeed there remained no means by which they +might yet escape the Arabs. Had her knowledge of a vessel at all equalled +her resolution, it is probable that many fruitless expedients would +already have been adopted; but finding herself in a situation so +completely novel as that of a ship, until now she had found no occasion to +suggest any thing to which her companions would be likely to lend +themselves. But, seizing the hint of Paul, she pressed it on him with +ardour, and, after a few minutes of urging, by her zeal and persuasion she +prevailed on the two gentlemen to commence the necessary preparations +without further delay. John Effingham and Saunders were immediately +summoned by Mademoiselle Viefville herself, who, once engaged in the +undertaking, pursued it fervently, while she went in person into the +cabins to make the necessary preparations connected with their subsistence +and comforts, should they actually succeed in quitting the vessel. + +No experienced mariner could set about the work with more discretion, or +with a better knowledge of what was necessary to be done, than Mr, Blunt +now showed. Saunders was directed to clear the launch, which had a roof on +it, and still contained a respectable provision of poultry, sheep and +pigs. The roof he was told not to disturb, since it might answer as a +substitute for a deck; but everything was passed rapidly from the inside +of the boat, which the steward commenced scrubbing and cleaning with an +assiduity that he seldom manifested in his cabins. Fortunately, the +tackles with which Mr. Leach had raised the sheers and stepped the +jury-mast the previous morning were still lying on the deck, and Paul was +spared the labour of reeving new ones. He went to work, therefore, to get +up two on the substitute for a main-stay; a job that he had completed, +through the aid of the two gentlemen on deck, by the time Saunders +pronounced the boat to be in a fit condition to receive its cargo. The +gripes were now loosened, and the fall of one of the tackles was led to +the capstan. + +By this time Mademoiselle Viefville, by her energy and decision, had so +far aroused Eve and her woman, that Mr. Effingham had left his daughter, +and appeared on deck among those who were assisting Paul. So intense was +the interest, however, which all took in the result, that the ladies, and +even Ann Sidley, with the _femme de chambre_, suspended their own efforts, +and stood clustering around the capstan as the gentlemen began to heave, +almost breathless between their doubts and hopes; for it was a matter of +serious question whether there was sufficient force to lift so heavy a +body at all. Turn after turn was made, the fall gradually tightening, +until those at the bars felt the full strain of their utmost force. + +"Heave together, gentlemen," said Paul Blunt, who directed every thing, +besides doing so much with his own hands. "We have its weight now, and all +we gain is so much towards lifting the boat." + +A steady effort was continued for two or three minutes, with but little +sensible advantage, when all stopped far breath. + +"I fear it will surpass our strength," observed Mr. Sharp. "The boat seems +not to have moved, and the ropes are stretched in a way to +menace parting." + +"We want but the force of a boy added to our own," said Paul, looking +doubtingly towards the females; "in such cases, a pound counts for a ton." + +"_Allons_!" cried Mademoiselle Viefville, motioning to the _femme de +chambre_ to follow; "we will not be defeated for the want of such +a trifle." + +These two resolute women applied their strength to the bars, and the +power, which had been so equally balanced, preponderated in favour of the +machine. The capstan, which a moment before was scarcely seen to turn, and +that only by short and violent efforts, now moved steadily but slowly +round, and the end of the launch rose. Eve was only prevented from joining +the labourers by Nanny, who held her folded in her arms, fearful that some +accident might occur to injure her. + +Paul Blunt now cheerfully announced the certainty that they had a force +sufficient to raise the boat, though the operation would still be long and +laborious. We say, cheerfully; for while this almost unhoped-for success +promised little relief in the end, there is always something buoyant and +encouraging in success of any sort. + +"We are masters of the boat," he said, "provided the Arabs do not molest +us; and we may drift away, by means of some contrivance of a sail, to such +a distance as will keep us out of their power, until all chance of seeing +our friends again is finally lost." + +"This, then, is a blessed relief!" exclaimed Mr. Effingham; "and God may +yet avert from us the bitterest portion of this calamity!" + +The pent emotions again flowed, and Eve once more wept in her father's +arms, a species of holy joy mingling with her tears. In the mean time, +Paul, having secured the fall by which they had just been heaving, brought +the other to the capstan, when the operation was renewed with the same +success. In this manner in the course of half an hour the launch hung +suspended from the stay, at a sufficient height to apply the yard-tackles. +As the latter, however, were not aloft, Paul having deemed it wise to +ascertain their ability to lift the boat at all, before he threw away so +much toil, the females renewed their preparations in the cabins, while the +gentlemen assisted the young sailor in getting up the purchases. During +this pause in the heaving, Saunders was sent below to search for sails and +masts, both of which Paul thought must be somewhere in the ship, as he +found the launch was fitted to receive them. + +It was apparent, in the mean time, that the Arabs watched their +proceedings narrowly; for the moment Paul appeared on the yard a great +movement took place among them, and several muskets were discharged in the +direction of the ship, though the distance rendered the fire harmless. The +gentlemen observed with concern, however, that the balls passed the +vessel, a fearful proof of the extraordinary power of the arms used by +these barbarians. Luckily the reef, which by this time was nearly bare +ahead of the ship, was still covered in a few places nearer to the shore +to a depth that forbade a passage, except by swimming. John Effingham, +however, who was examining the proceedings of the Arabs with a glass, +announced that a party appeared disposed to get on the naked rocks nearest +the ship, as they had left the shore, dragging some light spars after +them, with which they seemed to be about to bridge the different spots of +deep water, most of which were sufficiently narrow to admit of being +passed in this manner. + +Although the operation commenced by the Arabs would necessarily consume a +good deal of time, this intelligence quickened the movements of all in the +ship. Saunders, in particular, who had returned to report his want of +success, worked with redoubled zeal; for, as is usual with those who are +the least fortified by reason, he felt the greatest horror of falling into +the hands of barbarians. It was a slow and laborious thing, +notwithstanding, to get upon the yards the heavy blocks and falls; and had +not Paul Blunt been quite as conspicuous for personal strength as he was +ready and expert in a knowledge of his profession, he would not have +succeeded in the unaided effort;--unaided aloft, though the others, of +course, relieved him much by working at the whips on deck. At length this +important arrangement was effected, the young man descended, and the +capstan was again manned. + +This time the females were not required, it being in the power of the +gentlemen to heave the launch out to the side of the ship, Paul managing +the different falls so adroitly, that the heavy boat was brought so near +and yet so much above the rail, as to promise to clear it. John Effingham +now stood at one of the stay-tackle falls, and Paul at the other, when the +latter made a signal to ease away. The launch settled slowly towards the +side of the vessel until it reached the rail, against which it lodged. +Catching a turn with his fall, Mr. Blunt sprang forward, and bending +beneath the boat, he saw that its keel had hit a belaying-pin. One blow +from a capstan-bar cleared away this obstruction, and the boat swung off. +The stay-tackle falls were let go entirely, and all on board saw, with an +exultation that words can scarcely describe, the important craft suspended +directly over the sea. No music ever sounded more sweetly to the +listeners than the first plash of the massive boat as it fell heavily upon +the surface of the water. Its size, its roof, and its great strength gave +it an appearance of security, that for the moment deceived them all; for, +in contemplating the advantage they had so unexpectedly gained, they +forgot the many obstacles that existed to their availing themselves of it. + +It was not many minutes before Paul was on the roof of the launch, had +loosened the tackles, and had breasted the boat to, at the side of the +ship, in readiness to receive the stores that the females had collected. +In order that the reader may better understand the nature of the ark that +was about to receive those who remained in the Montauk, however, it may be +well to describe it. + +The boat itself was large, strong, and capable of resisting a heavy sea +when well managed, and, of course, unwieldy in proportion. To pull it, at +a moderate rate, eight or ten large oars were necessary; whereas, all the +search of the gentlemen could not find one. They succeeded, however, in +discovering a rudder and tiller, appliances not always used in launches, +and Paul Blunt shipped them instantly. Around the gunwales of the boat, +stanchions, which sustained a slightly-rounded roof, were fitted; a +provision that it is usual to make in the packets, in order to, protect +the stock they carry against the weather. This stock having been turned +loose on the deck, and the interior cleaned, the latter now presented a +snug and respectable cabin; one coarse and cramped, compared with those of +the ship certainly, but on the other hand, one that might be well deemed a +palace by shipwrecked mariners. As it would be possible to retain this +roof until compelled by bad weather to throw it away, Paul, who had never +before seen a boat afloat with such a canopy, regarded it with delight; +for it promised a protection to that delicate form he so much cherished in +his inmost heart, that he had not even dared to hope for. Between the roof +and the gunwale of the boat, shutters buttoned in, so as to fill the +entire space and when these were in their places, the whole of the +interior formed an enclosed apartment, of a height sufficient to allow +even a man to stand erect without his hat. It is true, this arrangement +rendered the boat clumsy, and, to a certain extent, top-heavy and +unmanageable; but so long as it could be retained, it also rendered it +infinitely more comfortable than it could possibly be without it. The +roof, moreover, might be cut away in five minutes, at any time, should +circumstances require it. + +Paul had just completed a hasty survey of his treasure, for such he now +began to consider the launch, when casting his eye upward, with the +intention to mount the ship's side, he saw Eve looking down at him, as if +to read their fate in the expression of his own countenance. + +"The Arabs," she hurriedly remarked, "are moving along the reef, as my +father says, faster than he could wish, and all our hopes are centred in +you and the boat. The first, I know, will not fail us, so long as means +allow; but can we do anything with the launch?" + +"For the first time, dearest Miss Effingham, I see a little chance of +rescuing ourselves from the grasp of these barbarians. There is no time to +lose, but everything must be passed into the boat with as little delay as +possible." + +"Bless you, bless you, Powis, for this gleam of hope! Your words are +cordials, and our lives can scarcely serve to prove the gratitude we +owe you." + +This was said naturally, and as one expresses a strong feeling, without +reflection, or much weighing of words; but even at that fearful moment, it +thrilled on every pulse of the young man. The ardent look that he gave the +beautiful girl caused her to redden to the temples, and she +hastily withdrew. + +The gentlemen now began to pass into the boat the different things that +had been provided, principally by the foresight of Mademoiselle Viefville, +where they were received by Paul who thrust them beneath the roof without +stopping to lose the precious moments in stowage. They included +mattresses, the trunks that contained their ordinary sea-attire, or those +that were not stowed in the baggage-room, blankets, counterpanes, potted +meats, bread, wine, various condiments and prepared food, from the stores +of Saunders, and generally such things as had presented themselves in the +hurry of the moment. Nearly half of the articles were rejected by Paul, +as unnecessary, though he received many in consideration of the delicacy +of his feebler companions, which would otherwise have been cast aside. +When he found, however, that food enough had been passed into the boat to +supply the wants of the whole party for several weeks, he solicited a +truce, declaring it indiscreet to render themselves uselessly +uncomfortable in this manner, to say nothing of the effect on the boat. +The great requisite, water, was still wanting, and he now desired that the +two domestics might get into the boat to arrange the different articles, +while he endeavoured to find something that might serve as a substitute +for sails, and obtain the all-important supply. + +His attention was first given to the water, without which all the other +preparations would be rendered totally useless. Before setting about this, +however, he stole a moment to look into the state of things among the +Arabs. It was indeed time, for the tide had now fallen so low as to leave +the rocks nearly bare, and several hundreds of the barbarians were +advancing along the reef, towing their bridge, the slow progress of which +alone prevented them from coming up at once to the point opposite the +ship. Paul saw there was not a moment to lose, and, calling Saunders, he +hurried below. + +Three or four small casks were soon found, when the steward brought them +to the tank to be filled. Luckily the water had not to be pumped off, but +it ran in a stream into the vessel that was placed to receive it. As soon +as one cask was ready, it was carried on deck by the gentlemen, and was +struck into the boat with as little delay as possible. The shouts of the +Arabs now became audible, even to those who were below, and it required +great steadiness of nerve to continue the all-important preparation. At +length the last of the casks was filled, when Paul rushed on deck, for, by +this time, the cries of the barbarians proclaimed their presence near the +ship. When he reached the rail, he found the reef covered with them, some +hailing the vessel, others menacing, hundreds still busied with their +floating bridge, while a few endeavoured to frighten those on board by +discharging their muskets over their heads. Happily, aim was impossible, +so long as care was taken not to expose the body above the bulwarks. + +"We have not a moment to lose!" cried Mr. Effingham, on whose bosom Eve +lay, nearly incapable of motion. "The food and water are in the boat, and +in the name of a merciful God, let us escape from this scene of frightful +barbarity?" + +"The danger is not yet so inevitable," returned Paul, steadily. "Frightful +and pressing as it truly seems, we have a few minutes to think in. Let me +entreat that Miss Effingham and Mademoiselle Viefville will receive a drop +of this cordial." + +He poured into a glass a restorative from a bottle that had been left on +the capstan as superfluous, in the confusion of providing stores, and held +it to the pallid lips of Eve. As she swallowed a mouthful, nearly as +helpless as the infant that receives nourishment from the hand of its +nurse, the blood returned, and raising herself from her father's arms, she +smiled, though with an effort, and thanked him for his care. + +"It was a dread moment," she said, passing a hand over her brow; "but it +is past, and I am better. Mademoiselle Viefville will be obliged to you, +also, for a little of this." + +The firm-minded and spirited Frenchwoman, though pale as death, and +evidently suffering under extreme apprehension, put aside the glass +courteously, declining its contents. + +"We are sixty fathoms from the rocks," said Paul calmly, "and they must +cross this ditch yet, to reach us. None of them seem disposed to attempt +it by swimming, and their bridge, though ingeniously put together, may not +prove long enough." + +"Would it be safe for the ladies to get into the boat where she lies, +exposed as they would be to the muskets of the Arabs?" inquired Mr. Sharp. + +"All that shall be remedied," returned Paul. "I cannot quit the deck; +would you," slightly bowing to Mr. Sharp, "go below again, with Saunders, +and look for some light sail? without one, we cannot move away from the +ship, even when in the boat. I see a suitable spar and necessary rigging +on deck; but the canvas must be looked for in the sail-room. It is a +nervous thing, I confess, to be below at such a moment; but you have too +much faith in us to dread being deserted." + +Mr. Sharp grasped the hand as a pledge of a perfect reliance on the +other's faith, but he could not speak. Calling Saunders, the steward +received his instructions, when the two went hastily below. + +"I could wish the ladies were in the boat with their women," said Paul, +for Ann Sidley and the _femme de chambre_ were still in the launch, busied +in disposing of its mixed cargo of stores, though concealed from the Arabs +by the roof and shutters; "but it would be hazardous to attempt it while +exposed to the fire from the reef. We shall have to change the position of +the ship in the end, and it may as well be done at once." + +Beckoning to John Effingham to follow, he went forward to examine into the +movements of the Arabs, once more, before he took any decided step. The +two gentlemen placed themselves behind the high defences of the +forecastle, where they had a fair opportunity of reconnoitring their +assailants, the greater height of the ship's deck completely concealing +all that had passed on it from the sight of those on the rocks. + +The barbarians, who seemed to be, and who in truth were, fully apprised of +the defenceless and feeble condition of the party on board, were at work +without the smallest apprehension of receiving any injury from that +quarter. Their great object was to get possession of the ship, before the +returning water should again drive them from the rocks. In order to effect +this, they had placed all who were willing and sufficiently subordinate on +the bridge, though a hundred were idle, shouting, clapping their hands, +menacing, and occasionally discharging a musket, of which there were +probably fifty in their possession. + +"They work with judgment at their pontoon," said Paul, after he had +examined the proceedings of those on the reef for a few minutes. "You may +perceive that they have dragged the outer end of the bridge up to +windward, and have just shoved it from the rocks, with the intention to +permit it to drift round, until it shall bring up against the bows of the +ship, when they will pour on board like so many tigers. It is a disjointed +and loose contrivance, that the least sea would derange; but in this +perfectly smooth water it will answer their purpose. It moves slowly, but +will surely drift round upon us in the course of fifteen or twenty minutes +more; and of this they appear to be quite certain themselves, for they +seem as well satisfied with their work as if already assured of its +complete success." + +"It is, then, important to us to be prompt, since our time will be so +brief." + +"We will be prompt, but in another mode. If you will assist me a little, I +think this effort, at least, may be easily defeated, after which it will +be time enough to think of escape." + +Paul, aided by John Effingham, now loosened the chains altogether from the +bitts, and suffered the ship to drop astern. As this was done silently and +stealthily, it occupied several minutes; but the wind being by this time +fresh, the huge mass yielded to its power with certainty; and when the +bridge had floated round in a direct line from the reef, or dead to +leeward, there was a space of water between its end and the ship of more +than a hundred feet. The Arabs had rushed on it in readiness to board; but +they set up a yell of disappointment as soon as the truth was discovered. +A tumult followed; several fell from the wet and slippery spars; but, +after a short time wasted in confusion and clamour, the directions of +their chiefs were obeyed, and they set to work with energy to break up +their bridge, in order to convert its materials into a raft. + +By this time Mr. Sharp and Saunders had returned, bringing with them +several light sails, such as spare royals and top-gallant studding-sails. +Paul next ordered a spare mizzen-top-gallant mast, with a top-gallant +studding-sail boom, and a quantity of light rope to be laid in the +gangway, after which he set about the final step. As time now pressed in +earnest, the Arabs working rapidly and with increasing shouts, he called +upon all the gentlemen for assistance, giving such directions as should +enable them to work with intelligence. + +"Bear a hand, Saunders," he said, having taken the steward forward with +him, as one more accustomed to ships than the others; "bear a hand my fine +fellow, and light up this chain. Ten minutes just now are of more value +than a year at another time." + +"'Tis awful, Mr. Blunt, sir--werry awful, I do confirm," returned the +steward, blubbering and wiping his eyes between the drags at the chains. +"Such a fate to befall such cabins, sir!--And the crockery of the werry +best quality out of London or New York! Had I diwined such an issue for +the Montauk, sir, I never would have counselled Captain Truck to lay in +half the stores we did, and most essentially not the new lots of vines. +Oh! sir, it is truly awful to have such a calamity wisit so much elegant +preparation!" + +"Forget it all, my fine fellow, and light up the chain. Ha!--she touches +abaft! Ten or fifteen fathoms more will answer." + +"I've paid great dewotion to the silver, Mr. Blunt, sir, for it's all in +the launch, even to the broken mustard-spoon; and I do hope, if Captain +Truck's soul is permitted to superintend the pantry any longer, it will be +quite beatified and encouraged with my prudence and oversight. I left all +the rest of the table furniture, sir; though I suppose these _muscle_-men +will not have much use for any but the oyster-knives, as I am informed +they eat with their fingers. I declare it is quite oppressive and unhuman +to have such wagabonds rummaging one's lockers!" + +"Rouse away, my man, and light up! the ship has caught the breeze on her +larboard bow, and begins to take the chain more freely. Remember that +precious beings depend on us for safety!" + +"Ay, ay, sir; light up, it is. I feel quite a concern for the ladies, sir, +and more especially for the stores we abandon to the underwriters. A +better-found ship never came out of St. Catherine's Docks or the East +River, particularly in the pantry department; and I wonder what these +wretches will do with her. They will be quite abashed with her +conveniences, sir, and unable to enjoy them. Poor Toast, too! he will have +a monstrous unpleasant time with the _muscle_-men; for he never eats fish; +and has quite a genteel and ameliorated way with him. I shouldn't wonder +if he forgot all I have taken so much pains to teach him, sir, unless he's +dead; in which case it will be of no use to him in another world." + +"That will do," interrupted Paul, ceasing his labour, "the ship is aground +from forward aft. We will now hurry the spars and sails into the boat, and +let the ladies get into her." + +In order that the reader may better understand the present situation of +the ship, it may be necessary to explain what Mr. Powis and the steward +had been doing all this time. By paying out the chains, the ship had +fallen farther astern, until she took the ground abaft on the edge of the +sand-bank so often mentioned; and, once fast at that end, her bows had +fallen off, pressed by the wind, as long as the depth of the water would +allow. She now lay aground forward and aft, with her starboard side to the +reef, and the launch between the vessel and the naked sands was completely +covered from the observations and assaults of the barbarians by +the former. + +Eve, Mademoiselle Viefville, and Mr. Effingham now got into the launch, +while the others still remained in the ship to complete the preparations. + +"They get on fast with their raft," said Paul, while he both worked +himself and directed the labour of the others, "though we shall be safe +here until they actually quit the rocks. Their spars will be certain to +float down upon the ship; but the movement will necessarily be slow, as +the water is too deep to admit of setting, even if they had poles, of +which I see none. Throw these spare sails on the roof of the launch, +Saunders. They may be wanted before we reach a port, should God protect us +long enough to effect so much. Pass two compasses also into the boat, with +all the carpenter's tools that have been collected." + +While giving these orders, Paul was busied in sawing off the larger end of +the pole-mizzen-top-gallant-mast, to convert it into a spar for the +launch. This was done by the time he ceased speaking; a step was made, +and, jumping down on the roof of the boat, he cut out a hole to receive +it, at a spot he had previously marked for that purpose. By the time he +had done, the spar was ready to be entered, and in another minute they had +the satisfaction of seeing a very sufficient mast in its place. A royal +was also stretched to its yard, and halyards, tack and sheet, being bent, +everything was ready to run up a sail at a moment's warning. As this +supplied the means of motion, the gentlemen began to breathe more freely, +and to bethink them of those minor comforts and essentials that in the +hurry of such a scene would be likely to be overlooked. After a few more +busy minutes, all was pronounced to be ready, and John Effingham began +seriously to urge the party to quit the ship; but Paul still hesitated. He +strained his eyes in the direction of the wreck, in the vain hope of yet +receiving succour from that quarter; but, of course, uselessly, as it was +about the time when Captain Truck was warping off with his raft, in order +to obtain an offing. Just at this moment a party of twenty Arabs got upon +the spars, which they had brought together into a single body, and began +to drift down slowly upon the ship. + +Paul cast a look about him to see if anything else that was useful could +be found, and his eyes fell upon the gun. It struck him that it might be +made serviceable as a scarecrow in forcing their way through the inlet, +and he determined to lodge it on the roof of the launch, for the present, +at least, and to throw it overboard as soon as they got into rough water, +if indeed they should be so fortunate as to get outside of the reef at +all. The stay and yard tackles offered the necessary facilities, and he +instantly slung the piece. A few rounds of the capstan lifted it from the +deck, a few more bore it clear of the side, and then it was easily lowered +on the roof, Saunders being sent into the boat to set up a stanchion +beneath, in order that its weight might do no injury. + +The gentlemen at last got into the launch, with the exception of Paul, who +still lingered in the ship watching the progress of the Arabs, and making +his calculations for the future. + +It required great steadiness of nerve, perfect self-reliance, and an +entire confidence in his resources and knowledge, for one to remain a +passive spectator of the slow drift of the raft, while it gradually +settled down on the ship. As it approached, Paul was seen by those on it, +and, with the usual duplicity of barbarians, they made signs of amity and +encouragement. These signs did not deceive the young man, however, who +only remained to be a close observer of their conduct, thinking some +useful hint might thus be obtained, though his calmness so far imposed on +the Arabs that they even made signs to him to throw them a rope. Believing +it now time to depart, he answered the signal favourably, and disappeared +from their sight. + +Even in descending to the boat, this trained and cool young seaman +betrayed no haste. His movements were quick, and everything was done with +readiness and knowledge certainly, but no confusion or trepidation +occasioned the loss of a moment. He hoisted the sail, brought down the +tack, and then descended beneath the roof, having first hauled in the +painter, and given the boat a long and vigorous shove, to force it from +the side of the vessel. By this last expedient he at once placed thirty +feet of water between the boat and the Montauk, a space that the Arabs had +no means of overcoming. As soon as he was beneath the roof the sheet was +hauled in, and Paul seized the tiller; which had been made, by means of a +narrow cut in the boards, to play in one of the shutters. Mr. Sharp took a +position in the bows, where he could see the sands and channels through +the crevices, directing the other how to steer; and just as a shout +announced the arrival of the raft at the other side of the ship, the flap +of their sail gave those in the boat the welcome intelligence that they +had got so far from her cover as to feel the force of the wind. + + + + +Chapter XXIV. + + + + Speed, gallant bark! richer cargo is thine, + Than Brazilian gem, or Peruvian mine; + And the treasures thou bearest thy destiny wait, + For they, if thou perish, must share in thy fate. + + PARK + + +The departure of the boat was excellently timed. Had it left the side of +the ship while the Arabs on the raft were unoccupied, and at a little +distance, it would have been exposed to their fire; for at least a dozen +of those who boarded had muskets; whereas the boat now glided away to +leeward, while they were busy in getting up her side, or were so near the +ship as not to be able to see the launch at all. When Paul Powis, who was +looking astern through a crevice, saw the first Arab on the deck of the +Montauk, the launch was already near a cable's length from her, running +with a fresh and free wind into one of the numerous little channels that +intersected the naked banks of sand. The unusual construction of the boat, +with its enclosed roof, and the circumstance that no one was visible on +board her, had the effect to keep the barbarians passive, until distance +put her beyond the reach of danger. A few muskets were discharged, but +they were fired at random, and in the bravado of a semi-savage state +of feeling. + +Paul kept the launch running off free, until he was near a mile from the +ship, when, finding he was approaching the reef to the northward and +eastward, and that a favourable sand-bank lay a short distance ahead, he +put down the helm, let the sheet fly, and the boat's forefoot shot upon +the sands. By a little management, the launch was got broadside to the +bank, the water being sufficiently deep, and, when it was secured, the +females were enabled to land through the opening of a shutter. + +The change from the apparent hopelessness of their situation, was so +great, as to render the whole party comparatively happy. Paul and John +Effingham united in affirming it would be quite possible to reach one of +the islands to leeward in so good a boat, and that they ought to deem +themselves fortunate, under the circumstances, in being the masters of a +little bark so well found in every essential. Eve and Mademoiselle +Viefville, who had fervently returned their thanks to the Great Ruler of +events, while in the boat, walked about the hard sand with even a sense of +enjoyment, and smiles began again to brighten the beautiful features of +the first. Mr. Effingham declared, with a grateful heart, that in no park, +or garden, had he ever before met with a promenade that seemed so +delightful as this spot of naked and moistened sand, on the sterile coast +of the Great Desert. Its charm was its security, for its distance from +every point that could be approached by the Arabs, rendered it, in their +eyes, a paradise. + +Paul Powis, however, though he maintained a cheerful air, and the +knowledge that he had been so instrumental in saving the party lightened +his heart of a load, and disposed him even to gaiety, was not without some +lingering remains of uneasiness. He remembered the boats of the Dane, and, +as he thought it more than probable Captain Truck had fallen into the +hands of the barbarians, he feared that the latter might yet find the +means to lay hands on themselves. While he was at work fitting the +rigging, and preparing a jigger, with a view to render the launch more +manageable, he cast frequent uneasy glances to the northward, with a +feverish apprehension that one of the so-long-wished-for boats might at +length appear. Their friends he no longer expected, but his fears were all +directed towards the premature arrival of enemies from that quarter. None +appeared, however, and Saunders actually lighted a fire on the bank, and +prepared the grateful refreshment of tea for the whole party; none of +which had tasted food since morning, though it was now drawing near night. + +"Our caterers," said Paul, smiling, as he cast his eyes over the repast +which Ann Sidley had spread on the roof of the boat, where they were all +seated on stools, boxes, and trunks, "our caterers have been of the +gentler sex, as any one may see, for we have delicacies that are fitter +for a banquet than a desert." + +"I thought Miss Eve would relish them, sir," Nanny meekly excused herself +by saying; "she is not much accustomed to a coarse diet; and mamerzelle, +too, likes niceties, as I believe is the case with all of French +extraction." + +Eve's eyes glistened, though she felt it necessary to say something by way +of apology. + +"Poor Ann has been so long accustomed to humour the caprices of a petted +girl," she said, "that I fear those who will have occasion for all their +strength may be the sufferers. I should regret it for ever, Mr. Powis, if +_you_, who are every way of so much importance to us, should not find the +food you required." + +"I have very inadvertently and unwittingly drawn down upon myself the +suspicion of being one of Mr. Monday's _gourmets_, a plain roast and +boiled person," the young man answered laughingly, "when it was merely my +desire to express the pleasure I had in perceiving that those whose +comfort and ease are of more account than any thing else, have been so +well cared for. I could almost starve with satisfaction, Miss Effingham, +if I saw you free from suffering under the extraordinary circumstances in +which we are placed." + +Eve looked grateful, and the emotion excited by this speech restored all +that beauty which had so lately been chilled by fear. + +"Did I not hear a dialogue between you and Mr. Saunders touching the +merits of sundry stores that had been left in the ship?" asked John +Effingham, turning to Paul by way of relieving his cousin's distress. + +"Indeed you might; he relieved the time we were rousing at the chains with +a beautiful Jeremiad on the calamities of the lockers. I fancy, steward, +that you consider the misfortunes of the pantry as the heaviest disaster +that has befallen the Montauk!" + +Saunders seldom smiled. In this particular he resembled Captain Truck; the +one subduing all light emotions from an inveterate habit of serious +comicality, and the responsibility of command; and the other having lost +most of his disposition to merriment, as the cart-horse loses his +propensity to kick, from being overworked. The steward, moreover, had +taken up the conceit that it was indicative of a "nigger" to be merry; +and, between dignity, a proper regard to his colour--which was about +half-way between that of a Gold Coast importation, and a rice-plantation +overseer, down with the fever in his third season--and dodged submission +to unmitigated calls on his time, the prevailing character of the poor +fellow's physiognomy was that of a dolorous sentimentality He believed +himself to be materially refined by having had so much intimate +communication with gentlemen and ladies, suffering under sea-sickness, and +he knew that no man in the ship could use language like that he had always +at his finger's ends. While so strongly addicted to melancholy, therefore, +he was fond of hearing himself talk; and, palpably encouraged as he had +now been by John Effingham and Paul, and a little emboldened by the +familiarity of a shipwreck, he did not hesitate about mingling in the +discourse, though holding the Effinghams habitually in awe. + +"I esteem it a great privilege, ladies and gentlemen," he observed, as +soon as Paul ceased, "to have the honour of being _wracked_ (for so the +steward, in conformity with the Doric of the forecastle, pronounced the +word,) in such company. I should deem it a disgrace to be cast away in +some society I could name, although I will predicate, as we say in +America, nothing on their absence. As to what inwolves the stores, it +surgested itself to me that the ladies would like delicate diet, and I +intermated as much to Mrs. Sidley and t'other French waiting-woman. Do you +imagine, gentlemen, that the souls of the dead are permitted to look back +at such ewents of this life as touches their own private concerns and +feelings?" + +"That would depend, I should think, steward, on the nature of the +employment of the souls themselves," returned John Effingham. "There must +be certain souls to which any occupation would be more agreeable than that +of looking behind them. But, may I ask why you inquire?" + +"Because, Mr. John Effingham, sir, I do not believe Captain Truck can ever +be happy in heaven, as long as the ship is in the hands of the Arabs! If +she had been honourably and fairly wracked, and the captain suffercated by +drowning, he could go to sleep like another Christian; but, I do think, +sir, if there be any special perdition for seamen, it must be to see their +vessel rummaged by Arabs. I'll warrant, now, those blackguards have had +their fingers in everything already; sugar, chocolate, raisins, coffee, +cakes, and all! I wonder who they think would like to use articles they +have handled! And there is poor Toast, gentlemen, an aspiring and +improving young man; one who had the materials of a good steward in him, +though I can hardly say they were completely deweloped. I did look forward +to the day when I could consign him to Mr. Leach as my own predecessor, +when Captain Truck and I should retire, as I have no doubt we should have +done on the same day, but for this distressing accident. I dewoutly pray +that Toast is deceased, for I would rather any misfortune should befall +him in the other world than that he should be compelled to associate with +Arab niggers in this. Dead or alive, ladies, I am an advocate for a man's +keeping himself respectable, and in proper company." + +So elastic had the spirits of the whole become by their unlooked-for +escape, that Saunders was indulged to the top of his humour, and while he +served the meal, passing between his fire on the sands and the roof of the +launch, he enjoyed a heartier gossip than any he had had since they left +the dock; not even excepting those sniggering scenes with Mr. Toast in the +pantry, in which he used to unbend himself a little, forgetting his +dignity as steward in the native propensities of the black. + +Paul Powis entered but a moment into the trifling, for on him rested the +safety of all. He alone could navigate, or even manage the boat in rough +water; and, while the others confided so implicitly in his steadiness and +skill, he felt the usual burden of responsibility. When the supper was +ended, and the party were walking up and down the little islet of sand, he +took his station on the roof therefore, and examined the proceedings of +the Arabs with the glass; Mr. Sharp, with a species of chivalrous +self-denial that was not lost on his companion, foregoing the happiness of +walking at the side of Eve, to remain near him. + +"The wretches have laid waste the cabins already!" observed Mr. Sharp, +when Paul had been looking at the ship some little time. "That which it +took months to produce they will destroy in an hour." + +"I do not see that," returned Paul; "there are but about fifty in the +ship, and their efforts seem to be directed to hauling her over against +the rocks. They have no means of landing their plunder where she lies; and +I suspect there is a sort of convention that all are to start fair. One or +two, who appear to be chiefs, go in and out of the cabins; but the rest +are actively engaged in endeavouring to move the ship." + +"And with what success?" + +"None, apparently. It exceeds their knowledge of mechanics to force so +heavy a mass from its position. The wind has driven the ship firmly on the +bank, and nothing short of the windlass, or capstan, can remove her. These +ignorant creatures have got two or three small ropes between the vessel +and the reef, and are pulling fruitlessly at both ends! But _our_ chief +concern will be to find an outlet into the ocean, when we will make the +best of our way towards the Cape de Verds." + +Paul now commenced a long and close examination of the reef, to ascertain +by what openings he might get the launch on the outside. To the northward +of the great inlet there was a continued line of rocks, on which he was +sorry to perceive armed Arabs beginning to show themselves; a sign that +the barbarians still entertained the hope of capturing the party. +Southward of the inlet there were many places in which a boat might pass +at half-tide, and he trusted to getting through one of them as soon as it +became dark. As the escape in the boat could not have been foreseen, the +Arabs had not yet brought down upon them the boats of the wreck; but +should morning dawn and find them still within the reef, he saw no hope of +final escape against boats that would posess the advantage of oars, +ignorant as the barbarians might be of their proper use. + +Every thing was now ready. The interior of the launch was divided into two +apartments by counterpanes, trunks, and boxes; the females spreading their +mattresses in the forward room, and the males in the other. Some of those +profound interpreters of the law, who illustrate legislation by the +devices of trade, had shipped in the Montauk several hundred rude leaden +busts of Napoleon, with a view to save the distinction in duties between +the metal manufactured and the metal unmanufactured. Four or five of these +busts had been struck into the launch as ballast. They were now snugly +stowed, together with the water, and all the heavier articles, in the +bottom of the boat. The jigger had been made and bent, and a suitable mast +was stepped by means of the roof. In short, every provision for comfort or +safety that Paul could think of had been attended to: and every thing was +in readiness to re-embark as soon as the proper hour should arrive. + +The gentler portion of the party were seated on the edge of the roof, +watching the setting sun, and engaged in a discourse with feelings more +attempered to their actual condition than had been the case immediately +after their escape. The evening had a little of that wild and watery +aspect which, about the same hour, had given Captain Truck so much +concern, but the sun dipped gorgeously into the liquid world of the West, +and the whole scene, including the endless desert, the black reef, the +stranded ship, and the movements of the bustling Arabs, was one of +gloomy grandeur. + +"Could we foretell the events of a month," said John Effingham, "with what +different feelings from the present would life be chequered! When we left +London, the twenty days since, our eyes and minds were filled with the +movements, cares, refinements, and interest of a great and polished +capital, and here we sit, houseless wanderers, gazing at an eventide on +the coast of Africa! In this way, young men, and young ladies too, will +you find, as life glides away that the future will disappoint the +expectations of the present moment!" + +"All futures are not gloomy, cousin Jack," said Eve; "nor is all hope +doomed to meet with disappointment. A merciful God cares for us when we +are reduced to despair on our own account, and throws a ray of unexpected +light on our darkest hours. Certainly we, of all his creatures, ought not +to deny this!" + +"I do not deny it. We have been rescued in a manner so simple as to seem +unavoidable, and yet so unexpected as to be almost miraculous. Had not Mr. +Blunt, or Mr. Powis, as you call him--although I am not in the secret of +the masquerade--but, had not this gentleman been a seaman, it would have +surpassed all our means to get this boat into the water, or even to use +her properly were she even launched. I look upon his profession as being +the first great providential interference, or provision, in our behalf; +and his superior skill and readiness in that profession as a circumstance +of no less importance to us." + +Eve was silent; but the glow in the western sky was scarcely more radiant +and bright than the look she cast on the subject of the remark. + +"It is no great merit to be a seaman, for the trade is like another, a +mere matter of practice and education," observed Paul, after a moment of +awkward hesitation. "If, as you say, I have been instrumental in serving +you, I shall never regret the accidents--cruel accidents of my early life +I had almost called them--that cast my fortunes so early on the ocean." + +A falling pin would have been heard, and all hoped the young man would +proceed; but he chose to be silent. Saunders happened to overhear the +remark, for he was aiding Ann Sidley in the boat, and he took up the +subject where it was left by the other, in a little aside with his +companion. + +"It is a misfortune that Mr. Dodge is not here to question the gentleman," +said the steward to his assistant, "and then we might hear more of his +adwentures, which, I make no doubt, have been werry pathetic and +romantical. Mr. Dodge is a genuine inquisitor, Mistress Ann; not such an +inquisitor as burns people and flays them in Spain, where I have been, but +such an inquisitor as torments people, and of whom we have lots +in America." + +"Let the poor man rest in peace," said Nanny, sighing. "He's gone to his +great account, steward; and I fear we shall none of us make as good a +figure as we might at the final settling. Besides Miss Eve, I never knew a +mortal that wasn't more or less a sinner." + +"So they all say; and I must allow that my experience leans to the wicked +side of the question. Captain Truck, now, was a worthy man; but he had his +faults, as well as Toast. In the first place he would swear when things +took him aback; and then, he had no prewarication about speaking his mind +of a fellow-creature, if the coffee happened to be thick, or the poultry +didn't take fat kindly. I've known him box the compass with oaths if the +ship was got in irons." + +"It's very sinful; and it is to be feared that the poor man was made to +think of all this in his latter moments." + +"If the Arabs undertook to cannibalize him, I think he must have given it +to them right and left," continued Saunders, wiping an eye, for between +him and the captain there had existed some such affection as the prisoner +comes to feel for the handcuffs with which he amuses his _ennui_, "some of +his oaths would choke a dog." + +"Well, let him rest--let him rest. Providence is kind, and the poor man +may have repented in season." + +"And Toast, too! I'm sure, Mrs. Ann, I forgive Toast all the little +mistakes he made, from the bottom of my heart, and particularly that +affair of the beefsteak that he let fall into the coffee the morning that +Captain Truck took me so flat aback about it; and I pray most dewoutly +that the captain, now he has dropped this mortal coil, and that there is +nothing left of him but soul, may not find it out, lest it should breed +ill-blood between them in heaven." + +"Steward, you scarcely know what you say," interrupted Ann, shocked at his +ignorance, "and I will speak of it no more." + +Mr. Saunders was compelled to acquiesce, and he amused himself by +listening to what was said by those on the roof. As Paul did not choose to +explain farther, however, the conversation was resumed as if he had said +nothing. They talked of their escape, their hopes, and of the supposed +fate of the rest of the party; the discourse leaving a feeling of sadness +on all, that harmonized with the melancholy, but not unpicturesque, scene +in which they were placed. At length the night set in; and as it +threatened to be dark and damp, the ladies early made their arrangements +to retire. The gentlemen remained on the sands much later; and it was ten +o clock before Paul Powis and Mr. Sharp, who had assumed the watch, were +left alone. + +This was about an hour later than the period already described as the +moment when Captain Truck disposed himself to sleep in the launch of the +Dane. The weather had sensibly altered in the brief interval, and there +were signs that, to the understanding of our young seaman, denoted a +change. The darkness was intense. So, deep and pitchy black, indeed, had +the night become, that even the land was no longer to be distinguished, +and the only clues the two gentlemen had to its position were the +mouldering watch-fires of the Arab camp, and the direction of the wind. + +"We will now make an attempt," said Paul, stopping in his short walk on +the sand, and examining the murky vault over head. "Midnight is near; and +by two o'clock the tide will be entirely up. It is a dark night to thread +these narrow channels in, and to go out upon the ocean, too, in so frail a +bark! But the alternative is worse." + +"Would it not be better to allow the water to rise still higher? I see by +these sands that it has not yet done coming in." + +"There is not much tide in these low latitudes, and the little rise that +is left may help us off a bank, should we strike one. If you will get upon +the roof, I will bring in the grapnels and force the boat off." + +Mr. Sharp complied, and in a few minutes the launch was floating slowly +away from the hospitable bank of sand. Paul hauled out the jigger, a small +sprit-sail, that kept itself close-hauled from being fastened to a +stationary boom, and a little mast stepped quite aft, the effect of which +was to press the boat against the wind. This brought the launch's head up, +and it was just possible to see, by close attention, that they had a +slight motion through the water. + +"I quit that bank of sand as one quits a tried friend," said Paul, all the +conversation now being in little more than whispers: "when near it, I know +where we are; but presently we shall be absolutely lost in this intense +darkness." + +"We have the fires of the Arabs for lighthouses still." + +"They may give us some faint notions of our position but light like that +is a very treacherous guide in so dark a night. We have little else to do +but to keep an eye on the water, and to endeavour to get to windward." + +Paul set the lug-sail, into which he had converted the royal, and seated +himself directly in the eyes of the boat, with a leg hanging down on each +side of the cutwater. He had rigged lines to the tiller, and with one in +each hand he steered, as if managing a boat with yoke-lines. Mr. Sharp was +seated at hand, holding the sheet of the mainsail; a boat-hook and a light +spar lying on the roof near by, in readiness to be used should +they ground. + +While on the bank, Paul had observed that, by keeping the boat near the +wind, he might stretch through one of the widest of the channels for near +two miles unless disturbed by currents, and that, when at its southern +end, he should be far enough to windward to fetch the inlet, but for the +banks of sand that might lie in his way. The distance had prevented his +discerning any passage through the reef at the farther end of this +channel; but, the boat drawing only two feet of water, he was not without +hopes of being able to find one. A chasm, that was deep enough to prevent +the passage of the Arabs when the tide was in, would, he thought, +certainly suffice for their purpose. The progress of the boat was steady, +and reasonably fast; but it was like moving in a mass of obscurity. The +gentleman watched the water ahead intently, with a view to avoid the +banks, but with little success; for, as they advanced, it was merely one +pile of gloom succeeding another. Fortunately the previous observation of +Paul availed them, and for more than half an hour their progress was +uninterrupted. + +"They sleep in security beneath us," said Paul, "while we are steering +almost at random. This is a strange and hazardous situation in which we +are placed. The obscurity renders all the risks double." + +"By the watch-fires, we must have nearly crossed the bay, and I should +think we are now quite near the southern reef." + +"I think the same; but I like not this baffling of the wind. It comes +fresher at moments, but it is in puffs, and fear there will be a shift It +is now my best pilot." + +"That and the fires." + +"The fires are treacherous always. It looks darker than ever ahead!" + +The wind ceased blowing altogether, and the sail fell in heavily. Almost +at the same moment the launch lost its way, and Paul had time to thrust +the boot-hook forward just in season to prevent its striking a rock. + +"This is a part of the reef, then, that is never covered," said he. "If +you will get on the rocks and hold the boat, I will endeavour to examine +the place for a passage. Were we one hundred feet to the southward and +westward, we should be in the open ocean, and comparatively safe." + +Mr. Sharp complied, and Paul descended carefully on the reef, feeling his +way in the intense darkness by means of the boat-hook. He was absent ten +minutes, moving with great caution, as there was the danger of his falling +into the sea at every step. His friend began to be uneasy, and the whole +of the jeopardy of their situation presented itself vividly to his mind in +that brief space of time, should accident befall their only guide. He was +looking anxiously in the direction in which Paul had disappeared, when he +felt a gripe of his arm. + +"Breathe even with care!" whispered Paul hurriedly. "These rocks are +covered with Arabs, who have chosen to remain on the dry parts of the +reef, in readiness for their plunder in the morning. Thank Heaven! I have +found you again; for I was beginning to despair. To have called to you +would have been certain capture, as eight or ten of the barbarians are +sleeping within fifty feet of us. Get on the roof with the least possible +noise, and leave the rest to me." + +As soon as Mr. Sharp was in the boat, Paul gave it a violent shove from +the rocks, and sprang on the roof at the same moment. This forced the +launch astern, and procured a momentary safety. But the wind had shifted. +It now came baffling, and in puffs, from the Desert, a circumstance that +brought them again to leeward. + +"This is the commencement of the trades," said Paul, "they have been +interrupted by the late gale, but are returning. Were we outside the reef, +our prayers could not be more kindly answered than by giving us this very +wind but here, where we are, it comes unseasonably. Ha!--this, at least, +helps her!" + +A puff from the land filled the sails, and the ripple of the water at the +stern was just audible. The helm was attended to, and the boat drew slowly +from the reef and ahead. + +"We have all reason for gratitude! That danger, at least, is avoided. Ha! +the boat is aground!" + +Sure enough the launch was on the sands. They were still so near the +rocks, as to require the utmost caution in their proceedings. Using the +spar with great care, the gentlemen discovered that the boat hung astern, +and there remained no choice but patience. + +"It is fortunate the Arabs have no dogs with them on the rocks: you hear +them howling incessantly in their camps." + +"It is, truly. Think you we can ever find the inlet in this deep +obscurity?" + +"It is our only course. By following the rocks we should be certain to +discover it; but you perceive they are already out of sight, though they +cannot be thirty fathoms from us. The helm is free, and the boat must be +clear of the bottom again. This last puff has helped us." + +Another silence succeeded, during which the launch moved slowly onward, +though whither, neither of the gentlemen could tell. But a single fire +remained in sight, and that glimmered like a dying blaze. At times the +wind came hot and arid, savouring of the Desert, and then intervals of +death-like calm would follow. Paul watched the boat narrowly for half an +hour, turning every breath of air to the best account, though he was +absolutely ignorant of his position. The reef had not been seen again, and +three several times they grounded, the tide as often floating them off. +The course, too, had been repeatedly varied. The result was that painful +and profound sensation of helplessness that overcomes us all when the +chain of association is broken, and reason becomes an agent less useful +than instinct. + +"The last fire is out," whispered Paul. "I fear that the day will dawn +and find us still within the reef." + +"I see an object near us. Can it be a high bank?" + +The wind had entirely ceased, and the boat was almost without motion. Paul +saw a darkness more intense even than common ahead of him, and he leaned +forward, naturally raising a hand before him in precaution. Something he +touched, he knew not what; but feeling a hard smooth surface, that he at +first mistook for a rock, he raised his eyes slowly, and discerned, by the +little light that lingered in the vault of heaven, a dim tracery that he +recognized. His hand was on the quarter of the ship! + +"'Tis the Montauk!" he whispered breathlessly, "and her decks must be +covered with Arabs. Hist!--do you hear nothing?" + +They listened, and smothered voices, those of the watch, mingled with low +laughter, were quite audible. This was a crisis to disturb the coolness of +one less trained and steady than Paul; but he preserved his +self-possession. + +"There is good as well as evil in this," he whispered. "I now know our +precise position; and, God be praised! the inlet is near, could we but +reach it.--By a strong shove we can always force the launch from the +vessel's side, and prevent their boarding us; and I think, with extreme +caution, we may even haul the boat past the ship undetected." + +This delicate task was undertaken. It was necessary to avoid even a tread +heavier than common, a fall of the boat-hook, or a collision with the +vessel, as the slightest noise became distinctly audible in the profound +stillness of deep night. Once enlightened as to his real position, +however, Paul saw with his mind's eye obstructions that another might not +have avoided. He knew exactly where to lay his hand, when to bear off, and +when to approach nearer to the side of the ship, as he warily drew the +boat along the massive hull.--The yard of the launch luckily leaned +towards the reef, and offered no impediment. In this manner, then, the two +gentlemen hauled their boat as far as the bows of the ship, and Paul was +on the point of giving a last push, with a view to shove it to as great a +distance possible ahead of the packet, when its movement was suddenly and +violently arrested. + + + + +Chapter XXV. + + + + And when the hours of rest + Come, like a calm upon the mid-sea brine + Hushing its billowy breast-- + The quiet of that moment, too, is thine; + It breathes of him who keeps + The vast and helpless city while it sleeps. + + BRYANT. + + +It was chilling to meet with this unexpected and sudden check at so +critical a moment. The first impression was, that some one of the hundreds +of Arabs, who were known to be near, had laid a hand on the launch; but +this fear vanished on examination. No one was visible, and the side of the +boat was untouched. The boat-hook could find no impediment in the water, +and it was not possible that they could again be aground. Raising the +boat-hook over his head, Paul soon detected the obstacle. The line used by +the barbarians in their efforts to move the ship was stretched from the +forecastle to the reef, and it lay against the boat's mast. It was severed +with caution; but the short end slipped from the hand of Mr. Sharp, who +cut the rope, and fell into the water. The noise was heard, and the watch +on the deck of the ship made a rush towards her side. + +No time was to be lost; but Paul, who still held the outer end of the +line, pulled on it vigorously, hauling the boat swiftly from the ship, +and, at the same time, a little in advance. As soon as this was done, he +dropped the line and seized the tiller-ropes, in order to keep the +launch's head in a direction between the two dangers--the ship and the +reef. This was not done without some little noise; the footfall on the +roof, and the plash of the water when it received the line, were audible; +and even the element washing under the bows of the boat was heard. The +Arabs of the ship called to those on the reef, and the latter answered. +They took the alarm, and awoke their comrades, for, knowing as they did, +that the party of Captain Truck was still at liberty, they apprehended +an attack. + +The clamour and uproar that succeeded were terrific. Muskets were +discharged at random, and the noises from the camp echoed the cries and +tumult from the vessel and the rocks. Those who had been sleeping in the +boat were rudely awaked, and Saunders joined in the cries through sheer +fright. But the two gentlemen on deck soon caused their companions to +understand their situation, and to observe a profound silence. + +"They do not appear to see us," whispered Paul to Eve as he bent over, so +as to put his head at an open window; "and a return of the breeze may +still save us. There is a great alarm among them and no doubt they know we +are not distant; but so long as they cannot tell precisely where, we are +comparatively safe.--Their cries do us good service as landmarks, and you +may be certain I shall not approach the spots were they are heard. Pray +Heaven for a wind, dearest Miss Effingham, pray Heaven for a wind!" + +Eve silently, but fervently did pray, while the young man gave all his +attention again to the boat.--As soon as they were clear of the lee of the +ship, the baffling puffs returned, and there were several minutes of a +steady little breeze, during which the boat sensibly moved away from the +noises of the ship. On the reef, however, the clamour still continued, and +the gentlemen were soon satisfied that the Arabs had stationed themselves +along the whole line of rocks, wherever the latter were bare at high +water, as was now nearly the case, to the northward as well as to the +southward of the opening. + +"The tide is still entering by the inlet," said Paul, "and we have its +current to contend with. It is not strong, but a trifle is important at a +moment like this!" + +"Would it not be possible to reach the bank inside of us, and to shove the +boat ahead by means of these light spars?" asked Mr. Sharp. + +The suggestion was a good one; but Paul was afraid the noise in the water +might reach the Arabs, and expose the party to their fire, as the utmost +distance between the reef and the inner bank at that particular spot did +not exceed a hundred fathoms. At length another puff of air from the land +pressed upon their sails, and the water once more rippled beneath the +bows of the boat. Paul's heart beat hard, and as he managed the +tiller-lines, he strained his eyes uselessly in order to penetrate the +massive-looking darkness. + +"Surely," he said to Mr. Sharp, who stood constantly at his elbow, "these +cries are directly ahead of us! We are steering for the Arabs!" + +"We have got wrong in the dark then. Lose not a moment to keep the boat +away, for here to leeward there are noises." + +As all this was self-evident, though confused in his reckoning, Paul put +up the helm, and the boat fell off nearly dead before the wind. Her motion +being now comparatively rapid, a few minutes produced an obvious change in +the direction of the different groups of clamorous Arabs, though they also +brought a material lessening in the force of the air. + +"I have it!" said Paul, grasping his companion almost convulsively by the +arm. "We are at the inlet, and heading, I trust, directly through it! You +hear the cries on our right; they come from the end of the northern reef, +while these on our left are from the end of the southern. The sounds from +the ship, the direction of the land breeze, our distance--all confirm it, +and Providence again befriends us!" + +"It will be a fearful error should we be mistaken!" + +"We cannot be deceived, since nothing else will explain the circumstances. +There!--the boat feels the ground-swell--a blessed and certain sign that +we are at the inlet! Would that this tide were done, or that we had +more wind!" + +Fifteen feverish minutes succeeded. At moments the puffs of night-air +would force the boat ahead, and then again it was evident by the cries +that she fell astern under the influence of an adverse current. Neither +was it easy to keep her on the true course, for the slightest variation +from the direct line in a tide's way causes a vessel to sheer. To remedy +the latter danger, Paul was obliged to watch his helm closely, having no +other guide than the noisy and continued vociferations of the Arabs. + +"These liftings of the boat are full of hope," resumed Paul; "I think, +too, that they increase." + +"I perceive but little difference, though I would gladly see all you +wish." + +"I am certain the swell increases, and that the boat rises and falls more +frequently. You will allow there is a swell?" + +"Quite obviously: I perceived it before we kept the boat away. This +variable air is cruelly tantalizing!" + +"Sir George Templemore--Mr. Powis," said a soft voice at a window beneath +them. + +"Miss Effingham!" said Paul, so eager that he suffered the tiller-line to +escape him. + +"These are frightful cries!--Shall we never be rid of them!" + +"If it depended on me--on either of us--they should distress you no more. +The boat is slowly entering the inlet, but has to struggle with a +head-tide. The wind baffles, and is light, or in ten minutes we should be +out of danger." + +"Out of this danger, but only to encounter another!" + +"Nay, I do not think much of the risk of the ocean in so stout a boat. At +the most, we may be compelled to cut away the roof, which makes our little +bark somewhat clumsy in appearance, though it adds infinitely to its +comfort. I think we shall soon get the trades, before which our launch, +with its house even, will be able to make good weather." + +"We are certainly nearer those cries than before!" + +Paul felt his cheek glow, and his hand hurriedly sought the tiller-line, +for the boat had sensibly sheered towards the northern reef. A puff of air +helped to repair his oversight, and all in the launch soon perceived that +the cries were gradually but distinctly drawing more aft. + +"The current lessens," said Paul, "and it is full time; for it must be +near high water. We shall soon feel it in our favour, when all will +be safe!" + +"This is indeed blessed tidings! and no gratitude can ever repay the debt +we owe you, Mr. Powis!" + +The puffs of air now required all the attention of Paul, for they again +became variable, and at last the wind drew directly ahead in a continued +current for half an hour. As soon as this change was felt, the sails were +trimmed to it, and the boat began to stir the water under her bows. + +"The shift was so sudden, that we cannot be mistaken in its direction," +Paul remarked; "besides, those cries still serve as pilots. Never was +uproar more agreeable." + +"I feel the bottom with this spar!" said Mr. Sharp suddenly. + +"Merciful Providence protect and shield the weak and lovely----" + +"Nay, I feel it no longer: we are already in deeper water." + +"It was the rock on which the seamen stood when we entered!" Paul +exclaimed, breathing more freely. "I like those voices settling more under +our lee, too. We will keep this tack" (the boat's head was to the +northward) "until we hit the reef, unless warned off again by the cries." + +The boat now moved at the rate of five miles in the hour, or faster than a +man walks, even when in quick motion. Its rising and falling denoted the +long heavy swell of the ocean, and the wash of water began to be more and +more audible, as she settled into the sluggish swells. + +"That sounds like the surf on the reef," continued Paul; "every thing +denotes the outside of the rocks." + +"God send it prove so!" + +"That is clearly a sea breaking on a rock! It is awkwardly near, and to +leeward, and yet it is sweet to the ear as music." + +The boat stood steadily on, making narrow escapes from jutting rocks, as +was evinced by the sounds, and once or twice by the sight even; but the +cries shifted gradually, and were soon quite astern. Paul knew that the +reef trended east soon after passing the inlet, and he felt the hope that +they were fast leaving its western extremity, or the part that ran the +farthest into the ocean; after effecting which, there would be more water +to leeward, his own course being nearly north, as he supposed. + +The cries drew still farther aft, and more distant, and the sullen wash of +the surf was no longer so near as to seem fresh and tangible. + +"Hand me the lead and line, that lie at the foot of the mast, it you +please," said Paul. "Our water seems sensibly to deepen, and the seas have +become more regular." + +He hove a cast, and found six fathoms of water; a proof, he thought, that +they were quite clear of the reef. + +"Now, dear Mr. Effingham, Miss Effingham, Mademoiselle," he cried +cheerfully, "now I believe we may indeed deem ourselves beyond the reach +of the Arabs, unless a gale force us again on their inhospitable shores." + +"Is it permitted to speak?" asked Mr. Effingham, who had maintained a +steady but almost breathless silence. + +"Freely: we are quite beyond the reach of the voice; and this wind, though +blowing from a quarter I do not like, is carrying us away from the +wretches rapidly." + +It was not safe in the darkness, and under the occasional heaves of the +boat, for the others to come on the roof; but they opened the shutters, +and looked out upon the gloomy water with a sense of security they could +not have deemed possible for people in their situation. The worst was over +for the moment, and there is a relief in present escape that temporarily +conceals future dangers. They could converse without the fear of alarming +their enemies, and Paul spoke encouragingly of their prospects. It was his +intention to stand to the northward until he reached the wreck, when, +failing to get any tidings of their friends, they might make the best of +their way to the nearest island to leeward. + +With this cheering news the party below again disposed themselves to +sleep, while the two young men maintained their posts on the roof. + +"We must resemble an ark," said Paul laughing, as he seated himself on a +box near the stem of the boat, "and I should think would frighten the +Arabs from an attack, had they even the opportunity to make one. This +house we carry will prove a troublesome companion, should we encounter a +heavy and a head sea." + +"You say it may easily be gotten rid of." + +"Nothing would be easier, the whole apparatus being made to ship and +unship. _Before_ the wind we might carry it a long time, and it would even +help us along; but _on_ a wind it makes us a little top-heavy, besides +giving us a leeward set. In the event of rain, or of bad weather of any +sort, it would be a treasure to us all, more especially to the females, +and I think we had better keep it as long as possible." + +The half hour of breeze already mentioned sufficed to carry the boat some +distance to the northward, when it failed, and the puffs from the land +returned. Paul supposed they were quite two miles from the inlet, and, +trying the lead, he found ten fathoms of water, a proof that they had also +gradually receded from the shore. Still nothing but a dense darkness +surrounded them, though there could no longer be the smallest doubt of +their being in the open ocean. + +For near an hour the light baffling air came in puffs, as before, during +which time the launch's head was kept, as near as the two gentlemen could +judge, to the northward, making but little progress; and then the breeze +drew gradually round into one quarter, and commenced blowing with a +steadiness that they had not experienced before that night. Paul suspected +this change, though he had no certain means of knowing it; for as soon as +the wind baffled, his course had got to be conjectural again. As the +breeze freshened, the speed of the boat necessarily augmented, though she +was kept always on a wind; and after half an hour's progress, the +gentlemen became once more uneasy as to the direction. + +"It would be a cruel and awkward fate to hit the reef again," said Paul; +"and yet I cannot be sure that we are not running directly for it." + +"We have compasses: let us strike a light and look into the matter." + +"It were better had we done this more early, for a light might now prove +dangerous, should we really have altered the course in this intense +darkness. There is no remedy, however, and the risk must be taken. I will +first try the lead again." + +A cast was made, and the result was two and a half fathoms of water. + +"Put the helm down!" cried Paul, springing to the sheet: "lose not a +moment, but down with the helm!" + +The boat did not work freely under her imperfect sail and with the roof +she carried, and a moment of painful anxiety succeeded. Paul managed, +however, to get a part of the sail aback, and he felt more secure. + +"The boat has stern-way: shift the helm, Mr. Sharp." + +This was done, the yard was dipped, and the two young men felt a relief +almost equal to that they had experienced on clearing the inlet, when they +found the launch again drawing ahead, obedient to her rudder. + +"We are near something, reef or shore," said Paul, standing with the +lead-line in his hand, in readiness to heave. "I think it can hardly be +the first, as we hear no Arabs." + +Waiting a few minutes, he hove the lead, and, to his infinite joy, got +three fathoms fairly. + +"That is good news. We are hauling off the danger, whatever it may be," he +said, as he felt the mark: "and now for the compass." + +Saunders was called, a light was struck, and the compasses were both +examined. These faithful but mysterious guides, which have so long served +man while they have baffled all his ingenuity to discover the sources of +their power, were, as usual, true to their governing principle. The boat +was heading north-north-west; the wind was at north-east, and before they +tacked they had doubtless been standing directly for the beach, from which +they could not have been distant a half quarter of a mile, if so much. A +few more minutes would have carried them into the breakers, capsized the +boat, and most probably drowned all below the roof, if not those on it. + +Paul shuddered as these facts forced themselves on his attention, and he +determined to stand on his present course for two hours, when daylight +would render his return towards the land without danger. + +"This is the trade," he said, "and it will probably stand. We have a +current to contend with, as well as a head-wind; but I think we can +weather the cape by morning, when we can get a survey of the wreck by +means of the glass. If we discover nothing, I shall bear up at once for +the Cape de Verds." + +The two gentlemen now took the helm in turns, he who slept fastening +himself to the mast, as a precaution against being rolled into the sea by +the motion of the boat. In fifteen fathoms water they tacked again, and +stood to the east-south-east, having made certain, by a fresh examination +of the compass, that the wind stood in the same quarter as before. The +moon rose soon after, and, although the morning was clouded and lowering, +there was then sufficient light to remove all danger from the darkness. At +length this long and anxious night terminated in the usual streak of day, +which gleamed across the desert. + +Paul was at the helm, steering more by instinct than any thing else, and +occasionally nodding at his post; for two successive nights of watching +and a day of severe toil had overcome his sense of danger, and his care +for others. Strange fancies beset men at such moments; and his busy +imagination was running over some of the scenes of his early youth, when +either his sense or his wandering faculties made him hear the usual brief, +spirited hail of, + +"Boat ahoy!" + +Paul opened his eyes, felt that the tiller was in his hand, and was about +to close the first again, when the words were more sternly repeated, + +"Boat ahoy!--what craft's that? Answer, or expect a shot!" + +This was plain English, and Paul was wide awake in an instant. Rubbing his +eyes, he saw a line of boats anchored directly on his weather bow, with a +raft of spars riding astern. + +"Hurrah!" shouted the young man. "This is Heaven's own tidings! Are these +the Montauk's?" + +"Ay, ay. Who the devil are you?" + +The truth is, Captain Truck did not recognize his own launch in the royal, +roof, and jigger. He had never before seen a boat afloat in such a guise; +and in the obscurity of the hour, and fresh awakened from a profound +sleep, like Paul, his faculties were a little confused. But the latter +soon comprehended the whole matter. He clapped his helm down, let fly the +sheet, and in a minute the launch of the packet was riding alongside of +the launch of the Dane. Heads were out of the shutters, and every boat +gave up its sleepers, for the cry was general throughout the +little flotilla. + +The party just arrived alone felt joy. They found those whom they had +believed dead, or captives, alive and free, whereas the others now learned +the extent of the misfortune that had befallen them. For a few minutes +this contrast in feeling produced an awkward meeting; but the truth soon +brought all down to the same sober level. Captain Truck received the +congratulations of his friends like one in a stupor; Toast looked amazed +as his friend Saunders shook his hand; and the gentlemen who had been to +the wreck met the cheerful greetings of those who had just escaped the +Arabs like men who fancied the others mad. + +We pass over the explanations that followed, as every one will readily +understand them. Captain Truck listened to Paul like one in a trance, and +it was some time after the young man had done before he spoke. With a wish +to cheer him, he was told of the ample provision of stores that had been +brought off in the launch, of the trade winds that had now apparently set +in, and of the great probability of their all reaching the islands in +safety. Still the old man made no reply; he got on the roof of his own +launch, and paced backwards and forwards rapidly, heeding nothing. Even +Eve spoke to him unnoticed, and the consolations offered by her father +were not attended to. At length he stopped suddenly, and called for +his mate. + +"Mr. Leach?" + +"Sir." + +"Here is a category for you!" + +"Ay, ay, sir; it's bad enough in its way; still we are better off than the +Danes." + +"You tell me, sir," turning to Paul, "that these foul blackguards were +actually on the deck of the ship?" + +"Certainly, Captain Truck. They took complete possession; for we had no +means of keeping them off." + +"And the ship is ashore?" + +"Beyond a question." + +"Bilged?" + +"I think not. There is no swell within the reef, and she lies on sand." + +"We might have spared ourselves the trouble, Leach, of culling these +cursed spars, as if they had been so many toothpicks." + +"That we might, sir; for they will not now serve as oven-wood, for want +of the oven." + +"A damnable category, Mr. Effingham! I'm glad you are safe, sir; and you, +too, my dear young lady--God bless you!--God bless you!--It were better +the whole line should be in their power than one like you!" + +The old seaman's eyes filled as he shook Eve by the hand, and for a moment +he forgot the ship. + +"Mr. Leach?" + +"Sir." + +"Let the people have their breakfasts, and bear a hand about it. We are +likely to have a busy morning, sir. Lift the kedge, too, and let us drift +down towards these gentry, and take a look at them. We have both wind and +current with us now, and shall make quick work of it." + +The kedge was raised, the sails were all set, and, with the two launches +lashed together, the whole line of boats and spars began to set to the +southward at a rate that would bring them up with the inlet in about +two hours. + +"This is the course for the Cape de Verds, gentlemen," said the captain +bitterly. "We shall have to pass before our own door to go and ask +hospitality of strangers. But let the people get their breakfasts, Mr. +Leach; just let the boys have one comfortable meal before they take to +their oars." + +Eat himself, however, Mr. Truck would not. He chewed the end of a cigar, +and continued walking up and down the roof. + +In half an hour the people had ended their meal, the day had fairly +opened, and the boats and raft had made good progress. + +"Splice the main-brace, Mr. Leach," said the captain, "for we are a +littled jammed. And you, gentlemen, do me the favour to step this way for +a consultation. This much is due to your situation." + +Captain Truck assembled his male passengers in the stern of the Dane's +launch, where he commenced the following address: + +"Gentlemen," he said, "every thing in this world has its nature and its +principles. This truth I hold you all to be too well informed and well +educated to deny. The nature of a traveller is to travel, and see +curiosities; the nature of old men is to think on the past, of a young man +to hope for the future. The nature of a seaman is to stick by his ship, +and of a ship to be treated like a vessel, and not to be ransacked like a +town taken by storm, or a nunnery that is rifled,--You are but passengers, +and doubtless have your own wishes and occupations, as I have mine. Your +wishes are, beyond question, to be safe in New York among your friends; +and mine are to get the Montauk there too, in as little time and with as +little injury as possible. You have a good navigator among you; and I now +propose that you take the Montauk's launch, with such stores as are +necessary, and fill away at once for the islands, where, I pray God, you +may all arrive in safety, and that when you reach America you may find all +your relations in good health, and in no manner uneasy at this little +delay. Your effects shall be safely delivered to your respective orders, +should it please God to put it in the power of the line to honour +your drafts." + +"You intend to attempt recapturing the ship!" exclaimed Paul, + +"I do, sir," returned Mr. Truck, who, having thus far opened his mind, for +the first time that morning gave a vigorous hem! and set about lighting a +cigar.--"We may do it, gentlemen, or we may not do it. If we do it, you +will hear farther from me; if we fail, why, tell them at home that we +carried sail as long as a stitch would draw." + +The gentlemen looked at each other, the young waiting in respect for the +counsel of the old, the old hesitating in deference to the pride and +feelings of the young. + +"We must join you in this enterprise, captain," said Mr. Sharp quietly, +but with the manner of a man of spirit and nerve. + +"Certainly, certainly," cried Mr. Monday; "we ought to make a common +affair of it; as I dare say Sir George Templemore will agree with me in +maintaining; the nobility and gentry are not often backward when their +persons are to be risked." + +The spurious baronet acquiesced in the proposal as readily as it had been +made by him whom he had temporarily deposed; for, though a weak and a +vain young man, he was far from being a dastard. + +"This is a serious business," observed Paul, "and it ought to be ordered +with method and intelligence. If we have a ship to care for, we have those +also who are infinitely more precious." + +"Very true, Mr. Blunt, very true," interrupted Mr. Dodge, a little +eagerly. "It is my maxim to let well alone; and I am certain shipwrecked +people can hardly be better off and more comfortable than we are at this +very moment. I dare say these gallant sailors, if the question was fairly +put to them, would give it by a handsome majority in favour of things as +they are. I am a conservative, captain--and I think an appeal ought to be +made to the ballot-boxes before we decide on a measure of so much +magnitude." + +The occasion was too grave for the ordinary pleasantry, and this singular +proposition was heard in silence, to Mr. Dodge's great disgust. + +"I think it the duty of Captain Truck to endeavour to retake his vessel," +continued Paul; "but the affair will be serious, and success is far from +certain. The Montauk's launch ought to be left at a safe distance with all +the females, and in prudent keeping; for any disaster to the boarding +party would probably throw the rest of the boats into the hands of the +barbarians, and endanger the safety of those left in the launch.--Mr. +Effingham and Mr. John Effingham will of course remain with the ladies." + +The father assented with the simplicity of one who did not distrust his +own motives, but the eagle-shaped features of his kinsman curled with a +cool and sarcastic smile. + +"Will _you_ remain in the launch?" the latter asked pointedly, turning +towards Paul. + +"Certainly it would be greatly out of character were to think of it. My +trade is war; and I trust that Captain Truck means to honour me with the +command of one of the boats." + +"I thought as much, by Jove!" exclaimed the captain, seizing a hand which +he shook with the utmost cordiality. 'I should as soon expect to see the +sheet-anchor wink, or the best-bower give a mournful smile, as to see you +duck.' Still, gentlemen, I am well aware of the difference in our +situations. I ask no man to forget his duties to those on shore on my +account; and I fancy that my regular people, aided by Mr. Blunt, who can +really serve me by his knowledge, will be as likely to do all that can be +done as all of us united. It is not numbers that carry ships as much as +spirit, promptitude, and resolution." + +"But the question has not yet been put to the people," said Mr. Dodge, who +was a little mystified by the word last used, which he had yet to learn +was strictly technical as applied to a vessel's crew. + +"It shall, sir," returned Captain Truck, "and I beg you to note the +majority. My lads," he continued, rising on a thwart, and speaking aloud, +"you know the history of the ship. As to the Arabs, now they have got her, +they do not know how to sail her, and it is no more than a kindness to +take her out of their hands. For this business I want volunteers; those +who are for the reef, and an attack, will rise up and cheer; while they +who like an offing have only to sit still and stay where they are." + +The words were no sooner spoken than Mr. Leach jumped up on the gunwale +and waved his hat. The people rose as one man, and taking the signal from +the mate, they gave three as hearty cheers as ever rung over the bottle. + +"Dead against you, sir!" observed the captain, nodding to the editor; "and +I hope you are now satisfied." + +"The ballot might have given it the other way," muttered Mr. Dodge; "there +can be no freedom of election without the ballot." + +No one, however, thought any longer of Mr. Dodge or his scruples; but the +whole disposition for the attack was made with promptitude and caution. It +was decided that Mr. Effingham and his own servant should remain in the +launch; while the captain compelled his two mates to draw lots which of +them should stay behind also, a navigator being indispensable. The chance +fell on the second mate, who submitted to his luck with an ill grace. + +A bust of Napoleon was cut up, and the pieces of lead were beaten as +nearly round as possible, so as to form a dozen leaden balls, and a +quantity of slugs, or langrage. The latter were put in canvas bags; while +the keg of powder was opened, a flannel shirt or two were torn, and cart +ridges were filled. Ammunition was also distributed to the people, and Mr. +Sharp examined their arms. The gun was got off the roof of the Montauk's +launch, and placed on a grating forward in that of the Dane. The sails and +rigging were cleared out of the boat and secured on the raft when she was +properly manned, and the command of her was given to Paul. + +The three other boats received their crews, with John Effingham at the +head of one, the captain and his mate commanding the others. Mr. Dodge +felt compelled to volunteer to go in the launch of the Dane, where Paul +had now taken his station, though he did it with a reluctance that escaped +the observation of no one who took the pains to observe him. Mr, Sharp and +Mr. Monday were with the captain, and the false Sir George Templemore went +with Mr. Leach. These arrangements completed, the whole party waited +impatiently for the wind and current to set them down towards the reef, +the rocks of which by this time were plainly visible, even from the +thwarts of the several boats. + + + + +Chapter XXVI. + + + + Hark! was it not the trumpet's voice I heard? + The soul of battle is awake within me. + The fate of ages and of empires hangs + On this dread hour. + + MASSINGER + + +The two launches were still sailing side by side, and Eve now appeared at +the open window next the seat of Paul. Her face was pale as when the scene +of the cabin occurred, and her lip trembled. + +"I do not understand these warlike proceedings" she said, "but I trust, +Mr. Blunt, _we_ have no concern with the present movement." + +"Put your mind at ease on this head, dearest Miss Effingham, for what we +now do we do in compliance with a general law of manhood. Were your +interests and the interests of those with you alone consulted, we might +come to a very different decision: but I think you are in safe hands +should our adventure prove unfortunate." + +"Unfortunate! It is fearful to be so near a scene like this! I cannot ask +you to do any thing unworthy of yourself; but, all that we owe you impels +me to say, I trust you have too much wisdom, too much true courage, to +incur unnecessary risks." + +The young man looked volumes of gratitude; but the presence of the others +kept its expression within due bounds. + +"We old sea dogs," he answered, smiling, "are rather noted for taking care +of ourselves. They who are trained to a business like this usually set +about it too much in a business-like manner to hazard anything for +mere show." + +"And very wisely; Mr. Sharp, too,"--Eve's colour deepened with a +consciousness that Paul would have given worlds to understand--"he has a +claim on us we shall never forge. My father can say all this better +than I." + +Mr. Effingham now expressed his thanks for all that had passed, and +earnestly enjoined prudence on the young men. After which Eve withdrew her +head, and was seen no more. Most of the next hour was passed in prayer by +those in the launch. + +By this time the boats and rail were within half a mile of the inlet; and +Captain Truck ordered the kedge, which had been transferred to the launch +of the Montauk, to be let go. As soon as this was done, the old seaman +threw down his hat, and stood on a thwart in his grey hair. + +"Gentlemen, you have your orders," he said with dignity; for from that +moment his manner rose with the occasion, and had something of the +grandeur of the warrior. "You see the enemy. The reef must first be +cleared, and then the ship shall be carried. God knows who will live to +see the end; but that end must be success, on the bones of John Truck +shall bleach on these sands! Our cry is 'The Montauk and our own!' which +is a principle Vattel will sustain us in. Give way, men! a long pull, a +strong pull, and a pull altogether; each boat in its station!" + +He waved his hand, and the oars fell into the water at the same instant. +The heavy launch was the last, for she had double-fasts to the other boat. +While loosening that forward the second mate deserted his post, stepping +nimbly on board the departing boat, and concealing himself behind the +foremost of the two lug-sails she carried. Almost at the same instant Mr. +Dodge reversed this manoeuvre by pretending to be left clinging to the +boat of the Montauk, in his zeal to shove off. As the sails were drawing; +hard, and the oars dashed the spray aside, it was too late to rectify +either of these mistakes, had it been desirable. + +A few minutes of a stern calm succeeded, each boat keeping its place with +beautiful precision. The Arabs had left the northern reef with the light; +but, the tide being out, hundreds were strung along the southern range of +rocks, especially near the ship. The wind carried the launch ahead, as had +been intended, and she soon drew near the inlet. + +"Take in the sails," said Mr. Blunt. "See your gun clear forward." + +A fine, tall, straight, athletic young seaman stood near the grating, with +a heated iron lying in a vessel of live coals before him, in lieu of a +loggerhead, the fire being covered with a tarpaulin. As Paul spoke, this +young mariner turned towards him with the peculiar grace of a +man-of-war's-man, and touched his hat. + +"Ay, ay, sir. All ready, Mr. Powis." + +Paul started, while the other smiled proudly, like one who knew more than +his companions. + +"We have met before," said the first. + +"That have we sir, and in boat-duty, too. You were the first on board the +pirate on the coast of Cuba, and I was second." + +A look of recognition and a wave of the hand passed between them, the men +cheering involuntarily. It was too late for more, the launch being fairly +in the inlet, where she received a general but harmless fire from the +Arabs. An order had been given to fire the first shot over the heads of +the barbarians; but this assault changed the plan. + +"Depress the piece, Brooks," said Paul, "and throw in a bag of slugs." + +"All ready, sir," was uttered in another minute. + +"Hold water, men--the boat is steady--let them have it." + +Men fell at that discharge; but how many was never known, as the bodies +were hurried off the reef by those who fled. A few concealed themselves +along the rocks, but most scampered towards the shore. + +"Bravely done!" cried Captain Truck, as his boat swept past. "Now for the +ship, sir!" + +The people cheered again, and dashed their oars into the water. To clear +the reef was nothing; but to carry the ship was a serious affair. She was +defended by four times the number of those in the boats, and there was no +retreat. The Arabs, as has already been seen, had suspended their labour +during the night, having fruitlessly endeavoured to haul the vessel over +to the reef before the tide rose. More by accident than by calculation, +they had made such arrangements by getting a line to the rocks as would +probably have set the ship off the sands, when she floated at high water; +but this line had been cut by Paul in passing, and the wind coming on +shore again, during the confusion and clamour of the barbarians, or at a +moment when they thought they were to be attacked, no attention was paid +to the circumstance, and the Montauk was suffered to drive up still higher +on the sands, where she effectually grounded at the very top of the tide. +As it was now dead low water, the ship had sewed materially, and was now +lying on her bilge partly sustained by the water, and partly by +the bottom. + +During the short pause that succeeded, Saunders, who was seated in the +captain's boat as a small-arms-man, addressed his subordinate in a +low voice. + +"Now, Toast," he said, "you are about to contend in battle for the first +time; and I diwine, from experience, that the ewent gives you some +sentiments that are werry original. My adwice to you is, to shut both eyes +until the word is given to fire, and then to open them suddenly, as if +just awaking from sleep; after which you may present and pull the +trigger. Above all, Toast, take care not to kill any of our own friends, +most especially not Captain Truck, just at this werry moment." + +"I shall do my endeavours, Mr. Saunders," muttered Toast, with the apathy +and submissive dependence on others with which the American black usually +goes into action. "If I do any harm, I hope it will be overlooked, on +account of my want of experience." + +"Imitate me, Toast, in coolness and propriety, and you'll be certain not +to offend. I do not mean that you too are to kill the werry same +_Muscle_-men that I kill, but that when I kill one you are to kill +another. And be werry careful not to hurt Captain Truck, who'll be certain +to run right afore the muzzle of our guns, if he sees any thing to be +done there." + +Toast growled an assent, and then there was no other noise in the boat +than that which was produced by the steady and vigorous falling of the +oars. An attempt had been made to lighten the vessel by unloading her, and +the bank of sand was already covered with bales and boxes, which had been +brought up from the hold by means of a stage, and by sheer animal force. +The raft had been extended in size, and brought round to the bank by the +stern of the vessel, with the intention to load it, and to transfer the +articles already landed to the rocks. + +Such was the state of things about the Montauk when the boats came into +the channel that ran directly up to the bank. The launch led again, her +sails having been set as soon as the reef was swept, and she now made +another discharge on the deck of the ship, which, inclining towards the +gun, offered no shelter. The effect was to bring every Arab, in the +twinkling of an eye, down upon the bank. + +"Hurrah!" shouted Captain Truck; "that grist has purified the old bark! +And now to see who is to own her! 'The thieves are out of the temple,' as +my good father would have said." + +The four boats were in a line abreast, the launch under one sail only. A +good deal of confusion existed on the bank but the Arabs sought the cover +of the bales and boxes, and opened a sharp though irregular fire. Three +times, as they advanced, the second mate and that gallant-looking young +seaman called Brooks discharged the gun, and at each discharge the Arabs +were dislodged and driven to the raft. The cheers of the seamen became +animated, though they still plied the oars. + +"Steadily, men," said Captain Truck, "and prepare to board." + +At this moment the launch grounded, though still twenty yards from the +bank, the other boats passing her with loud cheers. + +"We are all ready, sir," cried Brooks. + +"Let 'em have it. Take in the sail, boys." + +The gun was fired, and the tall young seaman sprang upon the grating and +cheered. As he looked backward, with a smile of triumph, Paul saw his eyes +roll. He leaped into the air, and fell at his length dead upon the water; +for such is the passage of a man in battle, from one state of existence +to another. + +"Where do we hang?" asked Paul steadily; "forward or aft?" + +It was forward, and deeper water lay ahead of them. The sail was set +again, and the people were called aft. The boat tipped, and shot ahead +towards the sands, like a courser released from a sudden pull. + +All this time the others were not idle. Not a musket was fired from either +boat until the whole three struck the bank, almost, at the same instant, +though at as many different points. Then all leaped ashore, and threw in a +fire so close, that the boxes served as much for a cover to the assailants +as to the assailed. It was at this critical moment, when the seamen paused +to load, that Paul, just clear of the bottom, with his own hand applying +the loggerhead, swept the rear of the bank with a most opportune +discharge. + +"Yard-arm and yard-arm!" shouted Captain Truck. "Lay 'em aboard, boys, and +give 'em Jack's play!" + +The whole party sprang forward, and from that moment all order ceased. +Fists, hand-spikes, of which many were on the bank, and the butts of +muskets, were freely used, and in a way that set the spears and weapons of +the Arabs at defiance. The Captain, Mr. Sharp, John Effingham, Mr. +Monday, the _soi-disant_ Sir George Templemore, and the chief mate, formed +a sort of Macedonian phalanx, which penetrated the centre of the +barbarians, and which kept close to the enemy, following up its advantages +with a spirit that admitted of no rallying. On their right and left +pressed the men, an athletic, hearty, well-fed gang. The superiority of +the Arabs was in their powers of endurance; for, trained to the whip-cord +rigidity of racers, force was less their peculiar merit than bottom. Had +they acted in concert, how ever, or had they been on their own desert, +mounted, and with room for their subtle evolutions, the result might have +been very different; but, unused to contend with an enemy who brought them +within reach of the arm, their tactics were deranged, and all their habits +violated. Still, their numbers were formidable, and it is probable that +the accident to the launch, after all, decided the matter. From the moment +the _mêlée_ began not a shot was fired, but the assailants pressed upon +the assailed, until a large body of the latter had collected near the +raft. This was just as the launch reached the shore, and Paul perceived +there was great danger that the tide might roll backward from sheer +necessity. The gun was loaded, and filled nearly to the muzzle with slugs. +He caused the men to raise it on their oars, and to carry it to a large +box, a little apart from the confusion of the fight. All this was done in +a moment, for three minutes had not yet passed since the captain landed. + +Instead of firing, Paul called aloud to his friends to cease fighting. +Though chafing like a vexed lion, Captain Truck complied, surprise +effecting quite as much as obedience. The Arabs, hardest pressed upon, +profited by the pause to fall back on the main body of their friends, near +the raft. This was all Paul could ask, and he ordered the gun to be +pointed at the centre of the group, while he advanced himself towards the +enemy, making a sign of peace. + +"Damn 'em, lay 'em aboard!" cried the captain: "no quarter to the +blackguards!" + +"I rather think we had better charge again," added Mr. Sharp, who was +thoroughly warmed with his late employment. + +"Hold, gentlemen; you risk all needlessly. I will show these poor +wretches what they have to expect, and they will probably retire. We want +the ship, not their blood." + +"Well, well," returned the impatient captain, "give 'em plenty of Vattel, +for we have 'em now in a category." + +The men of the wilderness and of the desert seem to act as much by +instinct as by reason. An old sheik advanced, smiling, towards Paul, when +the latter was a few yards in advance of his friends, offering his hand +with as much cordiality as if they met merely to exchange courtesies. Paul +led him quietly to the gun, put his hand in, and drew out a bag of slugs, +replaced it, and pointed significantly at the dense crowd of exposed +Arabs, and at the heated iron that was ready to discharge the piece. At +all this the old Arab smiled, and seemed to express his admiration. He was +then showed the strong and well-armed party, all of whom by this time had +a musket or a pistol ready to use. Paul then signed to the raft and to the +reef, as much as to tell the other to withdraw his party. + +The sheik exhibited great coolness and sagacity, and, unused to frays so +desperate, he signified his disposition to comply. Truces, Paul knew, were +common in the African combats, which are seldom bloody, and he hoped the +best from the manner of the sheik, who was now permitted to return to his +friends. A short conference succeeded among the Arabs, when several of +them smilingly waved their hands, and most of the party crowded on the +raft. Others advanced, and asked permission to bear away their wounded, +and the bodies of the dead, in both of which offices they were assisted by +the seamen, as far as was prudent; for it was all-important to be on the +guard against treachery. + +In this extraordinary manner the combatants separated, the Arabs hauling +themselves over to the reef by a line, their old men smiling, and making +signs of amity, until they were fairly on the rocks. Here they remained +but a very few minutes, for the camels and dromedaries were seen trotting +off towards the Dane on the shore; a sign that the compact between the +different parties of the barbarians was dissolved, and that each man was +about to plunder on his own account. This movement produced great +agitation among the old sheiks-and their followers on the reef, and set +them in motion with great activity towards the land. So great was their +hurry, indeed, that the bodies of all the dead, and of several of the +wounded, were fairly abandoned on the rocks, at some distance from +the shore. + +The first step of the victors, as a matter of course, was to inquire into +their own loss. This was much less than would have otherwise been, on +account of their good conduct. Every man, without a solitary exception, +had ostensibly behaved well; one of the most infallible means of lessening +danger. Several of the party had received slight hurts, and divers bullets +had passed through hats and jackets. Mr. Sharp, alone, had two through the +former, besides one through his coat. Paul had blood drawn on an arm, and +Captain Truck, to use his own language, resembled "a horse in fly-time," +his skin having been rased in no less than five places. But all these +trifling hurts and hair-breadth escapes counted for nothing, as no one was +seriously injured by them, or felt sufficient inconvenience even to report +himself wounded. + +The felicitations were warm and general; even the seamen asking leave to +shake their sturdy old commander by the hand. Paul and Mr. Sharp fairly +embraced, each expressing his sincere pleasure that the other had escaped +unharmed. The latter even shook hands cordially with his counterfeit, who +had acted with spirit from the first to the last. John Effingham alone +maintained the same cool indifference after the affair that he had shown +in it, when it was seen that he had played his part with singular coolness +and discretion, dropping two Arabs with his fowling-piece on landing, with +a sort of sportsman-like coolness with which he was in the habit of +dropping woodcocks at home. + +"I fear Mr. Monday is seriously hurt," this gentleman said to the captain, +in the midst of his congratulations: "he sits aloof on the box yonder, and +looks exhausted." + +"Mr. Monday! I hope not, with all my heart and soul He is a capital +_diplomate_, and a stout boarder. And Mr Dodge, too! I miss Mr. Dodge." + +"Mr. Dodge must have remained behind to console the ladies," returned +Paul, "finding that your second mate had abandoned them, like a recreant +that he is." + +The captain shook his disobedient mate by the hand a second time, and +swore he was a mutineer for violating his orders, and ended by declaring +that the day was not distant when he and Mr. Leach should command two as +good liners as ever sailed out of America. + +"I'll have nothing to do with either of you as soon as we reach home," he +concluded. "There was Leach a foot or two ahead of me the whole time; and, +as for the second officer, I should be justified in logging him as having +run. Well, well; young men will be young men; and so would old men too, +Mr. John Effingham, if they knew how. But Mr. Monday does look doleful; +and I am afraid we shall be obliged to overhaul the medicine-chest +for him." + +Mr. Monday, however, was beyond the aid of medicine. A ball had passed +through his shoulder-blade in landing, notwithstanding which he had +pressed into the _mêlée_, where, unable to parry it, a spear had been +thrust into his chest. The last wound appeared grave, and Captain Truck +immediately ordered the sufferer to be carried into the ship: John +Effingham, with a tenderness and humanity that were singularly in contrast +to his ordinary sarcastic manner, volunteering to take charge of him. + +"We have need of all our forces," said Captain Truck, as Mr. Monday was +borne away; "and yet it is due to our friends in the launch to let them +know the result. Set the ensign, Leach; that will tell them our success, +though a verbal communication can alone acquaint them with the +particulars." + +"If," interrupted Paul, eagerly, "you will lend me the launch of the Dane, +Mr. Sharp and myself will beat her up to the raft, let our friends know +the result, and bring the spars down to the inlet. This will save the +necessity of any of the men's being absent. We claim the privilege, too, +as belonging properly to the party that is now absent." + +"Gentlemen, take any privilege you please. You have stood by me like +heroes; and I owe you all more than the heel of a worthless old life will +ever permit me to pay." + +The two young men did not wait for a second invitation but in five minutes +the boat was stretching through one of the channels that led landward; and +in five more it was laying out of the inlet with a steady breeze. + +The instant Captain Truck retrod the deck of his ship was one of +uncontrollable feeling with the weather-beaten old seaman. The ship had +sewed too much to admit of walking with ease, and he sat down on the +coaming of the main hatch, and fairly wept like an infant. So high had his +feelings been wrought that this out-breaking was violent, and the men +wondered to see their grey-headed, stern, old commander, so completely +unmanned. He seemed at length ashamed of the weakness himself, for, rising +like a worried tiger, he began to issue his orders as sternly and promptly +as was his wont. + +"What the devil are you gaping at, men!" he growled; "did you never see a +ship on her bilge before? God knows, and for that matter you all know, +there is enough to do, that you stand like so many marines, with their +'eyes right!' and 'pipe-clay.'" + +"Take it more kindly, Captain Truck," returned an old sea-dog, thrusting +out a hand that was all knobs, a fellow whose tobacco had not been +displaced even by the fray; "take it kindly, and look upon all these boxes +and bales as so much cargo that is to be struck in, in dock. We'll soon +stow it, and, barring a few slugs, and one four-pounder, that has cut up a +crate of crockery as if it had been a cat in a cupboard, no great harm is +done. I look upon this matter as no more than a sudden squall, that has +compelled us to bear up for a little while, but which will answer for a +winch to spin yarns on all the rest of our days. I have fit the French, +and the English, and the Turks, in my time; and now I can say I have had a +brush with the niggers." + +"D--n me, but you are right, old Tom! and I'll make no more account of +the matter. Mr. Leach, give the people a little encouragement. There is +enough left in the jug that you'll find in the stern-sheets of the +pinnace; and then turn-to, and strike in all this dunnage, that the Arabs +have been scattering on the sands. We'll stow it when we get the ship into +an easier bed than the one in which she is now lying." + +This was the signal for commencing work; and these straight-forward tars, +who had just been in the confusion and hazards of a fight, first took +their grog, and then commenced their labour in earnest. As they had only, +with their knowedge and readiness, to repair the damage done by the +ignorant and hurried Arabs, in a short time every thing was on board the +ship again, when their attention was directed to the situation of the +vessel itself. Not to anticipate events, however, we will now return to +the party in the launch. + +The reader will readily imagine the feelings with which Mr. Effingham and +his party listened to the report of the first gun. As they all remained +below, they were ignorant who the individual really was that kept pacing +the roof over their heads, though it was believed to be the second mate, +agreeably to the arrangement made by Captain Truck. + +"My eyes grow dim," said Mr. Effingham, who was looking through a glass; +"will you try to see what is passing, Eve?" + +"Father, I cannot look," returned the pallid girl. "It is misery enough to +hear these frightful guns." + +"It is awful!" said Nanny, folding her arms about her child, "and I wonder +that such gentlemen as Mr. John and Mr. Powis should go on an enterprise +so wicked!" + +"_Voulez-vous avoir la complaisance, monsieur_?" said Mademoiselle +Viefville, taking the glass from the unresisting hand of Mr. Effingham. +"_Ha! le combat commence en effet_!" + +"Is it the Arabs who now fire?" demanded Eve, unable, in spite of terror, +to repress her interest. + +"_Non, c'est cet admirable jeune homme, Monsieur Blunt, qui dévance tous +les autres_!" + +"And now, mademoiselle, _that_ must surely be the barbarians?" + +"_Du tout. Les sauvages fuient. C'est encore du ba teau de Monsieur Blunt +qu'on tire. Quel beau courage! son bateau est toujours des premiers_!" + +"That shout is frightful! Do they close?" + +"_On crie des deux parts, je crois. Le vieux capitaine est en avant à +present, et Monsieur Blunt s'arrête_!" + +"May Heaven avert the danger! Do you see the gentlemen at all, +Mademoiselle?" + +"_La fumée est trop épaisse. Ah! les viola! On tire encore de son +bateau_." + +"_Eh bien, mademoiselle_?" said Eve tremulously, after a long pause. + +"_C'est déjà fini. Les Arabes se retirent et nos amis se sont emparés du +bâtiment. Cela a été l'affaire d'un moment, et que le combat a été +glorieux! Ces jeunes gens sont vraiment dignes d'être Français, et le +vieux capitaine, aussi_.' + +"Are there no tidings for us, mademoiselle?" asked Eve, after another long +pause, during which she had poured out her gratitude in trembling, but +secret thanksgivings. + +"_Non, pas encore. Ils se félicitent, je crois_." + +"It's time, I'm sure, ma'am," said the meek-minded Ann, "to send forth the +dove, that it may find the olive branch. War and strife are too sinful to +be long indulged in." + +"There is a boat making sail in this direction," said Mr. Effingham, who +had left the glass with the governess, in complaisance to her wish. + +"_Oui, c'est le bateau de Monsieur Blunt_." + +"And who is in it?" demanded the father, for the meed of a world could not +have enabled Eve to speak. + +"_Je vois Monsieur Sharp--oui, c'est bien lui_." + +"Is he alone?" + +"_Non, il y en a deux--mais--oui--c'est Monsieur Blunt,--notre jeune +heros_!" + +Eve bowed her face, and even while her soul melted in gratitude to God, +the feelings of her sex caused the tell-tale blood to suffuse her features +to the brightness of crimson. + +Mr. Effingham now took the glass from the spirited Frenchwoman, whose +admiration of brilliant qualities had overcome her fears, and he gave a +more detailed and connected account of the situation of things near the +ship, as they presented themselves to a spectator at that distance. + +Notwithstanding they already knew so much, it was a painful and feverish +half hour to those in the launch, the time that intervened between this +dialogue and the moment when the boat of the Dane came alongside of their +own. Every face was at the windows, and the young men were received like +deliverers, in whose safety all felt a deep concern. + +"But, cousin Jack," said Eve, across whose speaking countenance +apprehension and joy cast their shadows and gleams like April clouds +driving athwart a brilliant sky, "my father has not been able to discover +his form among those who move about on the bank." + +The gentlemen explained the misfortune of Mr. Monday, and related the +manner in which John Effingham had assumed the office of nurse. A few +delicious minutes passed; for nothing is more grateful than the happiness +that first succeeds a victory, and the young men proceeded to lift the +kedge, assisted by the servant of Mr. Effingham. The sails were set; and +in fifteen minutes the raft--the long-desired and much-coveted +raft--approached the inlet. + +Paul steered the larger boat, and gave to Mr. Sharp directions how to +steer the other. The tide was flowing into the passage; and, by keeping +his weatherly position, the young man carried his long train of spars with +so much precision into its opening, that, favoured by the current, it was +drawn through without touching a rock, and brought in triumph to the very +margin of the bank. Here it was secured, the sails and cordage were +brought ashore, and the whole party landed. + +The last twenty hours seemed like a dream to all the females, as they +again walked the solid sand in security and hope. They had now assembled +every material of safety, and all that remained was to get the ship off +the shore, and to rig her; Mr. Leach having already reported that she was +as tight as the day she left London. + + + + +Chapter XXVII. + + + + Would I were in an ale-house in London! + I would give all my fame for a pot of ale and safety + + HENRY VTH. + + +Mademoiselle Viefville, with a decision and intelligence that rendered her +of great use in moments of need hastened to offer her services to the +wounded man, while Eve, attended by Ann Sidley, ascended the ship and made +her way into the cabins, in the best manner the leaning position of the +vessel allowed. Here they found less confusion than might have been +expected, the scene being ludicrous, rather than painful, for Mr. Monday +was in his state-room excluded from sight. + +In the first place, the _soi-disant_ Sir George Templemore was counting +over his effects, among which he had discovered a sad deficiency in coats +and pantaloons. The Arabs had respected the plunder, by compact, with the +intention of making a fair distribution on the reef; but, with a view to +throw a sop to the more rapacious of their associates, one room had been +sacked by the permission of the sheiks. This unfortunate room happened to +be that of Sir George Templemore, and the patent razors, the East Indian +dressing case, the divers toys, to say nothing of innumerable vestments +which the young man had left paraded in his room, for the mere pleasure of +feasting his eyes on them, had disappeared. + +"Do me the favour, Miss Effingham," he said, appealing to Eve, of whom he +stood habitually in awe, from the pure necessity of addressing her in his +distress, or of addressing no one, "do me the favour to look into my room, +and see the unprincipled manner in which I have been treated. Not a comb +nor a razor left; not a garment to make myself decent in! I'm sure such +conduct is quite a disgrace to the civilization of barbarians even, and I +shall make it a point, to have the affair duly represented to his +majesty's minister the moment I arrive in New York. I sincerely hope you +have been better treated, though I think, after this specimen of their +principles, there is little hope for any one: I'm sure we ought to be +grateful they did not strip the ship. I trust we shall all make common +cause against them the moment we arrive." + +"We ought, indeed, sir," returned Eve, who, while she had known from the +beginning of his being an impostor, was willing to ascribe his fraud to +vanity, and who now felt charitable towards him on account of the spirit +he had shown in the combat; "though I trust we shall have escaped better. +Our effects were principally in the baggage-room, and that, I understand +from Captain Truck, has not been touched." + +"Indeed you are very fortunate, and I can only wish that the same good +luck had happened to myself. But then, you know, Miss Effingham, that one +has need of his little comforts, and, as for myself, I confess to rather a +weakness in that way." + +"Monstrous prodigality and wastefulness!" cried Saunders, as Eve passed on +towards her own cabin, willing to escape any more of Sir George's +complaints. "Just be so kind, Miss Effingham, ma'am, to look into this +here pantry, once! Them niggers, I do believe, have had their fingers in +every thing, and it will take Toast and me a week to get things decorous +and orderly again. Some of the shrieks" (for so the steward styled the +chiefs) "have been yelling well in this place, I'll engage, as you may +see, by the manner in which they have spilt the mustard and mangled that +cold duck. I've a most mortal awersion to a man that cuts up poultry +against the fibers; and, would you think it, Miss Effingham, ma'am, that +the last gun Mr. Blunt fired, dislocated, or otherwise diwerted, about +half a dozen of the fowls that happened to be in the way; for I let all +the poor wretches out of the coops, that they might make their own livings +should we never come back. I should think that as polite and experienced a +gentleman as Mr. Blunt might have shot the Arabs instead of my poultry!" + +"So it is," thought Eve, as she glanced into the pantry and proceeded. +"What is considered happiness to-day gets to be misery to-morrow, and the +rebukes of adversity are forgotten the instant prosperity resumes its +influence. Either of these men, a few hours since, would have been most +happy to have been in this vessel, as a home, or a covering for their +heads, and now they quarrel with their good fortune because it is wanting +in some accustomed superfluity or pampered indulgence." + +We shall leave her with this wholesome reflection uppermost, to examine +into the condition of her own room, and return to the deck. + +As the hour was still early, Captain Truck having once quieted his +feelings, went to work with zeal, to turn the late success to the best +account. The cargo that had been discharged was soon stowed again, and the +next great object was to get the ship afloat previously to hoisting in the +new spars. As the kedges still lay on the reef, and all the anchors +remained in the places where they had originally been placed, there was +little to do but to get ready to heave upon the chains as soon as the tide +rose. Previously to commencing this task, however, the intervening time +was well employed in sending, down the imperfect hamper that was aloft, +and in getting up shears to hoist out the remains of the foremast, as well +as the jury mainmast, the latter of which, it will be remembered, was only +fitted two days before. All the appliances used on that occasion being +still on deck, and every body lending a willing hand, this task was +completed by noon. The jury-mast gave little trouble, but was soon lying +on the bank; and then Captain Truck, the shears having been previously +shifted, commenced lifting the broken foremast, and just as the cooks +announced that the dinner was ready for the people, the latter safely +deposited the spar on the sands. + +"'Here, a sheer hulk, lies poor Tom Bowline,'" said Captain Truck to Mr. +Blunt, as the crew came up the staging in their way to the galley, in +quest of their meal. "I have not beheld the Montauk without a mast since +the day she lay a new-born child at the ship-yards. I see some half a +dozen of these mummified scoundrels dodging about on the shore yet, though +the great majority, as Mr. Dodge would say, have manifested a decided +disposition to amuse them selves with a further acquaintance with the +Dane. In my humble opinion, sir, that poor deserted ship will have no more +inside of her by night, than one of Saunders' ducks that have been dead an +hour. That hearty fellow, Mr. Monday, is hit, I fear, between wind and +water, Leach?" + +"He is in a bad way, indeed, as I understand from Mr John Effingham, who +very properly allows no one to disturb him, keeping the state-room door +closed on all but himself and his own man." + +'Ay, ay, that is merciful; a man likes a little quiet when he is killed. +As soon as the ship is more fit to be seen however, it will become my duty +to wait on him in order to see that nothing is wanting. We must offer the +poor man the consolations of religion, Mr. Blunt." + +"They would certainly be desirable had we one qualified for the task." + +"I can't say as much in that way for myself, perhaps, as I might, seeing +that my father was a priest. But then, we masters of packets have occasion +to turn our hands to a good many odd jobs. As soon as the ship is snug, I +shall certainly take a look at the honest fellow. Pray, sir, what became +of Mr. Dodge in the skirmish?" + +Paul smiled, but he prudently answered, "I believe he occupied himself in +taking notes of the combat, and I make no doubt will do you full justice +in the Active Inquirer, as soon as he gets its columns again at +his command." + +"Too much learning, as my good father used to say, has made him a little +mad. But I have a grateful heart to-day, Mr. Blunt, and will not be +critical. I did not perceive Mr. Dodge in the conflict, as Saunders calls +it, but there were so many of those rascally Arabs, that one had not an +opportunity of seeing much else. We must get the ship outside of this reef +with as little delay as possible, for to tell you a secret"--here the +captain dropped his voice to a whisper--"there are but two rounds a-piece +left for the small arms, and only one cartridge for the four-pounder. I +own to you a strong desire to be in the offing." + +"They will hardly attempt to board us, after the specimen they have had of +what we can do." + +"No one knows, sir; no one knows. They keep pouring down upon the coast +like crows on the scent of a carrion, and once done with the Dane, we +shall see them in hundreds prowling around us like wolves. How much do we +want of high water?" + +"An hour, possibly. I do not think there is much time to lose before the +people get to work at the windlass." + +Captain Truck nodded, and proceeded to look into the condition of his +ground-tackle. It was a joyous but an anxious moment when the hand-spikes +were first handled, and the slack of one of the chains began to come in. +The ship had been upright several hours, and no one could tell how hard +she would hang on the bottom. As the chain tightened, the gentlemen, the +officers included, got upon the bows and looked anxiously at the effect of +each heave; for it was a nervous thing to be stranded on such a coast, +even after all that had occurred. + +"She winks, by George!" cried the captain; "heave together, men, and you +will stir the sand!" + +The men did heave, gaining inch by inch, until no effort could cause the +ponderous machine to turn. The mates, and then the captain, applied their +strength in succession, and but half a turn more was gained. Everybody was +now summoned, even to the passengers, and the enormous strain seemed to +threaten to tear the fabric asunder; and still the ship was immoveable. + +"She hangs hardest forward, sir," said Mr. Leach: "suppose we run up the +stern-boat?" + +This expedient was adopted, and so nearly were the counteracting powers +balanced, that it prevailed. A strong heave caused the ship to start, an +inch more of tide aided the effort, and then the vast hull slowly yielded +to the purchase, gradually turning towards the anchor, until the quick +blows of the pall announced that the vessel was fairly afloat again. + +"Thank God for that, as for all his mercies!" said Captain Truck. "Heave +the hussy up to her anchor, Mr. Leach, when we will cast an eye to her +moorings." + +All this was done, the ship being effectually secured, with due attention +to a change in the wind, that now promised to be permanent. Not a moment +was lost; but, the sheers being still standing, the foremast of the Dane +was floated alongside, fastened to, and hove into its new berth, with as +much rapidity as comported with care. When the mast was fairly stepped, +Captain Truck rubbed his hands with delight, and immediately commanded his +subordinate to rig it, although by this time the turn of the day had +considerably passed. + +"This is the way with us seamen, Mr. Effingham," he observed; "from the +fall to the fight, and then again from the fight to the fall. Our work, +like women's, is never done; whereas you landsmen knock off with the sun, +and sleep while the corn grows. I have always owed my parents a grudge for +bringing me up to a dog's life." + +"I had understood it was a choice of your own, captain." + +"Ay--so far as running away and shipping without their knowledge was +concerned, perhaps it was; but then it was their business to begin at the +bottom, and to train me up in such a manner that I would not run away. The +Lord forgive me, too, for thinking amiss of the two dear old people; for, +to be candid with you, they were much too good to have such a son; and I +honestly believe they loved me more than I loved myself. Well, I've the +consolation of knowing I comforted the old lady with many a pound of +capital tea after I got into the China trade, ma'amselle." + +"She was fond of it?" observed the governess politely. + +"She relished it very much, as a horse takes to oats, or a child to +custard. That, and snuff and grace, composed her principal consolations." + +"_Quoi?_" demanded the governess, looking towards Paul for an explanation. + +"_Grace, mademoiselle; la grace de Dieu._" + +"_Bien!"_ + +"It's a sad misfortune, after all, to lose a mother, ma'amselle. It is +like cutting all the headfasts, and riding altogether by the stern; for it +is letting go the hold of what has gone before to grapple with the future. +It is true that I ran away from my mother when a youngster, and thought +little of it! but when she took her turn and ran away from me, I began to +feel that I had made a wrong use of my legs. What are the tidings from +poor Mr. Monday?" + +"I understand he does not suffer greatly, but that he grows weaker fast," +returned Paul. "I fear there is little hope of his surviving such a hurt." + +The captain had got out a cigar, and had beckoned to Toast for a coal; but +changing his mind suddenly, he broke the tobacco into snuff, and scattered +it about the deck. + +"Why the devil is not that rigging going up, Mr. Leach?" he cried, +fiercely. "It is not my intention to pass the winter at these moorings, +and I solicit a little more expedition." + +"Ay, ay, sir," returned the mate, one of a class habitually patient and +obedient; "bear a hand, my lads, and get the strings into their places." + +"Leach," continued the captain, more kindly, and still working his +fingers unconsciously, "come this way, my good friend. I have not +expressed to you, Mr. Leach, all I wish to say of your good conduct in +this late affair. You have stood by me like a gallant fellow throughout +the whole business, and I shall not hesitate about saying as much when we +get in. It is my intention to write a letter to the owners, which no doubt +they'll publish; for, whatever they have got to say against America, no +one will deny it is easy to get any thing published. Publishing is +victuals and drink to the nation. You may depend on having justice +done you." + +"I never doubted it, Captain Truck." + +"No, sir; and you never winked. The mainmast does not stand up in a gale +firmer than you stood up to the niggers." + +"Mr. Effingham, sir--and Mr. Sharp--and particularly Mr. Blunt--" + +"Let me alone to deal with them. Even Toast acted like a man. Well, Leach, +they tell me poor Monday must slip, after all." + +"I am very sorry to hear it, sir; Mr. Monday laid about him like a +soldier!" + +"He did, indeed; but Bonaparte himself has been obliged to give up the +ghost, and Wellington must follow him some day; even old Putnam is dead. +Either you or I, or both of us, Leach, will have to throw in some of the +consolations of religion on this mournful occasion." + +"There is Mr. Effingham, sir, or Mr. John. Effingham, elderly gentlemen +with more scholarship." + +"That will never do. All they can offer, no doubt, will be acceptable, but +we owe a duty to the ship. The officers of a packet are not +graceless-horse-jockeys, but sober, discreet men, and it becomes them to +show that they have some education, and the right sort of stuff in them on +an emergency. I expect you will stand by me, Leach, on this melancholy +occasion, as stoutly as you stood by me this morning." + +"I humbly hope, sir, not to disgrace the vessel, but it is likely Mr. +Monday is a Church-of-England-man, and we both belong to the Saybrook +Platform!" + +"Ah! the devil!--I forgot that! But religion is religion; old line or new +line; and I question if a man so near unmooring will be very particular. +The great thing is consolation, and that we must contrive to give him, by +hook or by crook, when the proper moment comes; and now, Mr. Leach, let +the people push matters, and we shall have every, thing up forward, and +that mainmast stepped yet by 'sunset;' or it would be more literal to say +'_sun-down_;'" Captain Truck, like a true New-England-man, invariably +using a provincialism that has got to be so general in America. + +The work proceeded with spirit, for every one was anxious to get the ship +out of a berth that was so critical, as well from the constant vicinity of +the Arabs as from the dangers of the weather. The wind baffled too, as it +is usual on the margin of the trades, and at times it blew from the sea, +though it continued light, and the changes were of short continuance. As +Captain Truck hoped, when the people ceased work at night, the fore and +fore-top-sail-yards were in their places, the top-gallant-mast was fitted, +and, with the exception of the sails, the ship was what is called a-tanto, +forward. Aft, less had been done, though by the assistance of the +supernumeraries, who continued to lend their aid, the two lower masts were +stepped, though no rigging could be got over them. The men volunteered to +work by watches through the night, but to this Captain Truck would not +listen, affirming that they had earned their suppers and a good rest, both +of which they should have. + +The gentlemen, who merely volunteered an occasional drag, cheerfully took +the look-outs, and as there were plenty of fire-arms, though not much +powder, little apprehension was entertained of the Arabs. As was expected, +the night passed away tranquilly, and every one arose with the dawn +refreshed and strengthened. + +The return of day, however, brought the Arabs down upon the shore in +crowds; for the last gale, which had been unusually severe, and the +tidings of the wrecks, which had been spread by means of the dromedaries +far and wide, had collected a force on the coast that began to be +formidable through sheer numbers. The Dane had been effectually emptied, +and plunder had the same effect on these rapacious barbarians that blood +is known to produce on the tiger. The taste had begotten an appetite, and +from the first appearance of the light, those in the ship saw sighs of a +disposition to renew the attempt on their liberty. + +Happily, the heaviest portion of the work was done, and Captain Truck +determined, rather than risk another conflict with a force that was so +much augmented, to get the spars on board, and to take the ship outside of +the reef, without waiting to complete her equipment. His first orders, +therefore, when all hands were mustered, were for the boats to get in the +kedges and the stream anchor, and otherwise to prepare to move the vessel. +In the mean time other gangs were busy in getting the rigging over the +mast-heads, and in setting it up. As the lifting of the anchors with boats +was heavy work, by the time they were got on board and stowed it was noon, +and all the yards were aloft, though not a sail was bent in the vessel. + +Captain Truck, while the people were eating, passed through the ship +examining every stay and shroud: there were some make-shifts it is true, +but on the whole he was satisfied, though he plainly saw that the presence +of the Arabs had hurried matters a little, and that a good many drags +would have to be given as soon as they got beyond danger, and that some +attention must be paid to seizings still, what had been done would answer +very well for moderate weather, and it was too late to stop to change. + +The trade wind had returned, and blew steadily as if finally likely to +stand; and the water outside of the reef was smooth enough to permit the +required alterations, now that the heavier spars were in their places. + +The appearance of the Montauk certainly was not as stately and commanding +as before the wreck, but there was an air of completeness about it that +augured well. It was that of a ship of seven hundred tons, fitted with +spars intended for a ship of five hundred. The packet a little resembled a +man of six feet, in the coat of a man of five feet nine, and yet the +discrepancy would not be apt to be noticed by any but the initiated. +Everything essential was in its place, and reasonably well secured, and, +as the Dane had been rigged for a stormy sea, Captain Truck fell satisfied +he might, in his present plight, venture on the American coast even in +winter, without incurring unusual hazard. + +As soon as the hour of work arrived, therefore, a boat was sent to drop a +kedge as near the inlet as it would be safe to venture, and a little to +windward of it. By making a calculation, and inspecting his buoys, which +still remained where he had placed them, Captain Truck found that he could +get a narrow channel of sufficient directness to permit the ship to be +warped as far as this point in a straight line. Every thing but the boats +was now got on board, the anchor by which they rode was hove up, and the +warp was brought to the capstan, when the vessel slowly began to advance +towards the inlet. + +This movement was a signal to the Arabs, who poured down on both reefs in +hundreds, screaming and gesticulating like maniacs. It required good +nerves and some self-reliance to advance in the face of such a danger, and +this so much the more, as the barbarians showed themselves in the greatest +force on the northern range of rocks, which offered a good shelter for +their persons, completely raked the channel, and, moreover, lay so near +the spot where the kedge had been dropped, that one might have jerked a +stone from the one to the other. To add to the awkwardness of the affair, +the Arabs began to fire with those muskets that are of so little service +in close encounters, but which are notorious for sending their shot with +great precision from a distance. The bullets came thick upon the ship, +though the stoutness of the bulwarks forward, and their height, as yet +protected the men. + +In this dilemma, Captain Truck hesitated about continuing to haul ahead, +and he sent for Mr. Blunt and Mr. Leach for a consultation. Both these +gentlemen advised perseverance, and as the counsel of the former will +succinctly show the state of things, it shall be given in his own words. + +"Indecision is always discouraging to one's friends, and encouraging to +one's enemies," he said, "and I recommend perseverance. The nearer we haul +to the rocks, the greater will be our command of them, while the more the +chances of the Arabs' throwing their bullets on our decks will be +diminished. Indeed, so long as we ride head to wind, they cannot fire low +enough to effect their object from the northern reef, and on the southern +they will not venture very near, for want of cover. It is true it will be +impossible for us to bend our sails or to send out a boat in the face of +so heavy a fire, while our assailants are so effectually covered; but we +may possibly dislodge them with the gun, or with our small-arms, from the +decks. If not, I will head a party into the tops, from which I will +undertake to drive them out of the reach of our muskets in five minutes." + +"Such a step would be very hazardous to those who ventured aloft." + +"It would not be without danger, and some loss must be expected; but they +who fight must expect risks." + +"In which case it will be the business of Mr. Leach and myself to head the +parties aloft. If we are obliged to console the dying, damn me, but we are +entitled to the privilege of fighting the living." + +"Ay, ay, sir," put in the mate; "that stands to reason." + +"There are three tops, gentlemen," returned Paul, mildly, "and I respect +your rights too much to wish to interfere with them. We can each take one, +and the effect will be in proportion to the greater means we employ,--one +vigorous assault being worth a dozen feints." + +Captain Truck shook Paul heartily by the hand, and adopted his advice. +When the young man had retired, he turned to the mate, and said-- + +"After all, these men-of-war's men are a little beyond us in the science +of attack and defence, though I think I could give him a hint in the +science of signs. I have had two or three touches at privateering in my +time, but no regular occupation in your broadside work. Did you see how +Mr. Blunt handled his boat yesterday? As much like two double blocks and a +steady drag, as one belaying-pin is like another, and as coolly as a great +lady in London looks at one of us in a state of nature. For my part, +Leach, I was as hot as mustard, and ready to cut the throat of the best +friend I had on earth; whereas he was smiling as I rowed past him, though +I could hardly see his face for the smoke of his own gun." + +"Yes, sir, that's the way with your regular builts. I'll warrant you he +began young, and had kicked all the passion out of himself on old salts, +by the time he was eighteen. He doesn't seem, neither, like one of the +true d--n-my-eye breed; but it's a great privilege to a man in a +passion to be allowed to kick when and whom he likes." + +"Not he. I say Leach, perhaps he might lend us a hand when it comes to the +pinch with poor Monday. I have a great desire that the worthy fellow +should take his departure decently." + +"Well, sir, I think you had better propose it. For my part, I'm quite +willing to go into all three of the tops alone, rather than disappoint a +dying man." + +The captain promised to look to the matter, and then they turned their +attention to the ship, which in a few more minutes was up as near the +kedge as it was prudent to haul her. + + + + +Chapter XXVIII. + + + + Speed, gallant bark, the tornado is past; + Staunch and secure thou hast weather'd the blast; + Now spread thy full sails to the wings of the morn, + And soon the glad haven shall greet thy return. + + _Park_. + + +The Montauk now lay close to the inlet, and even a little to windward of +its entrance; but the channel was crooked, not a sail was bent, nor was it +possible to bend one properly without exposing the men to the muskets of +the Arabs, who, from firing loosely, had got to be more wary and +deliberate, aiming at the places where a head or an arm was occasionally +seen. To prolong this state of things was merely to increase the evil, and +Captain Truck determined to make an effort at once to dislodge +his enemies. + +With this view the gun was loaded in-board, filled nearly to the +muzzle with slugs, and then it was raised with care to the +top-gallant-forecastle, and cautiously pushed forward near the gunwale. +Had the barbarians understood the construction of a vessel, they might +have destroyed half the packet's crew while they were thus engaged about +the forecastle by firing through the planks; but, ignorant of the weakness +of the defences, they aimed altogether at the openings, or over the rails. + +By lowering the gaff the spanker was imperfectly bent; that is to say, it +was bent on the upper leach. The boom was got in under cover of the +hurricane-house, and of the bundle of the sail; the out-hauler was bent, +the boom, replaced, the sail being hoisted with a little and a hurried +lacing, to the luff. This was not effected without a good deal of hazard, +though the nearness of the bows of the vessel to the rocks prevented most +of the Arabs from perceiving what passed so far aft. Still, others nearer +to the shore caught glimpses of the actors, and several narrow escapes +were the consequence. The second mate, in particular, had a shot through +his hat within an inch of his head. By a little management, +notwithstanding, the luff of the spanker was made to stand tolerably well; +and the ship had at least the benefit of this one sail. + +The Dane had been a seaman of the old school; and, instead of the more +modern spenser, his ship had been fitted with old-fashioned stay-sails. Of +these it was possible to bend the main and mizzen stay-sails in tolerable +security, provided the ends of the halyards could be got down. As this, +however, would be nearly all aftersail, the captain determined to make an +effort to overhaul the buntlines and leachlines of the foresail, at the +same time that men were sent aloft after the ends of the halyards. He also +thought it possible to set a fore-topmast stay-sail flying. + +No one was deceived in this matter. The danger and the mode of operating +were explained clearly, and then Captain Truck asked for volunteers. These +were instantly found; Mr. Leach and the second mate setting the example by +stepping forward as the first two. In order that the whole procedure may +be understood, however, it shall be explained more fully. + +Two men were prepared to run up on the fore-yard at the word. Both of +these, one of whom was Mr. Leach, carried three small balls of marline, to +the end of each of which was attached a cod-hook, the barb being filed +off in order to prevent its being caught. By means of these hooks the +balls were fastened to the jackets of the adventurers. Two others stood +ready at the foot of the main and mizzen riggings. By the gun lay Paul and +three men; while several of the passengers, and a few of the best shots +among the crew, were stationed on the forecastle, armed with muskets and +fowling-pieces. + +"Is everybody ready?" called out the captain from the quarter-deck. + +"All ready!" and "Ay! ay, sir!" were answered from the different points of +the ship. + +"Haul out the spanker!" + +As soon as this sail was set, the stern of the ship swung round towards +the inlet, so as to turn the bow on which the gun was placed towards the +part of the reef where the Arabs were in greatest numbers. + +"Be steady, men! and do not hurry yourselves, though active as wild-cats! +Up, and away!" + +The two fore-yard men, and the two by the after-masts, sprang into the +rigging like squirrels, and were running aloft before the captain had done +speaking.--At the same instant one of the three by the gun leaped on the +bowsprit, and ran out towards the stay. Paul, and the other two, rose and +shoved the gun to its berth; and the small-arms men showed themselves at +the rails. + +So many, all in swift motion, appearing at the same moment in the rigging, +distracted the attention of the Arabs for an instant, though scattering +shots were fired. Paul knew that the danger would be greatest when the men +aloft Were stationary, and he was in no haste. Perhaps for half a minute +he was busy in choosing his object, and in levelling the gun, and then it +was fired. He had chosen the moment well; for Mr. Leach and his fellow +adventurers were already on the fore-yard, and the Arabs had arisen from +their covers in the eagerness of taking aim. The small-arms men poured in +their volley, and then little more could be done in the way of the +offensive, nearly all the powder in the ship having been expended. + +It remains to tell the result of this experiment.--Among the Arabs a few +fell, and those most exposed to the fire from the ship were staggered, +losing near a minute in their confusion; but those more remote maintained +hot discharges after the first surprise. The whole time occupied in what +we are going to relate was about three minutes; the action of the several +parts going on simultaneously. + +The adventurer forward, though nearest to the enemy, was least exposed. +Partly covered by the bowsprit, he ran nimbly out on that spar till he +reached the stay. Here he cut the stop of the fore-topmast halyards, +overhauled the running part, and let the block swing in. He then hooked a +block that he had carried out with him, and in which the bight of a rope +had been rove through the thimble, and ran in as fast as possible. This +duty, which had appeared the most hazardous of all the different +adventures, on account of the proximity of the bowsprit to the reef, was +the first done, and with the least real risk; the man being partly +concealed by the smoke of the gun, as well as by the bowsprit. He escaped +uninjured. + +As the two men aft pursued exactly the same course, the movements of one +will explain those of the other. On reaching the yard, the adventurer +sprang on it, caught the hook of the halyard-block, and threw himself off +without an instant's hesitation, overhauling the halyards by his weight. +Men stood in readiness below to check the fall by easing off the other end +of the rope, and the hardy fellow reached the deck in safety. This seemed +a nervous undertaking to the landsmen; but the seamen who so well +understood the machinery of their vessel, made light of it. + +On the fore-yard, Mr. Leach passed out on one yard-arm, and his +co-adventurer, a common seaman, on the other. Each left a hook in the knot +of the inner buntline, as he went out, and dropped the ball of marline on +deck. The same was done at the outer buntlines, and at the leachlines. +Here the mate returned, according to his orders, leaped upon the rigging, +and thence upon a backstay, when he slid on deck with a velocity that set +aim at defiance. Notwithstanding the quickness of his motions, Mr. Leach +received a trifling hit on the shoulder, and several bullets whizzed +near him. + +The seaman on the other yard-arm succeeded equally well, escaping the +smallest injury, until he had secured the leachline, when, knowing the +usefulness of, obtaining it, for he was on the weather side of the ship, +he determined to bring in the end of the reef-tackle with him. Calling out +to let go the rope on the deck, he ran out to the lift, bent over and +secured the desired end, and raised himself erect, with the intention to +make a run in, on the top of the yard. Captain Truck and the second mate +had both commanded him to desist in vain, for impunity from harm had +rendered him fool-hardy. In this perilous position he even paused to give +a cheer. The cry was scarcely ended when he sprang off the yard several +feet upwards and fell perpendicularly towards the sea, carrying the rope +in his hand. At first, most on board believed the man had jumped into the +water as the least hazardous means of getting down, depending on the rope, +and on swimming, for his security; but Paul pointed out the spot of blood +that stained the surface of the sea, at the point where he had fallen. The +reef-tackle was rounded cautiously in, and its end rose to the surface +without the hand that had so lately grasped it. The man himself never +re-appeared. + +Captain Truck had now the means of setting three stay-sails, the spanker, +and the fore-course; sails sufficient, he thought, to answer his present +purposes.--The end of the reef-tackle, that had been so dearly bought, was +got in, by means of a light line, which was thrown around it. + +The order was now given to brail the spanker, and to clap on and weigh the +kedge, which was done by the run. As soon as the ship was free of the +bottom, the fore-topmast-stay-sail was set flying, like a jib-top-sail, by +hauling out the tack, and swaying upon the halyards. The sheet was hauled +to windward, and the helm put down; of course the bows of the ship began +to fall off, and, as soon, as her head was sufficiently near her course, +the sheet was drawn, and the wheel shifted. + +Captain Truck now ordered the foresail, which, by this time was ready, to +be set. This important sail was got on the vessel, by bending the +buntlines and leachlines to its head, and by hauling out the +weather-head-cringle by means of the reef tackle. As soon as this broad +spread of canvas was on the ship, her motion was accelerated, and she +began to move away from the spot, followed by the furious cries and +menaces of the Arabs. To the latter no one paid any heed, but they were +audible until drowned in distance. Although aided by all her spars, and +the force of the wind on her hull, a body as large as the Montauk required +some little time to overcome the _vis inertiæ_, and several anxious +minutes passed before she was so far from the cover of the Arabs as to +prevent their clamour from seeming to be in the very ears of those on +board. When this did occur, it brought inexpressible relief, though it +perhaps increased the danger, by increasing the chances of the bullets +hitting objects on deck. + +The course at first was nearly before the wind, when the flat rock, so +often named, being reached, the ship was compelled to haul up on an easy +bowline, in order to pass to windward of it. Here the stay-sails aft and +the spanker were set, which aided in bringing the vessel to the wind, and +the fore-tack was brought down. By laying straight out of the pass, a +distance of only a hundred yards, the vessel would be again clear of every +thing, and beyond all the dangers of the coast, so long as the present +breeze stood. But the tide set the vessel bodily towards the rock, and her +condition did not admit of pressing hard upon a bowline. Captain Truck was +getting to be uneasy, for he soon perceived that they were nearing the +danger, though very gradually, and he began to tremble for his copper. +Still the vessel drew steadily ahead, and he had hopes of passing the +outer edge of the rocks in safety. This outer edge was a broken, ragged, +and pointed fragment, that would break in the planks should the vessel +rest upon it an instant, while falling in that constant heaving and +setting of the ocean, which now began to be very sensibly felt. After all +his jeopardy, the old mariner saw that his safety was at a serious hazard, +by one of those unforeseen but common risks that environ the +seaman's life. + +"Luff! luff! you can," cried Captain Truck, glancing his eye from the rock +to the sails, and from the sails to the rock. "Luff, sir--you are at +the pinch!" + +"Luff it is sir!" answered the man at the wheel, who stood abaft the +hurricane-house, covered by its roof, over which he was compelled to look, +to get a view of the sails. "Luff I may, and luff it is, sir." + +Paul stood at the captain's side, the crew being ordered to keep +themselves as much covered as possible, on account of the bullets of the +Arabs, which were at this time pattering against the vessel, like hail at +the close of a storm. + +"We shall not weather that point of ragged rock," exclaimed the young man, +quickly; "and if we touch it the ship will be lost." + +"Let her claw off," returned the old man sternly. "Her cutwater is up with +it already. Let her claw off." + +The bows of the ship were certainly up with the danger, and the vessel was +slowly drawing ahead; but every moment its broadside was set nearer to the +rock, which was now within fifty feet of them. The fore-chains were past +the point, though little hope remained of clearing it abaft. A ship turns +on her centre of gravity as on a pivot, the two ends inclining in opposite +directions; and Captain Truck hoped that as the bows were past the danger, +it might be possible to throw the after-part of the vessel up to the wind, +by keeping away, and thus clear the spot entirely. + +"Hard up with your helm!" he shouted, "hard up!--Haul down the +mizzen-stay-sail, and give her sheet!" + +The sails were attended to, but no answer came from the wheel, nor did the +vessel change her course. + +"Hard up, I tell you, sir--hard up--hard up, and be d---d to you!" + +The usual reply was not made. Paul sprang through the narrow gangway that +led to the wheel. All that passed took but a minute, and yet it was the +most critical minute that had yet befallen the Montauk; for had she +touched that rock but for an instant, human art could hardly have kept her +above water an hour. + +"Hard up, and be d---d to you!" repeated Captain Truck, in a voice of +thunder, as Paul darted round the corner of the hurricane-house. + +The seaman stood at the wheel, grasping its spokes firmly, his eyes aloft +as usual, but the turns of the tiller rope showed that the order was +not obeyed. + +"Hard up, man, hard up! are you mad?" Paul uttered these words as he +sprang to the wheel, which he made whirl with his own hands in the +required direction. As for the seaman, he yielded his hold without +resistance, and fell like a log, as the wheel flew round. A ball had +entered his back, and passed through his heart, and yet he had stood +steadily to the spokes, as the true mariner always clings to the helm +while life lasts. + +The bows of the ship fell heavily off, and her stern pressed up towards +the wind; but the trifling delay so much augmented the risk, that nothing +saved the vessel but the formation of the run and counter, which, by +receding as usual, allowed room to escape the dangerous point, as the +Montauk hove by on a swell. + +Paul could not see the nearness of the escape, but the purity of the water +permitted Captain Truck and his mates to observe it with a distinctness +that almost rendered them breathless. Indeed there was an instant when the +sharp rock was hid beneath the counter, and each momentarily expected to +hear the grating of the fragment, as it penetrated the vessel's bottom. + +"Relieve that man at the wheel, and send him hither this moment," said +Captain Truck, in a calm stern voice, that was more ominous than an oath. + +The mate called a seaman, and passed aft himself to execute the order. In +a minute he and Paul returned, bearing the body of the dead mariner, when +all was explained. + +"Lord, thy ways are unsearchable!" muttered the old master, uncovering +himself, as the corpse was carried past, "and we are but as grains of +seed, and as the vain butterflies in thy hand!" + +The rock once cleared, an open ocean lay to leeward of the packet, and +bringing the wind a little abaft the beam, she moved steadily away from +those rocks that had been the witnesses of all her recent dangers. It was +not long before she was so distant that all danger from the Arabs ceased. +The barbarians, notwithstanding, continued a dropping fire and furious +gesticulations, long after their bullets and menaces became matters of +indifference to those on board. + +The body of the dead man was laid between the masts, and the order was +passed to bend the sails. As all was ready, in half an hour the Montauk +was standing off the land under her three topsails, the reef now distant +nearly a league. The courses came next, when the top-gallant yards were +crossed and the sails set; the lighter canvas followed, and some time +before the sun disappeared, the ship was under studding-sails, standing to +the westward, before the trades. + +For the first time since he received the intelligence that the Arabs were +the masters of the ship, Captain Truck now felt real relief. He was +momentarily happy after the combat, but new cares had pressed upon him so +soon, that he could scarcely be said to be tranquil. Matters were now +changed. His vessel was in good order, if not equipped for racing, and, as +he was in a low latitude, had the trade winds to befriend him, and no +longer entertained any apprehension of his old enemy the Foam, he felt as +if a mountain had been removed from his breast. + +"Thank God," he observed to Paul, "I shall sleep to-night without dreaming +of Arabs or rocks, or scowling faces at New York. They may say that +another man might have shown more skill in keeping clear of such a scrape, +but they will hardly say that another man could have got out of it better. +All this handsome outfit, too, will cost the owners nothing--literally +nothing; and I question if the poor Dane will ever appear to claim the +sails and spars. I do not know that we are in possession of them exactly +according to the law of Africa, for of that code I know little; or +according to the law of nations, for Vattel, I believe, has nothing on the +subject; but we are in possession so effectually, that, barring the +nor'-westers on the American coast, I feel pretty certain of keeping them +until we make the East River." + +"It might be better to bury the dead," said Paul; for he knew Eve would +scarcely appear on deck as long as the body remained in sight. "Seamen, +you know, are superstitious on the subject of corpses." + +"I have thought of this; but hoped to cheat those two rascals of sharks +that are following in our wake, as if they scented their food. It is an +extraordinary thing, Mr. Blunt, that these fish should know when there is +a body in a ship, and that they will follow it a hundred leagues to make +sure of their prey." + +"It would be extraordinary, if true; but in what manner has the fact been +ascertained?" + +"You see the two rascally pirates astern?" observed Mr. Leach. + +"Very true; but we might also see them were there no dead body about the +ship. Sharks abound in this latitude, and I have seen several about the +reef since we went in. + +"They'll be disappointed as to poor Tom Smith," said the mate, "unless +they dive deep for him. I have lashed one of Napoleon's busts to the fine +fellow's feet, and he'll not fetch up until he's snugly anchored on +the bottom." + +"This is a fitting hour for solemn feelings," said the captain, gazing +about him at the heavens and the gathering gloom of twilight. "Call all +hands to bury the dead, Mr. Leach. I confess I should feel easier myself +as to the weather, were the body fairly out of the ship." + +While the mate went forward to muster the people, the captain took Paul +aside with a request that he would perform the last offices for +the deceased. + +"I will read a chapter in the Bible myself," he said; "for I should not +like the people to see one of the crew go overboard, and the officers have +no word to say in the ceremonies; it might beget disrespect, and throw a +slur on our knowledge; but you man-of-war's-men are generally more +regularly brought up to prayers than us liners, and if you have a proper +book by you, I should feel infinitely obliged if you would give us a lift +on this melancholy occasion." + +Paul proposed that Mr. Effingham should be asked to officiate, as he knew +that gentleman read prayers in his cabin, to his own party, night +and morning. + +"Does he?" said the captain; "then he is my man, for he must have his hand +in, and there will be no stammering or boggling. Ay, ay; he will fetch +through on one tack. Toast, go below, and present my compliments to Mr. +Effingham, and say I should like to speak to him; and, harkee, Toast, +desire him to put a prayer-book in his pocket, and then step into my +state-room, and bring up the Bible you will find under the pillow. The +Arabs had a full chance at the plunder; but there is something about the +book that always takes care of it. Few rogues, I've often remarked, care +about a Bible. They would sooner steal ten novels than one copy of the +sacred writ. This of mine was my mother's, Mr. Blunt, and I should have +been a better man had I overhauled it oftener." + +We pass over most of the arrangements, and come at once to the service, +and to the state of the ship, just as her inmate were assembled on an +occasion which no want of formality can render any thing but solemn and +admonitory. The courses were hauled up, and the main-topsail had been laid +to the mast, a position in which a ship has always an air of stately +repose. The body was stretched on a plank that lay across a rail, the +leaden bust being enclosed in the hammock that enveloped it. A spot of +blood on the cloth alone betrayed the nature of the death. Around the body +were grouped the crew, while Captain Truck and his mates stood at the +gangway. The passengers were collected on the quarter-deck, with Mr. +Effingham, holding a prayer-book, a little in advance. + +The sun had just dipped into the ocean, and the whole western horizon was +glorious with those soft, pearly, rainbow hues that adorn the evening and +the morning of a low latitude, during the soft weather of the autumnal +months. To the eastward, the low line of coast was just discernible by the +hillocks of sand, leaving the imagination to portray its solitude and +wastes. The sea in all other directions was dark and gloomy, and the +entire character of the sunset was that of a grand picture of ocean +magnificence and extent, relieved by a sky in which the tints came and +went like the well-known colours of the dolphin; to this must be added the +gathering gloom of twilight. + +Eve pressed the arm of John Effingham, and gazed with admiration and awe +at the imposing scene. + +"This is the seaman's grave!" she whispered. + +"And worthy it is to be the tomb of so gallant a fellow. The man died +clinging to his post; and Powis tells me that his hand was loosened from +the wheel with difficulty." + +They were silent, for Captain Truck uncovered himself, as did all around +him, placed his spectacles, and opened the sacred volume. The old mariner +was far from critical in his selections of readings, and he usually chose +some subject that he thought would most interest his hearers, which were +ordinarily those that most interested himself. To him Bible was Bible, and +he now turned to the passage in the Acts of the Apostles in which the +voyage of St. Paul from Judea to Rome is related. This he read with +steadiness, some quaintness of pronunciation, and with a sort of breathing +elasticity, whenever he came to those verses that touched particularly on +the navigation. + +Paul maintained his perfect self-command during this extraordinary +exhibition, but an unbidden smile lingered around the handsome and +chiseled mouth of Mr. Sharp. John Effingham's curved face was sedate and +composed, while the females were too much impressed to exhibit any levity. +As to the crew, they listened in profound attention, occasionally +exchanging glances whenever any of the nautical expedients struck them as +being out of role. + +As soon as this edifying chapter was ended, Mr. Effingham commenced the +solemn rites for the dead. At the first sound of his voice, a calm fell on +the vessel as if the spirit of God had alighted from the clouds, and a +thrill passed through the frames of the listeners. Those solemn words of +the Apostle commencing with "I am the resurrection and the life, saith the +Lord, he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet he shall live: and +whosoever liveth and believeth in me, he shall never die," could not have +been better delivered. The voice, intonation, utterance, and manner, of +Mr. Effingham, were eminently those of a gentleman; without pretension, +quiet, simple, and mellow, while, on the other hand, they were feeling, +dignified, distinct, and measured. + +When he pronounced the words "I know that my Redeemer liveth, and that he +shall stand at the latter day upon the earth, and though, after my skin, +worms destroy my body, yet in my flesh shall I see God," &c. &c. the men +stared about them as if a real voice from heaven had made the +declaration, and Captain Truck looked aloft like one expecting a +trumpet-blast. The tears of Eve began to flow as she listened to the +much-loved tones; and the stoutest heart in that much tried ship quailed. +John Effingham made the responses of the psalm steadily, and Mr. Sharp and +Paul soon joined him. But the profoundest effect was produced when the +office reached those consoling but startling words from the Revelations +commencing with, "I heard a voice from Heaven saying unto me write, from +henceforth blessed are the dead who die in the Lord," &c. Captain Truck +afterwards confessed that he thought he heard the very voice, and the men +actually pressed together in their alarm. The plunge of the body was also +a solemn instant. It went off the end of the plank feet foremost, and, +carried rapidly down by the great weight of the lead, the water closed +above it, obliterating every trace of the seaman's grave. Eve thought that +its exit resembled the few brief hours that draw the veil of oblivion +around the mass of mortals when they disappear from earth. + +Instead of asking for the benediction at the close of the ceremony, Mr. +Effingham devoutly and calmly commenced the psalm of thanksgiving for +victory, "If the Lord had not been on our side, now may we say, if the +Lord himself had not been on our side, when men rose up against us, they +would have swallowed us up quick, when they were so wrathfully displeased +with us." Most of the gentlemen joined in the responses, and the silvery +voice of Eve sounded sweet and holy amid the breathings of the ocean. _Te +Deum Laudamus,_ "We praise thee, O God! we acknowledge thee to be the +Lord!" "All the earth doth worship thee, the Father everlasting;" closed +the offices, when Mr. Effingham dismissed his congregation with the usual +layman's request for the benediction. + +Captain Truck had never before been so deeply impressed with any religious +ceremony, and when it ceased he looked wistfully over the side at the spot +where the body had fallen, or where it might be supposed to have fallen--- +for the ship had drifted some distance--as one takes a last look at the +grave of a friend. + +"Shall we fill the main-topsail, sir?" demanded Mr. Leach, after waiting +a minute or two in deference to his commander's feelings; "or shall we +hook on the yard-tackles, and stow the launch?" + +"Not yet, Leach; not yet. It will be unkind to poor Jack to hurry away +from his grave so indecently. I have observed that the people about the +river always keep in sight till the last sod is stowed, and the rubbish is +cleared away. The fine fellow stood to those spokes as a close-reefed +topsail in a gale stands the surges of the wind, and we owe him this +little respect." + +"The boats, sir?" + +"Let them tow awhile longer. It will seem like deserting him to be +rattling the yard-tackles and stowing boats directly over his head. Your +gran'ther was a priest, Leach, and I wonder you don't see the impropriety +of hurrying away from a grave. A little reflection will hurt none of us." + +The mate admired at a mood so novel for his commander, but he was fain to +submit. The day was fast closing notwithstanding, and the skies were +losing their brilliancy in hues that were still softer and more +melancholy, as if nature delighted, too, in sympathizing with the feelings +of these lone mariners! + + + + +Chapter XXIX. + + + + Sir, 'tis my occupation to be plain. + + LEAR. + + +The barbarians had done much less injury to the ship and her contents than +under the circumstances could have been reasonably hoped. The fact that +nothing could be effectually landed where she lay was probably the cause, +the bales that had actually been got out of the ship, having been put upon +the bank with a view to lighten her, more than for any other reason. The +compact, too, between the chiefs had its influence probably, though it +could not have lasted long with so strong temptations to violate it +constantly before the eyes of men habitually rapacious. + +Of course, one of the first things after each individual had ascertained +his own losses, was to inquire into those of his neighbours, and the usual +party in the ladies' cabin was seated around the sofa of Eve, about nine +in the evening, conversing on this topic, after having held a short but +serious discourse on their recent escape. + +"You tell me, John, that Mr. Monday has a desire to sleep?" observed Mr. +Effingham, in the manner in which one puts an interrogation. + +"He is easier, and dozes. I have left my man with him, with orders to +summon me the instant he awakes." + +A melancholy pause succeeded, and then the discourse took the channel from +which it had been diverted. + +"Is the extent of our losses in effects known?" asked Mr. Sharp. "My man +reports some trifling _deficit_, but nothing of any value." + +"Your counterfeit," returned Eve, smiling, "has been the principal +sufferer. One would think by his plaints, that not a toy is left in +Christendom." + +"So long as they have not stolen from him his good name, I shall not +complain, as I may have some use for it when we reach America, of which +now, God be praised! there are some flattering prospects." + +"I understand from my connexions that the person who is known in the main +cabin as Sir George Templemore, is not the person who is known as such in +this," observed John Effingham, bowing to Mr. Sharp, who returned his +salute as one acknowledges an informal introduction. "There are certainly +weak men to be found in high stations all over the world, but you will +probably think I am doing honour to my own sagacity, when I say, that I +suspected from the first that he was not the true Amphitryon. I had heard +of Sir George Templemore, and had been taught to expect more in him than +even a man of fashion--a man of the world--while this poor substitute can +scarcely claim to be either." + +John Effingham so seldom complimented that his kind words usually told, +and Mr. Sharp acknowledged the politeness, more gratified than he was +probably willing to acknowledge to himself. The other could have heard of +him only from Eve and her father, and it was doubly grateful to be spoken +of favourably in such a quarter: he thought there was a consciousness in +the slight suffusion that appeared on the face of the daughter, which led +him to hope that even the latter had not considered him unworthy of +recollection; for he cared but little for the remembrances of Mr. +Effingham, if they could all be transferred to his child. + +"This person, who does me the honour to relieve me from the trouble of +bearing my own name," he resumed, "cannot be of very lofty pretensions, or +he would have aspired higher. I suspect him of being merely one of those +silly young countrymen of mine, of whom so many crowd stage-coaches and +packets, to swagger over their less ambitious fellow-mortals with the +strut and exactions of the hour." + +"And yet, apart from his folly in 'sailing under false colours,' as our +worthy captain would call it, the man seems well enough." + +"A folly, cousin Jack," said Eve with laughing eyes though she maintained +a perfect demureness with her beautiful features--"that he shares in +common with so many others!" + +"Very true, though I suspect he has climbed to commit it, while others +have been content to descend. The man himself behaved well yesterday, +showing steadiness as well as spirit in the fray." + +"I forgive him his usurpation for his conduct on that occasion," returned +Mr. Sharp, "and wish with all my heart the Arabs had discovered less +affection for his curiosities. I should think that they must find +themselves embarrassed to ascertain the uses of some of their prizes; such +for instance, as the button-hooks, the shoe-horn, knives with twenty +blades, and other objects that denote a profound civilization." + +"You have not spoken of your luck, Mr. Powis," added Mr. Effingham; "I +trust you have fared as well as most of us, though had they visited their +enemies according to the injury received from them, you would be among +the heaviest of the sufferers." + +"My loss," replied Paul, mournfully, "is not much in pecuniary value, +though irreparable to me." + +A look of concern betrayed the general interest, for as he really seemed +sad, there was a secret apprehension that his loss even exceeded that +which his words would give them reason to suppose. Perceiving the +curiosity that was awakened, and which was only suppressed by politeness, +the young man added, + +"I miss a miniature that, to me, is of inestimable value." + +Eve's heart throbbed, while her eyes sunk to the carpet. The others seemed +amazed, and after a brief pause, Mr. Sharp observed-- + +"A painting on its own account would hardly possess much value with such +barbarians. Was the setting valuable?" + +"It was of gold, of course, and had some merit in the way of workmanship. +It has probably been taken as curious rather than for its specific value; +though to me, as I have just said, the ship itself could scarcely be of +more account--certainly not as much prized." + +"Many light articles have been merely mislaid; taken away through +curiosity or idleness, and left where the individual happened to be at the +moment of changing his mind," said John Effingham: "several things of mine +have been scattered through the cabins in this manner, and I understand +that divers vestments of the ladies have found their way into the +state-rooms of the other cabin; particularly a nightcap of Mademoiselle +Viefville's, that has been discovered in Captain Truck's room, and which +that gallant seaman has forthwith condemned as a lawful waif. As he never +uses such a device on his head, he will be compelled to wear it next his +heart. He will be compelled to convert it into a _liberty_-cap." + +"_Ciel!_ if the excellent captain will carry us safe to New York," coolly +returned the governess, "he shall have the prize, _de tout mon coeur; +c'est un homme brave, et c'est aussi un brave homme, à sa façon_" + +"Here are _two_ hearts concerned in the affair already, and no one can +foresee the consequences; but," turning to Paul, "describe, this +miniature, if you please, for there are many in the vessel, and yours is +not the only one that has been mislaid." + +"It was a miniature of a female, and one, too, I think, that would be +remarked for her beauty." + +Eve felt a chill at her heart. + +"If, sir, it is the miniature of an elderly lady," said Ann Sidley, +"perhaps it is this which I found in Miss Eve's room, and which I intended +to give to Captain Truck in order that it might reach the hands of its +right owner." + +Paul took the miniature, which he regarded coldly for a moment, and then +returned to the nurse. + +"Mine is the miniature of a female under twenty," he said, colouring as he +spoke; "and is every way different from this." + +This was the painful and humiliating moment when Eve Effingham was made to +feel the extent and the nature of the interest she took in Paul Powis. On +all the previous occasions in which her feelings had been strongly +awakened on his account, she had succeeded in deceiving herself as to the +motive, but now the truth was felt in that overwhelming form that no +sensitive heart can distrust. + +No one had seen the miniature, though all observed the emotion with which +Paul spoke of it, and all secretly wondered of whom it could be. + +"The Arabs appear to have some such taste for the fine arts as +distinguishes the population of a mushroom American city," said John +Effingham; "or one that runs to portraits, which are admired while the +novelty lasts, and then are consigned to the first spot that offers to +receive them." + +"Are _your_ miniatures all safe, Eve?" Mr. Effingham inquired with +interest; for among them was one of her mother that he had yielded to her +only through strong parental affection, but which it would have given him +deep pain to discover was lost, though John Effingham, unknown to him, +possessed a copy. + +"It is with the jewellery in the baggage-room, dearest father, and +untouched of course. We are fortunate that our passing wants did not +extend beyond our comfort and luckily they are not of a nature to be much +prized by barbarians. Coquetry and a ship have little in common, and +Mademoiselle Viefville and myself had not much out to tempt the +marauders." + +As Eve uttered this, both the young men involuntarily turned their eyes +towards her, each thinking that a being so fair stood less in need than +common of the factitious aid of ornaments. She was dressed in a dark +French chintz, that her maid had fitted to her person in a manner that it +would seem none but a French assistant can accomplish, setting off her +falling shoulders, finely moulded bust, and slender-rounded waist, in a +way to present a modest outline of their perfection. The dress had that +polished medium between fashion and its exaggeration, that always denotes +a high association, and perhaps a cultivated mind--certainly a cultivated +taste--offending neither usage on the one hand, nor self-respect and a +chaste appreciation of beauty on the other. Indeed Eve was distinguished +for that important acquisition to a gentlewoman, an intellectual or +refined toilette; not intellect and refinement in extravagance and +caricature, but as they are displayed in fitness, simplicity, elegance, +and the proportions. This much, perhaps, she owed to native taste, as the +slight air of fashion, and the high air of a gentlewoman, that were thrown +about her person and attire, were the fruits of an intimate connexion with +the best society of half the capitals of the European continent. As an +unmarried female, modesty, the habits of the part of the world in which +she had so long dwelt, and her own sense of propriety, caused her to +respect simplicity of appearance; but through this, as it might be in +spite of herself, shone qualities of a superior order. The little hand and +foot, so beautiful and delicate, the latter just peeping from the dress +under which it was usually concealed, appeared as if formed expressly to +adorn a taste that was every way feminine and alluring. + +"It is one of the mysteries of the grand designs of Providence, that men +should exist in conditions so widely distant from each other," said John +Effingham abruptly, "with a common nature that can be so much varied by +circumstances. It is almost humiliating to find one's-self a man, vhen +beings like these Arabs are to be classed as fellows." + +"The most instructed and refined, cousin Jack, may get a useful lesson, +notwithstanding your disrelish for the consanguinity, from this very +identity of nature," said Eve, who made a rally to overcome feelings that +she deemed girlish and weak. "By showing us what we might be ourselves, we +get an admonition of humility; or by reflecting on the difference that is +made by education, does it not strike you that there is an encouragement +to persevere until better things are attained?" + +"This globe is but a ball, and a ball, too, insignificant, even when +compared with the powers of man," continued the other. "How many +navigators now circle it! even you, sir, may have done this, young as you +still are," turning to Paul, who made a bow of assent; "and yet, within +these narrow limits, what wonderful varieties of physical appearance, +civilization, laws, and even of colour, do we find, all mixed up with +points of startling affinity." + +"So far as a limited experience has enabled me to judge," observed Paul, +"I have every where found, not only the same nature, but a common innate +sentiment of justice that seems universal; for even amidst the wildest +scenes of violence, or of the most ungovernable outrages, this sentiment +glimmers through the more brutal features of the being. The rights of +property, for instance, are every where acknowledged; the very wretch who +steals whenever he can, appearing conscious of his crime, by doing it +clandestinely, and as a deed that shuns observation. All seem to have the +same general notions of natural justice, and they are forgotten only +through the policy of systems, irresistible temptation, the pressure of +want, or the result of contention." + +"Yet, as a rule, man every where oppresses his weaker fellow." + +"True; but he betrays consciousness of his error, directly or indirectly. +One can show his sense of the magnitude of his crime even by the manner of +defending it. As respects our late enemies, I cannot say I felt any +emotion of animosity while the hottest engaged against them, for their +usages have rendered their proceedings lawful." + +"They tell me," interrupted Mr. Effingham, "that it is owing to your +presence of mind and steadiness that more blood was not shed +unnecessarily." + +"It may be questioned," continued Paul, noticing this compliment merely by +an inclination of the head, "if civilized people have not reasoned +themselves, under the influence of interest, into the commission of deeds +quite as much opposed to natural justice as anything done by these +barbarians. Perhaps no nation is perfectly free from the just imputation +of having adopted some policy quite as unjustifiable in itself as the +system of plunder maintained among the Arabs." + +"Do you count the rights of hospitality as nothing?" + +"Look at France, a nation distinguished for refinement, among its rulers, +at least. It was but the other day that the effects of the stranger who +died in her territory were appropriated to the use of a monarch wallowing +in luxury. Compare this law with the treaties that invited strangers to +repair to the country, and the wants of the monarch who exhibited the +rapacity, to the situation of the barbarians from whom we have escaped, +and the magnitude of the temptation we offered, and it does not appear +that the advantage is much with Christians. But the fate of shipwrecked +mariners all over the world is notorious. In countries the most advanced +in civilization they are plundered, if there is an opportunity, and, at +need, frequently murdered." + +"This is a frightful picture of humanity," said Eve shuddering. "I do not +think that this charge can be justly brought against America." + +"That is far from certain. America has many advantages to weaken the +temptation to crime, but she is very far from perfect. The people on some +of her coasts have been accused of resorting to the old English practice +of showing false lights, with a view to mislead vessels, and of committing +cruel depredations on the wrecked. In all things I believe there is a +disposition in man to make misfortune weigh heaviest on the unfortunate. +Even the coffin in which we inter a friend costs more than any other piece +of work of the same amount of labour and materials." + +"This is a gloomy picture of humanity, to be drawn by one so young," Mr. +Effingham mildly rejoined. + +"I think it true. All men do not exhibit their selfishness and ferocity +in the same way; but there are few who do not exhibit both. As for +America, Miss Effingham, she is fast getting vices peculiar to herself and +her system, and, I think, vices which bid fair to bring her down, ere +long, to the common level, although I do not go quite so far in describing +her demerits as some of the countrymen of Mademoiselle Viefville +have gone." + +"And what may that have been?" asked the governess eagerly, in English. + +"_Pourrie avant d'être mûre. Mûre_, America is certainly far from being; +but I am not disposed to accuse her yet of being quite_pourrie._" + +"We had flattered ourselves," said Eve, a little reproachfully, "with +having at last found a countryman in Mr. Powis." + +"And how would that change the question? Or do you admit that an American +can be no American, unless blind to the faults of the country, +however great?" + +"Would it be generous for a child to turn upon a parent that all others +assail?" + +"You put the case ingeniously, but scarcely with fairness. It is the duty +of the parent to educate and correct the child, but it is the duty of the +citizen to reform and improve the character of his country. How can the +latter be done, if nothing but eulogies are dealt in? With foreigners, one +should not deal too freely with the faults of his country, though even +with the liberal among them one would wish to be liberal, for foreigners +cannot repair the evil; but with one's countrymen I see little use and +much danger, in observing a silence as to faults. The American, of all +others, it appears to me, should be the boldest in denouncing the common +and national vices, since he is one of those who, by the institutions +themselves, has the power to apply the remedy." + +"But America is an exception, I think, or perhaps it would be better to +say I _feel_, since all other people deride at, mock her, and dislike her. +You will admit this yourself, Sir George Templemore?" + +"By no means: in England, now, I consider America to be particularly well +esteemed." + +Eve held up her pretty hands, and even Mademoiselle Viefville, usually so +well-toned and self-restrained, gave a visible shrug. + +"Sir George means in his country," dryly observed John Effingham. + +"Perhaps the parties would better understand each other," said Paul, +coolly, "were Sir George Templemore to descend to particulars. He belongs +himself to the liberal school, and may be considered a safe witness." + +"I shall be compelled to protest against a cross-examination on such a +subject," returned the baronet, laughing. "You will be satisfied, I am +certain, with my simple declaration. Perhaps we still regard the Americans +as _tant soit peu_ rebels; but that is a feeling that will soon cease." + +"That is precisely the point on which I think liberal Englishman usually +do great justice to America, while it is on other points that they betray +a national dislike." + +"England believes America hostile to herself; and if love creates love, +dislike creates dislike." + +"This is at least something like admitting the truth of the charge, Miss +Effingham," said John Effingham, smiling, "and we may dismiss the accused. +It is odd enough that England should consider America as rebellious, as is +the case with many Englishmen, I acknowledge, while, in truth, England +herself was the rebel, and this, too, in connexion with the very questions +that produced the American revolution." + +"This is quite new," said Sir George, "and I confess some curiosity to see +how it can be made out." + +John Effingham did not hesitate about stating his case. + +"In the first place you are to forget professions and names," he said, +"and to look only at facts and things. When America was settled, a compact +was made, either in the way of charters or of organic laws, by which all +the colonies had distinct rights, while, on the other hand, they confessed +allegiance to the king. But in that age the English monarch _was_ a king. +He used his veto on the laws, for instance, and otherwise exercised his +prerogatives. Of the two, he influenced parliament more than parliament +influenced him. In such a state of things, countries separated by an +ocean might be supposed to be governed equitably, the common monarch +feeling a common parental regard for all his subjects. Perhaps distance +might render him even more tender of the interest of those who were not +present to protect themselves." + +"This is putting the case loyally, at least," said Sir George, as the +other paused for a moment. + +"It is precisely in that light that I wish to present it. The degree of +power that parliament possessed over the colonies was a disputed point; +but I am willing to allow that parliament had all power." + +"In doing which, I fear, you will concede all the merits," said Mr. +Effingham. + +"I think not. Parliament then ruled the colonies absolutely and legally, +if you please, under the Stuarts; but the English rebelled against these +Stuarts, dethroned them, and gave the crown to an entirely new family--one +with only a remote alliance with the reigning branch. Not satisfied with +this, the king was curtailed in his authority; the prince, who might with +justice be supposed to feel a common interest in all his subjects, became +a mere machine in the hands of a body who represented little more than +themselves, in fact, or a mere fragment of the empire, even in theory; +transferring the control of the colonial interest from the sovereign +himself to a portion of his people, and that, too, a small portion. This +was no longer a government of a prince who felt a parental concern for all +his subjects, but a government of a _clique_ of his subjects, who felt a +selfish concern only for their own interests." + +"And did the Americans urge this reason for the revolt?" asked Sir George. +"It sounds new to me." + +"They quarreled with the results, rather than with the cause. When they +found that legislation was to be chiefly in the interests of England, they +took the alarm, and seized their arms, without stopping to analyse causes. +They probably were mystified too much with names and professions to see +the real truth, though they got some noble glimpses of it." + +"I have never before heard this case put so strongly," cried Paul Powis, +"and yet I think it contains the whole merit of the controversy as a +principle." + +"It is extraordinary how nationality blinds us," observed Sir George, +laughing. "I confess, Powis,"--the late events had produced a close +intimacy and a sincere regard between these two fine young men,--"that I +stand in need of an explanation." + +"You can conceive of a monarch," continued John Effingham, "who possesses +an extensive and efficient power?" + +"Beyond doubt; nothing can be plainer than that." + +"Fancy this monarch to fall into the hands of a fragment of his subjects, +who reduce his authority to a mere profession, and begin to wield it for +their own especial benefit, no longer leaving, him a free agent, though +always using the authority in his name." + +"Even that is easily imagined." + +"History is full of such instances. A part of the subjects, unwilling to +be the dupes of such a fraud, revolt against the monarch in name, against +the cabal in fact. Now who are the real rebels? Profession is nothing. +Hyder Ally never seated himself in the presence of the prince he had +deposed, though he held him captive during life." + +"But did not America acquiesce in the dethronement of the Stuarts?" asked +Eve, in whom the love of the right was stronger even than the love +of country. + +"Beyond a doubt, though America neither foresaw nor acquiesced in all the +results. The English themselves, probably, did not' foresee the +consequences of their own revolution; for we now find England almost in +arms against the consequences of the very subversion of the kingly power +of which I have spoken. In England it placed a portion of the higher +classes in possession of authority, at the expense of all the rest of the +nation; whereas, as respects America, it set a remote people to rule over +her, instead of a prince, who had the same connexion with his colonies as +with all the rest of his subjects. The late English reform is a peaceable +revolution; and America would very gladly have done the same thing, could +she have extricated herself from the consequences, by mere acts of +congress. The whole difference is, that America, pressed upon by peculiar +circumstances, preceded England in the revolt about sixty years, and that +this revolt was against an usurper, and not against the legitimate +monarch, or against the sovereign himself." + +"I confess all this is novel to me," exclaimed Sir George. + +"I have told you, Sir George Templemore, that, if you stay long enough in +America, many novel ideas will suggest themselves. You have too much sense +to travel through the country seeking for petty exceptions that may +sustain your aristocratical prejudices, or opinions, if you like that +better; but will be disposed to judge a nation, not according to +preconceived notions, but according to visible facts." + +"They tell me there is a strong bias to aristocracy in America; at least +such is the report of most European travellers." + +"The report of men who do not reflect closely on the meaning of words. +That there are real aristocrats in opinion in America is very true; there +are also a few monarchists, or those who fancy themselves monarchists." + +"Can a man be deceived on such a point?" + +"Nothing is more easy. He who would set up a king merely in name, for +instance, is not a monarchist, but a visionary, who confounds names +with things." + +"I see you will not admit of a balance in the state." + +"I shall contend that there must be a preponderating authority in every +government, from which it derives its character; and if this be not the +king, that government is not a real monarchy, let the laws be administered +in whose name they may. Calling an idol Jupiter does not convert it into a +god. I question if there be a real monarchist left in the English empire +at this very moment. They who make the loudest professions that way strike +me as being the rankest aristocrats, and a real political aristocrat is, +and always has been, the most efficient enemy of kings." + +"But we consider loyalty to the prince as attachment to the system." + +"That is another matter; for in that you may be right enough, though it is +ambiguous as to terms." + +"Sir--gentlemen--Mr. John Effingham, sir," interrupted Saunders, "Mr. +Monday is awake, and so werry conwalescent--I fear he will not live long. +The ship herself is not so much conwerted by these new spars as poor Mr. +Monday is conwerted since he went to sleep." + +"I feared this," observed John Effingham, rising. "Acquaint Captain Truck +with the fact, steward: he desired to be sent for at any crisis." + +He then quitted the cabin, leaving the rest of the party wondering that +they could have been already so lost to the situation of one of their late +companions, however different from themselves he might be in opinions and +character. But in this they merely showed their common connexion with all +the rest of the great family of man, who uniformly forget sorrows that do +not press too hard on self, in the reaction of their feelings. + + + + +Chapter XXX. + + + + Watchman, what of the night? Watchman, what of the night? + + ISAIAH. + + +The principal hurt of Mr. Monday was one of those wounds that usually +produce death within eight-and-forty hours. He had borne the pain with +resolution; and, as yet, had discovered no consciousness of the imminent +danger that was so apparent to all around him. But a film had suddenly +past from before his senses; and, a man of mere habits, prejudices, and +animal enjoyments, he had awakened at the very termination of his brief +existence to something like a consciousness of his true position in the +moral world, as well as of his real physical condition. Under the first +impulse of such an alarm, John Effingham had been sent for; and he, as has +been seen, ordered Captain Truck to be summoned. In consequence of the +previous understanding these two gentlemen and Mr. Leach appeared at the +state-room door at the same instant. The apartment being small it was +arranged between them that the former should enter first, having been +expressly sent for; and that the others should be introduced at the +pleasure of the wounded man. + +"I have brought my Bible, Mr. Leach," said the captain when he and the +mate were left alone, "for a chapter is the very least we can give a +cabin-passenger, though I am a little at a loss to know what particular +passage will be the most suitable for the occasion. Something from the +book of Kings would be likely to suit Mr. Monday, as he is a +thorough-going king's man." + +"It is so long since I read that particular book, sir," returned the mate, +diligently thumbing his watch-key, "that I should be diffident about +expressing an opinion. I think, however, a little Bible might do +him good." + +"It is not an easy matter to hit a conscience exactly between wind and +water. I once thought of producing an impression on the ship's company by +reading the account of Jonah and the whale as a subject likely to attract +their attention, and to show them the hazards we seamen run; but, in the +end, I discovered that the narration struck them all aback as a thing not +likely to be true. Jack can stand any thing but a fish story, you +know, Leach." + +"It is always better to keep clear of miracles at sea, I believe, sir, +when the people are to be spoken to: I saw some of the men this evening +wince about that ship of St. Paul's carrying out anchors in a gale." + +"The graceless rascals ought to be thankful they are not at this very +moment trotting through the great desert lashed to dromedaries' tails! Had +I known that, Leach, I would have read the verse twice! But Mr. Monday is +altogether a different man, and will listen to reason. There is the story +of Absalom, which is quite interesting; and perhaps the account of the +battle might be suitable for one who dies in consequence of a battle; but, +on the whole, I remember my worthy old father used to say that a sinner +ought to be well shaken up at such a moment." + +"I fancy, sir, Mr. Monday has been a reasonably steady man as the world +goes. Seeing that he is a passenger, I should try and ease him off +handsomely, and without any of these Methodist surges." + +"You may be right, Leach, you may be right; do as foil would be done by is +the golden rule after all. But, here comes Mr. John Effingham; so I fancy +we may enter." + +The captain was not mistaken, for Mr. Monday had just taken a +restorative, and had expressed a desire to see the two officers. The +state-room was a small, neat, and even beautifully finished apartment, +about seven feet square. It had originally been fitted with two berths; +but, previously to taking possession of the place, John Effingham had +caused the carpenter to remove the upper, and Mr. Monday now lay in what +had been the lower bed. This situation placed him below his attendant, and +in a position where he might be the more easily assisted. A shaded lamp +lighted the room, by means of which the captain caught the anxious +expression of the dying man's eye, as he took a seat himself. + +"I am grieved to see you in this state, Mr. Monday." said the master, "and +this all the more since it has happened in consequence of your bravery in +fighting to regain my ship. By rights this accident ought to have befallen +one of the Montauk's people, or Mr. Leach, here, or even myself, before it +befel you." + +Mr. Monday looked at the speaker as if the intended consolation had failed +of its effect, and the captain began to suspect that he should find a +difficult subject for his new ministrations. By way of gaining time, he +thrust an elbow into the mate's side as a hint that it was now his turn to +offer something. + +"It might have been worse, Mr. Monday," observed Leach, shifting his +attitude like a man whose moral and physical action moved _pari passu:_ +"it might have been much worse, I once saw a man shot in the under jaw, +and he lived a fortnight without any sort of nourishment!" + +Still Mr. Monday gazed at the mate as if he thought matters could not be +much worse. + +"That _was_ a hard case," put in the captain; "why, the poor fellow had no +opportunity to recover without victuals. + +"No, sir, nor any drink. He never swallowed a mouthful of liquor of any +sort from the time he was hit, until he took the plunge when we threw him +overboard." + +Perhaps there is truth in the saying that "misery loves company," for the +eye of Mr. Monday turned towards the table on which the bottle of cordial +still stood, and from John Effingham, had just before helped him to +swallow, under the impression that it was of no moment what he took. The +captain understood the appeal, and influenced by the same opinion +concerning the hopelessness of the patient's condition, besides being +kindly anxious to console him, he poured out a small glass, all of which +he permitted the other to drink. The effect was instantaneous, for it +would seem this treacherous friend is ever to produce a momentary pleasure +as a poor compensation for its lasting pains. + +"I don't feel so bad, gentleman," returned the wounded man with a force of +voice that startled his visitors. "I feel better--much better, and am very +glad to see you. Captain Truck, I have the honor to drink your health." + +The captain looked at the mate as if he thought their visit was +twenty-four hours too soon, for live, all felt sure, Mr. Monday could not. +But Leach, better placed to observe the countenance of the patient, +whispered his commander that it was merely "a catspaw, and will +not stand." + +"I am very glad to see you both, gentlemen," continued Mr. Monday, "and +beg you to help yourselves." + +The captain changed his tactics. Finding his patient so strong and +cheerful, he thought consolation would be more easily received just at +that moment, than it might be even half an hour later. + +"We are all mortal, Mr. Monday--" + +"Yes, sir; all very mortal." + +"And even the strongest and boldest ought occasionally to think of their +end." + +"Quite true, sir; quite true. The strongest and boldest. When do you think +we shall get in, gentlemen?" + +Captain Truck afterwards affirmed that he was "never before taken so flat +aback by a question as by this." Still he extricated himself from the +dilemma with dexterity, the spirit of proselytism apparently arising +within him in proportion as the other manifested indifference to +his offices. + +"There is a port to which we are all steering, my dear sir," he said; "and +of which we ought always to bear in mind the landmarks and beacons, and +that port is heaven." + +"Yes," answered Mr Leach, "a port that, sooner or later, will fetch us all +up." + +Mr. Monday gazed from one to the other, and something like the state of +feeling, from which he had been aroused by the cordial, began to return. + +"Do you think me so bad, gentlemen?" he inquired, with a little of the +eagerness of a startled man. + +"As bad as one bound direct to so good a place as I hope and trust is the +case with you, can be," returned the captain, determined to follow up the +advantage he had gained. "Your wound, we fear, is mortal, and people +seldom remain long in this wicked world with such sort of hurts." + +"If he stands that," thought the captain, "I shall turn him over, at once, +to Mr. Effingham." + +Mr. Monday did not stand it. The illusion produced by the liquor, although +the latter still sustained his pulses, had begun to evaporate, and the +melancholy truth resumed its power. + +"I believe, indeed, that I am near my end, gentlemen," he said faintly; +and am thankful--for--for this consolation." + +"Now will be a good time to throw in the chapter," whispered Leach; "he +seems quite conscious, and very contrite." + +Captain Truck, in pure despair, and conscious of his own want of judgment, +had determined to leave the question of the selection of this chapter to +be decided by chance. Perhaps a little of that mysterious dependence on +Providence which renders all men more or less superstitions, influenced +him; and that he hoped a wisdom surpassing his own might direct him to a +choice. Fortunately, the book of Psalms is near the middle of the sacred +volume, and a better disposition of this sublime repository of pious +praise and spiritual wisdom could not have been made; for the +chance-directed peruser of the Bible will perhaps oftener open among its +pages than at any other place. + +If we should say that Mr. Monday felt any very profound spiritual relief +from the reading of Captain Truck, we should both overrate the manner of +the honest sailor, and the intelligence of the dying man. Still the solemn +language of praise and admiration had an effect, and, for the first time +since childhood, the soul of the latter was moved. God and judgment passed +before his imagination, and he gasped for breath in a way that induced +the two seamen to suppose the fatal moment had come, even sooner than they +expected. The cold sweat stood upon the forehead of the patient, and his +eyes glared wildly from one to the other. The paroxysm, however, was +transient, and he soon settled down into a state of comparative calmness, +pushing away the glass that Captain Truck offered, in mistaken kindness, +with a manner of loathing. + +"We must comfort him, Leach," whispered the captain; "for I see he is +fetching up in the old way, as was duly laid down by our ancestors in the +platform. First, groanings and views of the devil, and then consolation +and hope. We have got him into the first category, and we ought now, in +justice, to bring to, and heave a strain to help him through it." + +"They generally give 'em prayer, in the river, in this stage of the +attack," said Leach. "If you can remember a short prayer, sir, it might +ease him off." + +Captain Truck and his mate, notwithstanding the quaintness of their +thoughts and language, were themselves solemnly impressed with the scene, +and actuated by the kindest motives. Nothing of levity mingled with their +notions, but they felt the responsibility of officers of a packet, besides +entertaining a generous interest in the fate of a stranger who had fallen, +fighting manfully at their side. The old man looked awkwardly about him, +turned the key of the door, wiped his eyes, gazed wistfully at the +patient, gave his mate a nudge with his elbow to follow his example, and +knelt down with a heart momentarily as devout as is often the case with +those who minister at the altar. He retained the words of the Lord's +prayer, and these he repeated aloud, distinctly, and with fervour, though +not with a literal conformity to the text. Once Mr. Leach had to help him +to the word. When he rose, the perspiration stood on his forehead, as if +he had been engaged in severe toil. + +Perhaps nothing could have occurred more likely to strike the imagination +of Mr. Monday than to see one, of the known character and habits of +Captain Truck, thus wrestling with the Lord in his own behalf. Always +obtuse and dull of thought, the first impression was that of wonder; awe +and contrition followed. Even the mate was touched, and he afterwards told +his companion on deck, that "the hardest day's work he had ever done, was +lending a hand to rouse the captain through that prayer." + +"I thank you, sir," gasped Mr. Monday, "I thank you--Mr. John +Effingham--now, let me see Mr. John Effingham. I have no time to lose, and +wish to see _him_" + +The captain rose to comply, with the feelings of a man who had done his +duty, and, from that moment, he had a secret satisfaction at having so +manfully acquitted himself, Indeed, it has been remarked by those who have +listened to his whole narrative of the passage, that he invariably lays +more stress on the scene in the state-room, than on the readiness and +skill with which he repaired the damages sustained by his own ship, +through the means obtained from the Dane, or the spirit with which he +retook her from the Arabs. + +John Effingham appeared in the state-room, where the captain and Mr. Leach +left him alone with the patient Like all strong-minded men, who are +conscious of their superiority over the rest of their fellow creatures, +this gentleman felt disposed to concede most to those who were the least +able to contend with him. Habitually sarcastic and stern, and sometimes +forbidding, he was now mild and discreet. He saw, at a glance, that Mr. +Monday's mind was alive to novel feelings, and aware that the approach of +death frequently removes moral clouds that have concealed the powers of +the spirit while the animal part of the being was in full vigour, he was +surprised at observing the sudden change that was so apparent in the +countenance of the dying man. + +"I believe, sir, I have been a great sinner," commenced Mr. Monday, who +spoke more feebly as the influence of the cordial evaporated, and in short +and broken sentences. + +"In that you share the lot of all," returned John Effingham. "We are +taught that no man of himself, no unaided soul, is competent to its own +salvation. Christians look to the Redeemer for succour." + +"I believe I understand you, but I am a business man, sir, and have been +taught that reparation is the best atonement for a wrong." + +"It certainly should be the _first_" + +"Yes, indeed it should, sir. I am but the son of poor parents, and may +have been tempted to some things that are improper. My mother, too, I was +her only support. Well, the Lord will pardon it, if it were wrong, as I +dare say it might have been. I think I should have drunk less and thought +more, but for this affair--perhaps it is not yet too late." + +John Effingham listened with surprise, but with the coolness and sagacity +that marked his character. He saw the necessity, or at least the prudence, +of there being another witness present. Taking advantage of the exhaustion +of the speaker, he stepped to the door of Eve's cabin, and signed Paul to +follow him. They entered the state-room together, when John Effingham took +Mr. Monday soothingly by the hand, offering him a nourishment less +exciting than the cordial, but which had the effect to revive him. + +"I understand you, sir," continued Mr. Monday, looking at Paul; "it is all +very proper; but I have little to say--the papers will explain it all. +Those keys, sir--the upper drawer of the bureau, and the red morocco +case--take it all--this is the key. I have kept everything together, from +a misgiving that an hour would come. In New York you will have time--it is +not yet too late." + +As the wounded man spoke at intervals, and with difficulty, John Effingham +had complied with his directions before he ceased. He found the red +morocco case, took the key from the ring, and showed both to Mr. Monday, +who smiled and nodded approbation. The bureau contained paper, wax, and +all the other appliances of writing. John Effingham inclosed the case in a +strong envelope, and affixed to it three seals, which he impressed with +his own arms; the then asked Paul for his watch, that the same might be +done with the seal of his companion. After this precaution, he wrote a +brief declaration that the contents had been delivered to the two, for the +purpose of examination, and for the benefit of the parties concerned, +whoever they might be, and signed it. Paul did the same, and the paper was +handed to Mr. Monday, who had still strength to add his own signature. + +"Men do not usually trifle at such moments," said John Effingham, "and +this case may contain matter of moment to wronged and innocent persons. +The world little knows the extent of the enormities that are thus +committed. Take the case, Mr. Powis, and lock it up with your effects, +until the moment for the examination shall come." + +Mr. Monday was certainly much relieved after this consignment of the case +into safe hands, trifles satisfying the compunctions of the obtuse. For +more than an hour he slumbered. During this interval of rest, Captain +Truck appeared at the door of the state-room to inquire into the condition +of the patient, and, hearing a report so favourable, in common with all +whose duty did not require them to watch, he retired to rest. Paul had +also returned, and offered his services, as indeed did most of the +gentlemen; but John Effingham dismissed his own servant even, and declared +it was his intention not to quit the place that night. Mr. Monday had +reposed confidence in him, appeared to be gratified by his attentions and +presence, and he felt it to be a sort of duty, under such circumstances, +not to desert a fellow-creature in his extremity. Any thing beyond some +slight alleviation of the sufferer's pains was hopeless; but this, he +rightly believed, he was as capable of administering as another. + +Death is appalling to those of the most iron nerves, when it comes quietly +and in the stillness and solitude of night. John Effingham was such a man; +but he felt all the peculiarity of his situation as he sat alone in the +state-room by the side of Mr. Monday, listening to the washing of the +waters that the ship shoved aside, and to the unquiet breathing of his +patient. Several times he felt a disposition to steal away for a few +minutes, and to refresh himself by exercise in the pure air of the ocean; +but as often was the inclination checked by jealous glances from the +glazed eye of the dying man, who appeared to cherish his presence as his +own last hope of life. When John Effingham wetted the feverish lips, the +look he received spoke of gratitude and thanks, and once or twice these +feelings were audible in whispers. He could not desert a being so +helpless, so dependent; and, although conscious that he was of no +material service beyond sustaining his patient by his presence, he felt +that this was sufficient to exact much heavier sacrifices. + +During one of the troubled slumbers of the dying man, his attendant sat +watching the struggles of his countenance, which seemed to betray the +workings of the soul that was about to quit its tenement, and he mused on +the character and fate of the being whose departure for the world of +spirits he himself was so singularly called on to witness! + +"Of his origin I know nothing," thought John Effingham, "except by his own +passing declarations, and the evident fact that, as regards station, it +can scarcely have reached mediocrity. He is one of those who appear to +live for the most vulgar motives that are admissible among men of any +culture, and whose refinement, such as it is, is purely of the +conventional class of habits. Ignorant, beyond the current opinions of a +set; prejudiced in all that relates to nations, religions, and characters; +wily, with an air of blustering honesty; credulous and intolerant; bold in +denunciations and critical remarks, without a spark of discrimination, or +any knowledge but that which has been acquired under a designing +dictation; as incapable of generalizing as he is obstinate in trifles; +good-humoured by nature, and yet querulous from imitation:--for what +purposes was such a creature brought into existence to be hurried out of +it in this eventful manner?" The conversation of the evening recurred to +John Effingham, and he inwardly said, "If there exist such varieties of +the human race among nations, there are certainly as many species, in a +moral sense, in civilized life itself. This man has his counterpart in a +particular feature in the every-day American absorbed in the pursuit of +gain; and yet how widely different are the two in the minor points of +character! While the other allows himself no rest, no relaxation, no +mitigation of the eternal gnawing of the vulture rapacity, this man has +made self-indulgence the constant companion of his toil; while the other +has centered all his pleasures in gain, this Englishman, with the same +object in view, but obedient to national usages, has fancied he has been +alleviating his labours by sensual enjoyments. In what will their ends +differ? From the eyes of the American the veil will be torn aside when it +is too late, perhaps, and the object of his earthly pursuit will be made +the instrument of his punishment, as he sees himself compelled to quit it +all for the dark uncertainty of the grave; while the blusterer and the +bottle-companion sinks into a forced and appalled repentance, as the +animal that has hitherto upheld him loses its ascendency." + +A groan from Mr. Monday, who now opened his glassy eyes, interrupted these +musings. The patient signed for the nourishment, and he revived a little. + +"What is the day of the week?" he asked, with an anxiety that surprised +his kind attendant. + +"It is, or rather it _was_, Monday; for we are now past midnight." + +"I am glad of it, sir--very glad of it." + +"Why should the day of the week be of consequence to you now?" + +"There is a saying, sir--I have faith in sayings--they told me I was born +of a Monday, and should die of a Monday." + +The other was shocked at this evidence of a lingering and abject +superstition in one who could not probably survive many hours, and he +spoke to him of the Saviour, and of his mediation for man. All this could +John Effingham do at need; and he could do it well, too, for few had +clearer perceptions of this state of probation than himself. His weak +point was in the pride and strength of his character; qualities that +indisposed him in his own practice to rely on any but himself, under the +very circumstances which would impress on others the necessity of relying +solely on God. The dying man heard him attentively, and the words made a +momentary impression. + +"I do not wish to die, sir," Mr. Monday said suddenly, after a long pause. + +"It is the general fate; when the moment arrives, we ought to prepare +ourselves to meet it." + +"I am no coward, Mr. Effingham." + +"In one sense I know you are not, for I have seen you proved. I hope you +will not be one in any sense. You are now in a situation in which manhood +will avail you nothing: your dependence should be placed altogether +on God." + +"I know it, sir--I try to feel thus; but I do not wish to die." + +"The love of Christ is illimitable," said John Effingham, powerfully +affected by the other's hopeless misery. + +"I know it--I hope it--I wish to believe it. Have _you_ a mother, Mr. +Effingham?" + +"She has been dead many years." + +"A wife?" + +John Effingham gasped for breath, and one might have mistaken him, at the +moment, for the sufferer. + +"None: I am without parent, brother, sister, wife, or child. My nearest +relatives are in this ship." + +"I am of little value; but, such as I am, my mother will miss me. We can +have but one mother, sir." + +"This is very true. If you have any commission or message for your mother, +Mr. Monday, I shall have great satisfaction in attending to your wishes." + +"I thank you, sir; I know of none. She has her notions on religion, and--I +think it would lessen her sorrow to hear that I had a Christian burial." + +"Set your heart at rest on that subject: all that our situation will +allow, shall be done." + +"Of what account will it all be, Mr. Effingham? I wish I had drunk less, +and thought more." + +John Effingham could say nothing to a compunction that was so necessary, +though so tardy. + +"I fear we think too little of this moment in our health and strength, +sir." + +"The greater the necessity, Mr. Monday, of turning our thoughts towards +that divine mediation which alone can avail us, while there is yet +opportunity." + +But Mr. Monday was startled by the near approach of death, rather than +repentant. He had indurated his feelings by the long and continued +practice of a deadening self-indulgence, and he was now like a man who +unexpectedly finds himself in the presence of an imminent and overwhelming +danger, without any visible means of mitigation or escape. He groaned and +looked around him, as if he sought something to cling to, the spirit he +had shown in the pride of his strength availing nothing. All these, +however, were but passing emotions, and the natural obtusity of the +man returned. + +"I do not think, sir," he said, gazing intently at John Effingham, "that +I have been a very great sinner." + +"I hope not, my good friend; yet none of us are so free from spot as not +to require the aid of God to fit us for his holy presence." + +"Very true, sir--very true, sir. I was duly baptized and properly +confirmed." + +"Offices which are but pledges that we are expected to redeem." + +"By a regular priest and bishop, sir;--orthodox and dignified clergymen!" + +"No doubt: England wants none of the forms of religion. But the contrite +heart, Mr. Monday, will be sure to meet with mercy." + +"I feel contrite, sir; very contrite." + +A pause of half an hour succeeded, and John Effingham thought at first +that his patient had again slumbered; but, looking more closely at his +situation, he perceived that his eyes often opened and wandered over +objects near him. Unwilling to disturb this apparent tranquillity, the +minutes were permitted to pass away uninterrupted, until Mr. Monday spoke +again of his own accord. + +"Mr. Effingham--sir--Mr. Effingham," said the dying man. + +"I am near you, Mr. Monday, and will not leave the room." + +"Bless you, bless you, do not _you_ desert me!" + +"I shall remain: set your heart at rest, and let me know your wants." + +"I want life, sir!" + +"That is the gift of God, and its possession depends solely on his +pleasure. Ask pardon for your sins, and remember the mercy and love of the +blessed Redeemer." + +"I try, sir. I do not think I have been a _very_ great sinner." + +"I hope not: but God can pardon the penitent, however great their +offences." + +"Yes, sir, I know it--I know it. This affair has been so unexpected, I +have even been at the communion-table, sir: yes, my mother made me +commune. Nothing was neglected, sir." + +John Effingham was often proud and self-willed in his communications with +men, the inferiority of most of his fellow-creatures to himself, in +principles as well as mind, being too plainly apparent not to influence +the opinions of one who did not too closely study his own failings; +but, as respects God, he was habitually reverent and meek. Spiritual pride +formed no part of his character, for he felt his own deficiency in the +Christian qualities, the main defect arising more from a habit of +regarding the infirmities of others than from dwelling too much on his own +merits. In comparing himself with perfection, no one could be more humble; +but in limiting the comparison to those around him, few were prouder, or +few more justly so, were it permitted to make such a comparison at all. +Prayer with him was not habitual, or always well ordered, but he was not +ashamed to pray; and when he did bow down his spirit in this manner, it +was with the force, comprehensiveness, and energy of his character. He was +now moved by the feeble and common-place consolations that Mr. Monday +endeavoured to extract from his situation. He saw the peculiarly deluding +and cruel substitution of forms for the substance of piety that +distinguishes the policy of all established churches, though, unlike many +of his own countrymen, his mind was superior to those narrow exaggerations +that, on the other hand, too often convert innocence into sin, and puff up +the votary with the conceit of a sectarian and his self-righteousness. + +"I will pray with you, Mr. Monday," he said, kneeling at the side of the +dying man's bed: "we will ask mercy of God together, and he may lessen +these doubts." + +Mr. Monday made a sign of eager assent, and John Effingham prayed in a +voice that was distinctly audible to the other. The petition was short, +beautiful, and even lofty in language, without a particle of Scripture +jargon, or of the cant of professed devotees; but it was a fervent, +direct, comprehensive, and humble appeal to the Deity for mercy on the +being who now found himself in extremity. A child might have understood +it, while the heart of a man would have melted with its affecting and meek +sincerity. It is to be hoped that the Great Being, whose Spirit pervades +the universe, and whose clemency is commensurate with his power, also +admitted the force of the petition, for Mr. Monday smiled with pleasure +when John Effingham arose. + +"Thank you, sir--a thousand thanks," muttered the dying man, pressing the +hand of the other. "This is better than all." + +After this Mr. Monday was easier, and hours passed away in nearly a +continued silence. John Effingham was now convinced that his patient +slumbered, and he allowed himself to fall into a doze. It was after the +morning watch was called, that he was aroused by a movement in the berth. +Relieving his patient required nourishment, or some fluid to moisten his +lips, John Effingham offered both, but they were declined. Mr. Monday had +clasped his hands on his breast, with the fingers uppermost, as painters +and sculptors are apt to delineate them when they represent saints in the +act of addressing the Deity, and his lips moved, though the words were +whispered. John Effingham kneeled, and placed his ear so close as to catch +the sounds. His patient was uttering the simple but beautiful petition +transmitted by Christ himself to man, as the model of all prayer. + +As soon as the other had done, John Effingham repeated the same prayer +fervently and aloud himself, and when he opened his eyes, after this +solemn homage to God, Mr. Monday was dead. + + + + +Chapter XXXI. + + + + Let me alone:--dost thou use to write + Thy name? or hast thou a mark to thyself, like an + Honest, plain-dealing man? + + JACK CADE. + + +At a later hour, the body of the deceased was consigned to the ocean with +the forms that had been observed the previous night at the burial of the +seaman. These two ceremonies were sad remembrancers of the scene the +travellers had passed through; and, for many days, the melancholy that +they naturally excited pervaded the ship. But, as no one connected by +blood with any of the living had fallen, and it is not the disposition of +men to mourn always, this feeling gradually subsided, and at the end of +three weeks the deaths had lost most of their influence, or were recalled +only at moments by those who thought it wise to dwell on such +solemn subjects. + +Captain Truck had regained his spirits; for, if he felt mortified at the +extraordinary difficulties and dangers that had befallen his ship, he also +felt proud of the manner in which he had extricated himself from them. As +for the mates and crew, they had already returned to their ordinary habits +of toil and fun, the accidents of life making but brief and superficial +impressions on natures accustomed to vicissitudes and losses. + +Mr. Dodge appeared to be nearly forgotten during the first week after the +ship succeeded in effecting her escape; for he had the sagacity to keep +himself in the background, in the hope that all connected with himself +might be overlooked in the hurry and excitement of events. At the end of +that period, however, he resumed his intrigues, and was soon actively +engaged in endeavouring to get up a "public opinion," by means of which he +proposed to himself to obtain some reputation for spirit and courage. With +what success this deeply-laid scheme was likely to meet, as well as the +more familiar condition of the cabins, may be gathered by a conversation +that took place in the pantry, where Saunders and Toast were preparing the +hot punch for the last of the Saturday nights that Captain Truck expected +to be at sea. This discourse was held while the few who chose to join in +jollification that peculiarly recalled the recollection of Mr. Monday, +were slowly assembling round the great table at the urgent request of +the master. + +"Well, I must say, Mr. Toast," the steward commenced, as he kept stirring +the punch, "that I am werry much rejoiced Captain Truck has resuscertated +his old nature, and remembers the festivals and fasts, as is becoming the +master of a liner. I can see no good reason because a ship is under +jury-masts, that the passengers should forego their natural rest and diet. +Mr. Monday made a good end, they say, and he had as handsome a burial as I +ever laid eyes on at sea. I don't think his own friends could have +interred him more efficaciously, or more piously, had he been on shore." + +"It is something, Mr. Saunders, to be able to reflect beforehand on the +respectable funeral that your friends have just given you. There is a +great gratification to contemplate on such an ewent." + +"You improve in language, Toast, that I will allow; but you sometimes get +the words a little wrong. We suspect before a thing recurs, and reflect on +it after it has ewentuated. You might have suspected the death of poor Mr. +Monday after he was wounded, and reflected on it after he was interred in +the water. I agree with you that it is consoling to know we have our +funeral rights properly delineated. Talking of the battle, Mr. Toast, I +shall take this occasion to express to you the high opinion I entertain of +your own good conduct. I was a little afraid you might injure Captain +Truck in the conflict; but, so far as I have ascertained, on close +inwestigation, you hurt nobody. We coloured people have some prejudices +against us, and I always rejoice when I meet with one who assists to put +them down by his conduck." + +"They say Mr. Dodge didn't do much harm, either," returned Toast. "For my +part I saw nothing of him after I opened my eyes; though I don't think I +ever stared about me so much in my life." + +Saunders laid a finger on his nose, and shook his head significantly. + +"You may speak to me with confidence and mistrust, Toast," he said, "for +we are friends of the same colour, besides being officers in the same +pantry. Has Mr. Dodge conwersed with you concerning the ewents of those +two or three werry ewentful days?" + +"He has insinevated considerable, Mr. Saunders; though I do not think Mr. +Dodge is ever a werry free talker." + +"Has he surgested the propriety of having an account of he whole affair +made out by the people, and sustained by affidavits?" + +"Well, sir, I imagine he has. At all ewents, he has been much on the +forecastle lately, endeavouring to persuade the people that _they_ retook +the ship, and that the passengers were so many encumbrancers in +the affair." + +"And, are the people such _non composses_ as to believe him, Toast?" + +"Why, sir, it is agreeable to humanity to think well of ourselves. I do +not say that anybody actually _believes_ this; but, in my poor judgment, +Mr. Saunders, there are men in the ship that would find it _pleasant_ to +believe it, if they could." + +"Werry true; for that is natural. Your hint, Toast, has enlightened my +mind on a little obscurity that has lately prewailed over my conceptions. +There are Johnson, and Briggs, and Hewson, three of the greatest skulks in +the ship, the only men who prewaricated in the least, so much as by a cold +look, in the fight; and these three men have told me that Mr. Dodge was +the person who had the gun put on the box; and that he druv the Arabs upon +the raft. Now, I say, no men with their eyes open could have made such a +mistake, except they made it on purpose. Do you corroborate or contrawerse +this statement, Toast?" + +"I contrawerse it, sir; for in my poor judgment it was Mr. Blunt." + +"I am glad we are of the same opinion. I shall say nothing till the proper +moment arrives, and then I shall exhibit my sentiments, Mr. Toast, without +recrimination or anxiety, for truth is truth." + +"I am happy to observe that the ladies are quite relaxed from their +melancholy, and that they now seem to enjoy themselves ostensibly." + +Saunders threw a look of envy at his subordinate, whose progress in +refinement really alarmed his own sense of superiority; but suppressing +the jealous feeling, he replied with, dignity, + +"The remark is quite just, Mr. Toast, and denotes penetration. I am always +rejoiced when I perceive you elewating your thoughts to superior objects, +for the honour of the colour." + +"Mister Saunders," called out the captain from his seal in the arm-chair, +at the head of the table. + +"Captain Truck, sir." + +"Let us taste your liquors." + +This was the signal that the Saturday-night was about to commence, and the +officers of the pantry presented their compounds in good earnest. On this +occasion the ladies had quietly, but firmly declined being present, but +the earnest appeals of the well-meaning captain had overcome the scruples +of the gentlemen, all of whom, to avoid the appearance of disrespect to +his wishes, had consented to appear. + +"This is the last Saturday night, gentlemen, that I shall probably ever +have the honour of passing in your good company," said Captain Truck, as +he disposed of the pitchers and glasses before him, so that he had a +perfect command of the appliances of the occasion, "and I feel it to be a +gratification with which I would not willingly dispense. We are now to +the westward of the Gulf, and, according to my observations and +calculations, within a hundred miles of Sandy Hook, which, with this mild +south-west wind, and our weatherly position, I hope to be able to show you +some time about eight o'clock to-morrow morning. Quicker passages have +been made certainly, but forty days, after all, is no great matter for the +westerly run, considering that we have had a look at Africa, and are +walking on crutches." + +"We owe a great deal to the trades," observed Mr. Effingham; "which have +treated us as kindly towards the end of the passage, as they seemed +reluctant to join us in the commencement. It has been a momentous month, +and I hope we shall all retain healthful recollections of it as long as +we live." + +"No one will retain as _grateful_ recollections of it as myself, +gentlemen," resumed the captain. "You had no agency in getting us into +the scrape, but the greatest possible agency in getting us out of it. +Without the knowledge, prudence, and courage that you have all displayed, +God knows what would have become of the poor Montauk, and from the bottom +of my heart I thank you, each and all while I have the heartfelt +satisfaction of seeing you around me, and of drinking to your future +health, happiness and prosperity." + +The passengers acknowledged their thanks in return, by bows, among which, +that of Mr. Dodge was the most elaborate and conspicuous. The honest +captain was too much touched, to observe this little piece of audacity, +but, at that moment, he could have taken even Mr. Dodge in his arms and +pressed him to his heart. + +"Come, gentlemen," he continued; "let us fill and do honour to the night. +God has us all in his holy keeping, and we drift about in the squalls of +life, pretty much as he orders the wind to blow. 'Sweethearts and wives!' +and, Mr. Effingham, we will not forget beautiful, spirited, sensible, and +charming daughters." + +After this piece of nautical gallantry, the glass began to circulate. The +captain. Sir George Templemore--as the false baronet was still called in +the cabin, and believed to be by all but those who belonged to the +_coterie_ of Eve--and Mr. Dodge, indulged freely, though the first was too +careful of the reputation of his ship, to forget that he was on the +American coast in November. The others partook more sparingly, though even +they submitted in a slight degree to the influence of good cheer, and for +the first time since their escape, the laugh was heard in the cabin as was +wont before to be the case. An hour of such indulgence produced again some +of the freedom and ease which mark the associations of a ship, after the +ice is fairly broken, and even Mr. Dodge began to be tolerated. This +person, notwithstanding his conduct on the occasion of the battle, had +contrived to maintain his ground with the spurious baronet, by dint of +assiduity and flattery, while the others had rather felt pity than +aversion, on account of his abject cowardice. The gentlemen did not +mention his desertion at the critical moment, (though Mr. Dodge never +forgave those who witnessed it,) for they looked upon his conduct as the +result of a natural and unconquerable infirmity, that rendered him as much +the subject of compassion as of reproach. Encouraged by this forbearance, +and mistaking its motives, he had begun to hope his absence had not been +detected in the confusion of the fight, and he had even carried his +audacity so far, as to make an attempt to persuade Mr. Sharp that he had +actually been one of those who went in the launch of the Dane, to bring +down the other boat and raft to the reef, after the ship had been +recaptured. It is true, in this attempt, he had met with a cold repulse, +but it was so gentlemanlike and distant, that he had still hopes of +succeeding in persuading the other to believe what he affirmed; by way of +doing which, he endeavoured all he could to believe it himself. So much +confusion existed in his own faculties during the fray, that Mr. Dodge was +fain to fancy others also might not have been able to distinguish things +very accurately. + +Under the influence of these feelings, Captain Truck, when the glass had +circulated a little freely, called on the Editor of the Active Inquirer, +to favour the company with some more extracts from his journal. Little +persuasion was necessary, and Mr. Dodge went into his state-room to bring +forth the valuable records of his observations and opinions, with a +conviction that all was forgotten, and that he was once more about to +resume his proper place in the social relations of the ship. As for the +four gentlemen who had been over the ground the other pretended to +describe, they prepared to listen, as men of the world would be apt to +listen to the superficial and valueless comments of a tyro, though not +without some expectations of amusement. + +"I propose that we shift the scene to London," said Captain Truck, "in +order that a plain seaman, like myself, may judge of the merits of the +writer--which, I make no doubt, are very great; though I cannot now swear +to it with as free a conscience as I could wish." + +"If I knew the pleasure of the majority," returned Mr. Dodge, dropping the +journal, and looking about him inquiringly, "I would cheerfully comply +with it; for I think the majority should always rule. Paris, or London, or +the Rhine, are the same to me; I have seen them all, and am just, as well +qualified to describe the one as to describe the other." + +"No one doubts it, my dear sir; but I am not as well qualified to +understand one of your descriptions as I am to understand another. +Perhaps, evon you, sir, may express yourself more readily, and have better +understood what was said to you, in English, than in a foreign tongue." + +"As for that, I do not think the value of my remarks is lessened by the +one circumstance, or enhanced by the other, sir. I make it a rule always +to be right, if possible; and that, I fancy, is as much as the natives of +the countries themselves can very well effect. You have only to decide, +gentlemen, whether it shall be England, or France, or the Continent." + +"I confess an inclination to the _Continent_," said John Effingham; "for +one could scarcely wish to limit a comprehensiveness like that of Mr. +Dodge's to an island, or even to France." + +"I see how it is," exclaimed the captain; "we must put the traveller +through all his paces, and have a little of both; so Mr. Dodge will have +the kindness to touch on all things in heaven and earth, London and Paris +inclusive." + +On this hint the journalist turned over a few pages carelessly, and then +commenced: + +"'Reached _Bruxelles_ (Mr. Dodge pronounced this word Brucksills) at seven +in the evening, and put up at the best house in the place, called the +Silver Lamb, which is quite near the celebrated town-house, and, of course +in the very centre of the _beau_ quarter. As we did not leave until after +breakfast next morning, the reader may expect a description of this +ancient capital. It lies altogether on a bit of low, level land-----'" + +"Nay, Mr. Dodge," interrupted the _soi-disant_ Sir George, "I think _that_ +most be an error. I have been at Brussels, and I declare, now, it struck +me as lying a good deal on the side of a very steep hill!" + +"All a mistake, sir, I do assure you. There is no more hill at +_Brucksills_ than on the deck of this ship. You have been in too great a +hurry, my dear Sir George; that is the way with most travellers; they do +not give themselves time to note particulars. You English especially, my +dear Sir George, are a little apt to be precipitate; and I dare say, you +travelled post, with four horses, a mode of getting on by which a man may +very well transfer a hill, in his imagination, from one town to another. I +travelled chiefly in a _voitury_, which afforded leisure for remarks." + +Here Mr. Dodge laughed; for he felt that he had got the best of it. + +"I think you are bound to submit, _Sir George Templemore"_ said John +Effingham, with an emphasis on the name that raised a smile among his +friends; "Brussels certainly lies on a flat; and the hill you saw has, +doubtless, been brought up with you from Holland in your haste. Mr. Dodge +enjoyed a great advantage in his mode of travelling; for, by entering a +town in the evening, and quitting it only in the morning, he had the whole +night to look about him." + +"That was just my mode of proceeding, Mr. John Effingham; I made it a rule +to pass an entire night in every large town I came to." + +"A circumstance that will give a double value to your opinions with our +countrymen, Mr. Dodge, since they very seldom give themselves half that +leisure when once in motion. I trust you have not passed over the +institutions of Belgium, sir; and most particularly the state of society +in the capital, of which you saw so much?" + +"By no means; here are my remarks on these subjects: + +"--'Belgium, or _The Belges_, as the country is now called, is one of the +upstart kingdoms that have arisen in our times; and which, from signs that +cannot be mistaken, is fated soon to be overturned by the glorious +principles of freedom. The people are ground down, as usual, by the +oppression of hard task-masters, and bloody-minded priests. The monarch, +who is a bigoted Catholic of the House of Saxony, being the son of the +king of that country, and a presumptive heir to the throne of Great +Britain, in right of his first wife, devoting all his thoughts to miracles +and saints. The nobles form a class by themselves, indulging in all sorts +of vices.'--I beg pardon, Sir George, but the truth must be told in our +country, or one had better never speak.--'All sorts of vices, and +otherwise betraying the monstrous tendencies of the system.'" + +"Pray, Mr. Dodge," interrupted John Effingham, "have you said nothing as +to the manner in which the inhabitants relieve the eternal _ennui_ of +always walking on a level surface?" + +"I am afraid not, sir. My attention was chiefly given to the institutions, +and to the state of society, although I can readily imagine they must get +to be heartily tired of a dead flat" + +"Why, sir, they have contrived to run a street up and down the roof of +the cathedral; and up and down this street they trot all hours of +the day." + +Mr. Dodge looked distrustful; but John Effingham maintained his gravity. +After a pause the former continued:-- + +"'The usages of _Brucksills_ are a mixture of Low Dutch and High Dutch +habits, as is the language. The king being a Polander, and a grandson of +Augustus, king of Poland, is anxious to introduce the customs of the +Russians into his court; while his amiable young queen, who was born in +New Jersey when her illustrious father kept the school at Haddonfield, +early imbibed those notions of republicanism which so eminently +distinguish his Grace the Honourable Louis Philippe Orleans, the present +King of the French.'" + +"Nay, Mr. Dodge," said Mr. Sharp, "you will have all the historians ready +to cut your throat with envy!" + +"Why, sir, I feel it a duty not to throw away the great opportunities I +have enjoyed; and America is a country in which an editor may never hope +to mystify his readers. We deal with them in facts, Mr. Sharp; and +although this may not be your English practice, we think that truth is +powerful and will prevail. To continue,--'The kingdom of _the Belges_ is +about as large as the north-east corner of Connecticut, including one town +in Rhode Island; and the whole population may be about equal to that of +_our_ tribe of Creek Indians, who dwell in the wilder parts of _our_ state +of Georgia.'" + +"This particularity is very convincing," observed Paul, "and then it has +the merit, too, of coming from an eye-witness" + +"I will now, gentlemen, return with you to Paris, where I stayed all of +three weeks, and of the society of which my knowledge of the language +will, of course, enable me to give a still more valuable account." + +"You mean to publish these hints, I trust, sir?" inquired the captain. + +"I shall probably collect them, and enlarge them in the way of a book; but +they have already been laid before the American public in the columns of +the Active Inquirer, I can assure you, gentlemen, that my colleagues of +the press have spoken quite favourably of the letters as they appeared. +Perhaps you would like to hear some of their opinions?" + +Hereupon Mr. Dodge opened a pocket-book, out of which he took six or eight +slips of printed paper, that had been preserved with care, though +obviously well thumbed. Opening one, he read as follows: + +"'Our friend Dodge, of the Active Inquirer, is instructing his readers, +and edifying mankind in general, with some very excellent and pungent +remarks on the state of Europe, which part of the world he is now +exploring with some such enterprise and perseverance as Columbus +discovered when he entered on the unknown waste of the Atlantic. His +opinions meet with our unqualified approbation, being sound, American, and +discriminating. We fancy these Europeans will begin to think in time that +Jonathan has some pretty shrewd notions concerning themselves, the +critturs!' This was extracted from the People's Advocate, a journal edited +with great ability, by Peleg Pond, esquire, a thorough-going republican, +and a profound observer of mankind." + +"In his own parish in particular," quaintly added John Effingham. "Pray, +sir, have you any more of these critical _morceaux_?" + +"At least a dozen," beginning to read again.--"Steadfast Dodge, esquire, +the editor of the Active Inquirer, is now travelling in Europe, and is +illuminating the public mind at home by letters that are Johnsonian in +style, Chesterfieldian in taste and in knowledge of the world, with the +redeeming qualities of nationality, and republicanism, and truth. We +rejoice to perceive by these valuable contributions to American +literature, that Steadfast Dodge, esquire, finds no reason to envy the +inhabitants of the Old World any of their boasted civilization; but that, +on the contrary, he is impressed with the superiority of our condition +over all countries, every post that he progresses. America has produced +but few men like Dodge; and even Walter Scott might not be ashamed to own +some of his descriptions. We hope he may long continue to travel.'" + +"_Voitury_" added John Effingham gravely. "You perceive, gentlemen, how +modestly these editors set forth their intimacy with the traveller--'our +friend Dodge, of the Active Inquirer,' and 'Steadfast Dodge, esquire!'--a +mode of expression that speaks volumes for their own taste, and their +profound deference for their readers!" + +"We always speak of each other in this manner, Mr. John Effingham--that is +our _esprit du corps_." + +"And I should think that there would be an _esprit de corps_ in the public +to resist it," observed Paul Blunt. + +The distinction was lost on Mr. Dodge, who turned over to one of his most +elaborate strictures on the state of society in France, with all the +self-complacency of besotted ignorance and provincial superciliousness. +Searching out a place to his mind, this profound observer of men and +manners, who had studied a foreign people, whose language when spoken was +gibberish to him, by travelling five days in a public coach, and living +four weeks in taverns and eating-houses, besides visiting three theatres, +in which he did not understand a single word that was uttered, proceeded +to lay before his auditors the results of his observations. + +"'The state of female society in France is truly awful,' he resumed, 'the +French Revolution, as is universally known, having left neither decorum, +modesty, nor beauty in the nation. I walk nightly in the galleries of the +Palais Royal, where I locate myself, and get every opportunity of +observing the peculiarities of ladies of the first taste and fashion in +the metropolis of Europe. There is one duchess in particular, whose grace +and _embonpoint_ have, I confess, attracted my admiration. This lady, as +my _lacquais de_ _place_ informs me, is sometimes termed _la mère du +peuple_, from her popularity and affability. The young ladies of France, +judging from the specimens I have seen here--which must be of the highest +class in the capital, as the spot is under the windows of one of the royal +palaces--are by no means observable for that quiet reserve and modest +diffidence that distinguish the fair among our own young countrywomen; but +it must be admitted they are remarkable for the manner in which, they walk +alone, in my judgment a most masculine and unbecoming practice. Woman was +not made to live alone, and I shall contend that she was not made to walk +alone. At the same time, I confess here is a certain charm in the manner +in which these ladies place a hand in each pocket of their aprons, and +balance their bodies, as they move like duchesses through the galleries. +If I might humbly suggest, the American fair might do worse than imitate +this Parisian step; for, as a traveller I feel it a duty to exhibit any +superior quality that other nations possess. I would also remark on the +general suavity of manners that the ladies of quality' (this word Mr Dodge +pronounced _qua-a-lity_,) 'observe in their promenades in and about this +genteel quarter of Paris.'" + +"The French ladies ought to be much flattered with this notice of them," +cried the captain, filling Mr. Dodge's glass. "In the name of truth and +penetration, sir, proceed." + +"'I have lately been invited to attend a ball in one of the first families +of France, which resides in the Rue St. Jaques, or the St. James' of +Paris. The company was select, and composed of many of the first persons +in the kingdom of _des Français_. The best possible manners were to be +seen here, and the dancing was remarkable for its grace and beauty. The +air with which the ladies turned their heads on one side, and inclined +their bodies in advancing and retiring, was in the first style of the +court of Terpsichore. They were all of the very first families of France. +I heard one excuse herself for going away so early, as _Madame la +Duchesse_ expected her; and another observed that she was to leave town in +the morning with _Madame la Vicomtesse_. The gentlemen, with few +exceptions, were in fancy dresses, appearing in coats, some of sky-blue, +some green, some scarlet, and some navy-blue, as fancy dictated, and all +more or less laced on the seams much in the manner as was the case with +the Honourable the King the morning I saw him leave for _Nully_. This +entertainment was altogether the best conducted of any I ever attended, +the gentlemen being condescending, and without the least pride, and the +ladies all grace.'" + +"Graces would be more expressive, if you will excuse my suggesting a word, +sir," observed John Effingham, as the other paused to take breath. + +"'I have observed that the people in most monarchies are abject and +low-minded in their deportment. Thus the men take off their hats when they +enter churches, although the minister be not present; and even the boys +take off their hats when they enter private houses. This is commencing +servility young. I have even seen men kneeling on the cold pavements of +the churches in the most abject manner, and otherwise betraying the +feeling naturally created by slavish institutions." + +"Lord help 'em!" exclaimed the captain, "if they begin so young, what a +bowing and kneeling set of blackguards they will get to be in time." + +"It is to be presumed that Mr. Dodge has pointed out the consequences in +the instance of the abject old men mentioned, who probably commenced their +servility by entering houses with their hats off," said John Effingham. + +"Just so, sir," rejoined the editor. "I throw in these little popular +traits because I think they show the differences between nations." + +"From which I infer," said Mr. Sharp, "that in your part of America boys +do not take off their hats when they enter houses, nor men kneel in +churches?" + +"Certainly not, sir. Our people get their ideas of manliness early; and as +for kneeling in churches, we have some superstitious-sects--I do not +mention them; but, on the whole, no nation can treat the house of God more +rationally than we do in America." + +"That I will vouch for," rejoined John Effingham; "for the last time I was +at home I attended a concert in one of them, where an _artiste_ of +singular nasal merit favoured the company with that admirable piece of +conjoined sentiment and music entitled 'Four-and-twenty fiddlers all in +a row!'" + +"I'll engage for it," cried Mr. Dodge, swelling with national pride; "and +felt all the time as independent and easy as if he was in a tavern. Oh! +superstition is quite extinct in _Ameriky!_ But I have a few remarks on +the church in my notes upon England: perhaps you would like to hear them?" + +"Let me entreat you to read them," said the true Sir George Templemore, a +little eagerly. + +"Now, I protest against any liberality," added the false Sir George, +shaking his finger. + +Mr. Dodge disregarded both; but, turning to the place, he read aloud with +his usual self-complacency and unction. + +"'To-day, I attended public worship in St.---church, Minories. The +congregation was composed of many of the first people of England, among +whom were present Sir Solomon Snore, formerly HIGH sheriff of London, a +gentleman of the first consideration in the empire, and the celebrated Mr. +Shilling, of the firm of Pound, Shilling, and Pence. There was certainly a +fine air of polite life in the congregation, but a little too much +idolatry. Sir Solomon and Mr. Shilling were both received with +distinction, which was very proper, when we remember their elevated rank; +but the genuflexions and chaunting met with my very unqualified +disapprobation.'" + +"Sir Solomon and the other personage you mention were a little _pursy_, +perhaps," observed Mr. Sharp, "which destroyed their grace." + +"I disapprove of all kneeling, on general principles, sir. If we kneel to +one, we shall get to kneel to another, and no one can tell where it will +end. 'The exclusive manner in which the congregation were seated in pews, +with sides so high that it was difficult to see your nearest neighbour; +and these pews' (Mr. Dodge pronounced this word _poohs_,) 'have often +curtains that completely enclose their owners, a system of selfishness +that would not be long tolerated in _Ameriky_.'" + +"Do individuals own their pews in America?" inquired Mr. Sharp. + +"Often," returned John Effingham; always, "except in those particular +portions of the country where it is deemed invidious, and contrary to the +public rights, to be better off than one's neighbour, by owning any thing +that all the community has not a better claim to than its proprietor." + +"And canot the owner of a pew curtain it, with a view to withdrawn into it +himself at public worship?" + +"America and England are the antipodes of each other in all these things. +I dare say, now, that you have come among us with an idea that our liberty +is so very licentious, that a man may read a newspaper by himself?" + +"I confess, certainly, to that much," returned Mr. Sharp, smiling. + +"We shall teach him better than this, Mr. Dodge, before we let him +depart. No, sir, you have very contracted ideas of liberty, I perceive. +With us every thing is settled by majorities. We eat when the majority +eats; drink, when the majority drinks; sleep, when the majority sleeps; +pray, when the majority prays. So far from burying ourselves in deep wells +of pews, with curtains round their edges, we have raised the floors, +amphitheatre fashion, so that every body can see every body; have taken +away the sides of the pews, which we have converted into free and equal +seats, and have cut down the side of the pulpit so that we can look at the +clergyman; but I understand there is actually a project on foot to put the +congregation into the pulpit, and the parson into the aisle, by way of +letting the latter see that he is no better than he should be. This would +be a capital arrangement, Mr. Dodge, for the 'Four-and-twenty fiddlers all +in a row.'" + +The editor of the Active Inquirer was a little distrustful of John +Effingham, and he was not sorry to continue his extracts, although he was +obliged to bring himself still further under the fire of his assailant. + +"'This morning,' Mr. Dodge resumed, I stepped into the coffee-room of the +'Shovel and Tongs,' public-house, to read the morning paper, and, taking a +seat by the side of a gentleman who was reading the 'Times,' and drawing +to me the leaves of the journal, so that it would be more convenient to +peruse, the man insolently and arrogantly demanded of me, 'What the devil +I meant?' This intolerance in the English character is owing to the +narrowness of the institutions, under which men come to fancy liberty +applies to persons instead of majorities.'" + +"You perceive, Mr. Sharp," said John Effingham, "how much more able a +stranger is to point out the defects of national character than a native. +I dare say that in indulging your individuality, hitherto, you have +imagined you were enjoying liberty." + +"I fear I have committed some such weakness--but Mr. Dodge will have the +goodness to proceed." + +The editor complied as follows:--"'Nothing has surprised me more than the +grovelling propensities of the English on the subject of names. Thus this +very inn, which in America would be styled the 'Eagle Tavern,' or the +'Oriental or Occidental Hotel,' or the 'Anglo-Saxon Democratical +Coffee-house,' or some other equally noble or dignified appellation, is +called the 'Shovel and Tongs.' One tavern, which might very appropriately +be termed 'The Saloon of Peace,' is very vulgarly called 'Dolly's +Chop-house.'" + +All the gentlemen, not excepting Mr. Sharp, murmured their disgust at so +coarse a taste. But most of the party began now to tire of this pretending +ignorance and provincial vulgarity, and, one by one, most of them soon +after left the table. Captain Truck, however, sent for Mr. Leach, and +these two worthies, with Mr. Dodge and the spurious baronet, sat an hour +longer, when all retired to their berths. + + + + +Chapter XXXII. + + + + I'll meet thee at Philippi. + + SHAKESPEARE. + + +Happy is the man who arrives on the coast of New York, with the wind at +the southward, in the month of November. There are two particular +conditions of the weather, in which the stranger receives the most +unfavourable impressions of the climate that has been much and unjustly +abused, but which two particular conditions warrant all the evil that has +been said of it. One is a sweltering day in summer, and the other an +autumnal day, in which the dry north wind scarce seems to leave any marrow +in the bones. + +The passengers of the Montauk escaped both these evils, and now approached +the coast with a bland south-west breeze, and a soft sky. The ship had been +busy in the night, and when the party assembled on deck in the morning, +Captain Truck told them, that in an hour they should have a sight of the +long-desired western continent. As the packet was inning in at the rate +of nine knots, under topmast and top-gallant studding-sails, being to +windward of her port, this was a promise that the gallant vessel seemed +likely enough to redeem. + +"Toast!" called out the captain, who had dropped into his old habits as +naturally as if nothing had occurred, "bring me a coal; and you, master +steward, look well to the breakfast this morning. If the wind stands six +hours longer, I shall have the grief of parting with this good company, +and you the grief of knowing you will never set another meal before them. +These are moments to awaken sentiment, and yet I never knew an officer of +the pantry that did not begin to grin as he drew near his port." + +"It is usually a cheerful moment with every one, I believe, Captain +Truck," said Eve, "and most of all, should it be one of heartfelt +gratitude with us." + +"Ay, ay, my dear young lady; and yet I fancy Mr. Saunders will explain it +rather differently. Has no one sung out 'land,' yet, from aloft, Mr. +Leach? The sands of New Jersey ought to be visible before this." + +"We have seen the haze of the land since daylight, but not land itself." + +"Then, like old Columbus, the flowered doublet is mine--land, ho!" + +The mates and the people laughed, and looking ahead, they nodded to each +other, and the word "land" passed from mouth to mouth, with the +indifference with which mariners first see it in short passages. Not so +with the rest. They crowded together, and endeavoured to catch a glimpse +of the coveted shore, though, with the exception of Paul, neither could +perceive it. + +"We must call on you for assistance," said Eve, who now seldom addressed +the handsome young seaman without a flush on her own beautiful face; "for +we are all so luberly that none of us can see that which we so +earnestly desire." + +"Have the kindness to look over the stock of that anchor," said Paul, glad +of an excuse to place himself nearer to Eve; and you will discover an +object on the water." + +"I do," said Eve, "but is it not a vessel?" + +"It is; but a little to the right of that vessel, do you not perceive a +hazy object at some elevation above the sea?" + +"The cloud, you mean--a dim, ill-defined, dark body of vapour?" + +"So it may seem to you, but to me it appears to be the land. That is the +bluff-like termination of the celebrated high lands of Navesink. By +watching it for half an hour you will perceive its form and surface grow +gradually more distinct." + +Eve eagerly pointed out the place to Mademoiselle Vielville and her +father, and from that moment, for near an hour, most of the passengers +kept it steadily in view. As Paul had said, the blue of this hazy object +deepened; then its base became connected with the water, and it ceased to +resemble a cloud at all. In twenty more minutes, the faces and angles of +the hills became visible, and trees started out of their sides. In the end +a pair of twin lights were seen perched on the summit. + +But the Montauk edged away from these highlands, and shaped her course +towards a long low spit of sand, that lay several miles to the northward +of them. In this direction, fifty small sail were gathering into, or +diverging from, the pass, their high, gaunt-looking canvas resembling so +many church towers on the plains of Lombardy. These were coasters, +steering towards their several havens. Two or three outward-bound ships +were among them, holding their way in the direction of China, the Pacific +Ocean, or Europe. + +About nine, the Montauk met a large ship standing on bowline, with every +thing set that would draw, and heaping the water under her bows. A few +minutes after, Captain Truck, whose attention had been much diverted from +the surrounding objects by the care of his ship, came near the group of +passengers, and once more entered into conversation. + +"Here we are, my dear young lady," he cried, "within five leagues of Sandy +Hook, which lies hereaway, under our lee bow; as pretty a position as +heart could wish. The lank, hungry-looking schooner in-shore of us, is a +new vessel, and, as soon as she is done with the brig near her we shall +have her in chase, when there will be a good opportunity to get rid of all +our spare lies. This little fellow to leeward, who is clawing up towards +us, is the pilot; after whose arrival, my functions cease, and I shall +have little to do but to rattle off Saunders and Toast, and to feed +the pigs." + +"And who is this gentleman ahead of us, with his main-topsail to the mast, +his courses in the brails, and his helm a-lee?" asked Paul. + +"Some chap who has forgotten his knee-buckles, and has been obliged to +send a boat up to town to hunt for them," coolly rejoined the captain, +while he sought the focus of the glass, and levelled it at the vessel in +question. The look was long and steady, and twice Captain Truck lowered +the instrument to wipe the moisture from his own eye. At length, he called +out, to the amazement of every body, + +"Stand by to in all studding-sails, and to ware to the eastward. Be +lively, men, be lively! The eternal Foam, as I am a miserable sinner!" + +Paul laid a hand on the arm of Captain Truck, and stopped him, as the +other was about to spring towards the forecastle, with a view to aid and +encourage his people. + +"You forget that we have neither spars nor sails suited to a chase," said +the young man. "If we haul off to sea-ward on any tack we can try, the +corvette will be too much for us now, and excuse me if I say that a +different course will be advisable." + +The captain had learned to respect the opinion of Paul, and he took the +interference kindly. + +"What choice remains, but to run down into the very jaws of the lion," he +asked, "or to wear round, and stand to the eastward?" + +"We have two alternatives. We may pass unnoticed, the ship being so much +altered; or we may haul up on the tack we are on, and get into +shallow water." + +"He draws as little as this ship, sir, and would follow. There is no port +short of Egg Harbour, and into that I should be bashful about entering +with a vessel of this size; whereas, by running to the eastward, and +doubling Montauk, which would owe us shelter on account of our name, I +might get into the Sound, or New London, at need, and then claim the +sweepstakes, as having won the race." + +"This would be impossible, Captain Truck, allow me to say. Dead before the +wind, we cannot escape, for the land would fetch us up in a couple of +hours; to enter by Sandy Hook, if known, is impossible, on account of the +corvette, and, in a chase of a hundred and twenty miles, we should be +certain to be overtaken." + +"I fear you are right, my dear sir, I fear you are right. The +studding-sails are now in, and. I will haul up for the highlands, and +anchor under them, should it be necessary. We can then give this fellow +Vattel in large quantities, for I hardly think he will venture to seize us +while we have an anchor fast to good American ground." + +"How near dare you stand to the shore?" + +"Within a mile ahead of us; but to enter the Hook, the bar must be crossed +a league or two off." + +"The latter is unlucky; but, by all means, get the vessel in with the +land; so near as to leave no doubt as to our being in American waters." + +"We'll try him, sir, we'll try him. After having escaped the Arabs, the +deuce is in it, if we cannot weather upon John Bull! I beg your pardon, +Mr. Sharp; but this is a question that must be settled by some of the +niceties of the great authorities." + +The yards were now braced forward, and the ship was brought to the wind, +so as to head in a little to the northward of the bathing-houses at Long +Branch. But for this sudden change of course, the Montauk would have run +down dead upon the corvette, and possibly might have passed her +undetected, owing to the change made in her appearance by the spars of the +Dane. So long as she continued "bows on," standing towards them, not a +soul on board the Foam suspected her real character, though, now that she +acted so strangely, and offered her broadside to view, the truth became +known in an instant. The main-yard of the corvette was swung, and her +sails were filled on the same course as that on which the packet was +steering. The two vessels were about ten miles from the land, the Foam a +little ahead, but fully a league to leeward. The latter, however, soon +tacked and stood in-shore. This brought the vessels nearly abreast of each +other, the corvette a mile or more, dead to leeward, and distant now some +six miles from the coast. The great superiority of the corvette's sailing +was soon apparent to all on board both vessels, for she apparently went +two feet to the packet's one. + +The history of this meeting, so unexpected to Captain Truck, was very +simple. When the gale had abated, the corvette, which had received no +damage, hauled up along the African coast, keeping as near as possible to +the supposed track of the packet, and failing to fall in with her chase, +she had filled away for New York. On making the Hook she took a pilot, and +inquired if the Montauk had arrived. From the pilot she learned that the +vessel of which she was in quest had not yet made its appearance, and she +sent an officer up to the town to communicate with the British Consul. On +the return of this officer, the corvette stood away from the land, and +commenced cruising in the offing. For a week she had now been thus +occupied, it being her practice to run close in, in the morning, and to +remain hovering about the bar until near night, when she made sail for an +offing. When first seen from the Montauk, she had been lying-to, to take +in stores sent from the town, and to communicate with a news-boat. + +The passengers of the Montauk had just finished their breakfast, when the +mate reported that the ship was fast shoaling her water, and that it would +be necessary to alter the course in a few minutes, or to anchor. On +repairing to the deck, Captain Truck and his companions perceived the land +less than a mile ahead of them, and the corvette about half that distance +to the leeward, and nearly abeam. + +"That is a bold fellow," exclaimed the captain, "or he has got a Sandy +Hook pilot on board him." + +"Most probably the latter," said Paul: "he would scarcely be here on this +duty, and neglect so simple a precaution." + +"I think this would satisfy Mr. Vattel, sir," returned Captain Truck, as +the man in the chains sung out, 'and a half hree!' "Hard up with the helm, +and lay the yards square, Mr. Leach." + +"Now we shall soon know the virtue of Vattel," said John Effingham, "as +ten minutes will suffice to raise the question very fairly." + +The Foam put her helm down, and tacked beautifully to the south-east. As +soon as the Montauk, which vessel was now running along shore, keeping in +about four fathoms water, the sea being as smooth as a pond, was abeam, +the corvette wore round, and began to close with her chase, keeping on her +eastern, or outer board. + +"Were we an enemy, and a match for that sloop," said Paul, "this smooth +water and yard-arm attitude would make quick work." + +"Her captain is in the gangway, taking our measure," observed Mr. Truck: +"here is the glass; I wish you to examine his face, and tell me if you +think him a man with whom the law of nations will avail anything. See the +anchor clear, Mr. Leach, for I'm determined to bring up all standing, if +the gentleman intends to renew the old tricks of John Bull on our coast. +What do you make of him, Mr. Blunt?" + +Paul did not answer, but laying down the glass, he paced the deck rapidly +with the manner of one much disturbed. All observed this sudden change, +though no one presumed to comment on it. In the mean time the sloop-of-war +came up fast, and in a few minutes her larboard fore-yard-arm was within +twenty feet of the starboard main-yard-arm of the Montauk, the two vessels +running on parallel lines. The corvette now hauled up her fore-course, and +let her top-gallant sails settle on the caps, though a dead silence +reigned in her. + +"Give me the trumpet," said Captain Truck, stepping to the rail; "the +gentleman is about to give us a piece of his mind." + +The English captain, who was easily known by his two epaulettes, also held +a trumpet; but neither of the two commanders used his instrument, the +distance being sufficiently near for the natural voice, + +"I believe, sir," commenced the man-of-war's-man, "that I have the +pleasure to see Captain Truck, of the Montauk, London packet?" + +"Ay, ay; I'll warrant you he has my name alongside of John Doe and +Richard Roe," muttered Mr. Truck, "spell as carefully as it could be in a +primer.--I am Captain Truck, and this is the Montauk. May I ask the name +of your vessel, and your own, sir?" + +"This is his Britannic Majesty's ship, the Foam, Captain Ducie." + +"The Honourable Captain Ducie!" exclaimed Mr. Sharp. "I thought I +recognised the voice: I know him intimately well." + +"Will he stand Vattel?" anxiously demanded Mr. Truck. + +"Nay, as for that, I must refer you to himself." + +"You appear to have suffered in the gale," resumed Captain Ducie, whose +smile was very visible, as he thus addressed them like an old +acquaintance. "We fared better ourselves, for I believe we did not part a +ropeyarn." + +"The ship pitched every stick out of her," returned Captain Truck, "and +has given us the trouble of a new outfit." + +"In which you appear to have succeeded admirably. Your spars and sails are +a size or two too small; but every thing stands like a church." + +"Ay, ay, now we have got on our new clothes, we are not ashamed to be +seen." + +"May I ask if you have been in port to do all this?" + +"No, sir; picked them up along-shore." + +The Honourable Captain Ducie thought he was quizzed, and his manner became +a little more cold, though it still retained its gentlemanlike tone. + +"I wish much to see you in private, sir, on an affair of some magnitude, +and I greatly regret it was not in my power to speak you the night you +left Portsmouth. I am quite aware you are in your own waters, and I feel a +strong reluctance to retain your passengers when so near their port; but I +shall feel it as a particular favour if you will permit me to repair on +board for a few minutes." + +"With all my heart," cried Captain Truck: "if you will give me room, I +will back my main-topsail, but I wish to lay my head off shore. This +gentleman understands Vattel, and we shall have no trouble with him. Keep +the anchor clear Mr. Leach, for 'fair words butter no parsnips.' Still, +he is a gentleman;--and, Saunders, put a bottle of the old Madeira on the +cabin table." + +Captain Ducie now left the rigging in which he had stood, and the corvette +luffed off to the eastward, to give room to the packet, where she hove-to +with her fore-topsail aback. The Montauk followed, taking a position under +her lee. A quarter-boat was lowered, and in five minutes its oars were +tossed at the packet's lee-gangway, when the commander of the corvette +ascended the ship's side, followed by a middle-aged man in the dress of a +civilian, and a chubby-faced midshipman. + +No one could mistake Captain Ducie for anything but a gentleman. He was +handsome, well-formed, and about five-and-twenty. The bow he made to Eve, +with whose beauty and air he seemed instantly struck, would have become a +drawing-room; but he was too much of an officer to permit any further +attention to escape him until he had paid his respects to, and received +the compliments of, Captain Truck. He then turned to the ladies and Mr. +Effingham, and repeated his salutations. + +"I fear," he said, "my duty has made me the unwilling instrument of +prolonging your passage, for I believe few ladies love the ocean +sufficiently, easily to forgive those who lengthen its disagreeables." + +"We are old travellers, and know how to allow for the obligations of +duty," Mr. Effingham civilly answered. + +"That they do, sir," put in Captain Truck; "and it was never my good +fortune to have a more agreeable set of passengers. Mr. Effingham, the +Honourable Captain Ducie;--the Honourable Captain Ducie, Mr. +Effingham;--Mr. John Effingham, Mam'selle V.A.V." endeavouring always to +imitate Eve's pronunciation of the name;--"Mr. Dodge, the Honourable +Captain Ducie; the Honourable Captain Ducie, Mr. Dodge." + +The Honourable Captain Ducie and all the others, the editor of the Active +Inquirer excepted, smiled slightly, though they respectively bowed and +curtseyed; but Mr. Dodge, who conceived himself entitled to be formally +introduced to every one he met, and to know all he saw, whether introduced +or not, stepped forward promptly, and shook Mr. Ducie very cordially +by the hand. + +Captain Truck now turned in quest of some one else to introduce; Mr. +Sharp stood near the capstan, and Paul had retired as far aft as the +hurricane-house. + +"I am happy to see you in the Montauk," added Captain Truck, insensibly +leading the other towards the capstan, "and am sorry I had not the +satisfaction of meeting you in England. The Honourable Captain Ducie, Mr. +Sharp, Mr. Sharp, the Honourable Captain--" + +"George Templemore!" exclaimed the commander of the corvette, looking from +one to the other. + +"Charles Ducie!" exclaimed the _soi-disant_ Mr. Sharp. + +"Here then is an end of part of my hopes, and we have been on a wrong +scent the whole time." + +"Perhaps not, Ducie: explain yourself." + +"You must have perceived my endeavours to speak you, from the moment you +sailed?" + +"To _speak_ us!" cried Captain Truck. "Yes, sir, we _did_ observe your +endeavours to _speak_ us." + +"It was because I was given to understand that one _calling_ himself Sir +George Templemore, an impostor, however, had taken passage in this ship; +and here I find that we have been misled, by the real Sir George +Templemore's having chosen to come this way instead of coming by the +Liverpool ship. So much for your confounded fashionable caprices, +Templemore, which never lets you know in the morning whether you are to +shoot yourself or to get married before night." + +"And is this gentleman Sir George Templemore?" pithily demanded Captain +Truck. + +"For that I can vouch, on the knowledge of my whole life." + +"And we know this to be true, and have known it since the day we sailed," +observed Mr. Effingham. + +Captain Truck was accustomed to passengers under false names, but never +before had he been so completely mystified. + +"And pray, sir," he inquired of the baronet, "are you a member of +Parliament?" + +"I have that honour." + +"And Templemore Hall is your residence, and you have come out to look at +the Canadas?" + +"I am the owner of Templemore Hall, and hope to look at the Canadas +before I return." + +"And," turning to Captain Ducie, "you sailed in quest of another Sir +George Templemore--a false one?" + +"That is a part of my errand," returned Captain Ducie, smiling. + +"Nothing else?--you are certain, sir, that this is the whole of your +errand?" + +"I confess to another motive," rejoined the other, scarce knowing how to +take Captain Truck's question; "but this one will suffice for the +present, I hope." + +"This business requires frankness. I mean nothing disrespectful; but I am +in American waters, and should be sorry, after all, to be obliged to throw +myself on Vattel." + +"Let me act as mediator," interrupted Sir George Templemore. "Some one has +been a defaulter, Ducie; is it not so?" + +"This is the simple truth; an unfortunate, but silly young man, of the +name of Sandon. He was intrusted with a large sum of the public money, and +has absconded with quite forty thousand pounds." + +"And this person, you fancy, did me the honour to travel under my name?" + +"Of that we are certain. Mr. Green here," motioning to the civilian, +"comes from the same office, and traced the delinquent, under your name, +some distance on the Portsmouth road. When we heard that a Sir George +Templemore had actually embarked in the Montauk, the admiral made no +scruple in sending me after the packet. This has been an unlucky mistake +for me, as it would have been a feather in the cap of so young a commander +to catch the rogue." + +"You may choose your feather, sir," returned Captain Truck, "for you will +have a right to wear it. The unfortunate young man you seek is, out of +question, in this ship." + +Captain Truck now explained that there was a person below who had been +known to him as Sir George Templemore, and who, doubtless, was the unhappy +delinquent sought. But Captain Ducie did not betray the attention or +satisfaction that one would have expected from this information, his eye +being riveted on Paul, who stood beneath the hurricane-house. When the +latter saw that he attracted attention he advanced slowly, even +reluctantly, upon the quarter-deck. The meeting between these two +gentlemen was embarrassed, though each maintained his self-possession. + +"Mr. Powis, I believe?" said the officer bowing haughtily + +"Captain Ducie, if I am not mistaken?" returned the other, lifting his hat +steadily, though his face became flushed. + +The manner of the two, however, was but little noticed at the moment, +though all heard the words. Captain Truck drew a long "whe--e--e--w!" for +this was rather more than even he was accustomed to, in the way of +masquerades. His eye was on the two gentlemen as they walked aft together, +and alone, when he felt a touch upon his arm. It was the little hand of +Eve, between whom and the old seaman there existed a good deal of +trifling, blended with the most entire good-will. The young lady laughed +with her sweet eyes, shook her fair curls, and said mockingly, + +"Mr. Sharp, Mr. Blunt; Mr. Blunt, Mr. Sharp!" + +"And were you in the secret all this time, my dear young lady?" + +"Every minute of it; from the buoys of Portsmouth to this very spot." + +"I shall be obliged to introduce my passengers all over again!" + +"Certainly; and I would recommend that each should show a certificate of +baptism, or a passport, before you announce his or her name." + +"_You_ are, at least, the beautiful Miss Effingham, my dear young lady?" + +"I'll not vouch for that, even," said Eve, blushing and laughing. + +"That is Mr. John Effingham, I hope!" + +"For that I _can_ vouch. There are not _two_ cousin Jacks on earth." + +"I wish I knew what the other business of this gentleman is! He seems +amicably disposed, except as regards Mr. Blunt. They looked coldly and +suspiciously at each other." + +Eve thought so too, and she lost all her desire for pleasantry. Just at +this moment Captain Ducie quitted his companion, both touching their hats +distantly, and returned to the group he had so unceremoniously left a few +minutes before. + +"I believe, Captain Truck, you now know my errand," he said, "and can say +whether you will consent to my examining the person whom you have +mentioned?" + +"I know _one_ of your errands, sir; you spoke of having _two_." + +"Both will find their completion in this ship, with your permission." + +"Permission! That sounds well, at least, my dear young lady. Permit me to +inquire, Captain Ducie, has either of your errands the flavour of tobacco +about it?" + +The young man looked surprised, and he began to suspect another +mystification. + +"The question is so singular that it is not very intelligible." + +"I wish to know, Captain Ducie, if you have anything to say to this ship +in the way of smuggling?" + +"Certainly not. I am not a custom-house officer, sir, nor on the revenue +duty; and I had supposed this vessel a regular packet, whose interest is +too plain to enter into such a pursuit." + +"You have supposed nothing but the truth, sir; though we cannot always +answer for the honesty or discretion of our people. A single pound of +tobacco might forfeit this noble ship; and, observing the perseverance +with which you have chased me, I was afraid all was not right with +the excise." + +"You have had a needless alarm then, for my two objects in coming to +America are completely answered by meeting with Mr. Powis and the Mr. +Sandon, who, I have been given to understand, is in his state-room below." + +The party looked at each other, but nothing was said. + +"Such being the facts, Captain Ducie, I beg to offer you every facility so +far as the hospitality of my ship is concerned." + +"You will permit us to have an interview with Mr. Sandon?" + +"Beyond a doubt. I see, sir, you have read Vattel, and understand the +rights of neutrals, or of independent nations. As this interview most +probably will be interesting, you may desire to have it held in private, +and a state-room will be too small for the purpose. My dear young lady, +will you have the complaisance to lend us your cabin for half an hour?" + +Eve bowed assent, and Captain Truck then invited the two Englishmen below. + +"My presence at this interview is of little moment," observed Captain +Ducie; "Mr. Green is master of the whole affair, and I have a matter of +importance to arrange with Mr. Powis. If one or two of you gentlemen will +have the kindess to be present, and witnesses of what passes between Mr. +Sandon and Mr. Green, it would be a great favour. Templemore, I may claim +this of you?" + +"With all my heart, though it is an unpleasant office to see guilt +exposed. Should I presume too much by asking Mr. John Effingham to be of +our party?" + +"I was about to make the same request," put in the captain. "We shall then +be two Englishmen and two Yankees,--if Mr. John Effingham will allow me so +to style him?" + +"Until we get within the Hook, Captain Truck, I am a Yankee; once _in_ the +country, I belong to the Middle States, if you will allow me the favour +to choose." + +The last speaker was stopped by a nudge from Captain Truck, who seized an +opportunity to whisper, + +"Make no such distinction between outside and inside, I beg of you, my +dear sir. I hold that the ship is, at this identical moment, in the United +States of America in a positive sense, as well as by a legal fiction; and +I think Vattel will bear me out in it." + +"Let it pass for that, then. I will be present at your interview with the +fugitive. If the case is not clear against him, he shall be protected." + +Things were now soon arranged; it being decided that Mr. Green, who +belonged to one of the English offices, accompanied by the gentlemen just +named, should descend to the cabin of Miss Effingham, in order to receive +the delinquent; while Captain Ducie should have his interview with Paul +Powis in the state-room of the latter. + +The first party went below immediately; but Captain Ducie remained on deck +a minute or two to give an order to the midshipman of his boat, who +immediately quitted the Montauk, and pulled to the corvette. During this +brief delay Paul approached the ladies, to whom he spoke with a forced +indifference, though it was not possible to avoid seeing his concern. + +His servant, too, was observed watching his movements with great interest; +and when the two gentlemen went below in company, the man shrugged his +shoulders, and actually held up his hands, as one is wont to do at the +occurrence of any surprising or distressing circumstance. + + + + +Chapter XXXIII. + + + + Norfolk, for thee remains a heavy doom, + Which I with some unwillingness pronounce. + + SHAKSPEARE. + + +The history of the unfortunate young man, who, after escaping all the +hazards and adventures of the passage was now so unexpectedly overtaken as +he was about to reach what he fancied an asylum, was no more than one of +those common-place tissue of events that lead, through vanity and +weakness, to crime. His father had held an office under the British +government. Marrying late, and leaving a son and daughter just issuing +into life at the time of his decease, the situation he had himself filled +had been given to the first, out of respect to the unwearied toil of a +faithful servant. + +The young man was one of those who, without principles or high motives, +live only for vanity. Of prominent vices he had none, for there were no +salient points in his character on which to hang any quality of +sufficient boldness to encourage crime of that nature. Perhaps he owed his +ruin to the circumstance that he had a tolerable person, and was six feet +high, as much as to any one other thing. His father had been a short, +solid, square-built little man, whose ambition never towered above his +stature, and who, having entered fairly on the path of industry and +integrity early in life, had sedulously persevered in it to the end. Not +so with the son. He read so much about aristocratic stature, aristocratic +ears, aristocratic hands, aristocratic feet, and aristocratic air, that he +was delighted to find that in all these high qualities he was not easily +to be distinguished from most of the young men of rank he occasionally saw +riding in the parks, or met in the streets, and, though he very well knew +he was not a lord, he began to fancy it a happiness to be thought one by +strangers, for an hour or two in a week. + +His passion for trifles and toys was inherent, and it had been increased +by reading two or three caricatures of fashionable men in the novels of +the day, until his happiness was chiefly centered in its indulgence. This +was an expensive foible; and its gratification ere long exhausted his +legitimate means. One or two trifling and undetected peculations favoured +his folly, until a large sum happening to lie at his sole mercy for a week +or two, he made such an inroad on it as compelled a flight. Having made up +his mind to quit England, he thought it would be as easy to escape with +forty thousand pounds as with the few hundreds he had already appropriated +to himself. This capital mistake was the cause of his destruction; for the +magnitude of the sum induced the government to take unusual steps to +recover it, and was the true cause of its having despatched the cruiser in +chase of the Montauk. + +The Mr. Green who had been sent to identify the fugitive, was a cold, +methodical man, every way resembling the delinquent's father, whose +office-companion he had been, and in whose track of undeviating attention +to business and negative honesty he had faithfully followed. He felt the +peculation, or robbery, for it scarce deserved a milder term, to be a +reproach on the corps to which he belonged, besides leaving a stigma on +the name of one to whom he had himself looked up as to a model for his own +imitation and government. It will readily be supposed, therefore, that +this person was not prepared to meet the delinquent in a very +forgiving mood. + +"Saunders," said Captain Truck in the stern tone with which he often +hailed a-top, and which implied that instant obedience was a condition of +his forbearance, "go to the state-room of the person who has _called_ +himself Sir George Templemore--give him my compliments--be very +particular, Mr. Saunders--and say Captain Truck's compliments, and then +tell him I expect the honour of his company in this cabin--the _honour_ of +his company, remember, in this cabin. If that don't bring him out of his +state-room, I'll contrive something that shall." + +The steward turned up the white of his eyes, shrugged his shoulders, and +proceeded forthwith on the errand. He found time, however, to stop in the +pantry, and to inform Toast that their suspicions were at least in +part true. + +"This elucidates the circumstance of his having no attendant with him, +like other gentlemen on board, and a wariety of other incidents, that much +needed dewelopement. Mr. Blunt, I do collect from a few hints on deck, +turns out to be a Mr. Powis, a much genteeler name; and as they spoke to +some one in the ladies' cabin as 'Sir George,' I should not be overcome +with astonishment should Mr. Sharp actually eventuate as the real +baronite." + +There was time for no more, and Saunders proceeded to summon the +delinquent. + +"This is the most unpleasant part of the duty of a packet-master between +England and America," continued Captain Truck, as soon as Saunders was out +of sight. "Scarce a ship sails that it has not some runaway or other, +either in the steerage or in the cabins, and we are often called on to aid +the civil authorities on both sides of the water." + +"America seems to be a favourite country with our English rogues," +observed the office-man, drily. "This is the third that has gone from our +own department within as many years." + +"Your department appears to be fruitful of such characters, sir," +returned Captain Truck, pretty much in the spirit in which the first +remark had been given. + +Mr. Green was as thorough-going an Englishman as any of his class in the +island. Methodical, plodding, industrious, and regular in all his habits, +he was honest by rule, and had no leisure or inclination for any other +opinions than those which were obtained with the smallest effort. In +consequence of the limited sphere in which he dwelt, in a moral sense at +least, he was a mass of the prejudices that were most prevalent at the +period when he first obtained his notions. His hatred of France was +unconquerable, for he had early learned to consider her as the fast enemy +of England; and as to America, he deemed her to be the general asylum of +all the rogues of his own country--the possession of a people who had +rebelled against their king because the restraints of law were inherently +disagreeable to them. This opinion he had no more wish to proclaim than he +felt a desire to go up and down declaring that Satan was the father of +sin; but the fact in the one case was just as well established in his mind +as in the other. If he occasionally betrayed the existence of these +sentiments, it was as a man coughs; not because he particularly wishes to +cough, but because he cannot help it. Finding the subject so naturally +introduced, therefore, it is no wonder if some of his peculiar notions +escaped him in the short dialogue that followed. + +"We have our share of bad men, I presume, sir," he rejoined to the thrust +of Captain Truck; "but the thing that has most attracted comment with us, +is the fact that they all go to America." + +"And we receive our share of rogues, I presume, sir; and it is the subject +of animadversion with _us_ that they all come from England." + +Mr. Green did not feel the force of this retort; but he wiped his +spectacles as he quietly composed his features into look of +dignified gravity. + +"Some of your most considerable men in America, I believe, sir," he +continued, "have been Englishmen, who preferred a residence in the +colonies to a residence at home." + +"I never heard of them," returned the captain; "will you have the goodness +to name just one?" + +"Why, to begin, there was your Washington. I have often heard my father +say that he went to school with him in Warwickshire, and that he was +thought anything but very clever, too, while he lived in England." + +"You perceive, then, that we made something of him when we got him over on +this side; for he turned out in the end to be a very decent and +respectable sort of person. Judging from the language of some of your +prints, sir, I should suppose that King William enjoyed the reputation of +being a respectable man in your country?" + +Although startled to hear his sovereign spoken of in this irreverent +manner, Mr. Green answered promptly,---- + +"He is a king, sir, and comports himself as a king." + +"And all the better, I dare say, for the thrashing he got when a +youngster, from the Vermont tailor." + +Now Captain Truck quite as religiously believed in this vulgar tale +concerning the prince in question, as Mr. Green believed that Washington +had commenced his career as one no better than he should be, or as +implicitly as Mr. Steadfast Dodge gave credit to the ridiculous history of +the schoolmaster of Haddonfield; all three of the legends belonging to the +same high class of historical truths. + +Sir George Templemore looked with surprise at John Effingham, who gravely +remarked,---- + +"Elegant extracts, sir, from the vulgar rumours of two great nations. We +deal largely in these legends, and you are not quite guiltless of them. I +dare say, now, if you would be frank, that you yourself have not always +been deaf to the reports against America." + +"You surely do not imagine that I am so ignorant of the career of +Washington?" + +"Of that I fully acquit you; nor do I exactly suppose that your present +monarch was flogged by a tailor in Vermont, or that Louis Phillipe kept +school in New Jersey. Our position in the world raises us beyond these +elegancies; but do you not fancy some hard things of America, more +especially concerning her disposition to harbour rogues, if they come with +full pockets." + +The baronet laughed, but he coloured. He wished to be liberal, for he well +knew that liberality distinguishes the man of the world, and was an +indispensable requisite for a gentleman; but it is very hard for an +Englishman to manifest true liberality towards the _ci-devant_ colonies, +and this he felt in the whole of his moral system, notwithstanding every +effort to the contrary. + +"I will confess that case of Stephenson made an unfavourable impression in +England," he said with some reluctance. + +"You mean the absconding member of Parliament," returned John Effingham, +with emphasis on the four last words. "You cannot mean to reproach us with +his selection of a place of refuge; for he was picked up at sea by a +foreign ship that was accidentally bound to America." + +"Certainly not with that circumstance, which, as you say, was purely an +accident. But was there not something extraordinary in his liberation +from arrest!" + +"Sir George Templemore, there are few Englishmen with whom I would dwell +an instant on this subject," said John Effingham gravely; "but you are one +of those who have taught me to respect you, and I feel a strong regret +whenever I trace any of these mistaken notions in a man of your really +generous disposition. A moment's reflection will show you that no +civilized society could exist with the disposition you hint at; and as for +the particular case you have mentioned, the man did not bring money of any +moment with him, and was liberated from arrest on a principle common to +all law, where law is stronger than political power, and which principle +we derive directly from Great Britain. Depend on it, so far from there +being a desire to receive rich rogues in America from other countries, +there is a growing indisposition to receive emigrants at all; for their +number is getting to be inconvenient to the native population." + +"Why does not America pass reciprocal laws with us then, for the mutual +delivery of criminals." + +"One insuperable objection to such a reciprocity arises from the nature of +our government, as a confederation, since there is no identity in our own +criminal jurisprudence: but a chief reason is the exceedingly artificial +condition of your society, which is the very opposite of our own, and +indisposes the American to visit trifling crimes with so heavy +punishments. The American, who has a voice in this matter, you will +remember, is not prepared to hang a half-starved wretch for a theft, or to +send a man to Botany Bay for poaching. The facility with which men obtain +a livelihood in America has hitherto converted most rogues into +comparatively honest men when they get there; though I think the day is +near, now your own police is so much improved, when we shall find it +necessary in self-defence to change our policy. The common language, as I +am told, induces many knaves, who now find England too hot to hold them, +to migrate to America." + +"Captain Ducie is anxious to know whether Mr. Truck will quietly permit +this criminal to be transferred to the Foam." + +"I do not think he will permit it at all without being overpowered, if the +request be urged in any manner as a right. In that case, he will very +properly think that the maintenance of his national character is of more +importance than the escape of a dozen rogues. _You_ may put a harsh +construction on his course; but _I_ shall think him right in resisting an +unjust and an illegal invasion of his rights. I had thought Captain Ducie, +however, more peaceably disposed from what has passed." + +"Perhaps I have expressed myself too strongly. I know he would wish to +take back the criminal; but I scarce think that he meditates more than +persuasion. Ducie is a fine fellow, and every way a gentleman." + +"He appears to have found an acquaintance in our young friend, Powis." + +"The meeting between these two gentlemen has surprised me, for it can +scarcely be termed amicable: and yet it seems to occupy more of Ducie's +thoughts just now than the affair of the runaway." + +Both now became silent and thoughtful, for John Effingham had too many +unpleasant suspicions to wish to speak, and the baronet was too generous +to suggest a doubt concerning one whom he felt to be his rival, and whom, +in truth, he had begun sincerely to respect, as well as to like. In the +mean time, a discussion, which had gradually been growing more dogged and +sullen on the part of Mr. Green and more biting and caustic on that of +Captain Truck, was suddenly terminated by the reluctant and tardy +appearance of Mr. Sandon. + +Guilt, that powerful vindicator of the justice of Providence, as it proves +the existence of the inward monitor, conscience, was painfully impressed +on a countenance that, in general, expressed little beyond a vacant +vanity. Although of a tall and athletic person, his limbs trembled in a +way to refuse to support him, and when he saw the well-known face of Mr. +Green, the unhappy young man sank into a seat from a real inability to +stand. The other regarded him sternly through his spectacles, for more +than a minute. + +"This is a melancholy picture, Henry Sandon!" he at length said. "I am, at +least, glad that you do not affect to brazen out your crime, but that you +show a proper sense of its enormity. What would your upright and +painstaking father have said, had he lived to see his only son in this +situation?" + +"He is dead!" returned the young man, hoarsely. "He is dead, and never can +know any thing about it." + +The unhappy delinquent experienced a sense of frightful pleasure as he +uttered these words. + +"It is true, he is dead; but there are others to suffer by your +misconduct. Your innocent sister is living, and feels all your disgrace." + +"She will marry Jones, and forget it all. I gave her a thousand pounds, +and she is married before this." + +"In that you are mistaken. She has returned the money, for she is, indeed, +John Sandon's daughter, and Mr. Jones refuses to marry the sister of +a thief." + +The delinquent was vain and unreflecting, rather than selfish, and he had +a natural attachment to his sister, the only other child of his parents. +The blow, therefore, fell on his conscience with double force, coming from +this quarter. + +"Julia can compel him to marry her," said the startled brother; "he is +bound by a solemn engagement, and the law will protect her." + +"No law can make a man marry against his will, and your poor unfortunate +sister is too tender of your feelings whatever you may havee been of hers, +to wish to give Mr. Jones an opportunity of defending himself by exposing +your crime. But this is wasting words, Mr. Sandon, for I am wanted in the +office, where I have left things in the hands of an inexperienced +substitute. Of course you are not prepared to defend an act, that your +conscience must tell you is inexcusable." + +"I am afraid, Mr. Green, I have been a little thoughtless or, perhaps, it +would be better to say, unlucky." + +Mr. Sandon had fallen into the general and delusive mistake of those who +err, in supposing himself unfortunate rather than criminal. With an +ingenuity, that, exercised in a better cause, would have made him a +respectable man, he had been endeavouring to excuse his crime to himself, +on various pleas of necessity, and he had even got at last to justify his +act, by fancying that some trifling wrong he had received, or which he +fancied he had received in the settlement of his own private account, in +some measure excused his fraud, although his own denied claim amounted +merely to the sum of twenty pounds, and that which he had taken was so +large. It was under the influence of such feelings that he made the answer +just given. + +"A little thoughtless! unlucky! And is this the way Henry Sandon, that you +name a crime that might almost raise your upright father from his grave? +But I wilt speak no more of feelings that you do not seem to understand. +You confess to have taken forty thousand pounds of the public money, to +which you have no right or claim?" + +"I certainly have in my hands some money, which I do not deny belongs to +government." + +"It is well; and here is my authority to receive it from you. Gentlemen, +will you have the kindness to see that my powers are regular and +authentic?" + +John Effingham and others cast their eyes over the papers, which seemed to +be in rule, and they said as much. + +"Now, sir," resumed Mr. Green, "in the first place, I demand the bills you +received in London for this money, and your regular endorsement in +my favour." + +The culprit appeared to have made up his mind to this demand, and, with +the same recklessness with which he had appropriated the money to his own +use, he was now ready to restore it, without proposing a condition for +his own safety The bills were in his pocket, and seating himself at a +table, he made the required endorsement, and handed them to Mr Green. + +"Here are bills for thirty-eight thousand pounds," said that methodical +person, after he had examined the drafts, one by one, and counted their +amount; "and you are known to have taken forty thousand. I demand the +remainder." + +"Would you leave me in a strange country penniless?" exclaimed the +culprit, in a tone of reproach. + +"Strange country! penniless!" repeated Mr. Green, looking over his +spectacles, first at Mr. Truck, and then at Mr. Sandon. "That to which you +have no claim must be restored, though it strip you to the skin. Every +pound you have belongs to the public, and to no one else." + +"Your pardon, Mr. Green, and green enough you are, if you lay down that +doctrine," interrupted Captain Truck, "in which neither Vattel, nor the +revised statutes will bear you out. A passenger cannot remove his effects +from a ship, until his passage be first paid." + +"That, sir, I dispute, in a question affecting the king's revenues. The +claims of government precede all others, and the money that has once +belonged to the crown, and which has not been regularly paid away by the +crown, is the crown's still." + +"Crowns and coronations! Perhaps, Master Green, you think you are in +Somerset House at this present speaking?" + +Now Mr. Green was so completely a star of a confined orbit, that his ideas +seldom described a tangent to their ordinary revolutions. He was so much +accustomed to hear of England ruling colonies, the East and the West, +Canada, the Cape, and New South Wales, that it was not an easy matter for +him to conceive himself to be without the influence of the British laws. +Had he quitted home with the intention to emigrate, or even to travel, it +is probable that his mind would have kept a more equal pace with his body, +but summoned in haste from his desk, and with the office spectacles on his +nose, it is not so much a matter of wonder that he hardly realized the +truths of his present situation. The man-of-war, in which everything was +His Majesty's, sustained this feeling, and it was too sudden a change to +expect such a man to abandon all his most cherished notions at a moment's +warning. The irreverent exclamation of Captain Truck shocked him, and he +did not fail to show as much by the disgust pictured in his countenance. + +"I am in one of His Majesty's packets, sir, I presume, where, you will +permit me to say, a greater deference for the high ceremonies of the +kingdom ought to be found." + +"This would make even old Joe Bunk laugh. You are in a New York liner, +sir, over which no majesty has any control, but their majesties John +Griswold and Co. Why, my good sir, the sea has unsettled your brain!" + +Now, Mr. Green did know that the United States of America had obtained +their independence, but the whole proceeding was so mixed up with +rebellion, and a French alliance, in his mind, that he always doubted +whether the new republic had a legal existence at all, and he had been +heard to express his surprise that the twelve judges had not long since +decided this state of things to be unconstitutional, and overturned the +American government by _mandamus._ His disgust increased, accordingly, as +Captain Truck's irreverence manifested itself in stronger terms, and there +was great danger that the harmony, which had hitherto prevailed between +the parties, would be brought to a violent termination. + +"The respect for the crown in a truly loyal subject, sir," Mr. Green +returned sharply, "is not to be unsettled by the sea; not in my case, at +least, whatever it might have been, in your own." + +"My own! why, the devil, sir, do you take me for a _subject_?" + +"A truant one, I fear, though you may have been born in London itself." + +"Why, my dear sir," said Captain Truck, taking the other by a button, as +if he pitied his hallucination, "you don't breed such men in London. I +came from the river, which never had a subject in it, or any other +majesty, than that of the Saybrook Platform. I begin to understand you, +at last: you are one of those well-meaning men who fancy the earth but a +casing to the island of Great Britain. Well, I suppose it is more the +fault of your education than of your nature, and one must overlook the +mistake. May I ask what is your farther wish, in reference to this unhappy +young man?" + +"He must refund every pound of the public money that remains in his +possession." + +"That is just, and I say yea." + +"And all who have received from him any portion of this money, under +whatever pretences, must restore it to the crown." + +"My good sir, you can have no notion of the quantity of champaigne and +other good things this unfortunate young man has consumed in this ship. +Although but a sham baronet, he has fared like a real lord; and you cannot +have the heart to exact from the owners the keeping of your rogues." + +"Government makes no distinction, sir, and always claims its own." + +"Nay, Mr. Green," interrupted Sir George Templemore, "I much question if +government would assert a right to money that a peculator or a defaulter +fairly spends, even in England; much less does it seem to me it can +pretend to the few pounds that Captain Truck has lawfully earned." + +"The money has not been lawfully earned, sir. It is contrary to law to +assist a felon to quit the kingdom, and I am not certain there are no +penalties for that act alone; and as for the public money, it can never +legally quit the Treasury without the proper office forms." + +"My dear Sir George," put in the captain, "leave me to settle this with +Mr. Green, who, no doubt, is authorized to give a receipt in full. What is +to be done with the delinquent, sir, now that you are in possession of +his money?" + +"Of course he will be carried back in the Foam, and, I mourn to be +compelled to say, that he must be left in the hands of the law." + +"What, with or without my permission?" + +Mr. Green stared, for his mind was precisely one of those which would +conceive it to be a high act of audacity in a _ci-devant_ colonist to +claim the rights of an old country, even did he really understand the +legality and completeness of the separation. + +"He has committed forgery, sir, to conceal his peculation. It is an awful +crime; but they that commit it cannot hope to escape the consequences." + +"Miserable impostor! is this true!" Captain Truck sternly demanded of the +trembling culprit. + +"He calls an oversight forgery, sir," returned the latter huskily. "I have +done nothing to affect my life or liberty." + +At this moment Captain Ducie, accompanied by Paul Powis, entered the +cabin, their faces flushed, and their manner to each other a little +disturbed, though it was formally courteous. At the same instant, Mr. +Dodge, who had been dying to be present at the secret conference, watched +his opportunity to slip in also. + +"I am glad you have come, sir," said Mr. Green, "for here may be occasion +for the services of his Majesty's officers. Mr. Sandon has given up these +bills, but two thousand pounds remain unaccounted for, and I have traced +thirty-five, quite clearly, to the master of this ship, who has received +it in the way of passage-money." + +"Yes, sir, the fact is as plain as the highlands of Navesink from the +deck," drily added Captain Truck. + +"One thousand of this money has been returned by the defaulter's sister," +observed Captain Ducie. + +"Very true, sir; I had forgotten to give him credit for that." + +"The remainder has probably been wasted in those silly trifles of which +you have told me the unhappy man was so fond, and for which he has +bartered respectability and peace of mind. As for the money paid this ship +for the passage, it has been fairly earned, nor do I know that government +has any power to reclaim it." + +Mr. Green heard this opinion with still greater disgust than he had felt +towards the language of Captain Truck; nor could he very well prevent his +feelings escaping, him in words. + +"We truly live in perilous times," he muttered, speaking more +particularly to John Effingham, out of respect to his appearance, "when +the scions of the nobility entertain notions so loose. We have vainly +fancied in England that the enormities of the French revolution were +neutralized by Billy Pitt; but, sir, we still live in perilous times, for +the disease has fairly reached the higher classes. I hear that designs are +seriously entertained against the wigs of the judges and bishops, and the +next thing will be the throne! All our venerable institutions are +in danger." + +"I should think the throne might indeed be in danger, sir," returned John +Effingham, gravely, "if it reposes on wigs." + +"It is my duty, Captain Truck," continued Captain Ducie, who was a man so +very different from his associate that he scarcely seemed to belong to the +same species, "to request you will deliver to us the person of the +culprit, with his effects, when we can relieve you and your passengers +from the pain of witnessing any more of this unpleasant scene." + +At the sound of the delivery of his person, all the danger of his +situation rushed forcibly before the imagination of the culprit. His face +flushed and became pale, and his legs refused to support him, though he +made a desperate effort to rise. + +After an instant of silence, he turned to the commander of the corvette, +and, in piteous accents, appealed to him for mercy. + +"I have been punished severely already," he continued, as his voice +returned, "for the savage Arabs robbed me of everything I had of any +value. These gentlemen know that they took my dressing-case, several other +curious and valuable articles for the toilet, and nearly all my clothes." + +"This man is scarcely a responsible being," said John Effingham, "for a +childish vanity supplies the place of principles, self-respect, and duty. +With a sister scorned on account of his crimes, conviction beyond denial, +and a dread punishment staring him in the face, his thoughts still run +on trifles." + +Captain Ducie gave a look of pity at the miserable young man, and, by his +countenance, it was plain to see that he felt no relish for his duty. +Still he felt himself bound to urge on Captain Truck a compliance with +his request. The master of the packet was a good deal divided by an +inherent dislike of seeming to yield anything to a British naval officer, +a class of men whom he learned in early life most heartily to dislike; his +kind feelings towards this particular specimen of the class; a reluctance +to give a man up to a probable death, or some other severe punishment; and +a distaste to being thought desirous of harbouring a rogue. In this +dilemma, therefore, he addressed himself to John Effingham for counsel. + +"I should be pleased to hear your opinion, sir, on this matter," he said, +looking at the gentleman just named, "for I own myself to be in a +category. Ought we, or not, to deliver up the culprit?" + +"_Fiat justitia ruat coelum_" answered John Effingham, who never fancied +any one could be ignorant of the meaning of these familiar words. + +"That I believe indeed to be Vattel," said Captain Truck; "but exceptions +alter rules. This young man has some claims on us on account of his +conduct when in front of the Arabs." + +"He fought for himself, sir, and has the merit of preferring liberty in a +ship to slavery in the desert." + +"I think with Mr. John Effingham," observed Mr. Dodge, "and can see no +redeeming quality in his conduct on that occasion. He did what we all did, +or, as Mr. John Effingham has so pithily expressed it, he preferred +liberty in our company to being an Arab's slave." + +"You will not deliver me up, Captain Truck!" exclaimed the delinquent. +"They will hang me, if once in their power. Oh I you will not have the +heart to let them hang me!" + +Captain Truck was startled at this appeal, but he sternly reminded the +culprit that it was too late to remember the punishment, when the crime +was committed. + +"Never fear, Mr. Sandon," said the office-man with a sneer; "these +gentlemen will take you to New York, for the sake of the thousand pounds, +if they can. A rogue is pretty certain of a kind reception in America, +I hear." + +"Then, sir," exclaimed Captain Truck, "you had better go in with us." + +"Mr Green, Mr. Green, this is indiscreet, to call it by no worse a term," +interposed Captain Ducie, who, while he was not free from a good deal of +the prejudices of his companion, was infinitely better bred, and more in +the habit of commanding himself. + +"Mr. John Effingham, you have heard this wanton insult," continued Captain +Truck, suppressing his wrath as well as he could: "in what mariner ought +it to be resented?" + +"Command the offender to quit your ship instantly," said John Effingham +firmly. + +Captain Ducie started, and his face flushed; but disregarding him +altogether, Captain Truck walked deliberately up to Mr. Green, and ordered +him to go into the corvette's boat. + +"I shall allow of neither parley nor delay," added the exasperated old +seaman, struggling to appear cool and dignified, though his vocation was +little for the latter. "Do me the favour, sir, to permit me to see you +into your boat, sir. Saunders, go on deck, and tell Mr. Leach to have the +side manned--with _three_ side boys, Saunders;--and now I ask it as the +greatest possible favour, that you will walk on deck with me, or--or--damn +me, but I'll drag you there, neck and heels!" + +It was too much for Captain Truck to seem calm when he was in a towering +passion, and the outbreak at the close of this speech was accompanied by a +gesture with a hand which was open, it is true, but from which none of the +arts of his more polite days could erase the knobs and hue that had been +acquired in early life. + +"This is strong language, sir, to use to a British officer, under the guns +of a British cruiser," exclaimed the commander of the corvette. + +"And his was strong language to use to a man in his own country and in his +own ship. To you, Captain Ducie I have nothing to say, unless it be to say +you are welcome. But your companion has indulged in a coarse insult on my +country, and damn me if I submit to it, if I never see St. Catherine's +Docks again. I had too much of this when a young man, to wish to find it +repeated while an old one." + +Captain Ducie bit his lip, and he looked exceedingly vexed. Although he +had himself blindly imbibed the notion that America would gladly receive +the devil himself if he came with a full pocket, he was shocked with the +coarseness that would throw such an innuendo into the very faces of the +people of the country. On the other hand, his pride as an officer was hurt +at the menace of Captain Truck, and all the former harmony of the scene +was threatened with a sudden termination. Captain Ducie had been struck +with the gentlemanlike appearance of both the Effinghams, to say nothing +of Eve, the instant his foot touched the deck of the Montauk, and he now +turned with a manner of reproach to John Effingham, and said, + +"Surely, sir, _you_ cannot sustain Mr. Truck in his extraordinary +conduct!" + +"You will pardon me if I say I do. The man has been permitted to remain +longer in the ship than I would have suffered." + +"And, Mr. Powis, what is your opinion?" + +"I fear," said Paul, smiling coldly, "that I should have knocked him down +on the spot." + +"Templemore, are you, too, of this way of thinking?" + +"I fear the speech of Mr. Green has been without sufficient thought. On +reflection he will recall it." + +But Mr. Green would sooner part with life than part with a prejudice, and +he shook his head in the negative in a way to show that his mind was +made up. + +"This is trifling," added Captain Truck. "Saunders, go on deck, and tell +Mr. Leach to send down through the skylight a single whip, that we may +whip this polite personage on deck; and, harkee, Saunders, let there be +another on the yard, that we may send him into his boat like an anker +of gin!" + +"This is proceeding too far," said Captain Ducie. "Mr Green, you will +oblige me by retiring; there can be no suspicion cast on a vessel of war +for conceding a little to an unarmed ship." + +"A vessel of war should not insult an unarmed ship, sir!" rejoined Captain +Truck, pithily. + +Captain Ducie again coloured; but as he had decided on his course, he had +the prudence to remain silent. In the mean time Mr. Green sullenly took +his hat and papers, and withdrew into the boat; though, on his return to +London he did not fail to give such a version of the affair as went +altogether to corroborate all his own, and his friends' previous notions +of America; and, what is equally singular, he religiously believed all he +had said on the occasion. + +"What is now to be done with this unhappy man?" inquired Captain Ducie +when order was a little restored. + +The misunderstanding was an unfortunate affair for the culprit. Captain +Truck felt a strong reluctance to deliver him up to justice after all they +had gone through together, but the gentlemanlike conduct of the English +commander, the consciousness of having triumphed in the late conflict, and +a deep regard for the law, united on the other hand to urge him to yield +the unfortunate and weak-minded offender to his own authorities. + +"You do not claim a right to take him out of an American ship by violence, +if I understand you, Captain Ducie?" + +"I do not. My instructions are merely to demand him." + +"That is according to Vattel. By demand you mean, to request, to ask for +him?" + +"I mean to request, to ask for him," returned the Englishman, smiling. + +"Then take him, of God's name; and may your laws be more merciful to the +wretch than he has been to himself, or to his kin." + +Mr. Sandon shrieked, and he threw himself abjectly on his knees between +the two captains, grasping the legs of both. + +"Oh! hear me! hear me!" he exclaimed in a tone of anguish. "I have given +up the money, I will give it all up! all to the last shilling, if you will +let me go! You, Captain Truck, by whose side I have fought and toiled, you +will not have the heart to abandon me to these murderers!" + +"It's d--d hard!" muttered the captain, actually wiping his eyes; "but it +is what you have drawn upon yourself, I fear. Get a good lawyer, my poor +fellow, as soon as you arrive; and it's an even chance, after all, +that you go free!" + +"Miserable wretch!" said Mr. Dodge, confronting the still kneeling and +agonized delinquent, "Wretch! these are the penalties of guilt. You have +forged and stolen, acts that meet with my most unqualified disapprobation, +and you are unfit for respectable society.--I saw from the very first what +you truly were, and permitted myself to associate with you, merely to +detect and expose you, in order that you might not bring disgrace on our +beloved country. An impostor has no chance in America; and you are +fortunate in being taken back to your own hemisphere." + +Mr. Dodge belonged to a tolerably numerous class, that is quaintly +described as being "law honest;" that is to say, he neither committed +murder nor petty larceny. When he was guilty of moral slander, he took +great care that it should not be legal slander; and, although his whole +life was a tissue of mean and baneful vices, he was quite innocent of all +those enormities that usually occupy the attention of a panel of twelve +men. This, in his eyes, raised him so far above less prudent sinners as to +give him a right to address his quondam associate as has been just +related. But the agony of the culprit was past receiving an increase from +this brutal attack; he merely motioned the coarse-minded sycophant and +demagogue away, and continued his appeals to the two captains for mercy. +At this moment Paul Powis stepped up to the editor, and in a low but firm +voice ordered him to quit the cabin. + +"I will pray for you--be your slave--do all you ask, if you will not give +me up!" continued the culprit, fairly writhing in his agony. "Oh! Captain +Ducie, as an English nobleman, have mercy on me." + +"I must transfer the duty to subordinates," said the English commander, a +tear actually standing in his eye. "Will you permit a party of armed +marines to take this unhappy being from your ship, sir." + +"Perhaps this will be the best course, as he will yield only to a show of +force. I see no objection to this, Mr John Effingham?" + +"None in the world, sir. It is your object to clear your ship of a +delinquent, and let those among whom he committed the fault be +the agents." + +"Ay--ay! this is what Vattel calls the comity of nations. Captain Ducie, I +beg you will issue your orders." + +The English commander had foreseen some difficulty, and, in sending away +his boat when he came below, he had sent for a corporal's guard. These men +were now in a cutter, near the ship, lying off on their oars, in a rigid +respect to the rights of a stranger, however,--as Captain Truck was glad +to see, the whole party having gone on deck as soon as the arrangement was +settled. At an order from their commander the marines boarded the Montauk, +and proceeded below in quest of their prisoner. + +Mr. Sandon had been left alone in Eve's cabin; but as soon as he found +himself at liberty, he hurried into his own state-room. Captain Truck went +below, while the marines were entering the ship; and, having passed a +minute in his own room, he stepped across the cabin, to that of the +culprit. Opening the door without knocking, he found the unhappy man in +the very act of applying a pistol to his head, his own hand being just in +time to prevent the catastrophe. The despair portrayed in the face of the +criminal prevented reproach or remonstrance, for Captain Truck was a man +of few words when it was necessary to act. Disarming the intended suicide, +he coolly counted out to him thirty-five pounds, the money paid for his +passage, and told him to pocket it. + +"I received this on condition of delivering you safe in New York," he +said; "and as I shall fail in the bargain, I think it no more than just to +return you the money. It may help you on the trial." + +"Will they hang me?" asked Mr. Sandon hoarsely, and with an imbecility +like that of an infant. + +The appearance of the marines prevented reply, the prisoner was secured, +his effects were pointed out, and his person was transferred to the boat +with the usual military promptitude. As soon as this was done the cutter +pulled away from the packet, and was soon hoisted in again on the +corvette's deck. That day month the unfortunate victim of a passion for +trifles committed suicide in London, just as they were about to transfer +him to Newgate; and six months later his unhappy sister died of a +broken heart. + + + + +Chapter XXXIV. + + + + We'll attend you there: + Where, if you bring not Marcius, we'll proceed + In our first way. + + CORIOLANUS. + + +Eve and Mademoiselle Viefville had been unwilling spectators of a portion +of the foregoing scene, and Captain Ducie felt a desire to apologise for +the part he had been obliged to act in it. For this purpose he had begged +his friend the baronet to solicit a more regular introduction than that +received through Captain Truck. + +"My friend Ducie is solicitous to be introduced, Miss Effingham, that he +may urge something in his own behalf concerning the commotion he has +raised among us." + +A graceful assent brought the young commander forward, and as soon as he +was named he made a very suitable expression of his regret to the ladies, +who received it as a matter of course, favourably. + +"This is a new duty to me, the arrest of criminals," added Captain Ducie. + +The word _criminals_ sounded harsh to the ear of Eve, and she felt her +cheek becoming pale. + +"Much as we regret the cause," observed the father "we can spare the +person you are about to take from us without much pain; for _we_ have +known him for an impostor from the moment he appeared.--Is there not some +mistake? That is the third trunk that I have seen passed into the boat +marked P. P." + +Captain Ducie smiled, and answered,-- + +"You will call it a bad pun if I say P. P. see," pointing to Paul, who was +coming from the cabin attended by Captain Truck. The latter was conversing +warmly, gesticulating towards the corvette, and squeezing his +companion's hand. + +"Am I to understand," said Mr. Effingham earnestly, "that Mr. Powis, too, +is to quit us?" + +"He does me the favour, also,"--Captain Ducie's lip curled a little at the +word _favour_,--"to accompany me to England." + +Good breeding and intense feeling caused a profound suspense, until the +young man himself approached the party. Paul endeavoured to be calm, and +he even forced a smile as he addressed his friends. + +"Although I escape the honours of a marine guard," he said,--and Eve +thought he said it bitterly, "I am also to be taken out of the ship. +Chance has several times thrown me into your society, Mr. Effingham--- +Miss Effingham--and, should the same good fortune ever again occur, I hope +I may be permitted to address you at once as an old acquaintance." + +"We shall always entertain a most grateful recollection of your important +services, Mr. Powis," returned the father, "and I shall not cease to wish +that the day may soon arrive when I can have the pleasure of receiving you +under my own roof." + +Paul now offered to take the hand of Mademoiselle Viefville, which he +kissed gallantly. He did the same with Eve's, though she felt him tremble +in the attempt. As these ladies had lived much in countries in which this +graceful mode of salutation prevails among intimates, the act passed as a +matter of course. + +With Sir George Templemore, Paul parted with every sign of good-will. The +people, to whom he had caused a liberal donation to be made, gave him +three cheers, for they understood his professional merits at least; and +Saunders, who had not been forgotten, attended him assiduously to the side +of the ship. Here Mr. Leach called, "the Foam's away!" and Captain Ducie's +gig was manned. At the gangway Captain Truck again shook Paul cordially by +the hand, and whispered something in his ear. + +Every thing being now ready, the two gentlemen prepared to go into the +boat. As Eve watched all that passed with an almost breathless anxiety, a +little ceremonial that now took place caused her much pain. Hitherto the +manner of Captain Ducie, as respected his companion, had struck her as +equivocal. At times it was haughty and distant, while at others it had +appeared more conciliatory and kind. All these little changes she had +noted with a jealous interest, and the slightest appearance of respect or +of disrespect was remarked, as if it could furnish a clew to the mystery +of the whole procedure. + +"Your boat is ready, sir," said Mr. Leach, stepping out of the gangway to +give way to Paul, who stood nearest to the ladder. + +The latter was about to proceed, when he was touched lightly on the +shoulder by Captain Ducie, who smiled, Eve thought haughtily, and +intimated a desire to precede him. Paul coloured, bowed, and falling back, +permitted the English officer to enter his own boat first. + +"_Apparemment ce captaine Anglais est un pen sans façon--Voilà qui est +poli!_" whispered Mademoiselle Viefville. + +"These commanders of vessels of war are little kings," quietly observed +Mr. Effingham, who had unavoidably noticed the whole procedure. + +The gig was soon clear of the ship, and both the gentlemen repeated their +adieus to those on deck. To reach the corvette, to enter her, and to have +the gig swinging on her quarter occupied but five minutes. + +Both ships now filled away, and the corvette began to throw out one sheet +of cloth after another until she was under a cloud of canvas, again +standing to the eastward with studding-sails alow and aloft. On the other +hand, the Montauk laid her yards square, and ran down to the Hook. The +pilot from the corvette had been sent on board the packet, and, the wind +standing, by eleven o'clock the latter had crossed the bar. At this moment +the low dark stern of the Foam resembled a small black spot on the sea +sustaining a pyramid of cloud. + +"You were not on deck, John, to take leave of our young friend Powis," +said Mr. Effingham, reproachfully. + +"I do not wish to witness a ceremony of this extraordinary nature. And yet +it might have been better if I had." + +"Better, cousin Jack!" + +"Better. Poor Monday committed to my care certain papers that, I fancy, +are of moment to some one, and these I intrusted to Mr. Powis, with a view +to examine them together when we should get in. In the hurry of parting, +he has carried them off." + +"They may be reclaimed by writing to London," said Mr. Effingham quietly. +"Have you his address?" + +"I asked him for it; but the question appeared to embarrass him." + +"Embarrass, cousin Jack!" + +"Embarrass, Miss Effingham." + +The subject was now dropped by common consent. A few moments of awkward +silence succeeded, when the interest inseparable from a return home, after +an absence of years, began to resume its influence, and objects on the +land were noticed. The sudden departure of Paul was not forgotten, +however; for it continued the subject of wonder with all for weeks, though +little more was said on the subject. + +The ship was soon abreast of the Hook, which Eve compared, to the +disadvantage of the celebrated American haven with the rocky promontories +and picturesque towers of the Mediterranean. + +"This portion of our bay, at least, is not very admirable," she said, +"though there is a promise of something better above." + +"Some New-York cockney, who has wandered from the crackling heat of his +Nott stove, has taken it into his poetical imagination to liken this bay +to that of Naples," said John Effingham; "and his fellow-citizens greedily +swallow the absurdity, although there is scarcely a single feature in +common to give the foolish opinion value." + +"But the bay above _is_ beautiful!" + +"Barely pretty: when one has seen it alone, for many years, and has +forgotten the features of other bays, it does not appear amiss; but _you_, +fresh from the bolder landscapes of Southern Europe, will be +disappointed." + +Eve, an ardent admirer of nature, heard this with regret, for she had as +much confidence in the taste of her kinsman as in his love of truth. She +knew he was superior to the vulgar vanity of giving an undue merit to a +thing because he had a right of property in it; was a man of the world, +and knew what he uttered on all such matters; had not a particle of +provincial admiration or of provincial weakness MI his composition; and, +although as ready as another, and far more able than most, to defend his +country and her institutions from the rude assault of her revilers, that +he seldom made the capital mistake of attempting to defend a weak point. + +The scenery greatly improved, in fact, however, as the ship advanced; and +while she went through the pass called the Narrows, Eve expressed her +delight. Mademoiselle Viefville was in ecstasies, not so much with the +beauties of the place as with the change from the monotony of the ocean to +the movement and liveliness of the shore. + +"You think this noble scenery?" said John Effingham. + +"As far from it as possible, cousin Jack. I see much meanness and poverty +in the view, but at the same time it has fine parts. The islands are not +Italian, certainly; nor these hills, nor yet that line of distant rocks; +but, together, they form a pretty bay, and a noble one in extent and uses +at least." + +"All this is true. Perhaps the earth does not contain another port with so +many advantages for commerce. In this respect I think it positively +unequalled; but I know a hundred bays that surpass it in beauty. Indeed in +the Mediterranean it is not easy to find a natural haven that does not." + +Eve was too fresh from the gorgeous coast of Italy to be in ecstasies with +the meagre villages and villas that, more or less, lined the bay of +New-York; but when they reached a point where the view of the two rivers, +separated by the town, came before them, with the heights of Brooklyn, +heights comparatively if not positively, on one side, and the receding +wall of the palisadoes on the other, Eve insisted that the scene was +positively fine. + +"You have well chosen your spot," said John Effingham; "but even this is +barely good. There is nothing surpassing about it." + +"But it is home, cousin Jack." + +"It is _home_, Miss Effingham," he answered, gaping, "and as you have no +cargo to sell, I fear you will find it an exceedingly dull one." + +"We shall see--we shall see," returned Eve, laughing. Then, looking about +her for a few minutes, she added with a manner in which real and affected +vexation were prettily blended, "In one thing I do confess myself +disappointed." + +"You will be happy, my dear, if it be in only one." + +"These smaller vessels are less picturesque than those I have been +accustomed to see." + +"You have hit upon a very sound criticism, and, by going a little deeper +into the subject, you will discover a singular deficiency in this part of +an American landscape. The great-height of the spars of all the smaller +vessels of these waters, when compared with the tame and level coast, +river banks, and the formation of the country in general, has the effect +to diminish still more the outlines of any particular scene. Beautiful as +it is, beyond all competition, the Hudson would seem still more so, were +it not for these high and ungainly spars." + +The pilot now began to shorten sail, and the ship drew into that arm of +the sea which, by a misnomer peculiarly American, it is the fashion to +call the East River. Here our heroine candidly expressed her +disappointment, the town seeming mean and insignificant. The Battery, of +which she remembered a little, and had heard so much, although beautifully +placed, disappointed her, for it had neither the extent and magnificence +of a park, nor the embellishments and luxurious shades of a garden. As she +had been told that her countrymen were almost ignorant of the art of +landscape gardening, she was not so much disappointed with this spot, +however, as with the air of the town, and the extreme filth and poverty of +the quays. Unwilling to encourage John Effingham in his diposition to +censure, she concealed her opinions for a time. + +"There is less improvement here than even I expected," said Mr. Effingham, +as they got into a coach on the wharf. They had taught me, John, to expect +great improvements. "And great, very great improvements have been made in +your absence. If you could see this place as you knew it in youth, the +alterations would seem marvellous." + +"I cannot admit this. With Eve, I think the place mean in appearance, +rather than imposing, and so decidedly provincial as not to possess a +single feature of a capital." + +"The two things are not irreconcilable, Ned, if you will take the trouble +to tax your memory. The place _is_ mean and provincial; but thirty years +since it was still meaner and more provincial than it is to-day. A century +hence it will begin to resemble a large European town." + +"What odious objects these posts are!" cried Eve. + +"They give the streets the air of a village, and I do not see their +uses." + +"These posts are for awnings, and of themselves they prove the peculiar +country character of the place. If you will reflect, however, you will see +it could net well be otherwise. This town to-day contains near +three-hundred thousand souls, two-thirds of whom are in truth emigrants +from the interior of our own, or of some foreign country; and such a +collection of people cannot in a day give a town any other character than +that which belongs to themselves. It is not a crime to be provincial and +rustic; it is only ridiculous to fancy yourselves otherwise, when the fact +is apparent." + +"The streets seem deserted. I had thought New York a crowded town." + +"And yet this is Broadway, a street that every American will tell you is +so crowded as to render respiration impossible." + +"John Effingham excepted," said Mr. Effingham smiling. + +"Is _this_ Broadway?" cried Eve, fairly appalled. + +"Beyond a question. Are you not smothered?" + +Eve continued silent until the carriage reached the door of her father's +house. On the other hand, Mademoiselle Viefville expressed herself +delighted with all she saw, a circumstance that might have deceived a +native of the country, who did not know how to explain her raptures. In +the first place she was a Frenchwoman, and accustomed to say pleasant +things; then she was just relieved from an element she detested, and the +land was pleasant in her eyes. But the principal reason is still in +reserve: Mademoiselle Viefville, like most Europeans, had regarded America +not merely as a provincial country, and this without a high standard of +civilization for a province, as the truth would have shown, but as a +semi-barbarous quarter of the world; and the things she saw so much +surpassed her expectations, that she was delighted, as it might be, +by contrast. + +As we shall have a future occasion to speak of the dwelling of Mr. +Effingham, and to accompany the reader much further in the histories of +our several characters, we shall pass over the feelings of Eve when fairly +established that night under her own roof. The next morning, however, when +she descended to breakfast, she was met by John Effingham, who gravely +pointed to the following paragraph in one of the daily journals. + +"The Montauk, London packet, which has been a little out of time, arrived +yesterday, as reported in our marina news. This ship has met with various +interesting adventures, that, we are happy to hear, will shortly be laid +before the world by one of her passengers, a gentleman every way qualified +for the task. Among the distinguished persons arrived in this ship is our +contemporary, Steadfast Dodge, Esquire, whose amusing and instructing +letters from Europe are already before the world.--We are glad to hear +that Mr Dodge returns home better satisfied than ever with his own +country, which he declares to be quite good enough for him It is whispered +that our literary friend has played a conspicuous part in some recent +events on the coast of Africa, though his extreme and well known modesty +renders him indisposed to speak of the affair; but we forbear ourselves +out of respect to a sensibility that we know how to esteem. + +"His Britannic Majesty's ship, Foam, whose arrival we noticed a day or two +since, boarded the Montauk off the Hook, and took out of her two +criminals, one of whom, we are told, was a defaulter for one hundred and +forty thousand pounds, and the other a deserter from the king's service, +though a scion of a noble house. More of this to-morrow." + +The morrow never came, for some new incident took the place of the +promised narration. A people who do not give themselves time to eat, and +with whom "go ahead" has got to be the substitute of even religion, little +troubling themselves to go back twenty-four hours in search of a fact. + +"This must be a base falsehood, cousin Jack," said Eve, as she laid down +the paper, her brow flushed with an indignation that, for the moment, +proved too strong for even apprehension. + +"I hope it may turn out to be so, and yet I consider the affair +sufficiently singular to render suspicion at least natural." + +How Eve both thought and acted in the matter, will appear hereafter. + +THE END. + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Homeward Bound, +by James Fenimore Cooper + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK HOMEWARD BOUND *** + +This file should be named 8hmbd10.txt or 8hmbd10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8hmbd11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8hmbd10a.txt + +Produced by Distributed Proofreaders + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. 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